Is Genetics A Factor One Has No Control Over - 2716 Words

Our life begins prior to conception in some ways. What we will become is determined by factors which are in place before we are conceived. Our genetic makeup, our environment and culture all have an effect on whom we become. Genetics is a factor one has no control over. There are essentially two philosophies on our development. Freud regarded our development relatively complete by adolescence. In contrast, Erikson considered development to continue throughout one’s life span (Feldman, 2014, pp. 14 - 15). John Watson said â€Å"Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer,†¦show more content†¦In these early twin studies, very consistent effects emerged that suggested one thing: when it comes to personality, genes matter (Kraus, 2013). In some of life’s endeavors one’s personality determines the outcome. Could Watson train them: probably. Would they all be successful at what they were trained in: probably not. There are those with divergent understandings of the development based on external elucidations. Piaget’s theory was that all pass through a defined sequence of universal changes. (Piaget) insisted that cognitive development always follows this sequence, that stages cannot be skipped, and that each stage is marked by new intellectual abilities and a more complex understanding of the world (WebMD, 2014). In Bronfenbrenner approach to the development, he considered the immediate environment, the connection between the various aspects of the immediate environment such as: parents to child, students to teachers, employees to bosses and friends to friends. Those interconnections play a part in the development of an individual (Feldman, 2014, pp. 22 - 23). Another developmentalist, Lev Vygotsky believed complete understanding of child development could not be understood without accounting for the culture in which people develop. â€Å"The socialcultural theory emphasizes how cogni tive development proceeds as a result of social interactions between members of a culture (Feldman, 2014, p. 25). Vygotsky placed

