Is a Metatheoretical Psychologist a ‘Cowboy Builder’?

Is a Metatheoretical Psychologist a ‘Cowboy Builder’? Abstract Personally, I feel that Metatheoretical psychologist are not a â€Å"cowboy builder†, as I uses the progression of behaviourism as an example and further elaborated how the approach leads to the discoveries and progression of the theories, using explanation of russian physiologist known as Ivan Pavlov, followed by American Psychologist called John B. Watson and Edward Thorndike, and lastly, another fellow American Psychologist, B.F. Skinner. Ivan Pavlov, who started the earliest toward the study of behaviourism, he discovered classical conditioning which demostrated how behaviours can be learned via through classical associations. John B. Watson, who further defined behaviourism through â€Å"little albert† experiment and lastly, B.F. Skinner, who further explains behaviourism using his concept of operant conditioning, illustrating behaviour through punishment and reinforcement. These three examples have rejected the idea that of a ‘cowboy builder’ as these experimentalist using each and individual experiment to reinforce and further build up understanding of behaviourism and its importance and definition. Is a Metatheoretical Psychologist just a ‘Cowboy Builder’? Psychology is not simply definable, and be even characterised easily. Even till today if one were to define or characterised, it will end up render the effort indequately the very next day. Psychology is what the philsopher and the scientists of various persuasion have come out with to try fulfilling the needs towards understanding of humans’ mind and behaviour from the most primitive to complex level (Reber, Allen, Reber, 2009). From a philosophical point of view, The term ‘psychology’ took its to another level of problems concerning the mind, will and knowledge, where it has been defined as the ‘science of mind’ ,’the science of mental life’, these definitions reflected the prejudices of the definer more than the actual nature of field (Reber et al., 2009). Metatheory, in this case defined by Reber et al. (2009), a term which used to cover the theoretical discussions about the construction of scientific theories, hence, the role of a metatheoretical psychologist is to perform metatheoretical research, which includes sorting of theories, analysing of literatures, they played an important role in search of a set of interlocking principles in which are acceptable or not for the theories (Rozeboom, 2005; Wallis, 2010). An experimentalist stated that metatheoretical are like ‘cowboy builders’ where they are able to identify and breakdown mistakes and problems of works done by others, but they are not able to give opinions to help strength that particular approach in psychology. However, I disagree what the experimentalist mentioned, as I believe that metatheoretical psychologist, no doubt , they are the ones who are capable of developing and combining of theories, and looking at aspects of applying and analysing of the theorems to unveil the underlying assumptions about theory and the process of theorizing with reinforcement of empirical evidences (Wallis, 2010). Hence, the aim of this essay is to furthe r elaborate my points of in which that metatheoretical psychologists is not a ‘cowboy builder’, using a psychological approach in which leads to a numbers of theories which is able to support my views towards this statement. To strongly prove my point on metatheoretical psychologists not being a ‘cowboy builders’, I would like to start off with first example right before the birth of behaviourism. It is understandable that in 1913, John B. Watson pioneered new psychology approach known as ‘Behaviourism’ (Watson J. B., 1994). where Behaviourism is defined as a natural science that takes the whole field of human adjustments as its own. It is the business of behavioristics psychology to predict and control human activity.Behavioristics psychology has as its goal to be able, given the stimulus, to predict the response or, seeing the reaction. (Watson Kimble, 1997). However, this discovery and understanding of behaviourism would not have happen without work of an American psychologist, Edward Thorndike. Thorndike shows how behaviours could be modified by its consequences by doing an experimental work on hungry domestic animals, as they were placed individually in the puzzle boxes, a nd if the animal exhibit any escaping behaviours to the door of the puzzle box, it would then be opened allowed the animal to gain freedom. This experiment allow Thorndike to conclude that while the animal exploring the box, the animal exhibited the first instance of an appropriate behaviour unit by chance and that, across trials, escape latencies would decrease systematically