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The Impact of Violating Folkways in Society

Folkways can be generally defined as the social customs or conventions of daily life in a given society. They are not formal laws but rather the unspoken “rules” of society that guide people’s behaviors without any serious consequences upon violation (Kendall, 8). It is evident across the globe, that most if not all societies not only have set rules and laws that govern acceptable behaviors, but have also formulated social control developed by social groups that encourage conformity to rules, laws and norms and discourages deviance.

Folkways may vary from one society to the other. This implies that a certain action may be seen as socially acceptable in a certain culture but it may be unacceptable in another community. Moreover, some behaviors may be regarded as normal in a specific environment but the same behaviors might be considered abnormal in a different context. For example, it might be seen as normal if a man walks bare chest at the beach while he might seem to be insane if he enters a bus in the same way. Folkways are mostly confused with conformity and are only recognized when they are violated. Personally, I violated a folkway by sitting next to a stranger in a restaurant and the reactions were fascinating.

 

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The Norm I Violated

The norm I violated was intruding personal space by sitting next to a stranger in a restaurant. I went to the restaurant during unusual hours when I was absolutely sure that there were a minimal number of guests. Most of the seats were empty and the few clients in the room were scattered around and almost everyone was on a table alone. Typically, most Americans are likely to choose an empty table if everyone else seems unfamiliar so that they can eat undisturbed. Hence, I decided to intentionally break this custom to see the reactions and outcome of the encounter. I entered the restaurant and after exploring the room for a moment I noticed a young girl seated alone at the farthest corner seemingly communicating with someone over the phone. I went past all the tables including the empty ones and seated right next to her and started looking around the room innocently.

How I Felt While Being Deviant

My decision to violate the folkway was purposeful because I wanted to see how deviant behavior influences other people’s behavior. I wanted to experience the social forces of conformity firsthand. Therefore, I sat next to the girl and stayed calm to experience the awkward moment I had caused between the two of us. Personally, I did not feel as much embarrassed because I already knew what to expect in that situation. Instead, I felt some kind of excitement while I watched keenly not to miss any single reaction from the girl to better understand the effects of violating folkways.

The Reactions I Received

I received several reactions from the girl during the encounter as a direct result of breaking the folkway. For example, she immediately stopped talking and did not say a word to the person on the phone although the phone remained glued on the ear as she gazed at me. This prompted her to end the call prematurely. Surprised with my advances, she quickly put the phone into her handbag which was laying on the table. I was a little bit surprised and uneasy trying to guess her next move. It became clear to me that I had intruded into her personal space. Moreover, I also received the most annoying glare from the girl when we made an eye contact. The eye contact did not last for three seconds as she quickly looked away. This was really an awkward moment. The girl also showed signs of disturbance as she seemed unsettled and kept looking around and probably figuring out how to get out of the situation. From her eyes I could tell that everything was not alright. She kept rolling her eyes and taking deep breaths. Finally, after accomplishing my goal I decided to break the tension by greeting her and explaining to her the reason for my actions. She became excited and opened up on how she had felt awkward.

She told me she had a mixed reactions. At first, she thought I knew her the first moment I approached her. Secondly, she thought I was one of the womanizers around who had interest in her. However, her last thought about me left me surprised as she thought I was a thief whose mission was to steal from her and that is the reason she kept her phone in the handbag so that she could easily escape at my slightest provocation. Curious of why she thought I was a thief, I asked her if I looked like one. Her argument was that if I knew her I would have greeted her and inform her immediately I reached the table. Consequently, if I wanted to seduce her, I would have at least have a formidable conversation with her. After evaluating all the two possibilities, she was left with no reason but to think that I had a plan of stealing from her and she was about to move from that particular table if I would have uttered a word.

