Uses for imperius (was: Motivations for Joining DEs)

[Ceridwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 141248

Sherry:
> There could not be any good reason for it (Imperius), in my 
opinion.  After all, the
> only way an addict truly stops doing whatever their addiction is, 
is when
> they make the choice to stop doing it.
*(snip)*

Ceridwen:
And, I disagree.  I can't speak for anyone else, but when I said 
Imperius could be used in mental health, I went on to mention 
violence.  Both against oneself, and against others.  An addict in 
recovery, or in need of recovery, would not fit that criteria.  And 
someone who was, in the opinion of some, being 'obstinate' 
about 'what was good for them' (and I'll bet that quite a few of us 
have been described that way, with the describers then trying to run 
our lives, I know I have) would not fit that criteria, either.  Use 
against people who are mentally able, even if in the opinion of some 
layperson whose advice was rejected are in a diminished state, is, 
would be, wrong.

There are people who cannot control their actions.  They cannot make 
decisions.  They lash out, or turn on themselves, and do grave harm.  
I'm not talking about the 'cutting' that goes on in a lot of 
fanfics.  I'm sorry, but that just reads like teenage hyperangst 
dreamed up by some grousey teen who wants to hurt people because 
they're aching over some hormonally induced fury.  I'm talking about 
people who beat their caregivers and are incapable of stopping this 
sort of behavior, and people who harm themselves and cannot control 
their own actions in order to stop.  Severely, and truly, mentally 
impared.

We use, or have used, straight jackets and padded cells to control 
these people.  For everybody's good, including their own.  It can't 
be comfortable.  Imperius, stopping them from harming themselves and 
the people trying to help them, would be kinder, IMO.  It isn't 
removing the will, since the behaviors are not done by will but by 
compulsion.  It wouldn't address the root causes of the behaviors, 
but it would make it safer for the people who can do this, to come in 
and help.

And, since it did come up before, I do think the MoM would sanction 
using Imperius.  It sanctioned Unforgivables before, under Crouch, 
sr.  And the WW at large seems to be fairly apathetic toward what 
doesn't directly affect them.  If the DMLE is using Unforgivables on 
DEs, so what?  'They deserve it'.  And a fairly convincing politician 
can make it sound like they're staunchly doing their duty.

Which doesn't mean that, in rare cases, Imperius to temporarily 
detain a violent criminal *when s/he's violent* and caught in the act 
of a crime, might be handy for the cop on the scene.  Either to leave 
the criminal in order to pursue other criminals, or to keep himself 
or herself safe until back-up arrives.  But again, I'm talking about 
an obviously violent individual here, not Standard Operating 
Procedure for law enforcement.

Ceridwen.