Consumer Culture Is Central to Understanding Contemporary Identities Essay

As the title recommends, this paper will talk about, how much does customer culture influence contemporary personalities. In today’s society shopper culture is all over the place and we would most likely not have the option to make due without it. It turned out to be such a significant piece of our carries on with that a few people even form their transporter around it. Most organizations in current social orders, all around the globe function as effectively as they do, basically in light of the fact that individuals became shoppers and they purchase their items. This paper is first going to take a gander at why this difference in demeanor happened and how precisely it achieved customer culture. This will lead us onto how precisely purchaser culture functions and how it influences customers. To address the inquiry completely, we will likewise take a gander at the two view focuses on this issue. First we will talk about contentions which bolster the view that buyer culture makes current personalities. Besides, contentions supporting the view that purchaser culture is far less significant than in the improvement of one’s character. Before the inquiry itself is tended to, some foundation should be drawn about this issue. To be objective about this issue, it ought to be called attention to straight away that customer culture isn't the key perspective influencing contemporary characters. There is one straightforward clarification to why this is valid. People have been around for an any longer timeframe than shopper culture and were effectively building up their characters even before buyer culture came to fruition. In this way it is unquestionably obvious that before, there were different things making our personalities adequately enough. The meaning of personality which Jodi Davis finds the most fitting is â€Å"My character is controlled by an intricate blend of thingsâ€Å". The inquiry anyway focuses on contemporary personalities. So is it conceivable that buyer culture figured out how to assume control over the intensity of the various parts of the making of character in the previous 200 years? Some accept that the response to that question is yes. Truth be told, Bauman contends that â€Å"The streets to self-character, to a spot in the public arena, to an actual existence in a structure conspicuous as that of significant living, all require day by day visits to the market place†. Thus, Featherstone states that â€Å"criteria for easy street spin around the craving to expand one’s self, the missions for new tastes, and sensations, to investigate increasingly more possibilities†. (Featherstone, pg 67) Therefore numerous individuals would be glad to state that in today’s society, purchaser culture enormously affects our characters. Somewhat, this is valid. Jagger even accepts that â€Å"we become what we consume†. (Jagger, pg 45) To clarify why this is valid, the term â€Å"floating signifiers† should be clarified. It alludes to the way that nowadays, all items and brands have a specific significance/story behind them. Individuals get them in view of these pictures they convey with them, as opposed to the genuine utilization of the item. This leads us to the utilization versus trade esteem question. It could be contended this was one of the primary changes which made commercialization grow to such an extent. Fundamentally Use versus Trade struggle alludes to the way that at one point, individuals quit purchasing merchandise for their utilization esteem and began getting them for their trade esteem. Material merchandise are utilized as communicators, not utilities. (Featherstone, pg 84) Today, commercialization has arrived at such degree of accomplishment, that individuals no longer purchase things since they need them, but since they like this picture items give them. â€Å"Consumption, at that point, must not be comprehended as the utilization of utilization esteems, a material utility however fundamentally as utilization of signs. †(Featherstone, pg 85) This way, the things we purchase, make our personality, since individuals judge us dependent on what the items we use say about us. In today’s society of outsiders, it is the best way to pass judgment on an individual at the main sight. So for instance if somebody somehow managed to drive a Ferrari, individuals would consider him an effective person. This suspicion would be founded on the way that to have the option to bear the cost of this sort of vehicle, the individual must be rich. Additionally the brand itself gives him the picture of a youthful fruitful man. This shows consequently, without addressing individuals or becoming acquainted with them, they as of now judge us dependent on our appearance. Clearly we as a whole need to be enjoyed and acknowledged by others so we attempt to satisfy their desires for us. We endeavor to â€Å"live up to (yet not over) the gauges joined to the ‘social category’ into which we were born†. (Bauman, pg 27) These gauges are additionally anyway dictated by the media. Magnificence beliefs are set by TV, advertisements and superstars. They decide what’s â€Å"cool† and what