Creative Piece ~ Mock Case File of a Crime Scene

The Forensic Psychology of Criminal Minds

Ramsland, Katherine M. The Forensic Psychology of Criminal Minds. New York: Berkley Boulevard, 2010. Print.

This book talks about the reality of forensic psychology as not seen on TV.  The book covers many different aspects of forensic psychology starting with the history of criminal profiling and building up from there to how to even go about developing a profile and how to use that profile on different types of crimes.  Some other topics that are covered include negotiation techniques, profiling on trial and profiling abroad and what to expect in the future from criminal profiling.

This is probably my best source for my project.  It is very informational and really helped clarify criminal profiling.  The book went into depth about some reasons or motives behind some of these killers, which is why I'm doing my project on criminal profiling in the first place.  The book also contains many different case studies done on individuals that I found rather intriguing.

Silence of the Lambs

The Silence of the Lambs. Dir. Jonathan Demme. Perf. Jodie Foster, Lawrence A. Bonney, Anthony Hopkins. Strong Heart/Demme Production, Orion Pictures Corporation, 1990. DVD.

The movie Silence of the Lambs is about  FBI agent, Clarice Starling, who is sent to talk to notorious serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lector, to try and get information out of him about a recent serial killer who skins his victims.  Lector doesn't make it easy for Clarice, he gives her the answers she is looking for in cryptic messages.  Once Clarice figures out Lector's game, she is able to solve the case.

This movie is very suspenseful and thrilling.  It can make you squirm in your chair, because of the graphic nature, but since it was made in 1991, they don't show much blood and guts.  This movie was made around the time that criminal profiling started to take off and many people started to take and interest in criminal profiling after this movie came out.  The movie is a little inaccurate about how criminal profiling in the FBI really works, but most movies now-a-days stretch the truth for better entertainment value.  The camera angles used really helped make this movie.

The Serial Killers

Vlatko. "Serial Killers." Top Documentary Films RSS. TDF, 2013. Web. 05 May 2013.

The Serial Killers documentary is a documentary about some the most infamous serial killers.  Some of the serial killers mentioned include Kenneth Bianchi, Ted Bundy and Henry Lee Lucas; they give first-hand accounts of their brutal crimes.  The documentary also examines the sadistic crimes of other lesser-known serial killers/murderers.

I found this documentary very chilling.  It makes me ask myself how people can harm other people in such a brutal manner.  Yet in a way, it is very interesting because of the fact that we don't believe we are capable of such horrors.  That is why I chose this topic, because it is a topic everyone is interested in but doesn't want to admit they are interested in it because of it's gruesome nature.  People are curious about things that aren't like themselves or the society they live in, so they take an interest in those things.  Which is why there are so many movies and TV shows about crazy, deranged psychopathic killers.      

Beautiful Malice

James, Rebecca. Beautiful Malice: A Novel. New York: Bantam, 2010. Print.

I read the book Beautiful Malice by Rebecca James.  The book revolves around the character Katherine Patterson.  Who has moved to a new city, changed her name and enrolled in a new school, all to escape her past.  Before the incident, Katherine had it all.  She was popular in school, had many friends, went to parties and had a boyfriend.  She even went by the name Katie.  The incident that occurred happened at a party that Katie was at.  Her sister, Rachel, who was only 12 begged Katie to let her come to the party.  Little did Katie know what was going to happen next.  Rachel ended up in a car with four unknown boys; she was completely drunk.  Since Katie was also drunk she need to find a ride home for her and Rachel.  Katie accepts the offer from the unknown boys to drive them home because her efforts to get Rachel to stand and walk are denied.  The ride home goes horribly wrong.  The boys drugged Rachel, drove the girls out in the middle of nowhere.  The leader locks Katie in a shed, but she finds a way to escape only to find the boys raping her sister.  Afraid that they will do the same to her, Katie runs to the nearest source of light for help.  Rachel ends up dead.  The media coverage of the case is unbearable.  To escape the media and try and forget her past, Katie changes her name to Katherine Patterson, moves to a new city, and enrolls in a new school.  While at the school she ends up becoming friends with the most popular girl in school, Alice.  But this relationship with Alice proves to be nothing but deadly, with twists and turns that even I didn't see coming. 

