Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Corrections and Treatment CJS 240



There is a wide variety of correctional treatment for juveniles, just like there is for adults. The juvenile criminal system has community-based programs, institutionalization, and aftercare programs. The goal of these three is to rehabilitate juvenile offenders and make them law abiding citizens.
 The efforts of the community treatment are probation, treatment services, and restitution. Juvenile probation is a primary method of community treatment that the juvenile justice system uses to rehabilitate youths. The juvenile on probation stays in the community as long as he or she follows the given conditions of probation.
Community treatment rehabilitate youths that are not a danger to society and have a bigger chance of being rehabilitated. The positive ways of community treatment are the normal contact with other people; avoids imprisonment which helps to rehabilitate the offender, and saves money to taxpayers.
In most jurisdictions, probation allows the youth offender to stay in the community under court supervision. In other words, probation is a contract between the court and the juvenile offender.  Just like the adults, if the young offender violates the conditions of probation, the court can revoke the contract; if this occurs, the juvenile has a right to be legally represented.
Another community-based program is victim restitution. This can take several ways. For example, a juvenile has to reimburse the victim monetarily, to cover medical expenses, wage losses, or property damage. In other instances, the juvenile offender might provide services directly to the victim, or contribution to a community organization.
According to Siegel and Welsh (2005) “Most juvenile offenders are retained in public institutions, administrated by state agencies such as child and youth services, health and social services, corrections, or child welfare”. (pg. 350). In some states these institutions compromise adults and juveniles institutions, all in one place.
Most private institutions consist on small facilities, which hold less than thirty youths. Numerous private institutions focus on a specific issue. Almost all of these private institutions are safe, but only 20 percent.
Institutionalized juveniles are affected by several issues. Most juveniles are incarcerated because of drug offenses, property, or victimizing other people. Although all juveniles go to these facilities for the same reasons, there seems to be a disparity on how often offenders from different ethnic backgrounds, are incarcerated. According Siegel and Walsh ( 2005), “  Research has found that this overrepresentation is not a result of differentials in arrest rates, but often stems from disparity at early stages of case processing.57 Of equal importance, minorities are more likely to be confined in secure public facilities rather than in open, private facilities that might provide more costly and effective treatment,58 and among minority groups African-American youths are more likely to receive more punitive treatment—throughout the juvenile justice system—compared with others.”. (pg.353).
A further issue is the way the make offenders can manipulate staff members and take advantage of minority group offenders. The institution facilities for girls lack recreation and vocational programs, as well as fewer services. The juvenile system should pay attention to these behavioral patterns in boys, and a lack of services for girls. The institutions are supposed to rehabilitate and teach young offenders that damaging others is wrong, but once they are in these facilities they learn that mistreatment toward weaker juveniles is acceptable. Because girls arrive the institution facilities with low self-esteem and lack of vocational characteristics, the absence of programs to help change this issues, does not in fact rehabilitate the young female offenders; they return to society without knowing what they would like to do once they became adults.
Aftercare programs are the equivalent to parole in the adult criminal justice. Juvenile offenders are placed in aftercare programs to help them with the transition to community. Aftercare is a crucial phase in the juvenile justice system because not very many turn eighteen being in custody.
The IAP (Intensive Aftercare Program) focus on five standards:
·         Prepare the youth to responsibility and freedom
·         Helping youth to interact with the community
·         Working with the juvenile offender and the victims
·         Increasing new resources for support
·         Supervising juveniles interacting within their community.
Although the different community-based treatments have a positive and a negative side, many jurisdictions are reporting success when focusing on rehabilitation of juvenile offenders





References

·         (2005). Juvenile Delinquency: The Core (2nd ed.). : Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.



Tuesday, June 21, 2011


How are the roles and responsibilities of past policing eras different from today? How effective would policing methods of the past be today? Would our society accept these past methods? Explain your answer.

I believe that the modern era of policing is working better than the political era and the reform era. Political era was about serving the politicians and doing favors for them more than protectin the citizens.In addition,in the 17th century,the sheriff not only was in charge of crime, but also to collect taxes, legal process, and supervise elections. The reform era was better, but the lack of communication between police and community made it fail. Our era is better than the two first ones, because there is actually involvement with the community, making it easier for police officers to understand people and why they commit crimes, along with new technology that helps solve crimes and capture criminals faster and easier. Although police has been performing a better job through the years, i still think there is always room for improvement, and corruption will always be there.I do not think policing methods of the past would work today as our society has changed greatly throughout time Population has grown, and with that new kind of job positions within the law enforcement.

