The Apology - Plato of Socrates Essay Example for Free

The Apology Plato of Socrates Essay The Apology is written by Plato of Socrates trial, at 70 years of age Socrates was accused of impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens. Plato’s account consists of three speeches that were given by Socrates during this trial. Socrates speaks before the men of Athens, his jury, in 399 BCE and confesses he has forgotten who he was, he then recollects who he is, and finally he proclaims who Socrates is. The trial began with the prosecutors presenting their case against the accused before the Athenian jury. In this trial Meletus argued that Socrates was guilty of corrupting the youth of Athens and committing acts of impiety. It is possible that Anytus spoke as well. The charges arose because Socrates created doubts on the beliefs and values of the Athenians this may have caused anger and confusion among the Athenians and created a strong resentment against Socrates. After Meletus finished presenting his case against Socrates, the defense had the opportunity to answer to the charges. The Apology starts with the defense speech by Socrates. He observed that he really had two sets of accusers (old and new) and that he was more afraid of the old accusers so he approached that problem first. He answered to the charges of the old accusers by relating a story about the oracle of Delphi. Socrates explains his true activity is misunderstood he only asked the oracle who was the most wise and she said â€Å"no man was wiser† than Socrates. He set out to dispute the oracle’s claim and realized after researching this claim that indeed he was the wisest because he was aware of his own ignorance and spheres of value are aware they are ignorant of their ignorance. He then focused on Meletus charge of corrupting the youth and impiety, he explained his important mission to Athens by comparing himself to a gadfly. He ended his defense by discussing his integrity, his followers, and his family. Subsequently, Socrates is convicted by a slim margin and gives a second speech. The accusers asked for a certain penalty, typically death by hemlock, if the accused is convicted. Socrates argues for a more lenient penalty. Socrates second speech is an argument for a different penalty rather than death, but Socrates argues that he is doing a great service to the state of Athens, so that the suitable penalty would be to pay him an allowance for the rest of his life to support him in his censure of individual citizens of Athens. This facetious retort does not go well with the senate and they sentence him to death. In his final speech Socrates tells the Athenians that they will be shamed in the future for their action and explains why he doesnt fear death. He goes on to explain that he does not hold a grudge against his accusers and he does not fear death because if he goes to a better place he will be at eternal peace and without worries and if he migrates to the other place he will be able to continue his practice of Socratic dialogue. Either way he will get what he wants. In summary, it appears that Socrates held the Athenian jury in contempt with implying facetious antidotes but may have considered his own fate before the trial began understanding at his age he may have already accepted death as a final outcome. He admits to no grudges held but proclaims that others will replace him and gives encouragement to those who voted to acquit him. His own acceptance of his fate is calm and logical and asks for help for his sons when he is gone. By his own admission he is the wisest because he knows he is Socrates.

Sexualized Dual Relationships In Therapy Social Work Essay

Sexualized Dual Relationships In Therapy Social Work Essay The main concern as a counselor is creating and managing professional limits, which must always center on the best interests of the client. However, except for behaviors of an illegal nature, ethical concerns can negatively interfere with ones work because there are no straightforward answers. The detrimental effect of sexual intimacies within a professional counseling relationship makes it apparent that it is always inappropriate to have a sexual relationship with a client. In the first part of this paper, a case study of a client who engaged in a sexual relationship with her former psychologist is illustrated. Main ethical concerns, application of specific ethical codes, techniques to address the issue, and an ethical decision-making process are analyzed to resolve the case. In the second part of this paper, an interview is conducted with a clinical psychologist, which highlights the issues relating to ethical standards and practices, transference, multicultural concerns, boundary violations, and supervision. Introduction The structure within which a therapist and client relationship occurs is beneficial for adequate counseling. Healthy limits create a relationship that is proficient, trusting, and demonstrates an environment for competent psychological counseling. Therapists must know that ethical violations can relate to the gray areas between transference and countertransference (Redlich, 1990). Corey, Corey, Callanan, (2011) state that sexual relationships between therapists and clients continue to receive substantial research in the professional literature. Sexual relationships with clients are undoubtedly unethical, and all of the main professional ethics codes have explicit prohibitions against these violations. Furthermore, such relationships are a violation of the law. The power imbalances may continue to sway the client well after the end of the counseling relationship, and professional standards forbid a therapist from engaging in any sexual relationship with a past client in which counsel ing service was provided in the past five years (Bouhoutsos Greenberg, 1999). Therapists must know that any dating relationship is considered a form of inappropriate behavior that could fall within the classification of sexual abuse. The harmful effects of sexual abuse within the professional standards makes it obvious that it is inappropriate to have a sexual relationship with a client. The Dilemma Rachel, a 24-year-old client, comes into her counselors office and states that she feels suicidal because she engaged in a sexual relationship with her former psychologist. Because the assessment and management of a suicidal client is extremely serious, the counselor addresses this issue immediately. As she approaches the suicide assessment, the counselor keeps three things in mind: consult with a colleague for another opinion, document the process, and evaluate the clients risk for harming herself (Corey, Corey, Callanan, 2011). The counselor asks Rachel to sign a no-suicide contract. In the