Impact of Social Networking and Blogging on Internet Usage Essay

Media Violence: Effects on Youth

Media Violence: Is It Corrupting Our Youth? Since the time the Columbine slaughter, there has been numerous individuals who accuse computer games for brutality among our childhood. In the previous hardly any years, it has gotten typical for all parts of media to portray savagery as a regular thing. Since a dominant part of kids sit in front of the TV or play computer games, it is no big surprise that grown-ups attempt to make the association between the two. In spite of the fact that the media can have an effect on kids, there are likewise a large number of financial components associated with a child’s conduct. This is the issue our general public faces since certain individuals state the media can impact your mind, point of view, and by and large conduct, yet so do your companions, so do your folks, so do your instructors do as well, books. The genuine inquiry is who is at fault? Motion pictures, music, TV programs, computer games, none of these things really cause individuals to carry out violations. Savagery in the media and this present reality ascend in brutality among youngsters isn't a reason yet just an incident. An individual is a gathering of their genuine encounters. Youngsters don't transform into a crazed insane person in the wake of playing a PC game or seeing a film with savagery. The most effortless spot to get a brain for brutality is from a home setting. Grown-ups need to locate an outside hotspot for the development in viciousness among kids as opposed to assuming the accuse direct. It is the guardians, those really answerable for this defilement, who attempt to recommend in any case and carelessness with respect to the individuals who try to locate an alternate reason. Grown-ups appear to guide away from the inexorably confirmed certainty that our entire American culture is doing this to its more youthful age, and not simply the media. To demonstrate this, news reports after the Columbine slaughter in which two upset adolescents go on a dangerous frenzy, credit the children activities to a savage game called â€Å"DOOM†. The media isn't the issue, since children will act brutal in any case. This catastrophe was a consequence of a blend of awful companions, terrible home life, and the fellowship of two individuals who had outrage issues. The guardians would have based their activities off of something different in the event that they didn't have games like â€Å"DOOM† to keep away from examination. Ordinarily kids have upheavals of odd or hazardous conduct that they realize will get them in a tough situation, however as opposed to assuming the fault, they ascribe it to some other source, in spite of the fact that for this situation, it is the guardians and news media who do this. A case of this sort of conduct is the conditions encompassing the renowned Salem black magic preliminaries, where little youngsters turned to accusing their unholy activities exclusively for someone else or the fiend. Nowadays, the â€Å"devil caused me to do it† and â€Å"witchcraft† pardon has lost its validity. Presently individuals need to discover another thing to assume the fault and what simpler objective than a savage videogame. It was not DOOM that caused these children to do what they did, yet a psychological unsteadiness, a propensity for vicious conduct, and other mental components that did. Indeed, they can display their various manslaughters after their preferred computer game or passing metal verse, however at long last, they despite everything slaughtered individuals since they were intellectually flimsy and introverted. I immovably accept a more noteworthy deficiency in issues like these lay with the guardians, as they are ones that should encourage their children directly from wrong. Later in the examination, the consideration did at long last go to the guardians and what they fouled up, yet the awful light that had just been put on those sorts of media has never disappeared. With every one of these kinds of cases, once in a while do we ever know about examinations of how these youngsters were raised or what their surroundings they experienced childhood in resembled. A reason for the ascent in brutality is the fall in association among kids and their folks, which can make mental division where the youngster doesn't feel significant. This could make kids carry on, for the most part through brutality, to get consideration from the grown-ups. Guardians need to step up their child rearing aptitudes and do what they have to do, rather than pointing fingers at every other person. In the event that these children are disturbed, anything can trigger viciousness and trouble making. We have common rationales that create to what is good and bad and what is truth and what is fiction. One of the key factors in this improvement is the guardians and different grown-ups in the child’s life. Grown-ups are more impacting to kids than TV shows and computer games, so grown-ups should assume liability for how the youngster demonstrations. In the event that guardians truly accept that vicious media is doing this to their children, at that point they should control what the children can and can't be presented to. There are a lot of instances of how not to carry on out there. It is up to every individual or potentially their folks to choose what is and isn't satisfactory conduct to copy and fill their head with. Toward the day's end, paying little mind to the result, we are answerable for our activities. On the off chance that an individual were to think about brutality in youth here in the United States and savagery in youth in the remainder of the world, the individual would see that there is pretty much nothing if any relationship among's media and viciousness. The individuals bring up the children who degenerate them and not the media. Moral obligation has been gradually dissolved in the course of the most recent twenty years to a point where individuals are not, at this point answerable for being butterball shaped or going on wrongdoing binges and killing individuals. Moral obligation isn't just a good and moral basic for society; it is freeing and fortifying for a person. This kind of accuse moving is at the center of what's going on with society today. Individuals need to stand up, assume liability, lastly roll out an improvement.

