An Exploration of Childhood Obesity and Child Protection Essay

An Exploration of Childhood Obesity and Child Protection - Essay Example G. N. G. T. H. E., 2006) As per the medical experts, it had been proven that the hazard of being prone to severe health problems soars in accordance with the extra heaviness a person gains. Being obese as a child might also origin â€Å"psychological distress.† Teasing (which is normal) about the look impacts a childs self-confidence and sense of worth and generally escorts to loneliness and hopelessness. The figure of children suffering from obesity in the UK has ascended gradually over the past 20 years. In United Kingdom, currently the obesity epidemic is considered a foremost health concern. (NOËL CAMERON, N. G. N. G. T. H. E., 2006) Childhood Obesity is a severe physical condition. It is defined as carrying too much body fat for your height and sex. A person is considered obese if they have a body mass index or BMI (weight in kilograms divided by the square of their height in meters) of 30 or greater. Obesity is a risk factor for several chronic biological ailments. As studied earlier, obese children often turn into unhealthy, obese adults. Thus, most of these ailments manifest themselves during adulthood. One of the most hazardous consequences of obesity is type 2 diabetes. (KORBONITS, M., 2008) A study conducted by the National Audit Office (NAO) estimates that obesity directly caused more than 250,000 cases of type 2 diabetes in England in 1998. But what is truly alarming is the emergence of type 2 diabetes among schoolchildren. Another major health implication is the prevalence of coronary heart diseases and hypertension among obese people. (www.nao.gov.uk) The coronary heart disease is the leading cause of premature death among obese people. NAO had recorded that obesity caused some 28,000 heart attacks and approximately 750,000 cases of hypertension in England in the year 1998 alone. (www.nao.gov.uk) Excessive body

Handling the Dilemma over Community vs Institutional Corrections Essay Example for Free

