Good Anger Gone Bad |
Fury at the perpetrator of a sex crime is correct. The desire to avenge is natural. The impulse to protect the victim is humane. All help criminals to be caught and, hopefully, justice served.
But when anger only gets acted out, discharged, it ceases to be effective. Instead, it becomes a distraction. As an article in Personality of Social Psychology Review reports, “Angry rumination is perseverative thinking about a personally meaningful anger-inducing event and is a risk factor for aggression."
The New York Times recently published a video by filmmaker Amanda Mustard. Her grandfather was a serial pedophile who went to prison for his crimes. In “My Grandfather Abused Countless Children. Here’s What I’ve Learned About Prevention,” Mustard pleads for psychological intervention for abusers. She states that, collectively, as a society, we are stuck in our rage at them—as........