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Drugs and their effects on society
Drugs and their effects on society
Drugs and their effects on society
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For many years, people have been manipulated into plans without even knowing. One example of why the manipulation occurs is Maslow's Hierarchy of needs, which is a motivational theory comprising human needs. Like in the memoir, a long way gone, written by Ishmael Beah, in 2007. The Sierra Leone army employs a strategy of providing levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy in order to recruit children to become soldiers through misconceptions. The first strategy the army uses to recruit children is satisfying the kids’ basic needs. For example, to live life, a person will need food, water, shelter and good temperature, which the army provided to the children. Upon the soldiers first couple of days on duty, the Lieutenant asked Ishmael, “are you getting …show more content…
Due to the fact, [“Marijuana and brown brown”] (page 121) are the main drugs given to the soldiers every day, and the reason of the drugs, makes the soldiers work harder and eventually become addicted. Drugs took a very substantial toll on the soldiers, and later on, rose the decision making of the children, and the ability to trust one another. As a result, the drugs caused Ishmael to “have no pity for anyone”(page 126), which means to not care or feel sorry for anyone. New perceptions are intact when the drugs kicked in, ultimately, going back to the drugs will have an effect on not caring for anyone. Ishmael was rewarded for the amount of time spent and hard work with the nickname “Green Snake”(page 144) because of “his inconspicuous positions, and ability to take out a whole village from shrub”(page 144). With the new nickname, the Lieutenant awarded, Ishmael felt happy with the way the army was treating the recruitments, and himself. All in all, the self esteem felt by the soldiers may not always be true, on the other hand, the drugs have skewed the mindsets of the children, consequently making the self esteem false. Clearly, the Sierra Leone army knows what strategies in order to recruit children into becoming soldiers through manipulations. For example, a long way gone, written by Ishmael Beah shows the process of a boy being manipulated into the Sierra Leone army, but the world has been corrupted for any years, and needless to say, enough is enough. Ishmael's decision have shown the importance of Maslow’s Hierarchy, and the ability to live life without manipulations and eventually reach the final goal a person
In A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah, a former boy soldier with the Sierra Leone army during its civil war(1991- 2002) with the rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), provides an extraordinary and heartbreaking account of the war, his experience as a child soldier and his days at a rehabilitation center. At the age of twelve, when the RUF rebels attack his village named Mogbwemo in Sierro Leone, while he is away with his brother and some friends, his life takes a major twist. While seeking news of his family, Beah and his friends find themselves constantly running and hiding as they desperately strive to survive in a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. During this time, he loses his dear ones and left alone in the wilderness, is forced to face many physical and psychological dangers. By thirteen, he has been picked up by the government army, and is conditioned to fight in the war by being provided with as many drugs as he could consume (cocaine and marijuana), rudimentary training, and an AK-47. In the next two years, Beah goes on a mind-bending killing spree to avenge the death of his dear ones. At sixteen, he was picked up by UNICEF, and through the help of the staff at the rehabilitation center, he learns to forgive himself and to regain his humanity.
Ishmael Beah’s memoir, A Long Way Gone, narrates the story of Ishmael’s life as a child soldier in the Sierra Leonean civil war. Ishmael chronicles his journey from a scared, adrift child who lost his family in the war to a brutal child soldier who mercilessly killed many individuals to a guilt stricken rehabilitated teen who slowly learns to overcome his remorse from his past actions. Ishmael’s life as a child soldier first started when the Sierra Leonean army took him and his friends with them to the village, Yele, occupied by army officials and seemingly safe from the rebels. Unfortunately, within a few weeks of their stay, the rebels attacked Yele, and Ishmael and his friends decided to make the choice of becoming a child soldier in order to sustain their slim chances of staying alive. Ishmael’s interaction with violence was very different as a child soldier compared to as a civilian: while he witnessed violent actions before, as a child soldier he was committing them. As his life as a soldier demanded more violence from him, Ishmael sank deeper into the process of dehumanization with his main driving point being the revenge that he sought from the rebels for the deaths of his family and friends. After a few months as a child soldier, Ishmael was brought to the Benin home by UNICEF officials who hoped to rehabilitate the completely dehumanized child soldiers. With the help of Esther, a compassionate nurse, and other staff members in the center, Ishmael was able to ultimately reverse the effects of the war on him. By forgiving himself and the rebels who took away his close ones from him, Ishmael was able to restore his emotion of empathy and become rehabilitated.