I absolutely loved this book!  My sister recommended that I read it because she said that it was good.  This book is a really good intro to my topic about psychology because this book is very psychological.  The fact that Katherine blames herself for her sisters murder makes for a compelling and haunting story.  I loved how the author picked such a rateable topic that many teenagers may be going through; it may not be as traumatic as murder but still a traumatic event in their life.  The interesting character in the story though is Alice.  In the beginning she is the popular girl, very outgoing and charismatic.  But Katherine soon finds out that Alice is a manipulative bitch.  Yet despite all that Alice has put Katherine through, she still deems Alice her friend.  Until Alice starts harassing her with things about the incident with Rachel.  Alice is an interesting person to observe because she exhibits many different behaviors.  This is how the book relates to my project about criminal profiling and forensic psychology; I want to know what compels people to do certain things and in the end of the book you find out what Alices' motives were.  Making the story that much creepier and engaging. 

Inside the Mind of a Sadistic Serial Rapist and Criminal

Video:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5ILlOXzVTg

In this Youtube video, retired FBI agent Peter Smerick talks about what it's like to be a criminal profiler.  He discusses how important criminal profiling can be in apprehending a criminal.  Criminal profiling was very prominent in the apprehension of the notorious James Mitchell DeBardelben.  He was known as "The Mall Passer." He was wanted by the secret service because he was counterfeiting twenty dollar bills.  What he would do was go from mall to mall and buy cheap items that only costed him around 2-3 dollars.  He would pay with the fake twenties and receive real money in return.  He was eventually apprehended, but was also charged with multiple other offenses like rape, kidnapping, and bank robbing.  He was active over an 18-year span.  Towards the end of the video is when we learn about why DeBardelben did what he did.  Smerick talks about how some of the women that he raped and murdered resembled his mother.  Smerick then makes the connection that DeBardelben must have had hated feelings towards his mother.

When I was watching this video and they mentioned James Mitchell DeBardelben as "The Mall Passer" I immediately recognized the name from my non-fiction book.  In my book, they only talked about him counterfeiting the money, not the fact that he also raped women.  I guess it just goes to show you that people can change who they are, and what they are into.  Peter Smerick mentioned in the video that many killers will change what they do because they aren't getting the same release or feeling out of it.  Which I think applies to everyone.  If you aren't that into playing basketball, then you aren't going to want to play it anymore, and so maybe you try playing a different sport.  We all go through phases, and some people just take them to the extreme.  

Inside the Mind of a Sadistic Serial Rapist and Criminal. Prod. Youtube. Perf. Peter Smerick. YouTube. YouTube, 14 July 2011. Web. 21 Apr. 2013.

Exploring the Mind of a Killer

Video:
 http://www.ted.com/talks/jim_fallon_exploring_the_mind_of_a_killer.html

This TED talk discussed the mind's of killers.  Jim Fallon gave this talk about the minds of killers, and talked about how he analyzes the brains of psychopaths along with brains of normal people; the people don't tell him what kind of brain he is looking at.  Three of the things he has noticed while looking at these brains is the interaction of genes, brain damage and the environment, and how all three of these things tie together.  The timing of when each of these things occurs is how you end up with a psychopathic killer.  He goes on to explain how all the brains that belonged to murderer's and serial killers all had damage to their orbital cortex, and contained the major violence gene called MAO-A.  This gene is sex-linked and is usually passed on by the mother to her off-spring.  Fallon also states how childhood experiences contribute a lot to the environment component.

I found this TED talk very informational.  It is always good to hear the biological understanding of what makes a psychopath a psychopath.  I agree with Fallon on how timing is everything, because when you are younger you encode traumatic situations a lot differently than an adult would.  And with the MAO-A violence gene, I was watching a CSI: episode and this serial killer was on trial and the killers lawyer was trying to blame the murders he committed on the fact that he had this MAO-A violence gene.  But it also turned out that one of the characters working for the crime lab also has that violence gene and he went on the stand and said how you can still have the gene and not kill people.  Overall this was a very good TED talk and it is full of good scientific information.

Exploring the Mind of a Killer. Prod. TED Talks. Perf. Jim Fallon. TED: Ideas worth Spreading. TED Conferences, LLC, Feb. 2009. Web. 21 Apr. 2013.

Psychology of Evil

Video:
 http://www.ted.com/talks/philip_zimbardo_on_the_psychology_of_evil.html

This TED talk was about evil.  The talk was given by Philip Zimbardo who discussed how easy it is for nice people to turn evil.  He uses the examples of what happened in the Abu Ghraib prison and shares the results of his own 1971 Stanford Prison Study.  In both cases the people conformed to the roles they were in, causing them to make choices that aren't socially acceptable.  Zimbardo ends his talk by talking about how easy it is to be a hero, and how anyone can do it.

