Clockwork orange movie evaluation Essay Example

Clockwork orange movie evaluation Paper A Clockwork Orange is a psychological thriller that examines and analyzes the effects of a corrupt individual and societys attempts to reintegrate him. The director Stanley Kubrick depicts a deeply chilling and disturbing story of a young man by the name of Alex and is considered a menace to society who is eventually punished for his wrong doings and given the chance of a lifetime to reinvent himself. The new an innovative way to reintegrate disturbed individuals into society is through a type of conditioning that causes a nauseating reaction to violent acts for the patient. It is difficult to determine the time period of the film since Kubrick uses scenery that makes it appear as though it could take place today, tomorrow, yesterday, or even fifty years in the future making it applicable to all times. In addition, Kubrick is very cautious to use problems in society that have been evident and irksome since the beginning of man such as rape, muggings, murder, etc. With this stunning combination of societys everyday problems, A Clockwork Orange is the type of movie that appeals to all time periods and will always be applicable to the troubles that are present in todays society. We will write a custom essay sample on Clockwork orange movie evaluation specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Clockwork orange movie evaluation specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Clockwork orange movie evaluation specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The psychological aspect of the movie is the way in which society wishes that it could deal with them through a simple program that allows the individual to be reborn in a sense and make it physically impossible for them to return to their old devious ways. The conditioned versus an unconditioned response technique is a major factor in Alexs transformation toward becoming an acceptable human being in society. During the first half of the movie before Alex undergoes treatment, he is shown with his fellow droogs or his small four member gang that creates havoc throughout England with their acts of ultra-violence where they commit heinous acts of violence and on random victims. Alex and his droogs are shown in the first scene of the movie at their favorite local hang out joint called the Korova Milkbar where they indulge themselves in drugged milk beverages. The movie never directly states what is in the milk, yet after drinking it, the droogs all seem very excited and almost imagining their environment. This leads one to believe that there was some type of an amphetamine or hallucinogen because the amphetamine would cause an increase in energy and alertness while the hallucinogens caused a sensory distortion (Kalat 94). The amphetamine is considered a stimulant which causes an increase in the activities levels and pleasure which explains the groogs eagerness to go out and expend seemingly endless amounts of energy without so much as breaking a sweat (Kalat 95). This particular milkbar is very unusual in that, the entire room is filled with sexual images of women in compromising positions that are dispersed throughout the room and available to give the laced milk from their nipples. Alex and his groogs hit the streets to begin their night of ultra-violence and it begins with the senseless beating of a drunken homeless man under a bridge. From there, the group heads out even more anxious than before and go to a home of a crippled man and his wife. Upon tricking the wife to allow them in saying they had an awful car accident, and upon entering the four boys begin to rape the woman in front of her husband while he was senselessly beaten. The only major difference between the two encounters is that the boys were a wiser and wore masks during their attack. The psychological aspect during this part of the movie is more to realize the mental capacity of the attackers. The groogs and especially Alex are not phased by the ruthless violence and desperate cries for help from their victims. Most psychologists would conclude from these observations that Alexs problems are not that he enjoys violence, but rather he had a troubled childhood along with his uninvolved parents that shaped him into the monster that he had become. It has been agreed that the majority of social development in humans is established in the earlier stages of childhood and adolescence. One aspect of the movie that infers that Alex has a unique and troubled home life is almost any scene that involves his parents. Alexs parents are very distant and unconcerned with his activities and lack of attendance at school. They are the typical example of uninvolved parents who are very uninterested in their childs activities, do not spend time with them, and may spend very little time with them (Kalat 194). This type of parenting can lead to children who are generally impulsive and undisciplined. Agreeing with this observation is that Alex may have been raised in a broken home and that his mother in the movie is not in fact his biological mother. It is believed that children in broken homes may have more difficulties in the real world have a greater difficulty with their academics, social, and emotions (Kalat 194). This could lead Alex to grow up according to the belief that his attachment was never fully developed to one parent and that he developed later in life the inability to have close relations with others. This includes his friends or groogs who he seems to simply bully around and never confide any secrets or let on that he has confidence in them. Furthermore, Alex has a constant problem with a sexual addiction where he has one night stands and orgies with random girls, yet fails to develop a substantial relationship. This lack of closeness also may have contributed to Alexs inability to identify exactly where he fit in with society and his small identity crisis that he experiences. He seems to be having trouble with his concern with decisions about the future and the quest for self-understanding because he is rather nonchalant about looking toward the future and simply lives off the constant high of his ultra-violence (Kalat 186). Alex is eventually caught for his mischievous acts and given the opportunity to undergo an experimental program to supposedly cure all his illness. The government at this time is offering a new and innovative way to cure disturbed individuals through an extreme version of conditioning. Pavlov first discovered that certain stimulants triggered natural responses in both humans and animals which he called the unconditioned response since it needed no training or reinforcement to encourage it (Kalat 207). By placing another stimulant in addition to the natural response, the animal then reacted to both the stimulant and the natural response in the same way. Alexs government used his unconditioned response of enjoying violence and attempted to correct it by injecting him with a nauseating inducing drug before being shown violent acts. In turn while watching the violent acts Alex began to learn the conditioned response that while he watched violent nature he would feel a wave of immense sickness overwhelm him. While the effects of the drug were the most prevalent Alex was shown films of graphic nature that included rape, murders, and all of the old activities of Alexs past that he used to take pleasure in. All the while, Alex listened to the music of Ludwig von Beethoven during the films in the background. Strangely enough to Alex, he begins to feel an overwhelming feeling that he simply wants to die a calm and painless death despite the fact that Beethoven had once been his favorite composer and that violence once gave him a euphoric feeling. The combination of music the nauseating feeling became the conditioned stimulus which means that they were the new stimulus that induced the conditioned response for Alex to not partake in violence. After many sessions involving this nauseating feeling associated with the violent images, Alex was released back into society and claimed to be completely cured. A simple cure was impossibility due to the fact that those who Alex had hurt in his life such as the homeless man, his groogs, and the crippled old man still had the feelings of resentment toward him. The old man began to beat on Alex with the help of the other homeless people and Alex could do nothing to defend himself but instead sat there being beaten and regaining that nauseating feeling while wanting to die due to his conditioned response. Eventually, Alex coincidentally returns to the home where he had previously raped the woman and her crippled husband recognizes Alex; he locks Alex in a room with the music of Beethoven that was played during the violent images. This unconditioned response causes Alex to go insane without having seen any violence at all. This response is a result of classical conditioning is the result that what had once prepared Alex to watch violent images now cause Alex the same feelings whether or not he is viewing the images. While in the room Alex goes to the extreme and attempts to commit suicide. This does not work and Alex is treated at the local hospital while those in charge of his classical conditioning responses were reprimanded for an inhumane process and treatment. The movie does not directly state, but it leads one to believe that Alex had some type of brain surgery to reverse his classical conditioning effects. It does not appear as though any type of extinction or a removal of the classical conditioning through any other experiments other than surgery (Kalat 210). Soon Alex is back to his old ways of demoralizing women and undisturbed by his thoughts of ultra-violence. It is evident that through this film the idea of classical conditioning being used to reprimand a human or try and change characteristics are futile. While the classical conditioning worked, it may be said that it worked too well and that Alex was unable to be reintroduced into a society where there is a constant negative reinforcement for what he sees. Even if Alex is not actively participating in the violent acts he still is negatively reinforced causing him suicidal thoughts and actions. The problem with Alexs treatment was that the only positive reinforcement, or an encouragement to achieve a conditioned response, was that he no longer craved violence or sex, although it was seemingly easy to reverse the effects of his study. Overall, Alex is a perfect case of the negative effects of classical conditioning and brings up the question if perhaps there is no simple answer to cure any disturbed individuals within a society.

