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Failure to observe and control young people might lead to too much negative influence, which can culminate in changed lifesty

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Outline

Introduction

Thesis statement: Failure to observe and control young people might lead to too much negative influence, which can culminate in changed lifestyle, behavior, physical issues, and mental disorders.

Video game addiction

Reasons for addiction

Minimum hours that qualify as addiction

Impacts

Aggression

Desensitization

Attention deficit

Diseases

Problematic computer gaming

Addiction

Mental health problems

Example of Video Games

Conclusion

Video Games

The history of video games takes us back to 1949 when Ralph Baer, a young engineer, was working on an assignment of building a television set. This assignment was not just about building any television set, but the best television set. This did not stand as a big challenge to Baer, but he wanted to do more than that by including a game in his television set. His plan never worked out as he did not have a clear plan and his employers nixed the notion. It took another eighteen years for this idea to become real. However, the glory went to other people such as Willy Higinbotham, who developed a tennis game that involved the use of an oscilloscope, and Russell Steve, who designed a simple space game for a mainframe computer. Nolan Bushnell also made some important contributions through his space game and his ideas concerning midways filled with computer games (Rabin, 5).

Today, the world is full of video games developed for both computers and television sets. Over the years, video game applications and devices such as PS2, Dreamcast, and Xbox have advanced from their infancy into great sophistication. Games identify with recent versions of video game players such as Xbox 360 and PS3. Still, there exist thousands of PC games and speculations for the introduction of many more. Companies such as Sony, Phillips, and Microsoft that have stakes in video games have made billions and still have bright prospects. Video games have indeed become a ubiquitous part of modern day world, and they are preferred as a mode of leisure, especially for young people. A trend whereby producers and designers convert movies to games to reach a wider audience is also on the rise (Herman et al., 1). Underlying concerns of the impact video games have on young people accompany these trends. Parents ought to observe their young ones, as they get involved in video games. Failure to observe and control young people might lead to too much negative influence, which can culminate in changed lifestyle, behavior, physical issues, and mental disorders.

Video Game Addiction

Gaming has become a popular activity and many young people become addicted to video games. Addiction is said to have set in when video games consume gamers’ time to the extent that they replace other important activities such as socializing, sports, work, and education. Research shows that gamers are increasingly becoming engulfed in activities that consume their time replacing important real life activities. Some video game players escalate their activities to the level of problematic application. In such cases, gaming disrupts work, schooling, and other real-life activities largely. Video game addiction has drawn considerable attention of researchers, parents, policy makers, and other key people in the lives of young people (Hauge and Gentile, 2).

There are several reasons that cause or lead to addiction to video games. With ubiquitous internet connectivity, online gamers have become common all over the world. Research shows that this group of gamers becomes easily addicted to video games. Although video game players become addicted to the games, the development of online components in the more recent generation of video games has increased the scope of the addiction problem. This new component has led to the introduction of public and private treatment initiatives targeting addicted gamers. Consequently, research assessing video game addictions focus on online gamers so much. Western and Korean researchers concur on the fact that Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games have the worst addiction when it comes to video games. In this video game, players develop avatars (characters) over time in unreal or virtual worlds. This game leads to high levels of engagement that need players to spend so much time and cooperation to achieve goals. In general, video games require players to exhibit a certain level of commitment causing them to be addicted (Van Rooij et al., 205).

It is hard to say how many hours of playing video games qualify to be termed as addiction. However, researchers assess the least number of hours that can cause initiation of negative signs and behaviors and classify the period as addiction time. A study on a sample of video game players engaged in World of Warcraft video game showed that spending around 63 hours every week playing the game caused negative symptoms (Van Rooij et al., 205). Another research on video game addiction posits that game addiction begins when one spends more than one hour a day and more than thirty hours a week engaged in a video game. In both studies, gamers develop craving for video games, internet addiction, general craving, visual problems, and at times depression (Han, Hwang, and Renshaw, 297).

Impacts

Video games are associated with several effects on games. By far, aggression is the most common impact attributed to excessive playing of video games. Correlational, experimental, and longitudinal researches confirm that exposure to violence in video games can cause a significance rise in aggressive emotions, thoughts, and behavior over short-term as well as long-term. Albeit there exist differing results concerning the quality of data, recent meta-analytical studies confirm that video games lead to six major outcomes: aggressive cognition, aggressive behavior, aggressive affect, empathy, psychological arousal, and prosocial behavior. Because myriad children spend huge amounts of time playing video games, the effects build up and substantially affect the society. Violent games significantly increase players’ aggression by changing their emotions and thoughts, even when they seem to have control over physiological arousal. Hostility exhibits itself among players in the short term, but the changes may become permanent aggressive personality (Woog, 1).

Another line of study also suggests that video games cause game players to become desensitized to bad things thus decreasing their ability to health and have empathy. Desensitization involves a reduction in emotional and physiological reactivity to bad things such as violence. Exposure to video games in the short-term leads to the production of physiological desensitization that lasts around twenty minutes. On the other hand, long-term exposure causes chronic desensitization among gamers. Video players have their empathy significantly reduced by games, and this causes them to have increased aggressive and violent behavior. Video games also cause a certain numbing that reduces helping behavior. Research shows that students who are just from playing a video game are less likely to regard a fight they witness as dangerous or to assist the victim (Woog, 1).

Although gaming experiences have several positive effects, the negative effects, especially those of attention, are increasingly becoming evident to researchers. Researchers have found a positive correlation between video games and attention problems in young people. These scholars suggest that an extensive exposure to video game leads to attention problems after a period of thirteen months. More than three thousand children playing video games proved this finding true. Interestingly, excessive exposure to video games does not reduce attention to video game content. It appears that video games cause specific impacts on various cognitive processing types: the games can decrease proactive cognitive management but increase visuospatial processing abilities (Prot, McDonald, and Anderson, 590).

