Updated Independent Component 1 Plan Approval

1. Write a description of what you plan on doing for your independent study component.
I will be taking an online class called Domestic Violence 101. This will help me build a foundation for my project and get a better understanding of different topics the lessons in the class will be going over.

2. Describe in detail, how you think your plan will meet the 30 hour work requirement.
Taking this class will meet the 30 hours requirement because I will have to read and study each lesson. After a lesson, I will have to write an essay and take an exam, then a final exam which I will have to study the lessons again for.

3. How does your independent study component relate to your working EQ?
Taking this class will help me get answers for my EQ because it covers different lessons and within each lesson it talks about warning signs, prevention strategies or how to ultimately get out of or stay in an abusive relationship. Learning about these things will help me get more information and give me good examples.

Rough Draft of 30 min. Presentation

30 minute presentation rough draft

Blog 12: Third Interview Questions

1. What is the best awareness tool that can be used to reduce the risk of being abused in an intimate partner relationship?
2. How can domestic abuse be prevented?
3. How can you establish healthy boundaries in a relationship?
4. What does a healthy relationship look like compared to an abusive one?
5. What are some warning signs of an abusive relationship that are not obvious?
6. Does insecurity of the abuser and/or partner play a large role within an unhealthy relationship?
7. If you have been dating someone and after a few months confessed they had been abusive in a previous relationship but have gotten help, what are tips to maintain a good, abuse free relationship with that person?
8. What warning signs are most important too look out for?
9. How many signs should be noticed before getting out of a relationship with someone?
10. How often do people with extremely controlling attitudes change their ways in the early stages of a relationship if confronted about it?

Blog 11:Mentorship 10 Hours Check

1. Where are you doing your mentorship?
House of Ruth

2. Who is your contact?
Marina Wood

3. How many totals hours have you done?
32 hours and 45 minutes.

4. All of my hours done have either been me working on training manuals (which I do A LOT, but they are almost finished!) helping out at certain fundraisers and events ( I am not allowed to go to most of them because I am not 18 yet) and making copies of different informative papers.

Blog 10:Senior Project Update

1. Well for my independent component I am doing a clothing/supply donation for House of Ruth clients. My mentor gave me a list of things most needed for the shelter and the victims. Having the list, I am now figuring out where I would like to have the fundraiser and which items I could ask for, depending on who I am asking to donate. For instance, if I were to go to HOPE club and ask them to help with my fundraiser, I would ask our high school students for realistic items they could bring. The list my mentor gave me has tons of things, like microwaves and shower curtains, but I am narrowing it down to easy accessible things, like first aid kits, pens, and socks, which as also on the list.
2.I have been reading a book called Violent No More. It is a book targeted at men, to end domestic violence. From what I have read so far, the author is telling us about how he got involved with a men's group where they help men who were arrested for abuse or who volunteered to be there because they knew they needed help. He talks about the different patterns he sees in abusive men, like the fact that almost all of them have the same belief, that men are more superior than women. I have only read the first two chapters but in the next one he explains where abuse starts. This is helping me figure out some possible answers for my EQ. I am getting ideas of what answers could be so that I can do more research on the different types of men's group or how much of a role sexism plays in domestic abuse. The book has really got me thinking because it is written for men, so I get to see from a different point of view, how they can help stop it and how it can eventually be prevented.

 This is a picture of the book I am reading for research. The one that I had explained in questions number two.

This is the "wish list" that my mentor gave me so that I can plan my fundraiser for my independent component.

Blog 5a.:Science Fair Proposal

1.       My topic for my senior project is Domestic Abuse

2.       The problem behind my experiment would be that men, who turn out to be perpetrators of abuse, usually come from an abusive family or were abused as children.

“Most experts believe that children who are raised in abusive homes learn that violence is an effective way to resolve conflicts and problems. They may replicate the violence they witnessed as children in their teen and adult relationships and parenting experiences. Boys who witness their mothers’ abuse are more likely to batter their female partners as adults than boys raised in nonviolent homes. For girls, adolescence may result in the belief that threats and violence are the norm in relationships.”

-"Effects of Domestic Violence on Children." Domestic Violence Roundtable. Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable, 2008. Web. 08 Nov. 2012. http://www.domesticviolenceroundtable.org/effect-on-children.html.

3.       If a middle age Hispanic male with a low income were abused as a child, then he is more likely to grow up to be a perpetrator of domestic abuse. (needs to be more specific, still trying to figure out the kind of profile I want to use.)

4.       In my experiment I would like to see if men who are abused or witness abuse as children, grow up to be abusers themselves.  To do this I will create a profile of an abuser. Then I will go onto different websites such as an FBI/Police website or websites my mentor provided me with, and see if people who were guilty of domestic abuse, match my profile and then look to see if they have a history of child/family abuse.

5.       Behavioral/Social Science

·         I am still looking into different types of projects/experiments I could do. If I find another one I will update this post!

Blog 9:Working EQ and Possible Answers

1. How best can abuse be prevented in an intimate partner relationship?
2. No
3. Possible Answers:

• Informing people in the community.
• Prevention programs/classes.
• Setting boundaries in the beginning of a relationship to establish what is and is not healthy for you and your partner.
• Informing boys/teens/me so they "cycle" can be stopped.