contract, she agrees to avoid harming herself, but if she feels she cannot control herself, she would call 911, or another person who is close to her and she can trust. The counselor also asks her to talk with her family about her feelings. Rachel states that she disclosed to them that she is very depressed and is feeling suicidal. The counselor explains to Rachel at length about dual relationships. Usually when there is an ethical infringement such as a psychologist having a sexual relationship with a client, the relationship begins with a non-sexual relationship (Brown, 2002). Rachel says the relationship began in good faith and as time passed, the boundaries between her and the psychologist began to weaken. The risk of harm occurring to Rachel increased as the psychologist and client became more intimate, and there is a greater power differential just as there exists between men and women in general. The counselor explains about how these professionals may exploit and seduce female clients intentionally for their own satisfactions. Rachel proceeds to tell her counselor about the symptoms and feelings she is experiencing: a sense of guilt; emptiness and isolation; sexual confusion; trust issues; role confusion in therapy; severe depression and acute anxiety; suppressed anger; and cognitive dysfunction involving flashbacks, nightmares, and intrusive thoughts. The counselor concludes that the client is indeed experiencing almost all of the symptoms described as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Main Ethical Concerns A professional counseling relationship, which involves sexual relations, is against the law. Sexual exploitation in a professional counseling relationship is described as, sexual involvement or additional forms of physical relations between a practitioner and a client (Brown, 2002, pg. 79). Situations involving sexual actions between a counselor and client are never acceptable. According to Moustacalis (1998), sexual activity between a client and counselor is always damaging to client well-being, despite of what reason or beliefs the counselor chooses to justify it. However, client consent and compliance to participate in a sexual relationship does not diminish the practitioner of his duties and responsibilities for adhering to ethical standards. Failure to take responsibility for the professional relationship and permitting a sexual relationship to develop is a mistreatment of authority and confidence, which are exclusive and fundamental to the therapist and client relationship. In any professional counseling relationship, there is an innate power inequity. In this case study, the former therapists power arises through the clients belief that the therapist has the proficiency to help with her problems, and the clients confession of personal information, which is usually kept secret. The reality that counseling services cannot be successful unless clients are willing to open up does not change the main power imbalance (Moustacalis, 1998). Therefore, the psychologist has an important responsibility to take action, do no harm, and is ultimately liable for managing boundary issues if violations occur. Ironically, the former therapist in this case failed to maintain appropriate professional ethical standards and caused psychological damage to his client instead of promoting a trusting and healthy professional relationship. Because of the seriousness and complexity of these sexual boundary violations, Rachel currently suffers from suicidal thoughts, depression, an xiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The power difference that is in the therapist-client relationship causes Rachel to find it complicated to discuss boundaries or to recognize and defend herself against ethical violations. In addition, clients may at times prompt a sexual relationship and their behavior could promote violations (Marmor, 2000). Application of Specific Ethical Codes Techniques to Address Dilemma According to the 2005 American Counseling Associations (ACA) Code of Ethical Standards, Sexual or romantic counselor-client interactions or relationships with current clients, their romantic partners, or their family members are prohibited (A.5.a). Relating to former clients, Sexual or romantic counselor-client interactions or relationships with former clients, their romantic partners, or their family members are prohibited for a period of 5 years following the last professional contact. Counselors, before engaging in sexual or romantic interactions or relationships with clients, their romantic partners, or client family members after 5 years following the last professional contact, demonstrate forethought and document (in written form) whether the interactions or relationship can be viewed as exploitive in some way and/or whether there is still potential to harm the former client; in cases of potential exploitation and/or harm, the counselor avoids entering such an interaction or re lationship (A.5.b). In this case, Rachels emotional intensity and stress generated due to difficult or conflicted personal relational situations may override her understanding of healthy therapeutic and relational processes. In addition, it suggests clients, such as Rachel, who possess little therapeutic knowledge relating to boundary violations, or with limited understanding of therapy, are particularly vulnerable (Marmor, 2000). The ACA Code of Ethical Standards also states that counselors act to avoid harming their clients (A.4.a). During their sexual relationship, Rachels former practitioner may assume she is responsible in the relationship and can sustain herself emotionally and psychologically. However, not all clients have this ability and look to their therapist for support. Engaging in a dual sexualized relationship is destructive to client welfare and is a dysfunctional means to offer security to a vulnerable client (Robinson, Reid, 2000). Techniques to address this case are complex, yet imperative to consider. First, Rachels former therapist needs to be reported to the state licensing board for ethical complaints of sexual intimacies with a client (Hall, 2001). During this process, Rachel should know that a breach of client confidentiality will occur as a part of the reporting process. Next, Rachel must find a reputable attorney because there is a good possibility that the former therapist may deny the accusation or blame Rachel by saying she is making false claims. The former therapist could be the subject of a lawsuit. Malpractice is a serious legal concept involving the failure of a professional to provide the level of services or to implement the skill that is normally expected of other professionals (Hall, 2001). He risks having his license taken away or suspended as well as losing