Child of Divorce Essay Example for Free

Child of Divorce Essay Divorce is becoming a norm in the society nowadays. This refers to the complete termination of marriage between the couple who demands for it. Through the dissolution of the bonds of matrimony, both parties are allowed to marry again (Gallagher, 1996). However, opposing views are prevailing regarding divorce. For those who are in favor of it, divorce can be regarded as the only legitimate remedy when happiness and affection are no longer provided in the marriage (Scanzoni 1965). For those who are against it, divorce causes psychological problems and damage to social cohesion (Diefenbach, 2007). Divorce is not just the story of the couple parting ways but it is more of a story of the children who are products of a divorced marriage. â€Å"Human children need parents longer than any other species and are totally dependent on parents for food, shelter, and protection for the first several years of life. This dependency spawns a fear of abandonment. In divorce, one of the parents leaves. When one parent leaves, the children feel rejected. The loss children feel at divorce is similar to that experienced when a parent dies. Divorce might actually be harder on children because it lacks the concrete cause and finality of death (Bryner, 2001). † This causes most of the children of divorce to be more aggressive, impulsive and develop antisocial behavior compared to children from intact families (Hetherington, 1999). Others also exhibit lower academic performance (Kelly, 1998). However, some children manage to develop without these deleterious effects of divorce. As a matter of fact, these children are found to have less stereotyped sex behavior, greater maturity and greater independence (Emery, 1995). The developmental stage of the child when the divorce of his parents occurs is predictive of the child’s behavior and reaction towards the situation. An infant or a toddler will not react at all to his parents’ divorce because he can’t still comprehend the situation. However, a preschooler will tend to blame himself as the culprit of his parents’ divorce. Because he feels guilty and fears that the remaining parent may also leave him, he becomes more possessive of his parent (Roseby, 1998). For a young school-aged child, the divorce of his parents gives him a sense of responsibility. He feels that he should bring his parents together again and think of strategies that will make his parents interact in any way (Lansky, 1996). On the other hand, older school-aged children tend to blame one parent and take the side of the other parent. They become anxious and worrisome of the situation which makes them prone to illnesses such as headaches, sleeping disorders, chest pains, diabetes and asthma (Kimball, 1994). The reaction is more deleterious with adolescents who entirely mask their reactions. They switch to other outlets such as peers, sex, alcohol and drugs because they hate being bothered by their parents’ lives (Thompson, 1998). I have a friend named Diane. Fourteen years ago, her parents separated by divorce. Back then, she was only turning three and didn’t know anything about the chaotic situation between her parents. She was left to the custody of her mother while her father was just obliged by the court to provide some financial assistance. Everything went well with this arrangement until she entered primary school where she had greater monetary needs. Unfortunately, her father had another family and was compelled to reduce the money sent to her. This was the reason why her mother was obligated to work in order to support her. Because her mother became busy in her work, Diane was always left with her grandmother whenever she was off from school. It was only through her grandmother that everything regarding her family became clear. She hated the fact that her own mother concealed their broken family from her and would always say that her father is just working in a far away place. She realized that she will never have his father back and that her fantasies of having a complete family would never be real. That time, she began to skip classes in school and whenever she would attend a lecture, she never participates in the recitation. She also failed our exams. I was really worried about the big change in her behavior because she used to be the top student of our class. I just learned about her family problem when she never attended classes for a week and her mother came to our school looking for her. One of our classmates revealed that Diane eloped with her boyfriend. I can’t forget the face of Diane’s mother crying and blaming herself for what had happened to her daughter. After that, I never saw Diane again. The last news I heard about her was that she is living with her mother again. She broke up with her boyfriend but gave birth to a baby boy, who, like her, is a child of divorce. Diane’s story is just one of the millions of stories which we can get from the life of a child from a broken family. In her case, the effects of divorce were appalling because of the lack of effective communication. It would have been better if both her parents explained to her the situation and the reasons why they should have divorce. When Diane learned that her parents were already divorced, she was very frustrated because she fantasized of having a complete family when her father returns from work. She also felt betrayal because her mother never told her what’s real. These extreme negative emotions changed her attitude and made her rebel against the situation. Also, Diane’s mother was very preoccupied in her work that’s why she was not able to keep an eye on the performance of her daughter in school. If only she did, maybe she was able to help Diane solve her emotional problems at an early stage. After all, divorce can really cause a big scar but it doesn’t really have to. References: Bryner, C. L. (2001). Children of Divorce. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine Practice;14:201–10. Diefenbach, H. and Opp, K. D. (2007). When and Why Do People Think There Should Be a Divorce? http://rss. sagepub. com/cgi/content/abstract/19/4/485. Emery, R. E. and Coiro, M. J. (1995). Divorce: consequences for children. Pediatric Review;16:306 –10. Gallagher, M. (1996). The Abolition of Marriage. Regnery Publishing. Hetherington, E. M. and Stanley-Hagan M. (1999). The adjustment of children with divorced parents: a risk andresiliency perspective. Journal of Child Psychology; 40:129–40. Kelly, J. B. (1998). Marital conflict, divorce, and children’s adjustment. Child Adolescent Psychiatry;7:259 –71. Kimball, G. (1994). How to survive your parents’ divorce: kids’ advice to kids. Chico, California: Equality Press. Lansky, V. (1996). Divorce book for parents helping your child cope with divorce and its aftermath. Minnetonka, MN: Book Peddlers. Roseby, V. and Johnston J. R. (1998). Common developmental threats in high-conflict divorcing families. Child Adolescent Psychiatry;7:295–309. Scanzoni, J. (1965). A Reinquiry into Marital Disorganization. Journal of Marriage and the Family 27: 483–91. Thompson, P. (1998). Adolescents from families of divorce: vulnerability to physiological and psychological disturbances. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Service;36(3):34 –9.

