Saturday, November 9, 2019
How Hiphop Has Changed the Youth in Society Essay
Throughout the past 30 years, there has been much speculation about how negative hip-hop music truly is, and how it actually affects the youth. The hip-hop music of recent years has been the foundation of many controversial issues and has been illustrated negatively by the media countless times. Issues such as gun and knife crime which has escalated heavily within younger age groups in the last 15 years, especially in the USA and UK and also drug abuse, the use of marijuana being used openly within the younger generations. Hip-hop has been accused of influencing the youth to become more misogynistic towards women by constantly having explicit content, such as racist and sexist lyrics in their music. Hip-hip has always been stereotypically associated with violence and black crime. Due to this, older generations have always had an antagonistic outlook on the entire hip-hop genre of music. Although hip-hip music is considered negative in the eyes of many people, there is to consider various questions to have a better understanding and point of view on the controversial issue. Today we speak, dress and drive what the stars do. Where we shop and eat even the types of homes we buy is dictated by what we ââ¬Å"hearâ⬠the celebrities are doing. That is a powerful influence over an individual adult but only imagine what type of influence this has over an impressionable pre-teen. Due to the fact that hip-hop/rap music appeals to the thirteen to eighteen year old audiences and the artists performing come from very similar backgrounds of the listeners, rap music is able to control the way that youth think. Teens and pre-teens are using their part-time job pay check to buy grills (a form of jewellery worn in the mouth) and other types of jewellery and even weapons such as knives and guns are seen as metaphorical fashion accessories for the youth, as these things are incorporated into the lyrics of hip-hop and rap music. What is hip-hop music? In order to understand the hip-hop phenomena one must first create a foundation of knowledge through learning its history. Hip-hop began from a mixture of spoken word poetry, jazz drumming, and jazz instrumentations. Hip-hop is one of the most popular genres of music out today and has been steadily growing in popularity since its rise in fame from the late 1970s. With the rise of MTV in the early 1980s, early hip-hop music was constantly being shown with TV shows such as ââ¬ËYo! MTV rapsââ¬â¢ and since then has been known to be one of musicââ¬â¢s most successful art forms and has remained popular to this day. With over forty years of being around, hip-hop has grown and matured and most importantly expanded from its origin of the south Bronx in New York, to worldwide. The genre and sub culture originated in the early 1970s when a Jamaican immigrant by the name of Clive Campbell aka DJ Kool Herc, first hit the scene in the Bronx. Campbell started DJ-ing his own parties, playing soul, funk as well as R&B records on his turntable set. Herc also brought his know how of the sound system and the popular dancehall/block party scene. Graffiti art had also begun to take shape in the subways of Philadelphia in the mid 1960s. A black teenager by the name of Cornbread began tagging the subways in hopes of attracting a girl he had found feelings for; from this form of youth expression came Graffiti. Fab 5 Freddy, one of the original DJs of Hip-hop, began an art from known as scratching and popularized DJing. Hip-hop consists of four elements, ââ¬ËB-boyingââ¬â¢ or also known as break dancing. ââ¬ËDjingââ¬â¢, ââ¬ËEmceeingââ¬â¢, and street art or more commonly known as ââ¬Ëgraffitiââ¬â¢. Djing, also known as the first element of hip-hop began when disc jockeys created beats on two turntables. The way DJs created their beats was simple yet revolutionary in an essence. The DJs would first find a portion of a song that emphasized a percussive pattern, and then looped a portion of the song to form a rhythmic pattern. This procedure is now more commonly known as sampling. With the beat or instrumental now developed, the DJ decided the music needed some accompaniment to the music such as singing or poetry. This procedure is known as rapping or Emceeing. From hip-hop spawned the sub-genre ââ¬ËRapââ¬â¢ in the early 1980s. More and more artists became interested in the new form of music out of New York. In 1981, Rap gained a lot of exposure through popular shows such as 20/20 and Saturday night