General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Police 'not ruling anyone or anything out' after shooting death of Georgia baby [View all]pnwmom
(109,049 posts)Everyone reacts to trauma in their own way.
And it is all too common to look at victims and decide they're not behaving correctly. Some victims are blamed because they show too much emotion, some are blamed because they show too little. Some talk too much, some don't say anything. And some end up going to prison for crimes they didn't commit because a prosecutor convinces a jury something about their behavior seems suspicious. I just read about a man in Texas who was released from prison after 26 years when they discovered someone else had murdered his wife. Why was he convicted? Mostly because he didn't "act right." For example, a neighbor testified that after the wife's death, he mowed down his wife's favorite patch of (dead) marigolds. Horrors! Who would do such a thing? He must be guilty of murder.
People want to blame the victim, think somehow it must be the victim's fault. Why? Because it's unbearable to think that we ourselves could end up victims, too.