1.11: Women and the Environment
-
- Last updated
- Save as PDF
Chapter 11: Women and the Environment
Chapter Summary
- Overview
- Profile: Aleksandra Koroleva
- Project: Barefoot Solar Engineer
- Questions
- Additional Resources
Women play a critical role in managing natural resources on family and community levels and are most affected by environmental degradation. In communities around the world, women manage water, sources for fuel, and food, as well as both forests and agricultural terrain. Women produce 60 to 80 percent of food in developing countries, while inheritance laws and local customs often prevent them from owning or leasing land and securing loans or insurance. From the high level to the grassroots, the 1992 UN Earth Summit, India’s Chipko movement and Kenya’s Green Belt Movement all highlighted the role of women’s voices and perspectives in sustainable development.
Aleksandra Koroleva worked both within government and as a community organizer with Ecodefense! where she coordinated acts of civil disobedience to raise awareness around pollution of water resources, nuclear waste, and creating protected nature reserves. The Barefoot College trains women in Tilonia, Rajasthan, in solar engineering in ways that ensure that this scientific knowledge remains, grows, and circulates within the community. The solar engineering projects have provided pathways for women to partake in solar electrification initiatives. Not only is building solar cookers traditionally seen as ‘men’s work’ so that instructing women in this skill breaks down gender barriers, but the power source lowers family lighting costs and reduces levels of indoor pollution.
- s
Key Terms
- Barefoot College
- Barefoot Solar Engineer (BSE)
- Chipko Movement
- Ecodefense!
- Greenbelt Movement
- Solar Warriors
- United Nations Earth Summit (1992)
Overview
By Cate Owren
T he world’s women are the key to sustainable development, peace and security,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told participants at the Earth Institute’s State of the Planet meeting at Columbia University, in New York City, in March 2010. Because women are the chief resource managers for their families in many parts of the world, their engagement in remedies for and adaptation to climate change is essential.
Across the regions and cultures of the world, women play critical roles in relation to their natural environment. Often deeply dependent on available natural resources for food, fuel and shelter, women can be particularly vulnerable to environmental changes or threats. Because women’s workload is often centered on managing natural resources, biodiversity and ecosystems, their experiences and perspectives are essential to sustainable development policymaking and actions at every level, for a healthy planet for generations to come.
Resource Managers
Women in the developing world are predominantly responsible for management and conservation of resources for their families. Women spend vast amounts of time collecting and storing water, securing sources of fuel, food and fodder, and managing land — be it forest, wetlands or agricultural terrain. As women are primary caregivers to children, the elderly and the sick, whole communities rely on them. Their traditional and generational knowledge of biodiversity, for example, supplies communities with medicines, nutritional balance and crop rotation methods. When drought, erratic rainfall or severe storms affect access to these basic resources, women’s lives — and their families’ lives — can be intensely affected. In fact, studies have shown that natural disasters disproportionately hit women, lowering female life expectancy rates and killing more women than men, especially where levels of gender equality are low.
Women constitute just over half the world’s population, but women are responsible for feeding much of it — especially in rural regions of developing countries. Women produce between 60 and 80 percent of food in developing countries — and yet they officially own only 2 percent of land worldwide, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. Historical inheritance laws and customs often prohibit or limit women’s direct control over land; even when women are able to own and lease land, they may not be able to secure loans or insurance to keep their resources safe. The lack of equitable land rights remains a major obstacle to women’s empowerment and poverty alleviation.
International Agreements
International agreements have made crucial links between women and the environment; the challenge is to take action. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979), an international “bill of rights” for women, addresses a host of environmental issues. Likewise, the Beijing Platform for Action, an outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women (1995), includes an entire chapter on women and the environment. It foreshadowed the different impacts global warming would have on women and men, which are now evident across the globe.
Major sustainable development treaties, also, have acknowledged the specific need for women’s participation and for a mainstreamed gender perspective. The 1992 United Nations Earth Summit (UNCED) produced two key conventions — on biological diversity and on combating desertification — that have served as guides for implementation of environmental actions from a gender perspective. The overall UNCED document, Agenda 21, included a specific chapter on gender, which highlighted the important role women play in industrialized countries as sustainable consumers. Indeed, the links between women and environment are not solely concentrated in the global South (i.e., developing countries). Studies have shown that women in the North (i.e., developed countries) have a smaller carbon footprint than men, making the majority of “green” decisions at the household level and for travel according to a 2007 Swedish government report.
These international agreements indicate that, worldwide, women must be equal participants in all decisions related to their environment. Demonstrating great capacity as leaders, experts, educators and innovators, women and women’s movements have made great strides in preserving and protecting the resources around them. Women took the lead in the grass-roots Chipko Movement of India in the 1970s, where activists stopped the felling of trees by physically surrounding — literally hugging — the trees. They also protected water sources from corporate control. Similarly, the Green Belt Movement, the conservation and forestry movement which originated in Kenya on Earth Day in 1977, is another famous effort initiated by women. Women around the world continue the fight against climate change, making sustainable consumption choices, and improving access to, control over and conservation of resources. Their voices must continue to be comprehensively integrated into policy and implementation efforts at every stage for the well-being of future generations.
Cate Owren is executive director of the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), a women’s global advocacy organization working to empower women as decisionmakers to achieve economic and social justice. Founded specifically to influence the 1992 Earth Summit (UNCED), WEDO strives to integrate gender perspectives and women’s direct participation internationally. Most recently, WEDO’s advocacy efforts contributed to securing the first-ever gender text in the U.N. negotiations on climate change.
PROFILE: Aleksandra Koroleva – A Passion for Environmental Protection
By Alexey Milovanov
Russian environmental activist Aleksandra Koroleva’s efforts to preserve the environment and protect people from environmental pollution are tireless, and her unorthodox approach is often successful.
E nvironmental activist Aleksandra Koroleva has devoted much of her life to protecting the pristine environment in the Kaliningrad region in the Russian Federation, on the Baltic Sea. The unique and complex habitats there include wetlands, forests, rivers and marshes. It is home to diverse ecosystems and migratory birds. She has worked within and outside of the government not only to preserve precious natural resources but to protect citizens from dangerous environmental pollution.
Koroleva was a member of a newly formed state environmental protection committee after the Soviet Union fell apart. She says that at the time it seemed the committee could significantly help to responsibly conserve the environment. Prior to this, Koroleva worked at a university, a school and a regional history museum where she dealt with environmental issues. In her new position her task was to raise public awareness, primarily through the mass media. The work was not going badly; she had even created the first radio program in the Kaliningrad region devoted wholly to environmental problems. The program aired for several years. But soon the legacy of the Soviet years, the bureaucracy, stalled her efforts.
Because of her upbringing she couldn’t bring herself to accept defeat.  “She had some kind of tremendous inner drive, she didn’t just study trees as a botanist but sought to preserve them for the future,” Koroleva recalls. “I, of course, inherited only a tiny bit of her confidence, but I have that drive, too, and it won’t let me take things lying down.”
Russian society was in a very turbulent state in the early 1990s. The disappearance of the authoritarian Communist regime and the sudden ability to freely express opinions gave rise to many new movements and organizations. One of them was the group Ecodefense! [Ekozashchita! in Russian]. It was founded by young people determined to effectively address environmental issues by following the Western environmental activist model. They chose as their slogan the high-flown but honest “No compromise in defense of Mother Earth!” A meeting with Ecodefense! activist Vladimir Slivyak led Koroleva to make a 180-degree turn, leave government service and begin a new stage in life. Koroleva recalls, “He said, ‘Let’s do something and not wait until the government permits us to write an article and conduct an environmental study.’ He showed you can simply do what you think is necessary and important.”
