Prevention (Rudkin Chapter 9) Response

I found that reading over the chapter on Prevention was particularly helpful. As we search for solutions to our Research-Action Topics, I think that drawing on prevention measures is a good start. While many of us are dealing with issues that are already a problem, like racism, I feel that it is never too late for prevention. Prevention may not be helpful in stopping racism from occurring at all, but it certainly can assist in decreasing the spread of it.

I think one of the biggest barriers that my group and I face as people ready to end racism is that not all people are. On page 260 there is a chart for Community Readiness: Stages and Strategies. In the case of racism, this is important to understand when addressing what solutions should be applied to which communities. It is difficult to gather a nation wide effort to ending racism if there are many parts of the country that ignore or are just ignorant that it really does still exist. Rudkin identified 9 Stages and I feel that most of the communities in the country only reached Stage 5 of preparation or Stage 6 of initiation, if even that. When dealing with the communities at Stage 1 that either tolerate or are not knowledgeable of racism or Stage 2 of denial, we must initiate small group and educational outreach programs that talk about the problems, costs and harms of racism. By starting at this level I am confident that progress can be made. I am sure that there will be some initial resentment, but this is something that needs to be forced in some areas.

According to the Typologies of prevention, most of the ideas I have such as community therapy and forums are secondary forms or prevention. However, primary prevention is necessary in schools from the elementary to college level. Requiring a few classes for students each year to talk about these issues is a good way to prevent them from becoming racist thinkers. I think that something like this could even be expanded into issues of sexism and other forms of discrimination.

Response to Supplemental Notes-Part 2 and 3

In the “Supplemental Notes Part 2”, I have to admit I had a little trouble grasping some of the examples. The first example of health care presented by Gesundheit! Included providing services without charge and without malpractice insurance being carried by the institute. I do not understand how they can run and stay afloat without the proper finances and assurances for their doctors. Other than that I think that it is a terrific concept. I wish that all hospitals were like that. Mental health is extremely important to the successful recovery and care of patients so I feel that this mission is a key to maintaining a strong mental health. The strengths it draws for the community are important as well because it provides an extra source of support.

I read a statistic in the Chicago Tribune this weekend that said 6 out of 100 children who graduate from the Chicago public school system will go to college. A rate of 0.06% is absolutely unacceptable. While there are monetary and family situations that may be a preventing factor, improving the quality of education is essential. I think that if more schools adopted the charter school method, there would be a vast enhancement in the education of these children.

If I understand the idea of “Intentional Communities” correctly then I think they would be a great asset to the nation. I think that the community determining to live and work together more cooperatively is important and that perhaps this is a solution to explore with racism. My only concern is that this idea of forming a town with the people you share views with could explode into an ugly form of discrimination. I fear that it would turn into a town of people who “agree to only allow in Christians” or “Identify only with Italians,” etc.

From “Supplemental Notes-Part 3” my favorite quote is probably the most famous on the page. John Donne’s immortal words, “No man is an island, entire of itself,” are important to remember when dealing with solving some of the community’s ills. Having and giving support to one another gets goals accomplished.

Appreciating Diversity Response (Rudkin, Chapter 5)

The Community Psychology Chapter on Appreciating Diversity was by far the most useful to my Research-Action Topic of racism. So for this response I will focus most of my writing on conveying the parts that rang truest and that I considered my own research.

One of the first barriers to overcome in discussing the differences among us is to find the words to talk about it. So often we, as a society and as individuals, tiptoe around the elephant in the room. If there is just meaningful discussion and acknowledgement of the existence of a problem that could be a huge first step. This is additionally hard when people feel they lack the terms to discuss the topic…how to you refer to different races? Black, Negro, African American? Mexican, Hispanic, Chicano? While adopting group names can enhance a positive collective identification, they can often trip people up. A statement that I found very interesting was the fact that the term diversity reflects an interest in different cultures, suggests positive regard for differences, and avoids dualisms, BUT it deflects attention from historic and ongoing inequities by implying harmony. Recognizing progress cannot blind us from the accomplishments that still need to be made.

Problems also arise with the way we use certain terms. The various “-isms” of society tend to focus almost solely on the victims, not the perpetrators. It forces people to view the lack of justice as something that is the victims fault, thus further aggravating the issues. Using the example of sexism in the “Men shut up” example was something that most of us do not think about but should! It is almost an unspoken understanding, which I myself have felt, that as a woman you do not speak up with your views, and if you do, you better prepare to be ridiculed for them or not taken seriously. I can imagine that those that are affected by other “–isms” feel the same way. In fact, understanding how the victim feels and seeing the faults of the aggressor was a useful tool in the example Jane Elliot’s experiment in educating children on racism. I think educating children to understand and recognize the issue is a great preventative measure for the future of this country.

When the author listed the various difficulties of achieving diversity, I immediately identified because I have thought of some of the same troubles while trying to plan my super-initiative: the legacy of silence, imprecise and changing terminology, false dualisms, complexity of similarities and differences within and across groups, and multiple influences on behavior.
Well those are the problems…but as for the solution? Focus on the GAINS; the strengths NOT the deficits. I agree that we need to learn that heated debate may be healthy, there may be more than a single right answer, and that win-win situations are possible. When we attend to different worldviews, our horizons expand and our solutions to problems can become more complete. My final excerpt to draw on is one that I think is a major factor in racism: Interactions with members of other groups will be more productive and satisfying if they flow from a base of understanding and respect rather than ignorance or fear.

