Creationism Prevails over Evolution

Creation as a theory- Creation is a term referring to the beginning of life and origin. It is the way everything began according to theories. God created the Earth and the Galaxy and everything in existence. Evolution as a theory- Evolution is a theory referring to the gradual process in which something changes into a different and more complex better form.

The history behind Creation is very simple. In the Bible, Moses recorded the first book, Genesis. The Holy Spirit guided him through this process. And Moses continued to write books of the Bible and continued to spread God’s message throughout history. On the first day of Creation, God created light as we know it. He spoke a single sentence and it became reality! He created darkness and light, calling them day and night. The second day He created the Firmament. Which in fact is Heaven. There were the upper waters and the lower waters. The third day He created Land and Vegetation. He called this land “Earth” and called the large bodies of water “Seas” and “Oceans”. He made the trees, the plants, the flowers, and the grass and much more! He made everything in His own image. The fourth day was the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars. He placed them in the firmament (Heaven) to provide light to the Earth and seasons for each year. The fifth day he made all the sea creatures and the birds in the sky! The sixth day he made animals and of course, us! He made all types of creatures and called them “animals” as we know them. Then He created man in His own image, breathing the breath of life into his creation called “man”. He then told man to be fruitful and multiply, for we are His creation. And lastly on the seventh day, God rested. For His work was complete and He saw that it was good! This is in fact the history behind Creation.

The history behind Evolution is quite different. In the middle 1700’s, Carolus Linnaeus came up with his taxonomic naming system, which grouped like species together and implied there was an evolutionary connection between species within the same group. "Survival of the Fittest," natural selection was most famously explained by Charles Darwin in his book On the Origin of Species. In this book, Darwin proposed that individuals with traits most suitable to their environments lived long enough to reproduce and passed down those desirable traits to their offspring. If an individual had less than favorable traits, they would die and not pass on those traits. Over time, only the "fittest" traits of the species survived. Eventually, after enough time passed, these small adaptations would add up to create new species. These changes are what makes us “human”. Basically, Charles Darwin believed that everything just popped into being and we were and are evolving slowly but surely. He believes there is no God and that everything is just by natural or gradual process. The History of Evolution can go on for miles. Miles of lies if you ask me.

An example of Creation is Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Examples of Creation are all around us. We’re surrounded by examples we can’t even realize. God created man and everything in the universe. He created the sky, the water, the ground, the animals, the plants and so much more.

An example of Evolution is Charles Darwin’s hypothesis. He believes that if an animal (or human) look like one another, they are related in some way no matter what. He took one look at an ape and decided that we humans are connected to the animal somehow because we both have five fingers and five toes. But it’s just a theory and has not been scientifically proven yet, nor will it ever be made a fact. It remains unknown and untested.

So after all of this research and understanding, I know what is fact and what is not. God made us in His own image and made us who we are today! It is Scientifically proven that it is impossible to actually prove the theory of Evolution. And people that say Creation is a theory need to go back to school! They haven’t looked into all the “examples” and facts about what is the truth about how we all came to be. Us evolving from apes into humans is ridiculous! Look at the evidence all around us! You don’t see apes suddenly turn into humans and walk around like it’s normal, do you? I doubt anybody has ever seen that. It’s all lies and the truth is right in front of your nose if your willing to take a chance and understand what God is trying to show you. Evolution makes no sense because it is not true. The Bible is true and even if you don’t believe it, you should. God loves you enough to give you hints of his existence. You may not realize it at first, but you will in time! You’ll learn that Creation began with God and not from apes or whatever you want to believe. God will reveal himself to you if your willing to give yourself a chance to allow him to.

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Claims of Creationisms and Evolution

Evolution is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “the process by which new species or populations of living things develop from preexisting forms through successive generations” (www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evolution), while the definition for creationism is defined by Britannica Dictionary as “the belief that the universe and the various forms of life were created by God out of nothing.” (www.britannica.com/topic/creationism) The flaw with this debate is that evolution has stated where life on Earth came from, it only states how generations change over several centuries and millenniums. To answer this question we would need to look at abiogenesis. Scientists define abiogenesis as “the possibility that life emerged from nonlife more than 3.5 billion years back on Earth. Abiogenesis suggests that the primary living things created were exceptionally basic and through a continuous procedure turned out to be progressively perplexing. Biogenesis, in which life is gotten from the proliferation of other life, was probably gone before by abiogenesis, which wound up outlandish once Earth's environment expected its present creation.”

(www.britannica.com/science/abiogenesis) Creationism, proposes that all life on Earth was formed in their current state, without any changes, while Evolution and Abiogenesis suggests that life was formed through gradual processes of natural selection and natural mutation.

Young Earth Creationists, or rather, creationists believe that the Earth is 10,000 years old, which is their primary motivation for saying that evolution and abiogenesis is impossible. Their evidence for this, by a young earth website, is that the great barrier reef and the oldest trees are both 4,300 years old. However the great barrier reef is 6-8,000 years old and has been forming for the better half of 500,000 years( www.livescience.com/6290-great-barrier-reef.html) . We can look further though, a common argument is that “Erosion rates limit niagara falls to an age of less that 10,000 years.”, this is true as niagara falls came into existence after the last glacial period, 11,000-12,000 years ago, and so the question is raised, “what does Niagara falls have to do with the age of the Earth?” (www.talkorigins.org/faqs/hovind/howgood-yea2.html)

Items proving that the Earth is over 10,000 years, consist of literally everything you look at. The oldest wooden sculpture ever discovered is dated between 11,000 and 12,500 years old. The oldest Bracelet ever discovered is dated to be 40,000 years old. The oldest item of clothing is 5100 years old. The list goes on and on but I think my point has been made concerning everyday objects. (www.ancient-origins.net/artifacts-other-artifacts/ten-oldest-everyday-items-0010619)

The proof extends beyond Earth's age too, the age of the Universe can easily be calculated through Redshift and Hubble time. The equation looking like ,d=10^((m-M+5)/5)pc. The variables are defined as m=apparent magnitude, M=absolute magnitude, d=parsecs (one parsec is equal to 3.08567758x10^16) and Once m is known, the distance modulus function can be used to calculate the distance to the supernova in parsecs (pc). There is much more that comes into play like the hubble constant but for lack of time just round the hubble constant to Ho=v/d

On the off chance that the Universe has been extending at a consistent speed since its starting, the Universe's age would basically be 1/Ho. Assuming this is valid, figure the age of the Universe utilizing your incentive for the Hubble Constant. Next, duplicate your answer by 3.09 x 1019 km/Mpc to drop the separation units. Gap this number by the quantity of seconds in a year: 3.16 x 107 sec/yr. The age of the Universe in years is calculated utilizing genuine observational information! (lco.global/measuring-the-age-of-the-universe/)

Now that the age of the Earth and Universe have been established, the processes of Evolution and Abiogenesis can be broken down. Evolution is broken down into two parts, Natural selection, and random mutation. When dna is forming in a child, occasionally an error will be made. The child can have a mutation of some sort altering the way their bodies function. This can as simple as having blue eyes, or as dramatic as being born with Sepia-eyes, bar-eyes, or wingless, (previous example is in reference to fruit flies.)

Now that the child is mutated, natural selection will come into play. For instance, let's say that they were born with webbed feet, in a marshy environment, and the rest of their species has non webbed feet. They may be able to get food easier than the rest of their species, meaning that they have a higher chance of spreading their genes. If they are able to spread their genes then their children will also be born with webbed feet. After tens of thousands of years their entire population could be swimming around with webbed feet thriving until the next mutation comes into play, or they might have already had several evolutionary changes.

Nobody is denying that mutations can occur, and nobody is denying that organisms that obtain more food or survive better than the rest of his/her species has a higher chance of passing on their genes. Which is why it stuns scientists and everyday people alike that there are people denying evolution. Abiogenesis is where it starts to get controversial though. Since abiogenesis is nearly impossible to prove or disprove I will simply tell you what it is, and share the evidence supporting it.
Abiogenesis, the “a” is a latin prefix meaning without, “bio” meaning life, and “genesis” meaning creation. Creation implying there was a creator, literally means that life without a creator. We have evidence that abiogenesis was possible however proving it would be almost impossible. The Miller-Urey experiment sought to recreate the conditions present during the time when life would have formed. In the end it created multiple amino acids from essentially nothing. Given a few thousand years and it may have made life. (astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/miller-urey-revisited/)
Many arguments have stated that abiogenesis was disproved by Francesco Redi, but Creationists don't understand the difference between life popping into existence through spontaneous generation and processes taking thousands of years containing conditions unknown to the scientists of our time. The only thing Francesco Redi disproved was spontaneous generation.Arguments attempting to disprove abiogenesis were abundant, however the majority were “God of the gaps” arguments. (God of the gaps being the “we don't know, therefore God” arguments)
The evidence supporting creationism is slim and flaky, but nevertheless, several of their arguments are debunkable. Here is some evidence supporting creationism: human and dinosaur footprints found together at paluxy river, Texas. A boat-like structure found in the Ararat region, supposedly noah's ark. And a human footprint found in “dinosaur age” rock. We’ll try to debunk these one by one.
For a long time claims were made by severe, "young earth" creationists that human impressions or "monster man tracks" happen close by fossilized dinosaur tracks in the limestone beds of the Paluxy River, close to Glen Rose Texas. Assuming genuine, such a finding would drastically repudiate the customary geologic timetable, which holds that people did not show up on earth until more than 60 million years after the dinosaurs wound up wiped out. In any case, the "man track" claims have not faced close logical investigation, and lately have been surrendered even by creationists. (www.talkorigins.org/faqs/paluxy.html)

Creationists also claim in reference to “noah's ark found on Mt. Aratat” that the example of 'iron lines' that were situated by the metal recognizing reviews and set apart out by plastic tape was copied and confirmed by other subsurface methods including ground entering, or subsurface interface, radar overviews. In reality This case is completely false, yet it has been industriously used to offer belief to graphs implying to demonstrate the interior structure of a vessel, in particular Noah's Ark. (https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/noah39s-ark-discovery/)

Regarding the human handprint found in “dinosaur age” rock, which was originally claimed to be from the cretaceous period, there was very little documentation, no sources from where the rock came from or how it was found, or whether there are any other fossils nearby. Due to the lack of information surrounding the rock, the rock is virtually useless to anybody trying to conduct research on it. In perspective on the absence of thorough proof for its source and geologic setting of this impression, it can't be viewed as a dependable human imprint in Cretaceous shake, nor proof of human/dinosaur living together. (http://paleo.cc/paluxy/hand.htm)

In conclusion, the evidence supporting an old Earth, followed with evolution, greatly outweighs the evidence supporting creationism. Abiogenesis is also supported with more evidence surrounding it then creationism has. While there is “evidence” supporting creationism, it is flaky and can easily be discredited as false. Lastly we have proof that the universe is older than 10,000 years, and proof that creationist claims are inaccurate and/or drastic assumptions. The burden of proof falls on the person making the extraordinary claim and creationists have none.

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Emotions after Murder – Crime and Punishment

Part two chapter two of Crime and Punishment arranges the feeling and emotions that Raskolnikov feels after murdering the pawnbroker and Lizaveta. This passage uses a location to reflect on Raskolnikov’s thoughts. Raskolnikov is now starting to feel sin and guilt while standing at the Neva. He questions why he ended up at the bridge. Pain and sorrow began to take over his body while he stood at the most beautiful landscape.

Dostoevsky portrays the Cathedral landscape as looking beautiful and through the clear sky you could “even make out each of its ornaments distinctively”. Although Dostoevsky places this location for Raskolnikov, the beauty soon did not matter to him. Raskolnikov mentions that a “mute and deaf spirit” has taken over this landscape. The “deaf spirit” represents Raskolnikov’s demons. A bridge where Raskolnikov would come to meditate would now torment him with his own thoughts. Because Raskolnikov would stop at this location on his way home during college, I believe that Raskolnikov is imagining how his life was during college. He is realizing that his life has changed for the worst. This spot is a place where his ideas and themes for college are thought about. Now, Raskolnikov only felt pain and sorrow because he had just killed the two ladies.

Although the sky was clear and the landscape was beautiful, Raskolnikov's thoughts were not. The narrators says, “While he was attending the university, he often used to stop, mostly on his way home, at precisely this spot (he had done it perhaps a hundred times), and gaze intently at the indeed splendid panorama, and to be surprised almost every time by a certain unclear and unresolved imprecision.” Therefore, his thoughts and objectives were also unclear while in college. It seems to me that he was depressed and lonely before he killed the two women. Usually when people are depressed, thoughts can be overwhelming. Therefore, depressed people try not to think at all. Even though Raskolnikov is trying to escape his thoughts, he cannot because he just killed two people. Killing the pawnbroker seemed like a good idea to him until his conscious started to attack him.

Raskolnikov had just gotten twenty kopecks from a lady that felt bad for him. He obviously looked poor and helpless. Raskolnikov carelessly threw the coin into the water even though he needed it. I believe this is when he completely lost himself. By throwing the coins into the water, he also threw away his soul. Instead of being cured and reborn by the water, he instead threw the coins and did not repent for his sins. The narrator explains that “...at that moment he had cut himself off, as with scissors, from everyone and everything.” The coin represents Raskolnikov’s soul. Raskolnikov needed the money (soul) but instead threw it into the water not to be cleansed. Since Raskolnikov did not believe much in Christ, salvation was not hesitated to be thought about. Therefore, he threw his soul into the water and walked away. He knew that the money would not save him and that he had nothing to lose. He carelessly turned his humanity switch off.

In conclusion, Raskolnikov fully lost himself during his time at the Neva Bridge. The “deaf spirit” took away his humanity. By the end of the book, his confessions were made but his mind was still psychotic. He still believed that killing the pawnbroker was for the best of everyone else. Until he repents and knows that he was wrong for killing the women, he will not be saved. His mind will not escape the thoughts that are tormenting him. His pain and sorrow will not be cleansed until he confesses his sins.

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Psychoanalysis of Breakfast Club’s Characters

The breakfast club is a film that features five students in a high school attending a weekend detention. The setting occurs at the Shermer Optional School on Saturday morning. Four of the students were required to come as a control of their terrible practices, nevertheless, the fifth student came in dependent on off the way that she "didn't have anything to do". They will be selected to make a composition about their personality anyway rather they'll set out on a voyage of knowing each other. Lastly, out of the five understudies, Andrew Clarke is the competitor, Allison Reynolds is the insane individual, Claire Standish is the princess, Bryan Johnson is the keen one and John Bender is the criminal.Through the examination of the characters I pick, their back story exercises and contemplations appeared through the plot of the film, are evident that they all have an other and unique agreement between the three pieces of cerebrum in Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic speculation similarly as other key factors that impact the character's personality. Out of these five understudies, I will complete a psychoanalytic report or character center, on John Bender and Allison Reynolds.

The primary character spotlight will be on John Bender, the 'criminal' of the five young people. Upon first look, Bender is by all accounts the normal school 'terrible kid' getting his situation in this particular detainment for pulling a bogus flame alert . This gives watchers that his character does whatever he can for consideration. Bender additionally tends to state and thing a pessimistic response out of an individual, by annoying and alienating each character in the film. By applying B. F. Skinner's hypothesis of identity, and Sigmund Freud's three parts of brain, there can be a superior mental comprehension of Bender’s identity crisis. In behavioural theorist B. F. Skinner's point of view; a person's identity advancement is affected by their condition and related involvements. Skinner recommended that the advancement of a person's identity is to a great extent dependant in transit in which critical grown-ups in their lives would remunerate or rebuff then over the span of their adolescence. Consequently, kids and young people raised by harsh and forceful guardians are increasingly disposed to likewise wind up forceful and antagonistic towards their companions. All through The breakfast Club there are various scenes that express the contrary home life in which Bender is being raised and how it is affecting his identity, In a particular scene as indicated by Bender in which his dad called him "stupid, worthless, no good, goddamn freeloading son of a bitch. Retarded, big mouth, know it all, asshole, jerk” at that point Bender copies a past warmed discourse among him and his dad and afterward Bender carries on getting punched in the face by his dad as a discipline for him replying back. This would legitimize Bender’s forceful identity towards different understudies. Lastly as per Freud's hypothesis, it is conceivable that Bender discovers comfort in giving himself more detainments deliberately. This is a way that he can spend more time with Vernon, the principal because he sees him as a father figure and can hopefully reenact a father son relationship by impressing him this time while trying to have a better relationship. Bender also likes to joke a lot and according to Freud, this is his way of expressing repressed sexual desires and hostile tendencies. Bender’s three components of psychic apparatus can further explain his personality as well. With his Id, he cares about himself and desires are to get in Claire’s nerves, to do drugs, and break rules and regulations. His Ego is that although he gets on Claire’s nerves and dislikes her, he still finds a way to give her meaningful advice. He also gets himself into trouble so everyone else doesn’t have to. And finally his Superego, he realizes right from wrong and doesn’t want to allow himself to be like his father. I think Bender should cope with his issues by seeing a Psychodynamic therapist. I recommend this to him because these therapist go in depth m because the main objective is to dive in the deep to know the unconscious processes that are the main origin of a patient’s problems. Personally I wouldn’t be friends with Bender because he just brings so much bad energy around and I don’t like his attitude because I’m a calm respectful person.

Now my second and last character focus is on the basket case girl who just came to the detention because she didn’t have anything to do, Allison Reynolds. Allison is unusual. She characterizes herself as a urgent liar and is by all accounts a compulsive thief since she takes things, similar to Bender’s switchblade and lock. Allison is additionally disregarded by her family which has made her be a self observer since she feels that no one will acknowledge her, so she minds her own business. To get deeper into this, I can psychoanalyze her identity crisis in means of nature vs nurture and defense mechanisms she shows. The first, nature versus nurture, which involves whether one’s behavior is determined by the environment they grew up in during their life or by a their genes. Nature vs Nurture in her life is her being ignored at home and they makes her develop a character through her world experiences. She wants consideration in confinement, the consideration that she needs at home. She likewise takes stuff to make individuals think she is something she isn't and even influence individuals to trust she will flee. Presently, the two defense mechanisms m she demonstrates that can clarify her character emergency are denial and repression. With denial, she's peaceful and abstains from talking about her own life. She continually makes up misleads conceal reality. She went to confinement for reasons unknown, well really on the grounds that she gets no affection at home and is exhausted. With repression , she doesn't discuss why she is in confinement and her home issues and she lies a great deal. But in conclusion, in light of her encounters, Allison is scanning for a feeling of having a place. Her illustrations give implies that she needs to escape from her battles to a more joyful spot. She's additionally a liar in wants to get the consideration of someone who might think about her. These are instances of repression. I would personally be friends with based on her looks and her overall vibe as a person and a teenage girl.

