Reply as a comment to this post a link to news article, website or other web resource that you believe relates to the course. Provide a short paragraph explaining what the link's content is and how you believe it relates to the course.
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http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/keeping-kids-safe/200908/kill-and-die-suicide-and-school-shooters
The link above discusses school shooters and their desire to commit suicide. The article breaks down school shooters into 3 categories: psychopathic, psychotic, and traumatized. After analyzing 15 school shooters, Peter Langman, P.h. D, concluded that psychopathic school shooters tended to be less likely to commit suicide (or "suicide by cop") than the other two categories. Additionally, his analysis showed that most of the shooters had plans to commit suicide although most did not follow through.
I felt this link related to our course because both school shootings and suicide are forms of violence and this is a brief analysis over the relationship between the two.
http://www.kwwl.com/Global/story.asp?S=13828829
This is a story about a man who was jailed for domestic abuse as well as drug abuse. I feel this article relates to our class because it shows violence in two different manners. Not only does it illustrate violence against others (more specifically, familial violence and, in the case of this article, domestic violence), but it also shows violence against yourself. Taking drugs clearly is an act of violence against your own body.
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/hate-map
The Southern Poverty Law Center was created to fight racism and bigotry through our legal and education systems. They also provide educators with resources to help teach youth to embrace diversity and look down on hate. The Southern Poverty Law Center also keeps track of hate groups and their activities all around the country in addition to domestic terrorists groups. Given the fact that our country has a long history of violence towards minorities and other disadvantaged groups, this website is ideal for this course.
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/hate-map
The Southern Poverty Law Center was created to fight racism and bigotry through our legal and education systems. They also provide educators with resources to help teach youth to embrace diversity and look down on hate. The Southern Poverty Law Center also keeps track of hate groups and their activities all around the country in addition to domestic terrorists groups. Given the fact that our country has a long history of violence towards minorities and other disadvantaged groups, this website is ideal for this course.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41053261/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
This article is about Jared Loughner, the man accused of the recent Tucson, Arizona shootings. Throughout the past week, many news sources are trying to find the motives behind his shootings and this article exemplifies an idea as to why he did. His ex girlfriend claims that he "went off the rails" after she broke up with him. This relates to the class because it shows how emotional episodes such as break ups can lead to acts of violence, (some not as extreme as others obviously).
In July 2009, Denise Frei plotted to kill her common-law husband Curtis Bailey. Curtis Bailey owned the Lincoln Café in Belle Plaine, while Frei managed it. One of the waitresses was Jessica Dayton. Frei and Dayton conspired to kill Curtis Bailey by promising him a three-some, getting him drunk, and beating him over the head. On July 19, 2009, they invited him to their “party”, promising him the three-some as long as he would take a shot of whiskey for each sexual act the women performed. Frei’s son Jacob Hilgendorf arrived at the party late. Once Bailey was drunk to the point of passing out, Dayton began to beat him in the head with a landscaping rock, according to testimony. When Hilgendorf arrived, Dayton had begun to wrap Bailey’s head in plastic wrap, but Bailey had awoken and began fighting back. Hilgendorf took the landscaping rock and hit Bailey over the head one last time, silencing him forever. When the police showed up, Bailey was lying in a pool of blood, wrapped partially in plastic, between a couch and a chair. Items used in the crime, including the murder weapon, were placed in Hilgendorf’s vehicle. Dayton and Hilgendorf had driven away and changed clothes at a friend’s house, telling the friend that things went wrong. They had burnt the clothes in the fire pit. Testimony from Hilgendorf and friends say that he had been smoking pot that night and drinking prior to the attack. After DCI and police had conducted interviews and processed the scene, Dayton and Hilgendorf were arrested for 1st degree murder. Later, Frei was also arrested. In April 2010, Dayton went on trial for 1st degree murder. After a very interesting trial, the defense rested without calling any witnesses. Dayton was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Hilgendorf’s trial just began on Tuesday. He will probably be claiming that he was drunk and that the act was in self-defense. Trish Mehaffey from KCRG has provided live coverage of the trial at http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/LIVE-BLOG-Day-Two-of-Hilgendorf-Murder-Trial-113350379.html. Dayton’s trial was also covered the same way and can be read online.
