Juvenile Delinquency And Religion Essays - Criminology,

Juvenile Delinquency And Religion Over the years, countless efforts have been made to find a comprehensive explanation for delinquency. The results of these efforts have offered possible reasons as being both biological and social. It is still debatable as to what forces have the greatest influence on youth crime, but it is undoubted that several factors clearly make an impact. The direct relationships a child has with concrete social elements, like his family and friends, are likely to give some intimation of his involvement in crime. However, it must be noted that there are more abstract contexts for socialization that also exist as potential explanations for a child's behavior. The most prominent of these less specific forces are the media, community, and religion. It has been argued extensively that these three elements represent a major source of delinquency in the U.S. today. Everyone has at one time or another heard accusations against television, for instance, and how it has such degenerating capabilities in relation to young minds. Equally common are the various public proclamations about the lack of brotherhood among citizens of this country. These complaints are nothing new to our society; before television was vilified, it was radio, and before radio it was comic books. In short, these problems merely exist as different manifestations of an age-old concern. Another, seemingly less obvious, aspect of this argument deals with the role of religion in society. In paralleling it to delinquency, for all its power and influence, religion is much more perplexing than the media or sense of community. For one, religion exists on many different levels and is extremely difficult to define in a fashion suitable to the debate. In addition, the fact that religion is such a controversial and sensitive subject only complicates the pursuit of characterizing and understanding it. These obstacles notwithstanding, the multifaceted effects of religion on crime have been argued for centuries. They will li kely continue, as people observe that religion influences the behavior of people, serves as a set of values for society, and correlates with delinquency in several ways. The relationship between crime and religion has been explored for many years, with only a handful of theorists drawing any direct conclusions. Among few others, three of the most influential social philosophers of the past 200 years, Marx, Durkheim, and Weber, have all commented on the importance of religion to this issue. Marx believed that religion existed to give people a false hope for the future and to keep them motivated during the present. In accomplishing this, religion also deterred people from crime by making them concentrate on their social roles, while ignoring the oppression of stratified economic systems. Durkheim asserted that ?social order could be maintained only if people had common beliefs in something greater than themselves? (Jensen and Rojek 309). He saw religion as very interconnected with social values as it contributed to a loss of strong communal bonds between the tenants of Western society. As people begin to believe more in themselves and less in a higher power, Durkheim argued, they become less committed to an interdependent society and highly prone to selfish acts of lawlessness. Weber, another distinguished sociologist, attributed social deviance to religious factors as well. He believed that ?religious institutions were intertwined with other institutions,? contributing to both progressive and regressive social development (Jensen and Rojek 309). These three attempted to explain the social importance of religion, while only scratching the surface of its relationship to crime. Although they fail to adequately expand on the subject, the ideas of these influential thinkers represent some basic thoughts on the religious causes of crime, and they have led to successive investigations of religion and delinquency. Surprisingly, facts about crime and religion over the years have been rather indecipherable, as research findings from different studies have frequently produced contradicting results. Studies have shown delinquents being less religious than nondelinquents, religiously similar to nondelinquents, and in some cases more religious than nondelinquents. Even when differences between delinquent and nondelinquent relations to religion have been found, those differences have been only minor and insignificant. In one major study by Hirschi and Stark, it was discovered that high school students held interesting social beliefs relative to their church attendance

How to Write a Speech in Leadership Studies †What You Need to Know to Get Proper Results