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People’s Actions in Crime and Punishment

Every society and culture has some sort of guidelines by which their people are judged. People that do not fall into the right standards are then alienated from society and perceived as outcasts or “sinners” by their fellow peers. In the novel, Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, there are no exceptions to this rule. Sofia Semionovna Marmeladov (Sonia) is the beloved of the protagonist, Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, and she helps convince him to confess to his crimes. From the reader’s standpoint, she seems to be a moral light guiding Raskolnikov to redemption, but from her society’s perspective, she is a lowly woman who has involved herself in a horrible and disgusting crime — prostitution. Because of this, Sonia is alienated from her society and looked down upon, even though she is one of the most moral and devout characters in the novel. Sonia’s profession causes her society to judge her for her outward actions rather than her inward intentions.

As is made apparent throughout the novel, Sonia did not choose this life of prostitution, but rather, was forced into it. Her family was poor and struggling, and she needed to help support them if she wanted to continue to be a part of their lives. While Raskolnikov is listening to Semion Zaharovich Marmeladov, Sonia’s father, complain about his hardships, Marmeladov mentions that Sonia “has had no education” (Dostoevsky 19). Many women of that time period, especially those who were poor, were unable to obtain the same education as men. Because of this, Sonia was “forced into a life of prostitution [as well as] by her family’s poverty” (“Crime and Punishment” Nineteenth-Century 2). Sonia is merely a product of her society, but she is alienated because of it. There really were no other ways by which a person of her social standing could make money, and so she could not have survived any other way. As Marmeladov asserted, a respectable poor girl could not earn 15 kopecks a day, even if she worked nonstop (Dostoevsky 19). Sonia was torn between the necessity of money for survival and her own dignity, so she gave up the latter in order to help herself, and her family, live.

While Sonia did choose this life of prostitution out of necessity, she also did it out of love for her family. She obviously did not want to be a prostitute, but she had a strong sense of self-sacrifice and so she was willing to belittle herself for the needs of those she cared about. Sonia “puts ideals of love and service…above any notion of self-glorification” (“Crime and Punishment” Novels 17). Being in this profession truly tortured Sonia, but she knew it was the only way by which she could help her family and, as stated before, her society was not okay with this. Even Raskolnikov, who was a murderer, wondered how she could still live while being in such a humiliating profession (“Crime and Punishment” Novels 4). Nobody approved of her profession, even those who had used it to take advantage of her. Sonia was seen as the lowest of the low, despite the fact that she was only doing this to help others.
Sonia’s sacrifice is made even more apparent by the fact that it wouldn’t have even been necessary if her father had straightened out his own life. He was “drunk, irresponsible, and still submerged in his selfish course of action…[continuing] to spurn his responsibility” even in his family’s suffering (Gibian 2). Her father’s shortcomings were a huge part in her taking up this lifestyle, but her society only blamed her. Rather than look at the heart of a character, society only looks at what they do and then judges them based on that. Sonia was basically supporting her whole family on her own and the best her father could do was “beg [her] for drink” (Dostoevsky 304). Yet, still, her society viewed her as one who was in the wrong.

Raskolnikov, when talking with Sonia, “saw how monstrously the thought of her disgraceful, shameful position was torturing her and had long tortured her…Only then he realized what those poor little orphan children and that pitiful half-crazy Katerina Ivanovna [Sonia’s stepmother] …meant for Sonia” (Dostoevsky 308). At this point in the novel, Raskolnikov finally realizes the extent of Sonia’s sacrifice. She cannot stand to think of her profession, and still, she never leaves it. Sonia knows that her family cannot survive without her contributions, and so she gives up her own values and accepts society’s judgment out of love for them. Sonia is a very noble and compassionate character, but society can only see the bad in her because of her difficult situation.

Despite her predicament, Sonia has a great faith in God and has strong morals by which she leads her life. Sonia is separate from her “sin” and is a spiritual leader for Raskolnikov. Although this seems contradictory, it actually emphasizes what Dostoevsky was trying to convey with Sonia’s character. Her character is almost paradoxical because she is both a prostitute and the embodiment of innocence in this novel (“Crime and Punishment” Novels 9). Her society judges her because of her job, but her faith is still stronger than that of the other characters represented in the novel. When Raskolnikov challenges her beliefs, she has the audacity to reply with, “[w]hat would I be without God?” (Dostoevsky 309). She lives in a tragic situation, but she still relies completely on her faith without being bitter. Sonia has no sense of self-pity, but instead, she constantly looks to help others. Because of Sonia’s faith and love, Raskolnikov is eventually moved “to embrace God and the future” (Wells 7). Even though Sonia’s character is, according to her society’s standards, a disgusting sinner, she is the one who persuades Raskolnikov to confess and pick up his cross by taking responsibility for his actions (Gibian 3). Even with all of this, her society is unable to separate her from her sin, and they continue to look down upon her.

Through all of her suffering, Sonia was still a moral light to those who looked past her profession. She was compassionate and always saw the best in people, even when they had wronged her. Her society, in contrast, only saw people through the biased lens of their social standing, and so Sonia was alienated and cast out by them. Raskolnikov, when he first met Sonia, believed that they were one and the same. They were both accursed and so they should leave together (Dostoevsky 314). However, he, unlike their society, soon realized that Sonia was above her sin. When he confessed his crime to her, “she [embraced] him and [showed] that she [understood] how much he suffered” (“Crime and Punishment” Novels 4). Sonia was the one of the only characters in the novel that could truly sympathize with him because she knew what it felt like to be alienated from society by an action. While she may not have approved of what he did, she demonstrated that she had the capacity to look beyond that.

Unlike her society, Sonia was able to look beyond a person’s actions. Despite all of Katerina’s horrible choices, Sonia believed that she was “seeking righteousness [and that she was] like a child” in her goodness (Dostoevsky 304). Society saw Katerina as mentally unstable and cruel, but Sonia still managed to see the best in her. Raskolnikov realized that Sonia was essentially a sinner, so he was greatly perplexed as to how she could also be so holy (Dostoevsky 308). Their society had the same confusion, so instead of trying to understand her, they alienated her. They simply could not believe that a person could be separated from their crimes. They could not separate the sin from the sinner. Sonia had this inherent innocence in her that was tainted by the fact that she was a prostitute. The true nature of her heart could not be understood by her society because they were so stuck on the outer appearance of her actions.

Sonia represented everything her society could not understand or display, and so she was alienated. Through Sonia, Dostoevsky criticized how shallowly society judges people. They only look at the surface level, and thus, many people suffer because of it. Good people, like Sonia, are alienated because of a lack of understanding or a stereotype that they are represented by. Sonia’s society has nothing but judgment and criticism for her because they never attempt to look deeper into her character or her motives. On the other hand, readers get to see the “full picture” and so they never once question Sonia’s true innate goodness. With all of this, Dostoevsky shows that people need to look further before judging a person, but Sonia’s character reveals that his society fails at doing this. He wants people to try and separate people from their actions and, instead, judge people based on their character. Through the character of Sonia, Dostoevsky emphasizes that people should “hate the sin, not the sinner.”

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Psychoanalysis in Crime and Punishment

In a Marxist economy and society, Raskolnikov is a broke man who only cares about himself and alienates himself from the human society. He thinks of himself as better than everyone around him although he’s at the lower ends of the economy.The author Fyodor Dostoevsky explores the theme of redemption through suffering which is very prevalent in Crime and Punishment. His main character Raskolnikov, a brilliant student, believes that intellectually superior men can be above the law. In Crime and Punishment, the novel analyzes the thoughts of man through psychoanalysis school of thought from the main character Raskolnikov and is also a representation of the author’s mindset and personal thoughts while he was in a marxist economy.

Crime and Punishment serves as a long adventure through the mind of a ill minded murderer. It serves as a great pioneer for its time as it’s an introduction into the psychoanalysis school of thought and furthermore is considered the first great novel of Dostoevsky "mature" period of writing. The novel specifically focuses on the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-student in Saint Petersburg who formulates a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker for her money.In order to prove this theory, he decides to commit the perfect crime: a murder of the old pawnbroker and her sister, who has a shop which many people consistently shop at.

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was born in Moscow, Russia, on November 11, 1821, as the son of a doctor. Dostoevsky was the second of seven children, and lived until 1881. He spent most of his time looking into literature and reading the latest authors; for which his love for literature became obsessive. And almost as obsessive was Dostoevsky's preoccupation with death, for while he was away attending school, his father was killed by the serfs on their property. The murder that was invoked into young Dostoevsky life, inspired him to write about the subject of crime, and murder in particular. He was trained to be a military engineer, but he had a great displeasure for school although he loved literature. When he finished school, he rejected the career he was trained for and devoted himself to his writing instead.

Dostoyevsky was repulsed by Russian materialism, their utilitarian morality, their reduction of art to propaganda, and their denial of individual freedom and responsibility. For the remainder of his life, he maintained a deep sense of the danger of radical ideas, and so his post-Siberian works came to be resented by the Bolsheviks and held in suspicion by the Soviet regime as he put forth all those ideas to write Crime and Punishment. Dostoyevsky is best known for his multiple Notes from the Underground and for four novels, Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Possessed, and The Brothers Karamazov. The time period and place of which Dostoevsky writes Crime and Punishment is Russia in 1866 in a Marxist Society.

Crime and Punishment most thoroughly uses the school of thought method of psychoanalysis criticism. Psychoanalytic criticism builds on Freudian theories of psychology. The object of psychoanalytic literary criticism, at its very simplest, can be the psychoanalysis of the author or of a particularly interesting character in a given work. Throughout the story anyone can see how prevalent that idea is, as Dostoevsky own mindset, experiences and place of living all affected the setting and rules set forth of the economy within the book. The criticism is similar to psychoanalysis itself, closely following the analytic interpretive process discussed in Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams and other works. Critics may view the fictional characters as psychological case studies, attempting to identify such Freudian concepts as the Oedipus complex, Freudian slips, Id, ego and superego, and so on, and demonstrate how they influence the thoughts and behaviors of fictional characters. One instance of a psychology being very relevant is the two very different personalities Raskolnikov displays throughout the story as at times he’s cold, unfeeling, inhumane, and exhibiting tremendous self-will where he displays that is he commits murder. An the very opposite side of the spectrum where he’s compassionate and a warm feeling person which is display by his interaction with Sonia after he offers to help her, then accepts her as someone that cares for him.

Freud believed that our unconscious was influenced by childhood events. Freud organized these events into developmental stages involving relationships with parents and drives of desire and pleasure where children focus "...on different parts of the body...starting with the mouth...shifting to the oral, anal, and phallic stages..." . These stages reflect base levels of desire, but they also involve fear of loss (loss of genitals, loss of affection from parents, loss of life) and repression: "...the expunging from consciousness of these unhappy psychological events".

However, more complex variations of psychoanalytic criticism are possible. The concepts of psychoanalysis can be deployed with reference to the narrative or poetic structure itself, without requiring access to the authorial psyche. Or the founding texts of psychoanalysis may themselves be treated as literature, and re-read for the light cast by their formal qualities on their theoretical content. Freud argued that we develop defenses: selective perception, selective memory, denial, displacement, projection, regression, fear of intimacy, and fear of death, among others. Although like all forms of literary criticism, psychoanalytic criticism can yield useful clues to the sometime baffling symbols, actions, and settings in a literary work; however, like all forms of literary criticism, it has its limits. For one thing, some critics rely on psycho criticism as a "one size fits all" approach, when other literary scholars argue that no one approach can adequately illuminate or interpret a complex work of art. This ties in well as with multiple characters have different psychologies and different ways to handle things. Such as the vast difference of psyches between Raskolnikov and Sonia. When Sonia faces issues and is in a very difficult financial situation, she does something that would demoralize herself because she has to save her family and this action would make her less than others. While on the other hand, as Raskolnikov believes he’s superior to all others, he does unthinkable things in killing multiple people because of the things he felt that he required and had to get. The psychoanalytical criticism is in use throughout the whole of crime and punishment to examine the psychology of the main character.
Crime and Punishment is written in the third person. However, Dostoyevsky's narrative focus shifts throughout the novel. The novel explicitly describes the protagonist Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov fluctuating mental state as he commits a brutal crime, becomes tortured by guilt, and finally turns himself in. The root of Raskolnikov's family name comes from the Russian word for schism. This is a clue toward Raskolnikov's character. He is torn between two philosophies. One philosophical thought allows him to step beyond the plane of normal, or ordinary, men. He recognizes the boundaries created by the laws of man and God. The other supports a belief that Raskolnikov is better than the common man; therefore, he is extraordinary. As such, he has the arrogance to believe he is almost like a god. Which is displayed when his psychology gives him a justification of killing Alyona because she was a parasite to people.

The theme of redemption is one that is shown in Crime and Punishment as the main character Raskolnikov experiences it.Raskolnikov has committed multiple crimes and unjustly acts but he was fine until he met the prostitute Sonia. As he hides his dirty and grimy actions from her guilt began to take over his mind. As he continues to feel more and more guilt, paranoia struck him next as his mind tricked him to believe that everyone knows of his guiltiness. As he almost reached the brink of madness he confesses to Sonia. In the novel, the warm and compassionate side of him which is now fully invoked after his relationship with Sonia develops and she urges him to confess all his sins. Although he only did it to ease the pain for Sonia, Raskolnikov began his path to redemption. In the end, he is redeemed by Sonia, as she promises him that she would also go to Siberia, where he will be imprisoned after he had confessed to the police.

Crime and Punishment is widely credited as the first psychological novel and in many passages, Dostoyevsky is concerned with the state of mind of the central character, Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov. He uses examples of imagery, figurative language and foreshadowing in Crime and Punishment such as when the book describes him scrubbing clean the axe he used to murder the women with water to “come clean”. As well as dramatic and verbal irony tone and mood, such as for example when a young man goes to the room after Raskolnikov Raskolnikov murders Alyona and Lizaveta with an ax. As the young man comes to the door and doesn’t realize that the two women are dead and the murderer is also inside the room, the man attempts to come in and says, “What's up? Are they asleep or murdered?...Hey, Alyona Ivanovna, old witch! Lizaveta Ivanovna, hey, my beauty! open the door! Oh, damn them! Are they asleep or what?” This is an example of dramatic irony because the audience is aware of the murders, but the man is not. While readers are largely limited to Raskolnikov’s inner thoughts, this use of perspective provides readers with intimate perspective on the relationships between Raskolnikov and others, emphasizing both the internal and external conflicts he faces.

Dostoevsky provides an interesting piece of literature through Crime and Punishment where he provides an interesting look into the psychology of a man who thinks he’s is superior to all others while also being lowered and stricken by problems. He progresses the story through the changing of his main character mental state. It is a outstanding work of literature which provides a interesting look at the world in a Marxist type society. It gives interesting thoughts of characters and their interactions and conflicts between each other and in themselves. Although at times, some may consider the actions that was took by certain characters are unrealistic and over the top such as actually murdering people and justifying it because you considered them bad people. It would definitely be recommended to anyone who enjoys reading and hearing about the working of the mind.

Throughout Crime and Punishment, the mind of multiple characters are looked within and dissected through the means of psychoanalysis, the story helps to give a realistic feel of the author’s personal view of the world and his fantasies of his interpretation. B. Through its school of thought, Raskolnikov mind is dissected and his decisions are put under scrutiny as he does multiple inhumane things such as murder and treating people like they are nothing until he meets someone that changes him.

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Chronology of Cuban Missile Crisis

Have you ever been scared or frightened? Have you ever dreamed or thought of another war including the united states? If you have, you might have been scared for your life. Well, that's what people in the 1960’s were dealing with. They were frightened and scared for their family’s. October was the worst month for 1962. Many people have nicknames for this crisis such as, october crisis and caribbean crisis. Many citizens were unhappy with theses decisions that both presidents decided to do.

In october 1962, an american lockheed u-2 plane secretly took a picture of the missiles being made on the island.the president didnt want the cubans to know that he knew about the missiles. he had secret meetings with his group to discuss the problem.after many meetings he decided to surround cuba with ships and blockades. His main focus was to make sure the soviets dont bring in any more military supplies.he demanded that they take the missiles out of the island and hand them over to the president. On october 22, he went live on tv and spoke about this situation and how he would solve it.

From the outset of the crisis,the president and the soviets had agreed that the missiles being in cuba was acceptable.the challenge was trying to get the missiles without making a bigger conflict. This lasted over a week, they came up with many options.one of the options were blowing up the missiles and invading cuba.the president later decided to make a better plan, that won't cause a big problem.first was to employ the navy and make them instal the blockade, to prevent the soviets from bringing in more missiles. Second he would deliver the ultimatum that missiles would be removed. And then the last step was to inform citizens on this situation.

october 24,the soviet ships were surrounding cuba and were demanding to enforce the blockade.this attempt would of leaded to an nuclear exchange.the soviet ships stopped because they had ran out of blockades.even though the caribbean sea showed a positive sign that the war could have ended, but no one would of did nothing about the missiles. A couple of days later a military plane was shot down over cuba. There later was an u.s. force invasion on florida.

The leaders soon found a way to control this situation. During the crisis, the americans and soviets had exchanged letters. On october 26, khrushchev sent a letter saying that he would remove the missiles if he promises that americans won't invade cuba. the next day had sent another letter saying he would remove the missiles if president kennedy would remove the missiles from turkey. Officially,at first the president had ignored the first letter khrushchev had sent.once he received the second letter he had agreed to take the missiles away from turkey. October 28, the war had ended and both countries had been at peace with each other.

The cuban missile crisis was a tragedy for both cuba and america. Even though it only lasted 13 days, people suffered not knowing what's about to happen next. It's been over 50 years since this war happened. john f. Kennedy wanted to ban u.s citizens from going to cuba. But he wouldn't allow the president to do that. However, you are not allowed to spend money in cuba without a special licence that says you can spend money in cuba. It is also very hard to come back from cuba to the united states, it's recamended to pay for another licence so you can travel back to the u.s. Safely and easier. That is the main reason why many mininamal people visit cuba each year.

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Chronicle of Cuban Missile Crisis

As the Attorney General of the United States and President’s Kennedy’s brother and most trusted confidant, Robert Kennedy played a significant role in that critical period. The first-person narrative is organized into titled sections, rather than chapters, and proceeds chronologically, describing the meetings, conversations, developments, and decisions that shaped the American response to the crisis.

The chronicle begins on the morning of Tuesday, October 16, when Robert Kennedy first learns that Russia has been installing nuclear weapons in Cuba. Later that morning, President Kennedy convenes a meeting of top aides, cabinet members and other government officials to advise him on the crisis and charges them with identifying a course of action. This group would meet nearly non-stop throughout the crisis. The members of the committee all participated equally, in rigorous discussion and sometimes heated arguments, as they analyzed potential approaches to the problem. There was a limited period of time to respond before the Cuban missiles would be ready for launch. Secrecy was essential to their endeavor. They needed to determine a strategy before the press alerted the public to the crisis or the Russians discovered that the U.S. government knew about the missiles.

Acutely aware that the Soviets were continuing to build the missile sites as they deliberated, the group struggled to come to a decision. The possibility of establishing a blockade around Cuba was proposed, while some argued for a military strike. No consensus or agreement emerged. Each alternative had flaws and limitations. Robert Kennedy supported the blockade, primarily for moral reasons, as even a limited air strike would inevitably kill large numbers of innocent civilians. The threat of a military confrontation escalating into a nuclear conflict was a significant risk.

