Bibliography for “Child Savers”

Below is the tentative bibliography I have so far for my Wikipedia article topic: “Child Savers”, as Susie will be discussing the negative effects and actions of the Child Savers, I will be focussing on the positive contributions. The citations are correct in the MLA format but when arranging them in this post, wordpress wouldnt let me configure the indents and spacing properly between the citations and my explanations, an issue maybe we can discuss in class.

                                     Annoted Bibliography

“Child or Adult? a Century Long View.” PBS Frontline. PBS. 29 Mar. 2008 <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile/stats/childadult.html>. 

This online article discusses the evolution of society’s attitude towards the prosecution of children who commit serious crimes. I will use this article since it discusses the primary contribution of the Child Savers with the first juvenile court. I feel this article puts the Child Savers in a good perspective with the century’s movement to reform the juvenile justice system.

Hefner, Keith. “The Child Savers.” Prohosting. FPS. 29 Mar. 2008 <http://ice.prohosting.com/~unmediat/platt1.html>. 

This next acticle from a website focusses on both aspects of the child savers, both their negative impacts and the positive view that society has had on them for centuries including their humanistic nature. This article will help me form my basis of support for the incredibly large contribution the Child Savers had in the history of America as well as their motives methods and institutional results.

“Jane Addams.” Wikipedia. 29 Mar. 2008. 29 Mar. 2008   <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Addams>. 

Jane Addams was a famous Child Saver in the 19th century. In addition she instituted the Hull House which was one of the first settlement houses as well as a women’s sociological institution. This article will provide me with the function of Child Saver activists like Jane Addams.

“Juvenile Court.” Wikipedia. 16 Mar. 2008. 29 Mar. 2008   <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juvenile_court>. 

The Juvenile Court was the biggest contribution from the Child Savers era, the first one was established in 1899 in Chicago. It promoted the values behind separating juvenile justice from adult justice in the US court system. This will also be linked to my article when I discuss the Juvenile Court and how it is different from regular courts and therefore it is vital to my references.

“Juvenile Delinquency in the United States.”  Wikipedia. 25 Mar. 2008. 29 Mar. 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juvenile_delinquency_in_the_United_States>. 

 This next wikipedia article gives a history of juvenile delinquency in the United States, including the original treatment of juveniles not as adolescents but has adults and the problems that caused leading to the Child Savers movement.  I will link this article to mine when I discuss the behavior of children who commit heinous crimes since it provides me with the relevant information.

“Juvenile Protective Association.” Wikipedia. 9 Jan. 2008. 29 Mar. 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juvenile_Protective_Association>.

The Juvenile Protective Association  (JPA) emerged out of the Juvenile Court Committee which was also established by Jane Addams and her colleagues. It is a social welfare agency that is still going on in this day in age since its foundation in 1901. This is one of the contributions that came out of the Child Savers so I will need this article to help discuss the JPA within this section.  

Krisberg, Barry, and James F. Austin. Reinventing Juvenile Justice. Newbury Park: Sage Publications, 1993. 

This book looks at both the history of the control and prevention of Juvenile Delinquency as well as the growth of institutionalization and the role of the Child Savers in these two movements between 1850 and 1900. Here I will be able to locate specific dates and incidents relating to my article, this book also provides other specific details about famous activists of the Child Savers movement. Therefore this book will help me in both areas of my article, the brief history part as well as the contribution section.

Platt, Anthony M. The Child Savers; the Invention of Delinquency,. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1969. 

This book although not very recent, provides crucial examples and testimonies from the Child Savers. It has the most information of all the sources and will help me in all aspects of writing this article.

Fifth Class Reflection Post on Class 3/17

During this class we discussed the Post-Civil War reconstruction.  This section contained many interesting events like Plessy vs. Ferguson and the Lincoln Assassination as well the Wade-Davis Bill.  What intrigued me most was the establishment of the Freedmen’s Bureau. This agency supposedly provided resources to ex-slaves to help them adjust and reconstruct their lives. They provided schools, housing and jobs. This era gave rise to the phrase “Forty Acres and a Mule” insinuating that Forty Acres and  Mule is all you need to start a life. I find the idea of this Freedmen’s Bureau very proactive and a nice gesture but I doubt it was that successfull. First of all, there were so many slaves freed that theres no possible way the Freedmen’s Bureau could account for all of them, and then also the whole mentality of racial supremacy didnt just change overnight, I’m sure there was a great amount of discrimination and prejudice within the Bureau. Therefore, it would be interesting to research the actual efficiency of the Freedmen’s Bureau. hmmm maybe extra credit?

 Anyways, I also thing that some of the greatest achievements came out of this time period including the “Civil War” Amendments. These amendments abolished slavery and gave the right to vote as well as immunity of citizenship. These are all very imporant to America’s values.

I hope everyone had a Happy St. Patty’s Day!

Fourth Class Reflection Post for 3/3/08

     This class focused on the American Civil War. To illustrate different aspects of this topic we watched some segmants from several different films including Cold Mountain and Lords and Generals. These films illustrated different perspectives on the war. One was from that of the Confederate general which portrayed him as extremely steadfast and merciless in his war efforts even when his finger got blown off. Another was of the soldiers in the burrows which showed them as being extremely weak and feable with an overall very low morale. From watching these movies we can tell that Hollywood has maintained a somewhat arbitrary stance on the Civil War since it can depict several different variations of the events which ocurred during the war.

