My Psychology Page
This is where I've decided to post my psychology blog... I feel that psychology is something I have a true strength in. I've been through so much already in my life I feel I can use my experiences and knowledge to help others. I'm not very good at using it sometimes in my own life, but it's easy for me to watch others and make suggestions as to hold to solve things.
I thought maybe I'd post this assignment we had in class. We watched the movie 'War of the Roses', and were asked to play the role of a marriage psychologist and assess their situation. Mr. V wrote on my paper he was impressed by my insight on the film. I think I took more out of the movie then perhaps he was expecting. For most of the conclusions I've drawn are ones I take from my knowledge outside of the classroom. I think my take is actually kind of interesting so I think I'll post it.
War of the Roses
By: Amanda Kidd
1) What were the major sources of conflict in the Roses’ marriage?
There were 3 main sources of conflict in the movie. Money, Oliver’s job and communication.
They often disagreed on how to spend money. While he worked hard to provide it, Barbara would spend all of it. She bought cars, and other expensive things like cars without his consent. This would make Oliver angry and added conflict to their marriage. They both had different viewpoints and tensions began to arise from conflict in goals, needs and values.
Oliver’s job often caused a lot of friction in their relationship. He had to impress his clients and bosses in order to climb the ranks. He was so concerned about impressing these people, he wouldn’t let his wife appear less then perfect in their eyes. This made Barbara feel like she wasn’t good enough for him and that he was acting like he was someone he wasn’t. She felt he was comfortable being a complete phony just to impress others. This made her ultimately being to resent being with him.
One of their biggest sources of conflict was communication. As he unknowingly began to push her away, she became closed, withdrawn, and avoidant. Barbara refused to talk about her feelings, and problems she felt in their marriage were never solved. She let problems repress and build until she finally exploded on Oliver. She should have come to him with her feelings before it became a huge issue. In order for relationships to work, you need to be able to approach each other with your problems and tackle them together, before they accumulate and become worse.
2) Although the Roses tried to communicate, there were many barriers preventing effective communication. Provide 3 clear examples of this from the film.
1- Oliver’s job made it difficult to keep lines of communication open. He was always too busy to realize how much pain his wife was in, and too busy to listen. They hardly spent any time together and it was almost like they had nothing to talk about when they were together. They certainly never discussed their relationship together.
2- When a problem arose, they blamed each other. Problems can never be solved if nobody feels they have done anything wrong. Why would you bother trying to talk things out and solve things, when nobody is willing to compromise and take responsibility for their actions? Their problems couldn’t be solved effectively since nobody was willing to say they were sorry and try to change the situation.
3- Both of them were very selfish. They had a deep need for self-protection. Oliver only appreciated Barbara when she did things for him, and ridiculed her when she tried to do things for herself. He didn’t listen to her viewpoints and tensions began to arise. She became convinced he would never change, and she began to alienate herself from him. Then she began to feel their problems could not be resolved and there was no escape except to begin destroying their relationship. If she had tried to tell him the things that were bothering her before she began to alienate herself, they might have been able to save their marriage. It was through Barbara trying to protect herself (by removing herself from the situation) that caused a huge barrier in communication and made them unable to solve their differences.
3) Provide examples of methods (positive or negative) that the Roses’ used to try and deal with conflict. (2 for him and 2 for her.)
Barbara- Negative – As discussed above, she alienated herself from the relationship as a form of self-protection. This made it impossible to deal with any conflict, since she didn’t want to be any part of it. Negative – She refused to take blame for anything. This made it impossible for them to resolve issues. She never felt she had done anything wrong, and she refused to try to communicate with him to solve their problems.
Oliver – Positive –At the very end he made it clear that he still cared about her very deeply. This is effective in solving problems since it assures the other partner, no matter what happens you are willing to dig in and work things out through thick and thin. Negative – He didn’t give her respect and enough attention. He only talked to her if he wanted something from her, and he didn’t respect her wishes when she wanted to get a job. He should have been more supportive of her and he should have been more sensitive to her feelings. He didn’t communicate with her enough, and this caused her to feel uneasy and insecure.
