Organized Crime Essay Example for Free

Organized Crime Essay The times are definitely changing. As civilization progresses, human way of living also improves. Sadly, even the negative entities have progressed executing their evil ways; crime has come from petty to being organized. Of course, there are still those who commit crime in their own little ways, so to speak. But the world is now faced with international crime syndicates who operate or influence various institutions, government most especially, and which are harder to combat. There are different definitions for organized crime offered by different individuals or organizations. I have thought of organized crime as being operated by a group having some formal structure which aims to gain profit through illegal activities. Most organized crime syndicates use or threat to use violence, and influence government officials, with some even managing to become one, to control illegal economic sector or jurisdiction. Most of the time, organized crime hide beneath legal operations but gain more on their illegal operations, which includes, but not limited to, drug trafficking, prostitution, illegal gambling and human trafficking. Combating organized crime takes a lot more effort than with the petty everyday crime because of their manipulation of government officials. Some organized crime syndicates may also have the support of unwitting citizen, who are being deceived through the syndicate’s socially accepted operation. Organized crime is mainly different from other criminal groups in that while some groups are motivated by political ideals or religious beliefs, organized crime syndicates operate almost exclusively for profit. They enter the political arena to gain protection for their illegal activities and may raise a new cult to control and manipulate their jurisdiction. Just like any formal organizations, organized crime group have their own hierarchical structure; and just like any crime group, organized crime syndicates would readily resort to violence. There are specialized members doing specific jobs for their illegal operation, which as already specified, may include public officials to protect their business. Usually, higher rank members take care of business. Managing the business, finding new market, business negotiations, all tasks that are essential to the survival of a business just as if it were an ordinary legal business enterprise are some of the specifications of higher rank members. They may also be the ones who have connections within the government, or are government officials themselves. Lower rank members are the ones specified to perform the â€Å"dirty† jobs: murder, arson, or threatening those who oppose or which are dangerous to the group’s illegal operations. Organized crime syndicates also abhor other groups with the same operation. Operating chiefly for profit, they try to eliminate the competition as much as possible. Less competition means greater profit. Organized crime need not worry about losing business as they can always find patrons for the goods and services they render. In other words, organized crime businesses are always in demand. The text defines organized crime as a group of â€Å"three or more persons, with hierarchical links or personal relationships, which permit their leaders to earn profits or control territories or makets, internal or foreign, by means of violence, intimidation or corruption, both in furtherance of criminal activity and to infiltrate the legitimate industry. Reading the text have offered new insights about organized crime but has not changed my perception, which were basically identical. In sum, an organized crime, as the term implies, is a group with a formal structure, just as any organization, that operates with specialized rules and regulations (organized) incorporating various illegal activities (crime) for the purpose of profit.

Three Factors That Form Individual Ethics Philosophy Essay

Three Factors That Form Individual Ethics Philosophy Essay Ethics is the division of study commerce with suitable course of an achievement for man. It is the study of correct and wrong in individual endeavours. At a more primary level, it is the process where we categorize our values and practise them. Ethics in the field of philosophy means that the revise and assessment of human behaviour in the glow of moral theories. Moral theories might be observed additionally as the model of behaviour that human beings have built for themselves or as the remains of responsibilities and functions that a demanding society needs of its associates. Ethics can also be generally be defined as the principles of morally acceptable conduct of individuals. Ethics also means an individuals personal beliefs about right and wrong behaviours. Ethics is a must for human life. It is our indications of making our mind up a course of action. Without it, our battles would be haphazard and pointless. There can be no technique to work in the direction of an objective as there would be no method to choose between a never ending numbers of objectives. Yet with an ethical model, we might be not capable to practise our goals with the prospect of success. To the quantity which a realistic ethical model is taken, we are proficient to perfectly classify our goals and battles to accomplish our most imperative values. Any mistake in our ethics will ease our ability to be successful in our endeavours. A suitable base of ethics needs a standard of significance to which all objectives and battles can be balanced to. This model is our own lives, and the pleasure which makes them liveable. This is our vital model of importance, where the goal in which an ethical man must aim at all times. It is turn up at by an assessment of mans nature, and identify his strange needs. A structure of ethics must additionally consist of not only emergency circumstances, but the usual choices we make continuously. It must consist of our relations to others, and identify their importance not only to our physical endurance, but to our interests and happiness. Furthermore, ethics is also known as private set of values used by a person to direct their actions, and to be aware with any responsibility.   Ethics are not intention, but are slanted to the individual.   Ethics are a constantly developing policy of behaviour charge upon situations and the life practices of the individual. According to Mary, 1956, ethics are the relative to our observation of authenticity, and are also based in the lead of a detailed viewpoint. We  as human beings, the moral command are classified by the individuals.   It has been started when the children are being skilled with suitable behaviours based on common norms and parental significances.   These norms and values are being used to grant a structure for the progression of the individual values. Therefore, there has no perceptions can seek to define ethics.   It is not viable for any one of the persons to claim total common awareness and subjectivity.   