Career as a Forensic Specialist Essay Example for Free

Career as a Forensic Specialist Essay My future career as a Forensic Specialist Everest University Online Strategies for success My future career as a Forensic Specialist When I look into the future, after finishing college, I see myself as a Forensic Specialist. Why do I see myself as a Forensic Specialist you may ask? Well I will tell you why, Forensics has been something I have found astonishing and amazing since I was a kid because it can be fascinating on some of the things they find and inspect. The things a Forensic Specialist does is hard work but it is science so it is fun to learn, and I myself can’t wait to get my hands involved with some of the things they do. Another reason why I choose to go into Forensics is because it is good money, and I am able to help solve crimes and maybe hopefully one day put an end to some of the stuff that goes on in the world. In the next few paragraphs I will go on to explain some of these and much more. Due to the advances in scientific technology in examining, crime scenes have turned the Forensic Specialist/Forensic Science jobs into very high demand. One of the very vast growing career fields in the world today is Forensic Specialist/Science field. To add to its popularity, Forensic Specialist jobs also include TV shows like CSI, or Crime Scene Investigators. The Forensic Specialist job field also has many subcategories which consist of forensic science consultants, fingerprint technicians and examiners, evidence technicians and forensic investigators. When it comes to schooling, In order to become a Forensic Specialist, several factors come into play. So just because you or someone else you may know, have a 4 year bachelors degree doesn’t always get you the job. Other factors that come into the play of this matter are training programs one may have taken, and or certificates or other degrees that a person may have obtained. The schooling usually only takes 2 years for an associates degree and 4 years for a bachelors. The pay of all science technicians, forensic specialist/scientists currently earn the second highest annual salary. In 2002 that pay was about $19. 73 an hour or approximately $41,000 but that isn’t the highest nor the lowest pay of a specialist. Depending on your rank, you could make as much as $31. 49 an hour or $65,000 annually and as low as $12. 06 an hour and $25,100 annually. The pay of a Forensic Specialist is determined on factors like the type of specialist you are, the rank in which you uphold, years of experience and the type of employment and its location. In 2012 the pay for a Forensic Specialist field will increase its pay by 19% with 360 job positions opening up each year. In conclusion to my research of becoming a Forensic specialist, I have came to make a choice to be one myself. For one I love investigating crime scenes, the pay sounds very good, and being as how I won’t graduate until 2013 or 2014 the pay that is suppose in 2012 will be even more once I start looking for a job in the field. Schooling to become such an expert isn’t all that bad, I mean 2 to 4 years isn’t a bad time limit for taking classes to get the degree I need to become a Forensic Specialist and to me will be well worth the money. Being as how the demand is so high for Forensic Specialist/Scientist I am sure there will be so many job openings when it comes time for me to go to work.

Eal Observed In A Primary School

Eal Observed In A Primary School Learning a second language is one adaptation skill that proves to be necessary when diverse cultures come together.   For example, children from diverse linguistic backgrounds study English as a bridge to better education. The Rationale for Planning for Children Learning English as an additional language (2008) advocates that in planning for children who are learning English as an Additional Language (EAL), the following key principles must be observed: that bilingualism is an asset instead of a liability for children who know more than one other language other than their mother tongue or primary language.   This first language is essential not only in learning another language but also for ones identity formation. The EAL provider should keep the learner challenged cognitively with the continuous provision of linguistic and contextual support.   Lastly, the acquisition of another language should go hand in hand with the students cognitive and academic development within the same school environment and the student would not need outside support. It is already integrated in the inclusive curriculum given to the learner. Cummins (1984) came up with a matrix to explain the dynamics of second language learning development. One axis represents the BICS or the Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills while the other axis represents the CALP or the Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency.   Baker (2006) explains that students engage in BICS when they communicate with contextual supports and props such as face-to face â€Å"context embedded† situations where they read the other persons non-verbal gestures, hand movements and sounds to support verbal communication. On the other hand, CALP happens in â€Å"context reduced† situations requiring higher order thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis or evaluation. This is usually encountered in more academic learning and communication where language is â€Å"disembedded† (Baker, 2006). This paper will report observations in a primary school that embraces multiculturalism and multilingualism and analyzed according to theories and to its compliance to standards and policies for implementing English as an Additional Language (EAL). Observations were done for key stage 2. The physical environment of the school and classroom Upon entering the school, a large map welcomes people with the sign that read: â€Å"Welcome to our school.   We come from all over the world and we speak 27 languages†.   For each language, it was connected to the country of origin as indicated in the map.   This sign gave a very warm welcome to anyone who visited the school no matter what culture he or she comes from. An IT room is available for any EAL learner to use whenever one needs to consult a computer for spelling or grammar or anything that pertains to the English language.   This additional resource to support their learning is another indication that the school anticipates learners needs and provides them when called for. The classroom observed had a big inflatable globe which represents a wide range of diversity is accepted there.   The children can freely explore the globe and search for their own countries and link it to their native language. A trained EAL teacher was employed by the school to help facilitate the cognitive, language and literacy development of foreign children.   Adults play a huge role in the language development of children, as they need someone who uses simple language in correct form and is flexible enough adjust his language to suit the childs (Clay, 1988).   Having a good second language teacher is essential to learning the language more fluently.   The researcher does not discount the fact that imitation of proper pronunciation and intonation is necessary. Hence, learners should have attentive ears and retentive minds, and of course, cooperative tongues to be able to speak fluently in such language.   Children also need opportunities to practice speaking and listening to the second language outside the language lessons, so that means they need a support system of learners to interact with. The school acknowledged and respected the childrens different cultures. As an example, the school held a Polish mass celebrated by a Polish priest on Tuesdays. Cummins (1986) contend that children are empowered when their cultural roots are celebrated.   Usually, when schools and teachers do not seriously consider foreign students their native culture, these children feel unaccepted and unworthy to belong to their classes, hence display inappropriate behavior.   They become lost in terms of academic achievement and develop insecurities about their skin color, ethnic characteristics or language accents.   Such embarrassment develops stress or anxiety during class. The students family may likewise seem withdrawn or non-participative in their childrens schooling and feel the same sense of not belonging to the new culture they have joined.   In view of this, culturally-relevant teaching must be learned by teachers.   Such teaching takes into consideration the cultural background of the students at all times.   It also keeps in mind cultural aspects in all interactions with students on both personal and educational levels. (Edwards Kuhlman, 2007).   Students cultures, languages and experiences need to be acknowledged, valued andused as important sources of their education because they deserve the best that society can give them.   This involves teachers learning about students backgrounds and personal experiences to use as tools to make connections with these students.   