Programs for Incarcerated Women Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Programs for Incarcerated Women - Research Paper Example Previously, women in prison were arrested and incarcerated for violent crimes such as murder, poisoning and arson, but the last few decades saw that a growing number of new female inmates were inside a prison for non-violent crimes, meaning these are crimes which are economic in nature. This is not a surprising fact, given that a lot of female inmates belong to racial and ethnic or other minorities such as those belonging to the lower socio-economic classes or being uneducated. The negative effect of incarcerated mothers gave rise to innovative ideas and approaches when it comes to dealing with children whose mothers are in prison. Special attention was paid to their daughters, and that is how the Girl Scouts of the USA came out with their â€Å"Girl Scouts Beyond Bars† program which made a positive influence on people who would otherwise had lost hope. Keywords: daughters, drugs, economic, girl scouts, incarcerated, women in prison Introduction The issue of women in prison is a very sensitive topic for most people. Only lately has it caught the attention of policy makers, politicians and other interested parties because of the so-called women's movement, or feminism. The previous research on this subject was limited to the gender gap among highly visible political issues such as voting preferences between males and females, social equality discussions at the workplace, abortion rights and gender differences in attitudes towards crime and punishment. Some studies showed that most women, who feel that they are more vulnerable to crime due to their enhanced feelings of insecurity, usually favor a harsher and more severe punishment for convicted offenders to serve as deterrence. Female attitudes with regard to appropriate punishments include a longer prison sentence and capital punishment. The prevailing psychology in this regard is that punishment is used as deterrence for potential crime offenders and that the said punishment will somehow reduce crime in society. Women feel particularly vulnerable when it comes to certain crimes in which by their very nature, women are the predominant victims, such as domestic violence and rape. A general perception is that the two sexes have a different attitude towards crime and punishment, with women oriented to more â€Å"ethic in care† while men prefer the â€Å"ethic in equity of justice† by which criminals must be punished immediately with enough severity, sometimes by applying death penalty. Only lately has the issue of women in prison been brought out into the open and included in the public discourse. The feminists have done quite a job in highlighting the problems of women in prison, including the racial and economic differences found to be inherent in the criminal justice system, and in particular, how female prisoners fare. This topic is the subject of this paper. Discussion The previous focus of the women's movement had been on the perceived vulnerability of women to cert ain crimes targeting them specifically. This feeling of fear and insecurity is of a great consequence in terms of their feeling and perception as potential victims. However, a new feminist focus today is one on the problem of women ending up in prisons and all the other issues related to female incarceration. The prior years had been focused on women as victims, but this new tack in public discourse has now shifted to women as

