Moral panics Essay

The term ‘moral panic’ suggests a dramatic and rapid overreaction to forms of deviance or wrongdoing believed to be a direct threat to society. The most common definition of a moral panic is the opening paragraph of ‘Folk Devils and Moral Panics’ by Stanley Cohen: Societies appear to be subject, every now and then, to periods of moral panic. (1) A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests; (2) its nature is presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media; (3) the moral barricades are manned by editors, bishops, politicians and other right-thinking people; (4) socially accredited experts pronounce their diagnoses and solutions; (5) ways of coping are evolved or (more often) resorted to; (6) the condition then disappears, submerges or deteriorates and becomes more visible. Sometimes the object of panic is quite novel and at other times it is something which has been in existence long enough, but suddenly appears in the limelight. Sometimes the panic passes over and is forgotten, except in folk lore and collective memory; at other times it has more serious and long-lasting repercussions and might produce such changes as those in legal and social policy or even in the way the society conceives itself. Although in Cohen’s original work the numbers did not appear, but they can be said to represent the six stages in the development of a moral panic. One such moral panic was the ‘video nasties’ case after the James Bulger murder in 1993. Robert Thompson and Jon Venebles, who were both ten years old at the time, abducted James from the Strand shopping centre in Bootle, Liverpool. They walked him two miles to a railway line where they inflicted massive injuries on him, which resulted in his death. This deviant act dominated the newspaper headlines and created a panic. This murder was portrayed as a horrific act in the press and symbolized the degeneration of modern British society. The Bulger case was used, by the media, to symbolise all what was wrong with Britain. They focused on the difference between innocence and evil and why we as a society let this happen, it suggested the increase of public indifference, lowering family values and increasing isolation, generating massive public guilt and predicting a breakdown in society itself. Fuelled by the press reports, reasons were sought why the murder of James Bulger may have happened. This prompted demands for tighter controls, curfews for young people and stricter laws. One of these laws was for stricter controls on violent films, or ‘video nasties’, as the press called them. This was because the trial judge, who sentenced Venebles and Thompson to be â€Å"detained at Her Majesty’s Pleasure†, unusually made a statement in open court claiming that he believed violent videos may in part be an explanation to why the boys committed murder. He in particular singled out the film ‘Child’s Play 3’, which he stated â€Å"had some striking similarities to the manner of the attack on James Bulger†. The police officer in charge of the case told The Guardian newspaper that he â€Å"had no evidence to suggest that the boys had access to any videos worse than might be found in many households†. This comment didn’t matter, the scapegoat had been found and this was the starting point for the second moral panic about ‘video nasties’. The first such panic occurred between 1982-1984 during the influx of video cassette recorders (VCR), one-third of households owned or rented a VCR. Coincidentally, Hollywood produced a crop of gruesome horror films which prompted many complaints, due to the extreme violence of such films, including sadism, mutilation and cannibalism. Laws were set up to prevent children from renting or buying 18 certificate films, and The Daily Mail’s ‘Ban The Sadist Videos’ campaign was set up. During the course of this first ‘video nasty’ moral panic, the term ‘video nasty’ was unmistakably synonymous simply with horror films and by 1984 the Video Recordings Act had been set up and became law. During the Bulger trial the press used emotive language to create a moral panic about the influences of video nasties. The press wanted to blame the moral decline on liberal permissiveness, the collapse of family life and the failings of schools, but the real culprit in the Bulger case was the arguments about the effects of the media. Every newspaper focused in detail on the alleged influence of ‘video nasties’. The Sun declared that â€Å"An x-rated video may have sown the seeds of murder in the mind of one of James Bulger’s killers† and the Daily Mirror ran the headline â€Å"Judge Blames Violent Videos†. ‘Child’s Play 3’, a film about a doll which comes to life and commits a series of murders, had been rented by one of the parents of one of the boys shortly before the murder. However, the police did not introduce the film as evidence in court as there was no evidence that either Venebles or Thompson had actually watched it. Whether or not the film had played a part in inciting the boys to commit murder, the video became the scapegoat. The press simplified the moral issues by concentrating on the video to the exclusion of virtually all other possible influences on the killers. The day after the judge’s summing up the Daily Mirror printed sensational coverage of the ‘evil’ and ‘sick’ video in the first few pages of the paper. Later Mirror coverage included an interview with the film’s director, David Kirschner, quoting him as saying that ‘Child’s Play 3’ was â€Å"never intended for kids† and that he wouldn’t let his own children watch it. The Sun’s coverage was more graphic than that of the Mirror. The front page of an issue led with the headline â€Å"For the sake of ALL our kids†¦ BURN YOUR VIDEO NASTY†, launching a campaign to destroy all copies of ‘Child’s Play3’ by asking readers and video shop outlets to burn them. In the same issue a graph was also printed showing the heart rate of a Sun journalist who watched ‘Child’s Play 3’ whilst wired to a heart monitor, her heart rate increased during the most violent parts of the film. The Sun used this experiment to prove that the video was indeed an incitement to murder, trying to prove that the furore over the so-called video nasties was a valid one. The case of the Bulger murder was seen to encompass every negative aspect of society which is evident in today’s world. The Times described this as a â€Å"reminder of humanity’s most ancient and bestial instincts†. Comments like this gave the press the opportunity to preach to society about modern social values and the need to return to a vigilant network of neighbours looking out for one another. The Times also used the word â€Å"alarm† to sensationalise the more accurate term â€Å"concern†, this use of language brings a new urgency to the debate about the video nasty moral panic. The press, using sensational media scaremongering, as they do to sell more papers, focused entirely on how violent films and in particular ‘Child’s Play 3†² incited the two boys to commit murder. Describing the film using words such as â€Å"sick† and â€Å"evil†, and even drawing parallels between the killings in the film and how James Bulger was murdered, of which none were proved in court. Moral panics tap into the public’s fears for their safety and the safety of their society around them. In many instances the press coverage of such events doesn’t help in alleviating the public’s fears, more often than not the press heighten these fears. They do this through sensationalism reporting. As tragic as it was that a young toddler was killed it allowed the people who hold power in this country to enforce their ideas and rules – more CCTV cameras were installed in the country because of how essential they were in identifying James’ murderers. Many panics result in official change and have long-lasting repercussions, as was the case of the video nasties moral panic. The Video Recording Act 1984 was set up introducing the regulations of videos through the British Board of Film Classification. The debates upon the lack of parental control in monitoring children’s viewing and the dangers of young children watching films intended for a mature audience led to further regulations in 1994. Bibliography Bell A, Joyce M, Rivers D, Advanced Level Media. Hodder & Stoughton, UK, 1999 Bowker, Julian, Looking at Media Studies, Hodder and Stoughton, UK, 2003 Cohen, Stanley, Folk Devils and Moral Panics, Macgibbon and Kee, London, 1972 Critcher, Chas, Moral Panics and the Media, Open University Press, UK, 2003 Price, Stuart, Media Studies (2nd Edition), Longman, UK, 1999