his insurance coverage and his credibility as a therapist. This ethical violation could have been avoided if the therapist carefully considered the dynamics of a healthy therapeutic relationship and put the clients needs before his own. Decision-Making Process The ethical decision making process used for the case of Rachel would be to first define the problem. Rachel is in search of counseling because she engaged in an intimate, sexual relationship with her former psychologist. Rachel currently feels guilty and resentful toward her former psychologist and is experiencing suicidal thoughts. The next vital step in ethical decision making is evaluating moral principles (Corey, Corey, Callanan, 2011). In this case, the moral principle that would take priority is non-maleficence. Rachel expressed her need to talk with a counselor and feels she has a limited number of people she can trust. Since the former therapist violated the sense of non-maleficence, it may cause Rachel harm if the current therapist were to defy her trust because Rachel could panic and hurt herself if she feels she has no other option. Rachel must form a trusting relationship with her current counselor, and the counselor must maintain that sense of trust. The next step woul d be to talk with a supervisor or colleague to hear other perspectives or ideas. The fourth step is to make sure as her current therapist, decisions are not influenced by emotions (Corey, Corey, Callanan, 2011). Having emotional awareness can ensure an accurate assessment of the situation. Therefore, encouraging Rachel and building up her sense of self-worth is essential. By creating a plan that includes psychological help along with legal action, Rachel will likely feel as though she has some control when assessing each option. The final step is implementation, and the therapist should help Rachel follow through with her plan. Interview Dr. Jennifer Lambert is a clinical psychologist and received her Psy.D from the University of Illinois. During the 45-minute interview, she provided thoughtful insight into the issues relating to ethical standards and practices, transference, multicultural concerns, boundary violations, and supervision. First, making ethical decisions involves developing an acceptance for dealing with gray areas and coping with uncertainty. Even though awareness of the ethical standards of ones profession is significant, this knowledge is not enough. Ethical codes provide direction in assisting one in making the best informed-decisions for the benefit of clients and the practitioner. These standards may differ among agencies, and it is vital that every human service professional becomes aware of the exact policies of the agency. Secondly, Dr. Lambert discussed an example of transference. She is a supervisor for an adolescent mental health clinic and works with many great colleagues. One of her colleagues is an excellent therapist, but often she asks Dr. Lambert for marital advice. She does her best not to sway her colleague because Dr. Lambert knows the harm it could cause to their relationship. Instead, she encourages her colleague to inspect her own beliefs and values without imposing or giving direct advice. This story is an example of colleague transference and possible dependency if Dr. Lambert is not cautious when discussing these issues. Next, Dr. Lambert spoke about multicultural concerns and boundary violations in therapy. As a therapist, it is key to know and appreciate ones own cultural background, yet not push values onto clients. To be effective with diverse clients, therapists must accept and celebrate cultural differences and view them as a positive learning experience. By practicing acceptance while being curious, it will bring understanding between cultures and assist in expanding trust in the therapeutic relationship. Maintaining professional and personal boundaries is a necessity in the therapeutic process. If a therapist becomes emotionally over-involved with a client, counselors will likely lose their objectivity and ultimately cannot exercise proper judgment in the helping process. When counseling adolescents, maintaining appropriate boundaries can be complicated. Often, an adolescent sees the therapist as a friend to confide in, but if the young client becomes too dependent, relationship boundaries ma y be crossed. This can also violate boundaries if the therapist does not address the dependency. Lastly, a vital element in the licensing process is supervision. Dr. Lambert believes the role played by the supervisor is important for the appropriate development of the trainee. The supervisee should be open to the ideas and leadership style of the supervisor. Above all, supervision was developed to help future therapists enhance their competency and during this process, the trainee will learn the necessary skills that will assist them in their entire professional career. One challenge to supervision is the continuous shortage of qualified professionals and the incapability to supply sufficient hours for proper competency development. When choosing a supervisor, an individual with a good moral and ethical approach is an area of concern. This factor would assist in developing a proper personal approach, and a supervisor must teach by example the importance of understanding transference/counter-transference, diversity, and rapport. Supervision is a support system, which gives the op portunity to present challenges that one may not be prepared to deal with when they occur. Summary Ethical decision making in the counseling field is a continuing assessment with no simple answers. In order to encourage the well-being of clients, counselors must always balance the professional ethical codes with their own life experiences and personal values to make critical decisions about how to assist their clients successfully (Redlich, 1990). Therefore, understanding the ethical codes and the effect of inadequate counseling practices are helpful for counselors as they maintain therapeutic relationships with clients. Nonetheless, even though professional codes of ethics offer guidelines for how counselors should act with clients, they do not give complete answers for how counselors must act in every circumstance. Ideally, counselors should integrate their knowledge of professional ethics with good judgment to facilitate the best interests of their clients. It is imperative for counselors to create personal and professional boundaries with their clients in order to avoid proble ms such as unethical counseling, favoritism, exploitation, harm, etc (Corey, Corey, Callanan, 2011). Counselors must treat all clients respectfully, compassionately, and responsibly, while not compromising the professional relationship established with them.