The list of “necessary and important” items is so long that it could occupy a dozen full-scale organizations. Yet Ecodefense! functioned admirably during its first 15 years, without any legal status. Among other endeavors, it agitated against pollution of the region’s water resources by harmful substances such as dioxins. It also opposed importation of foreign nuclear waste materials into the country. It protected the nature reserves of the Curonian Spit, a long, narrow sandbar that stretches across the Curonian Lagoon between the Kaliningrad region and Lithuania, from dangerous oil-extraction projects on the Baltic shelf. Ecodefense! fought to preserve trees in downtown Kaliningrad. And, of course, it promoted environmental education with all available means. The top priority was always to make people aware of environmental issues and how to solve the problems. Ecodefense! held press conferences and issued reports and press releases in years when this was a novelty in Russia, even for businesses. Ecodefense! successfully used the media to convey an independent environmental message. “Even now, when our work is not as intensive, journalists call me almost every day,” says Koroleva.
Ecodefense! used dramatic methods to attract media attention, so journalists would write about “those ecofreaks” and the public would read about them. When trees were cut down in the city of Kaliningrad, activists under Koroleva’s leadership carried a log in a coffin to the doors of the city hall and stood around it with votive candles. When analyses carried out at the initiative of the environmentalists revealed the presence of dioxins in the waste water of the local paper factory, young people strolled downtown wearing the masks of mutants in order to draw attention to possible consequences. Koroleva describes another effort she led: “We brought to the district government building a huge mock-up of a nuclear power plant, with a pipe emitting acrid orange smoke. And we handcuffed ourselves to the entrance of that building, dressed in the costumes of oil-spattered pigs, in order to show the danger of the Lukoil Company’s plans to extract petroleum 22 kilometers from the reserves on the Curonian Spit. Oh, those were good times, and I sometimes regret that Ecodefense! and I have gone our separate ways.”
Such outré behavior was shocking and aroused suspicions which still persist among Koroleva’s numerous detractors. Many times Aleksandra Koroleva and her colleagues were accused of being in the pay of business competitors of the people they fought against or foreign intelligence services, from the CIA to Mossad. Koroleva routinely had to counter false media reports.
Teaching is as necessary as breathing to Koroleva, but her dynamism often frightens people unprepared for her zeal. For 10 years Ecodefense! conducted a project to observe nature in the Baltic region in which children participated. Thousands of schoolchildren learned about the Baltic ecosystem in theory and in practice through this program. They cleared refuse from the coast, took eco-tours and networked with their peers from other countries in international nature camps.
Under Aleksandra Koroleva’s leadership the first environmental referendum in Kaliningrad was held on the construction of an oil terminal in the port of Svetly. Her books helped stop dangerous projects and prevent tree clearing, and gave people confidence in their power to defend their right to clean air and water. She encouraged them to change what they do not agree with and control the often harmful activity of officials — new ideas to citizens of the former Soviet Union. Koroleva also educated officials by participating in numerous public councils, drafting new laws and criticizing officials who closed their eyes to environmental crimes. “In the end, the authorities acknowledged the existence and importance of the third sector [nongovernmental organizations], whether it was us or someone else,” says Koroleva. “We were striving precisely for that acknowledgment, and it was a victory. The doors we opened are now accessible for many other activists.”
Koroleva urges everyone — children, teachers, officials, activists — not only to think but to do something concrete. For several years she organized the “Environmental Landing Force on the Curonian Spit” to strengthen dunes and clear away refuse in the national park, recruiting not only students and activists, but high-ranking officials, politicians and diplomats. She transformed conservation of the national park into a genuine mass movement.
History has a way of repeating itself. Twenty years later Koroleva joined a government agency again, as deputy director of the Curonian Spit National Park. Although she recently resigned to protest new policies — the same inner drive causing her to reject the bureaucratic approach — Koroleva plans to continue her environmental work with Ecodefense! “I’m ready again to go back to my roots,” she says.
Alexey Milovanov worked with Aleksandra Koroleva as a press officer and campaigner for the Ecodefense! environmental group for five years. He has been a freelance journalist and photographer since 2005 and is currently chief editor at the local online news agency www.NewKaliningrad.Ru .
PROJECT: Barefoot Solar Engineers
By Anu Saxena
A revolution is happening in Barefoot College in rural Rajasthan, India. It is a quiet revolution that brings solar energy and clean technology to the poorest rural communities, changing the face of rural development. At the forefront of this revolution are semiliterate or illiterate rural women from Asia, Africa and Latin America, many of them grandmothers, who are trained to work as skilled solar engineers.
B arefoot College was founded in 1972 in Tilonia, Rajasthan, India, by social activist and educator Bunker Roy. Its purpose is to find simple, sustainable solutions to basic quality of life problems in rural communities: clean water, renewable energy, education and health care. Stable livelihoods and women’s empowerment are also among Barefoot College’s goals. Solar energy is an important “barefoot solution,” and women — especially grandmothers — are preferred candidates for solar engineer training. As Bunker Roy puts it, “We have trained men, and found that they took their training and knowledge to go work in the cities. [Women] feel responsible for their village.” Rural grandmothers have a longer history in the community and have less incentive to migrate. This keeps the knowledge and technology in the community. Their expertise is shared with others, ensuring project sustainability.
Treating the community members as partners and letting them manage and own their resources and technology are unique features of the Barefoot program. The trainees all hail from remote communities that have never known conventional electricity and where literacy rates are low, especially for women and girls. They are selected by community consensus and, upon their return, are paid by the community to install, maintain and repair the solar units at a percentage of the monthly energy costs that would otherwise have been spent on the alternatives — fuels, candles and batteries.
Since 2005, 250 of these village women from 29 countries have brought solar electrification to around 10,000 houses, in regions as diverse as the hot desert plains of Rajasthan and rural hamlets tucked in the cold, mountainous, windswept plateaus of Ladakh, in India; Timbuktu, Mali, in Africa; and Soloja, Bolivia, high in the Andes. Most poor rural households that Barefoot College has helped in Africa and Latin America use approximately 1.5-2 gallons of kerosene per month for their lighting and cooking needs, according to the Barefoot College experience with rural households. It is estimated that this consumption emits an estimated 14.74-19.65 kilograms of CO2 (Richard J. Komp, 2002). Switching to solar power has reduced environmental pollution and forest degradation in these communities by decreasing their use of firewood, diesel and kerosene. Using solar power has lowered rural families’ lighting costs and reduced the levels of indoor pollutants and the fire hazards of kerosene use. The study conditions for schoolchildren are improved and women can engage in income-generating activities, such as handicrafts, after sundown.
The extraordinary results achieved by Barefoot College began with its six-month, hands-on solar engineering training program. The guiding principle of the college, that solutions to rural problems lie within the community, is nowhere more evident than at a solar engineering training classroom, where 30 participants, from various countries, sit side by side on benches, working with concentration to connect wires on a circuit board, assemble a solar lantern or draw what they have just created in a small notebook. Since there is no one common language among the trainees or instructors, the women learn to identify parts by color and use hand gestures liberally. Waves, smiles and greetings in a variety of languages welcome the visitor to this Barefoot united nations of women, collaborating to bring light and hope to their communities.
The same enthusiasm and entrepreneurial activities pervade the Barefoot College campus. A short distance from the classroom, two impressive-looking 2.5-square-meter parabolic solar cookers glisten in the sunlight. The cookers are attended by Shahnaz and Sita, two Barefoot solar engineers (BSEs). They went through the basic solar program before specializing in the fabrication of cookers — a task traditionally associated with men, as it involves metal work and welding. As they explain some of the intricacies of constructing and calibrating the cooker, their pride in their work is evident. They now train other women to make the cookers. Sita has even found a way to reach a broader audience by composing a song with her colleagues on the benefits of using solar cookers, which they sing for community education programs. The story of their personal journey from conservative families, where they were limited to socially prescribed tasks, to their roles as educators, skillful mechanics and wage-earners is a powerful narrative of change.
As women’s participation in environmental management has increased, they have become more visible. Women now have a voice in local politics. Examples are the Solar Warriors of Bhutan and the BSEs of Ethiopia, who petitioned their governments to start local BSE women’s associations.  Referring to their local BSE, a male village elder in Bolivia says admiringly, “She is better at this than I am … and I am a car mechanic!”
By enrolling women and their communities as partners, Barefoot College has increased community awareness of sustainable practices while supporting traditional knowledge. Workshops on how to dispose of plastic responsibly, use solar cookers, improve management of water resources, including rain water harvesting, and other good practices that are kinder to the environment enhance the quality of rural life.