Malcolm X Essays - African-American Muslims, English-language Films

Malcolm X Essays - African-American Muslims, English-language Films Malcolm X Malcolm X, a civil rights leader in the 1960's believed that blacks and whites should be segregated. He also believed that white man was evil and were trying to brainwash all blacks and that Martin Luther King's "non-violent protests" weren't working and that violence was needed for change. Malcolm X's life was a life with a lot of conflict and violence in it. Malcolm X was born under the name of Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska in 1925. His father was a baptist minister and an outspoken follower of Marcus Garvey, the black nationalist leader of the 1920s who preached that all blacks should leave the US and go back to Africa. While Malcolm's father was away and Malcolm's mother was pregnant with Malcolm, a group of KKK members came to their house and told Mrs. Little to send out her husband. She came out of the house and stood where all the KKK could see that she was pregnant and told them that Mr. Little was in Milwaukee preaching. The KKK, disappointed, shouted threats and told them to leave town. After this they broke every window in the Little's home and left. When Mr. Little came home and heard what happened, he decided to move as soon a Malcolm was born to Lansing, Michigan. Here was where Malcolm's father died at the hand of the Black Legion (X 4-! 13). After Malcolm's father's death, his mother who had to take care of eight children and endure threats from the KKK, suffered a nervous breakdown. As a result, Malcolm and his siblings were taken by the welfare department. Malcolm was later enrolled in a reform school and did very well grade wise. He was the best student in his class and wanted to become a lawyer. When the school heads heard about this, they sent a person to talk to Malcolm. This person told and convinced Malcolm that he was black and that he could never become a lawyer because of it. As a result, he dropped out of after the eighth grade and moved to Boston, Massachusetts where he worked several different jobs. Soon, Malcolm became associated in a gang and sold and used drugs, and was involved in many other criminal activities. His gang "career" ended when he got into some trouble due to a bet with the gang leader. Since the gang wanted Malcolm killed, Malcolm hid for a while. Soon, Malcolm decid! ed to rob a house which he heard had a lot of valuables in it. Soon one night, he robbed the house, but was caught later. Malcolm was charged with burglary and sent to prison for a maximum of eight years of which he served six. This was a turning point in Malcolm's life. While in prison, Malcolm educated himself and became interested in the teachings of Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm spent his time in jail educating himself and learning more about the Nation of Islam (later known as the Black Muslims). Their belief, which was contrary to Martin Luther King Jr.'s, mainly to was to segregated whites and blacks. The Nation of Islam wanted to establish a separate Afro-American homeland in the U.S. and believed that the white person is "the Devil" who wanted to enslave all non-whites. The Nation of Islam also strictly followed the Islamic belief. When Malcolm was released from prison after in 1952, he joined a temple in Detroit, and took the name Malcolm X. He took the name X because his present last name was the last name of the slave master who freed their slave and since the slave didn't know who their ancestors were, and therefore didn't know their real last name, they often took up the last name of their master. Many Muslims kept the name "X" because in math, "X" is represented as an unknown variable like their real last name. A person was to keep the name "X" until God himself gave them a "holy name"(Encarta 2). Soon after his release from jail, Malcolm worked for his oldest brother who managed a furniture store. While working, he also gave many speeches, and went "fishing"(fishing is when someone stands out on a sidewalk and hand

