The Stigma of Mental Illness in Developing Countries

The Stigma of Mental Illness in Developing Countries The Stigma of Mental Illness in Developing Countries Seeking treatment for mental illness can be a daunting task. Even in the United States, where medical care is relatively easy to obtain, there is a stigma surrounding mental illness. In my own experience of living in a small, close-knit community, I found it nearly terrifying to talk to my primary care physician about the anxiety and depression I was experiencing. In my town, parking my car at the counseling center was like admitting that I couldnt take care of myself. The common perception in the community was that people need to suck it up and not rely on doctors or therapists to get through life. With this clear and prevalent stigma against mental illness and treatment, it took me years to finally get the help that I needed. This issue of stigma was still on my mind when I started looking for a topic for this research project. I was curious about how non-Western and developing countries viewed the issue and what was being done to help lessen the stigma of mental illness worldwide. What is Stigma? In order to take a close look at mental health stigma in cultures around the world, we first need to understand exactly what is meant by stigma. The dictionary definition of stigma is a mark of disgrace or infamy; a stain or reproach, as on ones reputation (Dictionary.com). This is a good place to start, but it does not accurately define the measurable aspects of stigma, which is necessary for researchers to be able to study it. Link et al. (2004) discuss several theoretical perspectives for stigmatization in general and the stigma of mental illness in particular. Most useful for the purposes of this paper is the framework laid out by Link and Phelen (2001) and discussed and elaborated upon by Link et al. (2004) that suggests several interrelated categories: labeling, stereotyping, separating, emotional reactions, status loss, and stigmas dependence on power structure. Labeling is a natural way that humans categorize differences, and many labels (shoe size, favorite foods) are not so cially salient. Other labels, such as sexual preference or nationality, are much more relevant. Both the selection of salient characteristics and the creation of labels for them are social achievements that need to be understood as essential components of stigma (Link et al. 2004). In the stereotyping component, the researchers suggest that the labeled differences are linked to negative assumptions about the labeled person or others with similar characteristics. The next aspect of the stigma process is separating, which is the us versus them mindset. Link et al. (2004) suggest that one place the initial conceptual framework about stigma is lacking is in the underrepresentation of emotional reactions: We believe that this underrepresentation needs to be corrected, because emotional responses are critical to understanding the behavior of both stigmatizers and people who are recipients of stigmatizing reactions. Status loss and discrimination can be overt, like refusing employment to s omeone with a mental illness, but it can also be much more insidious and pervasive. Link et al. (2004) gives the example that considerably less funding exists for schizophrenia research and facilities for schizophrenia treatment are often located in less desirable locations. The final aspect of the stigma framework is its dependence on power structures Link et al. (2004) state that this aspect is very important because without social, cultural, economic and political power the concept of stigma would be much less useful. Now that we understand at least one way in which stigma can be defined, we must next go about looking at the ways stigma is measured. Link et al.(2004) state that there is a considerable lack of study of mental illness stigma in the developing world they reviewed a large number of studied conducted worldwide, and found only a few in Asia and Africa, though the researchers did clarify that this might have been because their review was restricted to English language journals. This paper will focus on a few key studies, but it is certain that more study in this area is needed to get an in-depth look at differences between cultures and the relative stigma of mental illness. Some studies focus on the stigma of the general population towards those with mental illness, while others focus on the opinions of people who suffer from mental illness. One survey I found to be particularly interesting and useful is the World Mental Health Survey, in which subjects with mental health issues were asked about their perceived stigma (Alonso et al. 2008). For this survey, stigma was considered to be present if respondents reported both embarrassment and perceived discrimination related to illness. Among people with significant activity limitations (i.e., at least moderate difficulty with