Shyness Essay Example

Shyness Essay Some people feel forced to be shy. Even while they know that their best interests will be provided by speaking out, they cannot bring themselves to do so. Shyness is particularly prevalent in the adolescent and young-adult years, while individuals are learning to make alterations to new roles and new self-expectations. The majority people outgrow these earlier symptoms of shyness, mainly as they learn roles proper to adult status. There are various individuals, however, who are so easily panicked by anxiety and self-doubt that they are not capable to develop more mature forms of behavior. As they are shy, they fail to live up to their own prospect in a group setting. As they brood over the humiliation resultant from such failures, they feel even more worthless and inadequate. This in turn deepens their feelings of inferiority and aggravates their shyness. This circular type of relations is rather characteristic of the more anxious mechanisms. Although the individual employs the mechanism to evade or diminish anxiety, it succeeds only momentarily or partially. He then feels ashamed of his weakness in falling back on such a contemptible mechanism. The greater his guilt, the greater his anxiety, and the greater his anxiety, the greater the probability that he will use the mechanism. Shyness is not inevitably maladaptive. As a ephemeral fear of the unfamiliar, it may have a protecting function as it activates affection behavior. Shyness as retiring expressive behavior is not simply accepted as feminine, but might even assume flirtative qualities. Therefore, shyness might have quite diverse qualities in different social contexts, for different people (boys and girls in particular), and in different phases of development. In 1896, Harry Campbell, a British physician, delivered a comprehensive report on what he termed morbid shyness to the British Medical Society. With mythical flair, he described the shy person this way: His soul is full of love and song, but the world knows it not; the iron disguise of shyness is riveted before his face and the man beneath is never seen. Genial words and greetings are ever rising to his lips but they die away in unheard whispers before the steel clamps. (Campbell 1986) We will write a custom essay sample on Shyness specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Shyness specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Shyness specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer As full of understanding as this description appears to be, for many years the scientific community showed astonishingly little interest in shyness. Perhaps the shy and socially anxious were too thriving in their attempts to remain modest and nearly invisible. Even though over the years terms such as bashfulness, reticence, neuroticism, and withdrawal were used to explain social distress, little research literature focused on the roots or dynamics of shyness itself. conceivably, like the common cold, shyness has been mostly unobserved because it is so very common. But in the seventies, science began to look at this indefinable concept, and as the self-help movement rushed throughout that decade, a variety of books appeared that espoused to the shy diverse ways of coping with their social discomforts. The writer most extensively known for bringing shyness into the public light was Philip Zimbardo. In 1972, with colleagues, Zimbardo administered to more than ten thousand subjects the Stanford Shyness Survey. Forty percent of the subjects explained themselves as shy in some sense. while asked whether they had ever viewed themselves as shy, 80 percent reported they had, seventeen percent said they had never labeled themselves shy although felt they had had feelings of shyness in certain situations, and only one percent reported never having experienced shyness at all.(1982) Zimbardo and his colleagues also examined other cultures and countries. They found that, compared to Americans, the Japanese and Taiwanese had a larger percentage of shy people (60 percent of the total population); at 30 percent of the total, Israel had the lowest. And in no culture did more than 10 percent of the respondents explain themselves as never shy. In attempting to describe the vague subjective term shyness with some precision, Zimbardo and his colleagues provided a useful breakdown of its basic components in four realms of subjective experience: †¢   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cognitionsthat is, thoughts, comprise perceptions of self-consciousness, concerns regarding impressions one is making on others, concerns about what others are thinking, and the persons own pessimistic self-evaluations. †¢   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Affective states, or shy feelings, comprise the awareness of anxiety, feelings of distress, anxiety, embarrassment, and ineptness. †¢   