Social Change Model in Action in The Ocean Pacific...

Social Change Model in Action The Ocean Pacific Community Center (OPCC) is only one great example of good leadership and the Social Change Model within today’s society. OPCC is a Santa Monica based social services agency providing housing programs and helpful services for low-income and homeless youth, adults and families, battered women and their children and people living with mental illness. Good leadership can unify and bring together the best of the group. According to Komives and Wagner, everyone has it within himself or herself to become a leader and good leadership involves collaborative relationships that lead to collective action grounded in the shared values of people who work together to effect positive change (Komives †¦show more content†¦Many of the people working with the homeless population at OPCC have first hand experience about being homeless and are able to connect with everyone new entering the program on a very personal level. By sharing their real live struggles, they build a trust level and understanding that can only come from honest and personal experiences. They also understand the necessity of acknowledging each individual needs and how these need to be met before the end goal can be achieve. Personally, I really like that at OPCC no one is turned away because of an alcohol or drug addiction. Rather, it is looked at as a cause of being homeless and can’t be addressed until the basic needs of shelter and food are met. The ability to manage controversy with civility is critical in the social change process. When we can understand whom we are working with, why it is important, and how we are making a difference, we have a deeper understanding of social justice issues. We aren’t just going through the motions of action in our service, but we are being reflective, mindful, and intentional. For the most part I think that people avoid confrontation to maintain civility because they are programmed by their parents and society to avoid disagreeing with others. Many people stay away from conflict in order to avoid opening up the uncomfortable place of placing themselves in a vulnerableShow MoreRelatedThe Work Of The Cleaning Supplies Industry1720 Words   |  7 Pagesnot a good business model, they were driven by altruistic motives to help the planet one step at a time [Eng, Dinah]. When Method finally hit the shelves of America, it was almost an immediate success. Within one year, Method expanded and created a headquarters in downtown San Francisco, and sold its products to over 800 s tores across the the nation. Method Products started as a two man powered company, and has now become a multi-million dollar company paving a road of change in the industry [O’SullivanRead MoreA Brief Note On The Republic Of Colombia1590 Words   |  7 PagesFinal Informative Paper: Healthcare in Colombia Colombia, also known as the Republic of Colombia, is the fourth largest country in South America. It is bordered by the Caribbean Sea, the Pacific Ocean, Venezuela, Panama, Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador. Colombia’s population is over 46 million people and consists of a large variety of ethnic groups. Over the past 40 years there has been a campaign to overthrow the Colombian government with an escalation in the 1990s. The violence continues today and isRead MoreCosta Rica: International Business Environment3510 Words   |  15 Pagesmature vacationer will be pleased and excited from the beginning of their trip to paradise. The Country The Republic of Costa Rica is located near the center of the Central America. With Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south, Costa Rica enjoys beautiful beaches and a tropical climate from both the North and South Pacific Oceans and the Caribbean Sea. Costa Rica is approximately 19,650 square miles. The climate is mild in the central highlands to tropical and balmy in the coastal areasRead More00002525 Develop A Media Plan4575 Words   |  19 PagesOrganization Profile Since 1988, AQWA has presented the beauty and wonder of this coastal environment and is Western Australia’s number one marine attraction. Reflecting our Western Australian theme, everything in AQWA can be found in the State’s oceans. In addition, everything within our displays is living – including the incredible complex marine environments and coral! There are over 40 stunning exhibits including one of the largest living coral reef exhibits in the world and AQWA’s shipwreckRead MoreCase Study of Automobile Industry5967 Words   |  24 Pagesis a sector characterized by not only tremendous potential growth, but also very high profile trade disputes, and intense competition. In the 21st century, the automotive industry confronts greater challenges as the industry undergoes fundamental changes. Research on GM: General Motors is the worlds largest automotive corporation operating in over 70 countries with a presence in more than 200 countries, more than 260 major subsidiaries, and a total of 395,000 employees worldwide which translateRead MoreThe Future of Theme Parks in International Tourism4412 Words   |  18 Pagesformula. These include theme parks oriented around one | |theme or toward one market. This includes aquatic parks and children’s parks. A second departure from the| |traditional theme park is indoor theme parks combined with retail shopping centers. The largest examples | |of these are West Edmonton Mall in Canada, Lotte World in Seoul and Mall of America in Minneapolis.   | |State of the Industry   | |TheRead MoreThe Future of Theme Parks in International Tourism4412 Words   |  18 Pagesthe formula. These include theme parks oriented around one | |theme or toward one market. This includes aquatic parks and children’s parks. A second departure from the| |traditional theme park is indoor theme parks combined with retail shopping centers. The largest examples | |of these are West Edmonton Mall in Canada, Lotte World in Seoul and Mall of America in Minneapolis.   | |State of the Industry   | |The themeRead MoreA1 MP Nguyen Thu Trang 1013103410 Words   |  14 Pagespresent performance as well as to provide the basis for evaluating possible future courses of action. Because the business environment is continuously changing, the marketing audit should be used as a reference tool, with constant updates reflecting changes in the external and internal environment. a. External Audit It takes into consideration the overall Macro environment such as political, economics, social and cultural, technology, environmental and legal factors that may or may not affect Kinh Do’sRead MoreSience23554 Words   |  95 Pagesorg/article/233/climate-change-and-global-warming-introduction and answer the following questions. 1. What is the greenhouse effect? 2. How does it relate to climate change? 3. Draw and label the greenhouse effect. 4. Scroll down to the section â€Å"The Greenhouse Effect is Natural. What do we have to do with it?† What are some ways that humans are thought to be contributing to climate change? 5. Scroll down to the section â€Å"Small Average Global Temperature Change can haveRead MoreThe Philippine Architecture: Spanish Colonial Period18287 Words   |  74 Pagesevolved for the better because of their colonization. Our towns, streets, and governance were merely patterned on theirs. The formation of our streets, houses, and groupings of each citizen were simply adopted from the Spaniards. Religion is the center of Spanish influence, which was adopted by the Filipinos. In most of Filipinos’ houses, there must exist an altar, a specific place where the Sto. Nià ±os and Saints were positioned. Through this influence, the space inside the typical house of a Filipino

Syncretism Free Essays

Religious syncretism exhibits blending of two or more religious belief systems into a new system, or the incorporation into a religious tradition of beliefs from unrelated traditions. In the case of Haitian Vodou, Vodou blends two or more religious beliefs into one system, therefore it can be characterized has syncretism. Vodou is a syncretic system derived from deeply rooted African beliefs and colonial French Catholicism. We will write a custom essay sample on Syncretism or any similar topic only for you Order Now As a reaction to being torn violently from their roots, the slaves tried to resume their cultural and religious traditions.Ancestral spirits were invoked and celebrated in secret, far from the master’s eyes. The worship of saints and the Catholic sacraments served as a screen and a support for African beliefs. The creation of a coherent belief system was extremely important in the development of a feeling of unity among the slaves which would provide them with a sense of self and community. The process of syncretization among the African religions helps to explain why Vodou found it relatively easy to accept and integrate parts of Christian religious belief and practice into the local religious activity.Resistance to conversion was met with terrible violence, so Africans already saddled with the horror of being a slave would also suffer extra depreciations because they wished to celebrate their native religion. A solution fell into place though, and this solution was nearly identical all across the Americas. The Africans would pretend to convert to Catholicism, and secretly continue their religious traditions under the guise of Christian worship. Catholic symbols, like the Eucharist and the Saints, came to have double meanings.Initially this integration was purely functional, providing a cover of legitimacy for religions that were severely proscribed. Naturally, most Africans did not want to leave behind their old traditions. But after a few generations a real syncretism became part of the duality of beliefs of the slaves themselves, who soon found it possible to accommodate both religious systems. One way in which one can see clearly an example of syncretism is that Vodou recognizes a supreme deity and so does Catholicism. However, this god does not interact directly with humanity. Humans must rely on lesser celestial beings known as laws; and in Roman Catholicism humans must rely on lesser celestial beings known as angels and saints. These creatures might appear as gods, though they are more like helpers and messengers for the supreme creator. It was a simple matter of marrying the imagery of lwas with saints and angels. Then it was simple to go to Church and pray to St. Patrick to invoke Damballah, or pray to St. Anthony to invoke Legba. There was also no need to change the structure of the supreme deity. Vodou does not reject the idea that the Christian god is any different than their supreme deity. How did Haitian Vodou come to this point? Vodou’s evolution is marked by four major developments. The first one is the integration of African beliefs and practices around the dominant Fon religion. The second was the classification of gods and emergence of new ones. The third one was the synthesis of Catholic elements; and finally the fourth one was appropriating Amerindian religious symbols.The reason that the Fon beliefs became the dominant ones was for the simple fact that