Explain and Evaluate Two Approaches to Explaining Moral Development Essay Example for Free

Explain and Evaluate Two Approaches to Explaining Moral Development Essay Moral development is what we consider to be right, wrong, good or bad. It is developed from infancy through to adulthood and is the principles we use to determine what is right or wrong, fair or unfair. Each individual has their own understanding of what morality is, however generally this is determined largely by the culture or society we live in and the rules that we conform to within this society. In psychology there are many theories around the beliefs of moral development, and how morality is developed from childhood to adulthood. The reason for the different theories is due to the methods, ways of study adopted by the psychologists to study human behaviour. These theories allow us to compare and gives us the opportunity to take into consideration all views and ideas and not to settle for just one argument or approach around this subject. (http://www.sid.ir/en/VEWSSID/J_pdf/97420082403.pdf) The aim of this assignment is look at the two different approaches to moral development, firstly the cognitive explanation to moral development by Jean Piaget. Then moving on to the social learning theory, and Bandura’s contribution to how morality develops. Criticisms of these theories will be discussed and evaluations based on the two studies will be made. Piaget was the first psychologist to study cognitive development in children. His work dates back to 1932 and his findings stated that morality develops through childhood and adolescence. He believed that children pass through different levels of morality according to their cognitive development. Piaget conducted a number of experiments and from these tests concluded that children up to the age of three or four could not make moral judgements as they were not able to understand rules at this age. He stated, if the children were unable to understand the rules and that they were breaking then they were unable to make moral judgements. He believed that once children could understand the rules, and that they were breaking them then this was the age that moral development began. From his research, this started at the age of about eight years old. Woods B, (2004 pg.72) Piaget believed that moral development in children of this age takes place in two stages. Stage one- heterononmous morality described as morality imposed from outside. This is when children see the rules as been made by parents, teachers or God and that they are unchangeable. Morality at this stage is based on moral punishment, you do something wrong and you will be punished. This stage is described by Piaget as the pre-operational stage of development where the child is only able to make his judgement based on the consequence of the action. The second stage- Autonomous morality described as morality which is based on the child’s own rules is apparent when the child is able to decentre and distinguish the intent behind the action along with the consequence of the action. It is the stage at which children are able to understand that rules are flexible to change and according to the situation. Woods B, (2004 pg.72) From Piagets experiments he was able to conclude that morality is based on the amount of cognitive development, how intelligent one is. The strengths of Piaget’s theory are that whilst conducting his experiments he did focus on children alone as learners. He contributed hugely to our understanding of education and believed that this was the key to saving our society. Piaget’s moral theory was described by his experiment with children that involved rules whilst playing a game of marbles. Children under the age of five showed they had no rules, children aged between ages 5-10 saw the rules as fixed and children 10 and above realised the rules and also adopted them by mutual consent. Moral dilemmas were also presented to children by Piaget to develop his theory further. He gave children a pair of stories where there first child deliberately caused a small amount of damage due to his actions. The second child caused much more damage but his actions were a result of an accident. Piaget asked the children to describe which character deserved to be punished in his attempt to understand children’s reasoning in their answers. His conclusion from his experiment was that younger children focused more on consequences, whilst the older ones took into consideration intent. From Piaget’s theory we have a greater understanding on the influence of mental processes on behaviour, we have greater understanding on perception and thinking. Along with the above, Piagets theory has had practical benefits such learning skills to improve memory and improving problem solving skills. Dwyer D Charles C (2006 pg318) Both of the above experiments have been criticised. Other theorists have claimed that games of marbles do not represent a childs entire perception of morality. Piagets use of moral dilemmas has also been criticised. It has been claimed that younger children only focused on consequences because the story was narrated, however the results may not have been the same if the stories were watched on video. Younger children may have been better able to consider intentions if they were. Other theorists conducting similar research found that, although younger children had some conception of intent, they still preferred to judge in terms of consequences because they found this easier. Piagets theory has also been criticised to be culture specific. It has been said that it is based on moral universals. It has been claimed that the moral development of children in non western cultures may differ from that of the children Piaget investigated. (http://everything2.com/title/Piaget%2527s+theory+of+m oral+development) Critics of Piaget’s theory have also stated that his research was not very scientific, that his findings were biased as he worked alone. Researchers conducting scientific experiments need to have two or more observers; Piaget observed and noted his findings alone. He was criticised for making generalisations with his findings by being culture specific and not taking into account background, tradition and upbringing of each child. An example of this is using clinical interviews to study the thinking of children. His sample size was criticised for being too small and did not give much consideration to social understanding. Due to all the criticisms above regarding Piagets work we can evaluate his theory as weak hence leading to errors in his conclusions. Haralambos M Rice D. (pg 522). Social learning theory approach to moral development is based on the idea that moral development happens as a result of observing and imitation. Albert Bandura 1977 studied this concept and came up with findings that concluded that children learn through recognition, reward and punishment. Social learning theorist, focus particularly on observational learning, imitation, recognition and reward. Woods B, (2004 pg. 126) Bandura conducted a number of experiments observing children’s behaviour towards an inflatable doll also called a Bobo doll. The children were separated into groups and the first watched an adult behaving aggressively towards this blown up inflatable doll. This was the aggressive model conditioning. The second group of children, the adult played with the other toys and was the non aggressive model condition. Along with a control group, which included children from the group who had witnessed an adult being violent and aggressive towards the Bobo doll. This group was then left in a room with a number of toys but not allowed to play with them in an attempt to build up the children’s frustration. The children were later left in a room and results were noted. The children who witnessed the adult being aggressive towards the Bobo doll imitated this behaviour and those from the non aggressive model displayed lower levels of aggression and violence, hence showing that children learn through imitation. (http://psychology.about.com/od/classicpsychologystudies/a/bobo-doll-experiment.htm) Bandura also believed that children learn from their social environment, this he believed provides models of behaviour and expectations of appropriate behaviour. He believed that children learn through observation, imitation and reinforcement which are all closely linked. Woods B, (2004 pg. 126) Along with Piaget’s theory, Bandura’s theory also has its criticisms. Bandura’s social learning theory takes into consideration cognitive learning but concentrates more upon the idea that morality is developed through positive reinforcement, imitation and the social environment. Woods B, (2004 pg. 71) When evaluating Bandura’s, experiment in attempt to understanding moral development, it is important to point out that the experiments were conducted in a laboratory and hence the results may not be true in the real world. Critics have also pointed out that there may be selection bias as the children in the experiment were all from the same socio economic background, making the results invalid and not true to society. The long term effect of this experiment is not known as the results were noted immediately, and the reality is very different to an experiment. Even though the children displayed violent behaviour towards the doll this does not prove that they would be violent towards another person. The children could also have demonstrated this behaviour to please the adult, again making the findings of this experiment inaccurate. (http://psychology.about.com/od/classicpsychologystudies/a/bobo-doll-experiment.htm) The aim of this essay was to explain and evaluate Piaget and Bandura’s theory. Both the theorists have contributed to understanding of moral development in today’s society and both equally face criticisms to their work. The main aspects that have been pointed out and open to attack are that both Bandura and Piaget have given little consideration to feelings, culture and religious beliefs. There sample was small not allowing general conclusions and findings to be widely acceptable. There experiments have been attacked for not being scientific. They failed to recognise that moral development has different content and meaning in different cultures and moral judgement is hugely influenced by society’s common law and traditions. Parents role and child nourishment are vital in how children and adolescents develop morally. Both Piaget and Bandura failed to take these important points into consideration when conducting their research. Piaget has studied cognitive development and his contributions are invaluable in the development of today education and the human development theory. Bandura looked more at social learning model one is amongst one of the most influential psychologists of our time. (http://www.sid.ir/en/VEWSSID/J_pdf/97420082403.pdf)

