Monday, September 9, 2019

Rasputin

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It has been eighty years since the fatal day of 116, when Rasputins body was found bobbing in the icy cold river of St Petersburg. To this day his name nonetheless lives on in books, movies and even rock songs. The life of Rasputin is one that can be told by many historians in many different languages, and still have the same electrifying effect, that it did on the day St Petersburg woke up to hear that a healer had walked into town. However, his name has been looked upon negatively, as majority of historians conclude that it is he who was the cause for the demise of the Romanov family, hence being one of the various causes to the 117 Russian revolution1. These accusations that have been lodged on Rasputin is to an enormous amount, the imperfection of the sources that have been distributed after the 117 revolution, sources that have been interpreted incorrectly, altered to suit the historians agenda and causing bias. Hence, with these and with the help of biased memoirs by Duke and Duchess, historians have over the past eighty years been convinced that theyve painted an objective picture of Rasputin; one that is free of all interpretations, and opinionated judgements. Therefore to what extent Rasputin is at fault for the demise of the Romanov family is vastly questionable. And as to why he is tended to be held accountable is due to the unreliable sources that have been used over, and over, and over again by historians throughout time. Thus the historians past account, regarding Rasputin should be looked upon with great caution, as the tale of Rasputin has been for so long barren of any objective truth.


Sources are most obviously the main basis of knowledge for historians to be able to access evidence of the past. Thus it is safe to say that sources are the foundation of history; without them wed have no past. After the 117 revolution, the Provisional Government took over the rule of the Tsar. The government started an investigation on March the fourth 117 called the Extraordinary Commission. This investigation was established to interrogate the peoples that were involved in any way with the Tsarist regime. Derived from the Extraordinary Commission was the Thirteenth Section, which was established especially for the dark forces that surrounded the Russian throne, with Rasputin being the main persona emphasised. All individuals that knew him or had any contact with him were interrogated. On that same year the Bolshevik seized power over the Provisional Government and put a stop to the interrogations, they however later only published selected documents from the Thirteenth Section, documents that suited their own agenda. The Extraordinary Commission also endeavoured to recollect information from Rasputins earlier life. They interrogated his fellow villagers, yet much of the document and information collected were destroyed. Today scarcely few fragmentary documents are left to establish Rasputins earlier life, thus most of it is merely speculation. Furthermore, upon these sources where the memoirs written mostly by Duke and Duchess who had fled the Bolshevik coup on October 117; they based their writing upon personal reflection of their times in the Russian court. Therefore historians and authors alike have throughout the nineteenth Century drawn up conclusions using these varied sources, thus after eighty years of research this is thus far the result...


Rasputin was born on the 10th of January 1861 under the name on Grigory Efmovich in the little town of Pokrovskoe, situated in Siberia. He grew to be a skinny, unattractive boy, yet had eyes that dazzled all who glared upon them. His fellow villagers later testified of Rasputin sinful youth, which was spent drinking, womanising and stealing. His youth was spent in the local pub drinking away the loneliness that farming life brought, Rasputin himself later stated I was dissatisfied, there was much I found no answer to, and I turned to drink4. Hence he gained the name Rasputin5, which stayed with him until the day he died. Thus his sinful youth made it attractive and trouble-free for the Bolsheviks to use him as a propaganda tool, while the Dukes and Duchess without difficulty placed the demise of the Romanov family on him. This accusation, which was placed upon him, thus carried through other historical texts.


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These documents on Rasputin thus continue to reveal that he married at the age of twenty-eight to Praskovia Fyodorovna, who was both strong and well built, which is what a wife in Siberia, was chosen for6. Simultaneously, at the age of twenty-eight Rasputin had a life and spiritual transformation, until I was twenty-eight, I lived, as people say, in the world; I was with the world, that is, I loved what was in the world7. His spiritual change befell upon him, when he picked up a priest by the name of Melety Zborovsky on one of his daily journeys down the main highway of


Pokrovskoe1. With him Rasputin engaged in a conversation on god, which changed him almost instantly. Rasputin had longed for such a conversation and after this event in his life, he under went drastic change, he spent much of his time wandering from monastery to monastery yarning for knowledge of god. He returned to his village a changed man. He ceased drinking and smoking, ceased eating meat and sweets. He supposedly started to develop visions, vision that told him to go wander, he thus acted upon the visions and he became a starets. As a result of these wondering, Rasputin truly learnt to penetrated the deepest secrets of the soul of the Russian people, and absorbed the real feeling, thoughts and wishes of the peasantry4. However as mentioned before, the evidence we comprise on Rasputins earlier life is questionable, as they were details written by Rasputin himself, of his wonderings, toward astounding the Tsarina, thus it is more than likely that he may have exaggerated a few details, comparable to when he repetitively changed his age, the rest of his early life is merely speculation.


The legends and conjectures finally come to an end in the capital (St Petersburg). Now begins the story of Rasputin that is corroborated by documents and the testimony of witnesses5. These documents have thus contributed to the reasons as to why the tale of Rasputin has for over eighty years been barren of any objective truth. The Provisional Government, during their interrogation in the Thirteenth Section accumulated hundreds of pages of testimonies regarding Rasputin and his influences on the duration of the Tsars throne. The Thirteenth Section gathered crucial testimonies of Rasputins dealings in St Petersburg, from those that were in his intimate circle, and those that were not. However when the Bolshevik took power in the October of 117, they halted all works of the Extraordinary Commission and the Thirteenth Section. Yet, in 17 to mark their tenth year anniversary the Bolsheviks published a quantity of the interrogations, which theyd closed off in 117. Furthermore at this stage of time the Bolsheviks were losing influence of their power, the people of Russia were becoming increasingly intolerant of their living conditions; they had been promised an end to peasantry, yet they were, in spite of everything, still living like peasants. Thus, to sustain their political power, the Bolsheviks in 17; out of the hundred pages of testimonies published, from the Thirteenth Section, a pitiful seven-volume magazine6 entitled Proceedings of the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry, which consisted of interrogations, of various important


ministers1 in the Tsars regime; was published. The Bolsheviks were trying to elevate the spirit of revolution; hence they used Rasputin as a tool to do so. The Tsars ministers were interrogated on Rasputin and his connections with the Tsar, and fondly enough all the ministers accused Rasputin of all sorts of dubious accusations. It was thus, unproblematic for the Bolsheviks to use Rasputin as their own political tool for stabilising their power. The Bolsheviks therefore derived from the Thirteenth Section, interrogations that suited their own agenda, in other words they misused the sources and thus conjectured together a seven-volume magazine, which offered a false, subjective and engineered account of Rasputin and his influences on the Romanov family. Furthermore, the long-term ramifications this had on Rasputin was catastrophic, for it was these published sources that were for many years the chief documentary basis for all the books written about Rasputin.


Moreover Russian historian Edvard Radzinsky4 made a discovery that further exemplified the exploitation of sources in regard to Rasputin and his influence on the demise of the Romanov family. When in 164 the journal, Issues of History was published, it had eager historian lining up to read it, for laid inside the journal was the Resolution5. In brief words, the Resolution was an outline of the Thirteenth Sections efforts to explain Rasputins role in the Tsarist regime. It was the head of the Thirteenth Section, F.P Simpson that had written the Resolution. Radzinsky after reading it explains how Simpson quotes testimonies of peoples who were not mentioned in the Proceedings of the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry (were he obtained his information), yet were most definitely linked with Rasputins most intimate circle6. Radzinsky writes, naturally I... started looking for that testimony in the Proceedings published by Schyogolev. And naturally I failed to find there7. Radzinsky was not able to find these testimonies in the Proceedings of the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry, as the only testimonies that resided in the Proceedings were the testimony of biased men who despised Rasputin. Schyogolev did not consent to the publication of the testimonies of persons that were involved in Rasputins intimate circle, persons who worshipped Rasputin, whod spent nearly all their time around him; persons in other words who liked Rasputin. Too Radzinsky however, these two documents, the Proceedings and the Resolution, did not embody the whole truth as, nearly all hundred pages of the testimonies in the Thirteenth Section were so readily neglected1. Thus, much like Schyogolev, Simpson tried to elude using these equally important testimonies. Therefore the Resolution, which is labelled a reliable source, is also concealed with biased selection methods, as Simpson used testimonies that collaborated only with his own explanations. Hence, once again these biased and opinionated sources have had server implications on the history of Rasputin and further installing the perception that Raspuitn was to blame for the demise of Romanov family. It must be noted that Radzinsky after 164 went in search of the files of the testimonies of men and women who knew Rasputin extremely well. He knew that these Files perhaps had the solution to the riddle; there, perhaps, was hidden the authentic portrait of that mysterious person (Raspuitn).


Although by the 10s this Bolsheviks wave of denigrating the Tsarist regime through Rasputin, faded; the denigration of Rasputin did not however stop. Further source thus continued to place the blame of the demise of the Romanovs on Rasputin. These sources are memoirs that have been written by the Dukes and Duchess of the once Russian court. More then often they have written about Rasputin and there influences on the Tsar, thus receiving a sense of excitement in their writing. Moreover these Dukes and Duchess that wrote about Rasputin had not met him, they only knew him through word of mouth. Such memoirs included, One Year at the Russian Court, which was written by Renee Elton Macid, who has dedicated a whole chapter on Rasputin and his influences, yet she herself has never met Rasputin. Another of these famous memoirs were of Maria Rasputins book My Father. This book as been rejected by historians, as it is extremely biased. However it is Prince Felix Yusupovs4 book, Rasputin His Malignant Influence and Assassination-17, is without a doubt the most famous of these three sources. For it is Felixs book that describes in detail his death and how it was planned5. Off course much that was testified in the book was fabricated, as Felix wanted to make sure that Rasputin was represented as the devil himself in man flesh. He stated in his book It should be remembered that we were dealing with an extraordinary person1. Felix was simply able to lie about the poison and the gun shoots, to prove his theory, to justify his actions. Thus like the sources mentioned earlier, all have subjectively select pieces of evidence that support their theories and scrape the rest, Felix has done the same thing. Therefore the memoirs, like the testimonies and the files, have all thus so far been sources that have remain tainted and misused. Therefore, to date, all sources that we hold on Rasputin, are plainly biased, thus all that has been claimed for the past eighty years is questionable.


Thus to what extent is the demise of the Romanov family the fault of Rasputin? For eighty years Rasputins name has been placed down in history, as the sole reason for not only for the fall of the Romanov family, but also the collapse of Imperial Russia. Russia was, with or with out Rasputin, in turmoil by the turn of the Century. Thus, Russia was already in such an asserted position of collapse, that when Rasputin came into the picture it made but a little difference. If anything Rasputin wanted and tried to prevent such an end by advising the Tsar of his wrong decision-making, as Rasputin truly knew the wishes of the peasants4. He was not heeded and thus Russia was on its way to destruction whether she wanted or not. Yet Rasputin did have an affect, out of no choice of his own. Quite simply his presence in the Russian court degraded the image of Romanovs, as the majority of the public could not understand why such a man, who drunk endlessly, and slept with countless women had the authority to be in the Russian court. It thus lessened the support of the Romanov family5, and inflated the revulsion for Rasputin. It was thus Rasputins image and weakness that made it less problematic for historians to place the fault upon his shoulders, rather than placing it upon the backwardness of the former Russian Empire.


As to why historians condemn Rasputin for the fall of Imperial Russia is relatively simply; sources. For the former part of the nineteenth Century, historians did not regard sources as anything except perfect. The belief being that source has permanently and will continue to maintain absolute truth. There were no historians such as Burke, Vincent or Jenkins, who would instantly point the imperfections on the countless sources regarding Rasputin, who would denounce them to be biased and most likely engineered; for this was truly the case. After the 117 revolution the Bolsheviks did indeed release sources that were only fit for their own purpose and agenda and the rest were regarded as junk. Thus the Bolsheviks were able to remove the idea of a heteroglossia view of history1 from Rasputins sources. Historians have to learn that their actions have serious ramifications, and that one wrong move or judgement could change the image of a man for eternity. And thus it can never we fixed. It is the responsibility of the historian to ensure that their interpretations, their accounts, and very single word that they write is accurate as it affects another individuals perception; hence they must make absolute confirmation, that the concepts they record, do not have an connotations within them, that may misled the train of thought of their reader. Rasputins sources have most definitely fallen short of such awareness and unfortunately are unrecoverable.


