Infuluence of Self Concept on Cummunication Essay Example for Free

Infuluence of Self Concept on Cummunication Essay The self-concept is a major influence in communication for many reasons. When two people are communicating, they are doing so by first sending out a message that is composed and shaped entirely by their inner self-concept. The way that a person sees themselves from the inside thus shapes the external messages they will send out into the world. Regardless of a person’s external circumstances or characteristics – say, their height, age, sex, and so on – their internal self-concept may be significantly different and thus affect their communication. This type of self-concept ties into the area of self-esteem. According to researcher Chris Mruk, there are five dimensions to self-esteem: competence (your beliefs about your ability to be effective), worthiness (your beliefs about the degree to which others value you), cognition (your beliefs about your character and personality), affect (how you evaluate yourself and the feelings generated by your evaluation), and stability or change (Mruk, 1995). Our self-esteem is shaped by a number of factors, both intrinsic and extrinsic to us. Our experiences shape our self-esteem as much as our inborn characteristics, and experiences we have as young children can be especially impactful on our self-esteem, with effects that can last for decades or even a lifetime. Our self-concept is also heavily influenced by the people around us, especially those most important to us. This is known as the Pygmalion Effect, and is described in an experiment by psychologists Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson. In the experiment, teachers were told that certain of their students were gifted, with high IQs. In reality, they were of average intelligence. However, at the end of the year, the average students had improved their grades and IQ scores. This was a result of the high expectations of the teachers, who communicated these high expectations to the students by providing them extra positive reinforcement, and non-verbally communicating the fact that they viewed the students as high-achievers. The results of the study clearly demonstrated that the expectations and communications of the teachers influenced the self-concepts of the students (Rosenthal Jacobson, 1968). The concept of the self plays an enormous role in communications because it is crucial for how a person places themselves and the person they are communicating with in the world. How we view ourselves and others is a fundamental component of the communications process. Self-concept provides the foundation which all communication rests on, because in a very real sense these perceptions determine â€Å"whom† is communicating â€Å"what† to â€Å"whom else†.

