It is Not the Economy that Makes Them Do It (AB. CANADA)

It is not the economy that makes them do it

BY NAOMI LAKRITZ

CALGARY HERALD

APRIL 17, 2009

There's a new and troubling catchphrase in danger of picking up steam out there: the recession made me do it.

This week, Margaret Grant, 48, of Moncton, was sent to prison for four years for failing to provide the necessities of life for her elderly mother, whom she kept in a chair for long months in her filthy home. Grant's mom, Kathleen, 78, developed advanced gangrene, and pressure sores so terrible that the judge said parts of her bones and some of her internal organs were visible. Rescue came too late, and the mother died shortly after being taken to the hospital.

There seems to be an expectation that more cases like this could surface. Laura Watts, national director of the Canadian Centre for Elder Law, noting that seniors have the assets, told reporters that "in this economy, how much more tempting is it when you can't get credit elsewhere, but when you have power of attorney?"

Maybe. But since when does the economy turn good, decent people into inhuman beasts who would treat their mothers so vilely? The potential for doing such terrible things has to be within that person all along. A recession cannot turn Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde. Rather, Mr. Hyde was lurking in Dr. Jekyll long before the economic downturn gave him a new excuse to trot out that ugly behaviour.

Also this week, it was reported that the recession is causing a huge spike in domestic abuse.

However, when Alberta was in the midst of its boom, not that long ago, we were told that the boom was responsible for this province's high rates of domestic abuse.

This news is a two-edged sword--not only does it give abusers a new excuse to justify their behaviour, but it also gives their victims a new reason to explain away the abuse --something that, sadly, they're already used to doing. From long conditioning by their abusers, the victims come to believe that they themselves are to blame for the abuse heaped upon them. 

Abridged

SOURCE:    Calgary Herald - Calgary,AB,Canada

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