Diseases Related to Video Games

Excessive gaming can result to several diseases that stand as recognized diseases. One such disease is problematic computer gaming. Young people affected by this disease portray several symptoms. They do not think that they have a problem at all, but instead regard their parents as affected. They lie regarding computer or video game use. For instance, they may say that they only spend twenty to thirty hours when they spend forty hours. Other symptoms include staying up late, sneaking games to the room at night, trouble waking up, and constant isolation. Continued exposure leads to an exacerbation of these symptoms and children may become quarrelsome. Young players of video games may also have physical injuries as a result of excessive use (Prot, McDonald, and Anderson, 590).

Video gaming causes addiction, and this has led scientists to try and classify that addiction as a mental disorder. The phenomenon known as video game addiction has become a popular one, and several studies exist on the same. The longitudinal impairment and modest impairment has led to possible classification of this disorder in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V-TR). Once the American Psychiatric Association has finalized discussing the inclusion of the addiction due to gaming in the DSM-V-TR, it will fall under behavioral disorders that result from addictions. Video game addiction will fall in the same category with gambling, a new entrant in the mental disorders classification handbook (Van Rooij et al., 1).

Besides a possible independent classification as an independent mental health disorder, video games are also responsible for myriad symptoms related to mental illness. Scientists hypothesize that excessive exposure to video games causes a situation known as flight-from-reality that includes a depressive mood, loneliness, poor self-esteem, and social anxiety. Although excessive exposure to gaming leads to these mental issues, the relationship between video games and psychological health is much more complicated as some gamers report positive responses. Moreover, the negative effects vary from one gamer to another. Some heavy video game players suffer because of their unbalanced lifestyle while other gamers benefit from the interaction they have with the gaming environment (Rooij, 1).

Example of Video Games

Multi-Player Online Role-Playing (MMORPG) is one of the most popular multi-user domain video games causing massive addiction on young people. MMORPGs involve networked players who interact with one another as they play video games. The games require that the players achieve certain goals, high scores, and accomplishments. This makes the players to play for several hours and days in order to achieve their targets. The games combine fighting, killing, and role-playing elements in a channel that also allows social chat. Some of the ‘best’ MMORPGs include World of Warcraft, Asheron Call, and Final Fantasy (Hartman and Moverley 1).

Conclusion

Video games go back a long way into history. They have gone through tremendous evolution from the first game played on mainframe computers into what they are today. Young people all over the world can enjoy the ubiquitous technology that seems to freeze real life and activate gaming environments. However, parents are not to be restful or happy, as these games are addictive and call for immediate intervention. Young people who do not exercise temperance and spend more than 30 hours a week on video games risk developing serious problems. Gamers may have issues such as problematic computer gaming, addiction, and numerous mental health problems. Mental health problems may range from poor self-esteem to depression. Evidently, parents and the whole society need to keep watch of this rising menace that may leave young people too affected to be useful.

Works cited

Han, Doug Hyun, Jun Won Hwang, and Perry F Renshaw. “Bupropion Sustained Release Treatment Decreases Craving for Video Games and Cue-Induced Brain Activity in Patients with Internet Video Game Addiction.” Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology 18 (2010): 297–304.

Hartman, Michael, and Daniel Moverley. “A Study of the Effects on Gamers Who Play MMORPGs – Socialization, Making Friends, Being Social.” Altered Gamer. N. p., 17 Apr. 2012. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.

Hauge, Marny R, and Douglas A Gentile. “Video Game Addiction Among Adolescents : Associations with Academic Performance and Aggression.” 306 (2003): 1–3. Print.

Herman, By Leonard et al. “The History of Video Games.” 2002: 1–39. Print.

Prot, Sara, Katelyn McDonald, and Craig Anderson. Children, Adolescent, and the Media. Ed. Victor Strasburger. Iowa: Elsevier, 2012.

Rabin, Steve. Introduction to Game Development: Second Edition. Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.

Rooij, Antonius J Van. “Online Video Game Addiction.” N. p., 2011. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.

Woog, Kenneth M, Computer Gaming, and Addiction Treatment. “Computer Gaming Addiction in Adolescents and Young Adults, Solutions for Moderating and Motivating for Success.” N. p., 2012. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.

Failure_of_Reconstruction-11_06_2014

FAIR Risk Methodology

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FAIR Risk Methodology

Summarizing the article on “FAIR (Factory Analysis of Information Risk): Basic Risk Assessment Guide”, it is presented in four major stages comprising ten steps.

Stage one

Step one

This step involves the identification of the asset at risk. It is explained that for the estimation of control and value characteristics of the risk analysis to be possible, it is important to first identify the object under evaluation. If the analysis is at a multilevel, the analyst will need to evaluate the object at risk and all the meta-objects existing between the threat community and the primary asset (Lajoux, Alexandra, and Elson, 32).

Step two

This step involves the identification of the threat community, which is important in the estimation of the Threat Event Frequency and Threat Capability. When evaluating risks associated with malicious actions, the analyst will be required to decide on whether the threat community is malware or human, and external or internal.

Stage two

This is the second stage in the analysis and evaluation of loss event frequency and involves the following steps.

Step three

This is the first step under this stage and the third step under the whole process. It is the threat event frequency, which is the probable frequency in a given time frame that will be acted upon by a threat agent. Contributing factors to this step include probability of action and contact frequency.

Step four

This step involves a threat capability, which is the probable force level that enables the threat agent to apply against an asset. Contributing factors under this step include resources and skill (Lajoux, Alexandra, and Charles Elson, 38-9).

Step five

This is the control strength step, which is the expected effectiveness of control over some timeframe as it is measured against a baseline force levels. Contributing factors under this step include assurance and strength.

Step six

This step involves the vulnerability analysis, which involves analyzing the probability that an asset will not be able to resist actions of the threat agent. The analysis in this step is closely related to the results of analysis in step four and five.

