Haven

          Right off the bat, I thought this article was extremely interesting. I say this because of the fact that an experiment was introduced where there was examination on brain gray matter differences in incarcerated adult males who committed homicide compared to others who have not. This experiment was meant to demonstrate just how brain abnormalities can distinguish offenders who kill from other serious violent offenders and non-violent antisocial people.     The results of this experiment was insane! I read that homicide offenders showed deficits in a variety of things that have to do with the brain, compared to all offenders who haven't committed a homicide offense. The results showed that there were reductions in gray matter among the individuals who committed homicide in a variety of brain areas that are important for affective processing, social cognition, and strategical behavioral control.  This definitely goe...

     After reading this article, I learned that serial killers have abnormal psychological processes, more specifically severe antisocial tendencies. This factor is to blame for the killing, which I thought was scary and fascinating to read. I also learned that serial killers are genuinely fascinated with fear from their victims and this is what usually makes their crimes known to society and grab the attention of the media.      As you know, in today's society social media is highly used and influences a lot of different factors onto people. Reading this article projected that social media, in a way, may have encourage serial killers. "Serial Killers" stated that the most famous documented killers were most active during the 20th and 21st century, which was when there was an increase of public interest in serial killers' stories. I believe this could have been a reason why many serial killers continued to kill, because they had fans and were gett...

ABUSE       While watching this film I thought it was crazy that there was an individual that manipulated a huge group of people into thinking that he was a god and could walk on water. Hearing about Jim Jones childhood was very intriguing because he had explained how he felt like an outcast and was never accepted, until he had a huge group of individuals believing every word he had said and followed him to the end.      What stood out to me the most was hearing these stories from people who were members of the People's Temple and how amazing Jones had appeared to be. He adopted children of color, he had a soup kitchen to feed individuals, he was preaching to, what was appeared as, fighting for justice, but in reality he was a predator who was taking advantage of these people. It is hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that there are individuals out in this world that will tell others what they want to hear so they can later use them to their ad...

  PSYCHOLOGY     After listening to this podcast, I was very intrigued by the fact that this had to due with psychology in this first place! I have always found psychology to be extremely interesting and I actually took a semester of psychology my sophomore year of highschool! Anywho, I thought that taking a wider view of suffering was interesting because I have never thought of suffering in this way. One other thing that stood out to me and stuck with me was on the topic of how suffering can be a source of pleasure. This specific statement got me thinking about what are the things that I myself, and you guys, find to be pleasuring, but also has to do with you suffering; in a wider view?     Some examples that Paul Bloom had included in this podcasts was watching scary movies and eating spicy food, but giving this question above some deeper thought, what can you come up with?

       CRAZY, NOT INSANE      One thing that stood out to me the most was the information shared about multiple personality disorder. It was sad to hear how childhood trauma contributes to personality disorder as well. This disorder starts to develop extremely early in children, but is not usually identified right away.  How crazy!     I thought it was a shock to see that children develop this disorder at a very young age because I had always thought that this disorder took time to develop, in which only adults were able to have this disorder. Hearing how alternate personalities leave a little piece of themselves everywhere was also insane! These pieces of evidence really project the fact that this disorder is extremely real and does need to be taken seriously.       From doing my own research, I have learned that borderline personality disorder (BPD) is not very common. For example, according...

DEATH ROW     This presentation was extremely interesting and well done because it included some great discussion questions. These questions got my group and I thinking about what are some exceptions when it comes to the death penalty and whether or not someone should be put on death row. Hearing the different types of ways to execute the death penalty was very shocking as well. I learned that the most common one is injection. Hearing about the different types of serial killers was also very interesting because the presenters explained the different reasonings as to why specific serial killers chose to kill and are driven to kill. 

      After reading this article, I have learned that one's childhood trauma really has a lot to do with individuals that go to prison. Learning about Terence Andrus' story and how he suffered from parental neglect and psychosis and that the state did have a chance to help this 16 year-old kid, but chose not to. Andrus was exposed to gangs and dosed on psychotropic drugs and then thrown into solitary confinement more than 77 times! The amount of people this has happened to, and continues to happen to, is extremely frustrating and saddening. It is especially frustrating because when he was arrested for robbery, it was written on paper that he needed to be provided with an education, treatment, and skills, but this was not given to him. He never got the chance.      Situations like this where kids are not seen as human beings and are dehumanized needs to be changed as soon as possible! It feels like the state does not want to see people grow into a better ver...

