Category: Case study

Rogerian Argument Essay about Charles Whitman

The case of Charles Whitman is an extraordinary study of the linkage of the gene-environment interaction of behaviors like aggression or violent tendencies. He was in my opinion, a product of his genes and his environment with a strong underpinning of physical illness caused by the glioblastoma tumor pressing on his amygdala. The physical inability of his Amygdala to not perform its required function is a definitive reason for his aggressive tendencies that manifested through his childhood experiences and his experience as a marine.

The biological flaw in Whitman was his amygdala which could not understand and imitate fear, reward, anticipation, or motivation. Thus, through the loss of this function, he also lost the restraints to certain behaviors. Whitman’s aggression was multifactorial with socioeconomic, medical, and psychological factors playing a part in his actions. Whitman’s bottom-up “drive” of the Amygdala and the insula also combined with the major deficiencies he had in his ‘fears’ and ‘anxieties’ while growing up manifested into the murders and the other atrocities that he had committed. Whitman being smart and aware of certain decisions his knowledge of computer engineering and his IQ put him a clear candidate for someone suffering from immediate response damage, which would essentially be his amygdala. He was just a product of the flaw of a physical illness and an environment he had no control over since the beginning of his social life.

The processing of these stimuli he received growing up, in the Marines, his relationship with his wife (manifested out of what he acquired from his father) and the death of his brother caused an undeniable mental imbalance which was only aggravated by his tumor. All of these stimuli in his environment were the risk factors that his past emotional conditioning encoded in the amygdala and the other related limbic regions triggered his “drive” to produce aggressive actions. The imbalance between his limbic “drives” and prefrontal control mechanisms was important for the range of psychiatric pathology provoked by negative stimulation, including not only aggressive disorders characterized by externally directed behaviors but also withdrawal behaviors associated with PTSD ( as with his marine experience and his relation with his father) and mood disorders (his decreasing relationship with his brother). Charles Whitman’s issue was largely neurobiological because of the physical inability of his brain to sympathize with killing his wife or the other murders he committed. His case was more neurological because his character changed over time as he was not in the environment of being a murderer. From week 1, the major takeaway that can be used to accompany the case of Charles Whitman was that he was not based on a single factor that can explain why he was part of one singular group that made him susceptible to show violence. Although his was an intentional use of power, the decisions made by him, as he admitted had no particular reason to take them. So there is, I think to me, a blurry area in defining his intentions and if he was even aware as he was making them.

Essay on Case Study Vs Naturalistic Observation

Naturalistic observation method

This research method is used by most of the therapists and social scientists. The observational method focuses on studying the natural behavior of the participant in the everyday environment. This kind of research is usually carried out in such situations where the lab studies are sophisticated and non-beneficial. With the help of observational methods, psychologists can get much better assumptions of the ways and causes of why people react to certain situations. The observational process aims to represent the overall behavior of the subject. There are some strengths and limitations associated with this method.

Advantage: The most important recognized merit of this method is that it has higher ecological stability. Also, this helps researchers to establish brand-new concepts about natural settings.

Disadvantage: The major demerit of naturalistic observation is that this method does not help to find the exact cause of the behavior. If two researchers are examining the same situation, they may draw different conclusions from that moment of observation.

Case study

A case study is an in-depth investigation of a person, a group of people, or a phenomenon. In case studies, a variety of techniques are employed to collect the data such as one-on-one interviews, questionnaires, and psychometric tests. Earlier the research method was used in the clinical field but now psychologists use this method to inquire about a person, group, or community. This process involves research to observe the client’s behavior and provide detailed information about that behavior. The case study generally involves reconstructing a client’s case history, which is known as ‘idiographic research’. A case study is considered beneficial then only when it is able enough to convey the difference between the factual description and the opinion of the researcher, but the obtained information may not apply to every individual. The merits and demerits of the case study are listed below:

Advantage: The case studies have numerous advantages. The most prominent among all is that it can be done from a remote distance and it is not at all expensive. The investigators need not be present at the specific location to carry out the research. The interviews can be conducted over the phone. In addition to this, the cost associated with this process of obtaining data is almost negligible.

Disadvantage: The case studies are extremely time-consuming. As these studies are based on qualitative analysis, researchers need to be highly accurate in terms of collecting and presenting the data, which requires a lot of time.

Survey method

The survey method is a strategy for logical research where the researcher attempts to measure and assess the state of the community in comparison to one or more characteristics. The researchers do not interfere with the object of the exploration, he essentially records the circumstance as it is. The gathering of the information, the data building, and the data testing are the purposes of survey research. The information in surveys is required to be exploratory and descriptive, and the data must be explanatory and predictive. The pros and cons linked with the survey method are as follows:

Advantage: The most profound advantage of using surveys in psychological research is that they allow them to gather large amounts of data in relatively less period. They represent various attributes of a large number of populations which in turn helps to extract the most accurate results.

Disadvantage: The survey research can not be considered appropriate when it takes into consideration controversial issues. The controversial questions are not answered as accurately by the individuals as they face difficulty in recalling the information. The authenticity behind the issue is not revealed as effectively as the face-to-face interviews do.

References

1. McLeod, S. A. (2019, Aug 03). Case study method. Simply Psychology: https://www.simplypsychology.org/case-study.html
2. McLeod, S. A. (2015, June 06). Observation methods. Simply psychology: https://www.simplypsychology.org/observation.html
3. N., Pam M.S., ‘SURVEY RESEARCH,’ in PsychologyDictionary.org, April 13, 2013, https://psychologydictionary.org/survey-research/ (accessed February 3, 2020).
4. Sarah Mae Sincero (Mar 18, 2012). Advantages and Disadvantages of Surveys. Retrieved Feb 02, 2020 from Explorable.com: https://explorable.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-surveys

How Does Minimum Wage Affect Market Equilibrium Essay

Introduction

A minimum wage is essentially the lowest remuneration that employers pay their workers legally. It thus acts as a price floor below which workers do not sell their labor. Most countries introduced laws related to minimum wages by the end of the 20th century and New Zealand in fact, became the first country to enact minimum wage laws as early as 1894. The current minimum wage rate is $17.70 per hour in New Zealand and the Coalition Agreement between the New Zealand Labour Party and New Zealand First Party is to progressively increase the minimum wage to $20 by 2020.

There is no denying the fact that an increase in the minimum wage leads to an increase in the standard of living and in a way reduces poverty and encourages people to work. In contrast, this can also lead to mass unemployment (particularly amongst low skilled persons), increase poverty, and can also damage businesses as excessively high minimum wages require businesses to raise the prices of their products to accommodate the expense of higher wages.

The job market is like any other market and markets work best when wages are set by supply and demand, not by any other factor, like government rules. Economics tells us that minimum wage is a bad idea and increasing it can lead to slow economic growth and unemployment, yet there have been many researches and studies that point that there has been little impact on unemployment due to minimum wage policies. According to the minimum wage review of November 2018 by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the unemployment rate in New Zealand fell to 3.9 percent and employment increased to 2.8 percent indicating a positive sign for the labour market. (MBIE, 2018)

Economic Analysis of the Labour Market

A firm requires a few inputs like labor, land, and capital to produce some output. The demand for these inputs is not direct or final demand, but a derived demand, reflecting demand for the firm’s output. Each firm simultaneously decides how much output to supply and how much input to demand. The two are closely linked. (Begg, 2003)

The firms always think about producing outputs at the lowest cost possible and then select output that maximizes profit. To produce any output with the cheapest available technique, a rise in the price of labor due to the minimum wage will lead to firms switching towards the more capital-intensive techniques. Conversely, if capital becomes expensive, the least-cost technique for a given output is now more labor-intensive. The firms are away from the factors of production that have relatively become more expensive. This principle helps explain differences in capital-labour ratios in the same industries across different countries. A higher wage will lead to firms substituting capital for labour in making an output which will also lead to an increase in the total cost of producing the output. Firms still use the same labor but are now paying more than before. With higher marginal costs, but unchanged demand and marginal revenue curves, the firm chooses to make less output.

Hence, a simple analysis using the basic supply and demand model tells us that in the long run, the minimum wage will reduce the quantity of labor demanded. The substitution effect leads to the labor demanded getting low for each output, and this, in turn, reduces the demand for all inputs. The following graph shows us the basic supply and demand model in the labor markets.

Graph showing basic supply demand in labor markets

If there was no minimum wage in place the wages would adjust reaching equilibrium, where the demand equals supply and curves intersect. The minimum wage acts as a price floor and economics suggests that if the minimum wage is set above the equilibrium price, more labor would be willing to work than will be demanded by employers, thereby creating unemployment.

Thus, as far as the basic economic model of demand and supply goes, increasing the minimum wage to $20 seems to be a bad idea according to me as it pushes people towards unemployment by creating a surplus. This is an increase of almost 15.25% from the current minimum wage of $17.70. This would also push employers increasingly towards automation and can also lead to businesses getting shut down because they cannot keep up.

