Understanding Problems of Social Pathology (At the Interface Probing the Boundaries 33)

Understanding Problems of Social Pathology

At the Interface

Series Editors Dr Robert Fisher Dr Margaret Sönser Breen

Advisory Board Professor Margaret Chatterjee Professor Michael Goodman Dr Jones Irwin Professor Asa Kasher Dr Owen Kelly Revd Stephen Morris

Professor John Parry Dr David Seth Preston Professor Peter L. Twohig Professor S Ram Vemuri Professor Bernie Warren Revd Dr Kenneth Wilson, O.B.E

Volume 33 A volume in the At the Interface project ‘Cultures of Violence’

Probing the Bounderies

Understanding Problems of Social Pathology

Edited by

Przemysław Piotrowski

Amsterdam - New York, NY 2006

The paper on which this book is printed meets the requirements of “ISO 9706:1994, Information and documentation - Paper for documents Requirements for permanence”. ISBN-10: 90-420-2025-3 ISBN-13: 978-90-420-2025-2 ©Editions Rodopi B.V., Amsterdam - New York, NY 2006 Printed in the Netherlands

Contents Introduction

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Przemysáaw Piotrowski PART 1

Norms and Pathology - Probing the Boundaries of Social Life On Constructive and Destructive Ways of Understanding Personal Freedom and Responsibility

1

Krzysztof MudyĔ The Social-Psychological Construction of Violent Political Discourses: Psychopathology in Political Life

19

Richard Jackson The Phenomenon of Prostitution in Poland: Around the Problem of Legalization

49

Emil W. Páywaczewski ‘Blind Date with Dirty Harry’: A Criminal Justice Dispute on the Polish-Language WWW

61

Andrzej R. ĝwiatáowski PART 2

Problems of Social Pathology: Symptoms and Mechanisms Iconic Violence: Description of the Phenomenon

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Agnieszka Ogonowska Juvenile Delinquency in Poland: Psycho-Social Conditions Piotr Sáowik and Piotr Passowicz

97

Young People and Police Officers in French Poor Suburbs: The Social Construction of a Conflict

117

Christian Mouhanna Collective Behaviour: Psycho-Social Determinants

131

Przemysáaw Piotrowski Suicide of the Elderly

145

Barbara Pilecka Silent Bystanders to Violence: Social Influence or a Conflict of Identification

163

Dorota Kubacka-Jasiecka PART 3

Individual and Social-Scale Preventive Strategies Victims of Violence: Stereotypes and the Process of Helping

199

Maágorzata Wysocka-Pleczyk Prevalence of Psychoactive Substance Use among Adolescents in Poland in the Period of Political Transformation: Change Tendencies and Prevention Programmes

219

Krzysztof Zajączkowski Coping Behaviour of the Unemployed from the Perspective of Robert Merton’s Theory of Anomie

231

Urszula WoĨniak Notes on Contributors

243

Welcome to an At the Interface Project Understanding Problems of Social Pathology is a volume within the Cultures of Violence series of projects. These multi- and inter-disciplinary research projects aim to identify and understand the prevailing extent of violence in contemporary life. In the process, they will explore the representation of violence in media, art and literature. Violence has been part of societies purporting to unite people, e.g., totalitarian regimes. It has been no less part of societies that set great store on diversity. It remains a horrifying feature of today's world. Key themes considered in the project are; x

is violence part of human nature?

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war, civil war, terrorism and the metropolis

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religion, religious institutions, and their role in curtailing or propelling violence; religious fundamentalism and violence

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institutional life - including schools and hospitals

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ethnicity, nationalism, and sub-nationalisms; racism and violence

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violence in the private domain - abuse of women and children

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violence in the public domain - the legitimation of violence, law, concepts of punishment, capital punishment

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state violence - militarism and arms competition

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market economy and globalization; poverty and violence

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violence and modernity - the role of science and technology

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youth and violence - gang violence, children soldiers, hooliganism

Dr Robert Fisher Inter-Disciplinary.Net http://www.inter-disciplinary.net

Acknowledgements

This book was written in cooperation with the Jagiellonian University in Cracow, Poland

The editor would also like to thank Izabella Murzyn-Borzemska for her linguistic consultation and proofreading skills

