California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Created: February 21, 2001
Latest update: February 21, 2001
jeannecurran@habermas.org

On Wednesday, February 14, 2001, Judy Eugenio of the Peace and Conflict class wrote:

Jeanne,

I just finished reading the article "The Culture Club." I found it very interesting. It was interesting to read how the minds of American and Chinese people differ when it comes down to important issues that we deal with within our society, such as the man who murdered all those people, and also killed himself. Of course it is the culture that we come from that embeds the certain ways in which we think, relate and interact with each other. In the article, it seemed as though Americans had negative thoughts, where as the Chinese tried to be more positive about the situation of the Chinese man who murdered those people. What more can one expect for an American to think about the situation as they did when one lives in an American society for so long, where everything around them promotes negativity, such as the television, newspaper, music etc. It embeds negative thoughts and feelings. One should truly understand their culture, and realize why they think, act and do the things they do, because I strongly believe that without culture there is no individuality.

Just my thoughts!!
Judy Eugenio
T/Th Peace and Conflict

On Wednesday, February 21, 2001, jeanne responded:

Interesting perspective, Judy. I hadn't looked at that article in a week. Glad you brought me back to it. I suspect it was less a matter of one culture being negative and the other positive, than of one culture recognizing the importance of community to mental health, and the other (American culture) relying totally on the individual and his/her functioning. We'll look at this extensively as we discuss criminal homicide in criminology.

Nicely written. jeanne

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