Rights given to prison inmates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Rights given to prison inmates - Essay Example Also, prisoners cannot be discriminated against on the basis of their religion, national origin or sex . In addition, they have the right to pursue legal action if they feel prison administrators’ causes them harm and also to fair treatment whilst awaiting trial (Cornell University Law School). Also, prisoners have a right to be prosecuted for their crimes in a timely manner. Prisoners also have the right to free religion and speech but with some limitations in prison (Cornell University Law School). It must be noted that the courts generally tend to side with prison officials or administrators when going over issues prisoners’ rights in prison. There is no strict scrutiny on whether the prisoner’s living standards are as should be, rather a broader look at whether any constitutional rights are not being met (Cornell University Law School). To conclude, prisoners are afforded some basic rights while incarcerated. The rights given have gotten substantially better over the years. One right that should possibly be given to prisoners is some privacy as this is non-existent in prisons. Prison administrators do not face a much regulation in dealing with prisoners which needs regulated to promote protection of rights. References Cornell University Law School.

Why do most countries think United States of America is a powerful Essay

Why do most countries think United States of America is a powerful country - Essay Example United States of America is currently the most powerful country in the world with almost absolute superiority in almost every area of life. Its military strength, technological superiority and economic power are unmatched in the history of mankind. The superiority of United States of America effectively started after the end of the cold war when USSR was disintegrated and the concept of bipolar world failed as United States emerged as the sole super power of the world. However, the United States of America has a long history of its march towards achieving its status of the super power of the world. This essay will look into the historical account of the US’s journey towards the superiority besides discussing the factors behind the superiority of US. American – Spanish War The America-Spanish war is probably the moment which gave America an open ground to climb at the top of the world stage and the power it is enjoying now. This war gave America its first real exposure of being the future super power of the world. In the spring of 1898, the 10 week long war between America and Spain gave the America necessary victory it required to start its climb towards the super power game. The historical background of this war can be traced back to the Cuba’s civil war where Spanish excesses forced America to intervene in the War and establish its regional hegemony in the Caribbean. (Bethel, 1998). It was America’s first major war after the civil war and its first major foreign war in its brief history. With the death toll of 400 Americans, this war gave America an unqualified victory which opened the gates for this nation to the stage of being super power.

