Violence Among the Youths in Inner Schools Free Essays

Violence among youth, especially in inner city schools, is one of Americas most pressing and controversial concerns. Local studies indicate that youth violence is increasing. In addition, America†s youth, like adults are now more frequently using guns instead of fist to settle their disputes. We will write a custom essay sample on Violence Among the Youths in Inner Schools or any similar topic only for you Order Now While the public is ready to believe that school violence is definitely present, some local leaders and school administrators are not willing to recognize that it is happening in front of their own eyes. They think that people will boycott the communities, their schools will be labeled unsafe and they will be blamed for failing to keep peace and order. Gang activity at school is particularly susceptible to â€Å"the Ostrich syndrome,† as many of the administration ignore the problem. A big loss that occurs is that opportunities to help the youth and reduce violence are lost. Finally, there is sometimes a contradiction between school policies and school practice. Many districts and schools have broad regulations for dealing with violence, and the school enforcement may either be uneven or laidback. This creates a situation where teachers do not feel supported when they necessitate discipline, students do not feel protected and the delinquents will then think that he or she will not be punished. On the other hand, administrators express dismay that the teachers so not enforce policies in the classroom. Despite these inconsistencies, the government, communities and schools have come up with many promising types of anti- violence approach, and social and personal transformation focusing on discipline. Most have originated in urban areas, where youth violence was first identified. The federal government has money set aside for after school programs focused on gang prevention and other recreational community activities. Most of these activities are focused on breaking the cycle of violence. The most effective proved to be the long-term family interventions involving, religious and recreational organizations. For example, programs in parenting and family relationships, especially those focused on non-violence and substance abuse can protect children from learning violence at home. Out of school programs keep youth entertained while the family is unavailable. These programs can also provide youths with attention from caring role models. They also keep the youth away from negative influences on the street. Programs can offer assistance with schoolwork and develop positive values. Helping young people find employment is an important way for communities to reduce property crime and build the youths self-esteem and sense of responsibility. It also helps the youth see how vital it is to their future to stay in school and further their education and career. Another positive aspect to providing jobs and job training is that it can reduce stress that can trigger violence. â€Å"In 1878 economist Carroll D. Wright from Massachusetts Commissioner of Statistics noted that more than 67% of convicts in the state were recorded as ‘having no occupation†: of 220 men sentenced to one year 147 were without trade or any regular means of earning a living† (Currie) Anti-violence and programs that run in the school can run from a range of ideas. From general education improvement to interventions to target specific groups of students. They involve parents in a variety of roles and community leaders and resources. The goal is to create a peaceful non-violence school. A commitment to enforcing violence prevention helps the students and the staffs feel safe. In addition to zero tolerance for guns, some school also have zero tolerance for other types of behavior such as assaulting a teacher were violent students will be removed from the classrooms. It might not affect some students to be expulsed from school so school responses to certain type of acts include legal prosecution. Since there is a strong use of drug sales and violence in the schools by the students, administrators make special efforts to keep the school. To keep students from bringing in weapons some schools use metal detectors and administer random acts of searching students† bodies and possessions. Teachers used to be the most common type of security but with increasing school violence, schools are hiring security guards to patrol the sites. With school security the most common type of measure is monitoring the students in the hallways and places where they get together the most, like cafeterias, bathrooms and the p.e. field. Most violent prone school may even form relations with the police to periodically visit the schools and regularly patrol the halls. Probation officers with on site offices can provide help to students who have already been in illegal trouble. Early intervention is necessary to prevent youth violence. Elementary education training in anger management, impulse control, mediation and conflict resolution skills can prevent youth from participating in violence as they mature. Early discussions about negative consequences of gang membership and providing positive way to get needs met can protect them from future gang recruitment efforts. Some schools have a specially trained safety coordinator whose primary function is to coordinate anti-violence programs and offer crisis counseling and mediation. Other types of programs offer incentives for positive behavior such as recognition and reward system for good citizenship. The goal is to bring about change