Embedded with the Perpetrators

Betty McLellan's article "Embedded with the Perpetrators: A Feminist Critique of the Role of Psychotherapy in domestic and family violence"discusses how society is beginning to develop psychological explanations men can use as a justification towards their violence against women and children. She makes three points: there is a new arrogance, psychological explanations are being used, and ways to be more effects in our efforts to change the culture of violence in today's society.

The first point made is there is a new arrogance in relation to men's violence against women and children. Governments, the police, the media, the law and psychology are making no attempt to hide their relationships with perpetrators. For example, PM John Howard's view point on 'automatic shared custody' thinking it's in the best interest of the child when in reality the most common reason for the separation between the parents is a history of domestic violence or sexual abuse. 

The second point is the role of psychotherapy and the way in which psychological explanations in the service of perpetrators. McLellan's discusses Freud's development of the Oedipus Complex as a direct result for his reasons of not believing fathers were capable of doing such 'perverse' things toward their daughters. Since Freud, a stream of psychologists have used their knowledge and power and lawyers using psychologist assessments as a way to support perpetrators in court. 

One justification is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is the most common. For example, the trauma the individual suffered throughout childhood is the reason why he lost it and murdered his wife or that's why he sexually abused his daughter for years. Suffering from PTSD is not a justifiable reason someone can use towards their violent act. Everyone suffers some sort of trauma within their lives but they aren't going around killing or abusing people they deal with it in a reasonable manner. 

Another justification is dissociation meaning the person didn't know what they were doing. For example, he 'blacked out' and woke up with the knife in his hand. Or the justification of fragmentation meaning they were dealing with too many emotions at once. For example, a man murdered his wife. He  strangled her with a piece of steel boat cable. He was arrested and charged. However, he was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter. The community took the man's side and felt sorry for him saying he had his reasons for doing it and he had a lot to put up with. 

The third point made are the ways to be more effects in our efforts to change the culture of violence in today's society. McLellan's says that we must be up to date on the analysis of men's violence against women. She says that we should trust the established feminist's body of knowledge. Women must never give up on the issue, take care of ourselves, and to have support networks in place if ever needed for any reason. 

Journalism Confidentiality

Journalist have an ethical obligation to protect the confidentiality of their sources, but when keeping your sources confidential when asked to reveal them by the court or parliament, a journalist can be punished with jail time or a fine. Where confidences are accepted, respect them in all circumstances. This encourages journalist to attempt to get information on the record and to engage in a process of assessment of the credibility of a source before accepting off the record information. Sometimes journalist must keep the confidence of a source in order to receive the information in the first place and sources would no longer exist if journalist made it a habit of revealing their sources.

A journalist can be charged with disobedience contempt if they do not reveal their sources when asked by the court. The journalists' code is unusual among professional ethical codes in that it offers no easy escape for the reporter pressed in court to reveal a source. Some journalist have been charged with contempt and fined for refusing to provide documents to courts when subpoenaed to do so. For example, Herald-Sun journalists Michael Harvey and Gerard McManus face jail for refusing to reveal the key source of an article that caused Government embarrassment.

Another field of contempt for journalists is from the powers of parliament at both federal and state levels. The law of contempt of parliament is aimed at preserving the smooth and fair operations of the parliament. Journalist can find themselves charged with contempt of parliament in a number of ways: publishing a comment 'reflecting' on a House, referring to parliamentary records and documents in court proceedings without permission, the 'premature' publication of a committee's proceedings or evidence, and publishing material that tends to obstruct a member of parliament in the discharge of a member's duties. However, the most common type of contempt of parliament journalist are charged with is when they reveal the inner discussions of a parliamentary committee that is bound to secrecy until its report has been tabled in the parliament.

A separate area of the law, which provides a mechanism for protecting secrets, is the action for breach of confidence. A journalist is not infrequently faced with the question of whether confidential information can be revealed in the public interest. The courts apply a three-point test to determine whether there has been a breach of confidence: the information must have a quality of confidence about it, the circumstances in which the information was imparted must have given rise to an obligation of confidentiality, and the recipient must disclose the information or use it t the detriment of someone entitled to prevent such use. Confidential information can include documents, ideas, words, and objects, but most commonly the information is sensitive financial, legal, or private matter.

