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The Definition Of Terrorism Is Controversial
The Definition Of Terrorism Is Controversial
Various government agencies and legal systems use different definition of terrorism in their different national legislations. The international community on the other hand has been slow to come up with a universally agreed definition of terrorism. This is because terrorism is emotionally and politically charged.
To distinguish terrorist from other types of criminals and also terrorism from other types of crime we need to appreciate that terrorism is first and foremost is ineluctably political in motive aimed aims while other criminal activities are not political at all. Like writing a letter or protesting, terrorism is a political tactic which is used by the activists when they have they believe that no other means can be used to affect the kind of change that they want. The need for this change is so bad that they perceive the failure to achieve it even worse than outcome deaths of the civilians. This is where the relationship between terrorism and religion occurs (Cliff 2003). It happens when apolitical struggle has been integrated into the framework of a cosmic or a religious struggle such as over the control of an ancestral land or a holy land, for example Jerusalem and Israel. Failing in the political goal is taken as spiritual failure which is worse than the deaths of the people that will be involved or the death of the perpetrators. Thus where other criminal activities may be aimed economically for example robbery and stealing terrorism is purely noneconomic but rather political. This is so clear in the case of suicide boomers who even have neglected their own live and are prepared to die so as to pursue the political goal on behalf of their state. The motive of other criminal activities like stealing is entirely personal and is especially done for personal gain.
Different legislations have defined what includes criminal activities and in most of the cases the criminals engage on those activities for personal reasons. Another aspect of terrorism that is not found in other criminal activities is violence or it can be put as threats of violence. It is true that some criminal activities may show violence but not all activities which are criminal which depicted violence. For example smoking of cigarettes in non smoking zones has been criminalized yet there is no violence that is involved in such an activity. On the other hand for any act to be termed as terrorism it must have the aspect of violence or threatened violence. Another thing that differentiates terrorism from other criminal activities is that it has far reaching psychological repercussions which are beyond the immediate victim. Most of the times, the terrorist target is to frustrate a state in one way or another. It may be that they have targeted to revenge or hit back but when they do things like bombing embassies of that state in other states then those who are adversely affected may not be member of the targeted state but member of the other state where the embassies were situated. For example on seventh of august 1997 a terrorist attack that hit the American embassies two African states namely Tanzania and Kenya was recorded. Many of the people who died in those two attacks were Kenyans and Tanzanian and most of them of course were innocent citizens. The target of the terrorist here was United States but the consequences of the violent attacks were felt even by the innocent citizens who were not American. The destruction that was caused was not felt by the United States as it was felt by the two African countries.
The other thing that distinguishes the criminal activities from terrorist attacks is that they terrorist attacks are conducted by an organization with a chain of command that is identifiable or conspiratorial cell structure where members don’t have an identifying insignia and wear no uniforms ( McCollum 2002). This is so different from a criminal activity like for example taking illicit brewing in some countries is criminalized and such an activity is has not been perpetrated through an organization with a chain of command. Only organizational act which have been perpetrated by individual at different levels in leadership of the organization can be said o be criminal. Some criminal activities may too be perpetrated by organizations which are mostly illegal groups and sects but when this is the case the members of the outlawed group have an identifying insignia. For example some sect members may prefer to keep long hair as their identifying insignia. But it should be noted that most criminal activities are done individually a done individually and for individual gains. The organizational crimes which exist don’t have a political purpose but aim toward fulfilling the goals of the organization they work for. If such an outlawed group has political goal then they are not between a state and another state but they are targeted to help a candidate of their choice represent them in their government. They may also be targeted to fight against another group in the same country. Lastly the terrorism is differentiated from other criminal activities by the fact that it is perpetrated by a sub national group or a non state entity which is at the top of the chain of command in the organization the designs the act of terrorism.
The criminal other criminal activities are not in way perpetrate by the sub national groups which are a representatives of their states but are acts which the state in the specific legislations have specified as criminal activities and have provided a penalty for engaging in such activities. Their perpetration is not in any way linked to the state but the state is the entity that prohibits such acts from being committed.
