KOCHI: Nowadays, there is not a lot that prevents love once spurned from turning into vengeance. Against the backdrop of the recent crimes of passion which were reported in Kerala last week, psychologists are of the view that poor parenting and impulsive behaviour are the main reasons for youngsters committing crimes. Males, especially the younger ones believe they alone have the right to take decisions and any point of view expressed by females need not be entertained. This is a fundamental problem among the youth which parents tend to ignore right from adolescence.
“It is the result of impulsive streak in today’s youth which makes them commit crimes. If the boy is brought up in an environment where the father is aggressive and physically abuses the wife(boy’s mother), he will start believing it’s pretty normal to assault his partner. If the girl chooses to disagree with him on any issue, she will be subjected to physical abuse. The effects of the patriarchal society on males also cannot be ruled out,” said Arun B Nair, associate professor, Department of Psychiatry, Thiruvananthapuram Medical College. In several of these incidents, use of intoxicants like alcohol and drugs has been a major trigger for the extreme violence committed.
“The exposure of youth to drugs is another important factor. The brain, which controls our self-regulation, gets depressed by the action of drugs following which heinous crimes are committed without even realising the consequences,” said Arun. With changes in lifestyle, the youth of today have no patience.
“Earlier, when we wanted to get something we had to wait for a long time. But nowadays in the digital era, the waiting is no longer there,” said Arun. Kavitha Manoj, project coordinator, psychiatric social work department, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru, said parental stress to an extent affects the upbringing of the children.
“When we deal with children who commit crimes, in many cases we have come across unresolved issues in the family. It may be due to either social or economic factors, parents are not able to spend time with children. Even at a very young age, children are unable to take ‘NO’ for an answer,” said Kavitha.
According to Arun, “ Often, there is no knowledge of what constitutes true love which has four key components -- intimacy, passion, commitment, and democracy which means the freedom to express opinion and disagree with ideas expressed by the partner and still maintain a healthy relationship”.