    After reading this article, The Four Types of Serial Killers, I have learned that there are actually different type of serial killers, such as visionary, mission-oriented, hedonistic, and power/control. The reasoning behind these different types of serial killers is a very interesting thing for me to wrap my head around. I think it is just crazy to think that there are different types of killers out there! Learning about how visionary killers believe they are being told to kill by a person or entity was extremely mind-blowing. Just as learning that there are people out their who believe they need to "rid" society of a certain group of people,  kill for pleasure, or kills to gain power and control over their victims!     From doing my own research, I have learned that the most common type of serial killer is a power/control killer. This is very scary considering the meaning behind a power/control killer is a person wanting to feel in control over their v...

       OUR ENVIRONMENT      I believe my group and I's presentation on environmental justice was a success! I say this because we further discussed and reviewed all of the readings and the film we had assigned to the students. We got some very good discussions in and got to hear what our peers have to say about environmental justice as well. I also think all of my group members did a great job at projecting the information they had planned on sharing with the class and this could also be the reason why we were able to have  such great discussions on the environment and whether or not we can see out country becoming more green. 

  THE RIGHT PUNISHMENT     While I was watching this film, I was not sure what to expect because I do not know much on the topic of death row. The film was emotional right from the beginning, with a bombing that ended up injuring over 200 people and killed three, in which one of the deaths was only an eight year-old boy. When incidents like this happen-- any incident where lives are lost because of what someone else has done-- it has individuals faced with the question, What is justice?  What do we do now? Hearing these stories from typical people and the horrible things that they had faced was extremely surreal. No one ever expects to have to go through something this traumatic, and when it does happen you most likely do not know what to do or how to go about it. Your life is changed forever and you are faced with many unfamiliar thoughts that you did not think you would ever have to face or bare.      There is a debate about the death penalty, b...

  NO SHAME!     The video, Step Inside the Circle, was very emotional. The compassion trauma circle was very deep and, as I could imagine, brought to surface many unfaced or unwanted emotions. Seeing these adults continue to step inside of a circle that has to do with childhood trauma was extremely sad. I have always known that mental illness and childhood trauma play a part in prison populations, but seeing a experiment like this was eye opening. This video projects how there is a cause and effect that comes with people's lives and living and how one's childhood has a lot to do with where they are today, and who they are today.       We need to teach and show individuals that we can talk about our childhood trauma and the mental illness we face because it is not our faults. It is the way we grew to become adults and yes it does affect our lives, but there should be no shame in this because this is who we are. 

WHY ARE PEOPLE RACIST?     After watching this video, I thought it was interesting to hear how racism makes us individuals confused because of how misunderstood that term is. I agreed with this man, Onyeka Nubia, when he said that in order to understand racism, you often have to experience it. I agree with this statement because it is one thing to hear about these experiences from your peers, or learn about it in an education setting, but actually going through it is a whole different experience. Also hearing about how individuals believe that they are not racist, but in human interactions one is usually second guessing themselves and really paying attention to whether or not they are offending that other person is something I believe many people need to hear. I say this because I feel this is how a lot of individuals are today. 

MANIFESTATION OF POWER     I think this video was amazing because it discloses how race is the manifestation of power. Manifestation of power. This sentence alone is strong. This video includes other individuals, almost like a documentary or interview, and this woman named Sophie Williams had stated that race is something she almost always thinks about and how it is put onto her and many other people. Looking back at the history of racism really shows that it is a manifestation of power, which is unacceptable. This kinda feeds into how people, and Americans in general, are obsessed with power and this needs to change, taken into account all of the negative outcomes this obsession has on the people. 

  ENERGY     I enjoyed this video because it projected how one person is a lot more than their body and that energy is what we are as people. I think the metaphor that was used throughout this video with the light bulb was a perfect way to illustrate to an audience that we are one and ones religion, race, ethnicity, gender, etc. does not necessarily define us. It is our energy that does!     This video was beautifully executed and should be shared with everyone!

  SURVIVAL     After watching this TED talk with James O'Keefe, I learned about a personal story of his, in which his son had come out to him and his wife as gay. From there, the TED talk was extremely interesting. I liked seeing from a parents point of view what it felt like to have your child come out to you as a homosexual. James discussed the amount of research he did, in respect for his son, and how a society that condemns homosexuality harms itself. I thought this was a beautiful thing to say and project. James also included a variety of studies, and the one that stood out to me was a study that showed that boys and girls who scored in a very bright IQ range were twice as likely to be homosexual as adults. I found this extremely interesting because I did not think one's IQ had anything to do with one's sexuality! What do you think of this study in particular?

MALE IDENTITY     After watching "The male identity crisis" with Fraser Smith, I learned a lot about how there is an extremely high rate for men who have committed suicide. This is because of the fact that there is a society norm where men talking about their emotions is seen as feminine. This a problem that needs to be talked about more, as well as projecting the fact that men should not feel ashamed, feminine, or scared to express their emotions. In reality, one's gender identity should not have anything to do with whether or not they can openly and willing express their emotions and seek help if needed.