Politics and Economy of the Contemporary Middle East Essay

Politics and Economy of the Contemporary Middle East - Essay Example The main question is whether the uprisings were effective in meeting their goals. The people were not aware that after the revolution they would have to rebuild their countries. The revolution was experienced differently across different countries and the effects were felt across the region due to the destabilisation of trade and political sphere. The revolution that started in Egypt and Tunisia was unexpected and many were caught unawareness because of the number of people that came out to support the calls for change in the countries. This triggered a wave of pro-democracy protests across the region, with many achieving their goals. Essentially, the two countries had similar problems facing them mainly social-economic grievances and political objectives (Beinin & Vairel 2011:150). They knew that the only way of attaining their freedom was by changing the political class and instituting change starting from the highest office in the country. The major problem especially amongst the Tunisians and Egyptians was not that the economy was falling, their living standards were. The poor were experiencing harder economic times and the richer were enjoying the spoils without caring about those at the bottom (Anantram, Chase-Dunn & Reese 2010:605). A combination of high inflation rates, decreasing wages and high unemployment amongst t he middle and poor classes was disturbing. The people wanted changes but the government was not listening to the people. The leaders were buys looking the other side instead of creating platforms to improve the lives of their people. The demographic growths were also a point of concern because the jobs created were for the low-skilled and low-wage earners, yet the number was stagnant despite an increase in the population. Political oppression and repression was another cause of the revolution. Many of the basic

Multi-Layer Machine Learning Approach to FOREX Thesis Proposal

Multi-Layer Machine Learning Approach to FOREX - Thesis Proposal Example According to Gearman and Freund, the ADT approach helps to select the best combination of rules derived from well known technical analysis indicators and we shall be in a position to select the best parameters of the technical indicators. The online learning layer will combine the output of several ADTs incorporated into the system and may eventually suggest a position that will be either short or long. We shall also have a risk management layer that will responsible for the validation of the trading signals at the instance it exceeds a predetermined specific non-zero threshold. The FOREX market is now having most of its transactions being conducted electronically therefore transforming it into a typical electronic market. Many of their customers within the currency exchange market who seek its services are now relying on automated trading systems in order to process large amounts of information and make instantaneous investment decisions regardless of where they are within the global. Performance of technical trading strategies may try to exploit statistical measurable short term market opportunities such as trend spotting and momentum in the foreign currency exchange. Lo, Mamasky, and Wang in their study, used non parametric regressions in order to recognize the technical patterns of large stocks in the trade market. Their findings were that technical indicators usually provide increased information for investors enabling them to compare the unconditional empirical distribution of daily stock returns to the conditional distribution on specific technical indicators. This plays a big role in helping them make informed decisions based on the identified market trends. M. Dempster, T. W. Payne, Y. Romahi, and G. Thompson (2001) in their study did a comparison of some four methods that are applicable in foreign exchange trading which included reinforcement learning, genetic algorithms,

What is the Oxford English Dictionary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

What is the Oxford English Dictionary - Essay Example It was first published approximately 150 years back. Since then it has been continuously revised at regular intervals (About). In 1857 the members of Philological Society of London determined that the dictionaries of English Language were incomplete and required a lot of re-examination starting from the Anglo-Saxon times. In 1879 the Philological Society made a contract with James A. H. Murray and the Oxford University to initiate the process of developing English Dictionary. Murray and his colleagues examined the words of English Language from the last seven centuries (History of the OED). The working team thought that it will take around ten years in completing the project. However, the English words kept on evolving and the process took more years than actually anticipated. Murray and his team published the first version of Oxford English Dictionary in 1884 but it was clearly evident that much more work was left to be done. Later on other editors joined the team including W.A. Craigie, Henry Bradley, and C.T. Onions. The new team worked steadily and published the final volume in April 1928 with more than 400,000 words (History of the OED). There were several reasons for the publication of Oxford English Dictionary. Early modern period changed the English language since the words used were immensely increased during 1500 to 1650. Words were also taken from Greek and Latin languages which necessitated the development of profound English Dictionary. Moreover, the world was undergoing serious demographic changes such as the shifts from rural to urban areas (Simpson). This subsequently increased the publication of books and other relevant material. Eventually the grammar schools were established which pushed the authorities to revise the English Dictionary. Apart from this the monolingual dictionaries were preceding around the globe while on the other hand the Latin-English Dictionaries were also

My understanding of continental drift Essay Example for Free

My understanding of continental drift Essay The present arrangement of the continents with similarities in outline of opposite seaboards and coasts and, much more reliably, geological data show that the Earths continents that are now on the opposite sides of the oceans were once joined together. Today, scientists believe that about 200 million years ago the continents were joined together to form one supercontinent Pangaea. As the plates that the continents sit on moved, the supercontinent broke up and began to move apart. This continental drift is continuing. However, the ideas of continental drift and especially seafloor spreading remained a minority view until 1950s, when seismic techniques made possible surveying of the crust under the oceans. Then, in the 1950s, it was discovered that the oceanic crust is relatively thin, 5 to 7 kilometres in some places, and the ocean floor hides oceanic ridges, thousands of kilometres in length and several kilometres above the ocean floor. The best-studied example is Mid-Atlantic Ridge, approximately halfway between Europe and America, running north-south up the North Atlantic Ocean. Along the centre of this ridge there is an active rift valley. In 1960 Harry Hess, of Princeton University tried to explain the newly discovered structure of the ocean floor and other previously unknown features with the first model of so-called sea-floor spreading, in accordance to which the ocean ridges are formed by upwelling convection currents in the fluid material of the mantle. As these currents bring material up to the surface at the oceanic ridge, where it spreads outward. As new ocean basins are formed, the continents are pushed further apart. To balance the formation of new crust at the ocean ridge, some oceanic crust is dragged back down under the edge of continents. That takes place at the deep trench systems, mainly in the western Pacific as well as at the edge of some other oceans. Not surprisingly, than half of the worlds active volcanoes above sea level encircle the Pacific Ocean to form the circum-Pacific Ring of Fire. According