Research Paper

Domestic violence, depression and obesity are issues that are of most concern in any single community. This has been so due to the level of sensitivity that accompanies these issues. Every society therefore, has a survival tactic on how to handle the effects of this issues which can lead to adverse effects on a person`s self-esteem if not properly handled. Critical thinkers however have a huge role in controlling the effects of such issues.

Domestic violence is the pattern of human behavior that follows a series of violence or any other form of abuse from one person to another domestically. This involves intimate relationships, marriage or courtship and involves violence in form of battery, domestic abuse or spousal abuse. Through this violence one may acquire physical, sexual or psychological harm by physical aggression and assault that is, kicking, biting, hitting, strangling, burning or amputating.

Depression is a psychological condition mostly associated with deep thoughts and stress. It is defined as the state of having low mood leading to distractions while carrying out daily routine, behavior and feeling. This condition makes a person feel hopeless, worthless, increased anxiety and high level of irritability and restlessness. The side effects associated with depression are; one suddenly losses interest in activities that were pleasurable to him or her may experience weight loss and may even at times have loss of appetite or increased appetite.

Obesity on the other hand is a condition that is medically described as the accumulation of excess body lipids or fats to an extent of causing health problems or to an extreme of reducing the life expectancy of the patient. This condition is achieved when the body mass index exceeds 30kg/m2, with limits between 20-30 kg/m2 being considered as overweight. This condition increases the person`s risk of contracting various diseases such as heart attack, some types of cancer and even diabetes.

Literature Review

In a move to reduce the growth of the above contemporary issues, the government and concerned parties such as the activists are creating awareness on the issues. This involves ways in which to overcome situations when faced by these challenges. One of the best ways of doing so is through educating the citizens on these issues, which is done through previous published works in line with other methods. The following is a detailed literature review into the finding of other scholars on this contemporary issues discussed above and the responsibility of critical thinkers in the control of this issues.

Wilson (2009) found out that 74 percent of the women in a violent relationship stick to their spouse for economic reasons. He stated that though the financial factors play a role in the violence, there is a number of psychological factors too that we can take care of in order to stop this vicious cycle of abuse. He further developed two emotional dynamics that contribute to this violence, one is that inner voice that one might be attached to that controls the way they behave such as “A woman should be submissive and not disrespectful to her man”. The other factor that he refers to as ‘fantasy bond’ is a dangerous illusion of connection between couples which brings the sense that the other person makes you whole and should be the key to happiness. This factors he discovered to set an environment that can cause violence.

The author also defines that the common believe that a man should be more masculine than a lady in the relationship poses risk of the man being violent. The critical inner voice that this violent people act upon is what poses the risk of being violent, threatening and even insulting. The fact that this people act on their critical voice means that they can employ critical thinking in handling their feelings that lead to their violent actions. This author has played a big role in developing the idea of domestic violence and critical think hence the effectiveness of the book as a resource for information in this research.

Aguirre (2008) tries to take a look into the effectiveness of the use of critical thinking as a means of curing depression. The author in the discussion puts it clear that this thought should not be taken to mean that the cause of depression is unsound or illogical thinking as one may erroneously take it, which might contradict his ideas. The author continues to explain that since depression is a state of mind, one can therefore take control of his or her thought to prevent this state of depression which can be explained as cure through critical thinking. He uses the fallacy of false dilemma which people with depression exhibit. Life`s setbacks makes them perceive themselves as total failures instead of successful but currently facing hardships.

The author used another fallacy that he called the fallacy of suppressed evidence that the depressed sees themselves as outcasts and no one cares about them. They insist on this feeling which leads to their condition, critical thinkers can make them feel wanted by their friends and family which might help improve the condition (Aguirre, 2008). Fallacy of insufficient evidence is remedied in the book through critical thinking by making the person suffering from depression believe what they are thinking is not true. The book aims at creating awareness of the possibility of fighting depression through critical thinking that involves identifying the internal enemy that is the critical inner voice and means of overcoming it.

In his book, Barbour (2011) identifies the correlation between critical thinking and obesity. He starts by detailing the results of a research he had done earlier that gave an overview of how people feel about issues of obesity. The author declares that the general feeling is that those people who think critically are most probably obese. The author however gives an insight into the various myths and fallacies following the issues of obesity, that most people tend to believe and most of which are from the media. The author brings a twist from the people`s earlier response in his research to declare that critical thinking bring the success in eliminating obesity (Barbour, 2011). Critical thinking here means, getting to understand how the body works in order to understand how to prevent obesity cases. This contribution is essential in the research since it helps in clearing the controversy surrounding the issue on obesity and helps understand how critical thinking will help in preventing obesity.

