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Fichte and Individuality
Fichte and Individuality
THEME
Fichte’s Wissenschaftslehre lends itself as apparently no other philosophy of mind to the extraction or extrapolation of a theory of individuality. Moreover it proves possible to marry the key concepts on which my essay concentrates to current neurophysiological thinking on how memories are laid down and retrieved. Accordingly it is those nuptials that this essay attempts to perform.
PART I
The world in my mind
The student of Descartes might be brought up short by Fichte’s ‘revision’ of the cogito statement: “I am I”. Soon it becomes apparent that this ‘I’ does not think:
The primordial, absolutely unconditioned first principle of human knowledge . . . is an act (‘Tathandlung’) which does not and cannot appear among the empirical states of our consciousness, but rather lies at its basis and alone makes it possible. [I,91]
Thus begins his effort to “complete” Kant’s system; for although the old man growled “God preserve us from friends like these”, it cannot be denied that the Critiques *presuppose* a fully-formed mind and may therefore be said to have turned a blind eye to some mandatory prior midwifery.
Fichte’s solution conceives of the ‘Ich’ as essentially an act — as an amorphous consciousness brimful with psychic energy seeking instantiation as a finite thinking being. Unlike the cartesian self, the fichtean ‘Ich’ is initially a self in abstracto [I, 96 & 97], the principle of activity in all purity and lacking all predicates [I, 110].
Accordingly what the ‘Ich’ can experience in this state is nothing remotely akin to the cogito, but rather a freudian ‘oceanic feeling’ of limitless being. From this emerges the desire to ‘posit’ itself, which can mean nothing other than a striving for self-consciousness. Thus,
The pure self-reverting activity of the Self is a striving . . . This boundless striving, carried to infinity, is the condition of the possibility of any object whatsoever: no striving, no object. [I, 262].
Echoes of Goethe’s apophthegm, “Im Anfang war die Tat”, itself a sovereign mind’s correction of the evangelical “In the beginning was the word”. Agency precedes the self-consciousness which commands words.
But an ‘Ich’, wanting to become a ‘Self’, needs correlation to an ‘Other’. Activity, whether mental or physical, necessarily implies the existence of a correlated external reality in relation to which we think and act and which comprises the theatre where these relational activities are enacted. [I, 104, 9-10]. Unbeknownst to itself, however, this is a limiting factor on the ‘Ich’s’ primitive infinitude, its ‘reality check’ (Anstoss):
The very concept of striving already involves finitude, for that to which there is no counterstriving is not a striving at all. . . . If it did not endlessly strive in this fashion, it could not posit itself, for it could oppose nothing to itself; again it would be no Self and would therefore be nothing. [I, 270].
If, for the sake of illustration, one were to translate it into a temporal progression, it would read: ‘Ich’ (generalised, kinematic, thus latent self-consciousness), ‘Other’ (the non-‘Ich’, determining and limiting the objectless ‘Ich’), mutual interpenetration and instantiation of (specific, individual) self-consciousness. Thus:
The infinitely outreaching activity of the self is to be checked at some point and driven back upon itself; and hence the self is not to exhaust the infinite. That this occurs, as a fact, is absolutely incapable of derivation from the self, as has frequently been pointed out; but we can show, at all events, that it must occur, if a genuine consciousness is to be possible. [I, 275].
This is worth pursuing in a metaphorical depiction. Imagine, then, the placid surface of a fairly large lake. This lake represents primeval, undetermined, amorphous consciousness, as yet unaware of anything other than itself. To this consciousness the identity equation applies: “I am I”.
However, this ‘Ich’, as a psyche, is activity, energy. Hence the pre-cartesian emphasis: there is no thinking ‘I’. Instead it pulsates, according to its innate nature, like a spring bubbling up in the middle of my metaphorical lake. At the surface it breaks, setting up an epicentre of concentric ripples, streaming out in search of a world.
Somewhere in its expansionary course, the ripple encounters an island. This is the Anstoss mentioned above. Collisions are agencies of change: if a car hits a wall, both parties suffer modification. So here. In fact, we’ve come upon one of Fichte’s fundamental assertions:
1. In the shock of Anstoss, the periphery of the concentric ripples is deformed; consequently a portion of the outstreaming energy banks up and sends an equivalent ripple effect back to the source.
2. The primeval, hitherto undetermined ‘Ich’ experiences the presence of ‘An Other’, i.e. a Non-self.
3. This ‘Other’, in breaking the ripples, effectively puts a limit on the expansion of the ‘Ich’; accordingly the latter becomes ‘determined’, limited.
4. The shape of the island, as the determinant of the backswell, enters the cognisance of the ‘Ich’. The ‘Ich’ absorbs the knowledge of the island as ‘An Other’; which becomes the first item in a resource of individual experiences by which ‘the mind is being furnished’. [I, 109, 8-9 & I, 111].
