Reasoning Fallacies Essay Example for Free

Reasoning Fallacies Essay A reasoning fallacy is an error in reasoning.   We all have our position on certain issues and at one point in time we have attempted to convince other persons to accept the same position.   Reasoning fallacy will be committed if there is an error in our own reasoning that led us to adopt the position or we used erroneous reasoning in trying to convince others to adopt our position. As a result, reasoning fallacy is a serious cause of concern.   It may be possible that we think in a particular manner and act in accordance with what we think not knowing that the reasoning we used in arriving at such thinking is erroneous.    Also, reasoning fallacy is troubling because a person who cannot spot reasoning fallacies in an argument will most likely be deceived by other persons who use these fallacies. Equivocation or equivocal language is the use of a single term or word to mean two different things.   One particular example is the statement: â€Å"For Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan, basketball is their bread and butter.   Bread and butter are my favorite breakfast.  Ã‚   Therefore, for Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan, basketball is their favorite breakfast.   In the statements mentioned, bread and butter are used in two different senses – as means to earn a living and as a meal. Non Sequitur is a fallacy that is committed when a person’s premises have no direct relationship to his conclusion.   This fallacy is most often committed by politicians, and multi-national companies to promote their product.   One example is the statements: â€Å"Oprah Winfrey is an intelligent, outspoken and strong-willed woman.   Most of her opinions are right. She also supports Barrack Obama’s presidential campaign.   Therefore Barrack Obama is the best choice for presidency.†Ã‚   Here, it is clear that Oprah’s opinions no matter how great she is, has no bearing on the issue of qualifications of Obama. Fallacy of Ignoring the Question or Red Herring is a fallacy committed by a person who does not properly respond to a question.   For example, if a person is asked whether he committed adultery, he says, â€Å"I am a religious person and I go to church everyday.† The fallacy of Begging the Question is a fallacy that attempts to prove a particular statement but the statement itself is assumed in the premises.   For example, â€Å"George W. Bush is the best president of the United States because nobody else is better.† One example of a reasoning fallacy can be found in the January 15, 2007 issue of the Time Magazine.   It was written by Jeffrey D. Sachs and the article is entitled â€Å"The $10 Solution: Malaria kills 2 million African children a year.†Ã‚   It can be found in the first paragraph of the article which states that: â€Å"Listen for a moment to the beautiful and dignified voices of Africa’s mothers.   Despite their burdens of poverty and hunger, they will tell you not of their endless toil but of their hopes for their children. But softy ever so softly, they will also recount the children they have lost, claimed by a sudden fever, children who died in their arms as they were carried in a desperate half-day’s journey by foot from the village to the nearest clinic.†Ã‚   Here, the author appeals to the emotion of his readers to arouse their sympathy and to encourage the readers to donate and contribute a portion of their money to organizations that provide assistance to the African people.   .   Bibliographies Sachs, Jeffrey D.   â€Å"The $10 Solution: Malaria kills 2 million African children a year.†Ã‚   Time. January 15, 2007.   Vol. 169 No. 1.

The Social Media And Politics Media Essay

The Social Media And Politics Media Essay Faced with declining citizen interest and participation in democratic politics and declining citizens trust in politicians and representative institutions (Gibson et al., 2008: 111-13), governments, political parties, social and political scientists in many countries have focused increasing attention on the potential of online communication to address these deficits and revitalise democracy. Born in the web 2.0 age, social media offers the users communication opportunities for socialization, social interactivity and uncensored speech, facilitating the growth of online political behaviour with recent emergence of new interactive and media-rich Web sites. These Web sites, often referred to as social media, are valued in proportion to their capacity to harness the participation of online communities in the production, amalgamation, and exchange of information (OReilly, 2005) and also referred to as new media (Flew, 2008; Lievrouw and Livingstone, 2005). In his research Correa (2010) bro adened social media definition by adding instant messaging, a tool that enables social interaction. Researchers have also folded blogs into the social media umbrella given their function as personal publication tools (Gil de Zu ´nËœiga et al., 2009, p. 566) and their ability to foster interaction (Meraz, 2009). Online expression is functionally distinct from simply consuming content online (Katz et al., 2001; Shah et al., 2005; Wang, 2007). Hence online opinion expression and exchange have grown significantly in recent years. In particular, interactive Web 2.0 applications are increasingly being enlisted for citizen engagement in what is termed e-democracy (Kearns, 2002) or government 2.0 (Department of Finance and Deregulation, 2010), as well as in electioneering. The Web 2.0 consists of social networks like Facebook