We are deep in
discussions about gun violence; whether guns should be restricted or
not. Small groups, large groups, national meetings all have this
subject on the agenda. First, I would like to call to mind an
interview between Pierce Morgan and Alex, (the man who called for
Pierce's deportation because he promoted getting rid of guns). The
interview was very enlightening. Pierce tried to ask a simple
question but was never able to finish his question. Alex immediately
began spouting his own rage at even the thought of taking away
his/our guns. His confrontative behavior lasted throughout the
interview. The body language Alex exhibited was even more revealing.
There was anger, also terror, in this man's behavior. The subject of
government oppression seemed to be the source he attached his anger.
Which government was he talking about, and was he oppressed or abused
somehow in his childhood in some form or another? It certainly would
be interesting to research.
Because it showed a person out of control dominated by fear
and anger who wants his guns; should someone like that really have
guns? Obviously hidden behind this debate is fear and anger. Anger
at the way things are going economically, in how much people have to
struggle and a dozen other things. People are obviously in need of
hope!
St. Augustine's
quote: “Anger and courage are hope's two beautiful daughters,”1
inspired me to research anger further. People everywhere get angry
at some time or another. “Anger usually involves a conscious
judgment that an injustice, an insult, or idiocy has been committed,
and a choice of reaction.”2
The author, Carol Tavris writes, “anger and violent action do not
necessarily co-exist. You may feel angry and express it in hundreds
of ways, many of which will be neutral or even beneficial. (from
scrubbing the house, playing the piano forte, organizing a
political protest movement”.3
As the author describes the expression of anger in various cultures,
it seems, most veer on the side of self control. Some cultures will
ostracize a person for being temporarily insane if they express
uncontrolled rage. Psychotherapy in the Western world has for decades
encouraged the venting of anger, claiming that bottled up anger is
harmful. The author describes therapists who admonish their clients
to stop being nice. When they let their anger right out, they will
not overeat, or over drink or end up sick, that is the claim. Another
therapist tells his clients “to put themselves first...for the sake
of owning up to who they really are.”4
The problem with that is, what if the person in therapy is a wife
beater? Tavris makes the point that “People get angry in the
service of their culture's rules. Whenever we are angry, we somehow
believe that we can influence the object of our anger.”5
Violence is a choice used when we try to get it our way!
Violence is a taught
choice in the world. “We don't have to take all the garbage,”
that is a learned attitude. Even though we should not have to, there
are times we might have to take some of the garbage. For that, we
need self-control. Not only is this form of therapy namely expressing anger
through punching, yelling and throwing things not teaching self
control, but our whole society is thriving on lack of control.
Instant gratification is a big business. “Psychotherapy, of course,
takes place within a culture and is deeply embedded in cultural
rules.”6
Since there are
obviously a wide variety of ways to express our anger, getting angry
and expressing it with a gun is not an optimal and acceptable choice
and causes in not only the perpetrators but also the victims lives
regrettable changes. At the same time
as we are encouraging lack of self control, we also depress the arts
in schools and in our culture at large. A combination of all this,
including a tumbling economy, not enough jobs and great frustration
with the way things are going, brings emotions to a boiling point.
There has been proof that people who can express themselves
artistically will be able to not only funnel their anger creatively7,
we just might see through those paintings, drawings and writings the
stored up anger coming to a head and we might be able with the help
of the arts to prevent occurrences like Columbine, Co; or Sandy Hook,
Con. Amongst other things, we need to teach self-control in schools.
We finally are coming up with a non-bullying curriculum, at least in
some schools. However, that needs to go further. We cannot tell kids
they cannot do something, we need to teach them how to control their
impulses. Self-control does not come automatically. I see a great
hope in the arts and a new curriculum.
For example, Gregg
Furth who has investigated drawing as a viable aid to counseling
writes: “A picture or drawing always communicates a feeling.”8
He examines pictures and their possible interpretations and hidden
messages. Those messages are often unconscious. Furth was looking at
a drawing by Lowry, at age eighty-nine. Lowry was a renowned British
artist, yet even he managed to imbed a message in his “professional”
drawing. His picture shows a man with the coat turning inward in the
heart area (which goes against gravity). It turns out the author died
of heart failure a few months later.
I wonder if trained
therapists might very well have been able to prevent the horrific
acts of Columbine and Sandy Hook ahead of time. The problem is we
would need trained therapists, trained in deciphering the arts and
employ them in the service of schools and society. Art-therapy in
general seems to be a side kick of the therapies and not very well
understood. The arts can empower people enormously; they give people
a voice where they feel they have none. If we take that voice away,
they have to find it somehow else. In addition, it looks like the
other voice is the gun barrel in the face. The arts could certainly
serve as a preventative tool and be an important aide in self control.
Only if we teach
self-control and give people ways to express their anger creatively
can we in good conscience allow guns in people's hands, otherwise
such freedom is too dangerous, because currently this society seems
to believe in freedom without responsibility. The appropriate
response to anger can truly bring hope. If we create a new and
necessary thing to prevent injustice, our response can be fruitful
and hope giving not only to us but also to many others. Any misguided
person can express violence. It takes courage to express anger
productively.
2Carol
Tavris, Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion, (New York, 1989), 37.
3Carol
Tavris, Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion, (New York, 1989), 37.
4Carol
Tavris, Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion, (New York, 1989), 42.
5Carol
Tavris, Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion, (New York, 1989), 49.
6Carol
Tavris, Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion, (New York, 1989), 67
7Http://stress.lovetokow.com/Expressive_Therapy_for_Anger_Management
(accessed. 1/19/13)
8Gregg
M. Furth, The Secret World of Drawings; Healing Through Art,
(Bosotn: Sigo Press, 1988), 37.
© 2013 Angelika Mitchell
© 2013 Angelika Mitchell
No comments:
Post a Comment