The Nature of Faith Essay -- Psychology Religion Papers

The Nature of Faith Faith is an essential aspect of religious experience. Events can often be understood by some people as aesthetic or pleasant [1] rather than religious because their frame of reference rejects the spiritual connection for a more temporal one. However, of course, there are experiences that people have that by-pass any effort on their part to explain them naturally and clearly demonstrate a spiritual situation. One British scholar described his experience, like those of many others, that convinced him of the reality of God. He had "no religion," no "real sense of personal relationship to God." He went for a walk alone one day, without particular thoughts or intentions, when he "became conscious of the presence of someone else" and realized a feeling that the "being of God" surrounded him. "It was no longer a matter of inference, it was an immediate act of spiritual... apprehension." The experience changed his whole perspective of the world and himself. "I had not found God because I had never looked for him. But he had found me; he had, I could not but believe, made himself personal to me" [2]. The man could interpret this experience because faith had been "awakened" or become functionally directed in him. Some people, and many psychologists, deem faith to be something akin to wishful thinking. The great philosopher-psychologist William James defined faith as a "belief in something concerning which doubt is still theoretically possible," that the believer acts in faith by taking steps which are not guaranteed to turn out as he thinks they should [3]. If faith is not wishful thinking, or acting in hope that the right thing will happen, then it is non-rational self-affirmation. "Religious assertions... r... ..., Publ., 1968. Bregman, Lucy. The Rediscovery of the Inner Experience. Chicago: Nelson Hall, 1982. Brown, L.B. The Psychology of Religion. London: SPCK, 1988. Miller, Ed. L. Believing in God: Readings on Faith and Reason. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1996. Otto, Rudolf. The Idea of the Holy: An Inquiry into the Non- Rational Factor in the Idea of the Divine and its Relation to the Rational. John W. Harvey (transl). London: Oxford University Press, 1970. Schleiermacher, Friedrich. On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers. John Oman (transl). New York: Harper and Brothers, Publ., 1958. Strunk, Orlo (ed). Readings in the Psychology of Religion. New York: Abingdon Press, 1959. Whittaker, John H. Matters of Faith and Matters of Principle: Religious Truth Claims and Their Logic. San Antonio, TX: Trinity University Press, 1981.

Gandhi Concept of Development

GANDHI’S WAY Decentralization According to Gandhi, modern civilization was responsible for impoverishing the Indian villages, which occupied a pivotal position in the Indian situation. Gandhi has always been a critic of the centralization of economic and political power. Large scale production inevitably led to concentration of economic and political power. Labor and material, production and distribution became the monopoly of the few rich. Such a concentration of economic power resulted in corresponding centralization of political power.Aldous Huxley, in his  Science,  Liberty  and  Peace, drew attention to this universal tendency of modern technology: â€Å"The centralizing of industrial capacity in big, mass-producing factories has resulted in the centralization of a large part of the population in cities and the reduction of ever-increasing numbers of individuals to complete dependence upon a few private capitalists and their managers, or upon the public capitalis t, the state, represented by politicians and working through civil servants.So far as liberty is concerned, there is little to choose between the two types of bosses. â€Å"14   One of the recurring themes in the writings and pronouncements of Gandhi is this centralizing tendency of technology: â€Å"I want the concentration of wealth, not in the hands of few but in the hands of all. Today machinery merely helps a few to ride on the backs of millions. â€Å"15  Again he said, â€Å"What is industrialism but a control of the majority by the small minority? â€Å"16   The solution to the problem of centralization consists in decentralization of political and economic power.Small-scale, manageable techniques, capable of being handled by individual producers, the co-operatives in the villages or the region should be given priority and promoted on a mass scale for the benefit of the masses. Gandhi, though judged wrongly by many, was not advocating a return to medieval techniqu es. He vehemently opposed the indiscriminate multiplication of large-scale industries which obstructed village development. He wanted technological research to be village-oriented, perfecting the cottage and village industries. When every village should be able to own its own technology, economic power will be diffused and the illage will emerge in the Gandhian scheme as the nucleus of social life. Decentralization of economic power will result in the decentralization of political power. Modern technology will no more be in a position to exploit the village. A proper balance between agriculture and industry will be established and, in due course, the village will exert a transformative influence. Production will be regulated by the needs of the village. Pyarelal has very lucidly described this relationship: Agriculture in this set-up will go hand in hand with industry.Such products of the village, as they enter into the daily consumption of the villagers or as they are needed for th eir cottage crafts, will be processed in the village itself; the surplus alone being sent out to the cities in exchange for services and goods on a fair and equitable basis. Cities will serve as emporia for village products instead of the villages being used as a dumping ground for the manufactured goods of the cities. Machines will not be abolished. On the contrary, the people will have many more of them. But these machines will be simple machines which the people can themselves operate and own individually or collectively. 7 This relationship between agriculture and industry, village and city, will stop exploitation and bring self-sufficiency. For him it was imperative that sufficiency should start from below, i. e. , from the village and then upward to the regional level. In Gandhi’s own words: My idea of village  Swaraj  is that it is a complete republic, independent of its neighbors for its own vital wants, and yet interdependent for many others which dependence is a necessity. Thus, every village’s first concern will be to grow its own food and cotton for its cloth. It should have a reserve for its cattle.Then, if there is more land available, it will grow useful money crops, thus excluding ganja, tobacco, opium and the like. 18 His village is self-sufficient in vital wants, but interdependent in many other spheres. Interdependence, while maintaining the independence of the village, is the keynote of Gandhi’s approach to village life. Society: Not a Pyramid, but an Oceanic Circle Gandhi described the organization of the society in the form of an ‘oceanic circle’. In this structure composed of innumerable villages, there will be ever-widening but never-ascending circles.Life will not be a pyramid with the apex sustained by the bottom. But it will be an oceanic circle whose center will be the individual always ready to perish for the village, the latter ready to perish for the circle of villages, till at last the whole becomes one life composed of individuals, never aggressive but ever humble, sharing the majesty of the oceanic circle of which they are integral units. Therefore, the outmost circumference will not wield power to crush the inner circle, but will give strength to all within and derive its own strength from it. 19He believed that all power resided in the people and that it should also originate from the people. The dynamo of power in a country like India should be the village. The village was to be a knot in a system of oceanic circles in which the remotest circle derived its strength from the center, i. e. , the individual. This would mean that sovereignty was not to remain concentrated at any one level. It was to be diffused among units rising horizontally till they reached the national level. In terms of political science, the residuary power remained with the village and the center was there to co-ordinate the work.Gandhi believed in Thoreau’s saying, â€Å"that governmen t is the best which governs the least. â€Å"20 Charkha (Spinning-Wheel): Hope of Rural Masses The message of the spinning-wheel is to â€Å"replace the spirit of exploitation by the spirit of service. The dominant note in the West is the note