Characteristics of Criminal Homicides :: essays research papers

Michael Woodworth and Stephen Porter. (August 2002). In Cold Blood: Characteristics of Criminal Homicides as a Function of Psychopathy. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol. 111, No. 3, 436-445. Overview   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This study examined the correlation between psychopathy and the characteristics of criminal homicides committed by offenders. Problem   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"It was hypothesized that the homicides committed by psychopathic offenders would be more likely to be primarily instrumental (I.e., associated with premeditation, motivated by an external goal, and not preceded by a potent affective reaction) or â€Å"cold-blooded† in nature (Pg. 436).† However, homicides committed by nonpsychopaths often would be â€Å"crimes of passion† associated with a high level of impulsivity/reactivity and emotionality. Method   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A sample of 125 Canadian offenders were selected for the study. The entire sample was examined in two different ways. First, dual coding was used on a random selection of 21 offenders. These people were asked questions and scored a number of points depending on their responses. All file information on these offenders were made available to the blind coder. Second, a set of 33 cases were randomly selected for dual coding. These cases were different because all details were not made available to the blind coder. Results   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The results confirmed the hypothesis; â€Å"homicides committed by psychopathic offenders were more instrumental than homicides by nonpsychopaths. Almost all (93.3%) of the homicides by psychopaths were primarily instrumental in nature compared with 48.4% of the homicides by nonpsychopaths (Pg. 436).† Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The authors’ conclusions from their study went to prove what they believed to be the outcome. Nothing was found to be shocking or a surprise when reviewing the end results.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I feel the authors conclusions â€Å"hit the nail right on the head.

Why Should We Legalize Gay Marriage?

Why should we legalize gay marriage? Or, in other words, why isn't gay marriage legalized already? Same-sex marriage is just about as humane as opposite-sex marriage. One in ten people are gay. Seems perfectly normal to me. Is it normal to you? And anyway, why don't people like two gays marrying? Let's start out with the facts. The evidence. The nitty-gritty of all this debate. One out of ten people are gay or lesbian. So there's about twenty-eight people in this class, am I right? So that's at least two people that are gay, technically. But if your friend was gay, would you hate them for it?Would you turn around to be the face of injustice and all that is unfair? Would you be the person translating hate to your friend because he or she is homosexual? Would you be the so-called ‘friend' that is the image of degrading human rights? There's this other statement too, which really gets me. A heterosexual woman can get four or five marriages in her life, when two same-sex lovers can 't even get one. How does this work? Oh, religion, religion, religion, you crack us up in so many ways. Apparently, in the Bible, gay marriage is sin. Yet, you say: â€Å"God loves everyone. Yet, it's alright to SELL your children into slavery. Yet, it's alright to DISCRIMINATE someone because he or she likes the same sex. In some cases, religious people stroll around the streets of England with signs stating: â€Å"GOD HATES FAGS. † Is this fair? As Russell Howard once said: â€Å"Jesus isn't gay or straight, he's bisexual because he's in everyone. † What I'm about to say is a true story. Imagine a twenty-one year old student, blonde hair, brown yes, almost six feet in height and has a chiselled chin. This young lad's name is Matthew Shepard.Your average university student, am I right? One the night/morning of the 6th and 7th of October, he was attacked and brutally tortured. He passed away on the 12th of October from fatal head injuries. During the trail, witnesses expressed that Matthew was homosexual. Ask yourselves, is it right to slaughter an innocent person because they like the same gender? The two murderers, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson robbed, pistol-whipped and tortured Matthew, and then tied him to a fence in a rural area, leaving him to rot and bleed to death all on his own.After this, Aaron and Russell acquired Matthew's home address and were intending to burglarize his own home. My fellow students, look at me in the eyes, is this more humane than accepting your friend for being gay? Bullying is a common occurrence when students and teenagers admit they are homosexual. Stupid expressions like: â€Å"OI FAG, GO CRY ON YOUR BOYFRIEND'S SHOULDER! † can emotionally disturb someone. A so-called joke such as: â€Å"Eww, lok, there's the local lezzo. † can tear someone to pieces. Are you going to be that self-centered, halfwit who bullies someone because of their sexuality?Let me tell you this, this is one of the stu pidest mistakes you can make in life. Bullying someone is low. In fact, you could high-five the Devil because you stooped that low. In some cases, bullying takes a unusual turn of events and the victim bites back. Like Frankie Boyle said: â€Å"I would have loved to have a gay dad. Do you remember at school, there were always kids saying â€Å"My dad's bigger than your dad, my dad will batter your dad! † â€Å"So what? My dad will have sex with your dad. And your dad will enjoy it. â€Å"I envision a world where people can openly admit they are gay without feeling oppressed or scared of the reaction. I envision a world wherein homophobia ceases to exist. I envision a world where a same-sex marriage occurs without any fuss from religion and/or politics. I envsion a world where families will not abuse their child for being homosexual. This is why we should legalize gay marriage. By doing this, you are bringing more equality to the world, and you are bringing smiles to the fa ces of those who can now marry their dearly beloved.By accepting homosexuality instead of denying it, we are now creating a healthier atmosphere for all. I want to go home next week thinking that we have made a change for the lesbian, bisexual, gay and transsexual community for all. So, please, next time you see a gay or lesbian couple walking down the street, accept them and don't shout crude words at them. Next time, if you see a fellow student in school which rumours tell him or her is a ‘fag', don't jump on the abuse bandwagon. Because all this world needs is a bit of love. Thank you all for listening.

