Category: Uncategorized

Classification of Drugs and Incidence and Prevalence of Crime

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Institutional affiliation

Classification is the act of arranging items into similar groups. Drug classifications categorize drugs according to categories. Classifying drugs according to chemical composition is helpful because drugs with the same chemical content have similar risks and impacts. Additionally, treatment is effective for drugs that have similar chemical compositions. Worth noting, despite having generalities, drugs that have the same chemical composition have different medical and legal implications. There are various drug classification systems. Drugs are classified according to chemical make-up, effect and legal definitions (Alamgir, 2017). Examples of drugs categorized according to chemical make-up include alcohol, opioids, benzodiazepines, cannabinoids, and barbiturates. Alcohol is one of the most used drugs across the world. In the United States, alcohol is legal to some extent. Alcohol has numerous effects on users. Alcohol severely impairs perception and judgment. It also lowers inhibition and creates feelings of euphoria. Forms of alcohol include liquor, wine, and beers. Opioids are made from opium of chemicals designed to mimic the drug. Opioids are some of the most addictive drugs and they pose a severe challenge in American society today. They function by acting on brain receptors and mimicking effects of neurotransmitters. Examples of opioids include fentanyl, heroine, and oxycodone. Benzodiazepines are highly addictive and are mostly used to treat sleep and psychiatric conditions. Cannabinoids include hashish and marijuana. They contain tetrahydrocannabinol which negatively impacts physical and mental functioning. Barbiturates function by slowing down the functioning of the central nervous system. Drugs classified according to effect include inhalants, stimulants, and hallucinogens. Stimulants such as cocaine increase performance and productivity. Hallucinogens affect a person’s perception of reality and inhalants are ingested through huffing or breathing them in. Examples of Drugs that are classified according to legal definitions include schedule I, schedule II, schedule III, schedule IV, and schedule V drugs. They are categorized according to legitimacy, risk of addiction, the potential of abuse, and medical use.

As regards crime, prevalence is the total number of incidents or cases that occur in a given population. In essence, the prevalence of crime has to do with the proportion of targets, households, or properties likely to be victimized if crime occurs in a given area. There are two types of prevalence in crime, namely point prevalence and period prevalence. Point prevalence of crime is the specific number of crime cases occurring at a particular point. On the other hand, period prevalence points to the number of people affected by the crime within a stipulated time period. On the other hand, incidence refers to the number of new cases of crime that occur within a specific time frame. Incidence of crime takes into account the time that the crime takes place. Prevalence is different from incidence as it considers both new and existing cases of the population at a specific time, while incidence is only limited to new cases (Sherman, 2020). Essentially, the relationship between prevalence and incidence of crime is that incidence factors the proportion of people affected by a given crime with a given period of time while prevalence only incorporates the people affected by the crime during a given time frame. The factor connecting crime incidence and prevalence is the length of time it takes for the crime to affect a person. Crime incidence is often a product of crime concentration and prevalence. It is the number of crimes recorded to have occurred in a given place and is expressed according to the rate per head of the area population.

References

Alamgir, A. N. M. (2017). Classification of drugs, nutraceuticals, functional food, and cosmeceuticals; proteins, peptides, and enzymes as drugs. In Therapeutic Use of Medicinal Plants and Their Extracts: Volume 1 (pp. 125-175). Springer, Cham.

Sherman, L. W. (2020). Shattering the paradox of guns and crime: Incidence, prevalence, and the 2020 Stockholm.

Classification

Students Name

Institution of Affiliation

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Date

The library has many books on the shelves, and the tracing of a particular book can be hectic if one is not familiar or new to the library (Proust, 2017). The reason as to why some people tend to take a lot of time in the library finding a particular book can be attributed to the inadequacy in the knowledge of the cataloging style used in the specific library. A person may have one specific book in mind and also knows the shelves to which the book may be found but maybe not familiar with the way the recording as well as coding techniques that are used in that particular library. It is, therefore, possible that the person who is not familiar with the coding may not have an easy time in tracing the book. A lot of time may be spent hovering around the shelves to no avail. It can also be possible that the person may be looking for the book using the author on the shelves while at the library the books may be categorized using the subjects. Such a case may make one spend a lot of time in searching for the text in the shelves, and thus it is advisable that a person should consult a librarian for assistance in locating a book of choice.

There exist various differences between the referencing style MLA and the APA (Styles, 2017). Among the notable differences include in the date, author’s name, capitalization, source page as well as in the in-text citation. For the MLA format, the date follows the publisher in the citation and is not in the parenthesis while in the APA, the date follows the author and is in the parentheses. The authors name in the MLA format is spelled out as full including the first and the last name, in the APA format, the author’s last name is spelled out and the first name is reduced to the author’s initials. In terms of capitalization, the MLA format have all major words in the title being capitalized and the title underlined. On the other side, the APA format have only the first word of the title, the subtitle and any other proper nouns like names capitalized and everything else is made in lower case. The source page in the MLA format is referred to as the ‘Work Cited’ while in the APA format it is referred to as the ‘References’. In the in-text citation, the MLA format uses the last name of the author and the page number while the APA format uses the last name and the date or year of publication. In addition, the MLA format does not use commas to separate the materials or p. pp. before the page numbers but in the APA, the commas are used if a page is mentioned such as p. and pp. An example to illustrate the differences is:

i. MLA format: Klaphake, Elizabeth. My Life as an English Professor. Bellevue, Nebraska: Bellevue University Press. 1999.

ii. APA format: Klaphake, E. (1999). My life as an English professor. Bellevue, Nebraska: Bellevue University Press.

