Motivational Methods Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Motivational Methods Paper - Assignment Example However, despite setting up individual rewards, there will be a reward for the whole team if it achieves the set objectives. This will ensure that the team members do not concentrate just on individual performance, an aspect that would affect the overall performance of the team. Team achievements will be celebrated through employee-of-the-month awards. In addition, in some cases, the team will take time off and spend time together outside the work setting (Rigolosi, 2013). During this time, the team will celebrate the achievement of the goals through partying. This will bring the team members together and motivate them to take up the next task. Employees have different grievances that affect their levels of motivation. Constant disagreements demoralize them, an aspect that lowers their performances in the organization. In order to increase their motivation levels, I will introduce the open office policy and various employees’ benefits. The subordinates are a very rich source of information. They are the ones that interact with the patients daily. Therefore, when they are demotivated, they fail to pass the critical information concerning the service delivery to the top managers. Therefore, in order to increase the level of motivation in the team, all team members will be free to meet the top-level managers at any time without the use of intermediaries. This will be an important aspect in ensuring that all issues that might affect the performance of the employees are dealt with before they get out of hand. In addition, personal issues that require unique solutions will be addressed without the information being passed to any third party. This will play a significant role in motivating the employees to work harder towards the success of the organization. On the other hand, team members are constantly disturbed when they are not insured in terms of health. Therefore, the organization will provide insurance benefits to the employees.

A mid summer nights dream Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A mid summer nights dream - Essay Example You will find that the entire plot collapses, in the absence of that simple-looking character; the story has lost most of its punch and strength! What laurels did Puck bring to the play, without being an important member of the team and what are his strengths and weaknesses? The character of Puck in â€Å"A Mid Summer Nights Dream,† is falls into the above category. He is there through the entire plot of drama, as if what they call—from the cradle to the grave and from the womb to the tomb. He doesn’t occupy the front seat in the sequence of characters. Yet, he controls them all with his witticisms and tricks. There is not a single character in the play that is not affected by the tricks of Puck; some of them are ‘injured seriously,’ with the Puck’s humor blow. He hits them hard by the deft handling of the meandering situations/graphs in the drama. In the ‘politics’ of the drama, Puck is an important political worker, who pulls and controls the strings from behind the curtain. He creates confusing situations, but also has the pre-panned solutions. He articulates crisis but knows that every crisis is an opportunity to further the cause of the overall beauty of the drama. The audience falls in love with him instantly. He is perhaps aware, what all complications his pranks are going to create. He is a dynamic spirit, but at times, Puck’s dynamism proves to be destructive. Some of his actions should have invited legal actions—but unfortunately such legal provisions to govern the affairs of love, did no exist during the Shakespearean times! He commits the serious mistake of applying the love potion to Lysander instead of Demetrius, thus causing total confusion amidst the group of lovers. His transforming Bottom’s head into that of an ass is difficult to condone taking into consideration the problem s that it created for Bottom! This

Educating On Sleep Disorders Sleep Apnea Nursing Essay

Educating On Sleep Disorders Sleep Apnea Nursing Essay Sleep disorders in general is a cluster of syndromes characterized by the disturbances in a persons sleep. It is a medical disorder in which the persons quantity, quality, or behaviors in sleep is interfered. This normally results in poor physical, mental and emotional functioning. As sleep is one of the human bodys biological rhythms, it is not startling that there are many different varieties of sleep disorders, each with its own symptoms, causes, and treatments. The symptoms of these sleep disorders must be a persistent problem for an effective diagnosis to be done, persistent enough to cause the patient considerable emotional distress, and also interfere with basic social and occupational functioning as well as daily activities. Besides that, sleep cycles differ with a persons age, in which children and adolescents usually have longer sleep cycle than do older people. Because of this variation, doctors or medical experts always take the patients age into account when detecting a sleep disorder. Sleep disorders are categorized based on its causes. Primary sleep disorders are sleep disorders that are not caused by other external factors. Primary sleep disorders can be further divided into two groups. First, there is the primary sleep disorder in which the person affected suffers from alterations in the quality of their sleep. As an example, the most imperative type is insomnia, which is the difficulty in sleeping that lasts for at least a month. Other examples of include hypersomnia, narcolepsy, and sleep apnea. On the contrary, there are primary sleep disorders in which the behavior of the patient is severely affected. It is also known as disorders of physiological arousal during sleep. Examples of this include nightmares, sleep terror, and somnambulism. Besides the primary sleep disorders, there are three groups of sleep disorders that are linked to substance abuse or other physical or mental disorders. First