Final assignment. Does not include pictures.

Francesca Furci

Writing with Public Purpose

Faces and their vital role in human connection

“A face is like the outside of a house, and most faces, like most houses, give us an idea of what we can expect to find inside.” While our face makes up only a small percentage of our image, it can easily be understood that it provides the most information in regards to the current situation an individual is in. It can display happiness, despair, interest, insecurity, and many other qualities that are crucial to human interaction. In reading what is said without words through a person’s face, we can become better communicators, friends, and lovers.

 In the given image we see a young woman with a smile on her face. Her eyes are forward, and connected, and she seems confident. With these things in mind we are open to the fact that she is approachable, thus likely a good candidate to socialize and interact with. One study showed that, “genuine smiles, and potentially other social cues, may be useful social reinforcers and therefore important in the control of social behavior on a moment-to-moment basis during interaction” (Bangor, Shore). This truly supports the idea that a smile is the most important social cue, and with it, social interaction has the ability to thrive.

 On the contrary, when someone presents a facial expression as shown here, it can be assumed that they are upset. Behind these simple emotions, one study found that these facial expressions are driven by increased mental usage (Gendolla, APA). This makes sense that the person would then be less prone to socialize. Not only is there something that is bothering them emotionally, but in turn, they are mentally exhausted from the thought processes. It is obvious then, that the social clue would be to refrain from excessive social interaction with individuals under this stress. Of course this is not to ignore those who are close to the person and may relieve some stress, but as a whole, social interaction with those who present these signs is not a favorable condition.

             While the above two faces seem to be common sense, and easily understood. This ideas span beyond the simple ideas of happy and sad. This picture shows the perfect example of curiosity. This may be an individual that would be inclined to interact social with some social prompts. This usually includes something that causes comfort, or intrigues the person at hand. This can be identified as someone with wide eyes, and a slightly open mouth. Their body language may be shifted away, but their eye contact provides proof of interest. This person is someone that you can engage with, but must proceed with the proper content.  While this next example is humorous and comical in the sense that it is exaggerated and in the form of a child, it accurately depicts the features of someone who is enraged, the perfect candidate for someone that would be least likely to interact socially. Their mouth would be closed, and often contorted, their eyes small, and their eyebrows arched in. As stated with the sad individual up top, the mental processes are high here. This, along with the enraged emotion, makes this person someone that is not good to continue interacting with. The facial expression, as the social cue, alerts us that this person should probably be left alone.

            While these expressions and social cues seem to come natural for most of us, they are not part of many peoples’ common sense. Approximately fifteen million people over the age of thirteen live with social disorders in America, with one of the main struggles being the inability to recognize and act on social cues like facial expressions (ADAA). This leaves out the countless school age children that are not diagnosed until they reach an appropriate age. For us, these ideas seem simple, with no reason to be defined, but in my future profession as a school psychologist, I will spend every day helping students who simply cannot grasp these concepts. As a social individual in today’s society, it is our job to not only read these cues, and present them as accurately as possible, but to also understand that many individuals we encounter are unable to do so, and an understanding of this can make a significant impact on their lives.

A wild statistic that I found while researching for my paper was that 15 million people are diagnosed with social disorders in our country. This includes the inability to do something as simple as recognize the difference between a smile and a frown. In addition to these 15 million people, so many school age children struggle with this during the crucial times of lunch and recess, but they cannot be clinically diagnosed until age 13. I found this so crazy because at that age, socializing is so important. It comes so natural to most of us, but to struggle with that must seem so impossible.

When searching for a quotation to open my paper I found one that truly encompassed exactly what I was trying to say.
“A face is like the outside of a house, and most faces, like most houses, give us an idea of what we can expect to find inside.”
This shows that a face can really tell you so much about a person's thoughts, feelings, and situation at the time. It was a great jump off point for my paper.  

final paper

In thinking more about my final paper, and how I can possibly relate it to my major, something I am highly interested in, I have decided to focus on human connection and interaction. The emotions that draw to people together, for a variety for reasons, and what provokes certain situations. I have found samples of pictures I would love to have as part of this to support what I am going to say about these different scenarios. Among the obvious situations depicted above, I would also like to include not to "picture perfect" scenarios, and express what may lay behind those as well.

