Generally pertinent.

[leahbobet]

--and thus to be saved for reference. From an article on accidental deaths of children left in cars in the Washington Post:

Ed Hickling believes he knows why. Hickling is a clinical psychologist from Albany, N.Y., who has studied the effects of fatal auto accidents on the drivers who survive them. He says these people are often judged with disproportionate harshness by the public, even when it was clearly an accident, and even when it was indisputably not their fault.

Humans, Hickling said, have a fundamental need to create and maintain a narrative for their lives in which the universe is not implacable and heartless, that terrible things do not happen at random, and that catastrophe can be avoided if you are vigilant and responsible.

In hyperthermia cases, he believes, the parents are demonized for much the same reasons. "We are vulnerable, but we don't want to be reminded of that. We want to believe that the world is understandable and controllable and unthreatening, that if we follow the rules, we'll be okay. So, when this kind of thing happens to other people, we need to put them in a different category from us. We don't want to resemble them, and the fact that we might is too terrifying to deal with. So, they have to be monsters."

This is something I sort of keep touching on in terms of Hitler Syndrome (aka: "We must find out as much as we can about Hilter so we can prove we would never do that!") but unsurprisingly, Mr. Hickling up there says it better than I've generally been able to.

---

In other news, I have had a sinus headache so bad that I have been dizzy since about ten last night. Public approval for this action on my head's part is at an all-time low. I'm hoping it's just a really...really big pressure change. :p

Comments

[ex-benpayne119.livejournal.com]

I lived for ten years in a smallish town, the sort of town that had one murder every few years... and almost without fail, the media followed that pattern... the victim would initially be portrayed sympathetically, and then gradually over time details would be revealed which made the incident more "their own fault"... the public reaction followed suit... "how awful" became "well why was she walking the street at that hour?" and "there must have been some relationship between them."

That's a great quote. Thank you.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

If you're interested, the rest of the article's actually really great. I picked it up off the sidebar on Making Light. :)