Further delimitations occasioned in similar manner, and each in subtle or gross ways affecting the constitution and composition of the developing Self ensue and persist through to death; but this does not exhaust the issue. For the outward projection of the self and its meeting with objects implies a one way flow of information. But an essential aspect of Fichte’s ‘positing’ involves the determination of the non-self. But how, one might ask in all innocence, can a self delimit the non-self? And indeed this is missed by impatient readers, for the answer occurs as late as p. 225: “The self cannot exert causality on the non-self, for the non-self would then cease to be a not-self.” In a word, the issue culminates in nothing other than the kantian representation.
Self and non-self do not determine each other tangibly, but through the mediating faculty of imagination. As in Kant, synthesis occurs under these auspices. It is the work of the imagination to stabilise intuitions (Anschauung), which (paradoxically) occurs, according to Fichte, because imagination is characteristically restless and swings (schwebt) incessantly between the Self’s outward projection of its innate desires and the limitations imposed by the world.Accordingly it is each one’s personal, individual ability to respond to, absorb and represent in their mind the data conveyed by reality, both dynamic and static, which builds up this inner world which is their reality. In any group of people, ‘real’ reality is a consensus picture; ‘my’ reality is whatever I possess of it; and of course the consensus reality has the power to infract and/or correct my inner image. As Fichte wrote in the Sittenlehre, “to determine my world is to determine me”.
There is no real need to go descriptively beyond Step 4, for the above represents, as it were, the experiential template. For just as in due course all the permanent features of the lake’s expanse — islands, peninsulas, trees growing out, rivers flowing in and of course the shoreline delimit and circumscribe the mind’s active self-definition, so it is wrought by further experiences of temporal accidents like rain showers, rocks falling in, boats, children, ducks and whatever rigmarole of the world’s itinerary happens to impinge. The mind not only receives and absorbs these as self-delimitations, but puts its kantian stamp on the phenomena: active and passive interchangeably, as is meet for the case in question.
In addition to this mainly theoretical dimension, there is another, the practical, where the same mind is called upon to deal with a world similar to or even nearly the same, i.e. the world of life, of animals and other humans, of society and its mores, institutions, behaviours etc. These are more complex interactions for which Fichte enlists a plethora of subjective concepts based on drives (Triebe) like feeling, affection, alienation, satisfaction, egoism, inclination etc., culminating in imagination as the reconciler of the realms of the finite and the infinite, self and non-self, which in this anchorless states becomes productive. [I, 216]
He also brings to attention that mind, as a biological entity, is profoundly selective in its response to the objects of the world, to the need for navigating by and through them: thus knowing is never per se, but ad hominem:
Actual consciousness begins not with us, but rather with objects. Only later do I intuit and obtain consciousness of myself, and I do this by abstracting from things . . . our spiritual world is nothing but an abstraction from the corporeal world. [NM121/113]
My world is tailored uniquely to my needs (and possible decreptitudes). In the sociopolitical domain, where one mind seeks to influence another, where passion and ambition reigns, his analysis stresses Will and Imagination as the shaping force of individual personality (NM Ch.13 & 17), again with consequences to the content’s of that person’s mind. The upshot is minds absolutely unique owing to the uniqueness of their ‘lifelines’ and those experiences which have impregnated them.
From the way I’ve put this last point, a crucial aspect of Fichte’s philosophy is brought out — the very crux of the misunderstanding that seems to have blasted his posthumous reputation. The world, by being represented in the self, becomes the self; while as much of the world as the self cannot absorb remains incognisable to it. Hence the world each individual bears within himself is a unique constellation, necessarily constrained by the reality which is imposed from without. So that, for this consciousness, self-identity and the world are commensurate: activity and knowledge become one identity.
The entire sweep of argument, from the initial positing of an undifferentiated consciousness to the containment of the whole world in it, may be read in terms of a mutual delimitation between a mind and the world of nature, of which the upshot is a mind uniquely furnished with the sum total of its learning, experiences, sentiments, imaginings and representations. The contents of a mind — his mind, your mind, my mind — are distinguished from each other by this individualised absorption process. Thus the frequently heard assertion that Fichte’s ‘Ich’ creates or is the world, thus turns on representation, not on solipsism. The consequences are, firstly, that this representation is necessarily the whole of existence for that individualised version which comprises one identity; and secondly, that the world is no longer divisible into phenomena and noumena, for whatever my ‘Ich’ contains must be, for me, that world’s totality.
It could be argued therefore (and I do) that Fichte — irrespective of whether it happened inadvertently or as a by-product of his greater philosophical endeavour — furnished us with a cogent guide to the genesis and nature of individuality; and it seems to me that he certainly succeeded in illuminating this little corner of a perennial metaphysical problem area.