Some strategies that teachers can employ are the inclusion of the various histories, contributions, perspectives and concerns relevant to the diverse backgrounds of students (The IRIS Center for Training Enhancements, n.d.).   Incorporating these in the curriculum makes learning meaningful to these students.   Multicultural education using literature from various cultures engages such children in reading and writing and makes them eager to learn the social or cultural contributions made by various groups of people. Observations of the children It was learned that the children in the school were not allowed to speak their native language within the classroom but they are free to speak it outside with their peers.   This is part of their learning the English language in the classroom. This may be considered by the school as an effective way to immerse the children in the English language, however, the Rationale for planning for children learning English as an additional language (2008) recommends that children have free access to their primary language (L1) in order to fully understand their second or additional language (L2), so the classroom teacher should be more lenient in allowing children to use their L1 in class as a tool to learn their L2. There was quite a number of foreign students enrolled in the school.   The researcher approached some and asked them some questions regarding EAL.   Two Portuguese children were observed to be peer-teaching.   One was already fluent in the English language while the other was still struggling so the more adept one was helping him translate some words. Vygotsky (1962, as mentioned in Clay, 1998) emphasizes the value of childrens talk and their growing ability to articulate their understanding of their world orally and in writing.   Taking part in negotiating meanings is part of the educational process, and Vygotsky believes that just being with others helps children learn. In observing the two Portuguese children, some theories may explain why the more English language-adept child uses their native Portuguese to teach the less knowledgeable child. Swain Lapkin (2000) conclude in their study that the first language is by default, a tool used by students to learn their second language.   Collaborating with other students in tasks for learning a second language, students try to make sense of the requirements and content of the task, focusing their attention on language form vocabulary use and overall organization, then turn to their native language to process and discuss before finally getting back to completing the task.   Swain and Lapkin point out that without the use of their native language, they might not be able to accomplish the task effectively or it might not be accomplished at all.   They argue that the insistence of not being allowed to access their first language in a linguistically and cognitively complex task of decoding a second lan guage task would deprive them of an important cognitive tool.   They stress that bilingual programs that allow for the development and maintenance of the first language while learning the second language are successful in both goals. The researcher interviewed two students who both spoke Spanish.   When asked if they speak to each other in their native language, they admitted they only speak it at home with their parents.   They did not speak it in school and said they were more comfortable speaking in English because most of the time they were in school and with friends who all spoke the English language.   In this case, Lamberts (1977) subtractive bilingualism seems to be taking place as the childrens first language is being extinguished by the second language which is English.   Otto (2010) elaborates on Lamberts   theories on bilingualism. One issue in second language acquisition is its effect on the first language of the individual.   The immense concentration necessary to learn a second language may create a negative impact on the first language. This is known as Subtractive bilingualism.   When a child becomes fluent in a second language due to immersion in that language, there is a strong te ndency to forget the first language, causing disruptions in communication with family members who only know the first language.   Transmission of cultural beliefs and parenting interactions would need a shared language for it to be successful. If not, social relationships with families or other members of the community who are monolingual may break down. On the other hand, in learning a second language, a child need not forget the first language, but can be fluent in both.   This is called Additive Bilingualism which means that although a child actively learns a second language, concurrently, there is continued development in the home language (Lambert, 1977; Otto, 2010).   The goal is to enhance language skills in both languages.   In view of this, the case of the two Spanish boys interviewed by the researcher may also display additive bilingualism because they continue to speak L1 at home even if they are gaining competence in L2 in school and with peers. Two boys from Ethiopia do not speak the same language even if they come from the same country. In the different parts they come from, different languages were also used.   One of the boys speaks three languages French, English and Portuguese because his mother came from Portugal and his father from Ethiopia.   The other boy speaks Amharic which is similar to Arabic, but he is from Ethiopia.   Leon (1996) has outlined the need for migrant workers and their families to be supported in gaining English-speaking competencies to enable them to live more satisfying lives in English-speaking environments. He said lack of bilingual support for students impedes their motivation to learn, as they could not cope with other English-speaking peers, so they feel unwanted, and just skip school.   Gaining English language competency for these children will also raise their self-esteem so they get to be more confident to develop more personal and academic skills. Although the observations were limited to what has been reported, it already gave the researcher a good picture of how the school upholds the EAL program.   The foreign children seem to be comfortable in the school setting as they have settled in well in a welcoming environment.   The government consultation document ‘Aiming High: Raising the Achievement of Minority Ethnic Pupils (DfES 2003) states that â€Å"the particular needs of bilingual pupils are best met through a coordinated whole school approach led by headteachers and senior managers.† (DfES, 2005, p. 14).   The ethos of the primary school observed reflected a clear respect for the multicultural perspective. Otto (2010) contends that one of the main challenges posed by the English as a Second Language (ESL) approach is the development, selection and implementation of effective strategies and instructional techniques to suit the diverse learners since they come from various backgrounds.   The Rationale for planning for children learning English as an additional language (2008) takes upon Vygotskys (1978) concept of â€Å"scaffolding†.   As the term implies, scaffolds are temporary supports in the process of learning which are gradually taken away when the student is already capable of learning without them.   In EAL, scaffolding comes in three forms, One is scaffolding by adults by making their expectations clear by sharing learning objectives and criteria for success with the students by way of modeling and demonstrating the English language, ‘recasting of the childrens language from their L1 and providing them with opportunities to use their whole language repertoire to aid them in understanding their L2.   Another form of scaffolding is through collaborative work.   They engage in small group talks or work in pairs, usually with children who are more adept in the language are paired with children who are less adept, such as the two Portuguese boys observed peer-teaching in the school. The teacher may also use scaffolding thro ugh visual support, via pictures, props, models, frames and language prompts, graphic organizers, diagrams, maps, plans and essentially all the print and picture cues they put up in the environmental setting (Rationale, 2008).   Most of these scaffolds were observed in the school. The numerous issues on second language learning, especially English, only prove that it is creating much impact on the development of children from diverse cultures.   More and more people consider its advantages and possible disadvantages.   Such amount of attention is worth it because people think up of ways on how to maximize its benefits.   Learning another language apart from ones native language helps children be ready to be highly competent in an increasingly globalized world.   However, although they become bilingual, it should not be forgotten that they also become bicultural, and learning of one language and the culture that goes with it does not mean forgetting their original one. Teachers should take into consideration that their non-English speaking students should learn English in both its context and language elements so the students gain a better understanding and appreciation of the English language.