Virginia Woolf Essay Example for Free

Virginia Woolf Essay Virginia Woolf, and educated woman, described two luncheons at a male and female college. The intended audience of both passages is educated men who can make a change. Virginia Woolf demonstrates the differences in quality of education between men and women through narrative structure, selection of detail, and tone in order to garner support to change the quality of education for female students. The quality of food served at the men’s college reflects the quality of the education. For example, Woolf describes her experience of the luncheon at the men’s college through narrative structure, â€Å"lunch†¦began with soles, sunk in a deep dish† (10-11). The moment the luncheon starts, Woolf is impressed with how much effort is put into the food. Describing how much effort people went through leaves the intended audience confident. Also the selection of detail in the passages supports the authors purpose by illustrating every food item, â€Å"potatoes, thin as coins† (18). The precision of the food item is mentioned through a simile to emphasize the importance of men in society. Enhancing the importance of men assists the author by proving how much people focus on what men want; putting all their energy to ensure that the education provided at the men’s college is exceptional quality. Woolf’s erudite tone towards the luncheon also reflects how impressed she was with the conversations surround her, â€Å"brilliance, as it pops in and out upon our lips† (29). The author supports her purpose through the erudite tone in order to present the intelligence surrounding her. The brilliant conversation Woolf hears at the luncheon is presented through personification, which represents the level of intelligence male students attending the college has from the quality of their education. Men will always have an advantage in society no matter if there is equality between men and women. Women earned equal rights as men, but there is a significant difference between the qualities of education, which Woolf explains through her experience at the women’s college luncheon. Woolf describes her meal from the beginning as â€Å"a plain gravy soup† (41-42) and ending with â€Å"everybody scraped their chairs back† (62-63). Right from the start there is nothing special about the luncheon at the women’s college. The whole lunch is characterized from the use of imagery to create the effect of the unmotivated students at the women’s college, presenting to the audience that there is a clear difference in quality of education. The selection of detail adds emphasis on the simplicity of the meal, â€Å"beef with†¦greens and potatoes† (45-46). There is nothing special about the meal, which also involves the length of the passage being concise, but still no one complains because it still is â€Å"†¦nature’s daily food†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (50). This help the author to further prove people do not pay close attention to the quality of female education. In addition to selection of detail, the morose tone adds to the bland luncheon, that consisted of no conversation at all, â€Å" That was all. The meal was over† (62-63). Woolf is simply pointing out the women who attend the college are not motivated. The quality of education the women are receiving may be adequate however; the education could become great if people paid more attention to it. Although women have equal rights as men, their quality in rights is not the same. Both the men and women’s college provided an education, but there is a difference in the quality of education provided. The narrative style Woolf writes for the male college represents an elegant lifestyle, while the women’s represents old fashion lifestyle, â€Å"To call it pudding†¦would be an insult†(23-24), â€Å"sprouts†¦ yellowed at the edge† (47-48). The difference supports the author’s purpose, emphasizing the contrast in foods as a metaphor for the difference in education. Men have always dominated society and sadly it is hard to have men and women become equal partners in society; leaving the intended audience aware of women’s place in society through Woolf’s own awareness of the change. Describing the food in detail described the elaborate food provided for the men while the women had plain food â€Å"the partridges†¦came wit all their retinue†(16-17), â€Å"prunes and custard followed† (52). The selection of detail indicates that people pay more attention to men than to women by giving men the best of the best and women what is considered as ordinary. The technique of personification describing the partridges creates a picture in the audience’s mind on how grand the meal is by saying the food had an entourage. Lastly there is a shift in tone going from enlightening â€Å"all are going to heaven† (33) to dreary â€Å" soon the hall was emptied† (63-64). The students at the male college are given plenty of support that they think they are the best; on the other hand the students at the women’s college go on with their daily lives as individuals. After leaving the luncheon at the men’s college Woolf felt amazing which is the complete opposite of what she felt leaving the women’s luncheon. Although the students at the women’s college eat together, they eat and live as individuals rather than a community like the men’s c ollege. Although it may seem like men and women have equal rights, which is not the complete truth. Virginia Woolf uses her experience of two complete opposite luncheons at a male and female college to persuade the audience that there is no equality in the quality of education.

The Expatriates of the 1920s :: American America History

The Expatriates of the 1920's 1ex†¢pa†¢tri†¢ate- 1: to withdraw (oneself) from residence in or allegiance to one's native country 2: intransitive senses: to leave one's native country to live elsewhere; also: to renounce allegiance to one's native country Merriam-Webster Dictionary Nothing before, or since has equaled the mass expatriation of the 1920's. It was as if a great draft of wind picked up these very peculiar people and dropped them off in a European life style. Europe and the rest of the world were beginning to see a large population of these American expatriates. "... the younger and footloose intellectuals went streaming up the longest gangplank in the world." (Cowley 79) Along with the intellectuals went the wealthy à ©lite, the recent college graduates, the art students, and the recent war veterans aptly called "The Lost Generation". Although many went all over the world, the largest density of these expatriates was in France. "Indeed, to young writers like ourselves, a long sojourn in France was almost a pilgrimage to the Holy Land." (Cowley 102) Many expatriates flocked to Paris to follow forerunners in the movement such as Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein. Most of the expatriates wished to have an introduction to Gertrude Stein at her apartment. There they would discuss art, literature, and the ideals of America for hours on end. Gertrude Stein characterized the expatriates' view of America when she said, "America is my country, and Paris is my home town". (Stein) This idea, of having a place that you consider your home, but not your homeland, is the basis of the expatriate movement. The writing of this era was influenced by a few things. With the new ideas of America, there also came much criticism of it to. After World War One, many Americans became somewhat dissatisfied with the way that their own country's people and leaders acted. This was also a catalyst in the massive expatriation that occurred. Also, it is speculated that many war veterans could have developed various and unknown disorders caused by the type of warfare in which they had taken part. The optimistic culture of The Roaring Twenties also could have been a factor in the attitudes towards America and the writing that developed from it. Through a close study of the Expatriates, I will propose this list of probable influences towards the attitudes and writing that occurred. 1.) World War One, and the physical affects that it created among American and European Citizens.