In addition, human beings are not all-powerful and dependable.   Some of them may go all-out for the excellence, but our very humanness will certify that accomplishment is not attained. Meanwhile, it is agreed that ethics are the persons set of values, whereby they must not be used to create broad assertions of true or false without tolerate for disagreement and the argument.   Ethics have to be used to help each of the human beings to identify our own life so that we live as stated to the top forms that we, as individuals, advised to.   Ethics and loyalty to our standards are the guiding principle which we use to review our battles.   It is an appearance of self-measurement of development or of obligation to the perfects which we struggle towards. The factors in our usual life may give good reason for some action, or take the edge off its harshness; we are still dependable for our choices.   Choices need to be investigated before an enlightened choice is being made. Ethics need to be understood usually at times of predicament or an internalized modification.   This happens because a belief is been shown to be incorrect or when the certainty fails to take into reflection a very specific set of situations.   At those times, the entity should realistically view on their certainty, and make an internal inquiry as to the knowledge which had been produced by them.   Considerations are needed to verify if theres a new set of values is required, or if active values need only been modified to reflect those situation. Ethics must not be used to ditch one set of narrow faiths adjacent to another.   The split created by such traditions becomes one of severe obedience to a set of precise values, and teaches prejudice for variations in another set of significances. Ethics must not be followed sightless nor should share morals which can be spoken out the ethical norms for all those individuals. In example, where this has been happened, the loads have roller blindly followed like sheep, following the firm point of views of a selected numbers.   Ethics must not interrupt in the lead of the private lives of any other individuals who is not hurting anyone. Norms First factor that forms individual ethics is norms. Norms are a useful guideline for the social behaviour. It has to be made active before they can point the behaviour when the persons are in a situation of deindividuation. They only see themselves in the name of group individuality, and their behaviours are probable to be guided by group norms alone. Norm of social reciprocity expresses us to return to other services, good qualities and kindness they offer us. The door in the face technique is used in norms as thats not all technique, and in advertising the peak of the line. Norm of social commitments also expresses us to maintain with our promises as this norm is being used in the low-ball technique. In addition, norm of obedience directs us in the direction of submission to the abilities. Milgram explain this agreement in his studies where contributors had to deliver frights to suffering victims. It is also has the possibility to resist being influenced by norms. People who display their reactance by fighting against the fear to their liberty of action when they find norms were out of place. The attitudes and norms normally work simultaneously to manipulate behaviour either directly or indirectly. As stated in the theory of planned behaviour, purposes are the function of three factors which is manners about behaviour, common norms applicable to the behaviour and awareness of organized over the behaviour. Therefore, when the thoughts and norms disagree, their pressure on behaviour will depend on their relative convenience. There are 3 personal experience examples of norms as stated below: Thank you is an example of norms. This is expected when we as human being express appreciation for helpful, supportive and kind manners. We express sympathy by saying sorry to hear this when we hear about another individuals difficulty in any situation. Failing to express sympathy, might result in the view that the person is thoughtless. In our daily life, we should help the people who had helped us. You wish to take annual leave to attend relatives wedding and you suppose to work on the day. You asked your colleague to cover for you. And you may be expected to agree similar request from your colleague in future. Belief Belief is defined as the mental mind-set that some intentions are true. In most of the given intention, most of the individual either has or be short of the mental attitude that it is true. Therefore, there is none of any central point ground between the occurrences of nonappearance of a belief. For an example, in the case of gods, most of the individuals either have the belief that at least one god in a number of sorts is real or they lack any such belief. In addition, belief is different from judgment, which is a mental act that involves arriving at an ending about an intention and consequently creating a belief among the individuals. Whereby, belief is the mental thoughts that some intention is correct rather than wrong. Decision after believing in something is the evaluation of an intention as realistic, fair, confusing and etc. It is because one type of character is not necessary for a belief to be continuously and intentionally parented. A belief that thought a god exists often depends on a few other beliefs which some individuals have not intentionally considered. There are a few examples below based on my personal experience: There were a few situations where I pray to God for something good to happen and it eventually happened and I gained success through that. I started doing this after seeing my parents doing so. It has become a belief for me as I see what ever my parents pray for, will somehow come to reality one day. The same thing started happening to me. Since that my belief on God has become stronger. This clearly shows that a belief is a mental thought for some intentions to be correct. The other example which I can give for belief is in the method of rising up children. I grew up with the care and guidance of my parents. When I was young, I have already started believing that I would be a successful man in future just like my parents because I believed that they would put me in correct path of life for me to gain success. I followed the exact path and I gained success just like how I thought and believed that it would happen one day. I believed my life path showed by my parents and here where I am today with good job and education. My belief has lead to a realistic in my life. Values Values can be defined as the foundation of beliefs of the persons which guide and encourage their attitudes and also actions. A few of the most essential ethical values are truthfulness, commitment, integrity and equality. Bear in mind that not all are ethical or moral values. Therefore, a number of non-ethical values which are considered to be the ethical impartial since they are neither principled nor not principled whereby it