A definition of terrorism that was opined by Carsten Bockstette underlines the tactical and psychological aspects of terrorism. He defined terrorism as political violence that is in an asymmetrical conflict which is designed to induce psychic fear or terror through the acts of violent of victimization and destruction of the noncombatant targets. These acts are meant to send a message from the illicit clandestine organization. The terrorists aim at exploiting the media in order to achieve the maximum publicity that can be attained which they use as an amplifying force multiplier so as to influence the audience that they have targeted and thus manage to reach their short term and midterm political goals or the long term end state goals. Thus it is wrong perception terrorism and criminal violence is the same type of crime and that they have commonalties. (Goldstein 2007) Goldstein has explained the intricate differences that are found between terrorists and criminals. He asserts that the terrorists are most of the times well trained and are state supported. They have a specific goal which is more symbolistic than opportunistic as it is usually in the case of other criminal activities. The ordinary criminal is the one who seeks opportunistic targets and has very little backing, lacks discipline, is selfish and may be deterred easily.
The opportunistic nature of crimes is mostly for economic gains which is not the case with the terrorist activities. In general the terrorist is assumed to be well trained as oppose to the regular criminal. Because of this the propensity of violence and the destruction levels are much greater when it comes to terrorist activities. Terrorist believe in their cause at such a great extent that they are even willing to die for the cause. This is unlike the violence that is caused by criminal activities where for example the criminal runs for cover when being chased by police while the terrorist may even confront the policemen with a bomb that is strapped on his chest. Criminals will go into hiding after they commit the crimes. Terrorist on the other hand want to take credit for their actions. This brings out the psychological difference in their thinking. While a criminal is doing something that is termed as bad and wrong in the eyes of the societies the terrorist is doing something good and right and indeed so good that the society is going to credit him for it.
Another factor that differentiates the criminal activity and terrorist activities is the span of attacks by terrorist and the regular criminals. Most of the criminal activities are operated within the proximity of the hide outs while the terrorist activities are operated within the entire countries and internationally (White 2006.)
References
Cliff, M. (2003)Terrorism Prevention and Response: The Definitive Law Enforcement Guide to Prepare for Terrorist Activity. United states. Looseleaf Law Publications.
Goldstein, D. (2007). Religion and Todern Terrorism. Boston. Boston University Press.
McCollum, B. (2002) Threat Posed by the Convergence of Organized Crime, Drug Trafficking, and Terrorism. United states. DIANE Publishing
White, J. (2006). Terrorism and Homeland Security 5th ED. Belmont. Thomson-Wadsworth
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The definition of a manager is someone who leads a department, someone who decides what needs to be done to meet a company’s
The definition of a manager is someone who leads a department, someone who decides what needs to be done to meet a company’s goals. In addition, a manager needs to organize, hires people and delegates work but most importantly a manager motivates.
On a beautiful day, I visited this manager to discuss how a manager inspires and motivates. My interviewee is a person employed by an independent private school. This private independent school receives no state funds. The revenue for the school is funded strictly from tuition and some fundraising but mostly from tuition. The manager (interviewee) started out as a member of the faculty and progressed into the administrative side of the private school. This manager was promoted to lead the business office of the independent private school. Since most private independent schools receive no state funds independent school find themselves struggling on a daily basis to find funds for the operation of the school. The manager agreed to meet for the interview in between meetings. The following narrative is the interview.
As I arrived at the independent school I could not help noticing the beautiful campus. It would seem that first impressions are important especially for schools who vie for sparse students needed to increase enrollment numbers. A beautiful landscape is a great marketing tool it allows the potential students to envision themselves attending the school. In addition, it takes a special manager to convince parents the cost of tuition is justifiable. I met the manager on a beautiful fall day and he states he has been in the current position for ten years. The manager continues to explain after receiving his Master’s Degree in Finance he wanted to do something more. Although he enjoyed being a member of the wonderful and dedicated faculty he felt that he wanted to put his Master’s Degree in Finance to use. Luckily, a job in the business office opened up and applied for the Manager of the Business Office position. The manager could not believe his luck when he accepted this wonderful and prestige position. The manager explains having a Master’s Degree in Finance helped prepare him and felt confident he has done a fantastic job adapting to the current position. The manager also felt by knowing the employees and working with the employees and as a former employee he felt their desire to help him succeed in his new position. He states it was a warm and fuzzy feeling knowing his fellow employees were willing to help him have a successful transition to his current position.
During our interview, a distraught teacher came to see the manager. The manager spoke to the teacher in a calm voice and set up an interview at a later date and time.