Prejudice Examples Prejudice Essay Example for Free

Prejudice Examples Prejudice Essay Prejudice means pre-judging, and is defined as having a bad opinion of a group without sufficient evidence, by thinking of that group in terms of unverified stereotypes. Prejudice is a preconceived judgment or opinion. Strictly speaking, prejudice can also be favoring a group without justifiable grounds or sufficient knowledge. But the most common definition of prejudice is an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, group, or race. 2. Why are people prejudiced against others? Some factors are: ignorance, fear of someone different, low self-esteem, insecurity, a need to feel superior, or negative personal experiences with individuals from that group. Some people are prejudiced because they have a need to protect and maintain their self-image. Some people have the need to express their identity by excluding others. It makes them feel good to put others down through name calling, such as nigger, honky, kike, chink, faggot. Prejudice is learned behavior and is usually passed down to people from their family or is derived from their friends. 3. Most psychologists have long believed that fear is a prelude to hatred. 4. Some common types of prejudice: a) misogyny Hatred of, or hostility toward women (As an example of how pervasive male dominance has been in human history, the word for hatred of men (misandry) is still not a common word, in fact most dictionaries do not even include it. ) b) xenophobia fear or dislike of strangers or the unknown, often used to describe nationalistic political beliefs and movements c) homophobia fear of homosexuals, or people thought to be lesbian, gay, or bisexual. d) anti-semitism hatred of Jews. e) racism a form of discrimination based on race, especially the belief that one race is superior to another. Racism may be expressed individually and consciously, through explicit thoughts, feelings, or acts, or socially and unconsciously, through institutions that promote inequality between races. f) bigotry the intolerance and prejudice of a bigot, that is, a prejudiced person who is intolerant of any opinions differing from their own 5. Recent experiments were conducted at Dartmouth College with the help of brain-imaging equipment and some undergraduates. They found that racial prejudice makes you stupider. According to their findings, the more biased people are, the more their brain power is taxed by contact with someone of another race, as they struggle not to say or do anything offensive. The effect is so strong, that even a five minute conversation with a black person left some of the white subjects unable to perform well on a test of cognitive ability PREJUDICE (ITS FUNCTIONS) As an attitude, prejudice can function as a schema for organizing information about members of a group Information that is consistent with our prejudices (rather than inconsistent). Tends to receive more attention, is rehearsed more frequently, is more likely to be remembered Even though prejudice can be positive or negative, lets focus on the negative Prejudice involves negative feelings when they are in the presence of,or even think about, members of the group Prejudice often involves stereotypes, suggesting that all members of a group behave in certain ways and have certain characteristics Therefore, prejudice has both cognitive and affective components Affective component is the positive or negative attitude/feeling Cognitive component contains stereotypes. Origins of Prejudice Direct intergroup conflict Social learning Social categorization: Us vs. them Cognitive sources: stereotypes, illusory correlations, outgroup homogeneity Direct Intergroup Conflict This research is based on , or lead to, realistic conflict theory Idea is that real disparities or competition between groups leads to hostility (negative prejudice). Even perceived threats (relative deprivation) can lead to prejudice Think about strife existing between early Mormons and other groups. Can partly be explained in terms of realistic conflict theory, accounted for in terms of real deprivation or perceived deprivation. Some would argue that this theory applies to increasing prejudice (and discrimination) currently prevalent here in Utah Robbers Cave study (Sherif et al. , 1961) Rattlers and Eagles in separate cabins formed close attachments to others in own group (Week 1) Groups brought into competition with one another (Week 2) Groups developed strong prejudices Superordinate goals introduced (e. g. , fixing bus) (Week 3) Conflict reduced. Hovland Sears (1940) correlation between economic conditions and racial violence Most of 4761 lynchings in US between 1882 and 1930 occurred in the South, and most victims were African Americans Farm value of cotton and per-acre value of cotton each year was strongly correlated with the number of lynchings in each year Again, think about realistic conflict notion in light of current levels of prejudice (and discrimination in the U. S. ). As economic conditions worsen, prejudice and discrimination are on the rise. Social learning as source of prejudice. Children acquire negative attitudes toward various social groups through direct and vicarious learning experiences Parents, teachers, friends, the mass media all play roles in the development of prejudice Consider how minority groups or the two genders have been portrayed in the media Some even argue that we are born with a bias to perceive dark stimuli as more fearful than lighter stimuli (shown with babies and toddlers using neutral stimuli) Social categorization as source of Prejudice: Us vs. Them People tend to view us in favorable terms and them more negatively Ingroup-outgroup distinction affects attribution. We tend to attribute desirable behaviors of ingroup members to stable internal causes, but tend to attribute desirable behaviors of outgroup members to unstable or to external causes- sometimes called theultimate attribution error How does social categorization result in prejudice? Tajfel (1982) proposes that that individuals seek to enhance their self-esteem by identifying with social groups. This is successful to the extent that persons perceive their group(s) as somehow superior to other group(s) Basking in reflected glory (BIRGing) Chap. 3. Even if there is an inferior ingroup member, this leads to considerable derogation so as to preserve value of the group Cutting off reflected failure (CORFing) Chap. 3 Branscombes research in Chap. 5 This notion of social categorization bears on Tajfel and Turners Social Identity Theory, which predicts, among other things: higher ingroup favoritism when self-esteem threatened on a situational basis heightened levels of ingroup favoritism when the group is really small (a minority) heightened levels of ingroup favoritism when one feels a marginal member of group. PREJUDICE EXAMPLES Prejudice has been defined as an outlook towards a community or an individual, based solely upon a preconceived idea or preference and devoid of any objectivity and reasoning. The examples mentioned in this article will help the reader in understanding prejudice in a better way. Prejudice is described as a preconceived notion harbored against a particular group or a person based on the nationality, race, caste, color, sex, sexual preferences, creed or other personal preferences. The concept has been debated ferociously by psychologists and social researchers. Some have called it a personality trait or habit, while others have described it merely as an emotion. Studies and experiments which have been conducted in this regard, go on to prove that more often than not, prejudice comes about due to conformity to social norms. In this regard, the words antipathy and discrimination are closely linked with prejudice. Though prejudice may not always be negative, over the last century, prejudice and discrimination have been spoken of in the same breath. This has led to a negative connotation of prejudice. Examples of Prejudice # 1: If someone is walking in a secluded area in the night, and a group of senior citizens who are walking with canes in hand, come from the opposite side, the person will not feel threatened. However, if instead of senior citizens, three teenagers dressed in jeans and t-shirts with lots of metal chains around their neck are approaching from the other side, the person might feel threatened a bit, even without any kind of provocation from their end. # 2: It is a general perception that people with mental illnesses are prone to violence. This perception has developed from the stereotypes portrayed in movies or written about in books, wherein a mentally ill person becomes violent and goes on a rampage. Although, there are a few isolated cases of mentally ill people, who have a tendency towards violence, yet, if we look at the statistics, they show that mentally ill people are no more violence prone than the normal people. # 3: Human beings are categorized into a number of races, based on their geographical location, physical characteristics, culture, language and history. It is a social concept, not biological. For example, in America, there are Caucasians, African-Americans, Asians etc who differ from each other physically. However, being different no way makes a race superior or inferior to another. Yet, there are certain people who think, believe and act in ways that suggest that their race is superior to others. Racists as they are referred to, are prejudiced and if you look at history, they have even resorted to violence against the races they considered inferior. # 4: Gender discrimination, whether at the workplace or at home is another commonly observed prejudice that exists in todays society. An organization which hires more male candidates and rejects women (or vice versa), due to their gender, is said to be prejudiced. One more example is of an organization where women are hired equally, but not given top jobs. Such organizations are practicing gender discrimination too. # 5: Instances of prejudices based on religion are found all over the world. Although, most religions preach tolerance and acceptance of other religions, yet, fanatics are found everywhere. Usually, it is seen that people who believe more in following the rituals and religious practices, rather than taking religion as a means to reach God, are more likely to engage in discrimination and prejudice against people who follow a religious belief other than theirs. # 6: People belonging to one nation may sometimes discriminate against those that belong to some other country. This is especially true in case of a war or other conflicts between the two countries. In such circumstances, people