Thursday, October 3, 2019
Feasibility study for adidas clothing stores
Feasibility study for adidas clothing stores This feasibility study for the clothing shop, that is Adidas stores, was conducted over a period of 3 months, from June to September, 2010. The business would operate as a sport brand and located in the most famous business circle, Victoria square, as research and surveys conducted during the feasibility research period indicate that the sport brand and the site would be the most profitable way. The goals of the clothing shop are varied, including satisfying the consumers need, making a profit and consolidate the status of Adidas. And the main mission of the clothing shop is to provide a place and service for local consumers to get high quality sport clothing and make their life more convenient. The feasibility research report contains the 4P analysis, that is, the product, price, promotion, place are analyzed. The strength and competition of the clothing shop are also researched. 2.0 Products and Services 2.1 Products and services description This clothing shop sells Adidas brand sports clothing, offers an excellent environment and service for consumers, and shows a kind of taste and experience an emotion. The aim of the clothing shop is to make it become a good place for leisure shopping. 2.2 Resources and technology Clothing store is a demanding profession requires the size and grade of the industry, products and services, after all, it is a high consumption, the consumer must care the fully reflection of their consumption value. To achieve this, there is a very high demand on the resources of investors, and technology. Joining the brand make it access to sufficient resources, advanced equipment and technology, and importantly, on the other hand, it can avoid a lot of risks. 2.3 Future products and services plans With the shops development and changes in the surrounding environment, the products and services will continue to improve, including more comprehensive new products, better quality and personalized service. The shop will continuously improve under the support of Adidas brand and its own efforts. 3.0 Project Site and Construction Conditions 3.1 Project site The city is a popular one which hosts international and domestic sporting events, such as cricket, South Australia Golf championship, classic car race, bike race. The site is determined at Victoria Square, a famous commercial circle. A surveyà [1]à conducted there indicates that people here are willing to buy the product of Adidas, and the percentage of items are shown in figure 1. Figure 1 Market survey 3.2 Construction conditions Economic conditions Adelaides economy is mainly manufacturing, military and research. The city has large manufacturing, military and research area. Holden car, Mitsubishi Group has manufacturing plants in Adelaide, the city also has health equipment and electronic components plant. About half of the cars produced in Australia come from Adelaideà [2]à . Australias largest oil company and the famous brewery is located in Adelaide, its per capita economic growth is higher than the Australian averageà [3]à . Adelaide is Australias major arsenal, 70% military industrial company in Australia is located in Adelaide, and its gross domestic product reaches 10 billion Australian dollars. Natural conditions Adelaide is a Mediterranean climate, warm and rainy in winter and drying in summerà [4]à . Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Average high temperatureà °C (à °F) 27.8 (82) 28.4 (83.1) 25.4 (77.7) 22.0 (71.6) 18.7 (65.7) 15.8 (60.4) 15.0 (59) 16.0 (60.8) 18.1 (64.6) 20.9 (69.6) 23.7 (74.7) 26.0 (78.8) Average low temperature à °C (à °F) 15.9 (60.6) 16.2 (61.2) 14.5 (58.1) 11.7 (53.1) 9.7 (49.5) 7.6 (45.7) 7.1 (44.8) 7.7 (45.9) 9.0 (48.2) 10.7 (51.3) 12.8 (55) 14.7 (58.5) Precipitation mm (inch) 20.0 (0.787) 18.3 (0.72) 24.3 (0.957) 36.8 (1.449) 48.9 (1.925) 56.9 (2.24) 64.2 (2.528) 52.5 (2.067) 49.9 (1.965) 43.5 (1.713) 22.7 (0.894) 24.6 (0.969) Figure 2 Average data of Adelaide airport Traffic conditions Adelaide is the important traffic intersection of Australias east-west and north-south direction. The road is always better than many other Australian cities. Adelaides with a name of 20-minute city because the car can reach from the suburbs to the city center within 20 minutesà [5]à . Adelaide International Airport is Australias newest and most advanced airport. 3.3 Supplies Consumption of major materials According to the project scale, this project needs all kinds of garments, including T-shirts, jackets, shorts, pants, shoes, etc., and the annual consumption is shown in the following table. No. Material Unit Annual consumption 1 T-shirts piece 30910 2 Jackets piece 79080 3 Shorts pair 20450 4 Pants pair 54770 5 Shoes pair 76920 Figure 3 Annual consumption of materials (2) Sources of major materials All kinds of raw and auxiliary materials required for the project are internal stock, and hence the supply is adequate. (3) Quality requirment of major materials All the materials needed in the shop is checked according the corresponding standard, and satisfies the need of consumers to assure the product quality. 