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Physiological changes, such as increased pulse rate, blushing, perspiration, palpitations, trouble inhalation, and butterflies in the stomach. †¢   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Behavioral responses among males, comprise diminished talking and diminished eye contact, compared with nonshy males; and amongst females, high frequencies of head nodding and nervous smiling. (Zimbardo, 1977). Besides describing the skewed experience of shyness, Zimbardo and his group surveyed the adverse consequences of shyness as illustrated by their respondents. They reported that shyness forms social problems, making it hard to meet people, make friends, or enjoy potentially good experiences. It is linked with distasteful emotions such as depression, isolation, and loneliness. Shyness makes it firm to be forceful of or express personal opinions and values. It makes others view one pessimistically or fail to perceive ones personal assets. It causes a person to be judged wrongly as snooty, unfriendly, bored, or weak. It obstructs with clear thinking or communicating. And it reason one to be self-conscious and extremely concerned with others reactions. In a distressing summation of the subjective experience of shyness, Zimbardo quotes numerous of his respondents in their eighties as longing to have one non-shy day before they die. Zimbardo strongly believed that shyness was not a usual state that normal children grew out of but a considerable psychological phenomenon that can have profound effects upon numerous aspects of the shy persons life and a major personal problem of major proportions. Zimbardos careful recognition of the components of shyness and his description of its unfavorable consequences allow us to begin to see how shyness is related to social phobia and how to differentiate between them. Researchers have described the unfavorable consequences and disabling behaviors linked with the experience of shyness, no one has stabbed to measure the phenomenon. To shed light on this cloudy issue, it will assist to view shyness as a psychological continuum affecting between 25 and 40 percent of Americans. Within this continuum, we can recognize various levels of power and disability: †¢   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The greatest percentage of those experiencing shyness fall into the normal range. †¢   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   About eight percent of those reporting shyness are what several researchers term borderline casesthat is, at times disabled by their shyness and sometimes not. Age has an impact too: over time shy people can become less so and nonshy people more so. †¢   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to epidemiological research, about 2 percent of our population are socially phobic that is, severe enough to cause social impairment. †¢   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One more psychiatric category, called avoidant personality disorder, might represent the most troubled extreme of the continuum. When we view the continuum all together, it is simple to see why the word shyness is often used chaotically by both lay and proficient people. To clarify, shyness is a type of social anxiety, while general social phobia is a more extreme form. As of the lack of precision about these terms, even much of the experiential research on shyness really focuses on social phobia. Comparative studies in this field have served two purposes. They permit us to study the development of emotions under controlled conditions, so that the animals previous history is fully known (and verbal learning, of course, is not a complication). They also give perspective, and draw our thought to considerable relations that otherwise might not be seen, partially because the phenomena are so familiar. Fear of strangers so called shyness is usually present in the 6-to-12 month infant; fear of darkness, or imaginary things in the darkness, occurs in a large part of children, who experience them at one time or another after the age of 3 years; fear of undisruptive as well as harmful snakes is very nearly collective after the age of 6 years or so; and this list could be significantly extended. But perhaps as they are so well known, singlywe do not put these facts mutually and ask whether man is after all as rational as we think him, or, when we are concerned concerning social hostilit ies, whether mans attitude toward those who have a diverse skin color or different beliefs might not be part of the similar broad picture of irrationality. But this is precisely what is suggested by a comparative approach to the problem. Bierman Furman ( 1984)) illustrate the differential meanings of shyness in boys and girls in a developmental perspective. Explicitly, they have found that shyness in girls is associated with optimistic aspects