Part one: The Culture of Victims and How Therapists Fuel the Victim Industry We have become a nation of victims, where everyone is leapfrogging over each other, competing for the status of victim, where most people define themselves as some sort of survivor. We live in a culture where more and more people are claiming their own holocaust. While some victims are truly innocent (i.e., the child who is being molested, a victim in the other car in a drunk driving accident), most violence involves some knowledge, familiarity or intimacy between victims and victimizers. Charles Sykes, author of the widely acclaimed A Nation of Victims (1992), points out that if you add up all the groups that consider themselves to be victims or oppressed, their number adds up to almost 400 percent of the population. Exploring the psychology or the dynamic of victimhood has been suppressed and censored because it has been equated with "victim blaming". As the article below illuminates, the victim stance is a powerful one.

The victim's basic stance is that he or she: Is not responsible for what happened. Is always morally right. Is not accountable. Is forever entitled to sympathy. Is justified in feeling moral indignation for being wronged.

"It is not my fault!", "I have been wronged!" and "I am owed!" are the essential victim's stance. The victim claim is not limited to the traditionally, truly abused and exploited underprivileged classes. It is also often claimed by the privileged middle class and the wealthy of our society. The victim's stance of "Don't blame me!" is often accompanied with "I deserve this, this and this!" the "rights industry" or the "rights movement" goes hand in hand with the victim industry. The incessant cry for empathy and justice by the victim industry reduces our capacity to deal with genuine victims, such as children who are molested, women who are raped and beaten, immigrants who are mistreated, etc. The victim culture creates a compassion fatigue, which interferes with helping those who truly need and deserve our help. Shelby Steel (1992), similarly analyzed the victimization ideology and how tragically it affected African- Americans' identity and their relationships with white Americans. Like Dershowitz (1994), Kaminer (1992) describes the outrageous notion of self-proscribed victims and the prevalence of irresponsibility and blame in our culture. It has yet to be widely understood that by alleviating all women, minorities, inmates, or any victim, of any and all responsibility to predict, prevent or even, unconsciously, invite abuse, is to reduce them to helpless, incapable creatures, and in-fact, re-victimizes them. This three-part web page invites the reader to go beyond the politically correct thinking on victimization and develop a more comprehensive and complex understanding of the dynamic of victimhood. The hope is for healing the hurt and injury of victims and for increasing the effectiveness of prediction and prevention of future violence. The Stella awards for the most frivolous lawsuits This section is based on the 2002 Stella Awards web page. This section is a humorous illustration of our victim and entitled culture, and how this culture is being perpetuated by attorneys and the legal system. The Stella Awards are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonalds. This case inspired the Stella Awards for the most frivolous, successful lawsuits in the United States. (The StellaAwards.com has been heavily criticized and some have claimed that there no evidence to support these stories.  For more information go to Snopes.com or http://www.StellaAwards.com/bogus.html) The following is a partial list of 2002 candidates, appearing in the above web page: Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded $780,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle, tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the misbehaving little toddler was Ms. Robertson's son. 19-year-old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000 and medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Mr. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps. Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania, was leaving a house he had just finished robbing by way of the garage. He was not able to get the garage door to go up since the automatic door opener was malfunctioning. He couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the house and garage locked when he pulled it shut. The family was on vacation, and Mr. Dickson found himself locked in the garage for eight days. He subsisted on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food that he found there. He sued the homeowner's insurance company, claiming the situation caused him undue mental anguish. The jury agreed to the tune of $500,000. A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, $113,500 after she slipped on a soft drink and broke her coccyx (tailbone). The beverage was on the floor because Ms.Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend also 30 seconds earlier during an argument. More outrageous examples are presented in part two, "Rethinking "Don't Blame the Victim." Psychotherapists Manufacturing Victims: A self-serving industry Two professions have been reaping the benefits of victim culture. Attorneys and psychotherapists have perpetuated the rights industry and the culture of victims, partly for their own financial and professional gain. While anxiety, borderline personality disorder and multiple personality were some of the most popular psychiatric diagnosis of the past, the nineties have introduced us to the new fad: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The prevalence of PTSD as a diagnosis on therapy insurance claims, as book and seminar titles is unprecedented. One must ask why so many of our patients within a span of a few years, suddenly and in such high numbers, have been labeled as traumatized. One must also wonder why in an age where technology, medicine, environmental concerns and diet have reached new peaks, Americans feel a heighten sense of vulnerability and are buying into the new psychiatric diagnosis. The repressed memory syndrome, and the numerous court battles around this issue, has also been part of the psychological industry's recent obsession with victimhood. While repressed memories may play a part in some instances, the sudden and large number of reporting reflects primarily on the industry's focus on victimhood. Increasingly, Americans are told that they are traumatized, victimized and in need of a psychotherapist or personal injury attorney. Those who do not feel victimized have been accused of being in denial. In her book Manufacturing Victims, (1996) Tana Dineen details how the victim industry has been fueled by psychotherapists and outlines the direct economic and professional benefits that psychotherapists derive from perpetuating the idea of victimology. Dineen articulates well the idea that therapists need patients, so they create disorders with which to label prospective customers. Most recently it has been PTSD. Dineen appropriately differentiates between scientific and research based psychology versus the more dogmatic and self-serving field of psychotherapy. Psychotherapy sees many normal life events as trauma in need of healing rather than as enriching experiences. This has political consequences. Individuals are freed from moral responsibility for what they do or what happened to them and therefore are no longer citizens, but patients or victims. Psychologists, Dineen (1996), Zilbergeld (1983) and others assert, have turned every form of discontent into a syndrome or disease requiring treatment. They systematically underestimate the capacity of humans to overcome adversity. All unpleasant events-such as a fall, car accident or the death of a pet-are assumed to leave an emotional residue that, unless dealt with professionally, will cripple the sufferer. Unfortunately, therapists have had considerable success in peddling this view to society. The psychotherapeutic community adopted the blame approach back in the beginning of the 20th century with the birth of psychoanalysis. While originally the blaming finger was pointed primarily at mothers, later on it came to be pointed at men, racism, sexism, militarism, consumerism, the upper class, immigration, etc. The myth of the psychotherapeutic