The U.S based marginalized group

The Marginalisation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)

History of the group

 The concept of sexual orientation identity emerged in the mid-twentieth century.  In 1924, Henry Gerber established a small organization known as the ‘Society for Human rights’ that focused on ‘Friendship and Freedom’ (Finkelman, 2013).  However, the society was shut down in 1950. In the same year, the gay men established a Mattachine Society to seek cultural and political liberation, as well as homosexual rights.  The gay men came up with a statement of purpose which challenged the anti-gay discrimination and demanded to build a gay community (Finkelman, 2013). In 1955, the first lesbian organization was formed. Between 1950s-1960s, both gays and lesbians maintained a low profile or in other words, their activities such as public protests did not attract much interest.  In 1960, the New York did not recognize homosexuality and it used the sodomy laws and state laws to prohibit the licensed premises from selling alcohol to gays and lesbians. The law also prohibited nongender-appropriate clothing. However, there were unlicensed businesses such as the Stonewall Inn and other gay bars and clubs. In 1969, the police attacked the Stonewall Inn and the homosexuals showed an unprecedented violent reaction to the police (Finkelman, 2013).  Gay and lesbian protests showed violent confrontations and claimed for their rights. They presented the ‘gay pride' and argued that they are not ashamed and the society should recognize them. The expression of ‘gay pride' led to the creation of other radical groups that strengthened the gay and lesbian movement including campaigns and annual parades.

The roots of oppression

 LGBT group did not experience oppression nor was the group treated as a distinct sector until the development of modern capitalism (Wolf & hoopla, 2017).  First, it is important to understand that capitalism with LGBT is a system that supports autonomous sexual lives but at the same time, it imposes heterosexual norms to control the economy and society.  For example, in the nuclear family, the capitalist system does not include women in the workplace. In other words, capitalism states that women should be responsible for childcare and other house chores (Wolf & hoopla, 2017). Also, racism and sexism characterize the capitalist system in that working-class people are allowed to work in the industries and they do not struggle for the economy and social justice. On the other hand, socialist does impose legal or material restrictions as capitalism does but it focuses on providing individual’s freedom (Wolf & hoopla, 2017). According to socialist, sexuality is a fluid phenomenon. In addition, there is only one human race with different sexual possibilities and the difference can be recognized or frustrated concerning the structure and organization of the society. For example, the Industrial Revolution did not recognize the LGBT group. In the mid-nineteenth century, the Industrial Revolution focused on sexuality and gender roles. Homosexuality was seen as insane, moral degeneracy, latent condition, and it was associated with heredity weaknesses. Note that in pre-industrial society, there was no distinction in the value of tasks between men and men. All tasks such as agricultural work and childcare were considered productive. Also, the historical evidence states that during the pre-capitalism era, the pre-capitalists cultures fully incorporated homosexual behaviors (Wolf & hoopla, 2017). For example, ancient Greece appreciated the relationship between wealthier older men and poorer teenage boys. In addition, the American Indian tribes appreciated the berdaches (men and women who played roles of the opposite sex). Another example is that the Roman Catholic Church tolerated the homosexual actions and love between men. Even Michel Foucalt (The French philosopher) confronted the modern society for having a negative sexual outlook towards the LGBT and in specific the Greeks. He said that Greek did not see the same-sex behavior or opposite-sex behavior as two different choices but rather they conceived this dual practice as a natural act that was implanted to the individual's heart (Wolf & hoopla, 2017). However, the class societies, the fields of medicine, academic, and other fields have imposed measures to control human sexuality. Today, the economic growth and development, the higher levels of education, among other developments have reduced social interactions and view homosexual relations as a crime.  Homosexual individuals are denied opportunities and they are alienated from the activity of production in the capitalist society.

Therefore, systematic oppression is a recent phenomenon, especially in Western societies (Wolf & hoopla, 2017). Even though before the capitalism LGBT people experienced oppression, there was legal prohibition in many cultures during the pre-capitalist era. In other words, there was no condemnation of sexual identity and homosexuality was not seen as a set of acts but it was seen as a set of qualities. This means that both heterosexuals and homosexuals were both integrated into society. Yet, modern capitalism has motivated LGBT people to identify themselves as gays and lesbians (Wolf & hoopla, 2017). In other words, capitalism has allowed gays and lesbians to have intimate lives and develop personal desire. Note that under capitalism, people focus on private ownership or private property, wage labor, profit motive, economic freedom, competition for education, housing, among other resources. Note that these feature influence people to develop individuality and sexual autonomy (Wolf & hoopla, 2017). There are no natural bonds to supports human conglomerate.

 Common psychological issues experienced by LGBT 

            According to Russel & Fish (2016), LGBT suffers from mental health. Focusing on societal acceptance, in 1977 43% of adults in the U.S supported the relationship between gay or lesbian whereas, in 2013, the number increased to 66%.  The societal acceptance of LGBT people around the world has increased in that in 2001, the Netherlands recognized same-sex marriage and other 22 countries recognize same-sex marriage. However, despite an increase in social acceptance, there is a decrease in the rate of disclose of gender identity among LGBT youth. Recent studies show that when youths are at early adolescence, they learn more about self and peer regulation of sexuality norms. They develop prejudicial attitudes, they experience social exclusion and victimization which lead to psychological consequences such as depression, suicidal ideation, substance use, anxiety disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, and psychiatric comorbidity (Russell & Fish, 2016). A recent US study has reported that LGBT lesbians suffer from substance use problems than heterosexual females. In general, LGBT youth question their sexuality than heterosexuality and this affects their mental health.  There is also a difference in racial/ethnic identities in that Latino males suffer from depression than white males. The studies find that the risk factors for mental health issues among LGBT youth are family conflict and stigma and discrimination (Russell & Fish, 2016). At the social level, LGBT youth lack support from families and society. The rights are not recognized and they become more vulnerable to mental health issues. For example, schools do not have anti-bullying policies and as a result, LGBT young end up suffering from physical abuse and peer victimization which makes them develop suicide attempts (Russell & Fish, 2016).  On stigma and discrimination, LGBT experience biased-based victimization due to their actual identities. As a result, they suffer from depression and suicide attempts.

 Sutter, Perrin, & Trujillo (2018) assert that LGBT individuals experience mental health problems more than heterosexual individuals. The mental health problems are contributed by stigma-related stressors such as harassment, prejudice, rejection, and discrimination. The authors state that the risk factor for a mental health problem is social-economic status (SES). Individuals whose SES is low suffering from stress and depression and they cannot manage the depression. Note that sexual minorities do not access social support and as a result, they have higher rates of poverty and they use poor adaptive responses (Sutter, Perrin, & Trujillo, 2018).  In the workplace, Webster et al (2018) assert that LGBT conceals their identities. The place of work is full of stigma and for this reason, LGBT find it hard to disclose their identity and if they do so, they experience unfair treatment and violence. For example, the Williams Institute reported that in 2008, 30% of LGBT who disclosed their identities were harassed and 27% were discriminated. The negative experience does not only emerge due to stigma but also due to the lack of protection from the federal legislation. Only a few states have instituted laws to protect LGBT from harassment and discrimination but the majority have no laws (Webster et al, 2018). This makes almost 52% of LGBT vulnerable to mistreatment.  Given that LGBT  are marginalized in work, social and educational environment, they suffer from mental health problems than non-LGBT.

Common coping strategies and strengths utilized by LGBT

 Kuper, Coleman, & Mustanski, (2014) state that LGBT uses multiple methods of coping with stressors. The authors state that they use racial-ethnic socialization or a process in which older LGBT convey message or information to younger LGBT about group-based values. The socialization message plays a significant in that through sharing the belief systems, children and young LGBT can cope up with racial-ethnic stressors. There are two types of racial-ethnic socialization. The first one is proactive socialization which aims at conveying the message about cultural pride. The other is protective socialization which aims at conveying the message which aims at warning LGBT youth about oppressive experiences. In other words, the protection socialization teaches the youth the need to develop an awareness of discrimination, be prepared for prejudice, and understand the existing structural barriers (Kuper, Coleman, & Mustanski, 2014). In most cases, LGBT uses the protective socialization in that it helps them understand how the society perceives them and as a result, they can cope up with racial/ ethnic stressors and avoid mental health outcomes. For example, LGBT people are aware of the sexual violence and threats and as a result, there can cope up with LGBT-related stressors.  Also, LGBT individuals know that harassment is inevitable and when they are faced with a stressor, they ignore and disclose their identities.

 Treatment alternatives

 Kahn et al (2018) state that LGBT are exposed to prejudice and discrimination but despite their exposure to minority stress, they do not access quality mental health. If their access treatment, LGBT individuals experiences prejudice and discrimination such as higher treatment costs and lack of mental health practitioners to provide them with knowledge about trans-affirmative care (Kahn et al, 2018). The author recommends that it is important to employ affirmative approaches to hence the psychotherapy experiences and improve the mental health of LGBT. Mental health providers should recognize the mental health difficulties and institute mental health referral to help client who suffer from traumatic stress. Note that LGBT finds it hard to seek treatment due to stigma and stress. Rather than disclosing their mental health issues, they develop shame-based reactions and this result to lack of mental health care (Kahn et al, 2018). Therefore, mental health providers and counselors should help the LGBT manage stress and also ensure that they have health insurance coverage so that they can seek mental health care without restriction (Kahn et al, 2018). Also, there should be community-based support where LGBT receive psychosocial support, clinic-based treatment, and social connections.

