Kingship in Macbeth Essay Example for Free

Kingship in Macbeth Essay In his first appearance, King Duncan performs two of the basic duties of a king: punishing the bad and rewarding the good. Upon learning of the treachery of Cawdor and the heroism of Macbeth, he says, No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive / Our bosom interest: go pronounce his present [immediate] death, / And with his former title greet Macbeth (1.2.63-65). The phrase bosom interest means vital interests, but bosom suggests that a relationship of love should exist between a king and his subject. Soon after the witches hail him as Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and king hereafter! (1.3.50), Macbeth receives the news that he has been named Thane of Cawdor. This news throws him into a reverie, in which he says to himself, Two truths are told, / As happy prologues to the swelling act / Of the imperial theme (1.3.127-129). Macbeths metaphor is dramatic, or musical; he seems to be imagining himself as making a grand entrance as king, or maybe as an emperor, a king of kings. Just as the King is commenting on the treachery of the former Thane of Cawdor, in comes the new Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth. The King greets Macbeth as worthiest cousin! (1.4.14) and says in several different ways that he cant thank him enough. Macbeth answers with heroic modesty that The service and the loyalty I owe, / In doing it, pays itself (1.4.22-23). That is, its payment enough to know that he did the right thing as a loyal servant of the King. Then Macbeth adds, Your highness part Is to receive our duties; and our duties Are to your throne and state [stateliness, dignity] children and servants, Which do but what they should, by doing every thing Safe toward your love and honour. (1.4.23-27) Safe toward means to secure or to safeguard; the idea is that it is every subjects duty to do everything he can for the king, both to keep the king safe and to earn the kings love and respect. Macbeths speech pictures King Duncan as the loving father of a happy family, but Macbeth is already thinking about killing him. When Lady Macbeth receives her husbands letter about the witches prophecies, she is only worried that her husband is too full o the milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way (1.5.17-18). But shes sure she has no such problem, and shes eager for the chance to make him see things her way. Holding the letter, and speaking to Macbeth (even though he hasnt arrived yet) she says, Hie thee hither, / That I may pour my spirits in thine ear; / And chastise with the valour of my tongue / All that impedes thee from the golden round, (1.5.25-28). We might say that shes going to nag him, but she believes that she is going to enable him to reach his potential. She will chastise (make him ashamed of) everything in him that prevents him from being evil enough to be king. Shortly, Macbeth appears and tells her that King Duncan will be staying with them that night. Lady Macbeth declares that King Duncan will never leave their castle alive and advises Macbeth to be a good hypocrite. He must give the king a warm welcome, the better to kill him that night. Apparently Macbeth shows a little reluctance, because she says, He thats coming Must be provided for: and you shall put This nights great business into my dispatch; Which shall to all our nights and days to come Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom (1.5.66-70) Sovereign means not only kingly but also absolute. Lady Macbeth is telling her husband that if he will only do as she tells him, they will be king and queen, with power over all. To her, the essence of kingship is ruthless power. When King Duncan is greeted by Lady Macbeth, he makes a little joke about the social difficulties of being king. He says to her: See, see, our honourd hostess! The love that follows us sometime is our trouble, Which still we thank as love. Herein I teach you How you shall bid God ield us for your pains, And thank us for your trouble. (1.6.10-14) Duncans whole speech is based on our ancient custom of a guest saying something like I dont want to trouble you, and the host replying with some version of Its my pleasure. By saying that his peoples love is sometimes his trouble, King Duncan is saying that his loving people go to a great deal of trouble for him, and hes troubled by the fact that they take all that trouble. Nevertheless, when people take trouble for him, he knows that they do it because they love their king, and so he thanks them for their love. Next, referring to himself royally as us, the King jokingly tells Lady Macbeth that hes saying all of this so that instead of him thanking her for taking trouble she will thank God and him for giving her trouble. While King Duncan is at dinner Macbeth almost talks himself out of the murder. He reflects that King Duncan is a good king, not arrogant or selfish. Macbeth says to himself that the king Hath borne his faculties [royal powers] so meek, hath been / So clear [uncorrupted] in his great office, that his virtues / Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against / The deep damnation of his taking-off (1.7.17-20). The day after the murder of King Duncan, Ross speaks with an old man. The Old Mans memories go back seventy years, but nothing he can remember compares to what has happened during this night: I have seen / Hours dreadful and things strange; but this sore night / Hath trifled former knowings (2.4.2-4). Ross replies Ah, good father, / Thou seest, the heavens, as troubled with mans act, / Threaten his bloody stage (2.4.4-6). The heavens are the heavens above, where God lives, and they are also the upper regions of Shakespeares Globe theater. Ross is saying that the heavens frown angrily (threaten) as they look down upon man playing his part on the stage of life, which has been made bloody by the murder of King Duncan. King Duncan should have been honored and loved, so his murder was unnatural, and Ross and the Old Man go on to tell each other of all the unnatural things that have been happening lately. They do not know that Macbeth is the murderer, but as they speak we can see that the unnatural events reflect the contrast between King Duncan and Macbeth. The Old Man says that On Tuesday last, / A falcon, towering in her pride of place, / Was by a mousing owl hawkd at and killd (2.4.11-13). The falcons pride of place is the highest point of its flight. And the owl, which usually catches mice on the ground, went up instead of down, and killed a falcon. Also, a falcon is a day creature, and a royal companion, while the owl is an untamable bird of night and death. If things in nature stands for things in human life, King Duncan was the falcon, and Macbeth the owl. Even worse, King Duncans horses, Beauteous and swift, the minions of their race, / Turnd wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out, / Contending gainst obedience, as they would make / War with mankind. (2.4.15-18) A minion is someones favorite. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were King Duncans minions. The King showered them with honors and gifts, but they turned wild and made war on their master. Thus the point is made that Macbeths murder of his king is a crime against nature. Just before he sends the murderers to kill Banquo, Macbeth has a soliloquy in which he states his fear of Banquo. He says that Banquo has royalty of nature (3.1.49), and courage, and wisdom. Macbeth also says, under him, / My Genius is rebuked (3.1.54-55). A mans Genius is his guardian spirit, but Macbeth isnt being particularly mystic here. He feels that Banquo is naturally superior to him, and just being near Banquo makes Macbeth feel ashamed of himself. For example, he recalls, Banquo defied the witches and challenged them to speak to him. (In contrast, we should remember, the witches prophecy put Macbeth into a kind of trance, a reverie of ambition and murder.) In short, Macbeth feels that Banquo is more fit to be king than he is, and for that, hes going to murder him. After he becomes king, Macbeth has a moment when he tries to be the kind of king that King Duncan was, humble and mild. At his feast Macbeth welcomes everyone, saying, You know your own degrees; sit down. At first / And last the hearty welcome (3.4.1-2). The degrees of the guests are their social ranks. Normally, each guest would receive an individual greeting and then be escorted to his seat, with the highest ranking person sitting closest to the king, and the next highest the next closest, etc. Macbeth tells them that they know where they should sit, and welcomes everyone at once. He will play the humble host (3.4.4), and sit among them, showing how friendly and down-to-earth he is, even though he is now the king. However, he cant keep up his act because un uninvited guest shows up Banquos bloody ghost. Lennox and another Scottish lord have a conversation in which both of them refer to Macbeth as a tyrant. Its clear from their conversation that life under a tyrant is a life of fear and lies. Because Macbeth has many spies, they need to be careful what they say