Abolishing Death Penalty essays

Abolishing Death Penalty essays The death penalty in the United States should never be abolished. Each year there are about 250 people added to death row and, roughly, only 35 executed. The amount of terminations needs to increase dramatically. Many civilizations practiced barbaric punishments that place the prisoner in excruciating pain. However, capital punishment has become more humane by leaps and bounds in these past years and has been abrogated by several countries, though it has caused crime to rise in most cases. Regardless of anti-death advocates, I am firmly against its abating for a plethora of reasons. Nationwide, prisons cost an exorbitant amount of money to maintain and operate. Supplement that cost with new arrivals, medical costs, and repeat offenders. Youre looking at an estimated 1.5 billion dollars annually. The majority of these funds are withdrawn through taxes from everyday middle-class citizens like you and I. Only a miniscule fraction of these inmates are executed yearly. Due to the aforementioned fact, more prisons are being built around the country to accommodate the constant influx of convicts. Long and short term studies have proven that the vast majority of these criminals are released to only repeat their offense, soon after, and be returned to the facility that they just exited. A large percentage of prisoners cannot cope with the outside world after their release due to their incarceration period. On many occasions this has caused them to become extremely violent and, often times, commit a crime worse than the one they were imprisoned for. In every walk of life, in every part of the world, in every culture and civilization crimes against humanity are detested and combated in one way or another. Though, what most everyday people are unaware of is how luxurious our nations prison facilities are. If the steel bars, identical uniforms, and tranquilizer guns were taken away, they could be mistaken for ...

How to Format APA Citations

How to Format APA Citations How to Format APA Citations APA referencing – developed by the American Psychological Association – is used to cite sources in academic writing. But how does this system work? In this post, we take a look at APA citations, how to quote sources, and a few variations of the basic citation format you may need to know. 1. Basic APA Citations APA uses author–date citations (a form of parenthetical referencing). This means you cite a source by giving the surname of its author and the date of its publication in brackets: Many people use APA citations (Schreiber, 2001). As shown above, APA citations place a comma between the author’s name and the year. If the author is already named in the text, meanwhile, you only need to give the year in brackets: Schreiber (2001) states that many people use APA citations. This is the basic APA citation format for all sources with a single author. 2. Sources with More than One Author For sources with two authors, include both surnames in citations. The names should be joined by an ampersand if they are cited in brackets, but not when they appear in the main text: Two is company (Schreiber Harkin, 2011). According to Schreiber and Harkin (2011), two is company. When a source has three to five authors, the format is the same as above for the first citation. For instance: Three is a crowd (Schreiber, Harkin, Murray Ptaszynski, 2014). However, if you were to cite the same source again, you would use the first name plus â€Å"et al.† to prevent repetition. For example: Nobody yet knows what comes after a crowd (Schreiber et al., 2014). For sources with more than five authors, meanwhile, you should cite the first named author plus â€Å"et al.† in all citations, including the first one (full author information is still given in the reference list). 3. Organizational Authors Some sources, such as the website of a business, won’t have a named individual as an author. When this occurs, you can name a company or organization as the author: Missing citations can affect your grades (Proofed, 2018). This is known as citing an â€Å"organizational author.† If there is no organizational author available either, though, you may have to give the title of the source in the citation instead of an author. 4. Quoting Sources If you are quoting a source, you need to give a pinpoint citation. This means citing the page number(s) of the quoted passage: It is important to â€Å"provide evidence in essays† (Schreiber, 2001, p. 24). As shown above, you should give the page number(s) after a comma and â€Å"p.† when the author’s name is part of the citation. However, you should cite the page number separately when the author has been named in the text instead: Schreiber (2001) says we must â€Å"provide evidence in essays† (p. 24). The key is that page numbers always appear after the quotation. 5. Audiovisual Sources If you want to quote an audiovisual source, you need to cite a timestamp: The interviewee claimed that â€Å"video is the future† (Harkin, 2017, 21:34). Here, for example, the â€Å"21:34† in the citation shows that the quote comes from 21 minutes and 34 seconds into the recording. This replaces the page numbers cited when quoting a print source. 6. Multiple Sources in One Citation You can, if required, cite more than one source in a single set of brackets. All you need to do is place a semicolon between the citations, which should be ordered alphabetically by author surname: There is strong agreement on this issue among experts (Harkin, 2001; Ptaszynski, 1998; Schreiber, 2010). Citing more than one source at the same time like this can be useful if you need to show that multiple sources support the same argument. 7. Multiple Sources by the Same Author from the Same Year For most sources, the author’s surname and year of publication will be enough for the reader to find it in the reference list. However, if you are citing more than one source by the same author from the same year, you will need to provide extra information to help the reader. APA referencing does this by placing a letter after the year of publication: Publishing success can vary by year (Harkin, 2001a). Some years may see an author release multiple works, whereas other years may see them publish nothing at all (Harkin, 2001b). Here, we have two sources by Harkin from 2001. As such, we label these â€Å"2001a† and â€Å"2001b† in citations and in the reference list so readers can tell which citation points to which source. The letter used depends on the position of the source in the reference list, with sources from the same year ordered alphabetically by title. So, if we have two sources by Harkin from 2001, one called Analyzing APA and another called Myths of Referencing, the former would come first in the reference list and be cited as ‘2001a’, while the latter would come second and be cited as â€Å"2001b.† 8. More than One Author with the Same Surname Finally, if you cite separate sources by two authors who happen to have the same surname, you should add a first initial to citations so that your reader can tell them apart: Some surnames are very common (A. Smith, 1984). This can lead to confusion between people with the same surname (B. Smith, 2004). Adding this initial will help readers find the sources in your reference list.