in the students so that their behavior is constructive. Effective gang strategies involve all school operations and staff. It requires good communications and security and staff trained in crisis intervention. Schools not only need to acknowledge their presence but actively investigate its extent and determine who its gang members are, what they do and where are their hang out spots. The first step is to establish the fact that gang presence such as clothing, paraphernalia, flashing signs or shouting slogans and writing graffiti on school or personal property will not be tolerated. Discipline measures, practiced consistently show the schools seriousness. Staff who takes a personal interest in individual members by holding personal conferences and counseling can help loosen the hold of the gang, by meeting informally with members and show them positive experiences that would otherwise be lacking in their lives. To do this some staff members may need to change certain attitudes about gang members and spend a little more time than they would with them. If that does not work offering counseling in a variety of outside agencies and involving parents and making them aware of the choices and consequences that their child is taking may help change the attitude of the child. If all else fails gang members can be transferred to alternative schools for more intensive support. Concern about increasing youth violence is being routed into a variety of innovative and hopefully effective programs across the country. The most effective programs acknowledge that gang activity and violence exists in their community. Use all available resources like law enforcement and social services. Involve families into both school and community programs, and prepares to engage in long-term effort for positive experiences. In all communities it is likely that sometimes anti-violence work will be compromised by lack of resources and time. Even the most dedicated individuals may experience moments of frustration. Early evaluations in well-organized programs is possible and even though statistics show that youth violence is steadily increasing the effort and slight expenditure are necessary. How to cite Violence Among the Youths in Inner Schools, Essay examples

My First Day in Laos free essay sample

After getting all of luggages, and get everything checked out, like our passport, and some other stuff I don’t remember. When walked out of the airport, the whole family was waiting for us to show up. After everybody gave each others hugs, they were deciding who was going to drive with who, then my cousin told everyone that he will just take me. After he told them that, we took off and my cousin threw me the car keys to his Honda. At first I thought it was for putting the bags into the trunk. When I was about to throw him the keys to the car, he told me what are you doing your driving he also said don’t tell the parents. At first when I got in the car I was nervous because that was my first time driving. When we left the airport we went to the family restaurant, because that is where everyone is headed. We will write a custom essay sample on My First Day in Laos or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page When we got to the restaurant the whole family was already there so when we got out of the car, we got caught by our other cousins. We told them not tell but there was a price to it we had to give them 20 dollars each. Sitting there for a couple of hours. My aunt who lives in Laos told everyone it time to go to work at the restaurant. Usually they open earlier but they had to go pick us up. After hearing her saying it time to go me and my cousin were the first to leave so, I can drive the car. At first in my mind that was the best part of the trip. But I knew there going to be more. When we got to the store me and my cousin had to put in the drinks in the fridge. When I asked if I could get a drink I asked, for a cup and he told me that they don’t put it in cups they use bags. When I thought about it at first I said that strange but when I saw it I thought it was pretty cool. As the time was about to hit twelve oclock my cousin told me that get ready all the kids from school is about to come cause its almost there lunch time. I told them to wake me up in about 10 minutes. They asked me why am I going to sleep I said because I’m still tired from the plane trip. . But before I know it I was already twelve oclock. I was disappointed because I couldn’t get a little nap in I wouldn’t have mind to get a least 5 minutes would be fine with me. Then when I looked over to the front the door I saw a whole bunch of school students coming this way, and I asked my cousin is it going to be like this everyday? he said this is not that much people. Me and my cousin were in charge of the drinks. The restaurant sold all kinds of Asian food. After hours of serving drinks. The rush hour was gone. I thought it was time to close up. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy or something. Then they told me that we still have dinner and it going to get even crazier because a lot of people order out. The time between lunch and dinner, I see people coming in and out. All I was doing was playing some games and chilling with my cousin. As I watched the people walk in and out I thought to myself is that we are lucky because some people in Laos live on the street and when it gets cold it feels like everything is frozen. After while somebody came and tapped me on my shoulder and said it time to go home and rest for tomorrow. I asked my cousin did I sleep threw the dinner rush and he said yeah you did.