as it is able to learned that pressing the latch will allow it to escape. (Gewirtz, 2001). Therefore through this experiment, he looks at the connection of stimulus and response in the experiment, which eventually created a concept of the law of effect, which he explained that greater the satisfaction, the greater the strengthening, and the greater the dissatisfaction, the greater the weakening, of the bond (Gewirtz, 2001).This work of Thorndike allowed a Russian Physiologist, Ivan Pavlov, to continue his work on physiology of digestion (Gewirtz, 2001; Clark, 2004). Pavlov, who have won the Nobel Prize in 1904 , credited Thorndike for being the first researcher to show accurate approach to the immense task of objective research on animal learning (Gewirtz, 2001). He did an experiment in his chamber which the dog is presented with the food, at the same time, saliva is collected through a tube implanted into the salivary gland of the dog, enabling him to study the saliva’s role in digestive process, which his prediction is that the dog salivate when food is placed in the mouth which is a discovery he deemed that its importance in the study of digestion, known as salivary reflex (Windholz, 1997). Overtime, this lead to him realising that the even right before the food comes, the dog will salivate in the presence of the food attendant and the sound of the door (Windholz, 1997). He carried on with the experiment by pairing the bell and the food, and after several tries, he successfully uses the bell alone to create a salivary response from the dog. This discovery can be explained in whi ch the bell, a neutral stimulus which trigger no natural response in the dog (salivation) is paired with food which is the unconditional response. This pairing causes the response to the unconditioned stimulus (food), the unconditioned response (salivation), to transfer to the neutral stimulus (bell). Hence, in order for response to occur again, only the bell is need, food may no longer have its importance. Pavlov realised that the response is a learned but unnatural, hence it is a conditioned response and neutral stimulus will transformed into conditioned stimulus. The bell tone in Pavlovs experiment is the neutral stimulus which is paired the unconditioned stimulus of food. The unconditioned response of salivation became a conditioned response to the newly conditioned stimulus of the tone (Beecroft, 1966; Windholz, 1997; Bitterman, 2006). This phenomone is known as classical conditioning. As we can see this is one of few classic examples which demolish the experimentalist view on psychologists, this research has just show us not only it is a psychological endeavour but it also influence a lot of students known as the pavlovians-graduate students to continue this study of salivary reflex conditioning. (Windholz, 1997). Ivan Pavlov is able to conduct and build up an experiment, and bringing it up to the next level, not only looking at the digestion process which is a physiological, but at the same time, discovered a psychological aspect which is the salivary reflex and subsequently build up to theory of classical conditioning. The progression of Ivan Pavlov’s experiment was done by an American psychologist known as John B Watson where he further elaborated and adopted Ivan Pavlov’s work and claims that classical conditioning in animals is important as it is able to explain all human aspect of psychology (Watson J. B., 1994; Rilling, 2000). Watson uses the measurement and analytical techniques of Pavlov’s experiment and applied them to the humans in terms of adaptive forms of behaviour, so he and his assistant (Moore, 2011), an experiment known as â€Å"little Albert†, he simply transfer the same concept of Pavlov’s work, while Pavlov conduct his experiment using food and animal, Watson uses a baby known as little albert, and inflict of fear to it in order to demonstrate classical conditioning in humans (Watson Rayner , Conditioned emotional reactions, 1920). Using white rat as Neutral Stimulus, before the start of the experimental trials, the rat is shown to little Alber t, but little Albert does not show concern about the rats. Watson’s aim for this experiment is inflict an anxiety response to little albert using the rat. So the Unconditioned Stimulus in the experiment is the used of an iron bar and a hammer to create a loud noise just behind little Albert, which he find annoyed about (Watson Rayner , Conditioned emotional reactions, 1920). During the experiment, the noise is created as the rat is presented to Albert. After subsequent experiments, without the noise when the rat was presented, Albert would started crying. This produced a conditioned reflex similar to Pavlov’s dog able to associate a neutral stimulus with Unconditioned