Stress And Burnout In Criminal Justice Criminology Essay

Stress And Burnout In Criminal Justice Criminology Essay Comparison between Law Enforcement and Correctional. Stress and burnout occur in all different types of jobs and careers. However, some vocations are more prone to job stress and burnout than others are. Both police officers and correctional officers are exposed to work environments that are characterized by high levels of stress. Stress and burnout for both police officers and correction workers can greatly affect the field of criminal justice. According to Karen Hess (2009), stress can be both positive and negative, and this stress or excitement is why many police officers enter the law enforcement field (p. 464). Any given day, a police officer may have to shoot someone, be shot at, chase down a robber, deal with child abuse, and see death. Additionally, a correctional officer may also have to encounter a violent prison conflict or riot, encounter dangerous offenders and numerous other potentially dangerous situations. With the increasing prison population and never end sprees of crime, the stress for correctional officers and police officers is also increasing. Both law enforcement and the correctional field are widely considered some of the most stressful occupations, and both are associated with high divorce rates, alcoholism, suicide and other emotion and health problems. According to O. Ramos (2010), stress in the law enforcement field is unique because it is a constant factor with only changes in the degree and duration of the stress. Over the years, numerous research studies and projects have been performed to investigate how stress affects police officers and correctional workers physical and mental health by agencies such as the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and the National Institute of Justice. Through this research and studies, researchers have been able to indentify stress factors that are unique and more pronounced in these career fields, as well as their effects on the lives, jobs and the field of criminal justice. Stress can have numerous causes and can differ from individual to individual. According to Lambert, Hogan, Hiang, and Jenkins (2009, July), stressors are conditions that place excessive demands on an individual and can lead to discomfort, strain and conflict for the individual. While both the police officers and correctional officers are frequently faced with high levels of stress, the causes of the stress differ between the two groups with the job differences they face. Causes of Stress for Police Officers Issues in the officers personal life, the pressures of law enforcement work, the attitude of the general public toward police work and officers, the operation of the criminal justice system, and the law enforcement organization itself can all be stress factors for numerous police officers. According to Burke and Mikkelsen (2005), police stressors fall into two major categories. The first category stems from the nature of the job, and the second category involves the organizational aspect of law enforcement. The stress of the job involves the physical aspects of the job and includes threats, use of force, exposure to violence and danger, dealing with uncertainty, shift rotations, inadequate or broken supplies, low pay, excessive overtime, and constant fear of injury or death. On the other hand, the organizational aspect of law enforcement that contributes to job stress invovle the poor management, inflexible hierarchical structures, roles, inadequate communication, and organizational structure (Burke et al. 2005). In fact, Burke et al. (2005) discusses how the bureaucratic nature of the law enforcement organization obstructs police officers from feeling as if they have input in changing the policies sand procedures. There is also conflicting policies, poor supervision, and endless rules that create a tense and stressful work environment. McCarty, Zhao and Garland (2007) also discuss how job stress can differ between male and female police officers. For instance, female officers may be subject to gender discrimination from male officers and supervisors, which could increase their job related stress. Female officers also feel additional pressure that they have to prove themselves more on the job, as well as feel their male partners provide inadequate backup and question their abilities more frequently (McCarty et al., 2007) Additionally, individual stress factors can play a factor in a police officers stress levels due to their personal life. Some individual stress factors include family problems, financial problems, health problems, and taking on a second job for extra income. In fact, many officers are willing to put their health at risk for overtime or another job for the additional income (National Institute of Justice). Causes of Stress for Correctional Officers Correctional officers face some of the same and similar job stressors as police officers as well. Correctional officers have to deal with the never-ending demands of inmates. Correctional officers are also responsible for large array of responsibilities and duties to ensure the correctional facility is properly maintained in an organized manner. Aside from police officers, the workplace nonfatal violent incidents are higher per 1,000 employees for correctional officers than any other profession (Finn, 2000, p. 2). Additionally, according to Childress, Tallucci, and Wood (1999), while a correctional officer operates in a high stress work environment much like a police officer, there have been minimal examinations of the correctional environment in comparison to the voluminous research conducted on the causes and consequences of stress for law enforcement officers. However, it has been determined that some of the job related stresses include inmate demands, low pay, excessive overtime, poor public image, shift rotations, threat of violence, understaffing, amount of contact with inmates, role ambiguity, role conflict, and role overload. The major forms of stress in the work environment can be categorized into organizational structure and job characteristics (Lambert, Hogan Allen, 2006). According to Lambert et al (2006), organizational structure deals with how an organization or agency is arranged, managed and operated, and it normally throughout the entire work environment and therefore influences all employees that work there. Lambert et al (2006) cite a study by Stohr, Lovrich and Wilson that the lack of participation in decision-making caused increased stress for correctional officers. Additionally, the lack of control over the work environment due to the centralization of decision-making can increase the levels of stress. In fact, Lambert et al (2006) performed a study at a Midwestern correctional facility that showed workers who perceived a lack of input into decision- making or a lack of job autonomy had increased levels of stress. Furthermore, lack of information or being kept in the dark is another stress factor for correctional staff caused by the organization structure. Inadequate communication about their jobs is major stress factor. Correctional staffs need clear communication about their tasks, jobs, and issues in order to complete their job and be an effective member of the organization (Lambert et al, 2006). Additional organization-related conditions that can cause increased stress for correctional officers are understaffing, mandatory overtime, understanding, and unreasonable demands. Finn (2000) describes how understaffing can create different types of stress such as lack of time to complete tasks, overload of work, apprehension, and inability to get time off (p. 12). Understaffing also causes the need for extensive overtime from the correctional staff. On the other hand, there are job characteristics that cause stress. Job characteristics are specific to certain jobs; therefore, they are not always found throughout the entire field. Job related stressors included the threat of inmate violence, inmate demands, and problems with coworkers. Lambert et al. (2006) identify some job characteristics as job variety, skill variety, role conflict, role ambiguity, task significance, task identity, and supervision. The roles that correctional officers have to assume can create considerable stress for the officer. According to Lambert et al (2006), role strain is liked to increased stress and role conflict occurs when behaviors for a given job or position are inconsistent with another. Correctional officers also face stress from outside sources other than the prison or jail that they work at. One cause of outside stress is their public image. A lot of the time correctional officers or prisons and jails in general are portrayed in a negative light. This negatively comes from the fact that many people do not know or understand the role and jobs of correctional officers. Sometimes this negatively even forces correctional officers to discuss or talk less about their jobs with others. Another outside source of stress is their pay. Correctional officers do tough work for little pay. Effects of Stress Burnout Possible Solutions to Job Stress and Burnout Law Enforcement Officers Correctional Officers According to an article written in Corrections Today, correctional agencies are losing money, losing good employees, and jeopardizing officer and public safety due to work-related stress. (Anonymous, 2007) Conclusion

