Illegal Immigration from Mexico: Law, People and Business

Illegal Immigration from Mexico: Law, People and Business Illegal Immigration from Mexico: The Contradiction Between the Law, the People, and Business I. Introduction Before the nineteenth century migration between Mexico and the United States of America was open and did not require any type of verification between the two countries. After the nineteenth century, individuals who crossed the border into the United States without authorization were labeled illegal immigrants[1] These immigrants typically crossed into the United States because of labor shortages and economic disparity. In this essay, I will demonstrate that in regard to Mexican and Latin American illegal immigration, there is a contradiction between the law, business, and public opinion. This will be accomplished through a sociological perspective that will highlight a conflict theory outlook. First, a historical explanation is needed to frame the problem in proper context. II. Mexican Illegal Immigration History As a result of the Mexican American war, Mexico lost a large portion if its northern territory. The Mexicans who lived in this newly acquired area were given American citizenship and movement on the new border remained in flux. In the beginning of the nineteenth century a few inspection stations were created at the ports of entry along the southern border. World war one caused a labor shortage due to a sudden relocation of a mass amount of American males. Mexicans migrated to the United States and filled in the labor shortage caused by the lack of American males. The open border policy changed during prohibition due to a large amount of Mexican alcohol smugglers. The United States border patrol was created in reaction to smuggling in nineteen twenty-four. Additionally, the great depression caused a negative opinion of Mexican immigrants and mass deportations happened between nineteen twenty-nine to nineteen thirty-nine. When the United States entered world war two, a labor shortage s pread across the country. To cure the problem, the Bracero Program was created: [W]hich allowed millions of Mexican men to come to the United States to work on, short-term, primarily agricultural labor contracts. From 1942 to 1964, 4.6 million contracts were signed.[2] The program was ended due to mistreatment of the workers and the xenophobic public opinion. Although the program was terminated, Mexicans kept crossing the border for better economic opportunities. In response to the flux of Mexican migration, the United States: [E]nacted Operation Wetback, a campaign to deport Mexican workers who were in the country illegally. The program succeeded in rounding up over 1 million people, most of them men.[3] Soon after Operation Wetback, maquiladoras were created on the northern border of Mexico to provide cheap labor for United States businesses. Maquiladoras are factories that create and distribute products. They are typically located in impoverished countries and create products for more affluent countries. In addition, an agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico termed NAFTA was created to eliminate tariffs between the countries. Although NAFTA helped the elite in Mexico, it did not help the poor, thus the amount of migration to the United States increased. III. The Contradiction Between the Law, the People, and Business The policies that the United States government has created to stop or slow down the rate of illegal immigration is in conflict with the demand of cheap labor by companies located within the United States. Additionally, public opinion constantly alters and contradicts the policy and business needs. For instance, after world war one, the Bracero program became problematic because of public opinion, therefore a new policy was created to stop the flow of migration. Karl Marx defined capitalism as an economic system composed mainly of capitalists and the proletariat, in which one class (capitalists) exploits the other (proletariat).[4] It is apparent that the dominant ideology was tacit with its workers being sent to a war, which created a need for labor. The bourgeoisie exploited the Mexican migrants for the sake of maintaining their surplus value.[5] The Mexican workers were not the original proletariat but of a lower class, called the lumpenproletariat.[6] Eventually, when the workers came back from war, they were at odds with the Mexican lumpenproletariat, which created an alienation[7] between the two workers. The bourgeoisie/capitalist helped create this contradiction and conflict between the two different workers (Mexican migrants and American workers) and ultimately benefits from a conflict between them. Additionally, the bourgeoisie promotes and creates maquiladoras on the northern border of Mexico for cheap labor in the creation of products that they will profit from. However, the American public opinion opposes these factories because the factory jobs from the United States are abolished and relocated to Mexico. The bourgeoisie controls the means of production or the things that are needed for production to take place (including tools, machinery, raw materials, and factories).[8] In sum, the bourgeoisie promotion of factories in Mexico is in conflict with the workers and public opinion. IV. Laws That Have Led to Modern Day Slave Labor The Bracero program was implemented as a solution to the labor shortage during the war. Consequently, the Mexicans who filled in the gap did not receive the same amount of pay as United State citizens.[9] An instance of modern slavery is being paid a wage that is not enough to survive on. The program was used to exploit the workers and Mexico doubted that a legitimate labor scarcity existed and viewed the Bracero program as a way for the U.S. to obtain cheap labor.[10] Indeed, it seems that the bourgeoisie used this opportunity to pay the Mexicans a lower subsistence wage[11] than their American counterparts. Marxs theory of value claims that all value comes from labor and is therefore traceable, in capitalism, to the worker,[12] which is evident by the exploitation of the workers surplus value. Once the American workers came back from war, a campaign by the people was created to deport the Mexican workers. The campaign was successful and Operation Wetback was created in conjunction to sanctions on immigration. Consequently, once these laws were created, the term illegal alien became widely used. These so called illegal aliens came to the United States in defiance to newly created laws and were given an even lower wage. In sum, these new policies created an underclass of workers that the bourgeoisie exploited. Other policies such as NAFTA created a work scarcity in Mexico that has led to more illegal migration into the United States that the bourgeoisie is eager to exploit. Indeed, since the wages of many Mexican immigrants is not enough to survive on, policies have lead to this exploitation which can be labeled as modern day slave labor. V. Confronting the Problem It seems that neither the American nor the Mexican workers are aware of the exploitation that the bourgeoisie uses for monetary growth. Marx claimed that even the bourgeoisie may not be aware of this exploitation. He claims, The capitalists think that they are being rewarded, not because of their exploitation of the workers, but for their cleverness, their capital investment, their manipulation of the market, and so on. The capitalists are too busy making more money, in money grubbing, ever to get a true understanding of the exploitative nature if their relationship with workers.[13] Marx termed this as false consciousness, and he believed that the workers were capable of being aware of this exploitation through class consciousness. Therefore, a solution to this inequality first requires that the worker be aware of the inequality and then take action to overcome the issue of exploitation, otherwise known as praxis.