Case Study in Exerise Psychology ( Msc ) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Case Study in Exerise Psychology ( Msc ) - Essay Example One such example can be identified in the case of Client A, a 29-year old male junior project manager in a multinational software developing company for almost two years. As he needs to work for five days from Monday to Friday and for 12 hours each day, it becomes quite difficult for him to continue with adequate physical exercise on a regular basis. Moreover, Client A is required to travel away for work frequently which again provides perceived barrier to the performance of regular exercises. Client A used to perform physical exercise regularly before joining the organization. Recently, he noticed an increase in body weight and reduction in the energy and enthusiasm in work. He was also becoming more stressed at the workplace because he was no longer able to devote sufficient time to his health which in turn started hampering his performance. The organisation encourages continuous professional development of their employees including constant monitoring and counselling by the prospe ctive senior officials. In one of the counselling sessions, the senior project manager found that the client was experiencing high levels of stress as a result of not being able to make sufficient time for personal development including regular physical exercise. Thus, he advised Client A to consult a sport psychologist who would efficiently guide him in maintaining his body fitness without compromising with his job responsibilities. Key Challenges Observed in the Case It is well-identifiable from the aforementioned case that the absence of physical exercise was creating a mental pressure on Client A signifying the effect of exercise on the mental health of a person. It was stronger in the current case as a result of Client A’s previous involvement in regular practitioner of physical exercise and has already been aware of its positive affects. This in turn influences his self-determination (the will to achieve a desired goal), self-confidence (the belief to achieve a desired performance) and physical anxiety (nervousness felt by an individual regarding his/her physical ability) to a certain extent (Weinberg & Gould, 2010). Due to the decrease in these factors, he tends to display emotional outburst in the workplace and possess an increased stress level. When first employed by the organisation, he was recognised as a consistent performer which is now noticeably reducing due to his increased stress levels and the resultant behaviour. Therefore, the key challenges for the sports psychologist are to determine ways in which Client A can participate in regular physical activity without compromising with his job responsibilities. These interventions should be based within the cognitive and humanistic approaches. In this regard, analyzing the various aspects regarding Client A’s psychological influence can also be termed a key challenge. Findings of the Case According to the self-determination theory, external environmental factors have a strong influenc e on the mental health of a person which determines their readiness for physical exercise (Ryan & Deci, 2007). The readiness can be further defined as autonomy, competence and relatedness (Ryan & Deci, 2007). It is worth mentioning that the various facets of self-determination theory are intrinsically related to the (Ryan & Deci, 2007). In order to implement the theory in the real practise to identify the various psychological and cognitive factors influencing Client A’s readiness to physical exercise, the psychologist implemented repetitive

Impact of slavery on the lives of african americans during the Essay

Impact of slavery on the lives of african americans during the pre-civil period - Essay Example The history of the African-American in the United States during the pre-civil period (1860) has been shaped by â€Å"slavery† that not only shaped the lives of the African-American people but also the identity of the entire American nation since ‘slavery’ as a socio-political and economic institution Slavery as a legal institution had existed in North America for more than one hundred years before the United States was founded in 1776. But it continued in the South until the 13th Amendment of the US Constitution was passed to abolish slavery in 1865. In the United States, slavery was first practiced in Virginia, one of the former English Colony in 1619. Slavery as Accepted in the US Political Sphere: The Slave Codes Slavery in the US Constitution The Abolitionists often claimed that the US Constitution (before the passing of the 13th Amendment) was â€Å"a slave document created by slave owners† (Berkowitz and Moran). Indeed the truth of the abolitionistsâ €™ claim was first revealed in the â€Å"Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787† published by James Madison. Madison’s documents show that US democracy during those years was orientated, not by any humanitarian interests, but by the core political interests of both the Northern and Southern States. The Three-fifths Compromise Since slavery was economically profitable in almost all of the southern States and the pro-slavery southern Delegates wanted to be benefited from â€Å"increased representation in the House and the Electoral College†, the southerners wanted the slaves to be counted for enumeration. Meanwhile the northerners partially driven the contra-slavery motive as well as the motive to reduce the southern dominance, wanted to count only the free inhabitants of the states. Thus the Three-Fifths Compromise came into being declaring that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted. The aftermaths of the Three-fifths Compromise we re such that the southern delegates began to dominate the Presidency and the Congress until the defeat of the south in the Civil War. Such dominance of the southerners further allowed them to manipulate the judicial and political power to exploit the African-American labor and thus the conditions of the African-Americans deteriorated. The 1793 Fugitive Slave Act One of the most mentionable events during the Southern Dominance in the Congress is the passing of the â€Å"1793 Fugitive Slave Act†. Since according to this Act any state including contra-slavery northern ones was bound to return a fugitive slave to its owner, slaves lost even their last escape from the inhuman exploitation of the slave-owners. Though the consequent 18o8 Law stopped international slave trade, interstate slave trade within the national territory continued. The effect of the 1808 Law was in favor of the anti-slavery northern states. Though the subsequent Missouri Compromise in 1820 brought the balance of power between the antislavery and pro-slavery factions of the United States, providing the northerners with the opportunity to dominate the House of Representative, slavery continued in the south. Dred Scott Case in 1854 and its Impacts The Dred Scott Case in 1854 can be considered as a milestone in the history of the African-American slavery in the United States. A close analysis of this case render a picture how slavery had shaped the African-Americans’ lives. The final decision of the Dred Scott Case was: since Scott was a black, he was not a citizen and he did not have the right to sue his master in the court. Slavery: Racism, Discrimination and Second Class Status The Scott Case infers that slavery in the United States had shifted its basis from war to color and from indentured servitude to slavery as a constitution supported practice of discriminating and depriving a group of people from their rights in