As you have learned thus far, cyber crimes being committed create a new vanguard for law enforcement and prosecution of criminal actions. The commonplace notions of physical crime scenes, standard and material evidence collection, and well-established, traditional steps of an investigation do not necessarily apply in the “cyber world.” With a need for change in how cyber crimes are investigated, you will examine current cyber crime investigations methods in this assignment.
For this assignment you will prepare a three to five page (750 to 1250 words) paper detailing the major components of cybercrime investigation. Including the following elements in your narrative:
Develop your own, working definition of cyber crime.
Explain the methodology of gathering evidence in a cyber crime investigation.
Analyze the methods of evidence collection, analysis and preservation.
Explain the legal challenges for both private security and police agencies related to cyber crime investigation methods and practices.
The Cybercrime Investigation Methods paper
Must be three to five double-spaced pages (750 to 1250 words) in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the UAGC Writing Center (Links to an external site.).
Must include a separate title page with the following:
Title of paper
Student’s name
Course name and number
Instructor’s name
Date submitted
Must use at least two scholarly sources in addition to the required course materials.
The Scholarly, Peer Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the UAGC Writing Center.
Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the UAGC Writing Center.
This article discusses the various tools and techniques being used in the field of digital forensics as well as suggesting a systematic approach to the science. Accessibility Statement does not exist. Privacy Policy does not exist.
The full version of this video is available through the Films on Demand database in the UAGC Library. This video examines organized cyber hackers and how criminals and networks commit cyber crime and will assist you with your learning activities this week. This video has closed captioning. Accessibility Statement (Links to an external site.) Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)
This open access article centers on the systemic issues that face investigators when taking on a cyber crime scene. The topic of potential regulatory changes related to cyber crime investigation is also discussed.
This source provides pragmatic and practical information necessary to individuals collecting evidence of cyber crime evidence for prosecution. The governmental report provides step by step guidance for “first responders” and is considerate of the unique nature of each crime scene encountered. The report focuses upon preserving electronic crime scenes and provides methods for recognizing, collecting, and safeguarding digital evidence.
This resource site will provide assistance in researching additional sources for the assessments within this course. Accessibility Statement does not exist. Privacy Policy does not exist
For this assignment, you’ll read ‘an ethical analysis of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons’. Write the one page single spaced focusing on the following
a) In an introductory paragraph, provide an overview of your topic.
b) What are the pros and cons of either solitary confinement? Think about not only the inmates but the institutions and the larger community.
c) From either a deontological or utilitarian perspective, argue whether this practice (i.e., solitiary confinement or using second chance pell grants) should continue.
SCAFFOLD: A SHOWCASE OF VANDERBILT FIRST-YEAR WRITING|Vol. 2|Spring 2020
Scaffold is a digital collection of first-year writing curated by the Vanderbilt Writing Studio. By pairing each piece in the collection with a recorded reflection from the author, Scaffold aims to highlight the developing writing processes and learning experiences so central to the growth of undergraduate writers. We hope it acts as a future learning resource for students and instructors alike. Visit Scaffold’s website to listen to the authors reflect and learn more about our review process. The copyright to this work rests with the author. Proper attribution required. Vanderbilt retains a non- exclusive right to distribute the work as part of this collection.
An Ethical Analysis of Solitary Confinement in U.S. Prisons
By Riya Doshi
INTRODUCTION
Solitary confinement, also known as segregation, is used in the American prison system as the harshest sentence an inmate can receive short of capital punishment. According to Beck (2015), the practice is fairly common, with nearly 20% of all inmates having been placed in restrictive housing or solitary confinement within a year of placement. Confinement generally takes place for extended periods of time, as Beck states that nearly half of these inmates had spent no fewer than 30 days in their sentenced restrictive housing or solitary confinement. Apart from the ethics of solitary confinement from a humanitarian standpoint, as the American Civil Liberties Union has deemed the practice a violation of human rights, the psychological effects of confinement also call into question its widespread use in the prison system, both nationally and globally. Grassian (1983) reported that, by 1830, medical evidence began to show an increase of “insanity” among prisoners exposed to “especially rigid forms of solitary confinement.” Since then, numerous studies have been conducted internationally linking segregation and the onset of mental illness, ranging in severity from anxiety and depression
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to schizophrenia and psychosis. Solitary confinement’s ability to induce hallucinations and cause the onset of psychosis poses the question of whether the practice is ethical and should be continued. Due to the wide scope of international prison systems, this investigation will specifically focus on the American prison system; however, the practice of solitary confinement is used globally. Three main ethical perspectives and frameworks (medical, legal, and prison) will be used to assess the ethics of this practice. BACKGROUND
There are multiple ways that a prisoner may be placed in solitary confinement, the first of which is a court-ordered sentence. In these cases, the justification for confinement is not only for punishment purposes, but also for the protection of other inmates from physical harm. However, prisoners who are not sentenced to solitary confinement can still be placed in it as a punishment for unruly behavior, referred to as disciplinary confinement. Despite the severity of solitary confinement, Shames (2015) found that, in Illinois, 85% of prisoners who were released from disciplinary solitary confinement were placed there for relatively minor infractions, such as not following orders and using vulgar language. The same report discussed an inmate in South Carolina who was placed in segregation for 37 years for posting to Facebook on 38 different days. Prisoners who are part of minority groups, such as people of color and members of the LGBT community, can also be placed in segregation, commonly known as protective custody, as a form of protection from other inmates. The physical conditions of confinement vary greatly by prison, including the size and features of cells, as well as time allotted to spend outside of the cell or socializing. In one study, Metzner (2010) reports the conditions of a supermax prison,
