Monday, August 26, 2019
Advocacy Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Advocacy Speech - Essay Example This therefore begs the question, what is mental illness? This is a disorder that affects oneââ¬â¢s mood, thinking and behaviour. Examples of mental illnesses include depression, schizophrenia, addictive traits and eating disorders. Mental disorder can be observed when someone starts to constantly feel sad or down, sex drive changes, extreme anger, drug and alcohol abuse, withdrawal from daily activities, detachment from reality, change in eating habits, low energy levels, and worst of all suicidal thoughts. Traumatic experiences, medical conditions such as cancer, stressful situations, unhealthy relationships and previous mental illness could be a trigger. One in four adults suffers from mental illness and about half of American adults develop this disorder at some point in their lives. Seventy five percent of the people affected globally come from low-income countries and fourteen percent of the global burden is attributed to mental illness. Is there a cure? Most people might question themselves. Several treatment remedies have been introduced and are rarely referred to as cures. Medications mainly applied by psychiatrists include mood-stabilizing medications, anti-anxiety medications, anti-depressants and anti-psychotic medications. Psychotherapy and brain-stimulation treatments are oftenly applied and residential and hospital programmes are sometimes provided. It is hard to prevent mental illness, though itââ¬â¢s important to take good care of oneself, check out for warning signs, have routine medical care and most importantly get help when necessary. In the most severe cases, mental illness could require guidance of a loved one or a doctor until they are able to participate in decision-making. Depending on the symptoms, there could be personal preferences, and this can be put into consideration by the affected person, working along with his or her health care provider. This said, time has therefore come for mental illness
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Mental Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1
Mental Health - Essay Example Today, doctors are able to treat and manage all these mental conditions (Hind 2010). According to Hind (2010, p.536) these mental problems affect all individuals regardless of their gender, religion, age, income, race, or social status. The beliefs that people hold about mental illnesses are not true. Such beliefs include personal weaknesses as the cause of mental illnesses, poor upbringing as the cause, and lack of character as the cause of mental illness (Hind 2010). Moreover, mental illnesses are treatable, and those diagnosed with severe ones actively participate in a treatment plan that is done individually, to relieve symptoms of their illness (Lisa 2014, p. 97). The feelings, thoughts, and behaviours of a person can also be influenced by a mental health problem, but not to a greater extent as the mental illness. Stresses of life can lead to mental health problems, which are common and temporary. Mental illnesses are more severe than mental health problems, although mental health problems if not dealt with early might lead to mental illnesses. Not only does people who experience mental illnesses suffer a lot, but also their friends, children and relatives suffer a lot (Lyndall 2003, p. 154). Moreover, the problems associated with these kinds of illnesses tend to increase day by day. The World Health Organization suggests that by the year 2020, mental illness like depression will be among the biggest health problems. Depressive and anxiety disorders are widespread mental illnesses. Every individual experiences intense feelings of fear, sadness, or fear at times. However, when these feelings become overwhelming and disturbing in a way that coping with daily activities becomes difficult, then that person is suffering from a mental illness. Relationships for such people become hard to maintain, coping with work becomes difficult, and leisure time becomes
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Eng 45 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words
Eng 45 - Essay Example In the first stanza the poet is also being called by the rope, he is instead in a terrible state that he is dispatched and left to wonder along the cathedral. The image portrayed by this line is that, the poet steps from hell but only to get his feet inserted in the cold. The cathedral does not give him the chance and opportunity to speak to God as it does other people. This is a description of the poets suffering, from the lines in the first stanza it is obvious that the life he lives does not offer much comfort. He speaks of God as a sign that he knows of His existence but, the thought stops there he knows but does not believe. A peek into Harts life show how much he believes in his talents. He saw himself a s a genius who was being persecuted by the world for his sexual beliefs. On several instances he used it to his advantage. The poem echoes the Greek tragedy in the tale of Orpheus, he descended in the underground and came back to enlighten the rest of the world of his experiences of hell. His underground was his escape from home; rough gay bars of New York. His writing a way of letting the world know of his experience. Crane saw himself as a tragic figure and his sexual orientation and the problems it caused him seem central to this.Ã Ã Ã Ã There is corps of shadows in the bell tower, even before the sun is up or the bells are rung. The corps could be a representation of earlier poets whose greatness allowed them the power to roam the world in the peaceful morning while everyone is still asleep. The poet gives the human power Godly abilities of having life after death. The same way Jesus did his work, and served the people and died for their sins but he sits in heaven (Luke, 23) and watches over mankind even while in their sleep. The poet seeks same greatness, as a reader one sees this in his writing the way he speaks of corps who roam along the
Friday, August 23, 2019