References

Finkelman Paul. (2013). The Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties. Routledge

Wolf, S., & hoopla digital. (2017). Sexuality and socialism: History, politics, and theory of LGBT

liberation. United States: Haymarket Books.

Russell, S. T., & Fish, J. N. (2016). Mental health in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)

youth. Annual review of clinical psychology, 12, 465-487.

Sutter, M., Perrin, P. B., & Trujillo, M. A. (2018). Understanding the association between discrimination

and depression among sexual minority people of color: Evidence for diminishing returns of

socioeconomic advantage. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 74(6), 940–952. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22558

Webster, Jennica R., Gary A. Adams, Cheryl L. Maranto, Katina Sawyer, and Christian Thoroughgood.

2018. “Workplace Contextual Supports for LGBT Employees: A Review, Meta‐analysis, and

Agenda for Future Research.” Human Resource Management 57 (1): 193–210.

doi:10.1002/hrm.21873.

Kuper, L. E., Coleman, B. R., & Mustanski, B. S. (2014). Coping With LGBT and Racial-Ethnic-Related

Stressors: A Mixed-Methods Study of LGBT Youth of Color. Journal of Research on

Adolescence (Wiley-Blackwell), 24(4), 703–719. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12079

Kahn, S., Alessi, E. J., Kim, H., Woolner, L., & Olivieri, C. J. (2018). Facilitating Mental Health Support

for LGBT Forced Migrants: A Qualitative Inquiry. Journal of Counseling & Development, 96(3),

316–326. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcad.12205

             Negative Impacts of Immigration on Family

Immigration has been a controversial issue within the American society for years. The United States is the country that has the most immigrants in the world. Over 40 million people that live in U.S. today were born in another country, which accounts for about a fifth of the world migrants as of the year 2017 (Radford, 2019). As of the year 2017, the population of foreign born individuals in U.S. was at 44.4 million. Today, immigrants account for 13.6% of the U.S. population which has nearly tripled from the 1970s where it was 4.7% (Radford, 2019).  There are those that support immigration and there are those that do not. There are three major concerns that host countries attribute with immigration; there is the issue of reduced wages for the domestic workers because of the competition with the immigrants. The other issue is in regard to the pressure that immigration puts on education and health facilities. And lastly there is the issue of the pressures that tax payers have to deal with because of the increasing population (Casey, 2013). For the immigrants, migration presents a means for an improved standard of living with significant economic development potential for them and their families. Though immigration is beneficial and it provides economic benefit to both the immigrants and the host countries, it has major effects on families. The challenges range from family separation to difficulties of integration in the destination countries which greatly changes the intra family gender roles.

One major cause and need for immigration is over population in under developed and slowly developing countries. This has resulted in scarcity of resources and job opportunities which has forced both the skilled and unskilled people to seek opportunities in the developed nations (Booth et al., 2012). Lack of a means to provide for a family can lead to failure of the whole family in a societal setting. People are being forced to move from their countries to other developed countries like the U.S. which they consider to have more job opportunities that can help give their families a better life (Gulasekaram, 2018). During immigration, a person may consider moving along with his or her family, or else, go and, make a new family in the destination country. Circumstances can at times force an individual to leave his or her family behind, which leads to family separation.

The aspect of family presents different viewpoints of an individual to the external world. People who spend much time with their families show their value of love, communication, and appreciation. It also depicts an individual’s ability to socialize with other people, make positive relations, and help one another in achieving a common goal (Bales & Parsons, 2014). A family can be regarded as the first lesson of making relationships with one another. A family, means a lot to an individual in characteristic stages of growth and development, since one feels secure, and can get solutions of solving problems around a family. A family is also a base through which one gains the right skills and attitudes as per the societal expectations. It is through the family that people learn to respect one another and be responsible (Chaloff & Poeschel, 2017).  There exist family traditions which also ought to be followed to showcase ones worth of his or her identity. These traditions might be experiences that families may create together regularly. Such traditions provide a family with memories, besides giving family members with a stronger sense of belonging. Nonetheless, many families make society. It is through such societies that common norms, values, and disciplines are set for the common good of all society members (Hardin, 2005). Self-aid values like responsibility, hard work, respect are gained, which in turn helps society live in unity and harmoniously.

A family is the baseline by which human beings receive love, support, and a framework of values from one another. A family is held together by morals, faith, ideals, hope, encouragement, comfort, and understanding between one another (Booth et al., 2012). The support offered by a family helps an individual to gain an individualistic form of self-worth, and purpose. A family is the primary roof of any individual, where one learns about self-identity. This is from the fact that when a child is born, it fully depends on its family for protection and other main basic needs like food, shelter, and clothing (Chaloff & Poeschel, 2017). It is through the family’s values that a child gains a basis to develop his code of moral conduct.

After arriving and settling in the home country, the urge of self-identity may make the immigrants to start looking for new a new family life. Considering that immigration to many people means an avenue of job opportunities, and better life, an individual intending to immigrate may have insufficient finances to support himself. Support of family associates is often vital for guaranteeing financial capability of new settlers most particularly those that have narrow monetary resources (Caldwell, 2016). When these extended relations are not present, the immigrants have a habit of looking for replacements and this is where new family systems are formed.  Immigrants form families of all unconnected persons of both related and unconnected personalities who begin to consider each other as family (Caldwell, 2016).

Family values should always be protected to ensure maintenance of a smooth code of conduct in the lineage of a family to help its future generations. Family coordination and organization is the basis through which humans have been able to reach their massive developments in time (Booth et al., 2012). When the immigrants join in with strangers and form new families, they cut off the connections with their family back at home and this affects the concept of family unit. This is an individual who leaves home to go into a different country to find greener pastures so that they can help their families back at home. The new families that they form affect their thinking and they forget their main objective which ends up affecting the survival of that family unit. A failure in any element in a family sums up to a total fail in the society.

Immigration also greatly affects traditions and cultural beliefs. Various countries have variant cultural beliefs that they follow. This traditions change with time as the world continuous to develop and people change their mindsets about various issues of life. An immigrant may choose to stick to past customs of their home country, after comparing them with those of the new country that he moves into (Mahalingam, 2006). Being away from home and without any connection to his or her family back at home, the immigrant may lack enough knowledge about feasible changes that the home country has undergone. This can lead this individual to be left behind when it comes to cultural growth where he may choose to interpret the present customs based on the remembered past (Booth et al., 2012). This may affect the individual’s ability to socially interact with other people, who do not agree with his past grounded mindset in regard to various life issues.

Preserving and practicing family traditions is considered essential in reinforcing inherent family behaviors and values. However, immigration may affect the social relations of the immigrant such as in maintaining the traditional family life. A traditional family life believes that a woman is a home maker and the man is the breadwinner (Mahalingam, 2006).  A woman even with a career is always expected to take care of the children and ensure that everything in the home is running properly. A man on the other hand is expected to always ensure that the family is well provided for even if the wife also has a job the man is one that is expected to take of all the bills. The western culture however has a different thinking when it comes to gender roles, there are no gender roles (Mahalingam, 2006). A man can take the role of taking care of the children while the woman can be the bread winner. In the new country, the earnings of the woman and the man are all put together as one to help sustain the family, something that may not have ben common at the home country.

This mindset of family traditions has greatly been affected by the fact that there is an imbalance between the ratios of men to women in a host country.  Immigration has greatly affected the aspect of marriage where immigrants have been forced to accept and incorporate other ethnic groups in the family lineage (Booth et al., 2012). This new form of life can however be influenced by the ways of the host country and past cultural customs of the home country. In cases where the immigrant still has connections to the home country, they may tend to hang on bicultural adjustment and integration. It is very conceivable for an individual to search for a marital spouse from their home country because they want to preserve their traditions. Young settlers as likened to their parentages and females more than males are more probable to integrate western cultural values commonly because they signify liberation and independence from some of the out-dated gender roles (Alan et al., 2017).

There is an approximately 1.8 million refugees within the U.S., these are people living in poverty and most of them are homeless (Booth et al., 2012). Most of these people that undergo challenges as immigrants are people that do not have legal documents and so they have problems acquiring jobs. Some of the other challenges include; language barriers, lack of the required skills to find a job in the host country, education and cultural barriers, discrimination and racism (Hardin, 2005). In some of the countries, expertise is essential for an individual to be able to get a job, thus, lacking the required skills can lead an immigrant to low pay jobs without benefits. The few available jobs for the non-skilled individuals offer very low wages. All this challenges greatly affect family life of the immigrants which leads them to live in more poverty than they did in their home countries.