the Dahomean culture was the most populous. Vodou gained the majority of its deities from the Fon received from other African religions are the terms for gods (laws), mambos, the Congo word for priestess, and special deities lie Ogun, which absorbs the place of Gu in Dahomey. The classification for gods/laws changed over the time of Vodou’s development. At first it was classified according to African ethnic origins: Rada, Kongo, Nago, and Ibo.Later, with the emergence of new deities in Haiti two major categories of deities emerged: Rada and Petwo deities. The Rada deities originate from Africa while the Petwo deities originated in Haiti, but are still believed to visit from Africa (nan ginen). Synthesis of the Catholic faith with Vodou began with the Code Noir in 1685. This code outlawed all religions except for Catholicism. According to the Code Noir, slaves must be baptized. It stated that each slave’s acceptance into the church must be preceded by a period of religious instruction in the Catholic faith.This led to restrictions for the slaves. Some of these restrictions included slaves not being able to leave the plantation, prohibit slaves from night gathering, rituals, dances, etc. , and the sale of goats were prohibited. Three theories could explain what happened. The first one simply states that both fused together to make one. The second theory, symbiosis, explains that African elements and Catholic elements existed side by side as part of a mosaic, not having true fusion.The third theory, merely draped over the African dissimulation, states that Catholic elements of ritual were merely draped over the African ones in efforts to conceal traditional religious practices in an environment that was hostile to their survival. The last theory is what I think explains this scenario the best. Vodou is more closely related to African traditions than the Catholic faith; Vodou just used the Catholic faith as a disguise.I believe if the Catholic faith was not there, it Vodou could have still emerged under Islam or Judaism, but it would have been much harder since the two latter religions are not as universal as Catholicism. The final step in the development of Vodou is the synthesis of Amerindian religions. Symbols for Vodou originated here and not in Africa. Things like the asson, the sacred rattle of the priests, and the objects used in rituals. One can conclude that Vodou started as a religion from mainly three other religions, but now Vodou has evolved into a new and unique religion. How to cite Syncretism, Papers

American Constitution

Question: Write an essay on Constitution of United States of America. Answer: Thesis Statement: The national government of United States stable and intricate regardless of minor issues that is prevalent in the structure and procedure of the government. Overview of the American government indicates varied advantages and disadvantages. Many different approaches could be applied to rectify the issues that would smoothen the problems that affect the national government. The core structure of the system and the role it performs and the process that is involved in completing the procedures are very crucial as it embodies the national government of America; it is very detailed, and the analysis requires minute focus to determine the advantages and disadvantages of the government. Though it would be convenient to compare the national government with another country and other governments yet it is crucial to the understand that regardless of the minor drawbacks of the government of America, the structure of the national government of America is comparatively stronger and intricately weaved. This essay would reflect on some strength and weakness of the national government (Zinn, 2014). Constitution: The Constitution of the United States is sometimes referred as a living constitution. The capability to adapt to the ever-changing social and political opinions and views and the needs and consequent demand of the people of America has been an instrument in the earning a name as the living constitution. Constitution is the corner stone of the federal government that ensures that the system incorporates the checks and balances, and segregation of the clustering of power has been the vantage point while the constitution was written (Vile, 2015). The strength of the Constitution of United States lies in the fact that the government and the Congress can adopt and rectify legislations. The people of United States have the power to amend the constitution through the process of election that aims at the effort to include the citizen of America to place their opinion. Moreover, the laws ensure that the laws passed should preserve the rights of the people of United States (Tushnet, 2015). The drawback of the constitution lies on the on the fact that the constitution has some vague lines which leave room for interpretation that might be subject to change and might vary with the perception of the persons interpretation. The constitution could be strengthened with the adhering to the concept that people of United States are entitled to some rights, and the constitution should be amended that these rights have to be preserved and protected. The other way that would ensure the rectification of the weakness of the constitution is that the amendments should be followed by the fact the constitution should precise and clear and no vague sections should be left for interpretation. Federalism: Federalism is one of the major innovative concepts that the US came up with in their constitution as it allows the state government