live. The 1990s saw even more change in the hip-hop industry. Early in the decade, artists fought for permission to sell their albums since most authorities deemed them ââ¬Ëobsceneââ¬â¢ due to the explicit content within the music. A lot which expressed sexual references towards women and talked about the use of drugs. Hip-hop music also spoke strongly about politics and poverty, artists such as Tupac and Public Enemy spoke about such issues. In the 1990s the tension that had been gathering between the west coast ââ¬ËGangstaââ¬â¢ and the East coast artists has exploded and resulted in the shooting deaths of Christopher Wallace and Tupac Shakur. In the present day Hip-Hop is one of the largest and fastest growing sources of capital and has a great influence on its fans. The roles that Hip-Hop and Hip-Hop artist play in America require responsibility, however, many of the performers and labels take none. By using television and other various sorts of visual media Hip-Hop portrays less than positive stereotypes and all but influences the youth to accept these stereotypes as normal behaviour. The detrimental effect that popular Hip-Hop has doesnââ¬â¢t stop at the visual level. Lyrical content in songs have been dumbed down and filled with violence, sex, and drugs. For example the song ââ¬Å"Hate Being Soberâ⬠by Chief Keef condones the use of drugs at all times and gives the impression that it is ok and cool. ââ¬Å"While many Hip-Hop songs contain messages about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, few provide an accurate portrayal of the negative consequences of substance abuseâ⬠Negative accusations and harsh criticism has always been an issue for the hip-hop genre of music. Some of these accusations include how hip-hop influences the youth to become more misogynistic towards women by constantly having explicit content, such as racist and sexist lyrics in their music. Because of this, Hip-hop music has been criticized greatly by the media accusing the music of affecting the youth that sexism and other such forms of oppression are acceptable to society. Although the media has a major impact on how Hip-hop is viewed by the masses, their is some people who view Hip-hop differently. Famous civil rights leader Al Sharpton was asked on what he believed on this particular issue and said, ââ¬Å"The hip-hop culture is just like electricity, it can be used negatively or positively. The same electric current that lights up your house can also electrocute you. It is the misuse of hip-hop culture to attack our women and promote violence. We must encourage the proper use of hip-hop culture. We are all influenced by the hip-hop generation. â⬠(ââ¬Å"Is hip-hop culture,â⬠2000) On a survey done to twenty-five people in the 17- 60 yrs of age range, twenty people know someone that is exposed to the Hip-hop culture and twenty-one of them believed that Hip-hop isnââ¬â¢t a negative art form. In Figures 1, 2, and 3 show the results from the survey done. On Figure 2, it shows that most of the people surveyed do believe that Hip-hop music has the most influence on the youth. Rap music generally depicts the lives and souls of many under privileged youths, citing depression and violence during upbringings. The youth of todayââ¬â¢s society and in the past, take this music as a way of expression, a way of overruling everything they believe is corrupt and in their own way become corrupt themselves by not caring about the rules. Rap music can be transparently seen as a striking negative influence on todayââ¬â¢s youth just by listening to certain songs which praise violence and the use of drugs. Take rapper Wiz Khalifa for instance. This artist is a prime example of being a huge negative influence to todayââ¬â¢s society by the extensive amount of marijuana use, portrayed within his lyrics. The artist mentions marijuana in his songs and speaks about it in a positive way, speaking about the stimulating effects it has on him and almost making the drug sound ââ¬Ëcoolââ¬â¢ to the younger generation, making them think that smoking this drug is cool and acceptable as rapper Wiz Khalifa openly smokes it and mentions it. The number of drug references in rap music has raised six fold since the genre revolutionised pop music. Researchers who analysed the lyrics of hundreds of songs say rap has been transformed from one which warned against the dangers of drug abuse to one that routinely glorifies it. And because many of the references are coded, many parents are unaware what their children are listening to.
