Psychology of Piracy - Essay Example

Psychology of Piracy Psychology of Piracy Piracy has been a major issue in the world since time immemorial but thepsychology of piracy is not as popular as the act itself. Seamen usually face rough times in the sea while either sailing or while on the cruise ships. Most merchants want their wares delivered in time and the put pressure of otherwise good sailors and captains in order to deliver their merchandise.1 Some sailors and captains transport huge numbers of seafarers who sometimes end up in the snares of pirates. Although the tough conditions of operating in the sea contribute to piracy, it is worth looking into the psychological aspect of piracy in order to get the concept in a better way.2 This paper explores the psychological aspects of piracy in regards to the causes of piracy and its impacts on seafarers. Many of the pirates were once seamen of good repute but mistreatment by their employers and merchants made them who they are today. It is so in the sense that the enormous pressure that seamen work under may make them to develop psychological trauma. It is evident when some seamen gather to drink and enjoy a good time with their wives and mistresses.3 The history of the pirates stretches long enough to the time when they were sea merchants. The captains of the ships had exclusive rights to the ships and they used this privilege to propagate highhandedness against the merchants. More often than not, merchants are busy people who rush against time to deliver their wares to the people who need them. In psychology, a person develops an attitude or behaviour in accordance with how the immediate surrounding treats him/her. Seamen were using an escapist approach while on long voyages because they focused more on drinking than on ensuring that they reach their destination. They drank beer and involved themselves in huge merrymaking activities in the hope of forgetting the harsh conditions in the sea. They tried to forget the challenges that they were undergoing while at the sea, especially in the hands of the captains but it was not working out. Some of the seamen find it easy to become pirates than to continue being merchants of doom. In this regard, some of the seamen had developed an inhumane attitude that could lead them to kidnap and even kill their victims. Any person who has undergone psychological trauma has an unstable mind and can harm other people if he/she does not receive the necessary psychological help.4 Sea piracy is not a new phenomenon, considering that it used to thrive in the ancient world. Nonetheless, the pirates may differ in their intentions and modes of operation, depending on the kind of vessels or victims that they target.5 For example, some pirates prefer a hostage situation while others like to hold cargo for a ransom. The psychology that applies to either situation is the same although the actions could be entirely different. Piracy situation is growing and it is important to understand that those who commit to piracy have some psychological aspect to it. The psychological elements of piracy do not only end with the pirates but it extends to the victims of piracy who have to live with the impacts of all sorts of torture.6 Pirates look at the cost benefit analysis of their actions before they embark on any ambush. The seamen considered piracy as a better option despite the high risks involved in the process, especially during the time of attack. The most probable answer to this scenario is that the amount of mistreatment that the merchants experienced was far much greater than the risks involved with piracy. Since the crew of the seafarers are not driven the owners of the ship, they have to contend with the menace of the captains, who in most cases are sluggish and arrogant. The merchants who are dissatisfied with the services of their captains develop a tendency to attack such captains and even attack other ships.7 The psychological aspect of piracy cuts across the effects on both the pirates and the seafarers. In some cases, the families of the seafarers are also affected psychologically, especially in a hostage situation. The pirates play a psychological war with their victims and the owners of ships in order to get what they want. While some pirates used to own ships a while back, modern piracy has advanced to the extent that the pirates use technology to track their potential victims. Pirates play around with the minds of their captives and those of the owners of the ship or merchandize in order to lure them into giving in. Coercion is also a critical tool that pirates use to achieve their objectives.8 Pirate leaders had to be ruthless men who were capable of committing murder and all forms of impunity. It means that piracy was not an occupation for the fainthearted because it involved a number of inhumane acts.9 Some of the activities that the pirates and their leaders had to prepare for included murder, rape, and torture, even if it meant spending months with the hostages or inside the hijacked ship. The behaviour and attitude of a particular person could either qualify or disqualify him/her as the leader of a particular pirate group. Therefore, those who were pirates had some form of psychological impairment in the sense that their cognitive aspects had significant impairment.10 The leaders elected to head a group of pirates had to portray a strong personality, especially against a stubborn group of pirates. Personality trait depends heavily on the cognitive ability of an individual. It means that the leaders of pirates had weak cognitive skills, which was the main predetermining factor for their eligibility to be leaders. In case they eased in their ruthlessness, they were delegated to become captains. It means that the captains exhibited a rather mild behaviour. The leaders of the pirates were elected based on their ability to deal with an unruly group of other pirates. A great deal of psychology was required to read the minds of the irate pirates and deal with them accordingly.11 When it comes to the victims of piracy, it is worth noting that the victims and their next of kin suffered significant psychological trauma. For example, the high level of piracy that was experiences in the Gulf of Eden by Somali pirates is still haunting the victims of such acts. Those that were under captivity, together with their families, are still feeling the psychological impact of the captivity that the victims of piracy underwent. The victims of piracy themselves undergo psychological trauma because they are unsure of their fate. The pirates use this psychological trick to coerce the authorities of immediate family members to give to their demands. The families of victims alike undergo mental torture although they are not experiencing the torture directly.12 Anticipatory stress is quite high in high piracy zones such as the Indian Ocean and this problem is a psychological problem that needs psychotherapy. It is so considering the fact that most of the pirates that have struck in the past came from the seaports. Such pirates target the ships that sail or cruise through the major sea routes, especially sea routes that pass through canals or gulfs. The pirates create overt tension and stress by attacking prime ships. Not only are the ship crew under psychological distress, but also the other crewmembers and seafarers in other ships that anticipate passing through the same route.13 Pirate ships differ from merchant or cruise ships in a number of ways but primarily in the mode of operation and organization. The pirates that existed before the French Revolution had recognized the need for democracy in their operations, unlike most ships that existed at the time. Through democracy, the pirates manifested the rule of liberty, equality, and goodwill. The pirates recognized that the human mind, intentions, and desires are too strong to be left without regulations. In addition, the crew within a pirate ship had the upper hand over which direction the ship will take and which ships the pirates will attack. The captains of the pirate ships sat down like puppets to be guided to potential attack zones.14 Most of the encounters with the pirates often led to severe psychological consequences, especially to the victims and their families. The traumatic experiences that seafarer underwent was beyond description because the psychological effects of such encounters will haunt them forever. The captains of the hijacked ships also underwent similar or even worse experience in the sense that they were tortured in order to reveal the worth of the cargo that they were ferrying.15 It was evident that the pirates were subjecting their victims through psychological trauma in order to get them to reveal certain things to the pirates. The pirates used a number of threats ranging from death threats, beatings, and subjecting their victims to hostile weather for days. In essence, most of the pirates that existed before the famous French Revolution were sea merchants but mistreatment and torture caused them to become pirates. They replicated the mistreatments that they underwent to their victims perhaps in an effort to satisfy their psychological ego.16 Reference List Geib, R., and Petrig, A., Piracy and armed robbery at sea: The legal framework for counter-piracy operations in Somalia and the Gulf of Aden, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Guilfoyle, D., Modern Piracy: Legal Challenges and Responses, Northampton, Edward Elgar, 2013. Haywood, R. and Spivak, R., Maritime Piracy, New Jersey, Routledge, 2013. Lehr, P., Violence at Sea: Piracy in the Age of Global Terrorism, London, Routledge, 2006. Mejia, M. Q., Chie K., and Sawyer, M., Piracy at Sea, Berlin, Springer, 2013. Read More