How to Write a Speech in Leadership Studies – What You Need to Know to Get Proper Results Leadership studies is a discipline that by definition often deals with public speaking and speechwriting. If you choose such a course, be ready to write, prepare and deliver speeches on a regular basis, however uncomfortable you may feel about it. Speech-related tasks in leadership studies can be very varied: your professor may ask you to deliver a speech aimed to perform a certain function as a part of a case study. You may have to prove your point in front of an audience. You may have to do it as a part of a debate. In other words, it is an important part of any leadership-related course, and the specifics of your job may vary. However, the primary goals usually remain the same: to influence the audience, to convert them to your point of view, occasionally to inspire and motivate them to do their best when dealing with a problem. Some common principles remain the same, and if you master them, you are unlikely to experience problems with anything your professors can throw your way. Normally, one learns them through experience; however, we at %WEBSITE% decided to make the lives of all leadership students easier and had our writers prepare a complete guide to writing speeches in leadership studies – the guide you are reading right now. How to Write a Speech in Leadership Studies: Topic Choice and Preparation 1. Choose an Interesting, Inspiring and Relevant Topic In some cases, your professor furnishes you with a topic. However, usually you have to do this part of work by yourself. Fortunately, the subject of leadership is an extremely multi-lateral one and offers plenty of topics worth covering. Here are some suggestions that can help you find something you will be comfortable talking about: Talk about one or more great leaders that inspire you and discuss what makes or made them special and capable of achieving their results; Talk about specific styles of leadership and what they mean for both the leader and the followers; Talk about what makes a great leader and why different types of organizations, movements, businesses etc. require their leaders to have different sets of qualities to succeed; Talk about how a good leader should deal with a particular challenge. Here are some topics you may come up with: Henry Ford: What Qualities Led Him to the Degree of Greatness He Achieved? Leadership in the Digital Age: Does It Evolve Fast Enough to Meet the Ever-Changing Tech Challenges? What Makes for Effective Decision Making in Modern World? What Lies at the Foundation of Ethical Leadership? Are Leaders Born or Made? As you can see, there are plenty of directions – they are only limited by your own ingenuity. 2. Choose a Structure That Best Fits Your Purpose Some aspects of a speech are better left unchanged no matter what you are talking about. For example, the optimal distribution of space: 10 percent opening, 80 percent main part, 10 percent conclusion. You can deviate from it, but only if you have a very good reason to do so. Nine times out of ten, it is better to limit opening and conclusion to short yet powerful statements and dedicate the rest of the speech to meaningful content. However, the way you organize this content may vary. Here are some of the most popular variations: Narrative-based speech. Exactly what it says on the tin – you put a narrative at the center of your speech. You introduce a character (it may be yourself or another person), tell about an issue he/she had to face and proceed to describing how he/she overcame it. This structure helps you connect with your audience emotionally; Buildup. You introduce a key idea and proceed to build up the information related to it, layer by layer. In the end, you look back at what you have built and draw conclusions; Investigation. You present your audience with a question and get them interested in finding an answer to it. You then proceed to unravel the mystery, gradually moving to a satisfying conclusion; Ping Pong. You discuss an issue with two clearly defined viewpoints on it, and represent both of them equally. Move back and forth, gradually increasing the audience’s interest in who will get the upper hand. 3. Prepare an Outline A speech is a text that heavily depends on all its parts closely working with each other and performing their functions. That is why it is so important to make sure it has a tight structure and that you left nothing to chance. In an outline, you write down an approximation of what you will say in each part, how many points you will use to support your main idea, what evidence you will use to back them up, how you will move from one point to another and so on. It is especially important to plan how much time you will spend on each point – this will help you correct yourself if you later notice that you are lagging behind or moving too fast. How to Write a Speech in Leadership Studies: Composing and Structuring 1. Start with a Strong Opening The opening is the most important part of a speech – people only listen to the speaker attentively for about 10 seconds before they form an opinion and either lose interest or focus on you. If you do not use this fleeting timespan to show your credibility, build rapport with the audience, establish command of the room and the topic, you are very unlikely to have a chance to do it later. So pay closest attention to how you start and use your first sentence to maximum effect. Here are some suggestions of how to build strong openings: Make a seemingly completely irrelevant statement – the audience will tune in just to find out where you are going with it. The next sentence should bring the speech back to your topic. E.g., ‘There is only one movie I watched more than a dozen times – [Title]. And this is why – there is hardly a better illustration of what a true leader should be anywhere’; Start with a quote, either by a well-known author or somebody you know personally (relative, former boss, mentor, colleague, etc.). You can even invent a quote if you are feeling creative and have a good idea – nobody is going to check; Refer to your personal experience. For some reason people are especially interested in personal stories, and you can capitalize on this. Do not worry about being polite and be passionate instead – this is what leadership is all about. Jump to the meat of the thing right away, without gradual introductions – it will only increase the audience’s interest. If you still want to greet your audience, put it into the second paragraph – nobody will notice. 