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Crime Problems Essay - 1077 Words

Crime is a serious issue that affects everyone in society. It affects the victims, perpetrators and their families. Crime has increased drastically within the last decade. More prisons are being built around the world because there is not enough room to hold inmates. The government has made an attempt to reduce crime by funding programs such as prevention and intervention for youth at risk , as well as rehabilitation for prisoners that will be released. Some argue that criminal behavior is due to environment, others believe that it is genetic, and yet others think that it has to do with personality. If there were certain personality traits that could be identified with potential criminal behavior, steps could be taken to try to reduce or†¦show more content†¦For youth age 13 and 14, the number was 671,900; and youth age 15 and older accounted for 1,929,800 arrests (Federal Probation, 1996). As mentioned earlier, being able to identify personality traits that tend to lead to delinquency is clearly one option to the reduction of crime. However, the problem is that many youth display similar negative behavior during adolescence. This includes negative attitude, different interests, and a need for privacy. The key is to be involved in the life of today’s youth. Communicating with them, spending time with them and knowing what they are involved in is part of the process. According to Peace Research Abstracts Journal, (1999) Helping youth find meaning in their lives often involves building connectedness-restoring relationships with others, with their sense of spirituality and with earth. Parents must also be aware of the warning signs and follow up on them . Warning signs in youth include showing lack of interest in family/school activities, truancy problems and poor school performance, signs of aggression, and negative peer relationships. When the parent acknowledges this behavior, the parent can takes steps to improve it, or at least stop it from getting worse. Individual counseling, and family therapy allows the family to learn how to deal with the youth’s antisocial personality and possible delinquent behavior. A number of studies have addressed the question of general Therapeutic effectivenessShow MoreRelatedThe Problem Of Crime And Crime960 Words   |  4 Pages Crime is one of the most major problems not only in the United States but around the world. There are many root causes for crimes that are committed . For example, root causes such as; parental inadequacy, conflict, criminality, lack of communication, lack of respect and responsibility, the abuse and neglect of children, and family violence are reasons for why some crimes are committed. 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However, there is definitely a questionable aspect to these crimes within their court procedures. If one were to take a closer look at specific court procedures of crimes having to deal with mental illnesses, it will be determined that it is viewed differently oppose to a sane person. When taking mental illnesses into consideration when referring to criminal behavior, there is an obvious difference between actions

Psyschology Study On Drinking Essay Paper Example For Students

Psyschology Study On Drinking Essay Paper AbstractIn response to the need for research that incorporates multiple aspects of theory into a testable framework, this study attempted to replicate and extend the results of Cooper, Russell, Skinner, Frone, and Mudar (1992). A modified stressor vulnerability model of stress-related drinking was tested in a homogeneous sample of 65 male and female undergraduate student drinkers. Total weekly consumption ofalcohol was used as the criterion measure, whereas family history of alcoholism (Adapted SMAST: Sher Descutner, 1986), alcohol outcome expectancies/valences (CEOA: Fromme, Stroot, Kaplan, 1993), perceived stress (PSS: Cohen, Kamarck, Mermelstein, 1983), and coping dispositions (COPE: Carver, Scheier, Weintraub, 1989) were used as the predictor variables. The proposed modified model postulates that expectancies play a proximal mediating role in stress-related drinking, whereas gender, family history of alcoholism, and coping all play a distal moderating role. Hierarchical multi ple regression procedures were then performed to evaluate the model. The results failed to support the hypothesized model. Specifically, expectancies emerged as a distal rather than proximal predictor of stress-related drinking, and family history of alcoholism did not moderate stress-related drinking. In contrast, gender and coping styles emerged as the most powerful predictors in