Introduction: Understanding Problems of Social Pathology Przemysáaw Piotrowski The world we live in is the arena of dramatic changes in almost every sphere of human life. In the span of last 15 years, we witnessed a whirl of events reflecting the power of human spirit and mind - suffice it to mention the fall of the Berlin Wall, integration of Europe, an unprecedented advancement in medicine and computer technologies. At the same time we are faced with a proliferation of facts that make us ponder over human destructiveness such as the armed conflicts in various parts of the globe, two wars in the Persian Gulf, the terrorist attack of 09.11, or the so-called “war on terror”. Never before had the world been so “small” and vulnerable, and never before had there been so many divisions and tensions. The progress in most spheres of life (science, economy, etc.) is the sign of our times no less than the prevalent inequality in the distribution of wealth and a serious underdevelopment of some of the world’s regions. The achievements of human mind that could serve the purpose of saving human life, or at least enhancing its quality are primarily implemented for the military purpose. The global phenomena, such as the easy flow of information, people or capital are not accompanied by creation of the global institutions of control and the implementation of universally accepted legal regulations. Also, as the antiglobalist demonstrations show, the consequences of globalisation do not meet with a widespread, enthusiastic reception. The changes of mentality are much slower than those ensuing from the multifarious process of globalisation. Zygmunt Bauman, a philosopher, uses the term of second separation to describe the era we live in and the anxieties we experience. On a large scale, we witness changes in deeply rooted lifestyles, management techniques, the loosening up of social bonds, diminished significance of the fundamental social institution - the family. Instability and insecurity are also observable in the sphere of morality. The heated debate over euthanasia or homosexual marriages reflects the chaos in this sphere of life. Global socio-political and economic changes lead to the emergence of crises and tensions in lives of individuals and of entire societies. In line with contemporary changes, politics should have a global character, whereas it is still arrested in the formula of interstate treaties, allegiances or disputes. According to Bauman, the situation evokes the period at the turn of the 18th century, where Europe witnessed the onset of the first separation - a separation of the workplace from the world of local community and households. Aside from technical revolution, urbanisation and emancipation there was human suffering and starvation of the masses,

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accompanied by strikes and terrorist attacks. Gradually, however, the emergence of the welfare state made it possible for the social groups at variance to reach an accord. Nowadays we are far from resolving the problems stemming from the characteristics of the period of the second separation. One may only hope that the direction of steps taken in order to stabilise global social reality will be closer to the ideals of preventive democracy as propounded by Benjamin R. Barber rather than the preventive war doctrine of George W. Bush administration. In an unstable and dynamically changing situation, various social problems come to surface, sometimes referred to by the umbrella term of social pathology problems. It is at the discretion of scientists representatives of social sciences - to provide explanation of the causes and mechanisms of the pathological phenomena in order to enable the implementation of appropriate prophylactic and preventive measures. In my understanding, the term social pathology embraces social problems that are present in common consciousness, and are perceived as detrimental and destructive to individuals, groups, or the entire society. I refer to thus formulated working definition as it is difficult, if not impossible, to construct a single, objective and universal definition of social pathology. This term (along with violence and deviation) falls within a social-political paradigm, which means that its definition lies at the discretion of social subjects who hold the power, and also relates to a particular time in history and to a given society. A social reality (including social pathology) is constinually being constructed anew in the process of confrontation of perspectives and definitions of individuals, institutions and social groups. Therefore what interests the authors of the book more than the disputes on the right definition, is the understanding of social pathology phenomena - their causes, mechanisms, and social costs. Complex and multidimensional as it is, social reality is best described from various perspectives. For that reason, a potentially interesting and fruitful interdisciplinary approach characterises the book. It contains mainly texts of psychologists who, as the editor of the articles does, work at the Institute of Applied Psychology at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow. The articles of sociologists, lawyers, and one theoretician of education broaden the horizon and thus contribute new insights to the entirety of the book. Participation in scientific conferences: Cultures of Violence (Prague, 2002), Social Control and Violence – Breaking the Cycle (Cracow, 2002) and XIIIth World Congress of Criminology Reducing Crime and Promoting Justice: Challenges to Science, Policy and Practice (Rio de Janeiro, 2003) allowed me to get familiar with the studies of the authors and to embark on a cooperation. The body of articles predominantly relates to Polish reality, as well as stems from the experience of the Polish society in the period of political transformation. No less interesting are the articles on the psychopathology

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of political discourse, community-policing problems in France, and issues of social concern (victims of violence, problems of the elderly, and collective behaviour). 1.

Norms and pathology - probing the boundaries of social life.

The book is divided into three thematic parts. The first chapter is devoted to the reflections on the norms and pathology of social life. In the societies of the post-industrial era, it may be difficult to delineate the boundary between behaviour that is widely accepted, less readily tolerated, or disapproved altogether. The role and social impact of the social control agencies fluctuates. The exchange of information on a global scale makes various lifestyles, value systems, patterns of behaviour intertwine and thus aggravates the normative chaos. The symptoms of chaos are observable on the level of individual existence, in social institutions, and even in international politics. Examples of chaos proliferate. In a social reality created by the media, an enhanced value is ascribed to the individual’s “five minutes” in the media. Televised reality shows instil in the viewers a conviction that a mere fact of “being” in the media grants instant popularity, whereas social esteem and financial success are expected to follow naturally. This is a fundamental change, as in the not-so-distant past “being someone” was a prerequisite of success. It translated into having such personal traits, abilities, and talents that, if properly employed, would help in gradual achievement of life’s objectives. The cultural changes of the past decades also influenced the shape and operation of the important social institutions. According to Steven F. Messner and Richard Rosenfels, the authors of an institutionalanomie theory of the social distribution of crime, the Western societies are characterised by a strong domination of economy over other institutions of social life. A prevailing phenomenon, also in the countries of the former Eastern-Europe block, is the introduction of economic standards in those spheres of life that had not been previously regarded in the categories of “making a profit” (such as sport, fine arts, education). Consequently, a fact of competently assuming such life duties as helping others, childcare, or caring about a family life, does not meet with a social esteem and does not constitute a source of prestige. Dismissed as they are for being uneconomical in their nature the institutions such as child rearing, family, politics do play an extremely vital role of creating and delineating normative framework of society. The limits of norms and pathologies are additionally blurred by the incoherence of declarations and actions on the global political arena. To exemplify this point we may consider attitude of international society towards the countries that violate human rights. Too often are the ideas of