Step seven

This step involves the analysis of loss event frequency. It involves the analysis of the probable frequency within a certain time frequency, over which a threat agent will cause harm to an asset.

Stage three

This stage majorly concerns the methodology used in the evaluation of probable loss magnitude and the stage has certain steps that come under it as discussed below.

Step eight

This step involves estimation of worst-case loss by use of three major steps. The first step is the determination of threat action most likely to result in worst case outcome (Lajoux, Alexandra, and Elson 65). The second step is the estimation of the magnitude for each loss form that is associated with the threat action. The last step in this aspect is “summing” the loss form magnitudes.

Step nine

This step majorly involves estimating probable loss. The estimation of probable loss magnitude is done using three steps. The first step involves the identification of the threat community action that is most likely. The next step is the evaluation of probable loss magnitude for every loss form and the last step is “summing” the magnitudes.

Stage four

This is the last stage in the analysis of this methodology and it involves the derivation and articulation of risk.

Step ten

This step also involves the derivation and articulation of risk. It involves the probable magnitude and frequency of future loss. Properly articulated analysis should give decision makers the opportunity to get at least two important pieces of information:”the estimated loss event frequency” and “the estimated probable loss magnitude”. The information can be displayed through charts, texts, or both. In most cases, it is better to also display the “estimated high-end loss potential”, to make the decision maker become aware of the expected worst-case scenario. The strength of the FAIR methodology is that it is able to establish accurate probabilities for the magnitude and frequency of loss events. It also has a consistent framework useful in performing risk analyses (Lajoux, Alexandra and Elson 71). The weakness is that FAIR is not a methodology in dealing with risk management, but it is only used to complement the existing methodologies. Using FAIR to analyze somebody’s risk associated with commercial gain is only possible after getting a license from RMI.

Work Cited

Lajoux, Alexandra R, and Charles Elson. The Art of M & a Due Diligence: Navigating Critical Steps & Uncovering Crucial Data. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000. Internet resource.

Fairy Tale, Mr Miacca and Little Red Riding Hood

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Introduction

A fairly tale is a small story originating from the folk lore. It has the typical features of a folk narrative, with fantasy characters, such as giants, dwarves, trolls, fairies, elves and globins (Bottigheimer, 2010, p. 12). Although a fairly tale does not have a clear-cut definition, it can be distinguished from other types of folk narratives, such as the exclusive moral tales and legends (which involve societal beliefs about specific events). Fairly tales have been part of oral narratives for several centuries. However, there are also authors in the contemporary world who have used fairly tales for various reasons. The modern fairly tales are designed to fit the modern contexts.

Originally, fairly tales were meant for both adults and children. The authors of the fairly tales designed them for adults, so that the adults could get stories to tell to their children. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the authors started targeting children directly (Bottigheimer, 2010, p. 12). The traditional fairly tales, which were designed for adults, were altered as they were passed from one generation to another, so that they could be read to children. Throughout history, fairly tales have always been targeted on influencing children in various ways. Although they involve fictions, each fairly tale has a specific theme or themes meant for the children. In most cases, the fairly tales sensitize children on the importance of doing good deeds and avoiding bad deeds or behaviors (Bottigheimer, 2010, p. 13). The current paper analyzes traditional fairly tales in order to understand their influence on children. Specifically, the paper analyzes “Mr Miacca” by Joseph Jacobs and the “Little Red Riding Hood” by Charles Perrault.

Mr Miacca

“Mr Miacca” is a story of a boy called Tommy Grimes, who sometimes portrayed good behaviors and in other times, bad behaviors. His mother always advised him not to go alone to the street (Jacobs, 2009, p. 152). Her mother frequently warned him that if goes out to the street alone, a cannibalistic fiend called Mr Miacca would take him and kill him for food. Despite the warnings, Tommy went out to the street alone. Mr Miacca caught Tommy as he “got round the corner,” and put him upside down in a bag and took him home. When Mr Miacca walked out to look for herbs, Tommy tricked Mrs Miacca and managed to escape (Jacobs, 2009, p. 152). Tommy did not learn from the first encounter, and he walked out to the street alone another day. Mr Miacca grabbed him again and took him home again for food. Mr Miacca decided to cut his leg and put it in a boiling pot, but instead, missed and cut the leg of the chair. Tommy took the opportunity to escape again. Tommy never went back to the street alone until when he was a grown up (Jacobs, 2009, p. 152).

“Mr Miacca” was written in the 19th century, but it was reused as a fairly tale for children until 1960s (Tatar, 1993, p. 24). Although it has important themes that are applicable in the contemporary societies, it is hardly used in the modern world as a story for children (Bottigheimer, 2010, p. 89). The tale is meant to teach the children the importance of obedience. The text is concerned with discouraging two vices; curiosity and stubbornness. Tommy is presented as a curious boy who wants to walk out and explore the street. He is disobedient and stubborn because he goes out to the street two times even after warnings by his mother.

In short, the “Mr Miacca” attempts to mould the behavior of children through giving elaborate illustration of the consequences of disobedience and deviant conduct. As she replies a question to Tommy, Mrs Miacca makes it explicit that Mr Miacca eats boys who have bad behaviors of walking around the streets alone. When taking Tommy home, Mr Miacca said to him that “you’re all I’ve got for supper, and you’ll not taste bad boiled” (Tatar, 1993, p. 24). In addition, the author of the tale used a picture of a huge man holding an axe. The author uses the axe to emphasize that violence will be used against a child who is disobedient.

Although the main theme of the tale is to discourage disobedience, it has other influences on children. For instance, it gives ideas to the children on how handle problems. When Tommy found that he was going to be used as food, he decided to lie to Mrs Miacca in order to escape (Tatar, 1993, p. 24). Although the act of lying in order to escape is not considered morally right in most societies, the tale connects to the lives and anxieties of children and gives them idea on how to act when they find themselves in such situation. In other words, the tale gives ideas to children on how to navigate through problems in life.