How to Select Best Writing Service

How to Select Best Writing Service Tips for Choosing the Best Writing Service Home›Informative Posts›Tips for Choosing the Best Writing Service Informative PostsWhen you get a college writing assignment, you have only two options: to spend several hours trying to write the paper on your own or to get your assignment done by some writing service. While those students who don’t have a part-time job and are able to allocate most of their time to studying are completely fine with the first option, there are other students who, for whatever reason, simply don’t have enough time to write their paper by themselves. Thus, they have to turn to professionals who can complete their assignment quickly and at high quality standards. These days, you can find a great number of writing services online. But how do you choose the best writing service?Things to consider when looking for the best writing service:PricingThe vast majority of students do not have big sums of extra money, which they can spend on whatever they want, like paying for their writing assignment. That is why affordability of writing services is what you should always take into consideration. Remember, you don’t need the best writing service ever; you need the best writing service for you. Some services might charge a high price claiming that your paper will be written by a Pulitzer Prize winner, but does it really matter to you? As long as your paper is of high quality and delivered on time, you don’t really care who wrote it. So there’s no need to overpay.Looking where to BUY AN ESSAY?Save your time and money! Use QualityCustomEssays.com professionals service to get an A+ paper Place an order get 15%offfor your first orderFeedbackOne of the most convenient ways to find out about the quality of basically any product or service is to read reviews of people who have already tried it. That is why the best writing service is not afraid to allow their customers leave feedback on their official web-site or elsewhere. However, you ha ve to look through the comments section very carefully: if all the comments are positive and sound alike and a bit unnatural, it’s likely that they are fake.Language CompetenceWhen you are searching for the best writing service, you need to know whether your paper will be written by a native speaker or not. Many writing companies use the services of foreign writers, since they don’t have to pay them as much as they would have to pay to native speakers. Very often, it results in poor grammar, inappropriate use of the vocabulary and various stylistic mistakes. And you don’t want to pay for a low-quality work, do you?All in all, in order to find the best writing service, you need to make sure that their price policy corresponds to the quality of the services they provide. Also, you should always pay attention to the feedback provided by the service’s previous customers.

Mental Health Of Public Schools - 3689 Words

Mental Health Education in Public Schools Diana Dorsey, Nicole Dunleavey, Erin Frye, Brittany Foote, and Ashleigh Weyant February 17th, 2015 NURS 430 Professor Pelland On our honor we have neither given nor received help on this assignment. Mental Health Education in Public Schools Suicide and self-harm are significant problems among adolescents aged 12-18 and has contributed to the major increase in suicide rates in the state of Virginia. Public schools in the state of Virginia are not doing a successful job at covering the topics of suicide prevention and mental health. We looked at the state requirements for education and mental health and suicide are required; however, the topics are covered for a very short time.†¦show more content†¦According to the State’s Public School curriculum, health and physical education classes are required to touch on mental health in 3 different grades and suicide prevention is only indicated for grade 10 (â€Å"Health Education Standards of Learning,† 2008). With the vast majority of adolescents attending public schools, there should be a mental health education program in effort to decrease the rise in suicide rates. Because the suicide rate is highest among adolescents ages 12-18, it is especially imp ortant that the state implements a mental health program into the public school curriculum. An education program to get adolescents involved in discussing mental illnesses in relation to suicide can be set in place for middle and high school students. The programs involve not only students, but also the faculty and staff, administrators, and parents. The goal of the execution of a mental health educational program in public school is to decrease the suicide rates of adolescents in Virginia ages 12 to 18 by eliminating social stigmas associated with talking about or seeking help for mental illness Statement of the Issue The state of Virginia requires that public schools address the issues of mental health and suicide during the health and physical education course. However, suicide prevention is only indicated for grade ten and the topic is not taken as seriously as necessary. Suicide prevention is covered for a very short time,

Video Games Good or Bad Essay - 1006 Words

Video Games: Good or Bad? The battle of researchers, depicting whether video games are beneficial or detrimental to children seems to be a new but ongoing argument. With advances in technology and the overwhelming effect of video game entertainment, whether on a computer, video game system, or hand-held device, it is increasingly difficult for parents to monitor their children while occupying their time playing these games. There is more negative research versus positive especially since the topic is just now being researched by psychiatrists, medical personnel, and educationists. Most of the information found on the internet and in publications is starting to take a turn for the positive due to the change in programming and game†¦show more content†¦This leads to children becoming addicted to the gameplay and unable to refrain from thinking of playing, even while in school (Prot, McDonald, Anderson, Gentile, 2012, p.651). These negative effects have a major impact in both males and females bet ween the ages of seven and ten years (Nauert). It is essential to understand and identify the current research pertaining to video games in order to see a different direction. Video games have become a major part of society thanks to the growths in technology; both hardware and software-based. With the convenience of being able to play games on a hand-held device they can be played at any time by any person. That being said, it is even more difficult now for parents to monitor their children with these advancements. However, new research is showing that as children continue to play games appropriate for their age range they have seen new growth in several areas of the brain. According to the Pediatric Clinics of North America, several positive effects of playing age-appropriate video games include improved visual and spatial skills, specific skills and knowledge from educational games, physical activity increase thanks to devices like the Kinect from Microsoft Corporation, and games to improve social behaviors of empathy, as sisting others, and a decrease in aggression (Prot, McDonald, Anderson, Gentile, 2012, p. 648). Visual and spatialShow MoreRelatedEssay on Video Games: Good or Bad?1112 Words   |  5 Pagesinstead. The urge to play â€Å"just one more level† before starting that homework or doing those chores can be quite distracting. But are video games really as awful as Mom exclaims or as brutal as those TV ads depict? It turns out that video games can have a strong impact on participants’ lives in both positive as well as negative ways. 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Succubus Heat CHAPTER 3 Free Essays

