African-Americans In The Civil War Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers

African-Americans In The Civil War Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers African-Americans In The Civil War The foundation for black participation in the Civil War began more than a hundred years before the outbreak of the war. Blacks in America had been in bondage since early colonial times. In 1776, when Jefferson proclaimed mankinds inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the institution of slavery had become firmly established in America. Blacks worked in the tobacco fields of Virginia, in the rice fields of South Carolina, and toiled in small farms and shops in the North. Foner and Mahoney report in A House Divided, America in the Age of Lincoln that, In 1776, slaves composed forty percent of the population of the colonies from Maryland south to Georgia, but well below ten percent in the colonies to the North. The invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793 provided a demand for cotton thus increasing the demand for slaves. By the 1800s slavery was an institution throughout the South, an institution in which slaves had few rights, and could be sold or leased by their owners. They lacked any voice in the government and lived a life of hardship. Considering these circumstances, the slave population never abandoned the desire for freedom or the determination to resist control by the slave owners. The slave's reaction to this desire and determination resulted in outright rebellion and individual acts of defiance. However, historians place the strongest reaction in the enlisting of blacks in the war itself. Batty in The Divided Union: The Story of the Great American War, 1861-65, concur with Foner and Mahoney about the importance of outright rebellion in their analysis of the Nat Turner Rebellion, which took place in 1831. This revolt demonstrated that not all slaves were willing to accept this institution of slavery passively. Foner and Mahoney note that the significance of this uprising is found in its aftermath because of the numerous reports of insubordinate behavior by slaves. 8 Individual acts of defiance ranged from the use of the Underground Railroad - a secret, organized network of people who helped fugitive slaves reach the Northern states and Canada - to the daily resistance or silent sabotage found on the plantations. Stokesbury acknowledges in, A Short History of the Civil War, the existence of the Underground Railroad but disagrees with other historians as to its importance. He notes that it never became as well organized or as successful as the South believed. Even with the groundwork having been laid for resistance, the prevalent racial climate in America in 1860 found it unthinkable that blacks would bear arms against white Americans. However, by 1865 these black soldiers had proven their value. Wilson writes in great detail describing the struggles and achievements of the black soldiers in his book The Black Phalanx. McPherson discusses in The Negros Civil War that widespread opposition to the use of blacks as soldiers prevailed among northern whites. Whereas McPherson relates the events cumulating in the passage of two laws that aided black enlistment, Wilson focuses on the actual enlistment. He notes that the first regiment of free blacks came into service at New Orleans in September 1862 through the efforts of Butler. Wilson credits Butlers three regiments of blacks as the first officially mustered into Union ranks. North Carolina and Kansas also organized additional black units where minor skirmishes proved to be successful. Wilson also notes that Kansas has ... the honor of being the first State in the Union to begin the organization of Negroes as soldiers for the Federal army. McPherson believes that up to this point President Lincoln had opposed the idea of blacks fighting for the Union but after the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that slaves in states still in rebellion on January 1, 1863, shall be then, thence forward, and forever free, he reversed his 8 thinking. At the end of the Emancipation Proclamation Lincoln announced that the freed blacks would be received into the armed service of the United States.... Lincoln planned to tap into a new source of fighting individuals, ...the great available and as yet unavailed of, force for the restoration of the Union.. Lincoln thought this would both weaken the enemy and strengthen the Union. The recruitment of the blacks took laborers from the South and placed these men in the Union army in places which otherwise must be filled with so many white men. Lincoln also felt that seeing the blacks fighting against the Confederacy would have a psychological effect

Politcal Disagreements essays

Politcal Disagreements essays Of the three widely analyzed revolutions in history-the French, Russian and American-the American Revolution shed by far the least amount of blood. The reason for this is believed to be that, unlike the spontaneous peasant uprisings of the French and Russian revolutions, the American Revolution was truly a concept war. The ideals of the French and Russian revolutions did not come to light until after their spontaneous sparks, but on the other hand, the revolutionaries in America used the legal disagreements with Britain and applied it with increasing force as the tension between mother and daughter (England and America) grew, until finally physical conflict erupted. At this point, the revolutionaries had already won the war because they had changed the general publics conception of Britain and the nature of the colonies struggle with her. When the mother, England, proposed taxes on their imports, etc., many educated American scholars wrote documents opposing them. For example, George Washington wrote in a letter to Bryan Fairfax on July 20, 1774, I think the Parliament of Great Britain hath no more right to put their hands into my pockets, without my consent, than I have to put my hands into yours for money... What he means by this is that consent is necessary for Parliament to pass taxes on the colonists, which the colonists obviously did not feel like giving. He also states that asking the British government to reduce taxes is like asking for a favor that we should already be entitled to, but by petitioning, we are claiming a right. The colonists did petition Britains imported goods, indeed. In fact, according to document 2, during or after each Act that Britain passed, the amount of goods imported from Britain declined, especially after the Intolerable Acts. But according the George Grenville, member of Parliament, ...this kingdom has the sovereign, the supreme legislative power over ...

Argument Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Argument Analysis - Essay Example is thesis statement is that violent entertainment can be good for children, because it helps them to manage their feelings, especially anger and fear. The fact that his thesis statement is so clear to the reader, makes his overall argument easy to understand and follow, because the reader does not have to guess what the author’s argument is, because it is mentioned in the text. On the one hand, Gerard Jones gives a lot of examples of how violent media has helped children in different situations, including himself and his son. This makes his argument strong and believable, especially, because he writes about working together with Melanie Moore, who is a psychologist. The fact that he is working together with a psychologist makes his argumentation look scientific and professional. On the other hand, he does not use any statistics, which weakens his argumentation that violent entertainment helps a lot of children and only harms a few. His argument would appear to be stronger and even more scientific, if supported by statistics. In addition, the reader might think that not all relevant factors have been considered in the text, because he just claims that violent media is mostly good for children, but does not support it with any data. Gerard Jones seems to target mostly adults, especially those adults who are also parents. In the last part of the text, he uses â€Å"we† (for adults/ parents) and â€Å"they† (for children), for example, he says: â€Å"We moan to other parents† and â€Å"We risk confusing them†. Jones gains his audience’s trust by telling them about his own and his son’s experience with violent media and how it helped both of them. By writing about his experience, the audience feels as if a relationship is established, which in turn makes him trustworthy. So, writing about his own experience is the first part of his strategy and the second part is to write about his work with the psychologist Melanie Moore and examples about how violent media has

Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 6

Ethics - Essay Example It is observed that an organization with a diverse workforce witnesses various ethical dilemmas and issues arising out of ethical values. This happens because the interest of the organizational and personal ethics is different from each other giving rise to potential conflict among employees and managers. Ethics can be termed as a moral principles or set of standard followed by an individual. Business ethics can be termed as a set of moral values and principles that help the business managers to arrive at unified conclusion. The impact of business ethics on managerial decision making is huge and has the potentiality of changing the course of decision making. It is observed that the influence of legal laws on the managerial decision making is huge and can have considerable amount of influence on the personal lives of an individual as well. Since, business activity is also regarded as a human activity the evaluation of business ethics would be done in a similar fashion. The importance of business ethics, personal ethics and legal influences on ethics would be covered in this study by the author. Situational Analysis The Enron Scandal In the year 2001 Enron Scandal had filed for bankruptcy and the collapse of the company was regarded as the biggest audit failure of all times. This occurred when the shareholders of the company had filed a suit against the company after the company’ share dropped from a double digit number to less than $1. The root cause of the sudden drop in the share price of the company confused the shareholders compelling them to file a suit against the company. It was observed that lack of systematic and clear organizational structure was the root cause behind the collapse of the company. The company failed to comply with business and legal ethical standards and there was a lack of moral standard among the employees of the organization. Outcome & Result The failure to provide a valid reason for the collapse of the Enron Corporation arous ed curiosity among investors and sparked controversy among competitors and investment banking analyst. The company management tried to solace the investors by claiming that it would hold an IPO separately for its internet department but ultimately the company filed for bankruptcy (Lashinsky, 2001). It was noted that various employees and managers were involved behind the collapse of the company. Lack of implementation of an ethical and moral standard by the human resource department can pave the path for downfall of the company. Lack of financial, sustainability accounting disclosure and lack of proper organizational climate within the company were solely responsible for the scandalous act. The US government had immediately enacted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in response to this particular incident in the year 2002 which aimed at primarily promoting transparent and accurate auditing among public accounting companies (Peavler, 2013).This federal law has set new accounting standards for US A public accounting companies, corporate directors and corporate management to enhance the corporate practices. Practical Application of Ethical Theories & Morals The above mentioned incident is a conglomeration of the egoism theory; psychological and enlightened egoism. Enlightened egoism focuses on the fact that individuals should treat each

