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The Power of Compassion
The Power of Compassion
An Exploration of the Psychology of Compassion
in the 21st Century
Edited by
Marion Kostanski
CAMBRIDGE SCHOLARS PUBLISHING
The Power of Compassion: An Exploration of the Psychology of Compassion in the 21st Century,
edited by Marion Kostanski
This book first published 2007 by
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
15 Angerton Gardens, Newcastle, NE5 2JA, UK
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Copyright © 2007 by Marion Kostanski and contributors
All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
ISBN 1-84718-115-5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part I
Chapter One.....................................................................................................2
Compassion: What is in a Word?
Peter Hosking SJ
Chapter Two ..................................................................................................14
Mobilising Compassion as Catalyst for Social Action:
Australian Psychologists' Responses to Asylum Seekers
Emma Sampson, Lyn Bender, Catherine D'Arcy and Heather Gridley
Chapter Three ................................................................................................29
Correctional Compassion: Working in a Prison as a Psychologist
Debra Smith and Jeanette Gibson
Chapter Four ..................................................................................................37
Mercy for Monsters
Moira Rayner
Chapter Five ..................................................................................................45
Euthanasia: A Clash of Compassions?
Felicity Allen
Chapter Six ....................................................................................................52
Surviving Emergencies: Post Disaster Mental Health —
With Reference to the Tsunami
Peter Hosking
Chapter Seven................................................................................................71
Social/Emotional Issues for Child Asylum Seekers Entering Schools
Rosemary Starr
vi
Table of Contents
Part II
Chapter Eight.................................................................................................86
What’s Yours and What’s Mine? Compassion in an Integrated Model
of Psychotherapy
Lillith Collins
Chapter Nine..................................................................................................97
Managing Grief and Loss: Compassion in the Buddhist Social Ethic
and the Meditative Life
Padmasiri de Silva
Chapter Ten .................................................................................................110
Mothers’ and Fathers’ Experiences of Complicated Childbirth
Sarah J. Phillips and Gregory A. Tooley
Chapter Eleven ............................................................................................120
Mothering and the Challenge of Special Health Needs
Susan Esdaile
Chapter Twelve............................................................................................141
Developing a Support Model for Life-Threatening/Terminal Illness
in the Workplace
Mary Tehan
Chapter Thirteen ..........................................................................................152
Training Teachers in Building Empathy and Compassion
in Young People
Margot Trinder and Eleanor H Wertheim
Chapter Fourteen .........................................................................................162
Selfish Mind, Compassion, and Therapeutic Techniques:
Cultural Paradigms and Mental Health
Yoshimi Matsuda
Part III
Chapter Fifteen ............................................................................................176
Becoming A Compassionate Therapist and Educator
Marion Kostanski
The Power of Compassion: An Exploration of the Psychology of Compassion vii
in the 21st Century
Chapter Sixteen............................................................................................186
Compassion in Psychological Practice: A Reflective Discussion
Eva Canning
Chapter Seventeen .......................................................................................188
Compassion Fatigue and How to Avoid it
Elsa Gingold
Chapter Eighteen .........................................................................................195
No More Hearts and Flowers: The Retreat from Compassion
in Organisational Life
Suzy Nixon
Contributors .................................................................................................208
A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
The Power of Compassion: An Exploration of the Psychology of
Compassion in the 21st Century was the theme set for the Australian
Psychological Society Victorian Branch State Conference held in
Melbourne Australia in May 2005. The theme of the conference was centred
on questions such as: Does compassion have a place in the human service
field in the 21st century? Has compassion been usurped by economic and
scientific rationalism? Is compassion the pulsing heart of the helping
professions–or is it dead? Response to the calls for submission to present at
the conference was overwhelming, with practitioners and students across
the fields of psychology, social work, counselling, disability, welfare,
education, humanitarian aid and all areas of health submitting abstracts of
their work and philosophy for consideration. A rigorous process of peer
review of abstracts by the co-ordinators of the conference resulted in a very
successful and stimulating conference. The feedback from attendees
indicated that there were many valued presentations, which should be
captured and shared with a broader range of readers. Hence, our keynote
speakers and other nominated presenters were invited to present a paper for
review to be included in a publication of proceedings. The result is this
monograph.
Our keynote speakers provided a stimulating focus for the conference,
with presentations seriously questioning the semantic and conceptual issue
of compassion, the call for compassion in relation to those considered
‘outsiders’ to society (prisoners, refugees), Eastern philosophy and the
connections of grief and loss. Our presenters followed with these themes,
and, as you will note, we have a diverse and often challenging composition
of papers for you to digest.
I trust you enjoy reading of others’ work and their perspectives on
compassion within the field of psychology. Please feel free to write to me
regarding any ideas, theories or perspectives you may have, which do or do
not concur with the authors presented.
Best Wishes,
Marion Kostanski
PART I
LIVING COMPASSION
CHAPTER ONE
COMPASSION: WHAT IS IN A WORD?
PETER HOSKING SJ
Compassion informs my practice as a psychologist, but I do not often reflect
on what it means. Much of my work has been in the area of trauma recovery,
particularly for refugees and disaster survivors. I am also a Jesuit and we have a
passing interest in words and spiritual things. It is in this context that I offer
these scattered reflections on the theme of compassion.
