Compare Musical and Opera Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Compare Musical and Opera - Essay Example In comparing Musical and Opera, one can base the argument relating to their source, historical background, development and their evolution. However, this paper shall discuss the key features that compare Musicals from the Operas. In the present time, people fail to provide a clear distinction between the two, and instead define any form of entertainment performance with music as musicals, and some famous music singers confuse their musicals with Opera (http://www.aria-database.com/). Musical theaters currently referred, as ‘Musicals’ is a style used in theater, whereby the songs, dances, and oral dialogue integrate to narrate a story. In the contemporary world, a musical takes various forms as long as it aims at narrating a story. For that reason, musical could be a stage performance, a film/television presentation and it combines the modern and the known music styles and discourse in narrating the entire story (http://www.aria-database.com/). Opera is classified under a certain form of theater, in which a musical group and singers incorporates sheet music and â€Å"libretto† also known as the text in contemporary language to narrate a story. On the other hand, performance of musicals takes place in theatres. Presentation of musicals could be staged or televised. ... Another key difference between Musicals and operas is in terms of language used. While performing musicals, the audience understands the performance language. For instance, Musicals developed in England and America is performed in English regardless of whether the developer comes from non- English-speaking nations. Together with that, the singing, dancing, and dialogue follow the rules of the popular music, popular dance styles, and the modern dialogues. Musicals have three major characteristic; the brain, the heart and courage (Kagen, 1968). The Brain – in order to perform musicals, the developer should have required intelligence and necessary writing style. On the other hand, the heart calls for the genuine feeling while developing the story, and lastly, courage calls for one to have the ability, creativity, and boldness in presenting something. This is very different from an Opera, in that, there is comprehensive training of the singers, classical singers in this context, a nd they are required to memorize and present the song without making any translations (http://opera.stanford.edu/main.html). In addition, there are numerous well-known opera styles in different languages, for instance, the Italian Opera, the German Opera, Russian opera, French opera, and lastly English–language opera. The performance of each Opera takes a different style (http://opera.stanford.edu/main.html). Based on their production, musicals and Operas portray many differences. First, Opera upholds music as the livelihood of production, whilst musical depends on text written and the story narrated. In the modern time, the Operas are established on classical music. It relates the way one would visualize the Mozart’s classical music

Hurricane Katrina Essay Example for Free

Hurricane Katrina Essay Many countries that face the catastrophes today need the relief assistance particularly in the floods and the devastation of the earthquakes. The countries, particularly those undergoing difficult transitions, lack the public and private institutions and infrastructure necessary to meet the challenges posed by complex humanitarian emergencies need a collaborated effort to overcome the effects of the devastations. The requirement is to identify the need of a joint effort by the organizations and political stability is required to take timely actions. The disaster relief efforts are also to be identified which are to be continued to support developing and transitional states in a unified operational concept and the Disaster Prevention and Disaster Response cooperative initiatives. (Anna, 2005) The Japan for example experiences hundreds of seismic events annually; tropical cyclones (typhoons) are so frequent they are numbered and not named; and heavy rains accompanying typhoons often result in devastating mudslides that annually claim many lives. Although Japan seems to be well prepared to cope with natural disasters. Organizations with emergency response duties including fire, medical, police, environmental, etc. are professional and well equipped. (NPR, 2005) This expanded role of agencies in a collaborated disaster relief can be further defined to ensure the availability of technical competence in order to make their participation meaningful. The local agencies and community groups should not be underutilized and undermined by relief organizations. The knowledge, expertise and ability to communicate with local people can be invaluable for humanitarian relief programmers. The challenge for international agencies and NGOs is to assure, wherever possible and useful, the appropriate inclusion and collaboration of the local agencies into the system. Prior identification of local civil possible partners in disaster-prone countries and training of the required staff is one way to prepare for unexpected crisis. In some countries, local agencies and community groups exist with high levels of competence but may require outside technical and logistic support. In the United States, the Federal Response Plan describes how the federal government will assist the state and local governments when a major disaster or emergency overwhelms their ability to respond effectively (LeClaire, 2005). The plan assigns federal agency responsibility for twelve Emergency Support Functions. These cover the world of disaster response from transportation, public works and engineering, mass care, food energy and those to those functions that are vital to meet the challenges of the disasters. A few weeks ago, Hurricane Katrina, a category 5 hurricane, stormed the Gulf coast of the USA, affecting an area as large as the UK. Katrina completely destroyed of individuals. New Orleans is a major American city, with a devastated and evacuated exercise, with a fictitious category 3 hurricane named Pam, predicted the scenario accurately,1 As we impotently watched television, the disaster unfolded. The hospital scenes of combined internal and external disasters already described in Houston2 repeated prevent them. (Television Week, 2005) electricity, water, communication, and other vital services; Local and national leaders underestimated the storm and failed to the size of the tragedy in human lives and future ecological repercussions. Katrina left the affected region teams, evidence of complete lack of preparedness with insufficient immediately available physical and human resources, health-care systems incapacitated, urban anarchy, despicable crimes, while the world criticized American leaders and emergency organizations. Millions of jobs have been lost to the storm. New Orleans largest employer, Tulane University, hopes to reopen