PART II
Memory and individuality
Our knowledge of the world is grounded in ‘representations’. Yet it is anything but common knowledge how this acquisition is accomplished — it would be more true to say that commonsense ideas on the matter are slave to age-old misconceptions. The gist of this matter is that we hold memory to be something apart, something set aside, a locus or module or cache which does not participate in, but leads a charmed life on the fringes of the mind’s activity, except that every so often its contents may be reviewed or renewed.
But surely memory must reside somewhere? It transpires, however, that this line of question is part of the problem, for neural memory is a process like every other mind function and the whole notionality associated with discrete ‘images’ a red herring.
Let me approach this from a fichtean point of view: My world is what I have learnt and experienced and absorbed into my cognition. This can be rephrased as “My world is my memory”. It seems obvious now, although it has to be modified presently, for that world is obviously changing minute by minute. It follows that the brain must be expert at packaging this non-stop influx of data into salient structures of information. Now there are two important aspects to this:
1. Experience is never unmediated or unfiltered — what needs to be added to this is the technical fine print, viz: that all sensa are converted into electrochemical signals, for this is the means by which the brain ‘talks’ to our organs as well to itself.
2. Since a large percentage of sensa require a response, the brain’s preferred means of accumulating a large store of memories is to ‘cut a pathway’ to some executive organ or faculty responsible for implementing appropriate action.
This point is calculated to open a largely ignored dimension in mind research. For example, AI studies, caught up in their instrumental notionality, remain altogether forgetful that sensing and perceiving are biological activities (not functions), performed on our behalf by organisms which‘make a living’ this way. The repercussions cannot here be pursued, but they require our cognisance that brain structures are not designed as, or built from, or function like, chips and wires: if anything they resemble ant colonies more than AI devices.This is spectacularly evident in the arborescent structure of memory as an enormous congeries of nerve strands punctuated by synapses (junctions). A particular signal train must, at each of these synpases, be directed on the way to proceed; and whatever the result, a concomitant strengthening of that synapse ensues. If the issue is significant (I have just squashed the mosquito on my arm), then this pathway is a resource of the brain for any future decision in a similar situation.
All these ‘junctions’ on the pathway are ‘entry points’ for other signalling trains. Put simply, if next time I need to squash a flea, the ‘flea percept’ will probably enter the same pathway at one of its synapses.
In order clarify this unwieldy problem, let’s pretend that this pathway was cut into a tabula rasa. Here is one neuronal pathway available to me as a memory: of a picture (mosquito), pain (the bite), emotion (annoyance) and action (my murderous intervention). Firstly:
(a) that pathway is the memory of the event; and any subsequent similar experiences will re-strengthen it and/or cut subsidiary pathways into its junctions.
(b) accordingly the sight-feel-emotion-action packet must have exiting junctions into appropriate sub-modules. Now the ‘action’ component of the pathway explains itself: the signal travels to the motor cortex, and thence to a muscular site for implementation of the desired movement. But whereto are my pictures, feelings and emotions piped?
(c) Paradoxically to and through cortices responsible for reconstructing them. What we remember of the sight of the mozzie, all that fuzz and patching of colour, outlines, nuances of light and shade, size comparisons, stereometric depth etc. etc. is literally built up from the original data and re-formed as imagery ‘on the fly’. Likewise with feel and emotion. Data are spare, whereas information involves huge neuronal ergometrics. Self-evidently this is a more economical way of retaining memories than storing formed images.
Secondly, the criticality of exposure early in life to significant impressions is apt to influence that person’s outlook on the world as well as his/her capacity to receive and interpret the data of the world. Locke was not far wrong with his assessment; for although the mind is not literally blank when we are born, yet the ‘wisdom of evolution’ has been to provide for maximal plasticity of absorption in the development stages of infants; and this is evidently best done on a near-empty set.
There is an unexpected consequence to this: namely, that virtually all our experiences are filtered, mediated and shaped by our memories. In a word, the situation is not merely kantian in the sense that our sensory and perceptive faculties pre-judge what we are to make of phenomena, but in addition it is also fichtean in the sense that an auxiliary filtering pass (resorting to memory) is required for us to identify phenomena. The result is that what we see, hear, feel, taste, smell etc. are not, except in very rare instances, the impressions actually impinging on our nervous system, but what the censorship team of perception and memory permits us to experience — and in their vast majority, these turn out to be reconstructions of such events from memory, allowance being made for whatever differentiae impinge at the present moment. In short, at a certain stage in life, we stop experiencing the ‘raw feel’ of life, because (as William James said) the major function of the brain is the handling of surprises; and for most human lives, novelties diminish as we go on.
