Quote from: isisaacdead on January 09, 2016, 07:20:46 PM

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Cancer
For otheTumor Mesothelioma2 legend.jpg
A coronal CT scan showing a malignant mesothelioma
Legend: → tumor ←, ✱ central pleural effusion, 1 & 3 lungs, 2 spine, 4 ribs, 5 aorta, 6 spleen, 7 & 8 kidneys, 9 liver.
Classification and external resources
Pronunciation   Listeni/ˈkænsər/
Specialty   Oncology
ICD-10   C00—C97
ICD-9-CM   140—239
DiseasesDB   28843
MedlinePlus   001289
MeSH   D009369
Cancer, also known as a malignant tumor or malignant neoplasm, is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body.[1][2] Not all tumors are cancerous; benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body.[2] Possible signs and symptoms include: a new lump, abnormal bleeding, a prolonged cough, unexplained weight loss, and a change in bowel movements among others.[3] While these symptoms may indicate cancer, they may also occur due to other issues.[3] There are over 100 different known cancers that affect humans.[2]

Tobacco use is the cause of about 22% of cancer deaths.[1] Another 10% is due to obesity, a poor diet, lack of physical activity, and consumption of alcohol.[1][4] Other factors include certain infections, exposure to ionizing radiation, and environmental pollutants.[5] In the developing world nearly 20% of cancers are due to infections such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and human papillomavirus (HPV).[1] These factors act, at least partly, by changing the genes of a cell.[6] Typically many such genetic changes are required before cancer develops.[6] Approximately 5–10% of cancers are due to genetic defects inherited from a person's parents.[7] Cancer can be detected by certain signs and symptoms or screening tests.[1] It is then typically further investigated by medical imaging and confirmed by biopsy.[8]

Many cancers can be prevented by not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, not drinking too much alcohol, eating plenty of vegetables, fruits and whole grains, being vaccinated against certain infectious diseases, not eating too much processed and red meat, and avoiding too much exposure to sunlight.[9][10] Early detection through screening is useful for cervical and colorectal cancer.[11] The benefits of screening in breast cancer are controversial.[11][12] Cancer is often treated with some combination of radiation therapy, surgery, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy.[1][13] Pain and symptom management are an important part of care. Palliative care is particularly important in those with advanced disease.[1] The chance of survival depends on the type of cancer and extent of disease at the start of treatment.[6] In children under 15 at diagnosis the five-year survival rate in the developed world is on average 80%.[14] For cancer in the United States the average five-year survival rate is 66%.[15]

In 2012 about 14.1 million new cases of cancer occurred globally (not including skin cancer other than melanoma).[6] It caused about 8.2 million deaths or 14.6% of all human deaths.[6][16] The most common types of cancer in males are lung cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, and stomach cancer, and in females, the most common types are breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, and cervical cancer.[6] If skin cancer other than melanoma were included in total new cancers each year it would account for around 40% of cases.[17][18] In children, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and brain tumors are most common except in Africa where non-Hodgkin lymphoma occurs more often.[14] In 2012, about 165,000 children under 15 years of age were diagnosed with cancer. The risk of cancer increases significantly with age and many cancers occur more commonly in developed countries.[6] Rates are increasing as more people live to an old age and as lifestyle changes occur in the developing world.[19] The financial costs of cancer have been estimated at $1.16 trillion US dollars per year as of 2010.[20]

Contents  [hide]
1   Definitions
2   Signs and symptoms
2.1   Local effects
2.2   Systemic symptoms
2.3   Metastasis
3   Causes
3.1   Chemicals
3.2   Diet and exercise
3.3   Infection
3.4   Radiation
3.5   Heredity
3.6   Physical agents
Cancers are a large family of diseases that involve abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body.[1][2] They form a subset of neoplasms. A neoplasm or tumor is a group of cells that have undergone unregulated growth, and will often form a mass or lump, but may be distributed diffusely.[21][22]

All tumor cells show the six hallmarks of cancer. These are characteristics that the cancer cells need to produce a malignant tumor. They include:[23]

Cell growth and division without the proper signals to do so
Continuous growth and division even when there are signals telling them to stop
Avoidance of programmed cell death
Limitless number of cell divisions
Promoting blood vessel construction
Invasion of tissue and formation of metastases[24]
The progression from normal cells to cells that can form a detectable mass to outright cancer involves multiple steps known as malignant progression.[24][25]

Signs and symptoms
Main article: Cancer signs and symptoms

Symptoms of cancer metastasis depend on the location of the tumor.
When cancer begins, it invariably produces no symptoms. Signs and symptoms only appear as the mass continues to grow or ulcerates. The findings that result depend on the type and location of the cancer. Few symptoms are specific, with many of them also frequently occurring in individuals who have other conditions. Cancer is the new "great imitator". Thus, it is not uncommon for people diagnosed with cancer to have been treated for other diseases, which were assumed to be causing their symptoms.[26]

Local effects
Local symptoms may occur due to the mass of the tumor or its ulceration. For example, mass effects from lung cancer can cause blockage of the bronchus resulting in cough or pneumonia; esophageal cancer can cause narrowing of the esophagus, making it difficult or painful to swallow; and colorectal cancer may lead to narrowing or blockages in the bowel, resulting in changes in bowel habits. Masses in breasts or testicles may be easily felt. Ulceration can cause bleeding that, if it occurs in the lung, will lead to coughing up blood, in the bowels to anemia or rectal bleeding, in the bladder to blood in the urine, and in the uterus to vaginal bleeding. Although localized pain may occur in advanced cancer, the initial swelling is usually painless. Some cancers can cause a buildup of fluid within the chest or abdomen.[26]

Systemic symptoms
General symptoms occur due to distant effects of the cancer that are not related to direct or metastatic spread. These may include: unintentional weight loss, fever, being excessively tired, and changes to the skin.[27] Hodgkin disease, leukemias, and cancers of the liver or kidney can cause a persistent fever of unknown origin.[26]

Some cancers may cause specific groups of systemic symptoms, termed paraneoplastic phenomena. Examples include the appearance of myasthenia gravis in thymoma and clubbing in lung cancer.[26]

Metastasis
Main article: Metastasis
Cancer can spread from its original site by local spread, lymphatic spread to regional lymph nodes or by blood (haematogenous spread) to distant sites, known as metastasis. When cancer spreads by a haematogenous route, it usually spreads all over the body. However, cancer 'seeds' grow in certain selected site only ('soil') as hypothesized in the soil and seed hypothesis of cancer metastasis. The symptoms of metastatic cancers depend on the location of the tumor, and can include enlarged lymph nodes (which can be felt or sometimes seen under the skin and are typically hard), enlarged liver or enlarged spleen, which can be felt in the abdomen, pain or fracture of affected bones, and neurological symptoms.[26]

Causes
Main article: Causes of cancer
The great majority of cancers, some 90–95% of cases, are due to environmental factors. The remaining 5–10% are due to inherited genetics.[5] Environmental, as used by cancer researchers, means any cause that is not inherited genetically, such as lifestyle, economic and behavioral factors, and not merely pollution.[28] Common environmental factors that contribute to cancer death include tobacco (25–30%), diet and obesity (30–35%), infections (15–20%), radiation (both ionizing and non-ionizing, up to 10%), stress, lack of physical activity, and environmental pollutants.[5]

It is nearly impossible to prove what caused a cancer in any individual, because most cancers have multiple possible causes. For example, if a person who uses tobacco heavily develops lung cancer, then it was probably caused by the tobacco use, but since everyone has a small chance of developing lung cancer as a result of air pollution or radiation, then there is a small chance that the cancer developed because of air pollution or radiation. Excepting the rare transmissions that occur with pregnancies and only a marginal few organ donors, cancer is generally not a transmissible disease.[29]

Chemicals
Further information: Alcohol and cancer and Smoking and cancer

The incidence of lung cancer is highly correlated with smoking.
Exposure to particular substances have been linked to specific types of cancer. These substances are called carcinogens. Tobacco smoking, for example, causes 90% of lung cancer.[30] It also causes cancer in the larynx, head, neck, stomach, bladder, kidney, esophagus and pancreas.[31] Tobacco smoke contains over fifty known carcinogens, including nitrosamines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.[32] Tobacco is responsible for about one in three of all cancer deaths in the developed world,[33] and about one in five worldwide.[32] Lung cancer death rates in the United States have mirrored smoking patterns, with increases in smoking followed by dramatic increases in lung cancer death rates and, more recently, decreases in smoking rates since the 1950s followed by decreases in lung cancer death rates in men since 1990.[34][35]

In Western Europe, 10% of cancers in males and 3% of all cancers in females are attributed to alcohol exposure, especially cancer of the liver and of the digestive tract.[36] Cancer related to substance exposures at work is believed to represent between 2–20% of all cases.[37] Every year, at least 200,000 people die worldwide from cancer related to their workplaces.[38] Millions of workers run the risk of developing cancers such as lung cancer and mesothelioma from inhaling tobacco smoke or asbestos fibers on the job, or leukemia from exposure to benzene at their workplaces.[38]

Diet and exercise
Main article: Diet and cancer
Diet, physical inactivity, and obesity are related to up to 30–35% of cancer deaths.[5][39] In the United States excess body weight is associated with the development of many types of cancer and is a factor in 14–20% of all cancer deaths.[39] Correspondingly, a UK study including data on over 5 million people showed higher body mass index to be related to at least 10 types of cancer, and responsible for around 12,000 cases each year in that country.[40] Physical inactivity is believed to contribute to cancer risk, not only through its effect on body weight but also through negative effects on the immune system and endocrine system.[39] More than half of the effect from diet is due to overnutrition (eating too much), rather than from eating too few vegetables or other healthful foods.

Some specific foods are linked to specific cancers. A high-salt diet is linked to gastric cancer.[41] Aflatoxin B1, a frequent food contaminate, causes liver cancer.[41] Betel nut chewing causes oral cancer.[41] The differences in dietary practices may partly explain differences in cancer incidence in different countries. For example, gastric cancer is more common in Japan due to its high-salt diet[42] and colon cancer is more common in the United States. Immigrants develop the risk of their new country, often within one generation, suggesting a substantial link between diet and cancer.[43]

Infection
Main article: Infectious causes of cancer
Worldwide approximately 18% of cancer deaths are related to infectious diseases.[5] This proportion varies in different regions of the world from a high of 25% in Africa to less than 10% in the developed world.[5] Viruses are the usual infectious agents that cause cancer but cancer bacteria and parasites may also have an effect.

A virus that can cause cancer is called an oncovirus. These include human papillomavirus (cervical carcinoma), Epstein–Barr virus (B-cell lymphoproliferative disease and nasopharyngeal carcinoma), Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (Kaposi's sarcoma and primary effusion lymphomas), hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses (hepatocellular carcinoma), and human T-cell leukemia virus-1 (T-cell leukemias). Bacterial infection may also increase the risk of cancer, as seen in Helicobacter pylori-induced gastric carcinoma.[44] Parasitic infections strongly associated with cancer include Schistosoma haematobium (squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder) and the liver flukes, Opisthorchis viverrini and Clonorchis sinensis (cholangiocarcinoma).[45]

Radiation
Main article: Radiation-induced cancer
Up to 10% of invasive cancers are related to radiation exposure, including both ionizing radiation and non-ionizing ultraviolet radiation.[5] Additionally, the vast majority of non-invasive cancers are non-melanoma skin cancers caused by non-ionizing ultraviolet radiation, mostly from sunlight. Sources of ionizing radiation include medical imaging and radon gas.

Ionizing radiation is not a particularly strong mutagen.[46] Residential exposure to radon gas, for example, has similar cancer risks as passive smoking.[46] Radiation is a more potent source of cancer when it is combined with other cancer-causing agents, such as radon gas exposure plus smoking tobacco.[46] Radiation can cause cancer in most parts of the body, in all animals, and at any age. Children and adolescents are twice as likely to develop radiation-induced leukemia as adults; radiation exposure before birth has ten times the effect.[46]

Medical use of ionizing radiation is a small but growing source of radiation-induced cancers. Ionizing radiation may be used to treat other cancers, but this may, in some cases, induce a second form of cancer.[46] It is also used in some kinds of medical imaging.[47]

Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun can lead to melanoma and other skin malignancies.[48] Clear evidence establishes ultraviolet radiation, especially the non-ionizing medium wave UVB, as the cause of most non-melanoma skin cancers, which are the most common forms of cancer in the world.[48]

Non-ionizing radio frequency radiation from mobile phones, electric power transmission, and other similar sources have been described as a possible carcinogen by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer.[49] However, studies have not found a consistent link between cell phone radiation and cancer risk.[50]

Heredity
Main article: Cancer syndrome
The vast majority of cancers are non-hereditary ("sporadic cancers"). Hereditary cancers are primarily caused by an inherited genetic defect. Less than 0.3% of the population are carriers of a genetic mutation that has a large effect on cancer risk and these cause less than 3–10% of all cancer.[51] Some of these syndromes include: certain inherited mutations in the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 with a more than 75% risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer,[51] and hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC or Lynch syndrome), which is present in about 3% of people with colorectal cancer,[52] among others.

Physical agents
Some substances cause cancer primarily through their physical, rather than chemical, effects on cells.[53] A prominent example of this is prolonged exposure to asbestos, naturally occurring mineral fibers that are a major cause of mesothelioma, which is a cancer of the serous membrane, usually the serous membrane surrounding the lungs.[53] Other substances in this category, including both naturally occurring and synthetic asbestos-like fibers, such as wollastonite, attapulgite, glass wool, and rock wool, are believed to have similar effects.[53] Non-fibrous particulate materials that cause cancer include powdered metallic cobalt and nickel, and crystalline silica (quartz, cristobalite, and tridymite).[53] Usually, physical carcinogens must get inside the body (such as through inhaling tiny pieces) and require years of exposure to develop cancer.[53]

Physical trauma resulting in cancer is relatively rare.[54] Claims that breaking bones resulted in bone cancer, for example, have never been proven.[54] Similarly, physical trauma is not accepted as a cause for cervical cancer, breast cancer, or brain cancer.[54] One accepted source is frequent, long-term application of hot objects to the body. It is possible that repeated burns on the same part of the body, such as those produced by kanger and kairo heaters (charcoal hand warmers), may produce skin cancer, especially if carcinogenic chemicals are also present.[54] Frequently drinking scalding hot tea may produce esophageal cancer.[54] Generally, it is believed that the cancer arises, or a pre-existing cancer is encouraged, during the process of repairing the trauma, rather than the cancer being caused directly by the trauma.[54] However, repeated injuries to the same tissues might promote excessive cell proliferation, which could then increase the odds of a cancerous mutation.

It is controversial whether chronic inflammation can directly cause mutation.[54][55] It is recognized, however, that inflammation can contribute to proliferation, survival, angiogenesis and migration of cancer cells by influencing the microenvironment around tumors.[56][57] Furthermore, oncogenes are known to build up an inflammatory pro-tumorigenic microenvironment.[58]

Hormones
Some hormones play a role in the development of cancer by promoting cell proliferation.[59] Insulin-like growth factors and their binding proteins play a key role in cancer cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis, suggesting possible involvement in carcinogenesis.[60]

Hormones are important agents in sex-related cancers, such as cancer of the breast, endometrium, prostate, ovary, and testis, and also of thyroid cancer and bone cancer.[59] For example, the daughters of women who have breast cancer have significantly higher levels of estrogen and progesterone than the daughters of women without breast cancer. These higher hormone levels may explain why these women have higher risk of breast cancer, even in the absence of a breast-cancer gene.[59] Similarly, men of African ancestry have significantly higher levels of testosterone than men of European ancestry, and have a correspondingly much higher level of prostate cancer.[59] Men of Asian ancestry, with the lowest levels of testosterone-activating androstanediol glucuronide, have the lowest levels of prostate cancer.[59]

Other factors are also relevant: obese people have higher levels of some hormones associated with cancer and a higher rate of those cancers.[59] Women who take hormone replacement therapy have a higher risk of developing cancers associated with those hormones.[59] On the other hand, people who exercise far more than average have lower levels of these hormones, and lower risk of cancer.[59] Osteosarcoma may be promoted by growth hormones.[59] Some treatments and prevention approaches leverage this cause by artificially reducing hormone levels, and thus discouraging hormone-sensitive cancers.[59]

Pathophysiology
Main article: Carcinogenesis

Cancers are caused by a series of mutations. Each mutation alters the behavior of the cell somewhat.
Genetics
Cancer is fundamentally a disease of tissue growth regulation failure. In order for a normal cell to transform into a cancer cell, the genes that regulate cell growth and differentiation must be altered.[61]

The affected genes are divided into two broad categories. Oncogenes are genes that promote cell growth and reproduction. Tumor suppressor genes are genes that inhibit cell division and survival. Malignant transformation can occur through the formation of novel oncogenes, the inappropriate over-expression of normal oncogenes, or by the under-expression or disabling of tumor suppressor genes. Typically, changes in many genes are required to transform a normal cell into a cancer cell.[62]

Genetic changes can occur at different levels and by different mechanisms. The gain or loss of an entire chromosome can occur through errors in mitosis. More common are mutations, which are changes in the nucleotide sequence of genomic DNA.

Large-scale mutations involve the deletion or gain of a portion of a chromosome. Genomic amplification occurs when a cell gains many copies (often 20 or more) of a small chromosomal locus, usually containing one or more oncogenes and adjacent genetic material. Translocation occurs when two separate chromosomal regions become abnormally fused, often at a characteristic location. A well-known example of this is the Philadelphia chromosome, or translocation of chromosomes 9 and 22, which occurs in chronic myelogenous leukemia, and results in production of the BCR-abl fusion protein, an oncogenic tyrosine kinase.

Small-scale mutations include point mutations, deletions, and insertions, which may occur in the promoter region of a gene and affect its expression, or may occur in the gene's coding sequence and alter the function or stability of its protein product. Disruption of a single gene may also result from integration of genomic material from a DNA virus or retrovirus, leading to the expression of viral oncogenes in the affected cell and its descendants.

Replication of the enormous amount of data contained within the DNA of living cells will probabilistically result in some errors (mutations). Complex error correction and prevention is built into the process, and safeguards the cell against cancer. If significant error occurs, the damaged cell can "self-destruct" through programmed cell death, termed apoptosis. If the error control processes fail, then the mutations will survive and be passed along to daughter cells.

Some environments make errors more likely to arise and propagate. Such environments can include the presence of disruptive substances called carcinogens, repeated physical injury, heat, ionising radiation, or hypoxia.[63]

The errors that cause cancer are self-amplifying and compounding, for example:

A mutation in the error-correcting machinery of a cell might cause that cell and its children to accumulate errors more rapidly.
A further mutation in an oncogene might cause the cell to reproduce more rapidly and more frequently than its normal counterparts.
A further mutation may cause loss of a tumor suppressor gene, disrupting the apoptosis signalling pathway and resulting in the cell becoming immortal.
A further mutation in signaling machinery of the cell might send error-causing signals to nearby cells.
The transformation of normal cell into cancer is akin to a chain reaction caused by initial errors, which compound into more severe errors, each progressively allowing the cell to escape the controls that limit normal tissue growth. This rebellion-like scenario becomes an undesirable survival of the fittest, where the driving forces of evolution work against the body's design and enforcement of order. Once cancer has begun to develop, this ongoing process, termed clonal evolution, drives progression towards more invasive stages.[64] Clonal evolution leads to intra-tumour heterogeneity that complicates designing effective treatment strategies.

Characteristic abilities developed by cancers are divided into a number of categories. Six categories were originally proposed, in a 2000 article called "The Hallmarks of Cancer" by Douglas Hanahan and Robert Weinberg: evasion of apoptosis, self-sufficiency in growth signals, insensitivity to anti-growth signals, sustained angiogenesis, limitless replicative potential, and metastasis. Based on further work, the same authors added two more categories in 2011: reprogramming of energy metabolism and evasion of immune destruction.[24][25]

Epigenetics

The central role of DNA damage and epigenetic defects in DNA repair genes in carcinogenesis
Classically, cancer has been viewed as a set of diseases that are driven by progressive genetic abnormalities that include mutations in tumor-suppressor genes and oncogenes, and chromosomal abnormalities. However, it has become apparent that cancer is also driven by epigenetic alterations.[65]

Epigenetic alterations refer to functionally relevant modifications to the genome that do not involve a change in the nucleotide sequence. Examples of such modifications are changes in DNA methylation (hypermethylation and hypomethylation) and histone modification[66] and changes in chromosomal architecture (caused by inappropriate expression of proteins such as HMGA2 or HMGA1).[67] Each of these epigenetic alterations serves to regulate gene expression without altering the underlying DNA sequence. These changes may remain through cell divisions, last for multiple generations, and can be considered to be epimutations (equivalent to mutations).

Epigenetic alterations occur frequently in cancers. As an example, Schnekenburger and Diederich[68] listed protein coding genes that were frequently altered in their methylation in association with colon cancer. These included 147 hypermethylated and 27 hypomethylated genes. Of the hypermethylated genes, 10 were hypermethylated in 100% of colon cancers, and many others were hypermethylated in more than 50% of colon cancers.

While large numbers of epigenetic alterations are found in cancers, the epigenetic alterations in DNA repair genes, causing reduced expression of DNA repair proteins, may be of particular importance. Such alterations are thought to occur early in progression to cancer and to be a likely cause of the genetic instability characteristic of cancers.[69][70][71][72]

Reduced expression of DNA repair genes causes deficient DNA repair. This is shown in the figure at the 4th level from the top. (In the figure, red wording indicates the central role of DNA damage and defects in DNA repair in progression to cancer.) When DNA repair is deficient DNA damages remain in cells at a higher than usual level (5th level from the top in figure), and these excess damages cause increased frequencies of mutation and/or epimutation (6th level from top of figure). Mutation rates increase substantially in cells defective in DNA mismatch repair[73][74] or in homologous recombinational repair (HRR).[75] Chromosomal rearrangements and aneuploidy also increase in HRR defective cells.[76]

Higher levels of DNA damage not only cause increased mutation (right side of figure), but also cause increased epimutation. During repair of DNA double strand breaks, or repair of other DNA damages, incompletely cleared sites of repair can cause epigenetic gene silencing.[77][78]

Deficient expression of DNA repair proteins due to an inherited mutation can cause an increased risk of cancer. Individuals with an inherited impairment in any of 34 DNA repair genes (see article DNA repair-deficiency disorder) have an increased risk of cancer, with some defects causing up to a 100% lifetime chance of cancer (e.g. p53 mutations).[79] Germ line DNA repair mutations are noted in a box on the left side of the figure, with an arrow indicating their contribution to DNA repair deficiency. However, such germline mutations (which cause highly penetrant cancer syndromes) are the cause of only about 1 percent of cancers.[80]

In sporadic cancers, deficiencies in DNA repair are occasionally caused by a mutation in a DNA repair gene, but are much more frequently caused by epigenetic alterations that reduce or silence expression of DNA repair genes. This is indicated in the figure at the 3rd level from the top. Many studies of heavy metal-induced carcinogenesis show that such heavy metals cause reduction in expression of DNA repair enzymes, some through epigenetic mechanisms. In some cases, DNA repair inhibition is proposed to be a predominant mechanism in heavy metal-induced carcinogenicity. In addition, there are frequent epigenetic alterations of the DNA sequences coding for small RNAs called microRNAs (or miRNAs). MiRNAs do not code for proteins, but can "target" protein-coding genes and reduce their expression.

Cancers usually arise from an assemblage of mutations and epimutations that confer a selective advantage leading to clonal expansion (see Field defects in progression to cancer). Mutations, however, may not be as frequent in cancers as epigenetic alterations. An average cancer of the breast or colon can have about 60 to 70 protein-altering mutations, of which about three or four may be "driver" mutations, and the remaining ones may be "passenger" mutations.[81]

As pointed out above under genetic alterations, cancer is caused by failure to regulate tissue growth, when the genes that regulate cell growth and differentiation are altered. It has become clear that these alterations are caused by both DNA sequence mutation in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes as well as by epigenetic alterations. The epigenetic deficiencies in expression of DNA repair genes, in particular, likely cause an increased frequency of mutations, some of which then occur in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes.

Metastasis
Main article: Metastasis
Metastasis is the spread of cancer to other locations in the body. The new tumors are called metastatic tumors, while the original is called the primary tumor. Almost all cancers can metastasize.[82] Most cancer deaths are due to cancer that has spread from its primary site to other organs (metastasized).[83]

Metastasis is very common in the late stages of cancer, and it can occur via the blood or the lymphatic system or both. The typical steps in metastasis are local invasion, intravasation into the blood or lymph, circulation through the body, extravasation into the new tissue, proliferation, and angiogenesis. Different types of cancers tend to metastasize to particular organs, but overall the most common places for metastases to occur are the lungs, liver, brain, and the bones.[82]

Diagnosis

Chest x-ray showing lung cancer in the left lung
Most cancers are initially recognized either because of the appearance of signs or symptoms or through screening. Neither of these lead to a definitive diagnosis, which requires the examination of a tissue sample by a pathologist. People with suspected cancer are investigated with medical tests. These commonly include blood tests, X-rays, CT scans and endoscopy.

Most people are distressed to learn that they have cancer. They may become extremely anxious and depressed. The risk of suicide in people with cancer is approximately double the normal risk.[84]

Classification
Further information: List of cancer types and List of oncology-related terms
Cancers are classified by the type of cell that the tumor cells resemble and is therefore presumed to be the origin of the tumor. These types include:

Carcinoma: Cancers derived from epithelial cells. This group includes many of the most common cancers, particularly in the aged, and include nearly all those developing in the breast, prostate, lung, pancreas, and colon.
Sarcoma: Cancers arising from connective tissue (i.e. bone, cartilage, fat, nerve), each of which develops from cells originating in mesenchymal cells outside the bone marrow.
Lymphoma and leukemia: These two classes of cancer arise from hematopoietic (blood-forming) cells that leave the marrow and tend to mature in the lymph nodes and blood, respectively. Leukemia is the most common type of cancer in children accounting for about 30%.[85]
Germ cell tumor: Cancers derived from pluripotent cells, most often presenting in the testicle or the ovary (seminoma and dysgerminoma, respectively).
Blastoma: Cancers derived from immature "precursor" cells or embryonic tissue. Blastomas are more common in children than in older adults.
Cancers are usually named using -carcinoma, -sarcoma or -blastoma as a suffix, with the Latin or Greek word for the organ or tissue of origin as the root. For example, cancers of the liver parenchyma arising from malignant epithelial cells is called hepatocarcinoma, while a malignancy arising from primitive liver precursor cells is called a hepatoblastoma, and a cancer arising from fat cells is called a liposarcoma. For some common cancers, the English organ name is used. For example, the most common type of breast cancer is called ductal carcinoma of the breast. Here, the adjective ductal refers to the appearance of the cancer under the microscope, which suggests that it has originated in the milk ducts.

Benign tumors (which are not cancers) are named using -oma as a suffix with the organ name as the root. For example, a benign tumor of smooth muscle cells is called a leiomyoma (the common name of this frequently occurring benign tumor in the uterus is fibroid). Confusingly, some types of cancer use the -noma suffix, examples including melanoma and seminoma.

Some types of cancer are named for the size and shape of the cells under a microscope, such as giant cell carcinoma, spindle cell carcinoma, and small-cell carcinoma.

Pathology
The tissue diagnosis given by the pathologist indicates the type of cell that is proliferating, its histological grade, genetic abnormalities, and other features of the tumor. Together, this information is useful to evaluate the prognosis of the patient and to choose the best treatment. Cytogenetics and immunohistochemistry are other types of testing that the pathologist may perform on the tissue specimen. These tests may provide information about the molecular changes (such as mutations, fusion genes, and numerical chromosome changes) that have happened in the cancer cells, and may thus also indicate the future behavior of the cancer (prognosis) and best treatment.


An invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast (pale area at the center) surrounded by spikes of whitish scar tissue and yellow fatty tissue
 

An invasive colorectal carcinoma (top center) in a colectomy specimen
 

A squamous-cell carcinoma (the whitish tumor) near the bronchi in a lung specimen
 

A large invasive ductal carcinoma in a mastectomy specimen
Prevention
Main article: Cancer prevention
Cancer prevention is defined as active measures to decrease the risk of cancer.[86] The vast majority of cancer cases are due to environmental risk factors, and many, but not all, of these environmental factors are controllable lifestyle choices. Thus, cancer is considered a largely preventable disease.[87] Between 70% and 90% of common cancers are due to environmental factors and therefore possibly preventable.[88]

Greater than 30% of cancer deaths could be prevented by avoiding risk factors including: tobacco, overweight / obesity, an insufficient diet, physical inactivity, alcohol, sexually transmitted infections, and air pollution.[89] Not all environmental causes are controllable, such as naturally occurring background radiation, and other cases of cancer are caused through hereditary genetic disorders, and thus it is not possible to prevent all cases of cancer.