of exploitation. I have no desire that our country should copy that spirit or that note. â€Å"21   Gandhi again maintains: â€Å"I do feel that it [Charkha] has a message for the U. S. A. and the whole world. But it cannot be until India has demonstrated to the world that it has made the spinning-wheel its own, which it has not done today.The fault is not of the wheel. I have not the slightest doubt that the saving of India and of the world lies in the wheel. If India becomes the slave of the machine, then, I say, heaven save the world. â€Å"22   Hence, the message of the spinning-wheel is â€Å"much wider than its circumference. Its message is one of simplicity, service of mankind, living so as not to hurt others, creating an indi ssoluble bond between the rich and the poor, capital and labor, the prince and the peasant. That larger message is naturally for all. 23   Gandhi felt convinced that â€Å"the revival of hand-spinning and hand-weaving would make the largest contribution to the economic and the moral regeneration of India. The millions must have a simple industry to supplement agriculture. Spinning was the cottage industry years ago, and if the millions are to be saved from starvation, they must be enabled to introduce spinning in their homes, and every village must repossess its own weaver. â€Å"24  He wanted to make the spinning-wheel the center of all handicrafts. The spinning-wheel was a symbol of hope to the masses.The masses lost their freedom, such as it was, with the loss of the  charkha. The  charkhasupplemented the agriculture of the villagers and gave it dignity. It was the friend and solace of the widow. It kept the villagers from idleness. For the  charkhaincluded all the an terior and posterior industries B ginning, carding, wrapping, sizing, dyeing and weaving. These in their turn kept the village carpenter and blacksmith busy. The  charkha  enabled the seven hundred thousand villages to become self-contained. With the exit of the  charkha  went the other village industries, such as the oil press.Nothing took the place of these industries. Therefore, the villages were drained of their varied occupations and their creative talent which brought them meager income to supplement their limited source of income. Hence, it was suggested that the revival of  charkha  would result in making the villages economically self-sufficient. Gandhi had no doubt in his mind that the wheel could serve as the instrument of earning one’s livelihood and, at the same time, enable the worker to render useful service to his neighbors. In order to ply the wheel intelligently, he should know all the processes that precede and succeed spinning.This conviction d awned upon Gandhi even before he came to India, that the revival of hand-spinning alone could restore India to its pristine glory. He compared the spinning-wheel to the sun around which the solar system of the village economy revolved. It provided the golden bridge between the rich and the poor. Swadeshi: Antidote to Modernization Gandhi said that  Swadeshi  would mean that one should not serve one’s distant neighbor at the expense of the nearest. It is never vindictive or punitive. It is in no sense narrow, because it buys from every part of the world what is needed for our growth.We must refuse to buy from anyone anything, however nice or beautiful, if it interferes with our growth. Gandhi bought useful and thought provoking literature from every part of the world. One could buy surgical instruments from England, pins and pencils from Austria and watches from Switzerland. But one should not buy an inch of the finest cotton fabric from England or Japan or any other part of the world, because it could be easily made in India and to buy it from elsewhere would hurt the sentiments of those who work for their livelihood.Hence, Gandhi held it to be sinful for anyone to refuse to buy the cloth spun and woven by the needy millions of India’s paupers and to buy foreign cloth, although it may be superior in quality to the Indian hand-spun. â€Å"My  Swadeshi, therefore, chiefly centers round the hand  Khaddar  and extends to everything that can be and is produced in India. â€Å"25 Soul-Force: The Secret of Success Gandhi wanted to popularize the use of soul-force, which is but another name for the force of love, in place of brute-force. â€Å"Having flung aside the sword, there is nothing except the cup of love which I can offer to those who oppose me.It is by offering that cup that I expect to draw them close to me. I cannot think of permanent enmity between man and man, and believing as I do in the theory of rebirth, I live in the hope th at, if not in this birth, in some other birth, I shall be able to hug all humanity in friendly embrace. â€Å"26   Chapter 17, the most important chapter in the whole book of  Hind Swaraj  starts with the question whether there is any historical evidence of â€Å"any nation having risen through soul-force. â€Å"27  According to Gandhi, Tulsidas is a better guide here than are the Indian princes.Tulsidas and such other Acharyas taught that  daya(compassion) is the true ultimate basis of  Dharma  (duty) and, therefore, also of the  Dharma  that should govern the  Praja  (the ordinary people). However widespread the use of brute-force may have been in history, it is no reason to doubt the validity of the counter thesis. If the story of the universe had commenced with wars, not a man would have been found alive today. . . . Therefore, the greatest and the most unimpeachable evidence of the success of this force is to be found in the fact that, in spite of the w ars of the world, it still lives on. . . Hundreds of nations live in peace. . . . History is really a record of every interruption of the even working of the force of love or the soul. 28 Gandhi believed that Indian civilization had the potential to give to the world a way to achieve freedom without bloodshed and violence. To achieve this we have to develop the right relationship between  daya  (compassion) and national interest. The error of modern nationalism had been to take for granted that national interest divorced from  daya  is the ultimate principle of national conduct.He sees the distinct possibility of the national elite B the doctors, the lawyers, and the modern professional class taken as a whole B acting in their own interest, and exploiting, deceiving and oppressing the people at large in the name of the nation. They would be able to act in the interest of the  Praja  only if their nationalism is founded on the principle of  daya. For this one has to und ergo a process of inner liberation  (chhutkara). Gandhi shows how one can achieve this inner liberation. He now identifies the nation with the elite who are eager to have Home Rule.He insists that the elite have to undergo genuine moral transformation. For this they have to be imbued with a deep sense of real nationalism which is different from what the modern nationalism depicts. He wants them to be imbued with real love and to experience the soul-force within themselves. Only those who have undergone such interior transformation can speak to the English without fear or hatred. Only such transformed Indian nationals can really understand the threat posed by modern civilization and the promise held by Indian civilization. Swaraj: An Eternal Quest and Perennial ChallengeOne has to understand the true meaning of  Swaraj. In the first place,  Swaraj  is a mental condition of: (i) inner liberation from the temptations of greed and power offered by modern civilization, (ii) freed om from hatred towards the national ‘enemy,’ the British, and (iii) active love for the Indian  Praja, a love that can conquer the temptations of greed and power. Secondly,  Swaraj  is an external condition of: (i) political independence from alien domination, and (ii) life-long dedication to the task of improving the material conditions of poverty and caste oppression of the Indian  Praja.In concrete terms,  Swaraj  requires one to take a stand on brute-force and soul-force. â€Å"If there be only one such Indian,† Gandhi affirms, â€Å"the English will have to listen to him. â€Å"29   Attaining national liberation is not so much a matter of getting rid of the British as getting rid of the fascination for modern civilization which teaches the Indian elite to exploit and oppress the Indian  Praja  and establish their superiority.We have to liberate ourselves from the evils of modern civilization and fill our hearts with  daya,satya  (trut h) and  ahimsa  (non-violence). Only then would we become morally fit to deal both with the British and with the Indian people. Unless and until we are healed of the chronic sickness of imitating the West, ignoring our own age old tradition and cultural heritage, we will not be able to face any one else.