Liliana Mongelli Essays - Greek Mythology, Mythology, Fiction

Liliana Mongelli Professor Kenner Writing through Literature 13 December 2017 In Greek mythology there is no god who is more powerful than Zeus. He is the youngest son of Cronus and Rhea, ruler of the Titans. Cronus was told that one of his children would overthrow him, taking control of his kingdom. To be sure this would not happen, Cronus swallowed his first five children: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. Rhea could not bear to see another one of her children, devoured so she replaced Zeus with a rock wrapped in swaddling. Cronus, thinking he ate Zeus, left Rhea time to leave Zeus in a cave where he was raised by a divine goat, Amaltheia. After Zeus was grown he went back to Cronus with the help of Gaia and Metis, who made an elixir to cause Cronus to vomit his brothers and sisters. Zeus then led the fights against the Titan dynasty. Afterwards they banished the Titans to Tartarus, the lowest place on earth, even lower than the underworld. Zeus and his brothers then drew straws to find who would rule where. Zeus had rule of the sky, Po seidon ruled the seas, and Hades ruled the underw orld. Zeus is the god of law, justice, morals, thunder, lightning, and rain. It was his job to oversee and make sure laws were being kept. He was worshipped originally as a weather god. He was a middle-aged man with a youthful appearance . Like Zeus, Odin is the god of storms and lightning (less so than Thor his son), but in addition has a rather extensive list of attributes to him. He is also the god wisdom, magic, learning, He is generally depicted as an older man with a full beards and long hair, in addition he is general depicted as missing one of his eyes. Odin carries a spear named Gungnir, which cannot miss it's target, this is a parallel to Zeus's lightning bolt. Odin is the son of Bor, son of Buri, who was born from a cow on back of Ymir's the Titan. Like Zeus, Odin is the direct descendant of the Titans, and when Ymir eventually turned evil, Odin and his two brothers killed Ymir in order to create the world o f man and gods alike. Following the creation of the world, the three brothers created human man from drift wood on the shore. A contrast between the Greek and Norse gods is that the Norse gods were smart and had mortal limitations when it came to wisdom. Odin took the limitations and found ways using his might and wit to overcome them and become the most powerful of the Norse gods. In order to achieve more wisdom, Odin sought out the well of Mimir beneath the world tree Yggdrasil and as a sacrifice to the all knowing Mimir he had to cut out his own eye. Odin ha d qualities, like Zeus's ability to shape shift into animal forms, he is capable of commanding animals. Odin has two ravens who are his eyes and ears on the mortal realm, named Hugin and Munin , thought and desire respectively.

All About Mettre - Irregular French Verb

All About Mettre - Irregular French Verb Mettre, which means to put, is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation and is found in a number of idiomatic expressions.Using mettreMettre means to put:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jai mis les livres sur la table.  Ã‚  Ã‚  I put the books on the table.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il faut mettre sa famille avant son travail.  Ã‚  Ã‚  You have to put your family before your work.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mettez les mains en lair.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Put your hands in the air.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il veut mettre de largent dans votre affaire.  Ã‚  Ã‚  He wants to put money into your business.Mettre has various other meanings as well.1. to put on  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tu dois mettre un pull.  Ã‚  Ã‚  You need to put on a sweater.2. to spend time on  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jai mis deux semaines le faire.  Ã‚  Ã‚  I spent two weeks doing it.3. to turn on, activate  Ã‚  Ã‚  Peux-tu mettre la radio  ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Could you turn on the radio?4. to suppose  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mettons quil a raison....  Ã‚  Ã‚  Supposing / Lets just say that hes ri ght....Mettre noun infinitive means to put something up/out/on to do something:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jai mis de leau bouillir.  Ã‚  Ã‚  I put some water on to boil.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Il doit mettre le linge sà ©cher.  Ã‚  Ã‚  He has to put (hang) the laundry up to dry.Se mettreSe mettre also has many different meanings.1. to put oneself  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mets-toi cà ´tà © de ton frà ¨re.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Put yourself next to your brother, Go sit/stand next to your brother.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Je dois me mettre lombre.  Ã‚  Ã‚  I have to get into the shade.(figurative)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Je ne sais pas oà ¹ me mettre.  