of all, there are sleep disorders related to men tal disorders. Numerous mental disorders, especially depression, can easily set off sleep disturbances. Next, there are also sleep disorders due to medical conditions. Patients suffering from chronic neurological conditions possibly will develop sleep disorders as well. Lastly, there are substance-induced sleep disorders too. The abuse of alcohol, drugs and caffeine regularly generates sleep disorders. In addition to substance and alcohol abuse, prescription medications can easily affect sleep patterns as well. For the diagnosis of sleep disorders, the history of problems faced by the patient is necessary. These steps are useful starting points during assessment of the problem, and the doctor may also speak to other family members to get more information about the patients symptoms. This is important as the informations obtained are mainly the patients symptoms and behaviors that the patient cannot remember. The treatment for a sleep disorder generally depends on what is causing it. Mainly, the treatment for each sleep disorder is different, ranging from surgery to altering the patients lifestyle. However, there are also several alternative treatments for certain sleep disorders. Among them are meditation practice, yoga, and breathing exercises. Meditation can keep patients from obsessing about sleep or worrying too much about their own sleep disorders. The use of melatonin is extremely common in the treatment of sleep disorders, whereby it is a hormone already present in our body which is secreted by the pineal gland in our brains. These unorthodox methods are always trial and errors, as it does not work for every patient and for every sleep disorder. Last but not least, the prognosis of each sleep disorder depends on the specific disorder itself. The prognosis for sleep disorders that are caused by other external factors relies on the ability to overcome these external factors first. Conversely, the prognosis of primary sleep disorders is affected by several conditions, mostly about the personal life of the patient and the way the patient leads his or her life in the past. Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder which is very serious and is a potentially life-threatening condition. It is far more common than many people think it is as generally patients have absolutely no idea that he or she has it and patients tend to be skeptical when being told that they are diagnosed with it. Generally, sleep apnea is known as a breathing disorder, severely affecting the ability to breathe properly during sleep. Described as brief interruptions of breathing, patients are oblivious of having troubles breathing, even when they are already wide awake, or upon awakening. Sleep apnea is divided into two categories, the first being central sleep apnea and the other one being obstructive sleep apnea. Central sleep apnea, which is atypical, takes place when appropriate brain signals are not sent to set off respirations in breathing muscles. On the other hand, obstructive sleep apnea, which is very often found, is triggered by the inability of air to flow in and out for regular res piration process to persist, despite the fact that attempts to breathe continue. A patient suffering from sleep apnea experiences brief halts in breathing, which is involuntary, and is accompanied by snoring for almost all of the cases reported. However, not everyone who snores suffers from sleep apnea, which is a common misconception among the general masses. The awareness of having the choking feeling in patients is common, and this is mainly due to the irregular process of respiration. As a result, morning headaches have a tendency to trouble patients, as well as excessive feeling of sleepiness during the day, which gives the wrong impression to the general masses that they are either staying up until the wee hours of the morning or that they are nocturnal. This wrong impression given could dampen the hope of graduates looking for a job or would cause employers to wrongly dismiss their employees who are just suffering from this condition. Fatigue is also a common symptom in patie nts, reducing the efficiency in carrying out daily activities by these patients. They experience such excessive fatigue as though as they had just finished a marathon, but in reality sleeping is the only activity that they had accomplished. The detection of sleep apnea has to be as early as possible and it has to be treated accurately because the association of sleep apnea with chronic diseases is very common and this could pose a serious threat to the well being of a patient if left unnoticed. Even though sleep apnea is found to be more distinctive in men, it may be under diagnosed in the other sex. Everybody of all ages may have sleep apnea, which makes it a very common sleep disorder. Usually, those who snore loudly, and are overweight as well, have a higher chance of suffering from sleep apnea. In certain cases, sleep apnea seems to run in the family, generating a possible genetic basis that sleep apnea is passed down from generation to generation. To find the proper treatment for sleep apnea, we must first understand what causes this predicament. In general, mechanical and structural problems in the passage of air flow in a person lead to breathing difficulties which in turn causes sleep apnea. Other factors that cause the passage of air flow in a person to be blocked include the presence of excess amount of tissue, which is mostly found in obese people. While efforts to breathe with a narrowed passage of air flow continue, heavy snoring occurs. Intriguingly, the perso n is clueless that he or she is snoring. On the contrary, taking alcohol increases the frequency of breathing difficulties occurring in people with sleep apnea. On every occurrence of breathing difficulty, our brain responds by reopening the passage of air flow. Once a loud snort or gasp is heard, this signals that the breathing process of the patient has resumed normally. However, frequent occurrence of this event, although necessary, prevents