Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory

Bandura’s social cognitive theory puts more emphasis on social origins of behavior. His social cognitive approach focuses on cognitive factors that are central to human functioning. He defines human behavior as vibrant and reciprocal interaction of personal factors behavior and the environment.The theory contends that behavior is largely regulated through cognitive processes. He adds that through the observations of models, an individual’s perceptions and action influence cognitive development. Bandura gives three types of models; live, symbolic and verbal instructions (Boeree, 2006).The theory states that learning can occur in the absence of direct reinforcement; rather people can learn new information and behaviors by watching other people and models. In learning, the learner must have a sense of self-efficacy which is termed as the learner’s belief that they can execute complex skills successfully.This perception provides the learner with an ability of self- d irection. The use of models influence learner’s self systems and as a result cognitive development becomes an independent process of observational learning.Additionally, observational learning involved four main steps which include attention, retention, reproduction and motivation. The implication in psychotherapy is that if you get an individual with a psychological disorder to observe someone dealing with the same issues in a wide productive fashion, the first individual will learn by modeling the second person.Bandura acknowledges that individual’s behavior is conditioned through the use of consequences. In psychotherapy, research is very vital and behaviorism is the most preferred approach (Bandura, 2001).Another concept which is applied in psychotherapy is locus of control. For instance, when persons believe they can alter their situation, they are said to have an internal locus of control and when they believe they cannot alter their situations they are said to h ave an external locus of control.ReferencesBandura, A. (2001). Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 2, p. 4-7.Boeree, G. (2006). Albert Bandura 1925- Present. Retrieved August 10, 2010 from http://webspace. ship. edu/cgboer/bandura. html.

Invasion of Privacy by Employee Monitoring Essay

Employee monitoring has been a serious controversial issue in the modern workplaces besides its necessity. There are many technological surveillance methods are being used today, and it does not only monitor the quantity of work but the quality. Many employers believe that the monitoring helps to increase productivity and customer service activity and control and keep the business in an ideal, stable shape. They sometimes use it to determine one’s promotions and pay decisions as well as to reinforce disciplinary actions. However, what about employee’s privacy? Do employers think that the current monitoring situation is really fair to their employees? Lots of employers use different types of monitoring methods including computer monitoring, video surveillance, investigators, undercover operatives, spying, eavesdropping, wiretapping, and electronic mail and voice mail. All these methods are derived from high technology have made it so easy for those who are monitoring to overstep the boundaries from business information to private information. Many computer programs allow employers to access and monitor employee’s activities such as e-mail communication, keyboard activity, and website visiting history. A frequently debated issue is whether an employer has the right to read and check employee e-mail and voice messages. One recent survey shows that more than 73% of companies search or read employee files, e-mail messages, web connections, and other networking communication technology (Shelly & Vermaat, 2011, p. 590). Another data shows 25% of them have fired employees for misusing communication technology. The problem is that currently, there is no privacy laws exist relating to employee e-mail even though several lawsuits have been filed for many years against employers because many people believe that such internal employee communications should be private. (Slobovnik and Stuart 144-160) Another method of surveillance that is commonly used in a workplace is video recording. This is the most effective form of monitoring yet. However, there are restrictions regarding the legality of using this form. It is defined as illegal if there is audible recording along with the images in the tape. Employees must know that they are being recorded, and most of all, images should not be taken in any undesignated area such as restrooms. In fact, there are some benefits from video surveillance, including increased safety on the job, deter employees from stealing, promote good behavior, and can be used as evidence of a crime. However, video surveillance also can create a false sense of security and a decrease in morale. Imagine if someone is watching where you go and what you do. You might think as if this is not a human workplace but more like a prison. It is absolutely a privacy invasion for employees. The most recent invention of technological surveillance is a Smartcard. One statistic says that 53% of U. S. companies are using Smartcard, and the numbers are increasing rapidly. It simply controls employees’ physical activities within the company; it allows company to track every personal activity from using cell phones to visiting information. Invasion of privacy is a growing concern among employees. â€Å"Electronic monitoring without informing employees that it is taking place is no different than spying. Monitoring is a supervisory tool, not a tool for employee surveillance (CSE, 2006). Monitoring is a simple way of invading employee’s privacy. For example, computer data banks, telephone and video monitoring, active badges, and other monitoring techniques make the private lives of workers easier to delve into without detection (Mishra, J. M; Crampton, S. M 1998). Employers can maintain the productivity and accuracy of their employees without invading their personal lives by using motivation methods. Punishments should be followed for those who break the company’s policy. However, employers also have to protect their employees’ right as a human being.

