Dwayne's Journey In Little Miss Sunshine

          One of the most interesting characters in the movie, Little Miss Sunshine, is the big brother Dwayne. Throughout the movie he has a grand character arc from hating his family, to hating his life, and finally to loving and defending his family. The screenwriter did this completely through definitive action because, the character does not speak for most of the movie.

Image Courtesy of WikiMedia Commons

          The beginning of the movie shows our character has taken a vow of silence. This is because of his study of Nietzsche and his reading the book Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Arndt 6). We also find that Dwayne has wants and needs to be a pilot through his intense work outs and marking of his calendar demarking the time until enlistment (Arndt 2). During the motel scene Dwayne purposely turns off the TV to listen to his parent’s argument demonstrates his absorption of the negativity of the family (Arndt 49). The fact that the character is reading a french philosophical nihilist shows that Dwayne is a very pessimistic but highly intelligent person. In nihilist thought people discover that the world does not have objective value or meaning (Jerman 6). The enlistment in the military and the silent treatment shows that the character is committing to a path that impairs communication with his family and that he wishes to run away from the confines of the family.

Image Courtesy of YouTube

          Even with his outward and visible disdain of his family, the screenwriters do hint at the change that is going to come when they are first trying to get the van going after the clutch goes out. He and Frank are pushing the VW and are attempting to jump in when Frank falls behind. Dwayne goes back and helps Frank to get into the van (Arndt 39). Also when Dwayne writes to Olive to hug his mother when she is having her breakdown (Arndt 59) allows his character to remain aloof while still showing the audience that he cares for his family, even if he doesn’t want to admit it.

Image Courtesy Wikimedia

          The apex of his arc is when he finds out that he is color blind from playing with the eye charts with Olive. He finds out he is colorblind and thus cannot fly. He runs away from the van shrieking like a wild animal (Arndt 74) and most notably pokes ants with a straw (Arndt 75). [This is also a subtle point of the screenwriters bringing back in nihilism. In noir, nihilistic film characters act and react out of despair and persistently engage in activities that have no meaning at all. All attempts to get out of trouble only because more trouble (Jerman 6). Poking the ants shows the ants have no control over their future.] This is the point where he completely withdraws from the family unable to deal with the crashing of his dreams. This separation is shown by him standing on the edge of the group (Arndt 82) as well as when he is sitting alone at the contest (Arndt 84). 

Fire Ant Image Courtesy of Wikipedia

          His arc begins to change as he and Frank rent the surf boards and paddles out into the ocean. His one job was to keep Frank from killing himself and for a moment Dwayne worries that Frank has done just that by drowning himself (Arndt 92). In understanding his own feelings about possibility letting down his family he comes to the realization that he does care about his family.

Drowning Again Courtesy of Flickr

          Thus we complete his character arc with him rushing into the competition and trying to convince his mother to remove Olive from the competition so that she would not be embarrassed. He enters the backstage area where he was not permitted and brushes past obstacles like the attendant and the contestant to find his family (Arndt 97). In fact when asked if he is part of the family, he nods in affirmation (Arndt 100). Lastly we come to him being proactive about supporting his family with him being the first person to cheer on Olive while she performs (Arndt 104) and then supporting his dad in his attacking the MC by rushing the stage (Arndt 106).

 
Bibliography

Arndt, M. D. (2007). Little Miss Sunshine: The shooting script. New York: Newmarket Press.

Jerman, J. (2008). “Unit One Notes,” Film Noir: Culture in Crisis. University of Oklahoma.

Cover Image Courtesy of Flickr 

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It's A Small World Afterall

Image Courtesy of Pixabay

          The world is getting smaller every day. Much like a vacuum tube that transformed into a microchip, I can now order a product on Amazon, that was made in Taiwan, from parts that were created in Mexico, Ethiopia and China. As the world grows ever smaller one has to begin to contemplate the implications of globalization and macroeconomics. Globalization is defined by the International Monetary Fund as the international integration of goods and goods, labor, technology and capital (Slaughter). It is also defined as a dynamic and ongoing integration of markets, nation states and technology enabling everyone to reach the whole world faster, deeper and cheaper (Friedman). This hyperspeed of change in the human condition has positive and negative effects. Here I will look at several different factors that are results of the great inclusion that is globalization.

Image Courtesy of Wikipedia

          One positive aspect to come out of the globalization of world markets is the increase of quality of living for developing countries of the new world order. In both China and India life spans have increased, their infant mortality rates have decreased and the amount of people who can read has skyrocketed (Masson). Due to these numbers you can see that peoples of the developing world are becoming modernized and thus are able to achieve better standards of living. With better standards of living and higher wages people are able to change the way they spend their lives. India in particular is a great example. In 1990 the average yearly income in India was less than 1000 dollars. It has tripled since since that time period (Tabarrok). Because of this local businesses have adapted to provide services such as travel assistance for the weary IT worker (Schifferes). With more travel and more cash flow the India people are able to afford luxuries that they used to not be able to have, like owning a car or just owning a home (Schifferes).