Wilfred Owen Anthem for Doomed Youth Analysis

Anthem of the Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen The poem I chose to study is â€Å"Anthem of the doomed youth† by Wilfred Owen. Wilfred Owen, the son of a railway worker, was born in Plas Wilmot, near Oswestry, on 18th March, 1893. Owen's youthful illusion of the glory of fighting as a soldier was reflected in his words to his mother on his return to England shortly before volunteering for the army†¦ â€Å"I now do most intensely want to fight. † In the summer of 1917 Owen was badly concussed at the Somme after a shell landed just two yards away.After several days in a bomb crater with the mangled corpse of a fellow officer, Owen was diagnosed as suffering from shell shock. While recovering at Craig Lockhart War Hospital he met the poet Siegfried Sassoon. Owen showed Sassoon his poetry, who advised and encouraged him. So also did another writer at the hospital, Robert Graves. Sassoon suggested that Owen should write in a more direct, colloquial style and thus guided him into writing â€Å"Anthem for the doomed youth† amongst several other poems he wrote during his stay at the hospital. Anthem for a doomed youth† it is a Shakespearean sonnet with a rhyming scheme of abab cdcd effe gg. It's a very traditional format, which isn't surprising as Siegfried Sassoon, a very experienced and traditional poet, collaborated with Owen to write this much thought out piece. Because the poem was a collaboration, the style stands out from many of his other pieces of work, as this is more traditional to what Owen would have normally written. In most cases, sonnets take their title from the first line; in this case the first line sets the mood for the reader by starting off with a question that the poet then proceeds to answer.Though the poem is war based, the title itself suggests innocence with â€Å"youth† which may suggest a connection with the church, as an anthem is a choral composition. However, the word â€Å"doomed† also adds a si nister touch to the sonnet which could also be taken as a premonition of doom, which intrigues the reader to read on to find the cause of the supposed â€Å"doom†. Instantly with the first line Owen refers to the soldiers who die in the battle as â€Å"these who die as cattle†. It makes the men seem like a sort of strength with no real meaning behind it, like soldiers sent to battle and inevitably be slaughtered yet not fully realising why.The next two lines then take the reader to the battle, where the disturbing and frightening atmosphere of gunshots is emphasised as a, â€Å"monstrous anger† He also gives the atmosphere a more dramatic effect by using alliteration, â€Å"rifle's rapid rattle† which emphasises the harsh and unrelenting sounds of the battlefield. So loud and unrelenting that it drowns out their quick prayers made in haste, not allowing them their moment of God's guidance, â€Å"Patter out their hasty Orisons. In the next line, â€Å"No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells†, this could be a more personal belief of Owen's, that fighting and killing are wrong in the eyes of god, as he said in a letter to his mother, â€Å"namely that one of Christ's essential commands was: Passivity at any price! Suffer dishonour and disgrace, but never resort to arm. Be bullied, be outraged, be killed, but do not kill. † In the next few lines of the octave he changes the, what I feel like sort of a homely religious scene into something more disturbing and frightening, as mourning choirs becomes a â€Å"shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells. And it seems that throughout the poem he likes to keep a sense of innocence about the soldiers, calling them â€Å"boys† which emphasises on how the young the soldiers were, which makes the sonnet more moving and causes the reader to feel sympathy ands perhaps some sort of sadness. In the last few lines of the poem Owen mentions what when they die they don't have a decent funeral, merely memories of those they left behind, â€Å"but in their eyes shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes. It reminded me mainly how the soldiers weren't the only ones who had suffered throughout the war, all those loved ones that they left behind had nothing to bury or see for the last time, just memories of their husbands, sons, brothers, fathers and uncles. The poem itself flows smoothly as Owen keeps the rhythm going at a slow and steady pace, causing the reader to think about it more carefully, using mainly full stops rather commas. This may suggest that Owen wants the reader to stop for a moment and think about what he just said, to try and picture it in you mind, â€Å"Only the monstrous anger of the guns. On that line I think that Owen probably wanted us, as the reader to imagine the tremendous noise that would be surrounding the soldiers. It would have struck fear into the hearts of the soldier and reader as it did to me. And also when he says  "glimmers of goodbyes. † This brings a lot of emotion to the sonnet; it made me feel sadness and sympathy for those left behind in the war. The soldier who wrote this sonnet experienced many tragedies and horrors serving at the front line for what he thought at first, to be a noble cause, which turned out to be a mass slaughter for causes unknown to the common soldier.I felt that Wilfred Owen captures the reality of the war in this very touching and moving sonnet; by emphasising the number of deaths of the innocent he outlines the severity of the war. And I like the fact that because of his first hand experience, he wrote what no journalist or any sort of media could have portrayed as romantic or heroic, he wrote what he saw before him, in the eyes of his fellow men and soldiers

