Death Penalty Essays (2281 words) - Toxicology, Lethal Injection

Death Penalty Matchmaker.com: Sign up now for a free trial. Date Smarter! Death Penalty Electric chair, gas chamber, lethal injection, firing squad, hanging, guillotine, and garroting. When you hear these words what do you think of? Do you feel frightened? When some hear these words they tend to say, " Oh they deserve it". In the court system that is not always the case. The question you always have to ask yourself is what did the accused do and do they deserve the death penalty? What is bad enough to deserve death? Are their certain crimes that do and then some that do not? Almost every culture through out history has relied on the death penalty and capital punishment and justified as a necessary tool to maintain order. The only thing that changed throughout time were the crimes deemed punishable by death and the methods used to kill those found guilty. Some of the other countries' laws of capital punishment seem so barbaric. In ancient India, executions were sometimes carried out by having an elephant crush the condemned's head. Executions used to be public spectacles. In ancient Persia, one method of execution involved being eaten alive by insects and vermin. In the middle ages, methods of execution included chopping off limbs, stripping off the condemned person's skin, boiling in oil, drawing and quartering (cutting the persons innards and then tearing the body into four pieces), burning at the stake, and crucifixion. In 1692, a man refused to testify after his wife was accused of witchcraft and was " Pressed " to death. The sentence was carried out by lying him on a stone floor, placing a board over him, and piling stones upon the board. Benjamin Rush, credited with the beginning the movement to abolish capital punishment in the U.S, declared in 1792 that reform, not retribution, should be the goal of punishment. The Bible authorizes executing those who show contempt on their parents, walk without permission on sacred ground, practicing sorcery, sacrifice in foreign gods or who prostitute themselves. In the Bible Exodus 21:12 it says, " Whoever strikes a man a mortal blow must be put to death." Electrocution in the modern era. Electricity causes biological damage through both heat and electrochemical havoc. The electrical current itself abolishes the function of organs and tissues such as the brain, nerves, and heart by overwhelming the fragile bioelectrical basis of the metabolism. The voltage applied is not the most critical factor but is in fact, almost irrelevant as much as electrical pressure was a factor. The body can tolerate a lot of volts without discomfort. The type of electrical current, too, makes a difference-whether direct (DC) or alternating (AC). The latter is more dangerous and can be lethal even with low voltage and relatively low amperage. The alternating cycle of 60 per second, which is ordinary 110-120 volt house current, will invariably stop heart action through stand still or ventricular fibrillation if the body somehow becomes part of a circuit. The gas chamber. When sodium cyanide pellets are dropped into acid beneath the seated subject in a gas chamber, extremely lethal hydrogen cyanide is produced... Cyanide asphyxiates acts by choking the cells instead of blocking air intake. The gas, HCN, is rapidly absorbed into the blood stream through the lungs. The red blood cells are relatively immune to HCN. When delivered to all of the body's cells... Cyanide literally and rapidly chokes all the body's cells to death at the same time. Hanging proponents. Proponents of hanging as a more humane method objected to the practice of beheading...Advocates of hanging argued that if the noose were correctly applied to the neck, consciousness would disappear quickly due to the sudden and complete blockage of blood in the head, with resultant swelling of the brain and rupture of small blood vessels. People to whom this was done too that survived swore that there was no pain before they lost consciousness. In a sense any advantages of hanging would seem to be compromised when the "drop" was added. That the drop usually resulted in the breaking of the neck and the ripping of the spinal cord, thus essentially and much more crudely duplicating the results of decapitation without detaching the head. Lethal injection. Thiopental Sodium is a fast acting drug that produces almost short -term unconsciousness after a single dose, it is also used as a " truth serum " administered in small, intermittent, carefully calibrated hypnotic dosed while the subjects counts backward from 100. A trance-like, semi-consciousness is usually reached before the count gets to 90. To complete the lethal mixture for execution, society

Criminology essayEssay Writing Service