Course Work Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Course Work - Coursework Example The moral hazard problem occurred as a result of asymmetric information after transaction happens and prompts dispute of interests. It is the hazard that borrower in a monetary contract has the motivating forces to participate in hazardous activities that are making it more difficult that the loan amount will be paid back. On the off chance that there is no asymmetry in the data that a lender and a borrower had, which implies the lender can keep enlightened about the borrower whereabouts and screen borrower to follow the terms of the transaction they agreed upon. There should not have the problem of moral hazard. Yet, as a general rule, if financial intermediaries proceed as a lender, to set up a refined and frequently monitor system for every individual borrowers may cause a tremendous cost for financial organizations, or significantly bigger than the loss from the expected default hazard (Dionne and Lasserre). Moreover, if a monetary organization works as a borrower, the administration can limit the trading on insider trading on the biggest stockholders, yet different representatives in the organizations, for example, directors and senior managers might additionally increase profit from the special data which could influence the offer value when unveiled, and trades generate profit or evade losses before the public be informed of the data. Since these data are internal and confidential, therefore, it is hard for potential investors to get knowledge from this and cannot evade the hazard issue from it. Consequently, the problem will still exist (Dionne and Lasserre). In 2008, as a financial crisis began to unfold in the United States, the FDIC raised the limit on insured losses to bank depositors from $100,000 per account to $250,000 per account. How would this help stabilize the financial system? As the 2008 financial crises occurred due to the failure of financial institutions like Lehman Brothers
Thursday, August 22, 2019
History of Psycology Essay Example for Free
History of Psycology Essay Before psychology there was philosophy. Descartes was around during the end of the Renaissance and in the era of revolutionary developments in science. Born in 1596 to a French lawyer, Descartes could understand more than most. When he was in his late 20ââ¬â¢s, he resembled more of a scientist than a philosopher since he had studied physics, optics, geometry as well as physiology. The first to discover that lenses in oneââ¬â¢s eyes are inverted by removing an oxââ¬â¢s eye, Descartes also believed in truth and was an active rationalist, meaning he believed the truth would emerge by careful use of reason and it became his modus operandi. This way to truth was also through the human capacity to reason. He created four rules he used to arrive at truth. He also was the best-known example of a dualist, giving way to accepting a clear partition between mind or soul and body. He believed that the body was like a well-oiled machine and the mind could have a direct influence on it. John Locke followed Descartes in 1632. He wanted to take epistemology, the study of human knowledge and obtaining it, to a more experimental based group of discipline. Locke spurned the idea of innate ideas, only ââ¬Å"facultiesâ⬠. Some ideas appeared so early in life that they used to believe they were innate but Locke declared that all of our knowledge was derived from experiences. Locke stated that the mind was like a white sheet of paper, blank but able to become something great. Experiences add to the paper by sensations and reflections. George Berkeley was another philosopher born in 1685. His work on vision was the first example of how empiricist thinking could be applied to the study of perception. Lastly there is David Hume. He built his knowledge around the base premise that all of our understanding is rooted in experience, or impressions vs.ideas. Impressions are basic sensations experienced daily such as feeling pain, seeing yellow or tasting saltiness. Ideas are faint copies of impressions but are not as vivid. Hume also offered three laws of association: resemblance, contiguity, and cause/effect. Resemblance meaning the look of one object can bring back memories or ideas of another item. Contiguity means intertwining two things together such as the smell of oranges and the west coast. The greatest of the laws is the law of cause/effect. If one idea causes another idea or memory, the cause reminds you of the effect i.e. burning your hand on the stove while making muffins. When seeing the scar, the memory of muffins will reappear. Hume also suggested that to conclude that A causes B, one must know 1. When A occurs, B must occur regularly, 2. A occurs before B, and 3. B doesnââ¬â¢t occur without being preceded by A. In the 19th century, psychology shifted from being philosophically based to being more scientific. Scientists and physiologists tried to show the world the reasons behind psychology were in fact based on the senses and the nervous system. One example is the Bell-Magendie law. Both Sir Charles Bell and Francois Magendie both were studying the roots of the postierior and anterior roots of the spinal cord and their functions. Bell was credited with the law because his research was published earlier, though limited, and Bell did not conduct an experiment like Magendie did on puppies. They discovered that the posterior roots control sensation where there is movement still but no sensation. Magendie then severed the anterior root in another animal and the limb was flaccid and unable to move though it still had sensation. To conclude, the science of psychology has always been a changing domain from philosophy to the sciences. It will continue to grow and develop as the world changes and shifts. Descartes started the ball rolling by studying optics and how to arrive at the truth with his four laws. Locke showed the world that it is nurture vs. nature that shapes a person. Hume gave us the three laws of association. In the 19th century psychology developed to include sciences. All of these philosophers and scientists shaped the psychology field to what it is today.
