Youth Justice in the UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Youth Justice in the UK - Essay Example The essay "Youth Justice in the UK" discusses the following issue - the commitment to effective practice, in itself highly desirable, has frequently been accompanied by an unwarranted certainty about 'what works' allowing little space for debate. There are various factors that contribute towards explaining this statement.Every individual is unique and forms their own assumptions based on their perceptions. Many of the youth are not very clear about life and its consequences, for the main reason of being young, and their perception of life is quite different from a matured adult. Wrong perceptions snowball into various conflicts and contradictions which easily leads them towards crime. According to Laurie Mullins, â€Å"Perception is the root of all organizational behavior; any situation can be analyzed in terms of its perceptual connotations†.Another major cause for leading the youth astray is alcohol and drug abuse. The youth are not in a position to understand the dangers be hind this and are slowly sucked into a kind of trap that the find very difficult to come out of. As they go deeper, they stop at nothing to satisfy this need. They engage in robbery, petty thefts in the beginning but later on move into much bigger crimes such as extortion and murder. The modern day ‘binge drinking culture’ has spawned an acceleration of crime. While most people in the UK, drink within safety limits, but unfortunately the youth are not so serious about this.

Modern Philosophy Essay Example for Free

Modern Philosophy Essay Herman Ebbinghaus has pointed out that psychology and philosophy are intertwined one way or the other. In order for Psychologists to study human behavior, as well as metal process, they must go step back and consider being philosophical. One must be rational and logical when studying this process and behavior, thus going back to psychology’s roots. Towards the end of the Renaissance period, Rene Descartes emerged and was tagged as the father of Modern Philosophy. As mentioned, Philosophy and Psychology work hand in hand in analyzing human behavior. Descartes’ ideas were formed when he said that he found formal education with the Jesuits was not enough to feed his thirst for knowledge and distraught on the lack of knowledge that was fed to him during his college or scholastic days. Because of this he opted to explore and find things out on his own. Descartes strong desire to get answers and fill his doubts with facts and certainties; he spent his time finding ways to unite all knowledge. Though a philosopher, he â€Å"for example, he combined his interests in optics and physiology by extracting the eye of an ox and examining the properties of the lens, thereby discovering the fact that retinal images are inverted (as cited, Vrooman, 1970). † Descartes had four rules: First, he would accept nothing as true unless it presented itself so clearly and distinctly to my mind that there was no reason to doubt it (Descartes, 1637/1960, p. 15). Second, he would take problems and analyze them, reducing them to their fundamental elements. Third, he would systematically work from the simplest of these elements to the more complex, and fourth, he would carefully review his conclusions to be certain of omitting nothing. As a rationalist, he has said that reasoning is innate in humans. The capacity to think and put logic and into, perhaps a situation or event in a person’s life is something that is natural and that people do not rely on just experience. People are given the gift to think and make decisions, and these are made and achieved because of man’s ability to rationalize and think logically. Because he was a scientist and a mathematician, he believed that one must doubt on things that has no basis and can not be explained. Cognitive Psychology deals with mental process or the mental state of a person. For instance, studying or analyzing the mental state of a child. According to Jean Piaget, a person’s mental growth had education as a key role in a child’s mental development. It is said that, it is our teachers or mentors that one develops his perception and thinking, among others. In relation to Ebbinghaus’ study of Memory and Forgetting, experiments have been made in order to analyze a person’s capability to memorize and forget. With the help of research and methodology, and Ebbinghaus’ invention of some tests for memory retention, we begin to understand how memory works and improved. What stuck me most on Watson’s manifesto is his strong point and statement that man’s behavior or contribution has been applied to different facets of life and education. Upon reading this, I realized I believed and agree to his principles and view. Psychology is about behavior and a person’s behavior is linked to how he thinks. There is an array of reasons why a person acts or behaves in a certain way. This may be contributed by life experiences, family background, culture or influences of peers. A person may act differently because of their beliefs as well and their way of living. Behavior is also an expression of one’s feelings and emotions. An art fanatic or an artist may act differently or a little bit off the edge, but to them, their behavior and ways are but normal and they are merely expressing themselves, with the way they talk, dress or even walk. Another example is a person’s cultural beliefs and practices. Because people emerged and come from different races and cultures, they act and behave differently. Cultural beliefs are formed in our minds at very young age. These were passed on to us by our parent or ancestors. And from that very young age, till the time that we grow old, those teachings will remain if not in our hearts but in our subconscious. Even though we move away from our birthplace, one way or the other, in spite the influence of the today’s generation and the ever so changing world, we still go back to our own roots and ways. References (N. A. ). DESCARTES: THE BEGINNINGS OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE (N. A.). Chapter 10: JOHN B. WATSONAND THE FOUNDING OF BEHAVIORISM

