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The law hasn’t always been this way. A generation ago, the traditional rule was that a seller of alcoholic beverages would enjoy legal immunity for harm caused by a drunken customer. The prevailing theory held that it was the customer’s voluntary consumption that directly caused the harm. (Cole v. Rush, 45 Cal. 2d 345 (1955).) The Legislature concurred with the case law decisions by declining to enact a law that would permit civil liability in such circumstances. (See Cole, 45 Cal. 2d at 355.) But that rule didn’t last, at least in terms of the common law approach to the problem of drunken drivers.
Get original essayIn 1971 the California Supreme Court rejected the traditional approach when it observed that “this rule is patently unsound and totally inconsistent with the principles of proximate cause established in other areas of negligence law.” The court concluded that a duty of care was owed to the public for the sale of any alcoholic beverage to an obviously intoxicated person. (Vesely v. Sager, 5 Cal. 3d 153, 165–66 (1971).) The Vesely case involved a bartender who served an “obviously intoxicated” customer who later was involved in a car accident.
Five years after the Vesely decision, the state high court broadened the scope of potential liability by applying the Vesely rule in a case in which the liquor was furnished out of state (in Nevada), but the subsequent auto accident occurred in California. (See Bernhard v. Harrah’s Club, 16 Cal. 3d 313 (1976).) The court made clear in Bernhard that it was establishing a common law rule based on the ancient maxim embedded in the Civil Code, namely that “[e]veryone is responsible … for an injury occasioned … by his or her want of ordinary care …” (Bernhard, 16 Cal. 3d at 324; see also Cal. Civ. Code § 1714(a).)
But the court didn’t stop there; it soon extended liability to non-commercial “social hosts,” stating that someone who gives alcohol to an obviously intoxicated guest at a party or gathering knowing that the person intends to drive a vehicle while in an intoxicated state fails to act with reasonable care. (Coulter v. Superior Court, 21 Cal. 3d 144, 153–155 (1978).)
However, the decisions in Vesely, Bernhard, and Coulter did not sit well with the Legislature, which amended the state’s general negligence statute (Civil Code § 1714, cited above) to reverse the judicial extension of liability. The amendment reinstated the prior rule—created by judicial analysis in cases such as Cole v. Rush, as already noted—that furnishing alcoholic beverage is not the proximate cause of injuries resulting from intoxication. (See Civil Code § 1714(c).)
In addition, the Legislature modified the Business and Professions Code to include new language that reinstated civil liability immunity for a commercial establishment that “sells, furnishes or gives” alcoholic beverages to an obviously inebriated person who then causes injury to themselves or third parties. (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 25602.1.) By its express terms, the new provision granted immunity to licensed providers of alcoholic beverages who furnished alcohol to obviously intoxicated adults, as well as sober minors. It did not, however, extend liability to purely social hosts. (See Cory v. Shierloh, 29 Cal. 3d 430, 440 (1981).)
Further revisions to the code in 1986 broadened the statute to include licensed sellers (and those sellers without licenses who are required by law to be licensed) who provide alcohol to an obviously intoxicated minor. But once again, the Legislature chose not to include social hosts who merely furnish alcohol. (See Ennabe v. Manosa, 58 Cal. 4th 697, at 709.)
Fast forward to 2011, which was when the Legislature again amended the state’s general negligence statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1714), this time to expressly permit claims against a “parent, guardian, or another adult” who “knowingly furnishes alcoholic beverages at his or her residence” to a person whom the provider knows, or should have known, is under 21 years of age and when the furnishing of the alcohol is the proximate cause of subsequent injury or death. (See Cal. Civ. Code § 1714(d).)
The state Supreme Court did not rule until 2014 that civil liability extends to social hosts who provide alcohol to obviously intoxicated minors when there is an affirmative “sale” of some sort. (See Ennabe, 58 Cal. 4th 697, 722.)
A key question lingers in this convoluted history: What constitutes the “furnishing” of liquor so as to trigger liability?
Last year the California Supreme Court confronted this very question. In the course of a detailed opinion that traces the history of the various statutory amendments and judicial decisions, the court noted that for social hosts liability exists under section 25602.1 if a person “sells” or “causes to be sold” alcohol to an obviously intoxicated minor. (See Ennabe, 58 Cal. 4th at 709–710.) Stated another way, a social host can retain immunity by simply refraining from charging invited guests for alcoholic drinks. (See Ennabe, 58 Cal. 4th at 722.)
California’s appellate courts also hold that social hosts are not liable for their failure to supervise individuals who drink alcohol at their events. One court noted that if the “failure to supervise” theory of liability was enough to circumvent the social host immunity statutes, “the immunity would be seriously eroded.” The duty of supervision said the court, “is premised upon the need to look after those whose coordination and judgment have been adversely affected by the consumption of alcohol. If allowed, the duty would appear to exist in many if not most cases where alcohol is furnished by social hosts.” (Allen v. Liberman, 227 Cal. App. 4th 46, 55–56 (2014).)
The Allen court opined that immunity holds, for example, if a person fails to lock up the liquor cabinet at a residence to prevent minors from accessing alcohol in their home. (Allen, 227 Cal. App. 4th at 56.)
As previously observed, the key to establishing social host liability lies in the word furnish and the parallel phrase causes to be sold. Both seem to require at least some type of affirmative action. (See Ruiz v. Safeway, Inc., 209 Cal. App. 4th 1455, 1460 (2012); Sagadin v. Ripper, 175 Cal. App. 3d 1141, 1157 (1985).)
Accordingly, a person who has control over alcohol and who directs or explicitly authorizes another person to sell it to a clearly drunken minor will be held liable. However, if the person merely provides a room in which alcoholic beverages are sold or provided by others—for example, the owner of a rented vacation property where a party takes place—there is no liability. (See Allen, 227 Cal. App. 4th at 56; see also Leong v. San Francisco Parking, Inc., 235 Cal. App. 3d 827, 833–834 (1991).)
As the published cases indicate, the sale of alcoholic beverages by a social host can include a transaction in which an alcoholic beverage is passed on to another for “consideration.” In this context, consideration can include requiring a cover charge for an event. (See Ennabe, 58 Cal. 4th at 716–717.)
Even so, the concept of a sale of alcoholic beverages does not necessarily apply to every transaction or the entire chain of supply. For example, in one case there was no liability for a grocery store that sold alcohol to a minor who later died in a car crash. In that case, the parents of the minor driver who was killed alleged that a supermarket caused the beer to be furnished when a checker sold beer to the minor driver’s companion. The checker asked for identification, and the friend provided a forged driver’s license and paid for a twelve-pack of beer. The friend then provided the alcohol to the driver, who got drunk and was killed in the ensuing traffic accident. (See Ruiz v. Safeway, Inc., 209 Cal. App. 4th 1455 (2012).)
The court in Ruiz concluded that the supermarket did not furnish the driver with beer because (1) the checker sold the beer to the driver’s companion and not the driver himself, and (2) nothing about the sale amounted to an affirmative act directly related to the driver, or an act that necessarily would have resulted in the companion’s furnishing or giving beer to the driver. (Ruiz, 209 Cal. App. 4th at 1461.)