to students for the spring semester. The casino barges that helped revitalize the Mississippi coast are no more. Right now, only insurance agents and construction workers seem to have guaranteed employment in the storm-damaged areas. Disasters and Urban Renewal Monitoring of field activities is always difficult without the setting of objectives and standards for joint relief actions. Minimum operational goals should be defined for performance evaluation. Goal setting would also bring into focus the impact of the joint relief on the beneficiaries, both for acute and chronic disasters. Co-ordination and communication are the central point for the success of a joint disaster relief operation. In disaster situations, the joint and rapid operational decisions within a political and media environment can be very vital (WaterWorld, 2005). A rapid assessment of needs following a disaster is always a clearly and critical aspect of effective humanitarian action. The local Civil Hospital and other installation medical treatment facilities can have agreements with local hospitals covering certain medical procedures and emergencies on. These agreements can be extended to post disaster emergency care also. It is vital that a Manual should be developed as a Coordinating Manual for Disaster Relief Operations to provide basic coordination procedures between different agencies. There are an increasing number of disasters with a conflict dimension. The areas of further development in the field of collaborated disaster relief operation can be areas of research that can be proposed as having immediate utility to field operations. Disasters have security as well as other dimensions. After Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans the rest of the country became aware of the citys extreme poverty. This however, is not a new issue for the city of New Orleans. It was an obvious demonstration of how our country needs to step up its emergency relief effort to respond faster to these situations. But, was it a mistake they did not respond immediately? This is a question that is recently up for debate and we have decided to look deeper into. 67. 3% of the cities population is African American (68% of whom are in poverty) compared to the 28. 1% of whites. (2000 Census) It is interesting to compare the response to September 11, 2001 to the emergency response to Hurricane Katrina. The response the terrorist attacks in New York, whose population is almost the reverse of New Orleans 67. 9% White and 15. 9% African American (NY Census 2000), was immediate. It is amazing that New Orleans had days to prepare for Hurricane Katrina and they were well aware of its potential to destroy the city- however it never occurred to them to make everyone aware of the destruction this hurricane could cause. Through the Hurricane Pam simulation, scientists knew the level of damage that was going to be caused and knew that it would take at least 72 hours to evacuate before the hurricane made landfall. New Orleans had an evacuation plan that they poorly enforced when it came time to really implement it. Many valuable resources that could have saved lives went unused such as Amtrak trains evacuating valuable equipment from the area and offering to take several hundred passengers along with them. Lack of transportation was a major reason many people died. A large percentage of the people in poverty did not have their own means of transportation to get out of the city and could have put these offered resources to good use. It is unfortunate that these people were basically ignored when it came to the rescue effort. I feel that Louisiana Governor Blanco and New Orleans mayor Nagin could have made much better decisions when it came to evacuating the city that could have potentially saved thousands of lives. They let many resources go wasted and the poor decisions made by these people cannot be taken back. People will always be attracted to live near the shore, which leads to serious problems when evacuation is required. No matter the administration, Hurricane Katrina would still have had a devastating impact on the citizens and landscape of New Orleans. However, many lives would have been spared were it not for the mistakes of President Bush, Gov. Blanco, Mayor Nagin, and ex-FEMA director Michael Brown, in their unsuccessful attempts to contain the damage. The act of carrying out a complete mandatory evacuation is where most administrative mistakes were made. When officials made the order for evacuation, they ignored the fact that New Orleans has a poverty rate of 38 %(Wikipedia 4), one of the highest in the country. In addition to this, they did not account for the 120,000 people in New Orleans who were without transportation, which led to chaos after the order was given for a mandatory evacuation. Individuals were expected to find their own way out of the city, and due to an inadequate evacuation plan, thousands were left stranded in the city to survive on their own, most of which were poor, elderly, or sick(Wikipedia 4). New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, realizing the threat Katrina posed to his city, was the first to call for a full evacuation. He pleaded with Gov. Blanco to call for a mandatory evacuation, but Blanco was reluctant and decided to take 24 hours to make the decision, a delay that the people of New Orleans could not afford. Had this delay not occurred, there would have been adequate time to prepare mass public transportation of evacuees. Mayor Nagin was enraged by the governments reluctance to aid, and further expedited the evacuation process. Nagin publicly criticized the federal involvement in the evacuation, primarily attacking their failure to quickly provide buses. This lack of communication between city, state, and federal officials continues, and occurs throughout the disasters response and recovery efforts. Criticism of local and national response to the hurricane is widespread in the media. Local officials complain just days after the disaster about the lack visible presence of troops and FEMA. The presidential response to the hurricane was embarrassing. The day Katrina hit, Bush was at a ceremony in California, and did not break from his vacation until the next Wednesday, which left those affected by the hurricane with a feeling of abandonment. President Bush is also responsible for appointing an unqualified lawyer, Brown, to be the director of FEMA. Browns most critical mistake was his urging of all fire and emergency services departments not to respond to the counties and states affected by Hurricane Katrina without being requested and lawfully dispatched by state and local authorities(Wikipedia 8). This caused a serious clash between state, local, and federal governments, resulting in the loss of tons of critical aid materials. Having never dealt with crisis and natural disaster relief, Brown continued to inhibit the reconstructive and rescue efforts, resulting in many fatalities that could have been prevented had a more