belonging to the other country, with whom one is in conflict with, are considered outsiders and may even have to face hostility, especially if they happen to stay in the your country. Looking at the various prejudice examples, it can be concluded that we are prejudiced against people, when we assume that they have certain characteristics. These assumptions develop when we do not have direct contact with them or we fear them due to they being a minority and different from us. Some might also be passed on from one generation to another such as those against women. Since prejudices are so widespread, in order to combat them, understanding their nature is very important. By spreading the message of brotherhood, developing understanding in people, educating people, making them aware, and promoting inter-group dialog, small steps towards a more tolerant and egalitarian society can be taken. Read more at Buzzle: http://www. buzzle. com/articles/prejudice-examples. html Prejudice derives from Prejudge, which is to judge someone or something without out all the available facts. Some times this can be good and some times not so :- Example One. He was prejudiced to give her the job solely on her looks. Great you think she got the job! but what about her qualifications? Example Two The guy suffered from racial prejudice and so didnt let the man into his house to fix the boiler. The guy lost out just cause he didnt like the colour of his skin and is now sat in a cold house. Example Three The jury were prejudiced towards the defendant because they already knew he was guilty of other crimes, but were not pertaining to the case in hand. The mans past had nothing to do with what he was standing trail for but the jurors had already a predetermined what type of man he was. A: The word prejudice, meaning literally pre-judgment, is defined as having a preconceived opinion about something or someone. It has acquired its current popular definition, of bias against a particular group of people, during the civil rights movement of the mid-20th century. Under that latter definition, here are three examples of prejudice: * Asking to be seated (or re-seated) in a restaurant or theater, away from a group whose ethnic or religious heritage frightens or offends you; this could be anything from Italian businessmen (might be mobsters) to a Middle Eastern family (could be terrorists). * Seeking out a male auto mechanic, under the belief that a female mechanic would be less qualified; or hiring a female kindergarten teacher, thinking that a male teacher wouldnt be as compassionate. * Denying a gay couple the right to rent an apartment. But its important to keep in mind that 1) everyone has prejudices, and 2) not all prejudices are negative. For example, you may decide to see a new movie because you heard that one of your favorite actors is starring in it; this is an example of positive prejudice, or prejudice forsomething. Prejudice Each of us is unique with our own talents and skills and experiences to offer. There are many ways that people can be different from you: * moral or spiritual beliefs * cultural background * intellectual strengths and weaknesses (e. g. being better at languages or math) * social skills and preferences (e. g. being shy instead of outgoing) * tastes, interests and hobbies (e. g. liking sports or music) * physical features (e. g. sex, size, skin colour, body shape) * sexual and/or gender orientation or preferences. While we all benefit by being surrounded by people with different beliefs, skills and experiences, these differences can sometimes cause people to be targets of hatred and prejudice. To understand what prejudice is, its important to be able to define words like stereotypes and discrimination. Prejudice can have some serious effects, but there are many things you can do to recognize and reduce prejudice in your own life. If you have more questions about prejudice and discrimination, talk to a trusted adult (like a parent, relative or teacher) or call Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868. Looking for something specific? Go straight there. * Definitions and examples * The effects of prejudice * What you can do about prejudice Definitions and examples Stereotypes are generalizations When we assume that people of shared physical, religious, cultural or other characteristics have certain behavioural attributes, this is called a stereotype. Some examples of stereotypes are: * Men are more adventurous than women * Women are more emotional than men * Aboriginal people are all alcoholics * Gay men are all effeminate Prejudice is a belief. Prejudice is often based on stereotypes. It divides people into inferior and superior groups based on what one person thinks about another person or group. Some examples of prejudice are: * Racism or Anti-Semitism believing that race, skin colour or culture makes certain people inferior (e. g. believing that whites are superior to people of colour or people who practice Judaism) * Classism believing that certain economic classes are superior (e. g. the rich are superior to the poor). * Sexism believing that sex and gender determine status (e.g. boys and men are superior to girls and women) * Lookism believing that appearance and looks determine status (e. g. unattractive people are inferior to attractive people) * Homophobia/Heterosexism believing that sexual or gender orientation makes one group inferior (e. g. heterosexual people are superior to homosexual people) * Ableism believing that physical and/or mental ability makes one group superior (e. g. that differently abled people are inferior to typically abled people). * Ageism believing that age determines status (e. g.adults are superior to young people and the elderly) Discrimination is an action When people act based on their prejudices, they are discriminating against others. Some examples of discrimination include * A rich-looking person getting served before a poorer-looking person at a restaurant * A woman getting turned down for a job promotion in favour of a man * A police officer keeping a closer watch on a black teenager than a white teenager hanging out in front of a store * An woman in her 30s getting treated better than a woman in her 70s by a store? Staff The effects of prejudice Prejudice and discrimination are harmful behaviours that limit the opportunities of certain groups of people by reducing or withholding access to people defined as inferior and by increasing or extending access to people defined as superior. Some of the opportunities that prejudice and discrimination limit include: * approval and popularity * rights and privileges * power * knowledge * employment * promotion. Prejudice and discrimination also leave people open to a variety of social risks including: * victimization (violence, abuse, theft and bullying) * suspicion (blame or assumed guilt for crimes and harmful actions) * rejection, alienation and isolation (which all can lead to low self-esteem, self-hatred and self-destruction) * exploitation and oppression One of the worst things about prejudices is that over time people may come to believe what they hear and may start to believe that they are superior/inferior. This can lead to: * emotional suffering * reduced self-esteem * sense of futility or lack of control * blaming victims * losing hope in the future * fear/mistrust of others * lack of respect for authority What you can do about prejudice There are many ways that you can help reduce prejudice and discrimination. Here are just a few suggestions: * refuse to laugh at racist or sexist jokes * refuse to be allowed to jump ahead in a line-up and point out that people who have been waiting longer have a right to be served first * refuse to see movies, read books, play video games or participate in actives that promote violence or discrimination against certain groups * confront your friends or peers who express prejudiced or discriminatory beliefs * support associations or organizations whose mission is to help address the roots or effects of prejudice * confront prejudice in schools by working with a diverse group of people * confront prejudice at work by refusing to work in an environment that supports discriminatory policies or practices. If you have more questions about prejudice or discrimination, talk to a trusted adult like a parent, relative, teacher or religious leader, or call Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868 and talk to one of our professional counsellors. BEYOND PREJUDICE REDUCING YOUR PREJUDICIAL BEHAVIORReducing prejudices needs to be more than an organizational goal; it needs to be a personal goal for each of us. The following list contains things we can do as individuals to help reduce prejudices within ourselves and in those around us. 1. Acknowledge that you have learned prejudicial information about other people. Without this acknowledgment nothing can change. Only through an acknowledgment of the prejudicial learnings can the misinformation be openly discussed and dealt with in a way which is likely to bring about change. It is clear that if we can’t talk about it, we surely can’t change it. 2. Confront without guilt or blame the stereotypes that you have learned. Guilt for having learned information is not really appropriate. It would have been difficult or nearly impossible to avoid learning this information. You probably learned it before you were able to think about the information critically. To focus on either blame or guilt distracts one from the need for change. It also focuses ones attention from the present into the past and leaves one feeling helpless or powerless to make any changes. 3. Enter a supportive group or a supportive relationship for making the needed changes. We tend to change our interpersonal behaviors and beliefs most effectively in an interpersonal context. Another person or other people can help us to test new learnings, gain new information, hold us to our insights and our commitments. They can do all this while providing us with support as we try new ideas, behaviors and beliefs. 4. Make a commitment to change and make a commitment to a process of change. The commitment made to others is a stronger commitment than the one made alone or to oneself. The commitment should be to working on a change process. Simply making a commitment to change is not as likely to result in the modification of behavior as a commitment to change that includes a commitment to a process. It is most effective to make an agreement to meet regularly with someone to discuss how you are both changing. Mutual commitments are both powerful and healthy. In this way, people approach the process as equals and are more likely to adhere to the process of changing. Keeping these commitments in a log, along with notes on the actions that one has taken, is a helpful way of sharing and supporting each other in a process of mutual prejudice reduction. 