Criminology essayEssay Writing Service Criminology essay Criminology essayCesare Beccaria is known for his revolutionary role in the sphere of criminal science. He is the key thinker and initiator of the abolitionist movement who made a great contribution to criminology, mainly by introducing well grounded arguments against the death penalty that still evoke different opinions on whether it has been justified to implement such kind of punishment and whether people have a right to slaughter their fellows in such a brutal way. Back in 1764, the Italian thinker Cesare Beccaria published his writing widely known under the title On Crimes and Punishments. By writing this treatise, Beccaria aimed at arguing that there should be some proportion between crimes and punishments (Bessler, 2009). It seemed quite absurd to Beccaria that the laws, which were supposed to be the direct expression of the social acceptance, ought to allow the public murder.Beccaria stood for the elimination of the barbarous kinds of execution arguing that they are a violati on to the laws of nature. He voted for the liberty of every human being. He stated his position by saying that the death penalty cannot be perceived as a human right, but rather as the national war against citizens. The essence of his writing lies in the fact that he viewed the human life itself as a natural right calling for the abolition of the death penalty.   Thus, the contribution of Beccaria to criminology cannot be argued about, as in his philosophical writings, he expressed the strong and truly revolutionary opposition against the death penalty as a means of punishment. And his writings were the turning point for the criminal science in terms of the evolution of crime punishment. His writings attracted the attention of the public and authorities breaking the ancient views and raising a question of whether death penalty is at all justified. In order to break through the skeptical views on this matter, Beccaria expressed well grounded views against the barbaric and totally u seless tortures practiced by people who claimed to be wise (Bessler, 2009).Thus, the contribution of Cesare Beccaria to the development of criminal science should not be underestimated. Nowadays, people shudder with horror when reading about the violent tortures leading to unjustified deaths of numerous people who sometimes were severely punished without enough evidence that they were at all responsible for this or that criminal act (Carroll, 1998). The history bristles with the examples when totally innocent people have been severely executed by the authorities who used barbarous ways of punishment. In his writings, Beccaria expressed his indignity with death penalty, thus turning the whole criminal science upside down and causing a real revolution in the minds of people. Contemporary criminology perceives Cesare Beccaria as a key thinker who managed to give persuasive evidence that death penalty is not the right kind of punishment that should be applied even in case a person is to blame for severe criminal actions. Beccaria proclaimed the liberty of every human being and thus, taking away one’s life cannot be justified in any way.Part II. The main components of positivism and its roleThe notion of positivism finds its roots in the philosophy closely linked to logic, while criminology grew from the social science and became a major method of analyzing the essence of crime. Positivist movement was introduced in the late 19th century implementing a scientific approach to the criminology. Positivism evolved from biological theories emphasizing the idea of the so-called â€Å"born criminal† to the theories referring crime to psychological and social factors as the major cause of criminal action. The main component of positivism is logic that is based on three major aspects. These are biological, psychological and social ones. Positivism is all grounded on the rational approval or disapproval with scientific assertions (Barlow Kauzlarich, 2010). Unl ike other approaches to criminology, positivism aims at obtaining the objective facts and is much more concerned with revealing the meaning behind one’s actions.One of the key components of positivism is rationalism aimed at uncovering the reasons behind behavior digging deep into the psyche of certain categories of individuals. Positivism is characterized by the replacement of ideological views with scientific ones that are all based on rational theories. Positivism tried to reveal some sort of defect inside criminally inclined individuals causing prejudice towards criminal behavior itself.The major role of positivism is that it managed to avert the attention of criminal scientists from the classical standpoint that was widely promoted prior to the positivism movement. Here, it needs to be mentioned that classicism being first formulated by the prominent figure Cesare Beccaria was based on the idea that one’s decision to commit some kind of crime is rational assuming that all humans are by nature liable to commit crime (Comte Lenzer, 1998). And this was the main difference of classical criminal science from positivism that viewed criminals as fundamentally different individuals biologically, sociologically, psychologically or in a certain mixture of all these three aspects.Biological positivism was based on certain predisposition to the appearance of criminals and positivist scientists who explored this aspect created a whole description of the criminally inclined individual. Some of the positivist scientists supported the opinion that the blame should be removed from some individual criminals with biological defects on the grounds that these defects show that the individual acted without free will. Some other positivist scientists focused on the psychological and social factors as the major causes of criminal acts. The social positivists expressed an opinion that all people are to some extent affected by the environment, thus the criminal is a product of the society as it had direct influence on the criminal’s behavior. Finally, psychological positivism focused on the notions of aggression, violence, sexuality and psychopathology (Comte