[14] Consequently, this may be a difficult task, due to the fact that the different workers are in a constant clash with themselves and the bourgeoisie. VI. Conclusion In regard to illegal immigration in the United States, there is a contradiction between the law, business, and public opinion. The border between the United States and Mexico remained open to migration until the early nineteenth century. However, when in a labor shortage, the United States would open its borders to Mexican workers. Once workers returned, the borders were closed, and laws and programs were created to halt or slow down migration. These new policies did not completely stop migration and in some cases may have increased it. Subsequently, these new illegal immigrants were taken advantage of by the bourgeoisie with a salary that was below a subsistent wage, which can be labeled as modern day slavery. Without consciousness, it seems that the workers will be stuck in a revolving Sisyphean conflict between each other and the capitalists. [1] In addition, derogatory terms were used by the public and politicians. [2] http://www.labor.ucla.edu/what-we-do/labor-studies/research-tools/the-bracero-program/ [3] https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/may-2014-immigrant-deportations-today-and-continuing-legacy-operation-wetback [4] Book pg 25 [5] Define surplus value [6] Define lumpenprol [7] Define alienation [8] Pg 25 [9] http://www.unco.edu/cohmlp/pdfs/bracero_program_powerpoint.pdf [10] ibid [11] Define subsistence [12] Pg26 [13] Pg27 [14] Define praxis

Rizal Life Reaction

One of the strengths of Jose Rizal is the incorporation of the characters of Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo in the life of Rizal and of the Filipinos in general. This only shows that the two books are reflections of the lives of the Filipinos during the Spanish regime. But the thought and noble ideas of the book do not only live in the past but also in the present manifesting the universality and immortality of Rizal's ideas. The beautiful transition of Rizal's time and the setting of the two novels is really impressive. One must have really read the books to better appreciate the movie Jose Rizal. While watching the film, I cannot help but relate Rizal to Crisostomo/Simoun, Leonor to Maria Clara. Rizal and Crisostomo both came from a well-off family. Both of them studied in Europe. Both have dedicated their life to free their people from oppression. And then there's a scene where Leonor was walking down the aisle and Maria Clara singing in the nunnery. Both were locked up-the former to a person whom she does not love; the latter to a place, which seems to be a dead end. Maria Clara jumping off from the bell tower is her way to get out, her way towards salvation. The film also works through a series of flashback showing Rizal as a genius, a writer, a doctor, an artist, a lover, a friend, a brother and a son, thus giving a rich texture of Rizal's character. I also commend the film for its bravery in showing the evil tyranny of the Catholic Church during that time. Considering that the Philippines is a Catholic nation, that is like butchering a sacred cow but alas, Abaya works her magic in depicting the suffering of the Filipinos because of the friars. I particularly love the last scene of the film when Rizal, excellently played by Cesar Montano by the way, fell in the ground facing the sky, having his last breath looking at a beautiful sunrise- a metaphor depicting that Rizal did not die in vain. He did not die defeated because his death is the torch that lights Philippine independence, that ignites Philippine Revolution. This is more apparent in the scene where Simoun (a character in El Filibusterismo) appeared to Rizal telling him to rewrite the story. Rizal wrote and an imaginary explosion happened. A burst of light and flame overwhelmed the screen. In a way that has been the legacy of Rizal-bringing light to the Filipinos. He died victorious because in the end his memory and legacy remain forever.

Case Study of Jeffrey Dahmer - 2982 Words

A Case-Study of Jeffrey Dahmer. This paper will present case-analysis of the life and history of American psychopathic offender Jeffrey Dahmer. With the aim of carrying out this assignment effectively the research will be done from a psychological perspective; with regard to understanding the best fitted typology for the defendant’s criminality. Here these intimate aspects of the study will purely focus on the profiling of the offender, analyzing his past criminal record conjointly introducing the different types of influences on his criminal career. Subsequently one will uncover the number and types of individuals who fallen victim to the offender’s crimes, jointly explaining the impact his offences had on society. In†¦show more content†¦These events led to his arrest and imprisonment, but upon his release, almost immediately he would be put on probation for sexually fondling a boy aged thirteen. Unmistakeably these events proved Dahmer to be irresponsible and not learnin g from his punishments, as he was still going out of his way to satisfy his sexual needs. A Profile of Jeffrey Dahmer Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was born on May 21st 1960 in West Allis, Milwaukee to a middle class family his father was a chemist and mother bedridden due to mental illness. However during the early stages of Dahmer’s life, he lived a rather happy childhood until around the age of six when his troubled parents relocated to rural town Bath, Ohio. At this point Dahmer’s parents began to slowly neglect him because of their failing marriage leading to his lack of confidence and antisocial personality; resulting in him not having many friends. Additionally Dahmer would devote most of his time alone to satisfying his sadistic fantasies, evident through his weird fascination with death. This delusional fixation led to Dahmer going out to search for road-kill to cut up and look at the internal organs, collecting the bones as trophies. Following Dahmer’s parents ’ divorce, he went to live with his father because his mother was suffering from mental depression, consequently his school grades began to worsen asShow MoreRelatedCase Case Study : Jeffrey Dahmer1659 Words   |  7 PagesCase Study of Jeffrey Dahmer Jeffrey Dahmer was born on May 21,1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was an American Serial Killer responsible for the death of 17 males, both young and old. He is the only Serial Killer to appear in the Times Magazine, because of his unusual way of thinking, more specifically   his experiments with his victims to create them into Sex Zombies. Borderline Personality Disorder    According to WebMd â€Å" Borderline personality is the mental illness that causes intense mood swingsRead MoreBiopsychosocial Case Study of Jeffrey Dahmer1462 Words   |  6 PagesBiopsychosocial Case Study Of Jeffrey Dahmer Jeffrey Dahmer murdered 17 men between the years of 1978 to 1991 in which he participated in necrophilia, dismemberment and cannibalism (Meyer, 2006). As a child, Dahmer was shy and suffered from low self-esteem. At a young age, Dahmer displayed abnormal behavior starting with the collecting of dead animals and using acid to strip off the meat having necrophilia desires. This escalated in his teen years turning into fantasies of killing and mutilatingRead MoreCase Study-Abnormal Behavior1484 Words   |  6 PagesCase Study in Abnormal Behavior Valvita Isaac PSY/410 April 4, 2011 Dr. Melda Jones CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY: I certify that the attached paper, which was produced for the class identified above, is my original work and has not previously been submitted by me or by anyone else for any class. I further declare that I have cited all sources from which I used language, ideas and information, whether quoted verbatim or paraphrased, and that any and all assistance of any kind, which I received whileRead MoreSerial Killers Have Fascinated The Imaginations Essay1819 Words   |  8 Pagesthe imaginations Jeffrey Dahmer Spencer Link 2150760 Serial killers have fascinated the imaginations of people for a long time. One of the most notorious serial killers is Jeffrey Dahmer whose gruesome murders shocked the nation. Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer also known as Milwaukee monster was a notorious American serial killer and sexual offender in the 1980s and early 1990s. Between 1978 and 1991 Dahmer had murdered 17 men. His victims wereRead MoreAntisocial Personality Disorder ( Adhd )1309 Words   |  6 Pagesserial pattern of misbehavior that involves all significant facets of life and is marked by violation of social norms and regulations that occur over time, ranging from repeated lies and petty theft to violence – and even murder, in the most serious cases.† (2013). According to the DSM-5, ASPD has four diagnostic criteria, with the first criteria having seven sub-features. The first criteria is a â€Å"disregard for and violation of others rights since [at least] age 15† (American Psychology AssociationRead Mo re Jeffery Dahmer Essay1478 Words   |  6 Pages Jeffery Dahmer is arguably the most notorious serial killer -cannibal in history. Targeting men and boys, Dahmer‘s life of crime began with drinking and sex offending. His murders were exceptionally gruesome, often involving rape, torture, necrophilia, dismemberment, and cannibalism. The media often commented on how â€Å"normal† Dahmer appeared. Jeffrey Dahmer made everyone question how one develops into such a monster. By the time of his apprehension, Dahmer had sodomized, murdered, and cannibalizedRead MoreThe Creation of a Serial Killer: Nature vs. Nurture Essay1120 Words   |  5 Pagesreasonable possibility that the crimes were committed by the same actor or actors.† But what exactly drives someone to kill another human being? What plays as a more drastic motivator for their actions, nature or nurture? Nature refers, in this case, to how the subject is genetically made-up. It is the belief of many researchers that damage to the brain or front lobe causes the violent behavior demonstrated by serial killers. The frontal lobe is in charge of social relations and maintaining adequateRead MoreThe Serial Killers : Jeffrey Dahmer Essay1806 Words   |  8 Pagesimaginations of people for a long time. One of the most notorious serial killers is Jeffrey Dahmer whose gruesome murders shocked the nation. Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer also known as Milwaukee monster was a notorious American serial killer and sexual offender in the 1980s and early 1990s. Between 1978 and 1991 Dahmer had murdered 17 men. His victims were usually raped, tortured, dismembered, and cannibalism was also involved. Jeffrey was a troubled child psychologically and his social skills had a lot to be desiredRead MoreSerial Killers: Are They Born Or Made?. There Are Multiple1230 Words   |  5 Pagessubmerging animals in acid is fun to serial killers. So where does this all come from? Let’s go into the mind of the deadliest ones out there. What goes on in the mind of these horrific people is shocking and can be discovered before they act. A study at The University of Wisconsin found two parts of the brain that showed a correlation between criminal psychopathy and brain abnormality. They compared a healthy human brain to a serial killer’s brain just to see the differences it portrayed. TheyRead MoreJeffrey Dahmer : Understanding Criminal Minds2895 Words   |  12 Pages A Jeffrey Dahmer Story Tyler Jones Understanding Criminal Minds December 1, 2014 Jeffrey Dahmer Fantasies can be strengthened by great amount of sex drive that assists in unusual behaviors; sexual murders are based on fantasies. The purposes of the fantasies are to take control of the victims; the killer wants the control because he/she has sought it since childhood. It is known that very few serial killers have healthy relation with their parents.†¨ â€Å"Jeffrey was born on May

Pictures Show Emotion Better than Words Essay - 936 Words

Pictures Show Emotion Better than Words In Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, an image is defined as â€Å"a vivid or graphic representation or description.† However, a painting can be so much more than this. In Mitchell Stephens’ essay, â€Å"‘By Means of the Visible’: A Pictures Worth,† Erasmus is quoted as saying, â€Å"Painting is much more eloquent than speech, and often penetrates more deeply into one’s heart† (473). Two online paintings that are examples of this are Starry Night, by Vincent van Gogh, and The Scream by Edvard Munch. Both paintings are very well known and both evoke strong but different emotions. Paintings like these have been described with words over and over again, but they can only be fully experienced by†¦show more content†¦Stephens asks, â€Å"How can we develop a lexicon of images if we have no way of determining which of the many possible interpretations of an image is correct?† (484). While this is a valid po int, people should not worry about what is the correct interpretation, but instead should focus on the beauty and versatility of the picture. Another valid example of a painting that shows strong emotion is The Scream, by Edvard Munch. This painting is a bit simpler and straightforward, but its emotion is still very powerful, and many different interpretations are possible. What the viewer sees is a man standing on some sort of bridge or boardwalk. The man has his hands on his face, looking as though he is screaming. Screaming is a very strong emotion that can mean several different things. The man could be screaming in happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, or fright. Since the viewer can not see what the man is looking at, the viewer has no idea which of the emotions the painter is trying to portray. However, this is what allows the viewer to interpret the painting in his or her own opinion, because anything could be right depending on how one looks at it. Words do not have this ability. Usually there is a right or wrong answer as to what the author is trying to say through his words. Also, words just canno t show emotion so easily. In a poem or story in which a person screams, the author has to say â€Å"ahhhhhh!† or â€Å"she screamed.† It just does not have theShow MoreRelatedReview Ofshow And Tell By Scott Mccloud1285 Words   |  6 Pagesare many different ways to tell a story, but which way is the best? As mentioned by Scott McCloud, young kids read books with many pictures, and as they develop into adults, they read books with less and less pictures, but is this the best way to read stories? There is a better method to read a story, and that method is through comics. In McCloud s graphic essay Show and Tell, McCloud proves that through the use of both writing and illustrations in comics, comics are the best form of literatureRead MoreWhy Are You Persuaded By Logic Or By Emotions?765 Words   |  4 Pagesby emotions? You may want to say that you use reason and logic to make decisions, but the truth is that most of us are swayed by our emotions more than our log ic. For example, I used to smoke while I worked in hospitals, and I watched patients suffering from their smoking in many different ways. Logically I knew smoking was bad for me. Logically I knew that smoking was hurting me in many different ways. But, when I met my co-workers for a cigarette, I felt good and accepted, and my emotions alwaysRead MoreThe Dust Bowl During The Great Plains Region1203 Words   |  5 PagesNorthern Texas. Thousands of workers were faced with an impasse, become a laborer, doing mindless work for miniscule wages, or move away and search for better work. (San Josà © State University) The people brought to these decisions that chose to move elsewhere usually migrated to California. These workers were promised more job opportunities and a better life. However, most of the time the work was present, however they were faced with abysmal living conditions. Sometimes, large families with youngRead More Photos and Images are More Powerful than Words Essay1136 Words   |  5 PagesImages are More Powerful than Words The American Heritage College Dictionary defines the term image as â€Å"An optically or electronically formed representative reproduction of an object, esp. an optical reproduction formed by a lens or a mirror.