Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema Analysis Film Studies Essay

Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema Analysis Film Studies Essay In this paper we are going to discuss the position of Laura Malvey in her work Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. We will also discuss how Mulveys thesis may be convincing in one instance but tested to its limitations in another using two examples. The psychoanalytic interpretation of the position of women viewers gets back to the famous essay by Laura Mulvey Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, the original thesis of which was that the film form is structured by the unconscious of the patriarchal society and that woman as a spectator is always imposed the rules of a foreign game getting of the male type of pleasure for example, inherently scopophilic pleasure from the examination of the female body. But the issue in this work is not only and not so much about the pleasure itself, but about more serious things how the vision is the instance of identification formation of the subject through the visual practices and how the power is incorporated into the play that is, the question is raised in the work about the ideological effects of the basic cinematic apparatus. Mulvey argued that ideology is involved in forming the subjectivity of the individual at the level of the unconscious and that is how a female spectator, through borrowing the male gaze, takes the ideology of a patriarchal society, which is imposed. Laura Mulvey in Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema explains how the traditional Hollywood film claims the scopophilic view: In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its phantasy on to the female form which is styled accordingly. In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness. (Malvey, 1975). The woman, demonstrated as a sexual object, acts as a leitmotif of erotic spectacle. The formulated problem in this context may be solved through a strong deconstruction of the vision machine, which constitutes a woman as an image, and a man as an owner of the sight. Mulvey proposes to destroy the voayeristic-scopophilic opinion, consistently destroying cinematic codes that postulate such view. Will this be the solution of the problem? Mulveys emphasis on the analysis of the specific of the cinematographic system, with all its radical and provocative judgements, seems to be legitimate. The real is the question of the discursive mediation properties. However, in general, the psychoanalytic criticism of visual representations may also have a profound methodologic effect. In our work we have to give two examples from visual culture and discuss how Mulveys thesis may be convincing in one instance but tested to its limitations in another. For this discussion I propose to take two films: Rare Window by Alfred Hitchcock and Kill Bill by Quentin Jerome Tarantino. The film Rare Window by Alfred Hitchcock is convicing the thesis of Laura Malvey that Man is the bearer of the look while Woman connotes to-be-looked-at-ness. The main character of this film is put in such conditions that he has to be scopophilic. A photographer Jeffries has broken his leg and now he has to watch everything going on outside through the window. The film reveals to us one of the main needs of men peep through the keyhole, figuratively speaking. It is really impossible to keep away from such a forbidden fruit. And the blame of everything is curiosity, namely it moves the main mechanisms in a man, allowing to forget about other equally important needs (food, rest, sex) and exciting the imagination at a time. In this film everything is concentrated around the man, Jeffries, women are just a background here. In this film we can see many scenes convincing Malveys thesis. Jeff Jeffries (Stewart), a photographer who works in magazine and has broken his leg, is forced to miss in the four walls and have fun just because of peeping into the daily life of the yard, and neighbors with binoculars. Having noticed the suspicious behavior of one of them, he comes to the firm belief that the latter has murdered his wife. Being motionless himself, Jeff enlists the aid of Lisa (Kelly), a quiet blonde working model in the fashion house here she is particularly beautiful. The girl is desperately in love with him and therefore agrees to perform for him a dangerous work down. Of all the works by Hitchcock this is an exercise in scopophilia in which the viewer is nothing left to do but to take part in the process. Its like to stay Hitchcock himself within 112 minutes. Look out the window and see what you should not see says Jeff to the nurse (Ritter), and the viewer looks through the window and sees what the main character sees. A men chained to the chair, staring out the window is one part of the film. The second part shows what he sees, and the third one how he reacts to what he sees. This is the purest expression of the idea of narrative cinema. Another confirmation of Malveys thesis is how Jeffries renews his erotic interest for girlfriend when she enters the other apartment and Jeffries sees her at distance. This is the power from a voyeurism point of view because Jeffries is controlling the visual the spatial and the temporal. In addition the camera movements are dictated by the male hero, Jeffries. Now let us discuss another film, in which Malveys thesis that Man is the bearer of the look while Woman connotes to-be-looked-at-ness in classical Hollywood cinema is tested to its limitations. As an example I would like to take the film Kill Bill by Quentin Tarantino. In this film we see a strong girl who denies Malveys view of women in the Holywood cinema. Having been four years in coma the girl-victim wakes up in the hospital in shock and with the atrophy of muscles, but in a few minutes after waking up she commits a double murder and steals the car of one of her victims. Further, in the course of the movie she can not stop, especially since the recalls, who is responsible for the fact that she has lost her baby, her husband and all the guests at the wedding, where her beating took place. The female character Uma Thurman (the bride) wears little makeup or did her hair in a manner to arouse the male audience through her physical looks. Additonally she hardly smiles on the camera drawing a distinction to the female characters in classical Hollywood cinema. The episode when the bride in cold blood composes a list of five names of her future victims, the main and the latest of which is Bill also deserves a special attantion. Here we see not a classical woman who appears as an erotic object, but a strong, manlike heroine. Further, in the course of the first part the violence over the first two names in the list of death follows. Even in the eyes of the main heroine, the bride, we see a burning, glowing white-hatred and this is the limitation of Malveys thesis that that Man is the bearer of the look while Woman connotes to-be-looked-at-ness in classical Hollywood cinema. The monologues of the character are also uncommon for a classical woman: Look lifeless, right? Well, I am not dead, the fortune smiled at me, thats what I can tell you. It so happened that the last Bills bullet drove me into a coma. In coma I was destined to lie for five years. Then I woke up And immediately I ran, as it is taught by one advertisement, fret and fume. I fumed and raged, and craved, and found blood. In total, until today, I killed 33 people. Only one remained. So, as we can see, the bride is a strong, manlike female character, unusual for the Hollywood cinema. To make a conclusion it should be said that in our work we have discussed the position of Laura Malvey in her work Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. We have also discussed how Mulveys thesis may be convincing in one instance but tested to its limitations in another using two examples. For discussion we took two films: Rare Window by Alfred Hitchcock and Kill Bill by Quentin Jerome Tarantino.

