Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (1818-1883) is among the famous Russian novelists who have managed to explore various themes. Fathers and Sons is one of the novels that portray his major works in the nineteenth century. The sons and their fathers in this novel have demonstrated an enormous gap which exists between two generations. The generation gap of the second half of the nineteenth century portrayed by Turgenev is clear-cut and depicts an aspect and problem that Russia faces.
A twofold character is introduced in this novel and an ongoing crash of the Nihilistic opposition between Bazarov and Pavel ensues. The dual character clearly elaborates the differences in ideologies between the two generations. The entire novel contains instances that show conflicting ideas between two generations evaluated and analyzed in this paper. It is worth noting that throughout the history, generation gap often leads to conflict, especially between people with different world views, for example, radical and traditional ideas.
Ideological Conflict and Generation Divide
Fathers and Sons novel contains various instances which demonstrate discrepancy between ideas of individuals from the two generations. Ideological conflict refers to divergences in peoples point of views, doctrines as well as beliefs on the basis of political, economic as well as social facets. On the other hand, generation gap is the demarcation of individuals in certain generations which could be in term of civilization or other factors.
In the first half of the novel, Turgenev demonstrates father son dynamic which exhibits the separation between the son and his fathers world views. This demarcates a boundary between the new and the old generation. Arkady and Bazarov represent a generation with a rebellious position. Both of them ascribe to nihilism. On the other hand, Pavel, Nikolai and Platonich ostensibly stand for a generation that upholds traditional principles. This is clearly exhibited in their ideological arguments. Nikolai seems to be ashamed that he lives with Fenichka, who is 23 years old, and yet they are not married. Arkady is not shocked to realize that his father lives with a girl. He even calms his father down. To him, that is not a major issue, and it seems acceptable. This clearly portrays the difference in ideologies between the sons and his fathers.
Bazarov demonstrates the differences that exist between the two generations. He tries to portray his nihilistic ideals. He is a man who believes in nothing. He seems to criticize individuals who are in romantic relationships. Arkady is a follower of Bazarovs nihilistic beliefs. The two try to take their emotions out of the scene, but it is impossible to do such a thing bearing in mind that they are humans. Their philosophy is, however, doubted even if they are in a generation that proclaims not to believe in emotions. At a later stage, we see Bazarov falling in love with Anna, and Arkady falls in love with Katya. This means that they believe in love, a fact that beats their philosophical logic. We also find Arkady and Nikolai having an upright father and son relationship. He significantly respects his father, and the fact that his father has married to a young wife does not bother him. However, their beliefs are clearly divergent. In order to be acceptable to his cohort, Arkady espouses nihilistic ideologies as a way to entertain Bazarov. However, that is not his true self that has been portrayed in his characters.
The two generations in the novel are depicted to have different stance on morals. There is an instance when Bazarov kisses Fenichka. Pavel sees them kissing and secretively plan for a contest in order to challenge him. Bazarov thought that duels are ancient and silly, and he is convinced that the kiss is just a petty issue. An act which could be seen as disrespect by the older generation has been depicted as a normal conduct, signifying a sub-culture that prevails in Bazarovs generation.
The two generations have divergent views about marriage. Although Nikolai lives with Finichka before their marriage, he thinks she is a low-class woman. This issue does not bother Pavel, instead, he advocates that, indeed, it was time his father should marry her. This depicts a clear-cut border between the new and the old generations ideologies.
There are situations where the son supports his father, however, in other case, he is determined to rebel. Arkady is warm-hearted and open to others just like his father Nikolai. However, he seems to believe in science and philosophy that are preached to him by his friend. Bazarov, on the other hand, supports his father, but in some instances, he disapproves his fathers views.
Pavel is a character who is very conventional. Interestingly, he also holds on attachment to the ancient ideals as well as to social policies that are strictly followed by the czarists. Pavel and Bazarov are the two characters who entirely indicate the contrast in ideology between generations as well as being a confirmation that generation divide is a common phenomenon in the second half of the 19th century. Unlike Pavel, Bazarov does not believe in the old ideals, such as aristocracy, serfdom or patriotism. The two disagree in an argument. Therefore, it is clear-cut that they have divergent points of views.
The fact that Nicholai tries to read progressive books as well as make sure that they have more progressive talks with his son depicts that generation divide exists. Perhaps, the father tries to find ways in which generation gap could be closed. Nicholai recognizes that he couldnot comprehend everything in her sons new world. He is both awestruck as well as frightened by his sons beliefs, and this depicts the shock that prevails due to differences the two generations world views. The narrative, therefore, demonstrates that generation divide prevails between the father and his son.
The new generation, however, seems to have unshaped beliefs. We find this in Arkadys actions, especially when he defends his fathers as well as his uncles convectional beliefs. He also appreciates romantic acts as well as art and nature. However, Bazarov portrays a group of individuals in his generation who are enormously grounded in their beliefs and ready to ruin the views of the older generation at all costs.
Conclusion
Fathers and Sons novel exhibits the connection that fathers and sons have in the face of changing age. Intergenerational conflict has been clearly outlined in the development of characters in this book. Generation divide has developed conflict which affects characters attitudes towards life. Bazarov, Akardy and Odintsova are characters who have been portrayed to exhibit characteristics of generation that believes in science and philosophy. They seem to put emotion out of their context in the first place; however, we find them disapproving their beliefs by taking actions that show they have emotions. Their nihilistic beliefs set them aside from the generation that believes in traditional ideals. Throughout the novel, the characters expose the fact that the difference between their ideological conflicts is an element of generation divide.
Bibliography
Turgenev, Ivan. 2005.Fathers and Sons. Whitefish: Kessinger Publishing.
It goes without saying that in the sphere of criminal justice, informed decision-making and ethics are highly essential. Thus, criminal justice equality is based on the ethical assumption that people have a right for equal legal protection and should be sentenced to fair punishment regardless of their socioeconomic status, race, and education. In turn, criminal justice inequity may be regarded as the violation of these ethical norms and biased attitude to suspected offenders on the basis of stereotypes or prejudice related to his personal peculiarities.
At the same time, conflict theory states that any society may be divided into powerful and powerless groups that are in the state of permanent conflict between each other for limited resources. According to this theory, crime is the result of this social conflict as wealthy individuals try to take and keep more resources traditionally by suppressing poor people, and all groups generally aim to maximize their power and wealth. Within conflict theory, criminal justice equality is impossible as the law and its enforcement are used as a tool of dominance by groups with political, social, and economic power to maintain privileged positions over seemingly dangerous subordinate groups. In this case, the deviant behavior of subordinates is criminalized while the same behavior of powerful individuals remains unpunished.
Throughout history, in the United States, society was divided into White, politically connected, and wealthy individuals included in a dominant group and racial minorities and politically neglected or poor community members in a subordinate group. Thus, criminal justice inequality may be exemplified by racial disparities when African Americans are treated unfairly and with less respect throughout the whole system from routine police stops to long-term imprisonment (Hetey & Eberhardt, 2018, p. 183). Other examples of inequality in terms of criminal justice are international corporations frauds and embezzlements on a grand scale by politicians that remain even unnoticeable while ordinary people are sentenced to imprisonment for less serious malefactions.
Meaning of Mandate System and the Effect It Had on Zionist-Palestinian Relations
The mandate system was the process in which the newly established League of Nations approved European rule over all colonies and countries created after the defeat in World War 1. The mandate system was run by the League of Nations, which disregarded the colonial connection proofs enforced in five different Arab states. When the First World War ended, European rule was documented. After the war, the new states were heavily influenced by Anglo-German law and had an extensive impact to leave new state charter, new currency and treaties beside new borders. This system had the effect of obtaining and retaining power by dividing more significant power concentrations into small parts. Such powerholders had less influence than those executing the strategy on Zionist Palestine relations. The British imperialism was woven through the mandate systems invention through its decrees and promises, thus, setting forthcoming management in British errand.
Settlement Patterns That Emerged in Palestine and the Information They Had in UN Resolution
The settlement patterns that arose in Palestine beneath the British mandate indicated that Arabs were not going to take immigration effortlessly, and power usage was finally not the answer. Palestine forcefully wanted the Zionist land without listening to any explanations. The Palestinians were required to admit to the treaty and relocate the Zionists. In 1939, London issued The White Paper that backed an increase to new thoughts bringing harmony to the Palestinian zone (Bunton 2013). The Paper requested forming a unitary Palestinian government in which Arabs and Jews would exercise authority jointly. These settlement patterns pursued the UN to divide Palestine into two distinct states in expectations of conveying peace while anticipating to bond the Palestinians and Jewish.
