Mass Hysteria

“Mass Hysteria in Upstate New York” The general argument made by Ruth Graham in “Mass Hysteria in Upstate New York” is that cases of large groups of people becoming suddenly ill have surfaced because of a massive panic occurring. More specifically, Graham reasons that a large group of teenage girls experienced Tourette’s like symptoms due to mass hysteria. Graham writes, “Typically, symptoms-which can include Brownell’s Tourette’s-like movements, along with nausea, dizziness, cramping, and more-start with one or two victims and spread when others see or hear about them” (1).

Throughout the whole investigation of the Gail Miller rape and murder case there were many wrongs committed leading up to the false conviction of David Milgaard. The authorities were pressured by the public and other groups to convict someone of this heinous crime and in doing so this action of theirs put an innocent man behind bars for twenty-three years. Right from the start of the investigation there were faults and incorrect procedures perpetrated by the police. The events that took place leading up to the conviction of Mr. Milgaard demonstrate just how sloppy the investigation took a turn when the police became lax in their investigational procedures.

Wayne Williams is currently serving a life sentence for the murders of two adult men, but prosecutors believe Williams is responsible for killing twenty-three children during a time branded as the Atlanta Child Murders (Rowson, 2015). Since his conviction in 1982 Williams has professed his innocence, which has generated vast speculation among criminal justice experts concerning Williams’s involvement in these crimes (Rowson, 2015). A recent study conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ), the FBI, the Innocence Project, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers revealed that before 1999 the FBI used faulty hair analysis in 96 percent of cases (Rowson, 2015). Furthermore, Williams’ attorney received a letter from the DOJ

Policy Analysis: Megan’s Law Sexual violence, particularly against children, is a significant issue all around the world. In the early 1990’s in the United States, there were multiple well-publicized cases of sexual violence against children. From kidnappings, to rapes, and everything in between, violence was being committed against children and something needed to be done about it. In 1996, Megan’s Law was passed in response to the sexual assault and death of Megan Kanka, a seven-year-old from New Jersey (Corrigan, 2006).

Innocent people who are incriminated under improper evidence are hanged. Parallel in the McMartin day care abuse case, the McMartin family, who administrate the establishment, and other members are accused illegally of having abused sexually numerously of the children under their vigilance. The accusations used against the McMartin

First off physicians told the jury that there was no case of rape and the boys were in an entirely different car than the women (Anderson). They were convicted by a jury that was not made of piers, which it should have been (Claudia). The jury was so bad that one man in the jury was drunk and another was senile (Anderson). The Supreme Court overturned the trials of the young boys because black people were specifically excluded in this case (Claudia). One boy was even held by Missouri and would not give him to Alabama for his death penalty because the argued that it was not right to give a death penalty to an innocent man (Anderson).

The discretion of the case was significant in the regard of the defense, which countered some contradicted evidences. The evidences from the trial and the hearing preliminaries have revealed that the children were coached. The testimony showed lack of credibility on the issues and showing the significance of the discretion on the defense. McMartin told his attorney that he did not do it and his attorney used his discretion and believed him.

In the case of filicide or false confession, the case takes place in the Netherlands in 2006, a mother of two children Kim made a call to emergency services claiming that someone broke into her home attacked her and killed her two children. Kim stated that the assailant Benny was looking for her ex-boyfriend Richard who owed the assailant money. During the call to emergency services, Kim told the dispatcher there was blood everywhere, based on her crying and inability to speak clearly Kim seemed to be suffering confusion as well as extreme distress and panic. Upon arrival at the home of Kim, officers found the lifeless bodies of her children, Roxanne age 2 and Don age 6 months who were both stabbed to death in their beds (de Ruiter & Kaser-Boyd, 2015). Kim is escorted by officers from her home to the police station where she is informed that her children are dead, her response in uncontrollable crying.

In conclusion people throughout history people certain people have been accused of things for no reason, other than that they are different. It all depends on what people do about it when that does happen. People stood up for themselves even if they were being chased down, if they were accused of “infecting” others, and if it was a crime. This just proves that we as people can take a

Describe the actions to take if a child or young person alleges harm or abuse in line who policies and procedures of own setting. If a child alleges harm or abuse it is vital that the person that they tell are trained to deal with this effectively so that the child can be reassured that they have done the right thing and that the allegation can be acted upon. The school at which I work provides regular Safeguarding training to all staff which refers to policies such as Keeping Children Safe in Education, as well as providing practical advice to all staff in the event of a disclosure.

Although many may argue that the accusations presented by the plaintiffs seemed quite plausible, further investigation proved many such claims to be false. For example, although Price and Bates accused the young African-American men of raping them on the freight train, “the Scottsboro doctor who examined the girls less than two hours after the alleged rapes […] was able to show on cross examination that the girls were both calm, composed, and free of bleeding and vaginal damage” (Linder). The fact that a certified doctor was able to prove that the young women were virtually unhurt after the supposed rapes shows that the girls were lying to the court. Although their claims made sense to the prejudiced judicial system, Price and Bates were simply using their positions in society as young white women to gain unwarranted sympathy from the all-white jury. Because scientific evidence was able to contradict the prosecution’s allegations, it was evident that false accusations were being made by the plaintiffs.

Introduction A 5-year old boy, whose parents are undergoing a divorce, reports that he was sexually molested by his father. His mother takes him to a psychologist who evaluates him using various techniques, including a clinical interview, Anatomically Correct Dolls, and a test she has created called “Detection of Childhood Abuse Test” (DCAT). The psychologist is called to testify in court about her findings. (1) What are the issues related to the validity of using Anatomically Correct Dolls for this purpose?

The way the human brain works is marvelous, but often people alter the reality of a situation making false accusations and statements. Ronald Cotton was accused of breaking into Jennifer Thomson-Cannino home and sexually assaulting her. They both lived

"Sorry" She says nonchalantly as she glances over her shoulder to Trent and then returns her attention to me. "We have less than two hours to get out of the city, and you 're having some sort of a breakdown, I was just rectifying your situation." She shrugs her thin shoulders as if that justifies her sudden outburst of violence and then sighs. I 'm tempted to return the favor, and smack her silly, but Trent notices my shifting body weight and shakes his head. I concede and roll my eyes at him.

The movie Spotlight, recounts the true events that occurred in Boston and were brought to light back in 2002. The movie talks about the massive cover-up scheme by the catholic church to conceals the fact that several priests were abusing and had abused hundreds of kids without any action from the Archdiocese. In this paper I will summarize the movie, discuss the type of victims shown in the movie, asses the risk level of the victims, and lastly relate the different theories of victimization and how each relates to the movie. The movie follows a group of journalists working at the Boston Globe, who are known as the spotlight team.