4) If you were a psychologist who specializes in marriage problems, explain how you would help the Roses reconcile their marriage.
I would have had a long talk with Barbara about shutting herself off from her problems. She became avoidant, and if she refused to deal with her problems in a positive nature with Oliver, she would act the same way in future relationships. She would probably have problems with commitment and never be able to overcome obstacles. She needed to realize that she had to try and communicate with him instead of letting her feelings bottle up until they explode. Feeling trapped is never a good sign, and she didn’t make the time or the effort to work at making her relationship with Oliver work. The relationship might still have had a lot to offer her if she would have gotten her own act together. She tried to blame him for it falling apart, and that isn’t fair to him and would probably affect his chances of having happy relationships in the future. Instead of leaving with honor and honesty, she didn’t leave. This made him feel like things could get better which was just unfair torture. I would have just advised her to leave the house, instead of prolonging their agony. I would certainly have never advised him to move back into the house.
I also would have told Oliver he needed to be more respectful of his wife. He didn’t take much time to make sure she felt secure and happy. Oliver didn’t realize how much Barbara did for him until he thought he was going to lose his life. If he had of come to this realization earlier, then maybe it wouldn’t have been too late for them. He didn’t make enough time for her, and he really should have in order to make her feel that she still meant something to him.
He was never clear about his feelings for her until near the very end of the movie. He should have been more open and honest about his feelings for her and let her know that he loved her. The key to Barbara’s uneasiness may have been that she was uncertain of where their relationship was headed. She might have just needed some assurance that they both in this relationship for the long haul. This probably led to some of her insecurity and trust issues. They should have talked about how they both viewed their relationship and their future. It would at least give them a sense of standing on firmer ground and that they were better equipped to deal with any other relationship curveballs, if they were at least able to address their differences.
15/15
Here's another assignment I wrote for psychology based on the movie "Shindler's List".
Shindler’s List Assignment
By: Amanda Kidd
After Darwin developed the general concept of humanity as a physically evolving species with the ability of rational thought, his theory has been widely adapted by various leaders and societies all over the world. Many people have also decided to perceive what it means to be human and the relationships within a society, in a different way then the way Darwin perceived it. Darwin meant his theory to be a scientific point of view on man’s evolution. “Social Darwinists” then abused his ideas. Many of them used his theory to emphasize the ability of one race to be superior to another. In one of the most recognized and horrific events in the history of mankind, Darwin’s ideas were used to support the treatment of European Jews and other peoples during the Second World War.
In the movie Shindler’s list, the Nazis highly believed in Darwin’s theory of evolution. Darwin stated that only the fittest would survive. Hitler pushed the belief that the German’s were a race that was obviously superior to others. Why wouldn’t they be? They had a booming economy. They had just won a major war. They were on the top of the world and surely nature had selected them to be better then the other races. The characteristics the German’s displayed obviously distinguished them from the rest. The Nazis in the film treated Jews as though they were inferior. The Jews didn’t share the same bodily characteristics and soul attributes of their German kind. From this knowledge, the Jews were classified as inferior to the superior Germans.
Natural selection was an important part of Darwin’s theory. He believed that nature selects the characteristics within a species and this helps them to evolve in their environment. If they didn’t adapt the species could face extinction when circumstances required it. Only the species that were able to adapt and evolve survived. Nature then passed on these characteristics to their offspring. In order to keep the superior race pure, Hitler felt the strongest shouldn’t amalgamate with the weaker races. By not crossing with other races of lesser value, the strongest won’t have to sacrifice their greatness and they can keep the same high standards. Social Darwinists felt the strong should stay together so that future generations will be able to survive. Since only the fittest survive, their purpose is to breed their race as a whole towards a higher level. This higher level will ensure that the German race will not have to face extinction. In the movie the Germans were not to be even associated with the Jews. There were no German/Jewish relationships at all in the movie. A man even accused a woman of bewitching him to cover the fact he had feelings for her. Everyone had to be loyal to his beliefs over every other consideration. If you were not loyal, you were weakening the master race and were eliminated.