The view expressed in the Ruiz decision that the term furnishing includes only transfers at the end of the supply chain to the person who actually causes the harm finds support in the statutory text, which uses the phrase “to an intoxicated person” when defining when a “furnisher” is liable. The statutory language suggests that the furnisher would have to have some knowledge of the recipient’s inebriation, thus implying at least some control over who receives alcoholic beverages.
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Get custom essayAlong the same line of reasoning, a court has held that a beverage manufacturer—separated from the ultimate consumer by a regional distributor and a local retail outlet—does not “furnish” the beverage to an inebriated consumer. (Fiorini v. City Brewing Co., LLC, 231 Cal. App. 4th 306, 318–25 (2014).)
In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstrates the need for humans to abide by the laws of nature and conscience, rather than the laws of man, to achieve happiness.
Get original essayThe laws of nature, enforced only by the human conscience, govern every individual. Humans learn these laws by experiencing and interacting directly with nature. When left alone on the beach, Pearl pelts small birds with pebbles for amusement. However, when she injures one "she [grieves] to have done harm to a little being that was as wild as the sea breeze" (160). Pearl learns an important lesson about right and wrong by using nature and her own conscience. The remorse she feels leaves a lasting impression far more powerful than punishment from authority. Nature provides clear examples for children to learn from and on which to base their morals. By learning from nature children can use their conscience instead of the rules of authority to learn the difference between right and wrong. Left alone in the forest, Pearl interacts with various animals which accept her because they "all recognized a kindred wildness in the human child" (185). This 'wildness' refers to Pearl's natural childhood environment free from the pollution of civilization. Unlike most people, Pearl has grown up under the ideal circumstances where only her conscience shapes her decisions and actions. Ostracized by the Puritan community, the rules of civilization do not apply to her and she can live by the laws of nature. This accounts for her constant "vivacity of spirits" and lack of the disease of sadness, which almost all children... inherit" (166). Pearl's ability to live by the laws of nature ensures a strong moral foundation as well as happiness, without the unnecessary involvement of authority. Pearl's healthy development as a result of her interaction with nature exemplifies the importance of the laws of nature in molding human beings. The laws of nature provide children with an environment in which to grow and develop freely. This freedom of choice allows children to form beliefs they will follow throughout their lives by avoiding the disparity between their natural instincts and society's standards, which results in feelings of inadequacy and self hatred.
The laws of man, enforced by authority, govern all people existing within civilization. Civilization encompasses the cultural, religious, and social systems of a group of people. Humans learn these laws by growing up in a community which enforces rules and punishes those who disobey authority. Dimmesdale suffers from a tormented conscience as a result of remaining in the Puritan community after he has transgressed its laws. He ironically interrogates Hester about the identity of her fellow adulterer during her public mortification on the scaffold. This leaves him with a perpetual feeling of hypocrisy that consumes him and eventually ends his life. After his talk with Hester in the forest, Dimmesdale has the urge to commit various sins. These animalistic impulses "[grew] out of a profounder self than that which opposed the impulses," revealing Dimmesdale's true nature. His encounter with nature has awakened the dormant troublemaker in the minister. Like Pearl, Dimmesdale needs to run freely and have only Nature and his conscience to guide him. However, due to a childhood under the influence of the laws of man, Dimmesdale has lost his true self. He tries to conform to the ideal of a pious minister, a god-fearing and worshipping man. However, his affair with Hester and his reaction to his encounter with Nature show the fiery and uncontrollable side of his character. Dimmesdale suffers from chronic mental unrest because he mistakes himself for a rule-abiding man. This failure to live up to the community's expectations of a minister causes his "positive and vivacious suffering." Although he has won the admiration of his parishioners as a gifted orator and model Puritan, he focuses on his flaw. Humans obsess over their imperfections but take for granted their positive attributes.
Humans follow the laws of nature by removing themselves from civilization and the corrupt laws of man. This requires both self-reliance and independence, which scares many people. The Puritan community forces Hester and Pearl to live by the laws of nature by ostracizing them for Hester's sin. Although "mother and daughter stood together in the same circle of seclusion from human society," this isolation has drastically different effects on Hester and Pearl. Hester, a part of civilization since childhood, is physically separate but emotionally and mentally attached to the laws of man, causing her lifelong suffering and anguish. Hester endures constant torture because "man had marked [her] sin by a scarlet letter, which had such potent and disastrous efficacy that no human sympathy could reach her." The laws of man, not the laws of nature, punish her continuously. The laws of man instilled distorted values in Hester at a young age, just as they do to all humans. These principles include valuing the opinions of others and the emphasis on conforming to standards outlined by the community in which a person lives. Even when cast out of the Puritan community, Hester still lives by these laws because humans follow the values inculcated in them in childhood. This accounts for her suffering and Pearl's mirth in the same natural setting. The isolation from the laws of man allows Pearl to develop and thrive because she has never been a part of civilization. Nature and her intuition have shaped her values. Pearl "could not be made amenable to rules" and this unruly nature reflects the free environment in which she grew up. The values children learn during childhood remain with them throughout their lives. The morals civilization imparts in children contradict human intuition, and therefore guarantee unhappiness.
Happiness comes with self-acceptance, and unhappiness accompanies self-hatred. Humans achieve happiness by following the laws of nature, not the laws of man. The laws of man ensure unhappiness because they force people to idealize an unattainable model of perfection. The community holds their preacher Dimmesdale up on a pedestal and tries to emulate his pious behavior. Although revered by his community, Dimmesdale, the supposed embodiment of spiritual perfection, has committed adultery. The individuals whom society admires are no closer to achieving perfection than their followers. This hypocrisy reveals the unrealistic value system of society. Human nature resists conformity, as seen through the lives of Hester and Dimmesdale. Only in the forest do Hester and Dimmesdale experience happiness since committing their sin. The environment of the forest had "the exhilarating effect- upon a prisoner just escaped from the dungeon of his own heart- of breathing the wild, free atmosphere of an unredeemed, unchristianized, lawless region." The forest represents a sanctuary ruled by the laws of nature. While in the forest Dimmesdale experiences happiness because he accepts himself and his sin. In the Puritan community this flaw, his adulterous sin, consumes him and he can not accept his inadequacies as a community role model. Hester "heave[s] a long, deep sigh, in which the burden of shame and anguish depart[s] from her spirit" after removing her scarlet letter. The lawless atmosphere prompts Hester to revoke the brand of ignominy placed on her by the Puritan community. She too accepts herself for the first time since the day on the scaffold. This feeling of self-acceptance relieves the suffering Hester has endured for the past seven years. In the presence of only the forest and her fellow sinner, Dimmesdale, she feels freed of the shame the Puritan community has placed on her. Hester and Dimmesdale experience "the sympathy of Nature- that wild, heathen Nature of the forest, never subjugated by human law, nor illuminated by higher truth." The natural law of the forest supercedes human law, accounting for Hester and Dimmesdale's miraculous recovery from the torment of guilt and shame. The laws of the forest even overpower the laws of religion, implying that Hester and Dimmesdale's affair, although an act of adultery by religious standards, does not constitute a truly evil deed. Human nature tends to defy rules, ensuring unhappiness and self-doubt as long as humans live within the confines of civilization.
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Get custom essayHuman nature opposes the structured laws of man. All human beings need to accept themselves as unique individuals, not compare themselves to a standard set by the community in which they live. Comparison guarantees failure in some ways, as no human can attain perfection. Everyone has imperfections or unconventional characteristics that make them 'human.' Everyone knows that human nature has flaws, yet that knowledge still fails to prevent them from trying to achieve perfection.