The teachers at this private independent school is the core business and therefore invests in the development of the faculty. The manager explained to me he believes in mentoring employees. He believed by mentoring employees the employees acclimate quicker to the culture of the company. In addition to the employees not feeling as if they have been left on their “own” and “feels” welcomed and valued that the manager cares they are successful in their new and exciting position. The manager states he learned a lesson on how not to treat new employees because although he was excited to be the Manager of the Business Office, he felt he was “thrown” into the responsibilities of the Business Office without a lifeline to help him be successful. So, there was a lot of stress bringing the Business Office up to date and in a good working order. In addition, the manager strongly feels mentoring older employees into new departments of the school. The manager feels instead of an employee leaving and taking all of their experience with them he gently offers a new direction and mentoring the employee who wants to leave the school.
The manager explains since he works for a small school the role of the HR Department falls under his jurisdiction as well. When employees do not get along in the work place it is his policy to bring both parties or all parties involved in conflict to his office so everyone involved is clear about what is being said about each party. If possible the manager hopes to solve the conflict in one meeting. After the meeting, the manager documents what happened in the meeting and sends a letter to each party involved and the outcome. The letter is then filed in the affected employee’s files.
The manager also feels very strongly about welcoming questions at meetings and states he welcomes questions after informing his team of his intentions. In this manner, the manager can be assured that what he informed his team of is understood. In addition, since time is of the essence for the manager during the day he rarely takes questions. However, he does let the employees know they are free to email any concerns they might have with his announcements at the meeting. He does inform those employees who send questions to please give him a 24 – 48 hours timeframe to answer their questions.
The manager prefers communicating face-to-face and explains it is important because (1) the manager can put a face to a name, (2) the manager can be assured the communications has been delivered and (3) if the employee is in trouble being called to the manager’s office held some sort of anticipation to the employee to think about and prepare for the meeting.
During our meeting, I asked the manager about his experience in research work. The manager states his research work is extensive. Since it is a small independent school a lot of the work falls under the umbrella of the business office. Examples of the research are understanding how a new payroll system can help process payroll for the school and yet be affordable, what type of health benefits are the right benefits for the employees and can the school afford to offer said benefits. What is the best bank institution offering us services to run the operations of the school, where will the next fundraising site be held and can we afford the site to hold the fundraiser?
The manager explains he has no problem delegating work because it exposes the employee to new items. Since it is on a short-term basis the employee can decide if they want to continue in the work delegated and in addition the manager “weeds” out what employees can be “trusted” with a job outside their comfort zone.
However, the manager explains he is not happy when objectives are not met. He gave an example of an objective that was almost not met. It was the objective meeting payroll for the entire school. When the deadline was not met the manager had to jump in to save the “day”. After payroll was met the manager called into his office the employees responsible and put them on notice. He explained if the situation should occur again the employees would be fired. He explained it was the employee’s responsibility to inform him they were having trouble meeting the deadline and should have reached out for assistance.
The manager was quick to assure me he is a patient person. He also stated although it is his intention to be patient sometimes under the pressure of so much responsibility he finds himself snapping at employees. He does not like it and is quick to apologize for his behavior and sometimes outburst.
My interviewee proceeded to tell me about a student who was in trouble and brought harm to themselves. Since it was a very small school most students knew what was happening. The interviewee stated he instructed everyone what to do in this dire situation. After the dire situation, the manager informed me he gathered the staff to explain what happened, how it was handled and thanked everyone on the staff who worked together to bring the dire situation to a successful close.
The interviewee is a firm believer in overtime and overtime work is mandatory. The interviewee stated overtime is a requirement in this type of job and the person hired has been made aware of the important fact. If a potential candidate for a position in the company does not want to work overtime then the potential candidate does not move to the next part of the hiring process. The interviewee also stated he does not stay to work on the overtime project because he has full faith in his employees to meet their objective. The interviewee believes this type of situation is in fact training and prepares the employees for upper management positions. The manager believes this type of situation “weeds” out the employees who are not dedicated to the company. The manager also believes expressing empathy to the situation but ultimately it is up to the employee to prove their loyalty and dedication to the mission of the company.
Since an audit is required on a yearly basis and the Manager reports to the Head of the School who in turn reports to the Board of Directors there is a very slight chance of unethical behavior happening. The manager also delegates his work and those employees have access to view the work and makes sure all is in order.