Ã‚  Ã‚  I dont know where to look / what to do with myself.  Ã‚  Ã‚  se mettre dans une situation dà ©licate  Ã‚  Ã‚  to put/get oneself into a delicate situation2. to become (weather)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il va se mettre au froid demain.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Its going to get/turn cold tomorrow.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il sest mis au chaud.  Ã‚  Ã‚  It got hot.3. se mettre - to start, set to, take up  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il sest enfin mis au travail.  Ã‚  Ã‚  He finally started working.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Je vais me mettre la danse.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Im going to take up dancing.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Quand vas -tu te mettre à ©tudier  ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  When are you going to start / set about studying?Expressions with mettre  Ã‚  Ã‚  mettre lessai - to put to the test  Ã‚  Ã‚  mettre en relief - to accentuate, bring out, emphasize  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il y a mis le temps  ! - He took his sweet time about it!  Ã‚  Ã‚  se mettre au rà ©gime - to go on a diet  Ã‚  Ã‚  More expressions with mettreConjugationsPresent tense  Ã‚  Ã‚  je mets  Ã‚  Ã‚  tu  mets  Ã‚  Ã‚  il met  Ã‚  Ã‚  nous  mettons  Ã‚  Ã‚  vous  mettez  Ã‚  Ã‚  ils  mettentAll tenses

Leadership at Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leadership at Work - Essay Example Leadership and management share similar traits because management is indeed, quite similar to leadership in many potential ways. Leadership makes use of management in order to achieve its objectives. Unmanaged people can not be led. However, good leadership requires rational decision making skills, problem solving skills, organizing skills and right use and management of time. Effective leadership leads to an improved quality, stress regulation and innovation. Creativity and innovation are fundamentally required for effective leadership. Workplace constitutes employees that vary in their individualistic goals, concerns, aims, approaches, thinking, personalities, and behavior. Accordingly, they require to be dealt with in differing ways in order for the leader to get the optimum amount of work from them. Leadership is essential in order to ensure smooth running of work in any workplace. Therefore, managers appoint leaders after visualizing leadership qualities in them from among the employees, or in other cases, assume leadership themselves so that the employees may have clear indication of their duties and responsibilities. Theoretically, quite a lot of leadership theories have surfaced that include but are not limited to the Trait Theory, the Great Man Theory and Contingency Theory. For example, Trait Theory believes that few people are born with leadership traits (leadership-expert.co.uk, n.d.). A successful leader combines the traits righteously. However practically, many people have developed leadership qualities as per the need of the hour. Leadership as modeling requires an individual to be his/her own self, and stay confident about it. People generally are aware of their weaknesses, and tend to project an improvised image of their self, which saps originality and makes them look banal. Followers may loose trust in a leader whose leadership reflects banality. Decision making is one of the most

West Coast Mainline Modernisation. Project Analysis Essay

West Coast Mainline Modernisation. Project Analysis - Essay Example The various transportation facilities and infrastructure that are developed in the process are roads, bridges, rails and other facilities that aid in mobility and access. These developments are done in stage or per project basis that ascertains specific end-results employing project management. Project Management is previously a management philosophy that soon evolved into a business process (Kerzner, 2009). It involves planning, organising, securing and managing resources to achieve goals. It is to be understood that a project has its specific start and ending, and is dependent on time, budget or funding, and deliverables. It is usually expected to bring positive or beneficial results. Its temporary nature make it unique from business operations which is a continuous one or somewhat permanent in the delivery of products or services. This paper will discuss and analyse a rail industry project – the West Coast Main Line Modernisation - and describe the project management proble ms encountered in this project completion. In the project implementation of a rail, various management stages involved are Output Definition, Pre-Feasibility, Option Selection, Single Option Development, Detailed Design, Construction, Testing and Commissioning, Scheme Handback and Project Close Out (Network Rail, 2003). †¢ A brief description of your chosen project. The West Coast Main Line or WCML is the rail backbone of United Kingdom when it comes to importance and number of populations served. It