Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Great Gatsby`s Nature Essays - The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan

Great Gatsby`s Nature The Great Gatsby , written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a portrayal of the withering of the American Dream. The American Dream promises prosperity and self-fulfillment as rewards for hard work and self-reliance. A product of the frontier and the west, the American Dream challenges people to have dreams and strive to make them real. Historically, the Dream represents the image of believing in the goodness of nature. However, the American Dream can be interpreted in different ways. While some may strive for spiritual goodness and excellence, others take the dream to represent purely materialistic values. This is the case of Jay Gatsby, and Fitzgerald shows through conflict and symbolism that such a materialistic interpretation of the American Dream is the very cause of Gatsby's downfall. "Gatsbys personal dream symbolizes the larger American dream where all have the opportunity to get what they want."(Prasad Paragraph 3) This blured version of the American Dream is represented primarily by the conflict between the newly rich and the established rich, the East Eggers and the West Eggers. West Egg is the home of Jay Gatsby and those like him who have made huge fortunes but who lack the traditions that come with inherited wealth. The West Eggers live in a crude world, coming from the adoption of wealth as their only standard in achieving the American Dream. The East Eggers, represented in The Great Gatsby by the Buchanans, have the inherited traditions that come with wealth and lack the crudeness of the West Eggers. They have been corrupted by the purposelessness and ease that their money has provided. Due to their inherited traditions, the East Eggers naturally regard any change in the social hierarchy as a threat to the entire structure of society. An example of this is shown when Tom Buchanan makes a remark about the seperation of the family and eventual intermarriage between black and white. "The idea is if we don't look out the white race will be utterly submerged. It's all scientific stuff; it's been proved. It's up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things."(17) Thus, the wealth of the West Eggers and that of the East Eggers result in similar human differences, though shown differently. That is why West Egg and East Egg, apppear so dissimilar, are identical. They are both withering away from the promise of the American Dream. Another example of the corrupt American Dream is the automobile, a classic symbol of material wealth in America. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is obsessed with a life of materialism. He owns a remarkable automobile whose appearance is envied by many. "It was a rich cream color, bright with nickel, swollen here and there in its monstrous length with triumphant hat-boxes and super-boxes and tool-boxes, and terraced with a labyrinth of wind-shields that mirrored a dozen suns."(68) Gatsby's car is an overblown item created by wealth to fulfill the American Dream of personal material success. It is, however, Gatsby's car that kills Myrtle Wilson when Daisy runs her over. This indirectly leads to Gatsby's own death and portrays Fitzgerald's theme that basing the Dream on materialism alone is ultimately destructive. Along with the automobile, Jay Gatsby himself is a symbol of the corruption of the American Dream. He is a romantic dreamer who seeks to fulfill his life by earning his wealth as a mobster. Gatsby does not change much in the course of the novel because his whole life is devoted to the fulfillment of a romantic dream created that is inconsistent with the realities of society. At a very early age Gatsby vowed to love and to marry Daisy Buchanan. His lack of wealth led Daisy into the arms of another more prosperous man, Tom Buchanan. Gatsby believed that he could win Daisy back with money, and that he could get the life she wanted if he paid for it. He wanted to do away with time in order to obliterate the four years Tom and Daisy had together. Gatsby wanted to repeat the past, "I'm going to fix everything just the way it was before. She'll see . . .".(117) Gatsby's romantic disregard for reality changes the American Dream with his dream that love can be recaptured if one can make enough money. The corruption of Gatsby's dream by adopting materialism as its means and love, beauty and youth as its goal is due to the corruption of the American Dream. Gatsby is not really respected and has

Saturday, November 23, 2019

History of the Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping

History of the Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping On the evening of March 1, 1932, famous aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife put their 20-month-old baby, Charles (â€Å"Charlie†) Augustus Lindbergh Jr., to bed in his upstairs nursery. However, when Charlie’s nurse went to check on him at 10 pm, he was gone; someone had kidnapped him. News of the kidnapping shocked the world. While the Lindberghs were dealing with ransom notes that promised the safe return of their son, a truck driver stumbled upon the decomposing remains of little Charlie on May 12, 1932, in a shallow grave less than five miles from where he had been taken. Now looking for a murderer, the police, FBI, and other government agencies stepped up their manhunt. After two years, they caught Bruno Richard Hauptmann, who was convicted of first-degree murder and executed. Charles Lindbergh, American Hero Young, good looking, and shy, Charles Lindbergh made Americans proud when he was the first to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in May 1927. His accomplishment, as well as his demeanor, endeared him to the public and he soon became one of the most popular people in the world. The dashing and popular young aviator didn’t stay single long. On a tour of Latin America in December 1927, Lindbergh met heiress Anne Morrow in Mexico, where her father was the U.S. ambassador. During their courtship, Lindbergh taught Morrow to fly and she eventually became Lindbergh’s co-pilot, helping him survey transatlantic air routes. The young couple married on May 27, 1929; Morrow was 23 and Lindbergh was 27. Their first child, Charles (â€Å"Charlie†) Augustus Lindbergh Jr., was born on June 22, 1930. His birth was publicized around the globe; the press called him â€Å"the Eaglet,† a nickname stemming from Lindbergh’s own moniker, â€Å"the Lone Eagle.† The Lindbergh’s New House The famous couple, now with a famous son, tried to escape the limelight by building a 20-room house in a secluded spot in the Sourland Mountains of central New Jersey, near the town of Hopewell. While the estate was being built, the Lindberghs stayed with Morrow’s family in Englewood, New Jersey, but when the house was nearing completion, they’d often stay the weekends at their new home.  Thus, it was an anomaly that the Lindberghs were still at their new home on Tuesday, March 1, 1932. Little Charlie had come down with a cold and so the Lindberghs had decided to stay rather than travel back to Englewood. Staying with the Lindberghs that night were a housekeeping couple and the baby’s nurse, Betty Gow. Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr, son of the American aviator, on his first birthday. A few months later he was kidnapped from his home and murdered. (Photo by BIPS/Getty Images) Events of the Kidnapping Little Charlie still had a cold when he went to bed that night on March 1, 1932 in his nursery on the second floor. Around 8 pm, his nurse went to check on him and all seemed well. Then around 10 pm, nurse Gow checked in on him again and he was gone. She rushed to tell the Lindberghs. After making a quick search of the house and not finding little Charlie, Lindbergh called the police. There were muddy footprints on the floor and the window to the nursery was wide open. Fearing the worst, Lindbergh grabbed his rifle and went out into the woods to look for his son. The police arrived and thoroughly searched the grounds. They found a homemade ladder believed to have been used to kidnap Charlie due to scrape marks on the outside of the house near the second-floor window. Also found was a ransom note on the nursery’s windowsill demanding $50,000 in return for the baby. The note warned Lindbergh there would be trouble if he involved the police. The note had misspellings and the dollar sign was placed after the ransom amount. Some of the misspellings, such as â€Å"the child is in gute care,† led the police to suspect a recent immigrant was involved in the kidnapping. A postcard from the kidnapper.The kidnapping of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr, the eldest son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was one of the most highly publicized crimes of the 20th century. Print Collector/Getty Images / Getty Images The Liaison On March 9, 1932, a 72-year-old retired teacher from the Bronx named Dr. John Condon called the Lindberghs and claimed that he had written a letter to the Bronx Home News offering to act as an intermediary between Lindbergh and the kidnapper(s). According to Condon, the day after his letter was published, the kidnapper contacted him. Desperate to get his son back, Lindbergh allowed Condon to be his liaison and kept the police at bay. On April 2, 1932, Dr. Condon delivered the ransom money of gold certificates (serial numbers recorded by the police) to a man at St. Raymonds Cemetery, while Lindbergh waited in a nearby car. The man (known as Cemetery John) did not give the baby to Condon, but instead gave Condon a note revealing the babys location – on a boat called the Nelly, between Horseneck beach and Gay Head near Elizabeth Island. However, after a thorough search of the area, no boat was found, nor the baby. On May 12, 1932, a truck driver found the baby’s decomposed body in the woods a few miles from the Lindbergh estate. It was believed that the child had been dead since the night of the kidnapping; the baby’s skull was fractured. Police speculated that the kidnapper might have dropped the baby when he came down the ladder from the second floor. Kidnapper Captured For two years, the police and the FBI watched for serial numbers from the ransom money, providing the list of numbers to banks and stores. In September 1934, one of the gold certificates showed up at a gas station in New York. The gas attendant became suspicious since gold certificates had gone out of circulation the year before and the man purchasing gas had spent a $10 gold certificate to buy only 98 cents of gas. Worried that the gold certificate might be counterfeit, the gas attendant wrote down the license plate number of the car on the gold certificate and gave it to the police. When the police tracked down the car, they found that it belonged to Bruno Richard Hauptmann, an illegal German immigrant carpenter. Police ran a check on Hauptmann and found that Hauptmann had a criminal record in his hometown of Kamenz, Germany, where he had used a ladder to climb into the second-story window of a home to steal money and watches. Police searched Hauptmann’s home in the Bronx and found $14,000 of the Lindbergh ransom money hidden in his garage. Evidence Hauptmann was arrested on September 19, 1934, and tried for murder beginning on January 2, 1935. Evidence included the homemade ladder, which matched boards missing from Hauptmann’s attic floorboards; a writing sample that reportedly matched the writing on the ransom note; and a witness that claimed to have seen Hauptmann on the Lindbergh estate the day before the crime. Additionally, other witnesses claimed that Hauptmann gave them the ransomed bills at various businesses; Condon claimed to recognize Hauptmann as Cemetery John; and Lindbergh claimed to recognize Hauptmann’s German accent from the graveyard. Hauptmann took the stand, but his denials did not convince the court. On February 13, 1935, the jury convicted Hauptmann of first-degree murder. He was put to death by electric chair on April 3, 1936, for the murder of Charles A. Lindbergh Jr.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Research Methods & Methodologies in Accounting and Management Essay - 2

