Handling the Dilemma over Community vs Institutional Corrections Essay Example for Free

Handling the Dilemma over Community vs Institutional Corrections Essay It is the first day of break and Jimmy wants to have a good time with his friends. Long story short, Jimmy decided to drive home drunk and crashed into another car. The driver of the other car passed away.What kind of punishment should Jimmy receive? It seems fair for him to spend time in prison. Should he see probation after the jail time? How much? This scenario helps introduce the dilemma we have today as a society about institutional vs. community corrections. Punishment for crime has always been an issue for debate. With the growth of the American colonies, the colonists needed a system of punishment for lawbreakers. Many methods developed in Europe meant to bring shame to those offenders were adopted. Around this time, the world saw a change in punishment ideology; some began to stress that humans are not perfect and make mistakes. Thus, there should be more reform as well as punish. In 1682, William Penn made a push for change. He limited the death penalty to cases of murder only and called for fines and imprisonment for most offenses. This is widely considered the beginnings of the prison system in the U.S. He also helped start the creation of jails, like the High Street Jail. The first federal prisons were established in 1891. Before this date, prisons were organized by states and territories. The establishment of parole and probation, or community corrections, began in the 1870s. There has always been and most likely always will be a huge social dilemma on what types and to what extent punishment should be laid out. Both institutional and community corrections have their pros and cons. One thing is for certain, however, that we do need a mixture of both. The current prison system has a number of advantages. Incarceration keeps criminals away from the public theoretically making the public safer. Imprisonment also punishes the convicted criminal by taking away, in a sense, their life at least for a short period. This type of punishment should have the effect of deterring the offender from repeat crimes as well as others from committing crimes. Current prison systems are meant to be rehabilitative. Structure and discipline is provided by the prisons so as to educate and provide therapy for inmates. With the good also comes the bad. Housing a large population of criminals together can lead to networking and an anti-social encouragement to continue crime. Probably the biggest knock on imprisonment is that there is a huge cost associated with housing an inmate. The public and law-abiding citizens essentially pay for the living accommodations of a criminal. The financial toll hits those families directly associated with the criminal. It is harder for a family to get by if an income is removed. If a family ends up needing government aid, the public is again paying for that. It can also be said that prisons lack the necessary resources to properly rehabilitate and to address the issues of how they got to prison. One last disadvantage is that every prisoner is treated the same. A murderer would be treated the same as a thief. This may not necessarily be fair. Community-based corrections, on the other hand, also have a number of advantages. It is usually said that community corrections are practical and less expensive alternatives to imprisonment. Keeping an offender convicted of a minor crime in the community and out of a jail filled with hardened criminals would theoretically do a better job at rehabilitating the person and keep them functioning socially. Community corrections mainly offer the solution to the tendency of inmates to learn anti-social behaviors. Families will largely stay intact. Supervision and restrictions can help the person learn to be a more highly functioning member of society. Training programs and job placement work along these same lines. Community corrections may also have negative outcomes. For one, criminals will still be walking the streets. If an offender is set to live in a halfway house, the community around the house could become undesirable. Nearby residents may feel threatened. Community corrections are not totally free either. Systems like halfway houses do cost money, although the overall cost of community corrections is appealing in comparison to institutional corrections. Many believe that prisonization is tantamount to socialization into a criminal culture. Therefore, being in a prison is thought equivalent to being in a school for crime (Tittle, 263). Research has shown that inmates will often grow loyalty each other and can develop a hostility towards prison officials. The society in a prison is largely based on putting value in things not as valuable otherwise. The overall effect is not one conducive to rehabilitation into society. Some do say, however, that attitudes and behaviors such as this become less salient as the time nears for return to the outside (Tittle, 264) This insight can show how many might simply adapt to prison culture and can readjust once freed. Still, the risk of anti-socialization is there. The argument can be made that prisons are not the greatest device for rehabilitation but that community corrections are not currently adequate. A push for improvements is being made. Prohibitive costs of constructing and operating jails make it impossible to get out of this corrections crisis even if the public wants toughness on crime (Rosenthal, 1). Policymakers are making a push towards more effective transition and community supervision. One large problem with this changing corrections climate, is that rehabilitation is being overshadowed by protection of the public and promotion of justice (Rosenthal, 1). One last important point to make about a need for more effective community corrections is that there is an increase in the number of drug and alcohol abusers and prisons are not the best place for these offenders. Innovations have been made in community corrections such as intensive supervision probation/parole (ISP), home confinement with or without electronic monitoring, and residential options in community corrections. It is encouraging to see developments but the system in general is ineffective.Unlike some countries, we have no national probation service to provide service uniformly across all parts of the country (Burrell, xv). There are federal, state, county, and even municipal level providers. It is hard to be efficient and effective with such a non-standardized system. A Canadian study showed that well-designed and well-implemented