Among the bibliographies of a subject studied during the semester that are related to the environmental conservation include;

i. Rowell, A. (2017). Green Backlash: Global Subversion of the environment movement. Routledge: – Which talks about the mainstreaming of the environmental related enforcements to accomplish a better environment through collaboration and formation of new policies.

ii. Cairns, M. F. (2015). Shifting cultivation and environmental change: Indigenous people, agriculture and forest conservation. Routledge. – A book that emphasizes the shift cultivation with the aim of improving and conserving the soil profile in the maintenance of the environment.

iii. Harper, C., Harper, C. L., & Snowden, M. (2017). Environment and society: Human perspectives on environmental issues. Routledge. – The book talks about the role of the human beings in bettering or destroying the environment.

References

Proust, M. (2017). Unpacking My Library: Artists and Their Books. Yale University Press.

Styles, A. (2017). Number of citation styles are in common use depending on the specific scientific discipline. The most common styles are APA, Chicago, AMA, and MLA. Information on citation styles can be found on the web (link 1, 2) and eg in the following book: Lipson, C. 2005. How to write a BA thesis: a practical guide from your first ideas to your finished paper. Chicago University Press. Ulrich Fischer, 2, 4.

Literature Search: Myocardial Infarction

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Jamal, K.N., Naveed, R., Sheraz, A., Anvesha, S., Nicholas, D.M., Anthony, G.H… & Gerry, P.M. (2014). Prevalence an incidence of infarct and microvascular obstruction following different reperfusion therapies in ST-elevated myocardial infarction. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, 16(1), 1-21.

This research was prompted by the scarcity of data on the microvascular obstruction (MVO) and infarct size (IS) as relates to the timing and mode of reperfusion therapy. In lieu of this, the authors sought to investigate the extent and prevalence of infarct size and microvascular injury by use of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), as relates to the mode of perfusion after an acute ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction. The authors involved ninety-four STEMI patients in the study. They measured CMR infarct characteristics in them, for a prolonged period of one and half years. They quantified the angiographic IRA flow using the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction Scoring system. During the index admission, they performed the CMR on all the patients. Two experienced observers analyzed the CMR images offline and blinded them to patient details. They analyzed their data using independent tests and ANOVA. Their results indicated that the infarct size is smaller in thrombolysis and PPCI groups, as opposed to the patients in the R-PCI and late PCI. MVO prevalence was similar in all groups. They also found that the strongest indicators of MVO and SI are time to perfusion, TIMI-grade post PCI, the ischaemia area at risk and re-perfused patients.

Ivanov, I., Bugarski, S., Dejanovic, J., Stojisic, M.A., Bosic, R.J., & Vujin, B. (2013). Electrocardiographic signs of acute myocardial infarction in left bundle branch block. Med Pregl, LXVI(11-12), 503-506.

The authors of this article sought to find out the electrocardiographic signs of myocardial infarction, especially in the block of the left bundle branch, which would aid in the early differential diagnosis of myocardial infarction to facilitate faster initiation of therapy. They carried out their research through a review of the literature of the existing documented research about the subject. Their results indicated that, in many patients with left bundle branch block, it is a bit difficult to carry out a differential diagnosis of myocardial infarction. The authors concluded that many patients suffering from myocardial infarction with left bundle branch block are highly likely to be misdiagnosed, or have the diagnosis delayed, affecting the provision of treatment. They recommended that there is a need to define an electrocardiographic criteria that could fasten the ease of a correct diagnosis, in order to start treatment early.

HAVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL. (2014). Heart attack: Men vs. women: for both men and women, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death. But their risks and symptoms can differ. Harvard Heart Letter, 24(9), 6-8.

This is an informational article about heart disease, in terms of heart block and stroke. The article centers around the differences in heart disease between men and women, especially as concerns the atypical symptomatic differences in women, and also differences in stroke between the two sexes. According to the article, clots usually block arteries in men, while they are highly likely to erode in women. In addition, men are less likely to develop small vessel disease as compared to women. Sudden changes in the shape of the heart are also prevalent in women, as opposed to men. The article advises about being cautious on the causes of heart disease, like infestation with ticks. The groups at risk include athletes, who are less likely to realize heart disease in time because of their good heart functioning. Statistics also show that more women than men suffer stroke. Such occurs due to issues like childbirth, pregnancy and changes in hormones. In essence, both men and women have the opportunity to protect their cardiovascular health by dealing with risks and managing their lifestyles.

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Myself and university mission

Before explaining about my contribution to the mission, may I state here that the mission of this university was great factor contributing to my choice of this university for my academic pursuit. It completely rhymes with my mission in life, which is to serve humanity, and serve with diligence and sacrifice.

I am a humble person brought out in an environment of Christian values and beliefs. I believe the best approach to life is an approach that is guided by a purpose for living. The foundation of religion in my life has enabled me to look at life from, not only my perspective as an individual, but also the perspective of other people. I believe that in this life, one cannot live alone, that we need other people to supplement our lives. In lieu of this, we must serve other people and live with an attitude of gratitude. Going by the mission of the university, my goal in life identifies with gaining skills, values, knowledge and experience, that will enable me to add value to the lives of other people. Also in line to the mission, promotion of justice in the entire world and our surroundings is a vital part that we should play in our lives. The religious teachings and skills that have been imparted in me all along identify with this part of the mission. I believe that for one to be able to promote and stand for justice, they must be having a driving force that enables them to stand firm in their quest to seeing justice prevail. In consideration of this, I have the foundational basis of a religion that teaches fairness, and the university is also dedicated to teach fairness and justice. My purpose, therefore, is that when I come out of this university, and even as a student, I will be an advocate of its mission, and a promoter of human service and justice.