Wuthering Heights Essay Example for Free

Wuthering Heights Essay How is Love Connected to Vengeance in Emily Brontes Wuthering Heights Wuthering Heights is one of the most well-liked and highly regarded novels in British literature. Although the book shocked the Victorian society with the portrayal of the passionate, obsessive love of Heathcliff and Catherine, Wuthering Heights remains one of the most popular novels of the 20th century. Heathcliff and Catherines fervent and passionate love for one another is the key theme of the novel considering that it is the strongest and more permanent emotion portrayed in Wuthering Heights as well as the source of the major conflicts that constitute the novels plot. Its not clear if Brontes intension is to encourage the condemnation of the two lovers as blameworthy or their idealization as romantic heroes whose love surpasses social norms and conventional morality. However, it is certain that the boundaries between love and revenge in the novel are quite blurred. Heathcliff, an orphan brought to live at Wuthering Heights, falls in love with Catherine, Mr. Earnshaws daughter. Upon the death of Mr. Earnshaw, his son Hindley mistreats Heathcliff heavily treating him like a servant. At the same time, Catherine, driven by her aspiration for social prominence, marries Edgar Linton, leaving Heathcliff miserable and humiliated. Full of feelings of disgrace and rejection, Heathcliff vows to spend the rest of his life seeking for revenge on all the people who betrayed them, namely Hindley, Catherine and Catherines children. As the novel progresses, Heathcliff transforms from an orphan, romantic lover to a powerful, rich and even cruel man, who uses all of his power to acquire both Wuthering Heights and Edgar Lintons estate, Thrushcross Grange. Heathcliff and Catherines love is well-established in their childhood and is characterized by the refusal to change. Her choice to marry Edgar Linton reveals Catherines wish for a more refined life. However, she never adapts to her role as a wife. In a way, she remains stuck to her childhood. As she confines to Nelly, the narrator of the story, who grew up next to Hindley and Catherine Earnshaw and is profoundly involved in the story she recounts, Catherine longs to returns to the security of her childhood. On the other hand, Heathcliff is portrayed as possessing an alm ost herculean ability to sustain the same approach and to foster the same grudges over many years. His obsession is  capable of transforming him into a cruel character that can take revenge on Catherine, the woman he loves since childhood and proclaims as his soul. Heathcliff is actually a Gothic hero, who seeks for vengeance and his desire is so strong that can overpower the norms of civilized society. He even imprisons Catherines daughter, young Catherine and she forces her into marriage with his son, Linton. Moreover, Heathcliff and Catherines love is based on their common perception that they are indistinguishable. Catherine notoriously asserts I am Heathcliff, while Heathcliff, upon her death, moans that he cannot live without his soul. All this asexual, passionate love, denies change, and secret rendezvous and as such t cannot fit in the relentless passage of time. Ultimately, Wuthering Heights intertwines love and vengeance as a process of change against the romantic passion of its main characters. The Narrative Techniques in Wuthering Heights Although Wuthering Heights was Emily Bronte’s only novel, it is notable for the narrative technique she employed and the level of craftsmanship involved in it. Although there are only two obvious narrators, Lockwood and Nelly Dean, a variety of other narratives are interspersed throughout the novel. The reasons for this are that the whole action of Wuthering Heights is presented in the form of eyewitness narrations by people who have played some part in the narration they describe. Unlike other novels where parallel narratives exist i.e. same event, within the same time frame being narrated from different perspectives, Wuthering Heights has a multi-layered narration, each individual narrative opening out from its parent to reveal a new stratum (level) of the story. This intricate technique helps to maintain a continues narrative despite of the difficulties posed by the huge time-shifts involved in the novel. Lockwood as Narrator: Lockwood is the outsider, coming into a world in which he finds bewildering and hostile, he’s a city gentleman who has stumbled on a primitive uncivilized world which he doesn’t understand, but which fascinates him. He arrives at the end of November 1801 as a tenant of Thrushcross Grange. After his initial meetings with his landlord, Mr. Heathcliff, he is laid up for two months during which time his fascination with Wuthering Heights leads to the beginning of Nelly’s narrative. By January 1802, he is sufficiently  recovered to return to the Heights where he informs Heathcliff of his intention to return to London for 6 months. He returns briefly in September 1802, when he hears the conclusion of Nelly’s narrative and the final events of the novel take place. In the novel Lockwood presents the situation as he sees it, the reader is thus brought closer to the action, seeing it through the eyes of the narrator himself. The presence of Lockwood in the book allows the author the author to begin the story near the end and work backwards and forwards in time with little difficulty. The opening chapters of the book are narrated by Lockwood and provide the reader with their introduction to this early 19th century world. The format of Lockwood’s narrative is that of a personal diary, which allows the development for the reader of an easy intimacy with an impartial character whose style self-conscious, a little affected and facetious is nicely calculated to engage sympathy, while allowing ground for the reader to be amused at the narrators expense. With all his limitations, Lockwood is intelligent and perceptive and his precise detailed descriptions are used by his creator to create subtle changes in situation and character, an example of this is that when Lockwood first visited Wuthering Heights, he commented on the chained gate, while at the end of the novel when he returns to find Heathcliff dea d, he noticed Both doors and lattices were open. Changes in character are also hinted at by Lockwood’s eye for detail, he has noticed changes in both Cathy and Hareton Cathy once described by Lockwood as the little witch, now has a voice as sweet as a silver bell. Hareton described in the opening chapters as a boor and a clown and has by the end of the novel become a young man respectably dressed with handsome features, therefore Lockwood, by fulfilling the role as the detached outsider and observer, brings a dimension to the novel which is quite different from the perception provided by Nelly. Lockwood’s Style as Narrator: Lockwood uses an educated literacy language marked by detailed factual description and perceptive observation and comment, both on situation and character. An example of this is his description of Hareton Meanwhile, the young man had slung onto his person a decidedly shabby upper garment, and, erecting himself before the blaze, looked down on me from the corner of his eyes, for all the world as if there was some mortal feud unavenged still  between us. I began to doubt whether he was a servant or not his bearing was free, almost haughty and he showed none of a domestic’s assiduity in attending to the lady of the house. Lockwood’s sentences are often complex consisting of a number of clauses or long phrases, frequently separated by dashes or semi-colons, examples, he probably swayed by the presidential considerations of the folly of offending a good tenant released a little in the laconic style of chipping of his pronouns and auxiliary and introducing what he supposed would be a subject of interest to me. A noticeable aspect of Lockwood’s style is his use of words of Latin origin, e.g. prudential, laconic, auxiliary. By the end of Chapter 3, Lockwood’s style has become more complex in that his sentence structure is complicated, large numbers of adjectival and adverbial clause, a liberal use of the semi-colon and comma, to give the impression of a narrator whose command of language is sophisticated. My human fixture and her satellites, rushed to welcome me; explaining tumultuously, they had completely given me up; everybody conjectured (guessed) that I perished last night; and they were wondering how they must set about the search for my remains. Nelly Dean as Narrator: Nelly Dean’s narrative, though copious and detailed, has an extraordinary, sometimes breathless energy as if she were describing events that she had witnessed an hour ago, every moment of which is vividly present to her. Nelly’s narrative is an art of stark immediacy of making the past live for us in the present. As much of Nelly’s narrative is unfolded in the words of the actual characters, we the readers, feel that the narrative is moulded by the pressure of events, not that the shape and interpretation of events is being fashioned by the narrator. The sense of actuality is conveyed by a series of concrete details that fall artlessly into place. Nelly’s sureness in relating her narrative seems to arise out of an astonishing clear memory, the impression of rapid excitement is achieved by concentrating our attention on movement and gesture, action and reaction, intermixed with vehement dialogue which convinces by its emphatic speech rhythms and plain lang uage. The dialogue has no trace of a conscious stylist, it is noticeable for the brief rapidity of the sentence, an example of this is Nelly’s recollection of the time leading up to Catherine’s death, when Catherine  emplored her to open the window of her room Oh, if I were but in my own bed in the old house! she went on bitterly, wringing her hands, And that wind sounding in the first by the lattice. Do let me feel it! it comes straight down the moor do let me have one breath! Nelly’s value as a narrator is clear from this example, she brings us very close to the action and is in one way deeply engaged in it. The intimate affairs of the Grange and the Heights have taken up her whole life, however, her position as a professional housekeeper means that her interests in events is largely practical. She provides the inner frame of the narrative and we see this world of the successive generations of Earnshaw’s and Linton’s through her eye’s, altho ugh much of the dialogue, in the interests of objectivity, is that of the characters themselves. As a narrator reporting the past from the present, she has the benefit of hindsight and can therefore depart from the straight chronological narrative to hint at the future. A major contrast between Nelly and Lockwood is that she, to an extent, is a character within her own narrative, which causes her several problems. At times she is involved in the action, she is now describing and therefore she treads a difficult path between romantic indulgence and moral rectitude, she both encourages and discourages relationships. Her attitude to theme sways between approval and disapproval, depending on her mood. This is primarily evident in the role she plays in the love triangle between Heathcliff, Catherine and Edgar; at times taking Edgar’s side while yet arranging the last meeting between Heathcliff and Catherine by leaving the window open for him. She adopted a similar position between the relationship between Cathy and Linton, at time colluding with Cathy and at other times judging and betraying her for writing against her father’s wishes. There is an ambivalence in Nelly’s attitude and this combined with her meddling nature renders her moral stance inconsistent and even hypocritical. Despite these shortcomings, she is vigorous, lively narrator with a formidable memory whose energy and unflagging interests allow the reader an insight into the lives of characters. As a narrator, Nelly’s style differs substantially from that of Lockwood, much of her narrative consists of verbatim dialogue and as such is the language of the characters in Wuthering Heights. When she herself is speaking as a narrator, her language is lively, colloquial and imaginative, this has the effect of bringing characters to life and  providing the reader with many vivid and precise images, an example of this is her reference to Heathcliff’s life It’s a cuckoo’s, sir I know all about it, except where he was born, and who were his parents, and how he got his money at first. And that Hareton, has been cast out like a unfledged dunnock. In this example the tagging on of the phrase at first suggests that Nelly knows how he got his money later and therefore arouses our interest in Heathcliff. Nelly is limited because of her conventional, religious and moral sentiments, which often prevent her from a greater understanding of the emotions or motives of the characters. This is important in Bronte’s technique as it allows the reader to believe that they have a better understanding of the characters and the developments, than either of her narrators. The inclusion of so much dialogue and the tertiary narratives of the central characters provide a direct communication between the reader and character allowing for greater immediacy and for an individual response on behalf of the reader. In this respect both Nelly and Lockwood are merely facilitators providing a mechanism through which the reader can enter a world of Wuthering Heights and react in an individ ual fashion to the events which transpire.

