English Other Psychology

There was a certain psychological parallel here with the man who had not fired at My Lai, and with Kingman Brewster who had so admirably guided Yale during its time of crisis. People who behave well in highly threatening situations can be more prone to berate themselves—to experience feelings of guilt—than those who behave badly. This is partly because the former (heroes and victims) allow themselves to take in psychologically, and apply their demanding conscience to, the painful realities involved, while the latter (perpetrators and their collaborators) call forth every form of defense mechanism to avoid inwardly experiencing precisely those realities.