Published on 20/09/2024 at 2:51 p.m.
updated on 20/09/2024 at 2:51 p.m.
Lecture 4 min.
in collaboration with
Amélie Boukhobza (Clinical Psychologist)
After being arrested and then charged with racketeering and sex trafficking, rapper P.Diddy is facing life in prison. Faced with the unthinkable, how can his children react? How can they (sur)vive and rebuild their lives? Amélie Boukhobza, a clinical psychologist, gives us some answers.
American rapper Sean Combs, aka P.Diddy, was arrested Monday night in Manhattan on charges of sex trafficking and extortion. According to prosecutors, he allegedly “abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to satisfy his sexual desires, protect his reputation and hide his actions“.
P. Diddy s’est bati un “empire” criminel
The rapper and hip-hop producer is accused of building a vast criminal “empire” by abusing, raping and drugging young women.
According to the indictment released on Tuesday by the Manhattan federal prosecutor’s office, the father of the family allegedly ““leveraged the employees, resources and influence of the multi-faceted business empire he directed and controlled to create a criminal enterprise whose members engaged in (…) trafficking for sexual exploitation, forced labor, kidnapping, bribery and obstruction of justice”.
The 54-year-old artist, who has been the subject of allegations of violence since the 1990s, is indeed described as a man “violent” et “deviant“who used alcohol, drugs and his influence to abuse young women.
Worse still, the rapper is reportedly being targeted for “rape, gang rape and human trafficking“, following complaints filed by his ex-partner, the singer Cassie, as well as another anonymous woman.
Although the singer denies these accusations and tried to be released on Tuesday – for the modest sum of 50 million dollars – the judges have ruled: P. Diddy’s place is and must remain in prison.
At the time of the announcement of the verdict, the rapper is said to have sent a final gesture of affection to his three sons present in the courtroom, according to the American press.
Children (7 in total: Quincy, Justin, Christian, Chance, D’Lila, Jessie and Love) who asked for nothing, but who nevertheless find themselves confronted with a family collapse… with serious consequences.
A real “psychological turmoil” for the family
According to Amélie Boukhobza, clinical psychologist, the scandal surrounding P. Diddy’s incarceration must inevitably plunge his children into a deep “psychological turmoil“.
“They suddenly find themselves in a reality where their father, an authority figure and role model, is suddenly tainted by accusations of extreme gravity. The father’s place, in such a context, fractures, shatters. They are no longer simply the “sons and daughters of”, but, even more disturbingly, become the children of a man accused of monstrous crimes.” she emphasizes.
“The father, supposed to be a pillar, guarantor of an image of strength and success, then becomes an ambivalent figure, a source of shame and disgust. The psychological shock is immense: the paternal image, necessary for identity construction, is damaged. Forever! What happens then to these children? They must suddenly navigate between love for this father, despite everything, and the unbearable betrayal that he now represents. Enough to be totally torn apart, and bear feelings of guilt, anger, even total confusion about their own identity”, continues the expert.
For this large family (the youngest is barely two years old), the accusations against the father have serious consequences.
“There is an immense risk of sinking into a feeling of illegitimacy, of questioning one’s own nature. Children will have to face the gaze of others, the media weight, and this role of “children of rapists“, deplores the practitioner.
Feeling good in your body, feeling good in your head!
What support is available for children?
Although the road to rebuilding may be long and winding for the rapper’s children, some peace is, in the end, possible.
“The first step is to recreate a space of security, both physical and psychological. Children must feel surrounded, protected, far from the media agitation. And in this context, close family or trusted figures have an important role to play. They must be offered a framework where they can express their emotions without fear of being judged or exploited by the media or those around them,” recommends the clinical psychologist.
Then we must ensure that they do not shut themselves away in silence.
“Children need to be given the opportunity to talk, at their own pace, about what they feel. Individual therapy, but also family therapy, why not. To be able to verbalize the shame, anger, sadness or even the contradictory love that they may still feel for their father.“, confides Amélie Boukhobza.”It will be a question of reexamining the paternal figure. Not of destroying the image of the father, but of humanizing him. Showing that one can be fallible, commit terrible acts, without this taking away the child’s right to exist and to build himself. The dissociation between the act of the father and the value of the child is fundamental here.“, she explains further.
Ultimately, being the child of a man accused of such crimes can profoundly shake one’s sense of identity.
“These children will have to, at some point, rebuild who they are, regardless of their father’s actions. This reconstruction involves in-depth psychotherapeutic work of course, but also the creation of new references: positive role models, authority figures capable of helping them redefine what they aspire to become. Finally, they will need time to reinvent their future, without their father’s shadow weighing indefinitely on them…“, concludes the expert.
