Critique & Vanities Essay Example for Free

Critique Vanities Essay Written by an American, Jack Heifner â€Å"Vanities† is a story relating to three young girls from a little town called Texas. The lives of these three girls take a sharp turn in puzzling ways after a deeply intense period at school where they would spend good time flinging themselves into the air and making noises. The girls enjoyed their happy times and shared together but after going away from one another, they forgot everything and separately started their own means of survival. According to the playwright it seems that cheerleaders who are worshipped and envied in high school do not grow up and live charmed lives in their later years. The playwright begins by mentioning his three characters namely Lauren Kennedy, Sarah Stiles and Anneliese van der Pol who acted as cheerleaders sometimes back when they were in high school and college. All the three beautiful girls shown in this pleasant but forgettable play must weather the storm and trouble after putting away their pullovers and saddle shoes. The play begins in a conventional and inconsequential manner; however, it comes in a series of oral plays that are arranged in a sequential order. In the beginning of the play, the three characters are revealed as having a happy life in high school, socializing with one another and even sharing their happy times together. Kathy, who is living in the apartment, plans and organizes a get-together party for the three and though the playwright does not mention the reason behind the holding of the get-together party; it is true that the party was meant to commemorate the happy times and sorrowful times that they had been sharing together. Joanne, to whom life seemed to be still an active convention, is now getting out of shape with time. She is a pretty girl and one who does not care much about the future. Kate Guyton also displays the same characters. Kate Guyton is later engaged in a marriage relationship with Ted who is revealed as the play’s most lively and puzzling characters but does not show herself. Mary as acted by Regan Thompson changes from a sex maniac young girl to a professional marketer of the same trade. She has an art gallery that deals with erotic art despite being married and one of her best customers is none other than the wandering Ted with whom she has an affair. The girls do not seem to learn anything in school. Mary wishes to be a nurse or a psychologist. Kathy does not want to be anything whereas Joanne goes on being a virgin. Ted is arguably the most active and strange character in this play, though he does not take an active role. When Anneliese van der Pol, who is a cheerleader tried to attract her friends attention to bow to the get-together party every thing does not go smoothly since the boys and other social issues keep getting in the way and as result, Anneliese van der Pol’s confidence on the success of the get-together party is rendered hopeless. However, she tries with all her effort to get back to her friends Joanne and Mary. Due to this situation, the playwright uses Kirshenbaum’s music to reflect the kind of dilemma she was undergoing. The young women appear to be in confused states of mind than there before and do not even show the character of leadership despite having been cheerleaders before. Joanne plans a wedding with her former high school sweetheart but at the same time, Mary also plans to travel to Europe in summer. Kathy still doubts the fact that her former friend and schoolmate have married a woman who is already. As a result of this she gets disappointed with men. Mary then comes in to console her friend from her disappointment. This clearly displays the obvious strained relationship of the three girls in this reunion party. The character of cheerleading learned at high school seems to have ended there. It did not go beyond the school gate. At the time the play goes to New York City, the three actresses had been completely changed in their characters from which they had when they were together. Mary who is a prostitute gets angry of her friend Joanne because of her decision to become a housewife and a mother. This problem disturbs Joanne but later reveals it when she gets drunk. The trio-actresses have strong and appealing voices. However, Ms Kennedy looks worried because she has to smoke every time. Or could she be experiencing a difficulty in relating with the others? Probably as they also do not get out of the arena during the short break and they sit at the table of vanity to have time to adjust their makeup. After watching the play I was amazed by the playwrights’ theme of misguided values as shown by the transformation of the characters of the three girls. They experienced overexcitement in high school, life of uncertainty in college and sadness in their final reunion. But is life that vain as the writer tries to show? I don’t think so but it might reflect these trends if the values that one calculates are against the norms or misplaced as the characters reveal. Works cited Heifner Jack â€Å"Vanities† 1963

The Changing Notions Of Children

The Changing Notions Of Children What is a Child? Initially this may appear to be a simple question: we all have some experience of children and childhood, perhaps through family, friends or your own children, most people have close contact and bonds with children. There is also a wealth of people, in many different professions, who work with children of all ages in many types of settings. Also it is impossible to ignore the simple fact that every adult on this planet was, once, a child themselves. It is clear we all have some experience of children and childhood, and most people will have some very clear notions of what childhood is or what it should be. However once you begin to look a little deeper, it becomes far more complex than one might at first imagine: there are many different factors which effect childhood today. This paper will analyse this question further, looking at definitions of a child and how childhood has changed during the twentieth and twenty first century. Taking into account the effect of the media, consumerism, advertising, adults changing attitudes and child related policy, in order to evaluate how these factors have changed and shaped modern childhood More than sixty years ago, in 1948, the majority of the worlds countrys signed up to the United Nations Declaration of Humans Rights (Lee, 2001). This stated that all human beings were entitled to certain basic rights, which no state could remove from them. Furthermore a little over twenty years ago, in 1989, the United Nations passed a further set of rights specifically for children: the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child (Lee, 2001). One might question the reasons behind this extra convention: the original declaration covered all human beings so why would children need their own special set of rights? (Lee, 2001). This gulf between children and adults within global guidelines reflects the trend of viewing adults and children as fundamentally different types of human (Lee, 2001 pg.5). Traditionally the vast majority of societies have considered adults