isn’t. For instance VIPs frequently go about as magnificence icons, such huge numbers of ladies endeavor to seem as though them. This inward need to ulfil society’s desire constrains them to purchase items which guarantee to make them resemble a superstar. Whoever doesn't at any rate endeavor to fit in inside these guidelines, or far more terrible, attempts to do the inverse, may be vilified for it. For instance in the course of recent years, it turned out to be mainstream for ladies to shave their legs. It turned out to be mainstream to such an extent that these days, ladies who don’t do it are normally profoundly demonized. This all roots in industrialism, on the grounds that the underlying motivation behind why it became famous was to constrain individuals to burn through cash on razors-which were up to that point superfluous. Attempting to satisfy these desires makes our character as it were. Much of the time utilization of products just influences our outside character however in some extraordinary cases it might even begin to influence one’s inside personality. For instance certain brands depict certain gatherings of individuals. So if one somehow happened to shop at Gucci or Chanel, one is required to act a specific way. These brands convey the picture of an extremely customary, respectful and high society person. So anybody wearing Gucci or Chanel endeavors to satisfy the guidelines of these brands. That way one is now is changing his conduct just as his appearance, which is influencing his/hers outer, yet additionally inside character. So truly, when we consider it, the character others think we have, based on our appearance, is fake and phony. This is on the grounds that it is just made by the items we use, not by us ourselves. Be that as it may, of course, we pick which items to purchase and it is us who concludes what to look like for others so whatever we wear or appear as though, it is somewhat customized by our taste and different decisions we make. Campbell raises a fascinating point with regards to his book. He says that purchaser culture builds up our character in light of the fact that since there is currently such a tremendous selection of items, it gives buyers chance to characterize their taste. They can choose what they like and so forth. Likewise, since shopping centers are so mysterious, clients can take a stab at anything they like, just to perceive how that â€Å"role† would fit them. This likewise encourages them to discover the picture of themselves which they need to depict to others. (Campbell, pg 159) However others accept that shopper culture is far less significant than different elements in the advancement of one’s personality. Jodi Davis partitions character into outside and inside. Outside is â€Å"cultural orders (nationality, race, religion and sexual orientation) just as cultural portrayals (family, vocation, and position or title)†. While inward is â€Å"natural endowments, qualities, capacities; the intelligent person, enthusiastic, physical and profound attributes that involve our uniqueness and natural gifts and capacities; our fundamental direction toward our general surroundings, our learning styles, how we process and sort out data, and other inclined propensities and characteristicsâ€Å". Davis, pg 7) As we can see, there are a ton of things which characterize a person’s personality. What's more, we were to take a gander at them independently; we would see that we were quite brought into the world with the majority of the critical parts of our personality and along these lines can't transform them. Our appearance is one of the not many parts of our character, which one can substitute. In this manner if an individual isn't content with his general personality, one of only a handful hardly any manners by which he can transform it is through commercialization. Actually commercialization and promoting frequently intend to cause the client to feel this way. As the advertisements threatened that anything regular about the client was useless or disgraceful, and attempted to make him schizophrenically unsure about that idea, they offered weapons by which individuals could obscure themselves†. (Ewen, pg 48) If an individual dresses a specific way and utilizations certain items, he might have the option to persuade a few people that he fits the gauges set by media. As referenced previously, this is on account of the way that each item we purchase educates individuals something concerning us. The picture the item depicts probably won't be valid, yet simply the way that an individual uses that item causes individuals to trust it. Despite the fact that the second piece of this paper endeavors to help the possibility that there are different variables influencing contemporary characters more than customer culture, we ought not overlook its significance. The way that purchaser culture causes us to change the main variable piece of our personality makes it, as I would see it, much increasingly essential. Shopper culture is in reality huge with regards to understanding contemporary personalities. It is its items, which make the picture we attempt to depict to others and that route fit into society.

