For English class we read "The Self We Live By," by James Holstein and Jaber Gubrium. The book offers many different views on what identity is and how the idea or concept of the "self" can be viewed. One theorist that particularly spoke to me was Hochschild's emotionally managed self which she discusses in her book The Managed Heart. The reason for this was not just because I feel my identity is deeply rooted in how I feel and my emotions but because she offered great insight into the idea of a "true" self and the ability of people to create "false" selves to meet situational demands. She wrote, "the 'true' self is often overrun by false selves that have been mobilized to help ward off the demands of the social." According to this theory it seems that the "self" is largely individual and defined by the emotions it feels, but at the same time can adapt or change in diverse situations in order to play many social roles. This deviation from the true individual is referred to as a false self, and depending upon the situational demands one true identity can have many false versions of the self.
This theory seems extremely valid in our society today. It does not seem like anyone maintains or portrays their individual roots all the time, but rather, one can frequently exhibit the change of "self" or people acting differently depending upon the circumstances. For example, if I looked at my own "self" introspectively I would not hesitate to agree with Hochschild. When I am alone, I am in touch with my feelings and have a very specific definition to who I think I am. But, no matter how frequently I tell myself to act the same in every situation, I find it impossible to do so. Over the years I have accumulated so many versions of my self or "false" selves that I sometimes get confused as to who I really am. I think the "false" self can relate to James interpretation of the self as changing yourself to fit what you think others want you to be. It is true that we create our false selves as people who feel they would better fit with the audience they want to be a part of. This is almost stereotyping in a sense, because we must interpret how the group we want to join or how the people we want to hang out with want us to act/be and we mold ourselves around this basis of nonfactual personal judgment.
Hochschild says that, "it is from feelings that we learn the self relevance of what we see, remember, or imagine." This is true for we internalize perceptions, actions and events, and memories all as how we felt when they occurred. I feel that the self is largely emotional and no action or thought can be devoid of emotions. This theory may apply when examining how extremely emotional events impact a person's concept of identity as well.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
The basis of Arguement?
In English class today we tried to make sense of how and why we argue at all if there are so many ways of academic thinking. Although the discussion was very hard to follow it seems that since society or each thought group, does not acknowledge a single "Truth" it would be hard to argue with someone in a different group, for it might just cause confusion since terms would be defined differently. It is true if one considers argument on a deeper level. If two people believe different things and define their terms completely differently on what grounds can these two people argue? It seems that it is fairly important to understand or develop a basis for argument before one pursues it. If two people decide on a common ground then they could logically argue a claim.
This leads to the importance of understanding what you will talk about prior to attempting it. In argumentative writing it is important to read about the topic you will argue about prior to actually arguing. This is important because one must be knowledgeable about a topic so as not to be immediately rejected and disagreed with by their audience. They want to approach the argument with at least a sound basic knowledge so that what they will argue/say is somewhat credible. In the attempt to somewhat gain credibility by gaining information, it is also an avenue to question standing arguments and opinions in the search of a truth, or your version of one. This still seems far outside of the box, but I am working on understanding it and learning how to inquire.
This leads to the importance of understanding what you will talk about prior to attempting it. In argumentative writing it is important to read about the topic you will argue about prior to actually arguing. This is important because one must be knowledgeable about a topic so as not to be immediately rejected and disagreed with by their audience. They want to approach the argument with at least a sound basic knowledge so that what they will argue/say is somewhat credible. In the attempt to somewhat gain credibility by gaining information, it is also an avenue to question standing arguments and opinions in the search of a truth, or your version of one. This still seems far outside of the box, but I am working on understanding it and learning how to inquire.
The Toulmin Method: Medical students reckless on Internet, sometimes at patients' expense
For my first attempt at the Toulmin method of analyzing arguments I have chosen to write about, "Medical students reckless on Internet, sometimes at patients' expense." This article is written on CNN.com by Denise Mann, a freelance health writer in New York City. The article does not appear to be biased, but rather argues in favor of medical schools taking action against their students unprofessional behavior on the internet. The author claims that there are rising incidents of unprotected patient privacy and that institutions need to adapt and enforce policies about the internet. Her claim is absolute. There are no qualifiers of any sort, the action needs to take place or patients are put at risk, no exceptions. In the authors opinion, it is just a matter of fact.
