Distribution of Government Power within a State System

Rehabilitation v. Deterrence is the leading motive for the light burning on the issue of proportionality in the 11^th and 3^rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals; the issue of preliminary investigations which has already been decided on in Greer v. Chao, but was not addressed in Wells v. Columbus Technical College when the issue was raised in Wells’ initial complaint.  The lack of impartiality and abuse of discretion by college hearing officers raises the question of whether or not the eighth amendment was a mistake by the courts and legislatures or are the courts and legislatures taking away the eighth amendment’s ability to restrain state sentencing laws, both mandatory and discretionary; statute and policy. 

Preliminary investigations are to stipulate the record of reason, for the purpose of ensuring that due process is followed.  A proper preliminary investigation into the building blocks of an incident is written in most state agencies internal policies.  In addition, a preliminary investigation ensures the hearing officer gives both parties a neutral and detached judgment that is in the interest of justice.  Also, official internal policies constitute official state regulations which govern due process.  Recently a young boy by the name of Micheal Brown was shot and killed by St. Louis Police.  Jim Salter of the Associated Press wrote on MSN’s website in an article entitled, Vandalism, looting after vigil for Missouri man, "Most came here for a peaceful protest but it takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch. ... I can understand the anger and unrest but I can't understand the violence and looting …Deanel Trout, a 14-year resident of Ferguson, said.”  Most Administrative proceedings are in need of proper preliminary investigations.  If you scour the database of court cases of business and school disciplinary hearings you will see that most conduct a proper preliminary investigation into the building blocks of the incident before making a determination of guilt and imposing sanctions.  Rehabilitation is usually the result of performing a proper preliminary investigation because each building block of the incident sometimes has more weight to it than others; allowing for an unbiased outcome.  Alice Ristroph of the Duke Law Review wrote that proportionality has its roots in criminal sentencing of inmates sentenced to Life Without the possibility of Parole, and Death row, but the civil sanctions of punitive damages in State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Campbell, 538 U.S. 408, 429 (2003), where “a judgment for $145 million in punitive damages on the grounds that the award “was neither reasonable nor proportionate to the wrong committed,” and BMW of N. Am., Inc. v. Gore, 517 U.S. 559, 585–86 (1996), where “reversing a judgment for $2 million in punitive damages as “grossly excessive”. ”  The issues of Proportionality and Preliminary Investigation were not even addressed by the courts in Wells v. Columbus Technical College due to the Plaintiff not utilizing the adequate state remedy of mandamus, as stated in the opinion of the 11^th Circuit court of Appeals and Middle District of Georgia, Columbus division, but were meritorious enough on their own, along with evidence presented, to warrant a trial.  The state’s interest of the states comprising the 11^th and 3^rd  Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is why college hearing officers can apply penological theories in preliminary investigations and discretionary sanctions, even when the language of their own policy is unconstitutional.  Even though the issue of proportionality is still percolating in the 11^th and 3^rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the 11^th Circuit decided on proportionality in two cases cited by the 3^rd Circuit.  First, in Barnes v. Zaccari 669 F.3d 1295 CA. 11 (GA) 2012,  it says, once a state creates a substantive interest in a government benefit, “federal constitutional law determines whether that interest rises to the level of a legitimate claim of entitlement protected by the Due process clause.  Secondly, in the controlling cite of  Loggins v. Thomas, it states that, “To create a sentencing scheme whereby life in prison without the possibility of parole is simply the most severe of a range of available penalties that the sentencer can impose after hearing evidence in mitigation and aggravation,” and that “The supreme court has made clear that a sentence that could constitutionally be imposed by a trial court in the exercise of discretion is no less constitutional because it is mandatorily imposed under the requirements of statue.”

People are speaking of these things and many more before, during, and after they have happened from Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley to New Orleans’ Lower Ninth ward to burros in Staten Island.  This talk is generated by “two great intellectual shifts of the late twentieth century.” Evinced by a flood that had New York subways looking like the bottom of an ocean, Russian hackers who amassed over a billion internet passwords from an American based company, a killer virus that infected two American doctors in West Africa, and a subway system in Los Angeles that has been being built since the 1990s.  The execution of a plan depends on the actors involved, the plan itself, and the plan being either known or unknown, in whole or part to the enemy.  A perfect example of this is in Marvel’s Thor:  The Dark World (2013), Malakeith leads an ancient race to take over the universe, Dr. Jane Foster is infected with the dark force.  Thor takes her back to Asgard to try and purge it from her system, but it is only one person who can purge it from her, Malakeith.  Thor forms a very untrusting alliance with Loki as he takes Dr. Foster to Malakeith.  Thor finally releases Loki from his restraints, and Loki stabs him in the “proverbial back”, gives Malakeith the girl, cuts Thor’s hand off as he calls for his hammer.  After Malakeith purges Dr. Foster of the dark force, the plot that was planned without words and played by ear, is well executed.  For Thor’s plan to work, Loki’s betrayal had to be real, in light of its overall result.  Can you see the imperatives that were followed here in order to reach one or more desired results?  This is a prime example of kantian ethics, prima facia duties, and rights-based ethics.

The lack of proper preliminary investigations and the abuse of discretion in imposing sanctions is the result of the “distribution of government power within a state system” or is it a mistake made by legislatures and the courts?  To the officials involved it is Rehabilitation v. Deterrence, but to the persons on either side of the ‘V’, it is Homicide v. Homosexuality.  Consequently, criminal deterrence is why government officials have not extinguished the light on proportionality, as it continues to burn.  It burns because it is a valuable tool used to discredit persons subject to administrative policy and proceedings in civil matters. 

Just an Honest Review

Understanding the Court System

The seminal facts of Wells v. Columbus Technical College are as followed.  