and to whom they say it. As the scene opens, they have just gotten to the point at which they are sure that they are on the same side and have many of the same thoughts. As Lennox says, My former speeches have but hit your thoughts, / Which can interpret further (3.6.1-2). Perhaps the other Lord nods agreement, because Lennox now launches on a string of sarcasms about Macbeth. Lennox says, The gracious Duncan / Was pitied of Macbeth: marry, he was dead (3.6.4). This bitter joke describes both Macbeths facade that he was sorry for King Duncan and the truth about Macbeth, which was that he was sorry for King Duncan only after he killed him. Then Lennox proceeds to ridicule Macbeths version of everything that has happened to this point. Banquo died because he took a walk after dark, and Fleance must have killed him, because Fleance ran away. And speaking of that, wasnt it terrible for Malcolm and Donalbain to kill their father? And of course Macbeth felt terrible about Duncans murder, which is why he killed the only two possible witnesses, Duncans grooms. If Malcolm, Donalbain, and Fleance were in Macbeths power, hed certainly teach them a lesson or two about killing a father! After a bit, Lennox drops the sarcasm and turns to the subject of Macduff. He has heard that Macduff has gotten on Macbeths bad side because Macduff used some broad words (3.6.21) about Macbeth, and because he failed to show up for Macbeths banquet. Does the other Lord know, Lennox asks, where Macduff might be? The other Lord does know. Macduff is on his way to the English court, where Malcolm has been respectfully received by King Edward the Confessor. Macduff has gone to plead with King Edward to help Malcolm by sending to Scotland the forces of Northumberland and Siward, two English nobles famous as warriors. If Macduff is successful, Scotland will be freed of Macbeths tyranny. Then we may again / Give to our tables meat, sleep to our nights, / Free from our feasts and banquets bloody knives, / Do faithful homage and receive free honours (3.6.33-36). Under Macbeths tyranny, fear of his bloody knife darkens every moment of a persons life. In contrast to this reign of terror, a true king is given faithful homage and he awards Free honours. Free honours are given by a king in recognition of service; they are free in the sense that person honored doesnt have to be a tyrants yes-man in order to receive them. When Macbeth seeks out the witches, he curses them, calls them hags, and demands that they answer his questions. They give him their prophecies, the last of which is that Banquo will be the progenitor of a long line of kings, stretching to James of Scotland and England. Macbeth is stunned, and the first witch says that they will cheer him up with music and a dance, so That this great king may kindly say, / Our duties did his welcome pay (4.1.131-132). The witch is being sarcastic. Macbeth is a tyrant, even to witches, and gave them no welcome; they repaid his angry demand for answers with deceptive and frightening duties their prophecies. As the witches are the opposite of dutiful subjects, Macbeth is the opposite of a great and kindly king In England, Macduff pleads with Malcolm to lead an army against Macbeth. Eventually, Malcolm says that he will, but first he tests Macduffs intentions. He wants to find out if Macduff wants what is best for Scotland, or just wants to defeat Macbeth. Malcolm begins his test by saying that Scotland will suffer even more after Macbeth is crushed. The reason: Malcolm will be more evil than Macbeth. First, Malcolm says that he will be so lustful that your wives, your daughters, / Your matrons and your maids, could not fill up / The cistern of my lust (4.3.61-63). Macduffs response is more than a little wimpy. He says that uncontrolled lust is bad, but hes sure that Scotland can provide Malcolm with enough willing women to satisfy him. But Malcolm goes on to declare that hes also so avaricious that were I king, / I should cut off the nobles for their lands, / Desire his jewels and this others house: / And my more-having would be as a sauce / To make me hunger more (4.3.78-82). Macduff admits that avarice in a king is even worse than lust, but hes sure that Scotland has abundance enough to satisfy Malcolm. Such lust and avarice would be bearable, balanced against good qualities. But I have none (4.3.91), Malcolm answers. He goes on to assert that he has not a single virtue that a king needs. Not only that, but he is positively evil, so evil that had I power, I should / Pour the sweet milk of concord into hell, / Uproar the universal peace, confound / All unity on earth (4.3.97-100). After describing himself as the worst possible person on the face of the earth, Malcolm then asks Macduff if someone like him is fit to govern. Fit to govern! / No, not to live (4.3.102-103), Macduff bursts out. Then he laments the fate of Scotland and is about to storm off, but Malcolm calls him back and unsays everything hes just said about himself. He is, he now says, chaste, generous, and trustworthy. In short, he will be a true king, not the tyrant that Macbeth is. After the tyranny of Macbeth is contrasted with the goodness of Macduff and Malcolm, we are again reminded of what a good king should be. A doctor enters and tells Macduff and Malcolm that a crowd of sick people are waiting to be cured by the English king. Their sickness cant be cured by doctors, but only by the king: at his touch / Such sanctity hath heaven given his hand / They presently amend (4.3.143-145). The doctor leaves, and Macduff asks what disease he was talking about. Malcolm explains, Tis calld the evil (4.3.146). (The disease is scrofula, which causes ugly swellings of glands in the neck. It was called the kings evil because of the popular idea that a holy king could cure it by touching the diseased person.) Malcolm goes on to speak of what a miracle-worker the English king is. He brings Gods healing power to his people, and its a wonder, because How he solicits heaven, / Himself best knows (4.3.150). In addition to being able to heal the sick, the English king hath a heavenly gift of prophecy, / And sundry blessings hang about his throne (4.3.157-158). Malcolm doesnt mention Macbeth, but the only apparent reason for this description of the English king is to provide a picture of heavenly good to contrast with Macbeths hellish evil. Shortly after, news comes of Macbeths most recent act of tyranny the slaughter of Macduffs innocent wife and children. When she walks in her sleep, Lady Macbeth relives the moment just after the murder of King Duncan, when her husband could do nothing except stare at his bloody hands holding the bloody daggers. In her sleep she says to him, What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?(5.1.37-39). Her point is that Macbeth is king (or about to be) and therefore it doesnt matter who knows that he murdered King Duncan. She thinks (or thought) that kingly power would solve all problems, but it doesnt save her from madness. When he is brought news of the approach of the English army, Macbeth knows that he could lose the battle, and he tries to find a way to accept defeat. In a famous passage, he tells himself that his life is not worth living: I have lived long enough: my way of life Is falln into the sear, the yellow leaf; And that which should accompany old age, As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have; but, in their stead, Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honour, breath, Which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not. (5.3.22-28) We can see that Macbeth now understands the consequences of being a tyrant. He rules only by fear, which means that all those he rules hate him. Standing before Dunsinane, Siward, the leader of the English troops, comments to Malcolm: We learn no other but the confident tyrant / Keeps still in Dunsinane, and will endure / Our setting down before t. ) He means that Macbeth seems to be so confident of the strength of his castle that hes willing to let his enemies lay siege to it, rather than going on the attack. Malcolm replies that Macbeth really doesnt have a choice: Both more and less have given him the revolt, / And none serve with him but constrained things / Whose hearts are absent too . By more and less Malcolm means both the nobles and the common soldiers; Macbeth the tyrant controls only those who are within reach of his sword. In the final scene, Macduff, carrying Macbeths head on a pole, hails Malcolm as king of Scotland and says, Behold, where stands / The usurpers cursed head: the time is free . The time is free because they are all now free of Macbeths reign of terror over Scotland. Macduff then leads the men in a shout of victory and loyalty. He says, I see thee compassd with thy kingdoms pearl, / That speak my salutation in their minds; / Whose voices I desire aloud with mine: / Hail, King of Scotland! . Macduff knows that these thanes already think of Malcolm as their king, and now he asks them to join him in shouting out loud, Hail, King of Scotland! And so they do, honoring Malcolm, above whose head looms the severed head of Macbeth.

