Media Violence Causing Social Violence Sociology Essay

Media Violence Causing Social Violence Sociology Essay The above statistics alone should immediately indicate that the negative effects of media violence on the minds of young people cannot help but be substantial, and may in fact lead to social violence on the part of those exposed. However, the fact is that even after decades of ongoing research, there remains a debate as to whether media violence substantially contributes to social violence (Haugen Musser, 2008). To provide context to the ongoing debate, it is helpful to first define the two key terms discussed in this essay, namely media violence and social violence. As noted by North, Wallis and Weingast (2009), the term social violence technically refers to violent activities engaged in by people as a group. This would include violence associated with riots, revolutions, and gang warfare. However, for the purposes of this essay, the term is defined far more broadly as behavior that is aggressive and/or abusive and which results in, or has the potential to result in, some form of injury to one or more others. This is the definition used in most of the existing studies of media violence and social violence. Haugen and Musser (2008) note that there are differing views as to what precisely is meant by the term media violence, but that typically it refers to various gradations of violence presented by differing forms of electronic or film media such as television programs, computer games, and movies. The gradations considered to be within the domain of media violence can and do differ from research study to research study. However, the authors inform that a good deal of the decades long debate over media violence and social violence is more political than scientific. Specifically, Haugen and Musser (2008) state that there are two schools of sociopolitical thought as to whether or not media violence actually causes real-life violenceand these are both trying to use research on media violence to advance their particular perspective. One school of thought blames media violence for social violence and wants to censor certain content in order to protect children. The other side views censorship, even if relatively weak in scope, as a slippery slope to increasingly levels of censorship not only of violence but many other types of expressions within society. It is important to keep this in mind when evaluating the existing research. It can be noted here that the central thesis of this paper is that there is sufficient evidence of a substantial relationship between media violence and social violence; however, social violence is multi-causal and media violence is likely to exert maximal effects if additional causal and contributory factors are operative. This thesis is supported in this paper by an extensive review of the existing research on media violence demonstrating exposure to be followed by engagement in antisocial behavior and aggression. The Connection Between Media Violence and Social Violence Effects on Children and Adolescents Browne and Hamilton-Giachritsis (2005) compiled a comprehensive review of the literature on the effects of media violence on the social violence and aggression of both children and adolescents using the findings of five meta-analytic reviews and one quasi-systematic review, all of which were from North America. The studies covered television violence, film violence, and video and computer game violence. Some of the most important of their findings were: 1. In the average home, childrens television programming exposes a child to 20 to 25 violent actions each hour; moreover, violent offenders in childrens programming sometimes go without punishment and the offenders themselves seldom show any remorse for the violence. 2. During both childhood and adolescence, the amount of time watching television violence is positively related to several antisocial behaviors such as threatening aggression, assault or physical fights resulting in injury, and to robbery. In general, the review presented by Browne and Hamilton-Giachritsis (2005) led the authors to conclude that violent images in the media can substantially affect children and adolescents thoughts and emotions in a manner that makes them both more fearful and more aggressive. Browne and Hamilton-Giachritsis also reported that several other factors figure into the commission of social violence which makes the link between social violence and media violence significant but small. However, they point out that the effect sizes observed in meta-analytic studies of media violence and subsequent social violence show that even this small relationship exerts a substantial effect on the general public health in terms of the consequences of social violence to the victim and to the families of both the victim and the perpetrator of the violence. Regarding the point made by Hamilton-Giachritsis (2005), it is helpful to briefly look at the statistics associated with social violence. In this regard, Santamour (2008) reports that acts of violence are associated with heavy human and economic costs. In his study, Santamour examined violence-related hospitalizations in the United States. He observed that hospital costs as a result of social violence totaled $2.3 billion dollars per year and were primarily the result of assaults and/or physical and emotional abuse. A clear gender difference was also noted which Santamour reports as follows: Boys and men accounted for 82.4 percent