A majority of the committee emerged in favor of a blockade on Thursday evening. But when the President began questioning their recommendation, the consensus collapsed. They split into two groups and developed a detailed outline for implementing a blockade of Cuba and initiating military action. The President decided in favor of a blockade. Military preparations were also undertaken immediately, in the event that the blockade proved ineffective or provoked a Soviet response.

The diplomatic process of informing American allies and gaining their support began. On Monday night, President Kennedy gave a televised speech to inform the country of the events in Cuba and the reasons for the blockade. From that point on, the world was watching. After the Organization of American States voted to support the U.S., providing legal justification for the action, President Kennedy authorized the blockade to begin the following morning. There was meticulous planning for any foreseeable eventuality that might be encountered in the blockade.

The committee devised specific procedures to manage the complicated issue of Russian ships approaching the blockade, while also trying to avoid triggering a military confrontation. Russian vessels were continuing towards Cuba, and the U.S. would either have to intercept them or end the blockade. There was a temporary reprieve as the Russian ships stopped short of the blockade line and some turned around; however, soon after, the other ships continued towards Cuba. The subject of which ships to let through and which ships to board was fiercely debated.

Diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis were having little effect, as surveillance film revealed continuing progress on the missile sites. Plans were developed for an invasion of Cuba. The President was concerned that the Soviets and the Americans were on course for a war that neither wanted, and one he was determined to prevent.

On Friday evening, the White House received a personal letter from Chairman Khrushchev, stating that he was willing to work with President Kennedy to de-escalate tensions and prevent a war. Khrushchev suggested that if America ended the blockade and pledged not to attack Cuba, Russia would withdraw the missiles. This was the first real indication that the crisis might be peacefully resolved. The following day, the President received a different, official communication from Khrushchev with a less-politically-viable proposal. Again, there was no consensus in the committee as to how America should respond. As they debated various options, news arrived that an Air Force pilot was killed when his surveillance plane was shot down over Cuba. The initial response from the committee was for military action. However, President Kennedy urged caution and a thorough examination of all potential consequences. Robert Kennedy proposed answering the offer made in the preceding, more personal letter from Khrushchev.

Robert Kennedy met with the Soviet Ambassador, but neither he nor the President felt encouraged by the meeting. In anticipation of a military strike, the President activated the Air Force Reserve. The President had done all he could to avoid a conflict, and it was now up to Khrushchev to respond. By Saturday evening, military engagement with the Soviet Union appeared to be imminent. Sunday morning at 10 am, Robert Kennedy learned that the Soviets had agreed to remove the Cuban missiles. The crisis was effectively over.

In the final two sections of his book, Robert Kennedy reflects on the lessons learned from the missile crisis. He stresses the importance of time for the committee to deliberate in secret. He felt that it was critical to expose the President to a range of perspectives and expertise. President Kennedy’s effort to understand the situation from the Soviet perspective was an essential component of attaining a peaceful resolution of the crisis, as was providing a check on the military. He also cites the importance of having the support of allies and other countries.

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Cuban Missile Crisis in Thirteen Days

In the movie “Thirteen Days” JFK learned about the Soviet Union building a missile site in Cuba aimed at the US. JFK formed a group comprised of his cabinet, top government and military officials, his brother RFK, and his special assistant Kenneth O’Donnell, to brief him and come up with a plan on what to do and how to handle this situation. They had to work fast and do something before the missile site was operational, the Soviet’s found out the US knew of the missiles, and before the press found out.

The committee was having a hard time coming up with one plan. Some supported a military strike others supported a blockade of US ships around Cuba. JFK liked the blockade because the military strike would inevitably end in nuclear strikes and the military strike would kill innocent civilians. A majority broke into supporting the blockade. JFK began second guessing himself and the committee broke into two sides for blockade or military strikes. JFK decided to go with a blockade but military actions as a backup incase the blockade does not work out.

They had designed specific procedure to follow for when Soviet ships approached and did not turn around. They could only allow certain ships through the blockade to Cuba. The Soviets continued the creation of the missile site and were not stopping because of the blockade. Military arrangements were made for the event that this leads to war. Then one night they received a personal letter from the Soviet leader Khrushchev saying that if the US removed the blockade and promised to not attack Cuba, they would in turn remove their missiles from Cuba. They thought the end was near to this with that letter. The next morning they received an official letter from Khrushchev with a deal they were much less interested in doing. They didn’t know if one of the letters were fake and if so, which one was real. The committee again could not come up with a response. They received word that one of the American spy planes was shot down killing the pilot over Cuba and some of the committee called for military action, but JFK refused. They started doubting JFK would make the right choice and would appease so Khrushchev because his father was part of the Munich conference that appeased to Hitler. Kennedy made a proposal to the committee to agree to the first personal letter from Khrushchev and ignore the second one and act like it never existed.

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The Cuban Missile Crisis Timeline

It was October 15th, 1962, an Air Force pilot named Richard Heyser flew over Cuba and took several photos of Soviet Missiles. The Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had asked the Cuban president Fidel Castro if he could plant the missiles there in the May before. Two days later the photos are analyzed and showed that Cuba had medium, and long ranged missiles that could easily reach the U.S.A, after more analysis they estimated the missiles could travel over 2,200 miles. This whole event “The Cuban Missile Crisis” all took place during the Cold War, where America and the Soviet Union came very close to a nuclear war.

Four days after the 13 day scare originally occurred, Ex-Comm (Executive Committee of The National Security Council) a group of American political leaders, meet and suggest quarantining Cuba, they are careful not to call it a blockade however because a blockade is an act of war. Three days after, president Kennedy speaks out to the nation and is carried live on televisions across the U.S.A, to inform the Americans that there are missiles found armed in Cuba, pointed directly towards America. He also informs that he has ordered a Navy quarantine to surround Cuba and orders the Soviets to remove and disarm the Missiles.

As the debacle continues, now October 23rd, Soviet ships that are heading toward Cuba are halted. Khrushchev orders that the Soviet ships going to Cuba halt in the Atlantic Ocean close to America. This makes sure that they don't meet with U.S. Navy ships that surrounded the Caribbean Sea. Later, Khrushchev refuses to remove the long-range missiles from Cuba, blaming Kennedy and accuses him of putting the world at a nuclear risk. President Kennedy making little to no progress with Khrushchev, Kennedy commands flights over Cuba to be double as often, and orders pilots to begin night shifts to monitor the Soviet missiles.

Concerned that the USSR might not dismantle the deadly close Missiles from Cuba, Ex-Comm begins to plan to invade Cuba and take control over and dismantle the Soviet missiles. This would likely result in a huge, and possibly nuclear war. Now October 27th Kennedy decides to not invade the Cuban territory, later that day Khrushchev speaks out to say that he will remove the deadly missiles from Cuban territory, if President Kennedy agrees to not invading. Now seemingly the war was ending, and the world went to bed in peace.

Thirteen days after October 15th Khrushchev has agreed to remove every missile under Soviet name in Cuba. Khrushchev speaks out on a radio station that the Soviet missiles will be dismantled and removed from Cuba, Cuba will not be invaded, and the crisis will come to an end. The world escaped nuclear war in October 1962 mostly because of the cautious nature of Kennedy and Khrushchev. A year later a telephone hotline was set up to sign a nuclear test ban between the two leaders.

You might be wondering how this whole catastrophe affected the locals, well after the crisis U.S. and Cuban relations where irreparably damaged. As well, relations between Cuba and the Soviet Union were on a shaky ground for some time after Khrushchev's removal of the missiles. The affect it had on everyone was the two weeks of anxiety that a nuclear war could break out at any time. If it wasn’t to President Kennedy’s calm and cautious behavior the war could have ended very differently. Sadly, The Cuban Missile Crisis is a very relevant topic because of how it still affects us today, as there are abandoned missile silos in Cuba that remind us every day, of how close we came to a nuclear war.

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Significance of the Cuban Missile Crisis

In October of 1962 the United States were in the middle of a major conflict with Cuba who was working with Soviet Union. It all started in 1959 when Fulgencio Batista (the leader of Cuba) was overthrown by Fidel Castro. At first the United States thought that this would be good for business, and help Cuba with their financial problems. But they soon realized this was not the case. This is because Castro had started working with Nikita Khrushchev who was looking to put multiple nuclear weapons on the island of Cuba. Not only would lose the advantage the United States had over the Soviets is the nuclear arms race that had been going since the start of the Cold War. It would be a major threat to all United States national security. These was a very significant time for the United states because there was many opportunity for a nuclear war with the Soviet Union to begin.

Since the United States was in a Cold War with the Soviet Union on October 14, 1962 we sent an American U-2 spy plane on a high altitude flight over Cuba. During this flight the pilot captured photograph of a Soviet SS-4 medium range missile being assemble for installation.In the beginning Khrushchev stated that any weapons that were in Cuba were for the protection on the Cuban Independence and the safety of the new cuban leader ,Castro, but we knew that wasn’t true at all. With this newfound information President Kennedy assembled a Executive Committee of National Security Council also known as ExCom to try to handle the issue. They had many option on how to stop them from bombing the missile sites to a full scale invasion of Cuba(Schier 10). One problem with bombing there missile sites was that the advisors felt that was too similar to Pearl Harbor which brought the United States into World War Two. So they decided the best thing to do and prevent a nuclear war was to send a blockade around the island. But the only problem was that was viewed as an international act of war which was the last thing the US wanted. So Kennedy gave a speech inform the United States and Khrushchev about the situation. At noon the next day Khrushchev responded to the speech and said that if the United States carried out with their plan that consequences would happen. However Kennedy and the rest of ExComm decided if they did not send the blockade worse consequences would happen. So on October 20 Kennedy order a quarantine blockade. Quarantine meaning that is was only temporary and didn’t want to start anything big. US intelligence were reporting that Soviet technicians were as almost completed and to expect more nuclear weaponary.So this blockade was only stopping offensive weapons not food or any other supplies. And at 10:00 President Kennedy sent out a DEFCON 3 telling naval ships to go to the blockade line. Kennedy told them to stop any soviet ship with any necessary force that would not sink the ship.

Since the President had the the blockade line positioned eight hundred miles from the shore he felt safe until Khrushchev sent him a confidential letter telling him that if the situation escalated there would be a consequence against world peace. So Kennedy move the line back to five hundred miles give Khrushchev one more day to decide on what to do. The Cubans planned for invasion by the United States by putting Soviet submarines into Caribbean waters. They also began to mobilize Cuban troops.

After this occurred Kennedy issued a DEFCON 2 which is the highest military readiness that took place during the Cold War. During this time in Key West Florida ,which is less than one hundred miles from Cuba, people were fleeing away and buying any food or survival gear they could. Both countries where ready for war if is was needed. The morning of the 24 two Soviet Naval ships were in approaching the quarantine blockade line. They were worried what would happen if they requested a Naval search. But later that day ExComm reported that it as actually six ships and all a which had turned around. Relieved of this good news one Naval officer named Rusk committed “We’re eyeball to eyeball, and i think the other fellow just blinked”(30).

On October 26 kennedy got a letter from Khrushchev and said that if the United States removed the blockade and promise not to invade Cuba that the Soviets would remove all nuclear weapons from the island. Kennedy didn’t know if that would be the best idea for if just taking out the missiles ourselves would be better. Without a response Khrushchev sent a another letter the next day saying that they would only remove the missiles if we removed our missiles for Turkey. Robert Kennedy John’s brother and one of his closest advisors said that he should probably pick the easiest options that would result in not having a war. Kennedy decided to ignore the first letter and tell Khrushchev that he would promise not to invade Cuba and remove the blockade. But Robert knew that wouldn’t work and he secretly sent a letter to Khrushchev. This letter promised that if they removed the missiles from cuba that after the Crisis was over and had cooled down that the United States would secretly and quietly remove the Nuclear weapons from Turkey. In the communist world Khrushchev told his fellow Soviets that he had been victorious and got the promise that the us and other allie country would not invade Cuba. This was to make him look like a more powerful leader. But we still feel that we won because we got the soviet union the remove the nuclear missiles from the island of Cuba and the surrender to our commands. Some Americans at the time choose to believe that Kennedy tried to avoid war was to save the no good Soviets the humiliation(40). But this is not true either Kennedy did so because a nuclear war between two of the biggest world powers was the last thing anyone needed.

There was also so negative reactions to the result. An example of this is that General Curtis Le May said that Kennedy’s unwillingness to fight a war was a sign of weakness. Or the fact that may Cuban exiles felt betrayed by the United States because they did not take Fidel Castro out of power. Finally Fidel Castro himself felt negatively. He felt like he was just a pawn in the middle of a bigger game.

This brought the end to a significant time in United States history. It was significant because there was several times tat either country could of started a war similar if not worse to World War Two. That would have resulted in a possible million lives lost. But since President Kennedy and his advisors , including his brother Robert, that possibility was avoided. Also because it was the first time a DEFCON 2 was ever issued in the history of the United States. And according to all the promised both superpowers removed there nuclear weapons. To prevent any more almost catastrophe they installed a hotline that runs from Washington DC straight to Moscow.

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Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis

In 1959, Fidel Castro overthrew the Cuban government and became President. The U.S disliked Castro for multiple reasons, mainly because he turned the Cuban Government communist and was seeking to spread communism. The U.S felt the need to intervene, that’s when they launched the Bay of Pigs Invasion. The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an attack on Cuba organized by the U.S government and the CIA. The plan was to invade Cuba and trigger an anti-communist revolution. The plan fell apart almost immediately. The landing site had sharp coral reef and swampy terrain, making it difficult to unload supplies and move onto the beaches. In addition, the Cuban government already knew of the plan from civilian gossip. Cuban officers fired at invaders as they came ashore. Almost 100 people died and the rest captured, it was an embarrassing defeat for the U.S.

Shortly after the Bay of Pigs Invasion, U.S spy plane photos confirmed that Cuba was establishing ballistic missiles. In the eyes of Cuba, they were just trying to protect themselves. From the Americans point of view, it did not look good. We placed an economic embargo on them, as well as a naval blockade to stop trade. Finally, the U.S received a note from Cuba saying they would take their missiles of the island if we promised never to invade Cuba again. This event was later known as the Cuban Missile Crisis, what could’ve been an all out nuclear war.

The relationship that Cuba had with Russia prompted us to launch the Bay of Pigs Invasion. The U.S and Russia weren’t allies and didn’t really get along well and now with Castro in charge, U.S felt they should do something. In addition, because our relationship wasn’t great with Russia, that frightened the U.S even more when their Allie, Cuba, had ballistic missiles I’m their country. We knew we had to do something about that before it got to out of hand and caused a nuclear war. With them being close to Russia, the U.S didn’t want Russia influencing their decision on how and when to use the missiles. The situation was taken care of in time and nobody was hurt.

Kennedy had a pretty big role in handling these events. I think he did a great job in handling the Cuban Missile Crisis. He managed to make Cuba remove their missiles and he didn’t let a nuclear war start, which was a success. Nobody got hurt, which was another success. It was a win win for the U.S, all we had to do was promise we were not going to invade Cuba again( which I don’t think we would’ve done either way). I do think he could’ve handled the bay of pigs invasion better. he could’ve waited longer to get a feel for the situation, maybe try to wait it out before he attacked. The invasion resulted in hundreds of deaths that could’ve been prevented. They could have made a better plan instead of rushing it, or just went about the situation in a different way. Overall though, I think he did a pretty good job in handling these situations.

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Disagreements of Cuban Missile Crisis

From October 16 to October 28 in 1962, the United States and the Soviets were in a apprehensive 13 day conflict that could have threatened the entire world. Nikita Khrushchev had feared the United States’ power, which led to him placing missiles into Cuba. Fidel Castro worked with Khrushchev to fulfill his plan. Kennedy was upset and planned his own plan of defense. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, leaders of the United States. and the Soviet Union engaged in a tense, 13-day political and military standoff in October 1962 over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, just 90 miles from United States’ shores. (Murray, Reynolds video) John F. Kennedy’s role in the Cuban Missile Crisis will be explained and analyzed.

Khrushchev saw several advantages in setting up missiles into Cuba. He had even before, thought of using Cuba as a base for Soviets subs. (Frankel Pg 37) He had been afraid afraid of the United States’ power over the Soviet nation. Khrushchev had thought of using Cuba as a place to eliminate U.S power of having missiles in Moscow.The Soviets had already felt uncomfortable on how many nuclear weapons were facing them from Europe and Turkey. Within weeks of the Jupiter deployment Khrushchev planned to plant missiles into Cuba. According to Khrushchev he had thought the United States would go along with the deployment after they were considered “even”. He had planned to send Kennedy a notice once his idea was already in affect and propose to negotiate. The plan was to plant nuclear weapons into Cuba, facing the United States, hidden by palm trees. Nikita thought of this as a taste of John F. Kennedy’s own medicine since Kennedy had previously, even after Khrushchev’s own warning, planted missiles into Turkey. Khrushchev’s plan called for 40 launchers and 60 nuclear missiles. To get them into Cuba, Nikita had to first plan it out with Fidel Castro, the Cuban leader.

Castro did not agree with the argument that Cuba needed nuclear missiles to defend themselves. (Frankel Page 32) But, he did see Kennedy as a threat and thought Kennedy could and would invade Cuba using the military so Fidel went along with Nikita’s deployment. Castro, however did not like the idea of keeping the missiles in Cuba a secret. He wanted to openly deploy missiles. He felt so strongly about this that he sent his brother Raul to Moscow to negotiate a treaty of “Mutual Defense” but it was declined. To start the process the missile site needed to be cleared. To clear the missile sites, one thousand Cubans had been chased out of their homes and some lost their jobs. Castro even quarantined Cuban officers who had seen too much. (Frankel Page 45) The Warheads in Cuba were to have explosive yields ranging from two to eight hundred kilotons. (Frankel Page 37) The Soviets had planted close to forty-two million military personnel into Cuba discreetly, or so they thought it was discreetly.

On October 14, when planes were flying overhead Cuba taking photographs, as they do, the photographs that were taken scared and shocked the United States. The pictures, taken by McGeorge Bundy, showed Soviet soldiers secretly setting up missiles, warheads, and weapons into Cuba. John Kennedy was shown right away and Kennedy felt enormously betrayed and was extremely angry. Kennedy had thought Khrushchev would never deploy nuclear weapons into Cuba, especially since he had claimed he would never. Kennedy did keep it a secret from the Soviets, however, that he had known of their intentions to keep it under the radar. John F. Kennedy formed a secret group of members called Executive Committee of National Security Council, or EXCOMM. (May Article) In the first day of the debates, everyone in EXCOMM (Executive Committee of National Security) had favored bombing Cuba, except for John F. Kennedy. They had also considered going to war and launching an air strike. After long, countless, discussions, Kennedy decided to address the issue. Kennedy had not been in agreement with Executive Committee of National Security Council (EXCOMM) members to destroy the nuclear missiles in Cuba and risk the possibility of war. So on October 22nd Kennedy announced in his speech that the Soviets had deceived the United States and betrayed their own word. He also used this speech as a way to warn Khrushchev and the Soviets that the United States was well aware of their plan. He also explained his motive to place a naval blockade around Cuba. (James W. Davidson, Michael B. Stoff Pg 859) He made it clear the United States can and will use military force if provoked. Kennedy placed the blockade on October 24 against the Soviets. (Reynolds, Murray Video) Kennedy felt he had to put this blockade on the Soviets and foreign market. (Murray, Reynolds Video) He also did this to keep the Soviets from getting any further weapons into Cuba. Kennedy did not want to spread panic or worry to the United States, so he tried to act calm in the eyes of the public. But, after the news was spread many, many people were afraid the United States was on the edge of a nuclear war starting.