Task Switching

Running Head: Time Cost, Task-Switching, Repeating Tasks Task Switching Cost’s Time Brooklyn College City University of New York Abstract A replication of Task Switching Monsell 2003 experiment was done, which predicts a time cost when switching tasks. 18 participants had to complete 100 randomized trials, switching between task-repeat and task-switching trials. Reaction Times (RT) were recorded and reflected by experimenters, to determine that there is a time cost involved when switching tasks as opposed to repeating the same task. Task-Switching Costs TimeMany people take pride in the fact that they can multitask. A study â€Å"Task Switching† conducted by Monsell concluded that multitasking, or switching between tasks actually costs us time. Our brain is complicated machinery, which requires a specific program for a specific task to be loaded in to our computer, the brain, to complete a task. Switching between tasks takes more time than repeating the same task. Monse ll demonstrated that when presented with one task, our brain responds faster in completing the task, rather than switching between tasks.In a task-switching experiment subjects are first pretrained on two or more simple tasks afforded by a set of stimuli. Each task requires attention to, and classification of, a different element or attribute of the stimulus or retrieval from memory or computation of a different property of the stimulus. (eg. , Monsell 2003) In the study the subjects were presented with a series of trials (eg. , Monsell 2003) and completed the task at hand on a random trial basis. The participants had to repeat the same task or switch between tasks to complete each trial.By conducting these trials the researchers tried to examine performance or brain activation on and following trials when the task changes for evidence of extra processing demands that are associated with the need to reconfigure task-set (eg. , Monsell 2003) The study concluded our brain requires a à ¢â‚¬Å"task-set reconfiguration† a sort of mental â€Å"gear changing† (eg. , Monsell 2003) In prospective this means that our brain loads a different program every time we need to complete a separate task.When switching between tasks our brain goes between two different programs one for example for counting and one for reading, therefore costing us time to switch between these two tasks. In this experiment we tried to replicate the Monsell 2003 Task Switching experiment. 18 Participants took a brief task-switching test via program Revolution Maker ©. Each trial was randomly assigned. The participants were presented with numbers one through nine and on each trial had to react to the number, to identify either its odd or even or if the magnitude was either less than 5 or more than 5.We hypothesis that when individuals are engaged in a cognitive task there is a time cost that occurs when asked to switch between tasks as opposed to repeating tasks. Methods Participants: 1 8 undergraduate students from Brooklyn College participated in this study. Materials: A task switching experiment designed on the computer program Revolution Maker © Procedure: Participants were led to an isolated lab room were they participated in a task-switching experiment. They were involved in 2 tasks a magnitude test and an odd even task.There was 100 randomly assigned trials 50% task-switch and 50% task-repeat that were completed by the participants. There were different type keys presented to the participants such as: z for an odd number, x for an even number, m for a number (>) than 5, and n for a number (

