Media Representation of Violent Crimes | Race

Media Representation of Violent Crimes | Race The thesis of the paper is, the media representation of violent crimes by African Americans. It has indeed been proven that the media portrays a very negative image on violent crimes as perpetrated by black Americans and this to a large extent ÂÂ  impacts on the law, regulations, and public perceptions on the violent crimes. For instance, a violent crime such as rape has been painted as a grim reality that all of us need to be aware. This has had the effect of even influencing the way law makers perceive rape. It has eventually led to stringent laws being developed to deal with the crime by the blacks. The most notable law in the US history was the one restricting the way in which the sex offender moves through the sex offenders restrictions Act. This paper will succinctly focus on the various media perceptions about the violent crimes and especially the way the media represents violent crimes thus influencing the public perception of the same. The result of the media representation of violent crime by black Americans has been more strict measures being taken that is aimed at curbing the propagation of such crime. Previously as noted, such crimes were often silent and thus the public did not know much about the violent crimes. However, due to the media representation of such violent crimes, crimes such as assault, wife battery have now become more pronounced more than ever. It has therefore become clearly known that the violent crimes are treated with more weight as a result of increased knowledge by the public especially of the violent crimes (Lind, 2004). The media has often been faulted for propagating violence in many forms. The violence that is portrayed by the media actually encourages the vice to continue instead of helping to educate the public in order to avert future problems. It was revealed that most of the news that sells in the media and attracts much attention is news pertaining to violent crimes by the black Americans. We would often turn the volume of our television or radio sets up in order to listen to some shoot out news in which a gangster or police officer was killed or more so to listen to testimonies by witnesses in a rape or robbery case. The body of this paper shall consider the impacts of the media representation on violent crimes by the black Americans. Indeed, criminology theories are often contemporary theories and not standalone theories as perceived by most scholars (Croteau Hoynes, 2000). The theories help to explain the rationale behind what most criminology researchers put forth. In this paper, we shall explain how the media representation of violent crimes impacts on the law and generally on the US regulations in light of the classical criminology theory. Several researchers have explored the media representation of various phenomena, with very few suggesting that the media rarely imparts positive impact on the law and public perceptions on violent crimes. Furthermore, it is imperative to note that the media indeed influences different aspects of the law by painting a stern picture of the violent crimes through emphasizing on the consequences of such crimes and the reality in terms of victims that are left after the perpetration of such violent crime. We shall first begin by looking at the positive impact that the media has on its representation of violent crimes to the society at large. Firstly, it is important to note that most of the violent crimes go against the societal values and core beliefs. This has indeed made the media to point out the reality behind such violent crimes. It is often common to see the media emphasizing on the effects of such violent crimes such as rape. Sometimes, the media even uses real victims to succinctly convey the message. This has left several impacts as insinuated by several researchers. A lot of research has been done to determine the spate of media influence on the violent crimes to the society. Critics suggest that the media has made the publics perception about violent crimes by the black Americans to change. This has observably changed for the worse. Consequently, research has shown that violent crimes could be effectively be dealt with at a higher level by the law enforcement agencies. What is most important is the awareness by the general public. The media therefore plays a pertinent role in fostering this. Maguire, Morgan and Reiner (2007) reveal that the picture painted by the media on violent crimes by black Americans such as rape has made the law makers to realize how serious the violent crime can affect the society. In particular, law makers have become more aware of the factors that actually lead to the propagation of violent crimes so that they may effectively pass laws that will ensure that the activities that lead to the violent crime or at least contribute to the violent crime are kept in check. For instance, rape in the media was portrayed as emanating from the activities of idle boys and the youth who apparently did not have anything to do. This in turn made the law makers to seek ways of preoccupying the youth in a more constructive manner. Therefore, the youth development projects were formed to take care of the needs of the youth. Apparently, the youth in California were found to be engaged in various activities (Greer, 2003). Some of these activities were not so construc tive as such. Therefore, the law makers formulated laws that effectively ensured that the youth were well occupied. This therefore meant that the youth could be engaged in educational as well as community activities. Consequently, the media representation of the violent crimes made it easier for the public to perceive violent crime as an emerging crime that was previously hidden under the pillow. This therefore apparently enabled crimes such as assault and domestic violence to emerge and become topical issue in the media as well as in the public forum. The result of this therefore was that the public became more aware of the effects of violent crime, specifically, domestic violence and assault as well as rape. Thus, the media has been extremely successful in exposing such crimes to the public knowledge. The public has responded by being more vigil in terms of fighting the crime through community oriented initiatives. The media in conjunction with the police bring to the attention of the public certain crimes that they would have otherwise been ignorant of. The media continues to be ardent in exposing criminal activities and syndicates. The most recent syndicate to be exposed was that of track it which apparently fleeced unsuspecting citizen of millions of dollars. Apparently some of the renowned black Americans were connected to this syndicate which was accused of defrauding the public of their innocently earned money. This way, the media ensures that unscrupulous business entities are busted and their licenses ceased. Lind (2004) suggests that the spate of crime by the Black American is on the rise and if nothing is done to address the root cause, then it is likely that this could escalate beyond repair. The society at large subsequently instigated steps that were meant to curb the growing trends in the violent crimes. The trends of such violent crimes can thus be monitored and steps taken by the law makers and the public to mitigate it. This has therefore had the positive effect of reducing the incidences of violent crime within the society setting. Stenson and Sullivan (2001) insinuate that the media alert on violent crime has helped the public to specifically improve their response to such crimes thus reducing the occurrences of such crimes. In particular, the public has become more receptive in helping the police to monitor such kinds of crime through the community oriented policing modules. In her book, Lind (2004) reveals that the media indeed portrays