Historical Significance of Atzmaut and Al-Nakba
Atzmaut and Al-Nakbas historical importance lay on the region being wrestled. The mandate of Palestine expanded by 78%, becoming the sovereign state of Israel after the fighting arose (Bunton 2013). The Jews welcomed a radical coup of the British royal oppression and a stiff wrestled conquest; hence, they feasted targeting upcoming fiscal success. Palestine Arab society suffered and endured, thus, setting the context of the Palestinian National Identity.
Reference
Bunton, Martin P. 2013. The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Very Short Introduction. 1st Ed. New York city: Oxford University.
North Ireland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom that is in the northeastern part of Ireland. In 1800 an Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland was the first step in the modern era that made it possible. For many years North Ireland was a troubled land. Many violent and bitter ethnopolitical conflicts are better known as The Troubles between those who claimed to be the Roman Catholic Nationalists and the Protestant Unionists occurred. As the name suggests the Unionists advocate union with Great Britain and consider themselves British. Nationalists consider themselves Irish and desire independence. Thanks to the efforts spearheaded by Tony Blair the Good Friday Agreement or the Belfast Agreement in 1998 ended the armed conflict. The worst of The Troubles are over but the inter-generational conflict will leave its scars for years to come.
Before that agreement, North Ireland was stereotyped in media as a violent war zone where Unionist and Nationalist paramilitaries clashed constantly in defense of their goals. Patriot Games and The Devils Own are two movies that adequately chronicle the cycles of violence that were common during The Troubles era. Both star Harrison Ford and will be used as a starting point in a discussion of the Northern Ireland crisis.
The Devils Own
Synopsis
Harrison Ford plays an American police officer who is a good neighbor to a North Ireland visitor. He does not know that his visitor Frankie McGuire (Played by Brad Pitt) witnessed the murder of his father by Unionist paramilitaries and is a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA). Frankie is bent on avenging his fathers death and has murdered many people in an effort to sate his lust for vengeance. In fact, Frankie came to him because he is escaping culpability for murdering a group of British soldiers in broad daylight. Thanks to people who are sympathetic to the IRA Frankie is able to escape to the US where he intends to acquire arms to ship to the IRA. The main conflict in the movie is the crisis Tom (Harrison Ford) feels when he learns that Rory is a PIRA soldier and he is torn between his sympathy for Frankies cause and his duties as a cop.
Reviews
Charles Taylor, The Saloon
Taylor begins by pointing out that the remastered Star Wars Trilogy went to theaters around the same time that The Devils Own did. He poses the question of how Harrison Ford, who starred in Star Wars back in the 1970s, could be cocky and charming in one movie (Star Wars) and be a glum-faced stiff in the second (The Devils own).
After giving his synopsis Taylor spends three paragraphs bashing Ford for abandoning his brash boyish charm from his previous roles, such as Star Wars , in favor of the gruff stoic roles that he plays. He points out how the movie fails to establish the tension between the gunrunner (Pitt) and the cop (Ford). In addition, he also dissed Pitt for being not believable and claims that Pitts only asset is his dreamy looks.
Taylor moves on to the poor scriptwriting, bad directing, and best of all the numerous plot holes he is able to detect such as how the saloon owner/arms dealer gets his hands on his arms or how the judge is able to hide his pro-IRA activities. He does point to the symmetry of the movie where the beginning and end both feature a British Soldier shot as a result of The Troubles .
Towards the end, he mentions how the movie blatantly portrays British intelligence agents as assassins when it comes to tracking down IRA fugitives. Violence is gratuitous and at times uncalled for. He recommends other movies for viewers to watch for a better portrayal of The Troubles .
When related to the actual events of The Troubles the movie displays prominently two major aspects of The Troubles . First, the intergenerational nature of the struggle has led to an endless cycle of violence where the sons of the fallen grow up to avenge their fathers. Second, because the fighting has been going on for so long the organizations involved have become deep-seated and have far-reaching connections.
With respect to the intergenerational nature of The Troubles , it is good to remember that conventional knowledge defines it as having started in the 1960s after the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force. That illegal volunteer paramilitary was formed in response to the alleged reformation of the IRA on the 50th anniversary of the original Easter Rising. If such allegations were true then by 1966 both the Unionists and Nationalists now had organized military forces with which to resume the conflict. The UVF committed acts of violence against the Irish Catholics in hopes of inspiring a violent response from the IRA as well as pinning the blame on the IRA and convincing the British government to commit to harsher measures against perceived Nationalists.
Fast forward to the present of The Devils Own , the fighting has been going on for more than 30 years. The children of the initial fighters have grown to full manhood and are now ready to take up the cudgels for their respective sides. Brad Pitts character is an example of this. Embittered by his fathers death at the hands of the British, he seeks to avenge him and kills as many Unionists and British as he can. The result is more deaths and possibly more children who will grow up with a desire for revenge. To some, such as Pitts character The Troubles is akin to a holy war and salvation can only be obtained by spilling the blood of the enemy.
Noteworthy is the fact that this movie portrays North Ireland as a poor city that has become a virtual battleground between the IRA and the government. Both sides are so desperate to win that they resort to draconian measures such as purchasing weapons overseas or assassination.
The length of the fighting has resulted in the formation of partisan groups outside the war zone . The judge that helps Pitt come to America is one example of this. More accurate for the Nationalists this is a direct result of the length of the conflict and the strong ties Irishmen feel for their fellow Irish. Their racial bond is strong enough to overturn conventional considerations like the law. The example of the judge has a considerable basis in truth. Detroit and Boston are just two cities with sizeable enclaves of Irishmen. While they may not have seen Ireland their entire lives many of these people are sympathetic to the plight of the Irish and some may be willing to lend a more active hand.
The Rolling Stone
The rolling stone review is no less critical of The Devils Own . In fact, it begins by hinting that the films script was rewritten so many times it ceases to be coherent. The review claims that the story is biased heavily in favor of the Nationalists because it portrays Pitt as a likable tragic hero. Again there is a dig against Ford for abandoning his boyish persona of yesteryear. Ultimately the Rolling Stone review considers the film utterly stereotypical and does nothing but parade these stereotypes around over the course of the movie. In the end, Pitts character is still shown in a positive light and almost showers approval on his person even if he is a killer who has the blood of dozens.
If the Rolling Stones review is any indication The Devils own does not help much in the understanding of the Troubles . Instead, all it does is pander to the stereotypes of people found in the conflict. It is a biased film that glamorizes the IRA with a tragic hero in Pitt but portrays the Unionists/British do not even follow the law and uses assassination as a legitimate policy tool. While unhelpful from an educational point of view The Devils own will promote knowledge of the Troubles by generating interest in the events and perhaps leading the viewer to a more accurate and informative take on the the Troubles .
In all, the reviews have not been positive. The Devils own has been condemned not only by critics but also by Brad Pitt himself. The gratuitous violence is at times unnecessary and mostly appeals to a lower audience. It portrays mostly stereotypes and does not go into the motives behind the Troubles beyond the obvious motivation of revenge that Pitt has. Little is said as to why the Irish are so eager to sacrifice their lives to free their land from the British. Not even a cursory mention that the IRA and like groups want to join North Ireland to the rest of the Irish nation.
The main reason the storytelling is so narrow and short-sighted might be because the film is almost entirely set in America. Other than the anecdote Pitt tells Ford about how his father died there is no significant mention of the events in Ireland. Perhaps this is because the only way to tell of these elements would be through dialogue which would be boring since they are talking about events occurring across the Atlantic.
Patriot Games
Synopsis
Retired CIA agent Jack Ryan, played by Harrison Ford, is on vacation in London with his family. He bares witness to a terrorist attack launched against Lord Holmes Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Ryans intervention results in the death of one of the Assassins and the capture of another. Like the Tom Clancy hero that he is Ryan is wounded but successful. Sean Miller, the arrested assassin is a member of the Ulster Liberation Army a break-away group of the IRA. Ryan receives the KCVO or Knight Commander of the Victorian Order.
Meanwhile, on his way to Albany Prison in the Isle of Wight, Millers convoy is ambushed by the ULA and he is able to affect an escape. They escape Britain and head for North Africa to plan their next kidnap attempt on Lord Holmes. However, Miller wants to get revenge on Ryan for the death of his brother and convinces some ULA members to travel to the United States to kill Ryan and his family.
While Ryan is able to fight off the attack his family is severely injured in a separate attack. Angered by what happened Ryan returns to work for the CIA even though he had earlier rejected an appeal from his superior to return to work. As a result of his tireless work, Ryan is able to uncover that Miller has taken refuge with a North African warlord. A SAS strike team attacks and kills everyone in the camp. However, Miller and his team have already fled and are en route to their next attempt to attack Lord Holmes.
