As I pondered, "what will I remember from this class in 5 years" the only answer that came to mind is what will I not remember? The small details and facts memorized for a test may not make it to my long term memory, but the large concepts are lodged in there. So much of this class is applicable to daily life, and many times while reading I would have an Oprah "ah hah" moment.
For my thesis work, I am taking Abnormal Psych next semester, so in having to choose one thing I will remember from this class, it would be the information on disorders, from the physical reasons (genes, neuron transmitters) to the disorder descriptons and videos showing the disorder within people.
My thesis work is on the mentally ill population and the lack of affordable housing. The homeless population grows in the United States, and mentally ill individuals make up a large part of it. I volunteered at a phone crisis center, which is where I first listened to the issues the mentally ill have in obtaining and keeping housing. There have been strides made in the last ten years, but affordable, safe housing continues to be an issue. If a person doesn't have a safe base, it is hard to ascend Maslow's hierarchy of needs. If one doesn't know where they will sleep that night, how can they stay on a health regimen of taking medication and feeling a sense of stability? An article that highlights the difference a stable home can make to a mentally ill person is one by Padget that I have attached. The qualitative study allows the mentally ill person's voice to be heard, and share what having a secure home means to them, They are a vulnerable population with little voice in politics, yet are directly affected by the policies and budget cuts made in affordable housing and health care. 
rihax003: April 2012 Archives
Having lived in the South in the past, I found the concept of "culture of honor" very interesting. Within the article by Cohen et al., (1996) not only does "culture of honor" shape the individual reaction, but affects the policies and laws of the region in the form of gun control, and self defense. In the movies, one sees the Southern gentlemen standing back to back, walking ten paces, and then shooting. Is this a relic of the past?
The research had different experiments under the umbrella of the study, and not all of the experiments showed statistical significance in the findings. They also stated a limitation of the research is that the research took place on a Northern college campus (Michigan) and all participants were from higher income bracket families. The Southern students had chosen to go to a Northern school. A confounding variable could be that these males did not adhere to the Southern perspective of having to be aggressive to protect one's honor, and were open to living in the North. It would be interesting to conduct the experiment in a Southern town setting, and possibly within the general population to test the reliability of the findings.
I personally did not experience co-workers coming to blows for bumping into one another in the hallway, but I also lived in a metro area that had a large mixture of Northerners. Possibly if I had lived in a rural area with a higher concentration of Southern men, we would have had a few good break time duels.