Rasputin is condemned as the man who brought the demise of the Romanov family because historians were easily blinded by the sources from which they had. Thus they were to blind to see what was so plainly in front of them. Being that Rasputin could easily have been at the wrong place at the wrong time. Or that it could equally be the fault of Alexandra Feodorovna that brought about the demise of her own family4. She kept quite about her sons5 haemophilia, thus never giving the public a reason as to why the peasant Rasputin was associated with the royal family. Thus the public were only left to speculate as to why. Therefore, since the sources on Rasputin only emphasised his crude nature, historian thus never saw past this screen of biasness. It thus tainted Rasputins image, his persona throughout history. To give an example as to how far these sources have misguided not only historians but also the publics perception of Rasputin is Boney Ms6 song, Rasputin. This is a completely inaccurate story of Rasputins tale, yet sums up what the sources on Rasputin accomplished. The song was about Rasputin and his times in St Petersburg, Ra -Ra Rasputin lover of the Russian Queen... Further on But when his drinking, and lusting and his hungry for power become known to more and more people, the demands to do something about this outrageous man became louder and louder... they put some poison into his wine...he drunk it all and said of fine... ....


Rasputin overall has perplexed many historians for many years and is understandable going to continue on perplexing them for many years to come. Rasputin made a substantial contribution to the fall of the dynasty, by alienating persons who could have advised the Tsar and Tsarina better...he involved the imperial couple with persons they should have steered clear of...yet most of his misdeeds were no more than errors of judgement, and much of his so -called influence was based upon bluff1. Thus to entirely accuse Rasputin for the demise of the last Romanov family is ludicrous, as much of his influence have been exploited and exaggerated by the sources ...


1 The 117 revolution was the end for the last ruling autocrat of Russia. In 117 Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicated his throne, ending the 00-year reign of the Romanov family name. From 117 onwards Russia was no longer run under one ruler. These were turmoil times, until the Bolsheviks communists took control on October of that same year. They ruled until 11 when the communist party was over thrown.


The Provisional government were the men who took over the rule of the Tsar Nicholas and handled all affairs after Nicholas abdicated his throne. They gained total control of all of Russia. It was a government rule not an autocrat.


Tsar is the Russian term for king Tsarina stands for Queen. The last of Tsar of Russia was Nicholas II.


1 Before Edvard Radzinsky brought the secret files on Rasputin to light, the date of Rasputins birth had remained a mystery for eighty years. Radzinsky discovered in the files he found in Tyumen archives that Rasputin was born on the 10th of January 186. Before this historians put the year of his date as 186, 1864, 1865 or 187. Radzinsky believes that this confusion of Rasputins date of birth was much his own doing, Rasputins own efforts are responsible for the confusion about his birth date. (Rasputin the last word- 000, p.5) By his date of birth it is clear that Rasputin would be too young to be the elder that the Tsarina claimed him to be, thus Rasputin, out of shame, would deliberately alter his birth date.


Pokrovskoe lies in the western part of Siberia, near the river Toura, it is not far from the rural mountains. It is sixteen miles away from St. Petersburg. Alex De Jonge describes Siberia as Russias Wild West. He then describes Pokrovskoe to be a normal if not livelier town, with several streets of spacious wooden houses of one or sometimes two stories... (The life and times of Grigorii Rasputin- 18, p.) Some have dammed the town due to Rasputins association with it, calling it a dump, remote and wild, among other things. It was the town that the Tsar and Tsarina would later visit after Rasputins death.


It was Rasputins eyes that attracted most individuals to him. Many have claimed that he hypnotised many, using his eyes. Robert Massie claims, Friends and enemies alike described their powers His eyes were without a doubt his most remarkable feature. Iliodor, one who loathed Rasputin described his eyes as his steely grey eyes, deep set under their bushy eyebrows, which almost sank into pinpoints Edvard Radzinsky states his eyes... attract even in the photographs (Robert K Massie Nicholas And Alexandra-167, p.180)


4 Edvard Radzinsky Rasputin, The last word- 000, p.7. It has been taken from the New times, who did an article on Rasputin. Interviewed by M. Menshikov


5 Rasputin comes from the Russian word Rasputa meaning immoral, good for nothing person, a dissolute. Later on the Tsarina made countless attempts to change his name to a more respectable level, she never succeeded.


6 Praskovia was an excellent wife. She was a hard worker and bore Rasputin three sons and two daughters. She was two years older than Rasputin and was born in the neighbouring town of Dubrovnoye. She supported Rasputin later on, when he claimed to have had spiritual visions.


7 Edvard Radzinsky Rasputin, The last word- 000. It is this part of Rasputins earlier life that was so well recorded. He would talk of spiritual change endlessly to the Tsarina and shed kept transcriptions of these stories, which was titled The life of an experienced wanderer. Edvard Radzinsky warns we shall keep in mind he said what his royal admires wanted to hear... (p. 4)


1 Rasputins daily journey down the main highway was his daily job. Hed use his fathers cart to carry passengers up and down the highway.


These visions that visited Rasputin were that of the Mother of God. Edvard Radzinsky states in his book Rasputin; the last word that Rasputin claimed to have had a vision, Once I spent the night in a room where there was an icon of the Mother of God. And I woke up in the middle of the night and saw that the icon was weeping Grigory, I am weeping for the sins of mankind. Go, wander, and cleanse the people of their sins. (Rasputin the last word- 000, p.0)


A starets is the Russian term for a holy wonder. A starets was a well-respected figure in the Russian society, and they were regarded more higher than priests because a starets would actually sacrifice the luxuries of daily life to wonder the lands of Russia preaching the word of God and listening to the peasants worries. They are usually old men and have been wondering the lands ever since the reign of Peter the Great. Yet interestingly enough Alex De Jonge does do believe Rasputin to be a starets, Clearly Rasputin was no starets; he could not possibly be. To be a proper starets he would have to have been a monk... (The life and times of Grigorii Rasputin-18, p.75) Rasputin on the other hand was no monk. However he did follow the ways of the old starets, and like them he too wondered place to place. But to label him a starets is still questionable.


4 Rene Fulop-Miller Rasputin the holy devil- 17, p.?


5 Edvard Radzinsky Rasputin, The last word- 000, p. 47


6 The magazine, in which these interrogations were published, was called Time Past. P. Schyogolev, who used to be a loyal member of the Extraordinary Commission from which he turned his back on, in the 117 revolution, established the magazine. He was an immensely crude persona and more than often rumours spread around Russia that more than likely involved him.


1 The Tsars ministers were men who belonged to the Duma. The ministers often gave advice the to Tsar, and during Nicholass reign much of their advice was not heeded. The ministers spent endless hours in the Winter Palace, helping the Tsar with his duties of running the country. Thus the minister would have probably noticed Rasputin wondering around in the shadows, and some would have even met him. The majority of the Tsars ministers despised Rasputin and his way of speech and manners. The Prime minister Stolypin was one of these men. He warned Nicholas on more than one occasion of Rasputin evil ways, yet Nicholas payed no attention. Further still, the ministers opinions on Rasputin was moreover tarnished by WWI, when Nicholas went to the front, leaving Alexandra, or as some ministers have suggested Rasputin, in charge of the affairs within Russia, many of which were fired. Thus when the surviving few testified for the Thirteenth Section they were not afraid to hold back on their feelings of Rasputin, and bad mouthed him at every hance possible.


The many accusation that Rasputin was charged for have not all been proven, yet it is not say it was not factual. The biggest accusation placed upon Raspuitns name was his apparent association with the Khlysty, which is the Russian term for whip. There is not enough evidence that we know about the Khlystys, thus much of our knowledge is speculation. In brief the Khlysty believe that any man could be united with God, they believe sin was the only approach of uniting with God, because without sinning there is no repentance and without repentance there is no redemption, this doubtful view of morals led them to all manner of extremely grave sexual excesses which over and over again brought them into conflict with the authorities of both churches and state (Brian Moynahan Rasputin the saint who sinned - 17. This was a statement from the police who were investigating Rasputin, Okhrana. P.7). The tag of the Khlysty never left Rasputin.


Edvard Radzinsky Rasputin The last word-000 p. 7


4 Edvard Radzinsky is one of Russia most recognisable playwrights. Radzinsky is a very well trained historian who has written exceptionally academic books on Russian History. His best seller was his book Nicholas II, the Last Tsar. Also in 000, he published his book, Rasputin The last word. This is also an amazing book on the life and times of Rasputin.


5 Full name is Resolution of the Investigator F. Simpson of the Extraordinary Commission Regarding the Activity of Rasputin and his Close Associates and their Influence over Nicholas II in the Area of State Governance


6 An example of on eof the members of Rasputins intimate circle includes, Maria Golovina who was one of Rasputins most devoted followers.


7 Edvard Radzinsky Rasputin The last word-000 p.


1 As to why he couldnt see this as the whole truth is because he knew of the deep dissension within the Commission...Vladimir Rudnev had resigned in protest... In August 117, I submitted a request to be released from my duties in view of the attempts of the President of the Commission, Muravyov, to incite me to patently biased actions.(V. Rudnev). Edvard Radzinsky, Rasputin The last word-000, p.8


Edvard Radzinsky Rasputin, The last word- 000, p.


Maria Rasputin was Rasputins second daughter. After her fathers death she published a small pamphlet entitled My Father. It was her attempt at trying to clear her fathers name from the accusations, which have been placed upon him after his death. However Marias book was drowned against all the countless numbers of books, which were published on Rasputin, by historians who placed him responsible for the demise of the Romanovs. Maria tried her hardest to try and clear her fathers name, yet her attempts went unnoticed.


4 Felix Yusupov family, by the end of 114 had become the richest family in the whole of Russia; they owned thousands of hectares of land, all around Russia. He ended up marrying the beautiful Grand Duchess Irina.


5 Felixs describes in detail every bit of his account of what took place on the night of Rasputins murder, on the 16h of December 116. Felix had for a long while been planning to kill Rasputin, in order to save the monarchy. He thus planned to Felix invited Rasputin over to his palace to visit his wife. Prior to his arrival Felix had prepared poisoned sweets and wine for Rasputin. Upon his arrival he was taken straight to the cellar were all the foods were placed. Rasputin was offered sweets, which he refused to eat, as he did not like them. He however drank the whole bottle of poisoned wine, which did not affect him in anyway. Felix ran upstairs, retrieved a gun, came back down and shot Rasputin twice. Rasputin still was not dead, yet he was badly injured Felix stuffed him in a bag and tossed him into the nearby river. His body was found the next day. Once again this is only his account, thus it cannot be fully reliable.


1 Edvard Radzinsky Rasputin The Last Word-000 p.47. Actual quote is derived from Rasputin His Malignant Influence and Assassinations-17


Edvard Radzinsky claims that Felix exaggerated the amount of poison that was placed inside the food and the amount of sweets and wine Rasputin really drank. Radzinsky says and so, Rasputin never did eat the sweets. And he evidently didnt drink much, either (Rasputin The Last Word-000 p.478)


Russia was facing hardship by the turn of the nineteenth Century. Europe had already gone through its industrial revolution; Russia was still every much old fashioned and out of date. For example Russia only demolished serfdom in 1861. She had more people than she could carry, as Russia was Europes biggest country. Not too mention that they had an incapable ruler on the Throne, and thus when she entered in WWI, it was with the doubt the ending of Russia. The society was hanging on the balance with the low class become every hostile of the conditions of their everyday life; they were sick of living in poverty. Further more the working class were forever campaigning for better pay and conditions. Hence, if the very backbone of society, or country is unhappy, or hostile with their working and daily life conditions, then there is no way of having or even trying to secure an affluent future. Therefore Russia was in this condition and when WWI was proclaimed, Imperial Russia was already falling.


