Murderers Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Murderers - Research Paper Example Again, the main motivation for serial killing is the attainment of psychological gratification. Ted Bundy has been chosen as the epitome of a serial murderer. Known by his full name Theodore Robert Bundy (November 24th, 1946- January 24th, 1989), Ted Bundy was an American serial murderer, kidnapper, rapist and necrophile. By the 1970s, he had murdered and assaulted several girls and young women. Although Bundy denied his criminal exploits for decades, yet he later confessed before his execution, of having committed 30 homicides between 1974 and 1978, and in seven states. However, the actual number of Bundy’s victims remains unknown, and is deemed to be higher. It is observed that Bundy used his charisma and good looks to lure his victims into his deadly traps (Holmes and Holmes, 2009). Ted Bundy was born on November 24th, 1946 to Eleanor Louise and an unidentified father by the name of Lloyd Marshall, at the Lund Family Center. For the first 3 years, Bundy’s maternal grandparents took care of him in Philadelphia. Later on, Eleanor Louise changed her name, ran away with Ted to Tacoma, Washington where he met and remarried Johnny C. Bundy, then, a hospital cook. Records reveal of Bundy having been arrested twice on suspicion of car theft and burglary. From 1974, his earliest documented act of homicide was entered. The crimes that Ted Bundy committed are multiple, and include serial killings, kidnappings, rape and necrophilia. It is not known exactly how many young women and girls Bundy killed, but documents show that he confessed having murdered (at least) 30 of them. Some of Bundy’s victims include Karen Sparks (Joni Lenz), Lynda Ann Healy, Dona Gail Manson, Brenda Carol Ball, Georgeann Hawkins, Denise Naslund, Nancy Wilcox, Melissa Smith, Debra Kent, Caryn Campbell and Susan Curtis. According to Newton (2009), a Utah highway Patrol officer arrested Ted Bundy in August 1975,