Research Methods & Methodologies in Accounting and Management - Essay Example The UK has become an attractive destination for higher education for many nations. Nowadays, the highest inflow of foreign students to the UK comes from China. The number of Chinese students taking higher education courses in the UK has shown dramatic increase during past decades. In 1998-1999 the number of Chinese students in UK was 4000 (Ianelli and Huang, 2014). By 2001, the number rose by 71% to nearly 18,000 students and by 2009-2010 to almost 57,000 (Gittings, 2002; Ianelli and Huang, 2014). There are many papers which aimed to explore the determinants of the choice of UK universities by overseas students. Soo & Elliot (2010) have carried out such research, analysing key determinants of popularity of the UK universities among international students. They have found that fee cost, quality of education, as well as the existing popularity of a university among home applicants were some of the most significant factors (Soo & Elliot, 2010). Thus, prestige and quality of higher educa tion are recognized to be the most common reasons. However, the inflow of Chinese students can be hardly explained only with these aspects. With the growth of the middle class and market orientation of China, Chinese families seek value for money (Gittings, 2002). Obviously, that decision of a Chinese student to study in the UK is more likely to be sponsored by their parents, and therefore, parents also are important decision-makers in the process. Ianelli and Huang (2014) have tried to analyze how the patterns of attainment of Chinese graduates have changed during the last decade. The findings have shown that science, engineering, business, and social sciences were the courses in great among the Chinese students in UK (Ianelli and Huang, 2014). Also, the study has shown that Russel Group universities are increasingly popular among Chinese students studying in

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Sports Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Sports - Essay Example This is due to the twin hazard posed by them – that toward pedestrian passersby and that toward themselves. Indeed, statistics of Hotrod accidents during this time bears out the high number of casualties (some of which fatal) that the sport engendered. In my view, the documentary underplays this dark side of drag racing. If the annals of the sport’s history are anything to go by, there is even a degree of glorification of extreme risk-taking and an implied reverence for martyrdom. Indeed, some of the early pioneers of the sport lost their lives during the race. The film illustrates succinctly how drag racing set the foundation for later day car-related sports. Formula 1, which has a world-wide following today, can trace its roots to drag racing. Although Formula 1 is much grander in scale and more technologically advanced, it succeeds for the same reasons of thrill, adrenaline and competition that hotroding represented. But the journey from rudimentary racing experiments in the 1940s to the high-tech spectacle of the Formula 1 is a long and arduous one. It involved plenty of sacrifice from numerous people. The early leaders of AHRF deserve special mention in this regard, for it is their vision and persistence that has developed the sport to what it is today. I look at the phenomena of greater commercialization of drag racing from two angles. In one way, the sponsorship of big corporate names brought respectability and improved safety standards for the sport. On the other side, individual ingenuity, which was the hallmark of early hotroders was compromised. In other words, the systematization and scientific approach to competition took away some of its old charm. While speed, thrill and pretty girls all generate consumer interest in the sport, its dependence on fossil fuel raises some ethical questions. In the documentary, this major issue is totally ignored. This makes the film come across as a promotion

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Dementia in UK Essay Example for Free

