Society and the Nature of Time

Life has its way of turning an individual’s attention to better understanding the overall course of life. One may experience different transitions, and turning points as well as particular life events and family experiences that may influence the developmental trajectories of life. The Moore Family- Ed, Jessica, Derrick, Terrance, Debbie and Barbara- all have stories that have unfolded over a period of time. One of the useful ways I will attempt to explain the Moore’s family stories, and the relationship between time and human behavior, is the life course perspective. The life course perspective maintains that chronological age, relationships, common life transitions, and social change shape people’s lives from birth to death (Hutchinson, 2013). Timing is very important.

The Twelve Tables were the first laws ever written down and shown to the public in Ancient Rome. The Twelve Tables were displayed in the Roman Forum or marketplace. The Twelve Tables were also the earliest surviving writings of Ancient Rome.

Roman law in the republic was often based on custom (Paul-Louis). During the Roman Empire, however, the emperor became the final source of law. Roman law was one of the original products of the Roman mind. They created the Twelve Tables, which was the first Roman code of law developed during the early republic. Roman civil law allowed great flexibility in adopting new ideas or extending principles in the complex environment of the empire. This was to establish laws that allowed greater fairness. Early Roman law

where created. The bases of Roman life where that of law and order and this only took place with

penalty dates back to the eighteenth century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon.

The Roman lives were based on the Twelve Tables, which were their written laws enforced by the government. The Twelve Tables were stable for over a millennium until the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 A.D. The Romans were able to keep control through fair legal rights basically saying any crime was intolerable, but could be solved in a court case to determine the fate of the criminal. The Romans were half democratic and gave the people some voice by selecting representatives. This ruling helped decimate any crime and prevent murder. Although there are many positives to this ruling, innocent newborns with a deformity were ruthlessly killed. (Doc. 6)

"Social Time: The Heartbeat of Culture", is an article for Robert Levine and Ellen Wolff, it extend readers with the authors’ viewpoints and research about ‘time-sense’ in different cultures. Robbert and Wolff emphasize that there is difference of ‘time-sense’ in two levels, which are inter cultural and cross cultural. When we move into a new culture, understanding the differences of ‘time sense’ might help us to set ourselves to new people and also new places. The author also describe how ‘time sense’ vary in different cultures is more explained by the author’s experience and research. Having lived in Brazil meaning "tomorrow" referring to that Brazilians usually defer whatever they need to do. To find out if "the ‘manha’ pattern

In 450 B.C., the first Roman law code was inscribed on 12 bronze tablets–known as the Twelve Tables–and publicly displayed in the Roman Forum. These laws included issues of legal procedure, civil rights and property rights and provided the basis for all future Roman civil law. (Staff)

The Life Cycle Perspective, also known as the life course theory is a useful way to understand the relationship between time and human behavior, which looks at how chronological age, relationships, common life transitions, and social change shape people throughout their lives. The life course perspective also focuses on traditional theories of developmental psychology, which look at the events that typically occur in people’s lives during different stages.

     Ernest Hemmingway once described a novel by Mark Twain as, “…it is the ‘one book’ from which ‘all modern American literature’ came from” (Railton). This story of fiction, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a remarkable story about a young boy growing up in a society that influences and pressures people into doing the so-called “right thing.” It is not very difficult to witness the parallels between the society Huck has grown up in and the society that influences the choices of people living today. However, what is it that gives society the power to draw guidelines to define the norms, trends, and what is morally right and wrong in life? Is it always the best choice to listen

If society didn’t have standards that were enforced to help prevent harm to society by its members, how different would it be? These standards are broken into two different types, verbal and written. Although, one can distinguish between the two standards, verbal standards are those that are not written down, but yet passed down among many generations and are not easily enforce, whereas written standards, are the complete opposite. There were two attempts at a supreme law or the constitution of the United States of America to help with standards. These two attempts include the Articles of Confederation and The U.S. Constitution.

To begin, they had to have good enforcers and creators of these laws. The creators were the Roman Assemblies. They had different officials for enforcing these laws. The first official was called praetor and they were a part of police departments, these officials took care of little things like thefts and runaway slaves. Praetorian Guard is another type of official. They took care of bigger issues, like groups with weapons. They adjusted the way they had the laws because the patricians were altering the rules in their favor. So, the Romans wrote the laws down. The reason they had flaws was because their punishments weren’t fair. For example, the poor would receive harsher punishments compared to the rich. If Rome got a grade for promote rule of law they would get a C. They would get a C because they were

Laws originated from localism and were often controlled by ecclesiastical courts until the medieval age ended. Laws were influenced heavily by the idea of localism, which commonly revolved around the need for local goods, local government, and a local justice system. Often crime was defined by ecclesiastical courts; crimes involving morality or violations of the church’s conception of sin were handled locally. However, after the introduction of Roman law, the power to define crime became a duty of the ruler (Brackett, John 1999). The state had complete authority to define crimes, even crimes of morality. The accusatorial method had been the popular choice until the introduction of the inquisitorial method which was based on Roman law. However, it was said “This form of prosecution gave little power to judges.” (Crime and Punishment 2004).

Francis Schaeffer summarized his the entire book when he wrote, "To understand where we are in today's world–in our intellectual ideas and in our cultural and political lives–we must trace three lines in history, namely, the philosophic, the scientific, and the religious" (Schaeffer, 2005, p.20). Schaeffer is mainly stating that society is getting away from its Christians roots. He walks through instances in history where society has moved away from the principle teachings of the Bible. He believes that the problems in society are because individuals are ignoring the Christian principles that this world was built upon. He warns that this shift can have a catastrophic effect on how the world will look in the future.

“With laws unwritten, patrician officials often interpreted the law to suit themselves. In 451 B.C., a group of ten officials began writing down Rome’s laws. The laws were carved on twelve tablets, or tables, and hung in the Forum. They became the basis for later Roman law. The Twelve Tables established the idea that all free citizens had a right to the protection of the law.” (page 156)