launched in February 2004; it was developed for user information (status updates, links or pictures) to remain private; visible only to those who have been granted access by that user. This was labelled an asymmetric modelling of human relationships (Porter 2009), however in November 2007 Facebook launched a new feature called Like Pages which look and behave much like a users personal private profile and   allows different networks and groups whose many users can join. These are used for discussions, events, etc. and are a way of enabling a number of people to come together online to share information and discuss specific subjects which is not limited, the members who have joined can view, recent news contents, wall contents, photos, posted items, videos and all associated comments on such items. These pages also offer access to insights and analytics of their fan base and therefore becoming at par with Twitter which is a micr o-blogging platform launched in August 2006 where everyone can be an editor, a content creator, a producer and a distributor. Where it was argued that Twitter is a modelling of human relationships and sets it apart from other successful social networks (Porter 2009), and perhaps makes it a space more open to possibilities for political interaction therefore in social networks all the classic old-media hats are being worn by everyone. (Kirkpatrick, 2010:10). Another widely spread media YouTube was launched in May 2005 as a user generated content website where users could upload, share and view video/audio materials, their own productions or recordings on which the users have author or broadcasting rights. It is not a social network, but it is one of the most popular sources of user generated content among those who use social networks. One of the oldest forms of socialising the blog as defined by Drula as unlike a website from the web 1.0 era, this online platform displays interactiv ity and socialization features (Drulă, 2007:11-15) The growth and popularity of social media websites is distinctive as Facebook became the worlds largest social network, with 500 million active members as on July 2010 (Facebook, 2010a). In the same month, more than two billion videos a day were being viewed on YouTube (2010) and two billion tweets a month were being distributed on Twitter (ODell, 2010). Social Media and Politics Use of the internet for political purposes has grown dramatically over the last decade. In the 2008 U.S. general election the internet, and social networking sites in particular, played a more significant role than they ever had before (Westling, M. 2007). In the realm of politics, social media went from being not known to budding platform for increasing political participation and communication in the 2008 US presidential elections. The 2008 presidential campaign was the first to play out in the world of YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, and political blogging-the major Internet-based social media. These forms of social media provided a new platform for mediated communication which enables the audience to procure content on demand and also share and discuss/ argue with others (e.g., Levy, 2008; Papacharissi, 2009; Spigel, 2009). In the previous presidential elections candidates did own websites which were very useful for fund- raising and communicating with the supporters, though the 2008 US presidential elections showed that social media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and blogging have become increasingly popular forums for political participation (Quily, 2008; A. Smith, 2009; Vitak et al. 2009). The elections especially highlighted that Facebook had become a viable tool for engaging supporters and communicating with them directly in real time. For a matter of fact, during primary season until Election Day in 2008, Facebook users created more than 1,000 Facebook group pages that focused on Barack Obama and John McCain. Data from Pew Internet reveal that 65% of SNS users ages 18-29 engaged in at least one of five political activities on a SNS during the 2008 campaign, including joining a political group on the site and obtaining information about a candidate (Smith, 2009). The 2008 presidential elections came to be labelled as a Facebook election by some political observers. Barack Obama, in particular took grassroots campaigning in to the digital space by employi ng Online Social Interactive Media (OSIM) like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, Flickr, MySpace etc. and used it as a vital platform for his presidential campaign. He turned it into a major strength within his campaign where Facebook played a central role. It was clearly aware to The Obama campaign that voters, especially the young were the one who consumed information and at the same time were also conduits of information. They often chose social media over the traditional media. The online social interactive media allowed candidates to do electronically what previously had to be done by contacting volunteers, donors, scheduling and promoting events. (Johnson and Perlmutter 2009). The outcome of this was, that 2.2 million people had friended Barack Obama on Facebook, in comparison to just over half a million for John McCain. There were over 500 unofficial pages and groups which were made for the democratic presidential candidate. One of the oldest Obama Facebook groups, One Million Stron g for Barack, is going to meet a goal of one million supporters. Facebook was used extensively to reach potential donors and volunteers. The campaign raised a record- breaking $745 