Reaction Paper Sample

Reaction Paper #4: The Prince and the Pauper Monica Sharma I read The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain and enjoyed reading about a wealthy prince name Edward Tudor and a pauper name Tom Canty trading lives with each other and experiencing how it is like to live a life that is totally opposite from what they are used to. It really made me depressed to read the part, â€Å"Drunkenness, riot and brawling were the order, there, every night and nearly all night long. Broken heads were as common as hunger in that place. Yet little Tom was not unhappy. He had a hard time of it, but did not know it.It was the sort of time that all the Offal Court boys had, therefore he supposed it was the correct and comfortable thing. When he came home empty-handed at night, he knew his father would curse him and thrash him first, and that when he was done the awful grandmother would do it all over again and improve on it; and that away in the night his starving mother would slip to him stealthily with any miserable scrap or crust she had been able to save for him by going hungry herself, notwithstanding she was often caught in that sort of treason and soundly beaten for it by her husband. No child should have to go through that sort of violence and abuse, and most children who do usually ends up becoming traumatized and disturbed. After reading that part, it made me want to jump into the book and take Tom away from that horrid place. However, it was interesting to read about how despite the environment Tom was brought up in, Tom was still happy with his life. This made me think, â€Å"How could you be happy with a life where your family abuses you and you’re forced to beg on the streets all day?! Tom even managed to obtain a proper education in his hometown since Father Andrew would always teach Tom â€Å"the right ways† and how to read and write in Latin. The part, â€Å"His head grew to be full of these wonderful things, and many a night as he lay in the dark on his scant and offensive straw, tired, hungry, smarting from a thrashing, he unleashed his imagination and soon forgot his aches and pains in delicious picturings to himself of the charmed life of a petted prince in a regal palace.One desire came in time to haunt him day and night: it was to see a real prince, with his own eyes,† showed me how Tom’s imagination served as an escape from the harsh reality he lives in. Not only that, but Tom’s imagination on becoming a prince makes Tom try to possess the qualities that a prince must always have, such as intelligence and etiquette. Because of this, it makes it easy for Tom to become mistaken as the real prince and blend in gradually.Tom’s daydreaming also causes him to wander through the streets which leads him to his encounter with the prince and their exchange of clothes. I found it funny that just because the prince and the pauper changes clothes, they are treated based on the type of clothes they are weari ng. For example, Tom is treated like a prince because he is wearing royal clothing and Edward, who is the real prince, becomes the pauper and gets treated like one when the guard of the palace sees Edward wearing Tom's rags and throws him out of the palace harshly and into the midst of a rowdy crowd. †¦ the soldier fetched him a sounding box on the ear that sent him whirling to the roadway, and said: â€Å"Take that, thou beggars’ spawn, for what thou got’st me from his Highness! † The crowd roared with laughter. The prince picked himself out of the mud, and made fiercely at the sentry, shouting: â€Å"I am the Prince of Wales, my person is sacred; and thou shalt hang for laying thy hand upon me! † The soldier brought his halberd to a present-arms and said mockingly: â€Å"I salute your gracious Highness. Then angrily, â€Å"Be off, thou crazy rubbish! † I realized that this brought exaggeration to Mark Twain’s quote who stated that â €Å"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society,† since when the two boys exchange clothes, the prince quickly became the pauper and was treated like one because of the rags he was wearing and the pauper became the prince and was treated like royalty because of the wealthy clothes he was wearing.This also symbolizes the fact that a person from a wealthy background is no different from a person that comes from a poor background since the two boys are easily mistaken to be each other despite their differences. I thought this was weird at first but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me. Tom and Edward both have the same height, weight, skin color and similar facial features, and even though they are two different people with two different backgrounds, they were able to easily switch places with each other.If they hadn’t had similar appearances, or if Tom wasn’t intelligent and able to learn how to become a real king , the plot of the story would have been completely different. This meant that the characters in the book had to have certain characteristics in order to fit the plot Twain created. I loved reading the ending of the novel since it was a happy ending (and who doesn’t like a good happy ending? ). In the end, when Edward returns to his rightful place in the throne, you can tell that his experience of living as a pauper affected him greatly.He becomes a great king who is merciful with his people and makes it a priority to get rid of injustice laws. Also, Edward finds all the people who helped when he was a pauper, such as the lawyer from prison and the judge who was nice to him even though he was wrongfully accused of stealing, and rewards them to show his appreciation of their kindness. However, to all the people who mistreated him and their power, he gives them harsh punishment. Everyone finally gets what they truly deserve in the end, yay! 🙂 Reaction Paper Sample Reaction Paper #4: The Prince and the Pauper Monica Sharma I read The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain and enjoyed reading about a wealthy prince name Edward Tudor and a pauper name Tom Canty trading lives with each other and experiencing how it is like to live a life that is totally opposite from what they are used to. It really made me depressed to read the part, â€Å"Drunkenness, riot and brawling were the order, there, every night and nearly all night long. Broken heads were as common as hunger in that place. Yet little Tom was not unhappy. He had a hard time of it, but did not know it.It was the sort of time that all the Offal Court boys had, therefore he supposed it was the correct and comfortable thing. When he came home empty-handed at night, he knew his father would curse him and thrash him first, and that when he was done the awful grandmother would do it all over again and improve on it; and that away in the night his starving mother would slip to him stealthily with any miserable scrap or crust she had been able to save for him by going hungry herself, notwithstanding she was often caught in that sort of treason and soundly beaten for it by her husband. No child should have to go through that sort of violence and abuse, and most children who do usually ends up becoming traumatized and disturbed. After reading that part, it made me want to jump into the book and take Tom away from that horrid place. However, it was interesting to read about how despite the environment Tom was brought up in, Tom was still happy with his life. This made me think, â€Å"How could you be happy with a life where your family abuses you and you’re forced to beg on the streets all day?! Tom even managed to obtain a proper education in his hometown since Father Andrew would always teach Tom â€Å"the right ways† and how to read and write in Latin. The part, â€Å"His head grew to be full of these wonderful things, and many a night as he lay in the dark on his scant and offensive straw, tired, hungry, smarting from a thrashing, he unleashed his imagination and soon forgot his aches and pains in delicious picturings to himself of the charmed life of a petted prince in a regal palace.One desire came in time to haunt him day and night: it was to see a real prince, with his own eyes,† showed me how Tom’s imagination served as an escape from the harsh reality he lives in. Not only that, but Tom’s imagination on becoming a prince makes Tom try to possess the qualities that a prince must always have, such as intelligence and etiquette. Because of this, it makes it easy for Tom to become mistaken as the real prince and blend in gradually.Tom’s daydreaming also causes him to wander through the streets which leads him to his encounter with the prince and their exchange of clothes. I found it funny that just because the prince and the pauper changes clothes, they are treated based on the type of clothes they are weari ng. For example, Tom is treated like a prince because he is wearing royal clothing and Edward, who is the real prince, becomes the pauper and gets treated like one when the guard of the palace sees Edward wearing Tom's rags and throws him out of the palace harshly and into the midst of a rowdy crowd. †¦ the soldier fetched him a sounding box on the ear that sent him whirling to the roadway, and said: â€Å"Take that, thou beggars’ spawn, for what thou got’st me from his Highness! † The crowd roared with laughter. The prince picked himself out of the mud, and made fiercely at the sentry, shouting: â€Å"I am the Prince of Wales, my person is sacred; and thou shalt hang for laying thy hand upon me! † The soldier brought his halberd to a present-arms and said mockingly: â€Å"I salute your gracious Highness. Then angrily, â€Å"Be off, thou crazy rubbish! † I realized that this brought exaggeration to Mark Twain’s quote who stated that â €Å"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society,† since when the two boys exchange clothes, the prince quickly became the pauper and was treated like one because of the rags he was wearing and the pauper became the prince and was treated like royalty because of the wealthy clothes he was wearing.This also symbolizes the fact that a person from a wealthy background is no different from a person that comes from a poor background since the two boys are easily mistaken to be each other despite their differences. I thought this was weird at first but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me. Tom and Edward both have the same height, weight, skin color and similar facial features, and even though they are two different people with two different backgrounds, they were able to easily switch places with each other.If they hadn’t had similar appearances, or if Tom wasn’t intelligent and able to learn how to become a real king , the plot of the story would have been completely different. This meant that the characters in the book had to have certain characteristics in order to fit the plot Twain created. I loved reading the ending of the novel since it was a happy ending (and who doesn’t like a good happy ending? ). In the end, when Edward returns to his rightful place in the throne, you can tell that his experience of living as a pauper affected him greatly.He becomes a great king who is merciful with his people and makes it a priority to get rid of injustice laws. Also, Edward finds all the people who helped when he was a pauper, such as the lawyer from prison and the judge who was nice to him even though he was wrongfully accused of stealing, and rewards them to show his appreciation of their kindness. However, to all the people who mistreated him and their power, he gives them harsh punishment. Everyone finally gets what they truly deserve in the end, yay! 🙂