Law Enforcement Agencies CJS 210

I highly recommed this book about the FBI. All you want to know, you wil find it in Kessler's book!



       The term local police refer to the vast majority of all law enforcement employees. The local enforcement agencies are: metropolitan law enforcement, county law enforcement, and rural and
small town enforcement.
·         Metropolitan Law Enforcement:  is in charge of arresting law violators, issuing special licenses and permits, enforcing traffic laws providing, and crowd and traffic control at public events, and. Metropolitan police also performs routine patrol, and investigating crimes. About 65 percent of local officers perform patrol duties and 16 percent of these officers, perform criminal investigations.

·         County Law Enforcement: Many counties in United States have a sheriff’s department, managed by an elected sheriff. The duties of the sheriff vary according to the size of the designated county. The sheriff’s office may perform the duties of coroners, tax assessors and collectors, court attendants, keepers of county jails, and executors of criminal and civil processes, as well as law enforcement.

·         Rural and Small Town Law Enforcement: Law enforcement officers in charge of small and rural towns face the distance problem. Rural and small town law enforcement agencies participate in mutual assistance programs with neighboring agencies and help one another when needed.

        The major differences between the local and state law enforcement is that local officers play an immediate role within the community by arresting law offenders, investigating crimes; they do traffic laws, and have duties at court and jails, and are responsible to respond to citizen calls for service. The state law enforcement mainly focuses on highway patrol by preventing criminals and contraband of any type (drugs, for example) that could cross from state to state.
         Federal Law Enforcement Agencies are grouped at the same time, according to the federal department or bureau to which they report. The mentioned groups are the following:

·         Department of Justice: Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshals Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Drug Enforcement Administration.

·         Department of Justice: Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshals Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Drug Enforcement Administration.

        Every department plays an important role in the Criminal Justice System, but probably the three most important agencies are: the State Police and Highway patrol, FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), and the IRA (Internal Revenue Services).
     The State and Highway Patrol was created for four main reasons:
1.      To assist local police departments who did not have had enough training and resources to solve crimes and perform their law enforcement tasks.
2.      To investigate and catch criminals that would cross jurisdictional boundaries.
3.      To provide law enforcement in areas were local police was not available.
4.      To control labor movements.

Today in the United States, there are twenty-six highway patrols and have limited authority either by their jurisdiction or the type of offenses the patrols can control.
          The FBI is charge of investigating violation of the federal law and has jurisdiction over nearly two hundred federal crimes such as kidnapping, bank robbery, murders, among others. In addition to this, FBI agents investigate terrorism and drug trafficking, and they offer training to local law enforcements
         The IRA is responsible for the government finances. It pays the federal government’s bills, collects tax, and prints currency. The bureau has three divisions, and only one is involved with the investigation of crime. The IRS is also involved in the investigation of criminal activities such as selling drugs for the simple reason that drug dealers will never report any illegal activities.
         These three agencies are equally important and work together to fight crime in the country.
     