Essay --

Introduction Animal Farm, written by George Orwell, is a fictional story based on realistic events in history. The main topic presented in the book is the animals wanted to avoid being exploited by their current oppressor; however, their own allies exploited the other animals. The author used animal actions to mirror events that happen in the Russian Revolution. The author’s purpose is to inform his audience to be mindful of government decision, to know those decisions and learn the events in history because history has the tendency to repeat itself. Explain the Relationship: Orwell’s experience in World War Two caused him to produce Animal Farm. While working as a volunteer soldier, he developed hate for fascism and Stalinism. His assertions originated from observing the corrupt government of the Russian Revolution and reading literature. Although the author’s novel has entertained many students, his goal was to inform readers of satire of the Soviet Communism. The author’s studies relate to Dr. Stovall’s social science class, because this novel contains sociology between people and demonstrates human nature inside of the text. The elements of the novel expressed the author’s observations of a corrupt government. The first element is its genre, fiction. The author used fictional animals to depict the humans of the Russian Revolution. These animals’ actions developed themes. When the animals overthrew the farmer, the pigs rose to power and became a corrupt government. This signified the theme that the Soviet’s government ideas were corrupt. Another theme arose when Snowball and Napoleon struggled for superiority. This event was a theme similar to the human story where Stalin, who is represented by Napoleon, vanquishes... ...d power and violated the commandments. The animals were unable to realize they were oppressed like in the past, because they did not learn about the past. The book also implies the readers should become knowledgeable so that they would not become oppressed. My stance about the book is it is a must read for students and people who are a part of the working class. This situation can happen to many people in my generation because students fail to read. Like the farm animals, who could not read, they accept almost anything someone tells them because they do not know their history and rights. While reading the novel, I developed my likes and dislikes. I liked the event, when the animals first had the idea to rebel against the farmer. However, I disliked Boxer’s death the most as well as the farm animals working hard while the pigs reaped the benefits. Essay -- Introduction Animal Farm, written by George Orwell, is a fictional story based on realistic events in history. The main topic presented in the book is the animals wanted to avoid being exploited by their current oppressor; however, their own allies exploited the other animals. The author used animal actions to mirror events that happen in the Russian Revolution. The author’s purpose is to inform his audience to be mindful of government decision, to know those decisions and learn the events in history because history has the tendency to repeat itself. Explain the Relationship: Orwell’s experience in World War Two caused him to produce Animal Farm. While working as a volunteer soldier, he developed hate for fascism and Stalinism. His assertions originated from observing the corrupt government of the Russian Revolution and reading literature. Although the author’s novel has entertained many students, his goal was to inform readers of satire of the Soviet Communism. The author’s studies relate to Dr. Stovall’s social science class, because this novel contains sociology between people and demonstrates human nature inside of the text. The elements of the novel expressed the author’s observations of a corrupt government. The first element is its genre, fiction. The author used fictional animals to depict the humans of the Russian Revolution. These animals’ actions developed themes. When the animals overthrew the farmer, the pigs rose to power and became a corrupt government. This signified the theme that the Soviet’s government ideas were corrupt. Another theme arose when Snowball and Napoleon struggled for superiority. This event was a theme similar to the human story where Stalin, who is represented by Napoleon, vanquishes... ...d power and violated the commandments. The animals were unable to realize they were oppressed like in the past, because they did not learn about the past. The book also implies the readers should become knowledgeable so that they would not become oppressed. My stance about the book is it is a must read for students and people who are a part of the working class. This situation can happen to many people in my generation because students fail to read. Like the farm animals, who could not read, they accept almost anything someone tells them because they do not know their history and rights. While reading the novel, I developed my likes and dislikes. I liked the event, when the animals first had the idea to rebel against the farmer. However, I disliked Boxer’s death the most as well as the farm animals working hard while the pigs reaped the benefits.

