Abstract The discussion centers on the concept of martyrdom as illustrated in the lives of people who were persecuted as a result of their courage and belief in a different version of Christianity. It specifically focuses on Saint Polycarp, St Perpetua and the confessors of Lyons and Vienne. In addition, the paper analyzes the types of martyrdom shown through these individuals, asserting that each developed his/her own kind of description and fulfillment of how martyrdom is and should be.
From the Paper "This figurative explication of her suffering and eventual joy as she journeyed towards heaven provided a glimpse of how Christians, during the 2nd and 3rd centuries, were able to accept their fate as martyrs for the Lord, and be able to accomplish, indeed, the act of becoming a martyr. St Perpetua is identified as the "normative" martyr, because she experienced and acted martyrdom based on what was expected of her as a believer of God and firm follower of Christianity. Moreover, because the role of bearing witness to God's good news is a privileged role ("not more than one might go up at one time"), St Perpetua further internalized her being the 'chosen one'--as a martyr, a firm believer who will sacrifice her life for God and Christianity."
Abstract The paper shows that while the use of psychological interrogation methods is currently permissible by the courts in Canada, Great Britain and the U.S.A., many researchers argue that psychological interrogation is, in essence, no different than blatant coercion. Confession Law has slowly evolved over time alongside the evolution of interrogation methods. The paper discusses how prior to the 18th Century, English Common Law accepted confessions without any restrictions, which allowed confessions extracted through torture to be accepted as viable representations of objective truth. Today, the bottom line on the admissibility of confessions is that they are "typically excluded if elicited by physical violence, by a threat of harm or punishment, by a promise of leniency or immunity from prosecution, or by failure to notify a suspect of his or her constitutional rights to counsel and silence" (Kassin & McNall, 1991). The paper shows that despite these seemingly stringent laws regarding the admissibility of confessions, psychological interrogation methods are adept at circumventing the law, and continue to employ methods that run the risk of eliciting false confessions. This paper reviews the literature on Psychological Interrogation methods, false confessions and the implications of both.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Psychological Interrogation Tactics
Inside the Interrogation Room
Custodial Legal Advice & The Right to Silence
Psychological Interrogation Functioning as Coercion
Police Interrogations and Confessions
Communicating Promises and Threats by Pragmatic Implication
False Confessions
Occurrence of False Confessions
Creation of False Confessions
An Empirical Study On Recall
Discourse Study
Interrogative Suggestibility & Delinquent Boys
Psychological Characteristics of False Confessors Consequences of False Confessions
From the Paper "Interrogation, as defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary, is the act of "questioning; formally and systematically." Interrogations within criminal justice systems are used to gather information relevant to investigations, and more importantly, to elicit confessions from suspects. Methods of interrogation have changed drastically throughout history, but the ultimate goal of obtaining confessions has held constant. While the whips and chains of the past have now exited the western world's interrogation rooms, many scholars argue that today's suspects are still subjected to psychological tortures. Psychological Interrogation is the most recent approach used by law enforcement officials to extract information from suspects."
Tags: applied, brutality, deprivation, police, psychology, sleep, social
Abstract This paper explores the concept of nationalism in England in 1066, English unity, social make-up and the ferocity of their opposition to the invaders. It looks at how the Normans attempted to justify their conquest of England and, in particular, why. It examines how the "rightful claimant to the throne" needed to put such an emphasis on the justification of the conquest. It looks at how William of Normandy held a strong claim to the English throne and how the Norman use of propaganda and their emphasis on the "will of God" suggests there was a seed of doubt somewhere in the Norman establishment concerning legitimacy.
From the Paper "To understand the Norman efforts to justify the conquest it is important to understand the nature of Anglo-Saxon England. How was Duke William of Normandy received? Did he face opposition because he was a foreigner or was it purely political? Anne Williams? provides an insight into English society much earlier than 1066, suggesting that the "emergence of Englishness" began as early as the 7th century . However, such an expression gives little more than a hint as to how developed and patriotic a society England was in the 11th century. The existence of patriotism in England is hard to identify in this period. Overseas invasions were not uncommon and it was only twenty-four years earlier that the Danish dynasty of Cnut had ruled."
Abstract This paper examines how, while the concept and theme of female sovereignty in medieval literature may seem oddly out of place to modern readers, it did, in fact, exist. In particular, it looks at how Geoffrey Chaucer's "Wife of Bath's Tale", from the "Canterbury Tales", and John Gower's "Tale of Florent", from the "Confessio Amantis" are two tales that involve the theme of female sovereignty. It attempts to show how views of women during Chaucer and Gower's time were considerably misogynistic and how, even in the church, women were not treated equally. It discusses how the belief that women were essentially evil influenced medieval literature and, while the concept of freedom depended on the social class that women belonged to, they were nonetheless treated as possessions. Although the tales by Chaucer and Gower were similar in story and theme, it may be the "voices" of the characters of the Wife of Bath and the Confessor that helped shape our views of female sovereignty in literature.
From the Paper "Gower's tale shows efficiency of plot, has amusing descriptions of the "lothy" woman; and the interesting dilemmas that Florent finds himself in; and the skill with which the confessor (narrator) has recast a tale that "clerkes . . . this chance herde" (1.1856) and wrote down "in evidence" (1.1857). "The tale of Florent is a good instance of Gower's ability to engage the reader in the circumstances and unfolding of a tale by intelligent filling out the mental action of the main characters and the physical experiences they go through" (Davenport 151). On the surface Chaucer's tale forms a romance narrative, but Chaucer "threw that kind of logic out the window when he invented for a romance a narrator who does not believe in it" (Davenport 159)."
