Righteous Dopefiend free essay sample

Homelessness is a social crisis that has stayed with us throughout our history. There was an increase in the number of homeless people in the 1980s due to housing and social service cuts increasing. In Philippe Bourgois and Jeff Schonberg’s, â€Å"Righteous Dopefiend,† being homeless is just one of the many problems that encompass their day to day reality. The two anthropologists assimilate themselves in the homeless community and observe the hardships that come from living on the streets and drug addiction. A better understanding is attained through their ethnographic research and details of the homeless’ lives can be used to further our knowledge and help in solving society’s problems. This ethnography shows that through of a community of addicts, the structure of society often produces and reproduces this advantage. Bourgois and Schonberg followed the daily routines of a community of people referred to as the Edgewater homeless for over 10 years. We will write a custom essay sample on Righteous Dopefiend or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The community consists of individuals from different ethnic backgrounds and different histories, but built their community on their shared lifestyle and addiction to drugs. Everything revolves around their main objective of getting a â€Å"fix† before the withdrawal symptoms come in. In the first three chapters, ethnic, gender, and hierarchal relationships within the community are discussed. Chapter one establishes the racial divisions that exist in their community, as well as their mutual dependence that connects them. Chapter two analyzes gender relations and the difference between sex, work, and love. Chapter three establishes the hierarchal relationship between the homeless. In chapters four through six, past memories and experiences are explored, resulting in grouping them as youths growing up in the era of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. The transition between their teen and adulthood is examined in chapter four and chapters five and six asserts that their present situation are influenced by their past, being shaped by their traumas and abuse. It is reflected in their present lives and influenced their relationship between themselves and their children. Chapters seven through nine returns to the issue of gender relations and sexuality and illustrates the commonplace obstacles that burden the community. The start of seven is centralized on the difference between homophobia and homosocial relationships. Towards the end of the chapter, it displays how the medical system affects the homeless. Eight is about daily routines in the shoes of an addict and what they experience. The concluding chapter is about the mental and physical torture of the process of giving up heroin. Heroin causes the user to have dependence to the drug and withdrawal symptoms may come within hours of being off it. â€Å"Carter: throwing up and fartin’ and shittin’ at the same time. It’s like you don’t have no control over your ol’ muscles in your rectum whatsoever†, â€Å"A million ants crawling through your skin and you just want to peel it right off† (B S, 81). In 2011, it’s estimated that about one fourth of people who have used heroin becomes dependent on it (â€Å"DrugFacts†, n. d. ). In addition to dependence, substance abuse and homelessness are associated with difference medical aspects. Communicable diseases, such as HIV/AIDS or hepatitis), from sharing needles are possible. In the 1980s, injection drug users were one of the main reasons of the HIV outbreak (B S, 106) which is correlated to the rise of the homeless population during that time period. Our society is structured in a way that makes it exceedingly difficult for the ones to ascend from poverty. In Wright and Rogers’ American Society, there are three explanations for the persisting poverty: blaming the victim, blaming society, and social conditions. Blaming the victim is rationalized by literally blaming the victim. The individual is poor for a reason so there must be some sort of flaw within the poor people. On the other side, society is blamed because an individual who is poor will remain poor regardless of how hard they work or their ambition, though there are people who are poor because of their personal attributes. Lastly, third explanation is a comprised of ideas from the former two and suggests that the American school system is at fault because they do not provide adequate education for the poor. Social and living conditions make it hard for people in poverty to get out and largely affect children. Such as when Persia gave the okay for Tina to sell her body when she was young; it contributed to who she is in the present. â€Å"Sexuality has an extremely complex relationship to gender relations in general and gender inequality in particular† (W R, 316). The sexual abuse that Tina suffered from when she was young was also another contributing factor. She became numb to the act and treats it as a source of currency to obtain favors; exercising her femininity when it became advantageous to her. She resents people who think low of her because of her sex, as shown in her fight with Frank (B S, 66). Often times the homeless people were sent to jail for possession, public urination and/or intoxication, or sleeping outside (B S, 112-113). Society has criminalized those who needed to be treated and while they’re in jail they experience withdrawal symptoms. Once they’re released, many of them do not have anywhere or any jobs to go. Relapsing is a high probability because some do not have a social network or support to help them. In the 1990s and 2000s the only form of post aid was the Narcotics Anonymous, which caused Tina to fall back into the addiction after the program ended (B S, 281). The correlation between social forces and their role in producing addicts is described in the life of the homeless. The book gives us better insight to the homeless culture and it does not hold back in showing the hardships of addiction. It further educates the public in hopes of decreasing skepticism and raising awareness. Ethnicity, gender, and childhoods are some of the themes that shape a person into what they will be in the future. It is evident that one must be put in someone else’s shoes to be able to gain a better understanding of them as shown in Bourgois and Schonberg’s field work; different approaches and solutions for society’s problems can be theorized and applied from that knowledge.