Loans :: essays research papers

Borrowers flooded the Department of Education and lenders with phone calls as they rushed to beat the deadline to consolidate student loans before interest rates rise. The variable interest rate on federal student loans will rise nearly 2 percentage points after midnight Thursday. Some borrowers could save thousands of dollars over the lives of their loans by consolidating at the lower rate. The unusually sharp increase has prompted a wave of last-minute inquiries, causing back-ups for banks' 800 numbers and at the Department of Education's Direct Loan Servicing Center, where at least some calls weren't getting through Wednesday. Department spokeswoman Susan Aspey encouraged borrowers to file electronically -- the department added nine Internet servers for extra traffic -- or to call at off-peak times. The center will remain open until midnight Pacific time Thursday. Borrowers can generally apply for consolidation loans online, but the process can be tricky and they often end up phoning lenders with inquiries. "The volume is tremendous," said Jennifer Darwin, a spokeswoman for Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia Corp., which said call volume was up 51 percent compared to a year ago. A spokeswoman for Charlotte-based Bank of America said callers should expect to be on hold an hour or more, even though the bank has added staff to field calls. Other companies said their preparations worked. Mark Brenner, president of San Diego-based College Loan Corp., said 97 percent of calls were being answered within 30 seconds. At Collegiate Funding Services in Fredericksburg, Virginia, executive vice president Clark McGhee also said most queries were being answered, thanks to extra staff and overtime, despite several times the usual volume. Pennsylvania's Higher Education Assistance Agency had managers answering calls, which were at more than twice the usual volume. Some lenders bombarded students with reminders encouraging them to consolidate, but it didn't prevent a last-second rush. "You'd be surprised how many students out there have no idea what interest rates have been doing and what it means for them," said Matthew Steingraber, vice president of marketing at Academic Financial Services in Tampa, Florida, where volume is about 50 percent higher than normal.