Migrant’s population include thousands of children who are from low economic status that experience many complex difficulties. It has become a very common story where in an immigrant’s family lineage; there is always an enslaved child that gets taken from their parents which breaks the family unit (Hardin, 2005).  So many children get separated from their parents at the borders where they come to seek help. This children end up in child protection services where they are forced to live with strangers far away from their parents. Other parents chose to migrate alone, leaving their children back at home which has its positive and negative effects on the children. the migrant parents that manage to get jobs are able to send some financial support back home which help to finance education, healthcare, food and good housing for the children (Wood, 2018). Parents migrating can also have some negative effects on the children in regard to both their emotional and psychological development. The children that migrate with their parents also face some challenges which include racial discrimination from their peers at school, language barrier, economic security of their parents and challenges in matters of rights to citizenship. In cases where the parents do not acquire good jobs to help sustain the family, children end up lacking basic needs like food and shelter which can greatly impact on their growth and development (Wood, 2018). These children are forced to learn new languages in order to fit in the new societies which are not easy. They are forced to adopt a new life culture that is different from what they knew back at home and it can negatively impact on their understanding of life choices. At the new schools that they join, 70% of these children experience discrimination on the bases of race which affects their academic performance, their social lives and overall self-esteem (Caldwell, 2016).

Life in the host countries is not easy for the immigrants; parents have to take up more than two jobs low paying jobs to help meet the family needs. The parents that do not have any job skills struggle even more because they rarely find any well-paying jobs to help sustain them. As for the ones with some special skills, they have to compete with the natives to get jobs and they are forced to take lower wages because few employers are willing to trust them with their businesses (Mahalingam, 2006). This struggle to survive in the new country leads to a disconnection between the parents and the children, because they rarely have time to be together as a family. The children are also forced to take up any jobs that they can get when they are not in school to help support their struggling parents with the bills (Caldwell, 2016). As a result of little or no parents control and care, children may end up engaging in immoral activities like indulgence in drugs and criminal gangs. This happens as they try to fit in and find comfort in the new society that they have no one to guide them into. Most of the criminal activities that happen in the American society are conducted by immigrants. 4% to 7% of the over 1.5 million people that are in American prisons are an immigrant (Gulasekaram, 2018). This helps to illustrate the situations that immigrant children get themselves into when the parents are busy working two or more jobs to make ends meet. All this situations may end up negatively impacting on the future lives of these children who may have had a much better life in their home countries.

Immigration is a complicated phenomenon; people leave their homes not knowing what to expect in the new countries that they are moving into. When people think about America, all that comes into their mind is the achieving the American dream. They see the migration chance as a path way to a better life, a life of luxury and wealth. They are however wrong, migration is not the answer to poverty and lack of job opportunities. Immigration is illegal and illegal immigrants in America are always jailed and deported back to their home countries. There are many challenges that come with migration; there is discrimination, low wages, family separation and loss of culture among many others. Children who are innocent suffer as a result of migration choice by their parents. They are forced to live a life of fear in the new country that they are taken to and they have to deal with discrimination which affects the rest of their lives. It is right to say that migration has some economic benefits and better opportunities or the migrants where they are able to get better education facilities for their children, better health facilities and also better jobs than they had at their home countries. However, the challenges that they face are more and better policies need to be created to help minimize the challenges and help immigrants settle in much better.

References

Alan B, Ann C, and Nancy L. (2017) Immigration's Effect On Families. Retrieved from

https://family.jrank.org/pages/844/Immigration-Immigration-s-Effect-on-Families.html

Bales, R. F., & Parsons, T. (2014). Family: Socialization and interaction process. Routledge.​

Booth, A., Crouter, A. C., Landale, N., & Landale, N. S. (2012). Immigration and the family: ​

            Research and policy on US immigrants. Routledge.

Chaloff, J., & Poeschel, F. (2017). A portrait of family migration. OECD Observer, (311),

            22–23.

Casey, C. (2013). Work, self and society: After industrialism. Routledge.

Caldwell, L. (2016). Immigration and its effect on children and families. Retrieved from

            https://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/newsletter/2016/11/immigration-effect

Hardin, R. (2005). Migration and Community. Journal of Social Philosophy, 36(2), 273–287.

Gulasekaram, P. (2018). Immigration federalism. In Controversies in American Federalism

            and ​Public Policy (pp. 151-170). Routledge.

Mahalingam, R. (Ed.). (2006). Cultural psychology of immigrants. Sociology. The University

            of ​Western Ontario.

Radford, J., & Radford, J. (2019, June 17). Key findings about U.S. immigrants. Retrieved

from: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/17/key-findings-about-u-s-immigrants/

Wood, L. C. (2018, September 26). Impact of punitive immigration policies, parent-

child separation and child detention on the mental health and development of children. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6173255/

Immigration and Family

Each year, thousands of immigrant families come to the United States in search of a better income, educational opportunities or to escape difficult circumstances in their home countries. The Unite States is the country that has the most immigrants in the world. Over 40 million people that live in U.S. today were born in another country, which accounts for about a fifth of the world migrants as o the year 2017 (Radford, 2019). As of the year 2017, the population of foreign born individuals in U.S. was at 44.4 million. Today, immigrants account for 13.6% of the U.S. population which has nearly tripled from the 1970s where it was 4.7% (Radford, 2019). Immigration can be incredibly beneficial for families seeking to improve their circumstances, however if not properly planned, it can lead to family separation, negatively affect culture and create a financial as well as legal burden.

Generally, a family might also refer to a group of people who share the same ancestry (Chaloff & Poeschel, 2017). It is thus from making families that people also realize the need to provide for their families adequately. This makes them work tirelessly on the locally available opportunities (Casey, 2013). However, as the population has been growing, opportunities seem to be reduced, which makes an individual search for an opportunity in a different place. This is where immigration comes in, as the way people move into other countries to settle and reside there as residents, and take up employment as a migrant or foreign worker. Family connections are significant and they are upheld across state borders. There are those family associates that may be enthusiastic to migrate; there are those who might not be permitted to migrate or various reasons.

Once persons migrate to a new republic, they start to generate a new family life. This is a family life that is swayed by both the social customs, and the conducts of this new state (Alan et al., 2017). Such families demonstrate integration or bicultural modifications rather than absorption. Unified or bicultural families are probable if there are adequate figures in the indigenous community. This only transpires if migration endures from the country of source and if the indigenous community has associations with their republic of origin. Though a settler’s belief may revolution over time in the nation of origin, the settler can remain to reason that the customs are enduring and deduce the present grounded on his memory of the past (Caldwell, 2016). Such cultural considerations are significant in helping strengthen traditional family principles and conducts. Social inspirations for example close relatives and a stable sex proportion critically help uphold traditional clan life. A good illustration of this is the absenteeism of fitting close relatives for example older families to help nurture the children and to illustrate traditional house roles. These consequences in non-traditional arrangements of husbands taking up these house roles like cooking and caring or the children, to support their companions.

The world is characterized by many elements which work in mutual coordination of one another. Most of these elements are naturally occurring while others are brought in existence by other existing factors. People are the primary elements that characterize the world in existence. People can realize existence, and have made extensive efforts to make the world a better place to live. Their limitless abilities have made them realize the need for teamwork in advancing what is already existing (Casey, 2013). This has been catalyzed by inherent characteristics in each being, which entail their diverse ways of thinking, acting, and feeling which they possess naturally. Thinking has brought logic with which people have so far used to develop the world to the state it is today. Acting has helped people become social beings, by primarily coming up languages which they use to communicate with one another (Bales & Parsons, 2014). Through communication, many enhancements in the humanoid sphere have gigantically developed. From their abilities, people have been able to make organized social groups. Significantly, people make families which are simply social groups that are made up of parents and their children (Bales & Parsons, 2014).

A family can be said to be a baseline by humans receive love, support, and a framework of values from one another. Arguably, a family can be regarded as the first lesson of making relationships with one another. A family, means a lot to an individual in characteristic stages of growth and development, since one feels secure, and can get solutions of solving problems around a family. A family is also a base through which one gains the right skills and attitudes as per the societal expectations. It is through the family that people learn to respect one another and be responsible (Chaloff & Poeschel, 2017). A family is held together by morals, faith, ideals, hope, encouragement, comfort, and understanding between one another. The support offered by a family helps an individual to gain an individualistic form of self-worth, and purpose. A family is the primary roof of any individual, where one learns about self-identity. This is from the fact that when a child is born, it fully depends on its family for protection and other main basic needs like food, shelter, and clothing (Chaloff & Poeschel, 2017). It is through the family’s values that a child gains a basis to develop his code of moral conduct.

The aspect of family presents different viewpoints of an individual to the external world. Arguably, people who spend much time with their families show their value of love, communication, and appreciation. It also depicts an individual’s ability to socialize with other people, make positive relations, and help one another in achieving a common goal (Bales & Parsons, 2014). There exist family traditions which also ought to be followed to showcase ones worth of his own identity. These traditions might be experiences that families may create together regularly. Such traditions provide a family with memories, besides giving family members with a stronger sense of belonging. Nonetheless, many families make society. It is through such societies that common norms, values, and disciplines are set for the common good of all society members (Hardin, 2005). Self-aid values like responsibility, hard work, respect are gained, which in turn helps society live in unity and harmoniously.