Leonardo Da Vinci Essays (178 words) - Giftedness,

Leonardo Da Vinci Everybody has known about the Mona Lisa, however less notable than Leonardo's painting are his scratch pad. They show that he was an architect and researcher path past his time. He drew his dreams of the plane, the helicopter, the parachute, the submarine and the vehicle. It was over 300 years before a considerable lot of his thoughts were enhanced. The scratch pad are the place Leonardo recorded his own thoughts just as existing plans and methods of reasoning for reference. They were never proposed for distribution. After his demise in France on 2 May 1519, Francesco Melzi, his student, brought a considerable lot of his original copies and drawings back to Italy. Melzi's beneficiaries, who had no clue about the significance of the compositions, progressively discarded them. Notwithstanding this, more than 5,000 pages despite everything exist in Leonardo's 'reflect composing', from option to left. Throughout the hundreds of years the sheets have been separated, and scarcely any scratch pad get by in anything like their unique structure. Some even stayed unfamiliar until 1966, whenever they were found by chance in the chronicles of the Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid.

Howard Gardners Theory of Multiple Intelligence

Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligence Whenever you stroll into a homeroom brimming with understudies jumping mid-air, painting enthusiastically, singing profoundly, or composing frantically, its imaginable you have Howard Gardners groundbreaking Frame of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligencesâ to thank. At the point when Gardners hypothesis on numerous insights turned out in 1983, it fundamentally changed educating and learning in the U.S. what's more, around the globe with the thought thatâ there is more than one approach to learn -  in actuality, there are at any rate eight! The hypothesis was an enormous takeoff from the more conventional financial technique for training in which the instructor basically stores information into the students mind and the student must get, retain and repeat.â Rather, Gardner tore open the possibility that a withdrew student may learn better by utilizing an alternate type of insight, characterized as a biophysical potential to process data that can be enacted in a social setting to tackle issues or make items that are of incentive in a culture. This challenged the past agreement on the presence of a solitary, general knowledge or g factor that could be handily tried. Despite what might be expected, Gardners hypothesis places that every one of us has at any rate one prevailing insight that illuminates how we learn. A few of us are progressively verbal or melodic. Others are progressively legitimate, visual, or sensation. A few students are profoundly contemplative while others learn through social elements. A few students are particularly sensitive to the regular world while others are profoundly open to the otherworldly world.â Gardners 8 Intelligenceâ What precisely are the eight sorts of intelligenceâ posited in Howard Gardners hypothesis? The seven unique intelligenceâ are:â Visual-Aestheticâ learners think regarding physical space and like to peruse or picture their words. Bodily-Kinestheticâ learners are distinctly mindful of their physical bodies and like imaginative development and making things with their hands. Musical learners are touchy to a wide range of sound and frequently get to taking in through or from music, be that as it may, one may characterize it. Intrapersonal learners are thoughtful and intelligent. They learn through autonomous examination and independently directed experiences. Interpersonal students learn through social connection with others and appreciate bunch elements, cooperation, and encounters.Linguistic students main avenue for affection and words and appreciate learning through verbal expression.Logical-Mathematicalâ learners think theoretically, sensibly, and scientifically about the world and appreciate investigating designs and relationships.â In the mid-1990s, Gardner included an eighth intelligence:â Naturalisticâ learners have an affectability to the common world and can without much of a stretch identify with plant and creature life, enjoyingâ patterns found in the environment.â Hypothesis in Practice: Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom For some teachers and guardians working with students who battled in customary study halls, Gardners hypothesis came as a consolation. While a students knowledge was recently addressed when the person in question thought that it was trying to get a handle on ideas, the hypothesis pushed teachers to perceive that every understudy has bunch potential. Various insights filled in as a source of inspiration to separate learning encounters so as to suit the different modalities in some random learning setting. By changing the substance, procedure, and desires for a last item, instructors and teachers can arrive at students who in any case present as hesitant or unable. An understudy may fear learning jargon through test-taking however help up when requested to move, paint, sing, plant, or build.