Native American educational traditions passed Essay Example for Free

Native American educational traditions passed Essay Before contact with Europeans, Native Americans developed an effective system of informal education call aboriginal education. The system included transmitting knowledge, values, skills, attitudes, and dispositions to the next generation in real world settings such as the farm, at home, or on the hunting ground. Education was viewed as a way to beautify and sharpen the next generation and prepare them to take over the mantle of leadership. The purpose of education was for an immediate induction of the next generation into society and preparation for adulthood. Education was for introducing society with all its institutions, taboos, mores, and functions to the individual. Also, education was intended for making the individual a part of the totality of the social consciousness. Native American education delineated social responsibility, skill orientation, political participation, and spiritual and moral values. The cardinal goals of Native American education were to develop the individual’s latent physical skills and character, inculcate respect for elders and those in authority in the individual, and help the individual acquire specific vocational training (Franklin, 1979). Native American education was also for developing a healthy attitude toward honest labor, developing a sense of belonging and encouraging active participation in community activities. Both boys and girls had equal access to education. Boys were taught by their fathers, uncles, grandfathers, and other male elders. Girls were instructed by their mothers, aunts, grandmothers, female elders and other members of their families. Sometimes, both boys and girls received instruction at the feet of either male or female elders (Mould, 2004). There were barely any dropouts and the community ensured that every child received a full education. Youth appropriate information and knowledge was not hidden from any child. Several teaching strategies, including storytelling, were utilized to pass on knowledge and culture to the youth. In fact, Mould (2004) believed that storytelling was a sacred and vital part of a Native American youth’s education. Knowledge and culture were passed down orally, â€Å"crafted into stories that would instruct, inspire, provoke, question, challenge, and entertain† (Mould, 2004). Often, the youth would gather together to listen to the elders as they related the knowledge once entrusted to them when they were children (Mould, 2004). The philosophy of education was that of the development of the individual as well as the whole society (Johnson et al. , 2005). Educational philosophy also emphasized the importance of nature. The pursuit of knowledge and happiness were subordinated to a respect for the whole universe. According to Johnson, knowledge was equated with an understanding of one’s place in the natural order of things and educators were encouraged to study and teach the physical and social world by examining the natural relationships that exist among things, animals, and humans. Studying ideas in the abstract or as independent entities was not considered as important as understanding the relationships among ideas and physical reality. The essential components of an educational experience included hands on learning, making connections, holding discussions, taking field trips, and celebrations of the moment (Johnson et al. , 2005). These highly effective teaching methods were utilized by adults to transmit culture to or educate the next generation. The youth learned at their own pace and barely competed against one another. The youth were taught to be supportive and nurturing of one another in the learning process. As a result of the holistic education that all youth were exposed to in the period before their contact with Europeans, there were barely any miseducated Native American children. At the time of European contact with Native Americans (from 1492), an advanced system of informal/aboriginal education had been developed by Native Americans as noted earlier. That system was misunderstood by Europeans who thus made efforts to impose their formal system of education on Native Americans. After contact with Europeans, formal education for Native Americans was initially conducted by missionaries and private individuals until the 1830s. There were increased European government efforts to formally educate Native Americans after the passage of the Indian Removal Act (1830) which forced Native Americans onto reservations (Tozer 2009). The purpose of formal education of Native Americans, as far as Europeans were concerned, was forced acculturation or assimilation to European culture (Tozer 2009). The aim of the European system of education was to â€Å"civilize†, Christianize, and Europeanize the Native Americans in European-controlled schools. To achieve this purpose and aim, many Native American children were forcibly removed from their homes and enrolled in European-controlled schools. By 1887, about 14,300 Native American children were enrolled in 227 schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs or by religious groups (Tozer 2009). The schools were operated based on an Anglo-conformity assimilationist approach. The Anglo-conformity assimilationist approach included the following: 1) Educating the Native Americans away from their culture due to the philosophy of Europeanization or Christianization or â€Å"civilizing† of the Native American through education; 2) Intensive efforts were made to destroy extant Native American cultures by excluding Native American cultures from the school curriculum; 3) Concerted efforts were made to prevent Native