Effects of Women Incarceration on Young Children Essay

Number of women putting in prison has increased drastically in recent decades. Approximately 600,000 women were incarcerated in 1990. This number has increased to more than one million in 2000. Though women are less likely to get imprisonment, the rate of their imprisonment is rising drastically (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2001). Majority of women put in prison are mothers. Families of incarcerated women are badly affected and face challenges such mental illness, poverty, substance abuse and child abuse. Sometimes, permanent changes in children of incarcerated women take place even when their mother has returned home. Such children lose the hope of having their mother for the rest of life with them. They think that their mother will go to jail sooner or later (Greene & Hurtado 2000). Children of incarcerated mother are subjected to go through troubles in their adolescence. Such children may commit a crime, may involve in substance abuse, mental illness may be profound in them, may leave schools in their early life and may receive inappropriate adult care. Criminal behavior of mothers brings damaging effects in children. They are badly affected when they see their mother arrested and put in prison (Young & Carrie 2000). This paper provides information about the effects of women incarceration on young children. Different age groups of children are taken into consideration and the effect of their mother’s incarceration on them is discussed in detail. This paper describes how children try to cope up with the incarceration of their mothers. Changes in policies are required and this paper recommends such changes to provide support to such children and to keep them away from the harm. Effect of Women Incarceration on Young Children Majority of the incarcerated women are mothers. The effects of mother’s incarceration on young children are not much known. Such children are not considered when their mothers are put in prison. Researchers, policy makers, communities and service providers do not think about the affected children and thus, nothing is being done for the well-being of those children. Children at different development stages are affected to a different extent. Infants and toddlers are affected in a different manner, where as, pre-schoolers, school-aged children and adolescents are affected in entirely different manner to a different extent (McClellan 1994). Impact of Mother’s Incarceration on Infants and Toddlers Babies are not able to understand the imprisonment of their mothers but people around them come under stress due to the incarceration of the baby’s mother. Such stressed people’s behavior tells the babies that something wrong has happened. The stress period begins when the mother is arrested, put in prison and the stress continues even after the mother’s return. Care givers do not take care of the babies the way a mother can do. Such babies do not receive breast feeding that is essential for their growth. Their routines are badly disrupted. Infants and toddlers are more likely to receive neglecting and abusive care. They are most likely to receive very less capacity to regulate them. They have to face severe stress that is often imposed by their family. They may also have to face poverty. Children of this age group are not able to understand the arrest and imprisonment of their mothers. Some children of this age group forget their mothers and become attached to the caregiver. So, the bond between mother and the child will be broken for ever. When children of this age group are taken to penal settings, they are unable to understand why they cannot touch their moms though their moms are in front of them (Marcus-Mendoza 2001). Impact of Mother’s Incarceration on Pre-Schoolers Pre-schoolers’ age ranges from three to five years. Children under this age group need the development of skills that are essential for them to get success in their academics and society. Individuality seems to be prominent and such children need to live independent life. Discipline development is essential at this stage and certain routines need to be set at this age. Children under this age group are also not able to understand much about the incarceration of their mother but they can catch the feelings by the notions of people surrounding them (Greene & Hurtado 2000). Children’s limited understanding power does not let them connect crime with imprisonment and thus they simply tend to focus on the results of the incarceration. For example, they start disliking the police just because their mother was taken away. They do not like judges because they are responsible for putting their mothers in jails. Sometimes, such children start disliking their mothers because they think that their mother has done something wrong. They need time to settle their minds again to have the same picture of their mother as they had before; the mother who was used to take good care of them. Children under such circumstances usually consider the criminal justice system quite unjust and they consider them as the victims of the criminal justice system (Hagan 1996). Impact of Mother’s Incarceration on School-Aged Children When children come to an age between 6 to 12 years, they become more aware of them and people. Their thinking abilities are enhanced and concepts about rights and wrongs become clearer to them. Such children begin to establish relations with their caregivers and go away from their mothers. In fact, such children should be able to rationalize that their mother is a good person. This can be done when the image of their mother is portrayed to them in a positive manner. They tend to justify that the acts of their mother were quite fair and the criminal justice system has been unfair to them or they may even complain of a biased behavior. Such behavioral developments in children of this age group are quite alarming as criminal behavior