race as a contributory factor towards the violence as seen in most of the scenes of violence. The black Americans are particularly faulted for being boisterous in terms of their propensity to propagate violent crimes. In the United States, nearly half of those individuals who are incarcerated are black Americans. This indicates a worrying trend that must be mitigated. The media also revealed that the state of Texas had been coarsely affected by the increase in the number of inmates who had been incarcerated by the federal government. The federal government on the other hand has the relevant statistics necessary to formulate the necessary measures aimed at averting the vice of violent crimes. Media is the mouthpiece of the society. The society has come to believe the media in most of the aspects pertaining to the society in general. Therefore, it is the onus of the media to ensure that they consistently inform the public of the various happening and to subsequently effectively warn the public of a growing trend. The public is therefore receptive of such happenings that will affect its perceptions as propagated by the media. More often, the media simply According to Davies, Francis and Greer (2007), crime occurs where the benefits outweigh the costs. This is the definition of the classical theory of criminology. The classical theory of criminology therefore goes ahead to state that when people are after self interest, with the lack of presence of punishment that is tangible or even intangible, crime occurs. Therefore what this means is that the violent crime occurs as a result of lack of knowledge by the general public. This also means that the media serves as an important vessel in mitigating crime by the blacks through effectively monitoring crime prevalence. Media has been very successful due to its ability to reach multitudes of people at the same time thus ensuring that information is conveyed to masses. The law makers also serve to formulate laws that ensure violent crime by black Americans is kept in check (Miller, 2003). This could not be possible without the contribution of the media in highlighting the areas of violent cri me that the law makers need to focus on. Moreover, this will have a ripple effect in ensuring that the violent crime does not continue and is effectively put under check. The classical theory also states that crime, and violent crime for that matter is a free will and upon an individuals choice. The people who propagate crime are therefore people of sane mind, body and spirit. Therefore, what this means is that violent crime by the black Americans has indeed been a matter of choice. According to Muncie and Wilson (2004) issues regarding choice can only be eliminated through publicity and increasing awareness. This as earlier mentioned can best be done by the media. The media has for ages painted a grim picture of violent crime and been against it in totality. This has therefore meant that the violent crime incidences have been shunned by the society in general and thus led to a decline in cases involving violent crime. On the other hand, the media has negative impact in terms of the image that it paints in relation to the violent crime on the society as well as the impacts that it has had on the laws and regulations. Greer (2003) notes that the media has overblown the issue of violent crime beyond proportion thus making it difficult for the determination of the true magnitude of the violent crime and the extent to which it should be shunned The consequences of this have been thorough in terms of influencing the way law makers perceive violent crime. It is also true according to the classical theory of criminology that the violent crime by black Americans is the brain child of a society that lacks direction. This is indeed a wakeup call for the law makers and the relevant administrators to take up the challenge and rise up to the occasion as pertains to ensuring that the perpetrators of violent crime are dealt with. Maguire, Morgan and Reiner (2007) concur by suggesting further that the law makers have accorded strict punishment to some of the violent crimes such as assault thus putting the perpetrators who may have acted under self defense to thorough capital punishment. Similarly, the law makers have been very mean in terms of passing amendments meant to reduce the punishment accorded to the perpetrators. Critics suggest that the best form of punishment that would be suitable for the perpetrators of violent crimes would be serving several years behind bars and then community service for a couple of years (Davies, Francis Greer, 2007). The media representation of violent crime by blacks Americans has therefore left very stern action taken by the law makers. Furthermore, the public at large have been left with a very bad perception. Greer (2003) suggests that the public now view most of the violent crimes by the black Americans as gross. This has made the public to take very stern action while dealing with the perpetrators of such violent crime such as rape. The public has therefore become autonomous in terms of judging a person suspected to have perpetrated the violent crime and subsequently played the part of the court or judicial system. This has made the public to take law into their own hands and set ablaze or even brutally killed the perpetrators. The classical theory of criminology further supports the fact that violent crime is caused by an individuals volition. This volition should be turned for the good of the individual through encouraging good behavior within the community and thus effectively rehabilitating a violent crimes perpetrator. Stenson and Sullivan (2001) suggest that the media has effectively denied the perpetrators of violent crime the chance to change and be part of the society. This theory further supports a no-crime environment through solving crime from its roots. Therefore, the law enforcement agencies will have a very smooth ride due to the implementation of these theories. The other important negative impact of the media representation of violent crime by the black Americans has been that individual especially the teenagers who are apparently below the age of majority have been exposed to violence at a tender age. The media has therefore succeeded in changing the perception of such age groups of violent crimes since they view this as a normal happening and therefore they grow up knowing that violent crime by the black Americans is part of the society. Muncie and Wilson (2004) suggests that it is usually very difficult to change such perception. In fact, the teenagers perception of violent crimes by the black Americans is so grim such that some of them even aspire to perform the same acts that the media condemns. Too much exposure to violent scenes is not good for the development of the teenagers. Recently, there has been a huge outcry on how the media portrays violent crimes by the black Americans without discretion to the populace. It is important to note that the populace consists of diverse ages. It is ethically wrong at least according to Greer (2003) from the media to show violent crimes to the youth. It can therefore be concluded that the classical theory is indeed the most effective in explaining the media representation of violent crime by the black Americans and advancing the ways that we can deal with such perception and representation to develop more positive laws and regulation as pertains to curbing the incidences of violent crimes. Therefore, the media has been more beneficial more than detrimental to the general public through the various sensitization programs that it advocates for in totality. Crime rates by the black Americans have been effectively reduced due to the proactive nature of the media towards informing the public and the police together with other law enforcement agencies of the impending violent crimes and their consequences.