Dementia in UK Essay There are currently 800,000 people withdementia in the UK. There are over 17,000 younger people with dementia in the UK. There are over 25,000 people with dementia from black and minority ethnic groupsin the UK. There will be over a million people with dementia by 2021. Two thirds of people with dementia are women. The proportion of people with dementia doubles for every 5 year age group. One third of people over 95 have dementia. 60,000 deaths a year are directly attributable to dementia. Delaying the onset of dementia by 5 years would reduce deaths directly attributable to dementia by 30,000 a year. The financial cost of dementia to the UK will be over ? 23 billion in 2012. There are 670,000 carers of people with dementia in the UK Family carers of people with dementia save the UK over ? 8 billion a year. 80% of people living in care homes have a form of dementia or severe memory problems. Two thirds of people with dementia live in the community while one third live in a care home. Only 44% of people with dementia in England, Wales and Northern Ireland receive a diagnosis UK dementia statistics Affects 820,000 people in the UK Financial cost is over ? 23bn pa, that is twice that of cancer, three times the impact of heart disease and four times that of stroke Two thirds (425,000) of people live in the community, one third (244,000) in a care home Two thirds of people with dementia are women (446k) and one third men (223,000) Affects 1 in 100 people aged 65-69, 1 in 25 aged 70-79 and 1 in 6 people aged over 80 Key risks from assessment are falls and walking about (60% experience walking about) 25 million people, or 42% of the UK population, are affected by dementia through knowing a close friend or family member with the condition. (Source: Alzheimers Research Trust / YouGov poll, 2008) 163,000 new cases of dementia occur in England and Wales each year one every 3. 2 minutes The number of people in UK with dementia is expected to double in the next 40 years to 1. 7million people Statistics courtesy Alzheimers Research Trust and www. alzheimers. org. uk Government Policy The National Dementia Strategy The objectives of the project are to develop a national dementia strategy and implementation plan for publication in October 2008. The strategy will address three key themes raising awareness, early diagnosis and intervention and improving the quality of care. For more information: visit National Dementia Strategy Dementia affects 820,000 people in the UK. 25 million of the UK population have a close friend orfamily member with dementia. As well as the huge personal cost, dementia costs the UK economy ? 23 billion a year, more than cancer and heart disease combined. Despite these figures, dementia researchis desperately underfunded. Impact of dementia in the UK There are over 820,000 people living with dementia in the UK today, a number forecast to rise rapidly as the population ages. Just 2. 5% of the government’s medical research budget is spent on dementia research, while a quarter is spent on cancer research. One in three people aged over 65 will die with a form of dementia. Dementia costs the UK economy ? 23 billion per year. That is twice that of cancer, three times the impact of heart disease and four times that of stroke. Combined government and charitable investment in dementia research is 12 times lower than spending on cancer research. ?590 million is spent on cancer research each year, while just ? 50 million is invested in dementia research. Heart disease receives ? 169 million per year and stroke research ? 23 million. 1. What is dementia? The term ‘dementia’ is used to describe a collection of symptoms, including a decline in memory, reasoning and communication skills, and a gradual loss of skills needed to carry out daily activities. These symptoms are caused by structural and chemical changes in the brain as a result of physical diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Dementia can affect people of any age, but is most common in older people. One in ? ve people over 80 has a form of dementia and one in 20 people over 65 has a form of dementia. Researchers are still working to ? nd out more about the different types of dementia, and whether any have a genetic link. It is thought that many factors, including age, genetic background, medical history and lifestyle, can combine to lead to the onset of dementia. Dementia is a progressive condition. This means that the symptoms become more severe over time. Understanding how this progression happens can be useful in helping someone with dementia anticipate and plan for change. The way each person experiences dementia, and the rate of their decline, will depend on many factors – not just on which type of dementia they have, but also on their physical make-up, their emotional resilience and the support that is available to them. Typically symptoms will include: †¢ Loss of memory – for example, forgetting the way home from the shops, or being unable to remember names and places. †¢ Mood changes – these happen particularly when the parts of the brain which control emotion are affected by disease. People with dementia may feel sad, angry or frightened as a result. †¢ Communication problems – a decline in the ability to talk, read and write. There are different types of dementia caused by different diseases of the brain. Because these diseases affect the brain in different ways, they produce different symptoms. Some of the most common forms of dementia are listed below: 1. 2 Who is affected and how? Dementia can affect anyone regardless of gender, ethnicity, socio-economic situation and residential status. Nearly two-thirds of people with the disorder live in the community, while the other third reside in a residential home. A small number of people with dementia are from black and minority ethnic (BME) groups. This is due to the current younger age profile in London’s BME communities. As this population ages, with a higher prevalence of physical conditions which may contribute to dementia, the rate of dementia is expected to increase. A detailed analysis of the London population segments affected by dementia is available in appendix 1. This highlights that most cases of dementia are late-onset and therefore affect people aged 65 and over. Approximately one in 40 cases is early-onset dementia and occurs before the age of 65. Many factors, including age, genetic background, medical history and lifestyle can combine to lead to the onset of the disorder. Key points to emerge from recent studies and consultations with people with dementia and their carers showed: †¢ Dementia is poorly understood, it remains a stigmatised condition and those affected often experience social exclusion and discrimination. †¢ Seeking help is frustrating; access to services typically includes contact with the NHS, local councils and the third sector; sometimes being referred elsewhere and often duplicating activities. †¢ Current services do not meet the needs of people with dementia. †¢ Services are fragmented and lack robust integration and strong partnership working. †¢ There are gaps in provision and the quality of specialist services remains inconsistent. †¢ Reliability and continuity of services are compromised because many staff lack the requisite knowledge and skills to respond appropriately to those affected. †¢ Most health and social care services are not delivering the outcomes that are important to people with dementia: early diagnosis and treatment, easily accessible services, information and advice and high quality support. 8 Healthcare for London IntroductionDementia services guide 9 3 Source: Based on Dementia UK prevalence rates applied to GLA populations Introduction THE DIFFICULTY OF DIAGNOSING ALZHEIMERS Most diagnoses of Alzheimers are delayed until more than two years after symptoms first appear because patients and families ignore, deny, or dont recognize common signs of early Alzheimers, according to a 2006 Alzheimers Foundation of America survey. Fifty-seven percent of caregivers who answered the poll said they put off seeking diagnosis for symptoms of memory loss, confusion, and language difficulties because they — or the person they cared for — were in denial about having the disease, or because they feared the social stigma associated with AD. Another 40 percent didnt seek a diagnosis because they knew little about Alzheimers or its symptoms, they said. 38 percent of those surveyed said it was the patient who resisted going to see a doctor; 19 percent of caregivers admitted they themselves didnt want to face the possibility that something was wrong. Spouses were three times less likely than children of people with Alzheimers to delay seeking diagnosis, the survey found. What Is Dementia? by Maureen Dezell with Carrie Hill, Ph. D. Dementia itself is not a disease but a term that describes different brain disorders that cause memory loss and other symptoms of cognitive decline. While various kinds of dementia are more common the longer we live, none is a part of normal aging. Dementia specialists recommend you see a doctor to evaluate any of these problems or symptoms, which may point to dementia: Problems retaining recent memories and learning new information, losing and misplacing objects, regularly forgetting appointments or recent conversations, or asking the same question over and over. Problems handling complex tasks; trouble balancing a checkbook, following a recipe, or performing routine tasks that involve a complextrain of thought. Trouble reasoning. Difficulty dealing with everyday problems, such as a flat tire. Uncharacteristic rash behavior, including poor financial or social judgment. Difficulty with spatial ability and orientation. Driving and navigating familiar surroundings becomes difficult; trouble recognizing local landmarks. Difficulty with language. Problems speaking, listening, and following or participating in conversations. Behavioral or personality changes. An active, engaged person seems listless and unresponsive. Trusting people become suspicious. What Is Dementia? by Maureen Dezell with Carrie Hill, Ph. D. . While various kinds of dementia are more common the longer we live, none is a part of normal aging. Dementia specialists recommend you see a doctor to evaluate any of these problems or symptoms, which may point to dementia: Problems retaining recent memories and learning new information, losing and misplacing objects, regularly forgetting appointments or recent conversations, or asking the same question over and over. Problems handling complex tasks; trouble balancing a checkbook, following a recipe, or performing routine tasks that involve a complextrain of thought. Trouble reasoning. Difficulty dealing with everyday problems, such as a flat tire. Uncharacteristic rash behavior, including poor financial or social judgment. Difficulty with spatial ability and orientation. Driving and navigating familiar surroundings becomes difficult; trouble recognizing local landmarks. Difficulty with language. Problems speaking, listening, and following or participating in conversations. Behavioral or personality changes. An active, engaged person seems listless and unresponsive. Trusting people become suspicious. Who gets dementia? . Rarely, dementia affects younger people. Dementia is said to be early-onset (or young-onset) if it comes on before the age of 65. There are some groups of people who are known to have a higher risk of developing dementia. These include people with: Downs syndrome or other learning disabilities. People with Downs syndrome are more likely to develop Alzheimers disease. Parkinsons disease. Risk factors for cardiovascular disease (angina, heart attack, stroke and peripheral vascular disease). The risk factors for cardiovascular disease (high blood pressure, smoking, high cholesterol level, lack of exercise, etc) are risk factors for all types of dementia, not just vascular dementia. Severe psychiatric problems such as schizophrenia or severe depression. It is not clear why this is the case. Lower intelligence. Some studies have shown that people with a lower IQ and also people who do not have very high educational achievement are more likely to develop dementia. A limited social support network. Low physical activity levels. A lack of physical activity can increase your risk of dementia. (See separate leaflet called Physical Activity for Health for more details. ) Dementia also seems to run in some families so there may be some genetic factors that can make someone more likely to develop dementia. We do know that a few of the more rare causes of dementia can be inherited (can be passed on through genes in your family). Can medication help people with dementia? There is no cure for dementia and no medicine that will reverse dementia. However, there are some medicines that may be used to help in some causes of dementia. Medication is generally used for two different reasons. Firstly, as treatment to help with symptoms that affect thinking and memory (cognitive symptoms). Secondly, as treatment to help with symptoms that affect mood and how someone behaves (non-cognitive symptoms). With improved nursing care and more widespread use of antibiotics to treat intercurrent infections, individuals now commonly survive 10 years or longer with dementia. This was not always the case – in the 1950s, the pioneering geriatric psychiatrist Sir Martin Roth and colleagues used distinctions in duration of illness to show that dementia differed from other severe psychiatric syndromes, notably depression, in the elderly. At that time, most elderly people hospitalized with dementia in the UK survived for approximately 2 years; Sex. All prevalence studies show that women are more often affected by dementia than are men. Typically, health services treat twice as many women as men with dementia. This contrast is explained only partly by the longer life expectancy of women because, even when this is taken into account, a slight excess of incidence is still evident in women. 