Why the Sioux Oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline

As the Flint, Michigan, water crisis made national headlines in 2016, members of the Standing Rock Sioux  successfully  protested to protect their water and land from the Dakota Access Pipeline. After months on end of demonstrating,  the water protectors rejoiced when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided on Dec. 4, 2016, to  prohibit the pipeline from crossing  Lake Oahe, effectively bringing the project to a halt. But the pipelines future is unclear after Obama leaves office, and the Trump administration enters the White House. Building of the pipeline could very well resume when the new administration takes over.   If finished, the $3.8 billion project would span 1,200 miles across four states to link the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota to an Illinois river port. This would allow 470,000 barrels of crude oil daily to be transported along the route. But the Standing Rock wanted construction on the pipeline stopped because they said it could devastate their natural resources. Initially, the pipeline would have crossed the Missouri River near the state capital, but the route was changed so that it would pass under the Missouri River at Lake Oahe, a half-mile upstream from the Standing Rock reservation. The pipeline was redirected from Bismarck because of fears that an oil spill would endanger the city’s drinking water. Moving the pipeline from the state capital to an Indian reservation is environmental racism in a nutshell, as this form of discrimination is characterized by the disproportionate placement of environmental hazards in communities of color. If the pipeline was too risky to be placed near the state capital, why wasn’t it deemed a risk near Standing Rock land? With this in mind, the tribe’s effort to stop  construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline isn’t simply an environmental issue but a protest against racial injustice as well. Clashes between the pipeline’s protesters and its developers have also sparked racial  tensions, but the Standing Rock have won support from a broad cross-section of the public, including public figures and celebrities.   Why the Sioux Are Against the Pipeline On Sept. 2, 2015, the Sioux drafted a resolution explaining their opposition to the pipeline. It read in part: â€Å"The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe relies on the waters of the life-giving Missouri River for our continued existence, and the Dakota Access Pipeline poses a serious risk to Mni Sose and to the very survival of our Tribe; and ...the horizontal direction drilling in the construction of the pipeline would destroy valuable cultural resources of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.† The resolution also argued that the Dakota Access Pipeline violates Article 2 of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty which granted the tribe the â€Å"undisturbed use and occupation† of its homeland. The Sioux filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in July 2016 to stop construction of the pipeline, which began the following month. In addition to concerns about the effects a spill would have on the Sioux’s natural resources, the tribe pointed out that the pipeline would course through sacred ground protected by federal law. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg had a different take. He ruled on Sept. 9, 2016, that the Army Corps had â€Å"likely complied† with its duty to consult the Sioux and that the tribe â€Å"has not shown it will suffer injury that would be prevented by any injunction the court could issue.† Although the judge denied the tribe’s request for an injunction to stop the pipeline, the departments of the Army, Justice and Interior announced after the ruling that they would suspend building of the pipeline on land of cultural importance to the tribe pending further evaluation. Still, the Standing Rock Sioux said they would appeal the judge’s decision because they believe they were not sufficiently consulted when the pipeline was rerouted.    My nations history is at risk because the pipeline builders and the Army Corps failed to consult the tribe when planning the pipeline, and routed it through areas of cultural and historical significance, which will be destroyed,† stated Standing Rock Sioux Chairman David Archambault II in a court filing. Judge Boasberg’s ruling led the tribe to ask for an emergency injunction to stop building of the pipeline. This led the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit  to state in a Sept. 16 ruling that it needed more time to consider the tribes request, which meant that all construction 20 miles in either direction of Lake Oahe had to stop. The federal government had already called for construction along that part of the route to be halted, but Dallas-based pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners didn’t immediately respond to the Obama administration. In September 2016, the company said the pipeline was 60 percent complete and maintained it would not harm the  local water supply. But if that were absolutely certain, then why wasn’t the Bismarck location an appropriate site for the pipeline? As recently as October 2015, a North Dakota oil well blew out and leaked more than 67,000 gallons of crude, putting a tributary of the Missouri River at risk. Even if oil spills are rare and new technology works to prevent them, they cannot be completely ruled out. By rerouting the Dakota Access Pipeline, the federal government appears to have put the Standing Rock Sioux directly in harm’s way in the unlikely event of an oil spill. Controversy Over Protests The Dakota Access Pipeline hasn’t attracted media attention simply because of the natural resources at stake but also because of clashes between protesters and the oil company in charge of building it. In Spring 2016, only a small group of demonstrators  had set up camp on the reservation to protest the pipeline. But in the summer months, Sacred Stone Camp ballooned to thousands of activists, with some calling it â€Å"the largest gathering of Native Americans in a century,† the Associated Press reported. In early September, tensions heightened as protesters and journalists were arrested, and activists accused the security firm tasked with protecting the pipeline of pepper-spraying them and letting dogs viciously attack them. This called to mind similar images of attacks on civil rights protesters during the 1960s.    In light of the violent clashes between protesters and security guards, the Standing Rock Sioux were granted a permit to allow the water protectors to legally rally on the federal lands that surround the pipeline. The permit means the tribe is responsible for the cost of any damages, keeping demonstrators safe, liability insurance and more. Despite this shift, clashes between activists and officers continued in November 2016, with police reportedly firing tear gas and water canons at protesters. One activist came dangerously close to losing her arm as a result of an explosion that occurred during the confrontation. Protesters say she was injured by a grenade thrown by police, while police say she was hurt by a small propane tank that protesters rigged to explode, according to CBS News. Prominent Standing Rock Supporters A number of celebrities have publicly expressed their support for the Standing Rock Sioux’s protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Jane Fonda and Shailene Woodley helped serve Thanksgiving 2016 dinner to the demonstrators.  Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein visited the site and faced arrest for allegedly spray-painting construction equipment during a protest. A former 2016  presidential candidate also stands in solidarity with the Standing Rock, leading a rally against the pipeline. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) said on Twitter, â€Å"Stop the Dakota Access pipeline. Respect Native American rights. And let us move forward to transform our energy system.† Veteran rocker Neil Young even released a new song called â€Å"Indian Givers† in honor of the Standing Rock protest. The song’s title is a play on the racial insult. The lyrics state: There’s a battle raging on the sacred landOur brothers and sisters have to take a standAgainst us now for what we all been doingOn the sacred land there’s a battle brewingI wish somebody would share the newsNow it’s been about 500 yearsWe keep taking what we gave awayJust like what we call Indian giversIt makes you sick and gives you shivers Young also released a video for the song that features footage of the pipeline protests. The musician has recorded songs about similar environmental controversies, such as his 2014 protest song â€Å"Who’s Gonna Stand Up?† in protest of the Keystone XL pipeline. Leonardo DiCaprio announced that he shared the Sioux’s concerns as well. â€Å"Standing w/ the Great Sioux Nation to protect their water lands,† he said on Twitter, linking to a Change.org petition against the pipeline. â€Å"Justice League† actors Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller and Ray Fisher  took to social media to announce their objections to the pipeline. Momoa shared a photo of himself on Instagram with a sign that said, â€Å"Oil pipelines are a bad idea,† along with hashtags related to the Dakota Access Pipeline protest. Wrapping Up While the Dakota Access Pipeline protest has largely been framed as an environmental issue, it is also a racial justice issue. Even the judge who denied the Standing Rock Sioux’s temporary injunction to stop the pipeline, acknowledged that â€Å"the United States’ relationship with the Indian tribes has been contentious and tragic.† Since the Americas were colonized, Native Americans and other marginalized groups have fought for equal access to natural resources. Factory farms, power plants, freeways and other sources of pollution are all too often erected in communities of color. The richer and whiter a community is, the more likely its residents have clean air and water. So, the Standing Rock’s struggle to protect their land and water from the Dakota Access Pipeline is just as much an anti-discrimination issue as it is an environmental one.

Sima de los Huesos, a Key to Human Evolution

The Sima de los Huesos (Pit of Bones in Spanish and typically abbreviated as SH) is a lower Paleolithic site, one of several important sections of the Cueva Mayor-Cueva del Silo cave system of the Sierra de Atapuerca in north-central Spain. With a total of at least 28 individual hominid fossils now firmly dated to 430,000 years old, SH is the largest and oldest collection of human remains yet discovered. Site Context The bone pit at Sima de los Huesos is at the bottom of the cave, beneath an abrupt vertical shaft measuring between 2-4 meters (6.5-13 feet) in diameter, and located about .5 kilometers (~1/3 of a mile) in from the Cueva Mayor entrance. That shaft extends downward approximately 13 m (42.5 ft), ending just above the Rampa (Ramp), a 9 m (30 ft) long linear chamber inclined about 32 degrees. At the foot of that ramp is deposit called the Sima de los Huesos, a smoothly oblong chamber measuring 8x4 m (26x13 ft) with irregular ceiling heights between 1-2 m (3-6.5 ft). In the roof of the eastern side of the SH chamber is another vertical shaft, which extends upwards some 5 m (16 ft) to where it is blocked by cave collapse. Human and Animal Bones The sites archaeological deposits include a bone-bearing breccia, mixed with many large fallen blocks of limestone and mud deposits. The bones are mainly composed of at least 166 Middle Pleistocene cave bears (Ursus deningeri) and at least 28 individual humans, represented by more than 6,500 bone fragments including over 500 teeth alone. Other identified animals in the pit include extinct forms of Panthera leo (lion), Felis silvestris (wildcat), Canis lupus (grey wolf), Vulpes vulpes (red fox), and Lynx pardina splaea (Pardel lynx). Relatively few of the animal and human bones are articulated; some of the bones have tooth marks from where carnivores have chewed on them. The current interpretation of how the site came to be is that all the animals and humans fell into the pit from a higher chamber and were trapped and unable to get out. The stratigraphy and layout of the bone deposit suggest  the humans were somehow deposited in the cave before the bears and other carnivores. It is also possible—given the large amount of mud in the pit—that all the bones arrived in this low place in the cave through a series of mudflows. A third and quite controversial hypothesis is that the accumulation of human remains might be the result of mortuary practices (see the discussion of Carbonell and Mosquera below). The Humans A central question for the SH site has been and continues to be who were they? Were they Neanderthal, Denisovan, Early Modern Human, some mixture we havent yet recognized? With the fossil remains of 28 individuals who all lived and died about 430,000 years ago, the SH site has the potential to teach us a great deal about human evolution and how these three populations intersected in the past. Comparisons of nine human skulls and numerous cranial fragments representing at least 13 individuals were first reported in 1997 (Arsuaga et a.). A large variety in cranial capacity and other characteristics were detailed in the publications, but in 1997, the site was thought to be about 300,000 years old, and these scholars concluded that the Sima de los Huesos population was evolutionarily related to Neanderthals as a sister group, and could best fit into the then-refined species of Homo heidelbergensis. That theory was supported by results from a somewhat controversial method redating the site to 530,000 years ago (Bischoff and colleagues, see details below). But in 2012, paleontologist Chris Stringer argued that the 530,000-year-old dates were too old, and, based on morphological attributes, the SH fossils represented an archaic form of Neanderthal, rather than H. heidelbergensis. The latest data (Arsuago et al 2014) answers some of Stringers hesitations. Mitochondrial DNA at SH Research on the cave bear bones reported by Dabney and colleagues revealed that, astonishingly, mitochondrial DNA had been preserved at the site, much older than any other found to date anywhere. Additional investigations on the human remains from SH reported by Meyer and colleagues  redated the site to closer to 400,000 years ago. These studies also supply the surprising notion that the SH population shares some DNA with the  Denisovans, rather than the Neanderthals they look like (and, of course, we dont really know what a Denisovan looks like yet). Arsuaga and colleagues reported a study of 17 complete skulls from SH, agreeing with Stringer that, because of numerous Neanderthal-like characteristics of the crania and mandibles, the population does not fit the  H. heidelbergensis  classification. But the population is, according to the authors, significantly different from other groups such as those at Ceprano and  Arago  caves, and from other Neanderthals, and Arsuaga and colleagues now argue that a separate taxon should be considered for the SH fossils. Sima de los Huesos is now dated to 430,000 years ago, and that places