...that individuals are shaped by society and social facts. A limitation of functionalist is that they ignore certain groups within society, such as women and people with disabilities. They also ignore factors such as ‘race’ and social class. They believe that society will maintain stability if the institutions still exists and the factors that may cause conflict – are ignored. I will assessing the functionalist contribution to explanations of crime, to how useful it is and if those explanations have been applied within modern day society. Also how useful the explanations are at reducing crime. Deviance is a normative approach, it is associated with behaviour that differs from the set norms and values set out by society. Deviance is linked to informal social control through sanctions (not by laws or government policy). In a Post Modern society – this definition of deviance would be problematic because it refers to societal norms (which would have disappeared; due to individualism making it hard to follow set norms and values). Deviance could collapse in a post-modern society. Durkheim (1895) is a positivist who proposed the concept of anomie; as an explanation as to why certain people commit crime. He believes that if individuals feel a sense of normlessness or feel as if they are separated from society then the individual is at fault and that’s is the reason they commit crime. Durkheim suggests that crime isn’t necessarily a bad thing for society, and in fact proposes four key functions...
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...The Modern American Dream The American Dream is a belief that if you worked really hard, you will achieve your goals. It worked that way because back then there wasn’t a lot of advanced technology that made everything easier for people. The American Dream still exist today, but everything needs money now. You have to be wealthy to achieve the American Dream. If you want to go to college, you need to take the SAT and do other curriculum, which needs money to take the test and the class. It’s a lot harder now because there’s a lot of corporate companies now. You can’t start your own company without being sued or bought by another company. Those corporation have a lot of money to do almost anything they want. The reason why they exist because they came up of the idea first. Back then, it was a very different time and nobody thought that everybody will have a computer in their homes and it was easy to access to one now. The real American Dream would have worked back then, but it is different now. The American Dream is not dead, it’s doesn’t apply to everyone nowadays. If you have an idea, you need money to start it. You can ask your friends and family to fund your project, but it won’t be enough. Today, you...
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...Professor Stephen Clifford English 233 18 February 2014 Challenging the American Dream Does the American Dream still exist? Did it ever? There is evidence of doubt in this concept that dates even as far back as when James T. Adams coined the idea in 1931. The 1930’s faced a new wave of violence and sexuality in America, and the American ideals that founded this country were being questioned in the eyes of its residents. James M. Cain’s novel, The Postman Always Rings Twice, shows the lack of hope that most Americans had in a society where hard work and good intentions were no longer bringing opportunity. His main characters Frank and Cora, a wanderer and a femme fatale, reflect the suffering that surrounded the Great Depression and the feminist movement. Cain reveals the American Dream to be flawed and easily corrupted by desperation and hardship. What exactly is the American Dream? The reason this is so hard to define is because “the American dream” is an intangible concept like “love” or “peace.” This dream is usually different to every individual, but one thing is for sure, it starts in America; so as far as definitions go we can think back to the Declaration of Independence in 1771. It states that all men in the United States are given certain “inalienable rights” that consist of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” This means that men and women had the right to be recognized by their knowledge, talent, and hard work instead of their race, class, religion...
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...thanks mysterious keyboard writer, you saved my ass. With out further a due, my essay: The American Dream In the non-fiction novel In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, four horrific murders shock the small, innocent town of Holcomb, Kansas, the murders all occur on one night killing an entire family. Before the killings, the town felt like a family. The citizens of Holcomb were seen as good people, innocent and free of worry. However, after the Clutter murders take place, a community that seems so tightly knit quickly dissipates. The murder of the Clutter family causes a loss of innocence for the citizens of Holcomb as well as for the murderers (Dick and Perry). This loss of innocence undermines the American dream for not only the citizens of Holcomb, but also for Dick and Perry. Herb Clutter, a man of success, great respect, seems to live the American Dream. He owns a large house, possesses a farm, and has a loving family. Herb runs the Four H club and holds a very active position in his church. The citizens of Holcomb think of Herb as a leader, a friend, and a mentor. But in a matter of seconds, everything Herb works so hard for vanishes before his eyes. “Everything Herb had, he earned- with the help of God. He was a modest man but a proud man, as he had the right to be. He raised a fine family. He made something of his life.” (49). Herb believes he earns everything with the help of God. He did not lie; cheat nor steal his way to success, but he earns it, through hard and vigorous...
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...standing and wealth, are said synonymously with the phrase "The American Dream". It seems that it takes money to be happy and economic stature to be accepted; however, many people who fall into this trap out of ignorance will never achieve "The American Dream" they strive towards. The cliché, "In America, you can be whatever you want," always brings a smirk to my face. I am not a cynical person, but this just isn't true. If I decided I wanted to be the star of the next Academy Award winning hit, no matter how much I "want" it, it is not guaranteed to happen. In defense, many people will argue that one shouldn't take the remark so literally, that it just means that the avenue's and highways to success exist, it is the person's choice weather they take them or not; unfortunately, that is not the case. In the Great Gatsby Nick Carroway explains his love as, “…it was full of money-that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbal’s song of it…”(127) Hundred's of people start off with the Idea of becoming someone, and as their life progresses, they must completely adapt to a change of pace and ideas. How many people have gone out, and achieved the correct degrees, met the right people, been hired at the perfect job-only to be let go for a reason they could not have controlled. This is the Idea that I discussed on the first day of class. The idea of the Mesa being like the American dream, “You climb and climb, only to reach a plateau, that you...