Lord Holmes decides to visit Ryan at his house to present the KCVO. Coincidentally Miller and his team chose to launch their attack just as he goes to visit Ryan. After getting help from a traitor in Lord Holmes employ they are able to bypass security and attempt to launch another kidnap attempt. Ryan is able to foil this second attempt by acting as a distraction and in typical Jack Ryan fashion, he is able to deal with all the attackers and come out victorious.
Reviews
The Rolling Stone
Patriot Games was based off a Tom Clancy bestselling novel of the same name. As a result the Rolling Stone review makes much of the fact that the movie adaptation changed large parts of the book. For example, the original target for kidnapping was Princess Diana Spencer and Prince Charles of Wales. In the movie it was Lord Holmes. The review laments how the powerful, if outrageous, lecture Jack Ryan gives Prince Charles is obviously deleted along with other remarkable elements. It is no wonder that Tom Clancy himself bashed the movie for being a poor adaptation of his book.
In addition to the fact that the story was so heavily sanitized for the film adaptation there is also the fact that the reference to the ULA is secondary and almost fleeting and unnecessary. Naming them ULA was just an excuse so they could have caucus belli against Lord Holmes. There is no mention of the political goals of the ULA or of the Nationalist faction as a whole. In fact, the ULA could have been any random group that just happened to target Lord Holmes when Jack Ryan intervened.
The movie degenerates into a revenge film where the retired Jack Ryan insists on being reinstated just so he could go after those who hurt his family. As expected of a Tom Clancy story he uses hi-tech CIA equipment to smoke out and kill his enemies. Not surprisingly, he personally kills the main antagonist.
Based on the Rolling Stone review, Patriot Games use of the Troubles era ULA is just an excuse to get what it is ultimately a revenge movie going. There is sparse mention of the politics behind the ULA, only that they want to kidnap Lord Holmes. In other words they are anarchists bent on capturing a high ranking government official. In fact other the mention of their name; Ulster Liberation Army, the alleged Nationalist gain no character development as a group. They could have been any random group.
Sadly un-educational, the Patriot Games sheds no light on the Troubles era North Ireland. Although in fairness the movie it is an adaptation of a Tom Clancy novel. Clancy is notorious for using different locales, different plot twists and devices but in the end it will always be his precious Americans, in this case Jack Ryan, who will triumph in the end. This time his fertile imagination just fancied another romp for Jack Ryan only this time it would be North Ireland Nationalists who would be the incompetent bad guys and, in the book, it was no less than Prince Charles and Princess Diana who were the helpless American allies who needed saving.
Owen Glieberman Entertainment Weekly
Glieberman makes a very glib and concise synopsis of the movie Patriot Games ; an adaptation of a Tom Clancy Novel, in which Harrison Ford fights to save his wife and daughter from a small cult of Irish terrorists. That pretty much sums up the whole movie.
Jack Ryans family is an idealized American family. This makes them even more sympathetic when they are ruthlessly attacked by the evil ULA. The terrorists are a bland, sketchy lot; we barely even learn why they have rejected their fellow Irish radicals. He mentions. All we ever get to know about the ULA is that they are a break away group outcast for being too radical.
Again the greatest limitation of the movie in telling the Irish story is that it was written by techno-thriller extraordinaire Tom Clancy. He has zero interest in Ireland other than making it provide him with the latest set of villains for his book. This can be seen by the numerous talkie parts where Jack Ryan gets back his job and he becomes a vigilante. Yet for all the scenes of the ULA all they are also fighting for is revenge for the death of one of their members. No mention of their goals or why they are fighting. There isnt even token mention of the fact that the ULA is supposedly an IRA break away and that there is a shadow war going on in their homeland.
Conclusion
Neither film is highly education or informative about the Troubles . Both are too focused telling a tale of Harrison Ford struggling with an Irish terrorist to give much background information about the Troubles . Patriot Games is particularly useless because the ULA is just a cardboard caricature of a radical terror group. Ulster could easily have been any other place because the ULA members have absolutely no character to recommend to themselves. The Devils own at least goes through the trouble of telling the audience why Brad Pitt was a cold hearted killer. Still there is little in his actions that evokes sympathy other that the sympathy of Mosaic / Karmic law. British and Irish are killing each other in North Ireland, the movie never tells us why.
In the end there are better films to watch for purposes of learning about the Troubles era. The films are too focused on telling an action story to have any value as a narrative as to those turbulent years. At best both trumpet the stereotype that North Ireland Irish are violent, radical anarchists without ever giving the reason why they are such. The struggle for independence or unification, depending on which side of the spectrum they belong, is not given any value.
Works Cited
Pakula, Alan. (Movie) The Devils Own 1997.
Taylor Charles, The Dreamboat and the Stiff (1997). Web.
The Rolling Stone, The Devils Own Review (2000). Web.
The Rolling Stone Patriot Games Review (2000). Web.
Glieberman, Owen. Patriot Games Movie Review (1992). Web.
Conflict management at the workplace is one of the crucial elements related to the organization of work in healthcare facilities. In this regard, McKibben (2017) asserts that conflict is an inevitable part of any human interaction, especially when the collective activity is associated with physical, mental, and ethical complexity found in hospitals. Consequently, if ignored or not handled adequately, the disputes between the colleges at the workplace lead to decreased performance and satisfaction levels of the involved employees (Suifan, Alhyari, & Sweis, 2020). This, in turn, negatively impacts the overall quality of provided patient care. Therefore, it is important to resolve the conflicts as soon as they appear. However, to understand how to manage disputes effectively, one should understand the factors that cause them.
In general, all the antecedents of organizational conflicts may be divided into three groups, namely individual, interpersonal, and organizational. As for the former, Kim et al. (2017) argue that the healthcare professionals self-esteem, self-focus, emotional intelligence, prevalent responses to conflict, communication styles, and overall worldview determine the frequency and severity of the disputes. In a similar vein, Chang, Chen, and Chen (2017) found that a persons license level, age, and previous experience of working in other collectives can all affect the behavior during conflict situations. Interpersonal conflicts, on the contrary, are caused by such factors as lack of trust and respect towards a person, power abuse, and ineffective communication (Kim et al., 2017). Finally, organizational conflicts stem from the overall structure and work arrangement. In this respect, such factors as ambiguously defined responsibilities and inadequate hierarchy can cause dissatisfaction and disputes (Kim et al., 2017; McKibben, 2017). Therefore, this type of conflict appears as a result of weak or wrongful management decisions.
I have also participated in several conflicts that can be explained by the factors mentioned above. Firstly, I have a friend who is generally a good person but who is quite self-focused; thus, he often fails to recognize other peoples opinions. Due to that, we usually have to do what he wants, which eventually leads to conflict when I become tired of compromising. Secondly, I have noticed that many conflicts between me and my parents and friends are caused by my inability to control ones emotions. Finally, once, we had a conflict with my classmates while working on the team project as we failed to discuss the responsibilities of each person before starting.
References
Chang, T. F., Chen, C. K., & Chen, M. J. (2017). A study of interpersonal conflict among operating room nurses. Journal of Nursing Research, 25(6), 400-410. Web.
Kim, S., Bochatay, N., Relyea-Chew, A., Buttrick, E., Amdahl, C., Kim, L., Frans, E., Mossanen, M., Khandekar, A., Fehr, R., & Lee, Y. M. (2017). Individual, interpersonal, and organisational factors of healthcare conflict: A scoping review. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 31(3), 282-290. Web.
McKibben, L. (2017). Conflict management: Importance and implications. British Journal of Nursing, 26(2), 100-103. Web.
Suifan, T. S., Alhyari, S., & Sweis, R. J. (2020). A moderated mediation model of intragroup conflict. International Journal of Conflict Management, 31(1), 91-114. Web.
The problem of conflicts between nurses and patients is very urgent. A conflict arises due to mutual rudeness, poor-quality treatment, and overestimated patient requirements. There are different systems of medical care and other types of medical practice through which any general principles can be expressed in complex and simple forms (Jacob et al., 2017). The solution to emerging problems leads to the fact that conflicts between the nurse and the patient arise more and more often.
A conflict arose between a newly admitted patient in the emergency room and me. The patient was seventy-five years old and believed she should be given more attention than other patients. I firmly said that I treat all patients equally, and I will not devote more time to her at the expense of others. In response, the woman began to scream and promised to complain to the authorities. I allowed the patient to express her opinion, and then I promised the woman that I would be attentive to her. I assured the patient I would help her, but other patients also needed my help. My calm reaction to criticism allowed me to smooth out the conflict and bring the peaceful outcome of the dispute closer (Roy et al., 2019). The womans desire to make a scandal had disappeared when she began to trust me.