4 As Rasputin was a starets, he learnt, through his wonderings, the wishes of the peasantry. He learnt what they lacked, what they had plenty, what they needed and wished for. Thus he tried and converts this knowledge to the Tsar, yet he did not do a good enough job, as Rasputin was not an educated man. As J.N Westwood writes, Yet Rasputin may well have been a man of much goodwill, who failed to make Russia a better place only because he lacked the education and experience... (Endurance and Endeavour 181-180-181, p.0). After all under Rasputins name not one blood was shed.


5 Soon enough, rumours circulated St Petersburg that Rasputin was the lover of the Tsarina and article after articles were published with crude images of the Rasputin and Tsarina playing puppets with the Tsar. These articles thus influenced the perception in which the latter public and historians saw Rasputin. These rumours basically tainted his image and made him once again an easy target, as historians thought, if the people of his time hated him, why should we change that?


1 The concept of a hteroglossia view of history basically means that all voices should be taken into account when seeking the truth of the past. It is without this heteroglossia, that history has for so long been biased and limited. Thus objectivity could be achieved once this view of history is firmly placed.


What this means is that the majority of historians writings fail to mention that Alexandra (Tsarina) had before Rasputin, many other holy wonderers in the palace. As it could simply have been Monsieur Philippe, a French miracle worker who could have entered the Tsarinas life before Rasputin, yet this was not the case. Philippe was a great hit with the Tsarina and she instantly loved him. He spent the next few years of his life in the Russian court giving endless spiritual advice to the Tsarina. It was however when Philippe predicted that Alexandra would have a boy and it ended up a girl that he was thrown from away. Thus Rasputins coming to the thrown was just been an accident, thus Rasputin would have had no intention of ruining the Romanovs lives.


Alexandra Feodorovna is a German born Princess, yet was brought up in an English cultural. She married Nicholas in the year of 18 (Tsar of Russia) and moved to Russia, not knowing the culture or the language, yet spent most her time trying to master it. By 114 she had perfectly mastered the language. She however never had the talent nor charisma to be able to became a Tsarina. She was quite shy and hated the public life, and tried to bring her kids up away from royal life.


4 Alexandra was a German and quite arrogant. She was hated by the Russian public and never really accepted her as their Queen. Indeed, Prince Felix Yusupov Stated in his book Rasputin His Malignant Influence and Assassination-17, that the reason as to why he wanted Rasputin dead was because he believed him to be the direct result of Alexandrias power. Thus with Rasputin dead, Alexandra to would have no power over the Tsar and thus too would fall, leaving the throne once again to the true Russian Nicholas. Alexandra was nagging and it has been claimed that


5Her son was Alexis, born on the 5th of June 104. Robert Massie describes Alexis, The Tsarevich was a handsome little boy with blue eyes and golden curl...he was happy, high-spirited infant. His parents called him Sunshine. (Nicholas and Alexandra-178, page 1)


6 Boney M was a 60s rock band, who sung a song about Rasputin. The song was entitled Rasputin and was written by Boney M in 178, published by BMG records


1 Alex De Jonge The Life and Times of Grigorii Rasputin-185, p.47


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Thursday, September 5, 2019

The Rise of The Homeless

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The citys people walk around stresslessly all day living their usual lives with their cushy day jobs sitting behind computers underneath refreshingly cool air conditioners that curesses their soft skin all day long. This regular cycle happens day after day for these fortunate people. Life is something that is enjoyed by all these people, all but 1 year old Jacob Nzama. For him growing up in the streets of Soweto in Africa was a glorious experience.


He awakens day after day to the blissfull smell of lumber wood burning outside as the smoke creeps through his tin structured home built by his father who past away two years ago after having a heart-attack. Jacobs mother Johannas awake this morning at four o clock. She cooks breakfast for her two children in the mornings. Jacob and his four year old sister Betty. Above their home is an atmosphere entoxicated with fumes of thick smoke all this coming from those in their so called neighbourhood. They have no electricity so their source of heat is derived from the sacrifice of lumber wood under bright orange flames. As Jacob awakens to his right is situated his most cherished pocessions, it is the bible. the bible is read constantly by him and the scent of the religious knowledge entises him day after day and gives him the urge to carry out his faith.


Today is a well antispated day for Jacob as he is on his way to the library in the big city. He is determined to study accountancy to become a well respected accountant. Jacob has to walk 15 km to get to the city but nevertheless he is anxiously awaiting it. He kisses his mother on the forehead and hugs his little sister and departs. He directs his tanned blistered hands into his perished pants pockets and heads off. Two and a half hours later he arrives at Durban city. the kaois he witnesses astonishes him as he is from a town where life is quiet. He scans the area for the library and finally spots it. About 500 m away he estimates. As he is about to enter the building he is shoved over by a tall mesomorphic figure. Cant you read boy, he points to a sign on the door at the library entrance. No coloureds allowed Jacob was furious as he rose to his feet and dusted off the dust he had accumulated on his perished clothing. Are you crazy. Out of the shed came a tall coloured man who explains the system to Jacob. He had never lived in the city before so thus he never experienced such hatred ever before.


Joseph was the name of Jacobs new companion and he was a former boxer and was currently a superb coach. Jacob was always into boxing but felt that hurting other beings was harsh but after witnessing the racism he was ready to release his anger. He asked Joseph if he could become a boxer. Joseph had a pale face with a surprised expression. I need to do something with my life and I sure as hell am never gonna become a accountant under this government. Joseph was eager to use his coaching skill to tutor the young scion. We will need two weeks before you are to pose any threats to our opponnents.


Order custom research paper on The Rise of The Homeless


Two weeks later Jacob Nzama had his first fight. As he entered the ring he was up against the 00 pond destruction man, Peter Evans who was a heavy weight division fighter. Nzama stood there as still as a flag pole, not intimidated by one bit at his opponent. His neck was bowed down and he closed his eyes, asking the Lord to guide him through this fight to a victory. At first sight of Nzama it was clear that he was absolutely elegant. His boots were laced up to the very last hole as they dazled into the eyes of the crowd. His figure had a vastly increased in size and easily exposing the bulk of his muscles. He was waering black silk trunks that floated so gracefully as he warmed up. The bell sounded shattering the kaotic crowd and created a peacefull silence. Jacob danced around the ring as his frustrated opponent took vigourous swings at him but all his lathagic swings hit were drops of persperation coming from Nzamas forehead. He dodged these brutal blows so well that it seemed as if he caculated his opponents every move. After the eighth round Nzamas opponent was exhausted taking advantage of this energetic Jacob landed a blistering roght hook to the jaw of his opponent. It was the end of a breathtaking fight of which the underdog was victorious.


Two years later Nzama was crowned the heavyweight champion of the world and was awarded with five million dollars. He moved his mother and sister to the big city and purchased a 10 hectare mansion for them to live in. The whites only library of which he was diss-allowed to enter years ago was purchased by Jacob and donated to the charity. It was named after him. His fans around the world were touched by his actions. He then studied business accounting for years and eventually attained his diploma. The government had for once witnessed the tide turning and decided to treat all beings as one. Jacob Nzama had shown the people that anything can be accomplished if you showed shear determination.


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Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Sleep, Circadian Rhythms and Human Behavior

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Sleep, Circadian Rhythms and Human Behavior


Introduction


Sleep is paramount for the human body. At all stages in early human develop-ment and continuing into maturity, sleep provides the human body a needed respite to rejuvenate, to rest, and to energize both mentally and physically. We spend about one-third of our lives asleep. We are all personally aware of our "biological clock." We know that depriving ourselves of sleep, even for one night, makes us irritable, confused and sometimes delusional. This biological need for sleep is of utmost importance not only in the general physical health, but also is determinate of short and long-term human behavior.


Do my essay on Sleep, Circadian Rhythms and Human Behavior CHEAP !People who do not get enough sleep report more health problems and have more hospitalizations than people who meet their sleep requirements. This suggests that the loss of sleep in as small as a few hours a night over a period of time impairs or dimin-ishes the functioning of the immune system (Barlow& Durand, 00). It is also recog-nized that sleep disturbances are a hallmark of most mood disorders, especially major depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety-related disorders.


The fact that most people are sensitive to day length at the latitudes they live in suggests that the ‘biological clock" in them controls many physiological aspects such as eating and sleeping, but that any interruption in circadian rhythms is problematic for ge-netic vulnerable individuals and has a correlation to human behavior ( Barlow & Durand, 00).


Scope


Sleep problems in the United States are estimated to cost from $0 to $5 billion per year in lost worker productivity, absenteeism and related outcomes (Chilcott & Shapiro, 16; Walsh & Ustun, 1). We know that adults of all ages average about 7 hours of sleep in every 4-hour period, but that many people are dissatisfied with the amount of sleep they get. In fact, insomnia is a frequent complaint. Almost a third of the general population within the United States report some symptoms of insomnia during any given year (American Psychiatric Association, 000), and 17 percent indicate their problem with sleeping are severe.


Sleep needs change over time and complains of insomnia differ in frequency among people of different ages. Children who have difficulty falling asleep usually tan-trum at bedtime, or do not want to go to bed. Estimates of insomnia among young U.S. children range from 0 to more than 45 percent (Van Tassel, 185). In other countries, specific percentages range from "inadequate sleep" for 0 percent for women over 80 in Norway to "persistent sleep disturbances" for 75 percent of those over age 70 in China (Berger, 001).


Apnea, a breathing-related sleep disorder is thought to occur in 1 to percent of American males, leading to insomnia like symptoms (Barlow & Durand, 00) and po-tential physical and behavioral problems. Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is be-lieved its cause is an unsteady breathing reflex in sleeping children between and 4 months of age (Berger, 001).


Biological Aspects


"Spring forward, fall back" people in most of the United States use this mne-monic device to remind them to turn their clocks forward or backwards one hour in the spring and fall. While this is a minor inconvenience for some because of all the clocks in their lives, it is surprising how disruptive this act is for many individuals. For a least a day or two, they experience sleepy conditions during the day and have difficulty falling asleep at night. The reason for this disruption is not that they gain or lose one hour of sleep; their bodies can adjust to this very quickly. The difficulty has to do with how their "biological clocks" adjust to this change of time. Convention says go to sleep at this new time while their brains are saying something different. If this struggle continues for any length of time, they could develop what is called a circadian rhythm sleep disorder (Bar-low & Durand, 00).


Fortunately, our bodies have mechanisms that continually attempt homeostasis. Our "biological clock" is in the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the hypothalamus. The ability to reset this clock depends upon when light enters the retina and the production of the hormone melatonin by the pineal gland. This gland has greater production of melatonin occurring during night and low production during the day.


Light signals from the retina are conveyed by nerve fibers directly to the su-prachiasmatic nucleus. The suprachiasmatic nucleus transfers information to the hypo-thalamus. After traveling in the spinal cord, the signal reaches the pineal gland. In the absence of a light signal, the gland begins the production of melatonin. When melatonin reaches receptors in the hypothalamus, the body thinks it is dark. Light is the main setter of the human "biological clock". This sensitivity to light probably evolved over eons of human development, but now researchers believe melatonin influences the time center as well.


Melatonin is of interest because it helps explain the sleep mechanism in our bod-ies. This hormone may help medical and human service professionals treat some of the sleep problems people experience. For example, blind individuals are without clues from the sun, their clocks continually run out of phase. Circadian rhythms for them are reset by giving them melatonin, which tells their brains it is night time even though their eyes cannot determine the time of day.


