Theft, assault, rape, murder! These are the acts I hear about every day –whether it is on the news while I hurriedly eat my breakfast in the morning on my way to work, on public transport on my commute from A to B, in a wide array of films, from Stanley Kubrick’s ‘A Clockwork Orange’ to ‘Chan-Wook Park’s ‘Oldboy’ or even in my job, working in a Criminal Defence and Mental Health law firm. I, as well as nearly every one of you are surrounded by violence, pessimism, malice and as some may say, evil.
So, what differentiates us from those who commit or allegedly commit crime? More often than not, it’s circumstances. It isn’t that the wrong we see on a daily basis is because there are bad people, but because these so called “bad people” are surrounded by a bad ambience, which ultimately impacts the way they think and act. Some use it to their advantage, for example, Dave Pelzer wrote his phenomenal and inspiring story ‘A Child Called “It”’, to ‘A Man Named “Dave”’ based on his horrific upbringing by his mother. Others, regrettably, do not!
From the wife who was mentally and physically abused by her husband to the child who was peer pressured into taking a spliff. From the lawyer with an extraordinary career who was ultimately made redundant leading to depression to someone who witnessed a serious crime and the child who was cyberbullied –one acts and thinks the way they do because of circumstances! Think about it. What would you do if you were in a similar situation as listed? The question is too hypothetical to answer and those of you who can answer it, is answering based on your own personal circumstances.
Are these people really bad or are they a product of their circumstance?
I must stress that I am not saying that those who commit crime have a justified excuse because of their unfortunate circumstances; they have done something wrong and therefore must face the consequences ahead of them.
However, doing something wrong and being a bad person are two different things –sometimes it correlates and at times it does not.
I am frequently asked how “how on earth do you do your job”. On numerous occasions, I have even been told by several people that they could never do the job that I do. But, the bottom line is, we are all human –some of us make mistakes, some of us are a victim of circumstance and yes, at times some of us have no excuse and are just corrupt! Don’t we all deserve a second chance though? Even the murderers? A lot of us will read the latter question and abruptly answer “no”. Even I would. Who felt that way when Red, played by Morgan Freeman, was released from custody in ‘The Shawshank Redemption’? He not only admitted to killing a man, but he had no defence, yet we all watched that scene where his parole was approved with warmth and content. We saw a man, a virtuous man, a murderer, get released from prison and we were all just…delighted! We saw the point of view of the wrongdoer. I have met a number of people in my line of work similar to Red, yet the same people who felt that glee watching the film would say they do not deserve a second chance.
Victim of circumstance or bad people? Whoever you are, whatever you have done, we all need help and support, otherwise we will always be a victim of circumstance or remain blind that we are doing something wrong, to the point where we will commit further wrongdoings. Students can potentially be highly exposed to bad environments that can cause an adverse effect. They are introduced to various classes of drugs; some go through depression, whether it is because of a bad break-up, anxiety over their future, exams or because of problems at home.
As members of NHSF (UK), we support our fellow peers to prevent others from being a victim of circumstance and instead use their circumstances to their advantage. We must endeavour to achieve our objectives and empower each other into becoming good, inspiring people! We must seek to create those future leaders of society!