I found this TED talk very engaging.  Especially since Philip Zimbardo was giving the talk because he experienced this happen first hand.  It is crazy to think that people can conform to certain roles in society and act in certain ways to play out those roles.  You try and say to yourself that you would never do something like that, but how do you know for sure.  If you were in a situation like that of the prison study or the Iraqi prison you too may fall into the conformity of the situation at hand.

The Psychology of Evil. Prod. TED Talks. Perf. Philip Zimbardo. TED: Ideas worth Spreading. TED  Conferences, LLC, Feb. 2008. Web. 21 Apr. 2013.

Serial Killer Poses as Nurse

Podcast:
 http://www.npr.org/2013/04/15/177029738/pretending-to-be-a-good-nurse-serial-killer-targeted-patients

In New Jersey, an arrested hospital nurse named Charlie Cullen was suspected of injecting patients with lethal doses of a variety of medications.  Cullen turned out to be a serial killer, murdering possibly hundreds of people in nine different hospitals over a 16 year period.  A journalist by the name of Charles Graeber spent six years investigating the Cullen case.  Graeber wrote the book, The Good Nurse, where he pieces together the elements of Cullen's story.  During the podcast, the host has Charles Graeber as a guest on his show, and they talk about his book and all the different facts Graeber learned about Cullen.  They also talked about why he may have done the things he did by referencing his hard childhood. 

This podcast was very interesting.  I found it very enjoyable to listen too and it kept me engaged.  The information that is talked about really helps my project about why people kill and what is going on in killers heads.  They really get into the psychological part of Charlie Cullen and I think that is a good thing.  Even though he was a serial killer, they reference how good of a nurse he was because he was a serial killer.  He would take risks and do the things that others wouldn't because they were afraid of failure.  I read an article that I posted about how serial killers may be working right along side the rest of us and this real life event supports that claim. 

Graeber, Charles. "Pretending To Be A 'Good Nurse' Serial Killer Targeted Patients." Audio blog post. NPR. NPR, 15 Apr. 2013. Web. 19 Apr. 2013.

Criminal Profiling Lecture

Lecture:
 Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQFcjHb6JjM
 Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwcuR_5-V_Q
 Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVZmS51fdWU
 Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_1fy15TqZs
 Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3N_8wP7uls

This lecture that I found on Youtube is about criminal profiling.  Since the lecture is broken up into parts I while summarize what Eric Silk talks about in each segment.  In Part 1, he starts off the presentation by talking about the orgins of profiling and goes through the first systematic profile done by James Brussel of George Metesky.  In Part 2, Silk talks about the BSU (Behavioral Science Unit).  Recommends two books to read.  This is were he gets into the definitions of profiling; there are four different definitions that he talks about.  He ends the part by sharing a personal story about profiling.  In Part 3 you learn about Modus Operandi, or most widely known as MO or mode of operation.  Eric Silk tells another story related to MO.  Then he goes on to talk about the signature aspects to a crime.  The different signatures done by the criminals and how that helps create a profile.  In Part 4 you learn about the three different crime scene categories: organized, disorganized and a mix of both.  In Part 5, he talks about polygraphs, lie detector tests and hypnosis.  That concludes his lecture on criminal profiling. 

I found this lecture particularly interesting.  A lot of the content Silk talked about, is covered in the non-fiction book I'm reading.  But that isn't a bad thing because while watching this lecture you get to hear a lot of stories that are related to what he is teaching.  It was really funny how the first thing Silk talks about is how there is no such job as a profiler.  It is a made up profession for TV.  What a profiler does is limitament but the actual job title doesn't exist.  My favorite part would have to be Part 3, because that is when you learn about why a criminal does what he does.  It is the more psychological way of figuring out who the criminals are.  You get to know who they are on a deeper level and understand them.    

PSYC 2450 Criminal Profiling 2-1. Dir. Eric Silk. Perf. Eric Silk. Youtube. Youtube, 23 May 2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.
PSYC 2450 Criminal Profiling 2-2. Dir. Eric Silk. Perf. Eric Silk. Youtube. Youtube, 24 May 2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.
PSYC 2450 Criminal Profiling 2-3. Dir. Eric Silk. Perf. Eric Silk. Youtube. Youtube, 24 May 2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.
PSYC 2450 Criminal Profiling 2-4. Dir. Eric Silk. Perf. Eric Silk. Youtube. Youtube, 24 May 2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.
PSYC 2450 Criminal Profiling 2-5. Dir. Eric Silk. Perf. Eric Silk. Youtube. Youtube, 24 May 2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.