Anu Saxena has been involved with international development programs in marginalized communities, with a focus on gender issues, for more than 20 years. She earned her doctorate in social anthropology from Boston University and did her fieldwork in Colombia. She is currently the Latin America adviser to the Barefoot College (India) Solar Engineering program.
Multiple Choice Questions
Questions
-
Which option describes women’s relationship with the environment?
- Women produce between 60 – 80 percent of the world’s food
- Women are the chief resource managers for many families across the world
- Women are most vulnerable to environmental threats because they are often more dependent on natural resources for food, fuel, and shelter.
- Women, at least in the global North, have a smaller environmental footprint
- All of the above
-
Which option demonstrates a rights-based reason for including women in sustainable development policy making?
- Women’s work is often closely connected to the environment, so they are most vulnerable to environmental threats
- Women produce between 60 and 80 percent of the world’s food
- Women are the chief resource managers for many families across the world
- International treaties on gender and the environment have acknowledged the need for women’s participation and for a mainstreamed gender perspective
-
Aleksandra Koroleva used which methods to push for changes in environmental policy?
- Working for a state environmental protection committee
- Creating a radio station to discuss environmental problems
- Organizing protests and engaging in civil disobedience
- Running environmental education programs
- All of the above
-
Which case demonstrates a mainstreaming of women’s voices into policy change?
- A single woman on a steering committee
- A woman’s wing of a political party
- A woman’s section of a conference delegation
- A committee where women represent 15 of 25 seats
- None of the above
-
The sociopolitical effects of the Barefoot College solar cooker program on women include…
- Women identify parts of the solar panel through different colors and hand gestures
- Women have a longer history in the community and less incentive to migrate into the city
- 250 women in 29 countries have brought solar electrification to around 10,000 houses
- Women become more involved in environmental management and raise their voices within politics
- None of the above
-
The guiding principle of the Barefoot College is…
- The more solar cookers, the better
- Solutions to rural problems lie within the community
- Solar cookers will give women a voice in local politics
- Women should be taught to use solar cookers and improve water management
Answers
- The correct answer is all of the above (answer E).
- The correct answer is that international conventions and treaties on gender and the environment, such as the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) call for a gender-mainstreamed approach to sustainable development. These tools signal a rights-based approach because they demonstrate that states have a legal obligation to consult and include women in policy development, and women have the right to participate. Answers A, B, and C are not rights-based; B and C state that women should be included because of their responsibilities in producing food, and A highlights women’s vulnerability to environmental change as the reason for their involvement.
- The correct answer is E (all of the above).
- The correct answer is a committee where women represent 15 of 25 seats. Introducing a single woman onto a steering committee to satisfy a bare-minimum diversity requirement is tokenization, so answer A is incorrect. Women’s wings and sections of organizations can be effective in terms of ensuring that there is a space for women and that there are women’s perspectives represented, but they do not represent a mainstreaming of women’s voices.
- The correct answer is that women become more involved and vocal in environment management (D). The identification of parts of the solar panel with colours and hand gestures is an educational strategy, and not a sociopolitical outcome (answer A). The number of households to which women have installed solar electricity is a useful statistic, but not a sociopolitical outcome.
- The chapter states that Barefoot College’s guiding principle is that solutions to rural problems lie within the community (answer B). Constructing solar cookers is one of the strategies used by Barefoot College, but it is a means and not an end, so answer A is incorrect. Giving women a voice in local politics is an outcome of the College programs but was not mentioned as the organization’s guiding principle (answer C). Teaching women to use solar cookers and improve water management is a strategy toward giving women a voice in politics but is not a guiding principle.

- Why should climate change be addressed through a gender lens?
- What are the gender-specific barriers to the participation of women in environmental movements?
- Using the additional resources provided, discuss the connections between violence against women and the environment.
- In what ways are Indigenous peoples particularly vulnerable to climate change? Describe the role of Indigenous women in addressing the impacts of climate change.
- How does access to water affect girls and women differently than boys and men? (Outside research)
Essay Questions
- To push for environmental policy change, is it more effective to work within government or outside of the system through civil disobedience? Drawing on the Aleksandra Koroleva profile and any relevant additional resources, discuss the advantages and drawbacks of advocating for the environment through acts of protest.
- Through the additional perspectives provided, discuss the role of Indigenous perspectives in preserving the environment. Is it possible to substantively address climate change through Western methods, or should be it addressed through traditional protocols? Are these perspectives mutually exclusive?
- What is the relationship between policymaking, patriarchy, and climate change?
- Select a jurisdiction, whether at the national, provincial, or municipal level. How has gender been integrated into the environmental policy of the jurisdiction that you have chosen? Could gender be integrated into this policy more effectively? If so, how?
Additional Resources
United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
“Africa Adaption Program (AAP) Experiences: Gender and Climate Change.” (2011).
Discussion paper on key challenges to reducing gender-based vulnerability, gender sensitive approaches to AAP, and continuing efforts.
http://content-ext.undp.org/aplaws_publications/3253640/AAP_Discussion_Paper1_English.pdf
La Via Campesina.
An international peasants’ organization with campaigns to promote food sovereignty and biodiversity and to stop violence against women.
Tebtebba Foundation. “
Indigenous Women, Climate Change and Forests.” (2011).
Publication of findings from research projects on the differentiated impacts of climate change on Indigenous women and their roles in traditional forest ecosystems and resource management.
http://www.indigenousclimate.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=58&Itemid=78&lang=en
Nobel Women’s Initiative.
“Stories from the Road – Activist Harsha Walia Makes Connections Between Displaced Women & Oil Sands.”
Activist Harsha Walia sheds light on the relationship between violence against Indigenous women and the environment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6K33mrfDUc&feature=em-share_video_user
Perch, L. & Tandon, N.
“Farming, Mining and Caring for the Land: Why a Critical Feminist Gender Discourse on Rights and Resources is More Important Now than Ever Before.”
Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa
. (2015).
Reflects on women’s experiences in the agriculture and mining sectors and sustainable development through a feminist critique.
www.osisa.org/buwa/economic-justice/regional/farming-mining-and-caring-land-why-critical-feminist-gender-discourse
Singh, K. “Women and their Role in Natural Resources: A Study in Western Himalayas.”
International Journal of Research – Granthaalayah 3(1)
128 – 138: (2015).
Highlights the role of women and traditional activities in natural resource conservation.
http://granthaalayah.com/Articles/Vol3Iss10/12_IJRG15_B09_69.pdf
The World’s Women 2015.
“Environment.” (2015).
Chapter with annually updated qualitative and quantitative information and analysis on the particular vulnerabilities of women to climate change.
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/gender/chapter7/chapter7.html
UN WomenWatch
. “Fact Sheet: Women, Gender Equality and Climate Change.” (2009).
Links the socio-economic and political barriers to women’s empowerment to the gendered vulnerabilities of climate change.
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/climate_change/downloads/Women_and_Climate_Change_Factsheet.pdf
Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resources (WOCAN).
WOCAN is a women-led international membership network with the objective to address gaps in knowledge and experience in sustainable development.


14.9: Components of the Dividend Discount Model
T he DDM formula contains several variables whose values must be ascertained in order to solve for Price ( P ). Here is the formula (again).
P = [D 0 (1 + G)] ÷ (R – G)
= D 1 ÷ (R – G)
The variables are:
Price = Intrinsic Value
We must solve for “P.” The market price (P) will equal the security’s intrinsic value (V) if the security is efficiently – or correctly – priced in the market. That is what we are trying to uncover with the formula. We will assume here that P = V.
The Last Annual Dividend
D 0 is the prior year’s dividend, and is thus a known, historical fact. D1 is the next dividend.
Next Year’s Dividend
Next year’s dividend depends on our expected dividend growth rate, “G.”
D 1 = D 0 × (1 + G )
Growth Rate in the Dividend
The dividend’s growth rate is defined as:
G = ( D 1 ÷ D 0 ) – 1
However, w e do not know D 1 , the next year’s dividend. Therefore, we need a formula for “G.” Here, is the non-intuitive formula for G.