Thursday, November 7, 2019
Punctuation with Attribution
Punctuation with Attribution Punctuation with Attribution Punctuation with Attribution By Mark Nichol An attribution is a phrase that describes who said or wrote something. It is stated parenthetically before, in the midst of, or after a statement or question (it is basically an introductory phrase that can be located elsewhere than at the head of a sentence), but writers often erroneously omit a comma required to help frame the attribution. The following sentences illustrate variations in this type of error, and discussion and revision following each one explains and demonstrates correct treatment. 1. In the future, Smith says she looks forward to having her team work more with data analytics. Without a comma after says to correspond to the one following future, this sentence appears to awkwardly state that it is known in the present that in the future Smith will say that she looks forward to having her team work with more data analytics. But ââ¬Å"Smith saysâ⬠is an attribution, so the phrase should be bracketed by a pair of commas: ââ¬Å"In the future, Smith says, she looks forward to having her team work more with data analytics.â⬠2. As rooftop solar panels become more common, company executives say they need new products that will distinguish the business from its many competitors. The error in this sentence is not as obvious as the one in the previous example. However, the implication here is that the company executives are making a statement at the same time as rooftop solar panels become more common. This may be technically accurate, but itââ¬â¢s not the point of the sentence. ââ¬Å"Company executives sayâ⬠interrupts the sentence to identify the source of the statement: ââ¬Å"As rooftop solar panels become more common, company executives say, they need new products that will distinguish the business from its many competitors.â⬠3. There are about 365.25 days in a year according to NASA. Because of the lack of internal punctuation in this sentence, it appears to quantify the number of days in a specific typed of year- one that is according to NASA. An attribution, regardless of whether it precedes, interrupts, or follows a statement, should be set off from that statement. If the attribution appears at the head or tail of the sentence, however, only one comma is necessary to set it off from the main clause: ââ¬Å"There are about 365.25 days in a year, according to NASA.â⬠Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Great Opening Lines to Inspire the Start of Your Story"Have" vs "Having" in Certain Expressions10 Tips for Clean, Clear Writing
Monday, November 4, 2019
Evolution of Distance Education Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words
Evolution of Distance Education - Research Paper Example Reports on the same reveal it to have practiced this method of education for over 20 years. The advancement of the current technology has resulted to intensification of this practice in majority of institutions in the US. The WVU has implemented online learning sessions for delivering special education. Since the time before, mediation of the distance between students, institutions together with the respective instructors have been determined by the most current technology utilized. Therefore, this script is of profound significance, as it would efficiently describe the evolution of distance education by presenting a research plan (Ludlow & Duff, 2009). Statement of the research problem This study aims at the identification of how distance education has evolved since its initiation. A number of sources addresses the same issue but from dissimilar perspectives. The application of distance education has been exploited in different parts of the globe, and this brings about the noted var iations. It is in noting the extent to which this form of education has evolved that identifying those factors necessary for such an occurrence would be easier. This study aims to reveal strategies that those involved ought to implement in enhancing efficacy required in this form of service delivery. The less developed and developing countries are deficient of the most current technology that is decidedly in use by the already developed states. These nations, especially those from Africa will be able to learn the concepts to adopt in order to initiate the distance education program. Therefore, the research question is; does enhancement in technology contribute towards the evolution of distance education? Review of the related literature The augmentation in the current technology has allowed WVU to utilize the technology aided distance education. According to a research conducted by numerous scholars, such a university has practiced distance education for more than two decades since 1980s (Ludlow & Duff, 2009). As this university initiated this process, it only endeavored to experiment whether it could work. However, their experimental attempts have resulted to the current expansive development in the use of this concept. The WVU distance education deals with offering programs on special education. The careful review of the literature designates an increase in the fraction of those enrolling in these programs each year. Additionally, it also depicts a rise in those completing such a program each academic year. During the introduction of this concept in the university, the majority of the participants were from within, but currently the participants emanate from all over the US. Moreover, the technology advancement has enabled individuals from all over the globe to participate in the distance learning activity. Literature indicates that the broadcast television; the most complicated technology of the day was used during the introduction of distance education pro grams. The development of courses that could be made available to students via the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) is what resulted to utilization of the television (Huett et al., 2008). After these students completing the syllabus, they sat for assignments later submitted for marking via the mail. The initial use of satellite for education purposes encountered numerous challenges. For instance,