inspires behaviour are wealth, status, happiness, attractiveness, taste, comfort and success. These are ethic impartial because there is nothing right with these principles in and of themselves, but how one attains these and what one carries out with these can be right or wrong. Principle values are believed to always take priority over non-ethical morals. Individual moral values are significant in determining principled behaviour, but it is not concentrate on important theoretical ethics predominantly when there is a variation between our individual moral po int and our responsibilities to the patient. As for me, many beliefs have changed to values. For instance being caring towards others has become a value because I believed that if I care for a person, I will be cared in return. This statement was brought by my parents where they will keep reminding me to be caring to people around us. This principle or quality that we hold guide the way we live our lives and also decisions we make. It is really worthy to make this belief a value in our life as we build good behaviour in ourselves by being caring and helpful towards people. This actually is inherited and for sure we will bring this value down to the next upcoming generations. In another situation, the change of the belief to a value can be explained through another experience of mine. Since I was a teenager, I have the belief that it is important to spend quality time with our family. We believed that when we spend time together, a lot of problems can be solved. For instance, if any of us have headache, or stressful due to a work or studies, we will mingle and have a close conversation or do some other activities with our family members and that eventually reduces the headache and stress. In other word, it can be said that we help each other to ease our difficulties. Therefore, I believed very much that spending time together with our family can make us cheerful and free from stress. This belief has changed to value where we hold to it tightly. We made sure to follow this value of sharing ears and shoulders, and helping one another in every situation. This also has led me and other family members to take this value up and control or change how we live our lives. Our life which is based on a personal code of values brings meaning, purpose, and direction to living. How the rule of law can be used as guide to moral choice Rules and regulations can be found in many places but when it comes to official rules and regulations they are referred as law. Law is generated in a society to control the behavior of people that constitute the society. Law is generally found in organizations, legislation and legal opinions. It is also known as a formal mechanism to control socialism. Law is very important and useful to establish and maintain social order. (Glanville Williams) Rules of law can be considered as the base for setting up a society and it helps in making positive changes to the ways of bringing up the society. When a person has the knowledge of law, they can understand public affairs better which is really important for establishment of a society. When law is studied, it will promote some understanding of social values. Thus, it makes the person to choose rules of law for a society by comparing the good effects and bad effects they may have on the society. This choice of rules will create good ethics for the society. All the members must follow the rules accordingly and that will eventually create a good social order. For an example, when the organization set a rule for its members on not to be harsh on the customers, the members should always keep that in mind and obey it all the time. If at all they disobey the rule, they may need to be out of the society or be sacked. Therefore, this rule can be a guide for people to be ethical in that society. They will make sure that they do not be harsh on others in order to maintain a good social order. Social order is considered as an organization or mechanism that exists with the enforcement of rules of laws. A person must learn to obey the rules that are set up for the organization or society and accept them in order to fit him or herself in that society. For most cases, social order is always pre-developed which means it is usually inherited by the older people of that society. They integrated cultures and personalities as a guide to develop the ideas and beliefs for the society which has changed into moral values. In addition to that, moral values shape a persons behaviour and it also manage the group activity within that society. If the established law or values are not followed by the members of a society, conflict may arise. Therefore an organization should always make sure that their members always follow the values practised in that organization in order to maintain smooth relationships and healthy environment. Summary Ethics is the formal study of moral standards and conduct. For this reason ethics is also known as moral philosophy. The study and evaluation of human conduct in the light of moral principles that humans have constructed for themselves or as the life guidelines and cultures that a particular society requires for its own members. We had discussed ethics in 3 subtopics which is norms, values and beliefs. In conclusion, first of all, norms are useful tool for the social behaviour of a person towards his daily activity and possess acceptable behaviours that are the unintended, unexpected result of individuals communications. For example, a system of norms specified what is satisfactory and what is not satisfactory in a society or group. Belief is defined as the mind-set of a person that intentions are true, and confidence in the fact or way of life of something. It is proof of a mental attitude of acceptance toward a proposition without the full intellectual evidence required to guarantee its truth. Beliefs have been well-known according to their level of certainty which is mistrust, an opinion, or a confidence. Belief becomes awareness only when the truth of a intention becomes obvious to the believer himself. Values can be concluded as the foundation of beliefs of the persons which guide and encourage their attitudes and belief. There are three main theories of values which humans can have favoured values, instrumental values and fundamental values. Each of it plays an important and unique role in our life in the development of moral standards and moral norm. Values are about belief and ideas of culture that are acceptable or not by a society. Besides that, rules of law that are chosen for an organization or society can be used as a guide to moral choice. When rules are to be followed by the members of the organization, a healthy environment and a good social order can be maintained. Rules that are formed in a society will ensure that all the members follow them that eventually become moral values in that organization. When the entire members act according to the moral values formed through the rules, an ethical organization can be formed.