to be complete, constant and self regulating where as the child is seen to be incomplete, changeable and requiring guidance (Lee, 2001). The sociologist Jens Qvortrup (1994) explained this fissure between human adults and human children eloquently by describing adults as human beings and children as human becomings (cited in Lee, 2001 pg. 5). Now this paper will look at different standpoints, which can be used to view the notion of what children and childhood are The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 defines a child in the following way: a human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier (UNCRC, Article 1, 1989). This definition of the child would fall under the category of a legal definition; another legal way to define a child would be by using the age of criminal responsibility. The age that a individual becomes criminally responsible varies greatly from country to country, in England and Wales the age was raised to ten years old in 1963, it had previously been eight (Children and Young Persons Act 1963, section16). However until the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 the law presumed that children under fourteen were doli incapax. Meaning the law regarded them as being incapable of distinguishing the difference between what is right and what is wrong, and therefore could not be convicted of a crime they had committed. Unless the criminal prosecution wer e able to definitively prove that the perpetrator was fully aware that their actions were wrong (Crime and Punishment Act 1998, section 34). The age of criminal responsibility imposed by England and Wales and the even lower age of eight in Scotland, are the lowest within the European Union. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has criticised the UK for the low ages imposed: stating article three of the UNCRC which requires that during criminal proceedings the childs best interests must be held in primary consideration (Broadbridge, 2009). Another perspective to look at when defining the child would be to study the concept from a sociological standpoint. What does the term child and childhood mean to society? What is their notion of a child? These are complex questions and the answers will inevitably vary depending on the country and culture one is studying. Michael Wyness (2006) used the playing-child construction to define childhood: this encompasses the notion that childhood equals a time of play, without responsibilities. By using this definition Wyness also offers a definition for adulthood: if childhood can be characterised through a lack of work therefore adulthood can be characterised as being a time for work and responsibility (Wyness, 2006 pg. 9). This would suggest that childhood is a socially constructed phenomena based on the ideas that people within a given society hold. This notion of childhood being a social construction is not a new idea: the French historian Philippe Arià ©s (1960) has also suggested that childhood is a fairly recent construction of society. Arià ©s claimed that until the fifteen century children in Western Europe were considered as miniature adults and therefore believed to have similar mental abilities and personal qualities as adults. Although due to their smaller physical presence they were viewed as physically inferior compared to a fully grown adult (Montgomery, Woodhead, 2002). Philippe Arià ©s work, Centuries of Childhood (first published 1960), was influential in attracting academic consideration towards the study of childhood; however his work has been subject to plentiful criticisms. Such as how he drew his conclusions about medieval society through the means of studying art from the period. Due to the subjective nature of art, studying a society in this way may give an inaccurate picture of how that society viewed a particular subject. A further criticism was the lack of explanation for the change in attitudes towards children (Hill, M, Tisdall, K, 1997). A society which views children as being a completely different type of human being compared to adults, will believe that the child has different needs to be fulfilled than the adults within their society. One example of this can be seen in prosperous areas of the industrialised world, where a wealth of products are available which are exclusively tailored for children. Items such as toys, clothes, cots, food stuffs and medicine are just a snippet of the vast array of child centred paraphernalia adults will encounter in various retail outlets (Montgomery, Woodhead, 2002). As well as these rather necessary commodities, there is also an overwhelming range of products designed for entertaining children. There are books, magazines and television channels; holidays and theme parks; educational software and computer games. These are just some of the things available which cater for children, turning childhood into a lucrative, commercialized business (Montgomery, Woodhead, 2002). The increasing trend in this type of consumerism aimed at children, has further led to a massive growth in advertising aimed at children. Companies now spend huge amounts of money per annum on advertising their brand to children, whereas comparatively twenty years ago the budget for this type of advertising would have been virtually nonexistent (Dunn, Layard, 2009). Research has shown that brand loyalty develops in children from a very early age: studies have shown that even children as young as two will treat a new toy differently depending on whether that child has been exposed to the toy previously through the means of advertising on television. Once they reach the age of three children tend to prefer leading branded products, which are subject to mass media marketing compared to a non branded product which tastes exactly the same (Dunn, Layard, 2009). The purpose of advertising is obviously to make the consumer desire a certain item or brand over any other similar items availab le. However advertising also has the knock on effect of making people, adults and children alike feel that they need more materialistic items than they would otherwise believe. This can leave parents feeling that they need to spend more and more money in order to make their children happy; in a survey conducted by the Childrens Society nine out of ten parents stated that advertising pressurised them into spending more than they could realistically afford (Dunn, Layard, 2009). Consumerism also has negative effects for the child; a major study was conducted in 2004 by Juliet Schor, into the effects of the media and consumerism on children. Her study has found that; if all other aspects of a childs life were equal, high exposure to media would led a child to be more materialistic, having problems relating the their parents and being at higher risk of mental health issues. These risks increase even more for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, who are living with little household i ncome to being with (Dunn, Layard, 2009). Childrens experience of childhood in the twenty first century will differ vastly from even their own parents experiences just one generation before them. This is partly due to the change in childrens