Pani’ & Catharsis Theory

A popular Malayalam movie named ‘Pani’ has recently brought some discussions in social media about the violence in movies and its impact on human psyche. Some argues that violence shown in any art form would help the audience to have an experience of ‘Catharsis’. The word catharsis comes from the Greek word katharsis, which literally…

Hugs are Medicinal

A picture of a tender encounter between Pope Francis and Vinicio Riva, an Italian has become popular in 2013. Pope hugged Vinicio who was suffering from neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder with growths and itchy sores from head to toe. Later Vinicio explained his experience to the media in the following words “When he came close…

A Child Perpetrator can be Born at Childhood

There are various theories which explains the etiology of child sexual abusive behaviour of a perpetrator. Among them ‘attachment theories’ and ‘developmental theories’ find the dysfunctional parenting and childhood traumas as the root of such abusive behaviours. Attachment theories find an interrelation between attachment defects and child sexual abuse behaviour behaviour. Attachment styles in adulthood…

Unhealthy Self-esteem

Insights from the therapeutic practises for child sexual abuse offenders explain the correlation between sexual offenders’ self-esteem and their sexual violence towards children. Earlier the treatment for sex offenders addressed the sexual deviance directly, focusing on the behavioural interventions and cognitive interventions. Later more comprehensive treatment programmes were developed to include interventions that targeted self-esteem…

Understanding the Mind of a Child Sexual Abuser

First of all, child sexual abuse is an abusive act which may involve aggression or violence. Self-esteem has shown some correlation with aggressive behaviour in general. Conventional wisdom has regarded low self-esteem as an important cause of violence (Baumeister et al., 1996, p. 5). Different publications regarding physical abuse towards children has indicated that parental…