The service sector industry of New Zealand accounts for almost 64% of its GDP. There are many small and medium-scale industries operating in and around New Zealand. The country also depends greatly on international trade. An increase in the minimum wage would encourage the youth to work but this may discourage youths from getting education and training leading to the formation of a youth population who are low on productivity, thereby discouraging employers from hiring them. Another major impact of the increase in minimum wage can be the outsourcing of operations by companies. Many companies would prefer outsourcing their functions to countries where there is cheap labor available. This increase can also lead to a decrease in the number of working hours for workers.

There can be some other impacts of this rise in minimum wage like employers cutting down on the benefits that they can provide to their employees like healthcare, training, etc. In small and medium enterprises, the margins are very small, and an increase in wages can lead to negative employment impacts in industries that are labor-intensive like the hospitality and tourism industry. There is also an uncertainty that surrounds businesses that are already burdened by the impacts of environmental laws, government barriers, and industrial relations. A certainty allows businesses to build for the future and respond effectively to increased costs, including the cost of labor.

Conclusion

To achieve the goal of a higher wage economy it is recommended that the government concentrates on making people more productive by providing training rather than relying on increasing wages alone. The youth will be the most affected due to increased minimum wage as this might increase unemployment among them as the employers will look for more experienced workers due to higher minimum wage. It is also recommended that the government provides support to small and medium enterprises by training and coaching them or by providing subsidies and tax rebates so that they can cope if there is an increase in the minimum wage.

To conclude, I believe that the increase in minimum wage can lead to massive unemployment among the youth and can lead to a rise in inflation. There will be people earning the minimum wage rather than a higher wage and increasing it to $20 means that it will be a long time before parity can be achieved. This increase can have a significant impact and can lead to many companies switching their operations overseas, while small and medium-scale enterprises will be the ones suffering the most.

So far no data is backing up the fact that there has been a negative effect of increased minimum wage. According to the review report published by the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment, there has been no significant impact due to increased wages as of now but still increasing the wage by such a huge margin in a short time can have an impact and it is recommended to have a skilled population rather than unskilled population. For now, the wages should remain the same and the focus should shift towards making the youth skilled.

Ways to Solve Major Crime Issues in Chicago Using the S.A.R.A. Model: Case Study of Homicide

Abstract

In 2017 alone the crime rate used in Chicago many crimes include homicide, robbery, assault, and criminal sexual assault. How can we solve these problems using the S.A.R.A Model? The S.A.R.A Model which is broken down into Four parts. The first part to the S.A.R.A Method is Scanning. Scanning requires the police to recognize recurring and their respective outcome within their communities. The second part of the S.A.R.A Model is Analyzing the problems. The police need to identify and understand the cause and entailments of an issue also collect data on the problem. The R in the S.A.R.A Model represents responses; the response step enables the police to use their research from the analysis step to brainstorm ideas for intervention, select intervention, option, outline plans and Objective and implement proposed plans. The final step is Assessment. Police have to evaluate the success of their implemented plan and collect data regarding its outcomes.

Over the past decade crime rates have continued to rise consistently in Chicago, Illinois. In the year 2017, these same crimes having been hitting an all-time high to the point that felony criminal activity has become the norm. Residents are afraid to live in their neighborhoods, business owners no longer want to open up businesses or remain in the area out of fear, and they’re honestly fed up. The reality of what is going on in Chicago has shaken the city to its core, and has forced the Police Superintendent, Eddie Johnson, to take action. It has also caught the attention of Attorney General Lisa Madigan to speak up to see change. According to the Chicago Tribune, Ms. Madigan is a Representative from local civil rights and human rights groups that has spoken out tremendously about the impact federal executive orders might have on their communities. Ms. Madigan is a very outspoken person when it comes to hate crimes and fought extremely hard to get the laws against hate crimes changed in Chicago, not just for the victims, but because it would lower some of the assaults that have been taking place there. (Attorney General Madigan urges Govenor to sign legislation to strengthen hate crimes law, May 26, 2017). The Mayor, The Police Superintendent, and the Chicago Police Departments realized that a plan must be put into effect immediately in order to reduce the crisis they were facing.

The S.A.R.A. Model is a four-part police solving model that was created in 1987 by John Eck and William Spellman from the Newport News Virginia Police Department, whose main focus was to research and experiment with problem-oriented policing techniques. S.A.R.A stands for Scanning, Analysis, Response, and Assessment. Using the S.A.R.A. Model in Chicago would mean that the Police Departments would have to scan all the crime statistics to determine which crimes were at the highest and work their way down. Then they would have to analyze what areas are being effected more than others, and whether there are any patterns in the crimes that are being committed. After getting the data and intel together, the next step would be to come up with different tactical measures to try and lessen, eliminate and prevent these crimes from continuing. The final step would be to monitor the measures that are being implemented over a period of time to determine whether or not they’re working, and if any of the measures can be altered in order to have a more positive outcome.

There are four major crimes that have been causing the most problems in Chicago, Illinois for years. For the year 2017 those crimes were Assault, Robberies, Criminal Sexual Assault and Homicide. The total amount of Assault crimes in Chicago since January 2017 until now is up to 10,100, and still climbing. Out of the 10,100 Assault crimes that have occurred to date, only 1,772 arrests have been made. The majority of the major assault crimes that have taken place are aggravated crimes involving a handgun totaling 1574, aggravated crimes involving a knife were 730, and 554 assaults involving other dangerous weapons. Most assault crimes occurred in residential area totaling 1,897. Out of the 1,897 assaults that took place, 1,543 were inside of apartments, 253 were committed in alleyways, 181 were committed in gas stations, 405 were committed in other various locations. Unfortunately, no patterns were determined to link one assault to another. Because many of these assaults have been committed inside of a dwelling it is difficult to monitor or prevent these crimes from happening. Nine times out of ten, these assaults would usually fall within the domestic violence category. As far as where the other assaults are taking place, it would be very effective to set up light towers near dark alleyways to avoid someone being ambushed, because they are unable to see clearly due to the lack of light from these alleyways. Making sure that patrol cars frequent areas that have gas stations more often might deter would be criminals from committing crimes in those areas. It would be wise to have officers visit gas stations and speak with the owners about making sure that they have surveillance cameras and emergency alarms systems in place to help the police find criminals faster if a crime does take place at their establishments. Trying to formulate a plan that would eliminate the assaults that are happening in unexpected places is a little trickier, because it is difficult to determine where and when they would take place.

Another major problem that Chicago is dealing with is the high volume of robberies that have taken place since the beginning of the year. The robbery rate in Chicago is up to 5,718 since January 2017. Out of the 5,718 robberies that have occurred, only 344 have led to an arrest. Surprisingly, evaluating the Chicago Data Portal, you’ll notice that most of these robberies are strong armed robberies as opposed to armed robberies. Major robbery crimes that have taken place have been executed without the use of a weapon and total 1,936. There have been 2,339 armed robberies with a handgun, 664 were listed as aggravated robberies. 1,583 of the robberies that took place were on the streets, 415 were committed in alleyways, 398 robberies took place in stores, 242 robberies took place in the CTA Transportation (Chicago Transit Authority), and 152 robberies were committed inside residential homes. It is imperative to build police and business partnerships with the communities they serve to protect. Police should educate business owners about the alarm systems, and implement emergency buttons behind the counters that are directly connected to the nearest precinct. Surveillance cameras should also be placed within the business itself, as well as all around the outside of their stores. Speaking with companies, political leaders, and community investors to donate money for the street lights towers should be a major topic of discussion because it not only protects the residents and business owners, but it diminishes the number of robberies that could take place in dark areas. Due to the fact that most of these crimes are frequently taking place in the streets and on sidewalks, implementing more foot and car patrols would lower the robbery crime rates. It is also necessary to assign officers to watch the train stations more because too many crimes are being committed in these areas due to the lack of police vigilance. The concern for the people’s safety has to be a priority, and it is the duty of the City of Chicago to make it happen. Relationships need to be built with the communities so they can have trust in the Chicago Police Department in order to feel safe. Community activities need to be put in place so that both residents and police can get to know each other better in order for bonds to be formed. Classes should be available to educate the people of the importance of their safety. Part of this course will have them take a robbery simulator class, so they can see firsthand what can happen to them when faced with the dangerous situations that police officers face every day. These courses will also teach the kids how to remain safe and stay out of trouble.

