Reaction Paper to Amish in America Essay Example

Reaction Paper to Amish in America Paper Nick Stratton Professor Taylor soc 204 May 13, 2013 Reaction Paper to Amish in America In our society today, we have many different groups, religions, cultures, and even sub-cultures. Each one of these groups has their own commonly accepted way of life. In particular, there is a very large community of people who call themselves the Amish. These people live in a society where there are very strict rules, values, and beliefs that they follow on a daily basis. Most modern Americans would strongly reject the lifestyle chosen by the Amish, so it can seem surprising to learn that this group is actually growing. Why is this possible? I believe the Amish are growing because they are approaching a stage in their world where they must adapt their ways or fail to thrive. The Amish have always been a people of the old country; they were taught a way of doing things while still following a very strict moral and religious code. We will write a custom essay sample on Reaction Paper to Amish in America specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Reaction Paper to Amish in America specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Reaction Paper to Amish in America specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer According to the video that we watched in class, when they were doing the documentary on the Amish people, they only wanted to be videotaped in profile in order to have those outside their culture believe they are all one homogenous group. In fact, their religious faith is ultimately the foundation for the reason for everything from what hey wear to what they drive. Ever since the day a child is born into an Amish family, they begin the process of training the child to obey their system of values and beliefs that defines their way of life. This socialization process is crucial to their way of building a strong sense of connection to the rest of their community. As the youth transition from childhood to adulthood, according to the video The America of the Amish, the adolescents are given a period of time between the ages of 16 and 20 during which they are allowed to experience many things outside the Amish culture and norms, without fear of reprisal. This period of time is known as Rumspringa, basically translated from German to mean Jumping around. However, not all Amish people were born into the culture. In the video, we saw a mother and two daughters Join an Amish community after leaving California and moving to Intercourse, Pennsylvania. I believe they did this because the Amish life has a simpler and more straightforward way of doing things. This allows people in the community to live a much more stress free life. In addition, living in an Amish commune adds a sense of safety, security, and overall wellbeing. As th e Amish evolve, they are experiencing more modern techniques to ccomplish day to day tasks. They still dont use electricity but, unlike when the elders held obstinately to the prescribed way, now Amish people have embraced certain advances in technology in order to increase efficiency in their daily life. Men and women have also embraced different ways of earning money other than through agricultural means on their own farm site. One case in point is Amish people running a stand at a local market using electricity in order to make a pront pure fact that the Amish are learning to evolve in todays society is the reason I believe that the Amish community as a whole is growing in the United States.

Abuse of elderly - Smart Custom Writing Samples

Abuse of elderly - Smart Custom Writing French architectureReliable history of French architecture begins with the Middle Ages, from the XI century, as reliable information about the earlier Celtic and Frankish cultures did not survive. In France, mainly in the south, in Provence and Dauphine, the remains of temples of the Gallo-Roman period are saved. Among numerous places of worship and fantastic beauty are two buildings – Chartres Cathedral and Pantheon. From the point of view of Art History these masterpieces attract universal attention. For this paper just these very buildings were chosen because of great popularity, unique history, out of the ordinary design etc. All these factors make the work given unusual, interesting for readers and informative for those who studies Art History. As France is home to the Gothic style, it is considered that foundation is the church architecture, French Gothic reaches its peak in the era of "rayonnat" style, vivid example of which is the cathedral of Chartres; Pantheon, in tu rn, is one of the most magnificent buildings in Paris of neoclassical style. This significant difference, which is expressed in design, materials, technology, lay-out, decoration and function was the reason for writing such paper. It also can be considered as a comparative characteristic among the reasons of showing the interest to this topic. Chartres Cathedral shows the highest achievements of Gothic architecture. The three-building plan is a Latin cross with a short three-nave and transept deambulatory. The eastern part of the temple has several semi-circular radial chapels. Three of them were markedly in favor of the boundary of semicircle deambulatory, the four other are less deep. At the time of construction the vaults of Chartres Cathedral were the highest in France, which was achieved through the use of based on the abutment of flying buttresses. Additional flying buttresses supporting the apse, appeared in the XIV century. Chartres Cathedral was the first in the construction of which was used this architectural element, which gives it a completely unprecedented external shape, increased the size of windows and the height of the nave (36 feet).