Business ethics and deontology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business ethics and deontology - Research Paper Example It is a case of â€Å"fraudulent financial reporting†. Adelphia is a publicly traded corporation based in the United States. In 2002, Adelphia was ranked sixth among the largest cable service providers in the country. In the same year, the company was publicly accused of discrepancies in the financial reports prepared and produced by the company. It was found that the company did not represent the real economic condition and Adelphia was charged of a major accounting disgrace. Investigations proved that the managers modified financial statements of the company by excluding many billion dollars that it held as debt, from the company’s balance sheets. Hence, auditors could not discover the presence of fraudulent activities that the company indulged in. This is a major example of infringement of deontological issues. It was revealed through investigation that some of the most influential and important rank holding members of the organization lacked ethical behavioral trait s and they were the major participants in this scandal. Key ethical problems The Adelphia scandal is a case of financial fraud that broke the trust of the shareholders and lowered level of faith of the public on the company. It is the most far-reaching financial fraud that has occurred in the country in the past few decades (Markon & Frank, 2002). The company filed for bankruptcy in June 2002 and was finally purchased in July 2006 by Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Inc. Two ethical problems were distinctly identified in this fraudulent case; financial statement modification and superficial statement about stock earnings. The first ethical issue is concerning the fact that the officials in the company had strategically and systematically excluded several billion dollars that the company held as liabilities over the period of four years between 1998 and 2002. The liabilities were hidden fraudulently from the books of off-balance sheet affiliates (Barlaup, Dronen & Stuart, 2009). Additio nally, the company also inflated its earnings in order to meet the expectations of shareholders in the Wall Street. Various operations statistics were falsified and concealed (The SEC, 2002). These activities raised questions about ethical duties of the employees working in different private as well as public corporations. Deontological ethics The term ‘ethics’ is generally understood as â€Å"systematic attempt to understand moral concepts and to propose and defend principles and theories regarding right and wrong behavior† (Barlaup, Dronen & Stuart, 2009, p. 186). Normative ethics is found to be highly relevant to the issues faced business firms and the problems faced by auditors. Under the framework of normative ethics, three principal theories of ethics can be identified. These are egoism, utilitarianism and deontology. In this section, the focus would be on the deontological theory of ethics. General theory Deontological ethics relate to the â€Å"ethics of duty of principle† (Cooper, 2000, 179). The term ‘deontology’ was coined by Bentham (1748-1832) and by this term he emphasized on the following meaning. It is the act of motivating people in such as way that it would maximize overall community happiness. This would be done by mobilizing the causes that inspire specific private

Paraphrasing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 8

Paraphrasing - Essay Example Tocqueville stipulated that democracy plays a crucial role with respect to influencing opinion of the members of the public, serving as the foundation of the country’s economy, and in helping people to realize their freedom and authority (Nolla 36). The spirit of patriotism is the one that drives American citizens. They are also self-governing and the will of the people is the one that determines how the nation will be ruled. Tocqueville refers to this as â€Å"majority omnipotence,† which means that the mainstream society is the one that rules the nation while the minority get oppressed. To demonstrate this, Tocqueville offers an example of the American Indians and the blacks who were subjected to suffering for centuries in their own country (Nolla 37). Though Tocqueville significantly approves the amount of freedom that is present in the US, he reveals elements of pessimism when he points out the concept of the â€Å"art of being free.† Here, he stipulates that freedom in America is in a constant process of transformation; whereby as one form becomes non-existent another one emerges. Since this transformation process cannot be avoided, people are encouraged to stand ready and fight for their independence. Conversely, Tocqueville demonstrates significant attentiveness to the US since it serves as the foundation for democracy, which cannot flourish for long in the face of individual manifestation (Nolla

Used Book Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Used Book Business - Essay Example Location – Used book stores are best suited to be located in high traffic region. A store in the vicinity of a university or college will have added advantage. Shopping malls and popular hangouts are also preferred location for used book store. Proximity to new book store is also ideal. Manpower – A good number of people should be involved in the business to source, refer and negotiate the purchase of books from the initial owner to the prospective buyer. Over the counter sales has to be assigned only to book lovers who have an outgoing attitude, business aptitude and are personable. Training employees at various level of operation will enable them to handle the store in the absence of the owner. Promotion – It may be noted that used book buyer is usually not an in depth reader. Hence adequate marketing and promotional activities should be carried to bring in people to the store to browse through the used books. Design of the store – The used book store should have a clear show window with the arrangement of books in uncluttered style. Prospective buyers should be able to view the book and this is vital to attract passers by. Used book business can be started by selling the owner’s collection of books which forms the inventory on launch. The initial stocks can also include the books donated by relatives, friends and neighbors (How to Make It Big with a Used-Book Store). The short term objective of the store should be service oriented rather than aim to make huge profits. This earns reputation and future prospects for sale. The business should make sure to obtain positive feedbacks from customers and make courtesy communication to understand the pulse of the customers (Weber & Weber 2005 p.57). The next step is to search for prospective book sellers from whom books can be purchased at a low cost. Low cost books can also be gathered from goodwill stores, garage sales, church