of the mother-child relationship, whereas shyness in boys is not; mothers of boys expressed some displeasure with the fact that their sons had not outgrown their childish shyness by 50 months. Similar findings have been reported by Asendorpf ( 1990b), who found that shyness in girls was linked with tender and affectionate mother daughter relationships whereas mothers of shy boys were less satisfied with and less accepting of their sons. consequently, it appears as if shyness in girls may be more satisfactory to parents than shyness in boys. Therefore, one must expect that shyness in boys would be aggressively discouraged while shyness in girls would not simply be accepted, but also completely rewarded by parents, thus leading to a greater sequential continuity of shy behavior in girls. Likewise, it seems probable that the family conditions linked with shyness may diverge for boys and girls. Communicative competence can concurrently be conceived of as a contributor to or source of shyness, as a means or progression by which shyness is maintained and even exacerbated, and as an result of shy behavior. The exact ways in which communication competence, affective factors such as anxiety, enthusiasm, and self-efficacy, and experience contribute to shyness is composite, and any model needs to be a dynamic one which takes into deliberation the developmental nature of the phenomena. As a source, poorer communicative competence handicaps the child in eagerly and effectively conversing with others. As a means, poorer communicative competence may raise the probability of negative feedback, negative self-perceptions, and anxiety, and limit opportunities to develop social skills, thereby retaining shyness. There is extensive research documenting higher frequency of lower self-esteem and self-perceptions of competence in shy adolescents and adults (Buss, 1984; Clark Arkowitz, 1975), and Asendorpf (1990b) has lately demonstrated the development of inhibition in familiar contexts throughout repeated social failure. Finally, poorer communicative competence may be an outcome of a ferocious cycle in which shy individuals have less experience through personal choice or the lack of opportunities given them to observe, try out, and practice interactional strategies. As Cazden ( 1972) has noted, communication skills as with other composite skills should be learned through practice to the point where performance is automatic (p. 236 ). The dynamic interaction between communication experiences, communicative competence, and influence with respect to shyness also suggests that efforts to widen communication skills must help alleviate shyness. Glass and Shea ( 1986) report that 10- to 20% of shy adults who volunteer for their therapeutic program seem not to recognize what to do in conversations and assist from social skills training. Likewise, training studies in which explicit communication skills have been coached have demonstrated valuable effects on the recipients of this training. Specifically, Bierman and Furman (1984) trained children who were both lacking in communication skills and low in peer reception on a explicit set of conversational skills linked to social competence self-expression or sharing information concerning oneself, questioning or asking other about themselves, and leadership bids such as proffering help, invitations, and advice. Follow-up six weeks after training signified improvements in chil drens conversational performance in dyadic and peer group contacts and higher rates of interaction with peers at lunchtime amongst the trained than untrained subjects. Videotapes of selected training sessions indicated that the use of these conversational skills was linked with positive peer responses throughout the treatment ( Bierman, 1986). However, we flatten individuality in seeking a solution to the shyness in our society. But we should recognize that shyness is but a symptom of the existence of cultural values and social practices that deprive the quality of human life. Those values can be modified without essentially adopting the political and economic orientations of the shyness averting societies we know. In forming social structures where people can live in harmony, we do not require to weaken the spirit of the individual rather, we can develop his or her own strength. But it is only by beginning to seriously examine our own cultural priorities that we can start the social insurrection needed to overcome shyness and prevent its manifestation in the next generation of children. In overcoming shyness, we celebrate life and find out in ourselves a capability to love and an energy for living that we dared not distinguish before. It is worth any attempt to make that discovery in ourselves, our children, our mates, and our friends. The time to begin is now, the place to begin is here, and the person to head the journey to overcome shyness is you.

