Leisure Dimensions Essay Example for Free

Leisure Dimensions Essay Thesis Statement: The relationship between leisure and the impacts is has on mental health, exhibits strong correlations. This subject of interest has been studied for many years and there is significant evidence to support the idea that leisure, whether it be through the use of work, play, self-care or rest (Crist, Davis Coffin, 2000) does impact positively, on ones mental health. The continued importance of leisure, as an important domain of life has been widely researched and investigated to assist in providing many concluding statements as to how individuals of today can benefit from such activities. I have focused primarily on the effects which leisure has on ones mental health, and how through the use of such leisure activities, they can restore their mental capacity and function, and partake in the same activities they used to with the same belief and confidence in themselves. The under-lying, and most essential belief in the development of occupational therapy, is maintaining the balance of work, play/leisure, self-care and rest, as these are the foundations for a healthy lifestyle Crist et al (2000). In 1977, Kielhofner termed the healthy balance of activities as â€Å"temporal adaptation†. He hypothesized that the temporal adaptation is achieved through the interrelationship among the (i) amount of time engaged in particular types of activities, (ii) participants view of the importance of the activities (iii) participants perception of competence in performing the activities and (iv) how much satisfaction they derive from their chosen activities. When studying cases of what is considered to be a healthy adaptation, the activities are assumed to provide a sense of productivity and accomplishment, which are essentially derived from the individual’s perception, Crist et al (2000). Kielhofner’s Model of Human Occupation examines how the motivation, performance and organization of occupational behaviour are exhibited in daily life. This model contains a habituation subsystem, which is made up of two components; roles and habits, which serve to maintain occupational behaviour, Crist et al (2000). According to Kielhofner (1997) habits act to organize occupational behaviour by a) regulating how time is typically used, b) influencing how one performs routines, and c) generating styles of behaviour. He goes on to explain that roles not only influence the manner and content of the interactions but also require routine tasks and dividing daily and weekly cycles into times, Crist et al (2000). The interweaving of the habits and roles in daily life consequently form routine behaviour. Opposing this, occupational dysfunction occurs when an individual has a limited capacity to choose or perform occupations. Kleiber, Larson Csikszentmihalyi (1986) observed during a study of US adults how they spend their time. It was concluded that on average, 30% of the day was spent sleeping, 10% in self-care, and 10% in instrumental activities. From those who were gainfully employed, work took up 25% of their day. The remaining 30% remains as discretionary time. While this study provides insight into occupational patterns, the perceived meaning and significance of engaging these patterns is not evident, Crist et al (2000). Crist et al (2000) stated that the work role is an occupational factor that strongly influences the balance and organization of occupational behaviour. Christiansen Baum (1997) defined work as a skill or performance in participating in socially purposeful, and productive activities, whether or not the individual receives economic compensation. These activities can take place at home, in an employment setting, school or a community. According to Kielhofner (1977), work roles, both gainful and non-gainful, create a need for the organisation of daily activities. Work activities offer the opportunity to gain a sense of satisfaction, competence and involvement and in our society; the most visible and highly valued work roles are those, which are categorized as gainful employment, Crist et al (2000). Mental health status is another factor that can influence temporal adaptation (Larson, 1990). Those individuals, who are considered to be within a healthy range regarding their mental health, are able to successfully meet the demands of their lifestyle and perform these activities. An individual, who presents a mental illness, may still be able to perform their work role, however they may display difficulty in performing a variety of tasks, which will in turn effect their competence and consequently effect the enjoyment they would usually get out of the assigned tasks, Crist et al (2000). Employment and mental health status may be related to each other when analyzing their effects on temporal adaptation; however, the types of employment and severity of the mental health problems will ultimately determine the scope of the results. Leisure benefits health by buffering people against personal stress produced by life circumstances. There are two important mediators, which determine the influence of leisure on the stress-health