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...settlers in North America have enslaved and oppressed African Americans. Slavery continued until the Emancipation Proclamation was established towards the end of the Civil War. The Emancipation Proclamation stated that those who were once slaves were to be set free; however much more than a document would be needed to diminish the ideas and attitudes white people continued to hold onto. Into the 1960’s, one hundred years after the Emancipation Proclaimed was written, African Americans were still suffering from inequality and discrimination. The need to end racial segregation and discrimination sparked the build up to The Civil Rights Movement. Like society, literary trends started to focus on racism and prejudice. In particular, the principled southern-bred writer Langston Hughes shows social injustices and racial prejudice in his writings because he experienced the culture first hand. His poems became the voice for African American’s because he clearly depicts the emotions they felt during this time. Literature as a whole grasped the public’s attention towards The Civil Rights Movement to show the importance of social equality. Langston Hughes’ poems “Merry-Go-Round” and “Dreams” express how necessary it is to put segregation in the past, and encourage African Americans to stay hopeful in order to reach their dream of living in a racially equal America. The Civil Rights Movement was victorious because many African Americans did not get discouraged and lose spirit, but instead properly...
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...Zheng fan Advanced Communication Strategies - ESLG 0610 - G04 Jeremy S. Gillette-Newman Date: 3/04/2013 American dream The American dream like the Statue of Liberty exists for people to have hope for a better future. In The Great Gatsby, it illustrated a man called Jay Gatsby was trying to win Daisy back by his richness. Recalling Gatsby’s life, he was always full of American dreams and his so-called success was also based on his American dream. Gatsby cared for Daisy so much but he failed to win his back because of his death. Jay Gatsby is merely a small character compared with the great American dream. He doesn’t represent the American dream since he misunderstands what is American dream. He uses illegal method to become rich and takes advantage of money to buy love. Eventually no one attend to his funeral. Before talking about Gatsby’s American dream, we take a glance of what is American dream. According to James Truslow, the American dream is, “Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement’. In other words, American dream is an optimistic belief. It should have no connection with his or her original social class. The American dream evokes people to pursue their dream by hard- working. The Great Gatsby settings in 1920s, which is called Jazz age. In that period, the society was super flourishing; money and pleasure blinded people’s eyes. People were too passionate with physical material...
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...1960s Diary Entries By William L Martin IV August 14, 2015 HIS/135 - THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE SINCE 1945 Instructor: ROBYN JAMES 1960s Diary Entries 1-Dear Diary, There is so much anger in this place and sometimes it feels as if that is all that exists anymore. The African American community is tired. They are frustrated. They are angry and rightfully so. We have been mistreated in a nation that claims that it is the freest nation in the world and we have been oppressed to the point to where we are not even treated as people. Many of us feel as if we are not and this makes us even angrier. We are people. We are human beings. We have feelings and we love our families just as every other person in our nation does and yet we are treated as secondary. Why is this? What is it about the color of our skin that makes us so different? People have different color eyes, how is this any different? Tonight I witnessed a man speak from his heart about the plight of not just the African American community but to us. He spoke from his heart to address us not as individuals but he spoke to us a nation. For the time that he spoke we were a united nation of all colors and peoples. We were not individuals but we were a country coming to terms with ourselves as we aged. It really did feel as if we were coming of age. This man took the rage and hopelessness that he felt in the air, (it was electric) and channeled that energy into something that we should have been doing all along. ...
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...American Dream: It is a well-known fact that the term “American Dream” first mentioned by James Trusslow Adams in 1931 (Wright 197) explains the model of an individual’s ideal existence, which is applied exclusively to the US – the country full of freedoms, possibilities, and opportunities. Nowadays the fame about the American dream reached all continents, and more and more people take the concept for granted dreaming about moving to America and spending the rest of their lives in a more favourable environment compared to their own. As many US citizens, they usually ignore the fact that hard work has always served as a background in the given concept (Warschauer) and look forward to gain all amenities of existence at once. Now I would like to express my commitment to the idea of American dream and briefly describe my negative work experience. Some may think of this experience as of something providing a push toward the perspective future, some may not agree. In any case, this is our contemporary reality that forms our perceptions of what we pursue and what we would like to achieve. Some years ago, I spent my summer vacations working as a sales assistant in a large food store that offered a full range of products. I was responsible for the department mostly with fresh and frozen meat. My duties included cutting, chopping, wrapping, and placing labels on the products, each specifying the product type. My uniform was pretty awkward: a green T-shirt and a white overall that probably...