[1] Feature of the appearance of the cathedral are its two very different towers. 105-meter spire of the south tower built in 1140 is in the form of unpretentious Romanesque pyramid. North tower of 113 feet has a base, the remainder of the Romanesque cathedral and the spire of the tower appeared at the beginning of the XVI century in the style of Flamboyant Gothic. Chartres Cathedral has nine portals, three of which have survived from the old Romanesque cathedral. Northern portal dates from the year 1230 and contains a sculpture of the Old Testament characters. South Portal, created between 1224 and 1250 years, using stories of the New Testament to the central composition, dedicated to Judgment. Western portal of Christ and the Virgin Mary, popularly known as the Royal, is dated 1150 and is known for depicting Christ in glory, established in the XII century. Entrances to the north and south transepts are decorated with sculptures of the XIII century. Total decorations of the cathedral ha ve about 10,000 sculptures of stone and glass. On the south side of the cathedral are astronomical clock of the XVI century. Before the failure of the mechanism in 1793, they showed not only time but also the day of the week, month, time of sunrise and sunset, moon phases and the current zodiac sign.[2] The shape of Pantheon is also the cross (pic. 2). It is located on top of the hill of Saint Genevieve. Pantheon is a temple with a large dome, built in honor of the patroness of Paris, St. Genevieve. It was built in 1758-1789 under the project of Soufflet in the heart of the Latin Quarter. During the French Revolution, it was decided to use it as a shrine to the outstanding French. It is a huge structure: its length of 110 meters, width 82 m, height 83 m. crosswise building is topped by a huge dome. Huge powerful facade, on the pediment is the famous inscription â€Å"AUX GRANDS HOMMES LA PATRIE RECONNAISSANTE† ("Grateful motherland to great people"). Soufflet decided to recreate the typical Gothic architecture sensations of light, space and proportion in the classic (if not Roman) forms. To this end, he took advantage of the plan in the form of a Greek cross, the nave and chapels which were designed as a system of flat arches and semicircular arches, supported by rows of colu mns in the interior. Bulk composition of the building develops the idea of central-domical facilities, of having in terms the outlines of a Greek cross. Central dome rises to a height of almost 120 m. Its goal in this project was the combination of strict regularity and monumental Romanesque vaulted ceilings with graceful ease of supporting columns and freestanding Corinthian columns. In its plan the church had the form of a Greek cross, with a facade placed huge temple pediment. Free-standing columns were unable to maintain the dome of the building, and it eventually had been propped up. The outer surfaces of the walls almost without decoration solved using the classical contrast of dismembered and undifferentiated mass.[3]   As it can be seen, both the Pantheon and Chartres Cathedral have the shape of cross in their planning and Gothic style of building in the base. No less remarkable is the interior of the Chartres cathedral. The spacious nave, unmatched in all of France, rushes to the magnificent apse in the eastern part of the cathedral. Between the arcades and rows of the upper windows of the nave is trifory, massive columns of the cathedral are surrounded by four powerful pilasters. Arcade of deambulatory surrounds the choir and altar area, which are separated from the rest of the carved wall. The wall appeared at the beginning of the XVI century and during next two centuries was gradually decorated with carved figures depicting scenes from the life of Christ and the Virgin. (pic. 3) The central part of the facade has retained a heavy Romanesque wall, which is embedded in the three magnificent portals, belonging to the XII century. In the central portal of the Royal track is "Christ in Glory" - on both sides of the figure of Christ are fantastic winged animals and beneath them is a wide belt with sculpted figures of saints. In the central p ortal of the south facade you can see the relief of "Judgment Day" (about 1210-20), differing with forms of generosity and deep spirituality of the images. It is considered as one of the best reliefs the heyday of the Gothic (pic. 4). In the center of the cathedral floor is designed as a circle inscribed in the "labyrinth" - figured laying of multicolored stones, which has been preserved only partially. The circle has a diameter of 12.89 meters and the length of the labyrinth is 261.5 m. The size of the labyrinth is almost identical to the size of the window rose of the western facade, and the distance from the western entrance to the maze is exactly equal to the height of the window. (pic. 5,6) Chartres Cathedral is one of the few Gothic cathedrals of France, who kept almost unchanged its glazing. It is decorated with stained glass of 12-13 centuries, occupying an area of about 2600 sq.m., it is the largest extant ensembles of stained glass of that era. In the cathedral there are 146 stained glass windows, which, except for some figures are shown in 1359 different story. (pic. 