leisure activities which in the last decade have shifted to included much less physically active pursuits (Dunn, Layard, 2009). Studies have shown that children are spending less time than ever before pursuing physical activities. Physically inactive pursuits such as: television, video gaming and the internet becoming ever more popular (Dunn, Layard, 2009 pg.54). This bloom in new technologies has brought a wealth of knowledge and entertainment to our finger tips. However it has also been linked with increases in three dangers: encouraging the discourse that wealth and beauty equals happiness; encouraging aggressive models of relationships and that it encourages less physical activity and unhealthy lifestyles (Dunn, Layard, 2009). The change in adults attitudes towards what pursuits can be considered safe for children is one reason for this decline in the amounts of physical, outdoor activity undertaken by modern children. Through the media, vast amounts of information regarding child murder cases are made available and easily accessible to the general public, resulting in these cases being more prominent in peoples thoughts (Dunn, Layard, 2009). This leads people to believe that the number of children being murdered, especially being murdered by strangers has been steadily increasing over time; however this isnt the case. Home office statistics show that the risk of children being murdered by a stranger are very minimal, averaging approximately eleven per year shows that for the vast majority of adults their fears for childrens safety are unfounded (Dunn, Layard, 2009). In fact a child is at much greater risk within their own home. The NSPCC believe that for each generation more than one thousand children w ill be killed before adulthood, most at the hands of a violent parent or carer (Cunningham, 2006 p.235). These high profile cases in the media have also led to childrens rights becoming more prominent within societies and indeed also the Governments thoughts. There has been a deluge of child related policy passed through the UK government, reflecting how attitudes towards children have changed; children are being viewed as separate beings that have individual needs and are in need of protection. Just one of these policies is the Children Act 2004; this Act was developed and implemented following the findings of Lord Lamings 2003 inquiry into the tragic death of Victoria Climbià ©, who died in 2002 (Duffy, Pugh, 2010). In response to the Laming report the government published the Green Paper Every Child Matters (DfES, 2003); the prime minister at the time, Tony Blair, described it as the most significant development for children for more than thirty years (Duffy, Pugh, 2010 p.9). The overall outcomes that the Green Paper and the consequent Children Act of 2004 hoped to achieve was to improve the expectations of all children, narrowing the fissure between high and low achievers via the means of reconfiguring the services available for children and families (Duffy, Pugh, 2010). The Act also set out five outcomes which all children, right from birth until the age of eighteen, should be able to achieve. These five outcomes are: to be healthy, to be protected from all forms of harm, to enjoy and achieve in their lives, to be able to contribute positively within their society and finally the ability to achieve economic wellbeing (Anning, Ball, 2008). Whilst the intention of this Act appear to hold a childs well being as paramount in its agenda, some professionals have voiced concerns over potential negative side effects, it might present for the most vulnerable of children (Womack, 2006). Under the Act a massive database containing information on all twelve million children living in England and Wales was created (Womack, 2006). Experts in the field of safeguarding children have suggested that the sheer amount of data recorded in this database, will make it easier for genuine cases of child neglect and abuse to slip through the net. Under a system that detects threat to a child, in even in the most trivial of matters, may mean a child under serious threat of harm will not be identified (Womack, 2006). When services are already looking for the needle in a haystack is it really useful to make the haystack even bigger? (Womack, 2006) Having looked at the legal and sociological perspectives of childhood and having taken into account the influence of the media, consumerism, advertising, adult attitudes and child related policy. The focus of this paper will now turn to look at the feelings and ideas that children have about what it means to be a child Wendy Stainton-Rogers conducted interviews with children from around the world as part of research for a book about childhood (Stainton-Rogers cited in Montgomery, Woodhead, 2002). In these interviews children were asked, what did being a child mean to them? One child aged eight, when interviewed and asked this question replied: Im a child because, if I was a baby I would still be small. And, and now Im a child because Im not a baby any more. Because Im, because Im grown up. And a baby is sort of like, is like almost one year old, two years old or three years old (Stainton Rogers cited in Montgomery, Woodhead, 2002 pg.7). This statement appears to show that the child questioned was somewhat confused as to exactly what a child is. They had some clear thoughts about what made them a child, but appeared hesitant in being able to justify their thoughts. Another child stated that they felt that they would become an adult after their bat mitzvah, saying that after that they would feel mo re grown up (Stainton Rogers cited in Montgomery, Woodhead, 2002 pg.7). This suggests that a childs religion will impact their feelings of what it means to be a child: that childhood ends with certain religious rites of passage. One child felt that a child was somebody who was still learning and being moulded into an adult (Stainton Rogers cited in Montgomery, Woodhead, 2003 pg.7). The answer that this child gave would fit in very well with a socially constructed model of childhood: that the purpose of childhood is for the adult members of a society to shape and mould children into acceptable members of society for the future. From completing the research for this paper, it has become clear that there is no single, universal answer to the question what is a child. Both childrens and adults views on childhood and what it means to be a child will vary vastly depending on culture, religion and the country where they live. To state that a child is a human being under the age of eighteen simply just isnt enough. Children are all individuals and no two will ever be the same just as no two adults ever will be. In order for children to be happy and grow into well rounded, balanced adults their individual needs have to be met and to be protected from serious harm. It is wrong for adult society to simply believe that a child is just an unfinished lump of clay in need of sculpting in order to become the adults society expects for the future. Children should be seen as important members within all societies, whom have the ability to positively contribute to the society in which they live. .

