The Social Construction of Difference

Introduction Social constructionist inquiry is concerned with explaining the processes by which people come to describe, explain, or account for the world in which they inhabit. Social constructionist attempts to articulate common forms of understanding as they currently exist, as they have existed in prior historical periods and generally, as they might exist should creative attention be so directed (Gergen and Gergen, 2003, p.15).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Social Construction of Difference specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In essence, what humans’ regards and take to be experience of the world does not in itself dictate the terms by which the world is understood neither does what is regarded to be knowledge of the world constitute a product of induction or of the building and testing of general hypotheses. The construction position suggests that the process of understanding is not automatically driven by the forces of nature but is the result of an active, cooperative enterprise of people in relationship. Social constructionism has evolved to become a theoretical orientation to socio-cultural processes that affect humans’ basic understandings of the world. In addition, the concept of social construction as evidenced in many literatures is fundamental to a social science approach to the analysis of social problems. Therefore, the goal of this essay will largely be to unpack the complexity of social life by employing techniques of observation and analysis using sociological perspectives. Understanding the concept of social construction A lot of literature has addressed the issue of social construction especially concerning social problems whereby different explanations have been forwarded. To this level, the dividing line in social construction specifically of problems has occurred in terms of definition, interpretation and explanation of a range of social issues (Sar aga, 1998). As a result, the basic dividing line between different social constructions is the distinction between the natural and the social whereby ideas and concepts about the natural basis of social arrangements or social problems are widespread. An example is given by Yen Le Espiritu (in Foner and Fredrickson, p. 219) on how various social groups have tried to define themselves through their racial identity, for instance, the Asian Americans including the Japanese, Chinese, Koreans and Filipinos joined hands to resist American imperialism and racism despite them having different political and economic ideologies.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This notion is echoed by Tehranian (2009, p. 67) while narrating on how historical grouping contributed to the creation of races, more so the creation of white-black American conflicts based on skin color. Many thoughts about the nat ural basis of society or of social problems within the society refer to a set of claims about the universal laws of biology or evolution that determine how people might behave. The ideas, in most instances, place an emphasis on competition, conflict, and struggles for the evolutionary success where they identify a range of attributes as the biological basis of human society, and usually insist that these are unchanging and unchangeable. The claim of this understanding is that natural, which are biological attributes emerge as explanations of social patterns hence biological differences between men and women are drawn upon to explain differences in social behavior or patterns of social inequality. The above analysis of natural in relation to social widens our understanding of distinctive type of social construction where the claim has been that, humans’ social world is formed and constrained by a variety of natural causes and conditions (Saraga, 1998). Emphasis on natural in t his form of social construction provides a strong claim to authority and truth by referring to a world of natural laws that appear as universal and immutable. As a result, many of the social constructions that refer to natural conditions or causes tend to warn against attempts to change or tamper with these natural laws. On the other hand, social interference is likely to have undesirable and unnatural impacts. Despite the existence of this distinction between ‘natural’ and ‘social’, both types of approach to social issues provide excellent examples of social construction and each provides a way into defining, interpreting and acting in the social world that humans inhabit (Saraga, 1998). Moreover, the two types provide a framework within which events, actions, and types of people become meaningful, which in turn gives people the opportunity to position themselves in relation to them. Social constructionism Social constructionism posits that anything in the world that possesses a meaning in people’s lives originates within â€Å"the matrix of relationships in which we are engaged† (Gergen and Gergen, 2000 cited in May and Mumby, 2005, p.35). The theory claims that meaning arises from social systems, and humans have no role of assigning such meaning. The conviction of the theory is that â€Å"humans derive knowledge of the world from the larger social discourses† which generally vary across time and place, which in turn represent and reinforce dominant belief systems (May and Mumby, 2005, p.35). At the same time, the theory â€Å"stress the significance of language to construction processes, including its ramifications for identify development† (Leeds-Hurwitz, 1995 cited in May and Mumby, 2005, p.35).