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freedom, dignity, and justice sacrificed for bilaterally lucrative trade contracts. The authors of the first chapter describe selected mechanisms of understanding, constructing and re-defining the norms of social life. They also focus on a public debate on the legal norms and social consequences thereof. The opening article by Krzysztof MudyĔ is an attempt to reconstruct hidden convictions connected with different ways of understanding the limits of personal freedom and responsibility. The author focuses on convictions that are conducive to destructive behaviour, such as e.g. the voluntaristic understanding of freedom: “To be free is, if first and foremost, to be able to do what one feels like doing at a given moment”, as well as other models that relate a sense of freedom to the use of power, advantage, or domination. The author also distinguishes four destructive convictions connected with a way of understanding personal responsibility, i.e. external observer pitfall, persecutor pitfall, victim pitfall and rescuer pitfall. In a similar vein, the reflections of Richard Jackson revolve around the complex origin of the convictions that legitimise violence. The analysis of the causes of the armed conflicts implies the discourse of violence that precedes such conflicts. According to Jackson, the central variable in explaining violent political conflict is the deliberate construction of a totalizing war discourse, a “vast cultural complex” that deconstructs existing non-violent discourses and destroys sites of opposition, and then replaces it with new narratives of hatred, fear, and the justified use of extreme violence. Such an approach brings back the notion of agency to civil war analysis, linking micro and macro levels of explanation - the intersection and interaction of the social and the psychological - and suggests that political entrepreneurs purposefully attempt to manipulate the thoughts and feelings of people to create conflict and motivate violence. The consecutive two articles raise the issue of conditions underlying creation and institutionalisation of legal norms in Poland, along with a public discourse that accompanies these processes. The article of Emil W. Páywaczewski brings up the issue of prostitution. According to the author, considering the current factual and legal status in Poland, with regard to prostitution what we are experiencing is legal hypocrisy. Brothels are illegal while at the same time can be set up under the guise of various escort agencies or massage parlours. A hypothetical project of legalizing prostitution is also debated. It is concluded that prostitution will always to some degree remain obscure, extending beyond the monitoring powers of official entities. It will still fall within social pathology, and lie in the circle of interest of organized crime. The scope of the latter, however, will be considerably lower as compared with the current legal

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system situation. The legalization of prostitution is not an ideal solution but rather the choice of the so-called “lesser evil”. It would solve many prostitution-related problems but is at the same time it would bring about new ones. A heated debate on legal issues is taking place in the internet. A particular character of such a discourse constitutes the subject of the article by Andrzej ĝwiatáowski. The author chose some realms of WWW-discussions in order to analyse their punitiveness level: e.g. legitimate self-defence, right to defence, and the presumption of innocence, criminal policy and the severity of the sentences passed, the death penalty, imprisonment and prison conditions. As a result, specific features of the internet discourse emerge, such as simplified generalisation, rhetoric of exclusion, and ignoring both subjective element of the crime and the causation. Thus obtained data support the stereotype of a high punitiveness. The “emotional punitiveness” seems to be typical rather than exceptional. 2.

Problems of social pathology: symptoms and mechanisms.

The second part of the book presents selected issues, causes, and mechanisms of social pathology. The articles in this chapter analyse the problems from two perspectives - by considering the psycho-social situation of the “actors” of deviant behaviour, as well as cultural context of their lives. Much attention is devoted to the problems of young people a social group that deserves consideration for several reasons. It was only 50 years ago that the youth gained and independent value as a separate “component of culture”, whereas formerly it was considered solely as a growing-up period of a human life. Nowadays, young people find themselves in a particular social situation - they have matured biologically and thus are no longer regarded as children. Although they do not yet enjoy legal rights of adult life, they are exempt from the responsibilities it imposes. The young age is best described with one word: a moratorium. As long as young people continue their education the responsibilities connected with self-financing, starting a family, childcare are adjourned until later. This psycho-social moratorium translates into a “protective season”. Namely, young people try out various types of activities but are not held accountable for their wrong decisions. Consequently, they may be tempted to embark on various, potentially attractive life opportunities, but simultaneously may experience insecurity in confrontation with serious existential problems. Owing to the characteristics of their age and to their potential, young people feature prominently in the category of consumers. The media, the industries of apparel, entertainment, or communication, among others, target their products at a young consumer, and also have play a role in moulding the tastes of young people and setting out the