community is that somehow if one can identify a person or an event that supposedly caused the shortcoming, anxiety or depression, the condition will be improved. This is the premise of analysis and its emphasis on insight. The result has been a huge waste of time, money and life in search of someone or something to blame rather than finding a way to improve life now and in the future. Resilience and strength (Greene, 2002) seem to be ignored and are dominated by the psychologizing of all aspects of life. Victim means good business for attorneys and psychotherapists. The search for the cause and the person or circumstances to blame helps support hundreds of thousands of therapists. Of course the victim industry is not a sheer artifact of the therapeutic community. It functions within the culture of victims and entitlement and is fueled for its own professional and economic interests. September 11th: An added perspective The atrocities and traumatic events of September 11, 2001, have illuminated the importance of understanding the dynamics of trauma and victims. Psychologists, counselors, social workers and other mental health workers rushed to the New York area and provided important support for the traumatized people of the area. A lot of physically injured and psychologically traumatized people have, indeed, benefited from these important services (Zimbardo, 2002). Therapists around the country reported traumatic reaction to the World Trade Center suicide mission and outlined strategies to "reach" the traumatized multitudes. Before long the entire United States was viewed by many therapists as a country of victims where nightmares, fears and PTSD diagnoses were as common as the water we drink. Not much later, therapists started treating other therapists for what has been labeled "secondary traumatization". There seems to be very little understanding that some, if not many, people may benefit from being left alone and that some people impact negatively by repeatedly regurgitating their thoughts and feelings (Slater, 2003). If self-interest and professional identity had not blinded psychologists to this coping mechanism, they would have probably remembered the lessons from Psych. 101 on individual differences and how psychological intervention must be tailored to each individual rather than one solution fits all. While therapists focus almost exclusively on the importance of helping Americans deal with their reaction to the trauma, there are three important aspects that seem to be generally overlooked: Most people on the planet are regularly exposed to traumatic events of much bigger magnitude than September 11th. These events include famines, deadly epidemics, wars and genocide, as well as earthquakes, floods, fires, heat waves and subfreezing temperatures. The events of September 11th did not take place in a vacuum. Related is the thought, detailed in the paper below, that the United States is not necessarily an innocent victim and may need to examine some of its past and present actions and attitudes that may have led to these atrocious behaviors. Such a realization may lead to effective ways of dealing with the trauma, as occurred with American soldiers who realized what they did in Vietnam and went back to do good rather than feeling victimized and making their PTSD diagnosis their permanent identity. A huge part of American's response to these events is derived from its lack of psychological preparedness. This un-preparedness is tied to the American myth of superiority and a false sense safety, derived from the belief that technology, above all, but also two wide oceans and two friendly countries, can provide us with protection against such unpredicted assaults. Psychotherapists, primarily out of professional and economic self-serving beliefs, seem to systematically ignore the fact that some people benefit from being left alone after they experience a traumatic event. These people impacted negatively by expressing their negative thoughts and depressive feelings to others. (Slater, 2003). It seems that most psychotherapists and professional organizations responded to the trauma in NYC with a knee jerk respond of wanting to help. They seemed to fail to realize the bigger picture and, instead, focused on their narrow training, professional pride, ideology and practice, which was likely to benefit them most. The Challenge: The challenge that this page is presenting is to move from the blame approach to a more complex understanding of violent systems, the perpetuation of these systems and the role victims play in these systems. In order to be able to help a victim, one must understand the dynamic between victims and victimizers and the social, economic, political and cultural context in which the violence occurred. If we comprehend all this, we will have better tools to predict and prevent further victimization. References Dineen, T. (1996). Manufacturing Victims: What the Psychology Industry is Doing to People. Westmount, Canada: Robert Davies Multimedia Publishing. For an online home study course which include selected chapters from this book, click here. Darshowitz, A.M. (1994). The Abuse Excuse and other Cop-Outs Sob Stories, and evasions of Responsibility. New York: Little, Brown & Comp. Green, R. (Ed.) (2002). Resiliency. Washington DC: NASW Press Kaminer, W. (1992). I'm Dysfunctional You're Dysfunctional: The Recovery Movement and Other Self-Help Fashions. New York: Vintage Books. Slater, L. (2003). Repress Yourself. New York Times Magazine, February 23, pp. 48-53. Steele S. (1990). The Content of Our Character. New York: St. Martin's Press. Sykes, C. J. (1992). A Nation Of Victims: The Decay Of The American Character. New York: St. Martin's Press. Zilbergeld, B. (1983). Shrinking of America: Myths of Psychological Change. New York: Little Brown & Company. Zimbardo, P. (2002). Ground Zero, Looking Up and Beyond. Monitor on Psychology, February, pp. 5-6. Part two: RETHINKING 'DON'T BLAME THE VICTIM': THE PSYCHOLOGY OF VICTIMHOOD Ofer Zur, Ph.D. Printed by permission of The Haworth Press, Inc. Source: Zur, O. (1994). Rethinking "Don't Blame the Victim": Psychology of Victimhood. Journal of Couple Therapy, 4 (3/4), 15-36. ABSTRACT. The psychology of victims and the dynamics of victimhood have been largely ignored by scholars and clinicians. While in past years the tendency has been to blame victims, more recently the tide has turned. It is now politically incorrect to explore the role of victims in violent systems, as exploring the psychology of victims has become synonymous with blaming the victim. While shying away from blame, this article will explore the familial and cultural origins of victimhood, victims' characteristics, their relationships with the perpetrators, and offer a victim typology. As we move from blame to a more complex understanding of violent systems, the perpetuation of these systems in our culture, and the role victims play in these systems, we provide ourselves with better tools to predict and prevent further victimization. This paper inquires into the rarely explored, politically sensitive topic of the nature of victimhood. While the psychology of perpetrators and bystanders and the dynamics of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have been thoroughly examined (Ochberg & Willis, 1991; Viano, 1990; Walker, 1979), the psychology of victimhood as a personal and cultural phenomenon has not. Hierarchy, inequality, and violence have always been part of human social structures. There were always rulers and ruled, leaders and followers, the fortunate and the needy, the powerful and the weak. Various cultures have treated disparities in status, power, fortune, and ability in different ways. Buddhists emphasize the aspect of karma and destiny, while in the modern West the focus has been on freedom and choice, and the individual's control of destiny. In this Western worldview, inequalities and differences are often associated with injustice and victimization. Traditionally, two main approaches have dominated the way we look at victimization in the modern West. In the first approach, the finger points the blame at the victim (Brownmiller, 1975; Ryan, 1971; Sundberg, Barbaree, & Marshall, 1991; Walker, 1979). This may be a battered wife, a woman who was raped, a person of color, or an economically disadvantaged person. The second approach views