5. Become aware of your own self-talk about other groups of people. Becoming aware of ones own self-talk is critical in the process of changing the early stereotyped beliefs that one has learned. Talk about where those messages came from and the messages limiting effect with a person who will be accepting and non-judgmental. Knowing what those messages are is critical to changing them and replacing them with positive messages. 6. Challenge the irrationality of the prejudicial thoughts or self-talk statements. Get information to disprove each prejudicial thought. Most general statements about a population of people are untrue. One only needs to look more closely to see that almost any statement about them will fall apart under examination. Take the time to examine and challenge the thoughts that limit or devalue other people. 7. Increase your exposure to or contact with those who belong to the group(s) toward which you have learned some prejudicial stereotypes. Misconceptions remain effective only when you avoid contact with those about whom you have misconceptions. It is always helpful to increase your exposure to people that belong to the group about which you have stereotyped thoughts. When you are doing this, besure that you are not making contact in a way which will only affirm your stereotypedbeliefs. In finding people who are representative of this group, you might ask yourself, Is this the method I would want someone to use who wanted to learn about people of my nationality, race, age, religious belief, or culture? As you enter this process, keep in mind the tremendous diversity within any group. 8. Thought-stopping is a valuable process for changing ones self-talk about others. It is often helpful to have a pleasant image to focus upon to use as an abrupt interruption to your thoughts whenever you discover that you have started to think stereotypical thoughts about a member of another group. If you plan what image to focus upon and shift to that image very suddenly each time you think the stereotyped thought, it weakens the stereotyped thought. Your replacement image might be of something strongly positive about this group of people or about the absolute absurdity of the stereotype you learned. In building these images, it might be helpful to try making generalized statements about all the people who might be seen as like you in some aspect. Experience the difficulty in this process. 9. Make use of the Premack Principle, a small rule that has power for change. Making something one does often or something one likes to do contingent upon doing ones positive practice is one of the most effective ways of ensuring it gets done. For example, one might agree to meet with or report to ones partner each week before taking out the trash or filling the car with gas or some other task. Tying the two tasks together in an agreement is an effective way of making and keeping a commitment. One might also use this principle in changing ones self talk. To do this, one might agree to say an affirming statement about a group of people every time he or she sees a member of that group. 10. Learn how other groups see your own identity group. Learn from those in other groups how your own group is seen. This may take time because one needs to develop a trusting relationship. When their stereotypes about your own group are shared, don’t defend or deny them; instead, hear them as being as likely and as valid as your own stereotypes about other groups. Let yourself understand and accept how this view might be shared and believed by those who don’t have your experience. 11. Feeling good about ourselves is important in being able to accept people who are different from us. We need to develop a strong sense of security. People need to feel secure enough to be self-critical and to accept and learn from critical feedback by others. Those who are unable to accept critical feedback often project blame onto those who are different from themselves. 12. Accepting indecision is an important learning style. We need to develop an acceptance within ourselves for indecision. To be undecided is not only acceptable, but often desirable over having fast answers before all the needed information is available. To be in a position of not knowing and not reaching a conclusion is a valid position. This often requires a sense of self-acceptance and personal security. The need to have a correct answer quickly and not accepting the uncertainty of not knowing is strongly associated with being prejudiced. 13. Developing empathy skills is an effective way of increasing our acceptance of others. The ability to empathize with others is a teachable skill and is highly related to tolerance. There is no other skill that has been so clearly shown as being related to acceptance of others. The work of Gerard Egan, George Gazda, Norman Kagan and others is important here. Some of these peoples books are very usable. 14. Develop listening skills so that we can really hear other people. We need to develop listening skills and an appreciation for listening to other people. 15. Develop an appreciation for the complexities of the universe. Knowing that one truth does not preclude another is an important concept. We need to develop and nurture our own appreciation for the complexities of theuniverse. Our ability to accept contradictory truths is related to our tolerance for others. It is important to accept that there are truths that, I won’t understand. It is also important to recognize that what may appear to be conflicting and contradictory at first glance are not always so. One example of this is, I am like all other humans, while at the same time, I am like no other human. 16. Developing our own ability to experience caring about other people Is not only important for them, but allows us to be touch with our own connectedness and adds meaning to our lives. We need to show caring, even for those people who are unable to return the caring at this time. Because our lives are interconnected, the world is simply too small for us to not care anymore. 17. Learning about other groups is an important way to develop understanding. We need to learn about those groups we might feel prejudice toward. It is helpful to read about these groups in books the members of the groups have written, and its also helpful to go out of our way to visit with members of these groups. 18. Valuing diversity in human appearance and in nature is important. Diversity is the reality of nature and the strength of a species. We need to think and behave in ways which value and learn from diversity. This is not only in the area of racial diversity, but also in diverse ways of thinking, problem-solving and the many other ways in which people differ that affect human interactions. We cannot expect ourselves or others to value one type of diversity and reject others. 19. Seeking self-understanding increases the ability to accept oneself and others. We need to personally value and seek self-understanding. Those who are self-aware and self-critical are less likely to blame others. They know their own shortcomings and capabilities and have the self-esteem to accept responsibility for their behaviors. 20. Responding to prejudicial jokes is critical if we are to stand for something and identify ourselves. Initially, we need to respond to prejudicial jokes in a way that clearly communicates two things: 1) That we do not believe the person intended to harm others. 2) That we personally find meaning in the joke that is harmful. It is nearly impossible to make general statements about prejudicial jokes, but it is helpful to speak up and it is helpful not to read intent into a situation where it may not exist. A response is needed when the joke is at the expense of any group. It is this type of humor which is harmful. Initially it is most effective to use a minimal non-response. That means that we make it clear that we do not appreciate the humor or find it funny, but we do not alienate the person or lose our position for future influence by overreacting. If the other person’s prejudicial joke telling continues, it is appropriate to continue protesting the jokes and making the protests stronger. I know one person who starts by simply saying he does not find the joke humorous. 21. Responding to negative terms about groups of people helps us to know what we stand for and helps others to know us as well. We need to respond to static terms or names for other groups of people in ways which show that we feel that the use of these terms is inappropriate. (This should be the response when the term is at the expense of any group. Its the process which is harmful. ) It is most effective to use a minimal non-response. We are of little value in helping another person to reduce their prejudice if we reject or define them as a worthless bigot. 22. Research your investments so that you are only investing in firms with strong policies of affirmative action and respect for human rights. Many of us may have our savings in tax shelters which may not be socially responsible. I discovered that while one state university had mission statements about both education and health, it invested much of the employees retirement funds in the tobacco industry. I suggest that you check your investments in The Better World Investment Guide| What Is Prejudice? Prejudice is a baseless and usually negative attitude toward members of a group. Common features of prejudice include negative feelings, stereotyped beliefs, and a tendency to discriminate against members of the group. While specific definitions of prejudice given by social scientists often differ, most agree that it involves prejudgments (usually negative) about members of a group. Types of PrejudicePrejudice can be based upon a number of factors including sex, race, age, sexual orientations, nationality, socioeconomic status and religion. Some of the most well-known types of prejudice include: * Racism * Sexism * Classicism * Homophobia * Nationalism * Religious prejudice * AgismPrejudice and StereotypingWhen prejudice occurs, stereotyping and discrimination may also result. In many cases, prejudices are based upon stereotypes. A stereotype is a simplified assumption about a group based on prior assumptions. Stereotypes can be both positive (women are warm and nurturing) or negative (teenagers are lazy). Stereotypes can lead to faulty beliefs, but they can also result in both prejudice and discrimination. According to psychologist Gordon Allport, prejudice and stereo types emerge in part as a result of normal human thinking. In order to make sense of the world around us, it is important to sort informati.