Commonweal

I read a very opinionated column by Jo McGowan entitled "Simplifying Sex". It attacked the church's approach in regards to premarital sex, and birth control. This article was written with a strong voice with ample opinion to support the author's ideas. McGowan writes of how the church belittles sex, and does not conform to the needs of it's people in today's day and age. The author claims that the church sees sex without the purpose of pregnancy is simple for pleasure, and that pleasure alone can lead to destruction and hurt, but he goes on to state that many human actions are simply for pleasure, and even the act of becoming pregnancy can arguably a form of pleasure. I felt the most poignant statement in this article was made when McGowan wrote, " Every human activity has the potential to become unbalanced. Having children mindlessly, year after year, as former generations of Catholics did, is just as harmful to the social good as the refusal to connect sex with pregnancy". I think the best thing about this article was that the author not only took a stand against the Church, but used the Church's values to back up his point. It was truly eye opening, well-written, and informative.

Second Half Paper

For the next assignment I have a few ideas, all of which I am pretty set on expressing as a photo essay. I have taken various photography classes at SHU, and I feel that photo essays can be very powerful, especially when photographs and words are used together to say something about a controversial topic, or an idea that we often take for granted that the author may have something more to say about.

One idea would be to focus on the lives of children and display how they differ among race, income, gender, etc.

Another idea would be to focus on something intangible like human relationships and interactions, and display how those vary greatly, but nonetheless, all serve a purpose.

Another thought is to pick an organization on or off campus and display all aspects to reveal the whole image of the group and its individual members.

Meeting with Paul Ekman

After landing in sunny California I quickly unpacked at my hotel and rushed outdoors to explore San Francisco. I quickly became enthralled by the hustle of the city. I observed the Spanish influenced buildings, and noted how amazing it was that they were able to squish so many building, people, and activities is such tiny spaces. While my claustrophobia sets in while visiting any city, it seemed particularly strong here.

After calming down, and creating a simple cognitive map of the area around me, I reached into my pocket for a folded index card. As I unfolded the index card, I noticed remnants of my jean pockets lingering in the creases, and sighed with relief that the washed out blue color had not spread onto my crucial writing. I read the directions to the University of California (San Francisco) library, and promptly decided hop on a cable car, followed by a short bus ride. Upon my arrival, I was greeted on the front steps by arguably UCSF's most notable retired professor, Paul Ekman.

His strong handshake, and short stature went along with my preconceived notion that his body held more knowledge and wisdom than any small area seemed capable of. As we entered the library I noticed the predictable stacks of books in their artistic, yet abstract lines. I breathed in that smell that only can be duplicated by old pages touch by many hands. After wondering slightly, he directed me to a small table in the corner surrounded by two couches.

His relatable personality naturally engaged in a conversation that started with life as an undergraduate psychology student, just about our only shared quality. I quickly inquired about his time spent as a Clinical Psychology Officer in the US Army, and he chuckled as if this was something he was repetitively asked about. Nevertheless, he recited what seemed to be a script of information, stories, and feelings. While I found myself wanting to know every detail about his time there, I knew we had to move on.

"Why lying?" I asked. With ease, comfort, and pride, Ekman went on to explain his interest in lying, and his proof of how much we can learn about and from it. He explained that the connections between repetitive behaviors, facial expressions, and lying are just as present as any other successful hypothesis. While he was on the verge of beginning to speak in terms that no amount of psychology schooling could help me understand, he stopped himself. He is too considerate for that. We wrapped up our warm and easy conversation with suggestions he had for me, and him noting the significant points he hoped I grabbed from his work. While I felt as if I was in the presence of greatest, he presented himself much like the grandfather of my best friend. We laughed a little, and decided we had covered everything.

After walking me back to where I would meet my bus, he waved and strolled back into the bustle of the sidewalk.