Reality Therapy: A Case Study

Reality Therapy: A Case Study Reality Therapy is a therapeutic approach that focuses on problem solving and making better choices in order to achieve specific goals. Reality Therapy was developed by Dr. William Glasser, and its primary intention is to focus on the here and now, rather than the past. Reality Therapy is intended to solve problems, rebuild connections and work towards a better future. The author of this paper chose to do an overview of Reality Therapy, and apply Reality Therapy to a case study. Throughout the textbook was no less than ten different types of therapy theories, and reality Therapy struck the author as a potentially effective way to treat clients experiencing various issues that prompt him/her to seek counseling. The case study involves a man named Chad. Chad is a middle aged man with two children at home. Chad has a difficult time in his relationship with his wife and children. Chad also has difficulty communicating and relating to members of his immediate family. Reality therapists believe the underlying problem of most clients is the same: they are either involved in a present unsatisfying relationship or lack what could even be called a relationship (Corey, 2009, 2013, p335). Reality Therapy is tied very closely with Choice Therapy (both from William Glasser) and while Choice Therapy explains why and how we function, Reality Therapy provides a delivery system for helping individuals take more effective control of their lives (Corey, G. (2009,2013, p336). The textbook states, Contemporary Reality Therapy focuses quickly on the unsatisfying relationship or the lack of the relationship, which is often the cause for clients problems (Corey, 2009, 2013 p338). William Glasser is the leading contributor to Reality Therapy. Educated initially as a chemical engineer, Glasser became interested in Psychology and ultimately Psychiatry. Glasser was certified in Psychiatry in 1961, following his studies at the Veterans Administration and UCLA in Los Angeles. Glasser maintained a private practice from 1957-1986 (Corey, 2009, 2013, p 334). Glasser was influenced by a fellow Psychiatrist and mentor named G.L. Harrington. Harrington believed in getting his patients involved in projects in the real world, and by the end of his residency, Glasser began to put together ideas that would later be known as Reality Therapy (Corey, 2009, 2013, p334). The following are some of the key terms and key concepts of Reality Therapy: View of Human Nature Choice Therapy posits that we are not born blank slates waiting to be externally motivated by forces in the world around us. Rather we are born with five genetically encoded needs that drive us all our lives: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom and fun (Corey, 2009, 2013, p 336). Choice Therapy Explanation of Behavior Glasser did not like the terms depress, having a headache, being upset or angry. He preferred to think of it as rather than being depressed, we are depressing, we are upsetting, etc (Corey, 2009, 2013, p 337). Characteristics of Reality Therapy Reality Therapy generally attempts to bring the focus immediately to unsatisfying relationships or the lack thereof. This is the reason for many who seek out professional counseling. Therapists engaged in Reality Therapy typically do not listen very long to complaining, blaming and/or criticizing. Therapists believe these are the most ineffective models of behavior. Here are some of the underlying characteristics of Reality Therapy: Emphasize Choice and Responsibility, Reject Transference, Keep the Therapy in the Present, Avoid focusing on Symptoms, and Challenge Traditional Views of Mental Illness (Corey, 2009, 2013, p 338-340). Chad scheduled an appointment for counseling and came to the first session with some issues he is having with his relationship with his wife. The two of them have not been communicating very effectively lately, and this has caused some difficulties within his relationship. His complaints are that his wife just does not understand him like she once did. She does not meet his emotional needs, she is no longer engaging in topics of his interest, and although they continue to live in the same home together, he is growing into a feeling of detachment with his wife. As a therapist utilizing Reality Therapy in our sessions, I would want to help Chad recognize that focusing on his past will not benefit him in his future hopes of a satisfying relationship with his wife. I would want him to understand that he can take control of his feelings and his behavior that will ultimately help him in both his present and future relationship with his spouse. I would also want Chad to see that rather than expressing his feelings as being depressed, it would be better for him to say his feelings were depressing. In our session the first thing I would want to build would be a relationship with Chad. I would want to assure him that I am not there to hurt him, but to help him. I would want Chad to feel comfortable in sharing some things with me as his counselor. Building a relationship with him would be vital to further sessions as we work together on improving his perception of his relationship. I would then seek to implement procedures that would help Chad begin to change his behavior. The author of the textbook made the following interesting observation: The art of counseling is to weave these components together in ways that lead clients to evaluate their lives and decide to move in more effective directions (Corey, 2009, 2013, p 342). The counseling experience begins with an exploration into the clients needs, wants and/or perceptions. I would want Chad to explore ways in which he feels he could change. He may consider looking at ways in which he can alter his behavior. I would want Chad to see that if his behavior is not getting him what he wants, I would help him see that only he can change his behavior (Corey, 2009, 2013). I would ask Chad to explain what he is doing when he feels this detachment from his wife. What