to Hess model, The Atlantic Ocean becomes wider, at a rate of about 2 centimetres per year, the Pacific shrinks as North America slowly drifting westwards, towards Asia. In 200 million years, people in America probably wont need to cross the Pacific to reach what now is Far East. So according to the plate-tectonics theory, Earths surface is broken into about a dozen of rigid shifting slabs or plates, which average about 80 kilometres in thickness. These plates move relative to one another above a hotter, deeper, more mobile zone at average rates of a few inches per year. There are three common types of boundaries between these moving plates: Divergent or spreading. Adjacent plates pull apart, which causes sea-floor spreading, as described above for the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which separates the North and South American Plates from the Eurasian and African Plates. Convergent. Plates moving in opposite directions meet and one is dragged down (or subducted) beneath the other. Convergent plate boundaries are also called subduction zones and are typified by the Aleutian Trench, where the Pacific Plate is being subducted under the North American Plate. Transform fault. One plate slides horizontally past another, as in the San Andreas fault zone of California, which marks the boundary between the Pacific and North American Plates. The history of Earths plates since Pangaeas break up until present time is relatively well studied. However, the motion of the plates is less clear in pre-Pangaea times. Oceanic crust has an average age of only 55 million years, as the age of continental crust averages about 2. 3 billion years, with the oldest known rocks dating back 3. 96 billion years. Probably our planet has had several supercontinents like Pangaea throughout time. These supercontinents all went through a cycle similar to Pangaeas. Geological data show that more than 600 millions years ago most of the land that now forms South America, Africa, India, Antarctica and Australia was grouped together in one supercontinent located roughly across the equator, called Gondwanaland. Other continents were also assembling together. North America and Greenland had, by that time, been attached to each other for hundreds of millions of years. By about 400 millions years ago, this chunk of continental material collided with what is now part of Europe, and the pieces welded together to form so-called Old Red Sandstone. By then Gondwanaland crossed the South Pole and was moving northward. A little more than 250 million years ago, Gondwanaland and the Old Red Sandstone continent collided and struck together. Then the last remaining independent plate, present-day Asia, collided with the northern part of this supercontinent and was welded on to Europe. Thats how all modern continents were joined together in Pangaea, which was stretching from the South Pole to high northern latitudes. In the foreseeable future, the Atlantic Ocean will be expanding, pushing North America westwards, while the Pacific Ocean will be shrinking. The Mediterranean Sea will eventually disappear, connecting Africa with Europe. India will be continuing to push into the southern Asian subcontinent, pushing the Himalayas even higher. Short description of the web sites: Plate Tectonics, the Cause of Earthquakes including the chapter Earthquakes are caused by plate movement, http://www. seismo. unr. edu/ftp/pub/louie/class/100/plate-tectonics. html. The site explains and illustrates the links between the plates and earthquakes, featuring a few highly informative satellite pictures and drawings. It is shown that the plates consist of an outer layer of the Earth, the lithosphere. Occasionally the hot asthenosphere of the Earth finds a weak place in the lithosphere to rise buoyantly as a plume, or hotspot. Only lithosphere has the strength and the brittle behavior to fracture in an earthquake. The location of earthquakes around the globe is shown. The site demonstrates that the boundaries between the plates grind against each other, producing most earthquakes, thus the lines of earthquakes help define the plates. Earthquake occurrence in different plate tectonic settings is shown with figures and pictures. Plate Tectonics, http://www. ucmp. berkeley. edu/geology/tectonics. html. This site explains the history of human understanding of the Earth and provides a brief overview of the theories behind it. 13 wonderful animations of Plate Tectonics movement in different epochs of Earths history are available on the site in the following formats: *. gif (these load rather slowly) and *. avi, *. mov (for faster Internet connection). Rates of Plate Movement During the Phanerozoic, www. geocities. com/earthhistory/plate2. htm. According to various forms of the Noah`s Flood model, rates of plate motion during the `Phanerozoic` were on the order of several thousand meters per day, and all or most Phanerozoic crustal displacement is considered to have occurred during a brief catastrophe occurring about 2500BCE and lasting only `weeks or months. ` There are a variety of methods which can be used to estimate rates of plate movement for given times in the past. Today, the movement of tectonic plates can be directly measured by a variety of geodetic technologies, including satellite laser ranging (SLR), Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), and Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Magnetic Island Formation, www. rzg. mpg. de/~sip/thesis/node58. html. Magnetic islands may form upon the flux surfaces for which the field lines are orthogonal to the wave vector of the perturbation since no energy is required to bend the magnetic field lines. The sites show how an expression for the width of these islands is derived. The analytical calculation using this expression is found to be in good agreement with real space data. Island Formation, http://www. hawaii. edu/environment/ainakumuwai/html/ainakumuwaiislandformation. htm. The formation and evolution of Kauai, the oldest of the eight major Hawaiian Islands and a younger member of the Hawaiian-Emperor Volcanic Chain, are thoroughly studied. The Tethyan Himalayas, http://www. geoahead. com/strati/india/index. cfm? page=himalayas_tethyan. The site is devoted to the geology of The Tethyan Himalayas. The belt extending from Kashmir to Nepal can be best studied in two areas – Spiti valley in Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir – where we can see a continuous succession from Precambrian to Mesozoic ages. The Phanerozoic rocks have yielded rich fossils of trilobites, graptolites, brachiopods, cephalopods, gastropods, etc. Facts About Mountains, http://www. woodlands-junior. kent. sch. uk/Homework/mountains. htm. This is the wide illustrated collection of basic facts about mountains, which includes the chapters as various as What are Mountains? , Use of Mountains, How are Mountains formed? , Climate and Mountains, Types of mountains, Nature and Mountains, Tallest Mountains, People, Mountains and Tourism, Mountains around the World, Volcanoes, Mountain Ranges. Quick Facts about Mountains are also included. Moon Has a Small Core Says LP Scientists, http://www. spacedaily. com/news/water-99l. html. The site cites the data from NASAs $63 million Lunar Prospector, which supports mounting evidence that the moon may still retain a small molten core, and was formed in a way unique within our solar system, after a Mars-sized planet smashed into a proto-Earth. It is noted that the new data agrees with Apollo mission seismic and sample-return evidence that suggests the moon is partly made of the same stuff as the Earths upper crust, or mantle. And their findings agree with results released earlier this year by NASA Jet Propulsion Lab scientists who used Lunar Prospector to make a gravity map of the moon and who also conclude that the moon has a small, partially molten core. Works used J. Gribbin. Almost Everyones Guide to Science: The Universe, Life and Everything. Weidenfeld Nicolson. London, 1998. Tilling, Heliker, and Wright. Eruptions of Hawaiian Volcanoes: Past, Present, and Future: Department of the Interior/U. S. Geological Survey Publication, Washington, D. C. , 1987. The web sites described above.