Winter depression, or seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is thought to occur be-cause of the over production of melatonin. Affecting as much as 5 percent of North Americans in northern latitudes, these individuals tend towards excessive sleep. Mela-tonin is produced only at night and tends to increase in winter when there is less sunlight. This increased production of melatonin might trigger depression in vulnerable people (F.K. Goodwin & Jamison, 10). Some clinicians reasoned that exposure to bright light might slow melatonin production in individuals with SAD (Blehar & Rosenthal, 18). Their efforts have shown that early morning light exposure is superior to evening light exposure due to the fact that morning light produced phase advances of the mela-tonin rhythms. This suggests that returning circadian rhythms to a normal routine are an important factor in treatment not only for SAD, but maybe even effective for nonseasonal depression (Kripe, 18). It is easy to observe that even minor interruptions of sleep rhythms caused by time and seasonal changes have the potential to influence human be-havior. These factors could easily combine with psychological, cognitive, and genetic stressors to dramatically affect behavior, resulting in both acute and chronic progression


Social Work Awareness


Possible circadian rhythms disruptions are difficult to obtain from self-reporting clients. Many individuals believe or rationalize that their present sleep or circadian rhythms are normal. Research has shown that people with sleep and circadian rhythms disruptions have unrealistic expectations about how much sleep they need ("I need a full 8 hours") and about how disruptive disturbed sleep will be (I won't be able to think or do my job if I sleep for only 5 hours") ( Morin, Stone, Trinkle, Mercer, & Remsberg, 1). These studies illuminate the role of cognition in circadian and sleep dysfunctions. Basic concepts of how things should be are influenced by how things were perceived in previ-ous historical contexts. These ideas are based on shared perceptions of a society more than objective reality. This social construction is important because most Americans be-lieve in the 8 hour concept, but completely practice something different.


Social workers should use direct inquires to see if possible sleep disturbances are present that would indicate behavioral complications. Women report insomnia twice as often as men simply because they may be more aware of their sleep patterns than their gender counterpart. As a result, women are diagnosed more with sleep problems.


A sleep problem is only a disorder when the person experiencing it is having dis-comfort over it. A multidimensional view of sleep disorders, whether insomnia or it op-posite hypersomnia, reveals several assumptions The first is that at some level biological, psychological, and cognitive factors are present in most sleep rhythm cases and the sec-ond is that these multiple factors are reciprocally related.


Take the case of Kathryn, who was 7, who re-ported having serious sleep problems ever since her husband died 1 years earlier. She could not fall asleep until she had lain in bed for several hours, and she awakened a number of times each night. She had an average of 4 to 5 hours of broken sleep per night. It is not surprising she was chronically tired throughout the day and complained that fa-tigue interfered with her friendships. She no longer enjoyed going out with her friends because she fell asleep in public, which was very embarrassing to her.


Kathryn used nonprescription sleeping pills on and off over the rears and sometimes she just lay in bed listening to the radio and nodding off occa-sionally. When her sleep problems started, Kath-ryn recognized that her distress over her husband's death was probably to blame. As the years passed, she assumed poor sleep was normal for a person her age and her fatigue was also part of the aging proc-ess. However, during the past months she began to realize she wasn't playing with her grandchildren or leaving her house because she was too tired. On the advice of a friend, she decided to get some help (Barlow & Durand).


Kathryn's treatment involved a multidimensional framework which recognized the need to integrate biological, cognitive and psychological approaches for a successful cure. She first received a regiment of a medicine in the benzodiazepine class. This is recognized to be short-term (four weeks) because of several drawbacks including dependency and re-bound insomnia. Psychological and cognitive treatments were then introduced. She was instructed to limit her time in bed to about fours hours of sleep time (sleep restriction) about the amount of time she actually slept each night. The period was lengthened when she began to sleep through the night. Kathryn was also asked not to listen to the radio while in bed and to get out of bed if she couldn't fall asleep (stimulus control). Finally, therapy involved confronting her unrealistic expectations about how much sleep was enough for a person of her age (cognitive therapy). Within three weeks of treatment, Kathryn was sleeping longer and had fewer interruptions in her sleep. She felt more re-freshed in the morning and had more energy during the day. Kathryn's normal activities began to emerge because of the resumption of homeostasis in sleep rhythms (Barlow & Durand). Research suggests that short-term use of medication in combination with other types of interventions may prove to be a quick and lasting treatment for normal human behavioral functioning with regards to sleep and circadian disruptions (Morin & Azrin, 188).


The Issue


A growing number of researchers indicate that American's sleep problems, such as narcolepsy, apnea, and insomnia, have reached epidemic proportions and may be the country's number-one health problem (CNN, Aug. 15, 17). The article claims that nearly one-half of all Americans have difficulty sleeping and while this figure may be hard to substantiate, it certainly suggests that the problems of sleep and circadian rhythm disruptions are a serious issue. With the probability that such an issue exists and that it might be of a broader scope than previously imagined, state and federal governments are now turning their attention to the legality of the issue.


State such as California, West Virginia, Florida and Virginia have passed laws covering the issue of sleep deprivation. In a land mark decision, according to The Na-tional Sleep foundation, a Virginia man was sentenced to five years in jail and two years probation after he fell asleep at the wheel after driving for over forty hours. This was the first conviction for sleep deprivation involving a non-commercial driver. The Judge ex-ceeded state sentencing and stated, "If you're tired and falling asleep as you drive, you need to get off the road. The lesson from this case is you go to jail" (www.voidd.com 7/5/0).


The Federal government is also aware of the issue of sleep deprivation. Statistics compiled for The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shows that 755 fatalities and 1,705 injuries occur each year on the nation's roads because of drowsy, tired or fa-tigued Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMVs) (DOT, FMCSA, 00). The statistics from the private sector are even greater, with an estimated 100,000 accidents, resulting in a 150,000 injuries and fatalities (www.thehistorychannel.com 7/8/0). The FMCSA re-vise its hours-of-service regulations to require motor carriers to provide drivers with bet-ter opportunities to obtain sleep. One recommendation included the use of electronic on-board recorders used by drivers in long-haul and regional operations in a direct attempt to reduce accidents (http//www.fmcsa.dot.gov/hos/05000p.txt. 7/5/0).


Sleep derivation is as bad as alcohol impairment. Some tests shows that indi-viduals who drive after being awake for 17 to 1 hours preformed worse than those with blood alcohol count of .05 (CNN, Sept. 0, 000). These figures have further implica-tions than for just drivers. People who work long shifts or night shifts, such as medical personnel or other emergency workers, may also have troubles.


Information Themes


There has always been some interest in sleep among health professionals. Freud was extremely interested in dream analysis, but little was really accomplished in the study of sleep until the last fifteen to twenty years. More and more research is being conducted with emphasis toward understanding the correlation of sleep towards human behavior and general health, but judging from the tremendous scope of the issue and how it crosses all gender, ages and class, research efforts have barely touched the subject.


Even though this is true, research psychologists are the leaders among the health professions. Even if a person suspects a problem with circadian rhythms and seeks medi-cal advice, it can be difficult to find a doctor who understands sleep disorders because most medical schools don't offer courses on sleep. There is an extreme lack of commu-nity resources addressing these issues. This is particularly worrisome for individuals in rural areas which have higher rates of suicide. Correlations between higher suicide rates and sleep cycles have not been researched specifically, but most professionals logically conclude there is a connection.


National organizations such as the National Sleep Foundation maintain excellent web sites. This organization offers a broad range of information for lay persons seeking information on the possibility of having sleep disorders. There is a sleep test that can be taken to determine the possibility of sleep disorders and a list of sleep laboratories in their area. While this information is available for all people, professional care givers should rely on more technical information. What information is available is readily accessible with a subject search into most psychological libraries. Researchers should expect a cer-tain degree of vagueness about specific issues regarding human behavior and sleep cycles and may have to synthesize information to extract the needed material for intervention.


Recommendations


As pointed out in the awareness portion of this document, most people will not seek professional help simply because they are not sleeping well. They will only venture forth towards treatment because of the presence of other problems. Therefore, we would often think of intervention for them originating towards the person, but to be truly a to-tally effective intervention, social workers should consider moving past the Microsystems of the individual and into the surrounding Ecosystems. With the high estimated cost to employers due to lost worker productivity and absenteeism, employers should welcome seminars and instructional sessions designed to help make their employees become aware of how to change lifestyles that will improve their sleeping habits, their general health, and as a result, cut costs for the employer. These recommendations to improve sleeping hygiene could be carried into high risk areas of long distance drivers and emergency per-sonnel and other occupational shift workers. Sleep hygiene recommendations could be introduced into schools and parent groups to improve sleeping habits among children. Because so many children display disruptive sleep problems, this type of preventive ef-fort could serve to improve significantly the lives of many families. Similar preventative methods to educate the general public could reduce the amount of lives and property lost due to driving accidents while sleepy. Education could change the social construction of how vulnerable individuals are when they disrupt normal sleep and circadian rhythms.


Until such social constructions could be changed, it is paramount for social work-ers and clinicians to be aware that when clients come to them with a self-perceived prob-lem of depression, anxiety or other mood disorder, intervention assessment must take into consideration that resumption of normal sleep patterns must be a part of overall treatment. They should understand the importance of sleep and circadian rhythms to the overall suc-cess of any treatment. As a part of a physical examination, clinicians might recommend the use of sleep laboratories to gain valuable information about the sleeping habits of the individual and ultimately clues to his or her unique behavior. Other clues to sleep rhythms and behavior could be obtained by occupational screening. Chances are greater for behavioral deviation in workers who are in high risk occupations.


We observe that human behavior is affected by the lack of sleep. That deficiency causes a range of behavior from abnormal, to criminally negligent, and in Kathryn's case, to simple isolation. We see that the scope of the issue is enormous, and that sleep dys-functions are most likely epidemic in the United States and prevalent in the entire world. We note that research is continuing and advancing knowledge about specifics, but much remains to be discovered. Americans are concerned about their sleep, with probably ex-plains why billion of dollars are invested in bed mattresses with the promise of better sleep, but they often exhibit cognitive errors about sleep. Social workers, clinicians, and other health care professional must recognize the biological, psychological, and cognitive aspects of sleep deprivation and its direct correlation to human behavior.


Glossary


Apnea Brief interruption in breathing, sometimes occurring during sleep.


Circadian rhythm Biological rhythm with a 4-hours cycle.


Circadian rhythm sleep disorder Sleep disturbance resulting in sleepiness or insomnia caused by the body's inability to synchronize its sleep pattern with the current pattern of day and night.


Cognitive therapy Treatment approach that involves identifying and altering negative thinking styles related to psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety and re-placing them with more positive beliefs and attitudesand, ultimately, more adaptive behavior and coping styles.


Hypothalamus Part of the diencephalon of the brain broadly involved in the regulation of behavior and emotion.


Insomnia Difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or feeling rested where there is no apparent medical or psychological cause.


Melatonin Hormone produced by the pineal gland that is activated by darkness to con-trol the body's biological clock and to induce sleep. It is implicated in seasonal affective disorder and may be used in treatments for circadian rhythm sleep disorders.


Narcolepsy Sleep disorder involving sudden and irresistible sleep attacks.


Pineal Gland Endocrine gland located in the third ventricle of the brain that produces melatonin.


Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) Mood disorder involving a cycling of episodes corresponding to the seasons of the year, typically with depression occurring during the winter.


Sleep hygiene Psychological treatment for insomnia that teaches clients to recognize and eliminate environmental obstacles to sleep. These include the use of nicotine, caf-feine, and certain medications, and alcohol as well as ill-timed exercise.


Sleep restriction Treatment for insomnia that involves limiting time in bed to the actual amount spent sleeping so that the bed is associated with sleep and no other competing activities.


Stimulus control Deliberate arrangement of the environment so it encourages desired behaviors and discourages problem behavior. For example, insomnia may be combated by limiting time in and associations with, the bed.


References


American Psychiatric Association (000)


Practice guidelines for the treatment of patients with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias of late life Compendium 000 (pp.6-17) Washington, DC.