Does Rehabilitation Of Prisoners Work Criminology Essay

Does Rehabilitation Of Prisoners Work Criminology Essay Does the rehabilitations works in prisons? And what is the effect of prisoners who have treated with rehabilitation system? There is no one has not done mistake in his life. Some of these mistakes are deserve the person to be arrested, whereas some of them are not. In addition, the prisoners are already paying from their fault by being in the prison. So, why do not we prepare and rehabilitate them to start better and new life when they finish their period of prison. Moreover, every country has its own rehabilitation system. In this project I will outline the rehabilitation system and what extend does the rehabilitation system help with reintegration of prisoners in to society. (Chris Sherwood , 2010) According to Princeton Universitys WordNet, rehabilitation is restoring someone to a useful place in society. As such, a rehabilitation centre is a location in which rehabilitation can occur. People get displaced from society for a variety of reasons. Some may experience an accident or i llness that temporarily makes them unable to function the way they used to. Others may have an addiction that handicaps them. A rehabilitation centre provides a support system to help restore people to their place in society. Nowadays, the prison is relatively social experiment which started in 200 years ago. Before that time it was not sentence of imprisonment. The prison is the place to hold the people who had been convicted. (DAVIES, 2010) basically, every country has their own treatment of there prisoners some of them treating aggressively whereas, some of them treating nicely which is followed by prisoners rights. In this essay I will investigate the prisoners in Egypt and Jordan and I will compare them with prisoners of United Kingdom. Nowadays, many countries are not follow the prisoners right in their prisons. The prisoners always treating violently and one of these countries that I have discovered is EGYPT. In 2008 more than twenty prisoners has died in town in Egypt called Assuit and mostly inmate have injured during unrest at a jail. Moreover, the violence continued more than three hours then the police used tear gas to get the control back of the jail. Nevertheless, the police punished all the prisoners and they decided to put him a lone in the prison. During the solitary the prisoner had died. (UNKNOWN,2008) in additions, the Amnesty international has received consistent report that these jails lack adequate medical care and the prisoners are held in cramped conditional and unsanitary and the food is absolutely horrible and its not sufficient for all the prisoners. Moreover, the police are treating them in violent way. Consequently, these poor conditional have led many detainees died and the diseases spread rapidly throughout prisons. Many illnesses were spread in the prisons. For instance, asthma, pulmonary pneumonia and skin diseases. (UNKNOWN, 1997) the principle reason is that they do not follow the prisoners rights. Furthermore, the prisoner became much more aggressive when he finishes his period. The prisoners right says convicted prisoners should have many things. For instance, visits, letters, newspapers and books, medical treatment (etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.). (Prisoners Rights). The second country in the Middle East which is treating their prisoners in violence way is Jordan. In fact, in 2006 the human right in Jordan said we should stop what is happening in the prisons. The torture of prisoners is a routine phenomenon in these days. It was flagrant violation of human rights in Jordan prisons. In addition, the complains of torture and abuse increasing rabidly last few years and the most people who treating badly than other is MUSLIM people ((IRIN) Human Rights 2010).However, the go vernment of Jordan were looking to solve the entire problem regarding prisons so, beginning in April 2006 Management of Jordanian prisons undertook a plan to reform all the prisons in Jordan because of the what is happening in the prisons. Public security department haired firm from the United Stats TO help them to keep the control in the prisons and to training people who working in the prison. In addition, these reform efforts have received huge support from the citizens. King Abdullah called on the government to present a reform plan. In 2007 General Mazem AL Gadi was focusing in maintain to improve the process of the people who are working in prisons and in the centres of rehabilitation system. As a result, the improvement was clear. They opened new prisons. There is prison in Jordan which is has very bad reputation in terms of torture. Moreover, this prison became one of the best prisons in Jordan. Because they stop using torture in treatment. and the government started to sepa rating the detainees between convicted prisoners and the prisoners who might be innocent. The prisoners behaviour changed after using a new system which rehabilitate them and respect them and helping them to start a new successful life (Human Rights watch 2008). We can infer that the rehabilitation system works in prisons and it making a huge improvement in society because the number of prisoners in the world is so high so, if we treat them nicely we can make a huge improvement in our community. on the other hand, the prisons in Britain are much better than Egypt and Jordan. The prison service in Britain has the responsibility of working the prison system and the prisons worked by private companies (CRIMINAL JUSTICE). The purpose of the rehabilitations system is making prisoners better and gets them ready to start a new successful life. In addition, in 1964 the view of prison rules discovered that the purpose of treating and treatment of convicted prisoners is to encourage and assist the detainees to lead a good and successful life. In 1969 the people in prisons saw that the prisons as being hold people were acceptable to society as it is absolutely possible to encourage the prisoners to rehabilitate them to start a good and better new life. After a few years, the document was looking for dignity and respect for the detainees and they were still searching of hope regarding the idea of rehabilitations of