NHS And Community Care Act

NHS And Community Care Act Community care essentially aims to provide individuals in need with social, medical and health support in their own homes, as far as possible, rather than in residential establishments or in long-stay institutions. The enactment of the NHS and Community Care Act in 1990 marked a watershed in the evolution of community care practice in the UK (Means, et al, 2002, p 71). Implemented after years of discussion on the social and financial viability of maintaining people in institutions and homes, the NHS and Community Care Act, initiated by Margaret Thatcher, showcased her desire to radically change the practice and delivery of social and health care in the UK (Means, et al, 2002, p 71). The years following the passing of the Act have witnessed significant developments in the practice and delivery of social work in the country. This short essay attempts to investigate the basic reasons for the enactment of the NHS and the Community Care Act, its basic ideology and thrust, and its impact on the social work sector of the country. The essay also studies the developments in social care that have occurred in the years following the act, with particular focus on direct payments for people with learning disabilities, social care provisions for carers and the contemporary emphasis on personalisation. NHS and Community Care Act 1990 Whilst the initiation of the policy of community care in the UK is by and large attributed to Margaret Thatchers conservative government, the concept of community care, even at that time, was not exactly new (Borzaga Defourny, 2001, p 43). The need for community care existed from the beginning of the 1950s. It aimed to provide a better and more cost effective way to help individuals with mental health concerns and physical disabilities by removing them from impersonal, old, and often harsh institutional environments, and taking care of them in their home environments (Borzaga Defourny, 2001, p 43). Although various governments, since the 1950s, supported the need to introduce community care and tried to bring in appropriate changes, lack of concrete action on the issue resulted in constant increase of the number of people in residential establishments and large institutions during the 1960s, 70s and 80s (Borzaga Defourny, 2001, p 43). With numerous negative stories coming out in the media on the difficult conditions in such establishments, Sir Roy Griffiths was invited by Margaret Thatcher to investigate the issue of community care for the residents of such establishments and make appropriate recommendations (Harris, 2002, p 11). The Griffiths, (1988), Report named Community Care: Agenda for Action, followed by the publication of a White Paper Caring for People: Community Care in the Next Decade and Beyond in 1989 led to the enactment of the NHS and Community Care Act 1990 (Cass, 2007, p 241). Apart from being a strong attempt to improve the lives of people in long term institutions and residential establishments, the law was also an outcome of the conservative governments desire to bring market reforms into the public sector and stimulate the private sector to enter the social services, as well as its conviction that competitive markets would be better able to provide more economic services than a bureaucratised public sector (Harris, 2009, p 3). With social services being among the highest revenue spending departments at the local authority level and domiciliary and residential services for older people consuming the bulk of social service funds, community care for older people presented an obvious area for introduction and implementation of market principles (Harris, 2009, p 3). The act split the role of local and health authorities by altering their internal structures, so that local authority departments were required to ascertain the needs of individuals and thereafter purchase required services from providers (Lewis, et al, 1994, p 28). Health organisations, in order to become providers of such services, became NHS trusts that competed with each other. The act also required local social service and health authorities to jointly agree to community care plans for the local implementation of individual care plans for long term and vulnerable psychiatric patients (Lewis, et al, 1994, p 28). The act has however come in for varying degrees of criticism from service users, observers and experts, with some observers claiming the altered care conditions to be unresponsive, inefficient and offering little choice or equity (Malin, et al, 2002, p 17). Other experts, who were not so pessimistic, stated that whilst the system was based upon an excellent idea, it was little better in practice than the previous systems of bureaucratic resource allocation and received little commitment from social services; the lead community care agency (Malin, et al, 2002, p 17). The commitment of local authorities was diluted by the service legacies of the past and vested professional interest, even as social services and health services workers were unable to work well together (Malin, et al, 2002, p 17). Little collaboration took place between social and health services and the impact of the reforms was undermined by chronic government underfunding. The voluntary sector became the main benefici ary of this thrust for the development of a mixed economy of care (Malin, et al, 2002, p 17). Developments after the Enactment of the NHS and Community Care Act The assumption of government by the labour party in 1997 resulted in the progressive adoption of numerous forward looking policies in various areas of social care. The publication of a white paper in 1998 reinforced the governments commitment to promotion of community based care and peoples independence (Means, et al, 2002, p 79). The paper focused on assisting people to achieve and maintain independence through prevention and rehabilitation strategies, with specific grants being introduced to facilitate their implementation. The Health Act of 1999 removed obstacles to the joint working of health and social services departments through provisions for pooling of budgets and merging of services (Means, et al, 2002, p 79). The formulation of the NHS plan aimed to improve partnership between health and social care, the development of intermediate care and the construction of capacity for care through cash for change grants for development of capacity across social and health care systems (Means, et al, 2002, p 79). Direct Payments for Individuals with Learning Disabilities The Community Care (Direct Payments) Act 1996, which came into operation in April 1997, marked a radical change in the provision of community care for people with disabilities, including those with learning difficulties (Tucker, et al, 2008, p 210). It was illegal, prior to the implementation of the act, for local authorities to support people with disabilities by making cash payments in lieu of providing community care services. Policymakers however realised that many local authorities were successfully supporting independent