Week 8 Literature Review

Although I was able to put together some good information related to my topic, I encountered a similar issue that I did in my annotated bibliography. 2-3 pages was not enough to try to fit in all the good information that my six sources had to offer. I had a hard time including all of the information that our assignment required without having 6 pages to utilize. I did however find many answers to my research questions about the mental health aspects of children who witness intimate partner violence. I found information proving my theory that witnessing violence at a young age contributes to violent behavior in boys, and that psychological disabilities develop as a consequence to witnessing domestic violence. I would like to utilize this information in future classes and it has helped broaden my knowledge of finding and selecting sources for future research topics.

Week 7 Annotated Bibliography

Doing the annotated bibliography this week was a good refresher for me. I have done them before, but I realized I was a bit rusty. The only thing that I didn't like was that I couldn't go that in depth with the requirements of the assignment due to the length limit of 4-5 sentences. I am sure that I will get to go more in depth when I do my literature review in week 8 though. One problem I encountered was that one of the cites I had formerly used was not working right so I had to use another similar source. This wasn't too bad because I learned how to use the databases better.

Week 6 Open Acces Journals

I can't say I was very fond of the open access journal database. There were just around 8 results, and half of them were in another language. I did however find a new way to view the effects of domestic violence on children. The article I found was on how domestic violence exposure effects infants as well. It talks about how mothers who are victims of abuse, lack the normal bond that mother and child share because she is to busy trying to protect the baby from the abuse that she does not establish a normal bond. It gave me a whole new outlook at just how much abuse impacts a child's psychological development, from as young as infancy.

Week 5 Empirical Research Article

Since I liked the discover search through ebscohost for the week 4 assignment I decided to use that again. Instead of just typing my usual keywords, effects of domestic violence on children, i also added qualitative study to the keyword search. There were so may articles to choose from, which was awesome. Usually when I use the general databases in the leathery library I have a hard time finding an article that actually relates to my topic as a whole and have to try multiple phrases to find anything somewhat relavent. But, with discover, they were all a perfect match. It makes it so much easier finding sources. I'm so glad to have tried this finally, it would have really come in handy before. From the article I chose, I learned that even babies can be effected by domestic violence. The mothers do not form the normal bond with their baby because she is too busy trying to protect her baby from the abuse. This can cause attachement issues that can lead to psychological issues later.

Week 4 Peer Reviewed Journal Article

I am very glad that I learned about using discover for ebscohost.  I found the perfect article for my topic.  My research is on finding the effects of domestic violence on children.  This article had information that supported my hypothesis that children exposed to domestic violence due suffer from behavioral issues both externalized and internalized. I also learned that it does increase aggression in boys towards their mothers but does not effect the aggression in girls. It was a very informative and educational article. I will definitely be using the discover search again for future research papers.

Week Three, Find a Book

Cohn, F., Salmon, M., And Stobo, J. (2002). Confronting Chronic Neglect. The Education And Training Of Health Professionals On Family Violence. Institute Of Medicine. National Academy Press. Washington, Dc. Retrieved from http://www.nap.edu/read/10127/chapter/1

I found this assignment very helpful. I knew how to use the Brandman library for finding journal articles, but I was not too familiar with finding e-books. The library was down at the time I did my assignment, though. I ended up using an e-book library that was mentioned in our book. National Academies Press has a good selection of e-books for multi-disciplinary fields. I found some good statistical information on my topic, and also some symptoms that I was trying to find out about. One problem I faced was that my keywords were to narrow to find results so I actually had to broaden it and find different ways to word it before I finally found some success in locating a book. I am hoping to be able to find some case studies of children who were exposed to domestic violence. The problem with that is, since it is psychology and mental health stuff, it will probably be hard to find it due to confidentiality. I also learned that I had messed up the format of my last paper, so I was glad I was shown what I was doing wrong while in class, before I messed up my second assignment. So far, this class has taught me a lot of information that would have really come in handy for my capstone class I took at the beginning of the year this year. I really wish I had learned about some of these things prior to that class, for sure.

Background Information Blog

I learned a few things from doing the background information assignment. I learned that it is better to actually investigate the author's credentials first. Some people that write these articles can claim that they know a lot about a subject. The question is, how do you really know that they are not just stating their opinion on a subject? After reading the text, I googled each of the authors I chose, and their biographies popped right up. I looked at a couple bio's for each one and was amazed at their extensive background in the topic I am pursuing to research. I also learned about how there are different audiences intended for certain articles. For example, one article was pretty simple to understand for someone who is at least a high school graduate, while the other one had a lot of vocabulary that I did not know the meanings to without having to google their definitions. I found this assignment to be very helpful in finding author's with credibility and experience to back up their articles.

Introduction

Hello everyone. My name is Angela Gutierrez. I am currently an instructor at ABLE Industries. We are a vocational training program for adults with developmental disabilities. Our main goal is to train and prepare our clients for successful employment in their local community. My job is to train them in performing tasks such as janitorial work, grounds maintenance, lawn care, and warehouse work. I also mentor them by showing them how to work with others and how to behave appropriately in a professional working environment. I am finally at the end of the road of my bachelor's degree journey. I am set to be graduating in May of 2016. I am studying Social Science with an emphasis in psychology. My end goal is to be a social worker for children and at risk youth. My clients that I train inspire me everyday. I finally have a way to apply all of the things I have learned from my classes here at Brandman University. My work experience is very diverse. I have worked all kinds of different jobs like housekeeping, agriculture, masonry assistant, cashier, loss prevention, and waitressing. I was also a motor transport operator in the Marine Corps.