The Elegant Universe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Elegant Universe - Essay Example forms that may have developed in the presence of water and in the earth-like conditions but there is every possibility that life forms may exist in conditions that we may discard as being unsuitable for life since those are not the conditions for life as we know it (Greene). It, therefore, seems very unlikely that we are alone in this universe and somewhere out there may be species waiting to be contacted.  According to almost all of the scientific community, the universe was formed about 13.6 billion years ago and it has been expanding since its conception. There had been quite some debates regarding the shape and nature of the universe in the scientific literature. There were many hits regarding the expansion of the universe including the famous Doppler effect on the electromagnetic spectrum where the radiations are red shifted. However, the most startling fact about our expanding universe is that the expansion is accelerating and the regions that are farthest away from us are mo ving the fastest. Moreover, there is no hint whether this acceleration would ever hint and therefore all the clues point towards the fact that the universe is infinite or if it has an end, it is almost at an infinite distance from us.  Even though the universe is so vast that our existence seems puny and negligible, I feel a deep connection to the universe. All the atoms in our body as well as in everything that we use, are born in the hearts of the stars. And it would not be an exaggeration to say that we are an embodiment of the universe trying to understand ourselves. The universe and its vastness is also a source of calmness and serenity; it is always there whether we try to observe it or not and hence its presence casts a shadow over us all the time. The stars, the sky as well as all the galaxies and the planets have aroused the curiosity of humans for generations and have played a vital role in laying down the foundations of science.

Tom Hoffman Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Tom Hoffman - Essay Example His sketches clearly express his immediate thoughts and sentiments. These sketches reveal how he visualizes his surroundings, every painstaking detail of his environment, of the people he knows or encounters. His sketches show how a simple life can be made spectacular or extraordinary through drawings. In addition, his drawings may be classified as emotive drawings because of the subtle expression of various emotions, dispositions, and moods (Hoffman Watercolors, 2015). For instance, his drawing showing two men looking at different directions exposes something emotional, a sentimental bond between the two men. The same can be said about his drawing portraying two masked men hugging each other. These drawings depict hidden, understated emotions. Lastly, his drawings obviously came from actual observations of the people and his surroundings. Life drawing-- also referred to as figure drawing or still-life drawing-- is one of the strengths of Tom Hoffman. He depicts all the expressions that he observes and sees in his

Scholarly Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Scholarly - Research Paper Example I have held constantly that nursing is an encounter of care my experiences in home care have further deconstructed my notion of nursing as encounter of care. In this paper, I will touch upon my experiences when I, together with my preceptor, visited two home care clients of Alberta Health Services. In this regard, I will present two scenarios wherein I will expound on the nursing competencies as espoused in CARNA by sharing the health visits we had with the clients. Then, I will also show how the theory of evidence-based knowledge and theory of quality care nursing with phenomenology augments the minimal discourse on instruments to measure quality of home care (Robinson et al., 1999). Finally, I will conclude the paper with my reflection and its summary. Alberta health Services (AHS) is the largest health care provider in Canada. AHS diverse health care services, employing highly qualified health care providers. Also, AHS view health care services as no one size fits all. Instead, they acknowledge the significance of divergence as it affects the needs and health concerns of their patients. AHS turned diversity into an enabling ethos, thus, it has established the care arena that is responsive, holistic and client-centered. However, in the midst of the condition of diversity, AHS holds a stable pillar - CARNA competencies. AHS strongly advocates knowledge-based and ethical nursing care practice in all the services they offer. As such, undertaking my home care services with AHS afforded me a chance to take a re-look in what I now know as a nurse and how I can further strengthen it while improving on aspects of the nursing practice where I may falter – a readiness for change. The client is suffering from enlargement of the prostate. He lives at home with his wife. The patient has a Foley catheter inserted. Concurrently, the client is also suffering from other

The Red Convertible Essay Example for Free

The Red Convertible Essay In Louise Erdrichs short story, The Red Convertible, she portrays the change that war imposes on the relationship of two brothers, Henry and Lyman. She uses symbolism to reveal the hardships Henry brings back from Vietnam, and she also uses it to show how Lyman dealt with the separation and the effect of the war on his brother. Edrich’s main purpose in â€Å"The Red Convertible† is to communicate the emotional afflictions war has on a soldier and his or her relationships through symbolism. Throughout the story Edrich uses the red convertible as the main symbol in the story because the red convertible symbolizes Henry and Lyman’s friendship. At the beginning of the story, the brothers use all their money to purchase a red Oldsmobile which they shared. They went everywhere together in the red Oldsmobile. They used the Oldsmobile to travel to Canada and around the continent together. In this part of the story the convertible represented the fun and extreme closeness of their relationship before the war. When Henry is drafted and goes to war, their relationship