Examining The Sexual Assault Criminology Essay

Examining The Sexual Assault Criminology Essay When someone hears the words sex offender or sexual assault, the typical response is fear. The atrocious acts carried out by some sex offenders are very hard for the public to understand, and present society with complex challenges. Society often finds it easier to turn a blind eye to the crime, lock up the offender and throw away the key than attempt to address the challenge appropriately. There is a lack of public understanding toward sex offenders for the most part. This paper is intended to not only try to explain the psychology of the sexual offender but to also dispel the myth of the untreatable sex offender, and provide conclusive evidence that sex offender treatment is not only possible but to a large extent is successful in reducing the recidivism of sex offenders. Treatment and rehabilitation have been central to the development of criminal justice policy, and have played an important role in the development of criminology. In recent years punishment and retribution have at tracted more attention than rehabilitation, but there has been a resurgence of interest in treatment and rehabilitation, with indications that some things do work, and an emphasis on evidence-based policy making. It is also the belief of many that a penal policy without an adequate treatment strategy is unjust and a denial of human rights. Sexual Offenders There are three types of sex offenders determined by the courts who have to report to the sheriff. In an effort to decrease the incidence of sexual assault, legislators have passed regulatory laws aimed at reducing recidivism among convicted sexual offenders. As a result, sex offenders living in the United States are bound by multiple policies, including registration, community notification, monitoring via a global positioning system, civil commitment, and residency, loitering, and Internet restrictions (Bonnar-Kidd, 2010). First is the Sexually Oriented Offenders. No community notification is needed, but the offender must report to law enforcement for a given time, usually ten years. Next is the Habitual Sex Offender. If directed by the Court, law enforcement may notify the community and the offender must report annually for usually a set twenty years. Finally is the Sexual Predators whose guidelines are much stricter. Unless a Judge terminates the sexual predator title, the offende r must verify their residence every ninety days and law enforcement is required to notify the community in which the offender lives that they do indeed have a sexual offender in the area. Among those that need to be notified are neighbors within a 1000 foot radius of the offenders residence, school superintendents, day care operators, and local law enforcement. Different Types of Sexual Offenders Of the three groups, incest child molesters were the least likely to sexually recidivate, at a rate of 8.4% (Hanson, 2001). This finding carries with it many important implications for treatment. Since the rate is relatively low, it has traditionally been believed that the best form of treatment for incest child molesters is a minimally intrusive form of therapy that reduces sexual recidivism According to Hansons study (2001); rapists were the second most likely group of sex offenders to sexually recidivate, at a rate of 17.1%. Most research done on rapists indicates that they are a distinct group of offenders who are distinguishable from child molesters. For instance, rapists tend to be younger than child molesters, each having average ages of 32.1 and 38, respectively (Hanson, 2001). More importantly, a meta-analysis of sex offender treatment programs found that rapists were more likely to recidivate non-sexually than were child molesters (Hanson Bussiere, 1996). In fact, it has been noted that rapists share more characteristics with the general criminal population than do child molesters. Characteristics that identify general criminals, such as prior criminal records and antisocial personality, are similar to characteristics that identify rapists. Furthermore, research has found that rapists are more likely than are child molesters to breach their conditional release. In one sample of 132 subjects who were conditionally released, 40.7% of rapists breached, while only 25% of child molesters did so (Barbaree, Seto Maric, 1996). Of the three groups of sex offenders classified by Hanson (2001), the highest rate of sexual recidivism (19.5%) was recorded for non-incest child molesters. These offenders are at significant risk of reoffending throughout their lives (Hanson, Steffy Gauthier, 1992). A research study that illustrates this point examined the long term recidivism of child molesters. In the study, these offenders were classified into three groups: a treated group; control group one; and control group two. Both control groups were used to control for cohort effects. A total of 197 child molesters, a majority of them being non-incest child molesters, released from Canadian correctional facilities between 1958 and 1974 were tracked over an extensive period of time (31 years for control group one offenders). Results showed that 42% of the total sample was reconvicted for a sexual and/or violent offence. The long term risk of recidivism for non-incest child molesters is based on the fact that 10% of the tot al sample was reconvicted between 10 and 31 years after release. Causes of Sexual Offenses These theories suggest that there are factors at the individual level that contribute to the likelihood of a person committing sexually violent acts. The variables that have been explored in the research range from biological factors to personality characteristics to attitudes and beliefs. 1. Evolution It is suggested within this theory; strategies that have successfully reproduced our ancestors have resulted in the differences between men and women in current human mating. This is an often debated theory which is not widely accepted amongst those in this field. An example why could be that evolutionary theories do not address the large number of assaults regarding oral/anal penetration or of those involving same sex or those who are prepubescent. Those who tend to favor the evolutionary explanations for modern behavior even tend to acknowledge that sexual assault cannot be blamed on evolution alone. 2. Physiology and Neurophysiology The cause of sexual assault may be found in hormones and other chemicals in the body, as well as head traumas or brain abnormalities. Researchers in this area have found a correlation between testosterone levels in humans and aggression However, it is still not clear if it is whether the testosterone levels lead to aggressive behavior or rise as a result of aggressive behavior. Trauma and violence have been proven to have effects on neurotransmitters, brain function, and hormones. Studies examining brain injuries and abnormalities suggest trauma and violence can lead to an increase in battering behavior, as well as other violent or impulsive acts. 3. Alcohol Considerable evidence links alcohol and physical aggression. Alcohol use is involved in up to 75% of acquaintance rapes. Alcohol affects mens perception of womens sexual intent. Many men perceive alcohol as a sexual cue; thus, alcohol increases the likelihood that friendliness will be misperceived as sexual intent and that a man will feel comfortable forcing sex after misperceiving a womans cues. In short, perpetrators are more aggressive and victims less effective at setting boundaries and defending themselves when drinking alcohol. While it is very commonly involved in sexual assaults, many people drink on a daily basis without committing a violent act or engaging in violent behavior, as well as quite the percentage of assaults committed without any presence of alcohol. Clearly, the use or abuse of alcohol does not entirely account for the incidence of sexual assault in our society. 4. Psychopathology and Personality Traits Men who rape have been diagnosed with a wide variety of disorders from personality to psychiatric, most often being antisocial personality disorder. Nonetheless, no significant differences between sexual offenders and nonsexual offenders incarcerated have been found within personality tests. The degree of involvement in sexually coercive behavior appears to be related to personality measures of irresponsibility, a lack of social conscience, and a value orientation legitimizing aggression, particularly against women. Investigators have concluded that sexual aggression is determined by many factors. In fact, it has been said that the personality profile of convicted rapists more closely matches the personality profile of men in the general population than any other set of felons. 