Buckhorn Children & Family Services
A facility for abused, mentally ill, and at-risk children in Eastern KY that several students had the opportunity to visit as a part of this course Readings & Films:
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My reflection for Bastard Out of Carolina, our major reading assignment for this course
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After taking the Kids Who Kill seminar last year, I was intrigued at the description for this course - which seemed like a natural continuation of the material and themes that were covered in KWK. Per the syllabus, Crime, Kids, and Abuse "provides a basic introduction to the connections that may occur between child and adolescent abuse and illegal activity."
Most of the course content revolved around current and past cases of crimes committed by individuals who suffered physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse as children. Through written weekly reflections, in-class discussions, and peer-led presentations, we analyzed the factors that led these crimes and the way that childhood abuse may provide an explanation for why some people end up committing violent crimes. Additionally, we looked at current research regarding the neuroscience of abuse and the effects of abuse on the developing brain. This course gave me a new perspective on the study of criminal justice and the American legal system. While I don't believe that being abused as a child is an excuse for committing violent crime later in life, I do believe that a history of abuse provides a partial explanation for why an individual may choose to offend. This semester, I had my mental health/psychiatric nursing class and clinical rotation. It was fascinating to learn about abuse and its effects on children during this Honors seminar on Thursday and then have my clinical on Friday and work with numerous patients who had previously or were currently experiencing abuse. I believe this seminar was instrumental in building my nursing knowledge in regards to the interconnected phenomena of mental illness and abuse. In the future, I hope that I will retain this information and use it to better my nursing practice by being aware of childhood abuse's effects on an individual. I aim to be better prepared to ask medical history questions regarding abuse as well, knowing that there is an important link between abuse, mental illness, and other medical conditions. |