Suicide :: essays research papers

In the sixth century before the Christian era, religion was forgotten in India. The lofty teachings of the Vedas were thrown into the background. There was much priest craft everywhere. The insincere priests traded on religion. They duped the people in a variety of ways and amassed wealth for themselves. They were irreligious to say the least. In the name of religion, people followed in the footsteps of these cruel priests and performed meaningless rituals. They killed animals and performed various sacrifices. The country was in great need of a reformer. At such a critical period, when there were cruelty, degeneration, and unrighteousness everywhere, a reformer was to be born to save the people, and disseminate the message of equality, unity and cosmic love everywhere. Buddha was born in 560 B.C. and died at the age of eighty in 480 B.C. . Buddha's father was Suddhodana, king of the Sakhyas. Buddha's mother was named Maya. The place of his birth was a grove known as Lumbini, near the city of Kapilavastu, at the foot of Mount Palpa in the Himalayan ranges within Nepal. This small city Kapilavastu, stood on the bank of the little river Rohini, about a hundred miles north-east of the city of Varnasi. As the time grew near for Buddha to enter the world, the gods themselves prepared the way before him with celestial portents and signs. Flowers bloomed and gentle rains fell although out of season. Heavenly music was heard, and delicious scents filled the air. On the body of the child bore at birth, were thirty-two auspicious marks (Mahavyanjana) which indicated his future greatness, besides secondary marks (Anuvyanjana) in large numbers. Guatama’s mother Maya died seven days after her son's birth. He was brought up by his aunt Mahaprajapati, who b ecame his foster- mother. On the birth of the child Siddhartha, astrologers made predictions to his father Suddhodana. "The child, on attaining manhood, would become either a universal monarch (Chakravarti), or abandoning house and home, would assume the robe of a monk and become a Buddha, a perfectly enlightened soul, for the salvation of mankind". Then the king said: "What shall my son see to make him retire from the world?" The astrologer replied: "Four signs". "What four?" asked the king. "A decrepit old man, a diseased man, a dead man and a monk - these four will make the prince retire from the world" replied the astrologers.

Organized Crime

Organized Crime The Mongols Outlaw Motorcycle Club was founded in the East Los Angeles area, (City of Montebello,) in the late 60’s. It originally had ten members and all of them have had some type of contact with law enforcement. As the club grew, other chapters were formed and they rapidly expanded throughout the State of California. The Mongols quickly got involved in criminal activity, as means to support their club and lavish lifestyles.These crimes included the sale of narcotics, (predominantly Methamphetamine,) money laundering, robbery, extortion, firearms’ violations, murder, and assault, among other crimes. An organization of this type is formed by a group of individuals, whom predominantly come from an upbringing lacking educational and financial opportunities, and were raised in a broken home where one or both parents were not present. In the year 2008, the club president at the time, Ruben â€Å"Doc† Cavazos, made several poor choices, which brought federal indictments on himself and the rest of club members.Doc Cavazos was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in federal prison and prosecutors requested an injunction that prohibited club members and their families from possessing and/or wearing anything associated with the Mongols. In the same town, another former club president and founder of the Mongols, Alfonso â€Å"Big Al† Aceves, serves as a program director at The Rivers Edge Church. After a life of violence, drugs and serving time in prison, Big Al committed his life to Jesus Christ and began his journey as a Christian.Two men with the same background and chasing the same selfish goals; both earned the highest position in the same organization, one was swallowed by deception and the other was granted redemption Organized crime or criminal organizations are the international, national or local highly centralized enterprises ran by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations are politically motivated.An outlaw motorcycle gang is designed in a paramilitary system. There is a chain of command and ranks within this criminal enterprise. There is uniformity in the way they dress, (commonly known as â€Å"Colors,†) and they are obligated to ride the same make of motorcycles, (typically Harley Davidson. ) As in other criminal organizations, members operate by a code and they pledge an oath of death, should they decide to leave, (or â€Å"drop-out,†) the organization. Ruben â€Å"Doc† Cavazos was born and raised only by his father in Highland Park, in 1957.As he grew up, he became a member of The Avenues Gang of Highland Park, (a gang deemed involved in organized crime. ) During his late teen years, Doc Cavazos ended up serving time in county jail for a variety of crimes, but later earned a license to work as a radiology technician, hence the nickname â€Å"Doc. † I t was evident Doc Cavazos wanted to live a life of crime and violence and after getting tired of earning an honest living, he decided to join the Mongols. Doc Cavazos rapidly moved up in the ranks and subsequently became the international president of the club.Doc Cavazos’ overconfident demeanor generated a lot attention not only amongst the other outlaw motorcycle gangs, but also amongst local and federal law enforcement agencies. Several search warrants were served at Doc Cavazos’ homes and businesses and he always displayed a cocky attitude with police officers and federal agents during the raids. He always had the financial means and legal counsel to get him out of jail on bail within 24 hours from being arrested. However, Doc Cavazos’ own arrogance would become the tool not only law enforcement agents, but also his own troops would utilize to seal his doom.Doc Cavazos’ biggest mistake within his organization was to begin recruiting members of the 18t h Street Gang with affiliations with the Mexican Mafia and foreign drug cartels. This decision created tumult amongst Mongol’s members, since these 18th Street gang members did not own Harley Motorcycles, which is a must requirement for club members. It was evident to the rest of the Mongols that Doc Cavazos was mostly interested in troop numbers and the expansion of the drug, extortion and racketeering trades, than maintaining the oath he once pledged.Unbeknownst to Doc Cavazos was that this expansion of the club would open a bigger door for law enforcement to infiltrate confidential informants into the Mongols’ organization to gather intelligence. Within a short period of time, Doc Cavazos, his son Junior and the rest of club members found themselves with No Bail federal indictments and an injunction for their club. Before Doc Cavazos was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, he was voted out from his position as the president of the Mongols. Doc Cavazos now sits in protective custody within the federal prison system, since a bounty et by his Mongol brothers will be awarded to the one who kills him. Alfonso â€Å"Big Al† Aceves grew up in East Los Angeles with no parental support and became what is commonly known in the criminal world as â€Å"The Enforcer,† by the age of 18. Big Al would get paid to collect monies from drug sales from subjects who would refuse or would be late in paying the drug lords. According to Big Al, he would prefer these subjects not pay, so he could have a reason to kill them. At almost 20 years-old, Big Al joined the armed forces and became a member of the 101st Airborne, which fought in Vietnam.Big Al said during an interview in reference to his military recruitment, â€Å"What is better than to kill people, is to legally kill people and get paid for it. † Upon his return from Vietnam, Big Al had various run-ins with the law and this prompted him to create an outlaw motorcycle club, which he c alled, the Mongols. His experience in the military also gave him the foundation to create a criminal organization. Big Al quickly became known for his violent behavior and ability to make money by illegal means. This earned him a reputation in the criminal world and the Mongols began to grow in size and in violent acts.Big Al ended up serving several county jail and prison sentences for a variety of major crimes. By the time he met his wife, who already had six children from a previous relationship, Big Al’s strength as a gang leader had begun to deteriorate; based on his drug consumption. Big Al became extremely addicted to Heroin and his earnings in the criminal world were not enough to maintain his drug habit and in turn, to provide for his family. Big Al and his family lost it all and became homeless with nowhere to go. There was a Christian family who met Big Al and his family, and they took them into their home.The head of that family told Big Al that the only thing he required of him was to read a Bible verse with him once a day. As time went by, Big Al was asked if he was willing to ask Jesus Christ into his heart and he yielded. He began his walk as a Christian, but there were still some challenges to face. There was still one pending case for an attempt to plant a bomb and Big Al served time in federal prison for this crime. Another challenge he faced was going through Heroin withdrawals which considering his excessive drug abuse, could have been lethal.Upon his released from prison, he met with his wife and family at the airport and the first thing Big Al told his wife was, â€Å"We are going back to church. † Big Al now serves as a counselor at a local church and he has spoken in hundreds of speaking engagements. He has also become the mentor to many, just as he, whom had led a life of crime and violence, and have now found forgiveness and redemption in Jesus Christ. We find two men of the same ethnicity, growing up in the same city, initially trying to embark in a legitimate career, but then deceived into returning to a lawless lifestyle.They both rose to power and temporarily enjoyed their status and sumptuous ways of living only to find out in the end that it was all meaningless. One of these men finds himself captive and in fear for his life, while the other, although having been tried and faced severe consequences, has finally found true freedom and deliverance in Jesus Christ. In the same sense, we see how these two men with similar upbringings and the lack of parental love and guidance were easily snared into a life of crime and violence; supporting socio-cultural statistics.Works Cited â€Å"Al Aceves: Hard Core No More. † The 700 Club. Interview by Gordon Robertson. CBN. 19 Dec. 2012. Television. The River’s Edge Ranch. â€Å"Al Aceves. † A remarkable testimony. Web. www. theriversedgeranch. org/about-us/staff/316763. aspx[->0] Cavazos, Ruben â€Å"Doc†. Honor Few, Fear None. New York: Basic, 2008. Print. [->0] – http://www. theriversedgeranch. org/about-us/staff/316763. aspx Organized Crime Organized Crime The Mongols Outlaw Motorcycle Club was founded in the East Los Angeles area, (City of Montebello,) in the late 60’s. It originally had ten members and all of them have had some type of contact with law enforcement. As the club grew, other chapters were formed and they rapidly expanded throughout the State of California. The Mongols quickly got involved in criminal activity, as means to support their club and lavish lifestyles.These crimes included the sale of narcotics, (predominantly Methamphetamine,) money laundering, robbery, extortion, firearms’ violations, murder, and assault, among other crimes. An organization of this type is formed by a group of individuals, whom predominantly come from an upbringing lacking educational and financial opportunities, and were raised in a broken home where one or both parents were not present. In the year 2008, the club president at the time, Ruben â€Å"Doc† Cavazos, made several poor choices, which brought federal indictments on himself and the rest of club members.Doc Cavazos was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in federal prison and prosecutors requested an injunction that prohibited club members and their families from possessing and/or wearing anything associated with the Mongols. In the same town, another former club president and founder of the Mongols, Alfonso â€Å"Big Al† Aceves, serves as a program director at The Rivers Edge Church. After a life of violence, drugs and serving time in prison, Big Al committed his life to Jesus Christ and began his journey as a Christian.Two men with the same background and chasing the same selfish goals; both earned the highest position in the same organization, one was swallowed by deception and the other was granted redemption Organized crime or criminal organizations are the international, national or local highly centralized enterprises ran by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations are politically motivated.An outlaw motorcycle gang is designed in a paramilitary system. There is a chain of command and ranks within this criminal enterprise. There is uniformity in the way they dress, (commonly known as â€Å"Colors,†) and they are obligated to ride the same make of motorcycles, (typically Harley Davidson. ) As in other criminal organizations, members operate by a code and they pledge an oath of death, should they decide to leave, (or â€Å"drop-out,†) the organization. Ruben â€Å"Doc† Cavazos was born and raised only by his father in Highland Park, in 1957.As he grew up, he became a member of The Avenues Gang of Highland Park, (a gang deemed involved in organized crime. ) During his late teen years, Doc Cavazos ended up serving time in county jail for a variety of crimes, but later earned a license to work as a radiology technician, hence the nickname â€Å"Doc. † I t was evident Doc Cavazos wanted to live a life of crime and violence and after getting tired of earning an honest living, he decided to join the Mongols. Doc Cavazos rapidly moved up in the ranks and subsequently became the international president of the club.Doc Cavazos’ overconfident demeanor generated a lot attention not only amongst the other outlaw motorcycle gangs, but also amongst local and federal law enforcement agencies. Several search warrants were served at Doc Cavazos’ homes and businesses and he always displayed a cocky attitude with police officers and federal agents during the raids. He always had the financial means and legal counsel to get him out of jail on bail within 24 hours from being arrested. However, Doc Cavazos’ own arrogance would become the tool not only law enforcement agents, but also his own troops would utilize to seal his doom.Doc Cavazos’ biggest mistake within his organization was to begin recruiting members of the 18t h Street Gang with affiliations with the Mexican Mafia and foreign drug cartels. This decision created tumult amongst Mongol’s members, since these 18th Street gang members did not own Harley Motorcycles, which is a must requirement for club members. It was evident to the rest of the Mongols that Doc Cavazos was mostly interested in troop numbers and the expansion of the drug, extortion and racketeering trades, than maintaining the oath he once pledged.Unbeknownst to Doc Cavazos was that this expansion of the club would open a bigger door for law enforcement to infiltrate confidential informants into the Mongols’ organization to gather intelligence. Within a short period of time, Doc Cavazos, his son Junior and the rest of club members found themselves with No Bail federal indictments and an injunction for their club. Before Doc Cavazos was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, he was voted out from his position as the president of the Mongols. Doc Cavazos now sits in protective custody within the federal prison system, since a bounty et by his Mongol brothers will be awarded to the one who kills him. Alfonso â€Å"Big Al† Aceves grew up in East Los Angeles with no parental support and became what is commonly known in the criminal world as â€Å"The Enforcer,† by the age of 18. Big Al would get paid to collect monies from drug sales from subjects who would refuse or would be late in paying the drug lords. According to Big Al, he would prefer these subjects not pay, so he could have a reason to kill them. At almost 20 years-old, Big Al joined the armed forces and became a member of the 101st Airborne, which fought in Vietnam.Big Al said during an interview in reference to his military recruitment, â€Å"What is better than to kill people, is to legally kill people and get paid for it. † Upon his return from Vietnam, Big Al had various run-ins with the law and this prompted him to create an outlaw motorcycle club, which he c alled, the Mongols. His experience in the military also gave him the foundation to create a criminal organization. Big Al quickly became known for his violent behavior and ability to make money by illegal means. This earned him a reputation in the criminal world and the Mongols began to grow in size and in violent acts.Big Al ended up serving several county jail and prison sentences for a variety of major crimes. By the time he met his wife, who already had six children from a previous relationship, Big Al’s strength as a gang leader had begun to deteriorate; based on his drug consumption. Big Al became extremely addicted to Heroin and his earnings in the criminal world were not enough to maintain his drug habit and in turn, to provide for his family. Big Al and his family lost it all and became homeless with nowhere to go. There was a Christian family who met Big Al and his family, and they took them into their home.The head of that family told Big Al that the only thing he required of him was to read a Bible verse with him once a day. As time went by, Big Al was asked if he was willing to ask Jesus Christ into his heart and he yielded. He began his walk as a Christian, but there were still some challenges to face. There was still one pending case for an attempt to plant a bomb and Big Al served time in federal prison for this crime. Another challenge he faced was going through Heroin withdrawals which considering his excessive drug abuse, could have been lethal.Upon his released from prison, he met with his wife and family at the airport and the first thing Big Al told his wife was, â€Å"We are going back to church. † Big Al now serves as a counselor at a local church and he has spoken in hundreds of speaking engagements. He has also become the mentor to many, just as he, whom had led a life of crime and violence, and have now found forgiveness and redemption in Jesus Christ. We find two men of the same ethnicity, growing up in the same city, initially trying to embark in a legitimate career, but then deceived into returning to a lawless lifestyle.They both rose to power and temporarily enjoyed their status and sumptuous ways of living only to find out in the end that it was all meaningless. One of these men finds himself captive and in fear for his life, while the other, although having been tried and faced severe consequences, has finally found true freedom and deliverance in Jesus Christ. In the same sense, we see how these two men with similar upbringings and the lack of parental love and guidance were easily snared into a life of crime and violence; supporting socio-cultural statistics.Works Cited â€Å"Al Aceves: Hard Core No More. † The 700 Club. Interview by Gordon Robertson. CBN. 19 Dec. 2012. Television. The River’s Edge Ranch. â€Å"Al Aceves. † A remarkable testimony. Web. www. theriversedgeranch. org/about-us/staff/316763. aspx[->0] Cavazos, Ruben â€Å"Doc†. Honor Few, Fear None. New York: Basic, 2008. Print. [->0] – http://www. theriversedgeranch. org/about-us/staff/316763. aspx

