Egypt's Housing Min. reviews joint water, wastewater projects    Egypt seeks Indian expertise to boost pharmaceutical industry    Egyptian pound shows stability vs. USD in early trade    Egypt's PM heads to Japan for TICAD 9 Africa development summit    National Council for Childhood reviews plan to combat child labour    Egypt's Supreme Organ Transplant Committee strengthens oversight, standards    Price cuts underway across Egypt, says trade federation report    African agribusiness market expected to reach $1tr by 2030    Israelis protest for hostage deal amid growing pressure on Netanyahu    Serbia's Vucic vows 'tough measures' against protesters after unrest    Zelenskyy seeks US security guarantees as Trump says he can 'end war now'    Egypt prepares unified stance ahead of COP30 in Brazil    Egypt's FM, Palestinian PM visit Rafah crossing to review Gaza aid    Egypt delivers over 30 million health services through public hospitals in H1 2025    Egypt recovers collection of ancient artefacts from Netherlands    Egypt harvests 315,000 cubic metres of rainwater in Sinai as part of flash flood protection measures    Fitch Ratings: ASEAN Islamic finance set to surpass $1t by 2026-end    Renowned Egyptian novelist Sonallah Ibrahim dies at 88    Al-Sisi says any party thinking Egypt will neglect water rights is 'completely mistaken'    Egyptian, Ugandan Presidents open business forum to boost trade    Egypt's Sisi, Uganda's Museveni discuss boosting ties    Egypt's Sisi warns against unilateral Nile measures, reaffirms Egypt's water security stance    Egypt, Huawei explore healthcare digital transformation cooperation    Egypt's Sisi, Sudan's Idris discuss strategic ties, stability    Egypt's govt. issues licensing controls for used cooking oil activities    Egypt to inaugurate Grand Egyptian Museum on 1 November    Greco-Roman rock-cut tombs unearthed in Egypt's Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Quebec: Just a crazy man with a gun?
Published in The Egyptian Gazette on 12 - 09 - 2012

Last week in Canada, in the province of Quebec Richard Henry Bain shot and killed Denis Blanchette, who was trying to prevent him from entering the building where Pauline Marois was addressing her Parti Québécois supporters following the Quebec election in which her party won the most seats. The Canadian media reported Bain is bipolar. Isn't that the explanation for his behaviour? Need we look further? Yes, we must.
The behaviour of people who are mentally ill, just as that of those who are not, is determined by the culture and social milieu in which that behaviour takes place. The illness alone does not determine the behaviour. Culture is a determinant both of normative and of deviant behaviour.
For starters, the choice of a gun and the arrival on the scene with various firearms is reflective of the North American (read American) love affair with guns and our preoccupation with them. Bain is into guns in a big way. Then, there is his own declaration upon being captured: “The English are waking up!" and “pay-back time". What is the social context in which these words are uttered?
Pauline Marois ran her campaign as the candidate from Hérouxville. English institutions would be challenged. The English CEGEPs (junior colleges) would be off limits to all but the certified Anglophone minority, thus weakening them. Bill 101, which gives priority to the French language, would be strengthened, at the expense of other languages but especially of English.
Her proposed Charter of Secularism would target ethnic apparel—except for the cross. Bain might well have been driven by her “secularism". The culture-bondage in which she is entwined and which she promotes brings us the milieu in which a psychologically deranged individual might act.
One can look at other instances of such “crazy" behaviour.
Norway's Anders Brevik was found to be sane, but that finding only means that he can be found criminally responsible. It definitely does not mean that he has all his marbles. The cultural milieu in which he was immersed is that of xenophobia, fearing immigrants and Muslims. That is not the general milieu in Norway, but it is not difficult to find it in Norway and internationally. Racism goes world-wide through the internet.
Sirhan Sirhan was clearly mentally ill, though possibly sane in a legal sense, when he shot Robert Kennedy. His behaviour cannot be ascribed simply to his illness. He is a Palestinian who was upset by Kennedy's support of Israel. Without that factor, whatever behaviour in which his illness might have manifested itself, it would not have been in assassinating Kennedy.
The anthropologist Leslie White posed this question: Why do revolutionaries appear only during periods of revolutionary crisis? “Perhaps for the same reason that great rivers so frequently flow past great cities." So why does a Richard Henry Bain arise? What are the “great rivers" that might explain?
Let us pursue this line of reasoning to identify factors in our culture and social milieu that may be things onto which other disturbed individuals might latch to impel them to kill. We have already spoken of the gun as a means. It is also a possible motivation. (“Are you trying to take my guns away?") Bain illustrates the issue of ethnic conflict, and aspects of that conflict could form the cultural basis for “crazy" behavior by a deranged person. Such a person could, for example, be from either English- or French-speaking milieu.
A constant source of conflict is over language policy. Bilingualism in Canada is important, not the least because it provides opportunities. The opposite of that is a lack of opportunity for the unilingual. Our education systems hardly address this matter in an adequate fashion. The social psychologist John Dollard said: “Anticipation of failure is equivalent of anticipation of punishment."
There are times when job requirements of bilingualism are brushed aside, for the favoured candidate for a position. Inevitably, the person promises to learn French. But have you ever heard of a person being appointed on the basis of a promise to learn English?
From time to time, there are killings related to job loss, especially to being fired. The culture of the workplace has changed over the years in two directions. Labour law has put a damper on some of the most egregious treatment of workers, but on the other hand work has become more precarious — part-time, temporary, casual. The workplace is the milieu in which such acts may well occur from time to time.
In short, it is not enough to say that a killer is crazy. We need to look at what made that “crazy" person choose that target, using that method. We need to consider what aspects of our (Canadian) culture might attract a deranged person to such behavior. We might also ask ourselves if there are things that can be done to lessen the risks of such occurrences. To begin, we might look at our love affair with the gun.
Elmasry is a professor emeritus of computer engineering, University of Waterloo. He can be reached at [email protected]


Clic here to read the story from its source.