G = ROE × RR
ROE = Return-on-Equity = (NI ÷ Eq.)
RR = Retention Rate = (NI – D ÷ NI) = (A.R.E. ÷ NI)
A.R.E. = Addition to Retained Earnings = NI – D
Therefore:
G = (NI ÷ Eq.) (A.R.E. ÷ NI)
G = (A.R.E.) ÷ Eq.
We will examine “G” more closely below and introduce “R.”


25.3.3: Extremophiles and Biofilms
-
- Last updated
- Save as PDF
- Boundless
- Boundless
Learning Objectives
- Discuss the distinguishing features of extremophiles and the environments that produce biofilms
Microbes Are Adaptable: Life in Moderate and Extreme Environments
Some organisms have developed strategies that allow them to survive harsh conditions. Prokaryotes thrive in a vast array of environments; some grow in conditions that would seem very normal to us, whereas others are able to thrive and grow under conditions that would kill a plant or animal. Almost all prokaryotes have a cell wall: a protective structure that allows them to survive in both hyper- and hypo-osmotic conditions. Some soil bacteria are able to form endospores that resist heat and drought, thereby allowing the organism to survive until favorable conditions recur. These adaptations, along with others, allow bacteria to be the most abundant life form in all terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
Other bacteria and archaea are adapted to grow under extreme conditions and are called extremophiles, meaning “lovers of extremes.” Extremophiles have been found in all kinds of environments: the depth of the oceans, hot springs, the Arctic and the Antarctic, in very dry places, deep inside earth, in harsh chemical environments, and in high radiation environments, just to mention a few. These organisms give us a better understanding of prokaryotic diversity and raise the possibility of finding new prokaryotic species that may lead to the discovery of new therapeutic drugs or have industrial applications. Because they have specialized adaptations that allow them to live in extreme conditions, many extremophiles cannot survive in moderate environments. There are many different groups of extremophiles. They are identified based on the conditions in which they grow best. Several habitats are extreme in multiple ways. For example, a soda lake is both salty and alkaline, so organisms that live in a soda lake must be both alkaliphiles and halophiles. Other extremophiles, like radioresistant organisms, do not prefer an extreme environment (in this case, one with high levels of radiation), but have adapted to survive in it.
Prokaryotes in the Dead Sea
One example of a very harsh environment is the Dead Sea, a hypersaline basin that is located between Jordan and Israel. Hypersaline environments are essentially concentrated seawater. In the Dead Sea, the sodium concentration is 10 times higher than that of seawater. The water also contains high levels of magnesium (about 40 times higher than in seawater) that would be toxic to most living things. Iron, calcium, and magnesium, elements that form divalent ions (Fe 2+ , Ca 2+ , and Mg 2+ ), produce what is commonly referred to as “hard” water. Taken together, the high concentration of divalent cations, the acidic pH (6.0), and the intense solar radiation flux make the Dead Sea a unique, and uniquely hostile, ecosystem.
The Ecology of Biofilms
Until a couple of decades ago, microbiologists used to think of prokaryotes as isolated entities living apart. This model, however, does not reflect the true ecology of prokaryotes, most of which prefer to live in communities where they can interact. A biofilm is a microbial community held together in a gummy-textured matrix that consists primarily of polysaccharides secreted by the organisms, together with some proteins and nucleic acids. Biofilms grow attached to surfaces. Some of the best-studied biofilms are composed of prokaryotes, although fungal biofilms have also been described, as well as some composed of a mixture of fungi and bacteria.
Biofilms are present almost everywhere: they can cause the clogging of pipes and readily colonize surfaces in industrial settings. In recent, large-scale outbreaks of bacterial contamination of food, biofilms have played a major role. They also colonize household surfaces, such as kitchen counters, cutting boards, sinks, and toilets, as well as places on the human body, such as the surfaces of our teeth.
Interactions among the organisms that populate a biofilm, together with their protective exopolysaccharidic (EPS) environment, make these communities more robust than free-living, or planktonic, prokaryotes. The sticky substance that holds bacteria together also excludes most antibiotics and disinfectants, making biofilm bacteria hardier than their planktonic counterparts. Overall, biofilms are very difficult to destroy because they are resistant to many common forms of sterilization.
Contributions and Attributions
- OpenStax College, Biology. October 16, 2013. Provided by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : http://cnx.org/content/m44602/latest...ol11448/latest . License : CC BY: Attribution
- Prokaryote. Provided by : Wikipedia. Located at : en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Prokaryote . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- prokaryote. Provided by : Wiktionary. Located at : en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prokaryote . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- archaea. Provided by : Wikipedia. Located at : en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/archaea . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- domain. Provided by : Wiktionary. Located at : en.wiktionary.org/wiki/domain . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- OpenStax College, Introduction. October 16, 2013. Provided by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : http://cnx.org/content/m44602/latest...e_22_00_01.jpg . License : CC BY: Attribution
- Archaea. Provided by : Wikipedia. Located at : en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaea . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- OpenStax College, Biology. October 16, 2013. Provided by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : http://cnx.org/content/m44603/latest...ol11448/latest . License : CC BY: Attribution
- stromatolite. Provided by : Wiktionary. Located at : en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stromatolite . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- indel. Provided by : Wiktionary. Located at : en.wiktionary.org/wiki/indel . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- sacculus. Provided by : Wiktionary. Located at : en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sacculus . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- gram-positive. Provided by : Wiktionary. Located at : en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gram-positive . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- OpenStax College, Introduction. October 16, 2013. Provided by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : http://cnx.org/content/m44602/latest...e_22_00_01.jpg . License : CC BY: Attribution
- OpenStax College, Prokaryotic Diversity. October 16, 2013. Provided by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : http://cnx.org/content/m44603/latest...e_22_01_01.jpg . License : CC BY: Attribution
- OpenStax College, Prokaryotic Diversity. October 16, 2013. Provided by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : http://cnx.org/content/m44603/latest...22_01_02ab.jpg . License : CC BY: Attribution
- OpenStax College, Biology. October 16, 2013. Provided by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : http://cnx.org/content/m44603/latest...ol11448/latest . License : CC BY: Attribution
- OpenStax College, Biology. October 23, 2013. Provided by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : http://cnx.org/content/m44603/latest...ol11448/latest . License : CC BY: Attribution
- extremophile. Provided by : Wiktionary. Located at : en.wiktionary.org/wiki/extremophile . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- halophile. Provided by : Wiktionary. Located at : en.wiktionary.org/wiki/halophile . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- alkaliphile. Provided by : Wiktionary. Located at : en.wiktionary.org/wiki/alkaliphile . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- OpenStax College, Introduction. October 16, 2013. Provided by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : http://cnx.org/content/m44602/latest...e_22_00_01.jpg . License : CC BY: Attribution
- OpenStax College, Prokaryotic Diversity. October 16, 2013. Provided by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : http://cnx.org/content/m44603/latest...e_22_01_01.jpg . License : CC BY: Attribution
- OpenStax College, Prokaryotic Diversity. October 16, 2013. Provided by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : http://cnx.org/content/m44603/latest...22_01_02ab.jpg . License : CC BY: Attribution
- OpenStax College, Prokaryotic Diversity. October 16, 2013. Provided by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : http://cnx.org/content/m44603/latest...e_22_01_05.jpg . License : CC BY: Attribution
- OpenStax College, Prokaryotic Diversity. October 16, 2013. Provided by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : http://cnx.org/content/m44603/latest...e_22_01_04.jpg . License : CC BY: Attribution
- OpenStax College, Prokaryotic Diversity. October 16, 2013. Provided by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : http://cnx.org/content/m44603/latest...e_22_01_07.png . License : CC BY: Attribution
Key Points
- Prokaryotes live in all environments, no matter how extreme they may be.
- Bacteria that prefer very salty environments are called halophiles, while those that live in very acidic environments are called acidophiles.
- An example of a habitat that halophiles can colonize is the Dead Sea, a body of water that is 10 times saltier than regular ocean water.
- A biofilm is a microbial community held together in a gummy-textured matrix that consists primarily of polysaccharides secreted by the organisms.