Organized Crime: Theory and Characteristics

Organized Crime: Theory and Characteristics Statistically, most crimes committed in major American cities are crimes of passion, convenience, or opportunity committed by individual perpetrators; these can be classed as street crime or disorganized crime (Ryan and George, 1997). Disorganized crimes are difficult to predict and, often, difficult to solve. Because they cut across racial, class, and gender lines, disorganized crimes have fascinated historians, and there are several studies that attempt to find rational explanations for patterns in crime rates. How would you describe or define organized crime? Since the 1920s, organized crime has fascinated, horrified, and been a continuous concern for citizens and law enforcement officials in the United States (Lupsha, 1996). The public perception of organized crime has been shaped by the large volume of movies, television shows, and books that have distorted the public image of organized crime and misled the response to it. First and foremost, the first thing or picture that comes into the mind when organized crime is mentioned, is John Gotti, Al Capone and Paul Castellano, these individuals are some of the well known as members of the organized crime. Many people argue that this named individuals who have previously served jail sentence could serve as perpetrators of organized crime. So, the question is, what is the actually the right definition of organized crime? Organized crime can be defined as a group of individual who have structured plans and their objective is to get money by or through committing illegal activities. Individuals who are connected with organized crime meet their financial needs through violence, corrupt officials, and extortion. These individuals end up affecting people from as close as their neighbor hoods and as far away as other countries. The personal perception of this author is that organized crime is the organization of several participating parties who share a common goal; generally, focused on monetary gain or control of power. How does your perception compare to the definitions in the readings? In reading chapter 1 of Organized Crime, I have realized that one definition can not completely define the concept of organized crime. According to the text organized crime can be defined as two or more persons conspiring together on a continuing and secretive basis with the aim of committing one or more serious crimes in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit. My perception of organized crime and book assessment of organized crime is not that far apart. Conceptually, the term organized crime has been used to differentiate a specific manner of criminality from forms of personal and property crimes typically committed by individuals working alone (such as residential burglaries, mugging, automobile theft, vandalism, crimes of passion, and so on). Public perception of organized crime has largely been shaped by the media and the entertainment industry (Lupsha, 1996). As in entertainment industry, organized crime has become synonymous with such criminal genres as the Italian Mafia, outlaw motorcycle gangs, Chinese Triads, the Japanese yakuza, Colombian cocaine cartels, and the Russian mafyia. While a defining characteristic of these dominant organized crime genres has been a shared ethnicity, organized criminality is present among a wide range of ethnic groups and nationalities. Moreover, in recent years, it has become apparent that race or ethnicity is no longer the most important criterion of who participates in a particular organized crime conspiracy. Not only has there been evidence of cooperation among many of these dominant genres, but there are also thousands of other individual criminal entrepreneurs who work together, on an ad hoc or ongoing basis, in pursuit of illegal revenues, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, or language. The term organized crime has also been used to refer to certain illegal activities that are typically carried out by criminal organizations, such as drug trafficking, extortion, labor racketeering, smuggling, corruption, and money laundering. However, organized crime should not be strictly defined by the type of illegal activities carried out by criminal organizations and networks, for many of these criminal activities can also be conducted by individuals working alone. Instead, organized crime can best be characterized by how illegal activities are carried out. Some of the defining characteristics of organized criminality are summarized below. What characteristics do you think are associated with organized criminal behavior? The difficulty in clearly defining the concept of organized crime comes from the ambiguity of the term organized. For example, how organized does a criminal outfit need to be to be considered an agent of organized crime? Most people who have studied the phenomenon agree that, at the very least, an organized-crime group has to maintain a clear hierarchy among its members and function according to a set of enforceable rules and regulations. A city gang, therefore, which temporarily groups a few youths involved in illegal activities, does not constitute organized crime. Common behaviors among organized crime groups have been within a global magnitude. These organizations have engaged in enterprises, which include various criminal acts. They specialize in money laundering, drug trafficking, blackmail, gambling, extortion, political corruption, and loan-sharking. It seems if these individuals are permitted to silence witnesses, murder, and blackmail; extort, etc., law enforcement will con stantly have difficulty in apprehending said persons or any kind of conviction regarding their actions and-or behavior (Lyman and Potter, 2007). The primary goal of organized crime is economic profit. Organized crime does not traditionally espouse and fight for a particular political ideology. Thus, terrorist organizations like Hamas and al-Qaeda are not usually considered organized-crime groups, even if they are well organized and engage in illegal activities. organized-crime groups may acquire political power to ensure prosperity for their members, but they do not generally perceive political power as a goal in itself. organized-crime groups have a limited, highly specialized membership and are characterized by a carefully thought-out division of labor. As in any legal business enterprise, every member knows his or her place in the organization and will undertake specific duties on a regular basis. Unlike legal businesses, however, organized crime shows a willingness to resort to violence and bribery to achieve its goals. The continued existence of an organized-crime group does not rely on specific individuals. In other words, in this kind of a group, everybody is replaceable. Even if the leader of the outfit dies or goes to jail, the organization is designed to promptly find somebody to take over. Organized crime, therefore, is characterized by permanency, as much as by its economic priorities, lack of political ideology, hierarchy, and specialization.

Postion Paper: Nature Vs. Nurture -- essays research papers

Position Paper: Nature vs. Nurture   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The controversy of nature vs. nurture has been going on for many years, and a decision has not yet been reached in which one is the most affective. Using the results of the countless tests done, everyday situations, and the twins experiment, I will prove that nature is a larger contributor to the outcome of our personalities than nurture.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Firstly, many psychologists and Universities, such as Harvard, conducted countless test to determined which traits of our personalities seemed to be inherited, and which seemed to be developed from our own life experiences. For most of the traits measured, more than half the variation was found to be due to heredity. Among these traits were things such as leadership abilities, traditionalism, obedience or lack of, and surprisingly enough, the strict enforcement of rules. An not all the things tested were based on stature and parental ways. Some that tested out at least 50% due to heredity included a sense of well-being, zest for life; alienation; vulnerability or resistance to stress and fearfulness or risk-seeking. All these factors have to do directly with our personality. Our goals for achieving and future were another thing that tested out to be largely due to heredity and genes. The need to achieve, including ambition and inclination to work hard towards goals is an example of that. All these points simply prove that there are very many trai...