† This is what is more commonly referred to as a picture. The definition of a word is â€Å"a sound or combination of sounds, or its representation in writing or printing that symbolizes and communicates a meaning and may consist of a single morphemeRead MoreI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings By Maya Angelou Analysis840 Words   |  4 Pagesother than Maya Angelou. Angelou has been a famous American poet since the release of her 1969 autobiography, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. Angelou has inspired many people by telling her life story to the public, but not only did she inspire, she also created a very different and personal point of view of the world we live in. The poem’s she has written transition from pain and suffering or to courage and confide nce. Nonetheless, even though Angelou wrote mostly about anguished emotions dueRead MoreSummary Of I Just Reformed The School System By Prince Ea1100 Words   |  5 Pagesif you judge a fish based on it’s ability to climb a tree, it will believe it is stupid for it’s whole life. Prince gives us examples of the school system also destroying the only fun and creativity it has left by making kids run instead of paint pictures. He lists specific examples of how schools these days prepare kids to work for their lives, not to enjoy them. The main idea in this piece is that no two kids learn the same, and that is how school is unfair for the kids who aren’t so good at mathRead MoreAbstract. What Separates Us From Other Animals? We Have1615 Words   |  7 Pagesother animals? We have the ability to form words and we can develop further because of that. Humans are great at facial recognition in an upright orientation but they typically have trouble when it comes to in version that being when the picture is in upside down orientation. But why is it that humans have trouble with inversion? Participants were an opportunity sample from a college where two groups of students at different times were asked to look at pictures from a year book one group in the uprightRead MoreSummary : The Glass King And R. Essay1263 Words   |  6 Pagesthe same effect on people overall. According R. G. Collingwood’s theory, the purpose of art is to convey an emotion in the viewer. Put simply, Collingwood states that art is created purely by emotion with no set plan. Alexander G. Gonzalez, author of Eavan Boland s The Glass King and R. G. Collingwood s Theory of Art, is quoted by writing â€Å"that art proper is the expression of emotion; that artists are not a special class of persons; that artists collaborate with their communities, acting asRead MoreHow Does Emotion Help Us Remember?1561 Words   |  7 Pagesfactors contribute to human memory. A very controversial topic within the study of memory is the role of emotion in memory. This brings us to the question, does emotion help us remember? Due to the many studies conducted throughout the years, it does seem clear that individuals remember more emotionally charged events better than non emotional ones. The relationship between memory and emotion, is one that psychologists have not yet figured out to its full extent, as there are many opposing theoriesRead MoreDoes Gender Have An Effect On Memory?1444 Words   |  6 Pagesand build better relationships. We use memory every single day of our lives, whether it is at home, school, work, etc. Without memory, we would not be able to look into the past or think about our future. We would not be able to remember what we did yesterday, what we did today or what we will do tomorrow. Without memory, what would we remember? Nothing. The question is does gender have an effect on memory? Can men recall memories better than women? Or can women recall memories better than men? The

Lessings Conception of a Universal Religion - 1115 Words

Lessing’s Nathan the Wise implies a conception of a universal religion of reason which is typical of the enlightenment period. Even though, Lessing does not dismiss existing religions in his work, I will argue that his humanistic religion conflicts with the idea of identity that is necessary to define one’s humanity. Thus, Lessing’s understanding of religion is not feasible since it overlooks the basis of religion. First, I will state that the play refocuses our intention on manhood and humanity. Next, I will explain how Lessing tries to reconcile religious beliefs with his humanistic religion through reason and tolerance. Finally, I will demonstrate how such a reconciliation is not practicable and how Lessing’s conception of a universal†¦show more content†¦Therefore, Lessing does not reject particular religions, but integrates them into a humanistic context. In his attempt to reconcile his conception of a universal religion of reason and particu lar religious beliefs, Lessing seems to discount the very nature of religion. On the one hand, he concedes that religion is rational since it plays a role in justifying human existence. On the other hand, he claims that personal beliefs must be put aside for a greater purpose which is humanity. Lessing’s commitment to a humanistic religion conflicts with the idea of a religious community. These two conceptions of religion lead to an alienation of humanity, since both claim to define what constitutes a human being. For Lessing, it is the reasonable investigation for truth that implies tolerance whereas for a particular religion it is the practice of certain rituals and the belonging to a given religious community that constitutes humanity. This conflict is observable in the current struggle between the Islamic world and the West. While one endorses the precepts of Islam as the main characteristics for one’s humanity, the other fends for secularism and tolerance. Not on ly does Lessing’s humanistic religion call for a redefinition of humanity which conflicts with those endorsed by religious communities, but it also fails to consider evil and history. In his optimistic vision, Lessing believes that God’s truth will one day be

Childhood Obesity Annotated Bib Free Essays

English 100/009 Annotated bibliography- Child Obesity in America Taras, H. , Potts-Datema, W. (2005) Obesity and student performance at school. We will write a custom essay sample on Childhood Obesity Annotated Bib or any similar topic only for you Order Now Journal of School Health, 75, 291-295. Retrieved October 4, 2005 from EBSCO (8) This Journal talks about obesity among school-aged children and academic outcomes. The authors reviewed published studies investigating obesity, school performance, and rates of student absenteeism. The book is recent (2005) so I feel that the information provided will still be the similar to today. I feel this is relevant to my research as it proves that obesity can cause problems in other important aspects of life. It also provides very satisfying facts that will back my research very well. Okie, Susan. Fed Up! : Winning the War against Childhood Obesity. Washington, D. C: Joseph Henry Press, 2005. Print. This book examines some of the factors contributing to childhood obesity, such as poor diet, lack of exercise, suburban sprawl, and TV, and provides advice on how parents can make positive changes. It primarily focuses on these issues within America. It covers a wide variety of topics with the main topic of obesity, which I think I will find beneficial to my research as all these factors contribute. Dalton, Sharron. Our Overweight Children: What Parents, Schools, and Communities Can Do to Control the Fatness Epidemic. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004. Print. This book looks at what’s behind the statistics and diagnoses, and considers what can be done about the major health crisis threatening American children. Dalton begins with the basics: what obesity is, what causes it, and why it matters. Integrating information from scientific and popular sources, she reviews current diet and exercise recommendations for healthy living, comparing these recommendations with everyday realities experienced by American families. I feel this book will be good for all general understanding as it starts basic and then gets more in depth. I believe this will contribute well to my research as it covers a wide basis and focus on main points that could be causing this epidemic i. e parents. Smith, J C. Understanding Childhood Obesity. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1999. Internet resource. Dr. J Clinton Smith tries to cover nearly every field of obesity research. The book deals with methods of control, the body’s physical and chemical makeup, prevention strategies, new treatments and behavior modifications and future research. Again, this will be very beneficial to my research but even more so as it focuses a lot on the psychological side of obesity, where as the others and focusing more on the food itself and the contributing factors. Hills, Andrew P, Neil A. King, and Nuala M. Byrne. Children, Obesity and Exercise: Prevention, Treatment, and Management of Childhood and Adolescent Obesity. London: Routledge, 2007. Print. This book covers 3 major topics of obesity: the prevention, treatment and the management . Even though this not specifically for American children, I feel that it will still be beneficial as obesity is a global epidemic. I believe this will be a good aspect for my research as it covers how obesity in children can be prevented and I feel this is what America needs to know. How to cite Childhood Obesity Annotated Bib, Papers

Necessary Convergence Communication free essay sample

A Theory of Dyadic Social Interaction and Meanings Michelle Miller-Day In this paper, the author proposed and describes a theory of the social construction of meaning in dyadic communicative interaction. The author argues that necessary convergence communication is a theoretical framework useful for explaining how power may influence the process of meaning construction in interpersonal communication. This essay describes the features of this theoretical framework and provides theoretical suppositions for future empirical testing. Child:Mom, look at the blue package! Mother: Its not blue, its teal. Child:It looks like blue to me. Mother: Its not though. Its got green in it too, so its teal. Later that day Friend: Oh, thats a pretty package. The blue matches your shirt. Child:Its not blue, its teal. To many of us this scene is not unusual. Children often learn from elders what any given symbol means and once children learn these meanings they incorporate them into their cognitive schemata. According to Piagets (1972, 1954) theory of cognitive development, from approximately ages 4-7 children are in an intuitive phase where they can grasp logical concepts, but reality is not yet firm and is often dictated by authority figures. The role of authority figures to shape constructions of reality certainly does not end in childhood. Social constructionists such as Berger and Luckmann (1966) argue that individuals together produce a human environment, with the totality of its socio-cultural and psychological formations and understandings; social meanings are a human product (p. 52). It is not unusual, say, for an abusive romantic partner to convince his or her partner that the abuse is deserved or symbolic of care or even love. The dyadic construction of acts of abuse as signifying love or care may not e clearly understood by others outside the relational dyad, yet perceptions of abusive behavior as acts of love are common in abusive interpersonal relationships, along with sacrificing ones own interpretation of events so as not to lose the affection of the partner (Woods, 1999). In fact, in a recent episode of the popular television show Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (Denoon Platt, 2004) a teenager was placed in foster care due to a mothers complete and utter dominance over the child, with the episode focu sing on the control the mother had over how her offspring interpreted the world around him. The psychologist in the episode did not have a name for this process of maternal domination, but compared the teenager to a puppet, merely appropriating his mothers interpretations of the world out of fear; the fear of losing her love, protection and their relational structure. Although this essay does not focus on children or abusive relationships specifically, it outlines a theory addressing the social construction of meanings in dyadic communicative interaction wherein there is disequilibrium between members in that process. Berger (2005), in his review of the interpersonal communication up until the 21st century, pointed out that very few interpersonal communication scholars have developed theories addressing this central tenet of communication meaning. His review argued that for the field to move forward interpersonal communication researchers should look more at interaction routines and the process of meaning-making between interactants. Around the same time as this review was being written, Koerner and Fitzpatrick (2002) published an article in Communication Theory arguing for a similar need for research examining intersubjectivity, meaning, and interactivity in the area of family communication. They argued the following: a complete explication of family communication needs to consider both intersubjectivity and interactivity (Fitzpatrick Ritchie, 1993). Intersubjectivity refers to the sharing of cognitions among participants in a communication event, whereas interactivity refers to the degree to which the symbol creation and interpretation are linked. ,Interactivity refers to the way that a family maintains its own structure through patterns of family members responses to each others communicative acts (p. 73, Koerner Fitzpatrick, 2002). Correspondingly, Miller-Day (2004) also presented a Necessary Convergence Communication (NCC) theory which focused on both intersubjectivity and interactivity in family member i nteractions, while addressing issues of power and dominance involved in the process of meaning-making between communicators. At this junction, in response to these calls for theoretical development in the area of meaning construction and dyadic social interaction in the fields of interpersonal and family communication, and building on the ideas introduced by Koerner and Fitzpatrick (2002), this essay will briefly review the original ideas of Miller-Days (2004) Necessary Convergence Communication (NCC) theory, elaborate on them, and then discuss how this framework might be a workable mid-range theory to assist communication scholars understand how the construct of power or dominance may influence the meaning construction process in interpersonal communication. A theory is a lens through which to examine human interaction and theories have four functionsdescription, explanation, prediction, and change (Griffin, 2000; Littlejohn Foss, 2005). The foundation of a theory is description and as Wood (2004) points out, before we can figure out how something works, we must describe it (p. 32). Therefore, the first task of building new theory is to describe its features. This essay provides a description of necessary convergence communication and identifies specific features that may be empirically tested. An Introduction to Necessary Convergence Communication Miller-Day (2004) argued that necessary convergence is a form of intersubjectivity that occurs during a pattern of interactivity when one communicator is dominant and the other submissive. When convergence of meaning occurs, meaning coordination tends to be coercive rather than cooperative with the dominant partners interpretive frame privileged over the submissive partners, leading to unequal contributions to the process of meaning coordination. Author Ayn Rand (1993) referred to this type of process in her novel The Fountainhead. Rand argued that some individuals tend to be â€Å"second-handers†Ã¢â‚¬â€people who don’t judge