Serial Killers in the World - 1085 Words

Overview In the 1980s serial killers were understood to be a new development, a phenomenon frequently accredited to the excesses of American culture. It was a decade of change, one of freedom and great music. It was also a decade that brought the shock and fear of serial killers. Today it seems as if all societies have serial killers. People in today’s society are left with questions such as: Who are they? Why are they so different? Why do they commit such horrific crimes? There are many theories that psychologists and sociologists have researched but found no definite answers. The Bureau of Justice Statistics partnership with MINCAVA reported that, between 1976 and 1994 there were an estimated 405,089 murders in the United States. Of these, the circumstances surrounding the murder are known in 317,925, or 78.5%. Among the cases with known circumstances, an estimated 4,807, or 1.5%, were classified as involving rape or another sex offense (Greenfeld 1997). Though the vast majority of v iolent sex offending involves males assaulting female victims, females account for a small percentage of known offenders, and males account for a small percentage of victims (Greenfeld, 1997). Serial killers are a disturbing piece of the puzzle of society that we must figure out to save the lives of the public in the future. Although the term serial killer loosly means killing serveral people by different means, there are those who are indeed survivors of these horrific acts and live to tellShow MoreRelatedSerial Killers Have Plagued The World Since Before The 1500s1899 Words   |  8 PagesSerial killers have plagued the world since before the 1500s. Theories have evolved over long periods of time for explanations as to why people begin killing. The earliest explanation was rooted in witchcraft and demonic possessions overtaking the person causing them to commit these acts of violence. Biological, psychological, and social theories have emerged over the years as society has developed and advanced. The latest theory suggests that the behavior of serial killers results as a combinationRead MoreA Serial Killers Characteristics Begin at Childhood800 Words   |  3 PagesChi ldhood Characteristic of Serial killers The basic definition of Serial Killers are that it is a group of people who’s work is just to kill, kill and kill innocent people over a longer period of time without being wedged or bunged. They are not like mass murderers, who may kill many people at one time - majority of the time because of circumstantial behavior. Serial Killers are completely a different from traditional or mass murderers they always make a proper plan and they are very specificRead MoreSerial Killers in Modern Society1558 Words   |  6 PagesSerial Killers in Modern Society Introduction For hundreds of years, serial killers have actually been a huge fascination all over the world. Even though society has an undeveloped idea as to what a serial killer is and how they function, there is much more to serial killers that people are probably unaware of. In spite of classic myths regarding serial killers which are displayed a lot in movies, this essay will recognize serial killers as irregular as the individual that utilizes various strategiesRead MoreCharacteristics And Backgrounds Of Serial Killers Essay1495 Words   |  6 PagesSerial killers can be hiding behind the smiles of your neighbors, grocers, and the most unexpected individuals. According to Boschken (2014), a serial killer is an individual that has committed three or more murders over a month without a large gap between murders. Several different characteristics and backgrounds make up a serial killer. Studies have shown that an individual’s background can give insight into the victims and the offende r’s relationship to the victims. Serial killers can also beRead MorePerry Smith: A Passion to Kill1354 Words   |  6 PagesSerial killers have long eluded law enforcement while simultaneously grabbing the attention of the public, and now more than ever, criminal psychologists are beginning to understand what makes a serial killer. In his true-crime documentary, In Cold Blood, Truman Capote depicts the horrifying murders of four members of the Clutter family and the search to find the criminals responsible for the deaths. Eventually, two killers are caught, one being Perry Smith, a detached and emotionless man. And althoughRead MoreThe Various Forms of Serial Killers1018 Words   |  4 PagesThe term itself: serial killer, has so many connotations. Serial killers are very prevalent in today’s society, and are present in tv shows, books, movies, magazines. The public has formed an idea of serial killers that is not exactly all too correct. The general public’s idea of them is very broad, when in actuality serial killer’s come in many, many different shapes and forms. The world of a serial kiler has such a diverse group of people taht just a single, general idea of one doesn’t begin toRead MoreThe Mystery Of Serial Killers1214 Words   |  5 PagesSerial killers have unsuspectingly dwelled among society for as long as evil has been amongst the human race. The world would not be the same without these vile people. Yes, serial killers are awful human beings but there is something about them that has, and will