Italian Americans are the fourth largest European ethnic group in the United States, which makes them the fifth largest ethnic group, with Argentina and Brazil having the second largest Italian population in the world. From 1890 to 1900, more than 600,000 Italian immigrants arrived in the United States looking for freedom and a chance to be successful. Many of these European immigrants hoped to earn enough money to return home and buy their own piece of land.  Most Italians arrived with little cash and almost no education since they were farmers back in Italy. For this reason, Italians brought with them an agrarian culture, along with Catholic, food, and family-based culture. The most important institution in Italian society was the family.
        Social life increased in Italian-American neighborhoods; the language they spoke was not the official Italian, but regional dialects instead. Few could write and read English and Italian. Italian neighborhoods were usually areas with poor sanitation. Furthermore, these immigrants were segregated in what they called Italian neighborhoods which were stereotyped as violent and controlled by the mafia.  By the 1920’s the “Little Italies” grew richer as Italian Americans opened restaurants, groceries, and other small businesses. “Italian immigrants soon became an important element of American urban life. In 1870, New York already had the largest group of Italian residents (2,800), but both New Orleans and San Francisco claimed over 1,500 Italian residents each. By 1910, more than two-thirds of the 500,000 Italians in America’s largest cities lived in New York, while Philadelphia, Chicago, and Boston had all surpassed New Orleans and San Francisco as centers of Italian work and residence.” Encyclopedia of Urban America: The Cities and Suburbs. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 1998. Credo Reference.
           Americans viewed Italian immigrants as a despised minority because they were perceived
to be: 
  •   Working class
  • Seemingly resistant to assimilation
  • Clannish
  • Poor
  • Illiterate
  • Had high rates of disease
·         Criminals                                                                                               
Like many other immigrant minority groups, Italian immigrants encountered hostility and conflict in their new homes. Italian-Americans faced systematic discrimination and at times violent force from the dominant groups in America. “The dominant group in America viewed Italian immigrants as racially inferior.” Italian American: The Racializing of an Ethnic Identity (Richards, 1999:158).  This indeed seems to be true considering the way Italian-Americans were treated upon their arrival.  Italian-Americans were discriminated against in the workplace, receiving lower wages than white dominant group members for the same jobs, they were seen as a negative addition to America, and most whites preferred they not have come, and in some instances there was even violence against Italians such as in the case of the eleven Italian-Americans lynched in 1891 (Meyers, 2007:298-299). 
The social boundaries that Italian-Americans encountered were perpetuated by conflict between the dominant group and Italian immigrants.  Being generally poor, Italian immigrants settled into Italian immigrant neighborhoods, and due to pluralism as a result of overall discrimination, they generally married within their own ethnicity.  Assimilation of Italian immigrants was indeed not welcomed thought among the dominant group, and conflict theorists would agree that the power held by the dominant group, as far as money, holdings, held public positions, and length of residence in America placed a barrier around Italian immigrants making assimilation a difficult process. Moreover, after the First World War Italians developed a reputation for becoming criminals. This was mainly due to high-profile criminals such as Al Capone, Slavadore Marazano, Vito Genovese, and Frank Costello. However, the US Department of Justice estimates that less than .0025 percent of Italian Americans have anything to do with organized crime.
These stereotypes are true since I come from an Italian family. When people ask me what is my maiden last name,(Bacigalupo) they automatically relate me to the “Mafia”. I can honestly say I fell a 104% identified with the Italian culture because that is what I am familiar with: the family, the pasta, and being loud when talking at each other. I also identify with the American culture because I have been living here for eight years now, and my husband and children are North American.  The United States mainstream culture is all around the world, and for that reason great part of the world will feel identify with our culture.







 






Saturday, June 18, 2011

Greek and Roman Architecture art 101


Greek and Roman Architecture
Greek architecture was based  on building beautiful buildings to worship the Greek gods, and the majority of these buildings where ,in fact,   temples. Although the Roman architecture worshiped the Roman gods, the most stunning buildings were those for social gathering.
Up until the 7th century, Greek architecture was built from wood and mud. The buildings very well-known know today were made largely of limestone. The Greeks extracted the limestone and cut it in large blocks so it would be easier for the builders to work with the material. Moreover, the periods shown in these buildings are Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman.
Additionally, some buildings were made of marble but the cost of this rock was too high. For this reason, marble was more popular to build sculptures rather than buildings.
The main styles of Greek architecture are Ionic and Doric. The Doric style was predominant in Greece and Italy. The Ionic style differed with the Doric style because   the Doric style is more formal whereas the Ionic style is more decorative. The Pantheon in Greece is an example of the Doric style.
Roman architecture is considered to use more advanced designs as well as more complex engineering, and it uses three types of columns.
The most common type of columns is made in the Doric style; these columns are plain with the only purpose to support heavy structures. Moreover, the Ionic style was used to decorate the ends of the columns. The Corinthian style is considered superior than the other columns because it has more meticoulous details.
Roman architecture employed the use of arches quite often, resulting in a stunning architectural work. The use of arches led to the elaboration of the dome, for example, the Coliseum in Rome, Italy.
Greek and Roman architecture showed an advanced engineering and architectural techniques of the era, which also represented their religious beliefs.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

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DELINQUENCY DETERRENCE CJS 240