5. Attitudes and Gender Schemas Sexually aggressive men are more likely to believe myths about rape and that use of interpersonal violence is an effective strategy for resolving conflict than are non-aggressive men. These sorts of beliefs may serve as rationalizations for sexual offenders, allowing them to imagine their victims wanted or deserved the sexual acts forced upon them. Once men have developed attitudes that support violence against women, they are likely to misconstrue ambiguous evidence as a confirmation of what they already believed. Acceptance of rape myths is strongly related to adversarial sexual beliefs, tolerance of interpersonal violence, and gender role stereotyping. 6. Sex and Power Motives Research has confirmed that anger and power are the biggest motivating factors in a rapists rationalizations for sexual aggression than sexual desires are. And sexually aggressive men openly admit that their sexual fantasies are aggressive and sadistic. 7. Relationship Context The stage of relationship between a man and a woman may affect the probability of violence. Some research suggests that men who rape on first or second dates may have similarities to stranger rapists, while men who rape early in what otherwise appears to be a developing relationship may simply misperceive their partners intent. Variables that appear to be risk factors are the mans initiating the date, paying all the expenses, and driving; miscommunication about sex; heavy alcohol or drug use; parking; and mens acceptance of traditional sex roles, interpersonal violence, adversarial attitudes about relationships, and rape myths. Societal Influences Another body of theories suggests that socio-cultural factors contribute to the occurrence of sexual violence. These theories suggest that our society tacitly accepts and encourages sexual violence through expectations and cultural morà ©s, which are transmitted through our history, families, media and institutions. 8. History The history of our societys understanding of sexual violence has its roots in English property law. Rape entered the law à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ as a property crime of man against man. Woman, of course, was viewed as the property.1 The law assumed marriage vows implied consent to sexual relations, and men were permitted to use whatever force necessary to gain sexual access to their wives. The issue of sexual assault would not enter the consciousness of the U.S. public until the feminist movement of the 1960s. Feminists saw rape as a mechanism for maintaining patriarchy, a violent means of inducing fear in women and reinforcing their subordination to men. This perspective has shaped the way our culture defines and understands sexual assault today. 9. Family Sexual violence endures in human societies, according to this paradigm, because it is modeled by influential members of our society and has positive results for the perpetrator. Children who are exposed to violence between their parents are more likely to be involved in violent intimate relationships as adults. The structure of the family seems to have an impact on the attitudes and behaviors of children raised in them. Violent sex offenders have been found to be more likely than other adults to have experienced poor parental child-rearing, poor supervision, physical abuse, neglect, and separations from their parents. 10. Sexual Expectations and Rape Myths Expectations transmitted by our culture typically encourage men to feel superior, entitled, and that they should be always on the lookout for and ready to initiate sex in their relationships with women. At the same time, these sexual scripts teach women to feel responsible for setting the limits and pace of sexual contact in their relationships with men. Rape myths typically deny the existence of sexual assault, excuse it, and minimize the seriousness of its effects. Acceptance of rape myths is correlated with sexually aggressive behavior. 11. Cultural Mores Studies by anthropologists demonstrate the critical role that socio-cultural mores play in defining and promoting violence against women. Cultures differ in the amount of intimate partner violence, as well as the acceptability of this violence. Nearly all societies tolerate rape and have mechanisms that perpetuate violence. 12. Media From the early days of the modern womens movement, feminists contended that pornography encouraged sexual aggression towards women by portraying them as nothing more than sex objects, a view that is supported in the research. It is depictions of violence against women, rather than sexually graphic material that encourage acceptance of violence and callousness toward women who are its victims. Television and movies often send the message that violence works. 13. Schools and Other Influences Schools contribute to socialization supportive of violent behavior when they reinforce sex role stereotypes and attitudes that condone the use of violence. Participation in team sports may increase the risk of sexual aggression. Peers are more influential in shaping individual behavior than biology, personality, family, religion, or culture. Treatment of Sex Offenders Cognitive/Behavioral Therapy A weekly cognitive/behavioral group therapy session is offered to allow offenders to deal with their offence patterns, in order to prevent further offences. The session is based on the premise that sexual offending is fantasy driven behavior and, as such, offenders are required to record and discuss their sexual fantasies. The offenders record data in fantasy logs detailing the number and content of their sexual fantasies. The number of fantasies that the youths were able to stop, masturbatory frequency and the frequency and effectiveness of prevention strategies are also recorded in the fantasy journal. Then, information given by the offender is analyzed, in order to uncover and appropriately deal with cognitive distortions that permit and reinforce deviant fantasies. Deviant fantasies are discouraged, and appropriate sexual fantasies are encouraged. Psychotherapy The second type of treatment provided at Counterpoint House is psychotherapy, which is also offered in a group counseling setting once a week. These spontaneous, non-agenda driven group is based on the idea that sex offenders live secret lives, and are often victims of sexual abuse themselves. For example, Aylwin, et. al. (in press) found that among 103 adolescent child molesters, 77.9% were sexually abused at some point in their lives. The Counterpoint House Program acknowledges this correlation and attempts to address issues surrounding sexual abuse while treating adolescent sex offenders. The theme of the psychotherapy group is getting out the secrets, and success in the group is measured by an offenders participation, personal disclosure, ability to discuss sexual offending issues knowledgeably and ability to provide insight into personal and other group member issues. It has been noted by Counterpoint House staff that the psychotherapy group is where offenders in the program lea rn to trust and feel support, often for the first time. From this sense of trust and support, offenders are able to disclose relevant issues about themselves, and help treatment efforts progress with more ease. Furthermore, issues brought up in the psychotherapy group are followed up in individual counseling sessions that are carried out on an ongoing basis by most staff members involved in the Counterpoint House Program. Also, issues raised in individual counseling sessions are often later disclosed in the group sessions, so that the offender can gain the benefit of his peers insights into the issues and obtain necessary support. Skills Therapy Skills therapy is divided into three eight week sections that include: anger management, relapse prevention and psychosexual education. The anger management component assumes that sex offenders have anger management difficulties, and that sexual offences are one of the manifestations of this misplaced anger. Counterpoint House staff have developed their own program for addressing anger management of adolescent sex offenders, that encompasses 13 sessions where offenders learn about various anger management issues. Triggers, reactions and consequences of expressions of anger are explored, as well as the presentation of various models of anger. Additionally, cognitive distortions surrounding destructive expressions of anger are identified, and attempts are made to eliminate such distortions. Finally, in the latter sessions, a distinction is made between aggressive and assertive behavior. The main goal of anger management therapy is to replace destructive expressions of an ger with appropriate methods of communicating. Sex Offender Rehabilitation Program The Sex Offender Education Program (SOEP) is a four month program that assists sex