Fire Safety Management Procedures Of Storage Warehouse Construction Essay

Fire Safety Management Procedures Of Storage Warehouse Construction Essay The individual report is a team members study into one specialist area of the project which is assigned by the team. It should be essential materials to support the final conclusions and recommendation for this project in the team report. The clients requirements details as follows. Building size: 250 sq meters (office) Building size: 3,500 sq meters (warehouse) Building height: 14 meters Twenty glass windows for the offices on the front One door on the front Ten windows for each side Five gates and three windows on the rear Brick front Sainsbury (client) plans to build up a warehouse along with offices of two storeyes. The building will be constructed of pre-engineered steel structure. For example, Fig 1 shows a typical structure of the pre-engineered steel building. Fig 2 displays the inside of the building under construction Figure Figure Background Since the 1960s there has been a rapid increase in the construction of large single storey storage warehouse facilities in the United Kingdom (UK). One of the most notable of these was the 40,000 m2 unsprinklered military storage facility constructed by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) at Donnington. In 1983 this storage facility was completely destroyed by fire despite the presence of an on-site fire service. The fire at Donnington and other unsprinklered warehouses circa 1980 raised concerns in the UK and United States (US). The major concern in unsprinklered warehouses is rapid conflagration, especially if the following features are present: †¢ 12-30m internal building heights †¢ High racked storage †¢ Highly combustible and flammable stored commodities †¢ Combustible wall and ceiling linings, †¢ Poor fire safety management Regardless of the above concerns, recent research undertaken by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) into sprinkler installation trends and fire statistics for warehouse buildings has shown that occupants generally make their escape from fires in unsprinklered warehouses un-hurt. The likely reasons for this are: 1. The large internal volume can act as a reservoir for combustible products and hence will increase the available safe escape time (ASET) 2. An occupants awake and familiarity state within the building reduces the required safe escape time (RSET) on this basis, BREs research stated that it could be difficult to justify the provision of sprinklers solely on safety grounds, indicating that the provision of sprinklers would have a negligible impact for life safety purposes. Since the 1980s there have been several full scale sprinklered fire tests on warehouse commodities (stored to various heights). These tests have been performed by BRE, Underwriters Laboratory (UL), Factory Mutual (FMGlobal) and the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). Such research has assisted in the development of BS5306-2, BS EN12845:2004 and bespoke fire safety engineering guidance such as The Design of Smoke Ventilation for Single Storey Industrial Buildings, including those with mezzanine floors, and high racked storage warehouses by the Smoke Ventilation Association (SVA). Where property protection sprinkler systems are installed with additional enhanced features, significant improvements upon the typical 80% reliability can be achieved. Enhancements such as locking valves in the open position to prevent manual shut-off, fast response sprinkler heads and secondary pumps can all ensure that an enhanced property protection sprinkler system offers an operationa l reliability of in excess of 90%, which is the equivalent reliability for a system designed to a life safety standard. Description The purpose of this Outline Fire Strategy Report is to facilitate preliminary discussions with the Approving Authorities and to outline the approach that will be taken to demonstrate compliance with Part B (Fire Safety) of Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations (2000-2006). This report will provide a brief summary on the all aspects of fire safety which correlate with the corresponding Building Regulations. However it will focus primarily issues pertaining to the Fire Detection and Alarm system and linking factors, such as evacuation times and fire growth. The overarching areas within the project incorporate: Determine metal building frames and column profiles; Choose the materials for the walls and roof; Lay the floors plan out; Fire sprinkler system and fire-fighting water pipe; Fire detection and alarm system; Smoke control system; Architectural design for egress means; Structural fire resistance calculations; Although the provisions for the fire safety aspects noted above are covered under separate regulations, they are interlinked. Therefore, these fire safety aspects will be reviewed holistically in this strategy in order to ensure the requirements of the Building Regulations are achieved in the proposed works. The facility will incorporate approximately 3,500 sq m of warehousing space and a two storey office block. The facility will be typical portal fame construction clad in composite panels with the portal haunch being at approximately 16m above adjacent ground level and the apex of portals being at approximately 18m above adjacent ground level. The two storey office block is compartmented from the remainder of the building in fire resisting construction effectively creating two separated parts. The warehouse compartment is single storey. Automated Garment Racking System The automated garment racking system will be spread over five levels (i.e. ground and four upper access gantries/walkway levels). A common feature of automated hanging garment storage systems is that there are no discernible floors. Access to the automated garment racking system will be via elevated walkways and open stairs. A typical arrangement is shown in figure 3 Figure The existing facility is fitted out with high racking bays incorporating in-rack sprinklers. It is intended to alter the existing high racking bay arrangement to incorporate a more efficient system to meet with specific operational requirements. The existing sprinkler system will be amended/extended to ensure that all high rack storage bays are adequately protected with in-rack sprinklers. Building Regulations Regarding fire safety, the proposed automated hanging garment racking system and associated works must comply with The Building Regulations 2000 (England and Wales) but in existing areas only to the extent where no new or greater contravention of any regulation is created. As a general principle the recommendations of Approved Document B (ADB) Volume 2 Buildings Other Than Dwelling Houses can to be applied to most buildings. Although, in respect of certain buildings and structures, in particular those purpose-designed for automated storage plant, the recommendations set out in ADB might be either inappropriate or unreasonably restrictive. A common feature of automated hanging garment storage systems is that there are no discernible floors and no fire separation provided between deck levels. Automated hanging garment delivery, picking or transportation systems are generally accessed via elevated walkways, stairs and ramps. The Building Regulations are written in a functional manner and rather than follow the prescriptive guidance of a particular code of practice, a fire engineered approach can be taken to demonstrate compliance with Statutory requirements where deemed appropriate. In this regard ADB states the following: Fire safety engineering can provide an alternative approach to fire safety. It may be the only practical way to achieve a satisfactory standard of fire safety in some large and complex buildings and in buildings containing different uses ADB: Fire Safety Engineering (0.3) Therefore, where the proposed development does not fully comply with the recommendations of ADB m it is intended to incorporate the latest guidance available as part of an alternative fire safety engineering approach. This approach will be based on the recommendations of BS7974 with the overarching aim of achieving the optimum design solution and Building Regulations approvals. THE REGULATORY REFORM (FIRE SAFETY) ORDER 2005 When the premises become a workplace, the responsible person, i.e. employer, must ensure that any duty imposed by The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, England Wales, specifically articles 8 to 22 or by regulations made under article 24 is complied with. Generally, compliance can be achieved with robust maintenance, staff training and housekeeping regimes and by undertaking regular fire risk assessments (FRA). The local Fire and Rescue Service will be responsible for enforcing these Regulations. Purpose Groups Purpose groups can apply to the whole building or to a compartment in the building. ADB recommends that different uses within a building should be assessed as separate purpose groups except when certain criteria are met (i.e. classified as ancillary if less than1/5 of the compartment floor area). The design of the existing building incorporates a significant amount of single storey open spatial planning, with the warehousing areas being completely separated from the main office block by fire rated construction. Therefore, when account is taken of proposed material alterations and the definitions noted in Appendix D of ADB the proposed warehouse