Why juveniles commit crime? There are many reasons why they engage in illegal activities. Each person is different and is affected by different factors such as economic differences. These juveniles can also make a rational choice, and because of this, delinquency prevention teaches youths that they will be punished for their illegal actions.
The first prevention strategy is called general deterrence. This concept holds that the more sever the punishment, the greater deterrence effect on offenders. General deterrence tries to convince criminal youths that the benefit of the crime is not greater than the punishment.
The second deterrence strategy is specific deterrence. This strategy believes that youths will stop committing crime because of the severe punishment they have to go through. Although this strategy seems logical, some studies report that punishment deters juveniles from committing crime; other studies show punishment does not have a great influence on deterring crime.
The third deterrence strategy is situational crime prevention. When juveniles are about to commit a crime, they measure the benefits of the act, versus the potential losses. This strategy believes that if youth is aware the punishment outweighs the benefits of the crime, they will chose not to commit crime. The situational crime prevention purpose is to reduce opportunities to reduce crime.
The three deterrence strategies have positive sides. However, general deterrence assumes that juvenile delinquents can make rational choices. I do not believe all teenagers are ready to make such choices; most of the time they follow a peer group and do whatever the other teenagers do. With specific deterrence strategy, there is no strong evidence to believe that youths will not choose to be involved in criminal acts again. I think the situational crime prevention seems to be the most effective in deterring crime, because it increases the efforts to commit crime, increases shame to commit illegal acts, and increases the danger of criminal activity.




INDIVIDUAL THEORIES CJS 240






Juvenile delinquency is still one of the biggest issues of our society. The immediate assumption to this issue is that individuals lacking a good lifestyle and low social class are more likely to commit any type of crime. But then there are those individuals with the same life situation who are law-abiding citizen, and sometimes end up obtaining a college degree. The question is why some juveniles commit crime and others are never in trouble?
Many experts believe the answer to juvenile misbehavior is on the individual itself, and not the social or economic level. Considering this, there are two different theories about juvenile crime. The choice theory says that teenagers make a rational decision when getting involved in crime, and they also weight the consequences and benefits of their illegal actions. The trait theory suggests that juveniles, rather than making a rational choice, act due to uncontrollable behaviors. Crimes such as substance abuse and violence could be inspired by abnormal physical and psychological behavior.
Biosocial theory focuses on three areas which are biochemical factors, neurological dysfunction, and genetic influences. The biochemical factor theory is concerned with the biochemical make up and the antisocial behavior. Antisocial behavior prevails in the teenage years, making high levels of testosterone the responsible for excessive violence. Adolescents, especially teenage boys who “experience more intense moods, anxiety, and restlessness also have the highest crime rates. Research has shown that hormonal sensitivity may begin very early in life if the fetus is exposed to abnormally high levels of testosterone”. (Juvenile Delinquency: The Core, 2005). For example, the murder of 26-year-old Daniel Gene- Vincent Sorensen, who was murdered and decapitated by Jean-Pierre Orlewicz, 17, and Alexander James Letkemann, 18. A crime like this surprises us all," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said at a press conference. "Any time anyone kills just because they want to — and that's what the evidence seems to suggest here — is bone-chilling. Why anybody would want to do that, especially being 17 years old, it makes us think and ask a lot of questions about our society." (Fox News, 2007).
          Another concentration of the biosocial theory is neurological dysfunction. Some experts suggest that children and teenagers who manifest behavioral disturbances may suffer from “minimal brain dysfunction” (MBD). This condition can be present at birth, brain injury during pregnancy, birth, genetic abnormalities, and even sexual and physical abuse.
         A much known brain dysfunction is Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). Generally children with ADHD result with poor school performance, lack of response to discipline and mental disorder. Children with AHHD are more likely to use illegal drugs, tobacco, and alcohol. However, many of these children suffering ADHD do not necessary involve in criminal behavior, so this theory is very controversial.
Some experts consider the physiological theories of delinquency to explain deviant behavior. Poor family structure, negative relationship with friends and teachers, seems to show a disturbed personality. Certain types of mental disorders such as anxiety disorder, mood disorder, depression and bipolar disorder. An example of depression case: “ A doctor prescribed anti-depression medication for Daniel Gudino nearly two years before he was accused of killing his younger brother, his mother testified Tuesday. The medication seemed to help, but because of concerns over the drug, the parents of the Colorado Springs boy discontinued using it, Marina Gudino told jurors at her oldest son’s first-degree murder trial in juvenile court”.(The Gazette, 2011).
Many delinquency theories are in place today to explain why juveniles commit crime. Both the trait and the choice theory focus on the individual, but all individuals are different, with different life experiences, and reactions to everyday- conflicts. It would be unfair to say that one theory is applicable to all juveniles. It would be better to say that experts have several theories to choose from, to explain a certain individual’s reason to commit crime.