American students from following their own culture; and 4) Native American students were punished for speaking their native languages (Feagin Feagin, 2003). This approach motivated European American educators to force Native American students into boarding schools where it was believed that it would be easier and much more effective to Europeanize, Christianize, and â€Å"civilize† them. Students were forced to dress like Europeans, convert to Christianity, and take European names. Students who refused to conform were severely punished. The effects of the Anglo-conformity assimilationist approach on Native Americans cannot be overemphasized. Many of them lost or became confused about their cultural identity. Some tended to know a lot more about European culture, history, philosophy, and languages than about their own culture, history, philosophy, and languages. Europeanization, Christianization and â€Å"civilizing† of Native Americans through formal education seriously undermined the very foundation of Native American cultures and alienated many Native Americans from their own cultures and environment. Formal education forced many Native Americans to absorb European lifestyles and led to individualism as well as serious weakening of traditional authority structure and kin group solidarity. Many Native Americans lost faith in their own cultures and civilizations and absorbed those of Europeans. Some have neither fully adopted European culture nor fully embraced Native American culture and consequently swing between the two in a state of cultural confusion. Eurocentric education has been a miseducation of Native Americans as has been for all minority groups in the United States. These and many other political, social and economic effects of formal education on Native Americans have permeated Native American cultures till today. European American teachers and administrators have blamed Native American educational problems on cultural differences. This is known as cultural deficit theory. According to cultural deficit theorists, disjuncture’s or differences or deficits between the culture of the home and the culture of the school are the reasons for the poor academic achievement of non-European students (Johnson et al. , 2005). European American schools focus only on the dominant culture and expect all students to operate as if they are members of the dominant culture, giving an advantage to students from the dominant group and a disadvantage to those from minority groups (Johnson et al., 2005). What cultural deficit theorists advocate is that students from minority groups, including Native American students, must reject their own cultural patterns and absorb European American cultural patterns in order to be successful in school. Thus, in an effort to assist their students to be high achievers in school, many European American teachers have attempted to make their students â€Å"less Native American† by educating them away from their own cultures and imposing Anglo-European culture on them. Many schools and textbooks exclude Native American experiences and their immeasurable contributions to this society and the rest of the world and provide little to nothing to assist Native American children identify with their own cultures. From the 1930s some boarding schools were replaced by day schools closer to reservations and a bilingual policy of educating Native American students in both Native American languages and the English language was discussed (Feagin Feagin, 2003). Since the 1960s, organized protest has led to increased government involvement and aid for primary, adult, and vocational education for Native Americans on and off the reservations. Federal and local governments have focused more attention on local public schools (outside the reservations) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools in the reservations. For greater inclusion of Native Americans in their own education, Native American advisory boards have been organized in mainstream public schools. More Native Americans have been added to school faculty and staff. Native American art, dances, and languages have been included in the school curriculum. The central curriculum taught in both BIA and mainstream schools have remained the same from colonial times until recently. The curriculum indoctrinates Native American children with the same European American values as in the past (Feagin Feagin, 2003). In many reservations today however, there are efforts to reverse this by teaching students in Native American languages and culture from the early years of their education. In the Choctaw Reservation in Choctaw, Mississippi for example, students are taught in the Chahta and English languages in the first three years of formal schooling and in the English language from the fourth grade onwards. Throughout their schooling to the high school level, they are taught and exposed to Choctaw culture and encouraged to speak the Chahta language in and outside of school. One of the essences of the Annual Choctaw Indian Fair is to educate both the youth and adults in Choctaw cultural practices and traditions and to transmit Choctaw culture to the next generation. The author of this article, who happens to be an African and from a continent which has had similar experiences as those of Native Americans, greatly applauds the new forms of formal education among Native Americans on the reservations, which include an integration of the Native American system before their contact with Europeans and aspects of the European system as a way of preserving what is left of Native American cultures, preparing contemporary Native American youth for their real world settings, and meeting the needs of Native Americans. The