A nurse needs to be not just a specialist in his field but a widely educated person to have a kind of professional flexibility. This implies the need for communicative interaction skills to anticipate a sick persons psychological state (Hahne et al., 2020). Because of this, it is safe to say that the nurse should have developed a socio-psychological readiness for communication, which will help resolve the workplace conflict.
References
Hahne, J., Liang, T., Khoshnood, K., Wang, X., & Li, X. (2020). Breaking bad news about cancer in China: Concerns and conflicts faced by doctors deciding whether to inform patients. Patient Education and Counseling, 103(2), 286-291.
Jacob, L., & Kostev, K. (2017). Conflicts at work are associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. German Medical Science, 15(8), 229-235.
Roy, M. C., Ganache, I., Pomey, M. P., Olivier, D. P., & Denis, J. (2019). Management of patients conflicts of interest and of commitment in health technology assessment. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care, 35(7), 59-64.
It can be argued that several policies assist in the provision of health care and public health to the society members within a warring country. In this case, health specialists help in educating health workers on how to treat the war victims and provide them with adequate health care services. Further, it is of importance to note that whenever there is a war or a conflict within a country; so many sufferings are experienced especially by the women, children, and the elderly. In this case, women are both physically and mentally affected as they become the victims of rape and other forms of sexual harassment. Based on the case discussed, it can be argued that even after the war women within the camps are sexually harassed; where they have to compromise their stand and principles to get whatever they want from the people in charge.
On the other hand, pregnant women suffer a lot as some go through miscarriages while others lose their lives; as a result of the lack of adequate hygienic assistance during delivery. Further, children are the victims of becoming child soldiers; a case where they are captured and trained to fight to result in their death while those who survive to live with injuries or permanent disabilities. In addition, children suffer from the trauma of losing their families and relatives; thus becoming orphaned which leads them into child labor among other abuses and crime. Lastly, the elderly in society suffer a lot during the war; as they are not active enough to run away or provide for themselves, leading to their death. Additionally, in most cases the old people in a warring country lack medical attention and care; as those who could take care of them are either engaging in the war; in hiding, or dead.
Introduction
Whenever there is a war in any country, many people within that country lack the required health care services where pregnant women and children are the ones most affected. An example here is the case of the people of Afghanistan when there was a war between them and the United States. On the other hand in Somalia due to the ongoing violence brought about by the Al-Shabab; there is increased suffering among the residents especially women, children, and the elderly as they lack public health services and the required health care provision (Jacobsen, 2007).
Discussion of the policies related to conflict within health systems in a warring country
As a result of these conflicts, there are some policies devised relating to conflict management within the healthcare system. Based on this, the problem of the health care system is reduced through the work of mobile medical teams and training women in these countries; which ensures that there is an improvement within the public health geared towards ensuring the sustainability of the health care system. A good example here is the case of Somalia, where WHO had a specialized trauma doctor at Mogadishu; who was used for the training of local professionals on how to treat shock cases as well as offer urgent care to pregnant women (WHO, 2010).
Further, the Health as a Bridge for the Peace policy helps health personnel in offering health programs and assist in bringing peace within warring countries. In this case, this policy integrates peace-building ideas and concerns into the health aid and wellbeing division expansion. Based on this, the HBP is very important in implementing peace-building policies in order to guarantee health benefits with the regard to the perspective of social unsteadiness and emergencies. Additionally, the HGP policy is entrenched in the ethics resulting from human rights and humanitarian values as well as medical principles (WHO, 2000).
Further, it should be noted that guidance and education are provided to the health personnel in the situation of instabilities within a given country. In this case, these health workers are exposed to advice and experiences to care for the victims of health hazards. On the other hand, OCHA is a United Nation arm that brings together compassionate actors to guarantee a rational reaction to emergencies. Based on this, OCHA eases human distress in adversities and emergencies as well as supports the rights of people in need. Additionally, it can further be argued that UNHCR continues to help refugees from a country where there is instability by providing them with treatments. A good example here is the case of Botswana where refugees are provided with treatment under a particular UNHCR plan for HIV Aids deterrence and diagnosis (WHO, 2010).
How wars and conflict in a country affect
Women
It is of importance to note that women and girls are in most cases at higher risks of sexual violence, trafficking, and disfigurement whenever a country is at war. This usually happens at their homes, refugee camps or during a flight in the cases, they are displaced. It should also be noted that the trauma which results from violence continues in women even after the war is over. This is because for instance a woman who was raped during the war is often avoided, disliked, and stigmatized within the society (International Committee of Red Cross, 2009).
On the other hand, women suffer the shock of war when they are widowed, orphaned, or displaced from their families; this causes distress within them as they end up losing their homes, belongings and in some cases have their lives destroyed. It can also be argued that when women are caught and detained they can be forced to fight, which may result in their being wounded or dead within the course of the war. Further, when women lose their parents or husbands they are troubled for the rest of their life as this leads to the loss of all they hold dear (International Committee of Red Cross, 2009).
Children
About children, it should be noted that children are always in trouble whenever there is a war going on within a country; since they are either targeted or captured as a way of provoking their elders. In this case, children lose their families and relatives in the course of the war-making them orphans; who often have no one to depend on. As a result of this, these children end up engaging in child labor and other crimes to at least make a living. On the other hand, the children captured during the war are forced to fight which is abuse to them. It can also be argued that children do not know how to hide or fight during a war; which endangers their lives. In the past, children have been reported to be injured or made permanently disabled whenever there is a war within a country. A good example, in this case, is the child soldiers of Somalia; where many children are being recruited as soldiers by the fortified groups (UNICEF, 2010).
The elderly
The elderly people are among the largest groups of people who lose their lives in a warring country situation. This is the case as a result of their inability to run for their lives during the war and hunger as they have no one to look after them. It should also be noted that the elderly in a warring country suffer greatly for the lack of health care and food; which they require more often than the other age groups resulting in their death (Krill, 1999).
Conclusion
There are policy issues relating to the conflict concerning the overall health care systems within a warring country which are provided to support the war victims. In this case, the health organizations personnel provide education, experience, and advice to the health workers and women teams within the remote parts of a warring country; which are to be passed on to the war victims. On the other hand, women, children, and the elderly are mostly the victims of war; as they adversely suffer from the war trauma. Further, there are recommendations on how it should be done; in helping war victims as well as preventing conflicts and war within a country
Recommendations
It can be argued that war or conflict within a country brings about a lot of misery and death to the people of the given country. As a result of this, it is recommended that countries should avoid conflict and war; in order to prevent these unnecessary deaths and misery. On the other hand, health organizations should come up with policies that help in assisting the war victims within a warring country by providing them with medical care, guidance as well as counseling. Further, it should be noted that many people die during the war because of the lack of urgent medical care within their reach. On the other hand, health organizations like the NHCR should lobby for peace-building within the warring countries to prevent death and misery.
Additionally, it is of importance to note that women, children, and the elderly in any warring country suffer a lot. From this, it can be argued that women should be provided with guidance and counseling whenever they are raped or sexually harassed; so that they can be relieved of their trauma. On the other hand, childrens rights should be reinforced all over the world so as to protect children from becoming child solder which leads to their death. Further, the government after the war should take care of all the orphaned children and widowed women in order to reduce their after-war trauma. Additionally, the elderly should be provided with a portion of adequate food and medical attention during the wars; in order to reduce their instances of death.
Reference list
Jacobsen, K. (2007). Introduction to Global Health, 1st edition. Boston: Jones & Bartlett Publishers
International Committee of the Red Cross. (2009). Women and War. Web.
Krill, F. (1999). The Elderly in the Situation of Armed Conflict. Web.
UNICEF. (2010). Children Affected by Conflict. Web.
World Health Organization. (2010). Health Action in Crisis. Web.
World Health Organization. (2000). Health as Bridge for Peace. Web.
The rising global population growth and environmental problems have caused anthropological pressure on natural resources. As resources become scarcer due to these problems, communities and nations have constantly turned violent, causing conflict over the scarce resources. Although ecological problems might instigate violent conflicts, it is evident that their contribution to violent conflict is minimal.
This paper will try to establish whether ecological problems lead to violent conflict in a broader manner. The essay will argue that even if such resource problems may cause conflicts, such conflicts might not necessarily be violent. It will also argue that such problems do not entirely cause direct conflicts and that there are other aspects related to resource use that causes such violence. The paper will focus on water scarcity as reference of an ecological problem.