The American Corrections System Criminology Essay

The American Corrections System Criminology Essay In the organizational structure of the American Correctional System, the Department of justice has the overall mandate of overseeing the operations of the whole system. The next in rank is the governor who supervises the correctional facilitys activities. Four directors supervise legislative affairs, quality assurance, public communications, information, and the medical docket. From the directors is the support administration that oversees matters regarding community development, field operations, correctional facilities administration and operations support administration. Under these administrators, there are officers who deal with parole, operations, research and the planning of human resources. These officers also deal with issues regarding money, security, health care and the general welfare of inmates. Correctional management has a wide range of issues and implementations in Americas criminal justice system. The initial and principal part of correctional management involves issues concerning the safety and security of offenders and its staff. In General, the management within these institutions has to declare what it deems to be safe versus what is not. Formulation of rules and policies occurs every other time an ugly incident occurs, immediately changing existing policies. Correctional administration may put into operation policies that may make the survival of inmates to be almost unbearable. Another element of correctional administration is health care, which at times can be very controversial and pose many compilations. Within a prison setting, officers have the responsibility of ensuring that all offenders receive proper medical attention. Some prisons around the country have their own medical facilities as others get charged fees to take their prisoners to a hospital. One of the most important concerns of correctional administration is rehabilitation. Rehabilitation is a broad subject that faces rehabilitating habitual offenders, drug users as well as other offenders with mental issues. Correctional institutions in collaboration operate these rehabilitation programs with the professional assistance of doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists and other additional medical staff. Everyday, different issues arise within the correctional system, but it is how and where the correctional administration either implements new programs, makes changes to correct controversial issue s or plans to do that matters. Correctional units operate independently with their own administration, budget, committees, assets and support staff. Education and work programs are the two most widely used prison-based forms of correctional programs in American prisons for both adult and juvenile offenders (Ira J. Silverman, 1996). These programs include academic education, vocational counseling, vocational training, substance abuse counseling, organized recreation, mental health counseling, positive peer culture and sex offender treatment. Undoubtedly, the dominance of these treatment programs reveal the steadfast belief that work and educational skills-and the good behavior learned in attaining these skills-are essential to get employment opportunities and also being an industrious citizen. These programs do have a reserved impact in the reduction of post release recidivism according to research carried out Inmates also have access to other forms of education like life-skills training. Prisons maintain these educational programs in the belief that upon release to society, many offenders may not have the sort of basic understanding that is essential to functioning in the American society. Thus, these courses teach diverse skills on how to manage ones finances and property, how to apply and interview for a job, good parenting, securing a drivers license and how to live healthy lives. As a final move in preparing inmates for employment after release from correctional facilities, several prisons offer vocational education. Besides these educational programs that attempt to equip inmates with the necessary skills to live productively in society, other correctional facilities institute counseling/psychological programs aimed at changing the underlying problems that led to the offenders criminality. The most common interventions under this system are drug abuse programs, since according to the records, as many as half of all incarcerated criminals enter prison having at least done drugs a few months prior to their arrest. About half of the prison inmates in both state and federal prisons confess to being on drugs at the time of their crime, for which they were consequently jailed (Maguire, Pastore, Greenfield, 2005). Other institutions have some programs called therapeutic communities-in which they house drug-addicted inmates in separate housing units-referred to as Residential Substance Abuse Treatment, which provides drug treatment to such inmates in the separate units. While in other facilities, inmat es participate in individual or group counseling sessions, but happen to live in the general offender population. Correctional facilities normally provide individual and group counseling, aimed at luring inmates into forfeiting their criminal lifestyle. Cognitive-behavioral treatment modality, a technique of growing appeal is widely used due to its growing support for its successes (David Lester, 2009). Despite coming in different forms, these treatment plans target the criminal attitudes and unlawful ways of thinking which encourage unlawful behavior. This intervention involves counselors acting as role models in an effort to reinforce inmates who portray such conduct. Juveniles get privileges for conforming to set standards. Counselors mainly focus on the aspect of offenders thinking and reasoning by challenging rationalizations encouraging criminal conduct, offenders antisocial behavior, failure to face the mistakes they have committed and trying to externalize blame (D.A. Andrews, 2007). Other groups of inmates who get special services in prison are sex and mentally ill offenders. Commonly, sex offenders receive counseling services at both the individual and group levels. Other special services for sex offenders are diagnostic centers and use of therapeutic communities. While for the mentally ill offenders most receive therapy and counseling while in prison, some are on a prescribed medication, whereas others receive treatment in mental institutions. Another form of correctional programs in these prisons is religious volunteer groups and prison chaplains whose main role is providing counseling to inmates. This type of counseling often goes beyond religious matters and to other issues in the offenders lives. There are various types of faith-based programs found within almost every correctional institution. These support and religious programs involve prayer and meditation sessions, Bible study, worship services and peer mentors (Cullen, 2001). As a common practice, management of inmates is through unit management and direct supervision. These methods create a more secure and safer environment for the staff and inmates, by offering proactive monitoring and built-in surveillance. Unit management divides a correctional facility into smaller and easily manageable housing units. Responsibility and authority is decentralized, which provides the staff with an opportunity to solve directly problems. Correctional officers follow the