Cultural Dependency Theory

Cultural Dependency Theory Introduction: There are many reasons to examine the current situation of the world, where a lot of countries are underdeveloped or are developing, and a small portion of the world, which are the Western countries, are relatively rich and developed and rule over the under-developed and developing countries. In this essay, I discuss the Modernisation theory and the Cultural Dependency Theory, how they came into existence and what are their problems. Also, the contributions made by all the countries and trying to develop have not really helped them to a great extent. In this essay, I have also explained why this division is still present and the dependency of the Third World countries on the Western countries. At the end of the essay, I have given the pros and cons of both the theories. International Communication Theory: The Third world countries were highly inferred for development because of the cold war which divided the countries into Eastern countries and western countries. This lasted for more than 50 years. Most of the Third World Nations wanted to avoid the group of countries which had common interest in politics and they wanted to concentrate on getting their population out of the control of the other legal or political restrictions. Third world nations got their name during the cold war which is said to be given by Alfred Sauvy in 1952, who was the French Economic historian. The world was divided between the capitalist first world which was led by the United States, and the communist second world, which was headed by Moscow (Thussu, 2006). The Term Third world was given to the nations who were not included in above mentioned groups (Brandt Commission, 1981; South Commission, 1990) and Asia, Latin America and Africa started a movement of National Liberation. This changed the entire political maps of the world (Thussu, 2006). By 1960, a lot of countries were free from the colonial powers and these new independent states got an opportunity to develop because of International Communication (Thussu, 2006). The New International Economic Order (NIEO) was approved by the UN General Assembly and the UNCTAD, because, the Non-Aligned Movement started demanding fairness in the economy. NIEO had an independent and an egalitarian economic order which was grounded on the principles of equality and was government free which included that, all the members of the country had equal rights to participate in the development process (Thussu, 2006 cit. Hamelink, 1979: 145). The NIEO provided a structure which helped to understand the international relations between the countries based on North-South division. At the same time, New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) also had to be taken into consideration in order to link it with the economic order. The Non-Aligned countries demanded changes in the global economic and informational systems. Juan Somavia, 1976, observed that, The transnational Power structure supported the transnational communication system to develop. This is basically a tool for transmitting values and lifestyles to Third World Countries which provokes the consumption and society which is necessary to the transnational system as a whole. (Somavia, 1976: 16-17) There were a lot of times when the Third World or the developing countries took technical and financial help from the Western or the developed countries as they wanted to use the communication technologies for development. One of the main areas where the developing countries took support from the developed ones was the satellite television. Television was considered to be one of the most powerful and influential medium. It could be used for a lot of purposes like bringing change in the attitudes of the traditional people, educational purposes and modernise societies. Cultural Dependency Theory: Cultural Dependency Theory was emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s in Latin America. It was a criticism of the modernisation theory. This theory was developed in Latin America under the supervision of Raul Prebisch who was the director of United Nations Economic Commission. The main interest in research of Instituto Lationoamericano de Estudios (ILET) which was established in 1976 in Mexico City was to study the Transnational media business, which gave a force to criticise the modernisation theory.(Thussu, 2006) It became necessary to analyse international communication. So dependency theorists directed towards getting a substitute theoretical account (Baran, 1957; Gunder Frank, 1969; Amin 1976). Transnational Communication (TNCs) which was dominated by the North, have control over the governments and over developing countries by setting their personal rules and regulations on global trade which includes dominating labour, market, production and resources. These countries were developing in such a way that the developed countries keep dominating over the developing countries and maintained the need for the developing countries to be dependent on the developed countries (Thussu, 2006). Due to the neo-colonial relationship in which the TNCs controlled the exchange and structure of global markets, the inequality in the south had become wider and deeper whereas the TNCs had strengthened their control over the worlds natural and human resources (Baran, 1957; Mattlelart, 1979, Thussu, 2006). Dependency theorists tried to show the link between modernisation and policies of transnational media (Thussu, 2006). Herbert Schillers idea of cultural imperialism is the most clearly identified one (1969-92). Schiller analysed the links between the transnational business and the dominant states. (Thussu, 2006) The main argument of Schiller was about how the US based transnational corporations weaken the cultural