Role of Water Scarcity in generating violent conflict
In the modernworld, human force on the natural resources increases day by day. Due to this, exhaustion of resources occurs with regard to the human activities thus creating competition over these resources. This fierce competition over the available natural resources might lead to violent conflicts.
Additionally, as these environmental pressures continues, the quality of certain resources and natural products such as fresh water, fisheries yields and forest products is becoming a significant issue linked with scarcity (Ehrlich, Para 1, 2000).
Various researches however indicate that such ecological problems do not play or plays very little role in generating violent conflicts. In this regard, some researchers assume that environmental issues are implausible to be the mainreasonas to why there is conflict between states.
They also deem that water wars are less likely to occur between countries with shared values and generally cooperative relations. It is true that rivalry for both quality and quantity of shared waterat a local level frequently leads to international water conflicts but such conflicts are not often violent (Petter et al, p 973, 2000).
Most psychoanalysts, who are within the peace-buildingfield, foresee that the future violent conflictswill probably take the form of resource wars.They deem that most nations and communities will engage in violent conflicts over the right to usethe scarce resources such as rare oil, mineralsor water.
The underlying reasoning behind this assumption is that, as the global population continues to rise, and the demand for resources continues to grow, there is significant potential for conflicts over natural resources to intensify(Gendron & Hoffman, p 1, 2009).
The profusion or shortage of resources decides the direction a society will take in order to develop. Imbalances not only of shortagebut also of abundance of resources may distract environmental and socioeconomic policies, leading to social friction.
Other studies indicate how conflict may arise through the efforts of leaders to capture scarce resources or through the incapacitating effect on innovation that scarcity entails (Tamas, p 1, 2011). This clearly implies that the underlying shortage of natural resources do not actually lead to violent conflict, but the social and leadership factors surrounding such resources might instigate violence.
Marginalization leads to a higher occurrence of civil conflict and a higher probability that individuals or groups will take part in aggression. This is most effectual if differences in economic opportunities such as differential access to water or political marginalization concur with cultural, ethnic or religious dissimilarities.
An additional factor contributing to violence is the exemption of these groups from access and control over natural resources (Lecoutere et al, p 4, 2010). The implication here is that factors related to ecological problems alone have little influence in causing violent conflicts. On the contrary there must be integration between these resource problems and other factors like the right to control them.
Some studies argue that water scarcity is the most dominant causes of resource conflicts in most parts of the world. The underlying factor here is that all water management serves multiple purposes and navigates among competing interests.This means that water management for a single purpose is not possible. Within a nation, the management of shared water becomes very problematic. This might spill over to the boarders, which might generate tensions between states. Without a common solution to these problems, these parties can find themselves in arguments and even engage themselves in violent conflict (Wolf et al, p 81, 2005).
When an argument engrosses access to water of ample quantity and quality, then there is a higher probability of conflict occurring over water. Allotment of water among different users and uses for example agriculture and urban residents can be highly competed for even if water supplies are not severely restricted.
Whenwater supplies for largely irrigated areas reduce either in terms of quantity or in terms of quality, such aspects can encourage movement of people that could politically destabilize the receiving cities and neighboring countries (Carius et al, p 2, 2009).
Water is a greater pathway that brings peace rather than conflict in the worlds international river basins. International collaboration among countries around water crises has a long and successful history since some of the worlds most voluble enemies have traversed water accords. The organizations they have created are resistant, even when associations are stressed (Kramer et al, p 3, 2006).
This supports the premise that though there may be ecological problems, the possibility of these problems causing violent conflict is very minimal. Conversely, some ecological problems like water scarcity promote peace through water treaties among sharing nations.
Water has also been a productive pathway for developing cooperation, building confidence, and preventing conflict, even in particularly controversial basins. In some cases, water acts as one of the few paths for conversations in otherwise heated two-sided conflicts. In politically unsettled regions, water is an essential part of regional development negotiations, which serve as real conflict- prevention strategies(Wolf et al, p 81, 2005).
Some researches indicate that ecological problems do not necessarily contribute to violent crime but they rather enhance integration. In this regard, these problems provide a platform where interested nations or communities discuss how to manage the scarce resources.
Water management provides apossibility for peaceful conversations between nations, even when the opponents fight over other issues. Water management builds bridges between nations, some with little experience negotiating with each other such as the countries of the former Soviet Union (Kramer et al, p 3, 2006).
Water scarcity is never the single and hardly ever the main cause of violent conflict. However,water scarcity can worsenthe existing nervousnessamong nations and communities (Wolf et al, p 81, 2005). The assertion that water scarcity accelerates the existing tension between nations and communities generates the premise that it does not cause violent conflict directly.
The idea of water wars has turned out to be part of the political rhetoric debate. early in the year 1967, prior to the Six-Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbors, Prime Minister Levi Eshkol affirmed that water is a question of survival for Israel , and thus Israel will use all means required to safe guard the water that goes on to flow .
In the mid-1980s, US intelligence services approximated that there were at least ten places in the world where war could smash out over decreased shared water. In the year 1991, the then Crown Prince of Jordan said that the 1967 war was brought on very largely over water related matters (Petter et al, p 972, 2000).
No states have fought particularly over water resources since the city-states of Lagash and Umma fought each other in the Tigris- Euphrates basin in 2500 BC. As an alternative, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, more than 3,600 water accords signed from AD 805 to 1984 have promoted peace.
In spite of the possibility for argument in international basins, the occurrence of acute clash over international water resources have been besieged by the rate of cooperation(Wolf et al, p 84, 2005). In this regard, it is evident that the issue of water scarcity has minimal effect in causing violent conflicts in contemporary world.
Ehrlich (Para 30, 2000) however argues that resource and environmental problems, particularly water scarcity has the full potential of creating violent conflict. For instance, In California, in the mid-1920s, farmers frequently destroyed achanneltransporting water from their region to the urban centers of southern California. The governor of Arizona called out the local militia in the 1930s to protest the construction of water diversion facilities on the Colorado River between Arizona and California.
Eventually, the court settled that that dispute. This incidence indicates that were it not for the court intervention, this dispute could have turned in to violent conflict. This implies that ecological problems have the capability of causing violent conflict, which might take long to resolve.
Poverty plays a significant role in generating violent conflict among people sharing scarce resources. This means that scarcity of essential resources for instance water has the capability of causing conflicts indirectly (Lecoutere et al, p 5, 2010).Even though water scarcity does not necessarily lead to violent conflict directly, it is evident that this issue might generate conflicts indirectly by means of other social and political factors (Carius et al, p 2, 2009).
Conclusion
Ecological problems have been a cause of tensions and conflicts among various nations and communities. Particularly, water scarcity has been an issue of concern with regard to such conflicts. However, ecological problems and especially water scarcity has little effect in generating violent conflicts.
This is because in recent decades, there have been numerous water agreements, which brings peace rather than border conflicts. In addition, conflicts related to natural resources do not entirely occur due to their problems or scarcity but they largely occur due to other social and political aspects related to their management and use.
On the other hand, research evidence reveals that water scarcity has the potential of generating violent conflict directly and indirectly. For instance poverty and unemployment due to water scarcity may cause the disadvantaged groups to fight for the scarce resources.
In addition, water scarcity might lead to violent directly where a community fights over the control of such resources. The relationship between ecological problems and violent conflict attract much heated debate, with environmentalists supporting that there is a strong relationship. However, it is evident that ecological problems do not entirely cause violent conflict, and when they do, it is often very minimal.
References
Carius, A. et al., 2009, Water, Conflict, and Cooperation. Web.
Ehrlich, A. H., 2000, Resources and Environmental Degradation as Sources of Conflict. Web.
Gendron, R. & Hoffman, E., 2009, Resource Scarcity and the Prevention of Violent Conflicts, Journal of Peace & Conflict Review, Vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 1-8.
Kramer, A. et al., 2006, Water Can Be a Pathway to Peace, Not War. Web.
Lecoutere, E. et al., 2010, Who Engages in Water Scarcity Conflicts? A Field Experiment with Irrigators in Semi-arid Africa. Web.
Petter, H. et al., 2000, Shared rivers and interstate conflict, Journal of Political Geography, vol.19, pp. 971-996.
Tamas P., 2011, Water Resource Scarcity and Conflict: Review of Applicable Indicators and Systems of Reference. Web.
Wolf, A. T. et al., 2005, Managing Water Conflict and Cooperation. Web.
