2.4 Human Trafficking problem

            Human trafficking is currently one of the negative implication of globalization that has resulted from poor organization amid the anti-trafficking organizations and government-based agencies.  Human trafficking is a global problem since it is being experienced from almost every edge of the globe. It is evident from the dominance of the issue that it cannot be eliminated effectively without acquiring support from governmental administrations. Human trafficking currently compares to slavery because it involved the illegal movement of individuals to the well-established countries to provide cheap labor that facilitates global economic goals. In addition, it is evident that the involved traffickers take advantage of the low coordination amid governments to ensure that their goals are met without fail[1]. From the current situation amid Jordan and the United Kingdom, human trafficking is a pressuring political and socio-economic problem that necessitates immediate solutions.

            Human trafficking is a crime against humanity. This is because it does not necessarily violates individual’s privileges and freedom but also incorporates the aggressive control of individual’s abilities. This normally denies the victim the freedom to make independent thinking and choices which in turn hinders personal growth. Human trafficking results in adverse cognitive as well as physical harm which might last a lifetime. The traffickers in most cases collaborate with government agencies to luring and manipulating the victims by taking advantage of their vulnerabilities that are fueled by crisis, political instability, and general conflicts[2]. Evidently, women and children are the most affected by the problem but statistics demonstrate that most traffickers prefer men based on their ability to perform hard tasks as compared to women in general.

[1] Shelley, L., Human trafficking. A global perspective, New York, Cambridge University Press, 2010

[2]   Nestorova, P., 'Trafficking In Human Beings And Human Rights: The Role Of The Council Of Europe Convention On Action Against Trafficking In Human Beings', International Journal of Refugee Law, 2015, vol 27, no 1, p. 207

Culture and identity

There is an innate desire for every person to be a member of something bigger than themselves. This is the desire to belong to a certain group that has shared interests, values, and beliefs. Once a person is able to identify with a certain culture, it is an indication that they are ready to carry on the legacy of that group which has been passed on them from generation to generation. They are also able to relate to the group’s belief system and hence are able to unify with their culture. This means that a person will be able to identify with the element of their culture and at the same time with their internal elements that form their identity. Cultural identity characterizes a person’s inward and outward aspects (Fong, 3).

Each and every person has their own unique cultural identity. An identity is a character that people gives out to other people while a culture is an image that an individual has for themselves. Culture has a big role in shaping the identity of a person. Culture is responsible for shaping a person’s beliefs and morals that are deemed to stay for the rest of a person’s life. It is through a culture that we are who we are today and this influences the people and things that we relate to our daily basis. Background and the manner of the upbringing of a given individual place a distinction between people thus making each person different (Berry et al, 43). We all hail from different cultures and this is the sole reason why we possess a different personality from the other people as we all have different experiences in our varying cultures. Through interaction with other people within our societies enables us to establish personal identity.  However, it is important to appreciate this diversity as it is what makes life different and enjoyable.

Each and every person requires a certain order in the day to day living and this result in a need for cultural identity. Therefore to become a part of any society one has to accept and implement all of the prevailing elements in a society. With the assimilation of these manifestations, a person’s life is made orderly and predictable and allows a person to be actively involved in a culture. In accepting the cultural norms and beliefs which are acceptable within a society, an individual is able to have a self-identification on themselves in accordance with the cultural patterns of the given culture.

Although at some time some of these cultural aspects such as race and religion may be used against some people, there is a place for them to draw the strength that they need. For instance, being an African American gives the individual the courage that they need so as to overcome the high rate of discrimination that they face. It is in this sense of belonging to a community that these people are able to unify and fight strongly as one group against prejudices (Berry et al, 43). Cultural identity, therefore, establishes unity amongst all of its members especially in times of need and in giving people in the various groups the strength to level the ground for their children and the future of their society.  Without the aspect of cultural identity, it is easier for an individual to be overwhelmed by the pressures of the world (Fong, 4).

Cultural identity is built up and sustained through the sharing of information and knowledge in a collective manner such as traditions, food, heritage, customs, language, and beliefs. A person’s cultural identity is established in relation to other individuals within a distinctive social context. All of the cultural identities are defined by acknowledging the presence of other cultural practices. With the current globalization, there has been an increase in the intercultural practices and this has resulted in the formation of complex and multifaceted cultural identities (Hauser, 2). The intercultural dialogue, therefore, is important in constructing a cultural identity as it also empowers individuals to realize the similarities and the differences with other people and in defining who they are.

To sum it up, it is important to note that culture is of great essence in our society as it is the identity of a state. Therefore, without culture, the society is impractical. Culture is the foundation of any society which guides them in the ways of life. From a young age, cultural identity is an element that influences the way through which young people virtually come up with confidence, wellness, and mental health. The manner in which people behave, eat and conduct themselves is solely dependent on the cultural identity. However, cultural identity can also be used against a person. Therefore it is through this sense of belonging that they are able to draw their inner power so as to rise above all of their situations within their community. Therefore it is true that cultural identity impacts a person both internally as well as externally.

Work cited

Hauser, Robert. "Cultural Identity in a globalized world? A Theoretical Approach towards the Concept of Cultural Identity." (2012).

Berry, Theodorea Regina, and Matthew Reese Candis. "Cultural identity and education: A critical race perspective." The Journal of Educational Foundations 27.3/4 (2013): 43.

FONG, M. (2004). Communicating ethnic and cultural identity. Lanham [u.a.], Rowman & Littlefield.