Dietary
Main article: Diet and cancer
While many dietary recommendations have been proposed to reduce the risk of cancer, the evidence to support them is not definitive.[9][90] The primary dietary factors that increase risk are obesity and alcohol consumption; with a diet low in fruits and vegetables and high in red meat being implicated but not confirmed.[91][92] A 2014 meta-analysis did not find a relationship between fruits and vegetables and cancer.[93] Consumption of coffee is associated with a reduced risk of liver cancer.[94] Studies have linked excessive consumption of red or processed meat to an increased risk of breast cancer, colon cancer, and pancreatic cancer, a phenomenon that could be due to the presence of carcinogens in meats cooked at high temperatures.[95][96] This was confirmed in 2015 by the IARC of the World Health Organization, which determined that eating processed meat (e.g., bacon, ham, hot dogs, sausages) and, to a lesser degree, red meat was linked to some cancers.[97][98]

Dietary recommendations for cancer prevention typically include an emphasis on vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and fish, and an avoidance of processed and red meat (beef, pork, lamb), animal fats, and refined carbohydrates.[9][90]

Medication
The concept that medications can be used to prevent cancer is attractive, and evidence supports their use in a few defined circumstances.[99] In the general population, NSAIDs reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, however due to the cardiovascular and gastrointestinal side effects they cause overall harm when used for prevention.[100] Aspirin has been found to reduce the risk of death from cancer by about 7%.[101] COX-2 inhibitor may decrease the rate of polyp formation in people with familial adenomatous polyposis, however it is associated with the same adverse effects as NSAIDs.[102] Daily use of tamoxifen or raloxifene has been demonstrated to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer in high-risk women.[103] The benefit versus harm for 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor such as finasteride is not clear.[104]

Vitamins have not been found to be effective at preventing cancer,[105] although low blood levels of vitamin D are correlated with increased cancer risk.[106][107] Whether this relationship is causal and vitamin D supplementation is protective is not determined.[108] Beta-Carotene supplementation has been found to increase lung cancer rates in those who are high risk.[109] Folic acid supplementation has not been found effective in preventing colon cancer and may increase colon polyps.[110] It is unclear if selenium supplementation has an effect.[111]

Vaccination
Vaccines have been developed that prevent infection by some carcinogenic viruses.[112] Human papillomavirus vaccine (Gardasil and Cervarix) decreases the risk of developing cervical cancer.[112] The hepatitis B vaccine prevents infection with hepatitis B virus and thus decreases the risk of liver cancer.[112] The administration of human papillomavirus and hepatitis B vaccinations is recommended when resources allow.[113]

Screening
Main article: Cancer screening
Unlike diagnosis efforts prompted by symptoms and medical signs, cancer screening involves efforts to detect cancer after it has formed, but before any noticeable symptoms appear.[114] This may involve physical examination, blood or urine tests, or medical imaging.[114]

Cancer screening is currently not possible for many types of cancers, and even when tests are available, they may not be recommended for everyone. Universal screening or mass screening involves screening everyone.[115] Selective screening identifies people who are known to be at higher risk of developing cancer, such as people with a family history of cancer.[115] Several factors are considered to determine whether the benefits of screening outweigh the risks and the costs of screening.[114] These factors include:

Possible harms from the screening test: for example, X-ray images involve exposure to potentially harmful ionizing radiation.
The likelihood of the test correctly identifying cancer.
The likelihood of cancer being present: Screening is not normally useful for rare cancers.
Possible harms from follow-up procedures.
Whether suitable treatment is available.
Whether early detection improves treatment outcomes.
Whether the cancer will ever need treatment.
Whether the test is acceptable to the people: If a screening test is too burdensome (for example, being extremely painful), then people will refuse to participate.[115]
Cost of the test.
Recommendations
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) strongly recommends cervical cancer screening in women who are sexually active and have a cervix at least until the age of 65.[116] They recommend that Americans be screened for colorectal cancer via fecal occult blood testing, sigmoidoscopy, or colonoscopy starting at age 50 until age 75.[117] There is insufficient evidence to recommend for or against screening for skin cancer,[118] oral cancer,[119] lung cancer,[120] or prostate cancer in men under 75.[121] Routine screening is not recommended for bladder cancer,[122] testicular cancer,[123] ovarian cancer,[124] pancreatic cancer,[125] or prostate cancer.[126]

The USPSTF recommends mammography for breast cancer screening every two years for those 50–74 years old; however, they do not recommend either breast self-examination or clinical breast examination.[127] A 2011 Cochrane review came to slightly different conclusions with respect to breast cancer screening stating that routine mammography may do more harm than good.[128]

Japan screens for gastric cancer using photofluorography due to the high incidence there.[19]

Genetic testing
See also: Cancer syndrome
Gene   Cancer types
BRCA1, BRCA2   Breast, ovarian, pancreatic
HNPCC, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS1, PMS2   Colon, uterine, small bowel, stomach, urinary tract
Genetic testing for individuals at high-risk of certain cancers is recommended.[113][129] Carriers of these mutations may then undergo enhanced surveillance, chemoprevention, or preventative surgery to reduce their subsequent risk.[129]

Management
Main articles: Management of cancer and oncology
Many treatment options for cancer exist, with the primary ones including surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy and palliative care. Which treatments are used depends on the type, location, and grade of the cancer as well as the person's health and wishes. The treatment intent may be curative or not curative.

Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with one or more cytotoxic anti-neoplastic drugs (chemotherapeutic agents) as part of a standardized regimen. The term encompasses any of a large variety of different anticancer drugs, which are divided into broad categories such as alkylating agents and antimetabolites.[130] Traditional chemotherapeutic agents act by killing cells that divide rapidly, one of the main properties of most cancer cells.

Targeted therapy is a form of chemotherapy that targets specific molecular differences between cancer and normal cells. The first targeted therapies to be developed blocked the estrogen receptor molecule, inhibiting the growth of breast cancer. Another common example is the class of Bcr-Abl inhibitors, which are used to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML).[131] Currently, there are targeted therapies for breast cancer, multiple myeloma, lymphoma, prostate cancer, melanoma and other cancers.[132]

The efficacy of chemotherapy depends on the type of cancer and the stage. In combination with surgery, chemotherapy has proven useful in a number of different cancer types including: breast cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, osteogenic sarcoma, testicular cancer, ovarian cancer, and certain lung cancers.[133] The overall effectiveness ranges from being curative for some cancers, such as some leukemias,[134][135] to being ineffective, such as in some brain tumors,[136] to being needless in others, like most non-melanoma skin cancers.[137] The effectiveness of chemotherapy is often limited by toxicity to other tissues in the body. Even when it is impossible for chemotherapy to provide a permanent cure, chemotherapy may be useful to reduce symptoms like pain or to reduce the size of an inoperable tumor in the hope that surgery will be possible in the future.

Radiation
Radiation therapy involves the use of ionizing radiation in an attempt to either cure or improve the symptoms of cancer. It works by damaging the DNA of cancerous tissue leading to cellular death. To spare normal tissues (such as skin or organs, which radiation must pass through to treat the tumor), shaped radiation beams are aimed from several angles of exposure to intersect at the tumor, providing a much larger absorbed dose there than in the surrounding, healthy tissue. As with chemotherapy, different cancers respond differently to radiation therapy.[138][139][140]

Radiation therapy is used in about half of all cases and the radiation can be from either internal sources in the form of brachytherapy or external radiation sources. The radiation is most commonly low energy x-rays for treating skin cancers while higher energy x-ray beams are used in the treatment of cancers within the body.[141] Radiation is typically used in addition to surgery and or chemotherapy but for certain types of cancer, such as early head and neck cancer, may be used alone.[142] For painful bone metastasis, it has been found to be effective in about 70% of people.[142]

Surgery
Surgery is the primary method of treatment of most isolated solid cancers and may play a role in palliation and prolongation of survival. It is typically an important part of making the definitive diagnosis and staging the tumor as biopsies are usually required. In localized cancer surgery typically attempts to remove the entire mass along with, in certain cases, the lymph nodes in the area. For some types of cancer this is all that is needed to eliminate the cancer.[133]

Palliative care
Palliative care refers to treatment that attempts to make the person feel better and may or may not be combined with an attempt to treat the cancer. Palliative care includes action to reduce the physical, emotional, spiritual, and psycho-social distress experienced by people with cancer. Unlike treatment that is aimed at directly killing cancer cells, the primary goal of palliative care is to improve the person's quality of life.

People at all stages of cancer treatment should have some kind of palliative care to provide comfort. In some cases, medical specialty professional organizations recommend that people and physicians respond to cancer only with palliative care and not with cure-directed therapy.[143] This includes:[144]

people with low performance status, corresponding with limited ability to care for themselves[143]
people who received no benefit from prior evidence-based treatments[143]
people who are not eligible to participate in any appropriate clinical trial[143]
people for whom the physician sees no strong evidence that treatment would be effective[143]
Palliative care is often confused with hospice and therefore only involved when people approach end of life. Like hospice care, palliative care attempts to help the person cope with the immediate needs and to increase the person's comfort. Unlike hospice care, palliative care does not require people to stop treatment aimed at prolonging their lives or curing the cancer.

Multiple national medical guidelines recommend early palliative care for people whose cancer has produced distressing symptoms (pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, nausea) or who need help coping with their illness. In people who have metastatic disease when first diagnosed, oncologists should consider a palliative care consult immediately. Additionally, an oncologist should consider a palliative care consult in any person they feel has less than 12 months of life even if continuing aggressive treatment.[145][146][147]

Immunotherapy
Main article: Cancer immunotherapy
A variety of therapies using immunotherapy, stimulating or helping the immune system to fight cancer, have come into use since 1997, and this continues to be an area of very active research.[148]

Alternative medicine
Complementary and alternative cancer treatments are a diverse group of health care systems, practices, and products that are not part of conventional medicine.[149] "Complementary medicine" refers to methods and substances used along with conventional medicine, while "alternative medicine" refers to compounds used instead of conventional medicine.[150] Most complementary and alternative medicines for cancer have not been rigorously studied or tested. Some alternative treatments have been investigated and shown to be ineffective but still continue to be marketed and promoted. Cancer researcher Andrew J. Vickers has stated: "The label 'unproven' is inappropriate for such therapies; it is time to assert that many alternative cancer therapies have been 'disproven'."[151]

Prognosis
See also: List of cancer mortality rates in the United States and Cancer survivor
Cancer has a reputation as a deadly disease. Taken as a whole, about half of people receiving treatment for invasive cancer (excluding carcinoma in situ and non-melanoma skin cancers) die from cancer or its treatment.[19] Survival is worse in the developing world,[19] partly because the types of cancer that are most common there are at present harder to treat than those associated with the lifestyle of developed countries.[152] However, the survival rates vary dramatically by type of cancer, and by the stage at which it is diagnosed, with the range running from the great majority of people surviving to almost no one surviving as long as five years after diagnosis. Once a cancer has metastasized or spread beyond its original site, the prognosis normally becomes much worse.

Those who survive cancer are at increased risk of developing a second primary cancer at about twice the rate of those never diagnosed with cancer.[153] The increased risk is believed to be primarily due to the same risk factors that produced the first cancer, partly due to the treatment for the first cancer, and potentially related to better compliance with screening.[153]

Predicting either short-term or long-term survival is difficult and depends on many factors. The most important factors are the particular kind of cancer and the patient's age and overall health. People who are frail with many other health problems have lower survival rates than otherwise healthy people. A centenarian is unlikely to survive for five years even if the treatment is successful. People who report a higher quality of life tend to survive longer.[154] People with lower quality of life may be affected by major depressive disorder and other complications from cancer treatment and/or disease progression that both impairs their quality of life and reduces their quantity of life. Additionally, patients with worse prognoses may be depressed or report a lower quality of life directly because they correctly perceive that their condition is likely to be fatal.

People with cancer, even those who are walking on their own, have an increased risk of blood clots in veins. The use of heparin appears improve survival and decrease the risk of blood clots.[155]

Epidemiology
Main article: Epidemiology of cancer
See also: List of countries by cancer rate

Death rate adjusted for age for malignant cancer per 100,000 inhabitants in 2004[156]
  no data
  ≤ 55
  55–80
  80–105
  105–130
  130–155
  155–180
  180–205
  205–230
  230–255
  255–280
  280–305
  ≥ 305
In 2008, approximately 12.7 million cancers were diagnosed (excluding non-melanoma skin cancers and other non-invasive cancers),[19] and in 2010 nearly 7.98 million people died.[157] Cancers as a group account for approximately 13% of all deaths each year with the most common being: lung cancer (1.4 million deaths), stomach cancer (740,000 deaths), liver cancer (700,000 deaths), colorectal cancer (610,000 deaths), and breast cancer (460,000 deaths).[158] This makes invasive cancer the leading cause of death in the developed world and the second leading cause of death in the developing world.[19] Over half of cases occur in the developing world.[19]

Deaths from cancer were 5.8 million in 1990[157] and rates have been increasing primarily due to an aging population and lifestyle changes in the developing world.[19] The most significant risk factor for developing cancer is old age.[159] Although it is possible for cancer to strike at any age, most people who are diagnosed with invasive cancer are over the age of 65.[159] According to cancer researcher Robert A. Weinberg, "If we lived long enough, sooner or later we all would get cancer."[160] Some of the association between aging and cancer is attributed to immunosenescence,[161] errors accumulated in DNA over a lifetime,[162] and age-related changes in the endocrine system.[163] The effect of aging on cancer is complicated with a number of factors such as DNA damage and inflammation promoting it and a number of factors such as vascular aging and endocrine changes inhibiting it.[164]

Some slow-growing cancers are particularly common. Autopsy studies in Europe and Asia have shown that up to 36% of people have undiagnosed and apparently harmless thyroid cancer at the time of their deaths, and that 80% of men develop prostate cancer by age 80.[165][166] As these cancers did not cause the person's death, identifying them would have represented overdiagnosis rather than useful medical care.

The three most common childhood cancers are leukemia (34%), brain tumors (23%), and lymphomas (12%).[167] In the United States cancer affects about 1 in 285 children.[168] Rates of childhood cancer have increased by 0.6% per year between 1975 to 2002 in the United States[169] and by 1.1% per year between 1978 and 1997 in Europe.[167] Death from childhood cancer have decreased by half since 1975 in the United States.[168]

History
Main article: History of cancer

Engraving with two views of a Dutch woman who had a tumor removed from her neck in 1689
Cancer has existed for all of human history.[170] The earliest written record regarding cancer is from circa 1600 BC in the Egyptian Edwin Smith Papyrus and describes cancer of the breast.[170] Hippocrates (ca. 460 BC – ca. 370 BC) described several kinds of cancer, referring to them with the Greek word καρκίνος karkinos (crab or crayfish).[170] This name comes from the appearance of the cut surface of a solid malignant tumor, with "the veins stretched on all sides as the animal the crab has its feet, whence it derives its name".[171] Galen stated that "cancer of the breast is so called because of the fancied resemblance to a crab given by the lateral prolongations of the tumor and the adjacent distended veins".[172]:738 Celsus (ca. 25 BC – 50 AD) translated karkinos into the Latin cancer, also meaning crab and recommended surgery as treatment.[170] Galen (2nd century AD) disagreed with the use of surgery and recommended purgatives instead.[170] These recommendations largely stood for 1000 years.[170]

In the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, it became acceptable for doctors to dissect bodies to discover the cause of death.[173] The German professor Wilhelm Fabry believed that breast cancer was caused by a milk clot in a mammary duct. The Dutch professor Francois de la Boe Sylvius, a follower of Descartes, believed that all disease was the outcome of chemical processes, and that acidic lymph fluid was the cause of cancer. His contemporary Nicolaes Tulp believed that cancer was a poison that slowly spreads, and concluded that it was contagious.[174]

The physician John Hill described tobacco snuff as the cause of nose cancer in 1761.[173] This was followed by the report in 1775 by British surgeon Percivall Pott that chimney sweeps' carcinoma, a cancer of the scrotum, was a common disease among chimney sweeps.[175] With the widespread use of the microscope in the 18th century, it was discovered that the 'cancer poison' spread from the primary tumor through the lymph nodes to other sites ("metastasis"). This view of the disease was first formulated by the English surgeon Campbell De Morgan between 1871 and 1874.[176]

Society and culture
Though many diseases (such as heart failure) may have a worse prognosis than most cases of cancer, cancer is the subject of widespread fear and taboos. The euphemism "after a long illness" is still commonly used (2012), reflecting an apparent stigma.[177] This deep belief that cancer is necessarily a difficult and usually deadly disease is reflected in the systems chosen by society to compile cancer statistics: the most common form of cancer—non-melanoma skin cancers, accounting for about one-third of all cancer cases worldwide, but very few deaths[178][179]—are excluded from cancer statistics specifically because they are easily treated and almost always cured, often in a single, short, outpatient procedure.[180]

Cancer is regarded as a disease that must be "fought" to end the "civil insurrection"; a War on Cancer has been declared. Military metaphors are particularly common in descriptions of cancer's human effects, and they emphasize both the parlous state of the affected individual's health and the need for the individual to take immediate, decisive actions himself, rather than to delay, to ignore, or to rely entirely on others caring for him. The military metaphors also help rationalize radical, destructive treatments.[181][182]

In the 1970s, a relatively popular alternative cancer treatment was a specialized form of talk therapy, based on the idea that cancer was caused by a bad attitude.[183] People with a "cancer personality"—depressed, repressed, self-loathing, and afraid to express their emotions—were believed to have manifested cancer through subconscious desire. Some psychotherapists said that treatment to change the patient's outlook on life would cure the cancer.[183] Among other effects, this belief allows society to blame the victim for having caused the cancer (by "wanting" it) or having prevented its cure (by not becoming a sufficiently happy, fearless, and loving person).[184] It also increases patients' anxiety, as they incorrectly believe that natural emotions of sadness, anger or fear shorten their lives.[184] The idea was excoriated by the notoriously outspoken Susan Sontag, who published Illness as Metaphor while recovering from treatment for breast cancer in 1978.[183] Although the original idea is now generally regarded as nonsense, the idea partly persists in a reduced form with a widespread, but incorrect, belief that deliberately cultivating a habit of positive thinking will increase survival.[184] This notion is particularly strong in breast cancer culture.[184]

One idea about why people with cancer are blamed or stigmatized, called the just-world hypothesis, is that blaming cancer on the patient's actions or attitudes allows the blamers to regain a sense of control. This is based upon the blamers' belief that the world is fundamentally just, and so any dangerous illness, like cancer, must be a type of punishment for bad choices, because in a just world, bad things would not happen to good people.[185]

Economic effect
In 2007, the overall costs of cancer in the U.S. — including treatment and indirect mortality expenses (such as lost productivity in the workplace) — was estimated to be $226.8 billion. In 2009, 32% of Hispanics and 10% of children 17 years old or younger lacked health insurance; "uninsured patients and those from ethnic minorities are substantially more likely to be diagnosed with cancer at a later stage, when treatment can be more extensive and more costly."[186]

Research
Main article: Cancer research
Because cancer is a class of diseases,[187][188] it is unlikely that there will ever be a single "cure for cancer" any more than there will be a single treatment for all infectious diseases.[189] Angiogenesis inhibitors were once thought to have potential as a "silver bullet" treatment applicable to many types of cancer, but this has not been the case in practice.[190] It is more likely that angiogenesis inhibitors and other cancer therapeutics will be used in combination to reduce cancer morbidity and mortality.[191]

Experimental cancer treatments are treatments that are being studied to see whether they work. Typically, these are studied in clinical trials to compare the proposed treatment to the best existing treatment. They may be entirely new treatments, or they may be treatments that have been used successfully in one type of cancer, and are now being tested to see whether they are effective in another type.[192] More and more, such treatments are being developed alongside companion diagnostic tests to target the right drugs to the right patients, based on their individual biology.[193]

Cancer research is the intense scientific effort to understand disease processes and discover possible therapies.

Research about cancer causes focuses on the following issues:

Agents (e.g. viruses) and events (e.g. mutations) that cause or facilitate genetic changes in cells destined to become cancer.
The precise nature of the genetic damage, and the genes that are affected by it.
The consequences of those genetic changes on the biology of the cell, both in generating the defining properties of a cancer cell, and in facilitating additional genetic events that lead to further progression of the cancer.
The improved understanding of molecular biology and cellular biology due to cancer research has led to a number of new treatments for cancer since U.S. President Nixon declared the "War on Cancer" in 1971. Since then, the U.S. has spent over $200 billion on cancer research, including resources from the public and private sectors and foundations.

this town ain't big enough for the two of us, little lady

Quote from: Darth Pipsqueak on January 09, 2016, 07:22:17 PM

Quote from: Fuddy Duddy II on January 09, 2016, 07:21:45 PM

Quote from: Darth Pipsqueak on January 09, 2016, 07:15:08 PM

Quote from: Fuddy Duddy II on January 09, 2016, 07:13:08 PM

i mean you're right, it's not a big deal--except you had to make a thread about it, whoring yourself out for attention

people don't take kindly to that behavior

just saying

Just shitposting Fuddy.

doesn't really change what i said

Juuuuust shitposting

What you just did wasn't a shitpost, what Ember is doing is a proper shitpost.

Shitposts aren't spam.

Ember is technically spamming.

i'm loving all these mentions of me

Why

Quote from: CyberGama on January 09, 2016, 07:25:54 PM

Quote from: Darth Pipsqueak on January 09, 2016, 07:22:17 PM

Quote from: Fuddy Duddy II on January 09, 2016, 07:21:45 PM

Quote from: Darth Pipsqueak on January 09, 2016, 07:15:08 PM

Quote from: Fuddy Duddy II on January 09, 2016, 07:13:08 PM

i mean you're right, it's not a big deal--except you had to make a thread about it, whoring yourself out for attention

people don't take kindly to that behavior

just saying

Just shitposting Fuddy.

doesn't really change what i said

Juuuuust shitposting

What you just did wasn't a shitpost, what Ember is doing is a proper shitpost.

Shitposts aren't spam.

Ember is technically spamming.

A shitpost can be a spam.

For example "I R GONNA REK YOU"
"I R GONNA REK YOU"
"360 NO SCOPE BITCH"

What I just did was a shitpost, something that is pointless and has no meaning what so ever.

Posting a brony pic isn't a shitpost, its a bait post and a post I didn't see coming.

Quote from: Darth Pipsqueak on January 09, 2016, 07:27:30 PM

Quote from: CyberGama on January 09, 2016, 07:25:54 PM

Quote from: Darth Pipsqueak on January 09, 2016, 07:22:17 PM

Quote from: Fuddy Duddy II on January 09, 2016, 07:21:45 PM

Quote from: Darth Pipsqueak on January 09, 2016, 07:15:08 PM

Quote from: Fuddy Duddy II on January 09, 2016, 07:13:08 PM

i mean you're right, it's not a big deal--except you had to make a thread about it, whoring yourself out for attention

people don't take kindly to that behavior

just saying

Just shitposting Fuddy.

doesn't really change what i said

Juuuuust shitposting

What you just did wasn't a shitpost, what Ember is doing is a proper shitpost.

Shitposts aren't spam.

Ember is technically spamming.

A shitpost can be a spam.

For example "I R GONNA REK YOU"
"I R GONNA REK YOU"
"360 NO SCOPE BITCH"

What I just did was a shitpost, something that is pointless and has no meaning what so ever.

Posting a brony pic isn't a shitpost, its a bait post and a post I didn't see coming.

I'm not debating anymore

Ender and Ember have taken over.

Holy fuck, nice job on making this thread stutter like a motherfucker.

This brony can't even tell the difference between a shitpost and a bait post.

Quote from: Ender on January 09, 2016, 07:31:53 PM

Quote from: Vagiña on January 09, 2016, 07:29:17 PM

Quote from: Ender on January 09, 2016, 07:28:18 PM

Quote from: Vagiña on January 09, 2016, 07:26:15 PM

 

 Page semi-protected
Nigger
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Niggers)
This article is about the word and its history. For the colloquial variant, see nigga. For other uses, see Nigger (disambiguation).

1885 illustration from Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, captioned "Misto Bradish's nigger"
In the English language, the word "nigger" is an ethnic slur, usually directed at black people. The word originated as a neutral term referring to people with black skin,[1] as a variation of the Spanish and Portuguese noun negro, a descendant of the Latin adjective niger ("black").[2] It was often used disparagingly, and by the mid-twentieth century, particularly in the United States, its usage became unambiguously pejorative, a racist insult. Accordingly, it began to disappear from popular culture, and its continued inclusion in classic works of literature has sparked controversy.

In the contemporary United States and United Kingdom, using the word is taboo, and it is often replaced with the euphemism "the N-word". The variant "Nigga" is sometimes used among African Americans in a non-derogatory sense.

Contents  [hide]
1   Etymology and history
2   Usages
2.1   British
2.2   North American
2.2.1   Cultural
2.2.2   Political
2.2.3   Sport
2.2.4   Nature
2.3   Denotational extension
2.4   Other languages
2.5   Literary
2.6   Popular culture
2.6.1   Cinema
2.6.2   Literature
2.6.3   Music
2.6.4   Theatre
2.6.5   Comedy
2.6.6   Translations
2.6.6.1   "Nigger-brown" colored furniture
2.6.6.2   "Nigger brown" pants
2.7   Derivations
2.7.1   Place names
3   Derivatives
3.1   The N-word euphemism
3.2   Homophones
3.3   Intragroup versus intergroup usage
4   See also
5   Footnotes
6   References
7   External links
Etymology and history
Main article: Negro
The variants neger and negar, derive from the Spanish and Portuguese word negro (black), and from the now-pejorative French nègre (negro). Etymologically, negro, noir, nègre, and nigger ultimately derive from nigrum, the stem of the Latin niger (black) (pronounced [ˈniɡer] which, in every other grammatical case, grammatical gender, and grammatical number besides nominative masculine singular, is nigr-, the r is trilled).

In the Colonial America of 1619, John Rolfe used negars in describing the African slaves shipped to the Virginia colony.[3] Later American English spellings, neger and neggar, prevailed in a northern colony, New York under the Dutch, and in metropolitan Philadelphia's Moravian and Pennsylvania Dutch communities; the African Burial Ground in New York City originally was known by the Dutch name "Begraafplaats van de Neger" (Cemetery of the Negro); an early US occurrence of neger in Rhode Island, dates from 1625.[4] An alternative word for African Americans was the English word, "Black", used by Thomas Jefferson in his Notes on the State of Virginia. Among Anglophones, the word nigger was not always considered derogatory, because it then denoted "black-skinned", a common Anglophone usage.[5] Nineteenth-century English (language) literature features usages of nigger without racist connotation, e.g. the Joseph Conrad novella The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' (1897). Moreover, Charles Dickens and Mark Twain created characters who used the word as contemporary usage. Twain, in the autobiographic book Life on the Mississippi (1883), used the term within quotes, indicating reported usage, but used the term "negro" when speaking in his own narrative persona.[6]

During the fur trade of the early 1800s to the late 1840s in the Western United States, the word was spelled "niggur", and is often recorded in literature of the time. George Fredrick Ruxton often included the word as part of the "mountain man" lexicon, and did not indicate that the word was pejorative at the time. "Niggur" was evidently similar to the modern use of dude, or guy. This passage from Ruxton's Life in the Far West illustrates a common use of the word in spoken form—the speaker here referring to himself: "Travler, marm, this niggur's no travler; I ar' a trapper, marm, a mountain-man, wagh!"[7] It was not used as a term exclusively for blacks among mountain men during this period, as Indians, Mexicans, and Frenchmen and Anglos alike could be a "niggur".[8] Linguistically, in developing American English, in the early editions of A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language (1806), lexicographer Noah Webster suggested the neger new spelling in place of negro.[9]

By the 1900s, nigger had become a pejorative word. In its stead, the term colored became the mainstream alternative to negro and its derived terms. Abolitionists in Boston, Massachusetts, posted warnings to the Colored People of Boston and vicinity. Writing in 1904, journalist Clifton Johnson documented the "opprobrious" character of the word nigger, emphasizing that it was chosen in the South precisely because it was more offensive than "colored."[10] Established as mainstream American English usage, the word colored features in the organizational title of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, reflecting the members' racial identity preference at the 1909 foundation. In the Southern United States, the local American English dialect changes the pronunciation of negro to nigra.

By the late 1960s, the social change achieved by groups in the United States such as the Civil Rights Movement (1955–68), had legitimized the racial identity word black as mainstream American English usage to denote black-skinned Americans of African ancestry. In the 1990s, "Black" was displaced in favor of the compound blanket term African American. Moreover, as a compound word, African American resembles the vogue word Afro-American, an early-1970s popular usage. Currently, some black Americans continue to use the word nigger, often spelled as nigga and niggah, without irony, either to neutralize the word's impact or as a sign of solidarity.[11]

Usages
British
In the United Kingdom and the Anglophone world, nigger denoted the dark-skinned (non-white) African and Asian (i.e., from India or nearby) peoples colonized into the British Empire, and "dark-skinned foreigners" in general.

