In "dependency" cases, Child Protective Services removes children from abusive homes. In one case I had a female deputy sheriff who went to do a well child check on a mobile home reported as a drug house. When she entered the front door the stench from feces was so powerful that she immediately went back outside and vomited. She could not tell whether the feces stench was human or animal. Among other things, there were infants removed from the home who were not yet able to walk. They were found crawling on the floor in the feces.
Trauma comes in many forms: sexual abuse, abandonment, homelessness, domestic violence, malnutrition, sexism, homophobia, racism, incarceration and more. We know that one event can induce trauma. However, many children live for years in environments where the daily events are all trauma-inducing.
Crime and Trauma
I sentenced a young man for murder who killed his best friend. His friend was a drug-dealer. A group of three set this friend up to rip him off: defendant worked with a young woman and a guy. The girl made the contact. She drove the car. The friend hopped into the passenger seat to do the transaction. When, after threat, he refused to give up his drugs and money, defendant, sitting behind him in the back seat with the other dude, stabbed him with a small knife multiple times in the chest. The friend was pretty tough. He managed to escape the car. Nearby witnesses called for aid. But friend bled-out before the aid could arrive. Assailants never got the drugs or the money. At sentencing, when I asked defendant why he killed his friend, he said: "We were high."
Towards a Politics of Freedom
In society today, certain politicians strive to exploit the pain and dysfunction that exists. Simply put, they exploit people's trauma. Arguably, these efforts only serve to increase the existing trauma and may even re-traumatize the exploited. This is unfortunate. But even worse: it is bad politics.
Why? Because, in a democratic society, freedom is a necessity. So, increasing trauma decreases freedom. When addicted people are battling the pain of trauma, they are not free. To be free one must, in some sense, be free of trauma.
Today trauma is everywhere. And, we must recognize that when people are battling the terrorism of trauma, they are not free. This means there can be no freedom without healing. And this means there can be no true pursuit of happiness until one is healing. Accordingly, to work towards a politics of freedom means we must seek to heal every single individual.
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