Handling the Dilemma over Community vs Institutional Corrections Essay It is the first day of break and Jimmy wants to have a good time with his friends. Long story short, Jimmy decided to drive home drunk and crashed into another car. The driver of the other car passed away.What kind of punishment should Jimmy receive? It seems fair for him to spend time in prison. Should he see probation after the jail time? How much? This scenario helps introduce the dilemma we have today as a society about institutional vs. community corrections. Punishment for crime has always been an issue for debate. With the growth of the American colonies, the colonists needed a system of punishment for lawbreakers. Many methods developed in Europe meant to bring shame to those offenders were adopted. Around this time, the world saw a change in punishment ideology; some began to stress that humans are not perfect and make mistakes. Thus, there should be more reform as well as punish. In 1682, William Penn made a push for change. He limited the death penalty to cases of murder only and called for fines and imprisonment for most offenses. This is widely considered the beginnings of the prison system in the U.S. He also helped start the creation of jails, like the High Street Jail. The first federal prisons were established in 1891. Before this date, prisons were organized by states and territories. The establishment of parole and probation, or community corrections, began in the 1870s. There has always been and most likely always will be a huge social dilemma on what types and to what extent punishment should be laid out. Both institutional and community corrections have their pros and cons. One thing is for certain, however, that we do need a mixture of both. The current prison system has a number of advantages. Incarceration keeps criminals away from the public theoretically making the public safer. Imprisonment also punishes the convicted criminal by taking away, in a sense, their life at least for a short period. This type of punishment should have the effect of deterring the offender from repeat crimes as well as others from committing crimes. Current prison systems are meant to be rehabilitative. Structure and discipline is provided by the prisons so as to educate and provide therapy for inmates. With the good also comes the bad. Housing a large population of criminals together can lead to networking and an anti-social encouragement to continue crime. Probably the biggest knock on imprisonment is that there is a huge cost associated with housing an inmate. The public and law-abiding citizens essentially pay for the living accommodations of a criminal. The financial toll hits those families directly associated with the criminal. It is harder for a family to get by if an income is removed. If a family ends up needing government aid, the public is again paying for that. It can also be said that prisons lack the necessary resources to properly rehabilitate and to address the issues of how they got to prison. One last disadvantage is that every prisoner is treated the same. A murderer would be treated the same as a thief. This may not necessarily be fair. Community-based corrections, on the other hand, also have a number of advantages. It is usually said that community corrections are practical and less expensive alternatives to imprisonment. Keeping an offender convicted of a minor crime in the community and out of a jail filled with hardened criminals would theoretically do a better job at rehabilitating the person and keep them functioning socially. Community corrections mainly offer the solution to the tendency of inmates to learn anti-social behaviors. Families will largely stay intact. Supervision and restrictions can help the person learn to be a more highly functioning member of society. Training programs and job placement work along these same lines. Community corrections may also have negative outcomes. For one, criminals will still be walking the streets. If an offender is set to live in a halfway house, the community around the house could become undesirable. Nearby residents may feel threatened. Community corrections are not totally free either. Systems like halfway houses do cost money, although the overall cost of community corrections is appealing in comparison to institutional corrections. Many believe that prisonization is tantamount to socialization into a criminal culture. Therefore, being in a prison is thought equivalent to being in a school for crime (Tittle, 263). Research has shown that inmates will often grow loyalty each other and can develop a hostility towards prison officials. The society in a prison is largely based on putting value in things not as valuable otherwise. The overall effect is not one conducive to rehabilitation into society. Some do say, however, that attitudes and behaviors such as this become less salient as the time nears for return to the outside (Tittle, 264) This insight can show how many might simply adapt to prison culture and can readjust once freed. Still, the risk of anti-socialization is there. The argument can be made that prisons are not the greatest device for rehabilitation but that community corrections are not currently adequate. A push for improvements is being made. Prohibitive costs of constructing and operating jails make it impossible to get out of this corrections crisis even if the public wants toughness on crime (Rosenthal, 1). Policymakers are making a push towards more effective transition and community supervision. One large problem with this changing corrections climate, is that rehabilitation is being overshadowed by protection of the public and promotion of justice (Rosenthal, 1). One last important point to make about a need for more effective community corrections is that there is an increase in the number of drug and alcohol abusers and prisons are not the best place for these offenders. Innovations have been made in community corrections such as intensive supervision probation/parole (ISP), home confinement with or without electronic monitoring, and residential options in community corrections. It is encouraging to see developments but the system in general is ineffective.Unlike some countries, we have no national probation service to provide service uniformly across all parts of the country (Burrell, xv). There are federal, state, county, and even municipal level providers. It is hard to be efficient and effective with such a non-standardized system. A Canadian study showed that well-designed and well-implemented correctional treatment programs can produce