Foster Care Essay - 1822 Words

Foster care, according to John DeGarmo, â€Å"Foster care is a form of placement for children who are in need of being placed in a home or environment outside of their home of origin† (17). It is important to note that foster care is not a correctional facility, rather an impermanent fix for children who have been mistreated. Foster Care is a socially positive way to reduce the number of abused, neglected, abandoned, and/or homeless children. The main goal of Foster Care is to help children learn and grow in a different environment when they are no longer safe in their home with their current parent/guardian. Although there are always ‘kinks’ in the system, where certain children may be misplaced or separated from their siblings, the†¦show more content†¦Secondly, they must go through four 2-hour consultations with a social worker, two of which include separating the parents and asking them questions separately. The questions the social worker may ask ha ve no limit. Thirdly, the social worker performs finger-printing and background checks on the prospective parents. If or when they pass this, there is online training with extensive material covering almost any question a parent might have. The parents then have to take a post-test on the online training that was completed. Finally, after the online training is complete, each parent is required to spend at least twenty hours in a physical classroom, learning about anything ranging from trauma, the signs of sexual abuse, the issue of neglect, permanency, and so forth (Jefcik). To some, this process seems tedious and unnecessary, but this is a child’s life, future, education; there should be background checks and extensive training. The statistical pros of Foster Care are enough to prove it is much more beneficial than harmful. In 2013, 2,483,539 children experienced homelessness; that is one out of every thirty children was/is homeless. Foster care can not only give them a war m place to sleep and food to eat, but can also help the child gain an education (Bassuk 6-7). Also, with the extensive training each foster parent must go through, they are well equipped to handle children who are traumatizedShow MoreRelatedFoster Care Essay1706 Words   |  7 PagesHow is the effectiveness of foster care often inhibited? One of the ways foster care is inhibited is that the separation of the child from their parents and placement in a foster home can be traumatic for the child. In some instances where the child is not safe in their home, the first choice may be to remove the child and place them in foster care. Both the parents and child have a hard time accepting the situation. This separation causes conflicts and resistance from the child (Crosson-TowerRead MoreFoster Care Essay1698 Words   |  7 PagesFoster care is care for children outside the home that substitutes for parental care. The child may be placed with a family, relatives or strangers, in a group home (where up to a dozen foster children live under the continuous supervision of a parental figure), or in an institution (McDonald). No matter the form of placement, this type of upheaval in a young child’s life is bound to cause the need for many adjustments. Aside from having to adjust to a different family, peers, schooling a nd possiblyRead MoreEssay on Foster Care1419 Words   |  6 Pagesand placed in foster care. Placement in the foster care system affects children in a unique, individual fashion. The affects of child-care by non-parental custodians, though subjective in nature, have common parameters that must be addressed and examined. Understanding foster care placement is crucial in order to fully evaluate both its advantages and disadvantages. WHAT IS FOSTER CARE? According to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, Foster care means 24-hour substituteRead MoreFoster Care and Its Effects Essay1283 Words   |  6 PagesFoster Care and Its Effects Many children are suffering due to various complications in their life. Children of all ages end up in the foster care system year after year. Their hardships influence them to feel really depressed and stoic. Many people do not read autobiographies, but the book, Three Little Words by Ashley Rhodes-Courter teaches people about the complications of a first-hand foster child, how the foster care system is, and book reviews of famous authors and well-known magazines, asRead MoreFoster Care Uncovered Essay1531 Words   |  7 PagesFoster care is an agency that takes in more than 250,000 children EVERY year. With this many children entering the system every year; the amount of problems on finding the right caregiver for the child increases tremendously. When these problems are created there are many effects that can happen to the child that can last short-term and unfortunately long-term. Fortunately, there are multiple solutions for these problems that everyone can do so that everyone s position is improved. Foster care agenciesRead MoreEssay about Foster Care2807 Words   |  12 Pagesnever think about our foster care system. Foster care is when a child is temporarily placed with another family. This child may have been abused, neglected, or may be a child who is dependent and can survive on their own but needs a place to stay. Normally the child parents are sick, alcohol or drug abusers, or may even be homeless themselves. We have forgotten about the thousands of children who are without families and living in foster homes. Many do not even know how foster care came about. A fewRead MoreFoster Care Research Essay1600 Words   |  7 Pagesthe field of foster care. It will focus on foster care social workers, foster care parents, children in foster care, etc. In this work there will also be reference to aspects of adoption and foster care together. This paper will encompass all parties affected by foster care and will ultimately talk about what qualities are ex pected of social workers who work in foster care. â€Æ' America is facing daily challenges when it comes to abortion, children with no place to go, the foster care system, adoptionRead MoreAbuse in Foster Care Essay1089 Words   |  5 Pagespublic care have experienced abuse and neglect, and many have potentially been exposed to domestic violence, parental mental illness and substance abuse† (Dregan and Gulliford). These children are being placed into foster care so that they can get away from home abuse, not so they can move closer towards it. The foster children’s varied outcomes of what their adult lives are is because of the different experiences they grew up with in their foster homes. The one-third of those other foster childrenRead MoreAging Out of Foster Care Essay1272 Words   |  6 Pagesall teens feel the same joy about this coming of age. For the hundreds of thousands of children living in foster care in the United States, this new found freedom brings anxiety and fear. Where will they live after turning 18? Ho w will they get the medications they may need? How will they find a job with little to no experience? How will they put themselves through school? Aging out of foster care is a serious issue among America’s youth. Every year, 20,000 children will age out with nowhere to go,Read MoreIs Foster Care Really Better? Essay1182 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"In the United States, foster care operates on the local level, rather than on the national level† (Harris, 2004).The state’s division of social services and part of the state department of health and human services run the whole foster care service (Harris, 2004). The foster care system is great when they remove children from harm but they need to do better background checks which would cut down on multiple moves, figure out a better system of getting children out of the system and into homes, and