- Biofilms can be found clogging pipes, on kitchen counters, or even on the surface of one’s teeth.
Key Terms
- extremophile : an organism that lives under extreme conditions of temperature, salinity, etc; commercially important as a source of enzymes that operate under similar conditions
- halophile : an organism that lives and thrives in an environment of high salinity, often requiring such an environment; a form of extremophile
- alkaliphile : any organism that lives and thrives in an alkaline environment, such as a soda lake; a form of extremophile


14.3: Magnetic Units of Measurement
First, we need to become acquainted with the various quantities associated with magnetism. There are quite a few more quantities to be dealt with in magnetic systems than for electrical systems. With electricity, the basic quantities are Voltage (E), Current (I), Resistance (R), and Power (P). The first three are related to one another by Ohm’s Law (E=IR ; I=E/R ; R=E/I), while Power is related to voltage, current, and resistance by Joule’s Law (P=IE ; P=I 2 R ; P=E 2 /R).
With magnetism, we have the following quantities to deal with:
Magnetomotive Force —The quantity of magnetic field force, or “push.” Analogous to electric voltage (electromotive force).
Field Flux —The quantity of total field effect, or “substance” of the field. Analogous to electric current.
Field Intensity —The amount of field force (mmf) distributed over the length of the electromagnet. Sometimes referred to as Magnetizing Force .
Flux Density —The amount of magnetic field flux concentrated in a given area.
Reluctance —The opposition to magnetic field flux through a given volume of space or material. Analogous to electrical resistance.
Permeability —The specific measure of a material’s acceptance of magnetic flux, analogous to the specific resistance of a conductive material (ρ), except inverse (greater permeability means easier passage of magnetic flux, whereas greater specific resistance means more difficult passage of electric current).
But wait . . . the fun is just beginning! Not only do we have more quantities to keep track of with magnetism than with electricity, but we have several different systems of unit measurement for each of these quantities. As with common quantities of length, weight, volume, and temperature, we have both English and metric systems. However, there is actually more than one metric system of units, and multiple metric systems are used in magnetic field measurements! One is called the cgs , which stands for C entimeter- G ram- S econd, denoting the root measures upon which the whole system is based. The other was originally known as the mks system, which stood for M eter- K ilogram- S econd, which was later revised into another system, called rmks , standing for R ationalized M eter- K ilogram- S econd. This ended up being adopted as an international standard and renamed SI ( S ysteme I nternational).
And yes, the µ symbol is really the same as the metric prefix “micro.” I find this especially confusing, using the exact same alphabetical character to symbolize both a specific quantity and a general metric prefix!
As you might have guessed already, the relationship between field force, field flux, and reluctance is much the same as that between the electrical quantities of electromotive force (E), current (I), and resistance (R). This provides something akin to an Ohm’s Law for magnetic circuits:
And, given that permeability is inversely analogous to specific resistance, the equation for finding the reluctance of a magnetic material is very similar to that for finding the resistance of a conductor:
In either case, a longer piece of material provides a greater opposition, all other factors being equal. Also, a larger cross-sectional area makes for less opposition, all other factors being equal.
The major caveat here is that the reluctance of a material to magnetic flux actually changes with the concentration of flux going through it. This makes the “Ohm’s Law” for magnetic circuits nonlinear and far more difficult to work with than the electrical version of Ohm’s Law. It would be analogous to having a resistor that changed resistance as the current through it varied (a circuit composed of var istors instead of res istors).


Skip to main content
-
alpha particle (α particle)
-
positively charged particle consisting of two protons and two neutrons
-
anion
-
negatively charged atom or molecule (contains more electrons than protons)
-
atomic mass
-
average mass of atoms of an element, expressed in amu
-
atomic mass unit (amu)
-
(also, unified atomic mass unit, u, or Dalton, Da) unit of mass equal to
of the mass of a
12
C atom
-
atomic number (Z)
-
number of protons in the nucleus of an atom
-
cation
-
positively charged atom or molecule (contains fewer electrons than protons)
-
chemical symbol
-
one-, two-, or three-letter abbreviation used to represent an element or its atoms
-
Dalton (Da)
-
alternative unit equivalent to the atomic mass unit
-
Dalton’s atomic theory
-
set of postulates that established the fundamental properties of atoms
-
electron
-
negatively charged, subatomic particle of relatively low mass located outside the nucleus
-
empirical formula
-
formula showing the composition of a compound given as the simplest whole-number ratio of atoms
-
fundamental unit of charge
-
(also called the elementary charge) equals the magnitude of the charge of an electron (e) with e = 1.602
10
−19
C
-
ion
-
electrically charged atom or molecule (contains unequal numbers of protons and electrons)
-
isomers
-
compounds with the same chemical formula but different structures
-
isotopes
-
atoms that contain the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons
-
law of constant composition
-
(also, law of definite proportions) all samples of a pure compound contain the same elements in the same proportions by mass
-
law of definite proportions
-
(also, law of constant composition) all samples of a pure compound contain the same elements in the same proportions by mass
-
law of multiple proportions
-
when two elements react to form more than one compound, a fixed mass of one element will react with masses of the other element in a ratio of small whole numbers
-
mass number (A)
-
sum of the numbers of neutrons and protons in the nucleus of an atom
-
molecular formula
-
formula indicating the composition of a molecule of a compound and giving the actual number of atoms of each element in a molecule of the compound.
-
neutron
-
uncharged, subatomic particle located in the nucleus
-
nucleus
-
massive, positively charged center of an atom made up of protons and neutrons
-
proton
-
positively charged, subatomic particle located in the nucleus
-
spatial isomers
-
compounds in which the relative orientations of the atoms in space differ
-
structural formula
-
shows the atoms in a molecule and how they are connected
-
structural isomer
-
one of two substances that have the same molecular formula but different physical and chemical properties because their atoms are bonded differently
-
unified atomic mass unit (u)
-
alternative unit equivalent to the atomic mass unit


24.15: Chapter 15 (Administration of Enteral Medications)
Answer Key to Chapter 15 Learning Activities
-
Dimensional Analysis:
\[ \frac{750~mg}{x~mL}~\times~\frac{1~g}{1000~mg}~\times~\frac{8~mL}{2~g}~=~\frac{6000}{2000}~=~{3~mL} \]
Ratio Proportion:
\[ \frac{750~mg}{X~mL}~=~\frac{2000~mg}{ 8~mL} \]
\[ {750~mg}~\times~{8~mL}~=~{2000~mg}~\times~{X~mL} \]
\[ \frac{6000~mg}{mL}~=~{2000~mg}~\times~{X~mL} \]
\[ \frac{6000~\cancel{mg}~mL}{2000~\cancel{mg}}~=~{X~mL} \]
\[ 3~mL~=~X~mL \]
-
If an incorrect medication is given, the nurse should promptly take the following actions:
- Assess the patient given the wrong medication. Assess for adverse effects related to the error.
- Notify the nurse manager/primary care provider regarding the medication error.
- Discuss the course of action to be taken.
- Implement action and continue to monitor the patient for signs of complication or change in condition.
- Report the incident via institution policy.
Answers to interactive elements are given within the interactive element.