There is no doubt that this case relates to the Psychology of Violence. Denise Frei had been planning the murder of Curtis Bailey for some time. Prior to the murder, she had attempted to kill him by overdosing him with insulin. Reports have said that she will probably claim insanity; however, that will never hold up. In Iowa, the legal term “insanity” means that at the time of the crime, the offender did not know that the act was wrong. There is no way that she can say that when she had attempted to kill him before and planned his murder weeks beforehand. This course will help us understand or try to understand what could possibly make her do this. It will help us get into the mind of killers such as hers, people who manipulate others such as she did, and explain why people such as Jessica Dayton and Jacob Hilgendorf go along with such horrible acts of violence.
This case is extremely interesting to me, because I am a double major in Psychology and Criminology. This murder also happened about 30 miles away from where I live. My best friend from high school worked at the café with these people at the time, was friends with Dayton and Hilgendorf, and was even Hilgendorf’s roommate for a while. It’s hard to believe people that you know, or know through friends, could possibly do these things. It really does open your eyes when it is that close to you. I suggest that anyone who is interested in these types of things should go here http://www.kcrg.com/results?keywords=Dayton&searchType=gen&startmonth=1&startday=1&startyear=2001&endmonth=1&endday=12&endyear=2011&children=true. It lists all the KCRG articles about the murders from the beginning, including all the evidence that was found and the trials of Dayton and Hilgendorf.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/01/decatur_man_who_repeatedly_pun.html
This news article is about sibling violence between an older and younger brother. An assault took place after the younger brother told his older brother David that he wanted to lend some of their video games to their oldest brother. Instead of simply saying yes or no, David began to repeatedly punch his younger brother, threatened to kill him with a knife, and also threatened to kill to police if they came to the house. David was found guilty of domestic violence. This case really shows that arguments between siblings can get out of hand and escalate in a split second even over a minor question. This article relates to course because it clearly illustrates familial violence between brothers.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/peace-corps-gang-rape-volunteer-jess-smochek-us/story?id=12599341&page=1
The article I found is titled “Peace Corps Gang Rape: Volunteer Says U.S. Agency Ignored Warnings”. This article is about the very large amount of women that have been raped while serving in the peace corps. Around 1000 women have been raped and sexually assaulted while serving since 2000. Some of the women who were raped said they reported feeling unsafe, threatened, and even asked to be relocated. They say their reports were useless and nothing was done until after the rape occurred. They also claim that the peace corps counselors enforced the feelings the women had that they were to blame for the rapes.
This article applies to the class very well. Rape is a violent act. Also, this article focuses on a very specific topic. The article could be analyzed looking at the type of violence, the cause of the violence, and the prevention methods that could have been implemented.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/13/calif-man-pleads-guilty-hacking-case-victim-called-virtual-rape/
I found this news article and was immediately intrigued. What could "Virtual Rape" possibly mean? For George Samuel Bronk, it means up to six years in prison.
Bronk hacked the email accounts of hundreds of women, in search of nude photos. He did this by looking up their information on Facebook, calling their email providers, and asking to reset the passwords. He even managed to hack some of their Facebook accounts and post the nude photos for their friends, family, and the world to see. He pled guilty on Thursday.
Because some of the hacked accounts belonged to girls under the legal age, technically meaning he had child pornography, he also will be labeled as a sex offender. This is because he also downloaded the photos to his own hard drive.
I think this relates to the class because it is important to understand the different types of violence occurring in our modern technological world. Nearly everyone and their dog (quite literally) has a Facebook page. Anything that is emailed, posted to Facebook, or posted to any other website is available for the rest of the world, as shown in this story. The violence plays in because Bronk also messaged some of the victims, taunting them about "how funny" it was. Cyber bullying is a huge problem and makes up a large amount of the violence that occurs in schools or between people of a younger age.
It is also important to understand that violence does not have to be physical. It can be social and emotional abuse. The nude photos of these women are now available for potential employers, universities, or any other institution, not to mention the thousands of others who may repost the photos from Facebook.
This story illustrates how permanent technological information is. These photos may have been sent a long time ago, but came back to haunt these women. This story certainly teaches us to think before we post or send!
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/13/us/13college.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=us
Arizona is presently in turmoil about the tragic shooting that occured in Tucson. In the New York Times, Lacey and Kovaleski's article discusses the records that Pima Community College (the college Loughner attended) had concerning Loughner's behavior prior to the shooting. After the shooting, Pima Community College released documents that described several complaints and concerns that had been recorded about Loughner. This raises the question of whether this devastation may have been avoidable if the concerns were taken more seriously.
