pillz | kavinsky psychology

joseph kavinsky's psychology
a statement of clarification for self and other re: apping at eudio???

disclaimer: play him however you want. i don't own him, and stiefvater herself appears to be a big fan of leaving things open to interpretation. also i'm not an expert on child forensic psychology.

content warning for child abuse, substance abuse, violence against lgbtq persons, and other common triggers i probably can't think of.

also, spoilers for the raven cycle book 2. and the writing in here is bad/unedited

antisocial behavior science :)x

moffit ^[1] proposes that there are 2 types of antisocial youth: life-course persistent and adolescence-limited antisocials. the first type is characterized by neurological differences starting from prenatal or infancy stages and reinforced by a feedback loop between problematic biology and the payoff that comes from exploiting people's shit. the latter type is characterized primarily by environmental learning -- and the ability to engage in prosocial behaviors (i.e., stop being an asshole) when that better serves. notably, these the representatives of 2 types are said to be identical without comprehensive information on early childhood or later adult behavior; studies suggest that some delinquent behavior, and even confrontation with police, is normative.

of course, moffit is not the only person in this field and practically speaking her model is more flexible than it probably seems, in order to accommodate individual variability. plenty of people who would have been 'adolescence-limited' wind up exhibiting decades of such behavior because of poor treatment, such as incarceration in facilities where antisocial behavior is necessary for survival. furthermore, differences in impulse control, specific learning disorders (e.g., trouble reading), treatment/opportunities!!, motivation, and intelligence/capacity to learn are key determinants of how much of an asshole a kid is going to grow up to be.

lgbtq issues in bulgaria

bulgarian society is characterized by transphobia and homophobia, to the point where onlookers threw petrol bombs at a 2008 pride parade ^[3]. three years later, the 2012 pride parade was marked by an official statement from religious orthodoxy calling for the public to stone the 2012 sofia parade participants ^[4]; the event went better, fortunately, thanks to intensified law enforcement presence. however, transphobia and homophobia appear to remain prevalent in the region and the culture, in general comparison with the united states. the effects of this inequality are felt across day-to-day experiences of education, employment, etc.

moral injury

[The Veteran's Administration] define [moral injury] as the extreme distress brought about by “perpetrating, failing to prevent, or bearing witness to acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations.” ^[5]

this issue is not really explored in canon for kavinsky, and it has yet to be made explicit in most popular media despite the frequent discussion of flashbacks, traumatic events, and general bad behavior. it's not relevant to canon itself for obvious reasons, but in a hypothetical scenario where kavinsky's deeds were given room for contemplation, its salience is pretty obvious I HOPE.

it should be noted that empirical evidence indicates that moral injury can complicate recovery of ptsd, or cause major depressive symptoms even after post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms are completely, effectively resolved. the one treatment known for moral injury is not exact, guaranteed, or structured in a formal, official, peer-reviewed and published way, but in practice, psychologists are aware it is possible: redemption.

so kavinsky

was molested by his father and undefended by his mother, or at least, this much can be inferred from the writer's discussion ^[2] on the matter of his character and his ~tragedy factor~. importantly, stiefviter emphasizes both the fact that much of his behavior was learned as well as that he repeatedly made the decisions to advance along the path of darknesssss. i want to underscore that his shitty childhood doesn't exculpate him. from a certain perspective, it might inculpate him. guess who doesn't apparently empathize with other kids going through a shitty time?

she connects his predatory tendencies with learning and decisions. she also writes him as someone who verbally dismisses the need for consent, drugs his mother at some point, and repeatedly violates a particular character's personal space; however, when consent is ultimately refused with regard to romance or whatever it was he had in his deranged mind, he completely flips the fuck out and engages in a double-act of both outrageously exaggerated revenge behavior and suicide (he had no chill). in this way, one might suppose he was trying to differentiate himself from his father and doing an incredibly poor job of it. he is written as easily bored, cocky, and on drugs like all the time, which is consistent with antisocial predisposing traits and probably fuels the exaggeration in his drama.

she also intimates that, at some point, she had planned for him to survive (your mileage may vary on whether she meant kavinsky)— but the grey man received a surprise redemption arc instead ^[6].

and she rates his heartbreak factor at a 9 out of 10 ^[2]. the only difference between those two integers being, apparently, that an actual 10 means he had absolutely no intention or capacity to change.

although kavinsky appears to be fairly acculturated and identifies with new jersey, his home state, he nonetheless wears his heritage enough that other characters refer to him as bulgarian and note the country's influence on his taste in music. he's probably internalized a great deal of homophobia, whether or not the effects of abuse from his father reinforced that.

his superpowers feed into narcissism, probably biological problems (substance use tends to lead to head injuries for example), and reinforcement for doing whatever he wanted. it made all bad behavior easier, and provided material capital upon which he built a little teenaged empire of pwer and social recognition.

taken together, my interpretation is that he could benefit from treatment because learning is how he got here, and at least one inchoate, early conceptualization of him probably had the potential of making it out alive, and he was 0.0023% willing to change. by 'treatment,' i don't necessarily mean psychotherapy (obviously) (this is a game-related scrap of words) and it also doesn't mean he just gets hugs and understanding for being a total dick. he'd best be served if he was removed entirely from the environment of the criminal element and the attached reinforcement schedule. he would need to face real and consistent consequences from which he could learn accountability, as well as circumstances under which he could benefit from the usefulness of prosocial behavior (i.e., being less of an asshole). he has some serious problems with impulse-control and regulating his mood, which go back to fire, adrenaline, and drugs as coping methods. you've read about this before. it isn't news. it's nothing impossible to unlearn if you work hard under the right circumstances. with regard to moral injury, he also probably owes like five billion apologies, and will feel better after awhile, if he ever lets himself actually feel like shit for awhile first. forgiveness shouldn't be expected (imo) and won't come for free (probably) (have you met the characters, they're all so mad all the time).

an lgbtq-friendly, feminist atmosphere would probably help. he is probably bisexual if not gay, and has internalized the oppressor, hence his use of homophobic language and nasty remarks to gay characters in canon. his misogynistic tendencies cannot clearly be attributed to bulgarian cultural trends. instead, they probably follow both resentment of his mother for deferring to his father in all things (i.e., including molestation), as well as bad manners (chauvinism) learned in the united states (thanks, systemic sexism).

he decided to die because he wanted to die. that's not ronan's fault, and it was nobody's responsibility to save him but himself.

does that mean he is going to save himself in your rp

i think it means he will think about it really hard before setting something on fire. maybe that won't actually be himself.

but he is a really good character to alternative universe in, i feel!

other headcanons

prokopenko died of an overdose on kavinsky's magic stash
he is in love with ronan to the extent that that is possible
mr. kavinsky, bad dad, is still alive; kavinsky didn't have the stones to actually kill him and that's not the solution anyway
kavinsky can be genuinely fun, if semi-regularly terrifying, to hang out with
leaning toward substance dependence, rather than abuse, but moderate rather than severe

china what do you really care about

bangin

and citations.

non-apa formatted citations
1. Hyman, S. (2001) Personality and Personality Disorders: The Science of Mental Health
2. Stiefvater, M. (2014) Tumblr: OK I'll take the bait, how fucked up is Kavinsky?
3. Dittrich, B. (2012) Bulgaria: Chilling Calls for Stoning LGBT Citizens
4. Mcdowell, A. (2012) Bulgaria gay parade peaceful, despite provocations
5. National Catholic Partnership on Disability (2011) Moral Injury (a brief passage)
6. Stiefvater, M. (2014) TWITTER Q & A WITH MAGGIE STIEFVATER