Gray Matters: Thoughts Inspired by Casey Anthony - Op-Ed

Gray Matters: Thoughts Inspired By Casey Anthony, A Psychologically Driven Theory of What Could Have Happened by MFT Cathy DeBuono. 

Read Gray Matters: Thoughts Inspired by Casey Anthony Part 2 here.

Gray Matters: Thoughts Inspired By Casey Anthony, A Psychologically Driven Theory of What Could Have Happened by MFT Cathy DeBuono. 

Read Gray Matters: Thoughts Inspired by Casey Anthony Part 2 here.

Now don't get immediately upset because I use the words "Inspired by Casey Anthony" in the title without including some sort of bequest for her head on a platter. I knew that folks all over the country were beyond upset that Casey Anthony was acquitted of all charges related to the murder of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. However, since the closing of the trial last August, I have gone into a comfortable denial about the raging violent blood lust of the majority. Enter her “leaked” video diary on January 5th, and the release of her pre-trial psychological evaluations this month, and all that public blood lust came rushing back to the fore.

I won’t explain here who Casey Anthony is. Unless you have been living under a proverbial rock for the last year, you know exactly who she is. If you don't, give her a Google and you'll find enough to keep you busy, well, forever.

Like thousands of others, I became enthralled last summer by the murder trial of Casey Anthony. I was fascinated by the sheer vacillating appearance of what seemed to be going on. I'm always drawn to a murder mystery. However, the more information I learned about the case and the more characters we met along the way, the less clear all of it seemed to become. 

Never mind the black and white of guilt or innocence -- I had other questions. Who, exactly, were the good guys supposed to be? Who was the bad guy? There was no proof to lead us to a conclusion of an inarguable truth. The closer I looked at the black and white facts all I could see was gray.

A lover of psychology as I am, I was hooked. Not only did the stories, time lines, and “so-called” facts of the case seem negotiable (as demonstrated by the lies told by Casey herself), but all the supporting characters in the entire Anthony family seemed to shift and change shape depending on the moment in time we encountered them. 

By this family’s standards, reality, it seemed, was something to be negotiated until all parties were sufficiently appeased. It’s as if “truth” ceased to be a matter of any real importance a long, long time ago. I was astounded at how each and every member of Casey’s immediate family behaved just like holograms. We’d see whatever image of themselves was necessary for their survival in any given moment.

It was a spectacle not to be quickly understood. How does an entire family end up manifesting into an organism that harmoniously operates in this way? I have to imagine that the answer can only be that it was a far more palatable option than the truth itself.

Very early on in the trial last year it became clear to me that if actual responsibility were going to be allocated appropriately for the death of this baby we would have to expand the diameter of the hot seat to include not only Casey but decades of generations of the entire Anthony family tree. No one seemed interested in doing the work. Not the prosecution, not the media, hardly anyone.

Now don't get me wrong -- I can hear the boiling blood from here as I dare to insinuate that Casey be granted a bit of wiggle room. I'm not implying she be free of all accountability for any responsibility she holds in the death of her daughter. I am suggesting that everyone who wants to burn Casey at the stake, slap themselves in the face and snap out of their simpleton thinking - just for a minute. 

I’m aware of how the story of those 31 days after her child was “missing” makes Casey look to the rest of us. Who can fathom how any innocent, loving, well intended, mother could put on a happy face and party after the death of her two year-old daughter. Even if she weren’t responsible for the death itself, who doesn’t report an accident or someone she suspected as her killer? What kind of person lies to cover up the bad behavior of someone who they believe caused the death of their baby? I’ll tell you quite possibly who. A survivor of horrific, life long sexual abuse coupled with emotional neglect who has been protecting that person as a matter of survival for her whole entire life.

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