America’s Failing War on Drugs and the Culture of Incarceration Free Essays

string(128) " are caught in possession of illicit drugs, is doing nothing to contribute to lessening any of the problems attributed to them\." For over a century, America has waged a failing war on drugs even as it feeds a cultural apathetic and underground acceptance of drug and alcohol use. The views of the dominate group have placed blame on society’s ills on the evils of rampant drug use throughout the past few hundred years, which have given way to a practice of outlawing , persecution, and imprisonment. Such a view has led to the overflow of our state’s prisons, the race to build even more, and need to fund a culture of imprisonment that has a difficult time in trying to figure out if it wants to help the addicted person, or continue to try and fund a gluttonous prison machine. We will write a custom essay sample on America’s Failing War on Drugs and the Culture of Incarceration or any similar topic only for you Order Now We will look at some of the causes for the failed war on drugs, and some of the consequences if our society continues to ignore the need to help the addict, or simply lock them away. America’s failing War on Drugs and the Culture of Incarceration America has always had an underlying culture of drug use with even many of the harder drugs, like cocaine and heroin, being legal up into the early 1900’s, and drugs like methamphetamine and MDMA, or ecstasy, being legal well into the 20th century. Even one of the most invasive drugs of our culture, alcohol, is widely advertised and taken to be a norm of American culture, and prescription drugs like Vicodin and Oxycontin are used by millions legally every day (Brecher, E. M. , n. d. ). However, while alcohol as been able to enjoy its place as an accepted part of the American lifestyle, drug use of the illicit kind has been steadily demonized, criminalized, and used as a means to incarcerate an ever growing number of people, most often minorities and the poor who are unable to afford outside representation. (Steiker, C. S. 2011) It has created an industry and culture of incarceration dependant on keeping certain drugs illegal, and drug use a felonious criminal act, as those in the industry of building prisons and providing prison services, along with many in law enforcement, continue to lobby state and federal government to keep up overzealous laws on drug use, even laws on drugs proven to be less dangerous than alcohol, such as marijuana, which have come to be quite profitable to all involved. The extent of the problem with this unsuccessful war on drugs includes millions of non violent offenders losing parts of their lives, many sentenced to terms in the tens of years under mandatory sentencing, some simply for no more a heinous crime as first time possession of a small amount of marijuana or crack cocaine. The ability to get federal help for school as well as other federal help programs, to engage in certain basic liberties and rights afforded to all Americans by the Bill of Rights, such as the right to vote, or the right to bear arms, are taken away and either incredibly hard to get back, or all but impossible. Furthermore, even when they have finished paying society for their crime, they are still haunted by the deed whenever they look for work, unable to get jobs because of felony convictions, relegating them to jobs of much lower pay and status, even though they themselves may have the education and experience to fulfill jobs of a much higher caliber. (McVay, D. , Schiraldi, V. , Zeidenburg, J. 2004) This process of ‘tough on drugs’ prevention and incarceration keeps the chemically dependent in a vicious cycle where, unable to get help for their addictions and help for success after paying their ‘dues’, their only outcome lies in a repetitive sequence of drug use, bigger crimes to support themselves, and longer imprisonment, in a culture of poverty and incarceration. The outcome is broken hopes, broken dreams, broken families – broken individuals with broken lives. (McVay, D. Schiraldi, V. , Zeidenburg, J. , 2004) If you are not one of these individuals, the problem extends to you – in that it is your tax dollars going to pay for the unsuccessful but profitable war on drugs. Prisoners do not pay for their incarceration – the state and federal government does. The American tax payers pay for housing, food, clothing in both state and federal as well as private prisons, and supervision of these mostly non-violent drug offenders, both inside and outside prison. The tax payer provides the funds for local, state, and federal law enforcement to run their stings, and train their drug dogs and sting operatives, except in the off chance that they intercept a large amount of drug money, or take possession of larger drug dealers properties and vehicles bought with drug money, but rarely are these items sold at value. The burden to pay falls on the state and you, the tax payer, and the state is running out of money to spend on incarcerating an ever growing number of non-violent, drug related prisoners. McVay, D. , Schiraldi, V. , Zeidenburg, J. , 2004) THE CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES Causes While many drugs enjoyed a period of legalization, eventually most drugs have come to find a place as a scapegoat for many of society’s ills, from poverty, unemployment and homelessness, to rape, murder, and reasons to discriminate certain races based on a stereotypical link to a certain drug. (Steiker, C. S. 2011) At one time even alcohol was a major scapegoat for societal problems, but its strong history and presence in Euro-ethnic culture made it difficult to abstain from for many, and when it was shown that prohibition did nothing to stop many of the problems attributed to it and had actually caused an increase in criminal activity and dangerous binge drinking, it was repealed after 13 years, with much celebration. (Brecher, E. M. , n. d. Accordingly in this day and age, some people are coming to the realization that simply outlawing drugs, making harsh laws to imprison or remove people who are caught in possession of illicit drugs, is doing nothing to contribute to lessening any of the problems attributed to them. You read "America’s Failing War on Drugs and the Culture of Incarceration" in category "Papers" In fact, even while we see a decrease in overall crime, we can still see an increase in certain criminal drug activities meant to supply a non-declining need for narcotics, and an ever increasing bill that makes many law makers choose between other programs to help society, or to pay for the rising cost to lock up more and more drug offenders. However, it is still much easier to demonize a drug and the user for problems in society, and we can see that today for instance, as we deal with the problem of unemployment, and the desire of some to legalize marijuana, even for medical purposes. Legalization happens to be a position many of the 99% Occupier groups stand for, but many opponents counter that it’s the drug use of many of those protesters that contribute to their unemployment, and that making medical marijuana legal is just a way for them to continue to get high, but legally. (Bickman, J. , n. d. ) Consequently, many opponents also see drug use as proof f the moral decline of America, and that along with moral ills like gay marriage and abortion, contribute to the fall of our society from its once lofty heights back in the early and mid 1900’s, where homosexuality and drug use were more hidden, but no less prevalent. To this we add the common practice of giving drug possession and distribution large manda tory sentences, some of which show the disparity in the dominant class’s belief in certain drug use being characteristic of certain class or racial groups, or that some drugs are much more dangerous than others, even though science and common sense has told us otherwise. One can only need to take a look at the number of people in jail and prison for marijuana, which is almost benign in its danger when compared to a legal drug such as alcohol, or the disparity in sentencing between crack cocaine and powdered cocaine that was once 100 to 1, or the same penalty for 1 gram of crack cocaine as for 100 grams of powdered cocaine, now down to a mere 18 to 1, with the relation that crack is mostly use by the inner city African American minority, and powdered cocaine used more by the affluent, white dominant suburban group. Amar, V. D. , n. d. ) One area that is sorely underfunded, and has become a pathway to a ‘college of criminality’, is the juvenile justice system. In a 2005, five year study by the National Center on Substance Abuse at Columbia University, the report found that 1. 9 million of the 2. 4 million juveniles arrested over a 5 year period had substance abuse and addiction problems, but that only 68,600 of them received any substance abuse help. Many of those arrested were for violent crimes, however drug use played a huge part in their behavior, and it isn’t hard to take these results into the adult arena, with the finding among adults arrested who were 18 years or older, 64 percent had used drugs or alcohol when they were 17 or younger. One may correctly assume that juveniles who initiate drug and alcohol use and become arrested, and are given incarceration instead of treatment, have a greater chance of growing up to become adults who engage in criminal and drug using behavior. Brown University, 2005) Consequences The consequences of continuing the past policies of the war on drug can be seen today, there is no need to wait on verification or speculation. We can see the ever increasing number of adult and juvenile offenders incarcerated for minor drug offences, as well as those receiving large sentences for other crimes where drugs were involved. We can see the cost and the burden this increasing prison population has to the state and its tax payers, and the struggle lawmakers have to either increase taxes, lower penalties for possession for drug use, or release large numbers of un-treated, chemically dependent, prison taught and economically disadvantaged prisoners because they simply cannot afford to hold them any longer. Without changing the laws, addicts and other chemically dependent users are first convicted and then given treatment. As we already discussed in the beginning, the conviction staying on their arrest record for years, or even permanently, meaning that even after possible successful treatment, the recovering addict is still treated like a pariah when looking for work and an in-depth background check becomes part of the job seeking process. (McVay, D. , Schiraldi, V. , Zeidenburg, J. , 2004)Without any help or hope, the convicted and untreated addict’s only outlook is a continuing life of drug use, and criminal activity to support them. In states like Kentucky, that have seen an increase in its prison population quadruple over the past two decades, looking into new programs that would have offenders volunteer to enter a six to nine month treatment program in jail, rather than a one to two year program in prison that usually carries a five to ten year sentence along with it, would save the state tax payers millions of dollars a year. In Kentucky alone, it costs $500 million dollars a year to house some 22,000 prisoners, 80 percent of them being non-violent drug offenders. The state, like most others, has seen a steady rise in incarcerations with one in 31 Americans behind bars, when Twenty-five years ago, the number was 1 in 77. (Alcoholism Drug Abuse Weekly, 2009) Still, even with such approaches meant to curb the costs of incarcerating convicted addicts, the fact remains that little is being done to reduce the number of people being convicted in the first place, although the offering of more resources to people who are in their first phases of being caught up by law enforcement due to their addictions is a more effective way to start. Alcoholism Drug Abuse Weekly, 2010) Every year it becomes more and more evident, that our countries failing war on drugs and its policy to want to simply incarcerate those to mandatory sentences for even non-lethal drug such as marijuana, the rising cost to investigate, arrest, persecute and house a population of people who show no signs of serious drug use decline, can only mean that newer policies to treat the addi cted, rather than lock them away, are the right way to go if our country wants to fix the problem of our ever increasing culture of incarceration. (McVay, D. , Schiraldi, V. , Zeidenburg, J. , 2004) How to cite America’s Failing War on Drugs and the Culture of Incarceration, Essays