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Australian Aboriginal Dot Art Essay Example for Free
Australian Aboriginal Dot Art Essay Aboriginal art has been overshadowed by the idea that it is primarily presented in dots. It has got to the point where people believe that certain Aboriginal people own the dot and artists both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal are hesitant to use consecutive dots within artwork. Explain how the above has evolved and where dot art has come from Dot paintings today are recognised globally as unique and integral to Australian Aboriginal art. On the surface the dot is simply a style of Aboriginal painting, like the use of cross-hatching or stencil art. Exploring deeper into the history of the Aboriginal dot painting a world of camouflage, secrecy and ritual is discovered. The term ââ¬Ëdot paintingââ¬â¢ stems from what the Western eye sees when faced with contemporary Aboriginal acrylic paintings. This painting style arose from the Papunya art movement in the 1970s. Papunya Tula artists used a process which originally mirrored traditional spiritual ceremonies. In such rituals the soil would be cleared and smoothed over as a canvas (much like the dark, earthy boards used by the Papunya Tala) for the inscription of sacred designs, replicating movements of ancestral beings upon earth. These Dreaming designs were outlined with dancing circles and often surrounded with a mass of dots. Afterward the imprinted earth would be smoothed over, painted bodies rubbed away, masking the sacred-secrets which had taken place. This ritual was shifted from ground to canvas by the Papunya Tula who eventually added an array of naturally produced colours to the restricted palette of red, yellow, black and white produced from ochre, charcoal and pipe clay. Such pieces reveal a map of circles, spirals, lines, dashes and dots, the traditional visual language of the Western Desert Aboriginal People. However these marks were permanent and due to arising interest made public, creating internal political uproar. Consequently representations of sacred objects were forbidden or concealed through the dotting technique. Now that the collecting of pieces of Aboriginal art has become so popular world-wide, a common, mistaken belief is that the Dot Painting Style of Central Australia is a recent development. This belief arises because it was in the 1960s that a Central Australian school teacher encouraged the old men of the tribe to record their art on European sheets of board, using acrylic paints. This use of acrylic paints on flat board dates from that time. However, the art style itself, with geometric designs, is seen in the petroglyphs (rock engravings) dating back thousands of years. Ancient petroglyphs showing concentric circles (non-naturalistic art style), inland South Australia The use of dots was once Australia-wide, particularly seen on body decoration when people are painted for ceremonies, and paintings in the remote Kimberley region where dots are clearly seen on the body decoration of some of the earliest human figures, likely to be older than 20,000 years. See accompanying photo. ) Dot decoration on the body of an ancient human figure, Kimberley Aboriginal Art: Traditional to Contemporary The resurgence of Australian Indigenous art has become one of the most brilliant and exciting new eras of modern art. It has grown with such amazing diversity and enthusiasm that art critic, Robert Hughes, has described it as the last great art movement. For indigenous Austr alians art has been a part of their culture and tradition for thousands of years and is recognised as one of the oldest living art traditions. Though, over the past 30 years it has progressed from being confined primarily to the tourist industry, to become a richly, evolving international art movement. Since the Renaissance of Aboriginal art during the early 1970s, Aboriginal artists have been encouraged to find new, innovative ways of incorporating cultural traditions into their imagery. This encouragement first began through an art teacher, Geoffrey Bardon, who became the catalyst for contemporary Aboriginal art. Fascinated by the traditional sand designs created by Indigenous children in Papunya, Bardon encouraged the Aboriginal community to re-create their Dreamtime stories through paintings. He introduced them to acrylic paint and from there Aboriginal art gained a more permanent form and the style, popularly known as dot art, emerged as the most recognisable form of Aboriginal art. It was a new form of art which also allowed Aborigines to, for the first time, express to the rest of Australia and the