significant reduction in recidivism (Burrell, xvii). The overarching factor in the correctional dilemma is that we should attempt to do what is best for society. Justice does need to be served and prisons are a necessary evil, but not always best at rehabilitation. Without proper rehabilitation, we will see repeat offenders. Community corrections offer better opportunities at re-entry but, of course, this is not always feasible or fair. An often overlooked portion of this dilemma is the families. Not only will the criminal be a lost cause if rehabilitation is a failure but often the families may fall into a state of failure as well. A study shows that two thirds of family members of incarcerated persons see substantial financial decline, general health decline, and damage to relationships with children and other family members (Arditti, 199-200). This certainly is not beneficial for society. In my opinion, there is a trend to be seen in this correctional dilemma. This trend appears to be that the main issue is a lack of effectiveness in rehabilitation. It is also very clear that institutional corrections is not usually conducive to widespread rehabilitation. This lends the idea that community corrections and the community in general provide the real hope. We also now know that the community system is fragmented and decentralized and needs improvement. This is not to say that we need to completely stray away from prisons. Surely, that is out of the question. It is a necessary evil. To better society as a whole, community corrections need to be improved. I believe that we should move towards a system where only the most severe of offenders see true hard jail time. Further, a focus and monetary support should be put towards a unified community corrections system that is more apt at rehabilitating offenders. This is no small task. My opinions can be expounded upon as such: For all violent offenders and those committing crimes with wide-ranging effects should see times behind bars without question. Data shows that there are large numbers of non violent offenders behind bars. Being that it is extremely costly to house a prisoner it would be beneficial to attempt to cut down on non violent offenders behind bars. The push would then be to turn to more social and community based ways of punishment. It would seem that this would be more conducive of rehabilitation. This group of offenders having committed non violent crimes may have more hope of becoming productive members of society once again. There is a certain level of toleration to be had. We must understand that there will always be criminals and some will never be fixed. Further, any system will never work perfectly. In my opinion, though, it seems there needs to a slight shift in momentum towards community corrections for economic, societal, and rehabilitative reasons. Works Cited Arditti, Joyce A., Jennifer Lambert-Shute, and Karen Joest. Saturday Morning at the Jail: Implications of Incarceration for Families and Children. Family Relations 52.3 (2003): 195-204. JSTOR. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. This scholarly article was originally published in the journal, Family Relations. This article is meant to explore the implications of criminal sanction policies on the families of felony offenders. More specifically, the article focused on the social, health, and economic characteristics of parents and children to these offenders under incarceration. I found the article to be interesting and thorough overall, but much of it was more than what I needed for the purposes of this paper. Still, I found the article to be helpful in my research and proved to be useful for anecdotes. As such, this source was used mainly for supplemental information. Burrell, William D. Community Corrections Management. Civic Research Institute (n.d.): n. pag. JSTOR. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. This article is part of the Civic Research Institute. The article is intent on discussing the Community-Based Corrections System in general. The author takes the point of view that it is a decentralized and fragmented system. The article further discusses probation and parole along with developments in these areas. Finally, it explores the future of the system. I found the article to be helpful to my understanding of the community corrections system and to see where it might be heading. I used this article mainly for informational purposes and general understanding. Inciardi, James A. Criminal Justice. 8th ed. Orlando: Academic, 1984. Print. This source is the textbook for our Introduction to Criminal Justice course. It is meant to provide an overview of the structure, processes, and problems of the criminal justice system in the United States. The book provides lots of basic and some in depth information and accompanying support, data, and analysis. I find the book to be helpful and capable ox offering explanations easy to comprehend. I have used this book mainly as a guide and a source for general information on the topic and not for more in depth purposes. Rosenthal, C. S. Opportunities in Community Corrections. National Criminal Justice Reference Service. National Council on Crime and Delinquency, 1989. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. . This article published in the National Criminal Justice Reference Service is focused on why there would be community based corrections, what they are, how effective they have been, and what is the future looking like. Similar to another article I have cited, this scholarly journal article does a good job of painting the big picture of community corrections. I particularly liked how this article was thorough in starting off with the basics and going into developments and then finally into some analysi s. This proved to be a helpful article in the formation of my opinion. Tittle, Charles R. Institutional Living and Rehabilitation. Journal of Health Social Behavior 13 (1972): 263-73. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. This source is an article published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior on the topic of Institutional Corrections. The author of this article seeks to provide information and research on the extent to which incarceration is or can be rehabilitative. He finds and explains three characteristics thought to have anti-rehabilitative consequences. I found this journal article to be helpful at providing a detailed analysis of institutional corrections, both the presumed advantages and disadvantages. I used this mainly for more in depth conclusion drawing.

