DocumentCode
21911
Title
Affluenza [Ethically Speaking]
Author
Haupt, Randy L.
Author_Institution
Electrical Eng. and Computer Science, Colorado School of Mines, Brown Building W350B, 1500 Illinois Street, Golden, CO 80401 USA
Volume
56
Issue
1
fYear
2014
fDate
Feb. 2014
Firstpage
225
Lastpage
225
Abstract
It´s affluenza season. Did you get your vaccination yet? Affluenza infects more people than you think. Statistics dramatically understate the epidemic. There was a devastating case in Texas that killed four people (http://www.forbes.com/sites/dalearcher/2013/12/16/the-affluenza-epidemic/). A 16-year-old boy from a rich family was drunk from drinking beer he stole from a Wal-Mart store when he drove his vehicle into four people and killed them. He confessed to intoxication manslaughter and was found guilty. The evidence to convict the boy was overwhelming. During the sentencing, a psychologist testifed that the boy suffered from affluenza. Affluenza infects children of wealthy families. Symptoms include a sense of entitlement and irre sponsibility. The infected make excuses for poor behavior because parents have not set proper boundaries. The term affluenza originated in the 1970s by blending the words ¿¿affluent¿¿ and ¿¿influenza¿¿ (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/affluenza). Rather than giving him the maximum 20-year prison sentence prosecutors were seeking, the judge gave him 10 years of probation. His harsh sentence requires therapy at a treatment facility in California, for which his parents will reportedly pay more than $450,000 a year. Will health insurance cover that?
Keywords
Economics; Ethics;
fLanguage
English
Journal_Title
Antennas and Propagation Magazine, IEEE
Publisher
ieee
ISSN
1045-9243
Type
jour
DOI
10.1109/MAP.2014.6821787
Filename
6821787
Link To Document