CCSS PAIP

  A study conducted by Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, found   infidelity  may have more in common with physical and psychological abuse than anyone has previously thought. Graduate students conducted interviews with individuals affected by extramarital affairs.   Study findings indicate unfaithful partners share many of the same characteristics as abusive partners. The cycle of events and reactions is similar in both. In both cases, a partnership may experience a build-up of tension, followed by the introduction of pain (either abuse or unfaithfulness), followed by a short period of guilt and reconciliation, which may include a short resolution period, after which the cycle starts again with renewed tension. As with abuse, cheating can become a habitual pattern in a relationship, possibly compounding the emotional trauma it creates. This pattern mirrors the cycle of violence experienced by domestic violence victims. Unfaithful partners show little...

In the past few weeks we have discussed how society shapes us, creates expectations such as the "man box" which might cause us to make assumptions about how to act, or how other people are "supposed to" act. We have talked about how we are socialized  by gender.  Socialization is defined as te act of adapting behavior to the norms of a culture or society.  This is one way men and women "learn" how to behave. However what about family? Think back to the family in which you grew up.  Now think about the family of which you are currently a part.  They may be the same people, or entirely different ones.  Old relationships may have stayed the same or changed as the participants aged. Now imagine your family as the cartoon characters in the children's movie The Incredibles" in which each member had a different and defining superpower. Assign each member of your childhood family a superpower.  You may even assign them more than one.  Make sure that the s...

Violence.  Suddenly we find it all around us.  We see it in our stores, our parks, and our streets. As we continue to learn about and discuss societal acceptance of some types of violence and yet not others, we find ourselves feeling uneasy, upset, heavy, depressed, and confined. While violence may rage outside our doorstep, or down the street, or simply come into our homes through television, radio, or social media broadcasts, domestic violence creeps in silently. Tony Porter, in his 2010 TED Talk, uses a mathematical equation to identify how thoughts may lead us to justify actions regarding violence. Porter presents an equation which may lead to domestic violence. Believing women are less valuable plus women are property plus objectifying women equals  violence against women. And if we recall Jackson Katz's video, he points out the phrase "violence against women" is a phrase which takes men out of the equation. He speaks about how people make decisions...