Propaganda, Patriotism, and the War on Terrorism :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Propaganda, Patriotism, and the War on Terrorism On college campuses across the nation, efforts are being made to silence professors who encourage students to probe the history of U.S. foreign policy in the effort to understand the September 11th attacks. Recent articles in The Chronicle of Higher Education report that students have complained to deans about professors critical of U.S. foreign policy, and boards of trustees, deans, and college presidents have drafted resolutions and issued public statements condemning their views. Professors have been shouted down, received volumes of hate mail and, on some campuses, death threats. In one case, a trustee publicly invited a professor "to take a hike." Historically, such attacks on free speech have risen sharply in times of national crisis -- precisely when a full range of views is sorely needed. They are particularly disturbing on campuses of higher education that should be strongholds of people who defend independent thinking. The nature of the arguments offered against these dissenting voices are very troubling; so too their political effects. The arguments fall into two groups. First, professors are charged with showing no concern for the feeling of others: they lack taste and judgment; they are insensitive, self-indulgent and offend others at a time when emotions are raw. In being so inattentive to their students' emotional sensitivities, dissenting faculty violate the trust students place in them. Now is not the time for critique, but for emotional nurturing, reassurance and national solidarity. Second, professors are charged with offering excuses for the attacks. Their examination of the role the United States may have played in creating conditions that make terrorist acts more likely amounts to a justification of the acts themselves. There is an emotional tyranny at play here, and its effect is to obstruct processes of understanding that alone will aid us in our ongoing debate over how to come to terms with terrorism. What do I mean by tyranny? In the first instance, we are being told that feelings alone are appropriate now. It is too early, indeed, it is tasteless, to begin to sort through our role in the complex factors that brought these people to their heinous acts. But understanding is crucial to wise action, and action, as we see in each morning's news, is most certainly being undertaken in our name. While we are being asked just to feel, the administration and its congressional allies hurry to pass laws that threaten our civil liberties at home, and engage in a massive war effort likely to foster greater resentment abroad.