Albanian Teenagers :: essays research papers

Depending on the respective culture, the life of a teenager can vary greatly. Certain cultures demand more from their teenagers in terms of family obligations than do other cultures. For example, the typical social life of a teenager whose heritage is tied to Northern Albania demands that the teenager honor his or her family’s wishes above all else. The obligations and the respect that an Albanian teenager shows towards his or her family are very important, and that is what keeps the family tied to each other, and form a bond that not anybody can break. Being an Albanian teenager myself, and getting raised in Northern Albania gave me the knowledge to get to know the exact demands that the parent puts towards the child, and the obligations that the child is supposed to fulfill. The first rule is â€Å"The parent is always right† it doesn’t matter what the situation is, you always have to listen and obey. I think that that rule is very right, because the child doesn’t know anything, and they should now rely on what their mind says but on what the parents say. Also with this rule the child understands that the only person he can listen and know it is right is the parent. This makes the parent-child bond much stronger. The society around the Albanian children had a great impact on you too, because if you don’t follow the rules of the society then you would be considered a very â€Å"bad† person, and everybody would point you out for something you did. Also there were cases when the teenager would be pushed away from the family and the village. For example the most important demand that an Albanian girl has to fulfill is not to date or have sexual intercourse with anybody except for her husband after her marriage. You are expected to do that, and if you don’t then you would be considered the lowest person of all, and you wouldn’t find a man to marry you. Also your family is the one who chooses your husband, except for some cases you had no choice on your mate. If you choose him then he has to be Albanian and definitely from the same religion. For the boys is more different, because they have more choices and they don’t have as many limits as girls have. It seems that everything sounds so brutal and not fair for the Albanian

Cultural Awareness and Competence Essay

Cultural awareness and competence refers to the ability of an individual to postpone judgment and prejudice toward other people based on their religious background, race or ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender, age, and such, and also one’s capability of understanding, accepting, and even adapting to unfamiliar culture, points of view, beliefs, ideologies, traditions, etc. Raising one’s cultural awareness and competence requires allocating time and exerting effort in learning and understanding the concepts of multiculturalism or cultural diversity. For instance, developing specific learning goals and a plan of action is an excellent start to promoting cultural awareness. My desire to raise my cultural awareness of two specific groups, particularly homosexuals and individuals belonging to the black population, require that I set personal learning goals and a plan of action that will guide how I am going to go about the process of learning and understanding culture based on race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. For this particular case, I believe that two of my learning goals should include reviewing the history of the African-American people, particularly the reasons why they are being discriminated upon, as well as the unfamiliar cultural practices and traditions and the meaning and significance that deepens or intensify their culture, and understanding the personal sentiments and emotions of homosexuals in order for me to recognize where they are coming from and be able to empathize with them in the process regarding their unfortunate situation especially when it comes to being judged or discriminated because of their sexual orientation. In order for me to realize the aforementioned learning goals, I plan to conduct research by reading books, magazines, newspaper articles, journal publications, research studies, online articles, and such, about black people and homosexuality. Moreover, I feel that there is a need for me to socialize with individuals belonging to the African-American culture and homosexuals in order for me to obtain first-hand information about their sentiments, experiences, knowledge, and such. I believe that through my willingness and determination to immerse myself into the African-American culture and the world of homosexuality, I will be able to promote cultural awareness simply by being conscious of the issues that they burden themselves with. EXODUS International is an online website that discriminates against homosexuals. It is a religion-based organization that provides assistance for individuals who want to â€Å"leave homosexuality. † The organization subtly reiterates that homosexuality is against the will and the word of God and that â€Å"leaving homosexuality† is a way for individuals to live a better life according to what God wants for His children. Moreover, within the lines of EXODUS International’s mission and objectives, the organization clearly mentions that homosexuals will not be able to live a fulfilling and holy life. (EXODUS International, 2005) The blog â€Å"Stuff White People Like† is an online website that discriminates against African-Americans simply because the site is devoted to discuss issues that generalize on the likes and dislikes of white people. The website lists more than one hundred things that white people like. I believe generalizing and labeling things or situations as something that is true or amenable only for a certain race is close to prejudice and bias since one is limiting these things and situations to a particular race only despite the fact that other individuals from diverse racial backgrounds may share the likes and dislikes of white people. (Stuff White People Like, 2009) I can honestly say that I am non-judgmental or prejudice in any way against any group of people in society depending on their race, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender, and such. I am also proud to say that my parents raised me well. Although my family is American and adheres to Christianity as a religion, we do not judge other people from different racial backgrounds and religions. Because of my parents and family, I was able to understand that people are different from each other, and although we are different, I do not have the right to judge other people because of it. Moreover, I understand that people have different frames of mind or worldviews and we see things and situations differently. Handling the matter only requires respect and acceptance and the understanding of cultural diversity or multiculturalism. Judging from my self-assessment of my cultural awareness and competency, I believe I will be able to uphold moral and ethical principles in my profession, especially with issues that concern multiculturalism. Perhaps the only challenge that I would have to face is how I am going to develop and increase my cultural awareness to cope with multicultural trends and new information. References EXODUS International. (2005). Thinking of Leaving Homosexuality? Retrieved January 7, 2009, from Exodus International. Website: http://exodus. to/help/? option=com_content&task=view&id=327&Itemid=147 Harvey, C. & Alard, M. J. (2008). Understanding and Managing Diversity, 4th Ed. Prentice Hall. Stuff White People Like. (2009). Retrieved January 7, 2009, from Stuff White People Like. Website: http://stuffwhitepeoplelike. com/