2009 Health Press Ltd. Fast Facts:Dementia Lawrence J Whalley and John CS Breitner SOCIAL MODEL OF DEMENTIA While the clinical model of dementia presented above describes the changes occurring within the brain, the way that dementia affects a person in day-to-day life will vary from one individual to the next. For many years, people with dementia were written off as incapable, regarded as little more than ‘vegetables’ and often hidden from society at large. During the 1980s and 1990s, there was a move away from regarding people with dementia as incapable and excluding them from society, and towards a ‘new culture of dementia care’, which encouraged looking for the person behind the dementia (Gilleard, 1984; Kitwood ; Benson, 1995; Kitwood,1997). People with dementia could now be treated as individuals with a unique identity and biography and cared for with greater understanding. Building on this work, others (notably Marshall, 2004) have advocated that dementia should be regarded as a disability and framed within a social model. The social model, as developed in relation to disability, understands disability not as an intrinsic characteristic of the individual, but as an outcome produced by social processes of exclusion. Thus, disability is not something that exists purely at the level of individual psychology, but is a condition created by a combination of social and material factors including income and financial support, employment, housing, transport and the built environment (Barnes et al. , 1999). From the perspective of the social model, people with dementia may have an impairment (perhaps of cognitive function) but their disability results from the way they are treated by, or excluded from, society. For people with dementia, this model carries important implications, for example: ? the condition is not the ‘fault’ of the individual ? the focus is on the skills and capacities the person retains rather than loses ? the individual can be fully understood (his or her history, likes/dislikes, and so on) ? the influence is recognised of an enabling or supportive environment ? the key value is endorsed of appropriate communication ? opportunities should be taken for rehabilitation or re-enablement ? the responsibility to reach out to people with dementia lies with people who do not (yet) have dementia (Gilliard et al. , 2005). The social model of care seeks to understand the emotions and behaviours of the person with dementia by placing him or her within the context of his or her social circumstances and biography. By learning about each person with dementia as an individual, with his or her own history and background, care and support can be designed to be more appropriate to individual needs. If, for example, it is known that a man with dementia was once a prisoner of war, it can be understood why he becomes very distressed when admitted to a locked ward. If care providers have learned that a person with dementia has a strong dislike for a certain food, it can be understood why the person might spit it out. Without this background knowledge and understanding, the man who rattles the door may be labelled a ‘wanderer’ because he tries to escape and cowers when approached, or the person who spits out food is labelled as ‘antisocial’. Moreover, a variety of aspects of care may affect a person as the dementia progresses. Some extrinsic factors in the care environment can be modified, for instance noise levels can be highly irritating but are controllable. Other intrinsic factors, such as the cultural or ethnic identity of the person with dementia, may also have a bearing on how needs are assessed and care is delivered. Some aspects will be more important or relevant to one person than to another. The social model of care asserts that dementia is more than, but inclusive of, the clinical damage to the brain. ), and while we do not know what precise forms of training are effective, it is reported to lead to better identification of abuse (a random controlled trial by Richardson and colleagues (2002) provides good evidence of this). Agreed multi-agency policy and practice guidance is available at local level and identifies the approaches to be taken when abuse or neglect are suspected. A national recording system for referrals of adult abuse has been piloted (Department of Health, 2005b), which found that older people with mental health problems were among those referred to local authorities’ adult protection systems; a variety of interventions were adopted, although information on the outcomes is not available. Recommendations from a series of high-profile inquiries into care settings in hospitals (for example, Rowan Ward, Department of Health/Care Services Improvement Partnership, 2005) are relevant to commissioners, regulatory bodies and practitioners in seeking to lower the risk of abuse. The law in this area is developing and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 introduces a new criminal offence of ill treatment or neglect of a person who lacks capacity. DISCLOSURE/STIGMA Assessment and reaching a conclusion about the diagnosis leads to a point where this information should be shared with the person with dementia. This is especially challenging in dementia for a number of reasons: ? the difficulty of accurate diagnosis ? the challenge of imparting ‘bad news’ ? uncertainty about whether or not the person will understand what is being said ? uncertainty about whether or not the person will retain what is said ? lack of follow-up support. Studies, in which people with dementia have been invited to tell the story of how they reached a memory assessment service and what the assessment process felt like, indicate that this is not an easy journey for them (Keady ; Gilliard, 2002). Often, they have been aware of their memory difficulties for some time before sharing this information with others (usually, but not always, their close family). This awareness may occur in quite private activities, like doing crossword puzzles. In the meantime, those who are closest to the person may also have been aware of the difficulties but have fought shy of sharing their concerns. Disclosing their concerns to each other is often what triggers a visit to the GP and referral to a memory assessment service (Keady ; Gilliard, 2002). People have reported that their visits to the memory assessment service can also be quite an ordeal (Keady ; Gilliard, 2002). This is often like no other outpatient clinic. The doctor may speak to the carer separately from the person being assessed, leading to suspicion about what is being said. The assessment process itself may prove embarrassing, even humiliating. People report that they are aware that some of the questions are simple and feel foolish that they are unable to answer. They may establish strategies for managing this (Keady ; Gilliard, 2002). Whilst recognising that most people are seeking to make sense of what is happening to them, it is important to acknowledge that some will find it hard to listen to their diagnosis and there will be some who will not want to be told at all. They know they have a problem with their memory and that they are not able to function as they once did or as their peers do. They want to know what is wrong with them, and they need the clinician to be honest with them. Telling someone that he or she has a memory problem is only telling him or her what he or she already knows. People should be told their diagnosis as clearly and honestly as possible. The moment of sharing the diagnosis may not be comfortable for any of those concerned – neither the clinician, nor the person with dementia, nor his or her carer (Friel McGowan, 1993). Without this knowledge, people cannot begin to make sense of what is happening, nor can they plan effectively for their future. They should be given a choice of treatments and need information about practical support and entitlements, like Lasting Powers of Attorney and advance decisions to refuse treatment (more information can be found in Section 4. 9. 4 and in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 [The Stationery Office, 2005]). They will want to make decisions about how they spend their time before life becomes more difficult for them (for example, visiting family abroad). Following the disclosure of the diagnosis, people with dementia and their families may want further support and opportunities for talking. Pre- and post-assessment counselling services should be part of the specialist memory assessment service. Recent work (Cheston et al. , 2003a) has shown the value of psychotherapeutic support groups for people with dementia, allowing them space to share their feelings with others. Joint interventions with the person with dementia and family carers, such as family therapy, recognise the fact that the diagnosis does not impact on just one person but on a whole family system (Gilleard, 1996). Other services have used volunteer ‘befrienders’ to maintain contact with people who are newly diagnosed and who can offer both practical support and information together with a ‘listening ear’. People with early dementia are also taking responsibility for their own support by forming groups, which may meet regularly or may be virtual networks using the internet (see, for example, www. dasninternational. org). Sensitivity is required in ensuring that information about the diagnosis is given in a way that is easily understood by the person concerned and acceptable to the family. Gentle questioning at an early stage will help to ascertain what people can, and want, to be told. There is much we can learn from earlier work on sharing the diagnosis with people with cancer (for example, Buckman, 1996). It is especially important to be aware of different cultural sensitivities and the stigma that dementia holds for many people. This can range from subjective feelings of shame to a real exclusion from community and family life. Age and ethnicity are both factors in the sense of stigma associated with a diagnosis of dementia (Patel et al. , 1998). 4. 9 BASIC LEGAL AND ETHICAL CONCEPTS IN CONNECTION WITH DEMENTIA CARE 4. 9. 1 Introduction The ethical problems that arise in the context of dementia mainly relate to autonomy, which is compromised in dementia to varying degrees. Respect for autonomy is recognised as a key principle in health and social care (Beauchamp ; Childress, 2001). Many of the ethical tensions that arise in looking after people with dementia do so because of, on the one hand, the requirement that autonomy ought to be respected and, on the other, the reality of increasing dependency, where this entails a loss of personal freedom. Person-centred care is a means of respecting personal autonomy wherever it is threatened (Kitwood, 1997). As Agich has stated, ‘Autonomy fundamentally importantly involves the way individuals live their daily lives; it is found in the nooks and crannies of everyday experience’ (Agich, 2003). Hence, respecting the person’s autonomy will involve day-to-day interactions and will be achieved if the person with dementia is not positioned in such a way as to impede his or her remaining abilities. Such ‘malignant positioning’ can be the result of inappropriate psychosocial structures. The fundamental way to combat this tendency, which undermines the person’s selfhood, is to encourage good-quality communication (Kitwood, 1997; Sabat, 2001). Another way in which selfhood might be undermined is through structural or procedural barriers to good-quality care, and service providers should take an active role in promoting the individual’s autonomy and his or her legal and human rights. Furthermore, services may discriminate against people with dementia if eligibility criteria are drawn up in such a way as to exclude them or because of an assumption that people with dementia cannot benefit from a service because staff lack confidence and skills in working with this group. Discrimination may also occur if a service does not offer people with dementia the support they may need in order for them to be able to make use of the service. The Disability Discrimination Acts (1995 and 2005), which include dementia within the definition of disability, aim to end the discrimination that many disabled people face in their everyday lives by making direct or indirect discrimination against disabled people unlawful in a range of areas including access to facilities and services and buying or renting property. The discussion that follows will briefly focus on human rights, consent, capacity and confidentiality. 4. 9. 2 Human rights Human rights are enshrined, as far as the United Kingdom is concerned, in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Council of Europe, 2003). The relevant UK legislation is the Human Rights Act 1998, which came into force in 2000. The principle of respect for autonomy is implicit throughout the Convention. A number of the articles of the Convention are potentially relevant to people with dementia. For example, Article 2 asserts that everyone has a right to life, Article 3 prohibits torture, but also â€Å"inhuman or degrading treatment†, and Article 8 concerns the right to respect for the person’s private and family life. Article 5 asserts the right of people to liberty and security. It states that â€Å"No one should be deprived of his liberty†, except in very specific circumstances. It also asserts that if someone is deprived of his or her liberty, there should be recourse to a court. Article 5 was central to the ‘Bournewood’ case. The European Court declared, amongst other things, that the man concerned (who had a learning disability) had been deprived of his liberty, in contravention of Article 5 (see Department of Health, 2004, for further information). The crucial distinction to emerge from the case was that between deprivation of liberty and restriction of liberty. Whilst the former is illegal, except insofar as there are legal safeguards of the sort provided by the Mental Health Act 1983 (HMSO, 1983), the latter may be permissible under the sort of circumstances envisaged by Section 6 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (TSO, 2005). This discusses using restraint as a proportionate response to the possibility of the person suffering harm. Guidance on the distinction between ‘restriction’ and ‘deprivation’ of liberty has been provided by the Department of Health and the National Assembly for Wales (Department of Health, 2004). 4. 9. 3 Consent In brief, for consent to be valid it must be: ? informed ? competent ? uncoerced ? continuing. Each of these concepts requires interpretation and judgement, as none of them is entirely unproblematic (Department of Health, 2001a). For instance, people can be more or less informed. The ‘Sidaway’ case (1984) established that the legal standard as regards informing a patient was the same as for negligence (see the ‘Bolam case’, 1957). In other words, the person should be given as much information as a ‘responsible body’ of medical opinion would deem appropriate. However, since then, there has been a shift away from a professional-centred standard towards a patient-centred standard. In the ‘Pearce’ case (1998), one of the Law Lords declared that information should be given where there exists ‘a significant risk which would affect the judgement of a reasonable patient’. Department of Health guidelines (Department of Health, 2001c) have pointed out that, although informing patients about the nature and purpose of procedures may be enough to avoid a claim of battery, it may not be sufficient to fulfill the legal duty of care. There may be other pieces of information relevant to the individual patient that it would be negligent not to mention. Hence the General Medical Council (GMC)’s insistence that doctors should do their best ‘to find out about patients’ individual needs and priorities’ (GMC, 1998). The GMC guidance goes on to say: ‘You should not make assumptions about patients’ views’. These points are very relevant when it comes to consent in the context of dementia. It should be kept in mind that consent is not solely an issue as regards medical procedures. The ‘nooks and crannies of everyday experience’ (Agich, 2003) – what to wear or to eat, whether to go out or participate in an activity and whether to accept extra home or respite care – are all aspects of life to which the person with dementia may or may not wish to consent. If the person has capacity with respect to the particular decision, but does not wish to consent, he or she should be supported in making an autonomous decision. 4. 9. 4 Decision-making capacity In England and Wales, a lack of capacity has been defined thus: ‘. . . a person lacks capacity in relation to a matter if at the material time he is unable to make a decision for himself in relation to the matter because of an impairment of, or a disturbance in the functioning of, the mind or brain’ (Mental Capacity Act 2005 [TSO, 2005, Section 2]). A person is further defined as unable to make a decision if he or she is unable: ‘(a) to understand the information relevant to the decision, (b) to retain this information, (c) to use or weigh that information as part of the process of making the decision, or (d) to communicate his decision (whether by talking, using sign language or any other means)’ (Mental Capacity Act 2005 [TSO, 2005, Section 3(1)]). The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (TSO, 2005), which will apply in England and Wales31, sets out a framework for making decisions for people who are unable to make decisions for themselves. Its detailed provisions, along with its Code of Practice (currently in draft form [DCA, 2005]), should be referred to by all those involved in such decision making. In outline, the main provisions of the Act: ? offer a definition of lack of capacity (Sections 2–3) ? outline a process for the determination of a person’s best interests (Section 4) ? create Lasting Powers of Attorney, which allow a person to appoint a donee to make decisions about his or her health and welfare (Sections 9–14) ? establish the Court of Protection in a new form, with powers to make declarations and appoint deputies in difficult cases or where there are disputes concerning decisions about a person’s health and welfare (Sections 15–23) ? bring under statute and clarify the law regarding advance decisions to refuse treatment (Sections 24–26) ? set out safeguards co