Cristobal Balenciaga essays

Cristobal Balenciaga essays Cristobal Balenciaga was born in 1895, just over the French border, in an ancient fishing village called Guetaria, in Spains Basque country. In 1937, after opening his own tailoring shops in Madrid, Barcelona, San Sebastian, and Guetaria, he emigrated to Paris due to the Spanish Civil War. His designs instantly met with acclaim and he would remain there for more than 30 years. His clientele included many of the most elegant women of the postwar years and he constantly trained younger men like Givenchy, Andre Courreges and Emanuel Ungaro. By the early 1950s Balenciaga had emerged as the foremost creator among couturiers, and it was to him that everyone looked at to see the future. As a result of his shyness, a mystique grew up around him; as a result of the perfectionism of his work, an aura grew up around the clothes. Balenciaga was able to maintain his ability to always be several steps ahead of other couturiers with his incredible integrity and self-allegiance, a fidelity to art as much as to craft. As a great artist, he understood how to interpret his resources rather than merely copy them. The somber blacks and browns of the Old Spanish masters were among his favorite colors and the influence of early moderns like Monet and Manet were also found in his designs. His clothes were so beautiful and elegant, and so skillfully designed that a woman did not need to have a perfect body to wear them. They moved with the body and were comfortable as well as fashionable. Although his clothes did come with a disclaimer: No woman can make herself chic if she is not chic herself. Only women who could carry them wore his designs. He was noted for his huge evening coats with dolman sleeves; long, full skirts; tunic and chemise dresses; fitted dressmaker suits; pillbox hats; perfumes; scarves; the seven-eighths coat; and for the development of the fabric gazar, a ...

