{"id":79,"date":"2017-04-19T18:48:10","date_gmt":"2017-04-19T22:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/?p=79"},"modified":"2017-04-24T16:44:59","modified_gmt":"2017-04-24T20:44:59","slug":"half-the-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/2017\/04\/19\/half-the-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Half the House"},"content":{"rendered":"

In one of my previous discussion posts, I briefly mentioned Richard Hoffman’s memoir, Half the House<\/em>. \u00a0The book’s intention was not to discuss the trauma Hoffman suffered from in his early life, but rather to tell a story about a family. \u00a0Throughout his memoir, you pick up on multiple traumas he suffered in his childhood which would later cause him to suffer from depression, anxiety and substance abuse issues. \u00a0I believe that each of the traumas Hoffman suffered from allowed for more trauma to occur. \u00a0For example, his father was abusive to him and his brothers – often coming home angered and intoxicated and beating the boys for things they could not control. \u00a0Additionally, a few years later, two of his younger brothers (one who was his best friend) were diagnosed with and dying from muscular dystrophy. \u00a0His mother devoted the remainder of her life two his dying brothers and Richard was essentially left to fend for himself. \u00a0He shortly found himself in the hands of his football coach, who continuously manipulated, raped and abused Hoffman at the young age of ten. \u00a0It is known that child molesters tend to target children who do not have a stable life at home and who are likely in need of attention. \u00a0These children will not want to tell their family of the abuse that has occurred as they have enough to worry about in the first place. \u00a0Though unintentional, Hoffman’s life story is an excellent example of how children fall subject to these kinds of abuses and traumas. \u00a0In his collegiate years, Richard Hoffman began abusing alcohol; however, not the same alcohol abuse expected of most college kids. \u00a0Hoffman wasn’t binge drinking at parties to hang out and socialize with friends. \u00a0Instead he was binge drinking and doing drugs to block out his early life experiences. \u00a0He soon became an alcoholic and experiences episodes of suicidal thoughts and attempts.<\/p>\n

Hoffman’s memoir and life story is an important reminder of why we need to be careful and cautious when dealing with the lives of children. \u00a0Young individuals who face difficulties like substance abuse and physical abuse may be more at risk to later suffering from other traumatic experiences. \u00a0They become more susceptible to others kinds of abuse and often slip through the cracks. \u00a0It is important for school teachers and professionals to keep up to date with young students and assure that they are doing okay both at school and at home. \u00a0Additionally, it is essential that children have someone they are comfortable with to disclose certain information to so that they don’t bottle up their emotions and cause additional damages to their psyche. \u00a0Young children are in their prime developmental stages when such abuses take place, and if there is not an outlet for them to release the occurred\u00a0trauma, they will only suffer even more down the line.<\/p>\n

I highly suggest everyone read Richard Hoffman’s memoir if you have an opportunity to. \u00a0It is a short and easy yet excellent read. \u00a0I was fortunate enough to have Richard Hoffman as a guest speaker in one of my classes and he is an even more incredible man in person. \u00a0He is also a wonderful example, today, of how survivors of trauma can overcome their experiences and create a life worth living. \u00a0Today he is sober, has a wife and two children, and is an amazing author and poet. \u00a0Trauma will only kill a person if they allow\u00a0it to, and Hoffman is proof that it does not need to and people can eventually move past their experiences.<\/p>\n

Hoffman, R. (2015). Half the house: 2015 anniversary edition.<\/em> Moorhead, MN: New Rivers Press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In one of my previous discussion posts, I briefly mentioned Richard Hoffman’s memoir, Half the House. \u00a0The book’s intention was not to discuss the trauma Hoffman suffered from in his early life, but rather to tell a story about a family. \u00a0Throughout his memoir, you pick up on multiple traumas he suffered in his childhood […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13362,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions\/81"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}