Saturday, November 2, 2019
Organisational behaviour assessment at Abercrombie & Fitch Assignment
Organisational behaviour assessment at Abercrombie & Fitch - Assignment Example This paper illustrates how the business functions as a multi-national organisation depend on the inter-connections between sales and marketing, in-store sales representatives, and premium pricing policies. Using the McKinsey 7-S model as the appropriate example, A&F centres its entire strategic business strategy on the shared values that drive the organisation, these being youth and beauty, with all other aspects built around the culture of youth, vanity and beauty. Its strategy, structure, systems, skills, staff, and style are built around these core values. The shared values that drive the organisational culture at Abercrombie & Fitch are related to sex appeal and youth lifestyle. All of the storeââ¬â¢s branded merchandise is focused on these aspects as well as the visual catalogue marketing depicting young and attractive models in order to gain attention from its desired youth target markets. Offers the CEO of A&F: ââ¬Å"We go after the cool kids. A lot of people donââ¬â¢t belong in our clothes and they canââ¬â¢t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutelyâ⬠. This phrase from the executive level indicates the importance of the culture of exclusivity that resides at this youth-oriented business, thus all elements of business development are centred around maintaining this appearance to the general consuming public. The goal of A&F is to reinforce that only certain types of customers belong to its branded merchandise variety and this is apparent in the training provided to its staff as well as how the business markets its brand name across the world. One of its competitors is Victoriaââ¬â¢s Secret, a high-volume lingerie company (Talley, 2008), which further reinforces the level of culture that resides at the organisation. ââ¬Å"Great companies rely heavily on their cultures to support development and growthâ⬠(Want, 2009, p.10). This is absolutely true with Abercrombie & Fitch as in order to ensure that strategy is linked with the culture, all of the in-store representatives must maintain this air of youth and exclusivity in order to justify its higher-than-average pricing policies and ensure customer loyalty against all other similar retail competition. Its most effective strategy is the development of the storeââ¬â¢s sales catalogue which accounts for 45.2 percent of growth in sales (A&F, 2009, p.9). The catalogue, depicting youth actors with fit and svelte bodies provides the strategic sales medium that continues to appeal to individuals who find identity through Abercrombie & Fitch branded merchandise. ââ¬Å"Strategic management is based on the belief that an organisation should constantly monitor internal and external events and trends so that timely changes can be made as neededâ⬠(Aluko, Odugbesan, Gbadamosi & Osuagwu, 2004, p.56). Abercrombie faces two dilemmas, however, in identifying appropriate strategy. First, the business receives positive sentiment and higher sales growth from its
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Lawrence Heights Youth Gun Violence Research Paper
Lawrence Heights Youth Gun Violence - Research Paper Example The theme of both the essays deal with the psychological and emotional aspects of soldiers involved in war and both try to emphasize on the grueling effects that war could bring upon the soldiers. Apart from the theme, there are quite a few similarities in the ideas discussed in these two essays and they are detailed below. An account of The Things They Carried Oââ¬â¢Brien, the author of this essay, tries to bring out the emotional burden that the soldiers carry during war, through the space of opportunities created by the explanation of physical things carried by these soldiers. The mirage of fantasy that confounds their consciousness by feeding them misconceptions of reality is clearly described by the author through the character of Jimmy Cross. Cross accuses himself for the death of his team member Lavender, because, he was the person who failed to protect him in that grave hour. At that time, Cross was completely swept off from his feet by fantasy thoughts about his love, Mar tha and his doubts over whether she is virgin or not. If this story is considered to be a description of war between love and war, then the death of Lavender clearly signifies the victory of war over love. (Oââ¬â¢Brien, 2009) Oââ¬â¢Brien brings out the cynical nature of war through the depressive attitude shown by Cross after Lavenderââ¬â¢s death. Through the description of those thoughts, the author also tries to indicate the fact that most of the people who were involved in war were young and youthful ââ¬â people who should have experienced the joyous life of college, in their age. Instead, the emotional guilt and coward thought haunts them in every second of their life. However, the author ends up the essay on a positive intent by