compartment is classified as Purpose Group 7(a) Storage and Other Non-Residential. The existing multi-storey office compartment is classified as Purpose Group 3, Office. Supporting documentation In tandem with the application of recommendations in ADB, a fire safety engineered approach has been used where considered appropriate for aspects of the buildings design. This approach has used recommendations from the following guidance documents to achieve a robust fire strategy: †¢ BS7974 Application of fire safety engineering principles to the design of buildings (BSI 2003) †¢ BS9999 Code of practice for fire safety in the design, management and use of buildings (BSI 2008) †¢ BS5588 Fire Precautions in the design, construction and use of buildings; Part 5 Access and facilities for fire-fighting (BSI 2004) †¢ BS5588 Fire Precautions in the design, construction and use of buildings; Part 8 Code of practice for means of escape for disabled people (BSI 1991) BS7974 framework BS7974 is specifically noted in standard fire safety guidance material as providing further guidance on fire safety engineering principles. Figure 4 presents the basic fire engineering design process suggested in BS7974. Figure Deviations BS7974 states the following regarding the use of fire safety engineering in buildings that are otherwise compliant with standard practice: In many projects it is likely that the provisions of existing codes of practice and other guidance will be largely followed and that fire engineering techniques will not be necessary (or may be used only to justify limited departures from the codes). At its simplest the QDR team may therefore, define the acceptance criteria in terms of compliance with existing code recommendations. The acceptability of a particular design may be evaluated by means of a comparison. The level of safety provided by alternative fire safety strategies can be compared with that achieved by the well-established codes. This approach involves deterministic and/or probabilistic techniques and requires less extensive analysis than a full study. The objective of a comparative study is to demonstrate that the building, as designed, presents no greater risk to the occupants than a similar type of building designed in accordance with a well-established code. Most existing codes and guides allow elements of trade-of f and/or alternative measures. Examples can be found for fire resistance, compartment sizes and building separation In a comparative study these examples may be applicable without the need for detailed analysis. The evacuation strategy for the proposed buildings will involve simultaneously evacuating all areas on activation of the fire alarm system. As part of the Management and Health and Safety procedures the management team shall have prepared and implement procedures for the safe evacuation of occupants from the building. Required Safe Egress Time and Available Safe Egress Time In performance based fire safety engineering approaches it is fundamental that the evaluation of the complex interactions between fire, occupants and buildings for means of escape considers the following: †¢ Required Safe Egress Time (RSET) time to detection warning time (alarm) response time (occupant pre-movement) travel time queuing †¢ Available Safe Egress Time (ASET) Time to untenable conditions governed by fire growth, smoke production and size of room. A simple diagrammatic representation of the relationship between ASET and RSET is shown in figure 5 Research on Evacuation Times Standard fire safety recommendations for means of escape relate to travel time, i.e. the time taken to travel to and through exits to a place of relative safety. However, it is widely acknowledged that the time taken for occupants to start to evacuate can be considerably longer than the time taken to actually move out of the building. Significant research has been carried out in recent decades on occupant behaviour during building evacuations. Fires and human behaviour by Canter in 1990 and Safety and the built environment by Sime in 1988 were significant contributions. Through such research it is now widely acknowledged that occupants behaviour varies appreciably depending on a wide range of factors such as social affiliation, role and responsibility, commitment to a present task, the presence of a focal point, etc. BS7974-6 Human Factors: Life safety strategies occupant evacuation, behaviour and condition is the latest guidance available in relation to human behaviour in evacuatio ns. Recognition and Response Times How occupants respond to a fire will depend initially on the cue they receive. The components of occupants evacuation time are recognition time, response time and travel time. Both recognition and response times are known as pre-movement time. The former represents the time taken to appreciate that the alarm is a fire alarm relating to the occupant (as opposed to a security alarm, car alarm, etc). During this time occupants will continue with activities as they were prior to the activation of the alarm, e.g. staff members undertaking duties, etc. The latter represents the duration taken by occupants to begin to move towards an escape route, e.g. investigative behaviour, shutting down machinery, etc. In warehouse buildings occupants are generally familiar with their surroundings and are trained in fire emergency evacuation protocols. In the proposed storage facility and associated offices, occupants should be familiar with the sounding of the fire alarm and as such would commence evacuation reasonably promptly. Where a reasonable standard of fire safety management is provided and a high standard of automatic fire detection is provided, BS7974-6 recommends that familiar occupants of a building can be expected to take between 1mins and 2mins before they start to evacuate. By comparison, occupants of an unfamiliar building with a complex internal layout and a more basic standard of fire alarm system could take up to 15mins before commencing an evacuation. Recent research would indicate that even in unfamiliar buildings, occupants prompted by familiar staff can commence their evacuation within the first 30secs. Impact of Evacuation Management To comply with ADB and other fire safety legislation a reasonable standard of management will need to be provided in the building. This will include regular fire drills and the appointment of fire wardens for various areas to encourage an efficient evacuation of the building in the event of a fire. Such protocol should assist in limiting the recognition and response times of occupants. However, the proposed strategic approach to fire safety adopted in this fire strategy will not place any greater onus on management of this building than would be considered reasonable for any other storage facility of this size. An extract of Table C.1 from BS7974-6 is partially replicated in Figure 6. This demonstrates the potential variation in pre-movement times of evacuees which is dependent upon on the level of management and fire alarm provision. The management of this building will adopt a proactive fire safety management approach to comply with standard fire safety regulations for the workplac e. Figure A1-A2: Automatic fire detection and alarm throughout the building A3: Automatic fire detection and alarm only in certain areas, or manual call points only throughout Components of Available Safe Egress Time The Available Safe Egress Time is the time from ignition until conditions on occupants escape routes become untenable. The time taken for hazardous conditions to occur on the escape route will depend on three governing factors: †¢ the growth rate of the fire (and rate of smoke production) †¢ time to sprinkler activation and containment of fire size †¢ the compartment size/smoke reservoir Determination of Design Occupancy in the Warehouse Compartment To assess the likely required capacity of escape routes in speculative buildings, floor space factors are commonly used. When a designated bespoke occupancy is not known there are varying recommended floor space factors in current guidance documents that can be used. The proposed works are not for a speculative end user and Sainsburys have a good understanding of necessary staffing levels to carry out their logistics operations based on current arrangements and their other warehousing operations across the UK. Fire Growth Rate During the evacuation period the main hazard to occupants is smoke. The amount of smoke produced is directly linked to fire size and fire growth rate. The most common method of determining fire growth rates for unsprinklered fires is through the use of t-squared fires. Figure 7 illustrates the heat release rates over time of the four common fire growth rates published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). BS7974 acknowledges that storage warehouse commodities growing unchecked will generally follow an ultra-fast fire growth rate. This attracts a coefficient of g = 0.187kW/s2. Charters et al undertook a recent study to review the probabilistic aspect of fire growth in storage warehouses serving retail facilities. One of the main findings of the research was that fires in high-racked storage cash and carry warehouses were ultra-fast growing. This correlates with BS7974-1. An ultra-fast growth rate will be used for the comparative assessment of both the proposed and code c ompliant layouts. Figure Fire Size Sprinklers are installed in buildings to suppress fire size by the distribution