7) Stained glass windows decorate with "roses" of the main transept. Stained glass windows of Chartres Cathedral are extremely intensity a nd purity of color and range of subject images. Along with scenes from the Old and New Testaments, the prophets and saints - they take advantage of the upper band – at the bottom is about a hundred scenes from the life of kings, knights, artisans, who sacrificed stained glass windows in the cathedral, and one of the "roses" is dedicated to the peasants. Particular performance skill, memorable power of the image are windows depicting the Virgin Mary, stained window with scenes from the life of St. Evstafy and a portrait of Charlemagne. The richest external and internal decorations of the cathedral have a total of about 10,000 sculptures. The cathedral has a huge carved wooden altar, which shows forty stories on evangelical issues. A distinctive feature of the stained glass windows of Chartres Cathedral is an extraordinary richness and purity of the colors, the secret receipt of which was lost. For images typical extraordinary breadth of subject matter: scenes from the Old and New Testament stories of prophets, kings, knights, artisans, and even peasants. [4] Chartres Cathedral is built of very durable sandstone, which is mined in quarries of Bersher, 8 km from Chartres. Some blocks of stone in the cathedral walls are 2-3 feet long and a meter in height. Columns of the Pantheon create a prospect of a spectacular interior, richly decorated and refined with classical ornamentation and relief. The building is perceived as a monument to enlightenment, a bright mind, citizenship. Soufflet really managed to reach the Gothic lightness in classic guise. Numerous sculptures and murals on the walls are devoted to the history of St. Genevieve - the memory of a time when the building was of her name. To the central dome a huge Foucault pendulum showing the rotation of the Earth is suspended. Staircase at the entrance to the temple leads to the "pronaos" (porch) with 22 columns, which support the pediment. On the pediment is sculpture of the allegorical story of David d'Anzhera 1831, representing France, between Freedom and History. The walls are decorated with frescoes, the most famous of which are scenes from the life of St. Genevieve, executed by Puvis de Chavannes. The crypt, which is located under the church, keeps the ashes of many famous p eople: here the tomb of Victor Hugo (placed here in 1885), as well as the tombs of Emile Zola, Voltaire, Soufflet, Carnot and Mirabeau. 425 steps lead to the summit of cathedral, where magnificent panorama of the city is opened to the eye. At the exit from the Parthenon the semi-circular area with two symmetrical buildings on the right and left overlooks, and stretching far out Soufflet street between them with rising above the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Such a triumph of symmetry arose here at the behest of Soufflet, which was concerned not only about building the church, but also the spectacular organization of space around it. [5] To understand the function and value of construction of these buildings we need to turn to history. At the place of modern Chartres Cathedral were a lot of the churches. From 876 year the Holy Shroud of the Virgin Mary is kept in Chartres. Instead of the first cathedral, burned down in 1020, a Romanesque cathedral with huge crypt was built. He survived a fire in 1134, which destroyed almost the entire city, but was badly damaged in a fire of June 10, 1194. From the fire, made by lightning, survived only towers with the western facade and crypt. Miraculous escape from the fire of the sacred shroud was considered a sign from above, and prompted the construction of a new, more ambitious building. Chartres Cathedral preserved to this day virtually untouched. It escaped the devastation and plunder, was never restored and rebuilt. As to the Pantheon, it is of no less value. The Pantheon was built in 1758-1789 under the project Soufflet in the heart of the Latin Quarter. The building is conceived as the Church of St. Genevieve, but already in 1791 it was decided to turn the building into the Pantheon, a monument to the great men of France. In two-plus centuries this building became a classic, which was followed and subverted by next generation of architects. For the Baroque, with its pomp, pretentiousness and decorative fancifulness, the return to the strict simplicity of ancient Greece was almost a shock. Therefore, the project angered conservatives and delighted progressives. Soufflet decided to join in its creation the best achievements of world architecture, accumulated by that time. He created a magnificent six-Greek portico, crowned with a dome building, which the ancient Greeks did not know, made the interior a light and bright, as in the Gothic style but used vaulted ceilings of Romanesque. 5    Coming to conclusion we can say that both buildings are of great historical value and have a lot in common: both are cathedrals (in first planning), the lay-out is cross-formed shape with decorations and elements of corresponding era, decorations and frescos depict the scenes from the life. Architectural images are less unique, embody not private, transitory "spirit of the times", but more typically, the leading art sights and tastes of society. These qualities determine the value of outstanding architectural monuments as a historical source: they bring to us in its content not random, but typical, not private, but the main feature views of the era.

