This is a very difficult question for me to answer. First of all, I have no idea the specifics on what I want to do in ten years because I do not even know what I want to do when I graduate in May. I know to some people, especially my mom, this is scary. Here I am, a 22 year old woman not sure of what I want to do with the rest of my life. Well, enough about what I don't know, here are some things I do know.
I want to work with people. I want to help people, whether that means making sure they have adequate health care, a shoulder to cry on, a place to call home, or just as simple as a warm dinner each night, I want to interact with people; I want to better peoples lives.
I want to wake up every morning excited to go to my job. I know everyone has bad days where they don't want to get out of bed, but overall I want to love my job. If a person asks me, "what do you do for a living?" I want to talk so much about my job and what I do that they have to cut me off, rather than me run out of positive things to say about it.
I want to learn something new every day. I don't want to live a life where everything is planned out for me; everything is routine. I know some things have to be, like going to work every day. But if I don't learn something new every day, either about myself or another person, I will feel like I am no longer growing as a person.
I believe GWSS will be able to help me in my future goals and career, whatever they may be because it is already helping me see the world through another person's eyes. And by learning about other people, I can reflect on myself and learn even more about me.
Although I do not have any concrete answers to where I will be in 10 years, I know what kind of person I want to be and I hope the rest will fall into place.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Justice?
When I think of Justice, episodes of Law and Order SVU pop into my head. All of the episodes involve a perpetrator, victim, and some sort of justice. A man rapes a teenage girl, he is caught, he goes to Riker's. Justice in this case seems pretty straight forward. I mean, who cares what happens to the guy? He raped an innocent 15 year old girl didn't he? And he will probably do it again if he gets off. By him going to prison, the girl and her family receive justice and he gets what he deserves. Simple.
But what if this story wasn't so simple? What if the 15 year old girl hooks up with guys from her school all the time? What if she stole her older sister's ID so she could get into a club? What if she picked a guy up at the club and they "hooked up" and then afterwards, her parents found out he was 22 and they talked their daughter into pressing charges? If he gets the maximum sentence for rape and is forever labeled a sex offender, is that justice?
What if the man actually does rape the 15 year old girl? He sees her walking down the street, followers her into an alley, and rapes her. But what if he suffers from schizophrenia or any other mental condition and has been off his medication? What if he would have taken his medication but he is homeless and doesn't have access or money to see a doctor to write a prescription? What if he was sexually abused as a child? What if he has flashbacks and paranoid episodes of when he was abused and he was not aware of his actions when he raped the girl? If he gets the maximum sentence for rape and is sent to prison, is that justice?
What if the perpetrator was a woman and she raped a 15 year old boy?
What if the perpetrator was a boy who just turned 18 and the victim was his underage girlfriend who he has been dating for over a year? What if the girl victim originally wanted to have sex and then after got scared claimed it was rape? Do all these different situations deserve the same sort of "justice"?
I know these are just hypothetical situations I am comparing to a TV show, but this sort of thing happens all the time in our society. The same crime is committed but in a million different situations. Is is just to punish all of the offenders the same way because they all committed the same crime? Should society only get justice for the victim, regardless of what the offender receives for punishment, or should society look at what is in the best interest of the offender as well? I believe there should be justice for both parties, but to go off of one set of rules or laws for every crime and situation would not be just for either group.
But what if this story wasn't so simple? What if the 15 year old girl hooks up with guys from her school all the time? What if she stole her older sister's ID so she could get into a club? What if she picked a guy up at the club and they "hooked up" and then afterwards, her parents found out he was 22 and they talked their daughter into pressing charges? If he gets the maximum sentence for rape and is forever labeled a sex offender, is that justice?
What if the man actually does rape the 15 year old girl? He sees her walking down the street, followers her into an alley, and rapes her. But what if he suffers from schizophrenia or any other mental condition and has been off his medication? What if he would have taken his medication but he is homeless and doesn't have access or money to see a doctor to write a prescription? What if he was sexually abused as a child? What if he has flashbacks and paranoid episodes of when he was abused and he was not aware of his actions when he raped the girl? If he gets the maximum sentence for rape and is sent to prison, is that justice?
What if the perpetrator was a woman and she raped a 15 year old boy?
What if the perpetrator was a boy who just turned 18 and the victim was his underage girlfriend who he has been dating for over a year? What if the girl victim originally wanted to have sex and then after got scared claimed it was rape? Do all these different situations deserve the same sort of "justice"?
I know these are just hypothetical situations I am comparing to a TV show, but this sort of thing happens all the time in our society. The same crime is committed but in a million different situations. Is is just to punish all of the offenders the same way because they all committed the same crime? Should society only get justice for the victim, regardless of what the offender receives for punishment, or should society look at what is in the best interest of the offender as well? I believe there should be justice for both parties, but to go off of one set of rules or laws for every crime and situation would not be just for either group.
First Impressions
Most people today judge others by their first impressions. Take for example, a job interview. If two people are interviewing for the same job, and one of them shows up to the interview wearing sweatpants and an old Hawkeyes' sweatshirt while the other one comes in a freshly pressed business suit, it's a no brainer which one will land the job. The person in sweats could have been the more qualified of the two and had a great personality, but because of his/her appearance, the interviewer passed them by. The same can be said in all walks of life. When people see a person dressed all in black, they might think "Goth" or "Emo". When a teenage boy dresses like a skater: tight jeans, a colorful T and over-sized sneakers, they might think, "Slacker" or "Pot-Head". And when a female college student walks down the street with blond hair, buckle jeans, and newly purchased Ugg boots, people might think, "Prep", "Rich White Girl", "Snob". These are common stereotypes everyone can recognize, but that's exactly what they are: Stereotypes. I'm sorry to admit that when I walked into the prison, I came with stereotypes already playing out in my head. I expected to see women, locked behind bars, screaming crude things as we passed them by. I expected to see mostly minority groups, specifically blacks and Hispanics. I expected to see women in their twenties, thirties, and forties. I expected an unpleasant atmosphere.