Little Red Riding Hood

“Little Red Riding Hood” is a fairly tale of a little girl who was sent by her mother to take food to her sick grandmother. The girl, whose name was Little Red Riding Hood, was supposed to pass through a forest and thus, her mother instructed her to stick to a certain path. However, the girl decided to pass through a different path (Hillert, 2006, p. 5). On her way, while in the forest, she was confronted by a wolf. The wolf lured her with sweet words until she agreed to inform him where her grandmother lived. She told the wolf that her grandmother lived a quarter of an hour away from the forest. The wolf left the girl and went to the grandmother’s home and swallowed her. When the girl arrived to her grandmother’s home, the wolf disguised himself as the grandmother (Hillert, 2006, p. 7). However, Little Red Riding Hood noticed that her grandmother had gained strange looks. The wolf then approached towards the girl and swallowed her too. An air pilot came to the rescue; he took an axe and used it to cut the wolf and disposed him into a lake (Zipes, 2006, p. 197).

The “Little Red Riding Hood” was used as a story for children in Italy as early as 20th century. It has been altered in various ways and consequently, there are different versions of the tale with significant differences. For instance, Charles Perrault’s version of the tale is very different from Brothers Grimms’ version. While Grimms’ version indicates that the girl and her grandmother were eventually rescued, Perrault’s version does not mention it. Despite the alteration, “Little Red Riding Hood” remained relevant until the early 19th century.

“Little Red Riding Hood” has two major themes. First, it discourages disobedience. Little Red Riding Hood disobeyed her mother buy failing to follow the path that she was instructed to pass. As a result, she faced the negative consequence; she was confronted by a wolf that later swallowed her and her grandmother. The tale has pictures that portray a mother giving advice to her daughter. Secondly, the story teaches children not to allow themselves to be deceived by criminals who use sweet words and lure people into giving them information or doing what they want. The wolf presented himself as good and used sweet words. For instance, the wolf said “God help you, Red Hood” (Hillert, 2006, p. 7). The positive approach led the girl to give in. She replied “God bless you, wolf” (Hillert, 2006, p. 7). The tale has a picture in which the wolf looks humble as he tries to solicit information from the girl.

When the wolf inquired about where she was going, she quickly replied that she was going to her grandmother’s home. Without knowing that the wolf had bad intentions, she even described where her grandmother lived. In the same way, criminals may not show their bad intentions when inquiring information that they need in order perpetrate harm. After getting the information they need from an innocent person, the person also becomes a target of harm by the criminals. Therefore, the text in the tale teaches children to avoid giving in as a result of luring words of criminals.

Conclusion

In conclusion, fairly tales have been used for many centuries as stories for children. They are designed to give specific messages to the children. In particular, fairly tales are meant to foster discipline or good behaviors in children and to discourage bad behaviors. “Mr Miacca” and “Little Red Riding Hood” are good examples of fairly tales that have been used for a long time to teach children. The two tales discourage the vice of disobedience. In addition, the “Little Red Riding Hood” teaches children not to allow themselves to be lured by criminals.

ReferenceBottigheimer, R. B. (2010). Fairy Tales: A New History. SUNY Press, New York

Jacobs, J. (2009). English Fairy Tales. Abela Publishing Ltd, London

Hillert, M. (2006). Little Red Riding Hood. Norwood House Press, Ontorio

Tatar, M. (1993). ‘”Teaching Them a Lesson”: The Pedagogy of Fear in Fairy Tales’ in

Off with their heads!: fairy tales and the culture of childhood. Princeton University Press

Zipes, J. (2006). ‘Walt Disney’s civilizing mission: from revolution to restoration’ in

Fairy tales and the art of subversion: the classical genre for children and the process of civilization. Routledge, New York

Faith and Native & European Relations

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Institution

Relationships between communities are always bound to elicit mixed reaction from different quarters. This is especially when the case in question applies to the relationship during times of colonialism. This is the case in the relationship between Europeans and Native Americans. The phrase or term Native Americans is used in reference to the Indigenous peoples in North America, who are within the present-day boundaries of the continental United States, the island state of Hawaii and parts of Alaska. These are composed of the varied, unique Native American ethnic groups and tribes, most of which have survived as intact political communities (Calloway, 1994). European explorers and colonialists discovered and settled in North America. It goes without saying that their intrusion on the Native Americans modified their culture. It is noteworthy that the relationships between Native Americans and their European colonialists and settlers had started out in a friendly manner before they became uncomfortable to the point of skirmishes and conflicts breaking out between them (Calloway, 1994). One of the key sources of the conflicts was the mere fact that the European settlers and colonialists felt obliged to convert of change the natives into Christians, something that most of the Native Americans especially Indians suspiciously resented. The conditions resulted in the loss of lives and trust for innumerable people. It is obvious that the people of North America still experience the repercussions of the colonial times even today (Calloway, 1994).

It have always thought that faith and religion created strong bonds between the Native Americans and their European colonialists and settlers. This is especially having in mind that the teachings of Christianity have always espoused on virtues such as kindness and always doing right, especially when dealing with other human beings. These virtues were extremely likely to be appealing to the Native Americans, in which case they would have felt compelled to reach out to the settlers and colonialists.