What is Considered Normal?

Reisz, Matthew. "Culture: The Subject of Murder." Times Higher Education. N.p., 21 Mar. 2013. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.

This article was written very differently than all my other articles.  The article talked about how society's prejudices, spoken and unspoken, have influenced how we perceive people's actions.  In the early part of the article, the author talks about being normal and what we perceive as normal.  We just assume that people who kill others aren't normal because.... Because why?  People have been calling people murderers for a long time, so our society has just grown up with knowing what is normal and what isn't.  The article discusses how the different stereotypes we have know, were around a long time ago.  Back then, people who killed children were the lowest of the low.  And today those people still are.  The basis of this article is to reveal that culture also has an impact on criminals and their behavior.

This article was written at a very high level, so there were many words that I had to look up.  But for the most part this article was very, very good.  It went about crime differently than all my other articles.  The author looked at societies prejudices and how that was linked to criminals and their behavior.  It was refreshing to read something different.  The article made me stop and think a few times because I had never thought about the topic that way before.  Overall the article was very well-written and I would recommend it.    

The Psychology of a Jared Loughner

Kassin, Saul. "The Psychology of a Jared Loughner." CNN. Cable News Network, 18 Jan. 2011. Web. 11 Apr. 2013.

This CNN article talks about Jared Loughner and what makes people, men specifically, so aggressive.  Jared Loughner is the man responsible for the Tucson, Arizona massacre.  A question that many people had, including me, was why.  What would motivate a human being to want to inflict pain onto others?  In this article, author Saul Kassin discusses how human behavior is complex and that many factors together cause tragedies like school shootings and massacres to happen.  According to Kassin, people are entitled to be aggressive, it is a natural human instinct.  But there are certain types of people who don't know how to handle all that aggression, and they end up with serious consequences.  Individuals prone to violence usually portray antisocial behavior, and as adults they lack empathy or anything close to a conscience.  And sure enough Loughner isolated himself from his friends in high school and turned to alcohol and drugs for his escape.  His behavior also indicated paranoia and deep-seated mistrust towards the government.  Kassin further explains how statistically men are more violent than women, and that may be due to the fact that men have testosterone, but that isn't certain yet.  Yet one person doesn't just wake up one morning and plan on killing a numerous amount of people.  A trigger needs to occur.  A trigger could be anything from being socially rejected to jealousy to loss of self-esteem.  Note that people learn from example and that human nature is a complex web that still has many unknown areas.

I was very impressed with this CNN article.  It covered many of the different topics that I was looking for.  The article was very informational and contained scientific data that supported the topic being discussed.  I'm glad that instead of focusing just on Jared Loughner, like the Saddam article did, the author chose to write about the type of person Loughner is, and how that type of person comes to want to kill a large number of people.  I would most defiantly recommend this article because it is very well-written and the author knows what he is talking about.

Repeat Offenders

Hall, Gaynor. "You Might Also Like." WGNTV. N.p., 20 Mar. 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2013.

This article discussed how the many of the people arrested for many of the Chicago homicides are repeat offenders.  Meaning they have been arrested before for similar crimes.  The article then goes on to discuss how these repeat offenders grew up in areas where violence was the answer to everything.  A man by the name of Jerry Austin is quoted in the article saying he got his first gun at the age of 12.  Many of the repeat offenders are kids.  Which is why the city of Chicago is working together to try and help clean-up the streets by seizing illegal guns.  That way the gangs will have to solve there problems another way rather than just shooting and killing the threat.  But the thing the Chicago area is facing is people will only change if they want to change, so trying to get the kids and gangs to change their ways is going to be a challenge.

I enjoyed reading this article.  It was very insightful.  I admire the city of Chicago for wanting to clean-up the streets.  And law enforcement is right in the respect that these repeat offenders start when they are young.  One of the other articles on my blog discusses the moral development of criminals, and how they don't develop their moral reasoning fully when they are younger.  When they are young is when they are supposed to learn how to develop good morals, but in the streets of Chicago it seems like it may not always happen that way.  The kids get involved in things that are illegal and once they are old enough to realize what they are doing, it is too late to get out.

