'Closure' rarely provides true answers to source of discomfit

Rarely does the much touted “closure” people suffering various traumas seek provide real answers to the source of their discomfit.

Daniel Morcombe

That imagined end is transitory with the emotional damage continuing as every-day, and seemingly ordinary, events hurl people back in time.
The arrest and charge of a fellow with the murder eight years ago of Queensland youth, Daniel Morcombe, may have brought some closure for his parents, Bruce and Denise, and two brothers as it helps to explain the primary reason, but ignores deeper social issues.
Research abounds suggesting our lifestyle choices bring on events such as that in which the Morcombe family has become embroiled.
Although ridicule awaits those who resort to such simplifications, and in this specific case it well may not be true, the built environment we prefer – that being remote subdivisions that do not allow for genuine socialization of people – can have a huge negative impact on an individual’s behaviour.
An increased density in our living, not overcrowding, makes it likely, if not certain, that not a day will pass without us having an unexpected, but socially reinforcing, face-to-face meeting with a neighbour.
The wellbeing of our neighbourhoods and the broader welfare of our communities, means we have healthier, happier and energized societies that in turn can be measured by the behaviour of individuals.
Residential sprawl, that is developer-driven creation of residential subdivisions stranded without a motor car from the life of the city, is evident in Shepparton.
What is happening in Shepparton, and or course the rest of Australia, is an echo of the phenomenon that swept America after the Second World War reducing it from a country that had some of best public transit systems in the world to being absolutely car-dependent.
Many of that country’s most tight-knit, inclusive and civil communities were sacrificed on the altar to oil as residential subdivisions erupted throughout the nation, mostly distant from the services that ensure communities can expand intellectually, socially and organically through daily serendipitous meetings with others.
Without the benefit of true community, America has become, without challenge, the most violent nation in the world – murder, rape, assault and other disruptions to life result from illegal processes that saw public transit destroyed and replaced by the car, all in the name of profit.
It is unreasonable to suggest that the murder of Daniel Morcombe could have been avoided if human-scale communities had existed, rather than the sprawl of modern development, but the dynamic that leads to such events would have been eased.
Humans are social animals, we need to interact with our fellows, we need to belong, we need acknowledgement, and, although we may not know it, we need mentoring – all things that spring from chance meetings in tight-knit communities.