The author' first reason is that a survey indicates that the rise of blogging and sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are opportunities in which medical school students could easily post content that would violate patients privacy. This reason seems relevant to the authors claim because it is true, these internet sites are frequently used by medical students as places to talk about their experiences and communicate with friends. In the process it is very likely for them to accidentally violate a patients privacy, and would be a good reason for the increased incidences of unprotected patients privacy. The evidence in support of this reason is a statistical figure that 60 percent of medical schools have indeed had students post inappropriate things on the web, mostly in regard to the students inapporpriate behaviors.
The author's next reason in support of her claim is that 13 percent of medical schools in just the past year alone have reported incidents of patient privacy violations. This is exactly why she claims that something must be done to stop this. Her evidence is that students blogged with enough detail to identify patients and in some cases were discovered and called out by the families of the patients themselves, placing the school and medical students responsible at fault.
Her next reason supports the second half of her claim, that not only are incidents violating patient privacy increasing, but that something needs to be done about it. She states that less than half of the current schools have any sort of policy in place to enforce means to stop this type of behavior from continuing. This reason is relevant because it shows that there is room for improvement and implementations should be created to in every school. Her evidence in support of this reason comes from an anonymous survey sent to the 130 AAMC Medical Schools. 78 percent of the schools reported having an incident and of those 30 gave informal warnings and three students were expelled. This evidence proves that while some schools are taking action, others who are experiencing problems are not.
Mann's next reason is that although other professions are experiencing similar issues with the online behavior of their students, it is especially important for policies to be enacted for medical school students because of the exemplary role they play in society and their high moral standard, but most importantly because of the patient privacy that they must maintain. This is a relevant reason to the authors claim, because the issue to enforce policies protecting patients from the misuse of the internet by medical school students would not be a question of concern if this were not the case. She provides several quotations from important doctors as evidence for this reason. Arthur Caplan, director of UPENN center of bioethics thinks students need to be educated and violates should be punished, he does not think the behavior should be tolerated and strict policies should be implemented to enforce restriction of inappropriate online behavior. Dr. Jordan Cohen, a professor of medicine at George Washington, and former president of AAMC believes action should be taken as well. These two authoritative people, holding very important roles in the medical community, provide ample validation to the authors claim.
Overall, this seems to be a strong argument. I feel the author makes a legitimate point, that institutions need to adapt and enforce policies in response to the rising incidence of violations of patient privacy by medical school students. She has strong reasons and evidence which validate her claim but perhaps she could propose some methods that schools could employ to help the situation. I feel that this issue is extremely important for patients put their full trust in doctors hands and do not distinguish between a medical student and a board certified doctor. They look for help from whoever is assigned to provide help to them and therefore should not be cheated out of the patient-physician privacy "contract." I agree with the authors claim and feel methods should be determined to punish those who foolishly broadcast patient information on the web. If strict policies are enforced students will not misbehave because their life's work toward their MD would be on the line.
The author' first reason is that a survey indicates that the rise of blogging and sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are opportunities in which medical school students could easily post content that would violate patients privacy. This reason seems relevant to the authors claim because it is true, these internet sites are frequently used by medical students as places to talk about their experiences and communicate with friends. In the process it is very likely for them to accidentally violate a patients privacy, and would be a good reason for the increased incidences of unprotected patients privacy. The evidence in support of this reason is a statistical figure that 60 percent of medical schools have indeed had students post inappropriate things on the web, mostly in regard to the students inapporpriate behaviors.
The author's next reason in support of her claim is that 13 percent of medical schools in just the past year alone have reported incidents of patient privacy violations. This is exactly why she claims that something must be done to stop this. Her evidence is that students blogged with enough detail to identify patients and in some cases were discovered and called out by the families of the patients themselves, placing the school and medical students responsible at fault.