for themselves, who just repeat what others close to them say, embrace it, and make it their own. Miller-Days (2004) argument suggests that when the relational schema for the submissive partner is based on conditional regard—that is, she or he believes that acceptance in the relationship (e. g. , receipt of emotional resources) is contingent on meaning convergence; the submissive partner will converge with the dominant partners meanings for relational maintenance purposes. As discovered in Miller-Days family communication research (2004) and Miller (1995) and illustrated in the Law and Order episode mentioned earlier in this essay, not to converge with a dominant partners interpretation of symbols or events in any transaction would risk already precarious acceptance and approval in the relationship. An interpretive frame is defined here as cognitive structure that contains mental representations of meanings; the process of constructing meaning activates interpretive frames. Necessary infers that convergence is perceived as essential to achieving a certain result, and convergence indicates a tendency toward one point (Miller-Day, 2004). Thus, to obtain relational approval and avoid rejection, the submissive partner will accommodate the dominant partner by assimilating his or her interpretive frame. Within this model, convergence is relationally adaptive. This introduction to NCC as a theoretical framework offers an overview. But, to fully understand how this theory may be applied more generally to interpersonal relationships, I will elaborate on this theoretical framework, present the assumptions linked to it, describe its characteristics, and provide some theoretical statements for empirical testing. A-Priori Theoretical Assumptions Communication Is an Emergent, Creative Activity through Which Meanings are Coordinated Via Interpretive Schemata People approach the world through processes of interpretation. As human social animals we are in a constant state of interpreting and managing meanings, and interpreting meanings is an interdependent process. The assumption is that meanings are not inherent in objects, but instead arises out of social interaction. During social interaction, meanings are coordinated through interpretive schemata—mental structures consisting of organized knowledge about relationships. Interpretive schemata represent accumulated knowledge—the sum of past experiences—which help an individual interpret, understand, and predict the outcomes of interactions with others (Burleson, Metts, Kirch, 2000; Cragan Shields, 1998; Koerner Fitzpatrick, 2002). Moreover, interpretive schemata include expectations about what should happen in a given situation and serve to guide behavior. Interpretive schemata specific to relationships—relationship schemata—influence the â€Å"encoding and decoding of information, the inferences and evaluations people make †¦ and ultimately their interpersonal behavior† in relationships (Koerner Fitzpatrick, 2002, p. 80). This assumption presumes that the process of â€Å"making meaning† activates interpretive frames. Communicators then coordinate their meaning systems as filtered through these frames and then negotiate agreement. Understanding between the members builds intersubjectivity and hopefully leads to consensus (Crotty, 1998; Solomon, Dillard, Anderson, 2002). Implicit in this assumption are claims of coordination and negotiation. Coordination implies a state of equal rank, equal power, and harmonious order, whereas negotiation suggests that communicators confer with one another in order to reach an agreement. Coordination involves collaboration of all communicating partners. Communication Enacts Relationships The state of being in a â€Å"relationship† is inherently a communication process and must be understood as a series of transactions in which messages are exchanged. Relationships are formed across repeated transactions, with each new transact adding new information to the one that came before, building a cumulative database of information about the relationship (Burleson et al. 2000; Duck, 1992; Guerrero, Anderson, Afifi, 2001). Transactions are units of interaction affecting both interactants and carrying commentary on the interactant’s relationship. As Watzlawick, Beavin, and Jackson (1967) pointed out, each message (both verbal and nonverbal) carries information at two levels—the content level and the relationship level. The relationship level enacts the current state of the relationship and provides information about how the communicators see each other, th emselves, and their relationship. Communicative Transactions in Close Personal Relationships Have Implications for Personal and Relational Identities Relational members encode and decode information about themselves as well as for their partner, extrapolating this information to the relational unit (Aron Aron, 1986). Within this framework, the self is conceptualized as inseparable from dynamic interaction, with each transaction contributing to both self- and relational knowledge. Early work by Mead (1934) identified the centrality of essage exchange in personal identity management. More recent work in relational communication points out that both personal and relational identities are cocreated communicatively within the context of relationship (Wilmot, 1995). Personal identity development is really the unfolding of the self while retaining relational ties; identities are constituted and managed through relationships, not to their exclusion (Adams Marshall, 1996). Relational Culture Shapes Interpretive/Relational S chemata Relational cultures consist of shared meaning systems, routinized patterns of interaction, and norms that structure members’ roles and behaviors (Wood, 2000). These cultural norms shape relational schemata (Koerner Fitzpatrick, 2002), and these schemata are socialized across the developmental trajectory of the relationship. Socialization involves the â€Å"social and communicative processes through which cultural knowledge, resources and practices are made available and internalized† by cultural members (Burleson et al. , 2000, p. 35). As Entman (1993) demonstrated, culture is the stock of commonly evoked interpretive schemata and culture might be defined as the â€Å"empirically demonstrable set of common interpretive frames exhibited in the discourse and thinking of most people in a relationship† (p. 53). Relational schemata are the mental structures that are socialized within a relational culture, organize knowledge about relationships, and are used to process information relevant to these relationships. Therefore, relational cultures will share common schemata and should be reflected in the communication practices of relational members. Interpersonal Scripts Emerge From Relational Schemata Scripts are one form of communication practice enacted within relationships that emerge from relational schemata (Koerner Fitzpatrick, 2002). Relational scripts direct interaction, exemplify relational work, and dictate normative ways of issuing directives and responses. Scripted interactions are often routine, habituated, and overlearned through repetitive practice in the family culture (Sillars, 1995); however, these scripts are useful in directing the â€Å"typical† ways in which an interaction should be handled given the particular relational schema. When relational members become practiced in these roles and memorize their lines, these enactments become scripted. That is, partners may not think about their day-to-day ways of interacting with each other on a conscious level, but they may still tend to communicate in patterned ways with well-defined scripts that enact â€Å"appropriate† relational behavior. These a-priori assumptions are implicit in the theoretical framework of NCC. In summary, they presuppose that relational culture shapes partners knowledge of relationships; each partners accumulated knowledge of relationships helps her or him to coordinate meanings; patterned or scripted communication behavior emerges from relationship