This essay will discuss the different types of drugs that can cause social problems in our society today. I will be discussing heroin and how injecting
This essay will discuss the different types of drugs that can cause social problems in our society today. I will be discussing heroin and how injecting this substance can cause HIV, hepatitis's and death and how it is linked to crime. I will also be discussing alcohol related crimes, violence and deaths. These social problems which are caused by substance misuse are regarded as a major problem in our society. A drug is often defined, especially in medical text books as 'any substance that by it's chemical nature alters the structure or functioning of a living being' (Tyler 1988: p11). This includes illegal, legal and prescribed drugs. However, there are several drugs such as stimulants, depressants, hallucinagens and pain killers, which are highly addictive and can cause physical dependence, psychological dependence, tolerance, cravings and withdrawal symptoms. In a positive sense these drugs are used to balance or connect disharmony with the body, to escape from dealing with life (this would include drugs such as cocaine, alcohol, ecstasy, heroin and many more) or searching for answers outside instead of inside (Tyler: 1988). Regular use of any kind of these drugs stated above can make a persons body tolerant to some of its affects, which means that more and more of the drug is needed to produce the desired effects (Barton, lecture notes: 2004). A person can become
Crash from a Psychological Perspective
Crash Movie Evaluation Multiculturalism In the film Crash we are given a picture of all different kinds of social and multicultural differences, giving us an eye opening example of how these conducts and racisms affect our society. Two of the most obvious biases within the film are prejudice and stereotyping. These behaviors are viewed as thoughts and feelings that almost everyone has felt at some point. In the first scene we meet a Muslim man, attempting to buy a gun. The store owner is a Caucasian male that has a negative attitude towards the customer because of his Muslim background. The owner's stereotypical feelings set off negative attitudes because of the bad feelings he had about the Muslim race; being immediately associated with the Al Qaeda terrorist group of 9/11. The negative attitude and hostility observed in this particular scene, is an example of prejudice. Although it has always existed in humanity, most would assume it would have fizzled out by the 21st century because we are now better educated and informed in understanding that one group's actions should not be stereotyped to the entire race. Unfortunately in this film, it does the complete opposite and shows our "stereotyping by appearance" attitude. Crash was made to intentionally show biased prejudices against minorities. Latinos are shown to be gang bangers; for example the depiction of Daniel
Effective Prison?
(1) Are our prisons effective Generally, prison is a place to punish people for the crime they have committed. It is also a place to protect the public from those offenders. To answer the question of prison's effectiveness, the main purpose and functions of prisons will be discussed first. Therefore, this essay will first discuss the aim of prisons then by examining what actually happens in prison. In order to have a clearer understanding of prison services, it would be better to see it from the prisoner's point of view. Issues will be discussed from the prisoners' personal life and the wider prison service. For example, in personal issues, what food is provided for the prisoners and how often do prisoners have contact with their family and friends. From a wider context problems such as overcrowding will be discussed. Thirdly, prisons do not serve only as a form of punishment but also aim to help criminals not to re-offend. Hence, this essay will also mention about the services in prisons which hope to reduce the number of re-offending. Finally, the question of our prisons effectiveness will be discussed. The aim of prisons, as mentioned above, is to punish offenders and protect the public. Obviously, the reasons why they have to be punished is because of the crimes they have committed and their incarceration also serves to protect the public because those offenders are
Examine the intersection of psychology and the media by exploring the way difference signifies otherness in media portrayals o
Examine the intersection of psychology and the media by exploring the way difference signifies otherness in media portrayals of sexuality/race/crime. Discuss your example in terms of the issues raised on the course so far The purpose of this essay is to explore and examine the intersection between psychology and the media, focusing specifically upon the way difference signifies 'otherness' through media portrayals of crime and sexuality. My focus of attention is upon the subject of women as killers and how they are portrayed in mainstream media to signify 'otherness'. For the purposes of this essay it will be necessary to provide some background information with regards to psychology and to define what is meant by the term 'otherness'. I shall illustrate my example of the 'femme fatale' by providing examples of mainstream films, which exemplify the significance of 'otherness', the case study film that I have chosen to focus my attention upon is the Hollywood blockbuster Monster, based on Americas "first" real life serial killer. I would like to start by trying to determine what is meant by the term of "otherness" with reference to extracts from Mass Hysteria - Critical Psychology and Media Studies (Blackman and Walkerdine 2001).According to Blackman and Walkerdine (2001) 'Otherness' as a term is established by drawing upon the sets of divisions which clearly mark out the
The History and Development of Forensic Science
The history and development of Forensic Science. The history of forensic science can date back as early as the 19th century if not earlier. Gregor Mendal who is known as the father of genetics, proved that characteristics are passed from one generation to the next. He did a study over 8 years growing sea plants and he noticed there were characteristics passed on to each generation. The discovery of DNA is debated subject on who actually founded the discovery. Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins decided to try and make a crystal of the DNA molecule as if they could get the DNA to crystallize they would be able to make an x-ray pattern of the molecule and being able to study it further in the understanding on how DNA worked. The experiment was successful and on result of the x-ray it was shown that the DNA had two strands that looked similar to an X shape, this showed that DNA was a helix shape. Although Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins successfully created a crystallized version of DNA they did not develop their findings further. In 1953 James Watson and Francis Crick were attempting to create a model of DNA. They say the picture of the X-ray created by Franklin and Wilkins and had adequate information to create an accurate model of the DNA Molecule. They continued to develop their work and later won the Nobel Prize for their development of the DNA molecule. Maurice