Imagine just walking down the street with your partner. You decide to get a bite to eat at an Italian restaurant. You walk into a restaurant and request a table for two. The hostess begins to show you your table then stops and says “I am sorry, we do not serve homosexuals, you and your partner are not welcome.” Imagine, this is legal in Mississippi.
Get original essayDiscrimination can happen anywhere to anyone. Most recently, LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, questioning) civil rights and basic constitutional rights have been directly threatened. Whether at work or in church, this segment of the population is increasingly becoming a target. Recently, many states have passed “religious freedom” legislation which serves to alienate certain individuals based on sexual preference and/or gender identity. This alienation has had a number of effects, none of which are positive. Religious discrimination toward LGBTQ negatively impacts society’s religious associations, increases mental illness cases among the LGBTQ community, and creates divisiveness in our society. There are many ways to address and mitigate the impact of LGBTQ religious discrimination. Religious advisors, politicians, community activists, as well as, the individuals themselves all have the ability to address Religious discrimination within the LGBTQ population.
Many communities across the nation have offered a more inclusive approach to address LGBTQ religious discrimination. This approach is starting to have a positive impact on the number of individuals who identify with a faith-based religion. Religious advisors can further address the diminishing numbers of LGBTQ individuals who identify with a faith-based religion by advertising a more “welcoming approach” to the gay community. Matthew Vines, author of God and The Gay Christian explains “the rising tide of LGBT acceptance is allowing more people in conservative communities to come out who wouldn't have a generation ago”. To this point society becoming more accepting of the LGBTQ population. In fact, “in the U.S. alone, there are more than 5,000 churches that intentionally embrace the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexaul and transgender people”. This welcoming approach is sporadic and varies by community. Religious leaders can do better.
In order to better serve their congregation, religious leaders must begin to understand and embrace sexual and gender diversity within their community. To that end, these leaders must strive to promote full equality of LGBTQ persons in all areas of society. There are many organizations the secular community can collaborate with to ensure such inclusion. The Institute for Welcoming Resources provides “the resources to facilitate a paradigm shift in multiple denominations whereby churches become welcoming and affirming of all congregants regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity”. Welcoming Resources provides guidance to 32 denominations and serves as an outreach program for the secular community. This group offers training sessions to help congregations implement a process for welcoming individuals of all sexual orientations. They also have a wealth of information on their website “designed to support the unconditional welcome of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities and their families in the church home of their choice”. These organization is an excellent way to allow the faith community to bridge the division between religion and sexual orientation.
With the wake of religious freedom laws, many states legislators are under pressure to sign/not sign the laws. Consequently, Politicians have a tremendous amount of power in shaping the culture to accept LGBTQ community. “Many governors are vetoing legislation aimed to discriminate against LGBTQ by passing Religious Freedom laws. Georgia’s Governor Deal vetoed such legislation and has “been showered with praise from business groups, gay rights advocates and others since the veto on March 28”. Politicians have the authority to ensure equal rights are upheld with in their state, regardless of sexual preference.
Religious freedom legislation and gay rights freedom will be clashing soon. In 2015, the Supreme Court effectively made same-sex marriage a fundamental right for all citizens. This ruling gave rise to a virtual civil war in the secular community. What would happen if gay couples wanted to be married by priests who believe gay marriage is a sin? Is that infringing on their right to practice religion? In the Washington Post article, Sharon Wetzstein notes “Traditional values supporters, however, say free exercise of religion is ‘an actual constitutional right’ — unlike the Supreme Court’s June 26 finding in Obergefell v. Hodges that said the 14th Amendment requires states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples”. Gay rights activists are pushing back and many state Governors are listening by vetoing any discriminatory legislation.
Not only do politician have the power to make valuable changes, community activists also have substantial influence in shaping public policy. To ensure LGBTQ individuals have equal rights and are able to practice their faith, organized protests and economic boycotts have put financial and public pressure on community leaders. Recently, the state of North Carolina passed religious freedom legislation which banned legal protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace. As a backlash “PayPal and 120 other business leaders signed a letter to the governor protesting the new law, and many pledged not to create any new business ventures in the state until the law is repealed”. Community activists and large corporations are vocal in their message to States that pass Religious Freedom acts. This condemnation has had an economic impact.
Numerous organizations nationwide have publically denounced the laws. “Many of America's most powerful companies — including Apple, IBM, Wal-Mart, the NFL, the NBA and American Airlines — have voiced opposition to states' recent attempts to limit anti-discrimination protections for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people”. This motivation is driven by the need for companies to adapt to the culture and climate of the present. “With the Supreme Court upholding gay marriage and the federal government backing anti-discrimination protections for LGBT Americans, ‘it's in their interest to be on the right side of history’”. These companies are really driven by the need to be relevant and progressive
The boycotts and condemnations are actually placing pressure on legislatures to think twice before signing the Religious Freedom laws. In 2014, Arizona’s Governor Jan Brewer was faced with a decision to sign or veto a bill which would have permitted businesses to refuse service to gay and lesbians. “She came after she came under pressure from the NFL and the state Chamber of Commerce, who said it would damage the economy” . Governor Brewer did veto the bill but never said what the underlying reason for her veto. It’s hard to say whether this economic pressure is working across the nation. But time will tell if economic boycotts and public condemnation will help sway the political forces in our country.
Religious leaders, Politicians, Community Activists can and do have influence over the fight against religious discrimination. Individuals, themselves, can help with this fight. By speaking out or joining activist groups, individuals can and do have an impact on combating religious freedom among the LGBTQ population. Many communities across the US have created local and nationwide organizations which allow individuals of all backgrounds to freely express themselves and practice their faith without being ostracized. A number of secular based movements are cropping up across the US. These organizations “empower people of all sexual orientations and gender identities to work for justice in church and society. There are many resources available and are free to use. The goal is to one day support sanctity of life and freedom of expression.
National LGBTQ organizations are continuously emerging as a way for individuals to help join a cause against discrimination. CenterLink, for example, is a community alliance which supports and develops LGBT community centers. Additionally, the Get Equal alliance was formed to ensure the LGBTQ community attains “full legal and social equality and to hold accountable those who stand in the way”. Finally, Freedom for All Americans is a program which aims for freedom of expression for all citizens. One of their goals is to “defeat overly broad measures that seek to legitimize or promote discrimination and work to ensure that religion is not used as an excuse to discriminate”. Locally, there are many avenues to help fight for religious freedom. These avenues are becoming more and more prevalent in our communities.
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Get custom essayDue to the open discrimination against individuals based on their sexual preference, the notion of Religious Freedom has been a struggle for the LGBTQ community. This discrimination is associated with the decreasing number of individuals associated with a faith based religion. Eventually, these perceived restrictions within the LGBTQ community leads to mental illness, as the stress to “fit in” becomes overwhelming. Religious leaders, politicians, and community activists can make a difference and protect LGBTQ equality. Individuals can join organizations which will allow them to have a voice and to feel more welcome in their community. Companies have begun to speak out publically to denounce such laws.
Law reform is the process of evaluating current laws, and implementing any changes needed in the legal system, aiming to enhance justice or efficiency. The topic chosen to evaluate is Age of Criminal Responsibility.