In A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (1926), H. W. Fowler states that applying the word nigger to "others than full or partial negroes" is "felt as an insult by the person described, & betrays in the speaker, if not deliberate insolence, at least a very arrogant inhumanity"; but the second edition (1965) states: "N. has been described as 'the term that carries with it all the obloquy and contempt and rejection which whites have inflicted on blacks.'".

Victorian writer Rudyard Kipling used it in 'How the Leopard Got His Spots' and 'A Counting-Out Song' to illustrate the usage of the day. Likewise, P. G. Wodehouse used the phrase "Nigger minstrels" in Thank You, Jeeves (1934), the first Jeeves–Bertie novel, in admiration of their artistry and musical tradition. See also below under "Literary".

As recently as the 1950s, it may have been acceptable British usage to say niggers when referring to black people, notable in mainstream usages such as Nigger Boy brand candy cigarettes,[12] and the color nigger brown or simply nigger (dark brown);[13] however, by the 1970s the term was generally regarded as racist, offensive and potentially illegal along with "nig-nog", and "golliwog". Agatha Christie's book Ten Little Niggers was first published in London in 1939 and continued to appear under that title until the early 1980s, when it became And Then There Were None.[14][15]

North American
Cultural
Addressing the use of nigger by black people, Cornel West said in 2007, "There's a certain rhythmic seduction to the word. If you speak in a sentence, and you have to say cat, companion, or friend, as opposed to nigger, then the rhythmic presentation is off. That rhythmic language is a form of historical memory for black people... When Richard Pryor came back from Africa, and decided to stop using the word onstage, he would sometimes start to slip up, because he was so used to speaking that way. It was the right word at the moment to keep the rhythm together in his sentence making."[16]

Contemporarily, the implied racism of the word nigger has rendered its usages social taboo. In the United States, magazines and newspapers often do not use it but instead print "family-friendly", censored versions, usually "n*gg*r", "n**ger", "n——", and "the N-word";[17] however, historians and social activists, such as Dick Gregory, criticize the euphemisms and their usage as intellectually dishonest because using the euphemism "the N-word" instead of nigger robs younger generations of Americans of the full history of black people in America.[citation needed]

Political

Historical American cartoon titled "Why the nigger is not fit to vote", by Thomas Nast, arguing that the reason Democrats objected to African-Americans having the vote, was that in the 1868 US presidential election African-Americans voted for the Republican candidates Ulysses S. Grant and Schuyler Colfax. "Seymour friends meet here" in the background is a reference to the Democratic Party candidate: Horatio Seymour.
In explaining his refusal to be conscripted to fight the Vietnam War (1965–75), professional boxer Muhammad Ali said, "No Vietcong ever called me nigger";[18] later, his modified answer was the title No Vietnamese Ever Called Me Nigger (1968) of a documentary about the front-line lot of the U.S. Army Black soldier in combat in Vietnam.[19] An Ali biographer reports that, when interviewed by Robert Lipsyte in 1966, the boxer actually said, "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong".[20] The word can be invoked politically for effect. When Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick came under intense scrutiny for his personal conduct in 2008, he deviated from an address to city council, saying, "In the past 30 days, I've been called a nigger more than any time in my entire life." Opponents accused him of "playing the Race Card" to save his political life.[21]

On February 28, 2007, the New York City Council symbolically banned, with a formal resolution, the use of the word nigger; however, there is no penalty for using it. The New York City resolution also requests excluding from Grammy Award consideration every song whose lyrics contain the word nigger, however Ron Roecker, vice president of communication for the Recording Academy doubts that it will have any effect on actual nominations.[22][23]

Sport
In the first half of the twentieth century, before Major League Baseball was racially integrated, dark-skinned and dark-complexion players were nicknamed Nig;[24][25] examples are: Johnny Beazley (1941–49), Joe Berry (1921–22), Bobby Bragan (1940–48), Nig Clarke (1905–20), Nig Cuppy (1892–1901), Nig Fuller (1902), Johnny Grabowski (1923–31), Nig Lipscomb (1937), Charlie Niebergall (1921–24), Nig Perrine (1907), and Frank Smith (1904–15). The 1930s movie The Bowery with George Raft and Wallace Beery includes a sports-bar in New York City named "Nigger Joe's".

Nature
In some parts of the U.S., including the Midwest, Brazil nuts are known (decreasingly commonly) as "nigger toes".[26] Similarly, some cormorants have been known in the past as "nigger geese".[27]

Denotational extension
The denotations of nigger also comprehend non-black/non-white and other disadvantaged people; the U.S. politician Ron Dellums said, "... it's time for somebody to lead all of America's niggers".[28] Jerry Farber's 1967 protest, The Student as Nigger invoked the word as a metaphor for the victims of an authoritarian society. In 1969, in the UK, in the course of being interviewed by a Nova magazine reporter, artist Yoko Ono said, "... woman is the nigger of the world"; three years later, her husband, John Lennon, published the song "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" (1972)—about the worldwide phenomenon of discrimination against women–which was socially and politically controversial to US sensibilities. In 1978 singer Patti Smith used the word in "Rock N Roll Nigger". In 1979 singer Elvis Costello used the phrase white nigger in "Oliver's Army", a song describing the experiences of working-class soldiers in the British military forces on the "murder mile" (a term used to describe Belfast during The Troubles), where white nigger was a common British pejorative for Irish Catholics. Later, the producers of the British talent show Stars in Their Eyes forced a contestant to censor one of its lines, changing "... all it takes is one itchy trigger – One more widow, one less white nigger" to "... one less white figure". In his autobiography White Niggers of America: The Precocious Autobiography of a Quebec "Terrorist" (1968), Pierre Vallières, a Front de libération du Québec leader refers to the oppression of the Québécois people in North America.

In his memoir, All Souls, Michael Patrick MacDonald describes how many white residents of the Old Colony housing project in South Boston used this meaning to degrade the people considered to be of lower status, whether white or black.[29]

Of course, no one considered himself a nigger. It was always something you called someone who could be considered anything less than you. I soon found out there were a few black families living in Old Colony. They'd lived there for years and everyone said that they were okay, that they weren't niggers but just black. It felt good to all of us to not be as bad as the hopeless people in D Street or, God forbid, the ones in Columbia Point, who were both black and niggers. But now I was jealous of the kids in Old Harbor Project down the road, which seemed like a step up from Old Colony...

Other languages
Many other languages have words that sound the same as 'nigger' (are homophonic), but do not mean the same, and have ethnic slurs dissimilar to 'nigger' but meaning the same.

Some examples of how other languages refer to a black person in a neutral and in a pejorative way:

Dutch: neger is neutral, zwartje (little black one) can be amicably or offensively used, nikker is always pejorative[30]
Brazilian Portuguese: negro and preto are neutral,[31] nevertheless preto can be offensively used, is sometimes regarded as 'politically incorrect' and almost never proudly used by Afro-Brazilians, crioulo and macaco are always extremely pejorative[32]
Haitian Creole: nèg is used for any man in general, regardless of skin color (like "guy" in American English) although it is derived from French nègre, which is used pejoratively.
Literary
Historically, nigger is controversial in literature because of its usage as both a racist insult and a common noun. The white photographer and writer, Carl Van Vechten, a supporter of the Harlem Renaissance (1920s–30s), provoked controversy in the black community with the title of his novel Nigger Heaven (1926), of the controversy, Langston Hughes wrote:

No book could possibly be as bad as Nigger Heaven has been painted. And no book has ever been better advertised by those who wished to damn it. Because it was declared obscene, everybody wanted to read it, and I'll venture to say that more Negroes bought it than ever purchased a book by a Negro author. Then, as now, the use of the word nigger by a white was a flashpoint for debates about the relationship between black culture and its white patrons.

In the US, the recurrent reading curricula controversy about the vocabulary of the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885) by Mark Twain about the slave South, risks censorship because of 215 (counted) occurrences of the word nigger, most refer to Jim, Huckleberry's escaped-slave raft-mate.[33][34] Twain's advocates note that the novel is composed in then-contemporary vernacular usage, not racist stereotype, because Jim, the black man, is a sympathetic character in the nineteenth-century Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The book was re-published in 2010 with edits removing "the 'N' word" as reported in Time online.[35] The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been the subject of controversy in Arizona, where a parent group's attempt to have it removed from a required reading list was struck down by the court.

Moreover, unlike the literary escaped slave Jim, antebellum slaves used the artifice of self-deprecation (known as "Uncle Toms"), in pandering to societal racist assumptions about the black man's low intelligence, by advantageously using the word nigger to escape the violence inherent to slavery.[36] Implicit to "Uncle Tomming" was the unspoken reminder to white folk that a presumably inferior and sub-human person could not, reasonably, be held responsible for poorly realized work, a kitchen fire, or any such catastrophic offense. The artificial self-deprecation deflected responsibility, in hope of escaping the violent wraths of overseer and master. Using nigger as a self-referential identity term also was a way of avoiding white suspicion, of encountering an intelligent slave, and so put whites at their ease. In context, a slave who referred to himself, or another black man, as a nigger presumed the master's perceiving him as a slave who has accepted his societally sub-ordinate role as private property, thus, not (potentially) subversive of the authority of the master's white supremacy.

Other late-nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British literary usages suggest neutral usage. The popular Victorian era entertainment, the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Mikado (1885) twice uses the word nigger. In the song As some day it may happen, the executioner, Ko-ko, sings of executing the "nigger serenader and the others of his race", personified by black-faced singers singing minstrel songs. In the song A more humane Mikado, the Mikado sings of the punishment for older women who dye their hair or wear corsets, to be "Blacked like a nigger/With permanent walnut juice." Both lyrics are usually changed for modern performances.[37]

In Joseph Conrad's The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' (1897) the main character is a black man from the West Indies; the book was published in America as The Children of the Sea. Ten Little Niggers (1939) was the original British title of Agatha Christie's novel And Then There Were None, which has also been known by the alternative title Ten Little Indians. The word is used in some of the Swallows and Amazons series (1930s) of children's books by Arthur Ransome, e.g. "Look like niggers to me" in The Big Six.

The Reverend W. V. Awdry's The Railway Series (1945–72) story Henry's Sneeze, originally described soot-covered boys with the phrase "as black as niggers".[38] In 1972, after complaints, the description was edited to "as black as soot", in the subsequent editions.[38] Rev. Awdry is known for Thomas the Tank Engine (1946).

How the Leopard Got His Spots, in Just So Stories (1902), by Rudyard Kipling, tells of an Ethiopian man and a leopard, both originally sand-colored, deciding to camouflage themselves with painted spots, for hunting in tropical forest. The story originally included a scene wherein the leopard (now spotted) asks the Ethiopian man why he does not want spots. In contemporary editions of How the Leopard Got His Spots, the Ethiopian's original reply: "Oh, plain black's best for a nigger", has been edited to, "Oh, plain black's best for me." Again, Kipling uses the word in A Counting-Out Song (Land and Sea Tales for Scouts and Guides, 1923), the rhyme reads: "Eenie Meenie Mainee, Mo! Catch a nigger by the toe!"

In short story, The Basement Room (1935), by Graham Greene, the (sympathetic) servant character, Baines, tells the admiring boy, son of his employer, of his African British colony service, "You wouldn't believe it now, but I've had forty niggers under me, doing what I told them to". Replying to the boy's question: "Did you ever shoot a nigger?" Bains answers: "I never had any call to shoot. Of course I carried a gun. But you didn't need to treat them bad, that just made them stupid. Why, I loved some of those dammed niggers." The cinematic version of The Basement Room short story, The Fallen Idol (1948), directed by Carol Reed, replaced novelist Greene's niggers usage with natives.[citation needed] Flannery O'Connor's 1955 short story uses a black lawn jockey as a representative symbol in The Artificial Nigger.

Popular culture

Poster for "Nigger Hair" tobacco, later known as "Bigger Hair"
In the US and the UK, the word nigger featured in branding and packaging consumer products, e.g. "Nigger Hair Tobacco" and "Niggerhead Oysters", Brazil nuts were called nigger toes, et cetera. As the term became less acceptable in mainstream culture, the tobacco brand became "Bigger Hair" and the canned goods brand became "Negro Head".[39][40][41]

Cinema
The movie Blazing Saddles (1974) used nigger to ridicule US racism.[citation needed] In The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), the sequence titled "Danger Seekers" features a stuntman effecting the dangerous stunt of shouting "Niggers!" at a group of black people, then fleeing when they chased him.

The movie Full Metal Jacket (1987) depicts black and white U.S. Marines enduring boot camp and later fighting together in Vietnam. "Nigger" is used by soldiers of both races in jokes and as expressions of bravado ("put a nigger behind the trigger", says the black Corporal "Eightball"), with racial differences among the men seen as secondary to their shared exposure to the dangers of combat: Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey) says, "There is no racial bigotry here. I do not look down on niggers, kikes, wops or greasers. Here you are all equally worthless."

Gayniggers From Outer Space (1992) features black homosexual male aliens who commit gendercide to free the men of Earth from female oppression.

Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) featured a scene where villain Simon Peter Gruber (Jeremy Irons) required New York City Police Department Lt. John McClane (Bruce Willis) to wear a sandwich board reading "I hate niggers" while standing on a street corner in predominantly-black Harlem, resulting in McClane meeting Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson) as Carver rescued McClane from being attacked by neighborhood toughs.

Nigger was the name given to a black Labrador dog that belonged to British Royal Air Force Wing Commander Guy Gibson during World War II.[42] In 1943, Gibson led the successful Operation Chastise attack on dams in Germany. The dog's name was used as a single codeword whose transmission conveyed that the Möhne dam had been breached. In the 1955 film The Dam Busters about the raid, the dog was portrayed in several scenes; his name and the codeword were mentioned several times. Some of the scenes in which the dog's name is uttered were later shown in the 1982 film Pink Floyd – The Wall.[43]

In 1999, the British television network ITV broadcast a censored version with each of the twelve[44] utterances of Nigger deleted. Replying to complaints against its censorship, ITV blamed the regional broadcaster, London Weekend Television, which, in turn, blamed a junior employee as the unauthorised censor. In June 2001, when ITV re-broadcast the censored version of The Dam Busters, the Index on Censorship criticised it as "unnecessary and ridiculous" censorship breaking the continuity of the film and the story.[45] In January 2012 the film was shown uncensored on ITV4, but with a warning at the start that the film contained racial terms from the historical period which some people could find offensive. Versions of the film edited for US television have the dog's name altered to "Trigger".[44]

In a remake of The Dam Busters by Peter Jackson announced in 2008, Stephen Fry, the writer of the screenplay, said there was "no question in America that you could ever have a dog called the N-word". In the remake the dog's name is "Digger".[46]

American director Quentin Tarantino has been criticized by some critics for the heavy usage of the word nigger in his movies, especially in Jackie Brown, where the word is used 38 times[47] and Django Unchained, used 110 times.[48]

Literature
In 1897, Joseph Conrad penned a novella titled The Nigger of the 'Narcissus', whose titular character, James Wait, is a West Indian black sailor on board the merchant ship Narcissus sailing from Bombay to London. In the United States, the novel was first published with the title The Children of the Sea: A Tale of the Forecastle, at the insistence by the publisher, Dodd, Mead and Company, that no one would buy or read a book with the word nigger in its title,[49] not because the word was deemed offensive but that a book about a black man would not sell.[50] In 2009, WordBridge Publishing published a new edition titled The N-Word of the Narcissus, which also excised the word nigger from the text. According to the publisher, the point was to get rid of the offensive word, which may have led readers to avoid the book, and make it more accessible.[51] Though praised in some quarters, many others denounced the change as censorship. The author Carl Van Vechten took the opposite view to Conrad's publishers when he advised the British novelist Ronald Firbank to change the title of his 1924 novel Sorrow in Sunlight to Prancing Nigger for the American market,[52] and it became very successful there under that title.[53]

Mark Twain's novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has long been the subject of controversy for its racial content, including its use of the word "nigger" as applied to the escaped slave character Jim. Huckleberry Finn was the fifth most challenged book during the 1990s, according to the American Library Association.[54] In 2011, a new edition of the book published by NewSouth Books replaced the word "nigger" throughout the book with the word "slave" and also removed the word "injun". The change was spearheaded by Twain scholar Alan Gribben in the hope of "countering the 'pre-emptive censorship'" that results from the book's being removed from school curricula over language concerns.[55] The changes sparked outrage from critics and scholars.[56]

Music
The Bohemian composer Antonín Dvořák wrote the String Quartet No. 12 in 1893 during his time in the United States. For its presumed association with African-American music, the quartet was referred to until the 1950s with nicknames such as Negro Quartet and Nigger Quartet before being called the American Quartet.

Responding to accusations of racism after referring to "niggers" in the lyrics of the Guns N' Roses song, "One in a Million", Axl Rose stated "I was pissed off about some black people that were trying to rob me. I wanted to insult those particular black people. I didn't want to support racism."[57]

The folk song Oh! Susanna by Stephen Foster had originally been written in four verses. The second verse describes an industrial accident which "kill’d five hundred Nigger" by electrocution.

The country music artist David Allan Coe used the racial terms "redneck", "white trash", and "nigger" in the songs "If That Ain't Country, I'll Kiss Your Ass" and "Nigger Fucker".[58] In the 1960s, record producer J. D. "Jay" Miller published pro-racial segregation music with the "Reb Rebel" label featuring racist songs by Johnny Rebel and others, demeaning black Americans and the Civil Rights movement.[59]

The punk band the Dead Kennedys used the word in their song Holiday in Cambodia in the line, Bragging that you know how the niggers feel cold and the slum's got so much soul. The context of the line is a section mocking champagne socialists.

Contemporarily, rap groups such as N.W.A (Niggaz with Attitudes), re-popularized the usage in their songs. One of the earliest uses of the word in hip hop was in the song "New York New York" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five in 1983.

The term white nigger is also used in music, most notably in Elvis Costello's song Oliver's Army.

Theatre
The musical Show Boat (from 1927 until 1946) features the word "nigger" as originally integral to the lyrics of "Ol' Man River" and "Cotton Blossom"; although deleted from the cinema versions, it is included in the 1988 EMI recording of the original score. Musical theatre historian Miles Kreuger and conductor John McGlinn propose that the word was not an insult, but a blunt illustration of how white people then perceived black people.

Comedy
Some comedians have broached the subject, almost invariably in the form of social commentary. This was perhaps most famously done by stand-up comedian Chris Rock in his Niggas vs. Black People routine.

Translations
"Nigger" or "nigger brown" were used in Britain as standard colour names, in the same way as "lime green". This may have been included in some language translation sources.

"Nigger-brown" colored furniture
In April 2007, a dark brown leather sofa set, sold by Vanaik Furniture and Mattress Store in Toronto, Canada, was labelled as "Nigger-brown" color. Investigation determined that the Chinese manufacturer used an outdated version of Kingsoft's Chinese-to-English translation software for writing the tags; it translated the Chinese "dark-brown" characters to "Nigger-brown", and neither the Canadian supplier nor the store owner had noticed the incorrectly translated tag; subsequently, Kingsoft corrected its translation software.[60][61][62][63]

"Nigger brown" pants
In 2012, a typosquatting website called abercrombie-and-fitchoutlet.com, purporting to be of the clothing branch Abercrombie & Fitch and based in China, offered "nigger brown pants" for sale as the result of a faulty Chinese-to-English translator. This went viral on social media after people mistakenly believed that Abercrombie & Fitch were selling the product.[64] A similar translation mistake was made in 2014, involving a Chinese typosquatting counterfeit site purporting to be the clothing branch Ralph Lauren.[65]

Derivations

Anti-abolitionist cartoon from the 1860 presidential campaign illustrating colloquial usage of "Nigger in the woodpile"

Graffiti in Palestine referring to Arabs as "sand niggers"
Nigger as "defect" (a hidden problem), derives from "nigger in the woodpile", a US slave-era phrase denoting escaped slaves hiding in train-transported woodpiles.[5]
In American English: nigger lover initially applied to abolitionists, then to white people sympathetic towards black Americans.[66]
Sand nigger, an ethnic slur against Arabs, and timber nigger and prairie nigger, ethnic slurs against Native Americans, are examples of the racist extension of nigger upon other non-white peoples.[67]
In several English-speaking countries, "Niggerhead" or "nigger head" was used as a name for many sorts of things, including commercial products, places, plants, and animals, as well as a colloquial technical term in industry, mining, and seafaring.
In the Victorian era, the 1840s Morning Chronicle newspaper report series London Labour and the London Poor, by Henry Mayhew, records the usages of both nigger and its false cognate niggard denoting a false bottom for a grate.[68]
Flora and fauna nomenclatures include the word nigger. The Arizonan nigger-head cactus, Echinocactus polycephalus is a round, cabbage-sized plant covered with large, crooked thorns. The colloquial names for echinacea (coneflower) are "Kansas niggerhead" and "Wild niggerhead". In Oceania, the "niggerhead termite" (Nasutitermes graveolus) is a native of Australia.[69]
During the Spanish–American War US Army General John J. Pershing's original nickname, Nigger Jack, given to him as an instructor at West Point because of his service with "Buffalo Soldier" units, was euphemized to Black Jack by reporters.[70][71]
In 1960, a stand at the stadium in Toowoomba, Australia, was named the "E. S. 'Nigger' Brown Stand" honoring 1920s rugby league player Edwin Brown, so nicknamed since early life because of his pale white skin; so known all his life, his tombstone is engraved Nigger. Stephen Hagan, a lecturer at the Kumbari/Ngurpai Lag Higher Education Center of the University of Southern Queensland, sued the Toowoomba council over the use of nigger in the stand's name; the district and state courts dismissed his lawsuit. He appealed to the High Court of Australia, who ruled the naming matter beyond federal jurisdiction. At first some local Aborigines did not share Mr Hagan's opposition to nigger.[72] Hagan appealed to the United Nations, winning a committee recommendation to the Australian federal government, that it force the Queensland state government to remove the word nigger from the "E. S. 'Nigger' Brown Stand" name. The Australian federal government followed the High Court's jurisdiction ruling. In September 2008, the stand was demolished. The Queensland Sports Minister, Judy Spence, said that using nigger would be unacceptable, for the stand or on any commemorative plaque. The 2005 book The N Word: One Man's Stand by Hagan includes this episode.[72][73]
Place names
The word nigger features in official place-names, such as "Nigger Bill Canyon", "Nigger Hollow", and "Niggertown Marsh". In 1967, the United States Board on Geographic Names changed the word nigger to Negro in 143 place names. First changed to "Negrohead Mountain", a peak above Santa Monica, California was renamed on (February 2010) to Ballard Mountain in honor of John Ballard, a black pioneer who settled the area in the nineteenth century. "Nigger Head Mountain", at Burnet, Texas, was so named because the forest atop it resembled a black man's hair. In 1966, the US first lady, Lady Bird Johnson, denounced the racist name, asking the U.S. Board on Geographic Names and the U.S. Forest Service to rename it, becoming "Colored Mountain" in 1968; and in West Texas, "Dead Nigger Creek" was renamed "Dead Negro Draw".[74] "Nigger Nate Grade", near Temecula, California, named for Nate Harrison, an ex-slave and settler, was renamed "Nathan Harrison Grade Road" in 1955, at the request of the NAACP.[75][76][77][78][79]

In northwestern North America, particularly in Canada and the US, there are places which feature many uses of the word nigger.[80][81][82][83] At Penticton, British Columbia, Canada, "Niggertoe Mountain" was renamed Mount Nkwala. The place-name derived from a 1908 Christmas story about three black men who died in a blizzard; the next day, the bodies of two were found at the foot of the mountain.[84] A point on the Lower Mississippi River, in West Baton Rouge Parish, named "Free Nigger Point" until the late twentieth century, first was renamed "Free Negro Point", but currently is named "Wilkinson Point".[85] "Nigger Head Rock", protruding from a cliff above Highway 421, north of Pennington Gap, Virginia, was renamed "Great Stone Face" in the 1970s.

Derivatives
The N-word euphemism
Notable usage[86]
The prosecutor [Christopher Darden], his voice trembling, added that the "N-word" was so vile that he would not utter it. "It's the filthiest, dirtiest, nastiest word in the English language."

“”
— Kenneth B. Noble, January 14, 1995 The New York Times[87]
The euphemism the N-word became mainstream American English usage during the racially contentious murder trial of ex-football player O. J. Simpson in 1995.

Key prosecution witness Detective Mark Fuhrman, of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) – who denied using racist language on duty – impeached himself with his prolific use of nigger in tape recordings about his police work. The recordings, by screenplay writer Laura McKinney, were from a 1985 research session wherein the detective assisted her with a screenplay about LAPD policewomen. Fuhrman excused his use of the word saying he used nigger in the context of his "bad cop" persona. Linguistically, the popular press reporting and discussing Fuhrman's testimony substituted the N-word in place of nigger.

Homophones
Niger (Latin for "black") occurs in Latinate scientific nomenclature and is the root word for some homophones of nigger; sellers of niger seed (used as bird feed), sometimes use the name Nyjer seed. The classical Latin pronunciation /ˈniɡeɾ/ sounds like the English /ˈnɪɡər/, occurring in biologic and anatomic names, such as Hyoscamus niger (black henbane), and even for animals that are not in fact black, such as Sciurus niger (fox squirrel).

Nigra is the Latin feminine form of niger (black), used in biologic and anatomic names such as substantia nigra (black substance).

The word niggardly (miserly) is etymologically unrelated to nigger, derived from the Old Norse word nig (stingy) and the Middle English word nigon. In the US, this word has been misinterpreted as related to nigger and taken as offensive. In January 1999, David Howard, a white Washington, D.C. city employee, was compelled to resign after using niggardly—in a financial context—while speaking with black colleagues, who took umbrage. After reviewing the misunderstanding, Mayor Anthony Williams offered to reinstate Howard to his former position. Howard refused reinstatement but took a job elsewhere in the mayor's government.[88]

The portmanteau word wigger (white + nigger) denotes a white person emulating "street black behavior", hoping acceptance to the hip hop, thug, and gangsta sub-cultures.