Conflicts cannot be avoided in a marriage relationship. A couple should therefore improvise some ways that can help it resolve the differences that emerge between the partners. If not properly addressed, conflicts lead to separation and divorce. This is because unresolved disagreements and arguments make individuals in a marriage relationship experience feelings of bitterness, anger, and unhappiness. If the partners are not willing to listen to them, individuals going through such experiences are likely to get frustrated and prefer separation or divorce. Couples who effectively resolve their differences enjoy marital satisfaction. Religiosity is positively related to marital satisfaction. This implies that individuals who are religious and follow religious beliefs are likely to be influenced by these beliefs to solve conflicts between them. Forgiveness and marital satisfaction also have a positive relationship. This can be seen in that individuals who are forgiven can avoid mistakes in the future and are also likely to forgive their partners. To manage solving differences effectively, individuals in a marriage relationship should learn the thinking and positive and negative behaviors of their partners and have a positive perception towards these partners. A couple should also try and avoid those conflicts that can be avoided to enjoy marital satisfaction.
Introduction
A marriage in this paper will refer to an institution that is formed when a man and a woman come together to live as one family. When individuals get married, they have intimate relationships but as time passes by, conflicts get into the relationship. Conflicts refer to cases when the two individuals crash or oppose each other over an issue. Individuals who are married spend a large percentage of their life together and in such a case, it is very hard to avoid conflicts. Again, these individuals interact almost every day and each has his or her interests and thinking. It is therefore very hard to avoid conflicts in marriage relationships. Conflicts in relationships have major effects especially if they are unsolved. Conflicts have negative effects on marriage satisfaction and they affect the life that a couple spends its life together. Many couples have been divorced due to conflicts in their relationships while others have separated and remarried. Some people have even murdered their partners as a result of conflicts in relationships. All these vices are a result of unsolved conflicts in relationships. Resolving conflicts helps in the maintenance of a relationship by satisfying it. Those couples that have made efforts in settling conflicts in their relationships have been able to spend their life together without a single instance of separation. In solving conflicts in marriage relationships, the right approach must be used. A couple that uses religious means to solve their differences stand better chances of conquering. Forgiveness is one of the factors that are important for the success of a relationship. This paper will seek to analyze the effects of conflicts on marriage satisfaction and longevity and try to see how they can be turned around.
Conflicts in Marriage
Individuals in a marriage institution cannot avoid conflicts no matter hard they try. Even individuals in the best marriages disagree and argue over issues in their lives. The only difference is that those who are successful handle their conflicts in an organized manner. Unresolved disagreements and arguments make individuals in a marriage relationship experience feelings of bitterness, anger, and unhappiness. The husband and the wife need to come to the same level and improvise a way to solve their differences. Otherwise, if any partner is not willing to corporate, the physical and mental health of the partners is likely to be affected negatively and the health of the family will also deteriorate. Unresolved conflicts lead to the separation of couples where the partners temporarily separate and each one lives his or her own life in a separate place. Unresolved conflicts can also cause divorce of partners where they part completely and never get remarried. This means that the individuals have wasted their time all the period that they have spent their life together. Feelings of anger and bitterness can cause individuals to live in the same house and fail to talk to each other for a long period. There have been cases where an individual in a marriage relationship kills his or her partner due to conflicts in the family. In general, unresolved conflicts harm the marital satisfaction of individuals in a marriage. In addition, separation or divorce affects the longevity of a relationship where they reduce the period that individuals spend their life together. Those partners who systematically handle conflicts have very successful marriages and spend their lives together without a single instance of separation.
Solving Conflicts in Relationships
Marital satisfaction greatly depends on the approach that the partners in the relationship give to conflicts. There is no specific thing that a couple can do to solve a certain conflict but a combination of several aspects can help in solving any conflict. Again, there is no specific procedure or set of steps that can be followed in solving conflicts.
Religiosity
Previous research that has been done shows that there is a positive relationship between religiosity and reduced marital conflicts. Many religions have a set of rules that are supposed to be observed by followers. Such individuals can use the bible to restore harmony in cases where there are differences. Couples can always turn to the teachings of the scriptures and since they are believers, they are likely to follow what the scriptures tell them to do. Some issues such as anger according to some scriptures are sins. Individuals who are committed to following the teachings of the scriptures are likely to settle their differences caused by anger if they use the scriptures. Couples that have had arguments can attend religious services and the preaching in the services is likely to alter their focus. The teachings will most likely give them the strength required to help them to deal with what is important in their lives than waste a lot of time arguing. Such individuals might dismiss their previous arguments and disagreements as petty and they are likely to forget them. Other couples engage in prayer where prayers help them reduce their anger and open dialogue for them to communicate (Nathaniel & David, 2006, p.444).
Religiosity also helps couples to come back to the previous state after forgiveness. Research done shows that many religious couples believed that God hates divorce and the beliefs help them to be committed to the relationship regardless of the things that take place in the relationship. Research done has also shown that couples who are more religious are likely to have stable marriages than other couples that are not religious. If individuals are religious, they will be able to adjust to sexual problems than individuals who are not religious (Jose, 2006, p.502). Attending the church frequently reminds the couples in a relationship of their responsibilities in the marriage relationship. Since the couples are believers and they would like to retain their dignity as religious people, they tend to make efforts to practice the teachings that they receive in the church. This leads to successful marriages and eventually marital satisfaction. The probability of a religious couple separating or divorce is very low compared to a couple that is not religious. Religiosity thus helps increase marital satisfaction by helping couples avoid issues that bring conflicts, resolve their conflicts, and reconcile after a conflict. The in turn helps increase the longevity of a relationship and in most cases, religious couples are separated by death.
Forgiveness and Marital Satisfaction
Forgiveness is a major factor that helps in marital satisfaction. It helps couples retain their initial status and be able to solve other conflicts in the future. An individual who does wrong to his or her partner accepts his or her mistakes and requests the other partner to forgive him or her. Individuals in a marriage relationship are likely to remain together if they learn to forgive each other. Forgiveness helps in conflict resolution in that when one forgives his or her partner, he or she finds an opportunity to communicate with the partner about the mistake made and they agree that the mistake should not be repeated. For forgiveness to take place, the wrongdoer must accept that he or she has committed a mistake. Acceptance of the mistake helps the other partner to forgive with an open heart. Once forgiven, a partner will feel obliged to avoid the mistake again in the future. Forgiveness is therefore likely to bring to an end a mistake in a couple. When one is forgiven, he or she is likely to forgive later if a wrong is done against him or her. Conflicts in a couple as stated earlier cannot be avoided and the best thing, therefore, is to learn to forgive each other and avoid the repetition of a mistake when one is forgiven. Forgiveness helps a couple to return to their marital satisfaction together. In most couples, there is a positive relationship between marital satisfaction and forgiveness (Jose, 2006, p.258).
Forgiveness is a process that takes different periods depending on the couples that are involved in a conflict. Forgiveness affects a couple later in its life. Sometimes, partners happen to have a difference that cannot be resolved and they end up hurting each other. None wants to accept that his or her idea is wrong. This leads to unresolved conflicts that reduce the levels of commitment of individuals in a marriage relationship. The willingness of an individual to do what is right is also reduced by unsolved conflicts. If great care is not taken, the couple might end up separating. A long-term solution to such conflicts is forgiveness where each partner accepts his or her mistakes and forgives the other partner for the times that he or she has hurt him or her. Research that has been done shows that individuals in a couple who have forgiven each other in the past can avoid arguments in the future (Frank & Steven, 2006, p.544). They are also capable of doing the right thing in the relationship. This eventually leads to marital satisfaction.
Organization and Maintenance of a Marriage Relationship
Partners who know each other and understanding the thinking of each other in a relationship are capable of solving their conflicts than those who have not taken their time to know each other. Individuals in a marriage association should therefore learn to learn the thinking of their fellow partners in terms of likes and dislikes. Knowing the negative traits of a partner helps an individual integrate the negative traits with positive attributes. These negative and positive characteristics of marital interaction are very important (Nancy, Cynthia, Timothy & Paul, p.439). Separating the positive characteristics from the negative ones helps improve the quality of a relationship and leads to marital satisfaction. The way that a partner in a couple organizes knowledge of the other partner affects the way that conflicts affecting the relationship is solved (Lorne, Bethany & Joanne, p.739). Partners who act in destructive ways when a conflict is being solved lead to failure of marital satisfaction. It is therefore important for a partner to organize his or her perception of the other partner in a positive way. This helps in the successful solving of conflicts and eventually marital satisfaction.
