Saturday, August 31, 2019

Heuristics Lead to Predictable Biases and Inconsistencies Essay

The human brain is complex, most especially as a specimen for study regarding decision-making and problem solving. The brain uses very precise methods of compression in order to distinguish the most important features of a certain sensory data. Because of human error, these methods are not perfect. Humans obtain large numbers of sensory data a day, even terabytes worth to be more precise. Most of what a person sees within the day gets erased from his memory, yet tiny pieces of data remain. These are converted into symbolic format, which would connect to the person’s experiences once he is in contact with it. When the sensory data gets abstracted it then becomes symbolical to the person and taken from long-term memory, certain biasing effects arise. â€Å"Biases also operate when the symbols are invoked and manipulated for cognitive operations. † The results of these are our belief systems, representation and anchoring. Anchoring refers to the process where people form beliefs around an anchor and every incoming data should relate towards that anchor even though significantly irrelevant. Representation â€Å"occurs when people expect their outputs to resemble the generating process.† Yet representation doesn’t prove efficient and always true, and this is due mainly because of human bias. Representation and anchoring are examples of heuristics. They are more commonly described as â€Å"rules of thumb† which humans use in reasoning in cognitively economical ways. These are inscribed in the human brain, and it is the same for all, as we all have a pair of hands and a pair of eyes. Heuristics started in the late 1960s and early 1970s and devised by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman where they focused their studies on human judgment. Heuristics replaced rational judgment and the algorithmic method where they theorized that judgment in uncertainty rests on a limited number of heuristics rather than other more complicated methods. Heuristics became accepted and spread upon almost all forms of knowledge – economics, medicine, law, psychology and political science. This study was revolutionary in its time because â€Å"it simultaneously questioned the descriptive adequacy of ideal models of judgment and offered a cognitive alternative that explained human error without invoking motivated irrationality. † Kahneman and Tversky’s study revolved around the assumption of â€Å"bounded rationality†. In their study, they have also showed that humans indeed are very limited in processing and are probable to erroneous judgment, they attest to the earlier models of judgment where not fit to humans since they are much simpler than what is really happens in human decision making. After wide acceptance and a moving away from the rational decision-making patterns devised in the past, where humans are thought to always choose the best decision by means of probability, Heuristics is still seen to have inconsistencies and laden with biases. The whole concept of Heuristics gives a structured way of problem solving, taking into consideration human brain function and capacity which inevitably makes the process easier. As compared to the old model of thinking where humans are always seen to know probability and choose the best way based on probability computation, Heuristics give a deeper understanding of the human condition. Some failures of heuristics enter when it is presented with data that is not part of its â€Å"domain of expertise† or what is already previously calculated. Biases are a key error in using heuristics for problem solving. A cognitive bias is defined as â€Å"any of a wide range of observer effects identified in cognitive science and social psychology including very basic statistical, social attribution, and memory errors that are common to all human beings. † Biases that are in direct relation to decision making and problem solving affect scientific methods technically designed to eliminate these exact chances of bias. Biases in Heuristics are difficult to notice for three reasons. First, the human thinking process that is used to judge and assess in problem solving is in itself full of biases. Second, biases are common and widespread that it is difficult to notice and third, the decisions that are made through the use of Heuristics feel good therefore it satisfies the person, regardless if it right or wrong. According to a University of Pennsylvania law school research paper, principal findings in behavioral economics and cognitive psychology through the years have shown in studies that humans â€Å"deviate from ideal precepts of rationality in many settings, showcasing inconsistent judgment in the face of framing and other formal manipulations of the presentation of problems.† In their research paper entitled, â€Å"Heuristics and Biases in Thinking About Tax†, they have suggested that citizens especially in the United States suffer from a wide range of biases in the understanding of the basic features of the tax-law design and reform, like the perceptual biases more studied in the domain of the private markets, like the evaluation of â€Å"risky choice† and consumer finances. The main goal of the paper was to show that in evaluating the tax systems present in the country, citizens are vulnerable and exhibit a wide range of Heuristics and biases, which lead to inconsistent judgment and evaluation. Prevalence of these biases show that there is indeed room for â€Å"skillful† politicians and facile political systems to â€Å"manipulate public opinion, and that tax system design will reflect a certain volatility on account of the possibility of eliciting preference reversals through purely formal rhetorical means. † Due to the inconsistencies and biases of Heuristics, decision theorists have studied this phenomenon more closely. It turned into a respected field, founded by of Kahneman and Tversky, commonly known as â€Å"Heuristics and biases.† Heuristics may work well in problem solving, but can also turn to harmful biases. A few examples of heuristics and biases include Framing, which means viewing a need in the real world as a â€Å"problem† you can work on solving and the counterpart bias is mistaking your view of the problem for the real need. Status quo, a heuristic that implies â€Å"Business as Usual† or â€Å"If it ain’t broke don’t fix it† may incur bias against anything new. Cognitive overconfidence is the same as decisiveness and refusal to be haunted by doubt which may lead to the bias of self-delusion. The Heuristic Prudent Estimation means â€Å"conservative estimates† which may lead to missed opportunities which are especially dangerous in group problem solving. Most likely scenario has the Heuristic explanation of avoiding wasting time on possibilities that probably won’t happen, but the bias is rare events can be the most important. Guessing at patterns implies quickly spotting the trend or the big picture, with a corresponding bias of â€Å"Outguessing randomness† and seeing patterns that doesn’t exist. The last example Recall ability or Availability which implies, if an idea doesn’t fit in with the obvious data, it’s surely suspect. The corresponding bias for this is, non-obvious things can be most important or even most common. These examples of Heuristics are common in everyday life, and these rules of thumb do help in assessing situations such as deals in business, economics, or day to day domestic problems. It is common knowledge that these Heuristics can fail predictably, which are also known as â€Å"hidden traps† when a person succumbs to the counterpart bias. It is already a given that Heuristics bring about inconsistencies and biases, but there are some methods of control. For example, for the Heuristic Framing, advice is to not automatically accept initial framing, strive for objective neutral framing, and challenge other people’s framings. These are remedies to biased formed Heuristics, which will generally help in problem solving, whichever stage of the problem the person is at.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Hunting Snake by Judith Wright Essay

First of all remember that we would never know what exactly the poet is trying to mention and non of the comments can said to be ‘wrong’ Great black snake represents the aborigin people in Australia and the person who gets scared of this snake is an English occupier. The word ‘black’ is simply you can understand that it means black people and snake is a wild animal who lives on their own land but humans are the occupiers and the writer at the same time fears and admires the snake while the snake ‘fled’ which mean the snake is also afraid of the people. As you can understand in present time, English people have started moving to Australia in order to get that place and the aborigins, the original people of Australia is being ignored at the same time we admire them but this admire is so extreme and unnecessary that we make them feel like they’re wild animals. And if you ever go to Australia, you would see that the tour guides would show the local people of Australia, the aborigins with their hands and we would admire them but we will never chat with them or have any talk between as we are scared and this is also the way we treat the wild animals. In the first stanza, we can see a perfect Picture of the atmosphere. The sky is in ‘gentlest’ way despite when the person sees that ‘great’ ‘black’ snake, we can understand that with using the word ‘great’, person admires the snake. But why is the word ‘black’ is used? As you can understand the color black represents darkness which humans fear. Also don’t we talk about racism, the ‘black’ and white people. We treat the black people as the same way, we act like they’re aliens, like they’re different from us and also we show an unnecessary amount of admire which makes them more alienated.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun Essay

In Chapter Five of the book, Attila experienced facing different issues and problems because of the diversity of the numerous tribes (Roberts, 1987). In relation to this, I also have to deal with the conflicting members of a social organization that I belong to. This social organization advocates helping out to the less fortunate members of the society through outreach programs. The members of this organization are composed of diverse individuals with different backgrounds like race and religion. Due to this, it cannot be prevented that internal conflict occurs because of these differences. However, I remember one internal conflict that threatened to put factions among its members. The problem arises because of the various suggestions that the members have for the next project. Some of them want to do a feeding program while others want to invest in a livelihood project. The proposals have its respective pros and cons. Nevertheless, the morale of the organizations is already affected because some members are already talking ill behind each other’s back and they are already taking sides. As a result, the leader of the organization decided to conduct an open forum that allowed every member to express his or her concerns. The problem was solved by the cooperation of the members wherein they find a common ground that will include some parts of both the proposals. Q6. In Chapter Six, Attila emphasizes the characteristics that a leader should have. In line with this, the leader of our social organization also received the proper reward for all his efforts in playing a greater role in keeping the group together. This reward is in the form of the respect that our members give to him. Despite the fact that internal conflicts sometimes emerged in the organization, the members never forget to give due respect to our leader especially when he initiated the open forum that solved a conflict that was about to divide our group. The leader of our organization is indeed an effective leader because he has the characteristics that exemplify Attila’s words of counsel. He always gives importance to his responsibilities and never takes advantage of the privilege that comes with his position. Our leader also put the welfare of the members of the group first before his sake. Furthermore, he does not give importance to his reputation in terms of what other people say about him (Roberts, 1987). The only vital thing for him is that he is doing his responsibilities properly. He believes that by doing what is right will only show those people who speak ill of him that they are wrong. Reference Roberts, W. (1987). Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun. New York: War