correctional treatment programs can produce significant reduction in recidivism (Burrell, xvii). The overarching factor in the correctional dilemma is that we should attempt to do what is best for society. Justice does need to be served and prisons are a necessary evil, but not always best at rehabilitation. Without proper rehabilitation, we will see repeat offenders. Community corrections offer better opportunities at re-entry but, of course, this is not always feasible or fair. An often overlooked portion of this dilemma is the families. Not only will the criminal be a lost cause if rehabilitation is a failure but often the families may fall into a state of failure as well. A study shows that two thirds of family members of incarcerated persons see substantial financial decline, general health decline, and damage to relationships with children and other family members (Arditti, 199-200). This certainly is not beneficial for society. In my opinion, there is a trend to be seen in this correctional dilemma. This trend appears to be that the main issue is a lack of effectiveness in rehabilitation. It is also very clear that institutional corrections is not usually conducive to widespread rehabilitation. This lends the idea that community corrections and the community in general provide the real hope. We also now know that the community system is fragmented and decentralized and needs improvement. This is not to say that we need to completely stray away from prisons. Surely, that is out of the question. It is a necessary evil. To better society as a whole, community corrections need to be improved. I believe that we should move towards a system where only the most severe of offenders see true hard jail time. Further, a focus and monetary support should be put towards a unified community corrections system that is more apt at rehabilitating offenders. This is no small task. My opinions can be expounded upon as such: For all violent offenders and those committing crimes with wide-ranging effects should see times behind bars without question. Data shows that there are large numbers of non violent offenders behind bars. Being that it is extremely costly to house a prisoner it would be beneficial to attempt to cut down on non violent offenders behind bars. The push would then be to turn to more social and community based ways of punishment. It would seem that this would be more conducive of rehabilitation. This group of offenders having committed non violent crimes may have more hope of becoming productive members of society once again. There is a certain level of toleration to be had. We must understand that there will always be criminals and some will never be fixed. Further, any system will never work perfectly. In my opinion, though, it seems there needs to a slight shift in momentum towards community corrections for economic, societal, and rehabilitative reasons. Works Cited Arditti, Joyce A., Jennifer Lambert-Shute, and Karen Joest. Saturday Morning at the Jail: Implications of Incarceration for Families and Children. Family Relations 52.3 (2003): 195-204. JSTOR. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. This scholarly article was originally published in the journal, Family Relations. This article is meant to explore the implications of criminal sanction policies on the families of felony offenders. More specifically, the article focused on the social, health, and economic characteristics of parents and children to these offenders under incarceration. I found the article to be interesting and thorough overall, but much of it was more than what I needed for the purposes of this paper. Still, I found the article to be helpful in my research and proved to be useful for anecdotes. As such, this source was used mainly for supplemental information. Burrell, William D. Community Corrections Management. Civic Research Institute (n.d.): n. pag. JSTOR. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. This article is part of the Civic Research Institute. The article is intent on discussing the Community-Based Corrections System in general. The author takes the point of view that it is a decentralized and fragmented system. The article further discusses probation and parole along with developments in these areas. Finally, it explores the future of the system. I found the article to be helpful to my understanding of the community corrections system and to see where it might be heading. I used this article mainly for informational purposes and general understanding. Inciardi, James A. Criminal Justice. 8th ed. Orlando: Academic, 1984. Print. This source is the textbook for our Introduction to Criminal Justice course. It is meant to provide an overview of the structure, processes, and problems of the criminal justice system in the United States. The book provides lots of basic and some in depth information and accompanying support, data, and analysis. I find the book to be helpful and capable ox offering explanations easy to comprehend. I have used this book mainly as a guide and a source for general information on the topic and not for more in depth purposes. Rosenthal, C. S. Opportunities in Community Corrections. National Criminal Justice Reference Service. National Council on Crime and Delinquency, 1989. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. . This article published in the National Criminal Justice Reference Service is focused on why there would be community based corrections, what they are, how effective they have been, and what is the future looking like. Similar to another article I have cited, this scholarly journal article does a good job of painting the big picture of community corrections. I particularly liked how this article was thorough in starting off with the basics and going into developments and then finally into some analysi s. This proved to be a helpful article in the formation of my opinion. Tittle, Charles R. Institutional Living and Rehabilitation. Journal of Health Social Behavior 13 (1972): 263-73. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. This source is an article published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior on the topic of Institutional Corrections. The author of this article seeks to provide information and research on the extent to which incarceration is or can be rehabilitative. He finds and explains three characteristics thought to have anti-rehabilitative consequences. I found this journal article to be helpful at providing a detailed analysis of institutional corrections, both the presumed advantages and disadvantages. I used this mainly for more in depth conclusion drawing.