Psychology of Sexuality

Since the dawn of mankind, sexuality has played an enormous role in the complex social behaviors exhibited by our incredibly unique species. Sex contributes not only to reproduction, but also to relationships between people, cultural norms, and mental health. There are many important factors that contribute to sexuality; one of the most important factors is sex differentiation.We can take this even further and look at reproductive anatomy and the differences between the male and female reproductive systems. Thus, this paper discusses the history of sex, male and female reproductive anatomy and physiology, and finally human sex differentiation. The history of sex is interesting especially because of the controversy over the length of the time span from whence it was recorded. John Gagnon argues that it was really the turn of the 19th century when sex research emerged.While many (if not all) of Sigmund Freud’s theories have been disproved by this point in time, he did hit on man y major ideas about sexuality and was one of the first people to really think and talk publicly about it, as well as Havelock Ellis. Freudian theories were extremely influential in shaping future theories and research, even throughout the late 20th century. Another important player was Alfred Kinsey, who built upon previous researchers and made note of the social changes around the 1950s, in turn affecting policy, general attitudes towards sex, and future research.Winston Ehrmann agreed that the history of sexuality is quite a short field in his work â€Å"Some Knowns and Unknowns in Research into Human Sex Behavior,† arguing that and while there has been documentation about sexual behavior throughout history, a more scientific approach to sex only really begun since the late 19th Century. However, I would contest that it’s a distinction based more on a social construct of what constitutes a scientific study in Western society.For example, ancient Indian literature of the Kama Sutra can be said to have treated sex as a science, giving practical advice about sex as well as showing the various positions in detailed paintings. There is also detailed historical evidence of homosexual behavior among men in Ancient Greece. While Ehrmann may not have considered these sources scientific, I would argue that for their respective time periods, they were as scientific as could be expected. In fact, we can’t really judge whether something was â€Å"scientific† since what we consider scientific in a modern Western sense may be completely different from their nderstanding of scientific back in the days of Ancient India or Greece. For a perspective of the history of sexuality from around the globe, we go back further in time and look at eighteenth century England, as well as ancient African Bushmen. Hera Cook writes an article â€Å"Sexuality and Contraception in Modern England: Doing the History of Reproductive Sexuality† in which she argue s that historians have ignored reproduction as a factor relevant to and influencing sexual mores and change. Pregnancy, and the resulting child, is not only a physical demand and economic cost, but a health risk.Effective contraception was not available and alternative sexual practices were not acceptable substitutes for vaginal intercourse. While I agree with most of her arguments, I would contest her claim that many historians dismiss reproduction as a factor of changes in sexuality. In fact, the next article â€Å"The Century of Sex: Gender, Bodies, and Sexuality in the Long Eighteenth Century† by Karen Harvey discusses sexuality in England during the 1700s and does consider the effects of reproduction.Harvey argues that prior to the Eighteenth century, men and women were â€Å"placed on a vertical, hierarchical axis, in which their bodies were seen as two comparable variants of one kind† in a sort of â€Å"one-sex model† based on the four humors of different qualities – cold and moist, which dominated women, and hot and dry, which dominated men (Harvey, 2002, p. 901). Furthermore, they thought of sex organs as simply the reverse of one another; a vagina was like an inside-out penis, the labia corresponded to the foreskin, etc.However, towards the eighteenth century, there was a shift in the understanding of bodies towards a two-sex model. Anatomical differences were stressed and their bodies were regarded as qualitatively distinct. While previously the female orgasm was previously thought to have importance for conception, it was ultimately deemed unnecessary. Women were reimagined from â€Å"lascivious and lustful creatures† to having no sexual needs whatsoever (Harvey, 2002, p. 903). Homosexuality was highly frowned upon and considered perverse and sodomy.On the other hand, a certain ancient African Bushmen tribe had a much more egalitarian view on sexual behavior and gender differences. Marc Epprecht discusses the hist ory of the zvidoma, the orginal inhabitants of Zimbabwe in his book â€Å"Hungochani: The History of a Dissident Sexuality in Southern Africa. † Epprecht notes that these ancient Bushmen were hunters and gatherers using Stone Age weapons and tools comprising a classless communitarian society with no concept of individual ownership or property. Decisions were made by group consensus, and this included females; uncommon for that time.While there was a clear gender division of labour, the zvidoma were closer to egalitarian than any other culture in ancient African history. Not only did they traditionally marry monogamously, but women could divorce relatively easily and retain rights to sexual autonomy. Depictions of women’s genitals in cave paintings suggest â€Å"a source of vital, mystical energy at least on par with men’s† (Epprecht, 2004, p. 25). Because of their limited geographical area as well as their method of hunting and gathering, they had to be c areful to avoid overpopulation.During times of hunger, they practiced sexual restraint and possibly infanticide. Furthermore, there is a rock painting at least 2000 years old depicting three males engaged in anal intercourse as well as two male couples, one embracing face to face and the other also engaging in anal sex with an overly large emphasized erect penis. There are not many paintings depicting sexual practice, but the relative scarcity of ones depicting homosexual practices as well as paintings with heterosexual sex suggest they were equally commonplace.While the history of sexuality gives us a good basis on which to study the psychology of sexuality, some would argue this basis is biased toward differentiation. Merry Wiesner-Hanks argues that women’s and gender history over the last few decades has spent too much time on divergence, making more and more complex categories of difference over sexual orientation, marital status, able-bodiedness, gender relations, etc. H owever, I argue that it is necessary to study these differences in order to properly ascertain similarities and relations between the sexes.First and foremost we will discuss the biological and anatomical differences between the genders, then later human sex differentiation in a broader, more psychological and social construct. Historically, fixing sexual types became popular in the eighteenth century, according to Londa Schiebinger in â€Å"The anatomy of difference: race and sex in eighteenth-century science. † It was a great age of classification. Just as natural historians flooded Europe with new strange flora and fauna from the New World, new cultures were being discovered in America.Thus they sought new and simple principles that would hold universally, and tried to define the genders. This set the stage for genders to be divided in an evolutionary context. Judith Lipton and David Barash posit in â€Å"Gender Gap: The Biology of Male-Female Differences,† that bio logical differences between men and women have a strong and direct correlation with evolution. They argue that we can look to other species to learn more about ourselves. Just as scientists look at E. Coli to study the replication of DNA, we can look at other living creatures and see our sex differences mirrored there within.However, Katarina Hamberg challenges that argument. She thinks that using sex differences seen in biological experiments on animals to explain gender differences in humans is ridiculous. I agree with her that this is completely unscientific. Gender differences as well as gender itself varies greatly between species. In fact, in many species the female is bigger than the male. Furthermore, she is often stronger and will sometimes consume the male after sex in order to give strength to her developing babies, as with many arachnids and some insects.Therefore we can hardly compare studies on animals to human sex differences, though we can certainly look at the diffe rences and ponder the implications. Hamberg also argues that throughout history, biological arguments have been used in order to legitimize a social gender order characterized by male supremacy. This is more problematic, for while men are physically stronger and bigger than women, they are certainly not more intelligent nor are they naturally more disposed to leadership. In fact, some studies have shown that women possess more of the skills necessary to lead well and do better academically.The male and female orgasms are an important biological distinction in a reproductive, evolutionary, and social context. In â€Å"Why Women Have Orgasms: An Evolutionary Analysis† by David Puts, Khytam Dawood and Lisa Welling, the evolutionary adaptation of the female orgasm and its purpose is discussed. There are two possible likely hypotheses; firstly the mate-choice hypothesis which holds that female orgasm has â€Å"evolved to function in mate selection† and secondly the byproduc t hypothesis which asserts that the female orgasm in fact has no evolutionary purpose and rather exists because women and men share early ontogeny with men.They found the first hypothesis to be more likely, which seems the case to me as well. Another article â€Å"Women Who Prefer Longer Penises Are More Likely to Have Vaginal Orgasms (but Not Clitoral Orgasms)† discussed vaginal versus clitoral orgasms and the evolutionary implications. Their method was to have over three hundred women report in an online survey; however, people may not always be truthful in surveys, especially those discussing sensitive matters like sex, therein lies a possible problem with their study.They were able to find a positive association between likelihood of orgasm with a longer penis and vaginal orgasm frequency. Finally â€Å"Human Sperm Competition† discussed the concept of sperm competition, the competitive process between spermatozoa of two or more different males to fertilize an egg of a lone female. They were looking into the claim that sperm competition has an effect on mate selection in humans. This study also involved the use of a survey with approximately 400 men and women. The results of the survey showed that sperm competition was most likely not a huge factor in mate selection.On the other hand, perhaps this is something that evolved recently since nowadays there are many options for couples who have trouble conceiving such as adoption, artificial insemination, use of surrogates, etc. thus the ability to conceive a child naturally is not as important in mate selection now as it may have been earlier in human evolution. Contributing to sex differences such as these is different concentrations of steroids and hormones delivered to the fetus, which can have lasting effects throughout a person’s life.After looking at sex differentiation in a biological context, we must consider how and why females and males differ in behavior, psychology, genetics, a nd pathology? Certainly, it has long been posited that there is a divide in spatial abilities. Patricia Gilmartin and Jeffrey Patton assess this in â€Å"Comparing the Sexes on Spatial Abilities: Map-Use Skills. † They suggest that males are more proficient than females in many types of spatial tasks. Furthermore, they found these differences were greater in childhood, especially in relation to maps, geography, and navigation based tasks.Among college students, these differences in map-use and navigation were negligible. I would have liked to see them look into the concept of men preferring not to ask for directions or use a GPS to navigate – a long standing gender joke, but possibly true. Certainly this has proved true in my experience driving with my male family members and friends. However, I would posit that it varies culturally, for example in respect to Japanese people who don’t have this social construct of men not asking for directions. Another dimension on which genders vary is leadership.Cheryl de la Rey argues in â€Å"Gender, Women and Leadership† that the question is not only whether genders vary in leadership ability and skills, but whether they vary in leadership styles as well. These differences in leadership style, she posits, are not reducible to biological differences, nor can they be adequately explained by socialization and sex roles. Rather, it’s about how gendered behaviors become more dominant within organizational contexts that are masculinized. This leads to the hindrance of women’s access to leadership positions via discrimination and stereotyping.Part of the problem is that people need mentors to move up in the business world, but since most of the people in high ranking positions are men, and close relationships between men and women in the workplace may be frowned up, it can be hard for a woman to find a mentor. Sebastian Schuh notes that women are still underrepresented in leadership role s, but he has different ideas about why. He thinks it’s because women consistently report lower power motivation than men. While this may be a piece of the puzzle, I don’t think he addresses the full picture very well.In addition to differences in leadership, men and women vary on the axis of sexuality and attitudes towards sex. Jennifer Petersen and Janet Hyde’s meta-analysis on research of gender differences revealed that although men indicated somewhat more sexual experience and permissive attitudes, there were exceedingly minimal gender differences in sexual attitudes and behaviors. Furthermore, these differences decreased with age. However, I think he glosses over many of differences. There are subtleties to it that must be considered.In â€Å"The Orthodox View of Brain Sexual Differentiation† Marc Breedlove, Bradley Cooke, and Cynthia Jordan discuss how the standard view of sexual differentiation of the brain, which is chiefly resulting from work wi th mammals, oversimplifies a vastly complex process of mechanisms derived through natural selection. The spinal nucleus of the bulbocavernosus (SNB) plays an important role in all this with a complex system. It was interesting to see how social factors could take an effect and how plastic and ever-evolving this system could be.One thing is clear from this reading; this SNB system is more multifaceted than previously thought and may be changing well into adulthood. As far as gender differences in aggression, I was not surprised to learn that men are more likely to be engaged in violence than women. Both from personal experience and cultural norms, that seems to fit the model. However, it was interesting to learn that the primary reason for male aggression is mate competition. From a personal standpoint, I don’t find a violent man liable to get into fights more attractive.I’ve certainly seen the type more than once at a bar, or on the streets, and my first instinct is to remove myself from his company and immediate area. On the contrary, that would be a shortcoming. However, from an evolutionary perspective it makes more sense as to protection and fighting for territory. Though there has been much study on the history of sex, biological and anatomical sex differences and social, sexual, and psychological implications of gender differences, psychology of sexuality is a field that is ever-growing and expanding as studies become more daring and social constructs allow for more experimentation and study.Hopefully in the next century, we will see new research leading to greater understanding of gender and sex. References Ainsworth, S. E. , & Maner, J. K. (2012). Sex begets violence: Mating motives, social dominance, and physical aggression in men. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103(5), 819-829. Barash, D. P. , & Lipton, J. E. (2002). Gender gap: the biology of male-female differences. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. Breedlove, M. , Cooke, B. M. , & Jordan, C. L. (1999). The orthodox view of brain sexual differentiation. Brain, Behavior, and Evolution, 54, 8-14. Cook, H. 2007). Sexuality and Contraception in Modern England: Doing the History of Reproductive Sexuality. Journal of Social History, 40(4), 915-932. Costa, R. M. , Miller, G. F. , & Brody, S. (2012). Women who prefer longer penises are more likely to have vaginal orgasms (but not clitoral orgasms): Implications for an evolutionary theory of vaginal orgasm. International Society for Sexual Medicine, 9, 3079-3088. La Rey, C. D. (2005). Gender, women, and leadership. Agenda, 65, 4-11. Ehrmann, W. (1957). Some knowns and unknowns in research into human sex behavior. Marriage and Family Living, 1, 16-24.Epprecht, M. (2004). 1. Hungochani: The History of a Dissident Sexuality in Southern Africa (pp. 25-49). Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. Gagnon, J. H. (1975). Sex research and social change. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 4(2), 111-141. Gilmar tin, P. P. , ; Patton, J. C. (1984). Comparing the sexes on spatial abilities: map-use skills. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 74(4), 605-619. Hamberg, K. (2005). Biology, Gender and Behaviour. A Critical Discussion of the Biological Models used for Explaining Cognitive and Behavioural Gender Differences .Psychology of Gender Identity (pp. 127-144). Social Science: Nova Publishers. Harvey, K. (2002). The century of sex? Gender, bodies, and sexuality in the long eighteenth century. The Historical Journal, 45(4), 899-916. Petersen, J. L. , ; Hyde, J. S. (2010). A meta-analytic review of research on gender differences in sexuality. Psychological Bulletin, 136(1), 21-38. Puts, D. A. , Dawood, K. , ; Welling, L. L. (2012). Why women have orgasms: an evolutionary analysis. Arch Sex Behavior, 41, 1127-1143. Schiebinger, L. (1990).The anatomy of difference: race and sex in eighteenth-century science. Eighteenth-Century Studies, 23(4), 387-405. Schuh, S. (2013). Gender dif ferences in leadership role occupancy : The mediating role of power motivation. Journal of Business Ethics, 112(517), 34-78. Simmons, L. W. , Firman, R. C. , Rhones, G. , ; Peters, M. (2004). Human sperm competition: testis size, sperm production and rates of extrapair copulations. Animal Behavior, 68, 297-302. Wiesner-Hanks, M. (2007). World history and the history of women, gender, and sexuality. Journal of World History, 18(1), 53-67.