cognition, mobility, self-care, or social), the perceived stigma rate was highest in the Ukraine, with 32.1% of respondents reporting stigma. The lowest rate was 3.2% in Germany. The average rate of perceived stigma in developing countries was 22.1%, compared to 11.7% in developed countries (Alonso et al. 2008, Table 1). The researchers finding was that perceived stigma associated with mental disorders is universal, but considerably more frequent in developing countries; however, the implications of this finding were not discussed, though they suggest it may be of interest to investigate social, cultural and health service characteristics that differentiate countries in which patients feel less excluded from countries in which patients are more likely to report perceived stigma (Alonso et al. 2008:312). The researchers also found that perceived stigma is strongly associated with common mental disorders, particularly with comorbid mood and anxiety (Alonso et al. 2008:306). The implications of this survey are twofold: first, developing and developed countries have different ways of associating stigma with mental illness, although the reasons for this are not clear. Second, people with mental illness are much more likely to perceive stigma relating to illness than, for example, people with chronic physical ailments. Most interesting to me is the fact that the statis tics from Alonso et al.s (2004) study shows that developing countries have nearly double the rate of perceived stigma as developed countries. Studies of Stigma in Developing Countries Lauber and Rossler (2006) conducted a review of literature that summarizes results of research on the stigma of mental illness in developing Asian countries. They state that this research is very important because The stigma of mental illness and discrimination against mental patients are believed to be a significant obstacle to development of mental health care and to ensuring quality of life of those suffering from mental illness (Lauber and Rossler 2006: 158). They provide a clear discussion of how they defined developing and developed countries: A developing country is a country with a low-income average, a relatively undeveloped infrastructure and a poor human development index when compared to the global normDevelopment entails developing a modern infrastructure (both physical and institutional), and a move away from low value added sectors such as agriculture and natural resource extraction. Developed countries usually have economic systems based on continuous, self-sustaining economic growth (Lauber and Rossler 2006:160). This definition helps clarify some of the general differences between developing and developed countries. Lauber and Rosslers (2006) review of literature found that people in developing countries in Asia are generally afraid of those with mental illness. They also found that many studies reported respondents who felt that mental illness symptoms were a normal reaction to stress; this finding suggests that awareness of mental illness and the need for medical intervention is lacking in these cultures. However, the results of these studies are similar to the results in Western countries (Lauber and Rossler 2006). Another finding of this study was in regards to help-seeking behaviors: it is much more likely for those seeking help for mental illness to rely on family members instead of professional mental health services (Lauber and Rossler 2006). I found it interesting that the researchers suggest the differences in mental health care in developing Asian countries is due not only to a different cultural understanding of health and health care, but also the stigmatizing attitude of health car e professionals as well (Lauber and Rossler 2006). Gureje and Lasebikan (2005) studied the use of treatment services for mental illness in the Yoruba-speaking part of Nigeria through face-to-face interviews with nearly 5,000 adults. They found that fewer than 1 in 10 people with mental health disorders over the past 12 months had received any treatment whatsoever, compared with 25% in the United States (Gureje and Lasebikan 2005). They also found that respondents who did receive treatment were much more likely to be treated in the general medical sector rather than by a mental health specialist; these results are similar to those found in other developing countries as well as developed nations. Another significant finding was that people with mental illness were considerably less likely to use complimentary health providers than those with other non-mental disorders: This observation flies in the face of the common belief that traditional healers provide service for a high proportion of persons with mental disorders in developing Afr ican countries (Gureje and Lasebikan 2005:48). The authors suggest that many of the problems with mental health utilization in Nigeria result from its inadequate health service personnel and facilities, financial