the patient from enjoying a good nights sleep. In most cases, the spouses of patients are the first person to suspect something amiss in their respective partners. Heavy snoring for instance is a cue that something might be wrong with the process of sleeping. Another symptom which can be easily detected by the patients spouse is the apparent struggle to respire. When symptoms of sleep apnea start appearing, it is vital to immediately seek medical attention for a thorough evaluation of the sleep disorder. The process of evaluating a sleep disorder is never simple, as there are many reasons as to why a persons sleep is disturbed. For example, polysomnography is one of the ways to evaluate a person for sleep apnea. Under normal circumstances, these diagnostic tests are carried out in a sleep center, but further advancement in technology in recent times have created the option for patients who opt for the test to be done in the comfort of their homes. The treatment for sleep apnea differs in each patient, whereby a type of treatment only works for certain patients. Thus, special, one of a kind therapy for sleep apnea has to be tailored to the patient based on several factors. For sleep apnea, medications are deemed useless in the treatment of the problem. Furthermore, oxygen administration to patients is very controversial, as results show irregularity in the effectiveness of this method in each patient, some responding positively to it while others respond negatively to it. As an alternative, sleep apnea mouthpiece helps to get rid of this condition in less severe cases or to diminish the degree of discomfort due to sleep apnea. Usually made out of plastic, they are generally dental appliances which prevent any unwanted obstructions in the passage of air flow. This mouthpiece is used at night, or specifically during sleep. Another interesting fact is that it is also utilized by people who snore, not only patients suffering from sleep apnea but also healthy people who just happen to snore when they sleep. As the problem of snoring is solved with this mouthpiece, it is also widely known as the stop snoring mouthpiece. Furthermore, each mouthpiece is specially made by orthodontists for every patient. Hence, the cost of this mouthpiece varies from patient to patient. Until now, the most effective solution to sleep apnea is still the continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment. Because of this, the prescription of the utilization of CPAP treatment a re very often done, both by medical practitioners and the general masses alike who are familiar with this method of treatment. The CPAP treatment is in the form of the usage of a CPAP mask that allows patients to have a good nights sleep, free from any respiration difficulties. As the array of CPAP treatment available in the market nowadays is vast, ranging from CPAP masks to CPAP pillows, it is extremely vital for a patient to undertake researches on what qualities of a CPAP mask that is suitable and is needed by the patient. Moreover, even medical practitioners are inclined to ask their patients to find their own masks for maximum suitability and the best value for their money spent on it. In general, the most common CPAP treatment are the CPAP masks, especially those triangular in shape ones and covers both the patients mouth and nose perfectly with straps around it to hold the mask in place. On another note, there are also dental appliances that act as a solution to sleep apnea. These appliances help in the reposition of the lower jaw and the tongue as well. Uniquely, this distinctive method does not only work for mild sleep apnea patients, but also people who snore when they sleep and are free from sleep apnea. Side effects however, are present for this method. Hence, a visit to the orthodontist is necessary for patients who wish to undergo this method of treatment. For sleep apnea, the last resort for some patients is surgery. With surgery, everyone is aware that there are risks in undergoing it and none of them is completely successful. Those who deem surgery as a risk free method are merely ignorant as more than one surgical procedure is obligatory before the benefits set in. In addition to that, surgery that treats obesity is essential for morbidly obese sleep apnea patients, as obesity is one of the main reasons for sleep apnea to occur. Other than focusing on slee p apnea involving children and adults alike, senior citizens as well are prone to this condition, and alarmingly sleep apnea is under diagnosed in elderly patients as many people deem that senior citizens who snore are very much normal and there is no need for any worry and concern. Due to this erroneous belief, this group of patients has an increased risk to suffer from other health problems related to sleep apnea. Furthermore, they will not be able to enjoy life as much as other healthy senior citizens as sleep apnea results in a poor quality of life, and more so when there is no one being concerned enough to bring these patients to a medical practitioner for a thorough medical test. In addition to that, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children is proven to go hand-in-hand with sleep apnea, creating an indefinite link between the two conditions. Snoring, mainly due to breathing difficulties, causes a child to sleep poorly and this leads to attention problems the following day. This in hand, forms the relationship between both conditions whereby sleep apnea is believed to be one of the main culprits behind children tossing and turning in bed all night long, or ADHD. Sleep apnea in the form of obstructive sleep apnea greatly affects the health of type 2 diabetes patients as well. During obstructed respiration in sleep apnea patients, the glucose control will be harmfully affected, deteriorating the problems of type 2 diabetes faced by the patient. Worse still, poor glucose control in the body leads to even further health complications in the near future. Besides that, cognitive impairment has time after time been associated with sleep apnea, and this is