prisoners. Moreover, the view had changed in 1977 it was started to give a small support for the view of imprisonment and how can we change prisoners behaviour. After two years more, the review of United Kingdom prison services we think that the rhetoric of treatment and training has had its day and should be replaced. In addition, it was suggested that the prisons should be involve positive custody and that the prisons should be helpful and purposive communities (home office in 1979) (CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND PENOLOGY 2004).One of the significant factors that to distinguish the situation in the UK is that intensity of media which is inform the citizens regarding what is happening in the UK prisons to get the feedback to improve any things that it should does. However, there is a disadvantage from the media from some countries because they often claimed that the UK send more of its population to prison that the other European countries. This propaganda leads some people to believe that the UK send more of criminal to prisons than other European countries. T hese country which claim that are not comparing the countrys prison population with its crime rate. In addition, the recent comparative data indicates that prison in the UK is underused. But we can see from the figure these comparisons show that the government of UK sends fewer of its offenders to prisons than the other countries(FRASER 2006). On the other side, UK has the highest prisoner in jail compared with the whole population, which is reflect its high crime rate. On the other hand, The family connection is absolutely one of the main factors to help prisoners to return in to society. For example, conjugal visits which are showed greater success in reintegrating prisoners back into their communities. (INSIDE TIME NEWS 20010) One of real example is English prisoner tells his story with the rehabilitation system. His name is Bob Turney and he grown up with his brother and his brother was criminal. So, when he reaches 18 he became professional at crime. One day when he was drunk s teal bank then the police arrested him. Moreover, he was arrested around 18 years and he attempted suicide. However, when he joined to the rehabilitation system everything was changed When he started to improve. There were many things in his life that the rehabilitation system supports him to address. Then he was placed in some hostel, and afterwards he return to his own place. He was absolutely exhausted on his past life that he had leading and he started looking for job on building sites to pay the rent. After that he attended a lot of self-help groups and got support with his drinking and drugging. Now when he put his head on the pillow at night he feels comfortable in his own skin. However he feel regret about crimes. The last one was 30 years ago and Ive spent the last 30 years trying to put things right. Rehabilitation is possible for anyone if they want to change (The in depended News 2007). From the statistic of crime it can be seen the percentage of prisoners who become change their life is increasing for the last few years (NATIONAL STATISTIC). However, there is overcrowding the prisons in England and Wales. Also, the case is clearly complex. However, the factors of overcrowding in prisons it can be investigated as firstly, the number of convicted who commit the number of imprisonment offences. Secondly, how long does the sentence take? In other word, the length of the sentence. Finally, the impact of early release system.(Michael Doherty 2004).In some prisons the Detainees are holding in place does not fit all of them. Moreover, the director of Juliet Lyon which is one of the biggest prisons in England and Wales said more prisons will generate high cost. So, the only way to keep for serious and violent offenders is to cut out everything that is not necessary use of violent of custody and the sentence dealing with inflation and the growth of unspecified penalties. Nev ertheless, England is one of the countries that have a bigger number of offenders compared with Europe countries. (Article history guardian 2009). As its written in population of prisons in custody in 2002 is increase five percent from the previous yeas. In this case the rehabilitation system is absolutely helpful to have a better community because this system will control a big proportion of people because from the statistic in 2008 there are 82319 in total. ( David Barrett 2008) The concept which is associated to rehabilitation is treating the offender and reintegration him into society. In 1970s the concept of rehabilitation has been opposed and designated to be failure. Martinson reports, analysed that 231 programs that involved evaluation of treatment methods that used a control group and that employed an independent measure of the improvement secured by the treatment method (Alexander B. Smith and Louis Berlin 1988). Moreover, the conclusion of his report is that there is no noticed effect in the program. However, from palmer evaluation of Martins report by saying Martins ignored the positive trend because he was searching for an across the board or rehabilitation for the offenders around the world. Palmer suggested that Rather than ask what works for offenders as a whole we must increasingly ask which method work best for which type of offenders, and under what conditions or in what types of setting? (Alexander B. Smith and Louis Berlin 1988) From the previous argument, we can reasoned that the rehabilitations and treatment as correctional goal to work and protect the offenders. In short, the rehabilitation system does works in prisons. As we can see from the evidence from people who was in prison and how can the rehabilitation system could change the prisoner completely in terms of behaviour and the way of thinking. So, in my opinion this system supposed to apply everywhere because its absolutely useful for the community, on the other hand, the people who think that is not working and we have to punish him as long as they are in the prisons, I can respond to them is that they are already buying from their mistake by being in the prison. In addition, the rehabilitation system is applied on the basis of rules and laws set by the government its not as arbitrary or randomly.