How associative memory works
The foregoing entails a radical reorientation in our conception of memory and its role in our lives. Unlike computers, which rely on precisely defined locations for specific memories, programs, images etc., the brain’s arborescent network is accessed associatively. An impression is like a key word; but this triggers not a discrete memory, but an entire branch replete with its innumerable affiliated sub-branches containing all pathways ever associated with that particular key. For example, if your a key is the word/concept/image ‘cat’, the memory network may be organised such as to provide a suitably cross-referenced collection of features, whether physical (mammal, whiskers, furry coat, sharp claws, fast, agile, hydrophobic, etc.) or emotional (domestically companionable, quiet, soft and cuddly) and so on. The network is likely to be different from one person to another also in respect of their educational background, i.e. a zoologist will develop different association from a collier or a poet.
Furthermore, any of these networks may link into others via ‘seconday connective associations’. If your mother pased away while a cat slept on her lap, your memory of cats might be embroiled in personal feelings that have little to do with felines but much with the concept ‘mother’, which in your mind may now invariably evoke an image related to (have an entry point into the network associated with) cats.
How immense a repertoire of connections we are likely to be imbued with comes with the realisation that the above example is the simplest imaginable. Memory is obviously not limited to words and their referents. Any cognitive or perceptive bundle, any emotional connotation, even muscular function, can be associated with any other and must be seen as obeying a similar logic of multiple arborescence.
Conclusion
We understand now that a threesome of conditions of experience prevails, which depend and rely on, and are decisively shaped by, the composition of an individual’s mind:1. Experiences comprise a matching of real-time perceptions to remembered perceptions, and the reliability of the former is directly proportional to the interpretive capacity of the mind — based on the contents of its associative memory pathways.
2. William James was indubitably correct in defining the brain’s principal task as the handling of novelty and surprise, i.e. those aspects which do not figure in the picture that is “my world” for the time being, but demand an immediate response.
3. Altogether representation in the fichtean meaning of the term is a reconstruction from memory. The mind outlaws unfiltered data for the now obvious reason that we have no means of actually ‘labelling’ these without reference to associated knowledge.
This finally also gives us a lever into the reflexivity problem. The self isn’t ‘known’ to itself until it becomes — the self-knowledge acquired in mutual determination is knowledge of itself by means of drawing-in knowledge of the world. The energy streaming forth and the Anstösse encountered engender form: namely the mutual and simultaneous becoming of self and world:The concept of force is the bridge between the intelligible world and the sensible world, [by which] the I goes outside of itself and makes a transition to the sensible world [and] represents itself to itself as an object and connects its own consciousness to an objective world. In this way, I become an object for myself, an object of perception, and a sensible world is connected for me with this object that I become. [MN131]
In sum: Fichte essentially and correctly he identified the mind as a composite, as a mapping of the world into the association cortex by means of a maximally randomised network. An ideal solution, one might say: overarching it, we find that“no man’s mind is an island” because all possible human experiences can be correlated and (in principle) collated; yet owing to the complexity of individual assembly, no single mind can possibly be matched“neuron for neuron” (as hopeful AI theorists occasionally propose) to any other.Thus Fichte’s doctrine may be said without too much concession to have hit the nail on the head; present explications hopefully serving to draw the sting from the paradoxy (and mistaken solipsist understanding) of his dictum,“I am I” =“I am my world”.BibliographyFichte, Johann Gottlieb: Grundlage der gesamten Wissenschaftslehre. Felix Meiner, Hamburg 1979.—: (1) Science of Knowledge. Tr. Peter Heath & John Lachs. Cambridge University Press 1982.—: (2) Wissenschaftslehre Nova Methodo. Tr. Daniel Breazeale under the title Foundations of Transcendental Philosophy. Cornell UP 1992.References are to the pagination of standard editions, which are reproduced in the translations. Quotations are from (1), if marked NM from (2).
Secondary texts on FichteAmeriks, Karl: Kant and the Fate of Autonomy. Cambridge University Press 2000.Copleston, Frederick: A History of Philosophy. Vol. II. Doubleday, New York 1994.Findlay, John N.: Hegel: A Re-examination. Allen & Unwin, London 1958.Pinkard, Terry: German Philosophy 1760-1860. Cambridge University Press 2002.Seidel, George: Fichte’s Wissenschaftslehre of 1794: A Commentary on Part I. Purdue University Press 1993.