changes and Lyman demonstrates their separation by taking the car apart. When Henry returns from the war he is a scarred and changed man; he loses his usual interest in the convertible, as well as in Lyman and their friendship. Lyman bangs the car up, as a result of being neglected by Henry. The car portrays the banged up relationship he feels between his brother and himself. When Henry sees and realizes that the car, as well as his relationship with Lyman is damaged, he confronts Lyman. When I left, that car was running like a watch. Now I dont even know if I can get it to start again, let alone get it anywhere near its old condition (pg397). When Henry expresses this concern about bringing the car back to its old condition Erdrich uses symbolism here to express the concerns soldiers have regarding the future of their relationships after war. They fear things will never be the same or even worse, that the relationship itself will become one of the many casualties of war. When Henry starts fixing the convertible, it also represents the repair of his relationship with his brother. After he finishes fixing the car, he asks Lyman to go for a ride with him, which causes Lyman to believe their relationship has been fixed right along with the car. Lyman realizes that their relationship isn’t fixed like he believed it was when Henry jumps into the lake and drowns. Lyman knows he will never see his brother again, so he runs the convertible into the river. Now the red convertible is gone forever, along with his and Henry’s relationship. Now Henry owns the whole car, and his younger brother walks everywhere he goes (pg398). Erdrich connects the death of Henry with the death of the convertible and with the death of his relationship with Lyman. She uses this symbolism to represent how relationships are affected by war. Their relationships start out healthy, and then going to war transforms them; they hope to return to normalcy, but in the end, the war destroys the soldiers as well as their relationships with the people they know and love. Erdrich uses her short story to make a statement that the Vietnam War did not just have a horrendous effect on the soldiers who participated in it, but also on the people who knew them before the war. She depicts a more realistic view of war by showing soldiers for what they really are, human beings with emotions and who are ultimately damaged because of war. Erdrich’s use of symbolism brings her audience the understanding that war affects more than just the soldier. Much like death it affects everyone and everything the soldier is involved in. Work Cited Edrich, Louise. â€Å"The Red Convertible. †

Causes of Stalking and Experiences

Causes of Stalking and Experiences Stalking is an issue that affects 1.5 million people each year. While women are commonly the general target, men can become victims of stalkers as well. Stalkers share similar traits, each of which fuel what they do. Oftentimes a stalkers motives are as easily profiled as their traits. Stalkers commonly share similar personality characteristics as well as reasons for doing what they do (Michele, 2002). Stalking has been around since the beginning of time. Men and women alike have been accused of such a crime because they either cant get it out of their head that the other person does not want to have anything to do with them, or they are just obsessed with a stranger. It is just recent that the UK Government has decided to make stalking a crime in it self. This type of crime was labelled as harassment, annoyance, or domestic violence. It wasnt until the 80s and 90s that stalking cases were brought to the attention of the media and high political policy makers (Michele, 2002). Discussion Many stalkers are loners. Because of the lack of other relationships, they become severely attached to the idea of possessing a relationship with the person who they are stalking (Paul, 2000). In many cases, the lack of ability to form relationships starts at a young age. Some stalkers are neglected by their parents, and in turn are unable to form attachments with other people later on in life. This causes them to be extremely lonely, which is a main characteristic of a stalker. This lack of personal relationships, combined with a low self-esteem creates a feeling of worthlessness (Michele, 2002). They feel like without a connection with the person they are stalking, they have no purpose in life. This is one reason for most celebrity stalking. The idea of establishing a connection with a person of high status becomes appealing, because these stalkers believe that they will acquire a higher level of importance. When this does not happen, stalkers can often become extremely angry, even violent toward that person. Frustration builds up, and they do not know how to deal with the situation. This can sometimes lead to stalker related deaths. A common characteristic shared by most stalkers is their lack of anxiety, and even shame in a stalking scenario (Paul, 2000). In most situations, a person would be absolutely beyond embarrassed to be caught snooping around in another persons personal belongings. Rummaging through someones garbage in order to find personal information would be so inappropriate that the average person would not even consider it. Beyond that, if they were, in fact, caught in the act, most people would be completely mortified. Stalkers, on the other hand, do not think this way. No action is too out of line. Stalkers see it as an attempt to gain the love of the person that they are stalking. These people seem to be immune to anxiety and discomfort, and in turn they have no trouble continuing in their pursuit. Some of the tasks that are carried out by stalkers are quite difficult. Stalkers need way more intelligence than one would assume that they have. But although many of them have mental disorders, most stalkers are much smarter than the average person. Obtaining information about a person is not usually the easiest task, but stalkers may go as far as changing jobs in order to do so. Stalkers sometimes learn how to tap into phone conversations, hack into computers, and spend thousands of dollars to find a particular person, or information about that person. Psychologists have long puzzled over the way