Let Me Introduce Myself

Hey Everyone,

I’m Alex. I’m a psychology and sociology major finishing up my senior year at the University of Idaho. Currently I am enrolled in the class SOC 404 : Family, Violence, & Society. This class requires me to create a blog where I reflect on our weekly readings in Family Violence Across the Lifespan: An Introduction (2^nd ed) and Why Does He Do That?.  So every week I am going to be posting new information on this blog about what I hope to learn, have learned, and how this applied to me, and the rest of society.

One huge reason I am doing this blog is also to increase social knowledge of Domestic Violence. I see today on Facebook and in conversations with people I encounter that a lot of people have grave misconception of domestic violence (how it starts, it stays, whose fault it is). Most people think that Domestic Violence, which I will refer to as DV from here on out, is not a big problem. A lot of people think that DV is a private problem. Some people think it can be solved by <i>the woman</i> just leaving. There are many misconceptions that I hope to alleviate with the knowledge I learn with through this class.

Also, it would be really cool is if anyone knows of any thing they have heard about DV or have any questions or information to write it in a comment or e-mail it to me! I would love to help do further research and answer questions and ask them as well!

Anyways, so now I am going to jump into a few questions I need to answer for the first section of my blog.

1) Why are you taking this class? Why DV?

The reason that I am taking this class is because I really want and need to learn more about DV. I plan on going on to grad school to attain my Masters in Social Work (MSW) and will most likely come across DV issues while I am counseling. I’ve learned about DV in other classes and have a basic knowledge, however I really want to get into the nit and gritty of the subject so I can be the most prepared Social Worker I can be!

2) What do you hope to learn and expect to learn in this class? What are your goals?

I am really hoping and expecting to learn how to counsel people with the different forms of DV well. I want to at least come out of this class with a better knowledge base of this social problem so I can easily identify signs of DV as well as the best ways to go about helping people in these situations. My goal is to take all this information and be prepared for a day when I might help someone in this situation.

Well, that is all for today. Kind of short. I will be writing tomorrow on the first few chapters of the book! So stay tuned for some good information!!

-Alex