Moral Dilemmas and Theories

    Violent crimes in our societies have greatly increased and thus raising concerns all over. Reducing violent crimes therefore is a good thing and gun advocates are acknowledging that guns are the driving force to the increased rates of high crimes in our societies. This therefore forms the basis for the gun control movement as advocates are arguing that gun ownership has increased and hence causing commission of crimes and guns are inherently becoming dangerous due to their primary role of being destruction to the targeted audience. Following this concern, guns should be therefore controlled and outlawed.

 Gun control is basically put in place so as to limit the number of gun ownership in the society and this can only be supported by the utilitarian moral theory.  Through this restriction bestowed upon gun ownership, the likelihood of people becoming injured or losing their lives is reduced. The argument on gun control is basically founded on the modern utilitarian thought by Bentham who asserts that morality of action is determined by its efforts to the overall happiness. Therefore any act should therefore be taken if it is produces the greatest amount of happiness. Applying this theory therefore indicates that guns produce more harm than happiness as well as social utility and therefore it is morally not right to use guns (DeGrazia et al, 2016). Guns cost the lives of people as most of the cases in homicide and robberies are committed by people who have guns. This means that a high percent of taxpayer money is often used in healthcare bills for the injured people while this money could have been used in investments and in more socially benefited causes that would bring an ultimate happiness for the overall majority. Utilitarian therefore are in great support to push the government to put more restrictions in gun ownership and hence this will result to gun control. The government is highly using the social utilitarianism to take apart the individual rights in owning guns (Lott et al, 2010).

Gun advocates argues that guns availability helps criminals to use the guns and hence due this high rate and easiness to access guns, criminals will continue to use guns in all of the ways that they want. Thus the advocates are claiming the government should forge forward with their efforts to ensure that there are strict regulations on guns ownership as this will minimize the sale and possession of these guns and ultimately causing minimal criminal cases. It is true that guns are important for protection but this notion was highly applicable in America during the uncivilized era when the nation was at a wilderness state. In the present day that we are all living, there are numerous police departments that have been established so as to ensure that security is equally offered to all the citizens. Therefore, there is no need for people to own guns. This therefore gives the government the right to make gun acquisition difficult as this will considerably reduce violent crime cases. Guns are weapons in nature and thus their use is fatal and dangerous (Lott et al, 2010). Therefore having a strong gun control regulations will make it hard for people and especially criminals to acquire guns easily and for those who will be caught possessing guns, it will be a serious case to answer. It is therefore important for all people to be good citizens and to adhere to the regulations as it will be of a common good.

Many people and advocates has however countered this argument by arguing that owning guns is not a bad thing as law abiding citizens use them for the protection of self and that of their loved ones. Some has used statistics that prove that the rising crimes are not as a result of the high rate of gun ownership as the statistics indicate that there is no connection between the rising gun ownership and the decline in crime rates. Gun control however coincides with Kant’s theory which is used by oppositions who want to have gun regulations reduced. The opposition’s supports Kant’s theory as it argues that morality is an act that highly depends on an individual’s intention whether it is that of good will and not the outcome of that same act (Weisberg, 2004). The problem however in this case is the results of the action of controlling a person’s rights to own arms which is basically not in the interest of all people. Therefore most of the conclusions made by the oppositions argue that illegalizing the use of guns is not solely the solution to solving the criminal cases across states as gun control would not end violence in our societies (Harr et al 2016). There is a strong argument asserting that owning guns is not entirely the problem but rather a part of the problem as the major part of the problem lies in the attitude of the people who own these guns. Thus to effectively reduce the gun and crime problems, the government ought to implement strict rules on those who will be convicted for using guns.

References

Lott, John R. (2010).More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun-Control Laws. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Top of Form

DeGrazia, David, and Lester H. Hunt. (2016). Debating Gun Control: How Much Regulation Do We Need?, Print.

Harr S, Hess K, Orthmann & Kingsbury. (2016).Constitutional Law and the Criminal Justice System. Cengage Learning.

Weisberg, R. (2004). The Utilitarian and Deontological Entanglement of Debating Guns, Crime, and Punishment in America.

Annotated Bibliography

Issue: Corporal punishment

Introduction

 There is controversy on the issue of corporal punishment where some argue that corporal punishment is associated with behavioral problems while others argue that it is the best method to shape and achieve the desired behaviors.  These articles gives an important information  on corporal punishment and  serves a common purpose  of  letting people or rather parent view corporal punishment with a positive   perspective. In other words, the   argues  that corporal punishment does not contribute to behavioral problems but rather poor parenting  while providing   corporal punishment is the root cause of the problem. The key finding from both old and current sources is that   parents should ensure positive parenting which is based on inductive reasoning, parental warmth and monitoring.  Authors also propose parent training programs which will help parents gain knowledge on how to provide physical punishment to avoid internalizing and externalizing problems.

McKee, L., Roland, E., Coffelt, N., Olson, A., Forehand, R., Massari, C., & ... Zens, M. (2007). Harsh Discipline and Child Problem Behaviors: The Roles of Positive Parenting and Gender. Journal Of Family Violence, 22(4), 187-196. doi:10.1007/s10896-007-9070-6

According to McKee et al (2007), majority of parents in U.S use corporal punishment as a method of punishment despite the great controversy on this type of punishment   and its long-term effect to child’s behavior.   In 1995, a nationally-representative survey reported that over 50% of children aged 12 years and above experienced corporal punishment in the previous years. The prevalence of corporal punishment in U.S has made the issue to be debatable since corporal punishment has long-lasting effects to child’s behavior and internalizing problems. The hypothesis or thesis made is that verbal discipline and physical discipline (corporal punishment) contribute to child behavior problems and this can be avoided if parents practice positive parenting (parental warmth, inductive reasoning, avoid gender role stereotypes etc) while offering harsh discipline.