The History of Colonial Rule of Puerto Rico by United States :: Historical Colonization spanish Essays

The History of Colonial Rule of Puerto Rico by United States On July 25, 1898 the United States arrived in Puerto Rico. The U.S. defeated the Spanish and gained possession of the island. Despite the intimidation the Americans inflicted on the Puerto Ricans, the Puerto Ricans remained hopeful. The Americans were the representatives of the free world. They had written the Constitution and provided a Bill of Rights for their inhabitants. The Americans were the advocates of democracy, and the Puerto Ricans hoped the Americans would show the pathway to freedom. Unfortunately, the wishes of the Puerto Ricans were never fulfilled. The United States established a military government. The Americans arrived with racist, arrogant attitudes. They deemed the the Puerto Ricans ill equipped for self government, as as the descendants, or pupils of the inferior Spanish. The Americans believed only they could establish Puerto Rico as a respectable nation, because the United States possessed an arrogance rarely seen. As a result, they claimed Puerto Rico as their possession, to do with what they seemed appropriate. What resulted was an adverse effect on Puerto Rico brought upon by Americans, from an economical, political and social standpoint. The rule of the United States over Puerto Rico also further obscured the definition of Puerto Rican identity. The impact of early U.S. Colonial rule had an adverse economic effect on Puerto Rico. Before the arrival of the U.S. in 1898, coffee was the premier enterprise in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican coffee was highly regarded in Europe for the quality of its flavor and had a price in the markets of Cuba, France, Spain and Germany. After U.S. possession, Spain considered Puerto Rico a foreign country, and raised its import tax on Puerto Rican coffee, while Cuba quadrupled its tariff on the Puerto Rican product.

The Fate of a Hero in Beowulf Essay -- Epic of Beowulf Essays

The Fate of a Hero â€Å"For a brief while your strength is in bloom/ but it fades quickly; and soon there will follow/ illness or the sword to lay you low†¦ and death will arrive, dear warrior, to sweep you away†(1761-8). Hrothgar bestows his wisdom onto Beowulf after Beowulf has defeated Grendel and his mother. Hrothgar reminds him not to let pride overcome him for everything is eventually defeated due to the power of fate. This exemplifies a theme woven throughout the story of Beowulf. Beowulf is presented as a valiant hero, slaying beasts with his mighty strength and demonstrating the importance of the balance between wisdom and strength, but as the story unfolds Beowulf slowly loses his vitality until eventually he is defeated. This shows the power of fate has on everyone; no exceptions. This paper will demonstrate the heroic qualities of Beowulf and show his gradual decline through the approaches and outcomes of his three battles with the monsters. In the beginning of the story, Beowulf’s journey brings him to the land of the Danes where he is first intruded upon by a coast guard. Immediately upon seeing Beowulf the coast guard remarks on his impressive appearance. â€Å"Nor have I seen/ a mightier man-at-arms on this Earth/ than the one standing here: unless I am mistaken,/ he is truly noble† (247-50). A warrior named Wulfgar, impressed by Beowulf and his men, delivers his request for passage into the land of Denmark from King of the Danes, Hrothgar. His family background and reputation are familiar to Hrothgar, and he eagerly welcomes them to Denmark. Wulfgar reports back to Beowulf, â€Å"My lord, the conquering king of Danes, bids me announce that he knows you ancestry: also that he welcomes you here to Herot†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (391-3). This scene shows the importance of appearance and reputation, without which Beowulf may never have been admitted to the land of the Danes at all. Once he gains passage into Denmark, Beowulf talks with Hrothgar and his closest followers in the mead hall about how he will destroy this beast or die trying. â€Å"I meant to perform to the uttermost what your people wanted or perish in the attempt, in the fiend’s clutches. And I shall fulfill that purpose, prove myself with a proud deed or meet my death here in the mead-hall† (634-8). His speech to Hrothgar shows Beowulf’s courage and confidence in his abilities. He also chooses not use any weapons or ar... ...e failed his people. His choice to conquer this dragon seems to be the obvious choice for a warrior. He must protect his people. But Beowulf seems so caught up in the surreal threats such as, monsters and dragons, he fails to realize the real peril he has left his people in. Beowulf is aware of his age and uneasy feeling toward his success yet he chooses to take on the dragon anyways. Although the dragon is defeated the Geat people are presented with even greater danger of the Sweds who will surely pounce on their nation. Therefore, throughout the story Beowulf is presented as the ultimate hero; demonstrating the strength of thirty men in his grasp while also using his powerful insight to avoid unnecessary conflict. His surreal strength and wisdom allow Beowulf to accomplish great feats within his time. He not only saves the land of the Danes form the terrorizing monsters but serves and protects his own people as well. Despite his heroic qualities, his humanity is proven by showing his eventual downfall; expressing that even the greatest heroes cannot live forever. Beowulf’s heroic qualities can only hold him above the rest until fate takes its toll and he too becomes defeated.