Stimulus (Rilling, 2000). Further experiments on Albert, has shown that rats are not only the one that give Albert the similar response, it also start to generalised to other while furry objects which look similar to the white rats (Watson Rayner , Conditioned emotional reactions, 1920). This example of the â€Å"little Albert† experiment, shows that how behaviourist like Watson, able to work on and progress through using Pavlov’s physiological theory of salivary reflex and extract the psychological elements, which is the theory of classical conditioning in an animal, and show that even humans can learn through conditioning, and initiated the study of behaviourism (Moore, 2011). Therefore, as what we can see above that Watson improvised Pavlov’s experiment, which he applied to the humans and which he end up discover a higher order of condition, where generalization took place in the little Albert experiment, this second example shows that how the rise of the behaviourism were strengthen by theory like classical conditioning, which build up to another level, where the use of different test subject will lead to a different and new outcome of understand of behaviourism, which I feel that Watson in his experiment has shown us simply that they isn’t a cowboy builder who simply just agreed upon thing without doing their research. However, Rilling (2000) stated that Watson rejected Thorndike’s law of effect in the midst of working on classical conditioning theory, he felt sceptical about Thorndike’s assumption and explanation of the trial and error learning where Thorndike stated that successful act is pleasant and unsuccessful act is unpleasant (Watson ,1914; Rilling, 2000) and so the Thorndike’s experiment inspired Watson, he conducted an empirical test for the study of learning in animal, simply to test Thorndike’s law of effect. The purpose is to prove that if Thorndike is correct about his theory then pleasure from immediate reward would be greater than dissatisfaction from delayed reward. The experiment was conducted with rats and sawdust boxes, and Watson (1916a) compared the learning curves for one group of rats getting the immediate reward and the other with delayed rewards. The result is puzzling as two group of learning curves were nearly similar (Rilling, 2000) which thi s data cause classic behaviourist to be sceptical about Thorndike’s law of effect. The attack on Thorndike by Watson seems to be rhetoric. Never the less, it does not mean that one rejected all have to reject it, as Moore (2011) stated that Watson’s behaviourism proved inadequate and many of the researchers took another approach which analysed by B.F. Skinner (Moore, 2011). Skinner proved his own definition by studying on Thorndike’s law of effect which provided him the basis of operant learning theory (Schwartz Lacey, 1982). He conducted an experiment which resemble Thorndike’s puzzle box and an input of a lever, which he want to find out how the rats learned to press the lever. The difference between the two experiment done, is based on the determiner on frequency of the experiment, which Thorndike is based on the experimenter and Skinner is based on the rats themselves (Iversen, 1992). Each time, the rats press the lever, the food will immediately be released. This resulted in the learning of the rat to press the lever to receive rewards. However, when Skinner replaced the food with shocks, the frequency of the lever being depressed leads to an immediate stop of the action due to punishing consequences (Iversen, 1992). He concluded from the result that the behaviour influenced by the law of effect is known as operant conditioning due to the behavioural change or operated of the organism on the environment. In the experiment, there is no environmental stimuli that create a response from an organism as compared to organism in classical conditioning experiment done by Pavlov. Mischel (1993) stated that skinner also concluded that Operant conditioning consists of two important key components, the operant and the consequence. If the consequence is a positive reinforcement, then the likelihood of another similar response is more as compare to if the consequence is punishment. Similar results were produced by accidental when the pellet dispenser had jammed, it stops the positive reinforcement of food altogether in a process called extinction, this situation was noticed when the r at continue pressing the lever even though no food were received, at the start the behaviour becomes rapid than usual, then slowly the frequency worn off but the operant conditioned response decreased at a much slower rate than when punishment was used (Iversen, 1992). Similarly, operant conditioning like this also appear in child, when either rewarding or punishing with