Do Corporate Incentive Programs Pay Thesis Proposal

Do Corporate Incentive Programs Pay - Thesis Proposal Example According to a survey conducted by Incentive Federation in 2005, organizations implement incentive programs with aim to: boost morale; show concern for workers; generate leads; improve customer service; improve quality and productivity; foster teamwork (Incentive Performance Center, 2008). Of these, increase in workers’ productivity and efficiency is an important corollary of the corporate incentive programs. A Russell Index study on publicly held stocks of Fortune magazine’s list of â€Å"100 Best Companies to Work For† observed that since 1998, these companies have returned to the investors five times that they could have earned by a broader market index, such as the S&P 500 (Incentive Performance Center, 2008). This undoubtedly exemplifies the relationship between â€Å"best places to work for† and return on investment (ROI) viewed from the stand point of investors. But does the same relationship hold good for productivity and efficiency; more important ly in organisations that are outside the gambit of Fortune magazine’s list of 100 best companies to work for; though, the researcher personally believes it to be. Further, does â€Å"best-place-to-work-for† include corporate incentive? Therefore, it becomes necessary to empirically verify that corporate incentive programs invariably do have a strong positive correlation with workers’ productivity and overall organisational efficiency.... This undoubtedly exemplifies the relationship between â€Å"best places to work for† and return on investment (ROI) viewed from the stand point of investors. But does the same relationship hold good for productivity and efficiency; more importantly in organisations that are outside the gambit of Fortune magazine’s list of 100 best companies to work for; though, the researcher personally believes it to be. Further, does â€Å"best-place-to-work-for† include corporate incentive? Therefore, it becomes necessary to empirically verify that corporate incentive programs invariably do have a strong positive correlation with workers’ productivity and overall organisational efficiency. In other words, do corporate incentive programs work well in enhancing workers’ productivity and organizational efficiency? It also becomes necessary to understand about the elements that are contained in the recipe of â€Å"best-place-to-work-for† and their interrelatio nships; and how they are correlated? Literature Review In pursuit of this research question, it is intended that a thorough understanding of the current conditions in the field of study is made so that besides being familiar with the studies undertaken so far and current thinking on relevant issues, the researcher is also aware of the general problems and opportunities existing in this field of research. Nonetheless, the necessity of identifying the key gears of this study and developing sufficient insight on how they work cannot be overestimated. The researcher identified a three-component assembly for this research: (1) corporate incentives, (2) workers’ productivity, and (3) organisational