Face Recognition Using PCA Algorithm

Face Recognition Using PCA Algorithm Bollini Lokesh, Abhishek Nallamothu, Mr.S.Planiappan ABSTRACT Day by day technology is changing and way of securing and automation is also trending. Facial recognition (or face recognition) is a type of biometric software application that can identify a specific individual in a digital image by analyzing and comparing patterns. Facial recognition systems are commonly used for security purposes but are increasingly being used in a variety of other automation applications. In real time, face recognition algorithms deal with large data base. Execution of these face recognition algorithms take high computational power and time on large database. Our objective is to improve speed of face recognition on large data base by using PCA algorithm. The goal of our proposing PCA algorithm is to reduce the dimensionality of the data by mapping the data into a lower dimensionality subspace while retaining as much as possible of the variation present in the original dataset. We formally prove this algorithm on ORL face data base with best precision. Keywords: PCA: Principle Component Analysis, MATLAB: Matrix Laboratory, ORL: Olivetti Research Laboratory INTRODUCTION Facial recognition (or face recognition) is a type of biometric software application that can identify a specific individual in a digital image by analyzing and comparing patterns. Facial recognition systems are commonly used for security purposes but are increasingly being used in a variety of other applications. The Kinect motion gaming system, for example, uses facial recognition to differentiate among players. Currently, a lot of facial recognition development is focused on smartphone applications. Smartphone facial recognition capacities include image tagging and other social networking integration purposes as well as personalized marketing. A research team at Carnegie Mellon has developed a proof-of-concept iPhone app that can take a picture of an individual and within seconds return the individuals name, date of birth and social security number. Facebook uses facial recognition software to help automate user tagging in photographs. Here’s how facial recognition works in Facebook: Each time an individual is tagged in a photograph, the software application stores information about that person’s facial characteristics. When enough data has been collected about a person to identify them, the system uses that information to identify the same face in different photographs, and will subsequently suggest tagging those pictures with that person’s name. Facial recognition software also enhances marketing personalization. For example, billboards have been developed with integrated software that identifies the gender, ethnicity and approximate age of passersby to deliver targeted advertising. The main aim of this project is to improve the computational speed of face recognition by using PCA algorithm. This can be done by reducing the dimensionality of images, while doing computations on images in data base. We propose a PCA algorithm with reduced dimensionality in calculations, and we formally prove this algorithm on ORL face data base of ten different images of each of 40 distinct subjects with best precision. RELATED WORK The proposed face recognition system by using PCA algorithm overcomes certain limitations of the existing face recognition system. It is based on reduction of dimensionality and extracting the dominating features of a set of human faces stored in the database and performing mathematical operations on the values corresponding to them. Hence when a new image is fed into the system for recognition then it will reduce dimensionality of new image and extract the main features to compute and find the distance between the input image and the stored images. Thus, some variations in the new face image to be recognized can be tolerated. When the new image of a person differs from the images of that person stored in the database, the system will be able to recognize the new face and identify who the person is. The proposed system is better mainly due to the use of facial features rather than the entire face. Its advantages are in terms of: Recognition accuracy and better discriminatory power Computational cost because of reduction in dimensionality and removing of noise from data set Concentrating on main features require less processing to train the PCA. Because of the use of dominant features and hence can be used as an effective means of authentication Principle Component Analysis Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was invented by Karl Pearson in 1901 and is now used in many fields of science. It is a way of identifying patterns in data, and expressing the data in such a way as to highlight their similarities and differences. Since patterns in data can be hard to find in data of high dimension, where the luxury of graphical representation is not available, PCA is a powerful tool for analyzing data. The other main advantage of PCA is that once you have found these patterns in the data, and you compress the data, ie. by reducing the number of dimensions, without much loss of information. The main aim of this project is to improve the computational speed of face recognition by using PCA algorithm. This can be done by reducing the dimensionality of images, while doing computations on images in data base. We propose a PCA algorithm with reduced dimensionality in calculations, and we formally prove this algorithm on ORL face data base of ten different images of each of 40 distinct subjects with best precision. Actually issues arise once performing arts face recognition in a very high-dimensional area (curse of dimensionality). therefore we have a tendency to area unit managing spatiality issues in face recognition performance. important enhancements will be achieved by 1st mapping the information into a lower-dimensional sub-space. Mapping knowledge|of knowledge|of information} into lower dimensional data is feasible by PCA formula. In PCA formula, 1st itll convert all face pictures (N X N pixel) in knowledge base into face vector (N2X1 dimensionality).It hundreds of these face vectors into one matrix (N2X M matrix; here M=number of face pictures in database).It cipher average face vector(N2X1 dimensionality) by doing mean on all face vectors. It calculate normalized face vectors matrix (N2X M dimensionality) by subtracting average face vector from every face vector. It calculate variance matrix to search out out best Eigen|chemist}|chemist} vectors (best Eigen vectors represent best Eigen faces).It calculate signature of image and place it in( M X S dimensionality; here S=number of signatures). PCA converts input image (image for face recognition) into face vector, then it converts into normalized face vector and thereby it verify weight vector of input image. Finally it compare weight vectors and thereby it verify the person. Face recognition bioscience is that the science of programming a laptop to acknowledge a personalitys face. once someone is listed during a face recognition system, a video camera takes a series of snapshots of the face and so represents it by a singular holistic code. once somebody has their face verified by the pc, it captures their current look and compares it with the facial codes already hold on within the system. The faces match, the person receives authorization; otherwise, the person wont be known. the prevailing face recognition system identifies solely static face pictures that just about specifically match with one among the photographs hold on within the information. once this image captured nearly specifically matches with one among the photographs hold on then the person is known and granted access. once this image of someone is significantly totally different, say, in terms of facial features from the photographs of that person that area unit already hold on within the information the system doesnt acknowledge the person and thence access are denied. The existing or ancient face recognition system has some limitations which may  be overcome by adopting new ways of face recognition: The existing system cannot tolerate variations within the new face image. It needs the new image to be nearly specifically matching with one among the photographs within the information which can otherwise end in denial of access for the individual. The performance level of the prevailing system isnt considerable. CONCLUSION The PCA method is an unsupervised technique of learning that is mostly suitable for databases that contain images with no class labels. PCA improve speed of face recognition by mapping higher dimensionality of face image into lower dimensionality. PCA provides best precision in face recognition process. In future we are planning to implement automation in security and automation in attendance by using this algorithm. We will try to get more efficiency and precision by combining this algorithm with other algorithms. We are planning to implement this algorithm for recognizing multi faces by combining this algorithm with other face recognition algorithms. REFERENCES: [1] A.S Syed navaz, T. Dhevi sri Pratap mazumdar â€Å"Face recognition using principle component analysis and neural networks† International Journal of Computer Networking, Wireless and Mobile Communications (IJCNWMC) ISSN 2250-1568 Vol. 3, Issue 1, Mar 2013, 245-256 [2] Lindsay I Smith â€Å"A tutorial on Principal Components Analysis†February 26, 2002 [3] Sasan Karamizadeh, Shahidan M. Abdullah, Azizah A. Manaf, Mazdak Zamani, Alireza Hooman â€Å" An Overview of Principal Component Analysis† Journal of Signal and Information Processing 2013, 4, 173-175 [4] Toshiyuki Sakai, M. Nagao, Takeo Kanade, â€Å"Computer analysis and classification of photographs of human face,† First USA Japan Computer Conference, 1972 [5] Yuille, A. L., Cohen, D. S., and Hallinan, P. W., Feature extraction from faces using deformable templates, Proc. of CVPR, (1989).