 The  study used a  community-based sample  and a total of 2,582 children  in fifth-sixth grade from pediatric clinics and their parents  were involved in the study where they  were provided with  questionnaires and  asked to complete  independently.  The findings  supported the  thesis that  verbal and physical  discipline contribute to  internalizing and externalizing  problems  such as depression, low self-esteem ,  aggressive behaviors, social withdrawal,  psychological maladjustment and more.  This research is useful to the audience because it has introduced a solution to the existing controversy.  While conducting the research, researchers on this field have seen the need to find how physical punishment and positive parenting are related.  For example, researchers will solve this debate by stating that corporal punishment should not be eliminated but what should be done is that parents should control the positive parenting.  In this case, parents should avoid gender stereotypes between boys and girls, offer inductive reasoning as to why a parenting is punishing and more importantly provide parental warmth which means that after punishing let the child know that he or she is loved.

Paolucci, E. O., & Violato, C. (2004). A Meta-Analysis of the Published Research on the Affective, Cognitive, and Behavioral Effects of Corporal Punishment. Journal Of Psychology, 138(3), 197-221.

 According to Paolucci & Violato (2004),   there is a controversy that exists in U.S and Canada based on the right way to punish children.  The argument raised is that corporal punishment is effective when parents are emotionally supportive, when it is under life circumstances and if it is used by parents who lack verbal skills.  In contrast, corporal punishment contributes to long-lasting behavioral problems such as physical aggression.  The authors in this article present a meta-analysis from 70 studies which were published in year 1961-2000.  The hypothesis made is that corporal punishment does not substantially contribute to cognitive and behavioral problems.  They claim that corporal punishment should be practiced under certain circumstances. For example, there should be a strong bond between the child and the parent, parent should focus on shaping behaviors, the punishment should be fair and it should be temperamentally appropriate.  Note that under certain conditions, there is an inductive reasoning for punishing and the goal of parents is very understood as to reinforce positive behaviors and to eliminate   the undesired behaviors.  In the meta-analysis, Howar (1996) asserted that parental factors that contribute to behavioral problem due to corporal punishment are; poor social support, marital discord, life stressors, mental problems, substance abuse and more.  Thus, studies from different research supports the hypothesis that; children who are physically punished   have low risk of developing behavioral problems   because even if they become upset, they understand that slapping or spanking is acceptance for shaping desired behaviors.  Thus, the long-lasting behavioral problems from corporal punishment are a consequence of these parental factors.  The author  create  a relationship with the audiences   in that  researchers  will continue with the research and focus  on changing the negative attitude with people that corporal punishment   is bad.  They should try to find other evidences that corporal punishment is positive under certain conditions and negative under some negative parental factors.

Balan, R., Dobrean, A., Roman, G., & Balazsi, R. (2017). Indirect Effects of Parenting Practices on Internalizing Problems among Adolescents: The Role of Expressive Suppression. Journal Of Child & Family Studies, 26(1), 40-47. doi:10.1007/s10826-016-0532-4

 According to  Balan et al (2017),  parents experience developmental tasks  which affects the child development  by contributing to  internalizing symptom  such as  substance  abuse, suicidal thoughts, aggressive behaviors and more. On developmental task,   contributing factors to internalizing problems include poor monitoring, harsh discipline and inconsistent disciple.  The authors assert that the three factors have a potential mechanism of leading to internalizing problem since they create expression suppression.   The authors create a thesis that; expressive suppression emotion regulation during corporal punishment contributes to internalizing symptoms.  This means that   parents create expressive suppression and avoidance   to their children through punitive reactions and negative parental behaviors.  In turn, the expressive suppression leads to depressive and anxiety symptoms. On  corporal punishment,  the authors  argue that inconsistent discipline- failure of the parent  to punish   a  wrong action at the right time makes  children to  lose trust with their parents  and continue  with irresponsive behaviors, and poor monitoring-failure to  track the behavior in different social setting  and failure to communicate increases the expressive suppression. Long-term practices of these parental behaviors affect the health of the child in that they modifies the behaviors and   becomes unable to control the negative emotion.  On the hand, parents may over-control the behaviors and in turn lead to anxiety and depression. This research helps the audiences understand that   corporal punishment is not bad but the parental practices in offering the punishment directly and indirectly leads to behavioral problems.  Researchers should now find the programs for emotional education or rather behavioral parent training.

Atiles, J. T., Gresham, T. M., & Washburn, I. (2017). Values and Beliefs Regarding Discipline Practices: How School Culture Impacts Teacher Responses to Student Misbehavior. Educational Research Quarterly, 40(3), 3-24.

According to Atiles, Gresham & Washburn (2017), teachers are expected to provide developmentally appropriate teaching and adhere to the sense of efficacy.  However, some use self-efficacy and this affects the way they deal with daily stress and students’ needs and other daily practices.   On corporal punishing, some states like U.S legalize corporal punishment and teachers normally refer students to the principal’s office for punishment. The authors in this article argue that most teachers do not use a sense of efficacy in addressing matters but rather they use self-efficacy and negative attitude on corporal punishment. This is because, corporal punishment is socially constructed or in other words teachers view it as a traditional way of punishment and they tend to align their practices with values and beliefs. In the study, pre-service and in-service teachers were given a series of questionnaires on self-efficacy. The result showed that teachers who provide developmentally appropriated practices   used non-punitive reactions in dealing with corporal punishment while teachers   who referred students to the principal’s office viewed corporal punishment with less non-punitive reactions. This means that   the latter viewed corporal punishment with a negative attitude or relied on values and beliefs while the former viewed it with a sense of efficacy and as a way of shaping behaviors.  The purpose of this research is to show audiences that there should be training programs in schools to allow teachers understand the real meaning of corporal punishment. First, teachers should understand that corporal punishment is not about values and beliefs but it is something based on   shaping behaviors and more importantly helping students achieve learning goals.  