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describing “tens of thousands of prisoners spend[ing] years locked up 23 to 24 hours a day in small cells.” He outlines their daily routines as having little to no social interaction, environmental stimuli, or “purposeful” activities. At the Maine State Prison, Benjamin (1975) highlights that inmates have absolutely no human contact for the first 15 days of their sentence, then have restricted visitation at the warden’s discretion. Apart from these visits, the Maine inmates were “deprived of all human contact.” The cells themselves are barren, according to Grassian (1983), with little lighting and plain steel furniture in a cell about 50 square feet large. While some prisons do have programs in place to increase the mental stimulation and socialization of inmates held in segregation, these programs are uncommon in the American prison system. The lack of stimulation that arises from these physical conditions has a detrimental effect upon the mental health of inmates. Sensory deprivation has a direct link to derealization, perceptual distortions, and hallucinations, as reported by Burnett (1994), eventually causing the onset of illnesses such as schizophrenia and Ganser syndrome (Andersen 2001). This is attributable to a similar phenomenon as the origin of Charles Bonnet Syndrome, in which individuals with vision or hearing impairments begin to experience hallucinations through their impaired senses. As the brain requires constant stimulation to form perception, the absence of new input, which prisoners in solitary confinement experience, can cause the brain to fill in gaps with auditory, visual, and bodily hallucinations. According to Illingworth (2014), prisoners are already at a “substantially higher risk” for depression and psychotic illnesses than the general population, reporting an average 12.3 percent prevalence for depression and a 3.8 percent prevalence for psychotic illness. Placing these at-risk individuals under the harsh conditions of isolation, which Metzner (2010) claims is
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“as clinically distressing as physical torture,” essentially guarantees the individual’s likelihood to develop such an illness. Prisoners who are placed in solitary confinement for only a short period of time can still experience severe psychological effects from the lack of social engagement and sensory deprivation, such as “anxiety, depression, anger, cognitive disturbances, perceptual distortions, obsessive thoughts, paranoia, and psychosis” (Metzner 2010). Grassian (1983) notes that the speed of onset varies by patient, which is partially attributed to the conditions of the cell, such as light exposure and soundproofing. A study by Mason (2009) found that “an anechoic chamber produced a high incidence of auditory and visual hallucinations even within an hour.” Illingworth (2014) found that, after three months in prison, inmates held in solitary confinement experienced visual hallucinations, changed perception, derealization, and depersonalization, while non-solitary confinement inmates displayed none of these symptoms. As prisoners are kept in segregation for a long period of time, these short-term effects can manifest into full-blown psychosis. According to Andersen (2000), the incidence of psychiatric disorders among inmates kept in solitary confinement (28%) was nearly double that of non-solitary confinement inmates. The differences in psychosis prevalence rates based on the confinement status of an inmate are clearly linked to the conditions of segregation. A study by Grassian (1983) highlighted that, in a 55-year period, 37 articles were published in German journals analyzing hundreds of cases of psychosis that were reactive to prison conditions. Over half of the articles in this group specifically reported solitary confinement as responsible for causing the psychosis, noting that prisoners showed quick improvement once removed from
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solitude. The mental illnesses that inmates develop from segregation are then further worsened by its conditions, as stated by Metzner (2010), with continued sensory deprivation causing severe psychotic symptoms and significant functional impairments. Thus, not only does solitary confinement have definitive links with sparking the onset of hallucinations and psychotic disorders, but the nature of the practice also worsens the symptoms of these conditions. CASE STUDIES
Several existing studies about the psychiatric effects of solitary confinement include case studies and anecdotes to provide examples of how isolation has varied detriments. Benjamin (1975) includes quotes from inmates at the Maine State Prison who describe difficulty with maintaining a sustained train of thought and frequent daydreaming. These symptoms, clinically referred to as thought disorder and delusions, are common positive symptoms of schizophrenia. He also discusses several inmates reporting vivid hallucinations, with one insisting “‘that a tiny spaceship had got into the chamber and was buzzing around shooting pellets at him.’” The following two case studies provide an in-depth illustration of the spectrum of symptoms that inmates can experience, such as bodily hallucinations and delusions. PATIENT FROM BURNETT ET AL. 1994
In his 1994 study, Burnett discusses the case of a patient imprisoned at age 14 for the murder of his mother’s boyfriend, who was noted to have abusive tendencies towards both the patient and his mother. By age 21, the patient was moved to an adult prison and placed in solitary confinement at age 24. He was kept in his segregation unit for at least 23 hours a day for
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over a year. During this time, the patient began to experience bodily hallucinations associated with masturbation, believing that his body would physically deteriorate with each instance of him masturbating. His concerns about his physical state led to prison doctors performing multiple medical tests upon him, each of which indicated no physical ailment or change in the patient’s physical wellbeing. He was prescribed antipsychotic medications, but refused to comply with treatment because he was convinced that his condition was purely physical. The patient was eventually admitted to the hospital, but still would not comply with any treatment plans involving medication. The end of Burnett’s report states that the patient continued to suffer from his delusions and bodily hallucinations, despite his placement in therapy. FRANK DEPALMA
In a 2019 interview published by The Marshall Project, former Ely Maximum Security Prison inmate, Frank DePalma, discusses his experiences with solitary confinement. He was initially placed in a segregation unit as a form of protective custody to be separated from imprisoned gang members, but was later kept there because of a violent outburst. DePalma was kept in solitary confinement for over 22 years, during which his human contact was limited to only interactions with the guards stationed outside his cell. He soon developed agoraphobia, a fear of crowded or enclosed public spaces, and was physically unable to leave his unit without having a mental break. DePalma recounted bodily hallucinations with feelings of being “between two pillars of concrete that were moving and crushing [him].” The severity of DePalma’s agoraphobia caused him to refuse to set foot outside his cell for the last five years of his sentence.