Analysis of Truth †Communications Essay

Analysis of Truth – Communications Essay Free Online Research Papers Analysis of Truth Communications Essay Truth is that to which the community ultimately settles down (Charles Pierce). The concept of truth has been a subject of human fascination and philosophical investigation since the days of the early philosophers. The quotation above claims that truth is something that requires a consensus gentium an agreement of all the people. But does the fact that all agree on something makes it necessarily true? This mere question is in itself somewhat of a philosophical riddle, as not everyone can have the same opinion on such a complex matter. Human society is so diverse and so divided that it is virtually impossible to have all members of the community to agree on the same issue. The question of what is a community can also lead to a broad philosophical discussion, however for the purpose of the analysis the community spoken about will be the human society. The quotation above states that truth is what the community ultimately settles for, hence the statement can be subjected to several interpretations. The statement implies that it is only the conclusion that is accepted by the community as the truth, and therefore implies that truth is only a result of a process. Dialectics and Hegelian philosophy describe development as a struggle of the thesis against the antithesis, which come to a resulting conclusion of the synthesis. This reflects perfectly the idea of Charles Pierce that the truth is only an ultimate achievement. An example for this would be Galileos findings that earth is part of a heliocentric system. Galileo was in fact only one amongst many whom believed that the universe is geocentric, i.e. with planet Earth at its centre. The situation in the world depicts Galileo as the thesis, and common belief as the antithesis. Both situations existed and eventually the community settled down Galileos findings. Hence the synthesis. A strong implication the Hegelian philosophy is that truth can not exist without the false, for one would not know how to distinguish the truth if one does not have anything to compare it with. Sà ¸ren Kierkegaard said Truth always rests with the minority, and the minority is always stronger than the majority, because the minority is generally formed by those who really have an opinion, while the strength of a majority is illusory, formed by the gangs who have no opinion and who, therefore, in the next instant (when it is evident that the minority is the stronger) assume its opinion†¦while truth again reverts to a new minority. Kierkegaard supports the claim that finding truth is a continuing process, however he also claims that the resolution is not to be found, as truth can only be found with the minority. This is the minority for it does not represent the most common beliefs, and the most common beliefs are the ones attained by the community. Therefore Kierkegaard argues the opposite of Pierce, because he is stating that truth lies not with the community but with those who rebel against it! But Kierkegaards statement is a contradiction, for once the minoritys truth replaces the majoritys false truth, the new truth (now held by the majority) becomes false as well, and the only real truth is now held by a new minority. Friedrich Nietzche said once that the ability to enforce truths is a powerful privilege held only by policy makers. And therefore, what the majority accepts as truth is not necessarily because of righteousness, but because of the power held by those who create it! Nietzche here implies that having the truth is related to having control. How is control achieved then? Well, very simply: Truth is related to validity, validity is related to certainty, certainty can be made into knowledge, and knowledge is power! However in todays post-modernist society, with means such as the television and the Internet, knowledge is accessible to everyone. What is not accessible to everyone is certainty the certainty that in fact by acquiring knowledge one acquires truth. Hence truth can only be truth if it is a valid claim, and it can only be held by those who are certain of this claim. Therefore Nietzches statement is still valid, as the power of constituting truths rests in the hands of only a few privileged individuals and those are the ones who constitute the truths for the majority. Realising both claims by Nietzche and by Kierkegaard, one, in his mind, can picture society as it is. The picture one will get in his mind is of a rhombus. The people who constitute the truths for the majority are on top. Their truths are truths only if they are certain of their absolute opinion. Even if they are lying, as long as they know for certain that it is lying it is still the truth. On the bottom of the rhombus there are those who, according to Kierkegaard, have the truth for they are the ones with the integrity and passion. Between the two poles of the rhombus there is the majority, who do not have truth for they are merely fed by those who claim to have the truth, i.e. do not know if their truths are either certain or valid. With time, the rhombus will flip and those who are now at the bottom will become those at the top. This is the permanent struggle and evolution of the human race. This continuing struggle to find the truth is the motor force of our society For holdi ng