Feminism and International Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Feminism and International Security - Essay Example In the face of increased security threats emanating from terror activities and techno wars, feminist voices have risen to demand for inclusion of women in international security systems. This study seeks to investigate the relationship between feminism and international security. This will be done by answering the question: what is the impact of feminism on international security? A comprehensive analysis of different literature on studies done on feminism and international security will be conducted so as to shed more light on this issue. (Blanchard 70-119), discusses the functions of feminist scholarship in international security by reviewing feminist literature on international relations. According to the study, feminists in the international relations have not put adequate focus on the issue of military hardware leading to scanty information on war, gender and technology understudied. The study also notes the importance of inclusion of women in security matters by analyzing the practical aspect of feminist security theory in the combating global insecurity. According to Blanchard, international relations; the body of discipline tasked with theorizing the world only created a place for feminist analysts just recently. This could be the reason behind the few female led academic studies and findings on topics relating to politics, military and war issues. The fact that foreign policy and military affairs have been mostly conducted by men, the academic discipline tasked with analyzing this two areas have become largel y masculine. The assumptions, explanations and experiences focus on men making it difficult for women to find scholarly materials on women experiences. According to (Pettman 19-56), historically women have played second fiddle to men in the decision making process on the global platform. Women have continually been rendered insecure through acts of sexual violence, gendered division of labour and

Persuasive synthesis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Persuasive synthesis - Essay Example They are treated as interesting subjects for study and they are not considered human beings anymore, but rather subjects for research. According to the guidelines set by Papadimos and his colleagues, patient care in the movie, â€Å"Wit† (2001), was partially effectively given because Dr. Kelekian discussed the treatment with the patient and was frank with her about the possible results of the extremely aggressive treatment that was presented. However, the doctors did not discuss with the patient her end-of-life plan. Although with Vivian Bearing’s wit, she was able to read between the lines and understand that the treatment was not working because the cancer cells were just spreading in other parts of the patient’s body, the doctors did not directly discuss things with her. Moreover, it took the courage of a nurse to consult with the patient about the issue of the patient’s dying for her to think about what she would choose the doctors to do in case her h eart stops. Since Dr. Kelekian and his partner were very interested in studying the patient’s case, one cannot help but question their interest in not discussing the patient’s end-of-life plan. Moreover, the doctors failed to recognize dying symptoms such as extreme agony. In one of the doctor’s visit to the patient’s room who was obviously in torment, the physician asked Ms. Bearing if she was in pain and the patient found it ridiculous. Nevertheless, the nurse observed such flaws of the doctors and did her best to provide the patient with the care that she deserved as a human being. Byrne claims that metaphors are also used not only in literature but also in understanding what patients go through. Since not all people go through the same circumstances, not everyone would be able to understand what patients would be going through. However, with the use of metaphors, one could perhaps have a glimpse of the agonies of sicknesses and therefore understand wh at the patient longs for. Henceforth, the caregiver could effectively provide the necessary care and understanding to the patient. On the other hand, metaphor can also be used by doctors to explain the jargons of the medical world to the patient. In the aforementioned movie, Dr. Jason easily used metaphors to explain Ms. Bearing’s health conditions to her and being a literary scholar, the patient was quick to understand the explanation. As a result, there was a point wherein the doctor and the patient had an intellectual sharing about their own professions which gave Bearing new perspectives. Pope Benedict in his speech in 2007 stressed that more palliative care centers are needed to â€Å"provide integral care, offering the sick the human assistance and spiritual accompaniment they need†. Indeed, hospitals should not be just a place where patients are admitted and studied like animals. Rather, they should be treated with all their dignity intact despite the possibilit ies of recovering or dying. In the movie, doctors were careless about the rights of the patient to be treated well because she was not give the care and spiritual assistance a human being needs. This made the patient look back to the times when she was strong and full of health. Like the doctors, she lacked sensitivity to human needs. She was disciplined in her manners and demanded the same from her students. She regretted how she treated other people and wished she would have been a little kinder to them. Eventually, this helped