“Mr. Wells, a former welding student at Columbus Tech, was suspended for

12 months after multiple incidents of “unacceptable behavior.  In the first incident,

which resulted in a written warning, Mr. Wells was involved in a verbal and

physical altercation with another student. The exact details of the second incident

are unclear, but involved Mr. Wells and two other students. Dr. Linn Storey, Vice-

President of Academic Affairs, read Mr. Wells the [second- incident] report, and

warned him that another incident would result in suspension. In the third

incident, Mr. Wells confronted two of his teachers, Mr. William Cooper and Mr.

Ronnie McBride, and accused them of lying in the [second-incident] report.  After a

brief verbal exchange, Mr. McBride asked him to leave, but Mr. Wells refused.

Campus security eventually escorted Mr. Wells off campus (Wells v Columbus Technical College, 2013).” 

 “Vice-President Storey sent Mr. Wells a suspension letter, which set forth a

12-month suspension for violations of the Student Code of Conduct.  Mr. Wells

filed a written notice of appeal to the Office of the President.  President J. Robert

Jones upheld the suspension, citing Mr. Wells’ “inability to manage [his] anger.”  The procedural history of the case started from the district court and ended when the plaintiff was denied certiorari by the United States Supreme Court (Wells v Columbus Technical College, 2013).” 

 

 

 

The main laws that were violated in this case were procedural and substantive due process claims.  For example, denial of a pre-deprivation hearing and a post-deprivation hearing; not utilizing the adequate state remedy of mandamus.  In addition to these procedural and substantive due process claims, claims of qualified immunity and continuing danger were issues that derived from the core issues of denial of pre and post-deprivation hearings. 

 

The laws that were violated in this case are civil public laws that deal with the relationships and disagreements that individuals and institutions have with the state as a sovereign entity (Carp, Stidham, & Manning, 2014, pp. 8-9).  Most civil litigation lies within private law (Carp, Stidham, & Manning, 2014, p. 9), but are not always subject to prison time.  Most of these civil violations are penalized largely through monetary sanctions called compensatory and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief.   Incidentally no sanctions were imposed on the defendants, but the sanctions in this case would have been extremely large due impart to the asking of the plaintiff and in the interest of ethics. 

 

In Wells v. Columbus Technical College (2013), the plaintiff filed his initial complaint in the United States Middle District Court of Georgia, Columbus division.  The State Attorney General office of Georgia was assigned to handle this particular case, appointing Laura Lones and Devon Orland to represent the defendants.  Choosing to file his 1983 in the U.S. Middle District of Georgia over the state court of Georgia because his 14^th amendment rights were violated.  Mr. Wells had exhausted all his administrative remedies, and the extra year or two it would take going through the state system would have been a waste of the plaintiff’s time.  In Mr. Wells’ Rule 40 petition to the 11^th Circuit, the lawyers for the respondents argued that:  “Failing to use the adequate state remedy of mandamus under O.C.G.A. 9-6-20 (McKinney v. Pate) is why the District Court and the 11^th Circuit [said] Petitioner failed to state a claim of procedural due process,” because he did not exhaust all his appeal remedies with the state before filing with the federal courts.   Also that the adequate state remedy of mandamus did not have to be written in the official statutory language of CTC/TCSG policy (Reams v. Irwin, 2009).   

 

The outcome of the case is stated throughout the eight page opinion of the 11^th Circuit court of appeals.  The decision was handed down by Circuit judges Wilson, Jordan, and Anderson, affirming the decision of the district court.   The court ruled that the appellants were entitled to qualified immunity in both official and individual capacity, and that an adequate state remedy did exist; “precluding Mr. Wells’ post-deprivation procedural due process claim.”  As a result of the “continuing danger” exception being applied here, the appellant was not entitled to a pre-deprivation hearing. 

 

 

In conclusion, as in all college disciplinary cases a student is owed procedural due process safeguards that has well been established by the courts stemming from the 60s, 80s, and the 90s.  The courts made rulings that were inconsistent with the facts of the case as argued by the plaintiff.  Comparing the briefs submitted by the lawyers for the defendants and the decisions handed down by the courts, one can see how the courts ruled one-sided, in favor of the arguments made by the lawyers for the defendants.  The District court never made a ruling on the disproportionate imposition of the12-month suspension (Loggins v. Thomas, 2011); and failure to conduct a preliminary investigation according to college policy.  Both were stated in plaintiff’s initial complaint.  Even when these issues were argued in the plaintiffs non-oral arguments.  Even if the “continuing danger” exception is applied, the 12-month suspension and failure to conduct a preliminary investigation; is the argument enough to grant him a trial?  When the plaintiff was not given a post-deprivation hearing according to college policy, the District court judge should have given him a trial, allowing him the right to examine and cross-examine witnesses (Carp, Stidham, & Manning, 2014, p. 40).  Coincidentally, the last case decided on the continuing danger issue by the 11^th Circuit court of Appeals was Barnes v. Zaccari (2012). Nonetheless, if you look at the eight-page opinion by the 11^th Circuit in Wells v. Columbus Technical College, the issue is still percolating.  The 3^rd Circuit also had similar problems deciding on the issue of “continuing danger,” due to the percolating of the issue.  The plaintiff filed his case pro se, and was not very familiar with the civil process.  Consequently, the formatting of his complaint was not in the style that the courts would have liked, nor was he taken serious in the filing of his complaint due to the ‘cultural background’ of the area where the court is located.  “Like the law, judges are viewed ambivalently by Americans.  In general, judges are held in inordinately high esteem… (Carp, Stidham, & Manning, 2014, p. 18).”  The percolating of issues in our judicial system are based on timing, evinced by recent landmark decisions by the Supreme Court.  If I were a judge in this case, it would have gone to trial.  As a result of going to trial witnesses and evidence would have been disclosed bringing forth what the judge was not allowed to see through non-oral arguments.  Moreover, this case was one where facts and evidence that were presented by the plaintiff were not even considered due to unknown reasons not stated in either the district court’s opinion or the 11^th Circuits opinion.  I know that Allah does everything for a reason, I just want to know exactly why justice did not prevail in this case where facts and evidence were correctly argued and presented.