living schemes, centres for independent living and personal assistance schemes (Tucker, et al, 2008, p 210). Such schemes handled community care payments for disabled people and provided them with help to organise assistance or support. The Community Care (Direct Payments) Act built on this situation, allowing direct payments to be made to replace care services, which otherwise would be given by social service departments (Tucker, et al, 2008, p 210). Direct payments provide flexibility in the way services are provided to eligible people. The giving of money, in lieu of social care services, helps people to achieve greater control and choice over their lives and enables them to decide on the time and mode of delivery of services (Tucker, et al, 2008, p 210). Direct payments can not only be used for services to satisfy the needs of children or their families but also enables carers to purchase the services they need to sustain them in their roles. Research conducted in 1997 in the utilisation of direct payments by people with learning difficulties revealed that whilst utilisation of direct payments by people with learning disabilities was increasing, such utilisation was low among women and individuals from minority or black ethnic groups (Tucker, et al, 2008, p 210). Research also revealed the presence of wide differences in the interpretation of the capacity of persons for consenting to direct payments by local authorities. Whils t some local authorities felt that direct payments could be sanctioned to all persons with learning difficulties who were able, with assistance, to successfully control and use direct payments, other authorities did not heed the fact that such people could indeed be assisted to communicate decisions and consequently assumed their inability to consent to direct payments. Such interpretations, it was felt, could debar many people in need from obtaining the facility for direct payments (Tucker, et al, 2008, p 211). Assistance for Carers Recent years have seen a number of social care initiatives for easing the condition of carers. Carers are people who provide assistance and support, without payment, to family members or friends, who are unable to manage without such assistance, on account of illness, frailty or disability (Government Equalities Office, 2010, p 1). Carers can include adults who care for other adults, parents who care for disabled or ill children, or young people who care for other family members. The governments social care policies for carers include supporting people with caring responsibilities for (a) identifying themselves at early stages, (b) recognising the worth of their contribution, and (c) involving them from the beginning in designing and planning individual care (Government Equalities Office, 2010, p 1). Such policies aim to enable carers to (a) satisfy their educational needs and employment potential, and (b) provide personalised support, both for carers and the people they support, to enjoy family and community life and remain physically and mentally well. Whilst the NHS and community care Act 1990 looked at carers as valued resources because of their ability to provide support, it did not refer to their rights; relying instead on rhetoric to deliver the message of their value to society (Government Equalities Office, 2010, p 2). Succeeding years have however witnessed greater focus on the needs of carers and to progressive introduction of suitable laws and appropriate policies. The passing of the Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995 drew attention to the needs of carers. This was followed by the passing of the Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000 and the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004 (Government Equalities Office, 2010, p 2). These acts entitle carers for (a) assess ment of their needs, (b) services in their own right and support in accessing education training, employment and leisure opportunities. The proposed equality bill introduces four new opportunities for carers. It (a) requires public authorities to give due consideration to socio-economic disadvantages, whilst exercising strategic planning functions, (b) takes account of associative discrimination with regard to disabled people, (c) provides for prevention of indirect discrimination, and (d) calls upon public bodies to ensure that their policies are designed to eliminate harassment and discrimination and further equality of opportunity (Government Equalities Office, 2010, p 2). Personalisation The concept of personalisation in social care, whilst discussed for some years, was formally inducted into social care practice in the UK with the publication of Putting People First in 2007. The concordat outlined the concept of a personalised adult social care system, where individuals will have extensive control and choice over the services received by them. The government committed that social services would progressively be tailored to meet the preferences of citizens, with person centred planning along with self directed support becoming mainstream activities, assisted by personal budgets for maximising control and choice (Aldred, 2008, p 31). Whilst personal budgets and direct payments form an important aspect of personalisation, the idea concerns fitting services to the needs of people, focusing on outcomes, and recognising the worth of the opinions of service users assessing their own needs, planning their service, and producing their outcomes (Aldred, 2008, p 31). Conclusions and the Way Forward This essay investigates the reasons behind the enactment of the NHS and the Community Care Act and studies the developments in social care that have occurred in the years following the act, especially in areas of direct payments for people with learning disabilities, social care for carers and personalisation. It is obvious from the results of the study that social care in the UK has experienced significant change and metamorphosis since the enactment of the 1990 act. Whilst significant progress has been made a consensus s growing that the British social care system is facing a crisis because of drivers like increasing demographic pressures, alterations in family and social structures, rising public expectations, increasing desire for greater choice and control, and eligibility for services (Glasby, et al, 2010, p 11). The need to move people out of local accommodation because of rising rents exemplifies the challenges faced by the social care system. With the financial system becoming more challenging, the social care system will have to find ways of improving efficiencies without diluting the quality of care (Glasby, et al, 2010, p 11). The next round of social reforms, whilst attempting to achieve better delivery efficiencies will have to renew its commitment to satisfying social expectations and basic human rights, reducing costs, preventing future needs, helping people to regain independence, freeing individuals to contribute, and supporting carers to care and contribute to society (Glasby, et al, 2010, p 11).