liberty of the developing countries and force them to be dependent on both hardware and software of communication and media. The definition of cultural imperialism by Schiller was, the sum of the process by which a society is brought into the modern world system and how its dominating stratum is attracted, pressured, forced and sometimes bribed into shaping social institutions to correspond to or even to promote, the values and structures of the dominant centre of the system (Schiller, 1976: 9) Schiller argued that new emergent American empire was taking over the European colonial empires like, British, French and Dutch. This was based on the economic, military and informational power. According to him, the US based TNCs are continuously growing and are starting to dominate the global economy. US business and military organisations have got a leading role in the development and control of a new, electronic based global communication system due to the support that economic growth has received from the communication knowledge (Thussu, 2006). USA had the most effective surveillance system as it controlled global satellite communications which was the crucial element in the cold war years (Thussu, 2006). Due to this the dependence on the US increased for communication Technology and investment (Schiller, 1969). All the western goods and services along with the American way of life were promoted when the media programs were imported from the USA which required sponsorship to run . This was a threat to the Southern traditional cultures (Schiller, 1969). He argued in his book, which was republished in 1992 that the domination over the worlds communication of the US increased after the UNESCO failed and the cold war got over. The domination of US over the economy had started decreasing as the TNCs started acquiring important role in international relations changing the cultural imperialism of US into Transnational corporate cultural domination (Schiller, 1992: 39) The other works which show the dominance of the US using cultural imperialism is clearly seen in the Hollywoods relationship with the European movie market (Guback, 1996); US exports television shows to Latin America and influences it greatly (Wells, 1972); Disney comic also have contributed in promoting capitalist values (Dorfan and Mattelart, 1975) and advertising industry has played a role of an ideological instrument (Ewen, 1976; Mattelart, 1991) (cited in Thussu, 2006: 48-49). Oliver Boyd-Barrett noticed one of the most prominent aspects of dependency in international communication in the 1970s as media imperialism. This examines the information and media inequalities between the nations. It analyses the domination of the US over the international media (Boyd-Barrett, 1977). Modernisation Theory: The concept of modernity has become a very general statement. It represents the experience of the western culture on the others. All the global cultures are disapproved to modernity and the concept of cultural imperialism critically evaluates the conclusions in the critique of modernity (Tomlinson, 1991). A philosophical notion in the years after the war was that international communication is an important part in order to modernise and develop the Third world nations. The notion was that international communication can be used to spread modernity among the newly independent countries and that it will help to transform the traditional societies of the developing countries. It was also used to transfer the hypothetical description of economic and political entity of the developed countries.   Modernisation theory is an attempt to provide a support for the development policies which was created by the western countries. These development policies were supported towards the Third world countries which were still getting out of the rule of the stronger countries and were getting independent. This theory is just an attempt to explain the economic under-development of the Third world nations by focusing on the development which can be done with a process which is determined by the societys internal features. Vincent Mosco points out: The Modernisation Theory was meant to reconstruct the international division of labour amalgamating the non-Western world into the emerging international structural hierarchy (1996: 121). Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Simmel and Tonnies and others came up with their own theories keeping in mind the dramatic changes in the European societies due to the modern world. There was an agreement between the theorists which was based on the political spectrum and all of them thought that the world had more than one possible meaning in the capacity to deliver fulfilment and happiness. Modernity was associated with enlightenment and was suppose to free the people from the control of another person or any legal or political restrictions. But modernity failed to deliver complete freedom. Modernisation includes economic scientific and technical development that is very closely related to the capitalist market. But Bermans, in his book All that is solid melts into air talks about the notion of self development. The main aim of his book is to explain that cultural condition of modernity stood still and lapsed during the twentieth century. He also aims to fix the serious problem which was closely linked to the possibilities of dangers along with the enthusiasts and enemies of the modern life which was found during the nineteenth century. (Berman, 1983) According to the Frankfurt School theorists the main issue of modernity was the injustices by the capitalist system or social intolerance by a bigot or of the ideology of possessive individualism (Tomlinson, 1991). Horkheimer and Adorno critiqued the modernisation theory by comparing it with the so called rational