Her next reason supports the second half of her claim, that not only are incidents violating patient privacy increasing, but that something needs to be done about it. She states that less than half of the current schools have any sort of policy in place to enforce means to stop this type of behavior from continuing. This reason is relevant because it shows that there is room for improvement and implementations should be created to in every school. Her evidence in support of this reason comes from an anonymous survey sent to the 130 AAMC Medical Schools. 78 percent of the schools reported having an incident and of those 30 gave informal warnings and three students were expelled. This evidence proves that while some schools are taking action, others who are experiencing problems are not.
Mann's next reason is that although other professions are experiencing similar issues with the online behavior of their students, it is especially important for policies to be enacted for medical school students because of the exemplary role they play in society and their high moral standard, but most importantly because of the patient privacy that they must maintain. This is a relevant reason to the authors claim, because the issue to enforce policies protecting patients from the misuse of the internet by medical school students would not be a question of concern if this were not the case. She provides several quotations from important doctors as evidence for this reason. Arthur Caplan, director of UPENN center of bioethics thinks students need to be educated and violates should be punished, he does not think the behavior should be tolerated and strict policies should be implemented to enforce restriction of inappropriate online behavior. Dr. Jordan Cohen, a professor of medicine at George Washington, and former president of AAMC believes action should be taken as well. These two authoritative people, holding very important roles in the medical community, provide ample validation to the authors claim.
Overall, this seems to be a strong argument. I feel the author makes a legitimate point, that institutions need to adapt and enforce policies in response to the rising incidence of violations of patient privacy by medical school students. She has strong reasons and evidence which validate her claim but perhaps she could propose some methods that schools could employ to help the situation. I feel that this issue is extremely important for patients put their full trust in doctors hands and do not distinguish between a medical student and a board certified doctor. They look for help from whoever is assigned to provide help to them and therefore should not be cheated out of the patient-physician privacy "contract." I agree with the authors claim and feel methods should be determined to punish those who foolishly broadcast patient information on the web. If strict policies are enforced students will not misbehave because their life's work toward their MD would be on the line.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
The Social Self in the Swimming World
After English class last Wednesday, I could not stop thinking about the plethora of ways to analyze the social self. Each different psychologists approach that we examined seemed somewhat unique and seemed to require further exploration. The more I thought about them I feel I can almost draw a causation from how one perceives their "social self," to one's behavior. Throughout high school I swam for a USA swim team. My experiences with these different interpretations of the social self seem to offer an explanation of some of the team members behaviors which previously seemed hard to figure out.
First off, I used to find myself wondering as to why and how "clicks" were formed on the swim team. We were all swimmers and shared this common identity, why didn't we all hang out together? Well it seems, according to William James' empirical self, people may characterize themselves in many ways and may even change how they view themselves depending upon the people they are interacting with. In this case they may have as many descriptions as "self," as people have of them. This makes my original question more clear, for now it may seem that the really fast swimmers stuck close together, because each perceived the other as one who excels in the art of swimming and has speed. In our simple worlds in high school, where swimming seemed the most important aspect in life, it would make sense that they were friends. They liked the social self that each of them had for each other, it made them feel good, and this confidence that they shared with each other made them even faster.
My social self as a beginner may be better described by Cooley's interpretation of the social self. Everything about the self has to be felt first and then thought. For instance, I started the team at the age of 13, which is considered very late in swimmer world. I seemed to have immediately perceived the others swimmers interactions with me to be one of condescension. I started to feel that I was not as fast and would never be as fast as the other girls. This is how I felt, and no matter what anyone could say to discount this, my self reflection would not change and thus my social self was set.
Later in my swimming career I realized I might act in a particular way to a specific person so that they would see me how I wanted them to see me, thus either constantly changing my social self or just creating many. According to Mead, the social self is entirely based on interaction. The catch to this approach is that the person doing the action is making an assumption about how the other person wants them to act and how they are perceiving them to act. When I was with my friends in the locker room we all complained about how hard practices were and all of these excuses we would come up with to give the coach in order to find reasons to leave practice early. We each acted this way because we thought that is what the other person wanted us to say, when in actuality if you watched us in the water, no one complained and no one left early. When I was around my coach I would talk to him about my artwork and classes in school. This was because I wanted him to perceive me as a well rounded student and not just a swimmer, since I was one of the worst on the team, well at least perceived myself to be. I assumed by telling him about the galleries he could see my work in he would then see me how I wanted my "self" to be defined.