Muslim Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Muslim - Annotated Bibliography Example This article explains the in-depth knowledge on the experience the Muslim youths in Canada who wants to maintain their Islamic culture face from the dominant culture. The article also shows how Muslim students are able to negotiate and maintain their religious culture within secular public schools. A 22 year old student by the name Karim from Pakistan who were educated in Canadian school explains the struggles between conformity and resistance as a process of maintaining its identity. He explains that ‘it is challenging to live in a white society trying to be accepted while at the same time struggling to practice Islam, in his experience he found out that it takes many years to build up. The article contains information on the challenges the Muslim students goes through in Canadian schools and how they are able to negotiate and maintain their culture within the secular institutions. The author of this article explains the ethno-religious oppression facing the Muslim girls studying at gender segregated Islamic schools, how the young girls reside at the nexus of dual oppression, confronting racism and Islamophobia in the society, also withstanding the patriarchal types of religious oppression in their communities. One example that supports this oppression is banning of hijab in public schools in France. The article contains the information on gendering Islamophobia, the politics of veiling, and veiling in public and Islamic schools, and their challenges. The article talks about postcolonial and transnational theories and post 9/11 disposition as frameworks for finding out the live experience of Muslim immigrants youths in US public schools, and how Muslims youths are viewed after the 9/11 attack. The 9/11 attack has had a repercussion on the lives of Muslims students in US. The attack led to islamphobia hysteria and provoked the war on terror, this has led into the formation of Islamic

Chose an interesting Topic Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Chose an interesting Topic - Assignment Example Today, people opt to communicate via short instant messages rather than to expound on their thoughts and provide substance. While the audience for such ‘text messages’ might remain the same, there is a lack of purpose in our writing today. We are supposed to write in an effort communicate our innermost thoughts and ideas. We can write to depict actions in history or to express a hope for the future. Many people worry that this art form will become extinct if we fail to realize the sheer importance of written language. Writing is a conversation with the world. The writer gets to choose the audience, they get to provide their own focus on a piece, and the purpose can become clear once the words are put to paper. Writing reaches a wide audience. Today, the Internet has opened up an entirely new market for writers that they never before dreamed possible. In other words, the audience is now global. All a writer must do now is to put their thoughts and ideas down on paper, provide a clear purpose and focus, and then share those ideas with a global marketplace. That is the function of writing, even in this age of increasing technology and

Joe Breen's Personal Propaganda Machine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Joe Breen's Personal Propaganda Machine - Essay Example in Espar). In 1934, Hays was joined by Joe Breen, a strict Catholic moralist, and assigned to run the Production Code Administration (PCA). Today's movie codes grew out of these early efforts to classify and render movies safe for children and general public consumption. But was this an effort to make our movie houses safe for women and children Or was there something more sinister than a few obscenities at work In fact, Hays cared little about keeping pornography away from children. His self-serving interest had been to keep the government away from the movies. His misguided attempts would backfire years later as the PCA would evolve into the center of cultural warfare. The Legion of Decency, headed by Breen, joined alliances with Hays, not to regulate morality, but to create an agency who's purpose was to control society, further their personal political ideals, and shape the mind of America. There is little room for controversy over the need to protect our children from the vast array of products and influences available today. There are good reasons why alcohol, tobacco, and pornography are well regulated by society and kept from the hands of children, and it is nothing new. Censorship has existed in every society since the Athenians arrested Socrates for "... corrupting the children and offending the Gods" (Riley 4). Yes, the world has censorship and censorship is here to stay. In fact, without the modern movie code system of PG, PG-13, and XXX that was spawned by the PCA, it would be impossible for responsible parents to adequately screen the volume of content available today. In spite of the problems within the PCA, the Codes have turned out to be a workable solution to a very complex problem. However, there is a wise old adage that says, "The good is found in the intentions, but the bad is in the unintended consequences". In the case of the PCA, it may be exactly t he opposite. The PCA may have resulted in good consequences, in spite of the worst of intentions. Peering 75 years into the past to measure the intentions of men long passed is not an easy task. Yet, we can examine the things they said and the things they did. We can read their quotes and read their writings. We can evaluate what was cut out, what was left in, and try to see if there is a common thread that runs throughout that might re-stitch the fabric of their thoughts. Putting this information in context with the cultural and social setting of the time, the depression, the looming war, bigotry, and racism can give us a glimpse inside the mind of the PCA. The original PCA codes were adopted from the Catholic Movie Code and were very specific as to what they deemed a transgression. In part they stated that a film could never "...lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrong-doing, evil or sin"(Heins). What was considered wrong-doing, evil, and sin varied far and wide and was almost always at the mercy of Breen's interpretation. Semi nudity, lustful kissing, and sexual innuendo were all forbidden. Brutality, drinking, bathrooms, double beds, extra-marital affairs, and other transgressions of Catholic Doctrine have all fallen victim to the censor's ax at one time or another. Yet, the PCA went further to dictate that, "Government and