Psychology of Saddam

Todd, Brian. "Psycholgoy of Saddam." CNN. Cable News Network, 1 July 2004. Web. 11 Apr. 2013.

This article discussed the profile of Saddam done by Jerrold Post, founder of the CIA's psychological profiling division.  Post describes Saddam's overall physical appearance as intense, focused and that he's concentrating.  When Post watched the video of Saddam after his capture, Saddam was obedient and went along with everything that was required.  This side of Saddam had never been seen before yet this is the core Saddam psychologically.  Just like many others something in Saddam's past made him snap and it was in a court room before a judge that transformed him and made him into a confident, out-spoken leader.

I honestly was disappointed with this article.  I thought it was going to be more about figuring out the profile of Saddam.  As a person you always wonder what is going through their mind that makes them do the things they do, so this topic really interested me.  The way the author went about telling about the profile done on Saddam was really quite confusing.  Some of the language and sentence structure was hard to follow.  I wouldn't recommend reading this article if you are interested in finding out why Saddam did what he did.

A Look inside the Criminal Justice System: Forensic Psychology

"A Look inside the Criminal Justice System: Forensic Psychology." MannfordEagle.com. N.p., 19 Mar. 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2013.

This article talked about the characteristics needed to be a good forensic psychologist.  You must be good at paying attention to detail and be very observant.  You must also be compassionate because you come in contact with many different types of people who have all been through different things.  The most important characteristic is to have an interest in law and public service.  Lastly, they must have sound ethics and values.  If someone is interested in forensic psychology the Chicago School of Professional Psychology offers an online-blended Master's in Forensic Psychology.

As I read this article, I found myself nodding my head and agreeing with every single one of recommended characteristics.  If you are going to look at crime scenes and watch how people carry themselves, you have to be very observant and pay close attention to detail.  I always thought it would be very cool to be a forensic psychologist.  I do obtain some of the characteristics recommended, but I'm not the most observant person, which is the most important just behind having an interest in law enforcement.

The Ultimate Male Chauvinist

Samenow, Stanton E., Dr. "The Male Criminal's Choice of Women." Inside the Criminal Mind. Psychology Today, 17 Aug. 2012. Web. 11 Apr. 2013.

This article talks about the two different ways or patterns that Male Criminal's follow when choosing women.  One pattern is the male will pick a women who is very much like themselves.  This relationships tend to not last very long because   The second pattern, which is the most common, usually involves the male finding a women who is insecure and emotionally needy.  These relationships can be very deadly because at first they start off like a fairy tale, but once you do something to set him off.  He turns into this controlling monster who makes you feel like they only do the things they do because of you; getting you to believe that everything is your fault and you are to blame. 

When I saw the title of the article, I thought this was going to be about serial killers and how they choose their victims.  But I was wrong.  I'm not disappointed because the article was still very intersting.  The article was also sad because it sucks to think about people living in relationships that are very male dominant.  Women deserve to know that they have worth in this world and I feel like men take advantage of the fact that sometimes we do need that male support in our lives, and they abuse it.  This article was very eye opening, but you also have to realize that every guy who is nice to you isn't a criminal.  You just have to use your head and if something doesn't feel right or the guy is really mysterious, then the red light should turn on and you should get out.  Just remember safety first!    

Forensic Psychology

"What Psychology Is Used to Study Criminals?" PsychTronics. N.p., 12 Jan. 2013. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.

This article described what Forensic Psychology is and what it is used for.  Forensic Psychology is used to study criminals and in turn is then called criminal profiling.  Criminal profiling is very important in the fact that criminal pofilerers are responsible for developing psycholgical profiles of offenders based on the crime scene.  A criminal profile is then used by enforcement to assist in the apprehension of the offender.  The article also mentions how the criminal can be labeled as disorganized, organized or a combination of the two.  Criminals who are organized thed to be the people you least expect because they often live with a partner and are socially adept.  A stressful situtaion is usually the trigger.  Criminals who are disorganized tend to kill of the fly.  Meaning they don't have a preferance of who they kill or harm, they will take whoever they can.  Usually because it helps detach themselves from the crime; making it easier to commit.  A criminal profile is just an outline and is not set in stone.   

I really enjoyed reading this article because I am a big fan of the tv series Criminal Minds, which is a show about criminal profiling.  It's really interesting how certain things that people do can tell you so much about them.  To be a criminal profiler you must be able to pay really close attention to detail and be good at finding patterns.  That is basically what a criminal profile is based off of; patterns.  I always thought it would be really fun to be a forensic psycholgist, but I don't think I could deal with seeing crime scenes on a daily basis.  It would be fun to work for the FBI though!   