million (Tamara A Small , 2008). The campaign truly reaped the benefits form engaging people on social media especially Facebook. The entire campaign for Barack Obama benefitted enormously because of the massive amount of people using social media at that time and also the exposure being at a very low cost. In the wake of the turning point 2004 US presidential election, the Obama campaign of 2008, the 2010 UK election and e-democracy movements globally, Australians went to the polls in 2010 in a media-hyped flurry of tweeting, YouTube videos, Facebook befriending and liking, blogging and other social media activities(CIT). In an content analysis by Jim Macnamara and Gail Kenning to identify trends in the volume of e-electioneering content and activity, as well as the main ways in which social media are being used in political communication. It was researched that 45% of the 92 federal politicians had a Twitter account. However, the style and purpose of tweeting varied widely. Almost three-quarters of Australias federal politicians had a Facebook presence and 34 of them (16.5%) posted videos on YouTube and 29 (14.1%) had a blog. Though to the increase in social media in the 2010 elections in Australia the transmission of messages were one way rather than engaging in listening, dialogue, consultation and collaboration. There was little evidence that social media use was enhanced qualitatively to any significant extent in terms of the level of listening to citizens and the diversity of issues discussed. Gibson reported in relation to the UK election, the internet has become an organisational necessity for election campaigning but à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ it has not brought about that strategic change some have argued we should expect (Gibson et al., 2010: 2). The transmission of one way message was also witnessed in the 2010 Scotland general elections in Graeme Baxter, Rita Marcella and Evaggelos Varfis content analysis of the elections where Scottish political sphere did appear keen to be seen embracing new social media tools, with 35% of parties and 37% of candidates utilising blogs, Facebook and Twitter during the electoral campaign. It is witnessed that online communication environment still requires time to reach the level of maturity found in the Internet political communication of other democracies (Paul Adrian) as in his study of the 2009 general elections in Romania. According to him Romanian politicians do not know how to deal with these platforms however worth mentioning that the case study was conducted during the first presidential election campaign in Romania when the social network Facebook and the Twitter micro blogging platform were used as distinct channels of communication. In other instances use of social media in elections can result in a revolution and receive much celebratory rhetoric around the political uses and benefits of social media technologies in the aftermath of the June 2009 post-election protests in Iran (NIMA NAGHIBI). Social networking sites were seen as central to publicizing and circulating, for a global audience, the political crisis that unfolded in Iran that summer. During the height of the Iranian protests and the height of the western coverage of those protests, which dominated North American media from June 13th till June 25th, the mood online and in the media appeared to be exultant, rejoicing in the power of new social media to facilitate global solidarity in a heretofore unprecedented way. Known as the state with the highest concentration of millionaires with 15.5% of total households with 1 million USD in wealth (Boston Consulting Group, 2011) and as the third one in the world according to the Gross Domestic Product ranking with over 56,000 USD per capita (Forbes, 2012), nowadays Singapore is definitely one of the most successful countries in South East Asia. Considering then that the isle has a population of only 5,000,000 people and that only 50 years have passed from the achievement of independence from Malaysia, all these figures seem even most impressive. But behind this brief but vibrant story of success there is probably one institution which, more than anything else, has been able to bring Singapore from being an English colony to become one of the most powerful financial hub of the world, and this institution is the People Action Party. Formed in 1954, the PAP dealt with the separation of the country from the British Empire (1963) and from Malaysia (1965) and, from 1968 on, won all the eleven General Elections that, every four years, took place in Singapore. The main mission of the PAP has always been to build a fair and just society starting from four core elements: being honest (clean, above board and upright), being multiracial (all citizens are equal, regardless of race, language and religion), being meritocratic (all citizens have equal chances according to their individual contribution to the society) and being self-reliant (avoiding to create dependence syndrome). These four pillars determined and connoted PAPs manifestations of reliability (We say what we will do), pragmatism (flexible approach to generate novel solutions to the problems of the nation), unity (strong sense of loyalty and discipline), far-sightedness (long term horizon in leading the country), decisiveness (taking the right decisions even in absence of complete information), compassion (feel community worries and concerns), resilience (ability in persevering despite discomfort or possibility of failure) across the years. Generically speaking, People