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DePalma also experienced strong delusions and fantasies while he was kept in solitary confinement, a coping mechanism to detach himself from the reality of long-term segregation. He recounted:
Little by little I started divorcing myself from everyone I had known in my life before solitary. I would live in fantasies. I would create relationships with imaginary people, and I’d fall in love with them, sometimes for months… Even that got to be so painful because there’s nothing so miserable as unrequited love.
DePalma considers these delusions to be a natural neurological response to the conditions of isolation, writing that, “Being in a cell like that with nothing, all you got is your mind, and it’s already warped from years of fighting to stay alive, it’s not right. It’s not human, it’s not normal.” After more than twenty years in confinement, DePalma was sent to a psychiatric hospital with extremely limited speech capabilities and an unwillingness to be outside of his cell. He was in the ward for ten months before being reintegrated into the general population of the prison. Four years later, DePalma was released altogether, after a total of 42 years served in prison, but still suffers from frequent mental breaks due to his agoraphobia. ETHICAL DISCUSSION
An analysis of the ethics of solitary confinement cannot be conducted without a clearly established ethical framework to compare the practice and its effects. There are three critical perspectives, each of which has their own ethical frameworks, to consider: medical, legal, and prison perspectives. While these perspectives may conflict with one another, they are important to consider in conjunction because of the intersectionality of the issue.
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MEDICAL PERSPECTIVE
The medical perspective provides the most direct answer to the ethics of confinement. Placing individuals, especially those deemed high risk for developing psychiatric illnesses, in an environment which is clinically associated with the onset of serious psychotic conditions essentially guarantees them the contraction of later mental illness. A medical endorsement of solitary confinement in the American prison system would be an approval of the intentional allowance of patients to become ill, a violation of the core goals of the medical community to heal. While offering mental health resources to inmates in solitary confinement is preferable to providing none, the most medically ethical path would be to discontinue the practice altogether, especially for prisoners who are diagnosed with an existing major mental disorder or those considered high risk due to family history. LEGAL PERSPECTIVE
The most important clause to consider in the legal perspective is the 8th Constitutional Amendment, which prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment.” A number of American court cases have taken place over the matter of solitary confinement, most of which do not deem confinement a cruel and unusual punishment in itself. However, according to Benjamin (1975), the effects of isolation do potentially qualify as unconstitutional. An article on a prisoner’s constitutional rights published by the University of Washington’s Law Review states that, in 1910, the phrase “cruel and unusual punishment” was deemed as a fluid definition and not solely applicable to torture and violence. The article highlights that, in the case Sostre v. McGinnis, solitary confinement itself is not
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unconstitutional unless the conditions threaten the health of the inmates or the sentence is disproportionate to the crime.
As solitary confinement has been proven to have detrimental mental health effects, this interpretation is consistent with the medical perspective, as both concur that it is unethical to place inmates in conditions which actively compromise their health. Similarly, the ruling from Wright v. McMann argues that the conditions of solitary confinement are intolerable and threaten the sanity of inmates. Thus, while the physical act of solitary confinement may seem ethical from a legal standpoint, the psychological effects of isolation are what make the practice unconstitutional.
Additionally, the ruling from Sostre v. McGinnis states that a sentence to segregation is unconstitutional if it is “disproportionate” to the crime, calling the use of disciplinary isolation and protective custody into question. As Shames (2015) reports, a majority of inmates released from disciplinary solitary confinement were originally placed there for minor infractions. In an interview with Slate, Terrence Slater recalled being sent to a segregation unit for refusing to level scoops of food because he deemed them too small of food portions for the inmates. Benjamin (1975) attributes the tendency of guards to readily sentence inmates to solitary confinement to the power complex of prisons. Furthermore, those placed in segregation for protective custody did not commit any infractions to justify their punishment, especially considering that these inmates are subject to the same conditions as all others held in solitary confinement (Shames 2015). Thus, according to this perspective, confinement is not a legally ethical or constitutional practice for inmates who commit minor infractions while in prison or those in protective custody. PRISON PERSPECTIVE
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The ethics of solitary confinement from a prison perspective rest largely upon the question of whether the justice system exists to punish law-breakers or rehabilitate them. DeLuca (1991) lists the four objectives of the criminal justice system: deterrence, punishment, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. The court case Lollis v. New York ruled that “isolation as a ‘treatment’ is punitive, destructive, defeats the purpose of any kind of rehabilitation efforts and harkens back to medieval times” (Benjamin 1975). With its harsh psychological effects upon inmates, segregation is exclusively a punishment to inmates, offering little opportunity to prisoners for rehabilitation if there is no supplemental programming. Shames (2015) states that tens of thousands of inmates are released annually directly from solitary confinement into the community without any restorative or rehabilitative programming. Regardless, when inmates are released from confinement, they may still suffer from mental illnesses from their time in segregation, a result that would continue to punish them mentally and prevent them from being fully rehabilitated. Another ethical grey area within this perspective is when confinement is used as a protective measure for inmates who may experience violence when integrated in the prison’s entire population, known as protective custody. While solitary confinement is too harsh of a punishment for inmates who are only placed in it for protective reasons, it would also not be ethical to knowingly place prisoners in an environment where they may be physically harmed or even killed by other inmates. Therefore, it is ethical to separate minorities who require protective custody, but not to subject them to the harsh punishment of solitary confinement with no provocation. ALTERNATIVE PRACTICES
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Bearing these various perspectives in mind, solitary confinement is a largely unethical practice, especially when it is disproportionate to the crime that an inmate committed or the cause of serious psychological damage. Therefore, it is vital to consider alternative practices to create a more ethical justice system within all of these frameworks.
