Capturing the Friedman's

A mother and a child. A love that transcends no bounds. To give up a child leaves a hole that nothing can fill. An empty abyss. In the heat of the moment, the mother is convinced that she is doing right by the child. Giving that child a life that they themselves will not be able to give. It hurts to leave, but they know deep down, that the sacrificing of their happiness for the child’s well-being is what is best. In the photograph Mother and child by Jerome Liebling, the mother stands, child in arms, before the steps. Before the steps of giving up the one piece of joy she has in her life. Holding a blank expression on her face, trying not to show any emotion as it would only make what she is about to do harder. She is tired, worn down by the weight of the world. Contemplating what she is about to do, although she knows it will not help.

When a child experiences trauma, it stays with them for the rest of their life. When a child experiences abuse, one of the highest forms of trauma, they can do little to stop it from affecting everything they do. Tobias Wolff’s memoir, This Boy’s Life, Illustrates this. While it can be said that Rosemary, the mother of Jack, was in many ways responsible for his life, she herself can not solely be blamed. The trauma and abuse she experienced as a child contributed greatly to her choices, and her son’s life. This shows that adversity in Rosemary’s life lead to her not being able to act normally, and this caused the life of her son.

The author of the book, Wes Moore, describes the different opportunities and life style he had with another person who shared the same name. The similarities that those boys had when they were younger were significant. Both boys grew up without a paternal figure and their mothers had to work extremely hard to take care of the rest of the family; they were constantly moving from city to city to ensure education and safety. Their mothers had to work excessive number of hours to cover the most basic needs. Living in poverty changed the future of the boys.

One’s childhood has a lasting impact on their entire life. Moore’s upbringing and the loving family he was born into, no matter how trivial it may seem, greatly contributed to his success. Wes seemingly grew up the same as any other kid in the Bronx – in a single-parent household, surrounded by bad influences… what separated him from the crowd? His support system: his family, and their ultimate support and sacrifices made all the difference. As a teenager, Wes seemed to be going down the wrong path. He constantly skipped school, his academic failures were overwhelming, and he was even arrested for vandalism. In the case of the other Wes, his family simply let these actions slide, and decision after decision ultimately landed him with a life sentence in prison. The author Wes’s mother, however, refused to allow this behavior to continue. As a method of intervention, she forced Moore to attend Valley Forge, and in doing so, probably saved his career. The extent of his family’s sacrifice was evident on page 95 when Wes realized that “my grandparents took the money they had in the home in the Bronx, decades of savings and mortgage payments, and gave it to my mother

Imaging your brother or sister, daughter or son gone in an instant, just like Chris, that causes any family to have deep heartbreak and damage. Chris left for two years not telling anyone what he was doing or where he was going. He had compassion and sympathy for the poor and his environment. “How is it ... that a kid with so much compassion could cause his parents so much pain?”(104). This confirms that he did cause his parents great pain, also how he has so much compassion to others but he could not even show that to his parents is heartbreaking and selfish. Chris was out of his family's’ sight for a long time. He felt he needed to get the full experience and shut his parents out. McCandless had chances to mail his parents and sister about his travels but chose not to, creating a lost connection between them. “When Gallien asked whether his parents or a friend knew what he was up to— whether there was anyone who would sound the alarm if he got into trouble and was overdue—Alex answered calmly that no, nobody knew of his plans, that in fact he hadn’t spoken to his family in nearly two years. “I’m absolutely positive, ” he assured Gallien, “I won’t run into anything I can't deal with on my own” (6).

Sonny has a “rough” time where he finds himself in “jail” for “narcotics trafficking” (208). Skloot reveals how not having a guardian and guidance leads someone to turn to occupations they would have never committed to before. Also, she emphasizes how authority is needed in a child so they may stay in the right path of life. Also, Deborah becomes so upset she cries out for help: “‘...Just being sad and crying to myself..Why, Lord, did you take my mother when I needed her so much?’” (218). Deborah changed from a happy child to someone in desperate need of a parent when she lost her mother. Skloot reveals how the requisite fostering of a parent lifts the children up in awful

the children, including the baby who suffers from paralysis? Each chapter bring heartache and triumph

Self preservation and personal comfort, another consistent theme throughout the story is continuously perpetuated as generation-after-generation of residents are introduced to the unspeakable treatment of this helpless child. Ironically when first exposed to the atrocity, most children were more disgusted and outraged by the horrible predicament of the child than the adults who by all accounts should have been responsible for its protection. This obvious moral role reversal signifies a purity and innocence that is often present in a child’s perspective that is untarnished by corrupt societal teachings and norms. Additionally, the comparison between the moral integrity of

In the works Thin Blue Line, Capturing the Friedmans, and Vertigo the creation of reality and the truth brings justice to wrongdoers, and those who have been wronged. Specifically, the documentaries Thin Blue Line, and Capturing the Friedmans create a reality that is ambiguous in an effort to show that no one actually know the truth of the situations in the documentaries. Meanwhile in the film Vertigo Scottie recreates his past lover, and inadvertently brings the truth out about her death.

In “True Confessions, Sort of,” Paul Arthur delves into filmmaker Andrew Jarecki’s questionable ethics in presenting Capturing the Friedmans. More specifically, does Jarecki’s operating under the guise of neutrality “enable (him) to evade responsibility for dealing with the complexities of his material?”(Arthur 7). Furthermore, does a documentary have a moral obligation to its viewers, or is it simply there to present a riveting story? Capturing the Friedmans details the horrific case of Arthur Friedman and his son, Jessie, who were accused and convicted of child molestation.

The father Arnold Friedman was initially under investigation because child pornography ordered in his name from Europe was intersected by the police, and being a school teacher this raised a number of ethical issues. Through a police set up Arnold was tricked into taking the magazine from a police officer, and thus a search warrant was instituted. The police found piles of child pornography magazines hidden next to his piano, and in his office. His wife seemed unaware of these magazines, but not because Arnold Although, the photographs of the crime scene show an organized normal looking house, the polices claims make it sound like they had porno on their coffee table. Regardless of this, Arnold had a history of fervent sexuality in his life, beginning in early childhood he was exposed to the very private and sexual part of his mothers life, and therefor starting exploring his own sexuality through mimicking behavior he had seen with his younger brother. Arnold overdosed on antidepressants and killed himself while he was still in jail, although David remembers it as a heart attack.

It is amazing, ridiculous, and sometimes scary how the brain deals with trauma. It is also ludicrous to believe that your environment and how you are treated are not always believed to strongly affect children. The first story in this book is a very moving one. I thought it interesting and appropriate that that was his first child patient.

My personal reactions to the book The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, were positive and enlightening. I would describe my reactions as enlightening because the content was written in a different perspective than I originally expected. This book is a small memoir of the author’s growth and development as a psychiatrist working with children suffering from severe trauma. It is rare to find a book so informative and practical and yet inspiring to read; I’m glad this was a required piece for this course.

suffers horribly so that the rest can be happy” (Brooks). The child’s pain and loneliness is a

In my analysis after the interview with Professor Friedman I found many of his responses to be extremely interesting when it comes to being successful in the basic government essentials class. One of the most important parts of the interview in response was the type of writing he assigned to students I found it interesting these form of insights that he is signed they were basically short information with grammatical strength in a well developed and straight to the point thesis. His view was instead of looking for link the papers he wanted a straight summarization of what we've read utilizing our information to get straight to the point with short and simple sentences. Something I did already see coming before inducting the interview was the