Intragroup versus intergroup usage
Main article: Nigga
Black listeners often react to the term differently, depending on whether it is used by white speakers or by black speakers. In the former case, it is regularly understood as insensitive or insulting; in the latter, it may carry notes of in-group disparagement, and is often understood as neutral or affectionate, a possible instance of reappropriation.[citation needed]

Among the black community, the slur nigger is almost always rendered as nigga, representing the pronunciation of the word in African American Vernacular English. This usage has been popularized by the rap and hip-hop music cultures and is used as part of an in-group lexicon and speech. It is not necessarily derogatory and, when used among black people, the word is often used to mean homie or friend.[89]

Acceptance of intra-group usage of the word nigga is still debated,[89] although it has established a foothold amongst younger generations. The NAACP denounces the use of both "nigga" and "nigger". Mixed-race usage of "nigga" is still considered taboo, particularly if the speaker is white. However, trends indicate that usage of the term in intragroup settings is increasing even amongst white youth due to the popularity of rap and hip hop culture.[90]

According to Arthur K. Spears (Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 2006)

In many African-American neighborhoods, nigga is simply the most common term used to refer to any male, of any race or ethnicity. Increasingly, the term has been applied to any person, male or female. "Where y'all niggas goin?" is said with no self-consciousness or animosity to a group of women, for the routine purpose of obtaining information. The point: Nigga is evaluatively neutral in terms of its inherent meaning; it may express positive, neutral or negative attitudes;[91]

While Kevin Cato observes:

For instance, a show on Black Entertainment Television, a cable network aimed at a black audience, described the word nigger as a "term of endearment." "In the African American community, the word nigga (not nigger) brings out feelings of pride" (Davis 1). Here the word evokes a sense of community and oneness among black people. Many teens I interviewed felt that the word had no power when used amongst friends, but when used among white people the word took on a completely different meaning. In fact, comedian Alex Thomas on BET stated, "I still better not hear no white boy say that to me... I hear a white boy say that to me, it means 'White boy, you gonna get your ass beat.'"[92]

See also
Portal icon   Language portal
Controversies about the word "niggardly"
Cultural appropriation
Guilty or Innocent of Using the N Word
Kaffir (ethnic slur)
Murzyn
List of ethnic group names used as insults
List of ethnic slurs
List of topics related to Black and African people
"Niggas vs. Black People"
Profanity
Reappropriation
Taboo
The Student as Nigger (essay)
"With Apologies to Jesse Jackson", an episode of the animated comedy series South Park, in which Stan's dad, Randy, becomes a social pariah after saying "niggers" on Wheel of Fortune
Profanity by language
Category of English profanity
Category:African-American society
Footnotes
Jump up ^ "nigger (n.)". Online Etymology Dictionary.
Jump up ^ Pilgrim, David (September 2001). "Nigger and Caricatures". Retrieved June 19, 2007.
Jump up ^ Randall Kennedy (January 11, 2001). "Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 17, 2007. (Book review)
Jump up ^ Hutchinson, Earl Ofari (1996). The Assassination of the Black Male Image. Simon and Schuster. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-684-83100-8.
^ Jump up to: a b The Oxford English Reference Dictionary, second edition, (1996) p. 981
Jump up ^ Twain, Mark (1883). Life on the Mississippi. James R. Osgood & Co., Boston (U.S. edition). p. 11,13,127,139,219. ISBN 978-0-486-41426-3.
Jump up ^ Ruxton, George Frederick (1846). Life In the Far West. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-1534-4.
Jump up ^ "Language of the Rendezvous".
Jump up ^ Mencken, H. L. (1921). "Chapter 8. American Spelling > 2. The Influence of Webster". The American Language: An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States (2nd rev. and enl. ed.). New York: A.A. Knopf.
Jump up ^ Johnson, Clifton (October 14, 1904). "They Are Only "Niggers" in the South". The Seattle Republican (Seattle, Wash.: Republican Pub. Co.). Retrieved January 23, 2011.
Jump up ^ Allan, Keith. The Pragmatics of Connotation. Journal of Pragmatics 39:6 (June 2007) 1047–57
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^ Jump up to: a b Sibley, Brian (1995). The Thomas the Tank Engine Man. London: Heinemann. pp. 272–5. ISBN 0-434-96909-5.
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Jump up ^ Translation software blamed for sofa tag by Furniture Today staff, May 7, 2007. Retrieved February 2, 2009.
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Jump up ^ "The Color of Words", by Philip Herbst, 1997, ISBN 1-877864-97-8, p. 166
Jump up ^ Kennedy, Randall L. (Winter 1999–2000). "Who Can Say "Nigger"? And Other Considerations". The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (26): 86–96 [87]. JSTOR 2999172.
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^ Jump up to: a b Monaghan, Peter: Taking a Stand, July 29, 2005 in The Chronicle of Higher Education, available at "Australia's E. S. 'Nigger' Brown Stand and "Judicial Restraint"". Prof. Andrew V. Uroskie. July 29, 2005. Retrieved September 27, 2008.
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Jump up ^ "Nigger Valley in San Diego County, California". CaliforniaMaps.org. Retrieved July 14, 2007.
Jump up ^ "Nigger Canyon in San Diego County, California". CaliforniaMaps.org. Retrieved July 14, 2007.
Jump up ^ "Nigger Joe Ridge in Humboldt County, California". CaliforniaMaps.org. Retrieved July 14, 2007.
Jump up ^ "Nigger Gulch in Butte County, California". CaliforniaMaps.org. Retrieved July 14, 2007.
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Jump up ^ Yolanda Woodlee (February 4, 1999). "D.C. Mayor Acted 'Hastily,' Will Rehire Aide". Washington Post. Retrieved August 17, 2007.
^ Jump up to: a b "Nigga Usage Alert". dictionary.com. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
Jump up ^ Kevin Aldridge, Richelle Thompson and Earnest Winston. "The evolving N-word." The Cincinnati Enquirer, August 5, 2001.
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Jump up ^ "Nigger". Wrt-intertext.syr.edu. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
References
"nigger". The Oxford English Dictionary (2 ed.). 1989.
Fuller, Neely Jr. (1984). The United Independent Compensatory Code/System/Concept: A Textbook/Workbook for Thought, Speech, and/or Action, for Victims of Racism (white supremacy). ASIN B000BVZW38.
Kennedy, Randall (2002). Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word. New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-375-42172-6.
Smith, Stephanie (2005). Household Words: Bloomers, Sucker, Bombshell, Scab, Nigger, Cyber. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-4552-3.
Swan, Robert J. (2003). New Amsterdam Gehenna: Segregated Death in New York City, 1630–1801. Brooklyn: Noir Verite Press. ISBN 0-9722813-0-4.
Worth, Robert F. (Fall 1995). "Nigger Heaven and the Harlem Renaissance". African American Review 29 (3): 461–473. doi:10.2307/3042395. JSTOR 3042395.
External links
   Look up nigger or N-word in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Analysis of the cultural uses of the word Nigga by Alex Alonso of Street Gangs Magazine
"Nigger and Caricatures," Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, Ferris State University
"Nigger (the word), a brief history!" from the African American Registry
Appropriating a Slur in M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture
"Let's Make a Deal on the N-Word: White folks will stop using it, and black folks will stop pretending that quoting it is saying it," John McWhorter, The Root
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Nigger
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Niggers)
This article is about the word and its history. For the colloquial variant, see nigga. For other uses, see Nigger (disambiguation).

1885 illustration from Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, captioned "Misto Bradish's nigger"
In the English language, the word "nigger" is an ethnic slur, usually directed at black people. The word originated as a neutral term referring to people with black skin,[1] as a variation of the Spanish and Portuguese noun negro, a descendant of the Latin adjective niger ("black").[2] It was often used disparagingly, and by the mid-twentieth century, particularly in the United States, its usage became unambiguously pejorative, a racist insult. Accordingly, it began to disappear from popular culture, and its continued inclusion in classic works of literature has sparked controversy.

In the contemporary United States and United Kingdom, using the word is taboo, and it is often replaced with the euphemism "the N-word". The variant "Nigga" is sometimes used among African Americans in a non-derogatory sense.

Contents  [hide]
1   Etymology and history
2   Usages
2.1   British
2.2   North American
2.2.1   Cultural
2.2.2   Political
2.2.3   Sport
2.2.4   Nature
2.3   Denotational extension
2.4   Other languages
2.5   Literary
2.6   Popular culture
2.6.1   Cinema
2.6.2   Literature
2.6.3   Music
2.6.4   Theatre
2.6.5   Comedy
2.6.6   Translations
2.6.6.1   "Nigger-brown" colored furniture
2.6.6.2   "Nigger brown" pants
2.7   Derivations
2.7.1   Place names
3   Derivatives
3.1   The N-word euphemism
3.2   Homophones
3.3   Intragroup versus intergroup usage
4   See also
5   Footnotes
6   References
7   External links
Etymology and history
Main article: Negro
The variants neger and negar, derive from the Spanish and Portuguese word negro (black), and from the now-pejorative French nègre (negro). Etymologically, negro, noir, nègre, and nigger ultimately derive from nigrum, the stem of the Latin niger (black) (pronounced [ˈniɡer] which, in every other grammatical case, grammatical gender, and grammatical number besides nominative masculine singular, is nigr-, the r is trilled).

In the Colonial America of 1619, John Rolfe used negars in describing the African slaves shipped to the Virginia colony.[3] Later American English spellings, neger and neggar, prevailed in a northern colony, New York under the Dutch, and in metropolitan Philadelphia's Moravian and Pennsylvania Dutch communities; the African Burial Ground in New York City originally was known by the Dutch name "Begraafplaats van de Neger" (Cemetery of the Negro); an early US occurrence of neger in Rhode Island, dates from 1625.[4] An alternative word for African Americans was the English word, "Black", used by Thomas Jefferson in his Notes on the State of Virginia. Among Anglophones, the word nigger was not always considered derogatory, because it then denoted "black-skinned", a common Anglophone usage.[5] Nineteenth-century English (language) literature features usages of nigger without racist connotation, e.g. the Joseph Conrad novella The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' (1897). Moreover, Charles Dickens and Mark Twain created characters who used the word as contemporary usage. Twain, in the autobiographic book Life on the Mississippi (1883), used the term within quotes, indicating reported usage, but used the term "negro" when speaking in his own narrative persona.[6]

During the fur trade of the early 1800s to the late 1840s in the Western United States, the word was spelled "niggur", and is often recorded in literature of the time. George Fredrick Ruxton often included the word as part of the "mountain man" lexicon, and did not indicate that the word was pejorative at the time. "Niggur" was evidently similar to the modern use of dude, or guy. This passage from Ruxton's Life in the Far West illustrates a common use of the word in spoken form—the speaker here referring to himself: "Travler, marm, this niggur's no travler; I ar' a trapper, marm, a mountain-man, wagh!"[7] It was not used as a term exclusively for blacks among mountain men during this period, as Indians, Mexicans, and Frenchmen and Anglos alike could be a "niggur".[8] Linguistically, in developing American English, in the early editions of A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language (1806), lexicographer Noah Webster suggested the neger new spelling in place of negro.[9]

By the 1900s, nigger had become a pejorative word. In its stead, the term colored became the mainstream alternative to negro and its derived terms. Abolitionists in Boston, Massachusetts, posted warnings to the Colored People of Boston and vicinity. Writing in 1904, journalist Clifton Johnson documented the "opprobrious" character of the word nigger, emphasizing that it was chosen in the South precisely because it was more offensive than "colored."[10] Established as mainstream American English usage, the word colored features in the organizational title of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, reflecting the members' racial identity preference at the 1909 foundation. In the Southern United States, the local American English dialect changes the pronunciation of negro to nigra.

By the late 1960s, the social change achieved by groups in the United States such as the Civil Rights Movement (1955–68), had legitimized the racial identity word black as mainstream American English usage to denote black-skinned Americans of African ancestry. In the 1990s, "Black" was displaced in favor of the compound blanket term African American. Moreover, as a compound word, African American resembles the vogue word Afro-American, an early-1970s popular usage. Currently, some black Americans continue to use the word nigger, often spelled as nigga and niggah, without irony, either to neutralize the word's impact or as a sign of solidarity.[11]

Usages
British
In the United Kingdom and the Anglophone world, nigger denoted the dark-skinned (non-white) African and Asian (i.e., from India or nearby) peoples colonized into the British Empire, and "dark-skinned foreigners" in general.

In A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (1926), H. W. Fowler states that applying the word nigger to "others than full or partial negroes" is "felt as an insult by the person described, & betrays in the speaker, if not deliberate insolence, at least a very arrogant inhumanity"; but the second edition (1965) states: "N. has been described as 'the term that carries with it all the obloquy and contempt and rejection which whites have inflicted on blacks.'".

Victorian writer Rudyard Kipling used it in 'How the Leopard Got His Spots' and 'A Counting-Out Song' to illustrate the usage of the day. Likewise, P. G. Wodehouse used the phrase "Nigger minstrels" in Thank You, Jeeves (1934), the first Jeeves–Bertie novel, in admiration of their artistry and musical tradition. See also below under "Literary".

As recently as the 1950s, it may have been acceptable British usage to say niggers when referring to black people, notable in mainstream usages such as Nigger Boy brand candy cigarettes,[12] and the color nigger brown or simply nigger (dark brown);[13] however, by the 1970s the term was generally regarded as racist, offensive and potentially illegal along with "nig-nog", and "golliwog". Agatha Christie's book Ten Little Niggers was first published in London in 1939 and continued to appear under that title until the early 1980s, when it became And Then There Were None.[14][15]

North American
Cultural
Addressing the use of nigger by black people, Cornel West said in 2007, "There's a certain rhythmic seduction to the word. If you speak in a sentence, and you have to say cat, companion, or friend, as opposed to nigger, then the rhythmic presentation is off. That rhythmic language is a form of historical memory for black people... When Richard Pryor came back from Africa, and decided to stop using the word onstage, he would sometimes start to slip up, because he was so used to speaking that way. It was the right word at the moment to keep the rhythm together in his sentence making."[16]

Contemporarily, the implied racism of the word nigger has rendered its usages social taboo. In the United States, magazines and newspapers often do not use it but instead print "family-friendly", censored versions, usually "n*gg*r", "n**ger", "n——", and "the N-word";[17] however, historians and social activists, such as Dick Gregory, criticize the euphemisms and their usage as intellectually dishonest because using the euphemism "the N-word" instead of nigger robs younger generations of Americans of the full history of black people in America.[citation needed]

Political

Historical American cartoon titled "Why the nigger is not fit to vote", by Thomas Nast, arguing that the reason Democrats objected to African-Americans having the vote, was that in the 1868 US presidential election African-Americans voted for the Republican candidates Ulysses S. Grant and Schuyler Colfax. "Seymour friends meet here" in the background is a reference to the Democratic Party candidate: Horatio Seymour.
In explaining his refusal to be conscripted to fight the Vietnam War (1965–75), professional boxer Muhammad Ali said, "No Vietcong ever called me nigger";[18] later, his modified answer was the title No Vietnamese Ever Called Me Nigger (1968) of a documentary about the front-line lot of the U.S. Army Black soldier in combat in Vietnam.[19] An Ali biographer reports that, when interviewed by Robert Lipsyte in 1966, the boxer actually said, "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong".[20] The word can be invoked politically for effect. When Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick came under intense scrutiny for his personal conduct in 2008, he deviated from an address to city council, saying, "In the past 30 days, I've been called a nigger more than any time in my entire life." Opponents accused him of "playing the Race Card" to save his political life.[21]

On February 28, 2007, the New York City Council symbolically banned, with a formal resolution, the use of the word nigger; however, there is no penalty for using it. The New York City resolution also requests excluding from Grammy Award consideration every song whose lyrics contain the word nigger, however Ron Roecker, vice president of communication for the Recording Academy doubts that it will have any effect on actual nominations.[22][23]

Sport
In the first half of the twentieth century, before Major League Baseball was racially integrated, dark-skinned and dark-complexion players were nicknamed Nig;[24][25] examples are: Johnny Beazley (1941–49), Joe Berry (1921–22), Bobby Bragan (1940–48), Nig Clarke (1905–20), Nig Cuppy (1892–1901), Nig Fuller (1902), Johnny Grabowski (1923–31), Nig Lipscomb (1937), Charlie Niebergall (1921–24), Nig Perrine (1907), and Frank Smith (1904–15). The 1930s movie The Bowery with George Raft and Wallace Beery includes a sports-bar in New York City named "Nigger Joe's".

Nature
In some parts of the U.S., including the Midwest, Brazil nuts are known (decreasingly commonly) as "nigger toes".[26] Similarly, some cormorants have been known in the past as "nigger geese".[27]

Denotational extension
The denotations of nigger also comprehend non-black/non-white and other disadvantaged people; the U.S. politician Ron Dellums said, "... it's time for somebody to lead all of America's niggers".[28] Jerry Farber's 1967 protest, The Student as Nigger invoked the word as a metaphor for the victims of an authoritarian society. In 1969, in the UK, in the course of being interviewed by a Nova magazine reporter, artist Yoko Ono said, "... woman is the nigger of the world"; three years later, her husband, John Lennon, published the song "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" (1972)—about the worldwide phenomenon of discrimination against women–which was socially and politically controversial to US sensibilities. In 1978 singer Patti Smith used the word in "Rock N Roll Nigger". In 1979 singer Elvis Costello used the phrase white nigger in "Oliver's Army", a song describing the experiences of working-class soldiers in the British military forces on the "murder mile" (a term used to describe Belfast during The Troubles), where white nigger was a common British pejorative for Irish Catholics. Later, the producers of the British talent show Stars in Their Eyes forced a contestant to censor one of its lines, changing "... all it takes is one itchy trigger – One more widow, one less white nigger" to "... one less white figure". In his autobiography White Niggers of America: The Precocious Autobiography of a Quebec "Terrorist" (1968), Pierre Vallières, a Front de libération du Québec leader refers to the oppression of the Québécois people in North America.

In his memoir, All Souls, Michael Patrick MacDonald describes how many white residents of the Old Colony housing project in South Boston used this meaning to degrade the people considered to be of lower status, whether white or black.[29]

Of course, no one considered himself a nigger. It was always something you called someone who could be considered anything less than you. I soon found out there were a few black families living in Old Colony. They'd lived there for years and everyone said that they were okay, that they weren't niggers but just black. It felt good to all of us to not be as bad as the hopeless people in D Street or, God forbid, the ones in Columbia Point, who were both black and niggers. But now I was jealous of the kids in Old Harbor Project down the road, which seemed like a step up from Old Colony...

Other languages
Many other languages have words that sound the same as 'nigger' (are homophonic), but do not mean the same, and have ethnic slurs dissimilar to 'nigger' but meaning the same.

Some examples of how other languages refer to a black person in a neutral and in a pejorative way:

Dutch: neger is neutral, zwartje (little black one) can be amicably or offensively used, nikker is always pejorative[30]
Brazilian Portuguese: negro and preto are neutral,[31] nevertheless preto can be offensively used, is sometimes regarded as 'politically incorrect' and almost never proudly used by Afro-Brazilians, crioulo and macaco are always extremely pejorative[32]
Haitian Creole: nèg is used for any man in general, regardless of skin color (like "guy" in American English) although it is derived from French nègre, which is used pejoratively.
Literary
Historically, nigger is controversial in literature because of its usage as both a racist insult and a common noun. The white photographer and writer, Carl Van Vechten, a supporter of the Harlem Renaissance (1920s–30s), provoked controversy in the black community with the title of his novel Nigger Heaven (1926), of the controversy, Langston Hughes wrote:

No book could possibly be as bad as Nigger Heaven has been painted. And no book has ever been better advertised by those who wished to damn it. Because it was declared obscene, everybody wanted to read it, and I'll venture to say that more Negroes bought it than ever purchased a book by a Negro author. Then, as now, the use of the word nigger by a white was a flashpoint for debates about the relationship between black culture and its white patrons.

In the US, the recurrent reading curricula controversy about the vocabulary of the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885) by Mark Twain about the slave South, risks censorship because of 215 (counted) occurrences of the word nigger, most refer to Jim, Huckleberry's escaped-slave raft-mate.[33][34] Twain's advocates note that the novel is composed in then-contemporary vernacular usage, not racist stereotype, because Jim, the black man, is a sympathetic character in the nineteenth-century Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The book was re-published in 2010 with edits removing "the 'N' word" as reported in Time online.[35] The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been the subject of controversy in Arizona, where a parent group's attempt to have it removed from a required reading list was struck down by the court.

Moreover, unlike the literary escaped slave Jim, antebellum slaves used the artifice of self-deprecation (known as "Uncle Toms"), in pandering to societal racist assumptions about the black man's low intelligence, by advantageously using the word nigger to escape the violence inherent to slavery.[36] Implicit to "Uncle Tomming" was the unspoken reminder to white folk that a presumably inferior and sub-human person could not, reasonably, be held responsible for poorly realized work, a kitchen fire, or any such catastrophic offense. The artificial self-deprecation deflected responsibility, in hope of escaping the violent wraths of overseer and master. Using nigger as a self-referential identity term also was a way of avoiding white suspicion, of encountering an intelligent slave, and so put whites at their ease. In context, a slave who referred to himself, or another black man, as a nigger presumed the master's perceiving him as a slave who has accepted his societally sub-ordinate role as private property, thus, not (potentially) subversive of the authority of the master's white supremacy.

Other late-nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British literary usages suggest neutral usage. The popular Victorian era entertainment, the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Mikado (1885) twice uses the word nigger. In the song As some day it may happen, the executioner, Ko-ko, sings of executing the "nigger serenader and the others of his race", personified by black-faced singers singing minstrel songs. In the song A more humane Mikado, the Mikado sings of the punishment for older women who dye their hair or wear corsets, to be "Blacked like a nigger/With permanent walnut juice." Both lyrics are usually changed for modern performances.[37]

In Joseph Conrad's The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' (1897) the main character is a black man from the West Indies; the book was published in America as The Children of the Sea. Ten Little Niggers (1939) was the original British title of Agatha Christie's novel And Then There Were None, which has also been known by the alternative title Ten Little Indians. The word is used in some of the Swallows and Amazons series (1930s) of children's books by Arthur Ransome, e.g. "Look like niggers to me" in The Big Six.

The Reverend W. V. Awdry's The Railway Series (1945–72) story Henry's Sneeze, originally described soot-covered boys with the phrase "as black as niggers".[38] In 1972, after complaints, the description was edited to "as black as soot", in the subsequent editions.[38] Rev. Awdry is known for Thomas the Tank Engine (1946).

How the Leopard Got His Spots, in Just So Stories (1902), by Rudyard Kipling, tells of an Ethiopian man and a leopard, both originally sand-colored, deciding to camouflage themselves with painted spots, for hunting in tropical forest. The story originally included a scene wherein the leopard (now spotted) asks the Ethiopian man why he does not want spots. In contemporary editions of How the Leopard Got His Spots, the Ethiopian's original reply: "Oh, plain black's best for a nigger", has been edited to, "Oh, plain black's best for me." Again, Kipling uses the word in A Counting-Out Song (Land and Sea Tales for Scouts and Guides, 1923), the rhyme reads: "Eenie Meenie Mainee, Mo! Catch a nigger by the toe!"

In short story, The Basement Room (1935), by Graham Greene, the (sympathetic) servant character, Baines, tells the admiring boy, son of his employer, of his African British colony service, "You wouldn't believe it now, but I've had forty niggers under me, doing what I told them to". Replying to the boy's question: "Did you ever shoot a nigger?" Bains answers: "I never had any call to shoot. Of course I carried a gun. But you didn't need to treat them bad, that just made them stupid. Why, I loved some of those dammed niggers." The cinematic version of The Basement Room short story, The Fallen Idol (1948), directed by Carol Reed, replaced novelist Greene's niggers usage with natives.[citation needed] Flannery O'Connor's 1955 short story uses a black lawn jockey as a representative symbol in The Artificial Nigger.

Popular culture

Poster for "Nigger Hair" tobacco, later known as "Bigger Hair"
In the US and the UK, the word nigger featured in branding and packaging consumer products, e.g. "Nigger Hair Tobacco" and "Niggerhead Oysters", Brazil nuts were called nigger toes, et cetera. As the term became less acceptable in mainstream culture, the tobacco brand became "Bigger Hair" and the canned goods brand became "Negro Head".[39][40][41]

Cinema
The movie Blazing Saddles (1974) used nigger to ridicule US racism.[citation needed] In The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), the sequence titled "Danger Seekers" features a stuntman effecting the dangerous stunt of shouting "Niggers!" at a group of black people, then fleeing when they chased him.

The movie Full Metal Jacket (1987) depicts black and white U.S. Marines enduring boot camp and later fighting together in Vietnam. "Nigger" is used by soldiers of both races in jokes and as expressions of bravado ("put a nigger behind the trigger", says the black Corporal "Eightball"), with racial differences among the men seen as secondary to their shared exposure to the dangers of combat: Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey) says, "There is no racial bigotry here. I do not look down on niggers, kikes, wops or greasers. Here you are all equally worthless."

Gayniggers From Outer Space (1992) features black homosexual male aliens who commit gendercide to free the men of Earth from female oppression.

Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) featured a scene where villain Simon Peter Gruber (Jeremy Irons) required New York City Police Department Lt. John McClane (Bruce Willis) to wear a sandwich board reading "I hate niggers" while standing on a street corner in predominantly-black Harlem, resulting in McClane meeting Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson) as Carver rescued McClane from being attacked by neighborhood toughs.

Nigger was the name given to a black Labrador dog that belonged to British Royal Air Force Wing Commander Guy Gibson during World War II.[42] In 1943, Gibson led the successful Operation Chastise attack on dams in Germany. The dog's name was used as a single codeword whose transmission conveyed that the Möhne dam had been breached. In the 1955 film The Dam Busters about the raid, the dog was portrayed in several scenes; his name and the codeword were mentioned several times. Some of the scenes in which the dog's name is uttered were later shown in the 1982 film Pink Floyd – The Wall.[43]

In 1999, the British television network ITV broadcast a censored version with each of the twelve[44] utterances of Nigger deleted. Replying to complaints against its censorship, ITV blamed the regional broadcaster, London Weekend Television, which, in turn, blamed a junior employee as the unauthorised censor. In June 2001, when ITV re-broadcast the censored version of The Dam Busters, the Index on Censorship criticised it as "unnecessary and ridiculous" censorship breaking the continuity of the film and the story.[45] In January 2012 the film was shown uncensored on ITV4, but with a warning at the start that the film contained racial terms from the historical period which some people could find offensive. Versions of the film edited for US television have the dog's name altered to "Trigger".[44]

In a remake of The Dam Busters by Peter Jackson announced in 2008, Stephen Fry, the writer of the screenplay, said there was "no question in America that you could ever have a dog called the N-word". In the remake the dog's name is "Digger".[46]

American director Quentin Tarantino has been criticized by some critics for the heavy usage of the word nigger in his movies, especially in Jackie Brown, where the word is used 38 times[47] and Django Unchained, used 110 times.[48]

Literature
In 1897, Joseph Conrad penned a novella titled The Nigger of the 'Narcissus', whose titular character, James Wait, is a West Indian black sailor on board the merchant ship Narcissus sailing from Bombay to London. In the United States, the novel was first published with the title The Children of the Sea: A Tale of the Forecastle, at the insistence by the publisher, Dodd, Mead and Company, that no one would buy or read a book with the word nigger in its title,[49] not because the word was deemed offensive but that a book about a black man would not sell.[50] In 2009, WordBridge Publishing published a new edition titled The N-Word of the Narcissus, which also excised the word nigger from the text. According to the publisher, the point was to get rid of the offensive word, which may have led readers to avoid the book, and make it more accessible.[51] Though praised in some quarters, many others denounced the change as censorship. The author Carl Van Vechten took the opposite view to Conrad's publishers when he advised the British novelist Ronald Firbank to change the title of his 1924 novel Sorrow in Sunlight to Prancing Nigger for the American market,[52] and it became very successful there under that title.[53]

Mark Twain's novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has long been the subject of controversy for its racial content, including its use of the word "nigger" as applied to the escaped slave character Jim. Huckleberry Finn was the fifth most challenged book during the 1990s, according to the American Library Association.[54] In 2011, a new edition of the book published by NewSouth Books replaced the word "nigger" throughout the book with the word "slave" and also removed the word "injun". The change was spearheaded by Twain scholar Alan Gribben in the hope of "countering the 'pre-emptive censorship'" that results from the book's being removed from school curricula over language concerns.[55] The changes sparked outrage from critics and scholars.[56]

Music
The Bohemian composer Antonín Dvořák wrote the String Quartet No. 12 in 1893 during his time in the United States. For its presumed association with African-American music, the quartet was referred to until the 1950s with nicknames such as Negro Quartet and Nigger Quartet before being called the American Quartet.

Responding to accusations of racism after referring to "niggers" in the lyrics of the Guns N' Roses song, "One in a Million", Axl Rose stated "I was pissed off about some black people that were trying to rob me. I wanted to insult those particular black people. I didn't want to support racism."[57]

The folk song Oh! Susanna by Stephen Foster had originally been written in four verses. The second verse describes an industrial accident which "kill’d five hundred Nigger" by electrocution.

The country music artist David Allan Coe used the racial terms "redneck", "white trash", and "nigger" in the songs "If That Ain't Country, I'll Kiss Your Ass" and "Nigger Fucker".[58] In the 1960s, record producer J. D. "Jay" Miller published pro-racial segregation music with the "Reb Rebel" label featuring racist songs by Johnny Rebel and others, demeaning black Americans and the Civil Rights movement.[59]

The punk band the Dead Kennedys used the word in their song Holiday in Cambodia in the line, Bragging that you know how the niggers feel cold and the slum's got so much soul. The context of the line is a section mocking champagne socialists.

Contemporarily, rap groups such as N.W.A (Niggaz with Attitudes), re-popularized the usage in their songs. One of the earliest uses of the word in hip hop was in the song "New York New York" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five in 1983.

The term white nigger is also used in music, most notably in Elvis Costello's song Oliver's Army.

Theatre
The musical Show Boat (from 1927 until 1946) features the word "nigger" as originally integral to the lyrics of "Ol' Man River" and "Cotton Blossom"; although deleted from the cinema versions, it is included in the 1988 EMI recording of the original score. Musical theatre historian Miles Kreuger and conductor John McGlinn propose that the word was not an insult, but a blunt illustration of how white people then perceived black people.

Comedy
Some comedians have broached the subject, almost invariably in the form of social commentary. This was perhaps most famously done by stand-up comedian Chris Rock in his Niggas vs. Black People routine.

Translations
"Nigger" or "nigger brown" were used in Britain as standard colour names, in the same way as "lime green". This may have been included in some language translation sources.