Eminent Domain

Over the years, the Indian people who live in America have come to view property rights concept differently as from their American counterparts. The United States has frequently structured the taking of Indian lands on the basis of development of these lands by other developers. However, it is evident that the topic of eminent domain is hardly discussed when the land resources are abundant. However, they are more dominant when the resources are scarce and when competing for interest yields up on a particular land hence resulting in a hierarchy of preferred land uses on the land.

There have been so many arguments in regards to the eminent domain as people feel that the private investors are taking advantage of this law so as to grow rich and meet their long-term goals while the long-term residents who have grown to know these private lands as theirs since generations are displaced to new places. To some extent, these arguments are quite true but they are not entirely justifiable. Losing a property that you value so much to the government through the power of the eminent domain is always very painful (Bird, 2010). However, it is quite important to understand that though the government often makes a fair compensation to these private lands, people are often not happy or rather satisfied with this compensation as no amount of money can equate the value or the feeling that they have on their private lands. However, the main argument from the lawmakers is that eminent domain can only be exercised when the public good is the central reason. This is to mean that the government can only ask people to leave their lands only if they want to facilitate an economic development as they argue that these economic developments will result to rising of tax revenues, raising job opportunities and revitalizing neighborhoods.

Eminent domain is an authoritative economic development tool that is used cautiously and it helps cities in creating job opportunities, growing businesses and strengthening their neighborhoods. It is for this reason that the government is acting in favor of developers rather than its citizens. The courts approve of anything that is benefiting the public as a public use. Therefore it is legal for the government to displace the Indian farmers from their land as they regard developers’ intention on investing in gambling business on the Indian land would be for the greater good (Bird, 2010). Though the town has been struggling economically especially with the increasing demands for taxes and revenue so as to und the government’s operations, economists would argue that this is the right direction to undertake. However, it is very unfair that the Indian land is the one to be used for this activity while there are other alternative lands that could be used for the same purpose (Leeds, 2005). This is a clear demonstration of the prejudice that is bestowed upon our societies. It is true that something needs to be done so as to ensure economic stability in the Indian land but displacing the people and bring in new investors in the land would not help to solve the problem so much as the company that is being developed has no value on the residents of that place. Compensating them will not be enough for them as their value for the land outweighs the compensation. It is unethical for the developers to want the Indians land but still not consider them for employment. This is to mean that most of the revenue would still go back to Las Vegas from where the company developers and employees are outsourced (Leeds, 2005).

However, there should be more restrictions on the use of economic development. It is just unfair to force people to sell their land simply because other people want to make money from the same land. In this case, for example, using the eminent domain is just an abuse of power. This is because the developers in question, in this case, are selfish and are not looking at the general public good (Bird, 2010). They are planning on investing in the Indian land but still, they are outsourcing their employees from their foreign countries rather than employing the Indian people who have sacrificed their land for their sake. Though the company will increase economic development through tax returns but the issue here is they are not benefiting the community which has hosted them. Therefore, the public good, in this case, is not best served as it is just serving a few indirectly through tax revenue and still it is sacrificing the happiness of the few whose lands are to be taken. Property rights are personal rights and hence property ownership is clear from a personal interest in being free from the government interferences. Depriving of personal property is, therefore, one of the most drastic actions that a government can take against an individual (Bird, 2010).

It is fundamentally wrong and against the constitution, for the government to forcefully take land from one person and hand over to another group of people simply because they think that the developer in question will make more productivity out of the land as compared to the original owner. What the government forgets is that the more secure people feel in their lands, the more they will offer their efforts in creating and improving the productivity of the land and it is through these greater efforts that the people are able to realize wealth in the society. Leaving the Indian farmers to stay within their lands will allow them to find better ways of farming and this will ultimately result in their contribution to the economy of the nation. Farming will allow them to create jobs which they will use to employ the people from their community and hence this will reduce the college dropouts and hence increase wealth gaining in the society hence enhancing the well being of all people (Bird, 2010).

There is need to control tightly the power of eminent domain. In this case, the government would only have the power to seize land only under extraordinary and compelling situations. Developers ought to, therefore, submit ample and convincing evidence demonstrating their absolute necessity for the land taking. The public use of the land in question ought to be clear and unambiguous. This would, therefore, reduce abuses on private properties and this will enhance the owners to fully resist the government interferences. I, therefore, stand against the bill to evacuate the Indians despite giving them a fair compensation for the motivation behind this development is inconsiderate. The Indians has a right to remain on their lands for as long as they want without being interfered by any institution.

References

Bird, R. C. (2010). Reviving necessity in eminent domain. Harv. JL & Pub. Pol'y, 33, 239.

Leeds, S. L. (2005). By Eminent Domain or Some Other Name: A Tribal Perspective on Taking Land. Tulsa L. Rev., 41, 51.

Combatting Gender Privilege and Recognizing a Woman’s Right to Privacy in Public Spaces: Arguments to Criminalize Catcalling and Creep-Shots

Introduction

In the article titled ‘’Combatting Gender Privilege and Recognizing a Woman’s Right to Privacy in Public Spaces’’ authored by Marc Tran, the author explores on two variations entitled to the female gender being catcalling and creep-shots (Tran 185). To begin with, street harassment against women popularly known as catcalling has been in existence for the longest period and despite the psychological and physical harm that it leads to the issue is still on the rise in the contemporary society. According to Tran, street harassment usually takes place in instances when a female is in the public location and gets interrupted by gestures, wording or customized noises from men. In doing so, the male’s freedom of exercising expression by commenting regarding the female body is emphasized which in term describes the female as an object and the man as the substance that has authority over her (Tran 186). With the recent technology development that has helped in exposing such matters to the public as videos of street harassment have been circulating in the recent has helped in highlighting the seriousness of the issue. It is without a doubt that creep-shots which are a form of photography that values up-skirting and down blousing are an additional issue. These issues have generated controversies with respect to the need to acknowledge women’s privileges to privacy and recognizing catcalling and creep-shots are a crime. While the sources of such habits are debatable, the damages of creep-shots and catcalling are unarguable as they vary from nervousness to intensified cases of stalking and sexual attack.