Barlow, D. H., & Durand, M. V., (00)


Abnormal Psychology an integrative approach Sleep Disorders 00 (pp.1-


68) Belmont, CA.


Berger, K. S., (001)


The Developing Person through the Life Span (pp.1-66)


Worth Publishers, New York, NY.


Blehar, M.C., & Rosenthal, N.E. (18)


Seasonal affective disorder and phototherapy. Archives of General Psychiatry, 46, (pp. 46-474).


Chilcott, L. A., & Shapiro, C. M. (16)


The socioeconomic impact of insomnia An overview, Pharmacoeconomics, 10,


(pp 1-14).


Goodwin, F.K., & Jamison, K, R. (10)


Manic Depressive Illness (pp. 16-161) Oxford University Press, New York


Kripe, D. F. (18)


Light treatment for nonseasonal depression Speed, efficiency, and combined


Treatment. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 105, (pp. 10-117).


Mader, S. S. (00)


Human Biology (p 08) McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.


Morin, C. M., & Azrin, N. H. (188)


Behavioral and cognitive treatments of geriatric insomnia. Journal of Consulting


and Clinical Psychology, 56, (pp.748-75).


Morin, C. M., Stone, J., Trinkle, D., Mercer, J., & Remsberg, S. (1)


Dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep among older adults with and


without insomnia complaints. Psychology and Aging, 8, (pp. 46-467).


Van Tassel, E. B. (185)


The relative influence of child and environmental characteristics on sleep


disturbances in the first and second years of life. Journal of Developmental


and Behavioral Pediatrics, 6, (pp.81-85).


http//www.cnn.com/HEALTH/70/17/wfm/deprivation/index.htm. 07/5/0.


http//www.cnn.com/000/HEALTH/0/0//sleep. deprivation/ 07/5/0.


http//www.thehistorychannel.com 07/6/0.


http//www.voidd.com 07/5/0.


Sleep, Circadian Rhythms and Human Behavior


Introduction


Sleep is paramount for the human body. At all stages in early human develop-ment and continuing into maturity, sleep provides the human body a needed respite to rejuvenate, to rest, and to energize both mentally and physically. We spend about one-third of our lives asleep. We are all personally aware of our "biological clock." We know that depriving ourselves of sleep, even for one night, makes us irritable, confused and sometimes delusional. This biological need for sleep is of utmost importance not only in the general physical health, but also is determinate of short and long-term human behavior.


People who do not get enough sleep report more health problems and have more hospitalizations than people who meet their sleep requirements. This suggests that the loss of sleep in as small as a few hours a night over a period of time impairs or dimin-ishes the functioning of the immune system (Barlow& Durand, 00). It is also recog-nized that sleep disturbances are a hallmark of most mood disorders, especially major depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety-related disorders.


The fact that most people are sensitive to day length at the latitudes they live in suggests that the ‘biological clock" in them controls many physiological aspects such as eating and sleeping, but that any interruption in circadian rhythms is problematic for ge-netic vulnerable individuals and has a correlation to human behavior ( Barlow & Durand, 00).


Scope


Sleep problems in the United States are estimated to cost from $0 to $5 billion per year in lost worker productivity, absenteeism and related outcomes (Chilcott & Shapiro, 16; Walsh & Ustun, 1). We know that adults of all ages average about 7 hours of sleep in every 4-hour period, but that many people are dissatisfied with the amount of sleep they get. In fact, insomnia is a frequent complaint. Almost a third of the general population within the United States report some symptoms of insomnia during any given year (American Psychiatric Association, 000), and 17 percent indicate their problem with sleeping are severe.


Sleep needs change over time and complains of insomnia differ in frequency among people of different ages. Children who have difficulty falling asleep usually tan-trum at bedtime, or do not want to go to bed. Estimates of insomnia among young U.S. children range from 0 to more than 45 percent (Van Tassel, 185). In other countries, specific percentages range from "inadequate sleep" for 0 percent for women over 80 in Norway to "persistent sleep disturbances" for 75 percent of those over age 70 in China (Berger, 001).


Apnea, a breathing-related sleep disorder is thought to occur in 1 to percent of American males, leading to insomnia like symptoms (Barlow & Durand, 00) and po-tential physical and behavioral problems. Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is be-lieved its cause is an unsteady breathing reflex in sleeping children between and 4 months of age (Berger, 001).


Biological Aspects


"Spring forward, fall back" people in most of the United States use this mne-monic device to remind them to turn their clocks forward or backwards one hour in the spring and fall. While this is a minor inconvenience for some because of all the clocks in their lives, it is surprising how disruptive this act is for many individuals. For a least a day or two, they experience sleepy conditions during the day and have difficulty falling asleep at night. The reason for this disruption is not that they gain or lose one hour of sleep; their bodies can adjust to this very quickly. The difficulty has to do with how their "biological clocks" adjust to this change of time. Convention says go to sleep at this new time while their brains are saying something different. If this struggle continues for any length of time, they could develop what is called a circadian rhythm sleep disorder (Bar-low & Durand, 00).


Fortunately, our bodies have mechanisms that continually attempt homeostasis. Our "biological clock" is in the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the hypothalamus. The ability to reset this clock depends upon when light enters the retina and the production of the hormone melatonin by the pineal gland. This gland has greater production of melatonin occurring during night and low production during the day.


Light signals from the retina are conveyed by nerve fibers directly to the su-prachiasmatic nucleus. The suprachiasmatic nucleus transfers information to the hypo-thalamus. After traveling in the spinal cord, the signal reaches the pineal gland. In the absence of a light signal, the gland begins the production of melatonin. When melatonin reaches receptors in the hypothalamus, the body thinks it is dark. Light is the main setter of the human "biological clock". This sensitivity to light probably evolved over eons of human development, but now researchers believe melatonin influences the time center as well.


Melatonin is of interest because it helps explain the sleep mechanism in our bod-ies. This hormone may help medical and human service professionals treat some of the sleep problems people experience. For example, blind individuals are without clues from the sun, their clocks continually run out of phase. Circadian rhythms for them are reset by giving them melatonin, which tells their brains it is night time even though their eyes cannot determine the time of day.


Winter depression, or seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is thought to occur be-cause of the over production of melatonin. Affecting as much as 5 percent of North Americans in northern latitudes, these individuals tend towards excessive sleep. Mela-tonin is produced only at night and tends to increase in winter when there is less sunlight. This increased production of melatonin might trigger depression in vulnerable people (F.K. Goodwin & Jamison, 10). Some clinicians reasoned that exposure to bright light might slow melatonin production in individuals with SAD (Blehar & Rosenthal, 18). Their efforts have shown that early morning light exposure is superior to evening light exposure due to the fact that morning light produced phase advances of the mela-tonin rhythms. This suggests that returning circadian rhythms to a normal routine are an important factor in treatment not only for SAD, but maybe even effective for nonseasonal depression (Kripe, 18). It is easy to observe that even minor interruptions of sleep rhythms caused by time and seasonal changes have the potential to influence human be-havior. These factors could easily combine with psychological, cognitive, and genetic stressors to dramatically affect behavior, resulting in both acute and chronic progression


Social Work Awareness


Possible circadian rhythms disruptions are difficult to obtain from self-reporting clients. Many individuals believe or rationalize that their present sleep or circadian rhythms are normal. Research has shown that people with sleep and circadian rhythms disruptions have unrealistic expectations about how much sleep they need ("I need a full 8 hours") and about how disruptive disturbed sleep will be (I won't be able to think or do my job if I sleep for only 5 hours") ( Morin, Stone, Trinkle, Mercer, & Remsberg, 1). These studies illuminate the role of cognition in circadian and sleep dysfunctions. Basic concepts of how things should be are influenced by how things were perceived in previ-ous historical contexts. These ideas are based on shared perceptions of a society more than objective reality. This social construction is important because most Americans be-lieve in the 8 hour concept, but completely practice something different.


Social workers should use direct inquires to see if possible sleep disturbances are present that would indicate behavioral complications. Women report insomnia twice as often as men simply because they may be more aware of their sleep patterns than their gender counterpart. As a result, women are diagnosed more with sleep problems.


A sleep problem is only a disorder when the person experiencing it is having dis-comfort over it. A multidimensional view of sleep disorders, whether insomnia or it op-posite hypersomnia, reveals several assumptions The first is that at some level biological, psychological, and cognitive factors are present in most sleep rhythm cases and the sec-ond is that these multiple factors are reciprocally related.


Take the case of Kathryn, who was 7, who re-ported having serious sleep problems ever since her husband died 1 years earlier. She could not fall asleep until she had lain in bed for several hours, and she awakened a number of times each night. She had an average of 4 to 5 hours of broken sleep per night. It is not surprising she was chronically tired throughout the day and complained that fa-tigue interfered with her friendships. She no longer enjoyed going out with her friends because she fell asleep in public, which was very embarrassing to her.


Kathryn used nonprescription sleeping pills on and off over the rears and sometimes she just lay in bed listening to the radio and nodding off occa-sionally. When her sleep problems started, Kath-ryn recognized that her distress over her husband's death was probably to blame. As the years passed, she assumed poor sleep was normal for a person her age and her fatigue was also part of the aging proc-ess. However, during the past months she began to realize she wasn't playing with her grandchildren or leaving her house because she was too tired. On the advice of a friend, she decided to get some help (Barlow & Durand).


Kathryn's treatment involved a multidimensional framework which recognized the need to integrate biological, cognitive and psychological approaches for a successful cure. She first received a regiment of a medicine in the benzodiazepine class. This is recognized to be short-term (four weeks) because of several drawbacks including dependency and re-bound insomnia. Psychological and cognitive treatments were then introduced. She was instructed to limit her time in bed to about fours hours of sleep time (sleep restriction) about the amount of time she actually slept each night. The period was lengthened when she began to sleep through the night. Kathryn was also asked not to listen to the radio while in bed and to get out of bed if she couldn't fall asleep (stimulus control). Finally, therapy involved confronting her unrealistic expectations about how much sleep was enough for a person of her age (cognitive therapy). Within three weeks of treatment, Kathryn was sleeping longer and had fewer interruptions in her sleep. She felt more re-freshed in the morning and had more energy during the day. Kathryn's normal activities began to emerge because of the resumption of homeostasis in sleep rhythms (Barlow & Durand). Research suggests that short-term use of medication in combination with other types of interventions may prove to be a quick and lasting treatment for normal human behavioral functioning with regards to sleep and circadian disruptions (Morin & Azrin, 188).


The Issue


A growing number of researchers indicate that American's sleep problems, such as narcolepsy, apnea, and insomnia, have reached epidemic proportions and may be the country's number-one health problem (CNN, Aug. 15, 17). The article claims that nearly one-half of all Americans have difficulty sleeping and while this figure may be hard to substantiate, it certainly suggests that the problems of sleep and circadian rhythm disruptions are a serious issue. With the probability that such an issue exists and that it might be of a broader scope than previously imagined, state and federal governments are now turning their attention to the legality of the issue.


State such as California, West Virginia, Florida and Virginia have passed laws covering the issue of sleep deprivation. In a land mark decision, according to The Na-tional Sleep foundation, a Virginia man was sentenced to five years in jail and two years probation after he fell asleep at the wheel after driving for over forty hours. This was the first conviction for sleep deprivation involving a non-commercial driver. The Judge ex-ceeded state sentencing and stated, "If you're tired and falling asleep as you drive, you need to get off the road. The lesson from this case is you go to jail" (www.voidd.com 7/5/0).


