Why we shouldn’t be surprised by news of child rape/murder
Every time news breaks of a child rape / murder, people are, quite understandably, outraged and shocked. And the typical response is to call for justice against the “vile, inhuman” perpetrators. But we don’t much wonder how these people ended up performing such an act, apart from the hypothesis that they wouldn’t have done it if the death penality (and/or some cruel and unusual punishment) had been dispensed to other perpetrators in the past.
Even if we accept the hypothesis, it still doesn’t explain why they would want to do it in the first place — especially if we are so “unanimous” in our disapproval of such acts.
We are all born with certain predispositions, but it is extremely unlikely that this alone is the reason — because our “nurture” modifies our “nature”. So, what kind of “nurture” did these people have?
According to the WHO*, corporal punishment — hitting, punching, kicking, beating — is legal in schools and other institutions in at least 65 countries, and in the home in all but 11 countries — and studies suggest it remains extremely common except where the practice has been persistently confronted by legal reform and public education. So, it is very likely that the perpetrators grew up in an environment that condoned physical violence against children (and possibly experienced it themselves as well).
When a parent (or caregiver or teacher) uses corporal punishment on a child, they are probably trying to teach them a lesson of some kind (e.g. “don’t talk back to me”). While they may or may not succeed in that lesson, there are 2 other lessons that are being taught implicitly and successfully:
- It’s acceptable for an adult to physically punish a child (provided you have a “reason”)
- If the child doesn’t “learn” the lesson, increase the severity of the punishment until they do.
The WHO says that, in the short term, corporal punishment kills thousands of children each year and injures and handicaps many more (“unanimous” much?) and that in the long term, a large body of research has shown it to be a significant factor in the development of violent behaviour.
Of course, not everyone who is beaten as a child is going to end up a child rapist or murderer. But when young children are so consistently exposed to messages espousing violence against children, we shouldn’t really be surprised by those who do.
You may also be interested in my other writing on Education, Politics/Power, Ethics/Philosophy/Humanism, Parenting and “Lost in Translation”