Insanity Defense: Why Should It Essay

Abstract The author of this paper argues several reasons why the insanity plea should be changed or either eliminated. The reasons are considered and supported by evidence. The conclusion states that insanity should be altered or eliminated for the safety and well being of society. Insanity Defense: Why Should It Be Abolished Or Altered Introduction The insanity defense asserts that the criminal defendant is not guilty by reason of insanity. This theory should be abolished or altered. The proposal behind the defense is people who are insane cannot have the knowledge required to perform a criminal act because they either do not know that act is wrong or cannot control their actions even when they understand the act is wrong, but this theory is controversial because insanity is difficult to define, and the circumstances in which insanity can be used to excuse criminal responsibility are difficult to define. History And Background The theory of the insanity defense has been around since ancient Greece and Rome. The theory was put in to use by Edward II. Under the English common law, a person was declared insane if their mental capacity was no more than a so-called â€Å"wild beast†. The first insanity trials began in 1724, those who  were insane and under the age of 14 were found not guilty in the court of law. (Wiki 2011) This eventually led to any criminal or defendant being able to use the plea to excuse the act that had been committed. Though the act was in place it wasn’t upheld in court and wasn’t problem at the time. In 1986 (Ford v. Wainwright) the US Supreme court upheld the common law that the insane cannot be executed. It also stated that a person under the death penalty is to be given a competency evaluation and a hearing in court on his or her chances to be executed. In Wainwright v. Greenfield the prosecutor can argue that a person’s silence during the readingâ€℠¢s of their Miranda rights is evidence of insanity. (Wiki 2011) The court gives jurisdiction for insanity in different rules or a combination of them. The â€Å"M’Nagthen rule† is where the defendant either did not understand what he or she did or failed to distinguish right from wrong, because the disease of the mind. The â€Å"Irresistible Impulse† test as a result of mental disease, defendant was unable to control his impulses, which led to the crime committed. The â€Å"Durham Rule† regardless of any diagnosis, defendant’s mental defect resulted in the criminal act. Finally the â€Å"Model Penal Code† due to the diagnosed mentally ill defendant either failed to understand the crime of his or her acts or was unable to act within the confines of the law. (Lally 1997)) The defense declares that a criminal defendant should not be guilty because the defendant is insane. Whens someone commits a crime in today’s society he or she may use mental illness as a defense, know as insanity plea or insanity defense (Dubsinki 1986). What the insanity defense does is try to give the criminal a so-called fair trial. Even if the crime committed is very extreme and seems to be unruly. The problem arises where do we draw the line for these criminals. What principle is a person considered insane and how is the tested? Insanity defense has been a problem in recent years, and that all criminals have some sort of mental illness. The crime itself no matter how extreme questions the fact if it demonstrates insanity. It has been a major ordeal in our legal system today. If the criminals are considered insane and out of touch with reality, the justice system agrees to pass the trial and the criminals are entered into a mental hospital. (Carpenter 2011) Criminals are then found not guilty by reason of insanity. The Problem For instance, the problem with insanity defense is legal analysts examine each client or criminal from a legal angle, also conversing to different doctors as well as specialists. Each client has to undergo tests. They do not actually come up with scientific prove from the brain to say the person is either mentally ill or not. (Khan 2014) This is the hardest part of the insanity defense, determining whether or not that person is mentally insane or acting like it. How can a person who kills twelve people including women and children be allowed to live in mental hospital while the victim’s families suffer from the loss of their loved ones. Forensic psychiatrist Jonas Rappeport saw such pleas during his quarter century as chief medical officer of Baltimore’s Circuit Court said, â€Å"When you’ve got no better defense, that’s the way to go.†(White 2011) The fact is sometimes these criminals are using the insanity defense to avoid the death penalty and continuing to live life in prison or mental hospitals, and under some circumstances are released from the mental hospitals affirming the patients have been cured (Khan 2014). Any defendant can use the defense. Lorena Bobbitt argued she was temporarily insane when she severed her husband’s penis with a kitchen knife four years ago. She was released after three months of psychiatric evaluation. (Carpenter 2011) Crimes happen everyday, some crimes are inexcusable and those who commit them should be punished. The punishment should fit the crime if we do something that is equally as extreme as take a life from another person, we should not be allowed to defend ourselves by insanity. Murder should go charged which is why the insanity plea should be altered or erased. It allows the criminals to go unpunished for their crime. Rebuttal There are however many criminals who do have some type of mental illness, but still are not eligible for the insanity plea. As shown in a recent survey of prison populations there are higher rates of mental illness and substance abuse among inmates than the general population. (Lally1997) The determining of insanity is very difficult and can inaccurate. If the person is clinically insane what principles do we use to penalize the individual for the crimes they committed? If he or she does not know right from wrong and if the person is out of touch with reality, under what circumstances is the plea suitable for the crime committed? An example would be if shoplifter was  charged for his or her crime and uses the insanity plea as a defense saying they weren’t in touch with reality, we would give that person a reduced sentence. If the person confirms to be insane they need to receive help, if we decided to put that person into a prison it would not help them what so ever. The insanity plea is a very controversial topic many people think it should be erased others think it should be altered. The difficulty of changing the plea is because of the determining if one is sane of not and under what right to do we have to choose the faith of another person. Resolution Accordingly resolution is the insanity plea should be erased or abolished because it’s a threat to the American people. Considering a large number of Americans feel the insanity plea should be erased or even altered to protect people’s own safety. (Dubsinki 1986) Using the insanity plea in a murder case and getting away with disproves the American people. Imagine the reaction people would feel if a murderer who just recently left the mental institution after pleading mentally insane were walking shoulder to shoulder to them. Insanity should not be used as a so-called excuse to avoid the punishment of the crime someone has committed. They should be punished for their actions they ch oose to do and neither the justice or court system should have a say in that. Even though the difficulty to prove sanity is questionable, the person should go through a broader series of tests and have evidence compelling towards insanity. (Harris 2013) If this person is sent to a mental hospital and then is considered cured or not a threat, he or she free to go which is wrong and corrupt. We should have firm standard for judging whether a person is mentally ill or not. Conclusion Thus, the plea should be altered or even erased in some circumstances. Even though some of crimes committed would result in a death penalty for those who murder and kill for no reason. If that person is insane, the punishments should fit the crime they have committed. If they are unaware of what they were doing and the result is being found not guilty, who is to say that they will not commit another crime again. Murder should be punished with death in my opinion and the crime should fit the punishment and there should be no alibi in the court system. If we let these people continue t o use this excuse eventually our jails and mental will be full and the government will be spending even more  money. (Harris 2013) Taking these so called mentally insane people off the streets will give America a safer conscious. References, Dubsinki, K. D. (1986, July 15). Insanity Defense. In Chicago Tribute. Retrieved March 28, 2014, from http://articles.chicagotribune.com Khan, Z. (2014, March 21). Interview by HK Khan [Personal Interview]. Insanity defense Harris, M. (2013, January 14). Insanity plea repeated. In The Baltimore Sun . Retrieved March 20, 2014, from http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2009-01-14/ Insanity defense (2011, April 11). In Wikipedia . Retrieved April 17, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insanity_defense Carpenter, P. (2011, December 29). Legal system needs to rethink insanity, related defense ploys. In The Morning Call . Retrieved April 17, 2014, from http://articles.mcall.com/ White, M. D. (2011, January 11). Debating the Insanity Defense. In Psychology Today . Retrieved April 16, 2014, from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ Lally, S. (1997, November 3). Drawing a Clear Line Between Criminals and the Criminally Insane. In Washington Post. Retrieved April 20, 2014, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/aron/expert1123.htm