How Life Gets Better While People Feel the Same

I’m pretty sure all of us are familiar with the cliche, â€Å"money can’t buy happiness. † In Gregg Easterbrook book The Progress Paradox he tries to understand why a small variances of this cliche is so. The paradox that underlies Easterbrook’s venture is that through out the last fifty years, things have improved in the United States and Europe, by all objective standards. All though during same time, surveys of happiness and satisfaction have not changed since the fifties.Easterbrook’s main question through out the book asking has the objective measures of the well being of man kind increased while overall satisfaction of people and happiness have remained constant? In the three beginning chapters of this book Easterbrook spends a lot of time looking at surveys depicting the various objective measures that show a pretty much steady increase of progress. I found these chapters entertaining to read because it brings to light a huge range of facts a nd statistics that add support to his idea that things are constantly improving.Easterbrook goes on about how the crime rate is falling, the state of the environment is improving, we are gaining intelligence, equality is increasing and economic situations have improved. Crime, both violent and property have been in decline for 20 years. Current crime rates are probably the lowest in the history of the country. The environment has been improving in every area except green house gases. We have the cleanest air since the beginning of the industrial revolution and the cleanest water since Man was a hunter and gatherer. n the statistics discussed, Easterbrook references a 1996 poll that resulted in 52% of the respondents saying the United States was worse now than when their parents were growing up and 60% said they expected their children to live in an even worse country. Only 15% of the respondents believed that overall national conditions were improving (Easterbrook, 2004). In 1997, 6 6% of Americans reported that they believed â€Å"the lot of the average person is getting worse† (Easterbrook, 2004). Easterbrook raises the question â€Å"How is this possible† with the dramatic increase in overall general progress.Along with discussing the statistics of the many surveys, Easterbrook also gives the reader possible reasons for the so-called paradox. One of the possible reasons he gives is â€Å"choice anxiety. † When looking back on the past a lot of people had very few options due to limited income and limited availability of goods and services. But Easterbrook fights that there is flip side to the stress that comes from having to many options, just like not having enough options can be stressful as well.With the constant increase in the range of goods and services available even the easiest choices can become stressful. Easterbrook states this because a consumer can never really be sure if they are making the correct decision causing stress a nd unhappiness. Another possible reason Easterbrook gives is â€Å"Abundance denial. † This means that no matter how much individuals actually have materially, they will never view them as being â€Å"well-off†, which is constantly making people unhappy and stress out. Easterbrook states that a most Americans think of only the rich as being â€Å"well-off. This brings me to my favorite statistic my favorite statistic: there have been around sixty billion people who ever lived, the 600 million who live in western democracies such as Europe, North America, Japan and Australia live better than anyone else in history (better housing, medical care, nutrition etc. )(Easterbrook, 2004). Since my standard of living is considered about average that means that I live better than 99. 5% of people who have ever lived. We are the one percenters, as far as the history of the world goes. Our current one percenters live better than 99. 9% of people, ever. One more possible reason is â€Å"collapse anxiety,† the widespread fear that the prosperity of the United States and Europe may come to an end due to an economic crash, environmental problems, terrorism or some other catastrophe. Even though individuals are better off that constant notion that it is unmanageable leads to people being unhappy and unsatisfied. It’s hard for people to sit back and really appreciate things when they are in constant fear that it could someday end. Lastly he considers â€Å"the revolution of satisfied expectations† as a possible explanation.He refers this to as the uneasiness that follows items that an individual once dreamed of having. Easterbrook states that during the last century western life has been categorized by ever increasing expectations, with each generation expecting to have more than the previous generation. In today’s day and age we have reached a point where people have most of what they need. What Easterbrook is trying to say with this e xplanation is that it is hard to imagine things getting any better than they already are kind of giving individuals nothing to look forward to.After reading this book I had some general issues. First off is the issue of happiness. The beginning of the book deals with objective measures over time that forms a steady increase in progress. To form the paradox the objective facts were compared to the subjective measures of happiness. Of course Easterbrook states that the surveys are not exactly perfect he claims that they â€Å"illuminating nonetheless† (Easterbrook, 2004). However I think this is questionable. The perception of happiness is not constant among individuals at one point in time, let alone over several decades.Each person could have a completely different outlook on happiness. What can be happiness for one person could be sadness or another feeling for someone else. With each person entitled to their own subjective view on what they consider to be happiness, they ar e also entitled to have a subjective perception of what others experienced in the past and what others will experience in the future. So when surveyors asked respondents if they thought their parents would better off or if their children will be better off, it’s not an objective measure but a subjective perception of the past and future.It doesn’t seem clear why we In short, it is not clear why we would assume the level of subjective satisfaction to increase with objective well-being. I feel like Easterbrook was trying to say that in the past it seemed like things were always getting better but now in the future since things are improving so quickly it doesn’t seem like we could continue to progress in the future. It is unclear why people should think that progress couldn’t continue and, therefore, have lower expectations for the future. This question is left unanswered.If you asked, most people would agree that money and material things are not the meani ng of happiness. With this, why would we expect to see a connection between an increase in progress and an increase in happiness? It isn’t clear that the claim has ever been that prosperity and progress will lead to the end of all stress and uneasiness. In the end there are two traits that correlate closely with happiness: forgiveness and gratitude. Forgive those that have done you wrong and be grateful for what you have. †¢Easterbrook, Greg. The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feels Worse. Random House Publishing Group, 2004. eBook.

