The tortiose can finally see the finish line.....eeeek!

So, again, its been a GOOD while since I have completed a blog, and AGAIN I have absolutely no excuses.

A quick update, I now volunteer two/three days a week at a local prison on the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) - I have been doing this for about six months and I completely love it!! I have also been involved with TedX at my uni as a Speaker Liaison Officer (amazing experience - blog to definitely follow!).

Keeping me busy over summer is me completing my application for a MSc, volunteering one evening a week with counselling sex offenders, the prison volunteering as mentioned above, as well as working two days a week as an administrator as unfortunately, volunteering does not pay those bills!

I am awaiting to start my final semester at university....after four years of attending lectures, working hard and desperately trying to keep myself motivated, the last semester is quickly approaching.....and as much as I have been waiting for this, now that its here, I could kind of do with it being a little further away....whats wrong with me!!?? I wouldn't even mind, but I have studied this avoidant behaviour in lectures and I know that it is better to be proactive...but still...

*sigh*.....*longer sigh*....I just have to sit down, give myself the time to get started and then ensure that I give myself the best chance that I can - after all, its what Ive waited four years for!

Another feeling that I have towards going back to uni is anxiety. Usually August arrives I am excited for the term to start, but this time, I'll be on my own.  You see, everyone that I started university with, has graduated. Don't get me wrong, I am extremely proud of those I know that have graduated, and the grades that they received are well deserved - but I can't help but feel that I am forever the bridesmaid and never the bride!! I think I'm just nervous about the importance of this last semester and how much it actually means....

I don't mean to be so self involved with this blog - but it's always better to talk and express feelings than to keep them bottled up, allowing possible expansion to a ridiculous scale!! Also, I'd like to think that if there is anyone else with these feelings that they are not alone, to take a step back and breath. Everything will be okay.

So, I have scheduled my next blog for Tuesday, so I'll be writing about a podcast that I have finished listening to called 'S-Town' - a gripping and twisting true life tale of a fascinating character and the life that he lived.

Until next time Geekers  👌😊 and thanks for putting up with me 💖 xx

More hours in the day please??!

So...it has been a while since I have compiled a blog and I cannot apologise enough for this...my excuse??! There literally do not seem to be enough hours in the day!! How is it February already??...that does remind me though...

So, a quick catch up....I am in my final year at university and last semester I sat Abnormal Psychology. I have never enjoyed a module as much as this one - even the assessments did not seem to give me the usual grief that I feel when composing a plan or desperately trying to search for wider reading.  I think the reason for this was the freedom that the fabulous lectures gave us.  We had to write a case study on a person of choice that had been diagnosed with a mental illness and written a first person account of their illness.

As long as the illness was studied in the module, we were free to run with it.  I chose Kay Redfield-Jamison - An Unquiet Mind:

This book is an amazing read and I thoroughly recommend that, if you haven't already, you buy it.  I initially chose to use this for my case study as I am wanting to take a Clinical Pathway and was intrigued that such an role model and presence in the movement for Bipolar Disorder is by that of an individual that suffers from the illness itself. 

Even though I had to read this book with an academic head and make annotations and comparisons to the DSM-5 for the assignment - I still enjoyed the poetic and romantic way in which the book was written.  Kay is brutally honest about the Major Depressive Episodes that she encountered and the deeply sad attempt to take her own life, but then she describes the ecstatic highs of the Manic episodes, the dream-like states that she encountered and how she flew among the rings of Saturn - with this, Kay also describes the financially crippling spending sprees and constant flitting from one thought to the next, how she struggled to read, struggled to concentrate and struggled to continue as a functioning Clinical Psychologist without admitting that she needed help.

I can't help but feel that this account of Bipolar Disorder is as close to the illness as you can get without actually suffering from it, and this is why I strongly suggest that you give it a read.

*******

At the moment, I am sitting the 'Psychological Assessment' as well as the 'Forensic Applications in Psychology' module, which are both pretty heavy going but none-the-less enjoyable. In these, I am mainly learning the structure to assess the risk of an violent offender who is to be released/regrouped etc (HCR-20 v3) as well as psychometric testing (which I have just attempted and spectacularly failed!) plus other assessment tools used in a occupational, clinical or forensic setting. So, reading for these is a little on the structured side, in that I am learning about the history of the assessment tools and when they are best used and what traits these tools highlight in an individual.
Therefore my future blogs will mainly consist of reading that I am doing for my dissertation (at the moment I am attempting to read about Machiavelli and also the role of emotional intelligence) as well as reading for the Forensic module as mentioned above- so mainly papers regarding sex offenders, interventions, psychopathy, violent offenders and intimate partner crime  All of which sounds lovely!!

Right, I have put a reminder on my phone for next weeks blog - by then I will have read a new journal/book to talk about,

Have a good week my fellow geekers! 😎😎😄

A Change of Mind....

Hello fellow Geeklies!!

I really did aim to write on this here blog every week different topics for discussion, but then I realised that there are some weeks where life just gets in the way - so instead of me piping on about Social Constructionism (which is really interesting and when I have the time to put together a debate with references and decent arguments, I will defiantly post it here!!) I thought instead that I would write this week about how I have fully submerged myself into the Stanford Prison Experiment.

But first, as you may have noticed, the blog has had a lovely facelift and even though it seems a little dark - I couldn't NOT have the beautiful image from the Human Connectome Project as my background.  The image that I have here shows the tiny minuscule but amazingly powerful Neural networks for the spinal chord, the brain stem, the Corpus Callosum (this is the part that looks like a bridge between the two brain hemispheres) and then extending into the Cerebral Cortex.  When I was first made aware of the Human Connectome Project I was astounded at the idea neuroscientists were able to channel the networks of neurons - so imagine how I felt when I discovered that these channels where being mapped! If you haven't checked this out before, then please please give the below link a look - defiantly worth it!

http://www.humanconnectomeproject.org


So, as I mentioned before getting carried away with the brain (check out the link if you haven't already done so!) I am very aware that when I go back to uni in September I will be in my final year.....which if corse means the dissertation!! This is something that I personally find quite daunting....