The origins of the word ‘compassion’ come from the root word
pati/passio (Latin) patheia (Greek) meaning to “bear/suffer,” or
“passion/affection,” and the prefix cum (Latin) or sym (Greek) meaning “with”
or em (Greek) meaning “into/in”. The English words “compassion” (from Latin)
or “empathy” and “sympathy” (from Greek) denote fellow feeling, affinity for,
and sorrow for the sufferings of another. The word compassion is defined in
various but similar ways as: (a) a feeling of sorrow or pity for the pain or
misfortunes of another that inclines one to help; (b) feeling deep sympathy for
another’s suffering or misfortune accompanied by a desire to alleviate the pain
and remove its cause; (c) the feeling of emotion when one is moved by the
suffering of another and by the need to relieve it, and (d) sympathetic
consciousness of another’s distress with a desire to alleviate it.
Feeling and showing compassion
The definition has two components: first, feeling for or with, a feeling of
closeness to others (to feel compassion), coupled with a desire to help, a sense
of responsibility for another’s welfare (to show compassion). The Russian poet
Yevgeny Yevtushenko described an incident that shows what it is to take a
compassionate stance:
Stalin ordered 20,000 German soldiers to be paraded through the streets. The
onlookers gazed with hatred at their enemies; they were clenching their fists. But
The Power of Compassion: An Exploration of the Psychology of Compassion
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then all at once something happened to them. They saw German soldiers—thin,
unshaven, wearing dirty bloodstained bandages, hobbling on crutches or leaning
on the shoulders of their comrades, and walking with their heads down. Suddenly
an elderly woman in broken down boots pushed herself forward. She went up to
the column, took from inside her coat something wrapped in a coloured
handkerchief and unfolded it. It was a crust of black bread. She pushed it
awkwardly into the pocket of a soldier. Then from every side, women came
running towards the soldiers pushing into their hands bread, cigarettes, whatever
they had. The soldiers were no longer enemies. They were people1.
There is a feeling component to compassion and a showing component. We
need to keep these in balance. On the feeling continuum, if we only have a
feeling of distress with another’s pain, then there is the capacity for trauma
simply to spread with vicarious effects and other consequences. However, if we
are so detached, self-protected, and disconnected, then we have a diminished
capacity to understand and intervene. On the showing continuum, if we just
show un-discerned action, then there is the possibility of ineffectiveness, of
compounding problems, and issues for “rescuers” such as whose distress is
being relieved? However, if we are not practically engaged and merely have a
vague hope that someone should intervene without taking any effective
meaningful action, then this can lead to further impotence and victimization for
the person (refer to Fig. 1-1).
High on ‘showing’ Compassion
Practical, advocate
Assertive, rescuer
Not always sensitive but good for
the cause
Hard headed
Low on ‘feeling’ Compassion
Cold, detached
Indolent, impotent
Hides behind title/role
Hardhearted, softheaded
Low on ‘showing’ Compassion
Astute, discerning
Generous, effective
Empathic atonement, compassionate
Warm hearted, wise headed
High on ‘feeling’ Compassion
Listener, Concerned
Emotional, sensitive, receptive
Attaching, dependent
Soft hearted
Fig. 1-1: The feeling and showing components of compassion
1
Yuvteshenko, Y. A Precocious Autobiography, New York: Dutton, 1963.
4
Chapter One
Compassion and the relationship
There are two participants in the activity of compassion: the one in distress
and the one showing compassion. Power can be an issue in any relationship. The
one in distress should not be a victim of another’s compassion. A wise mentor,
Pat O’Sullivan once said: “When power meets power, you have a power
struggle. When vulnerability meets power, the result is alienation; but when
vulnerability is met by vulnerability, the result is intimacy."2
Vulnerability brings a degree of transparent honesty and defenceless trust to
the act of compassion. Ideally the one showing compassion will have qualities
of feeling with the other’s distress, of a desire to alleviate it, and of a willingness
to hold the other’s anguish. This preparedness to bear another’s misery brings
strength, surrender, and sacrificial love to the meaning compassion.
The Hebrew word raham is often translated as ‘compassion’. It comes from
the word for womb. To have compassion is to feel the life of another person, in a
similar way to a mother’s feeling for the child in her womb. The Greek verb
splangchnizomai ‘be moved with compassion’ comes from a word referring to
the abdominal organs. It means that one is moved to the very depths of one’s
being. In the biblical tradition, compassion is about feeling the anguish of
another and responding in order to lessen suffering and to increase blessing.
Compassion is related to mercy, provision, restoration, liberation, and good
fortune. It involves enhancing personal dignity and helping people find their
truest freedom. There are some similar words to “compassion” such as: pity—to
feel sorrow for, solidarity—to bear with or stand alongside, connection—to
attach emotionally, and love—with its levels of affection, intimacy, and
commitment.
Compassion is very different to a word like control. The Latin word passio
means “I suffer, I feel, I bear . . . an event”. It leads to words like passivity ‘I let
happen’ or passion ‘letting oneself be taken by . . . love, anger etc”. Compassion
has an element of “let it happen, trust, give into the hands of another”. Love and
suffering are things that happen to us. They are, if you like, gifts that come to us,
if we let them. Control on the other hand is not about “letting happen” but
“making happen”. Control is about reason and having power over something.
Consider a word like “sacrifice”. This shows such concern for another that we
let even difficult things happen. Perhaps we save others to the point where we
cannot help ourselves. On the other hand consider a word like “fear”, where
maybe we use cognitive strategies to control hormonal activity and regulate
emotional distress. Fear focuses our internal resources into finding control. But
2
O'Sullivan SJ, P. Sure Beats Selling Cardigans, p.8, Aurora:Ringwood, 1995
The Power of Compassion: An Exploration of the Psychology of Compassion
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if we leave it there, then we will spend our energy trying to save ourselves to the
point where we cannot help others.
Compassion for someone else often seems to be easier than compassion for
oneself. This may depend on our sense of self and our ability to connect with
others (refer to Figure 2).