disciplinary actions. This kind of operant conditioning occurs in the rewarding or punishing discipline action taken towards a child (Schwartz Lacey, 1982). As we can see from all of these example above, how behaviourism can lead to two theories of learning, as Watson hypothesized that â€Å"behavioristics psychology has as its goal to be able, given the stimulus, to predict the response or, seeing the reaction take place to state what the stimulus is that has called out the reaction† (Iversen, 1992), However this stimulus–response psychology was soon to be overthrown by Skinners work (Iversen, 1992). Even though he called his lever pressing action as an investigatory reflex and referred it to eliciting stimuli which is measured due to the influences of the work of Pavlov’s and Watson’s (Iversen, 1992). In the later part of his research, Skinner later moved away from the Stimuli and response tradition as he discovered operant conditioning with the aid of Edward Thorndike, and commented that the result that happen immediately after the response is more important than incident happen right before, and the extinction that he accidentally found out indicated that there is no role in eliciting stimuli for that behaviour to happen. Lastly, the final form of the conditioned response is deem as the most important as it did not even exist prior to the conditioning, therefore no elicitation is involved. This successful method of shaping help in generating behaviours that have not been seen previously in range of behaviours in the experimental subject. Which Iversen (1992) sta ted that skinner’s work in the early stage completely contradict Watsons â€Å"no stimulus, no response† rule. So all in all. We can see that the build-up progression of behaviourism and the two learning theories, are not of a style of a cowboy builder. Instead the build ups of the theories, not only involves criticism of theories, to improve another, for example, Watson rejected Thorndike’s law of effect, place more work in Pavlov theory, to improve the theory of classical conditioning through empirical evidence, and also involves influences of theories, just like how skinner inspired by Thorndike’s law of effect, created similar experiment, and initially followed Pavlov and Watson’s work, and realised issues and rejected it to form its own learning theory, operate learning theory. These examples resulted that and prove to these experimentalist that once again, Metatheoretical psychologist are not a â€Å"cowboy builder†. References Bitterman, M. E. (2006). Classical Conditioning Since Pavlov. Review of General Psychology, Issue: Volume 10(4), p 365–376. Clark, R. E. (2004). The classical origins of Pavlovs conditioning. The Official Journal Of The Pavlovian Society, 39(4), 279-294. Gang, J. (2011). Behaviorism and the Beginnings of Close Reading. The Johns Hopkins University Press, ELH 78(1), 1-25. Gewirtz, J. L. (2001). J. B. Watsons Approach to Learning: Why Pavlov? Why Not Thorndike? Behavioral Development Bulletin, Issue: Volume 10(1), p 23–25. Henriques, G. R. (2004). Psychology Defined. JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Vol. 60(12), 1207–1221. Iversen, I. H. (1992). Skinners Early Research: From Reflexology to Operant Conditioning. American Psychologist, Issue: Volume 47(11), p 1318–1328. Moore, J. (2011). BEHAVIORISM. The Psychological Record, 449-463. Reber, A. S., Allen, R., Reber, E. S. (2009). The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology: Fourth Edition. New York: Penguin. Rilling, M. (2000). How the Challenge of Explaining Learning Influenced the Origins and Development of John B. Watsons Behaviorism. The American Journal of Psychology, Vol. 113, No. 2, pp. 275-301. Rozeboom, W. W. (2005). Meehl on metatheory. Journal of Clinical Psychology, Volume 61, Issue 10, pages 1317–1354. Schwartz, B., Lacey, H. (1982). Behaviorism, science, and human nature. New York: Norton. Wallis, S. E. (2010). Toward a Science of Metatheory. INTEGRAL REVIEW, Vol. 6, No. 3. Watson, J. B. (1914). Behavior: An introduction to comparative psychology. New York: Holt. Watson, J. B. (1916a). The place of the conditoned reflex in psychology. Psychological Review, 23, 89-108. Watson, J. B. (1994). Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It. American Psychological Association, Issue: Volume 101(2), p 248–253. Watson, J. B., Kimble, G. A. (1997). John B. Watsons Behaviorism: A Retrospective Review. American Psychological Association, Volume 42(1), p 23–28. Watson, J. B., Rayner , R. (1920). Conditioned emotional reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 3, 1–14. Windholz, G. (1997). Ivan P. Pavlov: An Overview of His Life and Psychological Work. American Psychological Association, Issue: Volume 52(9), p 941–946.