Impact of Globalization on Total Quality Management

Total quality management (TQM) has been defined as ‘continuous improvement of every production output whether it be a product or a service, by removing inefficient variations and by improving the backbone of the work process’. International managers like their domestic counterparts have found that incorporating the notion of total quality management into their management process and style can give the competitive advantage. A manager’s decision-making process regarding new or increased international operations involves reacting to the environment, seeking competitive advantage globally and assessing the company’s capability in the global context. Globalization makes managers ask certain questions. These questions include: ‘Must we be more International’? ‘Are we capable of becoming more international? ’ ‘How can we improve capability’? ‘What opportunities should we pursue? ’ This sort of questioning which globalization creates will enable the firm to identify specific weak areas and/or general lack of strength. The focus now shifts to expansion. These might include things like internal changes as well as linkages with other organizations that help provide the desired result. Therefore, the options or strategic plans must be selected with caution. Globalization makes management assess the costs and benefits of various possible modes of entry into the global market. In general, the choices can be seen as ranging from no ownership in foreign locations, to joint ventures, to sole ownership of foreign subsidiary. Globalization enables managers to make a lot of choices and decisions regarding improving their output and expanding their business activity. Each of the options they assess has benefits as well as disadvantages that the managers must weigh to make the right choices. Once the managers have made their choice, a plan of action is formulated and executed to achieve the desired foreign activity. The decision process should be assumed to be a kind of iterative process – that is having been through the model once, a manager will periodically return to the first question and repeat the process. This has the effect changing a reactive strategy into a dynamic one. Globalization creates an atmosphere where companies look to embark on international operations which in turn foster a degree of synergy. Having business operations in more than one international location provides the opportunity to transfer learning from one international location to another. The 1990s is considered to be the decade when the new era of the beginning of quality management. This was because during that period of time, firms where facing a high degree of competition, the encroachment of their market share and a depreciation in the perceptions of the quality of their products. Hence, it was necessary to adopt a quality management technique that would override any existing traditional management styles. Literature Review- This brings us to the topic of identififying the Impact of Globalization on Total Quality Management. What has been the impact of Globalization on Total Quality Management†? TQM has played in its origins a decisive role in Globalization. Globalization is a direct consequence of TQM. In 1954, John Foster Dulles, then the US Secretary of State, despised Japan as a commercial threat to USA. â€Å"The Japanese don’t make anything the people in the US would want. Twenty five years later, in 1979, when Japanese car were starting to be built in America, Business Week mocked: â€Å"With [more than] 50 foreign cars on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn’t likely to carve out a big slice of the US market. † Later it came â€Å"If Japan can†¦ Why can’t we? † broadcasted by NBC in 1980. And Deming. Anyway, as TQM always does, it has to adapt its processes to the needs of the organization (environment) in every moment and circumstance. Globalization is not an exception Globalization has allowed small businesses and major corporations to expand its products and services to the global market. People from all over the world can access products because of the opportunities globalization has provided. Even though some of outcomes of globalization have been controversial, the market has become more competitive than ever, thus creating the high demand for quality management. The fact that globalization has expanded the market for organizations means that TQM is more important than ever before. Customer demands are higher and if a company does not create products and services that meet their expectations they can easily access the same or similar products and services from another company. If managers do not implement TQM into their company procedure then they will fail to meet the high standards of customers all over the world and eventually lose their business. When it comes to implementing TQM, it’s the mangers responsibility to create an environment where people can work together to improve their work processes. If the ownership or senior management does not buy into this concept you will never succeed. Many people in leadership roles are either too set in their ways or closed minded to the necessary change needed to really improve the way things get done. You have to buy into the concept that there is always a better way to do something. By tapping into all the knowledge and experience your employees possess, you develop solutions that not only improve your execution, you provide everyone with a sense of accomplishment.. These â€Å"process improvement teams† give employees a chance to help steer the future direction of their company. The other problem you have in implementing a team concept is the team members themselves. Many people have great ideas but do not feel comfortable sharing them. They would rather be told what to do, this way if something goes wrong it's not their fault. They actually know a better way to do something, but they don't want to stick their neck out for fear of taking responsibility. By creating a team solution everyone has a vested interest in its success, thus everyone becomes responsible. You are collectively working together to implement these changes, so the chances of success are greatly improved. If a company can develop a team concept that permeates through out its entire workforce, they are much better equipped to handle the constant challenges they face. If everyone has a vested interest in the