world, the ancient traditions of their culture. Many Aboriginal artists have chosen to continue practicing traditional art as a means of conserving the conventional method of creating, inherited from their tribal ancestors. Their content, which is explicitly aboriginal, is usually derived from their history and culture, as a continuation of the spiritual link they possess with their country. Research When The emergence of dot paintings by Indigenous men from the western deserts of Central Australia in the early 1970s has been called the greatest art movement of the twentieth century. Prior to this, most cultural material by Indigenous Australians was collected by anthropologists. Consequently, collections were found in university departments or natural history museums worldwide, not art galleries. Where That all changed at a place called Papunya. Papunya was a sit-down place established in the early 1960s, 240 kilometres northwest of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory (NT). The settlement brought together people from several western desert language groups: the Pintupi, Warlpiri, Arrernte (Aranda), Luritja, and the Anmatyerr, who were unaccustomed to living in close proximity to each other. Dot Painting or Aboriginal Dot Art originated in the desert using natural substances on the ground in the sand. Those pictures in the sand are not unlike the paintings we see today produced using acrylic paints. The acrylic paintings are usually done using acrylic paint and it is applied to canvas or art board with various diameter sticks dipped into paint and then applied one dot at a time. The Australian Aborigine of the western desert constructed their stories using ochre, sand, blood, coal from their fires and plant material placed together on the ground clump by clump for various ceremonial occasions. If you look at the desert landscape from the height of any small bluff or hill what you see looking down are clumps of growth scattered about a red landscape. The spinifix grass, desert hardwood bush and occasional rocks or rock outcrops make up the myriad of dots that seem to cover the landscape. Because everything in the desert has meaning to the Australian Aborigine these seemingly unimportant arrays of pattern in the desert have special meaning to the Dot painters of the western desert. If you were to ever fly over the desert low enough to see what was on the ground you would see what he dot painting has replicated for you to see. These dots are a myriad of clumps of natural splendour which might go unnoticed had you not seen a dot painting and looked to see what it was about. The arrangement of the plants, rocks and water are all part of the spirit of creation and it is because of this placement that Aboriginal people have traversed the deserts safely without printed maps for th ousands of years. The placement and arrangement of all of these natural things are in songs and these songs are often sung while the painting is being created. Nearly every painting has a song and the songs often disclose important ceremonial facts about a particular region or area. These important ceremonial places are often in the paintings but because they are sacred to Aboriginal people they are camouflaged in some way, visible to the initiated person but invisible to others who do not know what to look for. Many paintings contain these special hidden meanings and the new owners of these paintings will never know what the whole story of their purchased painting is about. Only over time may some insight be gained from looking at the painting. This is a point of pride among the Australian Aboriginal artists because they see the purchase of their art or for them the sale of their art, as a validation of their race and culture by others. This is because a value has been placed on the art. Since the Australian Aboriginal culture is depicted in all traditional paintings they are passing down their knowledge in the only way they are able, to those who have yet to understand it. The Aboriginal people do not have a written language so these painting of their stories and ceremonies are all they have to save this culture for future generations. The colour and the placement of the dots are important to depicting the visible message and camouflaging the hidden message in Aboriginal dot art. Even the over painting of an area of the work has special significance and may convey different messages. Some people gifted with a since of tactile feeling are able to feel a special vibrancy emanating from their painting. Who Many of the significant early artists at Papunya were senior men who had vivid memories of their first