Goffmans Theory For Interaction In Society Sociology Essay

Goffmans Theory For Interaction In Society Sociology Essay Goffman examines society through individuals face-to-face interactions I everyday life. An important point of his theory is how individuals present themselves in everyday life, when they come to contact with others. This contact signals the activation of the ritual mechanism. Those mechanisms are being activated automatically each time we are coming to interaction with others. They consist social values and express all the expected reactions, which individuals should have in different situations. The reason why these mechanisms are activated automatically is because we have embodied them during the period of socialization and through imitation. Consequently, those mechanisms give us the possibility to understand and foresee how we must react in different interactions, as well as to forego and protect ourselves from potential moments of disgrace and embarrassment. If we do not find a way to manage those moments when they occur, can lead in the collapse of interaction (Goffman, 1959: 1 2). The main purpose of individuals is to manipulate the impressions that others form about them (impression management). Individuals, when they are acting on the stage, employ unconsciously different front (means of expression). The front is comprised from two parts: the setting which is the scene in which individuals acting and the personal front which concerns the natural characteristics and specific means of expression of each individual. Furthermore, Goffman divide personal front into appearance and manner. Appearance is the external characteristics and manner is the means of expressions, like the language, the body, face expressions, which individuals adopt during their performance (Goffman, 1953,:22-24). In addition, individuals use symbols to display their positions and the role they aim to play (Goffman, Dec. 1951: 294). Forby there is the backstage, where individuals make their rehearsal for their performance. Namely, which features of themselves, they will cover in order to manipulate their observers. Parallel, only when they are on the backstage, can be their real selves, whereon they have to tackle with their real feelings, which have no relation to the feelings they project on the stage. Nevertheless, Goffman notes that the formation of a role is being strongly affected by the personality, the experience, and the culture of each individual (Swingewood, 2000: 176). How academic professors maintain their dominant position in the classroom. The academic professors front is his class and what this class includes is the setting. His performance takes place while he is teaching. Of course the professor must have a certain style of clothing, for instance he cannot appear in the classroom wearing a sport outfit. Also, he must talk and behave in a way which will attribute him prestige. For instance, the professor will not use slang language during his teaching, on the contrary, he will a sophisticated vocabulary. Furthermore, according to Goffman, first impression is of vital importance. Thus, in his first lecture, he must pay attention to his first impression, because this will form the relation of domination between the professor and the students (Goffman, 1959: 12). Even if he becomes more lenient with his students over the years, he should attempt continually to sustain his authority (impression management). On the other hand, when the professor ends up alone in the classroom (backstage) he can be his real self. Coincidently at this point he can prepare himself for the teaching (performance) and he can try to limit things which could reduce his pole performance. On the whole, professor possesses a status, which nobody can call in question, regardless of the role he adopts. This is happening because he has certifications of his capacity, which is his degree, which is recognizable from the society (Goffman, 1951: 297). In other words, there can be doubt about his efficiency at work but not for his capacity as a professor. Bourdieus theory. Bourdieu in contrast with Goffman considers society from a distant viewpoint. He is not centre on individuals interaction but he combines them with social structures. He deems that sociologists should overcome the persistence of the contrast between objectivism and subjectivism. We should observe society as a whole including both, structures and actors. Thereby, he creates a theory based on a schema, which constitutes from three main parts: the field, the capital, and the habitus. Each part is directly connected with the others and functions parallel. The first part is the field. Fields are the social structures, the various spheres of life. While fields exert influence to each other, there are autonomous enough (relative autonomous) in order to be able to study them. Each field has its own clear boundaries, logic and sphere of values, with witch people must be obeyed. People in order to be able to enter a field, should have certain resources according to the demands of each field (Wacquant, 2008: 269). Those resources are the capitals, which are unequal distributed in the society (Swartz, 2002: 655). People, who have more capitals, have more chances to succeed in different fields (Bourdieu, 1986: 241). This is why Bourdieu grasps fields as arenas in which people struggle constantly. Those who have a big part of capital, struggle to maintain their domination and those who have limited capitals, try for their benefits to invert the domination of the former. Thus field is never static. It is moving, changing, evolving. On the second part of the triadic schema is capital. Capitals are the means of resources which enable people to acquire benefits. Power is in each field different. Bourdieu divides Capital in four categories: economic, cultural, social and symbols. Economic Capital is consisted by money. This capital is very important because every capital can be converted to economic capital. People, who have largely the economic capital, can easier acquire the other three capitals. Then is the Culture Capital, which is consisted by three forms: The Embodied State concerns the stimuli which people get from their environment during their upbringing and socialization. People receive them unconsciousness or passive-coercive via their families, their culture or traditions. However this does not mean that they acquire them instantaneously. On the contrary, people embodied them over the years according to their habitus. Also in this state, people form their cultivation. Peoples cultivation derives, apart from the stimuli of the environment, also from the amount of time and effort they consumed to gain it (Bourdieu, 1986: 244-245). The other form is the Objectified State, which concerns the possession of items (for instance paintings). Those items have great cultural-aesthetic value but also economic value. In which way people will valid them, it is related with their habitus (Bourdieu, 1986: 245-246). The third form of Cultural Capital is the Institutionalized State. This state embraces the official documents, that is, they have institutional recognition. Those certifications denote the level of education of each person (Bourdieu, 1986: 246-247). Moreover, there is the Social Capital. Social Capital is peoples connections which they have or acquire within social networks. Those connections are either positive or negative. In other words, can help people or can make their lives difficult. Finally, it is the Symbolic Capital, which has to do with the symbols of power. People who possess the symbolic authority can dominate in one or more fields. Those who have it are in the position to decide what is good and what is bad and exert it via recognition and approval and disapproval. Recognition of what people are doing is enjoyable for them. For, people through recognition are becoming established. Symbolic authority can be big in a field while can be mild or small in others. Also symbolic power is hierarchical. It is a circle of alternations of power. Thus there is a constant struggle for the acquisition of power but it is happening unconsciously. The third part of the schema is Habitus. Habitus is our history, the inheritance of cultural capital. Namely it is embodied of our experiences. The creation of social groups is based on peoples common experiences, hence habitus is persons beliefs and dispositions. Furthermore, habitus is the social structures in which persons shape their beliefs and ways of thinking (for instance education). In real life habitus and field come always together as a whole (Wacquant, 2008: 269). On the one, habitus affects peoples chances of success or failure in different fields (Bourdieu, 1986: 241). However, people through new experiences, which are not coming from the family, can form a secondary capital in the habitus, which is quite durable and reinforced. This new habitus is becoming gradually their second nature. Examining academicians through the concepts of Field, Capital and Habitus. Academicians field in which they operate is higher education. To be able to be in this field, they spent too much time and effort in order to acquire this knowledge, that is their cultivation (cultural capital-embodied state). Evidence that hold this knowledge is their diplomas (cultural capital-institutionalized state). Also their connections, that had been either academic or political, played an important role in taking up this position (social capital). On the other, depending on the level of the University attended and depending on their performance, they had similar opportunities to find work. The position of each university is not the same. For, there is a rank of hierarchy. Hierarchy it is likewise in the positions of academic professors. Therefore there is strong competition among them. Their main purpose is to accede to the highest positions and go to the most accredited universities (symbolic capital). To be able to do so, they must constantly enrich their resources (capita l). Nevertheless, the academic professors have some common experiences that affiliate them to the same group and allow them to enter in this field, higher education (habitus). But this does not mean that these experiences were the same embodied-in all. That they are professors, do not mean that all derived from the same socio-economic class. Simply they were able to acquire the necessary qualifications and to embrace these experiences in order to enter specific field. Namely, they managed to make second nature another habitus. Conclusion. Considering academics through two different approaches, Goffmans and Bourieus, I have come to believe that struggle for domination is an important part of both theories. In Goffman this struggle exist through the management impression, while in Bourdieu exist in the whole triad schema (field, capital, habitus).