The Psychology of Crime

Roy, Saberi. "The Psychology of Crime." Ezine Articles. N.p., 11 Sept. 2008. Web. 5 Apr. 2013.

This article talked about the social-personal-moral dimensions of criminal behavior as well as what are criminals true motives to commit crimes.  The social aspect has to do with family and the environment the criminal interacts with.  For example, a child could choose to be involved in social things that are positive like art, sports and knowledge.  Or the child could become involved in the negative things like drugs, crime and alcohol.  Whichever path the child chooses is all due to how they have been treated at home and by their family.  The personal aspect deals with the person’s personality and dispositions.  Personality disorders are often a big factor in criminal behavior because the criminals try to escape reality through their criminal behaviors.  The last aspect, moral, talked about as the criminal is developing as a child they fail to develop the proper moral reasoning the average child develops.  Meaning they don't properly learn what is morally right and wrong and are constantly looking to break the law and challenge authority.  Some of the motives that drive people to engage in criminal activity include:   jealousy/envy, frustration, mental disorder, personal failures, family environment, influence of drugs/alcohol and social groups.  But the main thing is that the motives behind each criminal act are different for each criminal. 

I really enjoyed reading this article.  I found it very insightful and it makes a lot of sense.  Your childhood and childhood experiences really make up who you are.  An example of this is seen in the tv show Criminal Minds.  One of the agents, Morgan, was sexually abused as a child.  His life could have gone one of two ways.  He could become a criminal or a person that catches them.  He chose to help catch the criminals were as others don't take the same route he did.  I'm in AP Psychology now and when I read the paragraph on the moral reasoning of criminals, it makes sense.  Obviously something went wrong along the way and that made the person not develop their moral reasoning fully.  The first step of moral reasoning is avoiding punishment and obedience and if you can't fully develop how to avoid being punished and to do what you are told then you may become active in committing criminal acts. 

Psychos at Work?!

Keats, Jonathon. "Caution: Psychos at Work." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 14 June 2006. Web. 05 Apr. 2013.

This article was about how many psychopaths are bettter businessmen than your regular average joe.  The reasoning behind it, has to do with the characteristics that psychopaths posses.  At times, the business world can be very viscious, and psychopaths are more will to take risks and strive in that cutthorat environment.  But you cannot just look at a person and call them a psychopath becuase that is simply unreasonable; a casual diagnosis is impossible.

After reading this I am not really surprised.  I don't know if it's just how psychopaths are portrayed in the movies and on tv shows, but psychopaths are very charasmatic people, who are usually very organized and generally show little to no emotion.  Plus like the article said, they are able to take more risks because that is just how they are wired.  It is truely impossible to tell if someone is a psychopath just by looking at them because they appear to be so normal.  Which gets me thinking; if they don't look any different than you and I, then what is wrong with them mentally that would make them want to do what they do?   

What is "Evil"?

Stanton, Samenow E., Dr. ""Evil" Exists, but Not as a Diagnosis." Psychology Today. N.p., 14 Mar. 2013. Web. 3 Apr. 2013.

This article talks about the idea of good vs evil.  How our society has grown accustomed to that idea by making movies that show good tiumphing over the evil villan or bad guy.  Evil isn't a disorder you can label someone with, yet evil people still exist in the world.  There is a criminal spectrum that the author talks about ranging from petty crimes to mass murders.  She then goes into discussing how different criminals along the spectrum see themselves.  In a few short words the criminals don't consider themselves "evil" because to them being "evil" is defined in a totally different way.  Which is why they are able to do the things they do, because in their own minds they can rationalize their behavior and actions. 

While I was reading this article I found a lot of the infromation really interesting.  For instance, a quote from one of the criminals quoted in the article was, "Crime is like ice cream; it's delicious."  That comment really took be aback.  It made me wonder why these people think this way and how they can.  What happened in their lifes that they need to express themselves by inflicting pain and harm onto others.  That is going to be my focus in this project. 

The Assessment

“Instead she just looks at me.  My feet my legs my arms my head, her eyes keep sliding over my whole me like she’s counting.  ‘What?’  I say.  She doesn’t say a word.  She leans over, she doesn’t even kiss me, she just touches her face to mine till I can’t tell whose is whose.  My chest is going dangadangadang.  I won’t let go of her.” (150) 

Donoghue, Emma. "Dying." Room: A Novel. New York: Little, Brown and, 2010. 150. Print.