qualified individual been in the position. Similar delaying acts were performed by Vice President Dick Cheney. The day after the hurricane, Cheney ordered workers of the power company to divert power crews, who, at the time were restoring power to local hospitals, to substations that control the diesel fuel and gasoline flow from Texas to the northeast. The workers upsettingly questioned this diversion of labor and were told to perform it anyway. Cheney did this in an attempt to avoid fuel price gouging, however it proved to be unsuccessful, and there was an enormous spike in fuel costs following the hurricane. This graph, and attached data sheet show this dramatic increase: This action reaffirms the perceived attitude of unreceptiveness displayed by the government and authorities toward the victims of Katrina during the hurricanes relief effort. It is an undeniable fact that a category five hurricane will have devastating effects, no matter where it makes landfall. Due to the citys cultural and racial diversity, geographical structure, and inflated poverty, it was clear that Katrina was going to hit fast and hard. Just as predicted by weather forecasters, the hurricane quickly flooded the city and those who attempted to ride the storm out perished. Unfortunately, the governments policies implemented to help did not come as quickly, and as a result thousands of fatalities that could have been avoided were not. Three places in your home that are usually damaged by hurricanes are the roof, windows, doors, and there are things that can be done to strengthen these areas to minimize damage. Firstly investing in a stronger roof by placing more beams and securing the trusses by placing brasses to strengthen the roof structure, to protect your windows and doors the simplest effective method is by installing storms shutters which are basically thick boards of wood coving windows and doors. When it comes to prevention with hurricanes of a category 4 nature governments should have emergency plans in place, George Bush was criticized in the handling of hurricane Katrina, it even sparked of arguments that New Orleans was neglected due to its poverty stricken black communities. Although warnings were in place 24 hours before the hurricane hit and there was time for evacuation, a lack of services was provided. Although in the following hurricane Rita, The US government was quick to act while sending hundreds of busses to evacuate cities. Some officials in high positions were accused of a good-riddance insensitivity toward the export of the citys poverty and accompanying social ills. On a more positive note, many planners and scholars have called for the development of mechanisms that can accommodate the displaced poor population, who should be encouraged to return. The storm may have created an opportunity to address the issue of poverty and land use in a way that is much smarter than previous approaches (Cutter and others 2006). Racial and Economy Perspectives A major question affecting the future cultural and racial geography of New Orleans is how much of the African American population will return to the city. About two-thirds of Orleans Parish was African American before the storm; now the percentage is generally assumed to be much lower, although nobody really knows by how much. Half is a popularly held local presumption, but I have found no official figures to support it; data are difficult to come by. Will the loss of African Americans be permanent? If so, what will the cultural and racial imprint of the city be? What will its political geography look like if a large and reliably Democratic voting block disappears? Mayor Ray Nagin was clearly alarmed by the possibility of a permanent loss of the African American population when he steadfastly affirmed that displaced African Americans would return to a rebuilt city and that New Orleans would be chocolate at the end of the day. †¦ This city will be a majority African American city. Its the way God wants it to be. †¦ You cant have it no other way. It wouldnt be New Orleans (Pope 2006, 1). Part of the mayors angst arose from concern that a major influx of Hispanic workers to help rebuild the city, and the possibility that many in-migrants might stay permanently, would potentially alter the cultural and political balance of power in New Orleans. Although much of the storms face was poor and African American, in the final analysis Katrina was no respecter of class and race. One of the hardest-hit neighborhoods in New Orleans, Lakeview, is mainly Caucasian and middle-to-high income. New Orleans East, which some observers argue should never be rebuilt, is a suburb populated by a growing African American middle class. Venetian Isles and south Slidell contain some of the most desirable waterfront properties in the metropolitan area, many of which were adorned with beached sailboats after the storm. Meghan Stromberg observed that Katrinas obvious disregard for areas of wealth and privilege may work in favor of the citys recovery: Homeowners there have greater resources to rebuild sooner (Stromberg 2006). Of great concern is whether people with the technical and entrepreneurial skills needed by a rebuilding city will return. Unfortunately, these skills are often in high demand elsewhere, so people may be enticed to stay in their adopted homes. Mark Drennen, head of Greater New Orleans Inc. , a public-private partnership whose mission is to spearhead economic development in the New Orleans region, commented that this prospect is a huge concern. It occupies almost every meeting Im in all day long (Mowbray 2005). The longer companies put off returning to New Orleans, the more likely it is that they and their employees will not come back. On the bright side, there is always the red-beans-and-rice effectthe soul and culture of New Orleansthat keeps the natives coming back, even in the face of better economic opportunities elsewhere. Some commentators also speculate that there may be an influx of risk takers who spy opportunity in the rebuilding of New Orleans, giving the city a flesh jolt of people with entrepreneurial skills (Mowbray 2005). The absence of workers of all types is already being felt. Estimates that the Gulf Coast currently lacks 150,000 construction and maintenance workers have prompted the Business Roundtable, a Washington-based association of large-company chief executive officers, to develop a plan to recruit and train 20,000 new construction workers for the region (Sayre 2006). Accompanying the departure of the citys poor population was its supply of minimum-wage workers. Fast-food and convenience outlets are especially desperate for employees, to the point that one major hamburger chain is offering a bonus to new hires of $500 per month; other chains are advertising entry wage rates in excess of $9 per hour. Plumbers, electricians, and other tradespeople are in extremely short supply, partly because many of them never returned after evacuating and partly as a result of the huge surge in