in which individuals may act differently in identical situations, resulting in various strands of personality theory to have emerged within the realm of psychology each attempting to explain personality traits at various levels , these being experimental, psychometric and clinical (Michele, 2000). Butt (2004) notes how Eysencks theory although presented as a clinical approach to understanding individual difference, was fundamentally rooted within the psychometric tradition which emerged from within the mainstream paradigm in the early twentieth century. Most famously to appear from this era was the Likert scale- a graded style response questionnaire which had been engineered for attitude measurement. For Eysenck however psychometric testing aided the process of assessing and predicting individual levels and likelihood of extroversion or neuroticism by reducing dimensions of personality ranging on a bipolar scale from unstable to stable to either being classified as a typical extrovert or introvert. According to Eysneck the reduction of variables in personality traits to either extroversion or neuroticism could be biologically explained by differences in the cortical and autonomic arousal systems . According to Eysnecks Personality Inventory individuals who were perceived with introspective, quiet, reserved and generally unsociable traits were classified as having a high N score whilst those who appeared optimistic, talkative, sociable and outgoing were prescribed a high E score. This lies in contrast to Eysencks model of a fixed personality which appears to be unaffected by external circumstance . In addition, Salmons re- working and application of theories in the context of educational learning has shown how her intervention of the Salmon Line provides a basis for facilitating change (Jens, 2008). Salmons intentions in developing the Salmon Line were aimed at providing a tool that could stretch beyond diagnostic mo del and assist the learning process. The success of technique has been attributed to the ways in which behaviour change and learning is enhanced through eliciting pupils and teachers experiences and identifying areas of conflict and collaboration. The approach is rich in subjective experience captivating the diversity that exists amongst individuals and allowing for reflexivity in its approach. In summary for PCT theorists, differences in personality is viewed as a reflection of the complex ways in which individuals build constructions of their world rather than a simply reflection of innate biological forces. Having contrasted Eysnecks theory with others people shall now explore to what use and purposes such theories can apply as well as their validity in either upholding an agency-structure dualistic approach or seeking to dissolve it (Jens, 2008). Stalkers often also possess the ability to manipulate friends and family members of the person who they are stalking (Thomas, 2003). They will find ways to trick the people into giving away information about the person they are harassing. This involves a higher level of intelligence than that of an average person. Often, people who stalk celebrities suffer from a condition called erotomania, which is also known as de Clerambaults syndrome. Stalkers fall deeply in love with a person and in their own mind, that person is in love with them as well. Stalkers will watch the actions of the person very closely, and even if they have never met the person before in their life, they believe that that person is in love with them as well. Stalkers may dream up an entire relationship, such as Margaret Ray did when she told people that she was David Lettermans wife. Not only did she claim to be married to Letterman, but one day she showed up at his house carrying a baby which she demanded was his (Letterman stalker killed by train in apparent suicide)(Thomas, 2003). Sometimes people will stalk celebrities simply because they desire the fame and status of those people. Michael Lewittes article Serial Celebrity Daters describes the lives of Lisa Chiafullo and Jennifer Young-two girls who are obsessed with being obsessed (Joseph, 2001). Each of these girls began dating the stars at young ages. While Jennifer grew up in luxury in Beverly Hills, Lisa was on welfare and in bad financial shape. While Jennifer enjoyed the high life and luxury of dating celebrities, Lisa sometimes counted on meals, shelter and money from celebrities to keep her head above water. The desire is summed up perfectly by Lisa (Joseph, 2001). She always wanted to be somebody so if she couldnt be somebody; she wanted to date someone who was. This type of thinking is what causes many fans to turn into fanatics. They obsessed over people simply because of whom they are and how famous they are. Stalking is not only limited to celebrities, however average people are in danger of being stalked just as well (Thomas, 2003). In the case of simple obsession stalkers, victims arent chosen based on celebrity status or popularity, rather their past relationships with the stalker. Simple obsession stalkers harass people who they have been involved with in previous relationships, most of the time; the victim puts an end to the relationship, which seems to be tragic to the stalker. Suddenly, the stalker feels that his or her life has been destroyed, and that they simply cannot live without having that person back. The reasoning behind the stalking is that they feel like they have no self worth in the world and that its a necessity to have the person back in order to regain their identity and power that they once had. The person falls into a deep state of denial, refusing to accept the idea that they will have to go on in life without that person. Stalking is not always based on positive feelings and desire to by love. Some people stalk to seek revenge or simply out of pure hatred for a person. Sometimes stalking can occur in the workplace. A large number of murders due to stalking are carried out by people who have recently been fired from a job and who want to get revenge on the person who fired them. Psychotherapists sometimes become targets of stalking as well. They are severely harassed by former patients of theirs. Dissatisfaction, anger, and hatred are a few reasons that can fuel