Religion in Our Society: Everyday Ritual of Life In our time of progress and technological evolution, it is hard to imagine more powerful force, except nuclear weapon, maybe, to destroy the universe. However, humans invented machines and guns, became strong and defensive against each other, but not against their beliefs and morals. It is very easy to destroy a building if you have a rocket launcher, but it is much more energy in the crowd, united in fanatic desire to kill. To kill, because of different thinking and beliefs. On the other hand, to force religious practice will only raise hate and distrust rather that fanatism. Religious conflict, needless to say, is presently a very pervasive feature of our international society, and is likely to remain so well into the 21st Century, unfortunately. Every now and then, people switch on their TVs and are greeted with news of religious violence: the Moslems fighting the Hindus in India and Indian-controlled Kashmir; the Christians and Moslems battling it out in Indonesia, the Philippines, Spain, the Sudan and Nigeria; the repression of the Buddhists, Falun Gong and other religious groups in communist China – to mention a few. As such, there is now an increasing number of people who think that religion is now much more than “the opium of the masses”, that it is actually a destructive feature of the society. However, is it? In spite of the above, we must not forget the immense positive role religion has played in our society, past and present. Religion has given people in this world hope and a future where there was aversion. It is worthwhile to notice that people are much more “into religion” in developing and underdeveloped Religion, page 2 countries than in advanced nations. These people, often in the throes of financial troubles, turn to religion as a source of fulfillment and sustenance. In addition, the basic ideals of all religions are, on the average, the same: do not kill, do not steal, do unto others, as you would have them do to you, honor your parents. Thus, we owe our social civility to religion because it has lain down in our hearts the basic rule of law, which is another foundation of government; every law and every constitution is based on these simple beliefs. Several important social breakthroughs have been championed by religious leaders: such as Martin Luther King Jr.
“Accuracy-confidence correlation: an eye witnesses’ stated confidence is not a good predictor of identification accuracy; Stress effects: highly stressful situations may make an experience seem especially vivid, but such stressors can reduce the ability to recall details about a person’s face…Cross-race bias: eye witnesses are more accurate at identifying members of their own race than members of other races.”
There has been considerable debate worldwide, regarding the accuracy of eyewitness testimony in the criminal justice system. Particularly, arguments have surrounded wrongful convictions that have resulted from incorrect eyewitness evidence (Areh, 2011; Howitt, 2012; Nelson, Laney, Bowman-Fowler, Knowles, Davis & Loftus, 2011). The purpose of this essay is to consider psychological research about the accuracy of eyewitness testimony and its placement in the criminal justice system. Firstly, this essay will define how eyewitnesses and their testimonies are used within the criminal justice system and the current debate surrounding its usage. Secondly, the impact of post-identification feedback will be used to show the affect on the confidence of a witness. Thirdly, studies around gender related differences will show how a witnesses gender can affect memory recall and accuracy. Fourthly, empirical studies will be used to highlight how a psychological experience called change blindness can cause mistakes in eyewitness identification. Finally, the effect of cross-examination will be used to explore the impact on eyewitness accuracy. It will be argued, that eyewitness testimony is not accurate and highly subjective, therefore, the criminal justice system must reduce the impact that eyewitness testimony is allowed to have. Developing better policies and procedures to avoid wrongful convictions by misled judges and jury members can do this.
There have been several cases in which eyewitness testimony led to the conviction of an innocent person. In one notable case, Raymond Towler was wrongly convicted in 1981 of the rape, kidnap, and assault of an 11-year old girl based on eyewitness testimony in which the victim and other witnesses identified him from a photo. Towler had been serving a life sentence and was released in 2010 after serving nearly 30 years until DNA evidence proved that he did not commit the rape (Sheeran, 2010). In another case, Kirk Bloodsworth was convicted and sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl near Baltimore in 1984. Five different eyewitnesses testified that they saw him at the scene of crime. After serving nine years in prison on death row, he was released and paid compensation after traces of semen found in the victim’s underwear excluded him as the person responsible for the crime. Although he was released, he was not formally exonerated for another decade until the real killer was found, Kimberly Shay Ruffner. Ruffner was already incarcerated for unrelated crimes and was identified after the DNA sample from the crime scene was added to state and federal databases and came back as a match for him. Despite the fact that Bloodsworth was a completely different height and weight than Ruffner, five eyewitnesses testified that they saw him at the murder scene (Marshall, 2009).