Health Promotion Strategies for Smoking Cessation

Health Promotion Strategies for Smoking Cessation Drawing on appropriate literature, provide a critical analysis of the application of health promotion philosophies, principles and approaches underpinning public health practice in relation to a relevant topic (e.g. any public health policy in the UK) The chosen public health topic is smoking. The student has selected this subject because it is a current issue of particular relevance because of the prohibition to premises becoming smoke- free if they are open to the public, due to be enforced in England in July 2007 (Health Act 2006). Smoking is also an important topic because it has been identified as the single most significant public health problem in the UK (Royal College of Physicians 2000); approximately 114,000 smokers in the UK die as a result of smoking (Action on Smoking and Health 2005). The treatment of smoking- related conditions costs the National Health Service (NHS) up to  £1.7 billion per year with an estimated cost of  £1.7 million to British industry every year as the result of lost working hours caused by smoking- related illness (Gommans 2005). According to Tannahill (1985) health promotion is a broad concept which encompasses health education and health prevention. Health education refers to working with groups and individuals to promote healthy behaviours, whereas health prevention refers to strategies which prevent ill- health such as immunisation. Public health is defined as: ‘The science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through organised efforts of society’ (Acheson 1988) This definition implies a collective approach; however public health has been criticised as being medically dominated (McPherson 2001). Philosophies of health promotion provide a framework for exploring our rationale and justification for wanting to change health- related behaviour. Seedhouse (2002) refers to health promotion as a ‘moral endeavour’; in other words health professionals are required to make judgments about if, how and when to intervene in relation to the health behaviours of patients, clients and service users, taking into account individual needs and priorities. In some cases health behaviours affect not only the individual but others, also; this applies to the effects of secondary smoking, for example. Taking into account the secondary effects of health behaviours may impact upon the ‘moral endeavour’ of health professionals and health policy makers. Moral judgements underpin the work of health professionals; the student recalls an incident when a lady aged 100 who had smoked all of her adult life and who clearly did not have long to live, asked to be helped to smoke a cigar ette. This simple act gave her pleasure and it seemed irrational and unkind not to respond to her request. Moral judgements are not always straightforward. Philosophical principles applicable to health promotion include logic; the development of reasoned argument (Naidoo and Wills 2000a). Our arguments for changing health-related behaviour are evidence- based involving for example, the type of statistics about smoking highlighted in para 1 of this page. There is a large body of evidence which supports the argument that smoking is damaging to health and yet, as discussed further on (para.2, p.4), it can be seen that individuals do not always respond to logical reasoned argument in relation to modifying health- behaviours. Epistemology, another philosophical principle, is concerned with the debate about truth, in this case exploring what health really means. There are different models of health including the medical and social models. The medical model is concerned with the categorisation of illness and disease and with specific medical interventions given by the ‘expert’ (the health professional) to the patient, who has traditionally been a passive recipient of this expert advice and intervention. A social model of health involves a broader interpretation of health which is influenced by a range of determinants, such as age, gender, socioeconomic factors, education and environment. Within this model, strategies to improve health status adopt a wider perspective than the medical model, seeking to address the aforementioned determinants. In relation to health promotion, the medical model might not take into consideration, factors which affect the individual’s behaviour such as their socioeconomic status. There is evidence that smoking behaviour is more prevalent among more disadvantaged socioeconomic groups (Gulliford et al 2003). It is important therefore to take into consideration this and other, factors when developing health promotion strategies and not to reduce the issue to one of the giving and receiving of information with an assumption that behaviour will be modified as a result. Health promotion philosophies are also concerned with ethics. The theory of ethics is divided into two main categories: deontological and consequential. Deontology is concerned with our duty to behave according to a set of moral principles. On page 1, paragraph 5, the issues/ dilemmas involved for health professionals in making moral judgements, were referred to. Consequential ethics are based on the premise that a judgment about whether an action is right or wrong is dependent on its end result, in other words whether the ends justify the means. This has some interesting implications for health promotion. Further on (p.4) some health promotion strategies are discussed including a debate about the use of legislation, i.e. enforcement, to bring about health- related behavioural change. As stated earlier (para.1, p.1) this issue is of particular relevance to smoking. The argument for enforcement is that the end result of reducing smoking behaviours and resultant improvement in health s tatus as well as savings made to the cost of healthcare, justifies the prohibition legislation. Broad approaches to health promotion reflect the models of health referred to (para. 2 on this page) and are categorised by Naidoo and Wills (2000b) as medical/ preventative; behavioural change; educational; empowerment and social change. Within the medical approach there are three levels of prevention: primary, secondary and tertiary. To apply these specifically to smoking; the primary level aims to prevent smoking behaviour before it begins, the secondary level is concerned with preventing the recurrence of a smoking- related illness or disease by encouraging the patient to give up smoking and the tertiary level is about promoting quality of life within a chronic condition such as diabetes, in which case the message would be that the individual’s quality of life would be optimised if they do not smoke. The