Cultural diversity and innovation

Cultural diversity and innovation CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND INNOVATION 1. Preface This paper is written as an assignment for the course: Societal Developments and Institutions. This paper contains a literature study for the workgroup cultural diversity, by a first year master student organization studies at the University of Tilburg. This paper is written with the help and suggestions of my teacher, mister Mutsaers, who provided some helpful articles to start this paper. 3. Introduction 3.1 Research problem In the Netherlands we live in a multicultural society. In this society there are a lot of members with lots of different cultural backgrounds. These members of the multicultural society will have to work together in organizations. Groups in organizations have become more diverse in terms of their demographic composition over the years and will continue to become more diverse in years to come (Jackson, 1992; Triandis, Kurowski, Gelfand, 1994; Williams OReilly, 1998). Also the process of globalization leads to organizations with members with different cultural backgrounds. According to Cox and Blake (1991) the recent business trends of globalization and increasing ethnic diversity are turning managers attention to the management of cultural differences. Numerous companies have discovered that increasing the diversity of their workforce pays off in improved performances (Curseu, 2007). According to Cox and Blake (1991) a well managed, diverse workforce holds potential competitive adva ntages for organizations. However not all scientific research comes to the same conclusions. Research on the relationship between workgroup diversity and performance has yielded inconsistent results (van Knippenberg, 2004). This inconsistency in results on the relationship between cultural diversity and organizational performances provides a great opportunity for further research. This literature study will focus on one specific part of organizational performance, namely innovative performance. Innovative performance is important for organizations because innovativeness stimulates economic development by fueling the engines of corporate growth (Schumpeter 1934, Penrose 1959). Without it, firms eventually wither and die. Advocates of the value-in diversity hypothesis suggest that work team heterogeneity promotes creativity and innovation (Cox Blake, 1991). Since cultural diversity is one aspect of work team heterogeneity, this would mean that cultural diversity also has a positive effect on organizational innovative performance. This study will examine the advantages and disadvantages of cultural diversity on organizational innovative performance, in order to find out what the effects of cultural diversity are on an organizations innovative performance. 3.2 Research goal. The goal of this research is to find out what the advantages and disadvantages of cultural diversity within organizations are with respect to the innovative performance of the organization. 3.3 Research Question The research question of this paper is: What are the effects of racial diversity in organizations on the innovative team performance? 3.4 Research relevance Social relevance The social relevance of this paper is probably very low. This paper only examines the advantages and disadvantages of cultural diversity in organizations on innovative performance of organizations. There wont be any solutions provided that will have an impact on society. Practical relevance The practical relevance of this paper is that when managers of organizations want to find out what the effects of cultural diversity are for the innovative performance of their organization they could study this paper and use the results to decide how cultural diverse they want their work teams to be, that is working on innovations, so they could come to a high organizational innovative performance. Scientific relevance Unfortunately, research on the positive and negative effects of work-group diversity has largely developed in separate research traditions, and an integrative theoretical framework from which to understand the effects of diversity on team performance is missing (Guzzo Dickson, 1996; Kozlowski Bell, 2003; Williams OReilly, 1998). This paper will not research the positive and negative effects of all kinds of diversity within organizations on all kinds of group performances, but it will integrate the positive and negative effects of cultural diversity within organizations on the innovative performance of the teams in the organization. So this research could be seen as a start of integrating separate research traditions. So further research could build on this paper. 4. Theoretical background. In this paper literature is researched and analyzed, in order to answer the question: What are the effects of racial diversity in workgroups on the innovative team performance? To answer this question a few important concepts will be used. The first concept used in this thesis is diversity. The term diversity often provokes intense emotional reactions from people who, perhaps, have come to associate the word with ideas as â€Å"affirmative action† and â€Å"hiring quotas† ; yet it is a word that simply means â€Å"variety† or a â€Å"point of respect in with things differ† (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 1993; Websters Dictionary of the English Language, 1992). Diversity refers to differences between individuals on any attribute that may lead to the perception that another person is different from self (e.g., Jackson, 1992; Triandis et al., 1994; Williams OReilly, 1998). This first concept is a very general one. For the sake of this paper this definition has to be narrowed down. In this paper we will study team diversity. Team diversity is a group characteristic that reflects the degree to which there are objective or subjective differences between people within the team (van Knippenberg Schippers, 2007). These may be differences in demographic characteristics such as age, gender, or ethnicity, in job-related characteristics such as functional background or organizational tenure, in more deep-level (Harrison, Price, Bell, 1998) psychological characteristics such as personality, attitudes, and values, or on yet other dimensions of differentiation ( Dijk, Engen, Knippenberg, 2009). In an effort to organize thinking about different types of diversity some researchers (Cummings, Zhou Oldham, 1993; Jackson, 1992; Jackson, May Whitney, 1995; Maznevski, 1994; Tsui, Egan OReilly, 1992) have suggested ways of categorizing different types of diversity (Milliken Martins, 1996). One common distinction is between diversity on observable or readily detectable attributes such as race or ethnic background, age or gender, and diversity with respect to less visible or underlying attributes such as education, technical abilities, functional background, tenure in the organization or socio-economic background, personality