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trends. The development of youth culture reflects a complex socioeconomic processes and civilisation changes. It is closely correlated with the characteristics of puberty age - a period of an increased need of autonomy, often marked by dysfunctions in social functioning, which in turn is an important consideration for our reflections. The first article in this chapter focuses on the significance of the media in the process of socialisation of young people. Agnieszka Ogonowska attempts to describe and interpret the phenomenon of iconic violence - a very specific construction of audiovisual texts (films, TV programmes, computer games, advertisements, virtual reality) which is the significant source of psychological impact. The efficiency of its working depends on viewers’ audiovisual competence level, which in turn may be developed by educational methods pertaining to media literacy. The article is based on the work of Pierre Bourdieu (the concept of symbolic violence, a description of the mechanism of the cultural reproduction), Michel Foucault (the knowledge/power theory), Jean Baudrillard (simulation) and Derrick de Kerchove (cultural determinism). In the article much attention is also devoted to the problem of popular culture, and its role in structuring the educational process and in developing cultural competence. The article of Piotr Sáowik and Piotr Passowicz also discusses the problem of negative impact of the media on the young people and the media being conducive to deviant-behaviour. The authors examine the phenomenon of juvenile delinquency in Poland, its relation with psychosocial factors, focusing on the political transformation and the ensuing social-cultural changes (leading to, amongst others, the changes in value system, feelings of alienation, or social anomie), connected with the loss of the sense of continuity and consistency among the young. The authors emphasise the role of adults, and parents in particular, in the developmental and educational process of the young generation. They posit that the older generation experiences alienation in contact with the younger generation, finding it difficult to maintain a trangenerational discourse, at the increasing prevalence of mercantile orientation of the young. The media play an important role in moulding young people’s personalities. Finally, the authors point at criminal justice system, accentuating its pathogenic incoherence and ineffectiveness in exerting punishment. In the recent years in Poland the attitudes of mistrust, if not hatred, towards police forces have been on the increase among the young people. Both parties of this conflict put forward arguments for the situation, while the fear of crime is mounting among the ordinary citizens. The article of Christian Mouhanna analyses the phenomenon in relation to the situation in France, where young people, especially the urban dwellers of ethnic minorities, are most likely to be perceived as a source of crises in the poverty-stricken suburbs of France. They appear to be the

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enemies of the public services, and especially of the police forces. The author’s goal is to take a closer look at both parties - young people and the police officers - in order to establish to what extent the conflicts are not only the result of psychological matters but a consequence of a social system in the local community. Instead of building trust, interactions between youngsters and public utilities staff produce a downward spiral of hatred and violence. Mouhanna propounds that social pathology is the outcome of individual psychology, as well as the result of a social system, in which not only the young people, but also certain institutions transgress rules. Tensions and group conflicts may incite violent behaviour of the desperate crowd. Racial disturbances, hooligan excesses of football fans, mob lynching and violent political demonstrations, which in social psychology fall under umbrella term of “collective behaviour”, may entail a sequence of changes to the psychological functioning of an individual, such as a temporary lapse of self-awareness, disappearance of one’s sense of identity, and an increased tendency to engage in deviant activities. The issues of psycho-social conditions of collective behaviour feature prominently in the article by Przemysáaw Piotrowski. In the first part of the article, the author briefly presents the classic works on collective behaviour, and subsequently focuses on the discussion of psychological mechanisms behind the crowd formation, and on the factors that favour deviant behaviour. The second part of the article encapsulates results of the author’s research on football hooligans’ subculture, with an emphasis on the sense of alienation - a variable that provides a new perspective for the reflections on collective behaviour. The notion of a sense of alienation spans the reflections on the problems of deviant behaviour of the young and the elderly. As Barbara Pilecka expounds in her article an old age is a particularly difficult stage in a life of a person - marked by multiple bereavements, the termination of one’s professional career, and a loss of material status. The latter is of particular pertinence in Poland, where many elderly persons live on insufficient pension, and often in poverty. On the other hand, old age poses new challenges, such as the undertaking of new roles, remaining active, accepting one’s life, and coming to terms with the thought of the inevitable. Old age, more than any other stage in one’s life, is in jeopardy of self-destructive tendencies. Suicide rates among the elderly are high. Suicide in the advanced age may often be regarded as a continuation of life-long problems. Self-destructive tendencies correlate with feelings of loneliness, a lowered self-esteem, depression and maltreatment received from others. The severity of adaptation problems may be alleviated if an individual, be it a young or an elderly person - is a part of social network and receives support from the social environment. Nevertheless, our

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everyday life shows that even overtly brutal acts of violence and crime may meet with social apathy instead of immediate succour. It is often the case when the victims are blamed for their distress. The article by Dorota Kubacka-Jasiecka attempts an explanation of psychological mechanisms underlying the phenomenon of indifference and passivity of the witnesses in situations of violence. The researchers of the subject as well as crisis intervention workers share a conviction that silence and passivity of bystanders to violence, denial of the victim’s distress, and a diffusion of responsibility, add to the experience of trauma; the so-called dialectics of trauma affects not only the victims, but also the witnesses to violence involved. This phenomenon impairs the recovery of health and balance of the victims. With a view of understanding social attitudes of indifference, the author discusses mechanisms of human behaviour, social influence, empathy, and defensive mechanisms of countertransference. Finally, she refers to the Ney’s transgenerational triangle of abuse that expounds bystanders’ indifference by the dysfunction of one’s identity, resulting from experienced violence. All the models discussed are interchangeable, and reflect different levels of human activity thus taking on different meanings, depending on a given situation. 3.