In my opinion, Tran makes a rather strong argument that street harassment that is caused by catcalling and Creep-shots should be criminalized to ensure that the female’s gender entitlement to privacy is public setting is guaranteed but the argument would have been practical if more focus was made on the issues that the matter would raise based on the provision of the first amendment. In this case, it is not possible to create a distinction amid what is right based on the provision of law and what is not. This is because men involved in catcalling exercise their right of expression and communicating their thoughts on a subject which in this case is a female’s body. On the other hand, privacy is guaranteed for every individual both in private and public settings (Tran 187). However, in the contemporary societal trends have changed and every individual is striving to ensure that they have been heard which makes it even hard to criminalize the behavior. America is a nation that emphasizes on individuality meaning that everyone pursues the things that please them as long as the rights of others are fully preserved. The notion that female’s privacy is violated in the public setting by catcalling is not well supported and thus not justified because the behavior is a form of expression.

I do believe that sexual attack and stalking is an illegal conduct as it leads to harm and damages on the victims might either be psychological or physical. Such acts are not allowed as the constitution guards every individual from harm that may result from decisions from others. In this context, if catcalling leads to the aggressiveness of harm it should be categorized as a criminal act but expressionism should not be infringed in the quest of guarding the privilege of privacy. It can be agreed that catcalling is considered by most as flirting. It is not, therefore, a violation of the law to flirt with another because different individuals choose distinct strategies for doing it. In this context, criminalizing the act, therefore, implies that most individuals will mainly be sentenced just because of expressing themselves or for doing something that they believed would cause no harm. In addition, culturally America is very diverse which creates a lot of challenges in distinguishing amid what is accounted as morally good in some cultures and a crime in another. Due to the existence of different cultures, it is rather apparent that drawing a precise line amid the most acceptable nom and the unethical one is rather challenging. The creation of such laws that seek to work mainly against street harassment is a good measure of guarding individuals from any harm but this would be promoting the rise of discrimination based on gender, cultures as well as norms. In dealing with such an issue there are a number of matters that are to be accounted for fully to ensure that everything has been handled well. This means that the rights and beliefs of individuals are to be guarded fully to create a fair and pleasing society in general (Tran 185). In other words, the argument that female’s rights should be recognized and ensure that privacy is guaranteed in the public setting is viable but it should have been feasible if the constitutional provision and nature of the American culture was accounted for.

Creep-shots and catcalling should be illegal despite the fact that fighting the issue is challenging as controlling individuals conduct on the street are very demanding (Tran 186). In the article, Tran holds that despite the fact that the subject is still being debated by the public it is time that it is addressed. Tran, assets that street harassment is a problem that deserves equal attention as other minor and aggressive crimes based on the harm that is caused. Prior to focusing on the solutions, the major harms caused by the issue should be analyzed which will, in turn, offer individuals with an adequate understanding of the matter. According to Tran to of the major issues that arise from street harassment are privacy invasion and fear of sexual attack (Tran 187). This is because in most unsafe places those that seem not to respond well to the calling will ultimately be subjected to rape or physical attacks. Street harassment has proven to be notably destructive based on the ground that African American females experience more of the harassment which revokes a sensation of slavery. This is against the law given that every individual is entitled to peaceful living and privacy. In addition to sexual harassment, street attacks create psychological oppression that works in lowering the dignity of the women that are involved as well as subjecting them to unending trauma. Most of those that are attacked lose their confidence which in turn affects their ability to interact socially or be expressive. In turn, development is affected in general which causes the society to lose a lot in regard to finances as some are forced to enquire for clinical assistance (Tran 187).

The author depicts the issue of street harassment as gender specific. In that based on the dominance of the harassment against women, the issue can best be understood to be a source of harm to women men. These incidents mainly occur in the isolated locations and in the cases, the victims have no much power to overcome the attacks which force most of them to compromise in order to evade serious harms. In other words, the issue is also widely acknowledged as a result of social control in which the domination of the male gender is widely acknowledged, leading to isolation, interruption, and oppression (Tran 188). Tran asserts that the society has failed in handling the prevalence of the problem because most of the individuals involved in the behavior do so because of the lack of adequate knowledge. In this context, there is a necessity to educate the public about the importance of respecting others, their privacy, religion, culture and so on.

It is worth noting that the issue of street harassment affects every individual but has more psychological weight on colored people (Tran 189). In that, most of them perceive it as a continuity of slavery where black women are still expected to act as sexual object for the white race. On the other hand, the issue is more rampant among black men as the African culture emphases more on it and there is particularly nothing wrong with the act in general and if the behavior is criminalized this, therefore, implies that the gap between the incarcerated black and while men will widen further thus leading to furthered form of discrimination. this will cause a number of negative implication on the ground that the black race will feel offended as even though their beliefs assert that the behavior is not illegal they will be sentenced for such norms which will deny them the ability to practice all that they believe in.

Tran (189) emphasizes that the best solution lies in implementing a legal solution against catcalling. In that, the author holds that the harms caused by catcalling are extremely spread across the nation and thus the behavior is best qualified to be categorized as a crime. In most cases, laws against harassment and stalking are in operation and the main weaknesses regarding the policies lie on the ground that they need to take place in a given pattern to be accounted as street attacks (Tran 189). Based on the harms that are caused by street harassment, it is rather evident that the harassment necessitates a different classification that will seek to guard individual’s rights. This means that every individual will be accountable for their behaviors and the resulting damages.