large scale migration of many Native Americans to the cities since the 1950s has led to a decline in the number of children in BIA schools. By the early 1990s less than ten percent (10%) of Native American children attended BIA schools (Feagin Feagin, 2003). Today, most Native American children attend mainstream local public schools due to the fact that majority of Native Americans live off reservations with their children (United States Census Bureau, 2001). The mainstream educational system has however failed to meet the needs of Native American students. The failure stems from the absence of a Native American perspective in the curricula, the loss of Native American languages, the shift away from Native American spiritual values, and the racist and discriminatory activities of many European American teachers and administrators (Feagin Feagin, 2003; Schaefer, 2004). Perhaps, mainstream educators could borrow the new forms of formal education being practiced on the reservations which seem to much better meet the needs of Native American students rather than continually imposing the Eurocentric system which has not worked for Native Americans. With regard to higher education, since the 1960s, many mainstream colleges have established Native American Studies centers to provide facilities for the study of Native American issues (Feagin Feagin, 2003). By the late 1990s, more than 134,000 Native Americans were enrolled in colleges and universities throughout the United States (Schaeffer, 2004). Majority of the students attended predominantly European American public colleges and universities. Some of the students were not very successful due to the ingrained racist and discriminatory practices in those institutions. Consequently, many Native American students dropped out of those institutions. In general, Native American formal educational attainment has remained lower than that of the general population due to the Eurocentricity of the educational system. By 1990, less than two-thirds of Native Americans over the age of twenty-five were high school graduates compared to three-fourths of all Americans in that age range. Native American students in mainstream schools are disproportionately placed in special education classrooms. The proportion of Native American students who drop out after tenth-grade is 36%, the highest of any racial or ethnic group and more than twice that of European Americans (Schaeffer, 2004). In view of the aforementioned issues in education among Native Americans, a Department of Education Task Force organized in the late 1990s recommended the following for addressing Native American educational issues: implementation of multicultural curricula that inculcate respect for Native American history and culture, and establishment of programs that guarantee that Native American students learn English well. The task force assumed that if Native American students learn English very well then they will be successful in school, an assumption which is traced to the cultural deficit theory discussed above. Today, many Native American students attend Native American-controlled community colleges. The community colleges integrate Native American history and culture into courses. More attention is given to students and their cultures in the Native American-controlled educational institutions. Native Americans had established an effective educational system which ensured the smooth transmission of their cultures to the next generation before their contact with Europeans. The system included passing on of knowledge, values, attitudes, skills, and dispositions required for successful functioning of every individual in real world settings. Access to education was denied neither to male nor female while all children were taught to support and nurture one another and not necessarily compete against one another in the learning process. Learning was undergirded philosophically by a reverence for nature and a sense of humans’ responsibility to nature (Johnson et al. , 2005). The arrival of Europeans from 1492 onwards led to the imposition of a Eurocentric educational system which was underpinned by an Anglo-conformist assimilationist approach discussed above. This approach included educating Native Americans away from their cultures as a way of rendering them â€Å"less Native American† and more European American. The Anglo-conformist assimilationist approach in the formal education of Native Americans has left many of them miseducated and quite confused about their cultural identity. The political, economic and social impact of the European aim of Europeanizing, Christianizing and â€Å"civilizing† Native Americans through formal education are discussed at length in a paper presented by the author at the National Association of Native American Studies Conference in 2004. Fortunately, today, Native American leaders are successfully making efforts to reverse the adverse effects of the imposed Eurocentric educational system by synthesizing traditional Native American educational practices with European American practices. Works Citied Feagin, J. R. and Feagin, C. B. (2003). Racial and ethnic relations. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice- Hall Johnson, J. A. ; Dupuis, V. L. ; Musial, D. ; Hall, G. E. ; and Gollnick, D. M. (2005). Introduction to the foundations of American education. Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon. Mould, T. (2004). Choctaw tales. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. Schaefer, R. T. (2004). Racial and ethnic groups. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Steven Tozer (2009) School and Society : Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. McGraw- Hil Publishing Company.