string(22) " glanced at the time\." I neither packed nor called Dante when I got home. I was exhausted. Talking to Seth had been too depressing. We will write a custom essay sample on Succubus Heat CHAPTER 3 or any similar topic only for you Order Now I lived too close to the bookstore, I decided. What had once been convenient now felt oppressive. A few blocks simply wasn’t enough distance between Seth and me. I kind of wished Emerald City had another branch somewhere that I could work. In lieu of that, maybe I was the one who needed to find a new residence. My lease here was ending soon, and until now, I’d never considered anything except renewing. Moving was a startling-and weirdly appealing-thought, and I pondered it as I drifted off to sleep that night, my cat Aubrey snuggled against my legs. The next morning, I had to scramble to pack my things. Jerome hadn’t given me any specific time to be in Vancouver, only â€Å"soon.† I decided not to test the exact terms of that. Packing didn’t take long, fortunately. I could shape-shift any clothing I wanted, but I had some favorites I preferred to just take with me. It was another lingering human habit. There were also cosmetics and other toiletries I wanted with me; I liked to do my own hair and makeup if I had the time. I was pouring my third cup of coffee in the kitchen when I felt the tingle of immortal signatures appear in my living room. Only a higher immortal, like a demon or angel, could directly teleport in, and I immediately recognized these two. Grace and Mei. They were Jerome’s lieutenant demonesses. Heaven ran its agenda in a haphazard way, but ours was carefully organized. Territory was parceled out to archdemons, who in turn controlled a network of subordinate demons and lesser immortals like me and my friends: succubi, vampires, and imps. Jerome handled the big issues in the area, went to meetings with the demons who were above him, and was in charge of discipline. Grace and Mei handled the minutiae and paperwork and also kept an eye on the far reaches of Jerome’s territory, areas he was too busy for and uninterested in. His full jurisdiction actually stretched along the coast of western Washington, though his base of operation was the Seattle metropolitan area. That was also where most of his staff was located. He only kept an occasional eye on the outskirts and left it to Grace and Mei to keep him apprised of what occurred there. For whatever reason, the demonesses always wore matching clothing. Today they sported black pantsuits, tailored to a perfect fit. Grace was blond and Mei black-haired, but their hairstyles were also similar: bluntly cut at the chin. Both wore brick-red lipstick. â€Å"Good morning, Georgina,† said Grace. â€Å"We’re here with last-minute instructions,† said Mei. â€Å"Oh, okay.† I was relieved. I’d been afraid Jerome had sent them to find out why I hadn’t already crossed the Canadian border. â€Å"You guys want some coffee?† I offered them something every time they were here, and every time, they refused. So, I was a bit astonished when Grace asked, â€Å"What kind?† â€Å"Um†¦Starbucks. Their house blend.† â€Å"No,† replied Grace and Mei in unison. I shrugged and sat down on the couch. Aubrey had been lying there a minute ago but was nowhere in sight now. She hated these two. Mostly they creeped me out. â€Å"Okay,† I asked. â€Å"What’s the scoop?† They remained standing. Mei crossed her arms. â€Å"Jerome wants you to understand the situation with Cedric. The two of them have had a†¦disagreement over territorial lines.† This perked my interest. â€Å"Ah. It’s him, then. We’d heard Jerome had something going on with another demon.† â€Å"The two of them had been eyeing each other’s areas,† explained Grace. â€Å"In the hopes of expanding their own boundaries into one large Pacific Northwest†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She paused thoughtfully. â€Å"†¦empire?† I suggested. She shrugged by way of agreement. â€Å"Something like that,† said Mei. â€Å"But eventually, they put the dispute aside and gave up, each settling for their current territories. That’s why Jerome is lending you to Cedric, as a sign of good will.† I was too intrigued to retort about the degradation of Jerome â€Å"lending† me to anyone. â€Å"Jerome doesn’t do things out of good will,† I pointed out, recalling his snide remark about altruism last night. â€Å"There’s more going on.† Grace nodded. â€Å"Indeed. Jerome suspects that Cedric actually hasn’t given up the struggle and is still plotting against him. Jerome wants you to spy and report back.† Oh, I didn’t like that. Not at all. â€Å"He wants me to spy on another demon? An arch demon? Do you know what kind of trouble I could get in if Cedric finds out?† Neither demoness said anything. It was no concern of theirs if I got smote. Considering Jerome’s current attitude toward me, it probably wasn’t much of a concern for him either, aside from having to send a requisition to Personnel for a new succubus. â€Å"So,† continued Mei, â€Å"you’ll have two agendas. You need to let Jerome know what Cedric’s doing. And, you need to infiltrate Cedric’s problem cult and keep them in line-although, if you make things a little uncomfortable for Cedric along the way, Jerome won’t mind.† â€Å"Right. The Canadian Satanists. What on earth are they doing that’s such a big deal? Putting 666 on the backs of hockey jerseys?† My joke had no effect on either demoness. Someday, I thought, I’d get one of them to crack a smile. â€Å"They’re attracting attention, enough that Cedric’s superiors are embarrassed. They’d prefer this cult conduct its evil in more subtle ways.† â€Å"Last I knew, true Satanists aren’t actually evil per se,† I mused. The rep aside, most Satanists were more into just acknowledging chaos and humanity’s wild, base nature. â€Å"Most aren’t actually out conducting bloody rituals or spray-painting pentagrams on walls.