Essay on The Crucible: The Concept of Conscience :: Essay on The Crucible

The Crucible:   The Concept of Conscience Conscience is the awareness of right and wrong. In The Crucible, the idea of conscience in strongly emphasized. Miller himself said, "No critic seemed to sense what I was after [which was] the conflict between a man’s raw deeds and his conception of himself; the question of whether conscience is in fact an organic part of the human being, and what happens when it is handed over not merely to the state or the mores of the time but to one’s friend or wife." The idea of conscience in the play The Crucible is based very much on Christian concepts, firstly the idea of morality, or conscience of right and wrong, secondly the idea of the confession of sin, and finally the idea of guilt and penance for sins. Conscience, then, as an issue of morality, is defined very clearly at the start of the play. "†¦a minister is the Lord’s man in the parish; a minister is not to be so lightly crossed and contradicted" says Parris in Act One. Here it is established that theologically the minister, in this case, Parris, is supposed to be the ultimate decider of morality in Salem. The Church, in theocratic Massachusetts, defines conscience. Right and wrong is decided by authority, and the authority here is the Church. Law is based on the doctrines of the Church, and Salem is a theocracy.   "For good purposes, even high purposes, the people of Salem developed a theocracy, a combine of state and religious power whose function was to keep the community together, and to prevent any kind of disunity†¦but all organization is and must be grounded on the idea of exclusion and prohibition, just as two objects cannot occupy the same space. Evidently the time came in New England when the repressions of order were heavier than seemed warranted by the dangers against which the order was organized." So firstly Salem was a place where the conscience of the people was strictly governed by the theocracy, and socially Salem was repressive. However, at the start of the book, we see that the people of Salem have already begun to strain under this strict idea of conscience, this repression. Abigail says to John, "I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! I never knew what pretence Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes?

Blood pressure Essay

Question One: Hypertension (in addition to a number of medical conditions) may be considered as primary or secondary. Explain these concepts giving three examples of secondary hypertension and their pathophysiology. Most of the conditions that cause secondary hypertension involve the overproduction of one of the body’s hormones. Some of the medical problems that can cause secondary hypertension include: Kidney disease. Secondary hypertension is related to damaged kidneys or to an abnormal narrowing of one or both renal arteries. The renal arteries are the major blood vessels that bring blood to each kidney. When the kidney’s blood supply is reduced by a narrowing (called renal artery stenosis), the kidney produces high levels of a hormone called renin. High levels of renin trigger the production of other substances in the body that raise blood pressure, particularly a molecule called angiotensin II. Adrenal disease. The adrenal glands sit on top of the kidneys and produce several hormones that help regulate blood pressure. Sometimes, one or both adrenal glands make and secrete an excess of one of these hormones. Three different types of adrenal gland conditions cause high blood pressure: Pheochromocytoma. A tumour of the adrenal gland that overproduces the hormones epinephrine (adrenalin) and norepinephrine (noradrenalin). Hyperaldosteronism (also called Conn’s syndrome). Both adrenal glands can overproduce the salt-retaining hormone aldosterone or it can arise in a benign adrenal tumour. Hypercortisolism (also called Cushing’s syndrome). Both adrenal glands can overproduce the hormone cortisol or it can arise in a benign or malignant tumour. Hyperparathyroidism. A hormone called parathormone is made by four tiny glands in the neck called parathyroid glands. If the glands produce too much hormone, calcium levels in the blood increase. People with hyperparathyroidism are more likely to have high blood pressure. The exact reason for this association is not known. Question Two: Roger was a symptomatic and only came in for a check up. Why is it important for this ‘silent disease’ to be detected and appropriately treated? As blood flows through arteries it pushes against the inside of the artery walls. The more pressure the blood exerts on the artery walls, the higher the blood pressure will be. The size of small arteries also affects the blood pressure. When the muscular walls of arteries are relaxed, or dilated, the pressure of the blood flowing through them is lower than when the artery walls narrow, or constrict. Blood pressure is highest when the heart beats to push blood out into the arteries. When the heart relaxes to fill with blood again, the pressure is at its lowest point. Blood pressure when the heart beats is called systolic pressure. Blood pressure when the heart is at rest is called diastolic pressure. When blood pressure is measured, the systolic pressure is stated first and the diastolic pressure second. Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). For example, if a person’s systolic pressure is 120 and diastolic pressure is 80, it is written as 120/80 mm Hg. T he American Heart Association has long considred blood pressure less than 140 over 90 normal for adults. However, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Maryland released new clinical guidelines for blood pressure in 2003, lowering the standard normal readings. A normal reading was lowered to less than 120 over less than 80. Hypertension is a major health problem, especially because it has no symptoms. Many people have hypertension without knowing it. In the United States, about 50 million people age six and older have high blood pressure. Hypertension is more common in men than women and in people over the age of 65 than in younger persons. More than half of all Americans over the age of 65 have hypertension. It also is more common in African-Americans than in white Americans. Hypertension is serious because people with the condition have a higher risk for heart disease and other medical problems than people with normal blood pressure. Serious complications can be avoided by getting regular blood pressure checks and treating hypertension as soon as it is diagnosed. If left untreated, hypertension can lead to the following medical conditions: arteriosclerosis, also called atherosclerosis heart attack stroke enlarged heart kidney damage. Arteriosclerosis is hardening of the arteries. The walls of arteries have a layer of muscle and elastic tissue that makes them flexible and able to dilate and constrict as blood flows through them. High blood pressure can make the artery walls thicken and harden. When artery walls thicken, the inside of the blood vessel narrows. Cholesterol and fats are more likely to build up on the walls of damaged arteries, making them even narrower. Blood clots also can get trapped in narrowed arteries, blocking the flow of blood. Arteries narrowed by arteriosclerosis may not deliver enough blood to organs and other tissues. Reduced or blocked blood flow to the heart can cause a heart attack. If an artery to the brain is blocked, a stroke can result. Hypertension makes the heart work harder to pump blood through the body. The extra workload can make the heart muscle thicken and stretch. When the heart becomes too enlarged it cannot pump enough blood. If the hypertension is not treated, the heart may fail. The kidneys remove the body’s wastes from the blood. If hypertension thickens the arteries to the kidneys, less waste can be filtered from the blood. As the condition worsens, the kidneys fail and wastes build up in the blood. Dialysis or a kidney transplant are needed when the kidneys fail. About 25% of people who receive kidney dialysis have kidney failure caused by hypertension. Question Three: The renin-angiotensin system plays a central role in blood pressure regulation. Explain the renin-angiotensin system with reference to Conn’s syndrome. The Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System is a hormone system that regulates BP and fluid balance. When blood volume is low, the juxtaglomerular cells in the kidneys secrete Renin directly into circulation. Plasma Renin converts a polypeptide called Angiotensinogen, which is secreted from Liver into Angiotensin I, which in turn is converted to Angiotensin II (or ATII) by the enzyme called ACE (Angiotensin converting enzyme) found in the lungs. It so happens that Angiotensin II is a potent vaso-active peptide that causes blood vessels to constrict, resulting in increased blood pressure. Angiotensin II also stimulates the secretion of the hormone Aldosterone from Adrenal cortex. Aldosterone causes the tubules of the kidneys to increase the reabsorption of sodium and water into the blood. This increases the volume of fluid in the body, which also increases blood pressure. If the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system is too active, blood pressure will be too high. There are many drugs that interrupt different steps in this system to lower blood pressure. These drugs are one of the main ways to control HBP, heart failure, renal failure and the harmful effects of Diabetes. Angiotensin II is degraded to angiotensin III by angiotensinases located in red blood cells and the vascular beds of most tissues. Angiotensin III has 40% of the pressor action of ATII, but 100% of the aldosterone-producing activity of ATII. Angiotensin II has autocrine, paracrine and endocrine actions on different systems: Cardiovascular effects: AT II is the most powerful vasopressor known, constricting both arteries and veins. Myocyte growth is stimulated through a local tissue RAAS. The same system can be activated in the smooth muscle cells in conditions of HTN or endothelial damage thus contributing to and accelerating the process of Atherosclerosis. Neurological effects: ATII increases the thirst sensation by directly stimulating the Subfornical organ of the brain (Dipsogenic action). AT II also decreases the response of Baroreceptor reflex. ATII increases secretions of both ADH and ACTH besides stimulating postganglionic sympathetic fibers to secrete Noradrenaline. Adrenal effects: Angiotensin II acts on the Adrenal cortex causing it to release Aldosterone, a hormone that causes the kidneys to retain sodium and lose potassium.