of water so as to decrease the heat release rate and pre-wet adjacent combustibles while controlling gas temperatures to avoid structural damage. The proposed warehouse compartment will be fitted with a comprehensive in-rack sprinkler system to ensure fire size is kept to an absolute minimum. Figure 8 below from BS7974-1 demonstrates sprinkler control and extinguishment. Figure Given the enhancements to the property protection sprinkler, the proposed model will be based on a sprinkler controlled fire scenario. Although, there is significant potential that the provision of in-rack sprinklers will fully extinguish a fire, for the purposes of this comparative assessment, it will be considered that the fire size on sprinkler activation in the proposed building will be controlled as per (b) in Figure 7 rather than (d) i.e. the fire being extinguished. This provides an additional factor of safety for the analysis. There has been a number of real fire tests carried out on high rack storage arrangements by insurance companies. Tests carried out by Underwriters Laboratories Inc. concluded that fire size is unlikely to exceed 5MW where in-rack sprinklers have been provided. Smaller tests on single racks of clothing would indicate a typical peak heat release rate of 2.5MW for isolated arrangements. BRE 368 would also suggest a peak heat release rate of 2.5MW for sprinklered retail fires using fast response sprinkler heads. Travel Distances at Ground Floor Level The final exits from Ground Floor Level, independent of the Office Block, will be maintained as part of the proposed works. The existing exits are well distributed around the external faà §ade thus ensuring that occupants can turn their back on a fire and move towards an alternative exit. Existing travel distances to final exits will remain are unlikely to exceed 80m. Code Recommendations When minimum fire protection measures are provided (i.e. manual fire alarm, 2m floor to ceiling height, etc), ADB suggests maximum travel distances in warehouse accommodation of 25m in a single direction of travel and 45m where two means of escape are provided. The proposed building contains a number of inherent fire safety features such as high ceilings, automatic fire detection, sprinklers and an open plan environment. Such features assist in prolonging the onset of hazardous conditions and increase the chance of a person becoming aware of a fire in the early stages of its development independent of the alarm being raised by others. Therefore, the basic recommendations set out in ADB are considered to be unduly restrictive for the proposed building. A detailed assessment of allowable travel distances will be based on the recommendations of BS7974 and the results of this analysis will be presented in the detailed Fire Strategy Report (FSR). A detailed bespoke fire engineering analysis of allowable travel distances based on the recommendations of BS7974 and incorporating Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling will be carried out when layouts have been finalised. The results of this analysis will be presented in the detailed FSR in due course. For the purposes of this OFSR and preliminary design we have carried out a preliminary two zone model analysis to gain an understanding of the likely results to be obtained from the detailed CFD modelling. AUTOMATIC FIRE DETECTION AND ALARM Time to Detection and Alarm for the Proposed Arrangement It is proposed to provide a high standard of automatic fire detection and alarm system throughout the Warehousing compartment. The standard of detection and alarm in the building will affect the general time to warning for occupants and provide an enhanced level of fire safety through early warning and shorter evacuation times. Activation of the sprinkler system will also lead to the fire alarm sounding throughout the building. To ensure a conservative estimation of fire alarm activation our analysis has been based on an anticipated sprinkler activation time of 123sec Time to Detection and Alarm for a Typical Code Compliant Arrangement Many code compliant warehouse facilities with code compliant travel distances only require manual fire detection to meet with code recommendations. Therefore the time to detection would depend on the time taken for occupants in the room of fire origin to raise the alarm. However, should the room of fire origin be unoccupied then the time to alarm for people who may be in rooms remote from the fire would depend on them or other occupants becoming aware of cues of the fire scenario, e.g. sounds of burning material, smell of smoke or seeing smoke through a vision panel. Although BS7974-6 recommends a time to detection of at least 15mins for such scenarios, a reasonable worst case for a typical code compliant open plan warehouse could be 3 5mins. Pre-Movement Times The elevated walkways will be accessed by a relatively small number of transient staff who should be familiar with their surroundings and location of their escape routes. In compliance with health and safety legislation, fire drills will be carried out on a regular basis. Therefore, staff should be familiar with the fire alarm signal and the evacuation procedure. Current fire research would suggest that occupant pre-movement times in a managed facility such as this Sainsburys Distribution Centre is between 30secs and 60secs after alarm. However, BS7974-6 Table C1 (see Figure 5) conservatively presents a 120secs occupant premovement time for this type of occupancy. In line with BS7974-6 recommendations the code compliant layout could be 900secs. However, the comparative analysis will consider a pre-movement time of 120secs for both layouts. This is an onerous consideration and as such adds a significant degree of conservatism to the analysis. Travel Times Extensive studies have been carried out on the travel speeds of people of various abilities. CIBSE Guide E Fire Engineering and BR459 Fire Safety Engineering A Reference Guide both state that a travel speed of 1.2m/s is considered reasonable for able bodied people in low occupant density areas. This is based primarily on work by Pauls and Fruin. Personnel who will be accessing the proposed elevated walkways will be doing so to maintain/ensure the smooth operation of the automated system and will need to be reasonably mobile/physically fit to carry out such operations. Therefore, a travel speed of 1.2m/s is considered reasonable for this assessment. As previously noted travel distances on elevated walkways of the Automated Hanging Garment Racking System could be up to 100m when racking layouts are finalised. Based on a 1.2m/s travel speed it could take these occupants 84secs to reach a storey exit. For a typical compliant layout with a 45m travel distance it would take 37.5secs to rea ch a storey exit. For the above RSET components, Table 2 below presents the corresponding trset Δ . The above analysis would indicate that occupants located on one of the elevated walkways could Conservatively take up to 327secs to evacuate from the upper walkway levels of the automated hanging garment racking system. The analysis also demonstrates the benefits of providing a good standard of automatic detection and an in-rack sprinkler system that is linked to the fire alarm system as such systems should ensure that the required safe egress time from the proposed building is kept to a minimum. As can be seen from Table 2 above such systems should also ensure evacuation times from the proposed building would be comparable with many typical code compliant arrangements, if not better. To meet with code recommendations a Type M manual fire alarm system would be necessary in a standard warehouse building. However, the provision of an automatic fire detection and alarm system is an integral part of the overall fire safety package from a fire engineering perspective. The current fire alarm system will be extended to ensure the earliest possible detection of fire in the vicinity of the Automated Hanging Garment System areas. The system will provide high standard smoke detection coverage above and to the underside of elevated levels of the Automated Hanging Garment System level. The sprinkler system will also be linked to the fire alarm system so that in the event of a sprinkler head activating the alarm will sound throughout the building thus ensuring the earliest possible alert of the need to commence evacuation. The additional provision of smoke detection and linking the sprinkler system to the fire alarm is considered a significant additional life safety benefit whi ch should substantially reduce the time to alarm and pre-movement time of occupants in the building. The Type L5 fire alarm system will be designed in compliance with BS5839-1. Office Block Compartment No changes are proposed for the Office Block Compartment. Means of escape from the Warehouse Compartment is independent of the Office Block. Therefore, no further analysis of this area is necessary as part of the proposed works. EVACUATION PROCEDURES Comprehensive fire safety management procedures should be developed in consultation with the Enforcing Authorities. A detailed Fire Safety Management Plan should be developed for the management of the proposed scheme to ensure the safety of all occupants is not comprised. This section only serves as a brief introduction to the evacuation procedures which will need to be written into the Fire Safety Management Plan. Further guidance can be found in BS5588-12 Managing fire safety.