A Subscription to Social Interaction

A Subscription to Social Interaction

I.                    Specific Hypothesis

If the complex framework of the structural-functional approach[1] are the theaters of our conscience that control a large percentage of how people interact with us; then like night and day the “arena of inequality” and the theaters of our conscience are co-eternal amongst a society that subscribes to sensory and symbolic deprivation. Then the social-conflict approach[2], which contains two important conflict approaches in society:  Gender-Conflict[3] and Race-Conflict Approach[4], subscribes to symbolic deprivation and its manifest and latent functions, which has a direct effect on how we perform specific task, in a specific manner, at a specific time, causing us to use logic, emotion, external, and internal forces as an excuse when we make decisions in the “arena of inequality” as to why we should ‘not do’ or ‘do’ what messages seep into our conscience directing us, either as a collective or as an individual, “generating conflict and change.”    

II.                 Structural-Function Approach

 

“In 1960 Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin[5] identified three types of illegitimate juvenile subcultures; criminal, conflict, and retreatist.” (Hagen, 2013, p. 164)  This identification condensed two and a half centuries of research, bringing understanding to crime, the criminal element, criminal origins, and how the demonological theory is connected to the origins of crime.  Cloward and Ohlin gave great understanding from a sociological perspective. “At the heart of sociology is a special point of view called the sociological perspective.  Comprised of four basic components that make it unique:  General Social Patterns, Strange in the Familiar, Society in everyday life, Marginally/Crisis.” (University, 2014)     “All social structures, from a simple handshake to complex religious rituals, function to keep society going, at least in its present form.” (Macionis, 2010, p. 14)  When meeting up with friends and/or family to socialize, there is an immediate formal greeting, followed by a communicating of current news or information to one another, and then moving on to the reason for their meeting.  That reason can be the smoking of a blunt, a romantic rendezvous, a church function, school function, etc.  The reason for the meeting is the manifest function, and any unrecognized or unintended consequence of that meeting, whether good or bad, is the latent function.  Social dysfunction comes into play when we are not aware of the messages that seep into our conscience directing us in a certain social pattern of conflict and change.  Sensory deprivation and Symbolic deprivation come through symbols and a person’s status and role, at social functions.  At these social functions when people “don’t hit it off” their theaters conflict, making them socially incompatible.  To sum it all up, how we deal with or respond to these roles, status, and symbols either begin our social constructs of reality or maintain our current social contract, causing us to become socially functional or socially dysfunctional. 

III.               Sensory Deprivation and Symbolic Deprivation

Sensory Deprivation and Symbolic Deprivation are two types of deprivation that are the foundation of what occurs in the “arena of inequality,” and are part of the theme of this research paper.  Sensory and Symbolic deprivation starts out as manifest functions in the “arena of inequality” that leads to latent functions, which are at the root of the sociological approaches, supported by sociological data as evidence supporting my hypothesis.  In chapter 8 of Williams’ & Arrigo’s book, Ethics, Crime, and Criminal Justice (2012), on page 153, they explore Bentham’s Pleasure Principle.  For instance, fecundity is a latent function of sensory and symbolic deprivation as they compare and contrast studying for an exam and going out with friends. Even though you retain all the material you need for a test or class discussion, you miss out on socializing with friends, meeting new people, and/or making new contacts.  In summary, what symbols one uses to identify people, places, things, or events with to acquire a perspective, shows the environment and activities one took part in while developing in the “arena of inequality,” progressing through conflict, and changing physically and morally, using the Social-Conflict Approach.

 

1.      “Gender-Conflict focuses on the inequality and conflict between men and women,” (Macionis, 2010, p. 15)  while Gender Stratification “is also about social hierarchy.” (Macionis, 2010, p. 334)  The social hierarchy of Gender Stratification “affects the opportunities and challenges we face throughout our lives.”  “Gender is at work even before the birth of a child, because especially in lower-income nations, parents hope that their firstborn will be a boy rather than a girl.” (Macionis, 2010, p. 332)  Moreover, “Parents even send gender messages in the way they handle infants.” (Macionis, 2010, p. 332)  Most women identify objects, places, and things through sexual objects, private parts, or sexual positions, while most men identify those same objects, places, and things through action and violence.  This fact is supported by Macionis (2010) in his textbook entitled Sociology, on page 332:  “…The female world revolves around cooperation and emotion, and the male world puts a premium on independence and action.”   “[A] national monthly survey of approximately 60,000 households conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  Among the age groupings of those 35 years and older, women had earnings that ranged from 75 percent to 78 percent of the earnings of their male counterparts. Among younger workers, the earnings differences between women and men were not as great.” (Statistics, 2013)  This financial data indicates how the family structure has become co-eternal with the individuals that make up one’s family, and not like it was during the first 80 years of the 20^th century. 

