I'm sure there are people out there for whom it wouldn't matter one way or another if they knew why they had done something or not. If you're not prepared to accept responsibility for your actions, knowing the reason why isn't going to make an iota of difference. For those who are, though, the knowledge that your judgement had been impaired through emotional and mental conditioning is both a comfort and a warning.
Although some people might consider the prospect of further jail time if you re-offend enough of a warning, one only need look at the rate of recidivism among petty offences to know how little a deterrent that is. What's more important to heed is the knowledge that you are not in a position to trust your own judgement.
This is what I was referring to when I said that some decisions were affected by what a person had lived through up until that time. The term Schema is used to refer to the manner in which we organize information available to us in order to respond to a situation. If somewhere along the way you have adapted schemas that are based on distorted information, the manner in which you react to the world will be confined to that distorted view of the world.
Wouldn't this have a detrimental effect on both your judgement and your decision making process? If you are convinced that everyone will end up hurting you, or that nobody cares about you, and that everybody is just out to take advantage of you because of your life experience, it's bound to have some affect on the choices you make.
Think about the feelings that such thought patterns would generate. Resentment, anger, self-loathing and mistrust are emotions that don't allow for clear thinking and level headed judgement. The decision making process that shapes our fortunes and destiny was removed from your control by the conditions that brought about this mode of thinking.
In the same way a strict religious upbringing will affect the decisions you make, based on the morality espoused by your beliefs, the Schemas developed by events during your formative years dictate your behaviour. But in the case of Schemas you don't know that they are controlling you.
Unlike a moral code that you consciously learn, Schemas register on an unconscious level. They are a conditioned reflex brought about by how you have been treated and, no matter what you have been taught otherwise, supersede all other means of behaviour. Usually they actually contradict those tenets that you have been taught about "right and wrong".
Article comments
1 - John Spivey
It's good to come across an intelligent, thoughtful post free of rant and partisanship. I hope your hard won wisdom serves you well.