ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Describe the practice setting of the social worker you shadowed.   * The field experience I was engaged in was a DUI class for those who seek help with alcohol and substance abuse. The social work of this setting offers services to understand the current point of clients and identify the directions to improve their behaviors.   * Compared to a traditional approach, this setting uses unique names of treatment stages, such as No Way-Not Now, Well Maybe, Getting Ready, I am Doing It, and The New Me, which helps to make the interaction more welcoming. There are various assessments for clients to keep them aware of the stage they are at and make sure that they are comfortable. Discussions also stimulate self-discovery, for example, the evaluation based on choosing a “wolf” to feed, while talking about cravings and temptations   * The agency promotes human rights, as well as social, economic, and environmental justice, by applying a broad perspective of change. It is accepted that a wide variety of theories, including self-efficacy expectations, health belief model, changes in environmental contingencies, and many others, can be used in the Prime Solutions program. The recognition of the diverse needs of clients contributes to justice.   * This setting was chosen because of my experience in overcoming substance abuse. I understand the challenges faced by clients and have a sincere desire to master my knowledge and skills to provide them with professional service. Discuss the social worker’s role and boundaries within the setting.   * The paramount role of the social worker in this setting is to act as a mentor to guide clients through change processes. Namely, guidance with self-evaluation, consciousness increase, emotional well-being, and relationships is necessary. For example, in terms of consciousness raiding, one of the sessions was devoted to discussing the context of temptations and cravings. Attention was paid to biology, social and economic factors, and also psychological triggers.   * One of the sessions focused on the use of a 3-2-1 support system that implies having some people to refer to in case of cravings. The more there are people to rely on, the higher the chances that a person would succeed. Among the interprofessional team members, there can be sponsors, counselors, psychotherapists, and so on. Also, friends and family members can be involved in support.   * In the DUI setting, the social work is limited by ethics and relationships with a client. While a social worker is expected to remain focused on the client’s situation, he or she cannot dictate how to behave and what to choose, which is especially important in conflict cases, when the client should master personal rationalization. The social worker cannot impose personal beliefs on clients.   * The engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation of
Competition has gone global and the market and industry dynamics have necessitated the need for companies to make concerted efforts streamlined towards ensuring that high-quality goods and services are offered in the market at competitive prices. This has necessitated the need to analyze the opportunities that exist in the market. A number of opportunities present themselves for exploitation by the Toyota Motor Corporation. These have been precipitated by the changing demographics in the car manufacturing industry. One opportunity that has presented itself to Toyota is the exploitation of the US market industry that has been hit by the recent economic crunch. A credit crunch has been used to refer to the situation in an economy where there is a decline in the supply of credit because, although the banks are less willing to lend, lending rates do not rise. The spiral effect is that the interest rates become infinitely high for the majority of the borrowers, which in effect makes it more difficult to fund investment decisions, which conversely slows down the economy, making it even harder for lenders to lend. This has negatively hit the US giant automaker – GM – thus leaving a rare opportunity for Toyota to avail its products at competitive prices. The second opportunity that is available for Toyota is the adoption of high-tech technology in its manufacturing practices. This can be exploited through the availing of green cars at competitive prices. In competitive advantage, technology can enhance customer satisfaction. Due to stiff competition in the motor industry, products must be availed to the customer not only in high quality but also at the right price. Toyota has effectively achieved a balance between the right price and high quality in customer satisfaction by adopting new and innovative technologies (Ulusoy, Özgür, Bilgiç, Payzin, and Kayla, 1998). Low production costs are products of innovative technologies that remain the driving factors behind Toyota’s wide presence in the motor industry market. This competitive advantage is well put by Jackson (2005) in stating that “The global body line meets Toyota’s acid test for new technology—lean, simple, and speedy in hat it has resulted in 50% fewer processes to weld the body together, 70% less investment to change over the line for a new vehicle, and 75% less time to go from launch to meeting Toyota’s high-quality targets”. This can easily be attained by the combination of active involvement in the managers in the whole process of technological adoption. “Operational changes alone do not yield expected benefits without a bundle which includes structural, managerial and cult
Introduction The focus is on presenting the business case to the client. This strategy aligns with the design requirements, developed as in the previous phase. The prototype for this phase is a blog post based on the design requirements and information collected from Bedrijfkracht. The target group for this product are — the visitors of Bedrijfkracht’s website, potential clients, current clients, and partners, as well as individuals interested in sustainable energy. In this stage, the product prototype is created, which is a blog post for Bedrijfkracht’s website, and the effectiveness of this communication tool is tested. The research completed in Phase 2 and 3 is used as the basis for the design and evaluation stage. Professional Product Prototype The Professional Product Prototype is created based on the design requirements and user stories from previous stages. The prototype can be found in the Appendix – it includes the blog post with the text and visual elements. This prototype does not include the changes made based on the feedback from target and test groups, and it is the initial blog post. The blog post is based on the suggestions from Bedrijfkracht’s employees and uses the company’s work objective as the basis, in accordance with the design requirement 1. The theme of the blog post is the use of green energy for homeowners, the benefits and obstacles that one might face, since Bedrijfkracht’s main offer is energy, as