Current ethical issue of abortion

Current ethical issue of abortion Abortion in relation to Natural Moral Law and Utilitarian Ethics Aran Cauchi The current ethical issue of abortion is a broad and complex ethical issue which can be approached from many moral and ethical directions. Two such directions can be the deontological Natural Moral Law and the teleological or consequentialist Utilitarian ethics. Abortion, from the Latin aborior, to pass away, is an induced termination of a pregnancy. Historically, as today, an abortion is the focal point of much controversy. The laws governing abortion have changed considerably in the last fifty years to accommodate abortion as an option for a pregnant woman. A landmark US case giving a mother right to wilful abortion occurred in 1973 set in motion by a woman called Jane Roe in Dallas, Texas. Roe wished to terminate her pregnancy, but in Texas at the time, only victims of rape or incest could procure a legal abortion. The case reached the Supreme Court where the judges ruled that abortion was a constitutional right to women, overturning laws in every state which denied abortion to women through medically qualified doctors. Abortion is now legally allowed in many western countries for women. Since the legality of abortions came into effect, much debate has occurred from opposite so called pro-choice and pro-life groups, gathering many argumen ts from both deontological and teleological ethics. Utilitarianismis the idea that themoral worthof an action is determined solely by its contribution to overallutility: that is, its contribution to happiness or pleasure as summed among all people.[1] Utilitarianism places no emphasis on whether an action is right or wrong, right is only so once the pleasure has been decided to outweigh the pain in the circumstances resulting from the decision. Pleasure, in early Utilitarian thinking, was only concerned with the physical, e.g. being well fed. John Stuart Mill later argued that pleasure was also quantifiable in intellectual and spiritual terms. These higher pleasures he argued outweighed the lower pleasures. Mill proposed, for example being well fed, at the expense of a mans spirituality was a lesser pleasure, and in effect, not as right as a spiritually enlightened man who was hungry. The hungry man experiences higher pleasure, as spiritual enlightenment lasts significantly longer than the feeling of being well fed. Consequentialist Utilitarians would argue that abortion is an entirely neutral act. The consequences resulting from the abortion determine the rightness. A specific system of measuring the pleasure against pain can be utilised called Hedonic Calculus. Hedonic Calculus first proposed by Jeremy Bentham, measures pleasure/pain through eight categories: Certainty Duration Extent Intensity Remoteness Richness Purity[2] This calculus subjectively determines if the pain outweighs the pleasure in a scenario of a potential abortion. A mother may need an abortion to save her own life if it is in peril due to her pregnancy, she cannot afford to leave her children motherless. This scenario, shown through Hedonic Calculus allows abortion to be the right choice as 1. There is a high certainty the mother will die, 2. The duration of mourning for the family would be very long as would the duration of risk to her other children, 3. The pain and suffering for her surviving family would be very great and so on. A different scenario in which the mother seeks an abortion so she can go on a holiday would be morally wrong as from categories: 2. the pleasure of a child will last years compared to that of a comparatively short holiday, 4. The intensity of the pleasure of a child is much greater and higher significance as it is emotional and spiritual than a physical and emotional holiday. The taking of a life can be justified in Utilitarianism as there are no standing rules of what is right or wrong for a general scenario, i.e. abortion. Every circumstance is different and warrants a separate evaluation to determine the correct action. Natural law is a branch of deontological ethics, deon meaning duty in Latin. Natural lawor thelaw of natureis a theory that posits the existence of a law whose content is set bynatureand that therefore has validity everywhere.