On neurophysiology and related topicsCairns-Smith, Graham: Evolving the Mind. Cambridge University Press 1996.Churchland, Paul: Engine of Reason, Seat of the Soul. MIT Press, Massachusetts 1996.Cotterill, Rodney: Enchanted Looms. Cambridge University Press 1998.Damasio, Antonio: Descartes’ Error. Macmillan, London 1996.—: The Feeling of What Happens. Vintage, London 2000.Eccles, John: Evolution of the Brain: Creation of the Self. Routledge, London 1989.Edelman, Gerald: Neural Darwinism; Topobiology; The Remembered Present, all Basic Books, New York 1987-9.Godfrey-Smith, Peter: Complexity and the Function of Mind in Nature. Cambridge University Press 1998.Glynn, Ian: An Anatomy of Thought. Phoenix, London 1999.Hundert, Edward: Lessons from an Optical Illusion. Harvard University Press 1995.Popper, Karl & Eccles, John: The Self and its Brain. Springer Verlag, Berlin 1977.Stewart, Ian and Cohen, Leslie: Figments of Reality. Cambridge University Press 1997.Tulving, E.: Elements of Episodic Memory. Oxford University Press, New York 1983.
Impact of gender based violence
Impact of Gender-Based Violence
Student’s Name
Institution Affiliation
Evaluation of Pilot Study: “What is the Impact of Gender-Based Violence on women’s Abortion and Unwanted Pregnancy?” the impact of gender-based violence against women in the University of Durham, England on the individual health and well-being
Introduction
Gender-based violence is a violation of human rights that causes long-term effects on both the victims and the survivors. Humanitarian actors and human rights activists continually make efforts from the beginning of an emergency to respond and prevent acts of gender-based violence while providing adequate treatment, care, and support to the victims. This pilot study aims at exploring the impact of gender-based violence against women on their individual health and well-being in the University of Durham, England, in response to the growing attention towards such acts. This study focused on violence towards women since they are an easy target compared to men; women are culturally perceived as the weaker gender by society. Although men are subjects of gender-based violence, societal demands and subjugation of female rights make women easier target to rape, assault, and violence from the males who are considered of higher power and value culturally. This pilot study will go by Yount, Krause, and Miedema, (2017, p. 10) assumptions that gender-based violence is an occurrence that is rooted deeply in gender inequality and a significant violation of human rights in the society. This phenomenon is often directed against an individual on the basis of their gender. This study will use the words “violence against women” and “gender-based violence” interchangeably to mean acts of violence against women that are founded on power inequalities between men and women.
This pilot study is founded on the premise that gender-based acts are some of the most common forms of violence with adverse effects on the health and well-being of women and girls in various parts of the world. This act is often characterized by conflict, assault, forced displacement, the breakdown of the rule of law, and the collapse of a family, which results in increased frequency and brutality of such acts (Wirtz, Poteat, Malik, and Glass, 2018, p. 38). The desire to undertake this study has been driven by the increasing level of gender-based violence against women at the University of Durham in England. Woman are harassed and assaulted by their partners, by non-partners while others are abducted for forced marriages and rape. Gender-based violence is a violation of humanity and destructive vice to the growth and productivity of women in society.
Aims and Objectives
The study aims at ascertaining whether gender-based abuse on girls and women increases the likelihood of poor health and well-being of women at the University of Durham, England. The study tested individual forms of violation as well as compounded forms, although Kleve, Davidson, Booth, and Palermo (2017, p. 26) states that many forms of violence against women are inter-related. This pilot study aimed at exploring whether the findings made by Wirtz, Poteat, Malik, and Glass (2018, p. 79) that women in abusive relationships are likely to reencounter experiences of poor health, low confidence, and diminished self-esteem. The potential relationship between low fertility in women who experience assault and violence in the relationships warrants further studies.
Research Questions
The research questions that guided the study were based on individual experiences on gender-based violence (GBV) at the University of Durham on their health and well-being.
How do women express GBV at the University?
What is the impact of gender-based violence against women at the University of Durham, England?
What are the most effective strategies to end GBV?
Methodology Section
This pilot study adopted a cross-sectional study after review and approval by the faculty at the University. The researcher adopted a mixed-method approach on a sample size of 100 participants, whereby observation, ethnographic approaches, and in-depth interviews were used. The sample size was collected from students and seniors at the University who composed of girls and women between the ages of 18 years to 60 years.