Evidence Based Case Study Social Work Essay

Evidence Based Case Study Social Work Essay Evidence based practice (EBP) refers to integrating professional expertise with the best available external research, and incorporating the views of service users (Beresford, 1996). Evidence based practice has received its reputation by examining the reasons why interventions are necessary (Duffy, Fisher and Munroe, 2008). Within my placement EBP was important for refining my practice so the service user was provided with appropriate support for her individual needs. I used my EBP to carry out research to determine what evidence supported or rejected the use of a specific intervention; within this case I used a counseling approach. The principle of social work intervention is to provide good practice and should be based on a decision-making framework (Preston-Shoot and Braye, 2009). This framework operates on four concepts:- The legislation that informs a decision; Social work ethics and NISCC codes of conduct; Information to ensure a well-informed decision; Knowledge drawn from research, theory, practice and other professionals. In addition to powers and duties of social workers, legislation embeds notions of partnership, respect, rights and anti-discriminatory practice, which are key elements in social work practice (Preston-Shoot and Braye, 2009). My practice learning opportunity involved working with adults with a learning disability in a day care setting. The benefits of the day centre were to provide a service for local people to access support in living with, or caring for someone, with a learning disability. Northern Ireland statistics show that in 2008 there were 9,460 people with a learning disability in contact with Trusts (www.northernireland.gov.uk). From the 9,460 people with a learning disability there were 2,574 benefiting from care management, 42% (1,086) of whom were being supported in their own homes and 35% (898) being cared for in residential homes solely for the use of people with learning disabilities (www.northernireland.gov.uk). This evidence based case study is based on Miss A, a 35 year old woman, who has a learning disability and Spina Bifida resulting in her using a wheel chair for mobility. Within the past few years Miss As family life has changed dramatically. In previous years Miss A had lived in the community with her elderly parents, who cared for her. She is one of three children and has two older brothers. Miss As mother, after being diagnosed with Dementia, was admitted to a residential care home. Her father after having been moved to residential care himself passed away in November 2008 due to his physical health. Miss A now resides in a private nursing home and attends day care three days per week. In March 2008, there were 75 residential homes in Northern Ireland solely for people with a learning disability providing 898 places (www.northernireland.gov.uk). Miss A has been previously diagnosed with MRSA; it is currently located in her toe, having been previously present in her urine. Treatments from the residential care staff have the infection under control, however the infection still remains. The recent death of her father plays a significant role in Miss As life and continues to affect her socially and emotionally. Some of the stereotypical assumptions I had before meeting Miss A were that because she had a physical and learning disability that she would be hard to communicate with, that she would have limited understanding and limited verbal skills. I have challenged this opinion and realised that Miss A is a very competent individual with good communication skills, and can express her likes and dislikes proficiently. As for her physical disability this does not affect her cognitive or cerebral functions. I had also made the assumption that as Miss A had MRSA that it could easily be cross-contracted due to a lack of knowledge and education. After researching the issue and contacting infection control within the Trust I deducted that MRSA is a problem within clinical settings but can be easily controlled with proper preventative procedures. This can be identified as a risk, but should not be a reason to oppress or discriminate Miss A. After having initially met Miss A, liaised with her social worker, accessed her case file and Tuned In to her life issues, I met with Miss A to prepare for the initial assessment and gather information into how best to support her. My role with Miss A was to provide a reassessment since the changes in her circumstances and the death of her father. My role was to determine what support she may need, and to include her wishes and feelings. Assessment: History has shown that there has always been an importance to assessment in social work, but since the 1990s there has been specific importance to a new form assessment to include risk. The National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 stresses the importance of inter-agency collaboration and a multi-disciplinary assessment process (Trevithick, 2000). The purpose of an assessment may seem evident; that is, to assess the needs of individuals who may need help and/or support. In recent history however assessment seems to mean a relationship between need and available resources (Whittington, 2007, p23) leading to a question if this is ethical or effective practice? There are many purposes of an assessment, for example to assess risk, to assess need, to act as an advocate for someone and also to implement agency and government policy (Whittington, 2007, p25-26). Coulshed and Orme (2006) explain that assessment is an ongoing process where the purpose is to understand people in relation to their environment; it is a basis for planning what needs to be done to maintain, improve or bring about change with the service users participation. The initial preparation for the assessment with Miss A included visiting her social worker and studying her case file. This enabled me to gather information to dispel any preconceptions I had about meeting this service user. The social worker passed on her knowledge of Miss A, such as medical conditions, family circumstances and finances, and also any previous problems that had occurred. I felt it was important to work in partnership with Miss As social worker so I could keep her up to date with events, and also contact her if I required advice about Miss A. The purpose of Miss As individual assessment was to gather information by interacting and communicating with Miss A and others involved in her care, this was also to gain a holistic perspective to her needs. Her assessment was guided by legislation such as, the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act (NI) 1978, which places a duty on health and social services to investigate a level of need, and also the Health and