Prison Gangs Essay Example for Free

Prison Gangs Essay In our prison environments, there are many kinds of threats to inmate and officer safety daily. The correctional system in our country contains many gangs within the walls and connected to our streets. These groups, known as Security Threat Groups, are usually operated by race, and are active in our Federal Bureau of Prisons and in at least 40 state correctional systems. Inmates are pretty much forced to join their racial group or gang to ensure their personal safety while in prison. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, inmates were more racially twisted than ever before, and each race in a facility had a leader if not more than one. Inmates isolate themselves from other racial groups. While this was producing more racial tension in the environment, it was also producing Security Threat Group’s that were getting more organized and skilled at running the drug trade and social environments within the walls of the correctional facilities. Some of these gangs are more organized than others are, and produce the most followers. Because of organizational factors and growing numbers of members, the Aryan Brotherhood, Ku Klux Klan, the and MS-13 have emerged as our biggest security group threats in the American corrections system. The Aryan Brotherhood originated in San Quentin in the mid-sixties and was founded by Barry Mills and Tyler Bingham. This group is one of the best known gangs with many crews in our correctional facilities. The Aryan Brotherhood started to protect white inmates from black inmates during the time that the prisons were integrated. The Aryan Brotherhood is primarily located in the southwest and pacific areas of the country and is weakest in the northeastern areas where blacks are the strongest. The creed of the Brotherhood is, â€Å"I will stand by my brother. My brother will come before all others. My life is forfeited should I fail my brother. I will honor my brother in peace and war. † Members of the Brotherhood are lifetime members who commit to a blood in, blood out oath. This basically means that in order to get in you must kill an enemy and the only way to get out is to be killed. Most members support the white nationalist model, but crime is the real motivator and support for the group. The group, divided into two crews, operates both in the Federal Bureau of Prisons and at the state level. They operate in a fashion consistent with organized crime. Beginning as a local prison gang, the Aryan Brotherhood have grown into one of the most dangerous gangs in our prisons today, with ties to the Mexican Mafia, and Asian gangs originating in Thailand. These gang ties help fuel their growing narcotics trade. Members are expected to carry out these crimes within the walls and to continue the activities to further the interests of the group upon release. It would also seem that the Aryan Brotherhood has close ties to the non-prison security threat group the Ku Klux Klan due to the doctrinal similarities. The Ku Klux Klan was established by some ex-confederate soldiers in Pulaski, Tennessee in 1866. The groups name came from the Greek word kuklos, meaning â€Å"group or band,† and took the third as a variant of the word clan. The Klan started as a large recreational group and soon turned to intimidating the newly freed African Americans. While riding around at night, the Klan terrorized and sometimes murdered the ones that they were against. The members started to wear a hooded white costume, a disguise that represented the ghosts of the dead Confederates, to avoid being identified and to scare people during their raids. The Klan is the strongest in the South and in the Midwest. Today the KKK has been greatly weakened as their views have become more and more radical. They consider themselves a Christian organization and base their doctrines upon their own reading of the Bible. Their theology is strongly influenced by Christian Reconstructions they hope to reconstruct the United States along biblical lines and to establish a white-dominated theocracy. While MS-13 is one of our newer gang problems in the United States with MS 13 forming in the Los Angeles area in the mid 1980’s this security threat group is one of the biggest problems we face in our communities and correctional facilities today. They grew out of El Salvadorian immigrants that came together forming MS to protect themselves from other Latin gangs already present in Los Angeles. Later they aligned with the Mexican Mafia, La Eme, adding the 13 to note the allegiance to them. This gang operates out of 42 states, along with the District of Columbia. In the 1990’s, MS-13 came to law enforcements attention as they were targeting violent areas in Hispanic neighborhoods. When law enforcement deported the violent gang members, they took their gang to their home countries such as El Salvador, while spreading their ways into other Central American countries, Mexico, and furthering their following in the United States. Today they are known for their excessive use of violence and are considered to be the worst of the worst security threat group’s known for their adaptability where law enforcement operations are concerned. The hierarchy is based on status, which is based upon how many acts have been committed for the gang. There is no national leaders recognized, instead leadership is based on local leaders. Originally, all members were El Salvadoran nationality; however, they currently accept any Hispanic heritage in their ranks. Among the crimes these gangs have been charged with are murder, robbery, stabbings, drive by shootings, assault, sexual assault, rape, and extortion. They have also, been charged with witness tampering and intimidation crimes. One of the biggest concerns of law enforcement is that this is one of the fastest growing gangs today. Because of organizational factors and growing numbers of members, the Aryan Brotherhood, Ku Klux Klan, and MS13 have emerged as our biggest security group threats in the American corrections system. These groups have different ideologies and methods of operations, but they all have some similarities. These can be the fact that they are all either directly or indirectly affiliated with violence and drug trafficking, or that all believe that their way is the only right way. Law enforcement agencies have their work cut out for them, considering the rate of growth of some security threat group’s is large enough in some areas to cause the FBI to raise their threat assessment levels higher, as in the case of MS13.