Impact of academic knowledge

Academic knowledge refers to the amount of knowledge gained through wide collection of academic resource. This is the new information gained through learning that can be used I future for individual advancement. This information has a huge impact on the contemporary issues, this impact includes;

Domestic violence; academic knowledge equips one with ethics which assists in making decisions. In such cases of domestic violence the line lies between what is and what is not ethical, with such mentality the issues of domestic violence will be minimized. Issues of domestic violence involve violation of human rights; this in itself is against human morals as much as it is against the law. Illiteracy has been found to be the main cause of domestic violence and since academic knowledge eliminates illiteracy, therefore this tool is fundamental to control of the contemporary issue affecting our society.

Depression; academic knowledge has played a role in control of depression. Many scholars have come up with study and control mechanisms of handling depression, the knowledge in this studies have provided an avenue where better understanding of how to handle depression have been achieved. Through academics, possible explanations as pertaining to depression have come up leading to encouragement of those with depression problems to find solutions to their problem. The discussions that have been brought about through academic studies have played a role in making the depression nightmare a social problem that people are working to eliminate, this helps find those affected by problem and through speaking up they get help. Morally, academic knowledge has helped to appreciate those suffering from depression related problems.

Obesity; this condition is one of the social issues in the society that affects the self-esteem of a person. People suffering from obesity are morally affected by this condition to the extent of not wanting to interact with their mates. Academic knowledge creates sanity in the relationship with people with this condition. Sanity here is achieved by eliminating discrimination in the way this people are treated by others. This knowledge helps people understand that the condition is natural but is controllable.

Active citizenship is a philosophy that calls for educational and non-governmental institutions to take part in the activities of the society and take roles and responsibilities in protecting the society and the environment. These institutions may not have any governing role but take it as their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or giving back to the society. In control of the contemporary issues that have been identified above, active citizenship plays the role of creating awareness to the citizens and providing civil education to them. Active citizenship should work to discourage domestic violence and stop it, educate on depression while helping the depressed with counselling and those with obesity should be enrolled in development programs.

In conclusion, contemporary issues will affect the majority of the members in the society; this therefore is a good reason why the issues should be taken seriously having being accorded the attention they demand.

Reference

Aguirre, B. (2008). Depression. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.

Depression has over the years been a condition associated with stress, today it is normal for one to suffer from such problem since the level of activities and economic times are high. Critical thinking has brought a different dimension into solving the nightmare, which involves re-evaluation of the mental activity.

Barbour, S. (2011). Obesity. farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press.

Weight gain is mythically associated with eating too much but doctors have gone an extra mile in proving this beyond reasonable doubt that it is not any way related to eating habits. Others argue that critical thinking brings about this condition of obese; however the resource provides a clear picture of the real causes of obese and the relationship between obesity and critical thinking.

Criticalthinking.org, (2014). A Model for the National Assessment of Higher Orde. Retrieved 22 November 2014, from http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/a-model-for-the-national-assessment-of-higher-order-thinking/591

The site provides a deep look into critical thinking process and the principles applied in critical thinking. It helps us understand the process better and know where to apply the concept in our daily life. Critical thinking is a concept that is applicable in solving most contemporary issues in the society.

Crick, B., & Lockyer, A. (2010). Active citizenship. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Individuals need to understand that whatever they need done by government is achievable through closer relation. The author describes rights and responsibilities of active citizenship. This research advocates for active citizenship and mostly in solving the contemporary issues.

Bentley, J., & Bentley, A. (1998). Contemporary issues. Longman.

Contemporary issues in the society are like bush fire, in effect and in the spreading of the effects to the people in the society. This author takes a look at the most common and prevalent contemporary issues and their relationship. This is in support of this research since it provides information that can be used in developing the background of the issues discussed.

Beyer, B. (1995). Critical thinking. Bloomington, Ind.: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.

The term critical thinking seems very easy but it is a combination of concepts that provides an avenue for analysis of various ideas with an aim of arriving at a common agreed position of thought. In this research, understanding of the critical thinking is inevitable.

Roth, J. (2005). Ethics. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press.

Ethical standards are measures of behavior efficiency; problems of corruption and truancy are big challengers of ethics. It is hard for ethics to be enhanced in an organization where discipline is not upheld. This research demands for ethical standards to be maintained since it deals with society issues, which, due to their delicate nature will demand attention.

Wilson, M. (2009). Domestic violence. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.

The act of exercising violence between couples and loved ones is on the rise in this modern world. Men having been characterized with strength and masculinity are feeling superior to the women; modern women not being left out are bringing their intellectual knowledge to the husbands. The influence of the critical inner voice not being left out is the force behind the increased domestic violence cases. This author sheds light on the issue of domestic violence.