The law provides a defense to breach of confidences in a limited range of circumstances. the most straightforward being that you were order by a court to disclose the confidential information. The first defense is 'just cause or excuse' meaning a confidence can be broken if it relates to a crime, but the clear requirement is that there is some overriding public interest in the confidence being broken. The second defense is fair report. The third defense is protected disclosure meaning the public interest factor involves questions of to whom the disclosure may be made. Disclosure to one class of people may be considered to be in the public interest, while disclosure to a broader class may not.

Artemus Jones

The Artemus Jones case is the most famous foundation defamation cases. A London newspaper journalist published a story about a fictitious character with the name 'Artemus Jones'. The character was described as spending time with a women who was not his wife. The newspaper was sued for defamation because a real man with the name Artemus Jones had his reputation taken into question. This is just one example of why journalist have to be careful so they are not sued with defamation. Journalist need to be make sure that when using a fake name that no one else really has the name. Journalist need to have a defense ready to protect themselves if they is a chance that the material could be considered defamatory.

Defamation is the harming or damaging of a person's reputation. It is a civil wrong. The law for defamation protect people's reputations and their 'good name'.

There are three major things necessary in order for it to be considered defamation. The first is publication. The act of publication makes something known to another or makes it accessible to another. The  plaintiff has to prove that the material in question was published to at least one person that is not them or the defendant. Journalist need to be aware of the third person rule when researching. Also, if someone republishes material that is considered defamatory, then they can be sued too even though they didn't originally publish it.

The second is the content that was published must have carried defamatory imputations. Defamatory imputations are unclear under the Defamation Act. It is anything that might damage a person's reputation, cause someone to think less of the person, hold a person up to ridicule or cause others to shun and avoid them. These are unclear because it all depends on the person who is viewing the information published and what their opinion is on how a person's reputation can be ruined. The third part is identification. A person claiming defamation will have to prove he or she can be identified in connection with the material.

Any living person can bring an action for defamation. There is a short list of who cannot be defamed. People must be alive in order to sue or be sued for defamation, but it is quite possible to be defaming a living person connected to the dead one. Groups and organizations cannot be defamed because identifying the person the defamatory material is talking about is difficult. However, corporations with less than 10 people can be defamed because identification in this case is fairly easy with only 10 people to base the defamatory material on.

The Break Up

In life there are certain situations and people that put strains on our lives and in return the stress is placed upon someone else. The movie The Break Up demonstrates the tensions that put stress on a relationship and how the relationship works out the problems. The movie stars Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston and after two years of being in a relationship the tensions start to become to much for either one to handle. 

Within Vaughn and Aniston’s relationship, they have many tensions pulling on one another to the point where the string break apart. Both their characters have the tension of work that brings problems into their relationship. Aniston’s character works at a major art gallery which is run by an up tight boss. She also comes home after her long day of work and cleans their condo and cook dinner almost every night. Vaughn’s character has his own Chicago tour company which he also runs with his two other brothers. 

Also both characters have family tensions on both sides that are brought into the relationship. Aniston’s character has her brother and his singing career adds to the tensions. Vaughn’s character has one of his brothers badgering him about tour logs for the company so he does not have to do them and can spend time with his own family. He also has another brother who is very immature towards women and likes to take Vaughn’s character partying.  Even after they break up there is still the tension of who will get the condo because neither one will move out. 

Within The Break Up, the characters demonstrate that within most relationships the partners have the desire to be connected with one another and also the desire for autonomy. Aniston wants Vaughn to be more attentive and to help her with the preparation of their dinner party. Vaughn, on the other hand, wants to come home and drink a beer and watch TV. He does not care that she is asking for his help all he wants to do is be left alone. 

The characters experience tensions such as wanting stability and having the desire with some change. 

The characters display this aspect of the theory by always doing what Vaughn wants to do such as going to baseball games and playing on the couples bowling league. The desire for change on Vaughn's part is never there. His character never wants to do anything that he does not like such as going to the ballet because that is something that she loves to do. 