are his actions when he feels that he is having trouble communicating with his wife? If Chad is distracted by someone else; another woman perhaps, I would want Chad to determine if she may be the cause of his feelings of detachment. If Chad is ignoring his wifes communication and not paying attention to her emotional needs, I would ask him to determine if he can think of ways in which he could give her the attention she needs. I may encourage Chad to suggest to his wife that they spend the first 30 minutes after they both get in from work and just express to one another how their day was, any important information that needs to be exchanged between the two of them, what they need from each other in the present, and any future needs they may have. I would foresee Chad taking the initiative with his wife to ensure that their relationship is strong. If Chad is noticing a difference in their relationship, I am certain she notices it also. By him taking the first steps to change hi behavior, may cause her to be receptive to the changes as well. Chads recognition of the opportunity that rests within himself to change his circumstances may be empowering to him, and therefore serve as motivation to change his current relationship into one that is more productive and satisfying to him. I see Reality Therapy fitting well with my worldview. While I have a worldview that places God at the top and in control of all things, I also see mans responsibility for the choices he makes in his own life. Reality Therapy allows the client to focus on the deliberate choices they have made in life, and it also gives them an opportunity to focus on the results those choices have brought. Proverbs 23:7 states, For as he thinketh in his heart, so is heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (BibleGateway.com, 2013). I believe God allows man to make choices in his own life, and sometimes those choices carry consequences. As stated before, the counselor must articulate the correct way for the client to (1) see his behavior as it really is, and (2) be willing to take ownership of it and change the behavior. I would want Chad to understand that God is for him and his happiness in life. I would want Chad to see verses in Scripture that support that statement. Verses like Romans 8:31 when Paul said, If God be for us, who can be against us? (BibleGateway.com, 2013). When Chad expresses his doubt of whether or not his wife loves him, and when he expresses his doubts of whether or not he loves himself, and when he even questions whether or not God has given up on him, I would also want him to see a passage found in Romans 8:38-39. Paul states, For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (BibleGateway.com, 2013). I would want to integrate Scripture and the promises of God into the use of Reality Therapy, and I personally think they blend well together with the potential for p ositive results in Chads life. In conclusion, the author of this paper chose to write of Reality Therapy because he likes the approach the counselor takes with the client. He also favors the approach the client takes in accepting responsibility for his/her own actions. Possibly the what the author likes most about Reality Therapy is the fact that it encourages the client to not simply look to the counselor for answers to fix his/her problem; it encourages the client to work with the counselor to develop a plan to change what has brought him/her to counseling to begin with. Future of Crime Trends: White Collar Crimes Future of Crime Trends: White Collar Crimes It is hard to think about the future of crime trends because current conditions can change rapidly as some criminologist believe that crime rates may eventually rise as the number of teens in the population increases only some of criminologist believe this. I think the age structure of society is one of the most important determinants of crime rates but the economy, technological change and social factors will play an important role in crime rate in the UK. If unemployment continues to increase which will be and more attention will be paid to white collar crime and fraud as a result of the massive business failures in the banking, security and housing industries in recent years. The race and crime conundrum may become less important as crime and victimization. When the economy turns down people who are unemployed will become more motivated to commit theft crimes and that a good economy will reduce the number of crime. The good positive way is a poor economy actually will help lower crime rates because unemployed parents are at home to supervise their children and guard their possessions. Because there is less to spend I think age in crime will effect crime rate in future because teenagers have extremely high crime rates kids who commit a lot of crime early in childhood are also likely to continue to commit crime in their adulthood. CCTV does work and works best when it is used alongside wider strategy of partnership working between the police and councils and local communities to tackle crime in their neighbourhood area. When it comes to the crime prevention the CCTV is the most effective in reducing crime for example in car parks is most effective when targeted at vehicle crimes and it is more effective in reducing crime in the UK than in other countries. The CCTV can increase the public confidence and the public will likely to support Criminal Justice System for example in reporting crime and act as a witness. Also in recent terrorist investigations including 7/7 London bombing and 21/7 and the conviction of Steve Wright for Ipswich murder that CCTV has played a important role in detecting crime and protecting the public when needed. The new crime threat will be cybercrime if things go as they are. This would be any crime that involves an information system and includes ID theft. As technology advances people are going to be more brazen to commit cybercrimes from home Transnational crime organisation will continue to grow in diversity in many regions