behavioural approach focuses on lifestyle issues (Laverack 2004) Emphasis is placed upon the individual’s responsibility for health which does not take into account factors outwith the individual’s control and as such, this approach has been criticised for being ‘victim- blaming’ (Tones and Tilford 2001), shifting responsibility away from the government for example, in relation to individual health status. The educational approach is less about placing responsibility on individuals in relation to their health- related behaviours and more about giving information and facilitating people to make informed choices about their lifestyle choices. This approach relates to the rational- empirical strategy described further on (para. 2, p.4) as it is based on the assumption that giving people information will lead to attitudinal and behavioural change. As will be seen, this does not always happen. This approach is also dependent on a level of concordance from the individual, for example a commitment to attend regular sessions as part of an educational programme. The empowerment approach reflects the normative- re-educative strategy described further on (para. 4, p. 4) and entails giving people the means to have increased control over the determinants that affect their health status. This involves community participation, a collective approach which is embedded within the philosophy of public health. According to Laverack (2004) there can be different interpretations of what constitutes a ‘community’. We tend to think in terms of a geographical community; a locality. It might be more effective in health promotion terms to think of a community as a group with shared characteristics, such as young people. The reality of community participation is that it tends to be more evident among communities who are educated and higher up the socioeconomic scale. People who are disadvantaged are less lilkely to be motivated to participate in health- related programmes- they may feel marginalised and are preoccupied with the issues that their s ituation presents, such as concerns about housing and income; health promotion is not viewed as a priority, and smoking might be used as a means of helping them to cope with adversity (Hanson Hoffman 1998). This leads onto the notion of the social change approach. This is quite a complex concept that involves health promotion initiating and driving social change in order to improve conditions that are conducive to health (Erben et al 2000). Social change would involve making the sorts of improvements that would place health issues more firmly on everybody’s agenda. There are many factors that contribute to social change such as legislation and shifts in ideas about codes of behaviour. For example, attitudes about sexual behaviour have changed over the years, contributing to health issues such as increased incidence of sexually transmitted disease and a rise in teenage pregnancies (Measor et al 2000). There is some indication that social attitudes to smoking have changed (Moonie 2005) which is arguably, a positive development; some smokers report that they feel like social pariahs! The social change approach is underpinned by an acknowledgement of the complexity of what influences health- related behaviours and can be linked to the social model of health, discussed in para. 2, p.2. Specific health promotion methods are quite diverse including: giving information in a didactic manner, for example via talks to large groups; lobbying local health and Government authorities; making use of the mass media (for example there is currently a television information advertisement about the early signs of myocardial infarction); working with groups; teaching social or life skills that are related to health status; publicity events, e.g. health fairs; facilitating community groups; enforcing health regulation; one to one advice and education; networking and liaising with other workers; instructing on specific techniques, such as self-administration of insulin; facilitating self help groups and enabling health promotion by the provision of support services such as childcare and interpreting facilities (Naidoo and Wills 2000c). Most of these methods can be adapted for use with smoking cessation. The change strategies framework by Bennis (1976) can be applied to health behavioural change and is of particular relevance to anti- smoking legislation. It includes three strategies for bringing about change which are based on different assumptions about human behaviour, and which, when applied to health promotion, involve three distinctly different approaches. The first strategy (rational- empirical), is based on the supposition that ‘knowledge is power’. Within this strategy it is assumed that an individual will modify their health- related behaviour in response to receiving reliable and valid information. For example, if the government or a health professional issues advice about the dangers of smoking, the individual should reduce or cease their smoking habit. It is well- known that this often does not happen; even some health professionals smoke, despite their level of knowledge about the dangers (McKenna 2001). The reasons for this are usually related to dependenc e. It is also possible that human beings adopt Freudian mental defence mechanisms, which are maladaptive coping strategies used (in this instance) to circumvent evidence of the negative consequences of a health- related behaviour, such as smoking. These include denial, intellectualisation (which involves citing contradictory evidence), or rationalisation, among others (Lupton 1995). Resorting to these defences can undermine the power of knowledge and evidence, however valid and reliable it is. The second strategy (power- coercive) involves the use of legislation and policy change in order to enforce health- related change. A good example of this is the anti- smoking legislation referred to in paragraph 1, page 1. There is some evidence to demonstrate that no- smoking policies do have the effect of reducing smoking behaviour (Brigham et al 1994). There has been criticism of the legislation as it is seen by some as an infringement of the individual’s right to choose. However this view is countered by the argument that the health of non- smokers can be adversely affected by cigarette smoke, and these people have the right to be protected (HM Treasury 2004). It appears that many non- smokers feel that they should be safeguarded from the effects of passive smoking (Pilkington et al 2006). The first two strategies adopt a ‘top- down’ approach whereas the third strategy (normative- re-educative) is based on the assumption that an individual is more likely to change their health- related behaviour if they have had