2. Calculate the Length of Your Speech Speeches are always limited by time, and if you deliver yours in front of the class, this limit is likely to be very short and strict, as your professor wants everybody to deliver one. However, you will be given a time, not word limit, and it may be hard to convert one into another. There are a few ways to do it: Find a collection of speeches on your topic and read it aloud for the allotted amount of time. A usual book will not do because the language used in speeches is generally simpler; Use an online tool for converting between words and minutes. However, remember that people have different rates of speech (ranging from 125 to 175 words per minute), and tend to further change this rate when talking in front of an audience (usually trying to talk faster). Therefore, the results that these tools return are not set in stone. 3. Relate Everything in Your Speech to a Single Goal Every speech has a purpose. In leadership studies, it is usually to persuade, motivate or inspire the audience, although other purposes (e.g., to share information) are possible as well. Define the overall purpose of the speech before you start writing and keep it in mind throughout the entire process. Everything you mention should be related to this purpose and move it forward. If something does not do it, edit it out or do not mention it in the first place. 4. Keep Your Structure Clear Audience should be able to naturally follow you throughout the speech without getting confused. Make sure your train of thought is clearly visible and progresses logically. Do not introduce irrelevant anecdotes to illustrate a point; neither should you jump from one point to another and back again. 5. Reflect the Importance of Each Point in the Structure Firstly, the amount of time you spend talking about each point should be proportionate to its importance. Even if you have really good fact or quotation to mention about an unimportant point, do not spend too much time talking about it, lest the audience is confused about its relative importance. Secondly, arrange your points in a meaningful order. Usually it means that you either progress from the least to the most important one (gradually nurturing the audience’s interest and using stronger arguments every time) or vice versa (offering the most important argument first and following it up with supporting evidence). How to Write a Speech in Leadership Studies: after Writing, before Delivery 1. Memorize the Opening and the Conclusion You do not have to memorize your entire speech – in fact, it may even be detrimental for overall effect, as it will be obvious that you are talking not to the audience but at it. In addition, if you stumble, it is much harder to get back on track if you retell the speech word for word, than if you reconstruct it in your mind from a few main points. With the main part of the speech, it is less important how you word it as long as you speak confidently and do not forget anything. However, the opening and the conclusion have to be built carefully and are heavily dependent on using specific wording, which means that you should know them by heart to achieve the desired effect. 2. Trim the Fat In leadership studies, it is very important to lead your audience in the right direction without easing up for even a second. Every sentence and every word should move your main idea forward and lead up to the most important takeaway. Reread your speech carefully and make sure everything you say is relevant and you never drift away from your train of thought. Ask somebody you trust to listen to you while you deliver the speech and ask him/her if it was easy to follow you. If he/she found some parts confusing, change them (usually by removing excessive fragments). 3. Make Sure Your Speech Is Properly Paced It may not be obvious while you write it, but should become more evident from your test delivery of a speech. Ideally, you should gradually build up your speech to a climax, achieve this top point, make the most powerful statement, and finish quickly. If you put all your strongest arguments and express the main idea too early, you can end up with an ending that occupies half a speech and far outlasts its welcome. Always give the audience a reason to keep listening to you, then end with something emphatic, shocking, unexpected or thought-provoking. 4. Incorporate Non-Verbal Elements Even if you know your speech perfectly, it does not mean you will be able to deliver it well. You cannot just stand still and talk to your audience: you have to incorporate many additional elements into your speech, such as body language, facial expressions, pauses, silences, intonation, increases and decreases in volume and so on. Do not leave these things to chance – if you do not have much experience in delivering speeches, you will end up looking and sounding unnaturally or freeze up altogether. Instead, plan ahead when you are going to use any of these techniques. Writing and delivering a high-quality speech in leadership studies is no small thing – with all the attention paid to communication and influencing people in this course, it is hardly surprising that the standards are usually pretty high. However, we hope that with the help of this guide you will be able to do better and more than ever!