Religion and the State in the US

Religion and the State in the US The separation of church and state in the United States Religion in the United States Religious belief among Americans today is as vigorous, dynamic and widespread as it ever has been. Immigration constantly brings new and different religious traditions and practices to the United States, even as the Christian traditions to which most Americans adhere continue to adapt to the needs of an ever-changing population. Approximately ninety percent of Americans profess a belief in God, and religion remains a pervasive influence on American culture, politics and public policy. No Established State Religion: The separation of church and state Yet the United States is among the few nations in the world that eschew an established state religion-indeed it was the first to do so, in 1791. As a result, the government is prohibited from supporting or endorsing any religion, or promoting one at the expense of another. Among other things, this means it cannot appoint religious leaders, compel worship or prayer, provide official interpretations of sacred scriptures, or define creedal statements of faith. Although this arrangement is widely known in the United States as the separation of church and state, owing to the predominance of Christian churches, it also applies to mosques, synagogues, and indeed all religious institutions of any sort. Scholars often use the term disestablishment to specify the legal aspect of the concept, but by whatever name it is a core principle and defining feature of American political life. The Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776: Representatives of 13 British colonies in North America published the Declaration of Independence, an open letter to the world stating their reasons for breaking the American ties of allegiance to King George V, written primarily by Thomas Jefferson: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. What does this mean? The Declaration argued that human rights were given by God, but that they must be protected by a government whose powers are derived from the consent of the governed, not from royal lineage or divine sanction. In its entirety, the declaration did not offer a detailed theory of church and state, much less codify it into law, but these passages do imply a certain view of the relationship between religion and government. According to this document: God is to be acknowledged as the creator of humankind and source of inalienable rights. Government is properly understood as a human, not divine, institution whose authority and power is derived from citizens themselves, not from God. This concept is known as popular sovereignty, which President Abraham Lincoln would famously describe nearly a hundred years later as Government of the people, by the people and for the people. The Declaration of Independence is highly esteemed in American culture not merely as the document that marked the United States independence as a nation, but also as a succinct statement of the founding values of this country. Bill of Rights December 15, 1791: This became part of the United States Constitution. It gave American citizens the most extensive guarantees of liberty the world had ever seen. If the Declaration of Independence signaled the founding of the new nation upon grand ideals of freedom, the Bill of Rights gave power to that promise. It guaranteed the rights to religious freedom, free speech and free association; protections against self-incrimination and unlawful search and seizure; guarantees of public trial, legal counsel and the due process of law; and the extraordinary recognition that citizens have many other powers and rights not enumerated in the Constitution. First right in the bill: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Challenges to the freedom of religion The right to the free exercise of religion is not absolute, at least as it applies to religious practices. While American citizens enjoy the absolute liberty of conscience (meaning that they are legally entitled to believe or reject any idea, religious or otherwise, that they encounter), it would be impossible for them to have equal rights to act upon those ideas without being subject to some sort of regulation. Some of these actions would conflict with the goals or actions of others, and the freedom of one or the other person would therefore be restricted. Thus in principle the laws and regulations protecting the free exercise of religion are intended to grant an individual the most expansive set of liberties compatible with the same liberties granted to all others. Conclusion The separation of church and state, and the freedom of conscience it is intended to protect, are widely embraced core principles of the American form of liberal democracy. Church-state separation is at once simple in concept and irredeemably complex in practice. In a sense the aspiration for legal neutrality vis-Ã  -vis religion is doomed to failure because the concept of disestablishment itself rests upon a distinctively Protestant Christian understanding of religion as something that can be equated with faith, then privatized and separated from other parts of life. But in another sense, the lively experiment of religious liberty in the United