Anglicisms: Evolution and Degradation Essay

In linguistics, there are two main standpoints when it comes to language changes: evolution and degradation. Evolution supporters see any changes in the language as a natural progression which cannot be stopped. Borrowing from English into Russian is one of progressive parts. However, what we are seeing now in modern Russian is the language being flooded with Anglicisms (a word borrowed from English into another language) via mass media, the Internet, and marketing industry. We want to understand the reasons of such a great flow of Anglicisms in our language First: The emergence of new terminology (computer language, economics, the Internet): due to the rapid development and diffusion of information technology in everyday life, many items that require name: e-mail, laptop, byte, site have appeared. It’s easier to use the existing words of another language than to invent new ones. 2) Borrowings for certain reasons (easier to pronounce, shorter) replaced the previously undeveloped or native Russian language units, such as the price (instead of preckurant), image (instead of obraz) Of course, another point must be a tribute to fashion: the knowledge of English language is considered highly prestigious. And often people use Anglicisms in order to look fashionable thus: presentation, rating, talk shows. 4) The expressiveness of novelty: many firms and companies use Anglicisms as a name to highlight the novelty of sound. — Spheres– As you know, foreign words are one of the major sources of the young people’s language, particularly youth slang. The USA and Great Britain are increasingly becoming the center of attractive goods, especially in the minds of Russian young people. Anglicisms have become a sort of a fashionable hobby; due to it stereotypes and ideals are created by youth society. Adding in the speech English borrowings, teens in some way are attached to American culture and lifestyle. With the advent of social networks there has emerged a certain group of words that people, especially teenagers, are using to communicate. We have analyzed the vocabulary employed in one popular social network. Needless to say, there are words like ok, hi, yes, no, like, thanks, sorry, which are related to the social sphere. Did you know that â€Å"ok† is the most popular word in our world? It was first used as a joke in the Boston Morning Post on March 23, 1839, a shortening of the phrase â€Å"oll korrect,† itself an incorrect spelling of â€Å"all correct.† The joke should have run its course, and OK should have been forgotten but we have been using it every day till now. Conclusion Through this research, we came to the conclusion that the process of borrowing from English into Russian amplified now, because the English language is the basis of a much professional language and as the new Latin of XX century, is widely used in the youth slang. On the one hand, this process is inevitable, but on the other, the cultural basis of any language must be preserved. So, we guess that Anglicisms must meet the following requirements: any borrowing must be necessary, if you can’t find the word in the Russian language, foreign words should be used correctly and accurately in the sense that it has in the original language, it should be clear to those who use it.

Conditioning and Learning Essay

â€Å"Learning, acquiring knowledge or developing the ability to perform new behaviors. It is common to think of learning as something that takes place in school, but much of human learning occurs outside the classroom, and people continue to learn throughout their lives. † (Gregory, 1961) Conditioning is the term used to designate the types of human behavioral learning. Since the 1920s, conditioning has been the primary focus of behavior research in humans as well as animals. There are four main types of conditioning: ? Classical Conditioning ?Operant Conditioning ?Multiple-Response Learning ?Insight Learning. Conditioning and Learning 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Classical Conditioning â€Å"Classical conditioning, also called associative learning, is based on stimulus-response relationships. A stimulus is an object or situation that elicits a response by one of our sense organs, like how a bright light makes us blink. Associative learning allows us to associate two or more stimuli and change our response to one or more of them as a result of simultaneous experience. † (Moore, 2002) â€Å"According to classical conditioning, learning occurs when a new stimulus begins to elicit behavior similar to the behavior produced by an old stimulus. Studies into classical condition began in the early 1900s by the Russian physiologist Ivan P. Pavlov. † (Klein, 1998) Pavlov trained dogs to salivate in response to two stimuli: noise or light, and food or a sour solution. The dogs’ salivation is automatically elicited by the food and sour solution, so these were called the unconditional stimulus. However, when the noise or light (conditional stimulus) was repeatedly paired with the food or sour solution over an extended period of time, the dogs would eventually salivate at the noise or light alone. This is a prime example of a conditioned response. Unconditional stimuli, such as the food and sour solution, allow the learning to occur, while also serving to reinforce the learning. Without an unconditional stimulus in his experiment, Pavlov could not have taught the dogs to salivate at the presence of the noise or light. Conditioning and Learning 3 Classical conditioning is particularly important in understanding how people learn emotional