Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Analizying Poems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Analizying Poems - Essay Example In sum, the poems sound like reminders for human beings to adjust their actions, perspectives and livelihoods in order for them to live in ways that are sensitive to some of the issues that lie hidden away from unperceiving eye, and which cause much of human suffering that is witnessed in the modern world. The Sound of Silence Garfunkel’s poem, â€Å"The Sound of Silence,† illustrates a moment of awakening for the speaker. In the first line, he refers to darkness as an â€Å"old friend,† (Garfunkel 1). The hidden meaning is that the speaker has lived with or in this darkness for a long time. Symbolically, this darkness represents ignorance and a general loss of direction and common sense. In a broad sense, this poem invites the readers to examine their own live in order to redeem themselves from systems of darkness, which systematically prevent them from the pleasures and joy of reality. In lines 12 and 13, the speaker talks of , â€Å"When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light/ That split the night,† (Garfunkel 12, 13). This moment appears to be the supreme moment of awakening. Symbolically, the darkness could imply the common misconceptions, prejudices, dogma, indoctrination and other kinds of information that cannot stand the test of credibility. Such systems have the effect of blinding humanity from the real truths. They are also the causes of suffering, conflicts, and other ills, which afflict societies. This poem is a mockery to the modern discourse of communication and human existence, which have eroded the natural sense of humanity. The poem relies significantly on figurative language to make meaning out of the many issues of general human interest. The poet directs the readers to some of the important issues that are often ignored by humanity in their rash to meet their daily needs. Generally, the poet seeks to remind humanity of some of the basic concerns that must be addressed in order for people to live in tot ality. By assigning the quality of sound to silence, the poet employs the technique of inversion and contrast to achieve his thematic objectives. Blowin’ in the Wind In the poem â€Å"Blowin’ in the Wind† the poet uses the technique of questioning to interrogate some of the weaknesses that prevent people from finding solutions to issues that appear to be quite ordinary. The question, â€Å"How many...?,† is repeated severally throughout the poem. At every instance, the question is directed towards a different subject, which, in essence, comprises the underlying themes in the poem. Such themes include death and suffering, negligence, loveless relations, reward, recognition and the permanence of phenomena. The persona delves into multiple issues that concern a range of subjects of human interest. In the first two lines, the poet appears to hint at the theme of human struggle: â€Å"How many roads must a man walk down/ Before you call him a man?† (Dyl an 1, 2). This line captures the futility of human efforts, which lead man to engage in multiple struggles, which are often poorly rewarded. This line reads like an indictment to the unfeeling world that fails to recognize the selfless struggles and sacrifice that some people engage into for the sake of improving the welfare of the society. This line could apply to themes of poor working conditions in the modern employment sector and other roles that fail to attract the necessary rewards and acknowledgement from people. The other question, â€Å"

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Complex process of human development

Complex process of human development Introduction Human Development varies from a person to person and is a highly complex process'[1]. It develops as a result of the effect of various factors influencing the growth at different stages in a lifetime of an individual. The following essay is divided into two parts. In part one, we will be analysing the work of a professional practitioner and for this I have interviewed the Youth Worker of St Andrews church in Charminster. In part two, we will be examining a real life case study which centres on the problem of rebellion and we shall analyse it in detail looking at the various issues surrounding it and the possible solutions. Youth Worker Charminster is one of the places in Bournemouth which is constantly monitored by the police due to the presence of drug dealers and high crime rates within teenagers. Therefore, especially here the youth worker is an important role in the development of the community. Youth workers promote the personal, educational and social development of young people. Roger Baker, who is the current youth worker of St Andrews, says that working in Charminster is a challenging and an interesting place to work. Roger has 10 years of rich Christian youth work experience and prior to that he worked with the council as a youth worker and also as a probationer officer. Job Description His overall objective is to increase the churchs community involvement with the young people, to strengthen the relationships with the local schools, to work in partnership with other organisations to engage with the young people for their welfare and development. Mainly his role on a yearly basis includes: Assessing the needs of young people, running various youth clubs on Friday nights for the youth of the community. Multi agency working in line with the informal youth project. Agencies like