it close to the age predicted for when the split in hominid species creating the Neanderthal and Denisovan lineages occurred. The SH fossils are thus central to the investigations concerning how that might have happened, and what our evolutionary history might be. Sima de los Huesos, a Purposeful Burial Mortality profiles (Bermudez de Castro and colleagues) of the SH population show a high representation of adolescents and prime-age adults  and a low percentage of adults between 20 and 40 years of age. Only one individual was under 10 at the time of death, and none were over 40-45 years old. Thats confusing, because, while 50% of the bones were gnaw-marked, they were in fairly good condition: statistically, say the scholars, there should be more children. Carbonell and Mosquera (2006) argued that Sima de los Huesos represents a purposeful burial, based partly on the recovery of a single quartzite  Acheulean handaxe  (Mode 2) and the complete lack of lithic waste or other habitation waste at all. If they are correct, and they are currently in the minority, Sima de los Huesos would be the earliest example of purposeful human burials known to date, by ~200,000 years or so. Evidence suggesting that at least one of the individuals in the pit died as a result of interpersonal violence was reported in 2015 (Sala et al. 2015). Cranium 17 has multiple impact fractures which occurred near the moment of death, and scholars believe this individual was dead at the time s/he was dropped into the shaft. Sala et al. argue that placing cadavers into the pit was indeed a social practice of the community.   Dating Sima de lost Huesos Uranium-series and Electron Spin Resonance dating of the human fossils reported in 1997 indicated a minimum age of about 200,000 and a probable age of greater than 300,000 years ago, which roughly matched the age of the mammals. In 2007, Bischoff and colleagues reported that a high-precision thermal-ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) analysis defines the minimum of deposits age as 530,000 years ago. This date led researchers to postulate that the SH hominids were at the beginning of the  Neanderthal  evolutionary lineage, rather than a contemporary, related sister group. However, in 2012, paleontologist Chris Stringer argued that, based on morphological attributes, the SH fossils represent an archaic form of Neanderthal, rather than  H. heidelbergensis, and that the 530,000-year-old date is too old. In 2014, excavators Arsuaga et al reported new dates from a suite of different dating techniques, including Uranium series (U-series) dating of speleothems, thermally transferred  optically stimulated luminescence  (TT-OSL) and post-infrared stimulated luminescence (pIR-IR) dating of sedimentary quartz and feldspar grains, electron spin resonance (ESR) dating of sedimentary quartz, combined ESR/U-series dating of fossil teeth, paleomagnetic analysis of sediments, and biostratigraphy. Dates from most of these techniques clustered around 430,000 years ago. Archaeology The first human fossils were discovered in 1976, by T. Torres, and the first excavations within this unit were conducted by the Sierra de Atapuerca Pleistocene site group under the direction of E. Aguirre. In 1990, this program was undertaken by J. L. Arsuaga, J. M. Bermudez de Castro, and E. Carbonell. Sources Arsuaga JL, Martà ­nez I, Gracia A, Carretero JM, Lorenzo C, Garcà ­a N, and Ortega AI. 1997.  Sima de los Huesos (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain). The site.  Journal of Human Evolution  33(2–3):109-127. Arsuaga JL, Martà ­nez, Gracia A, and Lorenzo C. 1997a.  The Sima de los Huesos crania (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain). A comparative study.  Journal of Human Evolution  33(2–3):219-281. Arsuaga JL, Martà ­nez I, Arnold LJ, Aranburu A, Gracia-Tà ©llez A, Sharp WD, Quam RM, Falguà ¨res C, Pantoja-Pà ©rez A, Bischoff JL et al. . 2014.  Neandertal roots: Cranial and chronological evidence from Sima de los Huesos.  Science  344(6190):1358-1363. doi: 10.1126/science.1253958 Bermà ºdez de Castro JM, Martinà ³n-Torres M, Lozano M, Sarmiento S, and Muelo A. 2004.  Paleodemography of the Atapuerca-Sima de los Huesos Hominin Sample: A revision and new appropaches to the paleodemongraphy of the European Middle Pleistocene population.  Journal of Anthropological Research  60(1):5-26. Bischoff JL, Fitzpatrick JA, Leà ³n L, Arsuaga JL, Falgueres C, Bahain JJ, and Bullen T. 1997.  Geology and preliminary dating of the hominid-bearing sedimentary fill of the Sima de los Huesos Chamber, Cueva Mayor of the Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain.  Journal of Human Evolution  33(2–3):129-154. Bischoff JL, Williams RW, Rosenbauer RJ, Aramburu A, Arsuaga JL, Garcà ­a N, and Cuenca-Bescà ³s G. 2007.  High-resolution U-series dates from the Sima de  Ã‚  Journal of Archaeological Science  34(5):763-770.los  Huesos hominids yields : implications for the evolution of the early Neanderthal lineage. Carbonell E, and Mosquera M. 2006.  The emergence of  a  symbolic   Comptes Rendus Palevol  5(1–2):155-160.behaviour: the  sepulchral pit of  Sima de  los  Huesos, Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain. Carretero J-M, Rodrà ­guez L, Garcà ­a-Gonzà ¡lez R, Arsuaga J-L, Gà ³mez-Olivencia A, Lorenzo C, Bonmatà ­ A, Gracia A, Martà ­nez I, and Quam R. 2012.  Stature estimation from complete long bones in the Middle Pleistocene humans from the Sima de  los  Huesos, Sierra de Atapuerca (Spain).  Journal of Human Evolution  62(2):242-255. Dabney J, Knapp M, Glocke I, Gansauge M-T, Weihmann A, Nickel B, Valdiosera C, Garcà ­a N, Pà ¤Ãƒ ¤bo S, Arsuaga J-L et al. 2013.  Complete mitochondrial genome sequence of a Middle Pleistocene cave bear reconstructed from ultrashort DNA fragments.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  110(39):15758-15763. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1314445110 Garcà ­a N, and Arsuaga JL. 2011.  The Sima de  Ã‚  Quaternary Science Reviews  30(11-12):1413-1419.los  Huesos (Burgos, northern Spain): palaeoenvironment and habitats of Homo heidelbergensis during the Middle Pleistocene. Garcà ­a N, Arsuaga JL, and Torres T. 1997.  The carnivore remains from the Sima de  Ã‚  Journal of Human Evolution  33(2–3):155-174.los  Huesos Middle Pleistocene site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain). Gracia-Tà ©llez A, Arsuaga J-L, Martà ­nez I, Martà ­n-Francà ©s L, Martinà ³n-Torres M, Bermà ºdez de Castro J-M, Bonmatà ­ A, and Lira J. 2013.  Orofacial pathology in Homo heidelbergensis: The case of Skull 5 from the Sima de los Huesos site (Atapuerca, Spain).  Quaternary International  295:83-93. Hublin J-J. 2014.  How to build a Neandertal.  Science  344(6190):1338-1339. doi: 10.1126/science.1255554 Martinà ³n-Torres M, Bermà ºdez de Castro JM, Gà ³mez-Robles A, Prado-Simà ³n L, and Arsuaga JL. 2012.  Morphological description and comparison of the dental remains from Atapuerca-Sima de los Huesos site (Spain).  Journal of Human Evolution  62(1):7-58. Meyer, Matthias. A mitochondrial genome sequence of a hominin from Sima de los Huesos. Nature volume 505, Qiaomei Fu, Ayinuer Aximu-Petri, et al., Springer Nature Publishing AG, January 16, 2014. Ortega AI, Benito-Calvo A, Pà ©rez-Gonzà ¡lez A, Martà ­n-Merino MA, Pà ©rez-Martà ­nez R, Parà ©s JM, Aramburu A, Arsuaga JL, Bermà ºdez de Castro JM, and Carbonell E. 2013.  Evolution of multilevel caves in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain) and its relation to human occupation.  Geomorphology  196:122-137. Sala N, Arsuaga JL, Pantoja-Pà ©rez A, Pablos A, Martà ­nez I, Quam RM, Gà ³mez-Olivencia A, Bermà ºdez de Castro JM, and Carbonell E. 2015.  Lethal Interpersonal Violence in the Middle Pleistocene.  PLoS ONE  10(5):e0126589. Stringer C. 2012.  The status of Homo heidelbergensis (Schoetensack 1908).  Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews  21(3):101-107.