Analysis and Theories of Deviance

The experience in the case scenario above demonstrated the intense social pressures for conformity in our communities. Kendall (2017) lists various sociological theories that can be used to explain deviant behaviors in society. For example, structural functionalism perceives crime and deviance as essential aspects of any society. Social conflict explains that deviance occurs due to unequal power distribution where the powerful consider the others as deviant. Moreover, the symbolic interactionism theory contends that deviance arises due to social processes like labeling and differential association. Finally, the postmodernism paradigm suggests that deviance develops from the forceful acquisition of the free will of others by categorizing certain groups as deviant by default even at a young age. For the above case, I think that the symbolic interactionism best explains the scenario in which social labeling and beliefs about privacy influenced the girl’s reactions.

Conclusion

In summary, folkways are not formal laws but the general social principles that guide the behaviors of people within a culture. Typically, social rules usually vary from one society to the other. Violation of folkways can trigger unusual reactions among people as demonstrated in the case scenario where I seated next to a stranger in a restaurant. Symbolic interactionism could be used to explain such a case because it explains how deviance develops as a result of social processes.

Work cited

Kendall. D. Sociology in Our Times. 8th ed., Cengage Learning, 2017, pp. 8-15.

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Transformative Leadership: Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s Impact at Duke University

Introduction

Many responsibilities come with being a leader. It is not just a matter of being appointed and become the boss but rather one’s ability to inspire and be a role model to the people. A further role of being a leader is to be able to produce a team that is productive and has the capability of putting their skills into use. It is not easy to reach the fifth level of leadership but with dedication and hard work it is achievable. Many historical leaders have reached the pinnacle level of leadership and they are appraised for the tremendous job work they commit themselves to. This paper is going to discuss Coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke University baseball team. His characteristics and achievements and how they relate to the characteristics of leadership in the five levels of leadership.

 

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Background Information

Michael William Krzyzewski was famously known by his nickname “Coach K” is the head coach of men’s basketball at Duke University. He was born on February 13th, 1947 in Chicago. Mike has served as the head coach at Duke University for 37 years; from 1980 to the present. He previously served as the head coach in the United States military academy. He has a total of 47 years in his career as a basketball coach.

In his career, Michael Krzyzewski has proven to be the best through his series of successes. In the history of men basketball division 1, no coach has won as many games as he has. He has earned himself several awards through his hard work and dedication as a coach and a mentor to the basketball team. It is through his great leadership and accomplishments that have inspired the young players of Duke University to aim the sky in basketball. Under his leadership, several players have won the title of national players of the year including Danny Ferry in 1989.

Apart from the success that coach mike has brought to the university in general, including making the team the best and longest ranked (number 1 seven times) among other teams in the AP polls, he has scooped so many awards as the leader of the team. According to his achievements Coach, Mike deserves every award that he has won so far.

He has been instated into the hall of fame about four times the latest being in 2011 where he was instated into the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame. He was named the National Coach of the year so many times but the recent one was in 2001. In 2004 he was named the Claire bee coach of the year, this award was for the coach who had made a positive impact on the basketball sport. Coach K has won several historical awards that he is among the few who have ever received awards this includes the Wayman Tisdale Humanitarian Award in 2012. These are just a few of the many awards that this coach has won in his coaching career. This is a clear indication of the kind of a leader he is, that he deserves to be called a fifth level leader.

Leadership Analysis

Level 1-Position Leadership

Level one is a starting point of every leader, so it is all up to the particular person to move on or stay at this level and boss people around for his/her appointed position. Maxwell (2011) considers the people at this level to be bosses, not leaders because anyone can be given a position but moving forward is not for everyone. His elaboration of the upside level of level 1, Maxwell (2011) claims that being appointed shows the potential one has in leadership. He goes ahead to highlights that leadership position comes with power and authority so the leader must prove that they deserve it. As stated earlier in the position level, the appointed person should have the ability to grow.

True leaders get off the mentality of being the boss and use their skills to get people to work. To grow a leader should initiate interaction with subordinates so that people can share their needs (Maxwell, 2011). The appointed leader needs to dedicate themselves to their jobs and focus on the vision.