The movie displays everyday tensions that other couples may face in their own relationships. 

Sons of Anarchy

Sons of Anarchy is about an outlawed motorcycled club that lives in Charming, California. The main character is Jax Teller, who is the vice president of the club. Throughout the show, he struggles with trying to raise his son in a safe world and the love he has for the club his father started. The club deals with running guns, other gangs, drugs and sex. On the other hand, the most important thing to the entire club is family. 

The show first aired in 2008 and will start its sixth season this September. Kurt Sutter is the show’s creator, executive producer, writer, and director. According to Sons of Anarchy’s main page, Kurt Sutter spent most of his childhood in doors directly in front of the television. The time spent there allowed Sutter to gain the knowledge of storytelling and that violence is educational if the story is told with animated and colorful characters. Along with his work this show, he works with Paramount Studios, Warner Bros, and DreamWorks. The Los Angeles Times reports that the second season averaged 3.7 million total viewers. The Chicago Tribune gave the show three and a half stars. The Sons of Anarchy’s main webpage shows that 2,891,848 people like this show on Facebook. Netflix averaged 1,046,998 people who rated this show which gave it four and a half stars. 

The show depicts a gangster's lifestyle which makes the audience interested in watching. In particular, audiences pay close attention to the codes, or values, that the gangs live by. The gangster narratives incorporate the values, such as loyalty, honor and respect, that culture seems to forget. Along with the lifestyle, minorities are portrayed in this series and that portrayal effects audience's view about minorities throughout life. They are characterized by parts of criminals, or law enforcers, and these parts are defined by the minorities intelligence level, speech, laziness, and aggression. These stereotypical characterization gives the audience a skewed sense of minorities in general because of the negative judgements the media shows the public. This racial discrimination is characterized by the egalitarian values of Whites and their negative attitudes directed toward racial groups. 

Along with minorities represented, women are also portrayed within this series and this portrayal will effect how young audiences view women. Most of the women in this show were between twenty and thirty years of age. Women were more likely to have a blue-collared job than a white-collar. Women’s marital status, and physical characteristics, had no direct relationship when it came to their occupational role. However, Sutter loves to write strong female characters, such as Gemma Teller, played by Kately Sagal, and Tara, played by Maggie Siff. Gemma Teller is the club's president's wife who has power over the other guys in the club. Tara is Jax Teller's girlfriend and a pediatric surgeon on the show. 

Gender Stereotypes

Throughout advertising, advertisers feature traditional gender stereotypes. Theories indicate that children learn the traditional sex roles by imitating their parents, reading literature, and watching television. Children learn through observing which behaviors are accepted, or rewarded, and wrong or punished. For example, if a boy is playing with his sister's dolls, then the parents would probably correct him by informing him that boys do not play with dolls. 

Sex refers to the biology and gender is a social construction of what defines people to be male and female. The difference between men and women biologically is that women have the capability to reproduce the next generation. This was one reason why, in hunting and gathering tribes, women were put in the position to gather food, bear and nurture the children. Men were seen as the hunters because of their strengths and agility. 

In relation to children learning their roles through television, they also learn through books geared toward teaching young children how to act in school. Children's books teach social norms and acceptable behavior for society. For example, books such as Dear Dumb Diary, Dork Diaries, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid discuss how proper femininities and masculinities are constructed, challenged, and reinforced in literature. 

For men acceptable behavior in society is to be tough without female traits and women are supposed to dependent on men and concerned about their attractiveness. This relates back to the gender stereotypes that began the division of labor in the hunting and gathering societies. Men and women rarely have the same power, privilege, and status. 

Along with television and books, advertising during children's programs teaches gender differences. Binary oppositions, such as aggressive/passive and active/inactive, are used to explain the differences between girls and boys. Girls were described as being passive, happy playing house, and inactive because they were shown being at home most of the time. Boys were described as being active, playing outside, aggressive and unhappy. 

