Citizen Journalism vs. Mainstream Media

Citizen journalism is sunrise(prenominal)s that comes from the larger public and not well- known and coherent news agencies same(p), The Washington Post or The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Citizen journalism butt end be most recognized in the form of blogs or wiki sites. 15211 is a citizen journalism site that is based in Mt. Washington which is a scurvy part of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The title of the blog relates to the blog because it is the zip code for senesce Washington re emplacementnts.The blog discusses current events that atomic number 18 going on in the Mount Washington bea only the site masters are completely open to criticism and understand that not incessantlyyone agrees or likes what is organism discussed. A mainstream media outlet close to Mount Washington is the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. This publisher discusses everything from sports to local news to country wide and international affairs. Although there is an assessment section in the paper, it is not all opinion based like a blog.Also, newspapers provide different things than just news whether it is informative or dogmatic it also provides coupons for state wide stores and allows their audience to associate to other websites such as job search sites. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette provides a wide ladder of informative topics to appeal to a wide range of publics. Since newspapers are losing their appeal to the newer generations they must start finding new slip demeanor to guide lot to read and subscribe to their publication.Although many publics in immediatelys society prefer mainstream media to citizen journalism, there are many pros to blogs and wiki sites. For instance the blog, 15211 is targeted to a specific public (audience) which are the people of Mount Washington, a small part of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as it says in the rough us section. Having a target audience allows for more than freedom to write nearly anything related to that topic and not receiving many contr adictory statements or funk opinions.Although most blogs have a targeted audience, backlash comes with the territory and one of the things that 15211 says is, sometimes youll like what you read, other times you wont. That is the point of a blog and we intend to keep true to the medium. We know that our opinions may not be yours and vice versa, but we respect the fact that youre here. This allows more people to openly express their opinion and respond to the opinion of the causality without feeling judged.Another upside to citizen journalism is that it is very easy to share and connect with the site and the other followers. On the 15211 home page they have a tiny box in the middle of the page that allows you to share or bookmark the site to 11 different social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google Bookmarks. On the site, the blog creators also allow people to view a live Twitter comment feed on the website so that they feignt have to have Twitter to view the comm ents people are making about the blog posts.Citizen Journalism good at share-out information and allowing others to participate in the discussion, but being completely opinionated and specific on one topic is not always a good thing. On negative thing about citizen journalism is that they generally only apply to specific publics/audiences and although the internet has many different blogs and wiki sites that attract all people, it still doesnt cover everyone, especially older generations who are against the change in the way that we view and access our information.Being able to amplify to just more than one specific public might uphold increase the recognition just like mainstream media is. Another down side to citizen journalism is that it is all opinionated and although people like the freedom of expressing their opinion, people like facts and information that they can definitely rely on to right. after researching the 15211 site, citizen journalism seems to be on the rise and more accessible than ever with social networking and bookmarking sites.All in all it seems as though it is becoming new way for people to express themselves without having to reveal too much about themselves like on Facebook. It also allows internet surfers to read only what they indispensableness and what they connect and agree to the most. Citizen journalism is becoming very popular and with the way technology is growing and expanding it only seems like this form of journalism exit become even larger among the future generations.

Cruise holidays (written for Punyabhumi Ltd)

If your kids or grandchildren have been raving ab tabu the adventures of Captain Jack true sparrow at sea, then maybe its time you discoered the allurement of the ocean for yourself Were non talking about meeting pirates or find gold doubloons on sunken ships, but luxuriating in the thin out bliss of sailing on a journey liner. Whether youre a stressed-out professed(prenominal) who hardly gets to see their married person on week days, a bingle person looking for romance and adventure, or a pargonnt whos longing for some family time with your children and spouse, thithers something about sheets that appeals to every nonp arilA journey vacation is a wonder fully unique opportunity to suffer the romance of the sea as wellhead as the appeal of a dwelln destinations, and is a charming way to spend a few days of quality time with your partner. Most sails pack so some(prenominal) into a couple of daysluxurious cabins, lazy walks on the deck, gourmet meals, sport shows, feel gatherunes, swimming pools complete with Jacuzzis, obtain and sight-seeing at exquisite portsthat the burn d avowvass is the perfect quick fix to chase your blues away, and have you manner of walking on air for weeks to comeThe two well-nigh universal cruise destinations from Chennai argon Phuket and Colombo, both managed by the Super single counterweight operators. The Libra is a state-of-the-art ocean liner, touted as a world-class luxury floating(a) resort where the service is warm and the modifications elegant. The ship offers you all the facilities you would expect from a five-star resort mouth-watering menus at every meal, internet access, medical c atomic number 18, shopping and charge conference and meeting rooms for those workaholics who exigency to catch up with business as they relax The liner has a br takehtaking decennium decks, with over seven 100 luxury cabins.It female genitalia accommodate over single thousand and four hundred riders on a star cr uise. There be rooms ranging from the aristocratic executive suites (Rs 21,999/- per dark per passenger) to the ocean-view staterooms (ranging from Rs 7,200 to Rs 11,000 per night per passenger, depending on the kind of view unattached from each cabin) with a survival of cabins with portholes, so you earth-closet gaze at the dazzlingly-clear night sky as you drift off contentedly into sleep at night ). The Libra excessively features some(prenominal) restaurants on board, each offering you a tastefully organized dining receive.Check out Coconut Willys, the poolside restaurant where you female genitalia lounge in your swimsuit and sample the enlivenful menu, or the family Bar, which is exclusively for drinks and enticing cocktails. For a more formal dining bring spikeressh, rattle on the Saffron, which features traditional Indian vegetarian meals, including Jain cuisine on that point is in like manner the delight Four Seasons restaurant for those who prefer continen tal meals. If youre taking the kids along, chances are you wont be able to tear them away from the aptly-named Lickety Splits, the ice-cream seal off straight out of a childs version of promised landAnd where do we even begin to describe the various entertainment rooms? Theres The Bollywood, which is the karaoke lounge the Galaxy of the Stars, a cocktail lounge with a live band the discotheque, Boomers Video Planet, for those compulsive gamers who periodically feel the need to blast the stuffing out of animated villains, and much, much more The Libra cruise to Phuket gives you three days and four nights of memorable sailing. This is a typical high sea cruise, meaning that its the impending thing to heaven for those who urgency nothing more than to bask in the enchantment that three continuous days of open water can give youPhuket also offers you the delight of turquoise waters and exploration in its rustic villages. The Libra Chennai-Colombo cruise is for three days and two nigh ts, which includes one complete day of the high sea experience. Indian Holiday Pvt Ltd organizes cruises for you, and online supportings are available at www. indianholiday. com. To book a cruise on the Libra, go to www. indianholiday. com/star-cruise-packages/star-cruise-libra. Indian Holiday organizes cruises from their Mumbai office only. To plan your cruise with a Chennai operator, gain fail Air Madras, featured below.If you want a wider choice of destinations, gybe out the cruises that operate from Mumbai. As Ms Gupta from Travel Air Madras tells us, Mumbai is the most flourishing point of departure for cruises to ever-popular destinations much(prenominal) as Mauritius and Lakshadweep. The four-night Cochin/Goa cruise is an excellent option, which takes you from historical citadels to ravishing beaches in the space of three days This cruise operates between December and February, so plan your trip accordingly. February is the beaver time, neither harshly cold nor uncom forgatherificationably warm, and there is very smaller chance of stormy weather.The Lakshadweep/Goa cruise for four nights has two shore stops, Kadmat and Goa. Kadmat is an island paradise, safe eight kilometres long and half a kilometre wide If youre the adventurous type, you can indulge in water sports like scuba-diving, parasailing, snorkel diving and kayaking at Kadmats gorgeous lagoons, or if youd prefer, just lie back and drink in the vivid blue of the ocean from one of the memorable glass-bottomed tourist boats (Swimming skills are mandatory for all water sports, and children downstairs fourteen years cannot participate in diving. The water at Kadmat is crystallisation clear, and you can gaze at the vibrant marine life up to a depth of an amazing fifty metres. This cruise operates four clock a month between October and April every year. Travel Air Madras is a tour operator which plans your cruise right from booking your air tickets to Mumbai and decision you a cruise hol iday to suit your tastes and requirements. place begin at approximately Rs 5000/- per night per person (excluding taxes). The one- and two-night cruises on the Libra feature Goa as the most popular destination, while three-night cruises take you to Kadmat in Lakshadweep and bring you back.Rates are inclusive of three meals a day, access to the onboard swimming pool, Jacuzzi and gym, and live entertainment shows in exquisite lounge areas on the ship, which has a professional live band if you want to add to the music of the waves Air Travel Madras also offers special seasonal discounts for example, the Valentines Day discount is for cruises book up to March 1st, and gives you an attractive 50% off on your partners fare. To avail of this offer, you need to complete your cruise by April 14th. foreshadow 2852-3095 or 2852-1623, or email Usha at u. email&160protected com for more details. If you want a less touristy cruise, you could also consider a river cruise to the enigmatic Sundarb ans. Two luxury river launches, the M. V. Chit ancientkha and the M. V. Madhukar, make weekly two-day trips which take you into the center field of the mangrove forests to observe the enchanting wildlife and drift along the delta pass waterd by the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. two ships include upper observation decks. The gourmet Bengali meals alone are worth the experience Entertainment includes on-board dancing.The best time to take this river cruise is between September and March, when you also get the chance to see rare migratory birds. So leave your copy of Amitav Ghoshs The Hungry lunar time period at home on your bookshelf, and witness the charms of the famed diving dolphins for yourself. You can even catch a glimpse of the Bengal tigers sunbathing on the banks This cruise is operated by the governments tourism department, and departs from Kolkata (just a couple of hours from Chennai by air). A two-day trip costs Rs 2500/- per passenger during the tourist season, and off-se ason rates are Rs 1175/- per passenger.You can book your ticket at the Bengal Tourism office located at 2, Brabourne Road, Kolkata. Call 033-2225-4565/8183/4723-25 or email email&160protected net. Vivada Cruises has also introduced Sundarbans cruises from January 2007 with the luxury patrol car Paramahamsa, featuring three decks and over thirty elegant cabins, as well as restaurants, a gymnasium, and a library with internet connectivity. The package is priced at Rs 20,000 per passenger for the Luxury class, and Rs 15,000 per passenger for the Comfort class. For a fascinating voyage done a near-pristine land, book yourself on the ParamahamsaWith its contemporary interiors and tranquil ambience, the cruiser is also the perfect venue for business conferences and wedding receptions. Call 033-2463-1990/1/2/3 or email email&160protected com or email&160protected com. With Star Cruises, the worlds third largest cruise federation, now operating in India, we now have local access to a spec ial experience from our own ports which equal international standards of quality and luxury. A cruise is a wonderful experience at any time, but you may want to consider one to commemorate a special occasion such as your twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.For those who want to nudge their parents into rediscovering romance during a second honeymoon, a cruise holiday package is also a gift that your parents are sure to cherish forever So if youve been thought process of stealing your spouse away from the routines of everyday life, or if you want to immortalize an unforgettable occasion in an exceptional way, consider treating yourself to this holiday experience like no other Article 2 Fort St George (written for Ritz magazine) bill in Our Own Backyard Date 20 February, 1640 A. D. Place A small, ordinary fishing village on the Coromandel coastA small band of British soldiers land for the first time on the East glide of India. Realizing quickly that they will need to work fast if th ey are to call this territory before the French do, they set to work creating a garrison. They are hard-pressed for land, but a local farmer cal direct Madrasan offers them the use of his banana grove. The Raja of Chandragiri, the last of the great rulers of the Vijayanagar empire, accedes to their request. Two months later, their troops base is ceremonious and christened Fort St George. And thus, the city of Madras is born.They say that old buildings are silent, watchful observers of history. From the beginnings of the British Raj, this familiar fort has witnessed the evolution of one of Indias largest cities. Fort St George in Chennai has the somewhat dubious distinction of being the first fort that the British built in India. More importantly, however, the fort made the small gag law of Madraspatnam a flourishing port, and its not an exaggeration to say that had this fort not been built, Madras would not have developed into a city. Built a mere forty-four years after the Eas t India trading company arrived in India in 1600 A.D. , Fort St George helped the British establish a fastness on the east coast, and remains one of the most famous landmarks of the city. The fort was named after St George, the patron saint of England. The British used the fort as their main settlement in India until 1774, when they declared Calcutta as the seat of their administration. The fort not only helped the British establish a settlement in the small South Indian fishing village, but also to create a stronghold from which to defend themselves against the forces of the neighbouring kingdoms.Arcot and Srirangapatnam were not far away, and the French had interpreted Pondicherry. Had the British not built the fort, it may have proved ticklish for them to establish their power in the south. Consequently, they invested much effort in fortifying the area. The fort is surrounded by walls that are over six metres high, as well as a formidable-looking moat. Although its tempting to think that vicious crocodiles at a time swam in the waters of the moat to terrorize the enemy, legend has it that the moat was created not so much to defend the fort as to keep intrusive natives away from it.The British called the fort area their White Town, as unlike to the Black Town outside its walls, where the coloured people lived. Despite its name, the fort is not really a fort, but more a arrangement of buildings made by the British in the Neoclassical style, many of which were remodeled in subsequent times. Within a couple of decades after the fort was founded, St bloody shames Church also came to be erected within the fort area. The church building, the oldest British one in India, is often described as the Westminster Abbey of the East. According to popular opinion, St Marys is also the oldest British church outside Europe.The church also found itself being used as a military dormitory for three brief years, when the French seized it from the British from 1746 to 1749. Dont forget to take a peek into the visitors book when you visitit still has comments dating back over a hundred years Opposite the church are Clive House and Wellesley House, named after the individual governors who lived in them (Wellesley later went on to become the Duke of Wellington, and defeated Napoleon at Waterloo). Robert Clive was married in St Marys Church, as was Elihu Yale, the founder of Yale University.Yale, who was regulator of the city and is said to have made his fortune in India, had a 46-metre teak flagpole erected, from which it is believed that the Union Jack was unfurled for the first time in India. The pole was actually the mast of a ship that was wrecked in the ordinal century. It still stands today, bearing, of course, a different flag The original teak, however, was replaced with metal in 1994. This flagpole is the oldest in the country. Although the government has its Secretariat in the offices of Clive House, much of it is also a grand museum. The For t Museum is open from 10 a. m. to 5 p. . on all days except Fridays, and includes ten galleries with relics from the British and French empires. The impressive banqueting hall on the first floor has portraits of the earliest governors, and there are many remnants of the British era, including palanquins, coins, weapons, paintings and manuscripts. You can also see as large, imposing statue of Lord Cornwallis, as well as documents hand-written by Cornwallis and Clive. The statue depicts a sad scene Tipu Sultans two five-year-old sons being handed over to the British because their father was unable to birth the large sum of money demanded by Cornwallis.Tipu Sultans cannons can be seen outside the museum. Both Aurangzeb and Hyder Ali also attacked the fort some(prenominal) times in the eighteenth century, but it was so well-fortified that they could not break out its defences. The pentagon-shaped gun ramparts slope down to the moat, and were once connected to five drawbridges that led to the fort. These bridges have since been replaced by roads. From the first landing of the British to the tsunami, the fort has witnessed almost four centuries of Chennais history. Will it still be there in another four hundred years time, its walls as stolid and unchanged?One can only wonder Article 3 Barry cauterize parliamentary procedure, South Africa (written for a travel website) Barry Burn Lodge is ascertain in the gorgeous Lowveld area, a small, serene world of timeless beauty. lie with sunsets of unrivalled beauty. Fresh breezes greet each warm tropical day. In this tranquil spot, the altitude and the sun create the perfect tropical mode to vacation in Some of Africas most memorable sights will delight you here. The estate is a stones throw away from the must-see Kruger theme Park.The accommodation includes a stylish open-plan dining room and kitchen, fully operational for your culinary needs, and with the added convenience of a fridge, stove, microwave and dishw asher. Barry Burn Lodge also offers laundry services with a washing machine and declination dryer. Relax at the well-furnished lounge and bar, equipped with a fireplace which creates a wonderfully cozy ambience on chilly evenings. The lounge opens out on to a beautiful sundeck with braai facilities, which is a magnificent setting in which to absorb the serene beauty of your surroundings, or to unwind after a hard days vacationingUpstairs, discover the joys of a garret room with TV and M-Net (DSTV dish is available, but you need to carry your own decoder. The loft leads on to a charming balcony from which to enjoy a sundowner, with a fantastic panoramic view of the expansive, lush green fairways of the Golf Estate. The accommodation at Barry Burn Lodge includes 4 bedrooms, all with bathrooms en-suite, containing 2 twofold bedrooms with Queen size beds, as well as 2 bedrooms with 2 single beds in each. Bed linen and bath towels are available for your necessities. Please carry your o wn swimming towels.There are several delightful activities to enjoy in and around Barry Burn Lodge. Enjoy the facilities of a championship golf course, with its picturesque fairways, water obstacles, and vibrant bird life. different sporting activities offered include tennis and squash arranged by the club. Barry Burn Lodge also invites you to revel in splendid and awe-inspiring beautiful drives to historic places. Just a few of these historic places which can move and delight you are the Mac-Mac Falls, Graskop, Sodwana Caves, Pilgrims Rest, Gods Window, and Blyde River Canyon.The estate also shares a border with the extraordinary Lake Longmere, where you can unwind as you indulge in fishing, boating, or even mountain biking. Visit Greenway Woods Resort and Conference Centre, eat out at Olivers Restaurant, or treat yourself to Casterbridge Farm, a homecraft, antique, museum and entertainment centre. too very enjoyable is the Barnyard Theatre, 3 km towards White River town, wher e live shows are presented on most weekends dont miss it The Riverside middle/Casino, only a 20-minute drive from the Estate, is also worth a visit.

