Quote From: cpa2be I agree with you 100%.
That situation between Angela, Chris, and their daughter bothered me all night. After letting it percolate for a while, I recalled something that I have read about those who are/were addicted to crystal methamphetamine: the drug pretty much reduces its users to becoming sociopaths, at least while they're using. The
only thing they're concerned with is getting their next fix. These folks basically turn into zombies, and there's no guarantee that quitting will reverse that effect.
There's some medical evidence that meth can permanently damage portions of the brain that govern emotions and ability to experience pleasure, this is why it's very hard for people to kick a meth habit. They either go back to it, or they develop other addictions, just so they can feel something.
I can only guess what meth does to a user who ALREADY has antisocial tendencies... I think that's at the root of what scares me about Chris. Heck, I only saw the man on a TV screen and he scared the bejeebers out of me. So I am seriously praying for Angela & her little girl.
What Dr. Phil was saying is that a psychologist would supervise the visit while the visit is happening. The little girl would not go home with her dad, he would have to meet her and the psychologist perhaps at like the office of the psychologist. In this way, the child can get to know him, and the psychologist would be observing his interactions with her, probably through a one-way mirror, or even may actually be in the room, I am not sure, probably so in the beginning. I am certain Chris will have to prove that all drugs and alcohol are out of his system for an extended period of time before any psychologist would deem him safe to spend time with this child unsupervised, and also he would have to show no encounters with the law, and better impulse control. The therapy Dr. Phil offered Chris will help him learn about himself and how to make better decisions. If he truly wants a relationship with his daughter, he will most definitely have to prove himself. Chris needs to learn that being in a situation that he needs to allegedly react in self-defense is no situation his daughter needs to be around. The psychologist will help Chris to realize this.
We are products of a combination of our biology and our environment. Sad thing to me is this....to think of what kind of upbringing Chris must have had, and what kind of abuse he must have suffered, and what poor role-models he must have had, to develop into such a self-destructive person, and one who perpetrates violence and abuse onto other people and onto animals. It bothered me too that nothing was his fault, like "where is the report?" If someone killed my cat, I personally would have them prosecuted for animal crelty, and then I would sue them in civil court for my loss of personal property, and I would definitely keep the report. Chris is definitely in a place where he does not recognize why he would be considered a danger to his child, but the psychological intervention I am sure will last over an extended period of time, and hopefully help him alot.
I do think that the way this man was hurting over not being able to see his child was not an act. I hope he can get himself turned around, because psychological pain is some of the most difficult pain to feel. I am thankful for the upbringing I had, I sort of had an idyllic childhood, filled with trips to the beach, playing outside with my brother, and eating ice cream cones. Surely Chris did not have an idyllic childhood. Perpetrating violence onto others is a learned behavior. He was either abused, or social learning theory would indicate his role models were violent. The mark of an excellent psychologist, which I believe Dr. Phil is, was giving Chris a healthy dose of reality, but doing so with empathy, and obviously Dr. Phil cared enough about him to extend him the counseling he so obviously needs. Chris did show enough social skills to know to say thank-you, he actually said it twice, and when someone gives you the chance to turn your life around, thank-you is definitely in order.
Writing Chris off as a human being because of his past is callous and not fair. He deserves a chance to prove himself, and it is actually his right. We are all works in progress, and unfortunately the playing field is not level. Chris's start in life was indeed shaky, and he may not ever get better, but I hope for him, his daughter's mother, and his daughter, that he does.