â The hypothesis welcomes a lot of innovativeness in instructing and learning and in the course of the most recent 35 years, expressions teachers, specifically, have utilized the hypothesis to create expressions incorporated educational plans that recognize the intensity of masterful procedures to deliver and share information across center branches of knowledge. Expressions coordination adopted off as a strategy to educating and learning since it taps creative procedures as subjects all by themselves as well as instruments for preparing information in other branches of knowledge. For instance, a verbal, social student illuminates when they find out about clash in stories through exercises like theater. A legitimate, melodic student remains connected with when they find out about math through music production.â Truth be told, Gardners associates at Project Zero at Harvard University went through years exploring the propensities for craftsmen at work in their studios to find how imaginative procedures may educate best practices in instructing and learning. Lead researcher Lois Hetland and her group distinguished eight Studio Habits of Mind that can be applied to learning over the educational plan at any age with any sort of student. From figuring out how to utilize apparatuses and materials to draw in with complex philosophical inquiries, these propensities discharge students from the dread of disappointment and spotlight rather on the delights of learning.â Are There Limits to Containing Multitudes?â Different insights welcome boundless opportunities for instructing and learning, however probably the greatest test is deciding a students essential insights in any case. While a large number of us have anâ instinct about how we like to get the hang of, having the option to recognize ones prevailing learning style can be a deep rooted process that requires experimentation and adjustment over time.â Schools in the United States, as an impression of society everywhere, regularly place imbalanced incentive on semantic or coherent numerical insight, and students with knowledge in different modalities chance getting lost, underestimated, or overlooked. Learning patterns like experiential learning, or ‘learning by doing’ endeavors to counter and right this inclination by making the conditions to tap whatever number insight as could be expected under the circumstances in the creation of new information. Teachers now and again regret an absence of association with families and note that except if the hypothesis reaches out to learning at home, the techniques don’t consistently hold in the homeroom and students keep on battling against stacked expectations.â Gardner likewise cautions against marking students with some random knowledge over another or inferring unintended progressions of significant worth among the eight sorts of insight. While every one of us may lean toward one insight over another, we likewise can possibly change and change after some time. Different insights applied to educating and learning settings ought to engage instead of breaking point students. In actuality, the hypothesis of various insights drastically extends our massive and undiscovered potential. In the soul of Walt Whitman, numerous insights advises us that we are mind boggling, and we contain multitudes.â Amanda Leigh Lichtenstein is an artist, author, and teacher from Chicago, IL (USA) who at present parts her time in East Africa. Her papers on expressions, culture, and training show up in Teaching Artist Journal, Art in the Public Interest, Teachers Writers Magazine, Teaching Tolerance, The Equity Collective, AramcoWorld, Selamta, The Forward, among others. Visit her site.

Challenges of Older Workers in America Research Paper

Difficulties of Older Workers in America - Research Paper Example A considerable lot of the businesses in America are of the view that the profitability and effectiveness of the more seasoned specialists are lower when contrasted with similar qualities in the youthful workers. In this manner, larger part of the businesses in America are not keen on perceiving the commitments of more seasoned laborers appropriately. While choosing advancements, impetuses and compensation climbs, bosses regularly consider the requirements of more youthful representatives as it were. Also, when businesses are choosing to diminish the quantity of representatives, more seasoned workers frequently come in the rundown as the primary goal. This paper investigations different difficulties more seasoned laborers in America face. Presentation As with numerous other segment gatherings, more seasoned workers’ joblessness by and large and long haul joblessness rates have expanded significantly since the downturn started in 2007. In December 2011, the joblessness rate for more established laborers was 6.0 percent, up from 3.1 toward the beginning of the downturn, however down from its pinnacle of 7.6 percent in February 2010. Specifically, long haul joblessness rose generously, and at a more prominent rate for more seasoned than more youthful laborers. By 2011, 55 percent of jobless more seasoned specialists had been effectively looking for a vocation for the greater part a year (27 weeks or more) (â€Å"Many Experience Challenges Regaining Employment and Face Reduced Retirement Security†, 2012). ... beneficiary homes or lofts, and roughly half have been searching for work for more than a year† (â€Å"Older Low-Income Workers Face Historic