        Room is a story about five year old Jack and his mother.  Jack’s mother was kidnapped and kept in a small room, where she eventually gives birth to Jack.  Room describes the lifeline of their struggle to escape their caper and how they deal with the aftermath.  After seven years of being locked up, Jack’s mother has had enough and comes up with an escape plan based upon the book, Count of Monte Cristo.  The plan involves Jack pretending to play dead in order to get out of the small room and get help.  The plan works.  Adjusting to the real world is not going to be easy for both of them, but they have each other and the incredible mother-son bond to keep them strong in any environment.  That is what the passage is describing above; the unconditional love between mother and child is so incredible powerful that nothing, not even the change in environment, can change it.  

Emma Donoghue, author of Room, wrote an amazing survival story about overcoming your fears and the bond between a mother and her child.  The passage I chose above clearly shows that bond between Jack and his mother right before he is about carry out their escape plan and how much they rely on each other.  At first glance this bond can seem rather strange because most parents aren’t as close as Jack and his mother are in the story because of different circumstances.  Donoghue is showing the reader that environment you raise your child in can make all the difference in forming a good bond with them.  Granted the small room that Jack and his mother were locked in is not an ideal environment, but Jack’s mother made sure to make it a kid friendly environment that would help Jack grow and flourish.  That bond between Jack and his mother is tested, because Jack finds out relatively quickly that the things done in the real world are done differently than they were in the small room.  But I feel that only makes the bond between Jack and his mom that much more special because Jack must now rely on his mother for support to understand the norm of society.  This is important because it helps you understand why certain things happen in the book.  Like why she would risk Jack’s own life to escape, and why she would overdose on her pain killers.  

This model capstone project has been very fun and entertaining.  I really liked reading the short story, the non-fiction and fiction book.  What made it enjoyable was because the books and short story were spread out throughout the whole project.  The short story was a nice way to start the project.  I absolutely love the blog.  It is a very creative way of keeping all our assignments organized.  Plus it allows us to express ourselves.  There was nothing about this project that I disliked.  I did learn that there is more to the environment than global warming and the ozone.  It is really crazy how many different types of chemicals we are exposed to on a daily basis and there is really nothing we can do to ignore them.  I can’t wait to do it with on a topic that I am really interested in learning more about! 

Slow Death by Rubber Duck

My reaction to the book Slow Death by Rubber Duck: The Secret Danger of Everyday Things was very eye opening and intriguing.  I knew about all the toxins that could be in your body because of the everyday things that we do, but what really fascinated me was the fact that the authors made themselves the test subjects.  The authors poured themselves into this book and it just goes to show how passionate about the topic of pollution they are.  This book also opened my eyes to the historical part of pollution and how pollution has been with us for many years and will stay with us for many more.  It was cool to learn about how different countries handled pollution and how they overcame it; Like in Europe when they came up with sanitation for the water ways.  What also surprised me was how no country really wanted to be the first to address the BPA issue in baby bottles and plastics.  It just goes to show you how grey of an area the issue of pollution is and why many government officials won’t address it.    

Online I found many different reviews of the book, Slow Death by Rubber Duck: The Secret Danger of Everyday Things.  Some readers on Amazon have said that this book is eye-opening and very well put together, while some think the complete opposite.  One reader commented by saying “the authors mean well, but it is very poorly written and they don’t approach the problems in a scientific way”.  On goodreads.com a reader commented that this book was funny, thought-provoking and incredibly disturbing.  The Oprah Magazine wrote a review for this book saying how far pollution as come through the years that we can no longer see it and how it should be a serious concern to all of us. 

Can BPA be responsible for Asthma in Children?

Smith, Stephanie. "Study Finds Link between BPA and Asthma." The Chart RSS. N.p., 1 Mar. 2013. Web. 02 Mar. 2013.

BPA is found in the lining of many different plastics.  Now after the latest study done by the Colombia Center for Children's Environmental Health, there is a strong possibility of a link between BPA detected in children and later breathing problems.  There was a study done on a group of 568 mothers and their children by taking urine samples.  Researchers found that a child's chances of having asthma were increased if BPA was found in their urine at ages 3, 5 and 7.  Also if BPA was measured in the urine at age 3, the chances of wheezing by ages 5 and 6 were increased.  From the study, the researchers concluded that there is a positive association between BPA and breathing problems.

