Mental Retardation And The Death Penalty
- Mental retardation, also known as , a disorder characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in adaptive behaviors
- , a slowing-down of thought and a reduction of physical movements in an individual
- A form of , able to cause effects such as neoteny, retention by adults of traits previously seen only in the young
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is a government-sanctioned practice whereby a person is killed by the state as a punishment for a crime. The that someone be punished in such a manner is referred to as a death sentence, whereas the act of carrying out the sentence is known as an execution. Crimes that are punishable by death are known as capital crimes, capital offences or capital felonies, and they commonly include serious offences such as , , aggravated cases of , , , , , , offences against the State, such as attempting to overthrow government, , , and , , and , and in some cases, the most serious acts of , , and , but may include a wide range of offences depending on a country. Etymologically, the term capital (lit. “of the head”, derived via the capitalis from caput, “head”) in this context alluded to execution by .
Fifty-six countries retain capital punishment, 106 countries have completely abolished it for all crimes, eight have abolished it for ordinary crimes (while maintaining it for special circumstances such as war crimes), and 28 are abolitionist in practice.
Capital punishment is a matter of active controversy in several countries and states, and positions can vary within a single or cultural region. In the , Article 2 of the prohibits the use of capital punishment. The , which has 47 member states, has sought to abolish the use of the death penalty by its members absolutely, through of the . However, this only affects those member states which have signed and ratified it, and they do not include , , and .
The has adopted, in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014, non-binding resolutions calling for a , with a view to eventual abolition. Although most nations have abolished capital punishment, over 60% of the world’s population live in countries where the death penalty is retained, such as , , the , , , , , , , , , among all mostly , as is maintained in , , , and . China is believed to execute more people than all other countries combined.
Develop a 10- to 12-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation to brief the class on your selected article. Include the following:
- A properly formatted title page
- An agenda for your presentation
- An outline of the purpose or focus of the article
- An evaluation of the ethical issues presented in the article
- An explanation of the conclusions drawn by the article and their implications for the clinical practice of psychology
- An analysis of the implications of the ethical issues presented in the article to the practice of psychology
- A properly formatted reference slideADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS
Discussion Questions (DQ)
- Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
- Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
- One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
- I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation
- Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
- In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
- Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
- Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality
- Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
- Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
- I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes
- I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
- As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
- It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy
- For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
- Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
- Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
- Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy
- The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
- Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
- If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
- I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
- As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication
- Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
- Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
- Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.