According to the article “Sexual Violence” 23 million women are victims of a completed or tried criminal sexual assault in the United States. Just for this year alone, 744 women were sexually assaulted in Chicago alone. Out of the 744 victims, only 25 arrests have been made in those cases. There are different types of sexual assaults, and 522 of the 744 criminal sexual assaults that took place this year, were considered non-aggravated sexual assaults. There were 44 predatory sexual assaults, 32 aggravated sexual assaults with a handgun, and 103 sexual assaults that fall within the “other” category. Most of the crimes were committed in a residential area which total 234, 193 were committed within an apartment, 47 took place in alleyways, and 6 were committed in other random places. No patterns were established to determine if there any of these assaults were committed by a serial rapist. According to icasa.com, approximately 77% of the victims know their assailants, and 31% of them are teenage girls. There are men and young boys who are also sexually assaulted, but it is harder for them to come forward and admit that they have been violated. Being that most of the victims are woman and young girls, a self-defense program should be given to any woman who wants to learn how to defend themselves against predators. More advocate groups should be made available for women who have been assaulted, and are afraid to report it to the police. There should be more neighborhood watch programs put in place to bring a little bit more security to those women who are traveling home by themselves. Police officers should hold community meetings just to educate woman on what to do and not do when they are out to protect themselves, or at least to remain more alert of their surroundings. For example, encourage woman to try to stay in groups whenever possible, especially at night. Advise women to were a whistle around their neck, or to yell fire instead of help or rape when they feel they’re in danger, in order to create a commotion where people are more likely to come see what’s going on. Things like that would scare a predator off because they obviously can’t commit the crime they intended if people come running. Maintaining well-lit areas at night would make it more difficult for a rapist to attack someone for fear that the victim, or a witness could get a better description of them. Also encouraging women to walk around with mace, or even their keys in their hands could serve as a weapon and a temporary distraction to buy them enough time to get away from an attacker and get help.

According the article “homicide statistics “since the beginning of 2017, there have been 355 homicides in the city of Chicago, but there were only 55 arrests recorded in the Chicago database. The descriptions included, first degree murder as the majority of homicides that were committed which totaled 354. There were also 49 homicides that were committed in vehicles, 26 were committed in alleyways, 16 were results from domestic violence cases, and 1 was considered a reckless homicide. There were 184 of these homicides committed on the street, and no patterns were established to connect any of the homicides to each other. This is huge problem in Chicago having one of the highest homicide rates compared to other major cities in Illinois and within the United States. Although the public and the Chicago Police Department are both focused on the same goal, which is making the city a safer place to live in. The relationship and distrust between both parties make it difficult to work together in order to make the necessary changes within the communities. The homicide rate is rapidly increasing every week which will eventually force the government to deploy national guards into the city of Chicago. This situation needs to be resolved and diminished, so that the government doesn’t have to force their hand and place Chicago in a state of emergency. The plans and strategies should include building and maintaining a good relationship with the citizens of Chicago and the Chicago Police Departments. This will help the police department in gathering information from the citizens in order to place major criminals behind bars and solving cases. Another plan is putting surveillance cameras in areas of high crime locations where homicides are being committed the most. Furthermore, being able to understand the criminal intent behind someone murdering an individual, will allow us to develop a better strategy that prevents a murder from happening in these high crime areas in the future.

Using the S.A.R.A. Model to prevent, diminish or eliminate crime is a good idea, and a great start to understanding what crimes are being committed, how often, and where the problems are so that a remedy can be formatted to fix the problems. For example, looking at what has been going on with the four major issues in Chicago this year, every month for the next six months to a year, the Chicago Police can monitor the crime rates in order to see what plans have been effective, and what plans can be altered in order to get better results. As long as a real effort is being made to make change, then over time that’s exactly what will happen. Chicago won’t and can’t be fixed overnight. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s a city that should be considered a lost cause, and the S.A.R.A. Model is an excellent way to make a difference.

Reference

1. Chicago. (2017). Retrieved July 18, 2017, from https://data.cityofchicago.org/widgets/d62x-nvdr
   1. In 2017 alone statics raised rapidly, this article was used throughout the paper. The article states crimes such as criminal homicide, assault, robbery and rape. The site also includes the id number of each crime, the case number, the date that each crime was committed, the block, Illinois Uniform Crime Reporting Code, primary type of crime, description, location description, and the arrest. The statics is used to identify the type of crime and the rate. After identifying the crime, we must come up with a way the crime can be fixed using the SARA method.
2. SARA, The Model (police). Retrieved July 18, 2017, from http://what-when-how.com police-science/Sara-the-model-police/
   1. The SARA model is the most familiar process for doing problem-oriented policing (POP). The acronym SARA stands for scanning, analysis, response, and assessment. The model was first published in the evaluation report on problem solving in the Newport News (Virginia) Police Department in 1987. It is usually attributed to John Eck, one of the authors of the Newport News report. The four steps are straightforward. Scanning involves looking at data, talking to people, and observing the community to identify potential problems. Analysis involves studying potential problems to determine if they deserve concerted attention and, if so, trying to develop accurate descriptions and explanations of them. Response involves searching for a wide range of solutions and then choosing and implementing the ones with the most promise. Assessment involves collecting data after the response to determine if the problem has been eliminated or at least reduced. If success has not been achieved, then further analysis and a different set of responses may be needed.
3. Sexual Violence. Retrieved July 18, 2017, from http://www.icasa.org/docs/brochures/sexual%20violence%20fact%20sheet%202017.pdf
   1. Sexual violence refers to unwanted or coercive sexual behavior from sexual bullying to rape. The terms rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse are often used interchangeably and refer to coercive forced sexual contact. Remember: Sexual Violence is never the victim’s fault. Any person, regardless of race, gender or sexuality, can be a victim of sexual violence. In the United States, it is reported that 23cmillion have been completed or attempted rape.

Examining the O.J. Simpson Murder Case

The high profile case that I have decided to research is the case involving O.J. Simpson. I picked this case because it involved a former NFL running back and the NFL is my favorite sport to watch. Also, this case received a lot of media coverage and was talked about across the United States. The People of the State of California vs. Orenthal James Simpson (OJ) was deemed the trial of the century because there was so much media attention and people were talking about the investigation and trial all over the place. Former NFL running back, O.J. Simpson, was charged with two counts of murder for the 1994 homicide of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman. O.J. Simpson was represented by the best lawyers whom the people called ‘The Dream Team’.

On June 12, 1994, Nicole Simpson Brown and Ron Goldman are murdered. Between the hours of 10:41 pm-10:45 pm: Brian ‘Kato’ Kaelin, who is Simpson’s houseguest, hears a thumping noise on the opposite side of his wall and goes outside to investigate. Between 10:50 pm and 10:55 pm, a neighbor spots Brown’s white Akita by itself and it is barking with bloody paws. At 11:01p.m., Simpson’s limo driver Allan Park sees Simpson exit his house and a few minutes later, Park drives Simpson to the Los Angeles International Airport for his flight to Chicago.

On June 13, 1994, O.J. Simpson becomes a suspect in the investigation. Early that morning Brown’s dog led her neighbors to the dead bodies of her and Goldman which lied near a gate. What happens next was a pivotal moment in the investigation and the case. When the police arrived at O.J.’s mansion they discovered a blood-stained Bronco and a bloody glove that matches one found near Goldman’s body. The police get a search warrant and find even more blood traces on the property and in his Bronco. When O.J. arrives at his mansion he is handcuffed and questioned at the police station.

On June 15, 1994, Robert Shapiro takes over as lead counsel for Simpson. This was also a pivotal part in the investigation because O.J. was started to lose it from the pressure and questions and Robert Shapiro knew O.J. the best, since they were actual friends, and talked with him.

On June 17, 1994, Simpson flees and becomes a fugitive, even though he originally promised to surrender to authorities. He is later spotted off the freeway driving his white Bronco with his friend Al Cowlings in the driver’s seat. Fans began to line the freeways to cheer him on. As helicopters follow Simpson’s Bronco, an estimated 95 million people watch the 60-mile pursuit on TV (famously interrupting the broadcast of the NBA finals). Simpson ultimately surrenders at his house a little before 9 pm. He is arrested and thrown in jail without bail.

After the arrest, the trial occurs and the jury is picked. This trial was very long, going on for about 9 months, and had many different witnesses, pages of evidence, and exhibits. What I want to reiterate and talk about is the positive and negative aspects of O.J.’s case and the investigative steps that led to O.J.’s arrest. I believe there was a lot of negatives with this case and the only true positive thing of this investigation and case was that the media coverage was large and many people got to see the ongoing patterns of racial differences in America still going on during the time. This case had a lot of negative aspects whether it involved the prosecution doing the wrong things, witnesses, or police officers. The first negative aspect of the case was the Detective who arrived at the scene first. He denies being a racist and objects to the defense’s theory that he undermined the investigation by tampering with evidence. We later find out that what he found wasn’t solid evidence so did he tamper or did he not? Is he a good witness? Next, Criminologist Dennis Fung admits that proper protocols were not entirely enforced at the scene of the crime. This is very concerning. If no proper protocols were enforced at the crime scene who can we believe and is the evidence they found certain? Next, we learn that the DNA, that was presented at the trial, would have been one in 170 million people, including Simpson, would have the genetic characteristic as a drop of blood that discovered at the crime scene. Lastly, O.J. tries on the leather gloves that the detective found at the crime scene and says that they are too tight and they do not fit. So what gloves did the detective find? Did he plant evidence? We learn during the trial that tapes are released of Mark Fuhrman making multiple racial slurs and bragging about his enforcement of police brutality. This means he lied on the stand then. There best witness lied on the stand.

There were so many negatives things the prosecution and detectives did throughout this case. I agree that we need to find who killed these two innocent people but following protocol and doing things the right way is a must. It seems to me like maybe they wanted to pin it on O.J. The evidence is overwhelming for him but there is also some spotty evidence and evidence that could have been planted that was used.

