There were many reasons to oppose President Trump’s travel ban on refugees and visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries, which is now blocked by a federal court’s temporary restraining order. Unfortunately, those same objections are also likely to apply to the revised version of the executive order that Mr. Trump promised on Thursday, which will share with its predecessor the goal of “immediately protecting the country” — presumably by keeping out people from countries he deems to be a threat.
One objection to such policies is that there is no good evidence that citizens of the countries the president has singled out so far present a significant threat to the United States. Another is that any policy that effectively discriminates against members of a specific religion is decidedly un-American.
But perhaps the most important objection, given the ostensible goal of protecting national security, is that these are precisely the sort of policies that can increase radicalization of Muslims already on American soil. Recently, a group of former diplomats and national security officials signed an open letter condemning the original ban on that ground, arguing that it would make the country less safe by feeding the narrative that America is anti-Islam.
Mr. Trump and his advisers should know that this is not mere speculation; it is grounded in social science. In a study published in 2015 in the journal Behavioral Science and Policy, we showed that policies like Mr. Trump’s ban may very well promote the psychological conditions that fuel the radicalization he seeks to combat.
We conducted a survey with nearly 200 American Muslims, half of whom were immigrants, half of whom were born in the United States. We asked them about their experiences as religious and cultural minorities, including their feelings of being discriminated against on the basis of their religion. We also asked how they managed their dual identities as Americans and Muslims, and how they felt toward fundamentalist Islamic groups and extremist causes.
Our findings were clear: The more our participants reported feeling culturally homeless — that is, fully belonging neither to American culture nor to that of another nation — and discriminated against on the basis of their religion, the more they said they experienced a lack of meaning in their lives. In turn, this loss of meaning was associated with greater support for fundamentalist groups and extremist causes.
This finding was consistent with research by the social psychologist Arie Kruglanski that showed that the psychological need for significance, not religion or ideology, is what propels people toward extremism. Extremist groups offer a sense of purpose, certainty and belonging to those who work on their behalf.
These groups go after Muslims who feel culturally homeless, leaning heavily on the claim that the West is anti-Islam. In this context, Mr. Trump’s original ban, which sent a strong message that Muslims were not welcome in this country and could not be “real” Americans, amounted to free propaganda for extremists. As one poster argued on a pro-Islamic State web channel, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the declared leader of the Islamic State, should consider Mr. Trump’s executive order a “blessed ban.”
The good news from our study was that the overwhelming majority of our participants reported that they wanted to integrate aspects of American culture and their cultural heritage into their own identities. In addition, overall support for extremism was very low. A Trump administration that wants to build a more secure nation would look to integration, not alienation, as the goal for America’s Muslims.
The one welcome result of Mr. Trump’s ban was that it prompted non-Muslim activists to come out in force throughout the country — from Washington to Dallas to Los Angeles — to show solidarity with those affected. Rallying at airports and city centers, these protesters countered Mr. Trump’s Islamophobic language with the message that Muslims are welcome and an important part of America’s cultural fabric. It is precisely this kind of sentiment that we need to hear expressed by our leaders.
The exact nature of the revised version of the executive order, which Mr. Trump said he would issue soon, is unknown. In the meantime, the judicial and legislative branches of the government should take a look at the social science showing why Islamophobic policies pose a genuine threat to Americans of all cultural backgrounds and faiths.
Sarah Lyons-Padilla is a research scientist at Stanford. Michele J. Gelfand is a professor of psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Fixeslooks at solutions to social problems and why they work.
David Stojcevski died in jail in Macomb County, Mich., a far suburb of Detroit, last year. He was taking doctor-prescribed methadone and two anti-anxiety medicines to alleviate symptoms of drug withdrawal when he began a 30-day sentence in June 2014. His family allegesthat officials at the jail did not respond to his pleas for his medicines. He began hallucinating and was placed in a special cell with 24-hour camera surveillance. (Local 4 television in Detroit first showed the video. A warning: Watching will produce nausea and outrage.) There he lay for 16 days, naked, on the floor. He lost 44 pounds. Finally he stopped breathing, was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.
Guards are required to monitor the cell cameras, taking notes every 15 minutes. They watched Stojcevski for days as he died.