Social Pressure on Individual Performance Essay -- Sociology

Little of humans’ actions are carried out in isolation and thus, individual performance molds on and is shaped by the social context and, specifically, by activities performed by co-actors (Sebanz et al., 2003). As Albery et al. (2008) reasoned, other people may affect our performance on particular tasks and hence, we may even change the way we behave in terms of increasing the effort exerted towards a task in order to be favorably evaluated by others. This essay seeks to discuss the effects that the mere presence of other people have on individual performance and it is structured as following. The paper begins by introducing the concept of social facilitation. It will then go on to discuss a couple of theories that may offer a global understanding of the implications of social presence on individual performance. The term ‘social facilitation’ was first used by Floyd Allport in 1920s and it postulates that, in terms of performance, an improvement of easy tasks and an impairment of difficult tasks may occur in the mere presence of conspecifics (Hogg and Vaughan, 2008). In other words, individuals are prone to perform better if they deal with a well-learned task than if they perform a rather unfamiliar or poorly learned assignment under certain circumstances and therefore, for the latter, the achievement deteriorates considerably. In essence, what social facilitation outlines is that, the individual performance can be affected by the presence of viewers. Corespondingly, according to Zajonc (1965), the main reason behind this is that the actual existence of an audience elevates drive levels. Although this may be true, the presence of others does not always make people perform better (Baumeister and Bushman, 2011). Triplett (1898) h... ..., 129, 183-190 Guerin, B. (1993). Social facilitation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Higgins, E. T. (1987). Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self and affect. Psychological Review, 94, 319-340 Hogg, M. A., & Vaughan, G. M. (2008). Social psychology 5th Ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Sebanz, N., Knoblich, G., Prinz, W. (2003). Representing others’ actions: just like one’s own ?. Cognition, 88 (2003), B11-B21. Max Plank Institute for Psychological Research Thompson, R. (2002). Are two heads better than one ? The Psychologist, 15(12), 616-619 Triplett, N. (1898). The dynamogenic factors in pacemaking and competition. American Journal of Psychology, 9, 507-533. Weiss, R. F, & Miller, F. G. (1971). The drive theory of social facilitation. Psychological Review, 78, 44-57. Zajonc, R. B. (1965). Social facilitation. Science, New Series, 149 (3681), 269-274 Social Pressure on Individual Performance Essay -- Sociology Little of humans’ actions are carried out in isolation and thus, individual performance molds on and is shaped by the social context and, specifically, by activities performed by co-actors (Sebanz et al., 2003). As Albery et al. (2008) reasoned, other people may affect our performance on particular tasks and hence, we may even change the way we behave in terms of increasing the effort exerted towards a task in order to be favorably evaluated by others. This essay seeks to discuss the effects that the mere presence of other people have on individual performance and it is structured as following. The paper begins by introducing the concept of social facilitation. It will then go on to discuss a couple of theories that may offer a global understanding of the implications of social presence on individual performance. The term ‘social facilitation’ was first used by Floyd Allport in 1920s and it postulates that, in terms of performance, an improvement of easy tasks and an impairment of difficult tasks may occur in the mere presence of conspecifics (Hogg and Vaughan, 2008). In other words, individuals are prone to perform better if they deal with a well-learned task than if they perform a rather unfamiliar or poorly learned assignment under certain circumstances and therefore, for the latter, the achievement deteriorates considerably. In essence, what social facilitation outlines is that, the individual performance can be affected by the presence of viewers. Corespondingly, according to Zajonc (1965), the main reason behind this is that the actual existence of an audience elevates drive levels. Although this may be true, the presence of others does not always make people perform better (Baumeister and Bushman, 2011). Triplett (1898) h... ..., 129, 183-190 Guerin, B. (1993). Social facilitation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Higgins, E. T. (1987). Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self and affect. Psychological Review, 94, 319-340 Hogg, M. A., & Vaughan, G. M. (2008). Social psychology 5th Ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Sebanz, N., Knoblich, G., Prinz, W. (2003). Representing others’ actions: just like one’s own ?. Cognition, 88 (2003), B11-B21. Max Plank Institute for Psychological Research Thompson, R. (2002). Are two heads better than one ? The Psychologist, 15(12), 616-619 Triplett, N. (1898). The dynamogenic factors in pacemaking and competition. American Journal of Psychology, 9, 507-533. Weiss, R. F, & Miller, F. G. (1971). The drive theory of social facilitation. Psychological Review, 78, 44-57. Zajonc, R. B. (1965). Social facilitation. Science, New Series, 149 (3681), 269-274

Essays --

Animal Testing According to the Foundation for Biomedical Research, â€Å"animal research has had a huge role in almost every major medical related discovery of the past century†. (Jarrett) I believe scientific testing on animals should remain legal, both for human and veterinary health. From blood transfusions to anitbiotics, from chemotherapy to vaccinations, and joint replacement to bypass surgery basically every current day emergency for prevention, treatment, control of disease, pain, and even cure is even based on knowledge achieved through research with lab animals. I believe it should remain legal because, the information we learn from the testing is very helpful, it has helped advancement in products that are used in our everyday lives. â€Å"Animal research and testing has played a part in almost every medical breakthrough of the last century. It has saved hundreds of millions of lives worldwide...† (Ryan) In a survey it has said that 99% of the physicians in the United States, agree that animal research has highly progressed medical research. In fact, almost 97% of those p...