Bite Me: A Love Story Chapter 9

9. Tenderloin If you're looking for a great taco in San Francisco, you go to the Mission district. If you want a plate of pasta, you go to North Beach. Need some dim sum, powdered shark vagina, or ginseng root? Chinatown is your man. Hankering for stupidly expensive shoes? Union Square. Want to enjoy a mojito with an attractive, young professional crowd, well you'll want to head for the Marina or the SOMA. But if you're looking for some crack, a one-legged whore, or a guy sleeping in a puddle of his own urine, you can't beat the Tenderloin, which was where Rivera and Cavuto were investigating the report of a missing person. Well-persons. â€Å"The theater district seems somewhat deserted today,† said Cavuto as he pulled the unmarked Ford into a red zone in front of the Sacred Heart Mission. The Tenderloin was, in fact, also the theater district, which was convenient if you wanted to see a first-rate show in addition to drinking a bottle of Thunderbird and being stabbed repeatedly. â€Å"They're all at their country homes in Sonoma, you think?† Rivera said, with a sense of doom rising inside him like nausea. Normally at this time of the morning, the Tenderloin sidewalks ran with grimy rivers of homeless guys looking for their first drink of the day or a place to sleep. Down here you did most of your sleeping during the day. Night was too dangerous. There should have been a line around the block at Sacred Heart, people waiting for the free breakfast, but the line barely reached out the door. As they walked into the Mission, Cavuto said, â€Å"You know, this might be the perfect time for you to get one of those one-legged whores. You know, with demand down, you could probably get a freebie, being a cop and all.† Rivera stopped, turned, and looked at his partner. A dozen raggedy men in the line looked, too, as Cavuto was blocking the light in the doorway like a great, rumpled eclipse. â€Å"I will bring the little Goth girl to your house and film it when she makes you cry.† Cavuto slumped. â€Å"Sorry. It's all kind of getting to me. Teasing is the only way I know to take my mind off of it.† Rivera understood. For twenty-five years he'd been an honest cop. Had never taken a dime in bribes, never used unnecessary force, had never given special favors to powerful people, which is why he was still an inspector, but then the redhead happened, and her v-word condition, and the old one and his yacht full of money, and it wasn't like they could tell anyone anyway. The two hundred thousand that he and Cavuto had taken wasn't really a bribe, it was, well, it was compensation for mental duress. It was stressful carrying a secret that you could not only not tell, but that no one would believe if you did. â€Å"Hey, you know why there's so many one-legged whores in the Tenderloin?† asked one guy who was wearing a down sleeping bag like a cape. Rivera and Cavuto turned toward the hope of comic relief like flowers to the sun. â€Å"Fuggin' cannibals,† said the sleeping bag guy. Not funny at all. The cops trod on. â€Å"If you only knew,† said Rivera over his shoulder. â€Å"Hey, where is everybody?† asked a woman in a dirty orange parka. â€Å"You fuckers doing one of your round-ups?† â€Å"Not us,† said Cavuto. They moved past the cafeteria line and a sharp young Hispanic man in a priest's collar caught their eyes over the heads of the diners and motioned for them to come around the steam tables to the back. Father Jaime. They'd met before. There were a lot of murders in the Tenderloin, and only a few sane people who knew the flow of the neighborhood. â€Å"This way,† said Father Jaime. He led them through a prep kitchen and dish room into a cold concrete hallway that led to their shower room. The father extended a set of keys that were tethered to his belt on a cable and opened a vented green door. â€Å"They started bringing it in a week ago, but this morning there must have been fifty people turning stuff in. They're freaked.† Father Jaime flipped on a light and stood aside. Rivera and Cavuto entered a room painted sunny yellow and lined with battleship gray metal shelves. There was clothing piled on every horizontal surface, all covered, in varying degrees, with a greasy gray dust. Rivera picked up a quilted nylon jacket that was partially shredded and spattered with blood. â€Å"I know that jacket, Inspector. Guy who owns it is named Warren. Fought in Nam.† Rivera turned it in the air, trying not to cringe when he saw the pattern of the rips in the cloth. Father Jaime said, â€Å"I see these guys every day, and they're always wearing the same thing. It's not like they have a closet full of clothes to choose from. If that jacket is here, then Warren is running around in the cold, or something happened to him.† â€Å"And you haven't seen him?† asked Cavuto. â€Å"No one has. And I could tell you stories for most of the rest of these clothes, too. And the fact that clothing is even being turned in means that there's lot of it out there. Street people don't have a lot, but they won't take what they can't carry. That means that this is just what people couldn't carry. Everyone in that dining room is looking for a friend he's lost.