The sixth sense - review Essay Example for Free

The sixth sense review Essay I think that the sixth sense falls into a mystery-thriller. Mystery because at the start you wonder whats wrong with Cole, but half way though we find out his problem that he can see dead people, and then we wonder how he can be helped and will Malcolm be able to help him. Near the end there is an unexpected twist, and you find out Malcolm has been dead all along. The audience needs to believe that Malcolm has been dead all the time; otherwise we would know Cole could see dead people all along and most of the scenes would be pointless. Some bits of the film are scary and can make u jump, thats why it falls into a thriller. The film is meant to trick the audience all the way through with loads of twists and turns. The film could make people think maybe just for one second, are their dead people walking around that we cant see? And is there any one who could see dead people? At the beginning of the first scene it looks as if Coles mum and Malcolm have been having a conversation, because they are facing each other and appear to be looking at each other, we also think they have been having a conversation by the way they have been sitting, it looks like they have been sitting there for a while and they are nice and comfortable, but we actually dont see them talking. When Cole comes home Coles mum goes to great him, and they start to tell each other about there days that didnt really happen, like there dream days. While Cole and his mum talk about there dream day Malcolm smiles, this tell us that he knows what they said they did in there days arent true but its a nice thing to do, it also shows Cole and his mum have a good relationship. This scene is important for later on when Coles mum gets accused for beating him, this scene proves she would never hurt him and they have a good relationship. As Coles mum leaves the room she says you have got an hour this makes the audience assume that Malcolm and Cole have an hour to talk, but what she really means is Cole has an hour until dinner. The Camera helps deceive us because Coles mum turns around as she says, you have got an hour making it look like shes talking to Malcolm. After Coles mum leaves the room Cole and Malcolm play a game, Malcolm says its a mind reading game and if he reads Coles mind correctly Cole takes a step forward, but if he reads him mind wrong Cole takes a step back, if Cole get to the chair were Malcolm is sitting, he sits down and talks to Malcolm, but if he gets to the door he can go. We dont think anything unusual about Malcolm getting some of the questions about Cole right because he must know some background information about Cole as part of his job. We think Cole and Malcolms relationship is good and Malcolm is trying to build up Coles trusts with him, we think that have a normal Doctor client relationship. Cole says Malcolm is nice but he doesnt think Malcolm can help him, he says you cant help me Malcolm and Cole talk about Coles life at school, when his dad left and about Coles mum going to see someone like Malcolm but he didnt help her, and thats why Cole thinks Malcolm cant help him. Its important we think Cole and Malcolm have a normal Doctor client relationship so that we think Malcolm is a normal Doctor. We now know that Cole can see dead people because when hes in the hospital with Malcolm he says, I can see dead people. When Cole sees ghosts it is usually dark and it gets cold, it gets cold when the ghosts are angry, we no this because after the school play Cole says to Malcolm when they get mad it gets cold . When Cole talks to Malcolm it doesnt get cold and u cant see his breath, this shows that Malcolm is not angry and does not no hes dead, also if it got cold and we could see Coles breath when hes around Malcolm we would no Malcolm was dead half way threw, and we are not meant to find out until the end. At the begging of the restaurant scene we see Anna sitting down with her back to the camera, and Malcolm walking towards her threw the restaurant, then there is a close up on Malcolm standing right at the table looking directly at Anna, then he sits down and says Im sorry Anna she then looks straight ahead at him hes looking to his right as he talks, there is no eye contact, direct eye contact is made as the camera moves closer, Malcolm straight away after saying sorry to Anna starts talking about Cole, as the camera moves in they again avoid eye contact, there is a close up on Malcolm still talking to Anna about Cole. The camera pans round the weightier buts the cheque on the table, we see Anna and Malcolm both go to grab it Anna takes the cheque quickly making us think she is angry with Malcolm and doesnt want him to pay for it, as Anna signs the cheque the camera bends behind Malcolm, as it does so Malcolm apologises for the way he has been acting, Anna is mostly looking down signing the cheque and putting her things in her bag, as Malcolm is apologising Anna looks up making people think that she is agreeing with him, but she is really looking up because someone was laughing she looks down sadly again and says happy anniversary . During the whole scene we do not see them directly talking to each other and having a proper convocation. We think Anna is angry with Malcolm because he was late, and when he comes he just says sorry and then he starts talking about Cole, then he says sorry to her properly. As she leaves she says happy anniversary in a sarcastic way, this then means Malcolm forgot it was there anniversary what is another reason why Anna would be angry. This would make Anna think that she is second best and that her and Malcolm dont have a very good relationship. This scene adds to our belief that Malcolm is alive and not dead. We know Malcolm and Anna dont talk much because Malcolm is already dead. But the film leads us to believe that they dont talk much, because Anna is angry with Malcolm because Malcolm was late and Malcolm dont really no what to say, because he is an a difficult position. Anna doest really talk she just looks down at the ground making it look like she is angry. When Malcolm does talk he just starts talking about Cole and nothing else. The camera makes it look as if they are looking at each other, but theyre not because Anna cant see Malcolm. Anna sighs after Malcolm is finished talking, this makes up think that Anna is fed up and has had enough. The two scenes help our belief of Malcolm being alive because, it looks as if Malcolm is interacting with other people and other things, leaving the audience with no reason to doubt Malcolm being alive. It is important that we believe Malcolm is alive other wise, if we knew he was dead from the start most of the scenes would be pointless and would be boring for the audience. At the end of the film we realise Malcolm is dead when we see him talking to Anna, and all the deceptions Cole gave of dead people we see with Malcolm. We see flash backs of the two scenes and we realise that Malcolm never talked to anyone and that he didnt interact with anything, and the only person who could see and hear him is Cole.