"Nigger-brown" colored furniture
In April 2007, a dark brown leather sofa set, sold by Vanaik Furniture and Mattress Store in Toronto, Canada, was labelled as "Nigger-brown" color. Investigation determined that the Chinese manufacturer used an outdated version of Kingsoft's Chinese-to-English translation software for writing the tags; it translated the Chinese "dark-brown" characters to "Nigger-brown", and neither the Canadian supplier nor the store owner had noticed the incorrectly translated tag; subsequently, Kingsoft corrected its translation software.[60][61][62][63]

"Nigger brown" pants
In 2012, a typosquatting website called abercrombie-and-fitchoutlet.com, purporting to be of the clothing branch Abercrombie & Fitch and based in China, offered "nigger brown pants" for sale as the result of a faulty Chinese-to-English translator. This went viral on social media after people mistakenly believed that Abercrombie & Fitch were selling the product.[64] A similar translation mistake was made in 2014, involving a Chinese typosquatting counterfeit site purporting to be the clothing branch Ralph Lauren.[65]

Derivations

Anti-abolitionist cartoon from the 1860 presidential campaign illustrating colloquial usage of "Nigger in the woodpile"

Graffiti in Palestine referring to Arabs as "sand niggers"
Nigger as "defect" (a hidden problem), derives from "nigger in the woodpile", a US slave-era phrase denoting escaped slaves hiding in train-transported woodpiles.[5]
In American English: nigger lover initially applied to abolitionists, then to white people sympathetic towards black Americans.[66]
Sand nigger, an ethnic slur against Arabs, and timber nigger and prairie nigger, ethnic slurs against Native Americans, are examples of the racist extension of nigger upon other non-white peoples.[67]
In several English-speaking countries, "Niggerhead" or "nigger head" was used as a name for many sorts of things, including commercial products, places, plants, and animals, as well as a colloquial technical term in industry, mining, and seafaring.
In the Victorian era, the 1840s Morning Chronicle newspaper report series London Labour and the London Poor, by Henry Mayhew, records the usages of both nigger and its false cognate niggard denoting a false bottom for a grate.[68]
Flora and fauna nomenclatures include the word nigger. The Arizonan nigger-head cactus, Echinocactus polycephalus is a round, cabbage-sized plant covered with large, crooked thorns. The colloquial names for echinacea (coneflower) are "Kansas niggerhead" and "Wild niggerhead". In Oceania, the "niggerhead termite" (Nasutitermes graveolus) is a native of Australia.[69]
During the Spanish–American War US Army General John J. Pershing's original nickname, Nigger Jack, given to him as an instructor at West Point because of his service with "Buffalo Soldier" units, was euphemized to Black Jack by reporters.[70][71]
In 1960, a stand at the stadium in Toowoomba, Australia, was named the "E. S. 'Nigger' Brown Stand" honoring 1920s rugby league player Edwin Brown, so nicknamed since early life because of his pale white skin; so known all his life, his tombstone is engraved Nigger. Stephen Hagan, a lecturer at the Kumbari/Ngurpai Lag Higher Education Center of the University of Southern Queensland, sued the Toowoomba council over the use of nigger in the stand's name; the district and state courts dismissed his lawsuit. He appealed to the High Court of Australia, who ruled the naming matter beyond federal jurisdiction. At first some local Aborigines did not share Mr Hagan's opposition to nigger.[72] Hagan appealed to the United Nations, winning a committee recommendation to the Australian federal government, that it force the Queensland state government to remove the word nigger from the "E. S. 'Nigger' Brown Stand" name. The Australian federal government followed the High Court's jurisdiction ruling. In September 2008, the stand was demolished. The Queensland Sports Minister, Judy Spence, said that using nigger would be unacceptable, for the stand or on any commemorative plaque. The 2005 book The N Word: One Man's Stand by Hagan includes this episode.[72][73]
Place names
The word nigger features in official place-names, such as "Nigger Bill Canyon", "Nigger Hollow", and "Niggertown Marsh". In 1967, the United States Board on Geographic Names changed the word nigger to Negro in 143 place names. First changed to "Negrohead Mountain", a peak above Santa Monica, California was renamed on (February 2010) to Ballard Mountain in honor of John Ballard, a black pioneer who settled the area in the nineteenth century. "Nigger Head Mountain", at Burnet, Texas, was so named because the forest atop it resembled a black man's hair. In 1966, the US first lady, Lady Bird Johnson, denounced the racist name, asking the U.S. Board on Geographic Names and the U.S. Forest Service to rename it, becoming "Colored Mountain" in 1968; and in West Texas, "Dead Nigger Creek" was renamed "Dead Negro Draw".[74] "Nigger Nate Grade", near Temecula, California, named for Nate Harrison, an ex-slave and settler, was renamed "Nathan Harrison Grade Road" in 1955, at the request of the NAACP.[75][76][77][78][79]

In northwestern North America, particularly in Canada and the US, there are places which feature many uses of the word nigger.[80][81][82][83] At Penticton, British Columbia, Canada, "Niggertoe Mountain" was renamed Mount Nkwala. The place-name derived from a 1908 Christmas story about three black men who died in a blizzard; the next day, the bodies of two were found at the foot of the mountain.[84] A point on the Lower Mississippi River, in West Baton Rouge Parish, named "Free Nigger Point" until the late twentieth century, first was renamed "Free Negro Point", but currently is named "Wilkinson Point".[85] "Nigger Head Rock", protruding from a cliff above Highway 421, north of Pennington Gap, Virginia, was renamed "Great Stone Face" in the 1970s.

Derivatives
The N-word euphemism
Notable usage[86]
The prosecutor [Christopher Darden], his voice trembling, added that the "N-word" was so vile that he would not utter it. "It's the filthiest, dirtiest, nastiest word in the English language."

“”
— Kenneth B. Noble, January 14, 1995 The New York Times[87]
The euphemism the N-word became mainstream American English usage during the racially contentious murder trial of ex-football player O. J. Simpson in 1995.

Key prosecution witness Detective Mark Fuhrman, of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) – who denied using racist language on duty – impeached himself with his prolific use of nigger in tape recordings about his police work. The recordings, by screenplay writer Laura McKinney, were from a 1985 research session wherein the detective assisted her with a screenplay about LAPD policewomen. Fuhrman excused his use of the word saying he used nigger in the context of his "bad cop" persona. Linguistically, the popular press reporting and discussing Fuhrman's testimony substituted the N-word in place of nigger.

Homophones
Niger (Latin for "black") occurs in Latinate scientific nomenclature and is the root word for some homophones of nigger; sellers of niger seed (used as bird feed), sometimes use the name Nyjer seed. The classical Latin pronunciation /ˈniɡeɾ/ sounds like the English /ˈnɪɡər/, occurring in biologic and anatomic names, such as Hyoscamus niger (black henbane), and even for animals that are not in fact black, such as Sciurus niger (fox squirrel).

Nigra is the Latin feminine form of niger (black), used in biologic and anatomic names such as substantia nigra (black substance).

The word niggardly (miserly) is etymologically unrelated to nigger, derived from the Old Norse word nig (stingy) and the Middle English word nigon. In the US, this word has been misinterpreted as related to nigger and taken as offensive. In January 1999, David Howard, a white Washington, D.C. city employee, was compelled to resign after using niggardly—in a financial context—while speaking with black colleagues, who took umbrage. After reviewing the misunderstanding, Mayor Anthony Williams offered to reinstate Howard to his former position. Howard refused reinstatement but took a job elsewhere in the mayor's government.[88]

The portmanteau word wigger (white + nigger) denotes a white person emulating "street black behavior", hoping acceptance to the hip hop, thug, and gangsta sub-cultures.

Intragroup versus intergroup usage
Main article: Nigga
Black listeners often react to the term differently, depending on whether it is used by white speakers or by black speakers. In the former case, it is regularly understood as insensitive or insulting; in the latter, it may carry notes of in-group disparagement, and is often understood as neutral or affectionate, a possible instance of reappropriation.[citation needed]

Among the black community, the slur nigger is almost always rendered as nigga, representing the pronunciation of the word in African American Vernacular English. This usage has been popularized by the rap and hip-hop music cultures and is used as part of an in-group lexicon and speech. It is not necessarily derogatory and, when used among black people, the word is often used to mean homie or friend.[89]

Acceptance of intra-group usage of the word nigga is still debated,[89] although it has established a foothold amongst younger generations. The NAACP denounces the use of both "nigga" and "nigger". Mixed-race usage of "nigga" is still considered taboo, particularly if the speaker is white. However, trends indicate that usage of the term in intragroup settings is increasing even amongst white youth due to the popularity of rap and hip hop culture.[90]

According to Arthur K. Spears (Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 2006)

In many African-American neighborhoods, nigga is simply the most common term used to refer to any male, of any race or ethnicity. Increasingly, the term has been applied to any person, male or female. "Where y'all niggas goin?" is said with no self-consciousness or animosity to a group of women, for the routine purpose of obtaining information. The point: Nigga is evaluatively neutral in terms of its inherent meaning; it may express positive, neutral or negative attitudes;[91]

While Kevin Cato observes:

For instance, a show on Black Entertainment Television, a cable network aimed at a black audience, described the word nigger as a "term of endearment." "In the African American community, the word nigga (not nigger) brings out feelings of pride" (Davis 1). Here the word evokes a sense of community and oneness among black people. Many teens I interviewed felt that the word had no power when used amongst friends, but when used among white people the word took on a completely different meaning. In fact, comedian Alex Thomas on BET stated, "I still better not hear no white boy say that to me... I hear a white boy say that to me, it means 'White boy, you gonna get your ass beat.'"[92]

See also
Portal icon   Language portal
Controversies about the word "niggardly"
Cultural appropriation
Guilty or Innocent of Using the N Word
Kaffir (ethnic slur)
Murzyn
List of ethnic group names used as insults
List of ethnic slurs
List of topics related to Black and African people
"Niggas vs. Black People"
Profanity
Reappropriation
Taboo
The Student as Nigger (essay)
"With Apologies to Jesse Jackson", an episode of the animated comedy series South Park, in which Stan's dad, Randy, becomes a social pariah after saying "niggers" on Wheel of Fortune
Profanity by language
Category of English profanity
Category:African-American society
Footnotes
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^ Jump up to: a b The Oxford English Reference Dictionary, second edition, (1996) p. 981
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Jump up ^ John Broven, South to Louisiana: The Music of the Cajun Bayous. Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican, 1983, p. 252f.
Jump up ^ Racial slur on sofa label stuns family by Jim Wilkes, Toronto Star, April 6, 2007 . Retrieved February 2, 2009.
Jump up ^ Racist Sofa Label: Huy & Cry at Snopes.com
Jump up ^ Offensive Couch Update City News, April 13, 2007 (retrieved on February 2, 2009).
Jump up ^ Translation software blamed for sofa tag by Furniture Today staff, May 7, 2007. Retrieved February 2, 2009.
Jump up ^ "Brown Pants". Snopes.com. 22 March 2012.
Jump up ^ "Brown Shirts". Snopes.com. 18 August 2014.
Jump up ^ "The Color of Words", by Philip Herbst, 1997, ISBN 1-877864-97-8, p. 166
Jump up ^ Kennedy, Randall L. (Winter 1999–2000). "Who Can Say "Nigger"? And Other Considerations". The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (26): 86–96 [87]. JSTOR 2999172.
Jump up ^ vol 2 p6
Jump up ^ "Semiochemicals of Nasutitermes graveolus, the Niggerhead termite". The Pherobase. Retrieved March 12, 2006.
Jump up ^ "Buffalo Soldier Cavalry Commander: General John J. Pershing". U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved August 17, 2007.
Jump up ^ Vandiver, Frank E. Black Jack: The Life and Times of John J. Pershing – Volume I (Texas A&M University Press, Third printing, 1977) ISBN 0-89096-024-0 , p. 67.
^ Jump up to: a b Monaghan, Peter: Taking a Stand, July 29, 2005 in The Chronicle of Higher Education, available at "Australia's E. S. 'Nigger' Brown Stand and "Judicial Restraint"". Prof. Andrew V. Uroskie. July 29, 2005. Retrieved September 27, 2008.
Jump up ^ Bita, Natasha (September 27, 2008). "League legend would have wanted sign to stay: grandson". The Australian. Retrieved September 27, 2008.
Jump up ^ "Dead Negro Draw". Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
Jump up ^ "Nathan Harrison (1823–1920)". San Diego Biographies. San Diego Historical Society. Archived from the original on December 10, 2007. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
Jump up ^ "Nigger Hill in Mariposa County, California". CaliforniaMaps.org. Retrieved July 14, 2007.
Jump up ^ "Nigger Slough in Los Angeles County, California". CaliforniaMaps.org. Retrieved July 14, 2007.
Jump up ^ "Nigger Valley in San Diego County, California". CaliforniaMaps.org. Retrieved July 14, 2007.
Jump up ^ "Nigger Canyon in San Diego County, California". CaliforniaMaps.org. Retrieved July 14, 2007.
Jump up ^ "Nigger Joe Ridge in Humboldt County, California". CaliforniaMaps.org. Retrieved July 14, 2007.
Jump up ^ "Nigger Gulch in Butte County, California". CaliforniaMaps.org. Retrieved July 14, 2007.
Jump up ^ "Nigger Sam Slough in Glenn County, California". CaliforniaMaps.org. Retrieved July 14, 2007.
Jump up ^ "Golden Gate Genealogy Forum". CaliforniaMaps.org. Retrieved July 14, 2007.
Jump up ^ "Niggertoe Mountain". BC Geographical Names.
Jump up ^ "Free Negro Point". USGS Geographic Names Information System. Retrieved March 12, 2006.
Jump up ^ Arac, Jonathan (November 1997). Huckleberry Finn as idol and target. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-299-15534-6. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
Jump up ^ Noble, Kenneth B. (January 14, 1995). "Issue of Racism Erupts in Simpson Trial". The New York Times.
Jump up ^ Yolanda Woodlee (February 4, 1999). "D.C. Mayor Acted 'Hastily,' Will Rehire Aide". Washington Post. Retrieved August 17, 2007.
^ Jump up to: a b "Nigga Usage Alert". dictionary.com. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
Jump up ^ Kevin Aldridge, Richelle Thompson and Earnest Winston. "The evolving N-word." The Cincinnati Enquirer, August 5, 2001.
Jump up ^ Spears, Dr. Arthur K. (12 July 2006). "Perspectives: A View of the 'N-Word' from Sociolinguistics". Diverse Issues in Higher Education.
Jump up ^ "Nigger". Wrt-intertext.syr.edu. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
References
"nigger". The Oxford English Dictionary (2 ed.). 1989.
Fuller, Neely Jr. (1984). The United Independent Compensatory Code/System/Concept: A Textbook/Workbook for Thought, Speech, and/or Action, for Victims of Racism (white supremacy). ASIN B000BVZW38.
Kennedy, Randall (2002). Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word. New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-375-42172-6.
Smith, Stephanie (2005). Household Words: Bloomers, Sucker, Bombshell, Scab, Nigger, Cyber. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-4552-3.
Swan, Robert J. (2003). New Amsterdam Gehenna: Segregated Death in New York City, 1630–1801. Brooklyn: Noir Verite Press. ISBN 0-9722813-0-4.
Worth, Robert F. (Fall 1995). "Nigger Heaven and the Harlem Renaissance". African American Review 29 (3): 461–473. doi:10.2307/3042395. JSTOR 3042395.
External links
   Look up nigger or N-word in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Analysis of the cultural uses of the word Nigga by Alex Alonso of Street Gangs Magazine
"Nigger and Caricatures," Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, Ferris State University
"Nigger (the word), a brief history!" from the African American Registry
Appropriating a Slur in M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture
"Let's Make a Deal on the N-Word: White folks will stop using it, and black folks will stop pretending that quoting it is saying it," John McWhorter, The Root
[show] v t e
Ethnic and religious slurs
Categories: American English wordsAnti-African and anti-black slursProfanityAfrican-American-related

History of Africa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Obelisk at temple of Luxor, Egypt. c. 1200 BCE

African knight of Baguirmi in full padded armour suit
The history of Africa begins with the emergence of Homo sapiens in East Africa, and continues into the present as a patchwork of diverse and politically developing nation states. The recorded history of early civilization arose in Egypt, and later in Nubia, the Sahel, the Maghreb and the Horn of Africa. During the Middle Ages, Islam spread through the regions. Crossing the Maghreb and the Sahel, a major center of Muslim culture was Timbuktu. Some notable pre-colonial states and societies in Africa include the Nok culture, Mali Empire, Ashanti Empire, Kingdom of Mapungubwe, Kingdom of Sine, Kingdom of Sennar, Kingdom of Saloum, Kingdom of Baol, Kingdom of Zimbabwe, Kingdom of Kongo, Ancient Carthage, Numidia, Mauretania, the Aksumite Empire, the Ajuran Sultanate and the Adal Sultanate.

From the late 15th century, Europeans and Arabs transported enslaved West, Central and South Africans overseas in the African slave trade.[1] European colonization of Africa developed rapidly in the Scramble for Africa of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is widely believed that Africa had up to 10,000 different states and autonomous groups with distinct languages and customs before it was colonized.[2] Following struggles for independence in many parts of the continent, as well as a weakened Europe after the Second World War, decolonization took place.

Africa's history has been challenging for researchers in the field of African studies because of the scarcity of written sources in large parts of the continent. Scholarly techniques such as the recording of oral history, historical linguistics, archaeology and genetics have been crucial.

Contents  [hide]
1   Prehistory
1.1   Paleolithic
1.2   Emergence of agriculture
1.3   Metallurgy
2   Antiquity
2.1   Ancient Egypt
2.2   Nubia
2.3   Carthage
2.4   Somalia
2.5   Roman North Africa
2.6   Aksum
2.7   West Africa
2.8   Bantu expansion
3   Medieval & Early Modern Africa − 500 to 1800
3.1   Central Africa
3.2   Horn of Africa
3.3   North Africa
3.4   Southern Africa
3.5   Southeast Africa
3.6   West Africa
4   19th century
4.1   Southern Africa
4.2   Nguniland
4.3   Voortrekkers
4.4   European trade, exploration and conquest
4.5   France versus Britain: the Fashoda crisis of 1898
5   20th century
5.1   Second half of 20th century: decolonization
5.2   Historiography of British Africa
6   See also
7   Notes
8   References
9   Further reading
9.1   Historiography
10   External links
Prehistory[edit]
Further information: Prehistoric North Africa and African archaeology
Paleolithic[edit]
Main articles: Lower Paleolithic, Middle Stone Age and Later Stone Age
The first known hominids evolved in Africa. According to paleontology, the early hominids' skull anatomy was similar to that of the gorilla and chimpanzee, great apes that also evolved in Africa, but the hominids had adopted a bipedal locomotion and freed their hands. This gave them a crucial advantage, enabling them to live in both forested areas and on the open savanna at a time when Africa was drying up and the savanna was encroaching on forested areas. This occurred 10 to 5 million years ago.[3]

By 3 million years ago, several australopithecine hominid species had developed throughout southern, eastern and central Africa. They were tool users, and makers of tools. They scavenged for meat and were omnivores.[4]

By approximately 2.3 million years ago, primitive stone tools were first used to scavenge kills made by other predators and to harvest carrion and marrow from their bones. In hunting, Homo habilis was probably not capable of competing with large predators and was still more prey than hunter. H. habilis probably did steal eggs from nests and may have been able to catch small game and weakened larger prey (cubs and older animals). The tools were classed as Oldowan.[5]

Around 1.8 million years ago, Homo ergaster first appeared in the fossil record in Africa. From Homo ergaster, Homo erectus evolved 1.5 million years ago. Some of the earlier representatives of this species were still fairly small-brained and used primitive stone tools, much like H. habilis. The brain later grew in size, and H. erectus eventually developed a more complex stone tool technology called the Acheulean. Possibly the first hunters, H. erectus mastered the art of making fire and was the first hominid to leave Africa, colonizing most of the Old World and perhaps later giving rise to Homo floresiensis. Although some recent writers suggest that Homo georgicus was the first and most primitive hominid ever to live outside Africa, many scientists consider H. georgicus to be an early and primitive member of the H. erectus species.[6][7]


African biface artifact (spear point) dated in Late Stone Age period
The fossil record shows Homo sapiens living in southern and eastern Africa at least 100,000 and possibly 150,000 years ago. Around 40,000 years ago, the species' expansion out of Africa launched the colonization of the planet by modern human beings. By 10,000 BCE, Homo sapiens had spread to all corners of the old world. Their migration is traced by linguistic, cultural and genetic evidence.[5][8][9] The earliest physical evidence of astronomical activity appears to be a lunar calendar found on the Ishango bone dated to between 23,000 and 18,000 BCE.[10]

Emergence of agriculture[edit]
Around 16,000 BCE, from the Red Sea hills to the northern Ethiopian Highlands, nuts, grasses and tubers were being collected for food. By 13,000 to 11,000 BCE, people began collecting wild grains. This spread to Western Asia, which domesticated its wild grains, wheat and barley. Between 10,000 and 8000 BCE, northeast Africa was cultivating wheat and barley and raising sheep and cattle from southwest Asia. A wet climatic phase in Africa turned the Ethiopian Highlands into a mountain forest. Omotic speakers domesticated enset around 6500–5500 BCE. Around 7000 BCE, the settlers of the Ethiopian highlands domesticated donkeys, and by 4000 BCE domesticated donkeys had spread to southwest Asia. Cushitic speakers, partially turning away from cattle herding, domesticated teff and finger millet between 5500 and 3500 BCE.[11][12]

In the steppes and savannahs of the Sahara and Sahel in Northern West Africa, the Nilo-Saharan speakers and Mandé peoples started to collect and domesticate wild millet, African rice and sorghum between 8000 and 6000 BCE. Later, gourds, watermelons, castor beans, and cotton were also collected and domesticated. The people started capturing wild cattle and holding them in circular thorn hedges, resulting in domestication.[13] They also started making pottery and built stone settlements (see Tichitt and Oualata). Fishing, using bone-tipped harpoons, became a major activity in the numerous streams and lakes formed from the increased rains.

In West Africa, the wet phase ushered in expanding rainforest and wooded savannah from Senegal to Cameroon. Between 9000 and 5000 BCE, Niger–Congo speakers domesticated the oil palm and raffia palm. Two seed plants, black-eyed peas and voandzeia (African groundnuts), were domesticated, followed by okra and kola nuts. Since most of the plants grew in the forest, the Niger–Congo speakers invented polished stone axes for clearing forest.[14]

Most of southern Africa was occupied by pygmy peoples and Khoisan who engaged in hunting and gathering. Some of the oldest rock art was produced by them.[15]

Just prior to Saharan desertification, the communities that developed south of Egypt in what is now Sudan were full participants in the Neolithic revolution and lived a settled to semi-nomadic lifestyle, with domesticated plants and animals.[16] It has been suggested that megaliths found at Nabta Playa are examples of the world's first known archaeoastronomical devices, predating Stonehenge by some 1,000 years.[17] The sociocultural complexity observed at Nabta Playa and expressed by different levels of authority within the society there has been suggested as forming the basis for the structure of both the Neolithic society at Nabta and the Old Kingdom of Egypt.[18] By 5000 BCE, Africa entered a dry phase, and the climate of the Sahara region gradually became drier. The population trekked out of the Sahara region in all directions, including towards the Nile Valley below the Second Cataract, where they made permanent or semipermanent settlements. A major climatic recession occurred, lessening the heavy and persistent rains in central and eastern Africa. Since then, dry conditions have prevailed in eastern Africa.

Metallurgy[edit]
Main articles: Copper metallurgy in Africa and Iron metallurgy in Africa

9th century bronze staff head in form of a coiled snake, Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria
The first metals to be smelted in Africa were lead, copper, and bronze in the fourth millennium BCE.[19]

Copper was smelted in Egypt during the predynastic period, and bronze came into use not long after 3000 BCE at the latest[20] in Egypt and Nubia. Nubia was a major source of copper as well as gold.[citation needed] The use of gold and silver in Egypt dates back to the predynastic period.[21][22]

In the Aïr Mountains, present-day Niger, copper was smelted independently of developments in the Nile valley between 3000 and 2500 BCE. The process used was unique to the region, indicating that it was not brought from outside the region; it became more mature by about 1500 BCE.[22]

By the 1st millennium BCE, iron working had been introduced in northwestern Africa, Egypt, and Nubia.[23] In 670 BCE, Nubians were pushed out of Egypt by Assyrians using iron weapons, after which the use of iron in the Nile valley became widespread.

The theory of iron spreading to Sub-Saharan Africa via the Nubian city of Meroe is no longer widely accepted. Metalworking in West Africa has been dated as early as 2500 BCE at Egaro west of the Termit in Niger, and iron working was practiced there by 1500 BCE.[24] In Central Africa, there is evidence that Iron working may have been practiced as early as the 3rd millennium BCE.[25] Iron smelting was developed in the area between Lake Chad and the African Great Lakes between 1000 and 600 BCE, long before it reached Egypt. Before 500 BCE, the Nok culture in the Jos Plateau was already smelting iron.[26][27]

Antiquity[edit]
The ancient history of North Africa is inextricably linked to that of the Ancient Near East. This is particularly true of Ancient Egypt and Nubia. In the Horn of Africa the Kingdom of Aksum ruled modern-day Eritrea, northern Ethiopia and the coastal area of the western part of the Arabian Peninsula. The Ancient Egyptians established ties with the Land of Punt in 2350 BCE. Punt was a trade partner of Ancient Egypt and it is believed that it was located in modern-day Somalia, Djibouti or Eritrea.[28] Phoenician cities such as Carthage were part of the Mediterranean Iron Age and classical antiquity. Sub-Saharan Africa developed more or less independently in those times.

Ancient Egypt[edit]
Main article: Ancient Egypt

Map of Ancient Egypt and nomes
After the desertification of the Sahara, settlement became concentrated in the Nile Valley, where numerous sacral chiefdoms appeared. The regions with the largest population pressure were in the delta region of Lower Egypt, in Upper Egypt, and also along the second and third cataracts of the Dongola reach of the Nile in Nubia. This population pressure and growth was brought about by the cultivation of southwest Asian crops, including wheat and barley, and the raising of sheep, goats, and cattle. Population growth led to competition for farm land and the need to regulate farming. Regulation was established by the formation of bureaucracies among sacral chiefdoms. The first and most powerful of the chiefdoms was Ta-Seti, founded around 3500 BCE. The idea of sacral chiefdom spread throughout upper and lower Egypt.[29]


The pyramids of Giza, symbols of the civilization of ancient Egypt
Later consolidation of the chiefdoms into broader political entities began to occur in upper and lower Egypt, culminating into the unification of Egypt into one political entity by Narmer (Menes) in 3100 BCE. Instead of being viewed as a sacral chief, he became a divine king. The henotheism, or worship of a single god within a polytheistic system, practiced in the sacral chiefdoms along upper and lower Egypt, became the polytheistic religion of ancient Egypt. Bureaucracies became more centralized under the pharaohs, run by viziers, governors, tax collectors, generals, artists, and technicians. They engaged in tax collecting, organizing of labor for major public works, and building irrigation systems, pyramids, temples, and canals. During the Fourth Dynasty (2620-2480 BCE), long distance trade was developed, with the Levant for timber, with Nubia for gold and skins, with Punt for frankincense, and also with the western Libyan territories. For most of the Old Kingdom, Egypt developed her fundamental systems, institutions and culture, always through the central bureaucracy and by the divinity of the Pharaoh.[30]

After the fourth millennium BCE, Egypt started to extend direct military and political control over her southern and western neighbors. By 2200 BCE, the Old Kingdom's stability was undermined by rivalry among the governors of the nomes who challenged the power of pharaohs and by invasions of Asiatics into the delta. The First Intermediate Period had begun, a time of political division and uncertainty.[31]

By 2130, the period of stagnation was ended by Mentuhotep, the first Pharaoh of the Eleventh Dynasty, and the emergence of the Middle Kingdom. Pyramid building resumed, long-distance trade re-emerged, and the center of power moved from Memphis to Thebes. Connections with the southern regions of Kush, Wawat and Irthet at the second cataract were made stronger. Then came the Second Intermediate Period, with the invasion of the Hyksos on horse-drawn chariots and utilizing bronze weapons, a technology heretofore unseen in Egypt. Horse-drawn chariots soon spread to the west in the inhabitable Sahara and North Africa. The Hyksos failed to hold on to their Egyptian territories and were absorbed by Egyptian society. This eventually led to one of Egypt's most powerful phases, the New Kingdom (1580–1080 BCE), with the Eighteenth Dynasty. Egypt became a superpower controlling Nubia and Judea while exerting political influence on the Libyans to the West and on the Mediterranean.[31]

As before, the New Kingdom ended with invasion from the west by Libyan princes, leading to the Third Intermediate Period. Beginning with Shoshenq I, the Twenty-second Dynasty was established. It ruled for two centuries.[31]

To the south, Nubian independence and strength was being reasserted. This reassertion led to the conquest of Egypt by Nubia, begun by Kashta and completed by Piye (Pianhky, 751–730 BCE) and Shabaka (716–695 BCE). This was the birth of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt. The Nubians tried to re-establish Egyptian traditions and customs. They ruled Egypt for a hundred years. This was ended by an Assyrian invasion, with Taharqa experiencing the full might of Assyrian iron weapons. The Nubian pharaoh Tantamani was the last of the Twenty-fifth dynasty.[31]

When the Assyrians and Nubians left, a new Twenty-sixth Dynasty emerged from Sais. It lasted until 525 BCE, when Egypt was invaded by the Persians. Unlike the Assyrians, the Persians stayed. In 332, Egypt was conquered by Alexander the Great. This was the beginning of the Ptolemaic dynasty, which ended with Roman conquest in 30 BCE. Pharaonic Egypt had come to an end.[31]

Nubia[edit]
Main articles: Kerma Culture and Kingdom of Kush

Nubian Empire at its greatest extent
Around 3500 BCE, one of the first sacral kingdoms to arise in the Nile was Ta-Seti, located in northern Nubia. Ta-Seti was

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Chink
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Chink (disambiguation).
   Look up Chink in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Chink (also chinki, chinky, chinkie, or chinka) is an English-language ethnic slur usually referring to a person of Chinese or East Asian ethnicity.[1] Use of the term is often considered offensive and has garnered a great deal of media attention.[2][3]

Contents  [hide]
1   Etymology
2   History
3   Offensiveness and reappropriation
4   Controversy
4.1   Australia
4.2   India
4.3   United Kingdom
4.4   United States
5   See also
6   Notes
7   References
Etymology[edit]
A number of dictionaries have provided different suggestions as to the origin of chink. Some of these suggestions are that it originated from the Chinese courtesy ching-ching,[4] or that it evolved from the word China,[5] or that it was an alteration of Qing (Ch'ing), as in the Qing Dynasty.[6]

Another possible etymology is that chink evolved from the Indo-Iranian word for China, that word now having similar pronunciations in various Indo-European languages, such as Persian.[7]

History[edit]

The Iron Chink, a machine that guts and cleans salmon for canning,[8] alongside a Chinese fishplant worker, was marketed as a replacement for fish-butchers, who were primarily Chinese immigrants
Chink's first usage is recorded from about 1874[9] but chinky had first appeared in print, as far as can be ascertained, in 1878.[10] Chinky is still used in Britain as a nickname for Chinese food.[11]

Around the turn of the 20th century, Chinese immigration was perceived as a threat to the living standards of whites in North America and other similar nations. However, a persistent labor shortage on the west coast meant that Chinese workers were still needed there. Alaskan fish canneries were so short of workers, too, that appeals were submitted to Congress to amend the Exclusion Act.[citation needed] Chinese butcher crews were held in such high esteem that when Edmund A. Smith patented his mechanized fish-butchering machine in 1905, he named it the Iron Chink,[12][13] which is seen by some as symbolic of anti-Chinese racism during the era.[14][15] Usage of the word continued, such as with the story "The Chink and the Child" by Thomas Burke, later adapted to film by D.W. Griffith. Griffith altered the story to be more racially sensitive and renamed it to Broken Blossoms.