The Patriots Act essays

The Patriots Act essays After the tragedy on September eleventh something called the Patriots Act was passed. This Act allows the FBI s to infringe on our personal liberties as Americans. It mainly takes away our rights that the 1st and 4th amendment gives us. I personally think that it infringes on our fourth amendment more than the first. The fourth amendment states; The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, ad effects, against unreasonable search and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause. With the Patriots Act in effect the 4th amendment might as well not even exist. The FBI can do basically anything they want to try and protect us. They can get library records, tap phones, see what websites you visited, and spy on you with you never having knowledge of it. Worst of all they do not even need to obtain a search warrant or have probable cause to do so. I realize that this act was put into effect to try and protect us from another terrorist attack but the government went to far. There is no reason why they should have this kind of power to spy on American when the 4th Amendment clearly protects us from doing so. The First Amendment states; Congress shall make no law respecting and establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise there of; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press. The Patriots Act infringes on the 1st amendment because you can be investigated simply by saying something or even just by going about your everyday activities. If the FBI thinks that youre involved in terrorist activities just because you said something or because you are a certain religion they will investigate you, take your rights away and you will probably never find out that it happened. I realize that this act was made to protect America from another attack but if it takes away my civil liberties as an American then the act should be void. The FBI should find anoth ...

The Third Gender Evolutionary explanation for Male Homosexuality Essays

The Third Gender Evolutionary explanation for Male Homosexuality Essays The Third Gender Evolutionary explanation for Male Homosexuality Essay The Third Gender Evolutionary explanation for Male Homosexuality Essay Fag, faggot, fairy, fart knocker, felcher, fruit, fuck face, pansy, pantywaist, pillow biter, poof, poove, pouf, queen, queer, shit-stabber and turd burglar: just some of the culture specific slang words still in use today to address homosexuals and male homosexuality. As cited in Buss (1994) Helena Cronin says, We are walking archives of ancestral wisdom and perhaps it is true that ancestral wisdom has little to do with homosexual behavior when looked at it from the perspective of Darwinian sexual selection. Nonetheless, with an ongoing global campaign for homosexual awareness it becomes, in my opinion, an important part of evolutionary psychology to address homosexualitys progression as a probable byproduct of sexual selection. Evolutionary Theorists across the globe struggle with the idea of homosexuality in context to Darwin especially due to irregularities in defining sexual preference. Ideally, all men ought to be heterosexual so that they may procreate and achieve fitness. It is unlikely that sexual sterilization would not only survive but also thrive in circumstances present today. Nonetheless, Homosexuality with all the derogatory terms language has cultivated exists and finds in its category a growing number of men. As Stephen Dawkins (2005) recently said, The problem with verifying evolution is not that there hasnt been enough time but that there has been too much time. When seen from the evolutionary psychologists point of view the possibility of homosexuality as a valuable instrument in developing mating behavior becomes more and more viable in lieu of its contradictory nature. In my paper I hope to argue that male homosexuality is actually an evolutionary tool for efficiency in sexual selection by bringing together various theories by Buss. What Men Want Why They Want it Evolutionarily, men have a vested interest in furthering their chances of producing offspring and thereby propagating their genetic information. For this purpose they have two main mating strategies: 1. Short Term Mating Strategy 2. Long Term Mating Strategy Short Term Mating Strategy involves the male to be active in casual sex relationships with many women. This strategy is used to make sure that his reproductive value would increase at least by an average. The second strategy is an evolved strategy that benefits men who invest time and resources in a woman who would depend on these resources for her better survival. It is with the help of the Long Term Mating Strategy that the man ensures the possibility of reproductive success through a contractual relationship with a woman e.g. marriage. Having said this, Buss insists that male homosexuality is an extension of mans evolutionary heterosexual behavior: both of short and long term mating strategies. The two men require similar characteristics in their mates e.g. youth, good looking and are identical in their mating strategies except for one, that the homosexual man is attracted to men instead of women. Hamer discussed this difference as a possibility for a gay gene in his 1993 study. Although McKnight has pointed out that even though with there being a genetic difference between male homosexuals and heterosexuals, it is still largely an area that needs further research. This indirect evidence of a genetic basis for at least some forms of male homosexuality is supported by three decades of research reporting chemical and anatomical differences between straight and gay men. (McKnight, 1997) On further experimentation, McKnight writes on Hamers theory of the gay gene, At this preliminary stage we have no found support for Hamers suggestion (McKnight Malcolm, 2000) He further states, Our analysis failed to find a distinctive reproductive pattern, which might emerge with a larger sample size, but if repeated would suggest that the genetic mechanism is autosomal. (McKnight Malcolm, 2000) Buss writes that, Many men who prefer women as mates may nonetheless substitute a man as a sex partner, either because of an inability to attract women or because of a temporary situational constraint that preludes access to women (Buss, 1994) This is true in the case of prisons or forcefully held captives but not always true of the large population of gay men in society today. Buss (1994) further continues that, Male homosexuals and male heterosexuals seem to have indistinguishable mating preferences, expect with respect to the sex of their preferred partner. Evolutionary Problem / Solution regarding Homosexuality There are two main evolutionary problems with homosexual behavior that emphasize its extinction. Still, keeping conflicting motives in mind between evolution and homosexuality, the gay male introduces himself as a tool for understanding evolutionary motivations. 