Humanity's Dark Side

"There are many forms of human destructiveness: war, rape, murder, slavery, the Holocaust, other manifestations of genocide, oppression, torture, theft, exploitation, child abuse, gang warfare, and extortion, to name just a few. There are also everyday "little" ways in which we hurt each other: malicious gossip, social exclusion, treating others with contempt, blaming others wrongfully, not listening to others, and imposing our ideologies on others. Human destructiveness, from everyday forms to extreme forms, can be thought of as comprising what is often metaphorically referred to as humanity's "dark side." Humanity's dark side plays a role in psychotherapy. Many therapists may not have worked with perpetrators of seriously destructive behavior. However, most have worked with the victims of it--victims of physical or sexual abuse, emotional abuse, harmful parenting practices, oppression, racism, sexism, the vast range of abuses of social inequities and injustices, and so on.