underwent several modernisation stages and the latest of which was the Network Rail modernisation that commenced by the 1990s. Plans for the upgrade and renewal of the line by Virgin Trains for the tilting Pendolino trains with increased speed of 140 mph or 225 km/h was aborted when deemed ambitious. The proposed upgrade involved the adoption of the moving block signalling which worked with light rail systems and metro lines, but not yet proven with high-speed heavy rail network (O ffice of Rail Regulation, 2007). Owned by Network Rail, WCML is the busiest mixed traffic railway route provider, an intercity link connecting London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow to the West Midlands, North West, North Wales, and the Central Belt of Scotland. Handling about 75 million passengers per annum translated to about 43% of UK’s rail freight traffic, it is also links many other smaller towns and cities serving as a suburban railway. The various operators of the WCML are Virgin Trains, East Coast, London Midland, Southern, CrossCountry, First TransPennine Express, Northern Rail, Arriva Trains Wales, First ScotRail, DB Schenker Rail (UK), GB Railfreight, Freightliner Ltd., and Direct Rail Services Ltd (Network Rail, 2007). It was designated a priority Trans-European Networks route. It connects to European mainland via the Channel Tunnel. In 1955, it was modernised and electrified implemented in stages from 1959 to 1974. Electrification was first implem ented on the route from Crewe to Manchester completed by 1960, followed by Crewe to Liverpool by 1962, London by 1965, Birmingham by 1967, and Weaver Junction to Glasgow by 1974. The introduction of the Inter-City brand in 1966 came with high-speed long-distance services where journey clocked in 2 hours and 40 minutes from London to Manchester or Liverpool (Thomas, 1971). Modern coaches followed with the Mark 2 and air-conditioned Mark 3, and soon linespeed was raised to 110 mph or 177 km/h with electric locomotives that doubled passenger traffic from 1962 to 1975 (British Railways

Perspectives Of Moral Development

Perspectives Of Moral Development Morality has different principal meanings. In its first, descriptive usage, morality means a code of conduct or belief which is held to be authoritative in matters of right and wrong. Morals are created and defined by society, philosophy, religion, and/or individual conscience. Morality is also synonymous with ethics. Ethics is the philosophical study of the moral domain. Ethics seeks to address questions such as how a moral outcome can be achieved in a specific situation, how moral values should be determined, and what morals people actually abide by. This paper and presentation will discuss morality as it relates to the learning and cognitive perspectives in psychology, with the primary goal of discovering which perspective is stronger and why. There are many different theories of moral development, all with their own strengths and weaknesses. Perspectives, such as the competing learning and cognitive perspectives in this paper, try to explain why morality exists amongst humans. In this paper, we will discuss several important learning and cognitive theories of moral development and their associated critiques. More specifically, from the learning perspective, we will discuss Banduras social learning theory of moral development, Kohlbergs stages of moral development and Gillians expanded research on Kohlbergs stages of moral development. In particular, the cognitive perspective also shows to be particularly convincing in presenting morality in its light. The cognitive perspective brings many things to the table, such as, how evolutionary adaptive selfishness and never feeling anonymous can create ethical behavior and morality. The cognitive perspective ventures to say morality is only understood when seen in collections of people seeking their own self interest. Included in this paper is a study that supports this selfish tendency of humans. Morality can also been seen as an interplay of emotions and cognition. Lastly, through the cognitive perspective, cause and effect and brain structures are used to help explain morality. Learning Perspectives Social Learning Perspective Social learning is the acquisition of new behavior from watching others demonstration actions (children see, children do) (Bandura, 1969). It is important to note that just because you learn an observable behavior from someone else does not mean that you fully imitate that behavior. When discussing morality, people may pick up only certain pieces from observing others moral action, emulating to achieve the same goal, not imitating the exact motor functions. This is prevalent when discussing how we develop our morality. Most moral development theories state that acquisition of morality often occurs during childhood, as explained later on. One of the most important theories of moral development is Banduras social learning theory of moral development. According to social learning, a childs acquisition of adult moral standards is a gradual process of imitating the observable