continue, to be a topic of interest to the innocent. Serial killers are always talked about; in fictional movies, documentaries, books, speeches, dinner topics, the list goes on. The average, day by day people in society have always cravedRead MoreCharacteristics of a Serial Killer760 Words   |  4 Pagespain and death are twisted into a passion to kill. Unlike a â€Å"normal† individual, serial killers rely on m urdering to fulfill their craving of their gruesome thrills and addiction. Most of society incorrectly views serial killers because of how they are portrayed on television. For example, Dexter is a handsome serial killer who does lead a normal life but, he takes it upon himself to rid all of the â€Å"bad guys† in the world in order to accomplish his need to kill. Then there’s Freddy Krueger, he getsRead More Serial Killers: Monsters or Mentally Ill Essay1571 Words   |  7 Pages Studies show that traits of a serial killer can be seen in a person at a very young age. Most warning signs go unnoticed which is why the growth of the killer continues. A thing such as animal cruelty is one of many clues inside the growth of a serial killers mind â€Å"They often start out their careers by maiming, harming, and torturing small animals.† â€Å"In extreme cases, they have been known to spend hours inflicting a slow death on animals...this is a form of control that al lows them the power toRead MoreChapter 16. Serial Killers Are Not A New Development. They1189 Words   |  5 PagesChapter 16 Serial killers are not a new development. They have been among us since the beginning of time. Evidence of this can be seen by reviewing some of the world’s most high-profile crimes; some of which remain unsolved. Serial killers are difficult to detect. They are able to move through society, masquerading as normal, healthy individuals. A serial sexual sadistic killer is a specific type of predator. Their crimes suggest that they are void of any feelings or emotion. However, theories suggest

Retirement plans Free Essays

Abstract A good retirement plan should be one that would provide retirees with the most benefits. These benefits should ideally provide tax advantages. Tax savings can be realized in the short run or in the long run depending on the type of scheme selected. We will write a custom essay sample on Retirement plans or any similar topic only for you Order Now It should also provide a secure investment that offers attractive returns. This paper looks into the retirement programs highlighting the advantages of these schemes to different players. This paper opines that despite the few disadvantages of these schemes, They provide an great avenue through which employees can plan their futur. Definition These are a programs established by employer or employee or both aimed at providing the retirees with a source of income when they are no longer in employment. Retirement plans basically are set up as a form of savings plan to cater for the future i.e. by providing some form of income when a person has retired. Types of retirement plans There are several retirement plans available in the market today. The employees should therefore select a plan that meets their expectation and suits their needs. Below is a list and explanation of some of the available retirement plans. i) Individual Retirement Accounts plans It is one of the simplest retirement programs that can be set by an individual. It is also worthwhile to note that IRAs be established by employers. Therefore IRAs can be established with little employers’ involvement to those that they establish and contribute to the scheme. The retirement benefits depend on the contributions and subsequently the income earned by these funds. There are four IRA plans Payroll Deduction IRA- formed by the employee either under traditional or Roth IRA in conjunction with a financial institution. The financial institution (banks, insurance companies) then deducts the contributions towards the plan under the authority of the employee. Traditional IRA contributions are partly or wholly tax deductible and therefore present tax savings to the employee. The other advantage is that the earnings on the plan are not taxed unless distributed. The same applies to the contributions to the plan. Roth IRA deductions are not tax deductible and also distributions are not part of the income (Internal Revenue Service 2008) Salary Reduction Simplified Employee Pension Plan (SARSEP) – It is a simple plan that involves salary reduction agreement which enables the employers to contribute to the IRAs set by them and also to the employees IRAs. There contributions are subject to a limit. Simplified Employee Pension Plan (SEP)-Employers contribute towards the plan Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE IRA) – employers make contributions towards their own retirement plan and also that of the employees. The employees reduce their salaries with the employers making similar contributions. ii) IRC 401 (K) Plans. Can involve employees delaying their salaries and these money is taken to 401(k) plan supported by their employers. The deferred salary is not taxed unless distributed. The benefit of having a 401(k) plan is that one can have other plans as well The employee/employer contribution is subject to a limit with withdrawals being permitted but