Snape--Abusive?

[Alex Boyd]

No: HPFGUIDX 114664


At the risk of re-opening a can of worms, I'd like to pose the
question of whether folks think that Snape's behavior towards Harry
*really* constitues abuse.

EMotional abuse is a nebulous category.  We can easilly say that
Umbridge is abusive because her punishment causes Harry (and some
other kid...was is Lee Jordan?) physical injury, and it's no longer
considered appropriate to use corporal punishment at school, and
corporal punishment that leaves marks is generally considered not
quite on in the home enviornment, either.  I would say that if Snape
behaved toward his *own child* in the way that he behaves toward
Harry, I would personally consider it emotional abuse--*because* a
parent is *supposed* to provide apporpriate emotional nurturance to
their own child, and his behavior is , er, not consistent with that. 
But Snape *isn't* Harry's parent, he's his teacher.  The official role
of a teacher is to teach subject matter, not to provide emotional
nurturance.  We all know of teachers who have gone above and beyond
the call of duty in caring for their students' emotional well being,
but it isn't part of the job description.  If the only people we let
be teachers were those who could inspire love and trust in their
students, schools would have an even more difficult time finding
teachers than they already do.  "Being nice to Harry" is not Snape's
job.  I would also be more worried if he treated a child in his own
House the way he treats Harry, because Heads of House are (it appears)
supposed to take a special interest in their own students.  But he
isn't.  Harry has plenty of other places to look for emotional support
 (not as many as he would if he weren't an orphan, of course, but
that's life).  He has his friends, the adult weasleys, Dumbledore,
Hagrid, and McGonagall.  He doesn' *need* emotional support from Snape
the way he would if Snape was (shudder) his father.  

This is not to say that a teacher can't be emotionally abusive. 
However, I doubt whether Snape's behavior is extreme enough to warrant
that definition.  As I see it, there are three major criteria to think
of:  the behavior itself, Snape's intent, and the effect of the
behavior on Harry.  

The behavior we can see on the page.  What has Snape done?  He's asked
Harry questions he wouldn't reasonably be expected to know the answers
to in his first week of school.  He's capriciously graded a couple of
his assignments.  He's blamed Harry for incidents of classroom
misconduct in which Harry was not the instigator or sole participant.
 These behaviors are all unprofessional and inapproriate, but I'm not
sure I'd call them abusive.  (the capricious grading is what bothers
me most, as a teacher.)

What about Harry's reaction?  If he was crying himself to sleep on a
regular basis, having horrible nightmares about potions class,
becoming physically ill on days when he was supposed to have class
with Snape, or otherwise showing signs of extreme stress or anxiety,
then I'd consider assigning the label of "abuse" to Snape's behavior.
 But he isn't.  He dislikes Potions (most kids have a class or two
that they don't like).  He gripes about it.  He displays a reasonable
and healthy level of anger.  Occasionally he thinks Snape might be
trying to kill him, but he's always (so far at least) been proved
wrong about that.  It looks to me as if he considers himself unfairly
treated, but not abused.  

Snape's motivation, we know nothing about.  We can debate (and have
been doing) the possible motivations for his behavior.  But we can't
know.  His actual motivations are a black box.  If he's behaving the
way he does toward Harry because he *actively wants to cause lasting
harm*, then I'd say, absolutely, yes, he's abusive.  But most of the
other motivations that have been suggested are, at worst, ambiguous in
terms of determining whether his behavior is abusive or not.  If he's
just being an as**ole without considering the impact his behavior
might have, then *maybe* I could see calling him abusive.  Ditto if
he's so totally unable to control his temper that he can't stop
himself acting the way he does (though I think Snape would do *much*
worse things if he were truely out of control).  If he's doing the
best he knows how (perhaps using the pedagogical methods that were in
use when he was in school or that he was exposed to at home), then I'd
say no, not abusive.  Same if he has for some reason decided that
sarcasm and humiliation are the best ways to get through to Potter.  

So, my conclusion is that I can't definively call Snape's behavior
abuse based on the information that we *do actually have*.  I don't
consider his behavior very professional.  If my kids were in his
class, I would keep a close eye to make sure that he wasn't being
harsher with them than they could handle.  But I wouldn't say outright
that he's abusive.  

If those who believe in abusive!Snape can present the case without
going into a CAPSLOCK rage, I'd be interested in hearing it,
particularly with reference to specific classroom (or other on-page)
incidents that I haven't thought of.  
 
Alex