in the world. Developed countries like England and America will bore affected by TCSs than in the past During the early nineteenth century there was not any race and crime issue. This was not due to lack prejudice or indeed a lack of crime. It was because there were relatively few immigrants living in the UK. Black and lower class populations have the highest rates of street and index crime involvement in the UK. ( ) and Sociological theories argue that the location and experiences in the social environment are responsible for these differences in crime involvement ( ). In an early contribution to the sociology of knowledge DeGre (1995) observed that all science including those disciplines not involved in the study of human society are part of the tertiary institutions of a culture being influenced by the larger constellation of stresses and strains, cultural values, technological accomplishments and needs and overall definitions of life goals that characterize the social group society and world situation in which they are operative. No one comes into the world with criminality in the way in which one is born with a certain colour of eyes and crimes committed by immigrants are more frequently prosecuted than those committed by white people because immigrants are less likely to defend themselves legally and they are less often in a position to secure a good lawyer and they are more promptly sentenced to prison and in the court stages they are likely to plead guilty to drop their sentence to a lower level this is because they are come from a different culture different belief and different laws that they faced in their own countries and there always a language barrier Recent studies have found that black and mixed race 16 to 24 years olds have lower levels of trust in the police and the courts compared to older people. Young black peoples confidence in the criminal justice system is actually low. This emphasis on the police reflects greater contact with police in comparison to other Criminal Justice System agencies and subsequently people are more likely to hold some view about them and also black people have a higher relative risk of being stopped and searched than white people in England and Wales(Jack 1998) studies shown that the stop and searches of black people can be influenced by age for example where the black population in a area is younger than the white population and stop and search powers were predominately used on those people under the age of 25 and also the Stephen Lawrence inquiry report highlighted the problem of disproportionality and indicated the discrimination was a major problem and also this research has actually pointed to racial stereotyping by the police and black people are likely to get stop and search than white people. In Stephen Lawrence case was 18 black students were hoping to become an architect and was fatally stabbed while waiting for the bus that was a racial attack but police investigation failed to bring the killers into justice this had a big influence on black community. There is a media effect on race and ethnicity from TV news and from movies people are getting the wrong ideas on immigrants and religion. Media plays important role here in my opinion media shows the criminal act and report them to the public in a negative way rather than report them in a positive way. Because it is a personal interest of media personnel. One more importing thing as well as this if the media giving the news related to crime with fascination in this case the crime ratio of that specific crime will increase for example if in newspapers the news about terrorism is reported so frequently then in this situation the ratio of stop and search will increase according to the British Crime Survey BCS a number of stop and search has actually gone up after the 7/7 London bombing. It seems obvious that power inequality affects the quality of poples lives. The rich and poerfull live better than the poor and powerless. Power inequality affects the type of deviant activities likely to be engaged in. the powerful are more liley to perpetrate profitable crimes such as corporate crime while the powerless people are more likely to commit unprofitable crimes such as homicide and assault and power can also be an importance cause of deviance. For example more likely for bank executives to cheat customers quietly than for jobless persons to rob banks violently. Crime committed by respectable people of high social status in the course of their work and this is called white collar crime (Sutherland, 1961), white collar crime occurs at several levels. Embezzlement for example it is committed by employees against companies and companies also commit white collar crime too when they engage in pricing fixing, sell defective products, evade taxes pr pollute the environment. When companies are the perpetrators white collar crime is often referred to as corporate crime and sometimes corporate crime is more closely parallels organized crime than it does anythink else. For example accountants ,auditors, and executives working for Enron corporation worked together to hide the companys debts exaggerate its profits and pull in money from investors whom they tricked into buying their stock for much more than it was worth (Eichenwald, 2005) White collar crime brings heavy costs to society most scholars and law enforcement officials believe that the money loss due to corporate crime dwarfs that lost through street crime (Hegan) in addition to the economic cost there are social costs as well white collar crime can cost lives when tainted medicines or dangerous cars are sold , safety precautions are flouted on factory lines or toxic chemicals are dumped by manufacturers into rivers and streams the cost of white collar crime go beyond the actual money involved in the crime itself. The reaons for white collar crime are similar to those for street crimes. People want more than they can legitimately get think the benefits of a crime outrun it is potential costs (Shower Wright, 200) In these days the magnitude of white collar crime in our society challenges the popular image of crime as a lower class phenomenon. Instead this appears that people of different status simly haqve different opportunities to commit crime. Those people in lower status are hardly in the position to engage in price fixing, stock manipulation and tax evation.   