subject to taxes. iii) TRC 403(b)-Tax sheltered Annuity Plans This plan are operated by public schools and certain tax exempt organizations. This plan is same as 401(k) in the sense that contributions are in form of salary delays with the employers sponsoring the plan. The potential benefits of this plan are that the contributions and earnings on retirement are tax deferred with annuities being carried by the employee on retirement or change of employers (IRS: 2008) iv) IRC 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plans Established by state or local government or tax exempt organization under IRA (501(c). Employees or employers contribute to the plan through salary reductions up to a certain set limit under IRC 402(g) These plans can be eligible under IRC 457 (b) or illegible under IRC 457(f). Eligible plan allows tax deferral on contributions and earnings on the retirement funds (Ryterband Alpem: 2005) v) Designated Roth Accounts in 401(k) or 403(b) plans 401(k) and 403(b) can be designated as Roth plans since 2006. These plans are allowed under Code section 402 A added by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act 2001. Designated Roth contributions are included in the gross income and are also elective. A designated Roth account is where with contributions is made with separate accounting of contributions, gains and losses being maintained (IRS 2008) Designated Roth contributions are subject to limit with employee and employers contributing up to certain determinable limit. Advantages and Disadvantages of good retirement plan As discussed above, there are different types of retirement plans that employees and employers can chose from. The plan to be selected should provide the most benefits to both the employer and employee and most importantly suit the needs of both the employee and employers (Scotto, D., J et al: 2008) Therefore, in discussing the advantages and disadvantages of retirement plans, it important to approach it from the employees and employers point view. Advantages-Employees Tax saving-A good retirement plan should be able to provide the most tax savings and advantages. Tax advantages can be in the form of tax-exempt and tax deferrals. A good number of retirement plans offer these tax advantages and therefore employees and employers can select a plan that meets their needs (Maddock J, 2007) The tax savings can be realized in the short run or in the long run depending on the type of scheme selected. Many investment options and opportunities-The contributions (funding) to the retirement plan are invested in various investment options. A good retirement plan should therefore put the money in investments that offer attractive returns while at the same time safeguarding the investor’s money. Retirement plans are long term in nature and therefore the contributions should be invested in the long term also (Perlinger Financial Services: 2008) Provides a ‘nest egg’-Retirement plans provide employees with an opportunity to slowly but constantly contribute towards their retirement. The benefit of this arrangement is that it does not strain the employees financially and thus they are able to make contribution which they are comfortable with. All these contributions are invested in stocks, bonds and other investment opportunities which earn interest and appreciate in value and therefore the retirement benefits will accumulate and become substantial upon retirement. Employer contributions-Contribution to the retirement benefits plan can be by an individual or by the company or both depending on the type of plan. A good retirement benefit plan should allow both contribution of employee and employer. The employer contributions are usually elective in nature. Contributions by both employer and employee ensure that the fund accumulates faster and thus on retirement the fund will be huge. Performance of the fund-The contributors to the retirement scheme should be able to monitor the performance of the fund. A good retirement benefits plan should provide regular updates on the performance of the fund so that any surplus or deficit can be appropriately dealt with. Advantages- Employer Employee retention-A good retirement plan can act as an incentive to the employees and also attract better employees. The company can retain its top employees by offering them a good retirement scheme and since it is for the long term, the company is able to retain them. The company is also able to attract employees who are better qualified in terms of experience and skills and thus the company will benefit (Business Owners Toolkit: 2008) Financial security of employees-Employees is able to perform optimally if they know that their financial future is guaranteed.   