† â€Å"Actually,† said Mei, â€Å"this group is spray-painting pentagrams on walls.† â€Å"Oh,† I said. â€Å"That’s lame.† â€Å"They think they’re evil†¦Ã¢â‚¬  began Grace. â€Å"†¦but they’re not,† finished Mei. â€Å"They need to be reined in.† â€Å"Okay, sure. No problem.† Influencing wannabe Satanists was a piece of cake compared to spying on a demon. I glanced at the time. You read "Succubus Heat CHAPTER 3" in category "Essay examples" â€Å"Anything else? I should probably head out.† â€Å"Yes,† said Mei. â€Å"Jerome wants you to check in on Tawny.† â€Å"Seriously?† I groaned. â€Å"He hates me.† The demonesses neither confirmed nor denied this statement. â€Å"See you around, Georgina,† said Grace. â€Å"We’ll check in,† said Mei. They vanished. With a heavy heart, I finished my packing and told Aubrey good-bye. Then I lugged my suitcase down to my Passat, off to play Mata Hari. I just hoped my end would be better than hers. Once you clear Everett, a naval city just north of Seattle, the drive up to Canada is pretty easy. The speed limit goes up, and the most exciting attractions along the way are casinos and outlet malls. About a half-hour from the border, I reached Bellingham, the current residence of Tawny Johnson. Tawny was a succubus, a very new succubus. Technically, I was her mentor, but her assignment in Bellingham mercifully limited our interactions. She’d come to Seattle back in December and had gotten involved with an imp named Niphon who’d been trying to make my life more of a living hell than it already was. He’d roped her into his plans, and as angry as I’d been about it, I knew the fault was his more than hers. She hadn’t really known what she was doing and had been convinced he could help fast-track her career. Nonetheless, she’d gotten in enough trouble that Jerome had sent her out of the city. It was better than being sent back to Hell, so really, the arrangement suited all of us just fine. I gave her a call, and we met up at a caf? ¦ just off I-5. Tawny was easy to spot when she entered the place. Despite the fact that Tawny had been kind of a con artist when she was a mortal-a profession you’d think would lend itself well to succubus work-she was actually pretty horrible at seduction. Oh, she could still get guys to sleep with her, but it was more thanks to her availability rather than any particular wiles on her part. In particular, she was convinced that the most alluring form she could take was that of a six-foot blonde with breasts that would have given a human a back injury. Tawny also had a penchant for spandex and metallic fabrics that I found disturbing but that delighted Hugh and the vampires to no end. I made a mental note to tell them about the chartreuse hot pants she wore today. â€Å"Georgina!† she exclaimed, dancing over to my table on gold stilettos. â€Å"I’m so happy to see you.† She held out her arms, like maybe I was supposed to stand and hug her, but I remained sitting. Taking the hint, she sat down as well. â€Å"What are you doing here?† â€Å"I’m going to Vancouver,† I said, wrapping my hands around my white chocolate mocha. â€Å"Jerome wanted me to stop by and see how things were going.† Her eyes lit up. â€Å"Great! I’ve been spending a lot of time over at Western.† She leaned forward and spoke in a sage voice. â€Å"You know, if you’re ever having trouble getting someone into bed, you should go check out college guys. They’re so easy.† â€Å"Thanks for the tip,† I said dryly. â€Å"I’ll keep it in mind.† She pursed her lips and eyed me. â€Å"Doesn’t look like you need it, though,† she added wistfully. â€Å"I could never get a glow like that.† Too bad she hadn’t seen the glow in full effect yesterday. It would have blown her away. â€Å"You will,† I said. â€Å"Someday.† Some day far, far away. Tawny had miles to go before gaining the subtleties required to land really moral guys. â€Å"I don’t know how you do it. You aren’t even blond. I mean, maybe a little, but mostly you’re a brunette. I just don’t see guys going for that.† My hair was long and light brown, lightly highlighted with gold. My eyes were a hazel-green that I also suspected didn’t fit in with her worldview of what was sexy, at least if her baby blues were any indication. â€Å"Yeah, well, some people are into kinky stuff, I guess.† The waiter showed up and took our lunch orders. I made myself comfortable and prepared to do some mentoring. â€Å"So,† I said. â€Å"You got any questions?† Tawny titled her head, long-lashed blue eyes filled with thought. â€Å"Yeah. There’s something I’ve been wondering about.† â€Å"Okay, go for it.† â€Å"These colleges guys†¦they’re kind of, like, fast.† â€Å"Fast?† â€Å"Yeah. You get them into bed, and it’s over before it begins.† â€Å"They’re eighteen or twenty. Still pulsing with adolescent hormones. They don’t really know what they’re doing yet.† â€Å"Yeah, yeah, I know,† she said. â€Å"Except, when you’re going down on them, it takes forever . You know what I mean?† I forced a straight face. â€Å"It’s one of the mysteries of the universe, Tawny. You just gotta roll with it.† â€Å"But my mouth gets sore,† she whined. â€Å"Makes my jaw ache the next day! Isn’t there any way to speed it up?† My immortal friends would die if they could hear this conversation. â€Å"You can try the ‘don’t stop’ trick. Or maybe tell them you want them to come on your face. That’ll get things moving.† â€Å"Ew! That’s disgusting.† I shrugged. â€Å"Don’t ask the question if you don’t want to hear the answer.† â€Å"But how can I even say anything when my mouth is, well, you know†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Thus went the rest of our lunch conversation, and blow jobs turned out to be the mildest of topics. Fortunately, no one sat within listening distance. I ate my chicken salad as fast as I could, eager to be on my way. As we were paying the bill, a thought came to me. â€Å"Hey, Tawny. You’re practically on top of Cedric’s turf here. You ever see any signs of him and Jerome fighting?† She shook her head. â€Å"No. I’ve never even met Cedric. But there’s a vampire here in town who’s mentioned them fighting before. He seems to think it’s a big deal.† â€Å"Everyone seems to, and yet†¦I don’t know. I have a weird feeling about all this. Like that someone’s trying to cover up something.† Tawny placed some cash on the table, her clawlike nails lacquered and red. For half a moment, she looked remarkably wise. â€Å"Back when I was doing cons, the best way to pull one past people was to make a big deal about something else. Misdirection.† It was quite possibly the most intelligent thing I’d ever heard Tawny say. â€Å"Yeah, but if so, what are we being misdirected from?† â€Å"Hell if I know. That’s for smart people like you to figure out. I’m just trying to get college guys to speed up their blow jobs.