Corrections Corporation of America philosophy of walking and talking, which involves the officers spending time with and among the inmates, rather than distantly monitoring them or occasionally watching their housing units listening to their needs and making a follow up on inmates concerns so as to quell incidents and disputes before they arise. Through unit management, the facilitys staff becomes aware of collective and individual inmate behavior owing to the direct contact and interaction with the in mates. The officers get to identify behavioral changes among the inmates long before they negatively affect the facilitys security. Use of unit management enables officers to get first-hand insight on inmate activities, ensuring effective monitoring of inmates. Alongside unit management, correctional facilities also use direct supervision to manage inmates with correctional officers housed within the inmate housing units. This enables them to become familiar with a units inmates and their daily operations, communication styles they use and other relevant issues regarding inmates housed there. These officers set and reinforce expectations for inmate behavior and instantly address arising issues at the forefront level. This direct interaction between inmates and officers promotes communication, reduces tension and suppresses possible conflicts between the two groups. Direct supervision Fosters staff collaboration, as unit managers, correctional officers, correctional counselors and case managers handle everyday matters concerning safety and security, inmate cases and sanitation, which helps in streamlining operations in the facilities. When used together, direct supervision and unit management offer important opportunities to create a safer, more secure inmate environment, enhancing facility operations and in providing employees with expanded operational tasks. Inmates and staff interact on a more dependable basis, which enhances effective communication between the two groups. The modern private prison business emerged when the Corrections Corporation of America got a contract to take over a facility in Tennessee. This was the first time that any government had outsourced the complete operation of a prison to a private operator. As of today, private companies in the United States run 264 correctional centres, housing almost 100,000 adult criminals. Prison privatization has several advantages, which have led to the immense growth of private prisons. Private prisons as compared to state prisons are more responsible and accountable due to fear of fines. According to a research conducted on the cost/benefit analysis, results indicated that states could save a considerable amount of cash if they used a shared system of both publicly and privately managed prisons. By using the private sector to manage or build prisons, many states believe they can reduce operational costs. Cost comparisons between government and private operation of prisons shows notable cost savings under private administration. While the average cost to hold a prisoner in a state prison is about $40 a day per inmate, many private prisons charge the government considerably lower fees for the same. By contracting out prison labor and paying the prisoners competitive wages, many private firms are reducing prison costs for the state by withholding income earned for taxes, victims compensation and family support. Such employment also provides prisoners with skills and work experience that prepares them for the job market when released from incarceration (Tewksbury, 2006). Various states consider private construction of prisons as a promising solution to the overcrowding crisis in state prisons. Normally, states finance construction of prisons by issuing general obligation bonds or through cash appropriations. The former creates problems, as it requires voters ratification and control by debt limits, while the latter completely lays the financial load of constructing on the states annual budget. The only alternative is private financing through lease agreements or lease purchasing contracts. This option does not require voter approval neither does it place the costs involved on the annual budget. Under a lease/purchase contract, private firms agree to build a prison only if the state signs a long-term lease for the prison. Prompt payments of rent by the government assist the private companies to fund the construction. When the state fully settles the payment, the debt and finance charges, it takes over control of the facility. The private firms benefit from tax waivers and cash inflow from the lease payments. The state benefits from the quick construction, as debt limit limitations do not apply and voter support is not a requirement (Tewksbury, 2006). Privatization of prisons ensures that only those service providers who offer quality products at a competitive market price will survive the operations of a free market. This aspect of privatization argues that a free market introduces efficiency and discipline through the mechanisms of demand and supply. As more criticisms towards prison privatization become evident, it is obvious that rehabilitation of prisoners is not a concern of the influential, since prisoners in private prisons act as cheap labour. The individuals who own private prisons not only make huge returns from the funds provided by the government to run these prisons, but also make great profits from selling the labour provided by their prisoners. Under the disguise of saving taxpayers money, the trend of privatising prisons has gained momentum, whereas the drawbacks of private prisons are hushed-up. Privatization of prisons is one of the countless ways in which the rich exploit people without their utter knowledge, for their own hidden motives by the public. Private prisons have brought about a huge political and sociological change that most people ignore. Living conditions in the prisons have deteriorated and it is evident that abuse of human rights is becoming rather rampant in these prisons as rising abortion rates, rape, use of psychotropic drugs and failing health care systems become known. It is obviously certain that it is in the interests of private prisons to operate for stricter legislation, so that prisoners stay incarcerated for as long as possible. In addition, it is in their interest that the number of prisoners continues to increase significantly, since the more prisoners there are within these prisons, the more profits they earn. Conversely, health care personnel are losing jobs in privately owned prisons, as the number of health care workers engaged by private prisons is considerably low. The influential individuals take advantage of the over populated state operated prisons to make profits from the privately run prisons. The health care facilities in private prisons are extremely bad, a situation which has led to a dramatic increase in the death rate of prisoners. In a number of private prisons, only basic first aid facilities and over the counter drugs are available to prisoners. Owing to the lack of proper medical attention, countless prisoners have resulted to committing suicide. It is the duty of the state to make sure that there is adequate health care offered to prisoners. In fact, the state pays private prisons for basic healthcare cost to cater for every prisoner. However, this money used by the private prisons owners for their own interests. Actually, the disadvantages of prison privatization outwe igh the advantages by far.

