Youth Violence Essay

Youth Violence Essay Youth violence is increasing and quickly becoming one of the major concerns in American today. Frequent youth violence can be found at schoolyard, at home, outside, and everywhere in the community. Why dont people ask themselves what is making the youth today so violent, and is there anything they can do to stop this trend? Youth violence is a serious issue, and there are many factors that contribute to youth violence; they are domestic violence, negative media and gangs. The truth is if a child grows up in an unhealthy household then there will more chances for he or she to grow up to be a violent person. Every day, a child witnesses an act of violence not only on television, but also in their own home, from their parents. A home is supposed to be a safe place where children learn how to love and relate to others. However, if they usually see violence in their parents relationship, they would assume that all relationship is always filled with violence. As a result, they look at their parents and think they have the right to do that too, so they will not care what parents have to say to them and just get ideas from the streets which are not good. That is why they are dropping out of school and just hanging out with their friends, which only brings them into trouble, lead to violence. How violence in the media contributes to the many other factors that lead to violent and aggressive behavior in youth? Most of the violence is directed mainly many children and adolescents. However, not every kid who partakes of violent TV shows, movies or video games will become a violent criminal. Two common effects from media are imitation and fear. Todays youth are constantly surrounded by significant acts of violence on TV, in movies, and in video games. Many experts in education and psychology believe that children are acting out what they see. The acts can easily be reacted due to constant exposure. For many children, TV and video games have become their primary role models. Unless parents and teachers take the time and responsibility to teach children respectful values, they will learn problem solving, coping skills and conflict resolution from video role models. Another result is they would be fear from watching unrated movies. Some movies that are meant for adults can be qu ite scary for younger kids, which can cause problems later on in the socialization process. The last common reason that causes youth violence is gangs. There are many of teenagers in gang, who come from bad friends, friends in gang. The only thing they want when join there is just to prove them, to be cool; even they have to fight or kill someone to get in it the gang. That is why they are always ready to do stupid things without thinking about the results, just to let their friends know that they are acting like a hero, a big brother in their group. Another reason is they are always thinking that they are lonely in this world, they have to do everything to survive and their gang friends are only people, who they can do everything and die for. For example, there was a horrific shooting in a Vietnamese restaurant a few months ago. A young guy came into the restaurant, and then he killed all the people around a table in the corner. The reason of his action was he hated a guy in the group of those people. The list of contributing factors to violent behavior in youths is never ending. One thing that the society should remember though is that not just one single factor can be linked to youth violence. To prevent youth violence enlarge, not only an individual do, but the society also has some responsibility to it. For example, the society should limit games and videos that have many violent scenes; parents should take care of their kids much more than at the present.

Death, Tragedy and Community at Wartime Essay

Dying in War: Implications for the family, the community and the social worker Death is a phenomenon that evokes mixed reactions and views from a community. For some, it a blessed release from the trials and problems of life. To others, it may very well be the end of the world when they lose a loved one. What remains constant however is the grief, bereavement and loneliness experienced by those left behind. Even more so when death was sudden and unexpected as like what happens in times of war, disaster, and terrorist attacks. Grief goes through many stages, each stage more difficult that the last. While most people generally manage to cope with time, some experience more difficulties and tend to develop psychological and emotional problems. During the First and Second World Wars, the knock of the postman was a thing of dread. They either brought telegrams summoning the sons and fathers of families for the draft or telegrams announcing the death or loss of loved one. An estimated 8 million military personnel in 14 European countries were killed in World War I, and 14. 4 million military personnel in 17 European countries were killed in World War II (Aiken, 2001, p. 111). Parents who suddenly lose their children such as what happened to most wartime mothers with adult sons usually have a harder time coming to terms with the death of their child (Gilbert, 2005, p. 6). The loss and feelings of helplessness and anger can be intense. There is a common belief that something is wrong when a parent buries his/her child. Most parents who have experienced this report that they feel dissociation with life and everything just felt so unreal (p. 6). That it is not right that parents should survive their children is often the thought that haunts bereaved parents. What role do social workers play in times of war and terror? Social problems are defined as the challenges that face and exist in communities (Hardcastle, Powers & Wenocur, 2004, p. 62). It is the social worker’s job to help the community and its members formulate and implement solutions to these problems. Social workers usually work with problems related to economic disadvantages, illness and disability, crime and delinquency, abuse and maltreatment, service provision to special parts of the population