...Video Game Violence and the Developing Mind Ripping the spine from a headless combatant, murdering hookers to reclaim money, riddling demons with countless rounds only to be rewarded with buckets of blood… these were all staples of my childhood and that of the many schoolchildren who ever pick up a video game controller. According to the National Coalition Against Censorship, video game violence has been a topic of intense debate and scapegoating ever since “Death Race” was pulled from arcades in 1976 for depicting vehicular homicide. Many people argue that violence in interactive technology is detrimental to the minds of adolescents, so much so that it creates violent criminals from innocent youths. Fortunately for the droves of gamers who enjoy a little violent entertainment, video game violence in itself has never been proven to create violent tendencies during adolescence. In 1993, the 16-bit fighting game, Mortal Kombat, came under scrutiny for depicting an array of bloody animations at the end of each battle. During that controversy, Senator Joe Lieberman was quoted as saying, “We’re talking about video games that glorify violence and teach children to enjoy inflicting the most gruesome forms of cruelty imaginable.” Unfortunately for the Senator and all the parent groups that follow his opinion, video games have been proven only to aid in childhood development. For instance, in his article “The Therapeutic Use of Videogames in Childhood and Adolescence”, Mark Griffiths...
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... Sociological, and Psychological For centuries, documentation of criminal cases filled the inboxes of the numerous police officers’, investigators’, and forensic laboratory analysists’ exceeding the limits of caseloads possible for any given criminal justice professional responsible for solving criminal cases. Each giving everything they have to catch the guilty and thus, providing justice to the victims who suffered because of someone’s criminal behaviors and actions. Each with the same or similar inquiries; why do people commit the crimes they commit? Why do they behave this way? What is their purpose? Were the born this way? What, if anything, happen to them to make them behave in such a heinous manner? Are they a victim of their own environment and/or social status? Of course, these inquiries cover only a minute number of possible indications as to answering the “Why?” people commit these criminal behaviors and actions. Criminology identifies ascertains three amalgamations of theories, each of which attempt to justify inquiries by working exuberantly to establish a high level of credibility and reliability; the following will address how these biological, sociological, and psychological theories of crime causation affect human behavior and/or actions. Biological Theory of Crime Causation Biological theories of crime causation claim that one’s physical traits influence an individual in to criminal activities. The idea indicates that the physical nature of the body...
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...might differ by social location and the historical period, such as the changing level and control given to males and females." (Cullen and Agnew, 2002) Crime can be known, as an act done in violation of those duties, which are individual, owes to the community, and for the breach of which the law has provided with a punishment. Anyhow, though the criminal law of the country had not recognized some behaviors as crimes, some behaviors extremely harm the peaceful continuance of the society. Thus, "today, however, despite popular belief is to the contrary, the proportion of criminal law in regard to the totality of the legal system has shrunk dramatically." (Weeramantry, 2009) Because of that, Digital crime, which can be considered as such a crime was recognized and included as a separate crime. With the development of information and communication technology, in twenty first century, the essentiality of computer and internet is increasing rapidly. It is that, in the near future, almost all the crime in the world will be Computer based or related crimes and documents will be Computer based documents. In the meantime, we must keep in mind that Computer related systems are vulnerable to destruction and intrusion. Perhaps, interruption of such systems may lead to a...
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...Social Policy: Texas Mental Health Elizabeth Awad University of Texas at Arlington Social Policy: Texas Mental Health Historical Background A recent change in the Texas law was passed for the Code of Criminal Procedure under the 84th Legislature, Under Texas Law Article 46B.102. CIVIL COMMITMENT HEARING: MENTAL ILLNESS is covered when (a) the court determines that the defendant may be a victim of mental illness, then the court shall hold a hearing to determine whether the defendant should be court-ordered by the state of Texas to mental health services under Subtitle C, Title 7, Health and Safety Code. And (b) Proceedings from the committed defendant determine that they should be court ordered mental health services that are governed by Subtitle C, Title 7, Health and Safety Code. “Mental Health does not respect zip codes, mental health affects everybody and formed the Texas State of Mind to ensure that Texans can have access to mental health help when they need it” states Tom Luce, Chief Executive Officer of the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute who decided to advocate for court ordered and non-court ordered state funded mental health treatment for all Texans (Texas State of Mind., 2015, March 24). Texas Mental Health has been a longstanding concern for Texans and Americans altogether. In 2014, The Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute initiated to help serve Texans. Back in July and August of 2012, The Meadows conducted a quantitative research project to its previous...