Individual and group interviews were implemented to facilitate the faster acquisition of information. However, individual interviews were implemented more to promote the confidentiality of personal information and facilitate openness with the respondents. Formal and informal interviews were conducted on the participants to eliminate the restrictions associated with each methodology. The formal interviews lasted approximately 20 minutes, most of which adopted a semi-structured schedule. The results were recorded in a formal manner and transcribed verbatim (Peter, 2018, p. 5). Informal interviews were of greater significance in that the respondents were more flexible and open with their answers. The researcher carried out visits at the beach and nearby locations that deemed relaxing – such as rivers, trails, and parks – with a calming effect such on the respondent. According to Greener (2011, p. 27), the choice of interviewing location can have a significant impact on the respondent’s openness and comfort during the section. The researcher took advantage of observation of individual behaviour during the interview and how they reacted when sensitive topics such as violation were mentioned. Considering that some respondents were mean with information, the research made use of ethnographic research to improve the quality and quantity of data collected. This included the use of social media analytics, scrapbooks, online diaries, eye tracking, and discovery forums
The researcher adopted the use of interviews as opposed to focus groups on facilitating personal negotiation of gender violence and gaining personal views on how violence affected their behaviour. As Fletcher (2017, p. 190) explains, the use of focus groups would be less effective, considering the sensitivity of the topic, which could reduce the participation and response from the respondents. Besides, publicized answers on gender-based violence and its impact on abortion would cause decreased sensitivity of the topic by normalizing the acts stated in the discussion. Before the interview, the researcher sought consent from the respondents and explained the importance of the pilot study. Parental consent was obtained from parents and guardians of the participants of ages below 25 years. Older participants were informed of the importance of the research study to their well-being. Formal and informal interviews were adopted, whereby various questions on past experiences were embedded. The criteria employed in the interview study entailed partner violence, productivity, and their association with violence.
Results
During the pilot study, the interviewers remained blind to the information provided by the respondents until the end of the interviewing process. This was done in a bid to reduce the chances of researcher bias in the interview. The results obtained can be summarized in relation to the research questions adopted.
How do women express GBV at the University?
During the pilot study, the participants noted that violence against women was evidenced in the University, at workplaces, and in their homes. It was noted that although GBV is a common practice in amongst religions, cultures, and economic wealth, some groups such migrant women, LGBTs, and women from minority groups were considered as the most vulnerable. The most common form of violence against women at the University was between intimate partner. The respondents noted that there are high chances of violence against intimate partners which was categorized under psychological, sexual, and physical violence (Wirtz, Poteat, Malik, and Glass, 2018, p. 19). The violence had severe direct and indirect health consequences on their health and well-being. Women in the University noted that although intimate partner violence is constantly condemned at the facility, many people consider it a private matter and blame the cause of violence on the women. Passing the blame on women created stigma and facilitated discrimination which caused the girls and women to deter from seeking legal redress and medical services.
It was noted that violence against LGBTIs individuals was rampant due to high levels of discrimination and stigma. The respondents at the University noted that violence against LGBTI women was mainly categorized under hate crime, which resulted from victimization on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation (Ilika and Ilika, 2017, p. 17). Violence towards this group was based on the notion of threating the traditionally honoured norms of femininity and masculinity. Women in this category were often predisposed to what was deemed as “corrective rapes” including forced marriages and gang rapes. However, although the victims were affected, the reporting rate was diminished due to fear of secondary victimization that could facilitate delayed desire to seek healthcare, psychosocial support, and criminal justice services.
Trafficking of women at the institution was considered an act of violence against women. Women and girls trafficked from the University of Durham were often moved to foreign countries to increase the chances of exploitation (Baldwin, Brunsdon, Gaudoin, and Hirsch, 2018, p. 97). It was noted that the activity was a complex web in that the traffickers often worked in a global phenomenon to transport victims. A victim of trafficking at the University stated that women are often violated in various ways whereby some become prostitutes and participate in drug trafficking among other practices.
What is the impact of gender-based violence against women at the University of Durham, England?
From the interviews conducted at the facility, it was noted that violence against women threated family structures in that it caused children to suffer from emotional damage. Others reported being victims of gender violence in that they were forced into parental roles and struggle against negative social roles amidst increased levels of poverty. Most complained about psychological scars that impacted negatively on their performance and productivity at the University. This effect trickled down to their jobs and families, most of which were dysfunctional. The respondents noted that victims of abuse often accepted violence as a form of communication and conflict resolution, an aspect that caused the growth of the practice amongst the students. Violence against women affected their health and well-being and caused the development of illnesses, which were often related to depression and anxiety, among other mental disorders. It was also noted that violence against women affected reproductive health and productivity at the societal and individual level.
What are the most effective strategies to end GBV?
There was an overarching need to protect women and bring justice to survivors at the University of Durham. The respondents noted that in order to prevent GBV, the University should strengthen legal and policy frameworks while enhancing response services for the survivors. The management should support various programs and projects that are aligned with the priorities of partners to end GBV. Considering that GBV is founded on gender norms and gender-based inequalities, prevention strategies should be linked to efforts that increase gender equality. Through a discussion of women rights, a respondent noted that women should be provided with increased opportunities to participate in politics in order to influence the concerns of peace and conflicts at the facility. Women should be provided with equal opportunities with men at all levels of leadership at the University (Burt, 2019 P. 190). Efforts to enhance their economic empowerment and their bargaining power in order to leave an abusive relationship should be enhanced. It was noted that the University should support their employment opportunities and increase sexual and reproductive health rights.
Evaluation of the Research Methods Used
This part of the pilot study will evaluate the methods that were adopted. The researcher will present the advantages and disadvantages of the methods used, including the formal and informal interviews as an ethnographic observation.