characteristics, or values (Cummings et al., 1993; Jackson et al., 1995; Tsui et al., 1992) In this paper the focus is on one of the observable attributes of diversity, namely: racial diversity. Racial diversity is the diversity within teams in race. The second important concept of this paper is a team. Teams can be defined as a set of two or more actors who interact dynamically, adaptively and interdependently who share common goals or purposes; and who have specific roles or functions to perform (Salas et al., 1992). This paper studies teams, because organizations are increasingly relying on teams for innovation (Ilgen, Hollenbeck, Johnson, Jundt, 2005). Different articles use different names for teams. In a lot of articles the auteur refer to work groups. When the term work group is use in another article, it will be changed into teams so that this paper will be more consistent. The third important concept in this paper is radical innovation. Radical innovations are fundamentally different from things invented before and they represent revolutionary changes in technology. They lie at the core of entrepreneurial activity and wealth creation (Schumpeter, 1975). 5. Methodology 5.1 Research approach This research could be described as explorative, because it combines literature of cultural diversity with literature on organizational performance and innovative performance in a way that results in a clear overview of advantages and disadvantages of cultural diversity on innovative performance. This overview is still missing in the literature so far. So this paper really explores the effects of cultural diversity on innovative performance in a way that hasnt been done before. 5.2 Data collection To find literature for this thesis the website www.webofscience.com will be used. The articles you can find on this website conform to the ISI-norms. These norms make sure that the article are from a high quality.. The methodology used in the articles to come to results have to be convincing so that the results are valid. When the article is considered useful for this thesis the whole article will be analyzed carefully. Also the website Google scholar and the online library of the University of Tilburg will be used to find literature about the main concepts of this thesis. To search for literature key words will be typed in at the search functions of the sites. The key words that will be used are:, cultural diversity, innovation, radical, team, organization, performance, work groups. These key words will be used in different combinations. The literature used in this thesis will be analyzed by first reading the abstract and discussion/conclusion parts of the articles. The articles are considered relevant when the topics of the articles have a connection to the topic of this thesis. When this is the case the articles will be selected. By doing this time will be saved by not reading a lot of irrelevant literature. Ones articles are selected the snowball function that the web of science offers will be used to find more literature. Snowballing can happen forwards (who cites the article) and backwards (who are cited in the article) by looking at the reference list of the articles. Both kinds of snowballing will be used in this thesis. Of course there will also be searched for more articles of the same writer, to find out if this writer has written more relevant articles for this thesis. 5.3 data analyses The articles will be systematically analyzed. The articles will be read to see what they are about exactly. The articles that are about the effects of racial diversity on team performance will get a number. Author Article number The key ideas of the article will be summarized so that it will be easy to find back which articles are about which topic. A distinction will be made between positive and negative effects on team performance. So the effects of racial diversity on team performance that have been found in articles will be easy to find back in the table. Article number Negative effects Positive effects 6. results Effects of racial diversity on innovative team performance Diversity is a characteristic of a group of two or more people and typically refers to demographic differences in one sort or another among group members (McGrath, Berdahl, Arrow, 1995). Researchers predictions about any one diversity variable differ depending on which of the dimensions they see as critical to determining its impact (Ely Thomas, 2001). Pelled (1996) predicted that racial diversity, as a source of visible differences, would incite intergroup bias and lead to negative outcomes for teams. But racial diversity could also have positive outcomes when you look at it from a different perspective. Cox, Lobel and McLeod (1991) predicted that racial diversity, as a source of cultural differences, would enhance creative problem solving and lead to positive outcomes for teams. In another study , McLeod and Lobel (1992) found that teams that are heterogeneous with respect to the ethnic backgrounds produced higher quality ideas on a brainstorming task than more homogeneous teams d id (Milliken Martins, 1996). Other researchers have found results that suggest that racial diversity could both have positive and negative effects on teams in organizations. More specifically, diversity in a team can produce lower cohesion and miscommunication among group members, which can lead to team conflict (Jehn, 1995). Some of this conflict may be productive—if, for example, it avoids â€Å"groupthink† and brings additional points of view into the discussion—whereas other forms may worsen team performance (Kochan et.al., 2003). Findings on the effects of racial diversity on team performance have been inconsistent in the literature so far. In some teams, diversity may improve performance, while in other teams, diversity may be detrimental to performance (Jackson, 1992; Jehn et al., 1999; OReilly Flatt, 1989; Richard, 2001; Steiner, 1972).. For example, the effects of diversity on team performance might be more favorable if group leaders and members build on team members creativity and information (Kochan et.al., 2003). In this paper the effects of racial diversity are studied on one particular kind of team performance, namely the innovative performance of teams. The type of innovation that is discussed in this paper is radical innovation. Racial diversity will be more positively related to performance, the more performance is contingent on the in-depth processing and integration of task-relevant information and perspectives (van Knippenberg et al., 2004). That is, if diversitys potential benefits derive fro m a process of exchanging and integrating diverse information, knowledge, and perspectives, diversitys benefits should be more evident the more task performance can be expected to benefit from information elaboration (Dijk, Engen, Knippenberg, 2009).This is the case much more for complex, knowledge-intensive tasks requiring the generation of non-routine solutions