constraint, as well as poor knowledge of and negative attitude to mental illness (both of which are rampant in Nigeria) (Gureje and Lasebikan 2005:48). This suggests that in addition to the need for better health systems in developing countries, we also need to address the issue of stigma towards mental health treatment. Another study in 2005 attempted to look at the existing attitudes towards mental illness in the same Yoruba-speaking part of Nigeria. Gureje et al. (2005) studied over 2000 respondents and found widespread stigmatization of mental illness. The researchers found that respondents were often misinformed about the cause of mental illness with 80.8% stating that mental illness could be caused by drug or alcohol abuse, 30.2% claiming possession by evil spirits as a cause, followed by about equal responses of trauma, stress, and genetic inheritance (Gureje et al. 2005; Table 2). The researchers add that only about one-tenth of respondents believed that biological factors or brain disease could be the cause of mental illness, and 9% felt that Punishment from God was a possible cause (Gureje et al. 2005). In addition to the misunderstood causes of mental illness, the researchers found that many Nigerians have generally negative views towards people with mental illness: fewer than half of respondents believed that the mentally ill could be treated outside of hospitals, and only thought that mentally ill people could work at a regular job. The researchers found that these negative attitudes were equally spread across the socioeconomic spectrum (Gureje et al. 2005). The stigma associated with mental illness in Nigeria is evident in the responses that show most respondents were unwilling to have social interactions with someone with mental illness, including fear of having a conversation with or working with a mentally ill person (Gureje et al. 2005:437). 83% of respondents would be ashamed of people knowing that someone in their family was mentally ill, and only 3.4% responded that they could marry someone with a mental illness (Gureje et al. 2005: Table 4). These results support the fi ndings of the World Mental Health Survey that the stigma of mental illness is considerably higher in developing countries than in developed countries, but the research still does not show any distinct variables that could be identified in order to help reduce the associated stigma. Griffiths et al. (2006) performed a comparison of stigma in response to mental disorders between Australia and Japan, and found some interesting results. This was the only research I found that used similar methodologies to survey the public in two different cultures. Though both Japan and Australia are developed nations, the cross-cultural comparison is relevant to this study. Griffiths et al. (2006) found a significantly higher proportion of the Japanese respondents held stigmatizing attitudes and social distance towards mental illness. The authors give several possible reasons for this difference. First, conformity is more highly valued in Japan, so people who deviate from the norm because of mental illness would be more negatively impacted. Secondly, the treatment options in the two countries differ: in Japan, long-term institutionalization is common, while in Australia, community and rehabilitation services are emphasized. The implication is that even among developed countries, significant differences in the rates of stigma and the way it affects a society occur; therefore, any push to combat stigma needs to take into account these cultural differences. The authors suggest that this study may point to ways in which interventions programs for reducing stigma might be tailored for each country (Griffiths et al. 2006). Attempts to Reduce Stigma Associated With Mental Illness Many countries and cultures have made attempts to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness. Lauber and Rossler (2006) discuss the attempts in some Asian countries to rename schizophrenia in order to reduce the stigma associated with the disease; however, results show that a less pejorative label has little effect on the stigma associated with schizophrenia. Stein and Gureje (2004) suggest the approach of medicalization of suffering, or training healthcare providers to recognize the depression and anxiety that are often related to violence, chronic illness, and poverty in order for this to be successful, however, overcoming the stigma related to mental health issues is of primary importance. Lauber and Sartorius (2007) states that work towards reducing the stigma of mental illness is very important as a human rights issue: Societal or structural discrimination finds its expression in jurisdiction that restricts the civil rights of people with mental illness in, for example, v oting, parenting or serving jury duty, inequities in medical insurance coverage, discrimination in housing and employment, and the reliance on jails, prisons and homeless