Milgram Study

Last week in my psycology class we were reviewing examples of why normal people do bad things to other people We went over the Jewish concentration camps and attempted to understand why normal human being were intentionally inflicting pain on others. We watched a video about the Stanley Milgram Study in Stanford. After watching the movie I came home and researched other finding by him. In Why Good People Do Bad Things by Stanley Milgran he attempts to study the reason behind people’s actions. Milgram’s experiment gives us an understanding of what factors are associated with people’s actions when doing wrong. His series of experiments tested how people respond to authority figures when faced with difficult decisions such as hurting other person.  The experiments revealed that even good people who have set values tend to do bad things when asked to do so.

In Milgrams study the participants were given a task, they were asked to administer a shock wave to the other person every time that person got an answer incorrect. The participant administering the shock was cognizant of how intense the shock waves were and how severe they can get. This study was administered to different groups of people and the outcome remained the same. The study demonstrated that the majority of people are willing to compromise their personal values in order to complete the task the authority figure implemented. Many of these people were sentient of how wrong and immoral their action was, yet they still continued to obey because they felt a sense of responsibility to the authority figure.

Vocabulary Words

Sentient- Able to perceive or feel things

Cognizant- Having knowledge or being aware of

HIV Guest Speaker

Yesterday in my Health class we had a guest speaker who came to talk to us about HIV,  he is only 24 years old and has been living with HIV since the age of 17. He shared many interesting facts with the class. He explained that for adolescents living with HIV, the issue regarding taking medication is difficult. This is due to the fear of social isolation and rejection by family and friends when their medication discloses their HIV status. Suboptimal medication adherence is associated with higher viral loads and can lead to further complications such as drug resistance or infections. Young people in the United States use alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs at high rates. Both casual and chronic substance users are more likely to engross in high-risk behaviors, such as unprotected sex, when they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Poor young people are at high risk for HIV infection if they are exchanging sex for drugs or money.

HIV/AIDS education needs to take place at correspondingly young ages, before young people engage in sexual behaviors that put them at risk for HIV infection. Schools are important partners for reaching youth before high-risk behaviors are established. Sex Education classes can give information to adolescents before they become sexually active. Other HIV/AIDS prevention resources include individual, peer, family, church, and community programs. These resources can also help reduce the incline of HIV/AIDS in young people.

It is also important to give adequate health care access to all youth who are already sexually active. Programs such as Planned Parenthood are great resources to have for all communities and especially those communities whose youth is at higher risk of HIV/AIDS infection. Giving youth the knowledge that there is help will prevent further increases in HIV diagnoses.

Vocabulary Words

Engross- (1) Absorb all the attention or interest of. (2)Gain or keep exclusive possession of (something)

Adherence- attachment: faithful support for a cause or political party or religion

Violence in Mexico

This morning when I was getting ready for school I was listening to the Spanish news about all the violence in Mexico and the continuous amount of bodies that are being found on a daily basis. According to the news, yesterday in Juarez, Mexico there were twelve dead bodies found in a minivan. Within in those bodies there was the body of a ten year old kid that was severely tortured and then burned alive. I don’t understand how there are people in this world that are capable of doing such horrific acts. I continued heeding to the new about the ongoing violence occurring in Mexico. I felt horrible when they presented another gruesome story. They stated that there was a seventeen year old female found dead on her bed with severe torture wounds. This was awful, but what really shocked me was when the news stated that this teenager was found with the body of her new born baby next to her, also dead.  Based on the evidence they found that the girl was pregnant at the time of her torture and her murderers had opened her stomach and pulled the baby out. Gross! It was then discovered that all of the violence that was happening throughout the country

How can individuals have the heart to do this to another person? It makes me sick to see what Mexico is turning into. My parents were both born in Mexico and they would always tell me stories about how amazing and fun growing up in Mexico was. Today my parents don’t even want to go to Mexico, not even on vacation. They say that the country is nothing like it used to be years ago. Most people live in fear that they could get killed or kidnapped and rarely leave their house after dark. I believe that some type of cure has to be found for the outrageous violence in that country. The major problem that has to be addressed is the drug cartels and the venality in the government. The government is now hand-by-hand with the drug lords trafficking illegal substances to the U.S.

Vocabulary Words

Venality-prostitution of talents or offices or services for reward

Heeding-Pay attention to; take notice of.