Education of Boys in Victorian England :: Victorian Era

Education of Boys in Victorian England The Upper and Middle Classes * The Elementary School Act of 1870 made school compulsory up to the age of 12. * The most famous group of public schools was referred to as â€Å"the Nine Great Public Schools.† * The famous schools were Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester, Shrewsbury, Charterhouse, Westminster, St. Paul's, and Merchant Taylors. * These schools were originally opened up to everyone and sustained through the donations of wealthy donors. Initially taught boys Latin and Greek grammar but in 1861 the administration was changed and more of the sciences were included. As a result, the schools became public in name only and were attended pretty much by upper class and middle class boys only. * Children of the upper and middle classes were taught at home by governesses or tutors until they were old enough to attend public schools. * Public schools were important for sons of well-off or aspiring families because schools gave them the opportunity to establish connections which could later help them out in their careers. * Most of the boys that attended these schools went off to Cambridge and Oxford and then later on to Parliament. * George Osborne was not of the upper classes but he interacted a lot with them and it was a possibility for a gain in status. * A lot of emphasize was placed on athletic games. They oftentimes even took precedence over the learning of Greek and Latin. Being a sportsman reaffirmed a man's leadership. The Lower Classes * Boys of the lower classes were excluded from attending the â€Å"public† schools of England because they did not fit into what was expected of the boys that attended those schools. * The boys attending the public schools were most often than not of well to do families, which meant they would be well-dressed, well-mannered boys. * Boys from the lower classes did not have the same upbringing and as a result did not fit into the public schools instead they attended what were often referred to as Ragged Schools. Purposes of Education * For the upper classes, the purpose of an education was to raise gentlemen and prepare them for prestigious appointments in Parliament or government.

Communication Essays -- Informative

Communication embodies the ability for one to convey a message through the use of verbals (words) and non-verbals (behaviours) in a process to compare, transmit and interpret messages. Garside and Kleiner (2007) portrays communication as sharing thoughts and feelings with other people. For this process to be effective the message should be transmitted with "maximum accuracy and minimum effort" (Garside and Kleiner 2007) with "mindfulness" (Burgoon, Bieger and Waldron 2002) from both parties. Mindfulness requires the sender and receiver to be alert to "the content, situation and sequence of verbal messages, as well as the paralinguistic cues, gestures, facial expression, body movements and cues produced by the physical environment that occupy verbal messages" (Burgoon, Burger and Waldron 2000). Not everyone is competent in transmitting information, this results in ineffective communication. Ineffective communication can be interpreted as neglecting mindfulness during an interaction, h indering the process of obtaining valuable information and ineffectively transmitting our thoughts and beliefs across. Interpersonal communication is "a distinctive, transactional form of human communication involving mutual influence, usually for the purpose of managing relationships" (Beebe, Beebe and Redmond 2008). By studying interpersonal communicating skills, one can hope to gain an appreciation for the benefits of using effective communication skills on a daily basis. This reflective essay will analyse and deconstruct the effective and ineffective communication skills which were used in an interaction involving myself. In an effort to develop new skills, identify, deepen and improve on existing knowledge, an examination and reflection of ineffe... ...y interaction which hinders our ability to develop new relationships and build from existing ones. I believe the reflection of ineffective communication is essential in the process of developing a more effective style of communication which can be used to convey and interpret interpersonal messages. Through the studying and correct use of verbal and nonverbal messages, future interactions can be dealt with accordingly by applying the interpersonal skills learnt and practiced. Conversely, many situations we encounter on a daily basis might not be the same as one another because everybody is different, thus, it is beneficial to learn many skills to apply to different encounters. Ultimately, the goal of effective interpersonal communication is to acknowledge "Everyone wants to feel that they are important and that their message is valued" (Garside and Kleiner 1991).