Lenzer, 1998). These scientists developed the theories of personality and strongly believed that the criminal behavior should be investigated on the basis of the offender’s personal psychological traits.Judging from the above stated facts, it can be concluded that positivism was wholly based on three main components: biological, social and psychological. All of these components form the basis of the positivist movement. In such a way, positivism surely made a great contribution to the evolution of criminal science.Part III. The role of prisons and their effectiveness in modern American societyThe role of prisons and their major functions cannot be identified without giving a definition of the notion of prison itself. It needs to be mentioned that over the past decades, the role of prisons has evolved. People tend to view prisons as correctional institutions, however, their definition changes along with the constantly changing American society (Gilling, 1997). Prisons are generally considered to be special state institutions that limit the liberty of convicted offenders for the sake of social security, but this definition seems to be no longer accurate (Lombroso, Gibson Rafter, 2006). The philosophy concerning incarceration and its major role has changed from rehabilitation to limitation of freedom of those individuals who pose some sort of threat to the public safety and security. Today, criminalists perceive prisons’ major function as keeping offenders away from the public in order to ensure the public safety and avoid repetition of crime (MacCormick, 1950).The justification for imprisonment lies in the fact that it reduces the crime rate within the country. And this is probably one of the most actively debated issues in modern days. Some cri minal scientists argue that the increase of prison populations does not necessarily reduce criminal activity (O’Brien Yar, 2008). Thus, it is arguable whether imprisonment leads to the decline of crime rates. Simply locking up the offenders does not guarantee the safety of common public in the streets, although to some extent it is really so. However, the essence of crime is quite complex, and that is why there is no definite answer to whether prisons are at all effective in modern society.In fact, it should be admitted that nowadays prisons cannot be perceived as the most effective or desirable policy for ensuring social safety. In the United States, however, prisons are still used as the basic means of keeping criminals away from the public. Nonetheless, prisons have long stopped being means of either correction or rehabilitation. And thus, their effectiveness has considerably dropped. Although it is evident that prisons provide the society with some kind of protection fro m crime by keeping offenders away from the public for some period of time, all this does not ensure that criminal activities will extinct (Sampson Laub, 1993). Modern American society surely seeks to protect itself against the violent acts of certain individuals, but imprisonment is hardly the most effective way to achieve this. And even extremely long sentences for some kinds of crimes or life imprisonment cannot guarantee that the American society can live in a peaceful environment without any criminal activity around. Thus, there should be found some alternative and more effective ways of preventing crimes and reducing crime rates.ConclusionTo conclude, the above research investigated different aspects of criminal science. Firstly, it gave a full-fledged analysis of the contribution of Cesare Beccaria to criminology and the sociology of deviance. It needs to be said that Cesare Beccaria played a revolutionary role in the way that he was among the key thinkers who voted for the a bolishment of death penalty that was customary in ancient times. He managed to reveal the essence of such kind of punishment showing that it is a violation of basic human rights. His contribution lies in the fact that he has given evidence and much justified information on the negative sides of death penalty as a direct violation of the laws of nature. Thus, his contribution to the criminal science should in no way be underestimated.Secondly, the presented research revealed the basic features of positivism and its key components that are categorized as social, psychological and biological. All of these essential components of positivism have been fully discussed and argued about. The research also pointed out that positivism is all about rational thinking based on scientific logic. Such issue as the role of positivism for the evolution of criminal science has also been defined and investigated. Its major role implies turning from the classical school of criminology to a new and tota lly different one.Thirdly, the research analyzed the role and effectiveness of prisons as means of ensuring social security within the United States. In fact, prisons have stopped being institutions of rehabilitation or punishment, but turned into the institutions that keep criminals away from common people who require safe and secure living conditions. However, it has been admitted that imprisonment does not guarantee the decline of crime rates as simply locking up the aggressive and violent individuals cannot ensure total extinction of criminal activity within the country. The above research is based on the existing investigations in the sphere of criminal science summarizing and analyzing their application to the criminology of modern days.

