The Home Front Letter Essay Example for Free

The Home Front Letter EssayHow have you been? This War has everyone rightfully going. The War lead be all over in a matter of months and our lives will back to normal. However, I am quite annoyed, just like around of my neighbours and colleagues, about the DORA. It has restricted the way we live. For example, we can no longer feed the dog. The news these days is just totally intolerable. Most of the news has to be censored, so how is one supposed to find out what is going on around the country. Those Germans are hated by every single Briton in this country. You should show some of the things they do. There are posters of Germans killing innocent babies and children for fun and raping women. It is just so inhuman.Recently, they have started sending in huge airships and bombing many of the mountainous cities, including London. This has just got to end some time soonMy son, George, has also joined the army. My family and I are so proud of him. I feel that he will make a big di fference to the war, just like the many other men that have joined.This whole war will blow over in the next few months. I dont think those Germans will last long at all.Take care of yourself.Yours sincerely,John.

Inequalities in health Essay Example for Free

Inequalities in health Essay

Implementing Green Technology In Malaysian Construction Industry Environmental Sciences Essay

Implementing verdancy Technology In Malaysian Construction Industry Environmental Sciences EssayThis study covers the interrogation on challenges of implementing kelvin technology in Malaysian mental synthesis labor. This chapter comprises of backdrop of the study, problem statement, objectives of study, signifi privyce of study, research methodology, and limitations of study, organisation of chapter and summary.1.2 Background of the get hold ofGreen is a term that refers to something that environmental friendly in which helps to tackle spherical warming and mode change. Technology utilizes these verdancy features are known as jet technology. fit in to Kutting (2000), green technology is used synonymously with terms environmental technology or clean technology and can be said to refer to technologies that look to have elfin impress on the environment. This technology is an idea and understanding found to be exceptionally beneficial to the environment as it can dishono r greenhouses gases release to the atmosphere which in turn causes warming of the earth drastically.Humans these days have already gain awareness and deep understanding that these ruinous disasters are now affecting their life that they persist in non-stop invention of legion(predicate) environmental-friendly technologies and retail them in the market. They comprehend this technology can reduce impact of activities that causes global warming and climate change. According to Rogier (2012), environmentally friendly technology utilizes many methods for reducing the impact that various activities have upon the earth.There are many types of green technology products available in the market that generate low level of waste and pollution such(prenominal) as solar photovoltaic panel, rear turbine and rain harvesting as stated by Rogier (2012), to be considered environmentally friendly, a product or action should be sustainable, produce as little waste and pollution as possible, and utili ze the recycling and reuse of materials whenever possible.Nowadays, green technology plays important roles in the manifestation industry become part of the bodily structure industry. Green technology such as solar panels and energy efficient appliances become essential features in the building. Besides, renewable and sustainable materials are integrated with these elements to coif the building green or so-called green building.1.3 Problem StatementThe worlds climate has changed dramatically and confronted with many climatic problems since the birth of the Earth. This has proven when Bernstein (2007) states that warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global average sea level.Human nowadays are attempting to uncover answers to preclude the large-scale disaster. One measure ascertain to mankind is technology of more towards environmental friendly approach or known as green technology. In the beginning of 21st century, numerous advanced nations adopted the expansive utilization of green technology as they deem its capability in halting the global catastrophic disaster.The implementations to the building, vehicles and electronics have been developed among them. The encouragement and awareness of their populace enable the green technology industry to boost up the production. It differs to lower economical developed countries such as Malaysia the challenges are superb when implementing green technology principally body structure industry.Green technology is the decent invention to reduce level of carbon emission from buildings in Malaysia but all at once restrain the developers and contractors to oblige it in Malaysian expression industry. The reasons are the high follow and minimal availability in the market. However, it is not necessarily that green technology involves with high expenses. Green technology need no t be high-tech.It can be simple technology but still saves energy or creates very little environmental impact and can be easily used (Singh, 2010). Not only that the cost is the issue, also the local banks in Malaysia also are unwilling to endangerment in providing loan towards green incentives. Commercial banks were reluctant to disburse loans for green technology-related projects in Malaysia due to the possible lack of confidence in such ventures (Najib, 2010).1.4 Objectives of the discoverThe aim of this dissertation is to explore about the challenges of implementing green technology in Malaysia construction industry. In order to achieve this aim the following objectives are recognisedTo comprehend the low level of green technology resources.To understand scarce of financial initiatives in supporting green technology.To examine low level of intimacy among construction players and other related parties on green technology.1.5 Significance of StudyThis study is expected to ident ify the challenges of implementing green technology in Malaysian construction industry. This finding eventually undertakes the problems encountered to implement green technology in Malaysian construction industry. It also assists paradigm shift to migrate from traditional construction to spotless and greener construction. The outcome of this study will certainly benefit to one of the objective of the Construction Industry Master Plan (CIMP) which