Individual and social-scale preventive strategies.

The articles in the third part of the book explore the issues of preventive strategies and countermeasures against social pathology, in individual life and in social scale. The authors discuss the problems that stir public debate in Poland - violence, drug abuse and unemployment. It suffices to cast an eye on statistical data to realise the severity of the phenomena. The data collected within International Crime Victim Survey show that robbery victimisation risk in Poland is definitely the greatest of all the European countries. The survey conducted in schools proved that over 90% of students aged 15 have already drunk alcohol, and 15% of boys drink alcohol on regular basis. According to GUS (Main Statistical Office) the unemployment rate was at 19.3% in July 2004. The article by Maágorzata Wysocka-Pleczyk explores the stereotypes in social perception of the victims of violence, and the role of stereotypes in the process of psychological assistance. The issues discussed in the article involve the most important mechanisms favouring the emergence and perpetuation of stereotypes of victims of violence, and some stereotypes of victims, with the example of the victims of sexual assault. The role of stereotypes in the secondary victimisation is visible in the reactions of victims, their families, assistance providers, and social environment. The article encapsulates three, most important models of prosocial behaviour: arousal cost-reward model, the empathy-altruism hypothesis, the decisional model of crisis intervention, as well as the

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attributional models of psychological assistance. The models served to demonstrate how stereotypes impede the process of helping the victims of violence. The article of Krzysztof Zajączkowski raises the issue of drug abuse among youngsters in Poland. The author focuses on the question of suitability of preventive programmes implemented in Polish schools in the light of changing social reality. The fist part of the article presents quantitative and qualitative changes in psychoactive substance use in Polish society. The second part provides a general characteristic of a selected group of programmes aimed at drug-use prevention. The selected programmes underwent reviews and gained considerable popularity with the practitioners. The assessment of the usefulness of the programmes in the prophylactic-educational functioning of schools was carried out through the review of the research data on the effectiveness of the programmes, and to their accuracy in addressing topical problems of young Poles. The analysis of the programmes led to the formulation of conclusions and generalisations, which in the nearest future should lay down directions for the implementation of contemporary preventive programmes in primary and secondary schools in Poland. The final paper of the chapter - by Urszula WoĨniak - is devoted to the problems of coping with the situation of unemployment. The author analyses adaptation mechanisms (drawing on the theory of Robert K. Merton), describes the unemployment as a situation of anomie, and presents five types of adaptation to such a situation - with a particular consideration of the innovation strategy. 4.

Conclusion. A need for understanding.

We present the readers with a book that discusses a host of problems considered detrimental to society or perceived as social pathology. The element linking the chapters of the book, which also enhances the value of its entirety, rests in the authors’ focus on multidimensional conditions of the socially negative phenomena, and on their mechanisms, which are not widely recognised. The key notion for the structure of the book rests in understanding. In the studies concerning social pathology, different meanings of the word are employed, namely comprehension, sympathy and agreement. Naturally, understanding is found on an ability to notice and comprehend the problems with their multifaceted and complex nature. For a successful resolution of a problem, or a reduction of its consequences, it is imperative to make a conscientious effort to comprehend the causes, mechanisms, and consequences of a given phenomenon; also, it may be necessary to analyse the arguments of the opposing parties. For example, the overall significance of a violent crime rests in a type of an act and a legal qualification thereof, as well as

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in various considerations pertaining to the life of the perpetrator and the victim, the functioning of various institutions of social control, the reaction of social audience, or the impact of the media. If both the dramatis personae and the researchers look at the problem from perspectives other than their own, they can adopt a more understanding approach based on sympathy. Naturally, where there is pain, humiliation, or a sense of distress, the people involved may refuse to or may simply be unable to understand the motives of the other party. The wounds inflicted by long-standing armed conflicts, domestic wars, or terrorist attacks do not heal easily. However, by overcoming the limitations of thinking through the prism of stereotypes, hatred and mutual accusations we pave a way for understanding and subsequent accord. The process may prove painstaking and long, owing to the fact that social reality favours immediate and spectacular solutions, even if they prove ineffective in the end. However, there are many examples of accord reached through understanding. That is how effective preventive programmes in local communities emerge, the peacebuilding process in the countries torn by domestic conflicts is built, the ideas of restorative justice are implemented, and how schools in many countries help overcome ethnic, racial, or religious stereotypes. Finding a common ground for agreement creates foundations for cooperation. Once the cooperation is established - based on understanding and goodwill of all the parties involved - the resolution of majority of social problems becomes possible. Przemysáaw Piotrowski, Cracow, Poland.

