Heroes or Villains - The Taliban - 1464 Words

What is a hero? What is a villain? Although definitions vary within our global society, it is generally accepted that a hero is selfless, humble, and moral and has integrity, while a villain is corrupt or evil, incapable of feeling guilt or compassion and is guilty of committing heinous crimes. However, it should be noted that the labels of ‘hero’ and ‘villain’ are subjective, and that, in the words of Sirius Black (the falsely incriminated godfather of the titular hero of the Harry Potter series) â€Å"†¦ the world isn’t split into good people and [villains]. We’ve all got light and dark inside of us†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Yates, 2007) The Taliban are a group who were once perceived as heroes, by those who now label them as ‘villains’. The Taliban, whose name is†¦show more content†¦The U.S Country Report on Human Rights Practises – Afghanistan (2001) detailed the physical requirements demanded by the Taliban, with men being required to have â€Å"a beard extending farther than a first clamped at the base of their chin†. Men were also required to wear their hair short and to wear a head covering. Sharia law was enforced by ‘religious police, who beat offenders with long sticks. Crimes such as theft were punished by amputation of a hand, rape and then public execution by a gun shot or by being stoned to death. Punishments were carried out in front of crowds in Kabul’s former soccer stadium. These bans and brutal punishments were enforced as they were detailed in the Holy Koran, which the Taliban interpreted as the law. According to the Taliban’s interpretation of the Holy Koran, women were inferior in every aspect of life. As a result women and girls were stripped of their rights and were considered possessions. As Sirius Black said in the novel, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, â€Å"†¦ to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.† (Rowling, 2000). The Taliban’s treatment of their â€Å"inferiors† shows their indifference towards the helpless innocents of their society, an inability to feel compassion regarded as a villainous trait. Following the conflict with the Soviets and warlords, Afghanistan’s infrastructure andShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Documentary To You It s A Reality 1671 Words   |  7 Pages â€Å" To you it’s a film, to them it’s a reality†; the translated poster headline of the award winning observational war documentary Armadillo (Metz, 2010), a captivating film, shadowing a platoon of soldiers as they fought the Taliban in the Helmand province of southern Afghanistan. A controversial and sensitive topic, in which director and filmmaker Janus Metz endeavoured to depict the brutalising effects of war, with a character driven and emotional story embedded through out. With such impact surroundingRead MoreHeroes Throughout History and Popular Culture1873 Words   |  8 Pages Heroes A hero is defined as a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities (Hero, n.p.). Through the passage of time in history, the perceptions and characteristics of what makes a hero have changed. While some characteristics have remained constant, others have evolved and developed as society has changed. One thing that is certain is that most people have their own individual descriptions and ideas that define a hero. Heroes have high standards to meet. Thousands of peopleRead MoreThe Comic Books And Propaganda1855 Words   |  8 Pagesrestore a sense of nationalism to the populace, and fight the Chinese and North Korean communists that were invading their homeland. Like the Second World War, the comic books of the Korean War were meant to portray the Communists forces as cruel villains. After Korea, the Vietnam War raged on and psychological warfare troops known as Psywarriors spread propaganda to troops on both sides of the war. The South Vietnamese Political Warfar e Department made various comics to keep their soldiers moraleRead MoreEssay on Fall of Asclepius95354 Words   |  382 Pagesworld have refused to answer questions whether this disease is the swine flu or an Ebola outbreak. Due to lack of cooperation with politicians, rumours formed across the internet and Twitter that the illness was a biological attack by Al Qaeda or the Taliban. Neither group has taken credit for the illness. Scientists who are working towards treatment and a cure for this illness have declined to release any information on their research, but they have denied the rumours that the riots around the worldRead MoreProject Mgmt296381 Words   |  1186 PagesThey are creating next generation, fuel efficient vehicles, developing sustainable sources of energy, and exploring the farthest reaches of outer space. The impact of project management is most profound in the electronics industry, where the new folk heroes are young professionals whose Herculean efforts lead to the constant flow of new hardware and software products. Project management is not limited to the private sector. Project management is also a vehicle for doing good deeds and solving social

