We might be living in the heyday of television. The streaming options have generated higher quality more complex, and less formulaic programing than existed in the eras of scheduled network platforms. However, many of the most popular and critically acclaimed shows in recent years are extremely violent. Think about the frequency and graphic intensity of… Read more »
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Both glamorizing and demonizing violence help us avoid having to understand the violent mind. We should enter the violent person’s subjective world, not just in order to be able to offer treatment, but also to anticipate the nature of the risks they embody both to themselves and to society. ~ Peter Fonagy, “Towards a Developmental… Read more »
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As a therapist, I want to help survivors of dating violence, domestic violence, and abusive relationships recover their sense of safety and self-fulfillment in life. And I want to do more. I want more people to know how grave the damage is to survivors of abuse and sexual assault. I want to see more action… Read more »
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Years ago, when I was in the process of creating a violence assessment scale, I visited a series of high-security prisons to interview men found guilty of murder and other violent crimes. As I sat down with each inmate, the first question I always asked was, “How did you come to be a violent person?”… Read more »
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Watch an exerpt from PsychAlive’s exclusive interview with Dr. James Garbarino. Dr. James Garbarino talks about a common communication gap between adolescent girls and their parents. Dr. James Garbarino: I think one of the common themes in the lives of girls who get hurt by peers is this code of silence. You know, there’s a… Read more »
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Watch an excerpt from PsychAlive’s exclusive interview with Dr. James Garbarino. Dr. James Garbarino discusses the correlation in violence between the sexes. I published a book, Lost Boys, in 1999. The subtitle is, “Why our Sons are Growing More Violent – What we can do about it.” And almost immediately, people kept saying, “Well, what… Read more »
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There was another mass shooting recently. This one was at a school in Newtown, Connecticut. Just a week earlier there had been a similar mass shooting at a political rally in Canada, and another, just six weeks earlier at a movie theater in Colorado. I heard a reporter on the radio say that the shooter… Read more »
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The tragedy in Aurora, Colorado was an extreme act of senseless violence that truly shook our nation. When traumatic events like these take place, a ripple of grief, shock and fear spreads to individuals who are both directly and indirectly impacted. For those of us who live far from Aurora, reactions range from a deep… Read more »
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October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and with domestic violence on the rise, it is an important time to face this difficult issue. This year, the nationwide Mary Kay Truth About Abuse Survey showed that “8 out of 10 domestic violence shelters nationwide reported an increase in women seeking help.” The economy has had an… Read more »
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Understanding, preventing, and effectively treating violence Seeing an image of a violent adult, it’s hard to imagine the innocent baby they once were. Is there such thing as being born violent? Are there really “bad seeds” when it comes to a human life? Like so many qualities, violence involves a real interaction between genetics and… Read more »
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