Explain what is meant by the term national curriculum Essay Example for Free

Explain what is meant by the term national curriculum Essay The basic school curriculum includes the national curriculum, religious education and sex education. The national curriculum is a set of subjects and standards used by primary and secondary schools so children learn the same things it is defined by four key stages to be spread over the 12 years of compulsory years of schooling. It covers what subjects are taught and the standards children should reach in each subject. Other types of schools such as academies and private schools don’t have to follow the national curriculum. Academies must teach a broad and balanced curriculum including English, maths and science. They must also teach religious education. The national curriculum is organised into four key stages at the end of each key stage, the pupil’s teacher will formally assess their performance to measure the pupil’s progress. This will set targets for learning and will also show how performance will be assessed and then reported. For each subject there’s a programme of study, it describes what children should learn. Discuss 5 factors that influence learning The influence of other people can have an affect the pupils learning the ways in which this can happen is by the way there family encourage learning if their family encourages and is enthusiastic about learning the student is more likely to be enthusiastic and therefore become a more effective learner if the students family do not promote the benefits of learning this can make the child less enthusiastic giving them an undervalued opinion of learning and education and affecting their capabilities.

Importance of Supportive Communication

Importance of Supportive Communication EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Communication is an everyday activity. There is nothing that can be done without communication. However this essential of life can be very damaging if not use it properly or accurately. It is every body’s wish that all people behave, act, think, response, move, learn and communicate just as he/she was made off. As a result of inequalities and imperfection of human nature, all of us cannot act the same. It is often and always easier to communicate good news and happy moments to our love ones, work mates, school mates, family members etc. however the moment of truth is when to communicates the opposite to those that are close to us, colleagues, family members etc. and when not handled properly can ruin a hard fought relationships cultivated over the year. This is because we are inclined by nature to receive good news than the bad news though it might be the fact. Therefore cultivating the skills of supporting communication an inevitable tool for every person irrespective of the level of responsibility one finds itself. Supportive communication seeks to preserve or enhance a positive relationship between you and another person while still addressing a problem, giving negative feedback, or tackling a difficult issue with such person. There are numerous benefits associated with companies which ideologies the concept of supporting communication that companies who does not as carried by various surveys. In such context one can be an asset to a group, work environment, family when he/she is able to communicate supportively to the up build of the group, work and family and in this direction I chose to work on my supporting communication skills. Before I read and participated in the classroom on this skill, my skill assessment score was below the mean quartile in comparing with 5000 students who undertook the same assessment. My score after reading and class participating almost threepuled above even above the highest quartile. This does not mean that I can skillfully applied supportive communication. Practical steps have been put in place to apply this knowledge into full use. These steps includes; by asking two same case study group to assess my reaction when giving counsel on performance of a group member, a planned friendship with those who their attitudes and behaviors I disguise so much and finally being asking my children to note down whenever I get angry in the process of giving the feedback. INTRODUCTION Communication is an everyday activity. And is the ordinary interaction that occurs between coworkers, friends, acquaintances, or intimates on daily bases. Communication comes in different forms. Verbal communication which includes sounds, words, language and speaking whiles non-verbal communication involves physical ways of communication like, tone of voice, touch, smell and body language. The quality of communication and how communications are evolves and is maintained are the basis of whether a relationship amongst individuals are stable, become more intimate when appropriate and if additional information is shared between individual reflecting trust between the both parties in every facet of human life. Ineffective communication may lead individual to dislike each other, be offended by each other, lose confidence, refuse to listen