This article very prevalently corresponds with this seminar on the psychology of violence. While public and/or school shootings are not of high occurance, they are a serious and deadly occurance in society. It begs the dilemma of how schools should handle students who continuously show antecedents of violent behavior. This question becomes so difficult in that psychologists and sociologists alike have found the profound difficulties in predicting violent behavior. I thought Dr. Maclin said it well in class on Tuesday when she said, and I quote, "People have the right to be weird." It sounds profound but measurement of 'weirdness' is subjective; therefore, it is difficult to determine when weird will turn dangerous.
This article discusses several incidents Laughner was involved in and leaves the reader with a sense of confusion on why no other steps were taken to prevent the eventual shooting. It seems in many public or school shootings, no one is suprised that this specific individual was responsible for the shooting. This NY Times article seems to imply the same about Jared Loughner. If there is usually little suprise in these matters, why are they not prevented? It seems like a question that should be easily concluded, but in reality, there is not an objective, standard way to identify people who are capable of creating so much devastation. Perhaps it is merely human complexity that negates the ability to determine specific individuals. Every person is different in thought, actions, behavior, emotion, etc. Classes such as Seminar in the Psychology of Violence can lead to further education on this matter and advance ideas about how to prevent future occurrences like this tragedy in Arizona.
http://www.uni.edu/wellrec/wellness/sexualabuse/index.html
This is a link to one of UNI's websites through the Recreation Center's site. I have worked with Joan Thompson as well as Seeds of Hope through the on-campus group S.A.V.E. (Students Against a Violent Environment). This website gives a lot of good resources toward not only prevention of violence, but coping mechanisms and where to find help if it does occur. There is advice on how to decide if you are in an unhealthy relationship, information on UNI's sexual assault policy (definitions and consequences), etc.
I like that it gives separate information regarding harassment, stalking, and sexual assault. It's really handy to have this resource available to us on a college campus so we know that help is available. I'm sure there are some (predominantly females) who may not know this site is there, and who might be missing out on finding help. I hope through organizations such as S.A.V.E. we can not only help those who need it, but prevent future incidents of violence on our campus.
http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2011/01/08/news/local/531859.txt
This article pertains to the kidnapping and sexual assault of an underage girl (about 14 years old). She was initially chatting with the man online (a 33 year old), which also leads to questions of safety within the internet.
This link clearly relates to violence in a dyadic nature, involving two strangers. One was also underage, which makes the case much more difficult.
I believe this link shows the growing harm of adolescents and unbridled internet usage. Sexual predators are now found everywhere within the internet and the harm that can come from that is something parents need to watch. I think this is just a good thing to think about before certain information over the internet gets sent to a person you think you "know."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/12/live-boyfriend-compares-hurting-teen-killing-deer-according-court-papers/
This story is about a missing 13-yr-old in Texas. The live-in boyfriend of the mother reportably told the uncle of the teen that "Hurting a teen is like killing a deer." The story also relates that both the boyfriend and the mother are suspects in the disappearance of the girl. The boyfriend has also reportably told police that the girl can be found in a certain county, which is where ATM tapes place both adults the night of the disappearance. They both have also failed polygraphs, according to local police. Finally, the article mentions that the cops had been to the house before on a call of domestic violence. The live-in boyfriend had apparently threatened to kill both the mother and the teen. This story relates to this class because while no violence has been proven, it's certainly been suggested. This story is a good one for beginning a discussion about familiar abuse and it reminds us that home is, unfortuntely, the most violent place to be.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jim_fallon_exploring_the_mind_of_a_killer.html
I'm not sure if any of you are familiar with "Ted Talks" but I love this web site. I did a quick search on violence and found this fun little bit by Jim Fallon called 'exploring the mind of a killer'. Fallon is a neurologist who was asked to examine the brains of serial killers and find some sort of similarities between them all, or some kind of givaway that these are violent brains. What I found to be most interesting was his findings of a gene, the MAOA gene, which seems to be related to higher levels of violence. While having this gene does not doom you to be a violent person, Fallon found that the serial killers he studied did have this gene. However he also finds that severe trauma and brain damages may be at work in switching this gene on and creating violent people. I can assume from discussions in the classroom that most of us are curious about the inner workings of psychopaths and serial killers, so I figured this was the sort of interesting tid bit most of us might get a kick out of. The entire talk is less than seven minutes long, so I urge you all to have a listen for yourselves. Enjoy!