3.4 Logistics The company is equipped with sufficient storage space, which can be used to solve the storage needs of finished and packing materialsà [6]à . Raw materials in warehouse are divided by batch, and establish a strict regime of materials distribution to prevent mixing batches. Transport system adopts advanced third party logistics, which is quick, convenient and cost-saving. 4.0 Investment Objectives and Tasks 4.1 Investment objective Become a leading sports clothing brand in the region, and make it a fashion consumer sites. 3 years to recover the total investment cost, and gradually start making profits. 4.2 Investment tasks (1) Stabilize capital, implement an ideal investment channels for investors and provide them with a stable and reasonable income. (2) Successfully complete the construction and development of brand stores, and gradually make the capital investment to generate income. (3) Use the existing sites to upgrade Adidas brand, increase brand awareness and customer amount to achieve mutually profit. 4.3 The key to success (1) The good cooperation of investors and owners, and the best combination advantages of both resources. (2) Sufficient market demand, active and effective campaign. (3) The location of the grasp. Clothing store is in the address of beauty and in a business circle. 5.0 The Market Analysis 5.1 The market demand Our consumer demand is still relatively ample. On the one hand, there are stable and old customers, on the other hand, there are beautiful natural and relatively stable business district. (1) Stability of the old client resources. This part of the consumer is the natural client resources after the completion of the new brand stores. When they face more appeal, better products and services of the brand stores, they will continually become the loyal customers of the brand. The residential area Enterprises in the region Schools in the region In general, the target consumers are sufficient, but here there is a lack of brand appeal on the scale of the clothing store, we shop here just to fill this market gap. 5.2 Industry development trends (1) The clothing market is growing rapidlyà [7]à , and it has become a major trend of consumption, the market early training has ended. (2) The taste of the consumer is becoming increasingly high. The culture charm is the charm of the market. Consumers are starting to cognitive clothing brand, clothing style and know how to enjoy the fun. The rapid development of sports clothing market is closely related to the natural sport interest of the consumer. (3) Education level, family income and frequency of exercise show a significant positive correlationà [8]à . (4) The competition within the industry and associated industries is increasingly intense. There are more and more clothing stores in the city. Meanwhile, other brands of sports clothing are all relevant alternatives. 5.3 Competition comparisons (1) Indirect competition with the strong brand stores. Currently the city has more than 10 sports clothing stores, of which the largest competitor of Adidas, Nike, 4. Peripheral consumer source will be diverted by these indirect competitors. (2) Direct competitors. Some of the other sports clothing in the region is the direct competitors. Their size is not too large, but they have some characteristics, price and quality are good. These stores still have a certain competition. However, peer competition situation, mainly small-scale, has a certain personality clothing store in the region, is good for us. In contrast, our shop has a considerable advantage on brand appeal, management level, product and service quality, scale and finance. The fashion and taste of the clothing shop determine its share of emotional consumption, and consumers are very concerned about the brand and grade factors. This can also explain the large number of consumers prefer to find clothing store downtown. 6.0 Promotion Strategy 6.1 Market strategy Target market The target market contains the regions consumers in the business district, with monthly income of 1,000 $A. The majority are well-educated, and they pursuit fashion and taste, mainly youngster and the middle-aged. Marketing planning Utilize the brand and resources advantages, and establish rapidly the popularity and reputation of Adidas to solid the old consumer source, getting back the consumers attracted by strong brand stores and local specialty shops. Although the Adidas brand is strong, this region is likely to have other strong brand clothing store in the future. Therefore, we must use all the opportunities and resources now, making a good service marketing and more personalized service, build our own brand to consolidate the customer loyalty. 