Gang violence Essay

â€Å"Once found principally in large cities, violent street gangs now affect public safety, community image, and quality of life in communities of all sizes in urban, suburban, and rural areas. No region of the United States is untouched by gangs. Gangs affect society at all levels, causing heightened fears for safety, violence, and economic costs† (In The Spotlight) As the quote above shows, gangs and everything that goes with them has spread all over the United States and is now one of the major issues the U.S. faces. There are estimated to be about twenty-nine thousand, four hundred gangs and seven hundred fifty six thousand gang members all throughout the U.S. Also, there are thousands of other gang members illegally crossing the U.S. borders, mostly from Central America. Each gang differs in some way but however, â€Å"A common definition for a gang is a group of three or more individuals who engage in criminal activity and identify themselves with a common sign or name † (Barbour 9). The main problem in the U.S. is not the actual gangs, but it is the drugs that they involve themselves with. The drugs only bring violence and problems. The main purpose of many gangs today is not to rule turf or power but to get money by smuggling drugs over the borders and then selling them. Gang activity and violence is occurring all over the U.S. every day, mainly caused by the involvement of illegal narcotics, if this country wants to stop the gangs, it needs to completely cut off the smuggling and trafficking of drugs from Central America into the U.S. by combining different government agencies of different levels to prevent the gangs from entering the U.S. and growing and also to create prevention programs and groups to control it at a more localized level where the issues are the most pressing. Gangs are smuggling over the U.S. borders and it is causing more problems than the government can handle. The main source of drugs is coming from Central America, where the most predominant number of gangs is located. Many gangs are focused only on smuggling different types of drugs into the U.S. and it is the one way to sustain a constant source of income. This is very appealing to any youth who wants money and that is why the number of gang members is growing so rapidly. â€Å"The transnational gangs are located in over 300 cities and 40 states across the country and are becoming a serious  threat to the national security of the United States† (Farah). Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) is the most dangerous gang in the U.S. today and is not even native to the U.S. The homeland of MS-13 is in El Salvador. El Salvador is the most highly gang populated country in Central America. Some other gang-infested countries are Guatemala and Honduras. There are about ten thousand MS-13 members in the U.S. alone and about forty thousand members in Central America. Unfortunately, these numbers are still on the rise. MS-13 recruits members at a very young age, which keeps a steady growth in members. The idea of a better family and brotherhood, but also money, is very appealing to any kid who is struggling at home. MS-13 accounts for the majority of drug distribution from Central America and is the focal point that needs to be attended to if this problem is going to be solved. Another main problem with the drugs is how large of an impact they have on the people because they only add to the already existing problems for society. Also, violence and drugs go hand in hand, which is why they are so involved within the gangs. Violence is always involved with gangs, but with the addition of drugs, the violence can intensify to a level where nothing can be done. This causes the gangs to be much harder to deal with. One main problem is that the American society hates the gangs but loves the drugs and will continue to buy drugs no matter where they are coming from. This makes it even more difficult to deal with. The drugs find a way to enter the lives of people from all of American society. For instance, they have been involved in different businesses and been the cause of murders, including celebrities. â€Å"Gangs have a large involvement in the rap industry and are related to the murders of Tupac Shakkur and Biggie Smalls† (Smith, â€Å"Gangs†). Tup ac Shakkur and Biggie Smalls were two iconic rappers of their time but sadly, gangs found a way into their lives and ended up causing both of their deaths. The drugs and violence become so intertwined into society, that now they are very hard to remove and a resolution to this problem needs to be found. There are many different processes that are being implemented now to stop this problem. An example is that groups and programs are being formed to fight back against the gangs. The Arizona Corridor has proven to be one of  the busiest places for gang smuggling and trafficking. There was a group formed to prevent it called IIMPACT Arizona. â€Å"IIMPACT Arizona! is a multi-agency project that is managed by the Gang and Immigration Intelligence Team Enforcement Mission (GIITEM) and designed to address rising crime associated with illegal immigration.† (Gang and Immigration Enforcement) IIMPACT is acronym that stands for â€Å"Illegal Immigration Prevention and Apprehension Co-op Teams† (Gang and Immigration Enforcement). IIMPACT is a program where local, state and federal police forces team up to fight against smuggling organized by crime groups. The main goals of the group are to deter, disrupt and dismantle gangs from illegally immigrated people and drugs into the U.S . If they are able to succeed with what they want to do, then they would be shutting down one of the hotspots for gang smuggling. This group is in action today and could eventually make a large impact on preventing gangs from smuggling over the U.S. borders, which would greatly decrease the amount of drugs that would be entering the U.S. The U.S. government has tried to pass different acts and laws against gangs but there has been many legal issues revolving around the civil liberties of the individuals being persecuted. â€Å"Responding to the rise in gang violence in the early 1980s, Los Angeles judges began to issue gang injunctions. This occurs when the city attorney’s office issues a restraining