References
·         Fox News. (2007). Head Found, Teens Arrested in 'Thrill Kill' Death of Decapitated Sex Offender. Retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,310578,00.html
·         Ensslin, J. C. (2011). Mom: Teen accused of killing brother treated for depression. The Gazette. Retrieved from http://www.gazette.com/articles/killing-113354-accused-medication.html
·         n.d, . (2005). Juvenile Delinquency: The Core. Retrieved from Axia College of University of Phoenix.

CJS240 APENDIX B

Axia College Material
Appendix B

Statistics

UCR and Self-Report Data

Complete the matrix below. To complete this matrix, list two pros and two cons of Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data and two pros and two cons of self-report data.


Statistical Information
Pros
Cons
Official Information: Uniform Crime Report (UCR)
The trends and patterns are dependable.
The numbers of youth who commit crimes are not very accurate, but because these trends are dependable, we can see the youth crime has declined significantly.









Less than half of the victims report crimes to the police.
Police departments might make errors in recording crime data.
Records are only of those who were caught, and the ones that didn’t, are not counted with the crime statistics
Unofficial Information: Self-Report Data
This information includes all sections of the population.
These surveys include more about the individual such as personality characteristics, behavior, and about their homes.








Teenagers can lie about themselves in these surveys.
Different races such as Hispanics are less likely to report their use of drugs. This results in inaccurate  crime reports.


Web Resources

Identify one Web resource of official information and one Web resource of unofficial information about the occurrence of delinquency in the United States. Copy and paste the URL addresses into the spaces provided.

Official Information
URL of Web site: http://publicsafety.utah.gov/bci/crimestatistics.html                                                                                                               
Name of Web site: Utah Department of Public Safety, Crime Statistics for the state of Utah.                                                                                                                

Unofficial Information
URL of Web site: https://nsduhweb.rti.org/                                                                                                      
Name of Web site: National Survey on Drug use and Health                                                                                                                              


Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Final Project: A World Apart



In this paper I will compare the corrections system of Argentina vs. United States. The different types of systems and institutions, the levels of security, the management, and prison life itself will be discussed. Also, I will decide the most effective correctional system and if the United States should adopt any aspects of the Argentine system.
The first penal institutions in Argentina were houses of corrections. But in the 1870s there was little progress in prison reform. In 1877, Buenos Aires had the first penitentiary opened. According to Roth (2006), the prison system was “based on a combination of Pentoville construction and Auburn discipline, prisoners worked in congregate settings during the day and were confined in solitary cells at night.” (p.13).
 In 1880 provincial prisons became federal prisons and during the same year, Italian influence and the analyses of Cesare Lombroso, convinced the Association for Juridical Anthropology to collect crime statistics.
Buenos Aires went through modernization in 1904, when its penitentiary adopted the Antonio Balve’s model which was similar to John Haviland’s model; the facilities were 5 glowing wings comprising 704 cells with two levels.
Many penology experts believe Argentina has the best prison systems in South America. Argentina’s prison system consists of 15 federal and 60 provincial prisons. The federal system has better management; the provinces of Santa Fe and Buenos Aires have the best prisons in the country.
Argentina’s federal prisons offer farms and open minimum-security facilities. Juveniles and women have special “houses” to train them in several trades and agriculture. More than 100 facilities accommodate just juveniles. Argentina like United States suffers overcrowded jails and prisons, yet it uses a grade system to determine release upon behavior as well as rehabilitation of prisoners.
The type of institutions and system of Argentina is exactly the same because is influenced by the same European concept of corrections. Argentina and the United States have been influenced by the Italian criminologist, Cesare Lombroso and adopted the Auburn system style.
Argentina’s correctional system has the bureaucratic style to run the prisons. The bureaucratic warden manages the internal and external environments. Internal environments are inmate social culture, prison's physical environment, and staff's culture. The external environments of corrections are the media, governor's office, and other officials; the civil department, rehabilitation advocates.  United States’ prisons are also managed under the bureaucratic management style. In addition, prison managers usually hold a college degree in criminal justice and sociology.
Population in Argentina’s prisons is a main issue for the correctional system. According to Aparicio and Ortenzi ( n.d) “The prison population rose from 29,690 (pretrial detainees and convicts) in 1997 to 54,000 in 2006. If one adds those who are detained in police facilities or in facilities of security forces, the total number is 60,621. The total present prison capacity is 46,494 places. There is a shortage of prison capacity of almost 25%.” (Aparicio, Ortenzi, p.188).
However the statistics do not explain that detention of pre-trial detainees can last months and even years; it is mainly due to failure in justice administration. Almost all prisoners are Argentine, Less than half are single and only 12% is married. A recent study demonstrated that drug offenses are committed mostly by women and foreigners. According to Alejandro Corda’s report and written by Kersten (2011) Currently, the most common type of crime for which women are imprisoned within the Federal Penitentiary Service is drug offenses, and the prisons of the Province of Buenos Aires are starting to show a similar trend.” (Kersten 2011, pg.4).
Similar issues such as overpopulation in American prisons are a concern in the United Sates. For this reason, privatization is starting to be a solution and to alleviate the state financially. In Argentina most prisons are from the state, though correctional experts are considering privatizing some of the federal prisons in this country.
Argentina’s prisons do not have the same security level in all prisons. This South American country has special sections for:
·         Pre-trial detainees (federal level);
·         Closed facility with maximum security level;
·         Medium security level facilities;
·         Penal colonies or semi-open institutions;
·         Open institutions;
·         Half-way houses;
·         Medical institutions.
The same type of security levels are found in the United States corrections; both countries have maximum-security, medium, and low-security prisons and jails as well as semi-open institutions and half-way houses.


