Suicide among adolescents and young adults Essay Example for Free

Suicide among adolescents and young adults Essay The cause of suicide has long been the focus of many psychological research studies. Suicide is generally the result of people’s beliefs and reactions to particular situations and experiences. Most people commit suicide out of depression and hopelessness that a person cannot handle anymore. The members of the society who have the highest rate of suicide and suicide attempts are the adolescents and young adults. Suicide has become the second or third leading cause of death among adolescents 13 to 18 years old (Bondora Goodwin, 2005, p. 6). Suicide is also among the top three causes of death among adults 18 to 24 years old (Malone et al, 2000, p. 1084). Suicide among these particular groups has been the â€Å"driving force behind increases in the overall suicide rate, and rates are rising fast† (Bloch, 1999, p. 26). A study of Gould et al (2003) shows that about five to eight percent of adolescents, or approximately one million teenagers, attempt suicide. Out of these one million, only about 700,000 receive medical attention. Due to these alarming statistics, the objective of this research study is to find out the causes behind suicide cases and suicide attempts among young people under the age of 25 using an interdisciplinary approach. Identifying potential causes helps determine the appropriate solutions or medical remedy for a particular cause. The research also helps to evaluate the possible ways on how to prevent suicides among adolescents and young adults, helping decrease the morbidity rate among this population. Lastly, the research is important for the purpose of understanding what specific aspects of society can be shown to trigger adolescents and young adults to commit suicide. For many reasons, knowledge must be utilized from multiple viewpoints as determined by various disciplines in order to fully understand these stressful experiences (Repko, 2005). Moreover, suicide is a complex issue that can no longer be confined in the domains of mental and medical health. According to Goldsmith (2002), â€Å"suicide is a consequence of complex interactions among biological, psychological, cultural and sociological factors†. Thus an interdisciplinary approach is necessary to achieve the objective of this study. For this particular research study, the perspectives of psychology, sociology and religion disciplines are investigated and analyzed in relation to suicide. Psychology helps determine the relationship between suicide and the state and characteristics of the human mind and behavior. The field of psychology helps understand why certain groups like adolescents and young adults have high suicide potential and tendency of having suicidal behavior. Sociology, on the other hand, assists in the understanding of several sociological factors of committing and attempting suicide. Psychological pains are commonly caused by sociological factors such as exposure to suicide or suicide attempts, relationships, and interactions among the member of the society and may increase the potential of having suicidal behaviors. In view of that, psychology and sociology are interrelated disciplines when it comes to determining the causes of suicide. Sociology encompasses several issues such as culture, media, peer, family, demographics, ethnicity, and socioeconomics that may influence the behavior and thinking of adolescents and young adults. Investigation of the religion perspective discipline shows how moral values, religious beliefs and practices influence the behavior and thinking of most people including the young adults. In the United States alone where ninety-five percent of Americans believe in God, more than fifty percent of them pray daily, forty percent attend church weekly, and almost seventy-five percent of Americans say their approach to life is grounded on their religious faith (Matthews et al, 1998, p. 118). Religion is considered as a significant part of people’s way of living, resulting to various beliefs about issues. It is perceived that the more a person is religiously committed, more likely he or she is to avoid suicide for suicide is considered to be a mortal sin for most religions. To accomplish the objective of the study, various secondary sources such as peer-reviewed journals, earlier research studies and books pertaining to the disciplines involved are reviewed and serve as the basis for any claim this paper will make. These sources also include interdisciplinary research studies that have already simultaneously discussed suicide in the disciplinary perspective of psychology, religion or sociology. The behavior of adolescents can be studied through the discipline of psychology. Adolescence is considered as a crucial stage because it is the time a person experiences a lot of changes and challenges including: biological and sexual maturation, development of personal identity, development of intimate relationships with an appropriate peer, and establishment of independence and autonomy in the context of the socio-cultural environment (Christie Viner, 2005, p. 301). It is also the stage when abstract thinking, law of morality, and ideology are developed (p. 301), thus adolescents have the tendency to reject or accept ideas, react, and resist to situations during this stage. Adolescents, since they are searching for identity, are easily influenced. According to Resnick et al (1997, p. 823) â€Å"adolescent well-being is largely the product of interactions among multiple contexts in which adolescents are embedded†. Media exposure, peers and family are all included in these multiple contexts that have psychological effects on adolescents. They are also easily influenced because of their idealism that has made adolescents vulnerable to sad and disappointing situations that may result in depression and consequently, suicide. According to Bennet (1994), adolescents and young adults with history of