However, this does not come out as the case between Native Americans and the European counterparts, at least going by James Roark’s “The American Promise: A History of the United States”. Obviously, faith and especially Christianity played various key roles in the relationship that existed between Native Americans and the European settlers or colonialists. It is worth noting that several millennia before the European settlers established their foothold in the North American continent, the Native Americans were aligned to varied spiritual practices, which they held strongly. It is noteworthy that the Indian Americans were particularly suspicious of the teachings of Christianity that were introduced by the European settlers and colonialists. In essence, it emerges that faith served as a dividing tool between the two groups of people (Roark, 2008). This is especially when considering that their efforts to treat Native Americans fairly were undermined by the religious misunderstanding and their greed for land. The West underlines a story of conquest, as well as competing visions and promises on the land with quite a large number of people laying claim to it and playing a key role in settling it (The people, 2001). This is the same case that applies in African countries and other colonies, irrespective of the variations in the colonizers. The treatment of Native Americans by the European settlers and colonialists led to a combination of exploitive greed and the altruistic religious ideology. It is worth noting that the combination broke down to an unfortunate loss of blood, justice and trust.

References

James Roark, J (2008). The American Promise: A History of the United States. New York: Bedford/St Martins

The People, (2001). The West: Episode One (to 1806). Web retrieved 4th July 2012 from HYPERLINK “http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/program/episodes/one/” http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/program/episodes/one/

Calloway, CG (1994). The World Turned Upside Down Indian Voices from Early America, Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1994

(Calloway, 1994)

Faith, Native & European Relations

Author

Institution

References

James Roark, J (2008). The American Promise: A History of the United States. New York: Bedford/St Martins

Calloway, CG (1994). The World Turned Upside Down Indian Voices from Early America, Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1994

(Calloway, 1994)

FALL OF ISMALIST ENNAHDA PARTY IN TUNISIA ELECTIONS

fall of ismalist Ennahda party in Tunisia elections

[Document subtitle]

9144008549640November 17, 2014

1000000November 17, 2014

Tunisian elections

Introduction

It is noted that the political Islam suffered another loss in Tunisia, with the Ennahda part went down to the second place to the occasional Nidaa Tounes in the part elections. Based on the official results that released it was evident that Nidaa won the election by a small margin to the Ennahda; 85 seats amid the 217 parliamentary seats with the Ennahda 69 seats. There people of the country noted that the country will always be led by an Arab and not the natives of the country. They consider that the winning party is largely an Arab dominated party which is funded by Arabs in the Middle East. The winning party had various advantages as compered to the Ennahda party. The winning lot was able to come up with strategies that the Ennahda could not be able to meet hence the people opted to choose from the best agenda that the Nidaas were selling as compared to those of the Ennahda (Aghrout, 2010)

Ennahda’s thrashing was a hit to the first Islamist gathering to come to power after the Arab Spring rebellions of 2011, and Ghannounchi may have been putting on a valiant face after a misfortune credited to his party’s execution in government. However Nidaa Tounes’ repressed festival says all the more in regards to the muddled errand the secularists confront in framing a legislature with Islamists solidly settled in Tunisia’s young popular government after the oust of the dictatorial Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali. Tunisia has stayed away from the mayham that has inundated a few of its neighbors after the Arab Spring, however it gravely needs solidness. Its majority rules system has advanced and it has another constitution after a political emergency a year ago. However the North African state must at present manage extreme monetary changes and developing Islamist militancy. Nidaa Tounes, a collusion of previous Ben Ali authorities with exchange unionists and more modest gatherings that framed a hostile to Islamist front, can’t lead alone. In any case its decision of accomplices and how it manages Ennahda may focus Tunisia’s next steps. The liberal UPL development won 16 while the radical Popular Front gathering won 15 spots.

Nidaa Tounes pioneer Beji Caid Essebsi confronts a precarious parity. Partnering with common gatherings gets a dominant part, yet barring a capable opponent like Ennahda may undermine Tunisia’s bargain style governmental issues and lead to halt. With presidential elections one month from now – Essebsi is a main competitor – getting excessively near Ennahda additionally dangers distancing voters who acted unbecomingly to vote in favor of Nidaa Tounes as an issue to rebuff Islamists for their untidy two years in force. Nidaa’s alternatives are restricted,” said Tunisian daily paper proofreader and editorialist Zied Krichen. “A collusion with the more diminutive common gatherings will be delicate and could go to pieces at any minute. The second choice is a union with Ennahda. Almost four years after the fall of Ben Ali, Tunisia is consistently adulated as an issue of move, with political adversaries overcoming contrasts over the part of Islam and the reappearance of old administration authorities to make vote based system work. Ennahda secured the first post-Ben Ali free election to assemble a coalition government. Anyway an emergency regarding the homicide of two restriction pioneers and the treatment of Islamist fanatics started an emergency that in the end constrained it to step aside for a guardian government.

Trade off has since turned into a maxim for Tunisian legislative issues after arrangement making hauled the nation out of that political showdown, and permitted Tunisia to sanction another constitution lauded as an issue of comprehensiveness (Fuentes, 2010). Tunisia is not Egypt, where a solid military has since quite a while ago assumed a part in governmental issues. Chosen Islamist president Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood was toppled a year ago by the Egyptian armed force after mass challenges. Still, with such a tight hole in parliament, shaping a Tunisian government could take weeks of arrangement making, and more arrangements before legislators select another leader. “We are not going to represent isolated,” Essebsi said after the win. “Be that as it may the greater part of that will hold up until after the presidential decisions.”

Interior Debate

Debate about hosts as of now started inside the gathering. Prevalent Front, the radical development whose two pioneers were killed a year ago, will be a harder match ideologically with Nidaa Tounes, particularly with the new government taking a gander at monetary gravity measures. Ennahda was in a finer position when it came to government after the first election, however they went into coalition with two more modest common accomplices. Nidaa’s key inquiry is the means by which to handle Ennahda. Prior to the election Essebsi did not discount some manifestation of coalition with the Islamists, however party hardliners may question. Some Nidaa Tounes establishments currently discourse of “sharing poor” with the Islamists.