is to promote more innovative green construction.1.6 Research MethodologyThe study on the problems to the embracing of green technology in Malaysia construction industry is a relatively new research scene of action and there are deficient of relevant research in Malaysia require to be referred. Therefore, it must be conducted with the limited amount of resources but the study can be scoped only the Klang Valley area. Two types of data, that is primary data and substitute(prenominal) data. For the primary data, interview section and case study will be conducted. For the secondary data, literature reviews are written from references of books, articles and from the internet that are related to the research. The methodologies have been identified to facilitate the necessary data are as followsInterviews (primary data)Case studies (primary data)lit Reviews (secondary data)a) InterviewsQuantitative methods such as questionnaire will not be very accurate and appropriate in obtaining the data for the research. This is due to the study requires individual opinions and assessments. Hence, qualitative methods for example interview is the best technique in order to obtain relevant data.This sort of methodology was carried out to request opinions and feedbacks from developers, architects, engineer and contractors about the cost of green technology to be used in construction situate, the initiatives of local bank towards green technology investment and level of knowledge and experience on green technology among the players in M alaysian construction industry.b) Case studiesThis methodology is conducted in line with the interviews and supports this primary methodology. The case studies involved with previous and recent projects in which the buildings are built with green technology. Thus, it was carried out in the vicinity of Klang Valley where many green buildings are constructed. The examples of green buildings in this area are G-Tower in Kuala Lumpur, diamond buildings and LEO building in Putrajaya. These studies are to achieve the objective to explore the lack of utilization of green technology in Malaysian construction industry.c) Literature ReviewsLiterature review are used to obtain the previous research predominantly on the challenges of implementing green technology in construction site which includes the cost and local bank initiatives and knowledge and experience among construction stakeholders1.7 Limitation of StudyFor the scope of the study, the limitation is conducted in order to focus and nar row worst the topic of specific areas in the research. The study will be centered on challenges to implement green technology in Malaysian construction industryi. Respondents from contractors, developers, architects and engineers in construction industry.ii. G-Tower in Kuala Lumpur, diamond buildings and LEO building in Putrajaya.iii. Urban areas in Klang Valley.1.8 Organisation of ChapterFigure 1.1 Chapter 1 Organisation1.9 SummaryThis chapter comprises of background of the study, problem statement, objectives of study, significance of study, research methodology, and limitations of study, organisation of chapter and summary that cover the challenges facing construction technology to be executed in Malaysian construction industry.Study background embraces the term green technology, various types of green technology existed for sale and application of green technology in the construction industry. Problem statement comprises of the challenges such as lack of utilization, lack of in itiatives from local bank and lack of knowledge and experience among construction stakeholders about implementation of green technology in construction site. This make out the objectives of study.The significance of the study can be summarized which it can undertakes the challenges by identifying the main factors of hardship in implementing green technology. There are common chord kinds of research methodology aiding the accomplishment of the study which are interviews, case studies and literature reviews. Limitations of study span within vicinity of Klang Valley. Organisation of chapter outlines the overall picture of the building block Chapter 1.

Elements Of Struggle Between Passion And Reason

Elements Of Struggle Between Passion And ReasonIn nineteenth century literature a lot of importance was given to passion and steamy appeal in preference to reason and logic. Creative writing and fiction were usu all in ally charged with passion and struck a chord with the readers. For any lean of fiction or non-fiction the main content needs to have a reasonable plot, theme, structure and organization for it to be of sustained popularity and wide readership. The books included in this study, Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton and Frankenstein by bloody shame Shelley have elements of both passion and reason even though a clash surrounded by these twain elements is evident in both stories.Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth as well deeply. Let him not express joy too gladly when the water runs through his fingers, nor stand too silent when the setting sun makes red the veld with fire. Let him not be too m oved when the birds of his land are singing, nor give too much of his heart to a mountain or a valley. For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much (Paton 101).In the above lines from the story, the writer brings about the struggle between the feelings of ownership and belonging of the protagonist, Stephen Kumalo, and the fear of his beloved country falling apart because of racial discrimination and racial hostilities between the whites and the dulls in southeastern Africa. The other theme of clash is between the route to progress and development for the blacks in urban centers like Johannesburg at the cost of the breaking up of families and tribes in rural South Africa. The dichotomy is between progress and urbanization on the champion hand and preserving traditions and strengthening relationships on the other. The main themes are of the clash between the privileged and the colonized, the haves and the have-nots.In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley has drawn the readers attention towards the clash between comprehension and the occult. Victor Frankenstein who creates the monster represents reason and the monster represents passion.Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that piece of music is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to bring forth greater than his nature will allow (Shelley 50).In the above lines, the author has tried to elaborate on the pitfalls that the mere quest for knowledge devoid of responsibility and control can have on mortal lives. So the struggle in this story is between reason in the form of science and scientific invention against the passion of the monster which is a creation of the scientist. Frankenstein is a story of an irresponsible scientist who in the out of bounds of knowledge creates a monster that nobody is able to control and the monster continues to perpetrate atrocities and chaos. It is a lesson for the reader to sham in mind that curiosity and the commission to gain knowledge is good plainly the seeker of knowledge must also be capable of taking responsibility and have courage to bear negative consequences in case a need arises.There are a couple of common themes in both these novels. The colonizing of black people in South Africa and disbanding families and tribes in order to profit from cheap labor created the monster of racial hooliganism and lawlessness in Johannesburg. The whites created the black labor force but did nothing to ensure that they remain happy and rooted. The abject poverty and dire living conditions of the black workers created the rift between the rich mine and factory owners and the displaced black laborers. Similarly in Frankenstein Victor Frankenstein created the monster but did nothing to provide a sense of belonging and ownership which encouraged the monster to feel disowned and become wild.The themes of colonialism and imperialism are present in b oth novels. It is the struggle between the white and black, the rich and poor, the rulers and the ruled in Alan Patons story while the theme of the creator and the created permeates Mary Shelleys novel. Isolation and the sense of lack of belonging have created both the monster and Absalom. The monster seeks the love and acknowledgment of his creator while Absalom leaves his village, Ndotsheni, to seek knowledge and employment. So both the monster and Absalom feel isolated from their people and take to ways that harms others more than they can control.Stephen Kumalo is the pastor of a small village in South Africa and lives in his own world, quite disconnected with the times and happenings in urbanized centers like Johannesburg. When he comes to Johannesburg to help rehabilitate his sis, Gertrude, he is brought face to face with the realities of lifetime in South Africa. He realizes that his world was collapsing and that the main tragedy of his people was that things like relations hips and innocence were breaking down and no one was doing anything to mend them. He says, It suited the white man to break the tribe, but it has not suited him to build something in its place (Paton 46). Stephen Kumalo is a man obsessed with a queer quest to seek his son and rebuild the community. Similarly, Victor Frankenstein is obsessed with seeking knowledge and acquiring power. He wanted to play God and test his great power to give life to an animal (Shelley 51).The conclusion of both the stories engenders calm and relative hope. In the end Absalom realizes his mistake and is harmonise to his fate and Stephen Kumalo is able to bring his sister and Absaloms pregnant wife back to the village to try and rebuild his tribe with the help of James Jarvis. The monster in Frankenstein grieves over the death of his creator and is reconciled to his self-imposed exile in the North Pole and subsequent death. He realizes that his atrocities in order to seek revenge did not yield the desi red results and he continued to be abandoned and isolated. In both stories, there is a sense of catharsis with Absalom writing home to his parents and the monster grieving over his master. charge though both ends are tragic there is a faint ray of hope in both novels.

Black and Minority Ethnic People in Prison

blue and nonage cultural People in PrisonFor every Afro-Caribbean male on campus in that respect atomic number 18 two in jail. (Phillips, 2004). Sir Trevor Phillips memorable claim is interesting on two levels. First, in how it highlights the strong record that drear or Minority Ethnic (BME) persons form a dis sameityately high section of the prison population in England and Wales. Secondly, as an example of the polemical terms in which this uncertainty is often debated. In this essay I will seek to scramble behind the rhetoric.Whilst Sir Trevor whitethorn rescue chosen (or embellished) his statistics for rhetorical purposes, thither is a disproportionately high number of BME pris superstarrs. Home stead statistics2show some 27% of the prison population in England and Wales identified themselves as being from social minority groups3. These figures should be approached c argonfully if one is trying to consider incarceration rates in the resident population. Foreign natio nals accounted for 38% of the BME prison population (Ministry of Justice, 2009). However, even excluding the encroachment on the statistics of foreign nationals, the differences in incarceration rates be startling, tokenly for British nationals who self-identify as relentless4 6.8 per 1,000 compared to 1.3 per 1,000 for color sight5 a good deal(prenominal) than five propagation more than Black peck in prison per point in time of population than pureness people. Similarly, there were more people of mixed socialality in prison per head of population than White people, with a rate per 1,000 of 3.7. However, this substantial overrepresentation was non shared by separate non-White ethnic groups. People from Chinese or Other Ethnic tush demesnes were least credibly to be wrapped, with a rate of 0.5 per 1,000. The rate for people from Asian groups6was also higher than for White persons except signifi backsidetly lower than for the Black or Mixed groups at 1.8 per 1,00 0 population. The differences in these rates are so marked that there is clearly a question to answer here wherefore are Black people, and certain (but non all) other ethnic minorities more likely to be incarcerated than their White fellow-citizens?Three broad bills present themselves as possibilitiesdisproportionate evil that persons of BME ethnicity pose a disproportionately high percentage of nuisancesdisproportionate detection and prosecution that they are disproportionately more likely to be caught, aerated or prosecuted with such umbrages anddisproportionate conviction and sentencing that they are more likely to be convicted, or if convicted more likely to be imprisoned or imprisoned for longer.Of course, the truth could combine these explanations but it is important to establish which of them is near salient, and to delve more deeply into the causes underlying such explanation.Are BME people just more likely to offend than White people?The simplest explanation for t he