even more distinctive in older women than in other sex or age groups. As with both the associations above, cognitive impairment is also due to the stymied respiration in patients of sleep apnea. The correlation between cognitive impairment and sleep apnea is a positive one, as the latter gets more severe, cognitive impairment worsens as well. Lastly, patients with sleep apnea beyond doubt have an augmented risk of being involved in a road accident. However, what strikes fear in researchers the most is undoubtedly the fact that sleep apnea is much likely under diagnosed, meaning that drivers on the road who are absolutely unaware that they are suffering from sleep apnea and thus, increases the number of road accidents all over the world. This is due to daytime sleepiness in patients, which is also due to respiration difficulties faced by patients during sleep. Therefore, the person driving next to you on the road could be suffering from sleep apnea and accidents could happen anytime and anywhere in this case. As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. Hence, it is always vital to undergo a thorough evaluation to check for any sleep disorders and to cure it as soon as possible. By taking this measure of prevention, less number of cases of road accidents will be reported and fewer lives would be lost unnecessarily. To sum it up concisely, sleep disorders are basically conditions which have a bearing on a persons sleep. In this modern society whereby time is regarded as an extremely important asset to ones life, sleeping is forced to take a backseat in order to give way for personal ambitions and the aspiration to succeed. Thus, sleep disorders start to creep into peoples life, and usually acts like a silent killer to peoples wellbeing as health problems related to sleep disorders occur, causing them to be confused as they are totally oblivious to their own sleep disorder and have an impression that they are perfectly healthy. In sleep apnea, not many people care to worry about it as one of its symptom, which is snoring, is way too commonly seen. As stated before, everyone has the risk of getting sleep apnea, from children to senior citizens of both genders, and like any other conditions or health problems, sleep apnea has its own treatment and therapies. It is only up to every individual to be aware of what sleep apnea is, how it occurs, what are the symptoms related to it, the ways of treating it, and how it affects a persons wellbeing. Hence, if only sleep apnea is as widely known as other health problems such as cancer or high blood pressure, then it will not be under diagnosed anymore and precisely less people would be caught unaware by this condition. Therefore, we should educate ourselves and everyone around us about sleep apnea and sleep disorders in general. As the saying goes, the greatest wealth is health, and for that reason not even a single health condition should be neglected at all for the best interest of everyone.

Eve’s Food Preparation: Art and Experience in Eden :: Research Papers

Eve’s Food Preparation: Art and Experience in Eden The arts of the first couple before the Fall have been extensively written on. It seems that most critics view prelapsarian art as congruous and natural to Eden, as evidence of prelapsarian splendor. Ann Torday Gulden states that art in Eden is socially neutral: â€Å"Surely art is innocuous [in Eden], an integral part of paradisal bliss† (18). Indeed, Eve’s artistic activity makes Eden seem all the more delightful to the reader. However, with a careful examination of how Eve’s art is perceived by the poem’s male characters, it becomes evident that Eve’s aesthetics do not quite fit. It is tempting for the reader, who lives in a â€Å"fallen† world, so unequivocally in favor of artistic culture, to praise Eden for examples of cultural activity within it. However, just about every example of Eve’s artistic activity is characterized by an aloofness from divine discourse. The male authoritative characters of Paradise Lost primarily ignore Eve’s examples of talented artistry, giving neither praise nor disapproval. But while the lack of recognition speaks volumes about her low status, it allows her an expansive autonomy from the divinely recognized modes of Edenic worship and devotion which serve to revere God. If the authoritative male characters regard her creativity as inconsequential, then there is almost no limit to the degree of autonomous creativity she can have within that localized sphere of artistry; no one is watching her or correcting her. The way in which Eve prepares food for the dinner guest, the angel Raphael, is a prime illustration of both Eve’s removal from the divine discourse and her expansion of a cultural, creative realm in which she can act, rather than follow. The first thing to recognize about the scene of Raphael’s arrival to instruct Adam and Eve is that Eve is excluded from proximity to the divine by Adam. To some degree, Adam actually forces her removal. The first one to see Raphael coming is Adam, of course. He says: Haste hither, Eve, and, worth thy sight, behold Eastward among the trees what glorious shape Comes this way moving; seems another morn Risen on mid-noon. Some great behest from Heaven To us perhaps he brings, and will vouchsafe This day to be our guest. But go with speed, And what thy stores contain bring forth, and pour Abundance fit to honour and receive Our heavenly stranger... (5.308) Adam’s language is unquestioning. It is clear that he knows a guest from Heaven is on his way. The speed with which he recognizes that the thing on the horizon is from Heaven shows that he has an intuitive

Research paper about the effects of divorce on children Essay