and disagree to each other as well as causing a host of other interpersonal problem. (Whatten Camaron, 2011) Normally positive interpersonal relationships results when always things are going on well and people do what they are expected and suppose of them. However, when communicating to an individual who has a negative attitude, such as a personality conflict with coworker or hasn’t perform up to expectation, the risk of putting the employee on the defensive is very high. Individual often react defensively if they feel they are being punished or threatened by communicating, and thus they devote attention to identify counter arguments rather than listening. Thus communication is more productive when it is done constructively or done supportively. SUPPORTIVE COMMUNICATION Supportive communication is interpersonal communications that help individuals to communicate accurately, especially in difficult situations and times. Supportive communication seeks to preserve or enhance a positive relationship between you and another person while still addressing a problem, giving negative feedback, or tackling a difficult issue. It allows you to communicate information to others that is not complimentary, or to resolve an uncomfortable issue with another person but, in the process, strengthen your relationship. Supportive communication builds and strengthened relationships when delivering negative feedback or when you have to point out few shortcoming of another person. It thus seek to preserve or enhance a positive relationship between two people whiles still addressing issue. It allows communicating information to others that is not complementary but rather that strengthen the relationship. Companies fostering supportive communication enjoy higher productivity, faster problem solving, higher quality outputs, and fewer conflicts and subversive activities than groups or organizations where relationships are less. (Robbins Coulter, 2007) it goes on to present a survey conducted with conclusion, that companies with presence of good supportive communication between managers and subordinate were three times more powerful in predicting profitability in major cooperation’s over a five year period than the most powerful variables – market size, firm size and saves growth rate-combined. There are arguably eight attributes of supportive communication of which all other research shared the same thought as far the scope of this research is concern. This indicates that to communicate supportively one must adhere to these characteristics when communicating. ATTRIBUTES OF SUPPORTIVE COMMUNICATION Problem oriented, not person oriented. Problem-oriented communication focuses on a problem that can be solved rather than the person who is responsible for the problem. Person-oriented communication puts the listener on the defensive and focuses the attention on blame rather than on avoiding or solving future problems Congruent, not incongruent. Congruent communication conveys what the speaker is thinking and feeling. There are definitely situations where discretion is a more appropriate choice than full disclosure of what we think and feel. However, in most communication situations, we communicate more effectively when were candid. If we arent honest, listeners wont trust what we say. Descriptive, not evaluative. Evaluative communication expresses judgment of the listener, or his or her actions. To be an effective constructive communicator, we should objectively describe problems rather than speak in an evaluative manner. Evaluative communication puts the listener on the defensive. Validating, not invalidating. Validating communication helps people feel understood, valued, and accepted. In contrast, invalidating communication treats people as if they are ignored, worthless, or alienated. Invalidating communication is superiority-oriented, rigid, impervious and/or indifferent and its avoid treating the listener like a lesser person. Specific, not global. There are two key drawbacks to global statements of problems; theyre often too large to be resolved and they tend to oversimplify and misrepresent problems. Conjunctive, not disjunctive. Disjunctive communication takes at least three forms; not letting the other party speak, long pauses, and switching topics. Disjunctive communication can result in the other party thinking that their input is not being considered. Owned, not disowned. When we own our communication, we take responsibility for our statements and acknowledge that we are the source of the ideas conveyed and not someone else. We disown communication when we search for third parties to attribute our comments to. Listening, not one-way message delivery. Explains, effective listening is actively absorbing the information given to you by a speaker, showing that you are listening and interested, and providing feedback to the speaker so that he or she knows the message was received. Effective listening is often taken for granted, but its a valuable managerial tool. PERSONAL ASSESSMENT SUPPORTIVE COMMUNICATION In order to be sincere and able to know my managerial shortcoming in this