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911 :: United States History Work Safety Essays

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911 275 girls started to collect their belongings as they were leaving work at 4:45 PM on Saturday. Within twenty minutes some of girls' charred bodies were lined up along the East Side of Greene Street. Those girls who flung themselves from the ninth floor were merely covered with tarpaulins where they hit the concrete. The Bellevue morgue was overrun with bodies and a makeshift morgue was set up on the adjoining pier on the East River. Hundred's of parents and family members came to identify their lost loved ones. 146 employees of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company were dead the night of March 25, 1911. The horror of their deaths led to numerous changes in occupational safety standards that currently ensure the safety of workers today. At the time of the fire the only safety measures available for the workers were 27 buckets of water and a fire escape that would collapse when people tried to use them. Most of the doors were locked and those that were not locked only opened inwards and were effectively held shut by the onrush of workers escaping the fire. As the clothing materials feed the fire workers tried to escape anyway they could. 25 passengers flung themselves down the elevator shaft trying to escape the fire. Their bodies rained blood and coins down onto the employees who made it into the elevator cars. Engine Company 72 and 33 were the first on the scene. To add to the already bleak situation the water streams from their hoses could only reach the 7th floor. Their ladders could only reach between the 6th and 7th floor. 19 bodies were found charred against the locked doors. 25 bodies were found huddled in a cloakroom. These deaths, although horrible, was not what changed the feelings toward government regula tion. Upon finding that they could not use the doors to escape and the fire burning at their clothes and hair, the girls of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, aged mostly between 13 and 23 years of age, jumped 9 stories to their death. One after another the girls jumped to their deaths on the concrete over one hundred of feet below. Sometimes the girls jumped three and four at a time. On lookers watched in horror as body after body fell to the earth. "Thud -- dead; thud -- dead; thud -- dead; thud -- dead.

Mental and Social Disorder Essay -- Diseases/Disorders

One in every seventeen people in America suffers from a mental disorder. These disorders inhibit the afflicted person from functioning properly and coping normally with daily life. Many afflicted with a psychological disorder do not exhibit obvious symptoms, as medical advancements have made it possible for these disorders to be suppressed or even nonexistent. Today, however, harsh stigmas exist that unfairly categorize those with a mental illness as violent, unfriendly, and abnormal. The media and federal government are culprits in fabricating the unrealistic depictions of mental disability that define the portrayal of those who are mentally or psychologically disadvantaged. The media is and has been one of the strongest outlets of perpetuating negative mental illness stereotypes. Since the invention of the television and its spread to every American household by the 1960s, television shows have manufactured an image of the mentally disabled as dangerous and unpredictable . The shows depict the mentally ill as very violent; â€Å"One in four mentally ill characters kill someone, and half are portrayed as hurting others .† The ways in which mentally disabled are filmed within a show also differs from the ways that non-disabled characters are shot. Studies show that they are usually filmed â€Å"alone with close-up or extreme shots, reinforcing their isolation and dislocation from the other characters † and from society. In movies, like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the characters who are treated in psychiatric wards are similarly portrayed as crazy and violent, while the mental health field as a whole is negatively stereotyped. Mov ies make the facilities out to be places where electroshock and psychosurgery are commonly practiced medi... ... people with mental illness?." Gale Power Search. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DA-SORT&inPS=true&prodId=GPS&userGroupName=san47811&tabID=T002&searchId=R3&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm ¤tPosition=3&contentSet=GALE%7CA199865961&&docId=GALE|A199865961&docType=GALE&role=EAIM. "TV dramas give misleading view of mental illness, claims report | Society | The Guardian." Latest US news, world news, sport and comment from the Guardian | guardiannews.com | The Guardian. Web. 15 Mar. 2012. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/nov/22/tv-programmes-mental-illness. Watters, Ethan. "The Americanization of Mental Illness - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. Web. 4 Apr. 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/magazine/10psyche-t.html?pagewanted=all.