Likes and Dislikes free essay sample

Likes/Dislikes or Hobbies There are many things I like to do in this big World of ours. There are also many things I do not like to do or don’t care for doing. However, the main thing I enjoy doing most is playing basketball. In my spare time I go outside my house and shoot around or I go to the Eastover Recreation Center and play basketball in their gym. Also, I play basketball for Eastover Parks and Recreation during the winter months. I enjoy playing basketball so much because it gives me a way to relieve a lot of my stress and anger. Something unique about me is that I actually enjoy life itself.Life to me means friends and family who you can trust and who trusts you. I am pretty much on the happy side of life, but like all teens I do I have my days of. We will write a custom essay sample on Likes and Dislikes or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page That means I do have some sad days or depressed days. I have a few friends I chill with that sort of look out for me and when I am having a bad day, I also have someone here at school to talk to. I make my school days go by thinking of either the next hour or what I will do when I get home or what I will do when the weekend comes around the corner. I mean if you think about it, you wouldn’t be a happy person if you didn’t live your life like you wanted to. Ive set aside time each day to listen to music for the last five years. I listen to music so often that when Im not listening to it, I find rhythms in footsteps and doors closing and the sound of traffic. Honestly, music to me is home, a constant. When I play a favorite song, the chaos of the day is made clear. Music helps me regress every song an old memory that puts me back a few years, a decade, or last week. Memories are safe places because they cant be altered or erased, and music takes me back. I love the way music can help me zone out and refocus. The way it can put me out of touch with my own body, to the point of grace (I can dance like a fool and feel utterly free to look however silly it is I look). I love the way music connects me with closest friends. The words weve never spoken to each other travel over hummed bars of loved tracks. I love music because its never boring, and like art, is subjective and thats what makes it interesting. Sound is more offensive than visual stimuli, which is why I think certain musical artists have such a bad rap, where a painter or sculptor would be off the hook for a bad portrait or likeness.Music is an accessible art that makes a critic out of everyone. Music was my first love and it will most definitely be my last. Without having music as part of my life, I don’t know what I would do with myself. Last but not least, I have a pet peeve that I cannot stand when someone does, and that is smacking your gum. As a kid and until about age 13 I was that person who loved to smack their gum. I loved to loudly pop my gum and blow huge bubbles. I eventually grew out of it. Now I cant stand to see anybody doing that! I can forgive kids doing that.. .They are just being kids and acting their age. But seeing/hearing older teens and adults doing that just touches my nerves o another level. Smacking gum isn’t my only pet peeve, chewing with your mouth open also gets on my nerves very bad. Is it okay for people to eat with their mouths open? No! Is it okay for people to burp out loud? No! When people are working they should be considerate of other people and not make annoying noises. All in all, just be aware that people around you may not like smacking whether you like it or not.