Llano Estacado in the U.S. and Around the World

Llano Estacado in the U.S. and Around the World Llano Estacado literally translated from Spanish-to-English means Staked Plain, and it is a region at the southern end of the American Great Plains in the southwestern United States. The Geographical Region The Llano Estacado region  encompasses parts of  eastern New Mexico  and northwestern  Texas. It is marked by large mesas at elevations of 3,000 to 5,000 feet. One of its most popular landmarks is the Caprock Escarpment in Texas. Possible Historical Reference The settling of the western United States in the 1800s was known for its land runs with settlers on foot and horseback racing to claim lands by driving a stake into the ground. Llano Estacado may be a historical nod to the stakes or posts driven  into the ground in this region that were used as landmarks delineating property. Some suggest the plain was called Llano Estacado because it is surrounded by cliffs resembling palisades or stockades, which explains the definitions of palisaded plain or stockaded plain. The Caprock Escarpment is a 200-mile long cliff or palisade that delineates the border of the Llano Estacado region from the high plains.   Spanish Translation   Llano Estacado  can be translated to mean palisaded plain, stockaded plain, or staked plain. Llano is a direct translation for the word plain or prairie.  Estacado  is the past  participle  of  estacar. Estacar  is the verb meaning to tie to a post. Of the three possible translations, the three have very similar meanings. Many words in English are derived from Spanish words. The English word stockade comes from the Spanish word  estaca, so originally stockade and staked meant basically the same thing. The same can be said for palisade, it comes from the French word  palissade, meaning stake. The word palisade is related to the Spanish word  palo, meaning stick, which may be a close relation to the word stake. Non-American Spanish Speakers What does a native Spanish speaker not from the United States assume as the meaning for the term Llano Estacado? A native Spanish speaker would approach the term in the same way an English speaker would understand staked plain. As in English, it is not a common term, but it does evoke a certain meaning when you give the term some thought. The understanding of the term would likely be different for someone living in suburban Madrid than it would be for someone living on the plains of Argentina.

Faith-Based Health Programs Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Faith-Based Health Programs - Assignment Example For instance, if health based initiatives were to be intergrated into a church menu for the purposes of combating stroke and heart disease the church officials would simply start to introduce more healthy foods at church functions. In addition, research has proved that faith-based interventions even provide social support for members who desire to adopt healthy behaviors such as engaging in daily physical exercises. Church groups have even been known to form groups of people that regularly engage in physical exercise with the encouragement of community health officials (Lee, 2010). There are many ways through which health officials can reach members of religious communities through fiath based initiatives. For instance, Church bulletins and newsletters that detail the importance of avoiding fatty foods and habits like smoking can cause members to adopt healthier lifestyles.This is because such health messages will be more accepted when delivered by a pastor than by a community worker. Faith-based settings also increase the chances of members being recruited in healthy lifestyle programs. Such settings are also beneficial for launching education programs due to the ready availability of a meeting space,as well as cooking facilities. In particularly conservative communities, community health workers can even train the religious leaders to carry out health initiatives that will ensure that their members adopt and maintain healthy

Cultural Competence and Diversity Research Paper

Cultural Competence and Diversity - Research Paper Example The paper also throws light how minority groups are crushed and intimidated at the hands of majority groups. The attitude of professionals while dealing with the problem of bias has also been discussed in the paper. The Paper The term cultural competence simply refers to the ability of the individuals to skillfully interact with their social environment by penetrating into the culture and adopting its patterns in one way or the other without taking the prejudiced behavior into account on the basis of cultural diversity prevailing in society. It is a reality beyond suspicion that the contemporary world has witnessed tremendous alterations in the social establishment, where the people belonging to divergent racial, ethnic, religious and geographical backgrounds reside and work under one and the same environment, and render their services to the institutions, firms and organizations. The presence of different communities requires exercising strict and comprehensive tolerance towards the staff members and colleagues for surviving and growing in profession. Consequently, cultural competence demands the condemnation of the prejudiced behavior of the biased stratum of society in order to serve the people without discrimination. Cultural competence is emerging as a key factor in leadership and professional life. From police officers patrolling the streets, teachers in the classroom and doctors in hospital wards to managers, working in virtual project teams and leaders planning a strategy of international expansion and the need to recognize different attitudes and expectations is an increasingly important aspect of personal effectiveness and organizational success. (Diversity Gains, 2010) Since, every reputed organization requires and hires the services of the professionals, without which there remains no possibility of sticking to one specific race only; nor the individuals can make achievements in life while working for the companies belonging to their own community. The same is applied to the professionals while dealing with the customers and clients of the groups other than one’s own. Hence, swift climbing on the career ladder vehemently requires serving all members of society without discrimination of caste, class, clan, community, race, region, religion, gender, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. It is particularly the case in the teaching and medical professions. Researches vehemently support the very idea that the companies and individuals having least prejudice and more broad-mindedness are far more successful in social arena in comparison to the groups that observe narrow-sightedness in their behavior while dealing the communities and groups other than that one is following. The same is the case with the societies, where the liberal societies earn sound reputation and respect in social structure and establishment by earning huge amount of profit because of the combined efforts made by the people belonging to diversified groups and cultural backgrounds. On the contrary, the societies relying upon one specific group start lagging far behind than others in the race of progress and prosperity. There was a time when the US society had racially segregated schools, where the blacks and white teachers used to teach the students belonging to their community. Somehow, the second half of twentieth century introduced several reforms in the US society; abolishing of the segregated