Conclusion

Ennahda Party authorities recognize Sunday’s vote was discipline for coming to power amid a sketchy transitional period when the economy was battling. Yet they were shocked by the poor execution of more diminutive resistance parties, whose votes went to Nidaa Tounes. Ennahda has insisted that Nidaa Tounes to structure a solidarity government to help complete Tunisia’s move. With about 60 seats in the current parliament, but Ennahda could be a decided resistance in the council, and remains an overall sorted out gathering with a solid prominent base. We were ahead of the pack, now we are second following three years,” said Ali Larayedh, a previous Ennahda’s leader. “We are still the best ensure for majority rules system and flexibility (Fox et al,. 2011). The new Nidaa Tounes-headed government might likewise be compelled to bargain all the more by the extreme motivation it confronts. Tunisia’s universal loan specialists are requesting politically delicate slices to open appropriations to trim the shortfall and measures to make more occupations, a key voter request. At the point when Ennahda’s legislature a year prior attempted to force another vehicle assessment, dissents emitted in a few locales, abandoning one man dead and compelling the administration to switch its choice.

References

Aghrout, A. (2010). The presidential and parliamentary elections in Tunisia, October 2009. Electoral Studies, 29(4), 749-753.

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Kavanaugh, A., Yang, S., Sheetz, S., Li, L. T., & Fox, E. (2011). Microblogging in crisis situations: Mass protests in Iran, Tunisia, Egypt. In ACM. CHI.

Fall Of The Roman Empire

Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u HYPERLINK l “_Toc377277079” Introduction PAGEREF _Toc377277079 h 1

HYPERLINK l “_Toc377277080” Reasons for the Fall of the Roman Empire. PAGEREF _Toc377277080 h 1

HYPERLINK l “_Toc377277081” Impact on Art and Artists PAGEREF _Toc377277081 h 3

HYPERLINK l “_Toc377277082” Art and artists PAGEREF _Toc377277082 h 4

HYPERLINK l “_Toc377277083” The Critique PAGEREF _Toc377277083 h 6

IntroductionThe study below is an examination of the fall of the Roman Empire and its implications thereafter on art and artists in Rome. Due to various proposed reasons, Roman Empire did fall and the consequences were not only felt in the change of power but also in arts and artists. Contained in the discussion herein are the reasons leading to the fall of one of the greatest empire of human history. According to various authors, the reasons include fall due general malaise, mono-causal decay, catastrophic collapse, and transformation. However, the study focuses on the first two causes only that is mono-causal decay and fall due to general malaise. The impact of these changes on art and architecture is also in discussion herein. Different emperors also affected the art in Rome to large extents. While Hadrian brought the Greek culture Constantine allowed Christianity leading to change in culture of the community. The study in this paper is majorly on the above named aspects that is, fall of the Roman Empire and the way it did change art in Rome.

Reasons for the Fall of the Roman Empire.Fall due to general malaise

Edward Gibson wrote a book titled “The History of the Decline and fall of the Roman Empire” and squarely blamed the decay on the civic virtue of Roman citizens (Gibbon & Milman, 2007). He focuses on the period when the emperor failed to protect the nation and gave the mandate of protection to another tribe. Consequently, after the tribe realized that the empire was too weak to hold together they attacked the empire. Hence, according to him authorities failed in their mandate when they gave the role of defending the nation to a barbarian community that would later turn against them. The assertion in this theory is that Rome was a catalyst to its failure and according to Gibson, anytime the nation registered prosperity, it did add a catalyst of decay on itself and whenever they conquered a new territory there was pressure addition to its fabric. Gradually, the fabric holding together the great empire gave in to pressure and it sealed the end of the empire.

Gibson was not alone in the theory; expounding more on this theory is historian Arther Ferrill who maintained that the decline of the empire was largely as a by result of the existence of German tribes within the defenders of the country. When Romans agreed to Germans existence in the army, leaders of the empire had made a mistake. Consequently due to the mistake the culture of barbarization entered the nation and royalty shifted from the government to the army commanders (Brown, 2007). Furthermore, historians such as James Burke and Arnold Toynbee see the empire as a failed system since its inception. According to them, the commencement of the imperial era was the start of collapse of all institutions founded based on Republican times. The only remedy to salvage the oncoming failure was changes that the current leaders could not possibility enact.

Mono-causal decay

Resting the case of general malaise, attention shifts to mono-causal decay. Here too various authors gave their reasons for the support of the theory and a Czech Republic historian Radovan Richta believed that technology was the driver of history. Hence, inventing the horseshoe in Germany did alter the equation military in Rome. On the other hand, William H. McNeill who was a historian added the factor of disease into the reasons of Roman Decay. McNeill is the author of the book named “Plague and Plaques” and contained therein is the Antoine Plague contracted by the larger population during the 165AD era. Roman population suffered the severe plague as a result weakening the whole nation and gearing it towards the inevitable failure. For twenty years, one or two diseases swept over the country and killed half of the population and according to the author; this was the cause of the fall.

In the third century, the Plague of Cyprian also paid a visit to the country and McNeil maintains that the severe attack by diseases did leave the economy of the country too large for the handling by lessening population (Gibbon & Milman, 2007). This totally destroyed the western empire and left the eastern empire vulnerable although not enough for its immediate destruction. According to studies conducted by archeologists, from the era of the 2nd century continuing forward, many of the Roman towns began to shrink in size and the Romans tax base could not support any governmental institutions like the military. The cause of most of the diseases sweeping the country was largely associated with the Asia contact. Previously, Romans had protection from epidemics by their hygienic behaviors. However once the government did establish contact Asia for trade purposes, region became infected.