Should life imprisonment without the possibility of parole replace the Research Paper

Should life imprisonment without the possibility of parole replace the death penalty in California - Research Paper Example Proponents of the Death penalty believe that people fear death and if death is the punishment for killing someone, they would refrain from it. They believe that in order to have a just system in place where the victim’s family is put to ease it is important to have an eye for eye approach. The criminal is guilty of taking someone’s life so he is liable to give up his. If the person is mentally unstable to have done so it makes him more dangerous to the society’s well-being and putting him to death is the only way to ensure such crimes do not take place through his hands again. However, opponents of the death penalty have a strong viewpoint as well. They believe that every life is precious and shouldn’t be given up on. If taking a life is a crime, no one should be allowed to do it, including the government. If a criminal is guilty committing of capital offense he should subjected to punishments that take away his life figuratively, not literally. Also, many believe that taking away a criminal’s life is too easy on him, the real punishment would be him leading a hard life that prologs his sufferings for the crime he committed. Executing a death penalty is costly for the governments as such cases are tried for a long time resulting in jury expenditures and security arrangements for the courts. Lastly and most importantly, it is morally wrong to take a life to stop crimes when the same purpose can be achieved through other means effectively like life without parole. The enforcement of death penalty is highly dependent on the society’s co nstruct and the public opinion (Wood 63). If a society holds strong political and ideological interest, it is likely that capital offenses are awarded strict punishments like death penalty to keep up the societal balance and sanctity of its socio-political ideology. Secondly, public opinion is a determinant of having the death penalty in place. Where many people have a humanitarian approach with a soft spot for life in general, whether a convict’s or a victim’s, many people still believe that the death penalty is the only way to keep crimes at their minimal and bring relief to the victims’ family. In the developing world, death penalty is seen to be an active form of justice, but the developed countries also have a hard time putting it to an end. As far as the US is concerned, 31 states out of 52 states in the U.S. still practice the death penalty, including California. In 2006, the District Court judge declared that the death penalty was against the eighth amen dment of the United States constitution that states that the federal government is liable to refrain from cruel punishments including torture and unusual punishments. The then governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, took this declaration

Leadership question 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leadership question 1 - Essay Example , portrays a strong personality and makes effective decisions at the time of conflict, among his key influencers are pertinent beliefs in proportionality, not being rational and empathizing with his enemy. He explains that rationality is inconsequential in a time of conflict and a leader must therefore make decisions based on their judgments of the situations. Most conflicts are always irrational; he thus explains that making rational decisions at such times may only cost a leader his or her subjects. Proportionality is his guiding principles as he employs the resources he had. The resources often range from the human resources to financial and material resource among many others. Leaders must portray strong personalities capable of making judgments that safeguard the interests of their resources. Robert McNamara’s success arose from his ability to budget for the resources at his disposal appropriately. This way, he made decisions that protected the interests of both the country and his subjects. Additionally, he explains that empathizing with the enemy is a sure way of making functional decisions especially in times of conflicts. Such is a rational philosophy owing to the fact that in conflicts only the two parties exit. Each party thus makes decisions based on the prevailing circumstances of the other. By empathizing with the enemy, it becomes possible either to end the conflict or to compel the enemy to act in a particular manner thus solving the conflict amicably as he did in most of his time as the secretary of defense (James, Langan and Sarah 6). The film portrays Robert McNamara as a strong and independent mined individual who control an entire government department at a time of conflict successfully. Among his strengths are independent personality which enabled him make and take responsibility of his decisions. As a government secretary, Robert McNamara would have taken instructions from the government through the president. Instead, he often consulted

The Sound And The Fury By Faulkner | Analysis