Ishmael was a normal 12 year old boy in a small village in Sierra Leone when his life took a dramatic turn and he was forced into a war. War has very serious side effects for all involved and definitely affected the way Ishmael views the world today. He endured and saw stuff that most people will never see in a lifetime let alone as a young child. Ishmael was shaped between the forced use of drugs, the long road to recovery and the loss of innocence of his
The R.U.F., however, was not alone in servicing children as their own messengers of evil, the military group countering their acts of violence also had children fighting their battles. A Long Way Gone and The Bite of the Mango are eye-opening books because they give various people all over the world a glimpse into the horrors kids in Africa were facing on a daily basis. However different Mariatu Kamara and Ishmael Beah’s experiences were regarding their journeys and disabilities, they both exhibited the same extraordinary resilience in the end to better themselves, create futures they could be proud of, and make the best with what the war left them.
The war in Sierra Leone lasted eleven years and resulted in mass murder, destruction, and mainly, loss of innocence. This war impacted nearly everyone in the country, however its specific damage on the children of Sierra Leone is a tragedy that haunts the victims to this day. The Rebels killed and tortured thousands of innocent people and destroyed villages throughout the country. Boys as young as twelve were forced to form an army and fight against the rebels. Ishmael Beah, a young boy living amongst this war, tells his story in the book A Long Way Gone. He explains the gory and disturbing details of his life as a boy soldier. As the young boys were brainwashed into killing, the women and young girls of the country were being raped,
...ys, they are seized by soldiers and taken to a village engrossed by the military fighting back at the rebels. The fellow children soldiers became Ishmael’s only family at the time, and each of them were supplemented with a white pill, “The corporal said it will boost your energy” says a young soldier. (116) Little did Ishmael and the others know that the tablet was an illicit drug given to them to fight their fatigue and anxiety for a short term to better them in combat with the rebels. Beah unknowingly alters into a blood-craving animal, who kills with numbness and no emotion. “I was not afraid of these lifeless bodies. I despised them and kicked them to flip them.” (119) Ishmael now relies and is addicted to drugs to get through his day-to-day life, including smoking marijuana, and constantly snorting “brown brown” (121) which is a mixture of gunpowder and cocaine.
Children exposed to violence within their communities are left with emotions of hopelessness, insecurity, and doubt. Historical events such as the war on terrorism, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the tragic events of September 11th have had a detrimental effect on the entire nation, including the children. Although every child is not directly affected by the effects of war, it somehow has an emotional effect on all. The involvement of a nation in war affects every individual differently, whether it is out of fear, anger, doubt, hope, or love. In the short novel A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, he narrates the story by telling his own involvement in the Civil War in Sierra Leone as a young boy and the many issues he faces while living in horror.
This is a book review of a novel called A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. The book was published on February 13th, 2007 by Douglas McIntyre and it has got 229 pages. The genre of this book is what is called a memoir which is basically a collection of memories that an individual writes about moments or events, both public or private that took place in the author's life. A Long Way Gone is the true story of Ishmael Beah, who becomes an unwilling boy soldier during a civil war in Sierra Leone. My recommendation of this book is that it’s so fascinating and unique; rather than portraying one side in a positive light, it shows that there is no right side. Since the book is told from the point of view of a child soldier, you can tell what his real beliefs were at the time instead of the beliefs we assume they have.
Huitt, W. (2007),Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University, (http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/regsys/maslow.html), [Accessed 29 December 2013].
So the harsh discipline and the threat of death continue to underscore the training programs of almost all child soldier groups. Works Cited Singer, P. W. Peter Warren: Children at war. New York : Pantheon Books, c2005. Eichstaedt, Peter H., 1947- First kill your family. Chicago, Ill. :
Society constantly allows the use of child soldiers. Through the enthralling writing in A Long Way Gone Ishmael Beah achieves his purpose of persuading society to put an end to child soldiery by using imagery and logos to appeal to each individual reader to realize how horrible child soldiery is.
Singer, P.W. “Children at War.” Military History 24.6 (2007): 1-5. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 14 Feb. 2011.
...e, argues whether a child's behavioural patterns are affected by biological or societal factors (Hewitt et. al. 2008). This debate proves its longevity through the behaviour of child soldiers. It is clear that the boys are affected mainly by their socialization as soldiers, most social scientists agree that the nurturing and primary agents of socialization, are the most influential factors in a child's social development. It is clear that the influence of the LRA on the abducted children, impacts each child's future behavioural patterns, and their perspective on society. The role of the socialization of these children becoming soldiers, is highlighted as a very effective and useful technique to maintain the size and power of the Rebel Groups. It is evident that socialization of the child to solider is essential to achieve any goal of the Lord's Resistance Army.
In 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow developed a theory of basic human needs: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. His theory suggests that embedded in the very nature of each human being are certain needs that must be attained in order for a person to be whole physically, psychologically, and emotionally. First, there are phys...
Therefore, the Abraham Maslow 's hierarchy theory is a motivational theory that involves the human needs. Furthermore, the Hierarchy of Needs is a valid argument that