men as solely responsible for violence, whether as soldiers on the battlefields, politicians in government, or husbands in domestic violence (Hughes, 1993; Keen, 1991; Zur & Glendinnning, 1987). These two approaches of blame have not only failed to resolve the violence and suffering but in fact, as this paper explains, have tended to perpetuate and exacerbate them. This investigation attempts to describe the complex relationship between the diverse and complementary roles that perpetrators and victims in general and men and women in particular assume in the dynamics of violence. It does not seek to blame, but rather to apply systems analysis to increase our understanding of the dynamics and origins of victimhood and the different types of victims. It concentrates on adult victims and on patterns of victimhood established early in life, rather than on the effects of a single trauma. It focuses on intimate violence and not on random incidents among parties who have no past relationship to each other. A likely response to this paper might be to think that the intent is to blame the victims. I would like to state from the outset that the aim of this paper is to help victims and victimizers end their abusive relationships. Blame is counter-productive, but the politically correct attitude of non-blame, when it produces a climate that forbids exploration of the role of victims in systems of violence, is dangerous as well. Fear of blaming preserves and perpetuates the systems of abuse and victimization. It is my hope that this paper will be of benefit to victims and perpetrators, and to the professionals who help those in violent systems. THE BLAME APPROACHES The civil rights and feminist movements have shed light on the utmost injustice of holding the poor, rape or incest victims, minorities, or the handicapped responsible for their misfortunes (Ryan, 1971). The most obvious manifestations of this "blame the victim" approach are rape cases. Women victims are too often blamed for being provocative, seductive, suggestive, for proposing, teasing, or just plain "asking for it (Brownmiller, 1975; Keen, 1991; Russel, 1984). Men in this myth are seen as helplessly lusty, sexually frustrated beings, responding to sexually provocative women. Similarly, in domestic violence cases women have been blamed for being masochistic, withholding, and, again, "asking for it" or "deserving it" (Sundberg, Barbaree, & Marshall, 1991; Walker 1979; Yollo & Bogard, 1988). African-Americans are viewed as lazy and incapable if they are unemployed (Ryan, 1971), girl victims of sexual abuse are accused of being seductive, and mothers of daughters who have been sexually abused are assumed to be sexually frigid, emotionally cold, and generally unsupportive of their husbands (Caplan & Hall-McCorquodale, 1985). The second approach also concentrates on blame; however it lays all blame entirely on men. This approach has been promoted by a brand of feminism, which holds the male-dominated patriarchal system responsible for all the evils in the world. Whether the issue is wars and politics, domestic violence and sexual abuse, toxic dumps and the corporations, or nuclear weapons and the military industrial complex, the finger is pointed at men as the culprits. At the heart of this approach is the split between men's aggressive and violent nature and women's inherent goodness (for further discussion see Keen, 1991; Sykes, 1992; Zur, 1989, and Zur & Glendinning, 1987). RETHINKING BLAME & THE NEW CULTURE OF VICTIMIZATION Marion Barry, the former mayor of Washington D.C. who was caught red-handed smoking crack, blamed it on that "bitch" who "set me up" and later insisted his prosecutors were racially motivated. Mrs. Rose Cipollone blamed the tobacco industry for the deadly lung cancer she developed after smoking continuously for 40 years. A man who jumped in front of a moving train in New York, causing the amputation of his two legs, sued the engineer and the subway system for negligence. Not only do people wish to claim the status of victim; the legal and political systems promote and legislate it as well. Marion Barry got only a slap on the wrist. The courts awarded Mrs. Cipollone $400,000 in damages to be paid by the cigarette manufacturer, and the man who deliberately and voluntarily jumped in front of a New York subway train collected $650,000 in damages. Victimization is neither a recent nor especially North American phenomenon. The American culture has nevertheless provided a unique and increasingly fertile ground for the cultivation of victimization. The American emphasis on freedom and choice also implies that we are in charge of our destiny. Whether it is by working hard to get ahead, by pulling oneself up by one's bootstraps, or by social and political activism, we believe that we not only can, but actually must take total control of our individual and social destiny. Unlike the Buddhist acceptance of evil, inequality, and hierarchy, Western culture, and particularly North American culture, has evolved notions about the individual's freedom to choose, the immoral nature of social inequality, and the inalienable right of each person to pursue happiness. Within this cultural psychology, and specifically in psychotherapy, lies a belief in people's inherent ability to change themselves and their environment Violence and victimhood, like evil and inequality, must be fought and eradicated. Accordingly, when violence occurs and victims suffer, or when inequalities exist, it is interpreted not as an act of God or a manifestation of karma, but as a failure that must be corrected. This view of 'failure' readily leads to victimhood and blame. Americans, unlike Far-Easterners, Middle-Easterners, or Russians, expect things to turn out well. The constitutional promise to all Americans that they have the right to the pursuit of happiness gives rise to the expectation that Americans are supposed to feel happy. Not feeling happy indicates some sort of failure. The victim says "it is definitely not my fault." The culture of victimization is closely tied to what Amitai Etzioni (1987), a sociologist at Georgetown University, called the 'rights industry.' This 'industry' is a collective term for those who fight for the rights of groups, such as women, abused children, minorities, the homeless, experimental animals, AIDS victims, or illegal immigrants. The concepts of 'rights' and 'victims' are often closely related. Fighting for a 'right' infers that a right was denied. While not always the case, many claims for rights pose a moral claim on someone else, as in the battle between smokers and non-smokers and very often between men and women. Fighting for a right all too often means claiming a victim status. Ironically, the rights movement often victimizes one group while liberating another. What seems to be a noble, justified, long overdue act of protecting a victim can easily turn to blame and warfare. When this happens, conflict, injustice, and victimization are perpetuated, and the possibility of resolution and healing is destroyed. Similar to the rights movement is the recovery movement. In the last decade we have seen an explosion of 12-Step programs attending to an endlessly growing list of addictions. Many of the 12-Step programs help their members master recovery and discourage feelings of blame and victimhood. However, within the recovery movement, some programs like ACA (Adult Children of Alcoholics) and CODA (Co-Dependants Anonymous), can easily perpetuate the membership's sense of victimization instead of enhancing their sense of self-mastery and personal power (Kaminer, 1992; Tavris, 1993). Identifying oneself primarily and over long periods of time as an adult child of an alcoholic is to embrace the permanent identity of a wounded victim. While becoming conscious of the original family dysfunction and its effect on the individual is often necessary for healing, it is only the first step. Remaining indefinitely with ACA groups not only keeps people in the mode of the victim, but also prevents them from growing to a place of empowerment and choice. While programs such as AA, NA, GA, and OA attend to a specific addictions, the co-dependency movement assumes, ludicrously, that 96% of the population are victims of a disease they call 'co-dependency' (Schaef, 1986). We have become a nation of victims, where everyone is