The insanity defense has been around for a while. A lot of people might not understand what that is, except for the fact that someone is “crazy” and gets to get away with whatever criminal act or wrong act they have done. However, the insanity defense has been part of the legal system for a while. “A criminal defendant who is found to have been legally insanewhen he or she committed a crime may be found not guilty by reason of insanity. In some cases, the defendant may be found guilty but sentenced to a less severe punishment due to a mental impairment.” Courts use different rules to test out to legally claim if someone falls under the insanity defense. Some states do not allow the insanity defense to be used as a way to defend the actions of a criminal act. Those states are Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Kansas.

The four different rules to test the insanity defense are: The M’Naghten Rule, the Irrisistable Impulse Test, the Durham Rule, and the Model Penal Code Test. Each one has a specific insanity claim that could correlate to what the defendant claims.

The M’Naghten Rule: The person did not realize what he/she was doing and they could not tell right from wrong because of a mind disease.

The Irrisistable Impulse Test: The person was unable to control their actions because of the mental disease.

The Durham Rule: Despite being diagnosed for a mental illness, the person still committed a criminal act.

Model Penal Code Test: The person was diagnosed for a mental disease, but was unable to understand the criminality behind their actions.

One such case of the Insanity Defense was of William Freeman. He had a head injury while he was in prison from being hit by lumber by a guard. After he was released, he was seemed to have gone deaf and become slow witted. He was then arrested for the murder of a farmer and his family. William H. Seward represented the casr for Freeman and used the insanity defense as the plea for Freeman. There was a guilty verdict, however, it was taken to the Supreme Court to be tried. Freeman died in his jail cell before a decision was made, but later on in an autopsy showed that he had advanced brain detrioration. It was not really proven that it was his mental illness that had caused him to murder.

The insanity defense is very hard to use to defend someone who has comitted a serious crime. How do we decide what level of insanity will allow a person to be guilty or not. I think that those who can prove insanity and fall under it should have some kind of repercussions. Even if they have no control over themselves, they still comitted a crime. There can be people who lost their lives, people traumatized for life, people losing their loved ones because of  one person. The insanity defense in my opinion should not be an excuse for people to be not guilty or set free. It should be taken to consideration but still be given the proper punishment or repercussions necessary. Many people have different ideas and beliefs on this issue.

Sources

http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-procedure/insanity-defense.html

The purpose of this capstone was to represent the people of SLA. I wanted to show how our school has a diverse population and that everyone is different. I also wanted an image of what SLA looks like because we cannot be defined by one thing. Our school has so many people with different stories, ideas, and thoughts. I submitted my capstone proposal with my idea and got it approved and had my Mentor Ms. Giknis help me plan out what I should be doing. I collaborated with my partner Avery to get started on this project.

I decided to tell the stories of people through photos and words attached to them on a Facebook and Instagram page. Throughout the school year I worked with my partner Avery to create these posts on our social media page. Then I decided to represent each grade at SLA through an interview podcast series as my own individual product. Each interview is with a student in each grade and they share their views and experience at SLA.

Science: Humans are very social beings. In our life we form different kinds of relationship with people. However, some relationships don’t last and can lead to heartbreak. People may not know that the reason they feel such pain during a heartbreak has a lot to do with their brain. A study done by the Journal of Neurophysiology showed that the area where physical pain activates in the brain when people see pictures of the person they broke up with. A break up is much like withdrawal of cocaine. Our physical and emotional parts of the brain share the same neural pathways. That is why some people experience difficulty sleeping, weight gain, stress, depression, and less critical thinking. When we feel physical pain the anterior cingulate cortes is stimutaled and also happens when we feel emotional pain. Therefore, the brain tells you that this breakup is physically painful or is causing you to feel physical symptoms. We as humans evolutionary evolved to be a part of things that keeps us strong and helps our survival. As we form these social relationships as an important part of survival.