institutions. The main task of modernisation theory is to set people free, but the history and past politics show that this theory failed to do their task effectively (Tomlinson, 1991). According the Berman, people living in the twentieth century do not know how to live a modern life and missed of broken the connection between the culture and lives. He describes modernisation as a set of historical processes due to which the experience of modernity evolves. He claims that modernity is one of the most difficult, anxious and uncertain place to live, but ultimately it is the world where people live and people can master the cultures of the place where they live. At one point of time, he mentions about the Third World nations and discusses that the governments of those countries are trying to protect their people from modernisation which is being imposed by the West. He says that if the culture which is being imposed by the west is really not used by the Third World nations then will they consume so much energy? The governments of the Third world nations call the West as aliens. But they do not understand the fact that they are their own peoples energies, desires and cr itical spirit. When these governments say that they do not want the Western Countries to impose any kind of cultures in their nations, they are trying to say that, they have managed to keep the political and spiritual influence on the people. Also they do not realise that once the people become more aware of things going around them, modernist spirit will be one of the first things to be adapted by the people. The governments of the Third World Nations are fighting against each other in order to keep their tradition alive among the people, which had no result at the end. He also says that Third world governments think that they are being enforced upon by the western countries by accumulating a lot of capital or are being forced to break into parts. He suggests that people have to adapt to a place in which nothing can be taken for granted. Media is just one form of medium which helps to spread the experience of modernity. But according to another theorist, Peter Berger, 1974, modernisation is not a one way journey which rectifies human self understanding. He explains this concept with the help of a story of a visitor who visited the villages of Tanzania. People living in these villages belonged to different Tribes but are now living very co-operatively. This was one of the communities which were transferring from tradition to modernity. The visitor asked someone; whether they still practice their personal tribal dances. The answer was, yes, and it is done once or twice a year on any special occasion. He also added that this is done so that it becomes easy for the people to understand one another better. (Berger, 1974).It is clearly seen that there is a process of political-economic which is enforced upon the Third world nations as they are very closely connected with their traditions and colonialism which has become a history for the Western nations and still are in a position to dominate over the Thi rd world nations (Tomlinson, 1991). Castoriadis, 1985, mentions that the West will continue to conquer the world even if it was going to be destroyed materially (Castoriadis, 1985). So when Berman says that the Third World cultures need to be modernised, he means not just in terms of objective structures of the capitalist markets, urbanism, but also in terms of a narrative with a clear beginning keeping in mind the cultures of the west. His view of modernity means that it is full of forces like the dynamic and development forces which means that the Western cultures are being imposed on the Third world nations in order to modernise and develop their countries. But Castoriadis has a different opinion. He accepts individuals have their own priorities and have their personal institutional forces towards modernity. The kind of institutions we develop in order to become powerful does not come from external forces of humanity but it comes from within through the social imaginary (Tomlinson, 1991). Habermass view on modernity is completely different from that of Bermans. Habermas thinks that modernity is a way of making someone poor culturally, whereas Berman thinks that there are forces which drive people towards modernity (Tomlinson, 1991). Cultural Dependency Theory v/s Modernisation Theory: The gap between the ruling and the working class increased which combined with regular recession to create dissatisfaction among the working class (McPhail, 2009). In order to fight for their rights, working class started forming groups such as unions (McPhail, 2009). Stevenson criticised this theory by using the dependency literature which was notable for an absence of clear definitions of fundamental terms like imperialism and an almost total lack of empirical evidence to support the arguments (Stevenson, 1988: 38). A lot of other theorists argued that it did not consider the media form and the role played by the audience (Thussu, 2006). Those involved in a cultural studies approach to the analysis of international communication argued that, like other cultural artefacts, media texts could be polysemic and were amenable to different interpretations by audiences who were not merely passive consumers, but active participants in the process of negotiating meaning (Fiske, 1987, cited in Thussu, 2006: 49). It was also noticed by the theorists that cultural imperialism thesis did not consider issues as how global media texts worked in national contexts, ignoring local patterns of media consumption (Thussu, 2006: 49). Cultural Dependency theory also failed to explain the effects of the cultural products distributed by the US around the world. Also, cultural imperialism failed to give attention to the