involvement in bringing about the change; if they feel empowered. This approach underpins some of the health promotion strategies referred to in para. 1 of this page; for example facilitating community groups. However as discussed earlier (para. 2, p.3), it seems likely that community participation and empowerment might be of limited value within certain groups, such as people who are disadvantaged or marginalised. In conclusion, it appears that a multi- faceted approach needs to be adopted in order to address health- behaviours which are harmful to health, in this instance smoking. The starting point is that there is incontrovertible evidence that smoking is harmful to health, and can lead to premature death, as cited in para.1, p.1. The question of whether we have the right to choose to smoke can be challenged because of the evidence- base that demonstrates that smoking can affect the health of others (para. 3, p. 4). However it is important to recognise that people who smoke need adequate support and resources in order to be able to stop. There is existing evidence that legislative and policy change can reduce smoking behaviours (para. 3, p.4) and it will be interesting to see the outcomes of the current legislation (para. 1, p. 1). However, smokers also need clear, unambiguous messages about the effects of smoking, consistent support from health professionals and accessible information abou t smoking cessation services (Kerr et al 2006). References Acheson D. Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health: Report. London Stationery Office 1988. Action on Smoking and Health Factsheet No. 2. Smoking Statistics: Illness and Death. ASH 2005. Bennis et al The Planning of Change Holt Rinehart and Winston 1976 Brigham J, Gross J, Stitzer M and Felch L Effects of a restricted work-site smoking policy on employees who smoke. Am J Public Health. 84(5): 1994 pp. 773–778. Department of Health. Health Act 2006. Part 1 Chapter 1. 2006. Erben R, Franzkowiak P and Wenzel E. People empowerment vs. social capital: from health promotion to social marketing. Health Promotion Journal of Australia. 9(3) 2000 pp. 179-182 Gommans J, Bunton J and MacDonald G. Health Promotion: 2nd Edition. Routledge. 2005. p.189. Gulliford M, Sedgwick J and Pearce A. Cigarette smoking, health status, socio-economic status and access to health care in diabetes mellitus: a cross-sectional survey. BMC Health Service Research 2003 pp. 3: 4. Hanson Hoffman. Recovery from Smoking Second Edition: Quitting with the 12 Step Process Revised Second Edition. Hazelden. P.1 Kerr S, Watson H, Tolson D, Lough M and Brown M. Smoking after the age of 65 years: a qualitative exploration of older current and former smokers views on smoking, stopping smoking, and smoking cessation resources and services. Health and Social Care in the Community. 14(6) 2006 pp. 572-582, Laverack G. Health Promotion Practice: Building Empowered Communities. Sage publications. 2004. pp. 21, 22, 44. Lupton D. The Imperative of Health: public health and the regulated body. Sage Publications. 1995. p. 111. Mckenna H, Slater P, McCance T, Bunting B, Spiers A and McElwee G. Qualified nurses smoking prevalence: their reasons for smoking and desire to quit. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 35(5). 2001. pp.769-75 McPherson K. Public health does not need to be led by doctors: for. BMJ. 30; 322(7302) 2001 p.3–1596. Measor L, Tiffin C and Miller K. Young Peoples Views on Sex Education: Education, Attitudes and Behaviour. Routledge 2000. p.4. Moonie N (Ed.) GCE AS Level Health and Social Care Double Award Book. Harcourt Heinemann. 2005. p.29 Naidoo J. Wills J. Health Promotion: foundations for practice (2nd edition). London, Baillià ¨re Tindall 2000. pp. 113 Pilkington P, Gray S. Gilmore and A. Daykin N. Attitudes towards second hand smoke amongst a highly exposed workforce: survey of London casino workers. Journal of Public Health. 28(2) 2006 pp.104-110 Royal College of Physicians. Nicotine addiction in Britain: A report of the Tobacco Advisory Group of the Royal College of Physicians. RCP 2000. Seedhouse D. Ethics: the heart of healthcare. Second Edition. John Wiley and Sons.. 2002. Chapter 2 Tannahill A What is Health Promotion? Health Education Journal 44(4) 1985 pp. 167-8 Tones K and Green J Health Promotion: Planning and Strategies. Sage Publications. 2004. p. 16. Tones K and Tilford S. Health Promotion: effectiveness, efficiency and equity. Nelson Thornes. 2001. p. 28. Total word count 2752

The Flea - John Donne :: essays research papers

John Donne and an Analysis of "The Flea" John Donne was born on Bread Street, London, in 1572. His family was very rich but they were Roman Catholic, not the best group to be a part of at his time, in England. He studied three years at the University of Oxford and three years at Cambridge. He never got a degree because he refused to take the oath of supremacy at graduation time. He then studied law and was on his way to be a diplomat. He wrote a book of poems, Satires, after his brother died of fever in prison after offering sanctuary to a proscribed catholic priest. He then wrote a series of love poems in Songs and Sonnets. In 1596, he joined a naval campaign against Spain and when he came back, 2 years later, he became secretary to Sir Thomas Egerton. Just as he started doing well, he secretly married Egerton's niece, Anne More, and when discovered, he was thrown in jail along with the two friends who had helped in his secret relationship. Anne's family helped them and a few years later, Donne reconciliated with Sir Thomas and was finally given the dowry he was owed. He lived the next few years as a lawyer and lived a poor existence. He then wrote two anti-Catholic poems that got him the king's favor and started working Sir Robert Drury of Hawstead, who gave him an appartment in his castle for writing a beautiful eulogy for his 15 year old daughter. Donne and his wife had 12 children, 7 of which survived and in 1617, Anne died at age 33, while giving birth to a stillborn child. He wrote the Holy Sonnets. He was made vicar in 1625 but suffered from severe infections of the mouth which caused his death in 1931. He would've become a bishop in 1930. Before his death, he preached his own funeral sermon, Death's Duel. His last piece was The Hymn to God, my God, in my sicknesse. Donne is a very witty poet. In The Flea, like in many other poems, he tries to convince a young woman to sleep with him. He compares giving up her virginity her virginity to the size of a flea go show how "unimportant" it is. "It suck'd me first and now sucks thee" is used in the first stanza to argue that because their bloods are mixed inside the flea, they are married and therefore, making love would not be a sin.