the model. Despite the shortcomings of the proposed model, the present results offer an alternative interpretation as to what constitutes the stressor vulnerability model of stress-related drinking.IntroductionStress as a Causal Factor in Drinking One of the common stereotypes about the effects of alcohol involves the drug’s capacity to act as astress antagonist. Conger (1956) has proposed a theory, known as the tension reduction hypothesis (TRH) of drinking, to support this notion. Essentially the theory holds that alcohol’s sedative action on the central nervous system serves to reduce ten sion, and because tension reduction is reinforcing, people drinkto escape it (Marlatt Rohsenow, 1980). Strong evidence to support the validity of the theory comesfrom epidemiological findings which indicate that the prevalence of anxiety disorders in alcoholics rangesfrom 16 to 37%, compared to a rate of only 4-5% in the general population (Welte, 1985). Notwithstanding, there seems to be a subset of people for whom the predictions of the TRH do nothold. For instance, in a study conducted by Conway, Vickers, Ward, and Rahe (1981) it was found that theconsumption of alcohol among Navy officers during periods of high job demands was actually lower than theconsumption during low-demand periods. In addition, other studies (i.e., Mayfield, 1968; Mendlson, Ladou, Soloman, 1964) have shown that some drinkers actually consider alcohol as a tension generator ratherthan a tension reducer. Overall, when taking into account these conflicting findings, it seems prudent to find some middleground. The solution to this problem than is a modified version of the TRH, specifying the conditions underwhich stress will lead to an increase in drinking. Moderating and Mediating Factors in Stress Induced DrinkingIn addition to stress, several other variables have been shown to be crucial in determining an individual’sdrinking behavior. These variables include gender of drinker (gender), coping behavior of drinker (coping),and alcohol outcome expectancies of drinker (expectancies). In the following discussion, the importance ofeach of these variables to drinking will be considered first, followed by an evaluation of these as potentialmoderators or mediators of stress in drinking. 1Differential Gender Drinking BehaviorIt has been repeatedly demonstrated that significant differences exist between the drinking patterns ofmen and women (Hilton, 1988). In a comprehensive survey of US drinking habits conducted by the USNational Center for Health Statistics in 1988, significant gender differences were found in three areas aspointed out by Dawson and Archer (1992). The first significant difference pertained to the number of maleand fem ale current drinkers. Roughly 64% of all men were current drinkers in comparison to 41% of allwomen. The second and third significant differences concerned the quantity of alcohol consumed. Menwere more likely to (a) consume alcohol on a daily basis and (b) be classified as heavy drinkers. Men’s dailyaverage of ethanol intake (17.5 grams per day) was almost twice as high as women’s (8.9 grams per day). Even when an adjustment for body weight was made (females require less ethanol than males to achieve asimilar increase in blood alcohol level), men’s consumption was still 53% greater than women’s. Withregards to drinking classification, males were classified substantially more often than females as heavydrinkers (i.e. the number of males who drank five or more drinks a day was 88% greater than thecorresponding number of females). Furthermore, as the classification measures became stricter so did thedisparity between male and female heavy drinkers increase (i.e., the ratio of male to female heavy drinkersincreased by a factor of 3 as the definition of heavy drinker was changed from five drinks or more a day tonine drinks or more a day). Gender as a Moderating Factor of StressTo understand why men and women drink differently requires an understanding of the prevailingsocialization practices (Dohrenwend Dohrenwend, 1976; Horwitz White, 1987). According to thissociological view, â€Å"women have been socialized to internalize distress, whereas men have been socialized toexternalize distress† (Cooper, Russell, Skinner, Frone, Mudar, 1992; P. 140). Therefore, women tend tocope with stress by utilizing personal (internal) devices such as emotion, rather than impersonal (external)devices such as alcohol, which are used more often by men. In addition, men and women also holddifferential expectations about the effects of drinking. Several studies (i.e. Abrams Wilson, 1979; Sutker,Allain, Brantly, Randall, 1982; Wilson Abrams, 1977) have shown that â€Å"although pharmacologicaleffects