Transport and Logistics and E-Commerce Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Transport and Logistics and E-Commerce - Article Example the bridging up of the gap of geographical locations, enabling the comparison of stocks of a product at various retailers without having to visit them personally etc. An entire e-commerce business can exist virtually except it logistics and transport operations that have their own physical existence. These operations are often spread over a large span of geographical locations especially in the case of internationally acclaimed e-commerce transactions. It is in such similar situations that logistics becomes one of the most complex areas in an e-business. It is often a preferable notion that e-commerce web portals sublet their logistics and transport related operation to third party vendors. These vendors are required to assist a business with its supply chain, warehousing of goods, and consolidation of shipments, order fulfillment and reverse logistics. A very good example of efficient and reliable third party vendors is MRL Logistics. MRL Logistics specializes in its area of logistics and transport. This is very convenient for e-commerce websites as the purpose of their business needs the most of their focus. Spending too much attention on transport and logistics may result in neglecting of basic operations. E-Commerce and Logistics are both separate ever-growing domains that need separate evolution and refurbishment on their own end. Its best suited that the people specializing for this task and fully updated in it be approached for it as they specialize in it. MRL Logistics proudly distinguishes itself as a provider of exemplary, impeccable and cost effective Transport and Logistic needs of your business. If you want your logistic needs to be fulfilled perfectly, with time efficiency and security of your freight than what else could be better than getting it done from MRL Logistics? Dr S.J.C.M. Weijers, Dr D. Rouwenhorst, P. Huijbregts, Dr Ing S. Rozemeijer. Virtual Certainties about E-commerce, Transport and Logistic. Transport Research Centre. [Online]

Strategic Business Leadership in Wendicon Technologies Limited Essay - 1

Strategic Business Leadership in Wendicon Technologies Limited - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that the engineers often complain of getting delayed in their operational pursuits for needing to fill up manual timesheets from the different consumers to which they render services. Owing to the need for filling in manual timesheets the engineers often get delayed in being able to serve other consumers in the region. Thus, they steadily arise the need for innovating the current manual process to make it electronic. This would help in enhancing the customer servicing activity of the company and in motivating the internal people to work in an innovated atmosphere. The management team of the company continually worked to render innovation in the existing operational process of management of manual timesheets. To render innovation in the business process the team worked to align the capability of the staff along with the available resources to help build innovative systems. The management team has focused on aligning the professional capability of the technical base of the organization to help construct an electronic commerce application which would reach a larger consumer base via the iPads. However to counter the process of innovation in a successful manner the company management has helped aside a large pool of funds to help in the enhancement of the infrastructural base. The innovation team of the concern would help in the construction of an electronic data sheet which would be transmitted to the consumer through the help of iPads. This innovation rendered to the process would help the consumers get timely notifications of the work performed by the engineers following which invoices would be dispatched to them. In the process of rendering the process innovation, the company is required to estimate the turnover of the same in terms of the investment rendered.

