What do the residential schools, Hockey Canada, the foundry of Rouyn-Noranda and Philippe Bond have in common? These are four events that took off thanks to the culture of silence that supported them.
Residential schools would never have caused so many victims, the foundry would have put the health of so many individuals at risk, Hockey Canada and Philippe Bond would have acted in this way, if there had not been the blindness of the existing organizations that benefited in one way or another from these secrets.
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Being aware according to our interests
Full awareness of a reality is linked to our interest in it. If you are a smoker and I tell you that there is a link between smoking and the development of cancer, you will tend to deny this link (at least, to minimize it). And this is normal. In other words, we can all persuade ourselves that a situation is not so serious if it allows us to derive some benefit from it.
Now, this is what probably happened in the blindness of the Clergy, of Hockey Canada, of the Horn foundry and of Mr. Bond.
What is even more interesting in these four stories is that they are situations in which responsible people are not individuals devoid of judgment, they all occupy strategic positions which require method and finesse of reasoning. In fact, all occupy positions in which the decision-making power is strong and rewarding.
Money, always money
If we want such situations not to happen again (or at least, to decrease), we must attack not the individuals, but the motivation that drags these people into this delinquent wake.
And according to the facts, everything points us towards motivations (conscious or partially conscious) related to money. At the time, the Church had every advantage in increasing its “membership”, the Horn foundry had of course an advantage in reducing its costs related to the treatment of hazardous materials, Hockey Canada and the organizers of Mr. Bond not wanting to harm the public’s enthusiasm for their products.
Note, however, that from a psychological point of view, these motivations can be partially conscious. That is, we sometimes tend to hide the truth from ourselves so as not to feel guilty as a result of our choices.
Thus, the smoker will justify his addiction to nicotine by quoting an old uncle who always smoked and who died at 100 years old.
In short, it is often easier to see what you want than to understand what you see.
The emotional value of money
Like all the resources we have, it is important to question our relationship to money. After reflection, we often understand that money and the powers associated with it constitute an important commodity whose value is above all emotional.
For many, money is what is most important, because it constitutes the one and only proof of their personal value, of their identity. And that’s why they are inclined to hide the truth about misdeeds so as not to jeopardize their personal values.
In short, it is when we realize that money is our one and only motivation in life that it is time to question ourselves about our real needs, these unsatisfied identity needs whose brilliance of money cannot highlight.
Frankie Berneche, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Cégep St-Jean-sur-Richelieu