Analysis Of Cultural Imperialism With Hollywood Films Media Essay

Analysis Of Cultural Imperialism With Hollywood Films Media Essay With the rising of electronic media, in the 1960s scholar Marshall Mcluhan raised the notion of global village, which provides a common platform of random communication without physical and geography distance for worldwide people. In this perspective, this kind of information circumstance will enforce everyone globally to be the participant of, and struggle for a same strategy, because we are inevitably connected with each other (Mcluhan and Quentin, 1967). In the rest years of twentieth century, with the assistant of advanced technology and high-developing economy ¼Ã…’the whole world seems to increasingly move forwards to the global village in nature. The concept of globalization, to some extent, already gradually rooted in peoples mind. In the process of globalization, in generally, two primary constituent parts cannot be neglected. One is the distance between time, space and place has shrunk (Giddens, 1990; Harvey, 1990; Rantanen, 2005), which is owing to the technological adv ances, such as electronic media, instantaneous communication that enable people to realize interaction over the boundaries of country and time, which is also the precondition of the realization of globalization. In this sense, the global communication systems prompt the instant currency of capital and offer possibility for the expansion of production and marketing strategies. The other one concerns the content of the communication. With the help of telecommunication technology, the diffusion of media products have surpassed the country border. By the way of music, press issues, films and broadcast channels, the images, thoughts, and sounds of different cultures are mutually flowing among a vast network of people in the worldwide sphere. For this, the project of globalization refers to the communication and incorporation of culture from different areas. In addition, the globalization of mass media, especially, aims to the content of cultural products can be obtained globally (Croteau and Hoynes, 2003). In this sense, confronting the problem of the promise and reality of media globalization, researchers respectively hold different viewpoints. Among these debates, an important discourse called cultural imperialism, which is resulted from the worry of the inequality of global media ownership, control consumption and content, should be highlighted. A number of scholars, because of the superiority of Western media products on the consumption marketing, claim that media globalization equals cultural imperialism, and convey deep concerns with globally cultural homogenization and standardization. Especially, accompanied by the globally prevailing consumerism, traditionally national cultures of each country all have the possibility of being unified into a common global commercial culture system. The most typical evidence is the export of American cultural goods in the range of whole world. As we can see, Coca-Cola, IBM, Levis, and Hollywood films, these global brands ar e all produced by the U.S.. However, there are still a part of socialists understandably suspect the discourse of cultural imperialism on the concept of culture and the confusion of cultural goods and ideological effects (Tomplinson, 1999). On the Basis of the controversy over the discourse of cultural imperialism, in this essay, I intend to through the analysis of concrete and weighted American media product-Hollywood films, research whether so-called cultural imperialism can work under the condition of consumerist culture, which appeared as the key representation of cultural homogenization. The focus of part 1 is the literature review of the details of cultural imperialism, which involving its original definition, critique and impacts. Based on the theoretical analysis of cultural imperialism in part1, the next section will associate with specific data and text analysis, to examine the relative statement of cultural imperialism. In the last part, I will point out my own discussion over the cultural imperialism, and conclude the limitation. The Discourse of Cultural Imperialism Before moving to the main argument of this paper, it is necessary to define the notion of cultural imperialism. As early as the first decade of the nineteenth century, Lenin suggested the concept of imperialism. In his perspective, the term of imperialism was closely linked with economy, and we can regard it as the highest form of capitalism. ( Lenin, 1939). He pointed that at this level of capitalism, imperialism appeared as a process that big conglomerates incorporate smaller enterprises for the further profits, and moreover, this kind of operation could surpass the national boundaries. In addition, this sort of economic conduction is between the major capitalist nations, and it will result in specific imperialist patterns of domination. In this sense, Maybe cultural imperialism is one consequence of the specific imperialist patterns of domination Lenin said. Williams (1983) also has more further viewpoint towards the concept of imperialism. As for Williams, he concludes imperialis m as: Like any word which refers to fundamental social and political conflicts, cannot be reduced, semantically, to a single proper meaning. Its important historical and contemporary variations of meanings point to real processes which have to be studied in their owen terms (p. 160). Additionally, he even particularly generalized the development of imperialism into two categories, politically and economically. Relating with this paper, the economic category is worth being mentioned. As Williams argued, this process originated from Marxist analysis of the development of modern capitalism, which is similar as Lenins argument. As a result, combining current modern capitalism statement with the characteristic of imperialism, Williams claimed, imperialism in contemporary context is applied to the practices of US and Soviet Union. However, American imperialism refers to a primarily economic denomination associated with the global reach of capitalism but not having the political form of colonialism (John, 1991). As a result, with the post-war non-colonial process since the 1960s and the development of contemporary capitalism, the analysis of new imperialism has emerged among academic circle, which considered that, in the new international settings, the imperialist expan sion strategy has moved primarily from military aggression and directly colonial domination to economic and cultural penetration, in which, the discourse of cultural imperialism is a significant and critical theory of cultural globalization. About the concept of cultural imperialism, there are existing different versions. The earliest systematic one was given by Herbert Schiller. Furthermore, Tunstall(1977) crystalized the definition of cultural imperialism as: The cultural imperialism thesis claims that authentic, traditional and local culture in many arts of the world is being battered out of existence by the indiscriminate dumping of large quantities of slick commercial and media products mainly from the United States. In this sense, it is clear that the process of cultural imperialism is operated by the products import of majority capitalist countries (mainly the U.S.A.), primarily media products. In this sense, non-Marxists prefer to see cultural imperialism as media imperialism. If that, the discourse of cultural imperialism can be approached on the sphere of media, which turns to the empirical territory instead of theoretical assumptions (Chin-Chuan Lee, 1979). Similar as Lees account of media imperialism, Oliver Boyd Barrett (1977) defines media imperialism as: The process whereby the ownership, structure distribution or content of the media in any one country is subject to substantial external pressures from the media interests of any other country or countries- without proportional reciprocation of influence by the country so affected (p. 116). He also suggests four modes of media imperialism: 1) the shape of the communication vehicle 2) a set of industrial arrangements 3) a body of values 4) media content, which could exert the cultural dominance instead of direct economic relationship. David Croteau and Wiliam Hoynes (2003) proposed more detailed connection and explanation of Boyd-Barretts statement. First of all, they claims that the linkage between cultural imperialism and media imperialism is because of the media products, which from Western side, especially America, intensely impact other regions culture, almost have reached the level of cultural domination. Here, it refers to the relation of media ownership and media content. According to the theory of media imperialism, both values and ideology of Western society are embedded in the media products sold on the interests of Western corporations. Next, Croteau and Hoynes (2003) in their book Media/Society also cite Antonio Gramscis theory of hegemony to explain the con cept and significance of cultural hegemony, and sociologist Stuart Halls analysis of how mass media institutions mix with this conception of hegemony. The conception of Gramscis (1971) hegemony is connecting all culture, power, and ideology together. In his perspective, besides military force, power can be obtained by the way of cultural and ideological domination as well. For this direction, the key strategy is to create consent, which can be realized through a kind of cultural hegemony. Croteau and Hoynes said that consent is something that is won ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ºruling groups in a society actively seek to have their worldview accepted by all members of society as the universal way of thinking (p.166). In this sense, schools, religion, and media naturally become the sites where help the dominant class approach this kind of hegemony, due to these institutions are the places where we form the ways of thinking. On this basis, Hall(1982) suggested that mass media is the main site where the cultural hegemony is exercised, because media images are not merely reflecting the world, but represent ing the world, and could actively make things have meanings. And then, associating with media ownership and commercial profits, many scholars argue that media is principally on the behalf of the dominant assumptions, and applying the universal views of the world that most people know. With the development of the globalization of mass media, this conception is more convincing. For example, because of the motive of media globalization is commercial interests, plus the economic distance among different countries, the inequality