The Federal government is also aware of the issue of sleep deprivation. Statistics compiled for The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shows that 755 fatalities and 1,705 injuries occur each year on the nation's roads because of drowsy, tired or fa-tigued Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMVs) (DOT, FMCSA, 00). The statistics from the private sector are even greater, with an estimated 100,000 accidents, resulting in a 150,000 injuries and fatalities (www.thehistorychannel.com 7/8/0). The FMCSA re-vise its hours-of-service regulations to require motor carriers to provide drivers with bet-ter opportunities to obtain sleep. One recommendation included the use of electronic on-board recorders used by drivers in long-haul and regional operations in a direct attempt to reduce accidents (http//www.fmcsa.dot.gov/hos/05000p.txt. 7/5/0).


Sleep derivation is as bad as alcohol impairment. Some tests shows that indi-viduals who drive after being awake for 17 to 1 hours preformed worse than those with blood alcohol count of .05 (CNN, Sept. 0, 000). These figures have further implica-tions than for just drivers. People who work long shifts or night shifts, such as medical personnel or other emergency workers, may also have troubles.


Information Themes


There has always been some interest in sleep among health professionals. Freud was extremely interested in dream analysis, but little was really accomplished in the study of sleep until the last fifteen to twenty years. More and more research is being conducted with emphasis toward understanding the correlation of sleep towards human behavior and general health, but judging from the tremendous scope of the issue and how it crosses all gender, ages and class, research efforts have barely touched the subject.


Even though this is true, research psychologists are the leaders among the health professions. Even if a person suspects a problem with circadian rhythms and seeks medi-cal advice, it can be difficult to find a doctor who understands sleep disorders because most medical schools don't offer courses on sleep. There is an extreme lack of commu-nity resources addressing these issues. This is particularly worrisome for individuals in rural areas which have higher rates of suicide. Correlations between higher suicide rates and sleep cycles have not been researched specifically, but most professionals logically conclude there is a connection.


National organizations such as the National Sleep Foundation maintain excellent web sites. This organization offers a broad range of information for lay persons seeking information on the possibility of having sleep disorders. There is a sleep test that can be taken to determine the possibility of sleep disorders and a list of sleep laboratories in their area. While this information is available for all people, professional care givers should rely on more technical information. What information is available is readily accessible with a subject search into most psychological libraries. Researchers should expect a cer-tain degree of vagueness about specific issues regarding human behavior and sleep cycles and may have to synthesize information to extract the needed material for intervention.


Recommendations


As pointed out in the awareness portion of this document, most people will not seek professional help simply because they are not sleeping well. They will only venture forth towards treatment because of the presence of other problems. Therefore, we would often think of intervention for them originating towards the person, but to be truly a to-tally effective intervention, social workers should consider moving past the Microsystems of the individual and into the surrounding Ecosystems. With the high estimated cost to employers due to lost worker productivity and absenteeism, employers should welcome seminars and instructional sessions designed to help make their employees become aware of how to change lifestyles that will improve their sleeping habits, their general health, and as a result, cut costs for the employer. These recommendations to improve sleeping hygiene could be carried into high risk areas of long distance drivers and emergency per-sonnel and other occupational shift workers. Sleep hygiene recommendations could be introduced into schools and parent groups to improve sleeping habits among children. Because so many children display disruptive sleep problems, this type of preventive ef-fort could serve to improve significantly the lives of many families. Similar preventative methods to educate the general public could reduce the amount of lives and property lost due to driving accidents while sleepy. Education could change the social construction of how vulnerable individuals are when they disrupt normal sleep and circadian rhythms.


Until such social constructions could be changed, it is paramount for social work-ers and clinicians to be aware that when clients come to them with a self-perceived prob-lem of depression, anxiety or other mood disorder, intervention assessment must take into consideration that resumption of normal sleep patterns must be a part of overall treatment. They should understand the importance of sleep and circadian rhythms to the overall suc-cess of any treatment. As a part of a physical examination, clinicians might recommend the use of sleep laboratories to gain valuable information about the sleeping habits of the individual and ultimately clues to his or her unique behavior. Other clues to sleep rhythms and behavior could be obtained by occupational screening. Chances are greater for behavioral deviation in workers who are in high risk occupations.


We observe that human behavior is affected by the lack of sleep. That deficiency causes a range of behavior from abnormal, to criminally negligent, and in Kathryn's case, to simple isolation. We see that the scope of the issue is enormous, and that sleep dys-functions are most likely epidemic in the United States and prevalent in the entire world. We note that research is continuing and advancing knowledge about specifics, but much remains to be discovered. Americans are concerned about their sleep, with probably ex-plains why billion of dollars are invested in bed mattresses with the promise of better sleep, but they often exhibit cognitive errors about sleep. Social workers, clinicians, and other health care professional must recognize the biological, psychological, and cognitive aspects of sleep deprivation and its direct correlation to human behavior.


Glossary


Apnea Brief interruption in breathing, sometimes occurring during sleep.


Circadian rhythm Biological rhythm with a 4-hours cycle.


Circadian rhythm sleep disorder Sleep disturbance resulting in sleepiness or insomnia caused by the body's inability to synchronize its sleep pattern with the current pattern of day and night.


Cognitive therapy Treatment approach that involves identifying and altering negative thinking styles related to psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety and re-placing them with more positive beliefs and attitudesand, ultimately, more adaptive behavior and coping styles.


Hypothalamus Part of the diencephalon of the brain broadly involved in the regulation of behavior and emotion.


Insomnia Difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or feeling rested where there is no apparent medical or psychological cause.


Melatonin Hormone produced by the pineal gland that is activated by darkness to con-trol the body's biological clock and to induce sleep. It is implicated in seasonal affective disorder and may be used in treatments for circadian rhythm sleep disorders.


Narcolepsy Sleep disorder involving sudden and irresistible sleep attacks.


Pineal Gland Endocrine gland located in the third ventricle of the brain that produces melatonin.


Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) Mood disorder involving a cycling of episodes corresponding to the seasons of the year, typically with depression occurring during the winter.


Sleep hygiene Psychological treatment for insomnia that teaches clients to recognize and eliminate environmental obstacles to sleep. These include the use of nicotine, caf-feine, and certain medications, and alcohol as well as ill-timed exercise.


Sleep restriction Treatment for insomnia that involves limiting time in bed to the actual amount spent sleeping so that the bed is associated with sleep and no other competing activities.


Stimulus control Deliberate arrangement of the environment so it encourages desired behaviors and discourages problem behavior. For example, insomnia may be combated by limiting time in and associations with, the bed.


References


American Psychiatric Association (000)


Practice guidelines for the treatment of patients with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias of late life Compendium 000 (pp.6-17) Washington, DC.


Barlow, D. H., & Durand, M. V., (00)


Abnormal Psychology an integrative approach Sleep Disorders 00 (pp.1-


68) Belmont, CA.


Berger, K. S., (001)


The Developing Person through the Life Span (pp.1-66)


Worth Publishers, New York, NY.


Blehar, M.C., & Rosenthal, N.E. (18)


Seasonal affective disorder and phototherapy. Archives of General Psychiatry, 46, (pp. 46-474).


Chilcott, L. A., & Shapiro, C. M. (16)


The socioeconomic impact of insomnia An overview, Pharmacoeconomics, 10,


(pp 1-14).


Goodwin, F.K., & Jamison, K, R. (10)


Manic Depressive Illness (pp. 16-161) Oxford University Press, New York


Kripe, D. F. (18)


Light treatment for nonseasonal depression Speed, efficiency, and combined


Treatment. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 105, (pp. 10-117).


Mader, S. S. (00)


Human Biology (p 08) McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.


Morin, C. M., & Azrin, N. H. (188)


Behavioral and cognitive treatments of geriatric insomnia. Journal of Consulting


and Clinical Psychology, 56, (pp.748-75).


Morin, C. M., Stone, J., Trinkle, D., Mercer, J., & Remsberg, S. (1)


Dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep among older adults with and


without insomnia complaints. Psychology and Aging, 8, (pp. 46-467).


Van Tassel, E. B. (185)


The relative influence of child and environmental characteristics on sleep


disturbances in the first and second years of life. Journal of Developmental


and Behavioral Pediatrics, 6, (pp.81-85).


http//www.cnn.com/HEALTH/70/17/wfm/deprivation/index.htm. 07/5/0.


http//www.cnn.com/000/HEALTH/0/0//sleep. deprivation/ 07/5/0.


http//www.thehistorychannel.com 07/6/0.


http//www.voidd.com 07/5/0.


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Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Effect of unions

If you order your custom term paper from our custom writing service you will receive a perfectly written assignment on Effect of unions. What we need from you is to provide us with your detailed paper instructions for our experienced writers to follow all of your specific writing requirements. Specify your order details, state the exact number of pages required and our custom writing professionals will deliver the best quality Effect of unions paper right on time.


Our staff of freelance writers includes over 120 experts proficient in Effect of unions, therefore you can rest assured that your assignment will be handled by only top rated specialists. Order your Effect of unions paper at affordable prices! In the winter of 15, after 15 months of negotiations, the neww1y unionized workers at a Kmart distribution center in Greensboro, North Carolina were still far from securing their first contract with the Kmart Corporation and were growing dispirited. The leaders of the Kmart local, mostly young and African American, had fought energetically for more favorable working conditions and increased salaries at the plant for more than two years. In surprisingly rapid and decisive fashion given a strong anti-union sentiment in North Carolina they had unionized the distribution center in September of 1, ~ Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU).l


Though jubilant at this victory, the Kmart union leaders soon realized that, although they had won a major battle, they were far from winning the war. Contract negotiations moved slowly, and the union leaders came to believe that the Kmart management team had no intention of agreeing to any contract. The Kmart local tried assorted strategies to pressure the company work stoppages inside the distribution center, pickets, a sit-in and even a week-long strike during the busy holiday season. Still, by~t1~Iesummer of 15, they were far from settling the contract.


In early 15, ACTWU Southern Regional Director Bruce Raynor joined the contract talks as lead negotiator. ACTWU also deployed a southern organizer, Anthony Romano, to work with


l In July 15, ~CTWU and the International ~dies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) merged to create the


Union of Needle Trades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE).


Kma~ denied the charge and said contract negotiations dragged on because the worker demands were unreasonable


This case was written by Pamela Varley for Marshall Ganz, Instructor in Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard. Universit~j (0600)


Kmart Union in Greensboro Fights for a Contract (A)____________________________ C15-00-160.0


the Kmart local, and a field representative, Ben Hensler, to help build community support for their effort. Although impressed with the commitment and organizing skill of the leadership inside the plant, ACTWU leaders knew that building support for the union in Greensboro would be an uphill battle. Mainstream public opinion in this quiet, moderate-to-conservative community ran against unions. What's more, some of the union's early efforts to embarrass and pressure Kmart had met indignation and even animosity from the Greensboro press and civic leaders. It seemed unlikely that the broader Greensboro community could ever be brought into sympathy with the union effort.


Background


Kmart first began hiring workers to operate its huge, state-of the-art distribution center in April 1. There in a sprawling, flat roofed facility the size of 5 fields Kmart s hard goods"4 were received, stored, repacked and distributed to more than 150 Kmart stores in five southern states. In all, the retail giant operated 1 hard-line distribution centers across the country.


When Kmart had announced its interest in building a distribution facility in Greensboro in 18, the city's business and civic leaders had been pleased. The city enjoyed a special relationship with Kmart, the nation's second largest retailer. In 188, Kmart had become the chief corporate sponsor of one of Greensboro's proudest annual traditions the Greater Greensboro Open. This tournament was part of the Professional Golf Association tour, was nationally televised and afforded the city one of its few opportunities for national visibility. In addition, a large portion of the profits from the GGO went to the Greensboro "Jaycees," or Junior Chamber of Commerce, a community service organization made up of young adults, aged 1 to . The Greensboro chapter of the Jaycees was one of the most active in the nation, and was a source of pride to many in the community. Since Kmart had begun to sponsor the GGO, profits from the event had surged; in five years, the Open had raised more than $4 million for the Jaycees' programs and charities.