Designing a Butterfly Garden for the Blind :: Architecture Design Essays

Designing a Butterfly Garden for the Blind The research and preparation for this essay have made me realize not only how interesting and unique this project is, but also how useful and valuable such a â€Å"Garden for the Blind† could really be. The blindfolded Butterfly Garden experience specifically helped me realize to a great extent how much we as humans greatly overemphasize our sense of sight, and do not take full advantage of all the senses most of us have been blessed with to use and appreciate. Just as the restaurant â€Å"Dans le Noir?† is not restricted to only the blind, I believe this Garden for the Blind should be for everyone to enjoy and experience. Perhaps those patrons who are gifted with sight could do as we did at the Butterfly Garden and close their eyes, wear sunglasses, put on blindfolds, or whatever means of covering their eyes so that they could truly feel the impact of the garden’s beauty without relying on merely the sense of sight. Joy Malnar and Frank Vodvarkaà ¢â‚¬â„¢s Sensory Design helped accustom me to the idea that our other senses are just as important, but vastly underused, when compared with the sense of sight. The architecturally-focused book’s brief section on gardens and emphasis on non-ocular senses helped me start thinking in the proper frame of mind for this garden’s design. Richard Florida’s The Rise of the Creative Class was able to aid in my creative thinking processes, and proved very helpful thanks to the revelation that creativity is not a â€Å"gift† that only some people are blessed with, but rather a frame of mind that anyone who works hard enough can attain and master for some creative purpose. All of these various sources helped provide me with the right mindset and creative energy in order to come up with the ideas and thoughts about the â€Å"Garden for the Blind† I am about to describe. A continuing theme that one cannot avoid when considering developing anything geared specifically toward the blind is that all visual, sight-based elements are useless. However, this is not to say that the designer is greatly limited or handicapped. The wealth of possibilities that exist through taking advantage of all our other, non-exploited senses is endless. Designing a Butterfly Garden for the Blind :: Architecture Design Essays Designing a Butterfly Garden for the Blind The research and preparation for this essay have made me realize not only how interesting and unique this project is, but also how useful and valuable such a â€Å"Garden for the Blind† could really be. The blindfolded Butterfly Garden experience specifically helped me realize to a great extent how much we as humans greatly overemphasize our sense of sight, and do not take full advantage of all the senses most of us have been blessed with to use and appreciate. Just as the restaurant â€Å"Dans le Noir?† is not restricted to only the blind, I believe this Garden for the Blind should be for everyone to enjoy and experience. Perhaps those patrons who are gifted with sight could do as we did at the Butterfly Garden and close their eyes, wear sunglasses, put on blindfolds, or whatever means of covering their eyes so that they could truly feel the impact of the garden’s beauty without relying on merely the sense of sight. Joy Malnar and Frank Vodvarkaà ¢â‚¬â„¢s Sensory Design helped accustom me to the idea that our other senses are just as important, but vastly underused, when compared with the sense of sight. The architecturally-focused book’s brief section on gardens and emphasis on non-ocular senses helped me start thinking in the proper frame of mind for this garden’s design. Richard Florida’s The Rise of the Creative Class was able to aid in my creative thinking processes, and proved very helpful thanks to the revelation that creativity is not a â€Å"gift† that only some people are blessed with, but rather a frame of mind that anyone who works hard enough can attain and master for some creative purpose. All of these various sources helped provide me with the right mindset and creative energy in order to come up with the ideas and thoughts about the â€Å"Garden for the Blind† I am about to describe. A continuing theme that one cannot avoid when considering developing anything geared specifically toward the blind is that all visual, sight-based elements are useless. However, this is not to say that the designer is greatly limited or handicapped. The wealth of possibilities that exist through taking advantage of all our other, non-exploited senses is endless.

Community And Social Structure

The idea of people being social in nature can be clearly illustrated by the groups, or communities that one sees all around them. Groups of individuals share a common perspective of what reality consists of, this is known as culture(Charon, 1997). This reality is perceived through our interactions with others in the group and by what our position is within that group(Charon, 1997). The way in which we see the world is in a sense limited by both our position and our interactions. In order to actually fill your position in the group you need to have a working set of ideas and concepts to get the job done(Charon, 1997). This working set of ideas is actually formed by the interactions that you have with other people who have the same position as you. It works for everyone else, and therefore you can t just randomly choose another set of concepts and ideas andexpect them to work, so you choose the ideas, concepts, and means that your peers use(Charon, 1997). For instance, if you are a Chemist, you obtain knowledge and perspectives consistent of your environment, i. e. chemistry, you would not learn a great deal about molecular biology because those concepts and ideas are not useful to you. We don t have a complete picture of everything around usbecause we perceive only the things which fit into our social structure(Charon, 1997). Reality is not a Velcro Nerf dart toss of facts and ideas, but rather a magnetic selection of those facts and ideas which are conducive to our pre-constructed structure. To one man power and riches are the greatest thing to achieve, but to a bum The oiliest thing is to have a warm placeto sleep (Coleman,1982:207). It s unfortunate that these conceptscan be utilized by a dictator to gain control and power for his own ideas and concepts. Hitler was just such a man, he used a social construct known as patriotism, that is, sense of pride and connection with everyone within a society. Hitler rallied people by the droves claiming economic bloom, and prosperity for all if they submit to the organization, and promised death to any that were not within that organization. He kept them thinking the same thoughts, holding the same beliefs, and striving towards a common cause, and six million Jewish people gave their lives up for not being part of his concept of community. The German people believed in the concepts and ideas because Hitler was going to bring them prosperity once he got rid of those niggardly Jews. When someone is told to electrocute another person to train them to respond with positive answers only, they take it as their role to do so without questioning, even if the shock was strong enough to be