White collar crimes are far less likely to be offcialy investigated and prosecuted than converntional crimes. In the simplest term what occurs in the streets is more visible and more easily inveatigated than what occurs in the suite. Its hard to detect and it realy can be hard to notice if crime has accurred e.g fraud, tax fraud and shop theft there are also few good reasond that why business in UK and other companies dont want to talk about white-collar crime its because the firms may not want to admit that they have been victim of theft and this can effect on their own business they may also not want to admit that their staff committed a crime. Since crimes were attempts to gain personal advantage by force or fraud they could obviously be committed by the rich and powerful they could certainly involve force or fraud and they could clearly be committed without punishment by the state. Some doctors commit murder and doctors sometimes cheat on medicare and lawyers have been known to misuse funs entrusted to them by their clients: business executives sometimes angage in bid rigging : labor union executives sometimes embezzle funds from pension plans and also manufacturers sometimes dispose of toxic chemicals in wyas contrary to law. Other criminal activities that are often missed by official and many sociological measurements of crime are those conducted by the powerful in society (Pearce, 1976) crimes of the powerful is largely those commited by rulling groups and governments, corporate crime is that crimes commited not so much by individuals but rather by boards for example chair persons and including the breaking of the Health and Safety Work Act and white collar crime that crimes committed by professional people such as tax evasion, business fraudand insider trading. White collar drimesis difficult to estimate the extent and influence of whitecollar crime on victims because all too often those who suffer the consequences of white collar crime are ignored by victimologists. Wide differences in cultural heritage and value system have a direct impact on rates of crime and it is obvious that there are many cultural differences between the America and Japan that doesnt mean that Japanese approaches to crime prevention cannot work in America. In Japan the societys emphasis on apologies and resolving disputes outside the police and the court this can effect on reporting crime and this leads to crime stay on low level in Japan. When we pick the robbery case is the most fearful street crime in America is much higher than Japan for example in 2002 America recorded 182 and for each robbery in Tokyo New York had 462. Robbery rates for England, Germany and France do not approach those in America but resident of those countries are still twenty to thirty times more likely to be held up than people living in Japan. Even when we think about South Korea have same similarity with geographically and culturally with Japans and closest neighbour and has robbery rates 6.5 times than Japan ( ) culture plays important role in to control crime and prevent crime. There is also a lack of confidence in America and people likely to act as witness and they likely to report crime. While some people can effectively cope with strain some certain people have traits that may make them particularly sensitive to strain. These include an explosive temperament being overly sensitive or emotional low tolerance for adversity and poor problem solving skills. Aggressive people who have these traits are likely to have poor interpersonal skills and more likely to be treated negatively by others and their combative personalities make them feared and disliked. These people are likely to live in families whose caretakers share similar personality traits. They are also more likely to reject conventional peers and join deviant groups. In summer 2004 a dramatic murder trial took place in New York City that aptly illustrates how lower class cultural concerns the code of the streets clash with the rules and values of American culture and how deviant cultures can exist side by side with middle class culture. According to Messner and Rosenfeld the relatively high U.S. crime rates can be explained by the interrelationship between culture and institutions. The dominance of the American Dream mythology ensures that many people will develop wishes and desires for material goods that cannot be satisfied by legitimate means that people are willing to do anything to get ahead from cheating on tests to get higher grades to engaging in corporate fraud and tax evasion and those people who cannot succeed become willing to risk everything including a prison sentence. American dream have a different effect on people depending on their place in the social structure. The studies shows that the American dream had a greater effect on whites than African Americans the reason is that whites may have greater expectations of material success than African Americans whose aspirations have been tempered by a long history of racial and economic deprivation. When whites experience strain they are more apt to react with anger and antisocial behaviour. At the institutional level the dominance of economic concerns weakens the informal social control exerted by the family, church and school. In my opinion these institutions have lost their ability to regulate behaviour and they have instead become a conduit for promoting material success. Parents pushing their kids to succeed at any cost and schools encourage the kids to get in to the best colleges by any means possible as well as religious institutions promote their wealth and power because religion lets you down all the time when you are keen on it too much.