stalkers to harass and sometimes abuse- or even kill their victims (Thomas, 2003). Taking charge and admitting there is a domestic abuse problem is the key to starting to take back ones life, but the legal system must also be utilized to ensure individual rights are preserved and protected (Joseph, 2001). While great strides have been made in recent years to strengthen laws and educate judges on how to address domestic violence cases effectively, there is still work to be done. Some domestic violence cases have languished in district circuit courts for years. Because there are weak justices and numerous loop holes in the written law, there are criminals who will return to society un-rehabilitated seeking revenge or to target another to abuse. The feminist movement during the 1970s fundamentally changed societys attitude towards domestic violence (Logan, 2006). Women who formerly had been battered and abused developed services for domestic violence victims. They also lobbied for government support of these services and raised awareness of domestic violence. Since then, numerous changes have taken place to address the problem of domestic violence. Class action lawsuits and civil-damage suits forced law enforcement agencies to revise their policies and adapt processes to better address domestic violence. Domestic violence incidents were, in many states, established as crimes against the state, resulting in the victim no longer having to press charges. Law enforcement officers today are often trained on how to respond to domestic violence incidents. The medical community also felt the need to act in response to domestic violence. In Delaware, for example, the Delaware Coalition against Domestic Violence together with Delaware s medical community and the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council (DVCC) developed a manual for healthcare providers addressing how to respond to domestic violence (Stephen, 2002). The DVCC also trains hospitals and clinics, police officers, prosecutors, judicial officers, court personnel, executives, faith-based personnel, social workers, advocates, probation officers, and therapists throughout the First State on domestic violence. While most laws pertaining to domestic violence are on the state level, the federal government also responded to domestic violence. For example, it is a federal offence to travel from one state to another to commit domestic violence or to force an intimate partner to cross state lines in an attempt to commit domestic violence. Additionally, the federal government passed interstate stalking legislation making it a federal offence to cross state lines in an attempt to stalk a victim, and also barred offenders from carrying and owning weapons. The Violence against Women Act (VAWA) further protects victims of domestic violence and provides funding for services. VAWA also requires that the victim, if so desired, be heard at a bail hearing with regard to the danger posed by the defendant. VAWA also stipulates that the victim be reimbursed for costs occurred to the victim in obtaining a restraining order and other costs connected to a domestic violence conviction. Another important aspect o f VAWA is the ability for battered and abused spouses and children of citizens and lawful permanent residents to self-petition for independent legal residency. Before VAWA, immigrant victims had to fear deportation when leaving an abusive relationship (Logan, 2006). Since the late 1970s, states took an active role in domestic violence prevention. About a third of domestic violence outreach and services are funded from state level (Stephen, 2002). Most states have laws that allow prosecutors to charge abusers without having to involve the victim. Many times victims are no longer are required to testify against their abusers. In 1997, a total of seven states and the nations capital had mandatory arrest laws on the books that required law enforcement to make an arrest if there is evidence of an assault. Even more states encouraged such arrests. A 1984 study showed that arresting abusers lowered the re-arrest rate within the next 6 months for domestic violence to 10%. However, more studies are needed to replicate these findings (Stephen, 2002). According to the study, most intimate partner abuse is not reported to law enforcement, making it difficult to know exactly how many men and women are abused. Only about 20 percent of all rapes, 25 percent of physical assaults, and 50% of stalking incidents against women were reported to law enforcement. The number of victimizations of men by intimate partners reported to police is even smaller. A general belief that the police cannot help or would not do anything keeps victims from reporting abuse or stalking incidents (Stephen, 2002). Many positions related to domestic violence are held by social workers. Social workers often help clients build s support system by referring them to resources they need and by helping them gain access to such services. Social workers may also be involved in crisis and long term counselling to help victims make significant decisions. Additionally, social workers may develop and co-lead support groups for victims, lobby on a national or state level for funding, and perform advocacy work. Advocacy work may include fund raising, training, explaining domestic violence, speaking to the media about domestic violence, developing materials to give to battered women, and community education. These are only a few of the essential functions performed by social workers in the domestic violence field. In 1993, following the murder of a woman by her ex-lover, who violently harassed her in breach of a protection order before killing her , the New South Wales Parliament responded by enacting a separate offence of Stalking which is now part of the Crimes Act. Stalking is conduct that is harassing or threatening, directed at a person with the intention to cause intimidation or fear. It is a form of non-physical violence, causing psychological and emotional abuse (Logan, 2006). The awakening of concern about this type of behaviour was caused by its prevalence in domestic violence cases. Firstly, the nature of the offence of stalking makes it inappropriate to prosecute under the current law of