Psychoanalytic Personality Assessment Essay

Every single person has a personality that is unique to their persona, albeit they may look identical in appearance such as twins. Theories have been developed and fine-tuned throughout the last two centuries, and most notably by some of the more well-known psychologists of the last century. Alfred Alder, Carl Jung, and perhaps the most cited of the three theorizers is Sigmund Freud, compile three of the most noteworthy psychologists. Freud’s, Alder’s, and Jung’s theories may seem similar in several ways, but they are quite distinct from one another. Psychoanalytic Theories Freud characterizes the personality into three segments which are the id, ego and superego (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). Freud argued that the id, a Latin word or ‘it’, was the very basic instincts and motivations (often called impulses) with which humans, like animals, are born with. The id, acting on the pleasure principle, reduces its inner tension by satisfying its desires. The ego, also known as the ‘I’, acting upon the reality principle, aims to plan, act, and adopt to solve real issues that arise in the reality of this world. The ego tends to consistently place in check the desires and motivations of the id. The superego, also known as the ‘over I’, is the realization of societal structure that has been set in place by the parental units and entities of the social community. The superego has conscious and unconscious moral forces that is similar to the conscience, but the superego follows ethical guidelines unconsciously (2012). Alderâ₠¬â„¢s theory was more complex than that of Freud, whose id was focused on the pleasure principle and sexuality. Instead, Alder theorized that the personality stressed unique motivations of each person and the individual’s apparent role in the social order (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). Alder went on to develop the foundation for the identification of the superiority complex, inferiority complex,  organ inferiority, aggression drive, and masculine protest to name a few. Like the Freudian theory, the Jungian theory is also separates the human psyche into three different parts; the conscious ego, the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). Jung’s conscious ego is similar to Freud’s ego, however Jung believed that the ego was the conscious personality and represents the sense of one’s self. The personal unconscious is host to the feelings and thoughts that are not part of one’s cognizant awareness. The collective unconscious is a more profound level of unconsciousness that entails emotional symbols known as archetypes. Jung referred to archetypes as the embodiment of interpersonal emotional reactions of repetitive events (2012). I agree with Alder’s theory that the personality stresses motivations that are unique to each person. I also agree with Freud’s theory that the ego is consistently placing the id in a reality check. However, I do not agree with Freud’s thoughts on humans being born with basic instincts such as those of animals. Furthermore, I do not agree in Jung’s theory of collective unconsciousness. Stages of Freud’s Theory The stages of Freud’s personality theory are oral, anal, phallic, latency period, and genital stages (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). According to Freud, the oral stage is driven the need to satisfy hunger and thirst. While some infants quickly move past the weaning and focus their libido into other challenges, others develop an oral fixation that may result in issues with attachment, dependency, and perhaps even substance abuse. The anal stage occurs mainly when the child is two to three years old and learns self-control over their bowel movements (2012). Some children learn this self-control early on leading to a healthy aspect of their personality. However, children fixated on the anal stage tend to overlearn it or fight attempts to manage their bowel movements which may lead to passive-aggressiveness, obstinacy, or stinginess in their adulthood. The phallic stage usually occurs by age six and is when sexual energy is fixated on the genitals (2012). In analyzing themselves, children explore with gender identity and masturbation. However, a fixation in this stage may lead to an Oedipus Complex, in which the boy conflicts with the father and attaches with the mother, or Penis Envy, in which a girl ponders why she  does not have a penis and attaches to the father. According to Freud, the latency period usually occurs between ages six and eleven. This is a period of the childhood that Freud believed was not significant to the child’s personality (2012). Instead, he believed that it was when sexual urges were not directly expressed, but rather channeled into daily activities. Lastly, the genital stage is when the child has reached adolescence, usually after age 12. It is in this stage that a non-fixated adolescent will live a well-adjusted adult life of courtship, marriage, and parenting. However, deviant experiences during childhood potentially produce a variety of personality issues as an adult (2012). Freudian Defense Mechanisms Repression is a defense mechanism that thrusts hostile or frightening thoughts into the unconscious (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). One of these types of repression is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Many of our military veterans are returning home with this sometimes debilitating condition. During a flight operation over Afghanistan a plane carrying 23 military personnel is shot repeatedly causing integrity issues to the fuselage. Although no one is injured, having to do emergency landing and repair before enemy troops can locate them can have life-lasting issues. Denial is a defense mechanism that causes reality to seem untrue, despite overwhelming facts or evidence (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). A parent comes home to find their young adult child with a syringe in their arm, unconscious, and unresponsive, calls 911. When asked by police, the parents deny any drug use or social issues, and add that their child was always a ‘good’ kid. Displacement is a defense mechanism that shifts the burden of an individual’s fears and desires upon someone or something else (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). A drunk father comes home, steps on a toy, and uses his belt to beat his 10 year old boy. The boy then goes to school the next day and bullies the smaller kids. In this case, the father and the son both displaced their anger and frustrations on others. Sublimation is a defense mechanism that enables us to act out unacceptable thoughts or impulses through adequate behavior (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). Someone that is angry or frustrated may choose to go to the gym and get a rigorous workout, thereby releasing that anger or frustration. Conclusion Freud, Adler, and Jung were psychologists that shared a similar belief and passion in deciphering personality concept. However, they also disagreed on the fundamentals of such personality constructs. Freud believed that the personalities developed through psychosexual development. Whereas, Adler believed in the more complex development through individual psychology. Even so, Jung believed in a deeper level of the psyche that involved emotional archetypes. Each of these theories has provided great progress in modern psychology and understanding of the personalities of each individual. While each of the theories may have flaws, each of the theories has its own merits that are noteworthy. Reference Friedman, H. S., & Schustack, M. W. (2012). Personality: Classic theories and modern research (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Nature in King Lear Essay