The Jerry Watson 30 year old murder case Research Paper

The Jerry Watson 30 year old murder case - Research Paper Example Fingerprints from car were also recorded.. However, these initial investigations could not provide any lead towards the identification of the murderer. The case could not be solved then. However, this case was reopened again and Laura Casey started the job of examining the old fingerprints for any fresh leads. The FBI’s â€Å"Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System† proved a boon for the case to go ahead, as Casey was able to pinpoint a few suspects within very short time. While Jerry Watson was serving his term in the jail, Herout could identify him as the murderer, a few days before his scheduled release. The trial against Watson started after almost 30 years of the crime. The new technology that was incorporated with the finger print identification system helped the detective to name the culprit. While the stolen car was found a few blocks away from Watson residence, it further confirmed the senior detective Herout’s doubt about Watson being the killer. ... In addition, the latest DNA matching technique also helped the detectives involved in this case to identify the killer. Case overview and summary Although the murder of Carroll Bonnet remained mystery and the case was stuck in the old files’ cabinet for almost 30 years, the new technology of fingerprint identification helped the senior detective Herout and his collogue Laura Casey to identify the killer and provide justice to the departed soul. Crime details During 1978, the victim Carroll Bonnet was brutally murdered in his apartment. As the killer had tried to wash off the evidence and bloodstains, police investigators collected finger and palm prints from the apartment’s bathroom. The initial investigation also revealed that car belonging to victim was stolen. (30-Year-Old Murder Solved, nd) Initial investigation The investigating team processed finger and palm prints collected from the victim’s bathroom. However, they could not reach any conclusion and in the absence of any lead, the case just lingered on. The stolen car was found in Illinois and investigators collected latent finger and other prints from it. The evidence collected and the finger as well as the latent prints could not match with any record in the state and local criminal fingerprint files. Faced with such a situation, the investigators made enquiries from agencies outside Nebraska, for finding any possible matches. However, nothing worthwhile was found. This resulted in the case to remain cold for almost three decades. (Michelle, 2012) Case reinvestigated An enquiry received by the Omaha Police department, during second half of 2008 prompted for the case reopening. There was a reason to start the investigations

Third world country Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Third world country - Essay Example Kenya is an emerging nation, which predominantly produces agricultural trade outs. The nation has enormous economical labour, which supports agricultural activities. Furthermore, the state has lush land that supports an assortment of agricultural activities. As such, farmer incurs minimal firming relative to other states, which may require irrigation to sustain agriculture. Overall, the nation can produce agricultural products like coffee or tea cheaply owing to factors that favour firming of the above commodities notably cheap labour and apposite weather. Conversely, Kenya encounters multiple hurdles in manufacturing owing to soaring expenditure on inputs. Consequently, the merchandise manufacture in this country lack competitiveness. Conclusively, Kenya has a comparative benefit generating agricultural commodities relative to manufactured merchandise (Kenya Investment Authority, 2011). Germany constitutes the elite nation with a diverse economy. Notably, manufacturing make a sizeable contribution to the economy. The country prides in phenomenal level of technology. The country has apposite technology that support manufacturing. Specialization has allowed mechanization to replace human labour reducing expenditure thus boosting efficiency. Germany has enough natural resources that avail a required component that sustain industrialization. Evidently, this country also possesses the required expertise to support manufacturing. Manufacturing particularly in the automobile sector necessitates expertise. Accordingly, presence of the relevant expertise has enabled Germans to undertake exceedingly technical manufacturing. Evidently, Germany has relative lead in manufacturing. The advantage arises from certain trait that the country possesses. Consequently, Germany leads in automobile assembly in Europe. Conversely, the unfavourable environmental condition makes agriculture an unviable option. Conclusively, adhering to this model would culminate in

