Plea Bargain Essay Example for Free

Plea Bargain Essay â€Å"The plea bargain was a prosecutorial tool used only episodically before the 19th century† (Dirk Olin, 2002) Plea bargaining has assumed a significant role in the criminal jurisprudence of the United States. A majority of criminal cases in the United States are settled through plea bargaining rather than a conducted jury trial. This paper details some of the basic details relating to plea bargaining in the American criminal judicial system. Background A plea bargain usually implies a deal offered by a prosecutor as an incentive for the defendant to plead guilty. Plea bargaining thus can be construed as pre-trial negotiations between the accused and the prosecution during the process of which the accused agrees to plead guilty in exchange for certain concessions in the sentence or charges as offered by the prosecution. There is no specific or perfect definition of ‘plea bargain’ has so far been evolved. According to Black’s Law Dictionary plea bargaining is â€Å"the process whereby the accused and the prosecutor in a criminal case work out a mutually satisfactory disposition of the case subject to court approval. It usually involves the defendants pleading guilty to a lesser offense or to only one or some of the counts of a multi-count indictment in return for a lighter sentence than that possible for the graver charge† However, in practice plea bargaining is often considered as the mutual acknowledgement of the strengths and weaknesses of the both the defense and prosecution sides in the midst of the tedious process of the trial of the cases and the potential outcome of the trials rather than a mutually satisfied arrangement. Plea bargaining may be attempted at any time; usually it occurs on a pre-trial stage; but in some cases may be undertaken during the conduct of the trial before the verdict is rendered. There is a possibility that plea bargain may be negotiated after a trial has resulted in a ‘hung jury’. Under such circumstance the parties may negotiate a plea bargain instead of going through the process of another trial. In some common law jurisdictions like England and Wales, Victoria, Australia plea bargaining is undertaken to such an extent that the prosecutors and defense can mutually agree that the defendant will plead guilty to certain of the charges and the prosecution drops the rest of the charges. (Legal Pundits) However no bargaining can take place in respect of the penalties that can be levied and the courts proceed to decide the appropriate penalty in such cases. Types of Plea Bargains If in the judicial system every case is allowed to go to trial the courts would find it difficult to try and decide on all the cases. Plea bargaining allows the prosecutor an opportunity to obtain guilty pleas in cases which otherwise would go to the stage of trial by the courts concerned. There are two areas in which plea bargain negotiations can be undertaken. They are:  · Charge Bargaining – in the case of ‘charge bargaining’ the defendant is allowed to ‘plead guilty for a lesser charge’ by the prosecutor. Alternatively the defendant may plead guilty of only some of the charges that have been filed against him. This type of plea bargaining is the most common type. Usually the prosecutor in consideration for a plea of guilty to the committing of a lesser charge will dismiss the higher charge. For example in return accepting guilty plea for ‘manslaughter’ the charges of a first degree murder may be dismissed with the approval of the court. Similarly a defendant who has been charged with the crime of ‘burglary’ may be allowed to plead guilty of ‘attempted burglary’ where the sentence may be less.  · Sentence Bargaining – this involves the agreement for pleading guilty for the charges stated in consideration of a lighter sentence. Under this process the prosecution is saved of the time and efforts to go through the process of trial and proving the case. It also provides the defendant to opt for a lighter sentence which would otherwise have been stronger if a trial is conducted and verdict given. Typically all the sentence bargains are to obtain the approval of the trial judges. This type of plea bargaining is being limited by many of the jurisdictions. Sentence bargaining usually happens in some of the high profile cases where the case is being followed effectively by the media and the prosecutor does not want any reduction of charges in the case. In addition to the above there can be another area of plea bargaining known as ‘Fact Bargaining’ – which is the least used process of negotiation with the defendant for admitting certain of the facts of the case. The defendant is given the concession that the prosecution will not bring certain other facts in to evidence if some of the other facts are confirmed by the defendant. This process saves the efforts of the prosecutor the need to prove certain facts in the course of trial. Process of Plea Bargaining There are three essential components which form the basis for making the plea bargains valid. They are; (i) a waiver of rights to the knowledge of all involved, (ii) the waiver should be a voluntary one arrived at using a process of negotiation and (iii) the presence of a factual basis which can support the charges to which the defendant has chosen to plead guilty. Plea bargaining takes place through telephonic conversations or is being attempted at the office of the prosecutor in the court room. Normally the judges do not take part in the process of plea bargaining. But in rare circumstances a judge becomes a party to the plea bargain process. Once the process of bargaining is completed it is placed on record by judge in the open court. At the time of placing the plea bargain on record it is necessary that the defendant is present in the court. It must be noted that the prosecutor is not given the authority to compel a court to accept the plea bargain agreement entered in to by the parties. The prosecutor can only recommend the acceptance of any plea bargain and it is for the court to decide on accepting the plea bargain arrived at. The court will go through the process of satisfying itself through available proofs that the abovementioned three essential elements of plea bargain are present. Only on satisfying about the presence of these elements the court will accept the plea bargain arrangement as recommended by the prosecution. Plea bargaining cannot be considered as a simple process that can be attempted in any case. â€Å"In effectively negotiating a criminal plea arrangement, the attorney must have the technical knowledge of every element of a crime or charge, an understanding of the actual or potential evidence that exists or could be developed, a technical knowledge of lesser included offenses versus separate counts or crimes, and a reasonable understanding of sentencing guidelines† Merits and Demerits of Plea Bargaining Despite the often pointed out criticisms there are certain distinct merits the process of plea bargaining has. It is often the case that more than 90 percent of the criminal cases are decided on the basis of negotiated pleas. This leaves only a meager percentage of the criminal cases going through the process of judicial trial. It provides the judges considerable saving in time in conducting the trials as the judges already hold overcrowded dockets. Further the judges with a view to avoid overcrowding of the prisons are always in favor of negotiated plea bargains. They are receptive to the ‘processing out’ of the criminals who are not likely to get much longer jail terms at the end of the trial. Similarly for the prosecutors since there caseload becomes lighter they can efficiently discharge their functions. The other important aspect of plea bargain is that the process assures a sure ‘conviction’ even the charges accepted are lesser than the originally stated ones. In some of the cases the prosecutors are made to spend considerable time and efforts in defending cases which finally the cases are lost as happened in the case of murder trial of O.J. Simpson. Plea bargaining enable the prosecutors to use the process to obtain damaging testimony against another defendant in the case. This ensures that the prosecutor is sure of at least one conviction even if for a lesser charge and the chances of booking the second defendant also against the testimony of the first defendant obtained through plea bargain. For the defendants plea bargaining provides the opportunity to bargain for a lighter sentence on reduced charges. If the defendant is represented by a private counsel appointed by him the defendant would be able to save considerable costs on conducting the trial. This also provides the opportunity for getting a record of lesser criminal offenses against him. There are certain drawbacks of the plea bargaining process; when the police are involved in the process it may amount to coercion. When the court is involved in the process it may be considered as impartiality on the part of the court. Involving the victim in the process may involve corruption and the rejection of the guilty plea by the accused may result in more hardship to him. (Soura Subha Ghosh) US Supreme Court Cases According to Article III Section 2 (3) of the Constitution of the United States â€Å"The trial of all crimes, except in Cases of impeachment, shall be by Jury† However it has not been held that it is unconstitutional to go through a process of plea bargaining to avoid the judicial trials. On the contrary there are a number of court decisions at the highest levels which have taken up the issue of ‘plea bargaining’ for serious discussion and ruling. The constitutional validity of plea bargaining was addressed by the US Supreme Court only when the process has become an integral part of the criminal judiciary. (eNotes.com) In the case of United States v Jackson (1968) the Court had raised a question on the validity of plea bargaining to the extent that whether the process has burdened the right of the defendant to go through a process of jury trial. In this case the issue was the consideration of a statute that imposed a death penalty only after a jury trial. In this case in order to avoid the death penalty the defendant continued to waive the trials and was eager to negotiate for plea bargaining for a reduction in sentence.   