Death Penalty Paper Essay

The death penalty is something that many people do not have a clear decision on. Many people support the death penalty, while others wish for the death penalty to be abolished, yet there are some that support the death penalty, but only in certain cases. My personal opinion is that a person commits murder and is sentenced to death there should be no waiting. I believe 24 hours from the time the person is sentenced to death, the state should follow through with their punishment and execute. There are people in the world that support the death penalty and often say that the death penalty is a deterrent for future criminals who are thinking and plotting out their heinous crimes or murder as we sit in our living rooms right now. Capital Punishment does not act as a deterrent force. Crime rates do not decrease in states where capital punishment is used. This statement can be neither proven nor disproven. How do you measure the amount of people who have been deterred from crime? Do you take a poll? Is there a survey conducted where people voluntarily admit they would have murdered had they known they would not be executed if they were caught? No. You can’t prove that it deters crime. So, even if it does, there is not enough evidence to support this theory. Do you agree with this statement? For me, when I think of a criminal they are not thinking of consequences of their actions, they are not thinking of whom they are going to hurt, they are only thinking of getting what they want. They think in the â€Å"Now†, they simply just do not care. If they had any sort of emotion or remorse before the crime is committed then our prisons wouldn’t be so over populated as they are today. Amnesty International, which opposes the death penalty, reports that scientific studies have not produced any conclusive evidence showing that capital punishment, is a deterrent for future crimes to be committed. I believe the only deterrent for a murderer not to commit a horrific crime again would be execution. Executing a dangerous criminal ensures that he will not kill again. There have been several notable cases where men were paroled, or escaped from prison after being convicted of murder and killed again. The death penalty protects our community by eradicating a harmful criminal from society. A few good examples are Randy Greenwalt, Arthur Shawcrossm, Kenneth McDuff, and  Daniel Camargo Barbosa. Various people who are opposed to the death penalty say that Capital Punishment condemns the innocent to die. According Amendment V in the United States Bill of Rights, â€Å"No person shall be held to answer for a capital crime, or otherwise infamous crime unless on a presentment of an indictment of â€Å"grand jury†. While it is true that a few innocent people have â€Å"slipped through the cracks† of the justice system and been convicted and executed unfairly, it   is extremely rare. Usually, attorney’s find new evidence to support a criminal’s innocence by the time all appeals have been exhausted. Perhaps the most important factor in determining whether a defendant will receive the death penalty is the quality of the representation he or she is provided. Almost all defendants in capital cases cannot afford their own attorneys. In many cases, the appointed attorneys are overworked, underpaid, or lacking the trial experience required for death penalty cases. There have even been instances in which lawyers appointed to a death penalty case were so inexperienced that they were completely unprepared for the sentencing phase of the trial. Other appointed attorneys have slept through parts of the trial, or arrived at the court under the influence of alcohol. FACTS ABOUT ATTORNEY S AND THE DEATH PENALTY: †¢Almost all defendants who face capital charges cannot afford an attorney and rely on the state to appoint one for them. However, often times appointed attorneys are overworked, underpaid, lack critical resources, and are either incompetent or inexperienced. As a result when death sentences are set aside by the federal courts, it is often because among other reasons the trial attorney was so incompetent that the accused’s constitutional right to effective counsel was violated. Slipski 4 †¢In 2009, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions conducted an official visit to the United States to examine the administration of the death penalty in Alabama and Texas. Alabama has the highest per capita rate of executions in the United States, while Texas has the largest total number of executions and one of the largest death row  populations after California and Florida. The Special Rapporteur expressed concern about deficiencies in the administration of the death penalty in Alabama and Texas, including â€Å"the lack of adequate counsel for indigent defendants.† He called for the two states â€Å"to establish well-funded, state-wide public defender services† and recommended that â€Å"oversight of these should be independent of the executive and judicial branches.† The state of Alabama has no statewide public defender system even though its death row occupants are overwhelmingly poor with 95% indigent. †¢An examination of 461 capital cases by The Dallas Morning News found that nearly one in four condemned inmates has been represented at trial or on appeal by court-appointed attorneys who have been disciplined for professional misconduct at some point in their careers. †¢An investigation by the Texas Defender Service found that, â€Å"Death row inmates today face a one-in-three chance of being executed without having the case properly investigated by a competent attorney and without having any claims of innocence or unfairness presented or heard.† †¢In North Carolina, at least 16 death row inmates, including 3 who were executed, were represented by lawyers who have been disbarred or disciplined for unethical or criminal conduct. With all this being said regarding lawyers and the accused what do you think? Do you think if the accused had an expensive attorney that they would not be facing the death penalty and get life in prison instead? I guess that this is a question that we all would love to have the answer to. As they say money makes the world go round. Think of all the costs that are involved with the death penalty. Tax payers pay to house, cloth, food, and the medical bills alone for this one inmate will cost us millions. All the millions of dollars that are spent on this one life can be used to better our communities, or schools, educate our children, who are our future. We should stop wasting money on rehabilitation for these inmates, and put the money into what is important, our children, the future of The US. I fully support the death penalty, it makes me so upset to think back to the Cheshire, CT murders, the amount of money spent on two men who were caught at the scene of the crime, confessed to murdering an innocent woman and her kids, and beating her husband almost to death.  They should have been executed the day after they committed that horrific crime. Instead, the government wasted and is still wasting millions of dollars on two criminals who do not deserve to see the light of day. Something needs to change in our government. I believe Connecticut should be more like Texas. A state that enforces Capital Punishment to the fullest. Enough is enough! Criminals should not be running our lives and getting away with murder, literally! In conclusion, after reading all the facts stated above, how do you feel about the death penalty? Do you think we should be paying for these criminals to live in prison with a meal, a bed to sleep in, medical attention, and clothes on their backs? In my opinion the answer would be, no. Then again, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. The punishment should fit the crime, and I am all for an â€Å"eye for an eye†, â€Å"a tooth for a tooth†, what about you? Works Cited: Bureau of Justice Statistics. 16 Feb. 2006. The U.S. Department of Justice. 29 Nov. 2006. Texas Department of Criminal Justice www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/dr_facts.html U.S. Death Penalty Facts Amnesty International USA, www.amnestyusa.org Death Penalty Information Deathpenaltyinfo.org