Courtesy of Wikipedia

          Another positive impact in the race of integration of money markets is that, as the money markets grow, and the quality of life improves for other people, we now become able to bring more minds to the table to solve our problems. The fact is that right now only 1/10th of 1% of the population of the world are scientists or engineers (Tabarrok). We can see what they have accomplished, many of the world's countries have begun to move out of poverty and to a more rounded prosperity. This has been accomplished by the globalization of technology and communication. As the internet has brought information to the fingertips of students from Hong Kong to Vietnam, their education levels have increased dramatically due to their need to modernize production (Castells). Thus, if we continue in this path, more people will be educated. As more people are educated, and other countries raise themselves to the wealth level of the United States, there could be 5 times the amount of people working on scientific problems rather than working in the fields (Tabarrok). Also with the ability to outsource lower skilled jobs, the United states is able to focus on fields of advancement where we have a comparative advantage such as aviation, financial services, higher education and intellectual properties (Uchitelle). Thus we all benefit when other countries get rich. 

Courtesy of Pixabay

          However, not everything smells like roses as the anxiety levels of regular people have increased. One source of this anxiety is the feeling of regular workers who feel marginalized in an economy that is gearing more to comparative advantage (Collier 146). Collier goes on to say that this can be mitigated by the state institutions providing the additional education to be successful in the new world order. However given the ongoing debate in the United States about education and the government, that has not materialized. In fact, according to the American Council on Education, if the current trends continue then state funding for higher education will reach zero by 2056 (Mortenson). Another source of anxiety is the fact that globalization is leading to homogenization of cultures (Collier x). Individuals see their traditions as part of their personal identities. As globalization continues cultures and customs are mixed and result in a loss of those cultures and indigenous peoples. In fact, the homogenization is really the export of the American way of life to other cultures (Friedman). Yet there are still more sources of anxiety, as Friedman points out, which is one of the defining factors of globalization: fear of the rapid change that you can’t see, touch or feel. People are in a continual state of flux. They have no support system because their jobs, community and workplace can be changed at any moment. Andy Grove, a CEO for intel stated this time period is characterized by innovations that are taking place at a faster and faster rate. He continues to say that only the paranoid will survive by staying on foot in front of their competitors (Friedman). Society has become so driven that even nations who try to curb the need for constant work get push back from their businesses when they try legislate decreased the working hours for employees. Employers understand that to do so will put them at a disadvantage to their competitors and thus they will lose business (Friedman). Maslow considered in his groundbreaking work in 1954 what a person needs to reach self actualization, and thus self happiness. He called it the Human Hierarchy of Needs. He argued that some of the base needs of humans are a home, cloths and food (Maslow). If one has constant anxiety over the possibility of losing your job, then one is not able to reach the self actualization. Maintaining a stable job is crucial for stable food, clothing and housing. Thus while the quality of life has gone up in many places financially, people’s enjoyment of life has decreased significantly in this hustle and bustle world where you are constantly at your boss’s call.

Courtesy of Pixabay

          The second point that I will bring up is the “Wal-Martization” (The New York Times) of the world. While it is true what Tabarrok says about bringing other societies up does not diminish Americans or their abilities, the lack of educational opportunities does. He does not take into account the fact that income inequality from the plethora of low cost labor has driven down wages in developed countries (Schifferes). Due to this, low skilled workers are not able to pay for the skyrocketing costs of higher education (Mortenson). Thus they are unable to contribute to those industries where America has a comparable advantage. We changed the rules on them mid way through their lives! In fact, recent data shows that the middle class is on the decline. In 2015, the government released data clearly stating that middle income families are the minority (Geewax). The Pew Research Center determined that due to factories closing, outsourcing, and other economic factors the middle class has decreased consistently over the past 4 decades. This is the same time frame that Tabarrok proclaims has been the boon for India and China. The fact is that globalization has crippled the unions who are now under threat of outsourcing. The collective bargaining process is no longer applicable because the business can simply move shop easier than lifting wages. A study done in Great Britain found that, while Unions are attempting to argue from different fronts, their general strategy at this point is to get job securities applied by the government rather than the employers (Hicks). Unfortunately in today’s hotly contested American politics, the likelihood of getting such job security passed into law is as likely as surviving a thousand foot fall from an airplane without a parachute. Thus lowered incomes for American families prohibit the type of comparative advantage because the families can no longer afford to educate themselves to fulfill these highly skilled jobs.

          Thus you see that globalization, with its boons for some and detriments to others is something that we are dealing with on an unprecedented scale. Globalization by definition is the integration of the world and bringing it into an interconnectedness not witness in human history in the past. In this paper I have reviewed the pros and the cons of the argument for it. I also provided valuable, current information and research to help inform the reader about the predicament we are in. Hopefully, humankind finds a way to increase everyone’s quality of life without subtracting from others, as the current model does.