In this case the judge noted that the statue had needlessly encouraged guilty pleas. In the case of Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742 (1970) the Court had noted that the plea bargaining process had benefitted both the parties to the case and had thus defended the system. The Court made it known that the remark in the Jackson case was to stress the need for the guilty pleas to be intelligent and voluntary. In Santobello v New York, 404 U.S. 260 (1971) the Court observed that the plea bargaining is an essential component of the administration of justice and thus had justified the constitutional acceptability of the plea bargaining process. The Court added that [as long as it is] properly administered, [plea bargaining] is to be encouraged. North Carolina v Alford, 400 U.S. 25 (1970) can be cited as a landmark case relating to the sphere of plea bargaining. In this case Alford pleaded guilty to a second degree murder prior to trail in the wake of the fact that otherwise he would be sentenced to death penalty on a jury trial in the presence of strong evidences. He was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment. Later on he appealed that his plea bargain was involuntary and was motivated by the fear of death penalty. The appeal court allowed the appeal and reversed his conviction. His argument was on the basis of that the plea bargain violated the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution which states that no person shall be compelled in a criminal case to witness against himself. However the Supreme Court held that a guilty plea representing a voluntary and intelligent choice considering the alternatives available to the defendant cannot be construed that the defendant was compelled (in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the constitution) to follow the guilty plea to avoid the possibility of death penalty. The Supreme Court ordered for the reversal of the appeal court decision and reinstated the sentence of Alford. The term ‘Alford Plea’ thus has come into usage to signify those cases where the defendant tenders a guilty plea and later on denies that he has not committed any crime. There is an express prohibition of ‘Alford Plea’ in certain states and some of the States allow a limited use of the plea. Breaking the Plea Bargain Deal A plea bargain is regarded as a contract between the prosecutor and the defendant and as such both the parties are obligated to perform their parts of the contract without fail. The prosecutor has the authority to revoke the plea bargain if the defendant does not carry out his part of the contract. On the other hand if the prosecutor breaks a deal with the defendant then the defendant has the right to claim for setting aside the plea. Alternatively the defendant may require the court to intervene and instruct the prosecutor to carryout the plea bargain. â€Å"This may happen if the prosecutor has agreed not to authorize additional criminal charges against the defendant in return for the guilty plea, yet subsequently files the charges† (Aaron Larson, 2000)

A Summary Of Women In Prison Criminology Essay

A Summary Of Women In Prison Criminology Essay Womens segment is one of the fastest growing segments of prison population all over the world, but especially in the United States. The increasing amounts of women are locked in prisons due to different reasons. A lot of women in prisons are drug addicts who originally took drugs to escape a life of difficulty and childhood trauma. A lot of were caught being as mules in drugs trades. Also the main part of women in prison has been victims of domestic violence some time in their lives. Nearly all of imprisoned women are from poor and working class families. Here are average demographics of women in prison, presented by Anti-racist group Committee to End the Marion Lockdown. During the years 1980 and 1993, the female population of prison increased nearly 313%, at the same time men increase 182% during the same period. In 1993 the number of women was 5.8% of the total prison population and 9.3% of the whole jail population. Women prisoners are divided like this: African American women 46%, White women 36%, and Hispanic Women 14%. The majority of incarcerated women are poor. So 53% of women in prisons and 74% of women in jails were unemployed before incarceration. The imprisoning of women has a bad influence on her family. 67% of women in prisons are mothers of children who are under 18. 70% of these women (and only 50% of men) had custody of their dependent children before imprisonment. Statistics shows that 6% of women are pregnant at the moment when they go to prison. A big amount of incarcerated women had domestic violence. 32% of imprisoned women (nearly 4,000 women) are in prisons because of murders of their husbands, ex-husbands or boyfriends. http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~kastor/walking-steel-95/ws-women-in-prison.html Women in prison suffer from violence, discrimination and other kind of injustices. It is known that 57% of imprisoned women have had severe and prolonged sexual and physical abuse. (3 Cristina Rathbone, A World Apart, Random House, May 2005, p. 22.). Being in prison, women are objects of sexual misconduct from correctional staff and other prisoners. (4 GAO report Women in Prison: Sexual Misconduct by Correctional Staff June 1999, p.9). Men and women are alike subjected to imprisonment but little attention has been given to the various needs and problems of imprisoned women as opposed to those of men. This omission may reflect the fact that women prisoners are a very small minority of the overall prison population: only four percent worldwide. Throughout the world, the regimes in prison are nearly always created for the majority male prison population and that is why they dont provide for the women needs. Female prisoners have different mental, physical, and emotional needs, not the same as men have. Prisons may be unable to offer adequate maternity and ante-natal care, or appropriate access to feminine hygiene products. Women can have different needs relating to problems such as substance addiction, mental health, and anger management, sexual or physical abuse. Women in prisons have a higher level of mental diseases and are more likely to have been victims of all kinds of abuse than the general population and are at higher risk of self-harm and suicide. They may respond differently to security regimes and require less harsh forms of physical restraint. In mixedsex prisons the security regime may be disproportionately harsher for women because it is designed for men. Most women in prison are mothers and/or the main carer for children, thus it is particularly important that ways be found of helping them to maintain family ties. Research shows that custodial sentences are not appropriate for many women and not effective in reducing offending or reoffending. The experience of imprisonment can have damaging effects for both mothers and their children and can exacerbate mental health issues or problematic drug or alcohol addiction among women in prison. So, here is a description of all levels of imprisonment, the description of womens life in prison and the destiny of children of women in prison. 1. Arrest of a woman. Police officers may not ask whether the woman they are arresting has children or allow her time to explain to the children what is happening or make arrangements for their care. This increases the anxiety of both children and mothers and makes the arrest more difficult for the officer. 2. Pre-trial detention. Women may be more likely to be placed in pre-trial detention than men. This is because on the indicators used to determine a persons likelihood of absconding before trial (such as secure employment and owning or renting property in ones own name) women tend to come out lower. Factors such as caring responsibilities are not taken into account. Even if a woman is acquitted at trial, she may have lost her job, her home or her place on mental health or drug rehabilitation programs in the meantime. For children, having a mother placed in pre-trial detention has many of the same effects as having a mother imprisoned following conviction. 3. Sentencing. Despite their statistically small proportion in the overall prison population, the rate of imprisonment of women is increasing rapidly. The reasons for this appear to be changes in sentencing policy and law enforcement priorities, rather than a change in the amount or severity of crime in which women are involved. Severity of sentence. Attitudes towards women criminals may lead to harsher sentences, including imprisonment for offences for which men would not be imprisoned. Some discrimination against women reflects the social culture rather than specifically the criminal justice system: thus contravening social mores may lead to women being criminalised. Type of crime. In most countries, women are in prison for non-violent, property or drug offences. Generally, women have a lower involvement in serious violence, criminal damage and professional crime. Length of sentence. In many countries, a relatively high proportion of female prisoners appear to serve fairly short prison sentences. It should be borne in mind that a short sentence, for example six months, may be just as disruptive as a longer sentence for a woman prisoner, who may lose her children, her job, and her home as a result of the sentence. 