suggested by the employees. Additionally, some information about how the blog readers will benefit from Bedrijfkracht’s products and services. The blog post will fit with the corporate visual identity. It will include visual elements of green and white colors, which are used as the basis at Bedrijfkracht’s website. The blog post’s topic was chosen to address two key objectives – discuss the company’s values and mission and provide the reader with valuable information about the sustainability, which is one of the core values declared by Bedrijfkracht’s. Hence, the topic of the post is “Bedrijfkracht’s Commitment to Sustainability,” and the content includes some general information about sustainable energy, its history, and Bedrijfkracht’s work for supporting the use of renewable energy sources. The narrow topic of the blog post – energy sustainability, was chosen because of the design requirements and research completed in previous phases, which indicated that competitors chose to focus on specific themes in their blogs, instead of discussing energy and energy efficiency broadly. The call to action at the end of the blog post encourages the readers to use the “comments” section of the blog and share their experience. This call to action has two main objectives – encourage the two-way communication between Bedrijfkracht and the blog visitors, in accordance with the strategy of managing communication channels identified in the previous stages, where the dialog was found to be a crucial element of communications’ management. The second objective is to increase the interest o
History holds a lot in regard to various events that took place at different times and the experiences people went through. Some experiences are remembered for their benefits while others are committed to memory for the drawbacks associated with them. The US Militarism is a concept that is known for various things, both positive and negative. This piece of work will look at the concept of the US involvement in foreign wars and its effects on Asian women in the US and other parts of the world. Although these women faced a lot of negative treatment, they tried to fight back through resistance. Research shows that Asian war brides faced negative treatment in the United States of America as well as in their home country. In the United States, these women faced negativism in the form of cultural isolation, sexism as well as racism making their lives extremely uncomfortable. They were for example seen to be immoral and inferior. A critical issue involved evacuation from the West coast regions to detention camps under the observation of the military. This was extremely intimidating and painful since they did not find acceptance and solace in the place they moved to. Many people also faced imprisonment including the aged and the children. To cope with the situation the women opted to use some resistance which is perceived with some controversy with some taking their reaction as the women’s way (as per their culture) of dealing with problem situations while others take it as a pure form of resistance (Vo and Sciachitano Xiii). The Asian women suffered a lot from isolation and bad treatment and as a result of this; they had to learn on some survival tactics while in America. Some of the coping mechanisms adopted by the Asian women reflect some form of resistance, rather than just a passive-aggressive behavior. They include, looking for sources of financial and moral support for instance by formation of community groups that offered them with power through unity. Another way is disguised resistance where they behaved in a manner that deceived, that is, they tended to show good behavior and attitude towards their husbands as well as the American culture and the society at large whereas they did this in order to safeguard their opinions and desires. This resistance was therefore carried out in a manner that was not very visible, to those in power, and hence it was to the women advantage and a defense mechanism too (PBS 2009). From the above discussion, it is evident that the Asian war brides faced a lot of problems especially in the United States. A form of resistance is also observed in their attempt to making their lives bearable. Culturally, the Asian women are known to deal with problems in a passive-aggressive way but in this case, their reaction is seen as a form of resistance due to the specific actions they took as discussed above. It is also clear that the United States involvement in foreign wars had major impacts on the lives of many individuals. The Asian women suffered greatly in
Communities have often been active in the social life of the country (Chaskin, 2003). However, this activeness has a somewhat chaotic nature. I agree with such a viewpoint as I have already witnessed attempts of people in communities to take their stand. I also agree that community initiatives lack clear goals and aims. Therefore, it is rather difficult to evaluate these projects though the evaluation of the effectiveness of community initiatives could make the government as well as people aware of the great potential of such initiatives. One question persists, though. How to set clear goals? What strategies can be used to set goals? Notably, there are several examples of effective community initiatives (Kagotho & Gunn, 2005). A coalition of stakeholders was formed, and there are signs that the coalition can have a positive impact on the development of the community. However, I have concerns that the initiative will have insignificant success as it covers a lot of issues. There are odds that some groups will still try to gain profits at the expense of people’s wellbeing. One of the questions here: How to make any abuse impossible? It is essential to have deeper connections and effective tools to be able to affect the process of decision-making. One of these tools is the extensive use of media. Dorfman and Gonzalez (2012) claim that this is an effective approach that can make community initiatives effective. Admittedly, the use of social networks, creating the news, telling stories can raise people’s awareness of an issue. Thus, the issue of a single neighborhood can acquire the attention of the entire nation. Though there is still a question as there is an abundance of information online, and lots of stories can be unnoticed. Which are the most effective strategies which can ensure the support of all stakeholders? Reference List Chaskin, R.J. (2003). The challenge of two-tiered evaluation in community initiatives. Journal of Community Practice , 11(1), 61-83. Dorfman, L., & Gonzalez, P. (2012). Media advocacy: A strategy for helping communities change policy. In M. Minkler (Ed.), Community organizing and community building for health and welfare (pp. 407-423). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Kagotho, K.N., & Gunn, G. (2005). The Missouri-Kansas asset-building coalition and policy project: An initiative in cross-state policy making for wealth building. Web.
