Social Role Theory free essay sample

One of the many theories in history is social role theory suggested by both Orville Brim and Talcott Parsons (Newman and Newman, 2012). Both sociologists believed socialization and personality development was the result of participation (Newman and Newman, 2012) in social roles they had in life, and they defined those roles as behaviors that had a socially agreed upon function and accepted code of norms. One could say that behavior was influenced by social positions. Brim and Parsons idea of social of roles came from theatre, and they purported that individuals in society occupied similar social positions in life (Newman and Newman, 2012). People’s performance in these social roles or positions is determined by demands, rules, and the reactions of others in response to their roles. According to Brim and Parsons, social role theory has three elements (Newman and Newman, 2012) of concern that apply to social life. These include social roles, role enactment, and role expectations (Newman and Newman). Social roles are the roles we play in life such as employee, mother, or child. We may have many different roles in our lives, and, as we get older or our situations change, we may take on more. For example, when a married woman has a child, she then has the role of both wife and caretaker. If she later joins the workforce, she assumes the role of worker in addition to the roles she already has. She then acts or has a part in the play of worker, mother, and wife. The second element of social role is role enactment, which is the behavior that serves as the outcome of the role (Newman and Newman). With enactment being the conduct of the person’s role, the last element is role expectation which is the performance of the actor’s role. The actor must know or learn his or her obligations and duties. For example sixteen year old with a new driver’s license has the role of driver and the  responsibilities that come with it. As people enter into and modify each of their roles, they modify their behavior to conform to the expectations, and each role is linked to several reciprocal roles (Newman and Newman, 2012). For example, a parent and a child, a bully and a victim, or a doctor and a patient reciprocal roles. Each role is partly defined by the roles that support it and the function of the role by its surrounding role groups (Newman and Newman, 2012). Almost everyone balances multiple commitments to a spouse, children, job, parents, and friends (Newman and Newman, 2012). Once a person has decided on a position or positions in life, the demands of their roles may cause further restraints. This could result in role overload, role conflict, or role spillover (Newman and Newman, 2001). When the actor’s part has too many demands and there is not enough time allowed to meet them, it is known as overload. For example, employees may have to take on the extra work and meet the same deadline of an employee who left the company creating overload for everyone. When we find ourselves pulled in too many directions from the roles we play in life (expectations), it may create role conflict. It can also happen when we go from one role to many or are forced to make choices between them. Sometimes we have to compromise with our roles and it creates conflict because it doesn’t satisfy either one. For example, similar to conflict is spillover, which happens when one role prevents us from carrying out the demands of another role (Newman and Newman, 2012). Evaluation Role strain is similar to role conflict and is often defined as difficulty meeting roles or balancing competing role demands (Newman and Newman, 2012). Many of today’s single parents or working parents experience role strain. According to Scharlach (2001), todays employees are faced with greater work and family responsibilities than ever before. With most parents in the paid workforce, having children under the age of six difficulties can be experienced by working these parents as they attempt to balance competing demands of employment and childrearing (Scharlach, 2001). Additionally, more than 70% of working parents expressed stress as a result of conflict between their work and family roles (Scharlach, 200). Role strain happens when it is too hard to cope with work and family demands because of lack of resources.  Schedules and hours often fall into work related variables while division of household labor and time spent in caregiving fall into family variables (Lee, Vernon-Feagans, Vazquez, and Kolak, 2003). Research has shown that role strain is more likely to affect women in dual-earner families as women often shoulder more of the responsibilities of both the home and the family. Furthermore, this unequal division of labor increases the risk of spillover from one role to the other for women (Lee et al., 2003). Researchers interested in the roles of family have begun to look at the effects of parental role strain on child functioning. According to Lee et al. (2003), families with lower role conflict and more emotional expressiveness and organization have been found to function better. One of the major factors affecting the structure of family in recent years has been the increase in single parenting families, 90% of which are headed by women (Burden, 2001). In spite of increased employment opportunities for women, one issue still facing single mothers and their children today is poverty. Single females who balance the role of caregiver and worker experience a great deal of emotional difficulty (strain) as they only have themselves