complexities of the Third World cultures and assumed a hypodermic-needle model (Sreberny-Mohammadi, 1991, 1997). It was also argued that western scholars did not have deep knowledge about the Third world cultures. They had extremely limited knowledge and not being aware of diversities such as race, gender, class, religion and ethnicity. Very few systematic studies have been conducted by the southern scholars on cultural and ideological effects on western media on the audiences of the south (Thussu, 2006).One of the major issues of this theory was that it did not consider the role of the national elites, especially elites living in the developing countries (Thussu, 2006). Modernisation Theory had promised to deliver the social and economic change which failed miserably (McPhail, 2009). Therefore, three other theories were developed which looked at the development communication which were totally different and directed in a different way, which were, Cultural imperialism, Participatory communication and Entertainment-Education Theory (McPhail, 2009). Social and cultural theory does not agree with the core of modernity. Also this theory was criticised to a great degree because of its ideological basis, lack of clarity and it is a subject which is ignorant to many and it fails to exercise good judgement. This theory ignores the external determinants of underdevelopment like the exploitation of the Third world countries when they were being ruled by the Western countries. This theory ignores these factors and assumes that the Third World nations are progressing independently and are becoming modern on their own. In order for the Third world nations to progress they needed help from the Western countries as there was a lot of poverty, inadequate resources, lack of social provisions and political instability in the Third world nations. Modernisation Theory ignores all the disapprovals and expression whose meaning cannot be determined from its context which was addressed by the classical theorists (Tomlinson, 1991). In this theory, the traditional cultures, media habits, language, religion of the developing countries were not included, and were totally ridiculed and ignored (McPhail, 2009). One of the clear criticisms on this theory is that the American policy was to commit to free flow the information to the world and all the nations fell into the trap and gave immense support to this statement which was assumed to be true (McPhail, 2009). Scholars from the developing countries argued that the developing countries were not the beneficiaries of this theory, which was meant for them, but the western countries who created it were only getting benefitted out of this theory as it helped the companies to grow and establish in the Third world and could find their new consumers of their products (Thussu, 2009). A lot of people in the Third World remained poor and under developed, even after adapting themselves to modernisation theory and by the mid 70s, they started talking about the passing of the dominant paradigm (Rogers, 1976: 3).Slowly, when the US realised that the Southern nations are looking at them with suspicion, they stopped their free flow of information and became the one at the receiving end which at the end became a one way flow of information (McPhail, 2009). This matter was going to be brought up in the debate of the UNESCO in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but the US president, Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher withdrew from UNESCO in order to protest against NWICO. Different opinions resulted in creating two streams, one of which was the outline of cultural imperialism by Herbert Schiller and the NWICO debate and fallout. This resulted in making a particular culture homogenous, that is the American popular culture, which is been mass produced (McPhail, 2009). Due to these reasons, the theorists of modernisation theory realised that this theory needs to be redeveloped (Thussu, 2006). The revised modernisation theory gives greater notice to the local elites (Thussu, 2006). But even in the revised version, western technology remains important. According to Thussu, 2006, Modernisation requires advanced telecommunication and computer infrastructure, preferably through the efficient private corporations, thus integrating the South into a globalized information economy (Thussu, 2006: 46) Despite of all the criticism done on dependency theory, cultural imperialism thesis have been extremely influential in international communication (Tomlinson, 1991; Thompson, 1995). This particular thesis was extremely important and needed during the heated argument during the NWICO debates in UNESCO and other international fora in the 1970s (Thussu, 2006). While criticising this thesis, John Thompson, 1995, concluded that this research is probably the only systematic and moderately plausible attempt, to think about the globalisation of communication and its impact on the modern world (Thompson, 1995: 173). Theorists, who defend this theory, argued that the critics of this theory often take the notion which is totally not in reference to the theory and it is completely abstract (Mattelart and Mattelart, 1998). There were a lot of changes in the debate of international communication which reflected the language of privatisation and liberalisation in the 1990s, media and cultural dependency theories became less eminent but their relevance was very visible all around (Golding and Harris, 1997; Thussu, 1998; Hackett and Zhao, 2005 and Hamm and Smandych, 2005 cited in Thussu, 2006: 50) Boyd-Barrett rightly argues that media imperialism has not included variables, such as gender, media relations and ethnic issues, so it is still a very useful theory to understand of what he terms the colonisation of communication space (Boyd-Barrett. 