6.2 Promotion The most important thing is to make the shop known by the consumers nearby as quickly as possible. (1) Advertising For district residents, deliver fine single-page advertisement and small gifts, one-page form can also be made the form of discount vouchers. (2) Event marketing Hold student party and reading activities. Contact the Universitys student union and several important regional organizations; hold a number of salon parties and school activities and this is helpful in raising quality to attract students and young consumers. When the time is ripe, we can also organize an activity with movement and life as the theme of the essay writing. (3) Service marketing Besides brand identity, service for clothing is also important to consumers. To do this, more personalized service is needed. Establish membership card. Members name is printed on the card, such as bank card. Membership card discount rate was not high, such as 9.8 fold. However, on the one hand, it can give consumers a sense of respectability, and on the other hand, it is easy for attendant to call the consumers. Especially if consumers and other people are together, and the attendants can publicly call him (her) Mr. (Miss), they will feel they are respected and welcomed. (4) Personalized service Put some promotional materials in the table, and the content of which is about the knowledge and stories of the Adidas. On the one hand, it can enhance the taste and the atmosphere, and on the other hand, it can increase the favorable impression of consumers. For many consumers who come together, we can explain the brand with specialized person. If they are interested, you can introduce the brand name, the origin and other relevant knowledge to them. 7.0 Financial Plan 7.1 Financial overview No. Name Amount ($A) 1 Rent 650,000 / year 2 Joining fees 200 00/ year 3 Decoration and reconstruction 60 000 4 Salaries 40,000 / month 5 Water and electricity 10,000 / month 6 Other costs 10,000 / month 7 Other charges 50 000 Figure 4 Financial overview 7.2 Device configuration No. Device type Name Quantity Unit price ($A) Total price ($A) 1 Business equipment Container 2 1200 2400 2 TV 2 6000 12000 3 Computer 2 4000 8000 4 Sofa 3 5000 15000 5 Cash register 2 3000 6000 6 Office Equipment Air conditioner 3 3000 9000 7 telephone 2 200 400 8 Fax machine 1 1500 1500 9 Printer 1 1500 1500 Total 18 55880 Figure 5 Device configuration expenditure
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Emotional Aspects of Mary Reilly :: Essays Papers
Emotional Aspects of Mary Reilly Throughout her tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Martin maintains some emotional aspects of the original Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, while discarding and replacing others. Although the subtleties of the emotions in Stevenson's novel are deeper than those of Martin's, they may still be found spotting the plot in all of the different characters. Stevenson's primary characters, Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll, and Mr. Utterson, display the strongest emotions, and can be most easily documented and interpreted. Martin, on the other hand, swaps out Mr. Utterson as the primary character and replaces him with Mary Reilly, a housemaid living with Dr. Jekyll. Unlike Stevenson, Martin provides a very grand emotional display. Mary is plagued by several distinct emotions, and the thoughts and feelings of Dr. Jekyll are brought to light far more vividly than in Stevenson's text. By utilizing a deep connection to emotion in her novel, Mary Reilly, Valerie Martin nearly transforms the genre of the original Dr. Je kyll and Mr. Hyde into a psychological thriller. Mary Reilly's emotions play the strongest role in Martin's novel. Since the Mary Reilly character does not appear in the original novel, it is difficult to compare her emotional characteristics to those found in Stevenson's novel; her point of view, however, can be loosly juxtaposed to the overall style of the narrators involved in Stevenson's novel. As previously noted, the emotions expressed by Stevenson are mostly implied, but they nevertheless carry a great deal of importance to the novel. As the Stvenson novel is told exclusively by upper-class characters and a narrator viewing only those upper-class characters, a great deal of detail is left out. The thoughts and feelings of Utterson, Lanyon, and Jekyll are all downplayed in a sort of "gentleman's modesty". Jekyll does not even reveal his chemically separated counterpart to anyone until desperate circumstances reqire that he release the information to Lanyon. Utterson masks his concern with his professional attitude, and Poole , Jekyl's butler, does the same. All of this masquerading begins to come to an end when at last the true identity of Mr. Hyde is brought to light. Until this point, the reader has only a few hints and his/her own thoughts to be guided by. In a