Margin Questions Essay

1. Assume that an investor buys 100shares of stock at RM 50.00, putting up a 60% margin. a. What is the debit balance in this transaction? b. How much equity capital must the investor ‘s new margin position 2. Assume that an investor buys 100 shares of stock at RM 50.00 per share, putting up a 70% margin. a. What is the debit balance in this transaction? b. How much equity funds must the investor provide to make this margin transaction? c. If the stock rises to RM 80.00 per share, what is the investor margin position? 3. Miguel Torres purchased 100 shares of Can’t Win.com for RM50 per share, using as little of his own money as he could. His broker has a 50% initial margin requirement. The price of the stock falls to RM30 per share. What does Miguel need to do? 4. An investor buys 200 shares of stock selling at $ 80 per share using a margin of 60%. The stock pays annual dividends $ 1 per share. A margin loan can be obtained at an annual interest cost of 8%. Determine what return on invested capital the investor will realize if the price of the stock increases to $ 104 within six months. What is the annualized rate of return on this transaction? 5. Ah Beng purchased 3000 shares of Digi Communications Bhd. stock at RM 4.60 per share using the prevailing minimum initial margin of 65%. He held the stock for exactly 4 month and sold it without any brokerage cost at the end of the period. During the four month holding period, the stock paid RM 0.40 per share in cash dividends. Ah Beng was charged 6% annually interest on margin loan. The minimum maintenance margin was 40%. a. Calculate the initial value of the transaction, the debit balance, and the equity position on Ah Beng’s transaction. b. For each share prices stated below, calculate the actual margin percentage and indicate whether Ah Beng account would have excess equity, or would be subject to margin call? I. RM 4.00 II. RM 5.50 III. RM 6.50 IV. RM 3.30 V. RM 4.55 c. Calculate the I. Amount of dividend received during the 4 months holding period II. Amount of interest received during the 4 months holding period d. Use each of the following sale price at the end of 4 month holding period to calculate Ah Beng HPR return on Digi Communication Bhd. share transaction. I. RM 5.00 II. RM 7.00 III. RM 4.80

Race and Racism (Anthropology) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Race and Racism (Anthropology) - Essay Example States is a country with a strong tradition of institutionalized racism which permeates all aspects of modern America society (see hooks’ Ain’t I a Woman?: Black Women and Feminism, 1981). For many in America racism is an ever-present aspect of the social condition and is built upon a rigid social code, a white/black binary which has its roots in early American settlement and the shameful tradition of slavery in the New World. What are the effects of racism and sexism on the lives of people today? In American society there is a definite health disparity in the country as non-whites report a lower level of overall health and access to healthcare. The American Journal of Preventive Medicine undertook a substantial quantitative analysis of the infant mortality rates between black and white infants and found that a disparity in this important social indicator does in fact exist. Accordingly, this respected journal found that the black-white infant mortality ratio has persisted for decades and has even increased in recent times. In 1960, the black-white infant mortality ratio stood a 2.0, but twenty years later this figure had risen to 2.4. Why such a disparity? What are the causes of such dramatic differences in the likelihood that a newborn black child would not live to see his or her first birthday in comparison to a white child? This study determined that while a variety of factors can account for this dis parity, low birth weight remains the most prominent cause of a higher infant mortality rate amongst black babies. In fact, black babies in America have a 300% greater likelihood of being born with a low birthrate relative to their white counterparts. The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention found a variety of socio-economic causes for the phenomenon of low birth weight, including poverty, poor nutrition, a lack of knowledge about pregnancy and the challenges associated with it, and access to proper medical facilities. The disparity in

What you think of the subprime crisis and how it impacts todays Essay

What you think of the subprime crisis and how it impacts todays economy - Essay Example In obvious circumstances, the lenders mortgaged the loan security to other investors in various esoteric combinations. The adverse effects of the subprime crisis lead to hike in interest rates, which forces the Fed to raise rates to combat inflation, which has to be incurred by the common man. Economies of developing countries classified as emerging markets, are still seen by developed country fund managers as risky propositions. So the flight to safety will see some funds pull out of developing countries. This could lead to a stock markets slide in these economies, loss of confidence and slowdown of the real economy. The other source of disruption is construction-led slowdown in the US. This could hit developing economies that export a lot to the US. The subprime crisis also places downward pressure on economic growth, because fewer or more expensive loans decrease investment by businesses and consumer spending, which drive the economy. A separate but related dynamic is the downturn in the housing market, where a surplus inventory of homes has resulted in a significant decline in new home construction and housing prices in many areas. This also places downward pressure on growth. Crisis has caused panic in financial markets and encouraged investors to take their money out of risky mortgage bonds and shaky equities and put it into commodities as "stores of value". Most of the recent increases in global food prices have been the result of speculation and the collapse in the value of the US dollar which is now at Indian Rupees 38.62 per dollar. This crisis has an immense effect on the national stock markets, where the fluctuations in the market prices and shares of the corporations do create an element of doubt in the stakeholders mind and thus leading to kiosk among them. The market value chips down and which tends the financial institutions to come forward and ask for their loans

Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 66

Assignment - Essay Example her, based on the above graph it can be observed that the maximum profits are obtained at a point where Marginal cost curve intersect with Marginal revenue curve. In addition the marginal cost curve intersect the average variable cost curve from below and also intersect the average total cost curve from above as shown in the diagram. The diagram above indicate that, in the long run, an increase in cost for a monopolistic firm it causes the market price to be equal to average total cost whereby marginal cost will be equal to marginal revenue as indicated in the figure above (Salvatore, p.345). The graph above indicates the equilibrium price and quantity which is derived at point where the demand and supply curve intersect. The equilibrium price is represented above using PE while equilibrium quantity is represented by point QE as shown above. 7. The demand for butter will lead to a decrease in demand of margarine because margarine is an inferior good whose demand decreases as consumer’s level of income increases. On the contrary, demand of butter will increases as income increase. 8. The reason why person marginal rate of substitution between two goods must equal to the ratio of the price of goods is because consumer could trade one good for another at a market price to obtain higher level of satisfaction. The graph above indicates that marginal cost curve intersect average cost curve from below and average cost at a point higher than that of average cost curve. It can be observed that, as the marginal cost increases, the average variable cost decreases (Salvatore, p.225). The graph above indicates the relationship between Marginal cost and average variable cost whereby, If marginal cost of production is greater than average variable cost it means that average cost is increasing and vice versa(Salvatore, p.225). The graph indicates that the firm average variable cost curve are U-shaped and it achieve its minimum at a lower than the average total cost curve

