Volume II, Issue 2: Fall / Winter 2005

Can we really feel someone else's pain? Research and stories featured in this issue of Greater Good shed light on our deeply rooted ability to empathize with other people, enabling us to feel their emotions as our own. Authors explore the biological roots of empathy, explain ways to cultivate it, and consider how current social conditions inhibit the expression of empathy in the United States. The issue also features an interview with Robert Putnam, author of the book Bowling Alone, about what Hurricane Katrina revealed about Americans' sense of community.

Table of Contents

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From the Editors (PDF)

In Brief (PDF)

Q&A: Rebuilding Community after Katrina (PDF)
An interview with Bowling Alone author Robert Putnam.

Symposium on Empathy

Features

The Bully Problem (PDF)
by Amy Wilson
New research shows that kids suffer severely from the violence and insults doled out by their peers. But what can schools do about it?

Mother Nurture (PDF)
by Lyssa Mudd
Darlene Francis's research challenges assumptions about how our genes and our environment interact. Her findings offer some surprises--and some hope.

In Print (PDF)

An Idea for the Greater Good (PDF)
Jonathan Kozol explain how decrepit schools raise the "misery index" for inner-city children.

Resources for Greater Good (PDF)

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