Social Darwinists felt war was essential to make everything work in the world. Everyone had to struggle for survival. Sometimes it was even thought that the worst thing you could do was to help someone. It was felt that sometimes in these struggles, individuals must die in society to keep the race pure. This made it easy for the Nazis in the movie to justify their actions when they slaughtered the Jews. They were purely getting rid of the Jews to stay on top. Shindler used the Jew’s as slaves in his factory to earn himself more money. It was felt that inferior races should be at the benefit of the more superior ones for them to improve. Everything, including other living beings was at your service to succeed in your own struggle for life. The inadequate races had no other use, so it made sense to the Nazis to shoot and kill the Jews and handicapped/mentally disabled to weed out the weak. In one scene, they shot and killed man for only having one arm. This was a display of the superior race removing the inferior one because it was felt they were of little value to the community. If they were to pass on their hereditary sufferings abroad, they would begin to damage the superior races.
The Nazis in the movie used Darwin’s theory in a warped social context. They used his ideas to help support their cruel treatment of the Jews and others during the Second World War. These ideas are horrible, sick, and twisted versions of an incredible scientific theory. Darwin never intended for millions of people to be slaughtered to help the so-called fittest race to survive. As Shindler discovered at the end of the movie, the Jews were not weaker. To Shindler, the Jews became a race worth saving. He discovered they were not useless. They were worth going broke over. They were worth losing everything he had to save them, including his life when he had become a war criminal. He realized that Social Darwinists abused Darwin’s theories and that in the end we aren’t working in individual races to survive. We are all working together to survive in this world, as one race, the human race.
8/10
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia strikes one in every hundred people. Is it right to just ignore these people, label them crazy and lock them up? People with schizophrenia deserve an opportunity for treatment for their medical condition in order to ensure safety, increase knowledge about humans and for the patients to feel the benefits of proper treatment.
People with schizophrenia are not in contact with reality. With this loss of contact, they become extremely dangerous to themselves, and to others. Schizophrenics feel like they can’t relate to the world and experience delusions that people are persecuting them. This makes them feel extremely paranoid and suspicious of everyone. These hallucinations and illusions cause schizophrenics to be potentially hazardous to people in everyday society. They also have many other strange side effects. They go through intense withdrawal, are passive, apathetic and they lose interest in people. These symptoms cause personality changes, and the person is unable to think logically. They interpret things wrong, and some schizophrenics often have delusions of being someone else, or someone more important. Living in a shell, these people can often be violent and if their problems are left untreated, they only become more severe. This is why we should be treating these people instead of ignoring this serious mental illness. Schizophrenics are not aware of their surroundings and the impact of their actions, which causes them to be harmful to themselves and others.
It’s important to study the effects of schizophrenia in order to establish what causes this frightening mental illness, and in order to gain a greater understanding of how our minds operate. It is believed that schizophrenia is caused by a chemical imbalance within the brain, and this causes the emotional effects the person feels. Schizophrenics also have strange abnormalities in their immune systems. By studying twins, psychologists can find out if our genes cause schizophrenia. By comparing one twin with schizophrenia and another twin not affected by the disease, they can get a better idea of what differences appear in their brains. Using this information we can try to figure out what causes this disease, give these people their lives back, and end this suffering once and for all. By locking up these people without studying the symptoms of schizophrenics, we will never be able to understand exactly what happens to the brain to cause this horrible mental illness.
While schizophrenia is a horrible disease, it is important to remember that there are some effective methods for treating the condition. Most schizophrenics can greatly benefit from the use of anti-psychotic drugs. Recently many new anti-psychotic medications have been made available to help schizophrenics. These include Seroquel, Zyprexa, and Clozaril. These medications are great improvements over older drugs such as Largactil and Haldol since they have a much lower number of side effects, resulting in less patients going off the medication. With these new improved medications schizophrenics should be allowed the chance to try to cure their disease, instead of being ignored in our society. The community can also help schizophrenics that seek treatment in a proper institution. These patients can be aided with housing, long-term disability payments, and by community workers who can supervise the patients in the community.