7: Respiratory Assessment Last updated Save as PDF Page ID 47194 Valerie J. Bugosh, Leisa E. McAlicher, & Katherine Zaharchuk Harris Area Community College 7.1: Respiratory Assessment Introduction The assessment of the respiratory system includes collecting subjective and objective data through a detailed interview and physical examination of the thorax and lungs. 7.2: Respiratory Basic Concepts This sections includes a review of the structure and function of the respiratory system 7.3: Respiratory Assessment This section includes a descriptions and examples of a complete respiratory assessment. 7.4: Sample Documentation 7.5: Checklist for Respiratory Assessment 7.6: Supplementary Videos on Respiratory Assessment 7.7: Learning Activities 7.8: VII Glossary Thumbnail: Woman coughing. (Unsplash License; Annie Spratt via Unsplash )


8.4: Interviewing, Questioning, and Interrogating
Police investigations can be dynamic, and the way events unfold and evidence is revealed can be unpredictable. This premise also holds true for interviewing, questioning, interrogating suspects. Players in a criminal event may be revealed as suspects at different stages of the investigation. To properly secure and manage the statement evidence that is gained during interactions with suspects or possible suspects, it is important for investigators to understand the actions that should be taken at each stage, while remembering that interviewing, questioning, and interrogating are terms that refer to separate stages in the process of gathering verbal responses from a suspect or a possible suspect. But each stage is different in relation to when and how the information gathering process can and should occur. The differences between these three stages needs to be defined in the mind of the investigator since they will move through a process of first interviewing, then questioning, and finally interrogating a suspect. When this progression occurs, the investigator needs to recognize the changing conditions and take the appropriate actions at the correct junctures to ensure that, if a confession is obtained, it will be admissible at trial. Given this, let us examine the operational progression of these three stages and identify the circumstances that make it necessary to switch from one stage to the next.
Interviewing
A possible suspect is the first stage and the lowest level of interaction. In fact, the person is not even definable as a suspect at this point. As pointed out in our chapter on witness management, suspects often report criminal events while posing as witnesses or even victims of the crime. The investigator receiving a statement report from such a person may become suspicious that they are not being truthful; however, until those suspicions are confirmed by evidence that meets the test of forming reasonable grounds for belief, the investigator may continue to talk to this possible suspect without providing any Section 10 Charter or cautions. There is a unique opportunity at that point to gather the poser’s version of events, including any untrue statements that may afford an opportunity to later investigate and demonstrate a possible fabrication, which is by itself a criminal offense. The transition point for an investigator to move from interviewing a witness or victim to detaining and questioning the person as a possible suspect should occur when real evidence is discovered giving the investigator reasonable grounds to suspect that the person is involved in the event. Discovering real evidence and gaining “reasonable grounds to suspect” creates an obligation for the investigator to stop interviewing the person who then becomes a suspect. At this point, the person who is a suspect should be detained for the suspected offense and provided the appropriate Section 10 Charter and Statement Caution before proceeding with the questioning of the suspect.
Questioning
A suspect is the next level of interaction. For a suspect to be questioned, there will be some type of circumstantial evidence that allows the investigator to detain that suspect. In our previous scenario of the young man found at 3 AM standing under the tree in a residential area at the border of an industrial complex one block away from the building where a break-in was confirmed to have taken place, that young man was properly detained, chartered, and warned for the investigation of the break-in. However, there was no immediate evidence that could link him to that actual crime at that point. He was only suspected by the circumstantial evidence of time, conduct, and proximity to the event. He was obligated to provide his name and identification. If he had tried to leave, he could have been arrested for obstructing a police officer in the execution of duty. The investigator at the scene of that incident would have questioned this suspect, and by his rights under the 5th Amendment, the suspect would not be obliged to answer questions.
This right to not talk does not preclude the investigator from asking questions, and the investigator should continue to offer the suspect an opportunity to disclose information that may be exculpatory and enable the investigator to eliminate that person as a suspect in the crime being investigated. As an example of this, again, consider our young man who was detained when found standing under the tree near a break-in. If that man had answered the question what are you doing here by stating that he lived in the house just across the street, and when he heard the break-in alarm, he came outside to see what was happening, this would greatly reduce suspicion against the young man once this statement was confirmed. Subsequent confirmation by a parent in the home that they had heard him leave when the alarm sounded could eliminate him as a suspect and result in his release.
Interrogating
Interrogation is the most serious level of questioning a suspect, and interrogation is the process that occurs once reasonable grounds for belief have been established, and after the suspect has been placed under arrest for the offense being investigated. Reasonable grounds for belief to make such an arrest require some form of direct evidence or strong circumstantial evidence that links the suspect to the crime. Of course, where an arrest is made, the suspect will be provided with their Miranda rights and the police caution, as per the following:
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?”


1: Planning for Sucess
selected template will load here
This action is not available.
Imagine a person who walks up to a counter at the airport to buy a plane ticket for his next vacation. “Just give me a ticket,” he says to the reservation agent. “Anywhere will do.”
The agent stares back at him in disbelief. “I’m sorry, sir,” she replies. “I’ll need some more details. Just minor things—such as the name of your destination city and your arrival and departure dates.”
“Oh, I’m not fussy,” says the would-be traveler. “I just want to get away. You choose for me.”
Compare this person to another traveler who walks up to the counter and says, “I’d like a ticket to Ixtapa, Mexico, departing on Saturday, March 23, and returning Sunday, April 7. Please give me a window seat, first class, with vegetarian meals.”
Now, ask yourself which traveler is more likely to end up with a vacation that he’ll enjoy.
The same principle applies in any area of life, including school. Suppose that you asked someone what she wanted from her education and you got this answer: “I plan to get a degree in journalism, with double minors in earth science and Portuguese, so that I can work as a reporter covering the environment in Brazil.” The details of a person’s vision offer clues to her skills and sense of purpose.
Discovering what you want and having a plan to get there helps you succeed in higher education. Many students quit school simply because they are unsure about what they want from it. With well-defined goals in mind, you can look for connections between what you want and what you study. The more connections, the more likely you’ll stay in school—and get what you want in every area of life.
 As an infant, you learned to walk. As a toddler, you learned to talk. By the time you reached age 5, you had mastered many skills needed to thrive in the world. And you learned all these things without formal instruction, without lectures, without books, without conscious effort, and without fear.
Shortly after we start school, however, something happens to us. Somehow, we start forgetting about the successful student inside us. Even under the best teachers, we experience the discomfort that sometimes accompanies learning. We start avoiding situations that might lead to embarrassment. We turn away from experiences that could lead to mistakes. We accumulate a growing list of ideas to defend, a catalog of familiar experiences that discourage us from learning anything new. Slowly, we restrict our possibilities and potentials.
However, don’t let this become your journey. You can take a new path in your life, starting today. You can rediscover the natural learner within you. Each module in this course is about a step you can take on your journey to becoming a successful student.
Thumbnail: www.pexels.com/photo/man-wearing-black-and-white-stripe-shirt-looking-at-white-printer-papers-on-the-wall-212286/


15.2: Judaism and Kabbalah
-
- Last updated
- Save as PDF
We will begin our examination of spiritual/religious guidelines for living one’s life with the oldest, but smallest, of the Abrahamic religions. Judaism holds a special place in the history of psychology, since nearly all of the early and most significant psychodynamic theorists were Jewish (even if they did not practice their faith). In addition, since many of those Jewish psychoanalysts came to America during the 1930s, they then had a significant effect on the continued development of psychodynamic theory and psychoanalysis here in the United States.
The Foundation of the Jewish Faith
Judaism is one of the oldest religions in the world, and today some 14 million people practice this faith. It is a monotheistic religion, thus believing that there is only one god: Yahweh . They believe that Yahweh called Abraham out of his homeland to establish a new home, in the general area of modern-day Israel. This occurred in approximately the year 1900 B.C. However, the formal foundation of Judaism involved the establishment of Yahweh’s laws, known as the Torah . The Torah is not merely a set of laws or cultural guidelines, but rather, they are a pattern for living that transforms the Jewish people into Yahweh’s people (Wilkins, 1967). The Torah is quite long, consisting of five books, which include many complex rules for both the people and the priesthood. However, the rules were greatly simplified in Yahweh’s special revelation to Moses on Mt. Sinai, around the year 1300 B.C., and these simplified guidelines for how to live one’s life are known as the Ten Commandments :
I am the Lord your God…You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself a graven image…you shall not bow down to them
or serve them…
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain…
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Honor your father and your mother…
You shall not kill.