skill area, I assessed myself based on the following questionnaires before and after reading and participating during lectures. The evaluation of these questionnaires is as a result of weakness observed when learning this skills and much effort is needed to overcome these shortcomings as comparing myself to 5000 students who also took the same assessment. Rating Scale 1. Strongly disagree 2. Disagree 3. Slightly disagree 4. Slightly agree 5. Agree 6. Strongly agree Assessment Pre Post Questionnaires 3 6 When I give feedback to others, I avoid referring to personal characteristics and focus on problems or solutions instead 2 6 I always link negative feedback to a standard or expectation that has been violated 2 5 When I try to correct someone’s behavior, our relationship is almost always strengthened. 1 6 I am descriptive in giving negative feedback to others. That is, I objectively describe events, their consequences, and my feelings about them 3 6 I always suggest specific alternatives to individuals whose behavior I’m trying to correct 3 6 I reinforce other people’s sense of self-worth and self-esteem in my communication with them. 2 5 When asking questions of others in order to understand their viewpoints better, I generally ask â€Å"what† questions instead of â€Å"why† questions 2 6 I don’t dominate conversations with others. 1 6 I hold regular, private meetings with people with whom I work and with whom I live. 2 5 I strive to identify some area of agreement in a discussion with someone who has a different point of view Table # 1: supporting communication questionnaires and responses. SKILLS ASSESSMENT INTERPRETATION The first five questionnaires are in respect of how I can effectively communicate negative feedback, the higher the scores the better for one to communicate effectively negative feedback than the lower scoring. Whereas the last five questionnaires are also in respect of how I can be effective in communicating supportively, and again the higher the scoring the better than the lower scoring. The total scoring before the reading and class participating as shown above was 21 scores as compares to an average 5000 student mean quartile scores of 45 out of possible 60 scores and my score after was 57 out of possible 60 scores. This indicates better understanding and knowledge on how I can effectively communicates negative feedback to someone in a supportive manner. PRACTICAL APPLICATION – SUPPORTIVE COMMUNICATION The above after reading and acquiring the knowledge does not make me a better person to be effective in supporting communication, is just acknowledgement of how critical supporting communication is in every facet in one’s life. It takes several practices and on the field application of this knowledge that one become effective communicating supportively. However since practice make man perfect; the following are planned practical steps activities to help me to communicate supportively. First in the MBA program, working in groups are integral part of the program, hence supporting commununication is very important at all level of group activities. That is from group formation, sharing of responsibilities, embarking on assigned group assignment and holding rehearsal presentations within the group. To put supportive communication into practice, I have asked two group members to assess me whenever is my turn to communicate feedback to a group member who has presented during group rehearsals on his/her weakness as well as whenever is my turn to be counseled after my presentation. Two different will let me know objectively about the assessment. I will also purchase a voice recorder so that I can listen to it after group discussion. Secondary I have planned to be friend with those who generally I don’t associate better due to their character traits, race, culture and religion. Trying to form friendship with such people will always help me to improve on my supporting communication skills. The reason being that since I have a perceived mind already regarding them, accepting them as friends will be a real challenge, however that will also help me improve on not always dominating but also welcoming others viewpoint in discussions which is one of the eight attributes of good supporting communication. Finally in the house since children are active when ever decisions goes their way, I will ask each of them to count the number of times I get angry and why when am having discussions with them or in dealing with each individuals in the house. This will help me to work on my anger level since it will be difficult for someone with high level of anger to be supportive in communication especially when communicating negative feedback. REFERENCES Whetten, D., Cameron, S. (2011). Developing Management Skills (8th. ed.). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. Vucaj, I. (2013). Managing human resources. Blog at wordPress.com. Robbins, S P., Coulter, M. (2012). Management (11th. ed.). Pearson education. Schmidt, J., Uecker, D. (2007). Increasing understanding of routine/everyday  interaction in relationships. Communication Teacher, 21, 111-116.