Higher Education Ensures Better Life Essay

1.what state exams do school-leavers choose most often in (CITY) ? 2.what are the best ways to prepare for examinations?how are you going to do it? 3.do you think that exams motivate students to study?why? 4.higher education ensures better life. these days is very important to gain secondary education. it’s not only develops your mentality,but and broadens your perspective. In (CITY) the school-leaver are preparing for exams. Lithuania’s main exam is the first language exam. this first language exam Is difficult and takes a lot of energy. a lot of studying people are fail this test. so, the school-leaver are studying very hard and much when to finish the tests with a good marks. If you want are finishing the exam with good marks, you have to concentrate on what you don’t know something and are progressing what you don’t know, at the moment. also, calm down, learn little by little, ask the teachers, they always helps you and of course, you should believe what you do. I think that examinations motivate you to learn more.but also, use to a lot of nerve, efforts and energy. school-leaver gets a lot of stress, exhaustion. I think that can facilitate exams and everyone would be happy. higher education ensures better life.Nowadays, higher education is important thing in better life when the person finishes final exams.the person will be able to better job with a good qualification. also, the person who has higher education, has higher intellect level. So, higher education is important. everyone has to learn and finish at school.

Black Masculinity Essay

What is an ethnic group? An ethnic group is a human population whose members identify with each other, usually on the basis of a presumed common genealogy or ancestry . These ethnic groups are usually united by shared cultural values, common fields of communication, or religious practices. So perhaps the theory of Black masculinity can be considered an ethnic group. There is the obvious factors of being ‘Black’ and ‘male’ that connects these members in this group; they have skin color and gender in common. Perhaps this cultural group has come together to be more then just a group who have race and gender in common. It goes beyond that and Black masculinity has members who are not ‘Black’. Perhaps this questions if history, ancestry, and genealogy are factored in when becoming a members of a group. But will these members be truly accepted in the cult of Black masculinity. Within the dominant culture African American men have developed their own sense of identity. These men have integrated themselves into American society creating a culture of their own. They have established a language, a sense of dress, and behaviors. These protocols help this group of men emphasize their ethnicity and gender. Members of this group who follow these traits are considered to be part of the cult of Black masculinity. What is happening is that white men, because of the influence of pop culture, are permeating the boundaries of the Black masculine cult. This is an experience of somewhat reverse assimilation. At first it was the assimilation of the Black man into the white man’s world and now it is as if roles are reversed. How the white men see the Black masculinity portrayed through the media and want to be part of it. Anthropologist Fredrik Barth specifies three conditions under which ethnic groups develop and define themselves: (a) a dominant culture is present with the power to maintain conditions whereby other groups of people, (b) are stereotyped, and (c) are constrained to certain roles that function complementarily in the general culture. Barth argues that ethnic distinctions are born out of conflict . The above conditions are necessary for the maintenance of ethnic distinctions. So, the maintenance of ethnic diversity requires domination by one group of the rest. Using Barth’s definition of what an ethnic group is and which boundaries are defined by these rules this paper will prove how Black masculinity conforms to these guidelines establishing them as an ethnic group within the dominant culture. This paper will also explore the difference that is expressed by black males in American culture through the use of language, dress and behavior. The cult of Black masculinity will prove that ethnic groups can create something of their own while inventing a new culture in which they can partake in and be control of. Black Masculinity â€Å"A particular type of black masculinity–one defined mainly by an urban aesthetic, a nihilistic attitude, and an aggressive posturing–has made its way into the cultural mainstream in the last two decades. † There are many contributing factors but the image of Black masculinity has come about due to the popularization of hip-hop culture and the prominence of rap music and the â€Å"videomercials† that sell it. More specifically, it is the result of the popularity of the urban â€Å"gangsta† and his embodiment in the â€Å"gangsta† rap of artists such as Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Snoop Doggy Dogg, and Tupak Shakur. Black masculinity is the attempt for black males to incorporate what the dominant culture believes to be masculine. Most studies have, however regarded Black Masculinity as an alternative to social status, rather than as an extension of it. ‘Black Macho’ has been portrayed, therefore, as differing in kind rather than degree from the wider gendered power relations within Society at large†¦ It is however; only within the context of wider power relations — and as an extension of them –that Black masculinity can be fully understood†¦ Black masculinity is then perhaps best understood as an articulated response to structural inequality, enacting and subverting dominant definitions of power and control, rather then substituting for them. Rather than a hostile and withdrawn entity [black masculinity] can be seen as a base for interaction and negotiation with wider society . These men have taken an idea which already exists according to society and incorporated what they believe is their definition of masculinity. This expression