the truth means holding the power. The desire for power enflames the desire for knowledge, for knowledge is to be absolutely certain, to prove that a claim is valid and to ultimately find the truth! Therefore the discussion of truth being what the community ultimately decides to be true is futile, for the rhombus is constantly turning, and the ultimate had not been attained yet. There exists an obvious fact that seems utterly moral; namely, that a man is always a prey to his truths. Once he had admitted them, he cannot free himself from them. This statement by Albert Camus affirms the fact that the majority of human beings are in fact trapped in the middle between the two poles of the rhombus, hence the right to try and flip it is even more justified. For example: The publication of Charles Darwins On the Origin of Species caused a chaos in the modern world, and in fact caused the flipping of the rhombus. The one at the top of the rhombus at the time was The Catholic Church, which constituted the truth for the majority those in the middle of the rhombus. Darwin and his disciples were at the bottom, and with time, the rhombus flipped and Darwins theories were now on top, making room for a new minority at the bottom. Hegel said that truth can only be obtained in rhetorical view, and therefore, perhaps in the future some new theory will evolve that will once again flip the rhombus upside down. John Locke probably would have objected to the entire argument that truth can be settled by the means of having an entire community agreeing, for he advocated that there is no world that exists outside the mind. George Berkeley extended Lockes ideas about doubting the world outside the mind by arguing that there is no evidence for such a world because the only things that one can observe are sensations, and these are all in the mind of the individual and not the community. Truth, is therefore not what the community ultimately settles down, because the community will never settle down! Each resolution obtained is only temporary, and truth is only a term relative to whoever constitutes it. However the community will always try and attain the truth, however futile this attempt is. As Pierre-Joseph Proudohn said, Centuries will pass before that ideal is attained, but our law is to go in that direction, to grow unceasingly nearer to that end†¦ Yiiiiiiftak, If you were a university student, year 1, you would have probably got a 70% mark for it! You have a clear argument, a reasonably coherent structure and supported by a good level of references. Most of my comments are technical and can easily be corrected or altered. They would not change your essay but will make it simpler to follow the argument. Just to make the argument work in your head a little more, think of the following opposites: Subjective – Objective Conviction – Knowledge Believing – Understanding Since you are now also comfortable in French, think of the language mode you would use for each of those terms (i.e. subjonctif; conditionnelle; etc.). much of the essay actually evolves around these issues. Amatsia Research Papers on Analysis of Truth - Communications EssayHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andThree Concepts of PsychodynamicCapital PunishmentAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaHip-Hop is ArtWhere Wild and West MeetMind Travel

Choose one of the specifeic food u like, make an argument, and write Essay

Choose one of the specifeic food u like, make an argument, and write about it - Essay Example In that context, it may sound strange, but canned and frozen foods and vegetables are a veritable source of nutrition, which satisfy a range of consumer choices and expectations. Though canned and frozen foods and vegetables happen to be processed foods, yet the good thing is that they provide people with the much needed nutrition, in a safe, convenient and cost effective manner, while complying with the environmental norms and criteria. The one amazing thing about canned and frozen foods and vegetables is that they have a high nutrition value and content (Belasco 57). It is a fact that fresh foods like fruits and vegetables do lose much nutrition during transit to the stores. In contrast, the canned and frozen foods and vegetables are processed when the food items are still fresh and thereby have a high nutrition value. The processing of fruits and vegetables resorts to an array of traditional activities like peeling and cutting and the subsequent boiling or freezing of the available fresh foods. Thereby, once the fresh fruits and vegetables are canned or frozen, their nutrition potential gets preserved and remains intact for a long period of time. The consumers can consume these canned and frozen foods while benefiting from their high nutrition value. Going by the hectic schedules and scarcity of time that the contemporary consumers have to contend with, canned and frozen foods and vegetables are indeed convenient and save on time (Belasco 70). Canned and frozen foods do save on time in the sense that they are cut, peeled and cooked in advance, and can thereby be readily consumed without resorting to any elaborate processing or cooking procedure. The same cannot be said of the fresh foods, vegetables and fruits. Besides, canned and frozen foods and vegetables are also convenient as they allow the consumers an