Injustice by the Chinese Government :: Politics

Injustice by the Chinese Government The right to a fair trial has been and will continue to be one of the fundamental human rights regardless of geographic location. Fifty years ago the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations in order to establish, for the first time, a worldwide standard for the just treatment of human beings {{16 United Nations}}. Today, this declaration is nearly universally accepted without regard for race, religion or political ideology, reinforcing the ideal that all humans worldwide are deserving of the same human rights and liberties. The declaration purports that â€Å"recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world† {{16 United Nations}}. Tenzin Delek Rinpoche has been denied these fundamental and inalienable rights by the Chinese Government. In April 2002, Tenzin Delek and Lobsang Dondrup, a relative of Delek’s, were arrested in Lithang on charges of bombings and other separatist activities {{1 Action Network}}. In December 2002, both men were convicted of the bombings, without plausible evidence provided against them. Furthermore, both men were denied adequate legal counsel and an open trial. Lobsang Dondrup was sentenced to immediate death and was killed without being allowed to appeal the decision. Tenzin Delek was given a suspended death sentence, and his execution is set for this December {{2 Students for a Free Tibet}}. It appears that Tenzin Delek was arrested and convicted not for supposed criminal action, but the benevolence he displayed in rebuilding schools and monasteries, and his unwavering support of the Dalai Lama. As a member of the United Nations, China is bound to â€Å"the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms† {{17 United Nations}} ; which they have clearly disregarded in their prosecution of Tenzin Delek, as well as the execution of Lobsang Dondrup. In articles six through twelve the declaration clearly outlines the judiciary rights of every individual, each of which was violated by the Chinese in the arrest and ensuing prosecution of Tenzin Delek. As explicitly stated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche has the right to a thorough and just investigation of his involvement in the bombings and separatist activity, which occurred in Chengdu, capital of the Sichuan Province, on April 3, 2002. Injustice by the Chinese Government :: Politics Injustice by the Chinese Government The right to a fair trial has been and will continue to be one of the fundamental human rights regardless of geographic location. Fifty years ago the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations in order to establish, for the first time, a worldwide standard for the just treatment of human beings {{16 United Nations}}. Today, this declaration is nearly universally accepted without regard for race, religion or political ideology, reinforcing the ideal that all humans worldwide are deserving of the same human rights and liberties. The declaration purports that â€Å"recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world† {{16 United Nations}}. Tenzin Delek Rinpoche has been denied these fundamental and inalienable rights by the Chinese Government. In April 2002, Tenzin Delek and Lobsang Dondrup, a relative of Delek’s, were arrested in Lithang on charges of bombings and other separatist activities {{1 Action Network}}. In December 2002, both men were convicted of the bombings, without plausible evidence provided against them. Furthermore, both men were denied adequate legal counsel and an open trial. Lobsang Dondrup was sentenced to immediate death and was killed without being allowed to appeal the decision. Tenzin Delek was given a suspended death sentence, and his execution is set for this December {{2 Students for a Free Tibet}}. It appears that Tenzin Delek was arrested and convicted not for supposed criminal action, but the benevolence he displayed in rebuilding schools and monasteries, and his unwavering support of the Dalai Lama. As a member of the United Nations, China is bound to â€Å"the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms† {{17 United Nations}} ; which they have clearly disregarded in their prosecution of Tenzin Delek, as well as the execution of Lobsang Dondrup. In articles six through twelve the declaration clearly outlines the judiciary rights of every individual, each of which was violated by the Chinese in the arrest and ensuing prosecution of Tenzin Delek. As explicitly stated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche has the right to a thorough and just investigation of his involvement in the bombings and separatist activity, which occurred in Chengdu, capital of the Sichuan Province, on April 3, 2002.

