Abstract

The word control has several meanings, direct, as well as indirect. It connotes even opposite phenomena. When I interviewed people about their associations to ‘control’, these are some of the first elements that came up: Safety. Control means that somebody takes care of everybody else’s safety. Airplanes are constantly controlled, and so are the passengers, so that accidents and terrorist attack are avoided. Next was: Coercion. The passenger-controls that provide safety also imply a sometimes embarrassing opening of bags and body search. To be a person in charge of control, particularly in difficult and challenging situations, means to have positive positions of power, but also a position with severe responsibilities. To be controlled, can be humiliating and intimidating. That one spouse exerts control over the other, is generally regarded as negative, but for parents to have control over their little children is regarded as positive and responsible.