Robert Allyn Goldman has practiced periodontics and taught Oral Pathology, Oral Medicine, and Periodontics at Boston University and Tufts University. In the first half, he shared his insights and suggestions for reform after working as a dentist in a prison that housed the "worst of the worst" criminals. Prisons are awash in both sociopaths and psychopaths, he noted. Traits of psychopathy can include a grandiose sense of self-worth, pathological lying, lack of empathy, and conning or manipulation. Sociopaths, who are more commonplace, demonstrate anti-social actions, deceitful behavior for personal gain, and disregard for safety. "Sociopaths can be treated psychiatrically...and it does not have to be in the prison system-- to me that's just a waste of money," he commented, whereas if you're dealing with extremely violent individuals-- "those people are incurable...and have to remain in prison."
The majority of prisoners are non-violent, Goldman said, and "we've got to get those people into productive lives" and reduce incarceration. The answer to selective "de-carceration" is education, giving at-risk teens training and counseling before they enter gangs or lives of crime, he recommended. In 38 states, we still have the archaic 'three strikes' law "for the most insultingly minor crimes that you can imagine," he added. There are approximately 2.3 million people housed in US prisons. He insisted that we are over-prosecuting and over-sentencing non-violent prisoners, and they should have a future outside of prison.
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For 30 years, author Susan Smith Jones has taught students, staff, and faculty at UCLA how to be healthy and fit. In the latter half, she discussed her latest work on the power of the law of attraction and how to use ageless wisdom to improve life and realize our potential. What we attract back to ourselves is a reflection of what we believe, do, and say, she pointed out. In other words, your outer world tends to mirror your inner world, so we should be mindful of fostering negative thoughts, she advised. Negative beliefs, she continued, can program our subconscious reality, and one way to counter this is by saying positive affirmations to yourself, which helps change the way you think.
"When you create an affirmation, it needs to be in the present tense," she specified, as though whatever trait or outcome you want is already part of your current reality. For instance, someone seeking weight loss might use this affirmation: "I weigh [insert goal weight] easily and effortlessly, and I enjoy choosing healthy foods." For relaxation and better sleep, she suggested uplifting "I am" affirmations like 'I am healed,' 'I am victorious,' or 'I am grateful,' as well as breathing through the left nostril for 3-5 minutes, which moves brain wave activity into the relaxing alpha state. Practicing gratitude, she added, is a stress buster that also has healing properties.
News segment guests: Christian Wilde, Kevin Randle