Our Town Essay Example For Students

Our Town Essay Battered Womens SyndromeIn 1991, Governor William Weld modified parole regulations andpermitted women to seek commutation if they could present evidenceindicating they suffered from battered womens syndrome. A short whilelater, the Governor, citing spousal abuse as his impetus, released seven women convicted of killing their husbands, and the Great and General Court of Massachusetts enacted Mass. Gen. L. ch. 233 23E (1993), which permits the introduction of evidence of abuse in criminal trials. These decisive acts brought the issue of domestic abuse to the publics attention and left many Massachusetts residents, lawyers and judges struggling to define battered womens syndrome. In order to help these individuals define battered womens syndrome, the origins and development of the three primary theories of the syndrome and recommended treatments are outlined below. I. The Classical Theory of Battered Womens Syndrome and its Origins The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorde rs (DSM-IV), known in the mental health field as the clinicians bible, does not recognize battered womens syndrome as a distinct mental disorder. In fact, Dr. Lenore Walker, the architect of the classical battered womens syndrome theory, notes the syndrome is not an illness, but a theory that draws upon the principles of learned helplessness to explain why some women are unable to leave theirabusers. Therefore, the classical battered womens syndrome theory isbest regarded as an offshoot of the theory of learned helplessness andnot a mental illness that afflicts abused women. The theory of learned helplessness sought to account for the passive behavior subjects exhibited when placed in an uncontrollable environment. In the late 60s and early 70s, Martin Seligman, a famous researcher in the field of psychology, conducted a series of experiments in which dogs were placed in one of two types of cages. In the former cage, henceforth referred to as the shock cage, a bell would sound and t he experimenters would electrify the entire floor seconds later, shocking the dog regardless of location. The latter cage, however, although similar in every other respect to the shock cage, contained a small area where the experimenters could administer no shock. Seligmanobserved that while the dogs in the latter cage learned to run to thenonelectrified area after a series of shocks, the dogs in the shock cage gave up trying to escape, even when placed in the latter cage and shown that escape was possible. Seligman theorized that the dogs initial experience in the uncontrollable shock cage led them to believe that they could not control future events and was responsible for the observed disruptions in behavior and learning. Thus, according to the theory of learned helplessness, a subject placed in an uncontrollable environment will become passive and accept painful stimuli, even though escape is possible and apparent. With the people of Grovers Corners representing this daily ignorance and triviality, the lives of the people who surround me are no exception. Take, for instance, my father, who on most days awakes early to leave for his job, works all day and comes home only to drive my siblings and I around, run errands, go to his side jobs, or fix the house, help us with our homework, stay on top of both our social lives, our moral growth, and our educational careers. Some nights my father will sit down and watch some television for maybe an hour or two, while most he simply doing everything but something for himself. On rare occasion is my father allowed to stop and enjoy life, and savor the moment. Honestly, I would really like to know when the last time was that my father found time to simply admire his and my mothers garden without actually having to tend it. And yet another example is my mother, who does not even have to worry about her job most of the time, for she works once to twice a week , and yet I am sure she has never stopped to admire the earth and its beauty or cherished a time she has spent with her children, except if we are on vacation or at Christmas time. Throughout her days, my mother spends her time worrying about the aesthetics of our house, the worlds current events, her social life, as well as just about every other persons, and our familys day-to-day situations. Most of the time I come home from school, I get not a hello from my mother but an immediate question like, Why isnt your room clean? or a reminder that the lawn needs to be cut. My mother rushes about her days and never stops to admire anything or cherish the little time on earth that she may have with the people around her. It is this preoccupation with unimportant and trivial day-to-day matters that Thornton Wilder is highlighting and condemning in Our Town. He is attempting to display, with Simons comment, the apparent frivolity of people when dealing with the time they have each day. Peop le are ignorant of the preciousness of their time, and tend to spend it on things that do not matter. People also tend to live in and for the future. Wilder is also condemning this and attempting to persuade us to live in and for the present, for we do no know when our precious time will expire. .u6b4b0f19e16d1e59562bbf86c3368b68 , .u6b4b0f19e16d1e59562bbf86c3368b68 .postImageUrl , .u6b4b0f19e16d1e59562bbf86c3368b68 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u6b4b0f19e16d1e59562bbf86c3368b68 , .u6b4b0f19e16d1e59562bbf86c3368b68:hover , .u6b4b0f19e16d1e59562bbf86c3368b68:visited , .u6b4b0f19e16d1e59562bbf86c3368b68:active { border:0!important; } .u6b4b0f19e16d1e59562bbf86c3368b68 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u6b4b0f19e16d1e59562bbf86c3368b68 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u6b4b0f19e16d1e59562bbf86c3368b68:active , .u6b4b0f19e16d1e59562bbf86c3368b68:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u6b4b0f19e16d1e59562bbf86c3368b68 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u6b4b0f19e16d1e59562bbf86c3368b68 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u6b4b0f19e16d1e59562bbf86c3368b68 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u6b4b0f19e16d1e59562bbf86c3368b68 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u6b4b0f19e16d1e59562bbf86c3368b68:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u6b4b0f19e16d1e59562bbf86c3368b68 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u6b4b0f19e16d1e59562bbf86c3368b68 .u6b4b0f19e16d1e59562bbf86c3368b68-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u6b4b0f19e16d1e59562bbf86c3368b68:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Huxley's View EssayWords/ Pages : 800 / 24