Personal Soc ial Services (NI) Order 1972 which stipulates a responsibility to provide personal social services for the promotion of social welfare for the general public (http://www.understandingindividualneeds.com). As a model of assessment I used Smales (1993) Models of Professional Care which were useful in gathering important information about Miss A. I used the procedural and questioning model to gather information into how Miss A felt about certain issues in her life, such as the bereavement of her father, contact with her other family, and other issues she felt were working or not working. I used these methods of assessment as this followed Trust guidelines. I used The Model of Professional Care to gain a holistic understanding of information. I also included the Exchange model in the assessment as I considered Miss A to be the expert of her own life. I feel the use of the Procedural model was useful in certain aspects of the assessment as it worked in collaboration with the Trusts format of assessment and worked as a form of gathering information, but feel I could have used more of an Exchange model to communicate effectively with Miss A rather than just form filling. I feel Smales method of assessment provided me with tools to help Miss A identify factors that were important for her to maintain, but also issues she would like to change. By working in partnership with her I felt we would have an open and trusting working relationship. I also focused on Person Centred Planning (PCP) in regards to the assessment with Miss A. Person Centred Planning, which evolved from the White Paper; a government policy known as Valuing People, suggested four key principles; Rights, Independence, Choice and Inclusion as a proposal of changing services (Thompson, Kilbane and Sanderson, 2008, p9). This policy also helped inform guidelines for Northern Irelands Equal Lives Policy (2005). Person Centred Planning focused on finding out what is important to and what is important for (health and safety) Miss A. I found PCP a continual process of listening and learning, by focusing on whats important to Miss A now and in the future (Thompson, Kilbane and Sanderson, 2008, p27). By using person centred tools, such as a one page profile, I gained knowledge of what was important to Miss A including her family, her boyfriend and her independence, as well as knowing what was important to keep her safe and healthy. I used a person centred approac h to make others aware of Miss As great personality characteristics as well as the help and support she would like. I feel this was fundamental to demonstrate that Miss A is a person behind her disability. I found by using this approach was an essential skill in understanding Miss A and helped me to be anti oppressive and actively support her needs One particular piece of legislation which I found to be significant in the assessment of Miss A was the Human Rights Act (1998), which identifies Miss As right to family life. Since the death of her father and the institutionalisation of her mother due to her mental health, Miss A has been experiencing disintegration of her family and has lost the support connected to it. The Human Rights Act could have a great significance as Miss A needs emotional and physical support to visit her mother and has not been receiving it; therefore her right to family life is being impeded. The assessment identified that contact with her family and friends are imperative for this right to be upheld. Therefore as a result my role was to facilitate this right, and help to support Miss A in retaining family contact. The main objectives we (Miss A and I) identified within the assessment were; That Miss A had limited support to help discuss the death of her father. That Miss A was not receiving contact with her mother or other family and would like to. From the identification of objectives Miss A and I decided to work towards solutions by preparing a work plan. Planning: After the initial assessment was carried out with Miss A we proceeded to work towards formulating a care plan and targeting her objectives. A care plan provided clear information for everyone involved with Miss A and helped work in partnership with her and the Trust. For a person centred care plan the word ‘support is used in preference to ‘care because the verb implies that support is there to help people achieve their goals and ambitions† (Thompson, Sanderson and Kilbane, 2008). â€Å"A support plan is developed by the person with help where necessary, and it describes how the person intends to be supported in order to live their own life† (Thompson, Sanderson and Kilbane, 2008). I feel the use of a support plan with Miss A, rather than a care plan is an anti-oppressive method, as it incorporates Miss As feelings and opinions into how she wishes to be supported. I used the formulation of a support plan with Miss A to record the objectives she would like to meet and used these to formulate an intervention. It was clear from the assessment and one page profile that limited contact with her mother was an issue, and that the death of her father had a significant impact on her life. I then proceeded to investigate theory of loss and grief as I had never experienced a loss of Miss As magnitude before. I found the Kubler-Ross Model and the 5 responses to grief to be particularly informative. (Goldsworthy, 2005). This theory helped inform my knowledge and in turn helped me be empathetic to Miss A. I was able to identify that Miss A can experience the 5 stages of grief and that they are not necessarily in a specific order. I felt Miss A was at two stages of grief, some days she experiences anger at her father leaving, and other times she has deep feelings of depression of losing him. I was able to use Kubler-Rosss model to identify these stages in Miss A, and also to advise her that these feelings were part of the normal process of grief. The assessment also identified that Miss A had a lack of support in discussing her feelings of grief. Research suggests that people with learning disabilities experience many of the emotions of bereavement but are limited in the opportunities they have to resolve their feelings of grief (Cathcart, 1995; Elliot, 1995; Read, 1996). There are many reasons for this and Murray et al explains that historically, professionals, parents or carers of individuals with learning disabilities believed that those in their care did not understand the concept of death and thus were unable to grieve for the loss of a loved one (McLoughlin, 1986; Elliot, 1995; Read, 1996 cited in Murray et al. 2000). Kitching (1987) and Bradford (1984) highlight that the capacity to grieve is not dependent on a persons intellectual ability, but that a person with learning disability may experience grief in the same way as a child. Therefore