This is a PTSD technique used by a colleague of mine from Detroit, Michigan using a work of art from Francisco Goya found in Museo del Prado in Spain.  I have seen this work of art live a couple of times in Madrid and never would have made the connection LaMaurice did:

Police Psychology:  The Folly of Fear

 LaMaurice H. Gardner, Psy.D.

This is a picture called the Folly of Fear. Now in the background of the picture (in the past) you can see Spanish soldiers engaged in combat. They are beside the tree fighting for their lives. You can see the front of a cannon just to the left of the left most figure. They are at war.

 Now, in the foreground of the picture (in the present) you can see these same Spanish soldiers. What are they being confronted by? What is that standing over them?

 “A Ghost.” (grim reaper, death, etc.)

 Yes. And what is a Ghost…. a Ghost is a memory from the past. Read the rest of this entry »

Police Psychology:  Why Protests Occur?

by Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D.  ABPP

 

The past few days there was rioting in St. Louis.  It may have started as a protest but moved quickly to a riot.  Riot [RAHY uh t} – a violent disturbance of the peace by a crowd.  The subject was a judge’s decision of not-guilty for a cop that shot the driver of a car who led the cop on a high-speed chase.  “He killed him because he was black!”  “The gun in the back seat of the car wasn’t his.”  A $900,000 settlement was made with the family by the city prior to the trial.  The officer had said we’re going to “kill this motherfucker” on the car cam prior to the stop.  The driver had all the marking of being a heroin dealer and had some drugs in the car.  The judge just didn’t see evidence beyond a reasonable doubt for the cop being called a murderer.

At Georgia Tech University, a campus cop shot and killed a student who was wielding a knife and refused to drop it.  Cops say she went closer and closer to the officers yelling “kill me.” The cop eventually shot her.  This was after a 9-1-1 call when someone complained about an intoxicated person with a weapon.  The female student was non-binary (identifying with neither sex) and had attempted suicide earlier.  Protests are under way at this writing. Read the rest of this entry »

Police Psychology:  Choir Practice

by Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D.  ABPP

 

In 1975, Joseph Wambaugh named it, when a group of cops go out after their shift for nights of drinking, camaraderie and debauchery.  They would get drunk, be obnoxious to regular citizens and have sex with a variety of barmaids, hookers and naïve young girls wanting to have a good time.  During the day, they would shoot gays in the park and bond together so nobody could get the real story and no cop could get charged.  Their pranks on each other are so appalling and dangerous that Joseph Wambaugh actually had his name taken off the film.  Superiors are all jerks, judges are listed as “black-robed pussies.”  It was called a “film about brutes for brutes.”  But the book and movie actually started something that is quoted frequently today, and perhaps is part of the way the public views cops. Read the rest of this entry »

 

Police Psychology:  Active Shooter Events and News Media Reporting

Philip J. Swift, Ph.D.

It is well known that Active Shooter Events (ASE) constitute a threat to public safety in the United States. The overwhelming goal of an Active Shooter Offender(s) (ASO) is to murder and injury as many people as possible before being denied additional victims, even though the offender’s justification for committing an Active Shooter Event (ASE) varied from offender to offender. In the study “Active Shooter Event Severity, Media Reporting, Offender Age, and Location” I predicted that there was a correlation between the rate of news media reporting about an ASE, occurring in the United States between April 20, 1999, and June 15, 2016, and the severity of the subsequent ASE. I further predicted that the age and the regional location of the offender (ASO) would moderate the predicted relationship between the dependent and independent variables.  A lot of scientific talk, but let me explain. Read the rest of this entry »

Police Psychology | Is Technology Turning Us Into Time Zombies?!

Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP

This is a small excerpt from my new Keeping It Simple with Anxiety: A Guide for the Road and Home video course which will be out soon.  We are waiting on approval for POST credits.  Look for it!

 

Site Administrator: Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP

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