† My first minute in Canada, I got pulled over. Right after you go through customs, there’s a short stretch of the freeway with an incredibly low speed limit. Every time I drive through there, I try to drive that speed. And I’m the only one who ever does it. All the locals zip through that area, already driving the speed that the freeway clicks up to about half a mile (or kilometer or whatever) later. Every time, just before I officially hit the higher speed zone, I finally crack and speed up too-and that’s always when the cops get me. I’ve been pulled over three times. This was my fourth. I handed over my license and other pertinent paperwork to the cop. â€Å"American, eh?† he asked, like it wasn’t perfectly obvious. â€Å"Yes, sir,† I said. â€Å"You know you were speeding, don’t you?† He mostly sounded curious, not harsh. â€Å"Was I?† I asked blankly, looking at him with doe eyes. I saw the succubus glamour seize him. â€Å"But the sign said sixty-five.† â€Å"Sixty-five kilometers per hour,† he corrected gently. â€Å"We use the metric system here.† I blinked. â€Å"Ohhhh. God, I forgot. I feel so stupid.† â€Å"It happens a lot,† he said. He handed my stuff back without even running it. â€Å"I’ll tell you what. I’ll let you go this time. Just make sure you get the units right, eh? Your speedometer’s got kilometers per hour underneath the miles per hour.† â€Å"Oh, that’s what the little numbers are for, huh-er, eh?† I gave him a dazzling smile. â€Å"Thank you so much.† So help me, he tipped his hat. â€Å"Happy to help. Be careful now, and enjoy your stay.† I thanked him again and headed off. It’s worth noting here that while I’ve been pulled over four times in this stretch, I’ve also gotten off four times. Canadians. So nice. I made it into downtown Vancouver without further incident and checked into my hotel. It was a boutique one over on Robson Street, and I decided maybe Jerome didn’t hate me after all. Or at least, Hell’s travel agency didn’t hate me. Robson was a fun neighborhood, full of restaurants and shopping. I threw my stuff into my room and then headed off to meet Cedric. He would have sensed me crossing into his territory, but I wanted it officially noted for the record that I was here so that I didn’t get in further trouble with Jerome. Unlike Jerome, who was impossible to find sometimes, Cedric actually had a suite of offices over in the Financial District. I kind of liked that. The front desk was staffed by an imp named Kristin. She seemed pleasant enough, just incredibly busy. She told me I’d lucked out and that Cedric could fit me in right now. Walking into his office, I found him at his desk, reading something on Wikipedia. He glanced up. â€Å"Oh. Jerome’s succubus.† He turned from the monitor and gestured to a chair opposite his desk. â€Å"Have a seat.† I sat down and immediately began assessing the office. Nothing about it screamed evil. It was neat and sleek, with an expansive window full of office buildings beyond him. Silver perpetual motion balls sat on his desk, and one of those framed motivational posters hung on the wall. It had a picture of a struggling pine sapling in front of a larger tree and read, DETERMINATION . Cedric himself didn’t look too evil either. He had an average build and pretty blue-gray eyes. He kept his hair shaved army-style, and like Kristin, the biggest vibe I got off him was busy. Inasmuch as one could be busy surfing Wikipedia, that is. I glanced at the screen, curious as to what he’d been looking at. Demonic takeovers, perhaps? â€Å"Oh, that,† he said, following my gaze. â€Å"Just a hobby of mine. It’s the entry on marsupials. I just like going in sometimes and putting in incorrect information. It’s always fun to see how long it takes them to notice. They’re better about it than they used to be, but that just makes it more of a challenge. I just wrote about how marsupials are an integral part of the Lutheran Eucharist.† He chuckled at his own ingenuity. â€Å"God, I hated the Reformation.† I smiled, not entirely sure what to say. Cedric clasped his hands in front of him, face turning serious. â€Å"So, let’s get down to business. You’re here to spy on me.† My mouth opened, but nothing coherent came out right away. â€Å"Um†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He waved his hand. â€Å"No, no, it’s fine. You don’t honestly expect me to believe Jerome would do me a favor without strings attached? Whatever. I don’t have anything to hide. He can keep his territory-I’m too busy watching my own. You can tell him whatever you want so long as you do what I need you to.† â€Å"Right,† I said, finding my voice at last. â€Å"Your embarrassing Satanic cult.† He grimaced. â€Å"God, those guys are such a pain in the ass. What do you know about them?† â€Å"That they aren’t Satanists like the usual groups, not like Anton LaVey’s followers or the anti-Christians.† I felt like a student reciting in front of a class. â€Å"They think they’re anti-Christian, but mostly, they’re just ridiculous. Just some flakes in search of identity who got together and thought it’d be cool to be evil. They have meetings in robes and keep making up secret handshakes.† â€Å"And that’s a problem?† â€Å"Nah, I don’t care about any of that. They can play dress-up all they want. What’s annoying is that they’re doing all the things people think evil people do but don’t actually do. They ripped up a bunch of bibles once and left them on this church’s lawn. They also appear to have a fondness for spray paint.† â€Å"I heard about that.† â€Å"They keep writing stupid stuff like ‘The Angel of Darkness is Lord’ and ‘What Would Satan Do?'† Cedric rolled his eyes. â€Å"Yeah, like that’s original.† â€Å"I can see why you’d be embarrassed,† I admitted. â€Å"No kidding. The worst part is that they’re attracting some media attention- especially among local churches. So, now those guys are doing their own sort of backlash and triggering a whole bunch of demonstrations about faith and light and all that stuff. Not what we need. Kind of defeats our purpose, really.† â€Å"What do you want me to do?† â€Å"Kristin hangs out with them sometimes. They know her and recognize what side she works for, but frankly, she doesn’t have the people skills to manipulate them. She’ll take you to them and give them some bullshit about how you’re high-ranking in the ways of evil or something equally absurd. Then, I want you to hang out with them and just be part of their group. Stop them from doing more stupid things. Get them to go back to their role-playing in the basement. Hell, if you can convince them to disband, go for it.† He eyed me. â€Å"You’re a succubus. You’ve been around for a while. You should be able to talk them into anything.† I nodded. â€Å"I can.† â€Å"Good. I’m tired of them. I’m not allowed to interfere directly, and my own people are too busy.