But this isn’t a story about horrendous jail practices, although the lessons should be obvious. Rather, the point is that Stojcevski received a death sentence for a traffic ticket: He had been arrested for obstruction of justice when he couldn’t pay a $772 fine for reckless driving.
His death is an extreme consequence of cash-register justice, a practice that ruins lives across the country every day in less dramatic ways.
And this is a story about a possible remedy: Make fines proportional to an offender’s ability to pay.
About a dozen countries in Latin America and Europe use such fines, called day fines. In countries where their use has been studied, day fines have markedly reduced the number of people incarcerated, made the criminal justice system fairer and less abusive to the poor, lowered recidivism and saved government money.
Day fines were tried in a handful of cities in the United States a quarter-century ago. They didn’t catch on, in part because the political climate was uncongenial: It was the peak of lock-’em-up sentiment. But America no longer wants to lock up every offender. Today, there is a rare bipartisan consensus on the harm created by mass incarceration.
So it’s time to take a serious new look at the day fine.
Photo
CreditIlana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times
First, why we need it:
In America, people are routinely jailed for failure to pay fines. Since the 1990s, courts in many parts of the country have had to pay for themselves, or even support their cities, so fines can be exorbitant. Ferguson, Mo., is the most notorious example: “Ferguson’s law enforcement practices are shaped by the city’s focus on revenue rather than by public safety needs,” said the Justice Department’s report on the police and courts in Ferguson.
Someone pulled over for a missing taillight can be given multiple fines, plus court fees that might equal or exceed the original fines. If the accused can’t pay, her case may be turned over to a private company that supervises “pay-only probation” — bill collecting, really. The company collects the money and charges the offender for doing so. (Here’s an excellent summaryof the process, written in plain English.) The offender could pay off her whole fine and still owe thousands of dollars. If she doesn’t pay, she could go to jail, which would probably mean losing her job.
Cash-register justice incarcerates or keeps on probation many people who are not dangerous, just poor. And taxpayers are being abused by legislators who keep heaping fees on offenders. The lawmakers are not considering the enormous cost of jailing those who can’t pay, the cost of collecting their debts, or the cost to society of turning a civil violator into an incarcerated criminal.
“I don’t think legislators know this is not working — that the fees on the books are costing more money than they are bringing in,” said Karin Martin, an assistant professor of public management at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. The Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, for example, looked atthe incarceration of 246 people in Mecklenburg County, N.C., who fell behind on their court debt. The county collected $33,476, but jailing them cost $40,000.
Legislatures should not be making courts pay for themselves. It creates terrible injustice and ruins lives. It perverts justice by giving courts an incentive to convict. But if judicial systems are going to be made to pay their own way, it should be done fairly.
One way is to use the day fine. Rather than a set dollar amount, it is a percentage or multiple of an offender’s daily income — hence the name. In some countries, “daily income” is simply after-tax earnings. Others adjust for the number of dependents or fixed obligations like child support, and some consider only what is earned above a basic living allowance.
In the United States, for example, a very minor offense carrying a fine of one day’s income might cost a minimum-wage earner $72 if based only on straight income, while someone with an annual income of $250,000 might pay $685. A more serious offense could carry a fine of 10 or 20 days’ income, or more. For the system to function, additional court fees should also be proportional to income.
Different fines for different people — is that fair? Compared with the current system, yes. Even $500 for a traffic fine and fees can ruin the life of a minimum-wage worker. For someone who makes $250,000 a year, that same fine is a minor inconvenience, and an ineffective deterrent to further violations. The rich are more likely to drive recklessly, and they can put a fine on a credit card without a thought. Same offense – two very different punishments.
But with a day fine, an offense would carry a similar punitive hit for rich and poor.
Germany is probably the biggest user of day fines. In 1975, the government of what was then West Germany adopted the practice because it wanted to reduce prison overcrowding, and because research had shown that low-level offenders jailed for short times emerged more violent and dangerous. Offenders were no longer given short sentences, but rather fines that were adjusted for income.
In 2010, Germany used day fines in more than 94 percent of traffic offenses and in a vast majority of crimes that would otherwise have drawn short jail sentences, like fraud, embezzlement and theft.
An early study, published in 1980 by Hans-Jorg Albrecht of the Max Planck Institute, foundthat the fines were more effective than short sentences at preventing future offenses.