Friday, November 15, 2019

Women In Reality Television Dating Shows Film Studies Essay

Women In Reality Television Dating Shows Film Studies Essay Reality television is viewed as a form of factual programming. It is easily identified by its apparently unscripted discourse, untrained actors, and the ability to voyeuristically watch events develop. Reality television deals with a variety of subject matters and issues but dating shows in reality television are presumably seen as a way of sexing it up. Nevertheless, the dating shows turned reality television into another media outlet which intuitively suppresses women for the sake of entertainment. Seemingly, the clichà ©, sex sells, is proven to be true in reality dating shows because the media profits from womens degradation as well as promotes casual sex. Reality television dating shows typically portray women as desperate, promiscuous, gold-digging, and dim-witted individuals on a quest for love. In America, televised dating has been around for approximately 30 years. With shows such as the Dating Game and Love Connection playing matchmaker, viewers considered the most entertaining part of the shows to be the follow-up stories that were told by the previous contestants. It gave the audience an inside-view of what actually went on during the dates and how the contestants actually felt. Meanwhile, these shows also gave the television industry an early look into audiences capacity to root for an unhappy ending. The best laughs and fun in dating games often arise from painfully uncomfortable matches and from the ensuing tales of dating disaster, or even simply from the anticipation of such disaster. Overtime, shows continued to follow the prototype and the genre of reality television dating shows began to emerge. As the show type grew more popular, by the year 2000 shows such as, Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire and Temptation Island made their way to primetime television. Temptation Island had fairly poor ratings; however, over the next few years it proved itself as a model for shows such as Cupid (2003) ,NBCs Average Joe (2003-5) and For the Love or Money (2003-4), FOXs Joe Millionaire(2003), and ABCs The Bachelor. This type of dating show, still popular today, takes a single male or female and houses them with numerous admirers of the opposite gender that are all on a quest to win the aforementioned single male or females love. More often than not, all contestants are housed together for a period of weeks or months in a luxurious mansion in which they compete to stay in throughout a process of elimination. These arrangements of the shows seem to glorify infidelity as we ll as promote casual sex. Unconsciously, viewers are tuning into a fairy tale parallel. A casual look at reality dating shows might suggest an appalling gallery of female stereotypes and a patriarchal fairy-tale ethos. According to this ethos, Girl (not Woman) meets Man in a magical setting, and Man eventually chooses her above all other suitors, thereby validating her as a person, completing her, rescuing her from a humdrum life, and giving her a chance to become princess of Reality TV-Land. The Bachelor is probably the prime example of this fairy-tale ethos in its incorporation of ball gowns and glorifying this luxurious and idealistic standard of living. The relationship between ethics and reality television is problematic. One writer claims the reason viewers continue to watch these shows is because these shows frame their narratives in ways that both reflect and reinforce deeply ingrained societal biases about women, men, love, beauty, class and race. The genre teaches us that women categorically are certain things for example, no matter their age, theyre hot girls, not self- aware or intelligent adults. By portraying the woman as ill-witted, it simultaneously makes them appear inferior to the man. Even if a contestant on the show is intelligent, after editing, the shows producers will make sure that the intelligence not be conveyed on television. For the sake of ratings, characters that are pathetically unintelligent remain on the show for longer periods of time due to their likeability. Their unintelligence gives them a distinct personality on the show which makes the shows seem more like serve for entertainment purposes or a co mpetition for character likeability rather than the proposed purpose. This is probably why producers cast for type, choosing contestants they can mold into a predetermined slate of characters. Dating shows all too often render the date, and more specifically the woman as spectacle. Overall, the women are treated unfairly. Women are presumably promiscuous when sign the consent form to come on the show. Being that it is a competition, the women are expected to be consensual to the bachelors requests in order to remain on the show. Those who do not comply definitely stand out. For example, in the reality show The Bachelor, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ in the finale of the series, it became apparent that become sexually intimate with these womenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. One woman in particular had found his advances unwelcome à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦She explained, He was trying to get me into his room and I said no. And then at four in the morning drunk, in his pants, with a hard on, he tried to help himself to me.These actions took place off camera so there was no evidence to support the accusations. When it comes to reality shows such as The Bachelor, [women] deserve to be treated in an ethically informed manner. The finale is an example of how women can be unfairly treated in reality television. The practice of informed consent needs to be discussed by programme makers and programme regulators in order to ensure the participants are treated with the respect they deserve. If reality TV portrays women as whores, then the networks are their pimps, providing men with sexy singles in hopes theyll get frisky on cue. Depending on the subgenre, the women casted in the shows are oversexed according to what type of woman is portrayed as the most seductive and flirtatious female of that class. VH1 seems to special in [dating shows with] wild premises and a carnivalesque atmosphere. In VH1s Flavor of Love, the women were extremely oversexed and promiscuous. Dating shows have made gratuitous displays of women cavorting for the camera, a regular occurrence. Overtime, what is considered sex on television has changed drastically and definitely become more risquà ©. FOXs Joe Millionaire aired an episode which involved a man and woman going into the bushes and dialogue being flashed across they screen stating what they were saying as well as describing what they were doing. Including slurp and gulp in the text suggested that the female was indeed performing oral sex. With that night being the final episode, FOX attracted forty million viewers which was the largest in the networks history. Coincidentally, this was the same night viewers believed they had probably witnessed the first time oral sex had been performed on network television. The female repudiated the scene saying is misled viewers claiming theyd added the sexual text to make it seem as if they were doing something more than they actually were. Some people think Reality Television walks a tight rope with being pornography. Episodes of the Reality show Blind Date qualify as pornography pointblank. The episodes could be sold at video stores in that section. Blind Date also features text bubbles appearing throughout the couples date as a constant element of their show. This is believed to help the female member become viewed a sex object. For example : In a typical episode, a young woman named Leila, who had participated in a previous segment of the show, returns for a second date, this time with a guy named Anthony. As soon as Leila appears, a large red arrow pops up on the screen and points at her breasts alongside the statement, Breasts 14% larger than last time, followed a minute later by the comment, Get a load of them melons. Later in the episode, the porgrams producers further objectify the woman by letting an article of her clothing have its say; a drawing of Leilas blouse pops up on the screen and tells Anthony, Youre two buttons away from heaven. Blind Date is ultimately accused of placing too much importance on the physical aspects of relationships just as many of the other dating shows do. Womens bodies are portrayed mainly as sex objects. Men are given a sexual power when it comes to reality dating shows as well. Physical attraction is highlighted in the shows, giving off the image that beauty is on the outside or that a man looks at the exterior first. The women come dressed scantly during the eliminations or around the house, doing what they see as being attractive to the male. This survival of the fittest way of thinking highlights casual sex in its creating an environment where the male can virtually choose whoever who wants to sleep with. In all shows, the woman who denies his requests is almost always the one to be eliminated in the near future. Highlighting casual sex also perceives reality dating show as doing nothing to educate individuals on sex, it only adding to societal problems associated with sex even more. Creating awareness of condoms, HIV tests, or STDs in general would definitely help the way sex in conveyed in these reality television dating shows. None of the shows cannot change their messages theyve been conveying because the race to be more outrageous, more salacious, and more sensational will continue. In short , sex sells. Low self-esteem definitely plays a major role in reality television dating shows. All of the women are usually of a proportionate height and weight and are frequently considered to some extent attractive. Women at home would probably look at their size and extent of attractiveness before trying out for the show which forces some women to judge and compare themselves to the women on the dating shows. With the bachelors being who they are, it may also force these women to think they are not worthy or eligible of acquiring a bachelor of such stature. The cast of the show are forced to deal with self-esteem issues as well. They women are forced to relieve themselves of all communication from the outside world in the place of alcohol and constantly being around attractive women with the same goal. The specific character types are clearly expressed by Jennifer Pozner: Theres the Antagonizer, who declares shes not here to make friends; the naive Waif, whos searching for my Prince Charming; the Slut who plots to take our connection to the next level in the fantasy suite; and the wretched Weeper who wonders, when shes dumped, Whats so wrong with me that someone cannot love me? Although these types exist in the real world, for the sake of television, the characters are somewhat formed by the producers and each character type definitely suggests low-self esteem. The anatagonizer is almost always oversexed and comes from a hard background. Always reluctant to make friends their trust issues are always effortlessly conveyed in the show which eventually forces their sketchy past be revealed. The naÃÆ' ¯ve waif is always the desperate character who uses the reality show as a last resort. Unable to find men in the real world, they turn to the reality show and truly accept it as their own personal fairy tale. This character type is often always intimidated by the other characters as they are more competitive because the other women seemingly throw a wrench in their plans for a fairy tale. The slut is always easily recognized on the show and extremely comparable to the anatagonizer in their being oversexed and a possibly a background worthy of note. The slut see ms not to care that they are on television and most of the time they are conveyed as being a gold-digger so they use their sex in exchange for money they hope to get from the eligible bachelor. The slut is also always constantly bashing the other woman which is mostly conveyed as jealousy they attempt to hide through a tough faà §ade. They use their sexual appeal they have to their advantage by making the other women believe the bachelor likes them more. The character with the most clearly stated low-self esteem seems to be that of the wretched weeper. In many cases, the wretched weeper could be any of the aforementioned character types. The weeping comes from their self-assurance and confidence they built up throughout the show after making it past many eliminations or what they believed to be a good date or intimate conversation with the bachelor , which in their mind creates a sense of security. After they are eliminated their entire persona changes and more often than not, the real person comes out. The wretched weeper is also seen in the reunion shows which are aired after the final episode. It shows each womans course on the show as well as the elimination. The Bachelor s cheerfully cruel teaser, Who will get sent home brokenhearted? Find out! is repeated ad nauseum, and in reunion specials, alumnae rejectees are forced to watch mortifying montages of their most pitiful moments (Im a loser!), while the host says in mock concern: Wow, that must be uncomfortable for you. Also, in most cases, during this point the producers make this portion of the show as comedic or humdrum as they can depending on the situation or character at hand. The slut however, is not the only one who is conveyed as a gold-digger, it seems to be a large percentage of the cast. Most of the women sign-up according to who the bachelor is and the other percentage signs-up for a chance to be on television in hopes that the reality television show will be their big break. A classic example of that would be Tiffany New York Pollard from VH1s Flavor of Love with rapper and personality Flavor Flav. Taking an obviously physically unattractive man who the women would not have been attracted to and surrounding him with beautiful women who repugnantly compete over him was pure pleasantry in terms of entertainment. New York was portrayed as both the antagonist and the slut which made her character even more interesting. In the end, she was also conveyed as the wretched weeper when she made it all the way to the final two contestants as well as sleeping with Flavor Flav the night before as a way to secure her position. After his relationship did not work out with the woman he chose, he received another show in which New York appeared in the middle of the season. She entered the house with the same character types, made it to the bottom two contestants and was not picked. Ultimately, she received a spin-off show of her own, VH1s I Love New York in which she played the single bachelorette in a hunt for love. After two seasons of her show, she received another show, New York Goes to Work which shows her performing different task and being paid for them in order to fund her acting career. The entire time, New York was an aspiring actress on the hunt for her big break, which she received in due course. And so it can be seen, women are forced to face the reality of yet another media outlet providing a dismal and unpleasant image of them in what is supposed to be reality television. Reality television dating shows typically portray women as desperate, promiscuous, gold-digging, and dim-witted individuals on a quest for love. By promoting casual sex, choosing a well-off bachelor, and highlighting their more unintelligent moments, reality dating shows are in essence a poor representation of women.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Positivism Vs. Classicism