plot-turning scene set in the street below Dr. Jekyll's open window, Jekyll tries to speak with Utterson and Enfield as they pass by: Emotional Aspects of Mary Reilly :: Essays Papers Emotional Aspects of Mary Reilly Throughout her tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Martin maintains some emotional aspects of the original Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, while discarding and replacing others. Although the subtleties of the emotions in Stevenson's novel are deeper than those of Martin's, they may still be found spotting the plot in all of the different characters. Stevenson's primary characters, Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll, and Mr. Utterson, display the strongest emotions, and can be most easily documented and interpreted. Martin, on the other hand, swaps out Mr. Utterson as the primary character and replaces him with Mary Reilly, a housemaid living with Dr. Jekyll. Unlike Stevenson, Martin provides a very grand emotional display. Mary is plagued by several distinct emotions, and the thoughts and feelings of Dr. Jekyll are brought to light far more vividly than in Stevenson's text. By utilizing a deep connection to emotion in her novel, Mary Reilly, Valerie Martin nearly transforms the genre of the original Dr. Je kyll and Mr. Hyde into a psychological thriller. Mary Reilly's emotions play the strongest role in Martin's novel. Since the Mary Reilly character does not appear in the original novel, it is difficult to compare her emotional characteristics to those found in Stevenson's novel; her point of view, however, can be loosly juxtaposed to the overall style of the narrators involved in Stevenson's novel. As previously noted, the emotions expressed by Stevenson are mostly implied, but they nevertheless carry a great deal of importance to the novel. As the Stvenson novel is told exclusively by upper-class characters and a narrator viewing only those upper-class characters, a great deal of detail is left out. The thoughts and feelings of Utterson, Lanyon, and Jekyll are all downplayed in a sort of "gentleman's modesty". Jekyll does not even reveal his chemically separated counterpart to anyone until desperate circumstances reqire that he release the information to Lanyon. Utterson masks his concern with his professional attitude, and Poole , Jekyl's butler, does the same. All of this masquerading begins to come to an end when at last the true identity of Mr. Hyde is brought to light. Until this point, the reader has only a few hints and his/her own thoughts to be guided by. In a plot-turning scene set in the street below Dr. Jekyll's open window, Jekyll tries to speak with Utterson and Enfield as they pass by:
A soldiers Tale :: essays research papers
You are on a small boat, cramped with scruffy men outfitted in full combat gear. Nervous and pensive they shift about, while you stand and wonder, ââ¬Å"What the hell is going to happen to me?â⬠Suddenly, an older man yells, ââ¬Å"Get ready! Weââ¬â¢re going in!â⬠The boat slows down, and a ringing bell goes off. The front ramp slowly opens forwardâ⬠¦and then all hell breaks loose. A hail of bullets rips and thunders, tearing up your comrades into pieces of flesh and organs, spewing forth the liquid of life. Yet you survive, diving into the cold, murky waters below. The bullets are not content with the open air, and dive below, chasing after you like a dog to fresh meat. You see other men, wearing the same combat fatigue that you do. You struggle to bring your head above the water. Thunder and lightning split the air, striking down your friends, while grim men, cold as ice, plug away at their 150mm guns. It is a barrage on your senses, the smell of ozone, the crackle of gunfire, the sight of death, the taste of salt water, and the coldness of the sea. You struggle out of the water and take cover behind a creature of steel, a device to block tanks, most likely. You hide behind there, while you hear men die, their screams burning into your mind. You see men fight, some die, some live, yet you still hid. Nighttime comes, and with it, silence. You decide then, to leave your cover, and venture out, into the killing fields. It is quiet, and you see other men with rifles in their hand, congregating together. You join them, and devise a plan to destroy the grim men. You and other men take black tubes of death, Bengolers, and insert them into the rough terrain. They explode with a flash and bang, and you charge with the men, ready to attack. This might sound like a movie about World War II, maybe Saving Private Ryan. However, this is no movie. This is real life. That was the story of my granduncle, Bill Zimmerman. He was a corporal, leader of his platoon, in the general infantry. He was only 19 years of age. He survived D-Day, and went on to fight the Battle of the Bulge, and he survived there too. This is the story of the day known as D-Day, the day the tides turned for the Allies.