demand. The most common sign at business entrances today is Now Hiring. In a sense, future demography is destiny for New Orleans, not only in terms of racial and cultural makeup but also with respect to economic vitality (Frey 2005). Its cultural geography will be shaped by who comes back and who does not and by as yet unknown new migrants to the city. Conclusion The immensity of the disaster and the long rebuilding process will offer abundant research opportunities for geographers. The new footprint of the New Orleans metropolitan area will provide intriguing areas of study for planners as well as for economic, urban, and cultural geographers. Along the same lines, population geographers will want to track the status of the great New Orleans Diaspora. Of considerable interest to researchers will be the geography of debris and the environmental impact of millions of cubic yards of waste. Biogeographers will have an interest in the disruption of bird and animal habitats; and of course physical and environmental geographers will find a renewed impetus to continue their examination of the environmental risks associated with eroding coastlines. Hurricane Katrina laid bare New Orleans environmental vulnerabilities, social ills, and policy deficiencies. At the same time, the city that everybody knew before the storm was not destroyed and is slowly coming back. Already tourists have returned to the French Quarter, with its raucous good times; and the convention industry is regaining its footing. (If Katrina was Gods attempt to punish the city for its night life, it failed. ) Gradually, trust is being placed in a restored levee system. A new normal is emerging, unfortunately in some cases eerily reminiscent of the old normal. Only time will tell if the â€Å"new† New Orleans has learned its lessons from Katrina, or if sentimentality for the old New Orleans will set the city up for a repeat disaster. One can hope that future scholars will not worry again about how people manage to survive in such an unnatural and impossible city. As a hurricane can never actually be stopped or destroyed prevention is a little more vague it’s more of damage prevention rather than hurricane prevention. Although there are scientist researching in possible ways to lower storm intensity some of which include a substance that absorbs large amounts of water with small amounts of the substance being used up the idea is simple but somewhat impractical. In Conclusion, with today’s modern equipment we can predict and perceive a hurricanes power easily but it is nearly impossible to stop a hurricane, so prevention needs to be researched more, if any lesson was learnt from Katrina it is this. Many of the people included in the Diaspora and most visibly affected by the storm were poor and members of minorities, as for example in the hard-hit Lower Ninth Ward. They were among the thousands initially stranded, and then bused to out-of-town shelters. After Katrina an avalanche of media accounts and academic articles appeared on how the storm laid bare the environmentally linked economic and racial inequities within New Orleans, inequities with a long history. References Hurricane Katrina. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 22 July 2004, 10:55 UTC May03, 2007 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina/. Storm Surge. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 22 July 2004, 10:55 UTC May03, 2007 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Storm_surge. Anna Badkhen. Hurricane Katrina: Relief Effort / Response Like Second Disaster; San Francisco Chronicle (CA), 09/11/2005 Congress Reacts to Hurricane Katrina Disaster. Water World, Oct2005, Vol. 21 Issue 10, p8-9, 2p Cutter, S. L. , C. T. Emrich, J. T. Mitchell, B. J. Boruff, M. Gall, and others. 2006. The Long Road Home. Environment 48 (2): 8-20. Frey, W. H. 2005. City Can Lure Back Its Reluctant Migrants (New Orleans). Times-Picayune [New Orleans], 30 November,  §B, 7. Jarrell, Jerry D. , Max Mayfield, and Edward N. Rappaport. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Hurricanes from 1900 to 2000. Oct. 2001. NOAA/NWS/ Tropical Prediction Center. 28 Sept. 2005. Katz, B. , M. Fellowes, and M. Mabanta. 2006. Katrina Index: Tracking Variables of Post-Katrina Reconstruction. 3 May update. Washington, D. C. : The Brookings Institution, Metropolitan Policy Program. LeClaire, Jennifer. Katrina disaster trains a spotlight on homeowners policies. Christian Science Monitor, 9/8/2005, Vol. 97 Issue 200, p12-16, 2p Medias Role Vital in Katrina Disaster. Television Week, 9/12/2005, Vol. 24 Issue 37, p9-9, 1/4p Mowbray, R. 2005. Brightest Evacuees Weigh Option: Return to N. O. or Stay? NOLA. com. NPR; Analysis: Katrinas economic disaster Talk of the Nation, 09/0

Can the physical attractiveness of a defendant lead to differing sentences

Can the physical attractiveness of a defendant lead to differing sentences Abstract The purpose of the investigation was to see if the physical attractiveness of a defendant has an influence of the severity of prison sentences given for a crime of fraud. An opportunity sample consisting of 10 males and 10 females taken from sixth form students at school aged 16-18 was used. A crime vignette was given to participants with a photo of the physically attractive defendant or physically un attractive defendant attached. Participants had to state whether they thought the defendant was guilty or not guilty. Participants were then told that the defendants were found guilty and were asked to assign a prison term that they felt the defendant deserved. The Chi-Square and T-Test were used to analyse the results. Observed Value of T= 30.88: Critical value at p Project Brief PB1: The aim is to see if Sigall Ostroves (1975) findings that the physical attractiveness of a defendant and the nature of the crime can lead to differing sentences are applicable to this current time period. Alternative hypothesis: The more attractive defendant will receive a lower sentence for burglary than the less attractive defendant. Null Hypothesis: There will be no difference in length of sentences given to the attractive defendant and the non attractive defendant. PB2: A directional hypothesis is being used as past research by Sigall Ostroves (1975) has shown that physical attractiveness does have an effect on the length of a sentence giving to the defendant. PB3: The chosen research method will be experimental using an independent measures design. So each group will be tested in a different condition one group will be shown a picture with a physically attractive defendant and the other group will see a picture with a non attractive defendant. PB4: Advantages Confounding variables minimised Study is in a controlled environment so the variables can be manipulated Disadvantages No control of participant variables as due to individuals differences the participants may not find the pictures attractive. There maybe a social desirability bias as participants may put what they think is the norm or