Social Policy Essays Social Policy For Sex Offenders

Social Policy Essays Social Policy For Sex Offenders Social Policy For Sex Offenders Children’s protection and safety has become a prominent legislative issue of the 90s and for the millennium. It appears that more and more legislation will continue to be introduced and passed for the best interest of children. The goal is to stop crime against our children in this generation, but for some children it is too late: Anthony Martinez, Polly Klaas, Megan Kanga, the children we did not read about and, unfortunately, those we will be reading about. This paper will discuss Megan’s law (See Appendix A), which requires the registration and notification to communities of released sex offenders. Child abuse legislation proved to be an agenda leader for two other sets of issues: those relating to child care and those relating to personal violence. Child abuse, especially sexual, has infused parents and communities with renewed moral outrage and provided intellectual and political connections to long-standing issues, such as child safety and protection. But perhaps more interestingly, crime legislation gave legitimacy and currency to the consideration of the allied issues of violence, autonomy, and physical safety, including the sexual abuse of children, domestic violence and rape ( Nelson, 1984). Get help with your essay from our expert essay writers Bierker (1989) defined sexual abuse as a sexual activity perpetrated on a child by an older person through coercion. The child lacks the emotional and physical maturity to resist what amounts to abuse of the older person’s position of authority and power. Abuse, by definition, causes pain to the child at the time of the abuse and, unless the abuse is disclosed and dealt with, later in his or her life. In recent high profile cases, the children all appeared to have been sexually abused before they were murdered. Sexual abuse of a child generally moves through increasingly intimate activity. Perpetrators carefully plan not only the abuse, but also arrange for a private place to do it. Parents often give the perpetrator access to their child unwittingly. For example, they may allow their child to engage in group activities which are lead by an unknown perpetrator. Megan’s Law seeks to identify known pedophiles and allow parents to inform and teach their children to avoid these offenders. Sexual offenders are a large and growing part of the prison population. In 1980 state prisons held 20, 500 sex offenders; in 1990 there were 63,600; and in 1994 their were 88, 100. They grew not only in number, but also as a percentage of an expanding state prison population: 6.9 percent of 295,819 inmates in 1980; 9.7 percent of 906, 112 in 1994. In 1991, at least 20 percent of the adult prison population in ten states were sex offenders. Community in-patient and out-patient programs specializing in treating sex offenders have proliferated. Still, it appears that relatively few incarcerated sex offenders actually receive treatment. There is insufficient research to establish consistent estimates of recidivism or to identify effective treatments ( Department of Justice, statistics, 1996). The current climate is severely punitive. Many citizens’ approach is to lock-up all the criminals and never release them. The public seems determined to prevent these individuals from committing new crimes no matter the cost. As a result, by August, 1995, 43 states had enacted statutes requiring offenders to register with a central agency or with a law enforcement agency located in the community into which they are released. In late July 1994, seven-year-old Megan Kanka was raped and strangled to death. Such tragedies are periodically reported in our daily periodical across the country, but the difference here was that Megan’s killer lived across the street from the Kanka family in Hamilton Township, New Jersey. Further, the neighbor had served time in Avenel, a facility for sex offenders in New Jersey. The man had been convicted of molesting children twice previously, but the community knew nothing of his background. Megan’s parents and neighbors learned of Jesse Timmendequa’s history only after he was arrested on July 30, 1994, and had confessed to the murder. Megan’s parents, Richard and Maureen Kanka, and their neighbors organized and angrily confronted their city council as to why they were not informed as to the establishment of this â€Å"house for sex offenders† in their family-oriented community. They demanded that the laws be changed so as allow communities to protect themselves from released sex offenders. Jansson defines policy practice as â€Å"efforts to influence the development, enactment, implementation, or assessment of social policies† through the utilization of policy practice skills (which he identifies as analytic, political, interactional, and value-clarification), and the performance of policy practice tasks (setting agendas, defining problems, making proposals, enacting policy, implementing policy, and assessing policy) (Jansson, 1994). With the fall elections approaching, and several Republican anti-crime initiatives stalled in the Senate, Republicans pushed four bills through the House on May 7, 1995 to crack down on sex offenders, witness tampering, stalkers and those who prey on children and the elderly. The Senate cleared the bill (HR 2137) on sex offenders by voice vote May 9, 1995, and President Clinton signed the bill into law. Republicans were hoping that the bills, which dealt with relatively small issues, would resonate with the public and help their party in November. They spotlighted members that were facing tough reelection campaigns as sponsors of three bills. The sexual offender bill was sponsored by Dick Zimmer, Republican from New Jersey, who was in a tight race for the senate seat being vacated by Bill Bradley. The House debate began on an emotional note, and members quickly passed legislation that would require states and localities to inform communities when dangerous sexual offenders were released from prison. The vote was 418-0 . (See Appendix B). The 1994 crime bill (Pub. L 103-322) requires sex offenders to register their address with local police, and it allows this information to be publicized to preserve safety. The House bill sought to make release of this information mandatory. States that did not comply could lose part of their federal crime fighting funds. The bill also would change a section of the crime law that required states to classify as private all information collected when registering sexual offenders. The bill would allow each state to determine what information is private and what is public (Congressional Quarterly, May 11, 1996). President Clinton strongly supported the bills respecting crimes against children and the elderly. On May 17, 1996, he signed Megan’s Law. He has been an advocate for children since he was governor of Arkansas. The following is an except from the ceremony that took at the White House: â€Å"This has been a week in which our country is moving to combat crime and violence. A couple of days ago we awarded over 9, 000 new police officers to some 2,500 communities. That brings us to 43,000 police officers in 20 months along the road to our goal of 100,000. We’re ahead of schedule and under budget.† â€Å"But today, the valiant presence of five American parents reminds us that this fight against crime is so much more a fight for peace and for safety for our people and especially for our children.† â€Å"I thank the Congress for passing it. I thank those who led the fight. And I thank these families more than anything else. God Bless you all.