Pope Urban II Essays (401 words) - Crusades, Christianization

Pope Urban II Pope Urban II had called the Christians to join him in a Holy War to reclaim the Holy Lands as an act of Christianity, but there were many activities that took place that weren't characteristics of Christianity. The Crusades were a smokescreen for Pope's craving for power and control. The Crusades were the idea of Pope Urban II, a wise Frenchman. On November 18, 1095 AD, Pope Urban II opened the Council of Clermont. Nine days later, the Pope made a very important speech just outside the French city of Clermont-Ferrand. In his speech, he asked the people to help the Christians' effort to restore peace to the East. The Crusades had originally been to help the Churches in the East, but the now it was to reclaim the Holy Land, especially Jerusalem from the Muslims. Pope Urban II stayed in France until September 1096 in hopes of providing leadership for the First Crusaders. Urban had originally hoped for the crusading army to be composed of mostly knights and other warriors, but his speech had already began spreading throughout the west, and many people of different social classes started joining the crusading army. (Foss, Michael. pg. 23) Because of this Urban lost all control of the army, which led to the slaughter of Jews in northern France. These poor people also caused strain on the armies supplies and discipline. They were never trained and they were poor, so they couldn't bring anything and were poorly disciplined(Foss, Michael. pg. 24). The entire crusading army had planned on reaching the city of Constantinople, but because of their lack of supplies and training the vast majority of them were slaughtered before they got there. The few troops that did reach Constantinople split up into two groups. One group tried to capture Nicaea, a key city that blocked the road of their supply routes. This group was unsuccessful. The other group was attacked near the city of Civetot in October. The few survivors retreated to Constantinople and joined the second wave of Crusaders. (Phillips, Jonathan. pg. 59) Religious beliefs were a major motive of the crusaders. In Urban's speech to the people of Clermont-Ferrand, Urban guaranteed the complete forgiveness of all sins to any crusader that lost his life in the name of the Crusades. Urban also proclaimed "It is necessary that you bring to your brothers in the East the help so often promised and so urgently needed. They have been attacked, as many of you know, by Turks and Arabs... Churches have been destroyed and the countryside laid waste.

Religion In Public Life Essays - Prayer, Spirituality, Free Essays

Religion In Public Life Essays - Prayer, Spirituality, Free Essays Religion In Public Life Prayer in school has been the topic of the century, Is it right to pray in school, stated a Texas teacher. The society as a whole believes it is wrong, but there is some people that thinks it would be a good addition to our school. Maybe it will lower school violence. Yeah, right, whatever! Come on people, be a little intelligent. Our country has had violence before we created prayer in school. Religion will probably make it worse. Sociologists has taken a look at this issue. They perceived it preposterous. Sociologist think if we had prayer in school, might as well force us to read a bible and say amen every time a teacher finishes a sentence. Prayer in school is ridiculous and absurd. Sociologists opposes school prayer for a number of reasons. To begin, it is unconstitutional and a clear violation of our First Amendment. Remember, that amendment contains the Establishment Clause which prohibits the government fromestablishing religion. Simply put, secular institutions like the publ ic schools should NOT be a forum for religious ritual or indoctrination. And do a majority of people support school prayer? Often, those results depend on exactly how the question happens to be asked. Surveys suggest that most people reject the notion of mandatory prayer. But even if the overwhelming majority thought that prayer was, somehow, a good idea, that does not make the practice ethically just or constitutional. Sociologists also points out, in opposing school prayer, that prayer is not efficacious. School prayer is obviously a form of religious indoctrination; it teaches children that there are invisible, supernatural entities which can be implored and appeased through mumbling prayers or reading from holy books. Many people believe that just because there is a bible, does it mean we have to take it seriously. If we wrote a book and put it in a time capsule and send it back 4000 years ago it will become a religion. What about school initiated prayer? Before getting excited about student initiated prayer, ask yourself: which students are doing the initiating? Student populations often reflect the diversity of the culture. Some students may wish to pray in class or at official school ceremonies like graduation exercises or sporting events, but are they being fair to other students who may not wish to pray? Lately, there have been court cases involving this very question. It is clear that even in areas such as Utah where a school may have a high percentage of students from the same religious background, not all students feel comfortable with this bogus student led religious ritual. If you see a huge group of people praying will you join them? The survey says 1 out of 4 students say yes. The reason is, they want to keep their friends. Sociologists believe teen peer pressure is why this is the way it is. What about a moment of silence? What for? Why do we need a moment of silence? School prayer boosters have sometimes proposed this as a way of establishing a legal precedent which, they hope, will eventually lead toward explicit and vocal school prayer. Over a decade ago, the Supreme Court struck down this type of proposal; legislation of this type often calls for the moment of silence to be used for meditation or prayer. Besides, consider the declining number of hours that students are in school each year. Every moment should be used for useful and educational instruction, not meditating! The whole idea of this is if we create some way to do this, without violating any rights, it wont effect any one. But yes it does, even a moment of silence is basically saying you must do this or else... Our government has always stood by the First Amendment, For one reason. The First Amendment creates an issue with how to stop certain things from happening. There is a lot of power in the First Amendment. But, our government exercises this right narrowly. We are always battling with the First Amendment. There is a lot of culture in this issue. One main reason we live in America is because we wanted the right to believe in a god, many gods, or no god(s)