Falkland Wars essays

Falkland Wars essays The history of the islands of the Falklands dates back to 500 years from today. The island has been a matter of utmost controversy, especially in the 18th century. Many nations have claimed their right to the island including the British, Argentines, French as well as the Spaniards. The Falkland Islands are located in the South of the Atlantic Ocean, more than two hundred and ninety miles east from the coast of the South American mainland[1]. The European nations which have been at constant wars at sea have been in a continuous conflict over the authority of different colonies or islands. This has been a routine since a number of years. However, due to the existence of numerous powers in the time, treaties were normally signed in order to settle disputes or conflicts. These treaties were clearly defined and they either transferred the ownership of the land back to the previous owner or transferred to the conquering nation. It majorly depended on the power of the nations at that particular time. The history of the Falkland Islands has been somewhat similar to this. John Davis, a British explorer has been known to be the 1st to set sail towards the islands. However, he initially set out to name some other land in the name of the British. On his way through, he sighted the Falkland Islands in 1592[2]. However, John Strong landed on the islands in 1690 and named the islands in the name of the treasurer of the navy at the time, Viscount Falkland. Strong sailed on after exploring the island. However, the history of the island has been known to remain vacant after that until the French set sail over them. The French initially discovered a colony in the East of the Falkland, at Port Louis in 1764[3]. The same year, the British explorer by the name of John Byron managed to establish a castle at the north of the West of the Falkland. This is when Byron claimed the island in the name of the Bri...