socially desirable rather than what they actually think. There maybe investigator and participant effects. PB5: Demand Characteristics Participants may respond in accordance to experimenters desired response i.e. the experimenter may influence the participant in the way in which he states the scenario of the crime or by subconscious gestures. Age Group Bias All participants are between the age of 16-18 so results may not be external valid as other age groups may have different results and respond differently. Participant Bias Participants may give into social norms and may no give there true opinion when rating. They may rate pictures higher or lower than they really feel. PB6: Single Blind The participants and the experimenter will be told that the study is on studying something other than what there doing so the participants and the experimenter wont be able to guess the aim of the study. Standardise Instructions All conditions of the study are given the same standardised instructions so investigator bias is eliminated. Social Desirability Bias The results will be anonymous and confidential, giving the chance for the participants a option to withdraw at any time so the participants may not feel the need to put what the experimenter may see as the norm. PB7: 5% level of significance PB8: Deception Not telling the participants the true nature of the study by using a single blind technique. This will be overcome by debriefing the participants at the end of the study to ensure that the participants are happy. Privacy The pictures will be taking from websites which are on public domains so anyone can access them. Informed Consent Participants will be asked if they want to participate and told the basic procedures as well i.e. giving the right to withdraw etc. Withdrawal Participants will be able to withdraw at any time during the study and will be told this throughout the study. Debrief The participants will be fully debriefed as to the true aims of the study has been completed after the study. Observation The participants will not be observed. Confidentially None of the participants names will be taken and they will not be observed during the study so the results will remain anonymous. Introduction The Halo effect (Dion Walster, 1972) is the tendency of a characteristic such as physical attractiveness to influence an individuals perception of persons qualities such as intelligence, social status and personal traits. Research has found that attractive people are attributed with more positive characteristics due to the Halo Effect. Dion Walster (1972) conducted an experiment called What is Beautiful is Good and found that individuals who are seen as physically attractive are assumed by particpants to have more socially desirable personalities than those who are less attractive, and it is also assumed that attractive individuals lives will be more successful and enjoyable than individuals who are less attractive. So attractive individuals are assumed to be more sociably desired. Dion et als (1972) findings indicate that stereotyping due to individuals physical attractiveness does occur as physical attractive individuals were regarded to have more socially desired qualities and p ersonalities, and were expected to have greater personal success in there life. These results have also been supported by Griddin Langlois (2006) and Feingold (1992) who found that unattractive people are perceived to hold more negative attributes. The Halo effect has been applied in research into other areas of society. For example in school or workplaces. As a study on attractiveness in school found by Clifford Walster (1973) and Landy Sigall (1974) found that two essays which had exactly the same content were marked differently. This was belived to be due to them having pictures of the students on the essays and the more attractive person received a higher grade even though the essays were the same. This shows that physical attractiveness does affect peoples way of thinking in real life settings. Another study has shown that the halo effect has an effect in job interviews as it has been found by Dipboye, Arvey, Terpstra, (1977) and Landy Sigall, (1974) that the more attractive individuals where more likely to get the jobs offered than the unattractive individuals even though they did the same on the tasks to get the interviews. Baron and Byrne (1997) found that attractive defendants are more likely to receive lighter sentences and gain the sympathy of the jurors rather than unattractive individuals. This is believed to be due to the Halo Effect What is beautiful is good. Sigall Ostrove (1975) also found that participants who were shown an attractive photo of a defendant charged with burglary recommend almost half the average sentence of those show no photo or an unattractive photo. Stewart (1980) also found that attractive defendants tended to receive lighter sentences and were less likely to receive prison sentences than unattractive individuals. These results were further supported by Efrans (1974) study as Efran (1974) found that juries were not as certain about the guilt of attractive defendants, and therefore gave them lighter sentences/ punishments. However it has been found that there were different factors which influence the sentence giving to an attractive individual. For example the attractivene ss of an individual didnt have much of an effect on sentences when the crime was seen as very serious. Sigall Ostrove (1975) also found that attractive defendants were charged with a higher average sentences when fraud was the crime rather than the unattractive individuals or defendant with no photo. Their results showed that when the crime committed wasnt related to physical attractiveness (e.g. burglary) the participants would give lighter sentences to the attractive defendant rather than to the unattractive defendant. In contrast when the crime was related to attractiveness (e.g. swindle), the physically attractive defendant would receive a worse sentence. The Halo Effect explains these findings in that when crimes are not related to attractiveness, the attractive participants may be seen as good due to the Halo Effect and positive stereotyping. For the physically attractive crimes the juror may feel that the attractive individuals used there attractiveness as a natural advantag e to further promote themselves in society. Fraud is regarded as deceitful and is related to attractiveness thus more attractive defendants would be punished more severely. Aim: This study will replicate Sigall Ostroves (1975) study to provide further support for previous findings see if the physical attractiveness of a defendant and the nature of the crime can lead to differing sentences in this current time period. Alternative hypothesis: The more attractive defendant will receive a lower sentence for burglary than the less attractive defendant. Null Hypothesis: There will be no difference in length of sentences given to the attractive defendant and the non attractive defendant. Method: Method and design In the experiment the IV is the physical attractiveness of the defendants and the DV was the judgement that the participants gave the photos of the physically attractive defendant and unattractive defendant i.e. guilty or not guilty. An independent group design is being used so one group of participants will be tested with the physically attractive photo of the defendant and the other group will be tested with the unattractive photo of the defendant. A questionnaire was given to the male participants so ratings of the photographs of the females could be collected and so the best voted picture would be used as the physically attractive defendant and the worse would be used for the unattractive defendant. Researchers One A level student collected data. Target population and sample An opportunity sample consisting of 10 males and 10 females taken from sixth form students at school. The students who were available at the time were asked to participate in the study. All participants took part in the study and none of them declined. Apparatus/materials Pilot Study Ten photographs were selected from the websites Hot or Not and RatePeople.com labelling them 1 10. All photographs were put on to A4 pieces of paper (one per page of paper). All photos were of passport shots so the defendants were looking straight at the camera and the defendants were between the ages of 20-40. This was controlled so the participants view of the defendants didnt change due to the pose the defendant was doing or because they thought the defendant was to old and frail to go to jail or to young etc. There was as little jewellery or clothing in the pictures as possible so it wouldnt distort the participants view on the pictures as it may make the participant think the defendants were more or less attractive in the photos creating extraneous variable so this was done so it was only the defendants attractiveness being taken into account. Main Study In the main study a scenario was given to participants (see Appendix 1) and the participants had to state whether they thought the defendant was guilty or not on the participant response sheet (see Appendix 2). Two photos were used in the main study from the pilot study (the best rated photo and the worst rated photo) which were used as defendants. The best voted picture was used as the physically attractive defendant and the worse was used for the unattractive defendant. An example of one of the photographs use is shown in Appendix 3. Standardised procedures Pilot Study The participants were taken into different rooms when completing the task so they werent distracted from other students. The standardised instructions (see Appendix 4) were read to participants and consent was given. Male participants were shown the photographs of the females, and the females were shown the photographs of the men. The participants were asked to rate each of the photographs on a scale of 1 10, with 10 being most attractive and 1 being not very attractive. The participants wrote their ratings on some paper with spaces for the ratings for the 10 photographs No names were asked for. An example of a participant response is shown in Appendix 5. Main Study The best rated photo and the worst rated photo were than used as defendants. The best voted picture was used as the physically attractive defendant and the worse was used for the unattractive defendant. A different set of participants where given scenarios and asked if they would give a sentence to the defendant given to them and told to right down there answer on the participant response sheet. One group was given the physically attractive photo whereas the other group was given the unattractive photo. Participants after the task were thanked and debriefed (see Appendix 6). Controls Investigator bias was minimised by using standardised instructions. The Single blind technique was used so researcher bias, participant bias and demand characteristic were avoided by asking someone else to observe the participants during the task and telling the observer not to look at the participants while theyre doing the task to avoid participant reactivity. Participant bias was avoided by telling the participants to rate members of a opposite sex because the males may find it more difficult men in terms of physical attractiveness. Ethics Informed consent was gained as participants were given standardised instructions and told that they had the right to withdraw at any time and that their answers would remain anonymous. There was minor deception as the participants werent told the aim of the study but this was dealt with as the participants were debriefed at the end of the study. The ethical issue of using photos of people without there consent was dealt with as the photos used were put on websites where the people want there photos to be rated thus are available to the public. Results: Descriptive Statistics Summary table of the data to show the total number of guilty verdicts given to physically attractive and physically non-attractive defendants. Participants had to state whether they found the defendant given to them guilty or not guilty. A bar chart was drawn to display the results visually. The raw data given is in Appendix 7. The Sentences Given To The Defendants Physically Attractive Physically Non-Attractive Guilty 7 8 Not Guilty 3 2 Bar chart to show the difference between the number of guilty verdicts given to attractive and non-attractive defendants in getting sentences or not. Summary table of the data to show mean prison sentences in months awarded to the attractive and non-attractive defendants by the participants. A bar chart was drawn to display the results visually. The raw data given is in Appendix 7. The Mean Length Of The Sentences Given To The Defendants Physically Attractive Physically Non-Attractive Average 21.9 Months = 1.8 Years 63.6 Months = 5.3 Years Bar chart to show the difference in the length of sentences given to the attractive and physically non-attractive defendants. Results: Inferential Statistics The Chi-Square Test and T-Test were used to analyse the results. The Chi-Square Test was appropriate for the data at a nominal level of measurement in a from of categories and the data collected from independent measures. Chi Square = 0.26 Degrees of freedom = 1 Critical value at p As the observed value of chi-square was smaller than the critical value at a 5% level of significance, we cannot reject the null hypothesis and so it must be retained. The T-Test was appropriate for the data that was at a interval level of measurement in the form of numerical data as the data collected was from independent measures. Observed value of T = 30.88 Degrees of freedom = 1 Critical value at p As the observed value of T is higher than the critical value of T at a 5% level of significance the null hypothesis can be rejected. Discussion Explanation of findings The findings of this investigation found that the physical attractiveness of a defendant can lead to differing sentences. Overall