Get original essayIn Australia, the age of responsibility is the age a child may be seen as incapable of having committed a criminal offence. The age of criminal responsibility in Australia is no younger than 10 years old. This means that a child under the age of 10 can not be arrested or charged with crime. Only if the prosecution can show that the accused child was able at the relevant time adequately to distinguish between right and wrong, can a contested trial result in conviction.
The Children Criminal Proceedings Act 1987 gave the NSW Children's Court its own piece of legislation for the first time. It aims to give magistrates and officers more independence and required children’s court judges to have to have training in social or behavioural science or to be specially qualified another way that allows them to work with children and young people.
In the case “RP v Ellis and Anor 2011” it deals with a 13 year old who was charged with intent to inflict bodily harm which is a serious children’s indictable offence. The magistrate found that this was an evidentiary matter and committed the child for trial.
A media article by SBS News states that determining the age of which a child can comprehend the difference between right and wrong can be quite difficult as many people have divided opinions. An article on News talks about raising Age of Criminal Responsibility to 16 which leaves many people worried about this potentially leading to gangs targeting young children. The article also talks about how children under 16 have not fully developed their brains to understand reason. An article by The Sydney Morning Herald talks about how harsh punishment on young offenders will only make matters worse. The article also states that children’s brains are still developing not allowing them to fully understand right from wrong.
In order for law reform with Age of Criminal Responsibility to be affective there must be an establishment on when a child fully understands what they are doing and whether it may be right or wrong.
On the 17th January 1920, the now infamous American constitutional Prohibition on alcohol began. With some reservation, the Guardian reported at the time; ‘One minute after midnight to-night America will become an entirely arid desert as far as alcoholics are concerned… Excessive fines and dungeon keeps yawn for transgressors of this drastic Federal law’. The Prohibition was the single most important event in the history of organised crime in the United States. Clearly, the introduction of the Prohibition was responsible for significant social change throughout America and, most notably, Chicago. Over the thirteen years that the Prohibition was in effect, the city of Chicago saw the dramatic rise of organised crime. The following will discuss and investigate the question “To what extent did the Prohibition contribute to the rise of Organised Crime in Chicago between 1920 and 1933?”. To answer the question, the essay will discuss the fact that enforcing Prohibition in Chicago was doomed from the start. It will also investigate both the role that corrupt politicians and law enforcement had to play in fuelling the rise of organised crime in the city, and the rise of Chicago’s gangsters, such as Al Capone, and other criminal organisations, most notably the Chicago-Outfit.
Get original essayThere is significant evidence to suggest that the prevailing conditions in Chicago encompassed an environment whereby resistance to Prohibition was inevitable. Indeed, the Act had only been in operation for less than one hour when six armed men stole more than $100,000 worth of whisky from a train in Chicago. Reid states that there was a flourishing culture of crime, prior to the Volstead Act. The political and social conditions of the city were no doubt favourable to the rise of organised crime. The city was plagued by corrupt politicians and run by large and powerful organised gangs, such as the Chicago Outfit, reminiscent of Italian gangs of the 19th Century. Behr asserts, pre-Prohibition Chicago was already notorious for its gangs, who ran lucrative businesses of gambling and prostitution, aided by their cosy relationships with the city’s politicians.
According to Binder, pre-Volstead Chicago was a ‘hard drinking town’ and the world centre of alcohol manufacturing. Chicago citizens drank, on average 3 and a half times more alcohol, than the rest of America. Records show by 1920, over seven-thousand saloons existed in Chicago, not considering the estimated one-thousand ‘blind pigs’ (illegal bars), run by the nations gangsters, spread throughout the city. Tellingly, when the city council had attempted to enforce Sunday lockout laws and increased the fee for saloon licenses from $50 to $300 in 1855, a riot, ending in a deadly gun battle along the Chicago river, occurred. More than 150 special deputies, plus the entire Chicago police force was needed to contain the rioters who were primarily of German descent.
A speech made by Justice James Clarke McReynolds encapsulates the sentiment in Chicago shortly after the Prohibition was introduced. He stated that “The Eighteenth Amendment required millions of men and women to abruptly give up habits and customs of life which they thought not immoral or wrong, but which, on the contrary, they believed to be necessary to their reasonable comfort and happiness”. The Guardian reported days before the Prohibition that “At other places plenty of clients were willing to pay for the privilege of whetting their thirsts at 20 to 30 dollars for a bottle of champagne, or a dollar to two dollars for a drink of whisky. At several places’ coffins were carried through the lows of diners to the accompaniment of dirges. At some restaurants the walls were hung with crepe. Several games restaurants had placards bearing the words “Exit booze. Door’s close on Saturday.” Clearly the prominent attitude of Chicago’s residents to the ban was negative. Sandbrook recalls that the new regime never received unanimous support and the federal government put little effort in the enforcement of the new law. Astonishingly, only 1,500 federal agents were tasked with enforcing the new act – only about 30 officers for each state.
According to Sandbrook, the gangsters realised, from the very beginning, that the Prohibition represented yet another grand business opportunity. The gangsters simply capitalised on the city’s residents’ negative attitude towards the change and the federal government’s inability to properly enforce the law.
Behr states “…it can be argued that some of America’s biggest villains during the Prohibition era were not the Al Capones, Johnny Torrios, Gus Morans, Dutch Schultzes or Frank Costellos but the political bosses… who used the underworld to their considerable advantage…”. Outlined in the 1928 Illinois Crime Survey, “Organised crime and organised political corruption have formed a partner-ship to exploit for profit the enormous revenues to be derived from law- breaking.” There is much evidence to suggest that widespread collusion existed between many political leaders and organised crime syndicates, during the prohibition era. This no doubt aided the rise of organised crime. For example, New York Mayor and the Tammany Hall Machine’s James Walker, who, throughout his term, “enjoyed a cosy relationship with New York’s gangland.”
But perhaps the most obvious example of political corruption was in Chicago, under the administration of Mayor William “Big Bill” Thompson. Dobyns writes, “Thompson made Chicago the most corrupt and lawless city in the world.” Sailer argues that Thompson played a crucial role in the rise organised crime in Chicago - helping gang leader Al Capone to illegally provide alcohol to the residents of Chicago. Thompson, alongside state governor Len Small, pardoned more than 1000 convicted bootleggers, most memorably infamous Chicagoan bootlegger Edward “Spike” O’Donnell. The actions of political bosses such as Thompson, as both Behr and Woodiwiss argue, consequently developed the impression between the residents of Chicago and law enforcement agencies that criminal action’s “were unlikely to result in any form of penalty.” There is no doubt that without such widespread corruption from political leaders, such rampant organised crime in Chicago would have existed. This was proven in the term of Democrat Mayor William Dever, who successfully enforced Prohibition within Chicago, causing criminal figures, for example Al Capone, too relocate in order to continue their bootlegging operations.
There is also much evidence to suggest that the judiciary and law enforcement agencies were also corrupt. Undeniably, this played a large role in the rise of organised crime in Chicago. For example, notorious Chicago bootlegger and leader of the Northside Gang Dan O’Banion, was responsible for more than 25 murders, but was not convicted nor brought to trail for a single case. O’Banion was also charged with the robbing a labor safe in 1921, but was convicted by a “bribed and otherwise terrified jury”. Behr states that there were 136 gangland murders in just the first five years of the prohibition. Of these only six were brought before the courts and all, but one, ended in acquittal.