of hospital stays resulting from assaults; girls and women accounted for 63.9 percent related to maltreatment and 58.5 percent resulting from self-inflicted violence. Young adults, 18 to 44 years old, made up 68.3 percent of assault-related stays and 62 percent associated with self-inflicted violence. (p. 1) When considering that media violence contributes to statistics such as these, it is difficult to think of any connection between it and social violence is weak. In another study of media violence and social violence, Bushman and Huesmann (2006) found that exposure to media violence was positively related to aggressive behavior, anger, and aggressive ideas in children, teens, and adults. It was also found that media violence had a negative effect on the helping behaviors of all groups, making them far less likely to help others in need. However, it was also found that the group most vulnerable to the effects of media violence were young children. This was said to be because young children were more easily impressionable; also, they had a harder time telling the difference between fantasy and reality. In addition, young children learn best by observing and then imitating behavior, making them more apt to engage in violent behavior. Adding to the idea that media violence is directly related to social violence, Haugen and Musser (2008) report that the connection between media violence and social violence has already been accepted as fairly substantial by six major medical groups. These groups are the: American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, American Psychological Association, American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Psychiatric Association. Further, the authors also noted that each of these medical organizations hold that media violence leads children to increase their levels of antisocial behavior and to become less sensitive to violence as well as victims of violence. Haugen and Musser (2008) also states that these medical groups warn that children exposed to long-term and frequent media violence are likely to develop a view of the world as violent and mean and to become more fearful of being a victim of the worlds violence than children who are not exposed to frequent/long-term media violence. Even more alarming is that the children who are exposed to frequent media violence over a lengthy period of time often show a desire to see yet more violence in their entertainment as well as in real life, and they come to see violence as a legitimate way to settle conflicts. These desires and attitudes, in turn, make them more likely to engage in social violence both as children and as adolescents and, in some cases, even as adults. The foregoing literature provides fairly strong support for the idea that even a weak causal contribution between media violence and social violence can be viewed as substantial in terms of its costs and its escalating effects on people over time. However, this effect does have to be considered in light of all of the factors that drive people to commit violent acts against others. The next section of this essay considers the effects of media violence in relation to the other contributors of social violence. Multifactorial Nature of Social Violence and Contribution of Media Violence Kirsh (2006) reports that many factors are involved in the commission of social violence and as just demonstrated in the above review, one of these factors is media violence. However, its effects can vary depending upon the manner in which the violence is presented. If the violence presented in the media lacks consequences and/or is justified, and/or is associated with reward, it can have a very negative effect on children and teens, making them more likely to engage in such behavior. However, if the presented media violence shows that the offender is punished for the violence, then it can lessen childrens tendencies toward aggressive behavior. In addition, the type of character or personality that engages in the presented violence can also have an effect. According to Kirsh (2006), if the violence is undertaken by an attractive person or by a charismatic heroand the child or adolescent identifies with the perpetratorthen it is likely that the negative effect of the violence will be stronger, making the viewer more likely to engage in similar behavior. Furthermore, Kirsh reports that if the childs full attention is focused on the screen presenting the violence with minimal or no distractions breaking this focus, the impact will be greater. Finally, if the child views the show and its violence as realistic and reflective of real life, then the effects will be stronger. In what is now considered a seminal study of media violence, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Surgeon General (2001) concluded that there is a relationship between media violence and some social violence including homicide, forcible rape, aggravated assault, and robbery. However, it was also noted that there is a problem with the research that makes knowing whether there is a causal connection between media violence and social violence difficult to scientifically report. Regarding the nature of the problem, it is stated that: Although there is clear scientific evidence of a correlation between exposure to media violence and some violent behaviors, randomized experiments-the research methodology best suited to determining causality-cannot ethically be used in studies of violent behavior. (p. 1) It was stated that