The Amber Spyglass Chapter 35 Over The Hills And Far Away Free Essays

string(24) " in a friendly silence\." â€Å"Dr. Malone,† said Lyra in the morning, â€Å"Will and me have got to look for our daemons. When we’ve found them, we’ll know what to do. We will write a custom essay sample on The Amber Spyglass Chapter 35 Over The Hills And Far Away or any similar topic only for you Order Now But we can’t be without them for much longer. So we just want to go and look.† â€Å"Where will you go?† said Mary, heavy-eyed and headachy after her disturbed night. She and Lyra were on the riverbank, Lyra to wash, and Mary to look, surreptitiously, for the man’s footprints. So far she hadn’t found any. â€Å"Don’t know,† said Lyra. â€Å"But they’re out there somewhere. As soon as we came through from the battle, they ran away as if they didn’t trust us anymore. Can’t say I blame them, either. But we know they’re in this world, and we thought we saw them a couple of times, so maybe we can find them.† â€Å"Listen,† Mary said reluctantly, and told Lyra about the man she’d seen the night before. As she spoke, Will came to join them, and both he and Lyra listened, wide-eyed and serious. â€Å"He’s probably just a traveler and he found a window and wandered through from somewhere else,† Lyra said when Mary had finished. â€Å"Like Will’s father did. There’s bound to be all kinds of openings now. Anyway, if he just turned around and left, he can’t have meant to do anything bad, can he?† â€Å"I don’t know. I didn’t like it. And I’m worried about you going off on your own?Cor I would be if I didn’t know you’d already done far more dangerous things than that. Oh, I don’t know. But please be careful. Please look all around. At least out on the prairie you can see someone coming from a long way off†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"If we do, we can escape straight away into another world, so he won’t be able to hurt us,† Will said. They were determined to go, and Mary was reluctant to argue. â€Å"At least,† she said, â€Å"promise that you won’t go in among the trees. If that man is still around, he might be hiding in a wood or a grove and you wouldn’t see him in time to escape.† â€Å"We promise,† said Lyra. â€Å"Well, I’ll pack you some food in case you’re out all day.† Mary took some flat bread and cheese and some sweet, thirst-quenching red fruits, wrapped them in a cloth, and tied a cord around it for one of them to carry over a shoulder. â€Å"Good hunting,† she said as they left. â€Å"Please take care.† She was still anxious. She stood watching them all the way to the foot of the slope. â€Å"I wonder why she’s so sad,† Will said as he and Lyra climbed the road up to the ridge. â€Å"She’s probably wondering if she’ll ever go home again,† said Lyra. â€Å"And if her laboratory’ll still be hers when she does. And maybe she’s sad about the man she was in love with.† â€Å"Mmm,† said Will. â€Å"D’you think we’ll ever go home?† â€Å"Dunno. I don’t suppose I’ve got a home anyway. They probably couldn’t have me back at Jordan College, and I can’t live with the bears or the witches. Maybe I could live with the gyptians. I wouldn’t mind that, if they’d have me.† â€Å"What about Lord Asriel’s world? Wouldn’t you want to live there?† â€Å"It’s going to fail, remember,† she said. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Because of what your father’s ghost said, just before we came out. About daemons, and how they can only live for a long time if they stay in their own world. But probably Lord Asriel, I mean my father, couldn’t have thought about that, because no one knew enough about other worlds when he started†¦ All that,† she said wonderingly, â€Å"all that bravery and skill†¦ All that, all wasted! All for nothing!† They climbed on, finding the going easy on the rock road, and when they reached the top of the ridge, they stopped and looked back. â€Å"Will,† she said, â€Å"supposing we don’t find them?† â€Å"I’m sure we will. What I’m wondering is what my daemon will be like.† â€Å"You saw her. And I picked her up,† Lyra said, blushing, because of course it was a gross violation of manners to touch something so private as someone else’s daemon. It was forbidden not only by politeness, but by something deeper than that – something like shame. A quick glance at Will’s warm cheeks showed that he knew that just as well as she did. They walked on side by side, suddenly shy with each other. But Will, not put off by being shy, said, â€Å"When does your daemon stop changing shape?† â€Å"About†¦ I suppose about our age, or a bit older. Maybe more sometimes. We used to talk about Pan settling, him and me. We used to wonder what he’d be – â€Å" â€Å"Don’t people have any idea?† â€Å"Not when they’re young. As you grow up you start thinking, well, they might be this or they might be that†¦ And usually they end up something that fits. I mean something like your real nature. Like if your daemon’s a dog, that means you like doing what you’re told, and knowing who’s boss, and following orders, and pleasing people who are in charge. A lot of servants are people whose daemons are dogs. So it helps to know what you’re like and to find what you’d be good at. How do people in your world know what they’re like?† â€Å"I don’t know. I don’t know much about my world. All I know is keeping secret and quiet and hidden, so I don’t know much about†¦ grownups, and friends. Or lovers. I think it’d be difficult having a daemon because everybody would know so much about you just by looking. I like to keep secret and stay out of sight.† â€Å"Then maybe your daemon’d be an animal that’s good at hiding. Or one of those animals that looks like another, a butterfly that looks like a wasp, for disguise. They must have creatures like that in your world, because we have, and we’re so much alike.† They walked on together in a friendly silence. You read "The Amber Spyglass Chapter 35 Over The Hills And Far Away" in category "Essay examples" All around them the wide, clear morning lay limpid in the hollows and pearly blue in the warm air above. As far as the eye could see, the great savanna rolled, brown, gold, buff-green, shimmering toward the horizon, and empty. They might have been the only people in the world. â€Å"But it’s not empty really,† Lyra said. â€Å"You mean that man?