Yet, even after all the effort she placed into ensuring her assailant was convicted, and picking the same individual out of both a photo and physical line up, she still was unable to identify the correct person. When Jennifer participated in the photo lineup she was given several photos to choose from, it took some careful study and narrowing down for Jennifer to decide that her assailant was Ronald Cotton. Even when the Ricky Cotton was found to be innocent of the crime against Jennifer it took her a while to accept this due to what her mind and memory had come to believe. Professor of psychology Gary Wells tells us that when a person takes more than ten to fifteen seconds to make an identification they will most likely identify the wrong person. Professor Wells also stated if a person is given more than one photo at a time to view, they tend to compare the photos to one another and try to narrow down a suspect assuming that they must be in the lineup. Also noted in several of the studies was, when an individual received positive reinforcement after making an ID in a lineup it alters that person’s memory. While police may be trying to assure the person that they are doing a good thing what they are doing is changing the way the person remembers the
Researcher Richard A. Wise and his colleagues focused on finding out how prosecutors and defense attorneys felt and treated eyewitness testimonies. They found that defense attorneys are more likely to question an eyewitness’s credibility than prosecutors (Wise, et al. 1278). They also found that prosecutors knew less about eyewitness testimonies than defense attorneys (Wise, et al. 1277). This study suggests that attorneys should be informed about the risk of eyewitness testimonies being false or fallible (Wise, et al. 1280). In contrast to the study discussed before, a study conducted by researchers Tim Valentine and Katie Maras looked at the effects of cross examining evidence between eyewitnesses instead of focusing on prosecutors and defense attorneys. They conducted an experiment in which the participants had to watch an event and then talk about it with other people who saw the same event (Valentine and Maras 556). They found that the act cross examining what they all saw led to people coming up with false testimonies with many inaccuracies (Valentine and Maras 557). Both of these studies differ in that the first study focused on defense attorneys and prosecutors while the second study discussed on the eyewitnesses themselves. Even though they focused on analyzing two different demographics, they both
Religion is considered as a pervasive force in this world. It shapes people as to how they behave and interact with almost everything present in the society. Influencing behavior, character formations, ideals, policies, standards are just among the dimensions and societal perspectives affected and impacted by religion. Because of these applications and implications in human lives and existence, religion should be understood deeply, particularly, on how it affects the world. Looking at the American perspective of the term "religion," it could be simply
In order to use the food we eat our body has to break the food down into the smaller molecules that can process, it also has to excrete waste. The process begins in the mouth. It first begins with your mouth and your salivary glands. Just at the sight of the food your mouth begins to develop saliva, which will be used to moisten and lubricate the food as you are chewing your food. This is called the motility and mechanical processing. Once the food has been chewed its broken down by the chemical action of the salivary enzymes. You have smooth muscles and the movements of the smooth muscles help your food make its way into the esophagus. The digestive tube is mainly lined with four layers. There are smooth muscles called sphincters that are between the junctions of the GI tract. These sphincters are what help the food pass through the digestive system and then they relax in order to deposit the food into the stomach. The main function of the digestive system is to break down food
Religion is an institution that can provide stability for societies through various religious concepts, and is substantial for the support of social cohesion and order. Many functionalist theories of religion, for example, claim that religion functions in such a way as to integrate societies (McCauley, 1984). There are many types of religion that people practice world-wide such as Christianity, Catholi...