Since day fines are calculated to be bearable, collection rates are much higher than with traditional fines. But they still require enforcement – in Germany’s case by means of other civil (not criminal) sanctions like the seizure of property, the garnisheeing of wages or the imposition of a sentence of community service. Nonpayers go to jail very rarely.
Day fines were tried briefly in several American court systems at the close of the 1980s, led by the Vera Institute of Justice.
Ron Reinstein, at the time the presiding judge of the Superior Court of Maricopa County, Ariz., said the program in Phoenix was only “moderately successful.” One obstacle was that judges had to give mandatory fines for drug possession; neither those fines nor court costs could be adjusted for income. Nor was everyone convinced of the project’s importance. “There were some good results in the pilot, but there wasn’t the commitment from everybody,” he said. “The prosecutors were not that interested.”
On Staten Island in New York, Vera itself operated a day fines office in the court, where staff members interviewed defendants, calculated fines and managed collection. “The rate at which people paid in full shot up,” said Judith Greene, at the time Vera’s director of court programs. “The amount of money collected over all shot up.”
The big challenge in administering day fines is determining an offender’s income, since tax returns are not public. But that is true in Germany also, and the courts there find what they need. The police and courts routinely collect information that helps determine income. And they can simply ask the defendant. About half give information voluntarily. The police end up investigating in less than 2 percent of cases.
Professor Martin, of John Jay, wants to resume day fine experimentation in the United States — not just for traffic fines and minor infractions, but the way it works in Europe: as an alternative to jail for anyone who might get a short sentence. “This is the only way we’re going to extricate ourselves from the horribly expensive and punitive system of punishing people with criminal justice debt,” she said.
One question is whether the fines should have a cap. If they did, they would be less fair — the superrich would pay less, proportionally, than others. And that would bring in less money, although very few offenders have multimillion-dollar income. But a cap would have value in heading off a public relations disaster: those few enormous fines that might make the whole system look outrageous. The New York Times ran an articleabout day fines in Finland in April, focused tightly on a $58,000 speeding ticket issued to a businessman with an income of about $7 million a year and the public-relations campaign he started in retaliation.
Day fines could keep offenders with modest means out of jail and at home, with their families and in their jobs. The system could save money by reducing incarceration and probation. Supervising offenders on probation is pricey, and leads to more incarceration — half of all the inmates in American jails are there for technical violations of parole or probation.
Perhaps the most important advantage of day fines is this: The current system persists because it doesn’t affect people of means and clout. Cash-register justice is a poor-person problem. But it won’t change until it’s also a rich-person problem. Then there will be political pressure to do something about America’s counterproductive and unjust system of having defendants pay for our courts.
Overview: A thesisis your main claimabout the film, an interpretive statementabout what the film means and/or what makes it effective or ineffective (analysis and/or evaluation, but in this case preferably analysis).
Bottom line: a thesis statement must be arguable.
Faux thesis statements: Usually when a student puts the “thesis asterisk” by a sentence that isn’t actually a thesis, it is one of these:
·a brief summary of the plot or the topic(what the film is about in terms of the characters’ actions/experiences or a social issue), or
·an identification of the themesthe film addresses (without telling us what the film says about those themes), or
·a forecasting statementof topics the paper will cover, or
·a statement of personal taste, not an arguable claim about the film’s quality, such as this: “I didn’t like this film because I think the idea of humans colonizing other planets is just stupid.” (No one can argue that you don’tthink it is stupid, though one could make and support a claim that films about space colonization aren’t inherently stupid.)
Below is a list of thesis statements from a batch of critical analysis rough drafts (plus a few I threw in there for variety). Label themas (T) for thesis, (S) for plot summary, (JT) for just the themes, (F) for a forecasting statement, or (P) for a statement of personal taste.
Put an asteriskby the one that you think is the best, most complete thesis.
1.Unification and two sides setting aside their differences is what Mandela hopes for to win the Rugby World Cup and reunite his divided country through such a momentous event.
2.The film’s use of realistic characters, intriguing story, and perfect setting leads the audience to realize how children and teens are the ones who suffer most in poor parts of countries and how immigration is a dreadful journey.
3.As the title translates, Sin Nombremeans “without a name,” and deals with the ever-present individual issue of identity and what “I” want to be in this world.
4.The film shows how cultural expectations can oppress women, and by dramatizing how one such victim learned to stand up and fight back, the film seems to be saying that we should all fight towards changing what being a woman means.