Critically evaluate theories of nationalism and its relationship with Essay - 1

Critically evaluate theories of nationalism and its relationship with racism - Essay Example Around Europe, the Napoleonic armies who not only idealized it but also provoked nationalist reactions through their conquests spread the idea of the legitimacy of the nation as opposed to kingdom. Despite the restoration of traditional monarchs after napoleon’s defeat, the seeds of idea had already been sowed all over Europe and the next 50 years it precipitated outbreaks of violence in support for popular nationalism. There are two main theories that explain nationalism the perennialists who argue that nations, natural or otherwise owe their existence to the fact that humans have always lived in societies posit the first. The â€Å"natural† part is inspired by the fact that many nationalist legitimize their nations as natural by virtue of the fact that they have been in existence for centuries. The position of perennialists is that nationalism can be traced to cultural characteristics and the nature of the human landscape with throughout their particular histories; th is takes to consideration every factor including those that are purely symbolic or even mythical. This argument was based on the existence of a number of large ethnic communities especially during the dark and middle ages that used the term nation to describe themselves. In this paper, the relationship between nationalism and racism will be examined with focus on the perennialist and modernist theories of nationalism; as well as the economic impacts and perception of two concepts on word nations. Racial consideration of nationalism was applied to ancient communities and civilizations such as the Egyptians Chinese, Indians and many others, under the perennial perception on nationalism the terms nation and race were interchangeable. Even later nations such as the British, German, and American were seen as races; this implied that the social political community was inherently tied up to a biological exclusiveness that was believed to transcend individuals in the different races. This p erception was and still is conducive ground for the justification or racism and other forms of xenophobia such as Aryan supremacy; communities, especially financially powerful ones used the notion to discriminate others. Racism is loosely defined as the doctrine that assumes some races are superior to others in term of physical intellectual or moral and other aspects justifying right to dominate other â€Å"lesser† races and treat them in an undignified and unequal manner (Smith 1983). For instance, in Europe during the Elizabethan age, individuals of Jewish origin were openly discriminated even by the law; Jews were not allowed to engage in the convectional business activity. From such legal restrictions, popular stereotypes such as those of Jewish â€Å"shylocks† emerged, not because they were naturally predisposed to such activity but because they were compelled by legal restriction to practice usury. This is despite the fact that many Jews were born and grew up in Europe amongst the French and Italians, for instance, by modern consideration such people would have been considered European nationals. However, the assumption them was that one would always remain of the nation, in this case race, which they were born despite cultural and geopolitical translocation. Centuries later when such notions had been discounted by most of the

Legal Method Skills & Reasoning Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Legal Method Skills & Reasoning - Coursework Example Consequently, her application for review of CICA’s decision by the First Tier Tribunal - Social Entitlement Chamber, and the decision held by the Upper Tribunal -Administrative Appeals Chamber is refused on the grounds that, CICA’s decision was in conformity with the requirements of s.20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 18612. There are, therefore, three principal issues before the Court of Appeal. The first issue is an interpretation of s.20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 18613. The second issue is the determination of whether psychiatric illness may constitute bodily harm within the meaning of the section 20 and section 474. The third issue is for the court to decide whether, with the provisions of The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2001, psychiatric illness is deemed a mental injury and whether Petal’s injury fall under the qualifications of mental for which award of compensation was warranted5. In giving its judgment, CICA stated  "Petal’s application for compensation is declined because that her injury was not attributable to a ‘crime of violence’ and, in any event, her injury was not a mental injury for which compensation could be paid.† Facts The facts of Petal’s case are well set out in the reported judgment of CICA; therefore, I would only offer a brief and short description of the facts. Orlando Fiction and Petal Agatha Scissor, a 20 year old student at UEA, met through an online dating service. They started dating and soon were involved in a sexual encounter, had unprotected sex-without a condom-, on their very first date. At the time, Petal nothing about her partner, only that he had working in South Africa and had just returned to England. Orlando Fiction and Petal Agatha Scissor had multiple, frequent unprotected. Orlando, months later, died in a road accident. Through Orlando’s mother-who she met at Orlando’s funeral-Petal learned that Orlando had been HIV positive and was not under antiretroviral drugs. After six months of medical tests, it was conclusively determined that Petal was not HIV infected. This experience resulted in Petal suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, which became severe and eventually she ended up in a psychiatric hospital. On a solicitor’s advice, she applied for compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority on the basis of the provisions under the Compensation Scheme 20016. Her application was refused on the basis that her injury were not as a result of a crime of violence7 and that her psychiatric illness did not constitute a mental injury for which compensation is warranted8. She later appealed against this decision to the First Tier Tribunal arguing that Orlando had committed an offence under s.20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861; this appeal was, however, dismissed, with the tribunal upholding CICA’s decision asserting that, Petal’

Attitudes Towards The Consumption of Fashion Brands Research Proposal

Attitudes Towards The Consumption of Fashion Brands - Research Proposal Example The research proposal "Attitudes Towards The Consumption of Fashion Brands" analyzes the attitude of the middle-class youths of Generation Y of Nigeria towards the consumption of conspicuous fashion goods. The current generation of the globe can be recognized as Generation Y. Generation Y is also known as Millennial Generation. These Millennials are the demographic group following the Generation X. The precise dates of the starting and the ending of Generation Y are not available. The birth year of this Generation Y is ranging from the 1980s to 2000s.According to several researchers, class characteristics cannot be applied to the people of Generation Y. Generally, young people aged between 20 and 35 can be considered as the people of Middle-Class Generation Y. Conspicuous consumption can be defined as the spending of money to consume luxury goods or services in order to display economic strength or power in public or society. Conspicuous fashion brands are those brands that are consumed by people in order to display living standard and economic strength. Most importantly, conspicuous fashion brands are also termed as luxurious or premium fashion brands. Consumer buying behavior of people depends upon the income class of people in emerging countries. Emerging countries are also can be considered as economically developing countries in which the number of the people of middle-class income group is higher comparing to the number of people of the upper class or upper-middle-class income group.

The role of Identity in the Story of the Hour, by Kate Chopin Research Paper

The role of Identity in the Story of the Hour, by Kate Chopin - Research Paper Example Mallard sees her husband is alive after all. This paper analyzes identity formation and gender identity in the Story of an Hour. It is a story revolving around the themes of marriage and bondage. The story demonstrates that a wife’s identity is no identity at all, because it is defined by her gender and status beneath her husband, and wives like Mrs. Mallard would rather choose death over the life of â€Å"becoming† a woman in a man’s world. A wife’s identity is no identity at all, because it is a product of gender roles and expectations. All Mrs. Mallard’s life, she is Mrs. Mallard, and this is not an identity she can call her own. As a protagonist, she does not even have a specific name in the beginning of the story. She is only Mrs. Mallard, defined by her relation to her gender and husband. Her real name, Louise, is revealed only at the end of the story, when her sister worries about her bereavement in her room and asks her to open the door. But it can be analyzed that even Louise comes from the word Louie. She remains a product of her gender, a woman who is meant to do housework all her life and be a servant to men and her family. Being a woman during these times means a world of â€Å"repetition† of servitude. ... (qtd. in Deutscher 328). Mrs. Mallard also knows this for a fact, which is why when she learns that she is free, she knows that the days of repetitive domestic tasks are gone forever. In her mind, she sees images of different seasons, all spent for herself: â€Å"Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own† (Chopin). When someone dreams of days becoming her own, one would feel that depth of servitude it must be to be a woman. And so in a span of an hour, Mrs. Mallard transforms into Louise, the free woman. She is her own woman, and she no longer has to be the wife of someone else. This idea of becoming a woman in her own terms can be gleaned from the symbols of empowerment in the story, such as songs and birds: â€Å"The notes of a distant song which someone was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves† (Chopin). The song represents the song of freedom from bondage, while the sparrows are symbols of f reedom and autonomy. Louise can flutter using her wings, and finally, fly away from being a traditional woman. Being a wife kills self-identity, since it is only defined by the social identity of being a wife, a slave of a husband. A social identity is â€Å"that part of an individual’s self-concept which derives from his [sic] knowledge of his membership of a social group (or groups)† and the importance placed on that membership (Tajfel 255 qtd. in Sacharin, Lee, and Gonzalez 275). But as a wife, Mrs. Mallard finds no importance in that membership. Essentially, she does not even love her husband: â€Å"And yet she had loved him--sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter!† (Chopin). She does not even love this man she calls her husband, but she has to stick with

Business College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business College - Essay Example Therefore, in order to understand these markets, it is important for the western country to comprehend these differences from country to country by using the five contexts of framework. The five contexts include a country's social and political arrangements, openness, product, labor, and capital markets. Business executives can form their strategies around this by asking questions that relate to the five contexts, and thus begin to develop upon the country's individual strengths. While doing this, it is also important for the business to measure the positives and negatives of forming a relationship with this country. If they discover that the negatives outweigh the positives, other aspects may need to be considered. It is a good idea to link social performance targets to executive competition, in the researcher's opinion. Social performance targets give the company an overall goal and focus when entering into any new business strategy or plan, and therefore help to give the company a stronger approach to accomplishment. Competition, and certainly executive competition, is always a good way to trigger the best and brightest ideas. By allowing executive competition, hopefully the best ideas and goals will come into play in the atmosphere of the business. With this occurring, the business could then link social performance targets to executive competition, seeing which goals are the best, and figuring out the direction the company would need to take in order to proceed and reach the best possible goals. Thus, competition should put forth several good options, and the social performance target can then be chosen and used to provide solid direction. Question 2. a. Companies have used centralized Organizational Structures. However, the current organizational trends are to change then into lean, flatter decentralized structures. Describe briefly some of these changes taking place in the organizations. Decentralization removes the focus of power, or shifts the focus of power, from few individuals to more individuals. The concept allows for power to be spread out more equally in the business, thus allowing individuals to all have a part of company decision making. Decentralization still relies on authority for decision making, but it also must rely on lateral relationships rather than a direct order from above. More and more companies are chosing to use decentralization because it brings many minds into the framework. With several people in the decision making strategy, the hope is that many ideas will come to light, and that way, the best of these ideas can be chosen and acted upon. Therefore, these industries are seeking what is best for the business. Many of these companies are therefore spreading out power as well as the decision making process instead of putting all of the power in the hands of a few individuals. While this process may make decision making take longer, the hope is that for the company, it will provide the best possible answers and