Case Study of the Juvenile Justice System Functioning

Eearly life experiences influence adult behavior. Criminal behavior is nothing more than copying or learning criminal acts from others. This statement relates to my sisters case the most. Once she started to hang around these friends she started to act differently and do things she has never done before. By using the social learning theory it can become apparent that my sister learned these criminal behaviors by watching her friends do it.

How to deal with juvenile offenders. The question arises how to deal with juvenile offenders?

The first is rehabilitation model, where the juvenile has the opportunity to change his/her ways and not act out in delinquent acts again. Another one called treatment or medical model, treats juvenile delinquent like it is a disease. They act as if these juveniles cannot be changes without heavily treating them in therapy or medication. The next model for dealing with juvenile offenders is the due process model. This model believes that the best interest of the juvenile should be sought while providing fundamental fairness while prosecuting the child. Just desserts or justice model holds juveniles accountable in order to punish them. A way to contain the most dangerous juvenile offenders to protect the public is by using the crime control model. The last model is restorative justice model, this is where a meeting between the victim and the offender is set up to talk about what they would like to see happen to the offender. The rehabilitation model goes along with my sisters case the best, since she was given the opportunity to be rehabilitated and not just simply incarcerated for her actions.

At the beginning of juvenile justice system, juveniles were not given the same rights as adults. They were not made aware of their rights or that they fully understood them. Juveniles were not made aware to the full extent that their parents could be in the room during the interview, that they did have a right to an attorney and that they could remain silent. This all started to change in the 1960’s. Now juveniles have the same rights as adults, they have the right to a phone call, counsel, notice of charge(s), cross-examine witnesses, and protection against self-incrimination. With the doctrine parents patriae, it allowed the state to step in as a guardian for children, when their parents are not able to be there. One landmark case surrounding juveniles rights is In Re Gault. This case was brought all the way to the supreme court and ruled that juveniles have a right to; notice of the charges, right to a counsel, right to cross-examine witnesses, and the right to protection against self-incrimination. This case is a very important case involving juveniles rights, since it was the first time these rights were made to be presented to juvenile offenders. In my sisters case, she was made aware of her rights during her arrest, and she was allowed a phone call to our parents to notify them what has happened. She was also made aware that she had the right to an attorney and what charges were being brought against her.

Police officers have to use their discretion for every part of their job while interacting with a citizen. Discretionary powers allowed police officers to choose among a range of alternatives in dealing with a particular situation. They also have the authority to use force when needed. When police officers are dealing with juveniles who have committed shoplifting offenses, they use their discretion to decide whether or not to arrest the juvenile. If a juvenile committed a minor theft, then the police office using his/her discretion can decide if the juvenile should be able to just return the items to the store or if charges should be brought against the juvenile. If a juvenile is caught stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise than the officer will not have that much discretion in the decision. In my sisters case the police officer did not have that much discretion since the store owner demanded to press charges against her, this is another situation where police officers do not have that much power in the final decision.

Once a juvenile is taken to the police station, they go through the intake process. An in-take officer reviews the case and speaks to the juvenile and their parents/guardian to see what has happened. The intake officer decides whether or not the case can be solved outside the system or if it should be handled without taking it to court. For less serious shoplifting offenses intake officers are able to solve the cases themselves. For more serious offenses they will need to send the case to court in order for it to be solved. A case can be solved by speaking to the juveniles parents, their probation officer who will be looking over him/her during the time on probation and even by talking to their school. Other than just talking to the people around the juvenile, a lot of legal factors are taken into consideration when trying to solve a case. The seriousness of the offense matters, since if no one was physically harmed during the crime; it can be easier to solve. The type of crime that was committed also matters, since if it was violent crime or a felony it will most likely be brought to court. Another important legal factor is the evidence. Whether it is inculpatory which tends to show the juveniles guilty or if its exculpatory evidence which show the juveniles innocence. The last important legal factor is the prior record of the juvenile, whether or not he/she is a repeat offender or if it’s their first offense. In my sisters case, no one was physically harmed, there was inculpatory evidence, and she does not have a prior record, these are all things that can help or not help her case. Being that she was caught with the items on her person can be one thing that does not help her show that she will never commit this crime again. Legal factors are very important when reviewing a case, since they show how guilty someone is or how innocent someone may be.

When dealing with juvenile offenders there are a lot of decisions to be made in each case. To allow prosecutors to have more discretion states have come up with statutes that help prosecutors see what type of cases should be sent to adult court and ones that should stay in juvenile court. Over the last several decades court prosecutors have adjusted their direction towards the treatment of juvenile defendants. This allows them to have more say in what court the juvenile should be in. Juveniles do not have any federal constitutional rights to a speedy trial. The supreme court has not decided on a case that would permit juveniles to a speedy trial. However a case of Barker v. Wingo established the Barker balancing test. This is speedy trial standard where delays are considered in terms of the reason or length, in accordance with time standards that have been established through an interpretation of the sixth amendment. Even though the Barker decision does not include juveniles, states do attempt to conduct the adjudicatory hearing as quickly as they can. Just like adults juveniles are allowed an attorney, if they cannot afford one a public defender is appointed to them. The role of the private or public attorney is to advocate for the juveniles. To try their best to get the best result possible for the juvenile. They also ensure that the youth is protected, explained the complexities of the process, and long-term effects of the court has on the juvenile. The prosecutor, a speedy trial and a good attorney are all important aspects to have to allow juvenile to get the best outcome from the criminal justice system. With my sister, she was able to stay in juvenile court after a prosecutor went over her case. She was also very fortunate to be able to have a private attorney to help make sure she felt safe and understood what was happening throughout the entire case. She was also able to have a fast trial being that it was her first offense and she only had a low amount of merchandise of her person. These things allowed my sister and family to go through the justice system smoothly and quickly.

In juvenile court especially in New Jersey shoplifting is seen as a serious crime. The more the value is worth the more likely he/she will be sent up to criminal court. Also a juvenile can be sent up to adult court based of his/her age, in New Jersey a juvenile must be 16 in order to be waived up to adult court. One type of waiver is a judicial waiver, this is a decision by a juvenile judge to waive a juvenile up to adult court. Another one is discretionary waiver, which is when a juvenile is transferred up to adult court by judges, based on their discretion or judgment. Mandatory waiver is an automatic transfer for certain juvenile up to adult court based on their age and seriousness of the crime. Presumptive waiver is a requirement that shifts the burden to juveniles for defending against their transfer to adult court by showing that they can be rehabilitated (Merlo, 54). The next waiver is a direct file, this is when an action is taken against a juvenile who has committed a serious offense. Their case is transferred up to adult court for the purpose of a criminal prosecution. Another one is a legislative waiver; this is a legislative mandate that requires certain juveniles sent to adult court based on their offense. A demand waiver is requested by the juveniles to have their cases transferred up to adult court. The last one is reverse waiver; it is a motion to transfer a case back down to juvenile court following a legislative or automatic waiver. Another part of the process of sentencing a juvenile is blended sentencing statues. This allows a judge to use resources from both the juvenile and adult justice system. In New Jersey we do not have blended sentencing. Based on my sisters case none of these apply to her, since her case was never going to brought up to adult court.

Just like adults juvenile go through probation and other community-based corrections. Unlike adults on probation juvenile rarely see their officers in person, the mostly communicate through email, phone or even a letter. Probation is the most commonly used alternative punishment for juveniles. Standard probation does not involve incarceration and it is usually followed after adjudication of delinquency. Besides standard probation other punishments are used. Intermediate punishments are the middle ground between incarceration and probation/parole. Juveniles may be released back into the community, but they are subjected to very strict guidelines and conditions. Some types of intermediate punishments include; intensive supervision, electronic monitoring, community service, drug testing, and fines or restitution. These alternatives allow to prison and jails from overcrowding, and they also allow the juveniles to be rehabilitated faster. They also provide resources and facilities to juveniles who are considered a risk of becoming delinquent or are already delinquent. My sister was subjected to alternative punishments, being that she was not sent to jail. They sentenced her to a month of community service and a fine of $300.

There are many goals of the juvenile corrections that help keep juveniles from getting into trouble or getting into more trouble. To start, deterrence is a belief that the threat of specific sanctions might prevent other juveniles from committing acts of delinquent behavior. By giving delinquent juveniles pretty severe sentences, it will hopefully be deterred other juveniles from committing the same acts or crimes. Another goal is rehabilitation and reintegration, this is when the juvenile justice system believes juveniles are amenable to treatment and reform. Many years ago adults believed that juveniles were not able to be rehabilited back into society, but now they see that juveniles can in fact be reintegrated into society. Some other goals are retribution, it is manifested from the get-tough policy. Where the number of juveniles that are getting sent up to adult court is rising, and these juveniles are receiving more harsher punishments. The last one is incapacitation, where juvenile offenders especially chronic recidivist are isolated for a longer amount of time to limit their opportunity to reoffend. With my sister the juvenile court saw that she could be rehabilitated and reintegrated back into society. Since they saw that she had a good family role in her life and that she does not seem to be the type of juvenile who will reoffend.