In this essay, Classical and Positivist theories of criminology will be explored and critically discussed to explore the impacts that they have had on modern day policing, introduction of laws, and police practice. The essay will first look at the history of the Classical Theory looking at Beccaria and Benthams classical school of criminology and its effects in a brief section. Positivist theorists will then be identified and the theory will be discussed, outlining the main thesis and beliefs of both of the theories.How each theory defines a criminal will then be taken into consideration and the relations of theories like the broken windows theory (Wilson and Kelling 82), labelling theory (Becker 1982), strain theory (Merton 1957) and rational choice theory (Homos 1961) will be used throughout the essay to explore the effects that the classical and positivist theories have had on police concepts like public order policing and community policing, touching on criminal justice systems a nd modern day police practice.Classical Criminological though can be traced to the criminal justice system and the penal system. Beccarias 1764 Publication on crime and punishments introduced a serious consideration into the harm caused to society by crime, and ideological outline of the basis for punishments and the relationship between the state and the offender (Beccaria 2003). Beccaria Stated in his approach to the prevention of crime that it is often distilled down to three ideas, and that it is fundamentally a product of Certainty; how likely punishment is to occur.Celerity; How quickly punishment is inflicted. and Severity; how much pain is inflicted (Newburn 2007). Another later criminologist; Jeremy Bentham, then published writings on the penology and notions of â€Å"rational free-willed character of offenders† (Maguire et al 2002) and forwarded the study of crime in that the central concerns of free will and rational choice came together to attempt a more logical a nalysis of crime and suitable punishment.In the twilight years of the 19th century the emergence of the Italian school of criminology sparked a departure in thinking on the study of crime the schools founding member Cesare Lombroso introduced a holy bible of sorts into the criminological world in that he contributed to the introduction of scientific methodology in regard to the study of crime. Lombroso most notably introduced a biological positivism into the study of crime.An â€Å"Atavistic Heredity† (Lombroso 1911) in relation to the cause of offending where physical features were viewed as evidence of an innately criminal nature in a kind of criminal anthropology. His work was then continued and elaborated by two other Italian scholars Ferri (1856-1929) and Garofalo (1852-1934) (Newburn 2007). Ferri and Garofalo elaborated on the environmental factors that can also effect criminal behaviour in relation to positivist criminology. Positivism carries the main assumptions that the methods of the natural sciences should and could be applied to the social world.Suggesting natural sciences should be used as the method base to analyse and conduct research in relation to policing and policing concepts. Positivists believe that research should consist of social knowledge and scientific knowledge through observation and scientific data. Facts must be separated from values and usually, there is a preference for a use of quantitative data over qualitative (adapted from Bottoms 2000, cited in Newburn 2007). in 1913 Positivist theorist Charles Goring published a book called The English Convict.This book logged the study he undertook which took place over 13 years, the study involved examining 3,000 British convicts against a controlled group of non-convict males to try and find out if the criminal could be categorised to a certain type of person, no significant physical differences were found between the two groups. (Goring 1913) Critical of this study and convince d that the criminal is organically inferior (Quoted in Brown et al 2004) Earnest Hooton conducted his own research into the criminal as a certain type of person and introduced Somatyping into positivist criminology.Somatyping involves the belief that evolution was dominated by superior types, arguing that a criminal had a certain type and evolution could eventually eradicate the criminal. Hooton was criticised for having poor data and an unrepresentative control group. However Hooton's work then sparked this idea in the Positivist Criminology theorists as William Sheldon then looked into Somatypes further in 1949 (Newburn 2007) and concluded that there were three types of body a person has; Endomorph, Mesomorph and Ectomorph.These body types were basically short and fat, Large and muscular and Lean and fragile. Sheldon argued that each of these body types was related to particular personality traits and that all individuals possessed varied traits however certain traits were more pr edominant than others. In modern day policing and criminology we use a theory called the labelling theory. This theory was first put forward by Howard Becker in 1963, Becker claimed that criminal elements are associated with physical appearance and the criminal becomes a label attached to a certain type of person.In 2011 it was common belief that a criminal wore a certain type of clothing which was a hooded jacket or ‘Hoodie'. Articles were even published in the newspapers like the Guardian (Guardian 2011) under title â€Å"The power of the Hoodie†. Amplified by the media this piece of clothing became an instant link to criminal behaviour and deviance. Positivist theory can be linked in here with the labelling theory to show the development in the idea of a ‘Criminal type' and show how in modern day policing we are using these theories to determine and define the word criminal.Following the work of Emile Durkheim, Robert K Merton's Strain theory (1957) can also be linked into this concept as the positivist belief is that criminal behaviour can be encouraged by social physical and biological elements, the strain theory thesis is that pressure from social surroundings can encourage an individual to commit crime. If an individual is singled out by Somatype or through labelling theory, they may feel social strain or believe that they should become deviant which could actually pressure said individual into committing criminal acts.An example of where this kind of concept was familiar was when the London riots happened in 2011. Classical criminology however argues against the concept of a criminal being defined by a certain type. Bentham stated that every person has free will and is able to make a rational choice based on the situation they are in at the time and what they feel would be the appropriate action to take. Classicism disagrees with the positivist view of a criminal only being a certain type of person and believes that the criminal deri ves from within any person.Everybody has free will, and the ability to make an informed decision on their actions in any situation they may be in, therefore believing that the criminal is an element every person has the possibility to exploit instead of positivist theory of the criminal element being biologically woven into a persons DNA. Classicism had a major effect on the criminal justice system and penology, punishments were believed to be best given on account of the appropriateness of the crime in question. This idea became the basis for our criminal justice systems today.With the introduction of the classical school of criminology the use of capital punishment and torture was on the decline and in their place the introduction of prison systems as core elements of the justice systems and punishment systems we have today. The abolishment of capital punishment has had an indescribably huge effect on our modern penal systems, the effects are vast however include the introduction of fundamental law like the Human Rights Act (HRA 1998). Acts like this are incredibly important in criminal trials and allow every person to have rights to things like the right to a fair trial and the right to prohibition of torture.Classical criminology influenced these modern day laws as its theorists believed in the concept that the punishment for crime should be based on the scale of what has been done and should be appropriate to the crime itself. Classical Criminology has influenced the constructions of our prison systems as becoming the core element of the way we punish criminals instead of using inhumane methods through capital punishment by considering the scale of the crime and deciding on an appropriate sentence for the criminal.Here another theory can be looked at which has been shaped by the classicism theories and beliefs. This theory is the Rational Choice theory (Homas 1961). the theory is based around the assumptions that criminal activity is committed by an indiv idual after weighed up the risk and reward of an action, if the person believes that the reward is greater than the risk they may be more likely to commit a crime than if the risk was greater than the reward. This theory is supportive of Benthams notes of free will and rational choice.Free will and rational choice can be used to help explain the way we police through public order. In a public order policing situation, like a protest or a riot every person who attends and participates does so out of their own free will, a protester may not riot because they may believe that the risk of being arrested is greater than the reward of violently voicing their opinions. However positivism argues that a criminal is a definitive type of person and can be influenced by social physical or biological surroundings. These assumptions can be seen in the cases of rioting and community crime.The London riots happened in 2011 and they escalated throughout the country with riots happening in places lik e Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester as well as other locations. The reasons that these sparked off is because of the social influence that was pressuring younger people to join in, here the broken windows theory (Wilson and Kelling 82), labelling theory (Becker 1982), strain theory (Merton 1957) and rational choice theory (Homos 1961) can all be related through classicism and positivist views to our modern day policing methods.Broken windows theory states that a run down or derelict area can encourage crime, this relates to the positivist assumption of criminal behaviour being encouraged by the physical surroundings and the evidence of this happening in the London Riots is when all the shops had been broken into and fires had been started. The streets were wrecked and this would have encouraged acts of violence.Merton's strain theory and Beckers labelling theory are also applicable here as the social strain of most young youths committing the crime would encourage more young peop le to commit crime, because the individuals could see crimes being committed around them without any action being taken, this would have further encouraged deviance as rational choice theory says the risk is lower than reward. These positivist based theories meant police in the London riots and most public order situations would target younger individuals to try and find criminal activity and arrests.The Classicism side of influence on Public Order would then come after the arrest in trial where they would be questioned why they had committed these crimes out of their own free will and then put through the justice system, being sentenced on the classical assumption that the punishment should be appropriate to the crime committed. Positivist assumptions can also be linked into the concept of community policing. Positivists believe that crime and criminal behaviour can be influenced through social and physical surroundings.Wilson and Kelling (1982) also believe this is the case as the ir broken windows theory looks at how the area a person lives in can affect their attitude towards crime and committing crime. Through the Classicism belief of community deterrence police practices have been introduced to arm the police with powers that they can use to their advantage against the war on crime. The Police and Criminal Evidence act (1984) and The Police Reform Act (2002) has seen the introduction of new police powers and a new national policing plan.These police practices include powers like stop and search. Stop and search gives the ability for any police constable to stop any citizen and search them if they believe they have reasonable grounds to do so. Classicism and Positivist theories have also had an effect on the way that we police our communities. PCSOs (police community support officers) were introduced in 2002 under the police reform act (2002) and help to improve community relations with the police.This police practice supports the positivist beliefs that c riminals can be influenced through social and physical surroundings as better relationships are built with the community and things like team projects are created to improve derelict areas and social situations people may find themselves in by offering things like youth clubs and activities. This deters crime by drawing people away from delinquency and encouraging them to take part in constructive, positive activity.Theorist David Matza outlined that the positivist theory drew on three sets of problematic assumptions; the first being Differentiation; the assumption that offenders can be separated from non-offenders by definitive characteristics, the second being Determinism; the assumption that biological, physiological or social factors affect the criminal and criminal behaviour and the third being Pathology; the assumption that an offender is an offender due to something going wrong in their lifetime (Tierney 1996).The problems of these views are that the fail to take into account the aspect of rationality, choice and human decision making. They define a criminal as a certain person, and if a person falls into the category of what has been defined by the positivist theory as a criminal it means that they must carry the traits of a criminal which is simply not true as proven by Charles Gorings work (1913). Classicism theory argues rational choice and free will, however what if a person has the impaired ability to make decisions and acts without being rational.Power and wealth is also a problem with the theory, if the classicism theory applied to all in the same sense then why is it that people who have less power and wealth tend to be the more predominant resident of the criminal justice system and not the wealthy. there are other factors that both these theories have not taken into consideration throughout their thesis, they are also very much at opposite ends of the scale.The positivist theory says that criminals are a type of person and the classicism theo ry says that a criminal offence can be committed by anybody as well all have free will and rational choice. Without the Classical school of Criminology and The positivist theorists vital procedure and acts would not have been put into place that are fundamental today for the way our society and criminal justice system operates. Classicism changed the way we sentence criminals and the construct of our prison systems which are of prestigious importance to the modern justice system.Positivist theory has influenced the way we police in terms of public order and community policing through the introduction of the Human Rights Act (1998), the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (1984) and the Police Reform Act (2002). These acts have allowed the modern day police to be able to take the best assumptions from the classicism theorists and the best assumptions from the positivists and use them to create a criminal justice system that incorporates the best of each theory into the police practices and concepts that are used from day to day in modern day policing.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