Bournemouth Youth Services, Youth Offending Team, Connexions and Bournemouth Council. Alsoacting as an advocate for young peoples interests and presenting them to the required agency. Taking the Bible studies during the week for different age groups and discipling the young people into a Christ like character. Managing developing the youth and community projects and resources Serving the needs of the young people in the community including the delivery of sports programmes, supporting recreational activities, providing advice and counselling. Drawing up business plans, writing reports and making formal presentations to funding bodies. Over and beyond the job description the youth worker does many more informal activities for the church and the community. Advantages of the role Since previously Roger worked with the council as a secular youth worker, now he compares his former role to his present role as a Christian youth worker and says that the latter has more advantages and more opportunities. As a secular youth worker in case of emergency he couldnt drive in a car alone with a young person. Besides, he said that they worked only during their working hours in a day after which they didnt think about youth work at all and they worked just because its their job and spent less time with the youth. Now, he says that Christian youth work role is more relaxed and comfortable with no set timings to work and therefore he can focus on a particular issue or work giving it the time required in order to resolve or to work on it. According to Bruce Britton, what young people want from their youth workers is not their organisational ability, but willingness to focus and to listen to their views and spend time with them as per their availability.[2] Though this is Rogers perspective, however I think this is how youth workers actually need be irrespective of whether they are secular or religious feeling comfortable with time and spending meaningful time with the youth. He said that he had less opportunities for detached youth work whilst working with the council. If a young person had a problem they had to come to the centre, only then they could help them. But now they can operate without the use of a centre and can go to the place where young people are, both geographically and developmentally. He gave an example where one young guy (19 yrs) called him and said that he had an interview and was little nervous and asked him to accompany him to the interview. So Roger did accompany that young person which made the young person feel confident. He said that this wouldnt have been possible if he had been with the council. According to Erik Eriksons 8 stages of development youth who are 19-25 yrs wrestle with the Isolation versus Intimacy.[3] This is the stage where they need someone to guide, comfort and build a relationship with them. Stresses and Strains In his work there are few stresses and strains which they are trying to work out. He says the main issue is the ever changing staff team with in the youth team. People who come to help as volunteers or those who come on placement stick with the youth club for 6-12 months and then they move to a different place. He says that this is where the whole problem lies with maintaining continued relationships with the youth. Suddenly that person moves out and a new staff member who works with a different approach or method takes more time to build that same relationship with the youth and because of that there is no consistency. They currently get close to 40-60 kids during a Friday youth club and low staff resourcing is a problem in supervising these kids. Another issue he raised was that of finances. They have enough projects and plans for the local youth, but they lack funds to run these projects. Also he says that since its a church setting, for effective discipleship of youngsters the church needs to come and help the youth groups on a random basis supporting the youth worker. Skills for Practice Roger is a trained professional in the area of youth work. He did few former roles like youth worker and probationer office with the local council. His role as a youth worker with the church is twofold. The first task according to his priority is working with the unchurched youth of the community contributing to their growth and development and the second aspect being discipling and nurturing the youth of the church. He often keeps himself updated with some of the books written by youth and community workers. He said that the book Joined Up: An Introduction to Youth Work and Ministry'[4] with itsfour core values of youth work: voluntary participation, empowerment, equality of opportunity and informal education were very helpful and gave a great insight in understanding the youth work within the church and outside the church. He used to draw his skill for his youth work from the national occupational standards of the National Youth Agency when he started working with the youth. However now he draws his expertise from various available sources. He subscribes to the major youth work magazines and draws the latest news and developments from them. Sometimes he does take the Sunday Bible studies for the youth from the Youth Work magazine and basically he goes by the current trend of the youth compared to the prescribed theory within the youth work. Theory to Practice The challenging part of the youth work is executing the theory into practice. When I asked him for a live example he shared with me the story of a young person whose name is Allan and he was aged 13.