1998: 157). References: 1. Amin, S. (1976) Accumulation on a world scale: a critique of the theory of underdevelopment. New York: Monthly Review Press. 2. Baran, P. (1957) The political economy of growth. New York: Monthly Review Press. 3. Berman. M (1983) All that is solid melts into air: the experience of modernity. London, verso, pp. 15 4. Boyd-Barrett, O. (1977) Media Imperialism: towards an international framework for the analysis of media systems. In J.Curran, M. Gurevitch and J. Woolacott (eds), Mass Communication and society. London: Edward Arnold. 5. Boyd-Barrett, O. (1998) Media imperialism which was developed again. In. D. Thussu (ed.), Electronic empires. London: Arnold. 6. Brandt Commission (1981) North-South: a programme for survival. The report of the Independent Commission on International Development Issues under the chairmanship of Willi Brandt, London: Pan Books. 7. Castoriadis, C. (1985) Reflections on rationality and development, thesis eleven, no. 10/11, pp. 21. 8. Golding, P. And Harris, P. (eds) (1997) The political economy of the media 2 vols, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. 9. Gunder Frank, A. (1969) Capitalism and underdevelopment in Latin America. New York. Monthly Review Press. 10. Hackett, R. A and Zhao, Y. (eds) (2005) Democratizing global media: one world, many struggles. Lanham, MD: Rowman Littlefield. 11. Mattelart, A. (1979) Multinational corporations and the control of culture. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press. 12. Mattelart, A. and Mattelart, M. (1998) Theories of communication: a short introduction. London: Sage. 13. McPhail, T. (2009) Development Communication Reframing the role of the media. London. Blackwell Publishing. 14. Mosco, V. (1996) The political economy of communication: rethinking and renewal. London: Sage. 15. Berger, P. (1974) Pyramids of sacrifice, Harmondsworth, Allen lane, pp. 197-8 16. Rogers, E. (1976) Communication and DevelopmentL the passing of a dominant paradigm. Communication Research, 3. 17. Schiller, H. (1969) Mass Communication and American Empire. New York: Augustus M. Kelley.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Second revised and updated edition published by Westview Press in 1992. 18. Schiller, H. (1976) Communication and cultural domination. New York: International Arts and sciences press, 9. 19. Somavia, J. (1976) The Transnational Power Structure and International Information. Development Dialogue, 2:   16-17. 20. South Commission (1990) The challenge of South: the report of the South Commission. Geneva: the South Centre. 21. Sreberny-Mohammadi, A. (1991) The global and the local in international communication. In J. Curran and M. Gurevitch (eds), Mass Media and Society. London: Edward Arnold. 22. Sreberny-Mohammadi, A. (1997) The many cultural phases of imperialism. In P. Golding and P. Harris (eds), Beyond cultural imperialism. London: Sage. 23. Stevenson, R. (1988) Communication, development and the Third World: the global politics of information. London: Longman. 38. 24. Thussu, D. K (ed.) (1998) Electronic empires: global media and local resistance. London: Arnold. 25. Thussu, D. K (2006) International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. 26. Thussu, D. K (2006) Approaches to theorizing international communication. In: International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. Pp. 46. 27. Thussu, D. K (2006) Approaches to theorizing international communication. In: International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. Pp. 48-49. 28. Thussu, D. K (2006) Approaches to theorizing international communication. In: International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. Pp. 49. 29. Thussu, D. K (2006) Approaches to theorizing international communication. In: International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. Pp. 50. 30. Thompson, J. (1995) The media and modernity: a social theory of the media. Cambridge: Polity. 31. Tomlinson, J. (1991) Cultural Imperialism- a critical introduction. Great Britain. Pinter Publishers Ltd.

Aids essay

Nowadays, with the developed industrialization there are a lot of dangerous diseases which have influence on the people. There are the cancer, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s etc. One of them is AIDS – the serious disease. Unfortunately, day by day the number of people who are infected with Aids is increasing. Infected people are very weak to fight off other infectious disease and soon they will die. AIDS is one of the dangerous diseases, so the people need to know about how to prevent it.Acquired Immune-Deficiency Syndrome, popularly known by its abbreviation AIDS is a fatal disease as it attacks and destroys the immune system of the body. It is caused by a virus called Human Immuno Deficiency Virus or HIV in short. HIV damages body’s immune system by destroying white blood cells which help us to destroy invaded pathogens. When HIV enters a white blood cell, it may remain dormant. However, once it is activated, it infects another cell to produce many new HIVS. After a certain period of time, the white blood cells are destroyed and leading to a loss of function of the immune system (Y.K. Ho,2004). The first ever case of a person with AIDS was detected in America in 1959 which later emerged as a dreadfully widespread disease in the 1980s in countries like France, , Belgium, Uganda, Zambia Tanzania, Zimbabwe etc. Moreover, AIDS was first clinically observed in 1981 in the United States. [The initial cases were a cluster of injecting drug users and homosexual men with no known cause of impaired immunity who showed symptoms of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), a rare opportunistic infection that was known to occur in people with very compromised immune