Last Dose of Inspiration

This is the last passion blog of the semester. Actually, this is the last passion blog I may ever write. I have to admit though, through writing these blogs, I have discovered some new passions and interests that I had never knew I liked before. But for my last passion blog, I will do something similar as to what I did last week. I have compiled a few powerful photographs that particularly stuck out to me with their meaningful messages.

1. The Falling Man

This is one of the photographs that people try to ban from their memory because it reminds them of the horrors of 9/11. Many began to jump out of the towers when the first plane hit North Tower, and they kept jumping until the towers fell. These people were called “the jumpers.” However, many people accused newspapers that published this photo as exploiting a man’s death, invading his privacy, and removing his dignity. However, the biggest complaint was that someone out there knew that person who as jumping out of the window. We may know who this man is. We may not. And we may never know the reason why he jumped.

2. Candy Cigarette

In this photograph taken by Sally Mann, Sally’s daughter, Jessie, casually stands, balancing a Candy Cigarette in her hand. She has the look of a young, innocent woman but is holding a cigarette casually between her fingers. Even though it is a just a Candy Cigarette, the way she holds the cigarette makes it seems like she actually smokes even though she is such a young girl. This hints at the problem with our generation that even though it is taboo that children should not smoke, the age people are starting to smoke are quickly declining.

3. Return from Iraq

Terri Gurrola cries and hugs her daughter after returning from serving in Iraq for 7 months.For one, this photograph breaks the stereotype that only men serve in the Army, Air Force, or the Navy. Women also have the power to protect our country. It also depicts the overwhelming emotions this woman is feeling after returning to her family. These people have gave up so much to to protect the citizens of our country.

4. Kissing Couple at Vancouver Riot

This photo was taken in Vancouver during the Stanley Cup when the couple got caught up in the riot. The girl, Alex Thomas, got knocked down by a police officer, and her boyfriend, Scott Jones, gave her a kiss to reassure her everything was going to be okay. Despite all the violence and the riot surrounding them, it is just the two of them. Simply put, the power of love is above all else.

5. Romanian Child holds out balloon

A Romanian child holds out a heart shaped balloon to riot police in protests in Bucharest. The white balloon contrasts the night and the dark uniforms of the riot police. It is pure and innocent compared to the evil and darkness that is present in the photograph.

http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0903-SEP_FALLINGMAN

http://www.mocp.org/detail.php?type=related&kv=2380&t=objects

http://imgur.com/a/RHkIi

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/06/17/scott-jones-and-alex-thom_n_878910.html

http://jmcolberg.com/weblog/2007/07/personal_favourite_candy_cigarette_by_sally_mann/

Should we treat minors as adults?

For every crime that is committed, there is a sentence accompanied with the crime. For misdemeanors like driving over the speed limit, a fine may be imposed. However, for felonies like murder and rape, such punishment may include years of imprisonment, maybe even a lifetime. However, the punishment of these individuals may depend on extenuating circumstances and motives. But what determines what type of people receive what type of sentence? One of the more debated issues is age. If one is considered younger than eighteen years of age, he or she is considered a minor. Minors who commit the same offense as adults may receive lighter sentences just because they have not yet reached adulthood. Is this fair?

 

Teens that commit the same offenses as adults often have more options for punishment. Sentencing options for minors are classified into either incarceration-related options or non-incarceration options. Incarceration options usually include detention in juvenile hall, house arrest, secured juvenile facilities, or placement in another person’s home other than their parents, relatives, or guardians. Non incarceration options, also known as diversionary programs, are used to divert the offender from the normal procedures of the juvenile criminal law system. This option usually includes warnings for minor offenses, fines, community service, counseling, or electronic monitoring. Both of these options are intended to aid these teens and young adults to reintegrate themselves into society. But should age be the determining factor for punishment? Shouldn’t minors also receive the same punishment as adults?

Most judges that were interviewed regarding whether teens should be tried the same way as adults argued that most teens did not belong in the juvenile system. Judge LaDoris Cordell, judge on the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, admitted that she came across young adults who are “so sophisticated and who have committed such heinous crimes that the adult system is the pace for them to be.” Kurt Kumli, the supervising deputy district attorney for the Juvenile Division in Santa Clara County, has worked with juveniles for the past six years. From his experience, he commented that there are “a limited number of resources in the juvenile justice system, and they can only perform a limited number of functions.”  There are deciding factors that determine whether a teen should be charged as a minor or as an adult. But, such offenses are usually only one or two percent of all offenses, but those offenses are usually felonies.