Action Party can be considered as a socialist democracy which moved away from the communist and anti-colonialist context in which it took the first step. All this being said, even if on one hand side we can consider Singapore as an idyllic scenario where there is total harmony between citizens and political powers, on the other hand it must be remembered that this big modern miracle has been possible thanks to a constant control performed by the State towards society. A good example of this can be resumed by the mass media that, operating under a strict legal framework and licensing policies, plays a pro-development and hence pro-government (Kuo, Holaday Peck, 1993) role. Despite this, with the Government controlling the most influential media outlet of the country, the situation has been recently changing with the raise of the Internet and the arrival of new source of content and points of view for Singaporean people. The web, though, is now reaching 77.2% of the total population with 3,658,400 users (Internet World Stats, 2012) and is now able to reshape the media landscape even thanks to the highest smart phone penetration rate of the world with 62% of the population owning one of the latest generation mobile (Google and Ipsos, 2012). Anyway, if the Internet can be considered as an enemy by Singaporean government, the PAP was very reactive in using it as the main channel to speak to the citizens. The Party, in fact, decided to set up a Facebook Page aimed to catch the attention of 2,602,880 Singaporeans using the social network website. The most important occasion the PAP had to use its fan page were the 2011 General Elections, and especially the political campaign which took place between 19th April and 7th May. Due to its peculiar political environment, Singapore is an interesting stage to study the mechanism of the elections and that is confirmed by few researches inspired by 2001, 2006 and 2011 GE. The impact of the media on Singaporeans attitude and decisions towards voting has been analyzed in the paper Where is the Opposition? Media coverage, political interest, public concerns and voting behaviour . In 2006 Cenite, Chong, Han, Lim and Tan focused on one specific media, print, to go in depth in the topic of coverage during elections. But it is with Singapore in 2011. A New Normal in Politics? that Tan tries to understand the impact of social media on parliamentary and presidential elections. But rather than from a political point of view, this research tries to investigate the interaction between the PAP and its voters in a communicative perspective. That is why the focus of interest here is on pictures, videos, interviews, links to news websites like Channel Asia or Straits Times, in one word the tools used by the PAP to keep in touch with the 35,826 Facebook users who liked the page. With at least three daily posts during the eighteen days of political campaign the Party raised a constant buzz on the Internet, but how did these shared statements, these candidates profiles and these PAPs promises for the future concretely influence voters behaviour? The aim of this study is to understand how the Peoples Action Party (PAP) uses Facebook, and how do people respond to the same.

Energy-Efficient Homes Essay -- Environment Pollution Papers, Conserva

Energy-Efficient Homes A great number of today’s citizens are aware of ecological and environmental problems caused by pollution, such as smog and global warming. However, though we know about the effects of pollution and have taken steps to minimize this hazard, there is one important area often overlooked when trying to find cheap, simple pollution solutions. This area is the American home. While what we put into our homes and what we do in them contribute greatly to the annual U.S. household energy usage, the design of our homes plays a very important factor, since a poorly-constructed home will use more energy for maintenance, heating, and cooling than a home with an energy-efficient design. If we could reduce the amount of energy used by our homes, we can make a significant contribution to reducing pollution generated from excess energy use. This, as will be shown later, is not a difficult thing to do; there are many ways that we can make our homes more energy-efficient, and most of us nat urally like to make improvements to our homes. One of these improvements could be on the design of our homes, since much of our country's energy and funds go toward supplying heat and electricity to homes that could be made more energy-efficient. From this, we see that the design and energy-efficiency of a home are two things that need a second look if we wish to improve environmental health and lead more comfortable, happier lives. To get a better sense of how we should begin solving our pollution problems, we must first understand the reasons why we tend to produce them in the first place. There appears to be an underlying reason for why humans are naturally energy-inefficient, according to Allaby and Bunyard--perhaps we just ha... ...ess, 1996. Insulation Fact Sheet. Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, US Department of Energy. 7 Dec. 1999 McCarthy, John. Quotations (17-Sep-1999). 7 Dec. 1999 . Motors and Maintenance: Enhancing Energy Efficiency. Mohammad H. Qayoumi. 30 Oct. 1999 . The Online Workshop: Energy-Efficient Construction Techniques. Yellow Mountain Institute. 1 Dec. 1999 . ST-96-20R Estimates of Housing Units, Households, Households by Age of Householder, and Persons per Household: July 1, 1996. The U.S. Bureau of the Census. 30 Oct. 1999 .