of media globalization is inevitable and obvious. The growth of centralized media conglomerates will result in a concentrated global media industry. And additionally, the ownership of these global media firms are still in the hands of a few advanced developed countries, which also dominate the production of global media products. As a result, from this respect, major researchers are likely to connect the elite status of Western media products with cultural imperialism. The most typical one should be the impact of American media items globally. Coca-Cola, the products of Disney series, McDonald, Hollywood movies, and so forth American products are all prevailing across the world because of the propaganda of American mass media. The supporters of cultural imperialism claims that these foreign imports will threaten and even dominate the local culture. (Coteau and Hoynes, 2003). For instance, according to the data of Ministry of Culture and Communication in 2001, American films occupy 54% to 92% of the performing movie in theaters in countries of the European Union, in contrast, European films make up only 3% of films shown in the United States (Ministry of culture and Communication, 2001). Schiller (1992) also from the television program export to describe the high level of American media domination globally. He indicated that commercial television has become an important and flourishing national export (p.129). He also quoted the former official of United States Information Agency Woilson P. Dizards (1964) words to prove this point, who said that today, overseas sales account for 60 percent of all U.S. telefilm syndication activities and represent the difference between profit and loss for the entire industry (p. 58). Besides, in 1967, Dizard reported that the amount of [TV commercial] exports, now approaching $100 million a year, is such that the television screen is becoming the main source of the American image for increasing millions of people abroad (1967, p. 59). From all these data, it is clear that American media industry, to a large extent, is relying on foreign markets, and its impact of media products is intensifying. Associating with Halls analysis of mass media and culture, through media products to diffuse Western values and ideology seems sensible. The discourse of cultural imperialism looks like could be used to describe one phenomenon of cultural globalization, which through exporting media products to diffuse own countrys values and ideology, in order to the last culture domination. However, there are partial scholars who dont agree with this discourse of cultural imperialism or media imperialism. The main critic of the discourse of cultural imperialism-John Tomlinson, provided a comprehensive critique pinpointing each part of cultural imperialism. Schillers theory of cultural imperialism focuses on the media, and from economic and political perspective to view the unequal structure of global cultural production and distribution. For this, Tomlinson (1991) argues that there are two mistakes underlying in this theory. First, though media is an important component of culture, it can not substitute all aspects of culture, and its impact on indigenous culture is closely connected with local audiences understanding and individual experience of media products. Secondly, Tomlinson argues that it is a kind of exaggeration to attribute the overwhelming significance of cultural imperialism to the media. It is problematic to equate cultural imperialism with media imperiali sm. All these studies are very helpful in the depiction of the discourse of cultural imperialism, either proponent or sceptic. In next part, I will combine the specific media text-American Hollywood films, to analyze the expression of cultural imperialism on the basis of American primarily cultural values. Hollywood Films Like I mentioned in last section, media products are an effective way to diffuse certain values and ideology, consequently, realizing the purpose of cultural domination. In this respect, in order to analyze the discourse of cultural imperialism through the dissection of one concrete media text, it is inevitable to mention what kind of values or ideological theory is implied in that media text, and these ideas is serving for whose benefits. Undoubtedly, in recent decades, the United States of America through its powerful economic and technological strength, its cultural perpetrator to the less advanced countries is apparent, either material products or spiritually cultural products and social political values. For example, the standard American icons-Mickey Mouse, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Hollywood are typical evidences. Then, what American values have been propagated through these popular issues? In general, white peoples traditional culture is the leading culture in America, what is al so called WASP culture (White Angle-Saxon Protestant Culture) (Kennedy, 2001. p. 913). American main stream culture actually is the special mixture of Christianity, Capitalism and democracy (translated from: Majie Zhu, 2003). Contemporary Hollywood films can, to some extent, through this specially cultural value, gain the market and extraordinary box office receipts, and subsequently, become the key approach for the expansion and penetration of culture imperialism. Individualism as the cultural value originated from the thinking of European burgeoning bourgeoise, which was used to oppose the autocracy feudal aristocracy during the renaissance. The early North American Puritan as same as the reason for getting rid of the European religion oppression migrated to America. And then, in American The Declaration of Independence, some self-evident truth is included, all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (Tefferson and Fink, 2002, p. 21-23). In American peoples thought, individual liberty is the final purpose, and society just the channel to reach this aim. In addition, Americans advocate surpass others by own effort, against any kind of inference to personal liberty from country or society. In short, individualism, is I will take responsibility of every thing by myself. In 1998, when American president Clinton visited China, he has said that the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, free from government interference to express different views and the right of free faith, are the central idea of the founding of the United states. And this is also the thought that leaded Americans from one side of continent to another side, and finally stand on the top of the world , and so far, American people still value it as a precious thinking (translated from: Zheng Yuan, 1998). In this respect, individualism is the main motive stimulating not only American constant innovation, but also the reckless expansion with the indifference of other countries interests. On the basis of above introduction of several American mainstream values, it is timing to associate it with the analysis of concrete Hollywood films to research the discourse of cultural imperialism in American way. The classic film-Forrest Gump in 1995, ever gained the Best Film Reward of Oscar Award. Through the picture of the life of retarded Gump, we can get in touch with many aspects of American social life. This film was adapted from the same named novel of Winston Groom. The original book is fantastic fiction filling with ironic senses, however, the film has decorated and beautified the whole story. The original fantastic and ironic meaning have been removed, and the rebellious fighting spirit was sacrificed as well. Gump in the film has been shaped as an idealized American civilian hero, who has noble morality, and his way of earning life and pursuing happiness is on the effort to glorify America. The role of Gump in film, can be seen as the representative figure of American individualism, and this image is advocated by American society, which can be testified from the scene that Gump is endowed of congress badge. Another instance is the extremely costing Hollywood war film- Saving Priva te Ryan, which is an propaganda of American individualism. The whole story is processing along with the group rescue of individual life. This theme matches the Jewish traditional principle in the film Schindlers list- he who saves one life saves the world entire. Additionally, Hollywood films always put the mission of saving all the world on the shoulder of an individual. In the film Air Force One, the image of American President Tim Marshall is a good example. For protecting own countrys people and reputation, he insists on not compromising over the terrorists. In the condition of utter helplessness, by the familiar with each precise device of Air Force One, Marshall struggled with those terrorists by himself, and finally, realized the promise of zero-tolerance and save the world (lines in the film Air Force One, 1997). Within this film, American President is eager to expand the liberal-democracy, the Christian faith and the concept of American family to global people. However, in realistic life, this kind of omnipotent heroism is merely a myth. What anti-terrorism really need is the cooperation of all the nations, which has been proved through the fact of Somali Piracy event in April, 2009. Another film Bable in 2006 provides another angle to view cultural imperialism in Hollywood film. An accidental gun shooting event leads to the whole plots in the next story. Western people in this film enact rare indecision when they are encountering accident, which seems to lose the traditional image of the leadership globally. However, it cannot say that Hollywood films give up to play the role as an assistant of undertaking American cultural imperialism. One made-up clip story in the film that American tourists get innocent attacked, is bringing the color of cultural imperialism seemingly, because we can see the scene in the way that it tells the immense audiences that terrorism is prevailing in East as well, and Americans in this turn are becoming innocent victims. Although the director of this film attempts to utilize a large number of Eastern images to cover the hegemony of American cultural imperialism, the propagated American universalism and human right have been performed obviously. Furthermore, another kind of Hollywood films should be paid attention in particularly-Hollywood cartoon, some of which are coated by Chinese traditional culture. The film Mulan presented by Disney corporation was adapted from Chinese folktale. The protagonist Mulan made her promise to resist outside invasion, and protect family reputation, which looks as if expressed Chinese traditional loyalty and