may also be developed in such children (Fejes & Miller 2002). Children of this age group do not share this bitter reality of their life with others. They hide as their weak point. Thus, they are less likely to receive any kind of support from others such as teachers, and care takers. They tend to minimize socialization. Aggressive behavior may also develop in such children and they feel difficulty in putting their efforts in their education resulting in more absences (Feldman et al. 1999). Development of Criminal Behavior in Young Children of Incarcerated Women Children of incarcerated women may develop criminal behavior. Following are some factors that determine the likelihood of criminal behavior. Coping Strategies Children of all ages go through extremely hurtful situations. They begin to implement coping strategies to get out of the awkward situations resulting from their mother’s incarceration. They begin to suffer from anxiety, feelings of shame and anger and financial problems. They begin to deny the reality, show aggressive behavior, blame themselves, get involved in substance and alcohol abuse and find ways to escape from the situation by running away. These strategies may benefit kids on temporary basis but they leave long lasting bad effects. These issues may lead to criminal behavior (Casey-Acevedo 2002). Giving Good Reasons This is another strategy that children of incarcerated mothers use to portray their mothers as very good persons. They do so to hide the reality of their mothers. They deny the fact that their mother had committed a crime and that is why she was sent to prison. They justify their mother’s position by insisting that people saying bad words about their mother are indeed bad themselves. They even begin to justify the crime committed by their mother. They insist that crime may be permissible in certain circumstances such as they justify that stealing is a right act if done to provide clothing and food for family. They consider themselves and their mother as a victim of situations such as poverty that had forced their mother to commit a crime. Criminal justice system seems unfair in their eyes. As a result, anti-social behavior begins to develop in such children (Feldman et al. 1999). Poverty Usually incarcerated mother had been the finance provider for children. Incarceration of mother results in lack of funds. They do not get proper nutrition and basic things that are the rights to get by all children. As children face poverty, they consider stealing as permissible and thus commit crimes to fulfill their needs. They want to get the things that children living with their mothers usually get; proper nutrition, good clothing, education, healthy environment etc. The absence of such facilities fosters the likelihood to commit a crime (Greene & Hurtado 2000). Absence of Adult Guidance When mother is sent to prison, children do not receive any guidance and supervision from an adult any more. Adults know better how to guide young children so that they become a part of a safer environment. The absence of adult supervision make children suffer and struggle in society and school. They stop going to school, face difficulties in their jobs, and get involved in relationships that exploit or abuse them. They may get involved in drug culture and even in the sex trade (Gabel & Shindledecker 1993). Strategies for the Minimization of Harm There is a great need to implement strategies that can minimize the harm posed to the children of incarcerated women. Following are some useful strategies to combat this issue: Mothers Should Not Be Incarcerated There is a need to keep the whole family together and for this purpose the mothers should not be incarcerated. In case they commit a crime, there should be some alternatives in place of incarceration. Community based interventions should be implemented. The threat of imprisonment will lead towards betterment. Conditional sentencing will not require any imprisonment and justice system will accomplish the goals that were expected to be obtained from the incarceration of women. Training should be provided to important professional groups Educators, child protection workers, mental health professionals should be trained in a way to support the children of incarcerated mothers. They should be able to explain the children about the connection of crime to punishment. Children should be taught about rights and wrongs. School attendance should be encouraged. Caregivers should be trained in a way to provide the children of incarcerated mothers the best nurturing environment. The visits of children to their mothers should be supervised and motivated in positive manners. Conclusion Children of incarcerated women are at a greatest risk of being traumatized and get involved in criminal behavior. Their personalities are badly affected due to the absence of their mother in the time of their needs. Caregivers are not providing the required care. Criminality of women can be reduced by using effective strategies. Children of incarcerated women should be given under the supervision of an adult to help them grow in a safer environment. Strategies to cope up with the bitter reality of their mother’s incarceration should be implemented in a positive way. Schools and society should be encouraged to help such children instead of making fun of them or taunting them. Good neighbors can also play good roles. Children should be provided with the basic facilities that are essential for nurturing them. Mothers with offensive background should be provided with the support to get reasonable jobs to fulfill their basic needs. This way the crime rate among women can be minimized. Society should let such women improve their criminal behavior by motivating them to quit their crimes. Such women should be appreciated to do meaningful activities that can help them become mentally healthy. Children should never be taken away from the children due to incarceration.