offenders who pose a lower risk of re-offense or who is about to be released on a long term of supervision. The curriculum provides information on varying topics such as cognitive restructuring, healthy sexuality, interpersonal relationships and anger/stress management. The Sex Offender Treatment Program (SOTP) is an eighteen month program that deals with intensive treatment in an environment within a therapeutic community for sexual offenders that pose a high risk of re-offense. In this setting, offenders are offered immediate feedback regarding their treatment progress as well as behavior. The SOTP employs a cognitive-behavioral model within three treatment phases. The main goal within this program is to attempt to eliminate or possibly reduce the re-offense rate and move the participant toward a more pro-social lifestyle. All three phases occur in a Therapeutic Community environment, providing neces sary behavior modifiers that allow offenders immediate feedback about their behavior and treatment progress. Conclusion Although there have been many noteworthy research studies on sex offender recidivism in the past few decades, the factors that are associated or trigger re-offense are not concrete. Communication must be open between the justice system, researchers and Doctors that treat sexual offenders. Ultimately, with the gathering of information, the goal is to avoid repeat offenders from committing the crimes again and again. By studying these offenders, strategies could possibly be effectively managed so that these offenders can integrate back into normal society without fear. Through research and therapy, the goals are to prevent future victimization and a safer community. Strategies can be morphed by following the latest studies into re-offense so that those safety goals can be reached. While you can never know what is going on within a persons head completely, through study and research, a glimpse within the sexual offenders mind can be seen. Since there is no direct link between the amount of incarceration and recidivism, it is difficult to know with certainty if incarceration is truly the best, and main, tool to use. Whether with incarceration and therapy combined can truly change the mind of a sexual offender or deviant, remains to be seen. However, with the end goal being to keep our communities safe and have one less victim have to suffer through the aftermath and devastation of a sexual assault, more research of the criminals mind is an absolute must.

The Symptoms Of Dementia Health And Social Care Essay

The Symptoms Of Dementia Health And Social Care Essay Dementia is a group of symptoms affecting intellectual and social abilities, severely enough to interfere with daily functioning. It is caused by conditions or changes in the brain. Dementia is the loss of mental functions such as thinking, memory, and reasoning that interferes with a persons daily life and activities, Different types of dementia exist, depending on the cause. Alzheimers disease is the most common type. Dementia is a loss of the mind, it could be static which results from global brain injury or it could be progressive which results in long term decline in cognitive function (Hopkins). Dementia indicates problems with at least two brain functions, such as memory loss along with impaired judgment or language. Dementia has never been known to be a disease but a group of symptoms that causes diseases and conditions, some symptoms are changes in personality, mood, and behavior. Dementia can make someone confused and unable to remember the names and important people in the ir lives like the name of children, husband, sisters and brothers. Some cases of dementia can be treated or cured because the cause is treatable, like dementia caused by substance abuse e.g. street drugs, alcohol, controlled substances, dementia caused by severe depression. This is known as pseudo-dementia (false dementia) and is treatable. In most cases, a true dementia cannot be cured, because of some causes that are curable and partially treated; doctors must be thorough in making the decisions so as not to miss potentially treatable conditions. The frequency of treatable causes of dementia is believed to be about 10 % (WebMD 2010). Dementia is classified as cortical or sub cortical depending on the area that is affected. Cortical dementia affects the cerebral cortex or the outer layer of the brain; the cortex is a sheet of neural tissue that is outermost to the cerebrum of the mammalian brain. It plays a key role in memory, attention, thinking, awareness, consciousness and langu age.it could lead to problems with memory, thinking, and language, difficulty comprehending written or spoken material. Subcortical dementia results from dysfunction in the other brain areas below the cortex; it is the portion of the brain immediately below the cerebral cortex, this is a categorized dementia which can also bring about memory loss, degradation in thinking ability as well as changes in movement and emotions (Hopkins 2010). There are some related Dementia; Mild cognitive impairment is a transition stage between the cognitive decline of normal aging and the more serious problems caused by Alzheimers disease. This disorder can affect the language, writing and reading and could probably cause memory loss. Vascular dementia is the form of dementia that the condition is more than one; it is a group of syndromes relating to different vascular mechanisms. It is preventable and the early detection and an accurate diagnosis are important. Mixed dementia is a condition in which Alzheimers disease and vascular dementia occur at the same time, Dementia with Lewy body is a progressive declined disease or syndrome of the brain with several diseases, especially with two common diseases of older adults, Alzheimers and Parkinsons. Parkinson disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that often impairs the sufferers motor skills, speech, and other functions, Huntington disease, it is a genetically p rogrammed degeneration of nerve cells in certain areas of the brain. This degeneration causes uncontrolled movements, loss of intellectual faculties, and emotional disturbance. Creutzfeldt-jacob disease Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a rare, degenerative, neurological disorder that is invariably fatal and incurable. Normal pressure hydrocephalus is a condition in which there is too much cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles. This occurs when the natural system for draining and absorbing extra cerebrospinal fluid does not work right. Wernicke-korsakoff syndrome is a neurological disorder that could be acute or chronic which is caused by the deficiency in the B vitamin thiamine, Frontotemporal dementia is a degenerative condition of the part of the brain it is a clinical syndrome caused by degeneration of the frontal lobe of the brain and may extend back to the temporal lobe, It is one of three syndromes caused by frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Dementia has lots of symptoms and all varies depending on the cause, the common ones are memory loss, difficulty in performing activities of daily living, inappropriate behavior, aggitation, personality changes, difficulty with coordination and motor function. Dementia can be diagnoses in different ways; the doctor determines the kind of test, it is important for the doctors to rule out the curable dementia, like depression, normal pressure hydrocephalus, or vitamin B12 deficiency which can cause the same symptoms. Early diagnosis and treatment is important for the patient. The different ways of diagnosing is autopsy to confirm or refine the clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer disease, the patient history so as to help the doctor rule out some conditions, physical examination to help the doctor rule out the treatable and curable cause of dementia and identify some other illness in the body which and coincide with dementia, neurological examination to assess the sensory neuron and motor neuron, especially reflexes to determi ne if the nervous system is functioning and to determine a movement disorder or stroke that may affect the patients diagnosis, lab test to rule out some symptoms like kidney failure that could contribute to the cause of dementia, the test includes complete blood count, urinalysis, blood glucose test, cerebrospinal fluid analysis etc. Brain scan to detect abnormalities of the brain the size of 5 mm and larger, it can also be used by doctors to identify stroke, tumor or other problems that causes dementia, there are different kinds of brain scan which are, computed tomography (CT) which combines special x-ray equipment with complicated computers to produce multiple images or pictures of the inside of the brain. These images of the area being studied