relationship, leisure based social support and leisure generated self-determination (Coleman and Iso-Ahola, 1993) There has been extensive evidence to suggest that stressful life circumstances induce physical and mental illness; however, this impact has been shown to be moderated by various processes including leisure participation. According to Caldwell Smith (1988), leisure is believed to have beneficial consequences for psychological well-being and health. They have also suggested that leisure activities influence health by promoting positive moods. Therefore, it can be said that leisure may help overcome loneliness and result in influencing individuals well being, (Coleman et al, 1993). Differing life events, and more so those of negative connotations such as losing a job, have been shown to lead to a higher incidence of illness such as depression (Thoits, 1983). In saying this, the social and psychological factors impacting on health is being increasingly investigated in terms of the concept of â€Å"life stress†. According to Sarason Sarason (1981), life stress can be considered a psychological state involving the cognitive appraisal of life events and of one’s inability to deal with them. An example of this is that if there was a death of an immediate family member and this could consequently cause varying levels of stress. It must however be remembered that it is due to the individuals perception of life events which have been the most vital piece of information when predicting the illness outcomes, (Coleman et al, 1993). When life problems such as the one addressed above occur, it is the natural instinct to seek support to alleviate the stress. This can occur through the use of avoidance, obtaining support and problem solving, (Coleman et al, 1993). These coping strategies are believed to moderate the impact of life problems on health in two main ways. Coleman et al, (1993) state that initially, the individual’s beliefs and dispositions may lead to an appraisal of life problems as non-threatening. And secondly, by enhancing the individuals efforts can contribute to alleviating stress that flows from these life problems before it affects health. Those who are suffering from life problems would seek help through these coping mechanisms; however, those who lives are relatively â€Å"stress free† would not benefit. In diagnostic terms this coping is referred to as an â€Å"interaction† between the life stress and the coping factor, (Coleman et al, 1993). This process can be associated with an overall effect, which is represented by â€Å"main effect† and shows that social factors do in fact influence health, regardless of the level of stress. According to Coleman et al, (1993) these coping mechanisms are therefore said to provide a buffer against severe life crises, rather than having an overall influence on health. This finding provides the conclusion that leisure impacts health by providing buffering mechanisms that come into play when life presents significant problems, (Caldwell et al, 1988). Conversely to this, the impact of leisure when life stress is low is less beneficial in the short term. However, in the long run, leisure is hypothesized to contribute to health by building health-promoting dispositions such as self-determination (Coleman et al, 1993). When analyzing the relationships between leisure participation and health, Caltabino’s study shows fascinating findings. Caltabino focused on the interactions between life stress and the participation in social, cultural and sporting activities and he concluded that they were all associated with illness symptomatology (Caldwell, 1988). From the many studies conducted surrounding the participation levels and the direct effect they have on health, it can be concluded that people participate in leisure activities to gain a sense of camaraderie which in turn leads to an ideology that they will gain social support if more severe cases of life crises should present themselves (Coleman, 1993). Furthermore, Coleman et al, (1993) states that this leisure may buffer the life stress because continual engagement in some types of leisure experiences may foster personal dispositions incorporating self-determination, including a sense of control and mastery. Caldwell (2005) addresses and interesting theory that leisure is therapeutic and contributes significantly to ones health. There is existing literature on this notion, which can further be organised into three classes of research: prevention of, coping with, and transcending negative life events. It is from here that leisure can become beneficial and help people move forward in terms of their health. Based on the work of Antonovsky (1979), the view taken here is that health is a multifaceted concept and includes not only physical well-being and psychological well-being, but also performance, self- realization and a sense of meaningfulness. When looking at the primary prevention role that leisure plays in response to one’s mental health it has been said that leisure activities may ward off poor health and behaviors before they occur (Caldwell, 2005). Ponde and Santata examined this in a study, which