The Residency Application Process

The Residency Application Process In the residency application process, the personal essay plays a tremendous role. As a resident in a hospital, you will no longer be attending medical school classes but actually working as a doctor with live patients. That being said, residency directors want to know as much about your personal beliefs and character as they do your education. The most important part of any residency essay, in my opinion, is the first paragraph. Considering that the admissions committee have hundreds if not thousands of applications to read, you definitely want to make your stand out. The best way to do this is to open your essay with something interesting. There are several ways you can make the first paragraph of your residency essay stand out. One way is to begin with an interesting anecdote or quote. Another is to state your thesis boldly and creatively. Just make sure that whatever you do, it relates directly to the overall theme of your main idea. The residency application process isnt easy, but if you do it well the pay off is more than worth the effort! For more information about finding a residency program and/or if you would like help in writing your AMCAS personal statement, please dont hesitate to access the link provided.

The eNotes Blog Contribute to the eNotesBlog

Contribute to the Blog We are looking for engaging articles aimed at teachers, students, or anyone who just likes to learn. They can be informative or have a sense of humor, but preferably we’re looking for innovative guides to instructing and learning.  Articles could range anywhere from â€Å"Tips on Teaching with the iPad† to â€Å"7 Ways American Idol Can Help You Study.† Be creative! Guest Post Criteria Articles can be up to 1000  words in length ideally, or as long as they need to be to get your message across. If you use sources, please provide links to them. We like posts that are well-written and relatively free of spelling and grammatical errors (articles will be  proofread before publishing, but the fewer errors the better). All content must be original and free of plagiarism. If we do not publish your submission, you are welcome to try again with a different topic. For ideas on what we typically look for, you might want to browse through our most recent posts. Email all submissions to  sburton@  with the subject line â€Å"Guest Blog Post† with a 1-3 sentence bio of yourself to include with the publication along with a headshot photo (optional). Please note We will not link to essay-writing services, nor endorse their products and services.