Development from Birth †19 Years Essay

The aspects of development are defined as Physical, Social & Emotional, Language and Intellectual. There are different stages of development for each category, 0-3 years, 3-7 years, 7-12 years and 12-19 years. All children will follow the same pattern of development but at different rates and will reach their milestones at different times. Physical During the 0-3 year period a child’s physical development will see them start to move and react to memorable sounds and voices. They recognise people, reach for brightly coloured or noisy items. Their ability to move begins with rolling over, moves to crawling, shuffling and finally the ability to walk. Fine motor skills will also increase, from being able to hold and shake interesting objects to using crayons to scribble and make marks. They will use body language to communicate, such as shaking the head to indicate ‘NO’. As they move into years 3-7 their skills become more refined, they will be able to walk up and down stairs, catch a ball, use paints. Then they will learn to pedal a bike start to draw basic pictures of people or houses. Movement continues to improve and they become confident at climbing and jumping and their fine motor skills allow them to write more clearly, sew and manage shoe laces. By ages 7-12 years children are generally able to hit a ball and participate in team sports although their ability may not meet their own expectations at first. During adolescence physical development becomes more about appearance and the process of puberty. Whilst girls begin this process earlier than boys all children will develop as individuals. This can be a very difficult time for teenagers, with insecurities about they way they look and how they compare to their peers. Some will suffer anxiety at some point and worry about being a late or early developer. Social and Emotional Social and emotional development begins by showing affection and becoming attached to parents or carers and becoming what we usually call ‘clingy’. Young children may become distressed when a parent leaves the room or is not in sight. Slightly older children may demand attention and use tantrums to get their own way. They will generally be easily distracted from unwanted behaviour. By age 2-3 years children enjoy playing with older people who provide them with attention and begin to enjoy time with children their own age. Over the next few years the child becomes more independent and coopertative and likes to help. They develop social skills and play with others is more comfortable as they begin to consider the feelings of others and make friends, although resolving disputes can still be an issue. Rules and routine are required to help the child feel secure and safe. In later years the child becomes less dependant on their parents and moves closer to their peers. They develop a sense of right and wrong by may still adult intervention to settle arguments. They become aware of their gender and normally prefer the company of their own sex. Their behaviour differs with their emotions depending upon circumstance. In the final stages of development puberty creates feelings of self-consciousness and insecurity about body image. Behaviour is very unsettled as they sway between the feelings of being a child and wanting to be an adult. Friendships become stronger and adolescents depend less on the parents. They are much more aware of the opposite sex and need to fit in social with their peer group. People of this age begin to think about their social environment and may start to form strong opinions about community, politics and religion. Language In the early stages of development language is more about making sounds to show feelings. Babies watch others to learn facial movements to help them to begin making their own sounds and will turn towards sound they hear. From making sounds, words develop and gradually increase in number. They begin to understand key words spoken to them and will repeat back what they hear building from single words, to phrases and then sentences. Children’s ability to understand develops faster than the ability to speak and this can cause frustration with not being able to express themselves. During the 3-7 year period children begin to question things more intently, use more accurate grammar and their vocabulary increases dramatically. Reading skills start to develop, first recognising a few frequently seen words and understanding stories and books. During the Key Stage 1 years learning and recognising letters and the sounds they make develops into reading and later into writing. The next stages of language development involves the vocabulary increasing further and learning to spell more difficult words. Adult interaction is important to help children learn fluency and progress towards telling more complicated stories and the correct use of grammar and tenses. During adolescence language becomes more mature and logical thinking begins to develop. They can be sarcastic and begin to experiment with humour or may wish to publicly demonstrate their new found skills. Intellectual Early intellectual development involves copying others through play and testing different styles of behaviour. Young children also begin to recognise that all people are separate from themselves. Next comes the ability to understand instructions and recognise things that are similar, for example, shapes and colours. Between 5-7 years children start to become aware of their environment and understand what is means when things are different or the same. Next a child will develop their own interests and reading becomes a skill used for entertainment. Finally the mind matures and young people learn responsibility for their own thoughts and actions. They begin to think about their future lives and things they might like to do like, jobs, marriage and children. The ability to make connections between pieces of information and the world around them also matures. The speed of development at this stage very much depends upon the amount of guidance received. The more guidance a person gets the quicker they are able to reflect upon how things relate to in practice to their lives. An individuals personal identity is formed from the things they learn at this stage which should be more moral and cultural. Adolescents begin to take more responsibility away from their parents with regard to managing their finances, employment and their personal relationships and becomes complete during adulthood.