Family coordination and organization can be regarded as the basis through which humans have been able to reach their massive developments in time (Booth et al., 2012). Family values should thus be protected for the good of maintaining a smooth code of conduct in the lineage of a particular family to help its future generations. A perfect family is the perfection of a whole society and all its members including, father, mother and the children all have to work together to build a perfect family (Casey, 2013). A failure in any element in a family sums up to a total fail in the family. An optimal family is created by hard work from each member of the society. It is from an individual family impact that society is also able to have an impact on the whole world. It is thus through strong family values that family members gain insights into greater decision-making skills.

Over time, there have been changes in societal values over different societies in the world. People populations have been growing over time which has resulted to scarcity of opportunities. This is the primary cause of immigration, where people move from their countries to other countries, they deem favorable to get job opportunities, besides other benefits (Gulasekaram, 2018). Notably, a lack of a means to provide for a family can lead to failure of the whole family in a societal setting. A failure in a family is a failure of the whole society. In immigration, people may go to other countries in search of timeliness which can let them provide adequately for their families (Gulasekaram, 2018). During immigration, a person may consider moving along with his or her family, or else, go and, make a new family in the destination country.

 Immigration is however illegal in most countries, and one caught can be charged against a court of flaw or deported back to his or her mother country (Hardin, 2005). Particularly, an individual may choose to; eave their home countries due to political issues, natural disasters, economic issues, or even family reunification. This might be in seek of higher wages, better standards of living, employment opportunities, or even better educational opportunities.

A family is united together by ties which bind the interrelation between each family member (Mahalingam, 2006). These family ties are maintained overly across national boundaries. It is from a worldwide perspective that a single family can be said to be a significant figure.

            Reflecting on the aspect of family in immigration, some family members may be denied the chance to immigrate, while others may not want to immigrate. Considering that immigration to many people means an avenue of getting adequate medical items, food, clothing, and job opportunities, an individual intending to immigrate may have insufficient finances that he or she will be able to support fellow family members (Mahalingam, 2006). Thus, circumstances may force an individual to leave his or her family behind, where after arriving and settling in the home country, the urge of self-identity may make him or her start looking for new a new family life. Support of family associates is often vital for guaranteeing financial capability of new settlers most particularly those that have narrow monetary resources (Caldwell, 2016). When these extended relations are not present, the immigrants have a habit of replacing and this is where new family systems are formed.  Immigrants form families of all unconnected persons of both related and unconnected personalities who begin to consider each other as family (Caldwell, 2016). This new form of life will be influenced by the ways of the host country and past cultural customs of the home country (Booth et al., 2012). In an event where the immigrant still has connections to the home country, then an individual may tend to hang on bicultural adjustment and integration.

Traditions change with time in any country. An immigrant may stick to past customs of the home country, which he or she may compare them with the cultures of the host country (Mahalingam, 2006). The immigrant may lack enough knowledge about feasible changes that the home country has undergone, thus interpreting the present customs based on the remembered past. Preserving and practicing family traditions is considered essential in reinforcing inherent family behaviors and values. However, immigration may affect the social relations of the immigrant such as in maintaining the traditional family life. This is predetermined by factors such as sex ratio, and close relatives (Mahalingam, 2006). For instance, if there is an imbalance between the ratios of men to women in a host country, the aspect of marriage may end up incorporating other ethnic groups in the family lineage.

Booth et al., (2012) points out that women and young immigrants, when compared with men and older immigrants have the highest possibilities of incorporating the new values of the host country. A disparity of men to women momentously disturbs who becomes married and whether partners are from a different cultural group or if they are pursued from the home country (Caldwell, 2016). It is very conceivable for an individual to search for a marital spouse from their home country because they want to preserve their traditions. Young settlers as likened to their parentages and females more than males are more probable to integrate western cultural values commonly because they signify liberation and independence from some of the out-dated gender roles (Alan et al., 2017). Customarily, women are expected to take care of the family and children and teach them to understand ethnic traditions. Even if there are stresses to preserve specific masculinity roles, women have a tendency to have numerous prospects for altering roles (Caldwell, 2016). This is most precisely when they are disconnected from their extended relations and they obtain limited corroboration of ethnic roles from the cultural community.

Women have many chances of changing roles, as well as children. This is because a woman may be separated from one's extended family through marriage to go and adjust in a new family setting. Children and younger people, on the other hand, are considered to be still undergoing the process of growth and development, where they get most of their knowledge through imitation of behavior (Hardin, 2005). United States’ population is significantly characterized by people from diverse traditional cultures. This has been a result of the immigration of people from different countries hoping for a better life for themselves and their families.

There is an approximately 1.8 million refugees within the U.S., this are people living in poverty and most of them are homeless (Booth et al., 2012). Most of the people that undergo challenges as immigrants are the illegal immigrants, these are people that do not have legal documents and so they have problems acquiring jobs. The highest number of immigrants in the U.S. is the Asians and their population is expected to grow in the next years. This shows that immigration is also characterized by difficulties which may act against the immigrant’s expectations. Such shortcomings mostly include; language barriers, lack of the required skills to find a job in the host country, education and cultural barriers, and even discrimination and racism (Hardin, 2005). One has to learn the predominant language that is spoken in the host country, to be able to communicate effectively with others and express themselves. In some countries, professionalism is essential for an individual to be able to get a job, thus, lacking the required skills can lead an immigrant to low pay jobs without benefits. In culture and orientation, an individual having being used to the way of life of his or her home country, arriving in a new country can make an individual feel out of place (Booth et al., 2012). This may be worse where the issue of discrimination and racism has characterized the host country, where an immigrant obviously will not yet be into the new ways of life.

Immigration can generally be argued to be a consequence of the pull and push factors. Some factors make an individual move from one's country to another while other factors or expectations attract a person to a new place. All these factors are all tied on family and support, where individual family members may seek to go extra miles, and this in most cases means moving to another country just to try and ensure that they give their families the best life. Family is that prime element that can essentially cause a person to take risks and explore new areas in other more developed countries like the U.S. it is however for people to understand the challenges that they are likely to face once they have made their choice to migrate. Immigration is characterized by numerous drawbacks for instance language barrier and lack of jobs and place to live which is what greatly discourages most people. When making the choice to migrate to another country to look for better opportunities, it is important to have a plan and conduct the necessary research about the job market of the skills that one has. Immigration can be beneficial to the individuals that have goals in life, these are people who are willing to learn and adopt a new culture in their quest to succeed.

References

Alan B, Ann C, and Nancy L. (2017) Immigration's Effect On Families. Retrieved from

            https://family.jrank.org/pages/844/Immigration-Immigration-s-Effect-on-Families.html

Bales, R. F., & Parsons, T. (2014). Family: Socialization and interaction process. Routledge.​

Booth, A., Crouter, A. C., Landale, N., & Landale, N. S. (2012). Immigration and the family: ​

            Research and policy on US immigrants. Routledge.

Chaloff, J., & Poeschel, F. (2017). A portrait of family migration. OECD Observer, (311), 22–

23. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=127678183&site=ehost-live

Casey, C. (2013). Work, self and society: After industrialism. Routledge.

Caldwell, L. (2016). Immigration and its effect on children and families. Retrieved from

            https://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/newsletter/2016/11/immigration-effect

Hardin, R. (2005). Migration and Community. Journal of Social Philosophy, 36(2), 273–287.

            https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9833.2005.00271.x

Gulasekaram, P. (2018). Immigration federalism. In Controversies in American Federalism and ​

            Public Policy (pp. 151-170). Routledge.

Mahalingam, R. (Ed.). (2006). Cultural psychology of immigrants. Sociology. The University of ​

            Western Ontario.

Radford, J., & Radford, J. (2019, June 17). Key findings about U.S. immigrants. Retrieved from

            https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/17/key-findings-about-u-s-immigrants/

 An Indigenous Society of Australia

Introduction

Every aspect of the indigenous societies of Australia was greatly disrupted by colonization that brought with it western knowledge. Their ways of life and kinship structures were greatly traumatized. Some indigenous societies have been greatly affected, some have been dislocated and some lost their original language since they never got the chance to pass it down to generations. Indigenous societies have changed with no doubt; some of these changes can be attributed to the presence of Europeans and the actions of the colonizers. Their actions destroyed the life that existed in pre colonial Aboriginal family. Over time these indigenous societies have adjusted in various ways. The indigenous people of West of Australia, the Nyungar have found a way to reinstate the relationships they held dear and created a system of knowledge that involved caring for families and relationships this has greatly helped them survives long after colonization.  

The Nyungar community of South West Australia is still alive and dynamic after so many years. British colonization had a great impact on the continuity of the culture of this indigenous society. Colonization led to loss of land, break up of families where children were taken from their parents and massacres that ended the lives of many in these society leading to loss culture and its original language (Stocker, Collard, & Rooney, 2016). Before colonization Australia had several hundred indigenous groups, each group had its own political and legal system and traditions that defined them (Hunt, 2013).  Children from the Nyungar were taken from their mothers at a tender age.  As a result of this a whole Generation of Nyungar failed to learn their culture and tradition, instead they were forced to learn the domestic education that was introduced by the colonizers.