Philosophy - Are we Willing to Accept the Changes that Philosophical T

Philosophy - Are we Willing to Accept the Changes that Philosophical Thinking can Bring? Philosophy is a general overview of how our society functions, by how we think and the many ways in which we act. It can also be described as the love of wisdom. As individuals we are introduced to ideas that test our knowledge of the different concepts of life, with questions such as who are we and why were we brought here? Philosophical questions have made an impact on us with thoughts that don't usually have an answer to the question which was brought forward, and to which neither side knows the answer to. For thousands of years mankind has questioned the origins of human life and the nature of the cosmos. Over the years, great philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle philosophized such questions as: What is the meaning of life on Earth? What were the circumstances that caused us to wonder about why we are here? And which method for searching for the meaning of life do we prefer? Such questions have also boggled my mind. The philosophy of one’s life, can only be answered b y that person whom it consumes. Philosophy and our daily lives are closely linked to each other. At work and or school we are sometimes bombarded with questions that may occasionally affect our way of thinking, and in some cases our moral beliefs. In the community, we are subjected to things that become integrated into our lives, and we are left with the agony of trying to figure out the right or wrong answer, wh... Philosophy - Are we Willing to Accept the Changes that Philosophical T Philosophy - Are we Willing to Accept the Changes that Philosophical Thinking can Bring? Philosophy is a general overview of how our society functions, by how we think and the many ways in which we act. It can also be described as the love of wisdom. As individuals we are introduced to ideas that test our knowledge of the different concepts of life, with questions such as who are we and why were we brought here? Philosophical questions have made an impact on us with thoughts that don't usually have an answer to the question which was brought forward, and to which neither side knows the answer to. For thousands of years mankind has questioned the origins of human life and the nature of the cosmos. Over the years, great philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle philosophized such questions as: What is the meaning of life on Earth? What were the circumstances that caused us to wonder about why we are here? And which method for searching for the meaning of life do we prefer? Such questions have also boggled my mind. The philosophy of one’s life, can only be answered b y that person whom it consumes. Philosophy and our daily lives are closely linked to each other. At work and or school we are sometimes bombarded with questions that may occasionally affect our way of thinking, and in some cases our moral beliefs. In the community, we are subjected to things that become integrated into our lives, and we are left with the agony of trying to figure out the right or wrong answer, wh...