â€Å"Only acts of war and the events of natural disasters are more harmful to a child’s psyche than the divorce process.† The Newsletter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, 1997 Prior to 1985, divorce was hard to obtain in Canada. However, with the passage of the Divorce Act of 1985, which allowed divorce after one year’s separation, the divorce rate reached an all time high of 3.55 (per 1,000) in 1987 (Campbell, 2000). In 2000, Canada’s population reached 30.7 million. 1.4 million people had divorced as opposed to 14.6 million who remained married (Canadian Stats, 2001). The Canadian divorce rate is 2.46 (per 1000) with an average of 73,000 divorces per year (Campbell, 2000). Research indicates that divorce is a painful transition in the lives of all involved, especially children. Their wounds become more painful and troublesome over time. The impact of divorce steadily increases over the first three decades of children’s lives (Children & Divorce, 2001). And, although the effects of divorce do not necessarily secure the failure of these children as adults, they do make the challenges of growing up even more difficult than they already are. Divorce affects boys and girls in different ways. Adolescent males often become more aggressive and destructive, while females initially cope well (Wendel, 1997) However, in young adulthood, they develop problems. This is known as the â€Å"sleeper effect† (Wendel, 1997). When children of divorce reach their twenties and begin to engage in relationships of their own, some become afraid that they will repeat the failure of their parents (Wendel, 1997). Others develop a distrust of relationships, fearing they will be the ones abandoned or betrayed by their spouse (Wendel, 1997). Moreover, these children tend to get more caught in the cycle of drug and alcohol abuse, become sexually active at a young age, lack academic competence, have difficulty forming romantic relationships later in life, and lastly, feel a deep sense of abandonment and loneliness (Children, 2001). In nearly all cases of divorce, one parent is forced to relocate. This can be a harmful experience for children as they leave behind friends and a  familiar environment. Relocating often leaves the youth lonely and isolated (Children, 2001). Making new friends and adjusting to a new environment is obviously a difficult task, especially when one must cope with a new domestic situation All in all, divorce may have a lasting impact on children as it can cause them several adjustment problems. Research seems to indicate that there is: a higher incidence of adjustment problems among children of divorce compared with those of intact families; a relationship between marital status, predivorce parenting practices, and children’s adjustment to divorce; and, lastly, a variety of different effects of divorce on the adjustment and interpersonal problems of children As children grow older, they will come to terms with the fact that divorce is an adult decision over which they have no control over. Their visions of the traditional nuclear family begin to slowly fade and disappear in early adulthood. In nearly all cases, acceptance is a slow and steady process which requires rational and caring communication between both parents (Wendel, 1997). There is a higher incidence of adjustment problems among children of divorce compared with children in two-parent families (Simons, Lin, Gordon, Conger, Lorenz, 1999). The differences can be explained by loss of family income, parental conflict, psychological adjustment and parenting practices of the custodial parent, and the level of involvement of the noncustodial parent (Simons et al., 1999). Parental divorce increases the chances that a child will have difficulty with school, engage in early sex, suffer depression, commit delinquent acts, and use illicit substances (Simons et al., 1999). Adults who experienced parental divorce as children have poor psychological adjustment, lower socioeconomic attainment, and greater marital instability than adults reared in a nuclear family (Simons et al., 1999). The impact of reduced family income on the adjustment of children of divorce  (COD) may be expressed indirectly through its negative effect on the emotional well-being and quality of parenting of the custodial parent (Simons et al., 1999). The quality of the mother’s parenting mediates much of the association between divorce and child adjustment problems (Simons et al., 1999). This finding holds for both boys and girls. Parental depression and ineffective parenting explain a big portion of the correlation between divorce and internalizing (emotional stress) and externalizing problems (aggressive, delinquent behaviour) (Simons et al., 1999). Marital conflict operates to disrupt quality of parenting, which in turn increases the child’s risk for internal and external problems (Simons et al., 1999). The association between divorce and boy’s externalizing problems can be explained by the quality of the mother’s parenting and of the father’s involvement in parenting (Simons et al., 1999). On the other hand, there are three factors that serve to increase the probability that boys will experience internalizing problems: predivorce parental conflict, mother’s depression, and low quality parenting (Simons et al., 1999). Boys with divorced parents tend to be more depressed than those from two-parent families regardless of the psychological adjustment, level of conflict, or quality of parenting manifested by their parents (Simons et al., 1999). Parental divorce has been shown to be more emotionally disturbing to boys than to girls. Boys continue to show higher rates of depression than boys in nuclear families even when their mothers show positive psychological adjustment and engage in competent parenting (Simons et al., 1999). Compared with fathers in nuclear families, nonresidential fathers are less likely to help their children solve problems, to discuss standards of conduct, or to enforce discipline (Simons et al., 1999). This finding suggests that a divorced father who remains actively involved as a parent may significantly reduce his son’s chances of conduct problems. The quality of the father’s parenting does not mediate the association between parental divorce and girl’s antisocial behaviour (Simons et al.,  1999). Divorce elevates a girl’s risk for depression because it increases the chances that her mother will become depressed, which in