I think it's not "just a fact" and it's not OK to give people a pass for behaviour that they can either control or are otherwise responsible for. That is the social contract - there is a reasonability standard for our behaviours and not for our thoughts. If someone steps outside of that for any reason then they are accountable. The rules…
I think it's not "just a fact" and it's not OK to give people a pass for behaviour that they can either control or are otherwise responsible for. That is the social contract - there is a reasonability standard for our behaviours and not for our thoughts. If someone steps outside of that for any reason then they are accountable. The rules are clear and they apply to everyone equally, broken and traumatized and everyone else. Hurt people who hurt people are accountable for their actions and if they know that and most of them do, then they will hurt people less. It cannot be otherwise. Equal treatment under the law for everyone.
I agree, they are accountable, everyone should be and equally so. But if you want to reduce that kind of behaviour (the goal, surely), you wont get anywhere ignoring the reality of how trauma functions. If the traumatic memory resides in the amygdala, forget about rational behaviour. Finding ways to process those memories, from traumatic ones that always feel immediate and hair triggered, into the long term memory where rationality can come into play and the person can begin to rationally observe their behaviour, is the only way forward and we are yet to find a guarenteed way of doing this.
I think it's not "just a fact" and it's not OK to give people a pass for behaviour that they can either control or are otherwise responsible for. That is the social contract - there is a reasonability standard for our behaviours and not for our thoughts. If someone steps outside of that for any reason then they are accountable. The rules are clear and they apply to everyone equally, broken and traumatized and everyone else. Hurt people who hurt people are accountable for their actions and if they know that and most of them do, then they will hurt people less. It cannot be otherwise. Equal treatment under the law for everyone.
I agree, they are accountable, everyone should be and equally so. But if you want to reduce that kind of behaviour (the goal, surely), you wont get anywhere ignoring the reality of how trauma functions. If the traumatic memory resides in the amygdala, forget about rational behaviour. Finding ways to process those memories, from traumatic ones that always feel immediate and hair triggered, into the long term memory where rationality can come into play and the person can begin to rationally observe their behaviour, is the only way forward and we are yet to find a guarenteed way of doing this.