4. Prisons. The number, type, geographical location and distribution of national prisons will affect the quality of womens imprisonment. The provision in a country is usually a practical matter of the resources available, and also reflects the penal philosophy of that country. Some factors are outlined below. Location. Because there are fewer female prisoners there are fewer single-sex prisons for women. Women who are held in single-sex prisons are therefore more likely to be held long distances from their families and communities than men, making visiting and the maintenance of family ties more difficult. This is especially problematic for women who were the sole carers of dependent children before their imprisonment. It also affects other specific categories of female prisoners, such as juveniles, whose numbers are even smaller. Level of security. Levels of security in prison are generally put in place to stop men escaping, which may mean that prisons are disproportionately harsher for women. In addition, the smaller number of womens prisons compared to mens means that there is less opportunity to provide institutions of different security classifications. The prisons regimes will be determined by the maximum security requirement, meaning that many women will be held according to a security classification that is stricter than could be justified by any assessment of the risk that they pose. Shared facilities. Women with diverse needs and a history of offending may be inappropriately held together under the same security regime. Sometimes women awaiting trial are held with women who have been sentenced, which is contrary to best practice. Women who are detained in prisons which also hold men may be required to share facilities and attend classes with male prisoners. This is not a suitable environment for women who have experienced abuse or require strict separation from men. Overcrowding. Prisons are often overcrowded and offer reduced exercise facilities, and time spent out of cells. This pressure may also reduce the numbers of available rehabilitative programmes educational, vocational, counselling as well as of drug and alcohol dependency programmes. Education, training and work. Prisons may offer a range of educational and work opportunities compulsory work or voluntary work (either paid or unpaid). In single-sex prisons where there are few women, access to education, training and work opportunities may be severely limited. In mixed-sex prisons women may be required to attend classes or work with male prisoners. This may be unsuitable and even threatening for some women. In some countries, women prisoners are given traditionally feminine jobs, such as catering or sewing. This is not a problem if there is a market for such skills outside the prison but jobs should not be allocated simply because of the gender of the prisoner. Women whose children live with them in prison may not be able to work or take education courses if there are no childcare facilities. Opportunities for prisoners awaiting trial and sentenced prisoners may also differ significantly. 5. Physical health health care General health and health care. Women prisoners suffer poor physical and mental health at rates and with a severity far exceeding those of male prisoners or of women in the general population. Some of this may be related to the reasons why they have been imprisoned, for example drug use and hence drug dependency and associated health problems. Sexual abuse and exploitation of women before and during imprisonment can lead to gynaecological problems, HIV and other sexuallytransmitted diseases, pregnancy, child-birth or abortion. Disease in prisons. Diseases and infections associated with overcrowding and poor health and hygiene conditions such as tuberculosis, hepatitis and HIV/AIDS, are additional risks for women in prisons. Drug alcohol addiction. Prisoners are more likely to suffer from drug/alcohol addiction than in the community at large. Existing research indicates that 75% of women who go to European prisons are already drug and alcohol users and that female prisoners are more likely to be addicted to harder drugs than male prisoners. Health care provision. Standards of medical care within prisons vary greatly both from country to country and from prison to prison. When health care facilities are outside the prison they may offer better standards of provision, but they may create other problems such as: â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The shame and discomfort for women of being taken there in prison clothing or in handcuffs, particularly if they have to wait in public areas within the hospital. â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Shortages of prison staff reducing the availability of escorts for women to attend hospital. â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Male prison staff accompanying female prisoners and being present during medical consultations and examinations. â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Perceived lack of security in civilian institutions leading to women being shackled to beds, even during child-birth. Sexual health. Universally HIV among women prisoners is higher than in the general population. HIV positive women risk passing the disease onto their babies and unborn children. Womens high rates of drug addiction expose them to the risk of catching HIV through sharing needles. Female health hygiene. The prison may not provide for the sanitary needs of women or women may have to pay for their own sanitary provision. Women who are menstruating or going through the menopause need regular daily showers. It is humiliating for women to have to use washing and toilet facilities in the presence of others, most particularly during menstruation. They should also be able to change their bed linen frequently. Older women may go through the menopause while imprisoned, and their medical and/or psychological needs need to be identified and met at this time. They may also have particular health care needs such as hormone replacement therapy or food supplements. Pregnancy and childbirth. Pregnant women in prisons need special resources and attention to diet, exercise, clothing, medication and medical care. Prison is not an easy place to be pregnant and the inflexibility of a prison regime is incompatible with the needs and care of a pregnant body. â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  It is more difficult to catch up on missed sleep and missed meals and hard to take baths or showers as often as needed. â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  It may be difficult for the prison to transport prisoners to health care checks and scans, ante-natal classes and post-natal care. â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ante-natal and post-natal care may not be seen as medical priorities by prison staff. â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  It may be difficult for a prisoner to see a midwife. â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Alerting staff to a medical problem, even the onset of labour, may be difficult, particularly at night. â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The stress of imprisonment can have a deleterious impact on the development of a pregnancy. â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Restraining pregnant women in the same way as other women prisoners may endanger both the woman and the fetus. 6. Mental health. Mental health problems are more spread among women prisoners than in the prison for men or in the general prison. A lot of women have problems with lower-level of mental health, such as personality disorder, which do not qualify them for a psychiatric bed. Such women may need access to treatments and therapy designed specifically for them, and even in women-only prisons conditions may not be ideal. Women can be extremely worried about what will happen to their children, especially in the early stages of detention. Research has suggested that this can exacerbate or bring on mental health problems. Depression, self-harm and suicide. Doctors are more likely to diagnose depression in women than in men (even when they have similar scores on standardized measures of depression) and more likely to prescribe mood altering psychotropic drugs to women than to men. Outside prison men are more likely to commit suicide than women but the position is reversed inside prison, and self-harm in prison is a huge problem and more prevalent among women in prison. 