contact with white people. Typically, they came out of the desert as adults during the 1950s drought and their connection to ritual law was strong. The first artists collective, Papunya Tula Artists, was set up in 1972 by men from this settlement. Papunya Tula Artists was the inspiration and model for many other Indigenous artists collectives. In 2009 there are 42 desert Indigenous art communities represented by Desert. The artwork was seen as a way to keep the culture alive, and carry Indigenous stories to the world. The movement was seen as being about recollection and cultural memories linked to Dreamingââ¬â¢s or story types. Why the modern aboriginal ââ¬Å"dot artâ⬠movement started? Geoffrey Bardon AM (1940ââ¬â2003) Geoffrey Bardon began working as an art teacher at Papunya Special School in 1971. Concerned that the schools curriculum, appearance and ethos seemed out of step with Aboriginal culture, Bardon attempted unsuccessfully to involve his class in painting a series of murals on the school walls. Thereupon Kaapa Tjampitjinpa, Long Jack Phillipus Tjakamarra, Billy Stockman Tjapaltjarri and others created the Honey Ant Mural, which inspired many senior men to ask Bardon for painting materials and eventually begin painting in the Mens Painting Room. The Mens Painting Room, Papunya Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula can be seen in the middle ground painting a Kalinypa Water Dreaming. His two boomerangs are placed in front of the board as percussion instruments, ready to be used to accompany the verses of the Water Dreaming, sung at intervals during the painting process, June-August 1971 Photo: Michael Jensen Convinced of the groundbreaking importance of what he was witnessing, Bardon made comprehensive photographic, moving film and written records of the artists and the paintings that they produced while he was at Papunya. From his primary research, Bardon wrote three books and made three films that initiated public interest in Western Desert art. In 1988 Bardon was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for his unique contribution to the Western Desert art movement. The Honey Ant Mural, July 1971 Geoffrey Bardon and his Arerrnte assistant, Obed Raggett, had noticed people drawing designs in the sand at Papunya. Following this precedent, they drew circles and spirals on the blackboard in an unsuccessful attempt to encourage their class of adolescent boys to paint a series of murals on a whitewashed, cement-rendered wall of the Papunya Special School. In late July 1971, after painting a series of smaller practice murals, seven painters collaborated in the painting of a monumental mural representing the Honey Ant Dreaming specific to the site of Papunya. Working under the direction of custodians Mick Wallangkarri Tjakamarra and Tom Onion Tjapangati, the artists included Kaapa Tjampitjinpa, Billy Stockman Tjapaltjarri, Long Jack Phillipus Tjakamarra, Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula and Don Ellis Tjapanangka. The Honey Ant Mural, a bold expression of Aboriginal culture in a government settlement, occasioned great rejoicing at Papunya and inspired immense pride in the community. Geoffrey Bardon in front of the Honey Ant Mural, Papunya, August 1971 Photo: Robert Bardon à © artists and their estates 2011, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Limited and Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd Pintupi people from the Western Desert Pintupi is the name of a Western Desert language spoken by Aboriginal people who belong to a large stretch of country in the Gibson Desert of Western Australia and the western edge of the Northern Territory. When the Pintupi arrived in the government settlements east of their traditional lands between the 1930s and the 1950s, they adopted the term Pintupi to distinguish themselves from the surrounding Aboriginal inhabitants as the people from the west. They were among the last Aboriginal people in Australia to abandon their nomadic lifestyle, the last family arriving into the newly established community of Kiwirrkura in 1984. In Papunya, the Pintupi, bound to each other by their dominant loyalties of relatedness and kinship, were ostracised due to their lack of conversance with kartiya (non-Aboriginal) customs and their perceived lack of sophistication. Diversity within ââ¬Å"dot artâ⬠showing two different artists works. Uta Uta Tjangala Traditional Artist Uta Uta Tjangala, who is an exemplar of the historical cultural tradition, Uta Utaââ¬â¢s painting career and reputation is closely aligned to the artistic renaissance that began at Papunya in 1971. He was a founding member of the mens painting