† â€Å"No. You know what I mean.† â€Å"Yes, I do. I can see shadows in the grass†¦ maybe birds,† Will said. He was following the little darting movements here and there. He found it easier to see the shadows if he didn’t look at them. They were more willing to show themselves to the corners of his eye, and when he said so to Lyra, she said, â€Å"It’s negative capability.† â€Å"What’s that?† â€Å"The poet Keats said it first. Dr. Malone knows. It’s how I read the alethiometer. It’s how you use the knife, isn’t it?† â€Å"Yes, I suppose it is. But I was just thinking that they might be the daemons.† â€Å"So was I, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She put her finger to her lips. He nodded. â€Å"Look,† he said, â€Å"there’s one of those fallen trees.† It was Mary’s climbing tree. They went up to it carefully, keeping an eye on the grove in case another one should fall. In the calm morning, with only a faint breeze stirring the leaves, it seemed impossible that a mighty thing like this should ever topple, but here it was. The vast trunk, supported in the grove by its torn-up roots and out on the grass by the mass of branches, was high above their heads. Some of those branches, crushed and broken, were themselves as big around as the biggest trees Will had ever seen; the crown of the tree, tight-packed with boughs that still looked sturdy, leaves that were still green, towered like a ruined palace into the mild air. Suddenly Lyra gripped Will’s arm. â€Å"Shh,† she whispered. â€Å"Don’t look. I’m sure they’re up there. I saw something move and I swear it was Pan†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Her hand was warm. He was more aware of that than of the great mass of leaves and branches above them. Pretending to gaze vacantly at the horizon, he let his attention wander upward into the confused mass of green, brown, and blue, and there – she was right! – there was a something that was not the tree. And beside it, another. â€Å"Walk away,† Will said under his breath. â€Å"We’ll go somewhere else and see if they follow us.† â€Å"Suppose they don’t†¦ But yes, all right,† Lyra whispered back. They pretended to look all around; they set their hands on one of the branches resting on the ground, as if they were intending to climb; they pretended to change their minds, by shaking their heads and walking away. â€Å"I wish we could look behind,† Lyra said when they were a few hundred yards away. â€Å"Just go on walking. They can see us, and they won’t get lost. They’ll come to us when they want to.† They stepped off the black road and into the knee-high grass, swishing their legs through the stems, watching the insects hovering, darting, fluttering, skimming, hearing the million-voiced chorus chirrup and scrape. â€Å"What are you going to do, Will?† Lyra said quietly after they’d walked some way in silence. â€Å"Well, I’ve got to go home,† he said. She thought he sounded unsure, though. She hoped he sounded unsure. â€Å"But they might still be after you,† she said. â€Å"Those men.† â€Å"We’ve seen worse than them, after all.† â€Å"Yes, I suppose†¦ But I wanted to show you Jordan College, and the Fens. I wanted us to†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yeah,† he said, â€Å"and I wanted†¦ It would be good to go to Citt? ¤gazze again, even. It was a beautiful place, and if the Specters are all gone†¦ But there’s my mother. I’ve got to go back and look after her. I just left her with Mrs. Cooper, and it’s not fair on either of them.† â€Å"But it’s not fair on you to have to do that.† â€Å"No,† he said, â€Å"but that’s a different sort of not fair. That’s just like an earthquake or a rainstorm. It might not be fair, but no one’s to blame. But if I just leave my mother with an old lady who isn’t very well herself, then that’s a different kind of not fair. That would be wrong. I’ve just got to go home. But probably it’s going to be difficult to go back as we were. Probably the secret’s out now. I don’t suppose Mrs. Cooper will have been able to look after her, not if my mother’s in one of those times when she gets frightened of things. So she’s probably had to get help, and when I go back, I’ll be made to go into some kind of institution.† â€Å"No! Like an orphanage?† â€Å"I think that’s what they do. I just don’t know. I’ll hate it.† â€Å"You could escape with the knife, Will! You could come to my world!† â€Å"I still belong there, where I can be with her. When I’m grown up I’ll be able to look after her properly, in my own house. No one can interfere then.† â€Å"D’you think you’ll get married?† He was quiet for a long time. She knew he was thinking, though. â€Å"I can’t see that far ahead,† he said. â€Å"It would have to be someone who understands about†¦ I don’t think there’s anyone like that in my world. Would you get married?† â€Å"Me too,† she said. â€Å"Not to anyone in my world, I shouldn’t think.† They walked on steadily, wandering toward the horizon. They had all the time in the world: all the time the world had. After a while Lyra said, â€Å"You will keep the knife, won’t you? So you could visit my world?† â€Å"Of course. I certainly wouldn’t give it to anyone else, ever.† â€Å"Don’t look – † she said, not altering her pace. â€Å"There they are again. On the left.† â€Å"They are following us,† said Will, delighted. â€Å"Shh!† â€Å"I thought they would. Okay, we’ll just pretend now, we’ll just wander along as if we’re looking for them, and we’ll look in all sorts of stupid places.† It became a game. They found a pond and searched among the reeds and in the mud, saying loudly that the daemons were bound to be shaped like frogs or water beetles or slugs; they peeled off the bark of a long-fallen tree at the edge of a string-wood grove, pretending to have seen the two daemons creeping underneath it in the form of earwigs; Lyra made a great fuss of an ant she claimed to have trodden on, sympathizing with its bruises, saying its face was just like Pan’s, asking in mock sorrow why it was refusing to speak to her. But when she thought they were genuinely out of earshot, she said earnestly to Will, leaning close to speak quietly: â€Å"We had to leave them, didn’t we? We didn’t have a choice really?† â€Å"Yes, we had to. It was worse for you than for me, but we didn’t have any choice at all. Because you made a promise to Roger, and you had to keep it.† â€Å"And you had to speak to your father again†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"And we had to let them all out.† â€Å"Yes, we did. I’m so glad we did. Pan will be glad one day, too, when I die. We won’t be split up. It was a good thing we did.