Presentation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Presentation - Assignment Example The main aim of using the television is because it had a wide audience, and the retailing giants could reach as many customers as possible. Ziobro (3) identifies Wal-Mart, Target Corp as the highest advertising spenders. For example, Wal-Mart managed to spend approximately 57 million dollars on television advertising. Home Depot and Sears spent less on advertisements. Ziobro (2) denotes that Sears Holdings only spent 26 million dollars on television advertising. Ziobro (1) denotes that these figures are reliable because an advertising tracking company carried out the survey, to find out how much retailing organizations spent on advertisements during the Black Friday. The advertising company under consideration is Kantar Media. In coming up with the Data, Kantar Media managed to calculate the advertising fees a retailing unit spent for purposes of making people buy into their company. Ziobro (3) denotes that the only limitation with the methodology used to collect data is that information does not reflect how much people spent in the retailing units. It only identifies the number of visitors to a retailing unit, based on the advertisement under consideration. From this research, Ziobro (5) denotes that Wal-Mart was able to attract the highest number of visitors to its stores. This is as compared to its rival company, Target Corporation. Wal- Mart was able to attract a higher number of visitors to its retailing units as opposed to Target Corporation because in every two Wal-Mart TV ads, Target Corp had only 1. On this note, during the Black Friday Weekend, Wal-Mart was able to gather 34% of visitors, as opposed to Target Group which had on 12% of visitors. Sears, who spent less on advertisements managed to acquire only 1.9% of visitors to its stores (Ziobro, 5). Ziobro (6) goes on to denote that there are other factors that made these stores to have the number of

The Crown of Palaces Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Crown of Palaces - Essay Example The significance of Taj Mahal lies in the fact that, the building is a piece of art which has surpassed all boundaries of calligraphy and symbolic beauty. . The monument depicts the art and culture of multiple Asian ethnicity and architectural elements of it is worth exploring technically and artistically. The paper will specifically examine the structure of tomb and the architectural sophistication and elements involved in it. I will be exploring the historical value of the monument along with its constructional method, structural design planning .and the intelligence behind it. Taj Mahal is the most beautiful and extravagant construction of Mughal empire. Taj Mahal as all know is the eighth wonder of the world and the western world still look at it as a mysteriously exquisite human creation. It is said that, during day and night, Taj reflects different colors according to the brilliance of sun and moon. Taj Mahal is believed to look most stunning during the dawn and sunset time. Ea ch corner of this mausoleum has a symbolic meaning and it represented the palaces of Queens of Mughal dynasty. Taj Mahal is a part of UNESCO heritage site and invites around 2,00,000 foreigners to the country annually. This monument is not only the resting place of Mumtaz but also is the burial place of emperor Shahjahan. Taj Mahal and its architectural journey The Gateway The architecture of Taj Mahal is the finest and most charming one that the world history has seen since centuries. This building of Mughal empire has evoked, passion, mystery and inspiration among artists, architects and poets. Looking from the perspective of architectural world, Taj Mahal is a unique piece of work that gives ample space to explore and investigate regarding. The Taj Mahal is built in 42 acres of land positioning from south to north toward prestigious Indian river Yamuna. The entire Taj building consists of five constituents namely main entrance, mosque, garden, rest house, main mausoleum . Main at traction of this monument is the gateway standing at the end of water course which has Quranic calligraphy embedded on it. Apart from this, the doomed chamber of Taj Mahal which is the point of attraction was constructed in early 20th century. The gateway of sandstone has a gate constructed with pure solid silver which adds to the prowess of Mughal Empire. This door prevented the public from getting any view of the tomb until the public arrives at door itself. The main gateway of this monument is built with black stone where calligraphy of Quranic verses is sculptured. This exquisite calligraphy is the effort and skillsmanship of various artists of Shahjahan rulership.The geometrical pattern of the gate way is vertical in symmetry and depicts the elegance and extravagance of Mughal empire. The Calligraphy of Taj Mahal The calligraphy of Taj mahal is of symbolic beauty and reflects the dignity and craftsmanship of Islamic era. The Arabic inscriptions on Taj Mahal is connected to Pers ian calligrapher Amanat Khan who was resident of the Mughal court These Arabic inscription are on black marble and writings are in vertical and horizontal strokes give out grid like appearance. As per