turn reduces the quality of her parenting (Simons et al., 1999). Besides quality of mother’s parenting, postdivorce parental conflict serves to mediate the association between divorce and delinquency by girls. Girls appear to respond with less distress than boys and are at no greater risk for depression than girls living in nuclear families if their mothers are able to avoid depression and engage in competent parenting after divorce (Simons et al., 1999). Even after controlling for quality of parenting, predivorce conflict increases the chances of depression in boys whereas postdivorce conflict elevates a girl’s risk for conduct problems. Research findings conclude that the threat of parental loss, rather than parental conflict, may be what is disturbing to a child (Simons et al., 1999). Also, COD are at risk for adjustment problems because their parents are less likely to engage in competent parenting and are more likely to engage in parental conflict than parents who are married to each other (Simons et al., 1999). There is a relationship between marital status, predivorce parenting practices, and children’s adjustment to divorce (Shaw, Emery, Tuer, 1993). Prospective relations of parenting practices indicate that parents of to-be-divorced families with sons show less concern, and higher levels of rejection, economic stress, and parental conflict prior to divorce in comparison to intact families (Shaw et al., 1993). There are no behavioural differences for boys and girls in to-be-divorced versus intact families, but boys tend to have more problems after divorce (Shaw et al., 1993). The difficulties found among boys after divorce may be linked with parenting problems that begin before divorce (Shaw et al., 1993). Both prior to and following divorce, girls from divorced families show fewer consistent differences in terms of psychological adjustment than girls from always-married families (Shaw et al., 1993). Conversely, boys show an increase in problems following the divorce. Their greater vulnerability following divorce is attributed to a host of parental factors following the  parental separation: greater and longer exposure to domestic quarrels; more inconsistency, use of negative sanctions, and opposition from parents; less attendance to son’s needs and less positive parental support (Shaw et al., 1993). For boys, the proportion of variance in behaviour problems explained by divorce falls to a level where differences are no longer significant (Shaw et al., 1993). For girls, predivorce conditions account for variance in their adjustment following divorce (Shaw et al., 1993). Divorce is still significant for them once predivorce behavioural adjustment is taken into account (Shaw et al., 1993). Girls from divorced families may cope with later stressors more successfully, and thereby show a better adjustment in young adulthood, because their divorce experience is of a more controlled nature (Shaw et al., 1993). Boys may respond less favourably because of their increased vulnerability to stress in general, but also because the initial impact of divorce involves a less controlled exposure to stress (Shaw et al., 1993). For most boys, divorce is also associated with the loss of daily contact with the same-sex parent. Though the father’s departure may provide relief from witnessing parental disputes, it comes at the price of losing daily contact with the father (Shaw et al., 1993). Boys who live with mothers following the divorce are at an increased risk for later behaviour difficulties in comparison to boys in father-custody homes (Shaw et al., 1993). Parental conflict, rejection, and a lack of parental concern play a role in differentiating the home environments of boys from to-be-divorced and always-married families (Shaw et al., 1993). Parenting differences in the predivorce home are related to divorced boys’ subsequent greater level of adaption difficulty in young adulthood (Shaw et al., 1993). Lastly, boys from to-be-divorced families come from family environments characterized by greater rejection, economic stress, and less concern than boys from intact families, and, as a result, these same boys have more adjustment problems after the divorce (Shaw et al., 1993). To summarize, relations between predivorce parenting problems and difficulties in children adjustment are  stronger for boys than for girls. There are a variety of different effects of divorce on the adjustment and interpersonal problems of children (Pruett & Pruett, 1999; Bolgar, Zweig, Paris, 1995; Radovanovic, 1993). One effect of divorce is caused by the fact that young children are egocentric. Therefore, they may attribute blame for parental conflict to themselves, resulting in feelings of guilt and low self-esteem (Pruett et al., 1999). For this reason, children from high-conflict families may not learn the social skills (such as negotiation and compromise) necessary to ensure rewarding relationships in childhood and adulthood (Pruett et al., 1999). Another effect of divorce is youth leaving home early to escape from an aversive home environment (Pruett et al., 1999). This pattern may involve curtailing educational plans; it may also involve marriage at an early age to an inappropriate partner, resulting in poor marital quality and an elevated risk of divorce (Pruett et al., 1999). COD suffer problems with control. Since COD have no power to stop their parents from divorcing, a need is created to control relationships which lasts into young adulthood (Bolgar et al., 1995). The need to control extends to non-intimate relationships, such as authority figures. Therefore, COD have difficulties getting along with authority (Bolgar et al., 1995). Adults who experience parental divorce as children, compared with adults raised in intact two-parent homes, have greater psychological problems, lower socio-economic attainment, poorer quality marital relationships, and an increased propensity to divorce (Pruett et al., 1999). High levels of interparental, verbal and physical aggression characterize exchanges between ex-spouses and exert a negative impact