Gender stereotypes began in our earliest societal form and still exist in our society today. Gender is a social construction defining what it means to be male or female. Children learn what is acceptable in society through imitating their parents, who learned their role from society as well; watching children’s television programs and reading children’s books. Children automatically accept these roles because they do not want to go against the status quo and be seen as different.

Battles of the Sexes

Through the influence of media, sports have shaped our perceptions of the world. Traditionally, the gender characteristic people typically associate with sports is masculinity. Through the eyes of the public, sports are characterized as a male arena where manhood gets defined. Women had a hard time infiltrating that male arena because anyone who falls outside of the stereotype is deemed un-athletic. The traditional view was that women were too fragile for the physical activity that came along with playing a sport and that they would become infertile. Also, women’s sports were seen as unnatural, unfeminine, and un-American. Sports have such an influence within society that it brought attention to larger social struggles, such as gender equality. 

The civil rights movement fought for equality before the law, but the movement did not include equality associated with women because they were seen in the eyes of the people as a minority. In 1967, the National Organization for Women worked with President Johnson on clarification for the Civil Right Act of 1964. The organization attracted many women to the cause, including two congresswomen. Congresswomen Patsy T. Mink and Edith Green drafted Title IX. Title IX was passed on June 23, 1972.

Title IX states that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” Even with Title IX being passed, women were still fighting for equal rights and opportunities within the sports world because there were institutions that were not complying with the regulations.

The most influential person who fought for equality rights in sports was Billie Jean King. Billie Jean King won six Wimbledon singles, four U.S. Open titles and was ranked number one in the world for five years. Even though she accomplished all these titles, King is remembered most for her victory over a man. King played against Bobby Riggs, who was a Wimbledon champion as well. Bobby Riggs believed that women’s tennis was inferior to the men’s. On September 20, 1973, King and Riggs faced off in a match known as the “Battle of the Sexes”, which was televised worldwide and had 50 million viewers. Newspapers and magazines were celebrating her win over Riggs. 

This match was very important because it took place a year after Title IX was passed and proved to the world that women’s sports deserved respect. the tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs because it was in that moment that King proved to the world that women athletes needed the respect they deserve. However, women athletes in today’s media are still underrepresented and on the occasion they are reported on it pertains to their physical appearance and other issues, instead of their performance. 

Ideal Experience

Corporations such as the cosmetic industry, diet industry, fashion industry, cosmetic surgery and pornography have helped create a culture where women are judged based on their appearance. In today's society, the ideal meaning of beautiful is being young, slim, blond, having a mild tan, large breasts, mild muscle definition and wearing make-up and clothes that bring out all of these above features. Women have increasing pressure by society to look beautiful and attractive to men.

Women are positioned as symbolic objects. Primarily existing through and for the gaze of others. Fashion and beauty practices reflect and maintain female subordination and deference. The fashion and beauty industries reflect the image of "if you wear our clothes or wear your make-up this particular way" it is considered attractive.  The question is 'is media reinforcing or creating'?

With the rapid growth of mass media in our society, question have been raised on concerning the effects various media might have on society and individuals. One aspect of the concern is focused on the photo manipulation, or retouching, of images presented to the public.  Photo manipulation creates a constructed reality where it can be hard to differentiate between reality and fantasy. Photo manipulation has become a major part of the beauty industry in our society. It does not just define beauty in our culture, but also race, gender, and what it means to be masculine or feminine. Since the manipulation of images creates a constructed reality, it is important to break the barrier between what is realistic and what is unattainable.

Society debates on whether or not the retouched images contribute to the eating disorders and body dissatisfaction among the women in society. Media images and emphasis on thin-depicting has been a major factor in the development of body dissatisfaction among young women. Young women focus severely on the thin body ideal that leads to idealization and body dissatisfaction on count of it being unattainable.

On the other hand, men are not as harshly judged on their body image as women, but they still are. The media images of men focus o muscle definition. Also, with the concept of photo manipulation, men only receive minor details fixed, such as blemishes or bags under their eyes. Women receive many more manipulations in the areas of their waist, arms, legs, neck, eyes, breast, skin tone and even their hair is fixed. Photo manipulation can lead to misconceptions on how women, children, and even men should, or try to, obtain the "ideal body" image.