Bibliography

Castells, Manuel. "Information Technology, Globalization and Social Development." United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. United Nations, Sept. 1999. Web. 11 Feb. 2016. <http://www.unrisd.org/unrisd/website/document.nsf/70870613ae33162380256b5a004d932e/f270e0c066f3de7780256b67005b728c/$FILE/dp114.pdf>

Collier, Paul, and David Dollar. Globalization, Growth, and Poverty: Building an Inclusive World Economy. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002. Google Books. Oxford University Press, 2002. Web. 11 Feb. 2016. <https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=p3D_BYtXXQcC&oi=fnd&pg=PR13&dq=Increase anxiety as world globalizes&ots=GIZtMY7fcr&sig=teP9wpw3TYvOsOzbHkookP2vpvI#v=onepage&q=anxiety&f=false>.

Friedman, Thomas L. "Tourist with an Attitude." The Lexus and the Olive Tree. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, May 1999. Web. 11 Feb. 2016. <http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/bookshelf/the-lexus-and-the-olive-tree/excerpt-chapter-1>.

Geewax, Marilyn. "The Tipping Point: Most Americans Are No Longer Middle Class." Living Wage Calculator. MIT, 10 Dec. 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2016. <http://livingwage.mit.edu/articles/13-the-tipping-point-most-americans-no-longer-are-middle-class>.

Hicks, Alexander, and Thomas F. Remington. "Organized Labor in a Globalized World: The Impact of Increasing International Economic Integration on the Strategies of Trade Unions." Electronic Theses And Dissertations. Emory University, 2013. Web. 12 Feb. 2016. <https://etd.library.emory.edu/view/record/pid/emory:d7bpp>.

Lechner, Frank. "The Globalization Debates." The Globalization Website. Emory University, 2001. Web. 11 Feb. 2016. <http://sociology.emory.edu/faculty/globalization/debates.html#meaning>.

Maslow, Abraham H. A Theory of Human Motivation. Start LLC. Google Books. Oct. 2012. Web. 11 Feb. 2016. <https://books.google.com/books?id=nvnsAgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=psychological+repercussions+of+not+meeting+maslow%27s+hierarchy&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj2mNmCwfHKAhXGeSYKHRXVCbAQ6AEIMDAD#v=onepage&q&f=false>.

Masson, Paul. "Globalization: The Story Behind the Numbers." Finance & Development, March 2002. International Monetary Fund, Mar. 2002. Web. 11 Feb. 2016. <http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2002/03/picture.htm>.

Mortenson, Thomas. "State Funding: A Race to the Bottom." American Council on Education. Winter 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2016. <http://www.acenet.edu/the-presidency/columns-and-features/Pages/state-funding-a-race-to-the-bottom.aspx>.

Schifferes, Steve. "Globalisation Shakes The World." BBC News. BBC, 21 Jan. 2007. Web. 11 Feb. 2016. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6279679.stm>.

Slaughter, Matthew J., and Phillip Swagel. "Economic Issues 11--Does Globalization Lower Wages and Export Jobs?" International Monetary Fund. IMF, Sept. 1997. Web. 11 Feb. 2016. <http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/issues11/>.

Tabarrok, Alex. "How Ideas Trump Crises." TED. TED Talks, Feb. 2009. Web. 11 Feb. 2016. <https://www.ted.com/talks/alex_tabarrok_foresees_economic_growth?language=en>.

Uchitelle, Louis. "To Mend the Flaws in Trade." The New York Times. 30 Jan. 2007. Web. 11 Feb. 2016. <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04EFD9143FF933A05752C0A9619C8B63>.

"The Wal-Martization of America." Opinion Page. The New York Times, 13 Nov. 2003. Web. 12 Feb. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/15/opinion/the-wal-martization-of-america.html>.

Critique from Taking Sides: Should Juvenile Courts Be Abolished?

Sean P Wise.............................................................LSCJ 3133-301

Should Juvenile Courts Be Abolished is an interesting debate about a complex issue.  Both positions have very solid reasons for believing in their argument.  In this paper we will look at the two authors and their varying viewpoints.

The first presenter is Barry C. Feld is the author of Readings in Juvenile Justice Administration.  He advocates for the dissolution of the juvenile justice system.  He states there are inherent flaws in the system because the juvenile justice system cannot act as both a social welfare and criminal social control.  The two are not on the same continuum, hence they end up acting as either one or the other.  

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Feld advocates getting rid of the juvenile justice system and only deal in punishment with his sliding juvenile discount on punishment terms.  His approach is a social responsibility approach to the issue which will not cure the problem but only increase the propensity for crime.  The reason is that prisons become schools for crime (Schmalleger 19).  He uses the platitude “Do the Crime, do the time” (Hickey 98), however he fails to remember, “Go to jail to learn how to be a criminal.”  

Feld does bring up a good point about the possibility for abuse by the judicial system without having a checks and balances system in place.  One only needs to look at the Judge who sentenced juveniles to prison because he was getting kickbacks to do so.  However another adage comes to mind, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.  Can there be reforms?  Yes, but as Feld states, it will take financial investment by society to do so.  That should be our goal, not following an approach of ‘just lock em up’.

Unfortunately Feld writes this piece without backing up any of his claims with qualitative data.  His pronouncements about the efficacy of the juvenile justice system are not referenced to any research or data.  The only thing he uses as a reference point is a court case for Oklahoma.  Thus his opinion piece loses credibility.

