Merry Christmas and God’s Blessings To You!

As the times of Thanksgiving and Christmas draw near, there are already renewed and growing assaults upon America’s traditional Christian  Holidays. We Christian’s are too damned meek.

The assertion that the concept of  ”separation of church and state” demands that these traditional celebrations must be expunged from our language and from all public places is a hideous lie. It is a lie that is successfully propagandized throughout our young population by the popular media and secular progressives in our legal and political sectors.

Our National Monuments, our Capital Building, Supreme Court, and Library of Congress are replete with Christian Religious writings, etched boldly and deeply into their stone records of our heritage. Yes, folks, this is public property.

The sceptic is advised to read Newt Gingrich’s book, “Rediscovering God in America (2006), published by Integrity Publishers, TN.  There, he or she will find dozens of other “slap you in the face” illustrations of this huge countercultural propagandist’s lie.

America! Keep fighting the forces of our undoing!

V. Thomas Mawhinney, Ph.D.   11/18/09

Conduct Disorder In Our Children And Youth

Children diagnosed with conduct disorder show a repetitive and persistent tendency to disrespect and violate the rights of others and to break normal societal rules and also laws. Conduct Disorder may be identified in children before 10 years and up to 18 years of age. It can be diagnosed in individuals older than 18 years, but only if they do not meet the criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder which I will discuss in a later blog.  Briefly, Antisocial Personality Disorder is a life-long disorder that is more severe than Conduct Disorder. The early appearance of Conduct Disorder in a child makes it more likely that the problem will continue into Antisocial Personality disorder in adulthood.

Conduct Disorder may be classified as mild, moderate or severe in nature. Frequently, children with mild cases of this disorder can be helped with therapeutic interventions and the problem may improve with maturity. Severe cases are more likely to continue into adulthood and form a long-term pattern of deeply ingrained antisocial behavior patterns that are highly resistant to change. The majority of our prison populations would be diagnosed as Antisocial Personality Disordered.

 The list of actions shown by the children diagnosed with Conduct Disorder can be alarming. A partial list of such behaviors is as follows:

Recklessness and risk-taking
Curfew violations
Truancy from school
Running away from home overnight or longer
Lying, deceiving or “conning” others
Early sexual activity
Tobacco, drug and alcohol use
Bullying, threatening, intimidating and fighting
Using weapons (stones, clubs, knives, guns)
Breaking and entering homes, cars, or other buildings
Cruelty of people and/or animals
Property destruction (vandalism)
Robbery, extortion, mugging, purse snatching (while confronting the victim)
Assault and, rarely, murder

Conduct Disorder has increased in prevalence over several decades and rates are around 6% to 16% for males and 2% to 9% for females.

Suspected Causes

Many very bad childhood experiences appear to be tied to the development of Conduct Disorder. Parents who are drug involved, or have mental disorders of their own are more likely to have conduct disordered children. Research also suggests that the tendency to develop Conduct Disorder behavior patterns is genetically inheritable. Children so diagnosed frequently have experienced traumatic events, poverty, family disorganization, abuse, neglect, and abandonment. They have frequently lived in poverty and grown up around violent peers and adults. Children with a biological or adoptive parent with Anti-social Personality Disorder or a sibling with Conduct Disorder, are themselves at greater risk for developing a conduct disorder.

A Case Study

One 15 year old’s father was in prison for killing someone. The boy had visited his father in prison on numerous occasions and sometimes got phone calls from him. Despite his father’s pleadings to him to do good in school, follow the rules and stay out of trouble, the boy was failing in school, frequently suspended, and had been in a juvenile detention center for threatening and attacking other students. The boy’s mother had lived with several other men in the course of his short life-time and he had experienced drugs, violence, and the physical abuse of his mother and himself repeatedly. After frequently running away from home and being involved with older men and drug abuse, he was placed in a long-term adolescent treatment facility. The boys Conduct Disorder was severe in nature, with an early onset,  and it was likely that his behavior patterns would continue into adulthood and then be diagnosed as Antisocial Personality Disorder.

