Posted by shar on January 17, 2004, at 14:59:30
In reply to Re: being a victim » shar, posted by judy1 on January 17, 2004, at 11:30:32
Well, we know that child abuse crosses all boundaries (and spousal abuse) like race, socioeconomic status, etc. And, so does rape. And, rape is more likely to be perpetrated by a "friend" or someone known to the person, than by a total stranger; then there is spousal rape.
It seems to me that environment might be a big factor there. If you live in an environment (house, neighborhood) that is violent, it seems more likely that you'd be abused (which is violent) and attacked or raped. The rate of spousal abuse among police officers and military families is higher than the norm. I would imagine if you went into areas that had a lot of violence in the streets (and drugs, etc.) you'd find their rates of violence in the home, or on the streets to be higher than the norm, also.
What Racer said about predators is also true, I believe. Like people that are on the lookout for victims. And, that really creeps me out, too, to think people in the helping professions may be predatory, I'd never thought about that before.
Of course, I could be totally wrong about what I said (except the part about police and military), I think everything is external environment + what a child is told and taught + the individual's constitution. People can go through the same experiences and have totally different responses and be impacted very differently--even kids in the same family can turn out very different from each other.
So, I guess my response is I don't really know. Just have 'best guesses.'
Shar
> I agree with you about learned behavior, and then one step further- the actual physical changes in the brain as a result. It's a vicious cycle, and one where it takes a very good therp to help the patient discover. and I really believe that helps in situations like abusive partners and not replaying that scenario, but I'm still stuck on random events like rapes that happen more to people who have experienced abusive chidhoods. do you have ideas on that?
> thanks, judy
poster:shar
thread:301094
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/2000/20031122/msgs/302048.html