Talk to me about ‘normal behaviour’, if such a thing can ever really exist? I think the reality is that ‘normal behaviour’ is different for everyone; and is shaped by a person’s lived experience, their environment, culture and childhood. What is normal to me, is often bizarre and unfamiliar to someone else. I mean, for many, to be afraid of spiders is abnormal. But for me, as a child who grew up in a household where my family were outwardly terrified by such creatures, my adoption of such a belief later in life, is not only ‘normal’, but kind of to be expected. So what is to be said about a child who grew up in a household of crime, or who was marinaded in violence, or abuse? What kind of behaviour is ‘normal’ for them? Could that child’s adoption and perpetuation of such behaviour later in life, be seen as a normal response to an abnormal set of experiences? It’s a difficult question. But if we are to believe that the vast majority of people are not born bad, ought we to ask what kind of experiences can lead someone to turn out in such a way? And within a world of blind condemnation and blame, is such an unpopular conversation even allowed? ~ [1]  Images by Artyom Kabajev, Mason Dahl, Jet Dela Cruz, Ray Zhou, Rene Bohmer and X Wen from Unsplash #psychology #domesticviolence #criminology #clinicalpsychology

2023-01-14