† As the sun rose higher in the sky and the air became warmer, they began to look for shade. Toward noon they found themselves on the slope rising toward the summit of a ridge, and when they’d reached it, Lyra flopped down on the grass and said, â€Å"Well! If we don’t find somewhere shady soon†¦Ã¢â‚¬  There was a valley leading down on the other side, and it was thick with bushes, so they guessed there might be a stream as well. They traversed the slope of the ridge till it dipped into the head of the valley, and there, sure enough, among ferns and reeds, a spring bubbled out of the rock. They dipped their hot faces in the water and swallowed gratefully, and then they followed the stream downward, seeing it gather in miniature whirlpools and pour over tiny ledges of stone, and all the time get fuller and wider. â€Å"How does it do that?† Lyra marveled. â€Å"There’s no more water coming into it from anywhere else, but there’s so much more of it here than up there.† Will, watching the shadows out of the corner of his eye, saw them slip ahead, leaping over the ferns to disappear into the bushes farther down. He pointed silently. â€Å"It just goes slower,† he said. â€Å"It doesn’t flow as fast as the spring comes out, so it gathers in these pools†¦They’ve gone in there,† he whispered, indicating a little group of trees at the foot of the slope. They looked at each other, a curiously formal and serious look, before setting off to follow the stream. The undergrowth got thicker as they went down the valley; the stream went into tunnels of green and emerged in dappled clearings, only to tumble over a lip of stone and bury itself in the green again, and they had to follow it as much by hearing as by sight. At the foot of the hill, it ran into the little wood of silver-barked trees. Father Gomez watched from the top of the ridge. It hadn’t been hard to follow them; despite Mary’s confidence in the open savanna, there was plenty of concealment in the grass and the occasional thickets of string-wood and sap-lacquer bushes. The two young people had spent a lot of time earlier looking all around as if they thought they were being followed. He had had to keep some distance away, but as the morning passed, they became more and more absorbed in each other and paid less attention to the landscape. The one thing he didn’t want to do was hurt the boy. He had a horror of harming an innocent person. The only way to make sure of his target was to get close enough to see her clearly, which meant following them into the wood. Quietly and cautiously he moved down the course of the stream. His daemon the green-backed beetle flew overhead, tasting the air; her eyesight was less good than his, but her sense of smell was acute, and she caught the scent of the young people’s flesh very clearly. She would go a little ahead, perch on a stem of grass, and wait for him, then move on again; and as she caught the trail in the air that their bodies left behind, Father Gomez found himself praising God for his mission, because it was clearer than ever that the boy and the girl were walking into mortal sin. He watched them go in among the trees. They hadn’t looked back once since coming over the top of the ridge, but he still kept low, moving down the stream at a crouch, holding the rifle in one hand, balancing with the other. He was so close to success now that for the first time he found himself speculating on what he would do afterward, and whether he would please the Kingdom of Heaven more by going back to Geneva or staying to evangelize this world. The first thing to do here would be to convince the four-legged creatures, who seemed to have the rudiments of reason, that their habit of riding on wheels was abominable and Satanic, and contrary to the will of God. Break them of that, and salvation would follow. He reached the foot of the slope, where the trees began, and laid the rifle down silently. He gazed into the silver-green-gold shadows, and listened, with both hands behind his ears to catch and focus any quiet voices through the insect chirping and the trickle of the stream. Yes: there they were. They’d stopped. He bent to pick up the rifle – And found himself uttering a hoarse and breathless gasp, as something clutched his daemon and pulled her away from him. But there was nothing there! Where was she? The pain was atrocious. He heard her crying, and cast about wildly to left and right, looking for her. â€Å"Keep still,† said a voice from the air, â€Å"and be quiet. I have your daemon in my hand.† â€Å"But – where are you? Who are you?† â€Å"My name is Balthamos,† said the voice. Will and Lyra followed the stream into the wood, walking carefully, saying little, until they were in the very center. There was a little clearing in the middle of the grove, which was floored with soft grass and moss-covered rocks. The branches laced across overhead, almost shutting out the sky and letting through little moving spangles and sequins of sunlight, so that everything was dappled with gold and silver. And it was quiet. Only the trickle of the stream, and the occasional rustle of leaves high up in a little curl of breeze, broke the silence. Will put down the package of food; Lyra put down her little rucksack. There was no sign of the daemon shadows anywhere. They were completely alone. They took off their shoes and socks and sat down on the mossy rocks at the edge of the stream, dipping their feet in the cold water and feeling the shock of it invigorate their blood. â€Å"I’m hungry,† Will said. â€Å"Me too,† said Lyra, though she was also feeling more than that, something subdued and pressing and half-happy and half-painful, so that she wasn’t quite sure what it was. They unfolded the cloth and ate some bread and cheese. For some reason their hands were slow and clumsy, and they hardly tasted the food, although the bread was floury and crisp from the hot baking-stones, and the cheese was flaky and salty and very fresh. Then Lyra took one of those little red fruits. With a fast-beating heart, she turned to him and said, â€Å"Will†¦Ã¢â‚¬  And she lifted the fruit gently to his mouth. She could see from his eyes that he knew at once what she meant, and that he was too joyful to speak. Her fingers were still at his lips, and he felt them tremble, and he put his own hand up to hold hers there, and then neither of them could look; they were confused; they were brimming with happiness. Like two moths clumsily bumping together, with no more weight than that, their lips touched. Then before they knew how it happened, they were clinging together, blindly pressing their faces toward each other. â€Å"Like Mary said,† he whispered, â€Å"you know straight away when you like someone – when you were asleep, on the mountain, before she took you away, I told Pan – â€Å" â€Å"I heard,† she whispered, â€Å"I was awake and I wanted to tell you the same and now I know what I must have felt all the time: I love you, Will, I love you – â€Å" The word love set his nerves ablaze. All his body thrilled with it, and he answered her in the same words, kissing her hot face over and over again, drinking in with adoration the scent of her body and her warm, honey-fragrant hair and her sweet, moist mouth that tasted of the little red fruit. Around