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

WorldCom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

WorldCom - Essay Example According to the case, Ebbers and Sullivan were the main controllers and master minds behind the success of WorldCom from the time it was Long Distance Discount Services (LDDS). The mention of this massive success is however overlapped in the case by the accusations of bringing down the company to bankruptcy as a result of massive accounting irregularities, fraud and conspiracy. Once the company started going under and an external auditing firm hired to come and audit it, the recommendations from this audit firm were not taken into action immediately by the auditing committee of the company. The case explains that if immediate actions had been taken to examine the massive accounting irregularities discovered by Cooper (an external auditor), then WorldCom would have been saved from bankruptcy. But this was not to be the case. The board on the other hand had so much faith in Ebbers leadership as CEO and they were also afraid of the implications his withdrawal of his shares and input to the company would have on WorldCom that they continued to lend him loans and at a lower interest rate. These loans given to Ebbers were for his own personal growth and maintenance and they accumulated to over $300 million which was company money but no repayments were forthcoming to benefit the company. Sullivan together with the fraudulent stock broker firm (Salomon Smith Barney brokers) hid the truth of the company’s economic performance from the shareholders and stockholders. According to these two crucial groups of people, the company’s quarterly profits and cash flow earnings was admirable and even more people still refused to sell their shares even when rumors of bankruptcy of the company started being aired. Later discovery was that the CFO was misrepresenting the accounting records without people realizing and this was even worse on the last five quarters before

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Why was Japan so unsuccessful in solving the problem of deflation over Essay

Why was Japan so unsuccessful in solving the problem of deflation over the past decade - Essay Example On 29 December 1989, the Nikkei peaked at 38, 916 after a five year return of 237%. The rate in June of 2008 was at 14, 354 which is a startling 63% lower than the 1989 figure (Harrison 2008). According to the International Monetary Fund (2006), Japan was experiencing recovery from its previous declining position, but by 2009, the International Monetary fund showed recognition that the economic downturn of 2008 had stifled progress and the deflation was still a pervasive issue. As Shown in the graph examples in figure 1, both the real estate market and the stock market have shown steady deflationary trends since 1990. There have been a series of attempts to remedy the problem of deflation in Japan. These attempts include fiscal expansion, reduction of interest rates, Yen depreciation, and finally a zero interest rate program followed by a quantitative expansion program (Greenwood 2010). Unfortunately, these programs have all been ineffective in providing relief from the ongoing deflationary period. Greenwood (2010) states that the lack of recovery is due to poor political and economic leadership, an unwillingness to adopt unorthodox strategies, mistakes at the technical level, and the appearance of a â€Å"balance sheet recession†. An expansionary fiscal policy adopted by a government is marked by measures that are taken in order to create increased economic stabilization through governmental policies intended to create economic stimulus. In 1981, Yasuhiro Nakisone, Prime Minister of Japan, instituted polices that were stringent for the Japanese economy. However, by 1986, Naksone believed that these policies would require some adjustment in order to avert the looming crisis. A private advisory group headed by Bank of Japan Chairman Maekawa Haruo and commissioned by Nakisone submitted a report commonly referred to as the Maekawa Report which states that the Japanese economic policies and

Hello Kitty - Punishments in Pink Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hello Kitty - Punishments in Pink - Essay Example Once he has blazed through the intersection, he resumes normal driving with the assurance that his behavior is accepted, albeit angrily, by society because of his powerful position. The Thailand government, on the other hand, takes it seriously when their police officers attempt to place themselves above the law. In Bangkok, whether an officer breaks traffic laws, litters, or just arrives to work late, they are reprimanded. In previous years, these officers were given plaid armbands to make them stand out against their lawful brethren, but the officers treated the armbands like novelties. When Pongpat Chayaphan, the acting chief of the Crime Suppression Division, realized that these bands were not making an impact, he gave them a makeover. The new armbands are now pink and decorated with hearts and the famous Hello Kitty icon. The Hello Kitty armbands may seem humorous and even sweet and adorable to citizens, but Chayaphan claims that this is their purpose. â€Å"This new twist is e xpected to make [the officers] feel guilt and shame and prevent them from repeating the offense [...]. Kitty is a cute icon for young girls. It’s not something macho police officers want covering their biceps (Mydans 1).† If a little girl squeals with glee at the sight of the armband or if a burly motorcyclist sniggers at it, the police officer is humiliated and his sense of masculinity is dropped down a notch. When this occurs, according to Chayaphan’s reasoning, then the armband is a success. The designs on these armbands are an epitome of young girls and sparkly things, which are the last things that macho police officers want to be associated with. The Hello Kitty armbands of shame have yet to be used by Bangkok police departments. While people might think that their lack of use will never reveal how well they can work, the reality of the situation is quite the opposite. Since the implementation of these pretty armbands, disobedience among police officers has significantly declined. During the months of the short-lived plaid armbands, numerous officers found themselves as the recipients of the laughable attire. When the Hello Kitty armbands were introduced and after the police officers fully comprehended what it would mean to their manly reputations to be caught wearing them, the Bangkok officers got their acts together with lightning speed. Even though they are not being used, the armbands are still proving to be effective. I find this strange and intriguing fact interesting because it reveals pride as a cornerstone to a police officer’s work. There may be some officers that might be willing to wear the armbands out of fun or to get a laugh, but when it comes down to it, anything that threatens a man’s masculinity is simply unacceptable to them. A pink armband with a cartoon kitty and hearts is enough to deter Bangkok police officers from thinking that they are above rules, regulations, and laws. When police officers were faced with fines, possible job termination, or even imprisonment, some would simply pay what was due and then return back to their lawless behavior.

Monday, August 26, 2019

Managing people Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing people - Essay Example 246-250). In this scenario, an important element is to figure out during what time there is more record of absence, since it could be due to more excessive working hours, no offs per week, working extra hours, more work and less encouragement causing employees to feel the motivated and demoralized. It is important for the organization to assess the situation and design strategies to bring back the presence of its employees on a daily basis. And this also brings a lot of responsibility and looks upon the efficiency of the HR human resource management to skillfully design ways to encourage employees to come to work on time daily and be more productive for themselves and the company (Preece, 2010). A few interesting trends that follow absence in employees are as follows: When there is an air of downsizing in any company, related to its economic instability and productivity stress (McPheat, 2011). Surprisingly absentees are more common in youngsters than older employees. Analysis on a we ekly basis there is absence mostly on Fridays and Mondays. Earlier and even organizations are now following the Draconian Policies that just push away the employees and burden them psychologically. Instead if they understand the employee’s needs and follow a flexible off time from work schedule, including sick leaves, casual leaves, vacation such can be very helpful in the reduction of unscheduled days off (cipd.co.uk, 2013). According to a few HR Experts, they say â€Å"If a Company fails to give their workers a sense of their â€Å"Importance and Value to the Organization† such results in less motivation and dedication resulting in absence (Baker-McClearn et al., 2010)† Reputed organization consists of many bases in which management is the primary function at all. Without a tremendously functioning management, no organization can acquire an eminent position. Therefore, management requires several competent and credible employees to attain a good position. As w e find many organizations undoing and the critical problem behind their failure is the absence management (Preece, 2010). Absence management happens mostly due to sickness, unprofessional and immoral employees, and leniency in the policies. The foremost is the lenient policy gives an extra margin to recruits by which they get fearless of being off. Another chief reason of destabilized management highlights lack in the proficiency of the HR team brings immature employees into the company. What can be the effective approaches in the transformation of absence Management? In every state we find a military department as the most powerful and well being, functioning properly and accurately. The prime reason behind their success indicates proper training, maintenance of discipline, and the methodology in each act. They do the entire task with complete dedication without losing concentration on their work. This is the key which every organization has to grasp and implement it on employees b efore giving permit for the job. Therefore, training criteria must be created firm and even tougher than the actual job so it evidently determines the compatible employee. It also enables the organization to accurately evaluate the tendency of personnel rather than to judge credibility during ongoing job. Thus, it is the best approach in reckoning employees practically rather than to do blind trust on employees at

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Managing People Global Context Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Managing People Global Context - Essay Example Two major objective of HRM should be ensuring availability of the competent and developing a willing workforce of the organization (Mondal and Shastri, 2009, p.245). With the rise in competition talent acquisition and retention has become an integral part of the corporate strategy. Organizations now identify human resource as the most valuable asset. This study looks to analyze the Human resource strategy of an organization with respect to some focal points such as workforce, work environment, organizational culture, innovation, and consistency in HR strategy, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Keeping the focal points in mind and after conducting in depth research H & M has been chosen. H & M has been very highly appreciated due its unique and innovative human resource policy. It has also been tagged as a fun place to work and is respected as one of the leading employer brand. This study will focus on the overall HR strategy of H & M with respect to the key focal points mentioned before. H & M is famous for their innovation. Initially they were a single women’s wear store in 1947. Since then they have become a global company providing fashion products for all the family members, and their home, under the variety names of H&M, Monki, COS, Weekday, Cheap Monday, as well as Other Stories and H&M Home. Therefore the employees require having ability to be flexible and adapt to changes probably a lot faster than any other tech. firm. This is where H & M is believed to be different from other firms. H & M doesn’t try to provide any formal learning plan to the employees. Rather they expect the employees to be self- sufficient. Many would be surprised to know that the retail sales force of H & M doesn’t get any formal training on selling. This is certainly unconventional to say the least. For H & M it’s simple. They feel that providing stagnant training can reduce self sufficiency and innovation. On the other hand self owned training and developme nt program

Saturday, August 24, 2019

The Economic Environment of Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

The Economic Environment of Business - Essay Example This paper aims at indentifying the structure in which Ryanair operates while addressing how it has adopted its market strategies to gain entry into new markets. Also the regulatory issues that it has had in regards to the existing market will be discussed. Lastly, the paper will consider the directions it is taking in terms of international expansion, capital acquisition and challenges faced. In order to understanding the airline industry it is important to understand the customers first. The airlines on the other hand are customers to airline manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus (Palmer & Ponsonby 2002). The governments and the global economic structure are the other factors that highly affect the airline business. It is important to appreciate however that despite the industry having many players and obstacles, it is ever growing in terms of companies expanding while others coming up. The airline business has enhanced international trade and investment for many years thereby taking a huge stake in encouraging globalization (Gregory & Marilyn 2004). This means that many other industries in the global economy highly depend on it. The airline industry has been on a steady growth of about 7% for the past decade in respect to expansion moves but not necessarily profitability. However, business and tourism travel hugely increased over the same period owing to the increased l iberalization of the world trade (Nigel et al. 2003). The European tourism market is shifting to Eastern Europe to destinations that were not considered for tourism there before. The IATA predicts that the airline business will grow tremendously by about 5% to 8% in the coming decade having grown at a rate of 5% this past one (Miriam 2010). However, the same body predicts that the industry will generally grow at a lower pace in America and Europe. The basic reason behind this arises from the fact that these respective industries are already fully developed.