2.      Race-Conflict plays a very important role in social interaction.  “This is why sociologist study patterns of” interaction ranging from Assimilation and Segregation to Genocide, Pluralism, and Miscegenation; whether it is a biologically transmitted trait, shared culturally, or just ‘different’ from societal norms.  Race and ethnicity in the United States has always, and will always be a factor in conflict and inequality. “Among both women and men age 25 and older, the weekly earnings of those without a high school diploma ($386 for women and $508 for men) were about two- fifths of those with a bachelor’s degree or higher ($1,001 for women and $1,371 for men) in 2012…earnings for women with a college degree have increased by 28 percent since 1979, while those of male college graduates have risen by [only] 17 percent.” (Statistics, 2013) While “[J]obs with the highest concentration of women” are Cosmetologist (93%), Child Care Workers (94%), and Secretary or Administrative Asst. (96.7%) (Macionis, 2010, p. 335),  “[T]he amount of housework, which is usually considered ‘women’s work’, has gone down since women have started being co-bread winners of their households, but their share of it remains indistinguishable.” (Macionis, 2010, p. 337)  The manifest functions of the law are to maintain order in society, but its latent function produces a hard lesson learned by the individual who breaks the law.  “…the vast majority of those arrested or labeled as criminal are from lower social classes.  Criminality for traditional crimes is higher among lower-class individuals, totally apart from bias in statistics or the administration of justice.  Part of the excessively high rate is likely to be due to their lack of power and sophistication in shielding themselves from formal litigation proceedings.” (Hagen, 2013, p. 65)  In addition, Delbert Elliot’s Integrative Theory “involves synthesizing the gap between aspirations and achievement, attachment and commitment, and exposure to identifying with deviant peers.” (Hagen, 2013, pp. 199-200)  James Flynn, “observed in the 80s that IQ scores had consistently increased in the past decades”… “3 IQ points per decade and thought that intelligence itself had not increased, but abstract problem-solving ability had, making people more intellectually capable”… “Factors that may have played a role are computers, long-schooling, media stimulation, better health and nutrition, and more parental attention (Hagen, 2013, p. 151).  These statistics and facts stratify what symbols are used and the persons that use them in the “arena of inequality,” and how race, gender, and symbols contribute to the constructs of the theaters that play a large role in manifest and latent functions in social interaction. 

3.      “Three waves of feminist movements in the United States” have brought us to 2014, where the woman is equal in every aspect of today’s society.  Feminism is also at the core of sensory and symbolic deprivation.  Sexual activity every day, deprivation of sexual activity, or deprivation of sexual affection can lead to one having feelings of inadequacy which lead to a short temper, committing an act of violence, or withdrawing from society unhealthily.  Even though suicide rates are higher for men than women in the world, in the United States suicide rates in the U.S. “occur where people live far apart from one another.” (Macionis, 2010, p. 14)  The psychology of a woman says while men want to have sex with multiple partners, women want to have sex multiple times with a stable, long-term partner (Kalsher, 2008, p. 310).  This desire to pleasure themselves, derives from a ‘double your pleasure’ and ‘double your fun’ way of thinking by women that is derived from Bentham’s seven pleasure principles.  “It demands immediate, total gratification and is not capable of considering the potential costs of seeking this goal.” (Kalsher, 2008, p. 342)  “Somatotypes are body builds that relate to personality characteristics (temperaments).”  They can be found in, The Joint (2014), a local newspaper that features both men and women whom were arrested during a certain time period, one can see that somatotyping is no longer a clear indicator for a man or woman’s personality, but biological theories like Assimilation, Genocide, Segregation, Pluralism, and Miscegenation are key factors in “making us aware of the many ways in which sensory and symbolic deprivation places men and women in positions of power in the “arena of inequality.” (Macionis, 2010, p. 15)  Carol “Gilligan’s work on moral development led her to conclude that there are significant gender differences in the ways men and women respond to moral dilemmas” (Williams & Arrigo, 2012, p. 134).  This is where the true Exchange comes in between men and women.  The exchange is not sex for money, love, etc., but “that morality may very well develop out of more than a[s] single orientation:   one focusing on justice, rights, and logic (for men) and another on interpersonal relationships, compassion, and care (for women)” (Williams & Arrigo, 2012, p. 134) each sex is a delicate counter-balance for the other. 

 

4.      The Symbolic-Interaction Approach is a micro-level orientation, and the “result from the ongoing experiences of tens of millions of people.”  Furthermore, society is nothing more than the shared reality that people construct as they interact (Macionis, 2010, p. 17).  Some symbols are universal while some vary with nationality, race, and ethnicity.  Everything from “[A] word, a whistle, a wall covered in graffiti, a flashing red light, [or] a raised fist” are just some examples of symbols that are used within various cultures through cultural folkways (Macionis, 2010, p. 62).  Some societies create new symbols all the time, like “cyber-symbols” used for texting and/or Instant Messaging.  In The Final Call newspaper (2014), it stated that, “Mr. Powell described what it would be like taking a computer microchip and asking the finest scientists back in the mid-1500s to reverse engineer the technology then explain what it was.  They would not have the technological tools, nor the arc of knowledge to even begin to describe or interpret what they were looking at.” (Muhammad, 2014)    We are in this very context as we have arrived at present day internet.  We have a marvel of technology, but cannot explain past the proverbial depths of what we have.  In “Columbus, Georgia, in front of the River Center, on Broad Street, is located one of the Fountain City’s greatest fountains entitled, DRAMA.”  “The stone water sculpture embodies” technology created by god and man.  “The force of the water and sequencing of lights are all modulated by computer” (Muhr), as is the theaters of our minds.  This symbolic interaction is the basis for the Symbolic-Interaction Approach which plays a large role in constructing the theaters in the human mind, playing at different levels of the conscience and sub-conscience mind.  

 

“Dramaturgical analysis offers a fresh look at the concepts of status and role.  A status is like a part in a play, and a role serves as a script, supplying dialogue and action for the characters.  Goffman described each individual’s “performance” as the presentation of self.” (Macionis, 2010, p. 145) 

 