In conclusion, schizophrenics obviously deserve the chance for proper treatment. Proper treatment for schizophrenics ensures safety for other members of the community, helps to further our knowledge of the human mind, and give the patients a chance to make as much improvement in his or her condition as possible.
7/10 and then I resubmitted the exact same thing again and got 9/10 ^^;;
The Joy Luck Club
Often harsh and intense, this movie provides the stories of four Chinese - American daughters and their mothers, which reveals many conflicts between Eastern and Western civilization. This film focuses on the girls experiences growing up in America, raised by women who came of age in Mainland China decades earlier, and their struggle to understand how to incorporate their ethnic heritage in the massive American melting pot.
There are quite a few themes in this movie. One that leaps to mind right away, is that of a generation gap and a cultural gap.
The younger generation seemed more concerned with peer pressure than with their individuality and unique, ethnic nature. Every single one of the Chinese mothers came from a dysfunctional family/background and had to fight and claw their way to survival. Most of these Chinese mothers came to America, wishing to fight “like a tiger” for their daughters, wishing that they could give their daughters a much better life then what they had. They became a part of America but they never forgot who they were and the culture they had come from. Their daughters grew up with the freedom they never had, unfortunately, most of their daughters interpreted their desire to fight for them (and push them to excellence) as a lack of love. The younger generation grew up with very different experiences than their mothers, and often forgot the pain and sacrifice that their mothers had endured in their pasts. They were too foolish and immature to realize their mother’s efforts were only expressions of their love. The daughters and the problems they experienced as first-generation Chinese – Americans (such as racism, etc), shows how much of a difference there is between the two cultures.
Moving in and out of the American and Chinese cultures made this film even more interesting to watch. Some of the common Chinese traditions were played out in this movie, such as respect for elders, honoring one's ancestors and being an obedient child. The 2 generations having been raised in different societies had very different values and cultures. The daughters were unacquainted with the cultures their mothers grew up with, and were more aware of the pressures and norms of the American society.
A common trait among all of the women was that none of them seemed to realize their worth. All the women had problems with their identities, and none of them really understood how special they really were. They all encountered the pressures we each face about who we are and what we want to be, and endured their own personal struggles such as moving forward, divorce, etc.
While every woman encountered pressures and personal struggles, they also observed major differences in the roles their culture influenced their lives and others. Their society’s norms deeply influenced their own behaviors, and the different cultural norms often clashed creating conflicts for both the mothers and the daughters relationships.
9/10
Secret of the Wild Child
A feral child (or isolate) is a child that is in a wild state after escaping from an isolated environment. Children that have been isolated often lack skills that leave them in an abnormal state of mind then what you would expect from normal children who have a healthy lifestyle.
The movie “Feral Children” was based on isolates/feral children and how they behave differently then other human beings. They have not had the opportunity to develop their speech and mental capabilities, leaving them linguistically and mentally disabled . The attempted methods of rehabilitating these feral children were also discussed during the film. This film suggests that the origin of most human behavior and personality are learned throughout our lives, while some are instinctual (innate behaviors). The movie featured a young feral child named Genie. She was found wearing diapers, which indicated that she was not potty trained, which is a learned behavior. Another learned behavior was she also made very little noise, which suggested that she had been abused when she made too much noise. In order to keep from being abused, she had learned to keep quiet. As time progressed after her rescue, Genie began to learn how to speak because she withheld a strong desire to communicate with others. She soon learned how to speak, but not very well. This showed that although feral children are linguistically and mentally retarded, they have the ability to learn language and be somewhat rehabilitated with the help of society.
