Theoretical perspectives on disability
Theoretical perspectives on disability INTRODUCTION The social perception of disabled people as tragic has been challenged for over forty years both in New Zealand and Internationally. The closure of institutions in the 1970's and 80's and the move to community living certainly helped in terms of disabled people at last being able to organise themselves and fight for their rights. This coincided with a rejection of the idea that impairment and disability are the same and a new conception of disablement by groups such as the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS), as being the result of social disadvantages, oppression and exclusions that people with impairments are subjected to in all areas of their lives. Such oppression was viewed by disabled people as being similar to those of gender, race, class and sexuality (Swain et al, 2004). Three models have informed and continue to inform, to varying degrees the way disabled people are treated in western society in general. Models of disability Drake (1999) and Swain et al (2004) believe there is a difference between impairment and disability. Impairment is understood as the lacking of part or all of a limb, organ, or mechanism of the body, sensory or intellectual functioning; while disability is viewed as "the disadvantage or restriction of activity caused by a contemporary social organisation which
What is a Child? Discuss how a scientific, a social constructionist and an applied approach attempt to answer this question.
What is a Child? Discuss how a scientific, a social constructionist and an applied approach attempt to answer this question. This essay will attempt to discuss how sociologists have attempted to answer the question. Childhood is viewed differently, depending on the country being considered, the period of time being studied or a personal viewpoint. According to the UN convention, a child is anybody under the age of eighteen. Several studies have been undertaken by sociologists to examine childhood. This essay will attempt to discuss three major approaches: 1) a scientific approach tries to study this objectively by observation and experimentation to prove a theory. This essay will discuss Kohlberg's theory of "Moral development". It will not include Piaget's theory as Kohlberg's theory used Paiget's theory as a building block to his theory. 2) A social constructionist approach studies this by exploring social and cultural beliefs. The two discourses are the Romantic and Puritan discourses. 3) And an applied approach draws on both the scientific and social constructionist theories and uses the studies to understand the practicalities of Children's rights through law, policies, and professional practices and the children themselves. The models used are the justice and the welfare model. The Scientific theory researches and endeavours to establish objective facts by
Russell On Platonic Universals
Russell On Platonic Universals Russell On Platonic Universals The consideration of Platonic universals consequently rouses controversy among philosophers. Thinkers like Bertrand Russell and Thomas Hobbes contribute reflective explanations for the undeniable usage of question-begging ideas in language and thought. While the deliberation of Platonic universals might seem to be fruitless and, at best, obscure to the layperson, it does function as a critical foundation for metaphysics and epistemology. Whether a philosopher agrees or disagrees with the idea of Platonic universals is irrelevant to the certain truth that he or she must form some opinion of them preceding most any philosophic endeavor. To attempt to summarize Plato's theory of universals in a paragraph would do it a great injustice but a simple, working definition of the theory is necessary to move any further. Plato's theory can be condensed as follows: A universal (or form) is an independently existing, nonspatial, nontemporal "something" known only through thought and that cannot be known through the senses; independently existing objects of thought; that which makes a particular thing uniquely and essentially what it is. In even simpler terms, a universal would be something like the "redness" of an apple. According to Plato, the red quality of the apple must exist because the apple is red. But
What did Marx mean when he stated that capital is not a thing but social relations between persons?
What did Marx mean when he stated that capital is not a thing but social relations between persons? Marx was consistently fearless in his opposition of orthodox beliefs, and his brashness in thought is one of the most striking aspects of his multiple works, differing as they do in subject matter and objective. Although it is quite often a challenge to establish exactly what Marx thought, due to the bulk of his material remaining incomplete or unpublished, and with the changing and developments of his thoughts over time, we do know that he remained adamant in his stance that capital is not a thing, but in fact social relations between persons. In order to come to some conclusion as to why exactly Marx felt it necessary to oppose all contemporary economic thought of the time, I will first of all examine the very thought processes and traditions he disagreed with, those which others thought to be the definitive explanations of capital, and then move on to develop a fuller picture of capital as an abstract concept, using his own theories of the Circulation and Fetishism of commodities, and the Alienation and Exploitation of the worker. Before backing up Marx's above argument, it is first necessary to have a clear idea of what exactly he was refuting. Thus, in his Wage-Labour and Capital thesis he lays down a clear explanation, according to 'economists' of the time:
Evaluate the idea that sociological research has had no important effect on social policy.
Evaluate the idea that sociological research has had no important effect on social policy When considering if sociological research has had an important effect on social policy, the theoretical functions of sociology have to be established. Functions of sociology are thought to be that it allows us to understand the world around us and provides us with knowledge and insight. It also allows people to reflect upon their own experiences of life and 'liberates' them. How far this knowledge and insight that sociological research gives us has an important effect on social policy is debatable, since 'important' is a subjective term in itself. Certain groups of disabled people, ethnic minorities and the feminist and gay movement have all benefited greatly from sociological research. It has allowed them to challenge images of themselves (stereotyped in the media) and to initiate policies sympathetic to them and led to an increase of self-knowledge. Research has shown the extent of discrimination and enabled them to show these findings to the government and to demand action. Some of this action has resulted in 'Anti-discrimination laws' -enabling groups become aware of their own-shared identity and take pride in them. The Crown Prosecution Service implemented one example of a new social policy to crack down on homophobic crime, on 28th November 2002. It urged Crown Prosecutors to use
Working Mothers
Running head: ROLE STRAIN, STRESS AND COPING. THE STRESS OF ROLE STRAIN ON PROFFESSIONAL MOTHERS AND THEIR COPING STRATEGIES. Neema Mngwamba University of Houston-Downtown PSY3309 06/25/10 Abstract. Among the many complex roles that a lot of people live, married women with children have the most stressful roles. This review focuses on the multiple roles that married working mothers hold and how that caused role strain which indeed lead to stress. Mothers in this case refer to those that have young children, the ones that are the most demanding. Also we will see how those mothers coped with the stress. The role strain discussed is basically the conflict created when the women were trying to balance their multiple roles as wives, mothers, professionals etc. Out of all them, the mother role and the professional role were the two that conflicted the most. One major thing that was found to contribute a lot to the stress and had to be taken into account was gender role/stereotypes. In coping with the stress many of the mothers were forced to adopt different strategies that were mainly categorized into two main strategies, problem-focused and emotional-focused strategies. Many of them preferred to utilize a strategy that leaves conflict/stress reduction as a responsibility of the individual. This means that while the work load/ demand remained the same they chose to work
Mathew Arnold, Stanzas From the Grande Chartruse - 19th Century Britain.