Markteing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Markteing - Essay Example The company offers a wide range of products that are certainly unique and different from those offered by the other rival competitors. This company grew through different stages in its history to reach its present status. This study will attempt to analyse different strategies used by the company such as differentiation, its strategy in segmenting the market, competitive advantage as well as consumer behaviour. Recommendations will also be given in this study about what can be done by the company in order to remain a force to reckon with in terms of mobile computer technology. Apple was established in the 1976. On April 1st, Steve jobs agreed to sell only 50 Apple I personal computers to the Byte shop which was the first retail computer store chain in the America. Following this development, Apple was incorporated in 1977 when Wayne sold all his shares of the company to the Jobs and Wozniak and then the company was later renamed Apple Computer Inc. After a few years, Apple II revolutionized its operations to focus on manufacturing of personal computers. The Apple II mainly developed a personal computer market which created hundreds of millions dollars. Apple Inc was ranged to be among the Top 500 companies in America just 5 years after its establishment (Apple Inc). In the 1980’s, Apple launched two different kinds of computers namely Lisa and Macintosh. The Lisa was a commercial failure because of its software limitation and high price tag. The Macintosh was the next product to be launched and sold well at the beginning, but sales were weak in the days that later followed. The reason for failure of Macintosh was the same as Lisa which included high prices and limited software capabilities (Apple Inc). In the late 1980’s, Apple witnessed a significant decline in business as a result of wrong decisions that were made. During that time, Apple failed to satisfy at a lot of targeted customers

Microeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 12

Microeconomics - Essay Example Work submitted for assessment must be accompanied by a completed copy of the Faculty Cover Sheet (available on MUSO Blackboard ‘assignment’ link). Each student must attach their own signed cover sheet to the assignment. No assignment will be accepted or marked if it is not accompanied by a signed Cover Sheet by all students. Your name, I.D. number, the tutorial day/time, and the name of the tutor should be shown on the Cover Sheet. An electronic copy will not be accepted. You should retain a copy of the work submitted. 4. Faculty Style Guide - Work submitted for this assessment must follow the Faculty Style as outlined in the Faculty Q Manual. Copies of this Manual can be obtained at the bookshop or online at: http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/publications/qmanual/. 5. Applications for extension of time - All applications for an extension of the time allocated to an assessment task must be made in writing to the Unit Leader (see special consideration for within the semester assessment on page 9 of the Unit Outline). Approval, if granted, will be in writing and will be recorded on the Faculty Assignment cover sheet accompanying the assessment task by the responsible lecturer/tutor. b) Choose one of the policies you describe in part (a) to be the focus of the rest of your analysis. Consider the European Union to be one country, and show graphically the demand, supply, and equilibrium in the sugar market. Before any trade is allowed, where would the domestic (European) price for sugar be located with respect to the world price? d) Now construct a new graph of the market for sugar in the EU that shows, in addition to the equilibrium with free trade, the equilibrium that would be reached under the trade protection policy you chose in part (b). Show clearly the areas of consumer surplus, producer surplus, and government revenue (where relevant) that result from this policy, and compare them to the corresponding areas under

The Problems Of Reintegration Criminology Essay

The Problems Of Reintegration Criminology Essay A large number of the people who are released from prison are incarcerated again within a short period of time. Ex-prisoners confront many problems in the effort to be reintegrated into society. These problems include a lack of social support, inability to gain access to vital resources and services, the resistance of the community, lack of education, and lack of adequate job preparation. These factors make it difficult for ex-prisoners to adjust to life in the community and thereby increase the risk that they will return to a life of crime. There are certain things that prison ministers can do to help prisoners make a successful transition to life on the outside. Prison ministers can be involved in programs that help prepare prisoners through education and training. Ministers can provide prisoners with support during the reentry process. In addition, they can build relationships in the community that serve as bridges for prisoners when they make the change from life in prison to lif e in the general population. Prison ministers can also help prisoners reintegrate by tending to their spiritual needs. Prison provides a place for offenders to pay their debt to society by being punished for the crimes they have committed. Ideally, prison will rehabilitate offenders so they