to rely on for a source of income. Single women who are parents often maintain their performance both at work and home at the expense of their physical and emotional well-being (Burden, 2001). Two Strengths and Weaknesses One strength of role theory is the idea that individuals take on roles as they move from one life stage to another. In a sense, if they are expected to fill certain roles in life, they will. For example, as a child reaches the age related to high school, they will take on the roles related to high school student and demonstrate relevant skills (Newman and Newman, 2012). Doing his homework on time, passing his courses, and maybe electing to participate in a sport or school club shows he understands his role. It can also happen in teams, organizations, and societies, if the company is using role theory to help employees succeed in a positive way. The power of role theory is recognizable and social roles provide consistency to life experience and prompts opportunities for new learning (Newman and Newman, 2012). Although the above mentioned can be positive, it’s worth mentioning  that role theory rests on the assumption that many people want affirmation and they seek this by conforming. People behave in a way that is expected, even if it is not what the individual wants. This can be the divorced parent, single parent, peacemaker, workaholic, responsible one, or victim. Newman and Newman (2012), also suggest that personal involvement in relationships contribute to ones formation of social identity. Individuals who are members of groups that suffer discrimination and injustice may make radical shifts in their lives in a desire to move to another system with a more rewarding role. Cul tural Competence Social role theory uses a structural approach rather than a cultural approach in that family, organizations, and communities have caused different behavior in men and women (Dulin, 2007). Perception is that roles are based on gender and stereotypical gender roles are forms by social norms that apply people of certain social positions (Dulin, 2007). In other words, society has shared expectations of women, and these expectations form gender roles for both women and men (Dulin, 2007). As a result, people tend to do what is expected of them or act in ways that the roles imply, resulting in a perpetuation of sex differences. Division of labor was the possible culprit that designated the differences between males and females inducing gender role expectations and sex-typed beliefs and behaviors (Dulin, 2007). However, as women progress in the work world, certain stereotypes are disappearing and or changing (Dulin, 2007). One limitation to sole role theory may be that it’s not as relevant to today’s culture as it may have been in the 1980’s (Dulin, 2007). With gender roles not being as pronounced or defined as 20 years ago social role theory does not appear culturally competent in today’s society. Social Policy Implication Throughout history social role theory has recognized a division of labor with women as caretakers at home and men assuming responsibilities outside the home. With increased single parenting in recent decades, primary implications for government policy relate to the situation of parent employees as a whole, females in particular, since they have responsibility of both family and job (Burden, 2001). Female single parents receive lower salaries, work longer hours at combined job and home responsibilities, and  experience greater job-family role strain and lower levels emotional well-being (Burden, 2001). With almost half the workforce now comprising women, policy needs to include incentives to lessen the inequality currently experienced by women in the workforce (Burden, 2001). Current policy has been based on traditional families of woman’s role of child bearer and man’s role as breadwinner. Therefore, policies need to address the demand and supply side of discrimination against women and single parents in the work place (Burden, 2001). Demand policies would include affirmative action, on the job training to increase mobility, and programs to provide support to parent employees. Supply policies would include childcare programs, employment and training programs, and enforcement of child support to improve economic status (Burden, 2001). Social Role Theory and Psychosocial Theory Though I see the importance of social role, I believe I would use psychosocial theory more in my career as a social worker. I can understand Brim and Talcott’s approach of people as actors with a part to play and having a script to follow (Newman and Newman, 2001). However, Erikson’s theory is clearer to me. With regard to human development, psychosocial development addresses growth across the life span, assumes individuals have the capacity to contribute to their own psychological development at each stage, and takes into consideration culture for individual growth (Newman and Newman, 2001). Erikson purports there are 8 stages of development, and if each stage is completed well Erickson suggests a new sense of mastery or competence in life. This does not mean, however, that a person cannot function if a stage or level has not been achieved or reached. This would be true in the case of single parents experiencing difficulty balancing numerous responsibilities. In future practice I would be sure to look at what stage of development the individual was in, or possibly reverting back to. Resolving psychosocial crisis and coping behaviors would be key elements in working with struggling single parent families.

