23-24 Senior Projects

The ’23-’24 Senior Project asks each Strawberry Mansion High School Senior to explore a social issue they observe in their community through a research paper, service learning project, and creative presentation.

Seniors in Ms. Henry’s Senior Seminar have completed their research papers (featured below!) and developed service learning projects to address the social issue they researched!

’23-’24 Senior Project Showcase

Research Paper Showcase

Quadire

Senior Seminar

Literature Review

 

Black Colorism in American Society

Introduction

You’re a colorist, and you may not know it.

Colorism is prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group is the definition of one of the most harmful things that has faced the Black community that is not physical. It is something that affects how you process certain situations, how you navigate the world, and how you create and maintain relationships. Dating back to before the Civil War,  white people deemed lighter skin as smarter and more beautiful. Modern society keeps those same ideals about skin tones and the worth of a person. White supremacy plays a major role in creating Black people as the “other” with colored-based inequality, systematic racism, and the white supremacy that is at the foundation. Colorism has evolved from times like slavery that started it all. It has become widespread even in the Black community to talk about each other’s skin in such a way. Over time it has changed in a more positive light but it is still haunting today.

In America there are other systems in place to keep everyone down than those specifically target Black people. Capitalism is a motivator for colorism because people profit off that type of discrimination. Businesses benefit from the process of the bleaching industry, which causes the companies to gain profit. These companies encourage the idea of bleaching  to new generations specifically, and don’t care about the negative impact. The well-being of others is at risk.

Overall Colorism is a scary thing to experience, it stays with you forever. The little mean idiotic things that people say and do to you because of your color alone are something that sticks. On the VICE channel on YouTube specifically the video “ Minorities debate colorism, Skin Bleaching and Appropriation” a woman who bleaches says about her experiences being a darker skinned woman, “ Black women are at the bottom of the barrel, nobody wants a Black Women, they basically think we’re trash and that gets to your head — You want to join the hype.” The constant torment over her skin caused her to bleach, wanting a better life by doing so. No one should go through that, bleaching their skin because people are talking about how dark they are, wearing lighter makeup, or degrading themselves over the things people say. Having insecurity over your own skin color can be extreme. Your mind will never get over the darker skin you have in that process, there will always be constant reminders whether it’s old childhood photos or the bleaching that is in certain areas but not others or those new feelings about your skin that wasn’t there before. This problem should be addressed so that future generations won’t have to go through the detrimental cycle of colorism.

Research Synthesis

There is a dynamic of masculinity and femininity between dark and light skin shades, and the psychology behind it all is discussed in “The Skin Color Paradox and the American Racial Order” by Jennifer L. Hochschild and Vesla Weaver. This article tells you about the effects of such societal pressures of bleaching and its worldwide capitalism scheme. There are other outside structures that carry colorism in them like the justice system. In life you get treated a certain way off of how dark you are, which extends to aspects like court cases and sentences. How you look is a major factor in the justice system’s racial hierarchy. But in this source, they’re saying persistent racial hierarchy is worse than a skin tone difference, “Skin color differentiation is not a greater problem in the United States than persistent racial hierarchy. But neither should it be ignored as trivial or submerged from public view… Receiving a longer prison sentence because one is dark or being on the receiving end of skin color snobbery…is painful and unfair.” I agree that racial hierarchy is worse because white supremacy is at the forefront of it, but colorism being pushed out the way like it doesn’t exist isn’t something that we should do. They both go hand and hand with each other. Colorism is a factor in racism, discrimination in the media, and the skin bleaching industry.

The next source explores colorism’s overall effects on dark skin people and lighter skin people in certain areas and their different perspectives. The television show Girlfriends provides the real-life aspect and not a sit-down and configure your thoughts and write something out like an article would. For example, the characters Joan, Maya, Lynn and Toni talk about Toni’s recent relationship status with a man named Del,“ He’s too Black, you know, blue black, coal, midnight” and they tell her that she isn’t really herself either. Later in the episode she explains why she feels that way, “It’s just that I’m in the market for a husband, and to secure my financial future I’m gonna have to give him a couple kids. And if I were with Del and we had a girl she would be –” Joan says, “ Beautiful…like you.” Toni replies, “But even darker, I don’t want her going through life hearing. Oh you’re pretty for a darkskin girl.” The issues that she had growing up and the backhand compliments and taunting for her skin tone is affecting her even with thoughts of having children.

Being bashed, shunned out, and embarrassed by being simply yourself and what you think is one thing, easy to take because you feel like you already know. Getting embarrassed and bashed and being borderline harassed by someone else is another. It’s depressing, sad, and pitiful that someone can go out of their way and make you feel bad about something you cannot change, it’s brutal. With colorism bleaching is involved with fixing the “issue”. You see these in a variety of communities such as South Asian people such as Indians and Black people is where I’ve seen these experiences happen. It’s plastered everywhere you go, we are aware. The article “ The Color Paradox” states “Dark-skinned blacks in the United States have lower socioeconomic status, more punitive relationships with the criminal justice system, diminished prestige, and less likelihood of holding elective office compared with their lighter counterparts…African American community and is expressed by outsiders, and most blacks are aware of it.” But is it addressed? No, not even the government doesn’t address this issue. You might be asking why but the answer is clear, it is the clearest no in the world. Black people are involved and that is a demographic they barely attend to. But do people have to randomly be affected by it, yes. From parents telling their children, “ You don’t need to marry someone your shade or darker, your kids are gonna come out too dark” is something that is also said in the minorities debate video from VICE,  that makes you grow up to think “Wow what’s wrong with my skin, do they not like how I look?”.

Society is a big pillar in this social issue, it is where it starts, ends, and progresses. People address the issue but no one listens, or it’s backhanded ideas of how colorism looks and feels. People are ignorant of it and decide to create a dive in that same ignorance, not a splash. To paraphrase from my source 6 YouTube video one of the men says that he was declined a role because he was light which is “reverse colorism” which is not a thing just like every other ism’s. That is what is often encountered when you try to address the issue amongst people. It is an issue that denies happens because everyone now wants to be oppressed or feel prejudiced and ignore actual expression.

When it comes to resources for a thing like colorism there are things that you’ll find such as videos around it on various sites: YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram or just random articles. But that isn’t someone to talk to about it or fix this issue at hand. From the article “— skin bleaching is a common cosmetic practice that has origins across the globe in discrimination and colorism. The preference for lighter skin tones is still evident in today’s world and has harmful effects on well-being. With a deeper and nuanced understanding of colorism, dermatologists can foster a culturally sensitive approach to addressing skin tone concerns with their patients.” Yes, a dermatologist is a resource but not everyone can get one from the way the Black poverty demographic is lined up or even find one let alone it is hard to hear other experiences.

Colorism is a part of everyday life you may not put a name to it but you may know how it feels or to spread it. Genuinely speaking colorism is very prevalent in the Black community and all communities because most are putting a flame to the fire. From sports to movies to makeup, colorism will appear. Everyone will want lighter skin and not the darker version. It is the sad truth in the reality that we live in. If we don’t address the problem the best that we can, insecurity, unworthy feelings, and feeling unlovable from an early age to over time will still happen for the Black community. Not being called dark skin even when you are is something that happens, from girls at school or people I don’t know. Dark skin is something no one wants to have but they’re forced to have. In order to not be at the bottom of society’s placement of beauty standards they often do not want to talk about it, often comparing themselves to darker skinned women they’ve seen. Even with me and my experiences no one wants to be too dark, from random “interviews” of dark skin or light skin commentary in the hallways and the plethora of videos you can find being dark is what everyone wants to come as a collective and hate.

Conclusion

In a general sense, America is the root of the issue for Africans/African Americans. To now with insecurity placed on children growing up at an early age such as myself and others, from being undesired, confused on why things would happen to me and my certain demographic. Colorism takes place everywhere, from your home to school where it mostly shows up. From older times generalizing lighter skin as a better. From the media to the workplace, it follows you like the wind on a stormy day.  In “Uncovering the roots of skin bleaching: colorism and its detrimental effects” by Daftary, Karishma and others, they say it best.“This precedent culminates in an unhealthy standard set for children and specifically young girls, who are taught through stereotypes and media that if they are darker skinned they are less beautiful.” Trying to overcome that is what the world needs.

 

Works Cited

Hochschild, J. L., and V. Weaver. “The Skin Color Paradox and the American Racial Order.” Social Forces, vol. 86, no. 2, 2007, pp. 643–670, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/86.2.643.

“Minorities Debate Colorism, Skin Bleaching and Appropriation: VICE Debates.” YouTube, VICE, 8 Feb. 2023, https://youtu.be/Nzn2f9FVuKo?si=BN9m-qg7RHwylxQU. Accessed 13 Nov. 2023.

Hicks, Regina Y, and Kevin Marburger. Performance by Tracee Ellis Ross, et al., Girlfriends, 11 Sept. 2000, Accessed 13 Nov. 2023.

Daftary, Karishma, et al. “Uncovering the roots of skin bleaching: Colorism and its detrimental effects.” Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, vol. 22, no. 1, 2022, pp. 337–338, https://doi.org/10.1111/jocd.15049.

 

 

 

 

 

Tyon

Senior Seminar

Literature Review

 

American Healthcare and Its Many Problems

Introduction

Have you ever thought about the prices of healthcare in America and why it’s so expensive as of today?

Healthcare was first established in America in the 19th century and ever since has been growing in price, making healthcare become less and less accessible. As of today, America has become the world’s most expensive in terms of healthcare. This brings up the question of how are most of America’s citizens supposed to afford this sort of thing? To put simply, America’s healthcare year by year feels more like a luxury than a necessity because of how expensive it is.

This issue is so important because of how much it discourages people from wanting medic aid. Because most people can’t afford to spend money on healthcare, most people simply decide not to seek help from hospitals, despite it being a necessity. This, in turn, increases death rates and death expectancy in America. We need to help towards this issue because it only gets worse and worse. The prices of healthcare will only get more and more expensive as we continue to ignore it. From the words of Vox, “This is the irony of American healthcare: It’s so expensive that it’s become hard to make it cheaper.”

Literature Review

The Health System Tracker is a website that tracks all things healthcare related (in America from what I can tell so far). Just last year, specifically on the 22nd of December in 2022, they ended up tracking the covid-19 incident from 2021 and 2022. This article really shows the relationship between the expensive costs of healthcare and the life expectancy within America with graphs and studies done to prove this. For example, the authors came up with a graph for the life expectancy rates alongside the amount spent per capita. In the graph it shows that compared to every other country, our life expectancy is about 76.1%, whereas everywhere else has a life expectancy of 80% or higher. The amount spent as well is above average, being $12k per capita, with the most from another country, that being Germany, spends about $7.3k per capita. The data gives you an insight of how much of an issue healthcare in America is compared to other countries because of how much more we spend on healthcare. It shows the correlation between the expensiveness of healthcare and the life expectancy rates.