criminal assault. Related to this is the severe impact that stalking behaviour inflicts on its victims. The current law of assault is simply not broad enough to deal with the complexities that arise from an offence such as stalking. Assault is an act, which intentionally or recklessly causes another to apprehend immediate and unlawful personal violence, charged under s61 of the Crimes Act. At the essence of the offence of assault is a requirement that the threat created by the offender must cause a fear of imminent violence in the victim. Stalking involves instances where a person does not explicitly threaten their victim but silently follows them around or sits outside their dwelling. When placed in this context, such behaviour is dangerous beyond its immediate significance. Although, it is difficult to charge this as assault since it is not sufficient that the threat raises apprehension that violence will be inflicted at some time in the future. The inability to prosecute an offence that is of a similar nature to stalking under the law of assault was apparent in the case of Knight. Knight had made a series of phone calls threatening to kill or injure those involved his prior conviction, including a policeman, a magistrate and to a judge who later dismissed his appeal (Logan, 2006). On appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal, his conviction for these offences was quashed on the basis that the requirement of a threat of immediate violence was not satisfied. Even though his behaviour caused fear and was dangerous, it fell short of the necessary accuses and hence could not be sanctioned under the law of criminal assault (Paul, 2000). Alternatively, the case of Ireland demonstrates an instance where an offence with characteristics that can be likened to stalking was successfully prosecuted under assault. The accused had proceeded to harass a woman whom he had a prior social relationship with, by making both silent and abusive phone calls, frequenting her place of work and home and taking photographs of the victim and her family. While fearful of personal violence the victim was also diagnosed with suffering a severe depressive illness. The offenders behaviour amounted to assault. This reasoning was founded on the fact that the victims fear of the caller arriving at her door could be seen as imminent since he may be making the calls in close proximity to her home and able to arrive at her door within minutes. However the legal reasoning in this case, has been criticised for being rather artificial by stretching assault beyond its natural legal meaning. As shown in Knight, most stalking cases are not suitable for pr osecution under the elements of criminal assault. The main area of assault also poses difficulty for the prosecution of stalking. It is constituted by intention to either affect an unlawful contact or to create an apprehension of imminent unlawful contact in the mind of the victim (Larry, 2000). Despite that the common law of assault is now more accommodating to the offence of stalking, through developing an interpretation of harm to include psychiatric as well as physical injury (Logan, 2006). It is still difficult to prove the imminence requirement in both of most stalking cases where the threat of harm is protracted rather than immediate (Sandra, 2007). Therefore, there is more rationale in treating stalking as a separate offence with its own specific elements rather than distorting the elements of assault to accommodate for the manifestations of stalking. The wide-ranging and severe impact of stalking further necessitates the need for a separate offence of stalking to deal with this crime. The psychological responses caused by stalking such as anxiety, fear, paranoia and often symptoms of post- traumatic stress disorder have been acknowledged in a study as emotions induced by stalkers. This research has found that 94% of victims have made changes to lifestyle patterns such as temporary or permanent relocation, changing personal contact information and even identities. Perhaps more compelling is that victims of a recent psychopathological study indicated that they might have coped better with more tangible damage of physical assault than with a stalkers constant intrusion and menace (Paul, 2000). Furthermore, stalking is often a precursor to severe and fatal physical violence as demonstrated in the case of Thomas v Burk. In this instance the applicant had been in a previous relationship with the complainant. After they separated, the complainant experienced many incidents of stalking such as receiving harassing telephone calls at work and being followed on a vacation trip. These incidents eventually escalated to physical abuse when on one occasion, the applicant stroked the complainant with such force across the face with an open hand that it caused injury to her eye. This is one of many cases that reflect the statistic that 80% of women who report being stalked by an intimate partner are eventually physically assaulted (Sandra, 2007). It therefore becomes apparent that there is a need to take preventative action. Such as prosecuting this behaviour under an offence of stalking at its early stage, rather than waiting until the situation amplifies and the victim is physically a ssaulted and only then taking action by prosecuting for assault. Sexual Harassment is defined as a continuum of behaviours that intimidate, demean, humiliate or coerce (Diane, 2006). These behaviours range from the subtle forms that can accumulate into a hostile working, learning, or worshipping environment to the most severe forms of stalking, assault or rape. For many businesses, preventing sexual harassment, and defending its managerial employees from sexual harassment charges, has become key goals of legal decision making. In contrast, many scholars complain that sexual harassment in education remains a forgotten secret, with educators and administrators refusing to admit the problem exist in their schools, or accept their legal and ethical responsibilities to deal with it. Previously stalking behaviour has been prosecuted as offensive conduct under s4 of the Summary Offences Act. An artificial reasoning was drawn by the courts that stalking was offensive from the fact that it was