The juvenile justice system has come a long way throughout the years, being that juveniles are now seen as people who are not the same as adults but also someone who can think for themselves; and be rehabilitated back into the community. After my sister was caught shoplifting a small amount of merchandise, she was able to be seen as a juvenile who can be rehabilitated back into the community. Her case was not sent up the adult court and being that it was her first offense, the system saw that she will not be someone who will reoffend and end up back into the system. Shoplifting in New Jersey is seen as a serious offense and one that is not taken lightly. To deprive a store owner of the merchandise use or benefit is one way the shoplifting offense is defined. My sister’s case was a pretty easy case to solve. Since she was caught with the merchandise on her person, the value was $150, and it was her first offense; the justice system did not send her to jail but instead used other means of punishment. She was sentences to community service and fined a $300 fine for stealing the merchandise. There are many other juveniles who are just like my sister who happened to get caught up hanging around the wrong crowd and get pressured into doing acts or crimes they would not normally do. These juveniles are the perfect example as to why juveniles now have many rights and many other types of punishments that allow them to be reintegrated back into society. It also allows them to prove to adults that not all juvenile offenders will reoffend and do in fact change their live after committing a crime.

Personnel Law and Ethics: Case Study of Polygraph

Case Assignment

Case Study #3: Elvis Stewart

• Issue: The dispute spotlights whether an employer’s established practice of employees’ searches is motivated by racial discrimination.
• Rule: According to the rule of law on ethics based on what is right and what is wrong, an employer should not make any decision on employees based on race, religion or color. Title VII prohibits an employer against discriminating of employees whether it’s during hiring, promotion, assignments or giving benefits.
• Analysis: there was an earlier scene where Wal-Mart conducted a search after work when the shift was over just like normal routine of preventing theft cases. However the problem was not conducting the search as it was expected as usual, but how he conducted the search. When the search was taking place, it was observed by employees that the white employees were never stopped for the search, but the black employees were cautiously searched. To make the matters worse during one of the questions about the incident the guard replied with confidence that the focus dwelled at black employees during the search. Therefore Mr. Steward pointed out that the search was not fairly done as it was based on race, hence he felt uncomfortable about the situation. Lamm (2015) covered work in Progress, where talked about civil rights.
• Argument: It would be very correct to point out that according to this case, there is discrimination on race. Furthermore, the security guard who was conducting the search testified that he was aiming at the black employees during the search. According to the rules and regulations under Title VII, it is evident that there is violation of privacy and Mr. Stewart deserved better treatment. As a result of the violation, Wal-Mart was considered at fault and Mr. Steward ended up being compensated.
• Counterargument: on the other hand Walmart defends his side and points out that the allegations were unfair and a good reason to deny it. The documents presented at the court clearly showed that Mr. Stewart did not want to lose his job due to the allegation and it proved that it was a mistaken identity from the look of things. The evidence presented shows that the actions of the search clearly show that the security guard was targeting the black employees, even though Mr. Hardy denied the allegation of having targeted the black employees intentionally. Hudson et al. (2016). Reported on racial discrimination, and depression among African Americans.
• Conclusion: based on the two arguments and the evidence presented to the court of law it is evident that the intention of security guard during the search was directly focused on the black employees. Furthermore, he testified from his own mouth that the search was purposely meant for the black employees alone. Theft cases will always occur in workplaces it’s not a new thing, although it would have been better if Wal-Mart handled the case differently and conducted the search to all the parties that work there and not the blacks alone. Reports and searches prove that profitability of a company is determined by the employees, therefore if they get discriminated they are likely going to put less confidence in their work. It would be the right thing to hold Wal-Mart liable for the actions of the security guard, as he was doing according to what was instructed by the boss. This would serve as an example to other employers who don’t respect the privacy of their employees or treat them equal with others.

Case Study #4: Elizabeth Salsbury

• Issue: This case addressed whether or not severance pay can be provisional based on an employee’s signed contract that states that the employee will not hold the company liable for wrongful termination.
• Rule: When it comes to termination of contract at work or being sacked the law does not hold the company of any wrong for not paying the employee after the termination. This means that the payment is not a must after the termination under Title VII on the Equal Pay Act. The only party that gets pay is the one that gives out their rights to the company after dismissal.
• Analysis: There was analysis at Sundance Company where Ms. Salsbury worked before termination. The analysis shows that Ms. Salsbury was given a minimum of three days’ notice upon her termination. According to the company, if she was to go ahead and sign a release and separation contract as an agreement, the company would go ahead and pay her during the termination. The release statement was to prove that she was accepting separation and she would not under any circumstance file a report or go to court and sue the company. Navarro (2018). Wrote on Sexual Assault at the Margins: Recognizing the Experiences of Male Survivors. Which shows gender inequality of women being isolated in line with work.
• However, the pay was not to come easily because if she was to go against the agreement of the contract the company would wash off their hands about paying her and they would have the power to also sue her for going against the contract. On the other hand, Ms. Salsbury considered the contract being unfair to her considering she did not want to stop working at the company, and the only reason they were giving the contract is that there was a refusal of promotion because of her gender. Hence she finally refused to go through with the agreement.
• Argument: According to the rules of waiver provisions any contract presented must be signed by all the parties involved for it to be effective. However, having failed to sign the contract did not stop Ms. Salsbury from being present at court order and doing proceeding. The argument presented by Ms. Salsbury is based on discrimination and wanted the company to be liable for their actions.
• Counterargument: No the company should not pay Ms. Salsbury if they don’t want to. Title VII of Civil Rights states that it is not a must for an employee to sign any contract if it does not favor him or her. According to the court of law based on the evidence presented at the court, Ms. Salsbury did not sign the contract, therefore in relation to Title VII, it shows that if an employee does not sign the contract then there are no rights rendered to the company. This show proves that the company has not broken any law, hence cannot be held accountable for the severance payment. However this being said Ms. Salsbury can still go on and sue the company with complaints of gender discrimination by filing an EEOC. Salsbury et al. (2018). Wrote on, be good, communicate, and collaborate a qualitative analysis of stakeholder perspectives on adding a chiropractor to the multidisciplinary rehabilitation team. This was meant to show Ms. Salsbury only had to sign the contract and get the payment.
• Conclusion: the rules and regulations of civil rights under Title VII indicate that it is not a must for an employer to do severance pay to the employee and no laws are broken. Therefore Sundance did not have to pay Ms. Salsbury. Sundance should not be held reliable when it comes to the contract because it was a choice and not a must. However, Sundance should be held accountable against gender discrimination. It is fair not charging Sundance against discrimination because the case was not presented by Ms. Salsbury. Ms. Salsbury ended up losing everything because she did not get paid and no accusation on discrimination was presented to the court.

Case Study #5: Howard Saari

• Issue: The argument in this situation, deals with whether the arbitration requirement is an encroachment of the Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA).
• Rule: a polygraph is a tool mainly used during interrogations by the government to traitors if they think they are hiding something from them. The same method can be used in work areas by employers if they feel that their employees are lying to them. According to the federal act, under agreement between employer and employee, the lie-detector can be administered by the employer if he or she feels there is need to. However, the EPPA (Employee Polygraph Protection Act) prohibits employers from using the lie detector on employees either during recruitment or at any time on work period. Mayoral et al. (2017). Highlighted on the Use of Polygraph Testing for Theft Investigation in Private Sector Institutions. Polygraph, 46(1).
• Analysis: in a certain incident Mr. Saari a good employee worked in a certain company and signed a form (Form U-4) that highlights on Uniform Application for Securities Industry Registration or Transfer. Which presents employee requirements for mandatory arbitration. Not long when he was working at the company that there was a theft incident. Smith Barney who was senior to him at work on job position confronted Mr. Saari and gave orders that a lie-detector to be used in order to capture the thief. However, Mr. Saari having been aware of the employees’ rights protection did not proceed with the orders as they were against EPPA employee rights and ended up being terminated from work.
• Argument: when Mr. Saari agreed to work for Smith Barney he signed a contract which states that by signing the agreement Mr. Saari agrees to arbitrate any dispute that should be arbitrated under the constitution. Therefore the agreement clearly shows that no violation has been done by the employer and hence should not be charged. The case is hard Mr. Saari because the procedures in the court do not put the arbitration aside but count it collective with all other evidence presented for argument. Mr. Saari points out that the judge should consider his argument on violation of EEPA that prohibits employers from using the lie detector on employees. However, the court still went ahead and ruled against him.
• Counterargument: the court considers other factors on the polygraph tests. However, the case is seen as faint because both of them signed an agreement before starting working which highlights the use of arbitration in case of any disputes between employees or employers. According to the Form U-4 signed by Mr. Saari, it states that all disputes should be settled by arbitration, which prevents the court from taking any action on the employer.
• Conclusion: contracts are form of agreement in any company, therefore after signing the employee agrees to the terms and should not go against its policies. According to the EPPA, no employer should use lie-detector on an employee either during the start of work or any time while working in the company. Smith Barney did not commit any violation according to the agreement and should not be charged for anything.