One of the largest areas for reform is in implementing a pre-screening process to assess inmates for their risk of psychosis. According to Beck (2015), 29% of inmates with symptoms of “serious psychological distress” spent time in confinement within the past 12 months. Staying in isolation with a serious psychiatric illness only worsens the severity of the symptoms; thus, preventing at-risk individuals from ever entering confinement would be the most ethical choice for American prisons. Pre-screenings could be designed to analyze the inmate’s family history and schizotypal behaviors. Not only would these pre-screenings be used to prohibit certain inmates from being placed in solitary confinement, but they would also highlight which prisoners need additional support from mental health resources during their sentence.
For inmates who are sentenced to solitary confinement, an important reform measure would be to reduce the sensory deprivation they are subjected to. This could include simple measures such as increasing time spent outside cells, implementing regular social interaction with other inmates, or providing menial tasks for inmates to complete. A more advanced version of this concept is the Bard Prison Initiative, one of two dozen selective programs in which prisoners are permitted to take college-level classes during their sentence and earn a degree upon release. This privately-funded program appeals to the perspective that prisons exist to rehabilitate inmates alongside their punishment rather than exclusively punish them for their crimes.
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Although Metzner (2010) states that many elected officials are hesitant to provide more restorative practices due to “scant public support for investments in the treatment (as opposed to punishment) of prisoners,” the positive outcomes of a rehabilitatory approach emphasize the importance of implementing such programs. Hardiman (2019) highlights that the reincarceration rate among participants in the Bard Prison Initiative is four percent, compared to national averages between 40 and 60 percent. She also mentions the disproportionate incarceration of African Americans and low- income Americans, many of whom are raised in communities with a poor education system, which creates a cyclical effect of these groups not having proper access to education, thus resorting to crime. Gerard Robinson, scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, commented that, “The right thing to do is not only give them a second chance, but to also admit the fact that many of them didn’t receive a first chance.”
Not only should the quality of solitary confinement be improved to make the practice more ethical for those sentenced to isolation, but the total number of people kept in isolation can also be reduced for inmates under disciplinary confinement and protective custody. The standards for what constitutes segregation must be increased beyond an inmate using vulgar language or disobeying vague commands to make the punishment proportional to the infraction. Standardizing the qualifications for disciplinary segregation on a state or federal level would reduce abuses of this practice at the jurisdiction of prison guards. Additionally, a more ethical approach to protective custody would be to create specialized housing units for minority groups who qualify for protections to live in together, rather than subjecting those inmates to the same conditions as those sentenced to solitary confinement.
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These alternative programs are not only more ethical sentences than solitary confinement, but also have clear economic benefits for American prisons. Shames (2015) states that the average cost per prisoner in segregation is two to three times that of a prisoner kept integrated among the general population. Additionally, Noguchi (2017) notes that the costs of educational restorative programs are far less than those of housing inmates because of the increased likelihood of inmates finding employment post-incarceration and decrease in reincarceration rates. Thus, while the initial costs of implementing these programs are higher than those of continuing current practices, they are an investment in society that have significant returns in the mental health of inmates and the effectiveness of the American prison system. CONCLUSION
The practice of solitary confinement in the American prison system, whether punitive, disciplinary, or protective, has severe ramifications for the mental health of inmates, with links to hallucinations and psychosis from the sensory deprivation that inmates experience. These effects lead the practice to be deemed entirely unethical from a medical and legal perspective, as well as partially unethical when considering the need for prisons to have rehabilitatory programming. Alternative practices, such as implementing mental health pre- screenings, educational programs, and reducing the number of non-sentenced inmates held in solitary confinement would serve to reduce the use of this practice and create a more ethical prison system. Possible areas for further research include analyzing the long-term effects of solitary confinement after release, evaluating screening methods for inmates at risk of psychotic illness, and examining the impact of restorative programming upon inmates’ mental health.
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REFERENCES
Andersen, H., Sestoft, D., Lillebaek, T., Gabrielsen, G., Hemmingsen, R., & Kramp, P. (2000). A longitudinal study of prisoners on remand: psychiatric prevalence, incidence and psychopathology in solitary vs.non-solitary confinement. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica., 102(1), 19–25. https://doi.org/10.1034%2Fj.1600-0447.2000.102001019.
Andersen, H., Sestoft, D., Lillebaek, T. (2001). Ganser syndrome after solitary confinement in prison: A short review and a case report. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry., 55(3), 199–201. https://doi.org/10.1080%2F08039480152036083.
Beck, A. J. (2015). Use of Restrictive Housing in U.S. Prisons and Jails, 2011-12. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/urhuspj1112.pd f
Benjamin, T. B., Lux, K. (1975). Constitutional and Psychological Implications of the Use of Solitary Confinement: Experience at the Maine State Prison. Clearinghouse Review, 9(2), 83–90.
Burnett, F. & Humphreys, M. (1994). 4. Monosymptomatic Hypochondriacal Psychosis and Prolonged Solitary Confinement. Medicine, Science, and the Law., 34(4), 343– 346. https://doi.org/10.1177/002580249403400415.
DeLuca, H. H.; Miller, T. J.; Wiedemann, C. F. (1991). Punishment vs. rehabilitation: proposal for revising sentencing practices Federal Probation, 55(3), 37-45. Retrieved from https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/fedpro5 5&i=235
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DePalma, F., Thompson, C. (2019). I Developed Agoraphobia in Prison. The Marshall Project. Retrieved from https://www.themarshallproject.org/2019/05/30/i- developed-agoraphobia-in-prison
Grassian, Stuart. Psychopathological Effects of Solitary Confinement. American Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 140, no. 11, 1983, pp. 1450–1454., doi:10.1176/ajp.140.11.1450.
Hardiman, K. (2019). Prisoners can read Shakespeare, too. The Washington Examiner. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/prison ers-can-read-shakespeare-too
Illingworth, C., Canning, A., Garner, E., Woolley, J., Walker, J., Illingworth, C., … Amos, T. (2014). Changes in mental state associated with prison environments: a systematic review. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica., 129(6), 427–436. https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.12221.