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1st Amendment Law of American constitution

Most Americans know the 1st amendment as the amendments in the bill of rights with clauses such freedom of speech, religion, and the press. The 1st amendments encourage one to believe and practice religious principles s/he wishes to do and his right to convey what s/he like. It protects lawyers’ right to publish any information he/she wishes, provide his/her service to anyone s/he wants and questions the government doings especially those that s/he do not like. Most clauses in the 1st amendment law are controversial, however, in many cases the uncertainty deals with how the amendment requires the Americans to go in a given direction.

The first is the establishment clause which forbids the government from creating state religion and from compelling citizens in what they should believe. However, the clause has some controversies. Some citizens consider that whenever there is state involvement, totally, all religious expression must be prohibited in order to fulfill the establishment clause (LII). For instance, a public school basketball team should be banned from praying at a basketball game because the institution is a government funded school. Others argue that the government should allow religious expression in public occasions and premises given the religious nature of Americans. Truly, in some people’s mind, prohibiting expressions of religious belief in this manner is an infringement of the free exercise clause that is part of the first amendment as it requests to control religious expression of Americans (Revolutionary War and Beyond).

The second clause is the free exercise that restricts the congress to regulate somebody’s religious observations. That is the congress cannot direct citizens on how they should practice their religious faith. However, controversy may arise whereby minority religious groups seek to exercise something that is not legal or that the government has a tough interest in regulating. For instance, such behaviors like ritual sacrifice, drug usage and polygamy are outlawed due to a public compelling interest. This signifies that this clause does not provide a free license to anyone to practice any behavior s/he claims is religious (LII).

The next is freedom of speech clause, which restricts the congress from reducing the freedom of speech. This allows Americans to express their concerns about state policies they do not like. It allows them to convey their religious faith. This clause is distorted especially where some citizens insult others they disagree with and using hateful languages. Freedom of speech goes beyond word people speak to expressions that are deployed in communicating ideas. Expressions such as wearing symbols, picketing and flag burning, are protected speech forms (Revolutionary War and Beyond).

Another significant principle is the freedom of the press clause and this clause is believed to have played a crucial role during the revolutionary war. It helped Americans strengthen their views against England and spread concept that justified a break with England. Historically, English had no press freedom at all. All publications were to be reviewed first by the state before publication. Government criticism were subjected to trials and charged with treason. Therefore, every American aspired to have the right to criticize their authority fearlessly as well a to debate other subjects whenever they wish (Revolutionary War and Beyond).

Lastly, is the freedom of assembly clause which goes “congress shall make no law… abridging … the right of the people peaceably to assemble…” this clause guards the rights of Americans to associate peacefully. This right has proved to be significant, for instance, women minorities assembled and petitioned their argument to why women received no fair treatment as compared to their male counterpart (LII).

In conclusion, for Americans effectively enjoy their lives, then all the aforementioned clauses need to exist practically. However, the clauses are controversial forcing the government to protect some rights. This call for law specialists to assist interprets some contradicting clauses.

Legal Information Institute (LII). “First Amendment: An Overview.” 2010. Web. 7 Dec. 2012. <http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/first_amendment>

Revolutionary War and Beyond. “The 1st Amendment”. 2012. Web. 7 Dec. 2012 <http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/1st-amendment.html>

Cleanliness Reduces the Severity of Moral Judgments: Study Critic

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Institution Affiliation

Cleanliness Reduces the Severity of Moral Judgments: Study Critic

Replication of studies has created questions over certain conclusions and generated considerable conflict between psychologists. Replication, which, as the name suggests, is the repeating of previously conducted studies has been a key concept of science for a long time and useful in detecting the occasional cases of swindle. Because the science of psychology does give room for findings to go unquestioned, replication guides against the recognition of findings that were essentially accidental false positives with criticism. By doing so, it allows researchers to refine the techniques applied in various studies and uphold the presence of new facts that scientific theories must expound. Several articles have not produced the same findings after replication raising conflict across the psychology field.

One issue that has raised controversy in the field of psychology is the idea of cleanliness influencing moral judgments. Schnall et al. (2008), in their article With a clean conscience: cleanliness reduces the severity of moral judgments, Recounted that triggering the idea of bodily purity resulted in less severe decent judgment. Johnson et al., 2014 replicated the study using the same sample sizes but did not achieve the same outcome. In their article, Schnall et al. (2008) used two experiments to quantify the impact of people’s thoughts or perceptions of hygiene on the severity of their moral judgments. The first experiment included 40 undergraduate students who were given the directive to decipher sentences with 20 of them allotted words that were affiliated to cleanliness (such as pristine or pure), and the other half was given neutral words (Schnall et al., 2008a). The second experiment used 43 undergraduates who were asked to watch the truly horrendous restroom section from the Danny Boyle movie, Trainspotting (Schnall et al., 2008b). After viewing the scene, half of this number was requested to clean their hands while the others were not. All the participants from both tests were given six hypothetical scenarios and asked to rate the ethical wrongness of each.

