Geoffrey W. Sutton PhD, Psychology and Culture

  What makes for a safe space anymore?   Three mass shootings have recently made news—Buffalo, Uvalde, Tulsa. Yesterday, we made a rare trip to our local mall where we ate our evening meal. As we were leaving, my wife said she found herself looking around to see where she could hide if there was a shooter. We began to analyze her idea. ***** As usual, there are a lot of opinions about how to stop gun violence. Our elected representatives debate. Gun control keeps popping up like a virus that won’t go away. Yesterday (2 June 2022), the American Medical Association injected their ideas. They focus on the means to quickly kill a lot of people. See what they wrote.   increasing the purchasing age for semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21; banning the importation, sale, manufacture, transfer or possession of high-capacity ammunition magazines and bump stocks and related devices; closing the “ghost-gun loophole;” and creating federal requirements for safe gun stora...

 In today's Washington Post, there's a story about the Texas shooter who entered an elementary school--19 children are dead. Could you predict that the Texas shooter was at high risk? Possibly. The first paragraph of the WP article caught my attention. "The gunman in Tuesday’s elementary school massacre was a lonely 18-year-old who was bullied over a childhood speech impediment, suffered from a fraught home life and lashed out violently against peers and strangers recently and over the years, friends and relatives said." How is that helpful? Peterson and Densley have studied mass shooters. A large number of shooters had a history of childhood trauma and most were in a state of crisis close to the time of the shooting. Here's a quote from their book, The Violence Project . Almost 70% of the mass shooters in schools had a history of childhood trauma  and they killed more people than shooters who did not have trauma. And there's something else about the Texas sh...

During my early years, several women were my teachers, bosses, supervisors, or mentors. It took awhile for me to realize that this was not a normal experience and that women were not treated as equals in society. So, I celebrate them for their accomplishments and their leadership. Sandra Sutton -- for managing work and family so well for so many years before I realized what women were up against. My lifelong friend and partner. Gladys  (New) Sutton , my first boss--she owned a bookstore  and she is one reason I thought it was normal for women to own and manage businesses! Thanks mum.   Obituary 2012 Joan Salamanca , High School English-- who encouraged me to write. I never forgot her kind words. Marjorie Moloney , High School Chemistry-- a no nonsense role model for women in science. 2021 Obituary  I had both women and men teach me math and science. Corrine S. Copy, PhD , Counseling Psychology. My Master's Degree Advisor was a top flight professor who boost...

  The USA is the world’s superpower in many respects. We have a huge economy, significant military strength, world-class universities, large numbers of Nobel Prize winning scientists, leading healthcare technologies and discoveries, and powerful international businesses like Apple and Microsoft not to mention fast food and financial giants around the globe. We also happen to be a democracy that takes human rights seriously. No. I do not wear rose-colored glasses.   America has some weaknesses too. It’s those weaknesses that might make a difference in 2022 and beyond. Is the US being tested? As I write, Russia has amassed troops on their border with Ukraine. Stock markets are tumbling. President Biden has threatened sanctions. We are sending troops and weapons. It looks like we are on the brink of war. (e.g., CNN ) Earlier today, we learn the world’s second most powerful nation sent 39 warplanes toward Taiwan, which split from China during the 1949 Civil War. Yester...

  A saying by psychologist author Adam Grant caught my attention- "Sometimes you have to let others down to uphold your boundaries." It's true. People have expectations of us--sometimes too many. Trying to please others can sap the energy we need for our priorities. Of course, we can only be aware of the loss of energy for our priorities if we have clear priorities. After deciding on our priorities, we may have to deal with the fact that some people are so focused on their personal projects that they do not consider our boundaries.  Fortunately, some are sensitive and will both recognize and respect our boundaries when they are made aware. A simple note and an offer to reschedule can be enough. Unfortunately, some do not respect our boundaries. Guilt may appear when relationships end abruptly. Former friends are lost. Finding the right balance between caring for others and having a life isn't easy. Saying "No" and accepting an others' "No" can ...

    JOY  & HAPPINESS       Joy to the World is a powerful anthem. Bells ring. Choirs sing. And people gather round trees, open presents, and gorge on meats and sweets. Joy seems to abound this time of year. Even news media seem keen on adding a dollop of good  news to their daily buffet of badness. Of course, the Christmas story is full of good news. Joy is an advent theme. In the Christmas story, Joy comes as a child. We know that joy. I recall the ultrasound picture of my first granddaughter. Marvelous. A happy moment for all. And of course you naturally want to celebrate by giving presents. So the joy spreads from inside to others. Especially the children who can barely wait to peak beneath the tree and ornament decorated swaddling paper wrapped lovingly around a precious gift. JOY has an effect. Psychologist Barbara Fredrickson has looked at the effects of positive emotions like joy and negative emotions like fe...

  I returned to work one day and discovered my office had been moved. Well, I really didn’t have an office anymore. I asked a friend, "what happened?" She mentioned something about the new boss. I did not have plans to find different employment so I put up with what turned out to be a loss of social status and privileges, which I had the year before. No one complained about my work. This was one example of a location in the United States when I was not privileged for being a white man.  White men can point to examples of discrimination. Perhaps that's what makes it hard to deal with generalizations about race and privilege. As I read the a  WP story  of a man who lost his teaching job allegedly because he taught his students that white privilege was a fact and that conservatives are acting to censor what teachers can say about race, I began to think about the lack of nuance in the story. For the most part, I have not experienced discrimination based on my ethnici...