Free Essays on Rainmaker

2) Book Review â€Å"The Rainmaker† by John Grisham, is about a young lawyer named Rudy Baylor who is graduating from law school and needs a job. When the job that he is supposed to have is given to someone else, he finds himself having to settle for a job with a law firm that isn't exactly on its way up the success ladder. A lawyer named J. Lyman Stone runs it. His nickname is 'Bruiser'. Bruiser, as Rudy will later find out, is not only a lawyer, but also a crook and will have to go into hiding when a former business partner of his testifies before a grand jury. Rudy has to form a partnership with a man named Deck Shiflit who has gone to law school but failed the bar exam more times than one can count. Together the two men have to fight an insurance company called Great Benefit, which has denied their client who has cancer, funds for a bone marrow transplant. Rudy has to go up against a large law firm that represents Great Benefit. Rudy also becomes involved with a woman whose husband beats her. He must juggle the case, the girl, and his landlady. This book is a mix of action, suspense and drama; it will change readers' stereotype of lawyers. Various conflicts in this book all seem to go on at the same time. The beginning conflict is between Rudy and his classmates. He is upset at the hard work he has put in while his other rich classmates will easily find jobs for which he will have to struggle to accomplish. The young lawyer’s next conflict is with Leo F. Drumond the lead attorney for the Great Benefit defense who has sold out on his legal beliefs and obligations to win cases. As this conflict is being laid out, another comes in with the woman who is being beaten by her boyfriend. She doesn't want to leave him and Rudy must convince her that it is the only way for her to stay alive. Another part of the Great Benefit trial conflict comes out when the boy with the cancer dies. This escalates the empathetic feelings of the jury du... Free Essays on Rainmaker Free Essays on Rainmaker 2) Book Review â€Å"The Rainmaker† by John Grisham, is about a young lawyer named Rudy Baylor who is graduating from law school and needs a job. When the job that he is supposed to have is given to someone else, he finds himself having to settle for a job with a law firm that isn't exactly on its way up the success ladder. A lawyer named J. Lyman Stone runs it. His nickname is 'Bruiser'. Bruiser, as Rudy will later find out, is not only a lawyer, but also a crook and will have to go into hiding when a former business partner of his testifies before a grand jury. Rudy has to form a partnership with a man named Deck Shiflit who has gone to law school but failed the bar exam more times than one can count. Together the two men have to fight an insurance company called Great Benefit, which has denied their client who has cancer, funds for a bone marrow transplant. Rudy has to go up against a large law firm that represents Great Benefit. Rudy also becomes involved with a woman whose husband beats her. He must juggle the case, the girl, and his landlady. This book is a mix of action, suspense and drama; it will change readers' stereotype of lawyers. Various conflicts in this book all seem to go on at the same time. The beginning conflict is between Rudy and his classmates. He is upset at the hard work he has put in while his other rich classmates will easily find jobs for which he will have to struggle to accomplish. The young lawyer’s next conflict is with Leo F. Drumond the lead attorney for the Great Benefit defense who has sold out on his legal beliefs and obligations to win cases. As this conflict is being laid out, another comes in with the woman who is being beaten by her boyfriend. She doesn't want to leave him and Rudy must convince her that it is the only way for her to stay alive. Another part of the Great Benefit trial conflict comes out when the boy with the cancer dies. This escalates the empathetic feelings of the jury du...