Part I Norms and Pathology - Probing the Boundaries of Social Life

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On Constructive and Destructive Ways of Understanding Personal Freedom and Responsibility Krzysztof MudyĔ Whether we decide to undertake some actions or not, and how we react to various situations result, to some extent, from unexpressed convictions that we hold, our “hidden concepts of reality”, some of which concern the idea of freedom and responsibility. The objective of this chapter is to articulate some of the convictions related to the ways of understanding the limits of personal freedom and responsibility. Destructive convictions are such that their consequences are detrimental either to an individual or to their relation with others, and thus contribute to social pathology in micro- and macroscale. It is assumed that the ideas of freedom and responsibility may be conceived in a variety of ways, which produces different forms of their realization, and consequently results in disparate behaviours, some of which seem less constructive than others and extract more social “costs”. Propensity for identifying personal freedom with all forms of power, domination or possession may exemplify such behaviour. Similarly, although for other reasons, identification of personal freedom with unfettered autonomy and independence of others (or with an absolute selfcontrol) may also bring about (self) destructive consequences. From a psychological perspective, it is a particularly crucial to consider that unvoiced opinions, and inner subconscious expectations, per se, may trigger conflicts, and the sense of enslavement and restriction. Indeed, such “private notions of freedom” have bearing on our interpretation of certain situations, and other people’s behaviour as a violation of our personal freedom, or a threat to our autonomy, and our subsequent response of defiance, passive resistance, revolt or other forms of counteraction, including acts of aggression. In a commonly held view being a free human being, or at least ascribing a certain margin of freedom, is a prerequisite of responsibility (for oneself, for others, and generally, for “something”). On the other hand, the lack of imagination and responsibility is detrimental to the foundations of freedom, be it individual or collective. One way or another, the ideas of freedom and responsibility are complementary and extensively interdependent. Therefore the second part of this chapter is devoted to the issue of responsibility, in an attempt to prove the thesis that destructive notions of responsibility do not come down to the stereotyped view (as of individualistic culture) that only the deficiency of responsibility brings about negative consequences, be it in individual, interpersonal or social aspect.

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On Constructive and Destructive Ways of Understanding

1.

Concepts of freedom versus experienced freedom.

For the sake of further considerations it seems adequate to distinguish the sense of freedom or experienced freedom (or the lack of it) from the manifested, and less or more prevalent, ideas of freedom, which are bound to be biased. The idea of freedom is carried over from the institution of slavery, nonetheless the passage of time has not served to elucidate it, if not to the contrary. In the “meantime” the idea of freedom has provided a focus for a host of ruminations - be it philosophical, theological, ethical, legal, economic, and last but not least, psychological. Aside from the complex, and, often contradictory, interpretations of freedom, one has to bear in mind that in the times of slavery “being free” translated into not being a slave, along with all ensuing consequences and possibilities. 1 The abiding character of the idea of freedom seems to be rooted in the universality of human experience of situations in which freedom of action is taken away (or restricted) such as coercion, violence, restraint, restriction, dependence, or attachment. We are led to think that the abstract idea of freedom has emerged as a generalised, polar opposite of physical enslavement, and a more generally conceived limitation of the freedom to act. 2 One has to agree with K. Obuchowski that in today’s world - or at least in our culture - striving for freedom has become a cultural norm, and thus a value that is more readily recognised rather than implemented. 3 Owing to its vagueness and capacity, the idea of freedom has taken on a form of a “wish box”, to be filled up with individual, and often contradictory, contents. The dual character of freedom is revealed, from the start, in the complementarity of the notions of “freedom from” and “freedom to”. Therefore, every model of freedom provides twofold information: about the values at risk, and the values to appreciate. From a methodological point of view, the above consideration may also have positive implications. Wealth of information on one’s idiosyncratic experience of freedom or their system of values may come out from the reconstruction of their subjective notion of freedom. For some people the idea of freedom and experience thereof come down to negative freedom, i.e. independence of various averse circumstances. 4 Others, still, perceive it as a possibility to achieve attractive goals positive freedom. Some people will associate freedom with spontaneity of reaction, self-expression, while others, just to the contrary, will see it as a power to exert a total control over circumstances, and their behaviour. Some people may conceive freedom as inextricably linked with the possibility of undertaking action (especially in a social context), while others would rather concentrate on the stoic ideal of interior freedom,

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bearing in mind the words of Voltaire: “You cannot impose a customs duty on thoughts”. 2.

Social implications of “private concepts of freedom”.