† Rivera put down the jacket and picked up a pair of work pants, not shredded, but covered in the dust and spattered with blood. â€Å"You said that you can link these clothes to people you know?† â€Å"Yes, that's what I told the uniformed cop first thing this morning. I know these people, Alphonse, and they're gone.† Rivera smiled to himself at the priest using his first name. Father Jaime was twenty years Rivera's junior, but he still spoke to him like he was a kid sometimes. Being called â€Å"Father† all the time goes to their head. â€Å"Other than being homeless, did these people have anything in common? What I mean is, were they sick?† â€Å"Sick? Everyone on the street has something.† â€Å"I mean terminal. That you know of, were they very sick? Cancer? The virus?† When the old vampire had been taking victims, it turned out that nearly every one of them had been terminally ill and would have died soon anyway. â€Å"No. There's no connection other than they were all on the street and they're all gone.† Cavuto grimaced and turned away. He started riffling through the clothing, tossing it around as if looking for a lost sock. â€Å"Look, Father, can you make us a list of the people these clothes belong to. And add anything you can remember about them. Then I can start looking for them in the hospitals and jail.† â€Å"I only know street names.† â€Å"That's okay. Do your best. Anything you can remember.† Rivera handed him a card. â€Å"Call me directly if anything else comes up, would you? Unless there's something in progress, calling the uniforms will just put unnecessary steps in the investigation.† â€Å"Sure, sure,† said Father Jaime, pocketing the card. â€Å"What do you think is going on?† Rivera looked at his partner, who didn't look up from a dusty pair of shoes he was examining. â€Å"I'm sure there's some explanation. I don't know of any citywide relocation of the homeless, but it's happened before. They don't always tell us.† Father Jaime looked at Rivera with those priest's eyes, those guilt-shooting eyes that Rivera always imagined were on the other side of the confessional. â€Å"Inspector, we serve four to five hundred breakfasts a day here.† â€Å"I know, Father. You do great work.† â€Å"We served a hundred and ten today. That's it. Those in line now will be it for today.† â€Å"We'll do our best, Father.† They moved back through the dining room without looking anyone in the eye. Back in the car, Cavuto said, â€Å"Those clothes were shredded by claws.† â€Å"I know.† â€Å"They're not just hunting the sick.† â€Å"No,† Rivera said. â€Å"They're taking anyone on the street. I'm guessing anyone who gets caught out alone.† â€Å"Some of those people in the cafeteria saw something. I could tell. We should come back and talk to some of them when the priest and his volunteers aren't around.† â€Å"No need, really, is there?† Rivera was scratching out numbers on his notepad. â€Å"They'll talk to the paper,† Cavuto said, pulling in behind a cable car on Powell Street, then sighing and resolving himself to move at nineteenth-century speed for a few blocks as they made their way up Nob Hill. â€Å"Well, first it will be covered as amusing stuff that crazy street people say, then someone is going to notice the bloody clothes and it's all going to come out.† Rivera added another figure, then scribbled something with a flourish. â€Å"It doesn't have to come back to us,† Cavuto said hopefully. â€Å"I mean, it's not really our fault.† â€Å"Doesn't matter if we get blamed,† said Rivera. â€Å"It's our responsibility.† â€Å"So what are you saying?† â€Å"I'm saying that we're going to be defending the City against a horde of vampire cats.† â€Å"Now that you said it, it's real.† Cavuto was whining a little. I'm going to call that Wong kid and see if he has my UV jacket done.† â€Å"Just like that?† â€Å"Yeah,† Rivera said. â€Å"If you go by Father Jaime's example, they've eaten about three-quarters of the Tenderloin's homeless in, let's call it a week. If you figure maybe three thousand street people in the City, you're talking about twenty-two hundred dead already. Someone's going to notice.† â€Å"That's what you were calculating?† â€Å"No, I was trying to figure out if we had enough money to open the bookstore.† That had been the plan. Early retirement, then sell rare books out of a quaint little shop on Russian Hill. Learn to golf. â€Å"We don't,† Rivera said. He started to dial Foo Dog when his phone chirped, a sound it hadn't made before. â€Å"The fuck was that?† asked Cavuto. â€Å"Text message,† said Rivera. â€Å"You know how to text?† â€Å"No. We're going to Chinatown.† â€Å"A little early for eggrolls, isn't it?† â€Å"The message is from Troy Lee.† â€Å"The Chinese kid from the Safeway crew? I don't want to deal with those guys.† â€Å"It's one word.† â€Å"Don't tell me.† â€Å"CATS.† â€Å"Did I not ask you not to tell me?† â€Å"The basketball court off Washington,† Rivera said. â€Å"Have that Wong kid make me one of those sunlight jackets. Fifty long.† â€Å"You get that many lights on you they'll have you flying over stadiums playing Goodyear ads on your sides.†

Analysis of the Civil Rights March of 1963 - 988 Words