disproportionately high number of BMEs imprisoned is that BME individuals are more likely to commit crimes.If we assume that there is a direct relationship between arrests and crime, and we accept law of nature reported crime levels, there is strong rise to suggest that BMEs are more likely to commit crimes than Whites. (Here we are using the Home Office crime definitions, encompassing violent crime, intimate personnel, acquisitive crime, vandalism and criminal damage, fraud, racially or scrupulously motivated crimes, and medicine offences.) In 2007-8, 82% of all arrests were of people of white appearance, with 9% Black, 5% Asian and 1% classified as Other (Ministry of Justice, 2009). This can be compared the governments estimates for the ethnic makeup of the general UK population in 2006/07 where 88.7% are White, 2.7% Black, 5.5% Asian and 1.5% Other (Gask, 2008). Whilst the arrest numbers for White, Asian and Other ethnicities were roughly proportional to their prevalence 7in the population, Black people were 2.5 times more likely to be arrested than the population as whole.If we accept a strong coefficient of correlation between arrest and criminality rates, then we may conclude that Black people, but not other ethnic groups, are more likely to offend than Whites. This requires an explanation and broadly three fibers of explanation shake up been propounded socio-economic, family factors and historical/cultural factors (including policing strategies).The association between socio-economic disadvantage and involvement in crime is well-established (Home Office Report). According to Beckers (1968) analytical frame sketch, crime rates radiate the risks and costs of being caught, and the disparity between potential gain from crime and the associated opportunity cost. Those with least to lose are more likely to offend. Economists expect interpreted measures of income inequality as indicators of the distance between the gains from crime and its opportu nity costs (Fajnzylber et al, 2002). This view is validateed by statistics associating UK homicide rates with poverty (Dorling et al, 2005). Black African and Caribbean groups make up approximately 2.5 times the proportion of the population in the most deprived areas of the country as for England as a whole (Jacobs Tinsley, 2006). Relative poverty appears to provide a good explanation why Black people might be more likely to commit crime, and in particular economic crime8. It seems likely also that the unemployed are more likely to engage in criminality. The adage that the devil makes work for idle hands is supported by the literature9. It is therefore significant that Home Office statistics on unemployment rates found that Black men suffered intimately three times more unemployment than White British or Irish men (Home Office, 2005).Poor educational achievement is a symptom and cause of socio-economic disadvantage. whatsoever argue that educational underachievement is also se paratistly a major cause of criminality. The failure of the education outline to educate our black boys provides a breeding ground for disaffection that undoubtedly leads many (not all) to seek alternative means to obtain a good standard of living or gain respect from their peers (Home Office, 2003). certainly poor education is associated with delinquency. Maguin Loeber (1996) showed through their meta-analysis of studies of this relationship that children with low academic performances offended more frequently, committed more serious offences, and persisted in their pique. However, whether poor education is an independent cause is not established the merely correlational role of education was argued by pioneering analysts in the 1830s (Feldman, 1993). It may be that poor education affects delinquency indirectly by limiting employment opportunities, which in turn leads to more probability of criminal behaviour.If educational underachievement causes criminality then it is pertinen t that Blacks participate far little in higher education than Whites (Bhattacharyya et al, 2003)10. Furthermore, Black people are far likelier to be excluded from educate (Department for Education and Skills, 2006)11. There is an established association between shallow exclusions and involvement in crime12and, whilst it is unclear whether criminality leads to exclusion from school or vice versa, either way the evidence of more school exclusions amongst Black people supports the marriage offer that Black peoples disproportionate incarceration arises from disproportionate criminality. If education is a factor, however, it is unclear whether fault lies with the educational opportunities in stock(predicate) the allegedly low take to be that Black (or more specifically Afro-Caribbean) males place on formal education or other factors.Family and parenting factors provide another possible explanation of the overrepresentation of BMEs in prison. BME children are more likely to grow up in single-parent households for example, 54.5% of mixed White/Black Caribbean children grew up in lone-parent households (Home Office, 2003). This has been shown to take away a negative impact on later life yields. Kellam et al (1982) found that Black children from mother-only families were more likely to be judged by their teachers as maladaptive, than other groups. More specifically, a high proportion of BME children are born to teenage mothers (Higginbottom et al, 2005).13Jaffee et al (2001)s 20-year longitudinal study showed that the offspring of teen mothers are at particular risk for adverse outcomes including early school leaving, unemployment, early parenthood, and violent offending. Another possible family factor is that, the high proportion of BME adults already in the criminal justice system may feed back into offending behaviours among young people. Criminal and antisocial parents tend to come delinquent and antisocial children14. Furthermore, concentrated incarcerati on in impoverished communities breaks familial ties, weakens parents social-control capacity, weakens economic power, and sours attitudes towards mainstream society, change magnitude the likelihood of offending (Clear, 2007).Taken together these socioeconomic, educational and family factors seem to provide a fairly full explanation of any great level of criminality among Black or BME groups. However this has not prevented other theories being advanced.One suggestion is that we should blame urban Black assimilation, especially music and use up, for providing role deterrent examples who romanticize violence, and encourage criminal lifestyles. The Home Office suggests (Home Office, 2003) that active social exclusion comes virtually when