7. Violence and vulnerability. In those countries where all prisoners are vulnerable to torture and inhuman and degrading treatment, women (and juvenile female) prisoners are particularly at risk, both from male prisoners and from male prison guards. The power imbalance between prisoners and guards together with the closed nature of prisons provide opportunities for harassment, exploitation, abuse, prostitution, rape and indecent assault of female prisoners by staff, both male and female. They may also be subjected to abuse and exploitation from other prisoners, both male and female. Even in countries where this is not the case, such as in the UK, women prisoners are vulnerable to other prisoners. A high proportion of UK women prisoners tell that they feel unsafe. The issues about safety and security of female prisoners include: â‚ ¬Ã‚  Location of female cells in mixed prisons. â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Location and use of shared facilities, in particular showers and toilets. â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Whether male prison guards hold contact positions over female prisoners (posts which permit or require them to be in physical proximity to the prisoners, sometimes unsupervised by other, female, staff). â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Strip searches: women prisoners as a group are more likely than other women generally and/or male prisoners to have experienced sexual assault: this makes strip-searching especially traumatic for them. â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The existence or lack of effective supervision and complaints mechanisms which enable prisoners to complain without exposing them to intimidation or further abuse for example, seeing a doctor in the presence of guards means that violence towards and abuse of prisoners by guards is less likely to be reported by the prisoner. â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Women who are subject to sexual abuse or exploitation face the added problems relating to the risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, the questions of pregnancy and child-birth or abortion, and all the associated physical, mental and emotional health issues. 8. Mothers in prison. Most women in prison around the world are mothers. Women are more likely to be the sole or primary carer for children and this factor makes the prison experience significantly different for women. The effects of maternal imprisonment on their families are generally more disruptive than the effects of paternal imprisonment. This is not adequately recognized by the criminal justice system. Since the numbers of women who are sent to a prison are rather low and the tendency to send women to prison for lesser nonviolent offences is increasing, so the woman herself can not understand the possibility of imprisonment as the outcome of her deeds. That is why the woman doesnt have the opportunity to make any preparations or provision for her kids before being taken into custody. Such fact can be a cause of additional stress for her and her kids. Prison visits from children. Visiting prisons can be a difficult and frustrating experience for children. So, traveling for a long distance, entering a grim building, being searched, spending time in a harsh adult environment with a mother that one might not even be able to touch may be extremely distressing to a child. This in turn may make the childs carer less inclined to undertake this arduous task, as well as leaving the mother distraught and reluctant to have further visits from the child. Furthermore, the new carers may have their own family responsibilities, as well as financial constraints, which put strains on taking in additional children (leading to children moving from one carer to another) and in particular adding to the financial, time and emotional burdens of taking children to visit their imprisoned mother. Evidence suggests that the children of imprisoned mothers, and particularly those who are taken into state care during the mothers imprisonment, are at significantly greater risk of developing criminal behavior in adulthood than other children. 9. Children of imprisoned mothers. The rights and best interests of the children of women prisoners are rarely considered during criminal justice processes, even though parental imprisonment has a major impact on their lives. There are three options: â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The child has to go to prison with the mother, and the consequence of that. â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The child is separated from the mother, and the consequence of that. â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Where there is more than one child and they are treated differently; i.e. one goes to prison with the mother, the other is separated, and the consequences of that. Within each of these, there are then a number of matters to be considered which are encapsulated in the table overleaf. Children separated from their mother. Children left in the community may be looked after by their father, grandparents, other relatives or friends of the family, taken into state care or left without carers. Siblings may be separated from each other in order to make the situation not to difficult, or they may be taken into State institutions. A prisoner living in insecure or rented accommodation will usually lose this when s/he enters prison and getting accommodation when released is often difficult. A mother whose children have been placed in the care of the state or another person usually cannot reclaim custody without appropriate accommodation, so even a short prison term may lead to permanent separation of families. Registering details of prisoners children is not part of the reception procedure in many countries. Some prisoners may not disclose this information voluntarily for fear that their children will be permanently taken away from them. As a result, governments do not make social provision or policies which address the problem of children with incarcerated parents. The imprisonment of the mother has a great impact on the children; it affects every aspect of their lives and not just the relationships with their mother. It feels the same as while the bereavement, but with less support, from the new carer, teachers, and other people. Children of imprisoned parents have an increased tendency to exhibit aggressive and anti-social behaviour compared to the general population. Researchers have found that the effects of parental imprisonment can be serious. Studies of prisoners children consistently report that children experience a range of psychosocial problems during the imprisonment of a parent, including: depression, hyperactivity, aggressive behaviour, withdrawal, regression, clinging behaviour, problems with sleeping and eating, running away, truancy, low school grades and delinquency. The impact on the children will, of course, vary according to their age, surrounding family and community response, environment and individual character. Babies and children in prison. Some women may spend part or all of a pregnancy in prison and give birth while still serving their sentence. The bonding of an infant with her/his primary carer is essential for her/his long term emotional development and should be given high priority. If mothers give birth while serving their sentence, or are imprisoned when they have a baby or young child, that baby or young child may come into the prison to live with them. Special resources and facilities available to mother and babies in prison varies, but usually consist of accommodation within a specialized Mother and Baby Unit (MBU). Toys are sometimes provided for the children and the mother may have more freedom in terms of staying in an unlocked room, having access to a kitchen in which she can prepare food for the child etc. Because of the small number of women in prison who have children living with them, the number of MBUs is low, meaning that a mother may be imprisoned a long way from the rest of her family. This creates problems regarding prison visits and maintaining contact with any older children in the family. Additional concerns about babies and children living in prison are the effect this has on their development physical, mental and emotional. How long babies or young children can reside in prison with their mothers or even whether they can do so at all varies considerably across countries. The separation of mother and child can be a very traumatic experience for them both. Some countries try and make the separation process as gradual as possible, in order to ease the pain and trauma of separation. Babies and young children who are living in prison with their mother also require specialized health care. Women who know that their children will be removed from them shortly after birth may exhibit mental health problems and/or reject the baby or fail to bond with it. 10. Maintaining links with family. When imprisoned mothers are the primary carer of children, separation from their mothers is usually more traumatic than if the father is incarcerated; this is of course much worse where the mother is the sole carer. Research has shown that if family ties are maintained, the chances of prisoners re-offending upon release are lowered, so it is important to take measures to try to preserve these ties. Problems in maintaining these links include: â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Doing so through letters is hard for those with low literacy skills, and self vidently problematic in relation to young children. â‚ ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Overcoming what is often a greater distance between the woman and her family. 