continued or repeated. While offensive conduct carries a light maximum penalty of three months this may be satisfactory for minor instances of stalking but it is a clearly an inappropriate reflection of the magnitude of behaviour that amounts to intimidation and harassment. The protracted nature of stalking and the serious implications on its victims necessitates the need for a specific offence of stalking with its own appropriate penalty in order to capture the severity of the offence. This is arguably more effective than collapsing this offence into the category of offensive conduct or treating it as criminal assault. The offender would then, also have to bear the stigma of being labelled a stalker (Larry, 2000). In 2006 study on sexual harassment at colleges and universities, it was reported that 62% of female college students and 61% of male college students report having been sexually harassed at their university, with 80% of the reported harassment being peer-to-peer. Fifty-one percent of male college students admit to sexually harassing someone in college, with 22% admitting to harassing someone often or occasionally (Diane, 2006). Thirty-one percent of female college students admitted to harassing someone in college. Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances. The harasser can be anyone, such as a supervisor, a client, a co-worker, a teacher or professor, a student, a friend, or a stranger. The victim does not have to be the person directly harassed but can be anyone who finds the behaviour offensive and is affected by it. While adverse effects on the victim are common, this does not have to be the case for the behaviour to be unlawful. The victim can be a male or female. The harasser can be male or female. The harasser does not have to be of the opposite sex. The harasser may be completely unaware that his or her behaviour is offensive or constitutes sexual harassment or may be completely unaware that his or her actions could be unlawful. There are however, some instances where a criminal sanction may not constitute an effective strategy of deterring further stalking even though the impact on the victim is traumatic. This mainly applies to the category of stalkers classified as erotomaniacs who are mentally ill. It would be more appropriate to deal with these stalkers through the mental health system as they are impervious to judicial sanctions and thus require assertive psychiatric management. The inefficacy of using stalking legislation to punish a perpetrator who has a psychiatric condition was illustrated in the case of Strong v The Queen. The appellant had been sentenced to imprisonment for the offence of stalking a female contrary to s562ABof the Crimes Act 1900(NSW) (Paul, 2000). Whilst serving his sentence in prison, the accused began writing sexually suggestive letters to another female with whom he had no prior relationship. After his release, he continued with his stalking behaviour by following and watchin g her and subsequently moved to live opposite her home. This conduct became the basis of another substantive charge of stalking for which he was again imprisoned. On appeal of this conviction the issue was raised that he had been diagnosed with suffering symptoms of psychosis. The Criminal Court of Appeal agreed that in cases such as this, the offenders condition should be managed under mental health legislation rather than sanctioned under the criminal law. This case demonstrates the inability of the criminal law to deter psychiatrically ill stalkers as the rate of recidivism of people in this category suggests. However, it is important to note that the majority population of stalkers are from the intimate category of non- psychotic ex partners and are not mentally ill at the time of committing the offence. Courts can issue an Apprehended Domestic Violence Order under s562AE of the Crimes Act 1900(NSW) or an Apprehended Personal Violence Order under s562AI of the Crimes Act 1900(NSW). Unfortunately this method of dealing with stalking offences is often criticised for having little effect on serious obsessive behaviours exhibited by some offenders. A recent study has shown that after issuance of an apprehended violence order, stalking and physical violence was reduced in the first six months only to reoccur in over half the cases of women who undertook the study. This shows that these orders are an inappropriate long-term prevention tool. Helen Katzen reported in her study that of the 22,556 apprehended violence orders granted in New South Wales in 1998, 9,647 breaches were recorded by the police (Joseph, 2001). The ease with which these orders are breached and the fact that they are not taken seriously is reflected in the case of Long field v Glover. The appellant had been in a relation ship with the complainant. When the relationship ended she obtained an apprehended domestic violence order, which prohibited the appellant contacting her. He disregarded this order and persisted calling her at home and at work, making threatening statements such as I control your life (Michele, 2002). Similarly in the case of R v Powell, the appellant had broken into the victims premises in breach of an apprehended violence order and maliciously wounded her by stabbing her twice in the back. Both these cases demonstrate the inability of these orders to deter offenders which highlights how inefficient a mechanism they, are for dealing with such behaviour. Furthermore, apprehended violence orders were found in many cases to be aggravating factors, which exacerbate the likelihood of violence (Paul, 2000). This was exemplified in the case of Igbinoba v Commissioner of New South Wales Police Service, where a court issuance of an apprehended domestic violence order aroused further anger in the defendant towards the complainant, which resulted in a threat being made towards her that he was going to get her (Paul, 2000). Shortly after receiving the order, the defendant started a campaign of harassment against her and physically assaulted her. Recent research shows that incarceration has a sobering effect on stalkers and allows them to adjust their lives. This supports the idea that a more preventative approach would be to immediately prosecute this behaviour under an offence