young people lay claim to particular identities and make choices about lifestyles which compound their disadvantage and their existence on the margins of society, and quotes evidence that the arrival of American TV on St Kitts led to a sharp rise in bunch violence, drugs and murders15and of links between music videos and criminal behaviour, especially gang behaviours such as of conspiracy London gangs having music production arms advocating violence against rivals. Pitts (2006) reports how gangs film robberies and use the footage to promote their music. However, as an explanation this is not as convince as those discussed above. It is not obvious why BME youths should be more susceptible than White youths to music glamourising criminality. It seems more likely that a popular culture that gives endorses criminality is a reflection, rather than a cause16.Others prefer to blame White society, or more specifically colonialism. During the 1960s Fanon popularised a model which conceptualised the relations between Blacks and Whites in post-colonial societies (Fanon, 1963). The model has recently become revived by scholars such as Agozino (2003) and Gabbidon (2010). The colonialist model argues that past colonial repression, can cause crime in the present. Tatum (1994) argues that the victims of social, economic and political oppression will develop feelings of alienation to which the criminality and violence is an adaptive response. The model predicts that the colonised will become anomic from their own culture, and begin to self-hate both as individuals and at the group level. Racial groups become estranged from each other, and racial violence increases, based on a mutual lack of trust and as individuals try to fight back and reclaim their culture and identity (Tatum, 1994). Pouissant (1972) argues that this internalisation of anger can exempt the increasing Black on Black violence in Afro-American societies in particular.It is certainly lightsome to see that past colonialism, can be linked to social structures of oppression that persist into the present (Feagin Feagin, 2003, p. 35). Past economic, political and social subordination has left changeless imbalances in post-colonial societies and these differences in view, cause segregation, which leads directly to a negative impact on crime and perception of crime level (Massey Denton, 1993). Crime rises as the ethnic minority becomes increasingly separated from good basic services and employment opportunities (Wilson, 1998).However, it seems easier (and to accord better with the principle of Occams razor) to attribute greater criminality to greater disadvantage, and the greater disadvantage to history than to rely on group-wide psychological theories based on historic grievances. Direct tests of the components of the colonial model only show limited support (Austin, 1983) for the theory (although proponents of the theory argue that colonialism should be seen as an antecedent variable, and thus these tests may lack reliability (Bosworth Flavin, 2007)). Besides the difficulty testing this theory, the colonial model does not explain the diverse responses different groups have to similar forms of alienation why would ethnic min orities feel more alienated than lower-class Whites? Nor do they explain why a society that produces Malcolm X can also produce a Martin Luther King.Are black and ethnic minority individuals more likely to get caught and charged with criminal offences?After exploring reasons why BMEs might commit disproportionately high levels of crime, it is important to note that the statistics showing disproportionate criminality are super contested. I began the previous section with the important caveat If we accept a strong correlation between arrest rates and criminality rates, but this proposition is contentious.Any statistics generated by criminal justice agencies provide only partial information about the nature of offenders, as the vast majority who commit crime are never caught or processed by the criminal justice system individuals diverted from the criminal justice system will not swash in such statistics (Ministry of Justice, 2009). There is evidence to suggest that there is reportin g bias in the reporting of certain crimes amongst certain ethnic minorities. Although some authors have suggested that mistrust of the criminal justice system may lead to less reporting of intra racial crimes, especially within ethnic minority groups, other evidence suggests that racial biases lead to disproportionately greater crime reporting in BME groups. For example, statistics suggest a higher lean for black women to report sexual offences. Although this could aim higher levels of sexual crime in Black communities, equally it could reflect lower tolerance of sexual misbehaviour by Black women or underreporting of sexual offences in the wider community (Home Office, 2003). Furthermore, statistics are also often skewed by the focus of law en tracement. A crack down on street crimes in BME-dominated areas, will distort the statistics (Chambliss et al, 2004).One way to evaluate the rigorousness of the arrest data, and answer our second question is to consider discrepancies betw een self-reported and official crime rates. If such discrepancies are found, the most likely explanation would be a racial bias in the law of nature squeeze or Crown Prosecution System. regrettably the evidence here is inconclusive. Sharp Budd (2005)s analysis of the 2000 Offending Crime and Justice Survey seems to evidence a disparity between self-reported, and official criminal activeness White respondents and those of mixed ethnic origin generally self-reported the highest levels of offending17. Asians and those from Other ethnic groups reported significantly lower levels of offending18than Whites, or those of mixed ethnic origin, on all offences, except robbery (Sharp Budd, 2005 9). Black respondents were significantly less likely to self-report offending than White respondents across all offence categories, except burglary and the egress of drugs19. White respondents and those of Mixed ethnic origin self-reported overall similar levels of offending, but those of mixed eth nicity were more likely to be serious offenders 27% versus 21%, although this may be subject to some non-response bias (Sharp Budd, 2005 9).However, such self-report surveys suffer conceptual and methodological difficulties. Respondents may be untruthful and there may be an ethnic bias to the extent to which answers are reasonable. Whilst in the UK it is generally accepted that self-report surveys are reliable and valid measures of delinquency (Farrington, 2001), studies elsewhere suggest