elucidating the thoughts of Cross who tries to erase the memories of his girlfriend by burning her pictures and decides to believe that, to lead is better than to love. Overall, Oââ¬â¢Brien effectively persuades the reader to think deep and relate directly to the effects felt by the burden these soldiers carried day in and day out. (Oââ¬â¢Brien, 2009) The Ecstasy of War and its Similarities Barbara Ehrenreich tries to distinguish the two needs of war ââ¬â the material advantages and psychological dominance through this essay. Although she excludes discussing about the former need, she presents a critical thought and analysis of how the psychological impact presides itself in every humanââ¬â¢s mind. The first similarity between the two essays is how the two authors present the emotional struggle that every person faces while going to war. Barbara here presents those points with the description of how people go to the level of committing suicide to avoid the struggles they have to face in war. The second similarity is in how Barbara expresses the experiences that a youthful person could have in leading a normal life rather than fighting in war. According to her, boys become men ready to face society only th rough their experiences with social interactions but the soldiers who are completely devoid of such experiences are bound to fear and feel emotionally stressed. Third similarity comes in the idea of inhumanness in approaching. As Cross chooses to lead leaving his love, Barbara also emphasizes on people leaving out all kinds of common human emotions and fight in the war like an animal, confronting everyone with
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Japanese Economic Nationalism Essay Example for Free
Japanese Economic Nationalism Essay Economic nationalism refers to the use of policies that are guided by the idea of protecting domestic consumption, labor, and capital formation, even when these policies require the imposition of tariffs in addition to other restrictions on the movement of labor, goods, and capital. In many cases, economic nationalism is opposed to globalization or unrestricted free trade. Economic nationalism could include doctrines such as protectionism and import substitution (Economic Nationalism, 2007). What is more, Japan is a master in the use of policies that define economic nationalism (Hall). To other nations around the world, Japanese economic nationalism appears as self-seeking behavior. Besides, this self-serving attitude of Japan can drive other nations also to feel particularly touchy about their own national interests with respect to Japan. Thus, Patrick J. Buchanan (1995) speaks for the American people: With the collapse of U. S. Japan trade talks, the hour of the economic nationalist may be at hand. In British Columbia, U. S. demands that Japan open her markets to more American autos and parts were rudely rebuffed. Japans top negotiator virtually dared us to impose sanctions. We will haul you up before the World Trade Organization. Tokyo warns; and there we will have you branded a violator of the free trade principles you so noisily preach ââ¬â before an international tribunal you yourselves set up. Angry Clintonites intend to impose 100 percent tariffs on $6 billion of Japans exports. This JAPANESE ECONOMIC NATIONALISM Page # 2 doesnt even qualify as a spanking. Americans are in a mood for action; and the GOP should demand more serious sanctions. Enough is enough. In 1953, we had 60 percent of Japans auto market; by 1960, our share had been slashed to 1 percent. That is all we have now. Since 1970, Japan has purchased 400,000 U. S. cars, while selling us 40 million. Nationalism is emotion arousing. And, Luke S. Roberts (1998) seems to know about the subconscious roots of economic nationalism in the Japanese mind. According to the author, these roots lie in an eighteenth century concept of political economy referred to as ââ¬Å"kokuekiâ⬠or ââ¬Å"national prosperity. â⬠The concept of kokueki was articulated in Tosa, which was one of more than 230 Japanese domains that made up Japan during the Tokugawa period. The domains were autonomous with regards to internal administration. Nevertheless, they were often expected to sacrifice their own economic interests to meet obligations and services required by the shogun and his government. During a period of economic crises in the first half of the eighteenth century, Tosa was compelled to adopt mercantilist policies in order to protect its own wellbeing. The concept of kokueki was at the heart of these policies. In this way, Tosa looked upon itself as a nation instead of holding itself responsible for the economic wellbeing for all Japanese domains under the shogun (Roberts). By pursuing the interests of the domain instead of those of the entire government and the shogun, Tosa acted as a model for the rest of the Japanese domains who too began to look upon JAPANESE ECONOMIC NATIONALISM Page # 3 self-interest as a lucrative attitude. Tosa had thus prepared the ground for the overthrow of the shogunââ¬â¢s government. Eventually, the domain along with few others like itself engineered the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate in the year 1868. Furthermore, Tosa and partners extended the concept of kokueki from their domains to the entire country. This provided the new Meiji government with a model for the establishment of a nationally organized political economy (Roberts). Economic nationalism has worked for Japan for many years, and there is no law on earth against it (Hall). Even so, Buchanan (2006) complains about it once again: ââ¬Å"China and Japan manipulate their currencies and tax polices to promote exports, cut imports and run trade surpluses at Americas expense. â⬠Besides putting financial pressure on Japan, in the name of tariffs, America seems to have a less burdensome and more reasonable way to convince Japan to move toward liberalization. Tariffs are, of course, burdensome also for American consumers who love Japanese cars. The United States can convince Japan to move toward liberalization more easily by the use of reason, that is, by expressing the fact that economic nationalism did the nation no good when it was time for the Asian crises of the 1990s. Prior to Japanââ¬â¢s prolonged doldrums at the time, its economic nationalism was looked upon as its formula for success. But this changed when Japan saw that all of the nations that followed its formula were in crises during the 1990s (Hall). International support was the need of the hour. And so, Japan should have realized that nationalist economic policies have no place in an age of economic globalization (Hall). The fact that Japan did not see economical nationalism as the real problem, is the cause of Buchananââ¬â¢s JAPANESE ECONOMIC NATIONALISM Page # 4 complaint. All the same, the author may discover that in order to see the changes that he wants to see through in the Japanese economic policies ââ¬â it is best to appeal to Japanese reason, and put the facts before the country before another crisis occurs. After all, economic nationalism is to the mainframe computer as globalization and internalization are to the Japanese PC!
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Three ways that stress is conceptualised by psychologists
Three ways that stress is conceptualised by psychologists Researchers define stress as a physical, mental, or emotional response to events that cause bodily or mental tension. Therefore, stress is a disruptive condition that occurs in response to internal or external environments and affects the body or mind. Depending on the stressors and the types of events being dealt with, stress can manifest itself physically, emotionally or mentally. Physical stress occurs when the body starts to suffer resulting from stressful situation and symptoms show in a range of ways and vary in their seriousness. Emotional stress is a response by the mind when affected by things like anxiety, anger, depression, irritability, frustration or over-reaction to everyday problems. Psychological stress result when an individual is exposed to long-term stress and the symptoms may include withdrawal from society, phobias, compulsive behaviours, eating disorders and night terrors. The concept of stress has been viewed in different ways: An internal body response nonspecific response of the body to any demand made upon it. This is a state of psychological and physical tension produced when there is a mismatch between the perceived demands of a situation and an individuals perceived ability to cope. This leads to either adaptive or maladaptive state of tension. An external stimuli This is an event that triggers the stress response as it throws the body out of balance and forces it to respond. It can be a life event or a set of circumstances that arouses physiologic reactions that may increase an individuals vulnerability to illness. A transaction includes a set of cognitive, affective and adaptive (coping) responses that arise out of person environment transaction. People perceive threats to their well-being which they may be unable to meet. There are several ways in which the term stress is conceptualised by psychologists: The general adaptation syndrome (GAS) Hans Selye (1936, 1950) conducted a research on stress. He reported that the rats that he was experimenting on showed physiological changes that were directly related to the injections they received during the experiments, but what was actually being injected was less important than the fact that they were being injected. The rats were then exposed to harmful agents like cold, surgical injury, excessive exercise, severing the spinal cord or doses of drugs. A typical syndrome appeared and the same symptoms appeared in response to all of the stimuli including (over time), development of stomach ulcers. He argued that stress can be adaptive in the short term because it enables one to cope with environment demands (fight or flight) but long term stress can be damaging. This led him to make the statement that stress is the non-specific response of the body to any demand. Selye noticed that rats and hospital patients all seemed to show a similar pattern of bodily response which he called General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), because it represented the bodys attempt to cope in an adaptive way with stress. He argued that GAS consisted of three stages; alarm reaction, resistance and exhaustion. After alarm reaction, the individual adapts and returns to normal functioning but after prolonged stress exhaustion occurs which can lead to development of stress-related illnesses. Alarm reaction stage: This stage deals with acute stressors and involves part of the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The activity in sympathetic adrenal medullary system (SAM) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis (HPA) increases. This is controlled by electrical impulses through nerves. Selye however emphasized the role of HPA in his account and argued that the alarm reaction develops 6-48 hours after stress and includes muscular tone loss, drop in body temperature and decrease in liver and spleen size. Resistance stage: