Notice! Spoilers ahead for Law & Order: SVU Season 26, Episode 4.Law and Order: SVU Season 26, Episode 4 established an important arc for ADA Sonny Carisi. Although the series is a police procedural, its mission is to empower survivors and shed light on trauma-related issues. Some of the best episodes of Law and Order: SVU they achieved this goal by allowing detectives themselves to experience traumatic situations. However, these stories mostly fell on Benson and Rollins, while ADA Carisi was not one of the characters who dealt with this issue in her personal life.
Carisi originally joined the series as a new officer working in the SVU squad room, but has been the ADA responsible for prosecuting special victims cases for several years. He participated in some Law and Order: SVUThe saddest cases as a police officer and lawyer, without getting emotionally involved, focusing on what needed to be done to prove the criminals’ guilt. However, After a cold case involving child sexual abuse, there was widespread speculation that Carisi would have a harder time than before.
Carisi’s Reaction to a Pedophile on Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 4 Explained
He acted quickly to protect his daughter
Carisi confronted a pedophile who was leering at Jessie as they walked down the street, but there may have been more to it than that incident. Carisi took Jessie to get a phone so she could keep in touch with Rollins while Rollins was out of town, but as they walked down the street, he noticed a man staring at her. He then told Jessie to wait for him on a nearby street corner and confronted the man, demanding his identity and telling him to stay away from his daughter.
Carisi’s decision to confront the pedophile was risky. It could have quickly turned to violence; furthermore, leaving his daughter alone on a corner made her vulnerable to other predators as his back was turned and he was not paying attention to anyone who might approach her. However, from Carisi’s point of view, it was worth the risk of confronting a pedophile without alerting Jessie to what was wrong, lest he unduly scare her.
Why Carisi’s Possible Vicarious Trauma Is Manifesting Now
Becoming a father made him hyperaware of the harm against children
Carisi’s desire to protect Jessie may not have resulted from this incident alone. After all the years of working on cases involving horrific crimes against vulnerable people, he may have vicarious trauma, a condition in which a person who is helping trauma survivors experiences the same emotional difficulties as people who have experienced the incident. This type of mental health issue is a risk for anyone helping trauma survivors, and it’s likely part of the reason Benson became so attached to Maddie Flynn in Season 25.
Carisi isn’t always as attached to the work he does as Benson, but now that he’s a father to Rollins’ three children, his perspective has changed. He has become more aware of the dangers the world poses to his young children, especially girls.and wants them to escape the fate that befell so many girls and women he worked with. Additionally, Carisi recently prosecuted a cold case in which a powerful judge began molesting her daughter when she was eight years old, just a year younger than Jessie.
Carisi’s Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Trauma Storyline Offers Support and Visibility for Male Trauma Survivors
Male survivors need to know they are not alone
Carisi’s vicarious storyline is important because it offers men support and visibility who may be going through something similar. Although Law and Order: SVU aims to help all survivors regardless of gender identity, the series still features far more cisgender female survivors than other demographics, but Carisi’s story could help change that. This is important because of cultural and social attitudes that often keep male survivors trapped in silence and shame.
Although your [Carisi’s] arc is about vicarious trauma, will allow Law and Order: SVU to portray issues important to male survivors, expanding the series’ already robust commitment to supporting trauma survivors.
A role model like Carisi, who has a powerful job, a happy marriage, and the ability to function well in most areas of his life, can help these survivors see that dealing with emotional trauma is not a threat to their masculinity. Now that the Law and Order: SVU Season 26’s cast includes more than enough detectives, the series has room to explore issues in more depth. Although Carisi’s arc is about vicarious trauma, it will allow Law and Order: SVU to portray issues important to male survivors, expanding the series’ already robust commitment to supporting trauma survivors.