Good sense of self
I matter & You don’t matter
Life is about me
Poor empathy, not emotionally
involved
Sees self as the hero
Perfectionist, refuses to admit
weakness
Dominance & control
Rigidity but may ‘act out’
Limited sense of other
I don’t matter & You don’t matter
Nothing matters
Feels unlovable
Despair, depression, isolation
Addictions
Sees self as a lost child
Poor boundaries—perhaps rigid
Poor sense of self
I matter & You matter
Life is about us
Emotional honesty: self/others
Caring, genuine, responsive to the
good
Interdependent & mutuality
Positive peer relationships
Appropriate boundaries
Good connection with others
You matter & I don’t matter
Life is about others
Fear of abandonment, enmeshed
Less is better than nothing, so settles
for less
Submissive, ‘acts in’
I’m a victim, not in control
Blurry boundaries
Fig. 1-2: Sense of self and ability to connect with others
Suffering and compassion
A compassionate response is associated with a willingness to suffer.
Suffering can simply take us into our self but it can also take us beyond the self,
and so connect us with the other. It can take us beyond self-preoccupations, selfpity, and self-justifications to what unites us in solidarity, to what links
humanity. Some years ago I read about one of the terrible moments in Bosnia.
Michael Paul Gallagher described an incident:
A number of Catholic religious sisters were raped by the Serb militia. One of
them, Sr. Lucia wrote a letter to her superior expressing her torment and the
painful decision to leave religious life in order to give herself fully to being a
6
Chapter One
mother of the child she was now expecting as a result of the rape. She had taken
vows only a year before the night when these soldiers repeatedly abused her for
hours. In her letter to her superior she recalled how she had pious thoughts of
offering herself as a martyr “but not like this!” Her letter described not so much
the horrible event itself but rather the aftermath, her total sense of shock at
finding her imagined life destroyed: My trauma is not just the humiliation I
suffered as a woman, nor the unhealable wound to my religious consecration, but
the difficulty with squaring what happened with my faith, of seeing it as somehow
part the mysterious will of the One I considered as my divine spouse. Her letter
ended with: I will go with my child, I don’t know where, but God, who so
suddenly broke my joy, will show me the road. My child, born from violence, will
learn only love. Together we will witness the greatest thing a human being can
do is to forgive 3.
How can such a dawn of hope come from such a night of despair? Yet so
often that is where hope is born. Georges Bernanos, the great French writer,
once wrote: “To meet Hope you must have gone beyond despair. When you go
to the far end of the night, you meet another dawn."4
We are timid about bearing sorrow. Often we try to avoid the pain, which
usually means being stuck in it. In an analgesic society, we tend to flee from
suffering, rather than reach into it to find that which is greater than our
immediate gratifications. We want to avoid distress, so we turn away from it in
any way we can rather than feel it and try to understand what to do. We need to
discover something about facing pain. Amongst those who struggle, we find so
many examples of the resilience of the human spirit. The Austrian existential
therapist, Viktor Frankl wrote:
We who lived in concentration camps can remember the people who walked
through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They
may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can
be taken from a person except one thing: the last of human freedoms—to choose
one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way5.
This link between compassion and suffering is highlighted in the writings of
many familiar with desperation. Consider, for example, those who wrote about
the Jewish Shoah (Etty Hillesum, Elie Wiesel), or the difficult times in the
3
Gallagher SJ; MP. “The far end of the night", in The Messenger: a publication of the
Irish Jesuits, 1996.
4
Cited in Michael Paul Gallagher “The far end of the night", The Messenger, 1996.
5
Frankl, V. Man’s Search for Meaning, p. 86, Simon and Shuster, 1997 (first published
1948).
The Power of Compassion: An Exploration of the Psychology of Compassion
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Soviet Union and communist Europe (Anna Akhmatova, Arthur Koestler), or in
the struggles in Latin America (Jon Sobrino, Jean Donovan, Leonardo Boff).
Think about the stories of Cambodia and the Killing Fields, or Japan and the
nuclear attacks. Reflect on the liberation struggles of Burma (Ang Sang Suu
Kyi), South Africa (Nelson Mandela), Tibet (the Dalai Lama), and India
(Mahatma Gandhi). Appreciate the stories of Brian Keenan in Lebanon, Sheila
Cassidy in Chile and others. Consider also the writings of Dorothy Day
(Catholic Worker), Dan Berrigan (civil disobedience), and Jean Vanier
(L’Arche communities). They find redemption in awkward situations. It is not
so much the events themselves but what we make of them that matters. How we
respond to the reality gives rise to the heroism within all of us (refer to Figure 3).
Hope
Engagement
P o s it iv e
E ven t
Process
Impact
Detachment
Negative
Protest
Despair
Fig.1-3: How we respond to choices
Discernment and compassion
Compassion is not an absolute. The one we seek to support is not just the
person in front of us, and seldom just their emotional needs in the here and now.
8
Chapter One
We always need to take further perspectives. Otherwise we risk the problems
associated with subjectivity and urgency. There are traps of colluding with
secrets, assuaging guilt, and violating boundaries. Those who are hurt can be
damaged and their ways of relieving distress are not always fine. We can settle
for the line of least resistance rather than creating new options, and challenging
potential. We can hide behind simplistic notions of charity rather than acting for
structural change. We need to assess why the person is distressed, which of their
claims are justified, and what changes can be achieved. Compassion is not just a
feeling—it needs to be discerned rationally.
Discernment encourages us to listen carefully to what a person
communicates. Listening takes place at many levels. First listen to the person. I
need to work at understanding their cognitions (the way they construct reality
and use their mind), their affect (what touches them emotionally and moves
their passions), and their narrative (the significant moments and patterns in their
experience). Second listen to myself. I need to understand my desires,
attachments, prejudices, and areas of un-freedom, as well as countertransferences and the effects of vicarious trauma. Third listen to the context.