After Genie was rescued, changes appeared dramatically. At the beginning of the film she appeared extremely shy, savage like and cautious. She became relaxed, sociable, and learned to express herself in a positive manner. She developed a thirst for knowledge and developed attachments to some people. With the help of some gentle nurturing, Genie’s personality was rehabilitated. The film mentioned a feral child named Victor from Southern France in the 1800’s. While Victor had been a savage like, it was thought that he had always been retarded from birth. A man by the name of Itare believed he had not been retarded from birth, but by living in isolation. He attempted to teach Victor various things and designed tests to see how well Victor understood him. While Victor’s development went well in the beginning, his progress later slowed. This film showed that feral children have the capacity to learn behaviors that are learned by ones that are raised in society. Feral children have the capacity to develop their personality and behaviors such as linguistics and mental behaviors, but not to the full extent of those who were raised in society their whole lives. Genie and Victor learned and developed their personalities and many behaviors but could not build up on it to the point that they were totally rehabilitated.
5/5
Peer Pressure: Powerful Social Forces
According to principal Mike De Anglis why do students ignore their fears and participate in risky behaviors? Do you agree? Why or why not? Describe an experience you had when you participated in a risky behavior. How did you feel about it before and after? Were there any unexpected consequences to your actions?
Mike De Anglis believes students ignore their fears because they have a incredible sense of immortality and most of them after making a bad decision, have minimal consequences. According to Mr. De Anglis, “things snowball once a group psychology takes hold and young people swallow their doubts about an activity because they don’t want their friends to disapprove of them. Individually, they can be chickens; collectively, they can have the courage of lions.”
I agree with Mr. De Anglis that peer pressure often makes teens do things they often know isn’t good for them just to fit in, and feel invincible. Most risky behaviors aren’t openly discussed between children and adults so teens aren’t really prepared when they are faced in difficult situations or asked to make difficult decisions. They really don’t understand the impact or the significance in their actions and most teens don’t ever feel like anything bad could ever happen to them. Most teens don’t understand that they aren’t invincible from the consequences of poor choices. I think teens today need to make key decisions before pressure is exerted by their peers and set personal guidelines for themselves.
When I encountered risky behavior, it was something I had decided a long time ago not to do. I believe because I had made this choice before the situation occurred it was easier for me to stick by my beliefs and not fall into peer pressure, and challenge the current norms. It was a tough choice to go against the pressure but I can see how I personally benefit from making the difficult, but best choice for my future. I felt empowered and full of self confidence, also the relief in setting limits for myself that I believed in. I didn’t expect to feel that good about making a difference choice then all my friends. It really made me feel good about myself, and it turned out that my friends came to respect my decision in the end. I think it’s important teens know that they don’t have to conform and feel pressured by others. Be yourself and others will look up to you for being an individual, which takes a lot of guts to do.
10/10
Sociology Assignment
Culture defines the way we see the world. The bushman’s interpretation of Western culture makes sense from him viewpoint because of his own cultures way of life that has been learned and shared by all its members. His vision of the world is affected by his cultures behavior patterns, material culture, and knowledge and beliefs. As the bushman stumbles his way through the modern world, he experiences other new aspects of this strange new culture that sometimes extremely differ from his own social experience.
There were many different behavior patterns between the two cultures. In the bushman’s culture, there were no laws, government or judicial systems. When he killed the goat and stood on trial, he didn’t understand what was happening to him, and his culture’s language didn’t even contain a word for ‘guilty’. There were many different communication problems throughout the movie. Many of the words the western world has don’t have equivalent words in the bushman’s language. Only one person from the western world during the movie could understand his complicated clicking language, so there were huge communication barriers present. The economics of his culture were also very different. There were no forms of property. There was nothing to exchange or sell, because they had nothing of their own. Families got along and children were well behaved, and very playful and inventive. The whole group of bushman got along peacefully and didn’t need to understand the concept of war since there was no conflict. When the terrorists attacked the children, the bushman wasn’t able to understand why.
He wasn’t able to understand a lot of different concepts because his knowledge and beliefs weren’t shared with this new unfamiliar culture. He believed nothing was good or evil. He apologized to his prey after killing it and went about other customs that the Western world doesn’t believe in. Then one day a pop bottle fell from the sky. It came from a passing plane, or ‘bird’ as the bushman believed. At first the bottle was a good thing. It made daily tasks easier to carry out, but the drawback was there was one bottle to share amongst them all. Suddenly emotions his tribe had never new existed before emerged. Jealousy, hate, lies… the bottle brought much unhappiness to the bushman’s family. He decided the bottle must be evil. He didn’t understand why the Gods would give him this evil thing, they must have been crazy. He believed he should throw the bottle off the end of the Earth to get rid of it. When someone from the Western world later on in the movie saw this bottle, they thought nothing of it. They didn’t understand why he was so unhappy about this bottle. They had a totally different way of looking at the world then the bushman.