The American Dream in The Lost Beautifulness and The Gilded Six-Bits Es

The American Dream in The Lost Beautifulness and The Gilded Six-Bits The America Dream is defined in general as a dream of a land that is better richer for everyone based on accomplishment and opportunity. This dream is usually sought after by people who have been deprived of their social and human values. People who have not been able to achieve this dream based on restrictions of their situations that plague their lives. These situations can be different for everyone, race, sex, handicap, etc. My question is this goal obtainable? To me there is one thing that powers this dream a desire to be of higher class, socially and financially. The one thing that drives this monster concept of the American dream has always been around since the beginning of time. In â€Å"The Lost Beautifulness† by Anzia Yezierska and â€Å"The Gilded Six-Bits† by Zora Neale Hurston this power is the source of main conflict in these stories. Money it all comes down to money, no matter what you think the American dream is the true definition is money. Money plays the biggest role in society no matter where you are, you either have it or you don’t. People come to America because it is the richest country in the world. In my comparison of these stories you will see what money does to cause conflict with Hanneh Hayyeh and Joe. The American dream can be categorized into many definitions, but behind them all one thing stands MONEY.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are similarities when comparing these two stories, similarities that go back to the main problem with the American dream â€Å"money†. Both Hanneh and Joe wanted a piece of the pie. They both wanted to feel like the upper class weather it was a painted white kitchen or gold teeth. Hanneh’s urge to be like the upper class is shown through this quote: â€Å"it had been Hanneh Hayyeh’s ambition to have a white-painted kitchen exactly like that in the old Stuyvesant Square mansion† (Yezierska 1253). This urge to be like Mrs. Preston was pushed by money; she wanted to have a white kitchen like the one in the mansion. Hanneh had the American dream on her mind; she wanted to have something to prove. Hanneh wanted to prove to everyone that a Russian immigrant could also have the American dream to have money and nice things. All that Hanneh wanted to do was to have something nice for her son, something that he could come home and enjoy aft er being at war for so long. Althou... ...ey were eluded to think that it was worth everything and got tricked in return. Hanneh though lost everything and thrown onto the street, Joe lost the only thing he lived for his pride of Missie.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion The American Dream for Hanneh and Joe were both plagued by the one thing they didn’t have, money. Money stands in the way of many things for many people. You have to have money to make money, and you need to be someone to know someone. Hanneh and Joe had many more similarities than differences â€Å"in my opinion†. They both wanted to be rich and have things that only the upper class can have. The American dream for both of them was to be something that they were not; I used these two characters from these two stories because I believe that they got cheated in the same way. They both wanted so bad for people to respect them and to maybe get a piece of that dream pie. In the end the American dream is not a dream, it is a classification of the wealthy the higher class. This dream will always be sought after by the little man, and will always be true for the rich man. Hanneh and Joe are prime examples of the outcome of dreaming. I guess if you want money you have to dream.

Human Resources and Competitive Performance :: Business HR

The Human Resources department contributes to an organization’s competitive performance through: recruitment and selection, globalization and technology. Recruitment and Selection An organization's success depends on the knowledge, skills, and abilities of its employees, particularly as they help establish competencies which distinguishes one organization from its competitors and other organizations. When an organization has employees with talents that are valuable, rare, difficult to imitate an organization can achieve a continued competitive advantage. In order to "compete through people", an organization has to be able to do a good job of managing their human capital: the knowledge, skills, and capabilities that add value to the organizations (Mathis and Jackson, 2003). Human Resources and Managers must work together to develop strategies for identifying, recruiting, and hiring the best talent available. Through recruiting and selecting the best talent organizations are able to have higher productivity and compete and the highest levels. Human Resources can ensure that organizations have a competitive advantage by selecting the right employee for the rig ht job. Globalization The second way human resources can create a competitive advantage for an organization is through globalization. The environment in which businesses compete is rapidly becoming globalized. More organizations are entering international markets by exporting their products overseas, building plants in other countries, and entering into alliances with foreign companies (Mathis & Jackson, 2003). Companies are trying to gain a competitive advantage, through international expansion. Deciding whether to enter foreign markets and whether to develop plants or other facilities in other countries is no simple matter and many human resource issues surface. (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, and Wright, 534). If human resources manages the issues that the organization is faced with when globalizing and provides the best services for the issues, it can increase the competitive performance among employees. Doing business globally requires adapting to many different cultures, and political systems, HR can p rovide diversity training, to cover the cultural issues and political affairs. If an organization has a reputation for being more diverse and understanding of various cultures and knowledge of various political systems they are competing at higher levels. Technology Technology is a leading factor in completive organizations, because it is so prominent today. Technology is the third way HR can create a competitive advantage for an organization. By creating a technology friendly HR where employees can access all information at any time in a timely manner.

