...Psychological Analysis of Firearm Misuse and the Public Perspective of Firearm Violence Colin R. Moran Columbus State Community College, Ohio Abstract Every year, more and more people are subjected to the lifelong fear created by events of isolated firearm misuse. This paper will explore the psychological aspects of firearm misuse, question the means which the media uses to distribute information about the events, and apply published research from various reliable sources to conclude the problems created by the methods we approach this issue. This research will also discuss the many hardships that the experts face in predicting and preventing these events, while suggesting possible changes that might lead to improved accuracy and...
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...ORIGINAL Afr J Psychiatry 2010;13:116-124 Mental Health Stigma: What is being done to raise awareness and reduce stigma in South Africa? 1 R Kakuma1,2,3, S Kleintjes3, C Lund3, N Drew4, A Green5, AJ Flisher3,6, MHaPP Research Programme Consortium7 Health Systems Research and Consulting Unit, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada 2Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Canada 3Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, South Africa 4Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland 5Nuffield Centre for International Health and Development (NCIHD), University of Leeds, United Kingdom 6Research Centre for Health Promotion, University of Bergen, Norway 7The Mental Health and Poverty Project (MHaPP) is a Research Programme Consortium (RPC) funded by the UK Department for International Development (DfID)(RPC HD6 2005- 2010) for the benefit of developing countries. The views expressed are not necessarily those of DfID. RPC members include Alan J. Flisher (Director) and Crick Lund (Co-ordinator) (University of Cape Town, Republic of South Africa (RSA)); Therese Agossou, Natalie Drew, Edwige Faydi and Michelle Funk (World Health Organization); Arvin Bhana (Human Sciences Research Council, RSA); Victor Doku (Kintampo Health Research Centre, Ghana); Andrew Green and Mayeh Omar (University of Leeds, UK); Fred Kigozi (Butabika Hospital, Uganda); Martin Knapp (University of London,...
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...Introduction The media can be a powerful tool in shaping society’s perspective. When used correctly the media can be a positive influence on people with disability. However, historically we know that people with disability have rarely been presented in a positive view, which has perpetuated stereotypes about people with disability. In this paper, I will be comparing two films, a documentary and feature film, about mental disability. The documentary that I will be using in this analysis is People Say I’m Crazy, a 1989 documentary film by California Mental Health and Silver Lining Playbook(2012) an Academy Award nominated feature film. The comparison will be as followed: a topics will be presented, next the findings in the documentary, and finally how mental illness is portrayed in the feature film. In this paper I will talk about medical treatment, family and community support, and media representation of people with mental illness. Before I jump into these topics, a summary of these two films are necessary to provide context. People Says I’m Crazy People Says I’m Crazy is a 56 minute documentary by the California Network of Mental Health Clients made in 1989. This documentary is based on the findings from the Well-Being Project, a survey conducted in 1987 to explore what factors promote or deter the well-being of persons commonly labeled as mental ill in California. The statistics from the Well-Being Project survey are included in the documentary to provide focus by the mental health...
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...THE PUBLIC'S PERCEPTION OF MENTALLY ILL OFFENDERS Name Institution Subject Date Attestation I appreciate the nature of plagiarism, and I am mindful of the University’s course of action on this. I, therefore, attest that this dissertation reports unique work by me throughout my University project. Signature (you must delete this, then sign and date this page) Date Acknowledgements I would like to pass my sincerest gratitude to my parents who shaped me to the person I am today. Moreover, I would like to acknowledge my supervisor and other academic staff that provided unconditional guidance and support. I would, furthermore, like to recognize my fellow students and colleagues who helped me in the facilitation of this project in various ways. In addition, I would also like to acknowledge the general public for allowing me to conduct my interviews. Last but not least, I would like to acknowledge my friends for providing their time, cooperation and tolerance before and after the study. Abstract The mentally ill offenders have arguably been viewed on an exclusionary spectrum continuum. The public has adopted punitive attitudes that have significantly hampered with restorative measures. The aim of this study is to examine the perception of the public regarding the mentally ill offenders. The sample investigated comprised of 3 most dominant ethnic groups. Out of 200 respondents there was an average of 30 participants for...