This can be about social analysis, the various forces that operate to distribute
benefits and burdens in a society, and the factors that allow or deny access and
equity. It may be about appreciating the influence of popular culture. It can be
about knowing the guidelines for professional behaviour, codes of conduct,
statutory obligations, risk management and the like. Fourth listen to the magis
(Latin ‘the better way, acting for the greater good’). This is about looking
deeper into the values of integrity, ethical norms and virtues of justice. This is
stage 5 and 6 in Lawrence Kohlberg’s moral developmental stages6 or stage 5 in
the constructive developmental work of Robert Kegan.7
Compassion requires us to listen to the story of another with a willingness to
allow ourself to be affected. Discernment invites us to feel the movements of the
spirit as we listen, and to discern what is from the good spirit and what comes
from elsewhere. In this we seek to comprehend from the other’s point of view
what is happening in their life. We try to understand from a broader point of
view what could be better. We wonder about what good may be possible for
them to do from their point of view and from a broader point of view.
Concurrently, we reflect on their effect on us in terms of the parallel processes
that operate, and try to understand what this may mean in their other
relationships.
6
Crain WC. Theories of Development, p 118-136, Prentice-Hall, 1985.
Kegan, R. The Evolving Self: Problem and process in human development, Harvard
Uni Press: Cambridge, 1982.
7
The Power of Compassion: An Exploration of the Psychology of Compassion
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Discernment leads to action that brings change for the better. We look at
questions such as: What needs to be changed in the person’s attitudes and
behaviour in the situation causing harm, etc? How can we intervene with the
person’s coping and recovery (psychological), and with the broader context
(advocacy, social awareness and policy change)? What is morally appropriate in
terms of professional standards, ethical behaviour, consideration for another’s,
or the community’s, interests? Discernment, decision and action revolve in a
circle of planning, action, and evaluation where intention, acts and
consequences all matter.
Political leadership and compassion
Compassion can be a social artefact and it can lose currency in a more
selfish society. Consider the term “compassion fatigue”. It may be that the
number of people who foster compassion in themselves and others is
diminishing. It may be that we are overwhelmed by so many variations of
emotional stimuli that we constrict reality to what we can absorb. Mostly, we
just have difficulties with distressing things. There is a pendulum about social
issues. Consider the political leadership that fostered welcoming attitudes to
refugees in Australia in the early 1980s compared to that in the 1990s and
beyond. Think about the courageous social policy initiatives concerning
indigenous issues in the early 1990s compared with that in the early 2000s.
There may also be a territory effect to social compassion, such that the degree of
compassion is related to the distance from the person affected. Compare the
sympathy for newborns with HIV in Africa, with attitudes to intravenous drug
users with blood born viruses in Melbourne.
Political leadership can undermine the community’s sense of compassion
and the value we place on it. There are many stories where our political leaders
have been found wanting in recent years, especially in the area of welcoming
others and being a more inclusive society. One example is the SIEV X. The
“Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel” (X = “unknown”) was an overcrowded
Indonesian fishing boat with Iraqi and Afghani asylum seekers en route to
Australia’s Christmas Island. It sank on October 19, 2001 with the loss of 353
lives (146 children, 142 women and 65 men). Some 20 hours later an Indonesian
fishing boat found the survivors. One of the 44 survivors commented “. . .
wherever you looked you saw the dead children like birds floating on the
water…”8 About seven weeks earlier a Norwegian freighter had rescued 433
asylum seekers from a sinking Indonesian ferry in the Indian Ocean and headed
8
www.sievx.com
10
Chapter One
to the nearest port, which was in Australian waters. The Australian Prime
Minister had refused to allow them to land, and his political party went even
further and turned their lack of compassion into an election banner: “We decide
who can enter our country”.
Language is important here as it so easily makes a human person into “the
other”. Consider how people who flee their country of origin and seek
protection in another country can be called desperate people in necessitous
circumstances, those fleeing privation and persecution, refugees, asylum seekers,
right through to unlawful entrants, illegal immigrants, and queue jumpers,
people traffickers, and even terrorists. Language can include or exclude. “We”
can be ungenerous (not you), or it can be hospitable (all of us). “We” decide
who can enter our country is a mean “we”. Our compassion antennae can be
jammed by manipulative language like this. It interferes with the magnetic point
of the moral compass. Compassion invites us to value everyone’s story—to
listen to the other because we are all “others”. If the story is struggle, then it is
the lived experience for all. It is an essential story, about a person of intrinsic
worth, with ultimate human dignity. Some narratives may have greater impact
(positive or negative) but none are less deserving of compassion; all are vital to
the whole. The Tibetan Buddhist Pema Chodron provides a clear perspective
when she writes:
When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to
discover that it is bottomless, that it doesn’t have any resolution, that this heart is
huge, vast, and limitless. You begin to discover how much warmth and
gentleness is there, as well as how much space9.
Traumatic experiences and compassion
Compassion comes from being able to see beyond or through a person’s
behaviour. This is not excusing, rationalising or minimising bad behaviour but it
is to perceive the person in all her or his dignity, destiny and sacredness. It is to
understand the hurt and pain that drives some of their behaviour. It is to observe
more than simply the effects of the traumatic experience. It is to see beyond the
anxiety, anger, and inadequacy to notice the person struggling to find their place.