Affirmative Action Essay -- Discrimination Race Racism Essays

Affirmative Action Affirmative action is a blanket term that refers to â€Å"the set of public policies and initiatives designed to help eliminate past and present discrimination based on race, color, sex or national origin,† (Sykes). Before the Civil Rights Acts of 1965 and the 1954 Scott v. Topeka decision, there were â€Å"unwritten laws and protection for white men† against competition from women and ethnic minorities in prestigious professions, creating blatant inequality (Alsbrook). Affirmative action policies designed in part to counteract such â€Å"unwritten laws† were first employed in 1965 to provide equal opportunity among federal contractors; now however, they are used widely in many industries, both public and private (Kahn). In the 1970’s, the scope of the initiatives expanded to the arena of college and university admissions as well. Debate over affirmative action has revolved around myriad issues ranging from diversity to the relevance of past injustices to so-called â€Å"reverse discrimination.† The paramount key issue that is constantly asked regarding affirmative action is, â€Å"Does affirmative action achieve its goal of equality?† Having considered the arguments from many perspectives, we recommend a general position that supports affirmative action policies. However, this support is not unmitigated—certain constraints and amendments are required. Those who oppose affirmative action often claim that it simply does not succeed in helping the occupational and educational status of minorities. Some support for this claim apropos policies in the workplace can be culled from the fact that women only earn approximately seventy-seven cents for every dollar men earn, the figure dropping to sixty-six cents for non-white women (... ...pdf> {popular news, print via Internet; apparently credible} Wilcher, J. Shirley. â€Å"The History of Affirmative Action Policies† Americans for Fair Chance Washington D.C (2003): In Motion Magazine. 26 April. 2004 http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/aahist.html {distinguished news; print via internet; reputable} Yates, Steven. â€Å"Affirmative Action: The New Road to Serfdom.† The Freeman. (1990) Vol. 40, No. 12. Foundation for Economic Education Inc. 6 April 2004 http://www.libertyhaven.com/politicsandcurrentevents/affirmativeaction/roadserfdom.shtml {unrestricted; print modified; plausible} Zauberman, Renee and Rene Levy. â€Å"Police, Minorities, and the French Republican Ideal*.† Criminology 41.4 (2003): 1065-1100. Research Library. ProQuest. NYU Bobst Library, NY, NY. 21 April. 2004 http://www.proquest.com/ {scholarly primary; print via Internet; authoritative}

BCG Growth Share Matrix :: essays research papers

Dublin Institute of Technology MSc COMPUTING SCIENCE (Information Technology for Strategic Management) BCG Growth Share Matrix Research Assignment No. 2 The BCG Growth-Share Matrix The BCG Growth-Share Matrix is a portfolio planning model that was developed by Bruce Henderson of the Boston Consulting Group in the early 1970's. It is based on the observation that organisations business units can be classified into four categories based on combinations of market growth and market share relative to the largest competitor. Market growth serves as a proxy for industry attractiveness, and relative market share serves as a proxy for competitive advantage. The growth-share matrix thus maps the business unit positions within these two important determinants of profitability. Growth Share Matrix (http://www.netmba.com/strategy/matrix/bcg/) This framework assumes that an increase in relative market share will result in an increase in the generation of cash. This assumption often is true because of the experience curve; increased relative market share implies that the firm is moving forward on the experience curve relative to its competitors, thus developing a cost advantage. A second assumption is that a growing market requires investment in assets to increase capacity and therefore results in the consumption of cash. Thus the position of a business on the growth-share matrix provides an indication of its cash generation and its cash consumption. Henderson reasoned that the cash required by rapidly growing business units could be obtained from the firm's other business units that were at a more mature stage and generating significant cash. By investing to become the market share leader in a rapidly growing market, the business unit could move along the experience curve and develop a cost advantage. From this reasoning, the BCG Growth-Share Matrix was born. The four categories are: o  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dogs. Dogs have low market share and a low growth rate and thus neither generate nor consume a large amount of cash. However, dogs are cash traps because of the money tied up in a business that has little potential. Such businesses are candidates for divestiture. o  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Question marks. Question marks are growing rapidly and consume large amounts of cash, but because they have low market shares they do not generate much cash. A question mark has the potential to gain market share and become a star, and eventually a cash cow when the market growth slows. If the question mark does not succeed in becoming the market leader, then after perhaps years of cash consumption it will degenerate into a dog when the market growth declines.