can be reintegrated into society after being released. The alternative to reintegration is for prisoners to return to a life of crime. Ex-prisoners face many challenges in the effort to achieve successful reentry into society. Some of these challenges are related to the material things that people need in order to survive. Released prisoners often find it difficult to obtain jobs, housing and the other necessities of life. Other challenges are related to a lack of social support. In order to be effectively reintegrated into society, ex-prisoners need positive forms of support and encouragement from family members, friends or others in the community. This paper will examine the potential problems that might occur during reintegration after prison. The paper will emphasize the perspective of the prison minister. The re are several things that prison ministers can do to help prisoners make the transition to community life after their release. The Problems Associated with Reintegration In the United States, nearly 700,000 people are released from prison each year (Hesse, 2009). It has been estimated that as many as 75 percent of these people will be incarcerated again within four years after their release (Rabey, 1999). This is a problem known as recidivism. One reason for the high rate of recidivism is because many ex-prisoners lack social support. For example, during long prison terms, offenders often lose contact with family members. This is problematic because contact with family members is believed to facilitate reintegration into the community (Lynch Sabol, 2001, p. 2). If ex-prisoners do not have the caring support of family members, they need to be able to get social support from a different source, such as friends, a community-based support group, or a church fellowship. A lack of support often leads to ex-prisoners associating with their former friends in the criminal world. In the words of Hesse (2009), because many released inmates will not have solid attachments to family or community, they will most likely return to old neighborhoods where their very presence may threaten to disrupt their success (p. 64). Further difficulties are raised by feelings of fear and discrimination among the members of the community. Communities are often resistant to the presence of ex-prisoners because of their concerns for public safety (Lynch Sabol, 2001). When ex-prisoners arrive in the community, they do so with criminal labels that limit their ability to secure housing, treatment services, and employment (Pogorzelski, et al., 2005, p. 1718). Clearly, ex-prisoners will not be able to reintegrate into society unless they are able to obtain jobs that provide them with enough income to support themselves. In addition to the difficulty of obtaining a job because of the criminal label, there may be competition between returning prisoners and welfare leavers for jobs (Lynch Sabol, 2001, p. 19). Furthermore, ex-prisoners are often forced to take low-paying, low-skill jobs. As noted by Lynch Sabol (2001), the low pay of these jobs enhances the possibility that involvement in illegitimate, income-producing a ctivities will increase (p. 19). Former inmates face these kinds of challenges despite the passage of the federal law known as the Second Chance Act of 2005. The purpose of this legislation is to ensure that ex-prisoners receive the services that they need when they reenter society. According to the findings in a study by Pogorzelski, et al. (2005), the Second Chance Act has done little to alleviate the challenges faced by former prisoners in the effort to gain access to housing, public assistance and other necessary resources. These researchers have found that there are invisible punishments built into the policies and programs that are supposed to help ex-prisoners reintegrate into society. For example, local laws often place limitations on the ability of former prisoners to fill out job applications, acquire housing or receive public assistance. As stated by Pogorzelski, et al. (2005), these laws are, in effect, exclusionary public policies that regulate reentry experiences and, in essence, perpetuate punishment after release by assigning special conditions or bans on people with felony convictions (p. 1718). As claimed by Hesse (2009), many will return to crime to support themselves because accessibility to social services and other supports may not be available (p. 64). Another reason why reintegration efforts often fail is because offenders do not receive the preparation that they need when they are still in prison. Many people in prison have problems involving such things as mental illness or substance abuse (Pogorzelski, et al., 2005). The prison system does not provide adequate treatment for these kinds of problems. In addition, prisoners do not generally receive the kind of job training that they need in order to be able to succeed in outside life. As noted by Lynch Sobel (2001), a large number of released prisoners reenter society not having participated in educational, vocational, or pre-release programs (p. 2). The lack of education and job training contributes to the high recidivism rate among ex-prisoners. There is evidence showing that prisoners tend to be far less educated than the general population (Hesse, 2009, p. 64). For ex-prisoners, a lack of education and training can mean a low-paying job or no job at all. This, in