It may not be much of a surprise to some people that America’s healthcare system is disliked by a lot of people, including those who live in America. I was reading an article by TIME, created by Jamie Ducharme, which was about essentially the lack of faith people have in American healthcare. Just like the previous article, they used research to gather statistics on the topic they were talking about. For example, they asked 2.5k (2,519 to be exact) people how they would grade the US healthcare system overall. Of that 2.5k, 30% voted they’d give it a C, with everyone who voted for less than this to be 26% of the graph; D had 18% and F had 8%, which in total with the 30% would be 56% of Americans. This shows that most people generally dislike the way healthcare in America is run.

Returning to the quote I used by Vox, they made a good video which explains the real reason behind American healthcare being so expensive. They talk about how much we really spend on private healthcare, why it’s so expensive and how it works in other countries. In the video, the guy in the video talks about how Americans typically don’t go to the hospital as much as in other countries, however we spend the most, which seems to be a running theme when it comes to American healthcare and medical aid. We go less and spend the most out of anyone else.

The article “HEALTH CARE IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT,” made by Timothy Stolzfus, is an article about the history of healthcare and the affordable care act (ACA). The author goes over the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, healthcare along with medicare/medicaid slowly becoming more expensive and less accessible, the introduction of the ACA and if it has been any good since then. This article helps understand the history of healthcare and the importance of the ACA for those with low-income families, and how it holds up to this day. With the understanding that American healthcare has been expensive for a long time and seeing the impact the ACA had on those who couldn’t afford healthcare, it makes the reader want to support the ACA as a whole.

Research Synthesis

The huge problem with Medicare and Medicaid, or just healthcare in general, is that it’s notoriously expensive. It has been for a really long time, which turns people down from it. It’s been this way ever since the 1960s, when the demand for healthcare increased. However, it just gradually went up and up to what it is today. The problem is that many people cannot afford it.

The major problem with the expensiveness of healthcare is that it sort of gatekeeps when it comes to minorities or those who simply cannot afford it. This means most people who are in poor neighborhoods typically can’t get the healthcare they need. Because of this, the expenses scare people off, because they know they can’t afford it without spending all of their money.

The government can’t exactly do much about the issue at this point, because healthcare spending has become SO expensive that it’s hard to decrease it. So now, it’s just left to go up in price. However, there are some alternatives to medicaid and medicare for those who cannot afford it. The most well known example to this is the Affordable Care Act, or most commonly known as Obamacare. What the ACA does is essentially give those who cannot afford normal healthcare a more affordable health insurance. Despite Obama not being president anymore, the ACA is still in effect to this day, helping everyone who cannot afford healthcare.

A great deal of Americans dislike the way our healthcare system is, some even stating that it is failing them. This isn’t a huge surprise though, considering healthcare feels more like a luxury than a necessity.  Because of the expenses being so high and most people not being able to afford it, the life expectancy  in America drops. An example of this would be when covid struck. People couldn’t afford treatment, or it’d end up costing a huge sum of cash for the person being treated.

Conclusion

In conclusion, throughout the years and basically for its entire life cycle has been expensive and there’s no real way to decrease its price. Despite having things like the ACA, there are still troubles and issues with healthcare, it can’t fix all the issues. We could bring the issue up a bit more so we can see change, but otherwise, healthcare is doomed to increase in price for however long it exists.

Asia

Senior Seminar

Literature Review

Mental Health in Teenagers

Introduction

Teens’ mental health has gotten worse because of sexual violence. From 2011 to 2021, the percentage of sexual violence causing mental health for teens specifically girls increased from 15% to 24%. Mental Health, LGBTQ+, Sexual violence. Mental health takes a huge toll on teens especially teens who have a hard time with family or trying to fit in with others. This may result in bullying which sometimes makes the teen become suicidal or start to abuse drugs.

Mental health is important because if a person’s mental health is low it can cause them to become somebody that nobody is familiar with or cause them to do things that they start to be addicted to. The impact this has on people it affects is that they start to become addicts some might even start to have family issues with their family. This problem should be fixed or addressed because if it’s not fixed now we never know what can happen with the next generations for all we know some people might just end up going in the wrong direction with life.

Relevant Terms

  1. Mental Health – Mental health includes emotional, psychological, and social well-being. (SAMHSA, n.d.)
  2. LGBTQ+ – LGBTQIA+ is an abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, and more. (The Center, n.d.)
  3. Sexual violence –  a broad category of actions in which a person exerts their power and control over another person through unwanted or harmful sexual actions.

Literature Review

Honey Lake’s article “How mental health can affect a teenager” talks about what causes a teen’s mental health to change based on who they are around and the setting that they are in. This source is relevant to my topic because it explains why teens have it harder in life than adults or anybody else when it comes to mental health. “The teenage years are challenging in the best of circumstances. The want for independence and the awkwardness of adolescence with all its physical and emotional changes converge.”- Honey Lake. The information is critical for understanding my social issues because it helps you understand that once a child gets into their teenage years their mental health starts to change and that this is the time that they start to want more independence or become more socially awkward or awkward in general. The new insight or understanding about my social issue is that it starts to happen in a child’s teenage stage and it starts at home. Yes, I agree with the opinions expressed by this source because they explain that being at home is the main cause of mental health starting and that once a child hits a certain point in their teenage years they start to change. No, my source is not biased toward one side of the social issue or social group. I think this is the case because mental health isn’t something that can be one-sided. Yes, this source is credible and believable because a lot of teens also adults say that once they hit that teenage stage in life things take a turn and they feel like their lives start to go downhill.

Research Synthesis

My issue is mental health. Back in 2010-2011, mental health started to become a problem for people, especially teens. “In 2011, the suicide plan raised from 15% to 24% in 2021” (AJN, American Journal of Nursing, 2023) Mental health also started when sexual violence started to happen a lot, especially to females & it has gotten worse. The problem has changed over time because now females are having the most mental health problems specifically teenage girls and females part of the LGBTQ+ community. It also changed because now people’s mental health can be affected by numerous things not just sexual violence, the environment that they are or the people they are around.

The groups that are most affected by this issue are LGBTQ+ and SA victims. They are affected. It becomes hard for them to open up or fit in with people because not everybody has to go through the things that these specific people in these groups have been put through. “The LGBTQ+ community especially teens have it hard because they have to deal with telling their family and trying to fit in where they can without it causing any physical, emotional, mental or verbal damage to them”- (SAMHSA, n.d.). Mental health impacts the community it occurs in because it changes the way people react to situations and changes people’s behavior toward others because of what is going on in the world or their lives. Some people who are in these two groups go through unspeakable things that people try to at least relate to at times so that they won’t feel alone. SA victims have it hard because it becomes a problem for them when it comes to trying to figure out who to trust and who to speak to about what’s going on with them.

The government addresses the problem by putting counselors in schools. Some schools have not just one but two counselors specializing in different things but can help the teens talk about what they are going through. The government also has therapists so that if kids don’t feel comfortable opening up to family or friends, even school counselors they can talk to therapists. “Today, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) is announcing awards of more than $188 million across 170 grantees in over 30 states to increase access to school-based mental health services”- (U.S. Department of Education, 2023). Sometimes therapy doesn’t help everybody or it takes people a long time to get comfortable. The government doesn’t address the problem as much as you would think they do. The government involvement that has happened made the problem a bit better than it used to be a few years ago.

Some of society doesn’t support people impacted by mental health. They don’t care about the well-being of others’ mental well-being because they think that if it doesn’t affect them or change anything going on in their life why should they care? People impacted by mental health do experience social consequences for struggling with mental health. These people have to deal with trying to find the right group to be around and figure out whose somebody they can confide in. Some people in society address the issues while others think that it’s not important or isn’t a thing until somebody harms themselves or somebody in their family is going through what others are going through.  “Some people believe people with mental health problems are dangerous when in fact, they are at a higher risk of being attacked or harming themselves than hurting other people” -( Mental Health Foundation, 2023). The resources that are available to people are therapy and things that aren’t something people shouldn’t resort to such as drugs and alcohol. Yes, these resources are easily accessible. These resources don’t effectively address the impacts of mental health.

Conclusion

Sexual violence is one of the main reasons why the rate of mental health issues went up, especially with teen girls. Mental health causes people to do questionable things or act a certain way around certain people or in certain situations. In society, people tend to not care what happens to anyone that struggles with mental health because it has no control over their life and they can’t change how a person’s mental health is which is wrong. People in society don’t know that just checking on a person or just listening to that person’s problem can change a lot and can show that person that somebody still cares about them. People go to therapy and some students even talk to counselors if they don’t trust that they can talk to family or friends. People struggling with mental health, especially SA victims and the LGBTQ+ community often have a hard time trying to find the right group of people to hang with. Most times to help cope with what they are going through they tend to take drugs or abuse alcohol because that’s their last resort and because they think that it’s the only thing that will help their problems go away. What will happen if this problem continues to go unresolved people will choose the wrong path to take in life or it will start to affect the next generation which will make it hard for them to be able to fix the issues in the world that are bigger than this.

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

“What Is Mental Health?” SAMHSA, SAMHSA, www.samhsa.gov/mental-health. Accessed 14 Nov. 2023.

“Defining LGBTQ+.” The Center, The Center, 25 Aug. 2023, gaycenter.org/community/lgbtq/.

“Mental Health Crisis among Teens: Girls Are Especially at… : Ajn the American Journal of Nursing.” LWW, AJN, American Journal of Nursing, 12 May 2023, journals.lww.com/ajnonline/fulltext/2023/05000/mental_health_crisis_among_teens__girls_are.4.aspx#:~:text=An%20alarming%2057%25%20of%20girls,19%25%20in%20the%202011%20survey.

“Moving beyond Change Efforts: Evidence and Action to Support and AFFIRM LGBTQI+ Youth.” SAMHSA, SAMHSA, www.samhsa.gov/resource/ebp/moving-beyond-change-efforts-evidence-action-support-affirm-lgbtqi-youth. Accessed 14 Nov. 2023.

“U.S. Department of Education Announces More than $188 Million from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to Support Mental Health and Student Wellness.” U.S. Department of Education Announces More Than $188 Million from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to Support Mental Health and Student Wellness | U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Education , 16 Feb. 2023, www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-announces-more-188-million-bipartisan-safer-communities-act-support-mental-health-and-student-wellness.

“Stigma and Discrimination.” Mental Health Foundation, Mental Health Foundation, 4 Oct. 2021, www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/a-z-topics/stigma-and-discrimination#:~:text=There%20are%20many%20reasons%20for,themselves%20than%20hurting%20other%20people.

 

 

 

 

Jabbar

Senior Seminar

Final draft

Opioid Addiction in Philadelphia

Introduction
Our society we live in today is causing drug abuse. The problem is that all people want to do is take drugs, they don’t know what they are taking, but when they take them, they can’t stop. Where they come from are the hospitals, the doctors give them pills or whatever when they are in pain so when they are taking the medicine, they just don’t stop, it messes with the brain. How the problem gets solved is going to the deep places where they take drugs and trying to find more programs for them to calm down.