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Social Construction of Difference specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More According to Hruby, social construc tionism strives to understand how humans create knowledge (cited in May and Mumby, 2005, p.36). Accordingly, the theory postulates that knowledge is an effect of social processes and humans construct the world through social practices. Social constructionism rejects the essentialist explanations that â€Å"certain phenomena are natural, inevitable, universal, and biologically determined† (DeLamater and Hyde, 2001 cited in May and Mumby, 2005, p.36). Social constructionism holds some assumptions that have guided how social world has been understood. The assumptions include: 1) there should be critical stance towards taken-for-granted ways of understanding the world, where the theory encourages people to be suspicious of how they understand the world and themselves. In this regard, the theory advises people to challenge categories of social identity such as gender and race because the categories do not reflect the real and necessary divisions (May and Mumby, 2005). In this case , questions need to be asked as to why people highlight and classify some aspects of personhood and not others. 2) All knowledge is historically and culturally specific where labels, classifications, denotations, and connotations of social identity in many cases constitute products of their times and that the outlined processes of constructing social identities depend greatly on social, political, and historical factors. In addition, humans depend on current ideologies to establish social identity categories and their meanings. 3) Social constructionism sustains knowledge, and uses language for purposes of reproducing knowledge as humans enact numerous roles within the various contexts. Further, language become essential in helping people to make sense of the world as it allows the people to share experiences and meaning with one another; lastly 4) social constructionism indicate that knowledge and social action are largely interconnected (May and Mumby, 2005). Essentialist perspect ive In 1970s, Saul Kripke and Hilary Putnam ignited a renaissance of essentialist thinking which rested on the understanding of meaning that relied heavily on the concepts of modality and possible worlds. For instance, this perspective by the two founders made many people to be convinced that water is basically H2O, tigers are generally animals, heat is solely molecular motion, material objects could not have been originally constituted differently from how they were originally constituted. In addition, an animal could not have originated from a different sperm and egg to the ones it actually originated from, and perhaps mind is not identical with the brain (Oderberg, 2007).Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Many writers have argued that essentialist group beliefs are central to racism. The different forms of racism presented such as racial and ethnic are natural, inevitable, and hence unchangeable. These categories in many instances are adopted to represent human types indicating that an individual is fundamentally a certain kind of person. In its nature, racism attempts to fix social groups in terms of essential, quasi-natural properties of belonging within particular political and social contexts (Verkuyten, 2005). Certain traits of mind, character, and temperament are usually considered to be an intrinsic part of an ethnic or racial group’s nature (Davis, 2001) and therefore give definition to ethnic or racial fate. More research done indicates that there are still traces of biological forms of essentialism, and contemporary discourses focus on culture (Verkuyten, 2005). For instance, Blum (2002) describes the belief in cultural inherentism among different groups as follows: â€Å"these people (Jews, whites, Asians) just are that way (stringy, racist, and studious): it is part of their culture† (Verkuyten, 2005, p.124). Other researches done on new or cultural racism show that the idea of fundamental and inherent cultural differences is used to exclude and abnormalize ethnic minority groups. Racism and Ethnicity Before exploring the concepts of race and ethnicity first, social construction is viewed as the way people make ‘reality’ of everyday happenings in their environment. People and groups interact together in a sort of social system form where over time the people provides definitions to â€Å"concepts or establish mental representations of each other’s actions, and these concepts after some time become habituated into reciprocal roles played by the actors in relation to each other† (Davis, 2001, p.1). James Davis, narrating an interview that was conducted by a blind, black anthropologist, he writes quoting the wor ds of the black anthropologist as, â€Å"I am not black and you are not black either, if you go by the evidence of your eyes† (Davis, 2001, p.1). From this statement, it becomes clear that construction of race is ambiguous. For instance, all white people do not look the same, there are situations it is becomes difficult to tell who is a black and who is a white, since many people who have been labeled black could as well qualify to be white due to their physical characteristics. However, Lee and bean (2004) reflect on the differences in identity that existed in American, whereby one was viewed as either black or white in respect that, if one was not a pure white, they were viewed as black regardless of their ethnicity. According to Gwaltney, (1980), â€Å"looks do not mean much the things that make us different is how we think, what we believe is important and the ways we look at life† (cited in Davis, 2001, p.1). According to Haney-Lopez (2006), ‘white’ a s a