The more improvement the bushman faced in his life, the more complicated it got. There were huge differences in material culture in this movie. Food and water weren’t plentiful where the bushman lived so they highly valued anything they could find. Clothing wasn’t of great importance to the bushman, the way it was to the ‘ugly, white woman with cobweb like clothes’. He didn’t understand why she was so obsessed with her outward appearance since his culture didn’t place major value on their outward appearances. Weapons weren’t a major part of the bushman’s culture either. He didn’t even know what the man’s gun was, he thought it was a strange looking stick. Transportation was also a newly introduced concept to the bushman. He thought it was a weird animal with round legs. He had never seen anything like it in his culture, and just used what he knew based on his own cultures understanding to draw a conclusion as to what the truck could be.
The bushman grew up with different social experiences that helped shape his viewpoint to live peacefully in his own culture. But these different behavior patterns, material culture, and knowledge and beliefs made it difficult to blend into the Western culture with ease. His viewpoint made sense since his culture was the only culture he had ever known or experienced before in his life. He carried his cultures values with him everywhere, and his unique way of life influenced the way the experienced the Western world, proving culture truly defines the way people interpret the world we live in.
8/10
The Nature of Aggression and Violence By: Amanda Kidd
Human beings often show aggressive behavior, and sometimes this aggression exhibits itself into violence. From television, to schoolyards, to squabbling nations, violence is every where we turn in our society. Aggression and violence are part of human existence. If without hindrance, they can have harmful effects on individuals, groups, and nations. It is very important to determine the nature and causes of aggression and violence. Why are people aggressive and violent? Are aggression and violence acceptable at any times? How can we deal with aggression and violence? There are many theories regarding this heated subject, and this essay will discuss some of them concerning this violent side of human nature.
Why do humans behave in violent and aggressive manners? Aggression is an attacking behavior that aims to achieve some goal at the expense of another’s wellbeing. Violence is behavior that uses force to injure, damage or destroy. Are we born with these aggressive tendencies, or do we learn them? There are 2 different positions regarding this question. Some people believe aggressive tendencies are innate, and others believe it is learned.
Sigmund Freud believed aggression was an instinct we are born with. He thought that it could not be eliminated, only discharged through a sport, etc. Later psychologists changed his theory. They felt aggression was caused by frustrating situations and after a period of time, an aggressive drive would build up over time. Releasing this aggressive behavior was believed to reduce this drive. But experiments have shown participating in aggressive acts actually increases aggressive behavior. Others believe that the human brain is active in creating reasons for aggression. There is some biological evidence to support this theory. Mild electrical or chemical stimulation of the brain will produce violent behavior in animals such as rats and cats. A study shows that 90% of people who commit crimes in the US are male (statistic provided from the war & violence video), proving men are more aggressive, which might imply that higher testosterone levels could help make humans more violent. Robert Avery a well respected anthropologist wrote a book called ‘African Genesis’ to argue that, “Man is a predator whose natural instinct is to kill with a weapon.” He believes that man only emerged from anthropoid background because we are killers.