Those that washed hands and those that scrambled the sentences with words linked to hygiene considered the situations less immoral than the rest of the group. The investigators established that priming participants to have a thought about cleanliness “significantly” impacted on their moral judgment. The implication was that people that had a sense of purity about themselves are unconsciously less concerned by the impurities of others. David Johnson, Felix Cheung, and Brent Donnellan reported that they were incapable of replicating the study findings. At least five years later, Jonson et al. (2014) did a fairly direct replication with a considerably larger number of subjects.

The notion of cleanliness having an effect on morality is an interesting topic since it has a connection to the personification literature and the study on the instinctive and nonrational backers to a moral conclusion. There is a huge possibility that these findings may have moral judgments. Johnson et al. (2014) after replicating the study with 731 subjects, they found that those who washed hands after an experience did not show any difference in their moral judgments from those that did not wash their hands. The study did not find any support for the assumption that cleansing behaviors impacted on moral judgments. Johnson et al. (2014) also reported that their findings did not just contrast with those generated by Schnall et al. (2014) but also with possibly contradictory expectations that being clean physically should result in more austere moral judgments. There was also a hint that individual body awareness curbed the effect of the cleanliness manipulation.

Many psychologists and Schnall et al., (2008) themselves, criticized this replication. They termed this replication an attack with some calling Johnson et al., (2014) “replication bullies,” “data detectives,” and “false positive law enforcement.” They suggested that the replication was not aimed to find the truth but was vendetta by people that were not able to make their own novel contribution to science (Meyer & Chabris, 2014). To illustrate just how heated this debate went, those that supported the replication were threatened with legal action by suggesting researchers like Schnall, whose work failed a replication applied questionable research practices in order to create desirable and publishable findings.

But here is a critic, academic analysis of the two studies and evaluation of the ground for the findings presented by Johnson et al. One difference between the studies was the setting where the sink was outside where the subjects finished the moral piece. The possibility of this change of setting upsetting the effects to a certain extent cannot be ignored. However, the primary focus of the study is the act of cleansing and not the location of the washing bay. In the initial study, all participants were in one conference hall where the sink was located, meaning those that did not wash their hands were also exposed to the sink. But still, the original study recorded a difference between those who washed hands and the control group. If the location of the sink were enough to affect prime cleanliness, then Schnall would have recorded a reduced margin in the difference between those who washed their hands and the control group. If the presence of the sink had an effect on the behavior of the subjects, then the absence of the sink from the conference room would debatably reinforce the replication manipulate. Moreover, if the effects of the original experiment depended on the perceptibility of the sink, then the notion that a decently embodied process propels the cleansing effects would be significantly undermined.

The results generated by the replication point to the effect size estimates from studies of the same manner are considerably smaller than those generated by the original studies. One point that may expound on this phenomenon is the presence of unknown moderators that explain these clear discrepancies. The subjects used in the replication were undergraduates from the United States, and the original study was from the United Kingdom. There is a possibility that the differences in culture may mean the difference in moral judgment or the significance of cleanliness, which may, in turn, explain the discrepancies. However, the authors of the original SBH studies contended that the association between disgust and bodily consciousness is an evolved alteration, and they did not suggest there being a possibility of discrepancies in results across samples selected from different cultures.

Also, the US and the UK have an extensive similarity in terms of language and culture, with several studies in the past indicating a similarity between disgust and moral judgment in subjects from the UK and the US. This creates clear uncertainty as to whether the difference in samples is a feasible explanation for the difference in results.

Another article revisits this debate. Huang (2014), in his article, studies the likelihood that only non-conscious triggering of the purity idea, as realized in subjects with low reaction determination on priming tools, can generate the projected consequence. Huang (2014) did an online duplication with a population of 214 and found out that, when the study subjects applied low (yet accepted) intensities of reaction effort to the investigational material, cleanliness priming resulted in more tolerant moral judgments in comparison to neutral priming. The article also did a second experiment, as did Schnall et al., using a population of 440 influencing participant’s effort on the priming undertaking sustained the hypothesized device. Precisely, participants in the low response effort category were required to finish the task with speed while avoiding concentrating or paying too much thoughtfulness and the consequences of the cleanliness priming were less severe ethical verdicts than the neutral moral judgments as it was anticipated.

Contrary to the above, the high effort category were required to perform as quickly as they could on the priming task, but there was no significant discrepancy in the decent ratings between cleanliness and the control conditions. Hang (2014) sought to sort out the controversy surrounding the cleanliness hypothesis in addition to this, the article sought to draw attention to the role played by the response effort in effecting and replicating priming studies.

Although replication is key to the science of psychology, the field does not provide much incentive to encourage duplication studies. The success or failure of a replication study does not change the fact that such kind of studies improves the accuracy of effect size approximations for the field of psychology. Replication emphasizes the need for additional work and provides additional information for a pertinent idea. The studies replicating Schnall et al., (2008) advocate that the effect sizes surrounding the consequence of cleanliness on ethical verdict may be lesser than the approximations delivered by the original studies.

References

Huang, J. L. (2014). Does cleanliness influence moral judgments? Response effort moderates the effect of cleanliness priming on moral judgments. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1276.

Johnson, D. J., Cheung, F., & Donnellan, M. B. (2014). Does cleanliness influence moral judgments?. Social Psychology.