Mason, O. J., Brady, F. (2009). The Psychotomimetic Effects of Short-Term Sensory Deprivation. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.,197(10), 783–785. 10.1097/NMD.0b013e3181b9760b.
Metzner, J., & Fellner, J. (2010). Solitary confinement and mental illness in U.S. prisons: a challenge for medical ethics. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online., 38(1), 104–108. Retrieved from http://jaapl.org/content/38/1/104
Noguchi, Y. (2017). College Classes in Maximum Security: ‘It Gives You Meaning.’ National Public Radio. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2017/03/27/518135204/college- classes-in-maximum-security-it-gives-you-meaning
Prisoner’s Constitutional Rights: Segregated Confinement As Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Sostre v. McGinnis, 442
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F.2d 178 (2d Cir. 1971), 1972 Wash. U. L. Q. 347 (1972). Retrieved from http://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_lawreview/vol19 72/iss2/8,An ethical analysis of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons
Shames, A., Wilcox, J., Subramanian, R. (2015). Solitary Confinement: Common Misconceptions and Emerging Safe Alternatives. Vera Institute of Justice Center on Sentencing and Corrections. 1–34. Retrieved from http://archive.vera.org/sites/default/files/resources/d ownloads/solitary-confinement-misconceptions-safe- alternatives-report.pdf
Assignment on Aristotle’s ethical ideas of distributive and procedural justice: Views on justice impact many areas of criminal justice, including the concepts of fairness, equality, and impartiality, and influence the ethical standards you apply in various situations in the field. Your views on justice and how you act in situations will affect the opinions others have of you in the communities you serve. Views on justice also impact actions taken and decisions made that affect the wider population.
Assume you have been selected as one of three potential candidates for a new position in your local criminal court. The presiding judge wants to understand your views on substantive justice.
Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word brief describing the origins of the concept of justice and how you believe they are defined today. Complete the following in your brief:
-Explain Aristotle’s ethical ideas of distributive and procedural justice.
-Compare substantive justice and procedural justice, including how procedural justice impacts wrongful convictions and moral perceptions of racial discrimination, such as the Central Park Five and the story of Brian Banks, a former football star.
-Explain how you understand justice as defined by today’s modern criminal justice agencies. Include reasoning and examples in your explanation to support your opinion
The background material for this module explains and shows examples of balance sheets. Pay attention to the layout and definitions before reviewing the balance sheet the for ABC Company shown below.
This assignment has two parts.
1. An essay
2. Answer 10 questions relating to ABC’s balance sheet.
Case Assignment
Part 1
Write a minimum of 300 words about the role of the balance sheet as one of the four required financial statements.
· Comment on some significant characteristics of the balance sheet.
· Who is interested in the information?
· What kind of information does the balance sheet convey to users?
Part 2
Review the background material for the second module before attempting the case below in order to answer a series of questions about the balance sheet for ABC Company shown below. Start with the accounting equation and pay attention to definitions of assets, liabilities, and equity.
The background information for the module includes the basic concepts, but for more ideas, go to the optional background source principlesofaccounting.com. The site also offers multiple videos that you may find relevant. You may also use other sites for ideas to complete the table. Do not forget to reference the sources used.
Find the balance sheet for ABC Company below. The data is to be used for part 2 of the current case assignment and the SLP for this module.
Answer each question below and explain your answer with numbers, computations, and 3 to 5 sentences.
1. Determine total assets and total liabilities for ABC Company. Add some thoughts about the significance of the classifications.
2. Complete the accounting equation below using numbers from ABC’s balance sheet instead of words. In addition, explain how this equation is significant for the creation and understanding of the financial statements. Assets = Liabilities + Equity
3. Are short-term payables or receivables larger? Show the computation. Explain the significance of the difference.
4. Is the order in which assets and liabilities are listed on the balance sheet significant? Explain.
5. Determine the total amount owed by ABC at the end of the year. How could this information be useful to a reader of the balance sheet?
6. Does the company have more assets or liabilities? What is the significance of determining the difference between net assets and net liabilities? What happens to a company if the total liabilities exceed the total assets?
7. If the company borrows an additional $15,000, which two balance sheet accounts will be affected? The new totals for total assets and total liabilities are …..?
8. Explain retained earnings. How is this accounting computed? Is retained earnings an asset, a liability, or an equity account?
9. What is the “total wealth” of the company according to the balance sheet? What are some other accounting terms for “wealth” in connection with corporate entities? For example, retained earnings account fits this category, but it is not the only account.
10. Assume that the company paid $20,000 in dividends to the shareholders. Which balance sheet accounts (items) would have been affected by the payment? Use numbers and be specific.
Assignment Expectations
Follow the instructions carefully. Do not copy and paste definitions.
· Complete Part 1 using an essay format.
· Do not use an essay format for part 2; instead, answer each question separately and in order.
Show sources when appropriate. APA format is suggested but not required
This assignment is intended to help you use leadership skills to gather project members from cross-functional departments and skill sets and lead them in the fulfillment and implementation of a mock project.
Discover the various responsibilities of a project manager by organizing a project. See Chapter 19, sections 19.9 and Cases.
Apply project management tools and a PM outline type of your choice to structure and plan the project by defining, planning, and controlling. The project will be a continuation of how to improve the process you chose in Weeks 1 and 2.
Create a 10- to 12-slide PowerPoint presentation (supported by Excel and Word as needed), with detailed speaker notes, that includes the following:
· Project description
· Project Management Charts (Critical Path, Gant Chart, etc.)
· Improved Process Flowchart from Week 1
· Meeting cadence/rhythm and timing
· Metrics to measure the project’s success
· Financial and budgetary considerations
· Description of the project reporting structure
Cite references to support your assignment.
