Thomas Kirkbride: The Man with a Plan

FIG.1. Picture of Thomas Kirkbride (McElroy)

Thomas Story Kirkbride was born on July 31, 1809 in Morrisville, Pennsylvania.  Raised a Quaker, Kirkbride showed passion for helping others at an early age.  His medical career began when he was just eighteen, under Dr. Nicholas Belleville of New Jersey.  He graduated with a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and in 1840 went on to work in the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane as superintendent.

It was here where he truly found his calling, and sought out to be more involved in the psychiatric community.  In doing so, he helped found the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane (AMSAII), now called the American Psychiatric Association (APA).  Wanting to be more involved in the well being of the mentally ill led him to create a plan that would help shape American psychiatry to what it is today.  His plan was called, “The Construction of Hospitals for the Insane,” although it is more widely known as simply, the Kirkbride Plan.

FIG.2. Cover of the Kirkbride Plan (Kirkbride)

The Kirkbride hospitals are best known for their architecture.  Around forty of these beautiful buildings were built between 1847 and 1895.  Around the 1960s, most of the buildings were either abandoned or destroyed, although some have been renovated and are still being used as medical buildings.   The Kirkbride plan was based around a few key elements.  The first was the structure of the building:

 FIG.3. General layout of the Kirkbride asylums (McElroy)

There was an administration building in the center, then two wings on either side for the less problematic patients, one side of the building would be strictly for women, the other side for men.  As the wings got farther from the administration, the patients’ cases would get more severe. This is where the phrase “back wards” came from. 

FIG.4. Danvers State Hospital (Okay)

Kirkbride’s idea of the layout was so that the patients would be able to get sunlight, and be away from the hustle and bustle of the city.  He believed that even though these people had psychiatric problems, they were still valuable individuals in society and should be treated as such.  He believed that having a job that helped run the hospitals would build self-confidence and purpose.  Fresh air and exercise were also very important elements to Kirkbride’s Plan. 

Unfortunately funding was cut short for these hospitals once known as havens, which turned them into a hell for many.  Although they were closed, Kirkbride's Plan changed the way we look at the mentally ill today.  If you would like to know more about the Kirkbride Buildings, click here.

Through my research, I found the story of a woman by the name of Marie Balter.  She lived in the Danvers State Hospital for twenty years of her life.  She ended up graduating from Harvard University, becoming an advocate for the mentally ill and writing a book about her journey called Nobody's Child.  It was then turned into a movie in 1986.  To learn more about her inspiring story, watch this documentary called, Beyond Mental Illness: The Journey of Marie Balter.  There are 6 parts, all available on YouTube.  Unfortunately uploading has been disabled, but you can watch it by clicking here.

Another great documentary that I found on YouTube has to do with more just a background on mental hospitals of that time.  If you want to know about the conditions, it's a great resource.

Works Cited

"Danvers State Hospital." Danvers State Hospital. TechNet.com, 03 Nov 2011. Web. 14 Dec 2011.

Design Okay. An old photograph of the Danvers State Lunatic Asylum Kirkbride building.. N.d. Graphic. Wallpaper MavenWeb. 14 Dec 2011.

Farrar-Parkman, Debra, prod. Beyond Mental Illness: The Journey of Marie Balter. danversstateinsaneasylum.com, 2007. Film.

The Iowa Hospital for the Insane at Independence Iowa. 1873. Blueprint. Thomas Industries, Independence. Web. 14 Dec 2011.

Kirkbride, Thomas. On the construction, organization, and general arrangements of hospitals for the insane: with some remarks on insanity and its treatment. 2nd ed. Philadelphia : Lippincott, 1880. 320. Print.

McElroy, Ethan. "Kirkbride Buildings." Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride. Kirkbridebuildings.com, 2011. Web. 5 Dec 2011.

Washington, Janette, dir. For the Incurable Insane. 2008. Film.