11. Specific groups of prisoners. Foreign nationals. Foreign national women prisoners may be either resident or non-resident in the country where they are imprisoned. Common difficulties may be faced by both male and female foreign national prisoners, such as problems relating to language and misunderstandings surrounding the customs and cultures of the host country, which may lead to isolation. In prisons where the prisoners are dependent on external assistance, whether for basics such as food, hygiene products and clothing, or for small luxuries, women without family at hand to visit not only face the direct problems of not having such items, but are vulnerable to exploitation by other prisoners or prison guards in order to receive the necessities for living. Foreign national women who are not resident in the country of imprisonment may often be very far away from their children and families, causing them anguish and anxiety. Their children may not have the financial means to come and visit them. Telephone calls may be prohibitively expensive for both the mother and her children and difficult to arrange because of time differences. If the children are too young to read and write, then communication via letters is not an option. Many women foreign nationals in prison are there for drug smuggling and may have left their children in the temporary care of friends or family, expecting to return in a few days. Imprisonment may put a womans family (children and others) in significant danger from the people who employed her to smuggle drugs. Resident foreign national women can face deportation when they have completed their sentence, which means further separation from their families, or their having to relocate as well. Transgender prisoners. Transgender prisoners face particular difficulties and pose special challenges to the prison system precisely because of the question as to their classification as male or female prisoners. Racial minorities/ indigenous prisoners. In many countries with indigenous populations, indigenous women represent the fastest growing segment of the prison population. Their double minority status within the prison system, being both indigenous and women, means that where training and other programmes exist they may have to choose between those intended for indigenous men or for non-indigenous women. They may also have different needs from other women prisoners. 12. Post-release issues. Women leaving prison receive varying degrees of support from the prison and social services. They may face many problems in addition to the pressures which may have caused them to commit their initial crime, such as: getting a job, finding accommodation, staying drug or alcohol free and regaining custody of children who have been in state care during their imprisonment. Even a short prison term may lead to the mother losing the rented accommodation in which she had been living, and it is common for a mother to be unable to regain custody of her children if she does not have anywhere to live. This makes it very difficult for women to resume normal lives outside of prison, and may be a factor which contributes to re-offending. Although all released prisoners face issues surrounding their efforts to reintegrate into society, for parents these may be compounded by the need to reconcile with children who may have changed (as well as grown up) during their absence. These children may have taken on new roles in the family and developed close relation-ships with alternative carers, both of which can cause tension if the returning parent tries to go back to the way things were. Reoffending by parents can also have a devastating impact on their children, as they lose their parent for a second time. As it was written above, the female population in the U.S. prison is escalating faster than the male population. According to statistics, the U.S. has 10 times more women in prison than the combined nations of Western Europe. (http://www-personal.umich.edu/~lormand/agenda/0107/womenprison.htm. Phillis Engelbert, Women in Prison, Agenda, July/August 2001). Women are sent to prison for different crimes, but there they need a specialized care and treatment. A lot of women have drug and alcohol problems and need to be treated accordingly. A lot of women in prison have children and this is one more reason for special treatment.

US History Essays -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although the federal governments attitudes and actions towards blacks and Native Americans civil rights in the 19th century were very different they also had lots of similarities. Both blacks and Native Americans were treated poorly and did not have many rights. Blacks were slaves and Indians (Native Americans) were fighting to stay alive. All these negative actions were a bad look for a country that was growing bigger and bigger by the day to someday reach what the United States is today.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Culture was a huge part of Indian life in the 19th century, from hunting buffalo and respecting and loving the lands that they lived on to amazing spiritual and religious ceremonies. Blacks did not have much culture because they were mostly all born slaves in the U.S.; except for the ones that were born in Africa and had good memories about they’re past culture. There were also elder slaves that had experienced the African culture who tried to pass it on to the American born slaves who didn’t have any sense of there culture. From the 1850’s all the way until 1924 the Indians were battling the U.S. militia, government and army. The Indians were being kicked off there land and forced onto reservations. Many battles such as Red Clouds war in 1863, Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and even the Battle of Little Big Horn (Custer’s last stand) in 1876 are all examples of battles that the Indians fought against U.S. men. Many of these batt...

Death of a Salesman vs The Simpsons :: essays papers

Death of a Salesman vs The Simpsons Each of the characters in "death of a Salesman" can be compared in some way to a character in the Simpsons. Linda Loman has a lot in common with Marge Simpson. Both love their families very much and are always the first to defend their husband's actions. Each wife is unappreciated and and does not receive much respect from her family. They try to instill good values onto their children: Marge reprimands Bart for stealing, and Linda tells Willy not to encourage the boys to steal. They attempt to steer the boys away from their fathers' influence, since Willy and Homer are not always the best role models. An example is when homer tells Marge "don't discourage the boy! Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals! Except the weasel." Biff (before he find's himself) is a lot like Bart. The two are always getting into some kind of trouble; Biff for stealing, while Bart is constantly wreaking havoc in the school. Biff is unable to hold down a job, and Bart cannot be productive at school. Both lie and cheat their way through life. Charley can be compared to Lenny as both are friends of the protagonist and care about his welfare. Charley aids Willy with his financial needs, giving him money and offering him a job. Lenny helps Homer in the nuclear plant, always covering for him and giving advice. Although he is not an evil monster, Howard's character resembles that of Monty Burns. They are both business men, more concerned about money than people. Howard does not care about Willy; he fires him after he had worked for the company for so long. Mr. Burns does not even know who homer is even though they've often had a chance to interact. Bernard, Biff's brainy friend, is similar to Milhouse, Bart's geeky friend. Each one is teased about their appearance; Bernard is called an anemic by Willy, and Milhouse is called a geek by pretty much everyone. Bernard used to idolize Biff, he was proud to be carrying his elbow pads. Milhouse is also a sidekick to Bart. He knows his job is to stay hidden while Bart wows everybody with his talents.

Victory Over the Limits :: essays research papers

â€Å"Victory Over the Limits† There is no doubt that DH Lawrence’s limits of expression are far different than many successful writers before him. These limits were not etched in stone, but writers knew that there were certain boundaries that should not be crossed. Lawrence chooses a number of ways to push these boundaries, and is extremely successful in doing so. His dedication to use the strongest possible language and expressions to describe sexual encounters forced his novel to come under wraps. Each of the main characters contributes to the challenge Lawrence gives to the limits of expression. Their actions as well as their language confirms the challenge Lawrence makes towards these limits. Lady Chatterley’s Lover is in itself a statement to the literary world, that the limits of expression need to be challenged, and will be. Lady Constance Chatterley is one of the main characters of the novel and a very controversial figure. She is a perfect example of how the questions of social class are raised. Her existence on the country estate limits her connections with the outside world, causing strong conflict within her. The fact that her husband is paralyzed and impotent begins to wear on her, and her attitude takes a dramatic turn. Her character is a challenge to the limits of expression because of her sexual desires. Although her first affair with Michaelis did not satisfy her needs, it showed her readiness to rebel against the norm. Her second affair is the one that raises the eyebrows of anyone who reads the novel. Mellors was a man of less stature than Connie, which was another example of her rebellious nature. It also developed into much more than a harmless rendezvous. The explicit description of their sexual encounters was enough to stir up controversy. â€Å"Oh, don’t tease him†, said Co nnie, crawling on her knees on the bed towards him†¦ her hanging swinging breasts touched the tip of the stirring, erect phallus, and caught the drop of moisture. She held the man fast. Lie down he said. Lie down! Let me come†(LCL 226-227). That excerpt is enough to prove that DH Lawrence was ready for controversy. The fact that he places a woman in this situation shows that any one of the characters is capable of anything. Mellors is the character that takes all the limits of expression to the most extreme level. His relationship with Connie takes over the plot of the novel, bringing this gamekeeper to the forefront.