States has been an extraordinary success, and not just for Protestants: thousands of different religious groups now make up the American religious landscape. Religion in the United States The religious landscape in the United States is shifting rapidly. We used to be a nation where most people identified themselves as Christian; today there are not only more Christian sects, but also growing numbers of people who belong to other faith traditions, and growing numbers who are not affiliated with any religion or are not believers. According to the national surveys, religious affiliation in the United States is both very diverse and extremely fluid. United States public is becoming less religion A study by the Pew Research Center made in 2014 compared data to 2007: The share of U.S. adults who say they believe in God declined from approximately 92% to 89%. The share of Americans who say they are absolutely certain God exists has dropped more sharply, from 71% in 2007 to 63% in 2014. The falloff in traditional religious beliefs and practices coincides with changes in the religious composition of the U.S. public. A growing share of Americans are religiously unaffiliated, including some who self-identify as atheists or agnostics as well as many who describe their religion as nothing in particular. Altogether, the religiously unaffiliated (also called the nones) now account for 23% of the adult population, up from 16% in 2007. Mixed religious backgrounds on the rise About one-in-five U.S. adults were raised with a mixed religious background, according to a new Pew Research Center study. This includes about one-in-ten who say they were raised by two people, both of whom were religiously affiliated but with different religions, such as a Protestant mother and a Catholic father, or a Jewish mother and a Protestant stepfather. An additional 12% say they were raised by one person who was religiously affiliated (e.g., with Protestantism, Catholicism, Judaism or another religion) and another person who was religiously unaffiliated (atheist, agnostic or nothing in particular). Still the exception To be sure, religiously mixed backgrounds remain the exception in America. Eight-in-ten U.S. adults say they were raised within a single religion, including two-thirds who say they were raised by two people who shared the same religion (or both of whom were religiously unaffiliated). An additional 14% who say they were raised by a single parent. But the number of Americans raised in interfaith homes appears to be growing. Fully one-quarter of young adults in the Millennial generation (27%) say they were raised in a religiously mixed family. Fewer Generation Xers (20%), Baby Boomers (19%) and adults from the Silent and Greatest generations (13%) say they were raised in such a household. Religious nones Americans are most likely to identify in adulthood as religiously unaffiliated if they were raised exclusively by a parent or parents who were unaffiliated themselves. Indeed, among adults who say they were raised either by a single parent who had no religion or by two people who were both religious nones, a solid majority (62%) identify as nones today. But there also are many nones who come from religiously mixed backgrounds. Nearly four-in-ten of those who say they had one parent who identified with a religion and another parent who was religiously unaffiliated describe themselves as nones today (38%). And one-quarter of those raised by a Protestant and a Catholic are now religiously unaffiliated (26%). One-in-five people who were raised exclusively by Catholics are religious nones today, as are 14% of those who say they were raised solely by Protestants. Catholics Most people raised solely by Catholics (62%) continue to identify as Catholics in adulthood, which is on par with the share of those raised solely by nones who remain religiously unaffiliated today. But those raised by one Catholic parent and one non-Catholic parent have less than a 50-50 chance of identifying with Catholicism as adults. Among U.S. adults from a mixed Protestant/Catholic background, for example, just 29% identify as Catholics today, while 38% are Protestants and 26% are nones. Protestants Eight-in-ten people raised exclusively within Protestantism continue to identify as Protestants today. And 56% of those raised by a Protestant parent and a religiously unaffiliated parent now identify as Protestants. Mother knows best Most Americans who were raised by a biological or adoptive mother and father say their parents played an equal role in their religious upbringing. But among the roughly four-in-ten adults who say one of their parents (either biological or adoptive) was more responsible for their religious upbringing, far more name their mother than their father. Moms seem to have been especially influential in the religious upbringing of people from interfaith families. Nearly half (46%) of those raised by parents affiliated with two different religions say their mother was primarily responsible for their religious upbringing, while just 7% say their father took primary responsibility; the rest say both parents played equally important roles in their religious upbringing (41%) or give some other answer, such as that they were not raised in any religion (3%).