category of human identity and differences is an extremely intricate phenomenon since races are not biologically differentiated groupings but rather social constructions. Race is seen to exists alongside a multitude of social identies that shape and are themselves shaped by the way in which race is given meaning. Accordingly, people live race through class, religion, nationality, gender, sexual identity and so on. Like just other social categories race is highly contingent, specific to times, places and situations and as such being white or black turns to be where one is. The essence here is that, how is a person defined as a black, both socially and legally in countries such as United States of America. As a nation, the adoption of definition of who is black or white has been contentious in USA, for example, some individuals defined as blacks in essence could pass as white and vice versa. Who therefore has assumed the role of defining the race? In USA, the state and federal cou rts have determined and in partial capacity tried to define ‘whiteness’ and ‘blackness’. Haney-Lopez (2006) asserts that courts for a time in deciding racial prerequisite cases have generally relied on both rationales to justify their decisions. However, from 1909, the trend changed, and subsequently the Supreme Court decisions favored common knowledge a situation that demonstrated the court regarded the issue of race categorization to originate in social practices. On his part Richard Alba, observes that the racist caste system was sanctioned by the U.S.A Supreme Court in 1896 during the Plessy vs. Ferguson case, in which the court found out that, â€Å"separate but equal facilities met constitutional tests† (Alba, 2009). In December 1985, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reinforced a district’s court decision noting that no one could change the racial designation of his or her parents or anyone else’s (Davis, 2001). During the same period, the appellate court also affirmed the necessity of designating race o birth certificates for public health, affirmative action and other important public programs. Concluding about the role of law in race construction, Haney- Lopez observed that, â€Å"the operation of law does far more than merely legalize race; it defines as well the spectrum of domination and subordination that constitutes race relations† (Haney- Lopez, 2006, p.xxi). Apart from the courts other key institutions of social, political and economic have in their actions defined race. For instance, U.S.A Bureau of the Census enumerates blacks and I doing so does not provide any scientific definition but relies on one accepted by the public and by the courts (Davis, 2001). The Census Bureau in actual sense counts what the larger nation wants counted and although various operational instructions have been tried, the definition of black being used by the census reflects the nation’s cultural and le gal definition. As such, racism has operated at the macro level of the society and in its operation ha shifted away from a conscious personalized conviction of the inferiority of ‘another’ race. Such conviction has expressed itself in attitudes of prejudice and acted out in discriminatory behavior and thereafter follows social practices that become depersonalized through institutionalization. Over time, prejudice may decrease but patterns of discrimination may persist supported by the inertia of custom, bureaucratic procedure, impersonal routine and also the law. Obama as a Black president The issue of race and how it is perceived in society differently came to the forefront during Barrack Obama’s quest for president. There are those who saw him as ‘white’ since he belongs to the educated elite, others postulated he was a black due to his originality to a black father, while others were convinced that Barrack was a multiracial. According to Lee and B ean (2004), the impression that people are racially defined by their color may not hold water as it may propel some people to classify the Blacks as a racial group, while others recognizing Latinos and Asian Americans as white. Writing such as, â€Å"is Barrack Black/White enough† filled newspapers and other media sources. People question and investigated his identity; but to Barrack, the issue of race identity as he narrates in his book, â€Å"Dreams of my father† has preoccupied his minds, he candidly says that questions such as, who am I, confronted him a lot. Obama was born to an American mother and an African father before spending his childhood in Hawaii not forgetting that he was in Indonesia for about four years. However, how is Barrack race issue constructed? In 2009, the National Association of Black Journalist, in their article titled, ‘Acting White: Is Obama Black Enough?’ asked whether Obama was an African America. To them Obama did not portra y the physical and intellectual experiences of black people, Obama’s ‘degree of blackness’ was questionable, Obama’s characteristics and behaviors were totally different of those Africans, and that Obama was highly-educated, self-responsible and overachieving a rare element in most Africans. Therefore, their conclusion was that Obama was not an ‘African enough’. On the other hand, there are those who saw Obama as neither black nor white but multiracial (mulatto). Further, there are those who say Obama as totally An African, and articles such as, ‘Is America ready for a black president? ‘Between gender and race: which is more acceptable? Is America at crossroads: black or woman? All this statements represented one thing, that Obama was an African America. But narrating in his book, ‘Dreams from My Father, Obama writes that, â€Å"I learned