What is Gnosticism What current expressions do you see today Essay

What is Gnosticism What current expressions do you see today - Essay Example "The demiurge may be depicted as an embodiment of evil, or in other instances as merely imperfect and benevolent as its inadequacy permits". Along with the demiurge exists a good supreme being, however remote and distant. In order to free oneself from the material world, one must find gnosis or "spiritual knowledge available to all through direct experience or knowledge". Some sects of Gnostics believe Jesus of Nazareth was sent to earth to bring gnosis, some believe he was sent to teach gnosis, and still others believe that he was just a man. In the first centuries before Christ, Gnosticism was popular in the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean areas. It was, however, suppressed in the fourth century by the Roman Empire. In the middle ages, many converted to Islam. "Gnostic ideas became influential in the philosophies of various esoteric mystical movements of the late 19th and 20th centuries in Europe and North America, including some that explicitly identify themselves as revivals or even continuations of earlier gnostic groups". Unlike Judaism, Christianity, and a lot of Pagan systems, the soul is not held by a Supreme Power. Gnosticism places, "the salvation of the soul merely in the possession of a quasi-intuitive knowledge of the mysteries of the universe and of magic formulae indicative of that knowledge. Gnostics were "people who knew", and their knowledge at once constituted them a superior class of beings, whose present and future status was essentially different from that of those who, for whatever reason, did not know (Arendzen, 2007)." The Catholic Encyclopedia offers that "A more complete and historical definition of Gnosticism would be": A collective name for a large number of greatly-varying and pantheistic-idealistic sects, which flourished from some time before the Christian Era down to the fifth century, and which, while borrowing the phraseology and some of the tenets of the chief religions of the day, and especially of Christianity, held matter to be a deterioration of spirit, and the whole universe a depravation of the Deity, and taught the ultimate end of all being to be the overcoming of the grossness of matter and the return to the Parent-Spirit, which return they held to be inaugurated and facilitated by the appearance of some God-sent Saviour. (Arendzen, 2007) There are essentially two great components that comprise the basis of Gnostic thought. The first is astrology. Astrology involved the power and influence of certain planetary bodies or symbols. "The greatness of the Seven -- the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, the Sun, Jupiter, and Saturn -- the sacred Hebdomad, symbolized for millenniums by the staged towers of Babylonia, remained undiminished. They ceased, indeed, to be worshipped as deities, but they remained archontes and dynameis, rules and powers whose almost irresistible force was dreaded by man. Practically, they were changed from gods to devas, or evil spirits" (Arendzen, 2007). The second major component is magic, or "the power ex opere operato of weird names, sounds, gestures, and actions, as also the mixture of elements to produce effects totally disproportionate to the cause" (Arendzen, 2007). Various doctrines to Gnostic theories exist. These included Cosmogony, Sophia-Myth, Soteriology, Eschatology, Doctrine of the Primeval Man, and the Barbelo. Various rites also exist, including Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, the

Public health and road safety in Australia focus on NSW state Essay

Public health and road safety in Australia focus on NSW state - Essay Example This document examines the validity of this approach with respect to the current situation in New South Wales, Australia and provides justification for the involvement of the public health department in this initiative. It raises points as to why road safety merits the interest of the public health department and is a necessity for the improvement of overall public health. Public health, as defined by the National Public Health Partnership (1998) is â€Å"The organized response by society to protect and promote health and to prevent illness, injury and disability†. Considering that the main focus of the public health department is public health, it is apparent that road safety, which accounts for numerous injuries, disabilities and death in the population is also a point of concern for the public health department (PHD). Road traffic accidents are known to claim over 1.3 million lives a year all over the world (WHO 2011). In Australia alone, 1507 fatal road traffic accidents w ere reported in 2009. New South Wales accounted for 453 of these (nearly one third) (RTA 2010). Considering that each of these incidents could have been prevented, it is obvious that there is a lot of scope for improvement of road safety. A review of the statistics reveals that alcohol and fatigue were quite often the cause of road accidents in the state.