Gay marriages :: essays research papers

Part I: Throughout the contents of this paper, I will discuss the article dealing with the legalization of gay marriages in Massachusetts by Richard Cohen. I will begin my discussion by analyzing the article and providing a brief summary of the factual information presented in the text. In addition, I will present my opinion on the article along with corresponding information regarding this particular issue. In turn, I will present my personal beliefs on this topic and support them with other additional information to support my opinions. I will also present more details on the Massachusetts case that legalized gay marriages. This topic is important because this piece of legislation will effect every person and generation in the United States, homosexual or not. Part II: In this portion of my paper, I will summarize the article by Richard Cohen regarding the state of Massachusetts legalizing gay and lesbian marriages. Recently, the state of Massachusetts announced that the band on gay marriages would be lifted. Despite the fact that the majority leader of the House of Representatives Tom Delay is strongly against gay marriages, he may want to stand aside on this issue. Delay, who is known for his adamant concern regarding traditional marriage, needs to understand that not only is the institution of marriage wobbling and wheezing, it is desperately on the rocks. According to statistical research, twenty percent of first marriages do last more than five years, and if the marriage lasts a decade, one third end up in divorce. Married couples, who once dominated both life and television, have gone from a high 80 percent in the 1950?s to only half of American households today. If you look into an average home in the United States today, only one i n four of those households are married with children, and a reported 86 million adults living in the country are unmarried. It is easy to see from these statistics that traditional marriage is in trouble.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gay and lesbian marriages may be the key component to rescue marriages from this social and economic relevance. Not only do homosexual couples seek marriage for the pecuniary reasons such as taxes and estate purposes, they also seek the bond of long term commitment based on love and romance. If people like Tom Delay would stop and look at the issue without such bigotry and fear, he might understand that these couples provide the best argument in their defense, love and commitment. Gay marriages :: essays research papers Part I: Throughout the contents of this paper, I will discuss the article dealing with the legalization of gay marriages in Massachusetts by Richard Cohen. I will begin my discussion by analyzing the article and providing a brief summary of the factual information presented in the text. In addition, I will present my opinion on the article along with corresponding information regarding this particular issue. In turn, I will present my personal beliefs on this topic and support them with other additional information to support my opinions. I will also present more details on the Massachusetts case that legalized gay marriages. This topic is important because this piece of legislation will effect every person and generation in the United States, homosexual or not. Part II: In this portion of my paper, I will summarize the article by Richard Cohen regarding the state of Massachusetts legalizing gay and lesbian marriages. Recently, the state of Massachusetts announced that the band on gay marriages would be lifted. Despite the fact that the majority leader of the House of Representatives Tom Delay is strongly against gay marriages, he may want to stand aside on this issue. Delay, who is known for his adamant concern regarding traditional marriage, needs to understand that not only is the institution of marriage wobbling and wheezing, it is desperately on the rocks. According to statistical research, twenty percent of first marriages do last more than five years, and if the marriage lasts a decade, one third end up in divorce. Married couples, who once dominated both life and television, have gone from a high 80 percent in the 1950?s to only half of American households today. If you look into an average home in the United States today, only one i n four of those households are married with children, and a reported 86 million adults living in the country are unmarried. It is easy to see from these statistics that traditional marriage is in trouble.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gay and lesbian marriages may be the key component to rescue marriages from this social and economic relevance. Not only do homosexual couples seek marriage for the pecuniary reasons such as taxes and estate purposes, they also seek the bond of long term commitment based on love and romance. If people like Tom Delay would stop and look at the issue without such bigotry and fear, he might understand that these couples provide the best argument in their defense, love and commitment.