I am Intrigued with Psychological Research and College Instruction :: Graduate Admissions Essays

I am Intrigued with Psychological Research and College Instruction. Â   Having enjoyed psychology-related activities in both the academic and community settings, it is with enthusiasm that I pursue a career in clinical psychology. An important part of this pursuit is attending graduate school. In order to obtain the necessary knowledge and to define my areas of interest, I wish to enroll in a doctoral program in clinical psychology. Â   Throughout my undergraduate work I have engaged in a variety of activities to help prepare my for graduate study. One such activity is my involvement in research. This past summer I participated in a research project with a UNI professor, Dr. Augustine Osman. Our research involved the examination of the psychometric properties of the Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale (PASS) in a community sample. I performed basic data entry and ran SPSS-X programs for manova, correlation, and reliability. For two to three hours a day, over an eight week period, my research experience involved discussions on issues of psychometrics as well as learning how to transcribe and run several programs used in factor analysis. Through this experience I have also become familiar with the process of research revision and publication. In fact, I will be listed as a co-author upon publication of this work. Â   Currently, I am involved in an independent research project investigating sex-role stereotyping in college classrooms. My advisor, Dr. Jane Wong, has been supervising by progress. After completing background reading on this issue, I have decided to investigate the relationship between students' sex-typed characteristics. I have developed six scenarios in which I manipulated the sex-typed characteristics of the instructor. Students will be asked to complete the Bem Sex Role Inventory and the Traditional Egalitarian Sex Role Scale (TESR) prior to reading a scenario. After reading the scenarios they will be asked to rate the instructor using a rating form developed by Leventhal, Perry, and Abrami (1977). I hope to present my findings at a regional psychology conference and, if possible, submit the work for consideration for publication. Â   Aside from conducting research, I also have had the opportunity to experience the teaching aspects of psychology while serving as a teaching assistant for a Research Methods course and an Introduction to Psychology course. As a TA for Research Methods my responsibilities included supervising five students' research work. Specifically, I assisted the students in the library while they worked on a bibliography, summary and synthesis, and proposal project.

Viruses :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most of us swap disks with friends and browse the Net looking for downloads. Rarely do we ever consider that we are also exchanging files with anyone and everyone who has ever handled them in the past. If that sounds like a warning about social diseases, its right along the same lines. Computer viruses are every bit as harmful and destructive, and come in a vast variety of types and strains. Computer viruses, can tear up your hard drive and bring down your system. However, unlike social diseases, computer viruses are almost always curable, and the cures for new strains are usually a matter of days away, rather than months or years.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A computer virus is a program designed to replicate and spread, generally with the victim being oblivious to its existence. Computer viruses spread by attaching themselves to other programs such as word processors or spreadsheets, or to the boot sector of the disk. When an infected file is activated, or when the computer is started from an infected disk, the virus itself is also activated. Many times a virus will lurk in a computers memory, waiting to infect the next program or disk that is activated.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What makes viruses so dangerous is their ability to perform an event. While some events are harmless like displaying a message on a certain date, and others annoying, like slowing performance or altering the screen display, some viruses can be disastrous by damaging files, and destroying data.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most viruses are created out of curiosity. There are those out there who create them out of malice, but far more of the creators are just meeting a challenge, to see if they can do it or not. A common type of virus would be a Trojan Horse, a destructive program disguised as a game, a utility, or an application. When run a Trojan Horse does something harmful to the computer system, while appearing to do something useful. A worm is also a popular type of virus. A worm is a program that spreads itself across computers, usually by spawning copies of itself in each computer’s memory. A worm might duplicate itself in one computers memory so often that it causes the computer to crash. A worm is introduced secretly into a host system either for fun, or with the intent to damage or destroy information. Now I will explain some of the more major viruses, and how they function.

Perfectionism and Athlete Burnout in Elite Sports: The Mediating Role o

Over the past few decades, American society has become more and more obsessed on performance outcomes and winning; being declared the best has become most important (Crain, 2004). Winning is often viewed as an all or nothing virtue, whereby greatness is a descriptive term reserved only for those whose names appear at the top of the list (Hanchon, 2011). This evolving mindset communicates to our youth that despite his or her efforts, only the final results matter. For many individuals the ideas of achievement, excellence, and self-worth have become highly dependent upon the perceived outcomes of the competitions or events in which they engage (Hanchon, 2011). Outperforming one’s competitors serves as the defining characteristic of success or excellence, which in turn, appears to serve as a key determinant in the individual’s self-assessment of life satisfaction (Harackiewicz, Barron, & Elliot, 1998). Sport performance is mediated by positive and negative variables; the pressure to perform for a result leads to the negative variable of higher expectations on the athlete. Stress and the pressure to perform are both contributing factors to higher anxiety levels, overtraining, and burnout in athletes (Weinberg & Gould, 2007). In some cases, â€Å"higher expectations also appear to increase the amount of stress an athlete may experience, and higher levels of stress are generally related to higher levels of state anxiety and burnout† (Jones & Hanton, 1996; Raedeke & Smith, 2001). Burnout Fear of failures, frustration, high expectations, anxiety, and other pressures to perform are all stresses identified as being related to burnout (Dale & Weinberg, 1990). Burnout has been addressed in the Old Testament (Exodus 18:17-18), in which ... ...ation and affect on elite athlete burnout susceptibility. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 28, 32-48. Lonsdale, C., Hodge, K., Rose, E. (2009). Athlete burnout in elite sport: A self-determination perspective. Journal of Sports Sciences, 27, 785-795. Raedeke, T. D. (1997). Is athlete burnout more than stress? A commitment perspective. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 19, 396-417. Raedeke, T. D., & Smith, A. L. (2001). Development and preliminary validation of an athlete burnout measure. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 23, 281-306. Vallerand, R. J. (2008). On the psychology of passion: in search of what makes people’s lives most worth living. Canadian Psychology, 49, 1-13. Weinberg, R. S., & Gould, D, (2007). Foundation of sport and exercise psychology (4th ed.). Chapter21: Burnout and Overtraining (pp. 489-509). Champaign, IL: Human

Hedda Gabler Essay -- essays research papers

Hedda from the play, â€Å"Hedda Gabler† by Ibsen is greatly affected due to her background. Hedda’s father being a general led her to control issues later on in life. She felt weak and needed control over the people in her life. Hedda was born to a great, wonderful, highly regarded and respected general, General Gabler. Because she was his daughter people would show great respect and loyalty towards her. She was used to people listening and obeying her; she just loved having power over others. When Hedda and her husband, George Tesman got back from their honeymoon George’s aunt, MissTesman was telling the maid how particular Hedda is after growing up as General Gablers Daughter, â€Å"Well of course. General Gabler’s daughter. What a life she had in the General’s day! Remember seeing her out with her father-how she’d go galloping past in that long black riding outfit, with a feather in her hat." Now that her father is gone she has seemed to lost the power she once had. The only thing she has left is a large portrait of him that hangs over the coach in the inner room and a set of pistols her father left her. Hedda tries time after time to gain the attention and control she on ce had until she shot herself under the stress of this unbeatable battle. At the age of twenty nine Hedda married George Tesman, a scholar with a doctor’s degree and a good friend. She married him because she really had no other one to turn to and she was getting old. She said, â€Å"I had really danced myself ou...