leapfrogging over each other, publicly competing for the status of victim, and where everyone is defined as some sort of survivor. Shamelessly, many people in recovery compare their individual sagas of abuse in alcoholic families or sexual harassment on the job, with the experiences of World War II Holocaust survivors who endured the atrocities of the concentration camps (Herman, 1992). Today it is fashionable to be a victim. Celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Kitty Dukakis, Elizabeth Taylor, and Michael Reagan are leading this newest trend. Oprah's, Geraldo's, and Donahue's shows are saturated with victims from all walks of life, proudly confessing their victimization on national T.V. (Hughes, 1993; Kaminer, 1992; Sykes, 1992; Tavris, 1993). The blame-victim approach is not confined to the rights or recovery movement. It is also at the heart of the legal system's approach, which attempts to respond to injustice and violations by identifying and prosecuting the perpetrators and compensating the victims (Sykes, 1992; Hughes, 1993). The faulty part of this legal approach is the focus on simplistic, linear, short term, and face-value justice. It is concerned with differentiating between two opposite poles: right from wrong, guilty from innocent, or conviction from acquittal, and is insensitive to situations where some responsibility is shared by both defendant and plaintiff. In claiming the status of victim and by assigning all blame to others, a person can achieve moral superiority while simultaneously disowning any responsibility for one's behavior and its outcome. The victims 'merely' seek justice and fairness. If they become violent, it is only as a last resort, in self-defense. The victim stance is a powerful one. The victim is always morally right, neither responsible nor accountable, and forever entitled to sympathy. At the heart of the blame approach is a system of warfare, which centers on the outcome of moral or legal battles rather than on the resolution of conflict and the prevention of future violence. As such, it neither reduces pathology nor protects the victim. Sending an abusive husband to jail stops the beatings, and may give the wife a feeling of justice and revenge. It will not help the husband deal with his violent behavior, and it will not teach the wife about her more subtle role in the violent relationship. By confirming the wife's status as a victim, the legal solution is likely to perpetuate further violence. On the one hand, the imprisoned husband may leave prison with more rage and violent tendencies than he had when he was incarcerated, and on the other hand, the wife may simply find herself another abusive man. Whether or not their abusive husbands were charged, restrained, or jailed, women who were abused as children are likely to engage in abusive relationships unless some healing occurs (Viano, 1990). The hope for victims does not lie in the blame approach and the legal system. Hope is established when the victims acquire higher self esteem, learn to differentiate between love and violation, and when they can feel that they are entitled to loving relationships. The question then becomes, if mental health workers are devoted to healing and prevention, why is the blame approach so pervasive? The answer lies in understanding that not only do the mental health workers mirror the general culture of victimization, but they also abide by the unspoken politically correct rule that the role of the victim in violent systems is NOT to be explored. RETHINKING 'DON'T BLAME THE VICTIM' In response to decades of racial oppression, the civil rights movement spearheaded the effort to stop blaming the victims. In an understandable backlash, William Ryan wrote his book Blaming the Victim (1971). In it he contends that blaming the victim is a method of maintaining the status quo in the interest of the group in power. The conclusion was clear: 'do not blame the victim.' Though valid within its historical context, this message also resulted in silencing any exploration of victimhood during subsequent decades, inadvertently perpetuating further victimization. Theories of victimology and research have concentrated mainly on domestic violence, on the effect of traumas on victims (including PTSD research), perpetrators and bystanders, and on treatment. Very few writers have warned against the unrealistic and ultimately patronizing portrayal of victims of crime as total innocents (Viano, 1990), while most scholars have avoided this field altogether, for fear of being accused of 'blaming the victim.' Do not blame the victim has been translated into: do not explore the role of the victim. Sexual coercion has haunted women for many millennia, paralleling the ways that dominant cultures enslave, exploit, and destroy weaker ones (Brownmiller, 1992, Herman, 1992). The feminist and civil rights movements have been instrumental in attempting to correct this gross injustice by fighting for equal rights and dignity for all people. While the feminist and civil rights principles are undebatably just, some have carried the principles to illogical extremes. There are those who would consider the culpability of a woman who knowingly dated a man who had previously raped her on a par with that of a young girl victim of child-rape. While it is clear that abuse of women by men is unjustifiable under any circumstance, still it is important to differentiate between relative degrees of responsibility. To adhere to a victim ideology which states that victims are always and completely innocent is absurd. It has yet to be widely understood that by alleviating all women or any victim from any and all responsibility to predict, prevent, or even unconsciously invite abuse, is to reduce them to helpless, incapable creatures, and in fact, re-victimizes them. In her popular book The Battered Woman, Walker (1979) uses Seligman's (1975) theory of 'learned helplessness' to explain why women do not leave their battering relationship. This popular approach implies that women in battering relationships, like the experimental dogs, have absolutely no choice, no say, and no control over the initiating of, and staying in these abusive relationships. In reality these two situations cannot be compared so easily. There is no doubt that most battered women do not perceive that they have any viable and safe options such as shelters, rape counseling, or legal services geared specifically to abused women. This perception stems from their often, realistic fear for their own and their children's lives, grim economic realities, and the social, police, and legal systems' high tolerance of wife beating (Gelles & Straus, 1988; Walker, 1979). To use Seligman's model in a battering situation is not only humiliating and degrading to women, but also casts them in the totally helpless role of victim. Any analysis which assumes that women make choices, contribute to their misfortune, and that they are neither the only victims nor totally innocent and helpless, is seen as blaming the victim, betraying women, and allying with patriarchal society and sexist men (Caplan & Hall-McCorquodale, 1985; Cook & Frantz-Cook, 1984; Herman, 1992; Sundberg, Barbaree, & Marshall, 1991; Walker, 1979; Yollo & Bogard, 1988). Mental health workers are fully aware of the wide array of self destructive behavior, such as playing Russian roulette or the Chicken game, drunk driving, smoking, drug abuse, obsessive gambling, self mutilation, and, of course, suicide. They are aware that some individuals are more prone to be picked upon, that some repeatedly get into trouble, and that some are more easily victimized than others. Despite this awareness, the psychology of victims is largely an empty field. To understand better the dynamics of violent systems, we must first free ourselves from the binds of politically correct thinking. We must dare to expose the cultural and psychological forces that lead to violence, and to explore the complementary roles that abusers, abused, and bystanders play in such systems. ON VICTIMS AND VICTIMIZERS The family has always been considered one of the most important institutions in many cultures, ideally providing its members with their fundamental needs for safety, food, affection, intimacy, and socialization. In fact, conflict is inevitable in families and violence is all too often pervasive. In their daring