shelters as the way of disposing of people with mental illness (103). They discuss the importance of the normalization paradigm in which people with mental disorders are seen as similar to and not different from other people and medicalization, the idea that mental illness is a treatable medical condition rather than a personal defect, in the anti-stigma endeavors (Lauber and Sartorius 2007). Form (2000) suggests that one important aspect of reducing mental health stigma is to increase what he calls mental health literacy or knowledge about mental health disorders: he outlines several education programs that were widespread in the 80s and 90s in the United States the Depression Awareness, Recognition and Treatment Program and the National Depression Screening Day. These programs received widespread media attention, but their effects have not been studied. Form suggests that one good way to help improve mental health literacy is to target specific populations, such as high school students. However, Forms research says little about how these ideas would work in developing countries. In conclusion, a look at the research on stigma associated with mental illness shows significant differences in developing and developed countries, but the reasons for this are still unclear. I had hoped to conclude this research with a set of key differences between high-stigma and low-stigma cultures, but this information, if it exists, was not found. I believe that research on identifying causes for and reducing incidences of the stigma of mental illness is a very important topic in medical anthropology and one I believe will see continued advancement in research in the future. References Cited Alonso, J., A. Buron, R. Bruffaerts, Y. He, J. Posada-Villa, J-P. Lepine, M.C. Angermeyer, D. Levinson, G. de Girolamo, H. Tachimori, Z.N. Mneimneh, M.E. Medina-Mora, J. Ormel, K.M. Scott, O. Gureje, J.M. Haro, S. Gluzman, S. Lee, G. Vilagut, R.C. Kessler, M. Von Korff, the World Mental Health Consortium. 2008 Association of perceived stigma and mood and anxiety disorders: results from the world Mental Health Surveys. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 118:305-314. Griffiths, Kathleen M., Y Nakane, H. Christensen, K. Yoshioka, A. F. Jorm, and H. Nakane. 2006 Stigma in response to mental disorders: a comparison of Australia and Japan. BMC Psychiatry 2006, 6:21. Gureje, Oye, and V. Lasebikan 2005 Use of mental health services in a developing country: results from the Nigerian survey of mental health and well-being. Social Psychiatry Psychiatric Epidemiology 41:44-49. Gureje, Oye, V. Lasebikan, O. Ephraim-Oluwanuga, B. Olley, and L. Kola 2005 Community study of knowledge of and attitude to mental illness in Nigeria. The British Journal of Psychiatry 2005 186:436-441. Jorm, A. F. 2000 Mental Health Literacy: Public Knowledge and Beliefs About Mental Disorders. The British Journal of Psychiatry 2000 177:396-401 Lauber, Christopher and N. Sartorius 2007 At Issue: Anti-stigma endeavors. International Review of Psychiatry. April 2007; 19(2):103-106. Lauber, Christopher and W. Rossler 2007 Stigma towards people with mental illness in developing countries in Asia. International Review of Psychiatry, April 2007; 19(2): 157-178. Link, Bruce, L. H. Yang, J. C. Phelan, and P.Y. Collins 2004 Measuring Mental Illness Stigma. Schizophrenia Bulletin 30 (3):511-541 Stein, Dan J., O. Gureje. 2004 Depression and anxiety in the developing world: is it time to medicalise the suffering? The Lancet Vol. 364. stigma. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved December 1, 2010, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stigma

Imperialism And India Essay -- essays research papers fc

Imperialism and India Throughout history, many nations have implemented imperialism to enforce their will over others for money, protection and civilization. India was no exception. Since its discovery, Europeans were trying get a piece of India's action. In many cases England was the imperial, or mother country. Since India was put under imperialism, a great deal of things changed, some for the good, mostly though for the bad. Between 1640 and 1949, India was ruled by two periods of imperialism, both of which effected India in a very profound and permanent manner. The first period of European control was between 1740 and 1858. During this period the British East India Company controlled the Indian sub-continent under the guise of economic imperialism, when in fact the manipulation of Indian affairs was much more political than let on. When it was founded in 1600 by Queen Elizabeth I, the East India Company's main purpose was "to break into the Indonesian spice trade which was dominated by the Dutch." But after colonizing a post a Madras in 1640, the company was re-chartered to include such rights as coining money and act as government to British subjects at the East India Company's posts. As well, the British government also gave the