Little Albert

Assignment One – Mini Lit Review. The Little Albert Study. Not everyone believes that biology is our destiny. Many scientists whole-heartedly believe it is our experiences in life that count. They believe that it is our up-bringing, education, and our environment that form our behaviour, beliefs and characteristics. Chief among scientists in this field of thought is psychologist John Watson. Watson developed a theory that we are not restricted to our genetic make-up, but instead we arrive into the world as a blank slate and all our information is learned.There is continuous dispute over this theory with the nature nurture debate strongly in play (McLeod, 2007). On the nature side of the debate, it is believed that individual’s differences are determined by their unique genetic make-up. They argue that all other characteristics that develop later in life are caused by maturation (McLeod, 2007). The other side is nurture which John Watson strongly supports. This side says that we come into the world as a blank slate and through experiences our slate is gradually filled (McLeod, 2007).To support the theory that environment is more powerful than genetics, Watson designed an experiment on an infant commonly known as the Little Albert experiment. This experiment focused on Ivan Pavlov’s process of classical conditioning. Watson believed and wanted to prove that all human psychology can be explained by this process (McLeod, 2008). The other studies that I will be comparing the Little Albert experiment to will be â€Å"Elevated fear conditioning to socially relevant unconditioned stimuli in Social Anxiety Disorder† (Lissek, Levson, Biggs, et all, 2008) and the study of Pavlov’s dogs (Pavlov, 1928).These studies will enable me to make a justified evaluation of the Little Albert study by making comparisons to these two other studies. The Little Albert experiment was conducted by John Watson and Rosalie Rayner in 1920. They chose nine mo nth old Baby Albert for the study because Albert had been reared almost from birth in Harriet Lane home for Invalid Children where his mother was a wet nurse. Albert was deemed extremely stable and well developed which determined his suitability for the experiment (McLeod, 2007).The focus of their study was to continue on from Pavlov’s experiment involving the classical conditioning of dogs, and determine whether this empirical evidence was also evident in humans (Watson, 1924). More specifically, they were focusing on conditioned emotional responses. In determining these aspects they conducted a series of different tests involving a variation of stimulus. Before the experiment commenced, they gave Albert a sequence of baseline tests to determine his initial fear responses to stimuli.They presented him with burning paper, a monkey, a dog, cotton wool, a fur coat (seal), various masks and a white rat. During the baseline, Albert showed no initial fear to these items. Throughou t the study these items (fluffy white objects) served as the independent variables. The dependant variable was whether or not Albert cried or showed distress. During the study Albert was positioned on a mattress on a table. Albert was presented with a white rat and just as he reached out to touch it, a metal bar was struck with a hammer behind him.Albert jumped and fell forward, burring his head into the mattress, but did not cry. After these two stimuli were paired on several occasions, Albert was presented with only the white rat. As the rat appeared in front of him he became distressed and turned away, puckered his lips, began to cry and crawled away (Watson, 1924). From this, it became obvious that Albert’s fear had been conditioned. Albert had associated the white rat with a loud noise producing fear, thus having conditioned fear of the white rat. The experiment showed that Little Albert generalized his response from furry animals to anything furry.Albert showed the same reactions as the initial experiment when Watson presented him with a furry dog, seal-skin coat and even a Santa-Claus mask (Watson, 1924). The way in which Albert’s responses were measured was through the amount of distress to the stimuli he presented. The Little Albert study is a highly popular study especially across the field of Psychology. Although the study has provided valuable knowledge and understanding of learned behaviours and the development of phobias, it’s procedures considering ethics are questionable.The fact that Albert was only nine months old deems this study unethical. Albert’s mother was obviously desperate for money to support her son, so the bribe of money probably out-weighted the possible harm caused to her son. Albert’s mother probably wasn’t entirely aware of the potential risks involved. Albert’s fear was supposed to be extinguished at the end of the experiment, but he moved away. Other ethical codes that have bee n violated in this study are that of the distress that it caused.Little Albert was never desensitized from the conditioning undergone meaning that because he had a conditioned fear of white furry objects, he would forever be terrified of white furry objects (Watson, 1924). In today’s code of ethics, the welfare of the participant/s is the most important factor and under no circumstances should this protection be hindered, unless the participant has given consent to be put under this distress. It is also now deemed unethical to purposely cause distress to a participant in laboratory circumstances (Weiten, 2008).These unethical procedures could have been corrected quite simply. In the study of fear conditioning in people with social anxiety disorder, they conducted what called an extinction process where the participants were desensitized from any fear conditioning that took part throughout the experiment (Lissek, Levson, Biggs, et al, 2008). This experiment is clearly ethical as it was only conducted in 2008 and would have had to have been passed by the ethics board in order to be conducted. The Little Albert study is a valid study; however it was not measured effectively.The way in which Little Albert’s fear was measured was just whether or not he cried or showed distress. The way in which they measured this could have been improved in order to get more valid and reliable results. In this case, the studies operational definition was not valid. The Little Albert study could have used apparatus in order to get more valid results. For example, they could have measured Albert’s fear by assessing his skin conductivity. This would have measured Albert’s distress through measuring the arousals in his skin i. e. weat. They also could have used the blink-startle response measurement as used in â€Å"Elevated fear conditioning to socially relevant unconditioned stimuli in Social Anxiety Disorder† (Lissek, Levson, Biggs, et al, 2008). T his method measures how much the participant blinks when presented with a stimuli. If the participant is startled (scared) by something, they will blink a lot more than if they are not startled. The reliability of the Little Albert study is not strong. If the same study was conducted today, the same results would not be found.Little Albert’s responses to the stimuli that he was presented with could have been a result of his general fear of animals, not that he conditioned a fear of white fluffy objects. Most people would agree with me when I say that if you were a nine month old baby and an animal was jumping up at your face, you would be scared and would become distressed. Being a nine month old baby, Albert also could have just been tired, bored, and hungry or just missed his Mother. None of these factors were accounted for during the trials.If the same study was conducted today, it would become extremely obvious that times have changed and so too should the design of the s tudy. The reliability of the experiment is hindered by the fact that the method of measurement is simply observation and there is no concrete evidence being analysed. For example if they were to measure brain activity or use the blink-startle reaction measurement, these results would be a lot more concrete and therefore the study would be classed a lot more reliable.In comparison, the 1928 study of Pavlov’s dogs (Pavlov, 1928) is a lot more reliable even though it is only a few years newer than the Little Albert study. If Pavlov’s experiment was replicated today, very similar if not the same results would be found. The fact that Pavlov used concrete methods of measuring his data deemed his study a lot more reliable. If he was to measure the amount that the dogs salivate by just observing them, it would not be as valid.To conclude, through the evaluation of the Little Albert study and comparison to â€Å"â€Å"Elevated fear conditioning to socially relevant unconditio ned stimuli in Social Anxiety Disorder† (Lissek, Levson, Biggs, et al, 2008) and Pavlov’s dogs (Pavlov, 1928) it has come to my attention that the Little Albert study does not comply to today’s code of ethics, the reliability is not strong and could be improved on however it is a valid study, but the operational definition could be improved.I feel that the contributions to knowledge of conditioned fear are valuable to society and has proved useful in various situations and other studies. Future studies on this topic would prove extremely valuable to society and our understanding on fear conditioning. References McLeod, S. A. (2007). Simply Psychology; Nature Nurture in Psychology. Retrieved 3 April 2012, from http://www. simplypsychology. org/naturevsnurture. html McLeod, S. A. (2007). Simply Psychology; Pavlov. Retrieved 3 April 2012, from http://www. implypsychology. org/pavlov. html McLeod, S. A. (2008). Simply Psychology; Classical Conditioning. Retrieved 3 A pril 2012, from http://www. simplypsychology. org/classical-conditioning. html Pavlov, I. P. (1928). Lectures On Conditioned Reflexes. (Translated by W. H. Gantt) London: Allen and Unwin. Watson, J. B. & Rayner, R. (1920). Conditioned emotional reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 3, 1, pp. 1–14. Weiten, W. (2011). Psychology: Themes and Variations. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Sport Policy and Development- Discuss the Relationship Between Sport and Crime Reduction and Critically Assess the Benefits/Limitations That Sport Presents in Achieving Positive Results.