systems.Soon thereafter, an unexpected number of gay men developed a previously rare skin cancer called Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). Many more cases of PCP and KS emerged, alerting U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a CDC task force was formed to monitor the outbreak. In the early days, the CDC did not have an official name for the disease, often referring to it by way of the diseases that were associated with it, for example, lymphadenopathy, the disease after which the discoverers of HIV originally named the virus.They also used Kaposi's Sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections, the name by which a task force had been set up in 1981. At one point, the Center of Diseases Control coined the phrase â€Å"the 4H disease†, since the syndrome seemed to affect Haitians, homosexuals, hemophiliacs, and heroin users. In the general press, the term â€Å"GRID†, which stood for gay-related immune deficiency, had been coined. However, after determining that AIDS was not isolated to the gay community, it was realized that the term GRID was misleading and the term AIDS was introduced at a meeting in July 1982.By September 1982 the CDC started referring to the disease as AIDS. HIV is a fast spreading disease in the world which if—not controlled—can take an epidemic proportion. According to the data and statistics of World Health Organization, global summary of the AIDS epidemic, 2009, the number of people living with HIV is around 33. 3 million and AIDS death in 2009 is around 1. 8 million. The highest numbers of AIDS cases are found in Mumbai in India which is known as die AIDS capital of the country and is closely followed by Chennai, Thiruvanandiapuram, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Kolhapur.Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Delhi too have a number of HIV cases being reported in die recent years. As per die common myth, HIV infection is not contagious as is measles, chicken pox, tuberculosis, cholera, plague, smallpox etc. The infection mainly spreads through a sexual route or blood to blood contact. HIV spreads mainly through sexual relationship-whether heterosexual or homosexual with an infected partner, transfusion of HIV infected blood and blood products, use of infected syringes or needles and is passed on by an infected mother to her unborn child.It is therefore, foolish to believe that HIV spreads through mosquitoes, embracing, holding, touching or kissing each other, shaking hands, coughing, sneezing, spitting, sharing of public toilets or swimming pools, sharing meals or eating from the same plates, or sharing clothes, bed sheets, or attending similar schools or working together. There are many causes to explain why people got AIDS and there are also some serious effects. The first cause can be because they did not recieve enough information about specific illnesses like AIDS.So to help us to prevent AIDS: we need to educate the children carefully. It is because AIDS has existed since many years ago. Although many scientists have tried to discover the treatment against this terrible disease, they have not found some patent treatments yet. Scientists caution that a safe, effective vaccine against HIV may be at least a decade away, mainly because, like the influenza virus, HIV mutates (changes structure ) quickly, producing different strains. An ideal vaccine must be able to stimulate neutralization of both â€Å"free† viruses and those hidden within lymphocytes, such s T-helper cells. Researchers in various countries have developed and are testing a few preliminary vaccines. One sub-unit vaccine, made from virus coat material (a glycoprotein) genetically cloned in an insect virus (the baculovirus, which attacks moths and butterflies but no humans) has been shown to stimulate an immune response in experimental animals. Another preliminary vaccine, produced by cloning modified Vaccinia viruses, containing a portion of HIV envelope, is about to enter clinical trials in New York. But to date no vaccine tried in animals or humans has been shown to prevent AIDS.The best way to avoid AIDS is to regard it as a highly lethal disease and practice commonsense prevention. Avoiding infection is in one’s own hands. People can protect themselves. To halt its spread, people are enco uraged to obtain and apply accurate AIDS information to their living styles and sexual habits in order to reduce the risk of getting or transmitting the virus. Sadly, health promoters claim that â€Å"reaching the many who don't want to know† is no easy task. Health promoters suggest that educators must learn how and when to communicate AIDS information – in the right way at â€Å"teachable† moments.Many Public Health Departments are now taking the lead in disseminating education about AIDS with large scale public awareness programs. On the other hand, there are many ways to reduce AIDS, but the primary way is have a protective sex. One of the examined showed that consistent condom use reduces the risk of HIV transmission by approximately 80% over the long term. When one partner of a couple is infected, consistent condom use results in rates of HIV infection for the uninfected person of below 1% per year.There is some evidence to suggest that female condoms may provide an equivalent level of protection. Application of a vaginal gel containing tenofovir (a reverse transcriptase inhibitor) immediately before sex seems to reduce infection rates by approximately 40% among African women. By contrast, use of the spermicide nonoxynol-9 may increase the risk of transmission due to its tendency to cause vaginal and rectal irritation. Circumcision in Sub-Saharan Africa â€Å"reduces the acquisition of HIV by heterosexual men by between 38% and 66% over 24 months†.Based on these studies, the World Health