can then be examined on a computer monitor, printed or transferred to a CD and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) used in radiology to visualize detailed internal structure and limited function of the body. Psychiatric evaluation used to det ermine there is depression including sad, hopeless or worthless, or another form of psychiatric disorder which may be contributing to the symptoms of dementia, and presymptomatic testing is used when no treatment available stands in contrast to genetic testing done for the diagnosis of the dementia (White). There is no specific treatment for dementia; the treatment is to treat the cause. Patient with dementia needs to be under the supervision of medical care to focus on the quality care, medication and treatments such as therapy, and family members to help in activities of daily living, and to help the patient cope with many challenges. The goal of treatment is to control the symptoms of the disease; some patient might be hospitalized for a short period of time. The available drugs that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved to determine the treatment of behavioral disorder in patient with dementia is antipsychotic medication which includes, Risperdal, Seroquel, Zyprexa and Abilify, they are used to reduce the psychotic symptoms of dementia and allow the patient to function effective and appropriately (FDA 2005). Drugs for treatment of dementia should be avoided unless they are really necessary, before any of these drugs are prescribed doctors make sure the patient is physicall y healthy, comfortable and well taken care of. Some symptoms that also be treated is when patient is pain, have problems with sight and have difficulty hearing, all this can make patient more confused and increase their vulnerability. It is essential for patients to take the drugs exactly as prescribed to make it effective, but if the symptoms are not controlled the doctor may refer the patient to a specialist for further advice. There are some possible side effects of these drugs that may worsen the symptoms which are muscle stiffness, tremor, anemia, depression, heart failure, infection, nutritional disorder, hypoxia and abnormal movements, which must be listed on the drug guide. The doctor usually starts the medication with low dose and gradually increase the dose until the desired outcome is achieved. It is important to inform the doctor about any other drug that the patient is taking to avoid contraindications and once treatment is established it is important to review it regul arly. In most cases these drugs should not be prescribed for more than three months and patient should not assume that if the has been proved to be effective does not mean it is going to be effective on them. There are some more drugs that can be prescribed which are mood stabilizer (citalopram, fluoxetine, and imipramine), stimulant (methylphenidate) and serotonin affecting drugs (trazodone, buspirone), information on how to take this drugs must be provided by the doctor or pharmacist. What is Alzheimer? Alzheimers disease is a brain disorder named after German physician Alois Alzheimer, who first described it in 1906 Alzheimers, it is irreversible, slowly progressive disease of the brain that is characterized by impairment of memory and eventually by disturbances in reasoning, planning, language, perception memory and thinking skills, and even the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. It is cited as number one mental health among people age 60 and the risk goes up as you get older. The risk is also higher if a family member has had the disease. Alzheimer is a progressive disorder that starts in the brain in the area that involves thought, memory and language. It is characterized by the stage of increasing impairment and dependency (alz.org2010). People with Alzheimer disease may have trouble remembering things that happened recently or names of people. The earliest sign of Alzheimer disease is behavior such as suspiciousness and a thought process heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion, angry, outburst, withdrawal. Over the time the symptoms of Alzheimer gets worse, they tends to forget how to speak, write, read, brush their teeth, comb their hair and even forget family members this might make them aggressive, wander around, and get stressed. The cause of Alzheimer disease is unknown but lots of factors have been explored. There is no single test that can detect Alzheimer but the disease is diagnosed by some symptoms, some findings on neurological examination and some result from diagnostic test. The tests show the possible sign and symptoms. The pathological hallmark associated with Alzheimers disease is amyloid plaque and neurofibrillary tangles, amyloid is found between nerve cells in the brain. Amyloids are insoluble fibrous protein aggregates sharing specific structural traits that the body produces normally, in an healthy brain the amyloid are broken and diminishes but in an Alzheimers disease the amyloi d form hard and insoluble plaques. Neurofibrillary tangles are also found in the brain of Alzheimer disease patients, this is the accumulation of twisted protein filaments within neurons of the cerebral cortex; a characteristic pathological feature found in the brains of Alzheimers disease patients. In Alzheimers disease, there is an overall shrinkage of brain tissue and theories have proved that there is no cure for it. The part of the brain called sulci are widened while the part called gyri shrunk. The ventricle that contains the cerebrospinal fluid is enlarged. The disease Alzheimer is affecting over 5.3 millions of Americans; it cost over $148 billion annually to take care of an Alzheimers patient (Alazraki). In the early stages of Alzheimers disease, the short-term memory begins to fade, when the cells in the brain begins to diminishes, the ability to perform routine tasks declines. As Alzheimers disease spreads through the cerebral cortex judgment declines, emotional outbursts may occur and language is impaired. As the disease progresses, more nerve cells die, leading to changes in behavior, such as wandering and agitation. In the final stages of the disease, people may lose the ability to recognize faces and communicate; they normally cannot control bodily functions and require constant care. Physicians discuss with the patient and family which tests are most appropriate to establish the correct diagnosis but there is no test that diagnose Alzheimer disease, but the disease is diagnosed by the symptoms, firstly patients have to complete a physical examination to rule out some symptoms, the patient the patient mental status and neuropsychological will be assessed to determine which thinking and memory function may be affected. The patient may have a psychiatric assessment to rule out some mental illness and depression. The patient may be asked to do a brain scan (MRI, CT scan, and PET scan) to help detect signs and symptoms of stroke that can bring changes to the structure of brain associated with thinking. Blood test may be ordered to check for infection, kidney and liver function, electrolyte level, thyroid disorder and other factors that can cause memory loss. Other tests that sometimes provide important diagnostic information include electroencephalogram (EEG), urine t ests, and tests on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) obtained by a lumbar puncture. The possible drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are tacrine which should be taken on an empty stomach, one hour before, or two hours after meals. If stomach upset occurs, it may be taken with meals; however, food can decrease tacrine blood levels significantly. The possible side effect of this drug is diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, muscle ache and loss of appetite. Donepezil is expected to delay the onset of Alzheimer disease for about one year in people suffering from mild cognitive impairment; it belongs to a class of drugs called cholinesterase inhibitors, it inhibits acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme responsible for the destruction of one neurotransmitter, acetylcholine. The possible side effects associated with this drug include headache, generalized pain, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, weight loss, dizziness, muscle cramping, joint pain, diarrhea, insomnia, and increased frequency of urination. Namenda was actually prescribed for moderate to severe stage Alzheimer disease but now is being prescribed even in earlier stages of the disease, Namenda is an orally active receptor antagonist that regulates the activity of glumate in the brain. Cholinesterase inhibitors are used to treat cognitive functions and behavioral symptoms in Lewy body disease. Clonazepam is a benzodiazepine derivative with anticonvulsant and muscle relaxant, it is generally considered to be among the long-acting benzodiazepines and Opiate drugs used to relieve pain. Antipsychotic drugs not approved by FDA are sometimes used to treat agitation include, Risperidone Benzodiazepines and drugs such as Olanzapine , Quetiapine , Ziprasadone .The drugs increase the risk of death in elderly patients and the side effects include sedation, confusion and increased muscle tone. CITATION Charles L. White, Autopsy for dementia 2010 Croft, Harry. Psychiatric medication medication for mental illness http://www.healthplace.com/otherinfo/psychiatric-disorder-definations/medication. 5 may 2010 Alazraki, Melly. Nothing you can do will help daily finance 5/01/10. 11.00am http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/nih-on-alzheimer-much/19460466/mellyalazraki Hopkins, John. Special Report. 7thth ed. New York: new York Times, 2009. Print. Kesner, Julian. Three new dementia fighters. Prevention Jan. 2009: 104. Professional Collection. Web. 04 May, 2010 Webmd.com 2010