Although chink originally referred to those appearing to be of Chinese descent, the meaning expanded sometime in the 1940s to include other people of East Asian descent.[citation needed][original research?][16] During the Korean War and Vietnam War, the word was frequently used to refer to Korean and Vietnamese soldiers, with numerous examples of news reports attesting to this. In addition, literature and film about the Vietnam war, also contain examples of this usage of chink, including the 1986 film Platoon and the 1970s play (and later film) Sticks and Bones.[original research?][17][18]

Offensiveness and reappropriation[edit]
Chink has been compared in degree of offensiveness to terms such as nigger and kike.[19] As with other ethnic slurs, it is often used in conjuncture with violence and discrimination, which may amount to hate crimes.[20]

The 2001 murder of Kenneth Chiu in Laguna Hills, California has been used as an example of the seriousness of the slur, suspected of being a race-related hate crime. The word chink was also scratched onto his father's car, with a number of other racial incidents against their family previously occurring in their neighbourhood.[21]

Similar to the controversial reappropriation of the word nigger, the word chink has sometimes been used in a positive manner.[19] For example, Leehom Wang, a Taiwanese American musician, named his Asian hip-hop fusion genre chinked-out in order to neutralize the term. Eventually Wang hopes the term will become "cool".[22]

Controversy[edit]
Australia[edit]
As in other English-speaking countries, Chinese people were sometimes belittled in Australia. The terms Chinaman and chink became intertwined with one another, as some Australians used both of them with hostile intent when referring to members of the country's Chinese population—which had swelled significantly during the Gold Rush era of the 1850s and 1860s.

Assaults on Chinese miners and racially-motivated riots and public disturbances were not infrequent occurrences in Australia's mining districts in the second half of the 19th century. There was some resentment, too, of the fact that Chinese miners and laborers tended to send their earnings back home to their families in China rather than spending them then and there, and supporting the local economy.

In the popular Sydney Bulletin magazine in 1887, one author wrote: "No nigger, no chink, no lascar, no kanaka [laborer from the South Sea Islands], no purveyor of cheap labour, is an Australian."[9] Eventually, since-repealed federal government legislation was passed to restrict non-white immigration and thus protect the jobs of Anglo-Celtic Australian workers from "undesirable" competition.

India[edit]
In India, chinki (or chinky) is an ethnic slur for people with Mongoloid features in general, including people from North-East India and Nepal,[23] who are often mistaken as Chinese.[24]

In 2012, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs recognized use of the term "chinki" to refer to a member of the Scheduled Tribes (especially in the North-East) as a criminal offense under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act with a penalty of up to five years in jail. The Ministry further warned that they would very seriously review any failure of the police to enforce this interpretation of the Act.[25]

United Kingdom[edit]
The 1969 top 3 UK hit single for Blue Mink, "Melting Pot", has the lyric: "take a pinch of white man/Wrap him up in black skin. [...] Mixed with yellow Chinkees. You know you lump it all together/And you got a recipe for a get-along scene/Oh what a beautiful dream/If It could only come true". Whilst at the time expressing racial harmony, a modern audience may find the use of the word insensitive, undercutting the song's intent. The cover by Culture Club, a bonus track on the 2003 reissue of their 1983 album Colour by Numbers, included the full lyrics, while Boyzone's version on 1994's A Different Beat rewrote them to avoid offense.[citation needed]

In 1999, an exam given to students in Scotland was criticized for containing a passage that students were told to interpret containing the word chinky. This exam was taken by students all over Scotland, and Chinese groups expressed offence at the use of this passage. The examinations body apologized, calling the passage's inclusion "an error of judgement."[26]

The musical Cats originally contained the lyric, "with a frightful burst of fireworks, the Chinks, they swarmed aboard!", but in recent times, all productions of the show have voluntarily censored the lyrics to, "with a frightful burst of fireworks, the Siamese swarmed aboard!"[citation needed]

United States[edit]
The Pekin, Illinois High School teams were officially known as the "Pekin Chinks" until 1981, when the school administration changed the name to the "Pekin Dragons". The team mascot was a student dressed as a "Chinese" man wearing a coolie hat, who struck a gong when the team scored.[citation needed] There was also a "Chinese" woman who, along with the "Chinese" man, would greet opposing teams' cheerleaders before sporting events.[citation needed] There was even a roller skating facility called the "Chink Rink" on the Route 98 at the edge of Pekin, which had no affiliation with the school. An earlier attempt had been made by a delegation of Chinese-American groups to change the name from "Chinks" during the 1981 school year; this was voted down by the student body.[citation needed] The event received national attention.[27][28]

New York City radio station, Hot 97, came under criticism for airing the Tsunami Song. Referring to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, in which over an estimated 200,000 people died, the song used the phrase "screaming chinks" along with other offensive lyrics. The radio station fired a co-host and producer, and indefinitely suspended radio personality Miss Jones, who was later reinstated. Members of the Asian American community said Miss Jones' reinstatement condoned hate speech.[29]

Sarah Silverman appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 2001, stirring up controversy when the word chink was used without the usual bleep appearing over ethnic slurs on network television. The controversy led Asian activist and community leader Guy Aoki to appear on the talk show Politically Incorrect along with Sarah Silverman. Guy Aoki alleged that Silverman did not believe the term offensive.[30]

A Philadelphia eatery, Chink's Steak, created controversy, appearing in Philadelphia Daily News and other newspapers. The restaurant was asked by Asian community groups[31] to change the name. The restaurant was named after the original white owner's nickname, "Chink", derived from the ethnic slur due to his "slanty eyes".[32] The restaurant was renamed Joe's in 2013.[33][34][35][36][37][38]

During early 2000, University of California, Davis experienced a string of racial incidents and crimes between Asian and white students, mostly among fraternities. Several incidents included chink and other racial epithets being shouted among groups, including the slurs being used during a robbery and assault on an Asian fraternity by 15 white males. The incidents motivated a school-wide review and protest to get professional conflict resolution and "culturally sensitive" mediators.[39]

In February 2012, ESPN fired one employee and suspended another for using the headline "Chink in the Armor" in reference to Jeremy Lin, an American basketball player of Taiwanese and Chinese descent.[40][41] While the word chink also refers to a crack or fissure and chink in the armor is an idiom and common sports cliche, referring to a vulnerability,[42] the "apparently intentional" double entendre of its use in reference to an Asian athlete was viewed as offensive.[43]

In a review of Richard Greenberg's stage adaptation of Breakfast at Tiffany's, theater critic Hilton Als wrote in The New Yorker "There isn’t a chink in Greenberg’s professional script,...." [44] This word choice is notable given the history of controversy around the Asian character I.Y. Yunioshi. The New Yorker has not acknowledged the gaffe or issued a public apology for the alleged racial insensitivity.

See also[edit]
Chink in one's armour
Chinky chonky
Ang Moh
East Asians
Chinese people
Ching Chong
Coolie
Gook
Gweilo
List of ethnic slurs
Moke
Notes

Pedophilia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the sexual preference toward prepubescent children. It is not to be confused with hebephilia or ephebophilia.
Pedophilia
Classification and external resources
Specialty   Psychiatry
ICD-10   F65.4
ICD-9-CM   302.2
MeSH   D010378
Pedophilia or paedophilia is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children, generally age 11 years or younger.[1][2] As a medical diagnosis, specific criteria for the disorder extend the cut-off point for prepubescence to age 13.[1] A person who is diagnosed with pedophilia must be at least 16 years of age, but adolescents must be at least five years older than the prepubescent child for the attraction to be diagnosed as pedophilia.[1][2]

Pedophilia is termed pedophilic disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), and the manual defines it as a paraphilia in which adults or adolescents 16 years of age or older have intense and recurrent sexual urges towards and fantasies about prepubescent children that they have either acted on or which cause them distress or interpersonal difficulty.[1] The International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) defines it as a sexual preference for children of prepubertal or early pubertal age.[3]

In popular usage, the word pedophilia is often applied to any sexual interest in children or the act of child sexual abuse.[4][5] This use conflates the sexual attraction to prepubescent children with the act of child sexual abuse, and fails to distinguish between attraction to prepubescent and pubescent or post-pubescent minors.[6][7] Researchers recommend that these imprecise uses be avoided because although people who commit child sexual abuse sometimes exhibit the disorder,[5][8] child sexual abuse offenders are not pedophiles unless they have a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children,[6][9][10] and not all pedophiles molest children.[4][11][12]

Pedophilia was first formally recognized and named in the late 19th century. A significant amount of research in the area has taken place since the 1980s. Although mostly documented in men, there are also women who exhibit the disorder,[13][14] and researchers assume available estimates underrepresent the true number of female pedophiles.[15] No cure for pedophilia has been developed, but there are therapies that can reduce the incidence of a person committing child sexual abuse.[5] In the United States, following Kansas v. Hendricks, sex offenders who are diagnosed with certain mental disorders, particularly pedophilia, can be subject to indefinite civil commitment.[16] The exact causes of pedophilia have not been conclusively established.[17] Some studies of pedophilia in child sex offenders have correlated it with various neurological abnormalities and psychological pathologies.[18]

Contents  [hide]
1   Definitions
2   Signs and symptoms
2.1   Development and sexual orientation
2.2   Comorbidity and personality traits
2.3   Child pornography
3   Causes
4   Diagnosis
4.1   DSM and ICD-10
4.2   Debate regarding criteria
5   Treatment
5.1   General
5.2   Cognitive behavioral therapy
5.3   Behavioral interventions
5.4   Sex drive reduction
6   Epidemiology
6.1   Child molestation
7   History
8   Law and forensic psychology
8.1   Definitions
8.2   Civil and legal commitment
9   Society and culture
9.1   General
9.2   Misuse of medical terminology
9.3   Pedophile advocacy groups
9.4   Anti-pedophile activism
9.5   Culture
10   See also
11   References
12   Further reading
13   External links
Definitions
The word pedophilia comes from the Greek: παῖς, παιδός (paîs, paidós), meaning "child", and φιλία (philía), "friendly love" or "friendship".[19] Pedophilia is used for individuals with a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children aged 13 or younger.[1][2] Nepiophilia (from the Greek: νήπιος (népios) meaning "infant" or "child," which in turn derives from "ne-" and "epos" meaning "not speaking"), sometimes called infantophilia, is a sub-type of pedophilia; it is used to refer to a sexual preference for infants and toddlers (ages 0–3 or those under age 5).[8][20] Hebephilia is defined as individuals with a primary or exclusive sexual interest in 11- to 14-year-old pubescents.[21] The DSM-5 does not list hebephilia among the diagnoses; while evidence suggests that hebephilia is separate from pedophilia, the ICD-10 includes early pubertal age (an aspect of hebephilia) in its pedophilia definition, covering the physical development overlap between the two philias.[12] In addition to hebephilia, some clinicians have proposed other categories that are somewhat or completely distinguished from pedophilia; these include pedohebephilia (a combination of pedophilia and hebephilia) and ephebophilia (though ephebophilia is not considered pathological).[22][23]

Signs and symptoms
Development and sexual orientation
Pedophilia emerges before or during puberty, and is stable over time.[24] It is self-discovered, not chosen.[5] For these reasons, pedophilia has been described as a disorder of sexual preference, phenomenologically similar to a heterosexual or homosexual sexual orientation.[24] These observations, however, do not exclude pedophilia from the group of mental disorders because pedophilic acts cause harm, and pedophiles can sometimes be helped by mental health professionals to refrain from acting on their impulses which cause harm to children.[25]

In response to misinterpretations that the American Psychiatric Association considers pedophilia a sexual orientation because of wording in its printed DSM-5 manual, which distinguishes between paraphilia and what it calls "paraphilic disorder", subsequently forming a division of "pedophilia" and "pedophilic disorder", the association commented: "'exual orientation' is not a term used in the diagnostic criteria for pedophilic disorder and its use in the DSM-5 text discussion is an error and should read 'sexual interest.'" They added, "In fact, APA considers pedophilic disorder a 'paraphilia,' not a 'sexual orientation.' This error will be corrected in the electronic version of DSM-5 and the next printing of the manual." They said they strongly support efforts to criminally prosecute those who sexually abuse and exploit children and adolescents, and "also support continued efforts to develop treatments for those with pedophilic disorder with the goal of preventing future acts of abuse."[26]

Comorbidity and personality traits
Studies of pedophilia in child sex offenders often report that it co-occurs with other psychopathologies, such as low self-esteem,[27] depression, anxiety, and personality problems. It is not clear whether these are features of the disorder itself, artifacts of sampling bias, or consequences of being identified as a sex offender.[18] One review of the literature concluded that research on personality correlates and psychopathology in pedophiles is rarely methodologically correct, in part owing to confusion between pedophiles and child sex offenders, as well as the difficulty of obtaining a representative, community sample of pedophiles.[28] Seto (2004) points out that pedophiles who are available from a clinical setting are likely there because of distress over their sexual preference or pressure from others. This increases the likelihood that they will show psychological problems. Similarly, pedophiles recruited from a correctional setting have been convicted of a crime, making it more likely that they will show anti-social characteristics.[29]

Impaired self-concept and interpersonal functioning were reported in a sample of child sex offenders who met the diagnostic criteria for pedophilia by Cohen et al. (2002), which the authors suggested could contribute to motivation for pedophilic acts. The pedophilic offenders in the study had elevated psychopathy and cognitive distortions compared to healthy community controls. This was interpreted as underlying their failure to inhibit criminal behavior.[30] Studies in 2009 and 2012 found that non-pedophilic child molesters exhibited psychopathy, but pedophiles did not.[31][32]

Wilson and Cox (1983) studied the characteristics of a group of pedophile club members. The most marked differences between pedophiles and controls were on the introversion scale, with pedophiles showing elevated shyness, sensitivity and depression. The pedophiles scored higher on neuroticism and psychoticism, but not enough to be considered pathological as a group. The authors caution that "there is a difficulty in untangling cause and effect. We cannot tell whether paedophiles gravitate towards children because, being highly introverted, they find the company of children less threatening than that of adults, or whether the social withdrawal implied by their introversion is a result of the isolation engendered by their preference i.e., awareness of the social [dis]approbation and hostility that it evokes" (p. 324).[33] In a non-clinical survey, 46% of pedophiles reported that they had seriously considered suicide for reasons related to their sexual interest, 32% planned to carry it out, and 13% had already attempted it.[34]

A review of qualitative research studies published between 1982 and 2001 concluded that child sexual abusers use cognitive distortions to meet personal needs, justifying abuse by making excuses, redefining their actions as love and mutuality, and exploiting the power imbalance inherent in all adult–child relationships.[35] Other cognitive distortions include the idea of "children as sexual beings", uncontrollability of sexual behavior, and "sexual entitlement-bias".[36]

Child pornography
Consumption of child pornography is a more reliable indicator of pedophilia than molesting a child,[37] although some non-pedophiles also use child pornography.[38] Child pornography may be used for a variety of purposes, ranging from private sexual gratification or trading with other collectors, to preparing children for sexual abuse as part of the child grooming process.[39][40][41]

Pedophilic viewers of child pornography are often obsessive about collecting, organizing, categorizing, and labeling their child pornography collection according to age, gender, sex act and fantasy.[42] According to FBI agent Ken Lanning, "collecting" pornography does not mean that they merely view pornography, but that they save it, and "it comes to define, fuel, and validate their most cherished sexual fantasies".[38] Lanning states that the collection is the single best indicator of what the offender wants to do, but not necessarily of what has or will be done.[43] Researchers Taylor and Quayle reported that pedophilic collectors of child pornography are often involved in anonymous internet communities dedicated to extending their collections.[44]

Causes
Although what causes pedophilia is not yet known, researchers began reporting a series of findings linking pedophilia with brain structure and function, beginning in 2002. Testing individuals from a variety of referral sources inside and outside the criminal justice system as well as controls, these studies found associations between pedophilia and lower IQs,[45][46][47] poorer scores on memory tests,[46] greater rates of non-right-handedness,[45][46][48][49] greater rates of school grade failure over and above the IQ differences,[50] lesser physical height,[51] greater probability of having suffered childhood head injuries resulting in unconsciousness,[52][53] and several differences in MRI-detected brain structures.[54][55][56] They report that their findings suggest that there are one or more neurological characteristics present at birth that cause or increase the likelihood of being pedophilic. Some studies have found that pedophiles are less cognitively impaired than non-pedophilic child molesters.[57] A 2011 study found that pedophilic child molesters had deficits in response inhibition, but no deficits in memory or cognitive flexibility.[58] Evidence of familial transmittability "suggests, but does not prove that genetic factors are responsible" for the development of pedophilia.[59]

Another study, using structural MRI, shows that male pedophiles have a lower volume of white matter than a control group.[54] Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has shown that child molesters diagnosed with pedophilia have reduced activation of the hypothalamus as compared with non-pedophilic persons when viewing sexually arousing pictures of adults.[60] A 2008 functional neuroimaging study notes that central processing of sexual stimuli in heterosexual "paedophile forensic inpatients" may be altered by a disturbance in the prefrontal networks, which "may be associated with stimulus-controlled behaviours, such as sexual compulsive behaviours". The findings may also suggest "a dysfunction at the cognitive stage of sexual arousal processing".[61]

Blanchard, Cantor, and Robichaud (2006) reviewed the research that attempted to identify hormonal aspects of pedophiles.[62] They concluded that there is some evidence that pedophilic men have less testosterone than controls, but that the research is of poor quality and that it is difficult to draw any firm conclusion from it.

While not causes of pedophilia themselves, childhood abuse by adults or comorbid psychiatric illnesses—such as personality disorders and substance abuse—are risk factors for acting on pedophilic urges.[5] Blanchard, Cantor, and Robichaud addressed comorbid psychiatric illnesses that, "The theoretical implications are not so clear. Do particular genes or noxious factors in the prenatal environment predispose a male to develop both affective disorders and pedophilia, or do the frustration, danger, and isolation engendered by unacceptable sexual desires—or their occasional furtive satisfaction—lead to anxiety and despair?"[62] They indicated that, because they previously found mothers of pedophiles to be more likely to have undergone psychiatric treatment,[52] the genetic possibility is more likely.

A study analyzing the sexual fantasies of 200 heterosexual men by using the Wilson Sex Fantasy Questionnaire exam determined that males with a pronounced degree of paraphilic interest (including pedophilia) had a greater number of older brothers, a high 2D:4D digit ratio (which would indicate low prenatal androgen exposure), and an elevated probability of being left-handed, suggesting that disturbed hemispheric brain lateralization may play a role in deviant attractions.[63]

Diagnosis
DSM and ICD-10
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th edition (DSM-5) has a significantly larger diagnostic features section for pedophilia than the previous DSM version, the DSM-IV-TR, and states, "The diagnostic criteria for pedophilic disorder are intended to apply both to individuals who freely disclose this paraphilia and to individuals who deny any sexual attraction to prepubertal children (generally age 13 years or younger), despite substantial objective evidence to the contrary."[1] Like the DSM-IV-TR, the manual outlines specific criteria for use in the diagnosis of this disorder. These include the presence of sexually arousing fantasies, behaviors or urges that involve some kind of sexual activity with a prepubescent child (with the diagnostic criteria for the disorder extending the cut-off point for prepubescence to age 13) for six months or more, or that the subject has acted on these urges or suffers from distress as a result of having these feelings. The criteria also indicate that the subject should be 16 or older and that the child or children they fantasize about are at least five years younger than them, though ongoing sexual relationships between a 12- to 13-year-old and a late adolescent are advised to be excluded. A diagnosis is further specified by the sex of the children the person is attracted to, if the impulses or acts are limited to incest, and if the attraction is "exclusive" or "nonexclusive".[1]

The ICD-10 defines pedophilia as "a sexual preference for children, boys or girls or both, usually of prepubertal or early pubertal age".[3] Like the DSM, this system's criteria requires that the person be at least 16 years of age or older before being diagnosed as a pedophile. The person must also have a persistent or predominant sexual preference for prepubescent children at least five years younger than them.[2]

Several terms have been used to distinguish "true pedophiles" from non-pedophilic and non-exclusive offenders, or to distinguish among types of offenders on a continuum according to strength and exclusivity of pedophilic interest, and motivation for the offense (see child sexual offender types). Exclusive pedophiles are sometimes referred to as true pedophiles. They are sexually attracted to prepubescent children, and only prepubescent children. Showing no erotic interest in adults, they can only become sexually aroused while fantasizing about or being in the presence of prepubescent children, or both.[15] Non-exclusive offenders—or "non-exclusive pedophiles"—may at times be referred to as non-pedophilic offenders, but the two terms are not always synonymous. Non-exclusive offenders are sexually attracted to both children and adults, and can be sexually aroused by both, though a sexual preference for one over the other in this case may also exist. If the attraction is a sexual preference for prepubescent children, such offenders are considered pedophiles in the same vein as exclusive offenders.[3][15]

Neither the DSM nor the ICD-10 diagnostic criteria require actual sexual activity with a prepubescent youth. The diagnosis can therefore be made based on the presence of fantasies or sexual urges even if they have never been acted upon. On the other hand, a person who acts upon these urges yet experiences no distress about their fantasies or urges can also qualify for the diagnosis. Acting on sexual urges is not limited to overt sex acts for purposes of this diagnosis, and can sometimes include indecent exposure, voyeuristic or frotteuristic behaviors,[1] or masturbating to child pornography.[37] Often, these behaviors need to be considered in-context with an element of clinical judgment before a diagnosis is made. Likewise, when the patient is in late adolescence, the age difference is not specified in hard numbers and instead requires careful consideration of the situation.[64]

Ego-dystonic sexual orientation (F66.1) includes people who acknowledge that they have a sexual preference for prepubertal children, but wish to change it due to the associated psychological or behavioral problems (or both).

Debate regarding criteria
The DSM-IV-TR criteria was criticized simultaneously for being over-inclusive, as well as under-inclusive.[65] Though most researchers distinguish between child molesters and pedophiles,[9][10][12][65] Studer and Aylwin argue that the DSM criteria are over-inclusive because all acts of child molestation warrant the diagnosis. A child molester satisfies criteria A because of the behavior involving sexual activity with prepubescent children and criteria B because the individual has acted on those urges.[65] Furthermore, they argue that it also is under-inclusive in the case of individuals who do not act upon it and are not distressed by it.[65] The latter point has also been made by several other researchers who have remarked that a so-called "contented pedophile"—an individual who fantasizes about having sex with a child and masturbates to these fantasies, but does not commit child sexual abuse, and who does not feel subjectively distressed afterward—does not meet the DSM-IV-TR criteria for pedophilia, because this person does not meet Criterion B.[12][66][67][68] A large-scale survey about usage of different classification systems showed that the DSM classification is only rarely used. As an explanation, it was suggested that the under-inclusiveness, as well as a lack of validity, reliability and clarity might have led to the rejection of the DSM classification.[11]

Ray Blanchard, an American-Canadian sexologist known for his research studies on pedophilia, addressed (in his literature review for the DSM-5) the aforementioned objections to the DSM-IV-TR, and proposed a general solution applicable to all paraphilias. This meant namely a distinction between paraphilia and paraphilic disorder. The latter term is proposed to identify the diagnosable mental disorder which meets Criterion A and B, whereas an individual who does not meet Criterion B can be ascertained but not diagnosed as having a paraphilia.[69] Blanchard and a number of his colleagues also proposed that hebephilia become a diagnosable mental disorder under the DSM-5 to resolve the physical development overlap between pedophilia and hebephilia by combining the categories under pedophilic disorder, but with specifiers on which age range (or both) is the primary interest.[22][70] The proposal for hebephilia was rejected by the American Psychiatric Association,[71] but the distinction between paraphilia and paraphilic disorder was implemented.[1][72]

The American Psychiatric Association stated that "n the case of pedophilic disorder, the notable detail is what wasn't revised in the new manual. Although proposals were discussed throughout the DSM-5 development process, diagnostic criteria ultimately remained the same as in DSM-IV TR" and that "

• nly the disorder name will be changed from pedophilia to pedophilic disorder to maintain consistency with the chapter’s other listings."[72] If hebephilia had been accepted as a DSM-5 diagnosable disorder, it would have been similar to the ICD-10 definition of pedophilia that already includes early pubescents,[12] and would have raised the minimum age required for a person to be able to be diagnosed with pedophilia from 16 years to 18 years (with the individual needing to be at least 5 years older than the minor).[22]

O'Donohue, however, suggests that the diagnostic criteria for pedophilia be simplified to the attraction to children alone if ascertained by self-report, laboratory findings, or past behavior. He states that any sexual attraction to children is pathological and that distress is irrelevant, noting "this sexual attraction has the potential to cause significant harm to others and is also not in the best interests of the individual."[73] Also arguing for behavioral criteria in defining pedophilia, Howard E. Barbaree and Michael C. Seto disagreed with the American Psychiatric Association's approach in 1997 and instead recommended the use of actions as the sole criterion for the diagnosis of pedophilia, as a means of taxonomic simplification.[74]

Treatment
General
There is no evidence that pedophilia can be cured.[12] Instead, most therapies focus on helping the pedophile refrain from acting on their desires.[5][75] Some therapies do attempt to cure pedophilia, but there are no studies showing that they effect a long-term change in sexual preference.[76] Michael Seto suggests that attempts to cure pedophilia in adulthood are unlikely to succeed because its development is influenced by prenatal factors.[12] Fred Berlin, founder of the Johns Hopkins Sexual Disorders Clinic, believes that pedophilia may be no easier to alter than homosexuality or heterosexuality,[77] but that pedophiles can be helped to control their behavior, and future research could develop a method of prevention.[78]

There are several common limitations to studies of treatment effectiveness. Most categorize their participants by behavior rather than erotic age preference, which makes it difficult to know the specific treatment outcome for pedophiles.[5] Many do not select their treatment and control groups randomly. Offenders who refuse or quit treatment are at higher risk of offending, so excluding them from the treated group, while not excluding those who would have refused or quit from the control group, can bias the treated group in favor of those with lower recidivism.[12][79] The effectiveness of treatment for non-offending pedophiles has not been studied.[12]

Cognitive behavioral therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) aims to reduce attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that may increase the likelihood of sexual offenses against children. Its content varies widely between therapists, but a typical program might involve training in self-control, social competence and empathy, and use cognitive restructuring to change views on sex with children. The most common form of this therapy is relapse prevention, where the patient is taught to identify and respond to potentially risky situations based on principles used for treating addictions.[80]

The evidence for cognitive behavioral therapy is mixed.[80] A 2012 Cochrane Review of randomized trials found that CBT had no effect on risk of reoffending for contact sex offenders.[81] Meta-analyses in 2002 and 2005, which included both randomized and non-randomized studies, concluded that CBT reduced recidivism.[82][83] There is debate over whether non-randomized studies should be considered informative.[12][84] More research is needed.[81]

Behavioral interventions
Behavioral treatments target sexual arousal to children, using satiation and aversion techniques to suppress sexual arousal to children and covert sensitization (or masturbatory reconditioning) to increase sexual arousal to adults.[85] Behavioral treatments appear to have an effect on sexual arousal patterns during phallometric testing, but it is not known whether the effect represents changes in sexual interests or changes in the ability to control genital arousal during testing, nor whether the effect persists in the long term.[86][87] For sex offenders with mental disabilities, applied behavior analysis has been used.[88]