the physically attractive defendant received a lighter sentence than the physically unattractive defendant. The T-Test was significant at the 0.05 level of significance supporting the assumption that the Halo effect will effect peoples views on whether a defendant is guilty or innocent. Relationship to background research There has been lots of research into whether the physical attractiveness can influence an individuals perception of persons qualities. Early research such as Stewart (1980) found that attractive defendants tended to receive lighter sentences and were less likely to receive prison sentences than unattractive individuals. Baron and Byrne (1997) also found that attractive defendants are more likely to receive lighter sentences and gain the sympathy of the jurors rather than unattractive individuals. This study supports these earlier findings and in addition shows that this bias can lead to differing prison sentences being awarded to defendants even when the crime committed is the same. This could be due to the halo effect which gives the tendency of a characteristic such as physical attractiveness to influence an individuals perception of persons qualities such as intelligence, social status and personal traits. This creates beautiful stereotypes which doesnt fit with the criminal stereotype such as scars, looking dirty etc. Although the results could be because the participants generally believed that the physically attractive defendant was guilty and the physically unattractive defendant wasnt. Limitations and modifications The study lacks ecological validity as in real life the participants would be in a jury and so there would be a discussion between 12 people of varying ages on what the punishment the defendant should receive. In this experiment 6th form students were used aged between 16-18 and they made the decisions on there own rather than discussing the defendants punishment. To improve this a simulated jury could be used where the experimenter asks 12 participants to act as a jury and discuss the sentence. Due to the participant sample used there was an sample bias as the study was on an opportunity sample of 6th form students. So the results can not be generalised to the whole population. There may have also been a problem due to demand characteristics as participants may have guessed the aims of the study and may have known what results were expected and answered accordingly. Another limitation of the study was that the experimenter knew the participants, so this may have lead the participants to write down what they thought the normal answer would be and not what they actually thought. So there may have been an social desirability bias. This could be dealt with by using a different target population and sample. Another limitation of this study is that some participants didnt find the unattractive defendant guilty as they didnt believe that she would be able to get people into bed and so voted her not guilty. Some participants also stated that they didnt believe that there as enough evidence to charge the defendants. Another limitation of the study was individual differences as the study used independent measure design and some participants said they found the unattractive defendant guilty as they didnt like her whereas some participants said they found the attractive defendant guilty as she was attractive whereas some said it was because she looked more promiscuous. Another way to make future results more reliable is to do the study again but make the participants be in groups of 12 like a real jury and see if the same results are found. This will be more reliable as in a real life juries would discuss the punishment before given defendants sentences. Implications and ideas for future research To make the results more reliable a larger sample size could be used as this would mean that more data could be analysed and this may leads to different results. Also a different age range may also lead to different results as the older people may take it more seriously. The important implications of this research shows that there is a bias in sentences given to defendants and to get rid of this bias juries may have to make there decisions by just looking at the research and maybe not be able to see the defendant in court as theres a screen in front of them and there voice is changed.

Essay --

Growing up in an affluent New Jersey neighborhood, Peter Balakian’s house can tell us a lot about his up bringing. Tenafly, New Jersey seems to be a common topic in Balakian’s memoir ‘Black Dog of Fate.’ Not only must we study the house, but also the relationships that are formed within Balakian’s household. His extended family is made up of physicians, merchants, and well-known literary authors. Arguably the biggest presence in Peter’s life was his Grandmother, along with his Mother and Father. One of Peter’s most vivid memories is of his Grandmother. He starts off his memoir with a lengthy description of her and her apartment, as if she were still alive when he wrote it. He describes her apartment as â€Å"mysterious and exotic after the suburban houses of Teaneck† (6). He seems to view her apartment as old fashioned (â€Å"it was a 1940s kitchen with long white cabinets, a white enamel sink, red-speckled linoleum cracking at the seams, and a coiled buzzing fluorescent light on the ceiling† (7)) and different then the houses he is used to in suburbia. Her apartment seems to be laced with Armenian culture compared to his Americanized home back in Teaneck. A tradition or at least custom that seems important to Peter and his life at home is his love for and following of the Yankees. The Yankees were a type of family bonding for Peter, and he even followed them with his Grandmother. â€Å"My grandmother and I followed the Yankees together, and by the time I was ten it had become an ongoing conversation between us. Box scores, averages, pitching rotations, prenogis for the World Series – because there was almost never a series without the Yankees† (12). The Yankees were a symbol of American pride for Peter, â€Å"they were more than a team... ...e. †¦ On either side of our new development were grand nineteenth-century houses and manors set back behind high hedges. †¦ Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century stone Dutch houses still spotted the town and some quite fabulous nineteenth-century estates surrounded our new street† (50). This description of Balkians’s house, as he remembers it, might tell him that his family is becoming more accustomed to the American culture, yet still keeping with their Armenian roots. The move from Teaneck to Tenafly just shows that his family is living the American Dream by finding a city that fits them best and a house that is custom built to their liking. All of a sudden Peter is living in a community where families are larger and dinner is just a race to get done with. It seems as though the move to Tenafly is an immersion into the American lifestyle, even more than Teaneck.