Gender-based violence is a socially constructed vice that was founded from individual, societal, and organizational norms and perceptions about women. In order to understand the phenomenon, the researcher avoided the adoption of quantitative approaches that would limit the information collected. As an idealist who believes in improving relations amongst people, the researcher employed the use of in-depth methodologies which consisted of qualitative approaches. There was a need to understand the thoughts, concepts, and experiences while gathering in-depth insights on the topic of gender-based violence (Voloder, 2008, p. 30). This prerequisite made it exceedingly necessary to adopt a research method that dealt with words and meanings such as interviews, discourse analysis, and focus groups (Bazeley, 2018, p. 335). However, the use of focus groups was limited in order to increase the respondent’s openness and protect user information. Although people exist and thrive in the realist world that is messy and complicated, the researcher believes that the adoption of an idealist approach in life would reduce gender-based violence on women.
Critique of Methodologies
Advantages and disadvantages of methods
The researcher adopted an ethnographic study that combined qualitative interviews with the observation of respondents to obtain deep content that facilitates the understanding of the research topic. The use of ethnographic methodology is characterized by rich, meaningful data that is full of in-depth insights on the topic to facilitate further understanding (Davidson, Edwards, Jamieson, and Weller, 2019, p. 370). This methodology provided the researcher with a comprehensive perspective on the research topic in that she was able to observe behaviour in its natural environment. It provided the researcher with the ability to account for the complexity of various participant behaviours in a manner that revealed interrelationships amongst various dimensions of interactions. According to Greenhalgh et al., (2016), observation and field notes and observation coupled with interviews, provides great detail, which enabled one to reflect on the obtained data and insights.
However, although ethnographic research served the researcher the aspired aims and objectives, the results were mostly dependent on the interpretations and observations of the researcher. This methodology is prone to researcher bias, which is very difficult to eliminate. This methodology may lack transferability, and it is difficult to confirm the validity of the study concluded. Although this study provides in-depth insights, ethnography is time-consuming, and its accuracy is dependent on the researcher’s experience, beliefs, and preconceptions. O’Byrne (2007, p. 1390) warns that researchers who adopt the use of observation coupled with qualitative interviewing should be aware that their thoughts can influence their position in the field in a manner that affects the validity of presented information.
Without proper sample selection, it can be challenging for the researcher to find conclusive data (Meo, 2010, p. 160). The sample choice was based on student experiences and their exposure to issues that are associated with gender-based violence. The researcher approached students who seemed open on issues that dealt with women-oriented violence. The study was not involved in any form of rigorous sampling since the focus was on specific research context. Although the use of traditional research methodologies provided in-depth data, it was subject to preconceptions and familiarity that could prevent the researcher from identifying the normal practices associated with violence against women.
Difficulties Encountered
The researcher adopted ethnographic analysis which is a mixed-up approach that is based on a facilitative process. Although the investigator aimed at achieving a comprehensive description of the concepts, the perspective used in one method facilitated the understanding of the other procedure. This aspect had a challenging effect on the research in that, issues encountered in one method could trickle to the other procedures. The researcher realized that the search for scientific meticulousness impacted on this adopted approach negatively, which caused the diminishing of the importance of context, understanding, and depth. Although research by Freedman (2016, p.25) shows that mixed-approach affects understanding due to its intersubjective and interpersonal nature, the attempt to defame the approach is unfounded considering the findings made by the researcher to explore the participants. The researcher made a successful attempt to collect useful content to understand the reason behind the increasing level of gender violence at the University. However, the researcher experienced challenges with data collection, logistical issues, and the ability to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of the respondents. In the beginning, identifying and recruiting viable participants was difficult due to the familiarity and trust issues at the facility. Being a student at the institution, familiarity made it easy to access most victims, although their desire to provide information was curtailed by confidentiality issues. According to the respondents, it would be easier for the researcher to expose them since she was well connected and known in the institution. As a leader in the University, my position facilitated the feeling of unequal power relationship (Eisenach and Yaksh, 2016, p. 899) whereby the respondents felt pressured to provide answers that deemed of value to their image and reputation – an aspect that affected the quality and validity of the collected data. However, the researcher postulates that her familiarity and presence created safe grounds to build trust while providing safe grounds for the participants to feel protected.