However, statistics have proven that treating teens as adults may not make that much of a difference. Evidence has shown that between lengths of sentences given in the juvenile system compared to the criminal court are about the same. For more serious crimes, juveniles are more likely to receive longer sentences as well as incarceration. However, most only serve a fraction of those sentences, which may actually be less time than they would have spent in a juvenile facility. Also, there are studies that have investigated whether stricter transfer laws have reduced juvenile crime rates, and they have proven that there is no evidence to show that there are reduce juvenile crime rates. In one particular study, criminologists Simon Singer and David McDowell compared New York’s Juvenile Offender Law to the effect on the rate of serious juvenile crime. This law was passed in 1978, which lowered the age for murder to thirteen and rape, assault, robbery, and violent burglary became fourteen. They found that arrest rates, four years before the law came into place and six years after the law was put into place, had remained relatively the same and that the “threat of adult criminal sanctions had no effect on the levels of serious crime.”

On a completely different topic, recently in Franklin Area Senior High School, sixteen-year-old Alex Hribal ran through the hallways with two kitchen knives, injuring twenty one people. He is charged as an adult and face charges for twenty one attempted homicides and aggravated assault. However, his lawyer claims that he may not have not known what he did since he is just a kid. His lawyer is attempting to transfer him to transfer to juvenile court and wants a psychiatrist to examine Hribal. What do you think? Do you think he should just be tried like an adult?

http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/sentencing-options-for-juvenile-crime.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile/bench/adulttime.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile/stats/kidslikeadults.html

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/10/justice/pennsylvania-school-stabbing/index.html?hpt=hp_inthenews

Pictures

http://abcnews.go.com/US/pa-high-school-stabbing-suspect-alex-hribal-source/story?id=23258421

http://www.blackyouthproject.com/2012/04/report-black-youth-receive-harsher-treatment-in-juvenile-court-systems/

 

16 Pictures are worth more than 16,000 Words

A picture’s worth a thousand words. So cliché, but so true at the same time. So in honor of this cliché, this week I have decided to include some of the most inspirational photos in the past few years. All of these photos are up to your own interpretation. Most of these photos give a simple, yet powerful and direct message.

1. This first photo is a photo of an Indian child holding, desperately onto the wire connecting two telephone poles. This was just moments before the child let go and fell into the churning waters of the Ganges River during August of the monsoon season. Thousands were dead or missing in the beginning of the monsoon season.

2. In 2006, Lapindo Baratas’s excessive gas drilling led to a mud volcano in Indonesia’s eastern Java Island to erupt. In 2012, villagers covered themselves in mud to depict the struggles and losses they have faced as a result of the oil drilling. This depicts that power and greed have led many people who were uninvolved to suffer as well.

3. A woman sits among the rubbage of the Japanese earthquake of 2011, crying about the loss of her possessions and her loved ones. In this earthquake, over 15,000 died and almost 10,000 people were injured or missing and left the country in ruins.

4. A young child looks on from his bed as an Iraqi Emergency Response Brigade members searches the house for this child’s father. The child’s father was accused of planting IED’s in Baghdad Iraq.

5. Syvatoslav Sheremet, head of the Gay Forum of Ukraine, was beaten on his way to report that the pride parade was going to be cancelled.

6. In Niterói, Brazil, Captain Bruno Schorcht, a cop, sprays his pepper spray onto a young girl during a public protest.

7. A villager saves many stray cats by placing them in a basket balanced on his head during floods in Cuttack City, India.

 

8. In Des Moines, Iowa, the hospital provides healthcare services to veterans with special needs.

 

9. Attendees of New York Fashion Week posed for a picture next to a man on the steps in front of Moynihan Station.

 

10. A police officers talks Kevin Berthia out of committing suicide off the Golden Gate Bridge. Berthia has since then become a spokesperson for suicide prevention and has started his own family. He is forever grateful for the police officer for giving him another chance at life.

11. Alex Honnold, an American rock climber, often climbs dangerous cliffs and mountains without any safety ropes or other safety precautions. If he makes a mistake and falls, he’s done. In this picture, he is sitting in the middle of the Half Dome in Yosemite National Park in California. Anything is possible if you just believe.