Compassion comes through our ability to distinguish our own pain, suffering,
fears and insecurities reflected in the eyes of another human being. Many can be
compassionate to a person in grief, but less tolerant to people who express their
trauma sequelae through rage and manipulation. Being able to witness the true
person beneath the hurt, pain, anger, the fury of distress, dissociate alters,
9
Attributed to Pema Chodron. I regret that I am not able to provide the original source.
The Power of Compassion: An Exploration of the Psychology of Compassion
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inappropriate attention seeking, substance misuse, self-harm, sexual acting out,
and some of the enduring personality disorder traits is a challenge for even the
most sensitive and astute therapist.
Traumatic experiences change people’s confidence in themselves and the
world. The dynamics of trauma occur at several levels. A compassionate
response requires us to understand what happens at these levels. Trauma is
usually a response to the perpetration of an act. There is a remarkable similarity
in the function of torture in a society, the horror of the methods, and the ways
people are co-opted and coerced. Trauma has psychophysical effects on an
individual in terms of the relationship between hormones, neural pathways,
emotions, memory, and behaviour. People process the experience according to
how the event impacts on them, how they interpret its significance, how they
comprehend their reactions, and how they cope with their responses.
Trauma sequelae involve a range of emotions—such as fear and anxiety,
grief and loss, anger and rage, guilt and shame, shattering of assumptions, and
changed relationships. Each has distinct recovery paths. Recovery is influenced
by external supports and personal strengths. Resilience is enhanced by
protective factors and undermined by risk factors. The external supports are
critical and a compassionate response is an essential protective factor and
important ingredient in recovery.
Survivors of horrible events can have a range of reactions. Often they
behave as a victim when they are fearful, anxious about making decisions, and
ineffective, saying “I’m scared this may happen again”. Sometimes they will
operate as a rescuer where they may be guilty, protective, and overwork to fix
things for others, saying “I will save you from having to go through what
happened to me”. Occasionally they will act like a perpetrator when they are
angry, controlling, and bullying, saying “I’m not going to let it get out of control
again”. For those who work with survivors, there is a myriad of transference and
counter-transference issues. Transference can be a complex dynamic when a
needy person engages in testing behaviours, attaches too intensely, and gets
angry so often. The patterns of counter-transference, re-traumatization, and
vicarious trauma affect our ability to be compassionate. Even seasoned workers
can move to over-involvement (e.g. crusader, rescuer, etc) or under-involvement
(cynical, efficiency rather than listening, etc).
Compassion and forgiveness
Compassion comes before forgiveness. If one cannot feel compassion for
the person who has wronged us, it limits our capacity to heal. In order to heal
one has to allow oneself to open up to the pain and surrender, to be with the
vulnerability and powerlessness, and to really feel it and face it. One of the
12
Chapter One
early theologians of the Christian church, possibly Augustine of Hippo,
apparently said “Forgiveness has two lovely daughters: compassion and justice”.
To forgive truly we need to act justly—to name the truth and not minimise its
harm. Moreover, we must do so with compassion—with genuine feeling for all
involved and a desire for reconciliation. Justice without reconciliation is
vengeance. Vengeance too often just continues a cycle of violence. This is a
concern with some of the aberrant behaviour of the counter-terrorists today.
However, reconciliation without justice is amnesia (without memory). This is
simply forgetting, not forgiveness, nor resolution.
In recent years, I have had an opportunity to follow the truth and
reconciliation commission in East Timor. 10 In post-conflict situations, the
shared recovery of historical memory is a step towards rebuilding trust and
restoring relationships. The taunt of the torturer is ‘no one will know, no one
will care,’ so for others to understand and be concerned is an important step in
healing. Naming the reality of the human rights violations assists the recovery
of socio-historical memory—what happened here to us? This supports the
community to understand the effects of those violations at a socio-cultural
level—how has it affected and changed us? It names the crimes and perpetrators
so that the abuse and violence do not happen again. It can assist the psychosocial healing of survivors. It helps honour the victims so their sacrifice was not
in vain. This is a powerful experience for those who endured wanton cruelty.
This seems to be a compassionate endeavour.
Finally, there is a book by Chris Lowney on Jesuit organizational methods
called “Heroic Leadership: Best practices from a 450-year-old company” 11 .
Lowney says something about the qualities of compassion when he highlights
four elements. First self-awareness: understanding your strengths, weaknesses,
values, and worldview. Second ingenuity: being able to confidently innovate
and adapt to a changing world. Third love: relating with others with a positive
attitude that unlocks their potential. Finally heroism: being able to energize
others and ourselves with courageous ambitions and a passion for excellence.
An earlier writer on Jesuit spirituality, Jerome Nadal wrote12 in the 16th century
that the path of Ignatius (the founder of the Jesuits) had three essentials: “to act
in the spirit, from the heart, and practically”. To act in the Spirit suggests that
the starting point is to listen to and call on God’s Spirit, the spirit of good news.
10
Chega: Final Report of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in
East Timor (CAVR) available at www.etan.org/news/2006/cavr.htm
11
Lowney, C. Heroic Leadership: Best practices from a 450-year-old company that
changed the world, p. 27-35, Loyola: Chicago 2003.
12
Cited in O’Malley SJ, J. The First Jesuits, p. 251, Harvard Uni Press: Cambridge,
1993.
The Power of Compassion: An Exploration of the Psychology of Compassion
in the 21st Century
13
To give from the heart is to allow ourselves to be moved emotionally,
sometimes by feelings of dejection and at other times, joy. It involves feeling
and testing our deepest longings and desires. To choose a practical path is to be
realistic and constructive in pursuing the truest call, and in living out what it
reveals.