Sex drive reduction
Pharmacological interventions are used to lower the sex drive in general, which can ease the management of pedophilic feelings, but does not change sexual preference.[89] Antiandrogens work by interfering with the activity of testosterone. Cyproterone acetate (Androcur) and medroxyprogesterone acetate (Depo-Provera) are the most commonly used. The efficacy of antiantrogens has some support, but few high-quality studies exist. Cyproterone acetate has the strongest evidence for reducing sexual arousal, while findings on medroxyprogesterone acetate have been mixed.[90]

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues such as leuprolide acetate (Lupron), which last longer and have fewer side-effects, are also used to reduce libido,[91] as are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.[90] The evidence for these alternatives is more limited and mostly based on open trials and case studies.[12] All of these treatments, commonly referred to as "chemical castration", are often used in conjunction with cognitive behavioral therapy.[92] According to the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, when treating child molesters, "anti-androgen treatment should be coupled with appropriate monitoring and counseling within a comprehensive treatment plan."[93] These drugs may have side-effects, such as weight gain, breast development, liver damage and osteoporosis.[12]

Historically, surgical castration was used to lower sex drive by reducing testosterone. The emergence of pharmacological methods of adjusting testosterone has made it largely obsolete, because they are similarly effective and less invasive.[89] It is still occasionally performed in Germany, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, and a few U.S. states. Non-randomized studies have reported that surgical castration reduces recidivism in contact sex offenders.[94] The Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers opposes surgical castration[93] and the Council of Europe works to bring the practice to an end in Eastern European countries where it is still applied through the courts.[95]

Epidemiology
The prevalence of pedophilia in the general population is not known,[12][29] but is estimated to be lower than 5% among adult men.[12] Less is known about the prevalence of pedophilia in women, but there are case reports of women with strong sexual fantasies and urges towards children.[13] Most sexual offenders against children are male. Females may account for 0.4% to 4% of convicted sexual offenders, and one study estimates a 10 to 1 ratio of male-to-female child molesters.[15] The true number of female child molesters may be underrepresented by available estimates, for reasons including a "societal tendency to dismiss the negative impact of sexual relationships between young boys and adult women, as well as women's greater access to very young children who cannot report their abuse", among other explanations.[15]

Child molestation
The term pedophile is commonly used by the public to describe all child sexual abuse offenders.[6][10] This usage is considered problematic by researchers, because many child molesters do not have a strong sexual interest in prepubescent children, and are consequently not pedophiles.[9][10][12][65] There are motives for child sexual abuse that are unrelated to pedophilia,[74] such as stress, marital problems, the unavailability of an adult partner,[96] general anti-social tendencies, high sex drive, or alcohol use.[97] As child sexual abuse is not automatically an indicator that its perpetrator is a pedophile, offenders can be separated into two types: pedophilic and non-pedophilic[98] (or preferential and situational[7]). Estimates for the rate of pedophilia in detected child molesters generally range between 25% and 50%.[99] A 2006 study found that 35% of its sample of child molesters were pedophilic.[100] Pedophilia appears to be less common in incest offenders,[101] especially fathers and step-fathers.[102] According to a U.S. study on 2429 adult male sex offenders who were categorized as "pedophiles", only 7% identified themselves as exclusive; indicating that many or most child sexual abusers may fall into the non-exclusive category.[8]

Some pedophiles do not molest children.[4][5][11][12] Little is known about this population because most studies of pedophilia use criminal or clinical samples, which may not be representative of pedophiles in general.[103] Researcher Michael Seto suggests that pedophiles who commit child sexual abuse do so because of other anti-social traits in addition to their sexual attraction. He states that pedophiles who are "reflective, sensitive to the feelings of others, averse to risk, abstain from alcohol or drug use, and endorse attitudes and beliefs supportive of norms and the laws" may be unlikely to abuse children.[12] A 2015 study found that pedophiles who molested children were neurologically distinct from non-offending pedophiles. The pedophilic molesters had neurological deficits suggestive of disruptions in inhibitory regions of the brain, while non-offending pedophiles had no such deficits.[104]

According to Abel, Mittleman, and Becker[105] (1985) and Ward et al. (1995), there are generally large distinctions between the characteristics of pedophilic and non-pedophilic molesters. They state that non-pedophilic offenders tend to offend at times of stress; have a later onset of offending; and have fewer, often familial, victims, while pedophilic offenders often start offending at an early age; often have a larger number of victims who are frequently extrafamilial; are more inwardly driven to offend; and have values or beliefs that strongly support an offense lifestyle. One study found that pedophilic molesters had a median of 1.3 victims for those with girl victims and 4.4 for those with boy victims.[99] Child molesters, pedophilic or not, employ a variety of methods to gain sexual access to children. Some groom their victims into compliance with attention and gifts, while others use threats, alcohol or drugs, or physical force.[106]

History
Pedophilia is believed to have occurred in humans throughout history,[107] but was not formally named, defined or studied until the late 19th century. The term paedophilia erotica was coined in an 1896 article by the Viennese psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing but does not enter author's Psychopathia Sexualis[108] until the 10th German edition.[109] A number of authors anticipated Krafft-Ebing's diagnostic gesture.[109] In Psychopathia Sexualis, the term appears in a section titled "Violation of Individuals Under the Age of Fourteen", which focuses on the forensic psychiatry aspect of child sexual offenders in general. Krafft-Ebing describes several typologies of offender, dividing them into psychopathological and non-psychopathological origins, and hypothesizes several apparent causal factors that may lead to the sexual abuse of children.[108]

Krafft-Ebing mentioned paedophilia erotica in a typology of "psycho-sexual perversion". He wrote that he had only encountered it four times in his career and gave brief descriptions of each case, listing three common traits:

The individual is tainted [by heredity] (hereditär belastete)[110]
The subject's primary attraction is to children, rather than adults.
The acts committed by the subject are typically not intercourse, but rather involve inappropriate touching or manipulating the child into performing an act on the subject.
He mentions several cases of pedophilia among adult women (provided by another physician), and also considered the abuse of boys by homosexual men to be extremely rare.[108] Further clarifying this point, he indicated that cases of adult men who have some medical or neurological disorder and abuse a male child are not true pedophilia and that, in his observation, victims of such men tended to be older and pubescent. He also lists pseudopaedophilia as a related condition wherein "individuals who have lost libido for the adult through masturbation and subsequently turn to children for the gratification of their sexual appetite" and claimed this is much more common.[108]

Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud briefly wrote about the topic in his 1905 book Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality in a section titled The Sexually immature and Animals as Sexual objects. He wrote that exclusive pedophilia was rare and only occasionally were prepubescent children exclusive objects. He wrote that they usually were the subject of desire when a weak person "makes use of such substitutes" or when an uncontrollable instinct which will not allow delay seeks immediate gratification and cannot find a more appropriate object.[111]

In 1908, Swiss neuroanatomist and psychiatrist Auguste Forel wrote of the phenomenon, proposing that it be referred to it as "Pederosis", the "Sexual Appetite for Children". Similar to Krafft-Ebing's work, Forel made the distinction between incidental sexual abuse by persons with dementia and other organic brain conditions, and the truly preferential and sometimes exclusive sexual desire for children. However, he disagreed with Krafft-Ebing in that he felt the condition of the latter was largely ingrained and unchangeable.[112]

The term pedophilia became the generally accepted term for the condition and saw widespread adoption in the early 20th century, appearing in many popular medical dictionaries such as the 5th Edition of Stedman's in 1918. In 1952, it was included in the first edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.[113] This edition and the subsequent DSM-II listed the disorder as one subtype of the classification "Sexual Deviation", but no diagnostic criteria were provided. The DSM-III, published in 1980, contained a full description of the disorder and provided a set of guidelines for diagnosis.[114] The revision in 1987, the DSM-III-R, kept the description largely the same, but updated and expanded the diagnostic criteria.[115]

Law and forensic psychology
Definitions
Pedophilia is not a legal term,[8] and having a sexual attraction to children is not illegal in itself.[5] In law enforcement circles, the term pedophile is sometimes used in a broad manner to encompass a person who commits one or more sexually-based crimes that relate to legally underage victims. These crimes may include child sexual abuse, statutory rape, offenses involving child pornography, child grooming, stalking, and indecent exposure. One unit of the United Kingdom's Child Abuse Investigation Command is known as the "Paedophile Unit" and specializes in online investigations and enforcement work.[116] Some forensic science texts, such as Holmes (2008), use the term to refer to offenders who target child victims, even when such children are not the primary sexual interest of the offender.[117] FBI agent Kenneth Lanning, however, makes a point of distinguishing between pedophiles and child molesters.[118]

Civil and legal commitment
In the United States, following Kansas v. Hendricks, sex offenders who have certain mental disorders, including pedophilia, can be subject to indefinite civil commitment under various state laws[16] (generically called SVP laws[119]) and the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.[120] Similar legislation exists in Canada.[16]

In Kansas v. Hendricks, the US Supreme Court upheld as constitutional a Kansas law, the Sexually Violent Predator Act, under which Hendricks, a pedophile, was found to have a "mental abnormality" defined as a "congenital or acquired condition affecting the emotional or volitional capacity which predisposes the person to commit sexually violent offenses to the degree that such person is a menace to the health and safety of others", which allowed the State to confine Hendricks indefinitely irrespective of whether the State provided any treatment to him.[121][122][123] In United States v. Comstock, this type of indefinite confinement was upheld for someone previously convicted on child pornography charges; this time a federal law was involved—the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.[120][124] The Walsh Act does not require a conviction on a sex offense charge, but only that the person be a federal prisoner, and one who "has engaged or attempted to engage in sexually violent conduct or child molestation and who is sexually dangerous to others", and who "would have serious difficulty in refraining from sexually violent conduct or child molestation if released".[125]

In the US, offenders with pedophilia are more likely to be recommended for civil commitment than non-pedophilic offenders. About half of committed offenders have a diagnosis of pedophilia.[16] Psychiatrist Michael First writes that, since not all people with a paraphilia have difficulty controlling their behavior, the evaluating clinician must present additional evidence of volitional impairment instead of recommending commitment based on pedophilia alone.[126]

Society and culture
General
Pedophilia is one of the most stigmatized mental disorders.[34] One study reported high levels of anger, fear and social rejection even towards pedophiles who have not committed a crime.[127] The authors suggested such attitudes could negatively impact child sexual abuse prevention by reducing pedophiles' mental stability and discouraging them from seeking help.[34] According to sociologists Melanie-Angela Neuilly and Kristen Zgoba, social concern over pedophilia intensified greatly in the 1990s, coinciding with several sensational sex crimes (but a general decline in child sexual abuse rates). They found that the word pedophile appeared only rarely in The New York Times and Le Monde before 1996, with zero mentions in 1991.[128]

Social attitudes towards child sexual abuse are extremely negative, with some surveys ranking it as morally worse than murder.[129] Early research showed that there was a great deal of misunderstanding and unrealistic perceptions in the general public about child sexual abuse and pedophiles. However, a 2004 study concluded that the public was well-informed on some aspects of these subjects.[130]

Misuse of medical terminology
The words pedophile and pedophilia are commonly used informally to describe an adult's sexual interest in pubescent or post-pubescent teenagers. The terms hebephilia or ephebophilia may be more accurate in these cases.[8][23][131] This was especially seen in the case of Mark Foley during the congressional page incident. Most of the media labeled Foley a pedophile, which led David Tuller of Slate magazine to state that Foley was not a pedophile but rather an ephebophile.[132]

Another common usage of pedophilia is to refer to the act of sexual abuse itself,[4] rather than the medical meaning, which is a preference for prepubescents on the part of the older individual (see § child molestation for an explanation of the distinction).[6][7] There are also situations where the terms are misused to refer to relationships where the younger person is an adult of legal age, but is either considered too young in comparison to their older partner, or the older partner occupies a position of authority over them.[133] Researchers state that the above uses of the term pedophilia are imprecise or suggest that they are best avoided.[6][23] The Mayo Clinic states that pedophilia "is not a criminal or legal term".[8]

Pedophile advocacy groups
See also: Category:Pedophile activism and List of pedophile and pederast advocacy organizations
From the late 1950s to early 1990s, several pedophile membership organizations advocated age of consent reform to lower or abolish age of consent laws,[134][135][136] as well as for the acceptance of pedophilia as a sexual orientation rather than a psychological disorder,[137] and for the legalization of child pornography.[136] The efforts of pedophile advocacy groups did not gain any public support[134][136][138][139][140] and today those few groups that have not dissolved have only minimal membership and have ceased their activities other than through a few websites.[136][140][141][142] In contrast to these organizations, members of the support group Virtuous Pedophiles believe that child sexual abuse is wrong and seek to raise awareness that some pedophiles do not offend;[143][144] this is generally not considered pedophile advocacy, as the Virtuous Pedophiles organization does not approve of the legalization of child pornography and does not support age of consent reform.[145]

Anti-pedophile activism
Main article: Anti-pedophile activism
Anti-pedophile activism encompasses opposition against pedophiles, against pedophile advocacy groups, and against other phenomena that are seen as related to pedophilia, such as child pornography and child sexual abuse.[146] Much of the direct action classified as anti-pedophile involves demonstrations against sex offenders, against pedophiles advocating for the legalization of sexual activity between adults and children, and against Internet users who solicit sex from minors.[147][148][149][150]

High-profile media attention to pedophilia has led to incidents of moral panic, particularly following reports of pedophilia associated with Satanic ritual abuse and day care sex abuse.[151] Instances of vigilantism have also been reported in response to public attention on convicted or suspected child sex offenders. In 2000, following a media campaign of "naming and shaming" suspected pedophiles in the UK, hundreds of residents took to the streets in protest against suspected pedophiles, eventually escalating to violent conduct requiring police intervention.[147]

Culture
The Vladimir Nabokov novel Lolita was controversial because of its theme featuring an adult man with a 12-year-old "nymphet".
The Woodsman, starring Kevin Bacon, chronicles the journey of a child molester towards understanding the impact of his actions.
Are All Men Pedophiles? covers the topic of pedophilia and the misuse of medical terminology.
See also
Age disparity in sexual relationships
Child sexuality
Child trafficking
Circles of Support and Accountability
Gerontophilia
List of paraphilias
Nonce (slang)
Prevention Project Dunkelfeld
Virtuous Pedophiles

Das Boot
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the Wolfgang Petersen film. For other uses, see Das Boot (disambiguation).
Das Boot
Das boot ver1.jpg
Original 1981 theatrical poster
Directed by   Wolfgang Petersen
Produced by   Günter Rohrbach
Screenplay by   Wolfgang Petersen
Based on   Das Boot
by Lothar-Günther Buchheim
Starring   Jürgen Prochnow
Herbert Grönemeyer
Klaus Wennemann
Narrated by   Herbert Grönemeyer (Uncut version)
Music by   Klaus Doldinger
Cinematography   Jost Vacano
Edited by   Hannes Nikel
Production
company
Bavaria Film
Radiant Film
WDR
SDR
Distributed by   Neue Constantin Film
Release dates
17 September 1981
Running time
149 minutes
209 minutes (Director's cut)
293 minutes (Uncut)
Country   West Germany
Language   German
English
French
Budget   32 million DM ($12 million)
(€24.3 million, 2009)
Box office   $84.9 million[1]
Das Boot (German pronunciation: [das ˈboːt], German meaning "The Boat") is a 1981 German epic war film written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, produced by Günter Rohrbach, and starring Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer and Klaus Wennemann. It has been exhibited both as a theatrical release and as a TV miniseries, and in several different home video versions of various running times.

Das Boot is an adaptation of the 1973 German novel of the same name by Lothar-Günther Buchheim. Set during World War II, the film tells the fictional story of U-96 and its crew. It depicts both the excitement of battle and the tedium of the fruitless hunt, and shows the men serving aboard U-boats as ordinary individuals with a desire to do their best for their comrades and their country. The screenplay used an amalgamation of exploits from the real U-96, a Type VIIC-class U-boat.

Development for Das Boot began in 1979. Several American directors were considered three years earlier before the film was shelved. During the film's production, Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, the captain of the real U-96 and one of Germany's top U-boat "tonnage aces" during the war, and Hans-Joachim Krug, former first officer on U-219, served as consultants. One of Petersen's goals was to guide the audience through "a journey to the edge of the mind" (the film's German tagline Eine Reise ans Ende des Verstandes), showing "what war is all about".

Produced with a budget of 32 million DM (about $18.5 million), the film was released on September 17, 1981, and was later released in 1997 in a director's cut version supervised by Petersen. It grossed over $80 million ($208 million in 2015 prices) worldwide between its theatrical releases and received critical acclaim. Its high production cost ranks it among the most expensive films in the history of German cinema.

Contents  [hide]
1   Plot
2   Cast
3   Production
3.1   Sets and models
3.2   Special camera
4   Versions
4.1   List
5   Reception
5.1   Critical response
5.2   Promotion
5.3   Historical accuracy
5.4   Criticism by novelist Buchheim
6   Soundtrack
7   See also
8   References
9   External links
Plot[edit]
The story is told from the viewpoint of Lt. Werner (Herbert Grönemeyer), who has been assigned as a war correspondent on the German submarine U-96 in October 1941. He meets its captain (Jürgen Prochnow), chief engineer (Klaus Wennemann), and the crew in a French nightclub. Thomsen (Otto Sander), another captain, gives a crude drunken speech to celebrate his Ritterkreuz award, in which he openly mocks not only Winston Churchill but implicitly Adolf Hitler as well.

The next morning, they sail out of the harbour of La Rochelle to a cheering crowd and playing band. Werner is given a tour of the boat. As time passes, he observes ideological differences between the new crew members and the hardened veterans, particularly the captain, who is embittered and cynical about the war. The new men, including Werner, are often mocked by the rest of the crew, who share a tight bond. After days of boredom, the crew is excited by another U-boat's spotting of an enemy convoy, but they soon locate a British destroyer, and are bombarded with depth charges. They narrowly escape with only light damage.

The next three weeks are spent enduring a relentless storm. Morale drops after a series of misfortunes, but the crew is cheered temporarily by a chance encounter with Thomsen's boat. Shortly after the storm ends, the boat encounters a British convoy and quickly launches four torpedoes, sinking two ships. They are spotted by a destroyer and have to dive below the submarine's rated limit. During the ensuing depth-charge attack, the chief mechanic, Johann, panics and has to be restrained. The boat sustains heavy damage, but is eventually able to safely surface in darkness. An enemy tanker remains afloat and on fire, so they torpedo the ship, only to realize that there are still sailors aboard; they watch in horror as the sailors, some on fire, leap overboard and swim towards them. Following orders not to take prisoners, the captain gives the command to back the ship away.

The worn-out U-boat crew looks forward to returning home to La Rochelle in time for Christmas, but the ship is ordered to La Spezia, Italy, which means passing through the Strait of Gibraltar—an area heavily defended by the Royal Navy. The U-boat makes a secret night rendezvous at the harbour of Vigo, in neutral although Axis-friendly Spain, with the SS Weser, an interned German merchant ship that clandestinely provides U-boats with fuel, torpedoes, and other supplies. The filthy officers seem out of place on the opulent luxury liner, but are warmly greeted by enthusiastic officers eager to hear their exploits. The captain learns from an envoy of the German consulate that his request for Werner and the chief engineer to be sent back to Germany has been denied.

The crew finishes resupplying and departs for Italy. As they carefully approach Gibraltar and are just about to dive, they are suddenly attacked by a British fighter plane, wounding the navigator. The captain orders the boat directly south towards the African coast at full speed. British ships begin closing in and they are forced to dive; it is later implied that the ships used radar to locate the sub. When attempting to level off, the boat does not respond and continues to sink until, just before being crushed by the pressure, it lands on a sea shelf, at the depth of 280 metres. The crew work desperately to make numerous repairs before running out of oxygen. After over 16 hours, they are able to surface by blowing out their ballast of water, and limp back to La Rochelle under cover of darkness.

The crew is pale and weary upon reaching La Rochelle on Christmas Eve. Shortly after the wounded navigator is taken ashore to a waiting ambulance, Allied planes bomb and strafe the facilities, wounding or killing many of the crew. Ullmann, Johann and the 2nd Watch Officer are killed. Frenssen, Bootsmann Lamprecht and Hinrich are seriously wounded. After the raid, Werner leaves the U-boat bunker in which he had taken shelter and finds the captain, badly injured by shrapnel and bleeding from the mouth, watching the U-boat sink at the dock. Just after the boat disappears under the water, the captain collapses and dies. Werner runs to his body, recoils, and quickly glances around at the destruction, his face frozen with distress. He then looks down at the captain's body, with tears in his eyes.

Cast[edit]

The U-96 officers. From l. to r.: the II. WO (Semmelrogge), the Commander (Prochnow), Navigator Kriechbaum (Tauber), the I. WO (Bengsch), Lt. Werner (Grönemeyer), "Little" Benjamin (Hoffmann), Cadet Ullmann (May), and Pilgrim (Fedder).

Johann (Leder) and the LI (Wennemann) inspecting the engine.
Jürgen Prochnow as Kapitänleutnant (abbr. "Kaleun", German pronunciation: [kaˈlɔɪ̯n]) and also called "Der Alte" ("The Old Man") by his crew: A 30-year-old battle-hardened sea veteran, who complains to Werner that most of his crew are boys.[2]
Herbert Grönemeyer as Leutnant (Ensign) Werner, War Correspondent: The naive but honest narrator sent out to sea with the crew to gather photographs of them in action and bring them back to use for Nazi Propaganda purposes. Werner is mocked for his lack of experience, and soon learns the true horrors of service on a U-boat. (Actually he is the narrator of the story; this is not made explicit in the movie, but still present in the background.)
Klaus Wennemann as Chief Engineer (Leitender Ingenieur or LI, Rank: Oberleutnant): A quiet and well-respected man. At age 27, the oldest crew member besides the Captain. Tormented by the uncertain fate of his wife, especially after hearing about an Allied air raid on Cologne. The second most important crewman, as he oversees diving operations and makes sure the systems are running correctly.
Hubertus Bengsch as 1st Watch Officer (I. WO, Rank: Oberleutnant): A young, by-the-book officer, an ardent Nazi and a staunch believer in victory. He has a condescending attitude and is the only crewman who makes the effort to maintain his proper uniform and trim appearance. Raised in some wealth in Mexico by his stepparents who owned a plantation. His German fiancée died in a British air raid. He spends his days writing his thoughts on military training and leadership for the High Command.
Martin Semmelrogge as 2nd Watch Officer (II. WO, Rank: Oberleutnant): A vulgar, comedic officer. He is short, red-haired and speaks with a mild Berlin dialect. One of his primary duties is to decode messages from base, using the Enigma code machine.
Bernd Tauber as Obersteuermann ("Chief Helmsman") Kriechbaum: The navigator and 3rd Watch Officer (III. WO). Always slightly skeptical of the Captain and without enthusiasm during the voyage, he shows no anger when a convoy is too far away to be attacked. Kriechbaum has four sons, with another on the way.
Erwin Leder as Obermaschinist ("Chief Mechanic") Johann, also called "Das Gespenst" ("The Ghost"): He is obsessed with a near-fetish love for the U-96 '​s engines. Johann suffers a temporary mental breakdown during an attack by two destroyers. He is able to redeem himself by valiantly working to stop water leaks when the boat is trapped underwater near Gibraltar. Speaks Austro-Bavarian.
Martin May as Fähnrich (Senior Cadet) Ullmann: A young officer candidate who has a pregnant French fiancée (which is considered treason by the French partisans) and worries about her safety. He is one of the few crew members with whom Werner is able to connect; Werner offers to deliver Ullmann's stack of love letters when Werner is ordered to leave the submarine.
Heinz Hoenig as Maat (Petty Officer) Hinrich: The radioman, sonar controller and ship's combat medic. He is in many ways the third most important crewman, since he gauges speed and direction of targets and enemy destroyers. Hinrich is one of the few officers that the Captain is able to relate to.
Uwe Ochsenknecht as Bootsmann ("Boatswain") Lamprecht: The severe chief who shows Werner around the U-96, and supervises the firing and reloading of the torpedo tubes. He gets upset after hearing on the radio that the football team most of the crew supports (FC Schalke 04) are losing a match, and they will "never make the final now". He speaks a Mannheim dialect.
Claude-Oliver Rudolph as Ario: The burly mechanic who tells everyone that Dufte is getting married to an ugly woman, and throws pictures around of Dufte's fiancée in order to laugh at them both.
Jan Fedder as Maat (Petty Officer) Pilgrim: Another sailor (watch officer and diving planes operator), gets almost swept off the submarine during a storm—a genuine accident during filming in which Fedder broke several ribs and was hospitalised for a while.[citation needed] Speaks Hamburg dialect.
Ralf Richter as Maat (Petty Officer) Frenssen: Pilgrim's best friend. Pilgrim and Frenssen love to trade dirty jokes and stories. He speaks Ruhr dialect.
Joachim Bernhard as Bibelforscher ("Bible scholar", also the contemporary German term for a member of Jehovah's Witnesses): A very young religious sailor who is constantly reading the Bible. He is punched by Frenssen when the submarine is trapped at the bottom of the Straits of Gibraltar for praying rather than repairing the boat.
Oliver Stritzel as Schwalle: A tall and well-built blond torpedoman who speaks Berlin dialect.
Jean-Claude Hoffmann as Benjamin: A red haired sailor who serves as a diving planes operator and watch officer.
Lutz Schnell as Dufte: The sailor who gets jeered at because he is getting married, and for a possible false airplane sighting.
Konrad Becker as Böckstiegel: the sailor who is first visited by Hinrich for crab lice. Speaks Austro-Bavarian of the very distinctive Viennese variation
Otto Sander as Kapitänleutnant Philipp Thomsen: An alcoholic and shell-shocked U-boat commander, who is a member of "The Old Guard". When he is introduced, he is extremely drunk and briefly mocks both Hitler and Winston Churchill on the stage of a French nightclub. (In the audio commentary of the director's-cut DVD, Petersen says that Sander was really drunk while they were shooting the scene.) Sometime after U-96 departs, Thomsen is deployed once again and the two submarines meet randomly in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean being put off course by the storm. This upsets the captain because it means that there is now a gap in the blockade chain. After failing to make contact later, it becomes apparent that Thomsen's boat is missing.
Günter Lamprecht as the Captain of the Weser (rank: Kapitän zur See): An enthusiastic officer aboard the resupply ship Weser. He mistakes the I. WO for the Captain as they enter the ship's elegant dining room. An ardent Nazi, he complains about the frustration of not being able to fight, but boasts about the food that has been prepared for the crew and the ship's "specialities".
Sky du Mont as an Oberleutnant aboard the Weser (uncredited). The II. WO amuses him with a comical demonstration of depth charging, involving a bowl of punch, a ladle and oranges.
The film features both Standard German-speakers and dialect speakers. Petersen states in his DVD audio commentary that young men from throughout Germany and Austria were recruited for the film, as he wanted faces and dialects that would accurately reflect the diversity of the Third Reich, around 1941. All of the main actors are bilingual in Ge

Murder
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Murder (disambiguation).
"Murderer" and "Double murder" redirect here. For the film, see Double Murder. For other uses, see Murderer (disambiguation).

It has been suggested that Premeditated murder be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since August 2015.
Criminal law
Elements
Actus reus Mens rea Causation Concurrence
Scope of criminal liability
Complicity Corporate Vicarious
Seriousness of offense
Felony Infraction (also called Violation) Misdemeanor
Inchoate offenses
Attempt Conspiracy Incitement Solicitation
Offence against the person
Assassination Assault Battery Bigamy Criminal negligence False imprisonment Home invasion Homicide Kidnapping Manslaughter (corporate) Mayhem Murder corporate Negligent homicide Public indecency Rape Robbery Sexual assault Statutory rape Vehicular homicide
Crimes against property
Arson Blackmail Bribery Burglary Embezzlement Extortion False pretenses Fraud Larceny Payola Pickpocketing Possessing stolen property Robbery Smuggling Tax evasion Theft
Crimes against justice
Compounding Malfeasance in office Miscarriage of justice Misprision Obstruction Perjury Perverting the course of justice
Victimless crimes
Adultery Apostasy Blasphemy Buggery Providing Contraception information (Comstock law) Dueling Fornication Gambling Adult incest Interracial marriage Lewd and lascivious behavior Masturbation Creation of Obscenity Prostitution Recreational drug use (including alcohol, when prohibited) Sale of sex toys Sodomy Suicide
Crimes against animals
Cruelty to animals Wildlife smuggling Bestiality
Defences to liability
Automatism Consent Defence of property Diminished responsibility Duress Entrapment Ignorantia juris non excusat Infancy Insanity Justification Mistake (of law) Necessity Provocation Self-defence
Other common-law areas
Contracts Evidence Property Torts Wills, trusts and estates
Portals
Criminal justice Law
v t e
Part of a series on
Homicide
Murder
Note: Varies by jurisdiction

Assassination Cannibalism Child murder Consensual homicide Contract killing Crime of passion Depraved-heart murder Execution-style killing Felony murder rule Feticide Honor killing Human sacrifice Child sacrifice Lust murder Lynching Mass murder Mass shooting Misdemeanor murder Murder–suicide Poisoning Proxy murder Pseudocommando Lonely hearts killer Serial killer Spree killer Internet homicide
Manslaughter
In English law Negligent homicide Vehicular homicide
Non-criminal homicide
Note: Varies by jurisdiction

Euthanasia Assisted suicide Capital punishment Feticide Justifiable homicide War
By victim or victims
Suicide
Family
Familicide Avunculicide Prolicide Filicide Infanticide Neonaticide Fratricide Mariticide Sororicide Uxoricide Parricide Matricide Patricide
Other
Blood libel Capital punishment Crucifixion Democide Friendly fire Genocide Gendercide Omnicide Regicide Tyrannicide War crimes
v t e
Murder is the killing of another human being without justification or valid excuse, and it is especially the unlawful killing of another human being with malice aforethought.[1][2][3] This state of mind may, depending upon the jurisdiction, distinguish murder from other forms of unlawful homicide, such as manslaughter.