company the right to make was or peaceful arrangements with powers who were non-Christian. This control expanded with the founding of a port at Bombay in 1668, and the founding of Calcutta in 1690. Then in 1756, a young employee named Robert Clive, who had been named lieutenant-governor in 1755, was sent to take back Calcutta from the Bengal nawab. He accomplished this in January of 1757. Then later that year, Clive lead a group of 950 European and 2,000 Indian soldiers(sepoys) against a group of 50,000 Indians lead by a degenerate nawab at Plassey. The victory of the English forces over the local resistance brought Bengal under the effective political control of the East India Company. Although a "puppet nawab" was left in control of the area, Clive was granted the right to extract land revenue from most of eastern India. Through out this whole period, the company slowly found it's privledges being revoked, until in 1858, the Sepoy Rebellion, or the Indian Revolution, finally brought an end to the rule of the East India Company in India when it ... ...health of Indians, created such a tremendous population explosion that famine resulted in some regions. As well, the creation of British educated professionals and business people created a new upper-class in India changing the rule of class in India forever. All of these changes, while under the guise of helping the natives, only served to help the colonists and leave the Indians feeling inferior, as though Indians are only "hewers of wood, and drawers of water" All of these changes in Indian culture and economy forever changed the destiny of the Land of India. While many changes may have been good in retrospect, they were only meant to help the colonizing British. Overall, the colonization of India had nothing but a negative effect on its people and culture. Perhaps one day people will realize that imposing one culture on another is not only wrong, but it is destructive to the natural course of a countries history. Bibliography "India" Groiler Electronic Encyclopedia, 1994 "India" article found on Internet, 1996 "India, a history of," Groiler New Book of Knowledge, 1979 In class speech by Mr. Seqera, 1996

Critical Review of On Coffee Talk and Break-Room Chatter: Perceptions of Women Who Gossip in the Workplace

Farley, Timme, and Hart's (2010) article describes a study, which investigated the perceptions of female gossipers within the workplace. Approximately 500 students were asked to complete an online survey, 87 of whom (aged from 23 to 64) completed all 54 items. A questionnaire was conducted which included demographic items, and the subscales of a modified FIRO-B. Participants were arbitrarily allocated to a condition and were asked to â€Å"think of a female co-worker who frequently or rarely contributes negative information about other people during conversation† (Farley et al. p. 365) and then evaluate the target using a modified version of Schutz’s (1958) FIRO-B, which is a measuring instrument that contains six scales of nine-item questions (cited in Farley et al, 2010). Participants then judged the female co-worker on a five-point Likert-Type scale. The results showed that high gossipers were rated as needing to express more control than low gossipers. The participa nts also rated the high gossipers as wanting others to control them less than low gossipers.Furthermore, high gossipers were rated as less emotionally close with their peers than low gossipers. These findings support the hypothesis that high gossipers would obtain higher ratings on the express control dimension than low gossipers. The results also support the hypothesis that high gossipers would be rated as less likely to want others to put forth power over them than low gossipers. Farley et al. ‘s (2010) experiment needs a small degree of critiquing. For one, it uses a poor assortment of participants, as the sample is too constricted to make any real generalizations.Participants were recruited via email. This method of assignment would have led to unequal groups in terms of demographic characteristics such as different ages and gender (cited in Farley et al, 2010). Older people may be more judgmental of gossiping than younger people; therefore this may hinder the final result s. Also, the experimenter only used females in the questionnaire, drawing on the myth that the majority of gossipers are females; therefore it does not generalize to everyone in the workplace.There may well have been an interaction effect between gossipers and gender; therefore males as well as females should have been included in the questionnaire. Furthermore, I am not satisfied with how the authors defined ‘gossip’; in fact there is no clear statement delineating ‘gossip’. The lack of the experimenters’ control over the independent variable (gender) makes it a subject variable as opposed to a manipulated variable, therefore it is a quasi experiment and you cannot infer causality from the results.