In Philadelphia, we need to have more programs for drug abuse and more unaddicted drugs from when people are in pain. This is important right now because it’s too many people doing drugs, nobody is trying to really make a difference, and people think doing drugs is fine. The impact on people is scary. they don’t know what can happen to them when they take them. But they are so addicted to what they do they just don’t know what to do after they take them. It’s just that they need help, so they think that taking these kinds of drugs is cool, but deep down, they are scared for life, and it can kill them. It should be fixed because nobody should live in a world like this. We need more shelters, more programs for people like this, and stop giving out addictive drugs when people are in pain. That’s where it starts from being in an accident or something, so that’s when the doctors give them pills, and people abuse them to get high or some, but also that can make them homeless, losing drugs because they still want to take the drugs.

Literature Review

The main fact of the story is that drug abuse is a messed up thing. This site tells us what is drug addiction, so tell people if they don’t know it. This information is the main part of the social issue. It gives us the main facts about the abuse. I agree with the options it’s telling us we need more programs for drug abuse, and the article tells us about a group of people. I agree with everything because the way drug abuse is going, it’s gonna get worse, so if we make more programs and shelters, it can slow down.

Research Synthesis

The issue is that drug abuse is affecting a lot of people, and they are scared that what they are taking can kill them, but they are too addicted to what they are taking. The issue started when they got in pain, and the doctors gave them medicine. The problem never changed, and it got worse over time. People took the medicine, and they abused it. That’s when people started taking them and selling them. But the doctors still give them pain medicine, knowing what they are going to do.

The people who are affected on this social issue are people down K&A. If you don’t know what K&A is, they are people who have the highest drug abuse in Philadelphia right now. They are affected by taking needles, pills they take whatever people give them, and it’s sad how they are doing that they abuse drugs more than anything. This impacts the community because people are scared to go down there. Like everywhere you go, it’s something. You will see needles everywhere. Kids are scared I was one of them kids before.

They have some programs, but people who are addicted don’t use them because they don’t trust the government. People react like crazy. They laugh about the drugs, but some people take it seriously because their families do it.” At the heart of that misunderstanding, he believes, is a widespread failure to see addicts as human beings. He understands why—it’s hard to feel compassion toward addicts “when they’re on your block where you live,” Stockbridge says, noting it took him a long time to go from exploring the neighborhood warily to truly connecting with his subjects. It was by returning again and again over the course of years—spending real time with people rather than snapping a photo and going back to his own life—that he gained their trust. In turn, he was able to give them a way to have their voices heard, which he did by pairing their photos with written and audio statements that he published online.” This is an example of how human beings treat people who are addicted to drugs.

They have shelters and programs for them.”The Affordable Care Act has also helped in major ways, starting by requiring that private insurance plans cover substance use disorder services as part of essential health benefits. It also has facilitated the expansion of Medicaid, the single largest payer of opioid use disorder services. The report notes that states that have expanded Medicaid eligibility have shown evidence of decreased overdose deaths and increased receipt of treatment.” In Philadelphia, we need more problem-solving for drug abuse.

Conclusion

Drug abuse is when people take more than they should and get addicted. This can cause them to be homeless, lose jobs, and have health problems. If the impact continues, there will be a lot of deaths. Death is bad because they overdose. Another impact is when people take drugs, they are scared.

Zo’myah

Senior Seminar

Literature Review

 

Chronic Stress Around the World

Introduction

Readers, have you ever been so stressed everyday to the point where you’re not being able to get stuff done, always having financial problems,or not being able to think properly? We are studying chronic stress and how it affects people in the world. It’s being studied in schools,different countries, and on people or animals. It shows up when you start to forget things, or have trouble concentrating. People became aware of chronic stress in 1915, when a rat was exposed to a stressor. The founder of chronic stress is “Hans Selye”, he tested on rats and had his own process known as “general adaptation syndrome” (Petticrew, 2014). It can be studied in health psychology, and it can help people cope with stress.

Stress impacts health through social and physical environments, affecting biological processes and driving maladaptive health behaviors. It’s important because, stress can make a lot of people do dumb things, like hurting someone,yelling at people for no reason, and mainly tryna commit suicide. Chronic stress should be addressed, and the government should help people who are on the edge of falling and just shutting down since it’s getting to become too much for the people.Too much stress can cause physical and mental health problems. Chronic stress causes people to have heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and arthritis. “Stress can also cause you to have a stroke, a hard time sleeping and heart disease. Because too much stress can cause problems that can be fatal, and it will make the people have a hard time doing what they have to do” (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2023).

Literature Review

Two case studies from psychology and history provide strategies for instructors to help students. Recent research indicates that many undergraduates struggle to distinguish credible and noncredible sources due to their training and experiences.Because colleges expect you to do so much, it becomes overwhelming and it can turn into stress. “many undergraduates are unable to discriminate between credible and noncredible sources, in part because they lack the proper training and relevant experiences”(Calkins, Susanna,2020). Because it shows what students lack and stresses the most, it gives people more of an insight or an eye opener on what these college kids’ minds are with all the stress. I understand that you can bounce back from stress, but it all depends on the way you take information. I agree with what the Author is saying, because too many college teachers expect you to learn so much while starting fresh, everything becomes too new to kids and from learning so little they start to stress over it. I don’t think it’s either, I feel like it’s more so getting an understanding or trying to solve a situation. It is very believable, there is a good amount of college kids who feel like it’s too much for them. They also have a bad case of stress levels, because of either money problems, working while learning, or lack of motivation which gives them a high chance of dropping out.

The article “Companion Animals in Natural Disasters: A Scoping Review of Scholarly Sources” by Travers, et al. examines scholarly research on people and their companion animals during disasters, revealing two central themes: companion animals as a risk factor to human health and safety and companion animals being “at risk” themselves. It also explores the concept of “responsibility” and the implications of human-nonhuman animal relationships for disaster response. “The loss and suffering of companion animals in disasters causes deep distress, diminishing people’s capacity to rebuild their lives”(Travers, Cheryl,2021). Because people get stressed but never think about how badly they stress out animals. They stress them out so much by taking their habitats away, or locking them up to do shows for people, or constantly cutting down trees in forests. They either become extinct, or gotta travel far to find a new habitat to survive in the wild. “People may make evacuation decisions based on their companion animal’s welfare, therefore exposing themselves, their companion animals, and emergency responders to increased risk for injury or death”(Travers, Cheryl,2021). I understand it alot because I saw it happen on the news, and it can be stressful for animals and people, people die or the animals die or run away. I don’t think I gained anything because I already know about all of this based on experience. I agree with their opinions, because no one ever has the time to help these animals who are in need of a habitat or home in the wild, instead of capturing them, they just need to help them. Once again it’s neither, it’s more so giving important info on how to help these animals and workers who are causing this to happen. It’s believable, because a lot of people talked about the issue and it was on the news being talked about, which the government ain’t helping the situation.

Corboz’s article “raq’s Sources of Emulation: Scholarly Capital and Competition in Contemporary Shiʿism” examines the scholarly credentials of 14 Shiʿi religious scholars competing in the marjaʿiyya field in Iraq. It conceptualizes the field using Pierre Bourdieu’s notion and analyzes credentials of scholarly capital. It shows that different cultures and their expectations for their scholars to do certain things,can cause the scholars to stress a lot, because everything that they have to do has to be perfect. Since they are religious and competing against each other, they have to act a certain way 24/7 and make no mistakes on what they’re doing. “Religious knowledge is at the heart of the Shiʿi system of clerical authority known as the marjaʿiyya. Given the multiplicity of more or less well-established claimants to the position”(Corboz, Elvire,2019). It’s not that critical since I’m not within that religion, but it shows the critical work that the scholars have to do in order to please their parents or look good to everyone in their religion. I gained more information about this particular religion, and how they overwork their scholars to become very successful,but also stress them out. There are no opinions to agree with, the source is not biased or anything, just telling us what they got to do and that it can sometimes be stressful and overwhelming for them. It could be believable or not, it depends because every religion is different and we’re not a part of that particular religion. If it is true, then most likely it was probably googled in order to find out, or if it’s in a movie based on their religion.

“College Classroom Diversity as a Source of Scholarly Learning for Teachers” by Lutz, et al. explores the benefits of inclusive teaching practices in international college classrooms, focusing on the teachers involved. It found that teachers in social sciences and humanities use diverse classrooms more often than those in sciences. It can stress students and teachers out, since they gotta mainly focus on helping the other students who gotta learn english and do the work. Not every student can get the help they need when teachers gotta speak a certain language for students who don’t understand.”This under-researched impact of inclusive teaching practices points to an untapped potential for academic scholarship”(Lutz, Christel,2023). It’s critical because they are not really helping any students out there just going half way through different types of work. No, I don’t agree with any, it may sound like it’s a great idea to help-out students and focus on training teachers, but it still gonna stress both parties out. I don’t think it’s biased towards anyone, I know that because the author is trying to tell us what the schools and teachers can do to have a diverse classroom. It is believable that there are some classrooms around the world who have tried it out,and some may have turned out good and others not so much.

“Does Belief in a Just World Moderate the Relationship Between Financial Stress and Suicide Risk in University Students?” by Yang, et al., found that financial stress increases suicide risk in university students, despite the established relationship between financial stress and suicide risk. The study found that financial stress had a significant negative impact on students with low or mean levels of just world self, but not high levels. This source relates to my social issue because it talks about students and people who have a hard time with their financial problems which can cause stress. It’s critical because a lot of people have trouble with paying shit off, especially students who can’t pay for their fees or make payments towards their college stuff. It can be overwhelming with trying to pay the fee off, and it can cause suicide.I don’t agree with the way they are going about it, the government not really helping out. It’s not being biased, but it’s also not really helping any of them out, they are still gonna stress about finances and it may cause them to commit. This source is believable, it happens everytime a student gets into college and can’t be able to help themselves with their financial issues.

Pappa’s study, “Sources of stress and scholarly identity: the case of international doctoral students of education in Finland” examines stressors and coping strategies in doctoral education, focusing on Finnish international doctoral students.To make stress a positive force, they needed to mediate its presence and effects through personal resources, associating meaning to their research, and positioning themselves within their academic and social environment. The author, Pappa says ”It talks about the stress doctoral students go through while studying and training, and that they have higher expectations on their education since they’re in a foreign country.” Considering the increase of international doctoral students in Finland, this study focuses on perceived sources of stress in their doctoral training and how their scholarly identity is involved when responding to them”(Pappa, Sotiria,2020).  This info is critical because it’s causing the students to have tension and more stress while they’re getting their education. I learned that in new countries they have many different expectations for their doctoral students, and gotta deal with the stress. I agree that stress can sometimes be negotiable, and a professional development. This source is believable, in many countries everyone is different, and everybody stresses more or stress less. I don’t think it’s biased towards no one, it’s giving people more knowledge on what the expectations are for doctoral students in a foreign country.