Meyer, M., & Chabris, C. (2014). Psychologists? Food Fight Over Replication of ‘Important Findings? Retrieved from https://slate.com/technology/2014/07/replication-controversy-in-psychology-bullying-file-drawer-effect-blog-posts-repligate.htmlSchnall S., Benton J., Harvey S. (2008a). With a clean conscience cleanliness reduces the severity of moral judgments. Psychol. Sci. 19 1219–1222 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02227.x

Schnall S., Haidt J., Clore G. L., Jordan A. H. (2008b). Disgust as embodied moral judgment. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 34 1096–1109 10.1177/0146167208317771

Mystic River

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The first victim was Jimmy whose daughter Katie had been killed. When he arrives at the scene we see the agony and he is hell bent on going to the scene to see if the body was really his daughter. This portrays denial, he does not want to believe that her daughter has been a victim of an attack. If only he gets to see the body, then he can really believe it. He is also quite sad and wails loudly without care. This may depict the length of pain that he was in. During the interrogation with Sean who was the state trooper, his sadness can be felt in his voice. He talks in a low tone and shaky voice. Jimmy is also left with anger and is determined to ensure the person who killed his daughter pays for it. It is because of this anger he acts irrational towards Dave and demands that he admits to killing her daughter. Eventually Jimmy kills Dave. Most homicide survivors especially loved ones will often bear hatred and anger towards the perpetrator and may be driven to kill them as an act of seeking revenge which may be satisfactory to them

Another homicide victim is Celste, Dave’s wife. On learning about Kate’s she sobs loudly and she is filled with sadness. She is actually afraid of the fact that Dave might have committed the crime because the same day Dave came home with blood was the same day that Katie was killed. We can see her nervousness which seems like a natural personality. Celste had a relationship with Katie because Jimmy was married to her cousin and she had known Jimmy and his family for years. Celste emotions are caught up between two parties, trying to protect Dave but also wanting ensure that Katie’s victim gets justice.

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When a child is sexually abused, the scars can last for a life time. In Mystic River, Dave is abducted and locked in a basement for four days where he is abused and raped although he eventually escapes. This however marks a turning point of his life because he distances himself from his friends. Most people who have been sexually assaulted are likely to alienate themselves from people because they may feel that no one really understands them. He believes that his adult life has been shaped by his experience as a child. In a conversation with his wife, he states “Dave’s dead. I don’t know who came out of that cellar, but it sure as s**t wasn’t Dave! The thing is…once it’s in you, it stays”. The cellar he was talking about was the basement where he was being held for the four days. Dave believes that who he was before he was kidnapped is no longer who he currently is. To most people who are sexually assaulted they become different people often their change of behavior to mostly keeping to themselves.

Child trauma as the one Dave experienced can be viewed as a post-traumatic stress disorder and a characteristic is recalling of the event. When Dave and his son passes where they used to hand out with his two friends, he gets remembers when he was asked to get into the car. As his son asks him to retrieve a baseball, he refuses because it’s triggering him and he hurriedly leaves the location. In light with what happened to him, Dave developed a passion to ensure that he protected other kids. On the night that Katie is killed he also kills a man he claims he was molesting a child in his car and he beat him to death. However, because of his character as he had become a soft-spoken man, he became a prime suspect especially because he was the last to be seen with Katie. Because of him keeping too much to himself because of the trauma, results in his death as he is killed by Jimmy.

3.

I would perceive treatment by investigating officer insensitive. When investigating Jimmy who is Katie’s father they are not considerate that he has lost his daughter and are grilling him as if he is a suspect. The even bring up about his time in prison which Jimmy does not feel as if is necessary. The treatment by the police officers would make me feel as if I’m being more victimized by the system. Instead of one being left to mourn their daughter, they are already being grilled as potential victims. Families of the bereaved often needs support after losing a loved one especially to the fact that they may take law in their own hand. The police system in Mystic River does not seem to reassure Jimmy that they were going to do enough to catch the victim. This leads into Jimmy taking laws into his own hands.

Mystical Pathways to the Governing Body of consciousness

William James submits to us the notion that “personal religious experience has its root and centre in mystical states of consciousness. ” Stating that mystical states of consciousness must have the characteristics of ineffability, Noetic quality, transiency, and passivity , James ascribes four marks to mystical states of consciousness, clearly defining them from our normal state of consciousness (what James calls “rational consciousness ”). These four marks provide reason for the existence of a supreme governing body over mystical states of consciousness, which will be established as G-d. Furthermore, G-d’s existence in these mystical states provides reason for G-d’s existence in rational consciousness.

In dissecting James’ four marks of mystical states of consciousness, we find that the very nature of them either implies or makes reference to some form of supreme governing being over their existence. Primarily, James states that there are two main qualities which every mystical state must have: Ineffability, and Noetic quality. The ineffability of mystical states provides a link to the ineffability of G-d. James quotes, “whoso calls the Absolute anything in particular, or says that it is this, seems implicitly to shut it off from being that – it is as if he lessened it. ” This is to say that not only is anything we use to describe G-d by no means of the level of divine quality, it also limits G-d and detracts from anything else that G-d may be. This raises a pondering question: If G-d is ineffable, how may we know of G-d’s existence? The preeminent means of addressing this problem is to compare this issue to the ineffability of mystical states of consciousness. While it is true that these states of consciousness are inexplicable, we do not deny the validity of their existence. Rather, we acknowledge that only the one experiencing them may know the true meaning of them. The same can be said of G-d. While it is true that G-d is ineffable, we must not deny G-d’s existence. Rather, we must accept that only G-d may know the true meaning of G-dself. As Søren Kierkegaard puts it, “the works of G-d are such that only G-d may understand them ”