God-fearing people Essays

God-fearing people Essays God-fearing people Paper God-fearing people Paper Parris, at the beginning of the play, is shown not to believe in witches. However, the overwhelming authority of Danforth and the court persuades him to think otherwise, and at the end of the play, he is shown to believe in witches. By making the most religious man in the play believe in witches, and fall victim to the power of Danforth, Miller is criticising the American society, where even the most religious and God-fearing people would leave their faith in order to save their lives. John Proctor, on the other hand, is shown to be a very Christ-like figure throughout the play. In the movie version, Proctor is shown to be in water when he chases Mary Warren after she has run out of court. When everyone is against him, he stands alone in the water, almost as if he is being baptised from the old Proctor to the new Proctor. By showing us this, Miller is hinting at the fact that only the people who told the truth were the real  gods; as Jesus Christ is believed to be in Christianity, and the others were just liars, who sacrificed their friends, or in Salems case, their enemies, in order to save themselves. : At first meeting, we think that Hale is McCarthy, as he appears to be very self-confident and arrogant; they are weighted with authority. However, as we read further into the play, Hale seems to change, and realises the stupidity and injustice in the system. By changing the thoughts of one of the most respected persons in Salem, Miller is showing weaknesses in Danforth, and therefore in McCarthy. Here, Miller is also representing the fact that McCarthyism would not last for very long, and that someday people would realise that they are in the wrong, and start to protect those who tell the truth. He is attacking the American society for not doing it earlier, as Hale is only shown to realise what is happening when it is too late. Mary Warren works for proctor. She is one of the accused, and most of end of Act 3 is based on her case. First of all, she tells the court that she did not really faint, and that she was only pretending, That were pretence, sir. However, when she is asked to pretend to faint again, she is unable to. This immediately creates tension in the audience, as they, most probably, would want her to faint in order to save Proctor and Elizabeth. Her inability to faint only strengthens Abigails case, and this would only strengthen what Danforth stands for. She then changes her confession to saying that she did deal with the devil, My name, he want my name, and goes against Proctor. Miller is showing us here how people would lie to save their own lives, and kill those who have been most helpful to them, and this criticises the American society, where people would lie in order to save their own lives. This scene would anger the audience, and make them feel hatred towards Mary, Abigail and especially Danforth, who will now definitely sign the death warrant for Elizabeth. Again, by making the hero of the play suffer Miller is expressing his hatred towards McCarthy and the people who followed him. Miller constantly characterises the court officials as weak and arrogant which highlights the injustice of Salem and McCarthy. Giles is the first character to challenge Danforth and he is immediately thrown out of the court. However, Abigail is able to overpower Danforth, making him very uneasy at times, as the following stage directions show: weakening, apprehensively, dumbfounded Danforth cannot speak Danforth turning worriedly to Abigail. This is because Abigail is the only way he can prove that he is in the right, and that years of studies have not gone to waste. By making Danforths character so weak, Miller is condemning the fact that McCarthy is a weak man who has a closed mind over the things he says and does. Millers slow build up of tension during the scene emphasises the emotional disturbance suffered by the victims of both Salem and McCarthy. Abigail enters just as Danforth is questioning Mary and interruptions like these slowly build tension in the audience. Also, the faked attacks grow anger in the audience, as everyone knows that they are pretending, and yet the people still believe them. Miller is portraying the American society of the 1950s as ignorant and stupid, who will believe anything the court and McCarthy believe. Proctors confession to committing lechery, in an attempt to save his wife, is a much tensed scene. The dramatic irony of Elizabeth not knowing he has confessed, and the natural lie she tells in order to save her husbands name, all create suspense in the audience, as they know that the Proctors are innocent, and yet because of the injustice of the court, one of them, if not both, will die. Miller is again criticising McCarthy and his laws, as the innocent are dying and the guilty live. Proctors damning lines at the end of the play suggest that there were some good people in Salem and in America during the 1950s-people who would give their lives for their loved ones. In the movie, Proctor is shown to be reciting the Gods Prayer just before being hanged, and it was believed that witches were not able to recite the Gods Prayer. By showing him do this, Miller is showing everyone how blatant it was that the innocent were dying, and he criticises the citizens of Salem for not realising this, in other words, he is criticising the American society. This has a negative effect on the audience, as they appreciate the injustice of McCarthy, and how the people were not doing anything to save anyone. Having considered the dramatic nature of this scene, I believe that it criticises McCarthyism and is an attack on the American society of the 1950s. Miller does this by repeatedly showing the Salem citizens as ignorant and unintelligent. He attacks Danforth time and time again, showing him to be weak, and yet he is able to have power over the people, only because of the fact that he has higher authority then they have. The innocent characters are the ones who are killed, and the guilty characters are the ones who get away with their crimes. This highlights the very point that during 1950s America, there was no justice whatsoever, and the only people who ruled were those who were of a higher rank than the normal citizens.