appear to be similarly stress reducing for both sexes, the belief that alcohol has been consumed mayactually increase distress a mong women† (Cooper et al. , 1992; P. 140). Therefore, it seems plausible thatfemales actually expect to experience some form of distress from drinking as opposed to males’ expectationto experience tension reduction from drinking (Rohsenow, 1983). Differential Coping Styles in DrinkingConsiderable evidence has been accumulated in support of the notion that certain methods of coping aremore likely to be associated with problem drinking than others (Moos, Finney, Chan, 1981). This hasled to the development of social learning theory which postulates that abusive drinkers differ from relativelyhealthy drinkers in (a) their capacity to effectively cope with stressors and (b) in their beliefs about drinking(Abrams Niaura, 1987). In general, two types of coping responses have been shown to predominate in most situations (Folkman Lazarus, 1980). The first type, problem-focused coping (also known as approach coping), is directed ateither solving the presenting problem or altering the source of the stress (Carver, Scheier, Weintraub1989). The second type, emotion-focused coping (also known as avoidance coping ), attempts to reduce theunpleasant emotional feelings which accompany the stressor (Carver et al. , 1989). Even though peopleusually use both methods in response to a given stressor, the former type will tend to predominate whenpeople feel that the situation is changeable, whereas the latter type will tend to predominate when peopleappraise the situation as unchangeable (Folkman Lazarus, 1980). People who predominantly resort to avoidance coping have been shown to display pathological drinkingbehavior much more than those who utilize approach coping (Cooper, Russell, George, 1988; Cooper etal. , 1992). Those who typically resort to avoidance coping (a group which consists of up to 25% of alldrinkers), report that they do so in order to regulate negative emotions (Cahalan, Cisin, Crossley, 1969;Mullford Miller, 1963; Polich Orvis, 1979). The strongest evidence to support this contentioncomes from studies which have investigated post-treatment relapse in alcoholics. In three such studies(Marlatt, Gordon, 1979; Moos et al. , 1981; Moos, Finney, Gamble, 1982), it was found thatindividuals were more likely to relapse in situations which elicited unpleasant emotional states. Coping as a Moderating Factor of StressThe key to understanding the differential impact of avoidance and approach coping on drinking lies inthe availability of an effective coping response to a given stressor (Cooper et al. , 1992). By definition,people who utilize approach coping mechanisms to deal with their stress, engage in concrete problemsolving which serves to actively reduce the amount of stress. By contrast, people who rely on avoidancecoping may manage to reduce their distress, but they tend to do so by distracting themselves from the stress. Yanomamo: People of the Rainforest EssayWeekly Alcohol Consumption. Subjects were given a chart which contained the days of the week. Foreach day they were instructed to indicate the number of standard alcoholic drinks and the amount of time itwould take to consume these drinks in a typical week. A standard alcohol drink was defined as either aregular size can/bottle of beer, 1.5 ounce shot of liquor, or a 5 ounce glass of wine. Subjects who drank lessthan once a month were instructed to skip this section. The total number of drinks in one week was summedand used as the dependent variable. Adapted Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (Adapted SMAST). The adapted SMAST (Sher Descutner, 1986) is a 13 item self-report questionnaire designed to measure family history of alcoholism. Specifically, the questionnaire assesses the extent of an individual’s mother’s and father’s alcohol abuse. Assessment is based on a two point scale consisting of 0=no and 1=yes. For the purpose of the presentstudy only 10 items were used, and the mother/father answer categories were extended to biological mother/father and step or adoptive mother/father. Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol (CEOA). The CEOA (Fromme, Stroot, Kaplan, 1993) is a 38 itemself-report questionnaire designed to assess alcohol outcome expectancies and their subjective valence. It iscomposed of seven expectancy scales, four positive (sociability, tension-reduction, liquid-courage, andsexuality) and three negative (cognitive-behavioral impairment, risk and aggression, and self perception). Expectancy assessment is based on a four point scale from 1=disagree to 4=agree. The valence of theseexpectancies is assessed on a five point scale from 1=bad to 5=good. Both items and instructions werecarefully worded to ensure that the elicited expectancies were neither dose-specific, nor situation specific. Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). The PSS (Cohen, Kamarck, Mermelstein, 1983) is a 14 item self-reportquestionnaire designed to assess the degree to which situations in one’s life are appraised as stressful. Anequal number of 7 positive and 7 negative statements make up the questionnaire. Assessment is based on afive point scale from 0=never to 4=very often. Scores are obtained by reversing the scores on the sevenpositive items (i.e., 0=4, 1=3, 2=2, etc.), and then summing across all 14 items. COPE. The COPE (Carver et al., 1989) is a 53 item self-report questionnaire designed to assessindividual coping dispositions. The questionnaire is comprised of 14 scales which are categorized into threecoping styles: Problem-Focused Coping (Active coping, Planning, Suppression of competing activities,Seeking social support for instrumental reasons, and Restraint coping), Emotion-Focused Coping(Acceptance, Seeking social support for emotional reasons, Positive reinterpretation, Turning to religion,and Focus on and venting of emotion), and Less than Useful Coping (Denial, Behavioral Disengagement,and Mental Disengagement). For the purpose of the present study the Alcohol-drug disengagement scalewas excluded from these categories, and was treated as a separate category called Drinking to Cope. Assessment is based on a four point scale from1=I usually don’t do this at all to 4=I usually do this a lot. Both items and instructions were worded such that dispositional , rather than situational, styles of copingwere assessed. ProcedureAll participants were recruited from undergraduate psychology courses at York University. Thequestionnaire was administered in a classroom setting. Participants completed the questionnaire in agroup format of mixed sex ranging in size from 10 to 30 individuals. Informed consent was obtainedfrom all participants, and a phone number was provided in case any concerns arose. The completequestionnaire required approximately 40 minutes to administer. Respondents were compensated for theirtime by being entered in a lottery with a 1 in 50 chance of winning $ 50.00.ResultsCorrelational AnalysesTable 1 presents zero-order correlations, computed for all relevant study variables. Conceptuallyvariables may be grouped into one of five categories: weekly drinking (variable 1), perceived stress(variable 2), family history of alcoholism (variable 3), coping variables (Variables 4-7), and expectancyvariables (variables 8-21). Examining the pattern of correlations between these variables sugge sts severalconclusions. First, family history of alcoholism was neither significantly correlated with perceived stress nor withweekly drinking, suggesting that family history of alcoholism is not important in stress-induced drinking. Second, several coping variables were significantly correlated with either weekly drinking and/orperceived stress. Specifically, drinking to cope was significantly positively correlated with both weeklydrinking (r = .420) and perceived stress (r = .310), less useful coping was significantly positively correlated(r = .674) with stress, and problem focused coping was significantly negatively correlated (r = -.327) withweekly drinking. These findings suggest that coping variables play an important role in stress-relateddrinking. Finally, only one expectancy variable, the valence expectancy for cognitive and behavioral impairment,was significantly correlated (r = .340) with weekly drinking, but not with perceived stress. However, severalexpectancy variables were significantly positively correlated (.357 r .517) with drinking to cope. Thesefindings suggest that expectancies are more likely be a distal, rather than a proximal predictor of stress-related drinking. Estimating the ModelHierarchical multiple regression analyses were employed to test the model depicted in Figure 1. Table 2contains summary statistics for the stepwise regression used to identify the predictor variables of weeklydrinking. As can be seen from Table 2, gender emerged as the most important predictor variable accountingfor over 28% of the variance. The coping variables of drinking to cope and problem-focused drinking werealso significant, and accounted for an additional 12% and 8% of the variance, respectively. Further multipleregression analyses were used to determine which variables predicted drinking to cope, and problem-focusedcoping, respectively. Table 3 shows that the expectancy for risk accounted for over 26% of the variance inpredicting drinking to cope, with the expectancy