to slip back and forth between my black and white worlds, it is an interior journal foc used on a boy’s search for his father, and through that search a workable meaning for his life as a black American† (cited in Harris, 2010, p.132). As later, Obama would be asked, in which category he belongs to, Obama candidly answered, â€Å"both† (Harris, 2010, p.132). What is evident is that before Obama wrote this book, he did not see his life as a representative of either the black experience or the American experience, but towards elections in 2008, this perception changed and Obama felt that his identity was representative of both. Obama’s case shows how the issue of race/identity is fluid where he is able to accept his identity as an African American, American and multiracial. This circumstance shows how the issue of race changes with time, political expediency and even cultural orientation. As it was evident, Obama would fit in both categories comfortably depending on time, circumstance, or political situation. Therefore, the way race is able to change and modify indicates that as a social constructed phenomenon it disqualifies to be biological. Haney Lopez, writing in ‘The Social Construction of Race’ says that the concept of race categorization is a social construct whereby it occurs because of human interaction and not as a natural differentiation. Analyzing Lopez’s position, it can be deduced that, race is a social construction since people as social beings participate in interaction and through it; they are able to construct its abstract significance (cited in Howard, n.d, p.1). Lopez therefore advices that due to the volatility in the definition of race, the same should not form the basis of trying to provide the classes into which human beings fall. Conclusion Today, different theories and approaches exist used to address the modern world social problems, patterns of social differentiation and organization of social welfare. Of note is the fact that all these approaches have to operate in a social world in which meaning of things shape how people act. What is evident is that, people and not nature create and conform to the different identities created, such as racial and ethnicity, and as created categories in society, they have a cultural and historical origin. They are in essence social and not biological in nature. This assumption does not mean that they do not exist but they are live and health in modern society and in understanding them it is wise to investigate them from the perspective of cultural and social interaction than from the biological perspective. References Alba, R. D. (2009). Blurring the color line: the new chance for a more integrated America. NY, Harvard University Press. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=AUiVwEe6Xv4Cpg=PA285dq=America%27s+Changing+Color+lines,hl=enei=DhykTN-hNcyZ4AaWuNnIDQsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepageq=America%27s%20Changing%20Color%20lines%2Cf=false Davis, F. J. (2001). Who is black? One na tion’s definition. PA, Penn State Press. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=9d9FC-gcWaACpg=PA222dq=Who+is+Black%3F+F.+James+Davishl=enei=rCSTTOb7GtPi4ga6grzTBAsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepageq=Who%20is%20Black%3F%20F.%20James%20Davisf=false. Espiritu, Y. L. Asian american panethnicity: Contemporary national and transnational possibilities, in Foner, N and Fredrickson, G. M. (2005). Not Just Black and White: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Immigration, Race, and Ethnicity in the United States. NY, Russell Sage Foundation. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=uHmccaV4MuACpg=PA217dq=Asian+american+panethnicity:+Contemporary+national+and+transnational+possibilitieshl=enei=53qoTP7kL8uUOrKw2LYMsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepageq=Asian%20american%20panethnicity%3A%20Contemporary%20national%20and%20transnational%20possibilitiesf=false. Gergen, K. J. and Gergen, M. M. (2003). Social construction: a reader. CA, SAGE. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=eKgEoZNjr1QCprintsec=frontcoverdq=the+social+constructionhl=enei=FOaRTKW8M4qN4Qb40PmWBAsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=2ved=0CC4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepageqf=false. Haney-Là ³pez, I. (2006). White by law: the legal construction of race. NY, NYU Press. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=gxYqorjC4gUCpg=PR21dq=%27race%27+and+the+construction+of+Human+identity,hl=enei=jxmkTNGNH4n_4AaWoqj_DAsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=3ved=0CDIQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepageq=%27race%27%20and%20the%20construction%20of%20Human%20identity%2Cf=false Harris, H. E. (2010). The Obama Effect: Multidisciplinary Renderings of the 2008 Campaign. NY, SUNY Press. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=XyUdS8NzDQACpg=PA132dq=Obama+as+blackhl=enei=STmnTLDuNJXP4AaMsbCoDQsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=2ved=0CCkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepageq=Obama%20as%20blackf=false Howard, J. (N.d). On the Social Construction of Race. The Occidental Quarterly Online. Retrieved from http://www.toqonline.com/2010/06/on-the-social-construction-of-race-2/ Lee, J. and Bean, F. (2004). Immigration, Race/Ethnicity, and Multiracial Identification. Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 30 pg. 221. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0sid=5srchmode=1vinst=PRODfmt=3startpage=-1vname=PQDdid=691458491scaling=FULLpmid=18604vtype=PQDfileinfoindex=%2Fshare3%2Fpqimage%2Fpqirs101v%2F20101003084130759%2F20023%2Fout.pdfsource=%24sourcerqt=309TS=1286109693clientId=29440 May, S. and Mumby, D. K. (2005). Engaging organizational communication theory research: multiple perspectives. CA, SAGE. Oderberg, D. S. (2007). Real essentialism. NY, Routledge. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=gO_40ZwgdkMCpg=PA21dq=essentialisthl=enei=5hGSTPKHJ4aROJqIofoGsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=2ved=0CCoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepageq=essentialistf=false. Saraga, E. (1998). Embodying the social: constructions of difference. NY, Routledge. Retrieved from http://books.google.c om/books?id=kEkbPIX-mxkCprintsec=frontcoverdq=the+social+construction+of+differencehl=enei=78uRTPGMBc614AbGvfjYAwsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=7ved=0CEcQ6AEwBg#v=onepageq=the%20social%20construction%20of%20differencef=false. Tehranian, J. (2009). Whitewashed: America’s invisible Middle Eastern minority. NY, NYU Press. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=OCI5SvjKRw8Cpg=PA64dq=from+friendly+foreigner+to+enemy+race:+selective+racialization,+coveringhl=enei=DYaoTOHlBYyZOvHMxY8Msa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepageq=from%20friendly%20foreigner%20to%20enemy%20race%3A%20selective%20racialization%2C%20coveringf=false. Verkuyten, M. (2005). The social psychology of ethnic identity. NY, Routledge. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=GzpkIa0U6bYCpg=PA126dq=essentialisthl=enei=5hGSTPKHJ4aROJqIofoGsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=3ved=0CC8Q6AEwAg#v=onepageq=essentialistf=false. 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Halloween essays Trick or treat, scream children on October 31. Trick or treat, what is does that mean? Halloween has not always been about handing out candy and playing jokes on people. In fact, Halloween has changed in numerous ways over the years. Halloween first originated from a Celtic fire festival called Samhain, or summers end, that represented the New Year beginning on November 1. The Celts believed that when a person died they went to Tirnan Og, the land of eternal youth and happiness. The Celts believed that turning points, such as the turning of one year into the next, were magical events. The Celts believed that time and space came to a halt, during Samhain, thus allowing the dead to mix with the living. With this belief, the still-living, not wanting to be possessed, put out fires in their homes. This would make their house undesirable to the spirit. The extinguishing of the hearth fires symbolized the dark half of the year. The re-kindling from the Druidic fire was symbolic of the returning life that was hoped for in the spring. (Rupert, 2004) There are many inaccurate Christian teachings about Halloween and the Celts. For instance, Christian literature teaches us that Samhain was the Celtic God of the dead that was worshipped by the Druids with dreadful bloody sacrifices at Halloween. When in fact, Samhain was not a god and is defined in McBains Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language says that Samhain means summers end. Many Christian organizations teach that Halloween originated as a satanic festival, which has yet to be backed up with evidence. There is also no evidence that the Celts ever dressed in costumes on Halloween. There were many significant changes in the middle ages that made Halloween that way it is now. When the Romans conquered Celtic lands in the first century A.D., there were drastic changes to fire festival. ...

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(2002) carried out another review of the literature to look into different meanings of spirituality and religiosity and identified seven themes highlighting how spirituality is defined in health literature including: (1) tran scendence or connectedness to a belief or higher being; (2) existential, not of the material world; (3) relationship to God, a spiritual being, a higher power, or a reality greater than oneself; (4) not of the self; (5) a life force of the person, integrating aspect of the person; (6) meaning and purpose in life; and (7) summative, including definitions that included many of the abovementioned themes, as well as values and motivations. Furthermore, McSherry and Cash (2004) also carried out another review to look into the different definitions of spirituality and concluded that it would appear that there is no such thing as a universal definition of spirituality and the theoretical probability of creating one is virtually impossible. Given that Unruh et al. (2002) and McSherry and Cash (2004) carried out an exhaustive review of the available definitions of spirituality, it is not relevant to undertake another review of how spirituality is defined in my study. However, for the purpose of this thesis three principles for considering an appropriate definition of spirituality have been adopted. These principles were originally identified by Spilka (1993) and allow for an individual, multidimensional and subjective operationalization of spirituality. Hill et al. (2000) summarized these principles as follows: (1) spirituality as grounded in a belief in a higher being (i.e. God), which considers spirituality to be relevant to the thoughts and practices that underpin theologies either broadly or narrowly defined; (2) spirituality as grounded in self-fulfilment, a conceptualization of spirituality that focuses on human achievement or potential; and (3) spirituality as grounded in the connecting of oneself to a larger â₠¬Ëœsystem’, which focuses on one’s relationships with the broader reference group, nature or ecology. Although these are not definitions of spirituality per se, each of