Toni Morrison’s Beloved: The Effects of Slavery on Family Bonds

Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved analyzes the effects of slavery on the lives of the African Americans in a very original and profound way. Instead of telling a story about the violence of the white slave masters and about the sufferings of the black people, Morrison reviews the way in which slavery affects the sense of selfhood and identity in the African Americans. The enslaved self cannot relate to the world in the same way as the free self. The master and slave bond is reenacted in the family relationships of the former slaves.Thus, the text investigates the perpetuation of violence and possessiveness after the liberation of the African Americans has taken place. The climax of the novel is indeed an extremely violent moment- Sethe, a runaway slave from the Sweet Home plantation attempts to murder her own children in order to protect them from future slavery. She only has time to kill her baby daughter, Beloved, before the white men stop her. The black slave thus turns the vio lence that was done to her against her own children in two ways: first of all, Sethe kills her daughter because she thinks death would be better her than a life of slavery.However, this violent reaction of the mother has another meaning as well: she acts as if her children were her own possession, as if she were a white master herself. However, motherhood is not the only relationship that is affected by the dark past.Morrison’s novel exemplifies, through a number of relationships, the way in which slavery affects the unity of the traditional African family. In this respect, Beloved traces the reconstruction of African American identity and of the African family as a central structure of society, after the freedom has been obtained.Thus, Toni Morrison’s novel is a different type of slave narrative, told from the point of view of the African Americans, and focusing on the psychological effects of the slavery on selfhood, identity and love. First of all, the bond that is most investigated in the novel is that between the mothers and their children.Through this however, the author points at the destructive force that slavery has on the entire African American community, and especially on the family. Motherhood symbolizes creation and as such, it is the center of any human society.Morrison reveals the violence of white people indirectly, through the murder performed by the mother against her own child, which is obviously a remnant of master and slave relationship. The relationship between Sethe and her daughter Beloved, who haunts her first as a ghost and then as a nineteen old girl, is certainly the central one in the novel and the one that best represents the extent to which slavery can affect the human nature. The master/slave bond is essentially based on dependence, violence, transgression of boundaries.Selfhood for the black people was reduced to the definition of the white men, who took possession of them as if they were objects and not human be ings. The motive that the whites used to justify the slavery of the blacks was always the fact that the latter were savages.Morrison deftly inverses this statement, and points to the fact that the jungle was actually created by the white people, who annihilated the sense of selfhood and humanity in the slaves: â€Å"Whitepeople believed that whatever the manners, under every dark skin was a jungle.Swift unnavigable waters, swinging screaming baboons, sleeping snakes, red gums ready for their sweet white blood. . . . But it wasn't the jungle blacks brought with them to this place from the other place. It was the jungle whitefolks planted in them. And it grew.It spread†¦. The screaming baboon lived under their own white skin; the red gums were their own. (Morrison, 198-199) The strong bond between Sethe and her children reflects this ownership of the slaves by their masters.The jungle that was planted by the white people in the blacks through slavery is mirrored in the Setheâ₠¬â„¢s violence. The murdering act of Sethe can thus be explained: she does not know herself and mistakes her own identity with the fate of her children.Unable to see herself as an independent person, Sethe clings to her role as a mother and becomes extremely possessive. She mistakes her own identity with her motherhood, and thus, in a way, reenacts the violence of the white masters against her.Sethe feels she has no power over her own self because the white people had crossed all the boundaries and not only taken everything she possessed physically, but everything she had dreamed as well: ‘†Those white things have taken all I had or dreamed,' she said, ‘and broke my heartstrings too.There is no bad luck in the world but whitefolks. ‘†(Morrison, 89) It is obvious that the â€Å"whitefolks† are â€Å"bad luck†, that is, for the black slaves they were the instruments of destiny itself, trough the power have over their lives.Thus, when Sethe k ills her infant daughter, she obviously acts, although out of love, as a white master would. As Malmgren remarks, Sethe’s violent act against her own child is actually a perpetuation of the logic of slavery: â€Å"Sethe so identifies her Self with the well-being of her children that she denies their existence as autonomous Others, in so doing unconsciously perpetuating the logic of slavery. †(Malmgren, 103) Morrison’s novel thus reflects the violence of the white race against the black one indirectly, showing how weak the theory that the African American are less than human has proven over time.The white people are actually the ones who took their humanity by treating them as objects or animals. Beloved therefore reviews the manner in which the master/slave bond affects the selfhood of the former slaves, to the point that it is replicated in Sethe’s murder o her own daughter.Motherhood is exemplified in the novel not only in the relationship between Sethe and Beloved, but also in the relationships between Ma’ma and Sethe, or Baby Suggs and her own children. Infanticide seems to have been rather common among the former slaves, as a means of protecting their children.Although Sethe had barely known her mother, she is told that the latter also killed her children, all but herself since she was the only one begotten in love with a black man and not through the rape of a white master: â€Å"She told Sethe that her mother and Nan were together from the sea.Both were taken up many times by the crew. ‘She threw them all away but you. The one from the crew she threw away on the island. The others from more whites she also threw away. Without name she threw them. You she gave the name of the black man. She put her arms around him.The others she did not put her arms around. Never. Never. Telling you. I am telling you, small girl Sethe. ’†(Morrison, 98) As Demetrakopoulos points out, the slavery affected motherhood in such a way that it permitted the excessive and protective love to endeavor guard the child from the cruelty of life itself: â€Å"In this act, Morrison gives us the most searching portrait I know of the paradoxical polarities in motherhood. For Sethe the children are better off dead, their fantasy futures protected from the heinous reality of slavery.It is better, Sethe's act argues, to die in the cradle than to live out one's full life span soul-dead, a zombie/ puppet daily treading the process requirements of someone else's life and needs. The child as the adult's fantasy of the future is obviously central to Sethe's murder of Beloved. †( Demetrakopoulos, 53)In this way, motherhood crosses the normal limits of human love and seems to be reminiscent of the instinctual bonds between the animals and their babies: â€Å"Even her escape from slavery was not really for herself.Her swollen breasts and the baby kicking within pressed her onward to the baby waiting for her milk. B iological necessity made her create a life that would allow her children to grow up. Sethe carries Beloved on her conscience and in her heart. For the mother, the dead child is maternity in potentia, the mother truncated.