According to Ortenzi and Aparicio (n.d ), “94% of the prison population is of Argentine nationality, 73% is single and 12% is married, 70% of the prisoners is aged between 18 and 34, 94% is male and 91% came from urban area. 49% was employed prior to the detention, 77% has a low educational level, 49% finished primary school, 4% secondary school and 6% finished other studies.” (Aparicio and Ortenzi n.d, p.187-204). Inmates in Argentina’s prisons have the right to receive intimate visits from their permanent spouses or partners, and these visits should be discreet and respect decency.
Comparable to the Argentine prison life and sociological aspect, prisons in North America have social groups, language, gangs, and diverse demographic.
The prison policy in Argentina states that it is necessary to offer programs for inmates for a social re-insertion into society.  In fact, a new treatment called Socializing Pedagogical Methodology has been in used for over a decade with juveniles and adults in Federal Prison System. On of the programs for prisoners occur ninety days before they are to be released; the program prepares the prisoner intensely to return to society. Prisoners in the United States beneficiate from programs and rehabilitation before and after they are released from prison.
The Enforcement of custodial sentence Act is applicable to all inmates and consists in transferring him or her into semi open institutions. Parole days allow inmates to go home for 12, 24, or 72 hours. Work release allows the prisoner to leave prison and go to work. Parole days have to be authorized by a judge.
The United States has a very similar probation system. Prisoners can be released before they finish their time in prison and can be put on probation; half-way houses are available for those inmates who qualify and can go to work.
The first reformation-type amendment is called the First Triumvirate and it states “each citizen has a sacred right to the protection of his life, honor, freedom, and property; the possession of such right, center of civil liberty and foundation of all social institutions, is what is called individual security”. (Aparicio, Ortenzi, n.d). This clause also stated that no citizen could be sentenced without previous trial, or arrested without believable proof.
The United States of America has similar constitutional rights that protect the inmates from unnecessary punishment, a right to clean clothes, food and decent housing. In addition, all citizens are protected from unlawful search and seizures and arrest without consistent evidence.
The Argentine legal system is combination of U. S and European legal systems. The laws of Argentina are very clear and protect the human rights of the prisoners. However, from my living experience in this country, I can assure the laws are not practiced and the living conditions of the prisoners are not even close to the ones living in the United States prisons.
As mentioned before, the prisoners have their human rights guaranteed in United States more than any South American country. Nevertheless there is one thing the United States should adopt into its correctional system , is the right all inmates have, to have frequent visits from their long-term and permanent spouse or partner.    
Argentina and United States have been influenced by the same European criminologists.  With that said, their constant progress in corrections have been similar and happened at around the same time. Both countries have same type of institutions and system; same bureaucratic management; similar population and privatization issues and concerns; several prison security levels; same view on rehabilitation and programs, and constitutional rights that protect the prisoners. However, due to Argentina’s constant political and economic uncertainty, the law is not always, if not ever, applied.

