the best that could be done is to study the effects of media violence and how it affects certain aggressive behaviors in children and adolescence. These studies were said to provide at least indirect evidence of causality. For example, the Surgeon General (2001) reports that longitudinal studies reliably show that if children are exposed to media violence, as they grow older they become more likely to exhibit aggressiveness due to the increase in the amount of media violence exposure. This connection makes it seem very reasonable to believe that there is also some causal contribution of media violence to social violence in various forms of violent antisocial behavior and crime. But if there is a causal connection, how strong is it and what other factors also contribute to social violence? According to the Surgeon Generals (2001) early study of youth violence, as well as a more recent study by Coyne (2007), what makes media violence likely to impact on any given child is its relationship to a host of several social violence risk factors. These risk factors include: individual risk factors; family risk factors; school risk factors; peer group risk factors; and neighborhood and community risk factors. Specifically, to the extent that one or more of these factors is present in a childs life, they are likely to make the child more prone to both violent behavior as well as the negative effects of media violence. The social violence risk factors discussed by both the Surgeon General (2001) and Coyne (2007) can be delineated as follows: 1. Individual factors A child and/or adolescent is most likely to be at risk for the negative effects of media violence and social violence if the child is male, if there is substance use, if the childs personality or temperament is already somewhat aggressive possibly as a result of a health condition such as hyperactivity, if the IQ is low, and if the child is generally antisocial in attitudes and beliefs. One point that can be noted here is that the Council on Communications and Media (2009) states that individual factors can also protect a child from the negative effects of media violence. These protective factors include the child having a high IQ, and a positive social orientation. Further, if the child shows a low tolerance for deviance and views transgressions as usually punished, this also would reduce or even eradicate any negative effects of media violence. 2. Neighborhood and Community Factors Living in a deteriorating community or neighborhood can put a child or adolescent more at risk for the negative effects of media violence. For example, poor neighborhoods where drugs and gangs are present increase the risk. High crime areas also place a child at risk for social violence that is exacerbated by exposure to media violence. 3. Family Risk Factors If the childs family is poor, he or she is more at risk for the negative effects of media violence. If his/her parents are antisocial and/or have a poor relationship with the child, these factors can also increase the risk. Other family factors that place children at risk for the negative effects of media violence include: parental separation (broken home), abusive parents, neglect, harsh discipline and/or a lack of discipline, poor mental health of parents, and the presence of a good deal of conflict in the home. As with individual factors, there are some familial/parental factors that can give the child some protection from the negative effects of media violence (as well as other forms of violence). According to Ferguson, San Miguel and Hartley (2009), these protective family factors include having good relationships with parents, and positive evaluations from peers. Steady and consistent, but not overly harsh, parental monitoring and discipline can also be protective. 4. School Factors How a child feels about school can also affect the impact of media violence on the child. If his or her attitude is positive, the child will be less likely to be impacted; but if the attitude is negative, the risk is increased. Academic performance operates in a similar manner. School failure and low grades make a child more vulnerable to the negative effects of media violence, while good school performance has the opposite effects. Lee and Kim (2004) points out that one of the strongest school risk factors is bullying. If a child is bullied, he becomes very vulnerable to seeing some form of retributive violence as the answer to his problem and this tendency can be strongly exacerbated by media violence. 5. Peer Risk Factors The nature of a child or adolescents peers can have a significant impact on the effects of media violence. If the child has strong ties to antisocial peers, then the impact is more negative. However, if most of the childs friends behave in prosocial ways, then this will act as a protective factor. Media Violence and Crime The foregoing section of the review indicated that media violence operates conjointly with other factors to elevate a childs risk for social violence. However, there are many forms of social violence, one of which is violent crime. This section of the essay examines the question: Is media violence directly related to the commission of violent crime? According to Coyne (2007), while many studies of media violence and violent crime do show at least a weak connection, they suffer from the fact that they are, in large part, laboratory-based investigations. Furthermore, such studies primarily rest on studies of aggressive urges or tendencies