Friday, August 23, 2019

Marriage and family Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Marriage and family - Essay Example Indeed, the pain of a bereaved would not heal overnight. It takes a lot of time and courage; some may take months while others wait for years to cope up with their loss. But what is important is to try to look at life on a different perspective, and that means moving on. According to experts, the best way to cope up with grief is to connect with other people; knowing that there are people who understand and care for you may lessen the pain. Oftentimes, when the pain is taking time to heal, it is advisable to go to a therapist; they can help a bereaved surpass intense emotions. In the case of therapists, the challenge is not to â€Å"treat† patients but allow them to let loose of their burdens. For children who lost their parents, the goal is to inculcate in them that moving on does not mean detaching and forgetting rather accepting and starting a new life and commitment in two different worlds. It is also referred by Carol Crandall in her book, In a Time to Grieve: Mediations for Healing after the Death of a Loved One (1994) as "You don't heal from the loss of a loved one because time passes; you heal because of what you do with the time".

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Shakespeares Sonnets Essay Example for Free

Shakespeares Sonnets Essay In this essay I will describe the themes of Shakespeares sonnets, the structure and the imagery in the sonnets. The main themes of the sonnets are love, beauty, mutability and death. The sonnets are almost all constructed from three four-line stanzas and a final couplet composed in iambic pentameter with the rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef gg, this is the structure of most of his sonnets and I will describe the effect of the structure in his sonnets. I will also write about the imagery in the sonnets which is usually revolved around nature, weather and the seasons throughout the year. Shakespeares sonnets are more or less love poems and I will talk about who they might or might not have been for in my essay. Sonnet 18, potrays the youth of marriage, he uses descriptions of nature, and the power and images that they imply, and directly compares them to the power the young man possesses in his youth. In Sonnet 18, Shakespeare shows us that his love will be preserved through his eternal lines of poetry by comparing his love and poetry with a summers day. Shakespeare then uses personification to emphasize these comparisons and make his theme clearer. Shakespeare also uses repetition of single words and ideas throughout the sonnet in order to stress the theme that his love and poetry are eternal, unlike other aspects of the natural world. Using the devices of metaphor, personification and repetition, Shakespeare reveals his theme that the natural world is imperfect while his love is made eternal through his lines of poetry. But thy eternal summer shall not fade,  Nor lose possession of that fair thou owst, Nor shall Death brag thou wandrest in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growst Shakespeare declares that his love is forever lasting and relates his feelings to summer, which is bright, warm and clear. Shakespeare also talks about the beauty of the young man he is writing to and says that he would never lose possession of his beauty. The fact that Shakespeare chose to compare his love to a summers day and not a day of another season helps to emphasize the eternity of his love and his poems. During the summer, the days are longer than in any other season. Shakespeare compares a human life to the summers day when he speaks about thy eternal summer. This emphasizes again Shakespeares idea that his love is eternal, unlike other natural things that age and decay. In Sonnet 73, That time of year, the sonnet clearly describes the imagery of nature, seasons of the year and weather. Shakespeare indicates his feeling that he has not long to live as he describes the time of year as Winter. All the images in this sonnet suggest impending death. The season of Winter reflects that he has not long to live and as nature slowly dies in the Winter, so will he. In the first quatrain, the poet compares himself to autumn leaves, but he is unable to pinpoint their exact number, just as he cannot determine how close he is to death: When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold In the second quatrain, he talks about twilight, which is just before night. This indicates that light is nearly gone and blackness will consume him. Shakespeare is close to death now as he imagines death twice more, first as black night and then as sleep, Deaths second self. He describes himself as a fire going out and he craves for his youth as his ashes smothers it. This thou perceivst, which makes thy love more strong, To love that well which thou must leave ere long. In the couplet, Shakespeare declares his love for his youth and believes he will soon die and never see the young man again. In reading Shakespeares sonnets I found that they were quite interesting and were mainly revolved around love, beauty, nature and time. The stucture remained the same in almost all the poems which emphasized the mood of Shakespeare that there was a fixed path or routine in his life. The imagery in his sonnets was mainly related to nature and the world around him, using nature references to compare his love to youth or the young man he writes about. I think Shakespeares sonnets were enjoyable to read and he potrays his emotions to his readers very clearly.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Victorian Society in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Essay Example for Free

Victorian Society in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Essay The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a Horror story written by Robert Louis Stevenson. The novella explores the divided nature of human personality and Victorian society by telling the story of a respectable gentleman named Dr Jekyll, who devolves into a beast by the name of Mr Hyde. The dominant theme of the novella is the theme of the double. Stevenson explores this in many different ways throughout the novella. Some of the characters in the book turn out to be very different from what they at first appear to be. For instance, Gabriel Utterson has a very rough countenance and looks quite ugly but he is a very nice, respectable gentleman of the novella and he is also a lawyer that helps down-going men. Also, Dr Jekyll, one of the main characters of the book, is very different from what he appeared to be. He becomes the most hideous character of the novella, Mr Hyde. The first time we encounter Mr Hyde, is during Enfields terrible sight of a little girl being trampled over. Stevenson conveys how dark the streets are by focusing on the lamps which can be seen onstreet after street. Stevenson also draws our attention to the emptiness of the streets, emphasising this by using the simile all as empty as a church. Stevenson builds up a sense of mounting fear by adding that Enfield is so frightened that he listens and listens and begins to long for the sight of a policeman. Stevenson uses the character of Mr Hyde because he is everything a monster is. He is the definition of a monster and his appearance is very easy to picture. Mr Hyde is often described using animal imagery. An example of this is when Mr Enfield witnesses first hand a terrible sight of a little girl being trampled over, for the man calmly trampled over the girls body. Elsewhere, in the novella, he is compared to a hissing snake, a snarling dog and an athletic monkey and this reinforces the idea that he is some way sub-human. It is also significant that Hyde is only ever seen in the shadow, darkness or fog because he represents the hidden and mysterious side of mans personality. Stevenson uses language in a way that reveals to us the characters insincerity or sincerity by the way they speak. In the novella, there are many different characters which use their language in different ways. For example, Dr Jekyll speaks in a very indirect, reserved and cagey way of speech. He proves this in chapter three, when he become quite angry and tries to dissuade Utterson from pursuing the topic of his will, You do not understand my position, and this shows that he is reserved and unwilling to express his emotions. Utterson is also reserved and indirect. However Mr Hyde speaks with short simple and direct words like What do you want, this shows that he is very straight-forward, direct and emotional because he is not afraid to show his emotions or tell people what he thinks. Mr Hyde does speak quite aggressively also, which reveals that he is open minded and doesnt think properly before speaking. He is honest and straight to the point because he doesnt mind to tell people his thoughts. In a strange way, then, the villain of the story is more honest than its hypocritical hero. Poole is the lower-classed disreputable character in the novella as he is Dr Jekylls butler. His use of language shows that he is willing to express his emotions. For example, he also uses short direct way of speech. Through the use of different types of speech, Stevenson seems to suggest that the more respectable and self-restrained the person the more insincere and emotionally dishonest they are. In his exploration of the divided personality, Stevenson draws our attention to the divided nature of London in the 1880s. Throughout the novella, we are aware of the fact that the main respectable characters such as Utterson, Enfield, Lanyon and Jekyll all live in and around Cavendish Square. They live in that citadel of medicine, in ancient, handsome houses, which have a great air of wealth and comfort. However, we learn that the shadowy character, Edward Hyde, lives in the less respectable part of London, Soho. We also learn that he lives on a dingy street in villainous, blackguardly Surroundings. Stevenson, then, by connecting Cavendish Square with Soho, connects the rich characters in the book to the poor ones. Towards the end of the Nineteenth century, Soho was one of the least respectable areas of London. Soho was the kind of area where you would find crowded, shabby streets, people of all different nationalities, cheap eating houses, music halls, brothels or criminals making crooked deals. By connecting these two areas, Stevenson seems to be saying that the two are actually inseparable, that the rich cannot exist without the poor, that Jekyll cannot exist without Hyde. The reason that Mr Hyde who lives in Soho is in the novella at the time of dark is to show that his personality is a dark person inside. However, Jekyll and the others that live in and around Cavendish Square are in the novella at the time of light because they are bright characters who appear to be wholly good and removed from evil. Victorian society was highly moralistic and encouraged respectable gentleman to keep their private lives carefully hidden away. Stevenson makes this point by including numerous symbols of privacy and secrecy throughout the novella. For instance, Dr Jekylls laboratory is at the back of his houses which showed no window. This suggests that Dr Jekyll does not want people to know what he does in his own time because the simple reason that Victorian society was too highly moralistic. This kind of secrecy carries on through the novella with other characters as well. For example, Mr Utterson receives a package from Dr Lanyon which he examined in his office. Before opening the package he locks the door of his own office which shows that Utterson is very secretive about his business and does not want to be associated with down going men. The package was then put in a safe so that no one could have seen it. Taken as a whole, these symbols of secrecy reinforce the idea that Victorian gentlemen were compelled to keep their private lives hidden away. I think that the themes of the novel are not relevant now because the society is not so strict and people dont have to cover up their different types of living or their utmost desires.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Target Market Segments Profile Marketing Essay