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/13/us/13college.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq='Creepy,'%20'Very%20Hostile':%20A%20College%20Recorded%20Its%20Fears&st=cse
Jared Loughner was charged with the shooting in Tucson, Arizona on January 8, 2011. The shooting resulted in six people dead and fourteen injured at a local supermarket.
This article by Lacey and Kovaleski in the New York Times discusses the warning signs Pima Community College had recorded regarding Jared Loughner prior to the devastating tragedy that occurred in Tucson. While public and school shootings are not a common occurrence, they are a reality that occurs in today's society that results in extreme tragedy. After Loughner breeched the attack in Arizona, Pima Community College (the college in which Loughner attended) came out with recorded documents of several incidents and complaints against Loughner. This raises the question to many of why weren't these complaints taken more seriously?
When violent acts such as this occur, many are not surprised the specific individual was the one responsible. From this statement, it seems as though it should be rather simple to determine the individuals who will commit these heinous acts. The difficulty remains in the fine line between a person being different and a person pursuing a deadly endeavor. As Dr. Maclin put it in class on Thursday, "Everyone has the right to be weird." This may sound profound, but it is very true. The degree to which an individual is "weird" is subjective. There is no foolproof way to measure this quality or to determine when it will cross that fine line into violent behavior.
Psychologists and sociologists alike have shown it is very difficult to predict future violent behavior. This difficulty is a large reason why this matter is extremely pertinent to this seminar on the psychology of violence. The psychology of violence is an area that needs to be studied further in order to prevent these violent acts from occurring.
http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/63/9/1035
This article discusses the relationship between school bullying and psychopathologic behavior. The correlation between these two issues was studied to determine what came first, so to speak (bullying or psychopathologic behavior). It was hypothesized that psychopathologic behavior is a cause of bullying and bullying leading to psychopathologic behavior. Only two schools were part of the study, with every 7th and 8th graders completing surveys at the beginning and end of the study. The study found that having social problems increased the chance of becoming a victim of bullying. It was also found that being a victim of bullying increased the chance of having psychopathologic behavior.
With the increased concentration on bullying in schools, this area of study could be an important piece to understand these behaviors. I think that violence among youth is an serious issue that should be focused on since the younger generation will be the leaders of tomorrow. Understanding the effects of violence and potential reasons for such behavior could lead to the ability to help those children in need.
I obtained my article from ebscohost - the article was from USA Today; 01/12/11 pg. 11a. Title - Mass shootings are a tragic fact of life in America.
The article discussed the debates fo gun control following the Tucson murders. The article identifies progress that has been made, but still argues that their will always be a risk of violence when people have access to deadly weapons. I believe this article relates to this course because it was a very specific example of the world trying to make sense of violent acts and gain a better understanding of the individuals that commit these acts. I think that many individuals need to feel that there is an answer or identifiable cause for when these types of situations occur in order to feel more secure.
If anyone is interested, Jacob Hilgendorf was convicted of 1st degree murder today. The trial was expected to last longer; however, the defense rested without calling any witnesses just as they did in the Jessica Dayton trial for this murder. Here is the link:
http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Hilgendorf-Verdict-114219489.html
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201101/do-we-live-in-culture-violence
I feel that this article was great to add to the class because it's relates to current events and the idea that we live in "a culture of violence." I think it's interesting that when something as horrific as a congress person getting shot happens people want to explain acts of violence by environment and culture, instead of looking at the motives of the rage. Another reason I chose this particular article was because of it's commentary on video games and media sources and their violent graphics and impact on society, it has been a topic we have discussed several times in the classroom.
One thing that we haven't discussed in class is people turning on their own family members. A while ago there seemed to be a trend of news stories about mothers killing their own children for various reasons. For me, this is one of the most disturbing acts of violence in the media today. There have been many excuses for why these mothers turn to murder, one of the most popular being Postpartum Depression. I, personally, have not learned a lot about Postpartum Depression, but it seems pretty extreme to resort to murder. I found one article that provides a brief story about one of these cases, as well as some explanations on what causes these mothers to do the unthinkable.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/08/18/sc.mother.children.psychology/index.html