However, no where was police collusion more evident than in the case of the Genna crime family. Headed by six Genna brothers, during the early years of the Prohibition they were Chicago’s most well-known and successful bootleggers. Despite a lengthy criminal record, they obtained a licence to produce large amounts of industrial alcohol, only a few blocks away from the Maxwell Police Station. According to Behr, no attempt was made at concealment. A former manager later told police:
“The warehouse was run openly and in full view of everybody, unmolested by the state authorities other than an occasional raid. But notification of 24 hours was always given to the Genna’s. Sometimes the very letters sent out to police ordering the raid were shown to them. There would be a clean up, then a raid, then a re-opening…. During all the period that I worked there the enter Genna enterprise was done with full knowledge, consent and approval of the Chicago police…”
The introduction of the prohibition was the catalyst for such failures of law enforcement and political leaders in enforcing the law - inadvertently encouraging criminality. ****
Evidently, the prohibition encouraged a culture of lawlessness in the city of Chicago.
One of the most prominent Chicago gangsters of the Prohibition era, was Chicago Outfit co-founder Al “Scarface” Capone. According to Sandbrook, Capone controlled much of the Chicago underworld in the mid-1920s. Prior to the Prohibition, Capone partnered with gangster Johnny Torrio, who presided over a thriving business in prostitution and gambling. But Capone saw the enforcement of the 18th Amendment as yet another business venture. At the height of his power, newspaper estimates from the time put Capone’s yearly earnings from his bootlegging business at one-hundred million dollars. At the same time, Binder states, that he had at least 500 “gorillas” in his employ - running one of the largest organised crime syndicates in the city’s history. In contrast to Torrio, Capone refused to keep a low profile. Sandbrook states he ‘had a taste for the good-life’. He lived in the luxurious Lexington Hotel and wore expensive suits and drank the top whisky. Initially, he was likened by the press to that of Robin Hood. He opened soup kitchens for the unemployed and gave large sums of his ‘dirty’ earnings to charity.
But, as stated by the Chicago Tribune, it was the control of such profit that launched a war between the Outfit’s main rival the North Side gang, which saw public support for Capone fade. An article from the McAllen Daily Press writes that two carloads of Capone’s gangsters, armed “with every fiendish device known to gang warfare”, destroyed a stronghold of the north side liquor gang, headed by “Bugs Moran”. The article states they:
“Smashed through heavy doors, herded eight men into an alley at the rear of the building, lined them in a single file against a brick wall and as a final parting gesture swept seven men to their death as they stood on quavering feet. A volley of hand machine gun fire was poured into the octet, two of whom were fatally wounded by the rain of lead.”
Capone had absolute power over Chicago’s underworld. However, due to the brutality of the attack, the public soon realised the ferocity of gang violence. As displayed in articles by the Chicago Tribune, Capone was now “public enemy number one”. Michael Hugh’s, Chicago’s chief of police at the time stated:
“I don’t care for George Moran or Al [Capone]…. There’ll be machine guns on the cars that go after them. We’ll meet the gangsters on equal terms and the rats will scatter when they see we’re on the jump after them.”
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Get custom essayHugh’s determination to bring down Capone and the public’s change in attitude, display***. Chicago, at least, had finally come to realise the side-effects of the Prohibition.
Dynamics related to the study of forces and torques and their effect on motion. It is the branch of physics (specifically classical mechanics). It is the opposite of kinematics. Kinematics studies the motion of objects without reference to its causes.
Get original essayWe can see physics in many places. One of them is a simple lever(like in a park). Levers come in three flavors, each of them has a different location. They serve to magnify force, decreasing the weight of an object on the opposing end. A simple “see-saw” at a park consists of a lever (the locations for sitting) and the fulcrum (placed in the middle). The two opposing forces counterbalance each other, creating a smooth ride through the air.
The industry of transport is not a stranger to the manipulation of everyday physics. Cars and trains use the wheel, preventing gravity from slowing the movement of an object, allowing it to act as a constantly flowing object. Airplanes, allow lift as well as forward momentum. They manipulate physics by creating lift through wing shape as well as the wing’s angle – both of which serve to alter airflow.
Physics is all relative with itself. This theme resonates through Einstein’s special and general theories of relativity. A focus is on the physics of time, which varies throughout the universe and doesn’t retain a uniform structure; the speed of an object can order the time-flow of and on that object. A manipulation of this exists in GPS satellites. These satellites take into account variations in time-flow between the GPS receiver and the satellite.
While you’re reading this sentence, physics is working. Yeah… The eyes are evolved in many types. The ears hear sounds. Sounds occur through the alteration of molecules of air. Although, quantum physics exists within everything. Every day, for example, plants break down sunlight and absorb water and carbon dioxide, making glucose and releasing oxygen.
Let’s turn back to Galileo. He was related mainly with a form of acceleration, which occurs due to the gravity’s force. Aristotle had provided an explanation of gravity with his affirmation that objects fall to their “natural” position. Galileo set out to develop the first scientific explanation concerning how objects fall to the ground.
According to the predictions of Galileo, two metal balls of different sizes would fall with the same rate of acceleration. To test his hypotheses, he could not simply drop two balls from a rooftop and measure their rate of fall. Objects fall fast, and, he had to find another way to show the rate at which objects fell.
This he did by resorting to a method Aristotle: the use of mathematics as a means of modeling the behavior of objects. Since he couldn’t measure the speed of the object, he had to find an equation relating total distance to total time. Through a detailed series of steps, Galileo discovered that in uniform acceleration from rest there is a proportional relationship between distance and time.
With this mathematical model, Galileo, the scientist with a big fame could demonstrate uniform acceleration. He did this by using an experimental model: an inclined plane, down which he rolled a perfect ball which was round. This allowed him to extrapolate that in free fall, though velocity was greater, the same proportions still applied and therefore, acceleration was constant.
The effects of the system of Galileo were tremendous: he demonstrated mathematically that acceleration is constant, and established a method of hypothesis and experiment that became the basis of the subsequent scientific investigation. He did not, however, attempt to calculate a figure for the acceleration of bodies in free fall; nor did he attempt to explain the overall principle of gravity, or indeed why objects move as they do—the focus of a subdiscipline known as dynamics.
At the end of Two New Sciences, Sagredo offered a strong prediction: “I really believe that… the principles which are set forth in this little treaty will, when taken up by minds, lead to another more outstanding result….” This prediction would come true with the job of a man who, because he lived in a somewhat more enlightened time was free to explore the implications of his physical studies without fear of intervention of Rome. Born in 1564 Galileo died in 1642, his name was Sir Isaac Newton.
In discussing the movement of the planets, Galileo had invented a term to describe the tendency of an object in motion to remain in motion, and an object at rest to remain at rest. The term was inertia.
First law of motion: An object at rest will remain at rest, and an object in motion will remain in motion, at a constant velocity unless or until outside forces act upon it. The second law of motion: The net force acting upon an object is a product of its mass multiplied by its acceleration. Third law of motion: When one object exerts a force on another, the second object exerts on the first a force equal in magnitude but opposite in direction.
These laws ended with Aristotle’s system. Instead of “natural” motion, Newton represented the concept of motion at a constant velocity—whether that velocity is a state of rest or of uniform motion. Actually, the closest thing to “natural” motion is the behavior of objects in outer space. There, without friction and far from the gravitational pull of Earth or other bodies, an object set in motion will remain in motion forever due to its own inertia. It follows from this watch, casually, that Newton’s laws were and are universal.