them offer a contemporary understanding of spirituality. In my thesis, a number of definitions of spirituality were identified and evaluated according to Spilka’s (1993) three principles. Considering the first principle, Pargament (1999a) describes spirituality as, â€Å"a search for the sacred (p.12)† whereas religion is â€Å"a search for significance in ways related to the sacred (p.12)†. According to Hill et al. (2000) the ‘sacred’ is an entity (e.g. God or Ultimate Being), object, principle or concept that transcends the self, that is, set apart from the ordinary and is worthy of worship. Operationalizing this definition, Pargament suggests that the self transcends through searching for the sacred. Hence, search for the sacred may not include an intermediate ‘sacred’ acts such as the pursuit of academic excellence, or the like as worthy of worship, or self-fulfillment and personal satisfaction (Pargament, 1999b). In this definition, Pargament suggests that spirituality is placed within the broader domain of religion suggesting that it can be influenced by the beliefs, values and principles of a specific religion. However, t his is challenging and asserts the difficulty in determining a universal definition of spirituality considering that there is no one universal religion practices throughout the world. The fact that different religious doctrines have adopted diverse and often competing religiosities may therefore render a universal definition of spirituality (Moberg, 2002). Moreover, placing spirituality within the domain of religion restricts research to a narrower and more traditional conceptualization of God (Stifoss-Hansen, 1999). Taking into consideration that there are various types of religions and that although the majority of UK’s population follow a more traditional Anglo-Celtic (e.g. Catholic) religious beliefs and practices (59% of the UK population is reported as being Christian) (UK Census, 2011), there are many who follow other religious beliefs and practices. Pargament’s definition of spirituality might not therefore be applicable to peoples following Islam, or peoples of a Dharmic (e.g. Buddhism) origins, for instance (McSherry and Cash, 2004). Hence, the ongoing use of Pargament’s definition of spirituality could be argued to be limited. Considering the second principle, Stifoss-Hansen (1999) provided a different definition of spirituality to that of Pargament. Stifoss-Hansen (1999) proposes that spirituality includesdifferent characteristics that are not in line with Pargament’s definition of spirituality. These characteristics include connectedness, authenticity, existentialism, meaning if life, holism and self and community, which are considered as aspects of an individual’s spirituality indicating that spirituality must be considered a broader, not a narrower, concept to religion. According to Stifoss-Hansen, â€Å"spirituality is people’s search for meaning, in relation to the big existential questions (p.28)†. Operationalizing this definition, it seems broader than that provided by Pargament and goes beyond the possibly narrow limitations of traditional religion. Yet, there remains a question whether searching for existentialism can result in one living a spiritual life. Pargament (1999a) debates that it may might and also it may not. For Pargament, finding meaning in life, which might be considered as part of existentialism, is not spiritual in nature or complexity. Further consideration of Stifoss-Hansen’s definition of existentialist spirituality suggests that one seeks to know the self, free from beliefs, feelings and identities or labels created upon fear of losing one’s physical and psychological identities (Ho and Ho, 2007). Seeking the self has a higher degree of complexity and may therefore require a lifetime dedication and self-discipline to master (if mastering the pursuit is, truly, possible) (Hamel et al., 2003). Hill et al. (2000) offered another definition of spirituality adopting Pargament’s definition as a foundation. Hill and his colleagues stated that spirituality is â€Å"thoughts, feelings and behaviours that arise from a search for the sacred (p.66)†. They even developed a criterion for considering Pargament’s definition of spirituality. According to Hill et al., â€Å"the term ‘search’ refers to the attempts to identify, articulate, maintain, or transform while the term ‘sacred’ refers to the divine being, divine object, Ultimate Reality, or Ultimate Truth as perceived by the individual (p.66)†. Opposing to Pargament’s definition, Hill et al. suggest that even though an individual’s spirituality can be expressed through religion, it does not essentially need the institution of religion. In this definition, Hill et al. (2000) consider the role of a Being or Purpose that is superior to the individual; namely the Trans cendent which might or might not involve God as the Higher Being. One’s Higher Being or Purpose may be placed within or beyond the individual, or that the transcendent may be external to the individual, a recognition of something more superior to the individual (Mahoney and Pargament, 2004). With regards to the third principle identified by Spilka (1993): spirituality as grounded in the connecting of oneself to a larger ‘system’, Reed (1992) offered a definition of spirituality that focuses more on the individual relationships with self, others, nature and a power greater than the self. According to Reed: ‘‘Specifically spirituality refers to the propensity to make meaning through a sense relatedness to dimensions that transcend the self in such a way that empowers and does not devalue the individual. This relatedness may be experienced intrapersonally (as a