Organizational beilefs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organizational beilefs - Essay Example The employees have been guided to follow the instructions of the organizational leaders because they are primarily responsible for taking decisions and their subordinates have to follow them. Employees are not recommended to challenge the decision of the leader because it will create a rift and organizational functionality will suffer. However, if employees are interested to bring change in the company then they are strongly suggested to follow the process of change management but again in order to do that they need support of the top management and therefore, usually they have to shut their mouths and keep on doing what are asked to do. I have worked with a news agency which was operating to report and partially analyzed developments of American stock exchanges. The job was a hectic and rather painful one too. I started to the job with great level of enthusiasm as it was my first placement. My energies ran out after working for three months. The most fundamental and important cause of my disinterest stemmed out of my suffering of psychological contract breach as I started to think that my efforts, energies and intellect were being wasted as I work for this particular organization. The job was challenging and therefore, needed a significant level of struggle on my part but the organizational leadership was not willing to recognize my contributions to a certain level because they had to pay me more which they were unwilling to do at that point in time. The basic organizational belief was to work in order to exploit people and the organization was notorious for not striking the balance between one’s efforts and compensation. I on the other hand believed that the company must benefit the workers so that a viable, reasonable and acceptable level of social exchange can be forged between an employer and its employees. The company was operating in an entirely different way. Secondly, the leader of the organization told me that they are

Systems Analysis and Design_Aug13 Assignment - Nancy's Novelty Cakes

Systems Analysis and Design_Aug13 - Nancy's Novelty Cakes - Assignment Example 24 Schedule 24 b) Spreadsheet program 25 Task 3- B Graph 26 Increase in Sales Each Year 26 The above given graph clearly indicates that this investment will bring increase to expected sales. 27 Sales v/s Revenue 27 27 Above given graph demonstrates the relationship between sales and revenue. This graph clearly shows an increase in sales due to the increase in revenue. 27 Task 3- C 27 In this analysis I have shown a relationship between different variables such as the overall sales and total revenue. These relationships are demonstrates over a progress of four years and in a steady fashion. These relationships outline a steady line of increase in sales and overall increase in revenue after 2 years. ... ign 33 References 34 Introduction Nancy’s Novelty Cakes is a small confectionery business, which is expert in making novel and special occasion cakes for customers. Up till now, this company has been using a traditional approach for the management of its business operations. In this scenario, it has developed and maintained a file of cakes designs along with costs associated with those cakes. With the passage of time the management realized that this traditional approach is not useful for the successful management of business operations. Hence, they have decided to develop and implement a new technology based system. In this scenario, Nancy’s Novelty Cakes business is looking for an effective way to replace its old manual system they have had for the last 5 years with a new computerised system. I am a member of IT Company that is specialized in design and development of computerised business systems. Our consultancy firm has won a contract from this client. In this case our team is responsible for the development and implementation of a new technology based system for the better corporate operational and procedures management. This report presents a detailed analysis of some of the important aspects associated with the development and implementation of this new system. This report will discuss the requirements specification and design related aspects of Nancy Nancy’s Novelty Cakes business. This report is divided into different tasks and each task addresses specific topic. Task 1 a) System lifecycle model Software/system development lifecycle or simply the SDLC is a theoretical outline or process that demonstrates the phases or steps required for the development of a software application. In fact, this process outlines all the steps from preliminary feasibility