A quote from the article, "BPA is believed to be present in almost everyone in the United States because the chemical is in so many products".  Now this doesn't mean we all are going to have breathing problems, it just means that when you stop and think, we probably have a lot more than just BPA floating around in our bodies.  Harmful chemicals are in many household products.  Companies try and eliminate exposing us to these harmful chemicals by not making their products with them, but the alternative chemicals they use instead may also hurt us.  For every good thing there are consequences and we just can't avoid these chemicals completely; it is our lifestyle now.  

Intensive Care Linked to BPA Exposure in Newborns

Raloff, Janet. "Intensive Care Linked to BPA Exposure in Newborns." Science News. N.p., 22 Feb.  2013. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.

This article was about neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) that may be using devices that expose newborn babies to large doses of BPA.  Many of the devices used in the NICU like, breathing tubes, intravenous drug delivery lines and enclosed incubators, are made of plastic.  Many different types of plastic can contain BPA.  One of the best theories of BPA exposure was the level of care the baby received and the number of devices used to give the care.  A nurse and exposure-science researcher Susan Duty and her team studied 55 infants who were in the NICU in Boston.  They found out that the babies treated with four or more devices in the NICU had three times as much BPA as babies treated with three or less devices.  The team also discovered that the babies born prematurely had higher BPA levels because they aren’t able to break down the compound.  

This article only further concludes how dangerous BPA can be.  We send our newborn babies to the NICU to save them, but when we send them there, they are being exposed to BPA and further affecting their situation.  I felt this article only further concludes that there are harmful chemicals in everything, even the things that help us.  This is scary because that means there is no way to avoid becoming exposed to them.  

BPA Controversy

Raloff, Janet. "Blood Levels of BPA Become Source of Controversy." Science News. N.p., 17 Feb. 2013. Web. 22 Feb. 2013.

This article was about how the testing that was done for how much BPA humans actually ingest and encounter may have been inaccurate.  This was discovered at the February 16 symposium when new data was reported.  According to the new data, the old results appeared to be roughly 1,000 times higher than what most people actually encounter.  Toxicologist and symposium organizer, Justin Teeguarden, wonders if the high amount of BPA found on his first test was because of high exposure or contamination.  This is a big issue because studies have linked BPA exposures with cardiovascular changes, altered behavior in children, prediabetic symptoms and reproductive impairments.  To this day no one has identified what amount of exposure to BPA is safe and what isn’t.  So if you ask me, this issue is very, very important. 

Coming into this article I didn’t know what to expect.  I had heard about BPA before and how it’s supposedly bad for you, but never truly understood it.  After reading this article, I am well aware as to how much bigger of a deal BPA is.  You never really think about the things that you can’t see because you can’t see them.  BPA is one of those things.  It’s scary to think about a thing that we can’t see, in the everyday things that we use, that is causing these side effects in humans.  What’s even scarier is that the scientists don’t have a good handle on testing for BPA, so the amount of BPA we are exposed to everyday is unknown at the moment.   

Environmentally Friendly?

I have honestly never really thought about our environmental issues very much.  It’s not that I don’t care about the environment, I do, but I’m just not as into it as some people.  I have always wondered what it means to be environmentally friendly.

What does it mean to be environmentally friendly?  Now-a-days you see many products with “environmentally friendly” stamped on the bottle or packaging or another common phrase is “made from recycled material”.  And it’s not like these stamps are small either, the companies will make sure that consumers can see that their companies are going green.   Many people just feed off the fact that many companies are going green and taking environmental precautions because they like the label of saving the environment.  What makes that bottle of soap different than a regular one?  Don’t get me wrong making containers out of recycled materials is very cool and a good way to make use of our unused materials, but  most people don’t realize is that being environmentally friendly is a lot harder than it looks.

We all know that driving our cars emits carbon dioxide into the air.  Looking outside the computer lab window, I see our school parking lot full of students’ vehicles that they drove to school today.  I bet at least one of those students is neighbors with or lives close to another student who drives.  They could be environmentally friendly and get a car pool started, so they can help eliminate the carbon dioxide that is emitted into the air.  Or once it gets warmer the students that live close enough could bike to school.  It’s the little things that you can do to help the environment.

Some of those things can include: simply planting a tree, recycling, picking up garbage that you see lying on the ground and throwing it in a garbage can and biking places instead of driving.  The truth about any problem is there is always a solution but that solution will always come with consequences.