The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 43

Best Intentions Pat, It's been a while, hopefully long enough. If you haven't ripped up this letter already, please read until the end. As you have discovered, I am a much better writer than I am a speaker at this point in my life. Everybody hates me. Did you know your brother came to my house and threatened to kill me if I made contact with you? His sincerity scared me – enough to keep me from writing earlier. Even my parents have reproached me for pretending to be Nikki. My therapist says my betrayal might not be forgivable, and by the way she kept repeating the word â€Å"unforgivable,† I could tell she was very disappointed in me. But the truth is, I did it for your benefit. Yes, I was hoping that once you found closure and got over Nikki, you would want to give me a shot – especially since we are such great dance partners, we both enjoy running, we are in similar housing situations, and let's face it, we're both fighting hard to maintain our grip on reality. We have a lot in common, Pat. I still believe you fell into my life for a reason. Because I love you, I want to tell you something I have never told anyone – except my therapist. It's sort of screwed up, so I hope you will be able to handle it. At first I wasn't going to tell you, but I figured the situation couldn't get any worse, and maybe a little honesty could go a long way right now. I don't know if you know this, but Tommy was a cop. He worked for the Meadowville Police Department and was assigned to the high school sort of as a counselor. So half of his hours were spent working with and counseling troubled teenagers, and the other half of his hours he was just a regular cop. I'm telling you this because it is important to understand that Tommy was a good man. He did not deserve to die, and his death absolutely proves that life is random and fucked-up and arbitrary, until you find someone who can make sense of it all for you – if only temporarily. Anyway, Tommy was really good with teenagers, and he even started a club at the high school designed to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving. Many of the parents thought the club condoned underage drinking, because it was not an anti-underage-drinking club but just an anti-drinking-and-driving club, so Tommy had to fight really hard to keep it afloat. Tommy told me that a lot of the high school kids drank every weekend, and underage drinking was even condoned by many of the town's parents. And the funniest thing to me was that the kids came to him and asked him to start the club because they were worried that someone was going to get hurt or die if their friends kept driving home after parties. Can you imagine talking to a cop like that when you were a teenager? That's the kind of guy Tommy was, people trusted him instantly. So Tommy organized assemblies and even put together this teacher karaoke night where students could pay money to hear their favorite teachers perform the current hits. Tommy could talk people into doing things like that. I'd go to these events, and Tommy would be up on the stage with all those teenagers, and he'd be singing and dancing with the other teachers, all of whom he had convinced to dress up in wild costumes – and parents, students, administrators would be all smiles. You couldn't help it, because Tommy was such a burst of positive energy. And he always gave speeches during these events – listing facts and statistics about drinking and driving. People listened to Tommy. People loved him. I loved him so fucking much, Pat. A funny thing about Tommy was he liked to have sex a lot. He always wanted to make love. I mean, as soon as he got home from work, his hands were all over me. I'd wake up every morning and he'd be on top of me. We could hardly eat a meal together without his hands sliding under the table, searching for my legs. And if Tommy was home, there was no way I'd ever get through a television show, because as soon as a commercial came on, he'd be rock hard and giving me that look. It was pretty wild, and I loved it for the first ten years of our marriage. But after ten years of nonstop sex, I got a little tired of it. I mean – life is more than sex, right? So one bright sunny morning, after we had just finished making love under the kitchen table, the teakettle whistled, so I stood and poured two cups. â€Å"I'm thinking maybe we should limit sex to so many times a week,† I said. I'll never forget the look on his face. He looked as if I had shot him in the stomach. â€Å"Is something wrong?† he said. â€Å"Am I doing something wrong?† â€Å"No. It's not like that at all.† â€Å"Then what?† â€Å"I don't know. Is it normal to have sex several times a day?† â€Å"Don't you love me anymore?† Tommy asked me with this wounded-little-boy look I still see whenever I close my eyes at night. Of course I told Tommy I loved him more than ever, but I just wanted to slow down a little with the sex. I told him I wanted to talk with him more, take walks, and find some new hobbies, so sex could be special again. â€Å"Having this much sex,† I told him, â€Å"sort of takes the magic out of it.