The effect of motivation on behavior

In everyday conversation, the question â€Å"What motivated you to do that?† is a way of asking, â€Å"What caused your behavior?   Why did you act that way?†Ã‚   To psychologists, a motivation is a need or desire that serves to energize behavior and to direct it toward a goal.   Psychologists consider motivation as a hypothetical concept.   Hence, they infer motivation from behaviors observe.But in a broader sense, motivation pertains to the purpose for responding.   The term comes from the Latin verb movere, which means, â€Å"to move,† and it is what causes movement (behavior) that concerns this paper.   The idea of movement is reflected in such commonsense ideas about motivation as something that gets us going, keep us moving, and helps us get jobs done.   Conversely, a person is not motivated when s/he cannot seem to get out of bed or off the sofa (Pintrich, 2001).Despite these commonly held ideas, definitions of motivation are numerous and varie d, and there is much disagreement over the precise nature of motivation.   Motivation has been conceived of in such varied terms as involving inner forces, enduring traits, behavioral responses tom stimuli, and sets of beliefs and affects (Schunk, D.H. 2003).Although motivation has many facets, psychologists have been especially concerned with those influences that energize and direct responses.   Simply stated, motivation determines how strong a behavior will be and the form it will take.   Moreover, much of what is known about motivational processes comes from research on how people respond to the difficulties, problems, failures, and setbacks encountered as individuals pursue goals over time.  Ã‚   Various theories contend that motivation underlies much human behavior (Weiner, 2005).Psychologists have different theoretical perspectives on motivation.   At present, there are four motivational strategies that are influential on how psychologists have understood  motivat ion, namely, flow theory, stress and coping theory, and intrinsic and extrinsic theory.Flow theoryCsikszentmihalyi (2005) studied individuals who engaged in intrinsically motivating activities and found that their experiences reflected complete involvement with the activities. This involvement, is known as the flow theory, and is defined as â€Å"the holistic sensation that people feel when they act with total involvement† (Csikszentmihalyi, 2005).According to Csikszentmihalyi, the flow is very much related to other human motives and has shown that the dimensions in this two-by-two classification are closed-versus open-system goals and intra- versus interindividual processes.   Closed goals are those that determined by genetics (needs, hunger, thirst, safety, optimal activation) or socialization; open goals develop as a result of experience and cannot be explained by pre-existing factors.   Interindividual processes are social in nature, whereas intraindividual processes refer to the person.   Flow is a personal process and reflects open systemic goals (Csikszentmihalyi & Rathunde, 2003).Moreover, individuals experiencing flow are so intensely involved with a task that they may lose awareness of time and space.   They also seek a flow experience for itself rather than for anticipated rewards.   Although flow can be experienced with any activity, it is more likely to occur with activities that allow for free expression and creativity such as games, play, and art.   De Charm’s origin state shares many elements with flow.   In extreme form, individuals forsake a traditional lifestyle and most contingent material rewards to engage in activities that provide flow (de Charms, 1996).There are a number of researches on the flow theory.   These researches have proven that despite being nebulous, the flow theory makes intuitive sense.   Csikszentmihalyi (2002)  describes a research study in which the Experience Sampling Method was emplo yed.   Adults carried beepers that sounded several times a week, at which time subjects rated themselves on two dependent variables:   Affect (comprising items â€Å"happy,† â€Å"cheerful,† â€Å"sociable†) and activation (comprising â€Å"active,† â€Å"alert,† â€Å"strong†).Subjects also judged their situation for challenges present and skills available.   The amount of time individuals judged themselves to be in flow (defined as challenges and skills present and equal to one another) was related positively to affect and activation (Csikszentmihalyi,2002).Mayers (reported in Csikszentmihalyi, 2002) had high school students’ rate school subjects and activities on challenge and skill.   Favorite activities fell into the flow are (challenge= skill): TV and music listening (low on each); friends (moderate); and arts, such as drama or ballet, and sports (high on each).   Skills were judged to exceed challenges in humanities a nd social sciences, resulting in boredom.   Challenges were rated as exceeding skills in mathematics and the sciences, resulting in anxiety.Other research compared the flow experiences of three groups of adolescents.   One group attended a select public school in Italy, a second group attended a typical suburban high school near Chicago, and a third group comprised talented math students from a top Chicago public school.   Students used the Experience sampling Method.   The Italian teens reported more flow experiences than U.S. teens, especially those talented in math.   Among the U.S. teens, those attending the typical school reported the most amounts of boredom (skills exceed challenges) and anxiety (challenges exceed skills).Interestingly, the talented group scored significantly lower than the other two samples in apathy, defined as skills and challenges in sync but below average (e.g., watching TV, listening to music).   In sum, experiences are comparable for average and above average students across cultures, whereas for talented U.S. teens, flow and apathy are rarer and boredom and anxiety are common (.Csikszentmihalyi, 1995)These researches implied that motivation affects the behavior of people.   The flow theory concluded that there is a state of equilibrium between the amount of challenge in activities and an individual’s capabilities.   People feel bored when their perceived skills exceed their opportunities for using them; they become anxious when they believe that challenges exceed capabilities.   Flow can vary intensity, with the critical variable being the ratio of challenge to skill.   The portrayed relations presumably hold for peak as well as everyday experiences (Csikszentmihalyi, 2003).Intrinsic and Extrinsic theory Deci & Ryan believes that intrinsic and extrinsic motivational forces govern behavior.   Extrinsic forces are preprogrammed biologically (e.g., food, sleep) or derive from the reward structure in whic h the individual is socialized (money, prestige).   Intrinsic forces grow out of the individual’s belief that a given outcome is worth striving for (Deci & Ryan, 2001).Deci and his colleagues (Rigby, Deci, Patrick, & Ryan, 2002) have recently conceptualized motivation along both intrinsic and extrinsic dimensions.   Intrinsic motivation concerns activities that are autotelic – engaged in for their own sake – which by definition are self-determined.   Extrinsic motivation involves a progression from behaviors that originally were extrinsically motivated but became internalized and now are self-determined.   The first level includes what Deci and his colleagues call external regulation.   In their research, they cited the example that students initially may not want to work on math but do to obtain teacher rewards and avoid punishment.There is very little self-determination in this situation.   