The Sound And The Fury By Faulkner | Analysis William Faulkners modernist novel The Sound and the Fury is a challenge for the reader and actually it is one of the books you have to read twice in order to fully understand because it has no chronology and the use of the stream of consciousness makes it more difficult to read. The stream of consciousness refers to the recording of the flow of a characters thoughts in a fragmentary, nonlinear manner. Images and impressions suggest others through an associative process that ignores distinctions between past, present and future. (Anderson 12) Broadly, The Sound and the Fury is the story of the decline and fall of the Compson family. The novel is structured in four sections, Benjys section, Quentins section, Jasons section and an objective account which is considered by some critics to be Dilseys section. Benjy, Quentin and Jason are the Compson brothers and Dilsey is their black servant. In the first three sections the stream of consciousness is employed and the story is told in flashbacks. The fourth section has an omniscient narrator who is thought to be the author himself. Each section has a different date, the first, the third and the last sections are set around Easter in April 1928 in Jefferson and the second section in June 1910 in Harvard. After a close reading of the novel, the authors concern for the use of time and the passing of time becomes obvious. The purpose of this essay is to analyze how the time motif is employed and emphasized in William Faulkners The Sound and the Fury and how are the characters affected by time. Firstly, I will show the different ways in which the author uses time in the four sections. Secondly, I will analyze how the four main characters, namely Benjy, Quentin, Jason and Dilsey perceive time, how important time and especially the past is for them and what is their attitude towards the past. Faulkner mixes past and present in his novel and often shifts the time sequence back and forth without regard for chronological order. (Roberts 11) Faulkner uses numerous time levels in Benjys section and in fact, the reader is confused by the time shifts between present and past. However, the author in most of the cases uses italics to signal the time shifts and gives clues that point to a particular episode in the story. For instance, Luster takes care of Benjy in April 1928. Although Benjys section is dated April seventh 1928, little of the events and facts that make up the story really happen that day events of the past are constantly juxtaposed with various events in the present or some other time in the past. (Roberts 36) Faulkner has a particular style of writing and he uses linear time only in the last section. In the other three sections, the sense of time is broken and there is an emphasis on the past. This points to the fact that the author is often concerned about how muc h of the past intrudes upon the present. (Roberts 36) In Quentin and Jasons sections the reader is still confronted with the recurring time motif. If in Benjys part, clock time is almost totally disregarded (Roberts 36) in Quentins narrative clocks are very important. Quentin is obsessed with clocks and the past that haunts him. In Jasons section the flashbacks are used too, but unlike the first two sections, it combines thoughts and memories, with many indicators of objective time and space reality. (P. Anderson 199) The last section is written as a third person narrative and it is focused mainly on Dilsey, the Compsons family servant. It sheds light on the events narrated in the previous sections. In order to indicate that the past and the present are both equally important for Dilsey, the author chooses to end the novel with a linear narrative making no use of the stream of consciousness technique or flashbacks. In The Sound and the Fury, each character has a different approach to time. Benjy is a 33 years old man, but with the mental age of a 3 years old child. He is incapable to speak and to distinguish between the past, the present, and the future. His section, which opens the book, is the most intriguing because he is completely oblivious of time (Roberts 36) and he perceives things only through his senses. According to Roberts, for Benjy all time blends into one sensuous experience. He makes no distinction between an event that happened only hours ago and one that occurred years ago. (36) For instance, he waits for Caddy, his sister, to return from school in 1928 even if she left home in 1910. Benjy perceives the past only by making associations Whenever something reminds Benjy of the past, his narration jumps to that past moment. With little understanding of time, Benjy narrates his memories of the past as if they are happening in the present. (Anderson 35) For the mentally disables Be njy the concept of time does not exist. He lives in a world of his own. Quentin, whose narrative is the only one not anchored in April 1928, but in June 1910 expends all his energy trying to understand time. (Roberts 36) His section begins with the memory of his fathers comments about time When the shadow of the sash appeared on the curtains it was between seven and eight oclock and then I was in time again, hearing the watch. It was Grandfathers and when Father gave it to me he said I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire; its rather excruciatingly apt that you will use it to gain the reducto absurdum of all human experience which can fit your individual needs no better than it fitted his or his fathers. I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you might forget it now and then for a moment and not spend all your breath trying to conquer it. Because no battle is ever won he said. (Faulkner 89) Throughout his entire narrative he feels haunted by the past and he tries to escape from time. (Roberts 25) In a desperate try to free himself from time he breaks his watch, but it ironically continues to tick proving him that whatever he does the passing of time is unstoppable I went to the dresser and took up the watch, with the face still down. I tapped the crystal on the corner of the dresser and caught the fragments of glass in my hand and put them into the ashtray and twisted the hands off and put them in the tray. The watch ticked on. I turned the face up, the blank dial with little wheels clicking and click ing behind it, not knowing