Crisis†, n.d.). These insights obviously recommend that the standardized savings of the more seasoned age of America is in peril at present as a result of different reasons, for example, downturn, monetary emergency and numerous other social components. It ought to be noticed that the youthful in America are not keen on ensuring their folks these days. Hence, huge numbers of the jobless guardians are confronting immense money related issues. They need enough cash to look for the administrations of noble cause associations when they are needing a help. To put it plainly, joblessness issues among more seasoned laborers are a financial issue as well as a social issue. To put it plainly, challenges looking by more established laborers are a significant issue in America now, and it is critical to get more bits of knowledge into this poi nt. Audit of Literature: Challenges of Older Workers in America According to Richard W. Johnson (2010), â€Å"On normal, laid-off male specialists 50â€61 who become reemployed procure 15 percent less on the new position than the old occupation, and those age 62 and more seasoned gain 21 percent less† (p.2). He has additionally brought up that age separation wins in American working environments. He states: In 2008, 15 percent of laborers age 55â€61 announced that their bosses offer inclination to more youthful specialists over more established laborers in advancement choices. Low-talented more seasoned men are particularly prone to report this sort of separation: 29 percent of men who didn't finish secondary school and 20 percent of secondary school graduates asserted that their managers favored more youthful specialists, contrasted and 13 percent of men who had gone to school (p.2). As indicated by Tomiko Thomas, program

“Look” in The Searchers Free Essays

Repudiating Ideologies in The Searchers While The Searchers can be seen from a basic point of view as a ‘revisionist’ Western as far as its depiction of Native Americans, certain parts of the film negate this general message. One such viewpoint is the character Look, who serves a job both as lighthearted element and as editorial on bigot portrayals of Native Americans. The Searchers makes a brilliant Showing of featuring the twisted portrayal of Indians in the Western sort, however Director John Ford’s comic depiction of Look accidentally mirrors the biases and generalizations dug in American culture during the 1950s. We will compose a custom paper test on â€Å"Look† in The Searchers or on the other hand any comparative subject just for you Request Now See, or â€Å"Wild Goose Flying Across the Night Sky,† shows up in a concise flashback arrangement conveyed from Marty’s perspective in a letter to Laurie. The scene depicts Martys mission with Ethan to discover the Comanche Chief Scar who had grabbed his supportive sister Debbie years sooner. While endeavoring to buy a cover from a Comanche clan with associations with Scar, Marty coincidentally gives a lady of the hour token to Looks father, bringing about a unintentional marriage. The mise-en-scene in the principal flashback establishes the pace for the rest of he scenes highlighting Look, building up a racial chain of command and anticipating the force structure in Marty and Looks relationship. The conventional Native American tune playing all through fills in as a sound extension that associates the entirety of the scenes highlighting Look with a peppy rhythm that sets a cheerful state of mind proceeded all through the comedic peak in the subsequent flashback. Moreover, character blocking offers knowledge into Looks social position and anticipates the result of her relationship with Marty. While Marty is haggling with Looks father, a setting up hot shows Marty remaining above Look as she sits leg over leg on the ground. The scene at that point decreases and forward between a transcending Marty and Look sitting docilely on the ground. This escapes both to white man’s predominance and Marty’s matchless quality in their relationship. Passage utilizes scenes of this disastrous marriage as an entertaining interval in a film in any case thick with revisionist analysis, dreary scenes, and barren scenes. While Look is a wellspring of bothering for Marty, it is obvious very quickly that Ford implies for Look to be a wellspring of comedic alleviation from the in any case extraordinary storyline. In the ensuing scene, as Look obediently follows Marty away from the Comanche camp and it first lights on Marty that he has inadvertently hitched her, Ethan blasts into charmed laughs shouting, â€Å"[c]ome along Mrs. Pauly! † Look is a wellspring of diversion for both Ethan and the crowd also, who is relied upon to giggle alongside Ethan’s jokes. Different characters in the film likewise discover Martys marriage amusing; subsequent to catching wind of Martys marriage, Mr. Jorgensen and Charlie snicker healthily, and keeping in mind that Laurie is disturbed, she is unmistakably less worried about her adoration enthusiasm being hitched than she is with his new wife’s ethnicity. The reaction of the film’s characters to Marty and Looks marriage urges the crowd to see the circumstance in a hilarious light. In the subsequent flashback, Look faithfully deals with Marty and endeavors to accomplish household work at the campground. Doing all that she can to please Marty, she kindly consents