research shows that people with a learning disability experience grief and loss but have a limited support network to discuss it with. I used this research to formulate a plan for the intervention with Miss A and we concluded that I could be support for discussing her grief. From the assessment and care plan with Miss A, and following discussions my practice teacher, I discussed that I would use counselling skills to help support Miss A with her feelings of grief. I felt Miss A needed her emotional needs met since the feelings of the death of her father were so dominant. Miss A and I also decided that I would facilitate visits to her mother for emotional and physical support, as her mother was in the latter stages of dementia and Miss A found it hard to communicate with her. Intervention: Rationale for Counselling Intervention: After having conducted an assessment and care plan with Miss A, and building a rapport over numerous meetings, it was decided that a counselling intervention would be the most appropriate form of support for grief. My practice teacher and I felt that if Miss A had the opportunity to discuss her feelings this would help her grieve more effectively and perhaps help her cope better. The two models of counselling that are prominent in social work are the work of Carl Rogers and Gerard Egan, who base their counselling approaches from psychodynamic work around inner thoughts and feelings. Both counselling theories â€Å"reflect the social work values of accepting the individual, using skills in listening to the information that is given, and work towards a joint understanding and decision making about ways forward† (Coulshed and Orme, 2006). I focused on researching counselling theory to help me understand how I could help Miss A through her grief. Trevithick explains that within social work, humanistic approaches to counselling have been particularly influential, specifically with the work of Egan (1990) and Rogers (1961), mainly because they promote personal freedom and are consistent with anti-discriminatory practice and anti-oppressive perspectives† (Trevithick, 2000). I found that the Rogers (1961) Person Centred counselling informed me that I cou ld show unconditional positive regard for Miss A and understand that she is the expert of her own grief. I also analysed Egans (1990) Skilled Helper Model and found it to be an effective theory for an approach to counselling. I found that the structure and framework of the model and the three stages were useful as a guide to follow. I found that although this method of counselling may not be as person centred as Rogers it could be more effective in helping Miss A understand her own grief as it followed a certain framework, could empower her and could be evaluated over time. This theory helped inform my practice by helping me realise that I do not need to be a qualified counsellor to support someone; I just need to be able to actively listen, to use empathy and be reassuring knowing that Miss As agenda is paramount. I consider this in itself to be a person centred way of counselling. I decided to follow a combination of Rogerian method and Egans approach to help support Miss A as an intervention. I decided I would use the structure of Egans model to help build a logical, consistent framework to the intervention, while using the core principles of the Rogerian approach to demonstrate my skills and values, such as working with respect, empathy, genuineness and good active listening (Coulshed and Orme, 2006). Counselling Procedure: Egans Skilled Helper Model form of counselling provides a structured and solution focus basis. It is a three stage model in which each stage consists of specific skills that the helper uses to support the service user move forward (Nelson, 2007). Egans model is described as a three-stage process: identification of the service users current issue(s); identification of the service users desired situation; and the formulation of an action plan to achieve this. This process is facilitated by the â€Å"skilled helper† using the skills outlines by Egan (Nelson, 2007). The goal of using Egans model with Miss A was to help her manage her grief and better understand the â€Å"norms† associated with it, such as anger or depression according to the Kubler-Ross Model. Egan (1998) claims his model is to help people become better at helping themselves in their everyday lives. To provide Miss A with the empowerment to help herself grieve. The use of Egans Skilled Helper Model was to explore how Miss A felt about her bereavement. I used it to ask open questions about how Miss A felt about her father. We explored her past and discussed her relationship with her father before his death. I also used this stage to focus on aspects of her father before he died and what she missed about him, this was to explore and gather information about what her relationship was like with her dad. I was able to use a range of skills to gather information about Miss As grief. Trevithick (2000) explains that social work skills are â€Å"the degree of knowledge, expertise, judgement and experience that is brought into play within any given situation, course of action or intervention† (Trevithick, 2000). Some of the skills I incorporated into Egans counselling were active listening, I used this skill with a range of non verbal cues to indicate to Miss A that I was interested in what she was saying. I concentrated on active listening as Miss A was portraying feelings and knowledge of the death of her father which was a sensitive subject and needed my full concentration. I portrayed active listening by nodding, giving eye contact and facing Miss A which were successful in helping build a rapport with Miss A, thus helping her open up. Another skill I feel I used well with Miss A was empathy. I feel I portrayed my feelings of empathy by responding appropriately to her answers and reassuring her that her thoughts and feelings around grief were normal. I found myself using Empathy a great deal with Miss A as I had never experienced bereavement before and she helped me understand how it felt. Its easy to imagine how someone feels, but when youre faced with helping them I felt I really neede d to place myself in â€Å"her shoes†. I also found I made good use of silences with Miss A, I used these to give her time to reflect on her thoughts and answers. I have found by doing this that the meetings were paced better, and showed that she was the expert of her own grief and I was just there to listen and to reassure her. I found that by using Rogerian person centred skills like genuineness, empathy, communication and active listening I was able to understand Miss A and show her that I was there to support with her agenda. Throughout the discussions of grief I feel Miss A was able to vent a lot of