Despite all these the Nyungar society has not lost its identity and cultural values. Members of the society have done their best at protecting and reclaiming their culture from multiple sources. They have reclaimed their former ceremonial practices, their ways of land management and their original language. With time indigenous Knowledge systems have come to be recognized alongside western knowledge but western knowledge always has an upper hand.  The relationship between these two systems is conflictual but has the potential to collaborate in the future (Stocker, Collard, & Rooney, 2016). The system that was developed by the Nyungar society for caring for families and relationships included action such as acknowledging the spirit of space, putting relationships first by rebuilding family and social relationships.

After western knowledge had disrupted their culture. Members of the society came together for a cultural traditional practice, they agreed to attempt a cultural practice even without enough knowledge to start and in the process they learned the knowledge that was needed for such cultural practices.  In the process of rebuilding their culture the younger members of the society consulted with the elders of the society bearing in mind that elders are people who can provide cultural and landscape information (Stocker, Collard, & Rooney, 2016).

Traditional Australian inhabitants who are the indigenous people have a different relationship with the land compared to the relationship modern westerners have with land.  To them a country means a cultural landscape. The perspective of the Nyungar has challenged the western meaning of a country which is a standing stock of resources. Traditionally, the Nyunger managed the country on a communal basis and on the intimate knowledge of the country.  The two most important kinds of relationships are between the land and the people and the relationship that exist among the people (Kinnane,  2005). These relationships are the center of the sphere.  Western knowledge had a deep and far ranging effect on the indigenous people of Australia.  These effects included loss of land, separation of family and friend which ruined the two most important forms of relationships that these people held closely.

            Telling of stories has been one of the ways of this society. Storytelling has allowed the Nyungar to pass on knowledge for centuries.  A story for them can be a means of conversation, a way to make an inquiry. They are making sure that the stories that are being told by their elders are shared and retold in order to keep the culture alive for generations to come.  Since the Europeans arrived on their land, the landscape of the land has changed drastically as a result of urban development. Land was reclaimed from the seas and this changed the shorelines, building and trees replaced dunes, the Nyungar who are the people who owed the land before the settlement of the British have concluded that they cannot be able to return the land to what it was originally but that can try and give it a glimpse of what it looked like (Stocker, Collard, & Rooney, 2016).

In present days the cultural memories of the Nyungar are being reconstructed by stories. These stories include accounts of the ice age and how it came to an end after rise in the seas levels that led to drowning of the land.  These stories have shown how this society made meaning of sea level rise, this society has managed to keep this meaning even long after western knowledge came and defined rise of sea level differently (Collard,  and Palmer,  2008).  The society has managed to reclaim and rebuild its culture through interactions that are based on contemporary and traditional research praxis.  

Conclusion

All aspects of the indigenous communities were disrupted by colonization, western knowledge systems were imposed on them and as a result of this they lost their culture but some of the indigenous societies managed to keep its culture and adjusted overtime long after western knowledge was imposed on them.   The Nyubgar society has managed to keep its culture by developing a system of knowledge that involved caring for families and rebuilding relationships that have helped them survive and keep their culture and traditions.  Story telling is one of the ways that has allowed the Nyungar to pass down knowledge for thousands of years, trying to make the land look like what it was before westerners came and used their knowledge to reclaim land from the sea thus disrupting the shape of the shoreline. The culture of the Nyungar has survived long after.

References

Collard, L. and Palmer, D., 2008. Looking for the residents of Terra Australis: the importance of Nyungar in early European coastal exploration. In: P. Sutton, P. Veth, and M. Neale,    eds. Strangers on the shore: early coastal contacts in Australia. Canberra: National      Museum of Australia, 181–197.

Hunt, J. (2013). Engaging with Indigenous Australia-exploring the conditions for effective           relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Kinnane, S., 2005. Indigenous sustainability: rights, obligations and a collective commitment to             country. In: J. Castellino and N. Walsh, eds. International law and indigenous             peoples. Leiden: Martinus Nijoff, Vol. 20, 195–224

Stocker, L., Collard, L., & Rooney, A. (2016). Aboriginal world views and colonisation: implications for coastal sustainability. Local Environment, 21(7), 844-865.

 Complexities of Gender

Name

Institution affiliation

Some behaviors have been termed as gender appropriate and gender inappropriate. Using video clips from the movie, Fried Green Tomatoes this document will explore the behaviors that can be termed appropriate and inappropriate according to gender norms. At one time Ruth needed to be rescued and Idgie who is a female comes in and rescues her as her knight in shining armor, I would term what Idgie did as gender appropriate. I believe it is gender inappropriate when Evelyn Couch’s husband expects that the work of his wife is to fetch him beer when he is watching game, to cook him dinner before he gets home and offer him sex on demand. It is also gender inappropriate for him to threaten her.

At one point Ruth had a black eye and we can see her husband carrying her over his shoulder and pushing her down the stairs, It is my believe that Frank’s behavior was gender inappropriate. It is also in appropriate for the two women to take Evelyn’s parking space in the grocery store. Idgie wore a dress accompanied by a bow in her hair and she is ridiculed by her sister, later dress her in a cute yellow and gold short suit and I believe it was gender appropriate. I argue that it was appropriate of her to do so despite the fact this goes against the gender norms of a little girl who should be dresses in cute dresses. I believe appropriate distinctions are important in the construction of two genders and gender appropriate behaviors. The mother and sister had already identified that she was a tomboy and they made her comfortable with it. Girls tend to be more delicate and restricting her attire would have caused stereotypic behavior.

I believe it was inappropriate for the ladies in the VW Bug to take Evelyn’s space simply because they were older than her. I believe it is inappropriate despite it being against norms that expect the young to always respect those older than them. I believe everyone should be treated as an equal despite their age or sex. In this context of equality I believe it is inappropriate for Evelyn’s husband to want her to be the wife who plays the dutiful role and tends to all his needs no matter how small they are and him being capable to do so himself, the behaviors of Frank and Evelyn’s husband are inappropriate and against gender norms where the men are expected to be protecting their wives. 

References

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e62uLLsvUzI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx0z9FjxPedusson.comY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRcPXtqdKjE

 U.S Veteran Culture Group

Introduction

The culture of veterans is made up of shared experiences that are traumatic and rooted in work done by soldiers. For every veteran combat is the beginning of a life long journey.  United States veterans are a cultural group with a culture that is distinct. A culture  that includes but is not limited to Values, ethos, self duty, code of conduct, established patterns of communication and high obedience to command. When soldiers come home from war, they enter the purgatory that is being a veteran.  Someone who is no longer a civilian and an ex-soldier enters the culture of a veteran. Millions of veterans in the US have their symbols, own languages, and places where they gather and converse on topics that affect veterans.  The historical experiences, current social status, family status, traditions, religious life, youth activities the role of women and men and the elderly in the community have been overlooked.  The American veteran group is a unique population that has various military branches and varying wartime eras. The experiences in the veteran groups are unique and vary from one individual to another.

            The military men and women who serve and protect the United States form the veteran cultural group and come from all walks of life.  To honor veterans, the United States celebrates Veterans Day on November 11th every year to give America the chance to celebrate the bravery of all American Veterans.  This day was first set aside to honor the veterans and end of World War I, which took place on November 11th, 1918. This day was formerly regarded as the Armistice day. In 1954 after the nation had been involved in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam war  the congress was urged by the Veterans service organization to make amends do away with the word Armistice and insert the word veterans (Editors, 2009). As a result of this November 11th became a day to honor veterans who had offered their service in all wars.   About 16 million veterans who are alive served during the least one war affecting the United States. About 5 million veterans served in peacetime. About 2.5 million veterans are women.  About 16.5 million veterans served in World War II, and currently, about half a million are alive. About 2 million veterans served in the Korean War (Editors, 2009).

The veteran community also has a tumultuous history with healthcare. It has taken some time for the United States to acknowledge that there are health conditions other than broken ribs and body parts that are connected to their time in service. Post-traumatic stress is not recognized as a diagnosable disorder, therefore, veterans are not compensated, but this was not until 1980. Before then, it was called battle fatigue and a sign of weakness (Hobbs, 2008).  Veteran culture is made up of about 27 million people.  Veterans are being created every time soldiers, men, and women are deployed into the battlefields.

The role of the older generation in the veteran’s community is to keep the generation that comes after them informed, just like in any other cultural group (Hobbs, 2008).  The knowledge that has been collected by the aged over time helps avoid past mistakes. At one point Kornkvern who is the founder of National Gulf War Resources Center once admitted that if it weren’t for the Vietnam veterans, they would not be that far in their advancement (Hobbs, 2008). The religious life of veterans is complicated and more challenging than of their counterparts, civilians. They are people and who are constantly on the battlefield were killing other people is not an option but a means of survival. Soldiers experience on the battlefield makes them view the world as cruel, unmerciful, and chaotic, which is very different from how the scriptures explain it (Burek, 2018). On many occasions, it has been recorded that the experiences of soldiers make them question the presence of God.

