Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Free Essays on Deviant Behavior

, people’s behaviors must be viewed from the framework of the culture in which they take place. To be considered deviant, a person may not even have to do anything. Just the way a person or people are can make them deviant. Sociologists use the term stigma to refer to certain attributes that describe people. These attributes include violations of the norms of ability (blindness, deafness, and mental handicaps) and the norms of appearance (a facial birthmark, obesity). They also include involuntary membership in some groups, such as being a certain race or having a peculiar accent. The stigma becomes a person’s master status, defining him or her as deviant. For my deviant behavior project I focused very closely on the irrelevance of the action and the importance of the reaction. The experiment itself was very quick, but through the aid of a handheld video camera I was able to closely scrutinize every aspect over and over. For the first part of my experiment we went to a very busy restaurant at the base of a local ski resort. Once inside and comfortably situated, I had my subject, a friend of mine who graciously volunteered, calmly stand on a chair and scream quite loudly. The reactions were not quite as we had hoped for. A large majority of the room seemed to dismiss the whole thing right away. Interestingly the only people who did seem to take notice were all in the same group. The best explanation of this would be the need to try to conform to the group. The scream itself was quite loud enough for everyone in the room to... Free Essays on Deviant Behavior Free Essays on Deviant Behavior Deviant Behavior Sociologists use the term deviance to refer to any violation of norms- whether the infraction is a minor as shouting, or as serious as murder. This deceptively simple definition takes us to the heart of the sociological perspective of deviance, which sociologist Howard S. Becker identified this way: it is not the act itself, but the reactions to the act, that make something deviant. In other words, people’s behaviors must be viewed from the framework of the culture in which they take place. To be considered deviant, a person may not even have to do anything. Just the way a person or people are can make them deviant. Sociologists use the term stigma to refer to certain attributes that describe people. These attributes include violations of the norms of ability (blindness, deafness, and mental handicaps) and the norms of appearance (a facial birthmark, obesity). They also include involuntary membership in some groups, such as being a certain race or having a pec uliar accent. The stigma becomes a person’s master status, defining him or her as deviant. For my deviant behavior project I focused very closely on the irrelevance of the action and the importance of the reaction. The experiment itself was very quick, but through the aid of a handheld video camera I was able to closely scrutinize every aspect over and over. For the first part of my experiment we went to a very busy restaurant at the base of a local ski resort. Once inside and comfortably situated, I had my subject, a friend of mine who graciously volunteered, calmly stand on a chair and scream quite loudly. The reactions were not quite as we had hoped for. A large majority of the room seemed to dismiss the whole thing right away. Interestingly the only people who did seem to take notice were all in the same group. The best explanation of this would be the need to try to conform to the group. The scream itself was quite loud enough for everyone in the room to... Free Essays on Deviant Behavior 1. Describe an experiment, which influenced your thinking about alcoholism. I found the experiment presented for â€Å"matching† intrigued me the most. This commonsense idea resides on the principal of pairing drinkers with the program best suited to them. McLachlan (1974) presented a study that correlated drinkers performance at follow up to be affected by the style of treatment and the treatment they received. The matches or mismatches were occurring naturally, no intension to match clients with therapists was done. The experiment consisted of 94% of alcoholics that received treatment. They were extensively interviewed twelve to sixteen months after completion of the program. A four point Conceptual Level was assessed. 1. Poorly socialized, egocentric, impulsive, cognitively simple 2. Dependant and compliant 3. Independent, questioning, self-assertive 4. Interdependent, empathetic, and cognitively complex The therapists were assessed in the same fashion. Follow up treatment was also rated- high or low in structure. It was noted on the amount of contact and counseling completed after treatment ceased. An analysis of this data showed how recovery rates were correlated to matching or mismatching of drinkers Conceptual Level to the therapists Conceptual Level as well as the structuredness of the aftercare. Drinker and therapist matched 70% Drinker and therapist mismatched 50% Drinker and setting matched 71% Drinker and setting mismatched 49% Drinker, therapist, and setting matched 77% Drinker, therapist, and setting mismatched 38% The data was statistically significant, showing â€Å"matching† increases recovery rates. The data presented in this experiment increased my belief for Fingarette’s need to fully appreciate the heavy drinker as an individual. By understanding the background and lifestyle of the drinker we are able to better treat them. I believe we can increase the success rate by improvi...