 

12. In 2012, Japanese people in Tokyo released doves into the year to pay respects to those who died in World War 2.

13. On October 6th, bloodstains cover the ground of Romsis street in Cairo, Egypt. There were clashes between Muslim Brotherhood supporters of former president Mohamed Morsi and Egyptian riot police. Police fired shots and tear gas to scatter supporters from reaching Tahrir Square, where anti-Morsi protesters revolted.

14. An Israeli soldier sleeps in a bunker in Golan Heights during a brigade Armored Corps Exercise in October. The Golan was seized from the Arab in the Six-Day War in 1967. Things have settled down since then until 2011, when the conflict started between rebels and regime force in Syria.

15. Kurdish protesters fire fireworks at Turkish riot police in Central Istanbul on December 7th. Two Kurdish protesters were killed in clashes with the Turkish riot police over when Kurdish protesters claimed that Kurdish cemeteries had been demolished.

 

16. 5-year old Leukemia Survivor Miles, AKA Bat Kid, leads the way after they arrest the Riddler in San Francisco, California. The Make- A- Wish Foundation turned San Francisco into Gotham city to allow this boy to be a superhero for a day.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/28/powerful-photos-life-on-earth_n_4123343.html

http://mashable.com/2013/12/19/powerful-photos-of-2013/

Issue Brief Draft

Punishment is the forced restriction of individuals who commit criminal acts, which usually is indicative of imprisonment. The purpose of punishment is to ensure that the criminal retributes for his or her crime and deters the criminal from committing other criminal acts and prevents others from committing similar crimes. But the issue that many retributive and deterrence theorists argue is that some of these criminals may not freely choose to commit the crime that they did; therefore, they are not responsible and do not deserve to receive the punishment that was inflicted upon them. Those who are mentally ill often cannot see what was wrong with their action and the possible detrimental effects they could have caused. Imprisonment and punishment will NOT help them change. There are over 2 million people in jail and about 15-20% of those people are mentally ill. Not enough prisoners are getting the treatment they need to alleviate their mental illnesses. Instead of utilizing capital punishment or imprisonment, therapy should be implemented instead to treat these prisoners.

Punishment is only effective when the punishment is able to successfully conform the person’s behavior to which is legally permissible, but punishment does not deter those who can’t refrain from breaking the law. In a sense, prisons have become mental institutions for those who haven’t been treated for mental diseases. However, the biggest issue is not the effectiveness, but rather the lack of available doctors. There aren’t enough mental health professionals in prisons to provide the mentally ill prisoners with the help they need. Another issue is the criminal law system itself. It focuses too much on punishing criminals for retribution or deterrence, and it is difficult to change that punitive nature especially since physiological programs that are meant for rehabilitation.

Physiologists are currently researching the causes of crime and the effects of incarceration in order to focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment. They have discovered that the causes of criminal behavior include abuse, poverty, exposure to drugs, and other factors. In the Stanford Prison experiment in 1973, physiologist and Past APA president, Phillip Zimbardo proved that individuals could become heartless or depressed when placed in a prison-like environment. More recently, Haney has been studying “supermax” prisons or high security units in prisons where prisoners can spend 23 hours in solitary confinement for years at a time. He has shown that these prisoners experience extreme anxiety and other negative emotions. These prisoners also lack the social and occupational skills that the rest of us have developed from living in the outside world. Despite this, the number of “supermax” prisons is still increasing to accommodate prisoners that commit felonies. But if research has proven this to only cause anxiety and depression and prisoners, shouldn’t we find a way to integrate therapy so we can treat these mentally ill prisoners instead of worsening their current conditions? Instead, the government is spending more money to create confinement for these dangerous criminals and isolating them from society. The idea of these therapies and physiological treatments is to develop social and occupational skills so such people can slowly reenter our society and reintegrate themselves as one of the normal people.

To incorporate so many psychologists, psychiatrists, and other doctors into prisons is an expensive task. But in the long run, it may be worth the large sum of money.

The most important point to consider is why we have punishments. Without punishments, our laws may not be effective. Punishments serve to “express society’s view of the relative severity of crimes.” The absence of punishments would weaken the power of the law. The law gives the precedents that citizens need to follow and set the expectations of what citizens should and should not do. The most efficient and effective way would be a way to integrate both punishment and therapy.

http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3863&context=lcp

http://www.nami.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NAMILand/CJguidetomentalillnessandcjsystem.pdf

 

Infographics

http://bipolar-planet.blogspot.ca/2011/04/mental-illness-in-america.html

Suicide Prevention

Suicide has been steadily increasing over the years. There are 38,364 deaths per year from suicide, which is a startling 8,000 deaths higher than it was five years ago.. Often, it is difficult to differentiate the symptoms of suicidal thoughts versus a temporary depressed state of mind. Sometimes, these people can show no symptoms at all and keep to themselves, and these are the people we have to look out for. These are the people we least expect to attempt suicide.

Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is becoming a suicide spot due to its lack of protection. Last year, a record 46 people committed suicide by jumping off the bridge while 118 others were saved by bridge workers. The issue with the Golden Gate Bridge is that unlike the Empire State Building or the Eiffel Tower, the bridge lacks a suicide barrier. For 60 years, the directors of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation district never proposed to create a barrier. Now with the increasing suicide rates and the age of those jumping is decreasing, they need to take action.

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As early as the end of May, directors are voting in favor of using toll money to create a suicide barrier. The suicide barrier will be a $66 million stainless steel net system. However, the concern with that is that the net system will take away from the bridge’s beauty, and others say that people who are intending to commit suicide will find another way. But often, suicide impulses are brief and fleeting so the suicide net may help prevent these people from attempting suicide again.

There are not only barriers to prevent these people from killing themselves, but there are also people who are willing to save these troubled souls. Don Ritchie, a resident of Sydney, Australia, has a beautiful home that faces the Pacific Ocean. But he did not choose this home for its breathtaking beauty. Since 1964, he has saved over 160 troubled souls from leeping to their death. He has received the title “Angel of the Gap”: an angel that has saved suicidal people from jumping of the cliffs of Sydney Harbor. With his sympathetic manner and soothing voice, he conversed with these people casually and ask if he could help them in some way. He would then proceed to invite them to his home for a chat and a tea. Some would return years later to thank them for saving their life. Sometimes, some were desperate to make that final leap, and he would risk his own life to physically restrain them. Ritchie admits there is a simple answer for why he does all this: “My ambition has always been to just get them away from the edge, to buy them time, to give them the opportunity to reflect and give them the chance to realize that things might look better the next morning.”

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Both the potential suicide barrier of the Golden Gate Bridge and Ritchie’s efforts are preventive measures to save these troubled souls for taking their own life. For those that cannot find the way out, sometimes they need a helping hand that will guide them in the right direction. Ritchie says tits best: “never underestimate the power of a kind word and a smile.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/27/us/suicides-mounting-golden-gate-looks-to-add-a-safety-net.html?hpw&rref=us

http://www.afsp.org/understanding-suicide/facts-and-figures

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/australia-mourns-angel-of-the-gap-don-ritchie-the-man-who-talked-160-out-of-suicide-7754339.html

http://www.mole.my/content/sydneys-angel-gap-dies

Inequality in Punishment

Equal protection under the law. We are guaranteed equal and fair treatment. But is it actually fair? Despite how much we want to deny it, we all have certain biases or stereotypes of others. In the back of our mind, our subconscious dictates what we really think. But what happens if this involves whether you end up spending five years in prison or fifty hours of community service. Does this mean that the justice system isn’t fair?

Only one percent of murders have resulted in the death penalty. But if those are the worst kind of people out there, does it have anything to do with race, geographic location, or the lawyer? Justice is supposed to be blind. All people are supposed to be treated fairly. Poverty, geography, and race are all factors that determine one’s fate even though everyone should receive the same punishment for the same act.

Geography, for instance, surprisingly plays a hand in whether the death penalty is brought upon the criminal. States like Ohio, Illinois, Maryland, and Tennessee have one of the largest enacting of the death penalty. In 2012, over three quarters of all executions took places in these four states. Think about it. 4 states comprise the majority of the executions.

What makes criminals “eligible” for the death penalty? There is little guidance that determines whether the criminal should be punishable by death. Believe it or not, the nation’s most dangerous murderers and serial killers usually manage to escape the death penalty because they are able to afford prestigious lawyers who can help negotiate deals in place of the death penalty. Defendants who are poor and cannot afford such impressive lawyers may be executed even if it was an unpremeditated killing or a “robbery gone wrong.” There have been instances where the murderer escapes from execution while the accomplices receives the death penalty. However, the death penalty is only supposed to be given to the “worst of the worst.” But unfortunately, individuals have differing outlooks on who the “worst of the worst” actually is. Therefore, it is nearly impossible to perfect a system that is objective for who does and who doesn’t receive the death penalty. As a result, those who do not have enough money to afford a prestigious lawyer usually ends up losing and receive the death penalty.

