Racial Profiling is a Valuable Policing Tool Essay -- Racial Profiling

Former President Clinton called for a national crackdown on racial profiling and ordered federal law enforcement authorities to begin an investigation. (1) Vice President Al Gore promised the NAACP that should he become president eliminating the practice of racial profiling by the nation's police departments would be a top priority. (2) New Jersey Governor Christy Whitman fired Police Superintendent Carl Williams after the 35-year veteran trooper said in an interview that minorities are more likely to be involved in drug trafficking. (3) In the case of State of New Jersey v. Pedro Soto, et. al., the attorney for the black defendants moved to suppress evidence from traffic stops deemed to be discriminatory enforcement of the traffic laws. (4) On March 4, 1996, New Jersey Superior Court judge, Robert E. Francis, in granting the motion, held that "unrebutted statistical evidence of disproportionate traffic stops against African-American motorists established de facto policy of targeting blacks for investigation and arrest and thus established selective enforcement violating the equal protection and due process clauses. The motion to suppress evidence, resulted in criminal charges being dismissed against all 19 defendants. (5) What is racial profiling? Does it serve any purpose? In the most general terms, racial profiling is a process whereby people employ a cheap-to-observe physical characteristic, such as race, sex, height, weight and accent, as a proxy for a more costly-to-observe characteristic. It is prejudice, in the sense of the word's Latin root - the act of pre-judging. Another way to define pre-judging is that it is the practice of making decisions on the basis of incomplete information. Since the acquisition of i... ...ficially sanctioned or de facto policy of targeting minorities for investigation and arrest, any evidence seized will be suppressed to deter future insolence in office by those charged with enforcement of the law and to maintain judicial integrity. U.S.C.A. Const. Amend. 14. 6. The age-adjusted incidence of prostate cancer is higher in black males (142.0 per 100,000) compared with white males (108.3 per 100,000). 7. Approximately 80,000 Americans have sickle-cell disease. About 9% of blacks have the trait, and an estimated one in 500 blacks. One in every 1,000 to 1,400 American Hispanic children are born with sickle-cell disease itself. The high incidence of the sickle-cell gene in these and other specific populations is due to its ability to make red blood cells resistant to the malaria parasite. 8. In this group, the incidence is 1 out of 2,500 people.

Grief Therapy: Nature and application Essay

Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bereavement is viewed as a normal part of human experience and considered as well as a vital aspect to the human state. Many of those who experience the loss of a loved one receive support and care from significant others and friends. A marginal number of bereaved people face critical and at times lasting consequences while the rest of the majority manages to prevail over their grief in the course of time. Those who find this time of bereavement and mourning incapacitating therefore need professional therapeutic help (Corr, 1999). A lot of those Psychotherapeutic interventions for bereavement differ extensively, and comprise individual and group techniques. Among the numerous intervention programs which were devised to diminish the anguish and distress connected with mourning is grief therapy and has been reviewed for its effectiveness. This paper outlines the use of grief therapy, the statistics surrounding its use, such as how prevalent grief therapy is, the populations which utilize it and to what degree it helps resolve issues and other relevant matters to grief therapy. Discussion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Who uses grief therapy? Social worker Dennis M. Reilly states, â€Å"We do not necessarily need a whole new profession of . . . bereavement counselors. We do need more thought, sensitivity, and activity concerning this issue on the part of the existing professional groups; that is, clergy, funeral directors, family therapists, nurses, social workers and physicians† (Worden 1991, p. 5). Trained therapists may be physicians, junior hospital or clinical medical students. Barclay et al (2003) were able to study general practitioners in Wales to ascertain how well prepared they are to care for the dying.  Ã‚   It is likely then that although there are several available professional therapists, with various support groups sprouting these days, help for the sufferer is no longer elusive. Where is grief therapy conducted and in what format? Grief therapy by and large is carried out in a constrained area (usually an office setting). These areas may be located in hospitals (for both inpatients and their families and for outpatients), mental health clinics, churches, synagogues, chemical dependency inpatient and out-patient programs, schools, universities, funeral home aftercare programs, employee assistance programs, and programs that serve chronically ill or terminally ill persons. Additional sites might include adult or juvenile service locations for criminal offenders. Private practice (when a counselor or therapist works for herself) is another opportunity to provide direct client services (Barclay et al., 2003).    