The Legitimacy of Electronic Scholarly Publishing Essay -- Argumentati
The Legitimacy of Electronic Scholarly Publishing At most institutions of higher learning in the United States and worldwide the emphasis is placed on the depth and breadth of the institution's research, at least as far as the institution's reputation and renown are concerned. An institution that does not produce much scholarly research in the form of conference activity or publication activity will not carry the same high regard as an institution which is much more involved in conference participation and publication. Sometimes individual state institutions are regarded as having powerful personas if they have established and maintained their university presses, but other universities do not have the funding nor the personnel to attempt such an endeavor and must seek other venues for touting their scholarly accomplishments. While most scholarly publishing is in the traditional print medium, a growing number of scholarly publications are finding new offices in the new technology, either in the form of e-books or online scholarly journals. With the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web, traditional print publications are having to decide if they want to ride the "information superhighway" or simply lag behind in a horse-drawn carriage. Some traditional mediaââ¬âtelevision, radio, newspapers, and magazinesââ¬âhave tested the waters by providing online access to some of their features. Similarly, some scholarly journals, convinced that a foray into electronic publication does not mean lower revenues nor higher costs, have also decided to continue their traditional publication while including access to selectively chosen features. The American Journal of Physiologyââ¬âHeart and Circulatory Physiol... ...text Journal.â⬠Serials Review. 22.1(Spring 1998): 1-19. MasterFILE Premier. Ebscohost. Galileo. http://www.galileo.usg.edu Sweeney, Aldrin E. "E-Scholarship and Electronic Publishing in the Twenty-First Century: Implications for the Academic Community." Education Media International. 38.1 (March 2001): 25-38. Academic Search Premier. Ebscohost. Galileo. http://galileo.usg.edu Tomlins, Christopher L. ââ¬Å"The Wave of the Present: The Printed Scholarly Journal on the Edge of the Internet.â⬠Journal of Scholarly Publishing. 29.3(April 1998): 133-150. Academic Search Premier. Ebscohost. Galileo. http://galileo.usg.edu Wills, Mathew, and Wills, Gordon. "The Ins and the Outs of Electronic Publishing." Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing. 11.1 (1996): 90-104. MasterFILE Premier. Ebscohost. Galileo. <http://galileo.usg.edu>
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Division of Labor According to Gender in Virginia Woolfs A Room of One
Division of Labor According to Gender in Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own Virginia Woolf, in her treatise A Room of One's Own, identified a gendered division of labor. For her, men work in the market place and make the money while the women, the upper class women at least, attend to the social pleasantries and household management. While she lamented this state of affairs, she did not present, as Gilman did, a model for existence that would allow men and women to operate on the same level. However, a direct comparison to Gilman is somewhat unfair as she was not focused on the status of women in the economy so much as the status of women as writers. Like Gilman, Woolf saw this division between a man's work and a woman's work as a socially constructed conceit. Unlike Gilman, Woolf advocated a further break between the world of men and women. Woolf saw the status of women as a socially constructed situation. She certainly does blame the patriarchy for this, however, blame also falls on the women. "At the thought of all those women working year after year and finding it hard to get two thousand pounds together...we burst out in scorn at the reprehensible poverty of our sex" (Woolf 21). It is not that Woolf pitied the situation of British women, she scorned it. She declared that women were responsible for their own "reprehensible" state (21). She lamented: "If only Mrs. Seton and her mother and her mother before her had learnt the great art of making money and had left their money...to the use of their own sex...we might have looked forward...to a pleasant and honourable lifetime spent in the shelter of one of the liberally endowed professions" (21). The fact that it was "their fathers and their grandfathers bef... ...the broader situation of the implicit implications of the sexual divisions of labor. While certainly women in academic positions will mitigate the misogyny of Professor von X, it proposes little to change women's attitude towards making money for their own descendants. We are left to assume that a change in the intellectual elite will percolate down into the ranks of the working class. Whatever the problematic implications, Woolf called for a new era where "[women] have the habit of freedom and the courage to write exactly what [they] think" (Woolf 113). She closed her treatise on a comment pointed at the female writers of her age: "I maintain that she [Shakespeare's sister] would come if we worked for her, and that so to work, even in poverty and obscurity, is worth while" (114). References Woolf, V. A Room of One's Own. London: Harcourt, 1929. 1