Concussions Case Study Essay Example for Free

Concussions Case Study Essay With all the excitement sports in our country and even around the world bring, some horrific injuries occur due to the competiveness of each participant. The human body can only take so much, and seems like a big target when competition is involved between two or more teams. An injury that has evolved the most out of all the injuries that can occur to someone is the concussion. According to the National Athletic Trainers Association and the National Collegiate Athletic Association, concussions in athletes is becoming the most common injury found compared to some other sports related injury. In the past, if you got hit in the head really hard you went out till your headache went away then you went back in the game. Nobody back then realized how much damage that hard hit to the head really did to you, or how long you should stay out for and recover. Due to advances in technology we now realize our philosophy â€Å"rub some dirt on it† or â€Å"shake it off† especially when it comes to head injuries is something you should never do. Due to improvements in technology and our scientist we are starting to realize and go deeper into how severe a concussion is or traumatic brain injury (TBI). By definition, a concussion occurs when there is a rapid acceleration or deceleration of the head. The brain moves or rotates inside the skull and different parts of it move against each other. Symptoms include headaches, confusion, amnesia and sensitivity to light or noise and can last days, weeks or months. According to the article â€Å"The Science of Hard Knocks† when this mild to severe blow to the head occurs what happens is the brain jiggles inside of the skull reorganizing blood flow. This causes no physical symptoms you can see so doctors can only depend on the information the athlete tells them. This is a huge problem because athletes being as competitive as they are, they may get cleared to play again and still have a concussion. According to the article â€Å"The Science of Hard Knocks†, A ton of concussions are being missed. And a ton of people are being allowed to go back not having fully recovered, says Robert Cantu, a concussion expert and chairman of the department of surgery at Emerson Hospital. Due to this some rules in and restrictions have been put in place by the NCAA on concussions that every head coach and athletic trainer must follow, but the main rule is if an athlete even shows the slightest sign of having a concussion they must sit out the for the entire event and must sit out at least a week before returning. Not only has this rule decreased the number of concussions but it has given the opportunity for athletes to recover fully from a concussion. There is really only one way to treat a concussion, the article â€Å"The Science of hard knocks† states that the only accepted treatment right now for a concussion is to rest the brain. This means no contact sports, no exercise, and no strenuous thinking, all in which are very difficult for your typical college athlete not to do. A big thing that many scientist and neurologist are studying now is the differences concussions have on men vs. women. The number of women participating in sports grew from 1.9 million to 3.2 million between 1990 and 2010. With an increase of participation in sports comes an increase in injuries, including concussion, and a need to understand its effects. Evidence is mounting that women, who are more likely than men to suffer a sports-related concussion, also have more severe symptoms in the days immediately fol lowing the injury. Though men go through a series of big hits, especially in the National Hockey League who is under intense pressure to come up with rule changes to reduce the number of concussions, also known as mild traumatic brain injuries, which have been linked to dementia later in life, studies show that men are less prone to get a concussion because of how long men have been playing sports and hitting our head. According to Dave Elemberrg within the past 100 years, our bodies and brains have adapted to the big hits. But, because women are so new to sports, women are three times more likely than men to suffer a sports-related concussion, says Tracey Covassin, a Canadian researcher at Michigan State University. The reason why women seem to get more concussion than men is not because they are less athletic Covassin says, but because she suspects that female athletes are getting more concussions because they are stronger, faster and more aggressive than in the past. â€Å"Women are also more likel y to be honest about their symptoms, she says, since unlike their male counterparts, they  dont risk losing lucrative professional contracts if they are injured.† Concussions have been overlooked by many people for a very long time. Because of this, some athletes have paid the price and now have to live with the consequences of not letting a traumatic brain injury heal properly. Due to our improvements in technology, rules and regulations set by the NCAA on this issue, and hard work done by scientist and neurologist we now have a better grasp on how serious a concussion or, a traumatic brain injury can be. It is safe to say that there is need for a more widespread understanding of the potentially dangerous impart of concussions in sports