When Is Grief Counseling or Therapy Needed? Based on studies by many experts, including John Jordan, grief counseling and grief therapy techniques are put to test and redesigned by new research. In their article published in the journal Death Studies, Selby Jacobs, Carolyn Mazure, and Holly Prigerson state, â€Å"The death of a family member or intimate exposes the afflicted person to a higher risk for several types of psychiatric disorders. These include major depressions, panic disorders, generalized anxiety disorders, posttraumatic stress disorders; and increased alcohol use and abuse† (Jacobs, Mazure, and Prigerson 2000, p. 185). They encourage the development of a new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) category entitled â€Å"Traumatic Grief,† which would facilitate early detection and intervention for those bereaved persons affected by this disorder. Researcher Phyllis Silverman is concerned that messages dealing with the resolution of grief, especially a new category entitled â€Å"Traumatic Grief,† may do more harm to the mourner. She states, â€Å"If this initiative succeeds (‘Traumatic Grief’), it will have serious repercussions for how we consider the bereaved—they become persons who are suffering from a psychiatric diagnose or a condition eligible for reimbursed services from mental health professionals† (Silverman 2001). She feels the new DSM category may help provide the availability of more services, but believes it is important to consider what it means when predictable, expected aspects of the life cycle experience are called â€Å"disorders† that require expert care. When one thinks of grief counselors and grief therapists one is again reminded that grief and bereavement is a process, not an event. How do persons cope and adapt? Grief counseling or grief therapy intervention can be useful at any point in the grief process, before and/or after a death.  Ã‚   Grief counseling and therapy do not only begin after death. Then again, is this actually accurate? According to clinician, researcher and writer Therese Rando, Anticipatory grief is the phenomenon encompassing the process of mourning, coping, interaction, planning, and psychosocial reorganization that are stimulated and begun in part in response to the awareness of the impending loss of a loved one and the recognition of associated losses in the past, present, and future. It is seldom explicitly recognized, but the truly therapeutic experience of anticipatory grief mandates a delicate balance among the mutually conflicting demands of simultaneously holding onto, letting go of, and drawing closer to the dying patient. (Rando 2000, p. 29) Based also on in-depth studies made by Schut and Stroebe, grief therapy, when applied soon after bereavement may not alleviate but instead render therapy ineffective or else even interfere with the â€Å"normal† grieving manner (p.141,2005).. These scholars further say â€Å"intervention is more effective for those with more complicated forms of grief.† This is further confirmed from expert psychotherapist-researcher Worden who believes grief therapy is most proper in conditions that fall into three types: (1) The complicated grief reaction is manifested as prolonged grief; (2) the grief reaction manifests itself through some masked somatic or behavioral symptom; or (3) the reaction is manifested by an exaggerated grief response. People experiencing this kind of bereavement may not be that easy to recognize hence diagnostic techniques are crucial tools for the practitioner (Zisook, 2000). Grief therapy is not for everyone and is not a â€Å"cure† for the grieving process, Worden concludes.    Recent investigations as to the efficacy of therapy or interventions were made in response to criticisms made a decade ago by Robak (p.701-702, 1999). He held that the bereavement research field failed to provide empirical studies on psychotherapy and counseling. According to Schut and Stroebe (p.142), researchers must determine that the psychological remedies or therapies for bereaved persons have been demonstrated to be successful in controlled research with a delineated population. However, in the area of grief counseling and therapy, â€Å"†¦well-established interventions (i.e. those well-described and transferable, with treatment manual, tested, replicated and found effective, and accompanied by indications and counter-indications) are not available. This is largely based on stringent criteria adopted for efficacy studies (p.143). This implies that sources for the use of grief therapy, its efficacy and who practices this treatment program is therefore limited. As Schut and Stroebe (p.146) declare â€Å" †¦ although small steps in the right direction are now being taken, this fundamental message still holds; to create a body of sound scientific knowledge , the research agenda for the future must expand the number of well-designed and executed empirical studies on the efficacy of bereavement intervention. Synthesis and Conclusion  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is a major new †Report on Bereavement and Grief Research† made by the Center for the Advancement of Health which settled, †A growing body of evidence indicates that interventions with adults who are not experiencing complicated grief cannot be regarded as beneficial in terms of diminishing grief-related symptoms.