Organization and UNAIDS both recommended male circumcision as a method of preventing female-to-male HIV transmission in 2007. Whether it protects against male-to-female transmission is disputed and whether it is of benefit in developed countries and among men who have sex with men is undetermined. Some experts fear that a lower perception of vulnerability among circumcised men may result in more sexual risk-taking behavior, thus negating its p reventive effects.Women who have undergone female genital cutting have an increased risk of HIV. Programs encouraging sexual abstinence do not appear to affect subsequent HIV risk. Evidence for a benefit from peer education is equally poor. Comprehensive sexual education provided at school may decrease high risk behavior. A substantial minority of young people continues to engage in high-risk practices despite knowing about HIV/AIDS, underestimating their own risk of becoming infected with HIV.It is not known if treating other sexually transmitted infections is effective in preventing HIV. To conclude, AIDS is a very dangerous diseases, so it needs to be controlled.. We must go to all extremes in preventing this virus from spreading much more that it already has. If you could spread it then you need to be tested, educated, isolated and treated. We must do all that it takes to prevent someone else from being infected. References Aids. In Wikipedia. com. Retrieved from http://en. wiki pedia. org/wiki/HIV/AIDS

Part Six Chapter IV

IV The police had picked up Krystal Weedon at last as she ran hopelessly along the river bank on the very edge of Pagford, still calling her brother in a cracked voice. The policewoman who approached her addressed her by name, and tried to break the news to her gently, but she still tried to beat the woman away from her, and in the end the policewoman had almost to wrestle her into the car. Krystal had not noticed Fats melting away into the trees; he did not exist to her any more. The police drove Krystal home, but when they knocked on the front door Terri refused to answer. She had glimpsed them through an upstairs window, and thought that Krystal had done the one unthinkable and unforgivable thing, and told the pigs about the hold-alls full of Obbo's hash. She dragged the heavy bags upstairs while the police hammered at the door, and only opened up when she considered that it had become unavoidable. ‘Whatcha wan'?' she shouted, through an inch-wide gap in the door. The policewoman asked to come in three times and Terri refused, still demanding to know what they wanted. A few neighbours had begun to peer through windows. Even when the policewoman said, ‘It's about your son, Robbie,' Terri did not realize. †E's fine. There's nuthin' wrong with ‘im. Krystal's got ‘im.' But then she saw Krystal, who had refused to stay in the car, and had walked halfway up the garden path. Terri's gaze trickled down her daughter's body to the place where Robbie should have been clinging to her, frightened by the strange men. Terri flew from her house like a fury, with her hands outstretched like claws, and the policewoman had to catch her round the middle and swing her away from Krystal, whose face she was trying to lacerate. ‘Yeh little bitch, yeh little bitch, what've yeh done ter Robbie?' Krystal dodged the struggling pair, darted into the house and slammed the front door behind her. ‘For fuck's sake,' muttered the policeman under his breath. Miles away in Hope Street, Kay and Gaia Bawden faced each other in the dark hallway. Neither of them was tall enough to replace the light bulb that had been dead for days, and they had no ladder. All day long, they had argued and almost made up, then argued again. Finally, at the moment when reconciliation seemed within touching distance, when Kay had agreed that she too hated Pagford, that it had all been a mistake, and that she would try and get them both back to London, her mobile had rung. ‘Krystal Weedon's brother's drowned,' whispered Kay, as she cut Tessa's call. ‘Oh,' said Gaia. Knowing that she ought to express pity, but frightened to let discussion of London drop before she had her mother's firm commitment, she added, in a tight little voice, ‘That's sad.' ‘It happened here in Pagford,' said Kay. ‘Along the road. Krystal was with Tessa Wall's son.' Gaia felt even more ashamed of letting Fats Wall kiss her. He had tasted horrible, of lager and cigarettes, and he had tried to feel her up. She was worth much more than Fats Wall, she knew that. If it had even been Andy Price, she would have felt better about it. Sukhvinder had not returned one of her calls, all day long. ‘She'll be absolutely broken up,' said Kay, her eyes unfocused. ‘But there's nothing you can do,' said Gaia. ‘Is there?' ‘Well †¦' said Kay. ‘Not again!' cried Gaia. ‘It's always, always the same! You're not her social worker any more! What,' she shouted, stamping her foot as she had done when she was a little girl, ‘about me?' The police officer in Foley Road had already called a duty social worker. Terri was writhing and screaming and trying to beat at the front door, while from behind it came the sounds of furniture being dragged to form a barricade. Neighbours were coming out onto their doorsteps, a fascinated audience to Terri's meltdown. Somehow the cause of it was transmitted through the watchers, from Terri's incoherent shouts and the attitudes of the ominous police. ‘The boy's dead,' they told each other. Nobody stepped forward to comfort or calm. Terri Weedon had no friends. ‘Come with me,' Kay begged her mutinous daughter. ‘I'll go to the house and see if I can do anything. I got on with Krystal. She's got nobody.' ‘I bet she was shagging Fats Wall when it happened!' shouted Gaia; but it was her final protest, and a few minutes later she was buckling herself into