On October 24, Nikita Khrushchev reacted to the naval blockade and proceeded to send Soviet ships to Cuba. The Soviets saw there was nothing illegal of the Soviets putting missiles into Cuba, after all, the United States put missiles into Turkey. Khrushchev remembered how when he warned the United States to not put weapons into Turkey, and the U.S went along and deployed fifteen Jupiter missiles in Turkey. Some ships turned around because of the quarantine. However, the ships that did go on were stopped by the United States’ naval forces, but were found with no weapons on them. Therefore, the ships were allowed to go on. Kennedy saw the crisis as nowhere near over and decided to make a deal. John proposed a deal to the Soviet ambassador, Anatoly Dobrynin.

Kennedy pledged that the United States would never plan to invade Cuba if the Soviets agreed to take their missiles and nuclear weapons out of Cuba and back to the Soviet Union, along with any other along the way. But, the Soviet Union would only agree to the deal if the United States agreed to remove all the missiles from Turkey and parts of Europe. John F. Kennedy did not want to do this, but he figured he had no other choice but to oblige. So, Kennedy secretly agreed to get rid of the Jupiters in Turkey while Nikita Khrushchev agreed to pull the missiles and warheads out of Cuba. (Patrick J. Sloyan Pg 86-87) Kennedy did not want the public to know that he had to compromise with the Soviets to get them to back down because he did not want to seem weak or overpowered. Kennedy needed to remain as a public hero if he had any chance at getting re-elected.
The deal that was negotiated had a way greater effect than John F. Kennedy had anticipated. The main reason for this agreement was, basically just to prevent a nuclear war from starting. Nikita Khrushchev and John F. Kennedy both understood what was at risk if war wasn’t prevented. When Khrushchev sent his letter of agreement to Kennedy he tried to explain his misunderstanding of the crisis. “It is thus that we, Soviet people, and, together with US, other peoples as well, understand the questions of war and peace,” Nikita Khrushchev stated. Both leaders thought to put aside their differences to save the world from a possible nuclear disaster. Khrushchev did think, though, that it was not the Soviets fault that Kennedy “overreacted” and threatened their peace.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was considered one of the most important major periods of the Cold War. Nikita Khrushchev did not like how the United States was holding power over the Soviets from the nuclear weapons they had implanted near Moscow. So, within weeks of the deployment, Nikita planned his own idea to plant nuclear weapons into Cuba facing the United States. Of course, Khrushchev had Fidel Castro, the Cuban leader, alongside with him.

Fidel Castro did not like the secrecy of the plan, but when along with it anyway. Unfortunately for the two leaders, the United States found out of their plan and the United States president, John F. Kennedy was outraged and betrayed. The United States organized their own design of defense. Kennedy formed the Executive Committee of National Security Council, EXCOMM, to help him figure out what to do to solve this important issue. They finally decided to devise a blockade on foreign markets and Cuba to stop any further weapon or missile deployment. The threat was real coming from the United States, or John F. Kennedy, to involve military if they were needed to invade. Nikita Khrushchev and Kennedy both did not want to go to war, but were both incredibly stubborn too. Eventually Kennedy decided to propose a deal to Nikita and explained the United States would never invade Cuba if Nikita Khrushchev and the Soviet Union agreed to pull all their missile and weapons out of Cuba, that were threatening the United States. Khrushchev put in his own requirements that the United States in return would pull out their own nuclear missiles in Turkey and parts of Europe. John F. Kennedy decided to secretly agree to this arrangement and followed through with the deal. Thus ended the enormous crisis which had risked the lives of millions of people if the Cuban Missile Crisis went wrong.

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Results of Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a great event in history in 1962 where the Soviet Union and the United States were very close to nuclear war because of nuclear missiles being placed in Cuban territory. This crisis was a period of thirteen days in the month of October where most Americans expected nuclear was, because of this, they headed for their fallout shelters. It was one of the worst thing that happened in the Cold War. This event was between the Soviet Union and the United States. The leader of the Soviets at the time was Nikita S. Khrushchev. The president of the United States at the time was John F Kennedy.

The Cuban Missile Crisis started for a couple of reasons. First, in May, Cuban leaders thought the United States was planning to attack them. At the time, Cuba and the Soviet Union were allies, so Cuban President, Fidel Castro, agreed to accept an offer from the Soviet Union to have the Soviets medium-ranged missiles placed in Cuban Territory. The missiles could range up to 2,500 miles which meant it could attack most of the continental United States. By July, the nuclear missiles were secretly being shipped to Cuba.

Khrushchev mainly intended his missile deployment as an effort to spread revolution throughout all of Latin America. Then, on October 16, 1962, JFK learned about the missiles in Cuba. Photos from an American U-2 spy plane secretly photographed nuclear missile sites being built. John F Kennedy didn’t want the Soviets to know that he knew about the missiles. Once the Soviets found out that the United States knew about their missiles, the Soviets kept telling Kennedy that the missiles were only defensive. The U-2 spy plane later confirmed that the missiles were offensive ballistic nuclear missiles. Kennedy intended to show the photos from the U-2 plane at the session of the U.N. to pressure the Soviet Union to remove the missiles. There is one last reason this crisis started. At the time of this significant event, the United States and Turkey were allies. Turkey borders the Soviet Union. Kennedy approved the placement of nuclear weapons in Turkey. Once Khrushchev found out about the missiles in Turkey, he was furious.

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JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis

During the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union participated in a 13-day political and military standoff in. At the center of the standoff: the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba. In a TV address on October 22, President JFK notified Americans about the missiles presence and explained his decision to enact a naval blockade around Cuba. He made it clear the United States was prepared to use military force if necessary to neutralize this perceived threat to national security. Following this news, many people feared the world was on the edge of nuclear war. However, disaster was avoided when the United States agreed to Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev’s offer to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for the United States promising not to attack Cuba. In addition, President Kennedy secretly agreed to remove United States missiles from Turkey.

After seizing power in the Caribbean island nation of Cuba in 1959, leftist revolutionary leader Fidel Castro aligned himself with the Soviet Union. Under Castro, Cuba grew dependent on the Soviets for military and economic aid. During this time, the U.S. and the Soviets were engaged in the Cold War, an ongoing series of larger political and economic clashes. The two superpowers plunged into one of their biggest Cold War confrontations after the pilot of an American U-2 spy plane made a high-altitude pass over Cuba on October 14, 1962. The American spy plane photographed a Soviet SS-4 medium-range ballistic missile being assembled for installation. President Kennedy was briefed about the situation on October 16, and he immediately called together a group of advisors and officials known as the executive committee or ExCom. For nearly the next two weeks, the president and his team wrestled with a diplomatic crisis of epic proportions, as did their counterparts in the Soviet Union. For the American officials, the urgency of the situation stemmed from the fact that the nuclear-armed Cuban missiles were being installed so close to the U.S. mainland–just 90 miles south of Florida. From that launch point, they were capable of quickly reaching targets in the eastern U.S. If allowed to become operational, the missiles would fundamentally alter the complexion of the nuclear rivalry between the U.S. and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which up to that point had been dominated by the Americans.

Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had gambled on sending the missiles to Cuba with the specific goal of increasing his nation’s nuclear strike capability. The Soviets had long felt uneasy about the number of nuclear weapons that were targeted at them from sites in Western Europe and Turkey, and they saw the deployment of missiles in Cuba as a way to level the playing field. Another key factor in the Soviet missile scheme was the hostile relationship between the U.S. and Cuba. The Kennedy administration had already launched one attack on the island–the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961–and Castro and Khrushchev saw the missiles as a means of deterring further U.S. aggression. Despite the enormous tension, Soviet and American leaders found a way out of the impasse. During the crisis, the Americans and Soviets had exchanged letters and other communications, and on October 26, Khrushchev sent a message to Kennedy in which he offered to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for a promise by U.S. leaders not to invade Cuba. The following day, the Soviet leader sent a letter proposing that the USSR would dismantle its missiles in Cuba if the Americans removed their missile installations in Turkey.

Officially, the Kennedy administration decided to accept the terms of the first message and ignore the second Khrushchev letter entirely. Privately, however, American officials also agreed to withdraw their nation’s missiles from Turkey. U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy (1925-68) personally delivered the message to the Soviet ambassador in Washington, and on October 28, the crisis drew to a close. Both the Americans and Soviets were sobered by the Cuban Missile Crisis. The following year, a direct “hotline” communication link was installed between Washington and Moscow to help defuse similar situations, and the superpowers signed two treaties related to nuclear weapons. The Cold War was far from over, though. In fact, another legacy of the crisis was that it convinced the Soviets to increase their investment in an arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the U.S. from Soviet territory.

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Agreement during Cuban Missile Crisis

No one was sure how Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971) would respond to U.S. demands. Geopolitical competition between the United States and the Soviet Union was intense, but this occasion was the first actual military standoff between the superpowers. Castro and Guevara, both relatively young and defiant, mobilized Cuba for an invasion. They did not want Khrushchev to back down. For thirteen days, the world waited anxiously to see how the crisis would be resolved. In the meantime, Soviet ships headed to Cuba. The possibility of nuclear attacks had all three nations locked in an intense period of tension and fear over this threat and how each nation would respond to it.

Both Kennedy and Khrushchev appreciated the gravity of the situation. Neither wanted to provoke a nuclear war. On October 24, the tension was at what could almost be a tipping point into some sort of war. Soviet ships encountered the blockade and one oil tanker was let through. Soviet submarines were readied to sink U.S. battleships. Kennedy's crisis group once again debated a military strike or invasion of Cuba. The next day, Khrushchev appeared to be willing to make a deal, and the two governments started negotiating. However, missile bases were still on Cuba and beginning to be operational. President Kennedy was under increasing pressure to launch an air strike or invasion, especially due to the fact that a U.S. plane was shot down over Cuba that very afternoon. To his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy (1925–1968), President Kennedy admitted that he would probably be impeached if he did not act decisively. On October 28, an agreement was struck. Khrushchev grudgingly agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for Kennedy’s promise that the United States would never invade Cuba. The United States also agreed to withdraw its own nuclear missiles from Turkey, where they were within striking distance of Soviet territory. The specific details of the agreement were kept secret at the time.

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Abuse of Elderly People

Abuse in the geriatric population has been noted as an increasing problem in the United States, and this trend is likely to continue to rise unless firm steps are taken to prevent it. Each state has its own reporting requirements for reporting elder abuse and neglect. However, as of today, there are no federal policies required for reporting abuse and neglect in the geriatric population. In order to continue to prevent and recognize abuse in the elder population, we must continue to train caregivers and healthcare workers in the proper care and treatment of our elder population. We as healthcare workers, and nurses, must aide in making sure we take the proper precautions in this issue. There must be organized programs in healthcare facilities to facilitate the proper training of medical personnel on recognizing and assisting elders of abuse. According to statistics the abusers most likely turns out to be family members and caretakers of the elderly. There are several goals and interventions I feel everyone should put in place to aide in the prevention of elder abuse, including enhancing quality of life, preventing family breakdown, and keeping the elderly persons in their homes as long as their health will allow, especially if this is their wish.

Elder abuse is not just physical abuse it includes, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, financial exploitation and abandonment.
Physical abuse means inflicting physical pain or injury upon an older adult. Sexual abuse means touching, fondling, intercourse, or any other sexual activity with an older adult, when the older adult is unable to understand, unwilling to consent, threatened, or physically forced. Emotional abuse means verbal assaults, threats of abuse, harassment, or intimidation. Confinement means restraining or isolating an older adult, other than for medical reasons. Passive neglect is a caregiver’s failure to provide an older adult with life’s necessities, including, but not limited to, food, clothing, shelter, or medical care. Willful deprivation means denying an older adult medication, medical care, shelter, food, a therapeutic device, or other physical assistance, and exposing that person to the risk of physical, mental, or emotional harm—except when the older, competent adult has expressed a desire to go without such care. Financial exploitation means the misuse or withholding of an older adult’s resources by another.

According to the NCOA, (National Council of Aging) and WHO (World Health Organization) “Approximately 1 in 10 Americans aged 60+ have experienced some form of elder abuse. It is estimated to range as high as 5 million elders who are abused each year. One study estimated that only 1 in 14 cases of abuse are reported to authorities.” There are several factors that make an elder person a target for abuse. Two major factors that make elders a target are Mental impairment, dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Also, according to statistics, nearly half of those with dementia experienced some type of abuse or neglect. In addition to that, Interpersonal violence among elder's occurs at an excessive higher rate among adults with a disability.

Some warning signs include: Physical abuse, neglect, or mistreatment: Bruises, pressure marks, broken bones, abrasions, burns
Emotional abuse: Unexplained withdrawal from ordinary exercises, stressed or tense relationships; frequent arguments between the caregiver and older adult. Financial abuse: unexpected changes in financial situations. Neglect: pressure ulcers, unattended medical needs, poor hygiene, unexplained weight loss. Verbal or emotional abuse: making one feel less than, threats, or other uses of power and control by individuals.

Elders who have been abused have three times higher risk of death than those who have not been abused. In addition, financial abuse of elders is self reported at a higher rate than that of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse or neglect. We as healthcare workers can make a difference in preventing elder abuse by making sure we stay up-to-date on noticing the signs of abuse and neglect of elders. Also we as healthcare workers have to make sure we educate our elder population on how to stay safe, taking care of their health, attending support groups, making sure there are advanced directives in place such as power of attorney and a living will, which puts in place one's wishes in the event of treatment.

In conclusion, as elder abuse is becoming a prominent issue, especially among the healthcare setting we have to advocate for our geriatric population. So anyone who suspects an elder person being abused or mistreated should seek immediate help by contacting their local Adult Protective Services office or the police.

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Familly Violence and Elder Abuse

The elder population of the world, as well as that of the United States, is growing at an unprecedented rate. According to the recent reports from the U.S. Census Bureau, “in 2050, the population aged 65 and over is projected to be 83.7 million, almost double its estimated population of 43.1 million in 2012” (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). As the population ages, the risk of elder mistreatment is increasing as well. Older adults are especially vulnerable to abuse. Estimates suggest that “500,000 to 2 million cases of elder abuse and neglect occur annually in the United States” (Ricci, Kyle, & Carman, 2017). Although, older people may experience violence in a variety of settings, “elder abuse by a family member is the most common type of abuse (65.5%), with an adult child being the most common perpetrator, followed by other family members” (Lawson, 2013). Therefore, it is important for healthcare providers, including nurses, to have solid knowledge of signs and symptoms of abuse as well as great attention to detail in order to recognize at-risk patients, to screen and to assess elder abuse victims, to document violence acts properly, and to respond to such acts in a nonjudgmental, sensitive, and legally adequate way. Since “nurses have frequent contact with older victims of abuse, they play a significant role in detecting, reporting, and intervening in such cases” (Ricci et al., 2017).

Elder abuse can take many forms. The five recognized categories include physical, financial, psychological, sexual abuse, and neglect. Although neglect is the most prevalent form of abuse, it is not uncommon for elder people to become victims of two or more types of mistreatment at the same time (Bewley, & Welch, 2014). Older adults make themselves vulnerable “by trusting the abuser, who is someone you would normally expect to trust, like a family member” (Andrews, 2017). According to Lawson (2013), “elder abuse can affect people of all ethnic backgrounds, social status, and both men and women, although research indicates that certain groups of people are at higher risks than others” (p.246). Thus, “among older adults, a younger age has been consistently associated with a greater risk of abuse”, and “one possible reason for this finding is that the ‘young old’ more often live with a spouse or with adult children, the two groups that are the most likely abusers” (Lachs, & Pillemer, 2015). Typically, elder mistreatment often takes place in “the context of poor long-term family relationships”, and “it may be associated with the carer’s inability to cope or consistently provide the care needed” or due to “ignorance or a lack of skills and available external support or supervision” (Bewley, & Welch, 2014). Besides, the factors associated with a greater risk for elder abuse include cognitive impairment, social isolation, physical disability, lower household income, and previous traumatic events (Lawson, 2013). As research indicates, “perpetrators are most likely to be adult children or spouses, to have a history of past or current substance abuse, mental or physical health problems, to have a history of trouble with police, to be socially isolated, unemployed or have financial problems, and to be experiencing major stress” (Lachs, & Pillemer, 2015).

Elder maltreatment has devastating, far-reaching health repercussions. Besides the obvious traumatic injury and pain, it has been well-documented that the victims of abuse experience a range of psychological effects, including an increased rate of depression, anxiety, guilt, shame, learned helplessness, and other negative outcomes. Moreover, as studies show, “elder abuse greatly increases the likelihood of placement in a nursing home and of hospitalization (Lachs, & Pillemer, 2015). Older adult maltreatment is preventable, not inevitable. Therefore, early identification of at-risk patients and prompt interventions are crucial in the prevention of the elder abuse and in safeguarding the health and wellbeing of the patients.

Unfortunately, many elder victims do not report abuse or seek professional help due to fear or embarrassment. Others may consider mistreatment by a family member to be a personal matter and often do not want to get the perpetrator in trouble. Besides, some older adults may have limited ability to disclose situations of abuse due to cognitive impairment or a language barrier. As a result, “underreporting by elderly is a major hurdle to appropriate action” (Lawson, 2013). Thus, routine screening of elder abuse should be a part of each visit. Although it takes only a few minutes, it can have an enormously positive effect on the outcome for the victim (Ricci et al., 2017). Nurses are in an ideal position to recognize abuse and to provide timely interventions for the elder who suffer from maltreatment. This requires an acute awareness of the signs of possible abuse or neglect as well as attention to detail (Hinkle, & Cheever, 2018). Among situations that might raise suspicion or concern are physical signs of abuse such as bruises, burns, abrasions, or unexplained injuries, frequent attendance for minor traumas, or injuries that are in various stages of healing (Hunt, 2014). In addition, the “possibility of neglect should be investigated whenever a person who is dependent shows evidence of inattention to hygiene, to nutrition, or to medical needs” such as inappropriate clothing, unkempt appearance, losing weight, “unfilled medication prescriptions or missed appointments with health care providers” (Hinkle, & Cheever, 2018). It is essential for nurses to be vigilant even for subtle cues of abuse such as apathy, drowsiness, anxiety, a recent change in behavior, or recurrent genital or urinary tract infections (Hunt, 2014).