† The report indicated that there is very little support for the effectiveness of interventions like crisis teams that call on family members within hours of a loss, self-help groups that seek to foster friendships, efforts to show the bereaved ways to work through grief and a host of other therapeutic approaches believed to help the bereaved (The New York Times, Oct.9, 2006). Counseling and therapy are opportunities for those who seek support to help move from only coping to being transformed by the loss—to find a new â€Å"normal† in their lives and to know that after a loved one dies one does not remove that person from his or her life, but rather learns to develop a new relationship with the person now that he or she has died. In A Time to Grieve: Mediations for Healing after the Death of a Loved One (1994) the writer Carol Crandall states, â€Å"You don’t heal from the loss of a loved one because time passes; you heal because of what you do with the time† (Staudacher 1994, p. 92). Even when bereavement therapy is needed, however, the benefit may depend on the approach used. For example, most bereavement groups focus on emotional issues. These are most helpful to women. But men tend to grieve differently, and they are more likely to benefit from an approach that focuses on their processes of thinking. Caring friends and relatives often coax those who have just suffered the loss of a loved one to seek professional help, either by taking part in a bereavement group or through individual psychotherapy. But Dr. Robert A. Neimeyer, professor of psychology at the University of Memphis, editor of the scientific journal Death Studies and chairman of the committee that prepared the new report, said in an interview: †Not everyone requires the same thing. Dealing with grief is not a ‘one size fits all’ proposition.† Moreover, Dr. George Bonanno, psychologist at Columbia’s Teachers College, has found that the bereaved who naturally avoid emotions should not be forced to confront grief. Even three years later, such people show no traumatic consequences as a result of suppressing it, he reported. In more than half the cases, Dr. Neimeyer explained, far more useful than therapy to the bereaved are the empathy and emotional and physical support that friends, relatives and caring people in the neighborhood and at work can provide in the first weeks and months after a death. Only when grieving is †complicated† — intense and protracted, associated with deep unrelieved depression and interfering with normal enjoyments, life tasks or an ability to work — is there a clear-cut need for grief therapy, Dr. Neimeyer said. Dr. Hansson of Tulsa observes that many people who experience complicated grief have neither faced their losses nor allowed themselves to work through the emotions that naturally ensue. If, months down the road, a bereaved person is still grieving intensely, therapy should be sought, Dr. Neimeyer said. Among the hallmarks of complicated grief he listed are †intrusive thoughts about the deceased, recurrent images of how the person died, a continual quest to reconnect with the deceased, corrosive loneliness, feeling purposeless and empty, difficulty believing the death ever happened and feeling that the world cannot be trusted. Treating people with these symptoms is important because their unresolved grief can have serious, even life-threatening health consequences, including high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, substance abuse and suicide. †Such people can literally die of a broken heart,† Dr. Neimeyer said.   Ã‚   Perhaps the most revealing study of the varying courses of bereavement was undertaken by Dr. Bonanno, Dr. Camille B. Wortman, a psychologist at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and six co-authors. They evaluated 1,532 people (all married, with at least one partner of each couple over age 65), then followed them for up to eight years. When a spouse died, they assessed the bereavement experiences of the widow or widower over time. This is what they found: 1) Forty-six percent of the survivors were †resilient.† They experienced transitory distress, but scored low in depression both before the death and at 6 and 18 months after losing their spouses. 2) Eleven percent followed a common grief course, with rather severe depression at 6 months that had largely disappeared by 18 months. 3) Sixteen percent, who were not initially depressed, nonetheless were devastated afterward, experiencing prolonged depression. 4) Eight percent were chronically depressed beforehand, with the depression worsened by the death. 5)But 10 percent who had been depressed before the death did very well afterward, perhaps because they had been in bad marriages or were relieved from the burdens of taking care of ill spouses. 6) The remaining 9 percent did not fit into any category. , people may require very different therapy or no therapy at all.†Ã‚   The available evidence therefore, points out that interventions for individuals at risk for complications of bereavement may result in some benefit for a short while. However, the findings are inconsistent and they vary based on the factors such as the gender of participants and whether they were first screened before participating in the studies, which appears to increase the likelihood that the interventions would be successful (e.g. Schut et al., 2001). The concepts of complicated grief are fairly recent in bereavement research and this is the reason that no controlled studies exist that pertains directly to its treatment (Jacobs & Prigerson, 2000, p.479). References Casarett D, Kutner JS, Abrahm J, et al: Life after death: a practical approach togrief and bereavement. Ann Intern Med 134 (3): 208-15, 2001. Corr, Charles A. â€Å"Children, Adolescents, and Death: Myths, Realities and Challenges.