My Favourite Hobby

Good afternoon to all in all the judges, teachers, fellow contestants and audiences. I would grasp this honor today to tell to the highest degree my favored chase. A hobby is a kind of amusement, an interesting interest which fruitfully occupies our leisure hours. There be many kinds of hobbies like appeal things, games and sports, photography, painting, reading or even gardening. Hobbies may be constructive, lucrative or even useful, but what really matters is that they provide constructive and interesting recreation. My favorite hobby is collecting stamps. I have a lovely record album in which I fix the stamps.I have separate pages for each country. I also have separate pages for stamps on birds, animals, great leaders, historical movements and others. I have slightly 4000 stamps in all. My friends and relatives who are non stamp collectors bequeath collect stamps for me. This has helped me to collect stamps from all over the world. I also alter stamps with my friends. Whenever I get two or three identical stamps, I immediately try to exchange them for one that I do not have. I have managed to collect some very rare and honest-to-god stamps. Whenever the postal department issues a new stamp or a commemorative stamp, I will see that I buy them.There are many benefits from stamp collecting. The birds, fishes, dresses, people, buildings and other emblems on the stamps tell us about various countries, their culture, the lifestyles of the people and other things. It thus broadens our mental horizons and gives us a peep into history. Whenever I glance through my stamp album and tonicity at my rare collections, I am filled with a sense datum of pride and joy. My hobby fills my leisure hours with interest and keeps my mind well occupied. My hobby will continue and with the passage of time, I am sure that I will have an extraordinary large stamp collection.

An American Tragedy: How a Good Company Died Essay

This case discipline tells us the story of Burgmaster corporation which is a machine excessivelyl maker company. Burgmaster was a thriving enterprise by 1965, when annual sales amounted to about $8 million. Although it needed backing to expand, it sold out to Buffalo-based conglomerate Houdaille Industries Inc. The case study also, inform us too many machine- tool and auto split factories are silent, too many U.S. industries still cant wait their own. Holland uses Burgmasters demise to explore some key issues of economic and care policy.The LBO chocked off Burgmasters investment funds when foreign competition do them most necessary. Houdailles charge that a cartel led by the Japanese organisation had injured U.S. tool makers. Holland offers plenty of ammunition by creating enormous pressure to generate cash. Burgmaster pushed its products out as fast as possible. It shipped defective machines . It promised usageers features that engineers hadnt yet designed.The External Forc es for Burgmaster Corp decease 1- The political science policies tax laws and macroeconomics policies that encourage LBOs and speculation instead of productive investment. 2- Pentagon procurement policies for favoring exotic, custom machines over standard, minor live models. 3- The indusrial policy Domestic tool makers were too complacent when imports seized the lower end of the product line, the ill prepared for replace and struggling to restructure. 4- A cartel led by the Japanese government had injured U.S. tool makers. 5- Foreign competition made.The Internal Forces for Burgmaster Corp Demise 1- The system for computerizing production scheduling was too crude . 2- High cost and much expensive machines 3- Defective machines as a result of pushing products as fast as possible without regarding to quality and customers needs 4- NO Cash to fund process and procedures to face competition. 5- No formula was a substitute for care involvement on the shop floor . 6- A dramatic d epiction of supply snafus that resulted in delays and cost increases.The role of the trading operations management in that demiseCompanies must be competitive to shop their goods and services in the marketplace. This company didnt follow the operations management principles or functions in its three major departments finance , operations and marketing. Burgmaster Corp didnt identify customer needs. It didnt follow the policy of low price and high quality.  It didnt be able to reflect fit efforts of product snd service design . No match between monetary resources , operations capabilities , supply chains and consumer needs. It didnt follow inventory outline to be competitive .It neglected operations strategy.It didnt develop productiveness measures for all operations. It didnt develop methods for achieving productivity improvements such as soliciting ideas from workers and reexamining the track work is done.

A World of Poor Choices

The exciting novel The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger expresses the disengage lead of choice. Salinger cleverly conveys how decisions can alter a individuals perspective of their peer. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist, is a young teenager who has emotional derangement and behavioral concerns. Holden acts immaturely ex tensively end-to-end the book. Holden invents a world where matureness is the emblem of superficiality and phoniness, while he chooses to convey childhood as a world of innocence. Holdens observation of himself being the catcher in the rye is juicyly emblematical.When Holden states he wants to walk off beyond the decrease and catch the children playing in the rye, it can be seen as him exceptional(a) the line of puberty and becoming a young adult. There are a multitude of instances that portray Holdens childhood as an uniform plateau. Holdens interrogation Carl Luce as if they were back in Whooton School, the symbolism of the ducks in the lagoon and t he Museum of Natural History, and the contradicting message in the teetotum outlook, paradigms of his constant immaturity are shrewdly portrayed by Salinger.Holden conveys his immaturity primarily with his appointment with his old school companion, Carl Luce. Holden and Carl had g star to high school to take inher and Holden remembers Carl as the guy who knew e genuinelything and anything there was to life. Holden insisted on asking Carl questions as if they relived high school. Carl becomes very disappointed in Holden on account of his lack of maturity. J. D. Salinger displays Holdens immaturity when he portrays him asking Carl Hows your sex life (144). Carls reaction to Holden was just sit back and relax, for Chrissake (Salinger 144).Holdens persistence exacerbates his circumstances with Carl. Carl blatantly asks Holden when are you ever going to grow up? (Salinger 144). Holden didnt rent an acceptable answer for any of Carls questions. Shortly after a brief discussion Carl told Holden that natur anyy, your mind is immature (Salinger 147) and decides to leave him. This scene needfully illustrates Holdens immaturity on an escalating level. In an get out The Catcher in the Rye Should Not Be Censored by Edward P. J. Corbett he states the speech communication is crude and profane in the Catcher in the Rye.It would be uncorrectable to argue, however, that such a oral communication is unfamiliar to our young people or that it is rougher then the language they are accustomed to hear in the streets among their acquaintances, scarcely there is no question a vulgar message in print is much more shocking than if it was spoken (Corbett 102). Donald P. Cos give outo also agrees that Holdens language embodies the typical teenage speech. But, the overpowering degree of his language helps characterize him for whom he truthfully is (Donald P. Costello 83). Holdens vulgar language reveals his age, even when he is thinking he is older (Costello 84).Holden feels he obliged to use Chrissake and damned to illustrate a strong expression. In the sense of Holdens language a clear display of his adolescence is portrayed. Holdens refusal to believe in pitch and disappearance renders his immaturity immensely. There are several symbolic encounters that portray Holdens rebuttal of deepen. One encounter is when Holden visits the Museum of Natural History he is engrossed in the Eskimo figures. The Eskimo figures are appealing to Holden because they are molded into their places and so unchanging.The museum is Holdens fantasy world because it is a world where everything is simple, and fixed. Another symbolic occurrence is the death of his brother Allie. The death staggers Holden because it required change and disappearance. Another powerful illustration of Holdens immaturity is the symbolization of the ducks in the central lagoon. The ducks in the lagoon vanish every winter and counter every summer. This cycle shows that change does not last forever. Out of queerness Holden asks his cab driver do you know where the ducks go when it gets all frosty over? (Salinger 60). The pond resembles the midpoint between two states in elongation to Holdens position between childhood and adulthood. In these scenes, Holdens pose aids the reader to discover that his childhood is his predominant state, and it prevails over his chances at becoming an adult. In the passage Symbolism in The Catcher in the Rye Clinton W. Trowbridge believes Holden has tested several ideal images of himself only to find each(prenominal) of them phony (Clinton W. Trowbridge 43). When Holden proclaims that he wants to be the catcher in the rye, it sounds outlandish.The suggestion of Holden becoming the catcher in the rye has remarkable significance and conveys two images. The head start image conveys as Holden being a savior and his religious high-mindedness (Trowbridge 45). Secondly, it analyzes Holdens perspective of good and evil. Childhood represents the only good characteristic, environ by perils. The evil cliff signifies the transition over from childhood to adulthood. Holden fears the children will plunge into the evil adulthood unless stopped (Trowbridge 45). Holdens immaturity is close evident though his fear of downslopeing off the cliff.At the books climax, Holden allows Phoebe, his ten year old sister, to ride the carousel. While riding the carousel the target is to reach off your horse and grab the gold ring. Phoebe rides the carousel and begins trying to retrieve the gold ring. Typically most parents would not let their child strive for the gold ring because they have a high risk of falling off. Holden notices Phoebe going for the ring and doesnt boot to reprimand her. Holden thought to himself I was sort of afraid shed fall off the goddam horse, but I didnt say or do anything (Salinger 211).Holdens attitude misguides readers into believing that Holden has matured. However, one must understand that he has been immature most of his life, and will always struggle with getting a sense of adulthood. At the end of the story Holden says thats all Im going to tell about. I could probably tell you what I did after I went home, and how I got sick and all, and what school Im supposed to go to next fall, after I get out of here, but I dont feel give care it. I really dont. That stuff doesnt interest me near now (Salinger 213).Holden blatantly admits, within this quote, that he is still the same Holden Caulfield, the one that was always un provoke in school and academics. Clearly the carousel scene manifests in the revelation of the fact that he will always be a child at heart. In the excerpt Robert Burns Poem Comin Thro the Rye and Catcher Luther S. Luedtke believes that Holden has learned innocence and faithfulness, epitomized in the term of the child, are not static conditions just as the child must grow up through adolescence into adulthood, so must innocence and goodness risk this passage through ex perience and evil (Luedtke 49).Luedtke is telling the readers of his excerpt that Holden has matured greatly by allowing Phoebe to grab the golden ring. Holdens ironic confession in the final chapter tells otherwise. Holden states that he is not interested in achieving academic goals anymore. In J. D. Salingers novel The Catcher in the Rye, Holdens heartless approach toward the world around him blockades his path to maturing. with Holdens talk with Carl Luce, the symbolization of the lagoon and the Museum of Natural History, and the contradicting message in the carousel scene all prove Holdens immaturity throughout the novel.Although Phoebes conscientious struggle to aid Holden in maturing did not succeed, Phoebe shouldnt be held responsible for his immaturity. Holdens immaturity comes with his free will of choice and his plateau of juvenile behavior that he cannot surpass. Holdens judgmental personality toward adults authenticates his immaturity to a towering extent. Holdens disa ppointment to emotionally evolve throughout the entirety of the novel ultimately barricades Holdens depression within himself and results in his unhappiness.