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Analysis Of The Book Fire Of A Canebrake The Last...

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Public Interest Theory Is Economic Theory †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Public Interest Theory Is Economic Theory? Answer: Introduction Public Interest Theory is defined as the welfare of people overcoming the self centered interest of any person, specified group or firm through which the entire society will be benefited. This theory warrants about the recognition, protection and promotion by the government through its officials or agencies. These official or agencies are called regulators who may be politicians. Although this is a vague term, public interest is generally claimed by the governments in respect of secrecy of state and confidentiality. This concept is mainly done with approximation of performing comparison between anticipated gains and probable costs involved which is connected to a decision, program, policy or project(Businessdictionary, 2015). The definition of Public Interest theory of regulation tries to find out the steps from regulators to protect and benefit human kind in macro level. In this context of definition, it is to be adjudged in respect of the case study of Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill with the accounting policies adopted by the company in order to replenish the damage made in the sea water affecting the environment and its living objects for the oil spill by subsequent explosion(Hantke-Domas, 2003). The case study- synopsis The incident The happening is called as The Deepwater Horizon oil spill or Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, alias BP Oil Spill which is considered as the biggest level of oil spill happened in the US. This was caused due to an explosion which was happened on the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil platform situated around 50 miles southeast of the Mississippi River delta on 20th April, 2010. This platform was rum by the oil exploration company BP. After a series of failed attempts to pug the leakage, BP announced on July 15th that necessary had been successfully initiated in order to cap the leak to restrict the flow of crude oil in the Gulf of Mexico in 86 days. This happening had attracted the eyes of the world and soon strong debate was started about the volume of the oil leaked into the water. The resultant impact on the environment was estimated in respect of pollution in air, ground and sea water(Pallardy, 2010). BP was the main developer of the oil field named Macondo prospect oil field. The Deepwater Horizon was under a contract with BP by the owner Transocean Ltd for the purpose of drilling an exploratory well. During the time of explosion, both the companies were going though the process of closing down the well with the anticipation of later production. The4 Government of US had declared BP as responsible for this happening with the entire accountability of cleaning up process along with relevant costs of the environment affected by this incident of oil spill. Initially BP had taken up the accountability for this cleanup cost, but alter BP had raised points of sharing the costs by other associates who are engaged in the process(Epa, 2010). Financial Implication for damage control by BP BP had announced in their financial report of an amount of US $ 40.9 billion for the purpose of Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the fourth quarter of their financial statement which is non-operating in nature and with deduction from taxable income. This amount is mainly meant for satisfying the claims as per adjudication of Gulf Coast Claims Facility with other allied expenses. In addition they are also provided an amount of US $ 500 million for the research program for studying the impact of Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and respective impact on the ecosystem of shoreline(Houdet Germaneau, 2011) Assessment of ecological and socio-economic damages As per Costanza et al. (2010), the most affected categories of valuable ecosystem services in around the area of Gulf of Mexico which are not considered as marketable like climate regulation, protection of hurricane by coastal wetland, and recreational, cultural and artistic value. Here comes the role of government trustees who had found it really difficult to assess the lost ecosystem goods and services, methodological foundation along with result of such studies which were found debatable by the stakeholders. The trustees had opted for the other ways to assess the damages in more practical manner though replacement cost approach to evaluate the cost of restoration as per monetary value to form a solid consensus for negotiating damages by ignoring lost social wealth with it allied costs and uncertainties. This can explain the basis of calculation of BP related to the figure of US $ 40.9 billion which had never considered the respective details of ecosystem and social damages. Accounting aspect of Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill As per BP, the operation itself attracts significant uncertainties as per the extent and timing of costs and respective liabilities causing due to this incident with the subsequent impact in regulatory and operating environment with increment of risks. These risks are causing negative impact on the business of the entity with its relativity