Geography and Economy in Modern History of China

Geography and Economy in Modern History of China Population: 1,379 Billion (2016 estimate)Capital: BeijingMajor Cities: Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Harbin, ChengduArea: 3,705,407 square miles (9,596,961 sq km)Bordering Countries: FourteenCoastline: 9,010 miles (14,500 km)Highest Point: Mount Everest at 29,035 feet (8,850 m)Lowest Point: Turpan Pendi at -505 feet (-154 m) China is the third largest country in the world in terms of area but it is the worlds largest based on population. The country is a developing nation with a capitalist economy that is controlled politically by communist leadership. Chinese civilization began more than 5,000 years ago and the nation has played a crucial role in world history and is continuing to do so today. Chinas Modern History Chinese civilization originated on the North China Plain in about 1700 B.C.E with the Shang Dynasty. However, because Chinese historey  dates so far back, it is too long to include in its entirety in this overview. This article focuses on modern Chinese history beginning in the 1900s.   Modern Chinese history began in 1912 after the last Chinese emperor abdicated the throne and the country became a republic. After 1912 political and military instability was common in China and it was initially fought over by different warlords. Shortly thereafter, two political parties or movements began as a solution to the countrys problems. These were the Kuomintang, also called the Chinese National Party, and the Communist Party. Problems later began for China in 1931 when Japan seized Manchuria - an act that eventually began a war between the two nations in 1937. During the war, the Communist Party and the Kuomintang cooperated with each other to defeat Japan but later in 1945, a civil war between the Kuomintang and the communists broke out. This civil war killed more than 12 million people. Three years later the civil war ended with a win by the Communist Party and leader Mao Zedong, which then led to the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China in October 1949. During the early years of communist rule in China and the Peoples Republic of China, mass starvation, malnutrition and disease were common. In addition, there was an idea for a highly planned economy at this time and the rural population was divided into 50,000 communes, each of which was responsible for farming and running different industries and schools. In an effort to further jump-start Chinas industrialization and political change Chairman Mao began the Great Leap Forward initiative in 1958. The initiative failed however and between 1959 and 1961, famine and disease again spread throughout the country. Shortly thereafter in 1966, Chairman Mao began the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution which put local authorities on trial and attempted to change historic customs to give the Communist Party more power. In 1976, Chairman Mao died and Deng Xiaoping became Chinas leader. This led to economic liberalization but also a policy of government controlled capitalism and a still strict political regime. Today, China remains much the same, as every aspect of the country is heavily controlled by its government. Government of China Chinas government is a communist state with a unicameral legislative branch called the National Peoples Congress that is made up of 2,987 members from the municipal, regional and provincial level. There is also a judicial branch comprised of the Supreme Peoples Court, Local Peoples Courts, and Special Peoples Courts. China is divided into 23 provinces, five autonomous regions, and four municipalities. National suffrage is 18 years of age and the main political party in China is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). There are also smaller political parties in China, but all are controlled by the CCP. Economics and Industry in China Chinas economy has changed rapidly in recent decades. In the past, it was focused around a highly planned economic system with specialized communes and was closed to international trade and foreign relations. In the 1970s however, this began to change and today China is more economically tied to the worlds countries. In 2008, China was the worlds second largest economy. Today, Chinas economy is 43% agriculture, 25% industrial and 32% service related. Agriculture consists mainly of items like rice, wheat, potatoes, and tea. Industry is focused on raw mineral processing and the manufacturing of a wide variety of items. Geography and Climate of China China is located in Eastern Asia with its borders along several countries and the East China Sea, Korea Bay, the Yellow Sea, and the South China Sea. China is divided into three geographic regions: the mountains to the west, the various deserts and basins in the northeast and the low lying valleys and plains in the east. Most of China, however, consists of mountains and plateaus such as the Tibetan Plateau which leads into the Himalayan Mountains and Mount Everest. Because of its area and variations in topography, Chinas climate is also varied. In the south, it is tropical, while the east is temperate and the Tibetan Plateau is cold and arid. The northern deserts are also arid and the northeast is cold temperate. More Facts about China China instituted a One Child Policy in 1979 to control its growing populationThe majority of Chinese are non-denominational in religion, but 10% are BuddhistChinas population is expected to peak in 2026 at 1.4 billion. India will surpass China as the worlds most populous country in 2025. References Central Intelligence Agency. (6 April 2011). CIA - The World Factbook China. Retrieved from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html Infoplease.com. (n.d). China: History, Geography, Government, and Culture - Infoplease.com. Retrieved from: infoplease.com/ipa/A0107411.html United States Department of State. (October 2009). China (10/09). Retrieved from: state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/18902.htm