The manifest function of the first Georgia state constitution was to establish statehood.  It was drafted in 1776, a year later in 1777 another constitution was drafted, “followed by the constitutions of 1789, 1798, 1861, 1877, 1945, 1976, and 1983.” (West, 2006)  Every year this constitution was re-drafted, its latent function evinced a different theater of intelligence being played on the great state of Georgia.  Noah Hutton on his web page, The Beautiful Brain, explains in detail how these theaters are constructed.  “Some cognitive scientists, such as Robert Stickgold of Harvard, have used the relationship between the seen and unseen in theater as a good metaphor for the relationship between the conscious and non-conscious activity in our brains when we sleep. The metaphor goes something like this: One leading theory about sleep, called the activation-synthesis hypothesis, posits that sleep is a time for the brain to sift through all the experiences and thoughts we’ve kept in our short-term buffer throughout the day, decide what’s worth keeping, and then weave those survivors into the complex web of memory we already have within us, for us to carry along until tomorrow, at least. That process happens quite unconsciously– in the “backstage” regions of the mind, as we sleep. This process of sifting– of activation, then synthesis– generates waves of activation throughout the brain, probing neurons that store information not only from what happened that day, but also activating those that deal with longer-term memories that may be of associative use as we try to relate the new stuff to the older stuff, and see how the new memories might be of use in preparing for the future, a constant pursuit of the mind (Hutton, 2012).”  The psychodynamic view of these theaters or dreams are best described by Sigmund Freud as a latent function of the brain,  “…Freud, who popularized the view that dreams reveal the unconscious---thoughts, impulses, and wishes, that lie outside the realm of conscious experience (Kalsher, 2008, pp. 137-138).  If dreams aren’t reflections of hidden wishes or impulses... According to this perspective, dreams are simply our subjective experience of what is, in essence, random neural activity in the brain.” (Kalsher, 2008, p. 138)   Whereas the physiological view suggest the manifest function that “dreams are usually silent, but are filled with visual images.”(Kalsher, 2008, p. 138)  Some dreams cause the individual to experience smells, touch, and taste.  “Those waves of activation end up seeding our dream consciousness– the theory goes– by creating a stream of objects, people, feelings, places, and everything else, that sort of “bubbles up” from that non-conscious background memory-sorting process, and surfaces in our conscious, dream-state. In this sense, it’s that raw material that bubbles up from the backstage process that is seized upon by our conscious minds– the fully-lit, gazed-upon stage of the theater– which then weaves it all together, onstage, into our dream narrative, imposing meaning, as we do, in the strangest–or sometimes most poignant– of places.” (Hutton, 2012)  When our mind shifts back-n-forth between the material and spiritual world, we experience a form of psychosis that is a blessing and a curse at the same time which allows us to see the truth about ourselves, others, situations, and events; taking these treasures of God to enrich our lives, but it is too often we succumb to the pressures of these blessing, committing suicide or homicide. 

IV.             Sociological Data 

Through Sensory and Symbolic deprivation we see how all the approaches of sociology are applied.  In the critical review in Macionis (2010) textbook entitled Sociology, on page 117, it states: 

“Like the work of Piaget, Kohlberg’s model explains moral development in terms of distinct stages.  But whether this model applies to people in all societies remains unclear.  Further, many people in the United States apparently never reach the post-conventional level of moral reasoning, although exactly why is still an open question.  Another problem with Kohlberg’s research is that his subjects were all boys.  He committed a common research error, described in Chapter 2 [of this same text], by generalizing the results of male subjects to all people.”

 

When messages seep into our conscious, they are latent directives from that higher power within ourselves directing us to ‘act as if’, so that the overall plan of the higher power is carried out. Sometimes we are directed to be kind, and don’t feel like being kind, or we are directed to be mean to someone, but danger and common sense says do not.  As human beings we have ‘free will’, and it is this free will that allows us to make the choice of ‘to do’ or ‘not to do’.  This is Civil Disobedience, and “civil disobedience involves a peaceful refusal to obey existing laws that are felt to be unjust---a conscientious disrespect for laws that conflict with one’s commitment to higher ethical principles.” (Williams & Arrigo, 2012, p. 128)  

1.      Society and culture have a lot of influence on the construct of a person’s reality, social media is the biggest influence.  All the mediums that are used for work, rest, and play, are the avenues through which the “arena of inequality” functions, establishing the norms of society; by which rewards and punishments are handed out.  Social Media is a manifest function through which people meet, work, and communicate every day, whether they are on the phone, Facebook chatting, Skyping, or Instant Messaging.  Soul Train was a dance show started by Don Cornelius in 1970, which featured current singers and their music; played for a studio full of guest who would dance to every song for one-hour non-stop.  In 2014 there is no more Soul Train, only reality T.V. shows like, American Idol, Survivor, The Amazing Race, Hell’s Kitchen, using average ordinary everyday type people, truly giving them their 15 minutes of fame.  Made sitcoms out of dramaturgical analysis like Person of Interest, 2 Broke Girls, and Law and Order:  SVU which contains everyday life of our new millennium.  Moving on to movies like Thor:  The Dark World, Captain America:  The Winter Soldier, 42, Wolf on Wall Street and musical creations like Jay-Z’s Magna Carter…Holy Grail.  The protagonist in these movies shows the heroics of men and women from the 80s and 90s, the decades that produced the Millennials.  They show the bias of how real-life heroes were received prior to 1985, in the “Canyon of Heroes” when Vietnam vets were finally hailed for their great sacrifice in the jungles of Vietnam.  With a change in late night talk show host on the Tonight Show and David Letterman, along with Jimmy Kimmel and the return of The Arsenio Hall Show, and all their move from studios in New York to their L.A. counterparts.  Even the game show Jeopardy did a premium show entitled Champion of Decades where champions from the 80s, 90s, up to present day competed against one another in a present day forum, this premium denotes “a shift forward” into a new sociological frontier.  Not only combining sociological theories, but technological devices that were once separate devices like the calculator, planner, phone, laptop, iPAD, Nook, GPS, camera, video camera, phone book, mail, etc., now you can purchase a Nokia 1025 phone that is all these devices, and more, into one; or purchase an app to acquire a feature your phone doesn’t have. The next six questions offer an alternative to how these comforting pieces of technology affect us negatively:  “How many contacts do you have in your cellphone right now? How many of those are personal contacts or business contacts? How many jobs have you held in the past 5 years? Are you still doing the same exact thing that you were doing last year? Are you being targeted on social media? Are you being targeted everywhere you go?” (Wells, 2013).