Format your assignment according to APA guidelines
SELF-ASSESSMENT OF LEADERSHIP, COLLABORATION, AND ETHICS
Scenario
Imagine that over the past few months you have participated in several organizational projects and met many new people. The opportunities to collaborate and demonstrate your emerging skills as a leader prompted you to think about applying for a new position. After exploring online job postings, you prepared a resume and submitted the application to Western Medical Enterprises. A few days later you received the following email:
Dear Applicant, Thank you for your interest in employment at Western Medical Enterprises. We have received your application packet. The next step for all potential employees is to provide a narrative response to the questions in the attached document. Please return your completed document to me by replying to this email. Once we receive your responses, we will review them and notify you of the next steps. Good luck! Sincerely, Thomas Hardy Human Resources Recruiter Western Medical Enterprises
American College of Healthcare Executives. (n.d.). ACHE code of ethics. https://www.ache.org/about-ache/our-story/our-commitments/ethics/ache-code-of-ethics
Refer to the scoring guide for details on how your assignment will be evaluated.
You may use the Week 9 Assignment Example [PDF] to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like
Purpose: To persuade the audience of the following: 1) a problem/issue exists (your arguable issue/your question is your confirmation that a problem exists), 2) there is a way to solve the issue OR improve the situation, and 3) the proposed solution is beneficial. Audience: An organization, foundation, group, website, publication, foundation, individual, etc., who has the authority to grant what you propose. You have to choose a specific audience (no “American people,” “people interested in my topic,” or “government”) for your paper. Name your audience by a proper noun (i.e., you have to capitalize it). You must address your audience twice in the proposal: once in the problem section and once in the conclusion section.
Format: This is not a traditional essay. This is a proposal. You are proposing a solution or an improvement to your issue. It requires a different format than you are used to writing. It requires a proposal format. There is a title page with one required and cited visual and bold sections, and sometimes italics for subsections. There are also two additional visuals needed for the Problem section. However, the paragraphs and citations follow standard MLA. Overview of the Proposal by organized, formatted, bold sections that are organized for your proposal:
1. Problem or Issue: Provide an overview and introduction of the problem or arguable issue, including short quotations or paraphrases from sources, each documented with MLA formatted in-text citations. You need two visual sources within this section, and the one on the title page does not count, but you must have a title page visual. Remember to use language designed to convince (appeals: logos, ethos, pathos) your audience about the problem. Think about the values and emotions you share with your audience and consider how you might appeal to them through the appeals. Here are some tips to help persuade your audience to care about your issue:
• Try to evoke emotions (sympathy, outrage, anger, delight, awe, horror, etc.) in your audience that make your paper more moving.
• Try to evoke sensations (seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, smelling) in your audience that
make your writing vivid and help readers experience things imaginatively.
• Appeal to values (freedom, justice, tolerance, fairness, equality, etc.) that you share with your audience.
In this section, also add your opinion. Where do you stand? This should be at the end of this first problem section, and you also need to mention your audience directly. Who did you pick to propose this solution to?
2. Solution: Provide a realistic solution that will alleviate OR improve the situation within context. This solution or improvement should be the central position of the proposal. Address at least
Bibek Wagle
Topic : Should renewable energy replace fossil fuels?
one extended counterargument to some part of your issue in this section. You may choose a hypothetical naysayer or a real opponent found in your sources if your solution has multiple parts, subhead with italics. To counter-argue, follow below:
• name and describe your opponent(s). • describe your opponent’s position fairly and accurately. • respond with a well-considered and reasonable rebuttal.
3. Benefits of the Solution: Provide compelling reasons why readers must act on your solution.
Explain the limits of existing solutions, and explain the positive and beneficial implications of your solution or improvement idea. Also, create subheadings in italics if your solution has multiple benefits.
4. Conclusion: Reiterate the solution’s main elements and remind readers why this solution will help with the problem. Convince readers this action is necessary and conclude with a specific call to action directly to your audience. So, you are directly addressing your audience again in this paragraph
5. MLA Works Cited Page: The final page is your works cited page; list the MLA citations from all
sources used in the paper. At least three of your sources are from the visuals. Requirements:
• MLA formatting for in-text citations and Works Cited page
• Works Cited page listing reliable sources that are cited within the essay
• About 4 pages of text is the average
• Appealing Visual Design • Uniform headings of Problem, Solution, Benefits, and Conclusion in bold. • TWO Visual Elements, such as data/graph and/or image related to proposal
• Caption for each visual element that explains the relevance of the image. Evaluation (Rubric) will be based on the following:
➢ Explanation of Issues: The Issue/Problem to be considered critically is stated, described, and clarified, so omissions do not seriously impede that understanding.
➢ Evidence: Information is taken from source(s) with enough interpretation/evaluation to develop a coherent analysis or synthesis. Viewpoints of experts are subject to questioning.
➢ Student’s Position: Specific position (perspective, thesis/hypothesis) considers the complexities of an issue. Others’ points of view are acknowledged within position (perspective, thesis/hypothesis).
➢ Content Development: The proposal uses appropriate, relevant, and compelling content to explore ideas within the context of the discipline and shape of the whole work.
➢ Sources: The writer demonstrates a consistent use of credible, relevant authorities and visuals to support ideas situated within the writing discipline and genre.
➢ Control of Syntax and Mechanics: The language is a straightforward language that generally conveys meaning to readers. The language in the proposal has few errors.
Epidemics and Air Travel
Ensuring Safety for Everyone during Travel
This image elaborates the presence of various infectious micro-organisms that are not visible
to our eyes during travel. Additionally, it shows physically healthy-appearing travelers are
sometimes carrying diseases that might transmit to other vulnerable members of the society,
such as children and the elderly (Wald).