?It is wrong to try and convert people to your religion.? :: essays research papers

There are many different views to this statement within the Christian faith.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Christian church believes in religious freedom, but they believe that Christianity is the only religion with complete truth, whereas the other religions only contain some truth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One view is of exclusivism. This is the â€Å"old† accepted way. To be â€Å"saved† people must hear and respond to the Christian message. It is the duty of Christians to convert people in order to save them. In Matthew it is said, â€Å"Go make disciples of all nations†. This is a direct instruction for people to go and convert people to Christianity. They believe that the Bible is the word of God, and you can only reach salvation by following Jesus. Jesus said in John 14:6, â€Å" I am the way to truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me†. This shows that you must follow Jesus’ teachings to get to heaven, and by converting people they are helping them get to heaven. An example of this is with Jahovah’s Witnesses. They believe that it is their duty to save people. They believe that they should spread the word to those who have not heard of the religion, so they have a chance to follow it. They do th is by going from house to house to try and find these people and talk to them about God.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another view is of inclusivism. This is the more modern view for Christians. They believe that everybody is born with Gods grace and the ability to be saved. They believe that if you are following another religion and you have not heard of Jesus then you will still go to heaven as you are trying to find the truth. They still believe, however, that Christianity is the only religion, which is complete truth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another Christian view is based on John 14:2. Jesus says, â€Å"In my Father’s house there are many rooms†. Some Christians believe that this means that heaven accepts different religions, so conversion is not needed. They believe that every religion has truth, and all lead to belief in God.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another view is of pluralism. Hindus follow this view. They believe that all religions are pathways to enlightenment.

Biochemistry Fats, Diet, and Heart Disease

Biochemistry Fats, Diet, and Heart Disease ‘Fat’ can sometime be a word that gives people the chills when they hear about it. It is one of the three main sources of calories to our diet and a major part of ones dietary requirement. There are three kinds of fat: saturated, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated. The degree of saturation is dependent on the amount of double and triple bonds in the chemical makeup. Saturated fats are known to increase the body's levels of serum (blood) cholesterol. Along with cholesterol, saturated fats can deposit on the inner walls of blood vessels; a condition known as atherosclerosis.When the heart's arteries become clogged with cholesterol and fats, blood flow can be restricted or totally blocked, leading to severe chest pain and heart attack. Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats actually have a cholesterol-lowering effect. By substituting polyunsaturated fats for the saturated fats in your diet, you can actually help control choleste rol levels. Too much dietary fat can also contribute to overweight. Being overweight can aggravate high blood pressure, place excess strain on your heart, and make it more difficult to stay active and physically fit, thus having a negative impact on your overall cardiovascular health.For about three decades, health institutions like the American Heart Association, National Institutes of Health, World Health Organization, and others advised people to reduce dietary fat by limiting fat intake to fewer than 30 percent of daily calories. Their claim was that a low fat diet ultimately resulted in the reduction or elimination of risk for heart disease although; there wasn't much evidence to support the notion of low-fat diets in the beginning.In an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on February 8, 2006, in a 8th year Women's Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial, about 49,000 women with almost identical rates of heart attack, stroke, and other form s of cardiovascular disease were followed to see the effect of a low-fat diet and those not on the diet. Their results showed that women on the low-fat diet didn't lose or gain any more weight than women who followed their usual diets. The important thing to note from these kinds of studies was the type of fat in the diet.For example the Mediterrean style diet is high in fat but these fats are from plant sources such as olive oil, nuts and seeds which are low in saturated fat intake. The ‘Western† diet on the other hand has fats from animal sources which are usually saturated and produces a higher risk for heart disease. In conclusion, as research grows on diet and heart disease, it’s becoming clearer that looking at a single nutrient in isolation cannot tell us the whole story about a person’s heart disease risk. People eat foods, not nutrients, and they eat them in an overall dietary pattern.The traditional Mediterranean Diet pattern, in contrast, appears to lower the risk of heart disease, stroke, and metabolic syndrome, a constellation of factors that increases the chances of developing heart disease and diabetes. So if you are concerned about heart health, pay attention to your overall diet, not just to the type of fat. Citation Barbara, H. (2006) et al. Low-fat dietary pattern and risk of cardiovascular disease. Journal of the American Medical Association. Retrieved from http://jama. ama-assn. org/content/29 5/6/655. full