Image Courtesy of Wikipedia

The second article by authors Vincent Schiraldi and Jason Ziedenberg.  They are both employed by the Justice Policy Institute which is a think tank that analyzes crime policy.  They reviewed the Florida waiver program, which allows juveniles to be tried as adults.  Florida is one of 15 states that allow the prosecutor to waiver the child into the adult criminal system.  The authors throw out some very disturbing facts. 40% of juveniles sent to adult prison were learning new ways to commit crimes (Hickey 103).  Youths transferred to adult court were 33% more likely to reoffend than those who were sent to juvenile court (Hickey 103).  Youths who had been tried in adult court committed serious crimes at double the rate of those sent to juvenile court (Hickey 103).   In regards to Feld’s argument about judges abuses in sentencing in the juvenile system: youths held in an adult facility for any period of time, regardless of whether they are guilty or not, are 5 times more likely to be raped, twice as likely to be beaten by staff, 50% more likely to be attacked with a weapon and 7.7% more likely to commit suicide than their counterparts in juvenile justice system (Hickey 104).  The mountain of factual evidence that Schiraldi and Ziendenberg provide completely outweighs any resting fear that Feld has about the fairness of the system.

In Norman, I worked for Crossroads Youth and Family Services as an attendant in the Juvenile Intervention Center (JIC). The JIC worked as a way station between Police officers and parents of the juvenile.  At our lock down facility we fingerprinted and entered their information into the Juvenile OnLine Tracking Service (JOLTS).  As a JIC attendant I administered psychological tests and set up counselling sessions with the parents and juveniles.  Thus Feld’s claim that the social aspect of the juvenile justice system cannot work hand in hand with the criminal aspect of the juvenile justice system to attempt to cure the propensity for criminal activity in young people is a fallacy.  Carol W Kohfeld and John Sprague determined in their research experiment that under certain demographic conditions, arrest can reduce the incidence of criminal behavior (Schmalleger 19).  I found the same result working in the center.  On average, the reports we ran from the JOLTS system found that approximately 70% of the juveniles that came through our facility were first time offenders and did not commit another crime.

Image Courtesy of Flickr

From these two views and from my own experience I take away the fact that, while there may be flaws with the juvenile justice system, ultimately it is there to change the lives of even one person.  I remember working at the JIC and intaking a young woman.  She had run away from her family in Boston.  The reason she had run away way because of her mother’s abusive boyfriend. She was trying to save herself from getting abused again.  This is not a person that needs to be placed in an adult facility, this is someone that needs help.  Thankfully, we were able to provide that because of the great relationship the Youth And Family Services organizations in Oklahoma have with law enforcement.

Bibliography

"Kids For Cash Scandal." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.

Hickey, Thomas J. Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Crime and Criminology. 11th ed. McGraw Hill Education, 2013. Print.

Schmalleger, Frank. Criminology Today: An Integrative Introduction. 7th ed. Pearson, 2015. Print.

Cover Image courtesy of YouTube

Gay Is The New...

Black Cloud Motion Pictures

If you think the massacre in Orlando was about Muslim, Islam or anything else, You miss EVERYTHING. Yes you! Who has been trying to hijack the LGBT community struggle and create your own narrative of there were 50 people killed by an Islamic terrorist. The facts aren't supporting your narrative. Stop inciting hate to another religion when it is your own that perpetuates it!

These are pretty radical statement. This has all drug up bits and pieces of the past for me in the last 24 hours. Some of you have seen my previous personal posts. If you haven't, please take the time to look at them.

Early in my high school career I had wanted to get Details Magazine in a subscription. I was told it wasn't the "right" type of magazine by my parents and was given a subscription to GQ. In the GQ I found an article about a study done at Harvard in 1990. The study focused on people who identified as seriously homophobic individuals. They took those individuals and placed them in a setting where they showed both straight porn and gay porn and measured the engorgement of the penis to see arousal. They found that 90% of seriously homophobic individuals were closeted homosexuals.

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In high school I lost myself in the church. I prayed folks. I was a bible thumper to the point I remember my sister declaring I'd lost it with religion. I prayed the gay away. I did so because CHRISTIANS told me I was going to hell. That I was evil. That I had the devil in me. That I was better off DEAD. I asked for it to be gone. I was at youth group all the time. I was kneeling in front of the cross till the youth pastor said enough was enough. And they were taken from me too. I knew what I was, and I knew everyone would hate me for it.

In 1995, a high school friend came over to the house because he was a computer nerd. My mother's computer, where I had secretly been looking at gay porn and chatting on gay sites, slowly learning that maybe I wasn't the only person out there with these troubles. Well the computer had become, shall we say, a Drag to work with?. Jeremy found the cookie files and started seeing all the gay porn and asked me about it. I flew into a rage. I went and told my mother she should watch her laptop better because she obviously wasn't protecting it enough. I said it was disgusting and filthy and that it should never have been accessed. I remember seething and hating myself and most of all, hating that I had been caught.

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I did all this railing against in fear. I was in fear someone would know my truth. Someone would find out I was gay in a small ass town of Clinton, Oklahoma. I tried to blame Jeremy. I blamed my mom. I blamed her coworkers and her clients and vehemently denounced them.

