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Anthropology of Death
Anthropology of Death
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Capital punishment refers to simply punishing the offender by death. Crimes that are punishable by death include the capital crimes to which include treason, murder, espionage, crimes against humanity, war crimes as well as genocide (Lippman, 2016). There are various ways to which the offender suffers death to which may include a firing squad, lethal injection, hanging or even stoning. Capital punishment is allowed in a majority of the western countries with the methods of execution being lethal injection or the use of the electric chair. Despite a large proportion of the nations of the world abolishing capital punishment, there are dozens of countries that continue to effect it in their countries. Both of the countries to whom have abolished the capital punishment and those who haven’t have their reason for using or not using it to punishing the offenders. The debate as to whether capital punishment should be abolished is controversial, and therefore each side has continued to cling on their perspective terming themselves to be right.
There are various reasons as to why capital punishment is considered to be advantageous and to which the countries that use capital punishment cling onto as a reason for using it to punish their offenders. One of the reasons is that capital punishment is termed to be an excellent deterrent to potential offenders in the future who wish to commit the same crime (Chalfin & McCrary, 2017). The reason is that having the knowledge that they could be put to death for committing a similar crime, the potential offenders may reconsider their decision and therefore revert from doing the wrong by avoiding it. Capital punishment may work best especially if the offenders value their lives and that they would not like to lose for committing a crime that would lead them to be eliminated from the world.
Besides, the death penalty aids in the elimination of the dangerous individuals such as the serial killers from the face of the world and the general society to which they are a threat to the lives of many. For this case, the termination of a single life to save many is worthy than keeping the offender alive as the act of holding alive or subjecting them to a different punishment may not reverse their actions and may even claim other souls despite being subjected to that punishment. It is, therefore, a better choice to terminate the specific individual’s life rather than sparing them to commit more crimes such as murder and treason.
Death punishment can be termed as being far much cheaper rather than deterring the prisoner in a maximum prison for the rest of their lives (Clear, Reisig & Cole, 2018). The reason to why it is cheaper is because when the offender is dead, they require no care from the government; they don’t require shelter, medication clothing, and even food to which costs the government a lot of resources to keep a criminal who has been imprisoned for life. The only resources that are required to execute the offender are minimal depending on the manner of death, for example, one bullet is enough to kill a person or using a lethal dose to eliminate the life. It is through this that capital punishment is considered cheaper as it saves the government more money and resources to which are channeled to development activities.
An eye for an eye or a life for a life is fair retribution as human life is the most valuable asset to a person owns and therefore if their life is terminated, the murderer as well should face the same sentence to make it fair. A murderer does not deserve to live while they have ended the life of another innocent person and therefore the government finds it worthy to subject the person to the same treatment to that which they have committed. The act for fairness may reduce the incidences in the future of murdering other people in the fear that they may get caught and subjected to the death penalty as well.
Capital punishment being a two-edged issue, have both advantages and disadvantages and therefore apart from the above benefits, other reasons hinder its application in a majority of other countries. One of the main reason is that a significant number of innocent people get convicted by mistake, and the use of the death sentence prevents for the future correction of the mistake (Hood & Hoyle, 2015). There are many reasons as to innocent individuals being convicted for the mistakes that they never conducted and one of them include poor and delayed investigations. The quality of investigations deters the innocent person for being proven not guilty and end up being convicted for the actions that they never committed, leading to the wrong execution.
Life is sacred, and therefore no individual has the right to eliminate the life of another person (Hayek, 2014). God is the sole provider of life and is the one responsible for terminating the life as life is considered to be a gift from God. Any other person is not mandated or provided with the authority over an individual’s life. It is therefore bad to terminate the life of the offender and but instead, imposing life imprisonment to the offender may be ideal. Even though lie is sacred, the death penalty is considered as inhuman and barbaric as it creates a brutal society. It against the human rights that a person’s life is terminated, and therefore advocating for the conservation of the life as it is precious is upheld.
Despite the use of capital punishment to deter potential offenders from committing a similar crime, there has not been any tangible evidence that the capital punishment was a deterrent to potential criminals (Donohue, 2015). Instead of acting as a deterrent, more and more similar crimes have continued to be conducted by other criminals, and therefore, the issue of deterrence becomes more questionable. Besides, extremists such as terrorists are regarded to be heroes or martyrs to which may encourage other individuals to follow and this encourages them to conduct such crimes that call for capital punishment. It will, therefore, be hard to deal with such a society, and consequently, other punishments may be applicable.