Society: A lot of people don’t really relate anything scientific to the idea of heartbreak. They just think that certain behaviors after a break up is normal due to the nature of the situation. However, many people don’t realize that a break up in a long term relationship has a lot of neurological aspects that affect us. However, it does take time to recover from a situation like this because our brain also has to get used to it. Depending on how deep the relationship and how much the brain was “addicted” to the person in the relationship can affect how a person behaves and changes. According to ASAP science, there are studies that show people would rather be physically hurt than be socially excluded. We are more likely to reproduce and survive than being alone.

Self: I know that in movies and TV in general breakups are shown to be bad things. It also happens in real life where you can see these sypmtoms of heartbreak happening but you don’t realize how this really impacts you in the long run or in the moment being. In my religion, it is though that if someone is not meant for you they won’t be in your life or they will for a short amount of time. It is believed that you will find someone better and someone who is meant for you. I think that heartbreak is a real thing and that it really does impact a person but it is something that can take some time to get over.

References:

A. (2013). The Science of Heartbreak. Retrieved April 14, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGglw8eAikY

This Is What Happens To Your Body After A Breakup [VIDEO]. (2014). Retrieved April 14, 2016, from http://www.medicaldaily.com/science-breaking-how-heartbreak-hurts-your-physical-and-mental-health-306320

The Science Behind Heartbreak. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2016, from http://www.science20.com/variety_tap/science_behind_heartbreak-33900

Work Cited:

Shakespeare, William. The Taming of the Shrew;. Washington Square, 1992. Print.

50 First Dates. Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment :, 2004. Film.  

Analytical Essay:

People fall into many situations that they never imagined they would. The world is constantly changing and each situation affects how a person thinks or acts. Sometimes there is no control over how someone behaves. The only way to cope with these situations is to react and let it go. In the book, The Things They Carried,when burdened with an emotion or experience, people stop thinking clearly and do things in the heat of the moment.

O’Brien uses the story of Curt Lemon who had a fear of the dentist, to show an example of how soldiers react to their environment. All the soldiers were getting dental checkups and when it was Curt’s turn he fainted. Soldiers are always supposed to be strong and cannot show any form of weakness. So when Curt Lemon’s fear of the dentist got to him, he felt cowardly and weak.  Not wanting to live with the embarrassment that he was scared, Curt took it upon himself to get his tooth removed. “The embarrassment must’ve turned a screw in his head...The dentist couldn’t find any problem, but Lemon kept insisting, so the man finally shrugged and...yanked out a perfectly good tooth.” ( 88) People feel the need to be able to do everything that everyone else does.  Even though he was perfectly fine, Curt made an impulse decision to prove to himself that he was not a coward. He could now live with the fact that he was able to do what every other soldier did. It was not to show off to others but for his self satisfaction and to feel equal to everyone else. He made this decision in the heat of the moment because he felt embarrassed about the way he reacted to the dentist and he wanted to resolve it.

The loss of someone beloved is also a reason people lose control over their emotions and behavior. Rat Kiley was best friends with Curt Lemon. The death of Curt was too sudden and shocking for Rat. The only way he could express what he was feeling was by shooting at a water buffalo they had found. Curt’s death was a surprise to everyone, but it affected Rat the most.

“He shot randomly,almost casually, quick little spurts in the belly and butt… Rat Kiley was crying.” (79) He needed a way to let go of the pain he felt by inflicting pain upon the water buffalo.  Often times people who feel overwhelmed with an emotion or experience do not think but just react. This helps the person to cope with the change that has happened to them and will stay with them forever. By causing pain upon something else or destroying something it makes the person feel better. All the emotions are then channeled on that one object.

Throughout the book, O’Brien shows that soldiers have to always maintain a brave front and anything less than that means they are cowardly. Rat Kiley never showed any moments of fear or lack of courage. He was always someone who did his job the way it should be. Being in war can have a emotional or physical effect on soldiers. Feeling burdened with his experiences in war and the emotions that came with it, he decided he needed a way out. ”He took off his boots and socks, laid out his medical kit,doped himself up, and put a round through his foot.” ( 223) He unable to handle the emotional stress of being in war and with the loss of Curt’s death added to it. Rat knew that the only way of getting himself away from the war was to inflict harm to himself and give himself peace. After a person has too many traumatic experiences bottled up they can’t deal with them anymore.