The Establishment of the Electoral College Essay -- essays research pa

The Electoral College is the system established by the Founding Fathers to select the President of the United States. It is important that Americans have a fundamental knowledge of this system, and the obstacles overcame in its development. There were many obstacles faced by the Founding Fathers while constructing the government. America was comprised of 13 states that wanted to protect their individual rights and leery of a strong centralized government. The nation’s population lay across a vast area with limited communication capabilities. In addition, the Founders believed that a true gentleman should not campaign for office. â€Å"The office should seek the man, the man should not seek the office† was the saying. They challenged themselves with overcoming these and other obstacles in order to produce a system that would provide a stable and powerful executive branch of government.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Constitutional Congress set out to develop a way to select the president. One idea proposed was to have Congress elect the president. Some felt that this procedure would invite political bargaining and corruption. They felt the president might feel obligated to aid Congress in passing legislation by not vetoing. Others felt this system would upset the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches of government. In spite of its drawbacks, this system was brought to a vote on four separate occasions(Peirce 39). A second idea was to have the president elected by a direct vote system. Many people did not believe in this type of system, however three very prominent figures did: James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris, and James Madison(Peirce 41). They believed that the duty of the president was to protect the people from the legislature, and that the people should be allowed to their protector. However, most of the Founders believed that the average citi zen would not have enough knowledge of the candidates to make an educated choice. They believed that the people were generally misinformed and easily misled(Peirce 41). The direct vote system also favored the larger more populated states with little regard for the people of the smaller ones. This system was voted down twice, but aided in recognizing the drawbacks of the Congress electing the president(Peirce 41). A third idea was to have the state legislatures select the president. This idea w... ...tate is allowed to cast only one vote collectively. This applies to the election of vice president also. In addition, either the presidential or the vice presidential candidate voted for by the elector has to be from outside that elector’s own state.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Electoral College has been used as the system to select the President of the United States for over two hundred years. The system was devised by the Founding Fathers to ensure that the selected president would receive the support of all the states. The system helped to maintain a strong centralized government and union. The Electoral College has been used to maintain a fair presidential selection system with little room for corruption or favoritism. It has been a part of our system of checks and balances by maintaining a clearly defined separation of the legislative and executive branches. There have been some bumps along the way, however the Electoral College is still an essential part of our elections system. Works Cited Glennon, Michael J. When No Majority Rules. Washington: Congressional Quarterly Inc, 1992. Peirce, Neal R. The People’s President. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1968.

Save the Whales Essay -- Environmental

Every day whales around the world are being killed. Although some whales are being killed for scientific purposes, the majority of them are killed for their meat by poachers or whalers working for different countries. Careless companies dispose of their waste incorrectly, and in today's society, people do not seem to care about anything but themselves. Arguments can be made both for saving the whales and for killing them; this is a topic that has caused much debate over the past two decades, not only in America, but worldwide. Environmentalists and international governing groups have squared off against whale poachers and countries who ignore the laws governing whales, in an attempt to stop the ongoing, unnecessary killing. All marine life is affected by careless human activity. Man-made pollution from dumps, chemical plants, power plants, and pesticides all flow and spread throughout the oceans of the world. Even low-level contamination of small, sometimes microscopic species causes highly concentrated contamination in larger marine life, specifically whales. Plankton, the main constituent of a whale's diet, is a very small organism that drifts for thousands of miles throughout the oceans, and as a result easily spreads pesticides, toxic metals, and other contaminants throughout the ocean. When the whales eat the plankton, the small amounts of contamination become highly concentrated in the whales systems. Pollution, although deadly over long periods of time, is not the main source of unnecessary whale death worldwide. A recent technology developed by the US Navy emits the most powerful sound known to man straight into the ocean waters. This newly developed technology, called low frequency active sonar (LFA), was d... ...a> http://files.hsus.org/web-files//PDF/SWNW_IWCFctsht.pdf Defenders of Wildlife: http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/new/marine/whales/climate.html Save the Whales: http://www.savethewhales.org Humane Society of the U.S.: http://www.hsus.org/ace/19943 WhaleNet Population Study: http://whale.wheelock.edu/whalenet-stuff/ser_population.html Pro-Whaling Nations: http://files.hsus.org/web-files//PDF/SWNW_ProWhalingFctsht.pdf

Scientific Revolution Dbq

*The Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries brings to mind great scientists like Galileo who dedicated themselves to math and science in order to help human learning. Advances were made in chemistry, astronomy, math, and even more branches of science by these men. However, they were not the ones whose thoughts were able to change that of the people in charge, i. e. , the Pope and the powerful rulers of that time.Without those people, the ideas of the scientists would never have been accepted by the general public. The thoughts of those people such as religious figures, philosophers, and even men working in the state were those that most helped to push the scientific revolution forward, because they broke boundaries and changed the way even society itself reacted to new ideas and developments. **The year 1554 was one of the first years that a free thinker came into the picture.John Calvin, a French Protestant theologian, disagreed with the fact that the study of astronom y should be outlawed by the Church, saying, â€Å"This study should not be prohibited, nor this science condemned, because some frantic persons boldly reject whatever is unknown to them,† (doc. 2). He had even formed his own religions, to become known later as Calvinism, because he so disagreed with the Church. Just a few years earlier, Polish priest and astronomer Nicholas Copernicus had agreed in a more mild way, saying, â€Å"The learned and unlearned alike may see that I shrink from no criticism,† (doc. ) meaning that he would continue his studies no matter what others told him. Both these religious men, though in different religions, thought the same thing about the fact that knowledge and learning should have no boundaries. Galileo himself was living proof of what these two men