A Little Bit of Stress Is Useful

â€Å"A little bit of stress is useful – it keeps people in their toes. † Discuss. In order to answer this question one must first define the various elements in the question. Stress can be defined as ‘The harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources or needs of the worker’ . One can define useful, as stress making a person happy, productive and efficient. Also in terms of an organisation making it successful, efficient and effective. You should use more industrial words here eg producing more units Millions of people suffer from stress on a daily basis. Stress can affect a person’s physical health such as increased heart rate and rise in blood pressure, and can affect a person mentally such as depression. This in turn for organisations can be devastating and potentially detrimental, as this can lead to poor industrial relations and high absenteeism, ‘IHC estimates that 13. 4 million working days a year are lost to stress’. On the face of it this would suggest that stress is indeed a bad thing. Indeed a study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that those participants who experienced chronic high stress on the job had a considerably greater chance of suffering another heart attack than did those in less stressful jobs. Furthermore there were many cases in world war one of sudden deaths to soldiers who had not endured any wounds, these men probably died of shock when responding to stress. In 1967 Holmes and Rahe carried out a study now called the stress scale where they looked at 5,000 medical patients’ medical records as a way to determine specifically which stressful events caused illnesses, in hierarchical order from the most stressful events to the least. Death of a spouse topped the list followed by, divorce, martial separation and a jail sentence. All these events are intrinsically negative and as such it would be easy to conclude that stress is bad for anyone as it is caused by bad events. However Hooshmand conversely states that ‘stress is just another misunderstood term in the medical practice’ he goes on to say that ‘the phrase any stress is bad (is) nothing further from the truth’. Indeed Lazarus mentions how ‘Hans Selyve suggested two types (of stress) distress and eustress. Distress is the destructive stress illustrated by anger and aggression and it is said to damage health. Eustress is the constructive type, illustrated by emotions associated with emphatic concerns for others†¦ ompatible with or protective of good health’ This is significant, according to Selyve and Lazarus there is, as mentioned above, a ‘distress’ type of stress which is bad- this is where there is too much stress. For example if a manager were to give a deadline which was impossible this may over stimulate and de motivate an employee causing them to do no work. But also mentioned is a ‘eustress’ type of stress which can be seen as ‘useful’ and healthy ‘keeping people on their toes’. This would be where there are small amounts of stress for example if a manager was to set a strict but reasonable deadline it may push the employee on to work harder, stimulating an increasing the employees energy levels to meet the challenge . This shall be mentioned in more detail later on in the essay. Although Lazarus goes on to mention that this hypothesis ‘has not been adequately supported†¦. by empirical research’ there is other evidence to support this claim of eustress. In 1908 Robert M. Yerkes and J. D. Dodson created an experiential relationship between performance and pressure, now known as ‘Yerkes-Dodson Law ’. The law shows that performance actually increases with pressure i. e. stress: the eustress that Selyve went on about, but only up to a point. When levels of pressure become too high, performance decreases, this is known as distress. The process is illustrated graphically as a rounded, inverted U-shaped curve which increases and then decreases with higher levels of pressure. Clearly according to this law one wants to reach the optimum stress levels which is small amounts of stress to keep one on its toes but not too much as this could lead to depression and potentially heart problems. It is now important to look at specifically how eustress can help and be healthy for you. From ‘Yerkes-Dodson Law’ it would not be unreasonable to suggest that eustress is basically stress in small, not large amounts. Leitnerpg states that ‘according to Allen 1983 eustress represents challenge and stimulation for healthy growth and development’ this would suggest that eustress stress gives you the competitive edge roviding you with focus and determination. There are many examples above of stressors likely to produce distress such as divorce but Leitner mentions stressors which produce eustress such as ‘roller coasters and skiing’ It is important to note that people are actually paying for these stressors, thus they can be considered us eful stresses. Some people even thrive on the excitement of stresses this can be best shown in adrenaline junkies, as they seek activities that increase their hormone adrenaline production. Examples of these stress seekers include racing car drivers, politicians and bungee jumpers. It is well known that many employees will leave there work to the last minute they need the stress and adrenaline to get their work done, if there is no stress it is probable this work would never be done. Indeed it is possible to have stressors which can cause both eustress and distress such as exercise, which can be considered a eustress, but when overdone can lead to injuries and illness. Selye points out that ‘whether an activity produces eustress or distress depends on the participant’s perception of the activity’ this can be supported by a quote from Shakespeare ‘things are neither good nor bad, but thinking makes them so’ . Indeed everyone is different when dealing with stress whether stress is good or bad for someone depends on that person. This can be supported by Type A and B personality theory created in the 1950’s . This puts people into two groups . Type A people are according to Friedman, M. & Rosenman ‘impatient, excessively time-conscious, insecure about their status, highly competitive, hostile aggressive, and incapable of relaxation’ . They established a link between type A people and coronary heart disease after analysing data from thousands of people who had beforehand been placed into either type A or Type B group. Whilst type B people are almost the opposite of type A people, relaxed in nature with no sense of time urgency and less easily stressed. Quote The above evidence would suggest that the amount of stress does not matter to a great extent but what does is the type of person as, according to this theory there are two types of people, type A personalities will deal worse with stress than type B personalities. It would not be unreasonable to suggest that a small amount of stress for type B personalities maybe good for that person ensuring they are focused and have more of a sense of time urgency, however the same amount of stress mposed on a type A personality could caused aggravation, anxiety and maybe even heart problems. Indeed some employers will look for employees who not only can naturally deal with stress but actually thrive on it. An example of this can be given of Alan Sugar who makes it clear in the program the apprentice that he is looking for people who can deal with stressful situations by testing them as part of the recruitment process . An essential part of the recruitment procedure is to be able to keep your nerve and defend yourself in the public forum of the board room, an artificially created stressful environment. In this day and age there is bound to be stress due to the nature of work and the fast moving environment around us, it is how we deal with this stress which can determine whether this stress is useful or not. ‘Yerkes-Dodson Law’ dictates that if there is too much stress this can reduce the performance of the individual, thus it is sometimes important for the individual to be able to reduce this stress in order to produce optimal performance. Indeed Ward states that ‘in learning to manage stress effectively you may come to believe that the experiences of stressful periods may become beneficial to you. There are many different ways of dealing with stress and how well you deal with stress will determine how it affects you. A person can exercise to help reduce stress, ‘exercise creates a sense of confidence and control, which reduces stress’ this does not mean just occasional exercise but exercise on a daily basis if possible. Exercise also directly leads to relaxation of the body which can help reduce stress. Having the required sleeping hours is also vital, this will refresh yourself making you feel better the next morning and ready for work. If one does not have the required sleeping hours necessary it can lead to tiredness which can lead directly to stress. So far mainly people and employees have been looked upon, it is important to look at how organisations as a whole deal with stress and if they find it useful or not. Organisations are becoming more and more aware of the importance of stress and its impact on employees. Ward mentions some ways in which companies are taking action to combat stress ‘more are referring employees for health and fitness tests. Others are running stress management courses and providing stress counselling for employees’ . In view of this one can clearly see how important stress is in organisations. Some company’s thrive on stress these mainly seem to be financial orientated organisations. Who are and need to be extremely competitive with other similar organisations, this stress pushes the organisation on to its limits increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the company. It is not uncommon nowadays for organisations to deliberately impose stress on employees; this can be done by paying employees with high commissions, meaning they are not guaranteed money at all. Some employees actually enjoy this stress, they enjoy the challenge and the buzz. Indeed this can be directly linked to job satisfaction. Other organisations in the health field such as hospitals try to reduce stress, as they feel any stress imposed on patients could be dangerous, one of the things they do to reduce stress is painting the hospital walls green as it is proven that green is a low stress colour can decrease stress. Clearly in the health field stress is deemed as bad but maybe in the financial field stress is seen as useful pushing on the company to success. Thus the usefulness of stress depends upon which type of organisation it’s for. Obviously though too much stress in a financial organisation can cause absenteeism which will ultimately lose the company money. To conclude with regards to organisations as a whole, it just depends on the type of organisation to how useful stress is. In terms of individuals, small amounts of stress which Selye describes as eustress can help keep people on their toes, keeping them focused and acting as a stimulant, pushing them on to work. However it can completely depend on the person. A Type A person may not be able to take that stress and instead of ‘keeping them on their toes’ may cause panic and anxiety. Nonetheless, in saying this, as Yerkes-Dodson law dictates some stress is needed to achieve optimum performance and give people a challenge, which increases job satisfaction. Thus it would be accurate to conclude that ‘a little bit of stress is useful – it keeps people on their toes’. You would improve the structure if you cross reference more eg when you are talking about how stress needs to be in the right quantity, it might be helpful if you mention that later on you will be talking about how stress an be controlled. If you need to add any more – you could talk further about the work life balance – ie however stressful the job – outside activities are essential A further element you could talk about – when discussing different personalities – is that what is stressful for some is not for oth ers. A good example might be of mothers who stay at home and look after children – for some this is v stressful and for others it is an ideal environment. You could also add an international dimension eg in France there is huge job security and longer holidays (I think) in America holidays are short and there is v little job security