Healthcare professionals, including nurses, are required to report suspected elder mistreatment or neglect to the appropriate agencies, usually Adult Protective Services. As Dong points out in his article (2015), “almost all states have mandatory reporting legislation requiring health professionals to report reasonable suspicions of elder abuse” (p.1234). Additionally, whenever abuse is suspected, thorough evaluation along with careful documentation of events and injuries are important since “medical record may be used as part of a legal proceeding” (Hinkle, & Cheever, 2018). A nurse should gather and document a detailed history, especially the psychosocial and cultural aspects, “observations of patient behavior, reactions to questions, and family dynamics and conflicts” (Dong, 2015). The suspected victim “should be interviewed separately and alone, both because a relative or caregiver may be the abuser and because victims may be hesitant to reveal mistreatment when others are present because of embarrassment or shame” (Lachs, & Pillemer, 2015). In order to elicit accurate information, nurses need to be able to communicate effectively and to be skilled in interviewing techniques (Hinkle, & Cheever, 2018). Furthermore, it is important to build rapport with the victim by creating an atmosphere of openness, communicating support and understanding, and showing interest and concern (Ricci et al., 2017). Listening to the patient with calmness and care, avoiding using leading or probing questions, demonstrating nonjudgmental attitude makes him/her feel safer and more willing to open up and to talk about the traumatic event.

Once abuse is detected, the victim’s safety becomes the primary concern. For that reason, if the older adult is in immediate danger, he/she should be separated from the abuser as soon as possible. Additionally, providing sensitive care, support, and reassurance for the abuse victim is essential. A nurse can provide appropriate interventions by encouraging the elder to express feelings and concerns, teaching coping strategies, helping to set realistic goals, and educating about available help and resources. Empowerment is another integral aspect of care. In order to help the abuse victim to regain control over his/her life, a nurse should offer step-by-step explanations of all procedures, pace the nursing interventions, allow the patient to take the lead and to actively participate in care (Ricci et al., 2017). Therefore, “the person suffering abuse must be absolutely central to the decision-making process” and have control over all health care decisions (Hunt, 2014).

Several interventions can be implemented to prevent further abuse. Nurses need to work in collaboration with other healthcare team members since “successful interventions in cases of elder abuse are typically interprofessional, ongoing, community-based, and resource-intensive” (Lachs, & Pillemer, 2015). If elder maltreatment or neglect is the result of the burdens of caregiving, respite services or additional home care may be provided for the impaired family member (Lachs, & Pillemer, 2015). Respite services are crucial in reducing caregiver stress, which is one of the major contributing factors in elder abuse. When mental illness of the caregiver is responsible for the situation, the abuser “may require mandated mental health treatment” (Lachs, & Pillemer, 2015). Besides, educating older adults and “providing them with accurate information about their rights, self-protection measures, and solution-oriented behaviors greatly contributes to their sense of self-efficacy” and helps to prevent further abuse (Lawson, 2013). Furthermore, support activities are another promising prevention tool that further empowers elderly people. Abuse victims attend individual or group meetings that allow the participants to share their experiences, reduce social isolation, provide them with a sense of hope and a chance to identify with other people who have similar problems (Lawson, 2013).

Elder abuse is a serious public health issue that needs close attention. This problem is greater than most people realize. In today’s aging society, more and more older adults become victims of maltreatment or neglect and, sadly, the perpetrator is most often a family member. Elder abuse in all its forms is ugly, immoral, and traumatic. Safeguarding health and wellbeing of vulnerable elderly people, recognizing abuse in a timely manner, being attentive even to subtle cues of abuse, and providing appropriate interventions are an important part of a nursing practice. Nurses play a vital role in identifying at-risk patients. They need to be proficient and confident in their skills to assess, interview, and provide competent, compassionate care to patients who found themselves in this distressing situation.

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Abuse Miscare and Alienation of Elders

Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel, Brave New World, depicts society at its “optimal state” placed in an alternate past, moving into the near future, the society Huxley creates has no need or want for the effects of aging or elders; and it seems that today as a society neither do we. While you don’t commonly see physical abuse in the case of senior citizens , The Psychological Abuse of the Elderly – a Silent Factor of Cardiac Decompensation published by Maedica - a Journal of Clinical Medicine shows the effects of the phycological abuse of senior patients its relation to direct and indirect physical violence, negligence, abandonment, and financial exploitation. Ageism and Bias in the American Workplace by Linda Barrington explores the further sense of obsolescence that's being made of Elders by exploring ageism and bias in workplaces in the U.S. Barrington explains the tendency of employers to hire younger aged managers, unintentionally increasing the likelihood for older workers to remain unemployed, subsequently having nothing to add to the workforce thus nothing to society.

Authors Jos© Miguel Latorre Postigo and Rigoberto López Honrubia’s paper The Co-residence of Elderly People with Their Children and Grandchildren expresses the social perception of the advantages and drawbacks of coresidence with elderly people and establish the differences in this perception amongst the coresiding generations. There are six identifiable types of elder abuse, and physical abuse is not the majority. The Psychological Abuse of the Elderly – a Silent Factor of Cardiac Decompensation published by Maedica - a Journal of Clinical Medicine emphasize the causes of cardiac decompensation, the cases this study was based on, are most commonly non-compliance with treatment. Among all forms of abuse, the psychological and emotional abuse is most frequently associated with a high risk of morbidity and mortality as well as an increased rate of healthcare services use, thus increasing the costs in the medical system and significantly decreasing the response to treatment. Non-Compliances and the prolonging of hospitalizations will cause a rise in the cost of healthcare and a patient’s lack of self-confidence which may lead to social isolation, somatization, anxiety, depression, and suicide attempts.

“There are multiple factors leading to non-adherence, and their identification is mainly related not only to the doctor’s ability to conduct an anamnesis of both the patient and his/her caregivers, but also to the accuracy of the geriatric assessment, because the latter can detect neurocognitive disorders, malnutrition, deterioration of the degree of independence related to carrying out activities of daily living, depression, sensorial deficiencies, and marks of an abuse, all of these being potential causes for therapeutic non-compliance,” taken from Maedica - a Journal of Clinical Medicine’s paper shows; The Elder Abuse Suspicion Index Questionnaire, a geriatric assessment,can and has detected several types of abuse: abandonment, negligence and financial abuse. An assessment of patients shows a deterioration of mental and nutritional status and a spike on the likelihood of depression. Studies have continuously shown how employers and hiring managers are not unbiased in evaluating job applicants and are biased about demographic characteristics in recruiting and performance reviews. Ageism and Bias in the American Workplace by Linda Barrington shares this information and adds, in a field study, employers were over 40 percent more likely to call a female job candidate for an interview if the high school graduation date on the resume signaled the job candidate was younger rather than older. More research shows assertiveness appears to be interpreted more negatively when the assertive person is older.

Barrington exclaims on the fact that “Despite the ADEA’s outlawing of age discrimination almost fifty years ago, the trend of age-related workplace discrimination charges filed with the EEOC is discouraging, but not unexpected. According to new analysis of EEOC discrimination charge data, there is an upward trend in the number of age-related discrimination charges” Showing that Agism is on the rise, no matter the illegality of it in America. In 2014, 45 percent of unemployed 55 to 64 year-olds were reported as unemployed long term, versus 33 percent of 25 to 34 year olds. Over the past thirty-five years, unemployed people who are ages 55 years or older has grown to include the past percentage of 35 to 44 year olds and 45 to 54 year-olds combined, which is a rough 80 percent. Coresidence can be a source of conflict among different generations. Jos© Miguel Latorre Postigo and Rigoberto López Honrubia’s state in their paper The Co-residence of Elderly People with Their Children and Grandchildren. This paper lays out the facts that, adults had the most negative perception of coresidence with elderly people, “Relationships between elderly parents and their adult children are often tense; this is due to the need for care and to cognitive deterioration, for example. Informal caregiving for dependent elderly persons generates stress in the caregivers themselves,” Rather than coreside with younger generations, elderly people would prefer to grow old in their own home with some support and protection from their family. This isnt always possible due to financial, availability and caregiving constraints.

According to the Report on Ageing in Spain, mentioned in Miguel Latorre Postigo and Rigoberto López Honrubia’s paper, one out of four think that young people are inconsiderate towards older people. Individually, when asked, 90 percent of young people considered that they had a good relationship with elderly people, and 83 percent thought the rest of young people did not have a good relationship with elderly people. Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel, Brave New World, depicts society at its “optimal state” placed in an alternate past, moving into the near future, the society Huxley creates has no need or want for the effects of aging or elders; and it seems that today as a society neither do we. While you don’t commonly see physical abuse in the case of senior citizens , The Psychological Abuse of the Elderly – a Silent Factor of Cardiac Decompensation published by Maedica - a Journal of Clinical Medicine shows the effects of the phycological abuse of senior patients its relation to direct and indirect physical violence, negligence, abandonment, and financial exploitation. Ageism and Bias in the American Workplace by Linda Barrington explores the further sense of obsolescence that's being made of Elders by exploring ageism and bias in workplaces in the U.S. Barrington explains the tendency of employers to hire younger aged managers, unintentionally increasing the likelihood for older workers to remain unemployed, subsequently having nothing to add to the workforce thus nothing to society. Authors Jos© Miguel Latorre Postigo and Rigoberto López Honrubia’s paper The Co-residence of Elderly People with Their Children and Grandchildren expresses the social perception of the advantages and drawbacks of coresidence with elderly people and establish the differences in this perception amongst the coresiding generations.

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Abuse Miscare and Alienation of Elders. (2021, Feb 22). Retrieved November 3, 2025 , from
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Scielent Crime of Elder Domestic Abuse

Contents

Disscussion
Cultural Considerations

In 1975 physicians began to take notice of their elderly patient's injury patterns which they referred to as granny battering. (1) Elder abuse developed a definition, which was later adopted by the World Health Organization, as elder abuse is either a single or a repeated act or a lack of appropriate action occurring within any form of relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an Elderly person physically and or mentally.

Elder domestic abuse is a silent crime against those who are 65 and older. Elder abuse is when someone of trust harms the wellbeing of an elder person. Elderly domestic abuse can come in many forms such as physical, financial and mental abuse. Most of the elder abuse goes unreported because of isolation or shame. It may occur when a vulnerable adult lives alone or with a relative, it may also occur within nursing, residential or daycare settings, in hospitals, custodial situations, support services into people's own homes, and other places previously assumed safe, or in public places (Department of Health 2000, paragraph 2.14) However, no clear data exist on the number of deaths that result from elder abuse or neglect. The potential contribution of abuse and neglect to the death of an elder is rarely investigated, as natural deaths are expected with advancing age. Elders are often reliant on others for care making them a vulnerable population. Although the deaths of other vulnerable populations, including children, are routinely investigated, no protocols for elder death investigation have been enacted. There have been several proposals to implement investigation tools to assess elderly adults and residence for indicators of abuse or neglect. Investigations may assist in differentiating self-neglect and caretaker neglect. Elderly adult observations include evidence of injuries, personal hygiene, malnutrition and/or dehydration, decubitus ulcers, evidence of restraint, unexplained vaginal or anal bleeding, and previous reports with Adult Protective Services. To differentiate between self-neglect and caretaker neglect, an assessment of the level of dependence on others for activities of daily living and the level of involvement of the caretaker are determined. The decedent's living condition assessment includes evidence of forced isolation; lack of food, water or utilities; soiled clothing and/or bedding; filthy or unsafe living conditions; and inappropriate administration of medications. With proper training, medical examiners can easily implement these protocols. Such information is extremely valuable for determining whether further investigation and examination of the decedent are warranted.

Disscussion

How prevalent is domestic violence among this group? Domestic abuse in later life can be detrimental. From both the physical and mental aspect of the injuries, any elderly victims die before the incident are reported. Therefore, it appears that the vulnerability and poor mental health of an older person may influence a person's perception of elder abuse. It is thought that the more frail and vulnerable an older person is deemed to be, the more likely they are to be subjected to abuse and in circumstances where an older person's mental health deteriorates, and abusive behaviors may be perceived as more acceptable. Elderly abusers come in the form of family, care providers and sometimes nursing home staff.

What are some unique aspects of the dynamics of domestic violence in this group? According to National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) many elderly adults dependent upon family members, guardians and health care professionals to interpret and communicate their needs, and in many cases to provide personal care, social support, and ongoing supervision. Because individuals suffering from dementia often experience poor judgment and impaired communication skills, they may be more vulnerable to abuse and neglect. It is often a hard topic, particularly for older people as they frequently depend on relatives for care and support as they age, making them even more vulnerable (Daskalopoulos et al. 2006a). Underreporting by older people, families, and the public also occurs because of a lack of awareness and understanding of abusive behaviors.

Cultural Considerations

Abuse and neglect are frequently socially defined; therefore, due to cultural diversity, the meaning and understanding of abusive behaviors must be understood within the social context in which they occur (even where values and customs have been firmly embedded in the social structure). Much of the literature has been culturally sensitive determining public perceptions of elder abuse within that culture and examining the differences in what is considered abusive or non-abusive behavior (Malley-Morrison et al. 2006).

Significant differences between various ethnic groups have been found in what is considered elder abuse. Furthermore, greater tolerance has been shown for certain forms of elder abuse in certain cultures (Moon & Williams 1993). Much of the existing literature reports on surveys which have examined elder abuse in terms of cultural differences. Although surveys conducted about sensitive issues can be taxing, they are a means of eliciting the public's views about such private matters (Ryan et al. 2001).
Public perceptions of elder abuse may affect judgment on what is considered acceptable behavior towards and treatment of older people. Thus, these perceptions can also have implications for the prevention and identification of elder abuse. Increased knowledge, understanding, and awareness of abusive incidents towards older people could enable people to recognize abusive situations and to react more appropriately and promptly (Werner et al. 2005).

This review will provide an insight into how elder abuse is defined and perceived by the public.
Some cultures have deeply held societal values about the family where there is a widely held understanding that domestic affairs should never become public knowledge (Daskalopoulos et al. 2006b). Family matters are kept private, as any family discord made public is considered shameful (Soeda & Araki 1999). This is also reflective of Irish culture where, in small communities, in particular, family matters and disputes tend to be kept within the family circle. This may impact on estimates of the prevalence of elder abuse as people are reluctant to disclose such information and may wish to continue maintaining a good public face and a sense of normality. Such a protective stance creates challenges for research in this area as people are reluctant to disclose familial circumstances and familial problems. As cultural values and beliefs play a significant role in how elder abuse is perceived, defined and interpreted, this review will pay particular attention to the cultural norms and beliefs of the country where the studies cited were done.

Penhale (2008) pointed out that, despite the fact that there are inconsistencies with the definition of elder abuse, there is in fact general consensus in relation to the types of elder abuse that occur. These mainly include physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, financial abuse, psychological abuse and emotional abuse (Penhale 2008). When interpreting findings, it is important to note that respondents may know what constitutes elder abuse without having heard the term itself (Tsukada et al. 2001). Legally, it makes it challenging to prosecute an abuser because they have a hard time establishing if the signs of abuse are from aging or actual abuse.

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Scielent Crime of Elder Domestic Abuse. (2021, Feb 22). Retrieved November 3, 2025 , from
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Effects of Elder Abuse

Contents

Abstract
The Effects of Elder Abuse
Present State of Knowledge in Elder Abuse
Research Designs Used to Study Elder Abuse
Main Ideas Revealed in Literature Review.
How Further Research Would Benefit the Advocacy for Elder Abuse

Abstract

The significance of this report is to draw attention to the severity of elder abuse. Elder abuse is becoming a recognized, and prevalent problem amongst many older adults and its effects are detrimental to the health and well-being of the seniors. Recognition of abuse is vital with the growing numbers of seniors and being able to recognize the vulnerability factors of elder abuse can change the under-reporting of elder abuse to Adult Protective Services. What is known about elder abuse is that there are several categories: physical abuse, fiduciary abuse (financial abuse), verbal abuse, and neglect. The data collected is not accurate because of the underreporting of the elder abuse and the inability to account for all the seniors not just in facilities but those who’s guardians care for them. The goal of this literature review is to explain the importance of conducting more research to protect this population from exploitation.
Keywords: Abuse, Neglect, Under-reporting, Physical abuse, Verbal Abuse, financial abuse.

The Effects of Elder Abuse

In this literature review, I will explain the present knowledge of elder abuse and its risk factors as well as impacts on the health of older adults. I will also discuss the research methods and designs used by authors and which I found most useful in addressing elder abuse. Then a brief description of the main ideas and the benefits of further research on the elder abuse issue.

Present State of Knowledge in Elder Abuse

Elder abuse is defined as: “(a) intentional actions that cause harm or create a serious risk of harm (whether or not harm is intended) to a vulnerable elder by a caregiver or other person who stands in a trust relationship, or (b) failure by a caregiver to satisfy the elder’s basic needs or to protect the elder from harm.”(Pillemer, Burnes, Riffin,& Lachs, 2015, p.195). Elder abuse is categorized into physical abuse, psychological, material exploitation, and neglect. Based on the article, physical abuse in the United States is the least common category at 1.4%. Phycological abuse is 1.5%, but please consider that for phycological abuse to be reported the mistreatment has to be seen as severe. Financial abuse was recorded at 4.5%, and neglect at 1.1% (Pillemer, et al., 2015, p.196). The percent appears low but take into consideration that those percentages are from 325 million population in the US.

Factors that contributed to the elder abuse research are emotional dependence/disability, poor physical health, cognitive impairment/dementia, poor mental health, or low income (Pillemer et al., 2015, p.198). The more factors an older adult had, the more at risk they were for elder abuse. Factors that contribute to elder abuse perpetrators/ caregivers are mental illness, substance misuse, abuser dependency (Pillemer et al., 2015, p. 198). Depression and anxiety are characteristics of the most frequent abusers; caregivers with depression/anxiety are linked to physical/emotional abuse while caregivers with substance abuse problems have been linked to verbal and financial abuse (Pillemer et al., 2015, p. 198). The relationship between the dependent and the caregiver could determine abuse.
Understand that elder mistreatment can be discovered not just at home but in hospitalized settings. “Evidence suggests that elder abuse is associated with emergency room visits and hospitalization” (Dong, 2014, p.156). Signs of elder abuse at home can be connected with depression, anxiety, and isolation; the most obvious signs would be bruising (Dong, 2014, p.256). The signs may become difficult to recognize if the elder lives at home, which then places the responsibility on health care providers in hospital settings to “screen for elder abuse and detect vulnerabilities during a routine physician office visit… and suggest predisposing issues that will eventually impair the patient’s ability to live independently” (Dong, 2014, pg. 156 ). Being able to recognize the signs of elder abuse can be the difference between an elder having devastating health consequences and receiving the aid that they need to escape an abusive dependent relationship.