Mentoring Relationships An Analysis Free Essays

Mentoring is defined as a form of teaching where one guides without leading and basically teaches by example. In essence, it’s about helping to learn how to achieve something. Mentoring can be applied to a variety of fields and specialties, including business, the academe, healthcare, and government. We will write a custom essay sample on Mentoring Relationships: An Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now For this case study, the focal point of interest as to learning experiences in mentoring will be Dr. Rachel Lindsay. It can be said that Dr. Lindsay has had many different types of mentoring relationships in the course of her professional career. Currently a professor of nursing, her original intent was to be a physician. However, her first mentor became responsible for altering this course of action. This mentor is none other than her own mother, who happened to be a nurse as well. The influence her mother had played a large role in her decision to become a nurse instead, after seeing the work her mother did and eventually becoming comfortable with it. The next major mentoring relationship she had afterwards was when she became a nurse consultant to a dentist who worked with chronically ill people. Her work with the dentist allowed her to gain an intimate perspective of the lives of the chronically ill and affected. Subconsciously, her experiences laid the foundation for her even deeper concern for the welfare of others, especially after being party to the various sufferings and vulnerabilities of the patients who came while she was under the tutelage of the dentist. However, while her experiences thus far with the mentoring process had been successful and beneficial towards her overall development as an individual, there were also times when the system let her down. When given the task of having to deliver a course for nurses who work in nursing homes, Dr. Lindsay immediately discovered a problem with the course in question. Hoping to rectify the situation, she approached her dean, whom she looked up to, in the hopes of him becoming her mentor and help her revise the course to make it a better one. Unfortunately, the dean did not honor this request and only disappointed her. This became her first experience at being let down by a possible mentor in her life. This was further proven when she discussed her career plans, only to find that he was against nurses with advanced degrees. Disillusioned, Dr. Lindsay turned to a nurse practitioner only to be disappointed again; her new mentor only seemed content with discussing procedural knowledge but not abstract changes. These happenings turned out to be for the better however because it signaled her return to the hospital setting, where she would later handle staff development classes and meet another mentor in her life, Bob the HR director. Under him, she learned many new things, not just about the profession itself, but with dealing with others and outside pressures as well. It would not be long before she became satisfied enough to move on to another job. Dr. Lindsay eventually ended up in the academe, where another mentor emerged in the form of her division chair. Just like her other mentors, this one did not seem threatened or impressed that much with her degrees or experience, thus their working relationship became very good indeed. This relationship would soon be tested because of a case of plagiarism of one of Dr. Lindsay’s students, and it can be said that neither Dr. Lindsay nor the subject chair in question saw eye to eye on how best to treat the student. In summary, after all her experiences with different mentors, Dr. Lindsay’s mentoring tool kit should include the knowledge she has gained through her many years in formal education, plus the knowledge she gained through her various experiences. This, combined with the many years she spent under various mentors will help her to become the most effective mentor possible. References Gibson, S. K. (2004). Being mentored: The experience of women faculty. Journal of Career Development, 30(3), 173-188. Stewart, B., Krueger, L. (1996). An evolutionary concept analysis of mentoring in nursing. Journal of Professional Nursing, 12, 311-321. Veenman, S., Denessen, E. (2001). The coaching of teachers: Results of five training studies. Educational Research and Eva How to cite Mentoring Relationships: An Analysis, Essay examples