By applying these "social self," theories to situations in which behavior does not seem justifiable allows them to be seen more clearly. Can they help you define why someone acts the way they do?
First off, I used to find myself wondering as to why and how "clicks" were formed on the swim team. We were all swimmers and shared this common identity, why didn't we all hang out together? Well it seems, according to William James' empirical self, people may characterize themselves in many ways and may even change how they view themselves depending upon the people they are interacting with. In this case they may have as many descriptions as "self," as people have of them. This makes my original question more clear, for now it may seem that the really fast swimmers stuck close together, because each perceived the other as one who excels in the art of swimming and has speed. In our simple worlds in high school, where swimming seemed the most important aspect in life, it would make sense that they were friends. They liked the social self that each of them had for each other, it made them feel good, and this confidence that they shared with each other made them even faster.
My social self as a beginner may be better described by Cooley's interpretation of the social self. Everything about the self has to be felt first and then thought. For instance, I started the team at the age of 13, which is considered very late in swimmer world. I seemed to have immediately perceived the others swimmers interactions with me to be one of condescension. I started to feel that I was not as fast and would never be as fast as the other girls. This is how I felt, and no matter what anyone could say to discount this, my self reflection would not change and thus my social self was set.
Later in my swimming career I realized I might act in a particular way to a specific person so that they would see me how I wanted them to see me, thus either constantly changing my social self or just creating many. According to Mead, the social self is entirely based on interaction. The catch to this approach is that the person doing the action is making an assumption about how the other person wants them to act and how they are perceiving them to act. When I was with my friends in the locker room we all complained about how hard practices were and all of these excuses we would come up with to give the coach in order to find reasons to leave practice early. We each acted this way because we thought that is what the other person wanted us to say, when in actuality if you watched us in the water, no one complained and no one left early. When I was around my coach I would talk to him about my artwork and classes in school. This was because I wanted him to perceive me as a well rounded student and not just a swimmer, since I was one of the worst on the team, well at least perceived myself to be. I assumed by telling him about the galleries he could see my work in he would then see me how I wanted my "self" to be defined.
By applying these "social self," theories to situations in which behavior does not seem justifiable allows them to be seen more clearly. Can they help you define why someone acts the way they do?
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Artist or Academic?
When considering identity, one might think of themselves as athlete, artist, female, or student. However, one's true identity is really a fusion of multiple identities. For one can be both sister and doctor, lover and fighter, healer and protector. At times one may find that that one of your identities is in conflict with another. Throughout my pre- University of Michigan years I felt defined by my abilities to express what I saw in the world through artistic means. If there were majors in High School, the fine arts probably would have been mine. I felt my artistic abilities shaped me and would always be who I was. However, at the same time, I also excelled in my none art classes and considered myself a good student. Often times in high school people are stereotyped into very specific groups, and I found myself in two. Artist and academic. I never put much thought into the matter, for I always believed that no one had a single identity, and I never came across a conflict of interest. That is until I entered the University of Michigan.
Arriving in Ann Arbor, 600 miles from my New York home, I felt everything would be the same as it always was in the past, and I could continue to excel in multiple areas. I do not think that this idea was necessarily naive, but perhaps it was warranted that this should not be the case. I entered college with the notion that I might consider the pre-medical path but also considered art history. First semester I tried my hand at balancing both by taking general chemistry with labs in addition to an Italian renaissance art history class. My head was swimming with images of Agony in the Garden by Bellini, the Birth of Venus by Botticelli, and the doors of the Duomo in Florence by Ghiberti. At the same time NaCl was an ionic compound with a high boiling point and a crystal lattice structure and diethyl ether would dissolve in the organic layer of an extraction because "like dissolves like." I knew this could not last long. When second semester rolled around and my adviser told me all the the necessary pre-requisite classes that were needed in order to just be considered at a medical school for admissions, my mouth dropped. That was the end. It was almost as my liver turned toward my kidney and kicked it out. There was no alternative, if I wanted to pursue a career in medicine I would have to sacrifice an identity, I had to kill a part of me. This was more than just a conflict of identities.