You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house…your neighbor’s wife…or anything
that is your neighbor’s.
from Exodus, Chapter 20; Holy Bible
As simple as it might seem to follow these ten guidelines for living one’s life, it is just as easy to ignore them. Unfortunately, ignoring them has often been the case, even among some of the most famous people in Jewish history. Thus, the mystical practice of Kabbalah has arisen, to both help people live a righteous life, and to help them do so without having to guide their behavior by simple, yet strict, commandments. In other words, there was, and is, a need to transform people’s minds. In order to effect real change, we cannot simply expect people to follow the rules, we need to help them make the rules a part of their life. In this sense, Kabbalah, like Yoga, Buddhism, and as we shall see for Christian mysticism and Sufism, can be viewed as a sort of cognitive psychology, a redirection of one’s conscious personality development.
discussion Question \(\PageIndex{1}\)
If the Ten Commandments are simply rules, as opposed to being an inherent part of our lives, is anything missing? Are there things we would still be allowed to do that would harm other people, or harm ourselves? What can we do to make the Ten Commandments a way of life, how can we be mindful of them?
Kabbalah
Kabbalah is a path designed to teach people about their place in life and in the universe, particularly with regard to the divine. It emphasizes that one’s daily life should not be separated from one’s spiritual life. In more practical terms, Kabbalah deals with the everyday experience that we have unlimited desires, but only limited resources to satisfy them. Thus, there will always be some degree of suffering in our lives if we focus only on the material world. Kabbalah teaches a pathway toward experiencing something beyond simple materialism. And yet, that path remains obscured in a certain degree of secrecy. The principal books are available only in the Hebrew and Aramaic languages, and some believe that Kabbalists who are qualified to teach Kabbalah are all in the country of Israel (Besserman, 1997; Laitman, 2005). Accordingly, a distinct degree of difficulty in the study of Kabbalah is to be expected:
Whoever delves into mysticism cannot help but stumble, as it is written: “This stumbling block is in your hand.” You cannot grasp these things unless you stumble over them. (pg. 163; Matt, 1995)
Kabbalah is as old as Judaism itself, perhaps older. Kabbalistic legend suggests that it may have begun with Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah (as in Noah’s Ark; Halevi, 1986), but its formal practice recognizes a few key historical events. In the sixth century B.C., a collection of manuals called Maaseh Merkavah emerged, and these manuals included a formal meditation practice. For those who engaged in this practice, the goal was to directly experience the Deity by concentrating on mandala-like images that showed a path to the Throne of God (remember that Carl Jung also meditated on Mandala images). Their emphasis on out-of-body experiences distinguished them from similar Babylonian schools of spirituality that emphasized inner-directed visualizations and, therefore, were not as mystical as the Kabbalists. In the second century A.D., Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai wrote an important Kabbalist text called the Zohar (translated as the Book of Splendor or the Book of Radiance ), which was hidden in a cave in Israel and studied in secret until, around the year 1280 A.D., a Spanish Kabbalist named Moses de Leon published the Zohar . In the late 1500s, Rabbi Yitzhak Luria began teaching Kabbalah, and he contributed a number of additional influential books, such as Etz Hachayim ( The Tree of Life ), Sha’ar HaKavanot (The Gateway on Intentions ), and Sha’ar Hagilgulim ( The Gateway of Reincarnation ). Known as the Ari (the Lion), he established a basic system for studying Kabbalah, which remains in use today (Besserman, 1997; Hoffman, 2007; Laitman, 2005).
The primary aspects of practicing Kabbalah are quite similar to what we saw with Buddhism. Surrendering oneself to Yahweh, and in the process annihilating one’s ego (or concept of self), in order to release one’s emotions is one of the main goals (Hoffman, 2007; Weiss, 2005). Meditation is a key practice, attempting to immerse oneself in Yahweh manifested as self, thus fulfilling the self. A common technique is to meditate on some Kabbalah teaching or a passage from the Bible. It is also highly recommended that Kabbalah be practiced within a group of other seekers, and under the guidance of a Rabbi (or teacher). Similar to Buddhist mindfulness, Kabbalists also attempt to incorporate their practice into every moment of their daily lives. As a result, the basic teachings of Judaism, such as the Ten Commandments, should become an individual’s way of life, rather than a distant set of rules merely to be obeyed (or not).
When you desire to eat or drink, or to fulfill other worldly desires, and you focus your awareness on the love of God, then you elevate that physical desire to spiritual desire…wherever you go and whatever you do - even mundane activities - you serve God. (pg. 151; Matt, 1995)
Kabbalah and Psychology
The mystical approach to understanding life and individuals has an interesting history in the field of psychology, with William James, Carl Jung, and Abraham Maslow being among those most interested in the study of spirituality and spiritual phenomena. As the meditation practices within Yoga and Buddhism have gained popularity in psychology, other spiritual/mystical traditions are being re-examined as well. Accordingly, Kabbalah is becoming more popular, both in Judaism and in psychology, and the links between Kabbalah and psychology are being actively explored (e.g., Halevi, 1986; Hoffman, 2007; Weiss, 2005).
Kabbalah seems to compare most favorably with a cognitive approach to understanding personality and healing broken relationships. Kabbalah describes a complex arrangement of elements that underlie our relationship with God, the universe, and consequently, ourselves and other people. Understanding these relationships is the key to balancing our emotions, thoughts, and styles of relating to others. Unhappiness is viewed as the result of a serious imbalance in our understanding of the true nature of our place in our community, society, and life itself. While many different forms of psychotherapy help people to develop insight into their personality and relationships, Kabbalah proposes to go beyond insight. Once again, for those people who live life with a deep spiritual faith, ignoring one's faith makes it all but impossible to find balance in one’s life. Only a spiritual path, perhaps augmented by a traditional psychotherapeutic emphasis on everyday problems and stressors, can help to balance the entire life of the spiritual person. Thus, Kabbalah need not be viewed as an alternative to psychotherapy, but rather as a bridge between psychology and spirituality (Weiss, 2005).
There is, however, a problem facing most psychologists when it comes to the study of Kabbalah. Being based on spirituality and the unquestioned belief in Yahweh, Kabbalists are willing to examine questions that are decidedly unscientific, such as Jung’s concept of synchronicity. They also study the higher dimensions of human existence, such as awakening ecstasy (Hoffman, 2007). In this regard their goals are similar to those of Maslow, and his desire to understand self-actualization and its relationship to spiritual experiences, and to the whole field of positive psychology, and its emphasis on doing more for people than simply addressing the adjustment disorders and/or mental illness of those suffering psychological distress. Yet Kabbalah goes even further into the realm of parapsychology, fully believing in reincarnation (Besserman, 1997; Hoffman, 2007; Laitman, 2005; Weiss, 2005). In 1988, psychiatrist Brian Weiss, Chairman Emeritus of Psychiatry at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, published Many Lives, Many Masters . In this book, he described a case in which he was able to help a young woman through the use of past-life therapy . Since the Kabbalistic view of reincarnation suggests an explanation for Jung’s concept of the collective unconscious (see also, Halevi, 1986), the use of past-life therapy may not be as strange as many would insist it must be. In continuing to study this phenomenon, Dr. Weiss does not suggest simply accepting anyone’s word that reincarnation is real or that past-life therapy will help:
It is vital to carry your logical, rational mind on this journey. To accept everything without reflection, contemplation, and thoughtfulness would be just as foolish as rejecting everything in the same manner. Science is the art of observing carefully with an unbiased, non-prejudicial eye. (pg. 7; Weiss, 2000)
Similar thoughts occurred to Carl Jung and Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, both of whom were nervous about discussing their experiences with patients who reported near-death experiences. However, they were so common that Jung and Kubler-Ross felt compelled to discuss them. Carl Rogers also reported similar experiences as his wife was dying. Thus, the Kabbalists are not simply a group of spiritualists reporting events that are not considered real by any well-known psychologists or psychiatrists. The truth, however, is likely to remain elusive for those who do not accept the evidence on faith.
discussion question \(\PageIndex{2}\)
Whether or not you actually believe in reincarnation, can you believe in it? Can past-life therapy be helpful even if it isn’t real, or is it always a harmful delusion? Could reincarnation be the explanation for Jung’s collective unconscious, and if not, is there a conceivable middle ground?


