Syllabus

Kristina Coop Gordon, Ph.D. Psych 482: Ruptured Attachments: The Psychology of Betrayal, Revenge, and Forgiveness ? Spring 2009 TR: 3:40-4:55 Perkins 61 Office hours: Thursdays, 2:30-3:30pm and by appointment Email: HYPERLINK "mailto:kgordon1@utk.edu" kgordon1@utk.edu Phone: 974-3347 Office: 310B Austin Peay Bldg. Overview: This class will explore the difficult human experiences of betrayal, vengeance, and forgiveness through the lens of contemporary psychological theories and research. This course has three objectives. First, at the most basic level, this course will acquaint you with some of the existing theories and research on betrayal, revenge, and forgiveness. Second, this course will ask you to engage in depth with these theories ? by critiquing them, identifying gaps and flaws in the literature, and pulling together similar ideas across theories to develop your own ideas about these constructs. You will grapple with many questions: what is betrayal? Who defines betrayal and forgiveness? How do we study such ?fuzzy? constructs? Is forgiveness always a healthy response? As you move through this course, you will be asked to apply these ideas to experiences in your own life and that of friends, as well as to literary treatments of these constructs. Finally, in the process of critiquing these articles and examining these constructs in depth, you also will gain greater experience in reading and critiquing psychological research articles and will be asked to develop your own research project examining an aspect of betrayal, revenge, or forgiveness as part of your final examination. Course Materials: Selections from Handbook of Forgiveness and other articles, available through on-line reserves, as listed in the syllabus. [These may change as the semester develops, so check with Dr. Gordon before you read ahead]. Hamlet, W.S. Shakespeare ? order. Requirements Reading critiques: 25%. These are 1 page responses to the readings. They will be graded on a check-/check/check+ scale (correspondingly roughly to a C/B/A scale) based on creative, thoughtful engagement with the texts. Formats for these critiques will be posted on Blackboard. Quizzes: 15%. These will be multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank quizzes designed to test reading comprehension. They will be surprise (i.e., pop quizzes) tests. Research paper: 25%. This is a substantial research-style and critical thinking paper that will combine psychological and literary readings as well as criticism. You will be asked to read a book, story, play, or movie and apply your psychological readings to analyze the character?s experiences and choices. The length will be 5-7 pages. Group project: 20%. This project will be an original research proposal to be developed by the group. This will involve a discussion of the existing literature, explanation of group hypotheses; development and justification of an appropriate research method. To be held in lieu of the final exam. This also will involve a brief written discussion of the project. Participation: 15%. Grade Scale 90 -100: A, 87-89: B+, 80-86: B, 77-79: C+, 70-76: C, 67-69: D+, 65-66: D Plagiarism (for which I am indebted to other faculty members): Plagiarism is defined as taking credit for ideas and writing that are not your own. Forms of plagiarism include: buying a paper and submitting it as your own; having someone write a paper for you; using ideas, arguments or full passages from another source (including the internet) without citing it. Discovered plagiarism will result in automatic failure of the assignment and possibly failure of the course and disciplinary action by the university. If you have any doubts about what constitutes plagiarism or how to cite sources please see us or consult a handbook. Disability Statement If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a documented disability or if you have emergency information to share, please contact the Office of Disability Services at 191 Hoskins Library or 974-6087. This will ensure that you are properly registered for services. COURSE SCHEDULE Jan. 8: Overview of Course Psychological Reactions to Betrayal Jan 13: Fitness, J. (2001). Betrayal, Rejection, Revenge, and Forgiveness: An interpersonal script approach. In M. R. Leary (Ed.), Interpersonal Rejection (pp. 73-103). Oxford, England: Oxford Press. Jan 15: Leary, M.R., Koch, E. J., & Hechenbleikner, N. R. (2001). Emotional responses to interpersonal rejection. In M. R. Leary (Ed.), Interpersonal Rejection (pp. 145-166). Oxford, England: Oxford Press. Writing assignment 1 due Jan 20: Barber, L., Maltby, J., & Macaskill, A. (2005). Angry memories and thoughts of revenge: The relationship between forgiveness and anger rumination, Personality and Individual Differences, 39, 252-262. Jan 22: Blum, H.P. (1994). Paranoid betrayal and jealousy: The loss and restitution of object constancy. In J. M. Oldham & S. Bone (Eds), Paranoia: New psychoanalytic perspectives(pp. 97-114). Madison, CT, US: International Universities Press, Inc. Writing assignment 2 due Applications of Constructs in Literature I: Shakespeare and Betrayal Jan 27 & 29 Selections from Hamlet, TBA Writing assignment 3 due Models of Forgiveness Feb. 3: Rowe, J. O., Halling, S., Davies, E., Leifer, M., Powers, D., & van Bronkhorst, J. (1989). The psychology of forgiving another: A dialogal research approach. In R. S. Valle & S. Halling (Eds.), Existential-phenomenological perspectives in psychology: Exploring the breadth of human experience, (pp.233-244). New York, NY: Plenum Press. Hargrave, T. D. (1994). Families and forgiveness: A theoretical and a therapeutic framework. The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families, 2, 339-348. Feb 5: Enright, R.D., and the Human Development Study Group. (1991). The moral development of forgiveness. In W. Kurtines & J. Gewirtz (Eds.), Handbook of moral behavior and development, 1, 123 - 152. Hillsdale NJ: Erlbaum. Writing assignment 4 due Feb 10: Gordon, K. C., & Baucom, D. H. (1998). Understanding betrayals in marriage: A synthesized model of forgiveness. Family Process, 37, pp. 425-450. Feb. 12: Diblasio, 1998). The use of decision-based forgiveness intervention within intergenerational family therapy. Journal of Family Therapy, 20, 77-94. Writing assignment 5 due Paper Preparation Feb 17: Application Paper workshops Paper due Thurs, March 12 Research vs. Reality: What is true forgivenesss? Feb 19: Kearns, J. N., & Fincham, F. D. (2004). A prototype analysis of forgiveness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 838-855. Feb 24 : Zechmeister, J. S., & Romero, C. (2002). Victim and offender accounts of interpersonal conflict: Autobiographical narratives of forgiveness and unforgiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 675-686. Writing assignment 6 due Application of Constructs in Literature II: The Laramie Project Feb 26 & Mar 3 Wangh,S., (2005). Revenge and Forgiveness in Laramie, Wyoming. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 15, 1-16. Writing assignment 7 due Potential Positive Effects of Forgiveness March 5: Tsang, J., McCullough, M.E., & Fincham, F. D. (2006). The longitudinal association between forgiveness and relationship closeness and commitment, Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 25, 448-472. Writing assignment 8 due Potential Drawbacks to Forgiveness? March 10: Murphy, J. G. (2005). Forgiveness, self-respect, and the value of resentment. In E. L. Worthington, (Ed.), Handbook of Forgiveness, (pp. 33-40). New York, NY: Routledge. March 12: Gordon, K.C., Burton, S., & Porter, L. (2004). The role of forgiveness: Predicting women in domestic violence shelters intentions to return to their partners. Journal of Family Psychology, 18, 331-338. Writing assignment 9 due Self-Forgiveness Mar. 24: Tangney, J.P., Boone, A. L., & Dearing, R. (2005). Forgiving the self: Conceptual issues and empirical findings. In E. L. Worthington, (Ed.), Handbook of Forgiveness, (pp. 143-158). New York, NY: Routledge. Group Project Planning Mar 26 & April 3: In class group project planning workshops Multi-cultural Perspectives on Forgiveness April 7: Sandage, S. J., & Williamson, I. (2005). Forgiveness in cultural context. In E. L. Worthington, (Ed.), Handbook of Forgiveness, (pp. 41-56). New York, NY: Routledge. April 9: Class Cancelled April 14: Cairns, E., Tam, T., Hewstone, M., & Niens, U. (2005). Intergroup forgiveness and intergroup conflict: Northern Ireland, a case-study. In E. L. Worthington, (Ed.), Handbook of Forgiveness, (pp. 461-476). New York, NY: Routledge. Writing assignment 10 due April 16 & 21: In My Country in class Writing assignment 11 due Final Thoughts April 23: Summary, wrap up and future directions & Final Group meeting - Worthington, E.L. (2005). More questions about forgiveness: Research agenda 2005-2015. In E. L. Worthington, (Ed.), Handbook of Forgiveness, (pp. 557-574). New York, NY: Routledge. Final Exam, Tues. May 8, 10:15-12;15