Research Synthesis

The issue with stress in schools has gotten worse, especially in different countries. Students gotta act a certain way, do a lot of work in school and out of school, and it becomes very stressful when they can’t get any help from no one. In the article of “Doctoral Students in Philly” it says that, “Stress continues to have a permeating and pernicious effect on doctoral students’ experience of their training and, by extension, their future participation in the academic community”(Pappa, Sotiria,2020). Doctoral students have to study and work hard, and that it’s mostly very stressful for them and overwhelming to focus and get stuff done. All the stress started when students decided that they wanted to get into that type of field and put the work in to become successful, they probably thought it was easy or challenging. The stress on the students has gotten worse over time, they have to make sure they’re perfect at everything including training, the way they act, and how they’re gonna communicate with others while stressing. People in general have troubles with their finances including students in college, this is something that needs to change to lift a lot of weight off their shoulders so they can live life peacefully, but they can’t do that if they are struggling and stressing about money.

The people that are training to become a doctor, and the ones that are in college for it that gotta do the hard work and the training as well. They stress a lot, work a lot, and gotta learn and remember a lot. It’s overwhelming and can put a lot of pressure on themselves, they gotta get out of their comfort zone more and act differently which is really stressful. Also it affects the people also working there, like the principal who has to get prepared to meet the doctoral student, and to do funding and career prospects. The article “ the case of international doctoral students of education in Finland” says, “In Finland, this study focuses on perceived sources of stress in their doctoral training and how their scholarly identity is involved when responding to them”(Pappa, Sotiria,2020). It became stressful for the principal to also do research and get everything ready to look perfect while lacking a supportive network. College students and the people are also affected by this issue, times get rough and it ain’t a lot of help that the government is giving to the people who stress about money problems and help in schools.

The government did make a new law for Finland,but it never addressed the situation of what actually needs to be done. Probably would make it better if they did get involved, but it’s mainly just school connections, and what the school is gonna do with the doctoral students. It’s also up to the principal to get everything in order, but if it comes down to it being a problem and that he needs help, then the government can get involved with that. I think the whole issue is getting more so ignored than addressed. People ain’t gonna stress for them, so they have no reason to address the issue, they can either agree or disagree with it. This is the author Pappa,Sotria quote, “ However, in order for stress to become a positive and motivational force, participants had to mediate its presence and effects by means of personal resources”(Pappa, Sotiria,2020). The doctoral students don’t have to deal with social consequences, no one can be judged really, except for the government who constantly denies everything.

Conclusion

It’s very stressful for students in general, they gotta work hard, have certain expectations, and please certain people to make sure they look good and so the students. The major points are that stress can cause you to do a lot of things, like working your brain, and getting frustrated and angry. Stressing can be dangerous, especially with a person who is already fed up with life, it can cause them to do damage to themselves or to others. For people who stress a lot it’s hard for them to get their work done, or to do their job correctly and remember important stuff. The impact will be just everyone getting fed up and starting riots, petitions, or causing harm to people. It’s even harder for a person to not get stressed when they have financial issues, are behind on payments, or out on the streets tryna get a job.

 

Works Cited

Travers, Cheryl, et al. “Companion Animals in Natural Disasters: A Scoping Review of Scholarly Sources.” Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, vol. 20, no. 4, May 2017, pp. 324–43, https://doi.org/10.1080/10888705.2017.1322515.

“Finland Not Committed to Students at All – Good and Bad of the Government Programme | Aalto University Student Union.” Www.ayy.fi, 22 June 2023, www.ayy.fi/en/finland-not-committed-to-students-at-all-good-and-bad-of-the-government-programme. Accessed 14 Nov. 2023.
Western Governors University. “Stress in College Students for 2019: (How to Cope).” Western Governors University, Western Governors University, 14 Feb. 2019, www.wgu.edu/blog/stress-college-students-2019-how-to-cope1902.html.

“Stress.” Www.who.int, www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/stress#:~:text=Stress%20affects%20both%20the%20mind.

Petticrew, Mark. “The Secret History behind the Science of Stress.” NPR.org, 7 July 2014, www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/07/07/325946892/the-secret-history-behind-the-science-of-stress#:~:text=AP-.

Mayo Clinic Staff. “Chronic Stress Puts Your Health at Risk.” Mayo Clinic, 1 Aug. 2023, www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress/art-20046037#:~:text=Adrenaline%20makes%20the%20heart%20beat.

Jaheim

Senior Seminar

Literature Review

 

Mental Health Causes Unemployment

Introduction

How come they don’t take mental health seriously like the violence that’s going on? One of the quotes from the source A county-level analysis of unemployment and mental health in the Southeastern U.S.: applying a social determinants of health framework is “ With 2017 data from County Health Rankings, the study focuses on 418 counties in the southeastern U.S., a region with longstanding unmet service needs and ongoing mental health care challenges”. ( kun Wang) This is how mental health and unemployment affect people. This problem is about how mental health and unemployment affects people’s lives.

This problem is significant because Unemployment causes stress, which ultimately has long-term physiological health effects and can have negative consequences for people’s mental health, including depression, anxiety and lower self esteem. One of the reasons why this impacts people is because on the other hand, poor mental health can lead to poor physical health or harmful behaviors. I say that because in one of the articles it says “Poor mental health among the unemployed—the long-term unemployed in particular—is established, but these associations may be driven by confounding from unobserved, time-invariant characteristics such as past experiences and personality”. (Liina Junna) This one of the quotes from the article tells me more about the social issue. It should be dressed or addressed because it helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices. These are some reasons why mental health and unemployment should be more important than it is.

Literature Review

This article is mainly about how the effects of unemployment and history predict visits to specialized care due to psychiatric conditions and self-harm in Finland in 2008–2018. This source provides good information on mental health and unemployment because the author provided some good facts and great information for me to read. I say that because in the text it says “Poor mental health among the unemployed the long-term unemployed in particular is established, but these associations may be driven by confounding from unobserved, time-invariant characteristics such as past experiences and personality”. (Liina Junna) This information is important because it  provides a competitive edge to someone learning about mental health and unemployment. This article taught me alot how mental health and unemployment is important in the world so people can know what to do if they come to a problem. Yes, I do agree with the author’s opinions. Honestly, I feel like this is not biased and not one sided because it is true facts and these mental health and unemployment should be said more in other big spotlights like the news. Yes, I do think that the source is believable because the author is an expert and the author helps me understand the main idea more.

Research Synthesis

My social issue is about how mental health and unemployment affect people in a lot of different ways. I say that because in the article it says  “For women but not men, baseline mental health was associated with risk of experiencing any subsequent unemployment whereas for men but not women mental health was associated with the duration of unemployment amongst those who experienced unemployment”. This is one of the reasons why mental health has an effect on people, unemployment, and should be more important.

One of the social groups that impact the most is the Psychiatric disorders have been consistently shown to be more common among people in lower social classes. They are affected by Physical, emotional and social changes, including exposure to poverty, abuse, Physical, emotional and social changes, and including exposure to poverty. This impact the community because  unnecessary disability, unemployment, substance abuse, homelessness, suicide, and poor quality of life.

One of the ways the government addresses mental health is by protecting the rights of individuals with mental health disorders in a variety of settings, including the workplace, schools, and in treatment. One of the quotes from the source Mental health treatment programs for children and young people in secure settings: A systematic review is that, “secure treatment programs in many countries, there is a lack of transparency and consistency across these that causes confusion for stakeholders and challenges for the design and delivery of high-quality, evidence-based programs. I say that they improved in addressing it because it  protects the rights of individuals with mental health disorders in a variety of settings, including the workplace, schools, and in treatment.

One of the ways that society reacts to Mental health is that Society can have stereotyped views about mental ill health. One quote from the source Current Unemployment, Unemployment History, and Mental Health: A Fixed-Effects Model Approach is “Prior to adjusting for time-invariant characteristics, current unemployment was associated with poor mental health, and the risk increased with longer unemployment histories”I feel like they are helping people out because they are coming out with medicine to help care the illness and also you have to make sure you get enough sleep.

One of the resources that are available to people with mental health is getting medicine for the affected cause. One quote from the source Barriers to School-Based Mental Health Resource Utilization Among Black Adolescent Males is that “This study examines barriers to school-based mental health resource (SBMHR) use among Black adolescent males, as a means of addressing reduced usage of available mental health resources and to improve these resources to better support their mental health needs”. I feel like they are well funded because it creates opportunities to study causes of, treatments for, and recovery from mental health disorders that might not otherwise be available.

They should take metal health more seriously than violence. One of the major points of mental health illness unemployment is, This social issue occurs when you can’t get a job because of your health and are not employed anywhere, and Good mental health is a key. I say that because if you don’t work you will not have any money to pay bills and rent. Another key point is that the impact that this social issue have on affected social groups is that Poor mental health influences people’s relationships with their children, spouses, relatives, friends, and co-workers. I say that because people can bully you and make fun of you because you’re different and not the same as everyone else. Last, if this impact continues to go unresolved because It’s a major increase in the number of U.S. adults who report symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression.

 

Works Cited

Amin, Saqib, et al. “Unemployment and Mental Health: An Instrumental Variable Analysis Using Municipal-Level Data for Finland for 2002–2019.” Social Indicators Research, vol. 166, no. 3, 18 Mar. 2023, pp. 627–643, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-023-03081-1.

Arena, Andrew F., et al. “Mental health and unemployment: A systematic review and meta-analysis of interventions to improve depression and anxiety outcomes.” Journal of Affective Disorders, vol. 335, 2023, pp. 450–472, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.05.027.

Bartelink, Vicky H., et al. “Unemployment among young people and mental health: A systematic review.” Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, vol. 48, no. 5, 2019, pp. 544–558, https://doi.org/10.1177/1403494819852847.

Butterworth, Peter, et al. “Poor Mental Health Influences Risk and Duration of Unemployment: A Prospective Study.” Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, vol. 47, no. 6, 17 June 2011, pp. 1013–1021, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-011-0409-1.