† (See Appendix C). The Jacob Wetterling Crimes against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act provides a financial incentive for states to establish effective registration systems for released child molesters and other sexually violent offenders. States that fail to establish conforming registration systems will be subjected to a 10 percent reduction of formula Byrne Grant funding, and resulting surplus funds will be reallocated to states that are in compliance. Unlike Megan’s Law, the Jacob Wetterling Act permitted, but did not require, states to release registration information to the extent necessary to protect the public. In California, state legislation implementing Megan’s Law was passed in September of 1996 (AB 1562 ). The California Department of Justice issued policy and training procedures for local law enforcement agencies directing implementation of Megan’s Law beginning in July, 1997. As of July, 1997, any citizen can request from their local law enforcement agency, a CD ROM containing information, including photographs, of sexual offenders released into the local community. Police and parole agents will be required to notify the community of sexual offenders residing in the neighborhood. In California, Governor Wilson has attempted to go further still, proposing that sex offenders be required to register for life. The rationale underlying such laws is simple: identify all convicted and released sexual offenders, and the community will be able to take action to protect themselves. Notification, according to some, â€Å"could prevent some tragedies from happening again.† Notification is also expected to improve public safety because the public will be able to identify and report risky behavior by sex offenders (e.g. conversing with children, buying sex-oriented magazines) that might escalate into criminal behavior if ignored. The effectiveness of notification probably depends to a considerable degree on the provisions of the state statute, the resources that states and localities are able and willing to provide for implementing the statute, and the dedication and expertise of probation officers, police officers and prosecutors. Notification is most likely to be effective if it is accompanied by extensive community education and carried out by specialist. ( Finn, 1997) Agenda setting stage. Laws regarding sexual abuse came into being in the late 1970s as professionals and the public became aware of the prevalence of this form of child abuse. Since that time, the legal framework has developed dramatically in response to vicious crimes against children. Perhaps no type of crime has received more attention in recent years than crimes against children involving sexual acts and violence. Several recent tragic cases have focused public attention on this type of crime and resulted in public demand that government take stronger action against those who commit those crimes. Specifically, it was the murder of a little girl at the hands of this â€Å"unidentified† sex offender that served the purpose of getting legislators’ and the public’s attention. A victim of sexual abuse himself, Mark J. Welsh argued that identifying offenders would protect children and help prevent molesters from abusing again. Further, he argued that molesters would be recognized everywhere they went, and no one would allow them to be near children. There was no real opposition to this argument— the laws had to be changed. Another important component of the agenda setting stage is the political demand exerted by large voting constituencies and lobbyists. Children do not vote, but parents, relatives, teachers, grass roots organizations, the Child Welfare League of America, and others do strongly represent them in the political arena. In the case of Megan’s Law, support was bipartisan and unanimous. Further, Congress passed Title VII of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-322). That law, entitled the â€Å"Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act,† encouraged states to establish a system where every person who commits a sexual or kidnapping crime against children or who commits sexually violent crime against any person (whether adult or child) would be required to register his address upon release from prison. As further protection, the 1994 Act required states to allow law enforcement agencies to release à ¢â‚¬Å"relevant information† about an offender as necessary to protect the public (Columbia Law, 1995). This community notification provision has been the subject of considerable controversy. Megan’s Law has been challenged by civil libertarians as a violation of sex offenders’ constitutional rights. However, Megan’s Law has thus far survived court challenges. Yet, this has not stopped the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a legal organization dedicated to defending the Constitution, from attacking the constitutionality of notification requirements. The ACLU and others argue that it is unconstitutional to treat sex offenders differently from other violent criminals. Further, the ACLU argues, most sex offenses are committed by people we are not aware are dangerous: friends and relatives and others we do not know about. Community notification tends to generate hysteria about a small group of people for a short period of time. It does not solve the problem, it merely moves ex-offenders around as they are driven from community to community. Moreover, although the ostensible purpose of notification is to permit citizens to take precautions to protect themselves, these laws tend to encourage a state of anxiety which is not helpful to rationally addressing the issue. They also tend to encourage vigilantism. In Washington state, a a released child molester, who had presumedly paid his debt to society, was himself a victim of death threats, assaults and the burning of his home by enraged residents who took the law into their own hands (ACLU, press release, August, 19, 1994). In addition, critics aruge, this law often treats gay men as child molesters and rapists. Years ago, gay men were routinely arrested on felony lewd conduct charges. These were people who were basically engaging in consensual sex with other adults. Although Megan’s Law ostensibly targets sexual predators, the gay community fears that persons arrested for being gay will be identified as sex offenders. Problem defining stage. The problem is whether all released sex offenders should register or not. Different states have relied on different methods of developing notification criteria and as a result, have come up with different criteria. The focus is on developing guidelines for classifying offenders according to the risk they present (low, moderate, high). States have adopted varying criteria to be employed in this classification process. These include the seriousness of the offense, offense history, characteristics of the offender and community support. Proposal writing stage. The bill was included as a special provision in the Federal Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (the â€Å"Act†). At the time it was probably written from an ecological perspective due to Megan’s brutal death and the elections. The bill does potentially â€Å"sweep up† too many people. Policy enacting stage. Congressmen Zimmer and the Republican party seized upon Megan’s death to raise an issue during an election year that no one could possibly oppose: protecting neighborhoods from persons likely to commit heinous sexual crimes. Such conditions encourage politicians to introduce bills that are supported by little, if any, responsible research. In my research for this paper, I spoke to Mr. Greg O’Gorman, an aide to Senator Feinstein. He confirmed the obvious: no politician would oppose Megan’s Law because no one wanted to be identified with sexual offenders. Furthermore, he reported that Senator Feinstein has introduced a bill that will â€Å"lock up† a sexual offenders convicted twice of sexual crimes. He stated that the senator has received no opposition from her colleagues. It is unknown if she consulted with mental health practitioners, social workers, or other professionals in order to determine the efficacy of her bill or alternatives to incarceration, such as treatment to prevent recidivism. The policy implementing stage. Law enforcement agencies, parole agents, and other designated practitioners are being directed to enforce Megan’s Law. Each state is implementing Megan’s Law differently. For example, in California all sex offenders—whether adult or juvenile—must register. Communities will be notified of adults classified as â€Å"high risk† or â€Å"serious† sex offenders. (See Appendix D). There are 70,000 sex offenders in California. It is uncertain how many of these will eventually be classified as â€Å"high risk† or â€Å"serious† offenders. Policy assessing stage. The ACLU and Lambda Legal Defense and Education fund (LLDEF) have joined together to challenge this law on constitutional grounds. The ACLU and LLDEF argue that in many cases notification does more harm than good. They conclude that if information is to be disclosed publicly, it must be limited to that necessary to counteract the offender’s dangerousnous. ( ACLU, press release, August 19, 1994). Still, Megan’s Law is being implemented. In Placencia, California, police notified the community that a twice-convicted child molester, Sid Landau, was residing in their community. The community responded by organizing demonstrations in front of his residence. Some threatened him. Mr. Landau had to obtain legal representation in an attempt to stop the harassment. According to his lawyer, T. Matthew Phillips, Mr. Landau has been through â€Å"hell.