depression, a previous suicide attempt, a family history of psychiatric disorders, family disruption, and certain chronic or debilitating physical disorders or psychiatric illness are at higher risk of committing or attempting suicide. Among these factors, depression was found out to be the most common clinical syndrome of suicidal behavior (Petrie Chamberlain, 1983) and approximately 66 percent of those who attempted suicide have depressive symptoms (Rich et al, 1990). There are also life stressors that some young adults cannot handle yet like parental separation, parental alcoholism, parental abuse and related family problems, death of a loved one or close friend, and personal injury or physical illness (Finch Poznanski, 1971; Marcus, 1996; Pfeffer, 1986). For those who have the potential to have suicidal attempts or commit suicide, the most common reactions to these stressors are revenge, anger, hurting one’s self, smoking, drug use, alcohol abuse and suicide (Hepfler, 1998). Sociology is essentially about the society and the interactions of its members. Adolescents are part of the society and the interactions occurring in it. One of these interactions is friendship. Friends and peers are parts of the social network and is one of the central contexts for adolescents (Bearman Moody, 2004, p. 89). Adolescents who are still at the stage of finding their identity needed strong association and belonging and that isolation from peers leads to lower estimations of self-worth and self confidence (Tani et al, 2001). Media, on the other hand, is a strong influence on adolescents and young adults. Young people are very much exposed to popular media such as television, radio, movies, Internet, and reading materials. Rustad et al (2003, p. 121) found out that viewing films, listening to music, and other forms of media usage can have negative psychological impact on adolescents including: emotional arousal; activation of aggressive thoughts, emotions, expectations, and memories; weakening inhibitions against aggressive behavior; desensitizing reactions to violence; reducing empathy toward victims; and providing model of specific techniques. Curran (1987, p. 108) and Patros (1988, p.43) find that television, movies, books and some reading materials often portray suicide as a positive act, resulting to adolescents showing more acceptance to death including their own death. Some of the ways in which media have portrayed suicide to adolescents include: â€Å"a peaceful sleep that will make everything better; a means of punishing someone; a way of forcing someone to express their love for them; a way of being reunited with a deceased other; a way of expressing great love; and an escape from feelings of helplessness and hopelessness† (Bondora Goodwin, 2005, p. 9). Demographics were also found out to have significance on young people’s tendency of having suicidal thoughts or committing suicides. Gay youths, for instance, are more likely to commit suicide; the stigma, verbal and physical abuse they experienced leads to lower self-esteem, making them a high-risk population (Romero, 1999, p. 117). The same study was conducted by Russell and Joyner (2001) who found out that sexual minority youth are more likely to have suicide ideation and attempt, reflecting that sexual orientation can be a cause or a determinant of the causes of suicide among young people. In a study conducted by Molina Duarte (2006), it was found out that female adolescents are more likely to attempt suicide compared to their male counterparts. On the same study, ethnic minorities like American Indians or Alaskan Native adolescents are more probable to attempting suicide. Such study strongly suggests that demographic characteristics such as race and sex are determinants of risk factors. Religion is by far the discipline that has been the topic of many research studies about suicide. There are few literatures suggesting the relationship between religion and suicide like that of Kendler et al (2003) which concluded that some dimensions of religiosity are related to reduced risk of particular psychiatric disorders. In relation to suicide, this study suggests that religious beliefs can affect the thinking of people, reducing suicide ideation. The study conducted by Malone et al (2000) also suggests that religion can provide ‘reasons for living’, allowing people experiencing depressive episodes to be more optimistic about life, reducing the feeling of hopelessness and thus reducing the risk of committing suicide. This study is supported by the study conducted by Dervic et al (2004) which suggests that religious affiliation is associated with less suicidal behavior in depressed patients and that religiously affiliated subjects may function as protective factors against suicide attempts (p. 2303). Moreover, religious commitment was reported to promote social and family ties and reduces alienation, a social network provided by religion provide emotional support, nurturance and a sense of belonging (Koenig et al, 2001; Walls Zaritt, 1991). Religiosity is also associated with behaviors such as lower hostility, less anger, and less aggressiveness, behaviors opposite to suicidal behavior reflecting that religious people are less likely to commit suicide (Storch Storch, 2002). The purpose of this research then is to identify the causes of suicide and suicidal attempts among the adolescents by describing suicidal behaviors and the underlying causes behind such behaviors which are commonly due to stressors and sociological factors. Religious affiliations and commitment also serve as determinants on the possibility of committing suicide. Religious and moral beliefs commonly shape the behavior of a person, thus less commitment or more commitment and affiliation to religion may also be a cause of suicidal behavior. That is, it is expected to determine, through this study, if the people who are more committed with their respective religion are less likely to commit or attempt suicide.