There are many social institutions that have major impacts on society. One of the trickiest social institutions would have to be, religion. Religion seems to have a huge impact on a society even if it’s directly or indirectly. Why is that? Do we need it? Does it let us live a more fulfilled life? What effects does it have on society? Is it necessary for a functioning society? According to Dalton Conley (2013:611) sociology defines religion as being a unified system of beliefs traditions, and practices around sacred things; a set of shared “stories” that guide belief and action. Religion is a way for people to make sense of the world, it keeps society in line with expected behaviors. Without religion people would subside to create their own rules and would deem to follow a path that could harm a society and come to an end. Religion is necessary for a society to function, prosper, and for someone to learn how to be a well moral contributor to society.
Religion is an ever-growing idea that has no set date of origin. Throughout history religion has served as an answer to the questions that man could not resolve. The word religion is derived from the Latin word “religio” meaning restraint in collaboration with the Greek word “relegere” which means to repeat or to read again. Religion is currently defined as an organized system of beliefs and practices revolving around, or leading to, a transcendent spiritual experience. Throughout time, there has yet to be a culture that lacks a religion of some form, whether it is a branch of paganism, a mythological based religion or mono/polytheistic religion. Many religions have been forgotten due to the fact that they were ethnic religions and globalizing religions were fighting to be recognized, annihilating these ancient and ethnic religions. Some of these faiths include: Finnish Paganism, Atenism, Minoan Religion, Mithraism, Manichaeism, Vedism, Zoroastrianism, Asatru, and the Olmec Religion. Religion is an imperative part of our contemporary world but mod...
One of the first steps of digestion begins in the stomach. The stomach is an organ, which gets the bolus from the esophagus and helps with chemical and mechanical digestion. Now, let’s break that down a little bit. First of all, if you don’t know what the stomach looks like, it is J-shaped. That should make it pretty easy for you to recognize. Okay, so, bolus is a small, circular mass of digested food. The esophagus is a muscular tube that is used to help food and liquids make its way into the stomach. But, the esophagus is not involved with digestion. The mechanical digestion is the breaking down of big chunks of food into smaller chunks. On the other hand, chemical digestion, is a more complicated form of digestion, which break down molecules and passes through the blood stream. So, once again, the stomach gets the mass of digested food from the esophagus and helps with the mechanical and chemical digestion.
Religions have always played a vital role between humans and its society especially in terms of what is good and proper in the society. In modern world, people have become increasingly dissociated from religion and spirituality.
Religious Fundamentalism is not a modern phenomenon, although, it has received a rise in the late twentieth century. It occurs differently in different parts of the world but arises in societies that are deeply troubled or going through a crisis (Heywood, 2012, p. 282). The rise in Religious Fundamentalism can be linked to the secularization thesis, which implies that victory of reason over religion follows modernization. Also, the moral protest of faiths such as Islam and Christianity can be linked to the rise of Religious Fundamentalism, as they protest the influence of corruption and pretence that infiltrate their beliefs from the spread of secularization (Heywood, 2012, p. 283). Religious Fundamentalists have followed a traditional political thought process, yet, have embraced a militant style of activity which often can turn violent (Heywood, 2012, p. 291).
As noted by from the book Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (Corey, 2017), gestalt does not claim to be goal-oriented. Instead, the aim is to create awareness in the environment, and oneself through contact. When a client becomes aware they form the ability to understand what they were denying. By understanding denied experiences, or emotions (such as happiness) the client can produce a ‘whole’ version of themselves. Through active partnership the client explores the following concepts of gestalt therapy: awareness of self and their senses; ownership of one’s experience and responsibility for their actions; clients gain the ability to ask for help and give help to others; and lastly, develop skills that will help satisfy their needs without violating
Religion, a word shrouded with mystery, confusion and complexity. For some it is the answer to everything, a path to guidance and hope. For others it is the reason for all evil or just a manmade phenomenon for people who refuse to understand that everything happens for a scientific reason. Whatever the case is, it is a topic that is quite controversial and much debated among scientists, cultural theorist and conspiracy theorists. Religion plays a major role in functioning and forming social and psychological behavior of a society. It is connected more towards the emotional side of a person and everyone has their own perspective about it. Therefore religion has become an important part of human identity.