Essay Sample on Child Abuse and Conduct Disorder in Children

Essay Sample on Child Abuse and Conduct Disorder in Children According to Sadock B., Sadock V. Sadock V.A.(2008, P.96) in their book, Kaplan and Sadock concise textbook of child and adolescent psychiatry, there in a common consensus on the fact that those children that chronically experience sexual or physical abuse when they are young are at a risk of developing aggressive behavior at later years. They also assert that the onset of aggressive behavior in children with a history of maltreatment manifests early in boys than in girls. That is to say that, conduct disorder reaches diagnostic criteria at the age between 14 and 16 for girls and at the age of between 10 and 12 years old in boys (Sadock B., Sadock V. Sadock V.A., 2008, P.96). For instance, McCabe, et al (2005,p.575) conducted an experiment with an aim of testing the hypothesis that those children who are exposed to violent behavior end up developing conduct problems during their adolescence. This was a two years study that used a sample of 423 adolescents between the ages of 12 to 17 years old. This was a random sample of high risk youths being treated in public psychiatric hospitals. The information needed was collected from studying the adolescents’ pattern of treatment and care (Mc Cabe, et al 2005, p.575). The results put in their article titled, The Relation between Violence Exposure and Conduct Problems among Adolescents: a Prospective Study indicated that those children who had been exposed to community violence had a higher chance of developing conduct disorder which would manifest in external symptoms. On the other hand, child maltreatment predicted psychiatric disorder that manifested without externalizing the symptoms. However a child’s exposure to violence between intimate partners did not predict either of the two outcomes. Even where child maltreatment and exposure to violence between intimate partners were controlled, a child’s exposure to violence was a great contributing factor to adolescent misconduct. It is therefore impe rative to form treatment solutions that address the internalizing and externalizing symptoms, in the treatment of socially deviant adolescent with a history of child maltreatment. The study also gives significant pointers towards the prevention of psychiatric disorders in young people. Romano, Zoccolilo Paquette (2006, p. 329) did a study that investigated the relationship between child maltreatment and behavior disorder in a sample of pregnant adolescents. Cross-sectional information was collected from a sample of 252 pregnant adolescents from a home group setting, hospitals and high schools in Canada. The girls filled up a questionnaire and underwent an interview on their history of psychiatric disorder. The study used latent class analysis to associate child maltreatment and behavioral disorder. The results in their article, Histories of child maltreatment and psychiatric disorder in pregnant adolescents showed that 79% of the pregnant adolescents had not experienced child maltr eatment while 21% undergone some kind of mistreatment at a young age. The study also showed that the child maltreatment latent variables had no connection with psychiatric disorder. Instead, aggressive behavior was associated with only the sexual form of child maltreatment. The results also showed a significant association between depression and psychiatric disorder in the pregnant adolescents at the ratio of 3.70.In addition and compared to the non maltreated girls, those girls who had experienced multiple forms of maltreatment were four times more likely to develop conduct disorder. In conclusion, the study proved that prior experience of sexual or multiple form of child maltreatment was a factor that predisposed adolescents to behavior misconduct (Zoccolilo Paquette 2006, p. 329).More studies of the maltreatment history of a child will help to form better understand adolescent misconduct and come up with remedies that can help to prevent such outcomes. Relationship between depres sion and conduct disorder in children with child abuse Rutter Taylor argue in their book (2002) argue in their book, child and adolescent psychiatry that, one of the identifiable causal factor for conduct disorder is child abuse. This is because child abuse leads to concurrent alterations in various emotional, cognitive, neuroendocrinological and neurohumoral regulatory processes. It is the variation in either of this processes that charged with causing depression that leads to behavior disorder in young people. Mash (2003) in his book child psychopathology argues that, the maltreatment of a child can lead to negative psychological consequences that persist into ones adulthood. This means that most of the adult psychiatric patients are victims of childhood maltreatment. He further asserts that those adolescents with a history of physical abuse are at a higher risk of developing chronic problems in self concept, self esteem, behavior and emotional self regulation and psychological o utcomes like dissociative behavior, depression and PSTD. This can later in life cause more serious problems including sexual problems anxiety disorders, or depression. According to the American Psychiatric Association diagnostic manual (1987), the relationship between adolescent depression and conduct disorder is not random. This argument is supported by Kovacs, Paulauskas, Gatsonis Richards(1988) who argue that the estimated prevalence of comorbidity for conduct disorder and depression in children and adolescence was from their study found to be at 23%.This number has risen up to between 32 t0 37% in other separate investigations.Benamos Bathsheva (1992) argued in his article, depression and conduct disorder in children and adolescent: A review of the literature, that the relationship between depression and conduct disorder in young people has been historically explained using either the theory of direct causal relationship, the theory of indirect causal relationship or the theo ry of the â€Å"final common pathway† hypothesis. According the direct causal relationship model, depression was viewed by early psychiatrists as a masked form of behavior in young people which manifested itself in either the form of antisocial behavior, general anxiety, school under achievement or psychomatic problems. Delinquency was considered to be a defense against parental deprivation or abuse and depression as the second defense option once the antisocial behavior failed to capture the attention of ones parents. This argument was however deemed invalid in the 1970s by later day explanations (Ben-Amos Bathsheva 1992, p.188). The indirect causal relationship succeeded the above model. According to this model, depression was recognized as a disorder separate from conduct disorder. It explained the association between depression and conduct disorder in two ways. The first one presented depression as a result of abandonment where by a young person defended himself against his depression by either demonstrating rage, withdrawal or by acting out. The second explanation saw depression as a result of aggressive behavior in a manner that one is seen to condemn himself for carrying out deviant behavior. This behavior is presented as a result of expression of anger towards a needed individual who in this case might be dissociating himself from the young person either by sexually of physically abusing the minor. This argument is faulted for not showing how early depravation is more significant than a parents psychopathology in causing depression and antisocial behavior in young people (Ben-Amos Bathsheva 1992, p.188). Finally, the final pathway model explains the relationship between depression and conduct behavior in maltreated children by seeking to find similar symptoms in the two disorders. This is done using a diagnostic spectrum of several borderline personality disorders. This model however fails in giving a clear explanation that may lead to the deve lopment of proper treatment options since it cannot provide distinct symptoms for each disorder. However it gives significant insights into further studies on how pharmacology can be applied in the treatment of both depressive disorder and conduct disorder in young people (Ben-Amos Bathsheva 1992, p.188). Relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder and stress disorder in children with child abuse According to Myers (2005, p.205) in his book, Myers on evidence on child, Domestic and elder abuse cases, those child who experience physical abuse are at a higher risk of developing psychiatric disorders and adjustment problems. For instance physically abused children may end up becoming abusive parents towards their own children. However research has shown that the intergeneration transmission of this kind of abusive behavior is estimated at between 18 to 40%.Myers further argues that other than physical abuse, a child might be a victim of sexual abuse, psychological abuse or malt reatment in the form of neglect. He quotes research conducted by Vincent Felitti and his contemporaries to demonstrate the effects of child maltreatment. This research involved the analyzation of 8,506 questionnaires given to a sample of adults from the Kaiser Permanente health care at San Diego. The average age of the respondents was 56.They were supposed to answer whether they had experienced any of the 7 childhood traumas including, domestic violence, psychological trauma, sexual abuse, physical abuse, drugs or alcohol abuse by a household member, mental illness or whether the imprisonment of a household member. Over 6% of the respondents had experienced one or more of the traumas while 6% had experienced four or more childhood traumas. The experience of this trauma was associated with later day mental and behavior disorders. The research showed that improper handling of childhood trauma led to post traumatic tress disorder and behavior problems which manifested itself in behavio rs like depressed mood, suicide attempts smoking, severe obesity, alcoholism, and drug abuse and multiplier sexual partners. This For instance 25 % of the respondents who were sexually abused as children, took up smoking at an early age compared to only the non sexually abused who only stood at 9%(Myers, 2005, pp. 206-207). Having seen the origin of both post trauma stress disorder and conduct disorder it is importance to show how they are related. Greenwald (2011, 304), asserts that although the effect of trauma borne out of child maltreatment can manifest in several ways trauma plays a major role in the development of conduct disorder. Improper handling of childhood trauma leads to post traumatic disorder where by the child basic trust is violated, his attachments are detached and his sense of empathy destroyed. At this point, the child’s sense of inhibition is reduced such that it becomes easy for the victim to commit crime against other people. Post traumatic stress disor der is such that the victim of abuse remains perpetually alert to potential danger to a point that this kind of sensitivity contributes to a sense of biased hostility. The child social competence is impaired by the internalization of anger which manifests itself in aggressive and sometimes violent acts. Post traumatic disorder also manifests itself in the form of intolerable emotions like intense sadness or fear which may lead to substance abuse or other high risk behaviors. The worst occurs when the effect of trauma manifested in post trauma stress disorder and conduct disorder lasts indefinitely and becomes part of the individual’s