Presented by: Student Name
Insert due date , 2022
Problem
Which strategies can keep air travel safe during epidemics? Air travel restrictions are
one of the initial emergency rapid responses to control any infectious diseases. Especially
when the disease etiology is a viral infection and is spreading through airborne droplets, they
are highly contagious. Moreover, due to the incubation period after acquiring the infection,
infected individuals do not exhibit symptoms days after being infected. Then, these infected
individuals without symptoms carry the viruses to their destinations, including other counties,
via an airplane within hours.
Consequently, they spread the viral infection, which creates global chaos. Globally,
there have been various epidemic threats. Figure 1 shows a list of six major communicable
disease epidemic threats from 2002-2015 (United States Government, p. 5). In 2003 SARS
outbreak lasted for six months. Similarly, infections like H5N1 since 2003 to date, H1N1
since 2009 to date, since 2012 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, since 2013 H7N9
Influenza, and since 2014 Ebola diseases have already caused epidemics affecting multiple
countries. These diseases have posed either relatively less, similar, or greater impact as the
COVID-19 has caused in the world since December 2019 and in the U.S. since February
2020. Hence, situations like disease epidemics could be known as commonly occurring issues
that need permanent solutions.
Previously, the air travel ban had been instigated at various instances to control these
highly contagious diseases such as Ebola and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
outbreaks (Mateus 1). During an epidemic, when individuals travel by air, various challenges
are faced by the travel destinations, passengers, and airlines. Among them, the financial burden
is a concern of mutual interest that affects each of these stakeholders by increasing costs.
Hence, a temporary air travel ban has not remained effective (Belluz, Hoffman, Peak, et al.).
The recipient country would like to keep down the costs from health care that are increased
during epidemics.
Figure 1: Major Epidemic Threats since 2002 to 2015. It shows a list of six major communicable disease epidemic threats from 2002-2015
(United States Government Accountability Office 5). In 2003 SARS outbreak lasted for 6 months. Similarly, infections like H5N1 since 2003 to date, H1N1 since 2009 to date, since 2012 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, since 2013 H7N9 Influenza, and since 2014 Ebola
diseases have already caused epidemics affecting multiple countries. These diseases have posed either relatively less, similar, or greater
impact as the COVID-19 has caused in the world since December, 2019, and in U.S. since February 2020 (United States Government, et al., p. 5)).
Then, the individuals would like to gain the income they lost by visiting foreign
counties. Similarly, the air travel agencies would like to keep their financial revenue coming
in round the year. The United States welcomes individuals from all parts of the world. This is
evident in Figure 2 when individuals from across the globe come to visit here (United States
Government, p. 14). These visitors land at the twelve major airports in the U.S.’s highly
populous and urban cities, making the U.S. highly vulnerable.
Nevertheless, the statistics of the number of affected cases of the recent situation of
the Novel Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19 is increasing (World Health Organization).
This infection started only a couple of months ago, but it has affected tens of thousands of
individuals in several countries. Initially, this highly contingent disease was not expected to
be extremely life-threatening, and the mortality rate expected was two percent. However, the
situation has worsened in just a few days, and the actual mortality rate is of 3.4 percent
globally (World Health Organization). Besides, it is important to understand this might be
just the tip of the iceberg because mortalities might be underreported or unreported
(Achenbach 1). Hence, it becomes important for the Transportation Security Administration
(TSA) to implement certain strategies that can keep highly contingent diseases away that are
epidemic in various part of the world. Thus, ban on air travel is not the solution for these
highly contagious illnesses.
Figure 2: It shows the top five U.S. International Arrival Airports for Five Global Regions, 2014 (United States Government Accountability
Office 14). Besides, the visitors land at the twelve major airports in highly populous and urban cities of the U.S., making the U.S. highly
vulnerable (Peak).
Additionally, there is a need for solutions from evidence-based practices to be
implemented by the TSA at the airport receiving terminals. These strategies are cost-effective
and efficiently help to prevent epidemics to their local population.
Solutions
TSA can help us avoid spreading several contagious diseases by enforcing a complete
immunization status policy and health education. Here, we are not just focusing only on the
current COVID-19, but we are taking all vaccine-preventable diseases into account. This is
because various diseases eradicated from the U.S. decades ago are emerging due to the
increasing number of travelers worldwide. Advocates against vaccines feel it’s a personal
choice and that it does not help stop the spread. However, they fail to see the scientific data
and the benefit to the global community.
According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), individuals must
get vaccinated even before traveling (CDC 1). Additionally, they should get vaccinated at
least one month before their expected visit (CDC 2). This means that scientific experts share
preexisting evidence-based guidelines about the importance of vaccination status before
travel. Presently, there is only one specific solution to infectious diseases. This solution is the
implementation of CDC’s guidelines for travel, enforcing complete immunization status when
visitors land in the U.S. The primary intervention will ensure that each traveler comes to the
U.S. with a medically certified immunization record. On the other hand, various groups in the
community might not get vaccinated due to various cultural, religious, or financial reasons.
However, it is crucial to understand the safeguard of the majority population who vaccinate
versus those who do not.
Another essential and evidence-based intervention that will cater to the needs of those
who would not be interested in getting vaccinated is health education. At the portal of entry
in the U.S., if individuals arriving receive formal health education about and protection
against infectious disease. All those who deny vaccination should be given health education
regarding disease control and prevention measures. A study evaluated the effectiveness of
health education. This study was performed in consultation with travel medicine and
international vaccination at the Reims University Hospital. It showed higher levels of
knowledge regarding disease control and prevention than the status before vaccination among
Hajj pilgrim adult participants (Migault et al. 30). Thus, health education would be an
effective and acceptable intervention to avoid spreading infectious diseases.
Benefits
There are various benefits of Immunization and health education for the individual
and the countries.