her feelings that she had since her fathers funeral. I feel I was able to support her understand those feelings and help her recognise that anger, depression, or denial are normal feelings that many people in her situation suffer. Throughout Egans Skilled Helper Model and each of the sessions with Miss A I found that she responded well to being able to discuss her feelings with someone. The Rogerian influence on the intervention enabled me to build trust, partnership and a good rapport with her facilitating an open working relationship and providing her with support. Some of the values I tried to incorporate into my counselling and indeed my relationship with Miss A were empowerment and self-advocacy, by letting her know that her agenda was central. I wanted to create a balance of power and to provide a supporting role rather than a dictator role, which I feel I achieved by being able to listen to her views and incorporating PCP. Social work has a distinctive value base with beliefs and principles playing an important role in practice (Thompson, 2005). Challenging my values has helped me to treat Miss A with unconditional positive regard, and with the respect and dignity she deserves. I have challenged my values anti-oppressively by researching MRSA and not making assumptions about the condition; I have challenged my stereotypical attitude around learning disability demonstrating that Miss A is first and foremost a person with feelings and issues before recognising she has a disability. Evaluation: On evaluation of the Egans Skilled Helper Model and my intervention with Miss A have shown that her agenda was central to the sessions, a balance of power was necessary to achieve the trust and respect of one another and that listening is paramount to providing effective counselling. I entered the sessions with Miss A being unaware of what to expect, I was troubled that I would not have enough knowledge about grief to help support her. After the initial session I soon realised that I didnt need to be a qualified counsellor to make a difference to her understanding of grief, I just needed to be able to explain her feelings to her and reassure her that they were normal and not as she phrased it â€Å"being mental†. I found that by working with Miss A using the Skilled Helper Model I was able to apply my skills of listening, communication and empathy to help her understand her feelings. I have never personally had a bereavement of Miss As scale before but feel as a direct result of working with Miss A I have learned that grief is a powerful emotion for anyone to experience and it can take a significant amount of time to recover from. The only regret I have of using the Skilled Helper Model was that I feel I did not have enough time to fully help support Miss A, I feel as I had a placement of only eighty-five days I did not have enough time to fully counsel her for the best outcome. I feel throughout the intervention process I tried to maintain person centred principles with Miss A by providing her with the opportunity to discuss what was important to her. Research shows that the use of Egans model is not person centred as it incorporates the counsellor to ask all the questions, and therefore have the control; but I feel by working in partnership with Miss A to discuss the death of her father was important for her emotional well being and empowered her to help resolve her grief. I also incorporated Rogers core skills of genuineness, respect and trust to achieve this Conclusion Through working with Miss A I have found the experience to be invaluable learning. I have discovered that there is a spectrum of ability with adults and their learning disability. I have found that each person is an individual, and that group care is not necessarily recognising of this. In regards to Miss A I have learned not to make assumptions or stereotypes before meeting the person, as this can lead to oppression and even discrimination. Miss A is an individual, with individual needs, and at this assessment and intervention her emotional needs were prominent. I feel I completed the aims I had intended to by supporting Miss a through her grief using Egans Skilled Helper Model. I incorporated Rogers core skills into this model to help facilitate person centred sessions, and create an understanding that she was the expert, and I was there to listen and support her. If I was to repeat the intervention I would use Egans model again as it provided me with a structured, logical framework to work with and provided me with the identification of the skills I needed to make the sessions successful and effectively counsel Miss A. I feel my future learning needs from working with Miss A are to use more formal language as I identified I talked to her informally using words such as â€Å"wee†. I feel I did this to appear more friendly rather than her social worker, but realise this is not a professional manner to work. Other learning needs I identified were to pace the sessions more appropriately and ensure that Miss A understands the conversation. I feel during the initial sessions with Miss A I spoke more to engage her in the discussion, and feel this was more of a nervous reaction to having to counsel Miss A. During later sessions I was able to take this skill into consideration and settle quicker into sessions to give Miss A the opportunity to discuss what she wished. Overall I feel my relationship with Miss A was good, I feel the assessment and intervention were successful, and I feel I worked in a person centred way incorporating knowledge, skills and values to inform my practice. I feel Miss A felt positively about our work together as her feedback from sessions indicated that she was satisfied with the support I provided. References: 1. Beresford, P. (1996) The Standards we Expect: What Service Users and Carers Want fromSocial Services Workers. London: National Institute of Social Work 2. Bradford, J. (1984) Life after a Death, Parents Voice 34: 6-7 3. Cathcart, F. (1995) Death and People with Learning Disabilities: Interventions to Support Clients and Carers; British Journal of Clinical Psychology 34: 165-75 4. Coulshed, V., and Orme, J. (2006) Social Work Practice. Palgrave Macmillan, Fourth Edition 5. Duffy P, Fisher C, Munroe D (2008). Nursing knowledge, skill, and attitudes related to evidenced based practice: Before or After Organizational Supports. Medsurg Nursing 17 (1): 55-60 6. Egan, G (1990) The Skilled Helper: A Systematic Approach to Effective Helping. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole 7. Elliot, D. (1995) Helping People with Learning Disabilities to Handle Grief, Nursing Times 91 (43): 27-9. 8. Goldsworthy, K. (2005) Grief and loss theory in social work practice: All changes involve loss, just as all losses require change, Australian Social Work, 58:2, 167 — 178 9. Kitching, N. (1987) Helping People with Mental Handicaps Cope with Bereavement, Mental Handicap 15: 60-3. 