Affirmative Action :: essays research papers

Affirmative Action in Higher Education In its tumultuous forty year history, affirmative action has been both praised and attacked as an answer to racial inequality. The policy was introduced by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965 as a method of redressing discrimination that persisted despite civil right efforts and constitutional guarantees. After the passage of Title VII, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex and national origin, President Johnson shaped affirmative action through the passage of Executive Order 11246 in 1965. The executive order requires government contractors to "take affirmative action" toward prospective minority employees in all aspects of hiring and employment. On college campuses nation wide, the debate over affirmative action policies started with the implementation of Title VII. Many viewed affirmative action programs as a tool that would not only expand the opportunities of minorities but also play a significant role in diversifying America’s colleges and universities. However, in the late 1970’s, despite its good intentions, flaws in the policy began to show up. Reverse discrimination became an issue, exemplified by the Regents of California vs. Bake case in 1978. Allan Bakke, a white applicant, had been denied admission twice to the University of California Medical School at Davis, while less qualified minority students were being accepted. The medical school had separate admission policies for minority students and reserved and certain amount of spaces specifically for minorities. Bakke had felt that he had been discriminated against and maintained that his rejection violated the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment, so he took the University of California Regents to the Supreme Court of California. The Supreme Court ruled that while race was a legitimate factor in school admissions, the use of quotas as the medical school had set aside was not. The most important affirmative action decisions since the Bakke decision were in the landmark 2003 cases involving University of Michigan’s affirmative action programs. Two cases, first tried in 2000 and 2001, were involved: Gratz v. Bollinger, which challenged the University of Michigan's undergraduate admission’s policy and Grutter v. Bollinger which challenged its law school admission’s policy. As Bakke had done before, both Gratz and Grutter challenged the constitutionality of the University’s admission policy, which they argued, was in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the fourteenth amendment. The Supreme Court upheld the University of Michigan Law School's policy, ruling that race can be one of many factors considered by colleges when selecting their students because it furthers "a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body.