Elder abuse on an individual can cause depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic disorder detailed within the article, Elder Abuse and Psychological Well-Being: A Systematic Review and Implications for Research and Policy by XinQi Dong, RuiJia Chen, E-Shien Chang, and Melissa Simon. The article mentions that the individual may begin to isolate themselves (or be isolated), stop doing their ADL’s, and resign from social activates. While, in the article Elder Abuse and Mortality: The Role of Psychological and Social Wellbeing by X.Q. Dong a M.A. Simon c T.T. Beck a C. Farran b J.J. McCann a, b C.F. Mendes de Leon a E. Laumann d D.A. Evans details “that there were 22.03 deaths/100 person-years for those with confirmed elder abuse” (Dong et al. 2010). Those deaths accounted for the 100 people they studied who were suffering from depression as a result of the elder abuse. Twenty-two older adults died as a result of elder abuse; those numbers demand that attention be drawn to the issue of elder abuse.

Research Designs Used to Study Elder Abuse

In the article, Elder Abuse and Psychological WellBeing: A Systematic Review and Implications for Research and Policy by Dong, X., Chen, R., Chang, E., & Simon, M. (2013). The research method was searching the medical and social sciences databases to create a “systematic review of the association between psychological distress and elder abuse and the effect of interventions and to provide directions for future research” (Dong et al., 2013, p.133). While, in the article Elder Abuse: Research, Practice, and Health Policy by Xinqi Dong does a meta-analysis of multiple articles that he references to prove that there needs to be more Nationally representative longitudinal research is needed to define the incident, risk/protective factors better, and consequences of elder abuse in diverse racial/ethnic populations. Systematic education and training are critically needed across all relevant fields.” (Dong, 2013,p. 161). Bridget Penhale’s article, Responding and Intervening in Elder Abuse and Neglect. Ageing International (2010) was also a meta-analysis of multiple articles brought together to find various interventions and theories to the causation of elder abuse.

In, Elder Abuse: Global Situation, Risk Factors, and Prevention Strategies by Karl Pillemer, David Burnes, Catherine Riffin, and Mark S. Lachs, the authors used “a scoping review of key issues in the field from an international perspective” by “drawing primarily on population-based studies” (Pillemer et. al, 2015, p. 194). By using a scoping review based on population studies, I found this article much more useful for its statistics and evidential reliability. The article, A case-control study of severe physical abuse of older adults by Leeman Friedman, Susan Avila, Kathy Tanouye, and Kimberly Joseph used a case study in a trauma unit in Chicago involving forty-one randomly selected participants. This article was particularly useful in that it was able to conclusively confirm elder abuse (which since it is not a significant or medically studied issue makes it very difficult to prove and survey from hospitalized settings).

Main Ideas Revealed in Literature Review.

Main ideas revealed in the literature review where that: elder abuse is more common when the elder is dependent, that neglect was the most common form of abuse, and that older adults that are victims of abuse can suffer depression, weight loss, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. There are vulnerability factors that put a senior at risk for abuse, and there are risk factors that put caregivers in situations to abuse such as mental illnesses, economic struggles, or burnout. Elder abuse varies, and it is not a single action but rather a series of events that can be prevented, and if the abuse occurs, it can be resolved with proactive preventions, legislation, and advocacy.

How Further Research Would Benefit the Advocacy for Elder Abuse

If research could get an accurate account of the number of older adults becoming victims of elder abuse, we could force the government to recognize it as a prevalent issue and draw awareness. Bridget Penhale (2010) states, “It is clear that there is a need to improve awareness and recognition of abuse and neglect, in terms of the general public, professionals and the older population.” (p.249). If we make elder abuse a national problem not a familial problem, we can get the proper aid and training to recognize, treat, and prevent elder abuse. “We also need to undertake research on effectiveness and impact, not just of interventions but also the impact of abuse and neglect, and of processes and interventions on individuals.” (Penhale, 2010, p.249). Once elder abuse has been taught to healthcare professionals, social workers, and family supporters, there needs to be a measure of how successful it was and use that knowledge to remodify and individualize plans of care.

“There is a need for larger studies and comprehensive interventions that assess the long-term health and social and economic impact of physical abuse; evaluate protective services and effectiveness of placement in alternative living facilities in reducing risk of abuse; develop simple screening tools to assist medical professionals in identifying and reporting cases of abuse; and elucidate the relationship between abuse and specific individual characteristics, health conditions, personal habits, and medical outcomes.” (Friedman et al., 2011, p. 421). Researchers need to conduct a study that is all-inclusive in the consequences of elder abuse, then and only then can we find a way to propose significant interventions that can hopefully reduce elder abuse.

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Effects of Elder Abuse. (2021, Feb 22). Retrieved November 3, 2025 , from
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Reducing of Food Waste

Food waste issue has become an issue of concern all over the world. For example, Americans waste approximately 150,000 tons of food every day which is equivalent to a pound per person. In their article “Household Food Waste: Multivariate Regression and Principal Components Analyses of Awareness and Attitudes among U.S. Consumers” Danyi Qi and Brian E. Roe states that “About one-third of the world’s edible food is lost or wasted annually, while the challenge to feed the projected world population of 9.3 billion people by the mid-century will require 60% more food than is currently produced.”The healthiest people are most wasteful. People who live on healthy diets which include fruits and vegetables tend to waste more food. Fruits and vegetables are highly perishable, which means they are frequently thrown out. Also, unlike other sources of food such as meat, fruits and vegetables require more water as well as labor and chemicals such as pesticides to ensure that they are fully grown and ready to be consumed (Royte). This paper aims to identify the effects of food wastage, causes of food wastage and various measures that should be taken to help reduce food wastage.

There are many negative impacts of food wastage. Food wastage does not only include the wastage of the final products. It also includes the wastage of other resources such as water, labor, chemical inputs and nutrients that would have been consumed by consumers (Royte). Moreover, food wastage has a significant impact on economic, social and environmental costs. Food thrown into the garbage often end up into our landfills where it creates toxic gasses. Therefore, unless it is well-managed food wastage can lead to potential public health and environmental risks and as toxic gasses such as methane and leachate can be released from the landfills into the surrounding environment.

Food wastage starts from the farm and ends with the consumers. The intermediaries or the retailers are also not doing much to help in food reduction (Aubrey). For example, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, only four of the ten largest grocery chains in America have specific food waste reduction commitments. Out of the ten, a further four do not prevent food wastage of food that is considered too cosmetically "imperfect" to sell. Therefore, there are different stages of food loss and food wastage.

The first stage of food waste occurs during production where food can either be lost due to spillage (Aubrey). As a result of poor harvest or due to animal deaths. The second stage occurs during post-harvest handling and storage. This is mainly as a result of transportation issues between the farmers and distributors or due to poor or insufficient storage. The third stage is during processing. This stage mainly affects meat from animals which can be lost due to trimming spillage during slaughtering. The fourth stage is the distribution stage where food is lost at the market due to a poor market system or failure to sell the food due to various reasons. The final stage is consumption. This mainly involves food waste by an individual at the household level especially when people purchase more food than they can consume and they end up disposing of what is left. Each of these stages plays a part in the increase in amount.

Causes of food wastage tend to differ in developed and developing countries (Royte). In developing countries due to lack of food and money, farmers tend to harvest crops too early. In most cases, food harvested too early loses both economic and nutritional value. The crops are often not mature enough and therefore when they reach the market their value is not as high as compared to those which were given enough time to mature. As a result, most of the crops are not sold, and they end up being disposed of. Also, crops which are not mature lack nutritional value which means consumers at the market will not consider buying them.

Moreover, developing countries use minimal farming technology such as tractors, plows, and cheap pesticides (Royte). Therefore, most of the crops do not go past the production stage due to poor farming methods. Inadequate market systems is another major factor that has contributed to the increase in food loss in developing countries. Markets in developing countries are often overcrowded, lack proper cooling equipment, small and unsanitary which often leads to wastage of most farm products. Also, fresh produce such as meat, and fish often spoil before reaching the market due to poor storage and the lack of proper transportation. Therefore, defects in production and distribution of food are the main causes of food waste in developing countries.

In developed countries, the main cause of food wastage is the production of excess food. Out of anticipation of pest attacks and poor weather farmers in developed tend to produce excess food (Royte). As a result, the food produced is more food that they actually need. The excess food is usually disposed of. Moreover, Supermarkets in developed countries have high appearance quality standards which makes them reject most crops under the claims that they are not favorable in terms of shape weight or size. Also, the large quantities of products displayed in the supermarkets reach their sell-by date before they are sold. Bulk sized packaging in most supermarkets and serving of large portion meals in restaurants is also another cause of food wastage in developed countries. Moreover, people living in developed countries buy more food than needed and instead of using or reusing the excess food they believe that disposing of the excess food is cheaper. Therefore excess food production and poor marketing strategies are the causes of food wastage in developed countries.

There are many measures that can be taken to help reduce food wastage at different levels. Improved technology and methodology in production, as well as public awareness, are the primary measures that should be taken to help address the issue of food wastage. According to Danyi Qi and Brian E. Roe“So much food waste is attributable to consumers.” Therefore, the most effective way to help reduce food wastage is to educate consumers on how to store fruits and vegetables properly. It is evident much food waste is attributed to consumers. Therefore, for the United States to attain its goal to reduce food waste by 50%, consumers have to be an integral part of this project. However, in order to fully incorporate the consumers in the plan to reduce food wastage, they have to first assess consumer awareness, their attitude, and opinion in relation to food wastage (Danyi Qi and Brian E. Roe). Also, they need to help them realize the environmental threat posed by food waste.

Additionally, most researchers often focus on household level waste during their studies. Only a few of these studies have examined food wastage by analyzing food distribution or retail settings and very few studies have been conducted to help understand the impact food wasted at a farm level has to the economy and at the farm level (Aubrey). If researchers put more efforts on looking into food wastage at the farm level, they can help save a lot of food from being wasted. Both private and public should join hands and work together to best to better characterize, quantify, and reduce food waste. Also, the introduction of initiatives such as the removal of sell-by dates and Food label guides can also help reduce food waste. Together with ensuring that the excess food is fed to the hungry, especially people living in the streets, these measures will help a lot in reducing food wastage.

In conclusion, it is evident that both developing and developed nations have been victims of food loss and food waste. The amount of food lost annually is enough to feed three billion people. The US is the most affected where 30% of the produced food is not eaten. Moreover, food wastage has a significant negative impact on economic, social and environmental costs. According to the information gathered from a various source most food is lost due to excess production, lack of market for the already produced food and poor storage and preservation methods. However, various measures described in this essay can help reduce food wastage.

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What is Food Waste

Food is everywhere! Everyday we eat. You can walk outside today and walk down the block and smell the different aromas from people’s houses. You could be in the air on an airplane or relaxing on a boat in the middle of the bahamas and there will be food there. Food is everywhere and it essential to our everyday lives but everyday we find a way to throw it away and waste the food. Up to 33% percent of all food produced, weather it be produced in a home kitchen or in a commercial kitchen, is thrown away each year. 33 percent is an extremely high number of food to be thrown away in the trash. Think about how much food that you eat in a week. Most people eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner on a standard day out of the week. You throw you approximately of the food that you have eaten on a which would basically be the equivalent of throwing out whatever you would have for lunch each day. For some people that might not sound to bad. One meal is not that much is it? But think about how many people live on this earth. About 7.53 billion people live on Earth. Now if every person throws just a ½ of a lb of food than we threw away about 3.765 billion lbs of food in one day. In one day. If we thrown 3.765 billion lbs of food away in a day just think about how much we throw away in a week. How much in a month. How about in a year… that is way too much food thrown away and the planet cannot sustain the about of waste each and every day. We, as a team need to work together to get our food waste down to keep our planet healthy and sustainable for years and years to come.

So what is food waste and why is it important. Food waste is simply food that i has been or is discarded or lost uneaten. Food waste is not just throwing away a half eaten sandwich because you are no longer hungry. It's much bigger than that. Everytime that you are a fruit and you discard the the skin or you take out the white pithy part of the fruit off than that is considered waste. When you peel the skin off of a potato or off of a carrot that is food waste. Even when you cut the tops and bottoms off of a onion and you throw it away it is considered waste. As you see, it is easy to to waste food and throw it away everyday and we need to be conscious of the amount of food and waste that we throw out everyday. Saving our waste is important because it saves our planted and it can help feed the less fortunate people in the world. The worst part of food waste is what it does to our environment. When we throw away millions of pounds of food it ends up in landfill and produces a large amount of methane gas . methane gas is a greenhouse gas that is more powerful than even CO2. methane and C02 absorb infrared radiation and heat up the earth’s atmosphere, causing global warming and climate change. Climate changes are going to increase the amount heat waves, increase the number of droughts, result in more frequent and more impactful hurricanes, lighten the growing season, change precipitation patterns, raise the see level and it will melt the Arctic ocean. All of these are a result of food waste and the combustions of food into heat and into methane gas. So now that we know what food waste is and why its impactful, it is time to save the planet but how.

There are now many organizations out in the United States that are working on fixing our food waste problem. For instance the Food Recovery Network goal is to unite students at colleges and universities to fight food waste and hunger by recovering perishable food that would otherwise go to waste and donating it to those in need as well as changing the norm from food waste to food recovery in the United States. Another food group, named Food Tank aims to educate, to inspire,to advocate, and create change environmentally, socially, and economically to create sustainable ways of alleviating hunger, obesity, and poverty. Finally, Waste & Resources Action Programme better know as WRAP is works with food and drink organisations to create economic as well as environmental value by reducing food waste and tackling issues around water scarcity across the supply chain. In addition to all of the helpful organizations to help with our food waste epidemic, many food and beverage adapted a a zero waste policy which includes cross utilization of many if not all products. This means that many restaurant and not throwing away the peel of a carrot, instead they use them with mirepoix to make a better tasting more flavorful stock. They are not throwing away the potato peels into the trash. They are frying them up and putting them on a plate as a garnish. Restaurants wont throw out the rinds of an orange. Instead they are zesting the orange and using it for marinades or again as a garnish to finish the plate. In addition many restaurants and restaurants now use a compost bin. A compost bin is where you only throw food products away and a third party company takes the compost to a compost site,instead of a landfill, so that the leftover waste is turning into a rich soil and re-used to plant trees. That is one of the most effective ways to maintain zero waste. Many restaurants and food and beverage operations have taken a leap into to future to save the planet, and now it is your turn.

What will you to to help the planet. All it takes is for you to be educated about waste and to make an effort to try to keep waste down. A little bit of saving can go a love way. Think about how much less waste would be in the world if we all only wasted a ¼ of pound food waste a day instead of a ½ of a pound. It might not seem to make a difference but in the long run it will. All it takes is a tad bit of thinking and a little bit of planning ahead to get to reduce your waste. So the next time that you peel a potato and throw the skin out think about what you can do to save then and reuse the product. When you see and orange think about the several ways that the orange can be used in different dishes and in different plates. It's not impossible to reduce the food waste in the world it just starts one step at a time.

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What is Food Waste. (2021, Feb 20). Retrieved November 3, 2025 , from
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Solution of Food Waste

According to Pope John Paul II, “The earth will not continue to offer its harvest, except with faithful stewardship. We cannot say we love the land and then take steps to destroy it for use by future generations.” When we think about sustainability, most people in America think about energy resources being depleted or not enough water supply. I like many others, never stop to think that the single greatest threat to our sustainability comes from the growing problem of food waste. Elizabeth Royte a conservationist and author for National Geographic says that in America we waste more than 30 percent of our food which is valued at $162 billion dollars annually (Royte 2).

This food waste attributes to the destruction of our lands, increase of methane gas released into our atmosphere and loss of resources used to produce the food. While there are many reasons to America’s growing contribution to food waste, the biggest causes to this problem are essentially peoples lack knowledge, non-universal food labels and supermarkets/farmers focusing on making money instead of repurposing efforts. The best solution to managing our food waste is to implement laws to prohibit everyone from wasting at every level and to educate people. If the food waste crisis is not solved soon, we may not be able to sustain life on this planet. One of the biggest causes of why consumers waste so much is because they are confused by the labels on the food we eat. Royte said that “The Natural Resources Defense Council is urging the U.S. government to standardize the confusing jumble of “sell by,” “best by,” and “use by” dates which leads to unnecessary refrigerator purges.”

Most consumers are uneducated on these food labels which give way to the thought that the food they have is not edible when this is likely not the case. Ultimately this causes consumers to throw out perfectly edible food from this confusion which ends up in our overused landfills. One of the most eye-opening details behind this increase in food waste came from the movie Wasted! The Story of Food Waste directed by Anna Chai a spokesperson interviewed several random people regarding the decomposition life of a single head of lettuce. Thereafter they were asked to guess how long it would take for the lettuce to fully decompose in a landfill? The interviewers said it would take days, weeks or even months as naturally this assumption came from their own observations since lettuce is typically the first thing to spoil in most household refrigerators. It was declared in the movie that if the decomposing agents were not present when the lettuce is compacted under trash, it could take up to 25 years to fully decompose. In addition, the effect behind food waste that ends up in landfills is the significant rises in methane gas (Wasted). The movie states that when food is not properly decomposed, the waste generates methane gas. They state that methane gas is 23 times more potent than carbon monoxide when it comes to greenhouse gases destroying our atmosphere. With the current rise in population, we can conservatively project that there will be more food wasted which is exponentially problematic for our environment every day. The other tier to the problem on food waste comes from supermarkets and farmers that care more about making money and the sale of food then implementing a plan of repurposing efforts. In the movie Wasted!, Tristam Stuart, an award-winning author, and activist of food waste states that supermarkets discard food on a regular basis, and most of the food is perfectly edible and far beyond expiration. Stuart had gone down to supermarkets where he witnessed them secretly hiding the discarded food in locked bins behind the stores. It is of Stuart’s opinion that these supermarkets seemed ashamed of the abundance of food that is wasted.

It is my opinion that the supermarkets do this because consumers look at expiration dates and food sell’s more often when their expiration dates are seen with later dates. Furthermore, the movie showed viewers how farmers leave crops out to die out and not picked for harvest so that the price for these crops won’t be driven down by overabundance. These cheap tactics by supermarkets and farmers are used to make sure that they keep their prices and sales of each food product high. Moreover, the government doesn’t hold these farmers and supermarkets accountable for the waste they produce. This causes only further detriment to our environment with more food waste ending up in our landfills. One of the most solid solutions to tackling the problem of food waste is to implement new laws that inhibit those from wasting at every level and in some case rewarding those who waste less. In Wasted!, Anthony Bourdain a celebrity chef, author, and travel documentarian spoke about how in Korea the government imposes heavy fines on their citizens if they create an abundance of food waste or when they do not properly dispose of food in appropriate bins. In addition, Korea weighs their food waste to make sure they are not over their allocated amount. The movie states that presently Korea has completely eliminated all food waste going into their landfills (Wasted). These laws can be easily implemented in America to tackle the food waste crisis. Moreover, the government could implement a tax deduction law to reward those who are wasting less food. The best solution to the food waste problem came from a broadcast for the National Public Radio (NPR) show called Morning Edition, correspondent, Allison Aubrey speaks with Tom Vilsack the U.S.

