The Mask

Organizations develop tradition, heritage, and culture as they establish roots in a bureaucratic system. These qualities allow for a myriad of possibilities, and in the Department of Defense, there is a tendency toward inertia to mitigate risk. In Masks of War, Carl Builder extols the principle that technology created the USAF and the USAF tends to rely on technological solutions for its problems. However, even in an organization that embraces technology as a founding principle, the USAF…

In Nancy MacLean’ Behind The Mask of Chivalry, an in depth case study of the Georgia branches of the Ku Klux Klan is undertaken to get a full picture of what exactly the clan was and was after in the 1920s. In the introduction of the book, MacLean states the purposes for writing this book. “The goal of this study, then, is to situate Klan members in the world of their day, to take seriously what they did, and to listen carefully to what they said. In this way, we can learn a great deal about…

I have many social masks, I am a daughter, a sister, a friend, a girlfriend and a student. Although I have many social masks, I have yet to grow as an individual. I am dominated by my super-ego since I have very inferior feelings about myself. All my life I have struggled with facing my fears and letting people in. I believe this generated from how my father was when I was growing up. I grew up with a very strict father who made me feel like the world was a very dangerous place, I couldn’t do…

More insidiously are the patterns society instills in players by inspirations. Therefore, the danger in accepting circumstances and not questioning them is the stultification of one’s personality and potential. In Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask,” the idea of emotional suppression comes to the forefront of the conversation. Despite their smiles and song, humans are racked with pain and misery beneath their acculturated…

Serial Killers: Born or Bred to Kill? Criminals like Charles Manson can attribute their sadistic nature from a childhood of neglect and abuse, whereas serial killers like David Berkowitz – who grew up in a healthy, supportive family – have no justifiable reason for their actions, other than their own desire to kill. Unfortunately, both types of men infamously manifested their destinies into become the human incarnation of the Grim Reaper himself. There have been numerous studies conducted in…

According to “Herb Baumeister and the Horrors of Fox Hollow,” Herb Baumeister was the oldest of four children to the parents Herbert and Elizabeth Baumeister. Baumeister’s parents perceived him as being normal, except his love of watching documentaries about serial killers. One of Baumeister’s childhood friends recalls him as being a bit odd by recalling one of Baumeister’s favorite pass times which was to play with dead animals. On another occasion he recalls Baumeister leavening a dead bird on…

Everything happens for a reason, even murder. Nonetheless, people believe murderers should not be able to explain why they ended a life, but this could be vital to preventing future homicides. However, most of the time, the motive is not clear. One explanation of this could be a personality disorder known as antisocial personality disorder. Many serial killers have this disorder. As he is described in Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, H.H. Holmes possesses symptoms of antisocial disorder.…

Arrigo (2001, n.p.) defined psychopaths as “an elusive and perplexing psychological construct”, which across history has experienced several degrees of social condemnation. Similarly, the public’s perception of a psychopath, such as Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer, is someone who has committed such horrific violent crimes as a serial and mass murder. As explained previously, a psychopath does not need to express violent tendencies to have developed a lack of emotional attachment, which many have…

The newest fashion statement all the way from Southeastern Asia is colorful, inexpensive, innovative, and protective. Face masks can be self-decorated with any original design and have been a common accessory in China as people face the ominous threat that their own air poses to them. However, having poor air quality is not a situation unique to the Chinese only, despite Beijing being the better known through news sources. Cities in India and Pakistan claim the top 7 most polluted cities…

Psychopaths and sociopaths In hollywood there's been multiple movies where there is a mindless killer on the loose, psychopath and sociopath are what they call pop psychology terms for a certain antisocial personality disorder. These terms are not well defined this way compared to the literary use of them. Differences between the two Psychopaths and sociopaths are not the same but they both have have some similar traits such as; brake or ovoid the law, lie and deceive, impulsive, aggressive,…