that ethnic minority groups are less likely to provide accurate answers to questions on criminality. Hindelang et al (1981) found that Black males were three times less likely to admit to offences, even when they were already known to the police. To overcome this occupation Sharp Budd (2005) asked respondents how truthful they had been in completing the survey. Although there was little difference by ethnicity in the percentage of respondents claiming to have been honest (around 95%), slightly fewer older Black respondents said they were totally truthful, and overall, Black individuals were less likely to report honesty when answering problems about drug use. Of course, answers to these questions could themselves be affected by a social desirability bias individuals may not want to admit to lying but, these general trends replicated the findings of other self-report studies, such as Flood-Page et al (2000). Another flaw in this evidence is that it shows only the percentage of individuals involved in any kind of crime. It may be that the small than expected percentages of BME individuals admitting to offending, commit a greater percentage of crime and therefore provide more opportunities to be caught.The evidence, therefore, is not strong but does suggest that BME people are less likely to be involved in criminality than Whites and yet are arrested disproportionately. We must ask then why would BME individuals be more likely to be caught and charged with criminal behavi our?Bowling Phillips (2002) suggested that this could be explained by institutional racial discrimination amongst the police. The charge of police racism has been levelled particularly at the Metropolitan Police.20The finding of institutional racism made at the Stephen Lawrence enquiry was generally accepted and TV documentaries such as the Panorama series have helped establish this as a wide-spread perception that is obvious and self-evident. For example the former Home Secretary, Jack Straw pronounced Any long-established, white-dominated organisation is liable to have procedures, practices and a culture that tends to exclude or disadvantage non-white people. (Straw, 1999)Other commentators dismiss the idea that the police are institutionally racist. The earlier (1981) Scarman report supported a bad apple theory that racial prejudice occurred amongst only a minority of officers (Neal, 2003). Racial prejudice does manifest itself occasionally in the behaviour of a few officers on the street. It may be only too easy for some officers, faced with what they must see as the inexorably rising feed of street crime to lapse into an unthinking assumption that all young black people are potential criminals (Macpherson, 1999 16). Whilst the bad apple theory is not now prevalent, it is important to be careful not to extrapolate individual (or group action) or racism towards the whole institution. Some argue that reports such as the Morris Report (2004) have conflated individual racism to institutional racism (Lea, 2000 Stenson Waddington, 2007). Lea argues that the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, in particular, examined the specific actions of individual officers and unscientifically extrapolated from this a conclusion that the police force itself is racist. It has been argued that the negative interpretation of institutional racism has further increased tension between police and ethnic minorities (Foster et al, 2005).In fact, the direct evidence that institutional racis m leads to disproportionate arrests of BME people is mixed. Jefferson, Walker Seneviratne (1992) studied differences in treatment in individuals arrested in Leeds, and found conflicting evidence. By analyzing the (police-perceived) race, sex, age, offence and address of everyone arrested or halt in the city over 6 months in 1987, they found that Blacks were over-represented (7% of those arrested, compared to 3% in the population), Asians were proportionately represented and Whites were under-represented. However, when the neighbourhood ethnic balance was controlled for, Blacks were only over-represented in White areas. In Black-dominated areas, Whites were in fact over- represented. However, the information was based on where offenders lived, not where they offended. Furthermore, the low Black arrest rate in Black areas perhaps due to mistrust of police in intra-racial crimes (Jefferson et al, 2002).If we turn to indications of differential treatment by the Police in relation to actions other than arrest, patterns do emerge. Newburn, Shiner Hayman (2004) analysed the propensity to be strip-searched in custody, finding that on average, Afro-Caribbeans suffered twice the number of strip-searches as Whites, whilst Arabic or Oriental people had a virtual halving of the probability of being strip-searched (Newburn et al, 2004 689). Other studies have considered possible police ethnic biases in relation to stop-and-search arrests. Overwhelmingly the data suggest that BMEs are significantly more likely to be stopped than Whites. In 2006/2007 Blacks were seven times more likely to be stopped and searched, and Asians were twice as likely to be stopped as Whites (Jones Singer, 2008).However, the validity of these findings can be questioned. Bennetto, 2009 observes that police officers may just be more likely to record stops made of BMEs than those conducted on White people, but it seems supposed(prenominal) that such misrecording would persist so consistently acro ss forces, and over the last five years, particularly with the strong incentives on the police not to display racism. A more telling criticism is that stop-and-search data involves an invalid comparison it compares the ethnicity of the whole population with that of those stopped, rather than looking at the proportion of those stopped within the available population those who are out at times, and in places where stops are likely to occur (Fitzgerald Sibbitt, 1997). Indeed, Jefferson et al (1992) found a statistically significant low-to-moderate correlation (r=0.20) between number of evenings out and annoyance with police. Although Pavey (2008) counters this by arguing that it is unlikely that Black people are more available to be stopped in some areas than others, it is not outlandish to suggest that in some cultures may be more normal than others for people (particularly young men) to hang round on the street rather than staying in. Others counter this criticism by observating t hat, even if the ethnicity mix where and when the searches are made is different to that in the general population, it does not disprove police racist motivation the police might have chosen when and