The race is also a determining factor in the death penalty. In diverse states like California, Maryland, Ohio, or Georgia have found that people who murdered Caucasians were much more likely to get the death sentence than those who murdered Latinos or African Americans. More than 80% of those who were executed were convicted of killing a white person even though more than half of the victims are African Americans. Eyewitness identification is actually the leading cause of unjust conviction. It is actually less reliable when the witness is identifying a person of a different race. Especially since people who are against the death penalty do not have to serve on capital juries, which is not representative of the population. This is actually disadvantageous and unfavorable because a large portion of the population does not have a hand in such serious cases. Prosecutors are trying to strike black juror is murder cases despite the fact the Supreme Court has forbidden racially driven strikes. There was even one instance where there was a training tape for Philadelphia prosecutors that provided them with information on how to strike black jurors and escape without getting caught.

Equality in the death penalty is a “moving target.” Attempting to change and alter the system will only complicate the system, not necessarily make it fairer. Despite the fact that thirty years have passed, there have been no conclusion to make the death penalty less arbitrary. When someone is on the brink of life and death, luck is not enough to get him or her through. Discrimination, whether its racial, geographical, or financial, ends up being the determining factor of whether someone will end up in jail, work in community services, or serve the rest of his or her life in jail.

download

http://ejusa.org/learn/fairness

The Key to Happiness

What makes us happy in life? Some people can point out what makes them happy right away. Maybe it’s their love for football, their adorable puppy, their job, or their significant other. However most of us aren’t 100% truly content with our lives. The stress of school, work, families, and friends can be overwhelming. The idea of the near future and the rest of our lives scare us. So how can we just forget this and just be happy and carefree just like when we were youngins?

images

Happiness believe it or not can be synthesized. We synthesize happiness, but we think that happiness just naturally comes to us. We believe synthetic happiness is inferior probably because the idea of natural happiness sounds so much more appealing. But we can create our own happiness even though it may not be easy. Not getting what we want can make us just as happy as getting what we want. Freedom, the ability to make up mind and change your mind, is the friend of natural happiness that allows us to choose delicious and ideal futures, but it is the enemy of synthetic happiness. Once people accept that there are certain things that they can’t change, they will find a way to be happy with what happens.

 

So what causes happiness? Simply put, moment-to-moment experiences. And these are usually the hardest things for scientists to study. Matt Killingsworth discovered a way to study happiness through his website trackyourhapiness.org. He obtained a wide range of data from people of all ages and people from all around the world. As a result of the study, he discovered that focusing on the present and focusing on the moment helps people to feel happier.

There is the common phrase “money can’t buy happiness.” However, that is wrong. Money can buy happiness. Most people are probably just not spending money right. For instance, people love the idea of winning the lottery. Who wouldn’t want millions of dollars? But in reality, the downfalls outweigh the benefits. The lottery ruins lives more than helping lives. Most people when they receive the money either end up spending all of it, or their friends beg them to lend a little money here and there. Money makes us selfish because the idea of buying gives us power and satisfies our wants. But what if we spend money on other people and not just ourselves? You don’t have to donate large amounts of money because sometimes, small trivial amount can make just as much of a difference. In fact, it is scientifically proven that people who give money to charity are happier.

We can create happiness. It may not be easy, but it’s possible. Especially in tough times, we need to learn to let go and appreciate what we have. Try 100happydays.com. Each day, take a photo of something that makes you happy. It can be something as simple as that delicious piece of chocolate cake or an A on a paper. 71% of people who have attempted this challenged have failed because they say, “they don’t have enough time.” But those are the people who aren’t taking time out of their day to try it.  People who have successfully completed the challenge have verified that they start noticing what makes them happy and be in a better mood each day. Who knows, maybe you’ll find out what makes you happy too!

images (1)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q1dgn_C0AU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy5A8dVYU3k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsihkFWDt3Y

Stereotype of beauty

 

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What is beauty? There has always been a blurred line in our society of what beauty actually is. When we think the “epitome of beauty,” we usually think of celebrities like Mila Kunis or Megan Fox. We think of someone who is slim, toned, tan, and looks flawless whether it is a Versace dress or t-shirt, jeans, and Converse. But, do we actually know what beauty is, and what do we base this definition of beauty off of? For this blog, I examined a Ted Talk I recently watched: “Looks aren’t everything: Believe me I’m a model.” In this Ted Talk, Cameron Russell, a model of ten years, describes her experiences as a model, and how that has shaped her definition of beauty.