The story of Reggie Kelsey

The story of Reggie Kelsey Problem Background While reading the true story of Reggie Kelsey it appeared that there were many psychological, biological, and social aspects that lead to his final outcome, death by suicide. This paper will focus on the sociological aspect of what led Reggie to decline in society, was simply that Reggie aged out of foster care. Three and a half months after he aged out of foster care Reggie was found dead in Des Moines River. Foster care, though a temporary placement for youths, until they reach eighteen years old was the one conclusive factor that kept Reggie alive. Foster care, a social agency, was involved in providing social services that were to ultimately prepare Reggie for transition into dependency; these transactions should be viewed as a macro systems problem. Reggie was pushed out into the world without possessing the skills that would have kept him alive because there was a time allotment on how long he could use the services of foster care. Though Reggie had a helping network it was weak, and he lacked several resources that would have kept him from being homeless and from death. Though youths who age out of foster care are seen as regular teens, most of them lack the stability of family, food, and shelter that a normal teenager would have. In stage five of Eriksons psychosocial development, which involves the transition period from childhood to adolescence where they establish their identity; it is clear that Reggies inability to integrate his role into his new environment after aging out, suffered and left him uncertain about his identity. Aging out of foster care when not developmentally ready left Reggie without power, coping skills to adapt, structure, and strict supervision needed for survival, especially for a person with an IQ l evel that considered him to be mentally delayed. Literature Review Imagine one day having a strong, well connected supportive network that kept you living and the next day that system abandons you. According to Atkinson (2008) approximately 20,000 youth age out of and exit foster care each year, and the majority of them face challenges because they have been abandoned by the only support system they know (p. 187). Avery and Freundlich (2009) reported that many youth lack social support, economic resources, and independent living skills which cause them to be less inclined to become successful adults. Avery and Freundlich further noted that foster care support, which provides housing, financial support, and a range of health, education and other needed services, typically ends when youth are developmentally unprepared to assume full adult roles and responsibilities (p. 248). Youth like Reggie Kelsey who age out foster care because of some type of neglect or abuse are more likely to have problems forming positive interpersonal relationships, reduced e ducational attainment, increased delinquent behavior, and engage in high-risk behavior (Atkinson, 2008, p. 183). They simply find it difficult transitioning from one social environment to another, with significant problems impeding their way to becoming successful adults. When aging out of foster care, youth experience challenges such as homelessness, unemployment, and lack a support system. All the challenges from aging out of foster care generated Reggies symptoms that led him to become suicidal. Atkinson (2008) explained that maintaining successful housing presents a significant barrier for youths after emancipation from foster care placing them on an often irreversible path to failure (p. 188). Since Reggie did not have stable housing when he aged out of foster care, he was not under a constant supervision that could have kept him alive. Being homeless is not an ideal situation for any persons, but for adolescents particularly it leads to having identity diffusion, where they suffer from a serious lack of direction and ability to make sound decision. Chronic stress has been found to negatively impact learning, memory, and executive functioning (Avery and Freundlich, 2009, p. 251). Homelessness can also viewed as great stressor and coupled with psychological variables are aspects that lead to suicide in adolescence. Unemployment plagues youths that age out of foster care significantly to where they end up involved in criminal activity, in poverty, or on public assistance. Being unemployed can be a blow to an adolescence ego because they are not able to support themselves they result to criminal activity to take care of themselves, or feel like life is not worth living. Living more independently was the most common living situation for young people who remained in the foster care system after age eighteen years. According to Atkinson (2008) Close to two-thirds of adults in their twenties receives economic support from their parents (Atkinson, 2008, p. 193). In the case of Reggie, he had no support financial support from parents, he was on his own, and with little to no employment skills it would shows that the odds were truly stacked against him. Avery and Freundlich believed independent living is simply not a feasible option for the majority of youth in foster care who lack the social scaffolding of stable family and community networks (p. 253). Reggie may have had a helping network that worked within the social service system but he lacked the connections that a state based system provides. In the absence of a distinct social network for foster youth aging out of care decisively infer unacceptable subsequent foster care outcomes. Youth that age out of foster care already feel sense of powerlessness, and hopelessness, and as they move towards independence they still need a social environment to fall