of masculinity, according to Mercer and Julien: â€Å"subjectively incorporates attributes associated with dominant definitions of manhood – such as being tough, in control, independent – in order to recuperate some degree of power or active influence over objective conditions of powerlessness created by racism. † Black masculinity embraces the stereotypical role of what a Black man typically resembles. What the dominant culture portrays: the tough guy, more body then mind. This is received as negative because they are not achieving what the ideal is, what â€Å"Whiteness† is. So would this group of men be considered an ethnic group within the American society? According to Barth an ethnic group embodies the following: â€Å"Largely biologically self-perpetuating, shares fundamental cultural values, realized in overt unity in cultural forms, makes up a field of communication and interaction, has a membership which identifies itself, and is identified by others, as constituting a category distinguishable from other categories of the same order. † Those who choose to conform to these norms of this group will reject or discriminate against others and this leads to the inclusion of this specific group. Behavior How one behaves will determine what group they will fit into. These behaviors include how one dresses, acts and talks. Black masculinity has their own sense of dress, actions and even language. Depicted through the media the Black masculine male will dress â€Å"gangster†. There stereotyped baggie jeans and big t-shirts with the jewelry and baseball caps. This reinforces the hyper-sexualized stereotyped male in society. Recently, Richard G. Major’s concept of the â€Å"cool pose† has proved an insightful term for understanding the dynamics of black masculinity as it has developed in response to unequal conditions in the modern urban environment. In a series of closely related works (listed at the end of this essay), Majors argues that black males have accepted the traditional values of masculinity but are so restricted by social and political factors that many of them have been deeply frustrated by their inability to enact these traditional masculine roles. â€Å"In brief,† Majors explains, â€Å"cool pose originated as a coping mechanism for the ‘invisibility,’ frustration, discrimination, and educational and employment inequities faced by Black males. In response to these obstacles, many of these individuals have channeled their creative talents and energies into the construction of masculine symbols and into the use of conspicuous nonverbal behaviors (e. g. , demeanors, gestures, clothing, hairstyles, walks, stances and handshakes)† . Majors includes in his examples of the cool pose such diverse behaviors as the use of humor, feigned emotional detachment, and specific stylistic expressions like the black athlete’s inventive basketball dunking, football spiking, and end zone dancing, as well as black musical performers’ aggressive posing and graceful yet strenuous dancing styles. A prime ingredient of the cool pose as a compensatory form of masculinity is an exaggerated style of toughness: â€Å"Symbolic displays of toughness defend his identity and gain him respect; they can also promote camaraderie and solidarity among black males† . Unfortunately, as Majors is careful to point out, the ritualized hyper masculinity performed by many black men as a cool pose, particularly the preoccupation with enacting a tough persona is rife with the negative potential to promote dangerous lifestyles (e. g. , gang bangers, tough guys, drug dealers, street hustlers, and pimps) and to reinforce harmful stereotypes. These images illuminate the figure of the menacing Black male. He embodies images of the black heterosexual rapper, athlete, and movie star which challenge the racist depictions of black masculinity as incompetent, oversexed and uncivil, in the end a threat to middle class notions of womanhood, family and nation . Perhaps with these embodiments this is why Black masculinity is its own ethnic group. They were unable to assimilate into the dominant culture because they were seen as a hyper sexualized threat to white women. This left these men to create something of their own, through dress, language and action. This group uses language as another expression of social difference. African American Vernacular English is the language that is used to communicate, it is also known as Black English, Black Vernacular, or Black English Vernacular. Black English is also known as Ebonics, a combination of â€Å"ebony† and â€Å"phonics†, this language is spoken by many Blacks in the United States and around the world. Black masculinity has accepted Ebonics as their language because it is something that is unique to the African American culture. The problem with this form of communication is that it is not widely accepted within the dominant society. The children who are raised by men who are part of this cult of Black masculinity are told to speak differently because the form of communication that they have learned is not acceptable. This is a miscommunication and some parties tried to get Ebonics recognized as a language and to be taught in the school systems. This law was not passed but it was interpreted and they are now teaching the children how to translate African American Vernacular English into American Standard English. Jackson sees language as â€Å"badges and emblems of identity can be seen as a kind of message, the successful transmission, reception, and decoding of which necessary to the interaction is taking place. † This is why Black masculinity is as strong as it is because it embraces their own language and through this they are able to maintain relationships with others in this group of men. Such as the word â€Å"Nigga†, if this word were used by someone outside of this cultural group then they would be considered racist but through music and use within the group it is considered to be a term used to identify each other. It would be seen as odd if someone who did not embody Black masculinity started speaking in African American Vernacular English because they may not