† He argues that his client has been unfairly singled-out, that he paid for his crimes and should not be permitted to reenter society. Detective Corinne Loomis of the Placencia Police Department had hoped that people would eventually accept that Mr. Landau and others like him are going to be living in the community, and to appreciate that the best response is be aware and protective. That is what Megan’s Law was designed to do,† she said. â€Å"It was not designed to whip people into frenzy and have them run somebody out on a rail† (L.A. Times, 3-8-97). On April 25, 1997, Sid Landau was arrested for assaulting a cameraman who was following him. In another case, an 18-year-old male from Wisconsin was convicted of a â€Å"lewd act with a minor.† He faces 40 years in prison and, if convicted, he will have to register as a sex offender for life. This young man’s crime was having consensual sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend. The girlfriend got pregnant, and the young man dropped out of school in order to marry and support the girl. A social worker reported this case to the prosecutor’s office, and he was charged and convicted. The young man has the support of his community and plans to appeal his conviction. THE INTERVIEWS In this section I disucss two interviews I conducted regarding Megan’s Law. I could have interviewed anyone because we will all be involved with this law: law enforcement, which will be responsible for notifying citizens, as well as average citizens who happen to live in communities into which sex offenders are released. 1) Jacqueline Waltman Parole agent, California Department of Corrections. Ms. Waltman supervises adult parolees in the San Fernando Valley. 2) Gail Blucher Mother and President of the local Parents and Teachers Association (PTA). Ms. Blucher is resident of the Santa Clarita Valley. Ms. Waltman does not agree with Megan’s Law as it is written. Although she will be obliged to enforce it, she believes that many sex offenders will go â€Å"underground† in order to avoid registration requirements. Once underground, Ms. Waltman argues, these individuals will be more likely to molest more children. Further, she believes that a state of anxiety will be created in the communities encouraging the growth of vigilante groups. She believes her job will be more difficult as a result of supervising parolees in a community that is openly hostile to the parolees’ presence. She recognizes that the Department of Corrections does not provide sex offenders with effective therapy, if it provides any at all. Moreover, she stated that many sex offenders are warned by prison guards not to disclose their crime to fellow inmates so as not to provoke attacks upon themselves. Therefore, many do not request therapy during incarceration. Parole agent Waltman believes that sex offenders cannot be rehabilitated and should remain in prison for the rest of their lives. She nevertheless hopes that they can be treated and rehabilitated. She stated that her priority will always be the safety and protection of children. Jacqueline Waltman works part-time for the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services at the Emergency Response Command Post (ERCP). She worked full-time for more than twenty years for the same department. Mrs. Blucher is a full-time homemaker and she is very involved in her seven-year-old daughter’s extracurricular activities. She is married. She has recently gotten involved with the â€Å"neighborhood watch† community program that works with the local sheriff’s department. Mrs. Blucher is anxiously anticipating Megan’s Law. She believes, quite obviously, that children need a safe neighborhood, and supports notification . However, she stated that she could not participate in â€Å"evicting† anyone from her neighborhood, but did not want sex offenders to live anywhere near her family. She strongly believes that sex offenders never change. She stated that the criminal justice system releases criminals too early, especially sex offenders. She supports Assemblyman Bob Margett’s (R-Arcadia) bill requiring that convicted child molesters wear electronic monitoring bracelets upon their release from prison. (I contacted the Assemblyman’s office regarding this bill. His aide reported that the bill passed without any opposition). She is looking forward to working with the â€Å"neighborhood watch† program to make children aware that her house is a designated safe house and that they are allowed to request assistance if they needed too. LETTER TO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RAMONA RIPSTON- ACLU 15920 Calle El Capitan Green Valley, CA 91350 Ms. Ramona Ripston Executive Director American Civil Liberties Union 1616 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, California, 90026 April 24, 1997 Dear Ms. Ripston My name is Xiomara Flores-Holguin and I am a graduate social work student at the University of Southern California. I am writing you in support of the American Civil Liberties Union, Southern California chapter’s position on Megan’s Law. I agree with the ACLU’s argument that notifying communities of sex offenders’ presence may cause more harm than good. First, released sex offenders are going to live somewhere. I am concerned about â€Å"not-in-my-backyard† vigilantism that will encouraged if citizens are not properly educated on bounds of appropriate action to take when notified of the presence of a sex offender in their communities. Second, there is little evidence that the Department of Corrections addresses the problem when the sex offenders are in prison. They cannot reassure society that these sex offenders are rehabilitated because they do not provide them any treatment. Also, we cannot forget that many former â€Å"sex offenders† have never presented a threat to society. I refer to gay people convicted of lewd acts for engaing in consensual sex with other adults. Will Megan’s Law require that these victims of homophobia be identified as â€Å"sex offenders† living in our midst? I wanted to express my appreciation and gratitude to the American Civil Liberties Union for your ongoing work in defending the Constitution of ALL people, whether we like them or not. Thurgood Marshall once asked, â€Å"Mental health and the law what if anything do they have in common?† He responded that both are concerned with the aspirations and problems of the human condition, and both deal with human rights and human responsibilities. Let us continue in our commitment to work on behalf of ALL people. Thank you. Sincerely, M. Xiomara Flores-Holguin MSW Graduate Student CONCLUSION At the beginning of this assignment, I believed that I had a strong position as to Megan’s Law and felt that this law was almost perfect. However, as a social worker, I recognized that the law was supported by little empirical research. I realize that no policy analysis is ever complete, that it is impossible to discover all of the data (data are essentially infinite) and to ask all of the possible questions. Policy analysis is always an approximation of the ideal and, as such, decisions are always made on the basis of incomplete data (Karger Stoesz, 1994). Karger and Stoesz (1994) argue that despite a nominal reliance on an analytical framework, social policy analysis in the â€Å"real world† is to some degree always biased. Because policy is analyzed by human beings, it is always done through the mirror of the analyst’s value system, ideological beliefs, and particular understanding of the goals and purposes of social welfare. Subjectivity is reflected in the omission (conscious or otherwise) of facts or questions, or in the relative weight given to one variable at the expense of others. Also, political pressure may be put on the policy analyst to come up with recommendations that are acceptable to a certain interest group. Regardless of the causes of subjectivity, policy analysis is always an approximation of the ideal, in effect an informed anticipation as to the effects of a policy or a set of policies. I believe that we need to stop crime against children in this generation. Furthermore, we need to identify and help those children that will be capable of continuing this cycle of crime as adults. The imprisoned sex offender, the released sex offender, and the unknown sex offender were children once, too. We should therapeutically treat the juvenile as soon as they are identified as potential offenders. We should not give up on people by â€Å"locking them up† An African proverb admonishes us, â€Å"It takes a village.