back on; they can not do it all by themselves especially at eighteen. Discussion 1- Ethics Though aging out foster care youths when they are not independently developed violates several NASW codes of ethics, the two that principally led to Reggies demise are sections 1.14 and 1.16. In section 1.14 it states when social workers act on behalf of clients who lack the capacity to make informed decisions, social workers should take reasonable steps to safeguard the interests and rights of those clients. By aging out Reggie, who was mentally disabled, the foster care system took away his basic right to thrive. The process of aging out foster care youths who are unable to make sound decisions without providing extensive care after is unethical. In section 1.16 it categorizes when it is acceptable to terminate services for a client. There is one significant factor that correlates to all youth aging out of foster care, and in this factor, b, it states that social workers should take steps to avoid abandoning services, withdraw only under unusual circumstances, and carefully consider all factors making sure to minimize adverse effects. With this statement it can be visualized that when deciding to age out a youth there is no consideration taken to counteract any of these factors. The fatal determinant that youth face when aged out is that the youth have to face several adverse factors. In Reggies situation there could be minimal responsibility placed on him resulting in his final outcome, but only if someone was trying to advert attention from their unethical mistakes. In section 1.14 vehemently relates to Reggie and sets aside those minimal mistakes, because as a mentally disabled child he relied heavily on the states decisions to safeguard his life. In the end the state aged Reggie out at eighteen which is not unusual; this is not an age that necessarily attest to the fact that a person is ready for all that accompanies adulthood. Discussion 2- Practice A 2007 article in the journal, Child Adolescent Social Work, examines the practice issues for teenagers aging out of foster care (Scannapieco, Connell-Carrick, Painter, 2007). The foster youth stated, foster youth and sub-systems involved with foster youth after they age out discussed three very important practice themes that should be addressed. The first theme was to have a youth focused practice; here foster youth thought the change needed was that they wanted to be involved in the decision-making. They expressed how they thought it was disrespectful to them because they were not asked what they thought they were just told; unlike an adult who has the ultimate say in their own lives. The next theme that youth expressed was a challenge was communication and collaboration. There is a break down in communication when it came to the sub-systems, with missing important information and lack of accurate knowledge about supports and services available. Everyone identified a solution of a need for one individual responsible for facilitating the coordination of planning amongst the sub-systems. The last important theme suggested was the need for more skill building opportunities. The youth focus group felt they were unprepared for independent living and what training they got they were unable to practice them before being aged out. They wanted better understanding of their own health and mental health needs, also advocacy for better educational setting. Recommendations There were many different actions the foster care system could have taken to prevent Reggie Kelseys outcome. The actions that would have helped Reggie even if they still aged him out would have been intense independent living training, strict follow up meetings with caseworker and a monitor, or buddy-system release could have been incorporated. For an adolescent like Reggie with a mild level of mental disability training is important; there needs to be practice of everyday situations so issues that arise are not uncommon to him. This action helps because if he gets into a situation that he has had training he will know the best option, but depending on the situation he could be overpowered or influenced by another component. A second action of follow up meetings and a monitor could have helped because the caseworker could have been in tuned to the needs of Reggie. A weekly schedule, then bi-weekly, then monthly, up until he was stable would have been best. Also the monitor anklet, or bracelet would give the caseworker a constant notation of where Reggie was. This the best plan of action for a person like Reggie even though they may feel like they are on probation it keeps them under strict supervision and needs are easily accessed. The last option of a buddy-system where foster youth are age out in pairs is a good option, each person is has a peer to relate and talk with. This would be helpful though the two are in the same boat and neither is a professional, and one may abandon the other. References Atkinson, M. (2008). Aging out of foster care: Towards a universal safety net for former foster care youth. Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, 43(1), 183-212. doi: Article. Avery, R. J., Freundlich, M. (2009). Youre all grown up now: Termination of foster care support at age 18. Journal of Adolescence, 32(2), 247-257. doi: doi: DOI: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2008.03.009. Code of Ethics (English and Spanish). (n.d.). . Retrieved November 2, 2009, from http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/code.asp. Scannapieco, M., Connell-Carrick, K., Painter, K. (2007). In their own words: challenges facing youth aging out of foster care. Child Adolescent Social Work Journal, 24(5), 423-435. doi: Article.

