I started writing this essay originally with a different view in mind. But when I went back to read it, it simply wasn’t what I wanted to say. My mother suggested I wait a few days and come back to it but I was itching too much to get this off my chest. I became restless and started surfing the web and went to my favorite authors website. Her name is SilverRaven Wolf (www.silverravenwolf.com) and read her article about when she was in Jr. High. That’s when I realized the difference, hers had emotion while mine was simply fact. So here’s my new version, and I hope you can all understand and realate… Continue Reading »

The death penalty has been used throughout history, and has evolved from stoning women to death in Afghanistan for committing adultery to giving lethal injections in the U.S. to serial killers (Amnesty International). Today, the death penalty is reserved only for the absolute worst criminals, but that could change if the anti-death penalty fanatics that are so prominent in today’s media have their way. They claim that the death penalty is barbaric, unconstitutional, and should be banned. This view is the most prominent in the media when in fact 75% of Americans support the use of the death penalty (Koch 561). So why is the anti-death penalty movement so prominent today? Continue Reading »

I begin before the beginning. A paper must be written and research papers always need to be introduced before they really begin. The first few paragraphs exist only to set up the real beginning where all the ideas that must be conveyed exist. The introduction is like the bread that presents the sandwich. Without an introduction this paper would be too messy; the meat of the sandwich would get all over the place. As I look down at all my sociology notes taken throughout the year, I familiarize the topic to myself once again. My mind thinks out-loud: I must write about my future career and the inevitable problems I will face; I must discover some of the unintentional consequences and relate them to what I have learned over the semester. As I ponder this research paper topic, I soon realize that it may be more difficult than I expected. You see, I have no clue what type of sandwich I want; maybe a turkey and cheese, or a BLT, or maybe just a traditional. Continue Reading »

There are vast differences in the way people view the death penalty. Some oppose it and some agree with it. There have been many studies trying to prove or disprove a point regarding the death penalty. Some have regarded the death penalty as a deterrent, and some have regarded it as state sanctioned murder and not civilized. The death penalty has been attributed to societies for hundreds of years. More recently, as we become more civilized, the death penalty has been questioned to be the right step towards justice. During the course of this paper I will review the pros and cons of the use of the death penalty as we, Americans, know it. The death penalty is a highly controversial subject. Continue Reading »

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has,” commented Margaret Mead after a lifetime of observing diversity in cultures from around the world. After 150 years of fighting for equality among the sexes, people today have no idea of the struggle that women went through so that women of future generations could have the same privileges as men. Seven generations have come since the women’s rights movement and the women of these generations have different opportunities in family life, religion, government, employment, and education that women fought for. The Women’s Rights Movement began with a small group of people that questioned why human lives, especially those of women, were unfairly constricted. These women also worked deliberately to create a better world. Continue Reading »

Nearly anything will earn you respect in the eyes of someone. But only certain things will earn you respect in the eyes of those who are respected. It’s that simple.

So, true respect is not earned of injuring oneself or breaking the law. The respect earned by that is not true and lasting, because it must be reaffirmed. It is so important for some to be respected that they would to that and more. However, the way to earn respect is to be respectful. Make it an attitude, not a thing given to a person after they have proven themselves. This way, it can not be demolished by anything bu Respect is something that many people would do many things for. Continue Reading »

The question is to outline and critically evaluate the functionalist view that the typical family unit is nuclear. The other part of the question is to critically evaluate the work of Willmott and Young that suggests that the family is becoming increasingly symmetrical.

In defining the symmetrical family according to Willmott and Young, males and females are becoming equal within the family. Willmott and Young also stated that there are three stages in becoming a symmetrical family.

The first stage is the pre-industrial family, which is a unit of production consisting of a husband, wife and unmarried children. The family worked for themselves on the land as a unit of production. This is still represented in a small minority of families today. Continue Reading »

Child protective services is an integral piece of the puzzle of today’s healthy society. In recent times, a concerned eye has been turned to the way policies and practices are used in areas of child protection and in the treatment and support of the families and child’s welfare. The lack of support for the families involved in child abuse from child protective services takes away from the intended effectiveness of the program. This lack of support would be easily rebuilt if a holistic approach for treating the complete abuse and neglect situation were implemented. The absence of government funding has plundered any efforts to turn this desperate situation around. Continue Reading »

In order to explore the ways in which American’s judge similarity and difference of colors, I interviewed two of my male coworkers, and two female friends. The males that participated in my project were over 40 years of age. They were both alumni of the University of Connecticut, and had both come to work for UConn some years later. The two females were current students at UConn. One was a pharmacy major, the other an English major.

I came upon my first problem right away. What exactly constitutes a color name? The obvious answers are “red, blue, green… etc” but what about “grass green”? Does putting a noun before the name of a primary color constitute its own color? If this were the case, there would be no end to the color names we use. “Coca-Cola Red”, “Laser-Jet Printer Gray”, “The Carpet in the Office I Work At Blue” would all be color names under this system. However, the participants did seem to have a point. “Sky blue” is certainly considered a color by most people. Continue Reading »

Those of the minority community have been subjected, for many decades, to violence by those in law enforcement in the United States. This type of violence is a direct depiction of police brutality, which often leads to death. Police brutality has been an issue for many years, and it remains a major concern for those of the minority community.

Over the past five centuries, black people have endured violence in many different ways. Today, police officers use deadly, excessive force that leads to inexcusable assaults, beatings and shootings. This demonstrates the governmentТs role in initiating and prolonging racial suppression and provides the explanation for police brutality to become a federal crime(Black Radical Congress, 3). In history, racist violence, police brutality, has been used to suppress the racial blacks and to preserve power and privileges for the white race. This was done for five primary purposes. Continue Reading »