Renaisance Art Essay -- essays research papers

I have a real love for Renaissance art. The reason I chose this topic is because I took a class on art a freshman, and really enjoyed it. The book I read was ‘The Art of the Renaissance.’ After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in about the 5th century A.D., Europe remained poor and in poverty until the 11th century. By then, Europe began to grow and flourish. While surrounding countries of Italy, such as France, Spain, and England were powerful centralized nations, Italy was still full of city-sized states.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Italy was now the center of trade and manufacturing. Noble courts and wealthy people criticized artists and scholars as they saw them as non-equals. Most Italian artists and sculptors modeled what the ancient Romans did in the way of art, and literature.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Florence was the place where art had a ‘rebirth’, following the masterpieces of Giotto in the 13th century. In the 15th century, a man by the name of Filippo Brunelleschi had turned his idea of art into architecture. New buildings and Cathedrals were being built in Florence, and Brunelleschi’s amazing sense of contrast of light, classical proportions, and spatial effects made him one of the best.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Later in the 1400’s there was a painter by the name of Masaccio. This amazing artist had a special was of creating 3 dimensions in all of his paintings. As time went on, more talented artists, architects, and sculptors had found thems...

Legacies: Romans, Greeks, And Hebrews :: essays research papers

Legacies: Roman, Greeks, and Hebrews   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the ancient days, when culture, as well as civilizations were developing, many things came to be known as options for later cultures. Civilizations had different ways of doing things and therefore each of their cultures differed considerably. The Romans, the Greeks and the Hebrews all presented different legacies to the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Romans actually gave a legacy from their political, and economic systems. From the political system they gave us two forms of working government. There was the republic, which was made up of a senate, two assemblies, and consuls. They also had many forms of a dictatorship. The dictatorship was made of a dictator, who had complete control over the people, because the dictator usually controlled the army. From the Romans economic system, we gained their great knowledge of architecture. The Romans were great builders and put the arch to much use.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Greeks gave us one of the first forms of democracy, and a well developed navy. Athens, one of the most powerful city-states in Greece had a form of government called a direct-democracy, which is where the citizens directly interact with government affairs. The other legacy of the Greeks was their Navy. The navy was mostly utilized by Athens in their struggle against Sparta. It served as a useful way to fight and transport armies across seas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main legacy of the Hebrews was religion. They brought in the idea of monotheism which is still used today in religions such as Christianity and Judaism. The Hebrews governement was very much based on religion and the laws passed to them by God. The Ten Commandments were passed to the Hebrews by God, Legacies: Romans, Greeks, And Hebrews :: essays research papers Legacies: Roman, Greeks, and Hebrews   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the ancient days, when culture, as well as civilizations were developing, many things came to be known as options for later cultures. Civilizations had different ways of doing things and therefore each of their cultures differed considerably. The Romans, the Greeks and the Hebrews all presented different legacies to the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Romans actually gave a legacy from their political, and economic systems. From the political system they gave us two forms of working government. There was the republic, which was made up of a senate, two assemblies, and consuls. They also had many forms of a dictatorship. The dictatorship was made of a dictator, who had complete control over the people, because the dictator usually controlled the army. From the Romans economic system, we gained their great knowledge of architecture. The Romans were great builders and put the arch to much use.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Greeks gave us one of the first forms of democracy, and a well developed navy. Athens, one of the most powerful city-states in Greece had a form of government called a direct-democracy, which is where the citizens directly interact with government affairs. The other legacy of the Greeks was their Navy. The navy was mostly utilized by Athens in their struggle against Sparta. It served as a useful way to fight and transport armies across seas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main legacy of the Hebrews was religion. They brought in the idea of monotheism which is still used today in religions such as Christianity and Judaism. The Hebrews governement was very much based on religion and the laws passed to them by God. The Ten Commandments were passed to the Hebrews by God,

Personal Narrative- Using Art to Escape Boredom Essay -- Personal Narr

Quite often different people I come across commend me on my creative ability to draw and paint. The observer's comments usually include the question "Where did you learn how to draw like that?" I normally tell them some generic answer like "a lot of practice, " but truthfully my response should be "in my miserably boring childhood." However I usually refrain from being that honest to either avoid a weird look or to avoid a lengthy explanation like the one that follows. Compared to some of the horrible stories of child abuse I've heard, my childhood was a Walt Disney fairytale, but in my own eyes I was an unhappy kid. I was born in 1972, which is the Chinese Year of the Rat (the rat's Chinese characteristic is to scavenge for survival, which is also a part of my personality). From old pictures, my fragmented memories, and tales told by my grandma Mildred, I was close to my parents during my first six or seven years, especially my dad. My dad, Richard, was employed straight out of college as an Aerospace engineer with the Logicon Corporation (where he still works to day). He married my mom, Loretta, (who also became an Aerospace engineer for Logicon) seven years before I was born. My parents fought almost every night as far back as I can remember, and I can still recall covering my ears with a pillow to escape their bickering. I've always sort of believed that it was my mom's fault, possibly because her voice was always the loudest screech I c ould hear. I know the blame should rest equally between them, but my mother was always so demanding and emotional while my dad was a quiet man who was able to control his anger unless really pushed. I think she was used to a lot of emotions in her past and would intentionall... ...e, I was already set into an isolated lifestyle. I could never get back to the family closeness I had felt as a small child, and since I never grew up with anyone I went to school with, I didn't have much in common with them. Out of my well-developed personality as a loner I became a talented (so I'm told) artist in an effort to self entertain and distract me from my lonely life. Although I never had any imaginary friends growing up, I did have an imaginary world, in which I built with Legos and drew with pictures. These imaginary worlds I escaped to from my boring (poor little rich girl) childhood, not only comforted me but allowed me to develop the creative skills necessary to be an artist. From some people's definition my childhood may not have come close to miserable, but to a sheltered twelve-year-old there is nothing more miserable than being bored and alone.