CHAPTER TWO
MOBILISING COMPASSION AS CATALYST
FOR SOCIAL ACTION: AUSTRALIAN
PSYCHOLOGISTS' RESPONSES
TO ASYLUM SEEKERS
EMMA SAMPSON, LYN BENDER, CATHERINE
D'ARCY AND HEATHER GRIDLEY
Isaac Prilleltensky's position on compassion is that it leads us to operate
primarily at the individual level, without encouraging communal and political
responses to issues (where broader social change really occurs) (Nelson &
Prilleltensky, 2005). Yet the current responses of many psychologists to refugee
and asylum seeker issues in Australia seem to indicate that compassion can be a
very important element for people in motivating and sustaining their activism
and drive towards social and political change, particularly when connected to a
perception of injustices. This chapter draws on case examples of three
psychologists involved in different areas of response to these policies in
Australia: as researcher, practitioner and citizen. These examples lead into a
discussion of broader questions about psychology, compassion, and social
action, and some recommendations for individual and collective responses to
social justice issues.
Psychology, social responsibility and social action
There has been an ongoing debate within psychology, particularly since the
1960s, about psychologists’ involvement in social issues (Cooke, 2000). There
is a traditional tendency for psychologists to shy away from taking an active role
in social issues, arguing that as an empirical science, psychology is not in a
position to answer moral questions and cannot support social policies because of
The Power of Compassion: An Exploration of the Psychology of Compassion
in the 21st Century
15
their presumed value base (e.g., Kendler, 1993; Pellegrin & Frueh, 1994). Yet
there is an increasing acknowledgement that a value-free science is not possible
nor desirable (e.g., Howard, 1985; Prilleltensky, 1994) and that therefore,
psychological science cannot be value-free, but is a conscious political
endeavour with the goal of social transformation (e.g., Brabeck, 2000; Mulvey,
1988; Rappaport, 1984). Theorists such as Prilleltensky (1994) have drawn
attention to the social and political embeddedness of psychological knowledge,
and have suggested that values are inherent in all psychological research;
arguing that denial of a political position in itself represents one that upholds the
status quo.
At the very least, psychology should not cause harm. In attempting to be
values-neutral, there is a danger that we might contribute to discrimination
against individuals and groups (Davidson, 1998). As a profession concerned
with human welfare, psychology is in a unique position to incorporate a
commitment to social responsibility.
While many theorists accept that psychology can encompass social
responsibility, there is no uniform agreement around the type of action or
responsibility considered appropriate and/or relevant. Some believe
psychologists should use existing psychological knowledge and techniques.
Others believe psychologists need to be informed by explicit values and to adopt
more active roles as advocates or activists. Cooke (2000) notes that the tension
between Australian psychologists’ desire to contribute to social issues and their
concern to preserve “scientific objectivity” has seen them become
“commentators on social change, but not prominent members of social
movements” (p.178).
A current social and political issue that highlights questions for
psychologists in relation to compassion and social responsibility is the impact of
policies of deterrence towards those seeking asylum in Australia. This is the
example that is now considered.
Policy Context: Refugees and Policies of Deterrence
The shift in Australian refugee policy towards deterrence can be traced back
to the early 1990s when the then Federal Labour government introduced
legislation that involved the compulsory detention of asylum seekers.
Immigration detention centres were established around the country, particularly
in remote locations such as Port Headland (Western Australia), Curtin (Western
Australia) and Woomera (South Australia). This move was almost
unprecedented in the western world and, despite these measures breaching
numerous United Nations conventions on refugees, polls indicated that there
was strong community support for the policy (Marr & Wilkinson, 2003).
16
Chapter Two
In the late 1990s, a series of political and legislative changes was introduced
that aimed to further deter refugees from seeking asylum in Australia. These
policy and legislative changes included a new form of Temporary Protection
Visa (TPV) for all “unauthorised arrivals” that no longer guaranteed permanent
protection, as well as the provision of bridging visas, the conditions of which
often restricted the right to work, to public health cover or to any welfare
payments. Additionally, Christmas Island and Ashmore Reef were excised form
the Australian migration zone, and “processing centres” were established in
Nauru and Papua New Guinea. This was part of what is referred to as the
“Pacific solution”, which in effect means that asylum seekers have little
recourse to the safeguards and appeal processes of the Australian courts (Marr &
Wilkinson, 2003).
Psychology’s responses to policies of deterrence
Responses to policies of deterrence from within Psychology have typically
been framed within existing psychological discourses where psychologists
provide individual assessment, diagnosis, treatment and research to draw
attention to the trauma experienced by refugees. For example, psychological
research has tended to highlight high rates of depression, trauma, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among asylum seekers, which are exacerbated
by detention (Silove, 2002; Marston, 2003).
The Australian Psychological Society (APS) has responded in a number of
ways, producing media releases and fact sheets, establishing a working group to
raise public awareness, and perhaps the most influential, making a submission to
the National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention13 (APS, 2002c). In
the submission, they argued against immigration detention “on the grounds that
it is not commensurate with psychological best practice concerning children’s
development and mental health and wellbeing” (p.1).
Similarly, the APS Women and Psychology Interest group (2002a) produced
a statement that not only referred to the inappropriate and damaging nature of
detention, but also expressed concern over the type of language used by the
Government and in the media (e.g., references to refugees as “illegals” and
“queue jumpers”). They suggested that such language perpetuates public
misunderstanding and denies natural justice to those seeking asylum.
13
The Inquiry’s report was published by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity
Commission (HREOC) in May 2004, entitled “A last resort? The report of the National
Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention”.
The Power of Compassion: An Exploration of the Psychology of Compassion
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Critiques of traditional psychological approaches suggest that constructions
of refugees in clinical terms may risk further depersonalising refugees. Pupavac
(2001) contends that constructing asylum seekers and refugees as “traumatised”
fails to make a proper distinction between normal psychological reactions and
the appearance of a disorder. Such constructions imply that
individuals and communities displaying the characteristic defense responses are
deemed to be at risk and unable to recover without professional intervention.