for tension and perceived stress accounting for anadditional 16%. Table 4 shows that emotion-focused coping accounted for over 34% of the variance inpredicting problem-focused drinking, with the expectancy valence for self perception accounting for anadditional 8%. Figure 2 summarizes the direct effects estimated in the foregoing series of multipleregression analyses. Table 1.Zero-Order Correlations Among Relevant Study Variables______________________________________________________________________________________Measure 1234567891. Weekly Drinking—-.143-.072-.327* -.232 -.206 .420**.016.2402. Perceived Stress— .001.198.138.674** .310* -.069 -.0743. Family History of Alcoholism —-.186-.111 -.002-.211-.003 -.1284. Problem-Focused Coping—.491** .170-.044-.132 -.1125. Emotion-Focused Coping —.166.062.111.1076. Less Useful Coping—.223-.073-.0177. Drinking to Cope—.234 .412**Alcohol Expectancy Outcomes8. Sociability—.2629. Tension Reduction –10. Liquid Courage11. Sexuality12. Cognitive Behavioral Impairment13. Risk Aggression14. Self PerceptionAlcohol Expectancy Valence15. Sociability16. Tension Reduction17. Liquid Courage18. Sexuality19. Cognitive Behavioral Impairment20. Risk Aggression21. Self Perception* p .01; ** p .001Table 1. (Continued) Zero-Order Correlations Among Relevant S tudy Variables______________________________________________________________________________________ Measure10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 181. Weekly Drinking.116-.008-.141.173-.037 -.083.185-.062.1942. Perceived Stress-.041-.069.133.213.039.044.196 .058 -.0383. Family History of Alcoholism -.052.018-.082-.121.069.040.089 .028.0074. Problem-Focused Coping.035.012.175.141.218 -.097-.075.052 -.0355. Emotion-Focused Coping.044.295*.218.154.151 -.230 -.084-.053 -.0556. Less Useful Coping-.178-.006.238.066.059.016.096-.025.0727. Drinking to Cope.371* .225-.017 .517** -.009 .066.357*.115.178Alcohol Expectancy Outcomes8. Sociability .697** .488** -.120 .433** -.160 .569** .469** .174.2899. Tension Reduction .233.263 .041.180.006 .202.282.132.22210. Liquid Courage —.509**.032 .622** .046 .433** .436** .381* .24511. Sexuality—.260 .522** .276 .118.161-.025.14912. Cognitive Behavioral Impairment —.221.354* -.227 -.241-.171 -.06113. Risk Aggression— .236 .158.304*.106 - .00114. Self Perception—-.335* -.175-.089 -.247Alcohol Expectancy Valence15. Sociability— .510** .499**.490**16. Tension Reduction —.412**.409**17. Liquid Courage — .541**18. Sexuality—19. Cognitive Behavioral Impairment20. Risk Aggression21. Self Perception* p .01; ** p .001Table 1. (Continued) Zero-Order Correlations Among Relevant Study Variables______________________________________________________________________________________Measure 1920211. Weekly Drinking .340* .026.1972. Perceived Stress-.164.065 -.1393. Family History of Alcoholism -.229.045.0094. Problem-Focused Coping -.289 -.053 -.357*5. Emotion-focused Coping -.122 -.123 -.1356. Less Useful Coping-.262 -.054 -.3227. Drinking to Cope .119.166-.054Alcohol Expectancy Outcomes8. Sociability .141.170.1359. Tension Reduction.196.166.01510. Liquid Courage.123.278.13811. Sexuality -.271 -.152 -.16012. Cognitive Behavioral Impairment -.396**-.217-.09713. Risk Aggression-.038 -.019-.138 14. Self Perception-.363*-.274-.220Alcohol Expectancy Valence15. Sociability .249 .482** .11316. Tension Reduction.150 .227-.13117. Liquid Courage.375*.717** .21918. Sexuality.162 .515** .18119. Cognitive Behavioral Impairment—.544**.539**20. Risk Aggression—.517**21. Self Perception –* p .01; ** p

Unforgiving Weather (Great Gatsby Essay) Essay Example

Unforgiving Weather (Great Gatsby Essay) Essay Caleb Figueroa Mr. Bakker Advanced English 11 20 February 2013 Unforgiving Weather In F. Scott Fitzgeralds, The Great Gatsby, life moves fast and theres no time for people to care about each others problems. Now, this is not simply because people have become selfish. Instead, its the fact that pretentiousness has consumed the moral compass of East and West Eggers alike. Fitzgerald shows this ugly truth by using various symbols like cars and colors to represent different things. One motif or symbol that is evident throughout this novel is weatherwhich helps to set the mood f the current situation, foreshadow characters emotions in the coming pages, and emphasize the presence of the theme: The moral corruption of the upper-class, materialistic American. The repetition of different weather patterns is definitely noticeable, and it ends up affecting how the reader views certain situations. And not only does the weather affect the dialogue (they mention how its raining, hot, etc. , but it also affects the overall mood of where the characters are and what theyre