I tell this because I have felt that rage. I have felt that sickness and fear that motivates these type of acts. I realize I was denouncing myself. I was playing into every fear and loathing that was taught to me by such a small town.

I was able to get past it. But most straight people will NEVER know the fire and purgatory it is to grow up in absolute disdain of yourself.

This man was sick. This man never was able to come to terms with his sexuality. This man came to hate himself and choose to destroy that of what he saw in himself in the outside world. This man committed a HATE CRIME. He hated himself enough to take it out on the rest of the world. It happens all to often. Please see the article below.

Quit trying to co op our tragedy. This is an unfortunate response gay people have from the societal pressure to be straight. This is a direct result of YOUR OWN PREJUDICE. Just STOP with the fucking Muslim or Islam shit. That isn't the problem. The hatred gays feel about themselves because of how they perceive themselves in society is the problem. Own it. Move on. Be the change you want to be. Let's make tomorrow better.


God I need a drink.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/…/orlando-shooter-omar-…/nrfwW/

http://www.shrink-friendly.co.il/tau/article/homophobia.pdf

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/opinion/sunday/homophobic-maybe-youre-gay.html?ref=opinion

Previous Facebook post:

Someone close to me recently said that I could have graduated college back in my early twenties. I said I couldn't because I wasn't in a good mental place. Learning to cope with constant fear is not an easy task. And dealing with realizing you are hated simply for who you love is a life altering revelation. There is a reason why, in a study done in 2000 they found that 90% of gay men reported having done drugs at some point in their life. It's to escape.

Many people don't realize this but I learned in high school not to be a victim. I wasn't really bullied because people thought of me as the type that could react. I did react when it happen, explosively. Needless to say even living in the constant anxiety and stress of coming out I knew the dangers. There is a reason that 50% of all teenage suicides are due to repression of homosexual desires, and 90% of those attempts are fatal. Not cries for help; these gun shot to the head or strangulation; they want to end it to end the crucible that is coming to terms with a life where most of general society thinks you should be dead.

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My friend (ex boyfriend Ed) got beat so badly he had to have his jaw wired shut for months. I carried a short sword with me in the car. Always. I was scared shitless but I was going to give myself a chance at defending myself. When another friend got beaten and put I the hospital by his neighbors, I gave him that sword. And then I kept a bat in the car.

The long and short of it is, we all have demons that we are chasing. Some of us are more effective at demolishing them than others. Please stop assuming that all gay people magically find a fairy wand and are suddenly fabulous. None of us do. It is a tumultuous crucible of self loathing and doubt that we come out the other side with a fire born of extinguished hate replaced with a fire to bring justice to our community. That is why we become activists. That is why we are effective at it. We've already beat ourselves to shreds and come out the other side.

Contrasting Social Responsibility and Social Problem Theory of Criminology

Sean P Wise.............written for LSCJ 3133-301..............1-31-16

          Crime and deviance are pervasive issues that affect all societies. Thus there is great variation in the perspective of how to cope with these issues. While criminologists have not managed to articulate a large collection of relatively formalized arguments in a general or integrated form (Schmalleger 14), two perspectives highlight the prevailing approaches to building a foundation of criminology. These two sources are the social responsibility perspective and the social problem perspective. In this paper we will review the two perspectives and compare and contrast them.

          The first perspective we will review is the social responsibility perspective of criminology, also known as Rational Choice Theory. In this perspective, criminologist view the act of committing crime a personal choice that is made by the perpetrator. This can be seen as the free will perspective. In this perspective, individuals are fundamentally responsible for their own behavior and they choose crime over other law abiding courses of action (Schmalleger 15). Richard Smith outlined how core values of society often influence both law and how society deals with issues. He found prevalent in many cultures’ core values honoring individual freedoms and self sufficiency in the face of economic and environmental disaster (3). Meaning that people exercise their free will even when there are catastrophic consequences. Thus the social responsibility perspective has had tremendous impact on our current institution of law.

          Proponents of the social responsibility perspective of criminology believe that social programs do little to solve problems with crime. They believe that crime prone individuals will continue to make choices that pit them against the justice system. Thus, they believe in order to curb crime you must have a highly personalized strategy to deal with the issue. These strategies include, but are not limited to, firm punishments, imprisonment, tailored rehabilitation, broader powers for law enforcement officials and increased security (Schmalleger 15). According to Schmalleger, specific bills such as the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act as well as the USA Patriot Act were derived specifically from this criminology perspective and were used to place more police on the beat as well as create stiffer penalties and institute the “3 strikes you’re out rule.” (16)

          Over the last 20 years the United States has seen how this “war on crime” has played out. Due to the rigid constructs of this response they have a booming prison population. According to The Sentencing Project, the overall population of prisons has grown over 700% for the period from 1980 to 2009 in the United States. The U.S. has increased its federal budget for prisons, pouring in 6 billion dollars to the federal prison system in 2010, an over 1,000% increase in spending since 1980. The U.S. has seen a militarization of the law enforcement agencies which in turn has resulted in an increase of police brutality. Bill Trine notates on prisonlegalnews.org that “the federal government, supported by the Supreme Court, has transformed the police of this nation into a military force, financed and trained to use excessive force.”