James’ statement that Mystical states must possess a Noetic quality provides for a much more direct approach to establishing the existence of G-d. James stipulates that mystical states plunge the experiencer into an insightful state of truth and knowledge. This poses the question: from where is this knowledge gained? There only two options. It is either a prior or a posteriori. Let us for a moment assume that the knowledge gained in mystical states of consciousness is a priori. If this is so, then knowledge is, as Plato puts it, “simply recollection .” The mystic is merely accessing knowledge in parts of his/her mind which could not be accessed while in a rational state of consciousness. This statement, however disposes of the concept of a governing body over mystical states of consciousness. If the Noetic quality of mystical states of consciousness is approached with the conjecture that the knowledge gained is a posteriori, then one can clearly state that the governing body – G-d – is that source of that knowledge. And while the mystical state and the source of knowledge in that mystical state are both ineffable, we do not deny the validity of their existence.

Secondly, James submits that there are two more characteristics which, though “less sharply marked, ” are commonly applied to most mystical states of consciousness. The first is transiency. James proposes that:

Mystical states cannot be sustained for long. Except in rare instances, half an hour, or at most an hour or two, seems to be the limit beyond which they fade into the light of common day.

With this in mind, we must now address a prevailing question which has followed us throughout this critique. If other states of consciousness exist – which they do – what is it that allows us to move back and forth between these states, and what is it that holds us in our rational state usually and prevents us from entering others involuntarily? If it were a biological or physiological reason, that would then all but nullify any spiritual significance these mystical experiences would have in the first place. Being mystical experiences, there must be a spiritual foundation in them. The answer to our question must therefore be a spiritual one. Keeping in mind the divine nature of mystical states of consciousness which we have been exploring, the justification for what governs our state in and of consciousness can be said to be G-d.

Lastly, James asserts that mystical states of consciousness are passive. This is the most convincing argument for the validity of G-d’s place in mystical states of consciousness. If “the mystic feels as if his own free will (is in) abeyance ” during mystical states of consciousness, then there are four ensuing explanations for the events that occur during these states: 1. the events that transpire and the knowledge and insight that is gained is influenced by G-d. 2. The events that transpire and the knowledge and insight that is gained is due to fate. 3. The events that transpire and the knowledge and insight that is gained is merely chance. 4. The mystic only perceives his/her free will to be nonexistent – in reality, it does exist and the mystical state of consciousness is merely shrouding it. Explanations three and four deny the existence of a divine governing body, and are thus not compatible with this elucidation of James’ four marks. Explanations one and two both present the possibility of mystical states of consciousness being governed by an external body of some sort. Whether that body is G-d or fate is irrelevant. If it is G-d, the very ineffable nature of G-d will cause us to view the explanation as fate – Kierkegaard’s postulation holds true: “the works of G-d are such that only G-d may understand them ” If it is fate, there is still the possibility that it may be G-d – we are just unable to perceive it as such. Additionally, seeing as G-d’s influence on mystical states is evident, if the external body is perceived by the mystic as having control over his/her autonomy, the simple question to ask would be: “Why wouldn’t G-d be the one controlling my fate? Who else would?”

Underlying James’ four marks are the foundations of G-d’s presence and influence in mystical states of consciousness. With G-d’s presence established in the mystical state of mind, we turn to the rational state of mind and the question of God’s presence here. As the mystical states of consciousness which we have been exploring are not consciousnesses different than the one in which we regularly exist – they are merely mystical states of this consciousness – it stands to reason that due to the monotheistic values which Judeo-Christian society upholds, whatever being governs the altered states of awareness will also govern the unaltered state of awareness . We can therefore establish G-d’s presence in our rational daily state of consciousness.

The question of the function of G-d in rational consciousness is answered in two ways: 1. while we humans transcend to a different level of consciousness during mystical experiences, G-d does not. G-d remains the same, constant being – we merely alter our relationship with G-d during mystical states of mind. Consequently, G-d’s function in our rational state of consciousness is the same as G-d’s function in our mystical state of consciousness. What is that function? To be the governing body over consciousness as a whole. Bearing this in mind, we find that, 2. G-d is ineffable – we cannot describe G-d’s function. Seemingly at first a paradox, one must realize that stating that G-d is the governing body over consciousness is not a description of G-d. We have already established that there must be some form of governing body – it just so happens that the governing body is G-d. One would not say that a description of G-d is that G-d is a god . That is implied when we speak of G-d. So too is it implied that G-d is the governing body over all consciousness.

Thus, we find that G-d’s existence includes being the governing body over all states of consciousness – both mystical and rational. But in keeping with this rationalization of James’ marks of mystical states of consciousness, G-d is also ineffable.

A final realization of James’ treatise is that “mystical states wield no authority (over others) due simply to their being mystical states. ” While James maintains this to be true and while no one person can claim that their mystical experiences are of just cause to be considered dogmatic principles over all others, it must be supplemented that the governing nature of G-d over consciousness that is revealed through mystical experiences does indeed wield an unwavering form of authority that must not be questioned.

Bibliography:

Hick, John, ed. Philosophy of Religion. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1991.