            At many times when troops come home from war, churches experience a growing number of people with issues that challenge their personal faith and understanding of the world.  Even after surviving combat, many veterans are faced with the challenge when transitioning back to their former live. For many veterans, the experiences of war become a haunting memory.  These veterans could experience social, psychological effects of post-traumatic stress and as a result, some veterans end up experiencing problems spiritually (Sharma, Marin, Koenig, Feder, Iacoviello, Southwick, & Pietrzak, 2017).  The church tries to reach out and help these people recover.          

The youth are the young and the population that comes to replace the old in war. The youths are energetic and are much needed in the veteran community. They play a major role in this community.  Trained youths are the ones that are being deployed into battlefields.  Just like any community, the Veteran community has its own traditions. An example of traditions in this community is the creation of groups with officials who help integrate other veterans back into civilian communities where most of them feel misunderstood and have lost ties with them. The veteran community also has a very distinct way of paying respect to their fellow fallen veterans (Steinhauer, 2019).

            For the longest time, Veterans as a cultural group has provided a challenge to health care providers.  Traumatic experiences are rooted in the daily experiences of soldiers. One of the challenges facing the veteran community is post-traumatic stress (Nedegaard, & Zwilling, 2017). Veterans are individuals who have to deal with a psychological task of justifying the reason why they survived and despite being on the battlefield fighting and killing.  Survivor of war constantly faces conscious and unconscious mental battles.  From the history of this community, 30% of veterans who survived combat in all global wars developed chronic post-traumatic stress disorder.  The women in this community are greatly disadvantaged since many female veterans report that they were sexually assaulted during their military service. Many women have to bear the burden of post-traumatic stress as a result traumatic occurrences and as a result of being sexually assaulted (Hobbs, 2008).

As a result of the requirements that are needed in the line of work of veterans, they are constantly moving from one place to another.  In the veteran community, individual marry younger and raise families while they are still young since they are being separated from their families for long periods of time in some instances. The number of women serving as veterans has increases since 1970’s but most of the veterans are male meaning that the majority of military parents are fathers.  Veteran families form a diverse population with diverse needs. Veteran families come in many forms such as single parents, two parents and dual service in which both parents are service members (Clever, & Segal, 2013). Military families are families that need to change as time as they undergo personal and military transition.  The best policies and programs within the veteran community have been implemented to help families and children adapt to the changes taking place in that community.

Conclusion

For veterans, combat is the beginning of a life long journey. In the United States veteran form a distinct cultural group. Coming home from war is the beginning of being a veteran.  The American veteran population is a unique population whose culture has been overlooked.  The history of veterans dates to the end of world war I. in the United States a day is set aside to celebrate veterans. This community has a long history with healthcare.  The elderly veterans play the role of informing the generation that comes after them.  At many times, the personal faith of veterans is tested.  For the longest time post, traumatic stress has been a challenge for this community.  Families of veterans are unique families with unique needs.  The veteran cultural group for a long time has been overlooked despite it being an important cultural group

References

Burek, G. (2018). Military Culture: Working With Veterans. American Journal of Psychiatry       Residents' Journal, 13(9), 3-5.

Clever, M., & Segal, D. R. (2013). The demographics of military children and families. The         Future of Children, 23(2), 13-39.

Editors, H. (2009). Veterans Day Facts. Retrieved 17 July 2019, from             https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/veterans-day-facts

Hobbs, K. (2008). Reflections on the culture of veterans. AAOHN journal, 56(8), 337-341.

Nedegaard, R., & Zwilling, J. (2017). Promoting military cultural competence among civilian      care providers: learning through program development. Social Sciences, 6(1), 13.

Sharma, V., Marin, D. B., Koenig, H. K., Feder, A., Iacoviello, B. M., Southwick, S. M., &          Pietrzak, R. H. (2017). Religion, spirituality, and mental health of US military veterans:           Results from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study. Journal of affective          disorders, 217, 197-204.

Steinhauer, J. (2019). Veterans’ Groups Compete With Each Other, and Struggle With the V.A.   Retrieved 17 July 2019, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/04/us/politics/veterans-             service-organizations.html

Smoking and vaping

Abstract

 This paper analyses the current knowledge on smoking and vaping, and in specific it focuses on the users' knowledge and beliefs, health effects, and prevention efforts. The Department of Health and Human service (HHS) reports that smoking is the leading cause of preventable mortality. Despite the fact that the smoking epidemic is a public health threat, adolescents and adults continue to smoke cigarettes. However, the majority has shifted to vaping which is the recent product innovation in the market. Users are convinced that vaping or e-cigarettes is less harmful and it helps one to quit smoking. The paper discusses this issue using credible sources that conducted qualitative research and systematic reviews that have a high level of evidence. The research articles find that today, the use of e-cigarette has increased dramatically and the high use has resulted in public health problems. The articles note the manufacturing industry are using the strategy of convincing the users that e-cigarette will help smokers quit but this is a controversial perspective since there is no evidence. Recent studies have found that e-cigarettes have chemicals that can cause respiratory toxicity, affect adolescent brain development, among other long-term effects.  Focusing on the implications, the authors emphasize the need to carefully understand the users' knowledge and beliefs in order to communicate the harm they pose.  In addition, there is scientific uncertainty concerning the vaping long-term effects but the policymakers should use the available imperfect information to prevent the unintended consequences.

Introduction

According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS, 2018), cigarette smoke causes terrible diseases such as lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases.  It is important to understand that not only smoking but also exposure to secondhand smoke also cause diseases in both adults and children. There are many chemicals in cigarette and these chemicals cause smoke irritation such as shortness of breath, nasal congestion, sinus infections, among other problems (NIEHS, 2018). NIEHS also states that smokers in the U.S and worldwide have replaced the traditional cigarette with e-cigarettes since it is easier to get, it has flavors, and they believe that e-cigarette is less harmful. The U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has found that in the U.S, deaths that occur due to smoking on an annual basis is 480,000 (Kenkel, 473).  Despite the fact that the public is warned about the dangers of the products, 40 million adults smoke cigarettes and the market for electronic cigarettes is growing rapidly.  Some authors have found that in the 1990s, British adolescents used recreational drugs such as cannabis and tobacco but later there was a denormalisation of smoking. However, the smokers shifted from tobacco smoking to electronic cigarettes and today, young people rely on electronic nicotine delivery systems (Kenkel, 474). Generally, young people and adults enjoy smoking and nicotine addiction, not through the use of traditional cigarettes but through the use of new electronic devices in which the users heat a liquid and the heat connects with a nicotine solution to produce vapor. Users inhale the vapor and they end up developing vaping behaviors. 

Current status of knowledge

Recent studies have found that today, vaping is the recent product that has been innovated in the tobacco and nicotine markets. Commercial tobacco production dates back in 1880 and by 1950s, the rate of tobacco consumption was high (Kenkel, 473). However, the combustible cigarettes were associated with lung cancer and consumers demanded safer tobacco products. To meet the customers' needs, the profit-maximizing manufacturers developed filtered cigarettes and the market share grew rapidly. However, despite the innovations, people continued to suffer from smoking-related illnesses. Researchers have found that today, there is a new innovation of tobacco products known as ‘vaping' which does not contain combustion but vapers inhale nicotine (Kenkel, 473). There is scientific evidence that vaping is less harmful and adolescents will stay away from combustible cigarettes and thus they may discontinue smoking. However, the current status of knowledge states that there is scientific evidence that vaping is associated with health consequences in that high concentrations of nicotine affect the brain development of adolescents and it also affects the fetal health during pregnancy (Kenkel, 473). Even though vaping has low risks compared to smoking, long-term use of electronic cigarettes is harmful.  Current knowledge of smoking and vaping have confirmed that from the randomized clinical trials (RCTs) there is evidence that vaping might help smokers quit. A data derived from the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) in 2014 showed that e-cigarettes use is infrequent. In other words, vapers do not use e-cigarettes daily compared to smoking.

Measham et al (224) assert that there is a diversification in the tobacco and nicotine market due to the development of an electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS). For example, the total number of e-cigarette users in Britain is 2.6 million Recent research has found that e-cigarette prevents second-hand inhalation by bystanders, it helps the users quite from using traditional cigarettes, it is less harmful and it reduce the risk of nicotine dependency (Measham   et al,  224).The article gives a report on a research project conducted in 2014 concerning the smoking-related attitudes in order to understand whether smoking, which is now a debatable issue in the political arena will be normalised, denormalised, or renormalised.The results showed that out of 3568 respondents, 85% used e-cigarette and since they never smoked traditional cigarettes,  they were omitted from the survey population. Respondents also affirmed that they used e-cigarette as a method of quitting smoking (Measham   et al, 229). Focusing on the normalization debate, the public health policy focus on cigarette demoralisation but the major challenge is that the innovation of the new delivery system has raised more debate on normalisation.  However, the study does not address whether the e-cigarette will lead to renormalisation and for this reason, there should be longitudinal studies to generate evidence. However, the current knowledge derived from this study is that users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes have different appeals in that young adults prefer e-cigarettes due to its flavor combination (Measham   et al, 229). Thus, social and policy implications should consider various factors such as the effect of smoking on individual and public health.