We must find ways to save our infants and children from these incredibly damaging influences. The majority of these human tragedies can be prevented before their contagious effects spread thoughout our population. Our current late remediation strategies are failing miserably and are doomed to fail by the very nature of this intractable psychological disability. 

America must create bold preventive and very early interventions to avoid the continued escalation of the social havoc that we now experience due to our increasing rates of Conduct Disorders. 

 V. Thomas Mawhinney, Ph.D.    11/14/09

The Causes of Good and Evil

Aurelius Augustine (354-430 AD), better known as St. Augustine wrote the following:

“WHAT IS CALLED EVIL IN THE UNIVERSE IS BUT THE ABSENCE OF GOOD.”

From a scientific perspective, I judge that St Augustine was correct. I will confess my bias when I contemplate the sweet and wonderful beauty of an infant, of any race, from any place in the world. The growth of good or evil all begins with the birth of an infant, and what happens to it from there on.

I will define evil as those behaviors which commonly damage the lives of the doer, as well as the lives of those with whom they associate directly, or indirectly.

It is the infant’s environment, and his or her experiences in that environment, that will teach the behavior patterns that we call evil or good. If we protect and teach good behavior to our infants, from the very beginning, evil rarely emerges.

On the same topic, St. Augustine wrote:

“IT IS NOT ESSENTIAL TO MAN’S HAPPINESS THAT HE SHOULD KNOW THE CAUSES OF PHYSICAL CONVULSIONS; BUT IT IS, THAT HE SHOULD KNOW THE CAUSE OF GOOD AND EVIL.”

Knowing the causes and cures of our physical ailments is certainly a good thing. However, as we have made wonderful advances in this area of human development, we remain failures at managing our own behavior.

Behavioral scientists have long demonstrated that by differentially withholding rewards from bad behavior and rewarding good behavior, the good behavior is deferentially strengthened. In other words, Good when strengthened in ways we know well, comes to dominate Evil.

All of this is nothing more than a restatement of Psychology’s well-known premier Law of Effect: Consequences Control Behavior.

Politics are a mechanism cultural design and/or cultural redesign. If we will redesign America such that our precious rewards are given to those who show good behavior (work hard, follow rules and laws, behave responsibly, care for their children, and treat others with kindness and compassion); And if we withhold our precious rewards from those who do bad—the Good in us will naturally predominate.

V. Thomas Mawhinney, Ph.D.
11/13/09

Oppositional-Defiant Disorder in Children

Symptoms

An all to common problem in our children is Oppositional-Defiant Disorder: This diagnosis is not given to children over 18 years of age, or to those who qualify for a more the problematic diagnosis of Conduct Disorder (to be discussed soon). Oppositional-defiant disordered children are disobedient, hostile, defiant, and negative toward authority figures.  They fight compliance with instructions or requests and they are stubborn and will not compromise with adults or friends. Theyoften test limits and do things to purposefully annoy others. These children show frequent hostility to authority figures and peers by arguing with and, in other ways, deliberately annoying them. They also purposefully break the rules that they are reasonably expected to follow. Oppositional-defiant children are often angry, resentful, spiteful and vindictive.  Generally, their aggression remains at the verbal level and any physical aggression, if it occurs,  remains mild to moderate in nature.

The oppositional and defiant behaviors displayed by these children are often focused intensively upon those who they are closest to (at home with parents and siblings), but they can also be directed at anyone who sets rules or limits upon their behavior. Psychologists and other therapists may not see a child’s oppositional-defiant behavior in their office (even with the parents present) but it will be abundantly present at home and sometimes elsewhere too. A child’s oppositional-defiant behavior may or may not be in evidence at school.

Rates of Oppositional-Defiant Disorder have been estimated to be from 2 to 16%, depending upon the populations sampled and the measures used.