5.The Joseph family demonstrates the problems that many broken families around the world face today due to alcoholism and abuse.
6.Despite its painful depictions of early 20thcentury terrorism in Europe, the film effectively emphasizes the point that sometimes it is necessary to take drastic measures to achieve a revolution.
7.The film is effective at portraying extreme poverty as a pressing issue, and it accurately informs its audience about the world of microfinance in fighting this kind of poverty.
8.I totally agree with the filmmaker that FGM is horrible.
9.This analysis will discuss what the film says about family ties and how important they are.
10.Through the use of scenes that depict the impoverished but lively China, along with entertaining character development, Tianming capably shows both China’s colorful culture and difficult history. He also shows that some traditions of the old culture need to be changed in order to create a better world, while others are worth hanging on to.
“You perform a rhetorical analysis by analyzing how well the components of an argument work together to persuade or move an audience.”
-- Lunsford, Ruszkiewicz, and Walters in Everything’s an Argument
Write a rhetorical analysis essay of 4-5 pages on one of the articles listed below from The New York Times (search nytimes.com or use links on course site):
·“Gender Based Toy Marketing Returns” by Elizabeth Sweet
Your essay should explain the argument presented in the article and evaluate its effectiveness in persuading its audience of its central claim and reasons. Your essay should identify at the outset the article’s argumentative purpose and its central argument. Once you have identified these concerns, evaluate the rhetorical effectiveness of the piece. A rhetorical analysis examines 1) the writer’s use of the three rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, and logos); 2) the arrangement and style of the piece; 3) the timeliness (kairos) of the piece. Although you should look up unfamiliar terms, research is not a component of this assignment. You should NOT use what others have written about the article or the topic in your essay. Review Chapter 5 –Analyzing an Argument in you textbook From Critical Thinking to Argument for more guidance.
To earn a passing grade, your essay should include:
1.A title!
An introduction that identifies your article and sets up your argument about the article.
A thesis that evaluates the effectiveness of the article based on the author’s use of rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, logos), style, and context.
A thorough summary of the article.
Effectively organized paragraphs with strong topic sentences and transitions.
Analysis of examples from the article (paraphrases in your own words and sentence structure, as well as some brief, correctly integrated direct quotations).
7.A conclusion that provides closure to the essay and considers the implications of the argument.
8.Consistent, correct use of MLA style, including
Proper MLA in-text citations for all paraphrases and direct quotations from the article and
A Works Cited page in correct MLA format (which does NOT count towards your page minimum) since you will be quoting from your article. Your only source will be your article. No other research is allowed.
9.Adherence to the conventions of standard written English.
Prewriting:
Choose an article from the list and read it over carefully a few times.
Freewrite on your response to the argument made in the article. What is the argument? Did the author convince you of the argument? Why or why not? Be specific.
Draft or outline a thorough summary of the article. Try to cover both the content of the argument and the way that the argument is presented. This step is essential! Don’t skip large sections of the article!
Freewrite or brainstorm responses to each of the following questions:
a.How does the author present her- or himself as credible (ethos)? Does this strategy work? Why or why not? Identify a few specific examples of ethos.
b.How does the author use emotional appeals (pathos)? Are such appeals effective? Why or why not? Identify a few specific examples of pathos.
c.Does the author use sound reasoning (logos) to present the argument? Identify and discuss a few examples. Be specific.
d.How is the argument organized? Is this effective? Why or why not?
e.How would you describe the style of the article? Is it aimed at a particular audience? Is the style effective?
f.What does the author do to frame the context (kairos) of the piece? Is this effective? Explain.
5.Write a possible thesis for your essay.
Final Draft: Before you turn in your essay, you will be given 5-10 minutes to write a brief cover letter for your paper (you may prepare your cover letter in advance, if you wish). In your cover letter, you should reflect on your writing process and identify issues you especially want your reader to respond to. You may explain what you were trying to achieve with your essay, what you feel you did well, and/or what you had trouble with.
This
means it presents an opinion, an argument, or an illustration of a view
or experience. It is not a mere statement of fact.
It must ADDRESS the TOPIC.
While
this element seems obvious too, writers often get going and one thought
leads to another and another and the topic gets left behind. Re-read
the prompt several times to make sure you haven’t gone off topic beyond
the parameters of the assignment.