and the national government to share the power. In the United States, states come first followed by strive to create concrete a national government (Redish, 2015). Main benefits that the people of America enjoy are that the policy carried out by the national bureaucratic agency is in a uniform way by the professional technocrats. If the policy would have been carried out by the different states or local bureaucratic agencies and no central body would have control over the system and the implementation would have been a major issue for the country. Moreover, the policies are carried out by the technocrats, who are considered to be experts in their field thus the technocrats are well equipped to deal with the carrying out the policies (Mason Stephenson, 2015). The drawback of the policy is the exact opposite of what the benefit suggested. The centrally administered policy is good however it reduces the flexibility of the policy by the individual state requirements. This suggests that the states cannot adopt policies that match their requirements. Branches of government: One of the major strength of the judicial branches is the ability to deny or accepted some laws at the state level. This is suggestive of the fact that the judicial branch can deny to abide by the legislation if they find out that the constitutional rights of the citizen are been violated in the state level (Law Versteeg, 2012). The drawback that restrains the judicial branch is the determination of the amount of the power of the punishment of the citizen. The amount of the punishable time has restrictions however the judges can apply their discretion of their better judgment on the determination of the minimum or the maximum time of the sentences (Neubauer Meinhold, 2016). The one way that could be applied to strengthen the abilities of the judicial branches to properly execute their powers to deny or accept the state laws would be the provision of presidential co-signing. This would ensure that the decision making process has been strengthen enough to benefit and the support of the citizens at the state level. The one way that could be suggested to rectify the weakness would be to build a jury which would be responsible for the setting the number of the sentencing by the judgment passed by the judge and the; legislation and the jury would vote on the intention or the remorse of the convict. This would ensure that the people are protected from serving a long sentence for petty crimes or no great issue. Political parties: The United States follows a two party democratic system where two parties dominate the government (HersHey, Beck, 2015). There are many pros and cons of this two party system and the political parties. The greatest advantage that distinguishes the United States from other countries is that the voters have the opportunity to place their opinion through speaking their minds regarding the political party that is governing the United States for the time being (Mayhew, 2014). The major drawback that the political parties face is that the political parties lack the opportunity of equality in the governance. The one way that would ensure the guarantee the voters to be able to express their opinions and be heard would be that the political parties should concentrate on the voters have to say and take adequate actions to ensure the opinions reach the political parties. There are various to gauge the opinion of the voters- surveys, polls, and others. To ensure the creation of equality in the political system that would allow the voters to be able to choose whom they want irrespective of the fact that the political party they want is smaller in comparison to others. The essay could be concluded with the fact that the Constitution of United States of America is very strong and has been instrumental in the smooth running of the operations and functions of the government. The constitution is the main pillar of foundation on which the country stands. The other factors like the federalism, the different branches of the government (executives, legislative and judiciary) and the two party system where the political parties play a vital role are the reasons on the strength of the national government is standing. The intricate structure and the procedure that the government follows have enabled the country to become one of the enormous powers in the world with the appreciation of the being one of the most developed country in the world. References Beard, C. A. (2012).An economic interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. Simon and Schuster. Law, D. S., Versteeg, M. (2012). The declining influence of the United States constitution.New York University Law Review,87(3), 762-858. Mason, A. T., Stephenson, G. (2015).American constitutional law: introductory essays and selected cases. Routledge. Mayhew, D. R. (2014). Placing parties in American politics: organization, electoral settings, and government activity in the twentieth century. Princeton University Press. Neubauer, D., Meinhold, S. (2016).Judicial process: law, courts, and politics in the United States. Cengage Learning. rAndon HersHey, M., Beck, P. A. (2015). Party politics in America. Redish, M. H. (2015). Federal Courts Jurisdiction, The Structure of the Federal Judicial System.Moore's Federal Practice-Civil,15. Tushnet, M. (2015).The Constitution of the United States of America: a contextual analysis. Bloomsbury Publishing. Vile, J. R. (2015).A companion to the United States Constitution and its amendments. ABC-CLIO. Zinn, H. (2014).A people's history of the United States. Pan Macmillan.