10. McLoughlin, I . (1986) Bereavement in the Mentally Handicapped, British Journal of Hospital Medicine October: 256-60. 11. Murray, G., McKenzie, K., and Quigley, A. (2000) The Grieving Process in Individuals with a Learning Disability; An Examination of the Knowledge and Understanding of Health and Social Care: Journal of Intellectual Disabilities; 4; 77 12. Nelson, P. (2007) An Easy Introduction to the Egans Skilled Helper Solution Focused Counselling Approach. Palgrave and Macmillan (Online at www.f-e-t-t.co.uk) (Accessed 2 March 2009) 13. Preston-Shoot, M., and Braye, S. (2009) Social work intervention (Online) Available at: http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/elearning/law/law08/index.asp [Accessed 5 May 2009]. 14. Read, S. (1996) Helping People with Learning Disabilities to Grieve, British Journal of Nursing 5 (2). 15. Smale, G and Tuson, G. (1993) Empowerment, Assessment, Care Management and the Skilled Worker. London. HMSO 16. Thompson, N. (2005) Understanding Social Work: Preparation for Practice. Second Edition. Palgrave Macmillan 17. Thompson, J., Kilbane, J., and Sanderson, H. (2008) Person Centred Practice for Professionals. Open University Press. 18. Trevithick, P (2000) Social Work Skills: A Practice Handbook. Open University Press. 19. Whittington, C. (2007) Assessment in social work: A guide for learning and teaching; London.Social Care Institute for Excellence 20. Williams, P (2006) Social Work with People with Learning Disabilities. Learning Matters Ltd Other: 21. http://www.northernireland.gov.uk/news/news-dhssps/news-dhssps-october-2008/news-dhssps-101008-community-statistics-for.htm (10/10/08) (Accessed on 8 May 2009) 22. http://www.understandingindividualneeds.com/policyandprocedure/statistics.htm (Accessed on 24 April 2009)

The Thought Process of Shakespeares Hamlet Essay -- William Shakespea

The Thought Process of Shakespeare's Hamlet "If Hamlet from himself be ta'en away, And when he's not himself does wrong Laertes, Then Hamlet does it not, Hamlet denies it. Who does it then? His madness. If't be so, Hamlet is of the faction that is wrong'd; His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy." (V.ii.230-235) Hamlet's self-description in his apology to Laertes, delivered in the appropriately distanced and divided third-person, explicitly fingers the greatest antagonist of the play†¹consciousness. The obligatory cultural baggage that comes along with Hamlet heeds little attention to the incestuous Claudius while focusing entirely on the gloomy Dane's legendary melancholia and his resulting revenge delays. As Laurence Olivier introduced his 1948 film version, "This is the tragedy of a man who couldn't make up his mind." By tracking the leitmotif of "thought" throughout the play, I will examine the conflicts that preclude Hamlet from unified decisions that lead to action. Shakespeare is not content, however, with the simple notion of thought as a mere signifier of the battle between the mind and the body. The real clash is a conflict of consciousness, of Hamlet's oscillations between infinite abstraction and shackled solipsism, between recognition of the heroic ideal and of his lim ited means, between the methodical mishmash of sanity and the total chaos of insanity. I repeat "between" not only for anaphoric effect, but to suggest Shakespeare's conception of thought; that is, a set of perspectivally-splintered realities which can be resolutely conflated, for better or worse, only by the mediating hand of action. Any discussion of Hamlet, a work steeped in contradictions and doubles, necessitates inquiry into passages ... ...ble that someday the legendary cultural baggage that accompanies Hamlet will be lost, and future generations may wish to judge the play on its dramatic merits and not on its required-reading position. If that is the case, they may very well "make" the play "bad" through their different perspective, one which we cannot yet appreciate, and Hamlet, already four centuries old, may disappear from our cultural consciousness. As the prince himself might say, perish the thought. Works Cited: Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (Durham: Duke University Press, 1991). Franco Moretti, Modern Epic (New York: Verso, 1996). Marjorie Nicolson, "The Breaking of the Circle" (Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1950). William Shakespeare, The Arden Shakespeare: Hamlet, ed. Harold Jenkins (England: Methuen & Co. Ltd, 1982).

A Game of Thrones Chapter Seventeen

Bran It seemed as though he had been falling for years. Fly, a voice whispered in the darkness, but Bran did not know how to fly, so all he could do was fall. Maester Luwin made a little boy of clay, baked him till he was hard and brittle, dressed him in Bran's clothes, and flung him off a roof. Bran remembered the way he shattered. â€Å"But I never fall,† he said, falling. The ground was so far below him he could barely make it out through the grey mists that whirled around him, but he could feel how fast he was falling, and he knew what was waiting for him down there. Even in dreams, you could not fall forever. He would wake up in the instant before he hit the ground, he knew. You always woke up in the instant before you hit the ground. And if you don't? the voice asked. The ground was closer now, still far far away, a thousand miles away, but closer than it had been. It was cold here in the darkness. There was no sun, no stars, only the ground below coming up to smash him, and the grey mists, and the whispering voice. He wanted to cry. Not cry. Fly. â€Å"I can't fly,† Bran said. â€Å"I can't, I can't . . . â€Å" How do you know? Have you ever tried? The voice was high and thin. Bran looked around to see where it was coming from. A crow was spiraling down with him, just out of reach, following him as he fell. â€Å"Help me,† he said. I'm trying, the crow replied. Say, got any corn? Bran reached into his pocket as the darkness spun dizzily around him. When he pulled his hand out, golden kernels slid from between his fingers into the air. They fell with him. The crow landed on his hand and began to eat. â€Å"Are you really a crow?