I made the sacrifice. Well at least I thought I did. I filled my schedule with science classes and extracurricular activities that were aimed at impressing a medical school admissions committee. When I traveled to the Dominican Republic with a team of students with the hope of providing medical relief to as many as possible, I could not help but take photographs in my mind and think of how great I could develop them in the dark room, or how I could portray the familial love but destitution of material well-being. But, I was there for a medical purpose and there was no time for much else, so I quickly re-focused. In some ways I feel the artist is still a part of my identity but the overwhelming science information I have acquired over the past 3 years is clouding any remnant of my creative expression.
This must seem familiar to you. Is there a time in your life where two of your defining identities conflicted, where you might have even had to choose one over the other. It is possible that the way in which you interpret my conflict is actually based on your own identities, experiences, and what you sympathize with. This is what I choose to question. How is it that you are receiving my conflict of identity?
Arriving in Ann Arbor, 600 miles from my New York home, I felt everything would be the same as it always was in the past, and I could continue to excel in multiple areas. I do not think that this idea was necessarily naive, but perhaps it was warranted that this should not be the case. I entered college with the notion that I might consider the pre-medical path but also considered art history. First semester I tried my hand at balancing both by taking general chemistry with labs in addition to an Italian renaissance art history class. My head was swimming with images of Agony in the Garden by Bellini, the Birth of Venus by Botticelli, and the doors of the Duomo in Florence by Ghiberti. At the same time NaCl was an ionic compound with a high boiling point and a crystal lattice structure and diethyl ether would dissolve in the organic layer of an extraction because "like dissolves like." I knew this could not last long. When second semester rolled around and my adviser told me all the the necessary pre-requisite classes that were needed in order to just be considered at a medical school for admissions, my mouth dropped. That was the end. It was almost as my liver turned toward my kidney and kicked it out. There was no alternative, if I wanted to pursue a career in medicine I would have to sacrifice an identity, I had to kill a part of me. This was more than just a conflict of identities.
I made the sacrifice. Well at least I thought I did. I filled my schedule with science classes and extracurricular activities that were aimed at impressing a medical school admissions committee. When I traveled to the Dominican Republic with a team of students with the hope of providing medical relief to as many as possible, I could not help but take photographs in my mind and think of how great I could develop them in the dark room, or how I could portray the familial love but destitution of material well-being. But, I was there for a medical purpose and there was no time for much else, so I quickly re-focused. In some ways I feel the artist is still a part of my identity but the overwhelming science information I have acquired over the past 3 years is clouding any remnant of my creative expression.
This must seem familiar to you. Is there a time in your life where two of your defining identities conflicted, where you might have even had to choose one over the other. It is possible that the way in which you interpret my conflict is actually based on your own identities, experiences, and what you sympathize with. This is what I choose to question. How is it that you are receiving my conflict of identity?
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Who am I?
Since I was a little girl, my father told me that nothing could ever stand in my way from achieving my goals. Whether it was attaining a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, competing in USA Sectional swim meets, having my artwork chosen for local galleries, or traveling around the world providing medical relief; I have always persevered to accomplish my goals, no matter what the discipline or difficulty. If someone just met me, my most defining characteristics would be my determination and willingness to put my whole heart into everything that I do. I have an insatiable desire to learn and then apply what I learn. I try to see the positive in every situation. However, someone who knew me well would describe me as having a pure heart, patience, a good listener, and extremely caring and thoughtful of others. These qualities can be seen in everything I do and seem to have led me to the experiences I have had.