are discussing; his books were banned by the Church and put under house arrest for the last years of his life because his teachings disagreed with the Church.People all over the world, inc luding people within the Church like Copernicus, began to see that the Church was conflicting with the opportunity to discover many new things. **Many philosophers had the same ideas about learning and the fact that it must be expanded. Francis Bacon, as English philosopher of science, said that â€Å"the true and lawful goal of science is this: that human knowledge be endowed with new discoveries and powers,† (doc. 4). He believed that learning new things was absolutely necessary to all of mankind itself.Another philosopher that was way ahead of her time was Margaret Cavendish, an English natural philosopher. She said, â€Å"Were it allowable for our sex, I might set up my own school of natural philosophy,† (doc. 9). Though it would be many years before this would actually happen Cavendish, like these other men, wanted to open people's eyes up to new possibilities. She also wanted them to accept scientists, though she was speaking of the female gender. Thomas Hobbes, an English philosopher, talks not about how the Church would limit knowledge, but how the state itself would.He believes that, because geometry does not appear to matter to people because it has nothing to do with â€Å"ambition, lust or profit,† people will mostly leave it alone. But, he says that if some geometry postulate or theorem would â€Å"conflict with the interest of those who rule,† he knows that â€Å"it would be suppressed,† (doc. 7). Hobbes believes wholeheartedly that any king or queen would censor new discoveries should they not be want they want their people to know. *Despite Hobbes' views, there were some people involved in the state who tried to encourage scientists to gather their knowledge together. Henry Oldenburg, secretary of the English Royal Society, had wanted scientists to all come together as a community. He said, â€Å"Friendship should be spread through the world of learning, and established among those whose minds are above parti san zeal because of their devotion to truth and human welfare,† (doc. 6).Oldenburg believed that communities of learning would greatly benefit the world at that time, and all of mankind to come. Jean Baptiste Colbert, French finance minister under Louis XIV, wrote a letter saying how the state also must allow arts and sciences to flourish, and that he has been persuaded to establish many scientific academies to help science prosper (doc. 11). This can be shown being put into action a few years later, with a drawing of all the great minds and projects at work in the French Royal Academy, a place where learning could flourish (doc. 0). **Free thinkers of the Scientific Revolution such as religious men, philosophers, and statesmen, despite the fact that they were not considered â€Å"scientists,† made the most important contributions in these time periods. Though they did not actually change the way the people viewed the physical world like some scientists, they changed th e way the people of that time period thought. These were the people that opened their eyes so that they could see the new discoveries made by scientists. These were the

Caribbean Slavery Essay

Slaves were people captured in war, used to settle a debt, or made slaves as a means of punishment. The Spaniards in the Caribbean had little need for African slaves in the early 1500s for various reasons. The Treaty of Tordesillas, which was a line of demarcation drawn north to south, west of the Azores and Cape Verde’s, stipulated that the areas west of the line belonged to the Spaniards and the east to the Portuguese. As a result of the treaty Africa was on Portugal’s side of the line, so in order for Spaniards to obtain African slaves they had to go through the Portuguese. During the period of the early 1500s the Treaty of Tordesillas resulted in the Portuguese being the first nation that the Spaniards granted an asiento. This was granted in 1515. These special licenses, asientos, only allowed a specific number of slaves into a diverse number of countries and limited the need for African slaves. The cost to ship slaves from West Africa to Portugal and Spain and then to the Americas proved prohibitive. There was easier access to Taino labour and it was unnecessary to spend extra money on importing slaves. Tainos were used to find and mine the gold because they were familiar with the surroundings and there were enough Tainos to mine the little gold the Spaniards had found. Indentured servants or white servants also contributed to the need for only a small number of African slaves in the 1500s. Indentured servants (contracted workers; poor people from Europe) started to migrate to the Caribbean from Europe, as the Caribbean were advertised as having prospects of a new life and jobs. Their contracts usually lasted four to five years. The islands that were found in the Caribbean needed to be developed in order to make them suitable for living. The Spaniards offered property as an incentive to attract people who would develop the islands and settle there. This was how indentured servants were coaxed into migrating. Eventually however, the Amerindians and white servants were no longer a sufficient labour force. B. The Amerindians were not used to the working conditions and thus died. Also, Old World diseases such as measles, diphtheria, typhus, cholera, scarlet fever, chicken pox, yellow fever, whooping cough, smallpox, influenza and gonorrhea affected them while some died from depression. Indentured servants were unskilled in cultivation and unwilling to work. They were unaccustomed to the conditions of the Caribbean and succumbed to various New World diseases such as syphilis and yellow fever. Africans worked harder, survived the conditions of the Caribbean better (similar conditions existed in Africa), knew how to plant tropical plants, and were more resistant to Old World diseases. They were also less costly than indentured servants and there was a more constant supply of African slaves than indentured servants. The trade winds which blew from east to west made coming to the Caribbean from Africa very easy. That is in comparison to traveling from Europe to the Caribbean which was difficult as the trade winds worked against sailing ships. Also ships had a longer distance to cover when they sailed to the Caribbean from Europe. African slaves were their master’s property. Masters could do whatever they pleased with the African slaves as they paid for them and they were their property. Offspring produced by said slaves was also their master’s property. This added to the reliability of African slaves as there would always be another generation to enslave. Indentured servants could easily escape as they had the same appearances, knew the culture and language and therefore could easily blend into the crowd and disappear with the influx of people coming and leaving the Caribbean islands. Africans could not do this because of their colour and it would be difficult for them to escape. This added to the appeal of using African slaves. Plantation owners became greedy and no longer wanted to give or offer their sugar lands so as to attract indentured servants to come to the Caribbean. The plantation owners saw the Africans as a commodity therefore did not have to give any incentive to attract them because they were their property and enslaved to them. For these reasons the Africans were seen as a perfect source of labour. Increased work resulted in increased productivity, which increased the wealth of the Spaniards. C. By the 1600s and 1700s African slaves became more popular in the Caribbean. Amerindians had died out by the 1500’s due to diseases, overwork and ill-treatment. Indentured servants had lost fervour in coming to the Caribbean as it was costly to travel and the chances of surviving the tropical conditions were slim. Some ran away, breaking their contract, to become Buccaneers. The decline in the number of available indentured servants and Tainos, and the growth of the colonies increased the need for labour. Sugar had become very popular and was in demand on the European market. The wealth that sugar brought was recognized and more land as cultivated for sugar production. The sugar revolution had begun and the Dutch saw an opportunity to sell slaves in the Caribbean as there was a rise in labour needs. The Dutch were granted an asiento in 1667, by this time Dutch trading in African slaves became very popular. Additionally, slaves were severely abused and thus many died. The rapid demise of slaves from the harsh conditions resulted in a constant need and t his also added to the â€Å"great extension of African slavery in the rest of the Caribbean in the 1600s and 1700s†.