have the ancestry which allows them to embody Black Masculinity and their language. Boundaries To form a cultural boundary it is presumed that the borders would be between different homelands, ethnicities, religions or language groups. In the case of Black masculinity the majority are situated all over North America and the rest of the world. With such a diverse spread it would be hard to place physical borders on this group. â€Å"Ethnic groups are not merely or necessarily based on the occupation of exclusive territories; and the different ways in which they are maintained, not only by once-and-for-all recruitment but by continual expression and validation†¦Ã¢â‚¬  In saying this, those who partake in the cult of Black masculinity erect borders through communication such as language and body language. Those who do not respond to these actions are not considered to be part Black male society. There is certain protocol which will be followed within the group and if this is not followed then there is the identification of an outsider who is trying to break through the borders. The problem with Black masculinity and the exclusivity of this culture is that it is widely available in pop culture. It would be easy for someone who is not part of this ethnic group to study the mass media and learn the traits which define Black masculinity. Black masculinity is based on ascription how people identify their culture and how they identify themselves within this culture. Their boundaries are socially constructed. Ethnic groups share common culture which includes shared religion, language, style of dress, housing, shared customs; attitudes, beliefs and most have the same perception of a common past. As discussed earlier this group embraces a shared common culture which separates them from the dominant culture. They have created themselves due to a particular historical circumstance and in this case it is colonization and the invasion of the White man. The identity of Black masculinity is reliant on how individuals embrace it, constrained by it; act on it and through this Black masculinity will have a separate identity as an ethnic group. To separate themselves they have must be able to distinguish them from the dominant culture by â€Å"creating appearance of cultural discontinuity†. Black masculinity has done this by assuming roles such as the gangster rapper, the black athlete or movie star. By creating these identities they are constructing a boundary between â€Å"us† and â€Å"them†. Overtime groups tend to become culturally more homogenous. This endangers the boundary and makes it harder to maintain but in order to preserve its distinct identity these boundaries need to be maintained by the group. Boundary maintenance serves to isolate the group from alternative value systems (according to which its members may find themselves ranked differently), preserves the group’s existing internal power structure, and provides a potential source of political power for the group through solidarity and numbers . Black masculinity is a strong force in the media and to follow what their cultural beliefs are would be easy. They have familiarized their culture with the dominant culture allowing anyone to be able to participate in their beliefs. This weakens their borders and makes it harder to maintain a stronghold at their borders. The only thing that would not be broken within Black masculinity is in the name. To be a true part of this ethnic group one would have to be a Black male. This is the only thing that will hold true to maintain the borders of Black masculinity. Biologically Self Perpetuating Black masculinity has become such a widely known phenomenon and even those who do not share the same ancestry seem to be able to embody traits of this group. Traditionally an ethnic group would share a common background and kin. Through the use of mass media the cult of the Black male has become highly sexualized and those who see this machismo want to be part of it. Ethnic groups are primarily endogamous and this new assimilation into their group will cause problems with this. This is a problem because it takes away from the power of what this group stands for and what they embody as the macho man. â€Å"In a social order where white beliefs form fundamental explanations of how individuals should enact their color-sex positions and associated role expectations, black males do not, regardless of their economic status or intellectual capabilities, have the cultural prerogative to take the initiative. † This quote redefines that there is a dominant culture and allowing assimilation this group is allowing the power to be taken away. As these men are portrayed as hyper sexualized in the media it introduces them to something that the dominant culture views as the ideal, this goes back to colonization and the want of what the White man has, the unattainable. â€Å"A major reason for the initial encounter was the mystique attached to the hitherto unavailable ‘the white goddess’ † . This â€Å"white goddess†, the unavailable, is the difference between the dominant culture and the Black Masculinity. Black men move between majority and minority cultures and must negotiate the racism and discrimination that accompany caste-like minority status. Frazier suggests that Black masculinity and male role identity must be viewed in these varying social and cultural contexts . Specifically, Black men are expected to conform to dominant gender role expectations (e. g. , to be successful, competitive, aggressive), as well as meeting culturally specific requirements (e. g. , cooperation, promotion of group, and survival of group) of the Black community. â€Å"certain patriarchal values such as physical strength, sexual prowess and being in control as a means of survival against the repressive and violent system of subordination to which they were subjected† . The dehumanizing aspect of this myth, a myth that Mercer claims many black men do not want demystified because it in some ways (e. g. , strength, sexual prowess) raises them above the status of white men, is that, while an emphasis on the body as brute force is