Organ Donation Essay -- Ethical Issues, Presumed Consent

At least 10 people die every day, while waiting for a major organ for example, heart, lungs or kidneys’, the reason being they is a massive shortage of organs across Europe, with the transplant waiting list growing, they is need for radical measures to be taken. The author of this easy will define what organ donation is, however the aims of the essay is to compare and contrast the two systems of organ donation, the opt- in and opt- out systems. The focus of the essay is on cadaveric donors,( heart beating donors and non- heart beating donors). The author will also go on to explore their personal views on organ donations, from before and after researching the topic and then reflect on how those views may have changed. Organ donation is defined as the donation of a biological tissue or organ of the human body, from a living or deceased person to a living recipient in need of a transplant. The removal of the organs is carried out in accordance with The Human Tissue Act (2004) who â€Å"regulate the removal, storage, use and disposal of the human bodies, tissues and organs†, (DOH ,2004).Organ donation is a complex issue, one which involves factors such as ethics, legal, organisational and societal factors. Much of the debate surrounding organ donation is the issue of consent /autonomy and trying to find ways to increase the number of potential organ donors. Do we choose to preserve the rights of the dead or those of people who are in pain? Across Europe they are two systems in practice, namely presumed consent (opt-out system) and informed consent (opt- in system).Although the two systems are different in practice, there main objective is the same, to increase the number of potential donors, which in turn would red... ...and discuss the issues. This might lead to organ donors to be viewed as the norm rather than the exception. With opt- in system an organ is an altruistic act, gift that I agree with Professor John Saunders royal college of physicians’ ethical issues in medicine who is advocating for a â€Å"mandated choice â€Å"that is a legally-mandated decision, where all adults are required by law to indicate their wishes about their organs after death. I believe that if a person wants to be an organ donor they should make the effort to make their wishes known by taking the necessary steps in registering. With regards to both systems I see no point for their existence if your family can override your decision. In conclusion this essay looked at the organ donation systems practiced across Europe the opt- in and opt -out systems, and how they affect the rates of organ donation.

Abraham Lincoln Essay -- essays research papers

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln has been depicted as a very gifted orator and noble leader of our country. He is often compared with Shakespeare, due to his ability to say amazingly profound words. He is a very important symbol of our country’s history. Lincoln definitely led an interesting life. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in a log cabin in Hardin (now Larue) County, Kentucky. This was near Hodgenville, Kentucky. His mother’s name was Nancy Hanks Lincoln; his father’s name was Thomas Lincoln. Abraham was named after his father’s father. He had an older sister named Sarah, and he had a younger brother named Thomas, but he died in infancy. Abraham Lincoln was once described by his cousin Dennis Hanks as,"...he'll never come to much, fur I'll tell you he wuz the puniest, cryin'est little youngster I ever saw." Abraham’s parents were part of a Baptist congregation. Abraham went to school every once in a while at a log schoolhouse two miles from his farm. Abraham then moved to Indiana due to troubles with land claims. When Abe was 9 years old, his mother died of â€Å"milk sickness† which was a disease that was acquired by drinking the milk of a cow that grazed on poisonous white snakeroot. His father Thomas then rema rried a woman named Sara Bush Johnston. She didn’t think that Abe had enough schooling, so she sent him to school a lot more. Abraham Lincoln enjoyed reading much more than the usual working on the farm. This is where he got most of his knowledge. In the 1830’s, the Lincolns moved to Illinois where Abraham lived until 1837. In Illinois, he worked as a postmaster, a storekeeper, and he served in the Black Hawk War in 1832. His physical features are the most famous qualities of Abraham Lincoln. At his full height, he was 6 feet and 4 inches and was about 180 pounds. This made him very tall and stocky. Lincoln is often depicted as a very hunched over man, since he is so tall. Lincoln decided that he wanted to run for legislature in Illinois. However, he lost his first election. In 1834 he was a Whig and was at last elected to the legislature and served four terms. During this time period, Abraham kept on reading, and eventually went to study the law. In 1837 he moved to Springfield, Illinois. He became a lawyer, and met his future wife. Mary Todd was from Kentucky and had moved to Springfield to live with her married siste... ...ck voting rights, which outraged many citizens, especially an actor named John Wilkes Booth. On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln and his wife went to go see a play (â€Å"Our American Cousin†) at Ford’s Theatre. During the performance, John Wilkes Booth sneaked into the President’s balcony, and shot him in the head at about 10:15 PM. Lincoln was carried to the Peterson House across the street. He laid in a bed not long enough for him, stripped of his clothes, while physicians tried to remove blood clots which formed over the bullet wound. This relieved the pressure on his brain and allowed it to continue functioning and allowing respiration to take place. He internally and externally had hemorrhaging until 7:22 the next morning when he passed away. He was 56 years old when he died. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton immediately said, â€Å"Now he belongs to the ages.† There was a very long funeral procession, in which thousands of people lined the track along the way to Illinois on April 21st. Lincoln was buried in Springfield Illinois on May 4th, 1865. This was the first assassination in presidential history. Therefore it was a very important yet sad time in American history.