filiality. But, the role of Mulan enacted in the film is independent and pursuing the confirmation of self-value and the sexual equality, which is against the original Chinese convention. Additionally, her intensive desire of individual happiness and freedom are all representing the individualism of America. And as same as the elements of KungFu Panda presented by Dreamwork, which are not real Chinese culture. As the first cartoon that has over hundreds million tickets sale in Chinese market, KungFu Panda benefited from the outfit of Chinese culture and the inside substantive c ontents of Western culture. On the surface, there are plenty of Chinese culture facts in the films, such as the architecture music, martial arts, firecrackers, and Chinese food. Even many story details have precisely conformed to the relative characteristics of Chinese culture. In spite of all these work, the protagonist Po, it still a hero in the context of American culture values. The process of how he turns to legendary warrior just from a cooker is a typical instance of Americanized value. Originally, Po is a normal people, although because of an accidental opportunity he becomes the candidate of legendary warriors, he is indeed attending the selection ceremony. In another words, although his hero role is destined officially, he also follows the contest policy. This is a classic paradox logic in American culture: advocating everyone possesssing equal right to be a hero, although frequently, the hero is destined. Pos success is through defeating the bad guy-Tai Lung, to gain the final hero coronation ceremony. This kind of fight between justice and evil, and the procedural of how the justice side defeats the bad side are the essence of American heroism. Pos success, simultaneously, is bringing the peace to the whole village, which as same as the line in Spiderman- great power comes with great responsibility (cited from the lines of the film Spiderman, 2002). In American individualism, the standard of being a hero is to defeat the evil power and have the sense of bearing huge responsibility, which consequently, might be improved into the thinking that only the supremacy of strength is equivalent with the duty of guarding the world peace. In this sense, we can see the color of cultural imperialism is embedded in KungFu Panda. Thus maybe we can think in this way like that the set of films such as Mulan and KungFu Panda are packed with Chinese culture, but actually, are the means of distributing American ideology through adaption. Further Discussion of Culture Imperialism In contemporary global market, Hollywood movie is merely one of the popular import media products of America, but from the analysis of its underlying elements of culture imperialism, maybe we can consider the media products, television programs, advertisements, and music in the similar way. However, in this respect, I dont mean that the discourse of cultural imperialism does make sense, or even could be totally equaled with media imperialism, because after all, it is just a researching theme raised in the background of globalization and consumerism, and the debate about it is still taking place, therefore I cannot arbitrarily suggest its character here. What I want to do here is to use already existing facts to demonstrate that the discourse of cultural imperialism to some extent in particular time and condition may be could have an effect, but with the moving of age and society, in certain environment, another possibility maybe emerge. Among several suspicions of the possibility of cultural imperialism or media imperialism, an important one is to oppose to mix the material media products with complicated ideology together. In other words, the sceptic claims that the way of thinking that media products could diffuse Western values or ideology is ridiculous and doubtful, all of those analysis, such as the one above about Hollywood movie, are just assumption. In this perspective, if by some way I can prove the causal relationship between media productions and ideology or mind, the discourse of cultural imperialism at least will be more convincing. I will still utilize films as the evidence. During the 1980s there were two popular film genres-action adventure and military/war films deserving research, such as the films Raiders of the Lost Ark, Romancing the Stone and the series of Rombo were all effective and classic in that age. The most historical and typical one, I think should be Rombo. From the presentation time, we can know that it was after the Vietnam War and during the period of the Cold War, which represented by the United States and Soviet Union. The protagonist Rombo is a Vietnam Veteran, his mission is to return to Vietnam for rescuing American prisoners who have been abandoned by the U.S. government. And the common ending of this series of films was that the protagonist won the final victory and he become the hero in audiences mind. Following the story of these films, American people as if return to the battle of Vietnam War, but in this battle there are no vanquish and shame any more, American soldier will always be the victor. A part of scholars analyzed that these films could be seen as one political approach of Regans presidency, which was helpful to re-shape national image and regain national conviction. And actually, in the late 1980s, American people indeed overcame the so-called Vietnam syndrome, which was the subsequence of American failure of Vietnam War (Croteau and Hoyne s. 2003). From this example, we can see that there actually exists some relation between media texts and peoples way of thinking. So in this sense, the discourse of cultural imperialism maybe really can have an effect. However, the analysis of media texts is a plural item, which should be connected with special time and conditions, because of media texts are made under special historic background and people. We also cannot use one example to explain all the other terms. Additionally, the discourse of cultural imperialism was raised under the context of global culture, which maybe impact on global people, who have different religion, education, national culture and ideology, the possibility of their reactions over a media text are so hard to define. As a result, the relation between media texts and ideology maybe exist, but it is hard to say when put it in the global environment, then, dont even say the realization of cultural imperialism. Tunstall (1977) also claims that there are a t least two problems on the discourse of cultural imperialism of America. Firstly, the precondition of cultural imperialism is the superiority of Western countries on the aspect of media product market share , especially the United States of America, but the researchers thinks that with the economic and technologic development globally, other countries will rapidly create local media products, which would substitute the dependance on exporting American media products. Secondly, Tunstall said that the range of media is fairly wild, we cannot only concentrate on the popular American media products to analysis its impact of global culture. And in the aspect of some media forms, such as music, the tendency of globally incorporation is ongoing. If another media texts develop in the same way, the possibility of cultural imperialism will reduce. In addition, the debate of central status of media of cultural imperialism, like what Tomlinson said above, it is incorrect to make media equal cu lture. The term of culture is a complex to be clearly explain, and add the different way of understanding in different places, Western countries intention of conducting culture penetration or invasion is not a simple progress. Conclusion Combining all the supporting points and scepticism of the discourse of cultural imperialism together, maybe we can conclude this debate in this way, firstly, we should consider the wholly global society condition and the detailed situation of relative areas. As what Tunstall (1977) suggested, the arise of the media products is just an assumption so far, it still needs the time to testify. According to the current condition of global media distribution market, the diffusion range and impact of Western media products is considerable, so if in this respect to argue the discourse of cultural imperialism, it indeed exists the possibility. Secondly, confronting a number of differences between culture and nations, for the pursuit of commercial benefit, the big media corporations has start making relevant policy to remove the obstacles. For example, some media producers will invite global superstar to propagate their products, and another way is to apply the resources within local culture, a nd decorate the products to coherent to the local character, in fact, the global expansion of American advertising agency is a good example. Actually, to a large extent, the popularity of American products is the direct consequence of American transnational advertising. The central office in the U.S.A firstly send the advertisement mode to the relevant branch agencies around the world sphere. And then on the basic of remaining the essence of original advertisement, the local agency will blend the indigenous elements into it for satisfying the regional taste and culture. By this way, the impact on some places is this country is occupied, and there is no consciousness of that (Escobar and Anne. 1995). From this example, the threat of the discourse of cultural imperialism does deserve cautions, although maybe as Tomlinsons suggestion, there is no necessity to view media as the central reference of the argument towards cultural imperialism, the power of it cannot be ignored, because in current consumption society, for the economic interest, the media consortiums are rolling to make any policy to break down the obstacles on the way to maximize global market share. What I suggest here is when we are facing the discourse of cultural imperialism, first of all, we should have a correct attitude, excessive reception and neglect are both incorrect. Especially when we are surrounded with the numerous foreign media texts, the primary thing is to recognize the innate character embedded in them, and distinguish which part of it is useful for us, and which is useless. The discourse of cultural imperialism is more like a kind of trepidation in the context of globalization, researchers just around the necessity of this anxiety offer their different viewpoints, which are having different standpoints, angles, and conditions. So for the masses, what they can do is to have the cautious consciousness towards foreign media products, and depend on own values to make correct judgement.