From the characteristics of the level, one leadership listed above it is obvious that Coach Mike started from this point of being appointed as the head coach. His potential to make a great leader for the team was seen in his previous involvement in coaching. He was seen fit to be the university’s basketball head coach because of his previous enrollment in the U.S Military Academy (Duke, 2018). This is clearly seen in how he carries his work of disciplining the team and how he can deal with the mentally tough generation to produce the best.

When Coach Mike was being appointed back in 1980, they were looking for a strong leader that will carry on the success of the blue devils, by his achievements coach K has proved that he is worthy of the power and authority. He is a man with vision, his focus as the appointed was to focus on the success of the team that is why he has a quality program for the players that runs the recruitment to the performance of the team (Duke, 2018).

Level 2 Permission Leadership

In level two levels of leadership, is all about relationships. How to cement your relationship as a leader with the subordinates. It stops being about you as a leader but about how you treat and value the people you work with. Knowing your people and the people getting to know their leader creates a solid relationship, this creates an enjoyable working environment. It also motivates and boosts energy in the working areas. For leaders to achieve this level they have to be good listeners, respect, and trust people (Maxwell, 2011). When people are trusted they will feel free to share their strengths and their fears this will help the leader to come up with a strategy that will make his/her team productive by overcoming their weaknesses.

A leader who is willing to grow should encourage his/her team always and let them know that you care to maintain a positive relationship. A leader should possess the character of understanding your people, try to connect with them, and put into consideration where you are coming from.

According to Conley (2011), Coach K focuses on building the trust between him and the players because it is a vital trait for the players to transform their potential into performance. In a post-game interview Coach, K was asked to point out one characteristic of a coach that can make them successful as he is. This is how he answered:

“I think you have to be trustworthy. You have to take the time to develop a relationship that’s so strong with each player, and hopefully with the team, that they will trust you. They let you in, and if they let you in, you can teach. If they don’t let you in, you’re never going to get there.”

The answer that he gave shows that he had what a level 2 leader was supposed to possess the spirit of building a relationship (Conley, 2011).

Level 3- Production Leadership

Leaders have to grow from level 2 where the working environment is enjoyable to make things happen and be productive. Great leaders that produce positive results and achieve the set goals are seen at this level. They are the leaders who take risks and make tough decisions to make a difference. At this level, it is the results of the leaders that inspire the people, this where the true leadership skills are put into use. Once the subordinates see the impressive performance of their leader, they will also work hard to follow suit.

For making most production in leadership, Maxwell (2011) suggests that the leader should focus on things that yield a high return, this can be achieved by working together. By understanding everyone’s production niche it will be easier to set team goals and working towards achieving them. Always communicate to your team what is expected of everyone including the leader.

From his overwhelming success, one can see how focused and full of vision Coach Mike is. Going by the characteristics of level 3 leadership, coach K was so productive and he set the standard for his players to emulate, which motivates them every time to perform better. Coach Mike based his training and overall program mostly on the outcome. From his quotes, his goal is to make Duke’s success in basketball continuous and made a program that will boost the team’s performance years to come (Duke, 2018).

Coach Mike’s productivity is also evident in the number of awards and the achievements that his team has attained. The team has won the national championship five times and the latest being in 2015. 6 players were awarded the national defensive players of the year. Several players won the players of the year (Duke, 2018). The list is endless for the remarkable results that the team produces under Coach Mike.

Level 4- People Development Leadership

This level points out what the leader has done personally to people to influence their lives using his power and position. By investing in them, the relationship strengthens and helps in building loyalty hence reproduction. Maxwell (2011) explains that growing the people in the company, is the same as growing the company. It is very beneficial for a company to equip its team with leadership skills because this gives the leader some time to focus on other relevant issues.

The focus of the leader at this point is to help others to develop and become productive as the leader. This can be achieved by showing them how to lead and help them do their job well and succeed. It is also recommended that the leader follows up on the people he/she was developing and maximizes their potential.

In his position as a leader of Duke’s basketball team coach, Mike is using his platform to develop leadership skills in the younger generation. He established the Emily Krzyzewski Center in Durham named after his late mother who passed away in 1996. Coach Mike was raised in a less privileged family; he was mostly supported by a community center and the hard work of his mother to get an opportunity to join college (Duke, 2018).