analysis of family violence and abuse, Gelles and Straus (1988) assert: "You are more likely to be physically assaulted, beaten, and killed in your own home at the hands of a loved one that in any place else, or by anyone else in our society" and conclude that, "Violence in the home is not the exception we fear; it is all too often the rule we live by" (pp. 18-19). From a very young age we are taught not to trust strangers, not to take candy from them or follow them to their cars. Milk cartons and grocery bags carry pictures of missing children who have been abducted. The mass media saturates us with stories of innocent victims who have been raped, robbed, and murdered by people unknown. More and more Americans arm themselves, barricade their homes, and avoid going places for fear of violent crime. The commonly held belief is that the victim and victimizers are strangers to each other, yet it can be argued otherwise. While the media, our teachers, and the milk cartons tell us the danger is 'out there,' in fact, the home and one's own neighborhood are the places where one is most likely to get hurt. Murder statistics shed further light on the relationship between victimizers and victims. It shows that at least 88% of murder victims in the U.S. had an ongoing active relationship with their murderers. The relationship ranged from intimate or close friends (28%), to relatives (24%), and acquaintances and paramours (36%). Only 12% of the cases involved complete strangers (Jain, 1990; Wolfgang & Ferracuti, 1967). The F.B.I. reports that 1.5 million children are abducted each year. The agency also claims that most of these children (80-90%) are abducted by a parent in a custody dispute and not by strangers (Gelles & Straus, 1988). The political arena presents a very similar picture. Enmity increases with the decrease of proximity and increase in similarity among the warring parties. Civil war and wars of liberation are often more brutal than wars between nations, and disputes between countries that share a common border are reportedly more bloody and less likely to be resolved by non-violent means that international wars between countries which do not share a common border (Keen, 1986; Zur, 1991). Legal, sociological, and clinical data have repeatedly shown that while most abusers were abused as children, not all abused children become abusers. In cases of domestic violence, research has shown that both perpetrators and victims are likely to come from backgrounds where they suffered or witnessed consistent abuse (Gelles & Straus, 1988; Viano, 1990). Apparently, the line between victims and perpetrators is not that clear. The abused is likely to abuse or be abused again. Being a victim in early life no doubt increases the likelihood that later in life one will become a victimizer, a victim, or both. To summarize, perpetrators and victims are much more likely to be intimately involved with each other than to be strangers. Abused and abusers can also be embodied in the same person, someone who initially was violated, then became a violator. PSYCHOLOGY OF VICTIMS In order to understand the psychology of victims, we must understand the major characteristics of a victim or what differentiates victims from non-victims. Whether the trauma is domestic violence, sexual molestation, or a hostage situation, the question is: what separates those who overcome the trauma and live life meaningfully from those who suffer at length from acute Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? For example, what separates women who leave abusive husbands from those who do not? Or what separates Vietnam veterans who today live meaningful lives from those who have become drug addicts or live in the mountains as armed survivalists? The difference between victims and non-victims who operate within the same social, political, economic, and legal context lies not in external factors, as is so often argued, but, as described below, in how they view themselves, the world around them, and their relationship to the trauma. The following section provides the first comprehensive description of victim psychology. It describes the main characteristics of victims, their relationships to the abusers, the origins of victimhood, and a typology of victims. 1. Victims' Characteristics The basic mode of operation of an adult victim is a feeling of helplessness and self-pity, no sense of accountability, and the tendency to blame. This mode is consistent with a number of psychological variables. The victim's locus of control is likely to be external and stable. An external locus of control orientation is a belief that what happens to a person is contingent on events outside of that person's control rather than on what one does. Stable, in this context, refers to the consistency of the out-of-control feelings of the victim vs. the belief that the outcome of events is due to luck or random events (Rotter, 1971). Similarly, victims harbor feelings of self-inefficacy, of not being successful in affecting one's environment or in one's life. Consistent with the above characteristics, victims are likely to attribute the outcome of their behavior to situational or external forces rather than to dispositional forces within themselves. Low self-esteem, a sense of shame, guilt, helplessness, hopelessness, and an internal sense of badness are integral elements in the psychology of those who perceive themselves as victims. According to social exchange theory (Worchel, 1984) and behavioral psychology, victims' actions, apparently and unexpectedly, provide enough rewards and benefits to sustain the victim type of behavior. This means that as long as the cost of being a victim is less than its benefit, or when a victim's behavior is rewarded, the individual will maintain the behavior. While the costs and suffering of victims are apparent, the benefits are much more subtle, and, for the most part, unconscious. They may include the right to empathy and pity, the lack of responsibility and accountability, righteousness, or even relief as the bad self is punished. 2. The Victim-Victimizer Dyad Co-alcoholics are coupled with alcoholics, abusers with abused, masochists with sadists, and victimizers with victims. In all these dyads the roles are mutually dependent and complementary. The power of these roles has been shown most clearly in the alcoholic and co-alcoholic and in intimate abusive relationships. When the alcoholic stops drinking it is not unusual for the relationship to end and for the co-alcoholic to find another 'wet' alcoholic. The conclusion is simple; the co-alcoholic need to control, to be the competent, responsible, 'morally right' partner outweigh the hardships of living with an alcoholic. Similarly in abusive relationships, if the woman has a history of abuse by father, stepfather, or former husbands and healing did not occur, she is likely to be attracted to abusive men. As long as she associates love with violence she will not be attracted to non-abusive men. Victims have complementary needs to be in relationship with victimizers. These needs often manifest in countertransference analysis during psychodynamic psychotherapy. Therapists who work with victims often experience aggressive, violent, or abusive feelings. These feelings evoked in the clinician by a victim-patient, and which must never be acted upon, exemplify the power embodied in the unconscious make-up of the victim to evoke victimization. The victim's identity and (mainly unconscious) needs are connected to low self esteem, feelings of shame and guilt, low sense of efficacy, belief that they are not in control, and possibly a desire to be punished. Adults who maintain a primarily victim identity will not be attracted to a non-abusive partner not because they are masochists by nature, but because of the cultural and familial influences that shaped them in certain ways, described in the following section. 