It must be SPECIFIC enough to be covered in the paper.
What
is the length of the assignment: two pages? ten pages? The length
determines how broad or narrow the scope of your thesis will be. Adjust
accordingly.
Sign-up on the presentation calendar on the board. Make a note of the chapters and presentation date that you sign up for below.
You will be presenting your analysis in class along with other classmates. The class will be counting on you to be on top of the article you are covering, so please be prepared!
To receive credit, you must participate in the presentation of your analysis. You will be graded primarily on your written analysis (breakdown of scoring below), but outstanding presentations will be rewarded.
Read the chapters or section that you will be analyzing carefully. On your first reading, just try to identify the main idea(s) and get a feel for the writer’s approach and the flow of the chapter. On your second reading, go over the text more carefully; notice how the writer creates characters and tells the story.
To prepare your written analysis:
Identify the author’s name and the title of the chapter(s) you are covering. Answer the following questions, numbering each answer in the way the questions are numbered.
1.What is the central theme of the selection? Your answer should be a complete sentence in your own words (not a quote!). Be as specific as possible, but remember that the theme of a book refers to the authors overall concerns. The plot is what happens as the book moves ahead. The theme refers to the overall concerns of a book.
2.What are the concerns of the characters in the chapter(s) you have read? This book is fiction. Do you think the events in the book could happen in real life? Do you think the way the characters act is believable. If the events in the book are exaggerated by the author, does it make the book less effective? If the behavior of the characters are exaggerated, does it make the book less believable or effective?
3.Is the central theme expressed explicitly or implicitly? The claim is explicit if the writer spells out what it is. The claim is implicit if the writer only implies the claim but does not state it outright.
4. Did the events and actions in your chapter(s) surprise you or change your mind about the characters in the book?
5.What is the tone – the feel – of the chapter(s) you read?
6.What things in the story give the most insight into human nature?
7.Does the writer leave the opinions and feelings to the readers? If so, why? Is this approach effective?
8. Make up a question to ask the class about your chapter
Sign-up and make a note of the article titles and presentation dates that you sign up for below.
You
will be presenting your analysis in class along with two to five of
your classmates. The class will be counting on you to be on top of the
article you are covering, so please be prepared!
To
receive credit, you must participate in the presentation of your
analysis. You will be graded primarily on your written analysis
(breakdown of scoring below), but outstanding presentations will be
rewarded.
Read
the article that you will be analyzing carefully. If possible, read it
twice. On your first reading, just try to identify the main idea(s) and
get a feel for the writer’s approach and the flow of the piece. On your
second reading, go over the text more carefully; notice how the writer
constructs his or her argument. You will probably want to mark up your
text and/or take notes.
To prepare your written analysis:
Identify
the author’s name and the title of the article. Answer the following
questions. Put your answers in outline form (see sample analysis on the
reverse side of this sheet).
1.What is the central claim (or
thesis) of the selection? Your answer should be a complete sentence in
your own words (not a quote!). Be as specific as possible, but remember
that your claim should cover the whole article.
2.Is the central claim expressed explicitly or implicitly?
The claim is explicit if the writer spells out what it is. The claim is
implicit if the writer only implies the claim but does not state it
outright.
3.What reasons link
the evidence to the claim? In other words, why does the evidence
support the claim? Reasons may be presented explicitly or implied.
4.What evidence does
the writer present to support his or her claim? Specify and categorize
the evidence (e.g. examples, personal experiences, analogy,
authoritative opinion, facts, statistical data, cause-effect reasoning,
results of scientific experiments, comparison, interviews, etc. – see
sample on back).
5.Comment briefly on the persuasiveness of the article by answering one or more of the following questions.
·Is the argument convincing? Does it rely on emotional, ethical, and/or logical appeals?
·How do the style, organization, and/or tone contribute or detract from the persuasiveness of the argument?
·What is your personal reaction to the article?
6.Write a discussion question to
ask the class about the article. The best questions will stimulate
interesting discussion about the issues raised in the article. You may
also ask questions that “test” your classmates’ recall and understanding
of the article.
7.
While you read, you will come across words you do not know. Choose two
words and look up their dictionary definitions, and the context in which
they are used in the article or essay you read. Report them to the
class along with the rest of your report.