Junna, L., Moustgaard, H., & Martikainen, P. (2022). Current Unemployment, Unemployment History, and Mental Health: A Fixed-Effects Model approach. American Journal of Epidemiology, 191(8), 1459–1469. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwac077

Wang, Kun, and Brenda D. Smith. “A County-Level Analysis of Unemployment and Mental Health in the Southeastern U.S.: Applying a Social Determinants of Health Framework.” Social Work in Mental Health, 16 Feb. 2022, pp. 1–20,

https://doi.org/10.1080/15332985.2022.2038761.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salahudin

Senior Seminar

Literature Review

 

Phone Addiction

Introduction

Social media and phones have zombified humanity. We have exposed our newer generations to the internet too early in life where they barely go outside to play or run around. Nowadays children gain iPads as toddlers causing addictions that shouldn’t even start at such a young age. A study from the University of Nebraska Lincoln stated, “Use of technology under the age of 12 years is detrimental to child development and learning…Children who are allowed a device in their bedrooms have 30% increased incidence of obesity.” If this continues our future population’s health will see a rapid decline. According to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, “Watching screens on smartphones and gadgets for long periods of time raises the risk of eye conditions like myopia and eye fatigue. Children can experience less sleep and are less able to focus. This leads to an unhealthy sleep cycle as kids sleep more during the day and less at night.” Children eventually will suffer from sleep deprivation, falling asleep in class, and their attitudes can change for the worse. Not just younger people but adults, even elders in some cases can suffer from phone and social media addiction. Overuse of a smartphone and or social media can put stress onto a child and or person leading to depression and other things as well. If you were to take away an iPad or iPhone that a child was using to entertain themselves they’ll automatically throw a temper tantrum. This can and will cause higher aggression in the child hurting them before they know how to count correctly. We need to change the way the youth is being raised today and not even limit it but keep them away from electronics such as iPads, phones, etc that can mess their brains up.

The significance of this problem is that social media and cell phones control everyone. People get hooked onto new apps or new social media and lose sight of the real world. With that control, companies can make people do many stupid things, like spend large amounts of money on in-app purchases, allowing the companies to fill their own pockets. One example of dangerous app-related incidents is when 2 people died from automobile crashes near PokemonGo PokeStops. A Purdue study “discovered a disproportionate increase in automobile  crashes, injuries and even fatalities near PokéStops starting July 6, 2016, when the augmented reality game debuted.” As you can see, people do very stupid things to get ahead or advance in apps and or games. In my own experience, I have become a victim to in-app purchases in games like Fortnite, MonopolyGo, and 2k. These are just three games that I would say I have spent thousands of dollars on instead of saving for college or things that are still gonna be there in ten years. Don’t be like me, make good choices, get off your phones and save money. Games can come later. Focus on life. It’s important to acknowledge this problem because it’s continually growing at an alarming rate causing addictions no one has ever seen.

Literature Review

“Health Risks of Mobile Phone Addiction Among College Students in China” by Mei et al. gives evidence of how 90% of the population of China have phones, 59% are smartphones and about 48% of undergraduate college students in China are addicted to their phones. Sleep deprivation, work declines, stress increases are all downsides of overusing your phone to the point of addiction. Mei et al. use their data in China to directly show how the youth are being hooked onto their phones. Later on in the article, it touches base on how they research and gain data from college students on what they use their phones for. They did use their phones for socializing and researching but they also overused them to the point of addiction (Mei et al., 2021). We as people have grown accustomed to technology too much to the point where it is a crutch and highly unhealthy. It’s like a drug that none of us can get enough of unless we have self-control or discipline ourselves enough to know when to stop.

Research Synthesis

This all began with the first commercial phone you could also say Facebook, MySpace, the first iPhone, etc. Social media and new technology together create a new environment that no one needs. Don’t get me wrong we humans must evolve but we should start to try to limit the addiction rates of phone usage. Kids nowadays use their devices too much. I understand watching TV to a certain extent but they have their devices before they can walk.

This widely affects the youth starting as children they use technology to distract themselves and can fix their boredom. Children nowadays use their iPads way too much and never look up from their devices. If I were to take a child’s phone/iPad from them right now they’ll start screaming bloody murder. A study from Nabraska-Lincoln states that “Scientists have found out that overexposure to gadgets can lead to excessive functions, lack of attention, cognitive delays, enhanced impulsivity, learning impairment and reduction in ability for self-regulation.” Overtime this type of behavoir becomes the norm and by time it becomes the norm the harder it is to break them outta it.“A recent study revealed that 60% of parents don’t make strict observance to their kids using gadgets.” Parents have enough on their plate from bills to their jobs or any other problems on top of raising children so unless the childs in dire need . A device can give time to a child so they can be distracted while the parents take care of whatever they need to so it makes sense the parents don’t pay attention and this needs to stop.

But if they keep it they become addicted, I’d rather give my child toys until a certain age. Raising children like this may become more stressful but then again you raised your child like that.

The government doesn’t exactly care about this problem because they have larger problems that they already don’t deal with. I get if people or children were widely influenced to the point where it could harm the government but nothing right now does that. The way social media influences people you’d think the government would stop people at one point. Challenges and hashtags have influenced people to do very dumb things that could hurt, harm, or kill others/themselves.

Most parents don’t really care if their children are on their devices too much because they are the ones gave them their devices in the first place. Their devices are used to both contact and to distract themselves from their parents , but it can get to a point where it’s overused.  The parents may not have meant to get their children addicted but they were the ones that caused the addiction.

There are many ways to alleviate cell phone addiction. Giving phones up using something like Life360 to put restrictions on your devices is a way to get help from their addiction. There are pouches that can hold phones for a certain amount of time to keep you off the phone for periods of time. Another form of  They can help you in a way your devices can’t. Just give the phone up and move along. It takes too much time in your life.  Many times over a parent will automatically take a device from a child because that’s what they care most about. It’s very effective and shouldn’t have to happen but yet it does.

Social media and smartphones are plaguing the world becoming addicting to the point where no one can go a day with being on them. We as an entire world need to stop overusing our phones and social media. It hurts both our physical health and our mental health. We have given the newer generations access to tech too early and as of now if this continues we’re gonna evolve but relationships will strain and children become addicts early on.

 

Works Cited 

Health Risks of Mobile Phone Addiction among College Students in China, International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 16 Dec. 2021, www.researchgate.net/publication/358198316_Health_Risks_of_Mobile_Phone_Addiction_Among_College_Students_in_China.

Satici, Begum, et al. “Exploring the Association between Social Media Addiction and Relationship Satisfaction: Psychological Distress as a Mediator – International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction.” SpringerLink, Exploring the Association Between Social Media Addiction and Relationship Satisfaction: Psychological Distress as a Mediator, 5 Oct. 2021, link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-021-00658-0.

Tong, Wenxia, and Shuqiao Meng. “Effects of physical activity on mobile phone addiction among college students: The chain-based mediating role of negative emotion and E-health literacy.” Psychology Research and Behavior Management, Volume 16, 6 Sept. 2023, pp. 3647–3657, https://doi.org/10.2147/prbm.s419799.

Liu, Min, et al. “Self-control mediates, and mobile phone dependence moderates, the relationship between psychological capital and attitudes toward physical exercise among Chinese University students.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 13, 30 May 2022, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.888175.

Lee, Sungkyu, et al. “Effects of social networks on physical health among people with serious mental illness.” Psychiatric Quarterly, vol. 85, no. 4, 21 June 2014, pp. 453–465, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-014-9306-6.

Robinson, Lawrence. “Smartphone and Internet Addiction.” HelpGuide.Org, help guide, 2 Mar. 2023, www.helpguide.org/articles/addictions/smartphone-addiction.htm.

Mconnell , John J. “Death by Pokémon Go? Researchers Calculate the Game’s Unintended Consequences.” Death by Pokémon GO: The Economic and Human Cost of Using Apps While Driving, Purdue university , 28 Nov. 2017, www.purdue.edu/research/features/stories/pokemon-go-may-have-cost-us-billions-in-damage-purdue-research/.

Tamara

Senior Seminar

Literature Review

Affordable Housing

Introduction

Did you know that over the past 4 years affordable housing has gotten worse, and there has become a shortage of housing for people with low income rates since the covid-19 pandemic? Since Covid-19 a lot of people have lost their jobs or weren’t able to work and that made it hard for them to provide for themselves or their families(Sohaimi, Jan 1, 2023). Which puts them in a situation nobody wants to be in, being at risk of losing their home. Affordable housing was made for people with low-income rates so that they would be able to afford nice homes for their families. Not everybody has had the chance to get to these nice affordable homes and it’s not always their fault. The lack of housing that the lowest-income households can afford contributes to housing instability resulting in frequent moves and for some families periods of homelessness.

In Philadelphia, tax wages are going up so everything is getting expensive and a lot of people can’t afford to rent or buy houses and apartments. Certain places are getting strict and won’t allow kids into the buildings which isn’t fair and they are forced to pile up in somebody else’s home or live in a shelter. Should parents and their kids be accountable for not having the resources and money to live in a stable home?

This problem is very important because affordable housing should be accessible to anybody with a low income; it can’t just be for some people. Nobody should have to live on the street because of an unexpected situation that they couldn’t help, especially if they have children that they need to take care of. These children are being affected by the problems their parents have to go through like moving all the time, and that messes with their time in school and can put a lot of stress on them. Moving puts a lot of stress on people. If it’s not what you want, people should always have a choice on where they want to live and not be forced out of their homes. This problem needs to be further addressed because it happens enough times for the wrong reasons and some people don’t deserve that.

Literature Review

In the article “Weathering the storm” the author, Hasan Raina, talks about how natural disasters can cause living problems like affordable housing, not having a house after a bad tornado or storm, and how they should establish IDP rights for affordable housing. The citizens that go through these natural disasters should have these protective rights if anything were to happen to their homes. This source is connected to my social issue because it talks about how natural disasters can cause someone to potentially lose their home and how they will need somewhere to go but they can’t afford it. If they don’t have the money like that where are they gonna go? They need to find an affordable house to live in until they get back on their feet but how can they do that if they don’t have help? If the U.S. will help support the people that need that help people won’t be going through homelessness, stress, and depression.  This article is a supportive response to my social issues because it gives an example of what people have to go through daily when losing their homes and they agree that there needs to be a change and the U.S. government needs to do more about it. In the article, they talk about how the government should be making more affordable houses and just keeping track of all the people with real needs of housing. This source is believable and I believe that they make a great argument on the importance of affordable housing and the needs of these people.

In Martin Edwards’ article, he talks about the economic crisis and what it does to people. It causes pay reductions, layoffs, bankruptcies, and homelessness(2015). This article talks more about the causes of not having affordable housing with mental disorders and how people with them shouldn’t be excluded. Mental disorders can cause homelessness because a lot of people with mental disorders can’t take care of themself and need someone to be there with them. It is important that we don’t keep mental health patients alone or on the streets because it’s more dangerous for them. Healthcare places should help these mental health patients find affordable housing so they can be safe and secure in the comfort of their own homes.  This article is more supportive evidence of my social issue because it gives more reasons on why affordable housing should be more available to the people who need it. These people with mental disorders should be more qualified to get at least a nice apartment for an affordable price so they can be properly taken care of in their own homes.

This article by Sheila Crowley talks about how serious it is that children have to keep changing schools depending on their living situations and how it is messing with them academically and they need to have a stable home(2003). It also talks about how federal housing does not do anything to help these families with low income. This article justifies the importance of having children living in a stable home because of the outcome of their academic performance in school. Every child needs an education and it’s gonna be hard for them to get one with the moving that they do because of their parents being poor. It’s not nobody’s fault but they still have to do it and that could cause stress for everybody in the family but most importantly their children. They start missing school a lot or have to keep going to new ones and being completely lost and everything then they end up getting left back. Children’s education is really important and having a stable home is also important, not having the needs to support your family can be hard but we all just need a little help and support.  This article is very supportive because it gives me more information about why it is important to have affordable housing for families with children. I agree with this opinion because I believe all children should have a place to call home and not have to worry about moving all the time. School is a child’s number one priority and that should be their main focus.