1. Procreation With similar mating strategies between male heterosexuals and homosexuals, it becomes increasingly complicated to understand why the homosexual man has survived and continues to do so. The two men (straight gay) share in common certain characteristic requirements of their mates. The straight male can produce children and therefore increase his evolutionary fitness. On the other hand, the gay male cannot reproduce. There are obvious disadvantages of homosexuality that natural selection would eventually select out such as the inability to procreate. Evolutionary advantage works to increase the average growth of the species and the homosexual male cannot be used as a catalyst. Yet, according to the Census of 2001 there has been a rise of gay population across the United States. McKnight (2000) exclaims in his paper that there is a real puzzle here and it goes to the heart of sexuality as no sex equals no children. While sex has more purposes than reproduction, begetting offspring is the ultimate end game a relationship more clearly understood in an age of unreliable contraception. He calls this phenomenon Child Hunger. It would according to evolutionary theorists be baffling to understand homosexuality in face with the fact that it results in no children and therefore is not child hungry yet it not only exists but increases rapidly. Male homosexual orientation is particularly problematic as it is a behavior that is clearly a reproductive liability. (Weinrich, 1978 as cited in McKnight, 2000) 2. Sexual Variability The idea of normalcy in terms of sexual behavior globally has changed drastically over and over again through the course of history. The categorization of men as homosexuals and heterosexuals labels, confines naturally sexual deviations into one or the other group. That many men having homosexual experiences as part of their development was deeply disturbing to the mid twentieth century, does not disguise that similar studies report similar findings at the end of the millennium. Kinsey (Kinsey, Pomeroy and Martin 1948) may have lifted the lid on the realities of human sexual experience but a half-century of further research merely confirms how plastic our sexuality is. (McKnight, 2000) This plasticity of sexual behavior increases the likelihood that homosexual behavior although conflicting with evolutionary psychology indeed is a process of increasing sexual deviations and therefore the possibility of natural selection in sexual experience. Through gay behavior the human male is abl e to explore all possibilities of sexual behavior that would excite and entice him into an evolutionary advantage over men who are not as sexually active. Origins of Homosexuality According to Buss (1994), the origins of homosexuality remain a mystery. Yet, the alarming increase in males who prefer men as their mates seem as if the origins of homosexuality similar to that of heterosexuality is the same. Sexual selection provides for variants in sexuality not unlike natural selection. If you accept that human sexual orientation is diverse and variable and above all plastic, then there is a certain sympathy for Murphys view: It is hard to see that there is any reason to study the origins of behavior that is morally, medically, psychologically (and perhaps even religiously) aproblematic. (Murphy, 1990 as cited in McKnight, 2000) Nonetheless, evolutionary theorists have studied the origins of homosexuality in great detail attempting to find a key difference between straight and gay men. Biological Influences as origin of homosexuality: Alexander (2000) initiated research in finding structural and functional differences between homosexual and heterosexual males. He writes that Burnham in 1977 had noted that females have smaller brains than males and therefore women were less intellectual then men. Although it is true that male brains are somewhat larger than female brains, this is the first example of structural difference that does not evince a measurable behavior difference. (Alexander, 2000) Similarly, the fact that there might be some structural differences between straight and gay men it does not account for the fact that there would be core differences in sexual preferences. Alexander (2000) further noted that the Committee for the Study of Sex Variants in New York City in the 1930s studied a homosexual population using various psychological tests, hormonal measurements and physiological measurements of the genitalia and other body parts including skull circumference. The authors of the study realized that there was no conclusive proof that any individual may be a so called sex variant and or might be more prone to homosexual behavior than the next person. (Henry, 1948 as cited in Alexander, 2000) These inconclusive studies provided for further research that might shed light on biological aspects of homosexuality. The early 1990s was a remarkably productive period of time for research into sexual dimorphism of brain areas. (Alexander, 2000) If there would be any biological connective that was found then it would also be possible to understand the motivations for homosexuality and categorize it in terms of evolutionary advantage, if any, by studying the population. This was not the case. Although there were studies done by researchers such as Allen and Gorski in 1990 and 1991 Taken together, these finding indicate that sexually dimorphic structures can be found in many different areas of the brain. (Alexander, 2000) A foremost breakthrough in these studies was by Swaab and Hofman, 1990 in which distinct differences were noted. The Suprachiasmatic nucleus of vasopressin-containing neurons was double in homosexual men when compared to heterosexual males. (LeVay, 1991) Further studies compared Swaabs findings with that of Allen and Gorski that concluded that the anterior commissure (found to be sexually dimorphic larger in females) also was different according to sexual orientation such that it was larger in homosexual males compared with both heterosexual males and females. Since the homosexual group did not fall between or have identical size to the female group, this outcame gave rise to another working hypothesis of a third sex the gay sex. (Alexander, 2000) Nonetheless Breedloves 1997 study proved that this hypothesis was false. Breedlove concluded that there was no evidence that the outcome mentioned before was not an effect rather than a cause. It is possible that differences in sexual beh avior cause, rather than are cause by, differences in brain structure. (Breedlove, 1997) Since there is no actual biological root that explains homosexuality, it is possible that similar to heterosexuality, it was used as a tool to better achieve fitness. Male homosexuality, in my opinion can be explained in evolutionary terms as follows: 1. Sex used as a tool for reciprocal altruism Women have evolutionarily used sex as a means to get resources and guarantee a mate through promising sex. Homosexuality, similarly, in men can be used to coopt resources and guarantee a long term partner that would invest resources. 2. Adoption of Children Homosexual men are also an added advantage in a social structure that produces excess children with little life expectancy without adequate domestic care. They can provide as means of adoption and surrogate parents an alternative to what may be now considered a family. 3. Reduction of Same Sex Conflict Homosexual behavior might also be responsible for creating coalitions amongst men that would eventually decrease male male aggression and therefore increase evolutionary advantage for the species by an average. These three suppositions go without any data to support them and I would find it interesting to look at studies that would explore homosexuality as an added advantage for evolutionary success.