† Let us take more responsibility. I will be pursuing a Community, Organization, Planning and Administration, concentration next year. I realized long ago that I wish to empower clients and advocate for them. I want to do so at the macro level. REFERENCES American Civil Liberties Union. (August 19, 1994). Press Release. Registration and community notification of convicted sex offender. ACLU Washington Office publication. Bierker, S.B. (1989). About sexual abuse. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas Publisher. Brown, J.M. , Gilliard, D.F., Snell, T.L. , Stephan, J.J., Wilson, D.J. (1996). Correctional populations in the United States. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics : Washington, D.C. publication. Finn, P. (1997, February). U.S. Department of Justice, Statistics on sex offender community notification. Rockville, Maryland: National Institute of Justice Publications. Jansson, B. (1994). Social policy: from theory to policy practice. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole. Karger, H.J., Stoesz, D. (1994). American social welfare policy: a pluralist approach. New York: Longman. Nelson, B. J. (1984). Making an Issue of Child Abuse. Chicago: The University Press. Palmer, E. A. (1996). GOP pushes four crime bills through the House. Congressional Quarterly. p. 1305. Richardson, L. Target of Megan’s Law Moves, Causing Stir. Loa Angeles Times, March 8, 1997, p.A20. Schopf, Simon (1995). â€Å"Megan’s Law†: Community notification and the Constitution. Columbia Journal of Law. 29 (117), 118-146. Welch, M.J. (1994). Press Release. Publicizing child molesters in your community. Personal mailing.

Dualits Marketing Strategy Analysis

Dualits Marketing Strategy Analysis Over the next three years the market for kitchen products and appliances is expected to grow by up to 17.6% (Datamonitor, 2009). This growing market makes it the ideal time to be the manufacturer of these goods.   Consumers of these goods are looking for products which are both stylish and built to last.   Dualit has created a product with has incorporated both these key elements; the Dualit NewGen toaster. Dualit is a British company which designs and manufactures toasters and other kitchen appliances.   Founded in the early 1940s (Dualit, 2010), Dualit is portrayed as a company which offers high quality and well-engineered products. The first Dualit toaster to be made with a timer and manual eject button was created in 1952 and ever since Dualit has continued to produce toasters based on the original design (Dualit, 2010). In this essay Dualits marketing strategy will be assessed using the 4Ps framework.   This framework allows product, place, price and promotion to be considered (Marketing Teacher, 2010).   As well as looking at the companys marketing mix, their targeting, positioning and segmentation will also be evaluated.   By considering all of these aspects, alternatives can be suggested on how Dualit can improve their strategy.   All the information used for this essay will come from secondary sources. Dualit want to be considered as a company which offer high quality products which are superior to their competitors (Dualit, 2010).   This is illustrated in the way in which they target their customers.   Dualit use a differentiated marketing strategy to target their consumers.   Using a differentiated marketing strategy allows them to target several markets and design a separate offering for each market (Armstrong et al, 2009).   Products which use a differentiated strategy tend to be valued by customers and customers perceive the product to be better than or different from products of the competition.   Also, according to Michel Porters model if a company has a corporate reputation for quality and innovation like Dualit does, then they will usually use a differentiated strategy (QuickMBA, 2010). Dualit segment their market using psycographic segmentation, this allows Dualit to divide its buyers into different groups based on social class, lifestyle or personality characteristics (QuickMBA, 2010).   Dualits 2 slice NewGen toaster will appeal to people with a high disposable income that will pay a lot to get a stylish product like the NewGen toaster but who also care about the environment, as the NewGen has a control which allows only one slot to be heated.   Whereas, the 4 slice NewGen toaster appeals more to the commercial users such as cafes and restaurants, who might need to make several slices at any one time.   By targeting more than one target market it allows Dualit to increase its market share. After considering their target market and deciding how to segment them, Dualit can then consider all aspects of their marketing mix and how the different aspects work together. Dualits NewGen toaster can be split into three product levels.   These three levels are the core product, the actual product and the augmented product.   The core product is the benefits the customer will receive (Kotler et al, 2008).   Buyers of the NewGen toaster range will benefit from a product which makes toast but at the same time is compact and stylish and comes in over ten colours meaning it will complement almost any kitchen.   The core benefits are offered through the components that make up the actual product (Armstrong et al, 2009). The actual product includes styling, features and design.   The extra wide slots on the NewGen toaster that allow for nearly every type of bread to be toasted can be seen as a core benefit.   The augmented product is built around the core benefits and the actual product by offering additional customer service (Armstrong et al, 2009).   Dualit offer a two year guarantee on the elements in the toaster and a one year guarantee on al l other parts.   Customers are also given a users guild to allow them to see other ways to use their toaster, this guide is also available from their website.   The Dualit NewGen toaster also has replaceable parts meaning that if it breaks it doesnt need to be thrown out, it can be fixed.   This means it will last significantly longer than any other toaster. There is no obvious improvement that Dualit could make to the NewGen toaster as it has more features than every other toaster currently on the market. Dualit make some of the most expensive kitchen appliances on the market.   The NewGen toaster ranges in price from  £135 to  £195 depending on the size of the toaster and how it is finished (John Lewis, 2010).   Dualit appear to use two pricing strategies.   They appear to use product line pricing, where a company prices different models within a range at different prices (Armstrong et al, 2009).   It is more expensive for a 4 slice NewGen toaster than it is for a 2 slice NewGen toaster; this is a perfect example of product line pricing.   However, Dualit also appear to use value based pricing as a way of pricing their range, whereby buyers perceptions, not the sellers costs are key to pricing (Armstrong et al, 2009). Dualits toaster may be highly priced but the consumers perception is that the high price means it is high quality.   Unfortunately for Dualit many of its competitors offer a similar product in a similar style for a fraction of the price that is sold by t he same retailer.   Although they dont have as many features as the NewGen toaster, they still do the same job so potential customers may feel it is unnecessary to buy a toaster that costs  £135 and purchase a rival toaster instead.   Dualit may need to consider lowering their prices if it begins to affect them in the future.   The Dualit NewGen toaster hasnt been highly publicised.   The only advertising that Dualit does for the range is on their own website.   Any other advertising is mostly done by the individual retailers that sell the product.   John Lewis currently offer a five year guarantee with all NewGen toasters, this may act as an incentive to potential customers as they feel they are getting more for their money and their product is protected longer.   