The first law establishes the principle of inertia, and the second law makes reference to the means by which inertia is measured: mass, or the resistance of an object to a change in its motion—including a change in velocity. Mass is one of the most fundamental notions in the world of physics, and it too is the subject of a popular misconception—one which confuses it with weight. In fact, weight is a force, equal to mass multiplied by the acceleration due to gravity.
It was Newton, through a complicated series of steps he explained in his Principia, who made possible the calculation of that acceleration—an act of quantification that had eluded Galileo. The figure most often used for gravitational acceleration at sea level is 32 ft (9.8 m) per second squared. This means that in the first second, an object falls at a velocity of 32 ft per second, but its velocity is also increasing at a rate of 32 ft per second per second. Hence, after 2 seconds, its velocity will be 64 ft (per second; after 3 seconds 96 ft per second, and so on.
Mass does not vary anywhere in the universe, whereas weight changes with any change in the gravitational field. When United States astronaut Neil Armstrong planted the American flag on the Moon in 1969, the flagpole (and indeed Armstrong himself) weighed much less than on Earth. Yet it would have required exactly the same amount of force to move the pole (or, again, Armstrong) from side to side as it would have on Earth because their mass and therefore their inertia had not changed.
What is leadership? Leadership is a process of establishing a clear vision and leading a group of people to attain a common goal within an organization. What is a leader? A leader is a person who provides the information, knowledge and methods to realize a vision. He also coordinates and balances the conflicting interests of all the members of an organization. Leadership involves the leader to step up in time of crisis and is able to think and act creatively in difficult situations. In the article “to inspire you” John Maxwell, 2010 says Leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal. In the article Leadership in Organisation, Garry Yukl (2011) defines leadership as a process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives. Viewing leadership as a process means that leaders affect and are affected by their employees, positively or negatively. Therefore, leadership is a two way process, interactive event between leaders and followers rather than a linear process.
Get original essayLeaders establish the vision for the future and set the strategy for reaching to that point. They motivate and inspire others to go in the right direction, and they, along with everyone else, sacrifice to get there. I was not a born leader, but somehow I discovered leadership qualities in me. I would like to tell an incident of my nursing college when I became a leader. We had a Cancer Awareness day in our hospital. Being a B. Sc Nursing Intern my best friend was given the responsibility of arranging Cancer Awareness Day in the hospital premises. But she handed over to me as she was busy in those days. I had no faith in me and even refused her for taking over the responsibility. Due to her hope on me and encouraging words, I decided to become a leader. Firstly, I had to make separate teams so that they can work collaboratively. I made different teams such as prayer song team, catering team, maintenance team and most important the presenters.
All the team members worked very hard and there were some clashes between team members which I solved on my level. It was an exciting time for all of us as we were not only loving the work but also learning many new things. I managed to organize and lead the team for that wonderful function. Everyone was amazed at the efforts of my whole team. At the end our Chief Guest really appreciated our work and gave us a token of love as a reward.
This incident helped me to reveal my leadership qualities and to strengthen my character. Now I am very sure that if I enhance my skills by practicing, I will surely become an effective leader. Leadership qualities are very necessary in professional as well as for a bright future. Leadership not only mean to give orders to do something, but also, to inspire them to do the work and to help them to work in collaboration with each other. This is the conclusion I have come across in this case. In the article “what leaders really do” John Kotter describes qualities of a professional leader. He also lays emphasis on the challenges faced by a leader while performing his work.
Nursing Leadership is a vital component in the delivery of patient care. It shapes the profession, facilitates policies on mentoring and evidence based practice and helps navigate change in challenging times.
RNAO intends to assist nurses and others performing both formal and informal roles in leadership. It identifies and describes leadership practices that help in healthy outcomes for patient, client and organizations. It provides knowledge, competencies and behavior of leaders in all kinds of leadership roles. It also explains educational standards and strategies that can help the upcoming leaders to become effective in playing their roles as a leader.
According to CNA, leadership is a shared responsibility. With the collective energy of shared leadership, nurses can form strong relationship that contributes to high quality nursing care. Therefore, CNA had an impact on my leadership philosophy that leaders at every level and position must develop organizational and managerial skills where they manage human and material resources. It also tells that leadership does not happen all at once, it requires continuous efforts and practices. Therefore, I would continue to practice my leadership skills to become an effective leader.
Professional standards document of CNO provides an overall framework of nursing practice and links with the college’s other practice standard, guideline and competencies. Leadership is considered to be one of the professional standards. Each nurse as a leader shows leadership by facilitating, providing and promoting best possible care to the public. This has taught me that leader requires self-knowledge. True leaders behave in a way that exhibits love and trust towards his employees. As well as, they should take action to resolve conflicts and advocate for the client, workplace and profession.
Leadership is not an easy task. It involves a lot of responsibilities on a single person. He is held responsible for all work in the organization. The overall impact of these professional organizations on my Leadership Philosophy is:
Leadership as known since time immemorial has been a recurrent adventure filled with anxiety, excitements, doubts, and even sometimes, chaos (Nirenberg, 2004). Nonetheless, today leaders have tremendously continued to coin the entire meaning of leadership to an envisioned platform. The current changes in leadership environment have been made possible owing to the dynamism in the 21st Century leadership environment that many management thinkers believe to be complex and demanding of leaders (Schyns et al. , 2011). Thus, the ongoing changes and development in leadership will instill an irrevocable sense of leadership influence and change among current and future leaders. While the mere definition of a leader emphasizes on their ability to influence others to willingly participate in ongoing processes, a leader must also be visionary, ambitious, and proceed with a sense of the entire organization purpose and values (Northouse, 2018). Hence, the thesis will analyze the theory U, as well as other empirical studies to achieve how the theory links to a sustainable model of leadership change management, along with realizing the new system of thinking and presence among global leaders.
Get original essayBestowing from studies by Stewart (2010), the U or the Utopian theory as proposed by Otto Scharmer alleges that thoughts and emotions tend to hinder people’s ideas. Therefore, in being a good leader an individual must be welcoming/ expose their mind to the new idea and overcome false and emotional ideas to realize the effective change (Nirenberg, 2004). Thus, Scharmer theory proposed for the reintegration and acceptance as a way of welcoming change and new ideas among leaders. The U model as applied by Otto Scharmer begins from left to right beginning by the co-initiating phase involving listening to oneself and suspending one’s judgment (Walden University, 2015). At the stage, the leader pursues a common intent by listening to others as a way of understanding the call to leadership. The next phase is co-sensing where the leader engages in factual and empathic listening to others with all their might, mind, and will (Walden University, 2015). After which, the leader will move to ‘presencing stage’ where the leader will develop a sense of their past and future leadership goals. The stage will allow leaders to link with their inner inspirations either through meditation (Stewart, 2010).
In moving towards the upper right side of the leader will have to co-create by prototyping their visualized leadership intention and crystalizing such intent with their head, heart, and hand to achieve leadership goals. Finally, the leader will co-evolve in that they will embody and perform that which is new within their leadership environment, by acting on the ‘whole’ ((Walden University, 2015). On the left side of the U model device strategies for leaders to deal with resistance in their thoughts and emotions, whereas the right side encourages reintegration and intelligence of leadership thoughts (Twelve Management site, 2017). Unlike the T theory that focuses on changing the world, the U theory focus on changing the world-view of an individual/ leader by demanding of them to proceed beyond their personalities and explore their true identity of self (Northouse, 2018). Hence, the subsequent section of the assignment will integrate how the model of the U theory achieves effective leadership change management.