In conclusion, the issue regarding capital punishment is controversial and has continued to sparkle debates as to whether it is worthy of retaining it or abolishing it with all the sides having their take. The countries to which use it terms it as being a deterrent but those who don’t term it as being inhuman and against the will of God. There has been no evidence linking the use of capital punishment as a deterrent to committing crimes and can be used by extremist to cause chaos waiting to be put to death as they will be honored as martyrs, thereby making capital punishment being of no value and use. Instead, other penalties maybe advocated such as exposing the criminals to hard labor with no socialization may be more effective.
Reference
Chalfin, A., & McCrary, J. (2017). Criminal deterrence: A review of the literature. Journal of Economic Literature, 55(1), 5-48.
Clear, T. R., Reisig, M. D., & Cole, G. F. (2018). American corrections. Cengage Learning.
Donohue, J. (2015). There is no evidence that death penalty is a deterrent against crime. The Conversation.
Hayek, F. A. (2014). The constitution of liberty. Routledge.
Hood, R., & Hoyle, C. (2015). The death penalty: A worldwide perspective. OUP Oxford.
Lippman, M. (2016). Essential Criminal Law. SAGE Publications.
Strategies Of Promoting Safe Schools
Strategies Of Promoting Safe Schools
The state of security in schools has become an issue of great concern. There have ben many cases of insecurity issues within school premises. For these reasons there should be steps taken to ensure that schools remain a safe place to be for the students. The school district is willing to work with law enforcement, community groups, private concerns and federal and state agencies to maintain safety in schools. Some of the steps taken include programs such as safe kids/safe streets, safe start and safe future. All these programs are aimed at ensuring that there is safety everywhere for the kids. The programs are commonly initiated by the community in order to ensure that the entire community is safe for students. The other way of ensuring safe schools is through safe schools pyramid. This reflects on the fact that schools have to be comprehensive and individual in the approaches they take when it comes to solving problems of school violence. These strategies are quite promising since they are proactive and are on the basis of intervention and prevention. There should also be crisis training as well as professional development for staff on the basis of needs assessment so as to ensure that they will ensure safety in schools.
At risk-students that can potentially cause violence
The prevention of violence in schools is a priority in most schools. There is some students who have the potential of performing acts of violence in their schools. These students have to be identified in order to prevent any such acts from occurring. There are several warning signs which can be used to easily identify such students. These signs include students who have a history of aggressive behavior or violence. Students who have gone through early childhood abuse or neglect have the potential of causing violence. Another sign in such students is taking alcohol or abusing other drugs. When students withdraw from friends or their usual activities they could potentially cause violence. Finally another thing to look out for is gang membership. Students who are members of a gang or desire to be in gangs have the potential of causing violence (American Psychological Association, 2013).A more viable approach in the prediction and prevention of school violence is through threat assessment. This uses a set of strategies in order to determine credibility of a threat and likelihood of the threat being carried out. The first step involves understanding facts concerning school violence as well as potentially violent offenders.it are very important to avoid any form of misconception when it comes to violence in schools.it is also important to ensure that trust is built between adults and students.it is also necessary to build an interdisciplinary as well as trained threat assessment team (NASP Resources, 2013).
Juvenile gangs
There has been an increase in the number of juvenile gangs that are being formed. The gang problem is one which is continuing to grow within the community, it is important to find out the factors which drive juveniles into joining gangs. Joining gangs is consists of both pulls and pushes. The pulls entail the attractiveness of gangs. These include prestige associated with gang membership from friends. The gangs also provide attractive opportunities such as chances of excitement through selling drugs and getting money. Therefore most juveniles end up choosing to join gangs. There is some social .cultural or economic forces that might push adolescents into joining gangs. A key factor is the protection that comes with gangs as well as the general perception of well being for members of gangs.
These gangs have their own culture pertaining to their nature and conduct. Every gang has their own culture such as how they dress, how they should behave towards men and women. The members normally have particular knowledge about their gang like initiation rites, traditions, history and territory. The gang culture is normally imparted from one generation to the other through socialization. Incase the norms are violated; the violator is likely to face punishment. Gang Resistance Education And Training is a school based program which are instructed by police officers which includes learning activities and classroom instructions. The am of the program is to provide life skills to those enrolled so as to assist them avoid any delinquent behavior and turning to violence as a solution to their problems (American Psychological Association, 2013).There is also a teen, crime and community initiative which motivates young people to create safe neighborhoods and schools. The TCC community work program assists teens in understanding how crime can affect them, their friends, families and entire community.it gets them involved in projects for preventing crime so as to help turn their communities into a safe place.