Importance of Setting in Shirley Jacksons The Lottery :: Shirley Jackson Lottery Essays

Importance of Setting in Shirley Jackson's The Lottery      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The setting in the beginning of The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, creates a mood of peacefulness and tranquillity.   The image portrayed by the author is that of a typical town on a normal summer day.   Shirley Jackson uses this setting to foreshadow an ironic ending.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First, Jackson begins by establishing the setting.   She tells the reader what time of day and what time of year the story takes place.   This is important to get the reader to focus on what a typical day it is in this small town.   The time of day is set in the morning and the time of year is early summer. She also describes that school has just recently let out for summer break, letting the reader infer that the time of year is early summer.   The setting of the town is described by the author as that of any normal rural community.   Furthermore, she describes the grass as "richly green" and that "the flowers were blooming profusely" (196).   These descriptions of the surroundings give the reader a serene felling about the town.  Ã‚   Also, these descriptions make the reader feel comfortable about the surroundings as if there was nothing wrong in this quaint town.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Upon reading the first paragraph, Shirley Jackson describes the town in general.   The town is first mentioned in the opening paragraph where she sets the location in the town square.   She puts in perspective the location of the square "between the post office and the bank" (196).   This visualizes for the reader what a small town this is, since everything seems to be centralized at or near the town square.   This is also key in that the town square is the location for the remaining part of the story.   The town square is an important location for the setting since the ending of the story will be set in this location.  Also, Shirley Jackson creates a comfortable atmosphere while describing the residents of the town.   First, she describes the children gathering together and breaking into "boisterous play"(196).   Also, the children are described as gathering rocks, which is an action of many normal children.   She described the men as ga thering together and talking about "planting and rain, tractors and taxes"(196).   Finally, she describes the women of this community as "exchanging bits of gossip"(196) which is a common stereotype of women.   She creates a mood for the reader of the town and residents of this town on a normal summer morning.

Islamic Criminal Justice Essay -- Religion Criminal Law

Comparative Criminal Justice System Criminal Law has and will continue to be a fluid and ever-changing aspect of humanity, and yet the distinctive base of religious belief is still a foundation for a variety of laws today. While the separation of church and state is in effect, history states a wide range of laws have been established based on religious beliefs and ideals, the Bible for one, and currently the Qur’an, which is the basis for Islamic Law. It is the only true form of law in the present time that is not backed by a Government because it is a form of law based completely on religion. The two primary sources of the Islamic Law stem from the Shari’s and the Sunnah, the Shari is the law defined by God, or Allah, and told directly to Gods’ prophet on Earth, Muhammad. The Sunnah, the second factor in Islamic Law deals with the issues not addressed in the Qur’an, yet is still in the word of the Prophet. â€Å"In a few Islamic countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Sudan, it is proclaimed as the basis for all law, including the harsh Islamic criminal law based on the ideal of retribution† (Fairchild & Dammer 2001 P. 61). Also stated in the text Comparative Criminal Justice Systems by Fairchild and Danner is the four distinct types of schools in the belief of Islamic Law: â€Å"There are four major schools of Islamic Law, derived from religious leaders living in different areas and facing different problems in the two centuries following the death of Muhammad. These schools are Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki, and Shafi’i. The main differences between these schools are in matters of emphasis, whether on tradition, judicial reasoning, or the elaboration of the Qur’an† (2001 P.62). Therefore in the following paper the obj... ...w, but in Afghanistan it is just the opposite it is difficult to try to change Islamic Law especially in a country where many individuals truly believe in Islamic Law. Islamic law does not exist in very many countries but in Afghanistan those who follow the Islamic laws keep it alive and well which will make it difficult for the government if they wish to change anything within the Islamic laws of Afghanistan. References Dammer,Harry R. & Fairrchild, Erika. (2001). Comparative Criminal Justice Systems. (2nd Ed.) Wadsworth/Thomson. Lau, Martin. (2008). Islamic Law and the Afghan legal System. Retrieved on December 12, 2008 From: http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN018244.pdf Reiber, Ney. (2008). Islamic Law, Shariah. Retrieved on December 12, 2008 from: http://www.bible.ca/islam/islam-kills-islamic-law-shariah.htm