Psychology has for a long time provided us with arguments to corroborate the thesis that our sense of being, and our decisions to undertake some actions, and not others, rest largely on our subjective interpretation of a situation. Following this line of thinking, whether we experience freedom or its deficit also depends on the subjective interpretation of our situation, our rights and options. What’s more, the extent of our perceived freedom, or its deficit, as well as what behaviours of others we perceive as a threat to our freedom depend in large measure on our “private concepts of freedom”, on how we understand the “nature” of freedom. It is sufficient a reason for the issue of personal freedom to provide a focus for reflection, discussion, and dialogue. Besides, in the crowded “global village”, there is an ever-growing prevalence of situations in which the subjectively (and arbitrarily) defined boundaries of personal freedom may, and often do encroach the boundaries of freedom of others. One of the commonly implemented means of enhancing one’s sense of freedom is the aspiration to amass personal wealth, and to extend the limits of one’s property, be it material or symbolic. These are costly methods of enhancing the sense of personal freedom, both from a social and individual perspective. Another reason why the issue of freedom attracts attention may relate to its “educational-developmental” aspect. Namely, the notion of freedom evaluates with age, from the simplified and “wishful”, towards more complex, and more realistically defined. Preventive and educational measures may enhance and accelerate this process. It is also necessary to acknowledge the “diagnostic-therapeutic” reasons. The sense of enslavement often correlates with interior conflicts, and accompanies multiple psychological and psychosomatic disorders. 5 The sense of freedom or enslavement corresponds with, and is the consequence of “invasive” interpersonal contacts, often based on various forms of psychological violence. 6 It is conducive to a strictly antidemocratic model of interpersonal communication, pervasive in the contemporary culture of the West. 7 There is ample evidence - also from the author’s research - that children and adolescents assert their freedom by effectively counteracting external pressures, suggestions or orders. It squares with one of the “Statements of freedom”, which propounds that “We feel free when able to ‘overcome the resistance of reality’, when we effectively counteract external pressures and limitations”. 8 The results of B. Pasiut’s research on the attitudes to euthanasia, conducted among secondary school students in

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On Constructive and Destructive Ways of Understanding

Cracow, showed that those adolescents who received persuasive information against euthanasia (with reference to authority of the Church or doctors) prior to completing the questionnaires, responded twice more often in favour of euthanasia than those who were not subject to such persuasion. 9 This spectacular result corresponds with classical concept of reactance of J. Brehm, which suggests that we are prone to protect the alternatives of choice which seem to be in jeopardy. 10 By the way, the behaviours that consist in counteracting something (orders, proposals or opinions) are attractive inasmuch as they allow a prompt and cheap (in a sense of invested energy) experience of our subjectivity. Also, the impact of our behaviour on others may be directly observed from their reactions. 3. To want, to be able to, and to have to - three components of experienced freedom. Irrespective of a vast array of notions and related experience, there is one common denominator of the experience of freedom. It combines a triangle of ideas of: ABILITY, OVERABILITY, and INABILITY. Individual types of the qualitatively disparate experience of freedom or enslavement are represented by the correlations and interactions of states or processes behind these notions. By way of comment, it should be expounded that: - ABILITY stands for the sense of influence, initiation, competition and control, together with all other opportunities to influence reality, both in external and internal sense, - OVERABILITY is connected with the sense of advantage (be it physical, psychological, military, political, economic, or any other) and its implementation, - INABILITY stands for the sense of helplessness when faced with an unacceptable situation. These three key concepts outline a horizontal plane of the experienced freedom. Aspiration for ability may be at least twofold. We may wish to improve our abilities (skills) either to be able to do more than before, or to excel others. In the former case, we, ourselves, constitute our point of reference, while in the latter we refer to others. The first kind of aspiration may be rooted in the developmental motivation, may stem from our aspiration for perfection or the ideal, while the second may be competition-related or result from feelings of anxiety, animosity or inferiority (compare: Adler’s concept of striving for power). Subjectively, all these aspirations may have freedom-related connotation for an individual, and be interpreted as attempts to strengthen one’s autonomy, and assert one’s freedom, individuality or subjectivity. The appeal of freedom rests in the fact that for the people who feel discriminated it translates into equal rights and possibilities, whereas the people who enjoy