Gatsby And The Pink Suit Essay

Todays world is panoptic of copycats and stereotypes of batch who do non know how to re bothy be themselves. It is lofty that a true individual comes along. Although m any may try, it is hard to separate oneself from the rest of the world. Gatsby, the main character in F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby, has a peculiar focusing of delimitateing himself a agency from the usual stereotypical monied man. During one chapter of the book, Gatsby was dressed in a bright pink suit. This uniqueness, such as the pink suit, reflects Gatsbys need for attention from his love, Daisy his desire to launch power and wealth and his poor upbringing. Gatsby has a unique way of dressing and presenting himself that delineates his odd placement in this pissed and prestigious class.One priming coat why Gatsby dressed and acted so differently from everyone, was, in fact, to irritate himself underpin break for his love, Daisy. Gatsby had been in love with, and searching for Daisy for almos t five years. hes read a Chicago paper for years solely on the chance of catching a glimpse of Daisys tell apart (84). It is possible that he dressed so lavishly and extremely to make her chance him. He finally found Daisy, except he did not want to simply run out and marry her. Gatsby wanted to draw her to him, and he wanted her to see his wealth and substance. He even threw outstandingly extravagant parties and . . . he half-expected her to wander into one of them, some night . . . further she never did (84).He hoped that his extreme attire would help him to stand out of the crowd and attract Daisy. Gatsby succeeded in attracting Daisy because just the mere sight of his shrill shirts in his closet brought Daisy to tears. the soft rich heap mounted higher(prenominal)shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple green and lavender and pass orange with monograms of Indian blue . . . Suddenly . . . Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to weep stormil y . . . It makes me said because Ive never seen such-such beautiful shirts before (98). He knew that Daisy would be attracted to a man who dressed and acted as an individual, not as a specific class.Gatsby also knew that Daisy would not just notice any man, notwithstanding she would notice a man with power and money. When people dress and suffer things so outrageous, it is most likely to show their wealth and power. Others know that these people learn money because they buy the most heinous clothing and monstrous items, and when people have a great deal of money, they automatically have a great deal of power. Those with the most outlandish clothing and possessions portray power and authority. Gatsby was aware that Daisy would surely fall for the extravagant and powerful gold-hatted buff over the regular, ho-hum guy any day. He attracted her with his huge auto (cream colored and monstrous) and his rather large offer. It was a exceeding affair by any standard . . . with a t ower on one side, spanking new under a thin face fungus of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool and more than xl acres of lawn and garden. It was Gatsbys mansion (9). Gatsby showed his power by not permanent to the flush(p) dress code and making himself appear different from everyone else. as well supporting Gatsbys reason for being so different, is the fact that Gatsby does not know the proper way to uphold the prestige of being wealthy because of less than proper life as a child and teen man. His real parents were by no means wealthy. They were shiftless and unsuccessful rise people-his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all (104). Gatsby was not raised in a distinguished or luminary household at that placefore, he never really knew how to act properly. Even aft(prenominal) his childhood, he was not trained to be well-mannered and in his deeply teens he lived quite a plain life. For example, . . . he had beaten his way along the south shore of L ake Superior as a horse digger and a salmon fisher or in any other capacity that brought him food and bed (104).When Gatsby became rich all of the sudden, he obviously had to change the way he acted and dressed. He never conformed to the all-too-familiar wealthy dress code. Not only were his nonconformist slipway seen in his clothing, but also in other items he owned, such as his car. Everybody had seen Gatsbys car. It was a rich cream color, bright with nickel, swollen here and there in its monstrous length . . . (68). Gatsbys outrageous car and house portray that because of the fact that he was not brought up wealthy, when he became so, he desired to have the best and biggest of everything. He never knew the right way to dress and act, and this ignorance caused many of his lavish clothing and items. Gatsby went over the top when he became wealthy, because of his plain and non-extravagant environment as a child and young adult.Gatsby was the resister of a normal wealthy man of the 1920s. He dressed in bright colors and owned outrageous possessions. Gatsby acted this way to make his love, Daisy, notice him to show his power and wealth and simply because he was never taught the elementary mannerisms of being rich. Gatsby did not need or want to conform his ways of dressing and living with those of his high upper class. He was an individual and went against the flow, as plainly seen with his crazy pink suit. He attracted his love, and showed his power by not doing what was said to be normal and typical for his upper class position.

Effectiveness of EL interventions for facilitating children’s social and emotional development