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Karl Marx and the Communist Manifesto essays

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The Logic of Customer Satisfaction and Retention of Hilton Group Plc Research Paper

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The concept of literacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Recombinant Green Fluorescent Protein Purification

Recombinant Green Fluorescent Protein Purification A series of experiments were performed on the E.coli strain BL21 pLysS pRSETA-GFPUV in order to express and purify a recombinant form of Green Fluorescent Protein (rGFP) using Ni2+-Agarose chromatography based on the rGFP His6 tag properties. A rGFP crude extract (GCE) was collected and later purified resulting in 10 washes and 10 elutions. A Bradford assay was performed on the first 6 samples of the washes and elutions to determine activity via relative fluorescent units (RFUs). A sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-Page) followed to determine purity of the samples and a Western Blot verified the presence of rGFP. The sample with the highest activity was the E3 having 31,927 RFUs with an estimated purity of 10 percent and a molecular weight of 36 kDa. The estimated total yield of our protein is 2.07 ug. Introduction First discovered by Osamu Shimomura in 1961, the Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) was isolated and identified as a protein that fluoresce green light. When calcium binds to the photoprotein aequorin, in vitro aequorin produces blue light (1). However, in the original jelleyfish A. equorea victoria green light was produced. The green light produced was the result of a second protein GFP driving its excitation energy from aequorin (2). After purification, GFP is a protein of 238 amino acids absorbing blue light at 395 nm and emitting green light at nearly 509 nm (2, 3, 4). This chromophore is very stable towards multiple harsh conditions including extreme pH and heat (5). The Aequorea GFP also measures to be at 30 kDa monomer (6). Purifying rGFP required a unique way of identifying the protein without isolating other protein contaminants. This particular rGFP was tagged genetically to the N-terminal of the protein sequence. This tag is useful due to the unique property of the chromatography technique used. Using Ni2+ -agarose affinity chromatography, the histadine tagged rGFP binds to the Ni2+ , thereby attaching this particular protein to the column. Next, the rGFP is eluted from the Ni2+ -agarose column by running a competitor compound that has a higher affinity for the Ni2+ called imidazole. The His6 tag unbinds from the column allowing the rGFP protein to be collected for experimental purposes (7). The purpose of this experiment is to express and purify the E. coli strain BL21(DE3) using Ni2+ -agarose affinity chromatography followed by the SDS-PAGE and Western Blot procedures to estimate purity and confirmation of the protein. Materials and Methods Expression of rGFP and Preparation of the rGFP Crude Extract (GCE) The BL21(DE3) bacterial culture referred to as G was used to inoculate 10 ml liquid LB [100ug/ml Amp;25ug/ml Cam] growth media and grown overnight at 37 degrees celsius with vigorous shaking. OD600 of .1 of 500 ml of liquid LB growth media was achieved after a second inoculation was achieved with the culture grown overnight. The 500 ml culture was allowed to grow to OD600 reached .5 by vigorous shaking at 37 degrees celsius. The bacterial pellet was stored at -20 degrees celsius and labeled as G0 while 1 ml of the culture was pelleted in a centrifuge tube and induced with IPTG. At the time of induction the cultures relative time is zero. Three hours post induction, the culture was labeled G3, stored at -20 degrees celsius after the supernatant discarded. The same procedure was done to the G3-15 ml with the exception of pelleting 15 ml of the culture. Next, the culture was vortexed at 37 degrees celsius to lyse the bacteria. A 1 ml breaking buffer was added, solution vortexed, and placed in a 37 degrees celsius water bath. After the centrifugation the supernatant was decanted into a new tube labeled GCE representing rGFP crude extract. (8). Purification