aggressive externalizing behaviors
Most children's behavior progresses to a certain level of dysfunction and then plateaus or decreases (Loeber, 1990). In a large longitudinal study of children initially aged 4 to 12 years, (Verhulst, Koot et al. 1990) found that rates of aggressive and externalizing behaviors decreased over a four-year period for children of all ages (White, notes). Progression of conduct problems into adulthood is more likely for children with a greater diversity of behavioral symptoms which manifest across a greater variety of settings, and with an earlier onset (Loeber, 1982; Robins, 1991). For example, Robins (1991) reported that only 0.9% of children who displayed relatively few conduct problems at age 12 years, developed Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), while 71% of those who displayed severe wide-ranging problems at age six years, met later diagnostic criteria for ASPD. Of those whose problems persist, not all have serious forms of conduct problems in adulthood (Dumas, 1989; Patterson et al., 1989). Persistent conduct problems represent a risk for the development of a variety of problems in adolescence such as peer rejection, poor school performance, engagement in risk behaviors, increased substance abuse and delinquency. These problems effect adulthood with restricted employment opportunities, relationship difficulties, criminal activity and increase the risk of general psycho
The term ' community penalty'
The term ' community penalty' is not used to describe punishment imposed outside of prisons or in the community. This includes fine but mostly probation and custodial sentences. Probation is a penalty set by a court order. This enables the offender to retain his/her liberties by complying with court orders. An authorised official, who is employed by the probation service or someone who is acting on behalf of the probation service, supervises the offender. Probation is a chance to remain free given by a judge to a person convicted of a crime instead of being sent to jail or prison provided the person could remain good. Probation is only given under precise court-ordered conditions, such as performing community service work, paying a fine, maintaining good behaviour, seeking professional help and reporting regularly to a probation officer. Violation of probation terms will usually result in the person being sent to jail. Repeat criminals are normally not eligible for probation. Probation is not the same as "parole," which is freedom under certain restrictions given to convicts at the end of their imprisonment. Large proportions of the offender's original sentence are custodial and are released on conditional release or a license. The term 'probation order' was replaced by what is known as 'community rehabilitation order'. The community service order was replaced by
Examine the Distinction between Liberal and Authoritarian Police Forces
Transfer-Encoding: chunked Surname DISTINCTION BETWEEN LIBERAL AND AUTHORITARIAN POLICE FORCE. By (Name) Course Professor University Date The Police force in England and the USA was invented roughly between the years 1825 to 1865 so as to counter the rise in crime rates during that period. In addition to plummeting crime rates, the elites used the police force to act in instances of collective actions such as defiant crowds and riots. In the contemporary society, police force and policing play a critical role in post-conflict development. The duty of police officers is to enforce the laws of the society as well as ensure citizens and property are safe. Police are also used in reconciliation process as well as ensuring that they manage conflict in such a way that chances of reoccurrence are minimal. Criminologists and international relation experts divide policing into two major sections i.e. the authoritarian police force and the liberal police force. It is, therefore, imperative to note that international relationship experts define liberal police force as composed of police officers that are non-conservative people that foster equality and liberty, they have personal beliefs that the government should be proactive in supporting social and political changes whereas some international relation analysts describe authoritarian police force as those police
Explore how both sociology and social psychology can help us to understand anti-social behaviour
Transfer-Encoding: chunked Explore how both sociology and social psychology can help us to understand anti-social behaviour Anti-social behaviour can be defined differently by everybody, in order to understand what anti-social behaviour is you should understand the definition provided by the government; this definition is from the crime and disorder act “Acting in a manner that caused or was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household as (the defendant)” (Crime and disorder act , 1998). The defining point of sociology is to look at social problems in relation to society and how society causes them and solves them whilst the defining point of social psychology is to look at how an individual reacts in a social situation or context and how they are influenced. Therefore by the same token, sociology would explain anti-social behaviour as being a social problem created by societal issues such as age, race, gender, class and so on, and social psychology would explain anti-social behaviour as being an individual reacting to the situation they are in within society, which again would fall under age, race, gender and class. So these are both very similar with only slightly differing focuses aiming to understand what anti-social behaviour is and why people commit it. This essay will mainly focus on understanding violent types
Are ecological approaches to criminality appropriate to help preventing crime?
Are ecological approaches to criminality appropriate to help preventing crime? For some years, a small group of criminologists have been attempting to understand crime using the ecology of crime (Brantingham, 1993; Stark, 1987; Taylor and Covington, 1988). This is about how criminal opportunities are created in neighbourhoods. Crime prevention seeks to reduce the frequency of criminal behaviour by means that operate outside the Criminal Justice System. Crime pattern theory is particularly important in developing and understanding of crime and place, because it combines rational choice and routine activity theory to explain the distribution of crime across places or locations. In this essay, I aim to evaluate the different ecological approaches and to see how useful they are as a deterrent or actual crime preventer. This will be achieved my looking at the models and theories that make up the ecological or environmental approach. Jock Young identifies a series of linked processes that transformed the way crime was viewed or perceived. Although it was assumed that improved conditions and economic restructure would lead to a drop in crime, it was found that the opposite happened. Despite increasing the size of the police and the capacity of the prison system, crime had been increasing year after year. (Newman, 1972). According to Young, the volume of criminal activity grows in