Time to Write an Essay?
Writing an essay is not always essay.
You have to demonstrate skills in different areas, including researching, writing, and formatting.
What essay format should you use?
How do you write an essay outline?
What steps to essay writing should I observe?
These are some of the questions you have to contend with.
Nonetheless, with the right guidance, you can easily craft an essay in any topic.
Essay Example
An essay example can be effective guide.
The essay example provides ideas on areas such as essay format, essay layout, paragraph structure.
Although there are different types of essays, which may make them look different, the structure of an essay remains the same.
This is particularly the case with essay format and essay outline.
Therefore, a good essay example should reflect pertinent features in all types of essays.
Essay Format
A basic essay format usually consists of 3 parts that include”
- Introduction
- Body
- Conclusion
Further, the format encompasses 6 key elements.
As illustrated in a good essay example, these elements include:
- Introduction
- Thesis statement
- Body
- Transitions
- Conclusion
- Citations
Essay Outline
An essay outline is essential essay writing tool.
Outlining is vital part of the planning process.
As illustrated in a basic essay outline example, such planning helps the writer helps manipulate ideas without the need to craft complete paragraphs.
It provides a direct map to follow when writing an essay.
A good essay outline shows:
- Contents of each paragraph
- Order of the paragraphs
- How all the points will together answer the essay question
Essay Example
Below is an example of a good essay.
It highlights all the 3 parts of an essay as well as parts and components of a paragraph.
Essay Instructions: Examine police brutality against the Blacks in the U.S. using the symbolic interactionism theory. Discuss the causes of this violence.
In line with symbolic interactionism, personal inclination towards violence is one of the main causes of police brutality against Blacks. Weiburd et al. (2001) note that a study commissioned by the Police Foundation showed that some police officers condoned the use of excessive force. This category of police officers believed that it was necessary to apply violence when assaulted in their work or when execution of a task required it. Based on the theory, these attitudes can be categorized as part of the “self”. Brutality against Blacks occurs at a personal level. The interactions between the police officer and the Black person are reciprocal, with each individual representing their evaluation of the “self”. Police exhibiting higher levels of violence arguably have negative “self” assessment. Such an assessment derives from poor beliefs, values, and attitudes. Studies indicate that subjective interpretations that form the basis of police brutality against Blacks are based on prejudiced beliefs and attitudes towards Black people.
Another cause of police brutality against the Blacks is group reference norms, rules, and expectations. Research indicates that while police perceive Black minority groups as law breakers, the minority groups see police as violators. Studies show that interactions between young Blacks and the police are characterized by stereotypes that portray Blacks as violent and dangerous (Carboda & Rock, 2016). According to the symbolic interactionism theory, these interactions are influenced by the different values, beliefs, and expectations within respective small social networks. They define the presence of the police stereotypes and Blacks’ behavioural expectations like running away from the police, resisting arrest, and hatred for the police. Research indicate that symbols play a key role in determining the norms, values, and expectations that govern interactions between the police and groups of young Black males and the level of violence that result from these interactions.
A further cause of police brutality against the Blacks is negative role portrayal. Kwon (2012), observes that studies indicate that lack of a higher authority restraining the use of violence has made police officers assume the role of a control agent and authority figure in society. These roles predispose them to meeting violence against those they perceive as opponents of control and authority. Police in the US has been depicted as an important agent and authority in the fight against crime. The symbolic interactionism theory argues that role-identities have a major impact on the behaviour of an individual or a group, where such roles come along with behavioural expectations attached to a specific status that is defined by a set of relationships. These behaviours create the link between personal and social organization that nurture police brutality against certain groups of people. Largely, the role identity of the police is attributed to the high levels of brutality especially against the blacks.
As well, police organizational culture is a cause of police brutality against the Blacks. La Vigne et al. (2017) observe that studies show that militarization of police that has usually targeted the Blacks has often eroded public confidence in the role of police, and instead exposed them to higher risk of attacks. This culture is prevalent across most of the police departments in the U.S. Further, the police has been associated with a subculture that has for many years exerted more force against the minorities. According to symbolic interactionism, organizational culture encompasses social patterns that are generated and maintained through human interactions, where such patterns result into a complex web of meanings. The police culture in the U.S. determines how police officers interpret different incidences when executing their duties. This culture consists of assumptions and beliefs that distort police world view about the Blacks, consequently resulting into more violence against Black people.
To sum up, this essay has used the symbolic interactionism theory to explore reasons for the prevalence of police violence against the Blacks. Research indicates that the causes of such brutality are both individual and societal. At the individual level, personal inclinations deriving from identification of “self”, which often come along with biases against Blacks predispose the police to violence. The societal level entails institutional aspects such as police organizational culture, negative role portrayal, and group reference norms, rules, and expectations that incline the police towards brutality against the Blacks. Police culture and leaderships play a key role in entrenching a violence within police institutions. To address police brutality against the Blacks, policy makers need to explore solutions to both the individual and institutional factors that expose the police towards committing violence.
Citations
Carbado, Devon W & Rock Patrick. What Exposes African Americans to Police Violence? Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, 2016, [Vol. 51. P. 159-189.
Carter, Corinthia A. “Police Brutality, the Law & Today’s Social Justice Movement: How the lack of Police Accountability has Fueled #Hashtag Activism.” Cuny Law Review, vol. 20, no. 521, 2017.
Hewitt, John. Self & Society. Allyn & Bacon, 2002.
Kwon, JiHyun. “Towards a Theoretical Understanding of Police Brutality.” Verstehen, vol. 4, 2012.
La Vigne, Nancy et al. “How Do People in High-Crime, Low-Income Communities View the Police?” Urban Institute. 2017, https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/88476/how_do_people_in_high-crime_view_the_police.pdf . Accessed 1 March 2019.
Weiburd David, et al. “The Abuse of Police Authority: A National Study of Police Officers’ Attitudes.” 2001, https://www.policefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Weisburd-et-al.-2001-The-Abuse-of-Police-Authority.pdf Accessed 1 March 2019.
