Category Archives: Psychology Matters

02.05.18
by

Help Raise Funds for a Sensory Room for Autistic Children at Miami Int’l Airport

Leadership Miami’s Team 2 – Miami Beat – is raising funds to build a Sensory Room for Autistic kids at Miami International Airport!

brickiln_1

Support this Cause! 

March 6, 2018 – Connecting for a Cause Fundraiser – $35 donation per person

http://www.miamichamber.com/events/connecting-cause-leadership-miami-fundraiser

For more information on this project, Follow Team Miami Beat on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/Miami-Beat-Leadership-Miami-716114485248766/

Leadership Miami’s Team 2 – Miami Beat – is raising funds to build a Sensory Room at Miami International Airport!

We are pleased to announce that we will be building a Multi-sensory Room at MIA to benefit families traveling with children who suffer from developmental disabilities, such as autism. MIA will be just the third airport in the country with these facilities.

We’re partnering with The Arc of the United States and the UM-NSU Center for Autism and Related Disabilities for the clinical/therapeutic aspects of the facility. We’re partnering with YOU to get it finished.

If you are in the Miami area, you are invited to a Shark Tank-style event, Connecting for a Cause, on March 6, 2018, presented by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce.
https://www.facebook.com/events/966320223532646/

At this time, we need donations to kick-start our purchase of therapy items/inventory for the room. Donations can be made at the following link by scrolling down and clicking on Leadership Miami Team 2’s “Donate” button: http://www.southfloridaprogressfoundation.org/make-a-donat…/

We will be seeking in-kind donations of building supplies, design/artistic talent, and skilled trades in the near future. Feel free to inbox me if you have any questions about the project or how else you can get involved.

11.18.13
by

HAZING as BULLYING

HAZING as BULLYING

Recently, unless you have been living under a rock, or in the woods preparing for a Zombie Apocalypse, some NFL and college football players have ‘come out of the locker room’, and their teams have come under fire, after very serious allegations of hazing have surfaced.

Everyone seems to be weighing in on the topic, so I figured why the hell not?

Heck, Jeremy Shockey has been telling people about this issue for YEARS.

Definition time for those of you who don’t know but think you may have a good idea:

Hazing: humiliating and sometimes dangerous initiation rituals, esp. as imposed on college students seeking membership to a fraternity or sorority.

Bullying: to use superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants.

Based on these two definitions, the separation between hazing and bullying is that bullying has no purpose of initiation, but otherwise, hazing and bullying are the same abuse of power.

Some disagree, based on the premise that hazing is something that eventually STOPS once you are considered part of the team/group/fraternity/club, and its intended goal is to promote solidarity and shared experience between members based on a sense of belonging since everyone has been through the SAME initiation.

In that vein, Hazing is TECHNICALLY a more socially accepted term considering the negative connotations that are attached to the word ‘bullying’.

So where is the line drawn? Do you feel that hazing is simply bullying that society deems as acceptable?

__________________________________________________________

The high-profile parties to the current controversy have brought this distinction to the forefront of our current life debates.

The Miami Dolphins suspended Richie Incognito over alleged bullying and harassment, after, over a prolonged period, he is said to have repeatedly abused tackle Jonathan Martin, leaving voicemail messages on his phone which included such abuse as, “Hey, wassup, you half n—– piece of (expletive)…” and “(I’m going to) slap your (expletive) mouth. (I’m going to) slap your real mother across the face (laughter).”  Incognito had even intimidated Martin into paying $15,000 for a meal in Las Vegas that he didn’t even attend.

FULL STORY

According to one op-ed piece in the New York Times they are one and the same:  “Hazing is simply another name for bullying, and it is unacceptable in all its forms. Bullies will do only what bystanders allow; it is a group process and a social dynamic that grips a victim’s entire world.”

I URGE you to read this quick post on Hazing and the top Myths surrounding such practices.

Hazing is not limited to certain areas or disciplines – the military, athletic teams, marching bands, professional schools and so on all have a history of hazing members.

Hazing is not authorized by universities or the NFL, most of whom have strict no-hazing policies.  However, group sports and fraternal organizations, traditionally, have their own internal guidelines, their own “initiations” to supposedly strength their bond.

Even NFL players have stated that they EXPECTED to be hazed, whether same did or did not actually happen.

EXAMPLE: When Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith reported to his first training camp two years ago, he anticipated being hazed by veteran teammates. He “had heard the stories and watched shows like HBO’s “Hard Knocks” that glorified the behavior and was prepared to be rudely welcomed to the NFL”. To his surprise, since of course the Ravens are AWESOME anyway, the rookies were welcomed by leaders like Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs, who made it clear that the team had more important things to worry about. STORY HERE.