He is doing the same by funding the Emily Center so as other young students can get the same opportunity to go to college and become great leaders to transform their families and communities. By allowing the economically disadvantaged students, empowering them for the future, and making them productive, Coach Mike is exhibiting strong leadership characteristics of being an inspiration and a blessing to many.

Level 5 –Pinnacle Leadership

This is the highest level of leadership and the most difficult. At this level, people follow you for what you represent. Very few leaders reach this level and if they do they portray a high level of talent and skills. Many leaders after reaching this point feel satisfied and think that they are done growing or learning but that is not the case, leaders at this level should continue developing other leaders and create a level 5 organization that will create a legacy within the same organization (Maxwell, 2011). As a skilled and talented leader, at this level, they should remain focused and stick to the vision. Other leaders come all the way to this level and get carried away by power and position and forget about their initial goal.

Despite his countless achievements and the many honors that he has received, Coach K has remained focused and has not been distracted by his fame and success. He is continuous to mentor young people in his team and outside to becoming great people. As much as he a sports leader, the coach always encourages them to work hard in their study and excel in their academics as well. Several players including, Mike Gminski, Jim Spanarkel, and others have been awarded the academic all-America Award.

Conclusion

From what we have learned from Maxwell’s 5 levels of leadership, it is correct to say that leadership is a calling and not everyone can make a great leader. From his characteristics and what he has been able to achieve, Coach Mike has earned the title of being the fifth level leader where very few people have managed to reach this level as leaders. His way of leading will be emulated by many for many years to come because Coach Michael Krzyzewski has left a legacy in the coaching world. I will close with a quote by John C. Maxwell that says “leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them”.

Reference

Conley, R. (2011). Be Like Mike – Duke’s Coach Krzyzewski’s Most Important Leadership TraitLeading with Trust. Retrieved 18 April 2018, from https://leadingwithtrust.com/2011/11/20/be-like-mike-dukes-coach-krzyzewskis-most-important-leadership-trait/

Maxwell, J. (2011). The five levels of leadership :|bproven steps to maximize your potential. New York: Center Street.

Duke. (2018). Men’s Basketball – Coaches – Duke University Blue Devils | Official Athletics Site – GoDuke.com. Goduke.com. Retrieved 18 April 2018, from http://www.goduke.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&SPID=1845&SPSID=22725

5/5 - (11 votes)

The Florida School Shooting and the Gun Control Debate in America

Introduction

  • According to CBSNews on the 14th of February 2018, the Florida School shooting was one of America’s largest mass shooting, that added up to the list of America’s history of mass shootings (1).
  • On this particular day Marjory Stoneman Douglas, a high school in Broward County in Florida tragically lost the lives of seventeen of its members (CBSNews 1).
  • CBSNews pointed out that, amongst these lost lives were three of the school’s members of staff and fourteen of the school’s students (1).
  • Not forgetting the seventeen other accounted for survivors who went through this tragic ordeal and escaped with several severe wounds.
  • CBSNews calls the Florida School shooting to be amongst the deadliest of America’s mass massacres (1).

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Mass shooting problem in America

  • The horrific ordeal of February 14th, 2018 triggered a bigger fire in the ongoing debate amongst two major movements and campaigns, the campaign for gun control in America and the campaign against gun control in America (PBS NewsHour 1).
  • This has been an ongoing battle over many years in the world, but mostly in the United States with aim of resolving the growing mass shooting issue in America (PBS NewsHour 1).
  • Wallenberg points out that mass shooting has been a growing menace in America over decades (5).
  • The growing number of reports of mass shootings in America presents a grave issue in America that needs to be resolved and eliminated in the long run, and as soon as possible (Wallenberg 5).
  • Giroux points out that the debate on gun control has been way overdue, and to come to a concrete long-lasting solution both sides of the debate need to be highly and equally considered (6).