Dualits lack of advertising may be a way to reduce costs but in the long run it could cost them potential customers.   The NewGen toaster is currently sold out on one of its main retailers website so their lack of advertising doesnt currently seem to be affecting their sales but in the future it could, so to increase publicity Dualit may consider taking part in a joint advertising campaign with a premium bread company such a Warburtons or Hovis, which are both popular brands.   This would allow Dualit to target a wider market which ma y, as a result increase their market share. Dualit currently sell their product on their own website and through high end retailers such as John Lewis and House of Frasers, which are as reputable but expensive department stores.   This enhances Dualits image of being manufacturers of high quality products.   Department stores carry a wide range of product lines (Armstrong et al, 2009) which can attract a larger range of customers, so by selling their product they may increase their market share.   Dualit may want to appeal to a larger target market.   They could do this by selling their products in large supermarkets such as Tesco or Asda because thousands of people go to these shops every day.   Although this would allow them to reach a larger target marker, it may put off existing customers as they may feel that it takes away from the brands high end reputation.   If Dualit did consider this they would have to decide if they would rather gain new customers or risk losing existing customers. After having analysed all the aspects of Dualits marketing mix, it can be seen that although there are a few improvements which they could make to their marketing strategy such as more advertising or vary where they sell the products overall their current marketing strategy is working well as their products are sold out on retailers websites.   With the market for kitchen appliances set to largely increase, Dualit may have to consider altering their marketing if they wish to dominate more of this increasing market.   If Dualit do decide to change their marketing strategy in the future it should be for the better as long as they continue to make high quality products that out perform their rivals. References Armstrong, G.; Kotler, P.; Harker, M. Brennan, R. (2009) Marketing An Introduction. 8th Ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Dualit (2010) Dualit Our History. Available at: http://www.dualit.com/our-history (Accessed: 12 February 2010). John Lewis (2010) Search Results NewGen. Available at: http://www.johnlewis.com/Search/Search.aspx?SearchTerm=NewGen (Accessed: 13 February 2010). Kotler,P.; Armstrong, G.; Wong,V. Saunders, J. (2008) Principles of Marketing. 5th Ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Marketing Teacher (2010) Marketing Mix. Available at: http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_marketing_mix.htm (Accessed: 11 February 2010). QuickMBA (2010) Market Segmentation. Available at: http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/market-segmentation (Accessed: 12 February 2010). Datamonitor (2009) Kitchen Appliances Global Industry Guide, Special Report, London, The Data Monitor Group

Organizational Culture Profiles Essay -- Sociology, Culture

The purpose of this paper was to construct organizational culture profiles using the â€Å"Now† and â€Å"Preferred† average scores from the Organizational Cultural Assessment Instrument (OCAI) to get a pictogram of how the current culture for the Medicaid Integrity Group (MIG) matches the preferred culture. Organizational culture is not just any thoughts, values, and actions, but rather the unifying patterns that are shared, learned, combined at the group level, and internalized individual members. The findings of the OCAI provides a clear picture of the MIG’s operating culture in terms of behaviors that is believed, expected, or implicitly required and indicated items that could be changed to alter the current classification of the organization from a hierarchy culture to a clan culture. Conversely, the hierarchy focuses on rules, policies, procedures, efficiency, and control is the direct opposite of the clan that stresses family, loyalty, commitment, cohes ion, and morale. Organizational Culture Profiles In many organizations, one typically finds that corporate culture affects everyone. Culture is important because it can influence human behavior, can be difficult to change, and its near invisibility makes it hard to address directly. The MIG’s current and preferred culture shown in the OCAI in Appendix A focuses on some core attributes of the organization. The OCAI is a key component to help the MIG understand and conceptualize its organizational culture, its nature, determinants and predictions, as well as the relationships among culture's diverse set of variables. Organizational culture is widely considered one of the most significant factors in bringing about organizational ch... ...a pictogram of how the current culture for the MIG matches the preferred culture. First, from the perspective of where the organization’s current culture is and secondly, from the perspective of where organization’s culture should be. The MIG’s present culture indicates it experience hierarchy culture but would like to start working more like a clan culture. The organization’s profile indicated a large difference between the current and preferred situation, which means changes are desirable. Organizational culture is just one of the many pieces that make up the puzzle of public sector organizations. As such, it should not be considered the answer to all organizational problems, nor should it be applied to all organizational aspects. The organizational culture profiles can be a starting point to solve problems, but also a way to create problematic solutions. Organizational Culture Profiles Essay -- Sociology, Culture The purpose of this paper was to construct organizational culture profiles using the â€Å"Now† and â€Å"Preferred† average scores from the Organizational Cultural Assessment Instrument (OCAI) to get a pictogram of how the current culture for the Medicaid Integrity Group (MIG) matches the preferred culture. Organizational culture is not just any thoughts, values, and actions, but rather the unifying patterns that are shared, learned, combined at the group level, and internalized individual members. The findings of the OCAI provides a clear picture of the MIG’s operating culture in terms of behaviors that is believed, expected, or implicitly required and indicated items that could be changed to alter the current classification of the organization from a hierarchy culture to a clan culture. Conversely, the hierarchy focuses on rules, policies, procedures, efficiency, and control is the direct opposite of the clan that stresses family, loyalty, commitment, cohes ion, and morale. Organizational Culture Profiles In many organizations, one typically finds that corporate culture affects everyone. Culture is important because it can influence human behavior, can be difficult to change, and its near invisibility makes it hard to address directly. The MIG’s current and preferred culture shown in the OCAI in Appendix A focuses on some core attributes of the organization. The OCAI is a key component to help the MIG understand and conceptualize its organizational culture, its nature, determinants and predictions, as well as the relationships among culture's diverse set of variables. Organizational culture is widely considered one of the most significant factors in bringing about organizational ch... ...a pictogram of how the current culture for the MIG matches the preferred culture. First, from the perspective of where the organization’s current culture is and secondly, from the perspective of where organization’s culture should be. The MIG’s present culture indicates it experience hierarchy culture but would like to start working more like a clan culture. The organization’s profile indicated a large difference between the current and preferred situation, which means changes are desirable. Organizational culture is just one of the many pieces that make up the puzzle of public sector organizations. As such, it should not be considered the answer to all organizational problems, nor should it be applied to all organizational aspects. The organizational culture profiles can be a starting point to solve problems, but also a way to create problematic solutions.