The Arranged Marriage or Love Marriage Research Paper

The Arranged Marriage or Love Marriage - Research Paper Example Love and arranged marriages can take other forms including polygamy which is a form of marriage where a man marries more than one woman or a woman getting married to more than one man. However, in 1862, Abraham Lincoln made polygamy a criminal offence in the United States as well as persons who were in such relationships were innumerable (Batabyal and Beladi, 2002). Nonetheless, there was a belief that an individual must have had more than one partner so they could go to heaven. Polygyny is a marriage with more than one partner at the same time and polyandry is a woman who (Applbaum, 1995) marries more than one man at the same time (Gupta, 1976). Endogamy is marriage to several wives or husbands from the same family, community, tribe, or social group. Since the advent of marriage, marriage scenarios have immensely changed across different cultures and societies across the world. Women have since been given equal marriage right has men. During the medieval period, women were faced full responsibility of their marriages and religion. On numerous occasions, marriages have been significantly pegged on other several reasons other than love. In some cases, economic liaison was taken to be the main reason behind marriages. In most cases, there were dowry as well as proxy marriages. In the case of dowry marriages, bride and his family are expected to pay dowry to the family of the groom. The dowry may be in the form of money or present (Applbaum, 1995). However, there some cultures that requires the groom’s family to pay dowry to the bride. Significantly, few marriages in the world require any sort of courtship or dating. Despite differences in nature and types of marriages, the culture of engagement ring is a universal customary i n marriage. The use of engagement ring can be traced back from the ancient Roman. There was a belief that the roundness of the ring represented the concept of an eternal relationship (Gupta, 1976). Additionally, there is a belief that the ring and the adorn finger ring directly connects the nerves and the heart. Marriage is considered a secret bond, as opposed to physical connectivity (Allendorf and Ghimire, 2012). Notably, Saint Paul once compared the marriage relationship to the relationship between Christ and the Church. Arranged marriage This marriage can be traced from the aristocratic and royal families all over the world. Currently, arranged marriages are largely practiced in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa, and south Asia (Cherlin, 2004). In the south Asia, arranged marriages are common in nations including India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan. Moreover, the practise is also found between the Hasidic Judaism and the Unification Church. Arranged marriage should never be confused with the forced marriage (Gupta, 1976). Arranged

Summarize the reasons for the failure of Lehman Brothers Essay

Summarize the reasons for the failure of Lehman Brothers - Essay Example hat the problems of the Lehman Brothers were well published over the media which gave time to the derivatives market to prepare for the worst (The Economist, 2008). The statement was pretty correct as the credit-default swaps market had not been broken but buckled up (The Economist, 2008). The bank was unable to assess the risk of the borrower or trading partner which resulted in defaults paralyzing the cash flows of the bank. According to The Economist, a senior bank executive quotes this mistake of deregulated leasing â€Å"the mistake of a lifetime† (The Economist, 2008). The Lehman Brothers was caught up amidst US$ 613 billion of debt of which US$ 160 billion was held by international investors as unsecured bonds. The European pension funds and the individuals in Asian markets had believed in the high rating of the Lehman Brothers and put their investments in this unsecured bonds. The price of this unsecured bonds collapsed quickly destroying the share price of the company to half overnight. The shareholders had already witnessed downfall of the prices of shares in the past few months. These losses caused a spiral in the money market. International investors pulled off US$ 400 billion from the money market funds which was supposed to be a safer investment. This action was taken when a fund suffered losses which were loaded on Lehman’s debts (The Economist, 2008). Dick Fuld was the CEO of the Lehman Brothers at the time of the collapse of the bank. The Lehman Brothers has been the 4th largest investment bank in the US since 1994. Mr. Fuld has been partly blamed for the collapse of the bank and the losses made by the investors. The CEO enforced many policies and precautions to avoid any financial storm, but still the bank revealed US$ 2.8 billion losses in the next quarter. On the 15th of September, 2008, the share price of the bank went down 94% as compared to the previous year. The redundancy of 24,000 employees caused a great human cost. All these factors