In Vitro :: essays research papers

In Vitro Fertilization   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In vitro fertilization is a technique used to fertilize an egg outside of the woman’s body, usually done because of the failure of conception with normal sexual intercourse. For pregnancy to occur, a sperm must unite with an egg released from the ovary during sexual intercourse. Normally this joining, called fertilization, happens within the fallopian tube, which joins the ovary to the uterus. However, in some situations natural conception cannot occur because of factors affecting the couples’ fertility. In Vitro fertilization permits for the amalgamation of the male sperm cell and the female egg to happen in a laboratory instead of taking place in the fallopian tubes where this process would ordinarily happen. When looking at in vitro it seems to be a blessing to couples that cannot have children on their own. It seems to be a way for science to triumph over nature. But in that description lays the controversy. To some this procedure is a life givin g miracle that provides an opportunity for couples, who are by any other means unable to conceive a child, a second chance at bringing life into this world. While others would argue the ethical point claiming that this process is just a cover for infanticide and causing humans to play God. The moral question that arises from this procedure is: in allowing or assisting sperm to penetrate an egg when without help it would have otherwise not been able to do so, are we unnaturally, by human machination, over-riding one of nature’s barricades to inhibit fertilization? Also, if there is some sort of natural check and a reason that certain sperm fail to reach the egg, could it possible be for good reason that they do not? Is it possible that the sperm is ineffective because it obtains some genetic defect that would cause the child some form of inherited disease or some other deficiency? In other words, maybe there is some sort of natural or God-given rationale for filtering out some sperm. If this is true then we could be risking the possibility of manufacturing deformities and inherited diseases by assisting in the overcoming of a theological barrier.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The process of IVF involves five major steps: the first step being the monitoring of the development of the follicles in the woman’s ovaries. The second is aspiration of the follicle’s contents and identification of the eggs.

How does Atwood explore the theme of love in the novel ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’?