Free Essays on Cask Of Amontillado - Revenge

Revenge and Pride can be very dangerous things In â€Å" The Cask of Amontillado† revenge and pride are played out in true Poe style. Here one man, Montresor plots a horrible revenge on another, Fortunato. This event is even more horrible by the fact that vengeance is being taken when no real offense had been given. All that is told is that Fortunato has done a grievous wrong to Montresor and his family. Fortunato is totally self-absorbed with himself and his pride in his knowledge of fine wines. If one is a lover of horror stories this is one that they will need to read. Poe’s usage of his standard gothic style, with symbolism, irony and foreshadowing makes this a true horror story. Montresor has a strong hatred for Fortunato. His plan is to use his victims pride in his connoisseurship of fine wine, to lure him into the catacombs to taste some non-existent Amontillado. As they go into the catacombs it is very damp and cold. Fortunato questions Montresor about all the white hanging form the walls and ceilings, his response is that it is just niter with spider webs. As the two men progress deeper into the dark winding and very dreary tunnels, piles of bones begin to appear presumably Montresor’s ancestors. By leading fortunate into the catacombs the seen is set. No one will be able to hear his cries for help. This also shows that Montresors must be a little mad. The conflict is largely internal, because Montresor has a fierce hatred that Fortunato is unaware of when Montresor chains Fortunato to the wall and begins to layer the bricks. It is at this point that the reader may ask themselves if this is really about to happen. The conclusion lets us know that Montresor was never punished for this crime. Fifty years has passed and he is an old man telling the story on his deathbed. The true horror is that Fortunato died a terrible death, utterly alone, and his killer was never brought to justice in the legal se... Free Essays on Cask Of Amontillado - Revenge Free Essays on Cask Of Amontillado - Revenge Revenge and Pride can be very dangerous things In â€Å" The Cask of Amontillado† revenge and pride are played out in true Poe style. Here one man, Montresor plots a horrible revenge on another, Fortunato. This event is even more horrible by the fact that vengeance is being taken when no real offense had been given. All that is told is that Fortunato has done a grievous wrong to Montresor and his family. Fortunato is totally self-absorbed with himself and his pride in his knowledge of fine wines. If one is a lover of horror stories this is one that they will need to read. Poe’s usage of his standard gothic style, with symbolism, irony and foreshadowing makes this a true horror story. Montresor has a strong hatred for Fortunato. His plan is to use his victims pride in his connoisseurship of fine wine, to lure him into the catacombs to taste some non-existent Amontillado. As they go into the catacombs it is very damp and cold. Fortunato questions Montresor about all the white hanging form the walls and ceilings, his response is that it is just niter with spider webs. As the two men progress deeper into the dark winding and very dreary tunnels, piles of bones begin to appear presumably Montresor’s ancestors. By leading fortunate into the catacombs the seen is set. No one will be able to hear his cries for help. This also shows that Montresors must be a little mad. The conflict is largely internal, because Montresor has a fierce hatred that Fortunato is unaware of when Montresor chains Fortunato to the wall and begins to layer the bricks. It is at this point that the reader may ask themselves if this is really about to happen. The conclusion lets us know that Montresor was never punished for this crime. Fifty years has passed and he is an old man telling the story on his deathbed. The true horror is that Fortunato died a terrible death, utterly alone, and his killer was never brought to justice in the legal se...

