Grief

Grief is a multifaceted response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or something that has died, to which a bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, and philosophical dimensions. While the terms are often used interchangeably, bereavement refers to the state of loss, and grief is the reaction to loss.

Grief is a natural response to loss. It is the emotional suffering one feels when something or someone the individual loves is taken away. Grief is also a reaction to any loss. The grief associated with death is familiar to most people, but individuals grieve in connection with a variety of losses throughout their lives, such as unemployment, ill health or the end of a relationship. Loss can be categorized as either physical or abstract, the physical loss being related to something that the individual can touch or measure, such as losing a spouse through death, while other types of loss are abstract, and relate to aspects of a person’s social interactions.

Bereavement (film)

Bereavement is a 2010 American slasher film starring Michael Biehn, Alexandra Daddario, John Savage and Nolan Gerard Funk. It is a prequel to director Steven Mena's previous film Malevolence, and centers on a child who is abducted and forced to bear witness to a madman's crimes.

Plot

Martin Bristol, a young boy with congenital analgesia, is kidnapped by psychotic Graham Sutter. At his farmhouse, Graham cuts Martin's cheek then proceeds to butcher a captive young woman in front of him. Martin attempts to escape and makes a run for freedom, but Graham catches him and returns him to the farmhouse, where he continues to hold him and future female victims captive.

Over the next five years, Graham brutally butchers several young women forcing Martin to watch. Graham is seen throughout the film talking and arguing with a skull of a bull hung on his wall of the farmhouse.

Allison comes to live with relatives in the town where Graham is committing his crimes. While out for a run, she sees Martin from the window of the supposedly abandoned farmhouse. During her run she is almost hit by a truck and falls on the road. There she meets a local teenager, William, and the two bond and form a relationship of sorts. One night, her uncle Jonathan discovers her about to have sex with William and intervenes.

Conviction

In law, a conviction is the verdict that results when a court of law finds a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (i.e. "not guilty"). In Scotland and in the Netherlands, there can also be a verdict of "not proven", which counts as an acquittal. There are also cases where the court orders that a defendant not be convicted, despite being found guilty; in the England, Wales and Canada the mechanism for this is a discharge.

For a host of reasons, the criminal justice system is not perfect, and sometimes guilty defendants are acquitted, while innocent people are convicted. Appeal mechanisms mitigate this problem to some extent. An error which results in the conviction of an innocent person is known as a miscarriage of justice.

After a defendant is convicted, the court determines the appropriate sentence as a punishment. Furthermore, the conviction may lead to results beyond the terms of the sentence itself. Such ramifications are known as the collateral consequences of criminal charges.

Conviction (2010 film)

Conviction is a 2010 legal drama film directed by Tony Goldwyn, written by Pamela Gray, and starring Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell. The film premiered on September 11, 2010, at the Toronto International Film Festival and was released in the US on October 15, 2010.

Plot

The film is based on the true story of Betty Anne Waters, a single mother who works tirelessly to free her wrongfully convicted brother, Kenny. The story unfolds in flashbacks, and the film opens with the scene of the brutal 1980 murder of Katharina Brow in Ayer, Massachusetts. In many ways, Betty Anne's life revolves around her brother, who is now in jail for the murder. Despite Kenny's knack for getting in trouble, they have always been close. After the murder, Kenny is initially brought in for questioning by Sergeant Nancy Taylor (Melissa Leo), but released. Two years later, based on new testimony from two witnesses, Kenny is arrested and tried. The evidence presented at Kenny's trial is entirely circumstantial, but he is convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. The three main witnesses against him are Taylor, his ex-wife, Brenda (Clea DuVall), and an ex-girlfriend, Roseanna (Juliette Lewis).

Conviction (play)

Conviction is a play by American playwright and feminist activist Eve Ensler. The play was written by Ensler in 1981, and performed at the 1999 Berkshire Theater Festival in Stockbridge, Mass. The story involves two sisters, one of whom has been in prison.

References