Target Market Segments Profile Marketing Essay Cadbury is a trade name with a long times past in New Zealand and a loving assurance to make every person believe cheerful. Cadbury  is a  confectionery  company owned by  Kraft Foods. Its main  headquarter is in Dunedin. John Cadbury shaped the business in 1824 on the name of Cadbury. The business started as a shop in a fashionable place. A description of Cadburys and their aims of Cadbury is a worldwide company that makes market and sells exclusive branded chocolate. Cadbury have done this effectively for over 200 years. The cause they are so successful is because they have a comprehensible understanding of the needs of their consumers, customers and other stakeholders Product and services The specific product that will be the focus of this assignment is Cadbury roses. It is considered to be the best confectionary worldwide. It has almost various sorts of flavors shapes and 100% gluten free. Market of Interests Cadbury Confectionery Ltd is the most leading player in chocolate making in New Zealand. The company rebound from unhelpful media interest in 2009 to recover a lost percentage position in assessment allocate during 2010, to account for 52%, production it by far the major participant in chocolate confectionery. (Euro monitor, 2011) Chocolate is known to be the best confectionary for everyone. The first is the upward share that high-cocoa dark chocolate makes up of the likely $350 million to $400m of chocolate each year. (Wikipedia, 2012). Dark Ghana slabs are now Whittakers major supplier, and therefore hold 20% of NZ market share, whereas cocoa Old Gold is Cadburys best ever-growing line mirror rising 70% (Whitakers, 2012) Cadbury is  a confectionery  company that makes 7.3% of the worlds, 27% of the worlds gum, and 7.4% of its chocolate. Australia and New Zealand are the largest markets in the region.   Cadburys foremost chocolate brand name in Australia is Cadbury Dairy Milk and in New Zealand, brand contain Cadbury Dairy Milk. Cadbury has a number one location in New Zealands confectionery marketplace by means of a 47% contribute to. Trends Cadbury is a product of the Dairy Milk brand has reported a 6% increase in profits last year. The sales increased due to better marketing. The marketing budget increased from $87m last year to $120m, which is up 10.8% in respect to sales. Marketing indeed has helped the confectionary company gross a good deal of profit in this global economic storm. (Cadbury, 2012) Cadbury chocolates especially Dairy milk makes use of less cocoa in its production thats why its taste is not bitter and color is not as dark as other chocolates. Mostly the kids and the adults too choose for this chocolate as their sweet dish only because of its superiority. Cadbury is indeed a good example of how marketing strategies can help turn an unfavorable situation in to a favorable one. (Cadbury, 2012) External Environment Impacts Technology Cadburys long traditions of expertise specializes its tastes and texture. In this competitive market of confectionary technologies are improving consumers growing tastes as well as preference. Chocolate creation is a greatly tasteful computer controlled procedure, with a good deal of the new professional technology and equipment individual fashioned to Cadburys own design and requirement. Political Milk chocolate be required to each be 20:20, with a lowest amount of 20% dried out cocoa solids and a lowest amount of 20% milk solids. Dairy Milk is this kind of milk chocolate. (Skillsspace, 2012) The Food Standards Agency is accountable for checking that the rule is uphold for the security of resources that come into get in touch with with foodstuff and labeling. Labels have to hold certain in sequence e.g. the manufactured goods name, the companys name, a list of ingredient, particular storage space directions). company include to make definite they know what the rule is and that they be traditional to it. Two important laws are shown in the graph below: Food Safety Act, 1990 Sale and Supply of Goods Act, 1994 Covers four main areas: Goods must: 1. Labeling 1. Be of a satisfactory quality 2. Additives 2. Fit the description given 3. Composition (or content) 3. Be fit for their purpose as made known to the seller 4. Public health and hygiene. (Source: Skillsspace, 2012) Economics Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate is the leader chocolate in overall New Zealand. It almost holds 47% of New Zealands confectionary market share in todays market. The scale of Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate going Fair trade is massive with more than 5.7 million Fair trade Certified Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate blocks in New Zealand and estimated 350 million Fair trade Certified Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate blocks globally in 2010. (Cadbury, 2012). Cadbury has invest NZ$69 million to revolve Dunedin into a professional factory and protected developed and jobs in New Zealand. In the wake up of growing working and element expenses Cadbury is dropping developed costs so its crop stay at the back sensible at the leave. Social culturesource Today Cadburys have become a company who have a culture, which is concerned in keeping its stakeholders joyful. all along with this and the improvement in technology Cadburys have now lost its wide employee variety and replace it with machinery and at the moment just spend sufficient employees to stay the equipment leaving by individual stakeholder run the company has now become restricted by shareholders who are chiefly concerned in the company creation a wages (123helpme, 2011). Demography Cadbury chocolate targets kids between the age group of 5 to 10. During this age they are more likely to prefer chocolates more than any other confectionary since it is one of the best and satisfies most needs of the kids. Competitors An analysis of the current competition for Cadbury chocolates are centered on the 3 most popular chocolate sold in the New Zealand market today is presented using SWOT analyses. The weakness and strengths of Cadbury Chocolate has been identified as well as the threats and opportunities. Competitors 1 Nestle Henri Nestlà © provide his name to what is at the present the worlds main food and drink business, with over 280,000 workers, 456 factories in 84 countries and sales of extra than $140 billion in 2008. In our region, Nestlà © products have been available since the 1880s and in 1885; around 125 years ago, the company was first register in New Zealand. (Nestle, 2012) SWOT KEY Strengths KEY Weaknesses Competitively priced Unique taste Established target market in New Zealand Few choices of chocolates KEY Opportunities KEY Threats Different flavored chocolates Competition 2 Whittaker Whittakers market a range of 250g block, slab, Santà © bar and chunk in superstore In the molded Block Chocolate market, Whittakers has made a quantum jump in sale and trade sales for the brand name at the end of May 2009 were $17 million with growth of 62.7% near enough sales at the end of May 2010 to $27.6m. This is a market so as to barely grew 12.2% (Aztec Molded Block Market MAT). (Whittaker, 2012) SWOT KEY Strengths KEY Weaknesses Very good quality product Brand loyalty Competitive edge Established target market in New Zealand Existing distribution market Expensive to buy KEY Opportunities KEY Threats More chocolate flavors could be bought out Competition, such as lower priced chocolates New and better quality chocolates may take over the market 3 Kit Kat Kit Kat is also a very known and wanted confectionary in the NZ market today. It normally doesnt comes up in a very large package, and is always attractively packed. SWOT KEY Strengths KEY Weaknesses Good quality product Brand loyalty In business for a number of years Established target market in New Zealand Only chocolate flavor Medium quality Only one color KEY Opportunities KEY Threats Bring more flavors More colors Competition by brands with better quality Cadbury Cadbury Confectionery Ltd is the the majority leading actor in chocolate confectionery in New Zealand. Cadbury is a make with a extended history in New Zealand and a obsessive promise to creation everybody think cheerful. Cadbury  is a  confectionery  company owned by  Kraft Foods. SWOT KEY Strengths KEY Weaknesses High quality product Competitively priced Competitive edge Established target market in New Zealand Existing distribution market Expensive to buy KEY Opportunities KEY Threats Bring out more new flavors, different taste and different colors Competition, such as lower priced chocolates Target Market segments profile Cadbury chocolate targets kids between the age group of 5 to 10. During this age they are more likely to prefer chocolates more than any other confectionary since it is one of the best and satisfies most needs of the kids. by means of customers attractive even additional anxious with healthy drinking Cadburys would be sensible to look into producing a near to the ground obese or fat free chocolate variety. The return of this, at the same time as it, could open a potential marketplace wherever people are attractive additional conscious of strong. (123helpme, 2011) Cadbury the chocolate leader aims to target kids between the age group of 5 to 10 who consume chocolate the most. Though it does not have any specific segmentation targets therefore Cadbury chocolates are eaten by people of all ages, sexes, cultures, educational backgrounds, regions and on all occasions. It is not just for a taste but also people taste it on the celebration occasions. However, there is some differentiation targeting as a variety of Cadbury products are available to cater for the individual needs of different groups of customers. For example, a family block (350g) is available for families. Internal Environment impacts: Financial analysis Cadbury have invest NZ dollar 69 million in the direction of twist Dunedin keen on a professional industrial unit and secure developed and jobs in New Zealand. Cadbury Confectionery today established that the reform of its New Zealand and Australian developed process into specialized Centers of developed fineness is in its last phase. The plan in the beginning announce reverse in September 2007 (by means of a additional message in August year 2008) have by now see asset of $NZ69 million to get better the output, and insecure the extended-phrase chance, of its New Zealand developed operation. (Cadbury.co.nz, 2012) Internal organization and structure Cadbury organization is base on a self-governing organization method decision be complete as a effect of a discussion procedure connecting all members of the organization. Cadbury Schweppes also have two separate structure. The arrangement that they use for their panel of director has be re-calculated to clarify accountability and facilitate swifter pronunciation manufacture (Source: www.cadburyschweppes.com.) look at the better association organization it is obvious to see who is in charge of which division inside the industry. (123Helpme, 2012) Manufacturing/services processes -make your own and explain Firstly the research on how the chocolate would be designed and how it would taste is prepared, ingredients and recipes are added, such as, milk, cocoa, palm oil and other grocery products, then there is the production process, and after the product is ready it is set for packaging. Consumer trials are then taken, modifications are made and finaly the product is launched in the market. Human Resource Each of Cadburys factory contain a HR branch, which treaty with the factories require for. Human resource planning is the process whereby organization agree on the staffing maintain they will need to gather business needs and customer demands. There are a range of consideration that impact this planning, together with approaching retirements and transition, the ease of use of staff with positive skill sets and modification in the atmosphere that may want preparation for existing workers. 5) Management A young man named Richard Hudson arrived in the year 1868 in Dunedin and started a biscuit business, which was a great success. He purchased and operate the primary chocolate and cocoa developed place Southern Hemisphere in the year 1884. R Hudson and Company joined with Cadbury in the year 1930, therefore it be in this year so as to the initial block of Cadbury chocolate made in New Zealand roll off a Dunedin manufacture line. The company became Cadbury Confectionery Ltd in the year 1991 among a lot of of the lollies and sweet re-recognized as Pascall. Cadbury become an element of the Kraft food public on 2nd February 2010. Their heritage continues till date, therefore Cadbury foodstuffs are a huge hit by Kiwis all over the place 6) Research and Development-what have they done doing? They are persistent champion of nonstop development identify new program and insight to profit the trade, considerably causal and influence the way of strategic initiative to influence us to a sustainable spirited benefit. (Itsyourkindofplace, 2011) Marketing Function Cadbury believes that parents and guardians are the most important influence in the development of children. They do not advertise where children under the age of eight years are likely to be the majority of the audience. They also do not believe that its appropriate to sell our confectionery products through vending machines in primary schools and we will not do so. Location Cadbury is a brand with a long history in New Zealand. In New Zealand the main factory is in Dunedin. (Wikipedia, 2012). Competitive Positioning: (euromonitor, 2012) The chart above explains the marketing position of the Cadbury chocolate and its three competitors. Ethical Standing Cadbury is committed to growing responsibly. They consider answerable business comes from listen and knowledge, and have in place a clear CSR vision and policy. Vision Working together to create brands people love. (Sportspromedia, 2010) Cadbury is a leading trade name in fundraising and provide its associates, The House of Fundraising and Interworld Fundraising, with a variety of topmost advertising products from Cadbury. (Cadbury, 2012), therefore they think about CSR as a optimistic supplier to their competitive strategy. Increasingly they think of it as more about doing in charge things valuably than just doing the gainful effects responsibly. Others An additional extremely winning TV campaign that Cadbury has launch in recent times is Moro 4th best which encourage Kiwis to provide it a go and celebrate the runner up as all Kiwis can!

