Sample Essay On An Institution

An institution can be defined as any establishment that strives to promote and achieve a specific given goal or program. Such institutions can be organizations such schools, churches and other public and private organizations or foundations such as charitable institutions. In sociology however, an institution refers to a behavior pattern that has been established as a custom and accepted part of culture that should be respected e.g. marriage. The institution that I am going to look at for this assignment is the United States Institute of Peace. The institute’s main work is to prevent and provide solutions to violence and conflicts all over the globe. It was founded in the 1984 by the United States Congress and currently has a staff of more than 300 people working at the headquarters and in the field where conflicts and violence are experienced (USIP, 2015). To achieve its objectives, apart from providing their services in places that there are conflicts, also partners with other institutions and individuals whose work seeks to bring peace in regions that experiences conflicts.
The vision and mission of the institute clearly demonstrates its commitment to creating a world without conflicts. The institution’s core beliefs are that; there are always ways and means of providing solutions to conflicts that may arise while avoiding violence (USIP, 2015). Through this core belief, the institute admits that there shall always be conflicts where people from different cultural, religious and ethnic back grounds interact. It existence therefore seeks to help the involved parties to solves such conflicts earlier enough before it escalates to violence which in many cases is costly to solve. It advocates for nonviolent ways of solving conflicts because it is the best way that do not disrupt human livelihoods that would otherwise bring suffering and destruction of human well-being in an event of violence (USIP, 2015).
Another core belief of the institute is that it will always be guided by truth in carrying out its mandate of preventing conflicts and violence, such that its actions shall at all times be based on evidences at the ground so that the actions they propose to undertake or implement will bring the desired impacts and not worsened the situation i.e. exacerbate the violence (USIP, 2015). Still on the core beliefs, the institute has a principle that makes sure that it will always adjust to the nature of every conflict such that the efforts and measures being put forth to solve conflicts should consider the nature of that region and the prevailing circumstances of the conflict. Other core beliefs are: - to always be innovative, continually improve its services, and lastly to partner with others.
The social needs that the United States Institute of Peace addresses are creating a sense of belonging (Cherry, 2015). It does so by encouraging people to practice and embrace religious tolerance, this helps in reducing extremism in religion differences that may result in religious violence. USIP also provides financial and technical support that aim at empowering women and youth so that they can be in a position to take part in processes that seek to bring peace in their countries e.g. in Colombia or in Africa (USIP, 2015). USIP helps implement programs that empower leaders especially the youth so that communities can effectively be engaged in leadership and peace building.
The roles found in USIP that support its beliefs are that it consults with experts to come up with most effective solutions to different types of conflicts. This supports its belief of being dynamic; it also trains the US and other military from different regions of the world as well as leaders of various civil societies. This is a crucial role played by USIP that helps it achieve its mission of ensuring peaceful coexistence of people of the world through peacekeeping initiatives (USIP, 2015). USIP works with other institutions mainly through partnerships and exchange of knowledge by providing resources and analysis to other institutions and individuals that are involved in various activities that aims at solving conflicts and bringing peace. USIP also has other several centers in different parts of the world e.g. Centre for the Middle East and Africa, South and Central Asia. Through these centers, USIP is able to partner with different governments and institutions to work for peace.
USIP also through its peace academy for International Conflict Management and Peace building trains and equip leaders and other officials with skills that are relevant in bringing peace in conflict affected zones (USIP, 2015). USIP is effective in its purpose because it directly deals with those affected by conflicts in their zones and developing measures that are specific to each conflict. The fact that it also strives to remain dynamic in conflict resolutions helps it to achieve the goals for which it was set, that is preventing conflicts.

References

Kendra Cherry. (2015). Social Needs - Maslow's Needs Hierarchy. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/ss/maslows-needs-hierarchy_4.htm
USIP. (2015). Human Rights | United States Institute of Peace. Retrieved from http://www.usip.org/issue-areas/human-rights