Rhetorical Analysis of an Argument
Jordan Sands Jaimie Young ENG 101 23 January 2013 Rhetorical Analysis of an Argument The Direct TV commercial ââ¬Å"Donââ¬â¢t attend your own funeralâ⬠focuses on the quality of service, and the customer service of regular cable in comparison to Direct TV. From the beginning scene and progression of the commercial, itââ¬â¢s implied that cable service is bad, causing customers to need someone to come fix the service. This would trigger a chain of events, outrageously resulting in having to fake a funeral. As unbelievable and unrealistic as the claim may seem, the audience has been addressed with a sense of humor which makes the claim effective.The commercial starts out with an ââ¬Å"average Joeâ⬠at home sitting in front of his TV. You can tell by the scene, he lives in a small apartment, appears to be single, and is aged between 20 and 30 years old. This situation would apply to a majority of the audience/people seeing this commercial. The TV has a gray screen, and the commercial is introduced as, ââ¬Å"When you wait forever for the cable guy, you get bored. â⬠This gives the audience the idea that cable service is bad, and doesnââ¬â¢t work; therefore you would need a technician to come fix it.This would be considered an audience appeal in a more ethical way; it gives Direct TV the credibility regular cable doesnââ¬â¢t have, and is being stripped of in this commercial. As claimed, when someone gets bored while waiting, they look outside and ââ¬Å"see things they shouldnââ¬â¢t seeâ⬠, which is demonstrated in the commercial as two men putting a large plastic bag into the back of a car. You can tell by the menââ¬â¢s reactions that ââ¬Å"Joeâ⬠was in trouble. The next scene is Joe in his room, which is very plainly decorated, and small. The entire lay out of his house is dull, and doesnââ¬â¢t draw attention at all.When noticing this, itââ¬â¢s also shown that Joe is very plainly dressed as well; he has muted-colo red casual business attire on. This gives the impression that if someone has cable, their life is normal and almost boring; life would be so much more vibrant and convenient with Direct TV. Joe is seen frantically putting things into a suitcase because he ââ¬Å"needs to vanishâ⬠. That escalates into him swimming away from a burning boat, and the announcersââ¬â¢ explanation is that he needed to fake his own death in order to vanish. After that, Joe is forced to dye his eyebrows in order to live a double life.Meaning for the audience; if you donââ¬â¢t have Direct TV, you need a new life. This is one of the underlining assumptions that things are tied together- or the warrant. The last time we see Joe, he is sitting in the back of a funeral service. His entire appearance has changed; he looks much older, has glasses on and he has white hair, eyebrows, and a mustache. Everyone in the crowd is crying, looking down, etc. This gives the audience the emotional aspect of the evid ence, connecting them to the situation. Joe is keeping his head down as the announcer says, ââ¬Å"And when you dye your eyebrows, you attend your own funeral as a guy named Phil Shifley.Donââ¬â¢t attend your own funeral as a guy named Phil Shifley. â⬠In other words, donââ¬â¢t go through all of this trouble in result of having regular cable, and switch to Direct TV. This same advice is given through a more straight forward approach by saying ââ¬Å"Get rid of cable. â⬠Another warrant would be, getting rid of cable will get rid of all these outrageous problems that cable may and will cause. The audience can appreciate the humor of the idea that obviously things wouldnââ¬â¢t actually escalate like in the commercial just because of your TV service.The idea of this chain of events being connected to not having Direct TV would be the warrant. The audience is also showed a price of the service starting at $29. 99 a month, making it seem as if itââ¬â¢s an easy fix. The prices would be considered a logical audience appeal; cheap prices are always an eye grabber. As far as a stretch as it is, the audience successfully gets the idea that regular cable is not worth having. When itââ¬â¢s not working, it takes a long time for the customer service to come through; leaving the customer without a TV. This leads to the question, ââ¬Å"Why pay more for something that doesnââ¬â¢t work? when shown seemingly cheap prices for Direct TVââ¬â¢s more reliable, customer friendly service. When the audience is given a person to relate to: the average Joe, and a situation to connect to: TV trouble and a normal life, it makes it easier for the audience to put themselves into Joeââ¬â¢s position. When trying to sell a product, one of the key points is to paint a picture for the customer; show them why they need something and how it can better their lives. Making the customer laugh lightens the mood. All of these points have been met in this commercial, so it would be considered effective.
