Suicide

Suicide refers to intentional self-destruction* or self-killing. Although suicide is considered a major form of deviance* in contemporary American society, social reactions to this form of behaviour show wide variations from society to society and in different periods of human history. Various Oriental cultures have looked upon suicide with some ambivalence* and under certain circumstances it is not highly disapproved. Among the Chinese, suicide was permitted for reasons of revenge against an enemy. In Japan, it was expected that a soldier would commit a form of self-destruction known as hara-kiri rather than permit himself to be seized by the enemy. During World War II Japanese "suicide divers" received military decorations in rather elaborate ceremonies before their suicidal flights. Attitudes of Western Europe and American society are and have been strongly opposed to suicide. Disapproval of suicide has been generally the case for all peoples within the Jewish and Christian religions. In 11th-century England, suicide was defined as a crime as well as a sin. Throughout the medieval period and into relatively recent times suicide was punished as a felony. The suicide's body was denied burial* in a Christian cemetery and the suicide's possessions were confiscated by the Crown. Similar penalties were put into effect in the New England colonies and remained until the early 1800's in Massachusetts. Attempted suicide was a crime in England until 1961 and still remains a criminal offence in North Dakota, South Dakota and New Jersey.

Statistics indicate that the rate of suicide within the US was 11 per 100,000 population in 1970. This rate has remained stable over previous years. The US suicide rate in 1960 was 10.8; in 1961, 10.4; in 1962, 11.0; in 1963, 11.0 per 100,000 population. Suicide rates are comparatively high in various other countries. In the late 1960's and early 1970's suicide rates in Switzerland, West Germany, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Sweden, Austria, and Hungary exceeded 17 per 100,000 population. In other countries such as Italy, Spain, Greece, Ireland, suicide rates were less than 6 per 100,000 during the same period.

Glossary

self-destruction – самоуничтожение

deviance – отклонение

ambivalence – противоречие

burial - похороны

Task 1. Find the answers for the questions from the text.

1. What is suicide? Give the definition from the text and think about your own one.

2. What is the attitude towards suicide among the representatives of

• Oriental/Eastern cultures (in particular among the Chinese and the Japanese);

• Western Europe and the USA;

• The Jewish and Christian religions.

3. Attempted suicide was a felony in England until 1961, wasn’t it?

4. Does suicide still remain a criminal offense in some states in the USA?

Task 2. Compare suicide rates in different countries.

Task 3. While expressing your opinion about the problem raised in the text think about the following:

1. What extreme circumstances can push a person to commit a suicide?

2. Think about several ways of decreasing suicide rates among teens. What is the approach encouraged by the RF government towards crime prevention among teens? The Guide to the UN Convention proclaims that the government should protect children from harm, cruelty, abuse and dangerous drugs. Has Russian government succeeded in doing it?

3. Recollect the events happened in NY on September, 11. What do you think about people inside the aircrafts?

4. Terrorists are ready for self-destruction. What for?

5. Bible admits intentional self-killing, doesn’t it?

Task 4. Render the text.

Text 3.

1. You are going to read a magazine article about crimes in the sphere of hi-tech.

Choose from the list A-H the sentence which best suits the context of each part

(0-6) of the article. There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.

1. Gangs in these places have been stealing essential parts for computers by the truckload.

2. These numbers are highly prized by thieves.

3. New computer networks are giving an unusually large number of employees access to information.

4. Robbers are hacking into computers to steal secret information.

5. Most of this is due to security breakdowns in their computer systems.

6. This type of fraud is responsible for up to one million dollars per year in illegal phone calls.

7. Canada has recently witnessed a whole series of these incidents.

8. These chips have recently become as valuable as gold in California.

HI-TECH THIEVERY

Hi-tech bandits and mischief-makers are on the loose, stealing phone messages, selling access codes, taking computer parts and using advanced equipment to commit fraud and other crimes. According to a survey released by a New York accounting firm, more than a quarter of all American companies have suffered some sort of loss. 0___

Recently, the large computer company IBM said that it was helping the FBI investigate the theft of computer parts, which may have cost the company tens of millions of dollars. As the majority of the population becomes more com­puter literate, hi-tech crime is increasing. In California and Southeast Asia, organised crime is costing companies a fortune. 1___ Most of the parts are microprocessors and memory chips. There is great demand for the chips on the black market, and there have been at least ten armed robberies in California, all for memory chips. 2___

The biggest problem, though, is telecommuni­cations fraud, especially involving cellular phones. There are 11 million cell phones in America alone, and each has its own serial number and identification number. 3___

The reason is that the numbers validate phone calls and charge the customer. In New York City, police recently arrested a gang of six men for selling phones with stolen serial and identification numbers. When a call is made from one of the illegal cell phones, the charge is made to the real owner 4___

Using electronic devices, the gang picked these numbers up from the airwaves. Then, police say, they used personal computers to programme the stolen numbers into cell phones. These phones were often sold to immigrants for about 250 dollars. They would often make international phone calls and run up huge bills on other people's accounts. Phone pirates are also active in Hong Kong. In a police raid on an electronics shop, 130 phones were found and seven people were arrested.

A recent report suggests that companies are often at risk from security breaches by their own employees. 5___ And so-called wide-area networks are opening formerly internal information to the outside world. To beat high-tech crime, companies will have to rely on even more technology. New digital cellular phones will have more complex numbers that won't be transmitted and so can't be copied. But because many American firms have tightened security on their telephones, thieves are now attacking firms in other countries. 6___

New techniques for protecting information will help stem the tide of high-tech crime – but thieves will always find new ways of beating the system.

Task 1. Render the text.