First Blog

Feeling Good All of us need to feel good.  People, politicians, teachers, movie-star personalities, all of us have this fundamental need.  All or most are driven by this need – even if you or I think they’ve run astray.   Even psychologists need to feel good, and for them they need to feel they make a difference in their treatment of patients.  Rarely, will one tell us they tried and tried but nothing worked.  Indeed, they need affirmation, often self-affirmation, of treatment success.  And this makes them feel good. Only a few psychologists are in possession of the power to suggest the release criminally troubled (or insane) patients back into the world of us all.  To feel good they have been successful in their treatments is not enough in a such a totally subjective environment.  We must have strict criteria for the release of troubled people, particularly those with a proclivity to violence.  What can be done is unclear to me.  But something should be done.

I watched just a portion of the movie "Purple Heart" from 1944 starring Dana Andrews and there was one line that struck me.  When the captured aviator, portrayed by Andrews, what threatened by the Japanese official, he responded, "If you do anything to us, our government will not forget it."  This, of course, was a counter threat.  He meant it. He believed it. It occurred to me that I don't feel that way at all.  When I was in Italy just a few weeks ago, I understood there might be some risk of kidnapping by extremists, but I understood there would be no help forthcoming from my government.  This is why the comment was so striking.  How many of us feel the USA will do everything possible to get us back if we fall into the hands of an enemy, terrorist or criminal?  At most, my release will become a minor political matter, expendable, lamentable, sad, but nothing close to important, much less urgent.