Krzysztof MudyĔ

5

above-average options perceive freedom as their right to unlimited expansion and domination. Apart from the horizontal pane marked out by the synonyms of I CAN, and their semantic antonyms, in order to describe experiences related to freedom or enslavement, it is prerequisite to include key concepts of I WANT, and I HAVE TO, together with their antonyms. 11 It is necessary to acknowledge that all freedom-related experiences, and the views on the nature of freedom or enslavement may be described by (or come down to) the combination of the three concepts together with their negations, i.e.: I WANT (I don’t want to), I CAN (I cannot) and I HAVE TO (I don’t have to). And thus: - I WANT TO expresses the degree of commitment to one’s actions (planned or already in progress) ensuing from the attractiveness of the activity or the desired goal; - I CAN expresses the degree of subjective control over one’s actions, plans or external circumstances; - I HAVE TO expresses all emotionally unacceptable actions, events and circumstances that we consider inevitable, and indisputable. 12 Simply put, an equation for “the sense of freedom” may be represented by: S(F) = (I WANT ^ I CAN) > I HAVE TO It means that the feeling of freedom may be experienced once the combination of I WANT and I HAVE TO outweighs I HAVE TO. The more detailed rendition of the equation for the sense of freedom would be: S(F) = (I WANT ^ I CAN) or (~I WANT ^ ~I HAVE TO) > (~I WANT ^ I HAVE TO) or (I WANT ^ ~I CAN) It means that the sense of freedom appears when, within the subjective interpretation of a situation, and one’s potential “I want to and I can”, and “I don’t want to and I don’t have to” outweigh “I don’t want to and I have to”, and “I want to and I cannot”. Obviously, all three elements (feelings): I want to, I can, I have to, are subject to the workings of integration-defensive mechanisms, which affect their multilevel interactions. For example, a strong positive motivation would boost estimation of one’s potential, and consequently increase the chances of the realisation of one’s goals, according to the dictum: “when there is a will, there is a way”. Analogically, a low estimation of one’s potential results in a waning motivation, and the proverbial grapes taste bitter, and are not worth the trouble. 13 According to the proposed formula, the “increase” in one’s sense of freedom should take place in three, distinct contexts 1) when the directional motivation I WANT TO is on the increase, 2) when the feeling or conviction of one’s efficiency is on the increase, owing to the generalisation of the present moment “successes”, and the conviction I CAN becomes stronger (I have achieved this and that, it surely means I am

On Constructive and Destructive Ways of Understanding

6

capable of much more), 3) when, for any reason the pressure of I HAVE TO type (internal or external) is on the decrease. 14 4.

On less or more constructive understanding of freedom.

The research carried out by the author in 1992 made use of a questionnaire “Statements of freedom”, containing 30 statements on the nature of freedom and its stipulations, mostly quotes from the writers on the subject of freedom. 15 The respondents had to express their attitude (level of acceptance) towards each of the statements, and mark them on the scale of 11 points, where 0 stood for complete disapproval and 10 meant complete approval of a statement. There were 146 participants in the project, (72 women, and 74 men), aged between 16 and 73. They represented various educational, professional, and family backgrounds. Contrary to the expectations, it transpired that irrespective of their gender or age, the subjects were extensively unanimous in eliciting acceptable statements, which is indicative of the ways of understanding (interpreting) freedom. The most accepted statements with the points are presented in Table 1. Table 1: The statements most accepted by the whole group of subjects (N=146; no distinctive differences between genders or ages). Statement no.

11

Statement Freedom is, first and foremost, courage to do what one desires (or considers right), at the readiness to bear the consequences of one’s actions.

Degree of acceptability M 7.8

“Affirmative” model of freedom 29

6

We experience freedom mostly when our feelings, thoughts, and actions are in a perfect harmony. Freedom comes down to a spontaneous action of an entire, integrated personality. “Coherent” model of freedom Freedom is the ability to express one’s individual nature, and to fulfil one’s potential in an interpersonal sphere. “Expressive” model of freedom

7.6

7.4

Krzysztof MudyĔ

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Interestingly, all of the most accepted statements share one common denominator. Namely, they all embrace so-called “positive freedom”, and none of the accepted statements refers to the idea of “internal freedom”. It is also worth mentioning that identical statements turned out to be most “popular” in a subsequent research project, carried out by the same method on a group of 100 students (67 girls and 33 boys) of secondary schools (liceums) in Cracow. As a result, the statement no.11 earned an average of 9.1 points, the statement no.6 earned 8.8 points, and statement no. 29 was the fourth in the ranking. 16 The statements that scored the lowest in the ranking - the least approved or the mostly rejected ones - are presented in Table 2. Table 2: The statements as least accepted by the whole group (N=146) Statement no.

16

12

20

Statement Freedom is a need of a considerably small class of people who are endowed with talents that others are lacking. Therefore, freedom may be restricted without any reservations. Equality, however, appeals to the common folk. “Elitist” model of freedom Freedom is a troublesome gift from nature. A human being wants to dispose of the gift by passing it on to anyone else, That is why, in the course of history, people have created gods. “Averse” model of freedom Freedom is an illusory idea that incites us to rebellion, contrariness, or negation whenever things do not go according to our plans.

Degree of acceptability M

3.0

3.3

3.5

“Illusory” model of freedom

A common denominator of the most disapproved statements is that they depreciate or undermine the role and significance of freedom. This might imply that in our culture the idea of freedom (albeit understood in a multitude of ways) is highly appreciated, if not overrated.

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On Constructive and Destructive Ways of Understanding

In reference to the above-mentioned results, it is worth mentioning that the perception of freedom among men changes with age (and the idea of freedom tends to become laden with more significance more statements were ascribed higher points). No such tendency was observed among women-subjects, which may imply that freedom is mainly a “male problem”. By the way, the statement that met with a proportionally increased acceptance among men as they progressed with age was that of no. 21: “Only those who want to be free may consider themselves to be human beings’” (r=36; p