Changing Divorce Laws Essay - 1602 Words

Changing Divorce Laws In 1995, Statistics Canada data shows that 30% of marriages split (McGovern). Since the 1960’s, marriage and divorce have been undergoing profound changes which have altered the meaning of marriage, the chances of its ending in divorce and the circumstances attached to marriage. These changes have made it easier for couples to obtain a divorce due to the changing laws and changing morals of society. The changes include three new grounds needed to prove marital breakdown, such as your spouse committing adultery, your spouse causing mental or physical cruelty or a separation of a year it was previously three years. Divorce also impacts the family as a whole, not only the children but also the two parties†¦show more content†¦Monogamy was out, ‘free love’ thrived, and divorce represented freedom. Enough people wanted divorce by the late 1960’s that the pressure was on to change the law. After long and bitter parliamentary debates, the federal Divorce Act was revised. Additional grounds for divorce included desertion, imprisonment, or separation for at least three years plus marital offences of physical and mental cruelty. The new law eliminated the need to appear in court in most cases – often the most personally humiliating experience in the older legal procedure. The law later changed again in 1985, where it eased off yet again, to allow divorces after only a year’s separation. The broad trend in Canada was to make divorce easier. It was accomplished by making it less fault-oriented where most divorce applications to the courts are no longer contested which eliminates the need for a formal court hearing where both parties testify and ask for different things. With â€Å"no fault† splits in place, the social stigma of divorce shrank. As more people divorced the stigma weakened further. The cycle continued while the divorce rate soared. In 1951, there had been only one divorce for every 24 marriages, by 1987, one couple divorced every two couples that married (McGovern). In 1993, there were 78 000 divorces across Canada, compared to about 11 000 in 1968 before the new divorce laws came intoShow MoreRelatedLegal Studies Family Essay1491 Words   |  6 Pagesconcerning values Family law is the most complex aspect of the Australian legal system as it is constantly under review and reform pursuing to adopt society’s continual change in values and principles. The changing of laws in an attempt to be parallel with society is a strenuous process. Nevertheless, legislations are reflective of contemporary society’s values and ethics. 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Describe and Evaluate Biological Explanations of Depression Free Essays

Describe and evaluate biological explanations of depression There are many different explanations for depression, including biological. Links have been found between biochemical, genetics and hormonal imbalances with depressed people. In the biochemical explanation, a link has been found between neurotransmitter imbalances and depression. We will write a custom essay sample on Describe and Evaluate Biological Explanations of Depression or any similar topic only for you Order Now Serotonin is associated with pleasure and mood. Mann et al found impaired transmission of serotonin in people with depression. However Julian disagrees with this statement and says depression may be due to neuron damage rather than a neurotransmitter reduction. The problem with this approach is that it implies correlation and not causation, there may be a link but something else could be causing both depression and low serotonin. There is the chicken and egg problem – does low serotonin cause depression or does depression cause low serotonin? In other areas of psychology low serotonin has been linked with increased aggression and eating disorders, as well as anxiety. Someone that has low serotonin does not necessarily become depressed. There is also the problem where people are depressed but have normal serotonin levels. This shows that depression is not fully down to biochemical imbalances but other things as well. It is a very simplistic and reductionist model and should only be included as a vulnerability and not the whole answer to depression. Another explanation is a genetic problem. Through many family studies Gershon states there is a clear inheritable component to depression, especially in bipolar disorder. Weisseman et al supports this by saying that for if a child has a parent with depression, the risk of the child having depression is increased by three times compared to the general population. This is a strong finding but as the children share the same environment as their parents, there is a possibility that the child has learnt the behaviour through the social learning theory of imitating and observing and not through genetics. Kendler et al studied over 15000 twins in Sweden and found that if one twin has depression, there is a 38% chance that the other twin will have it too. This has strong methodology and is supported by many twin studies who have found similar results. On the other hand the twins share the same environment and so environmental influences may still be possible. The results were nowhere near 100% showing that depression is not fully down to genes, the people may have a genetic vulnerability but it takes something to trigger, perhaps. It is also unclear as to how exactly genes play a role in depression, without knowing the exact genes involved. Another way to access the significance of genes is through adoption studies. Wender found that a child is seven times more likely to have depression if the biological parents were depressed and the adoption parents were not. They found little evidence of depression being learnt. However Wender got his information about biological relatives just from hospital records and so there could be error of misdiagnosis or short-term depression only. The knowledge of whether a person has a genetic vulnerability to depression can be useful as the person is able to take preventative measures (change in lifestyle, diet to bring positivity to avoid depression), but it could be fatalistic as they understand they are more likely to become depressed – leading to depression. Diathesis-stress model says that depression can be better understood as an interaction between genes and environmental factors. Carroll found that high levels of the hormone cortisol are found in those suffering from depression and techniques known to suppress cortisol secretion have been found to be successful in depressive patients. However cortisol is released when stressed and so the high levels could be due to the high levels of stress the person has when they are depressed. As depression is twice as common in women as men, it could be due to the differences in sex hormones. Post-natal depression could be due to the high levels of oestrogen and progesterone that are released during pregnancy and then rapidly decrease once the baby is born which may account for an imbalance of hormones. Cooper disagrees with this statement as there was very little difference in the number of women suffering from depression after childhood and a control group of non-pregnant women at the same age. If imbalance of hormones was the cause then most mothers should get this type of illness but