Augustine of Hippo argues that all suffering is the result of the punishment of sin. Misinterpretations of his meaning are common since isolated statements taken from his works do give misleading and contradictory impressions. This dissertation assembles a comprehensive account of Augustine’s understanding of the causes of suffering to show that these views are substantive and internally consistent. The argument of the dissertation proceeds by confronting and resolving the apparent problems with Augustine’s views on sin and punishment from within the broader framework of his anthropology and metaphysics. The chief difficulty is that Augustine gives two apparently irreconcilable accounts of suffering as punishment. In the first, suffering is viewed as self-inflicted because sin is inherently self-damaging. In the second, God inflicts suffering in response to sin. This dissertation argues that these views are united by Augustine’s concern with the theme of ‘order.’ The first account, it argues, is actually an expression of Augustine’s doctrine that evil is the privation of good; since good is for Augustine synonymous with order, we can then see why he views all affliction as the concrete experience of disorder brought about by sin. This context in turn allows us to see that, by invoking the notion of divinely inflicted punishment in both its retributive and remedial forms, Augustine wants to show that disorder itself is embraced by order, either because disorder itself must obey laws, or because what is disordered can be reordered. In either case, Augustine’s ideas of punishment may be seen as an expression of his conviction that order in the universe is unassailable. It is hoped that these observations contribute to a greater appreciation not only of Augustine’s theory of punishment, but also of the extent to which the theme of order is fundamental to his thought.

In Purple Hibiscus, Adichie describes what happens in a family when one person, Papa Eugene, takes control and completely subjugates other family members to his wishes and demands. The author shows the dire consequences his actions have on his family but also how those actions ultimately lead to his own destruction. This essay links the restrictions and abuse suffered by Kambili and her family to Michel Foucault’s theories on torture and surveillance as detailed in Discipline and Punish. Foucault’s theories are linked to Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon in order to further introduce the concept of surveillance. The essay describes the physical and psychological abuse suffered by the family and also details the surveillance and torture techniques used by Papa Eugene to stay in control. Moreover, it argues that power can be lost through applying too much control and by metering out punishment that is too harsh and it shows how such actions ultimately lead to rebellion.

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This thesis examines the role of the hegemon in the international response to genocide. The study looks specifically at the role of the United States and the post Cold War cases of genocide to determine how the United States encouraged or discouraged a response to genocide. By using the plausibility probe method, this study finds that the role of the hegemon is an important one that should be studied further to understand the impact of the hegemon on the international response to genocide.

Since its discovery in 1984, psychological investigators have continued to explore the Flynn Effect, the phenomenon of consistent and secular IQ gains within industrialized nations approximating 0.3 points per year. The most contentious debate within this field of research surrounds the purported cause of the Effect, and yet the research literature lacks a synthesis of the leading causal theories and the evidence supporting them. The principal hypothesized causal mechanisms – psychometric artifact, educational intervention, environmental changes, nutrition, genetics, gene-environment interaction model, medical improvements, and the multiplicity hypothesis – are reviewed and analyzed within the larger breadth of Flynn Effect scholarly literature. Flynn Effect causal investigation has not yielded any decisive results, and the unproductive postulation of causal theories has recently stagnated, so researchers must accept a necessary shift in the focus of their research toward a more collaborative and holistic understanding of the Effect in order to effectively determine its causes. Extensive social implications of the Effect within the scopes of special education and judicial policy necessitate the expedited revitalization of Flynn Effect research such that contemporary society may be better able to appropriately incorporate the Effect into public policy.

Construction ¡§traffic control system of high-speed road network Northern traffic information management and coordination command center systems engineering" Vendor, RPTI, due to execute his right to stop, causing to others under construction engineering progress into delay or even halt, Furthermore, causing irreparable damage to the public interest. This action will also affect either the progress to be procrastinating, or failure of the entire project of construction plan. In a word, it stalls off the development of the ITS industrial. This paper aimed at studying the case manufacturers suffer administrative relief and derivative right to stop financial crises, and finally to the brink of bankruptcy. Stopped right disputing caused by uncertain legal concept of cognitive difference. Once the vendor has been suspended for the execution of the contract likely to have non-compliance or abuse of the fact that compliance; legal system face the compliance phase of the case as a stop right to the subject, but also derivative is easy to mediation and complaint competing, as well as administrative litigation court rejected status; complaint Review lengthy process to consider the judgment as if the provisions of the appeal decision has resulted in the responsible entity procurement operations distress. The vendor will be published in the Government Procurement Gazette by the responsible organization. As the result, it might be more difficulty to maintain the business; moreover, the published not only announce to loss of right of government bidding; even worse, will affect the company¡¦s Goodwill and survival of business. The Suspended punishment of the Government Procurement Law system, whether is appropriateness, and the further influencing factors of overall competitiveness. Made by MICHAEL PORTER¡¦s diamond theory, "stop right" under the "other external factors opportunities (opportunity and Government policy) "An analysis of the State ITS industrial competitiveness. Diamond combination of the four factors is well and available, but opportunities exist does not necessarily help to enhance the competitiveness of industry, but counterproductive injury, will allow businesses or companies collapse, or even disappear. As the ITS industry as the government established policy of the Department of National Infrastructure, the opportunity this factor evolved out of the results of the company, the enterprise, the whole industry chain and even the country's competitiveness will be immeasurable. Therefore, this article will discuss actual cases of the case manufacturer¡¦s discussion. RPTI is to the brink of bankruptcy, forced to dissolve, engineers, technicians. Subsequently, a large number of employees left, the company¡¦s core values (the process of information technology and intelligent transportation systems technology and system integration capabilities) gone, the competitiveness of the domestic intelligent transportation industry will thus setback

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed July 10, 2008). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 370-386).

Thesis (doctoral)--Humboldt-Universität, Berlin, 2002.

This study is an investigation of whether familial relationships among offenders and their victims affect capital sentencing. Using a sample of capital cases from North Carolina restricted to familial homicides, logistic regression models are used while controlling for legal and extra-legal factors that influence decision outcomes. Such models of capital sentencing are developed to (1) determine whether familial-victim cases have unique correlates; and (2) whether there are variations in the effects of these correlates across gender. Contradictory to these hypotheses, results suggest that acquaintance and stranger relationships are less likely to receive a capital outcome when compared to familial relationships. Therefore, in North Carolina it appears that familial relationships receive capital outcomes more frequently than other types of victim-offender relationships.