Agriculture Secretary and says that we need to educate Americans on food waste. Vilsack and Aubrey explain to their radio listeners the government wants to start a grass root program, like how “Litter” was seen in the 60’s and 70’s and now it is seen as culturally unacceptable. (Aubrey 2) First, they state they would like to educate kids at a young age to start thinking about food waste so that we can have a generation of people understand the risk and impacts on the potential harm of our environment. Visalack says the goal is to get Americans to reduce food waste by 50 percent by the year 2030. In conclusion, we must get serious about food waste in America. We only have a finite amount of resources and with our growing population and we need to make appropriate decision to tackle the issue of food waste. The solutions I presented before us, can only help keep supermarkets and farmers accountable for what they are throwing out. It may even help these businesses implement other solutions to stop this crisis. In addition, the government needs to step up their involvement by helping educate people so that we can make food waste a culturally unacceptable issue. If we do not find a solution soon, we may find that life on this planet will not be sustainable should the food waste problem get out of hand.

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Solution of Food Waste. (2021, Feb 20). Retrieved November 3, 2025 , from
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Food Waste Problem Statement

Food-a daily sustenance necessary for survival that comes in a variety of different forms and flavors. Usually, when people think about food, their thoughts are centered around taste and dietary necessities. However, food’s place in society goes beyond choosing a meal at a restaurant or buying groceries at the supermarket.

One piece of evidence for the integration of food into everyday life is the presence of food phrases such as “cool as a cucumber,” “piece of cake,” and “egg on.” Additionally, food is present at most major life events (such as birthdays, funerals, weddings, and holidays) alludes to the idea that humans think about food at more than just mealtime (Stajcic).

Food has become about more than just survival and is now integrated into culture and relationships. As human beings, our first relationship is formed through the bottle, or the breast as a mother feeds her infant (Wilk qtd. In “Food-Food and Culture”). While human growth continues from an infant into a child and from a child to an adult, our relationship with food also continues to develop. Food choice has changed from being mainly about survival to having choice and preferences in the food that is eaten.

Food goes beyond simply making choices about what to eat in most cultures, representing psychological, anthropological, and sociological aspects of culture.

Jennifer Lee explains that “what you want to cook and eat is an accumulation, a function of your experiences — the people you’ve dated, what you’ve learned, where you’ve gone. There may be inbound elements from other cultures, but you’ll always eat things that mean something to you” (qtd.

In Choi). Food culture develops through one’s heritage, religion, and personal background and experiences: Religion can shape food choices through creating restrictions and practices, and by helping shape how food is viewed, such as with the presence of sacred foods. Food can also foster a connection between immigrants and their native heritage. For example, my family makes Swedish rye bread every Christmas to feel more connected to our Swedish background.

This connection and homeland sentimentality with our ancestors also increases consumer willingness to pay more for products: “In one study, consumers were often willing to pay more for culturally significant crops despite the availability of less-expensive nutritional equivalents” (“The Human Food Connection: A New Study Reveals More About Our Relationship To Food”).

Consumers are willing to pay more because they see food that reminds them of where they came from and of memories and stories of their homeland. Equivalent products simply cannot match the sentimentality and history that comes with food from culturally significant crops. Lastly, one’s personal history can affect food choices.

Comfort foods for most adults come from positive memories one has during their childhoods. Additionally, people may choose to avoid certain foods because of ties to negative times and experiences during their lifetime. While food is a reflection of one’s culture and helps one feel connected to their past, food can also help to shape current and future relationships.

The sharing of food for meetings, dates, family gatherings, holiday gifts all show the power that food can have in bringing people closer together. Food has evolved to be at humanity’s center of culture, relationships, memories, and history.

Another part of what has made life so centralized on food is its production. So much goes into that box of cereal at the grocery store or that home-cooked meal of steak and potatoes. Agriculture has been around for the last 13,000 years and has been fully established for the last 7000 years.

Farming allowed humans to settle down, form civilizations, and give people more time since they were no longer focused on hunting and gathering. With the rise of civilizations came the rise of political and religious leaders and thus the formation of classes and issues involving land, social inequality, and malnutrition (History of Agriculture).

Today, farming is more efficient than ever due to technological advances: “In 1935, there were 6.8 million farms in the United States, and the average farmer produced enough food each year to feed 20 people. In 2002, the number of farms was estimated to be 2.16 million, and the average U.S. farmer produced enough food to feed almost 130 people” (Background on Agricultural Practices and Food Technologies). With this increased efficiency, food prices have decreased, helping make food more affordable.

Additionally, with the addition of newer technologies, such as transportation and refrigeration, people have no longer have to live within close proximity of farms, continuing the growth of cities.

However, this has separated the farmer, food production, and the consumer, since many consumers fail to see most parts of food production. At the farm, crops go through eight stages throughout its production: crop Selection, land preparation, seed selection, seed sowing, irrigation, crop growth, fertilization, and harvesting (“Farming Life Cycle”).

Meanwhile, animal production includes the growth and feeding of the animals and their eventual slaughter. Once crops and animals have left farms, their journey is not quite yet over. From there, they still have final preparation for consumption, which can include preserving, baking, pasteurizing, pudding, carving, butchers, fermenting, pickling, drink and candy makers, or being made in a restaurant (“Food Production”). For the production of food that consumers see on a daily basis, a large investment of resources, time, and energy is required.

While food may be an integral part of survival, culture, and society as a whole, and food represents a large investment in resources, food waste has become more common.

In 2007 alone, 1.3 million tons of edible food was wasted (“Food Wastage Footprint Impact on Natural Sources”). Additionally, in one study on food waste based in several cities in the United States, researchers found that 68% of the food that they had seen wasted from residencies was edible (“Food Matters: What Food We Waste and How We Can Expand the Amount of Food Rescued”). Waste typically comes from initial excess food or inefficiency in the processes used to prepare foods, such as boiling, canning, juicing, and pasteurization. Factors for waste can also include not planning when going grocery shopping, not saving the leftovers, making errors during processing and processing itself, having difficulty in harvesting and storing crops, focusing on expiration and sell-by dates, and buying only blemish-free food among other factors (“Causes, Effects, and Solutions of Food Waste”).

Additionally, in the United States, food waste may be caused by low food costs; this is likely due to subsidiaries, and the cultural desire for perfect and unblemished food. As one article described, “vast quantities of fresh produce grown in the U.S.

are left in the field to rot, fed to livestock or hauled directly from the field to landfill, because of unrealistic and unyielding cosmetic standards” (Chandler). The cosmetic desire for “perfect” food may come from the belief that unblemished food is healthier and purer. Additionally, the desire for cosmetic food represents an interesting dilemma because while most food waste issues come from issues in food planning and production, cosmetic desire is mostly a social desire. For the United States alone, 30-40% of food is wasted with 50% of the waste coming from consumers.

However, part of the blame from consumers may come from marketers and producers who cause consumers to more and more purchase products which can lead to more waste (Mourad).

One example of this is the placing essential items in the back of the store so that a customer has to walk all the way to through the store and may find unessential items to buy on their way to get what they originally came for. Food waste can also represent a social justice issue with the distribution of resources as the FAO has stated: “On the other hand, rich countries waste almost as much food (222 million tonnes) annually as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tonnes)” (FAO). Currently, there are around 800 million people in the world who go hungry. Part of this issue stems from how food is distributed. With humanitarian efforts to feed the hungry and some beginning to worry about food resources available with population growth, humanity is beginning to look more for solutions to deal with food waste and distribution.

Ways to Reduce Food Waste and Why Reducing Food Waste is Important

With almost 2 million tons of food is wasted annually and around 800 million people in the world going hungry, people have begun to come up with solutions to help reduce hunger and reduce food waste.

Currently, solutions follow a wide range of different ideas which can include changing legislation, feeding food waste to animals, selling blemished food at lower costs, composting and redistributing food to those who need it. In 2016, France became the first country in the world to ban supermarkets from throwing away unsold food and the unsold food waste must be donated to food banks and charities by forcing large grocery stores to pay a fine if they do not donate their food.

Additionally, the French laws also now ban supermarkets from intentionally spoiling food to dissuade those who forage the stores’ garbage bins (Chrisafis). By this having legislation, France becomes an example for other countries on food waste reduction and helps to begin momentum in food waste reduction, not just for other countries but for other steps in food production.

Additionally, by having food banks and charities have donations from the supermarket, they ensure a steady quantity of donations and that their donations are quality donations of fruits, vegetables, and meats (How France Became a Global Leader in Curbing Food Waste). As previously mentioned, consumers and consequentially producers tend to be fairly choosy with their products being “perfect” and blemish free.

However, with as much waste as the desire for cosmetically pleasing produce causes, some producer having begun to incentivize choosing food with blemishes in order to reduce waste. One such company is Imperfect Produce which delivers food that would normally be rejected by grocery stores for a 30% reduction in cost.

So far, the company has been fairly successful with 40 million pounds. With this incentivization from this company and others like it, hopefully, stigmatism around foods that do not fit cosmetic standards will disappear and imperfect foods will become a normal part of diets which will help to reduce the 20 billion pounds of produce wasted annually (“Imperfect Produce”). Waste can be considered a social construct since one considers waste as what they do not have a use for.

However, one person’s food waste could be another person’s meal, food for livestock, or the source of fertilizer for their crops. Currently, a third of the total farmland is used to grow animal food and the movement, processing, and distribution of the food accounts for 45% of the sector’s total emissions (Gillman). With this solution, farmers could use crops that otherwise go to waste in order to feed farm animals and grocery stores could donate a portion of their unsold food to farms.

By giving animals food waste that will work with their diets, this will help lower municipal solid food waste. Additionally, it will reduce the amount of land needed to provide for animal food, which can help to reduce deforestation and habitat degradation that may be needed to grow and process animal feed.

Lastly, having animals eat food waste will allow for more crops to be able to be used by people, helping to alleviate some the worries about hunger and providing enough food for the ever-growing human population. Composting helps reduce the amount of food that may contribute to municipal solid waste, but also uses the food waste in a way that is beneficial for various environmental aspects; it combines organic waste such as yard trimmings and food waste, along with bulking agents such as wood chips in a way that that the waste breaks and eventually becomes a nutrient-rich soil conditioner that can be used similarly to fertilizer.

Composting benefits include replacing potentially harmful chemical fertilizers, reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by organic waste in landfills, helping to restore soils impacted by habitat degradation, and improving water retention in soils (Reducing the Impact of Wasted Food by Feeding the Soil and Composting). To reduce food waste, composting could be done fairly easily with food that would have otherwise been wasted any level of food production, composting information is available on the internet.

Especially for consumers with enough space to compost, it can be a fairly effective method for reducing food waste since they can do it within their homes.

According to one study, as long as composting is done aerobically, it has the least impact on the environment compared to other similar methods of getting rid of food waste, which included in-sink food processors, landfilling waste, and centralized composting which means the composting is done by composting centers (“Life Cycle Assessment of Food Waste Management Options”). As previously stated, composting reduces the need for fertilizers, providing a consumer incentive, as it helps eliminate the need for fertilizers for lawns and backyard gardening, helping reduce maintenance costs as well as possible pollutants.

Lastly, food redistribution has become a powerful model in changing how food waste is handled. With food rescue programs, food is taken from places (such as grocery stores and restaurants) and is taken to places that can deliver them to people in need, such as churches and food banks. Currently, there is not a centralized model for food redistribution. Food rescue is dependent on non-profit organizations and some businesses (who depend on employees and volunteers), grocery stores, restaurants, universities, and other food distributors choosing to work with non-profit organizations.

One unique form of food rescue comes in the form of the app Zero Percent, which allows businesses to post donations to the app, then sending text alerts to food pantries, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters while also allowing businesses to receive tax deductions for their donations.

Since its inception in 2013, Zero Percent has “distributed more than 1 million meals to almost 150 nonprofits in the Chicago area” (Gabriel). Food rescue programs have started to become more popular over recent years and are spreading into more and more cities across the United States and the rest of the world, which is helping to eliminate millions of pounds of food waste.

These programs are important because they not only decrease food waste, but they also ensure that those who need the donated food will receive it.

In order to reduce food waste overall, all levels of food production must come together to take the steps necessary to reduce food waste. At the production level, this can come from feeding food waste to animals. For distributors, this can come from allowing imperfect produce to be sold in their stores with incentives and having a no-waste policy in grocery stores and partnerships with food redistribution programs so that people who are in need of food can have a dependable source of quality food. Consumers meal-plan and buy only enough food for their needs as well as composting, volunteering through food rescue programs, and buying imperfect food.

It will take time to reduce food waste, but if people band together, change will come.

Reducing food waste is important for not only helping to feed those in need but also for reducing the environmental impacts of food growth and food waste. Currently, the UN has a goal of ending world hunger by 2030 (“Zero Hunger”). By reducing food waste and focusing on the implementation of food redistribution, this goal could become a reality. As one article stated, “recovering just 25 percent of that wasted food could feed 870 million hungry people effectively ending world hunger” (“How France Became A Global Leader in Curbing Food Waste”). By allowing those who are hungry to have a viable source food, it allows them to focus on more than just trying to find their next meal, which can help them to be more successful in the future.

As humanity looks towards the coming century, one of the biggest worries in the coming future is climate change.

One of the biggest contributors to climate change is the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. According to a study done by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), food waste was the third largest carbon emitter behind China and the United States according to data taken in 2005. With decreased food waste, carbon dioxide emissions could also be reduced, helping mediate the possible effects of climate change. Another issue the world may face in the future is water shortages and issues related to access to clean water.

Reducing food waste would also alleviate tension about water shortages since “the irrigation water used globally to grow food that is wasted would be enough for the domestic needs (at 200 liters per person per day) of 9 billion people – the number expected on the planet by 2050” (Pullen).

Additionally, food production can lead to contamination of water with phosphates, nitrates, and chemicals, so reducing food waste could mitigate the amount of contaminants in the water. According to research, “unconsumed food accounts for approximately 1.4 billion hectares of land, constituting almost 1/3 of the planet’s agricultural land” (“Causes, Effects, and Solutions of Food Waste”). With this wasted land use, other areas are being used for agricultural. The new land for agricultural usually comes with habitat degradation and loss which has become an issue for biodiversity. Also, this need for new land can also cause issues of land ownership which can cause tension between different groups.

Lastly, similarly to other environmental issues, the cost of inaction will cost more than the cost of working to reduce and reuse food waste. One study reported that “food waste may cost $165 billion dollars per year in the US” (Mourad).

With all the benefits of reducing food waste, the next step is collective action toward a better future with reduced emissions, less cleared land, and the elimination of hunger.

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Food Waste Problem Statement. (2021, Feb 20). Retrieved November 3, 2025 , from
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Essay on Food Waste

In the United States, a great amount of food that is perfectly fine to eat is thrown away by households, grocery stores, and even the farms that produce them before we can even see it. This not only results in a loss of money in the economy, but also a loss of a source of affordable food for people everywhere in the country. Roughly 60 million tons of food is taken away from consumers, and while some of it is thrown away for good reasons, such as pests or being spoiled, others are thrown away because they don’t meet the standards of grocery stores set for them to be sold. The food waste epidemic has to be stopped, or we could at least try and start reducing some of the food that is being thrown away. The blemished and ugly food and produce that is routinely trashed has more uses than just being thrown into a landfill. Instead of just being tossed into an endless landfill filled with other rotting foods, it can be used to as donations to the needy and less fortunate in a foodbank, used as feed for livestock, or even sold in grocery stores at a cheaper price. By wasting millions of pounds of food, we’re losing an opportunity to help feed the hungry by just throwing out this food as well as making healthier foods more affordable for lower-income neighborhoods and families. However, we don’t even have to save every scrap of food that we buy or prevent every apple that's picked from a tree from going into a dumpster. If we save even a quarter of the food that's wasted through homes, farms, and stores throwing them away, we could ideally, or at least hopefully, feed 25 million Americans who have a hard time getting food on their plates.

Farms are where the produce is grown, and one in five of fruits and vegetables don’t make it from those farms to grocery stores or supermarkets, although that is just an estimate since the real amount is unknown. It can either be because the workers won’t bother harvesting produce that is too big or too small, or if it has blemishes since they most likely won’t be able to be sold to a supermarket or a grocery store. They also don't make it there because grocery stores will refuse the product unless it's absolute perfection and if farmers most likely are unable to sell blemished and misshapen food to them. Most produce grown on farms that aren't sold to stores goes to waste, and less of it becomes compost or goes to animals than you would think. Farming consultant Leonard Pallara explains that most of the time it “Generally it goes to waste”. Instead of selling this product that is shaped all funky or has spots, farmers will throw it into a dumpster because it’s the easiest and cheaper option for them. To be able to deliver the food that no one has bought to places like food banks or animal ranches, someone would need to pay for the transport, which would be very expensive for the huge amounts of food being transported. The food that could be going to better use like in a discount area of a supermarket, feed for animals, or even as compost ends up just getting thrown out with all the other trash that the farm throws out. A financial incentive would help lessen the financial burden on farms to transport the food to a food bank or some other form of donation center, and provide them with a reason to donate more food rather than just throw away millions of pounds of food. The food that is donated to food banks would help make more food available to the homeless and the hungry, along with being able to provide fresher and healthier food at a cheaper price to those who can’t afford anything more than cheap packaged foods.

A majority of grocery stores have a tendency to throw out a lot of food that is perfectly fine to eat because it doesn’t look good, it isn’t as fresh as they think it should be, or maybe it has been damaged. Grocery stores overstock their shelves because consumers are more likely to buy produce when there's a lot of it as opposed to being 1 or 2 left. However, when they do this, it leads to more harm than good because it damages the ones on the bottom of the piles or at the back. Then since it gets damaged, they toss it out because the store is afraid no will buy it. We are also used to seeing picture-perfect produce, like a perfectly round and red tomato, even though it has nothing to do with the quality or taste. Since grocery stores take advantage of overstocking and ‘perfect produce', farms don't want to pick the imperfect produce (blemishes, bumps, odd shapes, etc.), and they usually throw it out before it can even hit grocery stores, or when they do, the stores will throw them out. This isn’t just with fresh produce like tomatoes and cucumbers, but also packaged food such as cereals, yogurt, and chocolate. If a package gets damaged during transport, the grocery store will throw it out, because people most likely won’t buy a something with a damaged container, since a consumer will think that there’s something wrong with that one specific product. Another reason why a grocery store may throw away food is that it's getting close to, or it's at its sell-by date, and they deem it lesser quality than other food. With all this food getting thrown out, it’s strange that grocery stores don’t just donate the food they don’t want instead. But, if someone gets sick because of food that was donated from that grocery store, that store could be sued, so most grocery stores don’t want to be responsible if that happens, they face the fear of having to pay for someone getting sick from their donations, as well as the negative stigmas that people will get if it would happen.

They also face the same problem farmers do, they don’t have the space to store food while they wait for someone to come and pick up food to deliver it to donation areas since they have to constantly get deliveries of food and usually have limited space in their stores already, and most food banks don’t have the transport to pick up mass quantities of fresh food. There are solutions to the problems present in supermarkets and grocery stores, and other countries have begun taking action to resolve some of these issues in the stores. For instance, in the UK the Real Junk Food Project has opened a supermarket that sells food waste, and shoppers pay what they can for edible food that has been thrown out. It’s not a large-scale solution for a problem that’s affecting millions of people, but it’s an example of what we could start doing to make a change. We could try this in some communities in the U.S and see what impacts it makes on those people that live there as well as the business, we could start spreading them or change them depending on how they do.