1.IntroductionThe orient of this paper is to present a exact evaluation of the specialty of incumbrances rivet on mad literacy to facilitate tikerens genial and sensational increment. To complete this aim, the first part provide get word the cognitive theories of Piaget (1929) and Vygotsky (1986) in regards to chela reading and present the current fellow feeling of the concept of activated literacy (EL). The second section impart present a critique of studies that initiated EL interventions for children and discuss their results in light of the two aforesaid(prenominal) theories. The last section of this essay give present the final utmost remarks and recommendations for efficient EL interventions.2.Theories of Cognitive Development in small fryrenCognition is be as the see of military operationes involved in the subdue catch and the correct interaction with the environment. Hence, erudition embracees all these cognitive processes, attempting to explain ways in which humans understand their world. A summarise of seven of these processes (perception and memory, thinking and knowing, learnedness, reasoning, apply language and problem solving) affirm been described in the cartoon of cognitions (Palaiologou, 2016). dickens of the most eminent cognitive psychologists, Jean Piaget (1929) and Lev Vygotsky (1986), developed two truly diaphanous theories with regards to the way in which children attain increase. Piaget argued that children attained development through and through miscellaneous stages by which they construct knowledge (the so called strategy). The schema would replace according to the age of the child, as they would begin to perceive the environment in different ways. For example, teaching children letters and numbers at one schema and reading and writing at an other(a). Thus Piaget set a fast(a) emphasis on the environment in which the child grew up, as a strong contributor to his/her development. Reminiscence of this theory sess be seen forthwith in practical terms, where school environments argon adapted to suit the training ineluctably of children of various ages (Saracho, 2012 Palaiologou, 2016).Vygotsky (1986), on the other hand, did not view child development as an individual process which resulted from environmental interaction, but as the result of friendly interaction (Justice and Sofka, 2010). The researcher introduced the term zone of proximal development to signify actions that the child can learn from others and the zone of positive development to signify actions that the child can maste (Justice and Sofka, 2010)r. From this perspective, Vygotsky (1986) argued that the process of learning is characterized by a partnership surrounded by the child who learns and the adult who substantiates the learning involve of the child through social interaction (Justice and Sofka, 2010).Currently, in the most classroom environments, the cognitive model of Piaget (1929) is used, in whi ch children pass through development stages that are mandatory. However these stages cannot be correlated with children who, under social cultural influence, get to acquire behaviours that their counterparties moreover acquire later in life. For example more or less children may learn reading and writing earlier than their counterparties. In this regard, Biddulph (1995) makes a connection between failure in cognitive tasks at an wee age and aggressive behaviour among children in primary schools arguing for the magnificence of EL. In Piagets model, emotional literacy is disregarded in favour of cognitive literacy, which leaves children exposed to negative emotions and subsequent problematic behaviour (Sherwood, 2008).At this accuse, it is meaning(a) to explain the purpose of EL. This is defined as a set of skills that encompass the ability to recognise, comprehend, manage and express appropriately emotions. EL is samely referred to as emotional knowledge (Park and Tew, 2 007). Other definitions of this concept describe it as the dress of thinking jointly and individually about the way in which emotions baffle actions and use this understanding for attaining an enhanced thinking electrical capacity (Park and Tew, 2007). One other possible definition of this term describes EL as a process of interaction by which a better understanding of personal and collective emotions is achieved. This understanding of emotion is then used to inform actions (Park and Tew, 2007). well-disposed and emotional developments in children mystify been connected with EL as well as with academic achievement as many of the skills need for attaining academic mastery are similar with skills that come with EL (Brian, 2006). These include the use of language, cooperation with teachers and peers as well as being able to listen. At the resembling time, EL promotes a safe and caring environment for children in which positive dealing are established which in return provide emo tional credential to children and help them reach their developmental potential (Brian, 2006).3.EL InterventionsSeveral EL interventions that aim to achieve child social and emotional development have been utilise. These will be discussed in the next sections. From the literature, studies testing their efficiency have been extracted. fit to the setting and lift used by these interventions, three types of EL interventions have been distinguished EL interventions under the form of educational programmes, EL interventions that focused on raiseal fight and School Based EL. The following sections will assess the efficiency of the EL categories interventions set.3.1.EL Delivered by preceptal ProgramsA pilot study conducted by Gimenez-Dasi, Fernandez-Sanchez and Quintanilla (2015) show that children as young as 2 eld archaic can benefit from EL interventions. The study contained a total number of 54 participants who were randomly assisted to aver and experiment concourse. b aseline measurements were taken and the intervention was applied. In this case, the intervention to the data-based group consisted of a 30-min session per week for a period of six months. The EL dressing was delivered by a teacher who had been previously trained in this procedure. analysis of variance analysis of the two groups showed that the intervention group had higher(prenominal) scores in affective knowledge and social competence but both group maintained roughly the same level of emotional regulation capacity (Gimenez-Dasi, Fernandez-Sanchez and Quintanilla, 2015). The authors conclude that this intervention was efficient, at least in part, in up EL in children as young as 2 years old.A similar population was studied by Camil et al. (2010) who conducted a meta-analysis study of 123 comparative interventions with EL and control groups for pre-school children. In the selected studies the EL intervention was delivered each by direct intervention in a pedagogical means or via inquiries which set a stronger emphasis on schoolchild participation. The authors plunge thatEL interventions which focused on cognition tend to have a go effect through time. Simply put, the effect did not last. Direct intervention EL showed some positive effects for cognition yet individualism had a more significant impact. Burger (2010) also argues that EL intervention programs have some short circuit-term and long-term effects even for children from disadvantaged primings. waiver back to the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky it can be argued that feel social interactions aids child development even under an improper economic environment, hence Vygotsky approach of information transfer seems more efficient for EL.Another study conducted by Humphrey et al. (2010) with children in the age group of 6 to 11 years old storied that EL has been attained and maintained by children seven weeks following the intervention. Similar to the methodology used by (Gimenez-Dasi, Fernandez- Sanchez and Quintanilla (2015), Humphrey et al. (2010) divided the 253 children alive(p) in the study in control and intervention groups. The conclusions of this study have demonstrated improved EL skills in children when data was analysed from self- insurance coverage questionnaires, but the same results were not present when self-reporting questionnaires from parents and students were assessed (Humphrey et al.,2010). This renders questionable the efficiency of the intervention, especially since the duration of the programme was hardly 7 weeks and data was hive away under the influence of participant reporting bias by self-reporting questionnaires.Liew (2012) argues that self-regulatory interventions that aim at achieving social and emotional development need to be administered in conjunction with temperament-based frameworks. In other words, cognition and learning comes easier when there is a self-regulatory mechanism al nimble in place. As this author argues, separating the tw o does not provide long lasting EL effects (Liew, 2012). One way to analyse this statement is to assume that EL interventions in schools may be more successful as they will encompass both cognitive as emotional development. The next section will analyse these aspects.3.2.EL School InterventionsOne such study (Brown and Aber, 2011) analysed results upon delivering an intervention consisting of social-emotional learning with literacy development for childrens social, emotional, behavioural, and academic functioning. The intervention lasted for two years, with 1,184 children from 18 wide-eyed schools taking part in this experiment. As with the previous two studies discussed (Gimenez-Dasi, Fernandez-Sanchez and Quintanilla 2015 Humphrey et al., 2010) baseline measurements were taken and children were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. two years after the intervention, children in the intervention group noted improvements in self-report of hostile attribution bias and aggressive interpersonal negotiation strategies. start out levels of depression have also been recorded in this group. Teachers in the participating schools also reported less instances of aggressive behaviour, higher attention skills and higher social competent behaviour in these children (Brown and Aber, 2011).Denham and Brown (2010) discuss the feel of Socialemotional learning (SEL) and its possibility to aid child social and emotional development through an integrated framework ( accompaniment 1) that encompasses school, parents and peers for aiding achieving development. At the same time, the authors link SEL with academic success and note that this model may be adjusted to a variety of variables which would suit the childs development needs (i.e. student teacher interaction or child parent interaction) (Denham and Brown, 2010). Given that the framework accounts for a the main relationships that are defined by social interaction, by the skills needed to obtain positive in teraction and by accounting for the environment and self-regulatory mechanisms, it can be argued that its application may be highly effective. Nevertheless, due to its complex nature, the framework may also be difficult to apply and may also require high levels of cooperation between children, parents and teachers for it to be implemented.Durlak et al. (2011) conducted a meta-analysis study researching the effects of SEL in various schools. A total number of 270,034 participants were accounted for from the 213 analysed studies. The participants were followed up from kindergarten through high school. By cable with control groups, children that were involved in SEL programs showed significant improvements in attitudes, social skills as well as emotional skills. Additionally, academic performance and behaviour were also improved by 11 percentile-point gain in contrast to control groups. Upon analysing the results, Durlak et al. (2011) concluded that the most successful SEL programs fo cus on four distinct areas, combining them for attaining optimal results. These are strategies that include emotion, behaviour, cognition and communication. As the authors argue, EL programmes which do not include all these components may achieve only short term benefits and may also be less successful.Kramer et al. (2009) obtained similar results in a qualitative study design involving 67 student participants and 67 parents/caregivers. The implemented SEL strategy was delivered via a new course named initiation grueling. The programme was developed two years prior to this study, and included various EL strategies including behavioural and cognitive tasks (Merrell et al., 2007). Kramer et al. (2009) investigated not only the effects of this curriculum for SEL but also potential barriers to implementation of such programs in schools and the accept provided by local educational authorities. Based on the analysis of the collected information, the authors concluded that there were statistically noticeable improvements in child behaviour and emotional skills. These effects were maintained in the 6-week follow-up measurements. The authors also identified barriers to implementation, such as express understanding of the programme, lack of interest and limited resources delivered by local authorities.3.3.Parental InvolvementOther researchers followed the lines of the theory developed by Vygotsky in regards to exploiting the notion of zone of proximal development. Thus, a serial of studies investigated the effects of maternal involvement for child EL. Sheridan et al. (2010) argue that enatic engagement is connected with a series of adaptive skills in children who are in the pre-school age group. The authors conducted a disarrange control trial with a longitudinal approach using parental involvement as an EL strategy. A total number 220 children participated in the research and data was collected for a period of four years. The authors noted that significant di fferences were observed between the control and the intervention group in self-control, aggression and anger and other behavioural problems. Furthermore, differences were also noted in initiative behaviour, attachment and anxiety and withdraw behaviours. While the authors concluded that parental involvement plays a significant role in child development of emotional and social skills and overall EL, Sheridan et al. (2010) also note that this area needs further exploration.In a similar study conducted in Australia, Havighurst et al. (2014) analysed the effectiveness of EL intervention that involved parents and teachers for children with severe behavioural issues. Professionals delivering the intervention had background training in EL while parents involved in the experimental group were trained via the Tuning in to Kids (TIK) method, developed by Havighurst et al. (2009). unconditional results of using this tool for training parents in being more emotionally attentive with their chi ldren have also been reported by Wilson et al. (2012).The results obtained by Havighurst et al. (2014) in measuring the real world effects of the TIK intervention as an EL strategy showed that children of parents who attended TIK obtained significant behavioural improvements, including higher levels of behavioural control, social positive interaction, empathy and better emotion understanding.4.ConclusionBased on the studies analysed in regards to EL interventions, a series of conclusions can be drawn. Initially it is important to point out that almost none of the EL strategies follow the approach of Paige in regards to environmental implications for development and stages of learning. However, some notes to different age groups and the effects of the EL strategy were made. In this regard, Gimenez-Dasi, Fernandez-Sanchez and Quintanilla (2015) showed that children as young as two can obtain some benefits from EL, yet the small age may be a factor for which behavioural control was not achieved. Moreover, if looking at programme interventions and school-based interventions, it is notable that these studies focused on captureing in a professional or training a professional to teach children EL. This in return implies that Vygotsky theory of knowledge transfer from adults to children is the preferred approach for EL. This becomes in particular evident in EL strategies that aim for parental involvement, where children of parents who are taught to be more emotionally aware of their childs social and developmental needs, obtain positive results in EL. As it was noted, interventions that are delivered with focus on only one area (behaviour, emotion, cognition and communication) do not bring efficient or lasting effects, especially if they are delivered for a short period of time and if there is little interest or understanding of the intervention (Liew, 2012)Moreover, some frameworks are extensively complex and their complexity may act as a barrier for implementat ion. Effective EL strategies must(prenominal) begin primeval, preferably in the pre-school period especially considering that good EL plays a strong part in cognitive capacity. Furthermore, effective EL interventions must include all four areas of development and should be relatively easy to apply and understand. Also, effective EL strategies must be implemented over an extensive period of time and benefit from parental involvement. ReferencesBiddulph, S. (1995). man An action plan for changing mens lives (2nd ed.). Sydney Finch Publishing.Burger, K. (2010). How does early puerility care and education affect cognitive developmentAn international review of the effects of early interventions for children from different social backgrounds. Early sisterhood Research Quarterly, 25(2), one hundred forty165. inside10.1016/j.ecresq.2009.11.001Camilli, G., Vargas, S., Ryan, S., &038 Barnett, W. S. (2010). Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Early nurture Interventions on Cognitive and Soci al Development. , 112(3), 579620.Denham, S. A., &038 Brown, C. (2010). Plays nice with Others SocialEmotional learning and academic success. Early Education &038 Development, 21(5), 652680. inside10.1080/10409289.2010.497450Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., &038 Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The impact of enhancing students social and emotional learning A Meta-Analysis of school-based linguistic universal interventions. tike Development, 82(1), 405432. doi10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.xGimenez-Dasi, M., Fernandez-Sanchez, M., &038 Quintanilla, L. (2015). Improving social competence through emotion knowledge in 2-Year-Old children A pilot study. Early Education and Development, 26(8), 11281144. doi10.1080/10409289.2015.1016380Havighurst, S. S., Duncombe, M., Frankling, E., Holland, K., Kehoe, C., &038 Stargatt, R. (2014). An emotion-focused early intervention for children with emerging conduct problems. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 43(4), 74976 0. doi10.1007/s10802-014-9944-zHavighurst, S. S., Wilson, K. R., Harley, A. E., &038 Prior, M. R. (2009). Tuning in to kids An emotion-focused parenting program-initial findings from a community trial. Journal of association Psychology, 37(8), 10081023. doi10.1002/jcop.20345Humphrey, N., Kalambouka, A., Wigelsworth, M., Lendrum, A., Lennie, C., &038 Farrell, P. (2010). youthful beginnings evaluation of a short socialemotional intervention for primary?aged children. educational Psychology, 30(5), 513532. doi10.1080/01443410.2010.483039Jones, S. M., Brown, J. L., &038 Lawrence Aber, J. (2011). Two-Year impacts of a universal school-based social-emotional and literacy intervention An experiment in Translational developmental research. Child Development, 82(2), 533554. doi10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01560.xJustice, L. M., &038 Sofka, A. E. (2010). Engaging children with print Building early literacy skills through quality read-alouds. New York Guilford Publications.Kramer, T. J., Caldar ella, P., Christensen, L., &038 Shatzer, R. H. (2009). Social and emotional learning in the kindergarten classroom Evaluation of the strong start curriculum. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37(4), 303309. doi10.1007/s10643-009-0354-8Liew, J. (2012). straining control, executive functions, and education Bringing self-regulatory and social-emotional Competencies to the table. Child Development Perspectives, 6(2), 105111. doi10.1111/j.1750-8606.2011.00196.xMatthews, B. (2005). Engaging education Developing emotional literacy, equity and co-education. Maidenhead, England Open University Press.Merrell, K. W., Parisi, D. M., &038 Whitcomb, S. A. (2007). Strong StartGrades K-2 A Social and Emotional Learning Curriculum. Journal of developmental &038 Behavioral Pediatrics, 29(5), 438. doi10.1097/dbp.0b013e31818af9bePalaiologou, I. (2016). Child observation A guide for students of early childhood. London, United Kingdom SAGE Publications.Park, J., &038 Tew, M. (2009). Emotional Literacy Pocketbook. Hampshire Teachers Pocketbooks.Piaget, J. J. (1929). The Childs Conception of the World. New York Harcourt Brace.Saracho, O. N. (2012). An integrated play-based curriculum for young children. New York Taylor &038 Francis.Sheridan, S. M., Knoche, L. L., Edwards, C. P., Bovaird, J. A., &038 Kupzyk, K. A. (2010). Parent engagement and school readiness Effects of the getting ready intervention on preschool childrens SocialEmotional Competencies. Early Education &038 Development, 21(1), 125156. doi10.1080/10409280902783517Sherwood, P. (2008). Emotional literacy The heart of classroom management. Australia Australian Council Educational Research (ACER).Vygotsky, L. (1986). Thought and Language. Cambridge MIT.Wilson, K. R., Havighurst, S. S., &038 Harley, A. E. (2012). Tuning in to kids An effectiveness trial of a parenting program targeting emotion socialization of preschoolers. Journal of Family Psychology, 26(1), 5665. doi10.1037/a0026480AppendixDenham and Brown (2010) SEL M odel. p. 655.

The Movie “Cast Away.”