References

1. Lamm, K. E. (2015). Work in Progress: Civil Rights Class Actions after Wal-Mart v. Dukes. Harv. CR-CLL Rev., 50, 153.
2. Hudson, D. L., Neighbors, H. W., Geronimus, A. T., & Jackson, J. S. (2016). Racial discrimination, John Henryism, and depression among African Americans. Journal of Black Psychology, 42(3), 221-243.
3. Navarro, J. N. (2018). Sexual Assault at the Margins: Recognizing the Experiences of Male Survivors. In Routledge Handbook of Social, Economic, and Criminal Justice (pp. 94-101). Routledge.
4. Salsbury, S. A., Vining, R. D., Gosselin, D., & Goertz, C. M. (2018). Be good, communicate, and collaborate a qualitative analysis of stakeholder perspectives on adding a chiropractor to the multidisciplinary rehabilitation team. Chiropractic & manual therapies, 26(1), 29.
5. Mayoral, L. P. C., Mayoral, E. P. C., Andrade, G. M., Mayoral, C. P., Helmes, R. M., & Pérez-Campos, E. (2017). The Use of Polygraph Testing for Theft Investigation in Private Sector Institutions. Polygraph, 46(1).

Case Study of Guantanamo Bay: Literature Review

There is an abundance of contrasting views that debate whether psychologists provide a useful service by assisting interrogations. Firstly, before discussing the role that psychologists play in the interrogation and torture process; Both of these aspects need to be defined. Torture is summarised as “intentionally inflicting severe pain or suffering on another” while conducting their official duties but there needs to be proof that he had authority and justification do to so, furthermore it is irrelevant whether the suffering is mental or physical Injury (Criminal Justice Act 1998). In addition, the interrogation process is described by Arrigo and Wagner (2007) as withdrawing a great deal of precision from the detainee in a short space of time but in a legal way. If the detainee is willing to talk, it would be considered a debrief rather than an interrogation which highlights how the difference between the two is a very simple factor; the relationship between the interrogator and the detainee and also the environment in which the ‘interrogation/debrief’ takes place.

The reason is it so important to discuss psychologists’ role in interrogations and torture is because they have been associated with the U.S military and previously helped them in both world wars. Boyd, Locicero, Malowney, Aldis, and Marlin (2014) discussed how closely linked both of these groups had been; in the 1950s, 78% of the government’s funding for the area of psychology was affiliated with the department of defence. It is said that psychologists were employed by the interrogators so they could inform they of any phobias or vulnerabilities they could exploit in order to advance the interrogation. The APA’s position on the psychologist’s involvement in interrogation is important due to the large number currently working with and in the military. It is declared that APA psychologists shouldn’t work where someone is held in violation of international law or the US constitution unless they are employed by the detainee or an independent third party who is assigned to safeguard a person’s human rights. The APA’s report on psychological ethics and national security contradicted itself by concluding that if a conflict between ethics and law on a certain situation prevails, that it allows psychologists to breach ethical dilemmas and adhere to the law. Further research into psychologists’ involvement in interrogations brought attention to the actual effectiveness of the interrogation process itself, experienced military interrogators and experts actually claimed that it should be avoided. They established that when the accuracy of information is a primary objective, torture is most likely going to result in misleading information which means it is ineffective in its purpose (Janoff-Bulman, 2007). Following this discovery of ineffectiveness, the APA’s Council of Representatives stated psychologists should not be involved, present or even offer advice on any military interrogations. However, despite these recommendations and previous research which would indicate it prohibits psychologists from working on projects such as Guantanamo Bay, there is still a fair amount of research that calls attention to psychologists being used in similar situations.

Soldz, Arrigo, Frakt, and Olson (2018) investigated one instance when a psychologist used her expertise in a corrupt way, in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in an attempt to cause an already vulnerable detainee (in which she was already aware of his distressed state) to ‘break down’ so that he would give a confession. It was the psychologist that made the organisation aware that the detainee would soon break if they followed their advice. All of this was an attempt to gain a confession, not any actionable intelligence that would actually be useful to the operation and could potentially save lives, therefore it was determined there was no real lawful basis of his detention and they had failed to address any ethical violations when the psychologist gave advice on how to make the detainee more vulnerable to the point where he was in such a distressed state that he attempted to end his own life.

Similar to the research conducted into the Guantanamo Bay Psychologist, a further development was made in allowing psychologists to take part in the torture rather than just designing it. This change came about due to the CIA interrogation program being reactivated. The two most notable psychologists and most central to the interrogation program, James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen both designed torture and participated in it too, some of which included waterboarding which they got funded for (Welch, 2017). Additionally, the CIA purposely allowed these instructions to continue by inserting favourable people into the APA ethics panel that would agree with the continuance of these guidelines which highlights the need for regulations to be put in place to prevent the opportunity for a small group of people being able to manipulate the system in order to potentially violate people’s human rights.

Although previous research has drawn special attention to how psychologists have previously used their expertise in a negative way to cause unnecessary and inhumane suffering, Conrad (2019) investigated the origin of psychologists and their involvement in torturous processes which dates back to 2004 in which period of time they were against torture and had an obligation to protect everyone’s wellbeing. Formerly, the APA encouraged psychologists in these kinds of roles as they would help gain useful information all while keeping everyone safe but they eventually used their skills to take advantage of their weakness which further shows the need for interventions to prevent psychologists from being able to exploit any human rights.

Finally, and possibly the most important obligation that a psychologist has in terms of interrogations is to report any accounts of torture, even if they are just a suspicion. The conspiracy charges between psychologists and intelligence entities suggest that this practice is not being followed correctly. Other professional societies such as the American Psychiatric Association have taken the stance that its members are not permitted to engage in interrogations compared to the viewpoint that the APA holds which is embedded in its 12 principles which express it is ethical for psychologists to be involved in them. Psychologists believe it is their duty to make sure the professionals are liable for their work and may have the chance to bring changes to interrogation methods, similar to the example of Mike Gelles who was a psychologist in Guantanamo Bay, he claimed he managed to change interrogation processes. Due to his experiences, he believes taking away psychologists from interrogation environments will only bring about less than favourable change which is likely to be an increase in abuse (Nature, 2009)

Who Killed Jonbenet Ramsey: Essay

The Unsolved Mystery of JonBenet Ramsey

With an unsolved murder of a young girl on Christmas night, contaminated evidence, and neglectful police officers, the case of JonBenet Ramsey is perhaps one of the most infamous cold cases in the United States. The gruesome murder of the six-year-old beauty queen from Boulder, Colorado, left the entire nation in a state of paranoia and blame. The world needed to know why, how, and who. Why would someone do such a heinous thing to a young girl like JonBenet? How did the murderer get away with such a thing? And the most important: who was responsible? There are many theories surrounding the heinous murder of the six-year-old pageant star, but one theory seems to hold its ground more often than not: her brother Burke is responsible and Pat and John did what they need to protect him from the consequences. This theory is more credible than the competing ideologies due to Burke’s history of violence and erratic behavior toward his sister, the evidence provided at and near the crime scene, and the Ramseys’ unusual behavior following the death of JonBenet.

The Suspicion Surrounding Burke Ramsey

There are many theories surrounding the heinous murder of the pageant star, but one theory seems to hold its ground more often than not: her brother Burke is responsible, and Patsy and John covered it up. Those who are against the theory that the Ramsey family had a part in her death claim that the act of accusing a nine-year-old boy and his grieving family of murdering the youngest family member is inhumane and unethical; however, looking at the evidence and the distinct connections, in this case, it is clear that the nine-year-old was more than capable of harming his sister. In Burke Ramsey’s interview with Dr. Phil, he is smiling as if oddly pleased by the mention of JonBenet’s death. When questioned about this, Dr. Phil clarified that Burke had become socially awkward due to the social isolation he faced after the constant media exposure following the murder. While this explanation might seem plausible, he was given a mental evaluation by a youth clinician after the murder. It seemed that he wasn’t the slightest bit affected by the idea of his sister’s killer coming back, saying, “I’m basically just going on with my life, you know?” (Brodsky). He also gives a “physical demonstration” of JonBenet’s death, “waving an imaginary weapon” (Brodsky). In fact, a family friend of the Ramseys, Judith Miller, said in an interview that Patsy Ramsey had mentioned a violent outburst of Burke’s wherein he hit her in the face with a golf club only a year and a half prior to her death. In addition, there have been many rumors, which Burke vehemently denies, that he had smeared feces on the walls of JonBenet’s room and in her bed (Huber). This past of aggression, paired with the evidence from the crime, can easily incriminate or cast suspicion onto Burke Ramsey.