any better. (Faulkner 91) At the end of his section, Quentin committs suicide in the final attempt to escape the clicking of the clock and symbolically time. His last gesture is not made with regret, but rather with joy and a sense of freedom a quarter hour yet. And then Ill not be. The peacefullest words. The peacefullest words. (Faulkner 142) Jasons section precedes Benjys section and it is set in 6 April 1928. According to Roberts he completely denies the past; he functions only in the present. (27) Unlike Quentin, he thinks that the present is more important. However, there are moments when the past signifies something to him. For example, the moments when he remembers that he lost a position in a bank because of his sister Caddy. He is in contrast with Quentin because he does not care about his familys reputation and history therefore the past. Time is important to him, but he is the man of the present at last I found a pad on a Saint Louis bank. And of course shed pick this one time to look at it close. Well, it would have to do. I couldnt waste any more time now. (Faulkner 201) The last section is dated 8 April 1928 and it is narrated in the third person. Dilsey is the main character of this section and the only one who brings the past and the present into a proper balance. (Roberts 24) She is the only one that acknowledges the boundaries between past and present a cabinet clock ticked, then with a preliminary sound as if it had cleared its throat, struck five times. Eight oclock, Dilsey said. She ceased and tilted her head upward, listening. (Faulkner 264) She is both aware of the past and the present. She witnessed both the prosperous past of the Compson family and its fall in the present I seed the beginning, en now I sees de endin. (Faulkner 284) Dilsey is not afraid of the passing of time and she does not regard the past as a menace for her present or even for her future. In conclusion, the aim of this essay has been to analyze how William Faulkner employed the time motif and what impact has time upon the characters in his novel The Sound and the Fury. The analysis of the four sections revealed that in the first three time is not linear and there are always time shifts between the past and the present. Thus, chronology of events is totally disregarded in the first three sections and the stream of consciousness technique and flashbacks are used. On the other hand, in the last section time is linear with focus mainly on the present of the story that is April 1928. The characters Benjy, Quentin, Jason, and Dilsey are all affected by time and especially by the past but some more and others less. Benjy is unaware of the concepts of time and past and he lives in a continuous present. For Quentin the past is very important and he puts the present on a second plan. In contrast with him is his other brother, Jason, who sees the present important and gives no i mportance to the past. Unlike Quentin and Jason, Dilsey is focused both on the past and on the present.

The Role of Science, Ethics, and Faith in Modern Philosophy Essay

The Role of Science, Ethics, and Faith in Modern Philosophy ABSTRACT: Curiously, in the late twentieth century, even agnostic cosmologists like Stephen Hawking—who is often compared with Einstein—pose metascientific questions concerning a Creator and the cosmos, which science per se is unable to answer. Modern science of the brain, e.g. Roger Penrose's Shadows of the Mind (1994), is only beginning to explore the relationship between the brain and the mind-the physiological and the epistemic. Galileo thought that God's two books-Nature and the Word-cannot be in conflict, since both have a common author: God. This entails, inter alia, that science and faith are to two roads to the Creator-God. David Granby recalls that once upon a time, science and religion were perceived as complementary enterprises, with each scientific advance confirming the grandeur of a Superior Intelligence-God. Are we then at the threshold of a new era of fruitful dialogue between science and religion, one that is mediated by philosophy in the classical sen se? In this paper I explore this question in greater detail. The thesis of this essay is that philosophy is at an important crossroads at the end of the twentieth century in its role as paideia—philosophy educating humanity. An unprecedented challenge and opportunity for philosophy today is to mediate, and enhance understanding of the relationship, between science, ethics and faith. A central question arises: What can philosophy contribute to the emerging dialogue between science and theology? The emerging science-theology dialogue is characterized by complexity and considerable confusion regarding proper methodologies, goals, and possible interactions. There are at least three major schools, model... ...allacy. Reason (October): 53-58. Rust, Peter. 1992. How Has Life and Its Diversity Been Produced? Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 44 (2): 80-94. Sternberg, Robert J. & Janet E. Davidson, eds. 1995. The Nature of Insight. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Weber, Max. 1949. The Methodology of the Social Sciences. Eds. Edward A. Shils & Henry A. Finch. Glencoe, IL: Free Press. Weinberg, Steven. 1992. Dreams of a Final Theory: The Search for the Fundamental Laws of Nature. New York: Pantheon Books. Wiester, John L. 1993. The Real Meaning of Evolution. Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 45 (3): 182-86. Wigner, Eugene P. 1960. The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics. Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics 13: 1-14. Yates, Steven. 1997. Postmodern Creation Myth? A Response. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies IX (1/2): 91-104.