My sorority, Tri Delta, has a no-tolerance policy for hazing – unlike some others whose pledges would have to do embarrassing, yet not harmful, activities.  However, I witnessed a lot of hazing in the other Greek organizations.  Usually, this was light-hearted, such as making new pledges clean the house, or sing in a public place; however, there is a MUCH darker side.

There are times when hazing goes so over the line to amount to assault, battery, and even permanent physical and mental injury.

Take the case of Cameron Fagen, 19-year-old Grand View college student who was a member of the BOWLING team.

First thought? Seriously, hazing in BOWLING? What do they do, roll you down the lane? Put itching powder in your bowling shoes?

NOPE. THEY KICK THE SHIT OUT OF YOU AND BREAK YOUR JAW!! 

__________________________________________________________

Fagen has sued the university (GOOD!) after he was severely beaten by a group of fellow athletes AND IT WAS CAPTURED ON VIDEO!. Apparently, the incident “started after some rough housing among friends. It ended with duct-taped Fagen punched, kicked, beaten with a broom handle and rolled up in a carpet before being left bleeding and injured in a dorm common room. The diminutive Fagen suffered a broken jaw.” (Des Moines Register)

HE IS DAMN RIGHT TO BE SUING – it’s freaking criminal!  The video is DISGUSTING and shows a total lack of humanity in every damn person in that room. It is assault.  It is battery.  I think the students who did this act were definitely not HAZING – they went way too far to call their actions something less than repulsive, inhuman and sickening (actually more like, they went insane).

The Huffington Post refers to this incident as BULLYING. Other outlets claim HAZING.

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE???

08.28.13
by

Former Teacher Gets 30 Days for Raping Student, who Later Committed Suicide.

8-29-13 – RIP Cherice Morales, 17, who took her own life in February 2010 while the following case was pending.

Image

READ THE ARTICLE – Video also included.

Directly from National Voices for Equality Education & Enlightenment
“This is one of those cases where we should sit back and question the letter of the law. A Senior High School teacher who pleaded guilty to raping a 14-year-old student, who later killed herself, has been sentenced to 30 days in jail by a judge who said the victim was “older than her chronological age” and “as much in control of the situation” as the teacher. Really? Really? Are you kidding?!?!?!” ~~~ Jowharah Sanders, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

____________________________________________________________

WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO!

She was a MINOR! This EXPERIENCE led her to KILL HERSELF and the judge is putting partial blame on HER?

______________________________________________________________

THANK YOU VERY MUCH, District Judge G. Todd Baugh, for putting a child abuser back into our community.

Here is a chronology of events from dailymail.co.uk:

  • Cherice Morales was a troubled 14-year-old high school freshman when teacher Stacey Dean Rambold, then 49, groomed her for sex
  • Cherice killed herself at 17 while the case was pending and her mother says the sex abuse by the teacher was ‘a major factor’ in her suicide
  • Rambold entered a sex offender treatment program, but was kicked out after having unsupervised visits with minors
  • Judge Todd Baugh disagreed with the prosecution of Rambold and handed out a 30 day sentence
  • Prosecutors had asked for 10 years
  • Judge, 66, announced he is running for re-election and is so far unopposed.

HERE IS WHAT I WANT TO KNOW.

What was Baugh’s reasoning that a 14-year-old girl below the state’s age of consent had an equal share of control of the relationship? 

“The judge’s reasons are his reasons and his reasons alone. He has broad authority under state law, given the proper criteria,” as Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito said.

THIS IS NOT ENOUGH!

While the judge said he listened to statements given by Morales before her death and believed that while she was a troubled youth, she was “as much in control of the situation” as Rambold and was “older than her chronological age.” SERIOUSLY? Since WHEN may a 14-year-old “groomed” by the teacher for sex, able to CONSENT??

Baugh further stated that “he was not convinced that the reasons for Rambold’s termination from treatment were serious enough to warrant the 10-year prison term prosecutors recommended”.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Image

Here is the RAPIST – Stacey Dean Rambold – Billings, Montana.

The school district had warned Rambold four years earlier to avoid touching or being alone with female students, it was later revealed. AND THIS WAS NOT A WARNING SIGN?

Montana District Court Judge G. Todd Baugh sentenced Stacey Dean Rambold to 15 years in prison for sexual intercourse without consent, with all but 31 days suspended. He gave Rambold credit for one day already served.