Impact on Art and ArtistsDuring the period of Hadrian, the introduction of many Greek arts saw the light in Rome. Hadrian was famous to take a back seat in the field of conquering more territory and instead invested more resources into the Greek studies, philosophies, and cultures. According to sources, he was more of a Greek hero rather than a leader of the empire and his troops. Consequently, he brought many borrowed ideas into the palace at Tivoli. One example of such is the caryatids flanking the pool, which were adaptations from Erechtheum in the city Athens. In addition to this, the emperor built a temple in the country named “The Temple of Venus and Rome”, which was the sole temple in the city of Rome. It was only during his regime that copied Greek statues spread throughout the empire. His era brought about a breed of artists who were ardent followers of the Greek structures. The two most famous Greek art followers were Marcus Aurelius and Antoninus. One of the sculptures of his time that are around for some time is the equestrian statue, which was the work of Marcus Aurelius and sends a larger than life feeling across the land moreover, it marks the end of his era.

It was during the period of third century that the tides turned on Romans and it was their turn to experience aggression under barbaric rule. However, when Constantine came to power the story changed and again the country again received revival from the wealthy fierce barbaric rulers (Rudeng, 2000). Constantine was not a wise ruler and he made a fatal mistake of transferring the capital away from the west to Constantine polis making the west vulnerable. Afterwards, art did what it does best, changing the image of the society. Art in Rome changed in the simplest of ways like hairstyles, dressing, and in complicated ways when places of worship, housing, and monuments changed tremendously. Latins were largely plain and unsophisticated in their culture and during their time in Rome, the architectural change experienced was mostly in roads, amphitheatres, and roads. Hence, it was only after their departure that sculptures such as the soldiers building a fortress (Brown, 2007). However, change was inevitable it was at this moment that in mosaic and paintings Romans would include subjects like donkeys, which was previously unseen.

Art and artists

In the 16th century, Michelangelo Buonarroti did dominate art not only in the Roman Empire but also in the whole of Europe (Rudeng, 2000). He developed his style the division between the Renaissance and Baroque. He supported neither supported any nor did he oppose either of the two, and used both in his works a style that earned him lots of fame. He employed both Greek and roman types of art as is evident by the use of subjects derived from both forms of art. Most of his work resembled his early pieta and comprised of a balanced and an orderly form like the triangle. However, the latest work that he engaged in would embrace the new world by inclusion of exiting, rough, twisting, and falling forms surfaces.

Making a comparison of the two images that Buonarroti sculptured, it is worth noting that the two are the same but have different styles. On the left, the sculpture portrays high renaissance while on the right, it depict Baroque. The sculptor did arrange Sistine ceiling into frames containing squares and triangles accentuated by classical and prophetical figures. As a result, Rome became the birthplace of all the sculptures of the world and artist from all over the world would visit the city to study its sculptures.

Baroque did use did exaggerate motion and used easy to interpret clear detail for the production of tension, drama, grandeur and exuberance in paintings, sculpture, dance and music. Unlike the art of renaissance, Baroque did not comprise of lines and edges but incorporated light, color and shadow. It does not use characters that are parallel to the plane nor in the centre foreground but tacked away in a corner like the example below.

Baroque is more of sensuous and sensual kind of art. Moreover, it is aristocratic and the art that the ordinary man is accustomed. On the other hand, renaissance uses various techniques in the art. Firstly, use of perspective is common in the art, applied by Giotto Bondone in his work. Painters that were using the style discovered an orderly world and they reflected this in their art. That is, they used backgrounds that would express the feeling of geometric order and clarity.

The CritiqueIn many of the Baroque works there is lack of content, an advantage given to balance and compensate (Gibbon, 2010). An example is the Marino’s work, which is purely a mere form. A style of art should be captivating and has to evoke certain feelings within an audience. Imagination of the spectator needs stretching beyond any imaginable levels. However, all this characteristics are lacking in the style. Designers of the style made a mistake of concentrating too much on an individual as the means of connecting the audience to the artist. Consequently, art becomes less distant from the user, which closes the gap between the user and the art. This has many of times been cited as the reason as to why classically it was rejected in the Latin world. Renaissance criticism developed in the period of 1948 lead by major historians like Giorgio Valla. Renaissance developed ideas of unity and neoclassicism maintaining that literature is the centre of culture. This is not right given that it gives mandate to the author and poet the mandate of preserving literary tradition. Lodovico Casteivetro was among one of the most influential critics of the style.

References

Brown, H. R. L. (2007). Religious dissent in the later Roman Empire. HistoryHYPERLINK “http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/hist.1961.46.issue-157/issuetoc” 46,157, 83–101.DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-229x.1961.tb02436.Gibbon, E. &, Milman, H. H. (2007). The decline and fall of the roman empire. New York:Collier & Sons Publishers.Gibbon, E. (2010). The History of the Decline and fall of the Roman Empire. London: Strahan and Cadell Publishers. Rudeng, E. (2000). On the decline and Fall of Empires. Jstor, 4, 1. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/pss/40240860

Families, Delinquency and Crime

Many studies have revealed a close relationship between families and delinquency. This paper looks at two studies done to try and explain this relationship. In the first study done by Shears, Robinson and Ender (2003) called Fathering relationships and their association with juvenile delinquency, data from a group of men was used to explore the relationship between men’s relationship with their fathers, their attachment to their children, self assessment of themselves as fathers and antisocial behaviors. Specific data from men identified as fathers or father figures by women involved in two Early Head Start sites in Denver Colorado were examined to find the association between the experience of being fathered, the building of a positive relationship with his children and participation in antisocial behavior during his youth.

A survey of 87 English and Spanish speaking men who were over 19 years old and who were reported to be mothers partners, step fathers or the biological fathers of young children, two years of age was undertaken. Interviewers contacted the men previously identified by the children’s mothers. Information was gathered by telephone or in person when their children were two years of age. The fathers reported on the general quality of their relationships with their fathers, how they rated themselves as fathers, activities with their children, emotional attachment to their children and their past juvenile delinquent experiences. A measure of quality of fathering was calculated as the average of twelve questions regarding how their fathers treated them while growing up. A mean of positive involvement with their child was calculated as the mean of the frequency of the men engaging in 33 activities with their children. The measure of emotional attachment was calculated as the average of the frequency with which fathers engaged with certain behaviors like carrying their child picture, bragging about their child and how they thought about their children while were away. A Juvenile Crime Index was also administered. Index of antisocial behaviors was calculated as the sum of various antisocial acts ranging from minor to major act.