and mental illness. All these problems call for leadership attention and trained intervention (p. 62). No situation can put all these things together more than times of war. What may be the biggest challenge to a social worker though is the task of helping a family and community deal with the sudden losses of loved ones in combat. In addition to this, they should also be prepared to cope with the rehabilitation of those who have been able to come back home but exist with scars that are not only physical but also mental and emotional. The events of September 11, 2001, though technically not a part of any formal war except the one on terror, had an impact that was not dissimilar to armed conflicts. There was confusion, anger, anxiety and above all, people who in an instant lost their loved ones. As with wartime, sudden death can only be viewed as unfair and untimely (Clements, Deranieri, Vigil & Benasutti, 2004) For example, the September 11, 2001 terror attacks left behind families and children who have lost moms and dads in that instant. Even adults and children who were indirectly affected by the attacks have grown to suffer feelings of anxiety and shattered security in their personal and familial safety (Smith & Reynolds, 2002). Besides the inevitable feelings of grief, children especially were left behind and often had to contend with nightmares and morbid pictures of the traumatic deaths their loved ones experienced as well as the stress and difficulty of trying to picture lives without mom or dad. It is also important to remember that the effects of trauma are not limited to those who suffer it directly (Sims, Hayden, Palmer & Hutchins, 2000, p. 41) The ubiquity of television also afforded children at home not only news of the attacks but also vivid pictures and descriptions of the tragedy and all its violence. This made it even more problematic for children and people who have lost loved ones in the Twin Towers and the plane crashes as coverage of each horrific scene gave them fodder for the imagination and subsequent nightmares. The case of a 7-year old boy named Johnny is cited in the study (2002) by Smith and Reynolds. : Following the 9/11 attacks, Johnny developed a constant fear of his parents leaving home and getting killed by â€Å"bad men. † He also developed a phobia of elevators and would throw tantrums whenever his parents tried to make him use one. Johnny admitted to his therapist that his fear of elevator stemmed from a story he heard of how â€Å"people in the Twin Towers were trapped and killed while riding in the elevators. † (Smith & Reynolds, 2002) Neither Johnny nor his family were directly involved or affected in the terror attack. The mental and emotional strain suffered by survivors and those affected by this very high profile event led to the American Psychiatric Association’s setting up of counseling services â€Å"focusing on grief, acute stress and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (Smith & Reynolds, 2002). The difficulty that most surviving relatives meet is in the un-timeliness of death. While conventional wisdom holds that sons and fathers who go to war may not come back again, more often than not, there is a strong hope that they will be able to come home. Despite the knowledge of all the possibilities, the sudden and traumatic nature of death often creates problems among surviving relatives. They become victims in their own right. Muller and Thompson believe that the manner of death plays a vital role in determining the reaction of the survivors (Muller & Thompson, 2003). If its bad enough for people to suddenly lose their loved ones, how much more would it be for children to live and go through an environment of war and death? In his article in the Journal of Multi-cultural Counseling and Development in 2004, Clinical psychologist and Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA) Gargi Roysircar relates the case of 20-year old Yugoslavian emigre Stephen, who at the age of 10 witnessed the height of the civil war between Christians and Muslims in Kosovo in 1990. In interviews with his counselor, Stephen recalls witnessing about 80% of his classmates get killed by bombs, sniper shots and gunfire as they walked to and from school. At age 14, Stephen was taken by his father to the frontlines for training in combat to fight with the Serbian army. The next two years wold take Stephen all over the Balkans and would expose him to all kinds of death, privation and war atrocities. Eventually migrating as political refugees in the United States, in 1999, Stephen demonstrated difficulty in acculturation and adjustment. The constant displacement he experienced in war along with the mistrust bred by his past and cultural paranoia fostered by the Croatian community they lived with made it difficult for Stephen to acclimatize to peacetime setting. Roysircar describes Stephen as having â€Å"recurrent thoughts and images of his violent experience in the Balkans. He experienced nightmares, hostility and a profound sense of a lack of belonging. Stephen also often recounted the difficulties he experienced including â€Å"hiding in a basement and eating rats† especially when angry. He also displays a deep-seated hatred for the Muslims and believes â€Å"the Middle East should be wiped off the face of the Earth† (Roysircar, 2004). While there may be models detailing stages of grief and recovery, social workers must be prepared for instances that do not adhere to such models. In Stephen’s case while he did not directly lose any of his close family members, he was exposed at an early age to violence and death. He has also experienced being the cause of another human being’s death as he and his father fought on the Serbian army. This is no different from the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder exhibited by American soldiers returning from Vietnam or any other area where they fought in combat. A person does not have to lose anyone in order to feel grief, bereavement and suffer any disorder that may result from it as evidenced by the little boy Johnnie and Stephen. Death in wartime is not limited to just the