Reader's Journal II

The first passage that I found is found on page 66 of chapter 8 it reads: "...There is no record that George Gey ever visited Henrietta in the hospital, or said anything to her about her cells.  And everyone I talked to who might know said that Gey and Henrietta never met.  Everyone except that is, except Laure Aurelian, a Microbiologist who was Gey's colleague at Hopkins.
"I'll never forget it" Aurelian said.  "George told me he leaned over Henrietta's bed and said, 'Your cells will make you immortal.'He told Henrietta her cells would help save the lives of countless people, and she smiled.  She told him she was glad her pain would come to some good for someone..."
I really like this passage because it comes from the point of view of the author.  It shows the reader how the author has done some research on this topic and has found some fairly interesting evidence of Henrietta's life and how it may not be all true.  It does raise the question if Dr. Gey and Henrietta did ever meet and how the conversation did happen if it did.

My second passage I found on page 80 of chapter 10 it reads: "...Though Cootie could barely move his arms, He'd built the house on his own, teaching himself contruction as he went along, hammering the plywood walls and plastering the inside.  But he'd forgotten to use insulation, so soon after he finished it, he tore down the walls and started over again.  A few years after that, the whole place burned down when he fell asleep under an electric blanket, but he built it back up again.  The walls were a bit crooked, he said, but he'd used so many nails, he didn't think it ould ever fall down..."
I really like this passage as well because it shows how the Lacks family doesn't give up even when things look rough and I believe that that is the same mentality that Henrietta shared as well with her situation.  I really like his story and not only believe that it shows how the Lacks family is but also how Clover is as a whole with all of the buildings falling over and surviving on that last nail.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Notes Part I

One passage that I found to be very interesting was found on page 19 of chapter 2.  It reads:

"...As children, Henrietta and Day awoke each morning at four o'clock to milk the cows and feed the chickens, hogs, and horses.  They tended a garden filled with corn, peanuts, and greens, then headed to the tobacco fields with their cousins Cliff, Fred, Sadie, Margaret, and a horde of others.  They spent much of their young lives stooped in those fields, planting tobacco behind mule-drawn plows.  Each spring they pulled the wide green leaves from their stalks and tied them into small bundles--their fingers raw and sticky with nicotine resin--then climbed the rafters of their grandfather's tobacco barn to hang bundle after bundle for curing.  Each summer day they prayed for a storm to cool their skin from the burning sun.  When they got one, they'd scream and run through fields, snatching armfuls of ripe fruit and walnuts that the winds blew from the trees."

I found this passage to be very descriptive in telling the reader about each of the activities that would go in to living on a tobacco farm.  I also really liked how the author said, "...a horde of others." Instead of saying a bunch or several others, she uses a word that is very descriptive and makes me think of a crowd of others.  Not only is this word descriptive but it also adds in a sence of comedy as well.  I think it will be very interesting to see how the character Day will play into the story later in the book.  

Another passage that I found pretty interesting is found on page 22 of chapter 2.  It reads:

"...Henrietta often yelled for Day, but sometimes she cheered for another cousin,  Crazy Joe Grinnan.  Crazy Joe was what their cousin Cliff called "an over average man"--tall, husky, and strong, with dark skin, a sharp nose, and so much thick black hair covering his head, arms, back, and neck that he had to shave his whole body in the summer to keep from burning up.  They called him Crazy Joe because he was so in love with Henrietta, he'd do anything to get her attention.  She was the prettiest girl in Lacks Town, with her beautiful smile and walnut eyes."

I really like this passage because it gives the reader a really good insight at what could be a very interesting love triangle between Henrietta, Day, and Crazy Joe.  Before this passage it tells us that Henrietta spends a lot of time with Day and has potential to be an interesting relationship later on.

Divorce and it's Effects on Children

Kylie Hess

Professor Maltman

English Composition 1101-09

6 November 2011

The Effects of Divorce on Children

Divorce.  Everyone in the United States is connected somehow to a family that has been through this devastating action.  Studies show that half of American children will not only suffer through one parental divorce in their lifetime, but two.  Divorce has long-term effects on the children produced in the marriage.  The main focus will be on the social, academic and psychological effects it has on these children.