lethal(Meyers, 1970). Such was the case in a study done in North Carolina(Meyers, 1970). It illustrates how we are socialized to be an equal member of the community. We do and believe that which is necessary to fulfill our role in the community, and so our perspective is that of our communities. Charon, 1997) In short, we all are socialized into the people we become, and we only associate with people that are socialized in a similar manner as ourselves(Charon, 1997). Those that are similar form a community and teach new members of the community what their status quo is through example and explicit instruction. And this is what makes us social in nature, that we rely on others to justify ourselves, this need for acceptance leads us to alter our perspective to match that of those we wish to be accepted by. The social structure being what it is, there is a situation in which ones community can be very limiting. Take the homeless for example, a homeless person has ragged clothes, no address, no phone number, sometimes no identification, and no resources for obtaining these(Coleman, 1982). A homeless person would need a job to get the necessary components needed to get a job, and so they have restricted life chances(Coleman, 1982). The homeless learn this and limit themselves further by believing that their position is the only one they can hold, and have no choice(Coleman, 1982). Community And Social Structure The idea of people being social in nature can be clearly illustrated by the groups, or communities that one sees all around them. Groups of individuals share a common perspective of what reality consists of, this is known as culture(Charon, 1997). This reality is perceived through our interactions with others in the group and by what our position is within that group(Charon, 1997). The way in which we see the world is in a sense limited by both our position and our interactions. In order to actually fill your position in the group you need to have a working set of ideas and concepts to get the job done(Charon, 1997). This working set of ideas is actually formed by the interactions that you have with other people who have the same position as you. It works for everyone else, and therefore you can t just randomly choose another set of concepts and ideas andexpect them to work, so you choose the ideas, concepts, and means that your peers use(Charon, 1997). For instance, if you are a Chemist, you obtain knowledge and perspectives consistent of your environment, i. e. chemistry, you would not learn a great deal about molecular biology because those concepts and ideas are not useful to you. We don t have a complete picture of everything around usbecause we perceive only the things which fit into our social structure(Charon, 1997). Reality is not a Velcro Nerf dart toss of facts and ideas, but rather a magnetic selection of those facts and ideas which are conducive to our pre-constructed structure. To one man power and riches are the greatest thing to achieve, but to a bum The oiliest thing is to have a warm placeto sleep (Coleman,1982:207). It s unfortunate that these conceptscan be utilized by a dictator to gain control and power for his own ideas and concepts. Hitler was just such a man, he used a social construct known as patriotism, that is, sense of pride and connection with everyone within a society. Hitler rallied people by the droves claiming economic bloom, and prosperity for all if they submit to the organization, and promised death to any that were not within that organization. He kept them thinking the same thoughts, holding the same beliefs, and striving towards a common cause, and six million Jewish people gave their lives up for not being part of his concept of community. The German people believed in the concepts and ideas because Hitler was going to bring them prosperity once he got rid of those niggardly Jews. When someone is told to electrocute another person to train them to respond with positive answers only, they take it as their role to do so without questioning, even if the shock was strong enough to be lethal(Meyers, 1970). Such was the case in a study done in North Carolina(Meyers, 1970). It illustrates how we are socialized to be an equal member of the community. We do and believe that which is necessary to fulfill our role in the community, and so our perspective is that of our communities. In short, we all are socialized into the people we become, and we only associate with people that are socialized in a similar manner as ourselves(Charon, 1997). Those that are similar form a community and teach new members of the community what their status quo is through example and explicit instruction. And this is what makes us social in nature, that we rely on others to justify ourselves, this need for acceptance leads us to alter our perspective to match that of those we wish to be accepted by. The social structure being what it is, there is a situation in which ones community can be very limiting. Take the homeless for example, a homeless person has ragged clothes, no address, no phone number, sometimes no identification, and no resources for obtaining these(Coleman, 1982). A homeless person would need a job to get the necessary components needed to get a job, and so they have restricted life chances(Coleman, 1982). The homeless learn this and limit themselves further by believing that their position is the only one they can hold, and have no choice(Coleman, 1982).

Leadership in the African American Community Essay

Since slavery, African Americans have gone through a lot to reach their current state. In the early 20th century, African Americans faced discrimination, isolation, and were segregated according to their skin color. It started when Europeans brought the first Africans to America, and continued throughout the Civil War. The American government made some changes in policies. A variety of leaders shaped the successful struggle toward black equality in America (Bowles, 2011). Ever since slavery begun, African Americans have been determined to end segregation, discrimination, and isolation. Activists such as, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, and others, joined together to put an end to segregation, discrimination, and isolation to attain civil rights and equality. Slavery had changed dramatically in the late 1600s. About this time the slave trade to American colonies also began increasing to meet the demand for cheap labor. Traders sold slaves to the Northern colonies, but English and other European immigrants satisfied the demand for labor there (Echerd, 2009). Slaves in America came from western and central Africa. African tribes sometimes enslaved those defeated in intertribal wars and sold their captives to European slave traders. The tribes raided villages to obtain slaves to trade for European goods. Slave traders had even offered the Africans guns and other goods for the slaves. Slaves lived a rough, hard life. Cheap labor was a huge part of their lives. They had to work from sunrise to sunset. The work consisted of clearing land, tended to fields of tobacco, rice, and vegetables. They also performed many other tasks that had helped make plantations almost completely self-sufficient. No slaves saw any money for their tasks that