“What distorts our views?” She asks the crowd. “Image is powerful. Image is superficial.” She shows up on stage where a fashionable black dress and five-inch heels. As she continues talking, she proceeds to take off the heels and slip into more comfortable and practical shoes and wraps a long skirt around her dress. In those seconds when she rearranged her appearance, she asked if the audience’s opinion of her changed at all from before and after the transformation. And, it probably has.

The idea of beauty has had such a huge impact on our lives. Cameron is the definition of a pretty, white woman or also known as a “sexy girl” as she calls it. Beauty is not health, youth, or symmetry by society’s standards, but rather it is femininity, white skin, and tall, slender figures. Photoshop is only a small component of making a model seem more beautiful. Cameron proceeded to display pictures of her that were taken within a few days of each other. The only difference is that in one of the pictures is that she is wearing a red soccer uniform and in the other, she is wearing a red tight-fitting dress. It is the SAME exact person, but how could two pictures look so different? Pictures. Pictures are constructions. Hair stylists, makeup artists, and photographers all aid in building this construction, but it isn’t her. Girls, teens, and women want to be like models like Cameron. 54% of teens by 15 don’t like their bodies and 78% of teens by 17 don’t like their bodies. Most girls want to have the thinnest thighs and the shiniest hair just like these beautiful models. But these models are the most insecure people on earth, even if they don’t say it out loud.

Screen Shot 2014-03-20 at 3.09.58 PM

The moral of this is that we are being swayed by the idea of beauty through the movies we watch, the ads we see, and the stereotypes that surround us. However, these models aren’t perfect. They seem perfect, but they are just ordinary people. They are built and constructed into slim, beautiful, and perfect models, but they are far from perfect. The scariest part is we can’t do anything to change these stereotypes. More and more teens have developed eating disorders like Anorexia or Bulimia just so they can fit society’s definition of beauty. Everyone is beautiful in his or her own way. STAY BEAUTIFUL EVERYONE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM4Xe6Dlp0Y&list=TL1HwvDMeZ9C0EtrrLY7CRMFVX0c2Ax2tj

image- http://fashionismyproblem.com/victorias-secret-casting-call-2013-when-can-you-expect-it/

 

 

Therapy as Punishment

Punishment of individuals who commit crimes includes the coercive restraint of individuals usually through imprisonment. The purpose of punishment is either for retribution or deterrence to prevent the criminal from committing other criminal acts and prevents others from committing similar crimes. However, retributive and deterrence theorists argue that unless they freely choose to commit the crime, they are not fully held responsible. Therefore, they do not deserve the punishment they receive. Another view to consider is that punishment is only effective when the punishment is able to successfully conform the person’s behavior to which is legally permissible, but punishment does not deter those who can’t refrain from breaking the law. Therefore, is punishment actually the best method of deterring these people? Most likely not, so instead, we should change our approach and focus more on therapy. Seymour Halleck, author of “Responsibility and Excuse in Law and Medicine: A Utilitarian,” argues that criminals should be regarded as “medically ill” and not “morally evil.” He proposed a medical model that would replace the current Model Penal Code, but that would mean abandoning fixed sentences. The problem with that would be that the court would be unable to determine when the therapy would be deemed effective, and only a psychiatrist could determine when a criminal can be freed.

There are over 2 million people in jail and about 15-20% of those people are mentally ill. In a sense, prisons have also become mental institutions for those who haven’t been treated for mental diseases. However, the biggest issue is not the effectiveness, but rather the lack of available doctors. There aren’t enough mental health professionals in prisons to provide the mentally ill prisoners with the help they need. Another issue is the criminal law system itself. It focuses too much on punishing criminals for retribution or deterrence, and it is difficult to change that punitive nature especially since physiological programs that are meant for rehabilitation.