of rGFP using Ni2+-Agarose Affinity Chromatography A plastic syringe with a luer-lock was blocked by glass wool to hold in the Ni2+ Agarose matrix. The syringe was then secured vertically using a ring stand and filled with approximately 100ul of buffer followed by 2 ml to ensure the removal of air bubbles trapped in the system. A 50 % slurry of Ni2+-agarose was added to 500 ul buffer on top of the glass wool. The system is then opened to ensure packing of the agarose matrix towards the bottom. The final step in setting up the column is the pre-equilibration step which is the addition of breaking buffer to the column while the leur-lock is open until the ethanol is out of the system. After storing away 100 ul of GCE for future use, 1 ml of breaking buffer was added to the centrifuge tube. The GCE was transfered to the Ni2+ -agarose column. After a 10 minute period the luer-lock was opened and .5 ml effluent liquid was collected and labeled W1 followed by W2 until W10. Meanwhile washing the unbound proteins with 4 ml of breaking buffer. After the 10th wash was collected, the column was washed with an additional 5 ml of breaking buffer. A similar process was followed collecting elution 1 through 10 in 1.5 centrifuge tubes, however by adding the elution buffer containing imidazole. The elution buffer formula available in the solution manual (8). Estimating Protein Concentration of rGFP Determine protein amount using the Bradford assay requires a standard curve using known amount of Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA). The Bradford assay was performed on six known amounts of BSA (0, 2.5, 5,10, 15, and 20 ug). 50 ul of solution containing the BSA was added with 1 ml of Bradford reagent to a glass tube. The solution was mixed and incubated at room temperature for 10 minutes. 200 ul of the 6 assays were transferred to a microtiter dish to read the absorbance at 595 nm in a microplate reader. A standard curve was plotted (Absorbance Vs BSA amount) to determine the highest absorbance reading that can be extrapolated from this curve. The same procedure was done on the first six washes and six elutions in triplicate. (9). SDS-PAGE/Coomassie Blue Analysis procedure Two recipes were followed in order to make a resolving gel and a stacking gel. The 12 % resolving gel consists of water, 4x resolving buffer, 30 % Acylamide, 10% ammonium persulfate, and TEMED. This solution was poured between two glass plates until polymerization. The 5 % stacking gel consisted of water, 4x stacking buffer, 30 % Acrylamide, 10 % ammonium persulfate, and TEMED. The Stacking buffer was added on top of the resolving buffer followed by the addition of a toothed comb until polymerization. Afterwards, the samples G0, G3, GCE, W2, W3, E2, E3 were loaded into the gel. The loading of the samples was done after the plates were placed in the electrophoresis tank. The electrophoresis tank then ran for 45 minutes at 200 volts. (10). Preparation and Development of the Western Blot Using the 7 samples from the previous procedure, we add 2-Me (Beta-mercaptoethanol) to each sample and developed another gel. After electrophoresis, the gel was to be used as a part of a sandwich for the Western Blot. The sandwich consisted of (from the top) a clear cassette lid, sponge, filter paper, nitrocellulose, gel, filter paper, and sponge that laid against the black cassette lid. After an incubation period, the protein transferred from the gel to the nitrocellulose. Removing the nitrocellulose to a container, the Ponceau S stain was added for two minutes and rinsed several times with distilled water. This was done until red bands appeared. The molecular weight ladder was marked with pencil for further review. Next a blocking step followed where the nitrocellulose membrane was placed in a Tupperware with 30 ml of 5% non-fat dry milk/TBS solution. The Tupperware was placed on a shaking platform for 30 minutes. Afterwards, the blocking solution was discarded and a washing step compromising of 30ml of .05% Tween 20/TBS solution was added. The Tupperware was placed on a shaking platform for 5 minutes. This process was repeated two more times. Following the washing step a primary probing step was performed by adding 7 ml of mouse IgG anti-Xpress epitope MAb solution and incubated on a shaking platform for 45 minutes. Another washing step followed using 30 ml of .05% Tween 20/TBS and repeated two more times. 