Learning Challenges: Watch for Empathy

I try to do this as often as possible, so it was nice to see it pop up as a challenge! I try my best to watch for empathy in my field of study. As someone in criminology, I try to see it in my professors. I find that many of them have hearts for other people. It's a study that you can very easily go into and come out of it thinking that everyone is a bad person and that all people are criminals, but as criminologists, its our job to understand the behavior. I'm not saying that criminal behavior should be justified, but that once you learn about all the struggles life has to offer, you find it very easy to empathize with people and how they got to a certain point in their life. My professors have done a great job modeling this behavior and I've found it to be very humanizing.

The field of criminal justice, to contrast, tends to be less forgiving. Its less about understanding the behavior, though I guess that's just apart of the job. I've taken courses in criminal investigation and found them to be completely... draining. I found that people were treated more like statistics rather than as people. I hated it. I don't blame them, obviously, though I just don't think I could do that.

I try to practice empathy as I see my professors do. Approaching any human behavior with an open mind is important. I want to end as much human suffering as possible, so I try to both watch for and practice empathy as much as I can. I'm just an undergrad and don't work with anyone in my field yet, but It's little things that make the world a little bit nicer. It's nice to be nice! :)

Empathy (Pixabay)