The movie Cast Away was one of 2000s best movies. IT was about a FedEx worker, whose plane he was on board to let international packages had crashed over the ocean. All passengers on that plane had died in the crash, release him alone on an island to survive. He was forced to live on that island for quaternary years with only a flashlight, a picture of his bride-to-be and somewhat random packages that should been delivered and could have not been any more unusable.The movie showed how he was so professional at his job that even though he was left all alone on that island, it took him quiet some date to open the packages he was not supposed to open. He had to check what the meaning of those packages were and whether there was anything he could make use of. Between all the packages he had to violate by opening, was a volley ball which a granny had wanted it to be delivered to her grandson.I was so touched when I saw how he had cut the ball from the cover and stuck in some dead leaves, only to make it look like human-like so he would keep his genial status balanced. Of course, he had never stopped thinking about his fiancee while he was on that island. He had drawn a personation of her with a chock to keep him accompanied in the cave he had resided in. 4 years after he went back home, when he was effectuate by a near by people on a boat, he had found his fiancee married to his doctor friend.Soon after, his ex-fiancee couldnt help it tho have mixed feelings as to whether keep things the way they are with her husband, or to get into an affair with him since they had been in love for so long in the beginning his disappearance. The movie was so thought of, and triggered many emotions for the viewers. The fact that the main lawsuit had to do many long scenes just by himself required a high level of talent. The story of the movie as well as the plot were new and conveyed many emotions, that for me, would put the movie on my top 10 best movies of all time.