Household Fuel Project :: essays research papers

The UNJLC mission to the greater Darfurs and assessment of UN/NGO interest and commitment to launch an ITDG project promoting manufacture of fuel-efficient stoves from locally available organic materials by IDP camp women thus, reducing firewood consumption by 40%, has been concluded. Project proposal development responsibility were delegated to the Fuel and Energy Development Groups (F&EWD) established during the mission's visit to El Fasher, Nyala and Geneina comprising a cross section of UN and NGO partners. UNJLC and ITDG Khartoum organization management, structure and process flow discussions were concluded since the last bulletin-reporting period resulting in a formalized and systems approach that demarcates service provider and NGO stakeholder responsibility levels and assists F&EWGs in development of geographic specific project proposals, which thereafter will be forwarded by the field directly to ITDG Khartoum for compilation and presentation to DFID in accordance with donor conditions. Preliminary dissemination of road-map guidelines coinciding with inter-agency meeting in El Fasher are undergoing final revision for broad electronic dissemination to all locations by 23 September. Other significant contributions include the launching of an F&EWG inter-agency 100 household surveys in Nyala comprising World Vision, as focal point covering Kalma and Otash camps. Save the Children UK will commence survey work in Manawashe, Mushing and Duma while IRC covers Kass. Surveys are based upon data standardization mission recommendations and will capture trend information (i.e. distances currently travelled by women collecting firewood compared with 3 months ago) and gender based threat data (incidence, periodicity of risk/threat factors) and solicits GBV risk/mitigation recommendations from respondents. Data capture fields of wood fuel consumption, access, collection methods, meals preparation related to fuel availability supplement the survey's format. 13 UN and NGO partners forming the consortium of F&EWG with HelpAge nominated as focal point are concurrently carrying out a similar 100 household survey in Geneina.

Why I Learn English

Why I learn English Learning English is necessary for my future career. Nowadays, practically every prestigious and well-plaid job, not only working as an English teacher, requires proficiency in this language. Those who know English, have a big advantage on the labour-market over those who don’t. But it certainly isn’t the only reason why I learn English. I have been interested in studying foreign languages since I went to school, and I always knew that my future profession would be connected with linguistics. I believe that the mentality of every nation is closely connected with its language.It’s impossible to translate any text from one language into another without slight changing of its meaning. Every language has some set-phrases and sayings that can’t be translated word for word. So, when you learn to think in a foreign language, you begin to think in a different way. You can see the world from a different viewpoint. To my mind, it compensates the t ime spent on studying the language. One another reason why I study English is connected with general intellectual development. Scientists have proved that learning languages serves as an excellent training for our brain.When a person learns one foreign language, other languages become easier for him or her to learn. On the whole, he or she begins to understand better all subjects, even if they are not connected with linguistics. Moreover, learning English provides me with extra opportunities. For example, I can understand, what my favorite musical bands sing: it’s extremely important for me, as I’m a music lover. Of course, one can like a song just because it sounds tuneful, but I prefer to understand the message that the author wanted to pass to the listeners. In addition, I can read books and watch movies in the original.It’s very useful, as the interpretation not always can transmit the richness of the author’s language, the subtlety of his thoughts. A nother opportunity, provided by the knowledge of the English language, is the ability to communicate with foreigners. I can get acquainted with new people while I travel abroad or just walk in Moscow, and then continue communicating with them in social networks. After all, I just like English: I like the way it sounds, and I find the culture and the history of England very interesting, as they have little resemblance to those of our country.

Assignment 3 Critique e-business operations from each of...

Assignment 3: Critique e-business operations from each of the following four perspectives: on-line payments, customer satisfaction, supply chain management, and advertising products/and services On-line shopping has continued to spike as more and more people turn to the convenience of the internet. Although it is convenient to shop from the privacy of your home, the perspective of on-line payment does present some challenges. Both the customer and the vendor are concerned about security measures. Customers are worried that their credit card information remains protected and that their privacy is safeguarded. There is the possibility that the sellers’ website may be subject to hacking and thus the customers’†¦show more content†¦Additionally, a merchant would advertise on their home page for â€Å"final clearance† items starting at a specific price (e.g. $3.99); however, once you browse through the merchandise selection you will find that the advertised prices does not match the picture on the main web page. Another issue with on-line shopping is delivery time periods. Although on-line shopping provides the convenience of not leaving home, customers do not want to wait weeks for the delivery of the items. Recently, we purchased an item from a very reputable vendor with an advertised delivery date of three to five business days. We had to wait for the item for six weeks. I found this to be unacceptable. Of course the vendor had a fine print that they would not refund any money until after a six-week period and research is completed to locate the item. 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Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness in Edwin Arlington Robinson’s...

Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness Edwin Arlington Robinson’s poem â€Å"Richard Cory† is a mysterious four stanza poem that tells about this wealthy gentleman who was admired throughout the town where he resided only to commit suicide at the end of the fourth stanza. Robinson shows the importance of Richard Cory through the eyes of the person speaking who is a worker of the town. Speaking to a general audience, the worker tells about the effect this man had on all of the townspeople. Richard Cory was a pleasant fellow to be around, but was also hard to talk to because of his wealth. But, the poem unveils that even though he was wealthy and people looked up to him, he was missing something that money couldn’t buy. In the poem â€Å"Richard Cory†, Robinson was trying to present to the reader that money can’t bring a person true happiness. Robinson makes the reader wonder why a wealthy person like Richard Cory would commit suicide. Cory always seemed to be happy as he walked the stre ets of the town. That is why it was such a mystery to a reader because he seemed genuinely pleased with life. He had money and every worker in the town looked up to him, it is even stated in the poem â€Å"In fine, we thought that he was everything.† (Robinson 473, line 11) A pleasant person to be around, Cory would come to the town to talk to people. It does not say if he had people living with him, or why he would come to the town; all it tells the reader is he would visit the town and communicate with the

Why Did Pran Buy Venture Into The Dairy Industry Essay

B. Why did PRAN wish to venture into the dairy industry? Among the agro industries in Bangladesh PRAN is one of the largest industry. Pran is also exporting its item in more than 80 countries. Beverages like fruit juice, cola, water and many other things are being produced by pran. Late in 2002, key decision makers of Bangladesh’s largest agro-processing company PRAN-RFL Group were forward with a new business idea. As Arong and Milk Vita were leading largest share of the milk in the market. So PRAN also wanted to emerge in the market with dairy business. While other companies expanded their businesses by entering into existing markets. The project is to introduce international best practices and knowledge in efficient dairy farming to poor, small scale dairy farmers in Bangladesh as well as establishing a milk collection system allowing collection and preservation of growing volumes of high quality raw milk. This will lead to increased well being of all people living in the villages covered by the 5 dairy hubs.RAN has the ambition to help increase Bangladesh’s milk production from the present 1.75 billion liters per year to exceed 3.5 billion litres by 2025. By 2025, PRAN expects milk powder imports to be fully replaced by locally produced and collected milk. Why did it decide to enter with UHT milk, which was a relatively new concept for the milk consumers in Bangladesh? Pran decided to sell the UHT milk because there were two market player Arong and Milk vita that hadShow MoreRelatedInternship Report on Milkvita14316 Words   |  58 Pagesto be ventilated by entrepreneurs. Moreover new investment the existing entrepreneurs are in a deep ocean of thoughts in deciding appropriate factors in their business. Neither the new entrepreneur fell safe in putting money for new businesses, nor did the existing business houses fall encouraged to expand their business in diversified ways just at the juncture of period to the new global market pattern. This is because of apprehended competition from the world marketers or entrepreneurs like multinationals