Agreeing with Burke (2017), a leader usually has a mission, a vision, and a destiny to achieve and would constantly seek to persuade others to help with realizing a compelling cause. Therefore, leaders usually assume a ‘creative tension’ persona to help with negotiating their way out of a chaotic change process. Rendering from Schyns and fellow proponents (2011), a leader is usually on the crossroad between the past and the future and will sometimes tend to rely on mental models, and meditation to predict and control certain organizational situations. As evident from the situational leadership concept, the leader's ability to lead is usually tested at the time of chaos, uncertainties, and even dangers. Therefore, the appropriate mix of courage, competence, along with a sense of purpose, vision, and urgency to resolve organization issues will determine will help the leader the effectiveness of a leader to shepherd the organization and its staff from management quagmires (Burke, 2017). Transitioning to the future is never easy especially where the followers prefer the status quo (Schyns et al. , 2011). Therefore, a leader in the case will always rely on the past and present to develop a mental model by which they will anticipate the future. The creation of mental models important in realizing sustainable change for self and others within the organizational context is usually guided by a vision of a creative and a transformational mindset (Twelve Management site, 2017).
The paradox of change posits that despite the volatility of the global economies change tend to remains as the only phenomenon that widely contested. While change is inevitable, Northouse (2018) argue that people can always overcome change by focusing on building that which is new, as opposed to fighting the former/ old. Thus, an effective leader will help focus the organization energy and develop the passion for the pursuit of the new through taking action, as opposed to reciting change as a theory (Walden University, 2015). While realizing change promises more benefit, still people may be opposed to it due to fear of uncertainties, and even cynicism on the side of management. While Lewin and Kotter proposed the three steps and eight steps of change model, realizing sustainable change is more involving than it appears. However, both models outline the urgency, the synergy, the vision, and the dynamism through which leaders should leverage change and allow it to infiltrate to the entire levels of the organization (Burke, 2017). Bestowing from studies by Nirenberg (2004), the achievement of mental models should help remedy training and practicality of change result. However, in defective cases, the achieved models may alter objective evidence into subjective assumptions resulting in a misconception of change idea and erroneous judgments. Thus, the need to leverage change should pursue constructive and pragmatic transformation aimed at coagulating the followers’ as well as the leader application of mental models. As applicable to the U theory and the need to developmental models, it is vital that a leader suspend their judgment and engage in collaborative discussion to achieve a prudent change decision in pursuit for the new (Stewart, 2010). Hence, driving a sustainable change model should rely on the U theory of ‘presencing’, where a leader borrows from the future to comprehend and construct the current/ present.
Confirming from studies by Schyns and co-authors (2011), they propose three stages of change transitions namely; (i) ending, losing, and letting go, (ii) the neutral, and the (iii) new beginning. In interpretation, Schyns and fellow proponents (2011) meant that people will tend to achieve neutrality where they are unchain/ let go off/ liberate themselves from their past. The neutrality zone is usually a crossroad full of risk and opportunities and would always require thorough monitoring. Likewise, the stage is indicative of the Lewin’s move/ change stage that will thrust the organization into the desired new state (Northouse, 2018). The neutrality phase is usually demanding of a persons’ psychological, emotional, and cognitive change to facilitate process improvement for the desired new state/ beginning. Thus, gaining emotional intelligence among leaders is imperative to guide their followers in adjusting to the change. In essence, emotional intelligence provides the avenue for system-wide thinking and understanding the symbiotic structures of a dynamic change structure (Stewart, 2010).
According to Nirenberg (2004), the tenets of the U theory emphasizes the need to establish a learning organization. Meaning, a learning organization must sort for innovative, as well as creative thinking strategies as championed for by the theory. Hence, a collaborative principle in the view should comprise of the shared vision, the mental models, team learning, and systematic thinking, as well as personal mastery. Whereas systematic thinking, mental models, and personal mastery are personal to a leader, the rest bear the plurality of decision depending on the leader (Schyns et al. , 2011). Nonetheless, system-wide thinking remains to be the foundation of continuous engagement, improvement, and collaboration for the remaining four tenets. The systematic thinking principle forms the basis under which the manager can move others away from their comfort zone, question them as an order for facilitating sustainable positive change (Northouse, 2018). Similarly, a vibrant and effective leader will also rely on system thinking as a strategy to conquer challenges through delegation and prescribing the roles and objectives to their followers. Thus, achieving sustainable leadership will help grow the prospect of sustainable change among progressive organization (Nirenberg, 2004). According to Northouse (2018), the transformational style of leadership bestows in a leader the integrity and the credibility needed to steer a change within the periphery of moral and professional standards desirable of them. Leaders with such mentioned qualities will achieve an empathic listening ability, the open mind, heart, and will, as well as hands to compel such sustainable change.
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Get custom essayWhile change is fluid, leadership tends to involve a static and will evolve over time depending on the willingness to embrace certain leadership behavior and skills (Nirenberg, 2004). Likewise, the idea about leadership and change tend to be complex but can always be learned through training and studying others personalities. Hence, the ideal leaders are always visionary, courageous, resolute, and bear a sense of purpose and destiny. Such individuals will always leverage the organization from the status quo by suspending their judgmental attitudes and emotions and engaging in active and empathic listening to better the organization future (Schyns et al. , 2011; Stewart, 2010).
The Profession of Soldiering is among the most noble of professions as it pulls the best and brightest of our society. Those individuals who have a sense of duty, and a desire to serve a greater good, even though it may cost them their lives. Leadership in this profession is its pinnacle. One of the earliest goals of many Soldiers is to reach the basic level of this pinnacle and become a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO). With the principles of leadership that the Army utilizes to train its leaders, this goal is not only attainable but can prepare them for a future of professionalism in all of their endeavors both inside and outside of the Army. That’s why leadership and the army profession is the topic of this essay.
Get original essayThis same teaching has been able to produce some of the military’s greatest leaders such as SGT Audie Murphy, MSG Raul (Roy) Perez Benavidez and COL David Hackworth who accredits his leadership abilities as an officer to his time as a Non-Commissioned Officer. Although the Army may change the way that it teaches its leaders their attributes and competencies, the basic principle remains the same; make leadership your profession and master it.
“Lead from the front” is one of the most common phrases associated with leadership in the Army but should not be the final description of the leader. The Army leader should also be associated with terms such as empathy, self-preparedness, and tact to name only a few. The image of the Army leader as a grizzled, disgruntled, and unfeeling person is outdated and inaccurate. Army leaders are now instead, assisting their troops behind the scenes with issues such as suicide prevention, sexual harassment and assault. The leader must be ready to address all of today’s complex issues that can affect troop morale and safety.
Society views our Soldier leaders as the highest in moral standards and the example of courage in the face of adversity. The Army leader should therefore feel obligated to live up to this image. Meeting these standards and image begins with upholding a set of values that should be commonplace in the leader’s personal and professional life. That set of values begins for the Army leader long before they reach a position of leadership. Leaders should carry those values at the forefront of their mind throughout their career.
