Two seemingly unconnected reports in Thursday’s T&T Guardian provide readers with one of the causes of the catastrophe of the times, and a means to attenuate, at least, the violence so prevalent everywhere.
The first is the news of the beheading of a four-year-old child, allegedly by someone closely connected to her and her mother. Outside of the news section of the Guardian is an analysis by an expert in the field of the healing and directing power of Emotional Intelligence (EI). From the description, examination and analysis of EI, it is “the internal capabilities of individuals to manage their emotions, as well as to recognize, influence and relate to other people’s emotional experience.”
In referencing that dastardly act of violence and reflecting on the thousands more which have occurred in this country over the last decade, we see the pattern of individuals and groups of persons unable to come to terms with their problems and challenges in a constructive manner. Instead, they resort to various forms of violence as a means of finding false solutions.
While this is not an attempt to play at psychoanalyzing the perpetrators of violence and doing so from a distance, it is clear that in many instances, especially among persons known to each other, the perpetrators of the violence do not have the Emotional Intelligence to deal with their anguish in a non-violent and productive manner.
The same can be said in certain instances in which the victims of the initial violence against them, retaliate in kind rather than using EI to attempt to bring calm to a situation. For all intents and purposes, EI is an unused means of responding to violence.
And we are surely not referring to a four-year-old child, hundreds of other small children, and even adults who cannot respond with violence in any manner.
The focus of the study reported in the article in question is on the use of EI in the environment of the workplace which is a “microcosm of society that incorporates unique personalities from multicultural backgrounds, diverse groups and a plethora of volatile emotions.”
It is inevitable that in such situations, conflict will arise between and among individuals. The same will apply to families, relationships of all kinds, and even in the interaction between someone at a counter, waiting for service from an indifferent employee.
As we frequently witness on videos, students in the same school, possibly in the same class, engage in amazingly violent behaviours against their peers, friends, and even classmates, in response to a comment taken badly, an action unappreciated, and, in matters even more trivial.
It is obvious that there is a lack of Emotional Intelligence to handle such situations in a manner which can solve the problem, prevent the resort to violence, and bring healing. The intelligence gleaned from an understanding of the importance of EI is to acknowledge that it’s a methodology of learning which needs to be spread far and wide in schools, in families, on the blocs, the playing fields, and in every environment in which persons interact with each other and where there exists the potential for conflict.
We need to put into effect the most beneficial means of learning and nurturing.