How Effective Is Police Stop and Search Essay

This assessment will focus on Section 1 of The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (Stop and Search powers). I will look at the use of stop and search before the Macpherson report and after the Macpherson report and compare how it has changed. The use of stop and search powers allow the police to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour, and to prevent more serious crimes occurring generally in public places like a Football match. A police officer can ask what you are doing, why you’re in an area and/or where you’re going. They also have the power to stop and search you if they have ‘reasonable grounds’ to suspect you’re carrying; illegal drugs, a weapon, stolen property or something which could be used to commit a crime, such as a dangerous weapon. You can only be stopped and searched without reasonable grounds if it has been approved by a senior police officer. This can happen if it is suspected that; serious violence could take place, you are carrying a weapon or have used one or you are in a specific location or area. However, you don’t have to answer any questions the police officer asks you. The Police officer will note down seven details these include; Ethnicity, Objective of search, Grounds for search, Identity of the officer carrying out the stop and search, Date, Time and Place. However being searched does not mean you have been arrested, unless any of these factors apply. Sir William McPherson carried out an inquiry in 1999 following an investigation of the murder of Stephen Lawrence. The 18-year-old A-Level student was fatally stabbed in an unprovoked attack as he waited for a bus in Eltham, south London, in April 1993. Nobody, at the time was convicted of his murder. However in 2006 the Metropolitan Police’s Acting Deputy Commissioner, ordered a cold case review that led to the convictions of Gary Dobson and David Norris in 2011 they were found guilty by an Old Bailey jury after a trial based on forensic evidence. Scientists found a tiny bloodstain on Dobson’s jacket that could only have come from Mr Lawrence. They also found a single hair belonging to the teenager on Norris’s jeans. Both men have had previous run-ins with the law; Dobson was jailed for five years in 2010 for drugs trafficking. He is among a small number of men to have been tried twice for the same crime (double jeopardy) after the Court of Appeal quashed his 1996 acquittal for the murder. Norris was convicted in 2002 of a separate allegation of racially threatening behaviour. Allegations of incompetence and racism against Metropolitan police officers that were in charge of the case sparked the original inquiry as did two internal police inquiries which acquitted the Metropolitan itself. In relation to the stop and search there is no actual change in the stop and search powers for the police. However records of all stop and search operation have to be published, and a copy of the record can also be given to the person involved if requested therefore there can be no discriminative reason to stop someone as the police have to provide written reason to the suspect and the police force. The 1981 Brixton riots and the subsequent Scarman report were key factors in the passage of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE). It provides the core framework of police powers and safeguards around stop and search, arrest, detention, investigation, identification and interviewing detainees. The aim of PACE has always been to establish a balance between the powers of the police in England and Wales and the rights of members of the public. Literature Review The immediate effect of Macpherson saw a decline in the use of stop and search. In London, stop and searches fell from 180,000 in 1999/00 to 169,000 the following year. Nationally, the number of stop and searches fell by 21% and then a further 16% from 1998 to 2000. By December 2000, representatives of rank and file officers were saying that Macpherson had damaged morale. Officers, they said, were unprepared to use stop and search out of fear of being labelled racist. So William Hague called for there to be a rise in the use of Stop and Search. This was evident in 2001 when Mr Hague linked a rise in violent street crime in some areas to a drop in stop and searches of black people because police officers feared being called racist. However, this can be argued as many black and Asian people – including Stephen Lawrence’s father, Neville, who filed a complaint after being stopped last year – said they were still being unfairly targeted. And in January figures from the Home Office showed that the fall in searches was greatest for white suspects with black people still ive times more likely to be stopped in London than white people. The Equality Act 2010 makes it prohibited for police officers to discriminate against, harass or victimise any person in relation to ‘age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation, marriage, civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity when using their po wers on the ground of ‘protected characteristics’ (Home Office 2011). This shows they have tried to control the situation of racism in the force and tried to put a stop to it. However racism within the force goes back decades as before 1984 police were allowed to stop and search whoever they wanted therefore it became easier and more of a habit to target people who fit ‘criminal persona’. This laid back approach to stop and search caused problems because police became discriminative to the public which can be shown in the Home office statistics (Police and Criminal Evidence Act, The 1984). Research shows this is still happening today even though the Equality Act 2010 was put forward this is evident in (justice 2010). Black people are 8 per cent more likely than whites to face stop and search’. In relation to the McPherson report the Committee said that since the introduction of the report the police have made â€Å"tremendous strides† in the service they provide to ethnic minority communities and in countering racism amongst its own workforce. This is evident in the fact that sixty-seven of Macpherson’s 70 recommendations have been implemented fully or in part in the ten years since his report was published. However the statistics show that there is still racism in the force therefore were McPhersons recommendations needed or could he have focused more on the problem in hand? Many people see that that racist persona of the forces comes from the idea that police officers are hard, tough, and will not tolerate unacceptable behaviour. This is called cop culture which is