In this stage the body adapts to the demands of the environment. As it proceeds however, the parasympathetic nervous system requires more careful use of body resources in order to cope. This stage is initially marked by an increase in the size of the adrenal glands and a decrease in some pituitary activity like the production of growth hormone. If the stress is not too much then the body returns to a near-normal state. Exhaustion stage: If the stress is prolonged, the physiological systems used in alarm reaction and resistance stage become ineffective and the initial symptoms like increased heart rate, and sweating re-appear. In extreme cases, the damaged adrenal cortex leads to failure of the parasympathetic system and collapse of the bodys immune system leading to likelihood of stress related diseases like high blood pressure, asthma and heart disease. Selyes research identified major components of stress response and he alerted medicine to the importance of stress and disease. Previous researchers had not properly appreciated the damaging effects of prolonged exposure to stress. There are limitations with this research however, as Selye did not pay much attention to SAM system, and he did not understand fully the relationship between HPA and SAM systems. He also exaggerated when he stated that stress always produces the same physiological pattern. Selye has been criticised for using animals to support his research on human responses to stress. He also assumed that people respond in a passive way to stress but Mason (1975) argued that there is an active process of psychological appraisal when people confront a stressor. Workplace stress Marmot et al.s (1997) study aimed to investigate the negative correlation between job control and stress-related illness in male and female civil servants. It was assumed that job control is negatively correlated with stress-related illnesses. 10,308 civil servants between 35 and 55 years were investigated over three years and job control was measured through self-report survey and independent assessment by personnel managers. Job control was assessed on two occasions, three years apart and records of stress related illnesses kept and then a correlational analysis carried out. It was found out that those with low jobs control were four times likely to die of heart attack than those with high job control. They were also more likely to suffer from other stress-related disorders. On both occasions that job control was measured, the findings were consistent and there was a considerable association even after other factors like job demands, social support employment grade and risk factors for coronary heart disease had been accounted for. As indicated by the number of stress-related illnesses, it shows that low job control is associated with high stress. As the job control decreases, the illness increases, that is, there is an opposite social gradient in stress-related illness (negatively correlated). This however does not fully support the job-strain model because it does not show that high demand is linked to illness and the jobs performed by those high and low in job control also differed in several ways other than simply control. The self-report method is vulnerable to investigator effects and participant reactivity bias and also weaknesses of the correlational method mean that there is no control over job control as a variable and this makes interpretation difficult as the cause and effect cannot be inferred. Personality factors, including Type A behaviour Friedman and Rosemans (1974) carried out a study to test if there was any association between Type A behaviour and Coronary heart disease (CHD). They wanted to test their observations as cardiologists that their patients displayed a common behaviour pattern consisting of impatience, competitiveness and hostility. Around 3200 healthy men of 39-59 years from California were selected and assessed over 8 Ã ½ years. They were interviewed, observed and personality type and current health status assessed. There was a follow-up 8 years later when CHD was recorded and a correlation analysis was carried out. 257 participants of the original sample of 3200 had developed CHD during the 8 Ã ½ years 70% of whom had been classified as type A, nearly twice as many as Type Bs. This remained the same even when other factors associated with heart disease like smoking, obesity and blood pressure were taken into account. This research shows that the Type A behaviour pattern is linked to CHD and they concluded that this pattern increases the individuals experience of stress which increases physiological reactivity hence high vulnerability to CHD. The high levels of stress hormones indicate that Type A person experience more stress than Type B. The evidence has successfully been applied for example Friedman, Tordoff and Ramirez (1986) reported on the Recurrent Coronary Prevention project which aimed to modify type A behaviour and so reduce CHD in participants who had experienced a heart attack. This study has a limitation however, in that it was an experimental study and so the cause and effect cannot be established; other studies have failed to show the link between Type A and CHD. It has also proved fairly difficult to repeat the findings of Friedman and Rosenman (1974). All the above three areas show that there is a direct link between stress and illness. Stress affects people through cognitive and behavioural which lead to physiology of stress in the body hence weakened immune system and likelihood of illnesses.
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