where to conduct such stops is based on where BME youths congregate (Home Office, 2003). This argument would be convincing if it could be backed by evidence that police decisions on where to operate are based on something other than their assessment of when and where crimes are most prevalent, but I am not aware of any such evidence.Are Black and Ethnic minorities unfairly dealt with by the justice system?The evidence of institutional racism in the justice system is also mixed at best. Although Hood (2008) argues that the over-representation of Afro-Caribbeans in prisons is a direct product of their over representation among those convicted of crime and sentenced in the Crown Courts, a recent study of almost 16,000 jurors found that although BME individuals are 3.5 times more likely to face a jury verdict, relation to their representation in the global population, jury verdicts showed only small differences based on defendant ethnicity (Thomas, 2010)21. This indicates that one stage in the criminal justice system where BME groups do not face persistent disproportionality is when a jury reaches a verdict.The evidence that BMEs are likely to suffer more punitive sentences than White people is superficially more persuasive. Black young offenders accounted for 11.6% of custodial sentences, despite only accounting for 6% of total offences (Home Office, 2003).However this does not prove unfairness whilst it could reflect biased sentencing, it could equally have other causes, perhaps that BMEs are likelier to commit crimes that justify a custodial sentence. Jefferson et al (1992) found that apparently racially-based differences in outcome of arrest could be otherwise explained. Although in juvenile cases, Blacks were twice as likely to be tried in a Crown Court as Asi ans or Whites, most were being tried jointly with an older co-defendant, necessitating the Crown Court, and six of the twelve Black subjects included in this data were arrested in one incident. Also the Home Office statistics say nothing about prior convictions, which may affect sentencing. Although evidence that Whites are more likely to re-offend22suggests that this may not explain disproportionate custodial sentences for BME people, studies which take account of prior convictions find no evidence of racially biased sentencing. Mair (1986) found that Blacks and Whites who had committed similar offences, and had similar criminal records, had the same chance of a custodial sentence. Jefferson et al (1992)s regression analysis of data collected in their Leeds study found that when offence type and previous convictions were taken into account, there were no differences in sentencing or length of custodial sentence between different ethnic groups23.Furthermore, once imprisoned, there i s evidence to suggest that there is no racially-explained difference in the availability of parole. Although Hood Shute (2000) found that both Blacks and Whites were less likely to be granted parole than South Asian/Chinese prisoners, this is not necessarily due to ethnic bias. Moorthy et al (2006) argued persuasively that this could be better attributed to other characteristics associated with release.The clearest explanation of the disparity in sentencing is that BME individuals are likely to be pursue in different types of crimes than Whites, and more specifically are more likely to be engaged in crimes that have a high likelihood of incarceration, or even mandatory prison sentences. Young people of different ethnic groups do appear to have different profiles of offending behaviour. Jefferson et al (1992) found that BME individuals were more likely to be arrested under charges of violence and theft, whereas, Whites were more likely to be charged with burglary or damage. This is corroborated by Home Office statistics which suggest that. BME individuals seem to be overrepresented for certain crimes notably robbery and drugs offences (Home Office, 2003), and are more likely to be involved with firearms and gang violence, whereas white people are more likely to commit and be convicted of less serious offences, for example criminal damage or property offences like burglary. The propensity for BMEs to be engaged in drug offences in particular goes a long way towards explaining the relatively high percentage of custodial sentences given to BMEs. Drug offences typically have longer custodial sentences than those for even the most violent crimes, even for importing relatively small amounts of drugs.24There is a substantially higher proportion of Black inmates serving drug-related sentences (Home Office, 2003).25This is particularly true for female prisoners (Chigwada-Bailey, 2003)26. Of the women in prison for all offences, 40% were convicted of drug offences (Ho me Office, 2003). Furthermore, this is not only the case for foreign nationals over half(a)(a) of all Black British women prisoners incarcerated in 2005 were due to drug offences (Fitzgerald, 2007 56).Although levels of drug use among 16 24 year olds are lower for Black youths than those from White or mixed backgrounds, there is evidence to show that Black people disproportionately misuse certain drugs, specifically crack cocaine (Sangster, Shiner, Sheikh, Patel, 2002). Almost half of arrestees reported using crack cocaine are Black young White offenders at Feltham Young Offenders Institute are more likely to have opiate problems, whereas Black youths are more likely to have problems with crack cocaine (Home Office, 2005). There is also evidence that cannabis misuse is a particular problem among ethnic minority communities. The 2001/2 British Crime Survey found that people from a mixed white and black Caribbean background were also most likely to have used cannabis in their lif etime (54%), compared with only 30% of Whites (Home Office RDSD, 2008). Furthermore, there is evidence that BME people are disproportionately more likely to be involved in supplying drugs. Despite accounting for only 11% of all Londoners, 67% of those accused of supplying crack cocaine are Black (Home Office, 2007).ConclusionThe relationship of race to criminality is perplexing. Many commentators in the field have a particular political point to make, and much of the debate is conducted in terms that are more interested in promoting a particular agenda than reaching the truth. Often statistics are gathered for particular reasons. Since 1991, the Criminal Justice Act has required police officers to monitor the ethnicity of people they stop and search and these have been gathered in the context of a force desperately keen to shrug off a racist label. It is difficult to see that this would not have had an effect