summer :: essays research papers

Gabriela Summer   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When I first started reading Summer I was looking for a typical love story, and I was glad that it didn't sort of turn out that way. In the beginning I was just waiting for something to happen, it was a little boring. However, as I read on the book grew more and more interesting. If I could ask the author a few questions I would ask him why did he want that ending? All of a sudden the happy couple is the two people who hated each other throughout the whole story, and he never mentioned what happened to Charity and Lucius' baby. Also, Why was the book called Summer? Other than the season this book took place in, did it have anything to do with the characters, or the plot?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main character is Charity Royall, she was 'brought down from the mountain' by Mr. Royall, and he has been her guardian and rival ever since. In the story Charity meets a young man, Lucius Harney, who she falls madly in love with. He ends up leaving promising her he will come back and marry her, right before she finds out he is the father to the baby in her womb. However Charity finds out that Lucius is engaged and is about to marry another women so without telling him the truth she tells him to marry her, and she escapes to the mountain where she always thought she belonged. Mr.Royall came for her the next morning after her mother's death, and took her to the city so they could be wed, despite how much she thought she hated him she saw all the good he brought her. Charity learned that true love, could be where she never thought to ever look. She learned that the mountain was no place for her, and she knows why he mother didn't want her to live up there. I lear ned that in order to find true love you need to know someone who will always secure you and be around, not someone who will have another women on the side, and promise to end it for you. Also never get pregnant with a man you're not married to first, to save all the awkwardness from your new husband.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The theme of this story is true love, and summer romance. In my life there is no true love, being that I'm only fourteen, but I know about summer romances.

Monday, August 19, 2019

The Sweetest Thing and Coyote Ugly :: Synthesis Essays

The Sweetest Thing and Coyote Ugly Comedy / Romance movies deal with emotions in a variety of aspects. Overcoming your fears and getting what you want out of life is very important. In the movies The Sweetest Thing, written by Nancy Pimental, and Coyote Ugly, written by Gina Wendkos, both of the main characters are working towards overcoming their greatest fears while making their dreams come true. Even if doing this means making wrong decisions, it always becomes a good learning experience as long as you have friends to rely on. â€Å"First came the rules of love. Now comes the fun.† This quote is the tagline for the movie The Sweetest Thing. Christina Walters, played by Cameron Diaz, doesn’t know commitment. Christina and her friends read the book of love, but are just out to play the field. When she accidentally runs into the man of her dreams she blows him off. When she finally realizes that she is in love with him, Courtney Rockcliffe (Christina Applegate) and Christina take a road trip to get him back. Running into many disasters on the trip they end up walking in on Peter Donahue’s (Thomas Jane) wedding. Incredibly embarrassed, she miserably returns home. After making a complete fool out of herself, she still ends up getting what she wants out of life: A man to be committed to and a man to love. Finally, in the end, Peter realizes that he is in love with Christina. He goes to her apartment to apologize, and after she finally is able to overcome her fear of commitment, she takes him in, and they end up being very happy together. Violet Stanford (Piper Perabo), stared in the movie Coyote Ugly, is a song writer from a small town in New Jersey. She moved to New York to sell her music. She has too much stage fright to perform the songs herself, and is struggling to get her music heard because of her fear. Once her new apartment is broken into and everything is stolen, she is forced to get a job. She finds a bar and is hired to work not knowing what she is getting herself into. The bar is called Coyote Ugly. Five girls work in this bar dancing on the counters and serving drinks. She makes enough money to buy herself new equipment and finally gets some auditions.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

The University Art Gallery Show :: Visual Arts Paintings Art

The University Art Gallery Show Its bright, It's brash it's stimulating. It's Art Express '06! This years show displayed at the University Art gallery, demonstrated the growing interest in contemporary issues and cultural awareness. The Show was set up in separate sections, with similar artworks placed around the same sections of space. There were two glass presentation boxes going along the centre on either side of the room, with three main walls, leading onto smaller walls, presenting the HSC selected works. The set up was cleverly done, as it was very easy to casually walk around and view all the works with out any trouble. As always publicized in each year's art express, it was impossible not to notice the extreme range of different media and forms of works the students used. Ranging from medias like a clothesline to neon lights to print making. You couldn't help but be thrown into the world of the giant splurges of creativity around you; it will make you want to run home and sort through your local tip or bring out the old brushes to whip out something exciting. The term 'Major work is no longer ' used but replaced by 'Body of work'. The difference being before the student only had to complete one work to complete their practical. Now students have to complete a number of works all interrelating between each other. One of the most outstanding body of works shown that I think boldly stood out from the pack was "Mon Inversion Fragmentee (My fragmented inversion)" by Cara Lee, from Kambala. This work explored the social representation of women. 300 black and white photos each depict a close up image of a fragment of the divided female body. The rigidity of each individually hung photo exemplifies the restriction of the female and the extent to which they're boxed by society and social conventions. The strengths of the works this year were that the individual works challenged your way of thought. These students are not afraid to share their opinions to the public. It's become a trend that the general public will find it harder to just view a work and simply decide whether it is aesthetically appealing to them or not, with out also stopping to question the world around them or within themselves. Mon Inversion Fragmentee, Scientific Research; Cell your soul Manipulate and Hidden