Classical Conditioning

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov a famous Russian scientist is commonly known for his contribution in the physiological field regarding mammal digestive system mechanisms. His work made him recognized globally and the positive impact on science made him a winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1904. Afterwards, he turned to the study of the laws of development of conditioned reflexes which is significant in the science of behavior commonly referred to as classical conditioning. It is a process of learning that occurs when two stimuli are provoked together repeatedly and eventually a response that was stimulated by first stimulus is stimulated by the second stimulus.

Initially on his study of classical conditioning Pavlov realized the signals that are triggered by the digestive phenomena such as salivating in dogs when they encounter meat. He first noted that dogs drooled without an appropriate stimulus especially on seeing the lab coats that the person who served them meat used to wear. Also, on striking the bell just before the dogs are served for a long while made them adopted to it and they would drool anytime the bell is rang. It come to a conclusion that animals generally adapt to stimuli favorable for their survival and food is an example of natural conditioned stimulus.

The important principle discovered regards extinction. It states that conditioned response decreases in intensity if the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly elicited without the unconditional stimulus which in the dogs’ case is food. Conditioning is essential in the study of human behavior and it has been significant to commercial advertising. The aim of working out people to make connection between positive emotions and the reaction of a particular brand. Pavlov has played a vital role in physiology as the fore father of the classical conditioning knowledge which is essential not only in the science field but also in commercialization.

Please name your file: zID Client Engagement.docx

University of New South Wales

FINS5510 Personal Financial Planning 21T1

Client Engagement Assignment

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Question 1

Financial advisors play one of the most important roles of helping individuals manage their finances. According to Cruciani (2017), a financial advisor is charged with the responsibility of providing guidance and advice to clients for compensation. Basically, a financial advisor is an expert who provides advice and consultation to individuals concerning their entity or individual finances. In addition, they also provide a variety of other services ranging from tax planning, investment management and estate planning. Among many clients and business organizations, financial advisors are considered important advisors who assist clients achieve their financial goals by providing them with ways and strategies to eliminate debts, create more wealth, and reduce costs. Furthermore, they also provide savings, insurance, budget, and tax assistance strategies to clients who come to them for advice. While providing financial advice to their clients, it imperative for financial advisors to develop a good understanding of the client’s situations, objectives, needs, financial literacy and risk tolerance for them to be able to provide the best advice to their customers.

Cruciani (2017) indicates that developing a good understanding of the client’s situations, objectives, needs, financial literacy, and risk tolerance is one of the basic standard requirements in the investments industry which ensures that both investment and financial advisors know and understand detailed information concerning their clients. In addition, this basic standard is also considered an ethical requirement for those operating in the security industry such as financial advisors when dealing with customers. The basic knowledge of the client’s information is of vital importance to a financial advisor as it protects both the investment advisors and the clients. By developing a good understanding of the clients, financial advisors are able to protect their client’s financials by engaging in financial opportunities that best suit their personal and confidential situations. In addition, a proper and detailed knowledge of the clients also protects the financial advisor on what to include and not include in their customer’s portfolios.

In order to provide for a financial adviser to provide financial advice that is of the best interest to the customer, it is important for them to develop a better understanding of the customer’s situation. This involves developing a clear knowledge about the client’s annual income and the net worth (Collins, 2012). By providing their annual income information to their financial advisor, clients are able to assist their advisor understand their savings, cash flows, and debt capabilities enabling the financial advisor to determine the client’s income needs and appropriate risks. In addition, by understanding the net worth situation of their clients, financial advisors are able to better understand the ability of their clients to take different types of risks and identify the suitable opportunities for them to invest and make more finance or save more cash on current investment expenses. Therefore, the clear understanding of the customer’s current situation assists the financial advisor to develop some of the best investment opportunities and strategies for their clients to continue earning more money and better saving approaches.

Apart from understanding their client’s situation, it is also important for financial advisor to develop knowledge on the objective or goals of their clients (Wood, 2012). In many cases, this can be achieved by developing a clear relationship that is based on mutual trust. By understanding the goals and objectives of their clients, financial advisors are in a position to provide the most appropriate advice on the type of investment selection that the client should adopt. In so doing, financial advisors are able to provide their clients with the best advice while protecting their client’s financials by engaging in financial opportunities that best suit their personal situations. For instance, the case of a couple buying a home is one of the many examples in which Tristan, a financial advisor attempted to build this deep understanding of the client while providing advice that was in the client’s best interest. Based on this case, after buying their house, this couple was faced by drastically changing budget causing a lot of financial issues due to the fact that they were depending on their paycheck for the day to day living. By listening and developing an understanding of couple’s current situation, Tristan begins by providing clarity and financial advice on the budget situation of the couples (Good Tristan, 6:22). Despite building a deep understanding of the client situation, there cases where Tristan failed to do so. For instance, in a case where Tristan shows lack of seriousness due to distractions while attending to clients is a good indicator of some of the factors that results to a lack of deep understanding of the clients, needs, goals and situations (Bad Tristan 4:18). The results of this include poor financial advice, lack of trust, and detailed information from the client.

Wood (2012) asserts that financial advisors also have the responsibility of developing a deep understanding of their client’s tolerance for risk. As is common knowledge, investment is usually a difficult risk that many individuals opt not to take due to the unguaranteed nature of return. With this in mind, it is therefore important for financial advisors to understand their customer’s tolerance for risks. In so doing, they are able to understand how much change or fluctuations their clients are able and willing to manage in their portfolio and hence ensuring that they feel secure and safe when investing in business opportunities that involve risks. In many cases, a vast majority of people lack financial literacy on the various basics of their finances. As a financial advisor, it is imperative to understand your client’s financial literacy which is critical in the effective management of finances. This helps the investor understand how complex or simple their client’s investment portfolio are.