† He stood up and walked toward the door. I took the hint and followed. â€Å"Do whatever you want the rest of the day. Kristin’ll take you over to them tomorrow. Check them out. See what you think. I’ve got some appointments in the morning, but stop by anyway and give me your impressions of those fools.† â€Å"Is there anything in particular you want me to find out for you?† â€Å"Yes,† he said. â€Å"In addition to keeping them out of trouble, I want you to simply observe them. They’re not just attracting media attention-they’re attracting attention from my superiors.† Ah, yeah. Hell could get pissy about that kind of thing. â€Å"If someone’s purposely manipulating them, I want to know.† â€Å"Okay.† He gave me a narrow-eyed look. â€Å"And I hope it’s not Jerome.† He still had that mild, businesslike exterior, but I heard the stern note in his voice. I shivered but gave him a smile anyway, trying not to think about misdirection. â€Å"I hope not either.† I was a bit surprised at how short my meeting with Cedric had been. I was more surprised still that after all the grief Jerome had given me about the urgency of this trip, I now had nothing to do. Of course, if he was trying to get rid of me, this was as good a way as any. My bad attitude and I were out of Seattle. It was dinnertime when I got back to Robson Street, so I found food at an Ethiopian restaurant a few blocks from my hotel and lingered over the remains of my meal with a novel I’d picked up a few days ago. Afterward, I wandered up and down the street, looking at various shops and designers, but eventually had to stop after passing two T-shirt stores. One sold retro stuff and had a dark purple Quiet Riot shirt in their window. Another sold Canadian souvenirs and displayed a shirt showing a map of Canada in red with a map of the U.S. below it in blue. The caption read: â€Å"Canada Likes It on Top.† If I’d still been dating Seth, I would have bought him both. He would have shaken his head and given me a slight quirk of the lips as he tried to hide his smile. The thought depressed me, and I found myself growing sadder and sadder as I walked back to my hotel. In that moment, I would have given anything to be with Seth again, to right the wrongs we’d done to each other back around Christmastime. Losing him was losing a part of me that- Searing, white-hot anger suddenly shot through me. What the fuck was I whining about? Why should I miss him? Why should I pine for someone who’d betrayed me and hurt me with my friend , of all people? Seth didn’t deserve my longing or my love, and as I continued walking, that dark despair within me transformed to rage and spite-just as it had done nearly every day for the past four months. When I got back to the hotel, I was no longer sad. I was pissed. I hated everyone and everything, but especially Seth. I wanted to make him pay. Unfortunately, there was no way to do that, not here in Vancouver. Passing near the hotel’s bar on my way through the lobby, I paused and surveyed the patrons. It was a veritable smorgasbord of men, most of them lone travelers making transient friends over their drinks. My succubus lust sprang up in me, and suddenly, all I wanted was to get drunk and go to bed with some guy. I wanted to lose myself in the haze of alcohol and fucking, in the hopes that it might all dull the pain that lay buried under my anger. And as I scanned the room, one guy in particular caught my attention. The face was all wrong, but he had hair almost the same color as Seth’s. It was worn messy too, though it appeared as though he’d achieved that look with gel, rather than the lack of brushing Seth employed. No, this guy wasn’t a perfect match by any means, but he was close, and there was an aura of shy vulnerability about him that I liked. Putting on a smile, I strolled across the room to introduce myself. I might not be able to actually punish Seth, but at least for tonight, I could pretend that I could. How to cite Succubus Heat CHAPTER 3, Essay examples

Theories and Methods in Counseling free essay sample

This paper will take the reader briefly through the three grand theories of counseling in psychology and then onto the two emergent theories, which are based on observation, biology, sociology or anthropology. From that framework, some methods/therapies will be discussed and then a brief look at legal and ethical concerns will be presented in order to prepare the reader for the author’s Biblical perspective, which highlights the obvious missing element in the development of these theories/therapies. The Biblical references are the author’s personal choices and not the only relevant instances to be found in the Bible for spiritual insight into the theories and methods of psychology. The paper will then conclude with this penman’s personal reflection on this material and how it relates to her future practice of counseling. Keywords: Freud, grand theories, emergent, methods, therapies, ethics, Biblical Theories and Methods in Counseling Psychological theories and the therapies that result from them are of great importance to the counselor who is engaged in helping people through difficult times and/or mental illness. We will write a custom essay sample on Theories and Methods in Counseling or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The modern western tradition of counseling, and in particular psychoanalysis, began with Sigmund Freud. Very little effort is given here to understand where his ideas originated, but, that does not mean his thoughts were independent of his culture, time period, and personal experiences. For Freud, and in fact everyone after him, individual theories and concepts evolve and in time â€Å"new† theories appear as older ideas give way to new-found â€Å"truths†. This paper begins with Freud and then onto the two other grand theories, behaviorism and cognitive theory. On this journey, the reader will be traveling from the end of the Enlightenment, through modernism and end up in the post-modern world. Although not directly stated, this can be seen as Freud’s opinion that mankind is just incapable of understanding the sub-conscious progressing onto behaviorism where â€Å"reason† should be able to explain all things. Reason failed to solve all the issues that could trouble a person and the pursuit of understanding how people think (cognitive theory) began which lead to new methods and therapies. In parallel, society changed with legal and ethical questions demanding attention. The paper then progresses toward general Biblical concepts ending in the author’s personal reflection concerning counseling. In the counseling profession, there is support to be eclectic when choosing a therapy and without knowledge of the origins of various therapies and understanding how they are to operate one cannot be effective. Add to this the focus of solving a person’s specific issue with time constraints, demands a counselor