My experience with Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

My experience with Religion - Essay Example I would have to say no unfortunately. I did attend Sunday School but many of things that the pastor spoke about were not covered. I suppose that I was clueless about my own religion until my mother purchased a Volume of Children’s Biblical stories. These books gave me a better understanding and perspective of the religion I was practicing. At first I really did not enjoy going to church, but when I joined the youth choir and started attending Vacation Bible School, church visits suddenly had a purpose. As an adult, I continued to attend church regularly. However, I decided to change churches because my childhood church was nothing more than a fashion show. The new church that I began attending was not as big as my previous church. Also, the pastor and the congregation were very accepting of me and did not care what I wore so much. I attended this church for about six years, but I became very disgusted with the sinful acts that people in the church were engaged in. At that point, I decided to leave the church and find my way. I was told as a child that people that attended church were Christian and lived strictly by God’s way. However, I realized that many members in the church were committing great sins. These were terrible sinful acts, such as sleeping with other members’ husbands or wives, going to the bar after church, frequently using profanities, etc. Due to witnessing these actions, I lost my faith and decided to leave the church for good. After years of not attending church, I realized that going to church gave me a purpose in life. I now understand that I should have never left God’s Kingdom. I now realize that I have no control over the wrong doings of others. If I continue to live right by God, then that’s all that matters. I was very happy when I learned that Empire State College would offer a course on Religion and Spirituality. I hope that this class will give me better outlook on the various religions practiced in our society.

ERP Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

ERP Systems - Essay Example Organisations seek ERP systems for various reasons and among them are the desires to adopt better business practices, globalisation, increase flexibility, and centralise information among others (Hallikainen 3). The software infrastructure also presents an opportunity for the business to sustain a competitive advantage in the evolving world of information technology in business. This is achieved by ensuring cooperation and integration of various departments in an organisation and is in line with information technology, a key aspect in relation to effective management (Bernroider and Koch). There are various applications offered by ERP system depending on the needs of the organisation, which include supply-chain management, human resource management, customer relationship manager and accounting applications. PeopleSoft is among the leading ERP systems designed to provide comprehensive business and industrial solutions to organisations who desire better management. PeopleSoft boasts of over a thousand features and enhancements to produce a robust solution by the use of simple yet advanced graphical user interface. The key factors to consider while selecting an ERP system include availability, reliability, system functions, and customer support services. However, there are challenges associated with the acquisition and maintenance of enterprise resource planning systems. One of the biggest problems associated with implementation of enterprise resource planning relates to company goals and objectives. Most are the times companies seek the services of ERP systems without clearly defining measurable goals and objectives at the onset of the project and as a result, end up modifying or changing them. This follows the common belief that the implementation of ERP systems is normally an enormous upgrade. This beats the very benefit ERP seeks to provide, that of efficiency and increased productivity, which has seen most projects fail. In addition, such actions contribute t he rise in costs and delays in implementation. Enterprise resource planning software does not offer much flexibility and as such (Almond). Companies may be forced to adapt according to the models presented by the implemented ERP. Such changes may require restructuring of company policies and objectives in order to embrace the new system. ERP systems are known to have many features to offer, which tend to create confusion in most companies seeking to acquire the services. This can be attributed to the wide scope at which the applications function and as such, companies may not understand where to begin with the process of acquiring ERP systems. To resolve such issues, companies seek expertise from specialist who evaluate the company needs and recommend on available software options. In addition, ERP systems are expensive to acquire and maintain. This limits its use to companies and organisations that can afford or those that are fully established to require such managerial tools. Thi s indicates that ERP systems have not fully proliferated across all levels of businesses and organisations. The cost of implementation is also high considering that the software and applications require a certain degree of compliance with regard to computer hardware, in order to reap complete benefits of the system. As such, companies are forced to expand the budgets and afford more resources to the critical stage of implementation. Should