of stalking with a prison sentence, rather than wait for breach of an order to occur by which time the situation may have escalated to a degree of violence. While, it is impractical to contain all stalking offences by criminalising them, it is also inefficient for the court to proceed with prosecuting minor nuisances under the stalking legislation. Many of these cases would not lead to any conviction due to the lack of the requisite intent necessary to prove the offence. In 1998, two example cases were given by the model criminal code committee where stalking legislation was used inappropriately (Joseph, 2001). In the first case a fourteen year old girl had stalked her teacher, by following him around school and singing a mocking song about the teacher. In the later case Yugoslavian parents had stalked their teenage daughters because they had moved away from home in violation of family traditions. These stalking incidents are more commonly known as conformist who is the stalking falls within the acceptable range of social behaviour rather than criminal stalking. Neither of these cases led to convictions. In circumstances such as these, a pplicants are more likely to succeed in obtaining apprehended violence orders since they would only be required to prove on the balance of probabilities, that they are in fear of the other person and that these fears could culminate into an act of personal violence or harassing conduct (Sandra, 2007). With advances in technology people see new and scary ways criminals commit crimes. With the introduction of cell phones and scanners years ago, criminals could listen to police radio traffic and see where and how we police were responding. No need for look outs, technology became the look out. Now in the computer age people see crimes from identity theft and hacking into computers to steal personal and corporate confidential information to cyber stalking and sexual predating to cell phone cloning. Criminals have a whole new playground and the playground as technology advances (Lorraine, 2008). But technology is not just for criminals. Law enforcement agencies are using technology to make police work more effective and efficient. Also police and communities are also using technology to make their communities safer. Cyber stalking is described as the procedure or offense of deliberately and constantly irritating another person in situation that would cause a sensible person to panic harm or death because of articulated or obscured fears is a comparatively latest trouble. Annoying others over the Internet is a little that usually happens, but the word constantly placed in front of that report can make a huge distinction. If someone is causing a nescience that interferes with ones professional or individual life it is measured stalking. Catching the criminals of computer is the tough part. There are Computer Crime Stopper groups, hackers turned excellent, whose only intention and job is to track down and catch criminals of computer (Keith, 2002). Activity of tracking computer is a hard thing to do, particularly over the Internet. There is no track left for the criminal to be followed through. Generally the only things crime-stoppers have to go on are the IP addresses and telecommunication lines to trace to find the source of the signal, but the performer is generally long gone through the time authorities arrive. Anticipation is a vital part in defending the computers of these days. Through secure servers, which are particular c

The Oppressing Face Of Madness In The Mirror Of Society :: essays research papers fc

The Oppressing Face of Madness in the Mirror of Society For centuries women in life and literature were often portrayed as submissive, docile, and obedient to men. Focusing primarily on the nineteenth century, literature of the period often characterized women as victims oppressed by society, culture, as well as by the male influences in their lives. Many of the female characters suffered the effects of isolation brought on by constant oppression and subservience driving them insane and mad. The views of women in early literature were often silenced and their opinion’s disregarded by a dominant patriarchal society. One could argue that the men’s influence on society forged the distinctions between sanity and madness. This obsessive position to shape reality proved to be unhealthy and destructive but it was rarely acknowledged among the company of men. A Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) once quoted, â€Å"Too much sanity may be madness, and maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be!† (h ttp://www.quoteworld.org.) Madness even though taboo and troublesome, seemed common in many female literary protagonists of the period. Thus far in the course we encountered the role of madness in such literary works as â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† and â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper.† The role of madness and oppression in the works can be better examined in three aspects of: the causes of the induced madness, how each female character deals with the insanity, and how the similarities in madness link the texts to common social issues. The conclusion will show the significant roles madness and oppression played in the selected fictional stories echoing the real life torment women lived in. Speaking in an aesthetic tone, one will see that though the Yellow Wallpaper and The Story of an Hour are similar, however, tale by Gilman proves to be a better argument for portraying the role of maddens and oppression as a mirror of society of the time period.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Few works in fictional literature embody the portrayal and effects of madness better than Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper.† Readers are presented with the tale of a woman suffering from a mental illness whose problems are compounded by the imprisonment she must endure. Set in a similar time period as the already discussed works, many of the same isolation and autonomy issues reside behind the conflict of Gilman’s narrative. The story presents the madness associated with the oppression of women during the era coupled with the unforgiving patriarchal view of society.