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...Main Thesis Gatsby and Tom represent the corrupt American Dream of the 1920’s through their selfishness, and narrow minded attitudes of getting what they want without considering the consequences. Body paragraphs Gatsby goes to great lengths to win Daisy’s love, which consumes his life. Little does he realize, that that dream has ended many years ago, and that he needs to wake up and see it for himself. After Gatsby’s death Nick sits on Gatsby’s lawn and reflects in everything that happened that summer. “ He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. Little did he know, that dream was already behind him… back where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under...
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...The Great Gatsby and The American Dream While many countries around the world are working toward equality of social status and avoiding a large gap between rich and poor, there is still a strong desire in people for social freedom through the accumulation of wealth and extravagance. The Great Gatsby’s depiction of the connection between material goods and the American dream is still relevant today. At first glance, the movie may seem to be about the failed relationship of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. However, the major theme of the novel is the accumulation of wealth for social status and the idea of being able to reach a high level of success regardless of family history or lack of money. To understand the connection between the two it will be necessary to have an analysis of the culture values in the 1920’s, what people consider to be the American dream, and finally if there is still a strong desire to achieve the American dream in today’s society. In order to understand the connection between The Great Gatsby and the American dream it is first important to have a good understanding about the movie and motifs of the movie/novel itself. The story takes place in a post war America in the 1920’s when Nick Carraway moves to New York to pursue his career in finance. Nick soon discovers that he is neighbored to the wealthy and mysterious Jay Gatsby, who is known for his loud, lavish parties. Jay and Nick soon become good friends and Nick begins to learn the motifs behind...
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...The American Dream has evolved many times over the years. From the time it was created to be liberty for all to the present where it is based on individual success. But everyone asks what is the True American Dream, and if it can be attained or is it still just a dream. The True American Dream should be freedom and equality for all. There are many problems facing America today and one of them is Police Brutality. According to “Michael Brown, Police Violence, And Why It’s So Hard For Victims to See Justice” by Nicole Flatow, “But Brown is part of a long and painful trend of a black, unarmed men killed by the cops, including two others that made national headlines in just the past week.” This means that many unarmed black men have been shot...
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...Tonight I believe I have witnessed something special. There is so much anger in this place and sometimes it feels as if that is all that exists anymore. The African American community is tired. They are frustrated. They are angry and rightfully so. We have been mistreated in a nation that claims that it is the freest nation in the world and we have been oppressed to the point to where we are not even treated as people. Many of us feel as if we are not and this makes us even angrier. We are people. We are human beings. We have feelings and we love our families just as every other person in our nation does and yet we are treated as secondary. Why is this? What is it about the color of our skin that makes us so different? People have different color eyes, how is this any different? Tonight I witnessed a man speak from his heart about the plight of not just the African American community but to us. He spoke from his heart to address us not as individuals but he spoke to us a nation. For the time that he spoke we were a united nation of all colors and peoples. We were not individuals but we were a country coming to terms with ourselves as we aged. It really did feel as if we were coming of age. This man took the rage and hopelessness that he felt in the air, (it was electric) and channeled that energy into something that we should have been doing all along. He made it into something positive. He spoke words about the hate that we are experiencing not with hate but with love. His...
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...“The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. A full-time minimum wage employee earns $15,080 annually. In 2012, the poverty threshold for a single person was $11,945. For a family of four with two children, it was $22,283” -University of California-Davis. In Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, Barbara Ehrenreich tells a powerful and tenacious story of the day to day survival of low-income workers in America. Her story transcends the disparity that exists between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat society and uncovers the dark truths that lie hidden beyond the popular portrayal of the “American dream”. The book gives the reader an insiders’ view into the world of the proletariat society, a peculiar place to which majority...
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...Weiner 1 Jacob Weiner Daniel McClure California Culture October 1, 2014 California Sunshine and Noir California, the Golden State, where the sun is always shining, the waves are always crashing, and dreams are coming true. Right? Well, not exactly. It hasn’t always been sunshine and smiles for the great state of California. The state has gone through a variety of stages both economically, and politically. Throughout these phases, there have been a fair amount of themes that have helped build the foundation of California culture. Of course, there is the notion that anyone can move to California and strike it rich. This dream that is still very alive today has contributed in the past and present with massive booms in immigration into California. This popular conception is warm and welcoming, but it does not tell the entire story of California. When looking into the past and understanding how this state came to be, there is a dark and iniquitous aura that suggests that California isn’t really that enchanting, glamorous place that it is made out to be. The California Dream all started in 1848 when discovery of gold sparked a rapid movement known as the California Gold Rush. Word quickly spread when John Marshall first made his discovery in the American River. As Albert L. Hurtado explains in his paper, “Sex, Gender, Culture, and a Great Event: The California Gold Rush, ‘It is impossible to give more than rough estimates for the number of hopeful people who poured into California...
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