References
American Psychological Association. (2013).Warning signs of youth violence. Retrieved June 30, 2013 from http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/warning-signs.aspx#NASP Resources(2013).Threat Assessment: Predicting and Preventing school violence. Retrieved June 30, 2013 from http://www.nasponline.org/resources/factsheets/threatassess_fs.aspx
Historical Methods
Historical Methods
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Abraham Lincoln is famous for leading the country into the civil war that lasted between 1861 and 1865. The leading cause of the civil war was the fact that seven southern states had seceded from the Union, and President Lincoln was determined to persevere the Union at all costs. When the war first began, it was about preserving the Union, but as it progressed, ending slavery became another important goal. The southern states were unwilling to end slavery, while abolition activists pressured Lincoln to declare emancipation. He had always believed that slavery was wrong, but he was willing to maintain the status quo, for the south to keep slaves as long as it did not extend into other states. The main reason why Abraham Lincoln’s goals in the Civil war changed is that he realized that slavery was the central issue that had led to divisions in the country, and thus it had to be addressed.
The primary goal of the Civil War was the preservation of the Union, but the emancipation declaration made the end of slavery another main goal of the war. Pressure from activists and personal beliefs convinced Lincoln to declare the proclamation though he had been reluctant at first. In his address to Congress on the fourth of July, 1861, Lincoln explained that he was willing to stay out of the affairs of the south with regard to slavery. His presidency would not interfere with things as they were; every part of the country was free to run its affairs as it saw fit. He stated that “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it…” NOTEREF _Ref23710745 f h 4 However, he later changed his position because of his long-held beliefs that slavery was an evil to the society. During the Civil War, he decided to implement his personal beliefs because they would benefit the country more than slavery would. He was criticized for his change in position, but this does not mean that his own personal beliefs ever wavered NOTEREF _Ref23711328 f h 2. He remained steadfast from the start that he opposed slavery, but he would accept the views of the southern states. The main issue for
Another reason why Lincoln changed the goals of the civil war from maintaining the Union to ending slavery is because he realized that the two goals were complementary to each other. At first, he did not care whether saving the Union would result in freeing slaves or not; his main goal was to maintain the Union at all costs NOTEREF _Ref23711328 f h 2. As the war progressed, Lincoln realized that he could finally put his beliefs against slavery into action while at the same time preserving the Union. The Southern states had defied the government in seceding, and the government would retaliate by declaring an end to slavery in the region. The Emancipation Proclamation was made on the 2st of January, 1863 by President Lincoln. The government would have asserted its authority with these two goals.
Maintaining the status quo shows that the government was weak. In his address to Congress, President Lincoln posed the question, “Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for the liberties of its own people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?” NOTEREF _Ref23711328 f h 2 The main cause of the Civil War was that the Southern states had seceded and the Union was under threat NOTEREF _Ref23711606 f h 3. Lincoln realized that the war was a chance for the central government to prove its might against the seceding states. A government could not be seen to be too weak to maintain its resistance and authority over the land it is supposed to govern. The war proved to the southern states that they had to abide by the rules of the government, and the loss of the Confederate Army drove this point home.
When Lincoln declared war against the Confederates, the main goal of the war was to stop the southern states from seceding and destroying the Union. Lincoln’s main interest was maintaining the Union at all costs. The emancipation proclamation also supported the beliefs of the founding fathers of the country that all men are born equal. Slavery distorted this notion of equality and freedom by subjecting a human being to the whims of another. Lincoln decided that the best thing to do was to make emancipation one of the goals of the war. Maintaining the Union remained the primary focus of the Civil War, but Lincoln made the Emancipation Proclamation to make ending slavery another goal.
Bibliography
Boller, Paul F. Presidential anecdotes. Oxford Paperbacks, 1996.Hyser, Raymond M., and J. Chris Arndt. Voices of the American Past. Vol. 1. Cengage Learning, 2011.
Johnson, Michael P. Reading the American Past: Volume II: From 1865: Selected Historical Documents. Vol. 2. Macmillan, 2012.