I recently saw a news article on Facebook’s Newsfeed that
was shared by another user. Perhaps
you’ve seen this article: It concerned a
South American man who turned himself into police for enabling the rape of his
1 year old son. The article focused on
how he was raped in prison by 20 inmates, sent to the hospital to be “stitched
up” and then returned to the prison to be raped again, presumably by the same
20 prisoners. The article contained a
photograph of the man with numerous bandages covering his back and what
appeared to be excessive blood stains on the seat of his pants. I was not the least bit surprised to see
that the article had thousands of “likes” and many comments stating that the
man got what he deserved, that whatever punishment and degradation he endured
was justifiable, compatible with his crime and in fact, how he deserved far
worse.
I cannot debate this viewpoint, because I am not sure that I
disagree with it. Any crime against a
child is reprehensible so it is natural that these crimes evoke our deepest and
basest emotions. Even in our civilized
society, when a crime involves a child, especially if the crime is of a sexual
nature, then our view of justice goes beyond incarceration for the guilty
party. We not only applaud the vigilante
justice meted out by violent criminals (prison inmates), we demand it and
expect it, since jailhouse retribution for child molestation is a widely
accepted form of punishment. Again, I
cannot debate the reaction many of us feel over events like this, but it still
gives me pause, causing me to question why we react in this fashion to these
types of crimes.
In this specific case, it should be noted that the man
turned himself in to the authorities.
It is pure speculation as to what motivated him to do so but for all we
know, it might have been guilt that drove him to surrender. It should also be emphasised that he did not
rape his own son, but enabled the rape to occur (much in the same way the
guards and prison staff enabled the man to be repeatedly raped by his fellow inmates). The article does not specify why the man
allowed someone else to rape his son, but we can speculate that there had to be
extenuating (but not necessarily justifiable) factors involved. So, by indulging in purely speculative
theorizing, we can construct a scenario where a penitent man, wracked with
guilt, turns himself in to police and once incarcerated is tortured and
violated by 20 criminals. Regardless of
how we feel about this man or what he did to “earn” that torture, we must refer
to him as a victim himself. So now the
victim is so badly hurt that he must be sent to the hospital to have his wounds
stitched together and upon his return is then raped 20 more times. I would ask that just for a moment you
consider this scenario, altered only slightly by speculation, and then in turn
ask yourself, “Was justice served?”
You may at this point reply with a resounding affirmative
and, as illustrated by the comments already made, say that he deserved worse. In many cases, there has been a large public
outcry for mandatory castration and/or sterilization for convicted child
molesters. Others have asked for the
death penalty for these offenders. In
this specific case, I can safely say that such punishments are not
justice. As much as we wish to invoke
Old Testament retribution when it comes to crimes against children, an eye for
an eye and a tooth for a tooth do not apply here. Unless murder has been committed, death
should not be the punishment. So, to
take the argument to its conclusion, if someone rapes, they should be raped in
turn. In the eyes of justice, that
would serve. But is justice the end
goal? Obviously not, since in the case
of the man in the news article, he did not rape his son, but the overwhelming
reaction is that he deserved to be raped and tortured. So if it is not justice that we seek, what is
it then?
It might be argued that what we want is revenge. Even though we have not been harmed, it is
easy enough to imagine someone hurting our own child and since we can easily
relate to the crime, our bloodthirstiness is awakened. We applaud cruelty, torture, brutality and
obviously even rape as justifiable actions.
We say that if a child is harmed, the perpetrator should be punished ten,
twenty or forty fold. Then, we add
castration or murder and some don’t end there either. Those of a certain religious bent assume the
White Throne and condemn the accused to eternal perdition (more cruelty,
torture, brutality, etc. unceasingly until the end of time.)
Again, I am only questioning our behavior, not debating the
rightness or wrongness of it. In my
defence, I must say that I believe it is worth questioning. Our actions and thoughts and feelings when
it comes to the treatment of wrong doers should be examined because we are members
of a civilized society. So, being civil
minded, we know that no matter how much a child molester is raped and
brutalized in prison, this has not been shown to be a deterrent. So since it is not a deterrent and it is not
justice, it could be simply an allowance to our baser natures to act out. Since we must live lawfully, civilly,
appropriately, within the bounds of society, perhaps our lust for violence is
given an appropriate outlet (against those that hurt children). After all, we allow the punishment to be
handled by murderers, thieves, violent assaulters (and other rapists). Do we imagine the prison inmates rape and
brutalize child molesters because they all share a great love and protective,
nurturing spirit toward children? That
they do this because it is their civic duty?
Or perhaps they mete out their punishment
because it is allowed and expected of them.
It’s a free pass to commit violence.
Maybe the same scenario applies to us when we applaud those actions. We can inflict pain and punishment
vicariously (as well as laudably). Of
course it is not without reason to suspect that inmates, no matter what their
crimes (or their criminal natures) share the same feelings of vengeance and
violence as we do, but are simply in a position where they can exact their
actions on the victim.
Qualities such as forgiveness, mercy, compassion and love do
not enter the equation. We accuse the
guilty and excuse ourselves for abandoning the above aspects of our natures
because it involves the harming of a child.
I don’t think we would ever view those emotions/actions as being the
“weaker” or “lesser” qualities, but still, they seem to have no place when it
comes to our wrathful natures against those that hurt children. It is the unpardonable sin, the unforgiveable
crime and the immutable line in the sand that cannot be crossed without the
direst of consequences. If it concerns
our children, all bets are off. Or should
that really be the case?
I think we can all agree that pedophilia or any kind of
propensity that lends itself to harming a child is an unnatural aberration. A normal, healthy person does not
intentionally harm children. Accepting
this, we must recognize that we are dealing with a sickness and our focus
should be on treatment, along with (rather than “instead of”) punishment. I think that both retribution and
rehabilitation must go hand in hand.
One may argue that because I myself do not have children
that I cannot relate to the issue at hand or be in any position to offer my own
opinion. I believe this to be a facile
argument and a knee jerk rebuke. I do
not have children, but I was once one so I can certainly relate to the
helplessness and innocence of a child.
To a much lesser degree, I don’t own a cat but I am still vehemently
opposed to their mistreatment. Empirical
experience is not required in order to take a side, much more so to simply
question why we stand where we do in regards to the retribution faced by child
molesters. Perhaps in so doing, we may end up changing our reactions and end up changing the behaviors of child molesters by recognizing the sickness before a crime has been commitment. Another supposition may be that if the stigma of the crime is altered to that of a sickness, then those requiring treatment would be more apt to step forward rather than face the vilification in confessing to having those unnatural and disgusting desires. I suppose the final questions is can we imagine ourselves
evolving to the point where our higher natures govern not only our actions, but also our reactions when it comes to crimes against children?
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