The Prison System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Prison System - Essay Example Likewise, State and federal prison authorities had jurisdiction over 1,613,740 prisoners at yearend 2009: 1,405,622 under state jurisdiction and 208,118 under federal jurisdiction. These surveys were conducted by the BJS to determine the total correctional population of the penitentiaries in the U.S. This includes all persons incarcerated, either in prison or jail, or supervised in the community either on probation or parole. Several different data collections are applied to calculate approximately this population, including the National Prisoner Statistics Program, Annual Survey of Jails, Annual Probation Survey and Annual Parole Survey. The basic count of the correctional population is updated annually in the Correctional Populations in the United States series. Established as possessing the biggest correctional system in the world the United States of America has a hierarchy of correctional centers. The United States justice system consists of governmental mechanism for adjudicati ng and processing those who are accused and convicted of numerous crimes. These crimes range from blue-collar crimes up to murder. According to Steve Schoenherr from the University of San Diego, the Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia was recognized as the first penitentiary in America in 1770. Around the 17th to date, the American prison system has completely changed, keeping but a few of the constant principles. Gil (2009) explained that the purpose of the American prison system serves as a last and in most cases immediate resort to secure society from those who have committed minor to major crimes. Regardless if the effect of a person's criminal act is immediate or indirect to society people are still subject to the punishment of the law of this country. The prison system of the United States has clearly changed from its first debut in the late 1700's. The mission of the prison system in the United States then was to keep society safe from those who were found guilty of crimes in a court of law by confining them in full control of the government. Whether state or federal agencies have control of the accused the principles remain the same. State and federal agencies are charged with keeping the accused in confinement until the judicial system deems necessary according for the seriousness of the crime. The impact of the great penitentiary rivalry on our current prison system includes two systems, he Pennsylvania System and the Auburn System (Gil, 2009). The Pennsylvania System was supported by the notion of keeping all who were committed to prison behind bars and separated from all other prisoners. Silence and continuous lock down was the theme within this idea. The environment was completely introverted, cold and tough for a person to outlive. This system was allowed or many years later proved not to be effective. The Auburn System was considered less expensive it believed in the use of labor which would self sustain all of the facilities as well as the priso n population. These systems were later proven noneffective forms of punishment. Today, our government as well as society seeks ways to rehabilitate offenders (Gil, 2009). Consequently, the emergence of the private sector in imprisonment has been the product of several factors. The demand for prisons and jails has been growing as a result of tougher sentencing laws and the war on drugs (Viano, n.d.). Given the major costs of this

Emily Dickinson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Emily Dickinson - Essay Example The emphasis is on spontaneity, and the original. (Harvey, 1997). Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886), is one of most prolific and successful poets of the American Romantic Movement. Her work challenges the existing norms of that period, rejects convention, and establishes a new genre. The unique â€Å"order, unusual punctuation and spelling choices† of her poems reflect the new spirit of Romanticism (Poetry Foundation, 2012). The poetry of Emily Dickinson may be taken to be the epitome of American Romantic literature, with its focus on nature, individualism, and the exploration of faith. Dickinson’s nature poems make up a large part of her work. They deal with almost all aspects of nature: birds, animals, bees, flowers, grass, rain, forests, hills, the seasons, sunrise and sunset. Her poems throb with her love for Nature. It is evident that she finds great joy in her closeness with the natural world. The depth of her observation is incredible. The least minutiae of li fe is seen and explored by Dickinson and linked with her personal emotions. She simply thrills in nature’s beauty. At other times, she makes a connection between nature and human life. In her poem, â€Å"It Sifts From Leaden Sieves,† (Poets.org. 311), Dickinson is content to describe Nature’s beauty. She makes effective use of metaphor: the â€Å"leaden sieves† refer to overcast skies. ... The poet goes on to express her desire to be a part of nature, by offering the bird a crumb. But the bird is frightened of her advance, and flies away. Here, Dickinson shows that man cannot be a part of nature, unlike the bird, which unites with nature. The poet’s evident love for nature is one of the hallmarks of American Romantic literature. Another feature which marks Dickinson as a Romantic is her unbending individualism. Contrary to the social expectations regarding women of that period, Dickinson disliked housework and the â€Å"daily rounds of receiving and paying visits† (Poetry Foundation, 2012). In line with this pronounced individualism, Dickinson withdrew from public life. This is seen in the fact that, â€Å"By the 1860s, Dickinson lived in almost total physical isolation from the outside world† (Poets org. 2012). Her poems were largely a part of her private correspondence with friends, and were published only after her death. Most of her poems demon strate her own personal emotions. She sees the world around her through a personal lens. Dickinson’s poem, â€Å"I’m Nobody! Who Are You?† (Poets org. 260), demonstrates her alienation from society. She criticizes the people who belong to the pretentious public world, and is happy to be apart from them, in her own private identity. Dickinson holds the Romantic opinon, contrary to common thinking, that man’s closeness to nature is hindered by the effects of civilization. This is seen in her poem, â€Å"I Like to See it Lap the Miles,† (Poets org. 43), where she compares the train to a horse. She is critical of the industrial invasion of the natural world by the railroad. Dickinson’s subjective perception of the world is very much a feature of Romantic literature.