Ethical Concerns
Ethical considerations are important aspects of every research procedure (Greener, 2011), whose importance cannot be negated. The researcher was aware of the need to promote anonymity, consent, safety, and researcher autonomy. At the beginning of the study, the researcher obtained informed consent by proxy from university management. Thereafter, consent was sought from the willing participants, most of whom were considered of the right age to make the most viable decision. The privacy of the respondents and informed consent are important ethical concerns (Greener, 2011) that must be promoted at all costs. Although it was difficult to obtain informed consent from all participants – particularly those whose observation was the main form of data collection – those who participated in the interview were informed of the importance of the task. Some of the participants were not aware that they were being observed which served as an ethical dilemma. The privacy of the participants was promoted in that personal information was numbered in a manner that protected their identity from the public (Baldwin, Brunsdon, Gaudoin, and Hirsch, 2018, p. 17). Considering gender-based violence is a rather sensitive topic, the safety of participants was promoted through utmost preservation of the collected data. Although the researcher encountered some challenges during the data collection procedure, the importance of ethical concerns was promoted.
Conclusion
The application of ethnographic research that combined qualitative interviews with participant observation was a justifiable methodology to undertake a pilot study on the topic titled, “the impact of the impact of gender-based violence against women in the University of Durham, England on the individual health and well-being.” The adopted research questions guided the research study, which facilitated the development of similar results from the methods and epistemic approaches. The researcher made a successful attempt to generate understanding and knowledge of the participant’s experiences on gender violence that was best suited to participant interviewing and observation. Ethnographic participant interviewing and observation was applied to produce insightful content on the topic. The researcher avoided the use of focus groups, a method that could have facilitated peer pressure and affected the ethical concerns of privacy and confidentiality of user information. Individual interviews and participant observation elicited the desired knowledge on the topic of gender-based violence against women at the institution. Although this ethnographic approach is often viewed as a non-scientific procedure that lacks the element of meticulousness, the researcher believes that the mixed approach of interviews and observation was the most effective method for the topic.
Total Words: 3153References
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IMPACT OF EUROPEAN EXPEDITION IN AMERICA
IMPACT OF EUROPEAN EXPEDITION IN AMERICA
Europeans in history have been recognized as explorers worldwide. America falls as one of the many parts of the world that the Europeans have traversed and made significant impacts.European nations came to the Americas to increase their wealth and broaden their influence over world affairs. The Spanish were among the first Europeans to navigate multiple seas to explore the New World and settle in the United States(America).
Christopher Columbus was an Italian who, In the late 1400s, having served in the Portuguese merchant navy and gaining valuable sea navigation experience on explorations he sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain where he sought funding for his voyage from the Spanish government. After Christopher Columbus had made a similar navigation proposal to the Portuguese government, who declined it, he moved forward to sought aid from the Spanish monarchs. The Spanish government agreed to fund his first voyage since the rulers believed that his success(Columbus) would make them one of the European premier powers.
The name America came from Americus Vespucius, the Latinized version of Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian explorer who mapped almost entire America’s east coast and the Caribbean Sea in the early 16th century. Baldwin & Grimaud(1992).
After this expedition, there was no doubt that the land existed north of Cuba and west of the Bahamas. The extent of the land in that direction was massive and remained “unoccupied” until the 1520s because the Spanish taskforce still drove Spanish exploration. A better understanding of the extent of North America developed rapidly after 1517. The question then became, how far to the north the land ran, and was there open water between it? Subsequently, one of the explorers obtained a contract for the exploration and the settlement for his discovery to attempt to conquer and colonize the newly-revealed North America. Clayton, Moore, & Knight (1995). The Europeans were good practitioners of the Christian religion. They, therefore, found it fit to spread it in places such as America. Immigration from Europe to what is now the United States was significant when an infusion of English, French and Dutch immigrants came into North America and became immigrants in a land where the Spanish had already established colonies and Conquered the indigenous populations as the majority. Immigrants from Europe also came to know America had better living conditions and Economic Opportunities. For example, there was a class of peasants and slaves who provided labor for their plantations. There was an Industrial Revolution taking place. America became a host for the growing population, making the Europeans try finding materials to meet the ever-increasing population demands and a new market for manufactured goods. By the mid-1620s, companies had started seeking permission from their respective governments to establish community groups of men interested in making their fortunes in the new world (America). However, the Europeans encountered problems coping with the new land demands, which offered few comforts to the person only interested in Treasure as most of the Europeans wanted to farm. The economic potential of tobacco attracted people interested in acquiring property and money. Virginia became a stop on the way to Inland areas, especially the area around New York. Virginia became a focal point for the economic transformation of the new land. English settlers established and the colonies in the eastern religion of North America.
With Europeans’ arrival in the Western Hemisphere, the immigrants exposed the Native American populations to new infectious diseases, diseases for which they lacked immunity. These infectious diseases, including smallpox and measles, devastated entire native populations. Since the Europeans brought in slaves from Africa, there was an intermingle that resorted to the language of race and red-black people’s evolution. Moreover, it resorted to a pest in the land, the New World epidemics from a global perspective. However, on a positive note, there was the evolution of industries due to the manufacture of tobacco and cotton, which was then the thriving farm produce.
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