Encountering Empathy Critical Issues Series Editors Dr Robert Fisher Lisa Howard Dr Ken Monteith Advisory Board Simon Bacon Ana Borlescu Katarzyna Bronk Ann-Marie Cook John L. Hochheimer Peter Mario Kreuter Stephen Morris John Parry Peter Twohig Karl Spracklen S Ram Vemuri A Critical Issues research and publications project. http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/critical-issues/ The Ethos Hub ‘Empathy’ 2015 Encountering Empathy: Interrogating the Past, Envisioning the Future Edited by Victoria Wain and Paulus Pimomo Inter-Disciplinary Press Oxford, United Kingdom © Inter-Disciplinary Press 2015 http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/publishing/id-press/ The Inter-Disciplinary Press is part of Inter-Disciplinary.Net – a global network for research and publishing. The Inter-Disciplinary Press aims to promote and encourage the kind of work which is collaborative, innovative, imaginative, and which provides an exemplar for inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of Inter-Disciplinary Press. Inter-Disciplinary Press, Priory House, 149B Wroslyn Road, Freeland, Oxfordshire. OX29 8HR, United Kingdom. +44 (0)1993 882087 ISBN: 978-1-84888-390-1 First published in the United Kingdom in eBook format in 2015. First Edition. Table of Contents Introduction vii Veronica Wain Part I Defining Empathy: The First Encounter The Physiology of Empathy: Theoretical and 3 Practical Implications Yaron Yagil Empathy as Orientation rather than Feeling: Why Empathy 17 is Ethically Complex Steve Larocco Three Problems with Empathy 25 Gavin Fairbairn Part II Encountering Empathy through the Arts Poetry of Compassionate Empathy 35 Paulus Pimomo Empathic Fiction: Modelling Understanding across Borders 45 in Camilla Gibb’s The Beauty of Humanity Movement Jane Chamberlain Can you see me now? Examining Empathy and Perception 53 through Art Practice Fiona Larkin Uncertainty Principle: The Locus of Empathy in Breaking Bad 63 Abby Bentham Das Vermächtnis: Facing a Legacy of Violence with Empathy 73 Stefanie Maria Margarete Dinkelbach Part III Empathy in Action Empathy in News Reporting: Framing Sexual Minorities in 85 Sub-Saharan Africa LJ (Nic) Theo The Use of an Ethnodrama with Healthcare Staff to Prompt 99 Empathy for People with Dementia Lesley Baillie and Eileen Sills Empathy with the Enemy: Can the Intellectually Gifted 111 Experience Empathy with the Intellectually Impaired? Veronica Wain Part IV Online Encounters: Empathy in the Digital Age Not Seeing Eye-to-Eye: Social Media, Disembodied Interaction 123 and the Erosion of Empathy Garry Robson The Empathic Gamer 139 Poppy Wilde ‘Gays are the New Jews’: Homophobic Representations in 151 African Media versus Twitterverse Empathy Charles King Part V Evidence-Based Empathy: Research Directions The Horizons of Empathic Experience 165 Rebeccah Nelems Youth’s Empathy and Complex Thinking 177 Camilla Pagani Conflict Resolution Styles and Reasons for Conflicts 189 in Intimate Relationships of Young People Zuzana Hradileková and Ivona Kunertová Introduction Veronica Wain and Paulus Pimomo The historic, picturesque city of Prague provided the ideal backdrop for the first Interdisciplinary Global Conference on Empathy: Imagining the World from the Perspective of Another or Others. The pulse of this vibrant city that both values its past and embraces the new was reflected in the rich and diverse presentations delivered by participants representing nations across the globe. Participants hailed from South Africa, Israel, Slovakia, Ireland, England, Italy, Poland, Australia, Iceland, Canada and the United States. The disciplines represented at the conference were as diverse as the contributors’ countries of origin and offered an array of perspectives on the workings of this human trait we call empathy. This diversity of approach ensured a robust examination of the subject matter, resulting in both clarity and confusion, the location of sites of agreement, borderlines and division that may in some respects, be indicative of the many ‘selves’ implicit in any empathic exchange. From the outset however, a sense of contribution and sharing was apparent. The presentations reflected passion, intent and a collective drive to explore, uplift and enlighten, with the ultimate aim of enriching our global community. As diverse as the approaches were, a number of common themes emerged and are reflected in this volume. Whilst it may be said that our subject matter, in and of itself, remains somewhat of a mystery, the act of expressing and experiencing empathy presents an opportunity for change - positive and otherwise. The potential to misuse this capacity, to be able to imagine what it may be like to walk in an ‘Other’s’ shoes, is explored in varying degrees, as are the possibilities for positive change, when the principles of an ethical, empathic encounter are employed and the self meets the ‘Other’. Indeed the question of what may constitute the ethics of empathy is apparent throughout. The fluidity of the self and the ‘Other’, where neither entity remains static, presenting each with new possibilities of ‘knowing’ one an ‘Other’, was laid bare as we addressed the many faces of empathy. Discussions concerned with the notion of a crowded self, the desire to help or to harm, fear of emotional contagion and of an alien ‘Other’, a fascination with the foreign other and pathways to greater intimacy, allow the reader to access the complexity of the subject at hand. The question of whether empathy may or may not be learned and possible pathways for facilitating that learning, is also a constant throughout the volume. The importance of history as a point of reference in empathy studies became evident wherein if we agree that empathy is a relational domain, then events such as the Holocaust represent extraordinary, mass human failure to relate, in ways that raise inescapable questions about what it means to be human. The tragedy of the Holocaust and its historic echo feature in a number of essays and is the focus of one chapter in particular. viii Introduction __________________________________________________________________ The creative arts, technology and the media are identified as potentially powerful generators of affective and cognitive empathic experiences in their respective audiences. The chapters concerned with the ways in which creative artefacts, technology and the media can become conduits for understanding the ‘Other’, creating mutually beneficial connections or avenues for isolation are primarily concerned with the ways in which their audiences might experience empathy via their chosen mediums. Here, the ever evolving complexity of the empathic encounter is revealed via artists interrogating their own creative practice and their experimentation with innovative ways of effecting positive empathy within their audiences offering the promise of a more nuanced understanding of the subject than we have today. The volume has been divided into five sections and represents to some degree, the trajectory within which we examined empathy over the course of the conference. Section One, ‘Defining Empathy’, lays a theoretical framework from which to proceed, providing the beginning of an ‘anatomy of empathy’, so to speak. An overview of the physiological aspects attributed to empathy, surveying current directions in neurological research and discussions regarding some possible physical prerequisites for the acquisition and activation of empathy, provide a framework with which to begin. Situating the neurology of empathy within a complex milieu of the physical, the psychological and the environmental, and challenging the belief that manifestations of empathy always lead to ethically positive outcomes, leaves us questioning perceptions of the inherent ‘goodness’ of empathy. It is suggested in this section that reorienting our understanding of empathy is critical; from the limiting notion of it as a caring disposition to a more complex orientation. Potential barriers to empathy such as inherent self-interest, a state which has in part ensured the continuation of our species, are seen to dominate human life, still. Mistaking empathy for sympathy and the unexamined assertion that empathy with an ‘Other’ can be realised simply through imagining the ‘other’s’ plight are discussed. Section One problematizes both the phenomenon and discourse of empathy, revealing the intimate relationship between empathy and the preservation of self, which so often comes at the expense of the ‘Other’. Seeing empathy this way, as the product of a social engine for good and for bad, allows us to recognize its multiple manifestations in individuals and groups. Section Two builds upon the theoretical framework established in the first section and explores ways in which empathy is made manifest and expressed across the arts. How might engagement with, and exposure to, the creative arts provide opportunities for heightening self-awareness and greater cross cultural exchange, perhaps facilitating ‘safe places’ where the protected self may venture into the world of an ‘Other’, as conduits for greater understanding? Various modes of artistic expression and practice encompassing literature, photography, television and film are examined from perspectives ranging from an Veronica Wain and Paulus Pimomo ix __________________________________________________________________ academic retrospective viewing