Body Piercing 101 Essay examples -- essays research papers

Body Piercing 101   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are various aspects through which people identify themselves. People are always sending some sort of message out at all times. These messages are means of communications about the individual to his or her peers and to society. Styles of dress, language, music, and dance are some of the ways that describes one’s own unique symbols, values, and meanings. One other signifier of identity is body piercing. Body piercing is a form of body modification, in which you puncture a hole in a part of your body and insert some kind of jewelry in the wound to keep it from closing. Body piercing has been a way for people to express themselves for many centuries. For some, it may be a fad, religious ritual, aesthetic or just to be â€Å"in†. Below I would explain, the diversity among the way people used body piercing in the ancient era and now in the 21st century.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many years ago piercing developed and became many diverse qualities such as wealth, courage, and power. For example, the nose piercing has been known to have originated in the Middle East over four thousand years ago. The women in India adorned their noses with expensive gold nose jewelry. The kind of jewelry they wore distinguished their title and rank in their society. Wearing body jewelry to show the rank in society was a very common motivation for piercing in the ancient era. Nipple piercing served a purpose for the Romans. It would signify their s...

Although Protestants

The end of 20th Century saw denominationalism crop up in the church which was eroding the traditions upon which the Christian faith was based. Although Protestants started a good thing, in the end it spurned out of control as many sought to have a denomination that could give them an identity and a sense of purpose in the carrying out the mission of Christianity.Denominationalism has been hailed as an evil thought but ironically it is replacing the religious practices. In the old times, it was associated with ethnic, racial or even class division but with modern times it has evolved to stratification through secularization and education.Sociological analysis is playing a part in disseminating this information because of the way the American society has become polarized especially when it comes to religion (Christianity).Many people have moved from the main stream churches and have found identities in the modern charismatic churches that do not so much revolve around traditions but ar e embracing modern ideologies and secularization. In the old times, people used to stick to one denomination (church) for a lifetime but now things have changed with people switching churches at least once in lifetime.The aspect of denominationalism is a new aspect to me which I thought was a normal thing but its interesting to know that it was based on ethnic or even racial differences in the early days of Christianity. In the advent of modernization, it has evolved to be discrimination based on education, and doctrinal bases and going world wide.Many people join churches without knowing what or why the churches are founded just to get a religious identity. Religion is something that is aimed at bringing and uniting people together and denominationalism may be doing that but the underlying reasons are wrong.The cropping of this practice rose as a result of difficult in maintaining the religious traditions mainly due to the liberal nature of people wanting to embrace their own ident ities and also the conservatives loosing their moral authority towards the 21st century.The important message that this article is putting through is that the divisions in Christianity should not be there in the first place because they contradict the tenets of Christianity. It is a noble idea but bringing people together does not involve segregation of others in order to give a sense of identity to a few people.ConclusionDenominationalism has been portrayed more negative than positive which I do not agree because as the article points out, it gives a sense of identity to different people and there is no way all people can fit in one denomination but that does not call for establishment of many denominations.People do not subscribe to the same doctrinal values and therefore whichever denomination they are comfortable in, it is their right to go there. The idea of denominationalism has been portrayed as a division in the Christianity faith which may be true but I do not agree with it .There is no such thing as the standard way of doing things but somehow things have to be done and as long as they are not contravening the law and are morally right, then they ought to be followed. According to me this is the basis of denominationalism where it is based on the way we perform different religious practices and rites like singing, praying and preaching.This article has merely aroused curiosity about denominationalism and it has not dug in deep to bring tangible evidence of what it has caused in the society and what can be done about it. The article has done it as an overview and therefore it should address the issue in depth and how modern Christians can cope with it in embracing their faith and keeping their identity intact.ReferenceNancy, T. (2000). New Life for Denominationalism. Retrieved   June 2, 2009 from,  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     

Explain how Blacks disagreed amongst themselves in the 1960’s about the best way to try to gain more civil rights