At the next level of extrinsic motivation, students may en gage in a task (e.g., study for an exam).   Deci and his colleagues call this introjected regulation because the source of motivation is internal (feelings of â€Å"should,† â€Å"ought,† guilt) to the person but not self-determined since these feelings seem to be controlling the person.   The third level is called identified regulation and here individuals engage in the activity because it is personally important to them.The example they cited is that, a student may study hours for a test in order to get good grades to be accepted into college.   This behavior represents the student’s own goal, although the goal has more utility value (Wigfield & Eccles, 2002) than intrinsic value such as learning.   The final level of extrinsic is integrated regulation, whereby individuals can integrate various internal and external sources of information into their own self-schema and engage in behavior because of its importance to their sense of self.This final level is still instrumental, rather than autotelic as in intrinsic motivation, but integrated regulation does represent a form of self- determination and autonomy.   As such, both intrinsic motivation and integrated regulation will result in more cognitive engagement and learning than external or introjected regulation (Rigby et al., 2002).Deci and his colleagues` (Rigby et al., 2002) position is thought –provoking, has generated much research, and has important implications for the field.   Many points in the self-determination model are not clearly specified, but researchers increasingly are conducting studies that are adding to the understanding of how this theory explains how behavior changes through motivation.Stress and Coping Theory Richard Lazarus` stress and coping theory was developed from his several research on stress and its effects to humans, and it emphasizes psychological variables, namely, the cognitive processes of perception and thought.   Lazarus   (197 6, 1982, 1996) argues that it is neither the process (e.g. stressor) nor the response that best defines motivation.   Rather, it is the individual’s perception and appraisal of the situation that is a significant determinant of whether or not motivation will be experienced.   He cited that an individual may enjoy public speaking, whereas another individual finds it terrifying.   According to Lazarus, events in and of themselves do not produce motivation; it is the individual’s appraisal of the event that creates the motivation (Lazarus, 2001).Lazarus` theory of motivation states that when an individual is confronted with challenge, primary appraisal occurs.   During primary appraisal the individual attempts to determine how the event will affect her or his behavior.   Some events are perceived as positive and beneficial and thus are likely to create a motivation.   However, other events are viewed negatively and thus are perceived as harmful or threatening such as stress.   This appraisal of the event also generates different coping emotions such as fear, anger, or excitement (Lazarus, 1995).The next stage, secondary appraisal, involves determining whether one’s coping capacities are sufficient to meet the demands of a potentially harmful event.   An important part of this stage is a review and analysis of the response alternatives available to the individual.   This secondary appraisal can also lead to the acquisition of new coping responses (Lazarus, 2002).Although the two models of stress and coping theory of motivation are quite different, they are not necessarily antagonistic.   It is easy to see how a biological system to cope with stress would have obvious evolutionary advantages in enhancing survival.   Yet the nature of the human cerebral cortex allows for decisional process in dealing with stress, rather than autonomic biological reactions that are characteristic of lower organisms.   A synthesis of this t heory provides for an immediate, probably nonspecific, preparation for dealing with stressors; it is followed by an intelligent appraisal of the situation that may redirect the physiological reactions and institute motivation.  Ã‚   It is because humans have behavioral options, even though they may not always make intelligent decisions in dealing with stressors (Lazarus, 2001).In conclusion, motivation is an important quality that affects all behavior because the different theories presented have proven that it can influence both learning of new behaviors and performance of previously learned behaviors.   Behavior is related in a reciprocal fashion to motivation because how one behaves can be changed through one’s subsequent task motivation.ReferencesCsikszentmihalyi, M. (2002).   Emergent motivation and the evolution of the self.   In D.A.Kleiber & M.L. Maehr (Eds.), Advances in motivation and achievement (Vol. 4, pp. 93-98).   Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.Csikszentmih alyi, M. (2003). Intrinsic rewards and emergent motivation.   In M.R. Lepper &D. Greene (Eds.), The hidden costs of reward:   New perspectives on the psychology of  human motivation (pp. 205-206).   Hillsdale, NY:Erlbaum.Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Rathunde, K. (2003).   The measurement of flow in everyday life:   Toward a theory of emergent motivation.   In J.E. Jacobs 9Ed.), Nebraska symposium on  Ã‚  motivation 1992 (Vol. 40, pp. 57-97).   Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2005).   Toward a psychology of optimal experience.   In L. Wheeler (Ed.), Review of personality and social psychology   (Vol. 3, pp. 13-16).   Beverly Hills,  CA:Sage.Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2005).   Beyond boredom and anxiety.   San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.  de Charms, R. (1996).   Enhancing motivation.   New York: Irvington.   Deci, E.L. (1995). Intrinsic motivation.   New York: Plenum.  Deci, E.L. (2000). The psychology of self-determination.   Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath.  Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (2001).   Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human  behavior.   New York: Plenum.Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (2002).   The support of autonomy and the control of behavior.   Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 1024-1027.Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (2003). A motivational approach to self: Integration in personality.   In R.A. Dienstbier (Ed.) Nebraska symposium on motivation 1990(Vol. 38, pp.237-238.  Lincoln:University of Nebraska Press. Lazarus, R.S. (1996).   Psychological stress and the coping process.   New York: McGraw-Hill.  Ã‚  Lazarus, R.S. (1995).   Thoughts on the relation between emotion and cognition.   AmericanPsychologist, 37, 109-111.Lazarus, R.S. (2001).   Emotion and adaptation.   Oxford: Oxford University Press.Lazarus, R.S. (2002).   Little hassles can be hazardous to your health. Psychology Today,  pp.82-85.Pintrich, P.R. (2001).   Current issues and new directions in motivational theory and research.   Ã‚  Educational Psychologist, 26,199-201.Rigby et al., (2002).   Beyond the intrinsic –extrinsic dichotomy: Self-determination and  learning.   Motivation and Emotion, 16, 165-167.  Rigby, Deci, Patrick, & Ryan, (2002).   Beyond the intrinsic –extrinsic dichotomy: Self-determination and learning.   Motivation and Emotion, 16, 165-167.Schunk, D.H. (2003).   Goal difficulty and attainment information:   Effects on children’sAchievement behavior.   Human Learning, 2, 107-117.Weiner, B. (2005).   Human motivation.   New York: Springer-Verlag.Wigfield, A. & Eccles, J. (2002).   Expectancy-value theory of motivation: A developmental perspective.   Educational Psychology Review, 6, 49-52.