[5] Allan was attending behavioural school and was in trouble with the police for couple of times. His mother is in recovery from drugs and his father lives somewhere else. There were complaints from his neighbours and went through isolation in the school. The whole idea in working with this young person was to gain his trust and to give him responsibility and contact with other young people to develop social skills with his peers. Josh McDowell, says that teens that are vulnerable to rejection and peer persecution come from homes of broken families and its is not important to minimize their pain but to give them a chance to express themselves without reproach in a loving relationship.[6] Since they need a chance to express themselves in a loving relationship, Allan was asked to help in t uck shop and rewarded him with a voucher to spend. He also helped as a leader during juniors youth club. Roger did school visits with Allan and his mum to look around the school and to meet the staff and pupils. With a bit of regular counselling there is a change in Allan today.[7] In his practice he says that reflection plays a vital role and he often reflects on this practise and develops his youth work as the situation demands. He also made an important comment saying that theory doesnt work always. We need to go out of the box especially when working with the teenagers. In his words Theory is nothing but suggested practice, but suggested practice is not always the right one. So always go according to the situation and create the theory. Case Study Rebellion In my youth group I have this guy whose name Ill keep it anonymous and for the purpose of this essay we shall call him Joe. Joe comes to the youth Bible study that I lead every Thursday. He comes to that group not because he likes it, but only because his best mate comes to this group and partly also because he gets a tuck of crisps and a drink. The main issue as I categorize it with Joe was Rebellion. Especially with teenagers the word rebellion sounds synonymous with them. We will be looking at this in more depth with the PARC steps of Theory-Practice model. Practice Joe, who is 14 years old lives with his both parents and has an elder sister who is four years older than him. Both his parents are Christian and are actively involved in the church activities. His sister sometimes comes to the various youth groups and often helps the staff team in supervising the groups. Joe is an average student at school and is brilliant at sports, especially football and cricket. He plays for his school and also in some different leagues. If I organise any cricket match within the church, he is my key player of my team. Joes mum loves him very much and wants him to be a good Christian but Joe thinks that his mom is asking something impossible from him. I have heard Joe couple of times saying, Im not a Christian, just because of my mum I come to church, I dont believe in God, He doesnt talk anyways, My dad never keeps his promises, last night he said that he would watch a football match with me and he didnt turn up, My sister is in her own world. There is a lot of confusion and agitation going inside of Joe, which is ultimately resulting in his rebellion against his family. Key point to be noted here is that his rebellion is mainly seen on his spiritual side though it has its effects on his physical and social aspects. Analysis From his background we can clearly see that his problem is mainly coming through his own family. Joe is in his key transitioning period of moving from dependency to independence. He is going through a lot of changes like biological, cognitive, psychological and spiritual and all of these changes in one way or the other are contributing to his discomfort and rebellion. Childhood experiences, environmental stresses and hazards can also influence his problem during this stage, but in my view these dont explicitly affect him.[8] In his situation we can the main causes of rebellion are due to: Poor relationship with his family: I agree with Josh McDowell where he says when parents try to lay down rules without first establishing a real relationship with their kids, they sow seeds of rebellion.[9] In Joes situation that was the exact problem. Though he doesnt show an outward rebellion directly he is growing an inward rebellion which is very unhealthy for his personal development. His poor relationship with his sister adds to his predicament. Discipline method: On the Sunday morning Joes mum asks him if he is coming to the Church and his usual reply is NO and then carries on sleeping. I think Joes parents are too lenient on their methods of discipline with Joe. Proverbs 22:6 says that parents should train a child in the way he should go. I am not saying that they have to be threatening or smacking him and make him come to church but the lack of strict discipline from his childhood and being lenient on him is one of the causes. Anger and Frustration: Olson tells that rebellious behaviour is caused by aggressive impulses that are turned inward.[10] In Joe we see that he is frustrated with God and at times is angry with his mum and dad. This Anger is being suppressed and hence leading to a rebellious nature in Joe. When we look at this rebellious nature in Joe, the main person who is being affected is his mother. Every time I ask her about Joe, she looks very concerned and worried. Whenever she talks about him, her eyes are filled with tears and sometimes have sleepless nights. I dont know about Joe, but his mother looks like she is going through depression and there is this anxiety and fear in her about her child. Comparatively his mother is getting affected by his rebellion than himself. Relating Theory Olson cautions that counselling rebellious and delinquent youth is a very difficult, slow and often frustrating task and success might be marginal at best.