Selekman (12) adds that the survey on Youth Risk Behavior shows that adolescents who use cigarettes are few in that by 1991, the percent was 70% and in 2017 the percentage was 28%. However, this does not mean that adolescents do not engage in risk behaviors. In 2018, the same survey reported that 13.2% were using e-cigarettes. This is an indication that today, the majority of adolescents and adults use e-cigarettes using different battery-operated devices such as vape, e-hookahs, Juuls, among other brands (Selekman, 12). E-cigarettes have four parts which are; a reservoir, a mouthpiece, an atomizer, and a power source. The liquid solution contains nicotine and it is combined with flavorings such as strawberry, mango, clove, and others and other toxic increase the risk of cancer. The manufacturers add flavorings as a market strategy and the majority of young adults purchase the product due to the liquid flavors. The current status of knowledge states that the manufacturers believe that the flavors are harmless but since they are not orally ingested, it means that when they are inhaled, they may cause lung toxicity though there is no evidence (Selekman, 13). In the market, the sellers convince the buyers that e-cigarettes are safe since they do not contain tar. However, they contain almost the same amount of nicotine that is in a pack of cigarettes. As a result, vaping of nicotine affects the prefrontal cortex activity, it affects concentration and memory, the flavoring chemicals impair lung function, and the vapor causes airways irritations. It is also important to understand that the heating process releases metals such as lead and manganese which can cause damage in the lung tissue (Selekman, 13). The article asserts that the pediatric nurses should be in the forefront to implement interventions through asking the users questions concerning the history of using e-cigarettes,  ask whether the vapers have the willing to quite, provide brief intervention, and provide follow up.

Conclusion

 The research articles have confirmed that the use of e-cigarette in worldwide has increased dramatically. The companies in the markets convince the vapers that e-cigarettes are harmless and they will aid in quitting smoking.  However, recent studies say that e-cigarettes contain almost the same amount of nicotine that is found in a pack of cigarettes. It is important to understand that e-cigarettes are associated with health risks in that the ingredients may cause lung damage and the nicotine may affect brain development. Since smoking and vaping is a community-wide issue, the local community, the health department, and the police department should join hands in creating smoking and vaping policies and improve the health of the community members. The authors recommend that in future research, it is important to employ quantitative techniques and use large samples in order to understand why adolescents and adults prefer vaping. It is also important to integrate ethnographic approach to understand how different cultures are impacted by vaping practices.

Work cited

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences: Your Environment. Your Health.  December 28, 2018  Retrieved from: https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/allergens/smoke/index.cfm

Kenkel, Donald S. “Healthy Innovation: Vaping, Smoking, and Public Policy.” Journal of Policy Analysis &

Management, vol. 35, no. 2, Spring 2016, pp. 473–479. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1002/pam.21895.

Measham, Fiona, et al. “‘Skittles & Red Bull Is My Favourite Flavour’: E-Cigarettes, Smoking, Vaping and

the Changing Landscape of Nicotine Consumption amongst British Teenagers – Implications for

the Normalisation Debate.” Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy, vol. 23, no. 3, June

2016, pp. 224–237. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/09687637.2016.1178708.

Selekman, Janice. “Vaping: It’s All a Smokescreen.” Pediatric Nursing, vol. 45, no. 1, Jan. 2019, pp. 12–

35. EBSCOhost,search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tfh&AN=134770943&site=ehost-live.https://www.niehs.nih.gov/

Sexual and Gender Minorities

These three articles explore the stigma LGBTQ face in the societies they are living in. They seek to explore the effect that any form of stigma has and how it affects these individuals and the benefits that their allies have. At various level stigma has the ability to affect the health of LGBTQ individuals. Stigma puts these individuals at a high risk of mortality than any other individuals. Interpersonal and structural stigma that these people face are necessities such as employment (Hughto, Reisner, & Pachankis, 2015). Stigma makes leaves LGBT vulnerable to mentor health and other psychiatric disorders.

Psychological research has made advancement in the study of stigma and now focusing on individuals and interpersonal stigma process, research has focused on how macrosocial stigma that is referred to as structural stigma disadvantages people who are already stigmatized and in this scenario the LGBTQ.  Structural stigma puts these people at a risk of developing psychiatric disorder or even affecting their health. Policies made targeting LGBTQ people in the society demanding their inclusion or exclusion in the society represent one of the indicators of structural stigma. In some states there are policies that confer protection to these people, these polices protect them from hate speeches and employment discrimination. These polices are an indicator that sexual orientation is a protected class. Policies targeting these people impact their mental health strongly and this has been proved by the fact psychiatric disorders are very rampant in LGBTQ individual living in states that do not have polices protecting these people. LGBTQ adults in states where there are policies protecting them do not suffer from dysthymia which is a mood disorder and vice versa (Hatzenbuehler, 2014).

LGBTQ individuals who are living in communities that have high levels prejudice have a high mortality rate compared to those living in communities that have low or no prejudice. LGBTQ individuals living in communities where they experience prejudice have a shorter life expectancy.  LGBTQ youths living in areas where they experience high levels of LGBTQ assault-based hate crimes significantly report more suicide attempts comparing to other youth (Hatzenbuehler, 2014). Transgender women are greatly affected and experience high levels of discrimination in fields of employment. When these transgender women are faced by the pressure put on them by society to embrace feminine beauty and with no ability to afford expensive surgeries, they result to cheap surgeries that put them at risk (Hughto, Reisner, & Pachankis, 2015).

Being an ally of LGBTQ individuals means being an advocate who supports them. The allies are driven by their desire to align their actions with the principles they hold so dear, and experiences from their personal or professional lives with their families and relationships. Being an ally of these LGBTQ individuals give one new insight about their own sexuality that they no idea of and offers them a chance to explore the diverse sexuality of the LGBTQ community. These allies also find friendship in these people and have something to identify with. They also develop a personal and professional recognition and build a connection with other people. When university student identifies themselves as allies to LGBTQ individuals and communities their confidence grows and they get a feeling of being connected to others.  During the time these allies are training and involving others they experience positive feelings of engagement as self-identified allies (Rostosky, Black, Riggle, & Rosenkrantz, 2015).

References

Hatzenbuehler, M. L. (2014). Structural stigma and the health of lesbian, gay, and             bisexual populations. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23(2), 127-        132.

Hughto, J. M. W., Reisner, S. L., & Pachankis, J. E. (2015). Transgender stigma and         health: A critical review of stigma determinants, mechanisms, and      interventions. Social science & medicine, 147, 222-231.

Rostosky, S. S., Black, W. W., Riggle, E. D., & Rosenkrantz, D. (2015). Positive aspects of being a heterosexual ally to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)             people. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 85(4), 331.

Labor unions were formed during the industrial revolution in the eighteenth century.   The reasons as to why they were formed are that workers in the industrial sector worked in terrible conduction such as low wages, they worked long hours,  there was no light in the factories,  machines had no safety precautions, workers rarely received a break, and children were exploited (Holley, Kenneth & Roger, 25). What was important about the unions in the past is that the workforce needed representation or in other words, they needed protection, better wages, work rules, benefits, complain procedures and safe working condition (Holley, Kenneth & Roger, 25).  In addition, the labor unions played a significant role in ending child labor and improving the health of children who had physical deformities due to unfair treatment.

 In today society, unions are still relevant as they safeguard workers. In America, employees provide health insurance, good working hour, safety protection, and pension coverage (Holley, Kenneth & Roger, 26). Thus, employees are enjoying safety and health, and many other benefits.  Unions have benefited the organizations in that it has improved management, it has brought new structural changes, and it has allowed the political and legal units to control the business (Holley, Kenneth & Roger, 27). Unions have also improved the economy in that high wage services workers who have a higher level of education are needed to work in professional occupations. This means that higher wages and good working conditions are creating competition which is associated with productivity and innovation (Holley, Kenneth & Roger, 28). As a result, the unions are boosting the standard of economy and success in the marketplace.

  I have also been in students' unions and according to my own opinion, unions are very important as they allow the members to complain about their rights and to express grievances on issues concerning the environment, education, diversity, and more. Unions also allow members especially students to join various clubs, projects, and social events where one interacts with people and develops new skills.

Work cited

Holley, William H, Kenneth M. Jennings, and Roger S. Wolters. The Labor Relations Process.

Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.

Are we too connected?

            We as a society are too connected. Social media can be held responsible for affecting the mental health of many in the society. In reference to the work of Strickland (2014) deterioration of mental health is greatly connected to the increased use of social media. Social media has taken away time that should be spent sleeping, and now more than ever people are spending more time on social media than they spend sleeping. I find it hard to disconnect since it is the easiest way I can reach out and connect to my friends. Some activities such as family times and school hours should be free of devices and connectivity. Despite the many disadvantages of connectivity such as am expected to be available on call all the time it has allowed me to access information more easily. 

References

Strickland, A. (2014). Exploring the effects of social media use on the mental health of young adults.