Guy de Maupassant’s “Old Mother Savage” Essay

We are all taught that our identity lies in the roles we play throughout life, in other words, in our actions. William Shakespeare wrote, â€Å"All the world’s a stage / And all the men and women merely players. / They have their exits and their entrances†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (As You Like It, II, vii). Whenever people act outside of their parts; whenever we miss our entrance, our identity is challenged. This can be seen everyday in all walks of life and in all arenas. For example, a teen father who takes responsibility for his child is look upon with surprised admiration while a teen mother is look up with distain for becoming pregnant in the first place. Placing standards and expectations upon people can be a vastly good thing, but what happens when those standards and expectations become too rigid–to all consuming? Rigid, all-consuming, roles have been required of women since time remembered. Even in the twenty-first century, the career woman is still expected to maintain a family. Gloria Steinhem puts it succinctly; â€Å"I have yet to hear a man ask for advice on how to combine marriage and a career.† Men are expected to place high priorities on their careers. The implication is that a man will receive less criticism for neglecting his family for his career, while a woman will be criticized sharply for having a career without also being an excellent wife and mother. Many of these identity feminine roles have been so inflexible that many women cannot break free in order to discovery the woman inside. When circumstances force them out of their traditional roles, they find themselves wondering, â€Å"Who am I? What is my purpose?† Guy de Maupassant in his short story â€Å"Old Mother Savage† (1885) depicts a classic example of this. His main character is a mother in German occupied France who is deprived of her identity roles i.e. wife and mother. Since she has nothing else to give her life purpose, she becomes homicidal and a bit suicidal. In this story, Maupassant is arguing that women who have uncompromising and limited identity roles can become violent to themselves and others. Maupassant paints a vivid picture of how nineteenth century countrywomen of France presented themselves to the world at large. The narrator’s friend,  Serval, describes her as â€Å"not at all timid†¦tall and gaunt, neither given to joking nor to being joked with†¦the men folk come in for a little fun at the inn, but the women are always very staid† (p. 161). Victoire Simon, Old Mother Savage, is a kind, yet reclusive woman. She had once offered the Maupassant wine when he passed by her cottage fifteen years earlier tired and thirsty an obvious kindness (p. 160), yet Serval, Maupassant’s friend who tells the story of Old Mother Savage, implies that a â€Å"staid† attitude is normal for the women of the area. Maupassant presents his readers with a woman who has been taught very specific actions for conduct. She dresses so that her â€Å"tightly bound†¦grey hair† is never seen in public. She was taught duty and â€Å"never learned how to stretch [her mouth] in laughter. By the time Maupassant’s readers meet Victoire, her identity is irrevocably tied to performing the duties of wife and mother. Just like all the other wives of the region, she is nothing without the duties of either wife and/or mother. Victoire has her identity challenged thrice. The first challenge occurres many years before when â€Å"[t]he father, an old poacher, had been shot by gendarmes [police]† (p. 160). This provides a serious blow to her wife identity but she buries the lose because after all half her identity is still intact–she is still a mother. The role of mother is more prevalent than that of wife since, she cannot control the actions and their consequences of her husband. He, to some extent, failed in his role of husband and father by getting caught at poaching and subsequently shot for the offense. Victoire, on the other hand, is still around to perform all the motherly duties of keeping a home, cooking meals, and mending clothes, which she does religiously. The second challenge to her identity comes when war is declared and her son, now thirty-three, goes to fight in the