Huckleberry Finn Book Report :: essays research papers

THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN AUTHOR’S SKETCH Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri. When Samuel Clemens was four years old, his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, where he spent his childhood. Clemens first approach to literature was through typesetting for a newspaper in 1851. At the time Orion, his brother, was a newspaper publisher in Hannibal. From 1857 until 1861, he served as the pilot of a riverboat on the Mississippi River. He later used this experience in creating his novels. His first writings appeared in a newspaper on February 2, 1863 under the pen name “Mark Twain.'; Clemens fell in love with Olivia Langdon and married her in 1870 after a long courtship. The Clemens’ family lived in Hartford, Connecticut from 1871 until 1891, the period of his best writing. In 1872, he published his first book, Roughing It. He published The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in 1876. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, considered his masterpiece of writing, was published in 1885. He received many honors and a great deal of recognition for his writings. Clemens died of Angina on April 21, 1910. MAIN CHARACTERS Huck Finn - the central character of the novel and the son of the town drunk. Jim - Miss Watson’s runaway slave whom Huck helps to gain his freedom. Pap - Huck’s father who comes back to town when he learns about the reward. Tom Sawyer – Huck’s friend who is about his same age. ELEMENTS OF PLOT (1) Setting The setting of Huckleberry Finn was in mid Eighteenth Century America. The first few chapters were set in St. Petersburg, Missouri. The town was patterned after Hannibal, Missouri, where Clemens spent his childhood. It is located on the Mississippi River about 80 miles from St. Louis, Missouri. Most of the novel’s setting is on the Mississippi River south of St. Petersburg. (2) Beginning Situation Huck Finn, a boy of about 12 years, was the son of the town drunk. Widow Douglas adopted him so that she could civilize him and raise him to be a gentleman. Huck did not like going to school, attending church or dressing up. Tom Sawyer, Ben Rogers, and Joe Harper were his friends at the local school. Huck and Tom found a treasure hidden by bank robbers and were allowed to keep six thousand dollars each, for themselves, as a reward. Huck’s father heard about his son’s treasure and returned to St.

In What Ways Do Atticus Finch and Robert Ewell Differ and What Do They Have in Common Essay