          The fascinating part of this goes to what Jared Diamond stated about those core values. “Easter Island chiefs . . . acted so as to accelerate deforestation rather than to prevent it: their status depended upon their putting up bigger statues and monuments than their rivals” (431). In other words, those in power did everything they could to maintain that power even if it meant ecocide. Here in the United States that has resulted in a prison system that is more akin to the Jim Crow era rather than responsible rehabilitation (Trine).


          The second perspective of criminology is a more encompassing perspective. It is known as the social problem perspective. This perspective sees crime in the context that it is committed. Proponents of this perspective believe that underlying social problems like poverty, discrimination, family violence and inadequate socialization practices results in the manifestation of crime (Schmalleger 15). This approach is more conscious of the sociology of crime; the “It takes a village” approach. This approach allows the understanding and rationale behind the issues of crime and thus can propose solutions to the issue.


          The solutions seen by proponents of the social problem perspective are often large initiatives that target certain aspects of society that foster crime. These issues are treated much like we would treat a public health problem, we diagnose the issue, i.e. poverty, and then treat it, i.e. work to build the area’s income by work placement assistance and business growth initiatives.


          The science of criminology has clearly shown that there are more factors than what the social responsibility perspective allows. Joan McCord performed a 30 year study on family dynamics with relation to crime. She found that those families with a self confident, non-punitive, and affectionate mother were more likely to raise male offspring that did not exhibit delinquency and thus were not associated with later crime (Schmalleger 18). Thus we see the family dynamic plays an integral role in overall crime rate. If you can ensure through parenting classes or other forms of home economics classes that the family unit is a strong and positive one, you can effectively decrease future crime rate.


          In thinking about the social problem perspective, it is also important to remember that society itself plays a part in the prevention of crime. Carol W Kohfeld and John Sprague performed an experiment to discover if being arrested ended up being a future deterrent for crime. They found in their experiment, under certain demographic conditions that yes, being arrested could curb the desire to perform illicit acts in the future (Schmalleger 18). Thus having an interaction with law enforcement officials can have the beneficial aspect of stopping the progress of a criminal’s activity in a “scared straight” situation.


          An interesting point that Schmalleger brings up is mental illness as an impetus for criminal activity. Many people have varying degrees of mental illness and few result in violent outbursts. However, some mental illnesses can increase aggressive behavior. If a psychologist or psychiatrist is proactive enough, they also may be able to curb the descent into criminal activity. Adam Lanza and James Holmes, both of which had been seeing mental health officials (Schmalleger 21), may have not committed the horrific mass shootings they perpetrated if they had been able to receive the appropriate care.


          In conclusion, the two prevailing perspectives of social responsibility and social problems both have positive and negative aspects. We have spent several decades now allowing those in power to continue to use the social responsibility perspective to decrease crime. It has worked, as the figure1-1 demonstrates (Schmalleger 3), but with consequences that are tearing families apart. Social responsibility only treats the symptom of crime, while social problem perspective focuses on curing the pandemic. In order to have a thorough understanding and response to crime, and possibly cure it, it is important to have a full arsenal to attack it with. This means pouring more funds into preventative measures and programs rather than continuing to build prisons.

Bibliography

Diamond, Jared M. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. New York: Penguin, 2005. Print

Schmalleger, Frank. Criminology Today: An Integrative Introduction. Boston: Pearson Education Inc.. 7th Edition. 2015. Print

Smith, Richard. Capitalism and Collapse: Contradictions of Jared Diamond’s Market Meliorist Strategy to Save Humans. Capitalism Nature Socialism. Volume 16. #4. December 2005.

"State and Federal Prison Population Tops One Million." PsycEXTRA Dataset (n.d.): n. pag. The Sentencing Project. Web.

Trine, Bill. The Genesis of Increasing Incidents of Police Brutality: The War on Drugs. Prison Legal News. 3 June 2015. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.

Altered Lives

Jean, a man in the middle of transitioning into a woman, looked at herself in the mirror. She puts her glasses on and pulls her hair back in a pony tail.

Jean walks into the bedroom, not a lick of makeup on her. She slips on a simple one piece dress and fastens the name tag proclaiming her a Account Management Professional.

Cell phone on table

Courtesy of Pixabay

Her cell phone vibrates on the dresser. She answers it, “Hey, girl!”

“Where are you?” Sandy asked nervously.

“Just about to leave the house.”

”You better get here fast! Mr. Lance is on his way in!”

Jean’s rolls her eyes and slams her finger to hang up. She rushes out the door.
..........……………………………………………………………………….

Bugatti Royale

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Gregory Lance is dressed in a suit. He glances down at his watch.

He rolls his eyes at the line of cars. He taps on the glass. The window rolls down.

“Is this going to last much longer?”

“No sir. The navigation says it will clear up in the next mile.”

“It better.”

The window rolls back up slowly. Gregory pulls out his phone and dials. A sweet lady’s voice waifs through the car. “Yes Mr. Lance?”

“Any word?”

“No sir. Boss is still out.”

“What does Jesse say about the board?”

“They are supporting your bid to take over sir.”