Psychoanalytic Approach to Eating Disorders
NHS states that the average GP will have one to two anorexic patients in their practice. However, this is probably more, as eating disorders are such a secret, and many people do not come forth to be treated. Anorexia is a mental eating disorder, characterised by; refusal to maintain normal weight for ones age and height, (more than 15 percent below predicted weight. intense fear of becoming obese, which doesnââ¬â¢t diminish even with weight loss, body image distortion and absence of at least three consecutive menstrual cycles expected to occur (in women sufferes) For many years psychoanalytic theorists have been interested in the distal influences on anorexia nervosa an extremely common eating disorder. It has been argued that the psychoanalytic approach has made great contribution to understanding mental disorders such as the later, not just through theories, but also through therapies and case studies.This essay will touch upon the aforementioned topics. It became clear that al though the psychoanalytic theory has, and forever will make massive contribution in our understanding of mental disorder, there are many fundamental flaws of the theory. There are many theories under the broad umbrella of psychoanalysis, this essay will begin discussing the personality theories such as the ââ¬Ëobject relations theoryââ¬â¢; this psychoanalytic theory describes the process of developing the mind as one grows in relation to others in the environment, primarily the family and especially between mother and child.Palazzoli proposed an object relations theory of the mental disorder anorexia nervosa. Palazzoli formulated that the anorexic patient identifies her body with her ââ¬Ëbadââ¬â¢ internalized mother, who has not been integrated with her psyche. The body is internalised as a maternal object, therefore when changes begin at puberty, the child sees this as a direct attack from the internalised mother. The patientââ¬â¢s response is to fight back against t he internalised mother by controlling her body through controlling food intake and exercising.Therefore the psychoanalytic approach proves to have contributed to our understanding mental disorder greatly. However, one weakness of this theory would be that the theory is highly theoretical, therefore all data is based on a concept that cannot be verified objectively. On the other hand, Art therapy has qualities which are integrated with the object relations theory allowing the patient to express unconscious internal material without activating defence mechanisms, proving the psychoanalytic theory to be key in our understanding of mental disorder.Another personality theory that comes under psychoanalysis would be Freudââ¬â¢s theory of psychosexual development. Freud expressed that if there was any problem at any of the stages of development, stressful experiences would arise in adult life through regression. The link from this theory to anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa would be f ixation in the phallic stage of development (3-6), Males have the capacity to develop the Oedipus complex, while females, the Electra complex. At this stage children begin to differentiate between male and females through genital awareness.Males are intrigued by their mothers and are jealous of their fatherââ¬â¢s intrusion, resulting in castration anxiety. In the case of the female, she is attracted to her father, and realises that she doesnââ¬â¢t have a penis, this leads to penis envy and the wish to be a boy, she too internalises these feelings. However Freud argued that fixation for both male and female children can occur at this point through displacement of their ââ¬Ëfeelingsââ¬â¢ onto their bodies thus resulting in vanity, preoccupation with body shape, and anorexia.Freud (1889/ 1954) likened eating disorders to â⬠a melancholia occurring when sexuality has been underdevelopedâ⬠¦Loss of appetite is in sexual terms loss of libidoâ⬠. Ironically Freudâ⠬â¢s daughter suffered from anorexia. While this psychoanalytical explanation is effective in helping to understand mental disorder such as anorexia there are weaknesses; perhaps one of the biggest weaknesses is that Freud doesnââ¬â¢t place enough emphasis on culture or society and how both factors play a massive role in a childââ¬â¢s behaviours.Erickson argues that too much emphasis is placed on sexual urges and not enough on later factors, and many argue that much of freuds work is highly reductionistic. However it could be urged that Freud provided a valuable insight into how early experiences affect adult personality and how these fixations can lead to psychological problems and mental disorder in later life. Another weakness put forth was one by neo Freudian Karen Horney; she argued against penis envy and claimed that this was merely a womanââ¬â¢s envy of menââ¬â¢s power in the world, which was justified.She also claimed that womb envy occurs just as much in men, and that men were envious of a womanââ¬â¢s ability to bear children. This therefore faults Freuds psychosexual theory, indicating that the psychoanalytic approach does not necessarily contribute to the understanding of mental disorders. The anal stage of the psychosexual model is also thought to be able to give a plausible explanation as to why mental disorders occur, i. e. anorexia nervosa.It is thought that the anal stage is when a child learns to control excretion and that fixation occurring at this stage could lead to power struggle, between the child and parent. Thus the child may feel the need to gain autonomy over themselves and their bodies, therefore creating an illusion of control and this could lead to mental disorders such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. It