( Demetrakopoulos, 54)The white domineering culture that enslaved the black is the main cause of this displacement of identity in all the characters in the novel.Although in the text the ghost and then the embodiment of Beloved appear as the main motives for the destabilization and deterioration of all the other family relationships, it is clear that the murdered child represents not only motherhood but also love itself. The possessive and narcissistic love that is exemplified in the relation between Sethe and Beloved replaces the normal emotions for the troubled self. This kind of love that ignores the boundaries of selfhood is obviously the result of the years of slavery and dependence.The liberated self does not know its own substance and limits: â€Å"Beloved/ You are my sister/ You are my daughter/ You are my face; you are me/ I have found you again; you have come back to me/ You are my Beloved/ You are mine/ You are mine/ You are mine. † (Morrison, 216)Paul D fears Sethe's love precisely because he realizes it is extremely powerful and fierce : â€Å"This here new Sethe didn't know where the world stopped and she began . . . more important than what Sethe had done was what she claimed.It scared him†(Morrison, 90) As Barbara Schapiro emphasizes in her study called The Bonds of Love and the Boundaries of Self in Toni Morrison's Beloved, Morrison constructs in her novel precisely the kind of love that is based on possession, dependence and entrapment to show that the consequences of slavery affect the sense of self in the individuals: â€Å"Toni Morrison Beloved penetrates, perhaps more deeply than any historical or psychological study could, the unconscious emotional and psychic consequences of slavery.The novel reveals how the condition of enslavement in the external world, particularly the denial of one's status as a human subject, has deep repercussions in the individual's internal world. These internal resonances are so profound that even if one is eventually freed from external bondage, the self will still be trapped in an inner world that prevents a genuine experience of freedom. †(Iyasere, 155) Paul D calls this type of love that Sethe manifests for himself and for her children â€Å"too thick†, as if it were undiluted by the sense of identity.This type of love, that Sethe has shown in killing he baby daughter is afterwards perpetuated by her in her relationship with the ghost, with Beloved and with Paul D. Thus, the very opening of the novel plunges into Sethe’s world and briefly exposes the nature of the relationships in her family. The house itself is called â€Å"spiteful†, that is haunted by the dark past in the form of Beloved’s ghost. The two sons of Seth e have left and Baby Suggs is dead, all because of Beloved’s ghost.Slavery thus still haunts the lives of the liberated people, and not only in the form of guilt. The fact that the murdered daughter is named â€Å"Beloved† hints to the way in which emotions have been affected and altered: â€Å"124 was spiteful. Full of baby's venom. The women in the house knew it and so did the children. For years, each put up with the spite in his own way, but by 1873 Sethe and her daughter Denver were its only victims.The grandmother, Baby Suggs, was dead, and the sons, Howard and Buglar, had run away by the time they were thirteen years old — as soon as merely looking in the mirror shattered it (that was the signal for Buglar); as soon as two tiny handprints appeared in the cake (that was it for Howard).Neither boy waited to see more, another kettleful of chick peas smoking in a heap on the floor: soda crackers crumbled and strewn in a line next to the doorsill. Nor did the y wait for one of the relief periods: the weeks, months even, when nothing was disturbed.No. Each one fled at once — the moment the house committed what was for him the one insult not to be borne or witnessed a second time. † (Morrison, 3) Heller showed that Morrison’s novel is an attempt at reconstructing of the family relationships, which had been so much influenced and deteriorated by the slavery system: â€Å"As a study of the connection between the historical and the familial, Beloved is concerned with the healing of the black American family and the â€Å"reconstruction† of kinship structures.These structures had been violated by the cruel fact of family life under the slavery system: as enslaved Africans, women and men had no right to themselves, to one another, or to their children. †(Heller, 108) Love and family relationships are clearly affected by the question of identity.For the former slave identity is still undefined since he had been so long treated as an object which has a certain price but no value as a human being. In some of the plantations, the slaves were not allowed to have their own families, and the black women were often raped by their masters.In these conditions, it is obvious that the people had no sense of self and therefore could not relate to someone else. As Carl Malmgren comments in his study Mixed Genres and the Logic of Slavery, the novel points to the way in which love is affected by the loss of identity: â€Å"The novel thus meditates upon and mediates between the various forms that love takes. In this regard, its dominant theme is the problematic of love, particularly as regards the question of identity. †(Malmgren, 105)Denver, Sethe’s second daughter is also affected by Sethe’s love for her dead child. She intuitively feels that the relationship between Beloved and Sethe is wrong, and she lives with the anxiety that the mother could at any time repeat the murderous act and maybe kill her too: â€Å"All the time, I'm afraid the thing that happened that made it all right for my mother to kill my sister could happen again. I don't know what it is, I don't know who it is, but maybe there is something else terrible enough to make her do it again.I need to know what that thing might be, but I don't want to. Whatever it is, it comes from outside this house, outside the yard, and it can come right on in the yard if it wants to. So I never leave this house and I watch over the yard, so it can't happen again and my mother won't have to kill me too. † (Morrison, 205)Denver is actually the one that saves Sethe by deciding to go out of the house in search of food, and to break thus the mother’s total isolation. She makes therefore the first step to establish a relationship between herself and the outside world.She also evinces a much stronger sense of identity in her desire to listen to stories that only talked about her: â€Å"Denver hated the stories her mother told that did not concern herself, which is why Amy was all she ever asked about. The rest was a gleaming, powerful world made more so by Denver's absence from it.Not being in it, she hated it and wanted Beloved to hate it too, although there was no chance of that at all. â€Å"(Morrison, 62) Teresa N. Washington in The Mother- Daughter Aje Relationship in Toni Morrison’s’ Beloved’ shows that Beloved actually is a symbolic incarnation of the African American consciousness coming back to life:â€Å"But in having equated her best self with her children, making the decision to save that precious self, and summoning the self for a discussion, Sethe comes face to face with her spirit, her embodied conscience, and her own (and all her people’s past. )† (Washington, 184) Thus, it is the white culture that first took possession of the black people’s selves and identities, thus destabilizing the entire African American community: â€Å"Anybody white could take your whole self for anything that came to mind. Not just work, kill, or maim you, but dirty you.Dirty you so bad you couldn't like yourself anymore†¦The best things she was, was her children.. â€Å"(Morrison, 251) The novel concludes with the hope of Sethe’s regaining of her lost self: â€Å"You your best thing, Sethe. You are. † â€Å"Me? Me? † (Morrison, 273).The master and slave relationship is also based on dependence, and this is why Sethe has no sense of her real, independent self. She does not even dare to â€Å"go ahead and feel† for example: â€Å"Would it be all right? Would it be all right to go ahead and feel? Go ahead and count on something? † (Morrison, 38).This re-appropriation of the self is a symbol for the reconstruction of the African American identity and culture, and an example of the way in which the past can be accepted. The sense selfhood and the consolidation of the family bonds repre sent the consolidation of the African American community.Works Cited: Demetrakopoulos, Stephanie A. â€Å"Maternal bonds as devourers of women's individuation in Toni Morrison's Beloved. † African American Review. 1992. Vol. 26(1): 51-60.Heller, Dana. †Reconstructing kin: Family, history, and narrative in Toni Morrison's Beloved. † College Literature. Vol. 21(2). 1994.Horvitz, Deborah. â€Å"Nameless Ghosts: Possession and Dispossession in Beloved,† in Studies in American Fiction, Vol. 17, No. 2, 1989, pp. 157-67.Iyasere, Marla and Solomon Iyasere. Understanding Toni Morrison's Beloved and Sula: Selected Essays and Criticisms of the Works by the Nobel Prize-Winning Author. Troy: Whitston Publishing, 2000.Malmgren, Carl. â€Å"Mixed Genres and the Logic of Slavery in Toni Morrison’s Beloved. † Critique. 1995. Vol. 36(2).Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Knopf, 1987. Washington, Teresa. The Mother- Daughter Aje Relationship in Toni Morrisonâ₠¬â„¢s’ Beloved’.