In summing up, it is evident that street harassment is a major concern in the contemporary society even though it has been given little to zero attention in regard to law. It is evident that aggressive catcalling that leads to sexual harm should be dealt with as crime but there is a need to distinguish amid harmless and aggressive behaviors. In that, most of them are practiced as a form of flirting which is allowed by the American culture and constitution which encourages individuality and expressionism. Educating individuals in regard to the harm that is caused by the issue can be the best and most effective strategies while legally aggressive harassment can lead to conviction and so on.

Work Cited

Tran, Marc. Combatting Gender Privilege and Recognizing a Woman’s Right to Privacy in Public Spaces: Arguments to Criminalize Catcalling and Creep-shots. (2015): Pp. 185-206.

Folkways, Mores, norms and taboos

Folkways refer to norms that arise out of casual human interactions that include routines and repetitive behavior. They results from natural forces that are unconsciously operated by human so that they become recognized manner of behaving in the society as individuals or group strive to solve the social living related problems (Thompson & Gibbs, 2016). For instance, one is may not expected to belch loudly while taking meals. Mores refers to folkways that are stricter and some groups in the society consider them to be important and indispensible to them (Thompson & Gibbs, 2016). An example, stealing is not accepted in the society.

Folkways differs from mores in that they involve a wider and more general character , while more represent a value judgment involving the folkways. Mores plays a deeper role retraining and molding people’s tendencies than folkways and it’s out of more that the profound human convictions of right or wrong emerges (Thompson & Gibbs, 2016).  Folkways are not as deeply ingrained in the society and undergo constant changes in comparison to mores which are more embedded and infrequently changes. In that sense, folkways will change as a person occupational and social status change but such changes are not seen in mores.  Moreover, violating mores is seen as infringing in the rights of others while such a view is not held for violating folkways (Thompson & Gibbs, 2016).  

Norms refers to the particular cultural expectations on how people should conduct themselves in a certain situation. Everyone in the society agrees upon such rules and expectations. Norms may differ from a given culture to another, so that some things are viewed as norms in a certain culture but not in other cultures (Thompson & Gibbs, 2016).  For instance, in American society, it’s a norm to hold direct eye contact while conversing with another person failure to which one is considered rude. In Asia, avoiding direct eye contact during conversation is considered a gesture of respect and politeness while eye contact is perceived as rude. Folkways and taboos basically forms parts of the aforesaid norms, only that folkways are socially approved behavior that are not usually morally important and are established by people in their interactions (Thompson & Gibbs, 2016).  For instance, food and dressing habits are folkways and their violation do not result to server consequences. Mores involves strict norms through which ethical and moral behaviors of individuals are controlled (Thompson & Gibbs, 2016). For instance, one cannot attend social church gathering in nude. However, taboos are norms whose violation would lead to severe disgust so that a violator is shunned and considered socially unfit (Thompson & Gibbs, 2016). In most societies incest is considered a taboo.

Peter Berger’s 4 motifs of sociology

The debunking motif means that one’s mind will never be satisfied with a common answer and will seek to see beyond the surface or appearance of something.  Un-respectability motif means that if a person wants to have an understanding of the society, he or she must perceive the total social reality.  Relativization motif means a person is capable of imagining the world as different from how it appears. Cosmopolitan motif refers to the openness with which a person perceives things and acts without any prejudice.   

looking-glass self process

The process involves a person’s perception of himself determined by how he believes he is perceived by others and occurs in three steps: imagining how other people see us. While the image may be correct at times, it may also be wrong given that it’s based on a person’s imaginations; imagining how they judge us. People imagine what judgment others make of them; and then reacting to these imaginations.  Finally we alter our behavior or conduct on the basis of our reactions (Monaghan & Atkinson, 2016).

References

Thompson, W. E., & Gibbs, J. C. (2016). Deviance and deviants: A sociological approach. 7-9

Monaghan, L. F., & Atkinson, M. (2016). Challenging myths of masculinity: Understanding physical cultures. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. 133-137

Social support

Our childhood experiences play a major role in shaping our mental health and our well-being all through our lives. Sexual abuse amongst children can be detrimental to a person’s life as it can leave behind scars that are hard to heal and thus they affect the victim for a longer period hence putting them at a risk of being mentally unstable. One of my long-term friends went through a sexual assault while at a tender age and due to fear she was unable to report the case. All through her life she has been feeling embarrassed and guilty and in most of the instances she kept blaming herself of the predicament and she was convinced that she was not worthy enough and hence she deserved to be assaulted. This impacted her life in a negative way thus affecting her health and well being as she had low disregard for life to a point where she once tried to commit suicide. This also impaired her sense that the world is a safe place and destroyed her capacity to ever trust others again.

It was definitely important for her to get help through connecting with people who understood her and cared for her. In this case, we went for a search where we identified a social support group for sexually assaulted people and she joined the group. This group was the ideal support group that she could have joined as everyone in that room had a similar experience as hers and thus could identify with each other. This protected her from the negative effects of her childhood experience and assisted her through her healing process as she was able to share out and let go of her long-held emotions.  

