posted
When human beings are faced with unusual circumstances for a long time, it seems to be possible that the victim is going to expierence this situation as normal. The abnormal becomes normal to them; and they are going to defend the one who caused it. An example is the victim of domestic violence by a husband, when the women is going to blame herself when her husbands beats her. It's not only with violence, there are dozens of situations when people take the blame for something what somebody else has caused, only because they lived in unusual circumstances for a long time, and are kind of indoctrinated or brainwashed by what has been told to them repeatedly. My question is the following: Is it possible to get this people into a more realistic mood, so that they see what really happening, that they become aware of whats happening?
Posts: 7202 | From: EU | Registered: Nov 2006
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posted
We see a lot of this in recent years. we live in a truly weird era. We have lived in 'unusual circumstances' for quite a few years now. There is a lot of [maybe unintentional] indoctrination going on.
Health issues for instance. When I was younger, if a person got sick, he/she was given treatment, sympathy, whatever... Now, if you complain of just about any ailment, somehow it becomes your own fault. Believe me, I have been a health worker. People feel genuinely to blame if they get ill. Maybe they drank at parties occasionally, [uhoh heart disease, stroke!! Bad lifestyle habits.]
In history, the shocking evidence from the Nuremburg trials stunned the world for decades. Now, we rationalise atrocities and state abuse. 'These folks are 'Bad People''. Ever hear anyone tell you that the Jews/Communists/Gypsies deserved their fate? Did even one of the defendants at Nuremburg even try to use that as an excuse?
Israel/Palestine is pretty normal these days. The Gaza massacre, we all know, came about as a result of Palestinian aggression. Didn't it? Didn't it? Would that be the case if it was Austria/Switzerland? Could Britain have bombed and decimated Dublin in response to IRA aggression? We are programmed to automatically look for ways to blame the victims, because in the worldwide political climate the vast majority of victims are 'the other' [not we 'Good Folks'].
We are losing our 'humanity'. And now it's "normal". It's normal to torture. It's normal to use Tasers on traffic violators. It's normal for people expressing their dissatisfaction in organised demonstrations to be beaten [..to death sometimes] and terrorised. And it is normal to give up the rights and freedoms that were struggled for for centuries. It's normal to wonder if your phone is tapped, or your boss has a webcam in the washroom.
Remember the phrase 'I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend with my life your right to say it' Funny eh?
And we are suffering from 'learned helplessness' we know we can't change anything for the better; so we accomodate ourselves to the situation, nothing really shocks us any more does it?
Posts: 1399 | From: alexandria | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
Well,MNME, you're placing my subject in another kind of spotlight. I didn't mean the situation in the world of today-however also there enough is happening that's weird enough to wonder- but I meant a more personal situation:
Suppose you know somebody who is living in such an unusual situation, which everyone would considered it as abnormal, while they consider it as normal. Not nice, because it is really unpleasant, but they are taking the blame, while somebody else is causing their misery. It seems to be a normal human reaction that people at a certain moment are going to accept their situation as something normal, even in really bad circumstances. An example is like that man who locked his daughter in a cellar using and abusing her for years and years.They accept and don't try to escape, even if they are able to escape. There are many cases like this. I should like to know HOW professionals are handling this, HOW do they make that mind turn into normal again.
-------------------- “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there.” Posts: 7202 | From: EU | Registered: Nov 2006
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posted
Cognitive behavioural therapy. Challenging personal constructs. People inevitably subconsciously try to rationalise awful circumstances. They would go crazy otherwise. It's a safety valve i guess. Hostages, held for years learn to get along this way.Incest victims etc. I've encountered many people with a history of being victims, mainly in a domestic setting. It's hard to fix. Learned helplessness. And by the time they are 'in the system' it's usually because of some acute problem, [self harm, crime, child abuse etc] Rarely will domestic violence victims seek therapy; as you say, they don't feel they deserve a better life. I always think transactional analysis is a good bet. Even friends can help with this. Ask the person, 'If your best friend, sister, daughter came to you for help with this situation, what course of action would you suggest?' this can, and has been proved to, be a serious wake up call.
Posts: 1399 | From: alexandria | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
They need an eye-opener, indeed... In fact your suggestion is like placing a mirror in front of them. Thanx!
-------------------- “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there.” Posts: 7202 | From: EU | Registered: Nov 2006
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I didn't mean the situation in the world of today-however also there enough is happening that's weird enough to wonder- but I meant a more personal situation:
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