values and behavior of others. In this theory, moral development is learned through modeling (Bandura, 1969). Bandura believed that direct reinforcement does not account for all learning and intrinsic reinforcement as a form of internal reward, such as pride, satisfaction, and sense of accomplishment (Wagoner). Modeling teaches new behaviors, influences the frequency of previously learned behaviors, encourages previously forbidden behaviors, and increases the frequency of similar behaviors (Bandura, 1969). In order for modeling to work accurately, a person must be paying attention to the observable behavior, retain knowledge of the behavior, be able to replicate it, and have motivation of intrinsic-positive reinforcement. Modeling can be seen in the variety of ways people acquire their personal moral behavior. Primary attainment of morality is derived from immediate family. As a child your parents teach you their perspective of right and wrong through both contingencies and observational learning. For example the parents donate their clothes to the Salvation Army as an act of good will; by the child observing this behavior, he learns to be charitable and donate his clothes as well. Religion also heavily influences moral development by teaching a child to believe and ask for help from a higher power or creator. If a child were to go to church every Sunday growing up they would learn to have similar morals as the congregation such as helping others, living for the higher power, and differentiating between good and evil. Another important influence on childrens moral development is their education. In school, if a child sees another child get in trouble for cheating, that child will view the punishment a nd choose not to pick up the unmoral behavior of the other student. Other moral inspirations can include, but are not limited to media, peers, mentors, and positive role models. Overall, this model is the most frequently used when discussing moral development, but no theory comes without critiques. Our evaluation of this theory leads us to believe that this theory does not take into account that everyone has different ideas of morality. Therefore, what may be seen as just in ones life may not be for another. Another issue is whether morality develops out of intention or behavior. For example, if a person knows that his married friends husband is cheating of her, and tells her with the good intention of helping their marriage and it actually causes a murder, even though the friends intention was moral, the end result is not. This theory does not account for such ambiguities. Kohlbergs Stages of Moral Development Another important theory is Kohlbergs stages of Moral development. He based his theory on research and interviews that he conducted with children at younger ages. Kohlbergs theory consisted of six stages, and he was not so interested in the yes or no answers he received, but more on the logic behind the response (Jorgenson, 2006). The six stages included obedience and punishment orientation, individualism and exchange, good interpersonal relationships, maintaining the social order, social contract and individual rights, and universal principles (Jorgenson, 2006). Along with these six stages were three levels: pre-conventional morality, conventional morality, and post-conventional morality. Through the stages and levels the children begin to see that there is not just one authority, and there are different sides to all situations (Jorgenson, 2006). They also emphasize on being a good person, obeying laws, and concentrate on values that will make for a good society. Pre-conventional le vel holds stages one and two, and is when the child focuses on external consequences of a certain action (Jorgenson, 2006). At the conventional level the person is concerned with right or wrong and obeys laws rules and societys norms without consequences, and contains stages three and four (Jorgenson, 2006). Last the post-conventional level which composes stages five and six allows the person to realize to live by their own principles and definition of right and wrong (Jorgenson, 2006). Is it right or wrong to take something that is desperately needed if you have been turned down to receiving it? In one of Kohlbergs examples a women has a deadly disease and needs some rare medicine that the town druggist makes and sells for way too much. The husband of the women gathers some money, but not enough and asks the druggist for to give him the drug for what money he does have. The druggist of course says no, and later that night the husband breaks into the store and takes the medicine, so his wife does not have to suffer (Jorgenson, 2006). There are many different answers to this question, but your morals would be justified with your response. As any other theory Kohlbergs had critiques as well. The major dilemma with this particular theory is that some psychologists found it sexist. The six stages were more directed towards men than women (Jorgenson, 2006). Another problem with Kohlbergs theory is that is limited to morals and excludes moral values such as