Judge Baugh announced on Monday that Cherice Morales seemed just as responsible for a sexual relationship with her teacher Stacey Dean Rambold as the teacher was – even though Cherice was troubled and only 14 at the time. He also pronounced that the girl, who killed herself two years later, appeared to be ‘older than her chronological age.’

AGAIN – WHAT was this judge THINKING! 15 years reduced to 30 days?  AND a credit for 1 day served??  

SERIOUSLY – A 14–YEAR-OLD WAS DEEMED “”older than her chronological age” and “as much in control of the situation” AS THE TEACHER?!

This is why our juvenile justice system is so ineffective and the laughing stock of the country.

____________________________________________________________

P.S. County Attorney Twito told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he would not appeal the judge’s sentence.

P.P.S. The school district paid Cherice’s mother $96,000 as part of a wrongful death settlement. NICE TO KNOW THAT IS THE GOING RATE FOR THIS CRIME.

SMH – there HAD to be something more to this; however, a VICTIM should not be further penalized by the system – she obviously was traumatized and I believe the judge and the perpetrator are responsible for this verdict and her suicide. Personal Opinion.

PLEASE WEIGH IN.

08.16.13
by

An Unquiet Mind – Poem by Angelina Wright

An Unquiet Mind

by Angelina Audrey Anne Wright

Can you imagine a head that would never shut off?
Can you imagine a mind that remained active far after the body required rest?
Can you imagine if you ran a million miles an hour 24 hrs. a day?
How could you ever find what is best?
I have an illness called Bipolar disorder, making me CRAZY by society.
Having a disorder that makes this happen is no gift.
Bipolar and a rapid cycle is a curse beyond what most could handle.
It will cause a huge rift
In the life of anyone who has this illness, ask me how I know……
My life is a disorganized chaotic mess I wade my way threw each day.
I hate the fact that my memory is shot. I hate the fact that some things make no sense.
I hate the fact that without my friends and love sometimes I have a hard time finding a way
To want to live to want to go on… sometimes my mind is so clouded I have not a clue.
I lose sight of me and who I am
I just want to lie down and give up the fight…
However my unquiet mind has its good days and it too wants to find the way
To settle these crazy differences that nobody else can see and make them right.
An unquiet mind some days is far clearer than those who are looking in…
I just wish the world would not judge who I am inside.
And understand I am just trying to survive the chaos in my head…
And quit making me want to hide…
Angie
©Angelina Wright

Submitted to FB Group ‘Living with Bipolar Disorder’

535805_416290325118856_1874003066_n

05.28.13
by

Here we go AGAIN. Tragic Child Suicide In New York Linked To Bullying.

Does it EVER end?

Authorities have confirmed the tragic suicide death of a 12-year-old  in New York was due to the relentless bullying she was subjected to for several months beforehand from classmates.

According to Gabrielle Molina’s suicide note and accounts from her sister, 15-year-old Georgia, the seventh-grader took her own life because of persistent cyber-bullying, slut-shaming, and name calling from her middle school peers. It had just become too much.

HERE IS THE FULL TEXT OF THE ARTICLE, and I’ve highlighted the parts that really hit me, and ranted on a few.

Her SISTER Georgia found Gabrielle after she’d hanged herself inside her bedroom.

Georgia had been sworn to secrecy, told not to reveal the abuse to their parents, though they knew Gabrielle was having some trouble at school.

RANT INSERT:  REALLY???? Sworn to secrecy?? How many other siblings are out there keeping such “secrets” from the people who can help most – parents, friends, teachers, even anonymous tip lines, and groups like NVEEE.org.

The girl was often taunted by classmates over her appearance – victimized both face-to-face and online. Fellow students who sent the upsetting messages are currently under investigation as officers removed computers from the Molina home in order to have them analyzed. Several students have been questioned since the incident, but no charges have been imposed.

Associates of Gabrielle said she’d got into a fistfight with another girl that was videotaped and posted on YouTube; she had a history of cutting herself and had recently broken up with a boyfriend – providing the bullies with fodder.

RANT INSERT:  TWO WORDS – CYBER BULLYING.

Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said that a preliminary investigation did not show any serious bullying problems at the school.

RANT INSERT:  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! EVERY school has bullying problems – stop burying your head in the sand.  Are teachers so afraid of being blamed or coming to false conclusions that they just pretend this doesn’t happen? That these kids are ok?

How do you define a serious bullying problem? Any bullying should not be tolerated and should be considered serious as it can stem from its own environment of abuse or mental illness.