     We learned during class that ironically, the Civil War did not actually solve the legal and constitutional issues which faced the nation regarding the relationship between the state and federal governments. Most people would agree that the main cause of the war is the debate over slavery, the south endorsed it because it kept them economically prospering. One of the symbols from the war has been given an entirely different meaning since the war, this would be the confederate flag.

     The confederate flag has become one of the most contradictory symbols in American history. The experience in the north with the flag is extremely different then the experience in the south. Personally, I went to school in Massachusetts, we were called “The Walpole Rebels” and prior to the 1990’s our school flag was the confederate flag. but somewhere in the early 90s they identified the flag as racist and offensive and banned it; our school had to choose a different symbol. Therefore the flag has two different meanings associated with it. In my hometown it represented racism and the dark side of American History, but near Richmond, like in Chesterville it symbolizes state autonomy and southern pride. Evidently the symbol is abolished in areas in the north but proudly displayed in the form of tattoos, banners and bumper stickers. Therefore, the American Civil War is one of the most contested topic in American history. We would be living in a vastly different America today if this war was never fought and if these issues were never brought up.

Post #2 Simutopia – Community for Health, Love and Prosperity

     

    This community similar to the others was created to meliorate human nature by creating a “perfect” society. Most similar to Robert Owen, this community “require[s] every person to forswear individualism and work for the common benefit”. Three principles to be closely upheld in this community are Health, Love and Prosperity. People in this community will practice religeious freedom, learning about the common religious practices that currently exist and privately in the home carry out their methods of spirituality. The purpose of this community will be to learn, love and only build economical growth as much as what is vitally necessary to sustain life. There are several different goals which are diveded up socially, spiritually and economically. Ultimately, this community is a combination of religious freedom, procreation, education and for a smaller percentage, capitalism.

     Socially the aims of this community are to create a new generation that is free from beliefs of racial supremacy or gender/class inequality. It will accept in its society whoever holds the same beliefs and morals dearly. An interview will be conducted by 3 elected representatives of the community to determine who who be let in. Children will schooled 4 times a week and the fifth day will be devoted to outdoor activities such as excersize and exploration as well as farming. Values such as equality, creativity, ambition and morality will be greatly focused on. There will be no censorship, since vulgarity and violence will cease to exist. Famous literature from all over America and internationally will be imported and included in the school curriculum. Warnings in the form of exclusion from public events will be given to individuals who act out either in physical violence, unfaithfullness or verbal violence, the third warning will ilicit expulsion from the community. While children are in school, couples will be required to spend a minimum of on hour “bonding time” by either going on walks through the orchards, experiencing spirituality or spending quality time at home. This “bonding time” will be performed 2 hours before the children arrive home from school. After which the family will be required to participate in a one hour game and dinner session which is exclusive to each individual family. Once a year, field trips will be organized to go out of the community and visit other communities. Also, everyone in the community will be required to excersize a minimum of 3 times a week, and weekly dinners will be served in the public building for all to attend and socialize. The adults will all spend half their day farming and half working in the factories producing materials for both the home and schools. This community will hold elections twice a year and three people will be elected to govern the community. Therefore, the social purpose of this community is to foster growth, understanding and knowledge.

     The economy of this community will function off of trade; trade of information such as results from studies conducted in the forests and exploration as well as trade of goods from the crops that will be harvested in surplus. Trade will be conducted by elected individuals deemed most trustworthy. All “employees” will be paid a fraction of the profits from trade. When a child turns 18 they will be considered an adult and after graduation from school will be assigned to further develop a particular aspect of the community.

     Religion will not be a collective enterprize, there will be no religious buildings and no legislature based off of religion. Ideas and beliefs streaming from creation and deity will be entirely personal and not formally tought within school. Individuals are encouraged to explore their own thoughts and theories of religeon and develop their own spiritual relationship.

     The physical design of the community features a multitude of housing (there was a lack of housing icons so each house shown is equal to 10 houses, or more depending on population of community), which is arranged in a square formation around orchards woods and farmlands and each set of 10 are connected by roads that also lead to the factories and public buildings. This is so that in the morning, the majority of adults will easily be able to go outside their home and collectively work in the fields for almost half the day and then for the other half will venture into the more public part of the community. This daily schedule is dependent upon factors such as the weather. There are woods across the river which are reserved for personal and educational exporation of the outdoors. Parks are reserved on the opposite side of the community from the public buildings. These parks are for the “bonding time” as well as for children to gather together during the weekends. As you can see from the image, the community is divided up by agriculture/farming, work/education, and public interaction. I believe this set up is the most efficient for the prosperity of the community.

     This community will prevent societal violence and solve problems related to ignorance and discrimination. The one fault of this community will be lack in security, this matter will be discussed and resolved by the committee of elected personels. Finally, the Community for Health, Love and Prosperity was not created out of a desire to acquire independence and wealth as most 19th century utopias were but more so a desire to rebuild the humanistic values and morals of American society.