Discuss Explanations of Forgetting Essay Example for Free

Discuss Explanations of Forgetting Essay We forget things for two reasons, firstly the memory has disappeared- it is no longer available or secondly the memory is stored in the memory system but cannot be retrieved. The first theory is more likely to be applicable to forgetting in the short term memory and the second in the long term memory. You can differentiate between availability and accessibility. Availability is whether the information has been stored in the memory or not and accessibility is the ability or inability to retrieve information if it has been stored. Forgetting information from the short term memory can be explained using the theories of trace decay and displacement. In reference to the multi store model of memory the theory states that in the STM both capacity and duration are limited. The capacity of STM is about 5-9 units of information and the duration of STM is given at only a few seconds, to a maximum of a minute or so. As information cannot stay indefinitely In STM, if it is not transferred into LTM it will be forgotten. Therefore theories of forgetting in STM are based on availability. There are two main theories about how information is lost from the STM, trace decay and displacement theories. Trace decay theory of forgetting (STM) relates to both long term and short term memory and also relates to lack of availability. The theory suggests that the STM can only hold information for between 15 and 30 seconds unless it is rehearsed. After this time the information decays (fades away). This explanation of forgetting in short term memory assumes that memories leave a trace in the brain. A trace is some sort of physical/chemical change in the nervous system. Trace decay theory states that forgetting occurs as a result of the automatic decay or fading of the memory trace. Trace decay theory focuses on time and the limited duration of short-term memory. Decay theory assumes that memories have a physical or biological basis in the brain, and that the encoding of memories involves a structural change in the brain. The physical representation of a memory is called a memory trace or an engram. This theory sees forgetting as the physical breakdown or decay of the memory trace. Assuming that rehearsal does not take place, the mere passage of time will cause the memory trace to break down. This explains why forgetfulness increases with time. According to the theory, metabolic processes happen over time which causes the structural change to break down if it is not maintained through repetition. Strengths of the decay theory are that it appeals to common sense that if we don’t use/activate the memory we will lose it. However the theory also has weaknesses and it does not explain why some older memories (especially in those who have Alzheimer’s) are not lost and can still be remembered whereas newer memories seem to decay more easily/quicker. A theory that supports decay theory is Peterson and Peterson (1959). They provide evidence for this theory. They conducted a study where they asked participants to recall a string of consonants selected so as to be difficult to pronounce. Recall delay was set to 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 during which rehearsal was prevented by participants counting backwards in threes from a target number (e. g. 397). Each subject was tested a total of 8 times at each of the 6 delay intervals. The findings of the study showed that while after a 3 second retention interval trigrams about 90% of trigrams were recalled, after 18 seconds only 10% were. The duration of STM without retention is very short. In terms of decay theory, the engram could not grow stronger and so broke down. Another theory of forgetting in the short term memory is the displacement theory. This theory suggests that new information received by the STM overwrites or displaces previous information. In a system of limited capacity, forgetting would take place through displacement in STM. According to this theory, when the system is full, the new information will push the old information out. A strength of the displacement theory would be that it provided a good account of how forgetting might take place in Atkinson and Shiffrin’s (1968) model of short term memory. However it does have its weaknesses, it did become clear that the short term memory was much more complex than Atkinson and Shiffrin proposed. Forgetting from the STM can occur due to displacement or decay but it is difficult to specify which. Forgetting information from the LTM can be explained by the decay theory; we forget things because the physical memory trace has disappeared due to the passage of time. It can also be explained by interference theory, when one set of learning interferes with another. For example, things learned in the past may interfere with things learned now or vice versa. Or cue dependant forgetting can also explain forgetting information from the LTM. This theory suggests that information is not lost from LTM, but is simply inaccessible until an appropriate cue is given which triggers the memory. The multi store model of memory states that LTM has an unlimited capacity and memories have duration of potentially forever. However, we know from our own lives that we o forget from LTM. But does that mean the memories are gone, or we just can’t reach them? Theories of forgetting in LTM therefore are a mixture of accessibility and availability. An experiment that supports decay theory in the long term memory is Lashley (1931) he investigated whether by making physical alterations to the brain, he could induce forgetting. If this was the case, then it would suggest that memory has a physical basis and that forgetting is a result of the decay of the memory trace. He trained rats to learn mazes and then removed sections of their brains. He found a relationship between the amount of brain removed, and the amount of forgetting. This study supports decay theory although there are issues of ecological validity and whether it is generalizable from rats to humans. However if decay was the only explanation for loss of memory in the LTM we would expect that all memories would decay at the same time regardless of what happened in the intervening time. Generally there is little support for decay theory, as it cannot explain how we are able to