The Tragedy of King Lear by William Shakespeare is founded on the theme of Nature portrayed throughout the play from Lear’s kingship to personal human relations, from representations of the physical world to notions of the gods, from the portrayal of human nature to the use of animal imagery. Nature is the core of the play King Lear. Shakespeare’s take on nature is ambiguous thus he portrays the two extremes of human condition: good and evil. Through his characters, he asserts that humans are neither good nor evil by nature. However, Shakespeare reflects on what should be considered natural, since the concept of nature stems from social construct. In the play, there is a noticeable distinction between the natural ways in which people wish to behave as opposed to what is considered natural in society. Elements of the natural world, such as Mother Nature and the animal kingdom, are invoked in the characters’ speech, as they use their different concepts of what nature is in order to justify their actions. Through this essay I will demonstrate good and evil nature mainly through the two juxtaposing characters: Cordelia, the Jesus-Like daughter, and Edmund the Machiavellian son, as well as the use of animal imagery to depict natural character traits. The plot begins on the day King Lear decides to divide his inheritance amongst his three daughters. The proud King demands his daughters to show off their undying love for him in order to gain their share. However, King Lear’s notion of love is shallow, pompous and showy, which results in a great disadvantage to Cordelia’s natural way of being. Unfortunately, King Lear’s royal authority belongs to the civilized world. Therefore, he goes against the natural world when he misinterprets Cordelia’s love and casts her out. One of the biggest problems in the play is that Lear calls upon nature: â€Å"which of you shall we say doth love us most/ That we our largest bounty may extend/ Where nature doth with merit challenge† (Act 1, Scene 1, Lines 52-54). Lear mistakes Cordelia’s true natural, loyal behavior as unnatural and disobedient when she sincerely expresses â€Å"I love your majesty according to my bond, no more nor less† (Act I, Scene I, Lines 94-95) without the pompous performance played by Goneril and Reagan. Lear curses Cordelia exiling her outside society disclaiming â€Å"propinquity and property of blood† (Act 1, Scene 1). Lear’s lack of understanding of the natural bond between parents and children leads him to his tragic demise. He is easily fooled by Goneril and Regan’s fake  Ã¢â‚¬Å"natural† behavior when they give their long speeches and flatter him. Eventually, â€Å"Those pelican daughters† (Act 3, Scene 4, Line 75) and â€Å"Unnatural hags† (Act 2, Scene 4, Line-281) as Lear later on refers to them, throw him out of the house once they’ve obtained status and power yet fear he might take it back. Further on, they plot on killing Lear. On the other hand, Cordelia’s love is unconditional. Lear must go through a series of humiliating events to learn the true nature of love and the importance of the bond that Cordelia truthfully tried to explain. Cordelia is a tragic heroine, since she returns from France and easily forgives her father despite his wrath. Most importantly Cordelia gives Lear another chance to redeem himself as a king, a father and a human being. Shakespeare brilliantly portrays human nature through Edmund and Cordelia. By placing them in a similar situation, he is able to demonstrate that humans act accordingly to their nature. These two juxtaposing characters are stripped away from their royal wealth due to social norms. On one hand, Cordelia faces adversity being a legitimate loving and obedient daughter, yet she doesn’t follow the selfish and disloyal path that Edmund does. Cordelia is one of the few genuinely good characters in the entire play. In contrast to her two sisters she’s