Introduction In recent years, Al Qaeda and the Taliban have become the new face of terrorists in the Arab world. The two groups are known for their extreme Islamic ideologies. The two groups are known to be the cause of the civil war in Afghanistan and along the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The two groups were formed at different times but have existed as one terrorist group with a common goal. Although a common man may hold such perception, the two groups were established to achieve different goals. It is important to note that the Taliban and Al Qaeda were formed by Mohammad Omar and Osama bin Laden respectively. The two leaders are ideologically different, as can be asserted below. In this respect, the western countries have lived to believe that the relationship between the two factions was unprecedented (Byman, 2005). Ideological differences First, the Taliban is composed of Islamic students and conservatives who have an interest in leadership in Afghanistan. Considering that the Afghanistan population is comprised of several clans, the Taliban is made up of a clan with a Pashtun identity. The Taliban has been in existence, in a mission to control the country’s leadership by using the Sharia law. At one point, the Taliban ruled the country from the year 1996 to 2001 (Byman, 2005). On the other hand, Al Qaeda is comprised of Sunnis, who are known to be Islam extremists. Although Al Qaeda wants to control the governance of the country, its main interest is Islamic leadership in any government. AL Qaeda interest transcends beyond the borders of Afghanista
The utility of the Functional Behavioral Assessment The use of the Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) has a series of benefits opposing to other methods. The principal strength of this method resides in the fact that it is focused on determining the motives of a particular behavior. As a result, a psychologist is enabled to resolve the problem by eliminating its cause. It is critical to note that this method has numerous advantages comparing to the “old school” methods that emphasized the form of behavior. Therefore, form-focused approaches would not allow resolving the problem completely as they analyzed the outcomes rather than the underpinning reasons. Another “old school” method – topography – was also inefficient in comparison to the FBA. Thus, the former registered actual behavior without examining the factors that provoked it. In the meantime, practice shows that similar behavior expressions can be motivated by different conditions; therefore, they need to be addressed differently (Cooper, Heron, & Howard, 2007). The implementation of the FBA has been widely studied throughout the past decades. Thus, the problem was first addressed by Peterson, Bijou, and Ault, who focused on the significance of the motivation that determines a person’s behavior. The problem was further studied in 70-s and 80-s, and the importance of “function” became undoubted. One of the most significant contributions to the study of the FBA method was performed by Carr, who carried out a series of relevant studies aimed at testing the efficacy of the FBA approach (Steege & Watson, 2009). It is also critical to note that the term, as well as the relevant approach, became widely applied only after this method was elucidated in the Public-Law 105-17. Before that, psychologists and practitioners would use some of its basic concepts, but the term would seldom be applied (Steege & Watson, 2009). Motivative Operations Motivative operations constitute the basis of the FBA concept. Thus, they represent the factors that determine a person’s behavior in different ways. The relevant term is normally applied to such factors that either strengthen or weaken the potential effectiveness of a particular consequence (Cooper, Heron, & Howard, 2007). There are various types of motivative, or the so-called “motivating” operations, among which, it is essential to point out establishing operations and discriminative stimuli. Thus, the former refers to those factors that influence one’s motivation to perform a particular action (Cooper, Heron, & Howard, 2007). For example, a person is more likely to enjoy a walk in a park, in case he or she has previously spent a lot of time indoors. The latter, in its turn, describes the response provided immediately after the behavioral performance (Cooper, Heron, & Howard, 2007). Hence, people often refuse to obey essentially after they hear a command. It is also critical to distinguish between conditioned and unconditioned motivating oper