hard to define as it has moved from discussing about one culture to discussing different cultures such as ‘subculture’, ‘street culture’, ‘patrol culture’, ‘canteen culture’ (It can be defined as where the police share the same sense of identity which evolves around work, hard play and hard drinking), ‘headquarters culture’ and the ‘cardigan squad’ (the soft and fluffy culture). Cop culture can be seen as many different things depending on how you view the police themselves. In Britain the Scarman report in 1981 riots in Brixton was influential and raised the importance of stop and search on young black men who felt they had been unfairly targeted due to their colour. Rowe argues that while not all findings were the ‘militaristic style of policing, with poor public engagement†¦ t established recommendations relating to policing for example on training, the role of community policing, lay visitors at police stations, discipline and stop and search’. Rowe also mentions that the recommendations mentioned in the Scarman report were reiterated in the McPherson report almost 20 years later suggests that the recommendations were not effectively implemented in the Scarman report (Rowe 2007:155). However McPherson was more forthright using the term ‘institutional racism’ that Scarman shied away from, making the problem more visible to the public. This is evident when the metropolitan police mishandled the Stephen Lawrence case due to a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism and a failure of leadership by senior officers’ (McPherson 1999). In terms of police culture, institutional racism was said to incorporate racist stereotyping of black people as potential criminals or troublemakers (McPherson 1999). Taking this into account a racist officer can be seen as an incompetent officer as it is finding a lack of understanding of cultural diversity illustrated in the existence of cultural crisis in the metropolitan police therefore they should be retrained or dismissed. Many people of been very critical of the McPherson report one main criticism is that although McPherson made 70 much needed recommendations for the force he did little to bring justice for the family of Stephen Lawrence which was the reason he originally conducted the inquiry. However 11 years after the inquiry was completed justice was in fact served for the Lawrence family but not due to McPherson’s recommendations. This shows the failings of which the Macpherson Report draws attention too, is in relation to the police investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence which is important, but the explanation as to how and why the problems occurred is somewhat limited which needed to be noted as well. This means that he noted the problem of racism but didn’t recommend to put the case back on retrial. The problems identified by McPherson are not only unique to this case or other racial murders; but rather they are related to the social, legal and organisational environments in which this sort of police work should be undertaken at all times. The stop and search has been proven to be a success for the police, the power to stop and search people who they suspect of being involved in crime is an important tactic. It provides a means to confirm or allay suspicions about individuals without exercising their power of arrest. Where the stop and search is employed appropriately and proportionately, it could increase community confidence in the police force and make a positive contribution to reducing the fear of crime. Stop and search has been very successful in relation to knife crime. For example October 2009, more than 380,000 stops and searches have been conducted; 14,700 people have been arrested; and more than 7,500 knives have been recovered. However the stop and search has seen negative attitudes in relation to law-abiding people who feel they have been unjustifiably targeted. These people are less likely to trust the police and co-operate with them when they have a problem, therefore conducting effective policing, becomes much more difficult. There are still concerns in relation to stop and search and through this the equality and human right commissioners are continuing to monitor how the police are using their stop and search powers. They want to see: a reduction in the national figures for race disproportionality in the use of stop and search powers. A reduction in the number of excess stops and searches carried out on black and Asian people. Also forces with high excesses, in particular the Metropolitan Police, taking action to ensure that the powers are being used in a non-discriminatory and lawful manner. They are also monitoring and concentrating on forces that currently have particularly high rates of disproportionality, in particular some southern rural forces, taking action to reduce their race disproportionality ratios. And finally the forces with race disproportionality collaborating and sharing good practice with their neighbours. The lack of ethnic contact outside law enforcement and in the law enforcement needs a clear transformation. The criminal justice system can in no way be prejudice, discriminative, racist or sexist. They are there to keep the public safe and the public has to trust them otherwise the system would fail, the public have to be extremely open-minded. One way to do this is to focus on race awareness training for all police officers in and joining the force. However this strategy has been used before and after the Scarman report and unfortunately made little impact over the decades since. Macpherson is aware of this but fails to adopt a more radical policy agenda directed at the structure and organisation of policing and the relationship between police and ethnic minorities in the law-enforcement situation itself therefore the race problem is still occurring. To conclude many will argue that not much is different before the McPherson report during and after. The statistics show that being of ethnic origin walking the streets you are more likely to be stopped then if you are white, this stereotype needs to be changed and then the force will be less inclined to stop people of this description with little or lack of reason. However there has been a decline in the amount of black and Asian people stopped but also a decline in the amount of officers that use stop and search on regular basis in fear that they will be labelled a racist. The police need to find a balance between being labelled and doing their job to maximise the trust from the public and minimise fear of crime. Therefore the public and force can come together to make the community the safest place possible.