a saint. Lear’s poor judgment and misunderstanding of the father-daughter bond ultimately leads to his tragic loss. The subplot of the main plot is the relationship between Gloucester and his legitimate son Edgar and his bastard son Edmund. Gloucester as Lear, misunderstands the natural behavior of his sons. Edmund, a â€Å"natural† son, feels he is more deserving than his brother in spite of the social law of primogeniture. By calling Edmund â€Å"loyal and natural boy†, Gloucester mistakes Edmund’s unnatural behavior to be natural and casts out Edgar from the civilized world to the natural world. Lear and Gloucester share that they are both deceived and furthermore, mistake unnatural behavior (conspiracy against parents) to be natural (loyal and loving behavior). These misunderstandings ultimately lead to their downfall. Edmund calls on Mother Nature: â€Å"Nature, art my goddess.† This statement implies that nature provides an evil force. Edmund’s views this baseness as natural. Furthermore, Edmund recognizes his own evil nature and decides to use it to his advantage. He mocks the notion   of any kind of supernatural or divine influence over one’s destiny in the following lines: â€Å"†¦as if we were villains on necessity; fools by heavenly  compulsions; knaves, thieves, and treachers by spherical predominance, drunkards liars and adulterers by an enforced obedience of planetary influence† (Act I, Scene 2, Lines 131-135). In Edmund’s soliloquy at the beginning of Act 1 Scene 2, we learn of his malevolent intent to degenerate his legitimate half brother. Machiavelli believed that by nature, humans are not perfect in virtue and therefore, humans do not only posses good qualities, but bad ones â€Å"For if men were all good, this rule would not be allowable, but being they are full of mischief†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 100). Although he recognized that loyalty and trustworthiness can be gained, he believed that in times of adversity people are generally ungrateful, insincere, anxious to look out for their own safety, and greedy for gain â€Å"They are unthankful, inconstant dissemblers; they avoid dangers and are covetous of gain† and will rebel if they are in danger. (p. 99). Therefore, Edmund’s natural behavior represents Machiavelli’s belief of human nature being evil driven by a selfish, insincere and disloyal natural way of being. Contrary to Edmund, Cordelia also faces adversity and she stays true to her benevolent nature. Her character counteracts Machiavelli’s argument of human nature. Through this, Shakespeare hints that Machiavelli’s beliefs aren’t necessarily true and do not apply to human nature. Edmund reflects the character traits found in Machiavelli’s The Prince, as he rebels against the laws of society and is willing to hurt others in order to achieve power and status. He is ungrateful to his brother and father and deceives everyone around him for his benefit. Edmund appears to be loyal and trustworthy and knows how to play with these virtuous qualities, protecting his reputation while betraying others. He’s character reflects the lion and fox-like qualities described in Machiavelli’s depiction of the ideal ruler. Thus, he is conscientious of his wickedness since the â€Å"end justifies the means†. Edmund inverts the order of society by attacking the convention of marriage and law of legitimacy. â€Å"Thou, Nature, art my goddess; to thy law/ My services are bound†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Act I, Scene 2, Lines 1-22) Through this passage Edmund expresses his reverence to Nature (nature being the gods) and therefore demands â€Å"Now, gods, stand up for bastards† (Act I, Scene 2, Line 22). He explains that his conception comes from lust and passion being the most natural way of procreation. Furthermore, he rejects society and laws that deprive him from his right of being a legitimate son.