† Death Studies 23 (1999): 443–463. Bonano GA, Boerner C, Wortman B.: resilient or at Risk? A 4-year study of Older Adults Who initially Showed High or Low Distress following Conjugal Loss. J. Gerontol B. Psychol.Sci.Soc. Sci, March 1, 2005; 60(2):p67-p73. Hansson R., Stroebe M: Grief, Older Adulthood. In: Gullota T, bloom M (eds): Encyclopedia of Primary Prevention & health promotion. New York: Plenum, 2003, pp.515-521. Jacobs S & Prigerson H. (2000) .Psychotherapy of traumatic grief: a review of evidence for psychotherapeutic treatments. Death Studies, 24, 479-495. Jacobs, Shelby, Carolyn Mazure, and Holly Prigerson. â€Å"Diagnostic Criteria for Traumatic Grief.† Death Studies 24 (2000):185–199. Neimeyer R. (2000).Searching for the meaning of meanings: grief therapy and the process of reconstruction. Death Studies,24:531-558. Neimeyer, Robert. Lessons of Loss: A Guide to Coping. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998. Rando, Therese A. Clinical Dimensions of Anticipatory Mourning. Champaign, IL: Research Press, 2000. Rando TA: Treatment of Complicated Mourning. Champaign: Research Press, 1993. Schut H, Stroebe M, van den Bout J, & Terheggen M, (2001). The efficacy of bereavement interventions: Determining who benefits. In Stroebe, M et al.eds., Handbook of bereavement: consequences, coping, and care. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, pp. 705-737. Schucter SR, Zisook S: Treatment of spousal bereavement: a multidimensional approach. Psychiatr Ann 16 (5): 295-306, 1986. Staudacher, Carol. A Time to Grieve: Mediations for Healing after the Death of a Loved One. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1994. Stroebe, Margaret, and Henk Schut. â€Å"The Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement: Rationale and Description.† Death Studies 23 (1999):197–224. Worden JW: Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy. New York: Springer Publishing Company, 1991. The New York Times, Oct.9,2006 Zisook S & Schuchter S. (2001). Treatment of the depressions of bereavement. American Behavioral Scientist, 44(5);782-797. Zisook S: Understanding and managing bereavement in palliative care. In: Chochinov HM, Breitbart W, eds: Handbook of Psychiatry in Palliative Medicine. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000, pp 321-34.

Essay about Euthanasia And The Law - 1846 Words

Euthanasia and the Law nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;A severely handicapped or terminally ill person should have the right to choose to live or die. The right to live; the right to choose to live or die should not only be a right allocated for bodied individuals of sound mind but for all human beings. Euthanasia is a controversial issue which encompasses the morals, values and beliefs of our society. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Euthanasia, literally defined means quot;good deathquot;. There are two types of euthanasia, active and passive. Active euthanasia is the intentional killing of a person by medical personnel either by a lethal injection or by denying ordinary means of survival. The act of euthanasia called quot;passive†¦show more content†¦In the United States, living wills have become legally binding documents, in most states. The recognition of the living will as a legally binding document is one of the first necessary step required in the legalization of euthanasia ant the recognition of ones right to their own life. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Every person has the right to choose to live or die. This statement is a reality for most individuals, but for many terminally ill or permanently disabled patients this right cannot be exercised. Many patients lose control of the function of their arms and or legs and become completed dependent. The question then becomes, quot;When does ones quality of life reach such a low level that life then becomes not worth living?quot;. A person, at any time, should be able to make this decision. Under the existing law Canadians are not granted this right, the right to their own life. An example of the absence of the quot;right to diequot;, can be seen through the examination of a case from 1990. A woman named Michelle Frenette wanted to be disconnected from the respirator which was keeping her alive. Her doctors refused to disconnect her from the respirator without a court order. Michelles family could not afford to go to court, and legal aid does not provide assistance in such cases. So, Michelle lay there, for two years until her eventual death. She should have been able to end her life, without having to obtain aShow MoreRelatedThe Need For Euthanasia Law For Nations2097 Words   |  9 Pages The Need for Euthanasia law for Nations Ending an individual’s life intentionally for the purpose of relieving the person from pain or suffering is considered as euthanasia. A good example of euthanasia is a case where a doctor opts to give a cancer patient an overdose of drugs that is supposed to make him die. Encouraging or aiding a person in committing suicide intentionally could be regarded as assisted suicide. An example could be acquiring