Belief in Black Magic and Witchcraft

The sources of magic are to be found in passion and ignorance – which make up the greater part of man. Desire, ever reborn, never capable of being sated in the ordinary conditions of life, inspires in the mind the dream of an irresistible power whereby every appetite may be satisfied; and ignorance of the inflexible laws which govern nature suffers one to believe that she can be mastered and modified in conformity with that dream, which, when it has reached a certain degree of intensity, tends spontaneously to transform itself into action.Love, hatred, the desire for health, for riches, for power, for knowledge itself, are the causes which produce magic, and they are its perpetual incentives; whence it comes that we see magic practiced wherever men are found; in the most remote antiquity, during the Middle Ages, and at the present time; not only among barbarian or savage peoples, but also among those races which call themselves civilized. Magic is, therefore, a social phenomen on. This work will show what place black magic and witchcraft holds among the other social phenomena, for example religion.The ideas related to a concept of the sacred, as the basis of magic and witchcraft, will be considered. Why do people believe in the powers of black magic and the fearful power of Satan in black magic? How are these practices performed? Here is nothing else that can give so adequate answer as does the history of the witches and black magic and their place in Holy Mother Church. Witchcraft is a complex subject, and has evoked complex responses from many disciplines (Glucklich 391).There are theological, historical, philosophical, anthropological, legal, literary, pharmacological, and psychological theories of witchcraft, to name some of the major ones. That is the reason why few people today can agree on what witchcraft really is, or was, or what witches really did, or what they do. During the height of the witchcraft scare in Europe, the sixteenth and seventeent h centuries, almost anything strange and fearful was attributed to witchcraft. A good example is the phenomenon called the poltergeist.Witchcraft would seem to be a European term of opprobrium which has been used in scattergun fashion for all sorts of threatening manifestations, whether at home or abroad. It is appropriate, and inevitable, that our inquiry should have brought us to the Bible. For while it is false to say, as some writers have, that the witch persecutions were carried on solely by the church, it is nevertheless undeniable that historical witchcraft received its definition from the church. In a sense it may be said that witchcraft as a system was created by the church.Convenience may be cited: it was convenient for the church to lump its own heresies, rival systems of faith, inexplicable spiritual phenomena – in fact, almost all the threats to its own primacy – into a single opposition, which in the slow course of many centuries took on the shape of a ho stile conspiracy and the name of witchcraft. The church had, after all, ready to hand the Supreme Enemy of Man, Satan, acknowledged as the father of all error, the prince of the world's vanities, and arch rebel against God (Butler 96). There was no fault of logic involved in placing him at the source of trouble.This is the classical definition of witchcraft: a literally diabolic plot against mankind. For long ages it was almost universally accepted. Running concurrently with it was what we may identify as the skeptical position: that the whole thing was nonsense, and an outrageous calumny on the loving nature of the Deity. This is an honorable and attractive position, and one which is still dominant today. It can trace its origins to a tiny handful of brave men during the Renaissance, men like Reginald Scot and Johan Weyer, who were in considerable danger for their beliefs.These ideas however gradually won out, by the eighteenth century, and were elevated almost beyond argument by t he busy and progressive nineteenth. Today they are coming under renewed question. There are then at present at least seven major schools of witchcraft thought, some of them frankly hostile to the others: the orthodox, skeptical, anthropological, psychological, pharmacological, transcendental, and occultist. The image is to the object as the part is to the whole.In other words, a simple object, outside all direct contact and all communication, is able to represent the whole. This is the formula which is apparently used in black magic. The image, the doll or the drawing is a very schematic representation, a poorly executed ideogram. Any resemblance is purely theoretical or abstract. Black magic is essentially an individualistic affair. It finds regular and constant use by men and women who work deliberately, by means of the spells they utter, the charms they manipulate, and the rites they perform, to bring misfortunes upon their fellows.So used it may be licit, reputable, and even pra iseworthy, for instance, if the same magical arts that have slain a man are resorted to by an avenger of blood against the slayer. As a rule, however, sorcery is carried on more or less secretly, in defiance of public opinion, and those who practice it are objects of constant suspicion, fear, and enmity. In spite of this radical monotheism, Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, makes allusions to other supernatural entities.In the case of Islam, these entities are known as jinns and angels (Glucklich 136). Satan also plays an important role in Islam, but is counted among the angels, albeit the most disobedient. The jinns, according to the Qur'an, are not quite angels, but a form of consciousness between human and angels that are also especially prone to disobedience. Given that a basic idea of Islam is â€Å"submission† or â€Å"obedience† to God, the very act of disobedience is taken very seriously in Muslim teaching as a major form of bad, even sacrilegious, behavior (Brain 241).The jinn are genii, made out of fire; unlike the angels, they eat, drink, copulate, and die; some are good, and listen to the Koran; most are bad, and spend their time getting human beings into mischief. The leader of the evil jinn is Iblis, who was once a great angel, but was condemned for refusing to pay homage to Adam. The success of Islam in propagating itself, particularly in its Sufic and maraboutic versions, in regions where a direct assault by conquest was impracticable was largely due to its truly catholic recognition of the multiplicity of mystical power.In the voluminous Quranic store-house of angels, jinns and devils, whose number is legion, many of these traditional powers find a hospitable home; and passages from the Quran are cited to justify their existence as real phenomena. So long as Allah's lofty pre-eminence was not compromised, many local cults could be accommodated within the realm of alghaib, the ‘unseen' or ‘hidden' world (Brain 258) . The supreme deities which exist in many pagan traditions could be assimilated to Allah. Lesser local deities could be Islamicized or explained away as vernacular terms for God's attributes, or as the jinns or spirits of Quranic folklore.Orders of devils are spoken of in the so-called Book of Enoch, which antedates Christianity; and they are spoken of, later, in the New Testament. Saint Thomas makes express mention of higher and of lower devils, and of systematically established ranks among them; without, however, entering into details on the subject (Waite 356). But such reserve, though it might well become theologians in general, did not at all suit those who were especially classed as demonographers or those who gave attention