The study points to very interesting findings. Fathers who had positive relationship with their fathers felt good about themselves being good fathers and their attachment with their child but not their involvement with them. Also not all men who had a poor relationship with their fathers engaged in delinquent acts. Fathers who reported high antisocial activities reported low rating of themselves as fathers and low involvement of themselves with their children. This however did not affect their attachment to their children.

From the study, poor quality of past fathering and antisocial behaviors were significantly correlated. The authors conducted a regression analysis entering these two factors simultaneously. They found that the interaction was not significant for all assessments of current fathering.

This article shows the importance of a man’s past relationship with his father and how it affects how a he feels about himself as a father and his attachment with his child, which is the main focus of this paper. The study did not yield support for the association between the past relationship with ones father and antisocial behavior. It however pointed to an important area of mentoring young boys to prevent delinquency and thus contributing positively to better fathers in the future.

In the second study done by Palmer and Gough (2007), titled Childhood experiences of parenting and casual attributions for criminal behavior among young offenders and non offenders, the authors try to investigate the relationships between perceptions of parenting and the attributions for criminal behaviors in two groups of offenders and non offenders. Data was collected from three groups of people. 40 convicted male young offenders between the age of 18 and 21, out of which 20 had committed crime against property and the other 20 had committed crime against people. In this study, these groups are referred to as property offenders and personal offenders respectively. As parenting was one of the variables, marital status of participants’ parents was also recorded. Government statistics for local areas provided crime rates for participant local areas. The non offenders composed of undergraduate university students. The participants filled a questionnaire comprising of the EMBU (Egna Minnens Barndorms Uppfostran; “ones memories of upbringing”) and casual attributions measures (defective education, mental instability, temptation, excitement, alienation and parents). They were then examined. The authors then performed a series of ANOVAs to compare scores between the three groups. The findings pointed out to home area crime rate, paternal emotional warmth and maternal emotional warmth as being the factors that are mostly associated with high levels of delinquency.

This study had a small sample size that could not be used to come up with a proper conclusion as it was not a proper representation of the population. Crude distinction between property and person offenses could also have affected the results negatively. However the studies have raised some important issues that future research could look into.

References

Shears, J. Robinson. J. & Ender. R. N. (2003). Fathering relationships and their association with juvenile delinquency. American Journal of Psychology, 54(3), 79-87.

Palmer. E. J. Gough, K. (2007). Childhood experiences of parenting and casual attributions for criminal behavior among young offenders and non offenders. Criminology, 10, 790-806.

Family and Identity

A family is the smallest unit of any community usually having the closest and most comprehensive ties. There is therefore a belief that the values in a family will be represented in future generations to come, commonly referred to as upholding of a family name. The outcome of many children especially adolescents depends on how they relate to their parents/guardians and the cultures of the families. Families that have well defined cultures tend to have more cultured members compared to where freedom is without much supervision. Bonds formed and the trust that the family members have among each other often reflects in the societal relations as well, both formal and informal. This paper therefore focuses on the discussion that family traditions and cultural legacies contribute to and inhibit an individual self identity (James, and Merickel, 2005).

(Seamus, 1939), in the poem clearly showed how family values are passed on to generations. He brought out the difference between physical and mental labor among members of the same family which despite the differences, were ale to show how family ties worked. For instance, the farming profession of the father and grandfather were physical labor as opposed to his mental labor in his writing career. However, he described his pen as what he would dig with, thus showing the relationship of his career and the one that he was brought up with. He had the identity of a farmer having been brought up by a father who was a farmer. In the poem, it is also clear that the strengths and capabilities between the mental and physical labor clarifying that there was less tire in mental labor.

The other issue in family ties is the degree of determination children pick from their parents/guardians. Hard work is an admirable culture which many people tend to adopt from their close family members as is seen with the author. A person can identify with his grandfather’s deeper and repeated digging for good turf (Seamus, 1939), thus showing that a family member’s thoughts can be greatly influenced by his background and culture.

James, and Merickel, (2005) argued that, “… family traditions and cultural legacies contribute to and inhibit an individual self identity.” This supports the above argument. For instance, in most traditional families, the role of a father is very important and gives a sense of belonging to most children especially adolescents. This is by the imitation that they will draw from the behaviors of their parents and the cultural practices. Similarly, the values and legacies are passed through the practices such as naming, religion and production activities that the future generations tend to follow. As discussed earlier, a father figure is important in playing this role. Firstly, the identity in today’s world just like the ancient times was passed on through the father. This is in terms of adopting the common surname that is passed on by the sons in the family. The cliché, ‘keeping the family name alive’ is not yet scrapped off. It can be literal and also deeper in the sense that the surname is used and at the same time traditions of the family and the cultural practices are not ignored. They are respected to the core.

Finally, the self identity as owed to cultural legacies and traditions are influential in the way families relate in different aspects. For instance, a family may have a tradition of doing things together and supporting each other in difficulties. This will enhance development of a generation with more open minded people which is adopted from a family value. There may be a family that has a culture that promotes openness in speaking and evident happiness with cultured members. The values passed will be similar and the self identification of their children will be towards the same direction. It is therefore undoubtedly correct that the culture of a particular family unit, their traditions and legacies are always passed on to their future generations which may later identify their off springs.

Works Cited:

James, Missy, & Merickel Alan. Reading Literature and Writing Argument. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. Print.

Seamus, Heaney. Digging. 1939. Reading Literature and Writing Argument. Ed. Missy James, Alan Merickel. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. Print.

Shabot, Naomi. Family and Identity. A Linguistic Analysis of Agency. 2005. Web. 17 Aug, 2010.