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...Mr. Charles Williams Evolutionary changes within the Correctional System Abstract: Corrections is defined as “a process whereby practioners from a variety of agencies and programs use tools, techniques, and facilities, to engage in organized security and treatment functions intended to correct criminal tendencies among offender population” (Hanser, 2013, pg. 2) But the word corrections also originates from a separate meaning which is the need or desire to provide a punishment to individuals that have committed behavior not found suitable or acceptable by the society. Therefore in this essay I will discuss the changes within the American Correctional systems that have caused them to evolve to the present day. Introduction: The correctional prison system within America has changes in multiple differential aspects between the mid 1900’s to the present day. But the most important of these changes which have occurred are: Prison programs, classification systems, housing, the professionalism, and the shift in authority and management. Programs for inmates have improved. The system used to classify inmates have altered. New intermediate facilities have been formed, including the development of adaptive housing. The professionalism between the prison staff as well as the formation of organizations, has increased. Lastly, among the more important aspects of changes, the use of applying policies, enforcing rules, authority attitudes, and the use of judicial interference, influence the...
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...perspectives that have attempted to explain violent behaviour. These perspectives include the psychodynamic perspective, behavioural theory, cognitive theory and personality theory. We will also explore the possible relationship between mental illness and violence. The Psychodynamic Perspective The psychodynamic perspective is largely based on the groundbreaking ideas of Sigmund Freud. A detailed discussion of Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis is beyond the scope of this report. It is sufficient to note that Freud thought that human behaviour, including violent behaviour, was the product of “unconscious” forces operating within a person’s mind. Freud also felt that early childhood experiences had a profound impact on adolescent and adult behaviour. Freud, for example, believed that conflicts that occur at various psychosexual stages of development might impact an individual’s ability to operate normally as an adult (Bartol, 2002). For Freud, aggression was thus a basic (idbased) human impulse that is repressed in well-adjusted people who have experienced a normal childhood. However, if the aggressive impulse is not controlled, or is repressed to an unusual degree, some...
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...xxxxxx 05/20/2010 COM/220 Karen Moninger The life of a seven-year old girl tragically ends at the hands of a young boy. The court convicted Lionel Tate of first degree murder for beating the 48-pound girl, and sentenced him to life in prison. This punishment was a rather harsh judgment many in the community argue against today. Instead of incarcerating him for life, what other options are available? As teen violence continues to plague the nation, many people wonder if rehabilitation is an effective method for deterring future occurrences. Twelve-year old Lionel Tate took the life of a young girl named Tiffany Eunick. Lionel’s mother, a Florida Highway Patrol officer, was sleeping upstairs though she was responsible for babysitting Tiffany. The mother left the children watching television and playing together downstairs unattended. During horse play, Lionel begins to re-enact moves he saw watching wrestling. The 160-pound boy was responsible for cuts, bruises, fractured skull, lacerated liver, broken ribs and internal hemorrhaging on young Tiffany Eunick. Certainly the parents of the deceased child will want to see justice served for the loss of their loved one. Stories surface daily about a teen committing some sort of crime. A heart wrenching reality that many people will either themselves face, or know someone who has or will experience. The epidemic of teen violence is rapidly increasing; Statistics say youth under the age of 18 were arrested for nearly...