to the study and practice of magic.For all these, it was of the utmost importance to become thoroughly acquainted with the diabolic hierarchy and, at the same time, with the condition and the activities of each rank included therein, – nay, as far a s might be possible, with those of each individual demon. Furthermore, the principles of their organization were not understood in the same way by all; and while some of the Fathers thought that their rank was determined according to the various kinds of sins that the demons fostered, others believed that this was done according to their degree of power and method of action.Those who made pacts with the Devil very often did so in order to be able to practice the forbidden arts of magic; but the pact did not always imply this power and the power might be exercised without a pact. There were cases where the Devil voluntarily obligated himself to do whatever the magician should demand of him, on condition that the latter give him his soul in exchange; there were also cases where the magician by virtue of his own art forced the Devil to do what the fiend, of himself, would have been neither obliged nor willing to do.There were then, as we see, two kinds of magic, which have not been suf ficiently distinguished by writers on the subject, but which in their origins, if not in their effects, were entirely distinct; the one produced by a voluntary subjection of the diabolic power to the will of a human being, the other springing from an actual mastery acquired over that power by the human being, and acquired not through divine permission, but through a science and an art which had their own canons, which were learned through a sort of apprenticeship, and which could be more or less fully possessed – the science and the art of black magic.The theologians and the doctors declare, it is true, that the inventor of this wicked and deceptive science, of this pernicious art, was none other than Satan himself, who was wont to make use of them for the attainment of his own ends; but we begin to suspect that there is some error in this opinion of theirs, when we see this science and this art employed against their supposed inventor in such fashion that he cannot keep from obeying any one who commands him through them (Stave 196).A great part of magic presupposes the existence in nature, and the knowledge on the part of man, of hidden forces which have power to move the demons and to bind them. But in whatever way the magician had acquired his formidable power, the exercise of it was sinful and unlawful and brought the transgressors in the end to Hell. Speaking generally, and observing the results they produced, we may consider magicians and witches as allies and coadjutors of Satan.The first of the magical operations, which opens the way for all the others, is evocation, whereby Satan or one of his subordinate devils is compelled to appear – not a difficult operation if one understood the method, but dangerous to any who undertook it carelessly and without having observed all due precautions. This operation is more commonly performed at night, at the exact hour of midnight; but it could also be performed at high noon, this being the hour at w hich the noonday demon possesses the greatest vigor.It takes place where two, three, or four roads meet; in the depths of gloomy forests; on deserted heaths; amid ancient ruins. The evocator seat himself inside a circle (or, for greater safety, three circles) traced on the ground with the point of a sword; and he has to exercise the greatest care not to let the slightest portion of himself project beyond this limit and not to agree to any bargain the Devil might seek to make with him. Many and strange are the formulas of evocation, some very lengthy; some more, some less efficacious; nor are all of them addressed to all the devils.The slightest omission might suffice to render them entirely ineffective if the demon happened to be tired or in a bad humor. An observation is not out of place here. The Devil presents himself willingly and without much importuning, even to one who summons him informally and in every-day language, and that he often presents himself when one has not even t hought of calling him. Magicians and witches are not all of equal cleverness or equal might; as in every other condition of men, in theirs also there existed disparities of power and of rank (Dickie 325).Notwithstanding this, there is no sorceress so insignificant, no wizard so discredited, that with the aid of their art they could not accomplish marvelous things, of a sort far beyond all human power and all human knowledge. Should one care to make a list of all the varied operations of the magic art, he would need to produce a volume; and even then he would not succeed in telling everything, for by this art could almost anything be done that might suggest itself to the imagination or become an object of desire.With potent philters or by employing the aid of clever demons, the magician could awaken love, transform love into hatred, snatch the loved one from her lover, or cause her to fly by night through the air to her lover's arms. He avenged himself on his enemies, or on such as b etook themselves to him for help, causing fire to consume their houses, bringing down the storm-wind on their fields, sinking their ships in the sea; or he brought about their death, by thrusting into waxen figures made to resemble them a needle.Now we turn to the last portion of our study, the new witchcraft cult. Two characteristics seem to identify modern British witches: their love of ceremony and their inherent schismatic tendencies. Both points hold true for witches in America and elsewhere. There seem to be hundreds of contending cults, most of which sooner or later make their professions in print, under such titles as The Real Witchcraft, The Truth About Witchcraft, and Witchcraft From the Inside. Indeed, witches, deprived of the unifying force of persecution, are fighting among themselves as never before.Meanwhile there are as many different kinds of witchcraft in this country, apparently, as there are covens. All these groups publish industriously. One of the partisans of the modern witchcraft cult is Hans Holzer, the well-known psychic investigator. His book The Truth About Witchcraft was brought forward with much din of publicity. And certainly he has penetrated to the heart of the contemporary cult; he has eye-witnesses' accounts of initiation ceremonies, rites, celebrations, dress, incantations, and every other detail of witchcraft as it is presently practiced, especially in England and the United States.With the growth and strengthening of the belief in Satan, magic was destined to acquire new credit and new vigor. Everything that was known or thought to be known about the Devil, about his habits and his purposes, naturally tended to produce this result. He was the ever-living, ever-restless force that surrounded and penetrated all things; the prince of this world; the dominator of perverted nature; he was in every place; he had under his orders an innumerable host, always ready for any undertaking.With the help of his power, there was no task s o hard that it could not be accomplished, no miracle that could not be performed; and this help he rendered without excessive solicitation. It was a well known fact that he would cheerfully join forces with a human being in order to reach more easily the fulfillment of his own designs. The majority became wizards or witches merely by entering his flock and enjoying those benefits and powers in which he was willing to make them sharers. Beside this lower magic, the result of a kind of delegation of power, the