them there was nothing but silence, as if all the world were holding its breath. Balthamos was terrified. He moved up the stream and away from the wood, holding the scratching, stinging, biting insect daemon, and trying to conceal himself as much as he could from the man who was stumbling after them. He mustn’t let him catch up. He knew that Father Gomez would kill him in a moment. An angel of his rank was no match for a man, even if that angel was strong and healthy, and Balthamos was neither of those; besides which, he was crippled by grief over Baruch and shame at having deserted Will before. He no longer even had the strength to fly. â€Å"Stop, stop,† said Father Gomez. â€Å"Please keep still. I can’t see you – let’s talk, please – don’t hurt my daemon, I beg you – â€Å" In fact, the daemon was hurting Balthamos. The angel could see the little green thing dimly through the backs of his clasped hands, and she was sinking her powerful jaws again and again into his palms. If he opened his hands just for a moment, she would be gone. Balthamos kept them closed. â€Å"This way,† he said, â€Å"follow me. Come away from the wood. I want to talk to you, and this is the wrong place.† â€Å"But who are you? I can’t see you. Come closer – how can I tell what you are till I see you? Keep still, don’t move so quickly!† But moving quickly was the only defense Balthamos had. Trying to ignore the stinging daemon, he picked his way up the little gully where the stream ran, stepping from rock to rock. Then he made a mistake: trying to look behind him, he slipped and put a foot into the water. â€Å"Ah,† came a whisper of satisfaction as Father Gomez saw the splash. Balthamos withdrew his foot at once and hurried on – but now a wet print appeared on the dry rocks each time he put his foot down. The priest saw it and leapt forward, and felt the brush of feathers on his hand. He stopped in astonishment: the word angel reverberated in his mind. Balthamos seized the moment to stumble forward again, and the priest felt himself dragged after him as another brutal pang wrenched his heart. Balthamos said over his shoulder, â€Å"A little farther, just to the top of the ridge, and we shall talk, I promise.† â€Å"Talk here! Stop where you are, and I swear I shan’t touch you!† The angel didn’t reply: it was too hard to concentrate. He had to split his attention three ways: behind him to avoid the man, ahead to see where he was going, and on the furious daemon tormenting his hands. As for the priest, his mind was working quickly. A truly dangerous opponent would have killed his daemon at once, and ended the matter there and then; this antagonist was afraid to strike. With that in mind he let himself stumble, and uttered little moans of pain, and pleaded once or twice for the other to stop – all the time watching closely, moving nearer, estimating how big the other was, how quickly he could move, which way he was looking. â€Å"Please,† he said brokenly, â€Å"you don’t know how much this hurts – I can’t do you any harm – please can we stop and talk?† He didn’t want to move out of sight of the wood. They were now at the point where the stream began, and he could see the shape of Balthamos’s feet very lightly pressing the grass. The priest had watched every inch of the way, and he was sure now where the angel was standing. Balthamos turned around. The priest raised his eyes to the place where he thought the angel’s face would be, and saw him for the first time: just a shimmer in the air, but there was no mistaking it. The angel wasn’t quite close enough to reach in one movement, though, and in truth the pull on his daemon had been painful and weakening. Maybe he should take another step or two†¦ â€Å"Sit down,† said Balthamos. â€Å"Sit down where you are. Not a step closer.† â€Å"What do you want?† said Father Gomez, not moving. â€Å"What do I want? I want to kill you, but I haven’t got the strength.† â€Å"But are you an angel?† â€Å"What does it matter?† â€Å"You might have made a mistake. We might be on the same side.† â€Å"No, we’re not. I have been following you. I know whose side you’re on – no, no, don’t move. Stay there.† â€Å"It’s not too late to repent. Even angels are allowed to do that. Let me hear your confession.† â€Å"Oh, Baruch, help me!† cried Balthamos in despair, turning away. And as he cried out, Father Gomez leapt for him. His shoulder hit the angel’s, and knocked Balthamos off balance; and in throwing out a hand to save himself, the angel let go of the insect daemon. The beetle flew free at once, and Father Gomez felt a surge of relief and strength. In fact, it was that which killed him, to his great surprise. He hurled himself so hard at the faint form of the angel, and he expected so much more resistance than he met, that he couldn’t keep his balance. His foot slipped; his momentum carried him down toward the stream; and Balthamos, thinking of what Baruch would have done, kicked aside the priest’s hand as he flung it out for support. Father Gomez fell hard. His head cracked against a stone, and he fell stunned with his face in the water. The cold shock woke him at once, but as he choked and feebly tried to rise, Balthamos, desperate, ignored the daemon stinging his face and his eyes and his mouth, and used all the little weight he had to hold the man’s head down in the water, and he kept it there, and kept it there, and kept it there. When the daemon suddenly vanished, Balthamos let go. The man was dead. As soon as he was sure, Balthamos hauled the body out of the stream and laid it carefully on the grass, folding the priest’s hands over his breast and closing his eyes. Then Balthamos stood up, sick and weary and full of pain. â€Å"Baruch,† he said, â€Å"oh, Baruch, my dear, I can do no more. Will and the girl are safe, and everything will be well, but this is the end for me, though truly I died when you did, Baruch, my beloved.† A moment later, he was gone. In the bean field, drowsy in the late afternoon heat, Mary heard Atal’s voice, and she couldn’t tell excitement from alarm: had another tree fallen? Had the man with the rifle appeared? Look! Look! Atal was saying, nudging Mary’s pocket with her trunk, so Mary took the spyglass and did as her friend said, pointing it up to the sky. Tell me what it’s doing! said Atal. I can feel it is different, but I can’t see. The terrible flood of Dust in the sky had stopped flowing. It wasn’t still, by any means; Mary scanned the whole sky with the amber lens, seeing a current here, an eddy there, a vortex farther off; it was in perpetual movement, but it wasn’t flowing away anymore. In fact, if anything, it was falling like snowflakes. She thought of the wheel trees: the flowers that opened upward would be drinking in this golden rain. Mary could almost feel them welcoming it in their poor parched throats, which were so perfectly shaped for it, and which had been starved for so long. The young ones, said Atal. Mary turned, spyglass in hand, to see Will and Lyra returning. They were some way off; they weren’t hurrying. They were holding hands, talking together, heads close, oblivious to everything else; she could see that even from a distance. She nearly put the spyglass to her eye, but held back, and returned it to her pocket. There was no need for the glass; she knew what she would see; they would seem to be made of living gold. They would seem the true image of what human beings always could be, once they had come into their inheritance. The Dust pouring down from the stars had found a living home again, and these children-no-longer-children, saturated with love, were the cause of it all. How to cite The Amber Spyglass Chapter 35 Over The Hills And Far Away, Essay examples