[3] These laws, created by God, are discernible to all peoples and are thought of as moral absolutes, natural moral law theory implies that wediscovermorality we do notinventit,'(J.P. Moreland, What Is Natural Moral Law). It is mans duty to be rational, and as God is rational too, it is rational that humans must love God. Thomas Aquinas, a figurehead for natural moral law proposed five primary precepts and other secondary precepts. The primary precepts proposed where: The continuation of the species through procreation The education of children The desire to live in society The worship of God The preservation of the self These precepts are considered in natural moral law to be the most basic aspirations of all humans. Aquinas believed that all humans wished to do good and follow the precepts but through ignorance to the Natural Moral Law, some could do wrong. Aquinas argued that good ethical decisions could be arrived at by reason alone. Humans have the power of deducing what is good and what is wrong through application of their conscience. Natural Law, being deontological, imposes inalienable rules that cannot be broken. Natural Law can be seen as order provided by nature which exists for a purpose. A common criticism of Utilitarianism would be the difficulty of its real world application. The theory of a decision may be morally sound, but the limitless unexpected permutations prevent proper ethical conduct from occurring once theory is put to practice. The Tribunal of the Holy Office, a catholic authority was once queried on the 4th of May, 1898 as to whether a foetus was allowed to be removed from its womb before natural course did so. The tribunal resolved that there was no exception to natural birth, even inducing premature labour with the intention of saving the babys life. However, if life saving surgery were to be performed on the mother, which would have consequences on the growing foetus, it should not be maintained that the fetal(sic)lifeis thereby directly attacked. Theevilis not made a means to obtain thegoodeffect; for this would be to doevilthatgoodmight come of it.'[4] This fulfils the Natural Law requirement of the act of being good as separate from the concept of doing good. To be morally correct, one must not embark on a course of action which is right purely to obtain an evil or vain end. The right must be to cause neutral or correct consequences. This certainty of rules and moral action allows the system of Natural Law to be an unquestionable authority if placed alongside Utilitarian ethics which are in permanent flux. The Catholic Church supports the notion of ensoulment, where at conception a foetus is given a soul by God. A soul is viewed as a separate form to the physical body, but is linked inextricably until death. The act of abortion goes against the first precept of Natural Law, denying the continuation of the species through abortion. Even if that abortion would lead to saving a life, the authority to kill a foetus does not rest in humans hands. It is inhumane to end the life of a baby, as natural law theory holds;one may never directly intend to kill an innocent human being[5]. After conception, Natural Law argues that the foetus is human so is equal in right to life as its mother. There is no greater worth placed on the mother living than the child as both are considered equal. Utilitarianism would argue against the inflexibility of the rules of Natural Law regarding to the preservation of a childs life. Utilitarians would argue that greater suffering may be caused by the preservation of a foetus life. The mother of the child may be a chronic drug addict, and the chances of the baby growing up disadvantaged are high. It could be argued that the mother may not be fit to care for a child and the child would suffer a hard life, through mal-parenting and possible separation from the mother in later years. A possible course of action would be a wilful abortion by the mother to prevent suffering of a child. The rigidity of Natural Law allows no exceptions to be made, even if the pleasure resulting from an abortion vastly outweighs the pain. This rigidity of laws could cause unnecessary harm to many people. Correct decision making can stem from both deontological and consequentialist ethics. While Natural Moral Law argues that the laws of nature are absolute, Utilitarianism argues that no laws constantly serve the greatest good, and only through flexibility can good be achieved. The primary precepts of Natural Law indicate clearly that abortion is wrong so far as the taking of an innocent life, and interrupting the natural result of procreation. Utilitarianism states that abortion, like all actions is an entirely neutral act until the consequences are evaluated. Both ethical systems allow an opportunity for an individual to formulate an understanding of, and ethically right decision on abortion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism http://tutor2u.net/blog/index.php/religious-studies/comments/abortion-and-ethical-theory/ Natural Law,International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01046b.htm http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/irv/irv_08natlaw.html