Being of Cuban descent I feel a strong connection to the Latin American community and have sought experiences that combine my desire to pursue a career in medicine with my ongoing commitment to helping the Spanish Speaking people around the world. I joined International Service Learning and traveled to the rural towns in the Dominican Republic. There we set up clinics for the people in the towns to come to for physical exams and medication. I then interned in Arco Iris Neurological Rehabilitation Center in Madrid, Spain. Expecting a similar culture to that of the Dominican Republic, I realized remarkable differences. Through my experiences I have managed to gain multiple angles on the role medicine plays in Spanish-speaking countries as well as learn their cultures, language, and ways of life. The experiences were life altering, and opened my eyes to a world I had not previously known.
Working as a Mental Health Associate at Stony Lodge Psychiatric Children's Hospital, I became the patients' first line of care. Being able to read the patients charts, learning their histories and then interacting with them on a daily basis and understanding the person behind the disease, gave me a new perspective on life and medicine. Sitting with a patient for 9 hours straight, never leaving her side, in order to convince her that life was worth living; administering therapy to eight year olds, developing constructive ways to turn their lives around; and trying to get through to 7 gang affiliated teenage male patients by myself; I realized I have a genuine care and dedication. Through observation and interaction, my perspectives on other matters have greatly changed and my outlook on life has been re-constructed.
While my personal attributes led me to my experiences, my experiences have led me to my professional choice, all of which are fused together to emblem my identity. Or rather, what I believe my identity as a person to be, how I can put it in words at least. However, this may not be enough; the question on identity in itself deserves exploration and an understanding on a deeper level, a topic I will be exploring through this blog.
Although, I am writing this blog for my English 225 class at the University of Michigan,I offer it as an opportunity to read about issues from my standpoint. A standpoint that has been molded from the experiences I have had the last few years, that I feel have deeply defined my identity. I aim to work on my argumentative and persuasive skills which I would love to improve upon, and any feedback or pointers would be greatly appreciated. If you too enjoy learning about different ways that people can view the same thing, you might enjoy reading my blog and sharing your viewpoints in which case we can learn from each other.
Being of Cuban descent I feel a strong connection to the Latin American community and have sought experiences that combine my desire to pursue a career in medicine with my ongoing commitment to helping the Spanish Speaking people around the world. I joined International Service Learning and traveled to the rural towns in the Dominican Republic. There we set up clinics for the people in the towns to come to for physical exams and medication. I then interned in Arco Iris Neurological Rehabilitation Center in Madrid, Spain. Expecting a similar culture to that of the Dominican Republic, I realized remarkable differences. Through my experiences I have managed to gain multiple angles on the role medicine plays in Spanish-speaking countries as well as learn their cultures, language, and ways of life. The experiences were life altering, and opened my eyes to a world I had not previously known.
Working as a Mental Health Associate at Stony Lodge Psychiatric Children's Hospital, I became the patients' first line of care. Being able to read the patients charts, learning their histories and then interacting with them on a daily basis and understanding the person behind the disease, gave me a new perspective on life and medicine. Sitting with a patient for 9 hours straight, never leaving her side, in order to convince her that life was worth living; administering therapy to eight year olds, developing constructive ways to turn their lives around; and trying to get through to 7 gang affiliated teenage male patients by myself; I realized I have a genuine care and dedication. Through observation and interaction, my perspectives on other matters have greatly changed and my outlook on life has been re-constructed.
While my personal attributes led me to my experiences, my experiences have led me to my professional choice, all of which are fused together to emblem my identity. Or rather, what I believe my identity as a person to be, how I can put it in words at least. However, this may not be enough; the question on identity in itself deserves exploration and an understanding on a deeper level, a topic I will be exploring through this blog.
Although, I am writing this blog for my English 225 class at the University of Michigan,I offer it as an opportunity to read about issues from my standpoint. A standpoint that has been molded from the experiences I have had the last few years, that I feel have deeply defined my identity. I aim to work on my argumentative and persuasive skills which I would love to improve upon, and any feedback or pointers would be greatly appreciated. If you too enjoy learning about different ways that people can view the same thing, you might enjoy reading my blog and sharing your viewpoints in which case we can learn from each other.
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