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...perfectly. Scotland has a different system comparing to the one present in England and Wales, which abides by the English Legal System. If an individual does not comply to it, he/she can face some of the criminal justice sentences, the most known one as a punishment, prison, but not only and sometimes not the best choice. That is why throughout the years England and Wales have developed their Criminal Justice sentences in order to prevent crime and rehabilitate its offenders. In England and Wales, Criminal Law or penal law comes under the Public Law (concerning the state and government), and it focuses on the crimes committed against an individual and society, in which is a crime against the state. Punishments are given for its offences; always taking in consideration that what is a crime today may not be a crime tomorrow. Criminal law it is always changing and it is imperative that this continues as society itself suffers constant change. An example of this can be the Suicide offence. It used to be a criminal offence to attempt suicide until it changed in the 1960's where a modern reform, The Suicide Act 1961, dictated that those who attempted suicide would not be prosecuted and it is only a criminal offence if an individual assists another to commit suicide. The criminal justice system has to manage between punishing the guilty and most important, protect the innocent. Thus, the prosecution has to prove that the...
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...Comprehensive profile of history and development of the ECCE sector in Ireland. In 1969 the first state run preschool was opened in Rutland street in Dublin. Its aims were for children who were from disadvantaged areas. The department of education worked with an organization called the Van Leer foundation. This organization promotes the early education of children in economically disadvantaged areas. They both set up the pre-school in Rutland street. They were known as early pre-schools. 40 pre-schools had opened nationally. Their aims were to combat the effects of economic and social achievements. These aims were achieved by giving a good start to a child's education. (Flood and Hardy,2015) In 1973 the bar for marriage was lifted which allowed woman to return to work, it was lifted as there was nobody to look after children in families. This then created a need for child minders and childcare services. The preschool education was mainly in the private sector for children with the need of specific intervention and with special needs. The ECEC needs for babies, young children and their families were all met by the community, private enterprises and voluntary. (Flood, E. and Hardy,2013) According to early childhood Ireland, 2015 in 1992 Ireland ratified the UN convention on the rights of the child. The convention stated that a 'child' as a person is below the age of 18, unless a particular countries law set the legal age below the age of 18 for the age of adulthood. The convention...
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...Should the minimum age of criminal responsibility be raised? ‘Boys will be boys’, but at what age does this no longer apply? At what age is a boy expected to take on the responsibilities of a man? The Children and Young Persons Act 1963 (s.16) provides that ‘It shall be conclusively presumed that no child under the age of ten years can be guilty of an offence’. This means that once a child in the UK reaches the age of ten they are as exposed and liable to the full weight of the law the same as any adult. The UK currently has the lowest minimum age of criminal responsibility (except Scotland at 8 but cannot be prosecuted until 12) within the European Union. This places the UK significantly below the average of 14 years old. There seems to be little justification for this deviance from the norm in regards to the minimum age of responsibility in the UK and there have been considerable publications pushing for the UK to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility in the last decade, providing substantial evidence in favour of doing so. The evidence supporting the need to raise this minimum age can be found not only in psychology and scientific research regarding the brain development of youth and autonomy of children at this age, but also the severe social implications of criminalizing our youth. In order to argue that the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) should be raised it will be necessary to identify and evaluate this evidence, as well as identifying...
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...Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention). These alarming statistics prove that minors should be held accountable and be tried as adults in the judicial system. Some may argue that minors have a better chance of being rehabilitated but at the same time minors could become “career criminals”. Steinberg (2001) remarks with the following: Variability among individuals older than 12, but younger than 16, requires that some sort of individualized assessment of an offender's competence to stand trial, blameworthiness, and likely amenability to treatment be made before reaching a transfer decision. The U.S. judicial system should treat minors who commit violent crimes as adults to enforce accountability, to prevent repeat offenders, and to deter others. Factoring Accountability Holding teens accountable for the violent crimes they commit by punishing them as an adult is a social complexity but it is incumbent. Some may view a minor being tried as an adult as immoral, despite the crime committed. Understandingly, some views may be biased due to people being parents themselves. Another frequent argument for minors is that they are not fully developed mentally until their twenties. With this in mind, some form of accountability has been taught to juveniles. Pranis (1998) suggests that holding minors accountable consists of...