Good Times :: Media Television Shows Papers

Good Times Originally aired on CBS in 1974 as a spinoff of the sitcom Maude, Good Times was a Black situation comedy based on the everyday lives of a Black Chicago family during the height of the civil rights movement (Deane, 2004). The cast starred Esther Rolles as the mother Florida Evans who first appeared as the maid in the television show Maude, John Amos as the father James Evans who starred in the hit miniseries Roots, comedian Jimmie Walker who played the oldest son James Evans Jr. (JJ), Ja'net DuBois as neighbor and friend of the Evans family Willona Woods, Ralph Carter who played the youngest son Michael Evans, and Anderson Bern Nadette Stanis as daughter Thelma Evans (Deane, 2004). Good Times took place in the assimilated hybrid minstrelsy genre of Black sitcoms which means that it often had offensive stereotypical aspects present such as mammy and sambo characters, but these characteristics took place in a traditional white sitcom setting and often had references to the Black civil rights movement that was taking place at the time. Originally created to show African Americans in a different more positive light, it gained popularity with Black and White audiences quickly and rated number seventeen for the 1973-1974 seasons (Ingram, 2004). As the show proceeded however, it began to drift away from its original purpose as the character JJ's popularity began to grow. Often criticized for his similarities to buffoonish minstrel characters in early television history, JJ was seen as doing a disservice to the show causing Esther Rolles and John Amos to leave. Attempting to continue the show and regain ratings, the show's producers centered episodes around the hijinks of JJ, but alas the show's ratings continued to fall and the show was cancelled. This brings us to the question at hand. Was Good Times a show that portrayed Blacks in a positive manner to the American public, or was it more of the nail in the coffin to the positive identity of Black America? Positive Aspects Good Times was an interesting 1970's television comedy series that explored the life of a poor black family. This family was simply trying to get by and have a good life in the projects of Chicago. The Evans family was a family that faced real problems on the show and encountered many different situations which they had to overcome. When the show was debuted on February 1, 1974, the series starred John Amos and Esther Rolle as James and Maude (the parents) (Ingram).

Should we prohibit the development of the cyber command

Should we prohibit the development of the cyber command? BY kus09453 Cyber warfare Cyber warfare has been defined as any hostile measures against an enemy designed† to discover, alter, destory, disrupt or transfer data stored in a computer, manipulated by a computer or transmitted through a computer. † Examples of hostile use include computer attacks on air traffic control systems, on oil pipeline flow systems and nuclear plants. Cyber Weapon Cyber weapons includes computer viruses and software that can be used to penetrate enemy networks.Defining these tools as weapons, as opposed to systems or processes, allows the military to apply the same authorisation controls as they apply to conventional weapons such as guns and tanks. Cyber command Cyber command has been defined as a command for network which subordinate to the state. They have three tasks, attack, defence and development. Lets use the first establishment of cyber command, the US Cyber Command, to be an example t o explain. US Cyber Command centralizes command of cyberspace operation and organizes existing cyber resources, these can help for the network developmant.In the defence side, US Cyber Command synchronizes defense of US military and the US government services networks, to comfirm that US will be safe under any situations. In the attack side, it also include that the background why Cyber Command had aroused the international concern. In 2010, It has waged cyberwar. US Cyber Command postponed the development of nuclear weapon of Iran. It involves hacking and attack. This aggressive action had aroused international concern. Why We chose this topic because of Edward Joseph Snowden. He was an NSA system administrator.He was wanted by USA because he published th of the U. S. classified intelligence to public. He came to Hong Kong to publish these secret file. This action had aroused international concern, including us. He had published the PRISM project which U. S. is preparing to do. U. S. can through PRISM to get all the data about us, like e-mail, file, video, login information. Also, he said that U. S. has developed over 2000 cyber weapon to destroy computer system. We are interested in this because we think our privacy are not save and our national security is threatened .This resentation will focus on whether we should prohibit the development of Cyber Command as a part of Cyberwarfare. Later on, Jacky will discuss about cyber command in different perspective. Conclusion We disagree with prohibiting the development of Cyber Command but should be focus on the defensive purpose and the technology development. Since the offensive provocation could lead to real war, the offensive development should be prohibited. We think that enhancing the national cyber technology is very important. Cyber weapon meets an objective which would require spy or the use of force.Such actions include theft of data and destroy of data. Theft of data or intellectual property, such as pr oprietary information of a business, classified information of a government or military. Destruction of data or programs on the system, less frequently, damage to the computer hardware, in the most extreme case, damage to an electromechanical or process control system such that a serious industrial accident results in loss of life or major economic damages. To protect the citizens' right and their life, to prevent the terrorist attack national computer systems, the development of Cyber Command s necessary.Predicted Future In the future, we predict that first, every countries will develop cyber command overtly or covertly, because we are in cyber era, it is necessary to have a cyber command to deal with the network security problem. second, cyberwar may lead to real war as Ken mentioned. third, National security agencies and law enforcement agencies will promote cooperation, because they need to deal with the privacy problem. In the following time, I am going to analysis the problem in social interest perspective and national security perspective.But before that, I will talk about the development of cyber command first. In the past, Cyber Command in different countries were mainly focus on the defensive purpose. They Just want to improve the firewall, to improve their network security and thus to thwart cyber attack. But in recent years, they have been starting to change the focus to offensive purpose. They are actively to develop different cyber weapons and hacking others computer system to collect information. The U. S. Cyber Command has a monitoring program to collect data and to know someone's whereabouts.Their targets are not only the important member of other countries, but also the citizens. The media in U. S. disclosed that they has been monitoring 9 Internet service providers user database, which including G-mail in google, yahoo email, skype, facebook etc. What you have done in the computer is possible to be monitored. Our personal privacy is infringe d and it is the right of everyone. Therefore , in the social interest perspective, the development of Cyber Command should be stop. But, in the National security perspective, the US government explained that the onitoring program is used for against Terrorism.They hack in some database system and get the information about the terrorists in order to track them and thus to avoid terrorist attack. Besides