† Bran asked. Are you really falling? the crow asked back. â€Å"It's just a dream,† Bran said. Is it? asked the crow. â€Å"I'll wake up when I hit the ground,† Bran told the bird. You'll die when you hit the ground, the crow said. It went back to eating corn. Bran looked down. He could see mountains now, their peaks white with snow, and the silver thread of rivers in dark woods. He closed his eyes and began to cry. That won't do any good, the crow said. I told you, the answer is flying, not crying. How hard can it be? I'm doing it. The crow took to the air and flapped around Bran's hand. â€Å"You have wings,† Bran pointed out. Maybe you do too. Bran felt along his shoulders, groping for feathers. There are different kinds of wings, the crow said. Bran was staring at his arms, his legs. He was so skinny, just skin stretched taut over bones. Had he always been so thin? He tried to remember. A face swam up at him out of the grey mist, shining with light, golden. â€Å"The things I do for love,† it said. Bran screamed. The crow took to the air, cawing. Not that, it shrieked at him. Forget that, you do not need it now, put it aside, put it away. It landed on Bran's shoulder, and pecked at him, and the shining golden face was gone. Bran was falling faster than ever. The grey mists howled around him as he plunged toward the earth below. â€Å"What are you doing to me?† he asked the crow, tearful. Teaching you how to fly. â€Å"I can't fly!† You're flying tight now. â€Å"I'm falling!† Every flight begins with a fall, the crow said. Look down. â€Å"I'm afraid . . . â€Å" LOOK DOWN! Bran looked down, and felt his insides turn to water. The ground was rushing up at him now. The whole world was spread out below him, a tapestry of white and brown and green. He could see everything so clearly that for a moment he forgot to be afraid. He could see the whole realm, and everyone in it. He saw Winterfell as the eagles see it, the tall towers looking squat and stubby from above, the castle walls just lines in the dirt. He saw Maester Luwin on his balcony, studying the sky through a polished bronze tube and frowning as he made notes in a book. He saw his brother Robb, taller and stronger than he remembered him, practicing swordplay in the yard with real steel in his hand. He saw Hodor, the simple giant from the stables, carrying an anvil to Mikken's forge, hefting it onto his shoulder as easily as another man might heft a bale of hay. At the heart of the godswood, the great white weirwood brooded over its reflection in the black pool, its leaves rustling in a chill wind. When it felt Bran watching, it lifted its eyes from the still waters and stared back at him knowingly. He looked east, and saw a galley racing across the waters of the Bite. He saw his mother sitting alone in a cabin, looking at a bloodstained knife on a table in front of her, as the rowers pulled at their oars and Ser Rodrik leaned across a rail, shaking and heaving. A storm was gathering ahead of them, a vast dark roaring lashed by lightning, but somehow they could not see it. He looked south, and saw the great blue-green rush of the Trident. He saw his father pleading with the king, his face etched with grief. He saw Sansa crying herself to sleep at night, and he saw Arya watching in silence and holding her secrets hard in her heart. There were shadows all around them. One shadow was dark as ash, with the terrible face of a hound. Another was armored like the sun, golden and beautiful. Over them both loomed a giant in armor made of stone, but when he opened his visor, there was nothing inside but darkness and thick black blood. He lifted his eyes and saw clear across the narrow sea, to the Free Cities and the green Dothraki sea and beyond, to Vaes Dothrak under its mountain, to the fabled lands of the JadeSea, to Asshai by the Shadow, where dragons stirred beneath the sunrise. Finally he looked north. He saw the Wall shining like blue crystal, and his bastard brother Jon sleeping alone in a cold bed, his skin growing pale and hard as the memory of all warmth fled from him. And he looked past the Wall, past endless forests cloaked in snow, past the frozen shore and the great blue-white rivers of ice and the dead plains where nothing grew or lived. North and north and north he looked, to the curtain of light at the end of the world, and then beyond that curtain. He looked deep into the heart of winter, and then he cried out, afraid, and the heat of his tears burned on his cheeks. Now you know, the crow whispered as it sat on his shoulder. Now you know why you must live. â€Å"Why?† Bran said, not understanding, falling, falling. Because winter is coming. Bran looked at the crow on his shoulder, and the crow looked back. It had three eyes, and the third eye was full of a terrible knowledge. Bran looked down. There was nothing below him now but snow and cold and death, a frozen wasteland where jagged blue-white spires of ice waited to embrace him. They flew up at him like spears. He saw the bones of a thousand other dreamers impaled upon their points. He was desperately afraid. â€Å"Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?† he heard his own voice saying, small and far away. And his father's voice replied to him. â€Å"That is the only time a man can be brave.† Now, Bran, the crow urged. Choose. Fly or die. Death reached for him, screaming. Bran spread his arms and flew. Wings unseen drank the wind and filled and pulled him upward. The terrible needles of ice receded below him. The sky opened up above. Bran soared. It was better than climbing. It was better than anything. The world grew small beneath him. â€Å"I'm flying!† he cried out in delight. I've noticed, said the three-eyed crow. It took to the air, flapping its wings in his face, slowing him, blinding him. He faltered in the air as its pinions beat against his cheeks. Its beak stabbed at him fiercely, and Bran felt a sudden blinding pain in the middle of his forehead, between his eyes. â€Å"What are you doing?† he shrieked. The crow opened its beak and cawed at him, a shrill scream of fear, and the grey mists shuddered and swirled around him and ripped away like a veil, and he saw that the crow was really a woman, a serving woman with long black hair, and he knew her from somewhere, from Winterfell, yes, that was it, he remembered her now, and then he realized that he was in Winterfell, in a bed high in some chilly tower room, and the black-haired woman dropped a basin of water to shatter on the floor and ran down the steps, shouting, â€Å"He's awake, he's awake, he's awake.† Bran touched his forehead, between his eyes. The place where the crow had pecked him was still burning, but there was nothing there, no blood, no wound. He felt weak and dizzy. He tried to get out of bed, but nothing happened. And then there was movement beside the bed, and something landed lightly on his legs. He felt nothing. A pair of yellow eyes looked into his own, shining like the sun. The window was open and it was cold in the room, but the warmth that came off the wolf enfolded him like a hot bath. His pup, Bran realized . . . or was it? He was so big now. He reached out to pet him, his hand trembling like a leaf. When his brother Robb burst into the room, breathless from his dash up the tower steps, the direwolf was licking Bran's face. Bran looked up calmly. â€Å"His name is Summer,† he said.