a powerful sedative for a person who is terminallyRead MoreThe Laws Regarding Euthanasia Essay741 Words   |  3 PagesThe Laws Regarding Euthanasia An Introduction Euthanasia is the act or practice of ending the life of an individual suffering from a terminal illness or an incurable condition. So far, the Netherlands is the only jurisdiction in the world that permits euthanasia; it also permits assisted suicide (The state of Oregon permits assisted suicide also.) The difference between assisted suicide and euthanasia all comes down to the last act- the act without which theRead MoreView of Euthanasia of a Follower of Natural Law Essay examples705 Words   |  3 PagesView of Euthanasia of a Follower of Natural Law Euthanasia is the international killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit. There are different types of euthanasia; voluntary, when the person who is killed has requested to be killed. Involuntary euthanasia is when the person who is killed made no request or gave no consent, Assisted suicide is when someone provides an individual with the information, guidance, and means toRead MoreDo You Think That the Right to Life Entails a Right to Die Under Certain Circumstances? Should the Law Be Changed to Grant a Universal Right to Voluntary Euthanasia?1000 Words   |  4 Pagescircumstances?† and â€Å"Should the laws be changed to grant a universal right to voluntary euthanasia?†. In this essay, I am going to give reasons using ethical theories to justify these questions. Euthanasia Euthanasia is the act of a physician or other third party ending a patients life in response to severe pain and suffering. Euthanasia can be classified into three types. They are voluntary euthanasia, non-voluntary euthanasia and involuntary euthanasia. Involuntary euthanasia is the action that takesRead MoreDo You Think That the Right to Life Entails a Right to Die Under Certain Circumstances? Should the Law Be Changed to Grant a Universal Right to Voluntary Euthanasia?1008 Words   |  5 Pagescircumstances?† and â€Å"Should the laws be changed to grant a universal right to voluntary euthanasia?†. In this essay, I am going to give reasons using ethical theories to justify these questions. Euthanasia Euthanasia is the act of a physician or other third party ending a patients life in response to severe pain and suffering. Euthanasia can be classified into three types. They are voluntary euthanasia, non-voluntary euthanasia and involuntary euthanasia. Involuntary euthanasia is the action that takesRead MoreThe Issue Of Legalizing Voluntary Euthanasia1429 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Euthanasia refers to a practice whereby an act is intentionally carried out with the purpose inducing death . It is usually seen in light of inducing death to patients who are terminally ill or may not be terminally ill but are suffering from unbearable pain . The focus of this paper is on voluntary euthanasia, namely, euthanasia carried out upon the request of a patient deemed competent enough to make such decisions . This paper will argue the importance of legalising voluntary euthanasia toRead More Euthanasia Essay1459 Words   |  6 PagesWhen a person commits an act of euthanasia, he/she brings about the death of another person because he/she believes that the latter’s present existence is so bad that he/she would be better off dead. The word euthanasia originated from the Greek language: eu means â€Å"good† and thanatos means â€Å"death†. The meaning of euthanasia is â€Å"the intentional termination of life by another at the explicit request of the per son who dies† (Religious Tolerance). However, euthanasia has many different meanings, whichRead MoreLegalizing Euthanasia in Canada837 Words   |  3 Pagesimprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years.† 1 It is this law which violates the human right to life as well as creates a widely spread controversy over whether or not euthanasia should become legalized in Canada. 2 Legalizing euthanasia would create many benefits for those who suffer from a terminal illness, giving them freedom and control over their own lives. Euthanasia should be legalized in Canada; this is because the euthanasia law is not consistently applied, it would create medical advancesRead MoreEssay on Is Euthanaisa Ethical?1203 Words   |  5 PagesIs Euthanasia Ethical? Euthanasia is a major ethical topic all around the world. Euthanasia is the deliberate killing of a person for the benefit of that person. In most cases euthanasia is carried out because the person who dies asks for it, but there are cases in euthanasia where people are unconscious, in a coma or unstable and can’t make that decision. Some people focus on how people should die without pain and if someone wants to be injected they should be allowed. Other people believeRead MoreEuthanasia Essay : Euthanasia And Assisted Suicide910 Words   |  4 PagesBackground about Euthanasia in The Netherlands. Patients Rights Council. Patients Rights Council, n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2015. This website address euthanasia, assisted suicide, advance directive, disability rights, pain control, and more. This article features background information on euthanasia and assisted suicide in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, for euthanasia or assisted suicide to be legal, â€Å"The patient must be experiencing unbearable pain†¦ must be conscious, The death request must be