Spycatcher

Great article btw. Ive got a question on something slightly different though. Im a 17 year old junior, who is planning on becoming a psychiatrist. In doing so, i sometimes come up with theories to explain things. Recently, i learned of the different ways a mental disorder can be categorized(Social Standards, Maladaptive Behavior, Emotional Distress, Knowledge of Consequences). My theory is this. If a child is kept away from people, and the chance to develop socially, is it possible for them to develop certain traits and characteristics which they find acceptable(such as not talking or dressing a certain way), and than when they are introduced into a social situation, these traits become maladaptive, being that they obsruct the chance to develop social connections, because at the time, these traits were what the child found solace and comfort in, possibly even protection. If i could get some feedback on whether my theory is possible or just deduction, i would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

Great question you ask. As I started to think about it and answer I was going to make it really complicated so I took a step back. I think the answer was staring at me very clearly from my own background. Bear with me, my family came from Cuba. In Cuba, no offense, we talk very loud and we are very animated. Whne I came to America I found that I did not fit in. I could not understand why everyone talked so quietly (like hey dont you people get excited about anything) and my teachers and mates found me very loud. As with your example, I took great comfort in expressing myself quite loudly. Here, not so much. To many my behavior was just too much, too loud, too much gesticulating. Maladaptive would you say is the term of art?

I once attended an APA meeting and a lady from Brazil leaned over to me, cause I speak Portuguese, and she said. According to what that man is saying I am a histrionic. I told her not to worry. Loud clothing, loud colors, provocative attire, etc. has more to do with culture in her her case, and what was comfortable and in vogue at that moment in Rio, than any possibility of her having a personality disorder.

I hope this helps, let me know. You may also want to consider asking a psychologist steeped in the field of neuropsychology or abnormal psychology.
All the best. Joe Navarro

What would be the complicated answer?

Dear Mr. Navarro,

I enjoyed reading "What Every Body Is Saying", and appreciate your emphasis on being very cautious with interpretations of nonverbal communication, especially with other cultures.

You mention that myths of body language and potentially dangerous results. What about the affect of the subtle yet powerful influence produced by negative stereotypes in general, coupled with cognitive dissonance/self-justification, when interpreting body language?

I ask this because when watching "Lie to Me; Season 1, Episode 13, Sacrifice", it was yet another example of the prominent negative stereotypes specifically of Arabs and Muslims in the media, as researched and discussed extensively by Dr. Jack Shaheen:

http://wallwritings.wordpress.com/2009/07/17/after-31-years-jack-shaheen...

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dr-Jack-Shaheen/35867839643?v=info

And when stereotypes are coupled with the psychological phenomena of cognitive dissonance and self-justification, as discussed by Dr. Carol Tavris, and Dr. Elliott Aronson in their excellent book:

http://www.mistakesweremadebutnotbyme.com/index.html

The results have real world consequences of wrongful convictions (or interrogations):

http://www.mistakesweremadebutnotbyme.com/html/criminal_justice.html

Are law enforcement (of every level) trained in being aware of the affect of negative stereotypes; differences in cross-cultural communication styles; cognitive dissonance/self-justification, alomg with their training to properly interpret nonverbal communication/body language?

Sincerely,
ANMB

Great comments and thank you for sharing the links. I am sure others appreciate that also. I was very fortunate in that early on in the FBI we looked at the effects of negative stereotypes and began to train against it. Having said that I am also aware of the impact society has on us as individuals and collectively which begins to lay a foundation for negative stereotypes in our youth.

I am reminded of the Time magazine cover of OJ Simpson which was deliberately darkened. Now, I am sure the person responsible was not being overtly prejudiced, but it certainly skewed our perception of OJ just from that cover shot and I have to wonder, what if he had lightened it. Something was speaking to that photo editor to do that, and that is the problem, sometimes we don’t know what our subconscious is promiscuously doing.

I think that the best we can do is train to recognize it and always make sure we have neutral parties who can help us to disengage when our decision making is based on negative stereotypes. The earlier we train young people to recognize just how subtle and insidious negative stereotypes can be, the earlier we can develop quality officers.

The problem for this country is one that most people don’t think about. In America we have 17,500 plus independent and different police departments and each trains differently. They don’t all have the same budget, they don’t all recruit the best people. They try, but when you have that much variety you are going to have different skill sets and even different attitudes. That alone hurts us. We are the only country that does this. If you go to Germany there is one police department and they all get trained the same, not here, and that doesn’t bode well when we look at skills, training, personnel, and resources.

If you meet an FBI agent in Juno he will have received the same training as one in Key West. You can’t say that about our police forces. I have been to police departments that require only a high school education and some that get all of 8 hours training per year. Until we fix the training problem this is going to continue unfortunately.

Thank you again for bringing up this information which is important. Negative stereotypes and poor interviewing has contributed to false accusations and false imprisonment which is unconscionable. Coupled with faulty memories, it is a real travesty if not corrected.

Thank you again. JN

Hy mister Navarro. My name is Corina and I'm a big fan. I'm froma Romania and I wanna say thay you are an exceptional human been. I'm totaly agree with your article and I waitt you to Bucharest again. Thanks!

How very nice of you to say so. I look forward to coming to Bucharest again and I hope I will get to meet you there. All the best and thank you for taking the time to comment. J

Unfortunately I won't have the money to be able to participate again but your boock "What every body is saying" changed my life.