rather than examining real criminal behavior to see if those engaging in it have a history of watching violence in the media. Coyne (2007) attempted to remedy the forgoing problem by examining longitudinal research with offender populations. It was stated that, When integrated with other long-term studies on the development of crime, it is concluded that the link between media violence and crime is weak after other environmental factors are taken into account. However, the fact remains that until there can be some good control for other contributors to criminal violence, it will remain difficult to know the extent to which there is a direct causal relationship between media violence and criminal violence. Failure to definitively establish a causal link is due to the fact that in studies which are significant statistically, these other factors often act as confounding variables. Nonetheless, it seems reasonable to state that the ongoing, now decades long, findings of elevations in aggressiveness in relation to media violence strongly suggest that there may be more than a weak connection. Conclusions The central thesis of this essay was that media violence substantially contributes to social violence where social violence was defined in the broad sense of aggressive and/or antisocial behavior that results in or can result in injury to one or more others. The key question that must be asked is whether the reviewed literature on media violence supported this thesis? The answer to the above question is somewhat complex. The literature clearly indicated that media violence can lead to children and adolescents engaging in aggression and violent behavior. Moreover, it also showed that the degree to which said behavior is engaged in can differ depending on length of media violence exposure. The reviewed literature also demonstrated that the nature of the violence presentation and the strength of distracted focus can both operate to make it more likely that social violence will be engaged in by children and/or adolescents. This indicates that there is a real effect being exerted by media violence on children. However this conclusion needs some modification. Social violence, as defined in this essay, is multi-determined which means that there are many contributors which, taken together or in part, operate to make a child and/or adolescent engage in social violence. Media violence is one of these and indications are that it can substantially contribute to social violence in the sense that it exacerbates the effects on social violence caused by other factors such as having conflict in the family, living in a gang ridden and poor neighborhood, doing poorly in school, and so forth. Media violence not only exerts a substantial contribution to social violence in this manner, it also exerts an effect in terms of the negative outcomes of social violence on the lives of the people who are involved in it. Thus, it seems reasonable to conclude that based on all of the reviewed findings, media violence does exert a substantial effect on social violence even though it is not the only contributor.

Deborah Talls From Where We Stand :: Deborah Tall Where Stand Essays

Deborah Tall's From Where We Stand In her book, From Where We Stand, Deborah Tall, tells us the story of coming to Geneva, New York, to begin teaching. It is a personal account of coming to terms with a new and foreign place. It gives us the chance of watching her learn about landscapes, people, and history. It moves through time, through her own life, and especially through motherhood. In the end, and after more than a decade, she gives us the signs of what it means to live out of and within the place where you are. Perhaps the poet is uniquely qualified to consider this issue of place. When Martin Heidegger attempted to understand "place" and "home," he turned to poets like Friedrich HÃ ¶lderlin. Similarly, we can read poems and essays by Gary Snyder --- for instance, The Practice of the Wild or A Place in Space --- or N. Scott Momaday --- for instance, The Man Made of Words. Wallace Stegner's Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs is a collection of essays about "living and writing in the West." John Brinkerhoff Jackson takes us on a tour of American landscapes in his book A Sense of Place, a Sense of Time. And Wes Jackson's Becoming Native to This Place is based on his personal experiences of settling in a little formerly abandoned Kansas farm town, to establish his Land Institute. Virtually all of these writers share a common feeling that mainstream American society has lost its roots. With our extreme mobility we have lost connectedness with the land. We tend to avoid what is unique and defining of landscapes and to look for what is common or universal. When we drive through small communities, we stop to eat at the Burger King or McDonalds instead of investigating Aunt Sue's Loggers' Cafe. In a way, we have invented "everyplace" by universalizing the common things that we expect and seem to need --- familiar motel facades, common fast food menus, universal cable TV access, etc. But what these authors question is whether "everyplace" is really a "place" at all, hence, whether it serves the needs of being grounded in a place, knowing a landscape, feeling the history of habitation, belonging. Here are some personal observations. When Mammoth Mountain was aggressively developed as a ski resort, in the early 70s, traffic began picking up on US395, running through the town of Bishop.

