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Students to learn 'tough job' compassion
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May 15, 2002
Those who work in hard-nosed fields such as law enforcement, corrections, police or social work have to be tough. But for SFU students preparing for such careers, criminology lecturer Neil Madu is encouraging the flip side. He's teaching them how to bring compassion to the job. His method doesn't exactly go by the book. "Don’t just follow a rule," he advises students in his new course on criminology and ethics. "Look behind it."
Madu was hired last fall as the school of criminology’s field practice coordinator. The job involves placing and tracking students as they undertake work practicuums. A former educational advisor, holistic health practitioner and college human services worker, he also teaches two ethics courses at SFU.
The first is a practical look at the social work code of ethics. The second is a little less cut and dried. It’s called Professional Ethics and Interpersonal Skills in Criminal Justice. But it could more simply be dubbed Compassion 101.
"My job is to help students become more compassionate, effective workers in the fields they are about to enter," says Madu, who also teaches at Vancouver’s school of healing science. "Responding to ethical dilemmas will be the most challenging part of the day to day job. These students need to consider how to approach them, and what impact their actions will have."
But how do those preparing to combat what they view as the rough and tumble world of crime and social ill react to Madu’s call to "get in touch with their humanness?" About a third of his students begin class with obvious skepticism.
"I’ve seen the tough, know-it-all types make a 180 degree turnaround in class," says Madu. "At some point it kicks in. Usually, it starts when they understand how to befriend themselves and love who they are. Then, there is a realization that we are all the same. Soon, they begin to see that they can respond to situations with more mindfulness, more heart.
"At the end of the course, they all agreed that they never expected this kind of involvement when they began it," he adds.
Sometimes the inner reflection does more. In one case, Madu watched a "tough guy" student heading for police work decline his practicuum and shift towards a career in probation. "He realized his desire was to work on a different front line. The process touched something."
Madu says workers in such fields are usually encouraged not to get mentally involved. "I teach them to get involved, but with integrity," he says. "We want to produce the most integral, exemplary and authentic individuals. This will only translate into better results in whatever area they choose to work."
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CONTACT
Neil Madu, 604.291.4035, neil_madu@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl/Julie Ovenell-Carter, Media & PR,604.291.4323
Madu was hired last fall as the school of criminology’s field practice coordinator. The job involves placing and tracking students as they undertake work practicuums. A former educational advisor, holistic health practitioner and college human services worker, he also teaches two ethics courses at SFU.
The first is a practical look at the social work code of ethics. The second is a little less cut and dried. It’s called Professional Ethics and Interpersonal Skills in Criminal Justice. But it could more simply be dubbed Compassion 101.
"My job is to help students become more compassionate, effective workers in the fields they are about to enter," says Madu, who also teaches at Vancouver’s school of healing science. "Responding to ethical dilemmas will be the most challenging part of the day to day job. These students need to consider how to approach them, and what impact their actions will have."
But how do those preparing to combat what they view as the rough and tumble world of crime and social ill react to Madu’s call to "get in touch with their humanness?" About a third of his students begin class with obvious skepticism.
"I’ve seen the tough, know-it-all types make a 180 degree turnaround in class," says Madu. "At some point it kicks in. Usually, it starts when they understand how to befriend themselves and love who they are. Then, there is a realization that we are all the same. Soon, they begin to see that they can respond to situations with more mindfulness, more heart.
"At the end of the course, they all agreed that they never expected this kind of involvement when they began it," he adds.
Sometimes the inner reflection does more. In one case, Madu watched a "tough guy" student heading for police work decline his practicuum and shift towards a career in probation. "He realized his desire was to work on a different front line. The process touched something."
Madu says workers in such fields are usually encouraged not to get mentally involved. "I teach them to get involved, but with integrity," he says. "We want to produce the most integral, exemplary and authentic individuals. This will only translate into better results in whatever area they choose to work."
—30—
CONTACT
Neil Madu, 604.291.4035, neil_madu@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl/Julie Ovenell-Carter, Media & PR,604.291.4323