Adlerian Group Therapy Essay

According to Glanz and Hayes (1967) Group Counseling and group terapy are almost contradictory concepts to he individual not familiar with the detailed practices present and groups, counceling, and therapy. multiple counseling, group guidance, and the lmost interchangeble use of counseling and psychotherapy have added to the uncertainty of the dimensions and true nature of these new concepts. Adlerian in Group Counseling According to Corey (202) Adler was a politically and socially oriented psychiatrist who showed great concern for the common person. Indeed, many of his early clients were working-class people who struggled to make a living, raise and educate their children, and make a difference in society. Part of Adler’s mission was to bring psychological understanding to the general population and to translate psychological concepts into practical methods for helping a varied population meet the challenges of everyday life. Alfred Adler made signifi cant contributions to contemporary therapeutic practice. Adler believed in the social nature of human beings, and he was interested in working with clients in a group context. He established more than 30 child guidance clinics in which he pioneered live demonstrations by interviewing children, adults, teachers, and parents in front of community groups. He was the fi rst psychiatrist to use group methods in a systematic way in child guidance centers in the 1920s in Vienna. To fully appreciate the development of the practice of Adlerian psychology, one must recognize the contributions of Rudolf Dreikurs, who was largely responsible for extending and popularizing Adler’s work and transplanting Adler’s ideas to the United States. He did a great deal to translate Adlerian principles into the practice of group psychotherapy, and he used group psychotherapy in his private practice for more than 40 years (see Dreikurs, 1960, 1967, 1997). Dreikurs developed and refi ned Adler’s concepts into a clear-cut, teachable system with practical applications for family life, education, preventive mental health, and, especially, group psychotherapy (Terne r & Pew, 1978). Dreikurs was a key fi gure in developing the Adlerian family education centers in the United States. Work with children and their parents in a group setting paved the way for Dreikurs’s pioneering group psychotherapy.It is believed that Dreikurs was the fi rst person to use group therapy in a private practice. Adlerian interventions have been widely applied to diverse client populations of all ages in many different settings. Adlerian group therapy is an integration of key concepts of Adlerian psychology with socially constructed, systemic, and brief approaches based on the holistic model developed by Dreikurs (Sonstegard & Bitter, 2004). Objectives of Adlerian Group Therapy  ·Establishing and maintaining an emphatic relationship between clients and counselor that is based on mutual trust and respect and in which the client feels understood and accepted by the group.  ·Providing a therapeutic climate in which clients can come to understand their basics beliefs and feelings about themselves and discover why those beliefs are faulty.  ·helping clients develop insight into their mistaken goals and self-defeating behaviors through a process of confrontatio and interpretation.  ·assisting clients in discovering alternatives and encouraging them to make choices that is, put insights into action.  ·Group provides a mirror of person’s behavior.  ·Group members both recieve and give help. Techniques THE FAMILY CONSTELLATION Adler considered the family of origin as having a central impact on an individual’s personality. Adler suggested that it was through the family constellation that each person forms his or her unique view of self, others, and life. Factors such as cultural and familial values, gender-role expectations, and the nature of interpersonal relationships are all infl uenced by a child’s observation of the interactional patterns within the family. Adlerian assessment relies heavily on an exploration of the client’s family constellation, including the client’s evaluation of conditions that prevailed in the family when the person was a young child (family atmosphere), birth order, parental relationship and family values, and extended family and culture. EARLY RECOLLECTIONS As you will recall, another assessment procedure used by Adlerians is to ask the client to provide his or her earliest memories, including the age of the person at the time of the remembered events and the feelings or reactions associated with the recollections. Early recollections are one-time occurrences pictured by the client in clear detail. Adler reasoned that out of the millions of early memories we might have we select those special memories that project the essential convictions and even the basic mistakes of our lives. Early recollections are a series of small mysteries that can be woven together and provide a tapestry that leads to an understanding of how we view ourselves, how we see the world, what our life goals are, what motivates us, what we value and believe in, and what we anticipate for our future (Clark, 2002; Mosak & Di Pietro, 2006). BIRTH OEDER AND SIBLING RELATIONSHIP The Adlerian approach is unique in giving special attention to the relationships between siblings and the psychological birth position in one’s family. Adler identified five psychological positions, or vantage points, from which children tend to view life: oldest, second of only two, middle, youngest, and only. Stages of the Alerian Group Therapy STAGE 1: ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAININGCOHESIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH MEMBERS In the initial stage the emphasis is on establishing a good therapeutic