current and future success of their company, the company's best interest would always come first. The real challenge any company faces is making these concepts a reality. The following outlines the pros and cons of globalization on quality: Pros †¢Viewing both the productivity grows quickly when countries produce goods and services in which they have a comparative advantage. Living standards can go up faster. †¢Global competition and cheap imports keep a lid on prices, so inflation is less likely to derail economic growth. An open economy spurs innovation with fresh ideas from abroad. †¢Export jobs often pay more than other jobs. †¢Unfettered capital flows give the US access to foreign investment and keep interest rates low. . The Pros for globalization show that prices will be kept at one set price and that money will be quickly made by all. The help with foreign countries could also speed up technology as well. Technology could help the underdeveloped countries in the long run, and everyone overall economically. Cons: †¢Millions of Americans have lost jobs due to imports or production shifts abroad. Most find new jobs – that pay less. Millions of others fear losing their jobs, especially at those companies operating under competitive pressure. †¢Workers face pay-cut demands from employers, which often threaten to export jobs. †¢Service and white-collar jobs are increasingly vulnerable to operations moving offshore. †¢US employees can loose their comparative advantage when companies build advanced factories in low-wage countries, making them as productive as those at home. The Con list shows that the concerns are that smaller businesses will be put out of business by larger ones. Also stating that only the white-collar or richer people will be making a benefit in the changes. Demonstrations and Applications in the Business World – Total Quality Management at Tyson Foods- Tyson Foods is known for its high quality products such as chicken, pork, and beef to name a few. Tyson Foods has carefully implemented quality management practices to stay ahead of the competition and because their products are closely regulated by government officials. Recently Tyson Foods opened a new laboratory in Arkansas to test and research food safety. The new laboratory has earned two International Organization of Standardization (ISO) certifications which are the ISO 9001-2000 and the ISO 17025. Tyson Foods is responsible for creating and maintaining the highest quality products on the market. Without this seal of approval from the USDA, Tyson Foods could not operate in the United States nor globally and no company would buy their products. TQM is the most important aspect of Tyson Foods' management process because without TQM they would cease to exist. Total Quality Management is very important in today's industry because of the high demand for quality from customers. The competition to create high quality products and services is ever increasing because the market is very large. Customers can find products from anywhere in the world thanks to technology and the internet so this increases the demand for Total Quality Management within companies. If companies want to continue to stay in business selling their products and services to customers they must implement TQM into their business practice or they will fail to meet customer demands and ISO regulations. TQM has become the new wave of management in today's society because the needs, desires, and demands of customers can be easily met by the vast majority of competition. Competition is the hardest thing a company must deal with and to ensure the competition is fair and equal each company must use Total Quality Management to stay ahead of the game. Conclusion & Reflection – In conclusion, as the demands on firms are changing and increasingly requiring more flexible manufacturing and work practices, team work and multi-skilling are essential if firms are to stay competitive. This means training the work force in a variety of skills so that they can react quickly to changes in models and production runs. Moves in other countries to encourage greater cooperation between industry and education are a testament to the benefits that can be derived. Cross-cultural training is also a necessity for any organization in order for it to survive in todays increasingly globalize and quality oriented environment. Also, reflecting back on this assignment and how this class has enhanced my knowledge on quality and how important quality is not only to the consumer, but also how it can set the standard on any particular industry. I also learned that quality at a globalization level is any less important than it is at a local level.

The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston - 1722 Words

In The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston crafts a fictitious memoir of her girlhood among ghosts. The book’s classification as a memoir incited significant debate, and the authenticity of her representation of Chinese American culture was contested by Asian American scholars and authors. The Woman Warrior is ingenuitive in its manipulation of the autobiographical genre. Kingston integrates the value of storytelling in her memoir and relates it to dominant themes about silence, cultural authenticity, and the cultivation of identity. Throughout her work, Kingston reaches a variety of conclusions about the stories her mother told her by writing interpretations of her mother, Brave Orchid’s, â€Å"talk-story†. Brave Orchid’s talk-story is a form†¦show more content†¦She considers that â€Å"some man had commanded her to lie with him and be his secret evil.† (Kingston 6). Kingston writes her initial version of the â€Å"No Name Woman,† who was raped, raided, and died an outcast, but Kingston determines that this telling does not fit her understanding of China. Therefore, Kingston entertains another hypothetical, that her aunt took a lover and saved him from shame by giving â€Å"silent birth† and not revealing the lover’s identity (Kingston 11). Here, Kingston critically examines the inherited talk-story of her mother to determine the meaning she should obtain from the death of her aunt. Her mother’s conclusion is that she must not become pregnant, but Kingston is uncertain about the simplicity of her mother’s story. In the â€Å"No Name Woman,† Kingston introduces the fictitious memoir structure that she utilizes through the variety of interpretations of her aunt’s story. Consistently through the memoir, Kingston writes contrasting accounts of the same stories and imagines the stories of others to further her themes about silence, authenticity, and identity formation. Kingston begins The Woman Warrior by writing a story which started with her mother insisting that she â€Å"must not tell anyone...what I am about to tell you.