The Role of Internet in Marketing Essay Example for Free

The Role of Internet in Marketing Essay In this task I will be discussing a very important subject of today’s world of business which is internet marketing. To start off my task, I am going to give a general idea of history of the internet, general functions it can perform and how the internet has generally changed the society in many different ways and aspects. The history of establishing the internet originally goes back to 1950s and that’s when it first came on the scene, no one ever thought of the possibility that this project of internet would go quite far with the time. Nowadays, there’s no one that doesn’t depend on internet/computer usage. We’d clearly see that most of the important daily processes and work are most likely to be done through the use of the internet; there would be no such big popularity for computers in our today’s society if it wasn’t for the internet. The 1970s was the period when networks were interlinked, 1982 is the date when worldwide network was established and 1995 can be pointed at as the year when internet was widely commercialised. The internet functions in many different areas and it’s always useful and helpful to everyone in order to accomplish their different needs. For example, internet services such as E-mail provides a great mean of communication, not only between businesses (B2B) but also its very useful between businesses and customers (B2C) as well and customers to customers’ (C2C) communications too. The Internet is also considered to be the most common, advantageous and fastest source of gathering information, for instance the services that the internet presents such as the World Wide Web (WWW) holds tremendous amount of information, much of which is easily accessible and available 24 hours per day. Also, another use of internet’s wide services is that you can process payments through it very easily and smoothly; there are so many advantages of online payments/transactions which the internet’s service provides. Some of these advantages include businesses earning more by enabling customers globally to make their own purchases at any time of day or night, which basically means that an online store-front is open for shoppers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. Also, online banking services provided by a lot of banks is considered to be hugely cost effective, that’s because banks don’t need to have too many personnel or clerical staff around to help getting the banking transactions done. Example of B2B: the internet is very useful in B2B operations generally, for instance a company like HM are cooperated with the Royal Mail for the purpose of delivering the goods to customers and that requires HM to be in consistent interaction with the Royal Mail. The internet has made it a lot easier for HM to interact with the Royal Mail and track the items they sent and the orders they receive from their different warehouses across several countries. Example of C2C: there are many examples for how easy the internet has made it for C2C operations and interaction, the example for this would be the service that Facebook and other communication websites provide like Twitter and that service is basically the accessibility to all people to communicate and interact so this interaction can involve customers messaging each others to enquire about products and goods. Now I’m going to relate the marketing mix to internet marketing and how it developed into the extended marketing mix. This will be done by taking each element of the marketing mix, describing how the internet has affected them. Extended Marketing Mix: This marketing mix is a tool which marketers use to describe their marketing strategy. It is constructed of the original 4P’s and it expands the number of manageable variables from the four in the original marketing mix model to seven. Product: there are some products/services that wouldn’t exist without the internet, for instance the service that Skype and Yahoo Messenger provides which includes the ability to make free computer-to-computer calls and the utter cheap calls from computer to phones and mobile phones globally. These services/products are obviously not tangible which means that they’re nonphysical sort of services unlike services such as personal training for instance. Place (non physical boundaries): The internet in itself is considered to be the biggest non-tangible place for communication where most people from all over the world get the chance to communicate and interact. This is widely and commonly used by individuals through websites such as Facebook, Twitter etc. also virtual tours that are web-based accessible gives better experience of getting to discover places that users would generally be unable to interact with, this can be done through Google Earth, Google Maps for instance. Price: Disintermediation is a term that basically defines trading directly without needing any sort of mediation. This word is used to describe many internet-based businesses such as eBay and Amazon, these businesses offer products directly to customers online rather than going through traditional retail channels. By doing so, companies and businesses can sell their products a lot cheaper and faster as well because the goods would be directly delivered to customers without no involvement from the middlemen. It is believed that the internet will transform the way products are bought and sold, and disintermediation is the motivating force behind this revolution. Promotion: Promotion is basically the method by which businesses communicate with customers. By promoting, customers get to make a decision to purchase a product or service. This can be done through the use of internet by nearly most of the online-based companies such as eBay and Amazon, this is called e-mail promotion, eBay and Amazon in particular can reach and target their customer needs and send them matching offers to what they’re interested in through their online marketplace which helps both companies to reach new customers and promote and advertise very widely. This also gives the ability for businesses to spot what their customers’ different needs are and by doing so they can offer them specific products matching their specific needs. Cookies are very helpful on promoting for businesses as well; cookies are basically bits of information associated with the accounts of online market customers’ and shoppers such as on eBay and Amazon, they are normally saved on customers’ computers to make their online shopping experience quicker and easier. Cookies are used by eBay for instance to recognise customers when they sign in to their website for the purpose of remembering their preferences , and by doing so, eBay and Amazon are able to send their customers the offers they’re most likely to be looking to and the products and goods they’re interested in. People: It’s very vital and crucial for any business to have the right people/staff in order to provide sufficient service to the customers. For example, the admin team behind FAQs, forums with other customers. I would say that it’s impossible to close a sales deal without the interaction with customers. Also, the business blogs which are a corporate tool for communicating with customers are very helpful in terms of sharing knowledge and expertise with all the customers. These blogs basically aims at sweeping the business community in a smart way of sharing information about the business online, they’re really an example of an excellent method to share a company’s expertise, build additional web traffic, and connect with potential customers. It’s fundamental for any online-based business to anticipate and understand their customer needs that’s why understanding customers’ profiles in terms of their demographic, psychographic, economic and usage-based segmentation is vital to businesses; in order to achieve that, marketers must get serious about matching their site strategies to the needs of their target customer market segments. Process: Using the internet to do shopping, online banking, and other different types of practices and operations made it a lot easier for businesses as well as different types of people. In our modern world, the internet has grown its popularity and become one of the important methods in linking between businesses and customers as well. One role of internet in business is also the ecommerce websites and online payment solutions that allow people to shop online from the comfort of their homes. Also, another thing the internet has also provided is online banking which has made it a lot easier for people involved in banking activities to manage their accounts, pay bills, and manage their bank accounts generally. Physical Evidence: In terms of Physical Evidence, the internet has provided lots of services that allow the users of it to have access to different types of media resources by which they can gain knowledge about a specific product/service. For example, if someone is thinking of buying a new mobile, they can have access to lots of video reviews of it online in different websites and places. Also the internet has made price comparison service very profitable, that’s because the number of online shopper is increasing daily and the internet has made it at ease for them to compare prices between different online marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay etc.