to reply to â€Å"Look† notwithstanding it having no connection to her genuine name. The scene peaks when she obediently rests close to Marty on his bedroll tor the night Enraged, M rty kicks ner ott and she tumbles down the slope with an accident. This is followed not with worry for Look by he characters or an adjustment in the tone of the scene, as one would expect while experiencing viciousness against a lady in a film today, yet with one more joke from Ethan. Giggling, he hollers, mfou know that’s reason for di-vorce in Texas! You’re truly harsh. † Additionally, Ford centers around Ethan as opposed to Look after her fall. Ethan’s carefree response and the general tone of the scene sign to the crowd that Looks abuse ought to be a wellspring of diversion as opposed to concern. A similar cheery soundtrack and Ethan’s constant flow of joke associate the first and econd flashbacks, keeping up the first’s funny feel. The cliché local tune enhances Looks previously hyperbolized Native American attributes, and adapted acing significantly adds to the comedic vibe of the scene. Martys misrepresented outrage and apparently nonsensical reaction to Look lying close to him is a directorial play for giggles, similar to the way that Marty’s viciousness is additionally underscored by the option of audio cues. As Look moves down the little slope, an enormous accident is heard, expanding the size of the circumstance while at the same time expanding comedic impact. Race assumes a key job in the audience’s gathering to this scene as entertaining as opposed to upsetting. This is featured best when appeared differently in relation to a prior scene in which Laurie goes into a room while Martin is cleaning up, attacking his protection along these lines. It is improbable Ford would evoke giggling from crowds at that point if Marty reacted to Laurie’s interruption with viciousness. It is because of the social bigotry and preference of the time that crowds were undeniably bound to esteem the life of, and accordingly care about the treatment of, Laurie. Looks lessened worth s an individual is made apparent by clear contrasts in how Ford handles the two characters in the film. The last flashback has a dismal tone and soundtrack intended to evoke compassion and reflection from the crowd. This, in any case, clashes legitimately with how Ford utilizes Looks character as a comic figure in past scenes. At the point when Looks body is found in the last flashback her passing even stirs a snapshot of compassion from the significantly supremacist Ethan, who covers her body with a cover. This scene features disjointed qualities in the estimation of white and Indian lives. Truly, the udiences of Westerns were urged to lament for the loss of white characters and cheer the demise of Indian characters. This pattern is proceeded in The Searchers. In spite of the fact that Looks demise is treated with distress and empathy, her passing is intelligible and visible to the crowd since her depiction once in a while transcends that of a comic generalization. On the other hand, Ford’s camera doesn't uncover Martha and Lucy’s bodies to the crowd out of regard and veneration to their characters. While Ford’s conflicting treatment of Look as caught by her passing scene might be iewed as revisionist discourse, one can’t neglect the way that there was no point of reference at the ideal opportunity for the utilization of a Native American lady as a comic fgure. All things considered, Looks depiction was not social discourse but instead mirrored the director’s own preferences and the impression of a racially-charged society coming through in his work. Made in 1956, The Searchers came toward the start of a period of incredible social change toward race and racial generalizations in America, and along these lines might be among the remainder of its time and sort to offer such an unashamed depiction of convention of prejudice. Look is a one-dimensional character contrasted and the solid temale jobs ot Laurie and Debbie, and the disparities in Ford’s depiction ot white and Indian ladies underscore the possibility that Ford saw them as second rate. Over ten minutes go between Looks introductory and last debut and, denied a voice, she has just one line of exchange. The crowd never knows Looks story and has little establishment to associate with her in any noteworthy manner; she is seen distinctly through the eyes of the white men around her. The demise of her character is noted, yet the udience is given scarcely any motivations to think about the person who has passed on. By overemphasizing the prejudice and Native Americans generalizations in The Searchers, Ford urges the crowd to ponder the profoundly established custom of depicting Native Americans in an unreasonably negative light in the Western type. This respectable revisionist exertion, be that as it may, is debilitated by Ford’s utilization of Look as a wellspring of parody. Basically just a comic clown, the way that her maltreatment is engaging to the crowd is a significant reflection on Ford and American culture at that point. The most effective method to refer to â€Å"Look† in The Searchers, Papers

Flowers in your hair