they had performed, but they did receive food, clothing, and shelter. The slaves had resided in small one-room huts, which had no windows and the floors were all dirt. Most slaves accepted their living condition, however, they knew no other way of life (Koehler, 2009). However, white Southerners regained control of state governments in the South during the late 1870s, however, and reversed most of the previous gains made by former slaves. For example: segregation. What is segregation? According to Webster’s Dictionary, to segregate is defined as to separate or set apart from others; isolate or to require, often with force, the separation of a specific racial, religious, or other group from the body of society. Segregation has been a part of our American heritage, almost from the moment slaves arrived on the shores of the New World (Bowles, 2011). In 17th century Virginia, the theocratic government feared that racial mixing between freed and enslaved blacks and white indentured servants would become a means to usurp government power. They passed laws in which the color line was clearly defined in any criminal punishments. By treating whites and blacks separately and unequally, these Virginian leaders set up a system of white supremacy that would become an essential component of American slavery. Separation and segregation was the order of the day, with African Americans being forced to ride in separate railroad cars, have their own hotels and courthouses, and even get water out of their own drinking fountains. Their children could not attend the same schools with the White children. To further push the color-line, they then added in segregation with the Jim Crow Laws. This is mainly because the Whites were considered to be superior, and hence were thought to deserve better schools with better facilities. African Americans on the other hand were considered inferior, and hence their children attended low-quality schools that lacked adequate facilities (Sitkoff & Franklin, 2008). The Northern States, which had grew and prospered during the war, believed the former slaves to be equal as any other person. The Southern States, still angry over the loss of the war and their firm belief in White superiority, took a different approach. They created and enforced what were known as the Black Codes. These were legislations passed in Southern states to control labor, migration and other activities of the freed slaves. Black Codes allowed legal marriage, property ownership and limited access to the court systems. It prohibited them from testifying against whites, serving on juries or militias, voting and publicly expressing any form of legal concerns ( www. history. com). Any former slave that did not sign yearly labor contract with the plantation owners could be arrested and hired out. The Black codes in short allowed for the continued and legal discrimination against the former slaves (www. history. com). Congress quickly responded to these laws in 1866 and seized the initiative in remaking the south. Republicans wanted to ensure that with the remaking the south, freed blacks were made viable members of society. But the strong southern legislatures finally gave in; in 1868 they repealed most of the laws that discriminated against blacks. Things were starting to look up. But by 1877 Democratic parties regained their power of the south and ended reconstruction. In 1882, southern states passed Jim Crow laws that enforced strict segregation between blacks and whites and limited African-American civil rights. This was devastating to the blacks. After all the strides they made were reversed. From holding political offices, the right to vote, and participating as equal members of society was changed. The south gradually reinstated the racially discriminatory laws. The two main goals they wanted these laws to achieve: disenfranchisement and segregation. To take away the power that the blacks had gained, the Democratic Party began to stop Blacks from voting. There were many ways to stop blacks from voting. Some of these things were poll tax, which were fees were charged at voting booths and were expensive for most blacks, and the literacy test. Since teaching blacks were illegal, most adult blacks were former slaves and illiterate. And the other goal, segregation, causes the democrats to create laws that segregated the schools and public facilities. The Northern States, which had grew and prospered during the war, believed the former slaves to be equal as any other person. The Southern States, still angry over the loss of the war and their firm belief in White superiority, took a different approach. They created and enforced what were known as the Black Codes. These were legislations passed in Southern states to control labor, migration and other activities of the freed slaves. Black Codes allowed legal marriage, property ownership and limited access to the court systems. It prohibited them from testifying against whites, serving on juries or militias, voting and publicly expressing any form of legal concerns. Any former slave that did not sign yearly labor contract with the plantation owners could be arrested and hired out. The Black codes in short allowed for the continued and legal discrimination against the former slaves. Just like some African Americans activists fought this segregation, some Whites had some groups of their own to carry the segregation on and on. The Ku Klux Klan was one of them. The Ku Klux Klan, Knights of White Camellia, and other terrorists murdered thousands of blacks and some whites to prevent them from voting and participating in public life. The KKK was founded in 1865 to 1866. They directed their violence towards black landowners, politicians, and community leaders. They also did this to people who supported Republicans or racial equalities (Anti-Defamation League, 2012). After the abolishment of slavery in the U. S. the KKK formed. They hated blacks and would commit crimes against them. Murders, hangings, and lynches are just some of the crimes against the blacks (www. kkk. bz, n. d. ). The Ku Klux Klan claims to be just defending their people like other races do. What is a lynching? Lynching is a form of punishment with no legal permission. Most times lynching occurred against African Americans by hanging them. This was very popular during the Gilded Age after the American Civil War when African Americans were freed from slavery. Many White men would use lynching against Black men for being in a mixed relationship with a White woman. However, because lynching had no legal basis, it was thought to have been a tool that was used against freed slaves that had achieved financial stability and authority in order to remain a White-dominated nation. Lynching was most likely performed by White Supremacy groups like the KKK. Lynching was done by hanging or shooting, or both. However, many were of a more hideous nature. Burning at the stake, maiming, dismemberment, castration, and other brutal methods of physical torture are all part of a lynching. Lynching therefore was a cruel combination of racism and sadism, which was utilized primarily to sustain the caste system in the South. Many white people believed that Negroes could only be controlled by fear. To them, lynching