Document Analysis, of the Civil Rights March of 1963 Commencing in the late 19th century, state level governments approved segregation acts, identified as the Jim Crow laws, and assigned limitations on voting requirements that caused the African American population economically and diplomatically helpless (Davis, n.d.). The civil rights movement commenced, intensely and assertively, in the early 1940s when the societal composition of black America took an increasingly urban, popular appeal (Korstad Lichtenstein, 1988). The 1950s and 1960s was well known for racial conflicts and civil rights protests. The civil rights movement in the United States during the late 1950s and 1960s was based on political and social strives to achieve†¦show more content†¦It was a speech of hope and strength, and it exemplified the idea the protesters declared of racial unity and a belief that blacks and whites could possibly exist mutually in peace (Hansan, n.d.). As stated by, Kensworthy (196 3), the crowd at the demonstration, acknowledging that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was concluding his speech, hollered once again and waved their signs and banners. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. conclude saying, We will not wait for the President, the Justice Department, nor the Congress, but we will take matters into our own hands and create a source of power, outside of any national structure, that could and would assure us a victory† (Kensworthy, 1963, p.16). According to Kensworthy (1963), The March leaders walked from the Lincoln Memorial to the White House who met and spoke with President Kennedy for over an hour. Afterwards, President Kennedy broadcasted a speech praising the marchers for the deep fervor and the quiet dignity that had depicted the protest (Kensworthy, 1963, p.1). At the end of the ceremonies of the march at the Lincoln Memorial, a pledge was said, reciting the pledge the crowd swore to complete personal commitment to the struggle for jobs and freedom for Americans and to carry the message of the march to my friends and neighbors back home and arouse them to an equal commitment and an equal effort† (Kensworthy 1963, p.16). Stein Axinn (2012) wroteShow MoreRelatedNonviolent Protests: An argumentative essay1411 Words   |  6 Pagesof 1773, the Civil Rights Movement and the Pro-Life Movement of the 1960s, to the Tea Party Movement and Occupy Wall Street Movement of current times, â€Å"those struggling against unjust laws have engaged in acts of deliberate, open disobedience to government power to uphold higher principles regarding human rights and social justice† (DeForrest, 1998, p. 653) through nonviolent protests. Perhaps the most well-known of the non-violent protests are those associated with the Civil Rights movement. 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First of the speakerRead MoreEeo Research Paper1158 Words   |  5 Pagesopportunity (EEO) is the concept that all individuals should have equal treatment in all employment-related actions. Several basic EEO concepts have been applied as a result of court decisions, laws, and regulatory actions. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the first federal law designed to protect most U.S. employees from employment discrimination based upon the employee’s (or applicant’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. (Public Law 88-352, July 2, 1964, 78 Stat. 253Read MoreBayard Rustin And The Civil Rights Movement1338 Words   |  6 PagesBayard Rustin was one of the most influential organizers and also key members of the civil rights movement. A gay man and once a member of the communist party, Rustin went on to play a significant role in fighting for the rights of African Americans an d later on the gay community in the United States. 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How to Reduce Crime and End Mass Incarceration - 1318 Words

Society has developed a series of programs meant to assist individuals in being able to successfully integrate and re-integrate the social order. Through being subjected to such programs criminals and potential criminals gain a better understanding of their role in society and of the fact that they need to adopt a lawful attitude in order to experience positive results in life. The fact that they are encouraged to get actively involved in social activities influences individuals in adopting lifestyles that are in accordance with the law. This basically means that potential criminals are unlikely to engage in criminal acts as long as their needs are met and as long as someone provides them with constructive activities that take up most of their time. Crime can typically be removed from the social order most effectively through preventing it. People virtually need to understand that problems need to be stopped before they actually come to be problems. The Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program is an internationally recognized strategy meant to present young individuals with information regarding the wrongness of living a life dominated by drugs and violence. Individuals responsible for this program have obviously realized that illegal behavior is more likely to emerge when people live in antisocial environments. As a consequence, they devised this program with the purpose of turning childrens attention away from crime. As long as the forces that prevent them from adoptingShow MoreRelatedThe