Argentinean author Jorge Luis Borges’ short stories delve fearlessly into the realm of the fantastic, while never losing sight of the most basic questions that have concerned human beings since the origins of literature – what is reality? What is humanity? What does it mean to be alive? The author appears especially fascinated with the insight offered by dreams as a method of unraveling the fabric of reality and performing a revelatory function for the dreamer. A common theme of Borges – explored liberally in the short story The Circular Ruins – is the bursting of assumptions concerning one’s core nature. Another common theme that the short story The Library of Babel illuminates is the quintessential nature of the universe itself. This essay continues the study of Borges with emphasis on these two stories, the theme of dreams and the nature of reality, and the author’s speculative fiction as well as his assertions as to what makes us human. In The Circular Ruins Borges introduces the reader to a silent “gray” man who sets up camp near some prehistoric circular ruins and begins his work (Borges 45). Borges explains that the “purpose which guided him was not impossible, though supernatural. He wanted to dream a man; he wanted to dream him in minute entirety and impose him on reality” (Borges 46). Immediately the reader is full of questions yet compelled to continue reading without receiving any answers. Borges’ style of writing is so simple and so direct that the outlandish task the gray man chooses for himself seems almost plausible. Unfortunately, almost immediately the mysterious gray man encounters a bout of protracted insomnia which interferes with his creative endeavor. The gray man then undertakes a ritualistic approach under the watchful eye of the full moon, finally falling asleep and dreaming of a human heart. “He dreamed that it was warm, secret, about the size of a clenched fist, and of a garnet color within the penumbra of a human body as yet without face or sex” (Borges 48). Slowly over multiple dreams the gray man forms the whole man, though he continues to be haunted by a feeling of déja vu. Years pass, and the gray man learns of a man who can walk through fire unharmed. Knowing it is his son, the gray walks into the fire himself, not wanting to humiliate his offspring with the knowledge that he is someone else’s imaginings. Yet when the fire has no effect on his flesh, he learns that he too has been dreamed, and his memory erased. Critic Pérez understands the gray man’s activities in The Circular Ruins as suggestive of the “situation of the writer and process of creating a text. As the author struggles to “procreate” or “give birth” to the characters, some are discarded and others developed, and eventually the finished product appears. The result, in some instances, is a reflection of the author who in turn has a similar parallel relationship with his God…who,
Introduction The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have necessitated the separation of families as military troops are deployed to the two regions. Marines and soldiers are the main troops that have been representing the land force in the two wars. This has put a demand on the military families to support their kin when they are in these wars. However, the effects of the wars have been felt by the nationals of the warring regions as well as the families of the troops fighting in the war. Thesis statement The deployment of military troops to Iraq and Afghanistan to fight has resulted in unprecedented stress on both the troops and their families. Thesis During the time that Iraq has been at war, there have been about 513,000 soldiers on active duty deployed to serve in the region. Among these,
Figure 1. Chicago, 1930s (Chicago Architectural Photography Company). Tribune Tower, which was designed in the 1920s by John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood, is one of the clear examples of works of the first Chicago School of architecture known for being a pioneer in the development of skyscrapers. The construction of such buildings marked the beginning of the industrial era in the United States. The need for new technologies was conditional upon the previous experience of architects related to the destruction of the city by Chicago fire of 1871. It also reflected the need for a new approach towards the living space people use. Therefore, the buildings were planned to be functional and safe for people. The idea of usefulness and safety was further developed by other architects and shaped the city one can see today. Figure 2. Map of Campus and the Neighborhood, 1969 (Skidmore and Netsch). The map of campus and the neighborhood of University of Illinois at Chicago Circle was made by architects Owings and Merrill Skidmore in 1969. The construction plan of the campus contributes to the idea of external simplicity of the buildings. This concept was popular among the architects and engineers of the first Chicago School of architecture. It was conditional upon the need for functionality in the future buildings. As a rule, all the decorations and ornamentations of these buildings were inside the rooms, not on the facades. The same applies to this campus plan, which is defined by straight lines and functional location of all the necessary premises. Figure 3. Jack Knife Bridge in Raised Position Over the Chicago River, Dark Exposure (Chicago Daily News, Inc., photographer). The inventions of the first Chicago School of architecture were not limited to the construction of skyscrapers. The use of m