Rubin Hurricane Carter: Guilty Until Proven Innocent Essay -- Court Mo

Rubin Hurricane Carter: Guilty Until Proven Innocent '"I don't belong here and I am not going to play their game.' 'If I were to cooperate in all these things, it would be as if I were saying, 'I'm a guilty man, and I am not a guilty man"' (New Jersey). The case of Rubin (Hurricane) Carter has been a heated issue for the last 34 years. In the last year a new movie, The Hurricane, starring Denzel Washington has once again brought this case to the foreground of discussion. The question argued has been is Rubin Carter innocent or guilty of the murders he allegedly committed on June 17, 1966 in the Lafayette Grill in Paterson, New Jersey. The proof is undeniable that Carter is innocent. He had an unfair trial where the police played a negative part, the prosecution suppressed information, and the court also worked against Carter. Although Rubin Carter is innocent of the crimes committed that fateful night in Paterson does not mean he was an angel. The biggest threat to Rubin's defense in this case was himself. Rubin Carter was born May 6, 1937 in Delawana, New Jersey. He grew up in the nearby town of Paterson (J.K.B. 7). Rubin was a strong-willed boy who learned to stand up to everyone as a child. James S. Hirsch, the author of Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter wrote, "the men in his family are not intimidated by threats" (60). In chapter 5 of his book, Hirsch explains how Rubin Carter learned to stand up against authority. Born with a stutter, he would fight anyone who dared to make fun of his speech-impediment. Carter once beat up his younger sister Rosalie's teacher when he saw him chasing her. He was expelled from school and beaten by his father. It was displays like this that caused Carter's father fear... ...'Deal' for Freedom in Murder Case." New York Times [New York] 4, Dec. 1975: 45:2. "Carter Lawyers Focus of Dispute." New York Times [New York] 29, Jan. 1975: 39:1. Hirsch, James S. Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2000. J.K.B. "Carter, Rubin." Current Biography May 2000: 6-14. "Lawyers for Carter Say Judge Erred on Appeal." New York Times [New York] 28, Jan. 1975: 54:7. Massaquoi, Hans J. "Hurricane Carter: I Was Framed For Murder!" Ebony Dec. 1974: 30: 174-6+. "New Jersey Journal." New York Times [New York] 5, Feb. 1984: XI 3:1. "Police Record Backs Carter's Story." New York Times [New York] 23, Oct. 1975: 83:4. "Reversal is Won By Rubin Carter In Murder Case." New York Times [New York] 8, Nov. 1985: "Same Judge Gets Carter's Appeal." New York Times [New York] 31, Jan. 1975: 37:8.

Creature of culture Essay

â€Å"If man created culture then how can man be a creature of culture?† There are millions of people on this planet, and part of anthropology is to categorize these millions into smaller, well-defined groups. These groups are divided based on language, country of residence, race and other characteristics, which differentiate one group of people from another. They are labeled as cultures, and characterized by many anthropologists as having a set of learned behaviors, morals, customs and ideas that they share as members of a particular society (Grolier’s Encyclopedia, 1998). The problem is that cultures are diverse, population move in and out of countries bringing the influences of other cultures. A single country may vary from border to border due to the influences of its neighbors. There are also variations in culture, which depend on class or caste. In the movie Caste at Birth it is established that an individual cannot change their caste, and although status is socially defined, the relative importance of that status is a matter of opinion. Factors such as environment or an individual event can change aspects of culture. Furthermore, there is no definition that would successfully demonstrate that man is a creature of culture. Language and communication are critical elements in a culture. Through the use of language, we express our beliefs, expectations and standards. A person cannot fully understand a culture without fully understanding the language of that culture. Essentially, without fully understanding a language, or by speaking variations of the same language, one will experience the culture differently and may create a sub-culture of beliefs. These beliefs may be close, but not identical to those of the greater population. Since social identity is learned through language, individuals who speak Gaelic regularly are going to establish a social identity that varies with those who speak English. In the aforementioned definition of culture, emphasis has been placed on the word â€Å"shared†, but clearly not all individuals share the same learned behaviors and ideas. Education and communication are often interrelated with many other factors, such as class. In every culture, education is directly related to class. Simply put, the higher classes have better education. Evidently, communication is key to understanding and interpreting the norms  and concepts of any given culture. Since there are so many different levels on which individuals can communicate, it is not feasible that everyone is learning the same behaviors and ideas, even when they are immersed in the same culture. Individuals in a culture share many similar behaviors beyond those, which are innate, however, there are always exceptions. Such instances are the behaviors of an individual who is mentally challenged or those of a criminal. The behaviors of a criminal break social rules, and as a result, they are punished. Some of these behaviors are psychological, but others are learned. Not everyone in a culture is treated identically by peers and caregivers. It was previously mentioned that education differs from one class to the next. It is not only institutionalized education that differs, but also the learning that goes on through the performance of daily tasks. Human beings are social creatures and individual’s behaviors and ideas develop through socializing with a variety of sources on a daily basis. Humans are not born knowing who they are, they have the ability to change and interact with their environment to become all different kinds of people depending on their culture.