2.      Georgia’s Safe Carry Protection Act “takes effect July 1” (Howard, 2014)  and the state of Colorado’s recent legalization of marijuana are examples of political structures at work in the “arena of inequality.”  Acts of god are also at work in the “arena of inequality,” evinced by tornados “from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Iowa to Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee,” and North Carolina. (Muskal & Pearce, 2014)  Social structures began changing in the early part of the 20^th century as African-Americans began to break the color barrier into Sports, Hollywood, Armed Forces, Medicine, Science, etc.; now African-Americans are breaking a new barrier.  This year during the Nation of Islam’s annual Savior’s Day event, Louis Farrakhan gave a lecture entitled, How Strong is our Foundation:  Can we Survive?   This lecture and its title alone, along with Oprah Winfrey’s new television network, OWN, and the television network, Bounce, is evidence of African-Americans and women [minorities] breaking new barriers in the 21^st century.  Turning a once bias into groundbreaking corporate entities.  On the eve when a 17-year old African-American gets accepted into 5 Ivy League colleges,

“Coffey was raised in D.C.’s Ward 8 by his hard-working mother in a single-parent household. Growing up in the less than financially ideal environment—mired in stereotypes and roadblocks—did not discourage Coffey and he offered the following advice to children who struggle in similar circumstances.   Banneker is known for its strict rules, including no cell phones and no going to lockers between classes. According to Principal Anita Berger, the strategy has paid off big time. One hundred percent of Banneker students consistently graduate high school and go on to receive offers from colleges and universities.” (Staff, 2014)

an eighth grade African-American fires a .357 magnum at a rival crew, hitting and killing an innocent bystander.  You can see the bias in comparing and contrasting Khaton and Coffey’s lives in the “arena of inequality.”  Similarly as young African-Americans you can see their promise, but also how they are victims to their own theater of violence (culture) in many ways:

“A 14-year-old gunman opened fire during a dispute on a New York City bus in Brooklyn on Thursday evening, fatally shooting a 39-year-old passenger in the head.  The attack happened about 6:20 p.m. on a B15 bus on Marcus Garvey Boulevard near Lafayette Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The police said there was an argument involving several teenagers on the bus, though they did not know what it was about. The gunman fired more than one shot, the police said, and witnesses described hearing three or four” (Lee, 2014)

Another interpretation of these two young men’s lives, who went in two different directions is,  Ivy League or Penitentiary, whether higher or lower, all institutions promote some form of learning. This is clear evidence of new theaters emerging. 

V.                Conclusion

The theaters in our conscience are our body’s biological and natural security app that sets up a world, in our heads, that takes care of us. Those theaters that are closer to the forefront of our mind is based on our working memory (short-term memory), and those in the deeper levels of the sub-conscience are based on our unemployed memory (long-term memory) (Kalsher, 2008, p. 203).  Our working memory is the foundation for our overall intelligence, and is activated by using internal and external retrieval cues (Kalsher, 2008, pp. 204-5).  Symbolic deprivation produces conflict in the “arena of inequality.”  This type of deprivation begins the “social constructs of our reality” in the theaters of our minds,  setting forth stipulations in social contracts, which will cause others and ourselves, to identify status, role, sets, skills, abilities, limits, beliefs, personality types, and “social construction of emotions and how we manage them.”  As a result, some are very successful in the “arena of inequality” while others succumb to the pressures of conflict leading to sensory deprivation, which is a more severe form of deprivation. Furthermore, how we maintain that reality is determined by how the external world upholds to the stipulations set forth in our social contract.  Because the “arena of inequality” always produces conflict, challenges to our contract, in whole or in part, keeps constant upgrades on that contract.  These theaters determine our personal space in social interaction, helping us identify boundaries in the “arena of inequality” that must be protected.   As a result we protect ourselves, the symbols in our theaters, and maintain our contract by being aggressive and/or on the offensive, assertive, and/or “defensive to some kind of attack.” (Wikipedia, 2014)  In the process of protecting our personal space we produce conflict and change, declaring our independence in the “arena of inequality,” utilizing the eight principles of felicity calculus.  Cultural universals are contained in all societies and cultures, but the difference in symbols within those societies and cultures are based on race, gender, age, and income class.  It is through interaction that we transform elements of the world into symbols that stimulate us on a consistent basis wherever we may go. The Symbolic-Interaction Approach forms the self, according to George Mead’s theory of social behaviorism, via social experience (Macionis, 2010, p. 118).  We socially interact throughout our daily lives, pursuing short and long term objectives, conforming to socioeconomic folkways and norms. 

---

[1] Structural-Functional Approach – framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability.

[2] Social-Conflict Approach – framework for building theory that sees society as an “arena of inequality” that generates conflict and change.

[3] Gender-Conflict Approach – a point of view that focuses on inequality and conflict between women and men.

[4] Race-Conflict Approach – point of view that focuses on inequality and conflict between people of different racial and ethnic categories.

[5] Differential opportunity theory – working class juveniles will choose one or another type of gang adjustment to their anomic situation depending on the availability of illegitimate opportunity structures in their neighborhood.  Hagen, F. E. (2013). Introduction to Criminology: Theories, Methods, and Criminal Behavior 8th ed. In F. E. Hagen, Introduction to Criminology: Theories, Methods, and Criminal Behavior 8th ed. (p. 164). Thousand Oaks: SAGE.