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...Evaluation of whether biogenetic explanations of mental illness help or hinder efforts to reduce social stigma associated with these conditions “People suffering from mental illness and other mental health problems are among the most stigmatized, discriminated against, marginalized, disadvantaged and vulnerable members of our society” (Johnstone, 2001). Wrong assumptions and undesirable judgements connected with mental illness may be as damaging as the disease itself. Schizophrenia may cause hallucinations including violence. Depression could cause thought of laziness and substance abuse. Social stigma reduces opportunities available for people with serious mental illnesses (Johnstone, 2001). Medicalization is expected to be a strategy that could be used to reduce blame and stigma, although those who oppose this have said to proceed with caution as attributing mental illness to biogenetic causes may cause unnecessary side effects that could worsen prejudice and rejection (Kvaale, 2013). This essay will review the definitions of mental illness and stigma and the impact that social stigma has on people with these illnesses. It will look at whether increased ‘medicalization’ of mental illness, as thought by the biogenetic explanations, has any impact on public attitudes towards people with such illnesses. Perceptions on mental illness is not always accurate as definitions have mostly been biased over the years. One of the definitions used to describe the mentally ill were...
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...evidence to support my claims, ideas and arguments. This class was very helpful in showing how to take research and incorporate it into a project. Overall, this class has allowed me to strengthen my skills as a reviser, helped me “formulate and articulate a stance through my writing”, and helped me to use more forms of evidence to support my claims, ideas and arguments. Project 1 was the simplest of the four projects. I decided to analyze a research article on Marketing and how companies have started to move their businesses into developing nations. At first I didn’t think I would be able to write a rhetorical analysis on this article because of its length but after multiple revisions and help from peers I wrote my final draft. This was the one project where the revisions really helped me grow as a writer. Without these revisions I would have written a terrible analysis because I had no idea how to explain the ideas in the article because it was so short. My peers gave me guidance and used their papers to help formulate my own paper. Prior to this assignment I had written papers detailing articles read but I had never done so with such a short piece. It was hard to fit enough words into the paper without sounding...
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...people throughout history. More recently, studies have shown that creating art has had positive results for groups and individuals. The effects can be found in the individual with a mental illness as well as helping to build relationships between them and the surrounding community. These benefits can also be found at the Vision Quest Studio in Bradford, Vermont, where the director, Bob Claflin, LCMHC, provides an environment to create art with three men with mental illnesses. Art therapy is the combination of visual expression and therapeutic healing. Historically, it has been known that art is beneficial, as it is one of the oldest forms of healing: art has been recognized for its positive effects physically,...
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...Labelling Theory Intro: * Most approaches – except Marxism – accept difference between those who offend and those who don’t * One group – influenced by symbolic interactionism – questioned this approach – mistaken in assumption that lawbreakers are different from law abiding * Most people commit deviant or criminal acts – only some caught and stigmatized for it * Unique theories – as argues pointless trying to search for differences between deviants and non-deviants – stress should be upon understanding the reaction to, and definition of, deviance rather than on the cause of the initial act Becker: * No act is criminal or deviant until it has been labelled such by others * Criminal act in itself isn’t important – social reaction to act is * Agrees CD socially constructed * Becker studies – being labelled as deviant can have important consequences for persons identity * If label successfully applied – negative label becomes master status – cancels out any other statuses that indiv. has * Can result in excluding indiv from different social activities e.g. work and other mainstream society – left to find support with others in similar situations * Likely to reinforce deviant lifestyle – leading to dev of further deviant acts and career * Could ultimately lead to the creation of deviant subcultures * However – criticisms – fails to explain why people commit crimes and completely neglects power and social structure – cant...
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...The culture of weapons is the biggest reason for the US be leaders in death by firearms among developed countries. Mass shooting is defined by FBI as incidents which four or more people get shot or kill in a single event, at the same general time and location, not including the shooter. During the year of 2015, there were 372 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2015, killing 475 people and wounding 1,870 (FBI) and those numbers indicate that mass shooting events are also occurring at bigger frequency, specifically with mass public events or places, usually where the victims do not know the shooter. Those attacks are often pre-meditated with the purpose of retribution, mass-murder, terrorism, or mass-hysteria. Additionally, more than one a day is how often, on average, shootings that left people wounded or dead in the United States (Cohen, Sarah, Lafraniere and Oppel)....