The Influence of Alcohol and Drugs in Edgar Allen Poe Life

The influence of alcohol and drugs in Edgar Allan Poe’s life â€Å"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dreamed before† (Edgar Allan Poe). Darkness and sadness are strong characteristics of Edgar Allan Poe’s writing. The tragedies during his life, such as the death of his biological and adoptive moms, followed by the death of his young wife Virginia were important factors which formed his gothic style. Poe is known for his drinking problems and use of drugs.Those habits had a big influence in his life and in his works. Family members, classmates, depression and disasters influenced Poe to use alcohol. The possibilities of Poe been an alcoholic increased because of the environment and the society in which he grew up (Scharf, Douglas 3). Genetics probabilities were really high to him too, once his father, David Poe, and his brother Henry Poe had hard drinking problems (Poe, Drugs and Alcoh ol 7).The most part of Poe’s problems as depression and alcoholism appeared more evidently while he was passing the age of mid-twenties (Black, Jamee A. ). His addiction to alcohol started while he was attending the University of Virginia and was introduced to it by classmates (Poe, Drugs and Alcohol 9). Depression, heart troubles and a brain lesion were clinically proved and part of Poe’s life (Black, Jamee A. ). Was extremely hard for him to handle with his emotional and physical weaknesses, so to relief his pain he used alcohol as anesthetic (Black, Jamee A. 6). More and more, Poe’s addiction to alcohol was increasing and this over drinking was causing now trouble in different sections of his life.His carrier was one of the first affected starting in June 1835, when the editor of the Southern Literary Messenger gave an opportunity to Poe to work helping with this paper. The people responsible for the paper and the readers really liked Poe’s effort and creativity, but he was fired after arrived repeatedly times drunk at work (Poe, Edgar Allan 2). The madness and depression that Poe felt were increasing as increased his over drinking (Black, Jamee A. 1). Poe went so far that he got into a point that he drank absinthe and brandy which is a really dangerous mixture (Poe, Drugs and Alcohol 27).Between the many possible causes of Edgar Allan Poe’s death, his problem with alcohol is really considerable as one important reason of his early death (Scharf, Douglas 1). Even though Poe was completely addicted to alcohol, many times, he tried very hard to fight against his alcoholism. Right after his first long drinking experience, during college, he tried to stay away from it (Black, Jamee A. 3). His drinking times were intermittent and he stayed abstain from alcohol for months in some of those periods (Poe, Drugs and Alcohol 8).Promises were made and repeatedly times he said that would never drink again. As one side of Poe tells him that he should stop with alcohol, the other side tells that he should drink to relief his emotional pains and usually he followed this last side once is a lot easier to deal with it (Black, Jamee A. 6). In 1847, Poe’s get extremely hard into drinking, one of the worse times during his whole life, after the death of his young wife Virginia (Hennelly, Mark M. 1). After this event he could stop drinking alcohol anymore (Poe, Drugs and Alcohol 14).Other important characteristic of his life is the use of drugs. Some evidences show that Poe really used drugs but for medical benefits in which the doctors gave to him as a medicine (Scharf, Douglas 4). Few doctors believed that Poe was not addicted to drugs and that he just used as written on the medical prescription (Poe, Drugs and Alcohol 4). The problems and pains that Poe felt were so hard for him to deal with that he used drugs to forget about all these trouble (Black, Jamee A. 7). Opium was the main drug used by Poe, it made him get it the dream-world (Hennelly, Mark M. 0).While Poe was trying to get away from alcohol were times when he used uncontrolled amounts of Opium (Poe, Drug and Alcohol 2). The use of drugs, even for medical benefits, made him addicted to drugs and this is appointed as one of the cause of Poe’s death (Black, Jamee A. 11). Poe’s works are a visible reflects of his life, history and habits, including the use of alcohol and drugs. Between the large amounts of Poe’s works written in first person is remarkable that couple of his fictions narrators admitted the use of Opium (Poe, Drugs and Alcohol 1).Roderick Usher, the narrator of the short story The Fall of the House of Usher, was a depressed man addicted to drugs which cause one of the strongest suspicions of bonds between Poe and his characters (Scharf, Douglas 4). He had a tendency for gothic style after all the tragedies during his life, and he appeared with an irregular behavior when related with women after th e death of Virginia (Poe, Edgar Allan 6). An example of his personal life in his work is showed at the beginning of the poem The Raven when the narrator is reading a book to try to forget someone who he loved and that he lost.Passages of Poe’s stories and poems are seemed as he was having a hallucination while he was writing it, and it’s possible that he was under alcohol and drugs influence (Poe, Drugs and Alcohol 5). â€Å"I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity† (Edgar Allan Poe). Alcohol and drugs had expressive influence into Poe’s style and writing. Even though all the troubles caused by those disasters during his life, without them Poe wouldn’t have the characteristics that made him and his works so unique.