7 ml of Sheep IgG anti-mouse IgG conjugated horse radish peroxidase polyclonal anti-serum solution was added in a secondary probing step that lasted 45 minutes on a shaking platform. The same washing step previous done followed and repeated two times. Finally, the final wash step with 30 ml of TBS was performed on a shaking platform for 5 minutes. For the final step, 7 ml of TMB substrate solution was added to the membrane until band color intensity was achieved. Then the membrane was moved into a Tupperware container filled with water to stop the development. The nitrocellulose membrane was then dried and results recorded. (11). Results The bacterial expression system of rGFP is presented in Figure 1. The Lac repressor is made from Lac1 of the bacterial chromosome. The lac repressor blocks the t7 RNA polymerase but after inducing it with IPTG, the Lac repressor itself will be blocked. Hence, T7 RNA polymerase will start being abundant and be the promoter to the expression for the His6-Xpress-GFPuv thereby resulting in rGFP (7). For a better understanding of rGFP a schematic diagram is provided in Figure 2. The elution of interest was E3 which had 31,927, the highest relative fluorescent units. We also see that from the combined elution profile in Figure 3 which displays the RFU for the first six washes and elutions. The samples were then run through a Bradford assay. The E3 sample had a 20.7 +/- 12.45 ug total amount of protein. The specific activity was 342,995 RFU/mg. The SDS-PAGE gel (Figure 4) presented the molecular weight of E3 standing at 36 kDa. We determined that using the ladder provided. The results gathered was off by 3 kDa from the verified experimental value of the rGFP. From the relative color density, it was determined that the rGFP band retains 10 % purity which resulted in a calculated yeild of 2.07 ug. Figure 5 presents the Western Blot assay which was used to verify the presence of rGFP. E3 and E2 showed a stronger color while G0 as expected did not show a band due to lack of rGFP. The washes also show a faint color. We have confirmed the presence of rGFP by comapring the E3 band to the ladder which approximates 36 kDa. Conclusion/Discussion The confirmation of rGFP was obtained though proceeding with a Western blot analysis. The experiments that were performed beforehand gave a good understanding of how rGFP was induced, expressed, and purified. To recap, Ni2+-agarose affinity chromatography was used to isolate our protein through the unique property having affinity to the His6 tag in the rGFP. Followed by the Bradford assay we estimated how much protein the samples contained. The SDS-PAGe gel gave us an estimation of the molecular weight and purity of the samples which was paramount in the bigger picture of identifying the protein. Even though the purity gained was very low, we proceeded and developed a Western Blot which confirmed the presence of rGFP through band intensities. Since the GFP protein is very robust to pH and temperature, one can transfect or transcribe this gene into other living bacteria or even human cells to possibly see movement. One follow up experiment would to do just that, seeing if we can insert the rGFP into cancer cells or enzymes like insulin for further studies. We already know that GFP changes color based on the excitation energy which might be altered to produce different colors. This can be used to study two systems or their interactions or lack of interaction. We can study the energy consumption of different bacteria and learn which colonies survive longer. We can apply this method in cancer research and find out how cancer fast certain cancers grow by studying the relative fluorescence given off. The impact of this finding may be similar to the impact of creating spectacles (glasses) that allowed millions to see clearly. This protein offers that unique new ability to visually track things we could not have tracked as easily. References O. Shimomura, F. H. Johnson, Y. Saiga. J. Cell. Comp. Physiol. 