caring, and that there is an overlap between some of the stages. Critics also state that Kohlberg overemphasizes justice when making a moral decision. One last critique that seems to be an issue is the difference in knowing what we need to do and actually doing it. Gilligans Perspective of Moral Development Expanding on Kohlbergs theory, Carol Gilligan complained against male-centered psychology including Kohlbergs theory of moral development. Gilligan proposed stages of moral development for women. Her theory is very similar to Kohlbergs stages in that there is a preconvention, conventional, and post conventional stage, but what she discovered through her years of work with women is that when women make monumental moral decisions they are more concerned with caring than the rules of the game (Jorgenson, 2006). For Gilligan, the transitions between the stages are fueled by changes in the sense of self rather than in changes in cognitive capability (Jorgenson, 2006). With that in mind, Gilligan explained that the goal of the first stage is individual survival, transitioning from selfishness to responsibility for others. The second stages goal is to learn that self-sacrifice is goodness and a person transition is from goodness into truth that you are a person. Followed by the third, post conventional stage, where the goal is learning the principle of non-violence. (Jorgenson, 2006) Cognitive Perspectives Adaptation From the cognitive perspective, one way of explaining morality is by using evolution. From this viewpoint it is argued that more altruistic behavior was (in our ancestry) more beneficial than selfish behavior, which increased fitness for the non-selfish competing homo-sapiens. This would indeed allow more success than selfish behavior (Gintis, Henrich, Bowles, Boyd, Fehr, 2008). When it comes to surviving, it is of course easier to work as a group. This goes along well with the discussion that took place in Intro to Cognition class about whether or not there is truly a genuine altruistic act. In this particular case, the homo-sapiens that are less selfish are more altruistic, however, they are acting in their best interest. So it really depends on how one defines altruism. If altruism is defined by a person receiving zero benefit from a selfless act, then defending true altruism is quite difficult. It could be argued that a seemingly selfless act always provides a reward to an organ ism, whether it is internal or external. If the reward is not material, then it could be in the form of, for lack of better terms, a warm cozy feeling. Anonymity Discounting morality as an adaptation, Price explains being charitable to strangers as a carry over from our Pleistocene ancestors. In the past we encountered few strangers and our Pleistocene brains confused strangers with acquaintances and even kin. Furthermore, Price believes we act ethically under anonymous conditions, because anonymity was rare in our hunter-gatherer times. With anonymity being so rare, our stone-age brains never really act as if we are not being closely watched and socially evaluated (as cited in Gintis, Henrich, Bowles, Boyd, Fehr, 2008). It seems that we always think we are on stage even though we are not. Group survival One may argue that genuine altruism exists, but consider that an altruistic act, which may be costly to an individual may benefit the survival of a group (Gintis, Henrich, Bowles, Boyd, Fehr, 2008). Benefiting the group also benefits the individual that acted altruistically. So is this true altruism? Could our morality be based off of cognitive processes that are just a long run of our own self interest (Dawkins, 1989)? This further highlights the evolutionary advantages of morality. Taking the perspective that humans are purely survival machines, it is clear that ones self-interest is best preserved when being a team player. As R.D. Alexander put it in The Biology of Moral Systems, ethics, morality, human conduct, and the human psyche are to be understood only if societies are seen as collections of individuals seeking their own self-interest (as cited in, Gintis, Henrich, Bowles, Boyd, Fehr, 2008). Saving yourself vs. others To further show the evolutionary ingrained self-interest to act morally, a study by Moore, Clark, and Kane (2008), accurately predicted that killing to save oneself and other people would be more acceptable than killing to save only other people. When the situation called for inflicting harm to save only others, the harm was considered especially inappropriate. However, when the situation called for saving themselves and others, the harm was particularly appropriate. Factors such as personal or impersonal nature of inflicted harm, the benefit to the agent, the inevitability of victims deaths, and individual differences in Working-Memory-Capacity were all factors taken into account with this study. Emotion and Cognition Both emotion and cognition are at play with moral judgment, but it is still unclear as to how they interact. One view suggests that even though emotion and cognition operate together, they are dependent on largely separable