in the other business and financial aspects with future implementation of strategies. This situation has raised the question regarding the necessity of environmental accounting in its effective form. There are certain factors to be considered in this aspect: Latest status and trend of respective ecosystem in which the entity operates; Social and ecological externalities of the respective entity; Summarization of all respective environmental revenues, charges and liabilities with related calculation methods to derive all material environmental transactions with explanation of the potential gaps between the factors(Hester et al., 2016). Role of regulators Regulators are the entities who can be responsible for handling the issues of such incidents which can cause environmental damage created by any action of business entity to protect public interest which may affect the community at large or the environment. Accounting Standard Boards- directives FASB Conceptual framework enforces accounting to be made for protecting public interest. Basic objective of this framework is to ensure prudence and clarity for the stakeholders through the accounting procedure and presentation of financial information. Conceptual framework is endorsing the objective of serving public interest through provision of structure and direction to financial accounting with respective reporting to provide unbiased financial and other related information for the stakeholders. This reporting has direct impact on the stakeholders and the society at large. It is the prime responsibility for the regulators to protect public interest through the required steps to be taken for any issues other than the routine activities(Fasb, 2010). IASB International Accounting Standard Board or IASB is more committed for development of single set of global accounting standard ensuring highest level of assured quality to ensure prudence and comparable information by providing general purpose financial reports or GPFR. To make a perfect application of this effort IASB is coordinating with the regional accounting standard boards like AASB to accomplish the objective of convergence in accounting standards globally. As public interest theory demands that it should attract highest level of priority through the intervention of regulators or regulating agencies, they must be provided with proper platform to assess any such incident which may have environmental impact with the derivation of loss to the mankind, other living objects and the environment in macro level(Hoogervorst Prada, 2012). My Opinion The incident of Deepwater Horizon Oil spill should be treated with high level of stern action against the corporate involved in it and as the same incident causes damage to the living object of the surrounding and the huge damage to the environmental ecosystem. Conclusion The incident of Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill was the eye-opener for the community at large to understand the damage caused by oil spill in sea water with the magnitude of damage it can create for the living objects with the environment. The proper assessment of this incident can only be derived through detailed exercise in which financial accounting plays vital role, so far replenishment of the damage, so far it can be done on monetary terms. Regulators or regulatory agency at times needs guidance for this purpose and the different accounting standard boards should come up proactively by setting standard which can help guiding the regulators for derivation of such loss due to damage caused by any incident which causes direct harm to the environment. Regulator, in the form of politicians may divulge from their duties pampering won interest but the strict guideline provided by the accountings standard cannot allow them to do so and thus the proper practice of accounting standard can be ensured related to such happenings. References: Businessdictionary, 2015. Public interest. [Online] Available at: https://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/public-interest.html [Accessed 19 May 2017]. Epa, 2010. Deepwater Horizon BP Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill. [Online] Available at: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/deepwater-horizon-bp-gulf-mexico-oil-spill [Accessed 19 May 2017]. Fasb, 2010. Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts. [Online] Available at: https://www.fasb.org/resources/ccurl/515/412/Concepts%20Statement%20No%208.pdf [Accessed 19 May 2017]. Hantke-Domas, M., 2003. The Public Interest Theory of Regulation: Non-Existence or Misinterpretation? European Journal of Law and Economics, 15(2), pp.16594. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1021814416688 [Accessed 19 May 2017]. Hester, M.W. et al., 2016. Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the salt marsh vegetation of Louisiana. Environmental Pollution, 216, pp.36170. Hoogervorst, H. Prada, M., 2012. Working in the Public Interest: The IFRS Foundation and the IASB. [Online] Available at: https://www.ifrs.org/About-us/Documents/Working-in-the-Public-Interest.pdf [Accessed 19 May 2017]. Houdet, J. Germaneau, C., 2011. The financial impacts of BP's response to the deepwater horizon oil spill. Pallardy, R., 2010. Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. [Online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/event/Deepwater-Horizon-oil-spill-of-2010 [Accessed 19 May 2017].