to complex problems and complex decisions than for more simple and routine task with lower information-processing requirements (Jehn et al., 1999). In line with this argument, a small meta-analysis of 13 studies by Bowers et al. (2000) confirmed this prediction, showing that diversity was positively related to team performance for complex tasks but negatively related to performance for simple tasks (Dijk, Engen, Knippenberg, 2009). Since the creation of radical innovations can be considered as one of these complex tasks, it can be assumed that racial diversity has a positive effect on the team ´s innovative performance. Innovation requires a creative spark and out-of-the-box thinking (Zhou Shalley, 2008). Diversity may be particularly conducive to such out-of-the-box thinking, because the exchange and integration of diverse perspectives may stimulate new ways of looking at the issues at hand and the need to integrate divergent perspectives may give rise to more creative solutions to problems and more innovative products (Paulus Nijstad, 2003; van Knippenberg et al., 2004). Thats why according to van Dijk, Engen, van Knippenberg, innovation teams may have more to gain from diversity than other teams. A very important factor to improve an team ´s innovative performance is the creation of ideas. The insights, skills, and experiences employees have developed as members of various cultural identity groups (racial diversity) are potentially valuable resources that the work group can use to rethink its primary tasks and redefine its markets, products, strategies, and business practices in ways that will advance its mission (Ely Thomas, 2001). The greater the informational resources available to the team, the more the team should be able to reach an in-depth understanding of the task, solve problems encountered in the course of task performance, and reach high-quality outcomes in terms of the creativity, innovation, and overall quality of the teams products, ideas, or decisions (Dijk, Engen, Knippenberg, 2009) .The differences in information and viewpoints may also give rise to task conflict and dissent; faced with the need to solve these conflicts and reconcile opposing views, team members may engage in more elaborate processing of task-relevant information and search for more creative problem solutions than would be the case in the absence of conflict and dissent (Knippenberg, de Dreu, Homan, 2004). As a result, task conflict and dissent may be associated with better and more creative team performance (e.g., De Dreu, Harinck, van Vianen, 1999; Tjosvold, 1998). There is some literature suggesting that task conflict is negatively related to team performance (De Dreu Weingart, 2003b), and others state that it is not so much the presence or absence of conflict but instead the way conflicts are managed that helps or hinders teams to perform effectively (De Dreu Weingart, 2003a; Lovelace, Shapiro, Weingart, 2001; Simons Peterson, 2000; Tjosvold, 1998). Third, and perhaps most important, performance does not benefit from conflict and dissent per se but from the process that conflict and dissent is assumed to promote: the deep-level and creative processing of diverse information and viewpoints (Knippenberg, de Dreu, Homan, 2004). However, the exchange of diverse information, ideas, and viewpoints may also stimulate such in-depth processing without conflict or dissent (Knippenberg, de Dreu, Homan, 2004). This is why racial diverse teams can outperform, more homogeneous teams. The proposition that diverse teams may outperform more homogeneous teams follows from the reasoning that the exposure to more diverse information and perspectives may promote elaboration of task relevant information (Knippenberg, de Dreu, Homan, 2004).This, in turn, would be expected to lead to more thorough and creative information processing, problem solving, and decision making. Such expected outcomes, then, give rise to the proposition that diversity may benefit performance to the extent that performance requires information processing, creative and innovative idea generation and problem solving, and/or high quality decision making (Knippenberg, de Dreu, Homa n, 2004), such as innovative performances. So whether racial diversity stimulates task-conflict or not, the fact that racial diversity promotes differences in information and viewpoints remains. These differences in information and viewpoints are beneficial for creativity, which results in improved innovative team performance. So as a result this papers states that, racial diversity has a positive effect on innovative performance through the enhanced creativity of the team, because of the differences in information and viewpoints that racial diversity provides. Organizations may increase their number of racial minorities, to better match the demographic characteristics of their significant customers in order to achieve a competitive edge in the market (Cox, 1994). As racioethnic populations (minorities), increase as a ratio of the whole population, it behoves organizations to adjust their human resource mix to reflect the target market they are attempting to reach (Richard, 2000). As firms reach out to a broader customer base, they need employees who understand particular customer preferences and requirements (Morrison, 1992). According to Cox Blake (1991), the insights and cultural sensitivity, that racial diversity, brings to a marketing effort improve an organizations ability to reach different market segments. These insights and cultural sensitivity can be of great important to the organization for the creation of new business ideas and the creation of innovations. It means that the organization has to compose racial diverse teams in o rder find out new market opportunities and business ideas. So from this perspective racial diversity has an positive effect on innovative team performance. Racial diversity also has a positive effect on innovative performance from a resource-based point of view. Human resources, particularly diverse resources, are protected by knowledge barriers and appear socially complex because they involve a mix of talents that are elusive and hard to understand (Lippman Rumelt, 1982). Knowledge-based resources depend upon large numbers of people of teams engaged in coordinated, creative action providing a firm competitive advantage (Barney, 1991; Hart, 1995). Therefore, an team with a diversity of perspectives should have more resources to draw on and should be more creative and innovative (Richard, 2000). Maznevski (1994), suggested that racial diversity, as a source of inherent and immutable differences, would provide teams with different kinds of information from which they could potentially benefit, but such differences would often be difficult for parties to understand and accept. These different kinds of information are especially valuable for the innovative performance of team. The different kinds of information are important for the creation of new