In the novel “of Mice and Men” show how Steinbeck represents the theme of loneliness Essay

The name of the author of this novel is John Steinbeck. He wrote this novel in 1936 and it was published in 1937. The novel is set in a ranch, which is near the town of Soledad, California. Steinbeck got the name for his novel from a poem by Robert Burns called â€Å"To a mouse, on turning her up in her nest with the plough. At the time this novel was written America was in the period of the Great Depression. This meant people could not find many permanent jobs and so had to travel around the country looking for work. This meant that the workers were sometimes away from their families for a long time and had to travel alone just to try make some money. This was a very bad period in the American history with a high rate of suicide and many people got bankrupt. Usually the workers would stay in a job for a few weeks after which they would travel to find another job, this meant they did not have much time to make friends and so often were very lonely. The main characters in â€Å"of Mice and Men† are George and Lennie. The story is based around them and their time at the ranch. Some of the other important characters are Slim, Curly, Curly’s wife and Candy. This novel has many themes in it which include loneliness, the dreams of the workers and also apartheid and sexism. Some of the characters who are lonely are Curly’s wife and Crooks. These two are lonely because first of all Crooks is as Black person and at the time Black people did not have the same rights as White people. This meant that Crooks had no one to talk to and usually had to spend time by himself. After a while of spending time completely on his own Crooks thinks that he could be going crazy and he really wants some company. I know this because in chapter four Crooks is talking to Lennie and he say, â€Å"I seen things out here. I wasn’t drunk. I don’t know if I was asleep. If some guy was with me, he could tell me I was asleep, an’ then it would be all right. But I just don’t know.† This shows that Crooks has been on his own for too long, and now he is not even sure of what is real and what is not. Crooks does not have any dreams because he has been at the ranch for a long time and has seen many people’s dreams destroyed. Another person who is lonely is Candy’s wife. She is lonely because she is a woman and so none of the men really talk to her. Also because she is the only woman on the ranch she has no other women to talk to either. This means she gets very lonely, however she does try talk to the men sometimes, but this has a bad affect. This is because the men think she is some type of whore or a slut who is trying to manipulate or use them in some way. This is unfair on Curly’s wife because they do not know her and all she wants is some company. Also Curly’s wife is from the city and so does not know how to do the ranch work and so she usually has to stay in the house on her own. Candy does not like Curly’s wife because he thinks she is a tart. The ranch in the novel is near a town called Soledad, however because there are no buildings or people very close to the ranch itself, people inside only have each other to talk to and because Curly’s wife is the only female she has no one to talk to and so feels isolated. This is also the case for Crooks because he is the only Black person on the ranch. In the novel, George is a migrant worker who has been traveling around America doing odd jobs with his fellow companion Lennie. George is a small man with small strong hands, dark face and sharp restless eyes. From his description I can see that George is a clever and careful character. Lennie on the other hand is a big man with large pale eyes, and sloping shoulders. His movement had a bear like quality and the way he is described in the novel makes him sound like an animal. George and Lennie travel together because they are friends and have known each other a long time. Also it would be better then traveling alone, because they would have no other companions and so would be lonely. At the start of the novel George and Lennie are in a natural clearing a few miles away from the ranch. They have not got any money because they had to buy bus tickets and had to flee the last town because Lennie got into trouble. George and Lennie have a good friendship but at times it seems that it is a relationship between and father and son. George seems to take the roll of the father and Lennie the son. Even though George complains about Lennie and says that he would be much better off without Lennie, he still needs Lennie for companionship. I know this because in chapter one George says, â€Å"God a’ mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job a job an’ work, an’ no trouble.