Corporate Development Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Corporate Development Strategies - Essay Example This paper focuses on one of the chains, particularly the Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong. It also gave a view of how the Hong Kong branch carries on with its business and gave out its services. An analysis of its corporate strategies was also made to show what the company does to attain success, or failure, for that matter. It will also make recommendations as to the corporate development strategies that could best enhance the business status and improve the weaknesses found that would only hinder the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong’s growth and further success. This is done with the use of various tools for analysis such as SWOT, PEST and 7Ps. Table of Contents CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1: Introduction & Background†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..4 1.2: Purpose of Study†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...5 1.3: Corporate Strategy †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦5 CHAPTER 2 INTERNAL ANALYSIS 2.1: Current Strategic Marketing Decisions (7P) †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦6 2.2: Strengths †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..10 2.3: Weaknesses †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..11 CHAPTER 3 EXTERNAL ANALYSIS 3.1: PEST Analysis – Hospitality Industry Environment †¦...12 3.2: Competitive Environment and S&W ..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦17 3.3: Opportunities †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦18 3.4: Threats †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦.20 CHAPTER 4 FOCUS AREAS 4.1: Effect of U S Dollar Drop and RMB Rise†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦21 4.2: Effect of inflation †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦22 CHAPTER 5 RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1: Recommended Decisions †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦22 CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..25 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1: Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong: Introduction & Background Isadore Sharp, better known as â€Å"Issy† is the founder of Four Seasons Hotel

Labeling Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Labeling - Research Paper Example While labeling theory is not as popular as it once was, it has not been completely discredited as a way to understand how social processes lead to deviant behavior. Labeling Theory & Who Labels Whom? Labeling theory argues that just observing the delinquent, or its characteristics, will not provide a whole image of deviance or crime. A complete picture has to include community/society responses to such incidents (Traub and Little 291). Labeling theory is used as a way to understand deviant behavior, including crime, as a consequence of social differentiation processes in which some of society's members are singled out, identified, and defined as deviant, while others are not (Traub and Little 289-295). The causal proposition of labeling theory is that the act of treating a person as a deviant, in itself, can lead to deviant behavior on the part of that person. The punishment of deviant behavior often has an ironic effect: efforts at social control lead to decreased control (Schur 10) . Social definitions of deviance and their accompanying social sanctions somehow pressure labeled individuals into further deviant behaviors. Loosely speaking, a "label," or, a definition of a person as deviant, may be thought of as an independent variable, or, a cause of deviant behavior (Akers 121). The process by which a person is labeled as deviant may be summarized as follows. First, an act is deemed as deviant. Second, the person committing the act is deemed as deviant. And third, a moral condemnation is placed upon this person (Traub and Little 289). According to labeling theory, then, reactions to criminal behavior should be considered at least as important as the behavior itself, if not more. Labeling theory took a lesson from Kai Erikson (p. 11), who argued that the "social audience," not the individual, is the critical variable in studying deviance because it is the audience who decides which acts, or types of acts, deserve the deviant label. In their coverage of labeling theory, Traub and Little (p. 290) wrote "it is the definition of an individual's behavior as deviant, rather than the behavior itself, that can cause a marked change in status which transforms a person's conception of self and initiates the process of locking that person into a 'deviant career'." Thus, it is the community and authority figures such as the police, judges, teachers, parents, and psychiatrists, who label persons as "criminal," "delinquent," "bad kid," "mentally ill," "poor student," and so on. Consequences of Labeling Labeling theory argues that public deviant labeling can have a profound impact on the ability of the labeled person to participate in mainstream society. In one sense, this is an all-too-obvious observation. Societal sanctions have obnoxious effects for the offender of social norms. This assumption is central to the classic school in criminology, namely the deterrence approach to crime and punishment (Gennaro 196). This perspective argues that being caug ht and punished for a crime should decrease one's future rate of offending. Punished individuals should tend to desist from crime to avoid the pain of punishment in the future. However, in direct contrast to this traditional view, labeling theory points out that the ability of the individual to engage in rational decision-making is not the only relevant factor in determining the consequences of punishment. Labeling theory looks beyond individual-level processes and