When a business makes a new pr... free essay sample

When a business makes a new product or service they need to think how they are going to distribute it and get it to the right customer. Many businesses now sell their products through retailer, this is called distribution channels. There are a number of factors to consider when deciding how to distribute their products. The availability of products is important because for instance if a customer wanted to buy a LG TV and they didnt have a LG store near them, they could simply look in stores like Currys PC World, Argos or Tesco because they always have most products in store. This allows LG to still sell their products despite not having it in their own store. Also it is cheaper for LG to sell their products at different retailers. When getting the product from the manufacturer to the customers, there are various ways the products can go through. The first method is going straight to the customer which is known as a direct channel, it can go to the retailer, which is usually owned by the manufacturer and then customers buy it from the retailer, this is known as a modern channel and the final method is going from a manufacturer to a wholesaler who will offer advice and then to a retail shop before it reaches a customer, this is method is known as a traditional channel. Some manufacturers decide to sell their products in bulk to a wholesaler, who will then distribute the products in smaller amounts to a retail store. This allows the product to reach a higher number of customers. Quite often wholesaler offer services such as labelling or packaging. As mentioned before, businesses have three options on how to distribute the products; straight to a customer, to the customer via retailers or to the customer via wholesalers and retailers. As for retail control of the supply chain there is own brands and eRetailing to be considered. Customer recognises the name of big brands like McDonalds or Tesco. That is because they have spent time thinking of the name and the design. Retailers offer their own brand products, such as Tesco value at a better price that the manufactures. ERetailing is about retails being able to promote and sell their products online. This has put retailers at an advantage because they are available 24/7 and there are a wider range of products online plus customers can see if items are in their local store and if not order it. Furthermore, the internet has given an opportunity to interact with the customers directly. Both of these factors are giving retailers a great advantage over manufacturers and wholesalers. Most retailers will need to think of extra provisions of the products in order to enhance their functions. Retailers like DFS or SCS will need to provide transport for the products to customers homes. If retailers use home delivery it put them at an advantage with their competitors. They would also have to think of the storage of the products, especially if they receive it in bulk; they need to have enough storage, having a warehouse or a stockroom. Having a stockroom is beneficial for both customer and the retailer because when customer wants something it is more likely to be in stock. After-sale service is important because retailers want to keep the relationship with the customer after the sale. Therefore it is crucial that the retail handles complaints or offer convenient delivery times. Moving on to the distribution process, retails must ensure that products are always available for the customers; to order to achieve that a retailer must have a well-functioning supply chain. The main purpose of the supply chain is to supply required goods to the customer. The chain starts at raw materials which go to a factory, and then it is kept in a warehouse, and then moved to a retailer and at the end it reaches the customer. To make sure the supply chain is efficient the stock availability must be improved and there has to be a wide choice of products. As retailers are expanding, goods must be moved within the UK as well as overseas. There are various types of transport used to distribute products; by rail; by road; by train; by air; by water; by container. Transporting via road and rail are most popular methods because it is efficient and cheaper. Moving products via rail is very efficient if it is planned well. The rail network is highly developed in the UK therefore it is very cheap to transport goods via trains. However, more time must be spent on planning the distribution to mainland Europe because the rail network is not as highly developed as it is in the UK is some parts of Europe. The most popular way of transportation is by road, in a van or a big truck there are a lot of options for companies to choose from. So practically saying the vehicle type is made to suit the type of product being transported. A very fast option to transport goods is by air, especially when transporting further away. However the cost is very high therefore businesses dont use this method much unless it is absolutely necessary. A totally opposite and a very slow but economical way is transporting by water. It is very slow and delays might be caused by weather condition or loading and unloading the goods. Last method that can be used to transport goods is by containers. They are very expensive to produce but have a high level of security therefore companies can rely on them. If the UK sources in the UK it is time efficient and cheaper. The further UKs retailer decided to source the more they will pay. However, making goods in China or Thailand is sometimes cheaper than making them in the UK because of the wages that employees get; so quite often big brands like Nike, Sony or Apple make their products in some western countries. Many large companies decide to have few suppliers so that they are never out of stock. The suppliers are categorised into four groups; manufactures; independent craftspeople; import sources; distributors. Picking up from the last paragraph, distributors or wholesalers as mentioned before, represent a company overseas. They purchase goods from different suppliers and then sell it in a retail store. Wholesaler should have financial strength to carry out stock levels; be in a market which they have distribution rights; be prepared for risk; be ready to buy in bulk to bring the transport cost down. The logistics process ensures that the products are available at the right quantity and at the right time. The management of the resources is responsible to keep stock levels balanced. There are various storage locations for products; warehouses which are able to store and receive large amount of products; distribution centres are similar to a warehouse but they can be bigger and they are part of the logistic process; stock rooms should be close to the retail stores because they are the first storing place for good and because they usually are fairly small, the space should be used to the maximum. The use of ICT has a major effect of the supply chain. It is essential that companies use ICT to develop supply chain relationships, decrease the response time, improve customer service or attain international standards. Distribution through eRetail straight to the customer must meet requirements; they need to be fast and efficient. In order to achieve that there are two methods to follow; store picking and having dedicated warehouses. Store picking happens at a lot of stores like Tesco now. It is basically employees doing customers shopping and picking the products from the shelf and after they are being delivered to the customer. The advantages of this method are short delivery distance and it is faster. There are some disadvantages as well and they include some products might be out of stock; the employee might get distracted by customers at the store or the capacity constraints. Dedicated warehouses are very important because big brands like Tesco or Asda need regular deliveries so they dont have products out of stock which might cause loss of customers. Last part of the distribution process is the grey market and non-conventional channels. The grey market follows the distribution channels that are unauthorised by the manufacturer. They products are not illegal but those companies have no relationship with the manufacturer.