Over the past 40 years, I have been called into schools to consult with teachers and principals to help with student’s behavior problems. I am convinced that oppositional-defiant rates have increased substantially. Rates of occurrence are higher for males before puberty, but are more equal between males and females after puberty is reached. Even so, males tend to be more confrontational than females.

These children may also show other psychological disorders such as ADHD, depression, anxiety, or learning and communication disorders.

Case Study

One adolescent male was born and raised in a family where the father was exceedingly demanding upon him. His mother was permissive and protective towards the boy and there was almost constant conflict between she and her resentful and compulsively demanding husband over the boys disciplinary issues. The boy was very bright and got good grades at school, but the father insisted upon all A’s stating that he was not living up to his potential. The boy’s behavior at school was exemplary and he was in various clubs and athletics. However, at home, he was manipulative and demanding of money, car privileges, and excessive freedom. His father almost always said “no” to these demands and his mother almost always countermanded the father’s judgement. The adolescent’s tactics involved angry, insulting and disrespectful behavior, and noncompliance with the requests of both of his parents. But, he was most likely to focus his blustery and unrelenting tantrum-like demands upon his mother. This was especially likely when his father was not at home. The mother frequently gave-in to her son’s demands. As you might guess, this rewarded the boy’s behavior and set the occasion for the next round of arguments between the mother and father. This adolescent’s oppositional-defiant characteristics appeared to be born of his parents polarized disunity, his resulting ability to further split and alienate them from each other, the ensuing conflict between the parents, and the family chaos that resulted. The adolescent  was therefore in a better position to divide and conquer his parents authority in the future.

Suspected Causes

Oppositional-Defiant Disorder is more prevalent in families that have had many different care-givers and where inconsistent, harsh, abusive or neglectful child rearing methods have been used. It is also more likely to be found in homes where at least one parent has had a mood disorder (depression/bipolar), or other similar, perhaps more intense, disruptive disorders

Oppositional Defiant Disorder is more prevalent in males and children who are temperamental and show low self-esteem and low frustration tolerance. This disorder thrives on disorganization and is more common in homes where there have been many care-takers. Im my experience divorce or multiple mates and pregnancies out-of-wedlock frequently set the stage for this kind of chaos. Also, harsh or abusive treatment, irresponsible and neglectful parents, or significant mental illness, is frequently involved in the lives of children who show Oppositional-Defiant Disorder.

In many cases, parents can prevent these problems, if they will behave responsibly, work together and seek the assistance of an experienced behavior therapist with very good counseling and behavior modification skills. 

V. Thomas Mawhinney, Ph.D.

11/13/09

I received an Email from a friend, comparing what illegal aliens get when they cross the borders of some countries and what they get when they cross America’s borders. It is circulating the internet like so much stuff is nowadays. Of course, some of the stuff floating around is very good and some is junk.

I have taken the time to verify the items that this Email alleged are  available to illegal aliens who cross America’s boarders and therefore I think it is something that you should be aware of when you go to the ballot box.

Regarding what happens to illegal aliens when they cross into N. Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, China, Venezuela, Cuba, Russia, etc., I have not taken the time to validate the precise consequences listed below. So, I do not know if Illegal aliens are shot, kept for 12 yrs. (Or 2,4,6,8,10 yr.), never heard from again, or whatever. But I don’t think that the details matter.

What matters is that there is “hell to pay” and, over the years, my awareness of news reports (both liberal and conservative) has generally informed me of this fact. This general knowledge is all that is needed to present the following stark contrast:

I will bet that if we randomly ask our voting age youth on the street, as might the comedian Jay Leno, “how these gifts to illegal aliens are payed for” —-many will answer, “with money from the Government”.

Such an answer was once an amusing sign of ignorance. This answer is now especially terrifying because it is a continued show of ignorance in a time of  unimaginable national financial crisis. This answer is even more fearful because it used to be a truism that the government did not have any money..”the money” was extracted by the government from our working citizens.

