Interdisciplinary Book and Film Reviews

  Line of Duty, a police drama, is one of the most popular BBC TV series of all time. BBC BBC Created by   Ted Mercurio Reviewed by   Geoffrey W. Sutton Line of Duty engages viewers at different levels. The show is an action-adventure police mystery drama that keeps viewers wondering what will happen in the next episode. It's also an insightful look into human nature and the relationships that shape behavior. The series features two officers who work as partners in an anti-corruption unit known as AC-12. DS Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) is an AFO (Authorised Firearms Officer). He joins the anti-corruption  unit after refusing to join his team in covering up the fatal shooting of an innocent man. His partner is DC Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure) who is also an AFO. The other main character is AC-12 Superintendent Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar) who doggedly pursues bent coppers. His Catholic-Irish roots are revealed in sayings, accent, and his history of policing during the troubles. In

  CREATING SURVEYS   Second Edition How to Create & Administer Surveys, Evaluate Workshops & Seminars, Interpret & Present Results Click to Download Free Sample Available on AMAZON GOOGLE e-Books Reviews “This resource provides practitioners and students a systematic, easy-to-read overview of what surveys are and how to use them. Even seasoned researchers could benefit from reviewing this book and keeping it handy for reference, but undergraduate and master’s students should find it particularly useful for grasping basic research constructs and designing simple survey projects. Not only does the book explain important principles, but it also provides many clear, concrete examples and links to additional resources that the reader will find helpful.” —Joe D. Wilmoth, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Human Development and Family Science, Mississippi State University   “Many researchers find themselves in contexts where they have access to groups of people whose values, opin

The Last Week    A Day-by-Day Account of Jesus’s Final Week in Jerusalem   By    Marcus Borg &    John Dominic Crossan Reviewed by    Geoffrey W. Sutton The Last Week     is, as the subtitle says, is a daily study of the events taking place during Jesus’ last week on earth. The authors structure their work by focusing on Mark’s gospel written about four decades after Jesus’ crucifixion. In the preface we learn the value of the week’s sequence spelled out by Mark, which allows the authors to trace the events leading up to the cross and the Easter celebration. Not surprisingly then, readers find eight chapters taking us from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday.  The clarity of writing and scholarly presentation of information missing from so many sermons make this an ideal read for Lent so I highly recommend it for Christians who are unclear on the significance of the week in the first century context of the Roman Empire as well as for a meaningful message that conveys the pas

   Pray Away By   Kristine Stolakis   Jessica Devaney     Anya Rous   Carla Gutierrez Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton Pray Away is a documentary film about the experience of American Evangelicals who identify as LGBTQ and conversion therapy. I watched the show last week on Netflix and I recommend the film to those interested in the topic. One of the leads is a man named Jeffrey who identifies as ex-trans. He no longer identifies as trans as he says, “I lived transgender but I left it all to follow Jesus.” The film tells part of the Exodus story. Exodus was a large Christian organization based in Orlando Florida. It began in 1976 and quickly expanded to help people who identified as gay or lesbian change their same-sex attraction. The process was called conversion therapy or reparative therapy. Exodus closed in 2013. The film, Pray Away , tells the story of people who continued to struggle with same-sex attraction, which never went away. Despite the closing of Exodus, C

The Myth of Repressed Memory    False memories and Allegations of Sexual Abuse By   Elizabeth Loftus &   Katherine Ketcham Reviewed by   Geoffrey W. Sutton The Myth of Repressed Memory is a classic worth reading. Those of us who are psychotherapists along with colleagues in healthcare, spiritual care, and the justice system are well aware that so many people have been abused sexually and otherwise as children and adults. We hear their stories and sense their anguish. Those of us who have studied memory, cognition, and neuropsychology as a part of our preparation for clinical work also know about the fallibility of memory and the work of Elizabeth Loftus. Those of us who were working when Loftus’ memory research trickled across America became acutely aware of the impact of her studies on prosecuting attorneys and their referrals for assessment. Although the book is old in the sense that many are well aware of the malleability of human memory and the problems w