Flowers in your hair Im flying to San Francisco for the long weekend hope you kids in Boston have fun! Theres a lot going on this weekend, including: Pulse: Waves from the Motherland Cultural Show THIS SATURDAY, February 18th @ 7:30pm Kresge Auditorium MIT FREE In celebration of Black History Month, come see a FREE show featuring the Logs, Harvards Kuumba, Capoeira dancing, MIT Gospel, MIT Dance Troupe, Steel Pan, and so much more!! Pulse: Waves From the Motherland is a demonstration of the extent to which Africa has influenced art of all kinds and, with this influence, molded culture all over the world. The show, a collaborative effort by Advocates For Awareness, the MIT African Students Association, the MIT Black Students Union, the MIT Caribbean Club, and the MIT chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, celebrates Black history as American history and moreover global history, by showcasing Black history as an integral part of our cultures foundation today. Also, dont miss the FREE afterparty in Ashdown right after the show!!! Pulse Website: http://web.mit.edu/ejk_adjo/www Afterparty Info: http://web.mit.edu/cpr/www Tucker Max is having a book signing to promote his latest book I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell. Date: Saturday Feb 18th (THIS SATURDAY) Location: Boston Universitys Sherman Union Terrace Lounge 2nd floor Time: QA starts 5pm, book signing from 6pm to 8pm. Afterparty to follow Directions: Take the B train on the Green line to BU Central. The street address 775 Comm Ave. Website: http://www.tuckermax.com Be sure to check out the website for classic stories such as Tucker Tries Buttsex, Hilarity does not ensue and The Night We Almost Died. - You heard about it, so now come see it! Come join us at the 2006 production of The Vagina Monologues!! When: February 16th to February 18th Where: 10-250 Time: 8pm Cost: $8 MIT Students, $10 General Tickets are being sold this week in Lobby 10. Also online at http://vagina.mit.edu and to help you get in the V-Day spirit, also available at the booth Both my dorm and the Class of 2007 are sponsoring trips to see Les Miserables this weekend, complete with discounted tickets. I cant find an email about it, sorry. are: Vagina T-Shirts! Chocolate Vagina Pops Vagina Buttons

Problem Of Overcrowding In Prisons - Free Essay Example

Between 1983 and 1989, US prisons have markedly increased in size in order to house the 77 percent increase in prison inmate populations (Welch, 1994).   This phenomenon is occurring at a global scale with the mean daily population approaching 410,000 inmates as of 1989. This figure represents a 6 percent annual increase from the previous year, which is steadily growing (Welch, 1994). Because of the issue of overcrowding in prisons, these confinement centers are lacking the resources to feed and house the increasing rate of population. This increase in prison population over time is an effect of societal flaw, where risk factors that may send certain demographics of people may be reduced via implementation of communications and organizations between the individuals and social systems. The individuals who are most at risk for confinement tend to be of a lower social class, have less money, younger in age, have a history of drug abuse problems, uneducated and or unemployed (Welch, 1994). Overcapacity in confinement centers creates chaos in the entire network of prison systems, including the staff numbers, which in turn   causes an increase in institutional problems. To begin to resolve the issue at hand, social problem awareness must be established especially in population dense areas of the world, accompanied by educational and employment programs for the uneducated and unemployed as well as jail system reforms (Welch, 1994). Since   jail policies and social forces are interconnected, it is easy to see that law enforcement and punishment together make up   a social system. Specifically , one case study that concerns prison   overcrowding shows how complex systems have flaws and can be improved. The analysis of this subsystem will reveal the structure of law enforcement and prisons as systems as well as what changes can be made in a separate subsystem such that population in prisons can stabilize or even decrease. Analysis Based off of Luhmanns theory of social systems, the world was born from chaos and had no inherent order. To establish a set order, individuals and groups created the society, groups and organizations we are so familiar with today. These social systems revolve around communication and tend to be autopoietic, meaning that they maintain and reproduce themselves constantly (Luhmann, 2012).   The smaller subsystems behave like small specialized territories in which   society operates. These systems being self-reproducing, Luhmann has also actually been criticized for underestimating the role of the individual, despite the fact these larger groups are made of the collective individual. One of the branches of subsystems of society being discussed here is law enforcement, which naturally lends itself to punishment in some fashion. The subsystem of law enforcement has reproduced and grown itself to produce its own prison system, as a deterrent for individuals to obey the rules of the law. In the context of   Luhmann, a social system includes all functional systems in a modern society   which are equally important and irreplaceable. Prison systems are much like society in the way that there exist differentiable subsystems having unique function, where each subsystem is equally important to the overall system function. Punishment systems seem to represent more of an organizational social system because of the marked hierarchy between the correctional officers and the inmates. Luhmann treated organizations as social systems which reproduce themselves on the basis of decisions. Based on this fact, we can say that prison systems reproduce based on the decisions of the government, which are representative of   organizational social systems.   