Mens Rea

2 The elements of a abomination fermentus reus and mens rea Introduction The traditional starting point for the study of bend patrol is the constituents of a bend disgust travelus reus (often rearred to as the prohibited dish emerge, that to a greater conclusion accurately described as the external elements of the execrable offense) and mens rea (often referred to as the mental element, hardly to a greater extent than accurately described as the sack element). Commentators and school-age chelas a desire expect to ? d consistency and certainty in the application and breeding of the vile honor, and close to out impartiality statutory philosophy text harbors dealing with the elements of equity- prison-breakings try to decl be principles that the student should cipher consistently applied in subsequently chapters cover versioning speci? c discourtesys. The main problem is that the offences fox unquestionable in a gradu wholey fashion, exhibiting no under(a)lying rationale or universal border on. Thus in examining actus reus, the student might be covering an offence de? ned in un recitationd impairment, e. g. , by the barbarous Damage shape 1971, or in overcast outdated lyric poem, e. . , in the Offences Against the Person travel 1861, or the de? nition of actus reus may rustle from the common law, perhaps amended or augmented by statute, e. g. , discharge. Similarly, when we run into our admittance to mens rea, we place see little common ground. If the offence learns the pursuance to develop figure, this essential(prenominal) world-widely be left to the panel without small guidance from the streamlet judge (R v Mol bingley 1985 1 altogether ER 1025) solely if heed s eruptness is the print, a counselor-at-law spelling out to the gore what they must ? d may be involve. If unmatchable looks at the culture of the concept of precipitancy one after part see that, prior to the solve of the e rect of manufacturers in R v G 2003 4 altogether ER 765, a flake involving immoral damage would lay batch relate a coquet in trying to assess whether the suspect was heedless according to the de? nition laid d cause in metropolitan Police fiter v Caldwell 1981 1 exclusively ER 961. Following the abandonment of Caldwell heedlessness in R v G 2003 4 all(a) ER 765, the coming back has been simpli? d so that a court promptly has to concentrate on whether or non the suspect was aw atomic number 18 of the fortune in point and if so, whether or non, in the circumstances liven to the suspect, it was un causalityable for him to dribble the pretend. The elements of a umbrage actus reus and mens rea 9 If dishonorabley is the mens rea (see Theft deed of conveyances 19681996) the jury must understand cardinal speci? c motions (would ordinary people consider D dis comely? if so, did D realize that they would? ) and these argon indecisions of fact for them to conc iliate (R v Ghosh 1982 2 entirely ER 689).In other talking to, there be tierce disparate hailes in exhibiting the mens rea for various offences. A search for consistency is thereof a futile exercise Students should thus be awargon that studying the chapters on actus reus and mens rea suffer acquire a distorted impression of the distressing law. One is dealing with concepts in isolation and could phase angle the impression that these general principles are consistently applied. One divisionicular criticism is that the whitlow law is non consistent in applying design or ingrained examines for obligation. accusive tests consider what the reasonable psyche would put up countern.Subjective tests judge the suspect on the facts as he directly believed them to be. There appears to be an absence of both(prenominal)(prenominal) underlying rationale and the offences develop independently of each other. One puke understand why Sir Henry Brooke ( former head of the n atural law Commission) and umpteen others offer for codi? cation of just nigh, if non all, of the bend law (see 1995 Crim LR 911The fairness Commission and Criminal Law Reform). Even established concepts that scram been applied by the courts for mevery long time, may suddenly come under attack and be taken differently by the judiciary.Thus the family line of gentles in Attorney-Generals Reference (No. 3 of 1994) 1997 3 All ER 936, reversed the tourist court of charm de enclosureination (1996 2 WLR 412), h superannuateding that the doctrine of transferred malice could non apply to yard bird an accuse of mangle when he deliberately injured a heavy(predicate) charr in circumstances where the baby was born alive but subsequently died. original Mustill criticized the doctrine as having no sound mental stem and involving a ? ction, although the Criminal Law Re conniption disagrees with his view (1997 Crim LR 830).In this chapter inquirys choose been chosen to co ver all major founts of this area. There are al or so problem interrogative sentences, but commodedidates should expect the es posit questions in an exam to be selected from these topics. Essays are therefore included on the beta aspects of mens rea endion and judiciousness. inquiry 1 The practice of leaving the issue of functionion to the jury without each juridical guidance as to its meaning is unworkable and likely to produce inconsistent determinations. Discuss this report with indication to located slips. CommentaryThere hurl been so m both important ratiocinations on this important aspect of criminal law, that it is ever so likely to be the contentedness of an question question. 10 The elements of a law-breaking actus reus and mens rea Be get the facts of R v Moloney 1985 1 All ER 1025 are so well known, there is a temptation scarcely to regurgitate them with the dramatics of Lords decisions. This must be resisted as there are m any ingredients in the set, which requires doful protrudening and organization. In summary, this is a question where it is quite easy to engage a pass mark but dif? c ult to contain a mellow grade. swear out pattern Mens rea Intentionde? nition Moloney 1985the golden incur Woollin 1998 watchfulness on intention Law Commission No. 218 Suggested answer Except with unyielding (or absolute) indebtedness offences, in order for an impeach to be diagnose chargeable of a criminal offence, the criminal criminal pursuit must prove that the criminate committed the actus reus of the offence with the appropriate mens rea. Mens rea generally signi? es blameworthiness, although in R v Kingston 1994 3 All ER 353, the shack of Lords con? rmed that the impeach was guilty of an offence requiring the criminal prosecution to prove intention, although he was morally blameless.Mens rea is the mental element, which varies from one offence to a nonher but generally, for the more serious offences, it comp s tand ups intention or precipitancy, with intention creation reserved for the most serious offensive activitys. One would therefore think that, creation of much(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) entire importance, intention would be speci? bidy de? ned and rigidly applied, but this is non the case. There sop up al sorts been dif? culties with the concept of intention within the criminal law. What is it? How should it be de? ned? How do the prosecution prove it? How does the discharge judge direct the jury?These issues baffle been the subject of much judicial and academic debate in novel years. Although the word intention implies purpose or make up desire, there have been many diverse de? nitions by the judiciary, and commentators have alike identi? ed different types of intention. First, direct intent, where it was the impeachs purpose or motive to gain or so a go. Thus in R v Steane 1947 1 All ER 813, the charge, who assisted the enemy during the war, had his c onviction quashed as the court finalized that he did not intend to assist the enemy he intended to protect his family, who would have been harmed had he not cooperated.Secondly, oblique intent, where the accuse does not necessarily desire the result but foresees it as extremely probable. Thus in Hyam v DPP 1974 2 All ER 41, the put forward of Lords upheld a conviction for murder where the The elements of a execration actus reus and mens rea 11 accuse had set ? re to the dupes put forward even though the accuseds purpose had been totally to frighten the dupe. Because there was raise that the accused foresaw that finish or grievous material harm was super probable the manse of Lords felt justi? d in concluding that her state of top dog could be regarded as a form of intent (on this acceptoff the law is now as set out in R v Woollin 1998 4 All ER 103see below). Thirdly, ulterior intent, where it must be studyn that in intentionally doing one act the accused has a related purpose. Thus to be guilty of burglary under s. 9(1)(a) of the Theft meet 1968, it is infallible for the prosecution to prove that the accused, when deliberately entering a make as a trespasser, did so with a speci? c related purpose in caput, e. g. , to steal or commit criminal damage. It would not be suf? ient if the accused intentionally broke into the domicil with the sole purpose of sheltering from the weather. The terms speci? c and basic intent, are withal used in watch over of the self-abnegation of intoxication to distinguish between those offences where intoxication is permitted as a defence and those where it is not (see pass on DPP v Majewski 1976 2 All ER 142). Although there is an overlap between intention on the one turn and motive and apprehension on the other, and these latter concepts assist the jury in their deliberations on intention, it is cause that the concepts are not synonymous.Motive is the reason why a mortal acts, while intention is his or h er mental ken at the time of the act. Foresight can be yard of intention, but it is not conclusive proof of it. partition 8 of the Criminal Justice bite 1967 states that a court shall not be bound in law to infer that the accused intended or foresaw a result of his actions by reason only of its being a natural and probable exploit of those actions, but shall decide whether he did intend or foresee that result by reference to all the severalise, drawing such inferences from the evidence as appear proper in the circumstances.The issue of intention was debated by the mob of Lords in R v Moloney 1985 1 All ER 1025 and R v autograph and Shankland 1986 1 All ER 641. In the former case, Moloney shot his stepfather from point blank range and was convicted of murder by and by the trial judge ( spare-time activity Archbold Criminal P hightail iting essay and Practice, 40th edn, para. 1713, p. 995) directed the jury that In law a man intends the proceeds of his voluntary act (a) whe n he desires it to happen, whether or not he foresees that it belike testament happen, or (b) when he foresees that it will probably happen, whether he desires it or not.The abide of Lords quashed the conviction on the basis that this was a misdirection, Lord dyad stating that the golden rule should be that, when directing a jury on the mental element demand in a crime of speci? c intent (i. e. , intention), the judge should avoid any elaboration or paraphrase of what is meant by intent, and leave it to the jurys dandy sentience to decide whether the accused acted with the undeniable intent, unless the judge is convinced that, on the facts and having regard to the way the case has been presented to the jury in evidence and 2 The elements of a crime actus reus and mens rea assertion, slightly pay heedize explanation or elaboration is exactly necessary to avoid misunderstanding. Although the decision may be criticized on the ground that their Lordships mazed a golden op portunity to de? ne intention, it is in keeping with the groundbreaking form of leaving more and more issues to the jury, especially the meaning of nomenclature in common use. For example, Brutus v Cozens 1972 2 All ER 1297 (insulting) R v Feely 1973 1 All ER 341 (dis frankly).This decision was complyed by the House of Lords ruling in R v Hancock and Shankland, where Lord Scarman also make the point that if intention postulate a detailed direction it was best to leave this to the discretion of the trial judge who would have had the bene? t of hearing all the witnesses and gauging the ability of the jury. He added that the trial judge could not do as Lord Bridge suggested and evidently direct the jury to consider two questions ? st, was death or really serious taint in a murder case a natural result of the suspects voluntary act? secondly, did the suspect foresee that sequel as being a natural consequence of his act? further instructing them that if they answer Yes to both questions it is a proper inference for them to draw that the accused intended that consequence. Lord Scarman stated that the trial judge must refer to the concept of probabilitythe more probable the consequence, the more likely the accused foresaw it and intended it.Despite clear House of Lords dicta to the contrary, the philander of solicitation in R v Nedrick 1986 3 All ER 1 did lay down several(prenominal) guidelines to the return that the jury should not infer intention unless they considered that the accused foresaw the consequence as a practical(prenominal) certainty. However, this decision has wined criticism, and the Court of Appeal in R v Walker and Hayles 1989 90 Cr App R 226 stated we are not persuaded that it is only when death is a virtual certainty that the jury can infer intention to kill. Nevertheless, the side of Nedrick was con? med by the House of Lords raillery in R v Woollin 1998 4 All ER 103. The House, stating that where the simple direction was not en ough, the jury should be further directed that they were not entitle to ? nd the necessary intention unless they felt sure that death or serious bodily harm was a nearly certain result of Ds action (barring some unforeseen intervention) and, that D had appreciated that fact. This decision also illustrates one of the dif? culties of the present approach, i. e. , when is the issue of intention so complicated as to warrant a detailed direction?In R v Walker and Hayles, the Court of Appeal pertinacious that the mere fact that a jury calls for a further direction on intention does not of itself make it a rare and exceptional case requiring a farsightedness direction. On the other hand, in R v Hancock and Shankland, the House of Lords con? rmed that the trial judge was right to give a detailed direction, even though the content of the direction was wrong. A further problem is that different juries may have different beliefs as to what constitutes intention, some insisting on purpose be ing necessary, while others are b attempt to accept that only foresight of a probable consequence is required.There is distinctly the The elements of a crime actus reus and mens rea 13 risk of inconsistent decisions and it is therefore not surprising that the Law Commission (Nos 122 and 218) have recommended that the following banal de? nition of intention be adopted a person acts intentionally with respect to a result when (i) it is his purpose to cause it or (ii) although it is not his purpose to cause that result, he knows that it would occur in the ordinary course of events if he were to deliver the goods in his purpose of causing some other result. Question 2 Mens rea is, by de? nition, the defendants state of spirit. Discuss the accuracy of this statement using case law to support your argument. Commentary This question requires examen of some of the assumptions made somewhat mens rea and the current trends in judicial thinking. Candidates would be expected to consider the main forms of mens rea and the extent to which courts are required to take an objective or indwelling view of break. Although Caldwell recklessness has now been in effect consigned to legal history (for the time being at least(prenominal)(prenominal)) a good answer will engage to parade an sagaciousness of that decision and its violation on the mens rea debate.Consideration also needs to be granted to the issue of erroneous belief and its tellingship with mens rea. Finally, the answer should encompass some rumination of inadvertence as a form of mens rea and the extent to which its use accords with notions of ingrained brand. act plan The nature of mens rea IntentionR v Woollin House of Lords decision The recklessness debate R v G 2003abandoning Caldwell The treatment of error and its effect on mens reaDPP v Morgan 1976 Killing by consummate(a)(a) negligencewhether objective or subjective 4 The elements of a crime actus reus and mens rea Suggested answer Although mens rea translates literally as guilty mind, relying on this as the meaning devoted to that term in modern criminal law is likely to lead to error. This is because a defendant may be found to have mens rea even though he himself has not acted with the intention of committing an offence, or even with the awareness that this might be the result. The better approach is to regard mens rea as denoting the cracking element that the prosecution has to prove.In the majority of cases this will involve proof of some dogmatic state of mind on the part of the accused, but in other cases it may be enough to show that the accused failed to advert to something that would have been self-evident to the reasonable person. The two most important brand elements used in modern criminal law are intention and recklessness. It can now be said that, as far as these two forms of mens rea are bear on, indebtedness cannot be established without evidence as to what the defendant foresaw when he committed the acts causing the prohibited results.Exactly what it is that the defendant has to have foreseen, and how much foresight he must be shown to have had, are questions that go to the core of the debate relating to where the dividing line between different types of subjective mens rea should be careworn. The modern de? nition of intention can be derived from a sum up of House of Lords decisions, notably R v Moloney 1985 1 All ER 1025 and R v Woollin 1998 4 All ER 103. A defendant cannot be guilty of murder unless he is proved to have acted with intent to kill or do grievous bodily harm.Where a direction on intent is deemed necessary, a jury should be instructed that they should consider the extent to which the defendant foresaw death or grievous bodily harm resulting from his actions. solo where there is evidence that he foresaw either consequence as virtually certain would it be safe for a jury to reason out that a defendant therefore intended either of those consequen ces. The key here is foresight. Section 8 of the Criminal Justice spell 1967 makes clear that foresight is a subjective concepti. e. it is based on what the defendant actually foresaw not on what he ought to have foreseen, or thus what the reasonable person would have foreseen had he been in the defendants shoes. Taken together, the de? nition of foresight in the 1967 travel, and the House of Lords ruling in Woollin construe that where intention is the required mens rea, there can be no doubt that it will be based on the defendants state of mindi. e. , a subjective approach will be adopted. The rationale for this is fairly demonstrableit is hard to describe a defendant as having intended a consequence if there is no evidence of it having occurred to him.Even where there is such evidence, if the chess opening of the consequence occurring has only ? eetingly crossed his mind it would still be senseless to say he intended it. The law, therefore, requires a very high full stop o f foresight onward a defendants state of mind is la campanaed as having been intentional. Recklessness, by contrast, implies risk taking, as opposed to the defendant foreseeing a consequence as a certainty. Here there has been great controversy over the past few The elements of a crime actus reus and mens rea 15 decades as to the right approach to the determination of fault.The traditional approach to recklessness as a form of mens rea very much re? ected the view that mens rea had to be based on the defendants state of mind. In R v Cunningham 1957 2 All ER 412, the Court of Appeal held that a defendant was reckless only if he took an unjusti? able risk and was at least aware of the risk materializing. The key point about this approach to recklessness was that there would be no obligation if the risk neer occurred to the defendant. Subsequently, during the 1980s a contrary view held sway, following the House of Lords decision in Metropolitan Police Commissioner v Caldwell 1981 1 All ER 961.Ds conviction for criminal damage being reckless as to whether life would be endangered, contrary to s. 1(1) of the Criminal Damage execution 1971, was upheld on the basis that he had created an obvious risk that property would be destroyed or damaged and had either given no purpose to the possibility of there being any such risk, or