The case of a client considering retirement is another example of how Jeremy, a financial advisor attempted to build a deep understanding of the client while providing advice that was in the client’s best interest. A client considers retirement but she has concerns such as how she will get funds throughout the retirement. In addition, she has needs and objectives during her retirement which she must satisfy such as traveling and spending more time with family. After developing an understanding of the client’s situation, goal of retirement and the need to be financially comfortable, Jeremy provides advices to the client indicating that it is very important for her consider financial services and privacy policy guide that provides more information on financial services (Good Jeremy, 6: 38). Despite building a deep understanding of the client situation, there cases where Jeremy failed to do so. For instance, in a case where a client follows up on the issue they are trying to solve, Jeremy displays the element of uncertainty where he is not sure about the issue the client is taking about. In this case, this shows that Jeremy does not have a deep understanding and knowledge of the issue which in many cases result to poor financial advice (Bad Jeremy, 4:40).

Question 2

Trust is one of the very most important elements in any relationship. According to Burke and Hung (2021), trust involves a firm belief in the ability or reliability of someone to do something. In many occasion, the availability of trust cements relationships bringing people to work and live together with a feeling of safety and belonging. Within many organizational structures, trust in a leader allows communities and organizations to flourish, while its absence causes fragmentation and individualism. Over the past decades, financial planning environment has been experiencing significant development and change with the global financial crisis being blamed for the public’s trust loss in the financial service world. With this, customers trust in various financial service industries has deteriorated over the years. Bearing this in mind, it is clear that client trust in one of the major important element of the financial planning process. It is therefore the responsibility of financial advisors to develop trust with various clients in order to ensure the establishment of a successful advisor-client working relationship (Cull, 2015).

Building the client’s trust is considered the most important part for a financial advisor during the financial planning process. For clients to be able to engage and totally commit in financial planning process, they must first be able to develop a trustful relationship with their financial advisors. With this in mind, it is therefore the responsibility of the financial advisor to adopt various ways and strategies that ensure the development of a successful advisor-client working relationship. According to Cull (2015), building trust with clients during the financial planning process is important as enables the clients to share all their goals with their financial advisors. With this, financial advisors are able to provide the most appropriate advice on the type of investment selection that the client should adopt. In so doing, financial advisors are able to provide their clients with the best advice while providing protection to their client’s financials by engaging in financial opportunities that best suit their personal situations.

Building trust with the clients is an important part of the financial planning process as it encourages openness from the client’s side (Cull, 2015). By being open, clients are able to provide more information on their needs, objectives (goals), financial literacy, current situation, and their tolerance to risk. In so doing, clients are able to provide accurate and more information to their financial advisors who are able to provide financial advice that is in the best interest of the customer. In addition, the access to accurate and more information concerning the client also protects the financial advisor on what to include and not include in their customer’s portfolios. Cull and Sloan (2016) also indicate that, the establishment of trust between clients and financial advisor during the financial planning process is of great significance as it results into the development of a successful based client-advisor working relation. It is only through this working relation that clients are able to relay their information to their financial advisors. In regard to the financial planning process, building trust in clients is important as it result to an increase in the number of clients either through referrals or retaining of clients.

While developing trust which is the key in the financial process, it is imperative that financial advisors adopt various steps towards the attainment of customer’s trust. For instance, in the case of Tristan, a financial advisor, the steps to building an effective trust with his clients began with getting to know them and deeply having an understanding of their situations. After words, Tristan proceeds by providing financial advice on the matter at hand as seen in the case of the couple who bought a home and have been facing financial situations. In so doing, Tristan is able to develop a trust between him and his clients (Good Tristan, 6:22). However, there are also ways in which financial advisors erode the trust of clients. For instance, in the case of Tristan, displaying distraction when attending to clients is a factor that erodes clients trust as it does not involve listening and understanding of clients needs, situations, and goals to provide the best suitable financial advice (Bad Tristan, 4:18). In the case of Jeremy, the steps to building an effective trust with his clients also began with understanding the client’s situation, her need, and objectives during retirement. He provided the client with good advice of adopting financial service to help her during her retirement. It is such clarity and advice that builds trust between financial advisors such as Jeremy and their clients (Good Jeremy, 6: 38). However, despite this there are also ways in which financial advisors such as Jeremy erode the trust of clients. For instance, in the case of Jeremy not paying attention to client’s information to an extent of them reminding him indicate poor or lack understanding of the customer’s situation, needs, and objectives (Bad Jeremy, 4:40).

References

Bad Jeremy (4:40)

Bad Tristan (4:18)

Good Jeremy (6: 38)

Good Tristan (6:22)

Burke, J., & Hung, A. A. (2021). Trust and financial advice. Journal of Pension Economics &

Finance, 20(1), 9-26.

Collins, J. M. (2012). Financial advice: A substitute for financial literacy?. Financial Services

Review, 21(4), 307.

Cruciani, C. (2017). Investor decision-making and the role of the financial advisor: A behavioural

finance approach. Springer.

Cull, M. (2015). The role of trust in personal financial planning.

Cull, M., & Sloan, T. R. (2016). Characteristics of trust in personal financial planning. Financial

Planning Research Journal, 12-35.

Wood, W. H. (2012). Role of the Financial Advisor. The Handbook of Municipal Bonds, 43-50.