who is on firm intellectual and spiritual ground. Grand theories Psychoanalytic Psychoanalytic theory is credited to Sigmund Freud whose practice as a physician involved treating people with mental illness. He developed his psychosexual theories after hearing patients relate their dreams and fantasies. Freud posited that development in the first six years is characterized by sexual happiness related to a specific part of the body (Berger, 2008). Birth to one year is the oral stage, one to three years of age represents the anal stage, three to six years is the phallic stage, six to eleven years the latency stage, and the adolescent period is described as the genital stage, continuing into adulthood where it remains dominant. Problems arise in individuals when conflicts in one or more of these stages are unresolved (Berger, 2008). Unresolved conflicts are revealed by the unconscious via dreams, fantasies, slips of the tongue, and the symbolic content of the symptoms, as well as free association, projection, and posthypnotic suggestion symptoms (Corey, 2009). This approach suggests that the unconscious holds the key to resolving neurotic symptoms. Here the therapist can help the patient by being a â€Å"blank screen† where â€Å"transference† can take place thus beginning the work of change. This can be a long process (Jones amp; Butman, 2011) and requires a therapist who is well qualified as well as a client who is ready and willing to change (Corey, 2005). Freud also gave modern psychology the concepts of the â€Å"id†, described as instinctual and the principal source of psychic energy, the â€Å"ego† which contacts the external world and provides executive control, and the â€Å"superego† where the moral code resides to decide whether an action is right or wrong, good or bad (Corey, 2009). The â€Å"working through† described above was termed â€Å"catharsis† and could be considered an energy exchange where the â€Å"id† releases energy in appropriate ways (Jones, amp; Butman, 2011). Freud does not use the term catharsis in the Stoic sense where it implied â€Å"the separation of the mind from the emotional attachment to external, material things (Robertson, 2005, para. 8). The goal of these efforts was to be able to reconcile the unconscious and conscious, enabling behavior based on reality and not on instincts or guilt (Corey, 2009). Erik Erikson also was of the opinion that problems later in life were the result of childhood conflicts and constructed his eight stages of development with the first five being similar to Freud. However, his view was from the cultural and family perspective and was considered psychosocial (Berger, 2008) with the goal of conflict resolution in each stage of development. Erikson saw the conflicts as trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, imitative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. solation, generativity vs. stagnation and integrity vs. despair (Corey, 2009). Psychoanalytic theory certainly captured people’s imagination and with a bigger than life champion, Sigmund Freud, it was birthed around the modern world. Behaviorism There is no question that Freud was a â€Å"rock star† however the smoke did clear due in part to the efforts of John Watson. He felt that psychology should, â€Å"†¦ limit ourselves to thing s that can be observed, and formulate laws concerned only with those things †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Berger, 2008, p. 38). This began the endeavor to understand how and why people act and think the way they do based on a yet to be discovered set of laws (Berger, 2008). Researchers were known as â€Å"learning theorist†, because it was thought that behavior is learned, deciphering how the learning took place became the focus of this new science. Observing not only people but, animals as well, clues to this mystery were to be uncovered. Ivan Pavlov, a Nobel Prize winner for his insights into animal digestion, uncovered â€Å"conditioning†, or how certain stimuli will consistently result in certain responses (Berger, 2008). The term classical conditioning, also known as respondent conditioning (Corey, 2005) became an accepted explanation of behavior: however it was not an all encompassing explanation. Recognizing the limitations, B. F. Skinner believed that classical conditioning explained behavior in simple circumstances, but saw that in complex areas of life, behavior will be modified if a reward or avoidance of adverse stimuli occurs (Corey, 2009). He called this operant conditioning that is also known as â€Å"instrumental conditioning† (Berger, 2008, p. 39). From this, another term, reinforcement came into use to take the place of reward. Reward implies immediacy while reinforcement does not necessarily happen every time an action is taken. Also reinforcement can be positive or negative, which will eventually modify behavior (Corey, 2009). The new science of behaviorism theory (BT) was at odds with psychoanalytic theory (PT) in several areas. Regarding the unconscious, PT posits that it is unknown while BT believes that it can be known and can be a barrier to self-improvement. Behavior that is observed is considered a symptom in PT and BT only looks at what a person does. PT states that childhood experiences remain an influence throughout one’s entire life while BT looks to current conditioning to unlearn and even reverse habits and patterns learned in childhood. The final dispute is extremely interesting in its far reaching implications, PT believes â€Å"†¦ most aspects of human development are beyond the reach of scientific experiment; uses ancient myths, the words of disturbed adults, dreams †¦ as raw material† while BT is described as â€Å"proud to be science, dependent on verifiable data and carefully controlled experiments; discards ideas that sound good but are not proven† (Berger, 2008, p. 8). Behaviorism, as a theory and science, gained acceptance and continued to expand in scope. This mechanistic view of conditioning, although clean and precise, could not explain all behaviors. People can learn from others without the benefit of reward or reinforcement. Again, from the observation of animals and people, another perspective, known as cognitive theory began. Cognitive Moving from the explanations of behavior as a science, interest began to grow in how the thought process works. Why do different people think the way they do, what formed their individual process, and how are these processes organized? An early pioneer in this work was Jean Piaget who held that thoughts and expectations greatly impact one’s actions, assumptions, beliefs and values (Berger, 2008). Cognitive theory also recognizes that peoples’ thought processes are malleable through time and experience. As the thought process changes so does behavior and Piaget managed to identify four major periods