Digital Forensic Tools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Digital Forensic Tools - Essay Example Likewise, anomalous space extraction will enhance capabilities of network administrators for PCA based methods. Moreover, network wide correlation analysis of amplitude and frequency that is also a subset of this methodology will determine overall transmission of data packets initiating from these distributed networks. After the identification of the root cause or source of the worm, the next step is to identify the infected nodes as well. Network administrator will use a specialized tool capable of all the mentioned technological methods, as manual work will consume a lot of time and in some cases it becomes impossible to detect unknown patterns that are located deep down the network layers. The name of the tool is ‘Wireshark’, as it has advanced facilities and features that will analyze network traffic packet by packet and will provide in-depth analysis (Scalisi 2010). By using this ‘Wireshark’ tool, the first step a network administrator will take is the identification of traffic type or port types that will be the focus area. Likewise, the second step will be associated with capturing data packets on all ports that are available on the network (Scalisi 2010). However, the Network Forensic Analysis Tool (NFAT) provides playback actions for investigations an electronic crime or hacking activity. NFAT targets users, hosts and protocols along with content analysis as well. In spite of all these features, NFAT does not support overall detection of live network traffic. Consequently, ‘Wireshark’ will differentiate unknown network patters by analyzing each port so that statistics related to each data packet can be identified. The third task will be to trace the source from where the attack has been initiated.... Network administrator will use a specialized tool capable of all the mentioned technological methods, as manual work will consume a lot of time and in some cases it becomes impossible to detect unknown patterns that are located deep down the network layers. The name of the tool is ‘Wireshark’, as it has advanced facilities and features that will analyze network traffic packet by packet and will provide in-depth analysis (Scalisi 2010). By using this ‘Wireshark’ tool, the first step a network administrator will take is the identification of traffic type or port types that will be the focus area. Likewise, the second step will be associated with capturing data packets on all ports that are available on the network (Scalisi 2010). However, the Network Forensic Analysis Tool (NFAT) provides playback actions for investigations an electronic crime or hacking activity. NFAT targets users, hosts and protocols along with content analysis as well. In spite of all thes e features, NFAT does not support overall detection of live network traffic. Consequently, ‘Wireshark’ will differentiate unknown network patters by analyzing each port so that statistics related to each data packet can be identified. The third task will be to trace the source from where the attack has been initiated. Likewise, network administrators have to focus on two areas i.e. record routes and time stamps. Moreover, these two fields are also considered by network administrators to address routing issues that may occur.

Personal Ethics Development Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Personal Ethics Development Paper - Essay Example The procedural dimension of ethical leadership includes problem-solving and decision-making techniques within the circle of ethics. For example, ethical leadership demands that the leaders, before putting their decisions into action, inform and discuss them with the parties which are going to be affected by their decisions. This means that the concerned parties are being given due respect and importance. The substantive aspect of ethical leadership includes knowledge, strong standards and courage to follow ethical directions despite strong opposition. I believe that if the ethical leadership is successful, proficient and brilliant, then the results are more fruitful than expected. The success of an organization depends largely on value-based actions and deeds. I know that if I work according to my values and encounter a manufacturing fault in any product of my company, then I will surely tell the client about the flaw without hiding the reality. I will discuss the issue with the workforce and the customer to let them know that I sincerely wish to correct the problem without deceiving the customer. I will tell the customer that he will be delivered perfect product after the problem has been solved. This promotes trust between the organization and the customer which attracts more clientele. Moreover, I believe in taking care of the workforce so as to maintain a healthy environment within the organization. As a personal example, since the day I became the HR manager in Human-Care.org, I keep track of having the salaries paid in time with no delay, consider paying rewards and bonuses to the employers, listen to the workers’ problems and try to eliminate them. This keeps them working at high efficiency rates. I believe that the ethical leader will make pacts with business partners keeping in view what they want and respecting their decisions. This trust between

Assignments for Analyzing Warrants Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Assignments for Analyzing Warrants - Coursework Example In her passage, Katherine Butler Hathaway says that she could not risk showing to any man that it was possible for her to think and have love. By introducing the word â€Å"man†, she illustrations to whom are her fears directed to, thus the reason why she cannot take the risk (Putman 321). This concept brings on board the concept of time. Analogy relates and compares similar aspects or situations, given a condition or an occasion. Katherine Butler Hathaway uses the word â€Å"repeated† in her passage when she talks about her encounters with the mirror. She also uses the word â€Å"tendency† when she writes about her forgetting of things she had seen. Repeated and tendency offers a comparison at a point in time (Putman 335). Repeated in this case measures how much often she interacts with the mirror while tendency presents the frequency with which the author of the passage forgets the things she sees. Another warrant that the conclusion by the author is based on is the sign. The sign tries to assert the truth of the claim by pointing out to a thing or things that are actually linked to that truth that is said to support the claim. It is possible that normal people may not consider Katherine Butler Hathaway beautiful or worth to love due to her condition. Her condition here is the sign, and her experiences given her state is evidence enough to this claim. Statements by experts are also used to warrant claims. These statements are commonly known as expert testimonies. The statement, â€Å"I thought of sexual love as an honor that was too great and too beautiful for the body in which I was doomed to live" has been used to warrant the author’s claim in her conclusion about the relationship between love and beauty (Putman