ideas that could evolve in successful innovations. The fact that different parties could have problems with understanding the information and accepting it, seems very relevant for innovation projects, since innovative performance is depending on the creation of new ideas. So from this perspective racial diversity could have a positive, as well as a negative, effect on innovative team performance depending on how the problems with understanding the information and accepting it, are managed. Another important variable when looking at the influence of racial diversity on team performance is power differences. There is much theoretical and empirical support for the notion that paying attention to differences in power and status is critical for understanding diversity in organizations (Ely Thomas, 2001). According to Aldefer (1987) the distribution of power among cultural identity groups, both inside the organization and in the larger society, is key to how people think, feel and behave at work. Ely and Thomas (2001) state that different racial groups holds different status and power. In organizations, status differentials are reinforced when higher-status identity groups are disproportionately represented in positions of organizational authority and are challenged when they are not (Alderfer, 1987; Lau Murnighan, 1998). The distribution of power within could than have a negative as well as a positive effect on team ´s innovative performance. For racial diversity to hav e a positive impact on team performance, different identity groups should be equally distributed throughout the hierarchical position within the organization, so that there is not one overruling way of thinking within the organization. Another negative effect from racial diversity is, that differences in race could lead to the formation of subgroups. The social categorization perspective holds that similarities and differences are used as a basis for categorizing self and others into groups, with ensuing categorizations distinguishing between ones own in-group and one or more out-groups (Knippenberg, de Dreu, Homan, 2004). Racial diversity, as part of the social categorization perspective, is one of these factors that lead to the categorizations. People tend to like and trust in-group members more than out-group members and thus generally tend to favor in-groups over out-groups (Brewer, 1979; Tajfel Turner, 1986; Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, Wetherell, 1987). Consistent with research on similarity/attraction (Williams OReilly, 1998), this signifies that team members are more positively inclined toward their team and the people within it if fellow group members are similar rather than dissimilar to the self. Mo reover, categorization processes may produce subgroups within the team (i.e., â€Å"us† and â€Å"them†), and give rise to problematic inter-subgroup relations (Knippenberg, de Dreu, Homan, 2004). As a result, the more homogeneous the team, the fewer relational conflicts will occur (Jehn et al., 1999; Pelled, Eisenhardt, Xin, 1999). Since racial diversity increases the heterogeneity of the team, the assumption is that racial diversity, as a source of visible differences, would incite intergroup bias and lead to negative outcomes for teams. These negative outcomes also occur in innovative workgroups. When organization are trying to innovate, they often put members of different teams (or organizations) together to come up with these innovations. This would mean that the intergroup relations of members of these different teams (or organizations) should be good. But categorization processes may produce subgroups within the team and give rise to problematic inter-subgroup relations (Knippenberg, de Dreu, Homan, 2004). When this is the case the team ´s innovative performance will decrease, because the problematic inter-subgroup relationships increase emotional conflict. In contrast to the earlier mentioned task conflict, emotional conflict tends to diminish performance (Pelled, Eisenhardt, Xin, 1999). Racial diversity can also have an impact on commitment. Findings suggest that individuals who are different from their team in racial background tend to be less psychological committed to their organizations (Tsui et al., 1992). Another result from this same research has indicated that absents takes places more often in racial diverse teams, than in teams that or more homogeneous when it comes to racial backgrounds. Tsui et al., (1992), also state that racial diverse members are less inclined to stay with the organizations, which implicates a higher amount of turnovers in racial diverse work teams. Although these effects are more on a individual level they could impact the whole organization. When the dissatisfied members leave the organization, the organization will then become more homogeneous and the positive effects of racial diversity could than possibly disappear. 7. Conclusion As a conclusion it is fair to say that racial diversity both has negative as well as positive effects on team performance. The negative effects of racial diversity on team performance are: Lower cohesion Intergroup bias Miscommunication Group conflict (can also be positive) Difficult to understand and accept information Relational conflict Decreased commitment More turnover. Even though racial diversity can have negative effects on the performance on teams, this paper has shown that there are also a lot of positive effects from racial diversity on team performance. These positive effects are: Out of the box thinking Higher quality ideas Creative problem solving Task conflict Creation of new ideas Deep-level and creative processing of diverse information and viewpoints Better match the demographic characteristics of their significant customers The insights and cultural sensitivity, that racial diversity, brings to a marketing effort improve an organizations ability to reach different market segments Different kinds of information This paper has shown that especially these positive effects are very relevant when looking at the radical innovation performance of teams. The creation of radical innovations is a complex task, that requires creative thinking, diverse information and multiple perspectives, since all innovation starts with creative ideas (Amabile, 1996). So it are the positive effects that are extremely relevant in the case of radical innovation. This is why racial diversity increases a team ´s radical innovation performance. 