Others believe that aggression is learned by observation, imitation and reinforcement. There are several experiments to support this theory. M.F. Ashley Montagu argued Robert Avery’s theory in her own book, ‘The Human Revolution’. She pointed out that primates are not usually violent unless provoked, prehistoric man did not hunt for pleasure, and that to serve as a weapon was not the primary use of tools, suggesting that Avery’s claims of innate aggression are false. Research has shown children who watch violent behavior on television are more aggressive, although it is uncertain why. J. Phillippe Rushton designed an experiment to observe how imitation could influence a child’s ability to be aggressive. He found not only were they easily influenced by “anti-social” behavior, they could also learn other “pro-social” attitudes and behaviors through the process of learning, supporting the theory that aggression can be learned. Television provides people with access to a very wide range of observational learning experiences. This way, people can often learn things beyond their own direct experience. This becomes a great concern when you take a close look at the behavior of most television characters. For example, this has lead to many “copy cat” crimes where someone has seen a crime on television and preformed their own similar crime. Another possible theory is that television desensitizes people to violence so that the more violence people see, the less upset they are by it. Some believe that television distorts the viewer’s idea of how to deal with conflict. With heroes using violence and aggression to get their way, and using aggressive slogans such as, “Go ahead make my day”, people might feel more compelled to use violence to solve their problems. Sporting events have always been popular to watch. Do these spectacles encourage violence or provide an outlet for innate aggression? Both of these theories have their supporters.
Under what circumstances, if ever, is it acceptable for people to resort to violence? In South Africa racial segregation and political and economic discrimination took place against the non-white majority. While the white minority had vastly superior conditions, wages and opportunities for the future, blacks couldn’t even vote. While many South African blacks demonstrated peacefully against this discrimination, others turned to more extreme measures such as boycotts and strikes, and even turned to violence. Colin Nickerson wrote in ‘The Edmonton Journal’ about one boy’s struggle to deal with the intermittent school boycotts that halted his education, and the education of hundreds of thousands of other young, bright students just like him. Militants used violence and threats to get their way and shut down or disturb nearly every school in South Africa. “They see attacking schools as a way they can demonstrate their deep, deep rage,” said Alfred T.R. Masipa, a black teacher. “I fear the damage they are doing to themselves and their futures is greater then whatever good they may be doing for the struggle.” Is violence acceptable when a social group in a society is being discriminated against? Nothing came of the protesting, eventually students were forced back into their schools. “The students come into class… then refuse to hear lessons. They will not listen to what they do not want to hear. We are sliding toward total school anarchy.” Was protesting worth turning a promising young generation of black youngsters into a group that will come of age in ignorance? One father of a 16-year-old daughter stated it best in an interview with Nickerson. “I tell her without an education she will be like a gold ring in a pig’s nose.” That is, something precious gone to waste.
So how can aggression and violence be dealt with? While there are few simple solutions to problems that arise out of aggression, the solutions will vary depending on the situations and the culture in question. Some people believe that our culture or society contains our aggression, then authority figures release these impulses. (Such as Hitler releasing the German’s aggression towards Jews.) A study set up by Stanley Milgram supports this theory. One part of his experiment showed when a person was ordered to harm another person by an authority figure, they were unable to back down from their aggressive instincts. According to this view, if a person is placed in a situation in which he has complete power over another individual whom he may punish as he likes, all that is beastly in man comes forward. After further study Milgram concluded that ordinary people, simply going about life without any hostility, can become part of a terrible violent process and few people actually had the resources to resist authority. If our cultures and societies really do contain our aggression, then solutions used in other cultures can help us to solve our own problems with aggression and violence.
In the society of the San (also known as the Bushman) anthropologist Dr. Patricia Draper writes, “there is an extremely low tolerance for aggressive behavior by anyone male or female. Competitiveness in games is almost entirely lacking, and the players appear to come into a game for the sheer joy of it and for practicing their own skill at it.” The Bushman prefer to live in small groups in order to avoid the conflicts that arise in larger groups. Quarrels occur but they soon blow over and no malice is borne. They respect others territories and there is no fighting between neighbors. While they are not non-violent, they do fear the consequences of violence and try to control any violent impulses they might experience, preferring to resolve them peacefully. The Eskimos are also known as individualists who think nothing is “more repulsive than aggressiveness and violence”. In a book by anthropologist Jean Briggs, she describes how an Eskimo family would have nothing to do with her after she lost her temper with a visiting fisherman who broke one of the Eskimos canoes. Even though it was one of their most prized possessions, they still ostracized her. Among the East Greenland Eskimos a song contest is customary in settling a dispute or grudge. Since skill in singing is greatly admired, the talent of the artist captures the attention of the audience and the cause of the contest tends to be forgotten. While some of these techniques may or may not be used in our own culture to solve our problems with violence, we can study these societies techniques of dealing with violence to find solutions to help us in our own society. In 1985, a man was beaten in Canada while 100 people stood by and watched. Instead of turning a blind eye to this situation and ignoring the violence around us in our society, we should focus on finding different ways of dealing with this aggression and violence like the San and Eskimos do in their societies.