So I thought that a possible way to relieve this mountain of work that I will (oneway) have to climb, was to take baby steps and pick one of my many books, read it and make little annotations as I go along.

So the first book that I picked was:

PHILLIP ZIMBARDO: THE LUCIFER EFFECT

Im not all of the way through this book (as it is a little hefty at: 551 pages, that includes the index and notes section) but I am defiantly happy with the progress that I have made.  One of the very first blogs that I did here was a TEDx video of Zimbardo talking about the Lucifer Effect - this book and that video is the result of the Stanford Prison Study (1973) and the explanations behind the occurrences that happened.

In reading this book so far, what strikes me is the level at which the Guards and the Prisoners lost their personal identity - the social norm of their given roles led to such extreme behaviour (guards stripped prisoners naked, showed both physical and verbal abuse) that it was then accepted as the way to behave when in this role.  Even Zimbardo (who was the Prison Superintendent) became so involved and lost sight of his true role as the lead experimanter that he passed the idea that a previously released inmate (8612) could be captured and imprisoned for being released under false pretences (Zimbardo believed rumours that 8612 was planning a riot that would break free the other prisoners - Zimbardo became so obsessed with this, that he moved all of the prisoners into a storage room whilst he sat for 3 hours waiting for the riot to start). It is defiantly safe to say that there are many aspects of Social Psychology theories within this study, including, Groupthink, Deindividuation and The Social Identity Theory - just to name a few.

I am really enjoy reading this book - reading the honest truth of Zimbardo's actions when given this responsibility - but it has also opened a can of worms in my mind ---would people react this way in roles now? Are people more likely to stand up for what they believe? I am aware of the replica BBC Prison Study that occurred a few years back (2006) by Haslam & Reicher but I can't help but think that this was more of a publicity stunt for TV entertainment then a Social Experiment to be taken seriously - don't get me wrong - there are defiantly aspects of the BBC Study that are viable - but I personally feel as though the participants were VERY aware that they were on a TV show:

Here are some papers on the matter:

Reicher. S, & Haslam, A. (2006). Rethinking the psychology of Tyranny: The BBC prison study. British Journal of Social Psychology. 45, 1-40.

Zimbardo. P. G. (2006). Commentary On rethinking the psychology of Tyranny: The BBC Prison Study. British Journal of Social Psychology. 43, 47-53.

There are plenty of papers out there, but I always feel as though it is best to get the information and arguments straight from the horses mouth!

So for the rest of the week I am hoping to finish reading this book and then on to another!

Until next time xx

Sorry about the delay!!

Hello fellow geeklies!

Sorry about the delay with my blog - I've been UBA busy this week but I pinky promise that a blog is defiantly on its way!! 🤓🤓
Please forgive me!!! Xx

Serial - A MUST listen!!

Hello fellow geeklies! 

I am in the process of composing my first topic and that will be ready for next week. The topic for discussion is Social Constructionism!! The what's, the who's, why it matters and its future!!

In the meantime I really really REALLY suggest you listen to this amazing podcast called 'Serial'.

Serial is a two season non-fictional podcast that is narrated by Sarah Koenig.  The podcast follows Sarah's own investigation into a murder at Woodlawn High School, Baltimore, 1999.  A fellow student of the school, and the victims then recent ex-boyfriend, Adnon Syed was arrested and convicted of the murder. The problem? Adnon is still protesting his innocence 17 years on.  

Listening to Sarah and her amazing explation of the year long journey that she has taken fully captures you as a listener and really makes you think and switch from Adnon being guilty to Adnon being innocent. 

I myself am only in the first season but have really enjoyed each episode so far - the podcast highlights issues with eyewitnesses, the justice system but also the amount of pressure that is placed on detectives to find the culprit to a point where serious errors occur that could jeopardise the case as a whole. 

Whilst listening to Sarah you feel as though you are taking the journey with her into finding more about the horrendous murder of a college school girl - but you also are unsure of what is around the corner in regards to evidence that is uncovered and how this would effect Adnon. 

I really do suggest that you give this and try and let me know what you think - below is the link for the first episode:

https://serialpodcast.org/season-one

Happy listening 🤓🤓

Upcoming Topics

Hello fellow geeklies!

I have been thinking of a few topics to blog about over the next few weeks and have so far created the following:

Social Constructionism
The power of Manipulation
Crowd Behaviour
Mental illness 
Profiling 
Necrophilia and other extreme crimes
The Lucifer Effect
Religion and Violence

These are just to name a few of the weekly topics that I will be reading about and hopefully starting some discussions.....if there are any topics that you would like me to study or discuss then please just drop me an email or tweet.  

Apart from that, the first topic will be on by the end of the week--I'll be adding papers, journals, books and relative videos in my discussions so anyone can read and enjoy!!

🤓🤓 xx

All Hail Zimbardo!

Zimbardo and his research is one of the main reasons that I became interested in Psychology. Particularly that of Social Psychology and the workings of humans within social experiments. His Stanford Prison experiment brought about such controversy that it is still the subject of debate to this day!

I absolutely adore and admire Zimbardo, the below video was a TEDtalk that Zimbardo did on the Psychology of Evil - Warning - there are some graphic images in this video that some people may find upsetting.

The video does make you think twice about the workings of an 'evil mind' or whether it is the individual person or the situation that the person is in.....some thought provoking stuff! Let me know what you think!