group, inspired other Pintupi tribesmen, and becoming one of the most senior and influential painters amongst the group. Born in Western Australia in Drovers Hills, he made the epic journey to Haasts Bluff with his family during the severe drought of the mid to late 1950ââ¬â¢s in the company of Charlie Tarawa. Two years later, after returning to his homelands, he made the journey once more with Timmy Payungka, Pinta Pinta and their families. Uta Uta Tjangala (early years) Employed as a gardener at the Papunya school Uta Uta, then in his 40ââ¬â¢s, became one of the original group drawing and painting on composition board with encouragement from art teacher Geoff Bardon. When supplying paints to Uta Uta and his gathering group of enthusiastic friends, Bardon suggested the men use their existing cultural symbols to depict their Dreamings and links to the land. The Pintupi men, having been pushed from their traditional homelands by government policy and European development, painted under a bough shelter behind the camp pouring into their work their acute longing for the places depicted â⬠¦ and chanting the song cycles that told the stories of the designs as they worked . These early works aroused strong protest within Aboriginal communities when first exhibited in Alice Springs in 1974 because of the disclosure of secret and sacred knowledge. A period of experimentation followed, resulting in the development of a symbolic language of classic ideograms and the characteristic dot covered areas that veil sacred elements from the uninitiated. The large, tribally mixed population of Papunya intensified the interaction, but under the influence of artists like Uta Uta, the painting group was able to break through the political and cultural constraints toward a safer stylistic conformity, and prepare the way for personal and distinctive styles to emerge. Uta Uta in particular, with his exciting and charismatic personality as well as his bold and dynamic style, played a vital role in these developments. Bardon recalled many years later, everything that came from him was genuine . Uta Utaââ¬â¢s 1971 and 1972 paintings generally featured major story elements with only the barest dotted in-fill within the iconography and small sections of the background. The aesthetic balance and harmony of these works is derived through colour and weight rather than by a geometric division of the painted surface. The rather crude dotting and line work of these early paintings on board embues them with an energy and power that is less apparent in his later more technically proficient works. His paintings are far stronger and more powerful when the clean unadorned background remains, unlike paintings by his contemporary Kaapa, whose early works became more aesthetically appealing as he began to in-fill the background. In developing a style that censored the more secret and sacred content in his painting, Uta Uta added more dot-work as the years went by. He painted more Tingari sites completely surrounded by neat dots that became less and less detailed. Despite his advancing age during the late 1970ââ¬â¢s he continued to paint as he spent increasing time at outstations west of Papunya and, at the beginning of the 1980ââ¬â¢s, he completed what was to become one of the most important and revered works of the entire Western Desert art movement. Yumari 1981, possibly his largest and most significant painting, reveals the mythical Tingari ancestors traveling across vast stretches of country as they create sites and institute rituals. Yumari is a rocky outcrop in his home country and the key ceremonial site of the area. Story elements and natural features blend seamlessly into a beautifully balanced geometry of concentric circles and connecting lines that enclose a central, abstracted figure. This body continues rather than interrupts the intense, minutely dotted background configurations, yet still holds the central focus. The work is characterised by the sinuous movement of converging regular and irregular shapes, accentuated by outlining white dots. The predominant use of an earthy red alongside vivid yellow ochre, further emphasizes the assertive quality in this cohesive and powerful statement of Aboriginal tradition. The work was exhibited at the XVIII Bienal de Sao Paulo in 1983 and is now in the collection of the National Museum of Australia. While painting Yumari, important discussions were taking place at Papunya concerning the move back to the Pintupi homelands at Kintore. Land rights legislation during the 1970ââ¬â¢s returned ownership of the land to its traditional owners and Uta Uta was a strong advocate for resettlement.
