The "Shut off" Mechanism

Another characteristic that all criminals share is the ability to anesthetize ourselves and become numb to our emotions and the potential consequences of our behavior. This "shut off" mechanism enables us to eliminate internal deterrents to irresponsible behavior, such as fear and guilt, and to disregard any lessons learned from experience. This defensive mechanism is the cornerstone of our lifestyle. Without this ability to avoid conscious awareness, we couldn’t continue to choose to commit crime.

Internal and external deterrents usually keep most people from committing crimes. Internal deterrents include a person’s morals, values, belief in God, fear, guilt, empathy for a victim, and pangs of conscience. External deterrents are the ones outside the individual that are usually reinforced by society. These include any legal consequences, including fines and prison, as well as potential ostracism from our social circle, and the loss of trust and respect from those around us.

As criminals, we are not devoid of emotion or incapable of learning from experience. We feel fear, guilt and shame. It’s just that we have enhanced our ability to avoid the awareness of these things when they interfere with what we want to do. However, even though this shut-off mechanism can become habitual and automatic, it is still a mental process that is totally under our control. We can always choose whether to avoid awareness or not.

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