Stashing of black

After analyzing such numbers it is a matter of utter importance to the Indian Government to thrive Black money to generate the capital which in term helps India progress. Stashing of black money abroad then encourages people to engage in illicit trade and siphoning of public resources. Thus due to lack of capital the government is forced to concentrate development in urban areas. Rural areas again further remain undeveloped.When a large amount Of black money is generated the people owning it engage in drug trade to gain loads of money and finance terrorism to physically overpower the authorities through terrorism. The Ministry of The Overseas Affairs can help its best by ring to sign more agreements such as Tax Information Exchange Agreements with more and more countries. India has already signed this agreement with 13 countries such as the Bermuda, The British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands to name a few.Through these agreements the Government of India has been trying to inte rcept the flow of Indian black money through these countries through fake banks which exist only on paper. Signing more such agreements will allow India join the global crusade against black money and will help the government intercept more black money and prevent illicit trade and terrorism financing in India.

Destruction in A Good Man is Hard to Find Essay Example

Destruction in A Good Man is Hard to Find Essay Example Destruction in A Good Man is Hard to Find Essay Destruction in A Good Man is Hard to Find Essay â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† by Flannery O’Connor, is a short story written in 1953 about a family going on vacation to Florida. O’Connor is a famous writer who grew up as a Roman Catholic in the south and tends to use religion as a recurring theme throughout her work. In this short story, O’Connor focuses mainly on the six family members and an escaped convict known as The Misfit. From the beginning all the way until the end, the family is in a constant state of argument and disagreement. The grandmother proves to the reader that one must think before they act or speak to avoid being selfish and causing negative consequences. Through the grandmother, O’Connor calls attention to these negative consequences of selfishness, manipulatives, and talking without thinking. The grandmother was a selfish lady. The family had planned a trip to Florida, however, when the grandmother heard about an escaped convict on the loose she immediately used that as an excuse to try and persuade the family to instead go to Tennessee. However, things did not go her way, and the family continued with their plans to go to Florida. She tries to scare them by asking â€Å"and what would you do if this fellow, The Misfit, caught you?† The family is telling the grandmother that if she does not like their vacation plans, she can stay home. Her son, Bailey, ignoring her warnings about The Misfit and continuing with his plans is O’Connor using the grandmother’s manipulation to foreshadow The Misfit catching the family. Bailey made sure to tell her he did not want to show up anywhere with a cat and that she needed to leave it at home; she did not listen. Not only was she the first one to be ready to go and in the car the morning of the trip, but she also ha d the cat hidden with her. Her reasoning was â€Å" he would miss her too much, and she was afraid he might brush against one of the gas burners and accidentally asphyxiate himself.† Even though Bailey