Sociology Essays Code Street Life
Sociology Essays Code Street Life Code Street Life Interpreting The Code of the Street ââ¬Å"Gangster lifeâ⬠is often portrayed as exiting and glamorous, while the news often stereotypes the urban slums as being corrupt by violent criminals. Elijah Anderson thoroughly explains in his book ââ¬Å"Code of the Streetâ⬠that life in poor minority communities are not always portrayed correctly in the media. The author offers a unique way of researching for this topic; by living in the area he studies he is able to share information only known by experience. He intends to expose and clarify the life of the inner city streets. The first chapter, ââ¬Å"Decent and Street Familiesâ⬠, explains several issues many families face when raiding a ââ¬Å"decentâ⬠child. The lifestyles of of these minority communities are, in reality, very complex and intricate. The book explains how the ââ¬Å"Codeâ⬠, or lifestyle, varies for many groups within the culture. The difference between street and decent families and the way they interact with each other, the difference of communities, and the significance of respect are all main ideas explained within the first two chapters. The violent surroundings and unfair circumstances are the origin of each individualââ¬â¢s lifestyle. The author uses the term ââ¬Å"structural circumstancesâ⬠to define the position one becomes involved in as a results of their place in society. One example the author used in his novel is the life of a ââ¬Å"decentâ⬠single mother, where the term ââ¬Å"decentââ¬â¢ is used to describe the individuals that do not give in to societyââ¬â¢s negative influences. Though one common theme among decent families that is currently on the rise is grandmothers raising grandchildren ââ¬Å"particularly the increasing number of grandmothers raising grandchildren, often see their see their difficult situation as a test from God and derive great support from their faith and church communityâ⬠(Anderson 38). Single mothers and grandparents have a much more difficult time swaying their children from the negative influences of the ââ¬Å"streetâ⬠. One common trait of the ââ¬Å"decentâ⬠child is the ability to ââ¬Å"code switchâ⬠. A decent child is often mocked and teased by peers as well as family members as explained in Yvetteââ¬â¢s Story, which is the reason for code-switching. One of the first stories titled ââ¬Å"The Decent Single Motherâ⬠Explains the many hardships of having to raise a child in a dent manner without the support of a fatherly figure. The ability to code-switch permits a child to use crude and vulgar language and act in a different manner while in the streets, thus giving a child a way to survive certain situations. The author insists that this trait is taught by the parents, thought I believe it is learned thorough experience. In the ââ¬Å"streetâ⬠manhood is defied as how well one can defend him or herself in a fight. And at the same time, being able to fight and not let anyone else talk oneself down raises respect among the peers. The author claims ââ¬Å"Respect becomes critical for stating out of harms wayâ⬠(Anderson 66). There is a problem that might arise after a fight though, revenge. Revenge can become very dangerous depending on the person who was offended by being beaten. Examples vary form returning with a group of friends or even family members to intimidate others (An example taken from Margeââ¬â¢s story) to returning with a weapon where the outcome can result in serious injury or even death. This ââ¬Å"Campaign for Respectâ⬠arises when the people feel as if they are abandoned and will not receive help from authorities, feeling as if they are on their own. The author writes: ââ¬Å"[M]any of those residing in such communities feel that they are on their own, that especially in matters of personal defense, they must assume the primary responsibilityâ⬠(Anderson 66). The film that portrays the best idea as to how the streets of the Bronx might have been like is the film ââ¬Å"Boys N the Hoodâ⬠. There are several scenes in the film that relate to the book. For example, in the beginning of the film the main character, a troublemaker, is sent to live with his father to learn how to ââ¬Å"be a manâ⬠. There is a whole chapter dedicated to the campaign for respect; a section of which is titled ââ¬Å"Manhood and Nerveâ⬠. Here the author claims ââ¬Å"For many inner-city youths, manhood and respect are two sides of the same coin [â⬠¦] both require a sense of control, of being in chargeâ⬠(Anderson 91). Loosing control over a situation can result in disastrous effects. The author does not give any specific examples however since the film closely relates to the topic of the book, bringing an example from the film is appropriate. A scene from the film involves ââ¬Å"Doughboyâ⬠, one of the main characters in the movie, and his attempt to recover his brotherââ¬â¢s stolen football from a group of much bigger and stronger boys. He stands up to the group of boys who are pushing him around. He gets in the face of one boy in particular and kicks him in the leg. The bigger boy retaliates by slapping Doughboy down and kicking him in the stomach. Doughboy criticizes his brother for being ââ¬Å"stupidâ⬠and bringing the ball in the first place. Doughboy is has been humiliated in front of his brother and at that time is also feeling embarrassed and places the blame toward his brother. Doughboyââ¬â¢s attempt to retrieve his brotherââ¬â¢s football and the resulting assault has everything to do with