a marker of the difference between male and female, it is also a key symbol in the division between nature and culture. Perhaps this is why Black masculinity came to be. It is argued that the members of the Black Power movement defined the politics of race within â€Å"metaphoric of phallic power,† which developed out of male activists’ desires to counter cultural articulations of black male inferiority , and that this is readily seen in the writings of influential figures such as Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Eldridge Clever, and Amiri Baraka. Wiegman further claims that the phallocentric perspective was also articulated through the macho, hyper masculine characters appearing in the blaxploitation films of the early 1970s. It is through Wiegman’s phallic theories about Black males that this ethnic group created the term and culture of Black masculinity. Conclusion Through Barth this paper has been able to discuss the boundaries which the ethnic group Black masculinity was able to control. They were able to create their own ethnic group in response to the dominant culture. They defined themselves through being Black males. They embodied what it meant to be. They did this by dress and action. This is recently obvious through the media and ‘gangta’ rap and perhaps with this embodiment they are able to prove that they are able to exist as a powerful force within the dominant culture. Black masculinity members are able to have their own sense of language whether it be verbal, Ebonics, of physical, â€Å"cool pose†. This is how they established members of the group and were able to communicate with each other by these means. They reinforced that the â€Å"cool pose† displays toughness and it gains him respect and from this it promotes solidarity within the group of Black males. The â€Å"cool pose† is not always a good thing. In the media the dominant society does not see the athlete but the gangster and the stereotype which is created by the dominant culture. They are seen as a threat and to keep them safe Black masculinity was created in an attempt to create values and rules of their own in order to obtain status in a dominant culture. To keep this group exclusive these Black men created a language of their own and through this they communicate and they are able to maintain a strong bond through these means of communication. Through the use of language they create borders. The borders which they created allow them to maintain who they are without being assimilated into the dominant culture. They have embraced and emphasized who they are and what they stand for. To protect this they erected borders such as similar dress/style, language, sense of history and shared customs. These aspects are unique to them but as popular culture embraced these aspects such as language and dress the borders began to break. One thing that the dominant culture could not break is their gender and race. They were African American men and no matter what the dominant culture did to try and assimilate them they had this to celebrate. This is important to maintain the strength of your borders. Black masculinity is a group of Black males who have been able to preserve that they are part of an ethnic group and they have history which needs to be respected. They are trying to sustain a culture that is slowly being integrated into the dominant culture. If this group follows what Barth has laid out in order to maintain boundaries then Black masculinity will be able to be whomever they want within the dominant culture. REFERENCES Alexander, C. The Art of Being Black. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. Barths, F. Ethnic Groups and Boundaries. Oslo: Universitesforlaget, 1969. Frazier, E. Franklin. The Negro Family in the United States. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1939. Gray, H. â€Å"He Is a â€Å"Bad Mother*S%@! #†: Shaft and Contemporary Black Masculinity. American Quarterly. Vol. 50, No. 2, 1998. Gray, H. Cultural Politics. A Special Section:Black Masculinity and Visual Culture. Callaloo, Vol. 18, No. 2. (Spring, 1995). Jackson, J. Language Identity of The Colombian Vaupes Indians. In Baumand, R. ,Sherzer, J. , Exploration in the Ethnography of Speaking: Studies in the Socialand Cultural Foundations of Language. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989. Majors, R. , & Bilson, J. M. Cool Pose. New York: Lexington, 1989. Mercer, K. Welcome to the Jungle: New Positions in Black Cultural Studies. New York: Routledge, 1994. Mercer, K. & Julien, I. Race, Sexual Politics and Black Masculinity: A Dossier. London: Lawerence & Wishart, 1998. Smith, A. D. The Ethnic Origins of Nations. Oxford: Blackwell, 1987. Staples, R. Black Masculinity: The Black Male’s Role in American Society. San Francisco: The Black Scholar Press, 1982. Wiegman, R. Feminism, ‘The Boyz’ and Other Matters Regarding the Male: Screening the Male: Exploring Masculinities in Hollywood Cinema. London: Routledge,1993. Wilikinson, D. Y. Expectations and Salience in White Female – African Male Self-Other Role Definitions. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1977.

The Value Of Hard Work - 1017 Words

Anh Hoang Professor King ENG 101 12 Dec 2015 The Value of Hard Work Essentially, the concept of one’s ability to participate in manual labor has been juxtaposed with strength and endurance. However, it is not considerable to say that white-collar are always â€Å"weaker† than other labors because a person needs both the effectiveness in physical works and the mental effort that he/she gives in order to be successful on works. With this belief, I will analyze three opinions about hard work in Crawford, Braaksma, and Colon works. To begin, manual workers play an important role in the world. In his essay â€Å"The Psychic Satisfaction of Manual Works†, Crawford describes himself as a household electrician whose work mostly â€Å"got covered up inside walls† (212). This work seems not to be interesting at all, but he still takes this position with pride because he believes his work has â€Å"a social currency†. 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