† (Kingston 3). Kingston’s first written words are a defiance of this silencing. Silence is a motif that permeates the entirety of The Woman Warrior; KingstonShow MoreRelatedThe Woman Warrior By Maxine Hong Kingston Essay1557 Words   |  7 PagesProfessor Richard Potter ENC 1939 16 November 2016 The Woman Warrior Language is a system of communication used by humans either written or spoken to communicate our thoughts and feelings. Our thoughts and feelings we want to communicate to our loved ones, to our friends, to people we work with or go to school with and even to strangers. Maxine Hong Kingston in her memoir The Woman Warrior explores language and the use of language to express what Kingston finds as several conflicts. The conflict of theRead MoreThe Woman Warrior, By Maxine Hong Kingston1434 Words   |  6 PagesThere is great plasticity in the self perception and identity of immigrants and even more so in their offspring. The memoir, The Woman Warrior, by Maxine Hong Kingston, does a good job in highlighting this statement. Her memoir shows the struggle of the older generation to adapt to American culture after migrating, it shows how the second generation comes to terms with their dual identity, and how their unique perceptions emphasize the gap between the two generations. Thesis tying identity crisisRead MoreThe Woman Warrior, By Maxine Hong Kingston1342 Words   |  6 Pagesand struggle to live the â€Å"American Dream†. Thousands of people come to the U.S. to live a better life for their family. Instead they face racial seclusion, struggle to survive, and consequences of American’s fear. In the memoir, The Woman Warrior, by Maxine Hong Kingston, a girl who discloses stories about Chinese myths, families, and events in the U.S. that has shaped her identity. In the historical fiction novel, When the Emperor was Divine, by Julie Otsuka, is about a Japanese American family sentRead MoreThe Woman Warrior By Maxine Hong Kingston1866 Words   |  8 PagesThroughout the novel The Woman Warrior, by Maxine Hong Kingston, the past is incorporated into the present through talk-stories combined into each chapter. Kingston uses talk-stories, to examine the intermingling of Chinese myths and lived experiences. These stories influence the life of the nar rator as the past is constantly spoken about from the time she is young until the novel ends and she becomes an adult. Kingston incorporates two cultures. She is not a direct recipient of Chinese culture,Read MoreThe Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston Essay1208 Words   |  5 PagesIn the novel The Woman Warrior Maxine Hong Kingston uses ghosts to represent a battle between American and Chinese cultures. The two cultures have different views of what a ghost is. The Chinese believe the ghost spirits may be of people dead or alive. Chinese culture recognizes foreigners and unfamiliar people as ghosts because, like American ghosts, they are mysterious creatures of the unknown. Americans view ghosts as spirits of the dead that either help or haunt people. American ghosts mayRead MoreSummary Of The Woman Warrior By Maxine Hong Kingston1356 Words   |  6 PagesSubjugation of Women in â€Å"No Name Woman† The Story â€Å"Woman Warrior† written by Maxine Hong Kingston in 1975, is a great representation of what woman are characterized as in regards to being submissive or rebellious in their society, and how, even though they are harshly treated, the women fight back instead of letting themselves be subjugated, it exemplifies the hardships women face in their lives. In The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, Author Maxine Hong Kingston brings to the table a bunchRead MoreEssay on The Woman Warrior, by Maxine Hong Kingston1033 Words   |  5 PagesThe theme of â€Å"voiceless woman† throughout the book â€Å"the woman warrior† is of great importance. Maxine Kingston narrates several stories in which gives clear examples on how woman in her family are diminished and silenced by Chinese culture. The author not only provides a voice for herself but also for other women in her family and in her community that did not had the opportunity to speak out and tell their stories. The author starts the book with the story of her aunt. This story was a well-keptRead MoreAnalysis Of Maxine Hong Kingston s The Woman Warrior 1547 Words   |  7 PagesKejsi Drenova Paper 2 In The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston makes her narration compelling and relatable to the audience through her unique style of storytelling. The ever-present changes in perspective lead one to see how each event eventually affects Kingston. Her comparison of her life to that of Fa Mu Lan brings out the difficulties in her living in America while her mother had grown up in China. This hero myth allows her to connect to those values that Brave Orchid holds which make herRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem The Woman Warrior By Maxine Hong Kingston Essay1936 Words   |  8 PagesThe Unescapable Net: Tradition vs Transformation in Kingston’s Ideology The Woman Warrior, written by Chinese American author Maxine Hong Kingston in 1976, blends traditional Chinese folktales and memoir, and portrays the early 20th century Chinese history in a Chinese-American perspective. For Maxine, it seems Chinese â€Å"history† means social and cultural constrains from conventional Chinese doctrines, especially regarding the social status of womanhood, the blind collectivism, and superstition inRead More Maxine Hong Kingston Understanding Her Life through The Woman Warrior1166 Words   |  5 PagesMaxine Hong Kingston Understanding Her Life through The Woman Warrior Maxine Hong Kingston’s â€Å"The Woman Warrior† is novel composed of myths and memoirs that have shaped her life. Her mother’s talk-stories about her no name aunt, her own interpretation of Fa Mu Lan, the stories of ghosts in doom rooms and American culture have been the basis of her learning. She learned morals, truths, and principals that would be the basis of her individuality. Since her mothers talk-story was one of the