Happiness can be found in unlikely circumstances

 In life, happiness is so important because it helps individuals achieve their ambitions and goals.  Happiness also makes people grow physically and emotionally. Generally, happiness brings positive effects in all aspects of life (Wing, 2017). The important thing to understand about happiness is that it can come from unlikely circumstances. This means that unpleasant things can unfold happiness. In addition, unexpected circumstances and unimaginable people can bring happiness and when one is faced by such circumstances, it is important to avoid negative thinking, view life using a positive mind, and be thankful in all situations (Wing, 2017).

Failure of a serious relationship is one aspect of my life that helped me succeed in life.  Almost everyone experiences failure in life but I personally suffered from breaking up with my lover and I felt completely down. My lover left me after being in a serious relationship for three years. My life was full of sadness and anxiety. However, I tried to control my emotion and I decided to talk it out with a counselor who helped get over it. During the session, I connected and interacted with other clients. In subsequent sessions, we became affectionate with one client who later became the love of my life. I learned that all things happen for good and rather than focusing on the break-up, I made a positive transition and developed a positive attitude that helped me grow emotionally.

 Thus, accepting failure and having a positive thinking toward the pain experience helps one approach life's challenges and achieve happiness. People should not ignore bad things but they should view things in a positive light and view the situation realistically (Bhatia, 2017). It is also important to learn from the situation and have a positive situation. Bad things are inevitable but they cannot bring someone down. However, negative thinking can bring you down and affect your overall well-being (Bhatia, 2017). Thus, people should not let unexpected circumstances ruin happiness but they should view the circumstances and situation as valuable signals for happy living.

References

Bhatia, B.  (2017). Discard Worries Be Happy. Place of publication not

            identified: Lulu Com.

Wing, D. (2017). The happiness perspective: Seeing your life differently. Ann Arbor: Loving

            Healing Press,

Immigration

Introduction

 “To the esteemed members of the committee on authorized immigration. Immigration is the movement of people from one country to another to permanently live there. The topic of immigration has always been a sore topic in almost all countries. In some instances, the process of immigration has been used to smuggle drugs into a country. Historically, debates on immigration policies have emerged due to factors such as large-scale migration.  The United States borders are constantly guarded due to the smuggling of drugs. Homeland Security is in charge of maintaining security at the borders. Currently, in the United States policies are being made and implemented at a local level, the sheriffs are playing a vital role when it comes to making policies on immigration at the federal and local levels. Despite the increased involvement of sheriffs in making policies on immigration at a local level, there are challenges that hinder enforcement of these policies. Many changes have been undergone at a federal and local level in order to make and enforce policies that concern immigration.

Many at times people have smuggled drugs into another country when crossing the borders. In El Indio there was a device that was rotating high above in the cloudless sky, the device was a satellite device being used by the Homeland security to monitor if there are drugs in cargos that are being flown over the border into the United States.  Border patrol officers are always alert and pursue the least alarming concern that might be a threat. Security of the borders has been on the increased in many countries and with each time it is increased it grows more complex (Hodge, 2012). Death at the border is not something entirely new, in 2001 the United States The country entered the eighth year of enforcing protection at the border to help reduce and deal with the murders being carried out at the border (Cornelius, 2001).The United states has immigration and civil rights, and example is the law of the country protects minorities from forms of discrimination. These laws are responsible for protecting the rights of all citizens and moderate the efforts of discrimination towards any minorities (Johnson, 2004)

            The El Indio and United States border is 1,954 miles long and 18-foot-tall, this border covers rivers, mountains, canyons and communities on both sides of the line. The security of the border is as vital as the security of the nation since the year 2003 the funds used to maintain this border were doubled, these funds were invested into the Homeland security that is in charge of patrolling the border. The Homeland Security in return has deployed increasingly advanced measures that not only scrutinize measures but also channel and save data such as the CCTV footages, saving the name of immigrants and date entries.  All the technologies of surveillance and control aim to achieve a perspective advantage, however, the large quantity of data produced by the new technologies threaten to overload the system that will jeopardize the whole goal of these technologies. The border that was defined by a geographical line on the map is increasingly defined by wars taking place in the countries and acts of Congress and the more the innovation at the border are continuing to increase (Hodge, 2012).

In the United States, immigration policymaking and enforcement has continued to gain momentum at the local level.  The sheriffs have been presented with an opportunity to make decisions on immigration in the local context.  When it comes to dealing with issues of immigration at a county level sheriff are also confided by the federal and state authority to act as policymakers and enforcers. Sheriffs play an important role when it comes to making decisions that concern immigration. During summer in 2014, Sheriff Paul Babeu of Arizona, Pinal County is responsible for leading a series of immigration protests after revealing the locations of detained, unaccompanied minors who had entered the country without proper documentation. He stated that the local citizens have the right to a protest since the government at the federal level had failed its role of implementing migration laws (Farris, & Holman, 2017). This act of raising concern on the absence of laws on migration helped call for the attention of the federal government.

Despite the involvement of bureaucrats in immigration policies at a local level, there have been challenges that hinder local law enforcement. These challenges include; enforcement of immigration violations that might undermine local law enforcement efforts when collaborating and communication with immigrant communities in the counties, this might also be profiled as racism. Due to the unique position of these sheriffs, they have emerged as a representation of the people and their stand on migration policies. Some sheriffs such as Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County in Arizona and Sheriff Terry Johnson of Alamance County in North Carolina have been the center of attention since they have been viewed as figures who are going against the policies of immigration.  Sheriff Arpaio engaged in immigration raids while sheriff Johnson illegally targeted the Latino community while enforcing laws. Despite the actions of these two sheriffs, many other sheriffs are vocal supporters of immigrant communities (Farris, & Holman, 2017).

The implementation of the 287(g) programs permitted the local immigration trained officers to act on behalf of federal immigration officers in Nashville-Davidson County. This program is an example of the devolution of immigration authority from federal bureaucracy to county and municipal agencies. The implementation of this program has led to an increase in policies that give the local authority more control over immigration. 1996, is the year when criminalization of immigration laws begun, that year the Illegal Migration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act was drafted. This act made immigrants who had committed Misdemeanor eligible for deportation. The changes that have been made recently giving rise to the 287(g) allow for greater cooperation between the federal government immigrant enforcement and the local state's enforcement. In the previous year’s local enforcement agencies enforced an only criminal violation of immigrant laws and the federal agencies enforced civil and criminal violation (Armenta, 2012).

            When the 278(g) programs were implemented the local authorities were allowed to adopt; a jail model, a task force model and a hybrid model. The jail model allowed the officers at this level to check whether the foreign-born arrestees are in the United States legally or illegally.   The task force model allows these trained officers to check the legality of any foreigner they encounter when in the line of their duty.  The hybrid model allows these officers to do what is allowed by the jail model and the task force model. The 278(g)-program originated with the county’s effort to control the population of Latinos in the country.  The population of Latinos in the county had hiked immensely between 2000 and 2010, it rose from 4.5% to 9.8%. Their increase led to an increase in high-profile cases that were associated with unauthorized immigrants. One of these cases involves that of an undocumented driver who had been arrested 14 times in Nashville after crashing into vehicles (Armenta, 2012). The 278(g) programs will only affect illegal immigrants who have a blunt disregard for the law in counties who are enforcing these policies.

Understanding how officials in Bureaucratic agencies such as immigration make decisions has been a topic of concern among scholars for decades. People tend to focus more on the government elites who create policies than the actual policymakers who are the low-level workers. How bureaucratic respond to immigration has been a major concern. In countries such as the Netherlands every sector has its national policies on immigration.  Police officers working in immigration are pragmatic and selective on who to detain in the country and who to deport back to their countries. In the health and education sector workers have found a loophole in the law and provided services to immigrants who have proper documentation (Farris, & Holman, 2017).

Immigration is a sore subject. Many debates surrounding immigration have been raised and scholars over the decades have tried to understand how bureaucrats working in agencies such as migration respond to concerns. The El Indio and United States border is heavily guarded in order to ensure no drugs are flown in the United States using this border. In the United States immigration, law enforcement at a local level is gaining momentum, sheriffs are playing a vital role in implementing policies on immigration at the federal and local levels. There are challenges that are arising when it comes to the implementation of these laws at a local level. While a minority of sheriffs are polarizing the efforts of implementing these policies by raiding immigrants, the majority support immigrant communities.  The 278(g) programs are being implemented in many counties in order to give the local authority a chance to be involved more in policymaking and enforcement of these policies in their counties. The implementation of these policies will allow local officers to check the legality of immigrant arrestees and question the legality of any immigrant when in the line of duty. The immigration agencies are slowly transforming as many changes are being made.”

References

Armenta, A. (2012). From Sheriff’s Deputies to Immigration Officers: Screening Immigrant         Status in Tennessee Jail.

Cornelius, A, W. (2001).  Death at the Border: Efficacy and Unintended Consequences of US      Immigration Control Policy.

Farris, M.E., & Holman, R, M. (2017). All Politics Is Local? County Sheriffs and Localization     Policies of Immigration Enforcement. Retrieved from;   https://www.jstor.org/stable/26384906

            Hodge, D. R. (2012). Border world

Johnson, R. K. (2004). The “Huddle Masses” Myth. Philadelphia: Temple University Press