Christian family Essay

The authors of several books are celebrated for the different artistic works that they produce. In their real lives, not it is everything can however be celebrated. This is because some have undergone a hard time throughout their lives. Some have gone to the extent of committing suicide so as to end the problems in their lives. Sylvia Plath and Emily Dickenson are good examples of authors who have faced a hard life and who used their writing works to express their feelings. They have undergone through a hell of life by losing their parents and enduring the extramarital affairs of their husbands as well as degenerative diseases in their late life. Further, they have manifested some similarity in their early lives because they were all brought up in a Christian family. They also had a desire to learn, an aspect that made them achievers in developing artworks. Plath and Dickenson had very tragic and troubled lives. To start with, Dickenson was born during the month of December 1830 in Amherst community. She was the second daughter of Edward Dickenson. Throughout her life, her mother was not accessible emotionally and this absence caused Dickenson to depict some eccentricity. Being born in a Christian tradition, she was forced to espouse her father’s religious beliefs without any argument. These are some of the things that came to be challenges in Dickenson’s late life as is evident through her poetry. Her family was very popular in Amherst with her father being a lawyer who made that family to enjoy immense popularity and excitement. Dickenson did not enjoy this; instead, she withdrew (Paul). When her father realized that she had a problem with his Christian religion he began to censor the books that she was reading because of their potential of drawing her away from faith. In her early life, she was silent and shy; she used to depreciate in the presence of strangers. Dickenson was very successful in college but after her life in seminary in 1848, she began her life of seclusion. The culmination of these problems made her life miserable. To add to her tragic life, she was never married although she had significant relationships which did not however work out. She lived in a private society and she could refuse to see certain people who paid her a visit. It may sound very sad that by the time she was twenty years, she had no extended exposure to the world which was outside her home. She started authoring her poetry as a way of expressing how her life was and how she hated some of her friends and family pressures. It was so unfortunate that Dickenson’s late life was full of mourning because of several deaths that occurred during a time frame of a few years. Her father died in 1874, her brother died in 1878, her mother died in 1882, and her nephew in 1883 (Burt 110). Due to these deaths, her speculations for poetry started to come to a halt in 1884 whereby she suffered her first attack of one of her terminal illnesses such as hypertension. The whole of 1885, she was bedridden and on May 1886 she took her last breath. She lived in solitude and had a very boring life that was full of tragedies and problems. On the other hand, Plath had several problems which made her life miserable. To start with, she was born during the time of The Great Depression when the nation was being faced with severe economic problems. Secondly, when she was only eight years old her father died from complications following a foot amputation due to untreated diabetes. This event introduced a lot of pain in Plath’s life because her father had refused any treatment because his friend had died. It impacted negatively in her life because she lost her Christian values that her father had instilled in her. She enrolled at Smith College – a place where she broke her leg when she was skiing. She had a great desire to learn and she had so many trophies because of her art in poetry when she was eight years only. Her leg made her to lose confidence in herself and her life in general. This made her to make her first suicide attempt when she took an overdose of sleeping pills after she crawled under her house. After this incident, she was taken to a mental institution where she received treatment. To add to her problems, during her marriage, her husband – Hughes – had an affair with Plath’s best friend, Assia Wevill. She had earlier experienced an accident which many people belief was another suicide attempt. Plath was faced with many problems which resulted to depression and finally, she committed suicide, thus killing herself together with her two children in an inferno of gas which she lit. This was the same way through which that her friend – Assia – had committed suicide earlier. We can thus argue that Plath’s life was full of tragic incidences which made her to think of killing herself. Plath and Dickenson were authors of poems and novels and in their work they used their real life details as the raw materials. Before Dickenson died, she had written over 2000 poems. Most of her poetic work was discovered by her sister in a bag after her death. Further, a great deal of her poetic work reflected most of the tragedies that she had passed through. For example, Most of her poems talk about death – which is a major aspect that made her life miserable by taking her loved ones. To illustrate, in the â€Å"Because I could not stop death† poetry, Plath personifies death as a gentleman. In the first line, she states that since she was not in a position to stop death, it will kindly stop her, meaning that she was preparing to meet her death. There are various themes that she explored through the poems. To start with, she used love as a theme. She employed this concept to explain the situation that she was in because she was never married. Secondly, despair was another theme that she used in her poems. One can argue that she did this to express the despair that she had faced in her tragic life. Her poems – which she wrote while she was in the seminary – show her tendencies in her academic years. The prominent themes include the hard time that she faced trying to maintain close family ties, her preference for solitude over society, her intellectual curiosity, and her hesitation to accept Christianity in a manner that her family and friends wanted On the other hand, Plath described her tragic life indirectly in her poems and books. She used her life details as the raw materials for her art work. After the death of her father, Plath was a frequent caller at her father’s grave and this prompted her to write â€Å"Electra on Azalea Path,† which is a poem that described the memorable moments of her father’s life (Horvath 61). Conversely, Plath pointed out her idea of committing suicide through her various poetic works. She wrote a book named â€Å"The Bell Jar,† which is a semi-autographical work describing her entire life. She used the â€Å"Fig Tree† as an analogy; a ripe fruit represented her intended future. She also used a woman who is ready to â€Å"Learn German† but is haunted by her past. This shows that Plath did not like her past and the only way to show this was by putting it through poems and books In conclusion, the lives of these two authors were full of similar tragedies. They were both rebellious to the Christian religion and to the efforts of their friends and family in forcing them into it. They have used poetry to describe the lives that they have lived and the injustices that they have faced in their entire lives. They died being heroes of poetry even though they were not aware. In their poetic work, these two women were similar in the fact that they used examples of repressed women who have been able to write their work in poetry and other writings. This was despite the fact that the society did not give a chance for women to do so. Both have manifested themselves as people who are not destroyed by the repression of the male-dominated society. The main difference between them is the time in which they started to write. Dickenson started writing after her twenties whereas Plath started when she was very young. Works Cited Burt, Daniel S. The Biography Book: A Reader’s Guide to Nonfiction, Fictional, And Film Biographies of More Than 500 of the Most Fascinating Individuals of All Time. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. Horvath, Rita. Never Asking Why Build – Only Asking Which Tools†: Confessional Poetry And The Construction Of The Self. Andrea Pok, Hungary: Akademiai Kiado, 2005. Paul. C. Emily Dickinson’s Life. July 23, 2010. .