What's more, Greensboro's economic development policy specifically encouraged the development of distribution centers in Greensboro, a city with easy access to highways in several directions. Distribution centers did not require much watera limited resourceand they provide relatively stable employment, unlike some manufacturing concerns with erratic employment needs. The Kmart distribution center would provide an estimated 500 jobs to blue collar workers in the Greensboro area. To encourage Kmart to bring its distribution center to Greensboro, Guilford County and the City of Greensboro agreed to move sewer lines to


In the labor dispute between the Kmart local and Kmart management, there were many disagreements both of fact and of interpretation. The purpose of this case is to describe the strategic thinking of the workers and their allies at different moments in the three-year effort. Though many of the workers' claimsand Kmart's counterclaims--are necessarily included, this case does not endeavor to assess their validity, nor are students expected to do so.


Kmart's soft goodsclothing and linens, for examplewere stored, packed and shipped in a separate network of distribution centers.


Kmart Union in Greensboro Fights for a Contract (A)____________________________ C15-00-160.0


accommodate the facility, at a cost of $65,000. In addition, the state Department of Transportation agreed to spend $800,000 on a new road interchange.5


Kmart located its distribution center on Greensboro's eastsidehome to the city's low and moderate income African American neighborhoods. (Just under a third of Greensboro's population was black; the remainder was mostly white.) From the spring through the fall of 1, Kmart gradually staffed up its distribution center, opened all its departments, and hired workers to three shifts. Initially, the work force was mostly young and male. About two thirds of the line staff were racial or ethnic minorities mostly black. Many were struggling financially; many were juggling at least one other job, according to Robyn Estes, who began working third shift in/ the fall of 1. Like a number of Kmart employees, she was working by night and attending classes by day. For the first few months of operation, the starting wage was $5.75 per hour, but turnover at the plant was rapid and some of the most experienced job applicants turned down jobs at that wage. Kmart raised its base wage to $6.75 in September 1. Line workers who stayed at Kmart three years would gradually see their earnings increase to the top wage of $8.50 per hour.6 Full-time Kmart workers were also eligible for major medical and dental insurance, a disability plan and a retirement plan.


When Kmart opened its doors, hundreds of workers lined up to apply for the jobs, attracted by the familiar Kmart name and the hope of secure, long-term work in a large, professionally-run corporation. As Dave B1um, a merchandise packer, told a reporter, "I knew Kmart was a big corporation, and I knew they sponsored the GGO, and I'd shopped in their stores. I figured they'd probably be a good company to work for. I figured there'd be a future there."7


In subsequent interviews, leaders in the Kmart union described a litany of problems in the distribution center, dating to the earliest days of operation.8 The facility began its operations before construction was complete, and for the first several months of operation, workers reported having to use dirty and ill-maintained port-a-johns and contending with stifling heat and inadequate access to drinking water inside the plant. Although Kmart gradually rectified the worst of these problems, workers reported ongoing difficulties with the management of the facility. The biggest problem, they said, was a climate in which managers freely bullied and insulted workers. Some attributed the problems to a clash of styles between a Southern workforce and managers who came to Greensboro from northern states. Workers complained that managers pressured them to work faster, and lift more weight than they safely could lift. Worker injuries were frequent, they said, and injured workers were sometimes denied medical care and ordered to continue work. A policy strictly limiting the amount of sick or personal time a worker could claim in the first three months


of employment in many firings, which many workers regarded as manifestly unfair. "I saw a log of good friends of mine get fired for no reason at all," said Governor Spencer, who took a job at Kmart in May 1 and later became a leader and frequent spokesperson for the union. "When someone is fired, there's someone home depending on that paycheck. You're not just firing that individual, you're firsting their husband, whatever. And it seemed {that to the manager} it was fun and games." Turnover at the ldistribution center was very high, according to Estes; of the 5 people in her "orientation" classs only two were left after 0 days.


Kmart union leaders say that, right from the beginning, there was also a distinct undercurrent of racial tension in plant operations. Especially in the early days, nearly all top managers and most line managers were white. As a rule, they said, white workers were treated as badly as black workers; in fact, young white women were frequently singled out for bullying. But top managers turned a blind eye to complaints of racially offensive language and behavior, they said, andl ignored reports of sexual harassment lof a crude order.


In early spring of 1, a group of about 60 first shift workers from three departments Shipping, Receiving and Re-pack joined together to try to get the attention of the plant manager, according to a report on the first rwo years at the distribution center.11 The group stopped working and marched lto the front offices to talk to the plant manager and present their concerns. He told them to go back to work or they would be fired, though he did say he would look into their concerns. After that, the workers formed a Concerns Resolution Committee, with representataives from every ldepartment and every shift. The committee presented lists of problems to the plant manager, but workers said that nothing improved, and after about ltwo months, the effort fizzled out.


At about this time, two employees Lary Lawson and Art Frazier began to discuss the possibility of lunionizing the Kmart distribution center. Lawson called a local office of the Teamsters Unoin, but was told that the union would only get involved if Lawson had a critical mass of workers lined up and ready to sign union cards. Lawson had a cousin, however, who worked at a textile company, Cone Mills, and belonged to a union that she thought was doing a good ljob the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU). ACTWU was willing to help with the early stages of lunion organizing.


_______


Greensboro Storytelling Project 1006


10 Spokesperson for the Kmart corporation later acknowledged, in general terms, that there were problems in the distribution center when it first opened, but complained that union workers were spreading misinformation about the center. They denied that the plant manager tolerated racial discrimination and sexual harassment in the facility.


11. "Worker History The Greensboro Kmart Distribution Center, 1-14," by Terry Autstin, May 14


Kmart Union in Greensboro Fights for a Contract (A)____________________________ C15-OO-160.O Unions and Greensboro


In much of the South, unions were unpopular. In part, this was the result of a concerted effort. "Southern business owners have spent decades illegally, and at times violently, repressing union organizing and purposefully creating an anti-union climate," says one union representative. In addition, unions had a reputation as outsiders from the North, with their own self-interested political agendas, who took workers' money but gave them little say-so in union activities and fostered an acrimonious us-against-them atmosphere between labor and management. North Carolina was one of the nation's most industrialized states and one of the fastest moving economies. It also had one of the lowest rates of unionization, and wages ~ the national average. It was one of 1 states with "right to work" laws, which meant that workers were not required to join a union when they worked in a unionized facility.1


Greensboro's anti-union mainstream argued that the need for union in the United States had passed, that to run a successful business in the late twentieth century, employers needed to work with employees directly and cooperatively impossible in a union shop. What's more, to prospective businesses, the non-union atmosphere was one of North Carolina's great calling cards. "People come here because of the work ethic, and the fact that we're non-union," says Vic Nussbaum, a leading Greensboro businessman and former city mayor.


In addition to the general anti-union ethic of North Carolina, Greensboro was still living under the shadow of a traumatic and controversial incident known as the "Greensboro Massacre." On November , 17, a group of young labor organizers in the Communist Workers Party which had tried to revive three inactiye textile union locals had organized a rally in a Greensboro housing project to protest against the Ku Klux Klan, which they said was waging a campaign of intimidation against ~ textile mills. Nine carloads of Klan and Nazi Party members showed up at the rally, however. After a brief scuffle, several of the supremacists grabbed rifles, pistols and shotguns and fired on the demonstrators. In 88 seconds, 1 CWP demonstrators had been gunned down, and five of them lay dead or mortally wounded.


Much about the shooting had never been put comfortably to rest. The surviving demonstrators and their supporters were convinced that the Greensboro policewho took a "break" from monitoring the rally shortly before the arrival of the Klan and Nazi gunmendid so knowingly. The police said they had simply miscalculated. They had thought that, if there was trouble, it was likely to occur later in the day during a planned march. Thus, they said, the police were sent on an early lunch break. In trials at both the state and federal levels, all-white juries had found the Klan and Nazi defendants not guiltya verdict regarded as a stunning breach of justice


1 Defenders of the policy argued that it preserved the right of individual workers to choose whether or not to join a union, but in the eyes of organized labor, the policy was deliberately aimed at undermining union organizing efforts, since in practice, it meant that workers could receive the benefits of working in a unionized plant without joining the union or paying dues. 5


Kmart Union in Greensboro Fights for a Contract (A)______________________________ C15-OO-160.O


by civil rights activists. In a later civil case, individual members of the Klan, Nazis, and local police were found liable for the "wrongful death" of one of the five slain activists. In Greensboro, many in the white establishment viewed the shooting as a clash between radical extremists from outside the city in which both sides were equally culpable. "A pox on both your houses," was the general refrain, along with resentment that the incident had darkened Greensboro's generally-progressive image.1


The shooting "cast an immediate and lasting chill over labor organizing in Greensboro," according to the liberal journal, Southern Exposure. "The massacre deeply divided progressives, some of whom didn't want to be seen as supporting Communists or the unions they tried to revive. Work place organizing fell almost to zero 14 I


The Kmart Union Drive of 1


ACTWU proceeded to explore a Kmart union drive with caution. The first step was to hold a meeting of workers who seemed most outspoken in objecting to Kmart's management practices, but to organize such a meeting without arousing any suspicions within the plant. Thus, Lawson and one or two others quietly passed a slip of paper with a 1-800 number to a select few workers. "I was scared to death," Lawson later recalled. "I was in Housekeeping, and I was riding around one of the plant's motorized carts, passing out the number, and I was scared to death. I didn't know who to talk to. I gave one to Governor Spencer, you know, a couple of people."


~


~


One of the people to receive the number was Robyn Estes, who had won some notoriety on third shift by advising a follow worker who had run weeping to the bathroom after a supervisor shouted insults at her on the plant floor that the young woman should consider filing a complaint with the local office of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Estes recalls that her first contact with the union was mysterious and odd


A guy from first shift walked up to me one morning, and


said, ‘I need you to do something for me,' and I said, ‘What?' I didn't know him. He gave me a card with a phone number on it and he said "When you go home this morning, I want you to call this phone number.' And I said, ‘For what? Who are you?' And he said, ‘Well, don't worry about who I am, just call the phone number,' The


1 This summary description drawn from Civilities and Civil Rights Greensboro, North Carolina and t~ie BIac& Strugglefor Freedom, by Villiam II. Chafe, Oxford University Press, 181, pp. 5 1-54, and from Southern Exposure, Summer 16.


~ Southern Exposure, Summer 16.


15 Greensboro Storytelling Project, 16.


6


Kmart Union in Greensboro Fights for a Contract (A)______________________________ C15-OO-160.O


guy said it was really really important. And I though it was the weirdest thing.


Estes was wary, but curious enough to make the call. When someone answered the telephone, "Act Two," Estes


was even more baffled , but the she soon learned that there was nascent union talk at Kmart, and that "Act Two" was, in fact ACTWU a union. Would Estes be willing to attend a meeting to discuss the Kmart situation? Estes had no personal experience with union, but her father had belonged to the postal workers union. "I remember my father saying union jobs were generally more secure, and pay better, and you do have some job protection," she says. So when the ACTWU organizer asked her whether should would come to a meeting, she was willing, at least, to come and listen. Like Estes, several of the Kmart workers who came to ACTWU's first exploratory meeting had either belonged to a union themselves in the past, or had a union member in their family. What's more, by this point frustration in the distribution center was running high. The Concerns Resolution Committee was getting nowhere. A union drive seemed to offer a way to take action.