25 Russian Words Used in English (and 25 More That Should Be)

25 Russian Words Used in English (and 25 More That Should Be) 25 Russian Words Used in English (and 25 More That Should Be) 25 Russian Words Used in English (and 25 More That Should Be) By Mark Nichol Many Russian words have been appropriated by the English language. Some, like mammoth and sable, are easily assumed to be from a more closely related language. Others were originally specific to Russian culture but can be applied to analogous Western concepts, such as a reference to an American politician retreating from Washington, DC, to his dacha, or to a comment about a troika of conspirators. Here is a list of well-known Russian words and their original meanings and later connotations, if any. Below that you’ll find another set, that one consisting of words known to few, if any, speakers of English who are not bilingual in Russian or familiar with Russian culture. The latter list is ripe for exploitation in English. (Try referring, for example, to an elite cohort as the nomenklatura or to a petty bureaucrat as a namestnik.) Either list can be mined for analogous meanings. Some require no annotation, while others should be introduced carefully in context or even glossed; which approach to take depends on the content and its audience. Familiar Russian Words (Absorbed into English) 1. Agitprop: artistic political propaganda, from a truncated form of the Russian forms of the words agitation and propaganda 2. Apparatchik: a Communist Party member and/or functionary, from the Russian form of the word apparatus 3. Babushka: in Russian, â€Å"old woman†; in English, a type of scarf commonly worn by babushkas 4. Beluga: a type of whale or sturgeon 5. Bolshevik: a revolutionary or radical, from name of the majority Communist faction in Tsarist Russia, ultimately from the Russian word for â€Å"majority† 6. Commissar: an official 7. Cossack: a Russian ethnic group associated in popular culture with military prowess and a nomadic society; the name, like the ethnic appellation Kazakh, derives from the Turkish word for â€Å"nomad† 8. Dacha: a country house 9. Duma: a legislative body 10. Glasnost: a policy of political openness and transparency, from the Russian word for â€Å"publicity† 11. Gulag: originally an acronym for a Soviet-era system of forced-labor camps; it now can refer to any repressive or coercive environment or situation 12. Intelligentsia: the intellectual elite of a society, from the English word intelligent 13. Kopeck: a Russian coin 14. Mammoth: a prehistoric mammal, and, by extension, a synonym for massive 15. Menshevik: the name of the minority Communist faction in Tsarist Russia, originally in power briefly after the Russian Revolution but defeated by the Bolsheviks 16. Perestroika: the Soviet-era system of reform, from the Russian word for â€Å"restructuring† 17. Pogrom: originally, violent persecution of Jews in Russia; now, any officially sanctioned attack on a particular group 18. Politburo: the Soviet-era primary source of government policy decisions, a truncation of the Russian forms of the words political and bureau 19. Ruble: the basic unit of Russian currency 20. Sable: a mammal related to the weasel whose sleek black coat was long prized as a clothing material, and, by extension, a synonym for black 21. Samizdat: prohibited literature produced clandestinely 22. Samovar: an urn for heating tea 23. Sputnik: a traveling companion; also, the name given to a series of Soviet-era satellites, the first objects launched into space 24. Taiga: the far northern coniferous forests of both Asia and North America, from a Turkish or Mongolian word 25. Troika: a carriage or sleigh pulled by three horses, or a triumvirate (a ruling or administrative trio) Unfamiliar Russian Words (Not Yet Absorbed into English) 26. Druzhina: a unit of bodyguards and elite troops 27. Glavlit: the Soviet-era government censorship agency 28. Izba: a log house 29. Knout: a whip used in punishment 30. Konyushy: an official responsible for horses used in ceremonies 31. Kulak: a well-off farmer 32. Lishenets: a disenfranchised group 33. Matryoshka: a set of Russian nesting dolls 34. Muzhik: a peasant 35. Namestnik: an administrator (from the Russian word for â€Å"deputy†) 36. Narkompros: a Soviet-era agency responsible for education and culture, later called the Ministry of Enlightening 37. Nomenklatura: the Soviet elite, holding prestigious government and industrial posts (from the Latin term nomenclature, â€Å"list of names†) 38. Okhrana: the Tsarist secret police 39: Oprichnik: Ivan the Terrible’s brutal bodyguards and henchmen 40. Prikaz: originally, a bureaucratic position; later, an administrative directive 41. Propiska: a Tsarist regulation requiring subjects to remain in their hometown 42. Rasputitsa: spring and fall periods in which, because of heavy snow or rain, unpaved roads are impassable (possibly related to the name of Rasputin) 43. Sambo: a form of martial arts 44. Silovik: the elite 45. Spetsnaz: special-forces soldiers 46. Tamizdat: prohibited literature produced outside the country 47. Tovarishch: a companion or fellow traveler; used as a direct form of address in the Soviet Union, equivalent to comrade 48. Ukase: a decree; refers specifically to a government proclamation or generically to an arbitrary command 49. Ushanka: a fur cap with ear flaps 50. Zek: an inmate Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Grammar Test 1Running Amok or Running Amuck?How Long Should a Synopsis Be?