relationship based on cooperation, collaboration, egalitarianism, and mutual respect. By attending to the relationship from the first session, counselors are laying a foundation for cohesive ness and connection. Adlerians hold that the successful outcomes of the other group stages are based on establishing and maintaining a strong therapeutic relationship at the initial stage of counseling (Watts & Eckstein, 2009). Group participants are encouraged to be active in the process because they are responsible for their own participation in the group. The group situation provides sample opportunity to work on trust issues and to strengthen the relationship between member and leader. Also, by witnessing positive changes in peers, participants can see how well the group works. STAGE 2: ANALYSIS AND ASSESSMENT (EXPLORING THE INDIVIDUAL’S DYNAMICS) The aim of the second stage is twofold: understanding one’s lifestyle and seeing how it is affecting one’s current functioning in all the tasks of life (Mosak & Maniacci, 2011). During this assessment stage, emphasis is on the individual in his or her social and cultural context. Adlerians do not try to fi t clients into a preconceived model; rather, they allow salient cultural identity concepts to emerge and attend to a clients’ personal meaning of culture (Carlson & Englar-Carlson, 2008). The leader may begin by exploring how the participants are functioning at work and in social situations and how they feel about themselves and their gender-role identities. STAGE 3: AWARENESS AND INSIGHT Whereas the classical analytic position is that personality cannot change unless there is insight, the Adlerian view is that insight is a special form of awareness that facilitates a meaningful understanding within the counseling relationship and acts as a foundation for change. Yet this awareness is not, in and of itself, enough to bring about signifi cant change. It is a means to an end, not an end in itself. According to Carlson and Englar-Carlson (2008), the Adlerian approach is both insight oriented and action oriented. Although insight into our problems can be useful, it is essential that this awareness leads to constructive movement toward desired goals. It is to be noted that people can make abrupt and signifi cant changes without much insight. STAGE 4: REORIENTATION AND REEDUCATION The end product of the group process is reorientation and reeducation. The reorientation stage consists of both the group leaders and the members working together to challenge erroneous beliefs about self, life, and others. The emphasis is on considering alternative beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes. During this stage, members put insight into action, making new choices that are more consistent with their desired goals (Carlson & Englar-Carlson, 2008). There is a change in members’ attitudes toward their current life situation and the problems they need to solve. This reorientation is an educational experience. Adlerian groups are characterized by an attempt to reorient faulty living patterns and teach a better understanding of the principles that result in cooperative interaction (Sonstegard & Bitter, 2004). One of the aims is teaching participants how to become more effective in dealing with the tasks of life. Another aim is challenging and encouraging clients to take risks and make changes. References: Corey, G. (2012), Theories And Practice of Group Couneling Eight edition. United States, 2008 Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. Corey, G. (2009), Theories And Practice of Counseling and Psychoterapy. United States, 2005 Thomson Brooks/Cole.z

Feminism and the Importance of Identity Politics Essay

â€Å"To be feminist in any authentic sense of the term is to want for all people, female and male, liberation from sexist role patterns, domination, and oppression†. Bell Hooks succinctly sums up what it means to be a feminist, and yet when we look to the feminist movement and feminist theorizing today, we see a disturbingly different picture. In a social movement founded on equality for all human beings, the patriarchy and its’ power structures have still made a negative impact in the way this movement is shaped and perpetuated, especially in terms of intersectionality and identity politics. Whose voices are heard? What issues are prioritized? Who is considered a â€Å"true† feminist? When we ask how and why issues of identity and intersectionality are relevant to feminist theorizing, the answer is simple. When the true and complex identities of individuals and social groups are ignored, what forms is a limiting and narrow view inherently oppositional to the mo vement’s foundation and goals. Essentially, ignoring these issues means perpetuating the oppression the movement itself is trying to fight. What follows is a brief analysis on three reasons why feminists should care about identity and individuals with complex identities: 1) addressing oppressions in a movement dedicated to eliminating all oppression, 2) identifying the negative consequences of elision of difference, and 3) recognizing the real importance of intersectionality in terms of survival in the real world, as opposed to simply theorizing in academics. While the feminist movement is explicitly dedicated to fighting racism and any other types of â€Å"isms†, we see that typically marginalized groups continue to be marginalized within the movement. These groups are well aware of this oppression, yet how often their voices are heard or even considered are slim to none. In a statement from Black feminists part of The Combahee River Collective, it is explained that there was â€Å"the need to develop a p olitics that was anti-racist, unlike those of White women, and anti-sexist, unlike those of Black and white men† (CRC: 59). As