8. Discussion Theoretical implications The goal of this research was to find out what the advantages and disadvantages of cultural diversity within a team are with respect to the innovative performance of the a team. By studying literature on racial diversity this paper has come to a clear overview of positive and negative effects. The practical relevance of this study is that the results have shown that especially the positive effects of racial diversity are beneficial for the creation of radical innovations in teams. This could be usefully for managers of organization, trying to increase the innovative performance of the organization. They should try to increase the diversity of the teams in their organizations. The scientific relevance of this paper is that it has separated racial diversity from other types of diversity. A lot of literature mixes different types of diversity in their studies, which makes it unclear what the effects of different types of diversity are on team performance. This paper has provided a clear overview of the effects of one type of diversity, namely racial diversity, on one type of team performance, namely innovative performance. As stated before, the social relevance of this study will be low, since it is not likely that this paper will have an impact on society. Managerial implications This research could be very useful for managers as innovation is a key factor in organizations ability to create a sustainable competitive advantage (cf. Zhou Shalley, 2008) and organizations are increasingly relying on teams for innovation (Ilgen, Hollenbeck, Johnson, Jundt, 2005). This makes it important for managers to compose the right teams to work on innovation project. This paper has shown that it is best for managers, to compose a team that is racial diverse, since racial diversity has positive effects on the innovative outcomes of teams. Limitations and recommendations One of the limitations of this paper is that there are only a limited amount of articles studied. There are so many articles about different types of diversity and their effects on group performance that it is hard to take them all into consideration. Another limitation is that research doesn ´t include moderation effects. Some authors have indicated that since both negative as well as positive effects of racial diversity have been found, it is time to do more research about moderating effects. As van Knippenberg, De Dreu, Homan (2004) say it: `The state of the science thus suggests that in order to advance our understanding of the relationship between diversity and performance, we should look for moderators of the diversity-performance relationship`. This is a recommendation for further research on the topic of the effects of racial diversity on team performance. Another recommendations is that more research, that directly studies the relationship between racial diversity and innovative team performance is needed. This paper has studied effects of racial diversity on group performance, and then made a link to innovative performance, by using the characteristics of radical innovations. A direct research could increase the reliability of the results that were found in this research. 9. references. Aldefer, C.P. (1987). An intergroup perspective on group dynamics. Handbook of organizational behavior. 190-219 Cox, T.H., Blake, S., (1991). Managing cultural diversity: implications for organizational competitiveness. Academy of Management Executive, 5 (3):45-56 Ely, R.J. Thomas, D.A. (2001). Cultural diversity at work: The effects of diversity perspectives on work group processes and outcomes. Administrative Science Quarterly, 46(2): 229-273. Curseu, P.L. (2007). Complexity in organizations. Pearson Education Ltd. London GB. Ilgen, D. R., Hollenbeck, J. R., Johnson, M., Jundt, D. 2005. Teams in organizations: from input-pr

How different aspects of development can affect one another Essay

Physical If a child has a physical difficulty, disability or delay, this could cause them to withdraw socially; find difficulty socialising; suffer with depression, stress or anxiety; lead to behavioural difficulties; find difficulty in communicating, regarding both speech and body language; and can affect their educational development. A child with a physical disability can often experience stigma concerning their physical competence and appearance, which may lead to impairment in social interactions, bullying and devaluation of an individual. For example: †¢A child that has a disability affecting their motor function will find difficulty participating in school sports activities. If they are unable to participate and have to be kept out of these activities, they may feel socially withdrawn. Team sports help children to create friendships through team building exercises, which in turn develop their social skills. If the child can’t join in, they may struggle to make friends and will be missing out on this social development. †¢Sports activities help promote a healthy lifestyle. Non-participation of children, particularly those in wheelchairs, can become overweight due to lack of exercise. This affects their body appearance and can lower self-esteem, further affecting social skills and emotional wellbeing. †¢Young children will often socialise during break times by playing games in the playground; these often involve running around. If a child finds difficulty running around, they may feel left out and unable to make friends. These break times also burn the excess energy that children have. If this energy is not burned, a child may focus this energy towards misbehaving/acting out. This can also lead to a child finding it difficult to concentrate in classes, affecting their learning. This can lead to a reduced rate of cognitive development regarding reading, writing and problem  skills. †¢Children with severe visual and hearing impairments can find difficulty in building relationships and develop their social skills in the school environment. Often, these children attend schools designed to cater for similarly impaired children, making it easier for them to build these relationships and avoid bullying. However, an adverse effect of these schools may result in impaired children being unable to socialise with ‘normal’ people in the future. †¢Visual and hearing impairments can also affect a child’s ability to communicate. It is particularly common for children with hearing impairments to have speech problems. Children suffering from deafness may communicate through signing, reducing the number of people with which they may communicate. A large part of communication is through body language, with which a visually impaired child may find great difficulty. Cognitive and Communication A child or young person with a cognitive disability has greater difficulty with one or more types of mental tasks than the average person. Cognitive disabilities can be separated into two classes: functional disability and clinical disability. Clinical disabilities include autism, Down syndrome, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and memory loss conditions (e.g. dementia, Alzheimer’s, amnesia and short term memory loss). Those with functional cognitive disabilities may find difficulty with memory; problem-solving; attention; reading, linguistic, and verbal comprehension; math comprehension; and visual comprehension. If a child suffers from a severe clinical cognitive disability they will need assistance with nearly every aspect of daily living. Cognitive