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Social structure

Introduction: Culture harmonizes people behavior and at the same time creates barriers between different groups. Donnan and Wilson (1999) have argued that borders of cultures and identities make up the least studied and understood phenomena of international borders and admit that borders are always descriptions since they are illogical constructions based on cultural convention. Similarly, most of the organizations meet the diverse consequences of culture in our modern globalizing world; the cooperation of individuals, groups, and organizations is a vital issue for any social entity and largely depends on their cultural background.Individualism is an attitude that emphasizes the importance of individual over the group identity and collectivism is the opposite tendency that emphasizes the importance of â€Å"we† identity over â€Å"I† identity (Hofstede, 1980). Individualism VS collectivism Just as Western businesses have intensified their efforts to learn from Asian org anizations, so too has there been a rise in research on cross-cultural differences between the two regions. Asian and Western cultures have been distinguished along a variety of characteristics (Cohen & Nisbett, 1994; Triandis, 1994).However, it is the dimension of individualism and collectivism that has received the most attention by psychologists specializing in cross-cultural research. Cultural values of individualism and collectivism differ in their relative emphasis on independence vs. interdependence with one’s group (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). In individualistic cultures, people are viewed as independent and possessing a unique pattern of traits that distinguish them from other people (Markus & Kitayama, 1994).In contrast to such independence and uniqueness, people in collectivistic cultures view the self as inherently interdependent with the group to which they belong. Therefore, whereas people in individualistic cultures often give global and abstract descriptions of themselves (e. g. , I am optimistic), people in collectivistic cultures might ask how they could possibly describe themselves in the absence of information about a particular situation (Bachnik, 1994).To someone from a collectivistic culture, a relatively abstract description of the person can appear artificial because it implies that he or she is the same regardless of context (Cousins, 1989). One of the most important consequences of these divergent views of the self is the degree of conformity that is observed in social settings. A meta-analysis of studies using Asch’s (1956) line judgment task suggested that Asians demonstrated a stronger tendency to conform than Americans (Bond & Smith, 1996). In fact, the very concept of conformity may have different connotations in different cultures.While conformity is often viewed negatively in an individualistic culture, uniqueness can be viewed as a form of deviance and conformity associated with harmony in a more collectivistic cu lture (Kim & Markus, 1999). Because the person’s identity is closely linked to his/her social group in collectivistic cultures, the primary goal of the person is not to maintain independence from others, but to promote the interests of the group (Davidson, Jaccard, Triandis, Morales, & Diaz-Guerrero, 1976). In contrast, most people in individualistic cultures assume that their identity is a direct consequence of their unique traits.Because the norms of individualistic cultures stress being â€Å"true† to one’s self and one’s unique set of needs and desires (Fiske, Kitayama, Markus, & Nisbett, 1998), the person may be encouraged to resist social pressure if it contradicts his/her own values and preferences. Thus, people in individualistic cultures can be expected to be consistent in their views and maintain them in the face of opposition, while people in collectivistic cultures might consider the failure to yield to others as rude and inconsiderate.In coll ectivistic cultures, self-esteem is not derived from characteristic behavior or from calling attention to one’s own unique abilities. There is greater emphasis on meeting a shared standard so as to maintain harmony in one’s relationship to the group (Wink, 1997). People in collectivistic cultures are therefore not motivated to stand out from their group by competitive acts of achievement or even making positive statements about themselves (Kitayama, Markus, & Lieberman, 1995). Instead, there is a tendency toward self improvement motivated by concern for the well being of the larger social group.Whereas members of individualistic cultures strive for special recognition by achieving beyond the norms of the group, collectivists are more motivated to understand the norms for achievement in the particular context so as to meet that standard (Azuma, 1994). Therefore, one might expect groups defined by collectivistic norms to be high in collaboration and achievement of collec tive goals, whereas groups with individualistic norms may have greater variability in performance among its individual members. High context to low context cultures: In today's business relations, it's a small world after all.As more companies turn towards global markets, professionals are finding themselves in foreign locales, wheeling and dealing like never before. However, the key to effective communication between countries is an understanding of each other's culture, especially a working knowledge of how each society conveys meaning. First used by author Edward Hall, the expressions â€Å"high context† and â€Å"low context† are labels denoting inherent cultural differences between societies. High-context and Low-context communication refers to how much speakers rely on things other than words to convey meaning.Hall states that in communication, individuals face many more sensory cues than they are able to fully process. In each culture, members have been supplied with specific â€Å"filters† that allow them to focus only on what society has deemed important. In general, cultures that favour low-context communication will pay more attention to the literal meanings of words than to the context surrounding them. It is important to remember that every individual uses both high-context and low-context communication; it is not simply a matter of choosing one over the other.Often, the types of relationships we have with others and our circumstances will state the extent to which we rely more on literal or implied meanings. Novelist Amy Tan describes the differences in cultural communication this way: â€Å"An American business executive may say, ‘Let's make a deal,' and the Chinese manager may reply, ‘Is your son interested in learning about your widget business? ‘ Each to his or her own purpose, each with his or her own linguistic path. † When individuals from high-context and low-context cultures collaborate, ther e are often difficulties that occur during the exchange of information.These problems can be separated into differences concerning â€Å"direction†, â€Å"quantity† and â€Å"quality. † For example, employees from high-context cultures like China and France share very specific and extensive information with their â€Å"in-group members† (good friends, families, close co-workers, etc). In comparison, low-context cultures like the United States and Germany prefer to limit communication to smaller, more select groups of people, sharing only that information which is necessary. High-Context CommunicationHall states â€Å"Most of the information is either in the physical context or initialized in the person. † ? Knowledge is situational, relational ? Less is verbally explicit or written or formally expressed ? More internalized understandings of what is communicated (ex: â€Å"in-jokes†) ? Often used in long term, well-established relationships   Decisions and activities focus around personal face-to-face communication, ? often around a central, authoritative figure ? Strong awareness of who is accepted/belongs vs. â€Å"outsiders† Association  Relationships depend on trust, build up slowly, and are stable. ? How things get done depends on relationships with people and attention to group process. ? One's identity is rooted in groups (family, culture, work). Interaction ? High use of nonverbal elements; voice tone, facial expression, gestures, and ? Eye movement carry significant parts of conversation. ? Verbal message is indirect; one talks around the point and embellishes it. ? Communication is seen as an art form-a way of engaging someone. ? Disagreement is personalized.One is sensitive to conflict expressed in another's nonverbal communication. Conflict either must be solved before work can progress or must be avoided. Learning ? Multiple sources of information are used. Thinking is deductive, proceeds from ge neral to specific. ? Learning occurs by first observing others as they model or demonstrate and then practicing. ? Groups are preferred for learning and problem solving. ? Accuracy is valued. How well something is learned is important. High context cultures are more common in the eastern nations than in western, and in countries with low racial diversity.Cultures where the group is valued over the individual promote group reliance. High context cultures have a strong sense of tradition and history, and change little over time, such as tribal and native societies. For instance, the French assume that the listener knows everything. Therefore, they may think that Americans think they are stupid because Americans will habitually explain everything to their counterparts. Former president Jimmy Carter understood the importance of high-context communication with his colleagues from Israel and Egypt during the peace talks at Camp David.When Prime Minister Begin was about to leave the unsati sfactory negotiations, Carter presented him with pictures of the three heads of state, with the names of each of Begins grandchildren written on the photographs. The prime minister repeated the names of his grandchildren out loud as he looked at the pictures, reflecting on the importance of the peace negotiations to his grandchildren's futures. Carter recognized that a high-context reference to future generations would induce the prime minister to return to the negotiations. Low Context CommunicationHall states â€Å"The mass of information is vested in the explicit code (message). † ? Rule oriented ? More knowledge is public, external, and accessible. ? Shorter duration of communications ? Knowledge is transferable ? Task-centred. Decisions and activities focus around what needs to be done and the division of responsibilities. Association ? Relationships begin and end quickly. Many people can be inside one's circle; circle's boundary is not clear. ? Things get done by follow ing procedures and paying attention to the goal. ? One's identity is rooted in oneself and one's accomplishments.Social structure is decentralized; responsibility goes further down (is not concentrated at the top). Interaction ? Message is carried more by words than by nonverbal means. ? Verbal message is direct; one spells things out exactly. ? Communication is seen as a way of exchanging information, ideas, and opinions. ? Disagreement is depersonalized. One withdraws from conflict with another and gets on with the task. Focus is on rational solutions, not personal ones. Learning ? One source of information is used to develop knowledge. ? Thinking is inductive, proceeds from specific to general.Focus is on detail. ? Learning occurs by following explicit directions and explanations of others. ? An individual orientation is preferred for learning and problem solving. ? Speed is valued. How efficiently something is learned is important. An individual from a high context culture has t o adapt, and/or be accommodated when shifting to a low context culture. High context cultures expect small close-knit groups, where professional and personal life is interrelated. Therefore, a high context individual is more likely to ask questions than attempt to work out a solution independently.References Brockner, J. (2003). Unpacking country effects: On the need to operationalize the psychological determinants of cross-national differences. Research in organizational behavior, (P 333–367). Flynn, F, & Chatman, J. (2001). Strong cultures and innovation: Oxymoron or opportunity? In S. Cartwright (Ed. ), International handbook of organizational culture and climate. Wink, P. (1997). Beyond ethnic differences: Contextualizing the influence of ethnicity on individualism and collectivism. Journal of Social Issues, (P 329–349).