on children’s adjustment. Consequently, there is a negative impact of interparental conflict on children’s behaviour and emotional functioning (Radovanovic, 1993). High levels of parental discord are associated with interpersonal problems for young adults (Bolgar et al., 1995). Other antecedents  associated with interpersonal problems are: the mother never remarrying, the mother remarrying more than once, high preseparation parent hostility, and high levels of maternal interference in the relationship of the child with the other parent after the separation (Bolgar et al., 1995). High levels of preseparation parental hostility are associated with young adults’ greater sense of being too controlling in their interpersonal relationships (Bolgar et al., 1995). High or moderate levels of maternal interference in the child’s relationship with the father after separation are associated with greater problems with intimacy (Bolgar et al., 1995). Research findings conclude that in high-conflict families, children have less adjustment problems if their parents divorce (Pruett et al., 1999). Conversely, in low-conflict families, children have less problems if their parents stay together (Pruett et al., 1999). Lastly, children who share a warm, supportive relationship with an emotionally well-adjusted custodial parent practicing fair and firm parenting are likely to do well, despite the presence of interparental conflict (Radovanovic, 1993). Parents need to work together. By doing so, they reduce the anxiety that children experience through their parent’s divorce. No matter how harsh the relationship between ex-spouses, if the two parties work together, the relationship with their child will be a successful one. In conclusion, I think this essay has proven that divorce has a lasting impact on children as it causes them several adjustment problems. Research indicates that there is: a higher incidence of adjustment problems among children of divorce compared with those of intact families; a relationship between marital status, predivorce parenting practices, and children’s adjustment to divorce; and, lastly, a variety of different effects of divorce on the adjustment and interpersonal problems of children. The adjustment problems that COD face compared to those in intact families shows that even after controlling for quality of parenting, predivorce  conflict increases the chances of depression in boys, whereas postdivorce conflict elevates a girl’s risk for conduct problems. Also, COD are at risk for adjustment problems because their parents are less likely to engage in competent parenting and are more likely to engage in parental conflict than parents who are married to each other (Simons et al., 1999). The relationship between marital status, predivorce parenting practices, and children’s adjustment to divorce shows that both prior to and following divorce, girls from divorced families show fewer consistent differences in terms of psychological adjustment than girls from intact families (Shaw et al., 1993). Conversely, boys show an increase in problems following divorce. Their greater vulnerability following divorce is credited to: greater exposure to domestic quarrels; less attendance to son’s needs, and less positive parental support (Shaw et al., 1993). Lastly, a variety of different effects of divorce on the adjustment and interpersonal problems of children shows that high levels of interparental aggression characterize exchanges between ex-spouses and exert a negative impact on children’s adjustment. Consequently, there is a negative impact of interparental conflict on children’s behaviour and emotional functioning (Radovanovic, 1993). Areas of future research: the relationships between the childhood and divorce experiences; the functioning of children of divorce in later adult roles of spouse, parent, and worker; extension of prospective research on children from divorced families to include the investigation of family environment, as well as child adjustment; giving greater attention to what is happening in the family prior to divorce; clarifying the connections between interparental conflict, divorce, and parent-child relationships; defining the processes by which stress, social networks, and coping affect children’s adjustment after parental divorce. The many problems divorce causes children, such as increased adjustment and interpersonal problems, all can be prevented, or at least minimized. We need to find ways that lessen the impact of divorce for children and teach  parents how their divorce causes long-term harm to their children. Preventing destructive forms of parental conflict and promoting a healthy co-parenting relationship are potentially effective means of reducing children’s risk for many of the negative outcomes associated with parental divorce (Shifflett, Cummings, 1999). Things that parents can do to minimize the impact of divorce on children: build their children’s social skills; find a support network; stay, if possible, in the same community as the non-residential parent; disengage if conflict arises; stay optimistic; (Kalter, 1987). Things that children can do to minimize the impact of divorce: keep a resilient temperament; have good social skills – empathy, sense of humour, interpersonal awareness; have a support network of friends and relatives; success at school helps; a supportive relationship with just one parent can minimize the impact of a difficult relationship with the other parent; economic stability is helpful (Kalter, 1987). Children of divorce need to understand that divorce is an issue between two adults, and although the divorce will affect the children, they must understand that they are not the cause of it. The negative impact of divorce is so strong that children of divorced parents struggle as adults to create a positive, healthy family environment for their own children. All too often, adults who experienced divorce as children prove less capable of breaking the cycle and instead pass on a legacy of tragedy to their children and their children’s children (Fagan, 2000).