Sport Policy and Development- Summative 1 Discuss the relationship between sport and crime reduction and critically assess the benefits/limitations that sport presents in achieving positive results. In this piece of literature there will be an in depth discussion of the complicated relationship between sport and crime. There will be a lot of focus on the debate of whether sport plays a positive role in crime reduction in society, and in what ways sport can be used as a method to lower crime in society.This essay will endeavour to critically examine both the benefits and limitations of sport to achieve positive results in reducing crime in society. The fact is that crime in society isn’t a straight forward issue, it is extremely complex. In this section there will be an assessment of the reasons for why sport is believed to either reduce or influence crime. There are multiple theories to suggest that sport can be used in society as a mechanism to produce a positive influence ov er crime in all areas of society.There are many theories for why communities see a reduction in criminal activities when good sports policies are implemented and carried out. One of the theories for this was explored in Mutz and Baur` investigation in 2009 into youths’ involvement in conflict and violence and the role of sport in preventing it. They wrote about the crime opportunity theory, they said that offenders often act â€Å"in a purposive and instrumental- rational manner insofar as they evaluate the cost and benefit that might accompany an offence in a given situation. In other words the perceived likelihood of detection and the effected severity of the punishment define the cost of a crime. They go on to say that the presence of people significantly reduces the likelihood of crimes being committed. This theory has been used to prove that sport can reduce crime, particularly in youths. It is evident to see that deviant actions are dramatically reduced in the presence of authority; figures that monitor the adolescents whilst taking part in physical activity. In many cases this time can be used to witness youths’ misdemeanours and negatively reinforce these actions therefore bettering them (Mutz and Baur,. 009). However, there are researchers that oppose this notion that this theory reduces crime in society as a whole but instead most of the time simply delays the crime until away from that environment. An article in `Sport Illustrated by Jeff Benedict (2010) spoke about how instances of serious felonies perpetrated by college athletes who train round the clock are on the increase. This not only directly contradicts the opportunity theory but Benedict goes on to talk about how these athletes were protected by their sporting status and received reduced sentences or no sentence at all.This suggests that sport is possibly increasing crime due to the providing immunity and disrespect for the law in effect glorifying criminal activity (Benedict ,. 2010). Another theory that supports these structured supervised sports sessions for youth in the attempt to reduce crime is Fred Coalter` â€Å"Antidote to boredom theory†. This theory is a common sense assumption on the old phrase â€Å"the devil finds work for idle hands† and links in with the crime opportunity theory.It suggests that â€Å"much adolescent crime is opportunity led and giving people something (hopefully constructive) to do hopefully keeps them out of harm’s way†. In other words in the promotion of sport and a productive activity it therefore reduces the temptation to participate in deviant activity (Coalter,. 2007). It has been theorised that young people, the majority of which are adolescent males, display aggressive or violent tendencies whilst frustrated or angry, this is said to be due to an instincts that we are born with. It was famously stated by Sigmund Freud (1925) that in certain scenarios we are â€Å"born to be bad† .In more recent years this theory has been proven to be indeed fact and under further investigation it is thought that when a person behaves aggressively these actions release hormones resulting in catharsis, a word derived from the Greek word katharsis which means to purge/cleanse the body. Behaving like this reduces pent up negative tension; this in turn enables temper regulation more easily. Sport replicates these feelings of aggression and simulates the catharsis of aggression therefore releasing frustration that leads to a state known as `emotional cleansing`.This acts as a positive tool with adolescents so that aggression is released in a productive and safe environment and suggests that sports that require more aggression, such as all contact sports should see a reduced participation in crime from those individuals (Widmeyer et al,. 2002). The Social Bonding theory as theorised by Hirschi in 1969 consists of 4 elements these being `attachment to families, commitment to social norms, institutions and involvement in activities and the belief that these things are important`.This theory suggests people who produce social ties with positive role models; these being either friends or family, particularly from a young age promote socially acceptable behaviours and attitudes and are reinforced more effectively. These behaviours and attitudes could be any or all of the 4 elements that in turn reduce the likelihood of criminal participation. Commitment or responsibility inspires pride in one’s self and helps promote self-confidence.Involvement in conventional activities such as sport can provide life direction and a provide focus for people at risk of committing crimes. Finally, belief is the acceptance of moral validity of the central social- value system (Wiatrowski et al, . 1981). Sport is a great medium to induce the social bonding perspective onto society because sport ethics are a mirror image of those we find in every day society (e. g. hard work, abiding rules, teamwork etc.. ) therefore it tightens bonds to moral codes and in turn limits the likelihood of committing criminal acts (Miethe and Meier,. 994 ). The social learning theory (SLT) suggests that individual behavioural patterns particularly that of minors are heavily influenced by observation, imitation and reinforcement (Grusec,. 1997). This theory provides arguments for both sides of this argument. On the one hand an argument can be made that contact and noncontact sports can teach strong moral codes to play by the rules or suffer negative consequences, work hard at everything you do in order to receive just rewards, and maintain interpersonal skills in order to maintain strong relationships that help teamwork.These positive behaviours and attitudes are then in theory adopted in to other areas of life, therefore reducing crime participation (Biel and Bienne,. 2008). For example studies have shown that contact sport if taught correctly can display a positive reductio ns in crime, Trulson found that the traditional philosophical and psychological elements were vital to be effective in reducing the risk factors associated with offending, if these elements are removed combat sport was instead associated with an increase in criminal behaviour.This is a prime example of SLT (Endresen and Olweus,. 2005). This evidence suggests that sport isn’t as clear cut as that and in fact sport in most scenarios promotes aggression and even encourages violence towards other people, but it is acceptable because it is in a sports environment. Examples of this could be manufactured fouls in football or the more obvious displays of violence in contact sports. Some theorists believe that SLT and crime participation can be related to these sports because of the skills and attitudes taught in order to be successful within the game e. g. win at all costs†, intimidate, be strong and powerful to get your own way, defend team mates. All these can lead to individ uals being more likely to become involved in violence than those people that have other leisure activities (Hickley,. 