Infancy Through Adolescence Essay

Changes in the home environment such as marital conflict, divorce and poor parenting can adversely affect family dynamics, and children especially, can develop both mental and physical health problems. Research finds a correlation between parental separation and the internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors in children; this includes childhood sleep problems due to marital conflict. Children can help define and influence the dynamics of marital conflict. Studies show that in early childhood, parent-child relationships are critical to a child’s healthy development especially the mother-child relations and maternal depression can cause poor parenting leading to emotional and behavioral problems. Child maltreatment is associated with alterations in stress physiology, increased risk for emotional and behavioral issues and increased risk for mental health issues in adolescence. Positive and supportive co-parenting can buffer against the negative effects of marital conflict and divorce especially in low-income and at-risk families. Successful co-parenting relationships can positively affect a child’s socio-emotional development and mental health. Family dynamics and changes in the home will affect the development and well-being of a child throughout infancy or adolescence. Home environments which are dysfunctional in nature, experiencing marital conflict, and separation/divorce or poor-parenting can cause problems within a child’s development including mental and physical issues. Some children will internalize their problems and suffer from anxiety and depression. Others will outwardly externalize their behaviors through aggression and conduct problems; preteens are especially at risk for antisocial behavior (Taylor, Purswell, Lindo, Jayne, & Fernando, 2011; Sentse, Ormel, Veenstra, Verhulst, & Oldehinkel, 2011). In the Barry & Kochanska (2011, p. 237) study, they point out that dysfunctional parenting, parental depressive symptoms and marital conflict are associated with childhood adjustment and development. Consistently, studies show that marital problems adversely affect child development and adjustment. As Rhoades, Leve, Harold, Neiderhiser, Shaw & Reiss (2011) state â€Å"the association between marital hostility and child adjustment is clearly established† and â€Å"pathways from marital hostility to child adjustment have been well studied, research[ed] to date† (p. 282). And Teti & Cole (2011) further add that â€Å"faulty parenting is frequently cited as a major causal factor in the development of child psychopathology† (p. 25). Emotions and Family Dynamics In Barry and Kochanska (2010) study, the authors look at family emotional well-being, the critical nature of the parent-child relationship and how this impacts a child’s development. Emotions are given and received through individuals and family relationships are shaped by them; family dynamics are influenced and develop from these relational emotions. The emotional affects are multi-dimension and reach all family members reciprocally. One approach known as transactional family dynamics looks at mutual influence processes between all family members (Schermerhorn, Chow & Cummings, 2010, p. 869). Although few studies have been conducted, the transactional family dynamic modal theorizes that if there are marital problems and conflict, the focus is not exclusively on the husband and wife’s problems, but how the family children also influence the marital relationship’s conflict. In one rare study, it was found that â€Å"in families with high levels of marital conflict, child externalizing problems predicted increases in marital conflict† (Schermerhorn et al. , 2010, p. 869); thus supporting the reciprocal nature in families. In support of other research, results from Schermerhorn, et al. (2010) study found that if a child is negative then it is associated with less marital positivity (p. 878). Within family subsystems, the marital relationship and the parent-child relationships are directly influenced by individual emotions and their interactions with one another. Some of these familial emotional interactions, reactions and feelings are healthy, but most are not when there is marital conflict; these unhealthy emotions create a variety of outcomes for a child’s development. Barry and Kochanska (2010) states, â€Å"In families, emotions profoundly influence mental health of the individuals, including sense of security, coping, personal growth, competence, adjustment, behavior problems, and psychopathology, including recovery and relapse† (p. 237). The emotional development, security and socialization of a child are directly related to the emotional exchange between the parent and child relationship; in fact, Barry and Kockanska (2010) find that it is a critical dimension especially during the early childhood years (p. 238). Since emotional healthiness is critical to healthy family relationships then unhealthy emotional states can be detrimental to a developing child causing attachment issues and possible psychopathology as they develop into adulthood. Parents’ emotional reactions to children’s emotions have important consequences for social and emotional development, including children’s psycho-physiological regulation, coping, emotional understanding, and friendship quality (Barry & Kockanska, 2010, p. 237). Home Environments and Child Development Some of the variables which cause changes in the family’s home environment and affect child development are marital conflict, divorce and poor parenting; these changes can be more negatively influential in lower-income environments. Family is one of the major components in human development; therefore, childhood development is greatly influenced by the health of the family unit and home environment. Studies have shown that marital conflict in the family will increase the risk of adjustment problems in children; additionally, marital conflicts can lead to negative parenting, such as inconsistent discipline or disengagement, putting the parent-child relationship at risk and further adding to the risk of child maladjustment (El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006, p. 30; Peris, Goeke-Morey, Cummings, & Emery (2008), p. 633). Peris et al. 2008) finds that â€Å"marital conflict is linked to a host of ineffective parenting practices, ranging from the use of inconsistent discipline to diminished displays of warmth and responsivity in the parent-child relationship† (p. 633). Another area of concern in families with marital conflict is parentification of children in which the child takes on a parental role by providing emotional support for the parent; it is a reversed role where the child takes care of the parent. In the Peris et al. study, the authors look at how parentification responsibilities can be very stressful and taxing for a middle adolescent hich can cause, as previous research shows, shame, guilt, poor academic performance, increased adulthood depression and anxiety, and difficult peer relationships of which girls are at a greater risk than boys. (Peris et al. , p. 634). Peris et al. also points out that in childhood, parentification is associated with externalizing and internalizing behaviors, and poor social adjustment; additionally, poor parenting practice such as psychological control where a parent will use guilt to control their child’s behavior and maintain closeness will put children and adolescence at greater risk to maladjust ment and behavioral problems. Additional findings from Peris et al. study show that youth and their parents perceive the parentification dynamic differently. Youth perceive the relationship as low in warmth and support but the parent perceives it as warm and close; the study also concluded that the youth study group demonstrated internalizing and externalizing behaviors (p. 638) which is consistent with their hypothesis, other empirical studies and literature topics on parentification. Children from homes with higher levels of conflict have more adjustment problems than children from less conflictual homes especially with prolonged marital conflict (El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006, p. 30). Marital conflict affects girls more than boys in which they have greater internalizing symptoms. El-Sheikh & Whitson (2006) explain that girls are subject to greater socialization pressures and communion especially during late childhood and adolescence; this socialization process is opposite of a boy who is pushed socially to be more independent. Girls may also be more emotionally involved in the marital arguments and boys avoid the conflict by claiming their independence (p. 37). Nonetheless, marital conflict has lasting affects for both boys and girls which affects childhood, adolescence and into adulthood. Social development is at risk in children who are from homes with marital conflict, divorce or poor parenting. Booth-LaForce & Oxford (2008) report that an unsupportive parental environment such as found in stressful environments like single-parent homes and/or low income can cause insensitive parenting which can lead to socially withdrawn behavior in children; (p. 299) many of these children who are socially withdrawn display