concluded that participation in leisure activities is a protective factor for women’s health, particularly those living in poorer conditions. In this study, the leisure activities were positively correlated with low levels of anxiety and depression among women reporting no job satisfaction and low family income (Caldwell, 2005). When looking at leisure from an occupational therapy viewpoint, this leisure promotes heath because â€Å"meaningful activity can influence social inclusiveness and encourage self-expression, therefore promoting human potential† (Passmore, 2003). From the study she completed, Passmore found that social leisure and the achievement associated with the leisure positively influenced mental health, and that mental health was most strongly predicted by leisure-related competency, self-efficacy, and self-worth (Caldwell, 2005). In addition, some work by Szabo suggests that music appreciation; watching scenery through video and humor gained through leisure, equally help by improving mood and decreasing anxiety (Caldwell, 2005). As stated by Coleman et al, (1993), the role of leisure in the stress-coping process has received considerable attention over the last decade, and Iwaksi (2001) has concluded that, â€Å"leisure can be an important buffer against stress to maintain good health†. Coleman et al, (1993), found that social support derived from leisure activity participation contributes to the reduction of stress and in doing so, promotes physical and mental health, but only for those who experience high levels of stress. Iwasaki and Mannell (2000) came up with three coping strategies; leisure palliative coping, leisure mood enhancement and leisure companionship. And more recently Iwaski (2001) compared the effects of leisure-related coping on immediate coping outcomes, mental health outcomes and psychological well being with general coping strategies (Caldwell, 2005). From his research, he found that â€Å"leisure coping, significantly predicted positive coping outcomes, mental health, and psychological well-being beyond the effects of general coping† (Caldwell, 2005). The final way in which leisure can be therapeutic is when dealing with negative life events, however this does depend on the individual and may not occur when someone has experienced a traumatic event (Caldwell, 2005). In Kleiber’s case, the participants used leisure to find new meaning to life and become reborn in a way that allows for a â€Å"fuller realization of one’s potential† (Caldwell, 2005).

Humanity and Reason in Othello Essays -- Othello essays

Humanity and Reason in Othello  Ã‚  Ã‚      In Othello Shakespeare probes deeply into the human condition by creating characters, who, by their inability to think rationally, surrender what sets them above animals. Before he succumbs to Iago's poisonous innuendoes, Othello himself expresses his clear understanding of this role of the human intellect. He initially refuses to listen to Iago's suggestions that Desdemona cannot be trusted, "Exchange me for a goat/When I shall turn the business of my soul/To such exsufflicate and blown surmises" (3.3.194-96). Othello feels that he would be acting like an animal if he became irrationally jealous because someone would say "my wife is fair, feeds well, loves company" (3.3.198). He tells Iago that he will not blindly fall into jealousy, especially when he never has had reason to suspect Desdemona, "I'll see before I doubt; when I doubt, prove;/And on the proof, there is no more but this--/Away at once with love or jealousy" (3.3.205-07). Othello is at this point a confident man, both in his wife's faithfulness, and in his ability to think rationally. However, Shakespeare shows that this confidence is often not enough. In his Sonnet 129, Shakespeare describes lust as another force that destroys the ability to reason effectively. The poet depicts lust as desire that is Past reason hunted, and no sooner had, Past reason hated as a swallowed bait On purpose laid to make the taker mad: ... All this world well knows, yet none knows well To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell. (7-8,15-16) In his sonnet, Shakespeare laments that even when we know that lust is dangerously irrational, most people cannot resist falling under its spell. Othello finds the same to be true ab... ...mplete Works of Shakespeare . Ed. David Bevington. 4th ed. NY: Longman, 1997. Soellner, Rolf. Shakespeare’s Patterns of Self-Knowledge . N.p.: Ohio State UP, 1972. OUTLINE Thesis Statement: When the characters in Othello cease to use reason they lose their humanity and are associated with animal imagery. Roderigo Irrationally in love with Desdemona Wants to drown himself like "cats and blind puppies" Iago calls him a snipe Iago Irrationally jealous of Othello and Cassio Equates love with animalistic lust Encourages others to "be a man" A man is decisive A man looks out for himself A man loves himself Roderigo calls him an "inhuman dog", Lodovico a "Spartan dog" Emilia implores him to tell the truth "if thou be'st a man" Othello Irrationally jealous of Desdemona and Cassio Equates lack of reason with animals Refers to himself as a dog.

