The Difference Between Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses

The Difference Between Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses The Difference Between Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses The Difference Between Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses By Mark Nichol An essential, or restrictive, clause is a part of a sentence that provides integral context for the reader. A nonessential, or nonrestrictive, clause is parenthetical, presenting additional information that is not necessary for reader comprehension. Writers are, with increasing frequency, neglecting to appreciate the distinction, thereby undermining the effectiveness of the language they use. The following sentences illustrate how this carelessness (or ignorance) adversely affects meaning. Discussion and revision of each sentence responds to the fact that each of the following sentences erroneously treats optional material as required content. 1. Phyllis Schlafly, the conservative political activist who devoted much of her energy in the 1970s to stopping the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment that would have banned discrimination on the basis of sex in the United States, has died. The phrase â€Å"The Equal Rights Amendment that would have banned discrimination . . .† implies that more than one such amendment was proposed and that this one in particular, and no others, was intended to ban the specified discrimination. However, â€Å"would have banned . . . United States† is helpful but nonessential information about the one and only amendment, and that phrase should be included parenthetically: â€Å"Phyllis Schlafly, the conservative political activist who devoted much of her energy in the 1970s to stopping the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, which would have banned discrimination on the basis of sex in the United States, has died.† 2. Smith was referring to the Columbian mammoth which roamed the continent of North America before migrating to the Channel Islands. The sentence seems to imply that more than one species of Columbian mammoth existed, and that the one in question was native to North America but ended up on adjacent islands (with which substituting for the preferred pronoun that). However, the phrase â€Å"which roamed the continent of North America before migrating to the Channel Islands† is additional information attached to the main clause, â€Å"Smith was referring to the Columbian mammoth,† so it should be set off with a comma: â€Å"Smith was referring to the Columbian mammoth, which roamed the continent of North America before migrating to the Channel Islands.† 3. The two dwarf planets are in the asteroid belt that’s littered with rocky debris from the formation of the sun and planets some 4.5 billion years ago. The implication here is that more than one asteroid belt exists, and the one under discussion is littered with the described rocky debris; one or more others, presumably, has no such detritus. But the part of the sentence that follows â€Å"asteroid belt† is nonessential information that should be appended to the main clause parenthetically, with a comma separating the two sentence segments: â€Å"The two dwarf planets are in the asteroid belt, which is littered with rocky debris from the formation of the sun and planets some 4.5 billion years ago.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should AvoidCapitalization Rules for the Names of Games90 Verbs Starting with â€Å"Ex-†

Reducing mental health recidivism in corectional facilities Article

Reducing mental health recidivism in corectional facilities - Article Example The research revealed that mental illness treatment and employment services are the most effective methods that can be used to reduce mental health recidivism in correctional facilities. Introduction Mental health recidivism refers to the relapse of a prisoner’s mental health due to provision of improper rehabilitation services. Criminals, who do not receive proper mental health treatment during imprisonment, show a higher degree of recidivism as compared to the prisoners who receive proper rehabilitation services. Rate of recidivism is the degree to which criminals come back to prison either for the same offense or for some other criminal offense. A higher rate of recidivism indicates lack of rehabilitation services for prisoners because of which they cannot stop themselves from relapsing into criminal activities upon release from the prisons. It also increases government expenses in terms of incarceration and trial expenses, as well as causes threat to the overall peace of s ociety. On the other hand, a lower degree of mental health recidivism indicates presence of a proper correctional management system which performs its role efficiently to improve the negative mindset of criminals. A number of mental health recidivism-reduction methods are available which can help correctional officers reduce the rate of recidivism among prison inmates. Some of those methods include educational programs, employment programs, treatment programs, parole based programs, and faith based programs. However, mental illness treatment and employment programs work best for reducing mental health recidivism rates. In this paper, we will examine the extent to which mental illness treatment and employment programs help prisoners recover from mental illness and serve the society as normal citizens. We will review existing literature to gather detailed information. Methodology We used questionnaires and personal interviews to determine the role of mental illness treatment and emplo yment programs in reducing the rate of mental health recidivism. We interviewed ten correctional officers and twenty-five prisoners from three different prisons to gather information about the current rate of recidivism and the types of rehabilitation services that are provided to prisoners. The questionnaire was able to obtain relevant information about the past imprisonment histories of the prisoners. The prisons visited for research included Albion Correctional Facility, Bare Hill Correctional Facility, and Buffalo Correctional Facility. All of these prisons are located in New York. Results The results of the research indicated that rehabilitation services being provided to prisoners in these prisons are not up to the standards. The recidivism reduction programs implemented in Albion Correctional Facility and Bare Hill Correctional Facility include treatment for substance abuse, treatment for mental illness, and employment programs. On the other hand, the recidivism reduction tec hniques being used in Buffalo Correctional Facility include employment and educational programs. One-third of the mentally ill prisoners revealed that they have been imprisoned for more than two times in their lives. They said that correctional officers do not give proper attention to the needs of mentally