Society as a social system is a communicative, interconnected system differentiated into various smaller and specialized functional systems such as family, law enforcement, economy, arts, and science. These systems have been structured and codified over time. Luhmann recognized social systems as organic systems capable of   self-organization. In this case, the prison system has risen from society communicating its need to reduce crime and maintain order. It is clear from Luhmann that systems generate their own systemic boundaries and internal structures for self-referencing, since each component refers to the system itself and its closed system. The components of the prison as a system are distinct and closed. Physically, the prison has guards and correctional officers as well as inmates that lie within a closed building with concrete walls and most likely a tall barbed wire fence. This example is a good example of a closed system because the design of a functional prison relies heavily   on its ability to retain prisoners.   Luhmanns concept of autopoiesis is applied to not just this system, but   all systems including non-biological systems. Luhmanns transdisciplinary concept of autopoiesis is very much applicable when the components of a system are reproduced by other components of the system. In this case, prisons are kept inmates alive by providing food and shelter, while receiving inmate work in return. This cycle is self -perpetuating , self-sustaining   and therefore autopoietic. Luhmann detailed the main elements of social systems as having communication (an asymmetrical process of transferring meaning or information from a sender to a receiver) interpretation,   and action within itself. In the context of the prison overcrowding situation, all three exist. However, they are not done at the most efficient levels possible. Improved communication would reduce the overpopulation in prisons by creating understanding and information synthesis between individuals, society and staff. Improved interpretation   would clear up any ambiguities concerning the prison system. Lastly, improvements in action within the imprisonment system could help decrease inmate population by giving incentives to pursue education and employment opportunities. This being said, action is a necessary step required for the system to reproduce itself. Communication on the other hand, is comprised   of utterance, information and understanding, which is necessary for correct action to tak e place. Although important for reproduction in the system,   action by itself cannot account for every decision made, which is a reason why Luhmann advocates against   treating communication as action, since it would mean the death of communication itself. One of   Luhmanns ideas was of   society being   the primary system that creates and recreates all communication. In order to remedy the problem of the overcrowding prison systems, this problem would first need to be recognized, communicated, interpreted correctly and follow the correct course of action.   All communication efforts are produced by the self -communication within the society,   where the borders of society are the borders of communication (Luhmann, 2012). It is the society that encompasses interaction and organization, in which communication can lead to correct action. Therefore, in order to incite change in the prison system, the society social system would need to be involved. Conclusion Overcrowding is currently the biggest problem facing confinement centers today.   Over the last two decades,   the overpopulation of Colombian prisons has risen as an unintended consequence of   policy makers producing arbitrary laws. This action inadvertently increased the number of conceivable illegal behaviors. Societal responses and information on the idea of criminal behaviors are sustained by society, which policymakers abuse when looking for societal approval.   This mode of thinking leads to greater repercussions of any illegal acts no matter how slight, resulting in extended prison sentences. Because of this systemic cycle set forth by the society, we see that the overcrowding of prisons is a result of the extended sentences and newly administered policies that could put anyone in jail. With more people going to prison for longer periods of time, its no wonder why this issue is on the top of the list for prisons. Within the system, each component plays a role which affects another component. It is clear that government policy and prison administration are vastly different subsystems. However, the two functionally different systems are interconnected under a much broader, systemic view. In order to create better policies that meet the necessities and limitations of prisons, there must exist appropriate communication, interpretation and action in the overall system.