order against specific gang members. This is done only after gathering evidence from police officials and the public. However, in 1987, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenged the injunctions, indicating that they presented a violation of an individual’s civil rights† (Smith, Gangs: Outlook). Whenever the government gets close to cracking down on the gangs, an issue involving civil liberties arises and prevents the laws to be passed. The way some of the laws enabled police officers to treat gang members and the hostile level violated some of their rights. In 1994, the Violent Crime Contr ol and Enforcement Act of 1994 was passed and it tightened the choke hold on gangs. It stiffened the penalties for crimes committed by gangs, so that the members would be less prone to break the law. The penalties for a gang member were much more severe than one for just an average person, even if the same crime was committed by both of them. Many lawmakers and law enforcers believe the answer is to make laws to  combat the actions gangs. If the penalties are stiffened, then they will be less prone to smuggle drugs and the drugs levels will go down. If drug trafficking can not be stopped, then there is no chance of slowing down gangs and the violence they create. The solution to this problem will take time and effort but will work. More groups and programs have to be made in order to stop the drug smuggling and gang violence. Also, younger kids have to be reached out to early on so they don’t even have the option to join some sort of gang. If more localized programs can be formed, then smuggling can be cut down from area to area and over time, will disappear. Even though there was extensive research, only one program that was focusing on gang involvement in their area was found and it had been working efficiently so far (IIMPACT). This group is so successful because it requires the usage of town police, state police and federal police all working together. The information that can be shared from each level is key to success. A joint effort is always more successful than a singular effort. If different levels of government enforcement could join up and work together in states all along the border, the smuggling of drugs could be cut dow n immediately. â€Å"The combination of different agencies has brought up results that show that gang violence and just gangs in general are able to be controlled if not reduced a significant amount† (â€Å"In The Spotlight†). This combination occurring much more frequently can be the resolution to the problem that has needed to be solved for so long. The main problem can be seen lying within the gangs but the actual problem revolves around the American educational institutions and the environments that kids are provided with. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) believes that laws will not help and that providing the right environment for kids is what is needed. The main problem with setting a lot of laws and enforcing them is that even if a kid is stopped from being fully involved in a street gang by sending him to prison, he will be more likely to join a gang in prison than out in the world because of how frequent prison gangs are. By trying to prevent one problem, the laws would only cause another. â€Å"If younger kids were provided with better opportunities to enact in a community and have a better environment to conduct their actions, they will  be less prone to join gangs† (Smith â€Å"Gangs: Outlooks†). Groups like the ACLU are trying to stop the problem before it arises and that really is the best po ssible thing that can be done in this situation. If the number of gang members goes down, then gangs will lose their power and influence over the surrounding communities. This would cause there to be less drug smuggling occurring and the problem would gradually decline to a non-existing issue. Gang activity and violence is occurring all over the U.S. every day, mainly caused by the involvement of illegal narcotics. If this country wants to stop the gangs, it needs to completely cut off the smuggling and trafficking of drugs from Central America into the U.S. by combining different government agencies of different levels to prevent the gangs from entering the U.S. and growing and also to create programs and groups to prevent it at a more localized level where the issues are the most urgent. The information that was presented shows how much damage that the gangs are causing to the U.S. and how drugs being smuggled over the borders from Central America are the main cause. This is very important because some of what is being done now and what can be done could be the solution to this enormous problem. Possible trends in the future will definitely be that more laws and acts will be proposed and whether or not they go into action, they will make a positive affect on trying to st op gangs in the U.S. Gangs were first formed in the U.S. in New York in the early 20th century, particularly 1928, so it could be the first time in one hundred years where gangs are not relevant in the U.S. Also, it could make a large global impact because it would encourage other nations to crack down on gangs too. If the necessary steps are taken, the problem of gangs in the U.S. could be completely ended and we could experience a gang-free and drug-free time period in the U.S. for the first time in years. Work Cited Barbour, Scott, ed. Gangs. San Diego: Greenhaven, 2002. Print. Farah, Douglas, and Pamela Phillips Lum. â€Å"Central American Gangs and Transnational Criminal Organizations.† Strategycenter. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2013. â€Å"Gang and Immigration Enforcement.† AZDPS. Arizona Department of Public Safety, 2013. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. â€Å"In the Spotlight: Gangs.† National Criminal Justice Reference Service. U.S. Department of Justice, 7 Sept. 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. Smith, Pamela K. â€Å"Gangs.† Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society. ABC-CLIO, 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2013. Smith, Pamela K. â€Å"Gangs: Outlook.† Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society. ABC-CLIO, 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2013.