Anti-gun point of view

  • The anti-gun campaign presents quite a strong argument to convince the United States Government towards stricter, and tougher policies to enable effective gun control in America (Giroux 11).
  • They argue that violent crimes are those committed with the use of guns and that most crimes committed by guns are those with legally purchased guns.
  • According to Gabor, the anti-gun campaign also points out that with gun control policy those with psychological and mental imbalance will be vetted out and will be unable to attain firearms (26).
  • Furthermore, with gun control, the number of suicides, as well as crimes of passion committed, are most likely to reduce.
  • Nevertheless, the anti-gun campaign argues that ownership of guns in households increases the risk of landing into children’s hands (Wallenberg 18).
  • Lastly, they stand firm in the belief that with gun control terrorist activities as well as mass shooting massacres such as the Florida school shooting are likely less to happen.

Pro-gun point of view

  • On the other hand, the pro-gun campaigns present facts and statistics that present a firm stronghold against the anti-gun campaign fight.
  • The pro-gun campaign argues that gun ownership is important for the protection of America’s citizen’s to prevent them from criminals who utilize firearms as well (Giroux 22).
  • Giroux states that the pro-gun campaign points out that the second amendment to the United States Constitution protects the rights of citizens to own guns (22).
  • Also, they argue that the police are highly overwhelmed by the growing rate of crime and therefore need the support of the citizens to ensure security (Gabor 21).
  • According to Wallenberg, the pro-gun campaign points out that unnecessary gun control will fuel the black market (36).
  • They also argue that restricting gun ownership will enable tyranny in the Government, as well as limit the American citizen’s liberty.
  • Hunting will face rather harsh policies with the banning of gun ownership.
  • Lastly, the pro-gun debate argues that the entire gun control debate can be cure with the education of appropriate self-gun control.

Conclusion

  • With this raging debate, it is clear that for America to come up with a solution to avoid mass shootings such as the Florida school shooting it is important to carefully consider both sides of the debate, both for and against gun control in America.

Works cited

PBS NewsHour. “School Shootings like the One in Florida Are No Longer Rare. Are Schools More Prepared?” YouTube, YouTube, 14 Feb. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5ohynbsEMU.

CBCNews. “Florida School Shooting: What Happened on Feb. 14.” YouTube, YouTube, 16 Feb. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Tm1V2TokhU.

Copeland, Edward. “Money.” The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen, edited by Copeland and Juliet McMaster, Cambridge UP, 1997, pp. 131-48.

“America at War with Itself.” America at War with Itself, by Henry A. Giroux, City Lights Publishers, 2017, pp. 15–30.

“Confronting Gun Violence in America.” Confronting Gun Violence in America, by Thomas Gabor, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, pp. 10–60.

“The Pros and Cons of the Gun Control Debate: How Do Obama’s Laws Impact Gun Ownership.” The Pros and Cons of the Gun Control Debate: How Do Obama’s Laws Impact Gun Ownership, by Danica Wallenberg, Geezer Guides, 2013, pp. 1–50.

5/5 - (10 votes)

Behavior Intervention Planning: Utilizing FBA for Success

Using your FBA to guide your BIP

Goal statement

By 1/06/2018 Joe’s episodes of making disrespectful and loud language in class will decrease to three episodes in a month over a two-month period as measured by his class teacher on a recording sheet that records every event of disrespectful and loud language behavior in class

Current InformationFuture Intervention Planning
Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA)

See the full Ohio FBA form to begin Part 2

Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP)

See the full Ohio BIP form

Antecedent (and Setting Events) Summary:

Joe is a student in the fifth grade and is enrolled in elementary school campus. His major strength is that he easily makes new friends, likes helping his teachers and also has positive attitude. Joe has a bad tendency of making disrespectful and loud language in class. The setting events is always in an academic setting especially when he gets distracted from his learning experience when new skill is being learned. The trigger or the antecedent of the problem is when he is instructed to start working on a classroom assignment which he is struggling.

Antecedent-related intervention components:

Joe is completing or performing classroom assignments during the class time in every 4 out of 5 presented opportunities.

He is also provided by distraction free and acceptable free physical space.