Flaws with Utilitarianism Essay Example for Free

Flaws with Utilitarianism Essay Among the most glaring problems that I see with Utilitarianism is its inclusion of animals under the umbrella that blankets this theory. It seems irrefutable that there exists an inordinate number of cases where the consequence that is against the best interest of an animal is favorable to humans, yet that dictating action is one that has been continually taken and condoned by the general public. This is a fundamental challenge, as the Utilitarian philosophy decrees that the pleasure and pain experienced by all individuals, including animals, has equal worth and must be considered when determining the net benefit of an actions consequences. The most drastic and prevalent of examples that one could provide to illustrate this contradiction would be the practice of using animals to provide food. It cannot be argued that it is in the best interest of a cow, a chicken, or another animal to be slaughtered to serve the dietary needs of mankind. Accordingly, Utilitarian reasoning suggests, in direct opposition to the intuition of humanity, that it is morally impermissible to kill the animals. While a Utilitarian philosopher might provide the counter-argument that such is natural order of the world that there exist a hierarchical food tree. Further they would insist that the greater good is that humans be nourished and provided for by the meat, for our pleasure is superior in quality to that of the beast. This reasoning, however, is flawed in two ways. Initially, the method by which meat finds its way to grocery stores for our purchase and eventual consumption is not one governed by the ways of nature, but rather is one engineered for efficiency by humans. Animals are bread forcibly, then nourished with specific intent of managing fat content, meat flavor, and healthiness, each of which discounts the Utilitarian claim that nature makes our carnivorous methods ethically permissible. Secondly, and perhaps more fundamentally, such a claim is in direct contradiction to the Utilitarian tenet that each individual has equal value regardless of identity or stature. Because humans could be sufficiently nourished without the killing of animals, it cannot be argued that the consequence of causing death to an animal is equivalent or less substantial than that of feeding a man. Conversely, there exist equally as many challenges to raise had the ethicist taken the alternate position that animals have equal value and accordingly that their pleasure is impermissibly infringed upon when they are killed for human interest. Arguments could be presented for a bevy of actions taken on a daily basis by society as a whole. One might address the fact that using animal testing for the advancement of medicine has benefits that outweigh the pains. Similarly, while the development of land effectively kills the previously animal inhabitants, it is an accepted result that society has displayed it is willing to disregard. In each of these cases, the majority of society condones such behavior, as evidenced by their existence as common public practice. While it is undeniable that opposition to each behavior does exist, the magnitude of this resistance is far outweighed by those in finding the long term benefits worthy of the negative consequences. In the end, it grows apparent that while it may be valuable to consider the interests of animals when calculating the net benefit of a given action, neither their pleasure nor their pain should be equated to ours. Such a principle has been introduced through the ethical thought experiment The Dilemma of the Swine. Resultantly, human existence constitutes higher pleasure that does that of an animal and we are often better served by making such a distinction through intuitive analysis rather than applying Hedonistic Calculus. The fact that Utilitarianism can be forced into contradictions regardless of the stance they choose makes the inclusion of animals under their ethical umbrella a significant problem.