members of two oppressed groups in society, Black women face the highest obstacles in their pursuit of complete liberation, especially because of the dominant narrative and voices that have typically commandeered the political movement. As Kimberle Crenshaw purports, â€Å"the need to split one’s political energies between two  sometimes opposing groups is a dimension of intersectional disempowerment that men of color and white women seldom confront† (Crenshaw: 85). The intersectional experience of White women have typically dominated the women’s movement as White women have had more accessibility and opportunity to speak out/theorize academically as opposed to Black women. Thus, the experiences of Black women – which are distinguishably different from the White woman’s – are essentially absent from the discussion, an issue that is highly problematic as it points to racism and oppression within a social justice movement (not to mention a limited perspective). Feminist theorists and activists must make sure to account for intersectional experiences in order to avoid this hypocrisy. Specifically, White feminists and activists must understand that their role as genuine activists in the movement mandates a need to be educated and literate in Black history and culture, something that the Combahee River Collective has explicitly called for. As they argue, â€Å"eliminating racism in the white women’s movement is by definition work for white women to do, but we will continue to speak to and demand accountability on this issue† (CRC: 63). Being a conscientious and fully aware member of this movement involves more than addressing intersectionality and racism within the movement. Feminist theorists need to identify the importance of 1) making the personal political, and subsequently 2) avoiding the harmful and common elision of differences between and within groups. These two ideas cannot happen or be fully achieved without the other. The first step requires a great deal of honesty and self-reflection, which may come with some discomfort and pain, a reason that many individuals may avoid this introspection. As Mari Matsuda argues in her article, â€Å"by claiming, exploring, and questioning my own identity in an explicit way, I seek truth, and I seek to encourage my students to do the same† (Matsuda: 75). Feminist theorists must consider the value of truth and justice over any type of discomfort or personal guilt that blocks the path towards complete liberation for all. Just as honesty is crucial in terms of oppression within the movement, it is also key in recognizing privilege. Matsuda supports this idea: â€Å"I do not know of any other politics of social change that works other than the one that asks people to explore deeply their own location on the axes of power† (Matsuda:  76). Once one has a certain amount of self-awareness and recognizes their privilege, only then can they be able to avoid ignoring intragroup differences. Ergo, the White woman cannot fully understand the complexity & struggle of a Black woman’s experience in the movement if she does not understand her own privilege over the Black woman within the same movement. While intersectionality is quite real in the day-to-day lives of women, feminist theory has typically categorized identity as a limiting either/or dichotomy between â€Å"woman† or â€Å"person of color†, leaving women of color marginalized. In terms of violence against women, Crenshaw argues that this elision of difference is harmful because it is perpetuating the violence by not fully understanding how multiple dimensions of woman’s identity contribute to her experience. For example, in our society ruled by a racist/patriarchal structure and system, battered women of color face poverty and racially discriminatory employment/housing, thus have a much harder time finding shelter and support. The elision of difference can also be harmful because it poses as a threat to solidarity – ignoring intragroup differences simply continue to raise tension between these sub groups and ultimately harms the progress of the movement, which requires everyone to stand with one another. Lastly, feminist theorists must recognize the importance of intersectionality and identity as transcendent issues that go beyond simply theorizing and play a very real role in the lives of women every day. As Crenshaw argues, â€Å"The struggle over incorporating these differences is not a petty or superficial conflict about who gets to sit at the head of the table. In the context of violence, it is sometimes a deadly serious matter of who will survive and who will not† (Crensaw: 89). The commonly shared assumption that battering is a minority problem, for example, exemplifies the issues with ignoring intersectionality/identity. Battering is a human problem, and if a Latina woman cannot get shelter from a husband threatening to kill her multiple times because she can’t prove she is English-proficient, then something is very wrong. These exclusionary policies are inherently oppositional to the goal of human liberation and the women’s movement, and if feminist theorists do not address this, then not only will real change remain absent, but we will continue to lose the lives  of women around the world. These are human beings that deserve to live and exercise their rights; that deserve to celebrate their multi-dimensional identity, instead of suffer from it because feminist theory and societal structure are ignoring them. Feminist theorists, we need you to be honest with yourselves and your privilege. We need you to address the complexity and beauty of every individual, help use these differences to resist against oppression instead of perpetuate it, and ultimately harness and use the full power of group solidarity to truly and genuinely fight for human liberation.