Examine the argument that desirable neighbouring

Examine the argument that desirable neighboring is characterized by both distance and proximity BY Repossessions Examine the argument that desirable neighboring Is characterized by both distance and proximity This essay will examine the attributes of desirable neighboring, looking at the characteristics and unwritten rules of good neighboring, how material life shapes social identities and social order to regulate and control the distance and proximity between neighbors. Secondly, personal and social identities are discussed and how these affect the interaction with neighbors.Thirdly, tensions around different cultural social rules are considered and the effect of these different rules has on desirable neighboring. Lastly, causes and effects of neighborly disputes are examined while also looking at how these broken connections are remade. Qualitative data Is used as evidence to support this analysis, this type of data Is given In a non-numerical format, usually gathered from an Inter view or survey form, as well as using observations by the researcher.Desirable neighboring is described as the balance between preserving the connection with neighbors, examining their eternal lives of how, where and when they interact with their neighbors, while maintaining a suitable proximity and respecting their ‘need for privacy' (Wolcott, cited in Taylor, 2009, p. 173). Byword (2009, p. 254) compares desirable neighboring too ‘slow dance', whereby neighbors should preserve their proximity to each other, while not getting too close or be too distant, in order to stay connected with each other. This type of social behavior is unwritten and learned through solicitation (Byword, 2009, p. 54), whereby individuals observe and follow the norms of acceptable behavior (Withering, 2009, p. 0). Harold Garfield (cited In Taylor, 2009, p. 173) argues that social life Is fluid, continually changing whereby Individuals constantly adapt to preserve the balance of social order In t he neighborhood. Harris and Gale (cited in Byword, 2009, p. 255) identified that neighbors communicated primarily outside of the home' in what was perceived as public space, and ‘not in the home' which could be perceived as ‘over-neighboring' by infringing on their neighbors personal space.Nevertheless, the purpose to provide social structure is still the same. However, social rules can be caused by mistrust and the need for power and control. Stanley Branded (cited in Byword, 2009, p. 260) explains that in Spain, desirable neighboring requires individuals to be close, both socially and physically. For example, he observed that neighbors leave their front doors open and neighbors come and go from each other's houses without hesitation, whereas the qualities of ‘not being intrusive' and ‘reserved' were seen as suspicious and rude.However, this proximity and closeness was used as form of surveillance and control. Different social rules can lead to inequalities and unequal connections, some neighbors might be excluded for not adhering to the expected social rules or not being able to participate (Taylor, 2009, p. 158). The boundaries of good neighboring are unwritten and are subjective interpretation, which can therefore lead to disputes (Byword, 2009, p. 263). Elizabeth Stoke (cited in Byword, 2009, p. 64) examined how a neighbor's intimate noises were intruding into the other neighbor's private space. The main issue was that the neighbor was not seen to be considerate by minimizing the noise, which was intruding into the other neighbor's private space. Steps were taken to repair the social order using mediation. This is an example of how social order can be broken and repaired, but the neighbor's relationship was not completely the same as fore which highlights the fluidity of social life and how it changes.To summaries, material life can connect and disconnect neighbors, desirable neighborliness does not only include social and physical distance and proximity, but also how an individual presents themselves and is therefore perceived by their neighbors (Byword, 2009, p. 258). Taylor (2009, p. 171) argues that personal identity is not fixed and includes multiple identities. One of which is their social identity of being a neighbor, which is made and remade as individuals adapt to the fluidity of social life.Additionally, different cultures have different social rules and expectations around desired neighboring, which can cause tension and inequality. Intern, this can lead to disputes to arise leading to a break in social order, different social rules control creating differences and inequality in social order and life (Taylor, 2009, p. 291). Byword (2009, p. 254) compares desirable neighboring to a ‘slow dance', requiring neighbors to change and adapt to the differences and inequalities of social life, to make and repair social order created from this.