Marital satisfaction greatly depends on the way that conflicts in a relationship are solved. Some of the conflicts can however be avoided by the partners basically by their behaviors. These behaviors help a partner develop some positive traits for his or her partner. Each partner needs to interact with the other partner in an optimistic, cheerful and uncritical manner. The partners also need to discuss directions of the relationship openly with each other. This helps the partners to avoid hypocrisy and revenge on the other partner. Assuring a partner of ones commitment to remaining in the relationship helps in building trust in the future of the relationship. Networking with other individuals who can help in solving conflicts also helps maintain a relationship (Daniel & Deborah, 2008, p.213). Each partner has his or her responsibilities in the house. Performing these responsibilities to an individuals level best helps in maintaining the relationship. At the end of the day, the individuals who are committed to maintaining their relationships end up being satisfied in their respective marriages.
Conclusion
Conflicts cannot be avoided in marriages and the best thing is for a couple to strategize the way to deal with their differences. Conflicts affect the marriage satisfaction of individuals in a relationship. Unresolved conflicts lead to separation and divorce of partners. Religiosity helps a lot in solving conflicts between individuals in a marriage relationship. It helps individuals to prevent conflicts, resolve conflicts, and reconcile after conflicts in a marriage. This leads to marital satisfaction on the part of those partners that are religious. Forgiveness also leads to marital satisfaction because individuals who forgive each other avoid future conflicts and commit themselves not to repeat the mistakes that led to conflicts. An individuals perception of his or her partner also affects marital satisfaction in the relationship. A couple can try to avoid those conflicts that are avoidable as a step towards maintaining their relationship and increasing its longevity.
Reference
Daniel, J. W. & Deborah, S. B. (2008). Relational Maintenance, Satisfaction, and Commitment in Marriages: An Actor-Partner analysis. Journal of Family Communication. 8(1), pp: 212-219.
Frank, D. F & Steven, R. H. (2006). Longitudinal Relations between Forgiveness and Conflict Resolution in Marriage. Journal of Family Psychology. 21(3). Pp. 542-545.
Jose, O. (2006). The Effect of Forgiveness on Marital Satisfaction in Relation to Marital Stability. London: Springer Publishers, 251-258.
Jose, O. (2006). Religiosity and Marital Satisfaction. London: Springer Publishers, 497-504.
Lorne, C., Bethany, B., & Joanne, W. (2008). The Importance of the Organization of the Partner Knowledge in Understanding Perceptions of Relationship Quality and Conflict Resolution behavior in Married Couples. New York: Sage Publishers, 723-729.
Nancy, J. M., Cynthia, A. B., Timothy, W. S., & Paul, F. (2007). Positive and Negative Characteristics of Marital Interaction and their Association with Marital Satisfaction in Middle-Aged and Older Couples. New York: American Psychological Association, 428-439.
Nathaniel, M. L. & David, C. D. (2006). How Religiosity Helps Couples Prevent, Resolve, and Overcome Marital Conflict. New York: Blackwell Publishing, 440-449.
Media plays a significant role in moulding relationships between the majority and the minority communities. It acts as major sources of information that greatly contributes to the integration between the two communities. On the other hand, the manner in which the media portrays the minority groups influences the way in which the majority communities perceive them (Cohen & Jock 2004). Media acts as a major source of information to the minority communities for they do not have another channel through which they can know what is happening in their country. Besides educating and informing the minority groups, media also contributes to the establishment of the majorities perceptions towards the minorities. Therefore, the order in which the mainstream media addresses the issues affecting the minority communities is very critical to the relationship between the majority and the minority communities (Cohen & Jock 2004). For instance, if journalists lack professionalism in covering issues affecting the minority communities, they might spur the majority to hate the minority groups.
In the United States, the minorities have made significant strides towards liberating themselves from the oppression by the majority communities. Currently, the minority groups own property, they have overcome segregation, and they exercise their democracy through voting. Despite managing to liberate themselves to some level, the minority groups are yet to overcome the supremacist and racist ideologies that prevail in the contemporary society currently (Devroe 2004). The entertainment, film, and media industries are the main channels that have continued to propagate such ideologies throughout the country. Since the epoch of racism, media has continued to under-represent the minority communities, which has led to the majority communities perceiving the minority as inferior thus the numerous oppositions between the groups. This paper looks at how the media contributes and reproduces the opposition between the minority and the majority communities across the globe.
The role of the media in the public presentation
According to Donohue, Tichenor, and Olien (2005), the media occupies a key site and performs a crucial role in the public representation of unequal social relations and the play of cultural power (p.119). Through media representation, the represented audience has an opportunity to develop its identity by understanding how the public perceives it and what the public does not know about it. Downing and Husband (2005) posit, Through media, social interests mobilised across society are marked out from each other, differentiated, and often rendered vulnerable to discrimination (p. 127). Nevertheless, the media may also lead to the affirmation of cultural and social diversities, and additionally offer a critical room through which people may alter, challenge, and resist the forced identities or interests of other groups.
Currently, the media scenery is changing at a high rate. Local and global improvements in media markets, technologies, and corporations are revolutionising the media environment, leading to novel potentials and new forms of restraint with respect to the consumption, circulation, and production of media portrayals of the ethnic minorities (Donohue, Tichenor & Olien 2005). Forces of global competition, political deregulation, and the union of technologies, mainly the telecommunication, broadcasting, computers, cable delivery systems, and satellite have all introduced significant changes in the international operations, strategic goals, market capacities, and institutional structures of major media players (Erb et al. 2002). The same forces are contributing to the propagation of media systems, audience fragmentation, and tactical significance of niche marketing cross the countries.
In the background of these significant changes are the daily encounters and increased use of both the old and new technologies by the Diaspora communities as well as the minority groups. Currently, these groups use the communication technologies like the Internet, mobile phones, televisions, and digital cameras among others (Erb et al. 2002). The main reason why the minority groups struggle to use media in communicating their ideologies is to dispel the notion that they are inferior or own all sorts of negative aspects in the society as insinuated by the majority of the mainstream media. Guibernau and Rex (2010) claim, The mainstream media, though differentiated by medium, outlet, genre, and subject interests, all too often produce shocking examples of xenophobic reporting and racist portrayal while often publicly committing to the ideals of an inclusive multi-ethnic and multicultural society (pp. 177-183). Currently, minority groups are in the race to reverse this media portrayal and change the perception that the public has towards them.
The media contribution to conflict
Since the inception of the United States, media has depicted the Blacks as individuals belonging to the second-class. Since the blacks came to the United Sates as slaves, the media has never treated them as equal to the Whites. It normally depicts them as submissive, foolish, stupid, lazy, irresponsible, and violent (Kellstedt 2007). The media has been in the forefront in propagating these negative stereotypes of the minority groups, especially the Blacks in the United States. Since 1888, American films have featured Black characters. Regrettably, the Whites did not want to include the Blacks in their films (McConohay 2000), and thus the Whites wore black masks to play the role of the Blacks. The move to exclude the Blacks from films led to the development of the demeaning stereotype that portrayed the Blacks in an inauspicious light. Moreover, films advertently represented the Blacks in a negative way leading to the emergence of the Whites supremacy (Kellstedt 2007), which has allowed the Whites to look down upon the Blacks. Ever since, the Whites always perceive the Blacks as inferior and they always try to dominate them. With time, the Blacks have tried to liberate themselves and the liberation process involves attempts to show the Whites that Blacks are actually equal to them and this move leads to conflicts between the two communities.
The media plays a significant role in setting the tone for images, values, and morals of the society (Nelson, Clawson & Oxley 2003). People that have never come across a particular society understand it based on how the media portrays it. The same happens in the United States. Most people that have never had the opportunity to interact with the Blacks perceive them based on how the media depicts them. Most of them believe that Blacks are inferior and most of what they believe about the Blacks comes from what they watch see and hear over the media. In spite of the great progress in the film industry, the industry continues to stereotype the Blacks (Nelson, Clawson & Oxley 2003). It continues with the initial portrayal of the Blacks in a negative manner, which continues to create tension between the Blacks and the Whites. It is hard for the Whites to trust the Blacks no matter the prevailing circumstances since they associate them with all sorts of negative issues.
In Europe, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) has occasionally blamed the Danish media for creating hatred between the minority and the majority groups in the country. The media has portrayed the Muslims in Denmark in a negative manner thus allowing the majority groups to become intolerant and discriminatory against the Muslims on several occasions (Jensen 2010). The Danish media stands out as the most divisive element towards Muslim and Islam (World Economic Forum 2008). For many occasions, the Danish media has portrayed cartoons depicting Muhammad negatively. The crisis emerged after the Danish media published 12 editorial cartoons illustrating Prophet Muhammad. The publication was legalised not only based on freedom of expression as a necessity of autonomous societal value, but also by portraying the Muslim claim on particular religious rights as divergent to such values. The cartoon issue has triggered strong opposition between the Muslims (the minority group) and other groups in Denmark.