loss of a loved one. In a community where all able bodied men are called to arms, anybody can lose husbands, brothers, fathers and sons at any day. Families left behind are left to their own devices and imaginings of what horrors their loved ones are facing. Those who do lose family members are haunted by the manner by which their loved one died. There is also the unfortunate circumstance in war where death is an ambiguous issue. In the Vietnam War, many people were reported missing in action. The families of such people were left at an awkward and horrible position of not knowing whether they should be mourning or holding out hope for their loved one’s return (Worden, 2003, p. 40). In some cases, some families do accept the reality that their loved one may be dead and go through the entire process of mourning and recovery only to be told later that their husbands and sons were simply prisoners of war and has since been released. While ordinarily this may sound like a fairy tale ending, there may come unbridgeable gaps and tension that can only ruin relationships and lives (p. 85). On the other hand, some families may keep clinging to the hope that their loved ones are alive and therefore refuse to give way to grief and acceptance. Stacy Bannerman (2007) is one of the many army wives whose marriage was broken up by war. In her article that appeared in â€Å"The Progressive,† she relates how her once happy marriage with one of the military’s mortar platoon commanders started heading downhill with every death he caused and witnessed during his stint in Iraq. She decries the insensitivity and lack of support for military families from the National Guard. She further cites how there was an absolute lack of prompt attention to the mental and emotional needs of returning military men who more often than not suffered from PTSD like her husband, Lorin did. Because of this, there have been military men who have survived their tour of duty only to succumb to mental and emotional anguish and end up committing suicide on American soil (Bannerman, 2007). It is the soldiers, their families, and the people of Iraq that pay the human costs. The tab so far: more than 3,000 dead U. S. troops, tens of thousands of wounded, over half a million Iraqi casualties, roughly 250,000 American servicemen and women struggling with PTSD, and almost 60,000 military marriages that have been broken by this war (Bannerman, 2007). The problem here is that most of those left behind are left to cope with their own fears without the support of anybody else except family and members who are also wrapped up in their own concerns. In this case, social workers must be able to take the lead in establishing outreach and community groups so people do not have to cope and suffer in isolation. Carpenter (2002) states that the psychological well-being of the members of a community is one of the jobs of a social worker. While it is true that the trauma brought on by exposure to violence and death may be an individual process, healing and recovery needs societal support and strong relationships (Carpenter, 2002). This may become a challenge to families and communities who are dealing with their anxiety and grief. However, Carpenter reminds social workers that one of the primary goals of social work is to help empower the oppressed. Oppression in itself can take on many definitions and forms. In this particular case, it is the trauma and grief that is debilitating and oppressing the individual and the community. Social workers must also be prepared to look for signs of repressed grief. Some individuals choose to withhold and fail to express grief and therefore develop problems later in life often developing manias, paranoia and demonstrate abuse towards other people. At times, the feelings of grief or multiple losses of loved ones may lead to a â€Å"grief overload† that would cause an individual to delay grief (Worden, 2003, p. 91) The community as a social system can provide a network of support. Given the right leadership, empathy and sensitivity, it can also become a â€Å"safe† place where people can come to terms with their grief and slowly move on toward recovery. In the cases of Johnnie and Stephen, it took time before they were able to face and admit their anger, anxiety and grief at the bad things that they experienced and fear. Sometimes, self-reflection and a ready ear is all that’s necessary. As clinically trained counselors and diagnosticians, social workers are tasked with the duty of helping people recognize and understand what problems they may have. Community-wise, social workers should have enough knowledge of the community’s demographics in order to unify and create a solid network of safety and interaction that may assist troubled and grieving individuals particularly in conflict filled times such as war. Death at wartime comes in many forms. It could be the actual death of a loved one, anxiety at the possible death, loss at whether somebody is dead or not, or even those who continue to physically live but have broken spirits and permanent disabilities as a result of war wounds. Much as death is a big thing that affects not only the family but also the community as a whole, war brings with it so much more problems and issues that will undoubtedly challenge most social workers. Undertaking social work means one must be in sync with the community. By in sync, it covers everything from issues, key people, and resources that may be mobilized in times of need. War is a time of immense crisis and tragedy that the social worker must be prepared to face head on and ably lead and facilitate the processes by which the community may be transformed into a supportive societal system that each member may be able to depend on. This does not mean however that social workers cannot be affected or lose their sense of self in dealing with all these tragedies. Tsui and Cheung (2003) recommend a self-reflection on the part of the social worker in order to understand and come to terms with their own reactions and feelings to tragedies they both witness and hear about from their clients before attempting to deal further with the grief of others. They also stress that once social workers attend to their duties, they should do so intellectually yet with empathy and focus on assessing and addressing the needs of the community rather than one’s own (Tsui & Cheung, 2003) References Aiken, L. R. (2001). Dying, Death, and Bereavement (4th ed. ). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Retrieved November 28, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=22091057 Bannerman, S. (2007, March). Broken by This War. The Progressive, 71, 26+. Retrieved November 28, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=5021139792 Carpenter, J. (2002). Mental Health Recovery Paradigm: Implications for Social Work. Health and Social Work, 27(2), 86+. Retrieved November 28, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=5000778618 Gilbert, K. R. (2005). 1 When a Couple Loses a Child. In Family Stressors: Interventions for Stress and Trauma, Catherall, D. R. (Ed. ) (pp. 5-30). New York: Brunner Routledge. Retrieved November 28, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=109184971 Catherall, D. R. (Ed. ). (2005). Family Stressors: Interventions for Stress and Trauma. New York: Brunner Routledge. Retrieved November 28, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=109184958 Clements, P. T. , Deranieri, J. T. , Vigil, G. J. , & Benasutti, K. M. (2004). Life after Death: Grief Therapy after the Sudden Traumatic Death of a Family Member. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 40(4), 149+. Retrieved November 28, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=5008586582 Hardcastle, D. A. , Powers, P. R. , & Wenocur, S. (2004). Community Practice: Theories and Skills for Social Workers. New York: Oxford University Press. Retrieved November 28, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=104722138 Roysircar, G. (2004). Child Survivor of War: A Case Study. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 32(3), 168+. Retrieved November 28, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=5012181947 Sims, M. , Hayden, J. , Palmer, G. , & Hutchins, T. (2000). Working in Early Childhood Settings with Children Who Have Experienced Refugee or War-Related Trauma. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 25(4), 41. Retrieved November 28, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=5001127890 Smith, S. , & Reynolds, C. (2002). Innocent Lost: The Impact of 9-11 on the Development of Children. Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association, 5(5), 12+. Retrieved November 21, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=5002560442 Tsui, M. , & Cheung, F. C. (2003). Dealing with Terrorism: What Social Workers Should and Can Do. Social Work, 48(4), 556+. Retrieved November 28, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=5002045024 Worden, J. W. (2003). Grief Counselling and Grief Therapy: A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner. Hove, England: Brunner-Routledge. Retrieved November 28, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=108479290

The Meaning of the Pseudonym Mark Twain

Samuel Clemens used several pseudonyms  during his long writing career. The first was simply  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Josh,† and the second was â€Å"Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass.† But, the author wrote his best-known works, including such American classics as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, under the pen name Mark Twain. Both books center on the adventures of two boys, the namesakes for the novels, on the Mississippi  River. Not surprisingly, Clemens adopted his pen name from his experiences piloting steamboats up and down the Mississippi. Navigational Term Twain literally means two. As a riverboat pilot, Clemens would have heard the term, Mark Twain, which means two fathoms, on a regular basis. According to the UC Berkeley Library, Clemens first used this pseudonym  in 1863, when he was working as a newspaper reporter in Nevada, long after his riverboat days. Clemens became a riverboat cub, or trainee, in 1857. Two years later, he earned his full pilots license and began piloting the  steamboat  Alonzo Child  upriver from New Orleans in January 1861.  His piloting career was cut short when riverboat traffic ceased at the start of the Civil War that same year. Mark Twain means  the second mark on a line that measured depth, signifying two fathoms, or 12 feet, which was a safe depth for riverboats. The method of dropping a line to determine the waters depth was a way to read the river and avoid submerged rocks and reefs that could  tear the life out of the strongest vessel that ever floated, as Clemens wrote in his 1863 novel, Life on the Mississippi.   Why Twain Adopted the Name Clemens, himself, explained in Life on the Mississippi why he chose that particular moniker for his most famous novels. In this quote, he was referring to  Horace E. Bixby, the grizzled pilot who taught Clemens to navigate the river during his two-year training phase: The old gentleman was not of literary turn or capacity, but he used to jot down brief paragraphs of plain practical information about the river, and sign them MARK TWAIN, and give them to the New Orleans Picayune. They related to the stage and condition of the river, and were accurate and valuable; and thus far, they contained no poison. Twain lived far from the Mississippi (in Connecticut) when The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was published in 1876. But, that novel, as well as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, published in 1884 in the United Kingdom and in 1885 in the United States, were so infused with images of the Mississipi River that it seems fitting that Clemens would use a pen name that so closely tied him to the river. As he navigated the rocky path of his literary career (he was beset with financial problems through much of his life), its fitting that he would choose a moniker that defined the very method riverboat captains used to safely navigate the sometimes treacherous waters of the mighty Mississippi.