My Favorite Manager Essay

I worked in Strategic Centre, Consumer support services and global solution centre. I was hired as an front line operative and got promoted to Tech Lead role over time. When I was a trainer, my manager was Navin Kumar. Before working at HP, I used to work with Convergys. I was a front end operative at each of the other jobs before HP. Navin Kumar was my favorite because he had a relaxed mentality to the job but held accountability for actions. He allowed me and the other Trainers to have a say when running the Training module. He had the final say on all ideas but was open for input to improve the function of the Trainers efficiency. He was very personable and did not have the typical manager attitude. If I did my work when he wanted it completed and it was up to his level of quality his relationship was more similar to that of friends than a manager. If you failed to meet his expectations then he came down on me with a very strong force. He was not a typical manager in that sense. He set lofty expectations because he wanted me to succeed at a high level instead of setting low goals and just settling for an easy way out. He would set weekly goals and would reward the highest trainer efficiency scores that was internally maintained by HP Training team. This was motivation to test training methods and try to beat out my co-workers. He also had a level of respect for each of his employees that I never received at one of my other jobs. At HP everyone had the same level of expectations and if you did not meet them, Navin would work with that person to build up their quality of work or they would be mentored more rigorously with a clear performance improvement plan for not meeting expectations. I respected him more for being open to criticism. He would allow his trainers and senior trainers to critique him and help him improve his work quality. If I could work for Navin Kumar again I would immediately†¦

Rap and Hip Hop Culture

It was 1977, and the Summer of Sam was in full swing in New York. But in the neighborhoods and housing projects of the â€Å"boogie down† Bronx New York, a new art form was developing called Hip Hop. This new art form would change America and transcend a generation forever with its influences on fashion, music, and lifestyle. Hip Hop is an urban lifestyle that consists of different subgenres of music such as rap, â€Å"old school† rap and â€Å"gangsta† rap. In my paragraph, I’m going to do a comparison on hip hop and rap. On the surface, they may seem the same, but their just as different as they are alike. In the hip hop subculture, two of the most standard types of music are called rap and hip hop. But there is a thin, fine line that defines the differences between rap and hip hop. In my opinion and many other fans and followers opinions, is that hip hop is a culture, that consists of more things than just music. From clothes styles, slang words, and dances such as breakdancing and more current dances like â€Å"Teach Me How to Dougie†. While rap is a style of music that comes from the culture and has many different genres like â€Å"Old School† and â€Å"Gangsta† rap an is expressed through spoken word to a beat. Hip hop and rap are the same yet so different, because rap is hip hop but hip hop can never be rap. Because Hip Hop is the culture itself, and rap is how the culture explains itself through rhythmic beat and spoken word. In recent years, hip hop has been portrayed in the media as a bad thing. But for anyone who knows and loves the roots of this American icon called hip hop, knows that hip hop music and culture isn’t always negative, and never was conceived and given to the masses of people to start a negative based culture in which it is portrayed today. I am Hip Hop; and yes I do love her.