 Corporal Punishment

Corporal punishment or ‘physical punishment’ is the major corrective method used to teach and assist children develop a pattern of behavior. In social and cultural context, parents believe that child development and growth is strengthened by discipline. For example, young children aged 2-6years do not have the ability to distinguish between reality and fantasy, or in other words their behaviors are shaped by encouragement and punishment. In home setting, punishment helps parents achieve particular objectives and suppress the occurrences of unacceptable responses. To accomplish the objectives, punishment is a way of providing aversive stimulation and controlling deviant response. In addition to social and cultural issues, parents believe that socializing the behavior require punishment especially to cognitive developed children (Eshleman & Bulcroft, 2010).  Child development and behavior are reinforced by interaction with the environment and the parental role in teaching the children.  Parental attention is an important element in developing the desired behaviors and parents are expected to shape behaviors through instruction, encouragement and correction. Based on corporal punishment, correction (punisher response) is applied when children fail to follow instruction and both punishment and encouragement produce the desired behaviors. According to the ‘American Academy of Pediatrics’, parents should use verbal reprimand as a form of punishment in order to control the behavior and achieve the desired outcomes (Eshleman & Bulcroft, 2010).  This raises controversy as parents argue that punishment produces successful discipline and is an effective method in controlling antisocial behaviors.  In addition, punishment should be applied to shape the behaviors of those who defy parent’s instructions.When instruction and encouragement fail to achieve the desired behaviors, punishment will work best to control the behavior (Eshleman & Bulcroft, 2010).

According to Baumrind (2003), the use of corporal punishment is associated with inevitable harmful effects which affect child’s growth and development. First, he asserts that child develops cognitive and emotional disturbances such as personality problems, hostile withdrawal and more. In addition, punishment leads to passive-aggressive problems and rebelliousness at adolescence.  Parents who control behaviors with hostility and restrictiveness increase the level of antisocial aggression in their children (Baumrind, 2003).  Although punishment may reduce aggression, the parental authority increases prosocial aggression in school and in other social setting.  Children who receive corporal punishment are more likely to develop physical abuse than children who are encouraged and instructed.  At adolescents, these children respond to anger reactions through conflict.  Children also develop poor mental health problems such as depression and anxiety and these leads to aggression and antisocial behaviors including perpetration of violence and abuse (Baumrind, 2003).

 The approaches, the best practices or the way forward toward reducing corporal punishment include adhering to principles of child behavior and development which offers guidelines to constructive discipline. According to Baumrind (2003), freedom or allowing children’s trust in services is importance since children will gain the ability to make choices and accept responsibilities with respect to the order of things. Through freedom, children will create requisite skills and be able to choose course of actions that meet the gratifying stimulation.  In order to reduce corporal punishment, parents should allow their children to choose actions where the child will base subsequent choices. Less guiding inducing methods and indirect threats will increase right chosen actions and responsibility.  Freedom will give children the opportunity to create conscious choices and responsible behaviors (Baumrind, 2003)

References

Baumrind D. (2003). Effects of authoritative parental control in child behavior. Child Development . EBSCO PUBLISHING.  Retrieved from: http://persweb.wabash.edu/facstaff/hortonr/articles%20for%20class/baumrind.pdf

Thomas, A., Chess, S., & Birch, H. G. (1968). Temperament and behavior disorders in children. New York:

Univ. Press.

Eshleman J. Ross & Bulcroft A. Richard. (2010). The family. 12^th edition. Pearson Higher Education

Differences between his divorce and her divorce

 Men and women undergo different experiences during and after divorce which is seen in the way they react to the situation.  The ex-husband enjoys some advantages over the ex-wife in terms of living standards and personal freedom. In most cases, the man will enjoy an improved living standard since his income continues to be largely and constantly high after divorce.  The man is also able to enjoy more freedom since normally the children’s custody is offered to the mothers (Zinn, Eitzen & Wells, 2015). This means that the man has extra time he can use for travelling, going to recreational centers and hanging out with his friends. This increases his chances of meeting people and dating once more.  However, the ex-husband is more prone to personal isolation than the former spouse especially because he is no longer with his children.

The experience of women after divorce relates to lower living standards, income sources and personal isolation. Women tend to undergo a decreased living standard since their financial situation is affect by the presence of the children if they have parental custody.  Even though child support may help the women to avoid such a situation, not much is done to alleviate the situation (Zinn, Eitzen & Wells, 2015).. The sources of income are also likely to reduce due reduced chances acquiring more property and seeking fulfilling employment may be difficult since she has to care for her children especially if daycare expenses are out of reach.   However, women are not likely to suffer from isolation as much as men. The custody for children plays a role in emotional overload. They largely have better social networks that can offer moral support than men (Zinn, Eitzen & Wells, 2015). She may lose friends or take long time to meet new ones or even date.

Cohabitation as a gateway to marriage

 Research has shown that the number of people cohabitating as a couple has been increasing with time. . In heterosexual relationships, people who are likely to cohabitate before marriage are majorly younger adults and a significant number of them-one third - had previously been married and are likely to possess college degrees (Zinn, Eitzen & Wells, 2015). In addition, an increasing percentage of these couples are choosing to include their children in such a setting. Most young people in their 20s are living with their romantic partner at a given time and over half of ensuing marriages will follow after such cohabitation (JAY, 2012).  

The increase in case of cohabitation has been related to various changes in the society such as sexual revolution, access to birth control and the appeal of sharing the bills in the present economy. Another major factor has been the need to whether two people wishing to live together can get along and hence, reduce chances of divorcing. The effect of cohabitation has been shown in various studies that they cannot be explained by personal characteristics, education and orientations such as religion but by the cohabitation itself (JAY, 2012).

However, the experience has been different from such a belief, since partners cohabitating before they marry appear to have lower level of satisfaction and hence higher chances of divorce that partners who do not. The process takes place gradually so that couples do not get to talk about their reason for living together and the consequences.  This is also related to negative interactions and decreased commitment especially for men, even after marrying (JAY, 2012).