O’brien in an interview answers how these experiences affects humans. It is not just a story, but how the events affect how a person behaves. He says “It is not the politics of Vietnam. It too is about the human heart and the pressures put on it.” (Interview #3) In his book he describes the pressure that is put on soldiers to be fearless and strong. They fall into many predicaments that they have to face and then move on. They are not given a chance to relax or able to express how they feel. They are always pressured to keep everything inside them which can later cause them to make irrational decisions.

The world is always changing, putting people into circumstances that they are not able to tolerate. People have to find ways to vent their emotions or to get away from things. There are certain decisions that are made that can be harmful in the long run. Instead of pressuring soldiers to put on a constant emotionless and brave front, people should also see that they too are human.

Works Cited for Analytical Essay:

O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway, 1998. Print.

Bourne, Daniel, and Shostak, Debra. "A Conversation with Tim O'Brien." The College of Wooster. October 2, 1991. Web. October 20, 2009.

Narrative Essay:

“Maybe if I close my eyes tight enough, it’ll all go away. Maybe if I take a few deep breaths, I can stay calm. Maybe if I just ignore everything I’ll stop thinking so much. Deep breaths. Smile. Everything will be alright.” These are the things I used to tell myself, locked up in the bathroom when I wanted to get away from everything.

Growing up, my father was not able to be a part of my life because he was unable to live in the United States for legality reasons. My mother was the one who raised me and took care of everything. My mom worked long hours on a minimum wage job to support us. As I grew older, I understood how the absence of my father really affected us. During this time period, I gradually taught myself to just hold everything in. I didn’t let anyone see how depressed I felt, I always kept up a front of being normal. When things got too much to handle, I let out all the pent up emotions, let the tears flow and felt the heavy weight of the pain go away in that moment. I never let anyone see me this way, I always thought they would think I was stupid or weak.

“It’ll be okay soon, just keep praying, just keep your patience, things will get better,” I’d tell myself every time I felt like crying or felt myself starting to crumble. I remember I’d always put on a strong face while my mom cried or just looked depressed. I couldn’t bear to see her this way constantly. I felt like I was a burden to her, and that it was all my fault she was struggling so much with working, paying bills, and etc. It all felt too suffocating so I never asked for much other than what I needed.

In school I focused on my grades more than anything. Unlike other kids, I didn’t hang out with friends, have sleepovers, or chit chat with each other. There wasn’t any way I could help my mom, so I thought by doing well in school and just trying to stay out of trouble, that would be one less thing she would have to worry about. Forgetting that anything else existed, I put all my energy into my academics. However, in the process I lost close friends and I became separated from everyone. I became a person that existed among people. I just wanted to make things better, but nothing felt right.

I struggled like this until I reached high school, where I was in a new environment. I thought to myself that I could start new. However, my mom got sick and I had to take care of her while managing school at the same time. Things would always seem to get better and then something would come along the way and it would go back to the same depressing situation. Everything inside me was just slowly building up and I kept praying that maybe one day soon my dad would be able to return to us, so that we could be together and not away from another.

During the middle of my freshman year of highschool, my mom had to get surgery done again for piles which caused her a lot of pain. She was unable to work for some time. I took care of her, from waking up to giving her medication every couple hours to making sure what she was eating. I felt broken and exhausted from everything. People may think that crying doesn’t help. For me it was the best way to just release everything I was feeling. Other times, I just hated when people talked to me, I just wanted to be left alone. I didn’t want any sympathy or pity, it made me feel weak and pathetic.

Now, I’ve learned that keeping things to myself and just letting everything pile on top of one another was not the best idea. It changed who I was, how I felt, and the world around me. This experience has made me stronger and has helped me understand the value of what relationships are. As of 2013, my dad was finally able to be here with us and things have gotten much better for us.

Girls in some countries do not have the right to decide whether they want to marry.They are forced into arranged marriages with men much older than them. It has become so normalized that no one says anything about it. Today, this is a practice in some African, Arab and Asian countries, but in fact, this kind of “marrying off” of girls has happened all around the world, depending on how much the culture values their girls. For many young girls their culture makes it impossible to exist on their own,  then girls are not as much as boys, which is why they are married off by their families at a young age to relieve the burden.