In an article from the National Review, author Maggie Gallagher states, “Adults choose to divorce… not mostly to escape from violent hellholes, but because they are lonely, bored, depressed, dissatisfied.”   She goes on to point out that 40 percent of those divorcees remarry and suffer from the same problems as the last marriage, and 30 percent thought their lives,  “empty, pointless”, “clinically depressed”, “joyless” and “embittered”.  Why then, would they choose to do something so rash when there are so many other options to help marriages out there?  Many parents feel that it is the best for their children, but studies have shown that this is a major misconception. 

Children with divorced parents often have to endure custody battles, new partners, moving and overall instability.  What the parents think is working for them is actually causing the children involved more harm than they think.  In a commentary written by Joseph Adelson, he found that children of divorced parents are more likely to acquire social and behavioral problems, such as ADHD and aggression.  Many have higher dependency needs, and low self control.  He also found that there is a lack of good physical health.  Many children refused to take care of themselves, as they should, causing frequent illness and a poor overall wellbeing.   This should be cause for alarm to everyone, because no child should have to endure such issues when they have little or nothing to do with the problem in the first place. 

At school, many children show a decrease in interest and grades.  They are frequently associated with disruptive behavior, sometimes leading to suspension.  Because of these social and psychological problems, many lack the skills to achieve in school.  Studies show that children of divorced parents are behind in reading, spelling and mathematics.  The afore mentioned commentary also notes that they are twice as likely to drop out of high school.

Emotionally, children of divorce can suffer from many different problems, such as anxiety and depression, starting at an early age and continuing far into adulthood.  Judith Wallerstein conducted a study that concluded that years after children of divorce have grown problems persist.  Women and men alike have love and attachment issues, and girls especially become more sexually active, leading to childbirth out of wedlock and a continuation of the separation or divorcing cycle.  Adelson quotes, “They suffer much higher rates of both physical and sexual abuse, in the latter case most often carried out by the mother’s boyfriend.  Single mothers report being more violent toward their children than do mothers in intact families.”  Statistics have shown children of divorce often suffer more severe mental illnesses, including sociopathy.  Lack of education frequently leads to a life of crime, based on a study conveyed by Popenoe, “60 percent of rapists, 72 percent of adolescent murderers, and 70 percent of long-term inmates come from fatherless homes.”  These percentages are disturbing, considering that in most situations, unless the mother is proven unable to support her children, she is given the majority if not all custody.  

Bibliography

Adelson, Joseph. "Splitting up." Commentary 102.3 (1996): 63+. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 3 Nov. 2011.

"Divorce Harms Children" by Maggie Gallagher. The Family. Auriana Ojeda, Ed. Opposing Viewpoints® Series. Greenhaven Press, 2003. Maggie Gallagher, "Third Thoughts on Divorce," National Review, Vol. 54, March 25, 2002, p. 50. Copyright © 2002 by National Review.

Popenoe, David, Arlene Skolnick, and Barbara Dafoe Whitehead. "Family trouble."The American Prospect 34 (1997): 16+. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 3 Nov. 2011

Vanilla Ice was Under Pressure

One of the most widely known cases of plagiarism in music was that of Vanilla Ice stealing the melody to Queen's ever so popular song, "Under Pressure".  Not long after the song was released did listeners and the band alike out the 90's rapper.  Fortunately for him, there were no lawsuits filed, but the two were said to have settled out of court.  Given the choice, I think everyone would choose "Under Pressure" as the better song... though I can't help but sing along to the undeserving (of the melody) lyrics to "Ice, Ice Baby".

"Under Pressure" performed by David Bowie and Queen

"Ice, Ice Baby" performed by Vanilla Ice

Ethnography Reflection

1.  Ethnography’s often include patterns of narration (story) or description.  You set the scene, but in many cases I couldn’t picture the place or surroundings.  Situate your reader.  In this space below, consider drawing a map of the place you describe to allow yourself to see it better.  Could you describe the scene to a blind person?