Atticus Finch and Robert Ewell are two very different characters, but are similar in some ways. They both live in Maycomb, Alabama, but are respected differently in their communities as Atticus is seen as a brave and courageous man, while Robert Ewell is seen as a drunken coward. Atticus ‘lives on the main residential street in town’, and Robert Ewell lives in ‘what was once a negro cabin’, but it is falling apart. The cabin’s plank walls were supplemented with sheets of corrugated iron, its roof shingled with tin cans hammered flat, so only its general shape suggested its original design: square, with four tiny rooms opening on to a shotgun hall uneasily upon four irregular lumps of limestone. ’ The Ewell’s scavenge a lot in the county dump they live behind to find bits and pieces for their house. Atticus Finch is a lawyer and has fought many battles in the court room, and has mostly won them. He is one of a handful of members in his community who can see the inequality and racism towards black people. Robert Ewell doesn’t have a job, and ‘lives off county cheques, but spends them on green bottle whisky’. He doesn’t even make an effort to try and provide for his family, and is also prejudice and racist. The men’s jobs, or lack of them, reflect their social status in Maycomb. The Ewell’s have lived and behaved in this manner for generations, while the Finches have been successful. Both the men have lost their wives, so have single-handedly raised their children. Atticus sets a good example, and ‘plays with them, reads to them and treats them with courteous detachment’. Atticus also has a maid called Calpurnia, who ‘treats the children like she’s their mother, not their maid’, unlike other maids who favour and are never strict with children. She has been with the family since Jeremy was born. His children are always well kept and polite, and have many friends at school. In contrast, Robert Ewell’s children are dirty, rude and ‘disease ridden’. They all attend school on the first day of every term, but always get sent home for having lice, or being extremely rude to the teacher and fellow classmates. Robert Ewell neglects his children, and it has now become clear that he abuses them, when it is proven that Tom Robinson didn’t harm Mayella Ewell. ‘Nobody is ever sure how many children there are, as there are always several dirty children’s faces peering out the window’. By Harper Lee describing how poor and unfortunate the children are, where they live, and how they behave, shows how neglected they are by their father and the community, and how poverty can seriously affect a family. When the case is first spoken about, people automatically favour Mayella Ewell, due to racism and prejudice, and are rude to Atticus for representing Tom Robinson. He gets called many names such as ‘nigger-lover’, and his children also get a hard time at school, but Atticus continues to defend Tom and ignores the rude remarks and names. By doing so, he still gets basic respect from the people of Maycomb, and still presents himself in a courteous manner. In the trials, he is fair to every person he defends, and always tries his best to make the jury believe that they are not guilty. He also abides by the law, making sure his children attend school; he’s not racist and wanting Jem to speak about the incident where Robert Ewell is murdered, in court. Meanwhile, Robert Ewell is a law breaker, and gets away with it. He lets his children truant from school, and goes out hunting, even though it is illegal in Maycomb. He lies a lot too, like in court he makes up which side Mayella was beat up on, and denies doing it himself. His language in the courtroom is also very bad, as he uses slang and behaves in an uncourteous manner, and his appearance is scruffy, and he doesn’t make an effort to be smart. On the other hand, Atticus looks smart and speaks properly, making sure what he says is true and says it in a clever way, so it means one thing, but implies something else. This is how he proves Tom Robinsons innocence to the spectators, even though the jury think he’s guilty. At the end of the book, Atticus decides to break the law on one occasion, and go along with Heck Tate’s version of the event, as he doesn’t want Jem growing up being told he was let off innocent, as his dad’s a lawyer. It was also easier, as Tom Robinson was dead for no reason, because of Robert Ewell, so it was fair to ‘let the dead bury the dead’. With Atticus being a polite, fair, hardworking and a responsible man, he and Robert Ewell are nothing alike. However, neither fit into their communities perfectly, but none of them are ‘normal’. So, with their being some credible similarities, Robert Ewell is a rude drunk and Atticus is courageous, so therefore Harper Lee has portrayed them to be two different completely characters.