† This shows that George sometimes does wish he is alone because Lennie is sometimes just too much trouble and he thinks that if he didn’t have to look after Lennie then he wouldn’t have all this money trouble. Although, even though he sometimes wishes that Lennie wasn’t around he knows that he couldn’t live without him. I know this because when Lennie tells George that he can leave if George wants him to and says he can go live in the hills. George apologiz es to Lennie for shouting at him and tells him to stay with him. George and Lennie both share a dream. Their dream is to own a piece of their own land where they can live and feed themselves. This is the American dream. For George and Lennie the dream makes them think they are different to the other workers. George tells Lennie how most workers make some money then spend it all in some brothel or bar He then tells Lennie how they are different. He tells him how they have each other and they have a dream that they are working towards. For George and Lennie their dream is very important because it is a way they are getting through life. The dream gives them hope, and that is one human feature that always seems to make people believe that everything will be ok and they will be happy. John Steinbeck shows that their dream is an ideal because it is just too perfect. The dream is about George and Lennie having their own land on which they will have rabbits, a cow and grow vegetables. Also the ways Lennie describes the rabbits shows that it is just a fantasy. He says they will be all different colours, like yellow and green. The readers know that this is impossible and yet they sympathize with Lennie because of his child like innocence. In chapter four George is with the rest of the men at a brothel called Susy’s. Even though they have gone there to get some relief after the long day they have had, it is quite hypocritical of George to be going to this brothel because he says that he is not one of the men who just goes there and spends all his money. Although we are not told if he does spend any money there it is quite likely he does spend some. This means he is being a hypocrite. In chapter four Lennie goes into Crooks room without being invited. In this chapter Lennie is in Crooks control and when Crooks starts telling Lennie that George has left him and won’t come back Lennie believes him and then gets angry. Crooks calms him down because Lennie can be very dangerous when he gets angry or upset. After a while Candy comes in and he and Lennie start telling Crooks about their dream and how it will come true. Even though George told them not to tell anyone they tell Crooks anyway because he is Black and they think it won’t matter if he knows. Candy is an old man who has been at the ranch for a long time. He has been allowed to stay there because his hand was cut off in one of the machines at the ranch. At the ranch he works as a floor sweeper. Candy is lonely because he is considered just to be an old man and none of the workers really talk to him that much. He did have a dog which was very important to him because he was his only companion and he had owned the dog since it was a puppy, unfortunately for him the dog became too old and so had to be shot. Also it hurt him more because he was not able to shoot him and the dog was shot by someone else. Crooks is lonely because he is a Black person and on the ranch he is the only one. They do not let him stay in the barn with the rest of the workers and so he has no one to talk to. He only has his books and they are very important to him because they are a form of companionship. Crooks and Candy are both lonely because they have no one who they can really talk with and make friends with. In chapter four they have been left behind while the rest go to Susy’s cathouse because Candy is considered to be too old and Crooks is Black and so cannot go into many places. Candy gets involved in George and Lennie’s dream because after his dog gets shot, Candy over hears George and Lennie talking about it and asks them if he could be apart of it. He says he is willing to pay and pays much more ten both George and Lennie combined. This dream gives Candy new hope and therefore feels livelier. When Crooks first hears about the dream he is quite critical about it but the further he hears about it the more convinced he becomes. However he has seen too many peoples dreams broken and so he says he does not want to be apart of it. Steinbeck shows that without dreams people have no hope and without hope life seems to be worthless. He shows that people need dreams, however farfetched they are, so that they feel they have goals and something to look forward to. Crooks has a more realistic attitude towards dreams, he says in chapter four that dreams get destroyed and it ruins people lives. I can show this because he says, â€Å"an’ every damn one of ’em’s got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never a god-damn one of ’em ever gets it.