it is only a small number that get it. Menopausal depression is where oestrogen levels drop and hormone replacement therapy appears to be affective in treating many (but not all) women who suffer from this type of depression. However this could be due to the negative thoughts of getting older rather than the hormonal imbalance. Through the biological approach there are many possibilities. I think it is a mixture of biological vulnerabilities and stressful environments. How to cite Describe and Evaluate Biological Explanations of Depression, Essay examples Describe and Evaluate Biological Explanations of Depression Free Essays Describe and evaluate biological explanations of depression There are many different explanations for depression, including biological. Links have been found between biochemical, genetics and hormonal imbalances with depressed people. In the biochemical explanation, a link has been found between neurotransmitter imbalances and depression. We will write a custom essay sample on Describe and Evaluate Biological Explanations of Depression or any similar topic only for you Order Now Serotonin is associated with pleasure and mood. Mann et al found impaired transmission of serotonin in people with depression. However Julian disagrees with this statement and says depression may be due to neuron damage rather than a neurotransmitter reduction. The problem with this approach is that it implies correlation and not causation, there may be a link but something else could be causing both depression and low serotonin. There is the chicken and egg problem – does low serotonin cause depression or does depression cause low serotonin? In other areas of psychology low serotonin has been linked with increased aggression and eating disorders, as well as anxiety. Someone that has low serotonin does not necessarily become depressed. There is also the problem where people are depressed but have normal serotonin levels. This shows that depression is not fully down to biochemical imbalances but other things as well. It is a very simplistic and reductionist model and should only be included as a vulnerability and not the whole answer to depression. Another explanation is a genetic problem. Through many family studies Gershon states there is a clear inheritable component to depression, especially in bipolar disorder. Weisseman et al supports this by saying that for if a child has a parent with depression, the risk of the child having depression is increased by three times compared to the general population. This is a strong finding but as the children share the same environment as their parents, there is a possibility that the child has learnt the behaviour through the social learning theory of imitating and observing and not through genetics. Kendler et al studied over 15000 twins in Sweden and found that if one twin has depression, there is a 38% chance that the other twin will have it too. This has strong methodology and is supported by many twin studies who have found similar results. On the other hand the twins share the same environment and so environmental influences may still be possible. The results were nowhere near 100% showing that depression is not fully down to genes, the people may have a genetic vulnerability but it takes something to trigger, perhaps. It is also unclear as to how exactly genes play a role in depression, without knowing the exact genes involved. Another way to access the significance of genes is through adoption studies. Wender found that a child is seven times more likely to have depression if the biological parents were depressed and the adoption parents were not. They found little evidence of depression being learnt. However Wender got his information about biological relatives just from hospital records and so there could be error of misdiagnosis or short-term depression only. The knowledge of whether a person has a genetic vulnerability to depression can be useful as the person is able to take preventative measures (change in lifestyle, diet to bring positivity to avoid depression), but it could be fatalistic as they understand they are more likely to become depressed – leading to depression. Diathesis-stress model says that depression can be better understood as an interaction between genes and environmental factors. Carroll found that high levels of the hormone cortisol are found in those suffering from depression and techniques known to suppress cortisol secretion have been found to be successful in depressive patients. However cortisol is released when stressed and so the high levels could be due to the high levels of stress the person has when they are depressed. As depression is twice as common in women as men, it could be due to the differences in sex hormones. Post-natal depression could be due to the high levels of oestrogen and progesterone that are released during pregnancy and then rapidly decrease once the baby is born which may account for an imbalance of hormones. Cooper disagrees with this statement as there was very little difference in the number of women suffering from depression after childhood and a control group of non-pregnant women at the same age. If imbalance of hormones was the cause then most mothers should get this type of illness but it is only a small number that get it. Menopausal depression is where oestrogen levels drop and hormone replacement therapy appears to be affective in treating many (but not all) women who suffer from this type of depression. However this could be due to the negative thoughts of getting older rather than the hormonal imbalance. Through the biological approach there are many possibilities. I think it is a mixture of biological vulnerabilities and stressful environments. How to cite Describe and Evaluate Biological Explanations of Depression, Essays

Why Do Few Women Attain Top Management Positions free essay sample

Women have been striving for equal rights for themselves for a long time and they are gradually achieving the goal. As a result, when it comes to managerial area, women’s voices have been heard and responded little by little, more and more women are moving into higher posts in their working. Nevertheless, the business is still strictly run by males, only few women gets the chance to top in management positions, which, at the same time, has already intrigued great debates among all parties. This paper tries to look for the reasons why few women set foot in the top leading places and see whether women are less-qualified to handle the deal or are there any other barriers hinder them from moving forward. Introduction There have been an increasing number of women getting involved in leaderships in corporations for quite some time. Generally, people are used to be in a man-dominated business world, given that more males hold â€Å"the vast majority of top leadership positions† across the world ( Stelter cited in Weyer, 2007). We will write a custom essay sample on Why Do Few Women Attain Top Management Positions? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Yet, it seems that there is a sign for a change when we notice the fact that, according to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the proportion of females holding managerial and administrative posts in the USA have risen from 18% in 1972 to 46% in 2002 (Eagly Carli, 2003). However, despite the ascending numbers, women still remain mostly in junior or middle management positions, few of them obtain the top jobs, as shown by the Catalyst, a New York-based consulting firm, there were only 17 female CEOs within the Fortune 1000 companies, while only 13. % women are directors in board of Fortune 500 companies ( Weyer, 2007). Approximately 40% of the Fortune 501-1000 corporations composed their Boards of Directors with no woman involved in 1999 (Catalyst cited in Winn, 2004) What is holding women back from being on top? There are various reasons for this issue. This essay is going to discuss the possible justifications dealing with women’s halt in climbing up in corporations, to ex plore whether it’s stemmed from women’s biological or pyscholological nature or from the environment. By comparing the characteristics of male and female in leader position as well as looking for the obstacles women have encountered, it would be a clear picture to tell if women are qualified in the upper leader positions that companies should have open minds to accept and encourage women in top administrative places. Sex differences Are women and men distinguished notably when it comes to their qualifications engaging with leadership? Would the differences, if any, be the obstacle that keeps women from being exclusive in the hierarchy system in companies? A considerable number of research has been done on this subject as it has received enduring attention during the past thirty or so years (Alimo-Metcalfe,Bartol, Bruke and Collins cited in Weyer,p489. 2007). These researches have been summarized by Weyer (2007) in two main schools: one school of investigators claim that females execute assignments in a remarkably opposite way to males, and women are endowed with distinctive talent in managing people as well as weakness by nature; whereas the other school tends to agree that women behave no less the same as their masculine encounters in managerial area. To the former researchers, the majority of them concluded their assumptions by individual organizational practices or face-to-face arrangements with managers or other unofficial investigations. They are inclined to the opinion that females are more of subordinate supporters and are effective in exchanging ideas when compared with males. Combining their arguments with the developing theories of leadership conditional environment, stating that â€Å"the effectiveness of leader behaviors depends on contextual variables, such as the nature of the task and the characteristics of the followers†(EaglyCarli, 2003, p. 808), such gurus presume that women perform better in executive posts in â€Å"contemporary† corporate trend (Eagly, Johanneaen Van Engen, 2003, p. 569). However, there exists another voice claiming that no gender diversity is attached to male-female administration. Some academic writers criticizes the perspectives of dissimilar between men and women are based on â€Å"generalisability† of what we already â€Å"know† about gender differences, thus, people tend to do their surveys with a differences-orientation, which would intentionally influences the outcome of their â€Å"experimentation† (Colwill, 1995, pp. 20-33). Not this merely but also, Colwill pointed out that â€Å"there are no true experiments in this area†, noticing that â€Å"sex-differences research is always, of necessity, correlational,†¦,for sex differences often mask other variables in the research† (ibid,p. 1). However, she continued to compare female with male in other abilities specifically. After recognizing women owns different qualities involving in physical terms and especially in cognition, other than men, Colwill holds the view that both women and men are endorsed with some natural strengths, yet, still, nothing to show women woul d perform worse than men do in top executive fields, but, in fact, as Colwill wrote: The quality of leadership was not determined by sex; it was determined by the organizational resources and organizational support that was accorded to the manager†(ibid. To summarize, it’s convincing that those two groups of experts both make some sense and have very persuasive grounds of argument, despite they deduct totally different set of theories. It’s not an easy path to identify the differences between two genders and decide one to be superior. However, as far as we can concern, there are no evidence sufficiently provided to say that women are totally unfitted in top managerial positions though supporters of the first view might figure men are more capable in dealing with some certain sort of issues. Hence, we can now put away the thoughts that female are allocated to be held behide the upper executive jobs. Sex discriminations Then, what could possibly be the â€Å"glass ceiling† that insulates women from climbing up? As a matter of fact, more and more specialist turn to a less controversial corner, the social role stereotype, or, to put it more frankly, say gender discrimination. The metaphor â€Å"glass ceiling† illustrates that there are unseen barriers to block women from going upward (Weyer, 2007, p. 83). These barriers might refer to â€Å"corporate practices†, †behavioral and cultural causes† and â€Å"structural and cultural explanations rooted in feminist theories†(ibid. ). According to the social role theory, men and women are assigned with different roles correspondent with their genders. For instance, apparently, women are defined as a wife in their marriage, the one to take care of housework as well as cautiously nurturing bab y. This framed role actually make a great impact on career women’s way to success, as they certainly have to strike a difficult balance between the pressured up-going in business and the no less stressful family trifles. To quote from Winn, â€Å"women are not prepared for the corporate pressures that impinged on their role in the family ( the role that they were taught to play)† (2004). It was found by White(1997) that many successful women have suffered â€Å"role conflicts† and â€Å"identity diffusion† for quite some time and hence lose a lot of good promotion opportunities( Winn, 2004, p. 47). Gilchrist (2002) even regards family life and job working as a war with guilt, while Morris (2002) tops household responsibilities at the list of reasons few women manage to get in top(ibid. p. 144). Furthermore, in spite of the family occasion, there are far more troubles fetter females in competing with their polar fellows, one prominent concern is that women are actually struggling in an â€Å"old boys’ club† (Burke, 2003, p. 346). This means, in the process of getting up, women need to get approval from their male managers; they need to survive from a recruitment system which is completely built up by man superiors as well as the selection and assessment methods, they get to obey and follow male-oriented organizational policies and structures. As reasonably stated by Burke (2003), to call on a revolution in board members â€Å"is similar to asking the fox to guard the chicken house†. As a result, in the short term, prejudice, unjust assessments on account of stereotypical judgments making people ignore ndividual’s real qualifications will remain a big role that keeps women from moving up to the top. Conclusion To sum up, the barriers that hold women back from seeking top places in corporation are not because of their lack of outstanding qualities but the stubborn social role framework attached to them. It’s true that men and women might be endowed with different gifts by nature, though tha t have nothing much to say that they are excellent in managing on top. On contrary, men are not preferred to be leaders inherently; rather they take most advantage of being in a man-dominated situation. Compared with the debates in sex differences, it’s almost undeniable that a majority of qualified women are constrained by the stereotypical prejudice, which often make people underestimate their real talent in engaging in supervised posts.