Doctrine of Harmonious Construction

Doctrine of Harmonious Construction HISTORY 1st amendment came in the case of Sankari Prasad before SC. The court unanimously decided to resolve the conflict between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles by placing the reliance of the line of doctrine of harmonious construction. The court held that the FRs impose limitation over the legislature and executive power. They are not inviolable and parliament can amend them to bring in conformity to directive principles. The result was generally all law providing for the acquisition of state and interest therein and specially certain state including land reform acts of U.P., Bihar and M.P. were immune from the attack based on article 13 read with other provision of part III. DOCRTINE OF HARMONIOUS CONSTRUCTION It is a sound canon of interpretation that courts must try to avoid a conflict between the provisions of Statute. The rule of reconciliation on the Entries was propounded for the first time in the case of in re C.P. and Bare Act. It is the province of the courts to determine the extent of the authority to deal with subjects falling within the legislative purview of each legislature. To avoid conflict, the Courts should read Entries of two Lists together and the language of one Entry can be interpreted, and modified too, with the help of another Entry. Interpreting Entries 24 and 25 of the State List harmoniously, the Supreme Court held that gas and gas works being in Entry 25 would not fall in the general Entry 24Industry and observed: It is also well settled that widest amplitude should be given to the language of Entries but some of the entries in the different Listsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦may overlap and sometimes may also appear to be in direct conflict with each other, it is then duty of this court to reconcile the entries and bring about harmony between them. In this way it may, in most cases, be found possible to arrive at a reasonable and practical construction of the language of the sections, so as to reconcile the respective powers they contain and to give effect to all of them. In Tika Ramji v. State of Uttar Pradesh, [3] the position of the industries was clarified by Supreme Court. In the instant case the vires of U.P. Sugarcane (Regulation of Supply and Purchase) Act, 1953 was involved. It was contended that sugarcane being controlled industry fall within the jurisdiction of the Union List by virtue of Entry 52 of List I falls within the legislative purview of Parliament. The Supreme Court, therefore, had to e xplain the Inter-relation between Entries 52 of List I, 24 and 27 of List II and 33 of List III. Entry 24 of List II and 52 of List I establish that except controlled industries, the industries generally fells within the State Sphere. Entry 27 of List II gives power to State to regulate the production, supply and distribution of goods subject to provisions of Entry 33 of List III. The sugar industry being controlled industry, the distribution, supply and production of the product of this controlled industry viz. Sugar as a finished product, Principle of Harmonious Construction The principle of harmonious interpretation is similar to the idea of broad or purposive approach. The key to this method of constitutional interpretation is that provisions of the Constitution should be harmoniously interpreted. Constitutional provisions should not be construed in isolation from all other parts of the Constitution, but should be construed as to harmonize with those other parts. A provision of the constitution must be construed and considered as part of the Constitution and it should be given a meaning and an application which does not lead to conflict with other Articles and which confirms with the Constitutions general scheme. When there are two provisions in a statute, which are in apparent conflict with each other, they should be interpreted such that effect can be given to both and that construction which renders either of them inoperative and useless should not be adopted except in the last resort. This principle is illustrated in the case of Raj Krishna vs Bino d AIR 1954. In this case, two provisions of Representation of People Act, 1951, which were in apparent conflict were brought forth. Section 33 (2) says that a Government Servant can nominate or second a person in election but section 123(8) says that a Government Servant cannot assist any candidate in election except by casting his vote. The Supreme Court observed that both these provisions should be harmoniously interpreted and held that a Government Servant was entitled to nominate or second a candidate seeking election in State Legislative assembly. This harmony can only be achieved if Section 123(8) is interpreted as giving the govt. servant the right to vote as well as to nominate or second a candidate and forbidding him to assist the candidate it any other manner. Upon looking at various cases, the following important aspects of this principle are evident The courts must avoid a head on clash of seemingly contradicting provisions and they must construe the contradictory provi sions so as to harmonize them. The provision of one section cannot be used to defeat the provision contained in another unless the court, despite all its effort, is unable to find a way to reconcile their differences. When it is impossible to completely reconcile the differences in contradictory provisions, the courts must interpret them in such as way so that effect is given to both the provisions as much as possible. Courts must also keep in mind that interpretation that reduces one provision to a useless number or a dead lumbar, is not harmonious construction. To harmonize is not to destroy any statutory provision or to render it otiose. Case 1: Unni Krishnan, J.P. and ors., etc. v. State of Andhra Pradesh and ors. The writ petition was filed challenging whether the right to life under Article 21 of the constitution guarantees a fundamental right to education to the citizens of India and right to education includes professional education. This was challenged by certain private professional educational institutions and also in respect of regulating capitation fees charged by such institutions. The Supreme Court held that right to basic education was implied by the fundamental right to life when read with article 41 of directive principle on education. As per article 45 of the constitution, the state is to provide free and compulsory education for all children below the age of 14 years and there is no fundamental right to education for a professional degree that flows from article 21. Several states have passed legislation making primary education compulsory and there is no central legislation to make elementary education compulsory. In addition, the Court held that, in order to treat a right as fundamental right, it is not necessary that it should be expressly stated as one in Part III of the Constitution: the provisions of Part III and Part IV are supplementary and complementary to each other. The Court rejected that the rights reflected in the provisions of Part III are superior to the moral claims and aspirations reflected in the provisions of Part IV. Case:2 Smt. Rani Kusum vs Smt. Kanchan Devi And Ors on 16 August, 2005 Showing the contexts in which harmonious construction author:A Pasayat appears in the document have to ascertain the object which is required to be served by this provision and its design and context in which it is enacted. The use of the word shall is ordinarily indicative of mandatory nature of the provision but having regard to the context in which it is used or having regard to the intention of the legislation, the same can be construed as directory. The rule in question has to advance the cause of justice and not to defeat it. The rules of procedure are made to advance the cause of justice and not to defeat it. Construction of the rule or procedure which promotes justice and prevents miscarriage has to be preferred. The rules or procedure are handmaid of justice stress. In the present context, the strict interpretation would defeat justice. In construing this provision, support can also be had from Order VIII Rule 10 which provides that where any party from whom a written statement is required under Rule 1 or Rule 9, fails to present the same within the time permitted or fixed by the Court, the Court shall pronounce judgment against him, or make such other order in relation written statement under this provision, the Court has been given the discretion either to pronounce judgment against the defendant or make such other order in relation to suit as it thinks fit. In the context of the provision, despite use of the word shall, the court has been given the discretion to pronounce or not to pronounce the judgment against the defendant even if written statement is not filed and instead pass such order as it may think fit in relation to the suit. In construing the provision of Order VIII Rule 1 and Rule 10, the doctrine of harmonious construction is required to be applied. The effect would be that under Rule 10 of Order VII I, the court in its discretion would have power to allow the defendant to file written statement even after expiry of period of 90 days provided in Order VIII Rule 1. There is no restriction in Order VIII Rule 10 that after expiry of ninety days, further time cannot be granted. The Court has wide power to make such order in relation to the suit as it thinks fit. Clearly, therefore, the provision of Order VIII Rule 1 providing for upper limit State Of Orissa And Ors vs Arakhita Bisoi on 14 April, 1977 Showing the contexts in which harmonious construction appears in the document respondent was allowed by the Orissa High Court by its order dated 15-7-1976 holding that the Additional Magistrate had powers to revise an order of the appellate authority passed u/s 44 by virtue of the powers conferred on him under s. 59of the Act. Dismissing the appeal by certificate, the Court, HELD: (i)The language of S. 59(1) of the Orissa Land Reforms Act is wide enough to enable the Collector to revise any order including an appellate order under S. 44 of the Act.[561B] (ii) In applying the rule of harmonious construction with a view to give effect to the intention of the legislature the court will not be justified in putting a construction which would restrict the revisionary jurisdiction of the Collector and the Board of Revenue. [560E] In the instant case, the Act is of expropratory nature and the determination of the excess lands is done by the Revenue Officer. The legislature intended that any error or irregularity should be rectified by higher authorities like the Collector and the Board of Revenue. [560E] J. K. Cotton Spinning Weaving Mills Co. Ltd. v. State revise such order. Though the amendment to section 44(3) makes it clear that a right to revision is provided for orders passed under section 44(2), we do not think that this could mean that section 44(2) as it originally stood did not provide for power of revision to the Collector under section59. In our opinion, amendment does not make any difference. The learned counsel for the appella nt submitted that section 44(3) is in the nature of a special provision and should be construed as an exception to section 59 on the principle of harmonious construction. In support of this plea the learned counsel referred to the decision in The J.K. Cotton Spinning Weaving Mills Co. Ltd. v. State of U.P. Ors. (1). In construing the provisions of clause 5(a) and clause 23 of the G.O. concerned, this Court held that the rule of harmonious construction should be applied and in applying the rule the court will have to remember that to harmonise is not to destroy and that in interpreting the statutes the court always presumes that the legislature inserted every part thereof for a purpose and the legislative intention is that every part of the statute should have effect, and a construction which defeats the intention of the rule-making authority must be avoided. This decision does not help the appellant for in our view in applying the rule of harmonious construction with a view to giv e effect to the intention o(the legislature the court will not be justified in putting a construction which would restrict the revisionary jurisdiction of the Collector and the Board of Revenue. It may be noted that the Act is of exproprietory nature and the determination of the excess lands is done by the Revenue Officer and on appeal by the Revenue Divisional Officer. In such circumstances, it is only 13roper to presume that the legislature intended that any error or irregularity should be rectified by higher authorities like the Collector and the Board of Revenue. In our view it will be in conformity with the intention of the legislature to hold that section 59 confers a power of revision of an order passed under section 44(2) of the Act. The learned counsel next referred to a decision of this Court in The Bengal Immunity Company Limited rule of construction is stated at p. 791 in the following terms by Venkatarama Ayyar, J. speaking for the Court: It is a cardinal rule of constr uction that when there are in a Statute two provisions which are in conflict with each other such that both of them cannot stand, they should, if possible be so interpreted that effect can be given to both, and that a construction which renders either of them inoperative and useless should not be adopted except in the last resort. This is what is known as the rule of harmonious construction. One application of this rule is that when there 561 is a law generally dealing with a subject and another dealing particularly with one of the topics comprised therein, the general law is to be construed as yielding to the special in respect of the matters comprised therein. Construing section 59 as conferring a power of revision against an order passed under section 44(2) is not in any way contrary to the principle laid down in the above decision. Jagdish Singh vs Lt. Governor Delhi And Others on 11 March, 1997 Showing the contexts in which harmonious construction appears in the document later. The Registrar, however, committed serious error in interpreting Sub-rule (2) of Rule 25 and directing cessation of membership of the appellant from both the societies. Mr. Bobde also argued that if Sub-rule (2) of Rule 25 is interpreted to mean that on incurring such disqualification by operation of law one ceases to be a member of both societies, then Rule 28 conferring power on the Registrar to give a written requisition to either or both the co-operative societies for cessation of the membership, would become inoperative, and therefore, efforts should be made for harmonious construction where under both the provisions can operate. Mr. Bobde also argued that under Rule 25(1) the embargo upon a person to become a member of a co-operative society is there if the said person or his spouse or any of his dependent children is a member of any other housing society. The disqualification in question is thu s attached to becoming a member of co-operative society if he is already a member of another society. Under Sub-rule (2) of Rule 25 a deemed cessation accrues obviously in relation to a society in respect of which the disqualification is attached question that arises for consideration is: whether a person who is a member of a housing co-operative society having incurred the disqualification under Rule 25(1)(c)(iii) on being a member of a subsequent housing society would cease to be a member of both the societies with effect from the date of the disqualification incurred by him. It is a cardinal principal of construction of a statute or the statutory rule that efforts should be made in construing the different provisions, so that, each provision will have its play and in the event of any conflict a harmonious construction should be given. Further a statute or a rule made there under should be read as a whole and one provision should be construed with reference to the other provision so as to make the rule consistent and any construction which would bring any inconsistency or repugnancy between one provision and the other should be avoided. One rule cannot be used to defeat another rule in the same rules unless it is impossible to effect harmonisation between them. The well-known principle of harmonious construction is that effect should be given to all the provisions, and therefore, this Court held in several cases that a construction that reduces one of the provisions to a dead letter is not a harmonious construction as one part is being destroyed and consequently court should avoid such a construction. Bearing in mind the aforesaid rules of construction if Sub-rule (2) of Rule 25 and Rule 28 are examined the obvious answer would be that under Sub-rule (2) the deemed cessation from membership of the person concerned is in relation to the society pertaining to which disqualifications are incurred. A plain reading of Rule 28 makes it crystal clear that the Regis trar when becomes aware of the fact that an individual has become a member of two co-operative societies of the same class which obviously is a disqualification under Rule 25 then he has the discretion to direct removal of the said individual from the membership of either or both the co-operative societies. If Sub-rule (2) of Rule 25 is interpreted to mean that deemed cessation of the person concerned from membership of both the societies then the question of discretion of the Registrar under Rule 28 will not arise .If the interpretation given by the Registrar incurred. In the case in hand the disqualification which the appellant incurred was in respect of his membership of the Tribal Co-operative Housing Society Ltd. as he could not have become a member of the said society as he was already a member of Dronacharaya Co-operative Group Housing Society, and therefore, by operation of Sub-rule (2) he would deem to have ceased to be a member from the Tribal Co-operative Housing Society right from the inception in November, 1983 and not from the Dronacharaya Co- operative Group Housing Society. 8. Apart from the aforesaid harmonious construction of Sub-rule (2) of Rule 25 and Rule 28, on a plain construction of Rules 25 also the same conclusion has to be arrived at. Sub-rule (1) disqualifies a person for admission as member of a housing society if he or his spouse or any of his dependent children is a member of any other housing society. The disqualification in question obviously attaches to membership of the second society and has no connection with his membership of the first society. In view of the aforesaid embargo contained in Sub-rule (1) to Rule 25, Sub-rule Significance The courts must avoid a head on clash of seemingly contradicting provisions and they must construe the contradictory provisions so as to harmonize them. The provision of one section cannot be used to defeat the provision contained in another unless the court, despite all its effort, is unable to find a way to reconcile their differences. When it is immpossible to completely reconcile the differences in contradictory provisions, the courts must interpret them in such as way so that effect is given to both the provisions as much as possible. Courts must also keep in mind that interpretation that reduces one provision to a useless number or a dead lumbar, is not harmonious construction. To harmonize is not to destroy any statutory provision or to render it otiose. Conclusion As per this doctrine the courts must try to avoid conflicts between the provisions of the statutes. Thus the provisions must be so interpreted that the conflict between the two is avoided and each of them is given effect and, for that purpose the scope and meaning of one may be restricted so as to give meaning to the other also.