In 2008, Muslim youths took to the streets protesting the publication of the cartoons and termed it an act of racial discrimination. The hullabaloo over the cartoons issue reflects one of the numerous conflicts that arise in Denmark because of medias representation of Islam and Muslims as traditional, oppressive, and irrational, which creates divisions between the Danish and Muslims values and identities (Jensen 2010). Most publications touching on Muslims in Denmark address issues like extremism, oppression of women, and terror. Hence, the majority of the publications portray Islam as a major threat to Christianity, democracy, Danish values, and/or freedom of expression. On the other hand, the media in Denmark conspicuously fails to touch on issues pertaining to discrimination against the Muslims or issues that affect the daily life of the Muslims (Hussain 2000). In general, media like newspapers and television programs in the country focus on negative aspects of the Muslims, which compel the public to perceiving Islam as a bad faith . This aspect leads to the development of an antagonistic environment where the Danes perceive Muslims as oppressive, and thus feel that they do not associate with the Danish values and Danishness in any way.
In cases where the media reports on matters affecting the minorities, the reports tend to be one-sided by not involving the voice of the minorities who are directly affected. For instance, in cases where the media gives the Muslims a chance to air their issues, only a few representatives tend to appear. The media only gives few individuals, who stand out from the Muslim population in the country, an opportunity to air the grievances (Jensen 2010). On the other hand, individuals that are not associated to any religious institution are not given a chance to explain themselves. In this way, the media sends mixed opinions regarding the minority groups, especially the Muslims in Denmark. Moreover, when addressing the issue of racism, the media makes sure that it uses terminologies that would have less severe impacts. For instance, rather than using the term inequality , the media uses the term lacking equality . Through this approach, the media makes it hard for people to accept that racial discrimination actually exists in Denmark (Jensen 2010). The international community perceives the minority groups as overambitious and a threat to the Denmarks peace whenever they rise to claim their rights. It becomes hard for the minority groups to convince the international community that the Danes discriminate against them since the media does not report on the same.
In most cases, the Media is biased in different ways in terms of covering news that affect the minority groups. If the news involves positive issues regarding the minority groups, the media tends to allocate the news a short period, and thus it only carries a summary of the news (Koopmans 2003). On the other hand, if the news involves negative aspects of the minority groups, the media gives the news great coverage, and this aspect propagates the perception that the minority groups are indecent. A study carried on the British press coverage indicated that the media gave disproportionate coverage to news involving crimes committed by the Black people (Koopmans 2003). This aspect planted a negative attitude towards the Blacks by the majority groups in the country. Indeed, it is hard for the Blacks to change the perception that the majorities have towards them in Britain, which contributes to the poor economic status that most Blacks enjoy today. People do not trust the Blacks and this aspect makes it hard for the victims to get jobs in the country, especially in firms owned by the Whites (Koopmans 2003). The media allocates limited time and space to the minorities opinions. Therefore, it becomes hard for the minorities to defend themselves whenever the media portrays them negatively. In most cases, the media depicts the minorities as wordless actors involved in all sorts of negative activities (Koopmans 2003). Hence, the majority communities develop negative attitudes towards them leading to the numerous conflicts witnessed between the minority and the majority communities.
Restricted from the public communication and consequently from the influential counter-prevailing influence, the minorities end up turning to types of struggle that might draw public mind through media accounts like disruption, disobedience, or destruction (Statham 2002). These elements capture the interests of most journalists simply because they are in line with news values like violence, negativity, and deviance. Besides, the struggle is consistent with ethnic prejudice that holds that minorities are violent and deviant. Therefore, this wide spread association of the minorities with riots, crimes, and violence creates hatred between the minority and the majority communities in most countries. The majority communities view the minorities as the major hindrance to their success for they fear losing their property in the hands of the minorities through destruction and theft (Statham 2002). Hence, the majority groups use all means possible to disassociate with the minorities including not employing them and discriminating against them as a way of deterring the minorities.
According to Schary (1999), the news making process holds that the identification and staging of news topics, events, and actors have to meet certain conditions. The conditions include news values and news themes coupled with political affiliation and ownership among others. A study on racism and mass media in the United Kingdom proved that deviancy, tragedy, and conflict are the main news values that influence the medias selection and staging of themes. Crime reporting covers the major part of ethnic reporting in Britain (Schary, 1999). In the quest to meet the news value of lucidity, the media distorts images of the minority members involved in crime without investigating the circumstantial cause of the crime and thus it readily blames the crime on the minorities. This aspect legitimises and reinforces ethnic prejudice, hence the enmity between the minority and the majority communities.
Recent studies have identified how media representations might help in transforming the political-cultural atmosphere of race (Verkuyten & Thijs 2000). Now, this terrain progressively houses thoughts of multiculturalism . For instance, after analysing television programs in the United Kingdom, the researchers identified that the programs occasionally depict the minority groups in multiculturalists ways by focusing on individual accomplishment stories, cultural festivals, and the artistic exotica of the cultural minority groups. Even though the news producer might have the best intentions in mind when coming up with such programs, the multiculturalists presentations lead to culturally fragmented perceptions of the ethnic minorities (Verkuyten & Thijs 2000). The majority groups consider the minorities as others , a move that gives a wrong image to the notions of structural weakness and abiding inequality.
Interestingly, research on the United States media has identified novel and restrained types of contemporary racism . This element is regarded as the accidental result of news producers who request to go ahead of the old fashioned racism by depicting African Americans in constructive ways, but in the process develop the intuition of Black social progress and thus challenge the Blacks allegiance to the White sympathies and resources (Viswanath & Arora 2007). Such portrayals persuade the Whites to exonerate themselves from the claims by the Blacks that they contribute to their predicaments. Some television programs like The Cosby Show do not bring out the issues of failure or success, which gives the White audience an opportunity to blame the Blacks for their failure to achieve the standards of their White television counterparts. Hence, while the Blacks blame the Whites for their poor representation in the media, the media on the other hand depicts the Blacks in a manner that implies that the Blacks should blame themselves for not advancing in the media industry (Viswanath & Arora 2007). Consequently, this finger pointing leads to a tag of war between the two communities, with each blaming the other.
Reversing the situation
The existing level of conflict between the minority and the majority communities emanates from the prejudice that the two groups hold towards one another. There is no trust between the communities with every community seeing the other as a major hindrance to its growth and success (Levy 2009). The Media is to blame for the occasional conflicts between the minority and the majority groups across the world. For a long time, the media has criminalised the minority groups and thus allowing the majority groups to view the former in a negative dimension. Rather than giving much publicity to positive issues propagated by the minority groups, the media gives much publicity to the negative activities that involve the minority groups. In a bid to reverse the current level of opposition between the minority and the majority groups, the media has the duty to make sure that it desists from criminalising the minority groups and instead work towards decriminalising them (Levy 2009). The media could achieve this goal by focusing on constructive activities that involve the minority groups for such a move would compel the majority groups and the entire public to change their perceptions towards the minority groups. Moreover, the media should give the minority groups ample time to explain themselves whenever the public criticises them for particular actions (Shinar 2003). The Minority groups turn to disobedience, destruction, and other negative activities since they act as the only avenues of expressing their dissatisfaction. Nevertheless, if the media gives them a platform to air their grievances, they would hardly engage in such negative activities.
Conclusion
The media contributes significantly to the relationship between the majority and the minority groups. The occasional conflicts between the groups exist due to the negative image the media creates about one group, especially the minority group. The media acts as the conduit through which the different groups establish their identities. Hence, if the media depicts one group negatively, it creates a rift between the groups. For instance, in Denmark, the media has contributed to the occasional conflicts between the Muslims and other communities in the country. Besides displaying negative cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, the media has also depicted Muslims as oppressive. This aspect has created enmity between the minority Muslims and the majority groups in the country. In the United States, the Whites associate the Blacks with crimes and other unethical activities due to the publicity that the media gives to criminal activities involving the Blacks.
It is hard to convince the Whites that the Blacks uphold virtues since they know them as criminals. In most cases, when the media is reporting positive incidences involving the minority groups, it allocates limited time to such incidences and thus most people go without noticing the good deeds by the minority groups. The media denies the minorities an opportunity to explain themselves or defend their actions. Rather, it portrays them as wordless actors who are involved in all manners of negative activities. This denial of a chance to explain themselves leads to the minorities opting to use orthodox methods to express their opinions. They engage in disobedience and destructive activities to draw the attention of government and at this point, the media grabs the opportunity to portray them negatively. In a bid to ease the existing tension between the minorities and the majorities, the media ought to change its position towards the minorities and start giving equal representations to all groups.
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