Adam Levin - The Instructions

To put it inversely: these behaviors are only dysfunctional insomuch as they are causes for disciplinary action inside the Cage, where the authority — subject dynamic is far different than that of a regular classroom, let alone a “real world” situation. Gurion’s high level of motor activity, for example, does not disturb or distract me in session, nor does it seem to disturb or distract the group in Group session. When I interviewed Gurion’s former Jewish-American School teachers (before enrolling at MLKJH, Gurion had never been in a Cage program), not one of them even mentioned his high level of motor activity, much less complained about its effect on their students. When I probed further, drawing examples (such as those mentioned above, parenthetically), one of the teachers commented, “He did bring a lot of passion to the bimah,” and another stated, “His excitement about his studies was surely palpable: his contributions to classroom discussion were unmatched and very inspiring to the other children.”

Because of the nature of the situations in which the aforementioned behaviors cause him trouble (again: situations in the Cage, where an atypically high level of authority is ever-present and exercised regularly [and, I sometimes think, excessively ]), I believe that the symptoms of ADHD that the client manifests can be accounted for by his Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Finally, as demonstrated by his uses and misuses of clinical terminology (as shown under the present sub-rubric, as well as under the sub-rubric Intermittent Explosive Disorder), Gurion takes his diagnoses to heart, and, I believe, he does so to his detriment — affectionately embracing one’s symptoms is unlikely to aid in the cause of overcoming one’s disorder(s) — such that, although diagnosing him with ADHD would be “safe” from the C.Y.A. P.O.V., it would not be all too therapeutic.

Codeswitching

The “voice” in which this paper is written is not the voice I would use at dinner at my ma’s in Bridgeport. Nor is the “voice” you use when lecturing the class the same as the one you use in individual conferences. If you and I were to “get together over a beverage” some time, Professor Lakey, we would be unlikely to use any of the aforementioned “voices” while doing so. And if the beverage we decided to “get together over” were coffee, the “voices” we’d use would be different from those that we’d use were we to decide instead on beer. And if, while “having coffee,” we decided to “make it a girls’ night out” and “get beers,” the decision would likely have to do with the kinds of “voices” we found ourselves using while “having coffee.” These are all examples of codeswitching, and anyone can understand what I’m getting at when I use these examples, even if they’re unfamiliar with the term “codeswitching.” The reason anyone can understand codeswitching (which, btw, is usually explained by linguists as an outcome of assimilation, and by evolutionary psychologists as a sort of speakerly camouflage) is that everyone engages in codeswitching. ********It is normally a very powerful way to signify a group affiliation.

When Gurion codeswitches, however, it is harder, and maybe impossible, to understand because a) he switches codes at unlikely and unpredictable times (e.g., in the middle of a diadic conversation without tertiary witnesses), and b) the codes he engages are his own, i.e., though each code contains recognizable influences, not one of them, on the whole, signifies any single group affiliation, much less any affiliation with a group whose members are present at the time of the code’s engagement.

I have noted three distinct codes between which Gurion alternates when speaking and writing (for written examples, see attached “Detention Assignments”), each of which is exemplified by the quotations that appear earlier in this essay (under the rubrics Precursors and Warning Signals and Racio-Ethnic Background):

A highly refined, organized, and even scholarly English rife with dialectic that is vocalized at breakneck pace, as if Gurion is highly irritated.

A syntactically complicated, analytical style that makes use of both clinical and idiolectic vocabulary, is often peppered with biblical references, and is vocalized either a) slowly, explanatorily/revelatorily, as if Gurion were soliloquizing by the footlights; or b) at the aforementioned breakneck pace.

A clipped manner of speaking that mixes the dialectical speech and vocabulary of #1 with the vocabulary of #2, while also incorporating the slang and imperative tonality of a street-thug. This code is vocalized in any number of ways, often in as many as three or four within the span of a single utterance.

The peculiarity of the above-described styles and the times when Gurion chooses to engage them allow us three possible explanations for Gurion’s codeswitching: 1) Gurion is completely unaware that he codeswitches, which would indicate that his codeswitching is symptomatic of an undiagnosed cognitive disorder; 2) his codeswitching is highly purposeful and totally conscious, indicating that Gurion either a) knows the reasons for his codeswitching are inscrutable to listeners, which, if this is the case, would indicate that Gurion aspires to inscrutability; or b) is attempting to appear unaware (as in 1)) of what he’s doing (codeswitching); or 3) is experimenting with a variety of codes in order to inspire in his audience the alternating impressions of both 2a and 2b so that he may, while indicating, via his verbal behavior, a capacity to understand wildly complicated ideas, simultaneously maintain enough of a childlike persona to “charm” his audience so that he might more easily “get away with” a larger portion of his more “childlike” or “mischievous” (read: antisocial) behavior (verbal and non-).

Regardless of what Gurion’s codeswitching might indicate at any given moment, what’s most notable is that whichever code he happens to be using is nearly as infectious/contagious as his emotional state. I.e., when Gurion codeswitches, those members of Group who belong to the Maccabeean Collective do so with him (and so, I find, do I). In light of his dominant personality (alternately: his charisma ), it is not surprising to discover that changes in his behavior (verbal or otherwise) would elicit (at least to some degree) similar changes in the behavior of those around him, nor is it surprising that when Gurion speaks thuggishly, those around him speak thuggishly (cursing often begats cursing), but what is surprising, is that members of the Maccabbean Collective not only engage a more scholarly code when Gurion does, but they engage it convincingly , i.e. they don’t just adopt Gurion’s lexicon (which adoption could certainly be “faked,” i.e., just because someone pronounces a word doesn’t mean they understand what it signifies), but his syntax (unfakably analytic).

In sum, Gurion’s codeswitching behavior merits further, closer attention, and I hope that you, Professor Lakey, given your expertise in linguistics, will help guide me more closely through the process of further attending it.

Recommendations

Gurion should remain in the Cage program indefinitely, and be permitted leave of the Cage only when attending state-mandated Physical Education, Lunch/Recess (at the discretion of Monitor Botha), weekly group therapy, and Assembly (again, at the discretion of Monitor Botha). Although it seems, as I’ve noted throughout this paper, that many, if not most, of Gurion’s disruptive behaviors are exacerbated by the Cage program dynamic, his violent behaviors (e.g., the hallway incident with K.M.) may or may not be. That is to say that there is no telling whether or not Gurion would cease assaulting other students if he were a member of the regular student body. It may be the case, as many of his former teachers claim, that Gurion is by nature an ideal student who, at one time, rarely, if ever, acted out; and it may be the case that his troubling record, which appears to describe a dangerous and even doomed young boy, only reflects a combination of a) unlikely circumstances of which Gurion has been a victim and b) mistakes made by administrators in response to these unlikely circumstances. On the other hand, it may be that Gurion, once an ideal student, has become— via the aforementioned combination of unlikely circumstances and mistakes made in response — the dangerous and even doomed boy indicated by his record. It may be that, were he admitted into regular classrooms, he would exert bodily harm on other children at a similar, if not — Cage restraints lifted — higher, rate. CYA POV aside, that is not a risk which a conscientious social worker can take.