that, developing Cyber Command can improve the protection of the national computer system. One ot the task ot the Cyber Command is to protect the whole country's network by filtering some harmful website, e-mails. In other words, they protect the citizen computers from attacking by others. The citizen will be more save to do online shopping or something else. And also prevent the leak of national secret ocuments.As US government reported that they had been received several times of attack by China, some of the secret documents may be copied, which threaten the national security of US. An air force general asked why we should wait for the attack from others and take response to it? He then suggested an idea, â€Å"Offense is the best defense† and there is a term of this defense, we called active cyber defense. They has developed many cyber weapons and has been actively hacking other countries computer systems with the â€Å"Defensive purpose†. It is undoubtedly that it is effective for national security.The development of Cyber Command also help to enhance the technology level. The better hacking skills, stronger firewall is for better protection to the nation. But it is not Just benefit to the security aspect. The task of development of Cyber Command not Just the attack skill and cyber weapon, but also the improvement of both the speed, the memory size of computer, and the transmission speed of internet. It is benefit to the evolution of human technology level. I have mentioned many advantages if developing the Cyber Command, but there are some pos sible disadvantages to national security.First, the Cyber Command may threaten to the national security itself. Since whole national computer system is controlled by them, they can hack in the military system and then dominate the whole country. Second, we cannot completely control the action of hackers in the Cyber Command. If they attack the banking system so as to obtain benefit, we may not know who did it as they have the best hacking skills. Also, they may sell the secret national documents to other countries implicitly to obtain benefit. Then, Ken will discuss the problem in another perspectives. In political perspective, it is concerned the relations between countries.Firstly, prohibit the development of Cyber Command can maintain world peace. If we do not prohibit this development, it will destroy partnership between countries. Cyber weapons mean monitoring computer system, stealing private information or destroying program system. When a government uses cyber weapons, it th reatens other countries because they doubt their secret national documents have been divulged and blame the country which using cyber weapons. Also, hacking is a serious problem and may damage international relation. Due to hacking, the country which its system was hacked must stop the cooperation with the hacking country.If countries use cyber weapons more frequently, their distrust between countries must be increased. This provocation is possible to wage real war, the world peace is destroyed. However, the development of Cyber Command will be of benefit to a country. If a country can hold a strong cyber-military, it can strengthen international status. Besides, a country develops Cyber Command to steal other national secret information, they can clearly know other countries' situations then it can enhance ore influence on the determinations in international affairs.Developing Cyber Command also protect interests and dignity of nation. When a country can prevent cyber-attack from o ther countries, they protect their interests and dignity. The next is economic perspective. In this point of view, developing Cyber Command need to increase government expenditure because they must use super computer in Cyber Command. Oppositely, it can increase employment rate in I. T. industry because it need a lot of experts in computer to wage cyber-attack or defend hacking. Also, it can protect financial service.Many financial activities like stock market are controlled by computer system, if there is cyber-attack to these financial activities, it will make a huge economic loss. Therefore, we need to develop Cyber Command for defending cyber-attack, it can avoid economic loss. Four perspectives on development of cyber command have been discussed. Now, I will talk the complexity on this topic. We find two dilemmas in developing Cyber Command, world peace versus national benefit and privacy versus security. I talk about world peace versus national benefit first.If we hope for wor ld peace, we should not wage any types of war including cyber war. Even though cyber warfare will not make actual harm such as casualties, it will cause bad relation between different countries. Consequently, the real war occurs because relations between countries have been destroyed. But countries can get benefits in cyber war. On the other hand, some governments think monitoring is a good way to maintain national security. However, citizens do not agree that they are monitored by the government because they do not want to lose their freedoms and privacies.

Motorcycle Helmet Law Essay

Hello, I am here today to talk to you about the Michigan Motorcycle Helmet Law. -This law permits anyone that is 21 years of age or older that has at least 20,000 dollars in heath insurance and has passed a safety course in the past 2 years to ride a motorcycle without a helmet. I am also here to persuade you that this law doesn’t have a person’s safety as the top priority. Just recently I have witnessed a motorcycle crash happen right before my eyes. My stepmother was taking a turn at only 30 mph when she locked up her breaks and crashed over the handle bars.She has been in the hospital for a little over two weeks and it is a miracle that she is in the condition that she is in, recovering from a skull fracture and bruising on the brain, She has been riding for twelve years, no other vehicles were involved, and she was wearing a helmet, if she was not wearing her helmet, I know that we wouldn’t have her with us anymore. We were hoping she would be home for the fo rth of July, but the medical staff still haven’t given us a go home date as of today.Studies from the National Highway administration in 2008 showed that motorcyclists who do not use helmets are three times more likely to suffer a disturbing brain injury in a crash than those who are wearing helmets. The regulations to this law are also very insufficient. 21 years of age is when adults are just allowed to start drinking. Many people that turn 21 haven’t quite learned yet how to handle alcohol or how much is too much when it comes to drinking and driving, or in this case drinking and riding.Also 20,000 dollars worth of health insurance is not nearly enough to cover medical bills caused by accidents with a helmet, let alone to be able to cover the costs of the injuries sustained without a helmet, I can’t help but think this is going to raise everyone’s insurance premiums eventually. Even if you still think not wearing a helmet is cool, take a minute to thin k of this, the only way for over worked understaffed police have to check if you have the proper health insurance coverage is to pull you over, this gives the police probable cause, which in turn takes up your time and the cops time.With this law in effect, death rates and injury rates have skyrocketed up to a new high. The Michigan helmet law is more about ‘freedom’ than about safety. If you want to feel the wind in your hair stand in front of a fan. If you want to get home safe wear a helmet. All in all the Michigan Motorcycle Helmet Law has caused far more bad than good. In the end, I hope that what I have told you today will persuade you to tell a friend, family member, stranger, or even to tell yourself that it is far safer to wear a helmet, than it is to go without one. Please think twice before you decide to ride without a helmet. Guarino, M. (2012, April 13).