Franco- Prussian War. Victoire is alone. She knows her duty but has no one to perform it for save for herself. Her life consists of â€Å"go[ing] to the village once a week, to buy herself bread and a little meat; then get back home at once† (p. 161). She does only what is necessary to keep herself alive until she can resume her duty as mother. In her mind there is nothing else for her–no gossiping with the village ladies; no sewing a new garment for herself; no cups of tea with a  neighbor. Her world ceases to function without her duty to her son. The death stroke to her identity began with the arrival of the Prussians. She is required to billet four of the occupying German soldiers, since she was â€Å"known to be well off† (p. 161). These young men, about the same age as her son â€Å"would clean up the kitchen, scrub the flagstones, chop wood, peel potatoes, wash the house-linen–do, in fact, all the housework, as four good sons might do for their mother† (p. 161). She would cook and mend for them, as a good mother would do. She still had a purpose–to be a mother even if it was to surrogate sons. For a month these soldiers are sons not enemies then she receives word that her son has been killed in the war. Suddenly, her world is shattered without her son she has lost her last shred of purpose. â€Å"The gendarmes had killed the father, the Prussians had killed the son†¦and suffering flooded her heart† (p. 162). With her husband buried for years, her son dead; she has no identity and consequently no purpose in life. Within moments, she plans a special form of revenge–not only will others suffer as she has, not only will someone die for to avenge her son, but she will be sure to die in consequence of her actions. Suddenly, the four German sons become four German soldiers–the enemy. â€Å"Simple folk don’t go in for the luxuries of patriotic hatred†¦the poor and lowly†¦pay the heaviest price†¦their masses are killed off wholesale†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 162). Ones like these German soldiers billeting in her home murdered her boy. It is quite possible that she would have assumed a German mother was caring for her son like she was caring for the German men. She is, after all, a â€Å"simple folk†, who would not have much knowledge of the intricacies of war beyond the billeting of the German soldiers. Therefore, not only did German soldiers kill her son, but also a German mother failed in her duty toward her son. Through a carefully executed plan conceived in the brief afternoon of discovering the fate of her son, Victoire kills the soldiers. She burns her cottage to the ground with the soldiers trapped inside. When the German Officer asks her how the fire started, she said, â€Å"‘I lighted it, myself.’ She took†¦two papers from her pocket. ‘That’s about Victor’s [her son] death.’ ‘That’s their names, so that you can write to their homes.’ ‘Tell them [the German mothers] how it happened, and tell them it was I who  did it, Victoire Simon, that they call the Savage. Don’t forget.'† In order to ease her grief, she wanted other mothers to suffer as much as she was suffering. She knew she would be shot for her actions; she was probably counting on it. She could easily have lied. She could have told the German Officer just about any excuse, but she didn’t. What did she have to live for? She had no purpose for living without her husband and son. Her society, by placing limited and ridged identity roles on its women, robbed her of the ability to discover an identity within herself separate from family. Therefore, she did the only thing she could do–take revenge on the closest target and be sure she did not survive the experience. Maupassant, in five short pages, presents a compelling argument for the avoidance of limiting women with restrictive identity roles. Disastrous consequences are all too likely to result from their removal. Consequences that go beyond the death of four soldiers and their murder, the narrator’s friend Serval had his chateau burned down by the Prussians due to Victoire’s actions. If her identity had been broader–if she knew herself outside of societal-imposed roles, she then may have had something to cling to–a purpose in life rather than a kamikaze plan of revenge.