Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Deviance In Gang Involvement Why Join A Gang Essays - Crime

Deviance In Gang Involvement: Why Join A Gang? Mark Sirignano 027-66-7577 Tues. Thur. 9:25-10:40 12-14-99 Deviance in Gang Involvement: Why Join a Gang? The problem of gang activity is not a new one facing our country. Ever since the beginnings of human existence gangs have served as a means of protection for humans. The issue of gang activity has recently, however, come to the forefront of dilemmas facing our nation. While cities like Chicago and Los Angeles are chronic gang sites, other cities such as ?Miami, Portland, Columbus, Dallas, and Milwaukee have only recently (within the last decade) had what they termed as a gang problem? (Conly 7). Gang numbers have, without question, skyrocketed over the past 10 to 20 years. Los Angeles, for example, has recently been estimated to have as many as 90,000 gang members (Conly 14). The importance of these numbers cannot be overlooked. However, to fully understand the problems that gangs may pose to society, the term gang must be defined. Without a definition the impact of gang maliciousness on society may be lost. Throughout its history the term ?gang? has possessed a diverse usage, being linked to outlaws in the ?wild west? and organized crime groups among others (Decker and Van Winkle 2). Due to this, a clear-cut definition of a gang does not exist. However, most agree that a gang is a group of mostly males that engages in delinquent activities. However, the definition goes much further than that. A police officer, for example, may call a gang ?an on-going, organized association of three or more persons who individually or collectively engage in or have engaged in criminal activity? (Conly 5). Notwithstanding, this definition is terribly obscure. That definition could include a group of boys who occasionally drink alcohol. On the other hand it could also include a group of youths that rapes and steals from old ladies. This definition obviously ranges from one extreme end of the spectrum to the other end. While images of boys drinking in the woods does not conjure up representations of hard c ore gang activity it does fit under the umbrella of the definition given above. This definition, obviously, leaves much to be desired. A sociologist, on the other hand, may describe the term gang with another set of values. As a result, a sociologist may describe a gang as a group whom: Are generally perceived as a distinct aggregation by others in their neighborhood, recognize themselves as a denotable group (almost invariably with a group name) and have been involved in a sufficient number of delinquent incidents to call forth a consistent negative response from neighborhood residents and/or enforcement agencies. (Sanders 9) This definition is less obscure than the previous one. However, it still leaves much to be desired. As one can see a ?clear cut? definition is extremely hard thing to determine. In order to define the term gang one must take a combination of several definitions. As a result, a combination of these two definitions must be faceted for the purpose of this paper. Gangs, for our purpose, can be characterized in the following manner: A group of youths that commit crimes that recognizes themselves as a ?gang?. As a result of a sufficient definition being unearthed, the focus of this paper can next be turned to the reasons for joining a gang. While there are a variety of reasons one may choose to enter into the gang environment, there are three prominent reasons that stand out. These reasons are psychological, financial, and physical. The psychological aspects of gang life are plentiful. Many youths in the inner city come from broken homes. As a result, these youths may turn to the gang life as a ?pseudo? family. The gang, which has a definite family hierarchy, becomes the family for the youth. However, the purpose of a family is to provide support, love, and protection. The hazardous gang life-style often provides injury and death as well. In addition to psychological support, gang life often provides financial support as well. Teens who would normally be making fifty to sixty dollars a week at a part time job can rake in as much as a thousand dollars per week by stealing or selling drugs in a gang setting. In