Why are people aggressive and violent? Is aggression innate or learned? Are aggression and violence ever acceptable? How can we deal with aggression and violence? There are many different theories and research regarding these questions, and different ways to solve these problems in our society. Many people have very different viewpoints on these situations, so we may never be sure of the answers to these questions about aggression and violence. But there is one thing we know for sure, “Guns fire the bullets, but the mind pulls the trigger.”- Phil Donahue Aggression and violence are part of our existence but we need to as a society find other, more positive solutions to our problems to create a more peaceful life for our generation, and future generations to come.
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English Assignment
Pick a place that had or has significance to you and use description and exposition to comment on the experience.
I’d have to say the place that has the deepest significance to me is this huge rock that overlooks the massive Atlantic Ocean that boarders Quebec, which is just a short walk away from my Nanny and Grampy’s house. It’s a peaceful place that I revisit every single year and it’s simply a breath-taking scene…
Last year I got the chance to revisit this sacred spot. I leisurely walked down along the ancient railroad tracks on one bright, sunny summer day. Flowers bloomed, the pungent smell of wild roses looming in the air. As I strolled along I looked over the bank towards the glistening ocean and the clear sandy beaches. I had the immediate urge to quickly run down the bank and skip along the surf, to feel the cool water lap over my feet. I resisted the urge, and continued heading towards my original destination.
Emerging on the horizon lay the massive rock, gutting out like a mountain against the crashing waves below. I dashed up the steep slope and came to rest at the rocky ledge, hearing the echoes of the seagull’s shrill cries in the distance. If I looked hard enough I could just make out the image of a fishing boat coasting along the waves. The beauty of the scene around me… everything else just fell away. People, pain, problems, fears… it all just faded away in the absolute beauty of the Earth itself. I wished I could stay there forever, and just remain one with nature and its perfection. It only took this one moment to reconnect with the world, and marvel in its magnificent splendor. The moment I will carry with me in my heart forever, and I find comfort and peace in its complete and utter beauty.
English Assignment
Describe an experience that has been responsible for a specific change in your life.
One of the most significant events of my life was an experience I had at a leadership camp called HOBY. The HOBY weekend consisted of one grade 10 student from every school across Ontario. The purpose of this seminar was to teach teens how to think, not what to think. The weekend I spent at HOBY was action packed, and allowed me to have the opportunity to question the participating panelists, my peers and myself.
This seminar provided me with the chance to truly open up and be myself. On the second night we hosted our own mini talent show, and I played the lead role in our group’s skit. Usually I’m rather reserved and only outgoing with my closer friends. But with all the support and encouragement from all of my new friends, the volunteer speakers and staff, I was able to lose that protective shell and express myself, without reserve. I realized that if I only believed in myself the way everyone else who cared about me did, I could be successful and do anything I set my mind to. Even stand in front of 500 HOBY ambassadors like myself, and speak from my heart. I learned if I truly believe I am special, I will always be special.
Watching all of the passionate guest speakers, I was forced to confront how I look at the world and how I portray others. I learned so much about who I am, and what I want to achieve in my life. When I returned from HOBY I wanted to take every opportunity available to get involved in my community and help share what I’ve learned from HOBY with others. I’ve acquired the steps to take in order to be a leader. I now volunteer at Sunrise Youth Group, and I’m a member of our school’s STAND committee. I discovered that one person, no matter how small can really make a difference in this world. Through volunteering I’ve earned many benefits and learned so much about myself, therefore my learning experience continues forever. I learned so much about myself at HOBY, and this unique adventure turned out to be one of the most rewarding events of my life.