Safety for Everyone
The interventions of enforcing Immunization and health education will bring safety
for U.S. citizens and travelers. First, it will save the traveler from spreading novel and fatal
illnesses to our citizens. Additionally, it will keep the traveler away from several diseases that
he might have acquired during closed space air travel and transits at high-risk destinations.
Second, it will save the clinical costs born by the individuals and health systems. Moreover, it
will protect the travel destination from novel and previously eradicated diseases.
Less the burden on the healthcare system
Various studies have shown the effectiveness of vaccination and health education,
saving costs on health systems. One of those studies conducted in the U.S. by Hyle et al
showed that more individuals got vaccinated for measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) before
travel (Hyle et al, p. 1) as it was a travel requirement. This study showed that vaccination
could reduce the impact and costs of the disease treatment. Hence, when vaccination status is
monitored, if a vaccine got invented for COVID-19, people will be more likely to remain
vaccinated. Hence, vaccinated individuals will be less likely to get sick and spread disease; as
a result, fewer people will get sick, and there will be less burden on the healthcare system.
Besides the costs, another benefit of Immunization will be the creation of herd
immunity among the population. When a certain number of individuals are vaccinated or
immunized against a disease, herd immunity protects the rest of the population. A study on
travelers’ diarrhea showed that even if one out of every ten individuals get immunized, herd
immunity is achieved (Rosa et al. 697). Thus, with this as well, fewer people will get sick,
and immunity will spread.
Conclusion
To sum up, there are various implications of banning air travel during the initial
policy implementation phase. The point to ponder is understanding how the policies are
ethically justifiable and effective. Evidence shows that vaccination and health education can
collectively benefit the air travelers and their destinations, The U.S. These interventions are
evidence-based, and they could cost-effectively reduce the disease incidence, prevalence, and
fatalities. Based on the literature, I recommend that the TSA mandate vaccination for
passengers and preventive health care education through a public service annoncement (PSA)
at the airports. This will benefit our nation by avoiding the spread of diseases, saving health
care costs, and building herd immunity.
Works Cited
Achenbach, Joel et al. “U.S. coronavirus fatality rate could be lower than global rate so far.”
Washington Post. March 2020. Retrieved on March 9, 2020. Retrieved from:
Part 1: Urban Problems in Puerto Rico. For this unit and Unit VII of this course, you are writing a four-page research paper about Puerto Rico. In this unit, you will complete the first two pages of the research paper.
The research paper draft you complete in this unit should contain the following items:
Briefly introduce Puerto Rico. Provide some background information about the people and the island.
Identify one or more urban problems faced in Puerto Rico. Make sure to provide a discussion on what caused and continues to cause the problem or problems.
Explain how globalization connects to the urban problem or problems you introduced in your research paper.
Discuss how geography connects to the urban problem or problems you introduced in your research paper.
Be sure that you fully address all of the required elements for this research paper. You cannot simply fill the paper with background information about Puerto Rico and then address the urban problems in just a few sentences.
You are required to cite the textbook and at least two additional scholarly sources from the CSU Online Library. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying APA citations. You must use APA 7th edition formatting throughout your research paper, and include a title page and a reference page (which will not be counted in the minimum page length requirement). The CSU Online Library contains a good resource database for this assignment. It is called the World Scholar: Latin America & the Caribbean database. Another good resource is the CIA-World Factbook website, which can be accessed by clicking on the provided link. If you need help with your library searches, please view the online library tutorial Developing Keywords for Database Searches.
We discussed in the unit lesson that most migration is internal, and there are three main reasons why people move internally in their country: age, employment, and a location’s physical environment. Write a two-page essay about the impact of internal migration on your state or a state where you previously resided.
How has the population changed in your state over the past 5 years?
Is your state gaining or losing residents?
Where are the residents mainly coming from or going to?
What are the push-pull factors accounting for the population changes?
What economic and environmental impacts are the population changes having in your state?
Conclude the essay with a section discussing your own internal migration story. Have you moved within or between states? What were the push and pull factors relating to your move or moves? If you have not moved, please list some of the factors that have kept you from moving. Note: If you reside outside the United States, you can either discuss any U.S. state where you previously lived or discuss your current location.
You must use at least one outside source from the CSU Online Library. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying APA citations. You must use APA 7th edition formatting for your essay, and you need to include a title page and a reference page (which will not be counted in the two-page length requirement)
Tavel Photo Essay Pretend you are a travel writer. Your assignment is to write a travel photo essay highlighting some of the important natural or man-made landmarks unique to a particular location. Your essay will include two different landmarks (man-made or natural) from the same area or region. The two different landmarks can be from a local, national, or international location. Your travel photo essay will include an introduction, two photos with descriptions, and a conclusion.
The first page of your essay will be a title page, presented using APA 7th edition formatting.
The next page will contain a 100-word introduction. The introduction should include why you picked the tourist location and what impact visiting the landmarks had on you.
Insert two photos (from the web or your own photographs) into the essay. Write a 100-word description of each of the landmarks. Place each description below the corresponding image.
Write a 200-word concluding paragraph (summary) about the cultural significance of both of the landmarks to the local people and the impact the locals have on the landmarks. What impact does each of these landmarks have on the shared identity, beliefs, economics, environment, and/or activities of the people living in that community? Are the local people impacting the landmarks positively or negatively? How?
End your essay with a references page that lists all of the sources you used in your essay, set up using APA 7th edition formatting. The CSU Online Library has fantastic resources that can be used for this assignment. Additionally, the CIA World Fact Book website is a great source of information. In addition to the two required photos, you are required to use at least one outside information source from the CSU Online Library. You can also use your textbook as a resource. All sources used, including the textbook, library resource, and photo sources (unless they are your own photos), must be cited and referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying APA citations.