(Pupavac, 2001, p. 3)
Health professionals concerned with the social welfare of refugees may then
have to identify their needs in clinical categories in order to help them gain
assistance (Watters, 2001). The professional or agency
may feel an overwhelming sense of responsibility to act and may eschew critical
analysis in favour of a pragmatism that proliferates, and adds credence, to biomedical taxonomies. (Watters, 2001, p. 1710)
A more appropriate role for psychologists might be one that assumes some
background knowledge of the political landscape from which refugees have fled,
acknowledging that practical advice and advocacy is of itself psychologically
supportive and that a recounting of traumatic experience is an option but not a
necessity. (Summerfield, 2001, p. 162)
While recognising the need among asylum seekers to have their stories
witnessed or validated, Griffiths (2001) argues that this need not necessarily be
done by a professional or clinician, but by an outsider, another person.
In this chapter, three case examples are presented which explore some
professional, personal and political responses to asylum seeker issues by
individual psychologists. The three examples may clarify some of the issues
involved in directly supporting those seeking asylum. We hope they will also
inform broader questions around compassion, social responsibility, and their
applications within psychology.
Psychologists responding to asylum seekers
Emma (Postgraduate student researcher)
For those who’ve come across the seas
We’ve boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine
18
Chapter Two
To Advance Australia Fair
(Australian National Anthem: www.dfat.gov.au/geo/australia)
I first heard about Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers while I was
travelling overseas. One of the few stories about Australia that received media
coverage while I was away was that of the Tampa and ‘children overboard’
affair. I remember thinking at the time why people might throw their own
children overboard, and then later wondering if this was indeed what was
actually happening.14 Australia’s response to the Tampa incident was equally
concerning for me; I wondered why this was happening in Australia and felt
embarrassed that this was how the international community saw and heard of
Australia.
At the same time, I recall being particularly aware of the contrast between
my own privileged position and that of those seeking asylum. While I was able
to travel relatively freely to countries around the world, these people were
prevented from coming to Australia, despite their fear of danger and persecution.
As far as I could see, they were not even given the opportunity to make their
case in this country.
Upon returning to Australia, I resolved to learn more about the issue and to
be involved in some way. At the same time, I resumed my studies in community
psychology, and completed a placement at a community agency that had
emerged in response to the support needs of asylum seekers. I also began
exploring related issues through my research thesis. Looking at how this
important social and political issue was being addressed and framed within my
own profession, psychology, I began to explore the concept of social
responsibility. I was interested in identifying ways in which psychologists were
active in responding to asylum seekers and to Australia’s increasingly
oppressive immigration policies—which is how I was first put in contact with
‘Louise’, a psychologist who had committed herself as a citizen to supporting a
group of asylum-seekers.
14
The “children overboard” claim has widely been revealed as untrue; we now know this
did not happen. No child was thrown in the water (Mares, 2002). It has instead been
identified as part of the 2001 Federal election campaign, where issues around border
protection and asylum seekers became a defining preoccupation. (Both Mares, 2002 and
Marr & Wilkinson, 2003 offer a detailed analysis of what occurred at this time.)
The Power of Compassion: An Exploration of the Psychology of Compassion
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A journey with no maps: Louise’s experience
This case example comes from interviews Emma carried out over a year
with “Louise” as part of a Community Psychology Masters thesis. The case
study situates tensions emerging from the experience of one person (Louise), a
psychologist, who has responded to policies of deterrence by adopting a strong
advocacy role in relation to a group of refugees seeking asylum in Australia.
In early 2002, Louise first visited an Immigration Detention Centre. There
she met a group of young men, all in their early to mid twenties who had been
placed in detention on the day they arrived in Australia. They held no hopes of
getting out into the community but were very fearful of returning home. Over
the course of a few weeks and many visits, she observed them sinking deeper
into despair, and began to contemplate thoughts of enabling their release. The
main obstacle was the requirement of a $10,000 bond (bail) for each of them.
Following much soul searching and talking with her friends’ bond money was
provided, including contributions from the young men’s friends.
The men were all released later that year, having been in detention for six
months, but this was only the start of the story. They were released on Bridging
Visas class E, the conditions being that they must not work or engage in any
activity that could be deemed as work, and had no access to any form of social
security, concessions on public transport or Medicare. Most of the young men
are still living in Melbourne. Rent and food is paid for by a small group of
supporters who pay money into a bank account for this purpose. Utilities and
telephone bills are paid for by the Brigidine Sisters.15
Louise describes how she has been involved—as honorary mother, money
manager, counsellor, friend and cultural interpreter. She has supported the
young men to live in the Australian community, financially and psychologically,
liaising with legal representatives, finding medical support and planning for
their future, including travelling to a third country to explore alternative options
for migration. As she identified at one point of the research, “my relationship
and support to these young men takes up all of my life, like it is my life at the
moment”.
Louise has strongly held values about human rights and the obligation to
translate these into action. She reflected that there is also something about being
in her mid 60s that gives her permission and impetus to take risks, and a
15
The Brigidine Asylum Seeker Project is a locally-based project that aims to provide
hospitality and practical support for asylum seekers, actively network with like-minded
individuals and groups who are working for justice for asylum seekers and promote
advocacy for the rights of asylum seekers.