Bullying has always been a problem, especially in middle school when socialization seems to be the most difficult. Physical, emotional, and psychological threats make it difficult for an individual to get through the day and focus on their academic work. With technology pusillanimous bullies can post hate-speak and degrading taunts about a person with some anonymity. Often times there is little schools can do to protect the victim as many school officials will say unless the acts occur while on school grounds, there isn’t much they can do to deter it.

Parents have addressed a call for action, demanding something more be done to protect their children from this type of victimization as daily threats and assaults can lead to depression, lessened self-esteem, eating disorders, anxiety, sleeplessness, drug and alcohol abuse, effect academic performance and overall well-being, and, in extreme cases, suicidal tendencies.

RANT INSERT:  OK, what exactly does a “call to action” mean? Hey Guys! Stop bullying! Seriously. 

Parents need to be PROACTIVE, and actions speak louder than words.

That is all.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Scorpio:

Daily Overview for May 28, 2013

Overview

A choice that seems trivial may not be all that trivial! This could shape quite a bit for you in the coming days and weeks, so make sure that you are thinking things through with care. If you really ponder the issue, you will begin to see where things are going for the future.

05.21.13
by

Therapist liability or negligence.

I’m currently taking my last of 2 Masters in Science classes, and I’m going to share a post I recently made.  Interested very much in YOUR take!

P.S. For some reason, the footnotes are missing (prob because I cut and pasted this) so I just added the references at the end.

 

Therapist liability or negligence.

Assignment:

Choose one of the malpractice cases described in this chapter. Describe one of the points of law, specific issues, or matters of doctrine that impressed, intrigued or frightened you. Since we have all read this chapter, there is no need to summarize the case. Rather, you should discuss one aspect of the case. You can argue the court’s findings, learn more about the issues involved through outside references, or describe a variation on the case that might have gotten a different outcome.
Me:
You know what scares me? Negligence claims. The fact that the rule put forth by the Court of Appeals of New York in Schrempf v. State, to wit, the physicians duty/professional judgment standard, is only a minority rule utilized by one state is troubling to me.  The physicians duty (basis for the ordinary negligence standard) as explained by the Appellate Court in Schrempf incorporates both physicians duty and professional judgment:

“A Physicians duty is to provide the level of care acceptable in the professional community in which he practices.  He is not required to achieve success in every case and cannot be held liable for mere errors in professional judgment . . . the line between medical judgment and deviation from good medical practice is not easy to draw particularly in cases involving psychiatric treatment.”

This is a rather low standard, but it is hopefully based on the facts of each particular case.  However, the point herein is that this doctrine, which calls for jury instructions when applicable, has only been recognized and not “universally adopted”. This disturbs me in that the states who have not adopted this view instead judge psychologists more harshly and with stricter standards.  While this can be good for egregious offenses where the psychologists ignores the duty to warn, and someone is hurt, it can also lead to ridiculous speculation over the physicians duty and professional judgment, which technically paves the way for counsel to poke holes in an experts testimony, and increases the chance of malpractice liability for the psychologist.  This is a gray area, aside from the direct responsibilities such as duty of care, etc.  Here, the psychologist was found not negligent, based upon exercise of professional judgment, even knowing that the patient had violent propensities and was known for rejecting his medication on an outpatient basis.

The only case I see as a saving grace is Stepakoff v. Kantar, which lays forth safeguards for psychologists acting in a reasonable manner.  Here, the Court reversed a guilty verdict due to the judge’s failure to include the aforementioned jury instructions on a psychiatrists duty to his patients, which is definitely one of the central items in this case.  The Court reiterated the definitions of negligence of the ordinary person and negligence of a specialist (i.e. physician).  The Court then clearly states:

“We are unwilling to disturb our long standing rule that a  physician, practicing a specialty, owes to his or her patient a duty to comply in all respects with the [reasonableness] standard set by the average physician practicing that specialty”.
I would like to say that I myself prefer that psychologists, etc. whom are general practitioners should be subject to the ordinary negligence standard. Those who decide to specialize, and gain additional education on a specific disorder or issue, should be held to the higher standard of good medical practice.

___________________________________________________

Schrempf v. State, 66 N.Y.2d 289 (Court of Appeals of New York), p. 134-137 (text).

C. Slobogin, A. Rai & R. Reisner. Law and The Mental Health System: Civil and Criminal Aspects (5th ed. 2009), Page 136

Stepakoff v. Kantar, 393 Mass. 836, (S. Jud. Ct. Of Massachusetts), 1985, p. 130 (text).