The sorry plight of the victims of abuse

This academic paper may be of interest to some. It describes the victim of the “victim syndrome”. Although it is a working paper, it has attracted lots of interest

From the preamble:

People who suffer from the victim syndrome are always complaining about the ―bad things that happen in their lives. Because they believe they have no control over the way events unfold, they don’t feel a sense of responsibility for them.

One moment, they present themselves dramatically as victims; the next, they morph into victimisers, hurting the people trying to help them and leaving would be helpers with a sense of utter frustration.

People with a victim mentality display passive-aggressive characteristics when
interacting with others. Their behavior has a self-defeating, almost masochistic quality. The victim style becomes a relational mode—a life affirming activity:

I am miserable therefore I am.

In this article, I present three examples of people with this syndrome and a checklist that can be used to identify sufferers. I also discuss the concept of secondary gain—the “benefits” people get from perpetuating a problem and the developmental origins of the victim mind set.

The article ends with advice on how to help people who suffer from the victim syndrome.

Author: pitputim

I've enjoyed being a computer science professor in Melbourne, Australia, as well as band leader/singer for the Schnapps Band. My high schooling was in Chabad and I continued at Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh in Israel and later in life at Machon L'Hora'ah, Yeshivas Halichos Olam. View all posts by pitputim