jail-prison

Physiologists are working to research the cause of crime and the effects of incarceration in order to focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment. They have discovered that the causes of criminal behavior include abuse, poverty, exposure to drugs, and other factors. In the Stanford Prison experiment in 1973, physiologist and Past APA president, Phillip Zimbardo proved that individuals could become heartless or depressed when placed in a prison-like environment. More recently, Haney has been studying “supermax” prisons or high security units in prisons where prisoners can spend 23 hours in solitary confinement for years at a time. He has shown that these prisoners experience extreme anxiety and other negative emotions. These prisoners also lack the social and occupational skills that the rest of us have developed from living in the outside world. Despite this, the number of “supermax” prisons is still increasing to accommodate prisoners that commit felonies. But if research has proven this to only cause anxiety and depression and prisoners, shouldn’t we find a way to integrate therapy so we can treat these mentally ill prisoners instead of worsening their current conditions? Instead, the government is spending more money to create confinement for these dangerous criminals and isolating them from society. The idea of these therapies and physiological treatments is to develop social and occupational skills so such people can slowly reenter our society and reintegrate themselves as one of the normal people. But will that actually happen? And how will many citizens react to such a procedure?

 

Despite the fact that therapy may be an effective method to treat these prisoners, there are also downfalls as well. It is expensive to hire so many physiologists and psychiatrists to treat these patients. But the most important point to consider is why we have punishments. Without punishments, would our laws be effective? Punishments serve to “express society’s view of the relative severity of crimes.” The absence of punishments would undermine the purpose of the law. The law gives the precedents that citizens need to follow and set the expectations of what citizens should and should not do. The most efficient and effective way would be a way to integrate both punishment and therapy, but until researchers find a way, punishment and incarceration will remain in place.

 

 

http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3863&context=lcp

 

http://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug03/rehab.aspx

Life Advice

tom-attwater

Most parents would do anything for their children. Tom Attwater is just one of those parents. He will do anything to save his dying daughter even if it means giving up his own life for her. He is trying to raise $820,000 for his daughter, Kelli’s cancer treatment and vows that getting that money for her treatment is the most important item on his list of agenda even if it means sacrificing his own treatment. Tom is dying from a brain tumor, but he is putting all his attention and money towards his daughter. He knows that he won’t have much longer to live so he decides to write a short letter that comprises life lessons that we all need in our lives.

  1. School’s important but so is fun– It’s always important to try your best and work hard in school, but sometimes, we all need to enjoy the small things in life as well.
  2. Boys are actually quite nice– Sometimes you won’t what real love is until you find it. Have fun looking for it. You should choose boys with good values, manners and respect. If they can chat with the family around the dinner table and fit in, there’s a decent guy.
  3. Heartbreak happens– It hurts like Hell, and you will feel like the end of the world is here, but you’ll get over it. If you have a boy pal who’s always there for you when other boys come and go, don’t take him for granted. Maybe he cares for you, and maybe he is the one.
  4. Marriage should be the moment you know when you have indeed found the special someone– If you walk down the aisle and knows the person standing at the front loves you and cares about you more than anyone in the world, then you know he’s the one that will make you happy, hopefully for the rest of your life.
  5. It’s normal to argue you with your parents, but remember that they love you– Especially as a teenager, you and your parents will argue a lot. But parents always love us and know what’s best for us. Give a hug to your parents once in a while to show them how much you love them. When you’re a teenager, you think your parents are wrong and you’re right and know what you’re doing. But parents always have your best interests in their heart. Treat them well.
  6. Family over everything– Nothing is more important than our families and the values they instill in us. Nothing.
  7. Friends are always there for you– Treat them like you want to be treated. The Golden Rule, simple as that. Be nice to anyone else who helps you and never bully others.
  8. Do what you want in life– Careers are important, but you should do what makes you happy and do things that you enjoy. Life becomes much easier that way. It might take you a bit to find the right career, but it’s alright. One life, one chance.
  9. Remember your manners– Always say “Please” and “Thank You.” Always be polite, especially to elders.

10. Travel around the world- Travelling broadens the mind. See as much of the world as you can.

11. Be Happy– That’s it. Don’t forget to smile, and don’t dwell on the sad things.

12. Be Charitable– Always give back. Doing good deeds uplifts the soul. There are always people worse off than you. It doesn’t take a lot to do so much.

13. Always keep trying– Basically, never give up. Giving up is for losers.

14. Believe in yourself– Some people say you can’t do things, but you can decide if you can do it. If you want to do something, it’s nearly always possible. Just do your best.

And this last piece of advice is mine.

15. Enjoy Life– The small things that we take for granted may be the ones that matter most. We worry about school, we worry about our friends, we worry about money, we worry about health. But try to find those things that make you happy. Once you realize what makes you happy, life is easier. You learn to love yourself and others. Be happy.

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