Mr. Omijie Famous

A Brief History of School Guidance and Counseling in the United States The history of school counseling formally started at the turn of the twentieth century, although a case can be made for tracing the foundations of counseling and guidance principles to ancient Greece and Rome with the philosophical teachings of Plato and Aristotle. There is also evidence to argue that some of the techniques and skills of modern-day guidance counselors were practiced by Catholic priests in the Middle Ages, as can be seen by the dedication to the concept of confidentiality within the confessional.Near the end of the sixteenth century, one of the first texts about career options appeared: The Universal Plaza of All the Professions of the World, (1626) written by Tomaso Garzoni. Nevertheless, formal guidance programs using specialized textbooks did not start until the turn of the twentieth century. The factors leading to the development of guidance and counseling in the United States began in the 1890 s with the social reform movement. The difficulties of people living in urban slums and the widespread use of child labor outraged many.One of the consequences was the compulsory education movement and shortly thereafter the vocational guidance movement, which, in its early days, was concerned with guiding people into the workforce to become productive members of society. The social and political reformer Frank Parsons is often credited with being the father of the vocational guidance movement. His work with the Civic Service House led to the development of the Boston Vocation Bureau. In 1909 the Boston Vocation Bureau helped outline a system of vocational guidance in the Boston public schools.The work of the bureau influenced the need for and the use of vocational guidance both in the United States and other countries. By 1918 there were documented accounts of the bureau's influence as far away as Uruguay and China. Guidance and counseling in these early years were considered to be mostly vocational in nature, but as the profession advanced other personal concerns became part of the school counselor's agenda. The United States' entry into World War I brought the need for assessment of large groups of draftees, in large part to select appropriate people for leadership positions.These early psychological assessments performed on large groups of people were quickly identified as being valuable tools to be used in the educational system, thus beginning the standardized testing movement that in the early twenty-first century is still a strong aspect of U. S. public education. At the same time, vocational guidance was spreading throughout the country, so that by 1918 more than 900 high schools had some type of vocational guidance system.In 1913 the National Vocational Guidance Association was formed and helped legitimize and increase the number of guidance counselors. Early vocational guidance counselors were often teachers appointed to assume the extra duties of t he position in addition to their regular teaching responsibilities. The 1920s and 1930s saw an expansion of counseling roles beyond working only with vocational concerns. Social, personal, and educational aspects of a student's life also needed attention. The Great Depression of the 1930s led to the restriction of funds for counseling programs.Not until 1938, after a recommendation from a presidential committee and the passage of the George Dean Act, which provided funds directly for the purposes of vocational guidance counseling, did guidance counselors start to see an increase in support for their work. After World War II a strong trend away from testing appeared. One of the main persons indirectly responsible for this shift was the American psychologist Carl Rogers. Many in the counseling field adopted his emphasis on â€Å"nondirective† (later called â€Å"client-centered†) counseling.Rogers published Counseling and Psychotherapy in 1942 and Client-Centered Therapy in 1951. These two works defined a new counseling theory in complete contrast to previous theories in psychology and counseling. This new theory minimized counselor advice-giving and stressed the creation of conditions that left the client more in control of the counseling content. In 1958 the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) was enacted, providing aid to education in the United States at all levels, public and private.Instituted primarily to stimulate the advancement of education in science, mathematics, and modern foreign languages, NDEA also provided aid in other areas, including technical education, area studies, geography, English as a second language, counseling and guidance, school libraries, and educational media centers. Further support for school counseling was spurred by the Soviet Union's launching of Sputnik and fears that other countries were outperforming the United States in the fields of mathematics and science.Hence, by providing appropriate funding for educa tion, including guidance and counseling, it was thought that more students would find their way into the sciences. Additionally, in the 1950s the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) was formed, furthering the professional identity of the school counselor. The work of C. Gilbert Wrenn, including his 1962 book The Counselor in a Changing World, brought to light the need for more cultural sensitivity on the part of school counselors.The 1960s also brought many more counseling theories to the field, including Frederick Perl's gestalt therapy, William Glasser's reality therapy, Abraham Maslow and Rollo May's existential approach, and John Krumboltz's behavioral counseling approach. It was during this time that legislative support and an amendment to the NDEA provided funds for training and hiring school counselors with an elementary emphasis. In the 1970s the school counselor was beginning to be defined as part of a larger program, as opposed to being the entire program.There wa s an emphasis on accountability of services provided by school counselors and the benefits that could be obtained with structured evaluations. This decade also gave rise to the special education movement. The educational and counseling needs of students with disabilities was addressed with the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975. The 1980s saw the development of training standards and criteria for school counseling. This was also a time of more intense evaluation of education as a whole and counseling programs in particular.In order for schools to provide adequate educational opportunities for individuals with disabilities, school counselors were trained to adapt the educational environment to student needs. The duties and roles of many counselors began to change considerably. Counselors started finding themselves as gatekeepers to Individualized Education Programs (IEP) and Student Study Teams (SST) as well as consultants to special education teachers, especially after passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.The development of national educational standards and the school reform movement of the 1990s ignored school counseling as an integral part of a student's educational development. The ASCA compensated partially with the development of national standards for school counseling programs. These standards clearly defined the roles and responsibilities of school counseling programs and showed the necessity of school counseling for the overall educational development of every student. Major Roles and Functions for School Counselors