 

Now the U.S. Government not only takes all it can from working citizens, but it also borrows more than it can pay back from our enemies.  Also, if it hasn’t already done so, it may simply begin to print more money for itself.

Then it can give more money to the Illegal Aliens and their children; and anyone else who will vote to keep them in power!

Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Some children seem unmanageable to both their parents and teachers. They have trouble paying attention to things that other children can easily focus in on. They frequently do not follow instructions, do not finish tasks, are careless and messy in their school work, and become frustrated and give up on challenging work. These children are also likely to be disorganized and easily distracted by irrelevant stimuli (trivial noises, or other features of people or the environment), and they have trouble following rules.

Children with attention problems may, or may not, show the additional problem of hyperactivity. What we call hyperactivity consists of frequently and rapidly doing a large number of annoying things such as squirming and fidgeting, running, jumping, shouting, climbing and walking on furniture or tables, all of which can lead to danger and make them accident prone.  They may also annoy others by tapping, poking, pulling, and pushing on them, or the various things around them. Such children often talk loudly, rapidly and excessively which makes them difficult and  irritating to be with.

Hyperactivity naturally includes actions that we call impulsive . These children may frequently knock things over, bump into people, or break and spill things. They interrupt, “goof around”, “blurt-out” interrupting comments, touch things and people that they should not, and do things that are dangerous without thinking about the consequences of their actions.

Children who behave these ways tend to do so in a wide variety of settings (school, church, vacations, home), but some settings and activities worsen these problems. Generally conditions that require sitting still, concentrating, and doing monotonous tasks, requiring close attention and concentration, will produce more such troubles.

It is common for children to show some of these behavior patterns when they are younger than four of five years old. However, if these actions persist and intensify ADHD may be diagnosed in their early school years, when they first begin to encounter public social and educational problems. ADHD is diagnosed much more often in boys than it is in girls.

Untreated ADHD symptoms can lead to other very significant problems and impairments. About half of these children develop various learning and communication problems and about 80% of them misbehave, often quite seriously.

One preschool child showed almost all of these features. He ran away and climbed under the dresses of manikins in stores.  In play, he ran jumped and yelled so loud  that he could be heard though-out the neighborhood. School problems started in kindergarten when he constantly played and splashed the water in a shallow ceramic gold fish pond built into the floor in his classroom. He wandered away from story time, and made noises and talked to others at rest time (they used to have children rest upon little mates on the floor). Due to the mischief he caused, teachers naturally suspected him whenever there was a problem of unknown origin. Negative expectations by teachers and others who care for such children is common. He was once accused of stealing things from his kindergarten teachers desk (he was innocent). Later he had great difficulty learning to read and to do mathematics. His parents tutored him and they became exceedingly frustrated while trying. But his parents never gave up and they hired tutors. In grade school, while the teacher was trying to hold class attention, he notice the first snow of winter and loudly directed class attention out the windows to see that “great event”. He similarly interrupted class to announce that men were working on the traffic light at the corner, just outside of the school, and all of the students ran to the window to see. This boy was quite a challenge.

I am both happy and mildly embarrased to report that this boy was me. I extend my deepest heartfelt appreciation to all of my heroic helpers of the distant past and, especially, to my beloved mother and father who did a wonderful job in a day when there was “no such thing as ADHD”. The experts said I was “just all boy”. That was indeed the truth, but it was not the whole truth.

Suspected Causes

ADHD behaviors appear to be caused by many things; and these things appear to summate and interact with each other. Attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder tends to run in families and may have an inherited biological basis (this was, and is, very true in my family). Also, the disorder was once called Minimal Brain Dysfunction, attesting to the possiblitity of actual neurological damage attributable to fetal development or birth related problems. There is also the suspicion that ADHD may be caused by slowly maturing parts of the brain that filter extraneous stimuli and which are needed to help concentration. Furthermore, there is some evidence that this pattern of behavior is more prevalent among homes that suffer high levels of stress, chaos and family dysfunction: This suggests that these behavior patterns can occur in children who simply failed to learn to follow rules, organize and attend in orderly ways to their environmental surroundings. As you can see, as with many psychological disorders, there is no one cause for ADHD.