[11] From a biblical perspective Bible is very straight forward to kids who are rebellious. Deuteronomy 27:16 says that cursed is the man who dishonours his father or mother. God gives a lot of importance in honouring ones parents. The fifth commandment is to honour ones parents. Proverbs 10:1 says a wise son brings joy to his father,but a foolish son grief to his mother. There is a very harsh Old Testament law which talks about a rebellious son. Deuteronomy 21:18-21 says, If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him,then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. Joes situation is not as bad as the above passage therefore a clear biblical and psychological counselling is sufficient to solve his problem. I am currently working on Joes case. I lead the Junior Pathfinders group on Thursday evenings. I asked the group to come up with all kinds of questions that they face regularly at school or in the community so that I can prepare Bible studies exclusively addressing those questions. Joe came up with few questions like, Why should I be a Christian in the first place?, Can I really feel God?, These are tough and genuine questions for a young person and I thought it was right to address these first and we looked at one question each week, looking at its consequences and how to deal with them both biblically and in practice. On a psychological level, Josh McDowell gives a good pattern to deal with this problem and that is in the form of an acrostic LEADER.[12] It goes in this order: Listen: Rebellious teenagers often expect criticisms or Bible verses. Listen with the eyes as well as with the ears and understand where they are coming from. Empathize: Reflecting and trying to see the things through the eyes of the young person. Affirm: Affirming the honesty to come and talk with you and the goodness within that teen. Direct: Here we outline a structure of direction working towards a negotiated agreement and long term plans in dealing with their rebellious nature. Enlist: The teenager must be convinced that rebellion is not the best way to respond by which he slowly eliminates that character. This is cognitive strategy. Refer: In extreme cases where it cannot be handled, then he has to be referred to the respective more qualified counsellor with their parents consent. Overall his parents also need counselling. The two essential dimensions of parenting are relationship (support) and empowerment (guidance).[13] Their relationship with Joe needs to be first set right before going on to the empowerment. They need to start fulfilling their promises and need to make a full effort not to disappoint him in the future with their promises. Change There are many things that could have been done. In this case Joes sister can come into picture and can be a lot of emotional help and someone with whom he can identify with in his family. Since his mates at the youth group are his main interest in coming to the group, his friends can help him to overcome this rebellion with encouragement and support. Once happened can always potentially take place again, so in case of a future similar rebellious behaviour we need to quickly assess the root of the rebellion and start working from there till the problem is resolved. Conclusion Developmental psychology is an endless fascinating topic especially because teens of similar ages develop at different rates according to their cognitive capabilities and social status. Anyone who decides to work on any developmental issues one has to clearly understand the underlying cause and effects according to the age of the person. Methodology and techniques are consonant with the work of the Spirit and therefore its very imperative that as Christians we need to depend on the Spirit as much as we depend on our methods in counselling. Appendix 1 Robbie-20 Years Background: Low attendance at school. Biological father with drink problems. Step dad smoking cannabis. Mum holding down three part time jobs. Robbie in bottom sets in all of his classes. Bullied by others living on the same housing estate. Once having to go to A and E because of injuries sustained. Grandparents supportive and positive influence. Spending long periods of time at home in fear of going out alone. Priorities: To build up Robbies confidence and self esteem. No exams being taken in year 11. Need to find alternative qualifications. Get him involved in a hobby or sport. Support mum with time management with multiple jobs and siblings. Obtain and pass information to step dad with regards to the effects of smoking cannabis and the legal implications. Action: Get Robbie involved in setting up and helping at youth club. Sign him for local football team and to attend training one night a week. Offer to the school an extended work experience placement. Complete an Asdan award scheme. Attend a youth world cup competition in Sweden, 1500 teams from all over the world. Raise money for trip by sponsored walk and car washing. Secure some private coaching from ex professional goal keeper to increase Robbies ability and confidence. Support application for training courses later to support application to join the Army. Currently after sustaining an injury waiting to re- apply in June 2010. Elliot-19 Years Background: Mum