Friday, August 16, 2019

Candide by Voltaire Essay

Through Candide’s perplexing adventures and enlightening encounters, Voltaire illuminates the numerous diverse cultures of which Europeans consider themselves superior. Yet rather than supporting the foreign practices of cannibalism, bestiality, and the abolishment of priests, Voltaire is ridiculing the Europeans’ own methods of torture in an abusive social hierarchy. Therefore, while freedom of expression and a consensus of the majority constitute faucets of good behavior, the European practice of elitist rule and inequitable punishments is revealed as unjust. This criticism suggests the need for reform by deriving authority from somewhere other than the traditional roles of the royalty, clergy, and nobility, a rather radical move at the time. Voltaire at first reveals the fault of Europeans through his description of the savage land of Oreillon. Upon their dissent from Paraguay, Candide and Cacambo come across two women, completely nude, who cry out and â€Å"spryly† run away from two monkeys who snap â€Å"at their buttocks† (73). Instantly sympathetic, Candide shoots his musket and kills the monkeys, thinking that he has redeemed himself from earlier sins by saving these distressed women. However, to his surprise he discovers that he has just killed the ladies’ lovers. Without questioning the practices of this foreign society, Candide reacts based on his own perceptions of right and wrong. His actions reflect the naivety of Europeans concerning what is thought to be normal based on their own â€Å"superior† culture. As punishment for Candide’s rash actions, the Oreillons attempt to roast the travelers over a spit to eat, justifying this through the proclamations that Candide and Cacambo are Jesuits and thus deserve to die. This behavior is explained by Cacambo as being â€Å"appropriate† because â€Å"if we Europeans do not exercise our right to eat others, it is because we have other ingredients for a good meal† (pg. 74). He recognizes that each society contains its own equally valid practices which cannot be altered or condemned by those who think they are predominant. In addition, Voltaire is not justifying that bestiality and cannibalism constitute a righteous society, but rather satirically commenting on the Europeans own practices, for it would be hypocritical to condemn these practices without evaluating whether the European’s own forms of punishment are just. As the innocent Candide ventures to Eldorado, he is once again introduced to a land unlike that found in contemporary Europe. Upon their arrival, the travelers bewilderingly walk upon pavement made up of rubies, emeralds, and gold and rapture in the delights of a free feast at a common inn. The generous, humble citizens then guide them to an old man and, later, even the approachable king, in order to answer their many questions. Through these communicators they come to realize that the most striking aspects of the village do not constitute its physical features, but rather its ideology. They are told that all men are free, and thus there is no need for the establishment of courts, trials, or prisons. While Candide is quite baffled by these assertions which completely contrast the structured social organization of Europe, he is even more confused by the lack of priests or an enforced religion, upon which he exclaims, â€Å"What! You have no monks who lecture, debate, govern, conspire, and burn people who don’t agree with them?† (79). These seemingly sarcastic remark is a reflection of the binary thinking in which the Europeans have taught their citizens to believe. Candide had always considered the church as an institution which interjects in every aspect of life and constantly ridicules and punishes others while denying the fact that there are other practices and religions besides the order of the church and Catholicism. Voltaire is not suggesting the elimination of priests, which would be a radical idea at the time, but is rather demonstrating a deeper criticism of Europeans who assume that they are superior and must punish all those who defy this idea. Although Oreillon and El Dorado are societies completely unlike that of the Europeans in law and culture, they are seen as portraying decent human behavior because they allow their citizens to express free will and they derive authority from the consent of the masses. For instance, in Oreillon, women are allowed to mate with whomever they please without judgement or persecution from others. This freedom of expression illustrates that the culture seeks to facilitate the happiness of its people. Additionally, when the two monkeys are murdered by Candide, the leaders instantly capture and attempt to punish the travelers, reflecting the society’s dedication to protect its citizens from harm and condemn those who impinge on basic freedoms. While this culture may seem bizarre compared to more civilized nations, the fact that it derives its authority from the people illustrates that bestiality and cannibalism are enforced as appropriate human behaviors so long as there is a general consensus. Similarly, good behavior does not necessarily need to be derived from praise towards the king or daily sacrifices to a church, as portrayed in Eldorado. Unlike in Europe, the king is humble, approachable and genuinely concerned with the welfare of his citizens. For example, the feast the travelers consume at the inn is free because the state is said to assist business, thus revealing that the government is willing to contribute to the success of its people despite their class or wealth. Therefore, despite their practices, these societies emulate good behavior. However, Voltaire forms a critic of the Europeans due to the unjust practices in which they derive and maintain authority. In Candide’s hometown of Westphalia, for example, the naive Candide is exiled from the castle of the Thunder-ten-tronckh because he kissed the Baron’s daughter, Cunegonde. He was unfairly punished because he stepped out of the social hierarchy to which he was born, while Cunegonde was not disciplined for her actions due to her rank. Similarly, in places like Paris, the elites haughtily criticize their fellow man’s creations and do not hesitate to manipulate and greedily conspire against others. When Candide is led into a ploy by the despicable Abbe and arrested even though he had not committed any crimes, he is able to buy his freedom with three diamonds. The officer then exclaims, â€Å"Ah sire, even if you committed every crime imaginable, you’re still the best man in the world† (97). One’s fate depends on the inconsiderate word of the elite, one’s wealth, and the act of bribery. Since Candide had money, he was able to secure his freedom while the majority of peasants who are near penniless would have to suffer. These scenarios represent the unjust rule of the elites over the consensus of the majority. While Voltaire formulates the components of good behavior based on the legitimacy the authority derives from its citizens, he also constitutes bad behavior as punishment without just cause. For instance, when Candide and Martin arrive in Portsmouth, they view the execution of a British Admiral. The Admiral’s crime was explained in that he had stayed too far from the French enemy and that his death would encourage others to fight more fervently during war. This nonsensical behavior represents the paradox of European punishments which reduce war heros to criminals. Another such scene is presented when Candide and Pangloss reach the city of Lisbon in which a haphazard earthquake kills thirty thousand people. Faculty of a university decide that, in order to prevent another earthquake, they must â€Å"roast several persons over a slow fire†¦ They had therefore seized a man from the Basque province who had been convicted of marrying the godmother of his godchild, and two Portuguese men, who when eating a chicken, had removed the bacon seasoning† (52-53). As a manner of electing their sacrifices, they choose those who had committed even questionable offenses, though even those forms of misconduct can be viewed as unsubstantial enough to deserve punishment, much less death. While it is firstly completely unreasonable to attribute a natural phenomenon to personal actions, Voltaire goes so far as to satirically illustrate that this is a commonsense European belief, for both offenses appear inconsequential to the victims’ punishment. Meanwhile, most Europeans would be disgusted with the culture of the Oreillons who engage in cannibalism after enacting a punishment. However, Candide’s death penalty after murdering two of its citizens is a much more equitable offense in terms of its punishment than removing bacon seasoning from chicken, such as in Europe. Furthermore, once a body has been burnt, it seems inconsequential whether it is eaten or not. Voltaire is thus able to portray the irony as well as the unjust nature of European punishments as a bad behavior of society. The figures of the time who would be most notably perturbed by Voltaire’s suggestions constitute the royalty, the nobility, and the clergy. Firstly, for centuries the royalty had uncontestedly derived authority through lineage and from claims to divine right. Candide’s embrace with the King of Eldorado would probably be perceived as strange because the royalty was considered far above the common people in class, stature, and rights, and thus did not need the consent of its citizens to govern. Thus, the monarchy would be opposed to Voltaire’s ideas because they undermine his authority. This is reflected in eighteenth century Europe when the National Assembly made a radical move by sending Louis XVI to the guillotine as a symbol of the growing dissatisfaction of the peasants and workers. Secondly, the nobility consisted of a small number of elites who mainly derived their elevated status from patronage. Voltaire’s view of this social class, at least in Paris, is illustrated in the abode of Marquise de Parolignac, in which these morose intellectuals portray that their sole interests are to spread slander, hypocritically belittle art, and greedily take advantage of Candide’s treasures. Similarly to the monarchy, Voltaire’s proposal that society’s values and laws should be supported by the consensus of the masses was a scandalous assertion because it would undermine the power of the elites and force them to surrender their privilege. Finally, the clergy’s word penetrated all aspects of life in eighteenth century Europe while Religious Orthodoxy formed local allegiances and bound communities together by preaching sacred traditions. However, it can also be said that the institutions of the church hypocritically valued their own self-preservation over educating the masses. Therefore, these religious authorities would not consent in being forced to adhere to stricter laws by having to give proper, legitimate reasons as a means to punish nonbelievers or delinquents of the church. Despite these opponents, Voltaire suggests a need for reform by deriving authority from somewhere other than the norm. Although European society appears far more advanced than that of the savages and more structured than Eldorado, that does not necessarily determine that its laws and people are superior. In fact, Voltaire constitutes good behavior in a society as something that has been consented upon by its people, while bad behavior derives from unjust punishment and the dangerous rule of elites. Voltaire thus forms a critic of Europeans through comparisons to these foreign lands and furthermore questions whether a reformation of authority is a necessary means to benefit society. Source Voltaire. Candide. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1999.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Albert Fish Essay