In the article “Affordable Housing Project” the author, Bertram, Nigel, talks about fixing up buildings and making them taller for apartments(2023). Which in their words is both modest and efficient. This article gives insight into a plan they have for making apartments. Apartments are good for affordable housing because they give people a place to stay that’s not all high in payment like a house. On this project, they are making apartments taller and bigger so they can put more people in there that need it. The information that’s in this article gives me a little closure to know that people are helping to find more ways to give people affordable housing knowing what they’re going through. I agree with the article’s purpose because building nice apartments for people to live in is a good thing to do and it should be done more often. There are not a lot of people who would take the time out to sit there and plan to build a building not for themselves but for other people they don’t know but need the help.

Research Synthesis

The issue I have is with affordable housing and why everybody who needs it can’t get it. This has been a problem since the early 2000s because not a lot of people can afford homes but they need them for their families. There have been changes made like programs people can do but not everybody is accepted for them. It makes sense for people with families to get affordable housing but it’s not fair for only some of those families to get accepted. There are young couples with babies trying to get homes but can’t afford it and are not getting affordable housing, they go unseen or unheard because they don’t have the support they need from families and or jobs. I feel like the issue isn’t about the money but the income and that’s the problem with affordable housing because even though people should have an income they still need a place to lay their heads for the time being so they can at least be well rested to go to work and make money the right way. They should give affordable housing to people for a chance to get them back on their feet so they won’t have to worry about where they’re gonna live and sleep, especially people with kids.

Low-income households are being affected the most by this issue. Families with seniors, disabled people, and kids are struggling to keep money and a roof over their heads because of all the bills and health care they have to pay. Affordable housing impacts the community by increasing purchases, taxes, and jobs. Which leaves people in a tight space to pay for all the expenses they need to take care of. Without affordable housing people in urban communities are becoming poor and just living off paycheck to paycheck but that still doesn’t help the fact that the housing prices are getting way too expensive.

The government addresses this problem by making programs that allow people to have affordable housing. They provide loans, grants, and payments. They also provide taxes and mortgage loans for home ownership. I would say that the government is making the problem manageable but there are still people needing better help and support.

Society has no other choice but to work and make money or they end up homeless but that is not fair to people who can’t work and take care of themselves, and for the parents who are trying to take care of their family they are struggling. I think this social issue has led to people robbing, stealing, and protesting because they can’t afford things or they need the money. They are also doing this for attention because they are not getting heard. People are struggling to survive out here but with the expenses of housing and everything else, they just can’t keep up. People are trying to change their way of living but just need help from higher up to do so. Of course, they have resources like housing programs, apartments, and shelters for the people who are struggling but trying to access these things can be hard sometimes. They do help out people with this issue but not having an income can limit your opinions. Shelters can provide you a home for free but not everybody can be there with a bunch of strangers they don’t know and some people have children and families that just wouldn’t feel safe. Other housing programs for families cover some of the funding but it has to get paid for and I get that but once they are finally able to pay they want to throw fees and bills in their faces and that’s not fair. They do have multiple housing /charity fundings and people that help out but will it ever be enough?

Conclusion

It will never be enough for parents and their children to live in a place they can’t call home for long because of the price of living. They still have to provide for their kids and deal with house expenses, the need for affordable housing is getting out of hand. Natural disasters, Pandemics, crises, and unexpected causes can lead to becoming poor but that shouldn’t stop the government from helping us find and keep our homes. The cost of living shouldn’t be like this, every year prices are going up and we are still getting paid the same. How are we supposed to pay for everything we need and still keep a roof over our heads?  We should have the right to have a place to call our own because we work, pay taxes, and every day make a change in this world and to be honest, that should be enough.

 

 

Works Cited

Hyde, Zachary. “Gift Giving in the Neoliberal City: Polanyi’s Substantivism and the Exchange of Density for Affordable Housing in Vancouver.” Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 6 July 2021, p. 0308518X2110227, https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518×211022746.

Bertram, Nigel. “Aboriginal Housing Victoria – Affordable Housing Project.” Architecture Australia, vol. 112, no. 4, July 2023, pp. 78–83. EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=2d3b3ab9-8cd5-31b3-acc5-2e5267e587cf.

Nor Suzylah Sohaimi, et al. “The Aspiration for a Sustainable Affordable Housing Framework in Malaysia.” Nucleation and Atmospheric Aerosols, 1 Jan. 2023, https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0166456. Accessed 15 Nov. 2023.

HASAN, R. Weathering the Storm: Establishing Internally Displaced People’s Right to Affordable Housing in the Wake of Natural Disasters. Journal of Law & Policy, [s. l.], v. 31, n. 1, p. 177–212, 2022. Disponível em: https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=ffd82598-5652-350e-9c10-b294920303f3. Acesso em: 15 nov. 2023.

Ihlanfeldt, Keith. “The Deconcentration of Minority Students Attending Bad Schools: The Role of Housing Affordability within School Attendance Zones Containing Good Schools.” Journal of Housing Economics, vol. 43, Mar. 2019, pp. 83–101, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhe.2018.09.007. Accessed 21 Mar. 2019.

Crowley, Sheila. “The Affordable Housing Crisis: Residential Mobility of Poor Families and School Mobility of Poor Children.” The Journal of Negro Education, vol. 72, no. 1, 2003, p. 22, https://doi.org/10.2307/3211288.

MARTIN, E. J. Affordable Housing, Homelessness, and Mental Health: What Heath Care Policy Needs to Address. Journal of Health & Human Services Administration, [s. l.], v. 38, n. 1, p. 67–89, 2015. Disponível em: https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=26d57ff6-3099-3437-87e8-02407b1bc2bb. Acesso em: 15 nov. 2023

Jayla

Senior Seminar

Literature Review

 

 

Childhood Emotional Abuse

Introduction

If you saw a child being brought down or yelled at by an adult, would you help it or walk away? When a child gets yelled at or emotionally drained by being talked to in a certain way, it can affect their confidence. This is known as emotional abuse that can take place at home, school, and anywhere where an adult and a child can interact with each other. This can look like being bullied, talked down to, and yelled at, and it can cause mental health problems for those

who are going through emotional abuse. When children experience emotional abuse it causes them mental health problems for many years.

The problem is important because it has a huge impact on the children that experience emotional abuse. The impact of emotional abuse can cause mental health issues like suicide, anger, depression, and more. This problem should be addressed because we want to avoid the generational cycle that repeats.

Research Synthesis

The issue is child emotional abuse and how it affects people through childhood. The issue started in the 19th century when there wasn’t any law to stop child abuse. In the case of Mary Ellen Wilson, she was being abused by her mother at the age of 10 and neighbors reported it which resulted in social workers being assigned. “Cases of child abuse were unheard of in the 19th century. At that time, there were no child welfare agencies to handle child abuse incidents or provide the family services that may have assisted them. So, the caseworker sought the help of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)” (Hilotin-Lee, 2019).  This is a problem because people thought children were not more important than animals so they made a prevention on animals instead of a prevention on child abuse.

Childhood emotional abuse can affect all children but it affects more on children who are more vulnerable for any reason. A child who likes the same gender might be at risk as those who are religious. The National Institute of Health says  “ For example, lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBTQ+) youth may be more prone to experiencing emotional abuse, and possibly all types of abuse, because of societal ignorance or non-acceptance.”(Kumari, 2020) they affected the most because some parents are religious and don’t believe in liking the same gender. The impact it has is being hated, being shamed by their parents, and being a victim of hate crimes. It impacted the community by thinking it’s normal to treat their child like that and it also can become a repeating recycle in the community if kids grow up to that.

The government addresses this issue by setting laws on child abuse because of the increasing number of cases. At first, the government didn’t have cases that involved child abuse until they learned about it and set laws. In this article Child Abuse Background and History it says ‘‘In the 1900s, age of consent laws began to change. Governments have developed many child welfare policies to address child abuse and neglect.”(Hilotin-Lee, 2019) One of the examples of the laws is ‘’In 1935, the Social Security Act, which provided funding for children and families in need, was passed. Still, every year, child protective services agencies receive requests to assist millions of children  experiencing abuse or neglect.’’  The government involvement makes the problem worse because the laws don’t do anything. They might set the law but they don’t enforce it enough. No action has been taken for people to stop breaking the law.

Society reacts to this problem by removing the person who causes the abuse whether it’s emotional or physical. If seeing it some will help while others watch. Once people see child abuse happening and see about it on social media they start criticizing, helping, and reporting it. “costs are straightforward and directly related to maltreatment, such as hospital costs for medical treatment of injuries sustained as a result of physical abuse and foster care costs resulting from the removal of children when they cannot remain safely with their families. Other costs, less directly tied to the incidence of abuse, include lower academic achievement, adult criminality, and lifelong mental health problems.’’ (Childwelfare.gov, 2018)

The resource that is available for child abuse is the police, therapy, and a hotline for child abuse. These resources are easily available to anyone who’s in danger or doesn’t feel safe. ¨Even if you are not a mandated reporter and you suspect that a child is being emotionally abused, report it to child protective services. A child who might be experiencing abuse needs to be evaluated by social services to ensure they are being treated appropriately.¨ Those resources address the impacts of child abuse

Conclusion

Childhood emotional abuse is when children get treated in any kind of way just to be brought down by an adult. The impacts include suicide, depression, and mental health issues. I want people who read my essay to remember just because it is emotional abuse doesn’t make it any less serious than other child abuse. If this problem is not resolved the impact only gets worse as kids who went through emotional abuse will reflect it on their kids. And more deaths because of kids who have mental health issues from it. Also, it can bring more violence from the person who is getting emotionally abused because they feel like the only way to seek help and attention is to act out.

 

Works Cited

Hilotin-Lee, Lyle Therese A. “Child Abuse Background and History.” Findlaw, 14 Nov. 2018, www.findlaw.com/family/child-abuse/child-abuse-background-and-history.html.

Kids and Emotional / Psychological Abuse. “Kids and Emotional / Psychological Abuse | Child Crime Prevention & Safety Center.” Losangelescriminallawyer.pro, 2019, childsafety.losangelescriminallawyer.pro/kids-and-emotional-psychological-abuse.html.

Kumari, Veena. “Emotional Abuse and Neglect: Time to Focus on Prevention and Mental Health Consequences.” The British Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 217, no. 5, 7 Sept. 2020, pp. 597–599, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7589986/, https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2020.154.

Morin, Amy. “How to Recognize If a Child Is Being Emotionally Abused.” Verywell Family, 1 Mar. 2022, www.verywellfamily.com/what-is-emotional-child-abuse-4157502.