disabilities often overlap with communication disorders – for example autism is a developmental disorder that affects the brain’s normal development of social and communication skills. Other communication disorders include specific language impairment; (mixed receptive-)  expressive language disorder; aphasia; learning difficulties such as dyscalculia, dyslexia and dysgraphia; and speech disorders such as cluttering, dysarthria, lisp, stuttering, and phonological disorder. †¢A common example of a clinical cognitive disability is Down syndrome. Children with Down syndrome can suffer problems affecting their physical development. These may include: obstructive sleep apnoea, which may result in sleepiness and fatigue during the daytime; lower rates of fertility; instability of the atlanto-axial joint, which can lead to spinal cord injury; low thyroid; hip dislocations occurring without trauma; slower growth rate; increased risk of epileptic seizures; and an increased risk for obesity with ageing. †¢Children with Down syndrome often have a better understanding of language than ability to speak, and may suffer from a stutter or rapid and irregular speech. However, usually this does not impair their social skills. Children may also experience emotional and behavioural difficulties, such as an increased tendency for misbehaving and anger outbursts (including violence); and suffering with symptoms of depression and anxiety (often occurring during early adulthood). †¢Children suffering from functional cognitive disabilities can struggle when it comes to learning, which can affect their social and emotional well-being. For example, if a child is behind with their reading and struggles during group reading sessions, they may find difficulty mixing with other children due to a feeling of ‘ineptness’. This can affect their social development and can cause the child to feel down or have low self-esteem (feeling ‘stupid’ or inadequate). †¢If a child suffers from a speech impediment, such as a stutter, other children may find difficulty understanding them. This can result in limited interaction with other children, resulting in feelings of frustration, annoyance and a lack of confidence. This may even affect other areas of development as they can feel as though they can’t achieve, possibly causing low self-esteem. Emotional, Behavioural and Social Difficulties arising with emotional, behavioural and social development often occur from emotional and behavioural disorders (EBD); and social anxiety disorder (otherwise known as social phobia). Children with EBD can exhibit characteristics that adversely affect their education. These include: difficulty learning; difficulty building or maintaining interpersonal relationships with other children and teachers; inappropriate behaviour (e.g. acting out against their self or others) and feelings (e.g. low self-esteem/self worth and self harming); unhappiness or depression; and an increased tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears regarding personal or school problems. †¢If a child suffers from depression can experience a loss of interest in social activities, work and life. They may withdraw socially and can often separate themselves from others, which in turn can have a detrimental effect on their ability to make friends. Withdrawal from lessons can affect cognitive development, with children having difficulties in furthering their skills in reading, writing and problem solving. †¢Children with eating disorders can suffer physical and neurological complications. Often, young children who suffer from eating disorders consisting of malnutrition can have an impaired rate of growth; pubertal delay or arrest; increased risk of heart disease and arrhythmia; and neurological disorders such as seizures or tremors. Compulsive overeating can result in obesity, resulting in high blood pressure (hypertension), high cholesterol, type II diabetes and an increased risk of heart disease. †¢Children with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) act out their emotions as opposed to internalising them. They often exhibit behaviours such as fighting, bullying, cursing, and other forms of violence. This can have a detrimental effect on their social development if not managed from onset, conditioning them to feel that it is acceptable to act in this manner, and can also find frustration in communicating general information,  thoughts and feelings to others. Children and young people with ADHD that exhibit violent behaviour are often subject to isolation from classes, suspension and exclusion from school, which has an adverse effect on their educational development. This can affect cognitive development, particularly regarding skills such as reading, writing and problem-solving. Children and young people with ADHD often achieve at a lower grade than others. †¢A child with social anxiety disorder may cry a lot, freeze or have tantrums. They often fear the school and classroom environment, and avoid participation in school performances. Social anxiety disorder can result in reduced communicational development, as the sufferer may fear talking in groups, starting conversations, taking to authority figures and speaking on the phone. They may also exhibit physical difficulties due to fears of eating or drinking in front of people, resulting in malnutrition; low self-esteem and insecurity, especially regarding performance and body image, which may lead to the development of eating disorders; and the misuse of drugs or alcohol, which can result in physical complications.

The Atomic Bomb Is It Really Justified - 1627 Words

The Atomic Bomb, was it really justified? On August 6, 1945, after forty-four months of increasingly brutal fighting in the Pacific, an American B-29 bomber loaded with a devastating new weapon flew in the sky over Hiroshima, Japan waiting for a signal. Minutes later the signal was given, that new weapon, the atomic bomb, was released. Its enormous destructive energy detonated in the sky, killing one hundred thousand Japanese civilians instantly. Three days later, on August 9, 1945, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb over the city of Nagasaki, with similarly devastating results, killing seventy-thousand Japanese citizens. The following week, Japan’s emperor addressed his country over the radio to announce the decision was made to surrender. At that moment World War II had finally come to its dramatic conclusion. Even though some people defend the atomic bombings, because of a weak Japan refusing to give up, the U.S. could’ve chosen a less populated area of Japan to bomb, like the coast to warn the Japanese. Claiming thousands of innocent lives, prove that the U.S. unnecessarily dropped the Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On December 7th, 1941, Japan bombed the United States Army, Air Force, and Naval Bases, in Hawaii at Pearl Harbor. The next day on December 8th, 1941, the U.S. entered World War II declaring