Essay --

The Tea Party’s Influence on American Politics Throughout American history, the role and size of the United States government has been debated since the 1st United States Congress. In modern times, a new conservative group, known as the Tea Party has formed to advocate for smaller government, fiscal responsibility, and restoring traditional American values. This group has made it tougher for Democrats and Republicans to solve their differences. Receiving dramatic support when it formed, the Tea Party, acting as the most conservative members in government, has changed American politics by dividing the Republican party, making it tougher for Congress to pass bills, showing major opposition to the President, and causing gridlock within the government. The Tea Party is defined as a conservative grassroots movement that, â€Å"calls awareness to any issue which challenges the security, sovereignty of domestic tranquility of our beloved nation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ .1 In addition to this, there are many based Tea Party groups around the country, such as Tea Party Patriots and Tea Party 911.2 Furthermore, the formation of the Tea Party is not fully defined. Many Tea Party activist like to refer to the 1773 Boston Tea Party as when their movement was established.3 However, it is argued that the modern Tea Party formed on a nationwide protest, known as the Tax Day Protest, on September 12, 2009.4 This group was protesting nationwide against 787 billion dollar stimulus package and the 3.5 trillion dollar deficit that was implemented by the Obama Administration and a Democratic controlled Adams 2 Congress.5 While many argue that the Tea Party was formed as a grassroots coalition, others claim that this movement was funded by elites, former politicians and con... ...ugh time on dealing with the debt ceiling once again. Thirty Republican Tea Party members oppose raising that debt ceiling. Because of this, Republicans have to create a bill in which they will receive Democratic support. Hopefully, a bipartisan solution by all members will allow the debt ceiling to be risen.44 The Tea Party has changed politics by making the Republican Party more Conservative and making the legislation process slower. They have indeed influenced and change politics in the election process and caused the necessity of bipartisanship in Congress. In addition, they brought the debate about the interpretation of the Constitution, restoring traditional values, economic ideologies in America, and the role and size of the United States government. The Tea Party will go down in history as one of the groups that has changed American politics in many aspects.

Metaphysical Poetry Essay

The metaphysical poets is a term coined by the poet and critic John Dryden to describe a loose group of British lyric poets of the 17th century, whose work was characterized by the inventive use of conceits, and by speculation about topics such as love or religion. These poets were not formally affiliated; most of them did not even know or read each other. Their style was characterized by wit and metaphysical conceits—far-fetched or unusual similes or metaphors, such as in Andrew Marvell’s comparison of the soul with a drop of dew; in an expanded epigram format, with the use of simple verse forms, octosyllabic couplets, quatrains or stanzas in which length of line and rhyme scheme enforce the sense. The specific definition of wit which Johnson applied to the school was: â€Å"†¦ a kind of discordia concors; a combination of dissimilar images, or discovery of occult resemblances in things apparently unlike. † Their poetry diverged from the style of their times, containing neither images of nature nor allusions to classical mythology, as were common. Several metaphysical poets, especially John Donne, were influenced by Neo-Platonism. One of the primary Platonic concepts found in metaphysical poetry is the idea that the perfection of beauty in the beloved acted as a remembrance of perfect beauty in the eternal realm. Though secular topics such as scientific or geographical discoveries interested them, there was also a religious or casuistic element to some of their work, by which they attempted to define their relationship with God. John Donne (between 24 January and 19 June 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, satirist, lawyer and a cleric in the Church of England. He is considered the pre-eminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are noted for their strong, sensual style and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires and sermons. His poetry is noted for its vibrancy of language and inventiveness of metaphor, especially compared to that of his contemporaries. Donne’s style is characterised by abrupt openings and various paradoxes, ironies and dislocations. These features, along with his frequent dramatic or everyday speech rhythms, his tense syntax and his tough eloquence, were both a reaction against the smoothness of conventional Elizabethan poetry and an adaptation into English of European baroque and mannerist techniques. His early career was marked by poetry that bore immense knowledge of British society and he met that knowledge with sharp criticism. Another important theme in Donne’s poetry is the idea of true religion, something that he spent much time considering and theorising about. He wrote secular poems as well as erotic and love poems. He is particularly famous for his mastery of metaphysical conceits. A Burnt ShipOut of a fired ship, which by no wayBut drowning could be rescued from the flame,Some men leap’d forth, and ever as they cameNear the foes’ ships, did by their shot decay;So all were lost, which in the ship were found,They in the sea being burnt, they in the burnt ship drown’d. John Donne A Lame BeggarI am unable, yonder beggar cries,To stand, or move; if he say true, he lies. John Donne.