The teacher assigns Joe academic tasks appropriate to his functional level 2 to 3 times a day. At first, the teacher usually reduces the number of assignments and increase them gradually in length or number depending on how Joe is showing success

Target Behavior details (summary of frequency, intensity, topography, duration, etc.):

Joe uses disrespectful, loud language, make loud gestures and throw things around.

Replacement behavior (identify the replacement behavior and how it will be taught as part of the intervention):

Joe receives assignments that are differentiated 2 to 3 times in a day and also asks for help or usually work with a partner on his assignments.

The teacher usually explains to Joe the rules and the expectations every day before any task. The rules are frequently reiterated using a neutral voice tone as well as providing him with the written list of what are expected. His understanding of the expectations and rules are also usually assessed

(Current) Consequence Summary:

He then gets attention from his fellow students and the teachers.

Consequence-related intervention components:

Joe normally receive positive feedbacks from his classmates or/and the teachers. The teacher also usually considers some tangible rewards.

The teacher usually uses immediate reinforcement frequently to demonstrate the desired behaviors such as classroom privileges, smile and praise. Thereafter, the teacher decreases the amount of positive reinforcements (5 to 10 in a day) that are immediate gradually but continue recognizing the desirable behaviors displayed by Joe with meaningful rewards to him.

Hypothesized function:

It is hypothesized that Joe’s behavior in nature is for seeking attention and is also a way of avoiding class work

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For your problem-solving team meeting

During class you will spend approximately 5-10 minutes reviewing the information in your completed FBA-to-BIP chart with at least 1 or 2 of your small discussion group members. Imagine you are holding a problem-solving team meeting.

Here, you should list specific questions that you have for your “team.” Consider requesting assistance from your team regarding (a) hypothesized function, (b) possible replacement behaviors and (c) hypothetical antecedent- or consequence-related intervention ideas.

Share this 2-page form with your peer(s) during the Live Session by either emailing it to them, asking them to find it on the discussion board post, showing your computer screen, or printing and showing the form.

Questions:

Work Cited

n.a. (2018). SECTION 9: BEHAVIORAL GOALS. The BIP Desk Reference.

5/5 - (11 votes)

Social Media’s Role in Crime Prevention: Facebook’s Obligations

Question 1. Discuss whether or not you believe that Facebook has a legal or ethical duty to rescue a crime victim.

Facebook is a social media platform for people to interact and its main purpose is to bring people closer regardless of the geographical location. According to my opinion, Facebook does not have any legal obligation to fight crime. The duty that Facebook has is an ethical responsibility to report any criminal content that circulates through the Facebook platform. Facebook is not to be blamed 100% for the occurrence of these crimes because the offenders would have done them in one way or the other. Everyone is to blame; there are Facebook users who saw the first video that had Mr. Stephens threatening to end the old man’s life and instead of reporting the video to the authorities they went ahead and shared it for more people to watch. The obvious blame that Facebook can carry is the time taken to realize that those videos are streaming and the time is taken to respond. Facebook did not cause the murder of Mr. Robert Godwin. If the murderer could not have used Facebook he would have found any other way to commit the heinous crime. It is the responsibility of every Facebook user to put an end to this new trend by being ethical enough to report disturbing content that will cause more harm than good (White, 2017).

 

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Question 2. Suggest and elaborate on three ways that social media platforms can be more proactive and thorough with their review of the types of content that appear on their sites.

  1. Through the terms and conditions put in place to govern the content of updates, stricter enforcement of sanity checks should also be employed to make sure that the content is ethical. Close monitoring of the information posted will make users cautious on what to publicly share and what not to.
  2. Once a violent video or comment has been detected, the Facebook company should automatically permanently disable the account of the offender and forward the details about that person to other social media platforms so that the perpetrator does not get another chance or platform to carry on his/her unethical behaviors.
  3. The company should enable easier reporting flow between them and their users to enhance communication and for the users to report to them easily in case of any violent content online. They can emulate Google Company where numerous reports are being received every hour from their users where they get updated on the challenges they face. The company in return offer assistance where applicable (Kozlowska, 2017).