19.2: Labor Dystocia
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Explain the uterine causes of dystocia during labor and birth
- Explain the pelvic causes of dystocia during labor and birth
- Explain the fetal causes of dystocia during labor and birth
Lack of progress during labor, which could make it prolonged or difficult is called dystocia is defined as difficult labor. The types of dystocia are uterine, pelvic, and fetal. Table 19.1 lists the most common risk factors for labor dystocia . Uterine dystocia is caused by lack of power, meaning that uterine contractions or the maternal pushing effort is inadequate to progress to birth. Pelvic dystocia is a problem of the passage, meaning that the pelvic outlet does not allow the passage of the fetus for birth. Fetal dystocia is a problem of the passenger, meaning that the fetus is unable to maneuver through the pelvis to descend and birth. These three types of dystocia create long, difficult labors. The common factors associated with labor dystocia are the following:
- power: uterine contractions and laboring person’s pushing effort
- passenger: fetal malposition or malpresentation
- passage: inadequate pelvis inlet, midpelvis, or outlet
- psyche: laboring person’s preparedness and anxiety regarding the labor and birth process
- position of the laboring person
| Cause | Risk Factor |
|---|---|
| Power |
|
| Passenger |
|
| Passage |
|
| Psyche |
|
| Position |
|
Labor Dystocia Increases with Age
Advanced maternal age (AMA) is a risk factor for uterine dystocia. The finding that uterine dystocia occurs more often in AMA persons is true; however, studies have shown that the risk of labor dystocia increases with maternal age (Waldenstrom & Ekeus, 2017). After age 25, the risk of labor dystocia increases continuously regardless of parity. Therefore, labor dystocia risk can occur prior to age 35. Labor dystocia increasing with age is related to a continuous decline in uterine performance after age 25.
Uterine Dystocia
The labor complication in which lack of cervical dilation occurs due to insufficient contraction strength, frequency, or duration is uterine dystocia (Wu et al., 2017).
Figure 19.2 shows monitor tracings associated with uterine dystocia. In a normal contraction pattern, the upper uterine muscles shorten during the contraction to elongate the lower uterine segment, which causes dilation, effacement, and descent of the fetal head. (Figure 19.3) shows how the muscle fibers of the uterus work together.
Multiple factors cause inadequate uterine contraction activity. Causes related to the pregnant person are chorioamnionitis , dehydration and malnutrition , exhaustion, and emotional stress. Chorioamnionitis can cause the uterine muscle to inadequately contract due to the inflammatory process of infection. Pregnant persons with long labors who are allowed little to eat or drink can become exhausted, hypoglycemic, and dehydrated, preventing the uterine muscles from contracting properly. Emotional stress occurs when fear, pain, or inability to relax releases stress hormones, such as cortisol, that inhibit proper oxytocin production (Aristizabal, 2019). A fetal cause of inadequate contraction patterns can be malposition. The fetus presenting in the occiput-posterior or occiput transverse position creates a larger diameter to pass through the pelvic inlet, making labor progression difficult. The role of the nurse is to encourage hydration, assist with frequent movement and position changes, and provide emotional support to alleviate fear and stress in the laboring person.
Multiple gestation, large for gestational age, and polyhydramnios (an excessive amount of amniotic fluid) distend the uterus and decrease the strength of the contractions, causing uterine dystocia . Grand multiparity and prolonged labor are associated with a uterus too tired or overstretched to contract efficiently. Uterine anomalies, such as bicornuate and unicornuate uteri, are associated with uterine muscle dysfunction. Epidural anesthesia may decrease uterine contraction strength and frequency and has been linked to a nonengaged fetal head (Penuela et al., 2019).
Uterine dystocia can also occur in second stage labor. When the cervix is fully dilated and the fetal head has descended, most laboring persons feel an overwhelming urge to push. The fetus is born by the expulsive strength of the uterine contractions and the maternal pushing effort. Dystocia may occur because epidural anesthesia reduces the urge to push. Second stage dystocia can also result from the same risk factors that cause first stage uterine dystocia. New guidelines for second stage labor recommend that a nulliparous person push at least 3 hours and a multiparous person push at least 2 hours prior to diagnosing dystocia (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists [ACOG], 2024). The guidelines do not specify any difference in length with or without an epidural. The role of the nurse during the second stage, especially during dystocia, is to provide support and assist in the pushing process.
Pelvic Dystocia
A labor complication that occurs when the size of the fetal head is larger than the size of the maternal pelvis due to a small capacity of the pelvic inlet, midpelvis, or pelvic outlet is called pelvic dystocia . In a normal labor, the fetal head descends and engages in the pelvic inlet. As the fetus passes through the pelvis, the head flexes and rotates to the occiput-anterior (OA) position in the midpelvis. The fetal head enters the pelvic outlet in a flexed OA position and is born by the extension of the fetal head. If any part of the pelvis is too small for the fetal head, these cardinal movements cannot occur. At times, the power of the contractions can be adequate, but because of the inability of the fetal head to descend, cervical dilation and effacement stall (Cohen & Friedman, 2023).
Pelvic Dystocia in Teens
Prior to the current study, adolescents were thought to have increased risk of pelvic dystocia because of the immaturity of their pelvis and thus were at higher risk for cesarean birth. Recent studies, however, have not confirmed this assumption.
A study was conducted of 43,537 nulliparous persons less than 25 years of age. The study examining adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes included 1,189 adolescents less than 16 years of age; 14,703 older adolescents ages 16 to 19; and 27,645 young adults ages 20 to 24. Study results found that younger adolescents had increased anemia, preterm delivery, postpartum hemorrhage, and preeclampsia. Older adolescents had increased anemia, preterm delivery, and blood transfusions.
Study results found that younger and older adolescents had decreased risk of cesarean birth. Older adolescents were less likely to have a cesarean birth due to failure to progress or cephalopelvic disproportion. For adolescents who spontaneously went into labor, the study showed their second stage of labor was shorter.
This study challenged the assumption of increased incidence of pelvic dystocia in younger adolescents. However, research on this population is limited, and the topic requires further study.
(Kawakita et al., 2016)
The normal pelvic inlet should allow the passage of a fetal head diameter of approximately 9.5 centimeters (cm) (Figure 19.4). Therefore, if the pelvic inlet is less than 10 cm, it could cause inability of the fetal head to engage and pass through the inlet.
Midpelvis dystocia is more common than pelvic inlet dystocia. The midpelvis is measured by the distance between the ischial spines and should average more than 9 cm (Figure 19.5). When the nurse is performing a cervical exam during labor, the ischial spines are the landmark for determining station. If the ischial spines are encroaching and prominent, the nurse is aware that a midpelvis dystocia could occur. With a smaller midpelvis, the fetal head engages but is unable to flex or rotate anteriorly. Molding and caput succedaneum are seen with this dystocia.
Pelvic outlet dystocia is seen when the ischial tuberosity distance is less than 8 cm (Figure 19.6). When the pelvic outlet is contracted or too small, the fetal head can become malpositioned as the fetus attempts to turn the head to find the path of least resistance to progress through the pelvis. Extreme caput succedaneum can occur. Pelvic outlet dystocia can lead to prolonged pushing, forceps birth, or cesarean birth.
Fetal Dystocia
The labor complication in which the fetal head is unable to navigate through the pelvis is fetal dystocia . Reasons for fetal dystocia can be a persistent occiput posterior or transverse, face, or brow presentation . Occiput posterior or transverse position s can stall cervical dilation due to lack of even pressure exerted on the cervix. These positions can also lead to failure of the presenting part to descend. A face presentation occurs when the neck is hyperextended and the chin, also called the mentum , is presenting. This presentation, occurring in only 0.1 percent of births, is caused by prematurity, pendulous maternal abdomen, fetal malformations (anencephaly), and polyhydramnios (Mohammed & El-Chaar, 2022). Some face and brow presentations are seen with large fetuses and contracted pelvis inlets. A vaginal delivery is possible if the chin is directed at the maternal symphysis pubis (mentum anterior) (see Figure 15.8). It is impossible for a fetus to navigate the pelvis if the chin remains posterior and pointing toward the maternal back (mentum posterior); a cesarean birth is necessary (Mohammed & El-Chaar, 2022). The role of the nurse is to support and educate the laboring person and family regarding the possible changes in birth plan to a forceps or cesarean birth.