behavior and personality. Most anti social youths who have experienced some kind of child maltreatment have been found to suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder with the prevalence rates ranging from 24% to 65% (Greenwald, 2011, p. 304). While some studies have hypothesized conduct disorder as a direct symptom of post traumatic disorder other see both disorders as a direct result of trauma in which some symptoms are similar. For instance, a study of combat veterans discovered that war related trauma predisposed both Post trauma stress disorder and antisocial behavior (Greenwald, 2011, p. 305). Relationship between executive function and conduct disorder in children with child abuse Hyman (2001, p. 680), has stated in his book, the science of mental health: personality disorder that there is empherical evidence that those children who grow up to be persistently antisocial suffer from deficits in their neuropsychological abilities. Research has ruled child abuse and neglect as some of the possible causes of kind of brain damage that lead to anti social behavior and consequent neuropsychological impairment. The two major types of neuropsychological deficits in antisocial children are impairments in verbal and executive functions. The verbal functions affected in antisocial children are concentration in reading, listening, w riting, expressive speech, problem solving and memory. The affected executive functions on the other hand are a form of compartmental learning deficiency whose symptoms include impulsivity and in attention. Hyman (2001, p. 680), continues to argues that both conduct disorder and deficiencies in executive functions share a variance that does not depend on ones social class, academic attainment, race or test motivation. This deficiency in cognitive skills can affect both slow-witted and undetected delinquents. He also adds that there is a strong research based evidence to show that in executive functions is associated with the kind of anti social behavior that starts in child hood and is sustained afterwards for a long period of time. In their book, Helping adolescents: prevention of multiple problem behavior, Biglan, Brennan, Foster Holder (2005, p.77) argues that evidence has demonstrated that specific executive functions deficits are significant risk factors towards substance abus e, overt aggression and latent conduct disorder. These executive deficits may vary from problems in inhibiting negative behavior, poor ability to plan, problems in verbal processing and difficult in sustaining attention. Executive cognitive deficits have therefore been linked to alcohol or substance abuse in high risk youths. The significant association between the deficit in performance of executive functions and conduct disorder has been applied by some researchers to explain the increased rate of comorbidity attention deficit/hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and in conduct disorder. The diminishing arousal of the nervous system leads to ADHD and hyperactivity that specifically affects the brain area that is responsible for behavioral inhibitions and higher order cognitive skills. When the ADHD in a child with a history of maltreatment is accompanied by serious disruptive and aggressive behavior, there is an increased likelihood of future conduct disorder and substance abuse (Biglan 20 05, p.77). To investigate the kind of relationship that exists between executive function and conduct disorder in maltreated children, Mezzacapa, Kindlon Earls(2001, p. 104) carried out a study on 126 boys aged between 6 and 12 years old and who attended either a therapeutic school for children with behavioral of emotional problems or public schools. They were put into 3 categories of public schools, none abused and therapeutic all of which were based on either ones school of origin or his history of maltreatment. The study controlled the boys medical status and IQ then made comparison of the boys in the three categories based on, the experimenter observation of the children’s behavior during the research; the ratings given by the teacher on each boy’s behavior; on the boys performance of a task that tested the capacity to act in progress or inhibit and the capacity to passively avoid responding to questions that had adverse consequences. The test also examined the ave rage group variances in behavior, symptoms and task performance. There was also an analysis of differential age based changes in the behavior, symptoms and task performances within each group. In their article, Child abuse and performance task assessments of executive functions in boys, Mezzacapa, Kindlon Earls (2001, p.104) reported that those non abused children attending therapeutic schools showed comparatively significant higher levels of externalizing and internalizing symptoms and those of redirecting to a given task in comparison to those children who attended public schools. Compared to public school boys, both therapeutic abused and therapeutic none abused children demonstrated capacities to inhibit an act in progress and ability to avoid giving a response with adverse consequence that was relatively poor. With increasing age, those children who had a history of maltreatment had lower improvements in their capacity to avoid responses with serious consequences compared to b oth non abused therapeutic children and those attending public schools (Mezzacapa, Kindlon Earls (2001, p.104 This reported therefore collaborated previous hypothesis and researches conducted by behavioral scientists towards the argument that, child abuse contributes to the alteration of a child’s cognitive abilities especially in the executive functions. Such deficits are in turn linked to psychopathological behaviors manifested in poor self control and abusive aggression. The results of this investigation can however be best validated by conducting a longitudinal study that will investigate the influence of age on behavior regulation in individuals with a history of child maltreatment and consequence cognitive and behavior disorders (Mezzacapa, Kindlon Earls (2001, p.104). Relationship between conduct disorder and attachment disorder in children with child abuse Abel Southwest Minnesota State University (2009, p.8) asserts in their book titled childhood trauma and attac hment disorder in foster children that a child’s first lesson in trust comes from his parent. The kind of nurturing she gets at the youngest age helps to build either a healthy or unhealthy attachment behavior. In most cases, the process of attachment is inhibited by factors such as abuse, death, maltreatment, chronic trauma, violence, neglect and out of home placements. Such factor may leave a child with attachment deficits that make them develop trust issues, social insecurities and physical detachments. The above problems are accentuated by the statistics that, young children and infants are being taken and sustained in foster cares in numbers that are relatively higher than that of older children. The prevalence of domestic violence and child maltreatment occur in 30 t0 60 5 of families that experience any kind of violence. A majority of youth undergo multiple foster care placements with some undergoing up to 7 placements before reaching their adulthood. In addition, by 2006 118, 000 children in foster cares were still waiting to be adopted while according to a 2005 report from the children defense funds millions of children all over America are witnessing family violence every day. There is therefore a need for permanency, stability and proper role adoption in family life in order to avoid attachment disorder in children (Abel South West Minnesota State University, 2009, pp.8-9). In essence, any kind of parental care that is characterized by parent child conflict, lack of involvement or warmth, poor supervision and harsh styles of disciplining are associated with disrupted behavior in a child. In their book, women’s mental health: a lifecycle approach Romans Seeman attempt to demonstrate how poor or abusive parental care may contribute to aggressive behavior in a child. In fact, they are that the relationship between the behavior of a parent and that of a child are directly related to each other. Such that conduct disorder in a parent can be remedied using interventions that put their focus in the alteration of the parent’s behavior. However, Romans Seeman(2006, p.102), go ahead to say that although most studies in the consequences on parental practice on a child mental and behavioral health has been conducted on boys, a few isolated studies on girls have indicated that the behavior outcomes for boys and girls in the same coercive family vary. For instance, a study conducted on boys and girls in Pre School indicated that maltreated boys in Pre School were at a higher risk of developing aggressive behavior at their school going age compared to girls. The level of attachment that a child has with his parents depends on how well or how poorly the child perceives parental response and availability. The quality of attachment that a child has with his parent influence the kid of relationships he has in the future. Family risk factors like parental separation or divorce, marital conflicts, large family size and int ense family stress has been linked to later aggressive behavior violence and criminal convictions. On the other had, the attachment deficit associated with child abuse and neglect has been associated with conduct disorder in children (Romans Seeman, 2006, p.102). In their book, Child Neuropsychology: Assessment and Interventions for Neurodevelopment Disorders Semrud-Clikeman Ellison (2009, p.201) argue that familial factors like maternal depression, family aggression and conflicts are some of the causes of attachment disorder in children. On the other hand, children with conduct disorder come from families where there is frequent parental substance abuse, and parent’s capacity to be coercive towards their children. Consequently those parents with punitive, coercive and inconsistent management styles predict attachment disorder which is converted by anger to conduct disorder. It is therefore important for psychiatrist to come up with treatment intervention that has its roots in the quality of attachment that a child has with his parents or guardians (Semrud-Clikeman Ellison, 2009, p.201). Conclusion In conclusion, children with experience of maltreatment are exposed to a high risk factor of developing conduct disorder as a way of dealing with their pain. Several models have been used to link depression to conduct disorder. However, only an integrated research approach towards finding a cure for both depression and conduct disorder in can help find their association. In addition, Post traumatic stress disorder alters a child’s ability to inhibit aggressive conduct and increases his capacity to give responses that have adverse consequences leading to the development of conduct disorder. Child abuse and neglects creates deficits in a child’s executive functions. Research has shown that such deficits are high risk factors towards the development of aggressive behavior and conduct disorder. Decreased child’s attachment to her parents du e to neglect or coercive behavior of the parents causes attention deficit disorder. Those suffering from this deficit handle it through manifestation of aggressive, suicidal or violent behavior that are a symptoms of conduct disorder. In summary, child maltreatment can either directly or indirectly lead to conduct disorder in an adolescent. For some individuals, such a behavior extends into their adult life.