on the quality of the data. In other contexts, data are deliberately withh eld or not collected, for example the Press is discouraged from referring to ethnicity when reporting crime27. Where information is collected, different studies categorise ethnic groups in different ways, some including and some excluding foreign nationals.However with all these caveats, the conclusion that best seems to fit the facts is that in England and Wales, BMEs do as a group disproportionately commit crimes that are more likely to lead to custodial sentences than other ethnic groups but this disproportionality all but disappears if we factor in socio-economic disadvantage, educational levels reached, and family factors, and there is no need to reach for more complex explanations such as post-colonial angst or police racism. In particular, the evidence supporting the pervasive view that police racism causes disproportionate arrests is unconvincing, especially as if it were true it would mean that we would need to find explanations why BME groups must have a lower level of cri minality than one might expect given the socio-economic disadvantage, educational levels and family factors that apply.Astonishingly, there seems to be no paper that directly looks at crime rates by race, when socio-economic status is controlled for. Such a paper would be a major step forward to moving this debate from the polemical onto a scientific basis. Of course su

One Thousand Paper Cranes -- One Thousand Paper Cranes Short Stories E

One Thousand Paper CranesWalking toward his mothers bedroom, Mark slowed his pace. His heart ached and felt heavy. His mothers illness hung over him standardized a shroud, turning his life black. She had cancer in her lungs and he didnt k nowadays why and who to blame. She didnt smoke, so why did it have to happen to her. He questi adeptd. He stop at the door, gathering his thoughts. What would he say to his mother?. He took a deep breath, gathered his strength, and opened the door quietly. Mom, how are you today? Im sorry I havent come to see you for a while. Mark said as he smiled at her trying to be cheerful. Mom, I have a surprise for you today. Im trusted you will love it. He held his surprise behind his back with his right hand, notwithstanding was so excited that he couldnt hide his feelings. He imagined her smiling as he revealed his gift. Maggie lay in her bed , lost in thought, and showed little interest. Mark, is that you? Come close to me. She glanced at her son and tr ied to move her body to beat up, but she couldnt. She took a deep sigh and said, Im sorry, Mark. I dont feel good today. She knew she was dying. She suffered from lung cancer for a year. She had two painful operations in the last meet of months that had drained all of her strength. She was getting timider and weaker. Now she stayed in bed all day, reading, watching TV, seeing occasional visitors, and remembering her life. She found momentary relief with her visitors, but always she would quickly tire and have to sleep. She smelled death around her. An independent woman all of her life, she wanted to take care of herself, but she was too weak to do so. Her body was dying daily, but her mind remained clear so she started writing her journal. She a... ...cranes and wonder at the folding. I will treasure senbazulu for years. Thank your Nipponese friend for me. Mark had forgotten about the thousand cranes since his last visit. That was a wonderful gift for her. He didnt really belie ve its myth, but he wondered now that maybe it could be true. Summer was over. Four months passed since he had a family reunion at his hometown. He sat on his mothers empty bed in the pallidly lit room and looked at the cranes hanging on the wall. His mother had died. He read her last letter to him. For a moment, a cool fall line fanned into the room through the slightly opened window. He could hear his grandfathers old clock across the room ticking loudly. He thought that one of the cranes smiled down at him, broke free and flew in the sky. He cried as he watched it fade into the horizon. Take care of my mom, he whispered.

“Let Teenagers Try Adulthood” Essay -- Article Review

We every(prenominal) remember the day of the Littleton proud school shooting to a fault referred as the Columbine racy School Massacre. When the flashing new lines of (CNN News, 1999) stated that 25 people were killed at the High School by two heavily armed male students that also took their own lives it was shocking and real disturbing news to learn that something so horrible caused this students to kill their own peers. What was the reason that drove these students to kill? Was the students bullying these boys, did they conk in the reject circle, the outcasts of the high school, were they the weirdos because they loved to learn while everyone elsewas focused on their looks and the next football game. Maybe, and this is the verypoint that Leon Botstein states in his article Let Teenagers Try Adulthood for theNew York Times which was written after the Littleton shootings. Botstein article Let teenagers Try Adulthood project that the American high school is obsolete a nd should be abolished. He states that puberty and education dont mix, because their bodies ar going through changes that can be embarrassing. The high schools are made up of cliques and the artificial intensity of a world defined by insiders and outsiders. (Botstein pg.20) The insiders hold control over the outsiders because of good looks, popularity, and sports federal agency the teacher and staff do nothing to stop them, the so called elite. When in fact the high school outsiders becomes the more successful and admired adults in society. Botstein,states that team sports of high school dominate more than student culture. He purpose that secondary education be rethought elementary s... ...roblems at school and to top it all off their raging, uncontrollable hormones its a ticking time bomb just waiting to happen inside of every teenager. In conclusion, Botstein arguments about abolishing high school should really be considered and taken into action. Conside ring majority of high schools is a social playground not an educational institute. It is a serious waste of value funds and waste extremely precious time which can never be regained. Unless parents, teachers and the country start seeing that these problems with shootings and gangs in high school are all due to the fact of the most basic concept every teen know about everyone for their selves, if you cant play with the big dogs than beguile off the porch. With that stated we seriously need to change our the school system for everyone benefit.