They Are Made Out of Meat

They’re Made Out of Meat is a short story by Terry Bisson. It consists entirely of dialogue between two characters. The beginning of this dialogue seems to be rather strange and incomprehensible; the characters are speaking about meat and it is difficult to understand what this â€Å"meat† means in this particular context. But gradually the reader begins to tune in, and soon he finds out that they use the word â€Å"meat† to imply human beings. And these two creatures themselves are aliens, sentient beings that are capable of travelling faster than light and their mission is to meet with human beings, to welcome them and to set contacts with them. The fact that they use such words as Orfolei, Weddilei, C space, G445 zone proves that they come from a different planet (from outer space). The speech of the creatures is rather informal. There are a lot of contracted forms, colloquial words and elliptical sentences in their conversation (â€Å"They’re made out of meat. †; â€Å"That’s impossible. †; â€Å"†¦they’re like†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ; †¦crackpots†¦, â€Å"A dream to meat! †). This fact proves that they know each other well and besides they are absorbed in the topic of their conversation and do not pay much attention to their speech. Judging by the dialogue, it is obvious that one of the creatures is better aware of the way people are organized (â€Å"I’m not asking you, I’m telling you. These creatures are the only sentient race in the sector and they’re made out of meat. †). And he tries to explain it to the other one who is skeptical and incredulous (â€Å"That’s impossible. †; â€Å"That’s ridiculous. †; Thinking meat! You’re asking me to believe in thinking meat! †). The situation is really incredible and at first the second creature does not believe in the story, but a bit later accept this theory as true (â€Å"Omigod. You’re serious then. They’re made out of meat. † â€Å"Finally, Yes. †). The story represents a critical glance from outside at humans’ behaviour. The aliens consider human beings to be curious and predictable (â€Å"†¦they’ve been trying to get in touch with us for almost a hundred of their years. †; â€Å"First it wants to talk to us. Then†¦to explore the universe, contact other sentients, swap ideas and information. The usual. â€Å"). Besides people are viewed as inferior creatures (â€Å"†¦but what do you think is on the radio? Meat sounds. You know how when you slap or flap meat it makes a noise? They talk by flapping their meat at each other. â€Å"; â€Å"It seems harsh, but there is a limit. Do we really want to make contact with meat? â€Å"). So, taking into accounts all these points, the aliens decide not to fulfill their initial mission. They come to a conclusion that it is better to ignore â€Å"meat†, erase all the records and mark this sector unoccupied. The thing is that they are sure that they know a lot about humans, but in fact they do not know anything. They consider themselves to be much more superior, they feel themselves to be the centre of gravity. But actually, they are biased and hostile towards human beings just because humans are different. The whole story rolls around the concept of meat. First of all the repetition of this word sets the rhythm. Besides the meat is personified and it makes the story funny and humorous. (â€Å"†¦thinking meat, conscious meat, loving meat, dreaming meat†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). The fact that these creatures are talking like humans also provides humorous effect. (â€Å"Omigod.  Singing meat. This is altogether too much! †). At first it may even seem that they are scientists or researchers, who are discussing a recent experiment or discovery in the sphere of astronomy. The topic of the story is the relation between different creatures, nationalities and civilizations. The author is mocking these two characters because of their hostile and stereotypical attitude towards other creatures and civilizations; and wants to show that it is important to be patient, clarify controversial things and not to be too presumptuous.