and dad living together but for previous 15 years lots of arguments and living apart for periods of time. Police involved and accusations made by mum towards Elliot and dad but never proven. Mum using two names at different times with different people. At least twice Elliot coming home from school and finding her after she had taken overdoses of tablets and being submitted to hospital. Moved home several times sometimes with dad and sometimes with mum. Elliot was kicked out of home several times whilst living with mum. Attending school outside of the area travelling daily to attend a distance of about thirty miles. Priorities: To stabilize some of Elliots circumstances giving some consistency. Speak with mum and dad to rationalize long term issues. Get him involved with youth club. Help with anger management. Find group to support mums behavior. Build father son relationship. Action: Encourage mum to attend overcomers outreach a twelve step recovery group meeting. Get father and son to attend and help at youth club. Work alongside Elliot to discuss how he feels in certain situations that then turns to anger and methods to deal with that anger. Support Elliot during the times when mum and dad are not together more recently to support an application for Elliot to obtain a place in the YMCA having been kicked out of home December 2009 after an argument with dad and his new girlfriend. Currently no contact with mum. April 2010 help Elliot to move from the YMCA to Fortuna house supported lodgings for around twelve young residents. Support Elliot to secure a place on a full time training course prior to finding a job. Bibliography: Balswick, Judy., and Balswick, Jack., Piper, Boni., Piper, Don, Relationship-Empowerment Parenting, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2003. Boyd, Denise., Bee, Helen, Lifespan Development, 5th (ed.), Pearson, 2009. Britton, Bruce., Youth Workers as Social Workers, in Jeffs, Tony and Smith, Mark, (ed.), Youth Work, London: Macmillan Press, 1987. Brierley, Danny, Joined Up: Introduction to Youth work and ministry, Authentic Media, 2003. Brierley, Peter, Reaching and Keeping Tweenagers, London: Christian Research, 2002. Flannagan, Andy, Distinctive Worship: How a new generation connects with God, Authentic Media, 2004. Geldard, Kathryn., and Geldard, David, Counselling Adolescents, 2nd (ed.), London: SAGE Publications, 2004. Greene, Roberta., and Kropf, Nancy, Human Behavior Theory: A Diversity Framework, 2nd (ed.), AldineTransaction, 2009. McDowell, Josh., and Hostetler, Bob, Josh McDowells Handbook on Counselling Youth, Word Publishing, 1996. Olson, Keith, Counselling Teenagers, Loveland: Group Books, 1984. Denise Boyd Helen Bee, Lifespan Development, 5th (ed.), Pearson, 2009, 3. Bruce Britton, Youth Workers as Social Workers, in Tony Jeffs and Mark Smith, (ed.), Youth Work, London: Macmillan Press, 1987, 25. Roberta Greene, Nancy Kropf, Human Behavior Theory: A Diversity Framework, 2nd (ed.), AldineTransaction, 2009, 84. Danny Brierley, Joined Up: An Introduction to Youth Work and Ministry, Authentic Media, 2002. The name of the young person is changed due to disclosure and privacy reasons. Josh McDowell and Bob Hostetler, Josh McDowells Handbook on Counselling Youth, Word Publishing, 1996, 162-163. During my interview Roger shared couple of more examples. Listing those examples are not under the scope of this essay. Please see appendix 1 for a detailed description. Kathryn and David Geldard, Counselling Adolescents, 2nd (ed.), London: SAGE Publications, 2004, 16. McDowell and Hostetler, Youth, 235. Keith Olson, Counselling Teenagers, Loveland: Group Books, 1984, 476. Keith Olson, Counselling Teenagers, Loveland: Group Books, 1984, 480. McDowell and Hostetler, Youth, 239-241. Judy Jack Balswick and Boni Don Piper, Relationship-Empowerment Parenting, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2003, 18.

Friday, October 25, 2019

William Blakes The Little Black Boy Essay example -- William Blake Th

William Blake's 'The Little Black Boy' The theme of guardianship, being the act of guarding, protecting, and taking care of another person, is very prominent in William Blake's 'The Little Black Boy';. Three distinct instances of guardianship can be seen in Blake's poem. These guardianship roles begin with the little boy's mother, followed by God, and ultimately ending with the unsuspecting little black boy himself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is relatively easy to see the repression of blacks by whites in the way in which the little black boy speaks and conveys his thoughts. These racial thoughts almost immediately begin the poem, with the little black boy expressing that he is black as if bereaved of light, and the little English child is as white as an angel. The wonderful part of these verses is the fact that the little black boy knows that his soul is white, illustrating that he knows about God and His love.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Blake's poem, it is very clear that the little black boy and his mother have a very close and affectionate relationship. The boy expresses how his mother sits with him under the shade of the tree and shares with him the love of God. The little black boy, being influenced by society during this time, believes that once his black skin passes away, then the English child will love him. In hopes of changing his view of himself and his skin color, the boy's mother tells him that there is an advantage to having black skin. The mother implies that black skin can bear more ...