There are recreational and competition classes provided through this small studio, located in the back of a warehouse off Highway 169.  There are five rooms (also referred to as studios) total; Blue Room, Green Room, Yellow Room, Loft 1 and Loft 2.  Mondays are buzzing with kids and parents of all ages, the chaos starting at 3:45 and lasting well after 9:00. 

 

2. Incorporate research into your writing.  Use research to provide background, develop a larger sense of the group, its history and purpose. We have the observations and primary sources, but secondary sources need development in many cases.  Without background we don’t have perspective.  Find two online sources.  Take time to explore our databases at Normandale.  

• "Anorexia Linked to Child Dancers."BBC News Services. (2004): n. page. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4121221.stm>.
• "Glossary of Ballet." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia 10 October 2011. n. pag. Wikipedia. Web. 12 Oct 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_ballet>.

3.Provide a day in the life.  Put us right into a moment in time.  Describe the place, the people, their way of speaking.Here is an area of key weakness.  There just isn’t enough dialogue in these pieces.

Example:  The group prayed—should be:  Jack led the group in prayer.  When he bowed his head, his black hair fell in front of his eyes.  Everyone joined hands in a circle and some began to sway like trees in a forest when the wind moves among them. Jack was quiet for a long time before speaking. “Lord,” Jack began…After the prayer he read from Psalm 121, which begins….Find one key area where your paper needs work and expand it.

Camila smiles as she pushes the door open to see her instructor Kyle waiting for them patiently, going through steps in her head before the class starts.  She has a huge white binder perched atop her knees as she sits cross-legged on a stool, warmly welcoming her students into class as they slowly trickle in, most showing signs of fatigue from the tediousness of the previous class.  Not wasting any time, Kyle takes a visual attendance and jots down that there are no absences.  Every teacher loves when their entire class shows up, because they can then teach a good amount of their dance without having to repeat themselves the next week.  With already warm dancers in her midst, Kyle leads a short warm-up, delicately switching the young dancer’s brains from ballerina to contemporary....

4. Be self reflective.  What were you thinking and feeling while you were watching this moment? In many cases I wasn’t sure what compelled the writer to explore this area of research.  I didn’t know their preconceptions, what they thought would happen versus what actually did.  I didn’t know what most of you were feeling.

It’s such a joy to see someone do what he or she is passionate about, and be able to tell.  As I observe Camila in her element, a maternal instinct washes over me, and I beam with pride watching her beautiful movements.  

5. Make sure to incorporate observations of rituals, artifacts, and interpretations. Some of this you may need to supplement with research. Again, dialogue is a key because it shows insider language.  Always use specifics.

Dancers are sometimes forced to pull more than twelve-hour days at convention centers, high school gymnasiums, and auditoriums, at times dancing at 7 in the morning and 9 at night.  They are draining, full of made up faces, fake eyelashes, dance shoes galore, tights, spare tights in case the others run, costume changes, practicing, hair spray and lots of sugar to keep the little ones energetic.  For the passionate kids like Camila, competition weekends are a dream come true, she loves seeing her teammates and having the whole family cheer for her.  She insists that she likes the long days (probably because it means more sugar and caffeine for her).   

6.  What did your adventure teach you?  Why does such a group exist?  What does it say about our society?  Effective Conclusions:

• • include a brief summary of the paper's main points. 
• • ask a provocative question. 
• • use a quotation. 
• • evoke a vivid image.
• • call for some sort of action. 
• • end with a warning. • universalize (compare to other situations). 
• • suggest results or consequences

How will you wrap your paper up?

The subculture of dance is split up into so many different categories, two being solely in the competition dancer’s world.  Though some young dancers think it’s ok to dress and dance maturely, this culture should not be lost because of them.  There are intelligent, beautiful girls, the underdogs, who make dance what it was meant to be: a passion and art within a sport.  These girls will go on to do great things, and hopefully will enlighten our future competition dancers to be all they can be, regardless of talent and appearance.  What an interesting and fun journey I went on with Camila, she never stopped amazing me and I’m so proud to call her my little competition-dancing, athlete of a sister.