behavior. For example, when we develop a new fear, we have learned to fear a particular stimulus, which has been combined with another frightening stimulus. Operant Conditioning. â€Å"Operant conditioning is goal-directed behavior. We learn to perform a particular response as a result of what we know will happen after we respond. † (Blackman, 1975) For example, a child may learn to beg for sweets if the begging is usually successful. There is no single stimulus that elicits the begging behavior, but instead it occurs because the child knows that this action may result in receiving treats. Every time the child receives sweets after begging, the behavior is reinforced and the tendency of the child to beg will increase. During the 1930s, American psychologist and behaviorist Burrhus F.Skinner performed several important experiments into operant conditioning. Using what is now termed a Skinner Box, he trained rats to press levers to receive food. A hungry rat would be placed in a box containing a special lever attached to concealed food. At first the hungry rat would wander around the box, investigating its surroundings. Eventually it would accidentally press the lever thereby releasing a food pellet into the box. At first the rat would not show any signs of associating the two events, but over time its exploring behavior becomes less random as it begins to press the lever more Conditioning and Learning 4  often. The food pellet reinforced the rat’s response of pressing the lever, so eventually the rat would spend most of its time just sitting and pressing the lever. This type of learning is based on the idea that if a behavior is rewarded, the behavior will occur more frequently. There are four main types of operant learning: Positive Reinforcement, Negative Reinforcement, Punishment and Omission Training. Observational Learning â€Å"When we learn skills, we must first learn a sequence of simple movement-patterns. We combine these movement-patterns to form new, more complicated behavioral patterns with stimuli guiding the process. † (Domjan, 1995) For example, efficient typing requires us to put together many finger movements, which are guided by the letters or words that we want to type. We must first learn to type each letter, and then learn to put the movements together to type words and then phrases. To investigate this type of learning, psychologists have observed animals learning to run through mazes. An animal first wanders aimlessly through the maze, periodically coming to a choice-point, where it must turn either left or right. Only one choice is correct, but the correct direction cannot be determined until the animal has reached the end of the maze. By running through the maze numerous times, the animal can learn the correct sequence of turns to reach the end. It has been found that the sequences of turns near the Conditioning and Learning 5 Two ends of the maze are learned more easily than the parts near the middle. Similarly, when we try to learn a list of items, we usually find the beginning and the end easier than the middle. Insight Learning Insight refers to learning to solve a problem by understanding the relationships of various parts of the problem. Often insight occurs suddenly, such as when a person struggles with a problem for a period of time and then suddenly understands its solution. Therefore insight learning is solving problems without experience. Instead of learning by trial-and-error, insight learning involves trials occurring mentally. â€Å"In the early 1900s, Wolfgang Kohler performed insight experiments on chimpanzees. Kohler showed that the chimpanzees sometimes used insight instead of trial-and-error responses to solve problems. When a banana was placed high out of reach, the animals discovered that they could stack boxes on top of each other to reach it. † (Schwartz, 1983) They also realized that they could use sticks to knock the banana down. In another experiment, a chimp balanced a stick on end under a bunch of bananas suspended from the ceiling, then quickly climbed the stick to obtain the entire bunch intact and unbruised (a better technique than the researchers themselves had in mind). Kohler’s experiments showed that primates can both see and use the relationships involved to reach their goals. Conditioning and Learning 6 CONCLUSION There are many differences and similarities between each of these learning processes. For example, classical conditioning involves only involuntary or reflex responses where as operant conditioning involves both involuntary and voluntary reflexes. These diverse learning processes can be used independently in many different situations. Where classical conditioning may be extremely effective in one situation it might be ineffective in another. For this reason each of these learning processes, classical and operant conditioning and observational and insight learning are each as important and effective as the other. Conditioning and Learning 7 References. Kimble, Gregory: (1961) Conditioning and Learning, New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. John W Moore: (2002) A Neuroscientist’s Guide to Classical Conditioning. Stephen B. Klein: (1998) Contemporary Learning Theories: Pavlovian Conditioning and the Status of Traditional Learning Theory, Chap. 5 (Perceptual and Associative Learning). Derek E. Blackman: (1975) Operant Conditioning: Experimental Analysis of Behaviour (Manual of Modern Psychology). Michael Domjan: (1995) The Essentials of Conditioning and Learning. Tighe, Schwartz: (1983) Modern Learning Theory, Psychology of Learning and Behavior 2nd edition.