Have you heard about the dark side? Everyone has a dark side and here you will read the explanation about it along with a dark psychology review by James R. Williams about avoiding psychological manipulation. Here is the explanation about the dark side and the dark psychological review by James R. Williams about avoiding psychological manipulation by diving into criminal thoughts according to the Kampus Psikologi site in an article written by Neraca Cinta Dzilhaq, S.Psi.
According to Carl Jung, every human being has a dark side or called “The Shadow”. It is defined as one of the unconscious aspects of personality that the conscious ego does not identify; or the whole of the subconscious, namely everything that is not fully realized by a person. It means that we cannot see the dark side of another person and even the person itself cannot know it.
If there is someone who realizes that his dark side can be used for personal gain by hurting others, dark psychology explores it. It is because dark psychology is a branch of the study of human behaviour that reveals the phenomenon of individuals using tactics, motivation, and manipulation to get what they want.
Have you watched the Criminal Minds or Mindhunters series? If you have watched it, you may be familiar with the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) organization under the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). People who work at BAU use criminology and psychology to conduct analysis and profiling of the actions of criminals.
You may think that manipulation is studied in psychology. It is true, but according to the American Psychology Association website, psychological manipulation is a way of influencing other people to act according to our wishes. So, the manipulation needs to be carried out with the right ethics and procedures in accordance with the Psychological Code of Ethics.
Let’s take an example. Let’s say in a psychological experiment, there is a researcher who wants to prove the effect of a new antidepressant drug to a number of participants. Psychological manipulation which is done here is to divide the patients into two groups. And then, one group is given an antidepressant drug, while another group is given a placebo.
There is also negative psychological manipulation. What is it? Usually, it is known as emotional blackmail, gaslighting, peer pressure, or guilt trip. The victims of negative psychological manipulation can be stressed, do not have control over his actions, feel guilty on and on, lack self-confidence, and even become depressed. In this digital era, the forms of negative psychological manipulation are increasingly widespread. Lately, people often find psychological manipulation forms through images, text, videos and even direct words and as you know that now information can spread quickly. It means that if the information is wrong, people will get the wrong information quickly as well and it can lead to digital crime.
Dark Psychology Book Overview
James R. Williams in his book entitled Dark Psychology: The Practical Uses and Best Defenses of Psychological Warfare in Everyday Life invites us to know the characteristics of a manipulator and also try to find out how the manipulators choose their victims and use their tactics to influence the victims. According to James R. William, the manipulators work very carefully so that we also need to be careful to catch the manipulators’ movements.
Manipulation and Its Diverse Roots
In his book, Williams reveals about the ‘snowball’ effect which can occur on injured victims. Let’s take an example. Let’s say that there is a child who comes from a family that often uses psychology to tell him to obey his parents. This child will do the same to others as well because he receives that thing in his family. The worst thing is that sometimes there is also physical violence which leads to death. In this book, Williams gives some examples for this case.
The first example was a murder case which was committed by a man to the women who he had dated. The women were attracted to him because his speaking style was smooth and attractive. However, when the victim was inadvertent, the man took the opportunity to lead the victim to his house and he did a torture. When the victim was being tortured, the man asked her about how she wanted to be killed: the fast way or the slow way. If the victim screamed for help, the man would hold the victim for days without food and then he would target the people closest to the victim. The victim felt afraid and she felt that she did not have a choice and eventually she had to die.
So, what is psychological manipulation which was done by the man? There were two types. The first one was that he pretended to be good to lead the victim, and the second one was that he made the victim helpless by giving her difficult choices.
In the second case, there was a leader of a religious sect who succeeded in making people believe that she was a saint of God. So, a lot of people became followers of his teachings. However, actually he kept an evil plan. He took advantage of the sacred relationship between his followers and himself. He claimed that he had direct communication with God and he stated that he had a mandate to sleep with 7 virgins who were also minors. His sect followers can do nothing, unless there was one person who realized that this action was not right and left the sect.
Well, the point is that the success of a manipulation is fear where the manipulators will take advantage of the victim’s fear because the emotional needs that come from fear will tend to overpower rational logic.
Criticism, Suggestions, and Tips for Readers
If you are from the Psychology department and you are interested in criminal psychology or forensic psychology, this book is a good book for you as a reference. Besides, this book is also able to be a guide for everyday life so that you will be avoided from any manipulation forms.
In this book, the grammar used by the writer tends to be easily understood by ordinary people. If you read this book, you will also read the explanation in a coherent manner completed with examples from real cases. Do you want to counteract the psychological manipulation of others and avoid yourself from doing the same? Don’t worry because some tactics will be taught to you. Here are the tactics.
First, you must ask yourself, “Actually, what’s my problem? If it is true that I have a problem, how can I accept that problem?” It is important for you to note that every problem can be a source of fear and it makes it easier for people to be psychologically manipulated. If you can recognize your problem, you know how to overcome yourself to fall into the ‘abyss’ of manipulation.
Second, in the book, Williams suggests that you have to move quickly. When you are manipulated by people who you really trust, it tends to be difficult for you to catch the red flag or signs that you are manipulated. So, you have to observe again and again carefully and you need to remember that they often work invisibly.
Third, let’s say that you have been manipulated. If so, make sure that you do not feel guilty on and on. Sometimes, you need to accept that you are imperfect humans. So, forgive yourself and learn from the mistake.
Lastly, you have to trust your instincts. Sometimes, we are so hung up on the things that seem beautiful so that we forget that our instincts are telling us something that should not be true. You have to use your instinct with rational logic to decide something which is good for you.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