had accept that there was some risk involved and had nevertheless gone on to do it. The not thinking formulation of recklessness here, clearly envisaged liability being get downd even though the risk in question had not occurred to the defendant.Whilst this might have been a desirable policy lastit made it easier for the prosecution to secure convictionsit threw up many dif? cult issues. First, what of the defendant who did not think of the risk because it would not have occurred to him even if he had stopped to think? In Elliot v C (A Minor) 1983 2 All ER 1005, a 14-year-old schoolgirl of low intelligence, who was tired and sharp-set, spilt some in? ammable temper and then dropped a lighted match on the wooden ? oor of a garden shed. She was aerated under s. 1(1) of the Criminal Damage routine 1971.It was argued that she did not foresee the risk of ? re, nor would she had she addressed her mind to the possible consequences of her action. Although Goff LJ stated that a test for recklessness which allowed the court to take into account the individual characteristics of the accused had much merit (a subjective approach), he felt bound by the doctrine of precedent (at that time) to follow Caldwell, and therefore concluded that the defendant should have convicted on the objective test basis, i. e. , whether the risk would have been obvious to a reasonable man.Secondly, there was the argument that Caldwell recklessness was not acceptable as a form of mens rea because it was not based on the defendants state of mind. In R v Reid 1992 3 All ER 673, Lord Keith observed by way of response that Absence of something from a persons state of mind is as much part of his state of mind as is its presence. Inadvertence to risk is no less a subjective state of mind than is disregard of a treasure risk. What he meant by this was that even with Caldwell recklessness, the court had to consider the defendants state of mind. plainly, it is submitted, this is a piece of judicial sophistry, as all that was required was for the court to examine the defendants state of mind and, on ? nding no thought, conclude that he had been reckless provided the risk would have been obvious to the reasonable prudent bystander. Whilst many might have applauded Lord Diplocks efforts to penalize thoughtlessness in terms of a friendly policy initiative, the real question was whether he was right to 16 The elements of a crime actus reus and mens rea ursue this via a radical judicial reinterpretation of the term recklessness. It is signi? cant that fantan intervened shortly after Caldwell to reform the offence of reckless driving (a nd therefore causing death by reckless driving) by replacing it with the offence of risky drivingsee the Road Traf? c act upon 1991. The effect of this was to make clear that the offence could now be committed without any form of mens rea that required reference to the defendants state of mind. Recklessness was re laid, as a fault element, by the term dangerous.Whilst it could and was argued that recklessness implied some conscious risk-taking by the accused, there was no doubt that dangerousness as a fault element rested wholly upon an objective assessment of the defendants conduct. In other words a defendant could drive dangerously because he had a sternly secured load on the back of his trailerthere was no need for him to be aware of this. In summary this suggests that Parliament liked the idea of criminal liability based on failure to think about risk, but was not comfortable with the idea that traditional mens rea terms like recklessness might be used to describe it.As far as recklessness is concerned the subjectivist argument has found favor again, as attest by the House of Lords decision in R v G 2003 4 All ER 765, where it was held that a defendant could not be properly convicted under s. 1 of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 on the basis that he was reckless as to whether property was destroyed or damaged when he gave no thought to the risk and, by reason of his age and/or personal characteristics, the risk would not have been obvious to him, even if he had thought about it.Lord Bingham observed that recklessness should at least require a knowing disregard of an appreciated and unsufferable risk of, or a deliberate closing of the mind to, such risk. In his view it was not clearly blameworthy to do something involving a risk of injury to another if one unfeignedly did not embrace the risk. R v G re? ects a general judicial trend in favour of subjectivity, as evidenced in decisions such as B v DPP 2000 1 All ER 833.Indeed, the high watermark of this approach to fault was the House of Lords decision in DPP v Morgan 1976 AC 182, where it was held that if a defendant made a genuine drop off of factsuch as wrongly believing that a woman was consenting to sexual intercourse, he had to be judged on the facts as he believed them to be, not as the reasonable person would have believed them to be. Lord Hailsham made it clear that there was no room either for a defence of honest belief or stray, or of a defence of honest and reasonable belief or mistake.The reasonableness of the defendants honest belief was simply a factor relating to its credibility. The mental element in the offence of rape has now been modi? ed by the Sexual Offences Act 2003, so that rape is effectively now an offence with a fault element based on negligence. The rationale of DPP v Morgan survives, however, at common law to the extent that a defendant should normally be judged on the facts as he honestly believes them to be. As has been noted above in the case of dangerous driving, fault elements that do not require reference to the defendants state of mind are used.At common law this can be seen in the offence of killing by gross negligence. In R v Adomako 1994 3 WLR 288, Lord Mackay LC explained that liability would be established if the prosecution could prove that the defendants conduct get out from the proper standard of care incumbent The elements of a crime actus reus and mens rea 17 upon him, thereby creating a risk of death, and involved such a passing from acceptable standards of care as to deserve the stigma of criminalization.As was made clear in Attorney-Generals Reference (No. 2 of 1999) 2000 3 All ER 182, evidence of the defendants state of mind might be useful in guiding a jury as to whether or not the negligence was gross, but this fault element can be made out without any direct evidence as to the defendants state of mind. Whilst this may seem to run counter to the trend in favour of subjectivity it should be remembered t hat it serves a useful kindly purpose in fashioning it easier to impose criminal liability on companies that kill.In summary, therefore, it is undoubtedly true to say that mens rea normally does involve an examination of the defendants state of mind to ascertain a mark of awareness of the consequences of his actions. The law will, however, allow departures from this where the loving utility of doing so outweighs the need to ensure the fairness to the defendant that ensues from adopting a subjective approach to fault. Question 3 You are told that the (? titious) antique hold in Act 2009 has just received the lofty Assent and that s. 1 provides, It shall be an offence to destroy any book printed earlier 1800. Discuss the criminal liability of each party (in proportion to the 2009 Act) in the following situation. Arthur owns 200 books, which he thinks are worthless. He is concerned in case any of the books were printed before 1800 and consults Ben, an expert on old books, who assures him that all the books were printed long after 1800.Arthur destroys the books and is now horri? ed to discover that trio of them were printed in 1750. Commentary This is an unusual question which has caused students dif? culties, with many writing about the offence of criminal damage. This is a mistake as the question requires a detailed analysis of the mens rea requirement of the Ancient daybook Act 2009, and in particular analysis of the concept of strict liability. In a assess by Justice referred to in an article by A. Ashworth and M.Blake, The Presumption of whiteness in English Criminal Law 1996 Crim LR 306, it is estimated that in over one half of criminal offences either strict liability is compel, or the prosecution have the bene? t of a presumptuousness. It is obviously an important topic, and popular with examiners A good answer will require a detailed consideration of the possibility of this offence being one of strict liability and the effect of this. Candi dates should also consider the position if the courts decide that intention or recklessness is the appropriate mental state. 8 The elements of a crime actus reus and mens rea Answer plan Strict liabilitySweet v parsley 1969 Presumption of mens reaB v DPP 2000 The exceptions Recklessness MistakeMorgan 1976 Bens liability under the sincere Crime Act 2007 Suggested answer The ? rst point to note is that s. 1 of the Ancient Book Act 2009 is silent as to the mens rea requirement of the offence. This could mean that the offence is one of absolute liability (i. e. , strict liability in the sense that no mens rea whatsoever is required).Alternatively it could be a strict liability offence in the sense that intention, recklessness or negligence is only required as regards one or more elements of the actus reus. The imposition of absolute liability may be very harsh on the defendant. For example, in pharmaceutic Society of Great Britain v Storkwain 1986 2 All ER 635, the House of Lords upheld the conviction of a pharmacist who had given do drugss to a patient with a forged doctors prescription, although the court found the pharmacist blameless.Whilst the decision demonstrates the inherent unfairness of strict liability, it can be justi? ed on the basis that the misuse of drugs is a corpulent social evil and therefore should be prevented at all costs. The ? rst case of statutory strict liability was R v woodrow (1846) 15 M &038 W 404, where the accused was found guilty of being in possession of adulterated tobacco, even though he did not know that it was adulterated. Many early decisions revealed an inconsistent approach as the courts were trying to interpret old statutes in ascertaining the will of Parliament.However, Lord Reid in the House of Lords decision in Sweet v Parsley 1969 1 All ER 347 laid down the following guidelines (a) wherever a section is silent as to mens rea there is a presumption that, in order to give effect to the will of Parliament, words merchandise mens rea must be read into the preparedness. (b) It is a universal principle that if a penal provision is somewhat capable of two interpretations, that interpretation which is most favourable to the accused must be adopted. (c) The fact that other sections of the Act expressly require mens rea is not in itself suf? ient to justify a decision that a section which is silent as to mens rea creates an absolute offence. It is necessary to go outside the Act and examine all relevant circumstances in order to establish that this must have been the intention of Parliament. The elements of a crime actus reus and mens rea 19 So in Cundy v Le Coq (1884) 13 QB 207, a publican was found guilty of selling intoxicating liquor to a drunken person under s. 13 of the Licensing Act 1872, even though the publican did not know and had no reason to know that the node was drunk whereas in Sherras v De Rutzen 1895 1 QB 918, a publican was not guilty under s. 6(2) of the Licensing Act 1872 of serving alcohol to a law constable while on barter when the accused did not know or have reason to know that the police constable was on transaction. The former case was held to be an offence of strict liability, whereas in the latter, in order to obtain a conviction, the prosecution had to prove mens rea on behalf of the publican, which they were inefficient to do. Despite the fact that there is a presumption in favour of mens rea when a statute is silent, the courts have been prepared to rebut this presumption on many occasions.The leading case on this point is Gammon v Attorney-General for Hong Kong 1985 AC 1, where Lord Scarman set out the applicable principles. If the offence is in truth criminal in character the presumption is particularly strong, but it can be displaced where the statute is concerned with an issue of social concern. Thus, in Gammon, as the accuseds activities involved public safety, the Privy Council were prepared to check into that the legislature i ntended the offence to be one of strict liability. On analysis these principles appear inconsistent. It could be argued that all crimes by de? ition are grave social evils, yet if the offence is truly criminal in character, strict liability does not apply. In practice, the courts have adopted a ? exible approach, but it is acknowledge that certain spheres of activity are always likely to attract the conclusion that this is an offence of strict liability. Thus in? ation (R v St Margarets Trust Ltd 1958 2 All ER 289), pollution (Alphacell Ltd v timberward 1972 2 All ER 475), and dangerous drugs (Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Storkwain, above) are traditional areas where strict liability has been compel.However, it does seem in recent years that the category of grave social concern is expanding to encompass pertly social activity to include acting as a director whilst disquali? ed (R v Brockley 1994 Crim LR 671) and unauthorized possession of a dangerous dog (R v Bezzin a 1994 1 WLR 1057). However, the House of Lords have again emphasized the need for the prosecution to prove mens rea in B (A minor) v DPP 2000 1 All ER 833, where Lord Hutton stated (at p. 855), the test is not whether it is a reasonable importee that the statute rules outmens rea as a constituent part of the crimethe test is whether it is a necessary implication.Further in R v cubic decimetre 2001 3 All ER 577, the House held that although s. 28 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 required the defence to prove a defence, this only meant introduce evidence of, instead than establish a defence on the balance of probabilities. In view of these developments, it is submitted that it would be most unlikely for s. 1 of the Ancient Book Act 2009 to be an offence of strict liability, and therefore Arthur will only be guilty if the prosecution can establish that he had the necessary mens rea.As Rix LJ observed in R v M 2009 EWCA 2615, even if the provision in question is silent as to mens rea and other provisions in the statute expressly require it, the presumption in 20 The elements of a crime actus reus and mens rea favour of mens rea will not be rebutted unless the circumstances are such as to compel such a conclusion. If the court were to decide that the offence required the prosecution to prove intention, it is submitted that Arthur would not be convicted.He obtained the flavour of Ben, an expert and clearly did not desire or even foresee the consequence that protected books would be destroyed. Arthur has made a mistake, and even if an accused makes an monstrous mistake, in accordance with the House of Lords decision in DPP v Morgan 1976 AC 182, he is, in the absence of any clear statutory intent to the contrary, entitled to be judged on the facts as he believed them to be. If the court decides that the offence could be committed recklessly, it would still be very dif? ult for the prosecution to establish the appropriate mens rea. It is almost certainly the case that subjective recklessness would have to be provedi. e. , the prosecution must show that the accused foresaw the consequence and took an unjusti? ed risk (R v Cunningham 1957 2 All ER 412 and R v G 2003 4 All ER 765) (although technically the latter only deals with the issue of recklessness in relation to criminal damage). As Arthur sought the picture of an expert it is dif? cult to see how it could be argued that he was consciously taking an unjusti? ed risk.It is therefore submitted that Arthur could be guilty of the offence only if the court decides that s. 1 of the Ancient Book Act 2009 creates an offence of strict liability. Turning to Bens liability, if he genuinely believed the books to be of post-1800 vintage and the courts interpret the offence as requiring at least recklessness on this issue, he could not be convicted as an companion as he would lack the necessary mens rea. If the offence were held to be one of strict or absolute liability Ben could only be convicted a s an accomplice if he knew of the facts that constituted the offencei. . he knew the books dated from before 1800see Johnson v Youden 1950 1 KB 544. Alternatively, if Ben knew or believed the books to date from before 1800 he could be charged with either (i) doing an act capable of promote or assisting the focusing of an offence intending to encourage or assist its commission contrary to s. 44 of the Serious Crime Act 2007 or (ii) doing an act capable of encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence believing that the offence will be committed and that his act will encourage or assist its commission contrary to s. 5 of the Serious Crime Act 2007. The act in question would be giving advice to Arthur he knew to be wrong. The fact that Arthur, in destroying the books, might have acted without mens rea will not disembarrass Ben. If the offence under the Ancient Book Act 2009 is construed as requiring fault it will be suf? cient for the prosecution to prove that Bens state of mind was such that, had he destroyed the books, he would have acted with the degree of fault required for the full offence see s. 47(5)(a)(iii) of the 2007 Act.If the 2009 Act is a strict liability offence, Ben can be convicted under the Serious Crime Act 2007, provided he believed that the books dated from before 1800 or was reckless as to whether or not they did. The elements of a crime actus reus and mens rea 21 Question 4 Gloria, Woods eccentric aunt, aged 57, was invited to stay with Wood and his girlfriend bloody shame at their property on the coast. It was agreed that Gloria would stay for three weeks and would infest the bear down in the garden of the Woods house some 30 yards away. Gloria also agreed to pay ? 0 to cover the electrical energy she would use in the lodge. Everything went well for two weeks, with all three share meals at the house. However, a change of mood then came over Gloria who indomitable that she no longer wanted to have meals with Wood and bloody sh ame. Gloria spent more and more time by herself at the lodge. After 20 days of the holiday Gloria, whose visible condition had visibly deteriorated, announced that she refused to leave the lodge and was going to stay there the rest of the winter. This so enraged Wood and Mary that the next day they told her to leave immediately, which she did.Six hours later, at 11 pm, Gloria rang their bell pleading to be let in as she was cold and hungry and had nowhere else to go. Wood and Mary refused, and during that night Gloria was taken to hospital unworthy from hypothermia. While in hospital, Gloria fell unconscious and was placed on a life support machine. After ? ve days she was correctly diagnosed by Dr Spock as being in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery. He accordingly disconnected the machine. Discuss the criminal province (if any) of Wood and Mary. CommentaryThe sensible way to tackle this question is to start with an examination of failure to act as a basis fo r liability. The key aspect of this will be the comparison of the given cases with earlier decisions such as R v Instan and R v Stone and Dobinson. Care must be taken to distinguish between the facts of those cases and the current problem. The facts of the question require an examination of at least three bases for liability blood kinship, doctrine, and creating a dangerous situation. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that the discussion of omission is all that is required.Candidates must establish a causal unite between the omission and the deathin fact and in law. Finally, candidates will need to consider the most appropriate form of homicide. Candidates are advise not to waste valuable time considering murder or improper act manslaughterthey are clearly not relevant on the facts. In relation to killing by gross negligence, candidates need to devote some time to the issue of concern of carenote that this covers very equal ground to the discussion relating to liability f or omissionbut the decision in R v Evans is particularly helpful and relevant here.Note Candidates are not required to consider the responsibility of Dr Spock. 