A History of the Napoleonic Code (Code Napoléon)

The Napoleonic Code  (Code Napolà ©on) was a unified legal code produced in post-revolutionary France and enacted by Napoleon in 1804. Napoleon gave the laws his name, and they largely remain in place in France today. They also heavily influenced world laws in the 19th century. It is easy to imagine how the conquering Emperor could spread a legal system across Europe, but it might have surprised many of his day to know long it outlasted him. The Need for Codified Laws France in the century before the French Revolution may have been a single country, but it was far from a homogenous unit. As well as language and economic differences, there was no single unified set of laws that covered the whole of France. Instead, there were large geographic variations, from the Roman Law which dominated in the south, to a Frankish/Germanic Customary Law which dominated in the north around Paris. Add to this the canon law of the church which controlled some affairs, a mass of royal legislation which had to be considered when looking at legal problems, and the effects of local laws derived from parlements or appellate courts and trials, and there was a patchwork which was very difficult to negotiate, and which stimulated a demand for a universal, equitable set of laws. However, there were plenty of people in positions of local power, often in venal offices, who worked to prevent any such codification, and all attempts to do so before the revolution failed. Napoleon and the French Revolution The French Revolution acted as a brush that swept away a mass of local differences in France, including many of the powers that stood against codifying the laws. The result was a country in a position to—in theory—create a universal code. And it was a place that really needed one. The Revolution went through various phases, and forms of government—including Terror—but by 1804 was under the control of General Napoleon Bonaparte, the man who appeared to have decided the French Revolutionary Wars in France’s favor. Glory Beyond the Battlefield Napoleon wasn’t just a man hungry for battlefield glory; he knew a state had to be built to support both him and a renewed France. Most important was to be a law code that bore his name. Attempts to write and enforce a code during the revolution had failed, and Napoleon’s achievement in forcing it through was massive. It also reflected glory back onto him: He was desperate to be seen as more than a general who took charge, but as the man who brought a peaceful end to the revolution, and establishing a legal code was a massive boost to his reputation, ego, and ability to rule.   The Code Napolà ©on The Civil Code of the French People was enacted in 1804 across all the regions France then controlled: France, Belgium, Luxembourg, chunks of Germany and Italy, and was later spread further across Europe. In 1807, it became known as the Code Napolà ©on. It was supposed to be written fresh, and based on the idea that a law based on common sense and equality should replace one based on custom, societal division, and the rule of kings. The moral justification for its existence was not that it came from God or a monarch (or in this case an emperor), but because it was rational and just. A Compromise Between Old and New All male citizens were supposed to be equal, with nobility, class, a position of birth all wiped away. But in practical terms, much of the revolution’s liberalism was lost and France turned back to Roman law. The code did not extend to emancipating women, who were subjugated to fathers and husbands. Freedom and the right of private property were key, but branding, easy imprisonment, and limitless hard labor returned. Non-whites suffered, and slavery was allowed in French colonies. In many ways, the Code was a compromise of the old and the new, favoring conservatism and traditional morality. Written as Several Books The Napoleonic Code was written as several Books, and although it was written by teams of lawyers, Napoleon was present at nearly half of the Senate discussions. The first book dealt with laws and people, including civil rights, marriage, relationships, including those of parent and child, etc. The second book concerned laws and things, including property and ownership. The third book tackled how you went about getting and modifying your rights, such as inheritance and through marriage. More codes followed for other aspects of the legal system: 1806’s Code of Civil Procedure; 1807’s Commercial Code; 1808’s Criminal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure; 1810’s Penal Code. Still in Place The Napoleonic Code has been modified, but essentially remains in place in France, two centuries after Napoleon was defeated and his empire dismantled. It is one of his most lasting achievements in a country in thrall to his rule for a turbulent generation. However, it was only in the latter half of the 20th century that laws were altered to reflect equality to women. Wide Influence After the Code was introduced in France and nearby areas, it spread across Europe and into Latin America. Sometimes a straight translation was used, but other times large changes were made to fit local situations. Later Codes also looked to Napoleon’s own, such as the Italian Civil Code of 1865, although this was replaced in 1942. In addition, laws in Louisiana’s civil code of 1825 (largely still in place), derive closely from the Napoleonic Code. However, as the 19th century turned into the 20th, new civil codes in Europe and around the world rose to reduce the importance of France’s, although it still has an influence.