An Analysis of Mel Lazarus’ Angry Fathers

Mel Lazarus, writer of Angry Fathers, showed by describing his relationship between him and his father, as he recalled an incident that happened when he was 9 years old, back in 1938, when corporal punishment was most used to correct bad behavior, â€Å"They’ll live, don’t worry â€Å", was the common idea, that event marked his relationship and trust with his father for life. Lazarus’ family stayed at a boarding house in Catskills for the summer during school vacations, and he and two buddies were hanging out one August afternoon, bored. So what they decided to do was engage in a little remodeling, as the owner of the place was furious, the three mothers basically decided to let their husbands discipline the boys. The bingo players felt a strong lust for vengeance; they wanted to see some beatings. As Lazarus tells it, his friends' fathers came home first, one at a time. The first dad, took off his belt and began whipping his son, the second father came home and when he learned what happened, began thrashing his boy, slamming him to the ground and kicking him. Lazarus was now terrified; his father had never raised his hand in violence, but after seeing this, the young boy was truly afraid that he'd crossed the line. His father came home; the owner explained what had happened. Lazarus's dad stared at his son for a moment. Then he suddenly left. He got back into his car and drove off. He returned an hour later with a stack of Sheetrock boards tied to the top of his car. He took the sheetrock into the remains of the casino, and then took a hammer he'd bought at the hardware store out of the front seat, and went to work. He said not a word to anyone; he just rebuilt the casino, taking most of the night to do it. Lazarus was still worried about retribution in the morning, but none came. The father never mentioned the incident and the weekend went perfectly fine. Lazarus says that, while he knew his father was angry, the father also believed that beating one's child is criminal, that children â€Å"always remembered the pain but often forgot the reason. † The father also understood that a child learns nothing by humiliation – he was not going to â€Å"play into a conspiracy of revenge and spectacle† by publicly flogging his own son. That was not his way, Although many years has passed since then, corporal punishment still being used sometimes with hard consequences, often we notice on television real cases of parents going too far, they are different ways that corporal punish is used, the most popular is within the family, typically children punished by parents or guardians; within the schools when students are punished by teachers or administrators’ or as part of a criminal sentence ordered by a court of law. Corporal punishment of minors within domestic settings is lawful in all 50 states and widely approved by parents. â€Å"They’ll live, don’t worry â€Å", Stanishly the consequences of corporal punishment are vivid, a 14% of all men in prison in the USA were abuse as children, 36% of all women in prison were abused as children and of course children who experience child abuse are 59% more likely to be arrested as a juvenile, and 28% more likely to be arrested as an adult. On the other hand we were very fortunate that my parents had the same level of understanding when it came to punishing us, (we were five kids growing up together), I called my sisters Nora and Veronica, to asked them if they recalled my parents ever punishing us that way, but they told me as I remembered, our parents used discipline on a different way, even then, almost 30 years ago, they lead us the way by using the scriptures,(Jehovah Witnesses), always talking to us, showing up â€Å"The bible’s way† and when, there was something very bad they showed us how to work, replace, put together, apologize, return anything that we just may had broken or misplaced. The golden rule, according to my parents must live in my mind and heart â€Å"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you†, somehow it work for all of us, finally Angry Fathers, show us just how important is that parents understand their children and find other ways to make sure their children are safe and trust in them. It’s a good example for all of us to see the father's refusal to get into a psychodrama are the fact that he also solves the problem of the destroyed casino. The other fathers, likely just as capable of putting up Sheetrock as Mr. Lazarus was. And Mr. Lazarus obviously understood that hitting his son was not going to fix the casino. And that the sound of the hammer banging on sheetrock not only allowed him to get out some aggression, but also served as a stern reminder to the young boy about what he did to the building, and how that lesson lasted a life time.

Lack of Mother’s Love Leads to Self Destruction Essay

In D. H. Lawrence’s short story â€Å"The Rocking-Horse Winner,† Paul’s determination, hunger for love and self-destructiveness result from a lack of love from his mother. Living in a family that equates money with luck, and love, Paul misunderstands what he needs to do to be considered successful. The result of his mother’s self absorption and general coldness causes Paul to eventually ride his luck to the end of his life in a failed search for love. Paul’s determination He wishes to make the house stop murmuring, â€Å"There must be more money!† Paul wants to prove his mother wrong that he is unlucky Severe anxiety over his inability to predict the winners in the big races of the year furthers Paul’s determination Paul’s hunger for love His mother’s behavior toward her children is cold and egotistical Paul equates money with love as learned from his mother His desire to give his mother money as a â€Å"birthday present† to take away her cares Paul’s self-destructive behavior His never-ending quest for â€Å"luck† He assents to give his mother all five thousand pounds when she asks for a lump sum Paul feels he must work harder to come up with the Derby race winner since his mother has squandered the previous money, which leads to his death