is also thought that children experiencing conflicts at the anal stage can develop anal personality traits, namely those associated with orderliness, cleanliness or compulsion.The ââ¬Ëanal retentiveâ⬠⢠personality is thought to be compulsive, and a perfectionist. This easily links with mental disorders such as anorexia nervosa. This proves the psychoanalytic approach to be key in our understanding of mental disorders. One criticism however is that most of Freudââ¬â¢s work is based on findings of case studies, single individual cases are often unique and there are problems with generalization, as individual differences occurs every day in amongst people, therefore results for one individual may be different for another.Although it has been argued that the order of behaviour and age ranges of the psychosexual stages are correct, thus giving us a deeper insight and better understanding of the contributions made from psycho analytics to childhood and mental disorder later on in life. Perhaps the most obvious link between Freudââ¬â¢s sexual stages and mental disorder such as anorexia nervosa is the ââ¬Ëoral stageââ¬â¢ this stage is from around 0 to 18 months and is the first stage in the psychosexual model.It could be formulated that a child fixated at the oral stage could be preoccupied later on in life with food, thus, leading to anorexia nervosa. Supporting evidence for this was carried out by Jacobs at al (1966) using Rorschach inkblots to compare the orality of smokers and non-smokers. It was found that smokers emerged as possessing oral personality types, as this personality type is preoccupied with anything to do with the mouth, i. e. Thumb sucking, smoking, masticating and most obvious: eating, therefore mental disorders such as anorexia may be more likely to occur in these types of individuals.Thus the psychoanalytic contributes greatly to our understanding of mental disorder as the theory provides us with studies. On the other hand a weakness would be that the psychosexual stages model is simplistic and naive, as the assumption that only childhood experiences cause harm to the personality and that later experience are not harmful is simp listic. It could also be labelled deterministic, as the model implies that all children who are fixated at particular points in the stages will develop some sort of mental disorder which is untrue.Mental defence mechanisms also play an important part in the psychoanalytic theory of mental disorder. Freud theorised that a defence mechanism is a tactic developed by the ego to protect against anxiety and to safe guard the mind against feelings that society may look down upon or that are too difficult for the conscious mind to cope with. One important defence mechanism would be ââ¬Ëdisplacementââ¬â¢ it is believed that the affect of painful memories that the mind canââ¬â¢t cope with can be displaced and then attached to another memory. Dare & Crowther 1995)This could be the case with many patients suffering from an eating disorder. i. e. Mary was sexually abused as a child. She doesnââ¬â¢t know how to cope with this, people at school then begin to bully her and call her fat. therefore her ego uses the defence mechanism of displacement, and displaces the bad memories of sexual abuse onto food, and refuses to eat and then develops anorexia. This shows how greatly the psychoanalytic theory contributes to our understanding of mental disorder.The case of the wolf man supports the theory of displacement. The wolf man first came to see Freud in 1910 with body dysmorphic disorder; The essential feature of this disorder is a preoccupation with an imagined defect in appearance or disproportionate concern with a slight physical anomaly. Wolf man suffered from anxiety and depression and approached Freud for treatment, explaining that he would have a recurrent dream that would wake him up on most nights.He would dream that he could see six white wolves sitting on a walnut tree staring at him outside of his window ââ¬â the sight terrified him. Freud traced all his problems back to childhood neurosis. It turned out that when wolf man was around two years old that he had woken up and had seen his parents having sexual intercourse. The violence of this act had terrified him and since then he had been dreaming about and had developed a fear of wolves.It was argued that wolf man could then have seen copulation between animals in the papers and then have displaced this onto his parents. (Freud 1918) This is because the memory of seeing his parents having sexual intercourse had frightened him so much that the defence mechanism ââ¬Ëdisplacementââ¬â¢ arose. In order to safe guard his conscious mind. This case study is proof that the psychoanalytic approach deeply aids us in the understanding of mental disorder. However it has been argued that there was no ââ¬Ëunconsciousââ¬â¢ and that all mental activity was conscious. Jean-Paul Sartre) the unconcious is also unfalsifiable and lacks explanatory or predictive value. Throughout this essay it may seem that the psychoanalytic approach contributes to our understanding of mental disorder, whi ch is supported by case studies and theories however there seem to be many weaknesses of the theory suggesting that theories may need to be revised and tweaked in order to provide us with substantial theories to explain mental disorders such as anorexia nervosa.In conclusion it seems that although the psychoanalytic approach has been influential and has many strong points, overall the theory is slightly discredited and doesnââ¬â¢t contribute to our understanding of mental disorder in the case of anorexia nervosa as much as it should for a theory that has been standing for so many years.
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