Early on, the ACTWU union drive got a lucky break. A disgruntled clerical worker at the plant supplied ACTWU with a computerized list of employee names and addresses a stroke of luck that saved organizers from the arduous task of compiling such a list by tracking down information from employee license plate numbers. ACTWU organizers and a core group of Kmart workers approached the distribution center workers one by one in their homes. Not all workers were immediately swayed. "I was one of the ones that wasn't going to sign a card," recalled Calvin Miller, who later became a leader in the Kmart local." "I didn't want anybody dictating what I should do." But he says that when he overheard a manager brag that "I can replace people easier than I can replace equipment," he swung the other way "That right there crawled up my back."16


Deborah Holt, who would later become a leader in the local as well, recalls that she was undecided right up until the night before the vote. "Everyday when I'd go home from work, I'd just write down things the good and the bad of Kmart, the good and bad of the union, and it was the night before the vote when I really made up my mind I prayed over it."17


A minority of workers remained deeply opposed to the union drive. According to Estes, the anti-union workers were primarily white, and clustered in the first shift. "They felt the plant was going to close down if we voted the union in. {They'd say}, ‘I've got a house payment, I don't want to lose my job. Y'all brought this union in here you don't care about anybody,' so they were pretty anti." Although a mix of black and white workers supported the union, and a mix of black and white workers opposed the union, the leaders of the union drive were mostly black, and the leaders of the anti-union group were mostly white, Estes says.


16 Greensboro Storytelling Project, 16.


17 Greensboro Storytelling Project, 16.


7


Kmart Union in Greensboro Fights for a Contract (A)______________________________ C15-OO-160.O


The role of Kmart during the union drive is a matter of some dispute. The company did try to persuade its employees to vote against the union. Umnion organizers say the company stepped over a line that union organizers and other employees were subject to intimidation and harassment, a charge Kmart denies. What is beyond dispute, however, is that amid a fever pitch of excitement, with T-shirts, work actions, marches, and rallies, the election was held on Sepember 10, 1, and the workforce vote to accept the union by a strong margin, 4 to 1. "It was amazing," ACTWU's Ben Hensler later told a reporter, "You never see a margin like that when the place is that new."18 The distribution center had only been operating for 18 months.


Meanwhile, the Kmart union leaders had to swiftly shift gears, from the exhilaration of the union drive to the unfamiliar terrirtory of contract negotiations. "It was all new to us, the whole thing of negotiations," Estes. "Most people at the distribution center had no experience with the {operations of a} union." According to union member, Kmart managers tried to deflate their spirits by telling them of a Kmart distribution center in Lawrence, Kansas, which had unionized in the 170s, but had never been able to negotiate a contract with the Kmart management. After several years, the workers had lost patience with the union, and vote to "Decertify" it. Members of the Kmart local say they assured the managers that this was not Lawrence, Kansas that they intended to get a contract. The Kmart local selected a negotiating committee, made up of a representative from each shift and each department. The goals of the workers were to create "rules for management to go by," says Estes "A grievance procedure. One set of plant rules for everybody there was a lot of favoritism in discipline. To increase the Bank of Hours (the amount of paid and unpaid sick and personal time off each worker was permitted}. Increase the tardies {the number of times a worker could be late in a year without being fired}. People wanted things like fans put up in the plant, because it as hot. Wages were not even on the table until much later it was not about money."


As union negotiations began, however, workers quickly began to feel that Kmart management was gong through the motions, but was not bargaining in good faith. While the union wanted to negotiate for a week at a stretch, Kmart management agreed to meet for two-day session twice a month. In the meantime, between October 1 and January 14, Kmart fired eight distribution center workers active in the union on the basis of "frivolous" infractions and threatened other, according to leaders in the Kmart local. Kmart denied the charge. In January 14, the Kmart local filed charges against Kmart at the regional office of the National Labor Relations Board. Kmart unon members also formed a group called the Justice Committee, to organize pickets and work stoppages within the plant, in an effort to put pressure on management. Sometimes workers halted work and marched through the plant chanting or singing. One one occasion, members of the Kmart local, angry at what they believed to be the unfair firing of a fellow union member, held a silent prayer vigil near the front offices of the plant. Late in Janurary of 14, a group of about 50 workers held a rally outside the distribution center, carrying signs, handing out


18 Southern Exposure, Summer 16.


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leaflets and chanting for better working conditions and better pay. By the spring of 14, however, the two sides were still far apart, and the union was looking for a new way to apply pressure to Kmart.


‘We're on Our Way to the GGO ...‘


ACTWU and workers at the Kmart Distribution Center began to set their sights on the upcoming Kmart Greater Greensboro Open. The Kmart GGO itself, and the festivities associated with it, were eagerly anticipated and attended by the city's mostly-white establishment leaders - businessmen, politicians and others. The Open was also a nationally televised event that afforded both Kmart and the town of Greensboro a measure of prestige. As one newspaper columlnist put it, the GGO is "about Greensboro."


It's our time to shine in front of a national audience. It's about the Jaycees and the charitable work they do in the community. And it's about having good clean fun as a community after a long winter.1


To the Kmart distribution center workers it was galling to imagine Kmart basking in the glow of positive publicity and community appreciated while in the union view thumbing its nose at the union in its local distribution center. But perhaps, they reflected, they could turn the situation to their advantage. The workers knew that neither Kmart, nor Greensboro's political and business elite, would want to contend with any embarrassing disruptions of the Kmart GGO. If ACTWU and the Kmart workers threatened to stage such a disruption, it might succeed in gaining the cooperation of Kmart direct1y; the workers thought, and, if not, it might succeed in persuading the business and civic leader in the community to exert pressure on Kmart. ACTWU and the Kmart local sent letters to political leaders in Greensboro, to golfers in the tournament, and to the 1 other corporate sponsors of the e Kmart GGO, putting before them their concerns and asking them to meet with a five-member committee from the union. Within the distribution center, the union members left golf balls lying in strategic locations, with the letters "GGO" inked on them in magic market. At the end of a shift, workers would sometimes walk out singing a song written by Sullivan Hamlet, another leader in the Kmart local "The grass is green, there is no snow, we're on our way to tbe EGO. Contract now, and we won't go. If not, we'll see you at the 18th hole!"


In late March, ACTWU organized pickets outside 100 Kmart stores in 5 southern cities, charging that Kmart was, in general, underpaying its southern employees. A few days later, ACTWU and six Kmart employees filed a discrimination complaint against Kmart with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Greensboro, alleging sexual harassment, bias in hiring, promotions, and work assignments on the basis of race and gender, and retaliation against


1 Greensboro News & Record, column by Mark Sutter, April 18, 14.


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employees who complained either of discrimination or harassment. In early April, the union's complaint to the National Labor Relations Board, charging the company with assorted unfair labor practices, including the retaliatory firing or union members, passed its first hurdle, and was referred to an NLRB administrative law judge.0


None of these efforts made much headway in advancing contract negotiation, however. Most business and civic leaders regarded the labor battle between Kmart and the workers as a private one that did not concern them, and they were angered at the threat of disrupting the beloved GGO. "We're neutral. All we're trying to do is have a golf tournament," remarked the general chair of the Jaycees, Louis Moore, at the time.1 In fact, the notion of disrupting the GGO was seen by many civic leaders not as a tactical move aimed at a major U.S. corporation, but as "an attack on the city of Greensboro and its residence."


Approaching the Pulpit Forum‘


The Kmart workers had hoped it would not be necessary actually to follow through on their threat to disrupt the Kmart GGO had hoped the threat, alone, would succeed in persuading Kmart to settle the contract. They had not decided whether they would actually follow through with a disruptive action if their strategy failed. But the workers knew that if they were to disrupt the GGO, they would be better off if they could get some community backup for their action. Thus, before they made a decision about staging a protest action at the GGO, they decided to approach the Pulpit Forum, an association of clergy men and women, mostly African American, who led the parishes of southeast Greensboro, to ask whether the pastors would consider supporting their cause and, if necessary, joining them in a protest to the GGO. "They wanted the clergy in this community to be aware that this was not some frivolous of-the-cuff idea that some hothead came up with…but they had been dealing with some major issue," recalled Rev. Herbert Nelson, an activist member of the Pulpit Forum.


The Pulpit Forum was a loose network of pastors. Altogether some 0 churches belonged to the group, though only about 5 to 0 were active. About a dozen pastors were quite active and deeply committed to the Pulpit Forum's mission. The Pulpit Forum had been created during the


0 The web page of the NLRB describes the agency's complaint procedures as follows When an unfair labor practice charge is filed, the appropriate field office conducts an investigation to determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe the Act has been violated…If the Regional Director finds reasonable cause to believe a violation of the law has been committed, the region seeks a voluntary settlement to remedy the alleged violations. If these settlement efforts fail, a formal complaint is issued and the case goes to a hearing before an NLRB Administrative Law Judge. The judge issues a written decision that may be appealed to the five-Member Board in Washington for a final agency determination…Of the total charges filed each year (about 5,000} approximately one-third are found to have merit of which over 0 percent are settled.


1 Greensboro News & Record, April 14, 14


Column by Mark Sutter, Greensboro News & Record, April 18, 14


Greensboro New & Record, September , 16


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civil rights movement of the 160s, and its goal was to provide fellowship and support among the pastors and to bring the moral and historical weight of the church to bear in promoting racial and social Justice in the community. "We are led by our faith tradition, through the spirit, to be a meaningful and prophetic voice in the community. That means playing the role of speaking truth to power in whatever context it needs to be done," says Nelson Johnson, one of the organization's most active and activist members. Before becoming a minister, Johnson had been a long-time labor and community organizera survivor, in fact, of the 17 Greensboro Massacre.


For Johnson and for most active members of the Pulpit Forum, the decision to support t the Kmart workers' cause was not difficult in large part because so many of the Kmart workers were members of their congregations, and well-known to the pastors. Some ministers had already heard of the frustrations their parishioners were encountering at the distribution center. Young workers come and shared that we are faced with intolerable heat, that there is very little respect shown for us, that women are treated as the objects of the fantasies and desires of men, that attention to your family a minute or so late and you're out of here,' Johnson says. To the pastors, it was important that their parishioners not bow to such dehumanizing treatment. After hearing a presentation from the workers, and holding a discussion, the Pulpit Forum agreed to lend support to the workers' cause. They sent a letter to Kmart corporate headquarters expressing their concern, and urging Kmart to bargain in good faith with the workers.


Upping the Ante


Meanwhile, late in March, the Kmart local began to turn up the heat. On March 5, 5 Kmart workers conducted a surprise raid on the offices of another GGO sponsor, Merrill Lynch, which had not responded to the union's letter requesting a meeting. This action took considerable tactical planning, as there were security guards at the entry level of the Merrill Lynch building. Thus, the workers sent a small copy decoy group to draw building security to the front of the building, while the majority of the workers ran in the back entrances, commandeered two elevators, and marched off, en masse, into the staid and buttoned down company offices, shouting their signature chant, "No justice, no peace!" "The people at Merrill Lynch were just totally mortified," Estes recalls with a smile. "It was so funny to see all these people in their white shirts and ties, sitting at their little desks, and all of a sudden all these people come busting through your door." After making a brief presentation of their case to a high-level administrator, the workers willingly left the offices, escorted by the police who had swiftly been summoned to the scene.


Two and a half weeks later, on April 1, the workers conducted a second raid this time, crashing a Jaycees cocktail party, held at a Sheraton Hotel. A larger group of workers about 100, filling two buses--poured into the genteel "cocktail sip." "A lot of mart workers] wanted to be part of it, because by this time, a lot of the stuff we were doing was hitting the newspaper," Estes says. "Some people joined in because a friend


Kmart Union in Greensboro Fights for a Contract (A)______________________________ C15-00-160.0


spokesperson at the Jaycees' party, made a brief speech telling the Jaycees that, as the primary beneficiaries of the Kmart GGO, they had a responsibility to use their leverage with Kmart to urge the company to settle a contract with its workers. If they refused, he warned, the Kmart workers might disrupt the Kmart GGO.


These actions did succeed in jangling the nerves of the Jaycees and Kmart GGO sponsors, but they did not succeed in persuading local leaders to pressure Kmart to negotiate a contract with its workers. Just after the action at the Jaycees cocktail party, the Greensboro News & Record ~wrote an editorial dripping with indignation at the union's tactics and threats. "Greensboro Jaycee got an undeserved jolt the other night when a bunch of unpleasant people barged into the club's meeting and proceeded to make fools of themselves," it stated.


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