The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood describes the story of Offred, a Handmaid, a woman ascribed a breeding function by the society in which she lives in, and who is placed with a husband and wife higher up the social ladder that â€Å"need† a child. Through Offred's eyes we explore the rigidity of the theocracy in which she lives, the contradictions in the society they have created, and her attempts to find solace through otherwise trivial things. In this essay I will talk and explore the issue of how â€Å"love† is portrayed throughout the ‘Handmaid's Tale. The people and the situations, where love is required and abused, such as in the ‘ceremony! ‘ The immediate form of love in the novel is the love between ‘Offred' and her best friend ‘Moira. ‘ This love is portrayed to the readers through the eyes of ‘friendship' shared between two people through times of childhood, right through to the times of hardship, such as in the society of Gilead. Moira has been Offred's friend right from high school, when she would come around her house, ‘dropping her denim jacket onto the floor†¦ Right through to the times where Offred was having an affair, with Luke, her present husband. Moira's love for Offred seems to come across as her guide and advisor, she is the one individual described by Offred as being a ‘fantasy' and also by the other handmaid's. When Moira and Offred meet one another after a time of separation in the new regime Offred describes being ‘ridiculously happy. ‘ This immediately indicates to the reader, the fact that the friendship shared between these two women is so intense that even after a long separation they are ‘still' excited and happy to see one another. Most readers can relate to this, from their personal experiences, when they have been separated from their childhood friends and then have come into touch, these feelings are both felt and explored by the handmaid's and the readers, who relate to the feelings and emotions of separation. The one factor against their friendship in the society is that they are unable to explain what they feel for one another, they derived of talking and making any form of communication towards one another, ‘Friendships were suspicious†¦ e avoided each other. ‘ This also immediately informs the reader of the fact that these two women care for one another to such an extent that they are unable to cause any harm to one another, if it means to not talk to each other than so be it, they will not talk to one another. They care for one another to the extent that they will not allow a ridiculous law from the Gileadian society to come between their most intense and long friendship. The readers can relate to this from their own experiences, because if they too have intense friendships with their friends then they too will try their utmost hardest to not allow any one or any law to come between them. The ‘love' of friendship between Moira and Offred, outlines the fact that there are still people living in this society that value friendship, even though it is forbidden. Like Moira, from Offred's past she had memories of her husband Luke and her young daughter, whom she loved very much and also the two closest family members she lost the night they were running away from the society of Gilead. Memories of her daughter seem to always be sad, as the flash backs she gets of her daughter are of a distressing nature. This is a clear example of when Offred has a nightmare of the night she was ‘running with her' (her daughter). Offred remembers ‘holding her daughters hand' and then also seeing ‘her go away from me†¦ being carried away from me. ‘ These memories of Offred's daughter are extremely painful for her as she wakes up wiping her ‘wet' face, which are obviously ‘tears. From this the readers come to a conclusion that Offred loved and still loves her daughter so much that even when she thinks or dreams of her it brings tears to her eyes. Offred loves her daughter so much and probably regrets and is saddened by the fact that she was unable to say her final ‘goodbye' to her own daughter. Even though Offred throughout most of her novel doesn't know where her daughter is she, or whether she is still alive or not, she believes in her heart that her daughter is still alive and one day in the future she will meet her. This immediately shows that readers that the love and bond between mother and daughter is so deep that Offred, a mother still is adamant that one day they ‘will' meet again. Luke, Offred's husband, like their daughter has also been taken away from Offred, who has no idea where he has been taken, what he does and whether is still alive. However Offred is still in the belief that like her daughter Luke is well, healthy and one day he too will meet her and all three of them will run away as far as possible where the Gileadian society will not find them. Offred loved Luke so much in her past that she was willing to spend days and even night with him, ‘before the divorce,' of him and his present wife at that time which was not Offred. This immediately informs the readers that the love that was shared between Offred and Luke was so intense that they were willing to leave everything that they had in the past to be with one another, and if this meant Luke divorcing his wife for Offred then so be it. The extent of their love was the result of their daughter. Offred throughout the novel has believed that Luke and her would re unite again in the past, she fanticises of him when she's on her own, ‘I want Luke here so bad†¦ I want to be held, told my name†¦ want to be valued†¦ I want to be more than valued. † This immediately informs the readers that the love shared between Offred and her husband Luke, was a love in which Offred felt ‘loved' and ‘valued' not used for the single purpose of ‘sex,' just to make babies for the ‘un-women! The theme of ‘love' in the novel is given a whole new identity in the ‘Handmaid's Tale,' this, because, ‘love' is if you have strong emotional feelings of affection for someone. The ideas of ‘making love' is when two people ‘in love' and have sexual and romantic feelings towards each other and express it through ‘making love-sex. ‘ However in the handmaid's Tale, the handmaids are being completely used for the function o f making babies for the couples that can't have any. These women are having ‘sex' with men they are ‘not' in love with, with men who ‘don't' feel anything towards them, with men who just want them for the function of making babies and nothing else. There is no emotional attachment†¦ ‘Kissing is forbidden! ‘ this is the total abuse of the name and meaning of ‘love. ‘ As far as the Gileadian society is concerned, there should be no love between two people, women should be baby and sex machines to use whenever they want, this is shown to the readers when Nick is described as not having a ‘woman issued' to him yet! Therefore the context of ‘actual' love does not exist in the novel; love is only sex and babies. No emotional attachment, as in the ceremony, where Offred is held down and ‘fucked,' by the commanders, who ‘fucks' her and leaves. The ceremony in which the commander ‘fucks' Offred is blatantly the most disturbing forms of so called ‘love' in the novel. In this scene, Offred is pinned down by the commanders wife, whilst the commander ‘fucks' her. Kissing is forbidden,' which obviously means that there is no emotional or sexual attachment in the whole process of making love. Offred herself explains that she is ‘not' making love with the commander. It is him who is just ‘fucking her. ‘ From this ceremony the readers come to a conclusion and realise that the actual meaning of love had be re-written, just like the palimpsest, therefore the people living in the society have had to stop the ‘normal' way they should be thinking about making ‘love' and now just have sex for the benefit of having children. Overall I come to a conclusion, that the theme of by Margaret Atwood, ‘love' in the novel has been completely abused by those living in this regime, especially the commanders. I also come to a conclusion that there are still some people in the regime, such as the handmaids, who still crave the desires they have had in the past, such as being ‘valued' and ‘loved' by their husbands. Also I have learnt that ‘love' in this novel is not necessarily about ‘sex' but also the ‘love' between two friends; Offred and Moira, who are each others backbones throughout the novel, inspiring each other to become better people and over come this regime. Finally I have also learn that love is not only about ‘sex' its about loving one another mentally, emotionally and then physically, you only realise what you had in the past, until you lose it†¦ this is what has happen to the handmaid's.