Learning Disorders

ADHD puts children at increased risk of developing significant academic learning problems. A learning disorder is diagnosed when a child’s achievement test scores fall significantly behind those of his normal peers. The child’s existing learning problems then interfere with the learning of new information and the child falls further and further behind the academic achievements of his peers.

When an ADHD child has trouble being patient and focusing upon uninteresting details and activities they will have difficulty learning to read, learning mathematics, and learning to write. Putting information into memory, to a large extent, requires that we focus upon information and work to make sense of that information, or repeat it over and over again (i.e., do rote learning). Doing this effortful work is the main way in which we place our academic information in our long-term memory. 

There are ways, other than having ADHD, that children can develop learning disorders.  Research has implicated other possible causes of learning disorders such as: Inferior teaching, poor diet, lead poisoning, genetic defects, birth injuries, and sensory and perceptual problems. The true causes of a child’s learning disorder, in many cases, remain uncertain.

Effective treatment for ADHD involves early detection and treatment. The behavior problems involved in ADHD should be treated first with behavior modification methods. After consulting a pediatrician, further professional assistance from psychologists who can teach parents behavior modification skills can be very helpful. If these methods do not reduce behavior problems significantly, psychological testing for primary school children to screen for ADHD. If a formal diagnosis of ADHD is made, and behavior modification methods are not sufficient, treatment with both medication and behavior modification methods may be a necessary consideration.

ADHD is a condition that is preventable when it is a learned behavior pattern. Like all psychological disorders, it is a problem that greatly benefits from early intervention.

A pound of prevention, or early intervention, is worth a ton of late attempted cure.

V. Thomas Mawhinney, 11/12/09

Good and Honest Propaganda From 1948

Wikipedia provides the following definition of propaganda:

Propaganda is neutrally defined as a systematic form of purposeful persuasion that attempts to influence the emotions, attitudes, opinions, and actions of specified target audiences for ideological, political or commercial purposes through the controlled transmission of one-sided messages (which may or may not be factual) via mass and direct media channels.”

—Richard Alan Nelson, A Chronology and Glossary of Propaganda in the United States, 1996

Perhaps more of this would help our children (and adults already propagandized in the direction of Socialism) to understand some of what once made America great. Check out this marvelous video cartoon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVh75ylAUXY

More of this America!

Thanks to Vick Palenske for sending me this URL.

V. Thomas Mawhinney, 11/05/09

Disruptive Behavior Disorders In America’s Children

All children will misbehave from time to time. Fatigue, sickness, stressful situations, and simple immaturity will be enough to ensure some balking, back talk, or outright opposition to parental requests or instructions. Also, as children mature, they have their own social goals and conflicts that can complicate the harmony of family living even further. As my dear father once said with laughter: “Adolescence is God’s way of helping parents to let go.” Mom and Dad had four children, each 5 years apart. We never understood their master plan, but you can be sure that they spent the majority of their years together raising kids. I watched from the vantage point of the eldest and I know that we had marvelous parents (am completely unbiased?). And, of course, we were all “reasonably good kids” (am I totally objective in this judgment, also?).

Even though we were “pretty good” kids, from time to time, there was trouble in paradise and we kids were clearly the trouble with Mom and Dad. Normal kids will almost certainly present problems, but they will present normal problems.

Starting tomorrow, I will post developmental problems that are notable  because they are especially disruptive. They are disruptive to school, normal family settings, many community settings, and to the child’s own social, emotional and educational development.

Therefore they are among those psychological disorders that must be prevented, or improved early, when they first become a problem.

V. Thomas Mawhinney, 11/05/09