#trauma CAN BE better taught about and better understood and better accommodated

[cavityinmybrain]

okay so we all know the argument against “the future is plural” that is “this means you want more traumatized children!” right? i feel like everyone has seen people talk about how this is a gross misinterpretation of the phrase, and while i dont disagree there is something about this take that feels glaringly obvious to me that i havent seen anyone else talk about.

trauma is not something that you can wish away in a future society. before people get really mad at me: i dont want more children to be traumatized, i want more people to be able to receive support for trauma.

trauma is a response to an event, and so many things besides abuse/neglect can be traumatic (and possibly cause people to be plural) like: children with severe health issues, children in foster care/orphaned children, children going through war, children witnessing abuse, children who get bullied (arguably this is a type of abuse imo), and so on. to act like the only thing that can make someone form OSDDID is abuse/neglect trauma is ??? crazy to me.

instead of wishing for a future society where Trauma Doesnt Exist :) why not wish for a future society where trauma is better understood by everyone? where doctors receive trauma informed training as a part of becoming doctors, where you can disclose to someone that you’ve experienced trauma and they dont immediately give you pity eyes, where children who are experiencing trauma can be given resources and support necessary to mitigate the damage trauma will do?

why do you wish for a future thats not functionally attainable?

honestly, i cant help but see parallels of the notion that in a future society disabled people wont exist. disabled people will always exist, so form your fantasies of the future to include them.

trauma will always exist, so form your fantasies to accommodate it.

[snydel-blog]

Re-Post of Administrative Response to Sexual Assault Investigative Report

This piece is also no longer available online so here is a re-post of it. This was written in 2012 with Tory Martinez about Carthage College’s inadequate regulations in response to sexual assault. It is also probably terrible and inadequate given the gravity of its implications.

From an early age, people are conditioned to do certain things because they believe doing them will keep them safe. Locking the doors before leaving, wearing a seatbelt, leaving a light on when going out for the night, not talking to strangers and looking both ways are all precautions most people do without thinking because they’re widely viewed as good ideas. Upon entering college, this list of good ideas expands to include measures to stay safe in a party environment. Tips such as never leaving drinks unattended, using the buddy system, telling friends of plans and recognizing potentially dangerous situations and having the wherewithal to remove oneself or a friend from harm are practiced to prevent sexual assault. How did it come to a point where these tips are the accepted norm? Why is rape and sexual assault such a part of college culture that students are taught party safety in freshman orientation? When did sexual assault become the elephant in the room?

Even though there is a common perception that these tips are no more than scare tactics and crimes of this nature are few and far between, sexual assault is the most common violent crime on college campuses; unfortunately it is also the most underreported. Fewer than five percent of all rapes are reported. “All data we have tells us that sexual assault cases are broadly underreported by victims on college campuses. I do believe our institution is no different than any other college in this growing problem,” said Jason Ramirez, Associate Vice President for Student Life. This can happen for a variety of reasons, the most concerning of which is that many survivors are hesitant to term their experience rape, even when it meets the legal criteria.

Society is quick to support the idea of an unknown assailant; however, this discounts the possibility that rapists are closer to home than most people would like to believe. An estimated nine out of ten victims of rape or attempted rape on college campuses say that they know their assailant, which complicates the reporting process as many victims are hesitant to come forward about people they know. Oftentimes, it comes down to one person’s word against the other, and without evidence many cases are dismissed or kept quiet so as to not tarnish the reputation of the school.  This perpetuates the idea that victims will not be believed and their assailant will not be punished.

Coupled with this is the flaw in many schools’ policies wherein reporting confidentially, anonymously or through a third party isn’t an option, which means the victim’s name is on record, potentially damaging their reputation and putting them in danger for a repeat assault. Yet another problem is the lack of amnesty for victims who were under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the attack. This makes many victims hesitant to report their attack, as they do not wish to face disciplinary action for being inebriated as well as dealing with the trauma of sexual assault.

Further complicating matters is that many schools hide their policies, and even upon finding them the policies are dense and not easily understood without extensive knowledge of legal jargon. It is assumed that students have read and understood the community code, and that they accept the policies contained therein if any disciplinary action should be necessary.  In reality, many students are unsure of where to even find their student handbook and are unwilling to take the time to read it. Unless there is an issue that directly affects them, most students will graduate having never seen their community code.  

