Crimes and Misdemeanours
Woody Allen’s film Crimes and Misdemeanours is a morality tale about guilt. One story is about a family man, Joshua who is having an affair. His mistress threatens to expose their relationship and some dodgy financial deals to his wife, so he has the mistress killed. He is racked with guilt and remorse so turns to religion. As time passes so does the guilt, he enjoys life as before. Crimes and Misdemeanours

Operation Yewtree is investigating sexual abuse cases going back 20-30 years.
People are being rounded up for questioning about allegations around abuse particularly in the entertainment industry.
Is there any shame and guilt for the perpetrators? If there is, does it stay or slowly fade with time to be forgotten?
The mind is a complex security system. It learns to forget and even rewrite history so the person does not suffer. But is this true for both the perpetrator and harmed person?
Crimes and Misdemeanours

The difference between the perpetrator and the person being harmed is control and power. It might be easier for the perpetrator to forget as they were the instigator of the abuse and derived some sort of outcome from it. The harmed person has to deal with the randomness of being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the perpetrator, and the sense of shame and guilt they have. This message is given so that it is their fault to keep the abuse secret. The traumas can have lasting effects for the rest of the harmed persons’ life.
Crimes and Misdemeanours

The perpetrators’ lives have continued with impunity. Have they forgotten? Has the power and control they exerted put them in a position where they can forget: or allow the memory to twist the recall of the past so that they remain blameless? It seems that we are hardwired to tolerate a lot of bad experiences, that we would rather not tolerate.

The people of Syria are going through unimaginable experiences at the moment. But does the Assad regime care? Or does it feel pushed into a survival mechanism where it is under threat and blameless? Will the regime forget what it has done?
There is some question whether the perpetrators of crimes can forget and enjoy life again like Joshua. Not so easy for the people who are harmed and abused.
Crimes and Misdemeanours

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2012
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Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only.
This article is designed to provoke argument and critique.