Probability Questions on ACT Math Strategies and Practice

Probability Questions on ACT Math Strategies and Practice SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips What is the probability that you’ll toss a coin and get heads? What about twice in a row? Three times? Probability questions ask you determine the likelihood that an event or any number of events is to occur, and the more you practice, the better your odds will be at mastering these types of questions on the ACT (see what we did there?). This will be your complete guide to probability on the ACT- how probability works, the different types of probability questions you’ll see on the test, and the steps you’ll need to take to solve them. What Does Probability Mean? $\Probability = {\desired \outcome}/{\all \possible \outcomes}$ On the ACT, probability questions can be framed in several different ways. You may be asked to find the â€Å"probability† that an event will occur, the â€Å"chances,† the â€Å"odds,† or the â€Å"likelihood.† But no matter how you see it written on the test, these are all ways of asking for the same thing. The way we represent the probability of an event (or events) is to express, as a fraction, how often that event occurs over the total number of possible outcomes. So if we use our example from above- †What are the odds that you’ll flip a coin and get heads?†- the odds will be: ${\desired \outcome}/{\all \possible \outcomes}$ $1/2$ In this one throw, there is one possible chance of getting heads. This means our denominator is 1. There are also two possible outcomes total (heads or tails), which means that our denominator will be 2. Now let’s take a look at another example: Mara is stringing a necklace and she selects each bead at random from a basket of beads. If there are currently 5, yellow beads, 10 red beads, 15 green beads, and 20 blue beads in the basket, what are the chances that she will select a red bead next? ${\desired \outcome}/{\all \possible \outcomes}$ There are 10 red beads, which is our desired outcome. This means 10 is our numerator. There are also a total of $5 \yellow \beads + 10 \red \beads + 15 \green \beads + 20 \blue \beads = 50 \total \beads$ in the basket. This is our denominator, as it represents all the outcomes possible. When we put these together, our probability is: $10/50$ $1/5$ The chances that Mara will select a red bead are 1 in 5 or $1/5$. Now what if we framed our desired outcome as a negative? What are the odds that Mara will NOT select a green bead? In order to find a negative probability, we must subtract out the chances that Mara will draw a green bead. (We could also think of this as finding the desired outcome of her selecting a yellow bead, a red bead or a blue bead, which we will cover in more detail in the next section.) There are only yellow, red, green, and blue beads, so we can add up our odds of yellow, red and blue beads, excluding the green. There are 5 yellow beads, 10 red beads and 20 blue beads, so we can put those together to get our numerator. $5 + 10 + 20 = 35$ And there are still $5 + 10 + 15 + 20 = 50$ beads total for our denominator. So what are the odds that Mara will NOT select a green bead? $35/50$ $7/10$ The odds are 7 in 10 ($7/10$) that Mara will draw any color bead except green. Expressing Probabilities As you can see, probabilities are expressed as fractions. This means that an event that will always and absolutely occur will have a probability of $1/1$ or 1. On the other hand, an impossible event will have a probability of $0/x$ or 0. You can also think about probabilities as percentages. If the odds are $4/52$ that you’ll draw an ace from a deck of cards, it’s the same as saying that there is a 7.69% chance that you will draw an ace. Why? Because $4 à · 52 = 0.0769$, and $0.0769 * 100 = 7.69%$. The possibilities are (not quite) endless. Either/Or Probability ${\probability \of \either \event = [{\outcome A}/{\total \number \of \outcomes}] + [{\outcome B}/{\total \number \of \outcomes}]$ (Special note: this is called a â€Å"non-overlapping† probability. In this case, it is impossible for the two (or more) events to both happen at the same time. There is such a thing as an either/or probability for overlapping events, but you will never be asked to do this on the ACT, so we have not included it in this guide.) An either/or probability increases the odds that our desired outcome will happen because we do not care which of the two events happen, only that one of them does. To solve this kind of problem, we must therefore add the probability of each individual event. Their sum will become the probability of either event happening. So let’s look again at our earlier example with Mara and her beads. Instead of asking the odds of Mara selecting only a red bead, what are the odds that Mara will select either a red bead or a green bead if she has 5 yellow beads, 10 red beads, 15 green beads, and 20 blue beads in the basket? We have increased our odds, since it doesn’t matter whether or not the bead is green or red, so long as the bead we select is NOT blue or yellow (essentially, we are doing another version of our earlier negative problem- †what are the odds that a particular event will NOT happen?†) This means we can add the probabilities of our individual events together in order to find their combined probability. So let us find the probability of her drawing a red bead: $10/(5 + 10 + 15 + 20)$ $10/50$ And let us find the probability of her drawing a green bead: $15/(5 + 10 + 15 + 25)$ $15/50$ So, if we put the two probabilities together, we’ll have: $10/50 + 15/50$ $25/50$ $1/2$ Because this problem involves the odds of two events with the same total number of outcomes (there are 50 total possible beads to choose from each time), we could also simply add our two desired outcomes together over the total number of outcomes. So: $(10 + 15)/(5 + 10 + 15 + 20)$ $25/50$ $1/2$ Either way, the odds of Mara drawing either a red bead or a green bead are 1 in 2, or $1/2$ (50%). What are the odds that we go this way or that way? Combined Probability $\Combined \probability = [{\outcome A}/{\total \number \of \outcomes}] * [{\outcome B}/{\total \number \of \outcomes}]$ "What are the odds of two or more events both/all happening?" This kind of probability question is called a combined probability and there is a good chance you’ll see a question of this type in the later half of the ACT math section. Note that a combined probability question is distinctly different from an either/or probability question. An â€Å"either/or† question asks whether or not one of the multiple events occurs (no matter which event is was). A â€Å"both/and† question requires that multiple events all occur. To find the probability of an â€Å"either/or† question, we must add our probabilities. To find the probability of a combined probability question, we must multiply our probabilities. A good way to remember this is to remember that a combined probability question will ultimately have a lower probability than the that of just one (or either) event occurring. The more events you need to happen, the less likely it will be that they all will. How likely is it that your first AND second coin tosses will BOTH be heads? Lower than the odds of just flipping heads once. On the other hand, an either/or probability question will have higher odds than the probability of just one of its events happening. You are combining forces to increase your odds of getting a desirable outcome. How likely is it that you’ll flip either heads or tails for each toss? 100%! What are the odds that Jenny will roll a pair of dice and get six on both? A die has six faces, so the odds of rolling any particular number is $1/6$. Because the question is asking us to find the odds of rolling two sixes (and nothing else), we must use our combined probability. So: $1/6 * 1/6 = 1/36$ There is a 1 in 36 chance that Jenny will roll a pair of dice and get two sixes. Combined probability questions mean that events cannot be separated. Typical ACT Probability Questions There are many different kinds of probabilities and probability questions (including overlapping, and conditional probabilities), but ACT probability questions use only the basic probabilities we have covered above. For most ACT probability questions, you will be asked to find either a straight probability or a probability ratio. You may also be asked to find or alter a new probability from an existing one. Now let us look at each type of problem. Simple Probability These kind of questions will always be word problems in which you are told a story and asked to find the probability of one or more events. This may be a straight probability, an either/or probability, or a combined probability. Simply use the understandings we learned above and you’ll be able to solve these kinds of questions without issue. We know that probability is ${\desired \outcome}/{\all \possible \outcomes}$. Our desired outcome is to get one of the five extra pieces, so our numerator will be 5. There are 750 puzzle pieces PLUS the extra five pieces in the box total, so our denominator will be: $750 + 5 = 755$ When we put them together, our final probability will be: $5/755$ Our final answer is D. Probability Ratio One way the ACT likes to spin probabilities and make them more complex is to present them as ratios or to ask you for your answer in a ratio. For a refresher on ratios, check out our guide to ACT fractions and ratios. For these types of questions, pay close attention to what the ratio represents so that you don’t end up solving the wrong question entirely. We are told that we must find the odds of an event as a ratio of $\in \the 25 - 35 \age \range: \not \in \the 25-35 \age \range$ (in other words, $\desired \outcome: \remaining \outcomes$). We are given the number of voters in terms of percentages, so we can translate the 42% of voters in the 25-35 age range as $42/100$. And if the 25-35 age category has a probability of $42/100$, then the remaining voters will have a probability of: ${100 - 42}/100$ $58/100$ Now, we can represent our ratio of $25-35 \voters: \all \other \voters$ as: $42:58$ Both numbers are divisible by 2, so we can reduce the ratio to: $21:29$ Our final answer is D. Altering a Probability Finally, it is quite common for the ACT to ask you to alter a probability. Usually, they will present you with an existing probability and then ask you to find the number to which you must increase the desired outcome(s) and the total number of outcomes in order to achieve a specific new probability. For example: Now, there are two ways to solve this kind of problem- using proportions or using the strategy of plugging in answers. Let’s look at both methods. Method 1- Proportions We are asked to find an additional number of red marbles that we must add to the total number of marbles in order to find a new probability. The current probability of selecting a red marble is: $12/32$ Now, we are adding a certain number of