war on Japan as they provoked us to do so with their sneaky aerial attack. Behind the scenes of the extensive fighting, AmericanShow MoreRelatedHarry Trumans Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb1314 Words   |  6 Pagesto drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki justified? A. Plan of Investigation Research Question: To what extent was Harry Truman’s decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki justified? This investigation assesses President Harry Truman’s decision to drop atomic bombs on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It will determine whether or not his decision was justified. This investigation will scrutinize the reasons that made Harry Truman feel inclined to drop atomic bombs over HiroshimaRead MoreWas the Atomic Bomb Dropped on Hiroshima Justified Essay1587 Words   |  7 PagesWere the Americans justified in dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945? The dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945 by the Americans is a very controversial issue with no definite answer. Both sides of the issue have very justifiable arguments. Reasons for dropping the bomb include the fact that Truman’s options were limited at this point in the war, that the bomb did have the desired outcome of Japans surrender and that the majority of reasonsRead MoreThe Enola Gay1506 Words   |  7 Pagesthe atomic bomb on Hiroshima. August 6, 1945 was a historic day. Lives were lost and it was the start of the very end of World War ll. The use of this very destructive weapon could be seen as inhumane, but it was a decision that had to be made. Americans and people from other countries today have their own opinion of our war ending tactic. What is important to think about is that sometimes tough decisions have to be made for the greater good of everyone. The use of the Enola Gay was justified in thatRead MoreWas The Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki Morally Justified?1736 Words   |  7 PagesWas the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ethically justified? – Why Truman decided to drop the atomic bombs on Japan – By Grace Kelsall World War 2 saw the emergence of America as a new world power on August 6th 1945, also internationally known as the traumatizing day for Hiroshima; after an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first atomic bomb. World War Two is considered a great turning point in modern history, it being one of the bloodiest and horrific wars; exposing all countries aroundRead MoreThe Bomb And Its Impact On Hiroshima982 Words   |  4 Pagessudden, BOOM! A bomb hit right there in Nicholls Quad. But then again, you wouldn’t know a bomb had dropped because you would be dead already. You would have been too close to the bomb explosion and would have just disappeared. Even though the novel Black Rain depicts Shigematsu and Yasuko as the main characters, the bomb is really what made this book. Without the atomic bomb, Shigematsu and Yasuko wouldn’t have anything this devastating to write about. That’s why I believe the bomb is the main characterRead MoreWhy Is The Bombin g Of Hiroshima Persuasive Essay1385 Words   |  6 PagesThe bombing of Hiroshima is one of the most controversial acts the United States of America has ever committed. While today it would be unfathomable, nearly 100 years ago the United States dropped a nuclear bomb on its enemy, Japan, in the middle of an actual war. If such an act were committed today, that would surely be considered a war crime under the United Nations. So what is there to defend about the bombing that literally caused the skin to melt off its victims, most of whom either vaporizedRead MoreTruman s Choice Was A Good One989 Words   |  4 PagesOn August 6, 1945, a bomb with the force of 20,000 tons of TNT, was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later a similar bomb was dropped on the city Nagasaki. Both cities were effectively eradicated and so was there people. Six days after that, Japan surrendered, thus ending World War II. Americans supported the action of Truman, that is until they saw the images of the destructive power of the bomb. The horrific images showing the victims of radiation and of burns that are causedRead MoreAnalysis Of The Article Thank God For The Atom Bomb 970 Words   |  4 PagesThe atom bomb is a bomb that derives its destructive power from the rapid release of nuclear energy by fission of heavy atomic nuclei, causing damage through heat, blast, and radioactivity. To create this weapon of mass destruction the government started the Manhattan Project and the main mastermind behind this project was Robert Oppenheimer. The project lasted from 1942 to 1946 and its goal was to create the first nuclear weapons for World War II. On August 6, 1945, the American bomber Enola GayRead MoreThe Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki775 Words   |  4 PagesAlthough WW2 was coming to an end, they would not back down. This led to America dropping the atomic bomb onto them. Many innocent lives were lost during the bombing and the damage to the two cities was se vere. The aftermath followed the Japanese even years after. Some people considered this act to be â€Å"justified†. Many lives were taken that day in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. â€Å"On August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb carried from Tinian Island in the Marianas in a specially equipped B-29 was dropped on HiroshimaRead MoreHiroshima; Right or Wrong? Essay992 Words   |  4 Pages1) Describe the main arguments, reasons, and evidence that support the perspective of Historian A. -Historian A had a lot of reasonable and strong perspectives on the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. She views the United States was not justified in dropping the bomb. A huge argument begins with the U.S. knowing that Japan was trying to surrender. This is a great example of unnecessarily kicking someone when they are already down. The Japanese wanted peace and tried to surrender, the only

Mackies Argument Evil And Omnipotence - 1264 Words

