Nicole Forsyth - Why Empathy is the Key to a Kinder Society

I found this post at One Green Planet: Online Destination for the Ecologically Ethical Generation.

Nicole Forsyth is president and CEO for RedRover (formerly United Animal Nations), a nonprofit organization that strengthens the bond between people and animals with a commitment to help, shelter and connect suffering animals with people who care. In 2007, Nicole introduced a program that fosters empathy in children, the RedRover Readers, and co-teaches the RedRover Readers training workshops. She graduated from the University of California, Davis with a master’s degree in animal biology in 2006, and holds a master’s degree in communication from the University of Maine and a bachelor’s degree in English and education from the University of Colorado.

I am a huge supporter of any efforts to teach empathy to children - although me sense is that they are pre-wired for empathy so that all we need to do is support its use (and teach parents how to support its use and expression).

Why Empathy is the Key to a Kinder Society

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Nicole Forsyth: President and CEO for RedRover

Ever felt dismay and a sense of hopelessness when you hear yet another story of animal abuse, domestic violence or teenage bullying? Why are people so cruel?

Many researchers studying aggression and violence find the answers to their questions consistently fall back to a failure of empathy.

What is empathy, how do we get it and why do we need it?

In order to feel empathy, a person must understand another’s behavior, be able to take the perspective of another and share another’s emotional state. The ability to feel empathy appears to vary from individual to individual, and children learn to regulate this emotion based on a variety of social and cultural factors.

Aggression and violence relate inversely to empathy. Those who abuse their children, for example, score low on measures of empathy. Many researchers believe violent individuals have empathy or perspective-taking deficits and that empathy training is a critical component of treatment programs, the idea being if perpetrators can stop long enough to imagine themselves in the shoes of the victims, the violence can be prevented.¹Empathy also relates to the degree of attachment people experience with their pets. Those who report strong bonds with their companion animals rate high on empathy scales². Empathy is linked to a variety of pro-social behaviors (like being caring and helpful towards others) and even success in school and the workplace³.

So if empathy is the key, how do we teach empathy?

Read the whole post.