Euthanasia: Argumentative essay Essay

The issue I am discussing today is euthanasia. Euthanasia is a practice of terminating a life of a person in a painless or minimally painful way, usually by lethal injection. In some countries it is criminalised, but I believe that euthanasia should be legal, and a basic human right. Euthanasia is a controversial issue because of conflicting moral feelings between different cultures. People say that dying by euthanasia is to die with dignity, instead of living an artificial life on respirators and other life support machines. If a person is terminally ill, and there is nothing anyone can do for them, why should they have to suffer?The text I am focussing on is a very famous book called of mice and men. This book is about a time in the great depression where two friends are struggling to find jobs. The character Lennie, who has a learning disability, is always getting into trouble for things that he doesnt realise are wrong. When Lennie crosses the line and accidentally kills a girl, George realises that if Lennie is caught, he will either be sent to a mental hospital or he will be tortured. Knowing what is truly best for Lennie, George shoots him. The author John Steinbeck is able to effectivly convince the reader to accept his opinion by writing the book about a real life euthanasia situation rather than just sayingeuthanasia isnt murder. When the victim is seriously ill or a threat to the society they shall be put to sleep without breaking the law. It is better to end one life then let it suffer. It is wrong for one to suffer without intentionally doing something wrong. These are some of the arguments that John Steinbeck is getting across in his book. It is hard to know if a life is worth living and when it isnt, but can a pain and suffering so incomprehensible ever be worth living for? A child who has severe disabilities or an elderly person with a painful disease would not get any enjoyment out of their life. Should society really force them to endure such a hardship?Some people may argue that every one should have the right to live, but they often dont know of the pain that these people go through. Sometimes the quality of life is so bad that people have the right to be put to rest if they choose. For example, a once strong, healthy, happy person is just lying in a bed unable to move. Another issue in euthanasia is having to make a choice. Many people believe that voluntary euthanasia is a form of suicide, but the definition of suicide is a person who takes their life due to depression. For depression, people can get help. But for people with painful disabilities it is beyond their control. Some may argue that voluntary euthanasia is too bigger choice for someone to make, but shouldnt people have the option to be put to rest with dignity by means of an injection rather than forms of suicide?For those that have more severe handicaps, sometimes they are incapable of understanding the situation, which makes it more difficult. Some consider involuntary euthanasia a type of murder, but murder is a crime committed against someone. If a person is severally in pain and unable to consent, then would the action of death be against the person, or would it be for the best?There is also a terrible pressure from society. All the arguments against voluntary euthanasia can be used by society to form a terrible psychological pressure on people to continue living for years against their better judgement. One example of this pressure is the risky and painful methods that those who genuinely wish to die would otherwise need to use, such as hanging. There are other factors people often forget about euthanasia such as economic costs. There is a limit on human resources in the world, in some countries there is a serious shortage of hospital space. The energy of doctors should be put on peoples lives that can be saved instead of a continued life of somebody who wants to die. This would increase the general quality of care, and would shorten waiting lists. It is also very hard on families do deal with not having the option of euthanasia. Instead of a memory of the person being happy and strong, they have a memory of the person lying there helpless, not able to feed themselves, get out of bed, or remember who they are. You might say that you should not try and play god by taking someones life away, but then why would god want to inflict so much pain on its creations? i believe that knowone should have to live with a pain that is worse than death. Bibliography Steinbeck, J. 1937, Of mice and Men, Covici, Friede, Inc. Wikipedia ®, Euthanasia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EuthanasiaSydney Morning Herald, Euthanasia debatehttp://www.smh.com.au/specials/euthanasia/ATHEIST FOUNDATION OF AUSTRALIA INC, Voluntary Euthanasiahttp://www.atheistfoundation.org.au/ve.htm