Kay's old Vauxhall, glad, in spite of everything, that Kay had asked her along. But by the time they had reached the bypass, Krystal had found what she was looking for: a bag of heroin concealed in the airing cupboard; the second of two that Obbo had given Terri in payment for Tessa Wall's watch. She took it, with Terri's works, into the bathroom, the only room that had a lock on the door. Her aunt Cheryl must have heard what had happened, because Krystal could hear her distinctive raucous yell, added to Terri's screams, even through the two doors. ‘You little bitch, open the door! Letcha mother see ya!' And the police shouting, trying to shut the two women up. Krystal had never shot up before, but she had watched it happen many times. She knew about longboats, and how to make a model volcano, and she knew how to heat the spoon, and about the tiny little ball of cotton wool you used to soak up the dissolved smack, and act as a filter when you were filling the syringe. She knew that the crook of the arm was the best place to find a vein, and she knew to lay the needle as flat as possible against the skin. She knew, because she had heard it said, many times, that first-timers could not take what addicts could manage, and that was good, because she did not want to take it. Robbie was dead, and it was her fault. In trying to save him, she had killed him. Flickering images filled her mind as her fingers worked to achieve what must be done. Mr Fairbrother, running alongside the canal bank in his tracksuit as the crew rowed. Nana Cath's face, fierce with pain and love. Robbie, waiting for her at the window of his foster home, unnaturally clean, jumping up and down with excitement as she approached the front door †¦ She could hear the policeman calling to her through the letter box not to be a silly girl, and the policewoman trying to quieten Terri and Cheryl. The needle slid easily into Krystal's vein. She pressed the plunger down hard, in hope and without regret. By the time Kay and Gaia arrived, and the police decided to force their way in, Krystal Weedon had achieved her only ambition: she had joined her brother where nobody could part them.

African American Music Culture - 1490 Words

African American Music Culture Jakiella James â€Å"African-American gospel music is a major influence in nearly all genres of modern popular music, from rhythm ‘n blues to jazz, from soul to rock ‘n roll. The musical genre is a unique expression of the black experience in America? The emotionally-charged, wailing vocals and syncopated rhythms give the music a distinctive style. The singing is accompanied not only by instrumentals, but often also by hand-clapping, foot-stomping and shouting. Gospel music is rooted in slave spirituals and protestant hymns. During the late 1800s, the music spread in popularity among white Christians through the traveling revivals led by Evangelist Dwight Moody. The music took root in the black†¦show more content†¦As in traditional African cultures and as the ancestors that endured slavery had done, African Americans used music to communicate, synchronize, summon courage and assuage pain and adversity. That uniquely African style of singing with emotion, power and rhythm was evident through the field hollerers, work songs, spirituals, gospels and blues. Then the rhythm and blues artists and the soul artists provided a rich resource for the succeeding style of music called â€Å"funk†. And these artists drove it home to an ever widening audience. This was also the time when other artists were delivering songs with philosophical and social messages. The emphasis of this paper will be on the music called funk and its impact on the American culture. Students will be engaged in actively listening to and discussing a variety of artists to evaluate their effect on the music’s direction, impact and audience. At the turn of the nineteenth century, jazz was making its entrance and establishing itself as the music of the future with icons such as Buck Clayton, Sidney Bichet, Louis Armstrong, Lil Hardin, King Joe Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton. They were followed by Scott Joplin, Fletcher Henderson, Noble Sissle, Louis Jordan, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and others. While jazz was riding a crest, there was another style of African American music with aShow MoreRelatedJazz And Jazz Culture1273 Words   |  6 PagesWhat is culture? What is African culture? What is Jazz music and where did it come from? How can one culture, in a sense, impact the musical landscape of the whole Western world and eventually assimilate into ‘pop’ culture? If we want to truly understand jazz and it’s concepts, we have to navigate through history and explore it’s roots. Simply put, jazz is African American music, and the genre, as we know, formed in New Orleans. However, the origins of jazz started well before then, in Africa. TheRead MoreThe Harlem Renaissance s Influence And Impact1262 Words   |  6 PagesThe Harlem Renaissance s Influence and Impact The Harlem Renaissance era is known for its rich culture and being the source for many African American breakthrough artists such as Alain Locke,W.E.B DuBois, and Ethel Waters. . Whether it be the diversity of music, drama, art, or literature, it’s surely present during that period of time and still is today. Many questions about this time period include â€Å"How was Harlem life like back then?† â€Å"What is the Harlem Renaissance?†, and â€Å"How did itRead MoreReoccurring Themes in the Work of Langston Hughes Essay1649 Words   |  7 Pagesfocuses on the hardships of his people. Hughes’ heartfelt concern for his people’s struggle evokes the reader’s emotion. His appreciation for black music and culture is evident in his work as well. 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