Moral values, ethics and philosophy Essay

The dream of a child starts with a stereo type suggestion from parents that the baby will be a doctor – engineer. The baby has no other option to dream of being doctor or engineer. Our education system was framed by the British rulers to create civil servants to serve their purpose. They had created dreams of civil service. As a legacy of the British and the Pakistani system we inherited Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS). However, the glory of civil service has been fading gradually. Education system at home and abroad now aims at creating good executives. The present dream of the youngsters is to find jobs in mobile phone company. Considering the good market, the private entrepreneurs established a number of private universities where degrees are offered on Computer science, Engineering, Medical Science and Business Administration. These universities have less interest in social science. Philosophy is a less prioritised subject in the university and hardly any student is found having interest to study Philosophy. The people living in the 21st century have no time to waste in a very ancient field of study like philosophy. People now send their children to universities to groom them up as future executives in Multinational companies. Students are more interested to obtain professional degrees rather than education in social science. The new generation has different attitude towards life style, human relation, demand and satisfaction We can not live alone. The world is one family and living in this planet demands co-operation with others. Philosophy teaches the discipline of humanity. It defines how to think, how to reason, how to put together good arguments, how to analyse alternatives and action and evaluate its consequences. Human society creates ideas and thoughts; philosophy guides principle of human life. Without it, there can be no real government, no institution. It is philosophy that has created human ideologies, interpretations, and viewpoints. Philosophy is at the heart of every issue, at the center of every change within society, and within every radical movement human beings have created. Any tradition, any ideology, any religion has behind them a philosophy. The problem perhaps is that common people in today’s society do not like complicated thoughts, the moment they see an obstacle, they scream in rage, they want the simplistic philosophy of a society that consumes and moves and moves and never stops. The consumption loving practical people believe that there is no particular use for philosophy, because it deals with intangible ideas, which cannot be proved scientifically or verified objectively, and which have nothing to do with providing greater creature comforts or material progress. The teaching starts with parents telling what it is wrong to lie, cheat, and steal. These children grow up and enter into the real world with some knowledge of right and wrong. But ethics are learnt throughout our lives as we associate with others. In the work place, people learn responsibility, teamwork, punctuality, and communication skills. Doctors obtain a guarantee from patient indemnifying him of any accident during operation, lawyers appear for client but do not guarantee of winning. Auditors inspect books of accounts and certify correctness of transactions but there is no control over his sincerity to verify transaction. The society relies on their ethical standard and practice. Baby sitter even the mother look after baby and the quality and standard of care and service depend upon their own sincerity. Government can enforce setting up waste water treatment machine in industries to save the environment from pollution and there is hardly a method to ensure proper use of waste water treatment but the ethics can regulate the management to protect the universe from adverse effect of economic activities. In today’s society, laws and contracts are enforced to make sure that the business deals are fair. We live in a society wherein no device, rule or law can control certain things, actions and behaviours. The self-teaching and self regulation can address the situation.. Human being needs only knowledge, self training and self regulation to apply the test through any ethical standard. All will eventually confront moral problems with social, political, or legal dimensions in their roles as citizens, scholars, professionals, parents, members of their communities, and as human beings. The society has become open and requires a self administration and control. This self control is through values, morals and ethics. Society must develop values, morals and ethics. They all provide behavioral rules. Values are the rules by which we make decisions about right and wrong, should and shouldn’t, good and bad. Morals have a greater social element to values and tend to have a very broad acceptance. Morals are far more about good and bad than other values. Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality-that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice, etc. Ethics develop feelings of right or wrong. Ethics consists of the standards of behavior our society accepts. In any society, most people accept standards that are, in fact, ethical. But standards of behavior in society can deviate from what is ethical. An entire society can become ethically corrupt. Nazi Germany is a good example of a morally corrupt society. Ethics has standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. Ethics, for example, refers to those standards that impose the reasonable obligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault, slander, and fraud. Ethical standards include honesty, compassion, and loyalty. Democracy is a free will under certain guidance, norm and practice. Democracy can not function without ethics. Bangladesh is lacking democracy due to lack of ethical and moral practice of democracy. Members of different organisations take oath of allegiance and Invocation. They use to declare some ethical standard of business and profession. The declaration of quality of production of manufacturers is in the same line of self regulation and promise to practice. A good and successful professional should have the ethics, values and standards of profession and make their application a consistent feature in all aspects of work. This will include taking personal responsibility for actions and regularly reflecting on experiences to inform future actions and decision making. Human must both act and be seen to act ethically and with the utmost integrity. The professionals should uphold professional ethics, values and standards, behave with integrity and objectivity, and maintain professional competence, confidentiality, keeping up to date with all codes of conduct and professional standards, informing clients about the ethical standards that apply to professional activities, monitoring compliance with relevant legislation, standards and regulations and the law of the country. The workplace compliance of quality policy, citizen charter etc are part of ethics of profession which come from philosophy as the law can not reach workplace and inside mind and heart to control our thinking and action with others in the society. The codes of educational institutes, parents, colleagues at workplace and society at large even the service club and professional bodies teach us ethics and human dignity. It upholds the ethics of business and profession. The teaching of formal education and non formal education of philosophy is back bone of society and foundation of all knowledge. That is why the business and profession should be regulated by philosophy and not only law and regulation. The writer is pursuing PhD in Open University, Malaysia, and can be reached at email: shah@banglachemical.com

Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau Essay - 2181 Words

Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau have very different views on the social contract largely based on their fundamental views of the state of nature in humanity. These basic views of natural human nature cause Hobbes and Rousseau to have views on opposite sides of the spectrum, based on two controversial speculations, that human is inherently good or that human is inherently inclined towards egotism and perpetual insecurity. Due to his belief that they are of this nature, Hobbes viewed an all-powerful sovereign of a rather totalarianistic nature to be necessary. Rousseau on the other hand, viewed that the sovereign should represent the common will of the people, the sovereign being agreed upon by all constituents. It is my assertion†¦show more content†¦He refutes Hobbes’ idea that man is naturally seeking to attack and fight by saying that man in the state of nature is actually man in his most timid form. He states that savage man’s needs are so basic (foo d, shelter, water, a woman) and easily found that he can have â€Å"neither foresight or curiosity†. By this man he means that man lacks the expansive nature that Hobbes’ believed they possessed (natural eternal quest for power). He continues on man’s basic nature adding â€Å"With passions so minimally active and such a salutary restraint, being more wild than evil, and more attentive to protecting themselves from the harm they could receive than tempted to do harm to others, men were not subject to very dangerous conflicts.† This is rather opposite of the state of nature in which Hobbes calls man in a constant war with man. He argues, that without society, in fact, that man would be much more pure and that the ills of society have dirtied man. He believed that human nature is very comparable to that of an animal in that it is at its based even natured, but that the separating factor between the two is free will. He argues that since society calls for m ore cooperation between men, it also causes more competition, creating many of society ills. Rather than saying man fled from the state of nature like Hobbes, Rousseau rather said that man needed society for division of labor as well as the divisionShow MoreRelatedThomas Hobbes And Jean Jacques Rousseau1728 Words   |  7 PagesAlthough Thomas Hobbes and Jean Jacques Rousseau are both considered Enlightenment thinkers, their ideas vary greatly in the political continuum. Both of their theories have certain components which may appear to be symmetric, but upon closer examination, their differences stem from the very way in which they view human nature. From there, each man builds up to the creation of a commonwealth in a way that reflects which type of government they support. The political theories of Hobbes and Rousseau shareRead More Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau Essay2118 Words   |  9 PagesThomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau developed theories on human nature and how men govern themselves. With the passing of time, political views on the philosophy of government gradually changed. Despite their differences, Hobbes and Rousseau, both became two of the most influential political theorists in the world. Their ideas and philosophies spread all over the world influencing the creation of many new governments. These theorists all recognizeRead MoreComparison of Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau Essay1092 Words   |  5 Pagesrights guided the works of the 17th and 18th century philosophical writings of Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. 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