3. The Making Of A Victim Are victims made or born? This question is tied to the debate of nature vs. nurture and the dialectical balance between destiny and choice. The basic assumption of this paper is that there is no gene for victimhood. Two types of forces are most influential in our lives: the social/political and the familial. The social and political realities are likely to systematically victimize certain groups, such as women, minorities, and the disabled. The familial environment of early childhood is influential in preparing individuals to embrace or reject the victim role. A single event, such as robbery, war, plane crash, or rape, does not transform a person into a victim. It takes a certain consistency in the environment to raise a victim (Sykes, 1992). As the 'American dream,' the legal system, the 'rights movement,' the recovery movement, and especially co-dependency groups have contributed to the development of a nation of victims, so, too, do politicians, attorneys, and military generals often justify their actions through blame. U.S. foreign policy is based on claims of 'self defense' and blame. America got into the war in Vietnam and sustained 40 years of cold war to avoid 'becoming a victim' of the spread of communism. Later America felt victimized and threatened by the tiny island of Granada, Noriega of Panama, and Sadam Hussein of Iraq, and more recently by Somalia's so called War Lord Adid. Within this political victim-blame climate, people's journeys towards victimhood often start at home with abuse or abandonment. Those who were abused in their childhood internalize shame, guilt, and a low sense of self worth. They learn to associate love with abuse, intimacy with violation, and care with betrayal. They internalize the message that they are not worthy of love. In order either to make sense of their world or protect their ideal view of their parents, they believe their own badness caused the abuse and that they must deserve it. Victims of childhood abuse may become victimizers, victims, or both. The pain and rage from the abuse and betrayal may turn inward, or can be turned onto another person. With external support or internal resiliency they can become neither (See figure 1). When the rage turns inward, a person can become either self destructive (self mutilators, suicidal, and other self defeating behaviors) or destroyed by others (victim). For these people, destruction by self or others is the last means of maintaining a feeling of being potent. Children who were abused received repeated reinforcement in their childhood to act as a victim. Often it was the only way to get acknowledged by parental figures. Identification and imitation of the parents' roles of victim or victimizers may lead to corresponding behavior. If a boy identifies with an abusive father, we can expect him to attempt to repeat the abusive behavior. Similarly, a girl who observes her mother being abused is more likely to engage in such behavior herself (Gelles & Straus, 1988). It is not uncommon for a person to assume both roles and become an abuser as well as a victim. Social legitimacy of violence and victimization in our culture goes far beyond the familial battlefields. Television programs, video games, movies, school playgrounds, neighborhoods, and national and international politics all legitimize the use of violence to resolve conflicts. Whether it is Sunday morning cartoons, an interactive violent video game, or the armed invasion of a foreign land, a clear message is sent that it is acceptable to use force as a means to achieve a goal. When the culturally violent messages complement the familial ones, children may not have any other frame of reference, and are most likely to fall into the role of victims, victimizers, or both. 4. Typology of Victims The basic assumption of the legal system is that there is one party in a dispute who is guilty and 100% responsible for the crime, and another party who is totally innocent. While in a some cases the responsibility is clear, in most cases the situation is more complex. The following is an attempt, based partly on Mendelson's (1974) original formulation, to classify victims according to their relative degree of responsibility and power to control or affect situations. These categories also judge the degree of guilt or responsibility, ranging from total innocence/no guilt, to 100% responsibility /total guilt. 1. Non guilty- innocent victim: This category includes victims who do not share the responsibility of the offence with the perpetrators. These are innocent victims whom we cannot expect to be able to avert the offence by anticipating it or by preventing it. Examples: Children who are sexually or physically abused, or neglected. Rape or murder victims when the crime is unforeseen, unprovoked, and perpetrated by complete strangers. Severely mentally ill or disabled adults who get hurt or exploited. Those who suffer a crime while unconscious. Victims of random or rampage shooting. Victims of unexpected natural disasters: victims of earthquake in a non-earthquake zone. 2. Victims With Minor Guilt: This category includes victims who with some thought, planning, awareness, information, or consciousness could have expected danger and avoided or minimized the harm to themselves. They 'could or should have known better.' Examples: Adult victims of repeated domestic violence where shelters are available (after patterns are established and it is no longer unpredictable). Marital rape victims after the first few episodes (when the pattern has been established and it is no longer a surprise) Women who are raped after choosing to get drunk (the minor responsibility is for electing to be completely helpless and unconscious, at the full mercy of others, in a situation that has the potential to be dangerous). Adults who were victimized due to being in the wrong place and the wrong time, where with some awareness, preparation, and caution they could have prevented the assault. Jews who suffered during the Holocaust (are of course not responsible for the Nazi's evils, but they could have resisted more, been less co-operative, and not gone like lambs to the slaughter. They could have read the situation better and left in time, as many of them (40%) did). 3. Victims who share equal responsibility with the perpetrators: This category includes victims who share equal responsibility with the offender for the harm inflicted on them. These are people who are conscious and aware of the situation and chose to be part of it. They are not caught by surprise, and common sense could have anticipated the damage that occurred. Examples: Co-alcoholics, co-addicts after the initial phase of their relationship (after it has been clearly established that the partner is an addict). A man who contracts a sexually transmitted disease from a prostitute. Victims who seek, challenge, tease, or entice the perpetrator. Willing participants in a Chicken Game, gun dual, or double suicide. 4. Victims who are slightly more guilty than the offender. This category includes victims who are active participants in an interaction where they are likely to get hurt. While they seek the damaging contact, the offender can easily withdraw from the situation, unlike those in category #5, to follow. Unlike those in the previous category #3, the offender is less responsible for the damage than is the victim. Examples: An abusive husband who is killed by his battered wife (he is primarily responsible but, as this paper states, the abuse must be viewed also as an interaction, and some responsibility shared between the couple). Drunk people who harass sober bystanders and get hurt. Gay bashers who get hurt. Cult members who chose to enter the cult as adults and then were brainwashed and harmed. (i.e., Jonestown, Waco). Citizens who collude by passivity in their country's atrocious acts and get hurt by other countries armies (i.e. politically inactive German civilians who did not fight the Nazi regime and got killed by the allies army attacks) 5. Victims who are exclusively responsible for their victimization: This category includes victims who initiated the contact and committed an act that is likely to lead to injury. In these cases, the one who inflicts the damage is not guilty and acts in pure self-defense or as expected from his position. This category is reserved for legally and clinically sane adults. Examples: Rapists who are killed by their complete stranger- victims in self-defense. Mercenaries who are wounded or killed. People who smoke and get lung cancer. Suicide by those who are not mentally ill. (Mentally healthy and competent individuals can chose to commit rationally planned suicide for which they bear the full responsibility) The above categories represent an attempt to differentiate among many situations of victimhood. They