“Next month it’s all done then.”

“Yes, sir. Unless the boss shows up, he’s out of a job.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem, you take care Mr. Lance.”

………………………………………………………………………….

Call Center

Courtesy of Flickr

Jean rushes into the call center. Sarah glances up and smiles as she approaches. “Thank you for calling Epoch Bank, where finance finds friendly. My name is Sarah and I will be assisting you today.” Sarah shoots Jean the thumbs up and Jean sighs in relief.

Jean settles into her cubicle and looks at the picture of her as a man with her son. The smiling facade seems as fake then as it does now. She slips on her headphones just as a flurry of action pours into the office.

A manager clears her throat at the front of the room. “Everyone, please log out of the phones. Mr. Lance is here!” Worried expressions abound in the room. Sarah stands up and looks over the cubicle wall at Jean.

“It’s your first time meeting him isn’t it? Ready for the bastard?”

“Is he really that bad? I heard he was nice…”

Sarah laughs shortly, “You have no idea. There’s a reason he’s called “The Fireman!”

“Well, hun, I’ve been through hell for 40 years. Ten minutes with an ass isn’t going to do much to me.”

A hush washes over the center and Gregory enters. “Good morning everyone! I trust you are having a good day!” Murmuring in acknowledgement can be heard throughout the room. “Unfortunately, as you may have heard, we will have to make some changes in personnel due to the business climate.”

A shout erupts from the back of the room. “Man, this is bullshit!”

Mr. Lance looks toward the back incredulously. “Excuse me?”

Ronald, a stocky older man with a Vietnam veteran hat, moves slowly to the front of the group. “You do realize, without us you have no way of helping your customers. We are the foundation of this company!”

Mr. Lance smiles a warm inviting smile. He gestures openly to the whole room. “First off I would like to tell you that we are going to make sure we are keeping the best people for the company, this will not be indiscriminate. My concern is my company and keeping it productive and profitable. Secondly,” he motions to the older man, “you're fired.” He gestures to the security team that had filtered in, “Escort him out please!”

Sarah sucked in a short breath of air. Gregory hears the noise and his piercing eyes aim directly at her. “Do you have something to add?”

Sarah looks flabbergasted, “Me? Not at all sir.”

Gregory measures her up and finds her wanting, “You’re fired too.”

Sarah bursts into tears. “I need this job!”

Jean stands up slowly and turns toward Gregory. “How dare you treat people like this!”

“You want to be fired too?”

“I would run the company better than you!”

Gregory laughs heartily. Slowly his laughs die down, “You. Could run it better than...me!”

“That’s right, I could.”

“Why not. Why don’t you just take over.”

Jean is not amused. “Mr. Lance, I left a job like that because I wanted to be myself. I did not want the stress then nor do I want it now.”

“Oh come on. You could be chairman of the board! Take over!”

“Don’t be silly. These are good people here. I have worked here for the past year and they all are doing a fabulous job representing Epoch.”

Gregory walks up to her and studies her closely, “Alright,” glancing down at her name tag, “Jean,” he flicks the tag lightly. “Tell you what, I have run this company to record profit since Nick left. But you think you can do better...whatever you are...so tell you what, I’ll give you this call center. You run it, you make the choices and fire your friends. How bout that?”

“Excuse me a moment.” Jean grabs her purse and fishes out her cell phone. She punches in a number and it dials.

Gregory is startled to hear his phone ring. He fishes it out. The display says Nick Epoch. Gregory points an accusing finger at a manager, “Deal with her!” He punches the accept button as he rushes toward a conference room. “Nick! Buddy where have you been? We’ve been worried….”

“Cram it Greg.” The voice on the phone matched the voice in the room. Gregory turned slowly to face Jean. “That’s right Greg, it’s me, and it’s Jean now. It’s time for me to come back and run my company.”

Gregory’s contorts in confusion. “You can’t just...”

Jean cuts him off. “I can, I did. Gregory, you’re fired.”

Corporate Cecilia

Self Portrait of rjrgmc28 on DeviantArt 

AUTHORS NOTE: This work of fiction is inspired by the story Mahabali from The Ramayana by R.K. Narayan. The story is about a ruler who takes over in the absence of Vishnu. He is a tyrant that is abusive to his peoples. Vishnu cloaks himself in disguise and goes to Mahabali. Mahabali tries to appease the god and return the kingdom to him. Vishnu refuses so Mahabali lessens his offer give him the land of three paces to rule over. Vishnu accepts, grows to emense height where his pace covers all land and the second covers all heavens, the third forces Mahabali into the afterlife.

I chose this story because of the interesting combinations of events that occurred to get them there. I began to think what disguises could be used that truly wouldn't be seen through. Today the biggest disguise that is put on is people of the LBGT community while they are in the closet. The disguise last years, thus why I included the part about living 40 years of hell.

I also thought the "world" could be changed. In the environment of big business, the business is the entire world. Thus I chose to change the location and setting to current times to bring the story to a new level of understanding of big business. In the world of big business you also have to consider what death is. Truly it is getting fired from your job and having to find "life" somewhere else. I wanted to put references to this in the text, however I ended up having to cut about 500 words from the story.

