Racial Profiling versus Behavioral Profiling Research Paper

Racial Profiling versus Behavioral Profiling - Research Paper Example In today’s digital age, millions of profiles are floating around the Internet detailing the intimate details of individuals for the entire world to see. In short, there are many reasons why profiles are in existence today. Profiling has since taken on a deeper and more potent use for law enforcement personnel around the world, but particularly in the United States. Due to recent violent and tumultuous tragedies, including international and domestic instances of terrorism, racial and behavioral profiling has become the norm by which certain individuals are targeted as potential threats. Some would argue the ability to identify potential threats to human society, regardless if they are proven or not, is a highly useful tool that law enforcement personnel have to choice but to employ. Others would argue that they should never be targeted simply because of their race or their propensity to behave in a certain way, regardless of the actions they might be profiled to have the potent ial to commit. This paper will look at two main types of criminal profiling in use today, racial and behavioral, and weigh the arguments for and against the continued deployment of the technique. In the end, a solid conclusion will be reached as to the potential advantages and disadvantages of each moving forward. Racial Profiling Explained Simply put, racial profiling is term used to described that process by which an individual or public agency, typically law enforcement personnel, look at the race of ethnicity of an individual and use that as a primary determinant when deciding whether or not to question the person further (Bou-Habib, 2011, p. 33). The use of racial profiling is most commonly employed in the United States when making traffic stops or in making an arrest. Needless to say, racial profiling has become quite controversial, even prompting many localities to declare the practice illegal. There are strong voices on both sides of issues who either claim the practice of r acial profiling is beneficial to society or that it pushes society back to pre Civil Rights era human rights violations. Through the years, multiple definitions have been presented to describe racial profiling in an attempt either to validate its use, or to demonize it. As mentioned, the most commonly held belief is that racial profiling is used by law enforcement to determine if a particular individual may have been involved in a crime. This determination is made on the basis of a person’s race, ethnicity, or national origin. When compared to recent crime statistics in the area, an individual may be targeted by police on the basis of these characteristics alone (Higgins, 2008, p. 2). When using racial profiling in this manner, law enforcement do not consider the actual behavior of the individual in determining whether or not to question and suspect them of a crime. Some consider racial profiling to be an inappropriate use of power. This viewpoint takes the position that poli ce who use such profiling tactics are racially biased and use the race and ethnicity of an individual as the sole determining factor when deciding to intervene and question an individual. They argue that since the behavior of the person was not called into question, the very fact that the individual is being targeted is paramount to racial injustice and that the practice should immediately cease to exist (Higgins, 2008, p

Popular Music - No Suprises by Radio Head Essay

Popular Music - No Suprises by Radio Head - Essay Example Popular music is everything about the new power the digital technology has given. It is about the synthesis of creative ideas over sophisticated technology. The concept of tracks, multi track recording, mixing, mastering and audio effects was unknown in the beginning of the last century. With the transition of the globe from the industrial era into the silicon era marked with the steady rise in popularity of computer systems and its various innovative digital systems work was simplified, automated and refined by leaps and bound. Similarly in the area of music, makers of music have extensively benefitted from the ready availability of technology at hand to simply work and increase productivity. The effect – more number of albums released, bigger and more complex musical projects executed with ease, a stark change in the ‘sound’ of the music from the early 20th century to late 20th century. Similarly, application, perception and the entire perspective of music has undergone a change. From being used as a tool to organise movements, address social and humanitarian issues, identify a community to usage for pure entertainment address global issues and most importantly for making a living out of music. In the next sections of the paper we will be discussing about Popular Music in far greater detail with literature review, detailed analysis of popular music track ‘No Surprises’ by contemporary pop band Radio Head. When we discuss about Popular Music we discuss about culture. We are trying to observe musical details of a musical genre that has overtaken the world in the last century and has now become mainstream or in other words popular. No Surprises – Analysis of Video On listening to the music video No Surprises by Radio head one can instantly relate to the sadness in which the narrator/singer is drowned into. The music, the visual elements, the background images, the lyrics, light effects, sound effects, vocal tone and modulation all convey just one message – a suppressed agony that needs to be vented out. On listening to the songs and watching the associated visual this feeling of gloom becomes even more clear and distinct. The rising water level in the water tight glass capsule holding the head of the vocalist Thom Yorke is symbolic of the larger issues and the common saying, â€Å"keeping the head over water†. Here in this video he dawns a lifeless expression while he sings the songs with the water level rising in his glass helmet until he gets totally submerged inside it. He barely manages to keep his head over the water. The water here symbolises various issues: social, political, econom ic, humanitarian, relationships, emotional etc. All of these things are depicted to be going out of control and taking the unexpected path, creating strife and rifts among people. Lyric setting The song talks about a man’s burden of life. It talks about the heaviness in the heart due to various reasons and circumstance prevailing in his life and his surrounding including a government that has betrayed its loyal citizens, a job that leaves nothing in life and a growing distance between people and their emotions. Everyone is in their own frenzied pursuitof goals and aspirations without caring for the larger good and the simpler things in life. The narrator of the song has a lot of things to say and he does it through this simple lyrical poetry with minimum usage of words and