Erik Jaccard English 230 AB---Dalley 3/14/2001 Final Exam Part I "Wandering between two worlds, one dead, The other powerless to be born, With nowhere yet to rest my head, Like these, on earth I wait forlorn." ---Mathew Arnold, Stanzas From the Grande Chartruse As these portentous and transitory lines suggest, 19th century inhabitants of Britain existed very literally beneath the outstretched and looming arms of an immense and ambiguous shadow. After all, it was in 19th century Britain that humankind was first introduced to the intensely exponential rates of change that would come to define the endeavors of humankind thereafter. Slumped loosely upon the errant back of "progress" was the concept of time, which had for eons before, rolled along with all the ferociousness of the river Thames. With the inception of the Industrial Revolution, however, the pace at which humankind lived, loved, and lost began to burgeon into something altogether mysterious, hopeful, and, at the same time, terribly frightening and uncontrollable. Each succeeding generation began to be defined by the technology and controversy of its day, each "age" noticeably marked by the incipient generation to succeed it and the lamented generations already fading into memory. Technology advanced with lightning-quick speed, carrying with it new mediums of expression (particularly within the sphere
To what extent do the mass media influence their audience?
To what extent do the mass media influence their audience? It is generally believed that daily newspaper's, television, radio, films, the Internet, or any form of message communication that is targeted at a large audience has an influence on behaviour, (Moore 1996) but to what extent? How much influence do the 'mass media' really have on society and the individual's within a society that have now become a media 'loyal' audience? (Moore 1996) and how do people gauge the extent of this influence? The aim of this essay is to look at the theories of the mass media effects. Such effect theories as the 'hypodermic-syringe' model, the 'cultural effects' theory, the 'two-step flow' model, and the 'uses and gratification' theory, and then determine from these theories the true extent of the mass media influence upon society. The 'Hypodermic-syringe model', that is also referred to as the 'silver bullet model' (Schramm & Porter 1982) is the idea that the mass media are so powerful that they can 'inject' their messages into the audience. Or that, like a magic bullet, they can be precisely targeted at an audience, who irresistibly fall down when hit by the bullet. In brief, it is the idea that the makers of media messages can get people to do whatever they want them to do. (Schramm & Porter 1982) Whilst it could be argued that no media analyst holds such a view today, it remains
Concepts of C. Wright Mills The Promise of Sociology
Concepts of C. Wright Mills' The Promise of Sociology C. Wright Mills was an astounding sociologist, social critic, and idealist. His writings and character sparked debate within the sociological community. He advocated that one key purpose of a sociologist was to create social change against the oppression of government. In The Promise of Sociology, C. Wright Mills explores the imagination of a sociologist through the understanding of social analysis and the idea that society interrelates with an individual's life. The sociological imagination gives a person the ability to understand the factors such as biography, history, and lifestyle that impact and influence the individual. It allows the study of how a person's surroundings change their perception of the society around them. To comprehend the sociological imagination is to understand the principles of personal troubles and public issues. Modern sociologists do not study society to merely maintain it, but also to correct it through social change. What allows modern sociologists to gather, analyze, and correct the pillars of civilization? In Mills' view, a person must have the sociological imagination in order for any change to occur. If Mills' assertion is correct, one cannot be a true sociologist without this imagination. According to Frank Elwell, the sociological imagination is "a term referring to the
Richardson's Pamela and Dafoe's Roxana provide us with two very different, yet similar examples of how the social values of the time work against women
Heather J. Glazier Dr. David Oakleaf English 519.08 3 Dec. 2004 Marriage in Pamela and Roxana Eighteenth century England's social values irrevocably intertwined woman's virtue and marriage, particularly for the upper class. This intertwining arose from the fact that wealth was land, and in order to make certain that the land passed down to a legitimate heir the mother's virtue must be beyond doubt, ensuring that family honor remain unblemished and wealth followed the proper line of succession. As a result virtue, followed by pedigree, became the single most important asset any girl could possess since its loss marked a girl as ruined and precluded any chance of a successful marriage, the only acceptable career open to a woman of upper class status. I propose that this type of arranged marriage, where little or no consideration is given to choice, permits little chance of happiness and also renders the woman, who loses the minimal personal freedom and economic control she might have, little more than a pawn to the social values of the period that endorse virtue and body as a commodity. In a time when being female means being powerless marriage becomes little more than a breeding program designed to ensure the proper passage of land as many of the books written about the period suggest. Richardson's Pamela and Dafoe's Roxana provide us with two very different, yet
