The past victim, the future abuser: Is there a link between being a victim and becoming a perpetrator

Background: Childhood trauma exert a significant effect onpsychological life of people. In our world, especially in ourgeographical area, trauma is a ubiquitous phenomenon. We facea social epidemic with serious consequences that shatters the lifeof many people. Victimization in early years of life entraps theindividuals in the victim-rescuer-abuser triangle. Manyperpetrators and criminals have had history of childhood abuse.The main objective of this study was the assessment of thepatients with history of child abuse who had behaved in abusivemanner in the adulthood.Methods: By a review of the files of 3694 patients referred to myoutpatient private clinic, I tried to gather proper data to answerthe questions related to this study including the history of abuse,victimization, substance abuse and the frequency of involvementin abusive behavior.Results: 1075 patients reported a history of some abuse duringchildhood (29.10%). 19.44% of them (Total=209, 78 men and131 women) had been acting in most of their adult life as anabuser. The rate of substance abuse in the people with history ofabuse was 36.6% compared to 28.36% in non-abusers. The rateof acting as an abuser and perpetrator in the adult life in divorced,married, single and widowed was 27.5%, 19.5%, 18.4% and11.11% respectively.Conclusion: This preliminary study showed that a significantnumber of patients with history of childhood abuse involved inabusive behavior and victimization of others in adulthood. Payingattention to this issue by mental health practitioners and policymakers can prevent the intergenerational transmission of abuseand development of a more peaceful society.

کلیدواژه ها:

Victim ، rescuer ، abuser ، Karpman triangle ، trauma