DIALOGUE AND ABNORMAL PERSONALITY
Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua
A person with abnormal traits
lives in a dream world. He perceives everyone outside that world to be sick and
abnormal. An abnormal personality sees those who suggest to him the need for
medical help and psychological therapy as the real patients who need a
doctor. Dialogue between people in the
real world and in the dream world is an uphill task. This can be compared to a
conversation between the conscious and the unconscious. The book, “Son of Hamas” by Mosab Hassan Yousef, a
gripping account of terror, [1]
reveals that there is something abnormal in the act of killing people in the
name of religion or an ideology but the agents of death think that they are
doing the right thing which for them is the zenith of faith. In dialogue, a
partner with this level of faith does not compromise, because for him, it is
either you accept his views or you forget it.
This calls for a patient study of the family and cultural inheritance of
a partner in dialogue.
To understand the human person,
physical anthropology examines the features of the human body which often show
relationships between different groups of people or races. Cultural
anthropology studies the life style of a people while social anthropology
examines the way people live together in organized societies with their customs
and rules. In this area of study, ethnology focuses more on particular
societies or distinct groups. [2] This
comparative study of cultures can assist those who are charged with the task of
dialogue to enquire how people with different cultural background can live
together in peace and harmony. The findings can also give some understanding
about the character content and belief of a partner in dialogue in the struggle
for a peaceful co-existence.
Some social scientists have
discovered that religion is incarnated in the culture and world view of many
peoples and ethnic groups. Experience has shown that religion has made some
people abnormal. Instead of attending to these people as patients, they are
simply labeled as fanatics and fundamentalists. This is dangerous for any
society because a religion of peace that is qualified with violence contradicts
the laws of logic and common sense. Consequently, the cure for terrorism goes
beyond bullets and military operation. It would therefore be an advantage to
the society if the terrorists in the different prisons can be reformed in a way
and manner that the experience of dealing with them can give a clue to what can
be done about their colleagues in the free society. Mosab opined that a
terrorist is not a person but an idea. Therefore, war against terrorists could
be compared to ghost haunting because life means nothing to a suicide bomber
whose mission is death.
A lot of factors come into play in
understanding a human person who is an agent of dialogue. It is hoped that the
committee on national dialogue would soon reveal the content of their dialogue
package to Nigerians. We should not be surprised that they have started to have
problems with some persons and states. The report of their encounter in Edo
State only shows that the committee members need serious orientation, formation
and animation to learn the ethics and dynamics of dialogue. Some of the
characteristics of dialogue are patience and openness hence they should not
forget to study the anthropological foundation and sociological root of the
people they are dealing with in order to redefine a future for Nigeria.
In dialogue, we can not dispense
the events that surrounded the birth of a person, the environment, cultural
heritage, religious heritage and education. These have a lot to do with the
character and temperament of a partner in dialogue. The formation of character
begins from the womb. In the early stages of life, the external manifestations
that are stored up in the memory of a baby could have some positive or negative
effects when the baby becomes an adult. There are some people, for instance,
who would not like to see certain faces. There are times you may be detested
and hated by a neigbour without any reason known to you. This problem could be
traced to the inheritance at birth. There are people who detest certain actions
no matter how noble and interesting because of the ugly memories of early life.
There was a lady who was forced into marriage even though she detested and
hated sex with passion. When ever the husband approached her for sex, she
screamed and shouted: Rapist! Rapist!
Thief! Robber! After serious counseling and psychological test, it was
discovered that when she was twelve years old, armed robbers broke into their
house and raped her. That painful experience gave her a negative impression of
sex and men. She was later debriefed of the ugly experience of her past to be
able to enjoy her marriage.
Some children grow with a level
of societal indoctrination. Sometimes, you can easily identify a person’s
origin from the way the person speaks and behaves. There are some personality
disorders that are inherited from childhood and to some extent become obstacles
to dialogue at adult age. Moley & Hall 2003 identified some disorders such
as, Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) which is associated with hyperactivity and the inability to keep
attention focused on one thing. This is inability to analyze, and anticipate
consequences or learn from past behaviour. If this tendency continues into
adulthood, the person would respond to commands without critical analysis of
the possible consequences of the action. Conduct Disorder (CD) is
characterized by individual’s violation
of societal rules and norms. When this is not corrected, the person may end up
a kidnapper, robber and a suitable candidate for violent activities to disrupt
the existing order in the society. Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) is
diagnosed after the age of eighteen when the individual shows persistent
disregard for the rights of others. A person with this disorder has no respect
for elders and legitimate authorities. [3]
Personality disorders such as
schizophrenia, psychosis, neurosis, phobia, obsession and manic are common in
children who did not enjoy parental care. [4]
This is where appeal to poverty as one of the causes of our security challenges
becomes relevant given that a hungry person is an angry person. The modern day
terrorists in many countries may be suffering from one or two of these
abnormalities as a result of indoctrination and brainwashing. This could be
responsible for the dilemma of dialoguing with terrorists. It was through
proper education that Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Hamas discovered that his
real enemies were not the Israeli and the Christians as he was made to believe
from birth by the Israeli and Palestinian societies where he was born and
nurtured. [5] He
discovered that his real enemies were the ideas he inherited from birth. No
military force could have helped him achieve this if he did not have access to
education. He needed to conquer himself to be interiorly liberated to have
inner peace. He had to change his traditional environment to seek political
asylum in America just to debrief himself and live a normal life of true and
authentic freedom.
Parents can assist their children
to grow gracefully. Some time ago, an old woman in my community was very sick.
I took her to the hospital. When she recovered, I expected a hug in
thanksgiving for her health. I was shocked that instead of that, she was crying
saying, “if I had killed you, who would have taken me to the hospital now”? She
told me how she wanted to kill me when I was only three months old. I could not believe because when I was
growing up, my mother encouraged me to eat her food and run errands for her. I
asked my mother why she had to make me love a person who desired my death. Her
reply was that she did not want me to grow up to hate anybody. She told me how
I was born and the events that surrounded my growth. Today, I remain grateful
to my mother for exposing me to the positive attributes of those who wished her
evil in order to crowd out any ugly memory that could have distorted my mental
and intellectual growth. When we stop telling our children the litany of their
enemies, we shall produce for the world children that will enjoy real freedom
that is devoid of abnormal personalities. May God deliver us from ourselves!
Fr. Prof. Cornelius Afebu
Omonokhua is the Director of Mission and Dialogue of the Catholic Secretariat
of Nigeria, Abuja; and Consultor of the Commission for Religious Relations with
Muslims (C.R.R.M), Vatican City
[1] Mosab Hassan Yousef, Son of
Hamas, (SALTRIVER Tyndale 2010)
[2] Omonokhua C. Human Life, Here
and Here After, 34
[3] Cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_disorder
[4] Cf. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hide-and-seek/201205/the-10-personality-disorders
[5] Mosab Hassan Yousef, Son of
Hamas, (SALTRIVER Tyndale 2010), P. 236
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