Have your ever thought what restricts you from committing a crime or inhuman activities. Is it your religion, culture, education or the law of land. We always think that strict laws can prohibit heinous crimes, or we always warn someone of godly consequences for malicious activities. However, we have people who are always good to others, help someone, or try to engage in activities that benefit society; but no laws are required to make them behave as an asset to society. Good things are always performed without any binding of the law, whereas crimes are performed despite of strict laws. This raises an important question: Whether it is enough that we have strict laws to refrain someone from performing activities that are harmful for the society? If this has been the case, we would not have heard any of the daily criminal news. I think the key factors that truly influence a person's actions is their education and the environment in which they grew up.
This idea is highly influential when addressing social issues within society. Let me illustrate this for you. If you were born in early 1800s India, the practice of Sati would seem normal because society would have conditioned you to accept it. Similarly, if someone had been born in Nazi Germany, they might have viewed Hitler as a great leader, and the persecution of Jews might not have seemed wrong due to the prevailing ideologies of that time. Today, women in metropolitan cities might find it very normal for women to work outside but the same idea in the untapped villages of country may seem entirely strange and ridiculous. Imagine someone who, since childhood, has always seen his mother under a veil or never speaking in front of her husband; for him, women will always appear subordinate to men. Furthermore, if he has witnessed domestic violence being normalized in his home or community, then you can always wait and expect for him to commit the same. He will never fear about the law, maybe it would be a surprise for him that there is any kind of law for that. Recently, I read about the study of rape convicts who were interviewed and asked about their motivation for committing such a heinous crime. Ninety percent of the convicts said that they wanted to assert their dominance as men; some said that it was their duty to punish the victims for crossing the boundaries drawn by men. They don’t feel guilty about the crime, and this is mainly because somewhere back in their growing years they were conditioned to think it as normal to have such extreme patriarchal ideas.
It is always said that till early 20’s person is always learning and trying to build his/her thought process. The principles, moral and ethical values that person learns in his/her school, college or society are the basic principles that governs the person for rest of his/her life. In the modern world of information, learning has become very easy, especially when it comes to the wrong ideas. Cyberbullying, though illegal in the country, has become a new norm. Harassing someone online is becoming increasingly normalized. Many people commit crimes and post them on social media, influencing children and portraying it as a requirement to be an 'alpha male' or an 'internet gangster’. We all feel that this doesn’t affect anyone and rather everyone has his/her conscience to think right or wrong, but what about the 14–15-year-old who have recently arrived on the internet. Due to his/her hormonal changes, already he is a rebel toward his/her family and school and internet helps to validate the malicious thoughts. If you, a 25–26-year-old, start associating with people who have extreme views, within a month or two you will notice changes in your own thought process.
Yes, strict laws are always necessary to instil a sense of fear in individuals, making them think twice before committing a crime. However, it is ultimately the environment, and the values instilled through education that prevent the emergence of such thoughts in the first place.
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If you feel still feel that society and environment doesn’t affect in normalisation, then I would like to tell you that
Slavery used to be a normal practice.
Marrying multiple times simultaneously is normal is some places.
During the Industrial Revolution, it was normal for children to work in factories, mines, and farms under harsh conditions.
Child marriages are still common in many cultures.
In certain cultures, divorce is still a taboo, especially for women.
many parents still sell their children for their own survival.
you will still find female infants in dustbins or stranded in some place.
I am sure that everyone us of have some sort of idea (not in harmful sense) that is normal for us but may be strange for society. If you never happen to have thoughts that are dangerous for society then always feel proud about your education and moral values instilled in you.
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Signing off
Rahul Dhakane.