Still more issues arise when many schools send victims off campus to extraneous phone numbers and specialty centers rather than accommodating them using campus resources. Similarly, many schools fail to inform students of how to report their attack or what to do in the immediate aftermath. “My guess is that 98% of students have never read the policy or are unaware of its existence. For the few people who have read it, it might have been for an assignment or something at the beginning of their first year, and that information is long gone from their memory banks,” said Gregory Woodward, President of the College. “I think we should do better…I do think there are certain things we should ask of all our students when they become members of this community. One would be how to behave like a good citizen inside this community, and that includes alcohol, drugs, violence, disturbing the peace and sexual harassment and abuse. I think this should be something that’s a part of everyone’s formal intentional education, rather than something we hope happens.”

Despite all of these issues and their continuing effects, students across the country are working to raise awareness about this extremely troubling issue by making their school’s policy known. Using safer.org, a website dedicated to helping students lower rates of sexual assault through activism and education, students can post their school’s policy online, to be accessed by anyone at any time. This program also establishes a set of seven criteria that serve as benchmarks of a good policy:

*Access to 24/7 on campus rape crisis care

* An amnesty policy for victims who were under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the attack

*Free emergency contraception and antibiotics

*The ability to report an assault confidentially, anonymously or via a third party

*A comprehensive policy that applies to everyone regardless of gender, race, age, income, disability or sexual identity or orientation

*Education programs aimed at raising awareness and prevention

*The policy is clear, easy to understand, and readily available on the website or in the community code

Every year, Carthage College compares itself to thirty schools across the nation in the areas of academics, athletics, student life, and the quality of the students being admitted, among other things. Though an independent examination of each school’s sexual assault policy according to the seven criteria listed above, Carthage came in at the bottom of the list. While no school had a perfect score, Carthage was significantly lacking in most areas of what is considered a good sexual policy. There is no full time counselor who is trained to deal solely with sexual assault; there is no access to emergency contraception; students have no access to 24/7 reporting, nor are they covered under any sort of an amnesty policy. Students may report assaults confidentially, but there is no option to report either anonymously or through a third-party.

As most Carthage students are well aware, infractions of all sorts are dealt with via the point system. Virtually every disciplinary problem is assigned a point value, and a certain number of points acquired can result in suspension or expulsion from the college. This policy unfortunately isn’t as clear-cut as it appears, as every offense is taken on a situational basis and the student’s prior record and nature of the offence are both taken into account. The administration has carte blanche to do with students what they will, and this tends to undermine the functionality of the point system. Carthage’s sexual assault policy lacks a specific formula for handling incidents. There is a major discrepancy between policy and practice, and while some of this is actually progressive in that assaults are punished, there is concern that this is not explicitly stated in the policy.

When asked about this disconnect, President Gregory Woodward said, “I believe that the Dean of Students office has strayed from the policy in ways that all of us would appreciate. They’ve enforced policies in ways that are more productive than the written policy. What we haven’t done is catch up the policy to the practice. I believe that many of the practices we’re engaged in are better than the policies.”

However, Woodward was also first to point out the flaws in the current incarnation of the policy. “[Our policy is] not even close. It’s not specific enough, it doesn’t go deep enough into the topic, and it leaves a lot of loose ends. I think the definitions are weak and the repercussions are inexact.” Ramirez had this to say on the subject:

“As a college we strive to respond immediately, and with a sense of urgency, to all situations regarding sexual assault. We always focus on the safety and needs of the individuals involved and the greater community.”

Even though Carthage’s policies are lacking, the school is in several ways more fortunate than the other schools on the list. This year marked a significant changing of the guard, and having a new president who is more than willing to help rewrite the sexual assault policy so that it meets more than one of the seven criteria is a huge step. When confronted with this information, Woodward said: “You have to allow for humans to make good human decisions. I believe it’s also possible to write policies that build in a level of humanity. These are the strong definitions and the rules, and these are the ways the rules should be interpreted and utilized to make good decisions. That still allows for individual examination…giving people firm guidelines would be a pretty good start.”

Carthage has been growing steadily and successfully since its arrival in Kenosha sixty-five years ago. However, the policies of old no longer fit the needs of students today, and up until now, the administration has been slow to implement the necessary changes. It’s time for Carthage to catch up. In one of his final statements, Woodward was extremely optimistic about instigating change. “Sometimes it is better to start completely over rather than chip away at it. Our policy isn’t terrible, but we can all agree it’s not good enough. We will make a policy that will be powerful, strong, understandable, clear, and allow for the most ethical decisions we can possibly make.” It’s time to take the sheet off the elephant, paint it red and black, and make sure it knows it will no longer be catered to. With the new administration willing to work to amend this issue, Carthage is in a prime position to make up for lost time and change things for good.