ââ¬Å"juiceâ⬠and the cultural adaptations Doughboy has had to make as the street kid in his decent family. As a street kid he needs to be aggressive and assert himself physically. Therefore, when his brotherââ¬â¢s ball is stolen he reacts violently as this is the language of street life. The older boy, not to be shown up by a small, lesser boy, beats Doughboy up, most likely in order to maintain his reputation as a tough street kid. Also, just like a street kid, drugs and alcohol become a major part of his life later on as he is always seen drinking a forty. As ââ¬Å"objects play an important and complicated role in establishing self-imageâ⬠(Anderson, 73) his car also becomes a source of juice as it has expensive features and is very well maintained. The main goal for the decent family is to give the younger generation, usually their offspring, a chance to develop and grow out of the raging violence of the streets. Instilling good morals in a childââ¬â¢s early years is often emphasized: ââ¬Å"In decent families there is almost always a real concern with and a certain amount of hope for the future. Such attitudes are often in a drive to work â⬠¦ ââ¬Ëto build a good life,ââ¬â¢ while at the same time trying to ââ¬Ëmake due with what you haveââ¬â¢Ã¢â¬ (Anderson 37). Instilling these morals into the children is important if that child is to make the right decisions while in the street. Even though this task is daunting on its own, it becomes especially daunting when there is a single parent. A household maintained under the supervision of a father figure creates a more stable environment for the child. Sure both parents may work double shifts and may work late night after night, but this only serves as another reason for the children to perform well. A passage from the book shares this idea: ââ¬Å"The children nodded attentively. After the adults left, the children seemed to relax, talking more freely and playing with one another. When the parents returned, the kids straightened up again [â⬠¦] displaying quiet and gracious manners all the whileâ⬠(Anderson 39). In this patriarchal family the head of the household, usually the father, the children remain obedient out of fear of disappointing their parents. The decent children in this passage have a slightly higher chance at success than their fellow peers solely because neither they nor their parents have given in to the street life. Respect, or ââ¬Å"Juiceâ⬠, is highly valued in the streets. It is something everyone should earn in order to live without being constantly picked on or harassed. Juice can be earned in multiple ways however the most common way is through fights. In the book, Anderson claims ââ¬Å"[T]here are always people around looking for a fight in order to increase their share of respectâ⬠(73). The alternative to engaging in random fights is intimidation through physical appearance. The way a person is viewed depends on physical their appearance where factors such as the more jewelry one has, the most expensive clothing, and even the way one grooms oneself determines the amount of respect they have. In the last example Doughboy seeks revenge for his brotherââ¬â¢s murder and, in the process the characters act out Andersonââ¬â¢s ideas about reasons for revenge and Treââ¬â¢s decent kid dilemma. Ricky was a much loved and valued member of the group of boys featured in the film. By murdering Ricky, the group of other males has greatly disrespected Doughboyââ¬â¢s position in the streets. Doughboy, as Anderson would predict, does not appear to fear death as he will face Rickyââ¬â¢s murderers with his gun and kill them, knowing, as he discusses the next day with Tre, that he will most likely ââ¬Å"get smokedâ⬠, meaning shot to death. ââ¬Å"True nerve expresses a lack of fear of deathâ⬠and this proves manhood, which is very closely related to respect (Anderson, 92). Like Tyree in Andersonââ¬â¢s book, Doughboy feels an obligation to hurt those that hurt his brother and gains power from hurting others in the most severe form (Anderson, 84). Doughboy is purely a street kid. In short, Andersonââ¬â¢s book, ââ¬Å"Code of the Streetâ⬠discusses ideas of decent and street families as well as the crucial concept of respect in a way that is in agreement with the film ââ¬Å"Boyz N the Hoodâ⬠. The actions of Tre and his father mirror those of a decent family living in poor minority community and Doughboyââ¬â¢s actions are characteristic of Andersonââ¬â¢s ideas about street individuals. Their lives warrant examination in order to determine causes of crime as well as reasons why not all individuals in these violent communities are criminals. It is clear that opportunities need to be afforded to the individuals in these communities so that they can have hope for the future and not end up with the mindset of Doughboy that it doesnââ¬â¢t matter if heââ¬â¢s shot because everyone has to die sometime. The people must be allowed access to the resources necessary to become decent families which include alternative avenues to gaining ââ¬Å"juice.â⬠As opposed to achieving respect through violence and drug dealing, other standards and means to reach those standards need to be instilled in the community. Education and job training should be stressed and drug problems should be treated. Violence in the community should also be controlled so that individuals feel safe and decent kids can listen to music and study as opposed to the popping sounds of gunshots.
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