schemata; and this communication behavior is consequential for interpersonal relationships. Characteristics of Necessary Convergence Communication Necessary convergence communication can be captured by describing its three separate characteristics, equilibrium, weighted proportion of meaningfulness, and motivation, and two process dimensions, degree and chronicity (Miller-Day, 2004). These characteristics are illustrated in Fig. 1 and can be assessed in terms of their valence and intensity in any given interpersonal relationship. [Insert Figure 1 about here] Equilibrium When necessary convergence occurs, there tends to be disequilibrium in the relational coordination of meanings. Equilibrium refers to an equality of distribution; however when disequilibrium occurs, there is unequal power to determine meanings in interpersonal interaction. Power is a person’s ability to control valuable resources and is often tied to status. Any type of power such as expert power, legitimate power, or coercive power is relevant to equilibrium as long as the person is in control of resources considered valuable. Control of resources provide the potential for the exercise of power in most relationships, with resources being all knowledge, skills, emotions, words, actions, and materials that are at the disposal of the person. Given the distribution of resources within any specific interpersonal relationship, power might be evaluated by its outcome, which is dominance. Dominance refers to the degree to which a person can influence and impose their will on the other; its counterterm, submission, refers to the degree to which a person gives up influence or yields to the wishes of the other. I think it is important to keep in mind that dominance itself is determined by the submissive response of others. Moreover, as Burgoon, Johnson, and Koch (1998) pointed out, â€Å"While power enables the display of dominance, and dominant behavior may solidify power—though correlated—dominance and power are not interchangeable concepts† (p. 10). According to Miller-Day (2004), when NCC occurs the relational member who has higher status or more power in the relationship (e. g. , parent, teacher, boss, or romantic partner) would be dominant in imposing, rather than cooperatively negotiating, meaning in the relationship. Moreover, as one person’s power to determine meanings increases, the other person’s decreases, this then leads to an unstable situation in which the importance of one partner’s interpretive frame outweighs the partner’s. Weighted Proportion of Meaningfulness The second characteristic of necessary convergence occurs when one partner submits to the unequal distribution in the power to construct meanings in interaction. Dominance requires submission. Consequently, when a lower-status partner submits, she or he affords the dominant partner’s meanings more weight—more significance—in the transaction. Developmentally, as most individuals begin to acquire personal authority they naturally become differentiated from parents and others in their life, even as they remain emotionally connected (Nadien Denmark, 1999). However, as adults form unique relational cultures, they will develop new connections with others. Some times these relationships are purely social and require accommodation of meanings for social management purposes; for example, in the classroom where a professor does not encourage critical thinking but mandates rote memorization and resists any challenge of information. In this case, students are required to accommodate the professors meanings into his or her own understanding (and repeat that on the exam! ). Anyone who has ever been in a classroom with one of these instructors may empathize with students placed in a setting where there is a low tolerance for differentiation in thinking among members. But the case of relational partners where one partner is dominant in most realms of the relationships and the other submissive, there is both a social and emotional connection between partners. In this case, the dominant partner will typically closely monitor any behaviors that signify the submissive partners movement toward differentiation (uniqueness outside the relationship), regardless if emotional ties remain undisturbed. If the less powerful partner resists the imposition of meaning and challenges her partners construction of meaning in the dyadic interaction, then necessary convergence communication has not occurred. It is the absence of resistance the convergencethat is a key feature of this kind of communication. According to NCC, the less powerful partner will be motivated to converge because he or she feels it is necessary. Motivation Motivation is a reason for action, an incentive. This theory argues that when there is a compelling reason for convergence, such as is to avoid undermining the relationship or to secure relational acceptance, there is increased motivation to converge with the higher-status partner. When acceptance in the relationship is perceived to be conditional on that convergence, then convergence is perceived as relationally adaptive and the lower-status partner is more likely to perceive convergence as necessary. Necessary convergence, then, might be viewed as a form of secondary control. According to Rosenberg (1990), â€Å"Secondary control is an attempt to accommodate to objective conditions in order to affect a more satisfying fit with those conditions† (p. 147). Although convergence tends not to be explicitly demanded, lower-status partners will perceive it as a condition for relational acceptance. Manipulation of resources in a relationship, such as support, regard, or inclusion, emerged as a significant contributor to asserting dominance in the family relationships observed by Miller-Day (2004). As a form of psychological control, higher-status family members offered and withheld these resources contingent on the convergence of the lower-status member. The manipulation of emotional resources, therefore, was used to assert psychological dominance with the provision or withdrawal of resources providing a compelling motivation for lower-status partner’s convergence. According to NCC, once convergence is perceived to be necessary, and one accommodates the dominant partners interpretive frame at the expense of ones own, two additional characteristics become important when assessing necessary convergence: degree and chronicity. Process Dimensions Degree. The relative intensity or amount of convergence in any given dyadic interaction is important to the process of NCC. The following illustration captures different degrees of convergence. Example: An adult woman and a friend are talking. The friend comments that she likes the womans new hairstyle, pulled up on her head with a hair clip. The woman comments that she likes the style too. Soon the adult womans mother walks into the room, looks at her adult daughter, and with a tone of disapproval says, What have you done to your hair? It looks awful† Under conditions of high convergence, the lower-status woman would change her hairstyle extensively as a result of her mother’s comment, converging with her mother’s interpretation that the style was indeed horrible and altering her original interpretation to â€Å"fit† more closely with her mother’s. If asked by another, she would explain that the hairstyle looked awful so she altered it. Under conditions of moderately high convergence, the lower-status woman would significantly change her hairstyle as a result of her mother’s comment, but just to please her mother or to reduce conflict. The lower-status woman would not alter her own interpretation to fit with her mother’s interpretation; she would merely accommodate the alternative interpretation. Under conditions of moderately low convergence, the lower-status woman might make minor alterations in the hairstyle to integrate both perceptions of what was attractive into one style. Finally, under conditions of low convergence, the lower-status woman might listen to her mother’s comment but keep the