remember things from many years ago. Another theory that may be able to explain why we forget in the LTM is interference. According to this theory there are two types of interference, proactive interference and retroactive interference. Proactive interference is when previous learning interferes with later learning and retroactive interference is when later learning disrupts earlier learning. A common everyday example of proactive interference is placing household objects in a different place in a room and going back to the place where the object used to be to try and find it rather than where you have now put it. Underwood and Postman (1960) used a pair associate learning task to test the effect of interference. Participants were asked to learn a series of word pairs, so that they can be presented with the first word (the stimulus word) and recall its paired word (response word). They are then given another list of word pairs to learn which have the same stimulus word, but a different response word. Participants have their recall tested on either the first or second list of words. As expected, recall of the response words is poorer, and affected by both previous learning (proactive) and later learning (retroactive). However this effect is only present when the stimulus words are kept the same throughout the lists. Overall the proactive and retroactive effects are reliable and robust; however there are a number of problems with interference theory as an explanation of forgetting. Firstly, interference theory tells us little about the cognitive processes involved in forgetting. Secondly, the majority of research into the role of interference in forgetting has been carried out in a laboratory using lists of words, a situation which is likely to occur fairly infrequently in the real world. As a result it may not be possible to generalise the findings of the studies supporting interference theory. The final theory that may explain why we forget in the LTM memory is cue dependant forgetting. This theory states that forgetting is not due to the loss of a memory, but rather is due to the inability to access it. This is known as retrieval failure. The memory is still there but it is inaccessible. The reason that it is unavailable is because you do not have the right cue. Cues can either be external (something about the environment or context) or internal (something about your own state or mood). There is lots of evidence to support this theory of forgetting from laboratory experiments. The ecological validity of these experiments can be questioned but their findings are supported by evidence from outside the laboratory. Context dependant learning (external) was demonstrated by Abernethy (1940) who found that students who sat a test in the same room with the same teacher as their normal lessons got higher results. Therefore, the environment acted as a cue to memory in this study. Our internal mental or emotional state can also act as a cue. This is state dependant learning. Goodwin et al (1969) found that people who had forgotten things when sober could remember once they had drunk sufficient alcohol. Repression may also cause forgetting because it causes traumatic memories to be repressed into the unconscious where they cannot be retrieved. Depression is also another factor that can cause forgetting because due to either the shrinking of the hippocampus due to a rise in cortisol of depressed people or possibly due to low motivation and inattention. Out of all the theories of forgetting discussed, you can see that not one theory covers all aspects of memory. There are many different theories to suggest why we forget different types of information and the theory that applies depends on many things such as whether the information is stored in the STM or the LTM. Not one theory can explain every result that is given from these studies but they are matched to the theories they support the most. A theory that is supported by a particular study can also have studies going against it. For example, evidence for interference would be underwood and postman (1960 however the Tulving and Psotka (1971) study goes against the interference theory.

Ramses the Great :: Ancient Egypt Egyptian History

Ramses the Great In the Egyptian pyramids of Giza, Ramses the Great ruled as the greatest pharaoh of all times. Ramses the Great, also known as Ramses II, or just Ramses, was born in 1304 B.C., and was given the name the Justice of Ray is Powerful. He had the knowledge of the kingdom, and became the focus of the court at an early age. Ramses and his father spent most of their time together, and at age ten, Ramses became heir to the thrown. He took the thrown in the year of 1292 B.C. The pharaoh lived over all other people in the kingdom. According to historians, the Nile river was the source of life to the Egyptians. The Nile river provided the Egyptian people with water, fish, and fertile soil to grow crops on. The peasant folk in Egypt lived on a diet of wheat bread, fish, and corn. Also, the death rates there were said to be very high. When Ramses became pharaoh, he got many riches. For example, Ramses had as many women as his heart desired. The women did everything for Ramses, which includes dancing for him. Ramses II was the most powerful king in all of ancient Egypt, and his Queens were his greatest supporters. Ramses had many wives, but he loved one particular wife the most of all of them. Ramses the Great was also known for his fighting. In 1275 B.C., he went into battle with about 2,000 men. It was about noon on a spring day, and Ramses II was encamped with his army near the city of Kadesh in Syria. He and his army were planning a surprise attack on the Hittites. While Ramses was waiting for his army to assemble, Hittite chariots showed up out of nowhere and attacked. Frightened, the Egyptian forces fled and left Ramses the Great to face the enemy alone. Luckily, he escaped with his life. Later, Ramses II had scenes from the battle carved on temple was all over Egypt. According to the carvings, Ramses prayed to Amon, the chief Egyptian god, to save him. He said, "My soldiers and charioteers have forsaken me, but I call and find that Amon is worth more to me than millions of foot soldiers and hundreds of thousands of chariots." After that, the carvings show that he rallied his forces and had victory over the Hittites.