One dark body essays

One dark body essays One race, enslaved for hundreds of years and taken away from their homeland, only to awake in foreign territories completely conflicting with their racial and native cultural heritage. The Africana heritage is a deep, intrinsic one with roots tied to the earliest know human existence, but within today's society, their ancestry has been created to be multi-cultural and shifted away from their original identity. But identity, with its prismatic and multi-layered dimensions which include racial, cultural, gender, national, and transnational ideals - is a precarious and contested category. The African identity wasn't always this perverse or questioned. With the development of America, many different races were formed and rearranged to fit the norms and standards of the new land, which was thought to be superior. Do you think the Africana people wanted to be taken out of their land, out of their heritage, out of their culture, to assimilate within a society not like anything they had ever seen or probably wanted to see? Du Bois, W.E.B., a black American historian and sociologist, put it perfectly when he made a statement on the ambiguity of the black identity: "One feels his two-ness - An American, a Negro, two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings, two warring ideals in one dark body." This is describing the Africana experience within America and expressing an effort that black Americans were attempting to reconcile with their Africana heritage with their pride in being U.S. citizens. The pride, though in today's society might hold true - was originally a forced pride in an attempt to declare that this was the land of the free and brave, but hey, for now you are the slaves with no rights. Africana cinema deals with all of these aspects within the films. Through the films, some express black identity with political struggl ...