Most societies, from ancient to modern, have considered murder a very serious crime deserving harsh punishment for purposes of retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, or incapacitation. There are many reasons why murder has been criminalized, including its costs to society as well as being considered intrinsically wrong.[4] For example, murder may be considered intrinsically wrong because it violates a right to life or is oppressive; murder may be costly to society by undermining law and order, by squandering potential accomplishments of the victims, by risking escalation of violence, or by spreading fear and grief.[4]

In most countries, a person convicted of murder is typically given a long prison sentence, possibly a life sentence where permitted. In other countries, the death penalty may be imposed for such an act – though this practice is becoming less common.[5]

Contents  [hide]
1   Etymology
2   Definition
2.1   Degrees of murder
2.2   Common law
2.3   Exclusions
2.3.1   General
2.3.2   Specific to certain countries
2.4   Victim
2.5   Mitigating circumstances
2.5.1   Insanity
2.5.2   Post-partum depression
2.5.3   Unintentional
2.5.4   Diminished capacity
2.6   Aggravating circumstances
2.7   Year-and-a-day rule
3   Historical attitudes
4   Incidence
4.1   Murder rates by country
4.2   History of murder rates
5   See also
6   References
7   Bibliography
8   External links
Etymology[edit]
The modern English word "murder" descends from the Proto-Indo-European "mrtró" which meant "to die".[6] The Middle English mordre is a noun from Anglo-Saxon morðor and Old French murdre. Middle English mordre is a verb from Anglo-Saxon myrdrian and the Middle English noun.[7]

Definition[edit]
The eighteenth-century English jurist William Blackstone (citing Edward Coke), in his Commentaries on the Laws of England set out the common law definition of murder, which by this definition occurs

when a person, of sound memory and discretion, unlawfully kills any reasonable creature in being and under the king's peace, with malice aforethought, either express or implied.[8]

The elements of common law murder are:

Unlawful
killing
of a human
by another human
with malice aforethought.[9]
The Unlawful – This distinguishes murder from killings that are done within the boundaries of law, such as capital punishment, justified self-defence, or the killing of enemy combatants by lawful combatants as well as causing collateral damage to non-combatants during a war.[10]

Killing – At common law life ended with cardiopulmonary arrest[9] – the total and permanent cessation of blood circulation and respiration.[9] With advances in medical technology courts have adopted irreversible cessation of all brain function as marking the end of life.[9]

of a human – This element presents the issue of when life begins. At common law, a fetus was not a human being.[11] Life began when the fetus passed through the vagina and took its first breath.[9]

by another human – In early common law, suicide was considered murder.[9] The requirement that the person killed be someone other than the perpetrator excluded suicide from the definition of murder.

with malice aforethought – Originally malice aforethought carried its everyday meaning – a deliberate and premeditated (prior intent) killing of another motivated by ill will. Murder necessarily required that an appreciable time pass between the formation and execution of the intent to kill. The courts broadened the scope of murder by eliminating the requirement of actual premeditation and deliberation as well as true malice. All that was required for malice aforethought to exist is that the perpetrator act with one of the four states of mind that constitutes "malice."

The four states of mind recognized as constituting "malice" are:[12]

Intent to kill,
Intent to inflict grievous bodily harm short of death,
Reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life (sometimes described as an "abandoned and malignant heart"), or
Intent to commit a dangerous felony (the "felony murder" doctrine).
Under state of mind (i), intent to kill, the deadly weapon rule applies. Thus, if the defendant intentionally uses a deadly weapon or instrument against the victim, such use authorizes a permissive inference of intent to kill. In other words, "intent follows the bullet." Examples of deadly weapons and instruments include but are not limited to guns, knives, deadly toxins or chemicals or gases and even vehicles when intentionally used to harm one or more victims.

Under state of mind (iii), an "abandoned and malignant heart", the killing must result from the defendant's conduct involving a reckless indifference to human life and a conscious disregard of an unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily injury. An example of this is a 2007 law in California where an individual could be convicted of third-degree murder if he or she kills another person while driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or controlled substances. In Australian jurisdictions, the unreasonable risk must amount to a foreseen probability of death (or grievous bodily harm in most states), as opposed to possibility.[13]

Under state of mind (iv), the felony-murder doctrine, the felony committed must be an inherently dangerous felony, such as burglary, arson, rape, robbery or kidnapping. Importantly, the underlying felony cannot be a lesser included offense such as assault, otherwise all criminal homicides would be murder as all are felonies.

As with most legal terms, the precise definition of murder varies between jurisdictions and is usually codified in some form of legislation. Even when the legal distinction between murder and manslaughter is clear, it is not unknown for a jury to find a murder defendant guilty of the lesser offence. The jury might sympathise with the defendant (e.g. in a crime of passion, or in the case of a bullied victim who kills their tormentor), and the jury may wish to protect the defendant from a sentence of life imprisonment or execution.


Degrees of murder[edit]
Many jurisdictions divide murder by degrees. The distinction between first- and second-degree murder exists, for example, in Canadian murder law and third-degree murder is recognized in U.S. murder law and Peruvian murder law.

The most common division is between first- and second-degree murder. Generally, second-degree murder is common law murder, and first-degree is an aggravated form. The aggravating factors of first-degree murder depend on the jurisdiction, but may include a specific intent to kill, premeditation, or deliberation. In some, murder committed by acts such as strangulation, poisoning, or lying in wait are also treated as first-degree murder.[14]

Common law[edit]
According to Blackstone, English common law identified murder as a public wrong.[15] At common law, murder is considered to be malum in se, that is an act which is evil within itself. An act such as murder is wrong or evil by its very nature. And it is the very nature of the act which does not require any specific detailing or definition in the law to consider murder a crime.[16]

Some jurisdictions still take a common law view of murder. In such jurisdictions, what is considered to be murder is defined by precedent case law or previous decisions of the courts of law. However, although the common law is by nature flexible and adaptable, in the interests both of certainty and of securing convictions, most common law jurisdictions have codified their criminal law and now have statutory definitions of murder.

Exclusions[edit]
General[edit]
Although laws vary by country, there are circumstances of exclusion that are common in many legal systems.

Self-defence: acting in self-defence or in defence of another person is generally accepted as legal justification for killing a person in situations that would otherwise have been murder. However, a self-defence killing might be considered manslaughter if the killer established control of the situation before the killing took place. In the case of self-defence it is called a "justifiable homicide".[17]
Unlawful killings without malice or intent are considered manslaughter.
In many common law countries, provocation is a partial defence to a charge of murder which acts by converting what would otherwise have been murder into manslaughter (this is voluntary manslaughter, which is more severe than involuntary manslaughter).
Accidental killings are considered homicides. Depending on the circumstances, these may or may not be considered criminal offenses; they are often considered manslaughter.
Suicide does not constitute murder in most societies. Assisting a suicide, however, may be considered murder in some circumstances.
Killing of enemy combatants by lawful combatants, in accordance with lawful orders in war, is also generally not considered murder; although illicit killings within a war may constitute murder or homicidal war crimes. (see the Laws of war article)
Specific to certain countries[edit]
Capital punishment: some countries practice the death penalty. Capital punishment ordered by a legitimate court of law as the result of a conviction in a criminal trial with due process for a serious crime. The 47 Member States of the Council of Europe are prohibited from using the death penalty.
Euthanasia, doctor-assisted suicide: the administration of lethal drugs by a doctor to a terminally ill patient, if the intention is solely to alleviate pain, is seen in many jurisdictions as a special case (see the doctrine of double effect and the case of Dr John Bodkin Adams).[18]
Killing to prevent the theft of one's property is legal in Texas.[19][20] In 2013, a jury in south Texas acquitted a man who killed a prostitute who attempted to run away with his money.[21][22]
Killing an intruder who is found by an owner to be in the owner's home (having entered unlawfully): legal in most US states (see Castle doctrine).
Killing to prevent specific forms of aggravated rape or sexual assault - killing of attacker by the potential victim or by witnesses to the scene; legal in parts of the US and in various other countries.[citation needed]
In some parts of the world, especially in jurisdictions which apply Sharia law, the killing of a woman or girl in specific circumstances (e.g., when she commits adultery) and is killed by her husband or other family members, known as honor killing, is not considered murder.[23][not in citation given][24][not in citation given]
Victim[edit]

Murder in the House, Jakub Schikaneder.
All jurisdictions require that the victim be a natural person; that is, a human being who was still alive before being murdered. In other words, under the law one cannot murder a corpse, a corporation, a non-human animal, or any other non-human organism such as a plant or bacterium.

California's murder statute, Penal Code Section 187, was interpreted by the Supreme Court of California in 1994 as not requiring any proof of the viability of the fetus as a prerequisite to a murder conviction.[25] This holding has two implications. The first is a defendant in California can be convicted of murder for killing a fetus which the mother herself could have terminated without committing a crime.[25] The second, as stated by Justice Stanley Mosk in his dissent, is that because women carrying nonviable fetuses may not be visibly pregnant, it may be possible for a defendant to be convicted of intentionally murdering a person he did not know existed.[25]

Mitigating circumstances[edit]
Some countries allow conditions that "affect the balance of the mind" to be regarded as mitigating circumstances. This means that a person may be found guilty of "manslaughter" on the basis of "diminished responsibility" rather than being found guilty of murder, if it can be proved that the killer was suffering from a condition that affected their judgment at the time. Depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and medication side-effects are examples of conditions that may be taken into account when assessing responsibility.

Insanity[edit]
Main article: M'Naghten rules
Mental disorder may apply to a wide range of disorders including psychosis caused by schizophrenia and dementia, and excuse the person from the need to undergo the stress of a trial as to liability. Usually, sociopathy and other personality disorders are not legally considered insanity, because of the belief they are the result of free will in many societies. In some jurisdictions, following the pre-trial hearing to determine the extent of the disorder, the defence of "not guilty by reason of insanity" may be used to get a not guilty verdict.[26] This defence has two elements:

That the defendant had a serious mental illness, disease, or defect.
That the defendant's mental condition, at the time of the killing, rendered the perpetrator unable to determine right from wrong, or that what he or she was doing was wrong.

Aaron Alexis holding shotgun during his rampage.
Under New York law, for example:

§ 40.15 Mental disease or defect. In any prosecution for an offense, it is an affirmative defence that when the defendant engaged in the proscribed conduct, he lacked criminal responsibility by reason of mental disease or defect. Such lack of criminal responsibility means that at the time of such conduct, as a result of mental disease or defect, he lacked substantial capacity to know or appreciate either: 1. The nature and consequences of such conduct; or 2. That such conduct was wrong.

— N.Y. Penal Law, § 40.15[27]
Under the French Penal Code:

Article 122-1

A person is not criminally liable who, when the act was committed, was suffering from a psychological or neuropsychological disorder which destroyed his discernment or his ability to control his actions.
A person who, at the time he acted, was suffering from a psychological or neuropsychological disorder which reduced his discernment or impeded his ability to control his actions, remains punishable; however, the court shall take this into account when it decides the penalty and determines its regime.
Those who successfully argue a defence based on a mental disorder are usually referred to mandatory clinical treatment until they are certified safe to be released back into the community, rather than prison.[28]

Post-partum depression[edit]
Postpartum depression (also known as post-natal depression) is recognized in some countries as a mitigating factor in cases of infanticide. According to Dr. Susan Friedman, "Two dozen nations have infanticide laws that decrease the penalty for mothers who kill their children of up to one year of age. The United States does not have such a law, but mentally ill mothers may plead not guilty by reason of insanity."[29]

Unintentional[edit]
For a killing to be considered murder in nine out of fifty states in the US, there normally needs to be an element of intent. A defendant may argue that he or she took precautions not to kill, that the death could not have been anticipated, or was unavoidable. As a general rule, manslaughter[30] constitutes reckless killing, but manslaughter also includes criminally negligent (i.e. grossly negligent) homicide.[31]

Diminished capacity[edit]
In those jurisdictions using the Uniform Penal Code, such as California, diminished capacity may be a defence. For example, Dan White used this defence[32] to obtain a manslaughter conviction, instead of murder, in the assassination of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.

Aggravating circumstances[edit]
Murder with specified aggravating circumstances is often punished more harshly. Depending on the jurisdiction, such circumstances may include:

Premeditation
Poisoning
Murder of a police officer,[33] judge, firefighter or witness to a crime[34]
Murder of a pregnant woman[35]
Crime committed for pay or other reward, such as contract killing[36]
Exceptional brutality or cruelty
Murder for a political cause[33][37][38]
Hate crimes, which occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group.
Treachery (e.g. Heimtücke in German law)
In the United States and Canada, these murders are referred to as first-degree or aggravated murders. Murder, under English criminal law, always carries a mandatory life sentence, but is not classified into degrees. Penalties for murder committed under aggravating circumstances are often higher, under English law, than the 15-year minimum non-parole period that otherwise serves as a starting point for a murder committed by an adult.

Year-and-a-day rule[edit]
Main article: Year and a day rule
Globe icon.
The examples and perspective in this section deal primarily with the UK and the USA and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (April 2014)
In some common law jurisdictions, a defendant accused of murder is not guilty if the victim survives for longer than one year and one day after the attack.[39] This reflects the likelihood that if the victim dies, other factors will have contributed to the cause of death, breaking the chain of causation. Subject to any statute of limitations, the accused could still be charged with an offence reflecting the seriousness of the initial assault.

With advances in modern medicine, most countries have abandoned a fixed time period and test causation on the facts of the case. This is known as "delayed death" and cases where this was applied or was attempted to be applied go back to at least 1966.[40]

In England and Wales, the "year-and-a-day rule" was abolished by the Law Reform (Year and a Day Rule) Act 1996. However, if death occurs three years or more after the original attack then prosecution can take place only with the Attorney-General's approval.

In the United States, many jurisdictions have abolished the rule as well.[41][42] Abolition of the rule has been accomplished by enactment of statutory criminal codes, which had the effect of displacing the common-law definitions of crimes and corresponding defences. In 2001 the Supreme Court of the United States held that retroactive application of a state supreme court decision abolishing the year-and-a-day rule did not violate the Ex Post Facto Clause of Article I of the United States Constitution.[43]

In Philadelphia a 74-year-old man, William Barnes, was acquitted of murder charges on May 24, 2010. He was on trial for murder for the death of Philadelphia police officer Walter Barkley. Barnes shot Barkley on November 27, 1966, and served 16 years in prison for attempted murder. Barkley died on August 19, 2007, allegedly from complications of the wounds suffered nearly 41 years earlier.[44]

Historical attitudes[edit]

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this section if you can. (July 2010)

A group of Thugs strangling a traveller on a highway in India in the early 19th century.
In the past, certain types of homicide were lawful and justified. Georg Oesterdiekhoff wrote that:

Evans-Pritchard says about the Nuer from Sudan: "Homicide is not forbidden, and Nuer do not think it wrong to kill a man in fair fight. On the contrary, a man who slays another in combat is admired for his courage and skill." (Evans-Pritchard 1956: 195) This statement is true for most African tribes, for pre-modern Europeans, for Indigenous Australians, and for Native Americans, according to ethnographic reports from all over the world. ... Homicides rise to incredible numbers among headhunter cultures such as the Papua. When a boy is born, the father has to kill a man. He needs a name for his child and can receive it only by a man, he himself has murdered. When a man wants to marry, he must kill a man. When a man dies, his family again has to kill a man.[45]

In many such societies the redress was not via a legal system, but by blood revenge, although there might also be a form of payment that could be made instead - such as the weregild which in early Germanic society could be paid to the victim's family in lieu of their right of revenge.

One of the oldest known prohibitions against murder appears in the Sumerian Code of Ur-Nammu written sometime between 2100 and 2050 BC. The code states, "If a man commits a murder, that man must be killed."

In Judeo-Christian traditions, the prohibition against murder is one of the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses in (Exodus: 20v13) and (Deuteronomy 5v17). The Vulgate and subsequent early English translations of the Bible used the term secretly killeth his neighbour or smiteth his neighbour secretly rather than murder for the Latin clam percusserit proximum.[46][47] Later editions such as Young's Literal Translation and the World English Bible have translated the Latin occides simply as murder[48][49] rather than the alternatives of kill, assassinate, fall upon, or slay.

In Islam according to the Qur'an, one of the greatest sins is to kill a human being who has committed no fault. "For that cause We decreed for the Children of Israel that whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind."[Quran 5:32] "And those who cry not unto any other god along with Allah, nor take the life which Allah hath forbidden save in (course of) justice, nor commit adultery - and whoso doeth this shall pay the penalty."[Quran 25:68]

The term assassin derives from Hashshashin,[50] a militant Ismaili Shi'ite sect, active from the 8th to 14th centuries. This mystic secret society killed members of the Abbasid, Fatimid, Seljuq and Crusader elite for political and religious reasons.[51] The Thuggee cult that plagued India was devoted to Kali, the goddess of death and destruction.[52][53] According to some estimates the Thuggees murdered 1 million people between 1740 and 1840.[54] The Aztecs believed that without regular offerings of blood the sun god Huitzilopochtli would withdraw his support for them and destroy the world as they knew it.[55] According to Ross Hassig, author of Aztec Warfare, "between 10,000 and 80,400 persons" were sacrificed in the 1487 re-consecration of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan.[56][57]

Southern slave codes did make willful killing of a slave illegal in most cases.[58] For example, the 1860 Mississippi case of Oliver v. State charged the defendant with murdering his own slave.[59] In 1811, the wealthy white planter Arthur Hodge was hanged for murdering several of his slaves on his plantation in the British West Indies.[60]

In Corsica, vendetta was a social code that required Corsicans to kill anyone who wronged their family honor. Between 1821 and 1852, no fewer than 4,300 murders were perpetrated in Corsica.[61]

Incidence[edit]
See also: List of countries by intentional homicide rate

International murder rate per 100,000 inhabitants, 2011
  0-1
  1-2
  2-5
  5-10
  10-20
  >20
An estimated 520,000 people were murdered in 2000 around the globe. Another study estimated the world-wide murder rate at 456,300 in 2010 with a 35% increase since 1990.[62] Two-fifths of them were young people between the ages of 10 and 29 who were killed by other young people.[63] Because murder is the least likely crime to go unreported, statistics of murder are seen as a bellwether of overall crime rates.[64]

Murder rates vary greatly among countries and societies around the world. In the Western world, murder rates in most countries have declined significantly during the 20th century and are now between 1 and 4 cases per 100,000 people per year.


UNODC : Per 100,000 population (2011)
Murder rates by country[edit]
Murder rates in jurisdictions such as Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Iceland, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Germany are among the lowest in the world, around 0.3 - 1 cases per 100,000 people per year; the rate of the United States is among the highest of developed countries, around 4.5 in 2014,[65] with rates in larger cities sometimes over 40 per 100,000.[66] The top ten highest murder rates are in Honduras (91.6 per 100,000), El Salvador, Ivory Coast, Venezuela, Belize, Jamaica, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guatemala, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Zambia. (UNODC, 2011 - full table here).

The following absolute murder counts per-country are not comparable because they are not adjusted by each country's total population. Nonetheless, they are included here for reference, with 2010 used as the base year (they may or may not include justifiable homicide, depending on the jurisdiction). There were 52,260 murders in Brazil, consecutively elevating the record set in 2009.[67] Over half a million people were shot to death in Brazil between 1979 and 2003.[68] 33,335 murder cases were registered across India,[69] about 19,000 murders committed in Russia,[70] approximately 17,000 murders in Colombia (the murder rate was 38 per 100,000 people, in 2008 murders went down to 15,000),[71] approximately 16,000 murders in South Africa,[72] approximately 15,000 murders in the United States,[73] approximately 26,000 murders in Mexico,[74] approximately 13,000 murders in Venezuela,[75] approximately 4,000 murders in El Salvador,[76] approximately 1,400 murders in Jamaica,[77] approximately 550 murders in Canada[78] and approximately 470 murders in Trinidad and Tobago.[77] Pakistan reported 12,580 murders.[79]


Murder in Rio de Janeiro. More than 800,000 people were murdered in Brazil between 1980 and 2004.[80]
In the United States, 666,160 people were killed between 1960 and 1996.[81] Approximately 90% of murders in the US are committed by males.[82] Between 1976 and 2005, 23.5% of all murder victims and 64.8% of victims murdered by intimate partners were female.[83] For women in the US, homicide is the leading cause of death in the workplace.[84]

In the US, murder is the leading cause of death for African American males aged 15 to 34. Between 1976 and 2008, African Americans were victims of 329,825 homicides.[85][86] In 2006, Federal Bureau of Investigation's Supplementary Homicide Report indicated that nearly half of the 14,990 murder victims were Black (7421).[87] In the year 2007 non-negligent homicides, there were 3,221 black victims and 3,587 white victims. While 2,905 of the black victims were killed by a black offender, 2,918 of the white victims were killed by white offenders. There were 566 white victims of black offenders and 245 black victims of white offenders.[88] The "white" category in the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) includes non-black Hispanics.[89] In London in 2006, 75% of the victims of gun crime and 79% of the suspects were "from the African/Caribbean community."[90] Murder demographics are affected by the improvement of trauma care, which has resulted in reduced lethality of violent assaults – thus the murder rate may not necessarily indicate the overall level of social violence.[91]

Workplace homicide is the fastest growing category of murder in America.[84]

Development of murder rates over time in different countries is often used by both supporters and opponents of capital punishment and gun control. Using properly filtered data, it is possible to make the case for or against either of these issues. For example, one could look at murder rates in the United States from 1950 to 2000,[92] and notice that those rates went up sharply shortly after a moratorium on death sentences was effectively imposed in the late 1960s. This fact has been used to argue that capital punishment serves as a deterrent and, as such, it is morally justified. Capital punishment opponents frequently counter that the United States has much higher murder rates than Canada and most European Union countries, although all those countries have abolished the death penalty. Overall, the global pattern is too complex, and on average, the influence of both these factors may not be significant and could be more social, economic, and cultural.

Despite the immense improvements in forensics in the past few decades, the fraction of murders solved has decreased in the United States, from 90% in 1960 to 61% in 2007.[93] Solved murder rates in major U.S. cities varied in 2007 from 36% in Boston, Massachusetts to 76% in San Jose, California.[94] Major factors affecting the arrest rate include witness cooperation[93] and the number of people assigned to investigate the case.[94]

History of murder rates[edit]

Intentional homicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants, 2009
According to scholar Pieter Spierenburg homicide rates per 100,000 in Europe have fallen over the centuries, from 35 per 100,000 in medieval times, to 20 in 1500 AD, 5 in 1700, to below two per 100,000 in 1900.[95]

In the United States, murder rates have been higher and have fluctuated. They fell below 2 per 100,000 by 1900, rose during the first half of the century, dropped in the years following World War II, and bottomed out at 4.0 in 1957 before rising again.[96] The rate stayed in 9 to 10 range most of the period from 1972 to 1994, before falling to 5 in present times.[95] The increase since 1957 would have been even greater if not for the significant improvements in medical techniques and emergency response times, which mean that more and more attempted homicide victims survive. According to one estimate, if the lethality levels of criminal assaults of 1964 still applied in 1993, the country would have seen the murder rate of around 26 per 100,000, almost triple the actually observed rate of 9.5 per 100,000.[97]


The historical homicide rate in Stockholm since 1400 AD. The murder rate was very high in the Middle Ages. The rate has declined greatly: from 45 / 100,000 to a low of 0.6 in the 1950s. The last decades have seen the homicide rate rise slowly.
A similar, but less pronounced pattern has been seen in major European countries as well. The murder rate in the United Kingdom fell to 1 per 100,000 by the beginning of the 20th century and as low as 0.62 per 100,000 in 1960, and was at 1.28 per 100,000 as of 2009. The murder rate in France (excluding Corsica) bottomed out after World War II at less than 0.4 per 100,000, quadrupling to 1.6 per 100,000 since then.[98]

The specific factors driving this dynamics in murder rates are complex and not universally agreed upon. Much of the raise in the U.S. murder rate during the first half of the 20th century is generally thought to be attributed to gang violence associated with Prohibition. Since most murders are committed by young males, the near simultaneous low in the murder rates of major developed countries circa 1960 can be attributed to low birth rates during the Great Depression and World War II. Causes of further moves are more controversial. Some of the more exotic factors claimed to affect murder rates include the availability of abortion[99] and the likelihood of chronic exposure to lead during childhood (due to the use of leaded paint in houses and tetraethyllead as a gasoline additive in internal combustion engines).

See also[edit]
Lists related to murder
Lists of murders
List of types of killing
Topics related to murder
Culpable homicide
Depraved-heart murder
Double murder
Execution-style murder
Letting die
Mass murder
Misdemeanor murder
Murder conviction without a body
Seven laws of Noah
Stigmatized property
Thrill killing
Murder laws by country
Australia
Brazil
Canada
China
Cuba
Denmark
England and Wales
Finland
France
Germany
Hong Kong
India
Israel
Italy
Netherlands
Northern Ireland
Norway
Peru
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Sweden
Switzerland
United States
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Jump up ^ "BRAZIL: Youth Still in Trouble, Despite Plethora of Social Programmes". IPS. March 30, 2007.
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Jump up ^ "Why Do Some Women Kill? - ABC News". Retrieved 2014-10-23.
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^ Jump up to: a b "Chapter 6". Retrieved 2014-10-23.
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Jump up ^ Ann L. Pastore; Kathleen Maguire (eds.). Sourcebook of criminal justice statistics Online (PDF) (31st ed.). Albany, New York: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Jump up ^ "Race and crime: a biosocial analysis". Anthony Walsh (2004). Nova Publishers. p. 23. ISBN 1-59033-970-3
Jump up ^ "MPS Response to Guns, Gangs and Knives in London". Metropolitan Police Authority. 2007-05-03. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
Jump up ^ Harris, Anthony R.; Stephen H. Thomas; Gene A. Fisher; David J. Hirsch (May 2002). "Murder and medicine: the lethality of criminal assault 1960-1999" (fee required). Homicide studies 6 (2): 128–166. doi:10.1177/1088767902006002003. Retrieved 2006-12-08.
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^ Jump up to: a b Why Fewer Murder Cases Get Solved These Days by Lewis Beale. 19 May 2009.
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^ Jump up to: a b Spierenburg, Pieter, A History of Murder: Personal Violence in Europe from the Middle Ages to the Present, Polity, 2008. Referred to in "Rap Sheet Why is American history so murderous?" by Jill Lepore New Yorker, November 9, 2009
Jump up ^ "Homicide Rates in the United States 1900-1990".
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Bibliography[edit]
Lord Mustill on the Common Law concerning murder
Sir Edward Coke Co. Inst., Pt. III, ch.7, p. 50
Why Do We Kill? The Pathology of Murder in Baltimore (part 1/3), "Retired Baltimore Homicide Detective Kelvin Sewell and investigative journalist Stephen Janis explain why they decided to write the book Why Do We Kill?."   Why Do We Kill? (part 2/3), "Kelvin Sewell and Stephen Janis discuss what speaking to those accused of murder can teach about the failures of our society."   Why Do We Kill? (part 3/3), "Kelvin Sewell and Stephen Janis discuss the killing of a former Baltimore police commissioner's daughter that shook the city." February 2015, The real news network
External links[edit]
   Look up murder in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
   Wikimedia Commons has media related to Murder.
   Wikiversity has learning materials about Murder
1986 Seville Statement on Violence (from UNESCO)
"This Could Never Happen to Me - A Handbook for Families of Murder Victims and People Who Assist Them" - Hosted by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Introduction and Updated Information on the Seville Statement on Violence
U.S. Centers for Disease Control "Atlas of United States Mortality"
Cezanne's depiction of "The Murder"
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