Friday, November 8, 2019

21st century literacy Essays

21st century literacy Essays 21st century literacy Essay 21st century literacy Essay What is 21st century literacy? 21st century literacy is demanding a literate person that has a wide range of abilities. These abilities must be multiple and forceful. The active, successful participants in this 21st century global society must be able to develop proficiency and fluency with the tools of technology; build intentional cross- cultural connections and relationships with others so to pose and solve problems collaboratively and strengthen independent thought; design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes; manage, analyze, and ynthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information; create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts; attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments (NCTE). This all depends on understanding the difference in media that can make up our high-tech reality and producing the skills to use them forcefully. Literacy then and now has changed a lot. History provides multiple examples of societies trying to make a connection to go into their communication infrastructures two centuries ago. Using the technologies in the past, people pursued methods by which they might be able to communicate faster, easier, and better. To this day we still look for better communication methods, only now we have countless choices, along with new gears and tactics with greater knowledge of effective communication. Digital and visual literacies are the next wave of communication specialization. Most people will have technologies at their fingertips not only to communicate but to create, to manipulate, to design, to dots). Kids are learning this ith technology even when they dont realize it. The lack of education is a problem and the situation is impaired in the field of education.. A common situation today is a classroom filled with digitally well- educated students being led by linear-thinking. There has been a mutual void in professional development for faculty this needs training to increase the necessary computer skills to mix technology into the curriculum effectively. Children now a day learn everything about technology and use technology every minute of the day. We ave to change the way technology is used to teach learning across all departments. This change will slowly come however, without vision combined with practical, familiar goals and motivations that inspire people to grip a new digital and visual literacy skill independently and collectively. Future literacy is a thought experiment about the demise of literacy and the upcoming of other skills, capacities or tools that will effectively and advantageously displace reading and writing. Literacy is a capability we privilege above all others. It s a universal good. It is widely viewed as a prerequisite for success and personal development. By contrast, illiteracy is understood to be an impairment. 21st century is changing everything forever. Work cited The NCTE Definition of 21st Century Literacies. NCTE Comprehensive News. N. p. , n. d. web. 12 sept. 2013. Connecting the Digital Dots: Literacy of the 21st Century (EDUCAUSE Quarterly) I EDUCAUSE. edu. Connecting the Digital Dots: Literacy of the 21st Century (EDUCAUSE Quarterly) I EDUCAUSE. edu. N. p. , n. d. web. 12 sept. 2013.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Free Essays on Montana 1948

Society has many quirks, which are amplified when individual cases are examined. People’s lives have many hidden facets, not seen by the rest of the community, often purposely hidden. While this may be done in order to make an individual or family seem more â€Å"presentable† to the rest of the population, these â€Å"public lies,† as they are called by David Huddle, perpetuate even more, until almost everyone has some sort of hidden aspect of their life. Not everyone is as perfect as they make it seem, but because they make themselves seem faultless, they make others feel inadequate and be self conscious about their faults. More defects are then covered up, leading to more dishonesty in society. In the novel Montana 1948 by Larry Watson, the life of a seemingly perfect family is thrown into chaos by the actions of a family member. David Hayden, the main character of the novel, is forced to grow up within a very short amount of time, when his uncle, Frank, is accused of molesting the local Native American girls, while giving them medical examinations. The accusations are not made public, but to Frank’s brother Wesley- David’s father- who is the sheriff of the small town in which the family resides. Family loyalties are thrown askew as Wesley must decide how to deal with these accusations against his brother, as he is the law and must either act accordingly or decide to protect Frank and the family’s reputation. Wesley ultimately ends up arresting his brother, which he justifies in his own mind as the morally right thing. But Wesley and Franks father Julian becomes enraged at the fact that Wesley has done this, and insists that Frank be let go. He favors Frank, and thinks that Wesley may be making the arrest because of his jealousy that is a result of Julian’s favoritism. However, this doesn’t seem to be the entirety of his anger- Julian has led the family to become â€Å"as close as Mercer County came to aristocracy† (... Free Essays on Montana 1948 Free Essays on Montana 1948 Society has many quirks, which are amplified when individual cases are examined. People’s lives have many hidden facets, not seen by the rest of the community, often purposely hidden. While this may be done in order to make an individual or family seem more â€Å"presentable† to the rest of the population, these â€Å"public lies,† as they are called by David Huddle, perpetuate even more, until almost everyone has some sort of hidden aspect of their life. Not everyone is as perfect as they make it seem, but because they make themselves seem faultless, they make others feel inadequate and be self conscious about their faults. More defects are then covered up, leading to more dishonesty in society. In the novel Montana 1948 by Larry Watson, the life of a seemingly perfect family is thrown into chaos by the actions of a family member. David Hayden, the main character of the novel, is forced to grow up within a very short amount of time, when his uncle, Frank, is accused of molesting the local Native American girls, while giving them medical examinations. The accusations are not made public, but to Frank’s brother Wesley- David’s father- who is the sheriff of the small town in which the family resides. Family loyalties are thrown askew as Wesley must decide how to deal with these accusations against his brother, as he is the law and must either act accordingly or decide to protect Frank and the family’s reputation. Wesley ultimately ends up arresting his brother, which he justifies in his own mind as the morally right thing. But Wesley and Franks father Julian becomes enraged at the fact that Wesley has done this, and insists that Frank be let go. He favors Frank, and thinks that Wesley may be making the arrest because of his jealousy that is a result of Julian’s favoritism. However, this doesn’t seem to be the entirety of his anger- Julian has led the family to become â€Å"as close as Mercer County came to aristocracy† (...