A retirement benefit plan that provides this perceived financial security is good Employee morale-Since most pension schemes are based on the salary earned by the employee, a good retirement plan therefore, serves to motivate and encourage all employees to work hard and hence earn more wages. Higher salaries subsequently means ‘handsome’ retirement package and this enhances staff morale. Tax savings-The contributions to the retirement scheme in most plans is tax allowable and this provides the company with the most tax efficient way of rewarding its employees. The contributions are deducted when calculating the taxable income. Reduced recruitment costs-As seen above, a good retirement plan helps the company retain most of its employees and therefore the costs associated with recruitment and replacing the employees who left the company is minimized (Perlinger Financial Services:2008) Disadvantages of retirement plans Despite all the numerous advantages of setting up a retirement plan, there are several disadvantages associated with it. Some of these are discussed below. Some of the retirement plans are time consuming, expensive and complex to set up. The result of this is that the company incurs extra expenses and thereby squeezing the profit margins. The complexities in establishing the plan will also present more costs apart from being time consuming (Business Owners Toolkit: 2008) The operations of the retirement plan needs professional expertise e.g. that of actuaries and accountant. These professionals offer their services at a fee which is usually expensive. The administrative costs of running a retirement plan may pose a challenge to the company in terms of extra costs. Early retirement by the employee could reduce the amount received. This in essence means that the employee has to work his full employment term in order to receive all his retirement benefits. This could mean being trapped in employment even if one is not comfortable. Joining a retirement plan late on in one’s employment i.e. when there are a few years till retirement may not accumulate a large amount enough to sustain the retiree. Therefore the retirement plan will not improve the financial security of the employee (Scotto, D., J et al: 2008) In some of the retirement plans, the contributor has no role in deciding where to invest the fund’s money. This means that the money could be invested in assets that are not in line with one’s investment strategies. This essentially means that the contributor has no control of his money. Employees are responsible for ensuring that they have enough savings for their retirement in some of the plans. This means that the employee is the one in charge of all the investment assets and therefore bears the responsibility of any losses incurred by these investments. Reference: Maddock, J (2007) Advantages of Offering a Pension Plan to Your Employees: Retrieved On 29/1/2009 Perlinger Financial Services Ltd (2008) Pension Plans: Retrieved on 29/1/2008 Internal Revenue Service (2008) Types of Retirement Plans: Retrieved On 29/1/2008 Business Owners Toolkit (2008) Pros and Cons of Retirement Plans: Retrieved On 29/1/2008 From http://www.toolkit.com/small_business_guide/sbg.aspx?nid=P05_4640 Scotto, D., J.   Maglio, V., T. Maglio, M. (2008) Choosing a retirement plan that meets the needs of employees and employer: Retrieved on 29/1/2008 from Retrieved On From http://view.fdu.edu/default.aspx?id=2333 Chang RuthenBerg and Long Pc (2003) Types of Retirement Plans retrieved on 29/1/2008 from  Ã‚   http://www.seethebenefits.com/CRLframeset800x600.asp?targetPage=http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:AO6rPS-WpS4J:www.seethebenefits.com/content/CWHY/typesretireplans.htm%20types%20of%20retirement%20plans Ryterand, D., J. L. Alpem, R., L. (2005). The Hand Book of Employee Benefits: Design Funding and Administration, section 457, Deferred compensation plans 6th Edition (NY) Mc Graw-Hill Professional.          How to cite Retirement plans, Essay examples

Positive Change free essay sample

â€Å"Making it Happen: Creating Positive Change to Become a Peak Performer† showed many ways of to be a successful person. It’s not difficult or complicated, you can be successful if you want to but you will have to put very much effort into being successful. To be successful in life, one should first set goals, one might need many goals to set or only one depending on what the person wants out of life. Most people fail to achieve their goals because they don’t know what they want in their life. However, staying focused on one thing and working it out, when it is done you can move to the next one. A clear head and mind might take an investment of time, maybe a lot of it. Be patient and take it slowly to work toward your goals, never give up or be discouraged about your dream. Do not be discouraged if it takes you a long time to become successful as many have to strive extremely hard for success. We will write a custom essay sample on Positive Change or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Changing your habits would help, even if it’s difficult. First, write down a list of what you want to change and then it will force you to think about it. Always have a positive attitude and be motivated to do the right things. You need to have the ability to bounce back because some people see their failure as just a temporary setback for their goal and others as a dead end for them. In your life you have a thing called integrity, meaning â€Å"a sense of wholeness. † If you don’t have this in your life you will have difficulty with your everyday life communication. Even if you are very talented or have a high IQ without this the way of life will be useless. You should expect many road bumps in the process to success. Success will not fall on your doorstep overnight although for some, a very small percentage has had this happen to them.

