I have a lot of little thoughts about this week.
1. I was sick for almost all of my time off from the prison. My plans to spend time alone in nature played second fiddle to a bad case of the flu. I had wanted to do a detox over the break, but I really did not plan on doing it like this!
2. When I returned to the prison I noticed that my office did not smell very good. It was then that I discovered that all of the air fresheners had been removed from the prison. The air fresheners are the kind that the top twists up to reveal a waxy/gelatinous core of fragranced something. I do not really know what that stuff is! The inmates had discovered that they contained alcohol and had been eating them. Yes. Eating them! Now I have to hide my bottle of hand sanitizer or it will get confiscated too.
According to the EPA these air fresheners contain: formaldehyde, petroleum distillates, p- dichlorobenzene, and aerosol propellants. Yum!
3. My youngest child was sick this week, and I felt awful leaving her to go do my internship. I realize that this is part of working life, but I usually can stay home if needed. We all need to adjust to Mama not being home as much as she used to or I will never be able to have a career!
4. I made all of the inmates I worked with cry this week. Well, all but one, but this person may be a sociopath. Mostly the tears were good tears that came out of finding a deep truth about oneself. I felt a little like Oprah.
5. I really screwed up with one inmate. I was told that the inmate’s young daughter had been in the hospital, and they wanted an update on the child’s condition. The inmate was very polite and earnest. No alarm bells went off, and I know trust the two people who referred the inmate to me. I tried to make the phone call, but no one would pick up. Later I found out that this inmate had molested the child, and that is why no one will pick. I had been totally lied to and manipulated. I felt like crap for nearly allowing an inappropriate phone call that would have disturbed the family. From now on I will take the numbers and research the situation before I even think of dialing a number. I can not tell you how much these phones cause me headaches.
6. I listened to a fascinating interview with neuroscientist James Fallon who has studied psychopathology both professionally and personally. James Fallon discovered by accident that he too is a psychopath. He has written a book about his discoveries called The Psychopath Inside that details the brain scans and genetic discoveries that have led to him being able to understand what is different about psychopaths. It makes me wonder what will happen if we can say that a person has the brain or the genetic marking of a psychopath. Will they be treated as a person with a disability? Would they be sent to a psychiatric institution instead of a prison? This could raise so many questions for our legal systems.
Want to know if you too could be a psycopath and not even know it? Take the Psycopath Challenge and find out! I scored "low."
I find psycopaths and sociopaths fascinating so you may see some more about it here in this blog.
Wishing you a wonderful New Year!
Holly
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