Evidence from the Crime Scene

The crime scene and evidence also build a clear case for motive and means in the case of the family’s responsibility. One of the most peculiar aspects of this case was the infamous ransom note found inside the Ramsey home. Patsy Ramsey had discovered that her daughter was missing when she found a three-page ransom note addressed to JonBenet’s father, John Ramsey. around 5 a.m. on a lower step of the “back spiral staircase near JonBenet’s room” (Douglas). It demanded exactly $118,000 in exchange for his daughter’s safe return, the same amount that John had received for a Christmas bonus just weeks before (“JonBenet Ramsey”). Yet, what really sparked curiosity was the fact that the note was written from inside the house, therefore it would need to be short and to the point to prevent being caught (Huber). This made the Ramsey family look more and more guilty. Within the note, the writer utilized odd language choices and quoted “movies including “Dirty Harry” (1971), “Ransom” (1996), and “Speed” (1994)” (Wittmer). The note maintained that the writer was from a “small foreign faction,” and threatened to behead JonBenet if they didn’t receive the ransom money, which seemed overly violent and forced. The note also said that the kidnappers would call later on with delivery instructions; however, this call would never come. To add to the ambiguity, John Douglas, former FBI Analyst and author of The Cases That Haunt Us, stated that the writing “resembled either anxious writer or one who was attempting to mask their handwriting by writing with their non-dominant hand” (Douglas). This would rope Patsy into suspicion. It’s quite possible that Patsy had staged the kidnapping and faked the ransom note after she had discovered JonBenet’s body. Despite the kidnapper’s request to exclude the police, Patsy quickly called 911, a phone call that would notoriously become a highly scrutinized piece of the unsolved puzzle. Officers on the scene failed to search the premises and secure the scene, a detail that would later contaminate the majority of the case. A detective that was working the case sent John and a family friend to “search the house on their own that afternoon” (“JonBenet Ramsey”). The search began and ended in the basement when John found his daughter’s body around 1:00 p.m. Her body was concealed by her favorite white blanket. She had duct tape covering her mouth, her wrists tied above her head, and a nylon cord wrapped around her neck (“JonBenet Ramsey”). Investigators concluded the time of death to be somewhere between 10 p.m. on Christmas night and 6 a.m. the next morning since her body had entered advanced rigor mortis. The official autopsy concluded that JonBenet had died due to a fractured skull and strangulation. When John discovered his daughter’s body, he picked her up and carried her up to the police, contaminating the evidence and disturbing the crime scene. According to the preliminary report, several open windows and at least one open door could have easily given an intruder access to the house. Prints from the crime scene still to this day remain unmatched. Even with public scrutiny, they were unfortunately never officially named as suspects despite lead investigators stating that they believed she knew and trusted her killer. JonBenet’s underwear had a drop of blood, leading investigators to suspect sexual assault when they found evidence leading to a likely history of sexual abuse. In the past, Patsy Ramsey had brought her daughter “to the doctor for vaginal irritation” and said that it was “from a bubble bath” (Huber). This would lead to a suspicion of who was responsible for the sexual abuse. At the crime scene, near the aforementioned broken window, there was a suitcase with a footprint, which to this day has yet to be matched. The Ramseys denied ownership of the suitcase, which contained a Dr. Seuss book and a “semen-encrusted blanket” (Huber). The semen was matched to another family member: JonBenet’s stepbrother from her father’s previous marriage. A floor above the crime scene, the police found a bowl of pineapple in the kitchen with Burke’s fingerprints. An autopsy would later reveal that JonBenet had died with pineapple in her digestive system (“JonBenet Ramsey”). This would catch the Ramseys in their first lie. They had claimed that Burke was asleep when the crime took place, which “cast doubts on their innocence” since the evidence said otherwise (“JonBenet Ramsey”). If Burke had killed his sister in a fit of rage over the pineapple, this would explain why his fingerprints were on the bowl when his parents said that he was in bed during the commission of the crime. It was plausible that Patsy and John had staged the kidnapping to protect Burke from the consequences so that they would not lose another child. One of the main factors that hindered the unsolved case was the crucial neglect of the Boulder Police. They allowed people to come and go as they pleased, did not exercise a full property search, and failed to secure the crime scene, which disturbed the evidence. One of the biggest inconveniences for the theory was that the Ramseys were exonerated from the crime due to the touch DNA from the blood found in JonBenet’s underwear not being a match to any of the family members. In 2003, the DNA was found to be a male assailant and, like many other pieces of evidence, has yet to be matched. In 2008, the family was officially exonerated from the crime. Dr. Lee and Dr. Spitz disagreed with the decision to absolve the family from suspicion due to the fact that touch DNA can easily be transferred. Dr. Lee believed “that the presence of unidentified male DNA on a little girl’s underwear could have come from a factory worker was convincing” (McDonnell-Parry). John and Patsy made numerous media appearances in an effort to clear their names. There were several Grand Jury hearings held, but none led to an indictment. In 2013, court documents revealed that a 1999 Grand Jury had voted to indict JonBenét’s parents for child abuse resulting in death, which never followed suit due to lack of sufficient evidence. These hearings led to one of the biggest suspicions in the case: the parents had to be involved.

The Ramsey Family’s Behavior Post-Murder

Following the crime, the Ramsey parents were believed to be behaving strangely following the police arrival. FBI profiler for linguistics James Fitzgerald and former FBI statement analyst Stan Burke studied the Ramsey family’s behavior during the investigation (McDonnell – Parry). According to many investigators on the case, the family had been acting unusually throughout the day following the crime. The parents didn’t remain together and didn’t mention the fact that the call from the kidnappers never came, a noteworthy observation to remember. If a child had been taken, wouldn’t the parents be waiting agonizingly for the phone call so that they could get their child back as soon as possible? Not to mention the 911 call that Patsy had made after discovering her daughter was missing. The call possessed some questionable oddities. During the call, she had spoken rather strangely, saying “We have a kidnapping,” which suggested a “passive language [that] has been linked to lying” (Huber). Patsy also neglected to mention JonBenet until she had fully discussed the kidnapping and the note. This isn’t concrete evidence that she was involved, but it’s rather odd that a mother had failed to mention her daughter’s name immediately after the operator answered the phone. Patsy even hung up on the operator so abruptly that “the operator asked if she was still there” (Huber). Most people stay on the phone until the police arrive. After the police arrived, the Ramseys, according to the officers on the scene, hesitated on being interviewed, and, nearly an hour after finding JonBenet’s body, John was overheard on the phone planning to leave the state with his family. He claimed that he was keeping his family safe, but why would he leave the state so soon after discovering that he had lost his daughter so heinous? In addition to this, the Ramseys had also been quick to hire attorneys to represent them. Their behavior earned suspicion from the police. “The Ramseys didn’t appear to behave the way parents in this situation are ‘supposed’ to behave. They didn’t cling together and constantly comfort and reassure each other,” John Douglas writes in The Cases That Haunt Us (Freeman). Jeff Shapiro, a journalist, had attended the Ramsey family’s church. Upon surveilling her, he noted, “I had never seen anyone pray for his own soul the way Patsy was praying for hers … At that moment, I decided she was the killer,” (Freeman). The Ramsey family retorted similar thoughts stating that they were “in shock and medicated so we could function” (Freeman).

Other Potential Suspects in the Case

Many other theories surrounding the unsolved case of JonBenet Ramsey involved three other suspects: Gary Oliva, Bill McReynolds, and John Mark Karr. These three suspects were cleared of accusation due to a lack of evidence pointing in their direction. Gary Oliva was a sex offender he allegedly “called a friend… claiming he’d hurt a little girl” (Huber). It has come to the media’s attention that no other girl had been reportedly hurting that night. He was cleared as a suspect due to a lack of evidence. Oliva had recently confessed to the decades-old crime but has not been taken seriously by the Boulder Police Department, who see his confession as nothing but a final plea for attention. As of the timing of the confession, Oliva is currently serving ten years for two counts of sexual exploitation of a child at the Limon Correctional Facility in Boulder (Brennan). Another suspect considered for the crime due to a confession was one John Mark Karr, a school teacher, and divorced father. He had falsely confessed to the murder of JonBenet almost ten years after the murder in a series of emails, over the duration of four years, to a “professor who was making a documentary about JonBenét and told him that he was the one who killed her after sexually abusing her” (Huber). In the emails, he used similar wording as the ransom note. He said that was in love with her, that he had struck her with a flashlight, which explains the blunt force trauma, and that he had taken her into the basement when she was asleep. It was later discovered that he wasn’t in Boulder at the time of the murder: he had just wanted the fame. He was tracked down to Bangkok, Thailand, where he was fleeing charges of child pornography. The third and final disturbed individual is Bill McReynolds, who often dressed as Santa at the Ramsey Christmas powers. One year, he received a glitter jar from JonBenet, which he took with him into heart surgery and asked to be mixed with his ashes (Huber). Oddly, McReynolds’ wife also wrote a play that resembled JonBenet’s case (“The Tragic Murder of JonBenet Ramsey”). However, there wasn’t any other concrete evidence that could link either man to the crime.

Conclusion: The Lingering Questions

The JonBenet case will continue to rest on the shelf, collecting dust, with the rest of the cold cases. Though much of the evidence added up to the Ramsey family is responsible for the death of their own flesh and blood, a few pieces of insufficient evidence wrongfully exonerated them from the crime. Burke, in the past, had a tendency to become violent and lash out at his younger sister, which should have been a red flag from the beginning, but the police, from the start of the investigation, had diminished and uncredited the evidence due to their lack of control over the crime scene.