Spoken Word Attempt

The Root of All Evil

In 1960 Cloward and Ohlin identified three types of illegitimate juvenile subcultures; criminal, conflict, and retreatist. (Hagen, 2013, p. 164)  This identification condensed two and a half centuries of research, bringing understanding to what was previously not understood.  The first identification of the criminal subculture is evident in Wu-Tang Clan’s 1993 album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers);  In the opening of this song Raekwon talks about two for fives, and how the other drug dealers have garbage down the way, then the song comes in.  Raekwon opens with how he grew up as a youth, and the motivation to want success.  He raps about the subculture in Staten Island when he speaks of, “ making his way on fire escapes”, but with all that theft, extortion, and property offenses, he finally figures out what he is doing wrong, and begins to hang out with a clique of drug dealers.  He learns to make money by selling kilos of cocaine; converting the powder cocaine into crack cocaine, and selling rocks.  Back to the two for five, this was criminal opportunity that allowed him to achieve success.  I grew up in the 1990s not only listening to artist like Wu-Tang Clan, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Dr. Dre, Dogg Pound, Ice Cube, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, DJ Quik, MC Eiht, Mac 10, N.W.A., Outkast, MC Ren, Nate Dogg, all while I was gangbanging and selling drugs.  In 1994 I had returned from California to the slums of South Phenix City, Alabama, and made up in my mind that it was time to grow up and be a man.   I got serious about making money.  I was influenced by the ‘disorganized slums’ of Los Angeles, California.  Even though gangs were not common, they were present in Columbus/Phenix City at the time.  I did not know that I was a part of a group that was denied both legitimate and illegitimate sources of access to status, so I resorted to violence through fist fighting and ‘peeling caps[1]’, with a chrome .380 Lorcin that I bought from a ‘crackhead’, for a “bad rep” and prestige. (Hagen, 2013, p. 164)   The 1960s was a transitional time period that provided a lot of answers.  1960-1980 gave birth to children known as ‘similac babies[2]’.  Exactly the same, the only difference between a similac baby and a ‘crack baby’ from the 80s is similac babies were born in transition, receiving all the nutrients or benefits of two and a half centuries of research; crack babies born after1980, received no information because the 1980s spawned a new era that required individuals to ‘put in work[3]’ or punk someone out.  In N.W.A.s song, Compton’s-n-the House (N.W.A., 1988) and Gangsta, Gangsta (N.W.A., 1988), took the ‘retreatist’ subculture of ‘double failures’ and made heroes out of them.  Unable to succeed either in the legitimate or illegitimate opportunity structures, they sought status through “kicks” and “highs” of drug and alcohol abuse. Most ‘double failures’ have done long terms in prison, whether in a single-man cell or population, most become ‘institutionalized[4]’, learning law, psychology, art, finances, business, education, etc., but unable to function properly outside of the controlled environment in which he or she was incarcerated due to the inability to create or hold-on to friendships, intimate relationships, resources, and/or opportunities.  These subcultures become the individual’s reference group and primary source of self-esteem.” (Hagen, 2013, p. 164)  In the second verse of C.R.E.A.M., GZA says, “…life is hell; living in the world ain’t no different than living in a cell”, so while in this world they become targets for individuals in the community and corporations to use as stepping stones to create opportunities for profit.  Being targeted by friends, intimate friends, businesses, corporations, and law enforcement; being used as the means for these individuals or entities to achieve their ends.   Whether the ‘double failure’  is truly a sacrifice/scapegoat or not, he or she is the diversion to keep attention away from the white-collar criminals, as well as leniency of punishment because they are the reason that the ‘double failure’ is a failure in the first place.  In my fictional story entitled, Dawning Achievements, I state: “…I attended political events, media events, school functions, and talked politics with gangsters who were influential men and women in the bi-city.  These people knew of me, and some of them did not like me.  I knew who was doing what to me; I was no longer in Ted's shadow, but I was still a shadow of a man.”   In this rumination the character here speaks of why he is successful in a city that has very high standards. 

 

Expelled student brought civil rights action against state university president, alleging procedural due process violations, and against board of regents, asserting state-law contract claim. The United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Doc. No. 1:08-cv-00077-CAP, denied president summary judgment based on qualified immunity, and denied board of regents summary judgment based on Eleventh Amendment immunity. President and board of regents appealed (Barnes v. Zacchari, 2012).  In 2007, in the wake of the massacre at Virginia Tech, Ronald Zaccari, the President of Valdosta State University at the time, “administratively withdrew” (expelled) Thomas Hayden Barnes, a student, on the ground that Barnes presented a “clear and present danger” to the campus.  Even though policy states that Barnes was due notice of charges and a hearing to answer to them, Zacchari made a decision that was not in accordance with school policy, policy of TCSG, and the 11^th amendment.    In Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 166 (1985), it states that more is required in an official-capacity action, however, for a governmental entity is liable under sec. 1983 only when the entity itself is a ‘moving force’ behind the deprivation (Kentucky v. Graham, 1985). Corporate policy usually, a documented set of broad guidelines, formulated after an analysis of all internal and external factors that can affect a firm's objectives, operations, and plans.  Formulated by the firm's board of directors, corporate policy lays down the firm's response to known and knowable situations and circumstances. It also determines the formulation and implementation of strategy, and directs and restricts the plans, decisions, and actions of the firm's officers in achievement of its objectives; also called company policy.” (Finance, 2013) 