doing. The first instance hat one notices this was when Nick, Daisy, and Gatsby were all getting together for tea at Nicks house: The day agreed upon was pouring rain An hour later the front door opened nervously and Gatsby in a white flannel suit, silver shirt and gold colored tie hurried in. (88-89) The fact that it was raining when these characters first interacted gives key insight into the mood of this small get-together and how each of them is feeling. We will write a custom essay sample on Unforgiving Weather (Great Gatsby Essay) specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Unforgiving Weather (Great Gatsby Essay) specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Unforgiving Weather (Great Gatsby Essay) specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Typically people relate rain to sadness but in this case its used to describe how Gatsby is feeling nervous and ambivalent about seeing Daisy again; hus creating an awkward mood for the beginning of the evening. Weather captures the mood of the current situation, and it can sometimes even offer a small glimpse into the future. These glimpses into the future arent specifically about any event though; instead, theyre usually more like foreshadowing characters emotions in the next pages of the chapter. For example, when Tom, Daisy, Jordan, Nick, and Gatsby are all together on a hot summer day, the situation slowly becomes more and more suspenseful as their time spent together drags on. The next day was roiling, almost the last, certainly the warmest, of the summer. (120) This all happened on the hottest day of the summer for a reason: to show the climax of the story and to show what happens to these uncivilized creatures when theyre put under a heat lamp. Tom is forced to introduce himself to Gatsby and the heat only adds to his steadily creeping opposition of this man. Mr Gatsby! He put out his broad, flat hand with well-concealed dislike. (122) Tom and Gatsbys situation eventually escalates until Tom asks some incredibly personal questions. Toms increasing disgust with Gatsby ends with him asking, What kind of a row are you trying to cause in my house anyhow? (136) By this time, the weather has exhausted everyone to the point where they no longer want to see one anotherespecia lly Tom people tend to forget their manners and go mad. These manners also often include being honest to those around you; which is strange because five of the characters have been living a lie. The situation between Daisy, Myrtle, George, Tom, and Gatsby truly reveals how corrupt Americans were ecoming during the time of The Great Gatsby. It was now becoming a common thing for a rich man to have a mistress, and for a rich girl to simply choose who she wanted to be with. The weather causes this sort of moral corruption to become magnified and obvious: The relentless beating heat was beginning to confuse me and I had a bad moment there before I realized that so far his suspicions hadnt alighted on Tom. He had discovered that Myrtle had some sort of life apart from him in another world and the shock had made him physically sick. I stared at him and then at Tom, who had made a parallel discovery less than an hour beforeand it occurred to me that there was no difference between men, in intelligence or race, so profound as the difference between the sick and the well. (130-131) Georges painful realization that Myrtle was living two different lives parallels how Tom learned about Daisy and Gatsbys small affair. However, in both situations, the common theme is that theyre both corrupt in doing this. Not only did they lie to their partner but they also ontinued with their life as though these problems didnt exist in the first place. This, to me, is a clear sign that the upper-class, materialistic American of this particular time was slowly becoming more and more rotten. One motif or symbol that is clearly evident throughout this novel is weatherwhich ultimately sets the mood of the current situation, foreshadows characters emotions in the coming pages, and emphasizes the presence of the theme: The moral corruption of the upper-class, materialistic American. Time and time again, weather is described and used in certain situations which only helps to show the true face of the East and West Eggers. They live their lives as though theyre perfect when in reality theyre crooked and rotten people. Not everything is what it seems, and under pressure, we see what lies beneath the surface of the characters in The Great Gatsby. And now that weve seen different scenarios where the characters are put under a sort of magnifying glass, one may ask oneself, is Jay Gatsbyor any of the characters for that matterall that great?