2008). Quite clearly there is what some might perceive as very contentious points raised in many areas of this study, and a lot of literature seems to have an abundance of contradictory dimensions. Having read various pieces of literature it is easy to see why there is so much disagreement where crime reduction and sport initiatives are concerned.An example of these controversies is in the first point raised, that sport provides an environment in the spot light where people can take part in productive, non-deviant activities and possibly allow social workers to enforce positive attitudes to law abiding and team work. However, to say that this prevents crime full stop is naive and some researchers suggest that methods such as late night basketball is not economically viable in relation the amount of crime in prevents (Hartman and Depro,. 2006).Research also suggest th at sport as an antidote for boredom falls across similar traits in the sense that yes there is an increase in crime particularly amongst youths during periods of perceived boredom and yes sport does act as a remedy for this. However this only displays short term results in reducing crime in a percentage of adolescent males and virtually no females regardless of age. This is because as soon as the youths get bored of the activities very often they would revert back to manufactured excitement in the medium of crime and deviant activity (Levermore,. 2011)The second contentious issue concerns the social learning theory’s effect on crime through sport. The positives and negatives of sports’ influences on crime are heavily debated in research of this type especially within contact sport communities. As discussed earlier sport provides an environment were positive attitudes and behaviours can be learnt, refined and reinforced particularly within crime `at risk` areas and demo nstrate positive results. However, studies show that contact sports display opposite results where untroubled youths are concerned and can in fact increase crime participation within these groups.This is said to run the risk of `overdosing` minor offenders with interventions which is known to increase crime participation (Jenkins and Ellis,. 2011 ). This of course creates a paradox because if contact sport interventions are only appropriate for at risk communities, should they only be accessible to individuals at the risk of offending this would obviously produce social stigmas, labelling and social segregation leading to possible social tensions that incite conflict.Or should this particular policy area available to everyone at risk seducing those without prior criminal involvement with the violence of contact sport therefore providing the potential for corruption? However when considering contact sports popularity in society there does seem to be a lack of interventions that use i t as a tool to reduce criminal activity.The main limiting factors when questioning the positives and negatives of sport and its effectiveness as a crime reduction strategy in society is that more empirical research into the short and long-term benefits is needed along with a correct understanding of the type of programme that is appropriate for different social groups and the strategies that can effectively implement long lasting effects, merely establishing a statistical association for short periods of time in insufficient (Nichols,. 1999).The second limiting factor is the lack of research as regards to the effect of sport and intervention to crime in the older community and all female groups. There is virtually no evidence to suggest that sport helps female offenders. However this may be because statistically speaking males are responsible for 74% of crimes committed and it is common sense that initiatives are aimed at culprits, (British Crime Statistics) although a feminist pers pective in this policy area could be beneficial (Coakley and Pike,. 009) As these points suggest, making the policy with the aim to reduce crime in society is very difficult and it seems that there will never be any middle ground on the subject. However with all the academic and statistical literature taken into account there was a common theme in the majority of them. The conclusion that most studies drew was that there is still no evidence to suggest that sport has an influence over crime in society in either direction.Smith and Waddington concluded that â€Å"despite vast numbers of such community schemes currently in operation in the UK, there is still very little evidence for their effectiveness in reducing and preventing crime and drug abuse †(Smith and Waddington,. 2004). This is supported by various other academic articles (Caruso,. 2011, Coalter,. 2005, Nichols and Crow,. 2004). In my opinion the best way to combat crime is via top quality coaching in communities tha t teach appropriate values that sports uphold and therefore can be transferred into everyday society.Secondly, the correlation between contact sports, physical violence and aggression in society and reoffending criminality is too high and causes to many social problems, therefore I feel it would be better if initiatives are designed around non-contact sports, so when unnecessary aggression is portrayed it is reinforced with negative consequences e. g. card, sending off. This is transferable to everyday life.Thirdly, I believe that sport crime interventions are the best resource we have in terms of cost efficiency, documented research and developed programmes and it is likely that any other initiatives would show the exact same results if not worse. With this in mind we should heed the evidence that suggests the best way to target crime in society when using the medium of sport is by targeting the impressionable youth community, we should continue this focus. However for more decisiv e conclusions to be drawn from studies in this area there needs to be more extensive, more representative and more investment in longitudinal studies.References D. J Begg, J. D Langley, T. Moffittand S. W. Marshall. (1996). Sport and delinquency: an examination of the deterrence hypothesis in a longitudinal study. British Journal of Sport Medicine. 30 (4), 335-341. J. Benedict . (2010). An alarming number of college athletes charged with serious crime. Available: http://sportsillustrated. cnn. com/2010/writers/jeff_benedict/09/08/athletes. crime/index. html. Last accessed 2nd February . Biel and Bienne. (2008). Evidence in the field of Sport and Development: An overview. Schwery Consulting . 1 (1), 4-14 . R. Caruso. (2011).Crime and sport participation: Evidence from Italian regions over the period 1997–2003 . The Journal of Socio-Economics. 40 (5), 455-463. J. Coakley and E. Pike . (2009). Using social theories: How can they help us study sports in society?. In: M. Havelock, J. Fray and J. Bishop, Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies. London: McGraw-Hill Education . 49-51. F. Coalter. (2005). The Social Benefits of Sport. An Overview to Inform the Community Planning Process. 1 (98), 25-31. F. Coalter (2007 ). A Wider Social Role For Sport: Who`s Keeping Score?. London : Routledge . 119- 12 . I. M. Endresen and D. Olweus . (2005).Participation in power sports and antisocial. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 46 (5), 468-478. J. E. Grusec. (1997). Social Learning Theory and Developmental Psychology: The Legacies of Robert Sears and Albert Bandura . Developmental Psychology . 28 (5), 776-786 D. Hartman and B. Depro . (2006). 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