Social Psychology Essentials

Question: What are the main components of attitudes? What aspects of attitude theory might be of interest to those in business? Answer: An Essay On Attitudes, Components And Aspects That Might Interest To Those In Business According to McGuire, attitudes are responses that locate objects of thought on dimensions of judgment (Fiske, Gilbert and Lindzey, 2010). Attitude is defined as a set of attitudes or emotions, behaviors or beliefs towards a particular person, event or object. Psychologists define attitude as a tendency of evaluating things in a perceived way. The perceptions may be positive or negative in nature. They can be implicit as well as explicit in nature. In social psychology, attitudes may be affected by social norms and social roles. The social roles relates to the expectation of behavior of people in a particular context. The social norms account for the rules that are considered appropriate in nature. As defined by Staats, the three functions of attitude are conditioned stimulus, reinforcing stimulus and discriminative stimulus function. An attitude change is the change in individuals perception towards a certain event or person. There are certain theories related to change in attitude. The theories are as follows: Learning Theory offers an account of the processes involved in storing residual values of direct and symbolic experience. These objects are portrayed as habits, emotions and cognitions. The cognitions are acquired from symbolic communication that is not involved in acquisition of emotions. Elaboration Likelihood Theory is an accounting for the changes observed in attitude. Attitudes are formed and changed after careful integration and consideration of human attitude or issues (Acrwebsite.org, 2015) Cognitive Dissonance Theory- Cognitive dissonance is a situation involving conflicting beliefs, attitude or behaviors. This may produce discomfort that leads to a change in ones attitudes, beliefs or behaviors in order to restore balance. This theory was propounded by Leon Festinger seeking the idea of bring about a balance or consistency in ones behavior or attitude (Stedman, 2002) The attitude has three main components which are also called the ABC Model of Attitudes. The ABC model stands for- Affective, Behavioral and Cognitive components of attitude. The affective component of attitude refers to the feelings or emotions that are linked to an object or person. Attitudes are influenced by affective responses in numerous ways. It follows a belief or evaluation of the attitude towards an object. The responses can be verbal in nature. The verbal response comprises of expressions like appreciation, disdain or disgust. There may also be nonverbal in nature. The nonverbal expressions involve body gestures or facial expressions as affective responses. The affective component is a concern towards target language, or anxiety about learning it. It is defined as a feeling based evaluative component. Affective component of attitude also expresses and validates the moral belief or value systems (Ajzen, 2010). The behavior is based upon ones own behavior that may be weak or ambiguous in nature. In an organization, if the person who believes is working hard may get angry or frustrated if he is not appreciated or promoted. The affective component becomes stronger because the individual gets a direct experience with the situation or person. Affect is considered to be an emotional component of attitude. The affective component is reflected by statements like I prefer that or I like this. The psychological indicators such as changes in electrical resistance of skin and blood pressure indicate emotional arousal. Such indicators display changes in emotions by measuring psychological arousal. A change in arousal might be shown if an individual tried to hide his or her feelings (P. G. Aquinas., 2009). The affective component at a workplace defines what the employee feels about at organization. The behavioral component of attitude refers to the behavior or a consisting attitude of a person towards an object, person or event. It is also called the conative component that has influences upon how one acts or behaves to situations. It is an evaluation of behavioral component towards an event or situation with regard to a persons verbal statements concern behavior. This component of attitudes represents a tendency of an individual to behave in a perceived way. This is the only component of attitude that is visible in nature. The other two components can only be inferred. It is also influenced by the attitudes people have been following in their past towards a situation or person (Robinson, Shaver and Wrightsman, ). The self-perception theory uses knowledge or attitude to make a sense out of any action taken. The peoples attitude in a workplace or an organization largely stems from various factors like job involvement, job satisfaction and organizational commitment. In an organiz ation, consistency and satisfaction are the primary things that people seek. Job satisfaction refers to the general attitude or level of satisfaction of employees towards their job. Psychological identification is done by job involvement of people. The degree to which an employee identifies goals of a particular job is job involvement. At a workplace, the behavioral component means what an employee thinks must be his behavior as per situations and to people. The cognitive component is the belief, attribute or knowledge about a person or object. A persons attitude might be based upon both positive and negative attributes the individual associates with an object. An attitude or belief towards an object may newly be formed under this component of attitude. The perceptions or concepts are usually expressed by verbal questions. The cognitive component maybe categorized into verbal and non verbal responses. The verbal responses refer to the expression of beliefs towards an object. The nonverbal responses are difficult to assess. The information provided about attitudes is mostly indirect in nature. The component mainly involves thoughts and beliefs (Maio and Haddock, 2015). Discrimination is wrong, being a belief, is a value statement. This forms the cognitive component of attitude. The cognitive