Priya Patel Phil 104 Fall 2017 October 2, 2017 Paper 1: On Mackie’s Argument In J. L. Mackie’s â€Å"Evil and Omnipotence,† the author presents an argument detailing why belief in a both omnipotent and wholly good God is contradictory to a God who allows evil to exist. He utilizes this philosophy to show that God doesn’t exist due to the problem of evil. As Mackie’s delineates in his first paragraph, â€Å"I think, however, that a more telling criticism can be made by way of the traditional problem of evil. Here it can be shown, not only that religious beliefs lack rational support, but that they are positively irrational, that the several parts of the essential theological doctrine are inconsistent with one another.† (p. 100) Mackie discusses†¦show more content†¦2. If God is both omnipotent and wholly good, then He would make men freely choose good on every occasion. 3. It is not true that God makes men freely choose good on every occasion. 4. Therefore, it is not the case that God is an omnipotent and wholly good being. In the following paragraphs, I will elucidate Mackie’s belief in this argument and offer a critical evaluation of the former. To begin with, take a justification of the first premise. This says that God has a choice available to him that contains two things. One would be to make humans, in their free will, choose good occasionally over evil. The other would be to make humans, in their free will, choose good on every occasion over evil. Mackie states â€Å"If there is no logical impossibility in a man s freely choosing the good on one, or on several, occasions, there cannot be a logical impossibility in his freely choosing the good on every occasion.† (p. 105) Mackie believes that God is presented with this choice. Moving on to the second premise: in order for God to be classified as both omnipotent and wholly good, He would take the option to always make men choose good in their free will. Mackie’s thought process in believing this is linked with the definitions of omnipotent and wholly good in theism itself. These indicate that in order to be omnipotent, one must have no limit to what one can do, and in order to be wholly good, one would eliminate evil. What Mackie isShow MoreRelatedThe Argument Of The Logical Problem Of Evil2367 Words   |  10 PagesJ. L. Mackie’s stern defense of the logical problem of evil, which he uses to suggest the God does not exist. I will attempt to defend the notion that both God and evil, in the form of human creation, can exist in the world by way of suggesting that freewill is the answer. Furthermore, I will strengthen the argument for freewill against Mackie’s defense, which suggests that the argument of freewill also compromises the Omni -three nature of God. In part, I will back freewill by using Mackie’s own logicRead More J.L. Mackies Evil and Omnipotence Essay1652 Words   |  7 PagesJ.L. Mackies Evil and Omnipotence The philosopher J.L. Mackie wrote a very convincing piece on the problem of evil called â€Å"Evil and Omnipotence,† in which he attempts to show that one of the following premises must be false in order for them to be consistent with each other. #1. God is omnipotent. #2. God is morally perfect. #3. Evil exists. The problem of evil is a deductive a priori argument who’s goal is to prove the non-existence of God. In addition to Mackie’s three main premisesRead MoreThe Article Evil And Omnipotence 1419 Words   |  6 Pagesthe article â€Å"Evil and Omnipotence,† J. L. Mackie outlines the problem of evil as being the result of three statements which are logically inconsistent with each other, where if any two were true then, in turn, the third would have to be false. The first statement of the problem of evil is â€Å"God is omnipotent,† the second â€Å"God is all good,† and the third â€Å"evil exists.† The problem of evil assumes that â€Å"omnipotence† means there are no limits to God’s power, that good is opposed to evil in the senseRead MoreProblem Of Evil And The Free Will Defense1038 Words   |  5 PagesGall Harari PHI2010 Kearns 19 October 2017 Problem of Evil and the Free Will Defense Evil is something that exists in many forms. From big evils like Hitler’s Holocaust and slavery, to small evils like getting a papercut and getting stuck in the rain (perhaps to some this might be a big evil), evil is basically anything that is not good. For theologians, evil poses several problems, most notably when it comes to the existence of God. To most theologists, God has a set definition. God is definedRead MoreMr. L. Mackie s Evil And Omnipotence1718 Words   |  7 PagesJ. L. Mackie’s â€Å"Evil and Omnipotence† criticizes the argument that God exists by showing that religious beliefs are positively irrational and that parts of the essential theological doctrine are inconsistent with one another. The problem of evil is one of the oldest problems in philosophy. The problem of evil is a logical problem for only the people who believe that there is a God who is both (1) omnipotent and (2) wholly good; yet (3) evil exists in the world. If God is wholly good and omnipotentRead MoreThe Logical Problem Of Evil1535 Words   |  7 PagesThe logical problem of evil is often referred to as the inconsistent triad, this being that the following propositions; God is omnipotent, omnibenevolent and evil exists, are inconsistent. Also known as a reduction ad absurdum argument, whereby all three propositions cannot be tru e together. Theists, like Swinburne, come to the conclusion that the three propositions are compatible with one another, whereas atheists, like Mackie, believe that they are incompatible and therefore God does not existRead MoreGods Omnipotence Essay1645 Words   |  7 PagesGods Omnipotence The theological problem of evil is a problem that many philosophers have tried to solve. The problem is stated as, if one believes that god is omnipotent and wholly good, why does evil still exist? In this writing I will discuss the solutions/propositions of John L. Mackie in his work, Evil and Omnipotence. I will do this in order to illustrate the concept of free will for understanding or resolving the problem, and to reveal how and why Mackie arrives at his conclusionsRead MoreThe Problem Of Evil As Suffering2444 Words   |  10 Pagesthe so-called ‘problem of evil’ a problem for anyone who believes in God? The problem of evil as suffering is a problem of what to do with the obstacle facing the believer and also this as a challenge to unbeliever for them to converge because they do not think it harmonising. Its contradict compatibility, an atheist often suggested that the present of evil entails the absence of God. Atheist argued that, if God exists, then he is an omnipotent, and able to prevent the evil occurrence. For omniscientRead MoreThe Age Old Question That Is Still Being Debated Essay1888 Words   |  8 Pagesof the big questions such as: How can a good God allow suffering? Why does evil exist? Is God like many have attributed to Him, a watchmaker, who winds us up and lets it go until it runs out? How could God allow the Holocaust? The theological field of inquiry called â€Å"theodicy†, which investigates the basic question: If God is all powerful (omnipotent), all knowing (omniscient), and all-good, (omni-benevolent) how can evil and injustice exist? Since reading Elie Wiesel’s soul shattering Night, thisRead More The God and Evil Problem Essay2279 Words   |  10 PagesThe God and Evil Problem A strong argument against the existence of a Christian God is contained in the theodicy problem. The existence of suffering is not compatible with an omniscient, omnipotent, omni benevolent superior being. An all-knowing being would be aware that suffering is and always will be in existence; an all-powerful being would be able to prevent suffering; and a perfectly good being would desire to end suffering. Many Christian thinkers have sought to justify this contradiction