† For some odd reason, I remember suggesting that we go horseback riding. â€Å"So you're telling me the magic is gone?† he said, and that question was the last thing he ever did say to me. So you're telling me the magic is gone? I remember talking a lot after he said that, telling him we could have sex as much as he wanted and that this was just a suggestion, but he was wounded. He was looking at me suspiciously the whole time, as if I were cheating on him or something like that. But I wasn't. I just wanted to slow down a little so I could appreciate sex more. Too much of a good thing, was all I wanted to tell him. But it was clear I had hurt him, because before I could finish explaining, he stood up and went upstairs to take a shower. He left the house without saying goodbye. I got the call at work. All I remember hearing was that Tommy was hurt and had been rushed to West Jersey Hospital. When I got to the hospital, there were a dozen men in blue uniforms, cops everywhere. Their glistening eyes told me. Later I would find out that Tommy had gone to the Cherry Hill Mall during his lunch break. They found a Victoria's Secret bag full of lingerie in his cruiser – every piece was my size. On his way back to Meadowville, he stopped on the highway to help an elderly woman whose car had broken down. Tommy called her a tow truck, but then he stood at the nervous old lady's window chatting with her, keeping her company while she waited. Tommy was always chatting with people like that. The cruiser was behind him, the lights were going, but he was standing at the edge of the highway's breakdown lane. Some driver who had drunk his lunch dropped his cell phone, and when he bent down to pick it up, he pulled the wheel to the right, crossed two lanes, and †¦ The lead in the local paper read â€Å"Police Officer Thomas Reed – who was responsible for starting Meadowville High School's Anti-Drinking-and-Driving Club – was killed by a drunk driver.† It was all so ironic, almost funny in a sadistic way. There were so many cops at his funeral. Kids from the high school made our front lawn into a living memorial – they stood on the sidewalk with candles and flowers. When I refused to go outside, these teenagers sang so sweetly to me through the first few evenings, a chorus of sad, beautiful voices. Our friends brought food, Father Carey talked to me about heaven, my parents cried with me, and Ronnie and Veronica stayed at our house for the first few weeks or so. But the only thing I could think about was how Tommy died believing I no longer wanted to have sex with him. I felt so guilty, Pat. I wanted to die. I kept thinking he would not have gone to Victoria's Secret on his lunch break if we had not had the fight, an d then he would have never passed the old woman in the broken-down car, which meant he would not have been killed. I felt so guilty. I still feel so fucking guilty. After a few weeks I went back to work, but everything in my mind got switched up. My guilt turned to need, and suddenly I was craving sex very badly. So I started to fuck men – any man who was game. All I really had to do was look at a man in that certain way, and within a few seconds I knew if they were going to fuck me. And when they did, I would close my eyes and pretend it was Tommy. To be with my husband again, I'd fuck men anywhere. In a car. In the coatroom at work. In an alley. Behind a bush. In a public restroom. Anywhere. But in my mind, it was always under the kitchen table, and Tommy had come back to me, and I had told him I wasn't tired of having sex, but would make love to him as many times as he needed, because I loved him with all my heart. I was sick. And there was no shortage of men who were eager to capitalize on my sickness. There were men everywhere who – with glee – would fuck this mentally ill woman. Of course this led to my losing my job, therapy, and many medical tests. Luckily, I did not contract any diseases, and I'd be happy to get tested again if that ever becomes an issue for us. But even if I had contracted AIDS or whatever, it would have been worth it to me at the time, because I needed that closure. I needed that forgiveness. I needed to live out the fantasy. I needed to fuck away my guilt so I could break out of the fog I was in, to feel something, to feel anything, and begin to start my life again, which I am only now beginning to do – since we became friends. I have to admit that during Veronica's dinner party I only thought of you as an easy lay. I sized you up in your stupid Eagles jersey and figured I could get you to fuck me, so I could pretend you were Tommy. I hadn't done it in a long time. I no longer wanted to have sex with strangers, but you weren't a stranger. You were handpicked by my own sister. You were a safe man with whom Ronnie was trying to set me up. So I figured I would begin to have sex with you regularly, just so I could fantasize about