But it’s not just farms and grocery stores that are throwing away blemished and imperfect produce, it’s also households who throw out edible food and waste products that are perfectly fine to consume. One reason could be that a lot of people forget that they buy large quantities of food since it’s usually cheaper to buy bulk, so a good amount of it goes bad before it actually gets used, and we have to throw it away so it just goes to waste in the end. Also, when it comes to food labels, we think that when foods hit that date on the package or the sticker, that food is all of sudden dangerous to eat and that we have to throw it out. Consumers most often than don't know the difference between "Sell by" and "Best before" dates, and that can lead to some unneeded food wastage at home due to people throwing away food that can still be eaten or that is still usable. These dates aren’t really indicators of food safety or health for consumers, and these labels are usually instead there for the stores to know when the peak freshness and quality pass. You can still consume the food after the date labeled on the food depending on what kind of food it is, and if you're storing it properly. For example, you can still drink milk up to 7 days after the date on the carton or crackers 2 to 4 weeks after the date on the package. Compared to farms and grocery stores, it is easier for households and individuals to avoid food waste since we do not have to worry about the large-scale problems they do when it comes to donating or preserving food. We can avoid food waste by learning what sell by and best by dates are, as well as knowing how long we can stretch out the food past those dates. We can also stop buying too much food that we do not end up using, or at least keep track and donate the food we don’t use. Having that food go to a food bank or a shelter is a better use of it than letting it spoil in the back of a fridge or in a pantry.

All of us can do better to reduce food waste. Farmers are simply only the beginning of the issue, since they are the ones who grow the food, but they aren’t the ones who are solely responsible for wasting food. They're under pressure to pick only food that will meet the rigorous and strict standards that grocery stores and supermarkets set so that they can continue selling their products to them. They need some incentive to sell the imperfect and ugly food that they don't pick or just throw away, because right now it's not really financially viable for them to do so, and it's the same for stores as well. Stores have to be accountable for what they’re doing such as overstocking food and selling just the perfect food that appeals to customers.

And just like farmers, they need an incentive or some help to deliver food to food banks or stores selling imperfect food, because they really do not have the resources, transport, and money to do so. Supermarkets can help reduce food waste is make the difference between the dates printed on packages and foods in general standard to the public, so that consumers don’t automatically assume that food has gone bad or is tainted because it has hit whatever date is on it. We can also reduce food waste at directly at our homes instead of expecting farms and stores to do something. We already buy too much food that we actually need, and that usually ends up with us throwing out food that has gone bad since we forgot about it in the back of the fridge or in the kitchen. We also need better food dates on labels, so we are less inclined to think that food has gone bad the instant it hits whatever date is on the package. There also has been a decrease in people donating food, and since we aren’t constrained by the transport problems that farmers and markets are, it is easier for us to deliver and donate food ourselves. There are tax deductions for donating food to a food bank if it is a qualified charity though. We have an incentive, and there should be economic incentives for the larger sources of food, farms, and markets, to donate food as well.

The wastage of food is leading to an increase of food insecure households, and if there is no improvement on the problem, such as an incentive to donate food to a food bank instead of just throwing it out to the trash. Another solution for farms or stores, would be to sell the blemished and ugly foods for a lower price, since it would less the strain on transporting them. We also need better labeling on food packaging, so we don’t think that food goes bad as soon as it hits it’s ‘Sell By’ date or it’s ‘Use By’ date. The problem of eating only ‘perfect' food is also contributing, and we need to stop this since this is leading to food not even hitting stores, and just getting thrown into this trash. All we are doing by throwing away and wasting food is just hurting other families that could’ve eaten that food. The food we throw away every day could go to better use, and if we start even making small contributions to this problem, it will make big impacts in the future.

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Essay on Food Waste. (2021, Feb 20). Retrieved November 3, 2025 , from
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Food Waste in Sub-Saharan Africa

The International Institute of Refrigeration approximately one third of all food produced in sub- Saharan Africa for human consumption goes uneaten or food get wasted because of the cold storage supply chain is underdeveloped or nonexistent. With the issue of major food loss in Sub-Saharan Africa, 30% of sub- Saharan Africans are chronically undernourished and is expected to get even worse with the population growing. The issues that cause food loss are because of each food has different needs which makes the cold storage solution complicated, low yield, affording a better cooling systems is costly for farmers, gaps in the cold storage supply chain lead to temperature fluctuations and spoilage, inconsistent and unsustainable energy sources, financial problems, low level of technical educations. From my perspective, to conclude all of the issues in to smaller areas, the main two challenges that caused SSA to have those issues are the financial and education problem.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, food loss is an especially critical issues. More than half of the foods spoiled before even reaching to the retailer or specific places because the farmers are not able to afford a proper cold storage to keep the foods in a good condition. Some perfectly good food just never gets eaten because farmer can't afford to harvest an entire field, or they are not able to sell it on time before the foods turn bad. As the amount of the food loss, the profits that can be earn from the food loss is definitely huge. From my perspective, with the huge amount of profits, it can attract a lot of foreign business organization have the interest to invest. Business oriented is the solution to solve the problems of SSA. Applying this solution can definitely brings into a WIN-WIN situation for the food vendor and the investor. The investor that brings sustainable cold storage units to the market can reduce the loss of food and also earn a huge amount of profit. In order to attract the investors, food vendors have to give out part of their shares for the investor to be their shareholders. Food vendors are able to have a better quality of foods and gain more income which has no loss but more profits for the vendors even the investors are taking part of their shares. There are a lot of methods to reduce food loss when we have enough financial support. For example: we can improved storage methods by building more metal storage silos, interlocking plastic bags locks out pest and keeps grain fresh for months. To implement this solution, it is important to look for an organization that has experience on dealing with this type of problems. An Australian organization called SecondBite is an organization that has been working on this specific area. They redirected to community food banks 3,00 metric tons worth of food in 2012 that would otherwise have been thrown away. With their experiences dealing with food loss or wasted, they are capable to provide us better information of solutions. Cooperating with them as a business purpose, telling them how much they could earn from the food loss in SSA could be persuasive to draw their interest.

Another key issues that cause food waste happens during food delivering from places to places, especially in warm places like sub- Saharan Africa, which often perishable goods gone bad sooner as expected if the freezer broke down. The way to fix this issue is to increase hubs and decision points in the supply chain that can help reduce waste. While expanding the quantity of the number of hubs in the supply chain can have a negative effect on quality, consolidation processes negatively affect time span of usability. Each hub provides the choice to install a decision point. However, orders can be reassigned at the decision points according to the FEFO (first expiry first out) strategy. The strategy stands also mean that the oldest inventory items are recorded as sold first but do not necessarily mean that the exact oldest physical object has been tracked and sold. In other words, the cost associated with the inventory that was purchased first is the cost expensed first. While consolidation can help to decrease shipping costs, additional wait times and detours to reach the consolidation point potentially increase delivery times. Besides, loading and unloading processes of regularly results in imperfect temperatures affecting food quality and in worst case can destroy the food. Conversely, consolidation can even improve overall food quality by enabling decision makers to re-consider inventory decisions. As shown, multiple highly interesting and complex research questions in this field need closer investigation. As food quality is random based on the growth and impacted by a wide range of influencing factors within food logistics operations, simulation optimization methods can provide a solid tool to investigate different problem settings to decrease food waste.

A lack of temperature control is one of the biggest reasons so much food goes to waste across the supply chain in sub- Saharan Africa . While companies have been putting resources in research of temperature-controlled packaging as a method of making sure produce and other refrigerated things don't go wrong in transit, there is always a chance that the delivery truck could get stuck in traffic or the delivery person could leave the door open just a little too long. When the truck eventually arrives at its destination, much of the temperature-sensitive food has already gone to waste. But with what's known as smart packaging, every temperature-sensitive item or reusable crate will come with a smart thermostat that can communicate the temperature of the product in real time. Business owners and supply chain managers can keep tabs on the temperature of their items to make sure they don't spoil and go to waste. But this also means retailers don't have to second-guess themselves when it comes to making sure the food is fresh. Instead of throwing items away prematurely, store owners can have a record of the product's temperature throughout its journey to the consumer.

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Food Waste in Sub-Saharan Africa. (2021, Feb 20). Retrieved November 3, 2025 , from
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Causes of Food Waste

Who does not love food, but have you ever thought about how much food we waste on daily basis? Well according to a recently published study funded by the United States Department of Agriculture found that American consumers waste about one pound of food per day, or 225-290 pounds per year. This means that roughly 20% of all food put on the plates of Americans is trashed every year. Recently, people have become more aware about food waste because it is a growing problem that our world is facing right now. What comes to mind when you think about food waste? A bunch of food tossed into garbage, right? However, in reality food waste is not only the waste of actual food, but with it also an enormous amount of water, land, and energy gets wasted.

Much of our food is produced in countries where people do not have enough food to eat for themselves. For example, most of the green beans for the EU market are produced in Kenya, where water is scarce and because of the bean farm's water is not available to the people and schools do not have access to water. It is heartbreaking to realize that such precious resources are also wasted when we throw food away. We must take some steps towards reducing the problem of food waste because we are living in a fast growing population world, where resources are already declining.

To address the problem of food waste, we must understand what causes it. There are many reasons of why food gets wasted, such as produce may go unharvested because it does not meet the cosmetic standards for sale or because the market prices are too low to make it profitable. In the food processing industry, food loss usually results from inefficient production processes or from the trimming of edible parts that are not considered desirable in an end product. Because US food manufacturers recycle nearly 95 percent of their food waste to produce animal feed, however, only 1 million tons are lost from this part of the supply chain.

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Causes of Food Waste. (2021, Feb 20). Retrieved November 3, 2025 , from
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UC San Diego Food Waste

The University of San Diego has already made its commitment of reaching zero waste by the year 2020. That means that at least 90 percent of campus waste will be averted from landfills or incineration. The college grounds has already been working its way toward their final goal by integrating themselves into innovative programs all for food waste elimination, as well as to help students who struggle with food insecurity at the same time. UC San Diego has already instituted several programs such as the installation of hydration stations and implementation of switching to a single-bin recycling system. UC San Diego has made their pledge to securing at least 20 percent of sustainable food products by the next year for campus and medical food service operations, as well as to certify at least one foodservice facility on each campus as a green business. The university has already received the achievement of opening a Farmers Market to bring fresh, locally grown produce on Tuesdays, allowing for students to learn about healthy green cooking opportunities during weekly demonstrations at UC San Diego's lounge for student well-being and health, The Zone. UCSD has also started on another project, the Triton Food Pantry, which offers discreet service to the campus students who struggle with the lack of available foods. UCSD has shown persuading determination to constantly influence campus students to purchase organic and locally-grown food to reduce transportation emissions, which would include food coming from out of state areas.

UC San Diego in La Jolla has dedicated to attaining zero waste by the next year through reducing the entire metropolitan solid waste generation, as well as ending the sale, procurement and distribution of expanded polystyrene, which is essentially a rigid cellular plastic that which is found in a multitude of applications such as electrical consumer goods and fish boxes. In other words, it is more commonly known as ‘Styrofoam’. A few means for reducing the amount of disposable materials used by students on the campus are from by stopping the distribution of plastic straws at dining facilities and instead switching to paper straws. Another way would be refilling reusable water bottles or canteens at water refill stations across the university. Aside from the distribution and encouragement of locally grown foods, since composting is extremely beneficial for the environment and directly related to UCSD’s sustainability goals, resigning from their responsibility to compost is unacceptable at the time.

Until recently, the University of San Diego publicized their goal of becoming and having 100 percent reliance on the usage and distribution of clean electricity supplies across its campuses and medical centers by the next twenty-five years, completing the university’s prior pledge to becoming solely carbon neutral. This would mean that a large majority to all of the vehicles and buildings would produce net zero greenhouse gases by 2025. The university has already begun its commitment to conserving energy with cooperation with other statewide load-reduction initiatives and university standards. The university already generates at least 85% of its own clean electricity through the uses of a resourceful cogeneration plant, the globe’s largest commercial fuel cell, as well as solar panels. The benefits with using solar panels is that it is renewable, environmentally friendly, widely available, and comes from reduced electricity costs, which would definitely favor in the weight of supporting an entire university. The university’s Energy Innovation Park holds numerous advanced energy systems, include the usage of 2.8-megawatt fuel cells, 2.5 megawatt/5 megawatt-hour advanced energy storage system, as well as the operation and usage of compressed natural gas fueling stations that deliver renewable CNG to public vehicles, including the campus’ very own. This 2.4-megawatt solar network comprises of a range of carport, rooftop, and ground mounted systems, and also includes multiple ones already combined with advanced energy systems. The university frequently seeks out opportunities to expand their solar infrastructure, one example being a 300-kilowatt solar water-heating system installation, achieving to be one of the largest solar-thermal projects at a university.

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UC San Diego Food Waste. (2021, Feb 20). Retrieved November 3, 2025 , from
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Hamlet as Genius or Maniac

"Hamlet. Most people including myself might ask is he actually a genius or if he is a maniac bent on scheming and revenge. Some may have different ideas and theories on this very question but maybe after reading this paper I have shed some light and clarity on the question and cleared up some confusion. This critical analysis will be separated into three different sections starting with Hamlets initial showing of the madness people believed he had and what may have triggered it. Secondly, I will provide an analysis describing why his revenge for his dad was delayed, and to close up this paper I will discuss Hamlet planned as well as carried out his revenge.

Hamlet seems to be crazy and rational state of mind from the opening act until the ending of the fifth scene however I believe its clear that myself as well as others begin to see a change in the second scene. One might also argue that from the beginning he also gives the impression that he’s insane as well, because every time he interacts with other people, he plays foolish, acts crazy and wild but he’s completely different when he’s alone with Horatio. In order for a person to be “mad” one would need to act that way all the time so Hamlet wasn’t mad however he did pretend to be so that he could express his feelings, create new ideas and gather pertinent information that he wanted. In the beginning Hamlet was informed by the ghost that his father was killed by Claudius and that combined with his mother getting remarried quickly, “The funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables,” very well could have led people to believe that he was actually “mad” but he actually displayed signs of sorrow more that madness or anger. Hamlet was not mad for a few reasons but let’s examine the main reason. What is the definition of insanity? “It’s the state of being seriously mentally ill” or losing touch with reality, and with that being said, it’s clear that Hamlet always has a clear understanding of all the situations and he is fully aware of the consequences of his action so therefore he was never “mad”.

A couple of things let to the delay in revenge for the murder of his father, firstly is was some time before the ghost of his father actually appears and informs Hamlet that he must revenge his death “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” after hearing his fathers ghost he believes it to be an honest spirit “Its an honest ghost I tell you.” Once again from this moment we question if Hamlett is in sane or not. One would obviously question if a man sees his fathers’ ghost could he actually be insane, but of course he could if he was pretending to be. The second thing that delayed his revenge was the fact that Hamlet began to question and doubt the words of his fathers’ ghost. He tries to figure out if his fathers’ ghost is actually an “evil” or “friendly” ghost. When Hamlett greets the players after their arrival at the castle, he begins to put a plan together that he feels can be used to prove that Claudius is in fact guilty of murdering his father. His plan was to “have these players play something like the murder of my father before mine uncle” and while the play is carried out, he wanted Horatio to watch Claudius’ reaction.

It’s clear to me that when this play is performed, Hamlet acts more insane than any other time throughout the whole play. Hamlet goes as far as lying his head in Ophelia’s lap saying, ‘Lady should I lie in your lap” and “or look you how cheerfully my mother looks, and my father died within two hours.” His whole strategy was to draw attention of Claudius and Gertrude by pretending to be insane, however he is back to himself acting very sane when he was talking to Horatio. Hamlet was just as sane as could be while plotting and planning his next move, but he felt like he needed to make Claudius believe he was truly insane. This was a very well thought out plan because Hamlet felt that by hiding behind madness, he would not be looked at as actually committing violations against the crown, and this plan worked because the King knew that in Denmark the people loved Hamlet. If the king was to take Hamlets life because of short acts of madness, his country and people would turn on him. Hamlet challenged Claudius, Polonius and Gertrude but cleverly so as not to be held accountable for any wrong intentions perceived by them. Hamlet stays out of sight so to speak until his return from England after of the death of Polonius and after he returns, he also finds out that Ophelia had taken her on life. At this point Laertes would like revenge for his father’s death, which leads to Laertes challenging Hamlett to a fencing match, in which Hamlet will have to defeat him to retain his honor. Just like Hamlet the King had a plan of his own to take care of Hamlet so he filled a cup full of poison that was intended for Hamlett but was consumed by Queen Gertrude and proved fatal to her. During the match between Hamlet and Laertes Hamlet acts a little insane but overall maintains his composure and ends up winning the match however Laertes has also put poison on his blade so even though Hamlet won the match the poison blade was able to cut Hamlet and prove fatal. Before dying Hamlet was able to kill Laertes but before killing him, Laertes ask Hamlet for forgiveness and quickly pointed blame at King Claudius ‘the king is to blame”, which let Hamlet know that he had once again been deceived and betrayed by his uncle the King. After killing Laertes, Hamlet turned to the King and stabbed him with the poisonous blade."

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Hamlet as Genius or Maniac. (2021, Feb 20). Retrieved November 3, 2025 , from
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Creationism Prevails over Evolution

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Claims of Creationisms and Evolution

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Emotions after Murder – Crime and Punishment

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Psychoanalysis of Breakfast Club’s Characters

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People’s Actions in Crime and Punishment

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Psychoanalysis in Crime and Punishment

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Chronology of Cuban Missile Crisis

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Chronicle of Cuban Missile Crisis

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Cuban Missile Crisis in Thirteen Days

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The Cuban Missile Crisis Timeline

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Significance of the Cuban Missile Crisis

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Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis

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Disagreements of Cuban Missile Crisis

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Results of Cuban Missile Crisis

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JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis

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Agreement during Cuban Missile Crisis

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Abuse of Elderly People

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Familly Violence and Elder Abuse

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Abuse Miscare and Alienation of Elders

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Scielent Crime of Elder Domestic Abuse

Disscussion

Cultural Considerations

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Effects of Elder Abuse

Abstract

The Effects of Elder Abuse

Present State of Knowledge in Elder Abuse

Research Designs Used to Study Elder Abuse

Main Ideas Revealed in Literature Review.

How Further Research Would Benefit the Advocacy for Elder Abuse

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Reducing of Food Waste

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What is Food Waste

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Solution of Food Waste

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Food Waste Problem Statement

Ways to Reduce Food Waste and Why Reducing Food Waste is Important

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Essay on Food Waste

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Food Waste in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Causes of Food Waste

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UC San Diego Food Waste

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Hamlet as Genius or Maniac

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