Child Welfare Information Gateway. “Social and Economic Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect – Child Welfare Information Gateway.” Childwelfare.gov, 2018, www.childwelfare.gov/topics/can/impact/consequences/.

 

Jeremiah

Senior Seminar

Literature Review

 

 

Climate Change

Introduction

What if I told you climate change has been affecting the earth before some civilizations were founded? Climate change is being undermined as a global issue. It is constantly becoming worse, and enough is not being done to prevent it. It has been an issue for many years and it has been presented many times as a global issue.  An article stated, “Changes observed in Earth’s climate since the mid-20th century are driven by human activities, particularly fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere, raising Earth’s average surface temperature.”A large cause of climate change is power or fuel factories. Right after that are the things that use these factories’ goods like using transportation, producing food, and powering buildings. Heavy CO2 emission can cause greenhouse gasses to drop. This can affect photosynthesis and the soil quality. Which can result in crops having less space to be grown and scarcity in crop markets.

Climate change can also produce market scarcity and opens new opportunities for criminal groups.  Also high sensitivity and low adaptive capacity people are more at risk for respiratory problems from pollen,or even extreme weather events. Climate change is basically the worst it’s ever been because it is constantly becoming worse. Some changes have been happening for decades and are becoming irreversible. This is the reason something needs to be done about climate change.

Literature Review

Avtar’s article “Understanding the Linkages between Climate Change and Inequality in the United States,” talks about how climate change can affect not only the world but people’s income. Also how it is being undermined as a major global issue. This article reveals how climate change affects more than just nature. It shows how political and economic  fields can also be affected by these changes. In the opening paragraph the author states “the interactions between climate change and income, wealth, and health inequality have received far less discussion. However, it is increasingly likely that climate change will not only have important effects on economic output, but it will also have profound effects on the geographic, socioeconomic, and demographic distribution of output.” This is an important statement because it gives insight to how large of a problem climate change is. I do agree with the opinions in this article. They relate to my personal opinions. I don’t see this article as biased. I feel they are shedding light on the minority groups that are affected by climate change. I believe this source to be credible because it gives data and logical information from both sides of the issue.

Craig D. Morris article  “Will the grass be greener on the other side of climate change?”.  The article speaks on ways the large amount of carbon being dispensed into the air everyday is making it hotter and blocking nutrients. The soil of the world is also being deprived of nitrogen because of the carbon.

Research Synthesis

In 1938 a scientist discovered the temperature had risen in the past 50 years, “Callendar argued that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from industry were responsible for global warming. However, this was largely ignored by other scientists” He brought it to people’s attention and it was ignored. The fact that it was ignored shows a large reason why climate change is where it is today. Also further supports my claim on how undermined climate change is, the problem and the cause was shown this early in its stages. This statement was also found in the same article “Although some scientists in the 19th century had argued that burning fossil fuels could increase CO2 levels in the atmosphere, these concerns had remained largely hypothetical.” climate change has only worsen over time in a IPCC article researchers said “Many of the changes observed in the climate are unprecedented in thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years, and some of the changes already set in motion—such as continued sea level rise” . Another reason why climate change is the worst it’s ever been. Some changes have been happening for decades and are becoming irreversible. Many of the problems will follow this same path if nothing is done.

On the political side many groups are affected by climate change.Climate change can produce climate-generated stress which causes market scarcity and opens new opportunities for criminal groups. “Yet, climate distortions are not necessarily a proximate cause of con-flict, rather, they represent a “trigger” in a longer causal chain (Salehyan2008).” “An understudied phenomenon in the climate-conflict literature is the role of criminal organizations in the production of violence”. The heat rising from climate is not the main cause for crime but it allows it to prolong. The heat provokes and makes it easier for crimes to happen back to back and increase. High sensitivity groups are more at risk for respiratory problems from pollen, or even extreme weather events. A quote from Lucía Tiscornia article “We describe five respiratory health threats–heat, wildfires, pollen, extreme weather events, and viruses–and discuss their impact on health outcomes in a warming climate.” This quote supports the fact that there are many dangers to communities and people individually.

They fact a whole article can be produced from just 5 dangers shows how serious they are.

The government rarely addresses this problem in discussions. The government does try and play a role in bettering climate change. As all the parts of the government are responsible, they make laws to regulate carbon emission or fuel usage. “Traditional regulations, such as fuel efficiency and emissions standards for cars and trucks, require companies to increase energy efficiency or reduce emissions in their own operations or in the goods they produce.”

Economists believe more should be done or take a different plan of action. Society believes more should be done, they feel it should be taken more seriously. Economists have stated that a new plan of action should be taken.”While all these policies and programs can help reduce emissions and drive technological change, economists across the political spectrum agree that a flexible, market-based approach is the most cost-effective way to reduce emissions, and should be a centerpiece of a comprehensive climate strategy”. Many solutions or advice has been given by the people. “ The address encourages sociologists to speak as broadly as possible so that the discipline becomes a central voice in larger public discourses. The 2019 SSSP Presidential Address is a call to focus on what is the largest social problem: climate change.”This shows society goes out of its way to speak to larger groups in order to show how many people see climate change as the worst social problem.

There are specific resources that the government provides. “Decision makers can create an integrated package of information tailored specifically to their needs. Once users select areas of interest, they will find information about: the risks posed by climate change to the issues of concern; relevant adaptation strategies.”People being affected are being supported by the government by delivering necessities as the climate changes and becomes more difficult for some.

In totality i have shown many reasons on how undermined climate change is. Many affects and their causes have been proceed. Climate change is becoming a rising danger but something can still be done to reverse its damages. It must be seen be seen by the masses and people must come together to better us all

 

Works Cited 

Avtar, Ruchi, et al. “Understanding the Linkages between Climate Change and Inequality in the United States.” SSRN Electronic Journal, 2021, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3961093.

Covert, Hannah, et al. “Climate Change Impacts on Respiratory Health: Exposure, Vulnerability, and Risk.” Physiological Reviews, vol. 103, no. 4, 1 Oct. 2023, pp. 2507–2522, https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00043.2022.

Tiscornia, Lucía. “How Climate Change Affects Organized Criminal Group Behavior.” Studies in Comparative International Development, 22 June 2022, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12116-022-09360-1. Accessed 15 Nov. 2022.

Tiscornia, Lucía. “How Climate Change Affects Organized Criminal Group Behavior.” Studies in Comparative International Development, 22 June 2022, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12116-022-09360-1. Accessed 15 Nov. 2022.

NASA. “What Is Climate Change?” Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet, NASA, 2023, climate.nasa.gov/what-is-climate-change/.

United Nations. “Causes and Effects of Climate Change.” United Nations, United Nations, 2023, www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/causes-effects-climate-change.

IPCC. “Climate Change Widespread, Rapid, and Intensifying.” The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 9 Aug. 2021, www.ipcc.ch/2021/08/09/ar6-wg1-20210809-pr/.

Dyamine

Senior Seminar

Literature Review

 

Police Brutality in the United States

Introduction

Are you tired of seeing young Black people getting targeted by police officers? Police officers are abusing the rights to harm or hurt Black people. This problem happens all over the U.S. I see it everyday in Philadelphia, pa. They do this by physically abusing us, killing us or just mentally harming us. In the article “The killing of Tyre Nichols is not an exception,” it says “At Sharpeville, as Black people protested laws meant to restrict their movement within the country, the government opened fire using live rounds. Sixty-nine Black people were killed, including 10 children; another 160 were injured” (Williams, 2023). Police should not be able to harm this many people and take this many lives especially when they are supposed to be protecting their lives. This impacts the way people view the police because they start to lose faith and trust within the police.

This problem is significant because it costs some people’s lives which forces Black people to lose trust in the police and take things into their own hands. “Who do you serve, who do you protect” (Mastronardi , 2023). That eight word quote from the article “The killing of Tyre Nichols is not an exception” by Reggie Williams shows that we don’t even know what the police really stand for. Are they serving us? Are they protecting us?  I don’t think so. This problem should be fixed so Black people can feel protected without having to own a gun. That way Black people won’t be scared of the people that are supposed to be protecting us.

Literature Review

In the article “We Crave to Become a Vital Force in this Community,” it talks about how people are filing police brutality complaints about how police are harming the community. They talk about how tired they are and don’t know who to turn to (Jett, 2022). This source is agreeable because you really don’t know who to turn to about the police. There Is only one side to the story but there is no reasonable answer to why police abuse their power.

Research Synthesis

The problem is police officers abusing the rights to harm or hurt Black people. This problem goes all the way back with segregation or even slavery. People of the American Way states that “The passage of the first Fugitive Slave Act in 1793 codified the targeting of enslaved Africans and lawfully granted local governments the authority to seize and return people based on their race and their social status” (Smith, 2022). This is the same thing that police officers do now. They target us African Americans. The article ‘Who You Gonna Call’ written by Pauly Madison talks about how police drew guns on a car accident survivor. It states  “At least 16 police officers soon took over the block and surrounded Lavel Jones, a father of four, who remained in the driver’s seat, appearing to pass in and out of consciousness” (Pauly, 2021). The problem has not changed. The guy is barely awoken and yet 16 police officers are surrounding him.

African Americans are mostly affected by this and it makes them feel helpless. “The killing of Tyre Nichols is not an exception” states “We need to acknowledge, regularly, the historical struggle for Black and Brown freedom within the hope of liberty and justice for all, to disrupt the misleading messages that dominate the narrative of community. Tell the whole truth, and let it set us free” (Williams , 2023). This is a problem because when something bad happens, we are scared to call the police so we take problems into our own hands illegally.

The government doesn’t care to help much. The government addresses this problem through police regulations such as owning body cameras and laws such as “Police Misconduct Provision” ​​ (International Association of Chiefs of Police , 2019). These laws are meant to help us against the police and also help the police to stay true to their oath of office.

Some parts of society address this problem by putting it on TV and the news , but barely. It seems they put more Black on Black crimes on TV instead of police brutality crimes. I hear more about kids fighting and killing each other before you see about how a white officer killed a Black man on his way home from a night shift at 7-11 . Only time they put police brutality crimes on TV is when they’re are marches and looting and hashtags all over. “Let’s be very clear,” Mr. Walz said. “The situation in Minneapolis is  no longer, in any way, about the murder of George Floyd. It is about attacking civil society, instilling fear and disrupting our great cities,” in the article George Floyd Protests: A timeline .(Taylor,2021). Some other parts of society are tired of it. We protest and make hashtags and all. Sometimes it feels like we are being ignored and that’s annoying.

The government doesn’t give many resources , people make websites to help with the issue. Some of the websites are called L4BL (Law for Black Lives), ACLU for Racial Justice, Color of Change, Movement Law Lab Collective. All of these websites are meant to help Black people that have suffered mentally, emotionally or physically by the police have support.