Tommy again. But when you held me in front of my parents' house, and when you cried with me, things changed – in a very dramatic way. I did not understand it at first, but as we ran together and ate raisin bran at the diner and went to the beach and became friends – simply friends, without any sex to complicate things – it was sort of nice in a way I hadn't anticipated. I just liked being around you, even if we didn't say anything. I knew I had feelings for you when I began to cringe inwardly at the sound of Nikki's name. It was obvious you were not ever going to get back together with your wife, so I called your mom and got her drunk at the local bar, and she told me everything about you. You didn't see me, but I was in the driveway when she came home so loaded and you helped her into the house. I drove her home that night. After what happened to Tommy, I don't drink at all. We've been meeting every week since, Pat. She needed a friend; she needed to talk to someone about your father. So I listened. At first I was just using her for information, but now we are sort of girlfriends. She did not know about the letters I was writing as Nikki, and she was really mad at me for a while after the Christmas episode, but she knows about this letter obviously, since she delivered it for me. She is a very strong and forgiving woman, Pat. She deserves better than your father, and maybe you deserve better than me. Life is f unny like that. I wrote those letters hoping to provide you with the closure I somehow found through casual sex after Tommy died. Please know I began the liaison scheme only after I was certain that Nikki would never agree to talk to you again under any circumstance. Maybe you will never be able to forgive me, but I wanted you to know I had the best intentions – and I still love you in my own fucked-up way. I miss you, Pat. I really do. Can we at least be friends? Tiffany

Mental Health Court - 2319 Words

Mental Health Court Mental Health Court 2013 By: Elizabeth Gavin Professor Contino Class: Corrections One 9/17/2013 2013 By: Elizabeth Gavin Professor Contino Class: Corrections One 9/17/2013 Mental health courts are a resource given to prisoners who would normally be put in prison if they had not decided to join this special program. Mental health court is a court run program by the district attorney’s office in some counties. This program is based off of traditional court room structure but is also paired with community services. Mental health courts solve a lot of different problems within our criminal justice system. The first problem it solves is the†¦show more content†¦PTSD is usually only excepted when you are a veteran and then you would not go into the mental health court but into the veteran’s court that they offer. Other disorders besides these can sometimes be acceptable but they have to come with substantial evidence that it impaired their judgment. At York County an exclusion from the mental health court would be if you had any previous charges they are not resolved in other states. Not every charge is allowed to enter into mental he alth court some examples of that are murder, any sexual charge, any violent offense (example aggravated assault), and anyone who is classified as a violent offender. Although these crimes are excluded under the conditions under certain circumstances they might allow one of these charges to enter into mental health court. Along with a list of certain circumstances to get into mental health court York County also provides a list of prohibited medications in the treatment court so people are aware of the rules before entering. The mental health court at York County has three phases for the offenders and has listed what is expected of them and what the possible sanctions if they do not follow what is required of them (York county mental health court manual, May, 2005). I stated earlier how most mental health court programs are for a yearlong and can change depending on what happens with the offender and the treatment courts position. From being able to have theShow MoreRelatedThe Medicalization of Deviance and Overview of Mental Health Courts1716 Words   |  7 Pagesdeviance as stated by Horwitz (1981) is primarily used as a tool to identify the causes of deviance within an individual rather than in the faults of society (p. 750). The types of deviant behaviors addressed by medicalization in the U.S. includes: mental illness (insanity), child abuse, sexual abuse, homosexuality, alcoholism, delinquency, hyper activity, and the biological study of crime (Horwitz, 1981, p.750). As outlined by Owens et al., (2012) the three ways medicine can be a direct social controlRead MoreMental Health Experts: Client Therapist vs. Court Forensic Expert 2167 Words   |  9 Pagesthe dual roles that mental health experts assume as both a therapist for the client and as a forensic expert in court proceedings are not compatible. The paper also focuses on arguments which confirm the incompatibility of these roles and analyzes past researches