Pericles and Julius Caesar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pericles and Julius Caesar - Essay Example As two of the preeminent civilizations of antiquity, the inclination to compare the cultures of Greece and Rome is inevitable. While both civilizations exhibited tremendous advancements in politics and culture, they also exhibit distinct differences that attest to the varying nature of their worlds. An interesting feature of investigation concerning ancient Greece and ancient Rome concerns the degrees to which their geography is similar, as this feature affects later political and economic development. While both countries are Mediterranean, the relative features of their terrain vary greatly. The Greek cities had the advantage of being separated by large hills, which protected them against invading tribes. They also bordered a relied heavily on their contiguity to the ocean. While Rome was mountainous – it famously was found by settlers who naturally habituated on the city’s largest hills – the hills weren’t as strategically positioned to prevent invading barbarian tribes as their Greek counterparts. This essay considers the lives of two of these two men – Pericles and Julius Caesar -- that greatly shaped Greek and Roman culture through their military conquests and subsequent political rule; it argues that the subtle differences in their lives are a testament to the divergent nature of ancient Greek and Roman cultures.... When considering the development and early lives of both individuals it’s clear they shared a number of similar elements. Both men were descendants of nobility, and while Pericles father had been outcast for a period, it is clear they had significant advantages in youth. In terms of vision Caesar and Pericles demonstrated a number of divergent opinions. While Caesar was a progressive thinker who embraced education and intellectual virtues, historians recognize that Pericles contribution to this field of thought was outstanding as he greatly embraced Greek art and culture. This distinction is highly relevant as it underlines what many believe to be one of the crucial divisive elements in terms of these two countries of antiquity. When considering the differing art of the two cultures, history has been more favorable to the Greek work of antiquity than the Roman. While Roman art tended towards imitation and decoration, Greek art – influenced by the philosophical writings of Plato – attempted to capture ideal artistic forms. Art historians have documented distinct phases of Greek artistry, including the Mycenaean and Hellenistic periods; conversely Roman art of antiquity is generally characterized through generic conventions, notably the fresco and mosaic formats (Canfora 1996). Within this art one may further contend that there are deeper elements or conventions of these rulers and the way these perspectives took hold in the societies they so profoundly impacted. In these regards, it appears that while Greek culture through Pericles embraced the concept of intellectual knowledge and the examined life, the Caesarian vision was one of instinctual and emotional

Information system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Information system - Essay Example tions that means they have to as well somehow facilitate all remote office workers and team members, internationally, to work together on the similar shared files as well as data at the same time. However, in view of the fact that business data file sizes and data storage needs are augmenting every year, as well as the well-organized sharing of files all through distributed business enterprises over the wide area network (WAN) has turned out to be an exceptional task. Additionally, the difficulty is that gigabytes of data can be shared over a local area network (LAN) through standard file server technology, they cannot be shared all trough remote offices linked over the WAN. On the other hand, standard file server protocols offer unacceptably slow response times to open and write files over the WAN in addition to this forces remote office IT managers to build a number of unappealing alternatives. Thus, in this scenario IT managers and network users have to either live with reduced pr oductivity because of poor network performance at remote offices or they have to make use of replication systems that waste business network storage as well as slow down worldwide collaboration (Dorairajan; Nash; Forouzan and Fegan). Dorairajan (2004) stated that a new class of product recognized as wide-area file services (WAFS) has demonstrated extraordinary outcomes in resolving the problem of remote office sharing and collaboration intended for distributed organizations and businesses like that Oliyday Hotels. Additionally, the wide-area file services (WAFS) allow corporations with remote offices to make use of the WAN to share files like if it were a virtual LAN, facilitating real-time, read/write access to shared business files in addition to assure the coherency and consistency of the entire business file data (Dorairajan; Forouzan and Fegan). In addition, the majority of the successful WAFS systems tackle inherent WAN file sharing problems through a multi-layered technology