UNAIR NEWS – Recently, Indonesian people were shocked by the murder of an 11-year-old child in Makassar City, South Sulawesi. Sadly, the perpetrators of the murder were two teenagers aged 17 and 18. The two perpetrators admitted that they killed the victim because they were tempted by offers of selling organs via the internet at fantastic prices.
In this regard, a lecturer at the Department of Psychology, Universitas Airlangga, Dr. Primatia Yogi Wulandari SPsi MSi Psychologist, reviewed the case from a developmental psychology perspective. In a live broadcast on Instagram account @ppdk.psikologi.unair entitled Discussing Child Murder Case and Organs Trade: Overview of Parenting and Empathy Development on Sunday, January 15, 2023, she explained the importance of instilling empathy in children as self-control from deviant behavior like the case in Makassar City.
“From the perspective of empathy, there is cognitive and affective empathy,” explained Primatia. Cognitive empathy, she continued, relates to the ability to understand the feelings of others. Meanwhile, affective empathy is closely related to guilt, guilt control, and conscience.
“But then the key, whether an immoral behavior is committed or not, it is more on affective empathy,” she said. Nevertheless, Primatia emphasizes the importance of balancing the abilities of the two types of empathy.
Primatia believes that the family has the most significant role in fostering empathy in children. “I think that family is the main key because after all, the child grows and develops in a family,” she explained.
Instilling this empathy cannot be done instantly. Therefore, parents must actively teach empathy to their children from an early age. “Teaching empathy cannot be instantaneous. There is nothing instant in a child’s growth and development,” Primatia emphasized.
The cultivation of empathy is closely related to the stages of development, so the approach taken to children and adolescents will also be different. According to Primatia, children have innate empathy since they are babies, so it becomes a big enough capital to foster empathy in children.
“The way to hone it is by interacting within the family. Or, for example, we read fairy tales with pictures,” said Primatia. Education through this reading material can also be accompanied by discussions regarding empathy using language appropriate to their age.
For children who have entered elementary school (SD), Primatia recommends that empathy be cultivated through dialogue between parents and children. “When there are social service activities, we can have a dialogue with the children. In my opinion, dialogues like this need to be emphasized so the child understands why they need to feel other people’s conditions and eventually be able to feel what other people are feeling, “she concluded. (*)
Author: Agnes Ikandani
Editor: Binti Q. Masruroh