red marbles and only red marbles. This means that the number of red marbles increases by exactly the same amount that the total increases. We can therefore represent the new probability as: ${12 + x}/{32 + x}$ Now, we want this new probability to be equal to $3/5$, so let us set them up as a proportion. ${12 + x}/{32 + x} = 3/5$ And because this is a proportion, we can cross multiply. $(32 + x)(3) = (12 + x)(5)$ $96 + 3x = 60 + 5x$ Now solve for $x$. $36 = 2x$ $18 = x$ So we must add 18 red marbles in order to get a new probability of: ${12 + 18}/{32 + 18$ $30/50$ $3/5$ Our final answer is G, 18. Method 2- Plugging in answers The alternative to using proportions is to use PIA. We can simply add the answer options to the 12 red marbles in our numerator and the 32 marbles in our denominator and see which answer choice gives us a final ratio of $3/5$. Let us begin, as always, with the answer choice in the middle. Answer option H gives us 28, so let us try adding 28 to both the red marbles and the total number of marbles. ${12 + 28}/{32 + 28}$ $40/60$ $2/3$ This answer is a little bit too large. We can also see that the larger the number we add to both the numerator and the denominator, the larger our probability will be (you can test this by plugging in answer choice J or K- for K, if you add 40 to both 12 and 32, your final probability fraction will be $52/72$ = $13/18$, which is even larger than $2/3$.) This means that we can eliminate answer choices H, J, and K. Now let us try answer choice G. ${12 + 18}/{32 + 18}$ $30/50$ $3/5$ We have found our desired ratio. Our final answer is G, 18. As you can see, no matter which method you use, you can find the right solution. Somebody's gotta win, right? Well, you are more likely that to get struck by lightening (odds: 1.3 million to 1) and THEN fall from a 15 story building and survive (odds: 90 to 1), than you are to win the lottery (odds: 120 million to 1). How to Solve a Probability Question There are several ACT math strategies you must keep in mind when solving a probability question. First of all, you will know if you are being asked for a probability question on the ACT because, somewhere in the problem, it will ask you for the "probability of," the "chances of," or the "odds of" one or more events happening. Almost always, the ACT will use the word â€Å"probability,† but make sure to note that these words are all interchangeable. When you see those phrases, make sure to follow these steps: #1: Make sure you look carefully at exactly what the question is asking. It can be easy to make a mistake with probability ratios, or to mix up an either/or probability question with a both/and question. Make sure you always carefully examine the problem before you waste precious time trying to answer the wrong question. Kyle has been tossing a coin and recording the number of heads and tails results. So far, he has tossed the coin 5 times and gotten heads each time. What are the odds that he will get tails on his next coin toss? You may be tempted to think that our desired outcome (our numerator) is influenced by the number of times Kyle has already tossed the coin and the outcomes so far, but in all actuality, the probability that Kyle will get tails on his next toss is $1/2$. Why? Because each coin toss is independent of another coin toss. This means that this is a simple matter of determining our desired outcome over the number of total outcomes. There is one possibility of getting tails- numerator 1- and two possible options- heads or tails, denominator 2. So Kyle’s chances of getting tails on the next toss are 1 in 2. Now let’s look at a slightly different question. Kyle tossed the coin 5 times and got heads each time. What were the odds of this happening? Now we are being asked to find the probability of a both/and question, since we are being asked to identify the probability of multiple events all happening. (If it helps to picture, you can rephrase the question as: â€Å"What are the odds that BOTH his first coin tosses were heads? And What were the odds that BOTH his next tosses were heads?†, etc.) So if we use what we know about combined probabilities, we would be able to say: $1/2 * 1/2 * 1/2 * 1/2 * 1/2$ $1/32$ The odds are 1 in 32 (3.125%) that Kyle would have tossed heads five times in a row. #2: Think logically about when your odds will increase or decrease The odds of either two or more events occurring will be greater than the odds of one of the events alone. The odds of both (or multiple events) all occurring will be less than the odds of the odds of one of those events alone. Always take a moment to think about probability questions logically so that you don’t multiply when you should add, or vice versa. #3: Simplify the idea of a probability Once you get used to working with probabilities, you’ll find that probability questions are often just fancy ways of working with fractions and percentages. A probability ratio is the exact same thing as a question that simply asks you for a ratio. Just brush up on your fractions and ratiosif you find yourself intimidated for any reason. And always feel free to fall back on your PIA or PIN,as needed. These methods will sometimes take a little extra time, but they will always lead you to the right answer. The probability of drawing this hand is less than 0.0000004%, so I'm gonna go ahead and go all in. Test Your Knowledge Now it’s time to test what you’ve learned, using real ACT practice problems: 1) 2) 3) 4) Answers: F, E, D, B Answer Explanations: 1. This is another example of an altering probability question and, again, we have two choices when it comes to solving it. Let’s go through both the algebra/proportion method and PIA. Method 1- proportions. We know that we must increase the number of red marbles and only red marbles, so the amount of new marbles added to the set of red marbles and to the overall total of marbles will be the same. Our starting probability of red marbles is: $6/18$ So now we must increase each part of our fraction by the same amount and set it equal to the desired probability of $â…â€"$. ${6 + x}/{18 + x} = 3/5$ $(18 + x)(3) = (6 + x)(5)$ $54 + 3x = 30 + 5x$ $24 = 2x$ $12 = x$ So we must increase our red marbles (and, consequently, the total number of marbles) by 12 in order to get a probability of $â…â€"$ of selecting a red marble. To double-check this, we can plug the number back into our probability. ${6 + 12}/{18 + 12}$ $18/30$ $3/5$ We have successfully found our answer! Our final answer is F, 12. Method 2- PIA The alternative method is to use plugging in answers. We will simply plug in our answer choices to increase our red marbles (and our total number of marbles) and see which answer choice results in a probability of $3/5$. Let us start with answer choice H, 18. ${6 + 18}/{18 + 18}$ $24/36$ $2/3$ This probability is too large and any larger numbers will only get us larger probabilities. This means we can eliminate answer choices H, J, and K. Now, let us try answer choice G, 16. ${6 + 16}/{18 + 16}$ $22/34$ $11/17$ This probability is still slightly too large. By process of elimination, our answer must be F, but let us test it to be sure. ${6 + 12}/{18 + 12}$ $18/30$ $3/5$ Success! We have found our right answer. Our final answer is, again, F, 12. 2. Because Elliott must answer all the questions correctly, this means that this is a combination probability question. We are told that he answers each question at random, and all the questions have 3 answer options, which means that answering one question correctly has a probability of: $1/3$ And, since this is a combination problem, answering ALL 4 questions correctly will be: $1/3 * 1/3 * 1/3 * 1/3$ $1/81$ Our final answer is E, $1/81$ 3. We have a total of 150 people and 67 of them have type A blood, while 6 of them have type AB. This means that type A blood has a probability of: $67/150$ And type AB blood has a probability of: $6/150$ Now we can add these probabilities together. $67/150 + 6/150 = 73/150$ Our final answer is D, $73/150$ 4. Here, we have another probability question made more complicated by the use of ratios. Again, if you need a refresher on ratios, check out our guide to ACT fractions and ratios. First, we must find the actual number of 10th and 11th graders. We are told that the 10th graders have a ratio of 86:255 to the school population and the 11th graders have a ratio of 18:51 to the total student population. We must first set these ratios to an equal number of total students in order to determine the number of students in each class. We can see that the 11th graders have a reduced ratio, so we must multiply each side of the ratio by the same amount in order to equal the total number of students as the 10th graders’ ratio (255). Luckily for us, $255/51 = 5$. This is a nice, round number to work with. Now, we must multiply the 11th grade ratio by 5 on each side to even out the playing field. $18(5):51(5)$ $90:255$ We are assuming for now that there are 255 students total (there may be $255 *2$ or $255 * 3$, and so forth, but this will not affect our final outcome; all that matters is that we choose a total number of students that is equal for all grades/ratios.) So there are 86 10th graders, 90 11th graders, and the remaining students are 12th graders. Knowing that there are 255 students total, we can find the number of 12th graders by saying: $255 - 86 - 90 = 79$ There are 79 12th graders. This means that the probability of selecting a 10th, 11th, or 12th grader at random is: $86/255$, $90/255$, $79/255$, respectively. The odds are higher that the lottery will select an 11th grader, as the numerator for 11th graders is larger than that of the others. Our final answer is B, 11th graders. You have successfully completed your probability questions! You're free! The Take Aways The more you practice working with probabilities, the easier they will become. Although it can take some time to learn how to properly differentiate between the different types of probability questions, most ACT probability questions are fairly straightforward. Understand that probabilities are simply fractional relationships of desired outcomes over all potential outcomes, and you’ll be able to tackle these kinds of ACT math questions in no time. What’s Next? Now that you've stacked the odds in your favor on your probability questions, it's time to make sure you're caught up with the rest of your ACT math topics. We've got guides on all your individual math needs, from trigonometry to slopes and more. Wondering how your score stacks up? See what makes a "good" score and how you can get the most out of your studying time to reach your target goal. Running out of time on the ACT? Look to our guide on how to maximize your time and your score in the hour allotted. Want to get a perfect score? Check out how to get a perfect score on the ACT math, written by a 36-scorer. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. 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