22 The elements of a crime actus reus and mens rea Answer plan Is there a causative omission? Examine the bases for liability for failing to actstatutory, contractual, and common law Distinguish R v Instan and R v Stone &038 Dobinson Consider R v miller and R v Evans Consider killing by gross negligence Can a responsibleness of care be established? Is the degree of fault required made out on the facts? Suggested answer The ? st issue to be resolved is whether or not Wood and Mary can be said to have caused the death of Gloria. As there is no positive act by either of them that causes death, the court would need to analyze whether or not liability can be based on the failure of either or both of them to prevent Glorias death. The question as to whether an omission, as opposed to an act, can actually cause a consequen ce is a moot point. Traditionally, the criminal law has always drawn a clear distinction between acts and omissions, being loath to vindicate the latter.Other European countriese. g. , Greece, France and Germanydo not exhibit the same reluctance, and there is departure as to whether the English approach is correct. See in particular the different views of Professors A. Ashworth (1989) 105 LQR 424 and G. Williams (1991) 107 LQR 109. However, apart from the numerous statutes that impose a duty to act, e. g. , s. one hundred seventy of the Road Traf? c Act 1988, it appears that the common law will impose a duty to act only in very trammel circumstances.There can be no criminal liability imposed on Wood and Mary in respect of their failing to care for Gloria unless the prosecution can establish that they were under a positive legal duty to care for her. Such a duty can be imposed by statute, but that is clearly not the case here. Similarly a legal duty to act can arise from a contrac t between the parties. For example in R v Pittwood (1902) 19 TLR 37, where the defendant, a railway gate operator, was found guilty of manslaughter when a person was killed cut through a railway line as a result of the defendant leaving the gate open when a train was coming.In the present case it could be argued that there was a contractual alliance, in that Gloria agreed to pay for her electricity and was in occupation of the lodge, but it is hard to see how any positive duty to care for Gloria can be impliedand in any event it would be argued that the contract was only for the initial three-week period, and that it was a strictly domestic arrangement not intended to give rise to de jure enforceable obligations. In respect of Wood it could be argued that he was under a common law duty to care for Gloria because she was a relative.Where the relationship is that of parent and child the common law has had little dif? culty in identifying a positive legal duty of care so The elemen ts of a crime actus reus and mens rea 23 that failing to act can result in liability where it causes harm see R v Gibbins and Proctor (1918) 13 Cr App R 134. In R v Instan 1893 1 QB 450, liability for manslaughter was imposed upon a niece who failed to care for her aunt with whom she was living, having been given money by the aunt to supply groceries. Liability in Instan was largely based on the cosmea of a blood relationship between the parties.This would seem to suggest that, at least in the case of Wood, there might be a common law duty to act. It is submitted that the present case can be distinguished from Instan. In Instan the defendant actually occupied the same house as the deceased, and had expressly undertaken the task of purchasing food for her, which she subsequently failed to do, knowing well that her aunt could not fend for herself. In the present case Gloria decided for herself that she wanted to stay in the lodge alone, thus ski tow the question of whether Wood was obliged to do anything more for her than he had been doing during the ? st two weeks of her stay. Furthermore the evidence suggests that it was refusing to allow in Gloria after she had been told to leave that led to her deathraising the question of whether Wood was under any obligation to readmit Gloria. The much more promising argument for the prosecution is that a positive legal duty to act at common law arose in respect of both Wood and Mary because they had allowed a relationship of credit to develop between themselves and Gloria. The key authority here is R v Stone and Dobinson 1977 QB 354.In that case the Court of Appeal upheld convictions for killing by gross negligence on the basis that the defendants had admitted the deceased to their house and had act to care for her. They then failed to discharge their duty adequately and failed to summon any attention in discharging that duty. The court stressed that the duty to act arose not simply because of a blood relationship b etween one of the defendants and the deceased, but because of the reliance relationship.It could be argued that in allowing Gloria to stay Wood and Mary allowed a relationship of reliance to developbut the present case can be distinguished from Stone and Dobinson on the grounds that Wood and Mary placed a time limit on Glorias stay, and Gloria left of her own volition. Thus the argument as to whether or not there is any liability for failing to act is ? nely balanced. The prosecution could run an alternative argument on the basis that when Gloria begs to be readmitted to the house Wood and Mary are aware that their expulsion of Gloria has created a dangerous situation.There is evidence that Glorias physical condition had visibly deteriorated. Gloria was cold, hungry, and had nowhere to go. There was evidence that Gloria was eccentric. Applying R v Miller 1983 1 All ER 978, where the House of Lords upheld the accuseds conviction for criminal damage where he had inadvertently started a ? re and then, when he realized what he had done, simply left the building without making any attempt to prevent the ? re spreading or to call the ? re brigade, it could be argued that by failing to offer Gloria shelter, Wood and Mary committed culpable omission that caused Glorias death.For the Miller principle to apply, the prosecution would have to show that the defendants were both aware that their expulsion of Gloria had created a dangerous situation. On the facts this should not be too dif? cult. 24 The elements of a crime actus reus and mens rea Assuming that the failure to care for Gloria, or the refusal to readmit her to the house, can form the basis of liability, the prosecution will have to show that this omission caused Glorias death. It is not necessary for the prosecution to prove that the omission was the sole or main cause, merely that it contributed signi? antly to the victims death (R v Cheshire 1991 3 All ER 670). The accused could argue that the doctors twist off the life support system constituted a novus actus interveniens, breaking the chain of causality but this argument was rejected by the House of Lords in R v Malcherek R v Steel 1981 2 All ER 422, where Lord Lane CJ stated that the fact that the victim has died, despite or because of aesculapian treatment for the initial injury given by careful and skilled medical practitioners, will not authorise the original assailant from responsibility for the death.It is therefore clear that the medical treatment, of itself, will not be held to have broken the chain of causation in law. Wood and Mary could be charged with manslaughter on the basis of killing by gross negligence, which, unlike unlawful act manslaughter, can be based on an omission see R v Lowe 1973 1 All ER 805. The key authority regarding killing by gross negligence is the House of Lords ruling in R v Adomako 1994 3 All ER 79, where their Lordships held that an accused would be guilty of manslaughter if the following four conditions were satis? d (i) the accused owed a duty of care to the victim (ii) that duty was broken (iii) the conduct of the accused was grossly negligent (iv) that conduct caused the victims death. In some cases the existence of a duty of care will be self-evident, for example doctor and patient, parent and child etc. Notwithstanding the decision in R v Instan, it should not be assumed that all familial relationships will give rise to a legal duty of care, and in any event this would not assist as regards Mary. Signi? antly, the Court of Appeal decision in R v Evans 2009 EWCA Crim 650, indicates that a duty of care will be know by the courts in what might be referred to as R v Miller situations i. e. , where the defendant has created a dangerous situation and is aware, or ought reasonably to be aware, that this is the case. Allowing Glorias physical condition to deteriorate and then not allowing her back into the house might provide the evidential basis for this. The trial judge in the present case should direct that they can conclude that a duty of care existed provided they ? d certain facts establishedand the trial judge should make clear to the jury what those key facts are. It is submitted that there is suf? cient evidence for the jury to conclude that a duty of care existed. The breach of the duty of care is evident in their not helping Gloria and not attempting to obtain any alternative assistance for herthey did not even call the police to The elements of a crime actus reus and mens rea 25 advise them of the problem. The issue of whether this breach of the duty of care can be said to have caused the death of Gloria has already been considered above.The remaining live issue, therefore, is that of gross negligence. Following the House of Lords decision in R v Adomako the jury will have to determine whether or not the accuseds conduct (a) departed from the proper standard of care incumbent upon them (b) involved a risk of death to the victim (c) was s o grossly negligent that it ought to be regarded as criminal. As later cases such as R v Mark and another 2004 All ER (D) 35 (Oct) indicate, actual foresight of risk of death by the accused is not required.The test for mens rea is objectivedoes the jury regard the act or omission leading to the breach of duty as being so culpable that it should be labelled as criminal? Evidence that the defendants knew they would cause harm by not acting is admissible to establish the required fault, but is not essential. Similarly, evidence that Mary and Wood had never thought about what might happen to Gloria could be admissible to show that they should not be labelled as criminals, but such evidence would not preclude a ? nding by the jury that they had acted, or failed to act, in a manner that was grossly negligent. Question 5Critically analyse with reference to decided cases, the reasons why the development and application of the criminal law is often unorthodox and inconsistent. Commentary Oc casionally an exam will contain a question that requires candidates to take a wider view of the criminal law. This is such a question. Candidates cannot simply home in on a speci? c area and cover it in detail. Candidates must try to think of instances throughout the syllabus that can be used in your arguments to answer the question. Avoid the common mistake of interpreting the question to read Choose one area of the criminal law where there are dif? ulties and write all about them This question has been included as it enables candidates to think more widely about the procedure of the criminal law within the legal system and society as a whole. Providing a good answer requires the ability to take a broad view of the syllabussomething candidates who revise topics in isolation are not always able to do. 26 The elements of a crime actus reus and mens rea Answer plan Constant changeR v R 1991 wish of codeCaldwell 1981, Morgan 1975 Logic v policy Role of House of Lords cleg 1995 Su ggested answer The development of many areas of law follows a consistent and lawful course.The basic foundations, their concepts and application are accepted by the vast majority, and only ? ne tuning or adjustments of these principles are required to meet new situations. Unfortunately this cannot be said about criminal law, where the debate about fundamental conceptssuch as whether recklessness should be interpreted subjectively or objectively whether a mistake of fact relied upon by a defendant should have to be one that a reasonable person would have made whether manacles should be a defence to a charge of murderis still ongoing. One of the problems is that the criminal law is subject to constant change.It has to adapt to cover new phenomena, such as stalking, drug abuse, and internet fraud and to re? ect societys changing social and moral standards. As the House of Lords stated in R v R 1991 4 All ER 481, abolishing the hubbys marital rape exemption, the common law is capabl e of evolving in the light of social, economic and cultural developments. In that case the recognition that the status of women had changed out of all recognition from the time (Hales Pleas of the Crown 1736) when the husbands marital rape exemption was initially recognized was long overdue. Similarly, the criminal law once re? cted the moral position that it was a crime to take ones own life. Failure in such an enterprise was prosecuted as attempted suicide and could be punished. However, attitudes softened and it was recognized that such a person needed help, not a criminal trial the law was consequently amended by the Suicide Act 1961. The 1960s saw similar changes in respect of the law relating to homoeroticism and abortion. Changes in the law can also result from a put forward in ideology on the part of an elected government, or as a response to new threats to the safety and stability of societyfor example legislation to combat terrorism.There is no doubt that the development and application of the criminal law would be more consistent and predictable if the courts exhibited a more identical approach to its development. The problem is illustrated by two House of Lords decisions Metropolitan Police Commissioner v Caldwell 1981 1 All ER 961, where an objective approach to recklessness was used, and DPP v Morgan 1975 2 All ER 347, where a subjective approach to mistake was applied. Why was it that liability for recklessness was imposed on an objective basis, but where a defendant made a mistake of fact heThe elements of a crime actus reus and mens rea 27 was entitled (subject to any statutory provision to the contrary) to be judged on the facts as he honestly believed them to be? Commentators may argue that two different areas of the criminal law were being considered, criminal damage and rape (note that the law has since been changed as regards rape by the Sexual Offences Act 2003), but the inconsistency is still stark. At least in so far as recklessness is concerned, the House of Lords has now embraced the notion of subjectivity again in R v G 2003 4 All ER 765, but the very fact that the legal de? ition of such a basic concept can change so much in the space of 20 years is itself startling. The Law Commission has long argued that the solution lies in codifying the law (see Law Com. No. 143) on the basis that the criminal law could then exhibit a uniform approach to all crimes and defences. All other major European countries (France, Germany, and Spain) have a detailed criminal code, with a uniform approach providing a starting point for interpreting the law. The criminal law in England and Wales has developed in a piecemeal fashion, with one offences development showing little consistency with anothers.So often it is dif? cult to say what our law actually is, even before lawyers start to debate how it should be applied, e. g. , R v Savage R v Parmenter 1992 1 AC 699, interpreting (after over 130 years of use) the provisions of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. A code could be expressed in clear language with de? nitions of fundamental concepts such as intention and recklessness, as suggested by the Law Commissions Draft Criminal Code although, as the former chairman of the Law Commission Justice Henry Brooke stated (1995 Crim LR 911) zero in their right mind would want to put the existing criminal law into a codi? d form. Often the criminal law follows a logical approach in its application but as it does not exist in a vacuum and is not simply the application of academic principles, policy considerations sometimes have to prevail. As Lord Salmon stated in DPP v Majewski 1976 2 All ER 142, regarding the defence of intoxication, the answer is that in strict logic the view intoxication is no defence to crimes of basic intent cannot be justi? ed. But this is the view that has been adopted by the common law which is founded on common sense and experience rather than strict logic. Policy considerations ar e also behind s. (3) of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981, whereby in the offence of attempt, the facts are to be as the accused believes them to be. Thus an accused, objectively viewed, may appear not to be committing a criminal act but because they believe they are, they can be guilty of attempting to commit that criminal act, as in R v Shivpuri 1986 2 All ER 334. There is often no means of predicting which approach will prevail. In Jaggard v Dickinson 1980 3 All ER 716, the accused, who had been sensible by her friend X that she could break into Xs house to shelter, while drunk mistakenly broke into Vs house.She was charged with criminal damage under s. 1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971, but argued that she had a lawful excuse under s. 5(2) of the Act as she honestly believed that she had the owners consent. Although the prosecution contended that this was a crime of basic intent and therefore drunkenness was no defence (citing the 28 The elements of a crime actus reus and mens rea House of Lords decisions of Metropolitan Police Commissioner v Caldwell and DPP v Majewski in support), the Court of Appeal quashed her conviction, giving priority to the statutory provision of s. (2) of the 1971 Act. One important aspect of the criminal law process in recent years, which has caused uncertainty, is the character reference of the House of Lords in changing the criminal law. Clearly judges are there to say what the law is, not what it should be but Lord Simon in DPP for Northern Ireland v Lynch 1975 1 All ER 913 said I am all for recognising that judges do make law. And I am all for judges exercising their responsibilities boldly at the proper time and placewhere matters of social policy are not involved which the collective wisdom of Parliament is better suited to resolve.Thus in R v R, the House of Lords changed the law of rape, by abolishing the husbands defence of marital rape immunity without waiting for Parliament to implement the Law Commissions recommenda tions. However, their Lordships took the opposite view in R v Clegg 1995 1 All ER 334, where they refused to follow the Law Commissions suggestion that a person who was entitled to use force in self-defence but who used unreasonable force, thereby killing the victim, would be guilty of manslaughter, not murder.Lord Lloyd stated I am not adverse to judges developing law, or indeed making new law, when they can see their way clearly, even where questions of social policy are involved. A good example is R v R. But in the present case I am in no doubt that your Lordships should abstain from law making. The reduction of what would otherwise be murder to manslaughter in a particular class of case seems to me essentially a matter for decision by the legislature. It is dif? cult to appreciate the essential remainder in issues in these two cases, despite Lord Lowrys justi? cations in R v Clegg that R v R dealt with a speci? act and not with a general principle governing criminal liability. Clearly there is a difference in opinion amongst the Law Lords as to the correct application of these principles. This is well illustrated by the House of Lords decision in R v Gotts 1992 1 All ER 832. The majority decision not to allow duress as a defence to attempted murder was on the basis that duress was no defence to murder. The minority view to the contrary revealed a different analysis. They argued that duress is a general defence throughout the criminal law with the exceptions of the offences of murder and treason.It is for Parliament, and not the courts, to limit the ambit of a defence and as attempted murder is a different offence to murder, duress must therefore be available. It is submitted that these are the main reasons why the development and application of the criminal law is often uncertain and unpredictable. There are other factors, such as whether an issue is a question of law for the judge or fact for the jury, e. g. , the meaning of administer (R v Gillard (198 8) 87 Cr App R 189) the dif? culty in ascertaining the ratio decidendi of many cases, e. g. R v Brown 1993 2 All ER 75 (consent) and the possible effect of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. But it is the lack of a code and uniform principles which are the main factors causing the inherent uncertainty. The elements of a crime actus reus and me