Truism About Human Nature Essay Example

Truism About Human Nature Essay Their vulnerabilities can be divided into 2. * Physical vulnerabilities * Personal vulnerabilities Physical vulnerabilities: Physical needs can be frustrated by physical privations or traumas leading to acute distress experiences such as hunger, thirst, cold, fatigue, the pain of disease or accident or attack, sexual tension. In the animal realm there appear to be something like emotional distress experiences involved with some, at any rate, of the physical ones. Thus there is anger vented in defensive or offensive aggression when the issues concern mating, territory or food. There is fear leading to immobility or flight when under attack, as an alternative to counter-aggression. There is grief in some species exhibited in wailing and mourning when there is separation from parent or offspring or mate. Human beings, it is reasonable to suppose, function in similar ways, with emotional distresses of anger, fear and grief and their behaviors, tied in with physical frustrations. In animals of the same species, anger with its associated aggressive threat or fight behavior appears to have adaptive functions: it leads to social cohesion and leadership by maintaining dominance hierarchies; it makes for an effective use of available territory (and food) by separating groups out over it; it benefits progeny by selecting out the best parents; it protects the young. Nor, in natural habitats, is it necessarily highly destructive: the norm is often threat behavior or token fights rather than serious wounding and killing, although the latter does occur. We will write a custom essay sample on Truism About Human Nature specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Truism About Human Nature specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Truism About Human Nature specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Intra-specific aggression among animals seems more harnessed to the preservation of life than to its destruction. Among monkeys and apes, intra-specific aggression is stronger in baboons, weaker in gorillas and chimpanzees, but in the wild it is almost entirely reduced to threat displays with very little overt fighting. In unusual environmental circumstances however, as in captivity where there may be crowding and/or sudden disturbances, unfamiliar irritations, then all these species can be violently aggressive to their own kind. We do not know the sort of aggression that occurred among early hominids, but it does seem reasonable to suppose that the human organism, physically comparable as it is to the primates, has tendencies toward the adaptive aggression shown among primates and, when under physical duress such as overcrowding, to the more violently destructive aggression also exhibited under such conditions by primates. Personal Vulnerabilities: But the organism is not only the locus of physical needs, it is also the medium for the fulfilment of what I have called personal needs rooted in capacities for love, understanding and choice, where these capacities have a potential reach far beyond the confines of physical survival needs. Thus any interference with physical needs, any threat to the integrity of the organism, is at the same time some kind of interference with or threat to the fulfilment of personal needs. Why, for example, do human infants and children have a grief-like crying and sobbing response to minor physical hurts? Is it because the physical pain and shock is also experienced as an immediate interruption of their need to love and be loved? Thus to understand fully human response to physical privations and trauma, we must take into account, I suggest, not only the fear, anger and grief tied in with organismic frustration but also a different order of fear, anger and grief that is tied in with the frustration of personal needs as defined. The reverse may also be the case: frustration at the purely human level may of itself lead to distress at the physical level fatigue, insomnia, pain, wasting. ) Interrupt and restrict a child physically, then the simple angry fight response of the impeded organism can be enormously fuelled by the angry, righteous indignation of a being whose need to be self-directing in her exploration of the world has been suspended. There is often this double loading of distress to take into account. But the two sorts of frustration can be relatively independent of each other. Thus the human adult at any rate can experience minor physical frustrations without distress at the level of personal needs; and conversely can have all physical needs fully satisfied while undergoing major frustrations of personal needs. Primary sources of personal vulnerability By primary sources I mean sources that are intrinsic to the human condition prior to human invention and intention. They are the inherent stresses of human existence, of the given system of persons in the world, stresses which can frustrate basic personal needs. 1. Tensions between physical needs or survival and personal needs for self-realisation and cultural achievement. This is the great tension between life and mind, between the biocentric nature of the organism and the mental aspiration of the person, accentuated by a physical environment that can demand persistent, repetitive, arduous address to survival tasks. The relentless meeting of physical needs can significantly frustrate the meeting of personal needs for shared loving, for knowledge, for varied cultural achievement through lack of time, energy, resources, opportunity. Distress may thus accumulate at the personal level, without time or knowledge to resolve it. 1. If, as well as these effects of the persistent demands of survival, there is added actual frustration of physical needs as a result of drought or pests or disease or any other natural cause, then we have the crucial area of double distress: the distress of physical frustration compounds the already cumulative distress of personal frustration. 