References

Aging Families

Musil et al (2009) provide important implications that will help direct practitioners offer social support to improve the well-being of grandmothers raising grandchildren.  The article states that grandmothers who raise grandchildren develop depressive symptoms compared to grandmothers who never practice these roles. The study clearly show that family life stresses affects the well-being of grandmothers as they suffer from health problems.  The study hypothesized that mental health problems were reduced by providing greater support and ensuring that the care givers have less family stress.  In the study, the main aim was to investigate how family life stresses contributes to physical and mental health problems and the role of social support in reducing depressive symptoms (Musil et al, 2009).  The   authors do not overreach their data as they present the data and information as they really are. For example,   the result show that  grandmothers face intra-family strain  which are contributed by  daily schedules, less discretionary time, legal problems and other  difficult situations  which they face in daily basis.  The author offer recommendations which reflect practitioners’ awareness by stating that the first step to improve the mental health is to help grandmothers manage strain. Thus, practitioners in this a care has a role in finding the prevalence of caregiving and scope of stresses (Musil et al, 2009). To achieve effectiveness, practitioners are advised on conducting general health assessments based on formal and informal support, family stresses, family compositions and more.  Note that interventions are based resourcefulness and Support.

According to Neal & Hammer (2009), in everyday life, people cope with stress and for this reason, coping strategies matters a lot to achieve coping effectiveness.  Coping involves ‘emotion-focused coping’ which require cognitive coping and ‘problem-focused coping’ which require behavioral coping.  In this case, the author explains different coping strategies which dual-earner couples may use to reduce stress and more important improve the psychological well-being (Neal & Hammer, 2009).  Out of the selected coping strategies, the study found two important behavioral coping strategies; that is, emotional coping strategies and cognitively decreasing demands which is based on managing time for important activities. The authors  provides implications  to direct practitioners by stating that even though these coping strategies  are  on individual level, employer and management have a role to play  in ensuring that employees have enough time to manage  work and family. The recommendation offered also reflects the awareness of the practitioner in that managers should join ‘Family-Supportive Supervisor Behaviors’ (FSSB) for them to solve work family conflict by offering emotional support (Neal & Hammer, 2009).

 From a practitioner’s point of view, the article that offers the most helpful information is the one by Neal and Hammer (2009). The article raises the issue of dual-earner couples and the family coping strategies in managing stress. The information or recommendations are helpful in managers or in this case psychologist managers are expected   to encourage employees cope with stress. This is done through brief conversation and meeting in social systems. Employers and mangers should create work schedule flexibility to allow employee manage work-family issues (Neal & Hammer, 2009).  FSSB is important as managers will be able to offer instrumental support; role modeling behaviors and help employees manage work-family conflict.

Reference

Musil, C., Warner, C., Zauszniewski, J., Wykle, M., & Standing, T. (2009). Grandmother caregiving, family

stress and strain, and depressive symptoms. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 31(3), 389–408.

Neal, M. B., & Hammer, L. B. (2009). Dual-earner couples in the sandwiched generation: Effects of

coping strategies over time. Psychologist-Manager Journal, 12(4), 205–234.

 Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

The United States Census reported that 34%households in U.S have grandparents who raise grandchildren due to underlying conditions such as  parental death, incarceration, substance abuse and more (Musil et al, 2009). Studies have found that grandmothers who raise children   experience depressive symptoms which are contributed by family stresses and strain.  From ecological perspective, each level of the Bronfenbrenner ecological model has factors which affect the grandparents in terms of economy, social and emotional wellbeing.  The first level is microsystem and this involves the interaction setting and family influence.  In the family system, grandparents develop depressive systems when the family members and peers reduce interaction   and relationship. Grandparents need to create trust and mutuality with family members and friends for them to build a healthy personality.  Failure to achieve the relationship and interaction affects the social and emotion wellbeing since they lack both instrumental and subjected support (Eshleman & Bulcroft, 2010).

 The second level of the ecological model is mesosystem and this comprises influence from family interaction and outside setting such as schools, neighborhoods, sport teams and more. When these members fail to offer social and emotional support to the caregivers, they develop depressive symptoms which affect the well-being. Both family members and community should join hand in supporting the caregiver and failure to achieve the desired outcomes contributes to economic, social and emotional problems. The third level is exosystem and this comprises the family members and a larger contextual system where they both interact indirectly.   For grandmothers to have a strong social connection with the society there should be a quality interaction with family members. However, failure to connect the caregivers with the community and failure of the community to offer a supportive care affects the well-being of the caregivers (Eshleman & Bulcroft, 2010). Grandmothers lack positive social systems and social networks and this affects their psychological well-being. The last level of the ecology system is macrosystem and this comprises a greater influence from the culture and community. This means that cultural concepts and community play role in setting a social paradigm and social expectations. In this case, failure of the community and support group to create funding programs, coordinate of care, inter-sectorial collaboration and quality health care will highly affect the well-being of caregivers (Musil et al, 2009).

 Recommendations for supporting the grandparents include creating programs which will offer social support and psycho education. The programs should also be designed in a way that grandparents get an opportunity to interact with peer who experience similar challenges and this will act as a coping strategy.  The programs should also include group therapy intervention which will allow the caregiver improve emotional well- being (Musil et al, 2009).  To achieve effectiveness, social service agencies should provide transportation and other resources for grandparents to attend workshops. This will help them gain emotional support, parenting skill, parenting practices and coping strategies.

References

Eshleman J. Ross & Bulcroft A. Richard. (2010). The family. 12^th edition. Pearson Higher Education

Musil, C., Warner, C., Zauszniewski, J., Wykle, M., & Standing, T. (2009). Grandmother caregiving, family

stress and strain, and depressive symptoms. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 31(3), 389–