A majority of these girls that are being married off are in poor countries. In South Sudan people live in agricultural places, where this is a lot of poverty. The worth of these girls are measured through their dowries. Dowries are a way to improve the financial status of a man,they provide enough money and objects that would boost the economic status of a person.“In Jonglei, cattle are the only path to marriage. A typical dowry is 30 cattle.”(Burnett)  A typical dowry in South Sudan  are cows, they are very valued because they can provide a source of food and income. This tradition is also one that tries to protect girls from premarital sex and pregnancies which reduce the value of the girl. One statistics shows, 48% of girls under the age of eighteen are forced to marry often much older men. (Maze) This goes to show that a majority of girls are only valuable for their dowries, and marriage is what it takes to keep their “worth”. Not only does a “pure” girl have a lot of value, it also keeps the honor of the family and status. Boys are not forced into marrying at young ages, this is because they are the ones who play a huge role in keeping this tradition alive. Boys have the power of freedom, which tends to result in abusiveness towards their young wives.

Domestic violence is a huge factor in these child marriages. The girls are so young that they often die from giving birth or from being abused by their husbands. Many girls go through this form of abuse because there is no one to help them or no one cares. It is the norm for the husband to be able to such things. A Yemeni woman, named Noora explained the abuse she went through as a child bride. "I was rushed to hospital – I was a child being treated as a sex object, but the abuse did not stop. Nobody was interested in my complaints, as I was legally a wife." (Noora) In Yemen, it is common for girls to be married under the age of 15. Girls like Noora are forced into having sexual relations with their husbands, which causes them to have physical injuries. Young girls pre-pubescent bodies are not strong enough to give birth or to be sexually abused. However, no one tries to do anything about this, because it has become so common. The families of these girls do nothing, because now the husband is the one who has power over the girl.They can’t get out of this situation because it the norm and common practice for a husband to be dominating in the marriage and it is not questioned.

After these girls are turned over to their husbands families, they have no freedom to do what they want. In Nepal, girls who are married off at young ages do not get to continue their education. Classroom attendance gets lower for girls, as the school level grade is higher.These girls are not worth anything to their parents after they leave their parents, "As soon as she becomes someone else’s "property", the parents show little willingness to invest in their education as they grow.” (Sherpa) This goes to show that after they are married, educating girls is not as important as it is to educate a boy. The parents of these girls are basically giving away their daughters to another family to do as they please with her. She is not significant to their lives anymore. Money also becomes the issue because parents are not willing to pay school fees for their daughters education. They are not worth enough to be spending money for. The enrollment of boys in school are much higher than the girls. Parents are more willing to do things for their sons than daughters. This is because educating a girl is pointless if the girl is going to be married off to someone. They do not see any benefit in educating their girls because they won’t be able to do anything with the education. Therefore, since boys are the breadwinners of the family they must have an education to obtain a job or pursue a career.

Girls are not valued as much as boys, because their culture does not allow for them to be independent and they are used to be benefitted from. Although the government might not think that child marriages matters much its influence goes beyond the household and to the rest of the country. If this continues to go unnoticed then it will create a statistical barrier in education and jobs in the country for girls. If these girls are held back then the country will never face any economic growth.

Works Cited:

"As Young as Twelve: South Sudan's Child Marriage Epidemic | Enough Project." As Young as Twelve: South Sudan's Child Marriage Epidemic. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2014. <http://www.enoughproject.org/blogs/young-twelve-south-sudans-child-marriage-epidemic>.

"NEPAL: The Hidden Costs of Early Marriage." IRINnews. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2014. <http://www.irinnews.org/report/95654/nepal-the-hidden-costs-of-early-marriage>.

N.p., n.d. Web. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Flifeandstyle%2F2013%2Foct%2F01%2Fstory-yemen-child-bride>.