Introduction Everyone is aware there are different types of murders out there. All of them take people’s lives but how they do it in each category is different. In the case of serial killers they kill three or more individuals spaced out over a period of time. They tend to go through phases which include the killing phase, capture phase, aura phase, totem phase, and the depression phase. The phases do not happen in a specific order and not all serial killers experience all of them. Each individual is different. However, during the aura phase the killer becomes withdrawn from reality and tends to have heightened senses. During the killing phase is when the killer actually takes the victims life and that normally leads to the totem phase. This is when the killer tends to take a memento of the ‘moment’. For example, Albert Fish would take body parts to cook and eat. Serial killers may experience a phase of depression after the initial effects of the kill wears off, which is norma lly why the totem phase takes place (to prolong the experience). There is also the capture phase, which generally takes place prior to killing the victim. During this phase the killer renders the victim helpless in a way in which they cannot escape their captivity (Kitaeff, 2011, p. 102). It is quite complex and disturbing. Let’s move onto a serial killer case that is disturbing and riveting and claimed potentially hundreds of children’s lives. The Case of Albert Hamilton Fish Albert Hamilton Fish seemed to be a harmless man. He was a great father and husband and no one suspected he could be such a monster. He was about 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighed about 130 pounds, and was quite frail in his elderly years. Looking at him there was no way of knowing he could pose such a danger (Bardsley, n.d.). One of his known victims was Gracie Budd. He found her after responding to an ad that her brother had placed looking for a job as a farm hand. Fish went to their residence and claimed to be  Frank Howard. Mr. â€Å"Howard† stated that he would return the next day to pick up the Budd’s son and his best friend to take him back to his farm to begin work. When he returned he stated he had a birthday part to attend and he would like to take Gracie with him, her mother hesitated, but ended up allowing her to go with him. Gracie and the man known to the Budd’s as â€Å"Mr. Howard† were never to be seen again (Bardsley, n.d.). The morning a fter her disappearance her brother, Edward, went to the police to report that his sister was missing. To the families dismay, the address that â€Å"Mr. Howard† had given them did not exist. There were only a few solid clues that would help police locate the mystery man who had last been seen with Gracie. They found the original note he had sent from the Western Union Office so they now had a hand writing sample to use for comparison. It also showed that Mr. Howard had some form of education based of the proper use of grammar and how well his writing was. They also found a location in common with the addresses that he had given the Budd’s: East Harlem (CrimeLibrary, n.d). She was not his first victim though. Just a year before Gracie became one of â€Å"The Gray Man’s† victims a young boy disappeared from the hall of his apartment building where he was playing with a 3 year old and a 12 year old. The older boy went back into the apartment to check on his sister. When he returned both of the Billy’s were gone. The 3 year old was found on the roof and stated that the boogey man had taken Billy Gaffney. His body was never found (Bardsley, n.d.). Gracie and Billy were not the only victims of Albert Fish. He also abducted and murdered Francisis McDonnel in 1924, among numerous other victims (Jenks & Johnson, n.d.). When an investigator spread rumors that he had new evidence on Gracie Budd’s disappearance the Budd’s received a bone chilling letter detailing what had happened to her. He recounted the memories of him arriving at their address on June 3, 1928. He talked about how he had brought them cheese and that he had invited Gracie to the birthday party he had to attend and that her mother allowed her to leave with him. He also stated in the letter that he had her wait outside of the building while he went inside and stripped down naked. He then waved her to come upstairs and he hid in a closet waiting for her to en ter the room. When she did he attacked her, strangled her, and cut her up to take her to his room so he could eat her. He told the Budd’s that it took him nine days to devour her entire body and that he really enjoyed how she  tasted. He told them how she had fought him and that she died a virgin even though he could have taken advantage of her if he had wished too (Jenks & Johnson, n.d.). Edward rushed the letter to the authorities where they didn’t want to believe the letter but the hand writing matched that of â€Å"Mr. Howard’s† on the Western Union letter. â€Å"The envelope had an important clue: a small hexagonal emblem had the letters N.Y.P.C.B.A. which stood for the New York Private Chauffeur’s Benevolent Association (Bardsley, n.d.).† Because of this clue, the president of the association called an emergency meeting and everyone was questioned and had to give a writing sample. No one matched the writing sample they had for  "The Gray Man.† So, the extended the search, they asked if anyone had taken any of the stationary and one man admitted to taking a few envelopes and pieces of stationary that he had left behind at his old rooming address. When they police gave a description of â€Å"Mr. Howard† she was surprised that the description matched perfectly to an older gentleman who had roomed there for a couple of months and had just checked out a few days prior to police arrival. But, to the land lady, he was known as Albert H. Fish. He had asked her to hold a letter for him because he was expected some money from his son who sent him some often (CrimeLibrary, n.d.). Then on December 13, 1934 the land lady called the detective and stated that Fish was at the house. The detective rushed over and when he entered to room asked if he was, in fact, Albert Fish. He was then arrested (Bardsley, n.d.). During his interrogation, Fish confessed to killing Gracie Budd and Billy Gaffney as well as at least 100 more children. Fish told investigators that he had a â€Å"blood thirst† and that’s why he took Gracie even though is intentions were to take her brother, Edwards and his best friend. He intended on taking t hem into the woods, tying them up, and cutting off their genitalia and leaving them to bleed to death. But, when he met Gracie, she is the one that he just had to have. He gave gruesome details, more than he included in the letter, of what he had done to her. He had placed her head on a paint can and proceeded to decapitate her catching most of her blood in the paint can. He cut her to pieces wrapping what he wanted to keep in paper and throwing the rest of a concrete wall of the abandoned building he had killed her in. He told investigators that he was unsure as to why he wanted to kill her and that he had no thoughts of raping her. When they found Gracie’s body he  stood nearby and showed no emotion even though he had told those in the interview that he would have given anything to bring her back after he had killed her (Bardsley, n.d.). Fish had a record with police. He had been arrested at least 6 times and most of them were right around the time that he had kidnapped and killed Gracie Budd. He also spent time in mental institutions as well. He had 6 children, a wife, who left him when his youngest was 3, and took everything (CrimeLibrary, n.d). When Fish’s picture was seen by a motorman who drove a Brooklyn trolley he was identified as being seen with Billy Gaffney on February 27, 1927; which he also confessed to. He described how he had killed the young boy as well as how he prepared his body for a feast. He said he whipped Billy’s naked body until blood ran down his legs (this was to tenderize the meat), cut off his ears and nose, and split his mouth from ear to ear. Once he was dead he stuck a knife in his belly and drank some of his blood. Fish then cut up the body putting what he wanted to keep in a sack and threw the other parts into the murky water near North Beach (Bardsley, n.d.). During the time of the interview with Dr. Wertham, a Psychologist, he came across as â€Å"meek, gentle, benevolent, and polite (Bardsley, n.d.).† In fact the doctor stated â€Å"If you wanted someone to entrust your children to, he would be the one you should choose (Bardsley, n.d.).† Boy, how his appearances were very misleading. According to Wertham, Fish’s attitude in about the ordeal was complete detachment. Fish even stated that he was indifferent on living or dying because he felt that he was never quite right. And felt that he was not insane but that he was never able to understand himself and who he was. His entire family had a serious history of mental issues, which could be part of the reason Dr. Wertham believed he was beyond insane. Fish confided in Dr. Wertham that he had at least 100 more victims than anyone knew about as well as how he would torture himself. He claimed to have stuck needles in his body between his rectum and scrotum. The doctor  was skeptical until an x-ray confirmed what he had told the doctor; needles he pushed in to far were still there. He also stated that he would soak cotton balls in alcohol and stick them in his rectum and set them on fire, he also did this to some of his victims. He told the doctor â€Å"I always had a desire to inflict pain on others and to have others inflict pain on me. I always seemed to enjoy everything that hurts (Bardsley, n.d.).† At the age of 55, Fish began to experience hallucinations and delusions. He seriously believed that his actions were dictated by God himself. God told him that he was supposed to kidnap, mutilate, and kill young boys. His children had witnessed him standing on a hill with his hands raised stating, â€Å"I am God!† They also testified that they had seen him beat his naked body with a board full of nails until his body was covered in blood. These things lead Wertham to believe that Fish was suffering from a religious psychosis. When Fish recounted how he killed and cooked Billy, Dr. Wertham noticed that he spoke matter of factly and that he seems to get some sort of gratification and thrill from what he had done (Anderson, n.d.). His trial only lasted ten days and it took the jury only an hour to return a verdict of guilty. The guilty by reason of insanity did not work and he was sentenced to the electric chair. While Fish was not happy with the verdict (he said God still had more work for him to do), he was intrigued by the fact that he was going to die by an electric chair. He even thanked the judge for granting him this punishment (Anderson, n.d). Psychological Theories According to Dr. Wertham, who testified at the trial, he believed that Fish was legally insane. With his history of mental issues, his hallucinations and delusions, Wertham found Fish to be â€Å"an introverted (concerned with his self and actions rather than others) and extremely infantilistic personality (mentally under developed) (Bardsley, n.d.). Dr. Wertham labeled Fish as having a paranoid psychosis due to his abnormal makeup and because he suffered from delusions and hallucinations that God was giving him commands to conduct the horrendous acts. It was believed that Fish had â€Å"a perverted, a distorted — if you want, an insane — knowledge of right and wrong. His  test was that if it had been wrong he would have been stopped, as Abraham was stopped, by an angel (Bardsley, n.d.).† Psychological Causes of his Crimes Albert Fish was a gruesome serial killer, one that no one will ever be able to understand fully. A serial killer is defined as an individual who commits at least three murders over a spanned period of time. It is believed that having a history of abandonment, abuse, neglect, and domestic violence may play a role in individuals becoming serious killers (Kitaeff, 2011, p. 101). And, contrary to what some believe, serial killers can and normally do lead what we see as normal lives. They have families, are active in the community, and do not keep to themselves. However, they do feel the need to be in complete control and if they do not feel they are they feel helpless and powerless. Fish’s father died when he was young, his mother sent him to an orphanage where he was repeatedly beaten and sexually abused, all of which could have contributed to what he became (Kitaeff, 2011, p. 102). Fish seems to fall into the typologies of visionary and hedonistic. The visionary typology states that offenders are normally psychotic and they tend to see and hear things that tell them to commit their crimes. Hedonistic is when a murder kills for their pleasure and tend to exhibit â€Å"bizarre aspects which defy any degree of rational behavior (Kitaeff, 2011, p. 103). They also tend to be sadistic and brutal, and in Albert’s Fish’s case, he was all of the above. He brutally tortured many of his victims and then he would savor the kill by cooking up body parts to eat them (Bardsley, n.d.). Conclusion It is safe to say that Albert Fish was not all there. However, can it really be proven that he did not know right from wrong? After all, he did begin to kidnap, torture, and kill before he began to have hallucinations. Even after he seemed to have an understanding that what he was doing was night and he was disconnected and didn’t really care if he lived or died. He believed he was doings God’s work but stated that he was unsure as to why he really did the things he did. Maybe his rough past had something to do  with turning him into the monster he become. But, can we ever really know? It truly is a scary thought because many believed he was just an amazing, caring father who was very kind and polite; not the monster he really was. It just goes to show that appearances can be dangerously deceiving. Sources Anderson, S. E. (n.d.). The Crime and Trial of Albert H. Fish: Divine Hunger. Retrieved September 29, 2012 from The African American Experience Web site: http://testaae.greenwood.com/doc_print.aspx?fileID=C8336&chapterID=C8336-618&path=books/greenwood Bardsley, M. (n.d.). Albert Fish. Retrieved September 29, 2012 from TruTV.com Web site: http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/fish/index.html CrimeLibrary.com (n.d.). Albert Hamilton Fish. Retrieved September 29, 2012 from Murderpedia Web site: http://www.murderpedia.org/male.F/f/fish-albert.htm Jenks, A., & Johnson, G. (n.d.). Albert Hamilton Fish. Retrieved September 28, 2012 from Radford University, Psychology Web site: http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Psyc%20405/serial%20killers/Fish,%20Albert%20_2008,%20spring_.pdf Kitaeff, J. (2011). Forensic Psychology. Upper Saddle River, NY: Prentice Hall.