8. November 2009 by student.

Many countries go to a great expense to encourage their populations to vote. However, many of these same countries also expend quite a bit to keep a certain percentage from not voting. In 48 states and 7 European countries including Britain, prisoners are not allowed to vote. Many more countries have partial voting bans. In 10 American states some criminals lose their right to vote for life, even after their rehabilitation. Most prisoners feel that the normal social rules do not apply to them, and taking away their right to vote only further compounds those feelings. As they have already lost their right to privacy and right to family life.            

Believers of democracy should hold the right to vote closely and to consider the loss of this right as a most serious sanction. Prisoners awaiting trial who do have the right to vote(in most countries) have several ways they can participate. Such as, by proxy or mail in absentee ballot. Some say that by taking away a prisoners right to vote only enforces the idea that if they do not want to follow the rules of a society, than they cannot participate in creating them. Although this type of punitive action doesn’t seem to be an effective deterent against any offense.

One of the goals of imprisonment is to give criminals a shove in the right direction through GED programs, job training, religion or whatever works. Allowing prisoners to vote won’t miraculously reconnect them to society but should probably do more good than bad, considering the number of prisoners that would vote would not be signifigant enough to swing a vote either way. The punishment should fit the crime and not all prisoners should have their rights taken for life. How as a society can we expect prisoners to assimilate back into society when we continue to exclude their right to effect that society?

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8. November 2009 by Mr. Andoscia.

As of November 7, 8:20 pm all blogs and comments up to this time have been graded.  Looking good, folks. Remember, this is about sociology and social facts. Your opinions are welcome, but support them with social facts.

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8. November 2009 by student.

To fully grasp the concept of nightmares I needed to remember myself as a seven year old boy waking up from a terrible dream, I thought would never end.  Not only children have nightmares, anyone could have one.  Dreams alone are complicated, but nightmares put dreaming to a whole other level. So, what exactly is a dream or nightmare?  A dream is a sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person’s mind. A nightmare is a very distressing dream which usually forces at least partial awakening.  The dreamer of a nightmare feels a number of disturbing emotions, the most common emotions being fear and anxiety.  The question on my mind is: Why do people get nightmares in the first place?

Nightmares are a reflection of stressful situations you have or had to deal with from your past or everyday life.  The nightmares of early childhood likely reflect the struggle to learn to deal with normal childhood fears and problems.  Many cases of nightmares come from people who have suffered a major traumatic event in their lives.  The losses of a loved one, a scary surgery, an accident or assault are all normal causes for nightmares.  Even combat veterans get nightmares due to bad memories of war.  Some people get nightmares just by being ill or having a fever. The possibilities seem to be endless.

Not all nightmares are caused by personal issues; you’d be surprised that a few man made items contribute to nightmares as well. I really thought nightmares were just personal issues, but after researching I see that in addition certain drugs and medications contribute to nightmares too.  It could be the intake of the medication/drug or the withdrawal from them.  Again, anxiety plays a big part in creating these nightmares, but I never thought prescription medication could. It doesn’t surprise me that hallucinogens are linked to nightmares; I’m sure many illegal drugs do cause nightmares. So, exactly what can be done about these nightmares?

            Nightmares won’t usually cause a threat to a person’s well being.  Most nightmares go away through time and age.  If medication and drugs are the cause of nightmares, meeting with a physician may be the key to solving your bad dreams.  If a child is having nightmares, talking them out with their parents could be of great help.  Not many people are disturbed by getting nightmares; some people see them as “just dreams”.  Again through time and age nightmares go away, even if you need some extra help. 

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