neural systems. This is best seen when looking at difficult moral decisions associated with response conflict, leading to a competition between the limbic (emotional) and cognitive brain regions. In this scenario, automatic emotional responses must be suppressed by rational (cognitive) top-down processes so that better decisions can be made (Moll, de Oliveira-Souza, Zahn, 2008). Cause and Effect A way to look at the cognitive perspective of morality is based off of influence and consequence. People tend to make decisions based on the nature of the effect their actions will have on them. Moral judgment is said to be a cognitive process which is developed naturally. Cognitive scientists believe that the mind functions by means of heuristics-fast and frugal procedures for forming beliefs, reaching decisions, and performing actions (W. Armstrong, 14). Piaget states that morality is acquired through construction-actively thinking about multiple aspects of situations in which social conflicts arise and deriving new moral understandings. According to Lawrence Kohlberg, a strong follower of Piaget, the center of moral choice and feelings are based on the outcome of personal well being (Garcia, Solis p. 349). Kohlberg lays out six stages of moral development. In his book, Theories of Development, W.C. Crain summarizes Kohlbergs stages well. Collectively, in the six stages, a child co nceives right and wrong according to his authorities, then notices differentiating sides to issues and decides to pursue his own interest. As the child develops, he begins to absorb the societys values and expectations, and finally decides to adhere to the morals he thinks are accurate. This coincides with the beliefs that morality is both a learned and mental process. Brain Structures Morality is also said to be connected with brain structures and chemical reactions within the brain. These findings are mainly the result of the analysis and study of patients with changes in their social and moral behavior as a consequence of acquired brain injuries, as well as the study of normal and pathologic behaviors with structural and functional neuroimaging (Garcia, Solis p. 352). Lets go to the case of Phineas Gage. Gage was a railroad worker who had an accident on the job resulting in a rod piercing his brain and destroying his frontal lobes. Prior to his accident, Gage was well balanced, intelligent, and respectful. Afterwards, his friends described him as fitful, irreverent, and grossly profane, showing little deference for his fellows (Macmillan). The frontal lobe is believed to be the motor house for morality and cognition. According to researchers, any dysfunction in the frontal lobes of the brain shows a disassociation between social cognition and moral knowledge. Th e person no longer understands what morals are and how they affect his behavior. Research done by scientists at Harvard, Caltech, and the University of California concluded that there is a direct link between the neuro-anatomy of emotion and moral judgment. According to F. A. Von Hayek, humans do not directly perceive and respond. Instead, human perceptions, thoughts and actions are the result of internal transformations and computations that follow from processes repeatedly carried out by our minds (E. Gick). This belief associates with the dual process theory of moral judgment. Hayek supposes that we as individuals live in two worlds, a substantial one and phenomenal one. In our bodies, our minds are always processing new information. Our neurotransmitters, when excited by a stimuli, will send messages to our brain, which will in turn elicit a certain response. At times, a person can react one way when enticed by a stimulus, and a completely different way when enticed by that same stimuli in a different environment. Conclusion Both the learning and cognitive perspectives bring great arguments to the table; however, our group believes that the cognitive perspective wins out with more supporting scientific evidence. There is an obvious interplay between both perspectives. You must have a predisposing for moral development but you also must have an aspect of social learning involved. We have reasoned that people act morally by socially learning from their family, peers and other environmental factors, nevertheless, morality is ingrained in our brain. There are no morals without a place to put them. With that in mind, organisms have evolved into moral beings because it is beneficial to the person; making altruistic acts nonexistent. Another reason we believe the cognitive perspective to be stronger is because of the anatomy of the brain. Damage to the frontal lobes will change cognition, specifically moral cognition. Also, in general moral development is a cognitive process, led by the idea of heuristics. The social learning theory may explain morality in one aspect, but the organism still has to choose what they think (cognition) is moral behavior. Therefore, choosing the learning perspective as the strongest argument would be understandable and debatable, but without the cognitive backbone, morality would not exist.