Essay on Consumer Safety Product Dumping

Essay on Consumer Safety Product Dumping Essay on Consumer Safety: Product Dumping Essay on Consumer Safety: Product DumpingThe product dumping is a serious problem that raises a number of ethical issues, since products banned in the US, for example, may be easily sold in other countries, where quality standards and government regulations are not so strict as they are in the US. In such a situation, companies, which have their products banned in the US by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) can still sell their product abroad, in those countries where there are no bans to their products. As a result, companies selling such products pursue maximum profits, although they are fully aware of the fact that they expose customers’ health and probably life to certain risks because of which their products are banned in the US. in such a situation, customers life and health are at stake, on the one hand, and companies’ profits are on the other hand. From the legal standpoint, companies can sell products, which are banned in the US, abroad, but from th e ethical standpoint, such policies of companies are questionable and, as a rule, unacceptable because material benefits of companies cannot be more important than safety, i.e. life and health of patients. If companies keep selling products that have already been banned in the US, then they intentionally expose their customers to risks and threats, which have already caused the ban of their products in the US, but the poor regulation and safety requirements allow companies to sell dangerous products abroad.In such a situation, policies of companies, which have their products banned in the US and having option to sell those products abroad, may view their position from different theoretical perspectives. In this regard, the utilitarian perspective grounded on the principle of utility is likely to be the most popular among companies because this theory allows moral agents to take decisions on the ground of the principle of utility. Therefore, if the decision to sell products is benefi cial for the company then the decision is reasonable, especially taking into consideration the fact that the share of customers, who may be hurt somehow by products banned in the US is relatively small. Therefore, the principle of utility works pretty well in such a situation, because the majority of stakeholders benefit from selling products banned in the US: companies gain financial and market in benefits, their employees get jobs, while customers get products, which they use for their specific purposes, as a rule, being unaware of consequences and risks associated with those products. The principle of utility justifies the practice of selling products abroad, even if they are banned in the US.Alternatively, policies of companies may be viewed from the deontological theoretical perspective. Deontology holds the premise that all actions of moral agents should be viewed in the context of moral rules and norms. Any action of the moral agent is reasonable and morally correct as long a s it matches traditional moral norms and principles. In such a context, companies selling products, which are banned in the US, abroad act immorally and violate rights of customers to purchase safe and reliable products. Exposing customers to risks and threats is morally wrong from the deontological perspective. At this point, it is possible to refer to one of the fundamental principles of deontology, the kingdom of ends principle. The kingdom of ends principle implies that all people or moral agents commit virtuous acts that mean acts that are grounded on moral and just principles. In case of sales of products banned in the US abroad, it is possible to trace injustice in relation to customers overseas since companies act unjustly in relation to them selling products which are a priory not safe because they have already been banned by the US CPSC. Instead, companies should be driven by moral concerns and remain virtuous through the respect to the well-being of customers. Therefore, in the ideal society, where the kingdom of ends principle is respected, companies, as moral agents, cannot sell products that are potentially dangerous and are already banned.At this point, the deontological theory is close to the virtue theory and the right formation of character. The virtue theory holds the premise that all moral agents should be virtuous and respect moral norms and values strictly. Being virtuous is the only right way of life in terms of the virtue theory. At the same time, the development of the virtuous lifestyle and the full devotion of individuals to such virtuous lifestyle are possible only on the condition of the right formation of character. The right formation of character means that individuals learn positive, virtuous models of behavior, moral norms and principles. In such a way, the right formation of character leads to the formation of moral agents, who are virtuous and commit only morally correct acts. For instance, in case of companies, which have t heir products banned in the US, the application of the virtue theory and the concept of the formation of character means that companies should act in a virtuous way, respecting the principle of justice and, thus, they should extrapolate the ban on all sales of their products, which have been already banned either in the US or in any other country of the world.At the same time, it is possible to distinguish moral and intellectual virtues which may not coincide. What is meant here is the fact that intellectual virtues imply the prevalence of rationality in actions and decisions of the moral agent, whereas moral virtues imply the prevalence of morality and moral correctness in actions and decisions of the moral agent. Therefore, from the standpoint of intellectual virtues, the decision to sell products that have been banned in the US is not absolutely wrong or not virtuous. Instead, if this decision is driven by rational reasons, then it can be implemented in terms of the virtue theory on the ground of the intellectual virtue because such act will have reasonable justification. For instance, if products are not banned in other countries, then they match safety regulations established in those countries and they are not really dangerous to customers’ health, life, etc. Instead, the US rules may be just too strict and set excessive requirements to safety of products. From the rational standpoint, such a view is reasonable and, therefore, has the intellectual virtue sufficient for the virtue theory to accept such way of actions as correct.In such a situation, the decision many companies have to make, when they face the ban of their products in the US, is extremely difficult and challenging in ethical terms. In this respect, companies should conduct the detailed analysis of their products and to assess real risks and threats of their products to the safety of customers. At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that decisions of the CPSC may be the result of trade wars the US directly or indirectly involved in as was the case of trade wars between the US and Europe in the past. As a result, many European companies could not sell their products in the US as well as American companies could not sell their products in Europe. However, such a ban was driven not by the customer safety concerns but by economic interests and concerns of the US. Therefore, such products could be sold in other countries, even if they were banned in the US. Nevertheless, companies should put the safety of customers as their primary concern as the only criterion for taking just decisions. This means that companies should not sell products that are unsafe for their customers.Thus, the safety of products is extremely important and companies, as moral agents, should act responsibly. Even though some ethical theories justify sales of products banned in the US to customers in other countries of the world, even if such products are dangerous for customers’ sa fety, health and life. In this regard, the possible solution of the ethical dilemma companies, which have their products in the US, have is the assessment of the safety of their products and justification of the safety of those products. What is meant here is the fact that companies should justify and prove that their products are still safe enough to be sold to customers without any risk to their safety.