References
·         Roth, M. P. (2006). Prisons and Prison Systems (2nd ed.). Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.
·         kersten, T. (2011). Drug Law Reform in Latin America. TNI. Retrieved from http://www.druglawreform.info/en/country-information
·         Aparicio,Ortenzi, J. E. R. P. (n.d). Prison policy, prison regime and prisoners’ rights in Argentina. International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.internationalpenalandpenitentiaryfoundation.org/Site/documents/Stavern/11_Stavern_Report%20Argentina.pdf


Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Painting Styles Art 101



Neoclassicism was an art movement that developed in the beginning of the 17th century through the 18th century. The neoclassicism replaced the rococo style and it was a combination of the last half of the Baroque art to the growing attention in traditional Greek and Roman relic. For this reason, neoclassicism art was interested in the collection of antiques.
In addition, neoclassic artists came across and unexpected problem because they were not sure whether a portrait of a hero or a famous person, should be represented like the traditional costume.
Moreover, neoclassical artists did not incorporate emotions and gestures in their artwork. For example, the lack of facial expressions in The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries is clearly seen in this paint; this neoclassical artwork was painted by artist Jacques Louis David in 1812. According to the National Gallery of Art (n.d 2011), “the painting is an artful contrivance to convey three aspects of his public image: soldier, emperor, and administrator.” ( n.d, 2011).
In The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries, virtue has been emphasized with perfect proportions and colors that make Napoleon look like a high moral person; his posture also reinforces Napoleon’s perfection.
Impressionism developed in the late 19th century to early 20th century and it was influenced by the neoclassicists’ artists. In the late 1860s, Claude Monet began to employ a new technique invented by Edouard Manet. When other artists followed Monet’s lead, they opened their first exhibition, on April 1874. The name of this group was the impressionists because of Monet’s painting Impression-Sunrise.
Impressionists were much less interested in public criticism and it is characterized by the   brief effects of light; these are created by applying quick and small hits of color. The images of the impressionist art are typically leisure images.
An example of impressionist artwork is Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s The Luncheon of the Boating Party. In this painting Renoir’s friends are the characters of the artwork, as he shows them eating, drinking and enjoying each other’s company. According to The Phillips Collection, “The painting also reflects the changing character of French society in the mid- to late 19th century. The restaurant welcomed customers of many classes, including businessmen, society women, artists, actresses, writers, critics, seamstresses, and shop girls. This diverse group embodied a new, modern Parisian society.” (The Phillips Collection, 2011).
Abstract Expressionism developed in the beginning of the 20th century, around the 1940s. The Abstract Expressionist artists found their mentors from other artists who came to America during the World War II. These paintings are characterized by shapes, lines, colors, and forms that are not meant to represent reality but the immediate emotions the artist is experiencing. The Abstract Expressionists in America came together in New York’s Greenwich Village. Among the most famous ones, Jackson Pollock represented in his artwork the mood of the times.
According to The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2011), “The artist also used sticks, trowels, knives—in short, anything but the traditional painter's implements—to build up dense, lyrical compositions comprised of intricate skeins of line. There's no central point of focus, hierarchy of elements in this allover composition in which every bit of the surface is equally significant.
The Neoclassicism represented a very much “unemotional” society were conventional was the only way to express themselves. Impressionism represents a freer society; impressionist artists felt the need to paint “normal scenes”. Moreover, Abstract expressionism represents a suffering society that goes through the crisis of war.


 











References

·         Jacques-Louis David (French, 1748 – 1825). (1812). The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries[18th- and 19th-Century France — Neoclassicism]. Retrieved May 5, 2011 from http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg56/gg56-45831.0.html
·         Pierre Auguste Renoir (Impressionist). (1880-81). Luncheon of the Boating Party. Retrieved May 5, 2011, from http://www.phillipscollection.org/collection/boating/index.aspx
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Sunday, June 12, 2011

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Film and Popular Cinema

As soon as photography was invented, people, worked toward new ways of capturing the motion of images. Film and popular cinema were the result of the new photographs in motion.
Film is an art form, evaluated based on acting and special effects that create a story with an underlying message. A documentary is a type of film that reflects a specific culture or society. For example, The Gold Rush is an 80-minute film made in 1925 that represented the hard living conditions in which the miners lived in 1898.
Popular cinema is most interested in gaining an audience that to deliver an underlying message. Popular cinema is intended to entertain the audience when the pubic watches an enjoyable movie. For example the musical movie Grease does not intend to send a message to the public, but to entertain them with songs and dance.
On the other hand, the difference between film and popular cinema has begun to be indistinct. For example, the movie Titanic in 1999 was recognized for its perfect presentation of the era and the documentary part of the film.