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Describe Your Role in Delivering Learning Class Lessons Essay

I would plan activities in various ways such as an informal discussion with the teacher about what weekly and daily activities will be taking place. You are aware in advance of what you are required to do. There are clear roles and responsibilities for you working together with the teacher to support the pupils. Planning activities is also based on pupils individual needs, abilities and interests hence the importance of accurate pupil observations and assessments also the continuous cycle of identifying leaning needs, preparing, organising and implementing learning activities. The work you are covering fits in with the activities and topics which have been planned for the term. The objectives of the learning activity and the type and level of support the pupils may need. The teacher may put some time aside to discuss each week’s activities with the teaching assistant. This would allow for any suggestions to be made on how to improve or change things. Teaching assistants should have a clear understanding of the learning objective for each activity and know what they should be doing to help the children achieve this. There could be some children with special needs in the class and so will have different aims to the other children and may also require more support. The teaching assistant can plan setting up the room with the correct resources before the lesson takes place and laying out the tables and chairs etc, also support may be needed for some pupils, this should have been discussed before the lesson. The teaching assistant could work with one specific table or group of children or just go around the classroom and be available if any of the children ask for help and to identify future learning needs.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Parole and Truth in Sentencing Essay

To understand parole one needs to know what parole is and what it means. Parole is the status and early release of a convicted offender who has been conditionally releases from prison by a paroling authority before his or her sentence is expired. Parole and Probation have similar conditions. While an offender is on parole they have certain rules they need to follow. There is another form of parole which is Federal parole. Federal parole was determined by the Parole Board under the United Stated Parole Commission. Federal parole was changed after the Sentencing Reform Act. The Sentencing Reform Act was a part of the U. S. Federal statute that was intended to increase the consistency in the United States federal sentencing; this abolished federal parole all together. Parole was introduced by Brockway Zebulon in 1876 as a way to reduce jail overcrowding and as a way to rehabilitate offenders by encouraging them to win back their freedom with good behaviors. The role of parole was to reduce prison terms based on good behavior. Another role of probation was to supervise the convicted after being granted parole and grant freedom to those who had uncertain sentences. The reduction of jail terms after good and responsible behavior use to reduce indeterminate sentences. â€Å"There are 25 percent of inmates who are freed from prison are still paroled by the paroling authority, such as a parole board† (Schmalleger, F). Some conditions that affect parole would be the specific terms needed to be followed by the parolees. A parolee must check in with his parole officer within 24 hours after his release, they may be required to live in a certain area or with a certain person, and they may be required to stay away from certain people. If any of these stipulations are broken the parolee will go back to prison to serve out the remainder of their time of incarceration. This is also known as revocation of probation. Revocation of probation is an administrative action of a paroling authority removing a person from parole status. Once an offender is back in prison he has to serve out the remainder of his time and also anytime he may get from any other crimes he may have committed. Some typical conditions that affect whether a person gets parole are the nature of their crime, prior criminal record, and most importantly the amount of time already served. The goals of truth in sentencing are to improve the delivery of proportionate punishment and promote stability and predictability in offenders. â€Å"The abandonment of the rehabilitation goal, combined with a return to determine sentencing in many jurisdictions including the federal judicial system has reduces the amount of time an average corrections client spends on supervised parole†(Schmalleger,F pg. 424). In 1981 there was a revision that ensured that the credits to good behavior would exceed the length of the jail term: The more number of years one was to serve in prison the more the number of months they were likely to get. The credits were as follows five days per month on sentences between six months and one year, six days per month on sentences between 1 years and three years, and eight days per month on jail term between 5 years and 10 years. Convicts that were sentenced to life in jail were to be released on the basis of parole once they served 15 years in prison. There were other amendments that were done in the year 1930 and years after which have overseen the current parole regime that we have today. The probation and parole system is very intricate and is changed greatly overtime. Parole and probation are used all over the country and varies from state to state: even the truth in sentencing laws differ state to state. There are more parolees on parole than there has ever been all across the country and that number will only rise. As overcrowding continues to go on in prison, offenders will be released I feel like before they should be. Prison is meant to rehabilitate and to make the criminal think twice before committing a crime or giving him the skills he need to conduct a legal life style. Probation and Parole are 2 things that are an important part of the criminal justice systems.