style anyway because she likes it. As Miller-Day (2004) comments, there are times when we all perceive that it is just easier, necessary, or politically astute to adjust our interpretations to others’ view of the world. However, when there is extensive accommodation and convergence, obliterating personal interpretative frames constitutive of self, this might negatively influence personal identity. Chronicity. Convergence may be chronic or the pattern of convergence may occur across time and contexts. When lower-status individuals experience repeated failures in negotiating meanings in transactions with a partner across time (e. . , across the life course) and contexts (e. g. , attitudes, values, behaviors), this may instill a generalized expectancy of learned helplessness and â€Å"giving in. † Miller-Days (2004) data revealed that women who chronically engaged in necessary convergence had an undefined sense of self and lower self-esteem than women who did not engage in convergence. When boundaries betwe en individuals blur in personal relationships, identities may become undefined and convergence communication becomes the modus operandi. Piagets (1972) theory of cognitive development points out that in normal development, both assimilation and accommodation processes are used simultaneously and alternately throughout life. Assimilation being the process of using or transforming the environment so that it can be placed in preexisting cognitive structures and accommodation being the process of changing cognitive structures in order to accept something from the environment. Necessary convergence communication offers an explanation for those interactions where accommodation becomes the primary means of making sense of the world. Theoretical Suppositions of Necessary Convergence Whereas theoretical assumptions are claims already supported in the research literature, suppositions are considered true or existing but not yet proved. Miller-Day (2004) provided the groundwork for this theory development and I seek to build on that by offering the following suppositions about NCC. I believe these suppositions may provide the necessary building blocks for theory development and offer future directions for empirical testing. Supposition #1 Interactants with more power (e. g. expert, legitimate, reward) in a dyadic social interaction will exert more influence in the construction of meaning than interactants with less power. Coordination of meaning involves power and control and according to this theory meanings can be hijacked. When both partners share moderate levels of power in the relationship, it would be predicted that they would enjoy the equilibrium and co-construction of meaningshared cognitions with a relativ ely high degree of match between symbol creation and interpretation. But most theories assume co-construction and equilibrium in sharing cognitions. According to NCC, we need to factor in power status of the interactants in the dyadic construction of meaning. Although studies exist that explore social stratification and power in terms of race, gender, and larger cultural hierarchies (see, e. g. , Altheide, 1995; Lyman, 1994), rarely do scholars explore interpersonal dominance and perceptions of status in their attempts to understand meaning construction. Supposition #2 Under conditions where there is disequilibrium—unequal power—in determining meanings in dyadic social interaction, both partners will afford the dominant partner’s meanings more significance. If one participant in the communication event is dominant in the dyad then it is predicted that connections between symbol and interpretations can be coerced, and the interpretations of the dominant partner are privileged in that communication event. Supposition #3 Converging with a higher-status partner’s assigned meanings will function to maintain the relational identity. The act of convergence is relationally adaptive. The act of convergence in any given interaction will serve to protect the entangled identity of the participants and function to maintain the relational status quo. Partners in dominant-submissive relationships will maintains their relational culture through this patterns of responding to each others communicative actsby one requiring convergence and the other converging. Supposition #4 Among submissive partners, necessary convergence communication will be positively related to an undifferentiated self. Relationships demonstrate varying degrees of tolerance for intimacy and autonomy through interactions. In differentiated relationships partners are provided with autonomy, while maintaining respect and intimacy. In undifferentiated relationships boundaries are regulated, with high demands for connectedness, and ultimately impeding individual identity (Skowron Schmitt, 2003; Skowron, 2005). Supposition #5 The manipulation of emotional resources by the dominant partner in relationship with an undifferentiated partner will positively predict necessary convergence communication. It is posited that a communication partner who encourages emotional and psychological dependence through the manipulation of emotional resources (e. g. , love, acceptance) will also coerce a high degree of convergence in the communicative interaction. Respectively, a communication partner who is undifferentiated and submits to the dominant partner will perceive that convergenceor a shared interpretationis necessary to maintain the relationship. Supposition #6 The more chronic and the greater the degree of convergence, the more likely the submissive partner will have a generalized expectancy of learned helplessness predicting increased risk for depression. The theory of learned helplessness (Seligman, 1975) offers a model to explain human depression in which apathy and submitting to more dominant others prevails, causing the person to fully rely on others. This can result when life experiences cause the individual to understand that their own cognitions are irrelevant. Summary This essay introduced necessary convergence communication as a theoretical framework to help explain how meanings can be hijacked by others in interpersonal relationships. Under certain conditions it is predicted that dominant members in interpersonal relationships may be able to control the coordination of meaning in the relationship, subverting the interpretations of the submissive communication partner. Outlining characteristics of NCC (equilibrium, weighted proportion of meaningfulness, and motivation), two process dimensions (degree and chronicity), and posing 6 testable suppositions about NCC, this essay argues that this mid-range theory may be useful in understanding intersubjectivity and interactivity in dyadic social interaction where one partner is dominant and the other submissive. Whether that partnership is interpersonal or relational, there are implications for this kind of communication in understanding interpersonal influence and possibly even mental health outcomes such as depression. Future Directions There are criteria by which theories are judged to be effective. According to Shaw and Costanzo (1970) and Wright (1998), the following criteria may be used for evaluating theories and future research should examine this theoretical framework to assess if it meets these criteria. First, there is explanatory power—do the suppositions of the NCC theoretical framework enable scholars to explain as much of the communication phenomenon as possible? Next, is the theoretical model parsimonious—does it contain as few suppositions as possible, is it as simple as it can be? Is NCC internally consistent, that is, do the suppositions contradict each other? Does NCC have heuristic potential; does it suggest hypotheses to be tested through additional research? Finally, does NCC promote new understanding and have societal value? This essay outlines the features of NCC and proposes suppositions for empirical testing. Future research should test these suppositions with the potential to falsify and/or delimit this theoretical framework.