the story of mel :: essays research papers

"do real programmers program in fortran?" Maybe they do now, in this decadent era of Lite beer, hand calculators and "user-friendly" software but back in the Good Old Days, when the term "software" sounded funny and Real Computers were made out of drums and vacuum tubes, Real Programmers wrote in machine code. Not Fortran. Not RATFOR. Not, even, assembly language. Machine Code.Raw, unadorned, inscrutable hexadecimal numbers. Directly. Lest a whole new generation of programmers grow up in ignorance of this glorious past, I feel duty-bound to describe, as best I can through the generation gap, how a Real Programmer wrote code. I'll call him Mel, because that was his name. I first met Mel when I went to work for Royal McBee Computer Corp., a now-defunct subsidiary of the typewriter company. The firm manufactured the LGP-30, a small, cheap (by the standards of the day) drum-memory computer, and had just started to manufacture the RPC-4000, a much-improved, bigger, better, faster -- drum-memory computer. Cores cost too much, and weren't here to stay, anyway. (That's why you haven't heard of the company, or the computer.) I had been hired to write a Fortran compiler for this new marvel and Mel was my guide to its wonders. Mel didn't approve of compilers. "If a program can't rewrite its own code," he asked, "what good is it?" Mel had written, in hexadecimal, the most popular computer program the company owned. It ran on the LGP-30 and played blackjack with potential customers at computer shows. Its effect was always dramatic. The LGP-30 booth was packed at every show, and the IBM salesmen stood around talking to each other. Whether or not this actually sold computers was a question we never discussed. Mel's job was to re-write the blackjack program for the RPC-4000. (Port? What does that mean?) The new computer had a one-plus-one addressing scheme, in which each machine instruction, in addition to the operation code and the address of the needed operand, had a second address that indicated where, on the revolving drum, the next instruction was located. In modern parlance, every single instruction was followed by a GO TO! Put *that* in Pascal's pipe and smoke it. Mel loved the RPC-4000 because he could optimize his code: that is, locate instructions on the drum so that just as one finished its job, the next would be just arriving at the "read head" and available for immediate execution. the story of mel :: essays research papers "do real programmers program in fortran?" Maybe they do now, in this decadent era of Lite beer, hand calculators and "user-friendly" software but back in the Good Old Days, when the term "software" sounded funny and Real Computers were made out of drums and vacuum tubes, Real Programmers wrote in machine code. Not Fortran. Not RATFOR. Not, even, assembly language. Machine Code.Raw, unadorned, inscrutable hexadecimal numbers. Directly. Lest a whole new generation of programmers grow up in ignorance of this glorious past, I feel duty-bound to describe, as best I can through the generation gap, how a Real Programmer wrote code. I'll call him Mel, because that was his name. I first met Mel when I went to work for Royal McBee Computer Corp., a now-defunct subsidiary of the typewriter company. The firm manufactured the LGP-30, a small, cheap (by the standards of the day) drum-memory computer, and had just started to manufacture the RPC-4000, a much-improved, bigger, better, faster -- drum-memory computer. Cores cost too much, and weren't here to stay, anyway. (That's why you haven't heard of the company, or the computer.) I had been hired to write a Fortran compiler for this new marvel and Mel was my guide to its wonders. Mel didn't approve of compilers. "If a program can't rewrite its own code," he asked, "what good is it?" Mel had written, in hexadecimal, the most popular computer program the company owned. It ran on the LGP-30 and played blackjack with potential customers at computer shows. Its effect was always dramatic. The LGP-30 booth was packed at every show, and the IBM salesmen stood around talking to each other. Whether or not this actually sold computers was a question we never discussed. Mel's job was to re-write the blackjack program for the RPC-4000. (Port? What does that mean?) The new computer had a one-plus-one addressing scheme, in which each machine instruction, in addition to the operation code and the address of the needed operand, had a second address that indicated where, on the revolving drum, the next instruction was located. In modern parlance, every single instruction was followed by a GO TO! Put *that* in Pascal's pipe and smoke it. Mel loved the RPC-4000 because he could optimize his code: that is, locate instructions on the drum so that just as one finished its job, the next would be just arriving at the "read head" and available for immediate execution.

Metro Manila Film Festival: Taste of Filipino Movies on Christmas Essay

While the children are very busy collecting their gifts from their godparents, actors and film staffs are also busy creating such wondrous movie as their entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival. MMFF as its shortened name, it is the annual celebration of the Filipino talents in the movie industry. Usually held during the Christmas season, it recognizes the role of the film industry in providing artistic depictions of the Philippine stories and history. And as the time passes by, Metro Manila Film Festival has become part of the Filipino’s yearly celebration of Christmas. Before the films are being sent to various cinemas nationwide, giant floats of them will be rounding the Pasay Rotonda first. The floats are made portraying the setting of the actual movie. For instance, if a certain horror movie is set in a haunted house, then its float will be like a house with an eerie design. In general, all the floats are decorative implying the effort of the people behind those artworks. People are truly enjoying the caravan not only because of the enormous and colorful floats they see but also for the chance to glance at their favorite celebrities. In order to have evidence of achieving their dreams, they will surely take pictures of them. The casts, on the other hand, are usually on top, shining their eyes and swaying their hands to welcome the people. Their sweet smiles and heart-warming yells throughout the procession somewhat convince the people to watch their pompous creations. Moreover, they throw some giveaways such as t-shirts and posters which may he lp to attract the people’s attention. All are appreciating every single moment of the event. Normally, the first day of the film viewing is placed on Christmas. Imagine how clever pro... ...ovie itself. As the time goes by, movies become more imaginative signifying the rich and brilliant minds of ‘Pinoys’. They are devoted to their profession, trying to reach perfection. After all, they will gather all the gifts of their hardships. Filipino film industry is very significant among them just as how important the Christmas is. Furthermore, it is as colorful as the Christmas celebration of the Filipino community. Works Cited â€Å"The 39th Metro Manila Film Festival†. Metro Manila Film Festival. MMDA. 2012. 22 Dec. 2013 â€Å"2012 Metro Manila Film Festival†. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 28 Dec. 2013. 28 Dec. 2013 â€Å"2013 Metro Manila Film Festival†. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 29 Dec. 2013. 29 Dec. 2013

Truth and Goodness in Immanuel Kant and St. Thomas Aquinas Essay

Immanuel Kant and St. Thomas Aquinas account for the existence of truth in sharply contrasting ways. Kant locates all truth inside the mind, as a pure product of reason, operating by means of rational categories. Although Kant acknowledges that all knowledge originates in the intuition of the senses, the intelligibility of sense experience he attributes to innate forms of apperception and to categories inherent to the mind. The innate categories shape the â€Å"phenomena† of sensible being, and Kant claims nothing can be known or proved about the â€Å"noumena,† the presumed world external to the mind.1 Aquinas agrees that all knowledge comes through the senses, but disagrees with Kant in arguing that categorical qualities do not originate in the mind but inhere in the objects themselves, either essentially (determinate of their mode of being) or accidentally (changeable without loss of essence by the object).2 Aquinas further agrees with Kant that all the kn owledge derived from sense experience is knowledge of the essence of things only insofar as it is understood by reason, and thus sense experience is insufficient to constitute knowledge by itself.3 But Aquinas defines knowledge as conformity by the mind to things as they really are, and thus believes the external world is knowable by the mind, both in the essences of things (what they are) and in the act of being (that they are).4 Moreover, for Aquinas, entities are related to each other analogously according to their modes of being, since being is a quality that all existent things share. Thus, being in general is knowable systematically according to a language of existential analogy.5 Kant, in contrast, begins with the assumption that metaphysics is invalid as knowledge... ... 25 Immanuel Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, Translated James W. Ellington, 3rd ed. (Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing, 1993), 9. 26 Immanuel Kant, Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics, 842. 27 Immanuel Kant, Introduction to the Metaphysicsof Morals, IV, 24, quoted in Heinrich A. Rommen, The Natural Law: A Study in Legal and Social History and Philosophy (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1998), 89. 28 Immanuel Kant, The Philosophy of Law. An Exposition of the Fundamental Principles of Jurisprudence as the Science of Right, quoted in Rommen, 88. 29 Heinrich A. Rommen, The Natural Law: A Study in Legal and Social History and Philosophy (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1998), 119-121. 30 W. Norris Clarke, S.J., The One and the Many: A Contemporary Thomistic Metaphysics (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2001), 12.

International versus U.S. Standards Essay

In 2007, the SEC modified its position on the Form 20-F requirement when it issued; â€Å"Acceptance from Foreign Private Issuers of Financial Statements Prepared in Accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards without Reconciliation to GAAP.† This rule amends Form 20-F to accept from foreign private issuers in their filings with the SEC financial statements prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board without reconciliation to generally accepted accounting principles as used in the United States. _Required:_ What was the SEC’s rationale for this decision? How did the American Accounting Association respond to the SEC proposal? CASE 3-8 IASB VS. FASB CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS Discuss the similarities and differences between the FASB and IASB conceptual frameworks with respect to the definitions of the elements of financial statements. CASE 3-9 IASC HOME PAGE Log onto the World Wide Web and enter the International Accounting Standards Board’s home page. _Required:_ a. What general categories of information are contained on the IASB’s home page? b. What current issues is the IASB reviewing? FINANCIAL ANALYSIS CASE GAAP vs. International Accounting Standards _Required:_ Find a foreign company that is selling securities in the U.S. securities markets and comment on the change in net income that was caused by changing from the company’s domestic accounting standards to U.S. GAAP.