† This is proof that Crooks is more realistic and he knows how the world works. He knows that people never seem to make their dreams come true. Curly’s wife is quite young and beautiful. She is lonely because she has no one to talk to. She married Curly because she was upset with her mother and so does not really love Curly. She is a trophy wife for Curly. In chapter four she is the one in charge of all the misfits. She knows this and so she behaves quite badly and is mean to Crooks. When Crooks tells her to get out she tells him to be quiet or she will get him hanged. She tells him that all she has to do is scream rape and he will be hanged. This shows that Curly’s wife also has an evil side. In this novel Steinbeck is sexist to women. He does not even give Curly’s wife a name, and makes her look like a tart. Also most of the other characters think she is a bad woman, George gives her names such as â€Å"jail-bait† and â€Å"tart†. Curly’s wife also has a dream. Her dream is to become a star and become rich and famous. She is quite gullible, we know this because she tells Lennie about a man telling her he would take her to Hollywood and make her a star, but in reality he just wanted her. Curly’s wife’s loneliness leads to her to own death because she is so desperate to talk to someone she starts to talk to Lennie. Lennie has a childlike mind and so does not really understand her and they both talk about two different things, but for Curly’s wife just being with someone is good enough. She then lets him stroke her hair and when Lennie does not let go, she starts screaming, this makes Lennie confused and frightened and so he suffocates her. The writer has shown loneliness in this novel through the actions the characters take and the things they say. Some of the similarities between the lonely characters are that, that both Crooks and Candy are treated differently. This leads to them wanting to get involved in George and Lennie’s dream. Also Curly’s wife is similar to these two characters because she is a woman, but between the three characters she is the most powerful one. Lennie and Candy are similar because they are both coping with life through their dreams. The writer is saying that loneliness is a curse itself and people react in different ways to it. He is trying to say that humans cannot survive when they are lonely and sometimes can go crazy. The novel â€Å"of Mice and Men† is a tragedy and the writer shows that George and Lennie’s friendship is doomed from the start. He shows that even though they need each other they will never be successful with their dream. With Lennie’s death the dream is over for both George and Candy. Without Lennie George will have no companionship and so he will be the same as the rest of the migrant workers. George shot Lennie because even though Lennie did not realize it, he had committed a crime and taken a person’s life. George knew that Lennie had gone too far this time and knew that he had no other choice. Also he did not want the others to find him because they would have made him suffer and George would not have been able to see that happen. I think that in some ways he did do the right thing because if he let the others find Lennie they would have put him through trials and tortured him, however maybe he should have let the justice system deal with the case instead of taking matters into his own hands. The theme of loneliness in this novel is a very good reflection of the social and economic settings of the 1930’s. I think this because many of the issues it covers are typical of the 1930’s, such as racism and sexism.

What Is Muriatic Acid Facts and Uses

Muriatic acid is one of the names for hydrochloric acid, a corrosive strong acid. It is also known as spirits of salt or acidum salis. Muriatic means pertaining to brine or salt. The chemical formula for muriatic acid is HCl. The acid is widely available at home supply stores. Uses of Muriatic Acid Muriatic acid has many commercial and home uses, including the following: Industrial synthesis of vinyl chloride and polyvinyl chloride (PVC)Food additiveGelatin productionDescalingLeather processingHousehold cleaning (when diluted)Pickling of steelProduction of inorganic chemical compoundspH control of water, food, and drugsRegenerating ion exchange resinsPurification of table saltBuilding constructionTo dissolve rock in oil productionOccurs naturally in gastric acid to digest food A Note About Concentration Muriatic acid isnt pure hydrochloric acid, nor is there a standard concentration. Its important to check the product label to know the concentration. Some industrial suppliers offer muriatic acid that is 31.5 percent HCl by mass (20 Baumà ©). However, other common dilutions include 29 percent and 14.5 percent.   Muriatic Acid Production Muriatic acid is prepared from hydrogen chloride. Hydrogen chloride from any of a number of processes is dissolved in water to yield hydrochloric or muriatic acid. Muriatic Acid Safety Its important to read and follow safety advice given on the acid container because the chemical is highly corrosive and also reactive. Protective gloves (e.g. latex), eye goggles, shoes, and chemical-resistant clothing should be worn. The acid should be used under a fume hood or else in a well-ventilated area. Direct contact can cause chemical burns and damage surfaces. Exposure can damage the eyes, skin, and respiratory organs irreversibly. Reaction with oxidizers, such as chlorine bleach (NaClO) or potassium permanganate (KMnO4)  will produce toxic chlorine gas. The acid can be neutralized with a base, such as sodium bicarbonate, and then rinsed away using a copious volume of water.