Although people had been campaigning for equal rights for a long time, it wasn't until the mid 1950's that the civil rights movement began to gain popularity and support. Rosa Parks was a 42-year-old black protestor who had organised a kind of experiment on the 1st December in Montgomery, Alabama. Rosa Parks was on her way home from work on the bus. When the bus became full, she was asked to give up her seat, for a white man, and to stand up at the rear of the bus, as the law stated. Rosa refused to move. She was arrested and fined $10. After this, the black civil rights campaigners and her family and friends organised a 24 bus boycott, which was so successful they decided to carry on boycotting the bus companies until they agreed to seat all passengers on a ‘first-come' basis. Since 75% of the bus' business came from black passengers, the buses eventually gave in, but not without resistance. The victory over the bus companies was mainly due to a campaign with the slogan â€Å"Don't ride it for freedom†. It was this protest that saw the emergence of one of the most influential figures in the black civil rights campaign, Martin Luther King. He helped to lead this campaign. Dr Martin Luther King was a black minister who believed that mass non-violent protest was the best way to resist injustice. He took examples of direct action from Mahatma Gandhi, who fought against the British troops in India using, what he called â€Å"non-violent non-co-operation† campaigns. King was a pacifist, so did not believe that violence was the right way to get what they wanted but he knew that going through the courts to change the law would also not have been very successful, as all the people involved in the legal system and courts were usually white and some were members of the KKK. In 1957, he formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) with other clergy from Southern States to fight against racial segregation. They organised non-violent protests such as sit-ins, Freedom rides and marches. In 1960, four black students asked to be served at a Woolworths lunch counter in Greensboro, reserved for white customers only. The black waitress refused to serve them so they staged a sit-in demonstration. Two days later, 85 civil rights campaigners staged another sit-in protest. 70,000 people in the next 18 months took part in similar sit-ins across the South. During these sit-ins, people poured drinks and sauces over them and even sprayed them with paint. 3,000 civil rights workers were arrested. All this attracted the media and drew attention other injustices endured by black people. The freedom rides tool place on interstate travel buses. The Supreme Court had ordered that these and the waiting stations for the buses should be desegregated in 1960. In 1961, CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) decided to put these ignored laws to the test. Thy found that although the coaches were desegregated, the services in the bus stations were not. They organised a group of civil rights campaigners to travel on the buses and, at the stations, use opposite facilities to those they were supposed to (black campaigners used the white facilities and white campaigners used the black facilities, including toilets and waiting areas. ). Many freedom rides were organised to try and force the coach companies to abide by the law and desegregate their stations. Unfortunately, anti civil rights, such as the KKK, got involved and violence broke out at many of the freedom rides. Bombs were even planted on some of the buses. One example of a protest that ended with violence took place in Birmingham, Alabama in May 1963. Alabama had the highest amount of members in the KKK and the Governor and police department were both against desegregation. Martin Luther King was arrested before the demonstration began. When the demonstration starts, it is led by children. Bill Connor, head of the police department, arrested protestors, including the children, some of them as young as six. On the second day, the police used fire hoses, horses and dogs to attack the protestors, again, including the young children at the front of the demonstration. After that, Martin Luther King began to doubt whether or not the demonstration was a good idea because of the violence created. Soon, a deal was struck with the state authorities that all the public facilities would be desegregated within 90 days if the protestors called off the demonstration. Again, this caused a backlash from the KKK, who started riots fires and bombings. The demonstration got a lot of attention from the national media and pictures of young children being mauled by dogs set on them by the police caused outrage in the rest of America. But King knew that the police and public would use violence against demonstrators and that this would attract the media. He also knew that it would attract more attention if the children were at the front of the demonstration and therefore the first to be caught up in the violence. This caused some followers to doubt Martin Luther King's methods. Others began to think that the non-violent protesting was not getting them very far. In the mid 60's, the civil rights movement began to split. Different groups began to gain popularity. The emergence of the Black Power movement began, which were groups who were against working with white people and expelled white people from their campaigner groups. They encouraged blacks to set up their own business so they depended on white people as little as possible. Only the NAACP and SCLC continued to support the ideas of non-violent direct action and co-operation with whites. One of the groups associated with ‘Black Power' was the Nation of Islam, or Black Muslims. Their most well known leader was Malcolm X. He, with the Nation of Islam, believed that getting racial equality in white society was impossible because whites were racist and would never change. They campaigned for a black state inside the US that would be ruled by black people, for black people, without white people. They also rejected the civil rights movement, as they didn't want to have any part in white society and believed that Blacks should use violence to protect themselves, if necessary. But even the Nation of Islam had disagreements among its members about the best way to get what they wanted. In 1964, Malcolm X began to change his mind about the civil rights movement and began to accept that white people could play a useful role in helping black people achieve justice. The Nation of Islam split and Malcolm X led a breakaway group. In 1965, he was assassinated by 3 members of the Nation of Islam. In 1975, the leader of the Nation of Islam died and his son changed the policy on the organisation on accepting white Muslims as members. This caused another split in the Nation of Islam. Another group associated with ‘Black Power' were the Black Panthers. They were quite a small group but attracted a lot of attention because of the way they looked their revolutionary ideas and their use of armed violence. They had the most violent reputation and used armed patrols in the black areas to protect black communities from ‘police terrorism'. Although the blacks may have disagreed with policies to gain civil rights, most would recognise the effects of Martin Luther king as the most powerful influence over civil rights.