Division Of Our Society : Exploring Mass Imprisonment1737 Words   |  7 Pages Mass Incarceration The Division of Our Society: Exploring Mass Imprisonment Pamela D. Jackson WRIT 130: Research Paper Professor Jane Campanizzi-Mook September 11th 2015 ABSTRACT Prison is unfortunately big business in the United States and our society is paying the ultimate cost and there is only one system being rewarded. More than often we do not put much emphasis on the prison system in its entirety. It is a fairly simple concept to most Americans that if you commit a crime or ifRead More The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander1182 Words   |  5 PagesThe New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is a book by Michelle Alexander, a civil rights litigator and legal scholar. The book discusses race-related issues specific to African-American males and mass incarceration in the United States. Michelle Alexander (2010) argues that despite the old Jim Crow is death, does not necessarily means the end of racial caste (p.21). In her book â€Å"The New Jim Crow†, Alexander describes a set of practices and social discourses that serve toRead MoreMass Incarceration During The United State s1322 Words   |  6 PagesCraver Mrs. Gallos English 3 Honors 30 March 2017 Mass Incarceration in the United States There are too many people in prison in our country and any people in prison today are non-violent drug offenders. The American war on drugs has targeted people in poverty and minorities, who are more likely to be involved in drug use. This has created a pattern of crime and incarceration and â€Å"...[a] connection between increased prison rates and lower crime is tenuous and small.† (Wyler). The prison systemRead MoreThe New Jim Crow And Ava Duvernay s Documentary 13th1465 Words   |  6 Pageslegislation, which are policies that categorized drug use as a crime instead of health issue pushed forward by the Reagan administration. The master narrative of the criminality painted the legislation as colorblind, or nondiscriminatory, policies that will benefit all citizens and created the representation of African Americans and racial minorities as criminals. However, this one-sided conversation about racial discrimination and mass incarceration is brought into perspective by M ichelle Alexander’s bookRead MoreSouth Carolina Should Reduce Crime Rates Essay1558 Words   |  7 Pagescausation, then crime rates are extremely high due to the increase amounts of people being incarcerated. South Carolina should offer a proposal to reduce crime rates. Possible proposals to reduce crime rates- offering inmates or ex-convicted felons opportunities to find jobs, developed new skills or trade, and the ability to asses counselling once release. These alternatives can possibly improve not only the society, but also South Carolina. 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In the decades afterRead MoreThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration Essay1401 Words   |  6 Pages Michelle Alexander’s book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, examines mass incarceration in the United States, why the criminal justice system works the way it does towards minorities, the detriments associated with mass incarceration as it relates to offenders, and much more. In the introduction of her book, Alexander immediately paints the harsh reality of mass incarceration with the story of Jarvious Cotton who is denied the right to vote among other rights becauseRead MoreThe Pros And Cons Of Mass Incarceration1542 Words   |  7 Pages Mass Incarceration is a growing dilemma in the United States that populates our prisons at an alarming rate. Michelle Alexander is a professor at Ohio State University and a graduate of Stanford law school. She states in her award winning book, The new Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness â€Å"In less than thirty years, the U.S. penal population exploded from around 300,000 to more than 2 million† (Alexander, 6). These young men and women are unable to afford a decent lawyer becauseRead MoreMass Incarceration And Its Effects On The United States946 Words   |  4 PagesMass incarceration alludes to the investigation which ought to be clarified as exceedingly elevated pace of imprisonment among African Americans men and Latino males from troubling neighborhoods. Many will say it’s from poor families and when they take the males, it weakens the family even more. One of the main reasons for mass incarceration is to have control of the system and Afri can American’s after slavery was annihilated. One main issue about mass incarceration would be that if an African AmericanRead MoreDo We Rely Too Much On The Prison System1305 Words   |  6 Pagesfrom a life of crime. As the prison population continues to rise in this country health and safety questions rise as well. Not only for the prisoner but for also for the guards that are there to watch over and protect the inmates. It is time to ask some very important questions regarding sentencing alternatives including; â€Å"Do we rely too much on the prison system†, â€Å"Are there better ways to punish some crimes?† and probably most importantly, â€Å"Does prison truly act as a deterrent to crime?† The Bureau