was seen as the most effective means of control. Defending your people is one thing, but to torture another human being is inhuman. The KKK has several stories out there today on how they treated the blacks, whether they did anything wrong or not. For instance, a Louisiana woman is in critical condition after she was set on fire, resulting in burns on roughly 60 percent of her body, and her car appears to have had racial slurs written on it at the time of her attack (Mach, n. d. ). They had even gone as far as church bombings. The KKK launched a bomb into a church during a Sunday service, which left four innocent teenage girls dead. The men responsible hid behind the cloak of secrecy, intimidation and the white robes of the oldest terrorist organization in the world, the Ku Klux Klan (Gado, n. d. ). Therefore, until the Civil Rights Act of 1964, racial discrimination is an issue that was not seriously tackled. The act was a successful result of most wide-ranging civil rights legislation and Civil Rights Movements for close to a century (Finkelman, 2009). The act declared discrimination on the basis of color, race, ethnicity, religion, and many other aspects as unconstitutional. During the critical years from 1954 to 1963, a variety of leaders with different backgrounds, such as lawyers from the NAACP, women sitting on buses, ministers from southern black churches, militants from black power organizations, and youth from colleges had shaped the successful struggle toward black equality in America (Bowles, 2011). In 1896, the Supreme Court’s Plessy v. Ferguson decision established that â€Å"separate but equal† facilities for whites and blacks were allowable under the U. S. Constitution. Local governmental officials could designate separate public facilities like drinking fountains, restrooms, and schools. Even courthouses often had separate Bibles according to the defendant’s race. The problem was that separate usually meant unequal, and segregation subverted the freedom of every African American (Sundquist, 1993). Now, it is time for the African- Americans to fight back. The incident that made them want to make a difference was the Rosa Park bus ride. After a long day of work on December 1, 1955, Parks, feet hurt, looked forward to sitting on the bus for her ride home. At the time, there was a city ordinance stating that African Americans had to give up their seats on a train or bus if a white man asked for them. When a white man approached Parks and told her that he wanted her seat, she simply said no. Although she acted as a private citizen, her response was as an informed, committed member of the NAACP movement. The bus driver had asked Parks to move. When she did not, the bus driver said, â€Å"Look, woman, I told you I wanted the seat. Are you going to stand up? † When Parks again said no, the driver threatened, â€Å"If you don’t stand up, I’m going to have you arrested. † She gave no reply but at the next stop, Rosa was arrested (Garrow, 2004). A pastor known as Martin Luther King Jr., organized a boycott, the Montgomery bus boycott. King Jr. took this to a higher level and maintained and organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which coordinated similar bus boycotts in other cities. Shortly after the boycott, King had found a bomb on his porch. King went to Birmingham, Alabama, where he continued his nonviolent protests and marches. However, the police authorized force to disband King’s followers by using electric cattle prods, tear gas, and fire hoses (Bowles, 2011). King was arrested with the others, but upon his release from jail he went to Washington, D. C., where he and demonstrators met at the National Mall and addressed them with his famous â€Å"We Shall Overcome† speech on August 23, 1963. King’s words at the capital that day were a defining moment of the Civil Rights movement. Other demonstrations and civil disobedience campaigns sought to increase African-American voter registration and win better jobs. Malcolm X actively promoted the Black Muslim cause. Even after speaking about non-violence and wanting peace, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. The civil rights movement dramatically increased participation of African- American voters in both the South and the North today. By the mid-70s some 4000 African-Americans have been elected to political office at all levels of government. Qualified African-Americans now have a wider range of opportunities than ever before. Whether you are White or African-American, each group has faced its own peculiar challenges on its approach to democracy (Rappaport, 2001). This racism is wrong and unconstitutional. The 13th Amendment is ratified, abolishing slavery, which some people still went against it. The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to the former slaves and forbade states from denying any person life, liberty, or property without due process of the law. The 14th Amendment also guaranteed equal protection of the law for all citizens. The 15th Amendment barred states from denying citizens the right to vote based on race, color, or previous servitude (Hertz, 2009). In a perfect world, everyone would be equal. The color of one’s skin, religious beliefs or sexual preference would mean nothing. We would accept everyone for whom and what they are. We would rejoice in the differences between each other instead of belittling, hating and discriminating against those differences. We don’t however live in a perfect world. We live in a world filled with distrust and hate. If we don’t know or understand it in our society, then it is wrong. It will be discriminated against in one form or another. We as a country have made major strides in overcoming racism, however we still have far to go. In conclusion, African Americans faced isolation, discrimination, and segregation during the post-construction period. Racial discrimination was also prevalent in the military where back soldiers were considered inferior to white soldiers and hence poorly trained and equipped. The issue of racial discrimination, isolation and segregation was not seriously tackled until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted. Civil rights activists such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. organized the famous 1963 protest in Washington that eventually forced President John Kennedy to pass the Act. It is therefore, clear that the journey to end isolation, discrimination, and segregation to attain equality and civil rights has been hard but worthwhile. ? References Bowles, M. (2011). American History 1865- Present End of Isolation. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint. Retrieved at: https://content. ashford. edu/books/AUHIS204. 11. 2 Finkelman, P. (2009) Encyclopedia of African American history, 1896-present, Madison Avenue, New York: Oxford University Press Rappaport, D. (2001). Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Sitkoff, H. , & Franklin, J. (2008) The Struggle for Black equality. Hill and Wang Publication http://www. adl. org/learn/ext_us/kkk/default. asp? LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=4&item=kkk http://www. history. com/topics/black-codes Civil Rights Act of 1964 http://www. ourdocuments. gov/doc. php? doc=97&page=transcript.