The Ramayana, R.K. Narayan, 1972, Overview of Narayan Ramayana

Perilous Repast

A shaky hand goes up to Judy Waller's temples. She massages her temples meditatively as a tear falls down and joins the pool in her glass. The half masticated remains of lunch sit baking in the sun. The sun is shining impossibly bright on her as she sits at the table in the chic Cafe Twila.

Sidewalk Cafe, Miami Beach

Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

Her hand darts down to her glass. She raises to her trembling lips and takes a small swig of water. She returns the glass to the table and gazes out over the railing separating her from the bustling street beyond.

Judy contemplates the information she just received as the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. You see, the president had just taken office 4 months prior and had inherited a mess in the middle east. Judy smiles sarcastically to herself as she looks down at her watch. A mess indeed. When was it not a mess?

Judy pulls her purse up to her and clings to it like a life raft in the ocean. She fishes through it and pulls out a billfold. She extracts several bills and drops them on the check that was sitting silently on the table.

She stands up with too much force and almost falls backward. She regains her balance and drops her billfold back into her purse. She slings the purse over her shoulder and moves out onto the street.

She looks up at the glaring sun as she enters the heavy traffic of the sidewalk. It was times like these she wished that she could just burn up in the heat of the day. All cares and worries evaporated like so much spilt milk on the sidewalk.

Suddenly a crack exposed her Vera Wang knock offs as substandard. The 5 inch heel slips off to the side sending Judy plummeting directly into traffic. She hits the road hard, her hands scraped and bleeding. She lifts herself up slowly and sees a city bus barreling down the street toward her.

Travel Coventry

Courtesy Wikipedia Commons

Everything slowed down to a crawl. The bus’s shrill horn bellowed out of the siren. Judy was frozen like a deer caught in headlights. Curiously she could feel a drop of blood running swiftly down the side of her cheek from a gash in her forehead. A slow scream of fright was escaping her throat involuntarily.

A hand wraps itself around her midsection. A sharp pressure lifted her out of the way of the bus and threw her back on the sidewalk. She landed splayed out on the concrete. People walking around her oblivious to the events that had unfolded. The man in the dark trench coat reached out a gloved hand, the fingers breaking through the fabric.

Judy took his hand and he helped her back up onto her feet. “Thank you! Thank you so much, Mr...”

“Jessup. Mr. Jessup.”

“I owe you my life.”

“It was nothing. Just saw that you were in need.”

The senator beamed back at him. “It’s people like you... Could I buy you lunch or something?”

An strong arm covered in a suit wrapped itself around her in familiarity. A strong voice resounded within the group. “Ally, we really must be going.” Judy’s face freezes at the sound of the name. She quickly tries to cover and smiles broadly.

“Right Lawrence, of course. I apologize Mr. Jessup, I have a meeting I must get to.”

“It’s all right ma’am. I hope you have a wonderful day!”

Lawrence is maneuvering Judy around and leading her away. She calls over her shoulder, “I hope you do too.”

Safely away Lawrence speaks into his cuff link, “Dove is returning to coup.”

“Why did you use the code name? What’s going on?”

“He had an AK under his coat, ma’am.”

Girl with AK47

Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

“That sweet man that just saved me?”

“Yes, ma’am, he--” Lawrence’s point is cut off by punctuated gunfire. Judy turns in shock to see Jessup spraying death into the cafe she was just eating at.

Lawrence forces her head down as he continues to lead her away.

“Keep down, ma’am.”

“I don’t understand!”

“You were the target. We just received word of the threat; why I came to reclaim you."

"He's not Syrian!"

"It was in response to the strike you proposed to the President on the terrorists in Oregon, ma’am.”

“Oh my god!”

“He must not have seen a picture of you; known what you looked like. Count yourself lucky ma’am. Lets get you back to the office.”

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

This work is a derivative of the story “The Fawn and the Little Tiger”. After reading it I was struck by the multiple times we can encounter someone who is seen to be a friend and turns out to be our greatest enemy. Much like the song Passive by A Perfect Circle declares, “I’m sure of your ability to become my perfect enemy.”

People’s passions about different things are affected by their perceptions. I perceive the taking over of federal buildings by a criminal group making demands as a criminal act of terrorism. However the mainstream media decides to label them as freedom fighters. If these folks had been any other race other than white or any other religion other than christian, the response would have been a lot different. However because of their race and religion we give them a pass.

In my story, I equate the group as terrorist taking on a more traditional terrorism role of attacking a cafe. I also use a red herring of the senator contemplating the strike she had ordered in Syria which also draws a parallel to their actions.

In the source story the fawn and the tiger become friends and help each other out until it comes time to feed. The fawn goes to find food for the tiger cub when the tiger cannot eat grass. The fawn is told by it’s mother that it was lucky to escape since the tiger’s food was the fawn.

I feel that this type of story resonates with the acts of terrorism on multiple levels but because of the non action against the group in Oregon they are still “friends.” When they decide to “feed” by committing an act that endangers other whites, we will know what type of food they need.

Indian Fables by Ramaswami Raju. Website: “The Fawn and the Little Tiger”.