connectedness within oneself), interpersonally (in the context of others and the natural environment) and transpersonally (referring to a sense of relatedness to the unseen, God, or power greater than the self and ordinary source (p.350)†. In this definition it appears that spirituality is firmly centered on interpersonal relationships and the community; where nature or the environment has a central role in one’s experience of spirituality. Contrary to some other definitions of spirituality offered, the one offered by Reed suggests that one can only know who they are after they have achieved connectedness with others, not independence (Tacey, 2003; Hamel et al., 2003). Considering Reed’s definition of spirituality further, by its very nature, it appears to be holistic. It demonstrates that spirituality means an awareness of oneself and our relationships with everything that is not the self (Meehan, 2002). It highlights that individuals seeking spirituality must identify, understand and value the essential socio-spiritual fabric connecting them with all others and nature (Fraser and Grootenboer, 2004). Such a definition of spirituality implicitly takes into account a level of awareness that is post-convent ional in orientation. Reviewing each definition of spirituality presented so far, if spirituality is considered as a universal phenomenon relevant to all persons (Helminiak, 2008), then it is critical that research arrives at a universal definition of spirituality. However, it appears that there are different perspectives to what spirituality ‘is’ and, thus, in my thesis I adopted the definition that was developed during the European Association for Palliative Care Congress in Vienna with the aim of identifying one definition of spirituality in Europe. According to Nolan et al. (2011): â€Å"Spirituality is the dynamic dimension of human life that relates to the way persons (individual and community) experience, express and/or seek meaning, purpose and transcendence, and the way they connect to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, to the significant and/or the sacred (p.88)†. This definition of spirituality agrees with the three principles highlighted by Spilka (1993) and are in line -in part- with the other definitions; however it is more comprehensive. This definition is also in line with the spiritual well-being framework identified by Fisher (1998) which states that spiritual well-being is not limited to only religious or spiritual behaviours (e.g. belief in God, reading the Bible, church attendance, or praying) and experiences, but extends to the affirmation of life in relationships with oneself (personal), others (communal), nature (environment), and God (transcendental others). Given that it could be argued that while no one definition of spirituality is possible, Nolan et al.’s (2011) definition of spirituality is used as a working definition of spirituality in my study to find out whether the definitions of spirituality offered by participants fits with this definition and to find out how participants in my study viewed spirituality and how it links to their well-being. The next section now moves on to present the literature review aims and questions.

We Must Make Changes in AIDS Education :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

We Must Make Changes in AIDS Education Due to the fervent efforts of health educators, young people today have a very intimate knowledge of HIV and AIDS. These students were born in the early eighties at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. Teachers guided students through years of health classes in their junior high and high school years and informed students about the destructive nature of the AIDS virus and ways in which it can and cannot be contracted. Health educators made sure that students were well-informed about HIV and presented the topic as being gender neutral. Although pop culture and the media claimed that homosexual males were responsible for the epidemic, this idea was never presented in the classroom. Though I am grateful for this aspect of AIDS education, it seems that there was an important aspect missing from the curriculum: the more numerous negative effects that the disease has for women. Health education needs to present the effects of AIDS to women and encourage them to be more concerned about contr acting and living with the disease. In spite of this need for reform, however, health educators may feel uneasy about changing their curriculum and argue that there are a number of reasons to keep HIV and AIDS curriculum the same. One reason that they might have for maintaining the current curriculum is that they fear that presenting HIV as more of a woman’s issue could decrease awareness of the disease in men. However, this probably will not happen. Many people, though not necessarily health educators, already view HIV as more of a man’s disease. In fact, according to Allen E. Carrier of Aids Project Los Angeles, gay men aged 17-24 are at a very high risk for HIV infection and realize the dangers of unsafe sex but continue to engage in high-risk behavior (DeNoon "National"). In other words, most men are aware and informed but some are choosing to ignore some of the education that they received. In reality, men need to make as many changes as women in order to stop the AIDS epidemic. Peter Piot, the execu tive director of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, says that "[m]en have a crucial role to play in bringing about this radical change" (Henderson). Therefore, the new AIDS curriculum would be encouraging both men and women to change their attitudes and actions in order to bring about changes.