Corporate crime refers to crimes by business or officials, committed on behalf of the employing organizations (Hagen, 2013, p. 282).  However, the information sought on organized crime or white-collar crime is hard to get hold of, so therefore we rely on other means of obtaining information.  There are four ways authorities obtain information on organized crime and the figures that make up these organizations.  Group A:  Informers, Investigators/hearings, Transcripts/depositions; Group B:  Media, Reporting, Biographies; Group C:  Government Reports, Law Enforcement research, and Archives; and Group D:  Observation and Interviews (University, 2013).  These four sources are how information is compiled on crime figures or figures that are under investigation for a number of white-collar offenses, where he or she has been elusive from authorities.  There are four types of organized crime:  Political-Social, Mercenary, In-Group Oriented, and Syndicate Crime.  Political-Social consists mostly of political crimes, and crimes committed by militant social movements. Domestic terrorism has existed for more than a century, dating back at least to the 1901 assassination of President William McKinley. Extremists across the political spectrum -- including white supremacists, Puerto Rican separatists, abortion opponents, and environmentalists -- have used a variety of terrorist tactics to pursue their goals.  While homegrown Muslim extremists have proven more lethal in Europe than in the United States, U.S. authorities continue to worry about the prospect of attacks by militant Muslims who are American citizens.  The FBI classifies domestic terrorist threats mostly by political motive, dividing them into three main categories: left wing, right wing, and special interest. Religious sects have also been connected with terrorist incidents. Another type of domestic threat cited by federal law-enforcement officials in the period after September 11 is the alleged presence of Islamic extremists in the United States, operating either as an arm of a foreign organization or a homegrown cell (Fletcher, 2008).  The second type, Mercenary or Predatory organized crimes are committed by groups geared toward direct or personal profit; an example of this type would be a street gang.  The third type, In-Group Oriented are crimes committed, so that the individual can experience a high or thrill or to just be accepted by one of the gang.  The last type, is Syndicate Crime, and is what all the other types are under in a chain of ‘criminal command’.  Syndicate crime commits crime for illicit gain; they use force, intimidation, and threats; members obey a chain of command, with an oath of allegiance and secrecy; the organization provides protection and immunity from political corruption and prosecution (University, 2013).  In our e-Acitivity for week nine of my CRJ 105 class, it asked us to research a recent or local case where a gang member was charged with racketeering.  Placing emphasis on the ‘Syndicate’ type of crime, which is apparent in all subcultures, even street-level gangs or the ‘Mercenary or Predatory’ type.  Most of your racketeering had its height in the 1990s, but it was at this same time that law enforcement and criminologist came to understand that they were not dealing with the myth of a ‘super criminal’, but a reality of syndicated criminals and gangs on every level, created by the very system designed to punish and deter criminal activity.  In N.W.A.’s song entitled, Always into Something, on the last verse MC Ren expresses how the ‘super criminal’ believes, and how each member of syndicated street-level gangs believe (N.W.A, 1991). 

The ‘big dirty secret[1]’ of judges, police, correctional officers, politicians, lawyers, prosecutors, and other government officials are ‘soft’ on corporate crime because they are the ones who are committing the corporate crimes.   “The corporate opportunity doctrine (“COD”) is a common law doctrine that limits a corporate fiduciary’s ability to pursue new business prospects individually without first offering them to the corporation. Conflicts over allocation of corporate opportunities constitute particularly thorny questions in corporate law, since the parties’ respective interests are not merely misaligned, but are rather in profound contradiction to one another. In addition, COD conflicts are likely in situations where two or more firms share common officers and/or directors, and particularly within the parent-subsidiary context.  Formally, the doctrine is a subspecies of the fiduciary duty of loyalty, and it has been a mainstay in the corporate precedents of virtually every state for well over a century (notwithstanding the existence of several doctrines that similarly restrict the appropriation of corporate property by fiduciaries1). Nevertheless, the precise contours of the doctrine remain somewhat elusive, and, perhaps consequently, its application is widely thought to be unpredictable.” (Hashmall, 2001) Pre-twentieth century many acts that are considered white-collar crimes were not illegal until present day.  White-collar crimes are given less publicity than those crimes committed by street-level criminals, but with more public concern with corporate crime there has been more coverage of these criminals when they are caught (Hagen, 2013, pp. 318-319).  In a 2010 Oliver Stone directed, Wall Street:  The Money Never Sleeps, starring Micheal Douglas as Gordon Gekko, and Shia Lebeouf as Jake Moore, shows the tradition of robbery and rip offs on Wall Street, in this tale of how Gordon Gekko, the teacher was once a Wall Street mogul, but was taken down by his student, Bretton James, played by Josh Brolin who is now the Wall Street mogul.  Now comes along Jake Moore, whom is soon to be married to Gekko’s daughter, a bright star at his company dealing in fossil fuels and alternative forms of energy.  Gekko needs money to regain his position, not his throne, but his position.  Gekko also wants to take down his nemesis, and former student, Bretton James.  He uses Jake Moore’s naivety to take down Bretton James, and acquire 100 million USD that he placed in his daughter’s Swiss bank account in the 1980s.  The money never sleeps.  It doesn’t eat, it doesn’t drink, it has no habits, and it doesn’t fold.  Like the devil, all it does is seek out a willing victim, and victimization spreads like wild fire.  These actions fall well within Merton’s theory and modes of personality adaptation, but it is the criticism of his theory that I cite here.  “The theory appears to dwell on lower-class criminality, thus failing to consider law breaking among the elite.  I. Taylor et al. express this point:  “Anomie theory stands accused of predicting too little bourgeois criminality and too much proletarian criminality” (Hagen, 2013, pp. 159-161).  Because Syndicated crime is present on every level, it now becomes paradigm of the elite criminals keeping their white-collars clean with oxyclean[2], and by making the blue collars get and stay dirty by keeping them in a revolving door of missed opportunities and unnecessary actions that lead them back to prison.  Crimes committed by the corporate fiduciaries are due impart to the same reason that most blue-collar crimes are committed.  Most of your white-collar offenders are caught through some personal habit that leads to an act that is morally wrong and/or against the law, committing this ‘bad act’, is how they are caught.   They have been excluded from their circle of criminal corporate cohorts that deem them a ‘high risk’ to their operations.  Most either fall all the way to rock bottom becoming ‘bums’ or just white-collar deadbeats. 

Due process of Law says that, “… No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”, this is why Standard Operating Procedures, Administrative Regulations, School Policy, Corporate Policy, Governmental Policy, etc. all exist as subsets of state and federal law; to keep, maintain order, and a balance that was envisioned by President Lincoln, “… that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom— and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” (Lincoln, 2005)  

[1] Peeling caps – shooting to kill

[2] Similac baby – a child born between in the 1970s, that received all the nutrients an nourishments of two and a half centuries of research. 

[3] Put in work – a term coined by the Los Angeles (westcoast) subculture of gangs in the 1980s that meant to sell drugs, fight, kill, rob, etc., and do recon for the neighborhood and organization.

[4] Institutionalized – when an individual has been incarcerated for a long period of time, and cannot function outside that particular institution.

[5] The big dirty secret – that the criminal justice system is soft on white-collar crime

[6] Oxyclean – a method used by white-collar criminals to protect their operations, keeping the informants, snitches, and liabilites out of their circles.