The problem is the police think they can do whatever they want to do because they have a badge. They are harming us mentally , physically and emotionally. We feel like there is no one to protect us but us and that’s causing problems in neighborhoods. Sooner or later nobody is going to believe it and the crime rate will go up.

 

Works Cited

ACLU. “Racial Justice.” American Civil Liberties Union, 2019, www.aclu.org/issues/racial-justice.
“Color of Change | We Help You Do Something Real about Injustice.” Color of Change, act.colorofchange.org/. Accessed 16 Nov. 2023.

International Association of Chiefs of Police. “Law Enforcement Code of Ethics.” Theiacp.org, 2019, www.theiacp.org/resources/law-enforcement-code-of-ethics.

Jett, Brandon T. ““We Crave to Become a Vital Force in This Community”: Police Brutality and African American Activism in Birmingham, Alabama, 1920-1945.” Alabama Review, vol. 75, no. 1, Jan. 2022, pp. 50–72, https://doi.org/10.1353/ala.2022.0013. Accessed 17 June 2022.

“Law for Black Lives.” Law for Black Lives, www.law4blacklives.org/.

Mastronardi, Evan. “Results – OpenURL Connection – EBSCO.” Ebsco.com, 2023, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=cc5c2554-0e35-3fee-b817-ce115f9801f9. Accessed 16 Nov. 2023.

“Movement Law Lab.” Movement Law Lab, movementlawlab.org/.

Pauly , Madison . “Results – OpenURL Connection – EBSCO.” Ebsco.com, 2021, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=862fcbd9-37cc-31ec-8fc1-5bcf98a91584. Accessed 16 Nov. 2023.

Smith, Susan K. “Understanding the History of Policing in America and Police Violence against Black Communities – People for the American Way.” Www.pfaw.org, 10 Nov. 2022, www.pfaw.org/blog-posts/understanding-the-history-of-policing-in-america-and-police-violence-against-black-communities/.

Taylor, Derrick. “George Floyd Protests: A Timeline.” The New York Times, 5 Nov. 2021, www.nytimes.com/article/george-floyd-protests-timeline.html.

Williams, Reggie . “Results – OpenURL Connection – EBSCO.” Ebsco.com, 2023, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=66e84d28-b0be-30c9-99a5-0f5ef440f385.

 

 

Lelache

Senior Seminar

Literature Review

 

Unlearning Unhealthy Habits to Stop the Cycle of Abuse

Introduction

Do you ever wonder why people who have been hurt take it out on other people? The social issue I’m working on is about mental health trauma and how to unlearn unhealthy habits that will affect your mental health and continue the cycle of abuse. Mental trauma can occur anywhere. Abuse can come from friends, family, jobs, or even your romantic partner (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2019). Abuse comes in many forms that are verbal, physical, or mental. Depression can occur, intrusive thoughts, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or nightmares and flashbacks. Depression can also interfere with actions, not wanting to do anything you like, not wanting to eat, and sleeping alot. When people experience abuse it can cause them to abuse others which is known as the cycle of abuse.

This problem is significant to study because people who are experiencing abuse will able to be aware that they are being abused and can speak up for help. Women between the ages of 18 and 24 are most likely to experience to abuse and children who are disabled experiencing mental health problems or have parents who are alcoholics and have mental health issues as well can put their children through abuse (National Children’s Alliance, 2022). Since this issue affects vulnerable people like women, children, people with disabilities, and the elderly other people need to help these people because they may not be aware it is happening or identify that it is abuse.

Key Terms

For the purposes of this paper, the following terms will be defined as:

  1. Anxiety (Disorder) – “any of a group of disorders that have as their central organizing theme the emotional state of fear, worry, or excessive apprehension. This category includes, for example, panic disorder, various phobias (e.g., specific phobia, social phobia), and generalized anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders have a chronic course, albeit waxing and waning in intensity, and are among the most common mental health problems in the United States” (APA Dictionary of Psychology, 2023).
  2. Abuse – “interactions in which one person behaves in a cruel, violent, demeaning, or invasive manner toward another person or an animal. The term most commonly implies physical mistreatment but also encompasses sexual and psychological (emotional) mistreatment” (APA Dictionary of Psychology, 2023).
  3. Trauma – “any disturbing experience that results in significant fear, helplessness, dissociation, confusion, or other disruptive feelings intense enough to have a long-lasting negative effect on a person’s attitudes, behavior, and other aspects of functioning” (APA Dictionary of Psychology, 2023).
  4. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – “a disorder that may result when an individual lives through or witnesses an event in which they believe that there is a threat to life or physical integrity and safety and experiences fear, terror, or helplessness” (APA Dictionary of Psycholgy, 2023).
  5. Flashbacks – the reliving of a traumatic event after at least some initial adjustment to the trauma appears to have been made. Memories may be triggered by words, sounds, smells, or scenes that are reminiscent of the original trauma (as in a backfiring car triggering a flashback to being in combat). Flashbacks may be associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (APA Dictionary of Psychology, 2023).
    Significance of the Problem

Research Synthesis

The social issue I’m working on is about mental health trauma, how to unlearn the actions of abuse and unhealthy habits that will affect your mental health. The goal is to explore and unlearn the cycle of abuse. In an article by Jill Domoney, she says, “Domestic violence and abuse in the perinatal period leads to long‐term adverse outcomes for infants, including a greater risk of becoming victims or perpetrators of violence in adulthood.” If a baby experiences trauma or abuse as they get older it will cause them to behave a certain way once they become teenagers. As they get older, they may even abuse and bring trauma to others. Abuse can harm the child’s future and affect their lives in many ways. For example, there are children experiencing abuse this year and having trouble in school. Trauma and abuse has existed for a long time, at least centuries now and has been a pattern ever since. Recently this issue has been brought to society’s attention. The issue can occur even publicly. Over time this issue has changed for some people but there’s still people whos experiencing these issues and aren’t noticed.

The groups most most affected by the effects of child abuse are children who have been neglected, physically abused, and even sexually abused. Some children were not treated fairly nor noticed and even died from abuse as well. According to National Statistics on Child Abuse, “Child abuse is deadly. In 2021, an estimated 1,820 children died from abuse and neglect in the United States. Boys have a higher child fatality rate at 3.01 per 100,000 compared to girls at 2.15.4 African-American child fatalities (5.6 per 100,000) is 2.9 times greater than that of white children (1.94), and 3.9 times greater than Hispanic children (1.44)” (National Children’s Alliance, 2022). Black males are most likely to experience more deadly abuse than females and white people. Because a male is abused more often they become used to it and may become abusers themselves.

The government addresses this problem with agencies like the Department of Human Services (DHS) in Philadelphia. What DHS does is come into the homes of families and their children being abused, take the children in, and put them in places like foster homes or group homes. But this does not always solve the problem. For example some foster parents don’t really take care or help the children who are in the system of DHS. “City Council issued a report in April that criticized DHS for separating children from families without sufficient reason, punishing struggling mothers, and perpetuating race and class bias” (Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board, 2022). The report from City Council said that DHS is supporting racial discrimination and isn’t actually helping, just like how certain people would just be foster parents for money to benefit themselves and that money wouldn’t even go towards the child and that would only make things worse.

Society does support people who have experienced the cycle of abuse but by supporting people it also creates problems for the people who try to support people experiencing abuse. Some people do get ignored or treated poorly because some people don’t care they just dont want to hear about it. Some people don’t really take action because their lives could be different. They may not understand or just don’t want to have any problems on their hands overall.

The resources may be easy to access for some people and harder for others. For example, people of color don’t get easy access to recources but when they do its because a white person is by their side. The resources help sometimes but most of the time it doesn’t help because some people don’t get answers or responses. Depending on how bad the situation or their mental health is, it make take a lot of support people to help things get better. Often there aren’t enough people to make that happen, or the people that need that much help don’t have the ability to even locate or use the resources.

Conclusion

If this problem goes unresolved it is going to get worse. There are people who decided to put it in their own hands and people who have done that have committed crimes or felonies. Children who experience abuse fight back as they get older. A lot more people will go to jail when they try to defend themselves. Also the trauma that has been caused for victims of abuse would be unresolved. This causes unhealthy mental health like PTSD, trust issues, depression, bad eating habits, insomnia, dissociation, feeling numbness, control issues to overcompensate to feeling helpless during traumatizing situations, low self esteem, and feeling worthless. When one person feels this way in can impact others who deal with people like that in their lives. It can be overwhelming especially because a person who has unresolved trauma will take out on others and push people away. Going through trauma as a child that is unresolved can change the way the person’s brain and body works by affecting their emotions, memory, and sense of self. Women most often develop trauma as a child when they felt helpless and had been through things a child shouldnt go through.

 

Works Cited

“APA Dictionary of Psychology.” Dictionary.apa.org, dictionary.apa.org/anxiety-disorder. Accessed November 15, 2023.

Amos, Jackie, et al. “Using the Adult Exploration of Attachment Interview ( AEAI ) to Break the Cycle of Intergenerational Trauma: Illustrations from a Family Reunification Program.” Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, vol. 43, no. 2, 19 May 2022, pp. 168–181, https://doi.org/10.1002/anzf.1490.

Aparicio, Elizabeth M., et al. “Parenting and Mental Health Needs of Young, Maltreated Parents: Implications for Prevention of Intergenerational Child Maltreatment.” Journal of Family Violence, 8 Apr. 2022, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-022-00387-5.

Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board. “In Philly’s DHS Crisis, a Bleak Reminder of How America Treats Its Most Vulnerable Children | Editorial.” Https://Www.inquirer.com, 9 Aug. 2022, www.inquirer.com/opinion/editorials/pennsylvania-child-welfare-system-broken-philadelphia-dhs-20220809.html. Accessed 15 Nov. 2023.

Child Welfare Information Gateway. “Long-Term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect.” Children’s Bureau, Apr. 2019.

Clément, Marie-Ève, and Claire Chamberland. “The Role of Parental Stress, Mother’s Childhood Abuse and Perceived Consequences of Violence in Predicting Attitudes and Attribution in Favor of Corporal Punishment.” Journal of Child and Family Studies, vol. 18, no. 2, 29 July 2008, pp. 163–171, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-008-9216-z.

Domoney, Jill, et al. “For Baby’s Sake: Intervention Development and Evaluation Design of a Whole-Family Perinatal Intervention to Break the Cycle of Domestic Abuse.” Journal of Family Violence, vol. 34, no. 6, 25 Jan. 2019, pp. 539–551, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-019-00037-3.

Messerschmidt, Cristina G. “A Victim of Abuse Should Still Have a Castle: The Applicability of the Castle Doctrine to Instances of Domestic Violence.” Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, vol. 106, no. 3, June 2016, pp. 593–625. EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=eaaeda45-5e1f-3901-8ded-d3a49fb064d6.

“National Child Abuse Statistics from NCA.” National Children’s Alliance, National Children’s Alliance, 2022, www.nationalchildrensalliance.org/media-room/national-statistics-on-child-abuse/#:~:text=How%20child%20abuse%20impacts%20kids.