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...Some studies focus on an individual’s perceptions of violence in society, others deal with perceived personal risk and some deal with the degree of fear of being victimized. This results in many cultivation analysis of fear often not discussing the same things at all. From a cultivation perspective, television is likely to educate people about social lessons and what the world is like, but not necessarily effect ones perceptions of their own personal reality, where many influences and everyday non-mediated influences may play a stronger role. Shrum has documented and extended the dominant understanding of cultivations cognitive mechanism which is the heuristic reception and processing of messages which makes heavy viewers of television inclined to depend on messages to form their own ideas of the world. Mental shortcuts used while processing television messages are likely to make heavy viewers depend on those messages while forming judgements about the world, based on frequency, distinctness and how recent the...
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...Mental Illness on the rise in America How can we address that Mental illness is a growing problem for the United States? A mental illness is a condition that impacts a person’s thinking, feeling or mood that may affect his or her ability to relate to others and functions on a daily basis. Each person will have different experiences even people with the same diagnosis. Mental Illness is a growing problem in the US. Some people believe that mental illnesses isn’t a growing problem for the United States. This is something that has been happening for the longest, citizens are just noticing how many people actually have a mental illness today than before. For example, A psychiatrist diagnosed Connor with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, and...
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...FAMILY PAMPHLET TO MINIMIZE STIGMA FOR PERSONS LIVING WITH A SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS A project presented to The Faculty and Staff of Saybrook University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (M.A.) in Psychology by R. Paul Johnson San Francisco, CA December 2013 Approval of the Project FAMILY PAMHLET TO MINIMIZ STIGMA FOR PERSONS LIVING WITH A SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS This project by R. Paul Johnson has been approved by the committee member below, who recommended it be accepted by the faculty of Saybrook University in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Psychology Project Committee: Theopia Jackson, Ph.D. Date Abstract FAMILY PAMPHLET TO MINIMZE STIGMA FOR PERSONS LIVING WITH A SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS R. Paul Johnson Saybrook University Individuals with mental illness have long experienced societal prejudice and discrimination, including among healthcare professionals. However, the stigma that comes from family and friends may have greater adverse impact. This project-reviewed literature on the stigmas associated with a diagnosis of a serious mental illness (SMI), as experienced by the person and family, as factors that may contribute to family/friends inadvertently perpetuating stigmas. Therefore this project integrates literature review findings and the author’s personal/professional experiences in the design of a pamphlet intended to be utilized by...
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...unknown that, in this case, present the question of concern. The relationship between mental illness and the legal framework was the biggest question. The idea then gave a hypothetical situation where the guilty person gets to go free for the defense of being mentally ill. The second step would be to justify the selection of the research method. In this case, the researcher opted to use the television series Law & Order with a selected few episodes that touch on the topic question. The researchers had to prove that this was the right method of conducting this research and that it would not present a biased direction like the media has been painted to do. The collection of data through the particular method selection saw the sampling of the TV series and seven of its episodes selected for this process. The second last bit would be the analysis of the data collected through looking at all the events raised and the answers that were given to the situation presented. The final part would be the conclusion where the researchers made an agreement through the readings and the data that has been collected for the case in question. Why the reading might be included in the syllabus (relationship to course themes, text and other readings, methodological components of the study) The topic that has been covered in the research is a crucial topic of discussion in criminology. The escalating number of mental patients in the world brings the question of where the law considers it an...
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...have generated a political dispute on stricter gun control. There are well known shootings in the United States, Europe, Canada, and other countries. The United States has the highest number of school related shootings. This paper will examine a few of those incidents and compare how the media and academic articles portray them. Overall, media articles show that coverage of school shooting events such as the ones that occurred at Virginia Tech University and Sandy Hook Elementary School tend to primarily focus on the number of victims, reactions of family, the misfortune of the event, as well as the mental state and background of the shootings. For an example, in the Los Angeles Times article “Gunman kills 20 kids, 6 adults at Connecticut elementary school”, they focus on the number of dead, imagery, and the emotion after the shooting such as parent’s reactions and children’s reactions. In the article they seem to dramatize the whole situation by saying things like “Evil visited this community today”. Although it is a tragic event the media seems to focus more on the issue of numbers and emotion. I think that the media might focus on the numbers to catch the reader’s attention. The media does not attempt to look into the reasoning why this person did the things they did, they instead emphasize on the facts. The Los Angeles Times says “Adam Lanza, 20, earlier killed his mother at home and then drove Her Honda...
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