The helplessness learned from victims of abuse

The concept of learned helplessness it is one of the most widely studied constructs due to its decisive influence on a multitude of psychosocial processes.

It has its origin in 1975, when Martin Seligman and his collaborators observed that the animals in his research suffered from depression in certain situations.

What is learned helplessness?

To find out the reasons for this depression that they noticed in dogs, Seligman conducted the following experiment. He placed several dogs in cages from which they could not escape, administering electric shocks to them at intervals of time. variables and random, so that they could not predict the next discharge or their pattern, since there was no none.

After several trials administering shocks, and although at first the dogs made various attempts to escape, it was observed that in the end they abandoned any voluntary escape activity. When the researchers modified the procedure and taught the dogs to escape, they stayed still, refusing to go out or make attempts to avoid shocks, even lying down on their own excrement.

Given these results, Seligman discovered that the response of the animals was not totally passive, but that the fact of lying on their own excrement was, in fact, a coping strategy (adaptation), since lying on them minimized pain and placed themselves in a part of the cage where the least amount of shocks was perceived electrical He named this effect learned helplessness.

Learned helplessness: a psychological phenomenon also present in humans

Learned helplessness produces a modification of escape responses with unpredictable consequences for more predictable coping strategies. At the same time, Seligman discovered that it is possible to unlearn learned helplessnessBecause when the dogs were taught with repeated trials that they could escape from the cage, the learned helplessness response eventually disappeared.

This experiment has been replicated in humans, concluding that the important aspects of the learned helplessness syndrome focus on the cognitive aspect, that is, on thoughts. When people have lost the ability to believe that their answers will help them escape from situation, modify their flight responses by submissive behaviors, as a strategy of coping.

The presence of learned helplessness in victims of violence

This modification of the flight responses due to submission behaviors has been observed in victims of abuse with learned helplessness. Lenore Walker conducted this study on victims of partner abuse, performing a similar assessment of cognitive, emotional and behavioral functioning.

The results showed that at the beginning of the abuse, their responses or behaviors were evasion or flight. However, continued exposure to violence caused a modification of these responses had learned that could decrease the intensity of the abuse through various coping strategies such as pleasing the aggressor, doing what he wants, keeping him calm, etc.

Thus, the theory of learned helplessness applied to victims of abuse describes how a woman she may learn to be unable to predict the effect her behavior will have on him. abuser. This lack of ability to predict how effective her own behavior will be in preventing abuse modifies the origin or nature of the victim's response to different situations.

If you want to delve into this topic, I recommend the interview that Bertrand Regader conducted with Patricia Ríos: "Interview with an expert psychologist in gender violence"

Signs that someone is abused and has developed learned helplessness

When women victims of mistreatment by their partner suffer learned helplessness, they will choose in a familiar or familiar situation, those behaviors that produce a more predictable effect and will avoid behaviors that imply a less predictable effect, such as escape responses or flight.

This research also made it possible to propose certain factors that allow identifying the helplessness learned in victims of abuse. The factors are:

• The presence of a pattern of violence, specifically the Cycle of Violence, with its three phases (accumulation of tension, serious episode of aggression and affectionate repentance or absence of voltage), together with the modification or observable increase in the intensity and frequency of bad deals.

• Sexual abuse of women.

• Jealousy, meddling, over-possession, and isolation of women.

• Psychological abuse: verbal degradation, denial of powers, isolation, occasional indulgence, monopolizing perceptions, death threat, drug- or alcohol-induced weakness.

• Presence of violent behavior of the couple towards others (children, animals or inanimate objects).

• Alcohol or drug abuse by the man or the woman.

Last but not least, this study has allowed it to be used for the psychological treatment of victims of abuse.

Unlearning learned helplessness

The process of unlearning learned helplessness is characterized by the empowerment of these women within the couple relationship, which will allow battered women to understand and exit the cycle of violence, guiding them in how the escalation of violence can be predicted, through the distinction of the different phases of the cycle and the understanding that the phases of love and repentance is a way of reinforcing the cycle and teaching them different skills to be able to escape.

However, it is important to consider that there are differences between laboratory and real life studies and it is necessary to have present that in real life the abuser can become more violent when the woman confronts him and / or when she tries break away.