comprise a controversial, inconclusive, and incomplete grid to determine guilt or responsibility. Demographic, cultural, and personal variables, while not accounted for in the above categories, are nevertheless crucial for the assessment of guilt and responsibility. When evaluating the degree of responsibility, the following parameters must be also included: ethnicity (minorities are more disposed to victimization than those in the majority), gender (women are more disposed to victimization than men), socio-economic status (poor vs. rich), physical attributes (less attractive, weak vs. more attractive, strong), mental status (mentally ill, dysfunctional vs. healthy, functional), familial background (abused, neglected vs. loved, nurtured), cultural values (cultures that promote violence vs. those that promote harmony). FROM BLAME TO HEALING Violence begets violence, similarly, blame begets blame. Blaming men, women, minorities, the rich, or the poor keeps the race for victim status alive. An individual or group can win the battle, become the victim of the year, yet lose the war. Victims' blame behavior and lack of accountability are the very reasons they may continue to get hurt, injured, and abused. It is apparent that the blame approach is neither effective in resolving the problems of violence, nor in protecting the victim from further victimization, nor protecting future generations from continuing the cycle of abuse. An alternative approach is the systems analysis approach (Bateson, 1979; Laszlo, 1976). Applied to victimization, systems analysis is concerned with the ways the dynamics of victimization develop, how they escalate towards violence, and what may affect them to shift toward non-violent resolution. Who is right or who is to be blamed is not the concern of this approach. Instead, it offers ways to intervene and hopefully stop the patterns of violence. Applying systems analysis to victimization, the following assumptions arise: * Victimization, like violence, is not genetically programmed. * Victimization, as discussed in this paper, happens within a context of relationship and a certain environment or culture. Hence, each participant's behavior must be understood within the context of the relationship and its legal, economical, political, and social context. * Participants in the victims-victimizers-bystanders dynamic assume (mainly unconsciously mutually dependant and complementary roles. * Intervention or change in the system can be initiated at any time, by any participant. Any change in behavior by one of the participants is likely to affect the others' behavior and may lead to a different outcome. * The interaction within the victimizer-victim-environment can lead to violence or to other options, such as non-violent or peaceful resolution. The non-violent options will alter the victim and victimizer roles, and may include termination of the relationship. * Cultures can promote victim-victimizer, violent, or blame systems, or they can promote respectful relationships among its members who in turn make a sound commitment to resolve conflicts non-violently. Looking at the different roles in victim systems, such as the abuser, abused, and bystanders, as mutually dependant is the foundation stone of this approach. While the psychology of abusers (Beasley & Stoltenberg, 1992; Viano, 1990) and bystanders (Lantane & Darley, 1970) has been thoroughly explored, systems analysis also demands a look at the generally ignored role of the victim. Victimization is a complex phenomenon and any inquiry or therapy must include multiple approaches or perspectives. Five types of considerations, all equally important, should be explored prior to any intervention when therapists work within a victim-system. Firstly, the nature of the interaction between victimizers, victims, and the environment (including bystanders) must be examined. It is of utmost importance that there is no blame or finger pointing towards the victimizer or the victim. Secondly, one must approach the individual victim with empathy and attempt to understand the present self-destructive behavior in the light of the victim's past and evolution. Thirdly, there must be an assessment of the victim's level of consciousness, sanity, and ability to plan and control behavior. Fourthly, cultural and sub-cultural factors present since childhood, such as race, economic status, and gender, must be taken into account. Finally, the cultural context as revealed through the legal, educational, and political systems, the media, and popular trends, must be considered. Applying these clinical guidelines to the case of domestic violence (where the husband is the abuser), therapists must first understand the interplay between husband and wife and how their behaviors contribute to the maintenance and escalation of violence. The therapist should neither blame the abusive husband nor the battered wife, but focus on the destructive system they both developed and maintain. Next, both victim's and abuser's behavior must be empathetically understood within the context of their familial history. Special attention must be given to history of abuse and abandonment. Subsequently, the woman's mental, intellectual, physical, and economical resources must be assessed (if necessary, protection should be providing accordingly and/or immediately). The therapist must then seek to understand how gender, race, and other factors, such as disability, apply to the couple's violence system. Finally, the therapist must know and understand how the culture and subculture within which the couple operate (including the criminal justice system, economic and community resources, etc.) contribute, collude, and perpetuate their violence system. Only with the understanding of the above components and the use of system theory (often in conjunction with other theoretical orientations) is the therapist likely to intervene effectively. Whether the therapist works with individuals or the whole system, the most immediate task is to prevent any imminent violence. The long-term goal must be to help the patient, whether victim, victimizer, or bystander, to assume a new role and new behavior. The ultimate task of therapy is to help all participants live their lives meaningfully and with more dignity. In cases when one ends up working with the victim individually, one has to walk the fine line between empathy and collusion. Without blaming, the therapist's goal is to move the victim from blame to responsibility, from helplessness to accountability, and from hopelessness to empowerment. Victims should never take total responsibility for their suffering; however they must develop an understanding of how they contribute to their own victimization. While acquiring a cohesive sense of self, the victims must be helped to feel better about themselves, raise their self-esteem, and work through the legacy of their childhood abuse. Therapy must enable victims to break the dangerous and painful link between love and abuse while helping them realize that they deserve respect and dignity like any other human being. By understanding types, origins, and the mode of operation of victims therapists and non-therapists alike will be able to recognize, prevent, and intervene in violent systems, enabling all participants to live better lives. For this to happen, victims must overcome their feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and low self-esteem. They must not focus on blame, and avoid moral self-righteousness. They have to believe that they have a part in what happens to them and overcome their victim patterns. The healing process should empower them to become conscious contributors to the unfolding of their lives, which can become dignified and meaningful. REFERENCES Bateson, G. (1979). Mind in nature. New York: Dutton Beasley, R & Stoltenberg, C.D. (1992). Personality characteristics of male spouse abusers. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 23(4), 310-317. Brownmiller, S. (1975). Against our will: Men, women, and rape. New York: Simon & Schuster. Caplan, L. P. & Hall-McCorquodale, I., (1985). Mother Blaming in major clinical journals. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 55 (3), 345-353. Cook, D. & Frantz-Cook, A. (1984). A systematic treatment approach to wife battering. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 10, 83-93. Etzioni, A. (1987). A responsive society. San Francisco: Jossey Bass Inc. Gelles, R. J. & Straus, M.A. (1988). Intimate violence. New York: Simon & Schuster. Herman, J. L. (1992). Trauma and recovery. New York: Basic Books Hughes, R. (1993). Culture of complaint: The fraying of America. New York: Oxford University Press. Jain, R. S. (1990). The victim-offender relationship family violence. In Viano, E. (Ed.), The victimology handbook, (pp. 107-111), New York: Garland Pub., Inc. Kaminer, W. (1992). I'm dysfunctional, you're dysfunctional. New York: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co. Keen, S. (1991). Fire in the belly: On being a man. New York: Bantam books Keen, S. (1986). Faces of the enemy. New York: Harper and Row. Lantane, B. & Darley, J. M. (1970). The unresponsive bystander: Why doesn't he help? Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. Laszlo, E. (1976). The system view of the world. New York: George Braziller. Mendelson, B. (1974). The origin of the doctrine of victimology. In Drapkin, L. and Viano, E. (Eds.), Victimology. Lexington: Lexington Books. Ochberg, F. M. & Willis, D. J. (Eds.). (1991). Psychotherapy with victims. Psychotherapy (special issue) 28(1). Rotter, J. B. (1971, June). External and internal control. Psychology Today, pp 37-42, 58-59. Russel, D. E. H. (1984). Sexual Exploitation: Rape, child sexual abuse, and workplace harassment. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Ryan, W. (1971). Blaming the victim. New York: Vintage Books. Sundberg, S. L., Barbaree, H. E., & Marshall, (1991). Victim blame and the disinhibition of sexual arousal to rape vignettes. Violence and victims, 16, 103-120. Seligman, M. E. P. (1975). Helplessness: On depression, development and death. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman. Schaef, A. W. (1986). Co-dependancy: Misunderstood-mistreated. New York: Harper and Row. Sykes, C. J. (1992). A nation of victims: The decay of the American character. New York: St. Martin's press. Tavris, C. (1993, January). Beware the incest survivor machine. New York Times, Book Review, pp. 1,16-18. Viano, E. (Ed.). (1990). The victimology handbook. New York: Garland Pub. Inc. Walker, E. (1979). The battered woman. New York: Harper & Row. Wolfgang, M. E. and Ferracuti, F. (1967). The subculture of violence. New York: Barnes and Noble. Worchel, S. (1984). The darker side of helping. In E. Staub et al. (Ed.). The development and maintenance of prosocial behavior. New York: Plenum. Yollo, K. & Bogard, M. (Eds.). (1988). Feminist Perspectives in wife abuse. Beverly Hills, Ca: Sage Publications, Inc. Zur, O. (1989). War myths. J. of Humanistic Psychology, 29, 297-327. Zur, O. (1991). The love of hating: Exploring enmity. History of European Ideas, 13, 345-369. Zur, O. & Glendinning, C. (1987). Men/women - War/peace: A systems approach. In Macy, M. (Ed.), Solution for a troubled world, (pp. 107-121) Boulder, CO: Earthview Press, Inc. Copyright The Haworth Press, Inc 1994 Article copies available from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: docdelivery@haworthpress.com; Haworth Press, Inc., home page is at http://www.HaworthPress.com. Part three: Main Points & Recommended Readings The US has become a nation of victims, where many people compete for the victim status. The growing 'rights industry' or 'rights movement' is a collective term for those who fight for rights of a variety of groups from women, minorities and the handicapped to smokers, gun owners and pornographers. The victim stance is a powerful one: The victim is always morally right, neither responsible nor accountable, and forever entitled to sympathy. Exploring the psychology of victims has become synonymous with blaming the victim. Victims' healing lies not only in empathy and support but also, when appropriate, in helping them assume appropriate and realistic responsibility for what has happened to them. Therapists benefit from the tidal wave of victims as it fills the consulting room, and therefore, it is good for therapists' pocket books. Therapists have been a leading force in perpetuating the sense of victimization, as it enhances their professional and economic status. Many psychotherapists, for professional and economic reasons, seem to focus on pathology rather than resilience and strength. Many psychotherapists ignore the data which outlines that some people do better without talking about traumatic events, rather than rehashing it for years on end. Victimization, like violence, is not genetically programmed. Victimization, as discussed in this paper, happens within a context of relationship and a certain environment or culture. Hence, each participant's behavior must be understood within the context of the relationship and its legal, economic, political and social context. Participants in the victims-victimizers-bystanders dynamic assume, mainly unconsciously, mutually dependant and complementary roles. Intervention or change in the system can be initiated at any time by any participant. Any change in behavior by one of the participants is likely to affect the others' behavior and may lead to a different outcome. The interaction within the victimizer-victim environment can lead to violence or to other options, such as non-violent or peaceful resolution. The non-violent options will alter the victim and victimizer roles and may include termination of the relationship. Cultures can promote victim-victimizer, violent or blame systems, or they can promote respectful relationships among its members who, in turn, make a sound commitment to resolve conflicts non-violently. At least 88% of murder victims in the U.S. had an ongoing active relationship with their murderers. 1.5 million children are abducted each year, and most of these children (80-90%) are abducted by a parent in a custody dispute and not by a stranger. In summary: The victim culture and the blame approach have resulted in further victimization and hurt. Psychotherapists, like attorneys, seem to benefit from the victim culture and have been perpetuating the sentiment of victimhood, often for their own professional and economic benefits. We must learn to differentiate between normal, hurtful life events and serious trauma; between individuals who need support and those who resiliently overcome difficulties without help; and between normal painful life events and so called traumas. Finally we must differentiate between the types of victim and, when appropriate, help the victim assume responsibility for his or her part. If we do all this, I believe we can offer more health and dignity to victims and the culture at large. Recommended Readings: Primary books on the topic: Dineen, T. (1996). Manufacturing Victims: What the Psychology Industry is Doing to People. Westmount, Canada: Robert Davies Multimedia Publishing. For an online home study course which include selected chapters from this book, click here. Sykes, C. J. (1992). A Nation of Victims: The Decay of the American Character. New York: St. Martin's Press. Additional important Readings: Darshowitz, A.M. (1994). The Abuse Excuse and other Cop-Outs Sob Stories, and evasions of Responsibility. New York: Little, Brown & Comp. Etzioni, A. (1987). A Responsive Society. San Francisco: Jossey Bass Inc. Gelles, R. J. & Straus, M.A. (1988). Intimate Violence. New York: Simon & Schuster. Green, R. (Ed.) (2002). Resiliency. Washington DC: NASW Press Kaminer, W. (1992). I'm Dysfunctional You're Dysfunctional: The Recovery Movement and Other Self-Help Fashions. New York: Vintage Books. Keen, S. (1986). Faces of the Enemy. New York: Harper and Row. Laszlo, E. (1976). The System View of the World. New York: George Braziller. McWhorter, J. (2000). Losing the Race: Black Self-Sabotage in America. New York: Harper Perennial. Slater, L (2003). Repress Yourself. New York Times Magazine, February 23, pp 48-53. ) Steele S. (1990). The Content of Our Character. New York: St. Martin's Press. Tavris, C. (1993, January). Beware the Incest Survivor Machine. New York Times, Book Review, pp. 1,16-18. Walker, E. (1979). The Battered Woman. New York: Harper & Row. Wolfgang, M. E. and Ferracuti, F. (1967). The Subculture of Violence. New York: Barnes and Noble. Zilbergeld, B. (1983). Shrinking of America: Myths of Psychological Change. New York: Little Brown & Company.

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