of cognitive development; sensorimotor from birth to two years of age where learning is active with no conceptual or reflective thought, preoperational takes over from two to six years of age with language being used to understand their egocentric world, concrete operational begins at six years of age and continues to eleven years of age with the child applying logic to interpret experiences objectively, however thinking is limited to what is in their immediate environment and experience, and formal operational beginning at twelve years of age and continuing for the rest of one’s life where abstractions and hypothetical concepts are reasoned analytically as well as emotionally (Berger, 2008). Under this theory, intellectual advancement occurs when a person tries to achieve a mental balance or â€Å"cognitive equilibrium† (Berger, 2008, p. 44). One tool used to achieve this end is to make sense of new experiences from the vantage point of preexisting ideas, which is termed assimilation. If these new experiences cannot be assimilated then pre-existing ideas may need to be updated in order to achieve â€Å"accommodation’ (Berger, 2008, p. 45). In summary, it can be stated that development using cognitive theory is where growth is an active process in responding to new and challenging ideas, while the psychoanalytic approach maintains that growth is dependent on maturity and behaviorism postulates that repetition is the key to growth (Berger, 2008). The ideas put forth in the three grand theories were formulated nearly a century ago and provided a springboard for new developments. Emergent Sociocultural In the grand theories one can see that the focus was on the individual and then began to expand to where it was believed our action with others shaped our growth. Surprisingly, the founder of sociocultural theory, Lev Vygotsky, worked in global obscurity in Soviet Russia and his ideas were not accessible until after the Cold War ended (Berger, 2008). Vygotsky had a large group of people who were both economically and ethnically diverse as well as children who were considered mentally retarded to observe (Berger, 2008). His theory is built upon the idea that people live in societies and therefore they must acquire specific capabilities and knowledge in order to function in their society. Tutors who come in the form of teachers, friends, and even strangers must guide the novice, in society. Together they offer â€Å"guided participation† to help the novice learn in an informal way. This idea must be coupled with the concept of â€Å"zone of proximal development† (ZPD) where the student must be in the â€Å"zone†, an area where the material is not already known and the material is not too difficult at that particular time. A major departure from the grand theories is that guided participation is an active process where the student and the teacher learn from each other (Berger, 2008). There is certainly a great amount of merit in this theory and it can be observed everyday in society. There is however, a concern that the particular society itself may have questionable values (Berger, 2008). Epigenetic Epigenetic theory is a recent theory that draws from biology, genetics and chemistry. The main construct is that, â€Å"†¦ genes interact with the environment to allow development (Gottlieb, 2003)† (Berger, 2008, p. 49) According to this theory all physical and psychological traits are influenced by genes. Combine this with the development process and one can conclude that this interaction results in a specific range of outcomes or a â€Å"reaction range†. These outcomes are not automatic, for example, having a genetic disposition to become an addict simply does not equate to becoming an addict (Berger, 2008). The next sections will bring the reader closer to some modern day therapies found in psychology and are not an exhaustive list by any means. Methods / Therapies Existential Therapy Existential therapy, whose most famous advocates were Viktor Frankl and Rollo May, is more of a philosophical approach than a major psychological theory (Wilks, 2003) however, it bears mentioning because it has a place in counseling. At the center of this â€Å"therapy’ is that each individual has free will and life is not deterministic (Corey, 2009). The first step is to help the client discover areas where they have acquiesced and relinquished control. This is the beginning of realizing their full potential and next is encouraging them to purposefully act toward that end (Fernando, 2007). The core concepts of freedom and responsibility are communicated to the client by insightful maneuvering of the counselor (Fernando, 2007). Distinctive to the existential approach is that suffering can be meaningful and a tremendous precipitator for change (Fernando, 2007). Behavior Therapy Behavior therapy is based on behaviorism. B. F. Skinner and Albert Bandura furthered the original premise. The basic concepts have been outlined in the section above; but it is worth mentioning the contribution of Albert Bandura with his development of social learning theory that combined classical and operant conditioning with observational learning (Corey, 2009). This therapy is non-deterministic and maintains that the individual is the â€Å"†¦ producer and product of his or her environment† (Corey, 2009, p. 237). With that said it should come as no surprise that the goals of this therapy are for the client to have greater personal choice and the generation of new conditions for learning (Corey, 2009). Cognitive Behavior Therapy Cognitive behavior therapies are the expansion of behavior therapy. Here we can see variations on the theme as presented by Albert Ellis who developed rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), Aaron T. Beck’s version of cognitive therapy (CT), and Donald Meichenbaum’s cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) (Corey, 2009). These are all short term approaches and share the following; collaboration between the therapist and the client, the premise that psychological distress is a result of cognitive disturbances, changing cognition will result in improvement, and that the goal is resolution of a specific problem in a short period of time (Corey, 2009). The client plays an active role during the entire process including â€Å"homework†. It has been posited that these theories do not put forth any objective truth and perhaps their purpose is to provide a narrative structure (Hansen, 2006). There has been research into â€Å"third wave† or mindfulness based cognitive therapy that is showing promise (Bhanji, 2011) and focuses on changing the â€Å"relationship to inner experiences† (Bhanji, 2011 p. 65) as opposed to modifying thought content. Legal Issues Regarding Theory and Method The previous sections have introduced basic information about various theories and methods.