2. The biocentric nature of the organism may set up another kind of stress at the mental level. Physical needs may spontaneously distort the untutored human imagination into phantasies of disproportionate physical fulfilment, especially when these needs are subjected to the stress of frustration. There can thus be a stress-induced artificial inflation of physical satisfactions that can of itself subvert a real fulfilment of the person: mental capacities are frustrated by being harnessed to the irrelevant pursuit of redundant bodily gratification. 3. The postulated stress here is that of psychological gravity: the untutored capacities of the person are drawn into the orbit of physical needs, falsely illuminating and enlarging them, to the distortion of both. 2. Tension between love needs and the universal phenomenon of separation. Birth is a separation; death is a separation; disease, injury, congenital defect may involve separation; shorter or longer partings between those who love seem, to be inescapable components of living, working and surviving. Birth may be profoundly traumatic. 3. Tension between understanding needs and the relative inscrutability of phenomena. The world has not yielded up its intelligibility lightly: knowledge has been laboriously won. The unknown surrounds humans on every side. The human psyche is even more inscrutable than the phenomenal world. Humans want to understand, but the veil is drawn thickly around them and within them. 4. Tension between self-direction needs and the resistant, refractory, elemental nature of the physical. There is a great gap between aspiration and action, between the chosen possibility and its realisation in the world. Bodily skills have to be acquired, tools made, tough material worked. The world abounds with great frustrators of human effort, of the determination to take charge: fire, flood, deluge, drought, earthquake, avalanche, volcano, pests, vermin, animal marauders, disease, accident, deterioration, decay, and so on. 5. The inherent intrapsychic instability of, the internal tensions among, unprogrammed but potentially unlimited, human capacities, whose behavioural fulfillment is entirely acquired. This instability is accentuated by an environment which abounds with examples of destructive ruthlessness both in the animal kingdom and in the natural elements. A human may be frustrated and disoriented simply by the excess of options available. And in this state of internal disarray, destructive examples in nature may inspire inappropriate choices. Alternatively, situations may arise where human needs frustrate each other, so that love fulfilled or knowledge gained or autonomy achieved may be at the expense of one another. 6. Finally, of course, there is simply the presence of other members of the human race, all of whom are also subject to all the same sources of personal vulnerability, as well as the many sources of physical vulnerability. There is thus an inherent social instability in the given system of things: social transactions have to occur among beings who are immersed in a given world that can cause in them as individuals great personal stresses and frustrations on top of purely physical stresses and frustrations. Interacting with other beings who are personally and/or physically distressed is yet another source of frustration of personal needs. In one sense, all these interacting tensions can be seen as conditions of growth, the stresses that call human development into being. The human condition is inherently stressful, but in a human-affirmative or provocatively creative way. Up to a point, a tension or combination of interacting tensions, is a line of stress that provokes a growth-promoting and constructive burst of energy affective, cognitive, conative from the human being. Separation can intensify and clarify love; the inscrutability of the world provokes the mind into enquiry; the intractability of matter and its sudden cataclysms challenge achievement; the demands of survival arouse a technological and cultural development that transcends the purely iological; the inherent instability of human potential provokes self-knowledge and self-development; the inherent social instability that occurs in the given world is a spur to social creation, co-operation, collective achievement. The world provides a dramatic series of shocks and blocks that arouses the person slumbering in the organism, the society slumbering in nature. However the human condition a lso appears to be such that these tensions can interact and occur at a rate resulting in an accumulated overload of distress that can lead to compulsive, distorted, destructive behaviour. I have a phantasy caricature of a negative possibility for the life of early humans: they are beset by separation anxiety through high infant mortality, sudden death by natural disaster or animal attack, by disease or accident; they are beset by fears rooted in ignorance; by mounting frustration at the sheer implacability of the material world; they are internally confused by the inchoate aspirations of a multifarious, untutored and unknown potential; they are externally confused by association with other humans exhibiting the same range of tensions. And all these  personal  distresses compound a continuous series of  physical  dangers and distresses