"In South Sudan, Cows Are Cash And Source Of Friction." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2014. <http://www.npr.org/2012/08/16/158776225/in-south-sudan-cows-are-cash-and-source-of-friction>.

What I learned and was most interested in this year in World History was: people of all races, culture, gender, religion, age, etc should be treated equally. I also learned that there are many ways to create change and that ideas can turn into big things. An example of this would be when we started working on our revolution unit. We learned about how revolutions work, how they are formed, and what causes revolutions. I did a lot of research in my own project in my Digital Revolution Guidebook. Through this project I learned the effectiveness of violent vs. nonviolent revolutions. I compared the Libyan and Tulip Revolution to portray this and explained what occurred to teach people the effectiveness of these revolutions. Revolutions don’t happen overnight, they require time, dedication, commitment, and sacrifice to see or create a change.

Another example of what I learned would be in our Religion unit. In this unit I learned about different world religions to gain a better understanding of each. I explored Christianity and Judaism in my benchmark. I use prayer as my overall theme. I learned and taught how prayers are in both religions and their meanings. I also tried to show how they are similar in a sense even though they are two different religions, they are closely related. This taught me more about the people around me and different belief systems.

This connects to a journal entry I had written when we started exploring the religion unit. We discussed how certain things influence our thinking and our lives. There are societal standards that is already placed for us to follow. We had a small discussion on how women are portrayed and how they too see themselves the same society has set these standards. For example in journal #27 I discuss the concept of women being sexualized and that they too are brought learning that they must be sexualized beings. This important issue of how the things around us like media influence our daily lives.

This leads into journal #49 where this idea is delved into deeper where gender the difference if gender is discussed. We live in a world where  our gender separates us from our abilities, dressing, and even the way we talk. Gender is a label that separates from female or male. It doesn’t represent who we are as a person or our abilities to do certain things. It’s only the genetic and physical interpretation of what we came out as into this world. I learned that there isn’t a difference between genders, the difference only exists because we make it exist.

Further into the school year we get to a more general idea of society. We discussed the issue of the rich vs. poor, in the response to Pathologies of Power. In the world today the rich see are enjoying the benefits of life while the poor think that they have no reason to exist.There is such a huge gap between these two social classes in the way they live. I have learned that the lack of money makes a huge difference. While the rich are feeding off the luxuries the poor are the ones watching or creating those luxuries through labor. We need both of these social classes in our world to work. Without the poor the rich cannot keep benefitting and without the rich the poor cannot support themselves without their money. It’s a twisted system that requires for there to be a balance of the bad and good.

In conclusion, I have gained a better knowledge of the world and how it operates. I understand the conflicts and struggles that we all face whether its with race, gender, religion, culture, etc. There are so many issues in the world that we can learn about or find ways to help. Concluding this year I feel like I have a deeper understanding of different people, societies, and countries.

(Sitting on the couch, tapping the remote)

Darn it these channels don’t even work! This remote needs some new batteries or somethin’. Allieee! Alliee! What does a guy have to do to watch some TV aroun’ here? Ah there we go, finally its workin’. What’s this? What kind of mess is this? What kind of contraptions do these people be making nowadays? Allie! Come look at this! A fuzzy steering wheel! Who on earth buys them! Ain’t got nothing better to do with their money. I don’t got time for this! Need to see what else is on.

(Clicking the remote)

Nope. No. Oh not again! N- Wait. Ah the news. Oh that pipeline thing they been talking about. I think its a great idea. Hey Allie! Look ‘ere this is what I meant! This could be it for me.

(Allie walks in talking.)

(Jumps up excitedly)

What you mean some other job? It’s perfect. All I need if for that darn pipeline to be built and I could land me a job! I be outta your place before you know it!

(Allie has a worried look on her face.)

You ‘aint got nothin’ to worry about Allie! This is gonna be great! It’s going to help thousands of people land jobs! I’m gonna be one of them.

Allie Allie Allie, you don’t get it. I like to work out in the open. I don’t wanna be taking peoples orders and faking how happy I am, just so I could get a decent tip. No way! That pipeline is gonna be built. It’s all about the government. A few people can’t do nothing.