My final analysis of the interview is this manager’s style is understanding and not quite autocratic. It is clear from this interview the manager is respected and fair. The amount of work years held at the independent school as well as the current position reflects his commitment to the school. This manager holds his employees to high standards and because he is fair in their eyes they follow his direction for the independent school. The planning, organizing and directing activities for his staff falls under the democratic management style. Although he gives orders he does take the time to hear his employees. I did not get the impression that this manager makes suggestions but instead orders his directions. The employees clearly see the hard work involved in running a small independent school and it seems the employees are willing to lend a “hand” to the success of the school. Under his motivational guidelines, this manager has built a wonderful and caring team guiding the students in their academic careers in a beautiful, clean and quiet setting.
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The Problem of Substance Abuse among Teenagers in the United States Today
Introduction
Compared to other populations, teenagers remain at risk of drug and alcohol abuse. Teenagers are in a stage where want to push limits and test boundaries. Teenagers go through a lot of stress in their developmental stages. While not all adolescents abuse drugs, drug abuse remains a big problem in this age group. Substance abuse has a huge impact on the well-being and health of teenager users (Singh, et al., 362). The most commonly abused drugs by teenagers include alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. Others include depressants such as benzodiazepines, stimulants such as cocaine, heroin, morphine, codeine, mushrooms ecstasies among others.
Following a corporative agreement between the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), a guide for screening of substance use in pediatrics was developed. It was meant to assist substance users to resolve abuse concerns. Further, the guide noted that in addition to alcohol tobacco, and marijuana being the most abused drugs by adolescents, two-thirds of students in 12th grade have tried alcohol (Winters, et al., 150). Additionally, 2 in 10 12th graders have consumed prescription drugs without a prescription. The purpose of this essay is to assess the problem of substance abuse among teenagers in the United States today. The text further explains family influence and educational tools as solutions for teenage substance abuse.
Family Influence
Resolving drug and substance abuse begins at home with the teenagers’ parents. Having clear communication between parents and teenagers regarding the emotional, functional, and physical effects of drugs are directly linked with a decline in drug abuse among teenagers. With adequate parental supervision comes a deterrent to drug abuse. Parents should talk to their children more and advise them against drug abuse to form a strong foundation about their awareness about drug abuse. Parental influence has a positive influence on children’s behavior as it teaches them about boundaries (Azofeifa, Margaret, & Althea, 1765). By teaching children about boundaries, parents assist their children to say no to things that might harm them. This way they remain in full control of unhealthy requests. Conversations create deep guidance and bonds between parents and children, strengthening their trust. This way, teenagers are better placed to make informed decisions about their friends, habits, influences, and interests.
Educational Tools
It is the primary responsibility of school personnel, community leaders, and governmental agencies to teach their children about the importance of leading a drug-free life. This strategy is helpful in preventing teenagers from abusing drugs before they enter adulthood and enter into the real world. Over the last few decades, education tools have been helpful in reducing drug abuse among teenagers a great deal (Peiper, 352). As such, it is important to educate teenagers about dealing with potential drug abuse problems and addiction before maturity. Currently, there are various educational programs including indicated, universal, and selective. Universal programs purpose is to teach personal, drug, and social resistance techniques to teenagers every week. Indicated programs on the other hand help teenagers to display any problematic behavior they might be experiencing. Selective programs are meant for teenagers at more risk of substance abuse due to unstable homes and other problematic behavior.
Conclusion
In the United States, drug and substance abuse is common among teenagers particularly because of the stress they go through in their developmental processes. Statistics show that alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana are the most abused drugs among teenage populations. Some of the solutions that can be employed to address this problem include increased family influence such are open communication by parents and employing selective, indicated, and universal educational programs. Additionally, the government should invest in ensuring the implementation of existing laws by taking legal action on people found consuming alcohol under the required age of 21 years.
Works Cited
Azofeifa, Alejandro, Margaret E. Mattson, and Althea Grant. “Monitoring marijuana use in the United States: challenges in an evolving environment.” Jama 316.17 (2016): 1765-1766.
Peiper, Nicholas C., et al. “Overview on prevalence and recent trends in adolescent substance use and abuse.” Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics 25.3 (2016): 349-365.
Singh, Tushar, et al. “Tobacco use among middle and high school students—United States, 2011–2015.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 65.14 (2016): 361-367.
Winters, Ken C., et al. “Adolescent substance abuse treatment: A review of evidence-based research.” Adolescent substance abuse (2018): 141-171.