aristotle and locke on slavery essays

aristotle and locke on slavery essays Slavery is an issue that has plagued many societies over the history of the world. Slavery has existed on almost every continent, and has affected millions of peoples lives. The idea and philosophy behind slavery is an issue that almost every great political scientist and philosopher has dealt with in discussing actual and theoretical societies. Aristotle is one of the most famous philosophers who spends a great deal of time and effort dealing with the issue of slavery. His ideas of slavery are quite controversial, especially in todays society, due to his belief that people are naturally slaves or masters, based on deductive faculty(Aristotle, 1260a12). Another type of slavery that existed due to natural birth was the enslavement of African Americans in the U.S., a period of time from which this country still suffers. John Lockes discussion of slavery is much more realistic, as well as socially acceptable. Locke believes that slavery will exist only in a state of war, in which a conqueror defeats an unjust individual, and in doing so owns that persons life. However, instead of killing the conquered, the conqueror makes the conquered a slave, thus creating the idea of slavery. This premise is based on a state of war, which is the worst possible state according to Locke. Therefore, slavery is only possible in the worst-case situation. One must take into consideration the fact that Aristotles theory on slavery was written in early ancient Greece, in which divisions among people based on class and wealth were commonplace. Locke, on the other hand, wrote in the late 1600s in England after the Glorious Revolution, and wrote in opposition to authoritarianism. This distinction between contexts of Aristotle and Locke can be clearly seen in their stances on acceptable and unjust slavery. Aristotle begins his discussion on slavery in Book I of The Politics by first re-establishing th...

Free Essays on Decision Of A Lifetime

that would make any man shudder, â€Å"I’m late.† David left shortly thereafter saying that he wasn’t mature enough to handle this responsibility at this point in his life, that she should do what she felt was best. That episode occurred 3 weeks ago and today is where Elizabeth would find out the real answer to her question (as if she wasn’t sure of it already). The doctor entered the room and greeted Elizabeth warmly, asking what was the reason for this visit and Elizabeth explained her situation and the doctor’s eyes widened and she said to Elizabeth, â€Å"Well. Then, lets find out what’s going on, shall we.† With that, the examination began, after about 10 minutes, the doctor told Elizabeth to get dressed and to meet her in her office. Elizabeth complied and paused outside the doctor’s office for a moment, taking time to gather her thoughts, all the while thinking â€Å"If it was good news she woul... Free Essays on Decision Of A Lifetime Free Essays on Decision Of A Lifetime Elizabeth sat in the waiting room of the doctor’s office anxiously awaiting her name to be called, when after what seemed like days, her name was finally called followed by, â€Å"the doctor will see you now.† Slowly she rose from her chair and followed the nurse into an examination room. Once in the room, she was told to remove her clothes and to put on the gown that the nurse had handed her. Shortly thereafter, the nurse left and Elizabeth was left alone to think about what had put her into this position â€Å"How could I have been so stupid, I knew better than to believe that he loved me,† she kept repeating to herself. She had let herself fall victim to a man who had just wanted to have sex with her, one who split the day that he found out that she might be pregnant. She had known David for only 10 weeks and quickly fell for his boyish charm and sincerity act. She feared that she may have been pregnant shortly after they had slept together for the first tim e, and quickly broke the news to David by uttering the two words that would make any man shudder, â€Å"I’m late.† David left shortly thereafter saying that he wasn’t mature enough to handle this responsibility at this point in his life, that she should do what she felt was best. That episode occurred 3 weeks ago and today is where Elizabeth would find out the real answer to her question (as if she wasn’t sure of it already). The doctor entered the room and greeted Elizabeth warmly, asking what was the reason for this visit and Elizabeth explained her situation and the doctor’s eyes widened and she said to Elizabeth, â€Å"Well. Then, lets find out what’s going on, shall we.† With that, the examination began, after about 10 minutes, the doctor told Elizabeth to get dressed and to meet her in her office. Elizabeth complied and paused outside the doctor’s office for a moment, taking time to gather her thoughts, all the while thinking â€Å"If it was good news she woul...