turn, increa ses the risk of released prisoners failing to achieve reintegration into the community and returning to a life of crime. Prison Ministry and Reintegration Prison ministers can play an important role in helping prisoners prepare for life after their release. For example, ministers can arrange for prisoners to receive job training or educational services. Ministers can also help prisoners make the transition to community life by being supportive and caring. However, prisoners need more than this in order to succeed in the reintegration process. Regarding the limits of prison ministry, McRoberts (2002) notes that spirituality may help people survive the hardships and absurdities of incarceration, but life on the outside poses a radically different existential challenge (p. 2). Rabey (1999) agrees that prison ministers need to place more emphasis on aftercare and the reintegration of prisoners into communities and churches after their release (p. 27). A problem is created by the fact that many church members are resistant to the idea of providing large amounts of assistance to former prisoners (McRoberts, 2002, p. 7). To address this probl em, prison ministers need to work at building relationships with community ministers and to thereby strengthen the bridge between prison life and community life. Prison ministers also have a vital role to play in helping prisoners adjust themselves spirituality to what life will be like after their release. As Rabey (1999) points out, prison ministries have shifted their attention from punishment to redemption, and from retributive justice to restorative justice' (p. 27). In order to achieve successful reintegration, prisoners need to experience a sense of healing and restoration. Conclusion As discussed in this paper, various factors create challenges for ex-prisoners in their effort to be reintegrated into society. These factors include a lack of social support, community resistance, the inability to get a decent job, lack of access to necessary services, and a low level of education. The challenges faced by ex-prisoners greatly increase the risk of recidivism. Prison ministries can play a role in helping ex-prisoners make a successful transition to community life. Prison ministers can help prepare prisoners for life on the outside while they are still in prison. They can work with community ministers to provide a bridge to life on the outside. They can make efforts to be sure that ex-prisoners will receive the resources and social support that they need to survive in the community. In addition, prison ministers can contribute to the reintegration process by tending to the spiritual needs of prisoners as they prepare for their reentry into society.

In Praise of Folly - Erasmus Dichotomy Essay -- In Praise of Folly Es

In Praise of Folly - Erasmus' Dichotomy      Ã‚   The Silenus box is a "case carved like an ugly Silenus" that can be "opened to reveal beautiful, precious objects" (Erasmus 43, footnote). This box appears in Erasmus' Praise of Folly as a metaphor for the central claim in the novel, which is that that which appears to be Folly (ugly) externally, is wise (precious) within. Erasmus reveals this dichotomy on three levels: in the image of the box itself, in his genuine praise of Folly, and in the structure of the novel as a whole. Erasmus, using the female voice of Folly, introduces his reader to the image of the Silenus box early in the text, thereby allowing his reader to carry the image with her for the rest of her time reading (and see its metaphoric nature when appropriate). Folly makes the introduction, saying, "All human affairs... have two aspects quite different from each other." She then goes on to explain that this means, according to Plato, that things that "appear 'at first blush'... to be death, will, if you examine [them] more closely, turn out to be life... in brief, you will find everything suddenly reversed if you open the Silenus" (43). In more direct terms, something which on its surface seems one way (the 'bad' way), has opposite ('good') guts. In The Praise of Folly, the pair of opposites that Erasmus focuses on is that of folly and wisdom. By including a passage dedicated to the description of the Silenus, Erasmus gives his readers a concrete picture to grasp onto that stands for the novel's link between this pair of opposites, which is that wisdom comes under the wrapping of folly. The passage allows the reader to understand this central concept more easily. The concept, in its many manifestations, c... ...this same literary tradition, Rabelais utilizes this peculiar narrative technique in Gargantua and Pantagruel, where he too hides the wisdom in his work behind the veil of foolish, and even vulgar, language. Erasmus' inclusion of the passage explaining the Selenus box allows it to be a metaphor for the central concept in the novel. Through its presence, Erasmus gives us, his readers, a tool with which to separate the layers of his text. Without it, we might be stranded (after reading) with the inaccurate belief that Erasmus was a babbling hypocrite, with contradictory ideas sprinkled throughout his work. But, I suppose, we could have just attributed that fault to Folly, who is always more than willing to accept such a title. Work Cited Erasmus, D. 1511. In Praise of Folly. (Translated by L. Dean and republished by Hendricks House Farrar Straus. 1946.)