Organizational Culture Compared free essay sample

To understand organizational culture, it is imperative to first understand culture. Culture can be defined as the beliefs, customs, practices, and social behavior of a particular nation or people; a particular set of attitudes that haracterizes a group of people; or a group of people whose shared beliefs and practices identify the particular place, class or time to which they belong (Encarta). Secondly, one must value the meaning of culture in the work place in order to comprehend its advantages. The ability to interact effectively with members of other cultures often translates into financial gain, increased employment, and better advancement prospects (DeVito 26). The next step in understanding organizational culture is to know the exact definition. Edgar Schein defines it as: A pattern of hared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, which has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way you perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems (Nellen). Schein describes the culture of an organization as consisting of three levels. At the fundamental level are the core beliefs and assumptions that members of a culture see as truth (Cheney, that it is necessary for the system to grow, and that workers must be supervised. The second level consists of values and behavioral norms. In this section the organization beings to recognize its involvement in the culture; it becomes aware of its culture. Artifacts are the third level of organizational culture. Artifacts are the portion of the organization that involves the five senses. They are visible and tangible. An example of a cultures artifact is its building or the dress code. Deal and Kennedy defined organizational culture as the way things get done around here. They measured organizations in respect of: * Feedback quick feedback eans an instant response. This could be in monetary terms, but could also be seen in other ways, such as the impact of a great save in a soccer match. * Risk represents the degree of uncertainty in the organizations activities. Using these parameters, they were able to suggest four classifications of organizational culture: * The Tough-Guy Macho Culture. Feedback is quick and the rewards are high. This often applies to fast moving financial activities such as brokerage, but could also apply to a police force, or athletes competing in team sports. This can be a very tressful culture in which to operate. * The Work Hard/Play Hard Culture is characterized by few risks being taken, all with rapid feedback. This is typical in large organizations, which strive for high quality customer service. It is often characterized by team meetings, Jargon and buzzwords. * The Bet your Company Culture, where big stakes decisions are taken, but it may be years before the results are known. Typically, these might involve development or exploration projects, which take years to come to fruition, such as oil prospecting or military aviation. * The Process Culture occurs in organizations where there is little or no feedback. People become bogged down with how things are done not with what is to be achieved. This is often associated with bureaucracies. While it is easy to criticize these cultures for being overly cautious or bogged down in red tape, they do produce consistent results, which are ideal in, for example, public services. Charles Handy (1985) popularized the 1972 work of Roger Harrison of looking at culture which some scholars have used to link organizational structure to organizational culture. He describes Harrisons four ypes thus: * a Power Culture which concentrates power among a few. Control radiates from the center like a web. Power and influence spread out from a central fgure or group. Power desires from the top person and personal relationships with that individual matters more than any formal title of position. Power Cultures have few rules and little bureaucracy; swift decisions can ensue. * In a Role Culture, people have clearly delegated authorities within a highly defined structure. Typically, these organizations form hierarchical bureaucracies. Power derives from a persons osition and little scope exists for expert power. Controlled by procedures, roles descriptions and authority definitions. Predictable and consistent systems and procedures are highly valued. By contrast, in a Task Culture, teams are formed to solve particular problems. Power derives from expertise as long as a team requires expertise. These cultures often feature the multiple reporting lines of a matrix structure. It is all a small team approach, who are highly skilled and specialist in their own markets of experience. * A Person Culture exists where all individuals believe rganizations, s ince the concept of an organization suggests that a group of like- minded individuals pursue the organizational goals. Some professional partnerships can operate as person cultures, because each partner brings a particular expertise and clientele to the firm. Writers from Critical management studies have tended to express skepticism about the functionalist and unitary views of culture put forward by mainstream management thinkers. While not necessarily denying that organizations are cultural phenomena, they would stress the ways in which cultural ssumptions can stifle dissent and reproduce management propaganda and ideology. After all, it would be naive to believe that a single culture exists in all organizations, or that cultural engineering will reflect the interests of all stakeholders within an organization. In any case, Parker has suggested that many of the assumptions of those putting forward theories of organizational culture are not new. They reflect a long-standing tension between cultural and structural (or informal and formal) versions of what organizations are. Further, it is perfectly reasonable to uggest that complex organizations might have many cultures, and that such sub- cultures might overlap and contradict each other. The neat typologies of cultural forms found in textbooks rarely acknowledge such complexities, or the various economic contradictions that exist in capitalist organizations. One of the strongest and widely recognized criticisms of theories that attempt to categorize or pigeonhole organizational culture is that put forward by Linda Smircich. She uses the metaphor of a plant root to represent culture, describing that it drives organizations rather than vice versa.