Symbolic interactionism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Symbolic interactionism - Essay Example Our group known as the ‘The Saviour’ came up with the project of collecting clothes. Our strategy was to use all methods possible to collect many clothes to help the poor people in Senegal. To be effective in the meeting of our target, we divided the group into two. My team was given the task of placing donation boxes at various strategic points, giving out flyers to students in various colleges, and placing of posters to public notices. The posters had our contacts and activity. After two weeks of the activity the whole group came together to discuss on the progress. We all found out that the turnout was far below our expectations. According to symbolic interactionism theory, I expected my neighbors to appreciate my efforts to assist the poor through donations. However, that was not the case; the neighbors were seemingly getting a different symbolism from my efforts. I decided to meet with my team and discuss the way forward on how we could increase the awareness of our project in all our strategic places. We decided not to rule out possibility of miscommunication in our awareness efforts. As a team, we decided to purchase t-shirts printed with information regarding the project. At interval times, a person had to be at the strategic points we had placed the boxes and always carry with them a small mapping board with the group banner. Since our donation boxes were placed the bus terminal, the garden, school gates and the market place, the person was to talk to people around and create a good rapport about the group’s activity. In the next two weeks, we experienced a tremendous improvement in donations. This was perhaps possible because we were able to communicate our idea and convince people that we were a genuine group of youths dedicated to helping the poor in the developing countries. Language is an important concept of symbolic interaction. Therefore, we understood that different people perceive ideas differently. Our target was to colle ct several cargo tanks of clothes. We decided that each one of us would go from house to house in our respective neighborhood during our free time and weekends to distribute the remaining fliers. I visited most of the families in my neighborhood during weekends for a month. The response was encouraging because most neighbors embraced the idea and were happy about our project. Most of them gave out dozens of clothes and even promised tell others. Their appreciation and promises of cooperation was in accordance with the theory of symbolism interactionism. Thoughts are a concept of symbolic interactionism. Thought modifies the way a person perceives and understands a symbolism. We found out that placing the posters would not yield much as expected probably because people had gotten used to posters being used by scam artists. We decided to come up with alternative workable ideas of using posters. We placed the posters in each class notice board. We also visited some of the offices to al low us use their company’s staff notice board for a while. At first, most of the companies were afraid and thought we were a fake group but after we explained and defended our purpose, some of the companies permitted us. At the end of two weeks, we followed up and got a positive response from the employees, we collected several bunches of clothes from most companies. When the whole group met, we found out that our new strategy worked out very well. We shared the strategies we had used with the other team and the

Law enforcement and counter-terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Law enforcement and counter-terrorism - Essay Example Knowing what terrorists' aims and objectives will enable Americans to be prepared of possible future targets of terror especially in New York City. By using various research already done on the nature of terrorism and their targets, this paper intends to examine probable future targets of terrorism in New York City. This paper will first investigate why the terrorist attacked the WTC, why they like to attack New York City, Their aims and objectives, and possible next targets. It all started with an explosion that occurred on Friday, February 26, 1993 which devastated the public parking area of the World Trade Center located in New York City. The resulting blast killed 6 persons and dealt injury to not more than 1,000 others. This was considered by the N.Y.P.D. as one of the biggest crime scene they have ever encountered and the estimated damage was estimated at over half a billion dollars. Law enforcement agencies in and out of New York dubbed this as "the case of the century". This put N.Y. City in a grip of fear and panics ("The World Trade Center Bombing", 2006). This incident sparked a brand new trend in terrorism, one that involves the random and haphazard killing of civilians Dwyer et al, 1994; Myroie, 1996). 1, 042 people were reported to be injured in a more accurate account, and crime analysis has speculated that the terrorists aimed to kill more than 6 people at that time. It is also believed that the terrorist encountered several complications in the execution of the plan, and the damage could have been much worse if the circumstances were right (Parachini, 1993).The terror did not stop from that incident. History repeated itself on September 11, 2003 (now referred to as "9/11") when 2 large passenger aircraft were hi-jacked and collided with the Twin Towers again located in New York. The collision resulted in a massive fire and heavy collateral damage to the Twin Towers and other structures in the surroundings. Four of the nearby buildings in the WTC compound suffered irreparable damage and were eventually demolished. The next 8 and half months were spent on 24-hour cleanup involving thousands of voluntary workers. The effects of 9/11 is still being felt up to today, as a matter of fact as of 2005 a total of 2,749 death certificates related to 9/11 had been filed. The following statistics showed the grim and horrible results of 9/11: There were 13 survivors of 9/11, but they eventually succumbed to their injuries. The o ther attacks made on the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania resulted in 3 more deaths in different States, one death each for Massachusetts, Missouri, and New Jersey. A total of 2, 749 people died due to 9/11, 77% were males (2,117) and 23% were females (632). Around 1,588 (58% of the casualties) of corpses examined were identified based on dental records, jewelry and other identification methods. The average age for the victims is 39 years old based on data that the average age was 38 years for females (range: 2-81 years) and 39 years for males (range: 3-85 years). Three victims were under the age of 5 while 3 others were over the age of 80 years old ("World Trade Center", 2006). This goes to show that terrorist will go to any length to sow terror in men's heart.