Values such as personal courage and duty are viewed as the standard for a strong and confident military leader. While these values are still more than relative and appropriate, the leader is currently receiving more training to practice values such as empathy and professional stewardship to adjust to the changing climate in today’s Army. The most successful Army leader is the individual who can put all these values to practice in their army leadership styles as well as their personal lives. When utilizing these values, the leader not only maintains the appearance associated with the military leader but can also more effectively lead Soldiers through the complex array of issues they face. It is imperative that all the values taught to the Soldier leader are held in the highest regard if the leader is to effectively make leadership their profession.
With leadership as a profession being the professional goal for the leader, it is of utmost importance that the leader is always open to learning as a way of developing. The leader will be willing to take time out of their day to devote to professional educational development as well as seek out and participate in military and civilian training courses. Many courses of this style will assist the strengthening of leadership skills by directing the teaching and curriculum toward the subject of leadership. Beginning with the Basic Leaders Course (BLC) the Army ensures that the leader is set on the right path toward professional development by giving future leaders the opportunity to learn the basics of how to conduct themselves in daily leadership situations with their troops. These teachings are taken directly back to platoons where the new leader begins implementing them within their squads. The Army leader now has a set of skills which will enable them to build and improve upon while on their path to making leadership itself their profession.
To fully implement this new set of skills the leader begins applying them immediately in the squad level setting. The Soldier who implements these learned skills to make leadership their profession will be met with some resilience as the skills will be outside of the status quo and will not be embraced by all. After a period of adjustment and possible attempts at direct rebellion, the leader will see changes in discipline. This change in subordinate discipline is a direct reflection of the leader who has applied him or herself to making leadership their profession before proficiency in specific areas. As subordinates will always meet changes with reluctance, leaders should embrace them as learning techniques and opportunities to separate and differentiate themselves.
The conclusion is drawn, that, for the leader in today’s Army to prevail, they must apply themselves to making the action of leadership their profession, and not just a byword. To be successful in this endeavor they must put into practice all of the values that they learn, not only from training, but also from mentorship received, and their own experience. Examples of leadership are taken from fellow leaders, both good and bad, as it is often from the worst examples of leadership that the most important lessons can be learned. Leaders are most competent when they can adapt their leadership style to the Soldier they are in contact with at any particular moment and have the knowledge to provide that Soldier with the assistance that they need. A leader is at their most competent when they can improvise, adapt, and overcome. It is most important, that for the leader to make leadership their profession, they do not become stagnant or complacent in this endeavor, but that they strive for perfection in this goal.
The criminal justice system controls crime through the police department, prosecution, the court system, and correction. The weight of this objective, therefore, requires that its organizational structure is effective and can take on future changes that are bound to happen in this dynamic system. Leadership development and succession planning are some of the critical tools necessary in addressing this issue. Leadership development improves that the skills of managers and supervisor among other leaders in the criminal justice. It equips them with modern skills that will assist them to make the right decisions in future policing among other areas, which is even more critical because the skills gained through formal leadership training are not enough and require regular development. Succession planning focuses on retaining top talent and is beneficial to the organizational structure of a criminal system. It is useful in the form of avoiding the risk of losing the knowledge that is not documented when the employee having this knowledge leaves. It also protects information that is critical to the success of the criminal justice system while equipping the staff with further skills.
Get original essayThe criminal justice system is bound to experience changes and preparation for these changes should be done using strategic planning. Leadership development and succession planning are some of the strategic practices that reforms in criminal justice have its basis on. Leadership development refers to the activities aimed at improving the skills, the confidence of leadership in an organization while succession planning is the identification and development of new leaders to replace outgoing leaders internally. The purpose of this paper is to explore and discuss leadership development and succession planning in criminal justice.
Criminal justice is a system made up of various components whose intention is to control, minimize, and take action on crimes that have been committed. These components consist of the police who make initial contact with criminal activities, legal prosecution, court system sentencing, and correction done through correctional officers (Schafer, 2007). Many variations have taken place in the public service related to criminal justice and are expected to keep changing over time. The changes affect technology as well as all other aspects of criminal justice. Achieving the objectives of criminal justice amidst all the changes, therefore, requires leaders who are effective and competent as part of the creative and innovative personnel needed for these changes (Berman & Fox, 2016).
Leadership development is a necessary tool in ensuring that all the components of criminal justice function well with the changes and are prepared for future changes. The responsibilities of managers and supervisors in law enforcement affect citizens, officers, and agencies. Some of these leadership positions in public law enforcement are gained with little or no leadership training until at a certain level. Formal leadership training is not enough for effective leadership and requires continuous development of leadership skills, which makes the employment of leadership development critical in all the aspects of criminal justice (Schafer, 2007). Thus, through evaluation of the current state of leadership and that of criminal justice, the leaders identify and develop the skills that they are lacking or requiring improvement in.
One issue that is addressed through leadership development is outdated skills that do not suit the current situation. Leaders are trained on innovative ways of handling new situations caused by changes in the system and how to deal with future changes. Subordinate staff in the criminal justice system are also given an opportunity for formal leadership training. The law enforcement field of criminal justice is led by first-line supervisors and law enforcement managers who manage and direct personnel in their daily activities. Leadership development in this field will comprise of evaluating and training these leaders (Albanese, 2016). The police leaders in modern times require leadership skills that are broader than before, which is meant to deal with the current complex situations that involve more political interaction than before. It is achieved through programs of leadership development that develop competent skills through action learning, on the job experiences, and offering skills meant to deal with future challenges.
Succession planning is significant not only for replacement of employees but also in preparation for organizational requirements that the company may have in future. The first step in succession planning is the identification of the positions, making it necessary for succession planning. This step is based on the importance of a certain position to the company’s success, and lack of documentation for knowledge possessed only by some employees. Possible successors and their job requirements are later identified to assist in building the required competencies. The success of the process is evaluated to assess progress towards the final goal.
Leaders in criminal justice fall mainly in the public sector where research has shown that positions are a field for only a short period, which did not permit enough time for the planning of a succession program. Succession planning is, however, important for the effective flow of operations in law enforcement. A study carried out by university police departments in Florida found some of the succession planning practices to include on the job training and sponsored courses on leadership and management (Rothwell, 2010). Courses were also through leadership training and police academies. Mentoring was done at a personal level, and the pursuit of formal education encouraged. The study indicated that succession planning was not done systematically but was rather observed in the form of singular practices.
Potential successors are identified through performance reviews, supervisory experience, and self-initiated projects among other methods. Succession planning is beneficial to the organizations in criminal justice with an example of an agency that reported to have managed to push down some responsibilities through succession planning, which provided more time at the higher level that could be used to focus on other concepts that could bring success to the company. Other benefits reported by departments in criminal justice include performance, motivation through internal promotions, identification of areas requiring further training and reduction of necessary training when appointing supervisors eventually (Albanese, 2016).
The criminal justice system plays an important role in managing crime through all its components. The actions taken by this system also have a great impact on a country’s citizens. For this reason, leadership development and succession planning are vital for the effective delivery of services in the criminal justice system. These two tools are also important in the dealing with the future changes bound to happen in policing among other aspects because they ensure that the staff is competent enough to come up with innovative solutions to face future challenges. It is, therefore, evident that leadership development and succession planning are necessary for proper management and performance in the criminal justice system.