Question 3. Propose safeguards that Facebook and other social media platforms should put in place to help prevent acts of violence from being broadcasted.

Nothing much can be done by Facebook to completely stop or prevent the violent video from airing. This is the reason why the CEO of the Facebook company did not have a precise answer on what measures or actions that he is going to put in place in his speech in San Jose during the annual developers’ conference. The far they can go is just improving in a few areas and sees what happens (Kozlowska, 2017). When it comes to video live streaming, it has its positive side; it is used to create awareness and educate people on different issues including abuse. When the effects of live streaming are viewed on this end, to eliminate its use is nearly impossible.

  1. One of the safeguards that the company can take is the use of artificial intelligence which is an automatic process that takes down any prohibited online material. Since this safeguard is already in place it can be enhanced by being used alongside humans who can detect and determine whether certain content is acceptable or not. So this means that Facebook Company should not solely rely on computers but employ more staff for crucial ethical decisions to be made.
  2. Another safeguard is that the company should come up with policies that impose strict and harsh sanctions against individuals who fail to abide by the terms and conditions and make sure that they face the full force of the law. This will serve as a warning and a lesson to anyone who plans to commit a crime through Facebook. By doing this the rate of crimes on Facebook and other social medial platforms will go down.

Question 4. Conduct research to determine whether or not Facebook has an ethics officer or oversight committee.

According to the research that I have conducted, it is clear that Facebook does not have an ethics officer or an oversight committee. Facebook Company should hire a chief ethicist to assist in decision-making during and for the preparation of tough situations. An ethical officer or oversight committee is very vital in a company in terms of developing ethical guidelines and a code of ethics to avoid future tragedies such as the killing in Cleveland. The company fired the people who managed the trending section and replaced them with algorithms due to political controversy. As much as machines can replace what human beings can do, they do not have the ability to make ethical and sound decisions. An ethical officer will highlight the consequences of any innovation that the company is making so as it does not backfire on their faces like in the case of live streaming. A chief ethicist will also play an important role in the process of making decisions on the company’s values and ideas. By hiring an ethical officer, Facebook Company will be in a position to avoid crises such as the murder of Mr. Godwin and many other cases (Heider, 2017 and Dreyfuss, 2017).

Question 5. Changes Facebook should adopt

In his speech, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that the company has a lot to be done on their side in preventing tragedies from happening through Facebook. The company made a promise to develop programs that will prevent such videos from spreading. New challenges in using Facebook arise daily; from issues of hate speech to account hacking. The company should be on the alert of the happenings on daily basis to update their systems accordingly. One change that Facebook can adopt is the employment of stricter enforcement of the information provided during the creation of a Facebook account. More details should be added such as the attachment of important documents like the national identity document and a criminal clearance certificate from the police department. With this information in the database, it will be easier to identify in case of anything and impossible to impersonate or own multiple accounts. Another change that Facebook should make is to revisit their terms and conditions and come up with clear ethical guidelines that one should agree to before an account creation is approved. They should include the involvement of the law if the guidelines are not strictly being followed (Nieva and Solsman, 2017).

References

Dreyfuss, E. (2017). The One Hire Facebook Really Needs to Make to Curb Violence. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/2017/05/one-hire-facebook-really-needs-make-curb-violence/

Heider, D. (2017). Why Facebook should hire a chief Ethicist. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/01/08/facebook-ethics-fake-news-social-media-column/96212172/

Kozlowska, H. (2017). Crime, live on video: The beast Facebook can’t control. Retrieved from https://qz.com/962843/facebook-cant-do-much-to-prevent-violent-videos-from-being-posted-but-it-can-deal-better-with-its-aftermath/

Nieva, R., & Solsman, J. (2017). Can Facebook solve its violent video problem?. Retrieved from https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-live-violence-cleveland-thailand/

White, M. (2017). What accountability does Facebook have? – The Houstonian. Retrieved from http://houstonianonline.com/2017/04/25/what-accountability-does-facebook-have/

5/5 - (14 votes)