20
Chapter Two
different perspective on what matters. Of her background and reasons for
undertaking this commitment, Louise says:
I grew up in the 1940s with many stories of the depression and holocaust. As a
child I could not understand how ordinary people could let this happen in their
midst. Later as stories of the stolen generation emerged, I was shocked to realize
that this had been happening when I was adult. How come I did not know/ did
not recognize what was happening and take action? When stories of asylum
seekers and their treatment began to emerge, I determined that I would not look
back at this time regretting my inaction.
In collaboration with Louise, Emma organised key themes of the case study
around personal, professional and political “acts” or dimensions.
A personal act
Louise has responded as a citizen and human being rather than as a
psychologist, taking personal responsibility for an unjust situation, making close
personal connections across differences and sharing personal journeys. This
personal involvement with a group of young men shows human faces and
reflects personal stories about people in the context of their daily lives, lives
which are being lived within extraordinarily difficult circumstances,
circumstances which leave them little hope for the future.
Louise has played a holistic role in the lives of these young men, resulting in
close personal connections that have been a rewarding learning experience.
Louise’s experiences also draw attention to the challenges, struggles and
impacts of being so personally involved in supporting refugees, where her close
connections and holistic role have come with personal costs—financial,
emotional, physical, and in respect to other friendships. This is echoed by
Mansouri and Bagdas (2002) who state that:
…it is clearly frustrating that people with such a commitment to address the
plight of refugees are left unsupported, isolated and incurring enormous financial
and emotional costs. (p.67)
A professional act
Louise identified both harmful and helpful aspects of the psychology
profession that contributed to her experience. For example, her thirty years of
counselling people in situations where there is little hope provided her with
some idea about how to relate with the young men. However, she was critical of
psychological discourses that speak about refugees solely in clinical terms as
being traumatised or damaged. Louise’s experiences have implications for
The Power of Compassion: An Exploration of the Psychology of Compassion
in the 21st Century
21
psychologists engaging in social action, and point to the necessity of being
knowledgeable about not only psychological issues, but also cultural, social and
political ones.
A political act
While personal and professional aspects of Louise’s experiences have been
identified as important, her experiences reflect an inherently political response
to policies of deterrence. While Louise intended her response to be political, she
had concerns about “whether in taking such individual action I was not being
sufficiently political”. Because her actions, for the most part, are relatively
private and individual (i.e., she is not connected to any organisation or
collective), they may not appear to be highly visible or overtly political.
Through the course of the interviews however, Louise reframed her experiences
as political as well as personal actions.
Louise’s dilemma about whether her actions are “sufficiently political”
echoes the predicaments of those seeking to connect social responsibility with
social injustice, where it is asked “are we are doing enough to work towards
change at a broader structural level…?” As articulated by the APS Women and
Psychology Interest Group (APS, 2002a),
the most appropriate response is to remove the cause of despair. In this instance it
must include considering what changes can be made to the process of how
asylum seekers are assessed for residence in Australia. (p. 3)
On compassion…
Louise did not explicitly identify compassion as a significant concept in
relation to her response and experience. When questioned about how
compassion is important to what she has done however, Louise made links back
to her values and drew attention to the tendency for compassion to be applied
(conditionally) when considering refugees and policies of deterrence.
…I have been open to a human connection, and while compassion has been part
of it, it does have a sense of doing well for someone in a lesser circumstance.
This has been forced to a degree by the enormous power differences that exist
within the situation…but I have held to the principle that these people are equal
and have connected with each of them individually, creating links beyond these
differences…
…as this period in our history is documented, we will look back at this time as an
expression of human values. Some have shown that compassion is a value shown
to all humans, equally. Others however, see compassion differently when it is in
relation to refugees coming in leaky boats, and in some case drowning, and when
we perhaps don’t like the places where some of these people have come from….
22
Chapter Two
Reflections and implications
Louise’s experiences demonstrate that our personal experiences cannot be
separated from our professional roles as psychologists, and that psychologists’
responses to social issues are inherently political endeavours. The study’s
findings point to the importance for future involvement in social issues, whether
as citizens or as psychologists, of attending to the needs and aspirations as
identified by those whom we aim to support (in this case, refugees). This may
mean that the type of action required is practical, social, legal or economic,
rather than or in addition to psychological in nature.
The research also contributes to understanding psychological responses to
policies of deterrence, by rejecting clinical categories that totalise refugees as
(no more than) traumatised, in favour of representing the human faces and lives
of refugees affected by government policies. The study also documents the
holistic role of those who support refugees in the context of such policies,
identifying both significant rewards and challenges for those involved.
The Woomera Experience: Lyn
I answered an advertisement in the Melbourne Age for psychologists to
work in ‘Remote Detention Centres’. I was asked to send my résumé. Within a
week, I was heading for South Australia and the notorious high security
Woomera Detention Centre. I was contracted to work for six weeks from mid
March to early April 2002.
This is my story, but it is also the story of many others. Most importantly, it
is the story of men, women and children who have been and remain incarcerated.
Some are now resident under temporary protection. Under this category of
“humanity” they are subject to the tyranny of the anxiety of the possibility of
forced repatriation to unstable Afghanistan or Iran or Iraq or Palestine. They
suffer the despair of forbidden family reunion and the denial of full human
rights.
I am choosing not to speak on a diagnostic level and not to pathologise these
people. Daily acts of self-harm were enacted, and many detainees were suffering
extreme mental ill health, including severe depression and traumatic stress. I
wish to focus on the traumatising environment of the detention centre.
Many of the detainees were suffering previous trauma. The boat journey
alone had often been terrifying and life threatening. This makes the case for a
welcoming sensitive reception in Australia. Instead the detainees saw Woomera
as even worse than the abuse that they had fled. The uncertainty of the future,
lack of control to influence outcomes, lack of accurate information and
perceived inconsistency created psychological torment. Parents had little control