pain, hunger, cold, animal-like aggression (from animals and humans), and the fear and anger that go with them. Above all, because of the relentless need to pursue and maintain survival in a difficult environment, these compound distresses accumulate without respite without time to recover from them or knowledge to resolve them until a condition of overload is reached and behaviour breaks down into distorted and maladaptive forms  between people. The general thesis then is that the sources of physical vulnerability combined with the primary sources of personal vulnerability can have two different effects. Up to a certain level of intensity they provoke a truly human development: human capacities are exercised and fulfilled in meeting the challenge of physical existence. Beyond this level they overload the human system and behaviour starts to become distorted, especially behaviour between people. Distorted and perverted human behaviour is the secondary source of personal vulnerability. The level of intensity will fluctuate as a function of the changing patterns of interaction of very many variables. The critical threshold of overload will be idiosyncratic for each individual: a parent whose children all of die in infancy will be in a very different state of stress than one who loses none. But there may well be pervasive ecological factors that from time to time determine thresholds in a whole community. In general it seems reasonable to suppose that, given varied individual thresholds in a society, we shall find the typically human phenomenon of genuine cultural achievement interfused with distorted and perverted behavior some of which will be congealed in accepted social practices and institutions. The fact that the intrinsic stresses of the human condition are such that human behavior can break down into distorted and perverted forms is itself a kind of meta-challenge to transpersonal development, in my view. The first order challenge of the stresses is to personal and interpersonal development, but the continued vulnerability of  this  achievement is a second order challenge to cultivate the wider reaches of human awareness. In the theory and method of co-creating (Chapter 19,  Sacred Science,  Heron, 1998), I develop the radical view that cosmic self-forgetting, an ongoing contraction of spiritual awareness and attunement, is that which ultimately sustains all distorted human behaviors. Secondary sources of personal vulnerability Basic personal needs are frustrated by the interfering actions of other humans. The most obvious and most vulnerable victims are children. 1. Physical interference. Bodily harm or the threat of bodily harm; a difficult birth; sexual interference; deprivation of contact, food, water, heat, sleep, sex. This can lead to compound distress, as I have suggested: the emotional effects of physical frustration combined with the emotional effects of personal frustration. The emotional perturbation at the personal level when physical needs are frustrated will be much greater, I suggest, when other humans are the intentional frustrators than when non-human conditions are. Children who are physically harmed and deprived by their parents can clearly suffer, as well as the physical distress and its concomitants, a great interference with their needs both for love and for self-direction. 2. Psychological interference. That is, interference with personal needs as such. Love needs can be frustrated by parting, separation, loss that is the result of human decision and intervention; by censure, criticism, reproof, mockery, invalidation whether verbal or non-verbal; by psychological neglect, withdrawal, disregard, alienation, rejection. Needs for understanding can be frustrated in children by failure of adults to respond to enquiry, to give needed and relevant information, to communicate freely and appropriately, to provide an environment full of mental stimulation and arousal at critical periods of response, to facilitate imagination, phantasm and mythopoeia thinking, to provide equipment and opportunity for practical skills and learning how, to provide reading and writing skills. Needs for self-direction in children can be frustrated by adults nagging, by endlessly imposed prescriptions, commands, demands, precepts, minatory shoulds and oughts and musts and their negatives, by taking over and doing everything for, by failing to provide time and place for self-directed play, exploration, activity, interaction. There is probably no such thing as exclusive frustration of one basic personal need. Love frustrated is also in some way understanding and self-direction distorted (and similarly with each of the latter two): the unloved child may in later life exercise her intellect in strange ways and compulsively reject others in a way that severely restricts her ability to take charge of her life. 3. Social interference. The personal needs of a great number of people can be systematically interfered with in rigid organisations and societies in which there is political oppression, economic exploitation, denial of human rights. Personal needs here may be almost totally negated, or their fulfilment may only be tolerated up to a point and in certain restricted social areas, or the needs may be tolerated only in distorted and warped forms of development. But whatever distortions are imposed on the oppressed, complementary distortions are found in the oppressors. Social interference with personal needs can be looked at in three categories, the third including within it the second, and the second the first: * Face-to-face interference. The actual behaviour event where one or more persons interfere