Criminology

In the poem “Let American Be America Again” by Langston Hughes, the author portrays America as a place where people try to escape their old life of oppression and struggles to this so called “American Dream”. But, what they find is “the same old stupid plan of dog eat dog”. Hughes sees that American is being seen as a ideal utopia while he actually views America as a place where there are too many obstacles in the way to achieve the American Dream. The dream is only stood in the way by the obstacles we create.

For the dream to come true, change must happen. “The dream that’s almost dead today”. The dream is not what it is but, the dream is what you want it to be. The dream pushes down other people when also, the people who are degrading others are no better. Hughes believes the dream is made out of three things: liberty, equality, and opportunity. He hopes that United States will be the dream where “opportunity is real, and life is free”. Obstacles that we create are made by our selfishness by being tangled in the “ancient endless chain Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land! . We discriminate against each other which makes it harder to achieve our goals and dreams. Because of the hatred between each other to certain people makes it that, The Homeland of the free was never The Homeland of the free to them.

In the text Hughes states that change is needed if we are to achieve this dream. Hughes says that the U. S. A. has never been the dream it should be. Yet, it must be the dream where it is “the land where everyman is free. That the land is everyone, the people who made America, “the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—”. We have to work hard to “bring back our mighty dream again. ” The vision of America that Hughes shows is that the U. S. A. is not what it should be. He shows it as a place where America is no different from anywhere else, and that the same things happen. How can America be a utopia if it is made out of imperfect people? He also shows that even though America has not achieved this dream yet, it must become this dream, because America is the dream.

Nowadays, overcrowding in prisons has become a serious concern in the United States, especially in California where there is not enough space for the increasing inmate population. And according to the most recent statistics from Californians Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the state gives a bigger budget to prisons than any other state. With annual spending of about nine billion dollars and forty-five thousand dollars per inmate, California obviously pumps more money on prisons than higher education.

On average, murderers and violent criminals are jailed from four years up to twenty-five years. The more time they serve in Jail, the more money the state has to spend. Hence, in order to solve the prison overcrowding problem and save a lot of money, some solutions have been executed such as increasing prison capacity, restitution, or house arrest, but they have not worked so far. There is a better way that may work. That is setting up battle arenas in prisons and authorizing inmates to beat each other to death. The prize for the survivor is the immediate freedom and a certain sum of money.

Thereby, we not only avoid prison overcrowding, but also cut prison budgets. It seems like an outrageous idea, but at least it would work because inmates have nothing to lose; thus, they are highly motivated to fight for their freedom. After all, there are three reasons why this cruel solution should be implemented. Firstly, by allowing prisoners to kill each other, every prisoner dies, it immediately decreases forty-five thousand dollars of the prison annual budget. If we had lessened the number of prisoners, we could have stopped deeding them and building new Jails.

Through a simple computation, we will get almost five million dollars if one thousand criminals die per year. We could use the saved money to build more supportive housing for people in need, support returning veterans, open more public transportation, and spend more money on subsidies for higher education. Secondly, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics of the US Department of Justice, there is seventy percent of felony defendants repeating their prior crimes. For this reason, inmates, who can’t survive in their fight, have no more Hansen to do their crimes again. Innocent people would be safer.

The losses of family members caused by crimes would be reduced. Thirdly, prisons now look like a battlefield, and inmates fight to die, the entertainment organizations could take advantage of this to make the reality TV shows about life in prisons. This would attract not only Americans, but also other foreign countries. Because most people, especially those are under fifty, want to see violent scenes. Indeed, ninety percent of movies and sixty percent of TV shows today show depictions of violence (Nor, 1). For example, WE, a fighting show, has twenty million viewers in a single week.

Nevertheless, WE is still staged by actors who are called superstars. On the other hand, we have real fighters in prisons, and they will try their best to fight for their life. Everything happening in prisons are real, and people would even love watching it more than WE for its reality and brutality. As many people watch these prison shows, it would increase the nation’s economy because people will spend money to see them. With all mentioned above, this is one of the best solutions for the prison overcrowding problem at the moment.

Lea Harebells Guest Speaker Reaction Paper Principles of Criminology When I began listening to guest speaker, Marie Allen, I knew all the given information on heroin was going to be very informative and important. Vive heard many lectures on how drugs affect a person and what kind of life drugs create for someone. Although, when listening to Marie Allen, I realized that this information was going to be much different than other lectures. What I didn’t know was that the Marie Allen was truly going to put an impact on my heart and in my life.

Marie Allen presented he class with more knowledge and factual information on heroin then any website or television show could ever tell you. There were many things about heroin and heroin addiction that I have never heard before this presentation. Learning that heroin use usually begins in middle school, 7th and 8th grade, really surprised me. I couldn’t imagine seeing such a young person addicted to this awful drug. When I heard this, I remembered that I have a niece who will be starting 8th grade this year and eventually there may come a time that she is offered to try this drug.

I feel that now that I know more information on heroin and addiction that I will be able to pass it onto her so if and when that time comes, she will make the right decision. I have also learned that addiction to heroin does more damage to a person than most drugs; it not only creates addicts but it paralyzes them and their lives. We learned that when a person is addicted to heroin they are not the person they use to be. These people become untrustworthy, and their physical and mental health declines terribly.

The effects of heroin go deeper than the surface affecting things such as a persons weight, coordination, and heart rate. Towards the end of Marie Allen’s presentation, she informed us about many of the people who have lost their lives to heroin. It was devastating to hear about how many people, and many children, who have lost their lives to this drug. The last thing Marie Allen showed us was a video. This video showed a girl when she was very young until she was in her late teens. At the end of this video we found out that the girl was Marie Allen’s daughter.

What Marie Allen said next was probably one of the most heart wrenching things I have ever heard. She went on to tell us about her daughter and her life long addiction to heroin. We heard about her struggle to fight the addiction, and the many times she thought her daughter was finally free from the drug. Marie Allen then went on to tell us how her daughter was not able to break free from the drug and she was no longer with us. My heart truly went out to Marie Allen. Hearing this information was definitely an overwhelming moment for me.

I have eared so many stories about people who have been addicted to drugs and have not lived to see the rest of their lives, although I have never actually met someone who knew someone addicted to this drug or any drug. In my life I have never been in the situation to see someone go through drug addiction. To meet someone whose daughter suffered from drug addiction made me put addiction into a whole new perspective. After hearing and seeing this presentation from Marie Allen, I feel that I am more interested in what these drugs are doing to people and how they are effecting our country.

The last time that I heard a presentation or lecture on any type of addiction or drug use, I was probably in the first years of high school. Before this presentation began I was wondering what the speaker would talk about that I didn’t already know. I have been taken back by this presentation and the information that Marie Allen provided us with. I have nothing but respect for Marie Allen and everything she has been through. Now that I have heard this presentation on heroin, I definitely have a new outlook on drugs and addiction.