first of all i believe that 'human behavior' is intrinsic to both sociology and psychology as social sciences. and yes, i believe psychology is, contrary to what many people think, a science. but that's for another time! for me, studying these two fields as a whole is extremely helpful when it comes to gaining insight into the communication and interaction with people. the more i know about how and why the mind works (psychology) and it's insinuation in and influence on society (sociology), the more confident i feel when oppotunities arrise where i can help someone. my passion in life is simply to help people who suffer emotionally. i am grateful for the knowledge i have acquired over the years through study and research. i am grateful for all my own experience, good and bad. with all that together, i am able to be perceptive and objective enough to help others, and subsequently help myself. you toss empathy and altruism into the factor and the rewards are absolutely incredible.

I started to do it for many reasons. Primarily, in the beginning, it was because I am what I describe as "the consummate observer." I have always felt like the guy watching from the outside. Also I was taught from my earliest years by an intelligent father that the way to conquer the fear of the unknown is to learn about whatever it is. I realized soon that the best way to understand myself was to study others. Also, to study sociology would give me an understanding of the human condition, how society ticks, and all of the other nuts and bolts of human life. I also had to understand why I am the target of racism. I believe that in order to process something I have to understand everything about it... I have to learn it down to its last crumb. Racism hurt and was illogical. To understand racism and its underlying causes required a basic understanding of psychology, sociology, and human behaviour. It is still illogical but I have, I have been told, a pretty solid grasp of issues dealing with bigotry (racism is a type of bigotry), including the mentality of bigots. On the flip side of racism is that I have been taught that racism is a disease and to never fall to it no matter what, no matter what is done to me by others and no matter what I fear IN others. So, I learn about cultures and people. I believe that education is the best way to dispel misinformation and promote understanding. Educating oneself about something is to remove the fear of the unknown. If I do not understand something, if I fear something, I am going to dig until I DO understand it. I need to understand why what is being done to my people in Europe is being done. I need to understand what is going on over there. I need to understand why we, ourselves, are in that condition and why it is so hard to get out despite our fight to do so. That needed, and still needs, study. I have to understand both our side and the Gadje side (Gadje = "not Gypsy") to fully understand this. This brought me into study of socio-economics intensely. Also it brought me into studying sections of European history. Another huge thing fueled my need to know: 80% of my people and some of my direct family was killed in the Holocaust (no I am not a Jew). In order to process this I had to start my study of the Holocaust. That started in my teens (I am 46). I have crawled into the heads of the amongst the vilest creatures that ever walked the earth, watched the old propaganda films, studied, read, watched archival Holocaust films from the ones of the deaths (including the medical experiments) to guards having fun and mugging it up like it is a normal day at work (that is REALLY creepy). I do this knowing that I might be looking at my own family being tortured or in the masses of dead bodies. To fully understand the Holocaust I had to learn both sides. In order to understand the Holocaust I had to delve even deeper into the human psyche. I also smelled my first historical rat when I was in 7th grade. I was fed the garbage "noble savage" and "benevolent explorer" stuff about Native Americans. I went home, asked my father, he told me what he knew, then took me to the library to REALLY start learning. This fueled a lifelong need to uncover history hidden or minimized. Of course, to do this required study and what I found in my study of history's bad side gave me more insight into the human condition. Also I had to understand why people need to sanitize history.. I also had to understand why people shuttle off any negative past, such as victims of abuse denying, excusing, or forgetting the abuse (more study into psychology needed for this). This took me into studying things like PTSD and some abnormal psych. I have taken a few college courses to aid my study but most of it is amateur such as reading, observing, analyzing, and using the two brain cells I have upstairs.

oops!