A Study On Becks Theory Psychology Essay

A Study On Becks Theory Psychology Essay Becks theory states that Individuals with dysfunctional attitudes are likely to show increases in depressed mood following the occurrence of negative events. From the cognitive perspective, we can say that depression is caused by ones thinking. Someone with dysfunctional attitudes tends to think negatively toward themselves. When a negative event occurs which relates to that person, it triggers the negative thoughts over and over again which can lead to depression. Beck believed that the cognitive symptoms of depression actually precede the affective and mood symptoms of depression, rather than vice versa. Becks main argument was that depression was instituted by ones view of oneself, instead of one having a negative view of oneself due to depression. For example, Abela and DAlessandros (2002) found that the students negative views about their future strongly controlled the interaction between dysfunctional attitudes and the increase in depressed mood. The research clearly backed up Becks claim that those at risk for depression due to dysfunctional attitudes who did not get into their college of choice then doubted their futures, and these thoughts lead to symptoms of depression. The other cause of depression would be a persons interpersonal relationship with their surroundings and the people around them. Hammen and Brennan (2001) found that 13% of the sons and 23.6 % of the daughters who were depressed had depressed mothers as compared to 3.9% of the sons and 15.9% of the daughters who were depressed lacked a depressed mother. From the social perspective, we see that the child becomes depressed because of the interpersonal relationship with his or her mother which shows how the social environment around someone can influence the behaviour or thinking of the person. The depressed adolescents of depressed mothers were also more likely to evidence dysfunctional cognitions about their social selves and worlds. (Hammen Brennan, 2001, p. 8) This clearly contradicts becks argument that depression is cause by dysfunctional cognition but not vice versa. Hammen and Brennan (2001) discussed that adolescents gets depressed because of the interpersonal relationship with their mothers which then later lead them into dysfunctional cognitions. Whereas, beck states that dysfunctional attitudes comes first which then later on lead the person into depression. Another contradiction of these two concepts is that one states that depression is caused by the inner thinking without the influence of another person and on the contrary, the other is cause by the surrounding people and how they behave. Second Section Cognitive Theory Individuals with dysfunctional attitudes are likely to show increases in depressed mood following the occurrence of negative events which is stated in Beck`s theory. We can say that depression is caused by ones thinking from the cognitive perspective. Someone with dysfunctional attitudes tends to think negatively toward themselves. When a negative event shows up, it triggers the negative thoughts over and over again which can lead to depression. The relationship between dysfunctional attitudes and increases in depressed mood following the occurrence of negative events is caused by negative views of the future . Becks cognitive theory of depression has generated a vast body of empirical research.Central to Becks theory is the construct of schemas(Becks (1967, 1983). Beck defines schemas as stored bodies of knowledge that affect the encoding, comprehension and retrieval of information. The content and organization of different individuals schemas vary according to their particular experiences. Once activated, depressogenic schemas provide access to a complex system of negative themes and cognitions which will lead to ‘negative cognitive triad'(Becks (1967, 1983). Beck defines the negative cognitive triad as a negative view of the self, the world and the future. Beck hypothesizes that the negative cognitive triad is a sufficient cause of depression and will start showing some depressive symptoms such as deficits in affec tive, motivational, behavioural and physiological functioning(John R. Z. Abela,2000). Beck also states that there are three main dysfunctional belief themes (or schemas) that dominate depressed peoples thinking (Natalie Staats Reiss, Ph.D, 2007): I am defective or inadequate, All of my experiences result in defeats or failures, and The future is hopeless. Together, these three themes are described as the Negative Cognitive Triad. When these beliefs are present in someones cognition, depression is very likely to occur. Depressed people will tend to demonstrate selective attention to information, which matches their negative expectations, and selective inattention to information that contradicts those expectations. Faced with a mostly positive performance review, depressed people will manage to find and focus in on the one negative comment that keeps the review from being perfect. They tend to magnify the importance and meanings in the negative events, and minimize the importance and meanings in positive events. Usually this kind of situation will happen quite unconsciously which is will maintain a depressed persons core negative schemas in the face of contradictory evidence, and they will remain feeling hopeless about the future even when the evidence suggests that things will get better. Beck hypothesizes that depressogenic schemas are typically latent in individuals which vulnerable to depression and must be activated by relevant stressors or event in order to exert their influence on information processing(Becks (1967, 1983). In the absence of such aversive life events, depressogenic schemas remain inactive and do not exert an influence on patterns of thinking. Based on the research done by a group of researchers from Canada, (John R. Z. Abela and David U. DAlessandro,Department of Psychology, McGill University), they used a short-term longitudinal design in which participants dysfunctional attitudes were assessed prior to the occurrence of a negative event. The method that they have used was 136 high school seniors applying to the University of Pennsylvania completed measures of depressed mood and dysfunctional attitudes 1-8 weeks before receiving their admissions decision and denoted as (Time 1). The assessment of dysfunctional attitudes was preceded by a primary task designed to activate latent depressogenic schemas in all participants. Participants also observed on thier depressed mood, negative views of the self, and negative views of the future shortly after they received their admissions decision and denoted as (Time 2) and four days later as (Time 3). The outcome from this research was consistent with the component of Becks theory. The participants who are dysfunctional attitudes predicted increases in depressed mood immediately following a negative admissions outcome (Time 2). In addition, according to the the causal mediation component of the theory, for negative outcome students, the relationship between dysfunctional attitudes and increases in depressed mood was caused by negative views of the future. Contrary to predictions, however, this relationship was not mediated by negative views of the self. In addition, opposite to predictions, dysfunctional attitudes did not predict enduring depressed mood after a negative outcome (Time 3). Some studies have found no support for the diathesis-stress component of the theory. For example, using a psychiatric in-patient sample, Persons and Rao (1985) reported that irrational beliefs (Ellis, 1962) did not interact with negative events to predict increases in depressive symptoms seven months after discharge. Similarly, using a three-month prospective design, Barnett and Gotlib (1988a, 1990) reported that dysfunctional attitudes did not interact with negative events to predict increases in depressive symptoms. Social Theory The early onset of depression commonly recalled by depressed adults. (Burke, Burke, Regier, Rae, 1990) The increasing rate of depression in youngsters is significantly impairing and it indicates recurrence and continuity into adulthood. One of the best empirically supported predictors of depression in youth is having a depressed mother. There is no single unifying social model of depression but rather various empirical and theoretical developments that emphasize interpersonal cognitions and behaviors. As for the mother, a key characteristic of the interpersonal perspective is a particular emphasis on the dysfunctional, abnormal or unhealthy interpersonal behavior or interaction within a group transaction between the person and the social environment. (Joiner Coyne, 1999) Depressed individuals often function poorly in marriages and relationships with family members. (Barnett Gotlib, 1988; Rao, Hammen, Daley, 1999; Weissman Paykel, 1974) They may engage maladaptively, adapting poorly to a situation with others in ways that contribute to the occurrence of interpersonal stressful life events, which eventually might cause further depression. (Davila, Hammen, Burge, Pa-ley, Daley, 1995; Hammen, 1991) Depressed people are often dependent on others and seek confidence in ways that distance others.(Barnett Gotlib, 1988; Joiner Metalsky, 1995) They often overvalue relationships as sources of self-worth but may also have acquired negative beliefs about the availability and trustworthiness of others .In turn, prolong course of depression may be due to negative attitudes by family members. (Hooley, Orley, Teasdale, 1986; Hooley Teasdale, 1989; Keitner et al., 1995) Although many of the interpersonal deficiencies noted in depressed individuals may be depressive state dependent, a number of the cited studies have indicated enduring difficulties even when the person is not currently depressed. Obviously not all depressive disorders are functionally linked to maladaptive interpersonal relationships; but research strongly suggests the importance of the contribution of social behaviors and beliefs in promoting depression and its recurrence. The acquisition of dysfunctional schemas about the self and others, and the deficiencies in interpersonal skills, may set the stage for vulnerability to depression, particularly when stressors are encountered that deplete or challenge the childs sense of worth, competence, and social relatedness. The depressed children of depressed mothers were also highly likely to have elevated rates of interpersonal and conflict life events, reflecting at least in part their relative difficulties in negotiating interpersonal relationships. The depressed adolescents of depressed mothers were also more likely to have dysfunctional cognitions about their social selves and world. They more likely compared to depressed children of non depressed women to report fewer friends and social activities. In my opinion, social vulnerabilities of offspring of depressed women may contribute to earlier onset of depressive disorders and worse clinical features. Although biological and genetic factors may heighten risk for early onset, acquisition of interpersonal vulnerabilities may also result in early experiences of depressive disorders. The homogeneity permits evaluation of differences between groups that are not mistaken with age effects. Moreover, young adolescence is a developmental period during which social activities and alliances outside of the family take on increasing importance. The most noticeable differences among the groups occurred in interpersonal functioning. Indicators of ongoing social role performance revealed more impaired functioning in social domains, with a particularly marked problem, not surprisingly, in relationships with family members for depressed youth of depressed mothers. The depressed children of depressed mothers were also highly likely to have elevated rates of interpersonal and conflict life events, reflecting at least in part their relative difficulties in negotiating interpersonal relationships. The depressed adolescents of depressed mothers were also more likely to evidence dysfunctional cognitions about their social selves and worlds. They were significantly more likely than depressed children of non depressed women to report fewer friends and social activities. However, It is interesting that depressed children of depressed mothers were more positive about their romantic appeal than depressed children of non depressed women, possibly indicating earlier involvement or greater. (Gotlib, Lewinsohn, Seeley, 1998) An important implication of subgroup differences may be that the depressed youth of depressed women, because of interpersonal difficulties, will have earlier and more frequent recurrences of depression, which could result from stressors associated with inability to adapt to social demand. Moreover, it might be speculated that youth interpersonal difficulties might lead to adult social difficulties, including dysfunctional marital relationships and even transmission of depression to their own offspring. From the study, it is interesting that there was a tendency for a higher male proportion among the outcome of depressed women, while most of the depressed children of non depressed women were girls. In conclusion, the results are consistent with the perspective that depression among children of depressed mothers is especially likely to occur in the context of difficulties in their interpersonal skills and perceptions of others towards them. The youths difficulties may represent a mechanism of intergenerational transmission of depression that results in part from the parents own interpersonal difficulties acquired in their childhood family environments. Last but not least, aggressive treatment of the social dysfunctions has to be taken. Third Section Depression / Major depressive disorder Depression is a medical illness that involves the mind and body. It also known as major depression, major depressive disorder and clinical depression which is by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities.. It affects patients feel, think and behave which lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. Major depression is a disabling condition which adversely affects a persons family, work or school life, sleeping and eating habits, and general health. Subtypes There are five further subtypes of major depressive disorder called specifiers to nothing the length, severity and presence of psychotic features: Melancholic depression loss of pleasure in most or all activities, a failure of reactivity to pleasurable stimuli, a quality of depressed mood more pronounced than that of grief or loss, a worsening of symptoms in the morning hours, early morning waking, psychomotor retardation, excessive weight or excessive guilt. Atypical depression mood reactivity (paradoxical anhedonia) and positivity, significant weight gain or increased appetite (comfort eating), excessive sleep or sleepiness (hypersomnia), a sensation of heaviness in limbs known as leaden paralysis, and significant social impairment as a consequence of hypersensitivity to perceived interpersonal rejection. Catatonic depression a rare and severe form of major depression involving disturbances of motor behavior and other symptoms. The person is mute and almost stuporose, and either remains immobile or exhibits purposeless or even bizarre movements. Catatonic symptoms also occur in schizophrenia or in manic episodes, or may be caused by neuroleptic malignant syndrome. Postpartum depression (Mild mental and behavioral disorders associated with the puerperium) refers to the intense, sustained and sometimes disabling depression experienced by women after giving birth. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a form of depression in which depressive episodes come on in the autumn or winter, and resolve in spring. The diagnosis is made if at least two episodes have occurred in colder months with none at other times, over a two-year period or longer. Causes of Depression Depression has no single cause; often, it results from a combination of things. Whatever its cause, depression is not just a state of mind. It is related to physical changes in the brain, and connected to an imbalance of a type of chemical that carries signals in your brain and nerves. These chemicals are called neurotransmitters. Some of others factors involved in depression are: Family history Genetics play an important part in depression. It can run in families for generations. Trauma and stress Things like financial problems, the breakup of a relationship, or the death of a loved one can bring on depression. People can become depressed after any unwelcome change in life patterns, like starting a new job, graduating from school, or getting married can trigger a depressive episode.[1] Pessimistic personality People who have low self-esteem and a negative outlook are at higher risk of becoming depressed. These traits may actually be caused by low-level depression. Physical conditions Serious medical conditions like heart disease, cancer, and HIV can contribute to depression, partly because of the physical weakness and stress they bring on. Depression can make medical conditions worse, since it weakens the immune system and can make pain harder to bear. In some cases, depression can be caused by medications used to treat medical conditions. For example, some medications that are used to treat high blood pressure, cancer, seizures, extreme pain, and to achieve contraception can result in depression. Even some psychiatric medications like some sleep aids and medications to treat alcoholism and anxiety can contribute to the development of depression. Lack of neurochemicals the depressive disorders appears to be associated with altered brain serotonin and norepinephrine systems. The different types of schizophrenia are associated with an imbalance of dopamine (too much) and serotonin (poorly regulated) in certain areas of brain. Both neurochemicals (serotonin and norepinephrine) are lower in depressed people. Other psychological disorders Anxiety disorders, eating disorders, schizophrenia, persistent deprivation in infancy, physical or sexual abuse, clusters of certain personality traits, and inadequate ways of coping (maladaptive coping mechanisms) can increase the frequency and severity of depressive disorders Symptoms Feelings of sadness or unhappiness Irritability or frustration, even over small matters Loss of interest or pleasure in normal activities Insomnia or excessive sleeping Changes in appetite — depression often causes decreased appetite and weight loss, but in some people it causes increased cravings for food and weight gain Agitation or restlessness — for example, pacing, hand-wringing or an inability to sit still Fatigue, tiredness and loss of energy — even small tasks may seem to require a lot of effort Feelings of worthlessness or guilt, fixating on past failures or blaming yourself when things arent going right Slowed in thinking, speaking or body movements, concentrating, making decisions and remembering things Frequent thoughts of death, dying or suicide Unexplained physical problems, such as back pain or headaches Treatments and Suggestion Psychotherapy Psychotherapy can be delivered to individuals or groups by mental health professionals including psychotherapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers, counselors, and psychiatric nurses. Talking the[2]rapies help patients gain insight into their problems and resolve them through verbal give-and-take with the therapist. It reduces the recurrence of depression even after it has been terminated or replaced by occasional booster sessions. Types of therapy: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help to identify and change thought and behavior patterns that contribute to depression. People who are depressed tend to think negatively. Therefore, cognitive behavioral therapy teaches patients how to identify and challenge the negative thoughts and helps to obtain more satisfaction and rewards through their own actions. Interpersonal therapy looks at how depression can be connected to troubled emotional relationships. Interpersonal therapists focus on the patients disturbed personal relationships that both cause and exacerbate the depression. Psychodynamic therapy links depression to traumas and conflicts that happened earlier in your life, especially during childhood. It can be a short-term treatment, although it is often a longer process. The therapists focus on resolving the patients internal psychological conflicts that are typically thought to be rooted in childhood. Long-term psychodynamic therapies are particularly important if there seems to be a lifelong history and pattern of inadequate ways of coping (maladaptive coping mechanisms) in negative or self-injurious behavior. Group therapy allows you and other people with depression—or people with the same issues that contributed to your depression—to meet together with a therapist and share experiences. Antidepressants Antidepressants are treatment method by the help of medication to treat the physical state in the brain. Psychologists identified that when certain chemicals in the brain (such as serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine) are out of balance, depression can occur. People with chronic depression may need to take medication indefinitely to avoid relapse. Hence, antidepressants can be help to improve the symptoms of depression by bringing those chemicals back into balance. Some of the major types of antidepressants are discussed below: NDRIs (Norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitors) are a type of antidepressant that increases the levels of norepinephrine and dopamine by blocking their reuptake in the brain. Buproprion is the only antidepressant within this class of drugs approved by the FDA. Side effects may include weight loss, loss of appetite, and dry mouth. SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) such as sertraline, escitalopram, fluoxetine, paroxetine, and citalopram are a widely used type of antidepressant. SSRIs increase serotonin in the brain by blocking serotonin reuptake in the brain. These types of antidepressants can cause sexual side effects. SNRIs (Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors) work in much the same way as an SSRI. SNRIs block the reuptake of both serotonin and norepinephrine. SNRIs may also cause side effects similar to SSRIs. Electroconvulsive therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a procedure whereby pulses of electricity are sent through the brain via two electrodes, usually one on each temple, to induce a seizure while the patient is under a short general anaesthetic. ECT can have a quicker effect than antidepressant therapy and thus may be the treatment of choice in emergencies such as catatonic depression where the patient has stopped eating and drinking, or where a patient is severely suicidal. ECT is useful for certain patients, particularly for those who cannot take or have not responded to a number of antidepressants. ECT often is effective in cases where trials of a number of antidepressant medications do not provide sufficient relief of symptoms. This procedure probably works, as previously mentioned, by a massive neurochemical release in the brain due to the controlled seizure. Opinion In my opinion, there is more than one way to skin a mongoose. There are a lot of difference perspectives to look at the causes of depression. There might be environmental, biological, psychological, physical, or some incidents that cause individual to depress. It is quite difficult to differentiate between a depressed people from a normal one. Hence, by looking at the symptom of depression is one of the ways to diagnose the disease. Therefore, we will discussion about how depress symptom appears and may leads to occurrence of depression. At first, we choose to use cognitive theory as an approach to explain how people get depressed which can be apply in most cases. Cognitive theory saying that depression results from maladaptive, faulty, or irrational cognitions taking the form of distorted thoughts and judgments. Depressed people think differently than non-depressed people, and it is this difference in thinking that causes them to become depressed. For example, depressed people tend to view themselves, their environment, and the future negative, pessimistic light. As a result, depressed people tend to misinterpret facts in negative ways and blame themselves for any misfortune that occurs. This negative thinking and judgment style functions as a negative bias; it makes it easy for depressed people to see situation as being much worse than they really are, and increases the risk that such people will develop depr essive symptoms in response to stressful situations. The depressive symptoms are also the cognitive approach to the depressive individual where all the symptoms are causes by themselves. For example, they have feelings of sadness or unhappiness, irri[3]tability or frustration, even over small matters, loss of interest or pleasure in normal activities, insomnia or excessive sleeping and others. All the symptoms are from patient mind. They tend to ignore positive information, pay exaggerated attention to negative information, and to engage in overgeneralization, which occurs when people assume that because some local and isolated event has turned out badly, this means that all events will turn out badly. For example, depressed people may refuse to see that they have at least a few friends, or that they have had some successes across their lifetime (ignoring the positive). Or they might dwell on and blow out of proportion the hurts they have suffered (exaggerating the negative). Other depressed people may convince themselves that nobody loves them or they always mess up (overgeneralizing). In addition, cognitive theory also suggested that people are shaped by the interactions between their behaviors, thoughts, and environmental events. Each piece in the puzzle can and does affect the shape of the other pieces. Human behavior ends up being largely a product of learning, which may occur vicariously, as well as through direct experience. Depressed peoples self-concepts are different from non-depressed peoples self-concepts as we mention earlier. They tend to hold themselves solely responsible for bad things in their lives and are full of self-recrimination and self-blame. They also tend to have low levels of self-efficacy (a persons belief that they are capable of influencing their situation). Therefore, they tend to set their personal goals too high, and then fall short of reaching them. Repeated failure further reduces feelings of self-efficacy and leads to depression. Nevertheless, of all the factors which by the depressed individual, they are just feeling directed toward themselves for blaming the failure and uselessness. However, there also a cause to major depression which is appearing of a stressful event triggered their depressive episode. The stressful event initiate depressive episodes create changes in the brains chemistry that make it more likely that future episodes of depression will develop. The stressful experiences often take away a persons sense of control and can cause great emotional upheaval and pain. Sometimes, even positive life changes such as getting married or having a baby can trigger a depressive episode. Another approach of theory which I personally think is very important causes to depression is by using Behavioral Theories. Behavioral Theories uses principles of learning theory to explain human behavior. Therefore, according to behavioral theory, we can say that dysfunctional or unhelpful behavior such as depression is learned. A person can be depressing because of the environmental stressors cause them to receive a low rate of positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement occurs when people fo something they find pleasurable and rewarding. When people receive positive reinforcement, it wills increases the chances that people will repeat the sorts of actions they have taken that led them to receive that reinforcement. In other words, people will tend to repeat those behaviors that get reinforced. However, depressed people do not know how to cope with the fact that they are no longer receiving positive reinforcements like they were before. A depressed people typically have a heightened state of self-awareness about their lack of coping skills that often leads them to self-criticize and withdraw from other people. For example, a man who has been fired from his job and encounters difficulty finding a new job might become depressed. In a nutshell, depression can be cause by the internal and external factors such as peoples thoughts, perceptions, evaluations, expectations, behavior and so on. Hence, at the last part of our research on depression, we had generated an equation for the causes of depression by using cognitive theory and behavioral theory which applicable for most of the depression cases. DEPRESSION = f { stressful events, dysfunctional attitudes, depressive symptoms, loss of positive reinforcement } [1] Subtypes of Depression—Diagnosis and Medical Management. Retrieved March 6, 2010 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1237582/ [2] Understanding Depression Signs, Symptoms, Causes and Help. Retrieved March 6 2010 from http://www.helpguide.org/mental/depression_signs_types_diagnosis_treatment.htm [3] Depression Treatment. Therapy, Medication, and Lifestyle Changes That Can Help. Retrieved from 6 March 2010 from http://www.helpguide.org/mental/treatment_strategies_depression.htm