Works Cited

1. Brennan, Charlie. “Boulder Police Show Little Interest in Report of Pedophile’s Alleged JonBenet Ramsey Case Confession.” The Denver Post. 11 Jan 2019. https://www.denverpost.com/2019/01/10/boulder-police-jonbenet-ramsey-confession/
2. Brodsky, Rachel. “‘The Case of JonBenet Ramsey’: Everything We Learned From Part Two.” Rollingstone. 20 Sep 2016. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/the-case-of-jonbenet-ramsey-everything-we-learned-from-part-two-106495/
3. Douglas, John. “The Death of JonBenet Ramsey.” The Cases That Haunt Us, edited by Olshaker, Mark, Pocket Book Nonfiction, 2000, pp. 363-461.
4. Freeman, Hadley. “JonBenet Ramsey: The brutal child murder that still haunts America.” The Guardian, 11 Dec 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/11/jonbenet-ramsey-the-brutal-child-that-still-haunts-america
5. Huber, Lucy. “30 Crazy facts About the Death of JonBenet Ramsey.” 22 Words. 2019. https://twentytwowords.com/unsettling-facts-about-the-mysterious-death-of-jonbenet-ramsey/
6. “JonBenet Ramsey.” Crime Museum. www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/cold-cases/JonBenet-ramsey/.
7. “JonBenet Ramsey Murder: Brother Burke Ramsey Revealed Key Detail To Dr. Phil | TODAY.” YouTube, YouTube, 12 Sept. 2016, youtu.be/xWblt-Ru7pk.
8. McDonnell-Parry, Amelia. “3 Big Ways ‘The Case of JonBenet Ramsey’ Got It Wrong.” Rollingstone. 20 Sep 2016. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/3-big-ways-the-case-of-jonbenet-ramsey-got-it-wrong-112062/
9. “The Tragic Murder Of JonBenét Ramsey.” YouTube, 18 Aug. 2017, youtu.be/SiQ4t2EuhKU.
10. Wittmer, Carrie. “All the theories about who really killed JonBenet Ramsey.” Business Insider, 3 May 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/11/jonbenet-ramsey-the-brutal-child-that-still-haunts-america

Peter Weinberger’s Kidnapping That Stunned the Country: Critical Essay

The kidnapping of Peter Weinberger stunned the country in 1956. It brought a dreaded reality to the average family. During my research, I found that kidnappings, the taking of a child by a stranger, were not common in the era of the 50s. A headlining kidnapping case prior to Peter Weinberger was the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh Jr. in 1932. His father was a well-known aviator. The difference between the two kidnappings was that Peter Weinberger belonged to a loving, average family. It hit home that this type of victimization could happen to anyone, not just to the elite. This kidnapping brought fear into the thoughts of every average family in the country. I explored the possibilities of the reasoning behind kidnappings and what could go through the kidnapper’s mind. How could someone take a child from a family with no second thoughts or regret? The aftermath for the family now lacking one of their beloved children, but also the aftermath for the kidnapper’s family, can be absolutely devastating.

In the 1950s, kidnapping wasn’t something heard of often. There had been previous cases of kidnappings from well-off families, but that changed on July 4th, 1956. The average family had been under the impression that these occurrences wouldn’t happen to them because they didn’t have much to offer monetarily. How could something like a kidnapping from an everyday ordinary family for a little bit of money even be feasible?

Background

In Westbury, New York, Morris and Betty Weinberger, middle-class parents to one-month-old Peter Weinberger, were left in shock and filled with worry. On July 4th, 1956, Peter had been swaddled and put in his carriage on the patio of their home. Betty Weinberger then went into their home for just a couple of minutes while Peter was peacefully sleeping outside. When Mrs. Weinberger returned to the patio, she discovered an empty carriage along with a ransom note. The ransom note included an apology for the kidnapper’s actions, and it included the demand for $2,000 with a promise of returning the baby ‘safe and happy’ the following day if his demand was met. The kidnapper had also threatened to kill the baby at the ‘first wrong move’; however, Mrs. Weinberger called the Nassau County Police Department. Morris Weinberger asked the media not to publish the story because he didn’t want the kidnapper to find out that the police had been notified. Most media outlets obliged, except for one, The New York Daily News, which printed the story of the kidnapping on the front page. News reporters flocked to the drop-off area, where the kidnapper had asked for the money to be left. Police had left a fake ransom package, but the kidnapper never appeared. On July 10th, 1956, six days after Peter’s kidnapping, the kidnapper telephoned the Weinberger home, two times in fact, and explained where to take the money. A blue bag had been found along the curbside at the second site. Inside the bag was a handwritten note, telling the parents where to find the baby ‘if everything goes smooth’. Experts examined the note along with the original ransom note and determined they were both written by the same person. The following day, July 11th, the FBI joined the case. During this era, there was a seven-day waiting period before the FBI could get involved in kidnapping cases. The only evidence the FBI agents had to work with was the ransom notes. Handwriting experts from the FBI Laboratory in Washington D.C. had been brought in to give special agents in New York a crash course in handwriting analysis. Millions of samples were examined until, on August 22, 1956, a match had been made when comparing the ransom notes to writing in the probation file of Angelo LaMarca. Angelo LaMarca had been previously arrested for bootlegging by the Treasury Department. During the investigation, it was discovered that LaMarca was a taxi dispatcher and truck driver. He was married with two children in Plainview, New York. He and his family had been living above their means, acquiring many unpaid bills and being threatened by a loan shark. He was in a bad state of mind, trying to figure out how to provide for his family. He knew he needed money, but how could he come up with what he needed because his jobs weren’t enough to afford the life they had been living already? He was left with the thought process of what more could he do and how could he get money quickly. He was driving around Westbury on July 4th, 1956, and ended up driving by the Weinberger house just as Mrs. Weinberger was leaving Peter in his carriage and going into the house. Impulsively, LaMarca jotted a ransom note, took Peter, and fled. On August 23rd, 1956, FBI agents along with Nassau County police arrested LaMarca in his home. LaMarca didn’t want to own up to his actions until he had been presented with handwriting comparisons as evidence. At that point, he confessed to kidnapping Peter Weinberger. LaMarca then told police that he had gone to the first drop site, with Peter in the car, the day after the kidnapping. With the press and police swarming the area, LaMarca had gotten scared away, so he drove away and abandoned the baby alive just off a highway exit in heavy brush, and then he returned home. The decomposed remains of Peter Weinberger were found, and the heart-wrenching search was over. LaMarca did not violate the federal kidnapping statute since he didn’t cross state lines with Peter Weinberger. He was then turned over to Nassau County police for state prosecution. LaMarca had been tried and convicted on kidnapping and murder charges. The jury did not want any leniency given to LaMarca. He was sentenced to death on December 14, 1956. Angelo LaMarca was executed on August 7th, 1958, at Sing Sing Prison, after several failed legal appeals.

Etiology

Angelo LaMarca was an average husband and father. He worked to provide for his family. With life throwing him some curveballs, he was at a crossroads on how to continue providing for his family. Bills were piling up. A loan shark was after him. He needed to figure out a plan fast, so his family wouldn’t suffer. He decided to act when he came to the Weinberger house and watched Mrs. Weinberger leave Peter outside in his carriage. When exploring theories that could explain this behavior, I found myself delving into Merton’s strain theory.

Merton’s strain theory states that society puts pressure on individuals to achieve socially accepted goals, though they lack the means. The strain of not being able to achieve socially accepted goals can lead a person to criminal behavior. Examples of this could include selling drugs, participating in prostitution, or even kidnapping to obtain financial security. Merton believed people were forced to work within the system or become members of a deviant subculture to achieve the desired goal. When faced with strain, according to Merton, people have five ways to adapt: conformity (this is pursuing cultural goals through socially approved means), innovation (this is using socially unapproved or unconventional means to obtain culturally approved goals, such as dealing drugs or stealing to achieve financial security), ritualism (this is using the same socially approved means to achieve less elusive goals), retreatism (this is to reject both the cultural goals and the means to obtain it, then find a way to escape it), and rebellion (this is to reject the cultural goals and means, then work to replace them).

Using Merton’s guide, I would say Angelo LaMarca was using innovation. Kidnapping is obviously not socially acceptable, but LaMarca needed money to provide for his family, so he was willing to behave criminally to obtain his goal of providing for his family.

There must be something that can be done to relieve the financial strain for those on parolees, like Angelo LaMarca, to prevent the parolee from acting on his/her strain and committing further crimes for financial gain. Help to find employment, class on how to budget finances and live within your means, and support groups with peers, who are going through the same or similar situations with how to keep above water financially with charges that don’t necessarily give great references on job applications, could be a good start and a leg up for those who are experiencing this type of hardship after incarceration. Had LaMarca been given the chance to be involved in a class/peer group as such, then he may never have felt the strain that led him to kidnap Peter Weinberger and abandon him, which led to the baby’s death.

Conclusion

New legislation was signed by President Eisenhower following the kidnapping and murder of baby Peter Weinberger. The new legislation made it to that the FBI could help on cases after only 24 hours. This was a dramatic decrease from the seven-day waiting period that Morris and Betty Weinberger had to experience when their son, Peter Weinberger, had been taken from the patio of their Westbury home.