â€Å"social-cognitive deficits and unskilled behavior, their self-perceptions are negative, they are more likely to be rejected and victimized by peers, and experience loneliness and depression† (p. 1298). Social learning theorists argue â€Å"that marital disruption may lead children to l earn angry, coercive, hostile, and even physically aggressive approaches to interpersonal problem solving† (Gattis, Simpson, & Christensen, 2008, p. 833). Another area of concern in childhood development within stressful home environments is the increase risk for stress-related physical illnesses. In a study by Fabricius & Luecken (2007) they report that â€Å"high family conflict, abuse, parental psychopathology, and divorce can serve to establish enduring dysregulations in the child’s physiological stress responses, promoting pathophysiology in the brain and body† (p. 195). Another area of concern is sleep deprivation. Marital conflict is related to disruption in a child’s sleep; sleep problems in children can be related to internalizing symptoms and externalizing behaviors. Additionally, children with sleep problems can also reciprocally influence the conflict between the parents. As Kelly & El-Sheikh (2011) point out â€Å"marital conflict and child sleep problems may be reciprocal and cyclical: exposure to marital conflict may lead to children’s sleep disruptions, which in turn may lead to increased marital conflict† (p. 413). Studies have also found that sleep problems in children can lead to aggressive behaviors (Kelly & El-Sheikh, 2011, p. 413). Separation, Post-Separation and Divorce Taylor, Purswell, Lindo, Jayne, & Fernando (2011) report that children from divorced families are at a higher risk for emotional and behavioral problems including antisocial behavior, disruptive conduct, delinquency, aggression, anxiety, depression, feelings of loneliness and abandonment, emotional maladjustment and academic problems (p. 124-125). A new family structure is stressful for all family members with each affecting the other. Higher levels of parental stress cause changes in the parent-child relationship putting it at risk. Lack of communication, conflict, hostility, stressors related to the divorce and the new family dynamics cause frustration and anger among the members. High rates of divorce continually influence the numerous studies conducted which look at their affects of divorce on childhood development. According to Sentse et al. (2011) â€Å"10-25% of children that experience a parental separation grow up to have more emotional and psychological problems† (p. 98). These problems can stem from the broken family, previous marital conflict, loss of support from family and friends, economic disadvantage and parenting problems. In the current study by Sentse et al. , the researchers found parental separation’s main affect on developing children was externalizing problems; although for some children the separation brought relief from all the marital conflicts. The study also found adolescences that were more temperamentally fearful had increased levels of internalizing behaviors; some of the side effects of the fearful individual who experiences parental separation include withdrawal, ignored by peers, anxious or depressive feelings – resulting in a cycle of negative symptoms which could result in mental health problems (p. 03). Depressive symptoms can stem from marital conflict and divorce; cyclically, marital conflict and divorce can cause depressive symptoms. Mothers are particularly prone to depressive symptoms and clinical depression during highly stressful events in their lives such as marital conflict, separation or divorce. Mothers who are depressed are likely to be less supportive and nurturing with their children and they are usually negative and critical which can lead to developmental problems such as internalizing and externalizing problems in their children (Connell, Hughes-Scalise, Klostermann & Azem, 2011, p. 53). Mothers with depression have â€Å"higher rates of irritability and aggression, which in turn may induce distress, anger and behavior problems in children† (Deboeck, Farris, Boker, & Borkowski, 2011, p. 1312). Deboeck et al. (2011) also finds that a mother’s psychosocial health can directly affect the development of a child; and, children of depressed mothers have difficulty regulating affect, have increased hyperactivity and attention deficits (p. 1313). Several studies have looked at maternal depressive symptoms and found a link between the mother’s criticizing, hostile parenting causing externalizing behaviors in adolescents; additionally, adolescents with depressed mothers were more likely to become depressed when they [adolescent] are faced with family conflict and discord (Allen & Manning, 2010, p. 833). Single motherhood is more stressful on both the mother and the children; single mothers are more likely to be depressed than married mothers. Compared to single mothers, married mothers have better mental health (Afifi, T. O. , Cox, B. J. & Enns, M. W. , 2006, p. 122). There are at least 9. 5 million families in American in which single mothers are head of the household (Afifi et al. 2006). Parenting stress is unusually high in single-mother homes and mothers have â€Å"greater financial difficulties, social isolation, and childcare responsibilities† compared to mothers who are married (Afifi et al. & Taylor, Purswell, Lindo, Jayne, & Fernando, 2011). Past research has found identified stressors which negatively affect the psychological well-being of single mothers; they are, low income, low education, family size, and ethnicity (Afifi et al. . 126). The results of Afifi et al. study found that psychiatric disorders in married mothers is lowest, with a slight increase in never married mothers, and the greatest increase was found in separated/divorced mothers; however, previous research found that women going through a separation or divorce had higher rates of poor mental health before the separation/divorce and after (Afifi et al. p. 127). Afifi et al. found that separated/divorced mothers had high levels of depression, dysthymia, GAD, alcohol abuse, PTSD, drug abuse, agoraphobia and antisocial personality disorder. Co-Parenting, Healthy Family Relationships, and Positive Outcomes Although marital conflict, separation/divorce, and poor parenting can adversely affect the home environment and negatively influence the development of children, there are positive factors which counter these adverse affects. Co-parenting is one of those factors. Co-parenting is associated with parents who mutually and cooperatively parent and raise their child together as a team. Although most of the research on co-parenting has been done on married couples and fathers, some does exist on co-parenting after the marital relationship has dissolved. Co-parenting can exist in families with marital conflict as part of a solution to positive parenting even in the midst of chaos and conflict. Positive co-parenting can buffer a child against the negative effects of marital conflict and divorce. There is increasing â€Å"evidence [which] indicates that successful co-parenting relationships are beneficial for children’s socio-emotional development† (Dush, Kotila, & Schoppe-Sullivan, 2011, p. 356). Other studies have found that co-parenting affects children positively by decreasing both internalizing and externalizing symptoms (Isacco, Garfield, & Rogers, 2010, p. 262). Healthy co-parenting relationships between separated or divorced couples can significantly improve the relationship between the non-residential father and the child; it could also help improve the relationship between the mother and father by reducing conflict. Many divorced fathers are less involved with their children and co-parenting because of the relational conflict with the divorced mother. Dush et al. (2011) states the key ingredients for co-parenting includes joint investment in the child, valuing the importance of each parent, respecting the other’s judgment, and ongoing, open communication (p. 357). A key factor for increasing healthy family relations and positive outcomes for children in families with marital conflict or divorce is active, supportive father involvement. As Dush et al. points out, â€Å"cooperative co-parenting relationships may be key to fostering positive nonresidential father involvement and lower levels of inter-parental conflict which have been linked to children’s behavioral outcomes, academic achievement, and psychological well-being† (p. 356). Another key component which fosters positive outcomes for children is father-child communication which has shown to decrease externalizing behaviors; (Afifi et al. 2006) additionally, open communication within the parent-child relationship where the child feels comfortable talking with their parents about the divorce has shown that children cope better (Taylor et al. , 2011). â€Å"A strong parent– child relationship can help ameliorate many of these [divorce] difficulties† (Taylor et al. 2011. p. 125). Family therapy is another positive component which can buffer the affects of marital conflict and divorce. Therapy can provide support for family members, teach problem-solving skills, communications training, conflict management and resolution.