that would support the claim. Specifically, the paper discusses points that explain the incompatibility, such as the goals, the client, and attitudes towards the client. The paper further indicates that mental health experts must refrainRead MoreMental Health Treatment Of Mentally Ill Essay1542 Words   |  7 Pageshalf of the twentieth century cause adequate mental health services to be insufficient for the mentally ill population. Mentally ill individuals were send back to society despite of their prevailing circumstances. The lack of assistance made mentally ill individuals to commit a high percentage of crimes due to their state of mind. Mentally ill individuals who had committed crimes were being incarcerated instead of forcing them to receive mental health treatment. According to Schneider (2008) t heRead MoreIncarceration For The Mentally Ill Offenders By Providing Treatment Options778 Words   |  4 PagesMemo to the Mayor Mental health courts are courts specifically dedicated to offering an alternative option to incarceration for the mentally ill offenders by providing treatment options. The idea of mental health courts is noble, one should not view only the benefits but also the possible detrimental impacts they could have on the public before providing funding. One can only make an informed decision on the merits of mental health courts funding when they weigh the benefits recidivism rates, publicRead MoreThe Criminal Justice System Lacks The Necessary Fiscal986 Words   |  4 Pagesaccess to mental health professionals, medical staff, and criminal justice professionals who can accurately assess, evaluate, diagnose and treat their mental health issues. â€Å"Prisons and jails have a legal obligation to provide health and mental health care for inmates† (Ford et al. (2007), yet mentally ill offenders are not receiving services they need or are entitled to receive. U.S. courts have ruled tha t persons incarcerated have a constitutional right to receive medical and mental health care.Read MoreThe Mentally Ill O FF Ender Treatment And Crime Reduction Act Of 2004 : Problems And Prospects1321 Words   |  6 PagesChristine M. Litschgea and Michael G. Vaughn, is a research article whose focus is three-fold. First, the researchers reviewed the literature available on the components that have influenced the considerable increases of incarcerated persons with severe mental illness (SMI). Secondly, they analyzed the Mentally Ill Oï ¬â‚¬ender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004 (MIOTCRA), and evaluated if, since its inception, has reduced the problems associated with incarcerated persons with SMI. Thirdly, they offeredRead MoreEffectiveness Of Mental Health Essay1191 Words   |  5 Pages Effectiveness of mental health court The incarceration of people with mental illness has grown to be a serious social, clinical and economic concern (Hawthorne, 2012). There is an estimated 804,000 people in the United States annually that enters into the system (NcNiel Binder, 2007). Majority are non-violent, low-level misdemeanor offenders that cycle in and out of the prison system due to the multiple barriers they encounter when attempting to access mental health services within the communityRead MoreIntroduction. Mental Illness Today Is A Social Crisis That1650 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction Mental illness today is a social crisis that began with the onset of deinstitutionalization leading to a massive increase within our prison population. People with mental illnesses often cycle repeatedly through courtrooms, jails, and prisons that are ill-equipped to address their needs and, in particular, to provide adequate treatment. There are also many other factors in prisons that have negative effects on mental health such as overcrowding, violence, solitude, lack of privacyRead MoreHow Crimes Involving The Mentally Ill1056 Words   |  5 PagesCrimes linked to a mental disorder are seen to be abnormal from the established norms in society. According to the National Alliance of Mental Illness, a mental illness is a condition that impacts a person s thinking, feeling or mood and may affect their ability to relate to others and function on a daily basis.1 These variations often cause deviations from accepted behaviors. Behavior that is said to be not normal often end s up being linked to a crime. Rates of those with mental illnesses is 4-6Read MoreChronological Record of Various Acts that were Implemented for Persons with Mental Illness954 Words   |  4 PagesAmerican Legal System and the British Legal System. It follows a hierarchical construction in the order of the court with Supreme Court (SC) at the top, followed by the High Court (HC), further followed by the District Courts (DC). The Indian Judicial System is an independent entity, which does not fall under the control of the government and its various branches. The treatment of persons with mental illness has been documented in the ancient Ayurvedic texts, but introduction of a separate institution for