The will to kill!

Carl Jung speaks about the principle of opposition wherein there is energy distributed to two processes. One is to do something good. Like to save the little bird which you take in your hand and feed her. Make her healthy again and let her go. But there will be energy diverted to the thought " Hey little birdie, what if I crush your little neck right now with my thumb".

Chilling isn't it? Also nowadays it is kinda having a swag wherein we are interested in knowing the darker side of the minds. Criminal psychology is one of the popular choices. The cruelty done in Nirbhaya cases, every time I hear about it gives me an unsettling uncomfortable feeling. But did you think while watching Mindhunter we want to be like Holden and do the research part and thank Ed Kemper for helping, but when we watch Delhi Crime to understand those 6 perpetrators we feel disgusted?

Why?

There are two reasons for this. One is the way it is presented which in turn arouses the feelings in you. Aren't all we alive because we feel. When do we think life is sad when intense feelings whether of love, hate, anger, or fear are felt. When we watch Mindhunter, somewhere the act done there are so weird and unimaginable that doing such acts is only possible for the strangest twisted minds which are very rare and fits in the human tendency of "This can never happen to me." Which makes it more interesting rather than evoking fear in us. Also, these serial killers had chosen their victims so again, who will choose me. But while watching Delhi Crimes, it seems and we know this can happen to us or our loved ones. The cascading events were so normal that even one of us can be in her place, just out of the cinema hall watching a late movie. The perpetrators didn't choose the victim, but she was unfortunate enough to be at the wrong time at the wrong place.

Another TV show in its rawest form is Game of Thrones. For that series, there are crazy lovers of the show or even haters of the show, but no one could ignore the show. Why was that popular? Again the animal in the man was evoked by the bloodshed, nudity, and cruelty in the show. Or say ID got satisfied 100 percent wherein Super Ego and Ego let the ID watch it without any guilt as it wasn't real.

So, the will to kill again. Why does one kill? Other than the biological and genetic predispositions, there are some environmental and social triggers. In my Prison experience, (lol, fortunately, I didn't go but got the opportunity to work in the setting) few interesting factors came up. One was humiliation. Society has given few roles, now again unfortunately these roles vary from culture to culture, but sometimes some outliers in society due to several reasons, right or wrong, break these roles, and that in turn may cause humiliation to the boy. For example, the ideal image of a mother, or ideal image of a MAN, or the ideal image of a Woman. Mother is put on this pedestal where she is more than a human. And she is supposed to be perfect to nurture her little one at any cost. It doesn't matter if she is broken, shattered, or facing dissociation due to trauma. But she should connect with the little one. And when she doesn't react in a way unapproved by society, this confused child feels humiliated. Remember again the Ed Kemper. His mother doesn't think of him as a man and that's where it starts.

Ending this blog, apologizing for not being able to cover all the other factors, I would like to pull your attention to the important role played by the support system to avoid this will or at least give a reason to not kill. Man being a social animal needs bonding and connection and a structure of support around him. Before committing that first crime, or after the first crime, or even after several times, if someone shows that they believe in him that he has not gone to the level of hopelessness, and they will be with him, give unconditional positive regard, the perpetrator may be humanized.

- Neha Mogre