elements are evaluative beliefs that measured by asking about thoughts. They may also be measured in scales. The cognitive component forms the more c ritical part of attitude. At a workplace, the cognitive component defines what an employee believes to be true about the job, regarding the duties and responsibilities. People can experience different moods at work. The moods can be categorized into positive and negative mood. Such an attitude is caused by certain events or happenings at a workplace. The employees feel enthusiastic, active, elated, excited and peppy when they have a feeling of positivity. The negative moods are reflected by feeling nervous, jittery, scornful, fearful or hostile. Such moods also affect an organizational behavior that turn into attitudes towards the organization. A subordinate may feel stronger if motivated by the superior. Similarly, a manager may feel elated with a positive attitude of employees. The basic need of an organization is to keep a balance between emotions of what the employees, client or customers and managers feel about the organization. The summation of everything relates to profitability, smooth functioning and long running of an organization. The feelings are expressed in both verbal and non verbal expressions (Hellriegel and Slocum, 2007). There are several kinds of attitudes withheld by people at a workplace. Every human being has his own attitudes and perceptions towards issues and people. They see things differently, and the level of satisfaction varies in every person. Job involvement is the level of involvement of employee how they relate to the organization. It is an attitude of a psychological relation between a person and the organization. The involvement in a job by an employee determines the commitment he has towards the organization. It also acts as an evidence for people who are strongly attached to the job. Job involvement is an identification of worth of work and value in an employees life. Employees can engross themselves in a work highly. They also invest their time and energy to provide a fundamental basis in overall life. Higher organizational citizenship and creation of self image is formed with more job involvement. Higher the job involvement more is the psychological empowerment. The traumatic effects of job loss are explained by employees holding meaningful jobs. They construct self image and explain the loss of job effects on esteem needs. Every company has a different code of conduct or ethics, which can be explained by the empl oyees by exhibiting high growth needs. Such employees also make an involvement in decision making. Job involvement at a workplace helps in reducing absenteeism and turnover rates. A high involvement by the manager in the company satisfies the employees working under him. Such involvement is important for an organizations effectiveness and in maintaining a highly competitive environment. Job Satisfaction is an attitude of satisfaction of content that individuals carry in an organization. As quoted by Brown, "Take away my people, but leave my factories, and soon grass will grow on the factory floors. Take away my factories, but leave my people, and soon we will have a new and better factory" (Griffiths and Costi, 2011). There are several factors or aspects in a job such as promotional opportunities, pay or wage and the role of co-workers that are played in the base of job satisfaction. The determinants of job satisfaction are certain policies and procedures, supervisors style and other work environments that affect the level of job satisfaction. It may also be defined as a set of emotions that may be favorable or unfavorable in nature that employees perceive from their work in the company. It is an affective attitude by nature. An employee can have likes or dislikes towards their job or position in the company. This may be viewed as an overall attitude that may be app lied to various parts of work. It may be related to positivity that one perceives in the organization. There may be certain negative feelings carried by the employees in an organization that also relates to job satisfaction. Organizational Commitment may be defined as strength of identification and involvement in an organization. It may be termed as a state when an employee identifies oneself with a particular organization. He may also relate himself with the goals of the organization and work in the required way to attain the objectives. Organizational commitment is the willingness of an employee to remain as a working element of the company. The commitment reflects the employees belief in attaining the goals of the company. Where there is a high level of job involvement, there is high organizational commitment. It may be identified as a relationship between job productivity and organizational commitment. The commitment is described by the willingness in the employee for the organization to fulfill the duties and responsibilities. There must be development of new ideas to make a company better. One must take initiatives to resolve problems or issues in the organization. It is an individuals identificati on for a strong desire, strong belief in the organization. There are certain aspects of attitude that might interest to a business and they look forward in their employees and managers. These set of attitudes are appreciated and required in individuals for effective working and functioning of the organization. Such aspects help in resolution of conflicts and create a positive environment at a workplace. Assertiveness is an attitude of being confident and self-assured without being passive or aggressive. A good leader must be assertive in nature. At a workplace, one must be assertive in nature. One must have patience to listen to others problems. One must also be patient for their queries or issues to get resolved. A passive behavior is nit appreciated in the organization. One must focus on leading. It is the responsibility of individuals to guide others if other goes wrong. A proactive nature is also considered important. One must frame a set of possible future implications and map a plan of action. The sharing of ideas must be communicated as headlines by the leader. One must have an attentive mind. One must demonstrate that he is listening and not just hearing message. Respectfulness is an important attitude in an organization. Employees must treat each other with respect. There must be a respectful attitude in the organization among colleagues and peers, clients and customers. Respectfulness is having a consideration for oneself and other. In a workplace, mutual respect is very important. A common goal in all organizations is profitability. One must consider taking viewpoint of others as well as state ones own state. The motivations can be better understood if there is a respectful communication among employees. The knowledge must be valued that are presented by the people. There must be places to be agreed or connected for