The Concern For Global Sustainability Issues Environmental Sciences Essay

One of the pressing jobs of the modern universe is planetary warming. This job has been analyzed by diverse research groups, and it is extremely controversial: the two chief positions are that planetary warming emerged due to human actions, and that planetary heating is a natural inclination and does non interfere with human actions ( Weart, 2011 ) . The protagonists of both hypotheses have a assortment of research turn outing their places, and neither of the hypotheses has been to the full proved today. The intent of this paper is to analyse the statements for and against each of these hypotheses related to planetary heating and to analyse the impact of planetary heating on a sustainable universe.1. The concern for planetary sustainability issuesThe job of planetary heating is widely discussed and analyzed presents, and it is normally supposed that the jobs of planetary heating started some 50-70 old ages before ( Turk & A ; Bensel, 2011 ) . Significant grounds of planetary warming emerged in the beginning of twenty-first century: analysis of temperatures clearly indicates that alterations took topographic points during the industrial period. In 2005 the research workers found out that universe oceans have dramatically warmed ( Weart, 2011 ) , which besides aligns with the hypothesis of planetary heating. Figure 1 shows the kineticss of temperature alterations during the recent 200 old ages. Figure 1. Global alterations of temperature during 1880-2000 period ( Smith, 2004 ) Such issues as intensive nursery gas emanations and depletion of ozone bed besides affect planetary clime and lead to climatic alterations. Possible effects of clime alterations might be the thaw of ice caps, deforestation, increased methane emanations and unexpected climatic alterations due to reconfigured pelagic circulation ( Masih, 2010 ) . Other utmost conditions events and rise of the sea degrees worldwide pose more menaces to the humanity. Climatic alterations might increase the possibility of the natural catastrophes, such as hurricanes, storms, heat moving ridges, drouths and inundations. Among a assortment of issues which should be considered to construct a sustainable universe in the conditions, there are the alterations in rainfall forms, increasing possibility of high temperatures and heat moving ridges, perceived badness of storms and hurricanes, and increased alterations of infective disease forms in the development states ( Masih, 2010 ) . All domains of human life, p articularly agribusiness, fabricating industries, wellness attention and building have to be ready to turn to the alterations, and in order to make sustainability, the solutions should be developed before important jobs with the bing methods emerge.2. Arguments for the hypothesis of natural global-warmingThe job of clime alteration is equivocal. There are a assortment of factors which might hold an impact on climatic conditions, and it is true that in the history of the Earth there have been dramatic alterations of temperature and other climatic conditions which did non associate to human activities ( Kump, 2011 ) . It is barely possible to set up cause-and-effect relationships between climatic alterations and the merchandises of human activity because purposeful scientific research on the jobs of environment is no more than 200 old ages old, which is non a important period to calculate the planetary alterations. The Earth has experienced important fluctuations of temperatures durin g its long-run history ( Kump, 2011 ) , and the humanity merely lacks grounds to turn out that climatic and temperature alterations are significantly associated with human activities. There is clear statistical grounds indicating out to the increased solar activity during the first half of the twentieth century, and greater volcanic activity. Khandekar, Murty and Chittibabu ( 2005 ) besides mention the relationship between the 11-year rhythm of solar activity, behavior of the tropical Pacific Ocean and the stratosphere. The bulk of bing climatic phenomena can be explained by these interrelatednesss, and even certain anticipations of the rainfall tendencies and natural catastrophes can be predicted utilizing this theoretical account. The analysis of physical grounds ( such as ice nucleuss, tree rings, dust plumes, and even the analysis of prehistoric small towns and algae skeletons ) provided by Singer and Avery ( 2007 ) along with human records and memories of the ice age and medieval warming show that planetary heating has been witnessed every 1500 old ages, and human-induced activities can non significantly change this tendency.3. Arguments for the hypothesis of human-induced planetary heatingSupporters of the human-induced theory of planetary heating have identified the nursery consequence aa‚ ¬ † addition of planetary temperatures due to turning concentration of specific gases in the ambiance of the Earth. These gases, particularly C dioxide, gaining control heat or infrared energy and keep warmer clime on the planet ( Turk & A ; Bensel, 2011 ) . The ocean H2O does non absorb big per centum of C dioxide, so big concentrations of C dioxide in the ambiance are likely to take to the addition of planetary temperatures. One more alarming effect of human activities is the depletion of ozone bed. Ozone is destructed by solar radiation in the ambiance, but it is re-created in natural manner. However, ozone can besides be destructed by Cl. Human-induced chemical compounds ( CFCs ) which contain Cl are really stable ; they can be therefore carried to the stratosphere and increase the velocity of ozone devastation. This external influence might interrupt the natural balance and consequence in the lessening of ozone bed ( make ozone holes ) . The denseness of ozone was analyzed in item in the 1980s, and scientists found important grounds of the decrease of ozone bed ( Turk & A ; Bensel, 2011 ) . Anticipated effects of human-induced planetary heating call the world to action and impulse to rethink the major ingestion processes taking topographic point in the modern society ( Weart, 2011 ) .DecisionThere is clear grounds that human activities can add to the climatic alterations ( Turk & A ; Bensel, 2011 ) , and uncontrolled enlargement and production are really likely to make conditions for environmental calamity, even if the chief cause of planetary heating is natural. Therefore, the humanity should concentrate chiefly non on seeking for the causes of planetary heating, but on future response to possible environmental challenges, and on making a sustainable society ( Rowland, 2010 ) . It should be noted that although there exist two opposing point of views on the job of planetary heating, both sides stress the importance of sustainability. Rowland ( 2010 ) gives grounds that due to human activities the regenerative capacity of the biosphere has been exceeded, and human existences are moving as the chief factor altering the Earthaa‚ ¬a„?s ecosystem now ( Turk & A ; Bensel, 2011 ) . This fact increases the environmental duty of the world, and relates to the issues of planetary heating in peculiar. The humanity should therefore halt debating whether the planetary heating is human-induced or non, and seek to cut down ain consequence on clime alterations. It can be done by making sustainable development schemes for both developed and developing states, and besides turn toing the jobs of population growing and extractive industries needed to keep the endurance of a big figure of people ( Rowland, 2010 ) .