Slife Response Paper

I found the information presented in Slife’s “managing Inescapable Values in Psychotherapy: Moving from Modernist Neutrality to Continental Dialogue” to be very valuable to the way that we look at society and each other. To briefly summarize the author, in the Premodern Era held the psychological perspective that values should be “subjective” and “absolute.” And just as most trends form, the values of “objectivity” and “relativity” in the Modern Era were a reaction to the Premodern values. So where else were the values of therapists to go but to neutrality?

There was no other direction left to take. While at first glance this approach seems wise, as Slife puts it, there is no scientific validation for science and approaching clients with no values is itself, a value. The problem that is that being a therapist who believes in not imposing their own believes and ideals upon their patient inadvertently do just that. Soon, the progress and success of the client is judged based on how much the client has changed to be “value free” like them.
I think this approach is not just prevalent in the therapists of today, but also in society as a whole. I feel that many in this country ostracize and criticize those who have strong “non-neutral” beliefs. I think that it is very important that we are aware of other people’s values instead of condemning them. It is possible to be knowledgeable of other values and ideas without losing your own. My issue of racism for example can even take the same basic concept I have expressed here. People are naturally different, there is no denying that. Many of the people trying to end racism are going about it by preaching colorblindness. Well what a paradox THAT creates because the acknowledgement of different colors is in the definition of being colorblind. Instead, as Slife said, engagement is the key.

Final Problem Definition Analyses (Version X)

The Following View Racism as a Major Problem

~Racism stems from the passing down of negative sterotypes from generation to generation. Many towns across the country were once Sundown Towns. The rippling effect of this history is what spreads racist ideas amongst the towns. The current demographics of towns without racial diversity display a less formal version of segregation. (Society's influence passed to the Individual. PDA focuses on the role of the aggressor).

~Racism is due to the social hierarchy. Because minorities tend to make less and are fewer in numbers, it is simply the domination of the more wealthy white majority over the less powerful. (Society and economic influence. PDA focuses on the role of the aggressor).

~Racism is the government's fault. While there need to be more laws enforcing diversity in bodies of government, businesses, and schools. As for the laws that are in place, racism continues becasue the government and police authorities do not enforce them. (Government influence. PDA focuses on the role of the aggressor).

~Racism is from media portrayals. If the media did not feed ideas of seperation or if it promoted more diversity, racism would disapate. (Media influence. PDA focuses on the role of the aggressor).

~Racism exists because of the lack of proper education on the topic. Schools and other groups fail to emphasize the importance of all races in past and current history, book selected for curriculum, etc. (Education influence. PDA focuses on the role of the aggressor).

~Racism stems soley from what parents teach their children. no matter what kids learn in school or from the media, the parets have the strongest influence over children. If the parents are racist, the children most likely will be too. Also, since it is the parents' genes being passed on to the individual, the infulences of biology make the children more inclined to think the same way. (Heredity/Biological influence. PDA focuses on the role of the aggressor).

~Racism is solely an individual act that stems from that specific person's issues with other races. It is not groups or the community's fault. (Individual influence. PDA focuses on the role of the aggressor).

~Racism is the individual's or community's way of dealing with the unknown. Racial slurs and discrimination become ways for the brain's natural process of mental shortcuts to generalize what they fear. (Psychological influence. PDA focuses on the role of the aggressor).

The Following View Racism as a Minor Issue, but Say it Does Exist

~Racism is a problem but not as big of one as everyone is making it. many of these so called racist situations are over dramatized, taken out of context, or making issues racial when they are not. (Individual influence. PDA focuses on the role of the victim).

~Racism is not a huge issue. The government, bussinesses and schools that implement laws like affirmative action or other race privilaged measures, only make matters worse. Such laws only create resentment toward the "privalged race." (Governmental influence. PDA focuses on the role of the aggressor).

~Racism has majorly decreased in our country since the Civil Rights Movement. It is time to focus our community concerns elsewhere. (Society influence. PDA focuses on the role of the aggressor).

The Following View Racism as a Non-Issue and as Non-Existant

~Racism does not occure anymore. Those that say it does are the problem. They only want attention and power to become the dominate group. (Society and Individual influence. PDA focuses on the role of the victim).

~Racism is not an issue. It is natural to self-segregate with those you identify with, and that is all it is. The idea that this mental function is racism is the individual's attempt to deal with and explain their own inadequacies. (Psychological influence. PDA focuses on the role of the victim).

~Racism is not what is occurring. The divisions of superior people are what God intended. The white majority is simply the superiority. (Society and Group influence. PDA focuses on the role of the aggressor).

Class Media Ethnography

a) Our friends are our rocks
b) Without the support, understanding and simple joys that our friends bring to our lives, we can be lonely and often lose the meaning of who we are and what we are doing. It is not that we should be defined by our friends, but that often they are the ones that help us stay on the track in our lives
c) In the Sex and the City episodes "An American Girl in Paris (Parts 1 and 2)" Carrie leaves everything behind in New York to be with a man in Paris. These episodes, which also served as the series finale, showed Carrie lost in Paris without her friends. It was more than she didn't know how to speak the language, or which places to eat at...it was about the fact that she did not have her friends to share it with. She was lonely and merely longed to just meet up for lunch and laugh with her dear friends that understood and cared for here. The support and happiness she got from her friends was irreplaceable.