Y2k Essays (3038 words) - Calendars, Software Bugs,

Y2k What is Y2K and What Effect Did It Present On Modern Culture? Two seemingly small digits may turn January 1, 2000 from a worldwide celebration into a universal nightmare. Affecting companies worldwide, many pay millions upon millions of dollars in order for computers to recognize the difference between the years 2000 and 1900. One of the world's most detrimental dilemmas, the year 2000 computer bug is an extensive and interesting problem that everyone must face. The definition and implications of the Year 2000 crisis are as unique as the steps taken by modern human culture to prevent them. Like all other tasks, computers process dates as numbers. To the outside world, date values can have numerous formats and meanings but to the internal workings of a computer, a date is just another set of numbers (Kendall 63). When expressing the year part of a date, using two digits such as 4/5/96, the possible values for this year part range between 00 and 99. Obviously, if the year part were expressed using four digits, the values could range between 0000 and 9999 (?The History and the Hype?). In real life, if one adds 1 to 99, the answer is 100. However, if one tells a computer to add 1 to 99 and also specifies that the result must be no more than two digits, the answer is 0 or 00. Now consider the effect of this numeric example on a date which expresses year values with two digits. If one takes the date 4/5/99 and tells the computer to add 1 to the year part, the result would look like 4/5/00 (Kendall 68). To most humans, this date will suggest that the year part represents the year 2000. But, to a computer (and this is basically the problem), because the numeric representation of the year is effectively zero, the year is interpreted as 1900. According to the logical thinking of a computer, adding 1 year to 1999 results in the year 1900 (Johnson Interview). The whole question is one of interpretation. Humans can usually distinguish the intended value of a two digit year because of the context of a date within its subject matter. For instance, if one writes I will graduate 6/1/01, most people will automatically assume that the year they hope to graduate in is 2001. If the person said the same thing to a computer, the chances are that the computer would interpret the same year as 1901 (Marcus 34). Basically, the definition of the Year 2000 problem is the ?inability of computer programs to correctly interpret the century? from a date which only has two year digits (Johnson Interview). On the face of it, the specification of the problem appears to be fairly simple, and so many may think so is the solution. After all, how much of a problem can two digits cause? As the reader will discover, those two digits will be the reason for the largest and most costly task ever undertaken by any industry, world wide. Almost all the time, the first question asked when somebody learns about the Year 2000 problem is, How was this allowed to happen? (Johnson Interview). To most people, the thought that so much damage could be done; by so many people over such a long period of time and completely undetected; is absolutely beyond belief (?Y2K: So Many Bugs... So Little Time?). The fact of the matter is that the Year 2000 issue is there. Programmers are aware of this problem for years. Unfortunately for us, because of the I won't be around in 15 years, so it doesn't concern me attitude the programmers display, the problem goes unchecked (Johnson Interview). It's only because the likely implications of the Y2K crisis being almost on top of us and because companies now stand to lose large amounts of money that the issue is now finally receiving the attention it deserves (?Y2K: So Many Bugs... So Little Time?). When examining the underlying reason for the cause of the problem, two culprits arise. The first, and certainly the most instrumental reason, is the issue of storage space in the 1960's & 70's (Blair Interview). During this era, the cost of storing data was far from insignificant. In