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...means "to restore to useful life, as through therapy and education" or "to restore to good condition, operation, or capacity". The thought and purpose behind prison has been, throughout history, to deter criminals from committing crimes. Rehabilitation of prisoners has been classically second to punishing them for their crimes. As our society has changed through various civil rights movements, the rights and treatment of prisoners has become a paramount concern for many people. Classes and rehabilitation programs have sprung up in nearly every prison in the US. These programs however, have not been adequate to rehabilitate prisoners as dire sentences are seeing decreased implementation due to the battle over prisoners’ rights. Rehabilitation as a concept in our prisons needs a massive revision. In conjunction with revisions to rehabilitation, the implementation of dire consequences for repeat offenders could act to further reduce crime. The assumption of rehabilitation is that people are not permanently criminal and that it is possible to restore a criminal to a useful life, to a life in which they contribute to themselves and to society. A goal of rehabilitation is to prevent habitual offending, also known as criminal recidivism. Rather than punishing the harm out of a criminal, rehabilitation would seek, by means of education...
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...Court History and Purpose CJA/224 Court History and Purpose The court system in America has been around since the middle of the 1600’s and has played a crucial role in the development of how things are done when it comes to the criminal justice side. From today’s federal court and our typical state court, these dual court systems came about from a mutual agreement presented from our nation’s founders. In the last 200 years, states’ rights have gradually waned relative to the power of the federal government, but the dual-court system still exists. Even today, state courts do not hear cases involving alleged violations of federal law, nor do federal courts get involved in deciding issues of state law unless there is a conflict between local or state statutes (Schmalleger, p. 311, 2009). The first state court system for the American colonies was established as early as 1629 in Massachusetts. They created what was known by as a general court system. This court was comprised of 118 elected officials, and 18 assistants. This in fact set off a chain reaction and a decade later county courts were developed and the general court took on the role of a higher court. As time progressed, so did the courts. By 1776, all of the American colonies had established fully functional court systems (Schmalleger, p. 313, 2009). In wasn’t until 1789 when congress gathered to discuss a judicial power for the United States. So on March 4th of that same year the Supreme Court was established...
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...fundamentals of the prison system have progressed greatly over the years as well as the influence of the prison system on America. The development of privately operated prisons has added a political aspect to the imminent solutions of the problems within the prison system. The birth of the prison system stemmed from the need to find more humane and effective means of punishment for wrongdoers, or those who chose not to follow society’s guidelines. Before prisons existed, the majority of serious crimes were dealt with by capital punishment. The British criminal code, which was emulated until the Revolution, depended greatly on capital punishment. Although less severe crimes, which did not sanction the death penalty, were punished with fines or “sanguinary” punishments. Non-capital punishments in the early days of criminal justice were designed to terrorize and subject offenders to derision in hope that they would change their behavior. Jails existed but they were mainly used to hold criminals during pretrial proceedings. The realization that cruel vengeance did little to limit or prevent criminal activity in the 1700s further promoted the invention of the prison. The first penitentiary, Walnut Street prison, was converted from a jail in 1790. It was designed with 16 solitary cells for the serious offenders and large rooms where less hardened criminals would sleep together. This became the prototype for prisons over the next 30 years. Walnut Street Prison operated on the concept...
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...Jason Driver The purpose and history of penitentiaries The history and purpose of penitentiaries started during the year of 1700’s, I have learned and read that the first prison was created to house criminals or anyone who committed an act of crime. During this era, criminals while in jail were expected to read the bible and to concentrate on the crimes they committed. Penitentiary which means (a prison for people convicted of serious crimes), began to be use to help to describe the facilities used to hold the prisoners serving sentences or the place to work off the crime. The History of Punishment The purpose and history of penitentiaries The history of penitentiaries started in the eighteenth century. The punishment was known to be extremely brutal which included things such as torture beatings, branding and mutilation. American colonies based their development of punishment of the English criminal codes as well as the incorporation of the Puritan’s matching of crime with sin or wrong doing. Also, I have researched that bolections of expected community were dealt with several using corporal and capital punishment to help stop violence and bad behaviors. British society started to move away from corporal punishment and toward imprisonment with the hope of reforming the mind and body. These changes ultimately helped to form the way for penitentiaries throughout the world and the rest of Europe. Reading different articles, one caught my attention and made me understand...
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