with the humanity of one or more persons. Organisational interference. A particular organisation the household, the school, the company, the department whose normative structure is oppressive in some or other respect to some degree. * Societal interference. Cultural oppression the oppressive features of the combined norms and values of a whole society, its political, economic, cultural, religious and domestic associ ations. Subcultural oppression would derive from the norms and values of a given social class, or ethnic group, or geographical community. Organisation and societal interference can be seen as the institutionalisation of distorted and perverted human behaviour. Oppressive interaction face-to-face generalises into oppressive normative structures. The distorted society is the artifact of distorted individuals and tends to be self-perpetuating until riven apart by the extremity of its own distortion. While an oppressive normative structure will be maintained by oppressive face-to-face interactions that occur within it, the mere existence of an oppressive normative structure can of itself be a source of oppression independent of any particular act within it. Thus once a person is sensitised to the structure, she will conform behaviour to it without there necessarily being any intervention from anyone else. Social interference with personal needs is not all of a piece. At the face-to-face level, these are some, at least, of the important distinctions to be made: * Interference that follows from distorted or perverted behaviour as these are defined in earlier sections. * Interference that follows from authentic good intention combined with ignorance. In the light of greater knowledge the interference would be seen to be both unnecessary and avoidable. The ignorance may have been avoidable or unavoidable: in the former case the good intention becomes somewhat tarnished. * Interference that follows from a rational, humane and well informed decision. The interference here may be regarded as necessary and unavoidable in the circumstances. There is unfortunately a blurred area between the first two of these and again between the last two. It may be unclear whether or not an ignorant good intention is but the masquerade of compulsive behaviour; or whether or not what appears to be a wise decision will be seen with the greater wisdom of hindsight to have been but ill-informed good intention. Tertiary sources of personal vulnerability A related and equally important distinction is that a social norm that has an interfering effect is not necessarily an obviously oppressive or unjust norm. In other words, I am postulating an area of unavoidable tension and conflict between personal needs and normative structures, however enlightened those structures may be. Persons can only be persons in relation. They can only realize their authentic personal needs in corporate systems of interdependence, in coherent and stable social structures, which by virtue of their nature tend to be conservative. At their best, such structures represent recently past levels of achievement in realizing human capacities. But if, as I postulate, such capacities are potentially unlimited in their range of fulfillment, then tension can arise between the degree of fulfillment evident in prevailing social practices and the innovative thrust of these capacities toward new levels of achievement. So that is one area of unavoidable tension: between the innovative individual and the social conserve, whatever the nature of the conserve. But apart from the drama of social change and innovation, there tends to be an unavoidable tension between individual needs and the corporate needs of the organization or collective within which the individual seeks fulfillment. The social realities of the human condition being what they are, I postulate that even in the most enlightened organizational development, tension and conflict will arise on the interface between individual need and corporate purpose. What makes an organization enlightened is that it has built-in procedures for acknowledging such conflict and working constructively with it. The child faces this tension in a particularly acute form, since the younger she is, the less readily she can grasp that the family collective has a purpose or purposes which may at times legitimately constrain the immediate fulfillment of her human needs. Frustration tolerance, skills in the constructive handling of tension and conflict, all appear to be necessary and legitimate concepts at the level of personal needs. When the capacity to love is fulfilled, it includes, paradoxically, just this ability to accept a measure of personal frustration, to work through conflict to the fulfillment of wider social purposes. These individual-in-society tensions I call tertiary sources of personal vulnerability because I believe they are intrinsic to social structures as such, however enlightened those structures may be, and only occur in their pure or intrinsic form in organizations that have started to clean themselves up, that have become relatively free of the more obvious distortions and perversions. I see such tensions as a creative issue when human beings start to climb out of their long history of individual and social breakdown, rather than as a contributory factor to such breakdown. The distresses to which these tensions may give rise will very much be self-generated by autonomous persons who will voluntarily undertake to undergo them as necessary part of personal growth and social change. This is the arena of voluntary, conscious, intentional suffering: the stress-seeking behavior of the self-actualizing person.