support. In a workplace, one must acknowledge the feeling and self esteem of others. It is not necessary that the individual self will be right at all times. A good listener is always welcomed in an organization. Even in case of a workplace conflict, there must be ways devised to resolute such conflicts with respect. One must a bide by the ethics of organization, learn the art of small talk and take things in a lighter manner. There must be presentation of opinions and treat colleagues as one expects to be treated. There must be maintenance of confidentiality. Pridefulness is an attitude both positive and negative in nature. Prideful does not mean that an employee would not accept or help in teams. Instead it means that the improvement in connection and getting recognition for the work performed by them. The leaders often look the importance of pride in an organization. Pride acts as a motivation to employees in retaining or developing their personnel. It is also useful to maintain standards in the organization. The company must make the employee feel proud by giving recognition to his work. Pride can be negative in nature that makes a person as mean and not welcomed in the organization. Pride is a desire to lift an employee beyond the place. Commitment is an important aspect of attitude at a workplace. It is of great value in a workplace as the companies need such people who are committed to the organization, its goals, its mission and its values. The commitment is described by the willingness in the employee for the organization to fulfill the duties and responsibilities. There must be development of new ideas to make a company better. One must take initiatives to resolve problems or issues in the organization. It is an individuals identification for a string desire, strong belief in the organization. The commitment reflects the employees belief in attaining the goals of the company. Where there is a high level of job involvement, there is high organizational commitment. It may be identified as a relationship between job productivity and organizational commitment. Innovation is a significant change that the employees construct in the organization. The innovation may arise in a product, process, position or paradigm. There may be innovation in the mentioned parameters to bring about a change in the working of organization that helps in attaining goals. The concept of innovation is diverse. It is a trait that is intangible in nature. But it relates to the capacities of thinking and developing ideas that may benefit the organization. Organizations can provide training to the employees in order to enhance their mental growth. Creativity that may be applied in attaining organizational goals may be tangible in nature. It is a behavior of employees that pursues a measuring process in order to measure results. Helpfulness is an indicator that assists clients and customers, or the behavior of helping each other at a workplace. The attitude must be willing to help others in times of need regarding some work that the person is difficult to understand. The managers must help the employees that drive motivation in them. A good leader is a person who helps the workers in times of difficulty. There must be a trust built among employees of the organization by enhancing the working relationships. The teamwork must be improved. Team work helps in inculcating the attitude of helpfulness in an individual. Helpfulness must extend focusing on problem solving for oneself as well as others. An attitude of conflict resolution is appreciated in the organization. Punctuality is another attitude that involves timeliness. One must commit to arrive and leave on time. There must be a thinking to prepare the work on time within the given time frame. The meetings conducted must begin on time. Time is money. The employees should not waste their time as well as others. The managers must consider beginning the meetings so that no time is wasted for the people attending the meetings. This must be confirmed y the managers or superiors conducting meetings. Te employees must consider meeting the deadlines for work. There should not be a lag in work relating to time frame. Punctuality or very less absenteeism must be acknowledged in the organization. One must have a clear understanding of purpose of ones job. There must be a critical assessment of different tasks. Priority of task completion must be allocated smartly by the workers. Conclusion Attitude helps in motivating and decision making at a workplace. The affective, behavioral and cognitive components of attitude play an important role in the organization. The aspects of attitude like assertiveness, punctuality, helpfulness, innovation, commitment, Pridefulness and helpfulness plays an important role in determining the success of an organization. Such qualities or working attitudes are appreciated in the organization as it helps in attaining organizational goals missions and objectives. The aspect of attitude is mainly determined by three ways that is job involvement, job satisfaction and organizational commitment. It is important to maintain decorum in the working of organization with a positive attitude. The managers and employees must work efficiently in a positive manner. A common goal in all organizations is profitability. One must have a clear understanding of purpose of ones job. There must be a critical assessment of different tasks. . The determinants of job satisfaction are certain policies and procedures, supervisors style and other work environments that affect the level of job satisfaction. . There must be development of new ideas to make a company better. One must take initiatives to resolve problems or issues in the organization. References Acrwebsite.org, (2015). The Elaboration Likelihood Model: Limitations and Extensions in Marketing by Mary J. Bitner and Carl Obermiller. [online] Available at: https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/6427/volumes/v12/NA-12 [Accessed 27 Jul. 2015]. Ajzen, I. (2010).Predicting and Changing Behavior. Psychology Press. Fiske, S., Gilbert, D. and Lindzey, G. (2010). The handbook of social psychology. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. Greenwald, A., Brock, T. and Ostrom, T. (1969). Psychological foundations of attitudes. New York and London: Academic Press. Griffiths, C. and Costi, M. (2011).GRASP. Cardiff: Proactive Press. Hellriegel, D. and Slocum, J. (2007).Organizational behavior. Mason, Ohio: Thomson/South-Western. Maio, G. and Haddock, G. (2015).The psychology of attitudes attitude change. London: Sage publications ltd. P. G. Aquinas., (2009).Essentials of organisation behaviour. [S.l.]: Excel Books. Robinson, J., Shaver, P. and Wrightsman, L. (2013).Measures of social psychological attitudes. Academic Press. Stedman, R. (2002). Toward a Social Psychology of Place: Predicting Behavior from Place-Based Cognitions, Attitude, and Identity. Environment and Behavior, 34(5), pp.561-581.