Self-deception by McGinty and the CCC?
The Desert Rat recently came across an interesting read, a book "Mistakes were made, but not by me." by C Tavris and E Aronson. The book explores "cognitive dissonance" - a condition where there is tension within the minds of people who refuse to accept what simply has to be true.
Despite the mountain of evidence in the Smiths Beach Inquiry that nothing untoward or illegal was done by any of the parties investigated, both Attorney General Jim McGinty and the Corruption and Crime Commission are in denial of the facts. The CCC have had about ten consecutive hidings recently in the Magistrates Court, also by independent public sector inquiries and by the Parliamentary Inspector Malcolm McCusker.
The Desert Rat remembers when we once had something called the scientific method, where theories were tested by the facts, now the CCC and other groups seem to have theories and mightily strive to fit the facts to them, ignoring those that don't quite work and reinterpreting them if needed.
The staff at the CCC involved in the Smiths Beach Inquiry believe themselves to be good people pursuing villains, yet they know they have got the Smiths Beach Inquiry badly wrong and unfairly destroyed the reputations of many people. These two psychological attitudes are inconsistent and cause dissonance. The perpetrators resolve it by deciding that what they have done is not that bad and will twist their view of their behaviour until it reconciles with their view of themselves. "They deserved it anyway".
There will never be any admission of error by the CCC or McGinty; the dissonance involved will see to that. They will pursue every minor potential charge to convince themselves they are good people.
The recent case of Sydney Archbishop George Pell is an example. In his mind, he refused to accept the overwhelming evidence before him about a sexual assault by a priest. Pell wrote to victim Anthony Jones and said the claims of indecent abuse against Jones by Fr Terrance Goodall could not be substantiated.
The same day he signed another letter to another complainant against Fr Goodall, that said there were no other complaints against Fr Goodall! You could see Pell on TV a bit bewildered by his behaviour - as if he was saying "How could this have happened?"
Church investigators had upheld the claims of religious teacher Anthony Jones , "without qualification" and recommended a second case of sexual assault against another boy by Goodall - be sustained.
Fr Goodall had admitted to police that it was an assault and not consensual and apologised in writing to the victim as the Desert Rat understands the events.
Pell appears to have ignored all the facts and said the complaint was unsubstantiated! It's an example of cognitive dissonance, not necessarily a deliberate lie.
Our own Andrew Mallard case has strong elements of cognitive dissonance when the behaviour of the police is examined and perhaps that of the prosecutor. Malcolm McCusker QC for the defence lawyer for Mallard failed to convince Judge Len Roberts-Smith in the WA Court of Criminal Appeal of the fatally flawed case - McCusker had to then go to the High Court to get justice for Mallard.
Perhaps Commissioner General Roberts-Smith is wondering how he got it wrong?
You say "The staff at the CCC involved in the Smiths Beach Inquiry believe themselves to be good people pursuing villains".
ReplyDeleteI am not sure this is true. Look at Silverstone's track record. The man knows what to say to his superiors (children were thrown overboard for example). This is just the latest example. He did the job for the Libs in 2001. He is doing the job for McGinty in 2008. The man knowns who pays him his 30 pieces of silver...