Sunday, November 24, 2019

How Bar Graphs Are Used to Display Data

How Bar Graphs Are Used to Display Data A bar graph is a way to visually represent qualitative data. Qualitative or categorical data occurs when the information concerns a trait or attribute and is not numerical. This kind of graph emphasizes the relative sizes of each of the categories being measured by using vertical or horizontal bars. Each trait corresponds to a different bar. The arrangement of the bars is by frequency. By looking at all of the bars, it is easy to tell at a glance which categories in a set of data dominate the others. The larger a category, the bigger that its bar will be. Big Bars or Small Bars? To construct a bar graph we must first list all the categories. Along with this, we denote how many members of the data set are in each of the categories. Arrange the categories in order of frequency. We do this because the category with the highest frequency will end up being represented by the largest bar, and the category with the lowest frequency will be represented by the smallest bar. For a bar graph with vertical bars, draw a vertical line with a numbered scale. The numbers on the scale will correspond to the height of the bars. The greatest number that we need on the scale is the category with the highest frequency. The bottom of the scale is typically zero, however, if the height of our bars would be too tall, then we can use a number greater than zero. We draw this bar and label the bottom of it with the title of the category. We then continue the above process for the next category and conclude when bars for all categories have been included. The bars should have a gap separating each of them from one another. An Example To see an example of a bar graph, suppose that we gather some data by surveying students at a local elementary school. We ask every one of the students to tell us what his or her favorite food is. Of 200 students, we find that 100 like pizza the best, 80 like cheeseburgers, and 20 have a favorite food of pasta. This means that the highest bar (of height 100) goes to the category of pizza. The next highest bar is 80 units high and corresponds to cheeseburgers. The third and final bar represents the students who like pasta the best and is only 20 units high. The resulting bar graph is depicted above. Notice that both the scale and categories are clearly marked and that all the bars are separated. At a glance, we can see that although three foods were mentioned, pizza and cheeseburgers are clearly more popular than pasta. Contrast With Pie Charts Bar graphs are similar to pie chart since they are both graphs that are used for qualitative data. In comparing pie charts and bar graphs, it is generally agreed that between these two kinds of graphs, bar graphs are superior. One reason for this is that it is much easier for the human eye to tell the difference between the heights of bars than wedges in a pie. If there are several categories to graph, then there can be a multitude of pie wedges that appear to be identical. With a bar graph, it is easier to compare heights a know which bar is higher. Histogram Bar graphs are sometimes confused with histograms, probably because they resemble each other. Histograms do indeed also use bars to graph data, but a histogram deals with quantitative data that is numerical rather than qualitative data, and of a different level of measurement.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Trade unions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Trade unions - Essay Example European trade union leaders, along with their 'London Declaration', studied the financial crisis and appeal for fair dealing and rigorous action. Practical suggestions were as well made to prevent this situation from happening again: successful measures should be taken to guarantee that the economy carries on enjoying capital investments, also to put a stop to disgraceful financial forecast. The addition of public funds into the economy should correspond to public regulation, whereas the control of financial markets at global and European levels should be enhanced (Satre 2005, 804). This paper's objective is merely a wake up call. While trade unions determinedly expand their organizing attempts and ideas, there remains a noticeable need for constant research on effective strategies and techniques. It is essential to acknowledge nowadays that organizing has turned out to be increasingly complex. Under the pressing burden of feeble and incompetently enforced labour laws, aggressive employers harbouring antiunion sentiments, and a progressively intimidating political and economic atmosphere, it is not fascinating that hardly any workers surmount the threats, anxieties and hindrances and continue to in fact organize a union and negotiate an initial agreement. Problems are only worsened when labor leaders are informed repeatedly by their believed allies in government and the academe that workers are not interested anymore in unions but perceive a more workable and less intimidating option in management-offered participation activities. Confronted with an increasingly unfriendly climate, the labour movement has started to concentrate its energy on the single component of the organizing mechanism that it has power over, union strategies and techniques. This part focuses on the means by which workers, whether unionized or non-unionized, are adequately represented at work, and by which they gain differing extents of voice in the decision making of the top management or employers. Apart from collective bargaining exercised by trade unions, it emphasizes the means of information dissemination and collaborative consultation contained within an employment relationship. One premise is that an interpretation of the interaction of these systems of representation is fundamental for a positive reception of the current and potentially future trends of worker representation in the United Kingdom. In particular, it proposes that types of representation aside from collective bargaining may prospectively establish more mainstream voice systems, with employers and employees alike, than what they actually have previously (Wigley 2002). In the past, employers single-handedly made majority of decisions on issue regarding work. In a number of circumstances, typically job-related matters, expert or strategically positioned employees could single-handedly control particular features of their working lifestyles. From the latter part of the nineteenth century up until the present, collective bargaining steadily developed. In a number of incidences, to defend