59, 223 (1962). J. G. Morin and J. W. Hastings, J. Cell Physiol. 77, 313 (1971); H. Morise, O. Shimomura, F. H. Johnson, J. Winant, Biochemistry 13, 2656 (1974). D. C. Prasher, V. K. Eckenrode, W. W. Ward, F. G. Prendergast, M. J. Cormier, Gene 111, 229 (1992) . W. W. Ward, C. W. Cody, R. C. Hart, M. J. Cormier, Photochem. Photobiol. 31, 611 (1980). Ward, W.W. and Bokman, S.H.: Reversible denaturation of Aequorea green-fluorescent protein: physical separation and characterization of the renatured protein. Biochemistry 21 (1982) 4535-4550. Prendergast, F.G. and Mann, K.G.: Chemical and physical properties of aequorin and the green-fluorescent protein isolated from Aequorea forskalea. Biochemistry 17 (1978) 3448-3453. R. Scott, and E. Picket. Biochemistry Laboratory Manual. United States. (2012). R. Scott, and E. Picket. Biochemistry Laboratory Manual. United States. 84-88 (2012). R. Scott, and E. Picket. Biochemistry Laboratory Manual. United States. 99-100 (2012). R. Scott, and E. Picket. Biochemistry Laboratory Manual. United States. 125-126 (2012). R. Scott, and E. Picket. Biochemistry Laboratory Manual. United States. 139-140 (2012). R. Scott, and E. Picket. Biochemistry Laboratory Manual. United States. (2012). R. Scott, and E. Picket. Biochemistry Laboratory Manual. United States. (2012). citations: Primary stucture of the aequorea victoria GRP Douglas prasher, virginia eckenrode-229-223 1992 GFP as a marker for gene expression martin chalfie, vuan tu vol 263, feb 1994 Wavelength mutations and post translational autoxidation of GFP vol 91, pp. 12501-1250 dec 1994

Performance Support Systems Essay -- Technology Support System Essays

Performance Support Systems Abstract The purpose of my paper is to discuss Performance Support Systems, the reason why some people fear them, concerns surrounding them, and why there is a growing trend for their use and their redefinement. Performance Support Systems Defined Electronic Performance Support Systems otherwise known as EPSS were born in the early 1990s by Gloria Gery, who was described as an educational software guru by Phillip Longman in his journal article, The Janitor Stole My Job. A distinguishing feature of EPSS is its ability to automate many job-related cognitive skills and to give immediate instructions to assist users in decision-making processes, which still require human judgment. These are computer-based systems which provide access to coaching, learning experiences, or tools to enable a user to facilitate tasks with a minimum of support from others (Benson, 1997, p.1). To put it bluntly, EPSS is a computer application that is task-specific, offering on-demand assistance to users (Stevens, 1996, p.1). In reviewing the various definitions of EPSS, I read that Performance Support Systems or PSS are frequently referred to as Electronic Performance Support Systems, as was indicated in my above definitions. However, according to Dr. Steve Harmon in his article, The Second S, the addition of the word electronic narrows the definition of Performance Support Systems to one specific area based solely on computers and the internet. While this technology is indeed integral to today’s performance support, I believe his point is that we should not forget that the word "system" is more representative of the topic than "electronic" (Harmon, 1999, p.1). Immediately, the controversy is apparent. Peopl... ...rform steps in the most natural way for them. References The following are articles taken off the web in Galileo. The reference list for each does not match the page numbers referenced in the paper. Benson, George. (1997). A new look at EPSS. Training & Development: Vol. 51 (pp. 48-49). Desmarais, Michel C; Leclair, Richard; Fiset, Jean-Yves; Talbi, Hichem. (1997). Cost-justifying electronic performance support systems. Communications of the ACM: Vol. 40 (pp. 39-48). Harmon, Steve. (1999). The Second "S"- Putting the system back in performance support. http://itech1.coe.uga.edu/itforum/paper36/paper36.html (pp. 1-5). Longman, Phillip J. (1997). The janitor stole my job. US News & World Report: Vol. 123 (pp. 50-52). Marquardt, Michael J. (1996). Cyberlearning: New possibilities for HRD. Training & Development: Vol. 50 (pp. 56-57).