Needless to say all of my stereotypes were wrong. The only women I heard yelling were women hollering at their friends saying there were going to lunch. Almost every woman we passed said "hi" or "how are you". Every door we walked through was being held open by a friendly face. As far as I could see, there were as many white women as their were women belonging to different minority groups, if not more. I saw women of all ages, spanning from late teens to early twenties, all the up to women in their late sixties. And the atmosphere was pleasant. I did not feel scared or frightened, I did not feel awkward or embarrassed. While many of the buildings were shabby and forlorn, the women were extremely nice and inviting. This experience taught me the importance of pushing past known stereotypes in order to see what a person is really like. Although we did not get to talk to any women individually, I am convinced that when I do speak one on one with a woman behind bars, I will see more similarities between us than differences.
Needless to say all of my stereotypes were wrong. The only women I heard yelling were women hollering at their friends saying there were going to lunch. Almost every woman we passed said "hi" or "how are you". Every door we walked through was being held open by a friendly face. As far as I could see, there were as many white women as their were women belonging to different minority groups, if not more. I saw women of all ages, spanning from late teens to early twenties, all the up to women in their late sixties. And the atmosphere was pleasant. I did not feel scared or frightened, I did not feel awkward or embarrassed. While many of the buildings were shabby and forlorn, the women were extremely nice and inviting. This experience taught me the importance of pushing past known stereotypes in order to see what a person is really like. Although we did not get to talk to any women individually, I am convinced that when I do speak one on one with a woman behind bars, I will see more similarities between us than differences.
Monday, August 30, 2010
The Ethics of Care in My Life
What is an "ethic of care?" How could your definition apply to the practice of your daily life and future career?
According to Maurice Hamington and Dorothy C. Miller, "Care ethics addresses both the nature of ethics and the nature of knowledge" ("Introduction: A Modern Moral Imperative", XII). In other words, it's following the law and doing what's right while using common sense and showing compassion toward others. This new approach to ethics "emphasizes relationships, empathy, and compassion over formulations of principles" (XI). I believe when someone takes a "care" for something, that person genuinely tries to do the right thing, not because they have to but because they want to. For example, I work at a car dealership and we have a motto that everyone works by: "Doing the right thing, not just doing things right". Here is a realistic scenario which might better explain this saying.
A customer comes into the service department to pick up their vehicle. Their total bill is $1423.53. The advisor explained the bill to the customer over the phone and now the customer is at the cashier counter ready to pay. However, when the cashier goes to collect the money, the customer states he is not completely satisfied with his experience because he was not made aware of a few charges on some of the repairs before the repairs were completed and now he has to pay for them. And while the customer is willing to pay the entire bill, he is not very happy about it. The cashier has two choices. She can collect the total amount of $1423.53 from the customer because that is what all of his repairs cost. That would be doing it right. After all, a customer comes in with a problem, the dealership fixes the problem, the customer pays for the problem that was fixed. The other option the cashier has is to take off the charges that the customer was not happy about paying for and subtract it from the total amount due. Now, this might not be doing things right, but it is the right thing to do. The bottom line is to make the customer happy and by taking off the some of the charges of the bill, by doing the right thing, not just doing things right, that customer will most likely come back in the future and we as a company can walk away knowing we did the right thing.
Ethics of care always applies when working with people. Although I'm not sure what my career will be, I do know I will be working with people and I will be using the ethics of care on a daily basis.
According to Maurice Hamington and Dorothy C. Miller, "Care ethics addresses both the nature of ethics and the nature of knowledge" ("Introduction: A Modern Moral Imperative", XII). In other words, it's following the law and doing what's right while using common sense and showing compassion toward others. This new approach to ethics "emphasizes relationships, empathy, and compassion over formulations of principles" (XI). I believe when someone takes a "care" for something, that person genuinely tries to do the right thing, not because they have to but because they want to. For example, I work at a car dealership and we have a motto that everyone works by: "Doing the right thing, not just doing things right". Here is a realistic scenario which might better explain this saying.
A customer comes into the service department to pick up their vehicle. Their total bill is $1423.53. The advisor explained the bill to the customer over the phone and now the customer is at the cashier counter ready to pay. However, when the cashier goes to collect the money, the customer states he is not completely satisfied with his experience because he was not made aware of a few charges on some of the repairs before the repairs were completed and now he has to pay for them. And while the customer is willing to pay the entire bill, he is not very happy about it. The cashier has two choices. She can collect the total amount of $1423.53 from the customer because that is what all of his repairs cost. That would be doing it right. After all, a customer comes in with a problem, the dealership fixes the problem, the customer pays for the problem that was fixed. The other option the cashier has is to take off the charges that the customer was not happy about paying for and subtract it from the total amount due. Now, this might not be doing things right, but it is the right thing to do. The bottom line is to make the customer happy and by taking off the some of the charges of the bill, by doing the right thing, not just doing things right, that customer will most likely come back in the future and we as a company can walk away knowing we did the right thing.
Ethics of care always applies when working with people. Although I'm not sure what my career will be, I do know I will be working with people and I will be using the ethics of care on a daily basis.
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