Sunday, March 1, 2020

Learn About the End of the French Revolution

Learn About the End of the French Revolution Almost all historians agree that the French Revolution, that great maelstrom of ideas, politics, and violence, started in 1789 when a gathering of the Estates General turned into a dissolving of the social order and the creation of a new representative body. What they don’t agree on is when the revolution came to an end. While you can find the occasional reference to France still being in the revolutionary era now, most commentators see a difference between the revolution and the imperial rule of Napoleon Bonaparte and the age of wars that bear his name. Which event marks the end of the French Revolution? Take your pick. 1795: The Directory In 1795, with rule by The Terror over, the National Convention designed a new system for governing France. This involved two councils and a ruling body of five directors, known as the Directory. In October 1795, Parisians angry at the state of France, including the idea of the Directory, gathered and marched in protest, but they were repelled by troops guarding strategic areas. This failure was the last time the citizens of Paris appeared able to take charge of the revolution as they had so powerfully done before. It is considered a turning point in the revolution; indeed, some consider it the end. Soon after this, the Directory staged a coup to remove royalists, and their rule for the next four years would be marked by constant vote rigging to stay in power, an action at odds with the dreams of the original revolutionaries. The Directory certainly marked the death of many revolutionary ideals. 1799: The Consulate The military had taken a large role in the changes wrought by the French Revolution before 1799 but never had a general use the army to force change. The Coup of Brumaire, which took place in the later months of 1799, was organized by director and author Sieyà ©s, who decided that the undefeated and feted General Bonaparte would be a tame figure who could use the army to seize power. The coup didn’t run smoothly, but no blood was shed beyond Napoleon’s cheek, and by December 1799 a new government was created. This would be run by three consuls: Napoleon, Sieyà ©s (who had originally wanted Napoleon to be a figurehead and have no power), and a third man called Ducos. The Consulate may be considered the event that marked the end of the French Revolution because it was, technically, a military coup rather than a movement pushed along by the however theoretical will of the people, unlike the earlier revolution. 1802: Napoleon Consul for Life Although power was vested in three consuls, Napoleon soon began to take charge. He won further battles, instituted reforms, started drafting a new series of laws, and raised his influence and profile. In 1802, Sieyà ©s began to criticize the man he had hoped to use as a puppet. The other governmental bodies began to refuse to pass Napoleon’s laws, so he bloodlessly purged them and leveraged his popularity into having himself declared consul for life. This event is sometimes believed to be the end of the revolution because his new position was almost monarchical in its dimensions and certainly represented a break with the careful checks, balances, and elected positions desired by earlier reformers. 1804: Napoleon Becomes Emperor Fresh off more propaganda victories and with his popularity nearly at its zenith, Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself emperor of France. The French Republic was over and the French empire had begun. This is perhaps the most obvious date to use as the end of the revolution, for although Napoleon had been building his power since the Consulate. France was transformed into a new form of nation and government, one considered almost opposite to the hopes of many revolutionaries. This wasnt simply pure megalomania by Napoleon because he had to work hard to reconcile the conflicting forces of the revolution and establish a degree of peace. He had to get old monarchists working with revolutionaries and try to get everyone working together under him. In many respects he was successful, knowing how to bribe and coerce to unify much of France, and being surprisingly forgiving. Of course, this was partly based on the glory of conquest. It is possible to claim that the revolution came to an end gradually over the Napoleonic era, rather than any single power-grabbing event or date, but this frustrates people who like crisp answers. 1815: The End of the Napoleonic Wars It’s unusual, but not impossible, to find books that include the Napoleonic Wars alongside the revolution  and consider the two part of the same arc. Napoleon had risen through opportunities afforded by the revolution. His fall in first 1814 and then 1815 saw the return of the French monarchy, clearly a national return to pre-revolutionary times, even if France could not return to that era. However, the monarchy did not last long, rendering this a difficult endpoint for the revolution, as others followed soon.