Four Things To Do to Increase One’s Level of Contentment and Happiness Essay

The learned Viktor Frankl contends that â€Å"chance decides what happens but we decide how to take it† (cited in Southwick, et. al. , 2006, p. 162). For someone who has been through the most tragic circumstances of human existence, Frankl is surely someone who knows pretty well how happiness is to be pursued in one’s life. While it can be argued that happiness is a state of human living which cannot be singularly defined, we – human persons that we are – nevertheless know what brings it about or how it affects our general take of life. Pursuing Happiness All throughout One’s Life The basic thrust of this paper is to argue that our state of contentment or happiness is something that we human persons can always choose to pursue. By adopting Frankl’s philosophy, we can say that a person can always choose the path towards happiness against the backdrop of different life circumstances and issues that come with one’s lifespan development. First, one can always choose to discover his or her crafts, potentials and talents as a way to appreciate one’s giftedness and uniqueness. This is a very potent element that contributes well to one’s happiness; and this usually happens during one’s late childhood and adolescent stages. The discovery of our uniqueness gives us a sense of who we are. But even when, for instance, one is not gifted enough, one can still discover certain strains of uniqueness to be appreciated. This is crucial because it can give us an initial taste of our sense of directedness and purpose. Second, a person needs to choose the kind of relationships that work in order to attain a level of happiness as well. This is especially true for those who are at the early adulthood stage. Growing up, it would be normal to feel that we need someone to complete us; and finding that suitable someone is notably crucial for this stage. Many people end up either unhappy or miserable because they did not either take the courage to pursue a person whom they love or feel powerless to break free from relationships that just do not work. But finding true happiness is about choosing the right relationships that could nurture, and not defeat life. Third, in order to secure happiness, one must always face life-crises with a brimming sense of optimism. This surely is a case of no little importance, as it is not uncommon to learn that many middle-agers suddenly lose their sense of meaning at a time when life-crises emerging from home and workplace start to take their toll. Crises, it needs to be remembered, cannot be avoided. But they are defining moments that can either make or break us. Increasing one’s state of happiness during these poignant moments therefore necessitates a commitment to hope – i. e. , one faces life problems with a sense of optimism. If one can face problems convinced that he or she can successfully get out of it, then it is like facing a battle half-winning it already. Fourth, one can look at his or her life under the lenses of accomplishment and gratitude so as to be happy. This especially applies to those who are in the twilight of their lives. When one becomes bitter every time he or she looks back at the past, it effectively robs a person with a sense of contentment and happiness. Instead, looking back at life with eyes fixed on the accomplishments and blessings that one has done or received in his or her life surely elicits an incomparable sense of contentment, happiness and pride. Conclusion This paper therefore concludes that a person is always empowered to make a choice in order to increase his or her level of contentment or happiness. In any lifespan development or stages, the choice to uphold sense of happiness is always a concrete possibility; i. e. , we can always choose to discover one’s giftedness, choose the relationships that could make us happy, choose to face life-crises with hopefulness and choose to be thankful in our lives. In the final analysis, it must be ultimately argued that we are the ones responsible for our own happiness.