Forms of psychological violence
- Humiliation and insults: includes permanent insults, humiliation, ridicule and contempt aimed at the victim in order to destroy his self-esteem and self-respect.
- Isolation: The abuser seeks to isolate the victim from her social network, friends and family. It can restrict her contact with other people, control her movement, and deprive her of support and communication with the outside world.
- Threats and blackmail: the rapist uses physical threats violence, child abuse or suicide threats to control and intimidate the victim. Blackmail may also be used, including threats of disclosure of personal information or threats of dismissal.
- Manipulation and control: the psychological abuser manipulates the victim by controlling her thoughts, behavior and emotions. He can use lies, manipulative tactics, and manipulate access to the victim's resources, decisions, and finances.
- Intimate partner violence: this is violence that happens in intimate relationships. Includes emotional coercion, control, threats, constant blaming or attacks on self-worth and self-respect.
- Cyberbullying is a form of psychological abuse that happens online through social networks, messages or email. Includes threats, insults, disclosure of personal information or dissemination of compromising material.
- Economic abuse: the perpetrator controls the victim's finances, by restricting her access to money, prohibiting work or financial independence in order to create dependence and control over her.
- Psychological domestic violence: includes threats, humiliation, manipulation and control within the family directed at other family members, especially children.
Devaluation as a type of psychological violence in the family
Devaluation in the context of psychological domestic violence is the process in which one family member (often the abuser or dominant family member) purposefully and systematically belittles, humiliates and despises another family member in order to control and suppress their self-esteem and self-esteem. Devaluation can be a form of psychological abuse and can have serious negative consequences for the victim.
The depreciation process may include the following aspects:
- Humiliation and Insults: Perpetrator uses constant insults, humiliation, ridicule and contempt for the victim. He can call her derogatory nicknames, insult her appearance, intelligence, abilities or achievements.
- Irony and sarcasm: the rapist uses sarcastic or ironic speech and comments to humiliate and subject the victim to ridicule. This may be done to make the victim feel inferior and inadequate.
- Ignore and Inattention: The perpetrator may ignore the victim, her needs, opinions and feelings. He may not pay attention to her requests or opinion, thus demonstrating that her presence and contribution do not matter.
- Any success or achievement of the victim is denied or downplayed : The perpetrator may deny the victim's accomplishments, downplay them, or take credit for himself. This can cause the victim to feel inferior and insecure about their abilities.
- Criticism and Negative Evaluation: The perpetrator constantly criticizes the victim, points out her mistakes and shortcomings, suppressing her self-esteem and confidence. He may do this openly or covertly, but the goal is always to make the victim feel inadequate and inferior.
Devaluation in a family context can have a profound and lasting effect on the victim. This can lead to loss of self-esteem, low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and an increased risk of developing mental and emotional problems.
Jealous control as a form of psychological violence
Jealous control in the context of psychological domestic violence is a form of behavior in which one partner or family member (most often the abuser) exercises excessive control over another partner or family member out of jealousy or under the pretense of concern for them. This manifests itself in obsessive actions and restrictions that violate the personal freedom and privacy of the victim.
Jealous control may include the following aspects:
- Constant interrogation and suspicion: the rapist watches and controls the victim, asks a lot of questions about his actions, whereabouts, interactions with other people. He suspects the victim of all possible betrayals and tries to establish complete control over her life.
- Prohibitions and Restrictions: The perpetrator may prohibit the victim communicate with certain people, go out to certain places, or engage in certain activities. He seeks to establish control over her social network in order to reduce the opportunity for free contacts and possible "threats" of jealousy.
- Communication control: the abuser can control everything messages, calls or emails of the victim. He can check her phone records, honor private messages, or demand access to her social media accounts. This creates a feeling of constant surveillance and restriction of freedom of expression.
- Constant accusations and mistrust: the rapist constantly suspects victim of treason and charges her without evidence. He maintains an atmosphere of distrust and seeks to convince the victim that he is the only one who can trust her.
- Emotional Blackmail: The rapist can use their jealousy as a means of control, threatening the victim or expressing his emotional experiences with demands in her relationship. He manipulates the victim's feelings, making her feel guilty or responsible for his jealousy and control.
Jealous control creates an atmosphere of fear, mistrust and psychological dependence in the victim. It is a form of psychological abuse that restricts her freedom and causes emotional and psychological trauma.
Gaslighting is a type of psychological violence in the family
Gaslighting in the context of psychological violence in the family is a form of manipulation and psychological abuse in which the perpetrator deliberately and systematically misleads the victim, undermines their reality and confidence in their own perceptions and memory. The goal of gaslighting is to control and subdue the victim, create addiction and suppress their self-esteem.
Here are some characteristics of gaslighting in the context of family psychological abuse:
- Systematic lying and denial: The perpetrator lies systematically and denies the facts to confuse the victim. He can deny current events, change reality, create situations that contradict the perception of the victim. This causes the victim to doubt their memory and perception of what is happening.
- Creating Doubt and Confusion: The perpetrator tries to confuse victim by presenting conflicting information or making inconsistent statements. He may deliberately contradict his words and actions in order to cause the victim to doubt his own perception and common sense.
- Constant criticism and humiliation: the rapist constantly criticizes victim, humiliates and insults her. He does it in such a way that the victim feels inferior and dependent on his opinion. This promotes control and creates a feeling of helplessness and insufficiency in the victim.
- Isolate and cut off support: a rapist can try to isolate the victim from her social network, friends and family so that he has complete control over her life and her only source of information and support. This makes the victim more vulnerable and dependent on the perpetrator.
- Responsibility and Guilt Shift: The abuser can shift responsibility for their actions on the victim. He makes her feel guilty about her behavior or what happens in the relationship, creating guilt and shame in the victim.
Gaslighting in a family context is psychological abuse that destroys the victim's self-esteem, self-respect and healthy psychological function. The victim of gaslighting may feel confused, helpless, and isolated.
Manipulations with isolation from friends and relatives in the context of domestic violence
The manipulation of isolation from friends and loved ones in the context of family violence is a strategy that the perpetrator uses to control and subjugate the victim by disconnecting them from external support and the social network. It is a form of psychological abuse that limits the freedom and independence of the victim and increases their vulnerability.
Here are some characteristics of isolation manipulation in the context of domestic violence:
- Contact Restriction: The perpetrator may actively interfere with the victim keep in touch with her friends, relatives or social network. It can prevent her from seeing friends, calling or chatting with them, reading their messages, or following social media accounts. This creates a sense of isolation and cut-off from the support.
- Intimidation and Threats: The perpetrator may intimidate the victim, warning her of the possible consequences if she keeps in touch with friends or loved ones. He may threaten her with physical or emotional abuse, gossip or other negative consequences to force her to refuse contact with external support.
- Corruption of trust: the perpetrator can convince the victim, that her friends or loved ones do not deserve her trust or are not on her side. He may spread rumors, slander, or make accusations against friends or loved ones to make the victim doubt their sincerity and support.
- Isolation from outside help: the abuser can actively prevent the victim from seeking help or support from external organizations such as the police, abuse centers or family counselors. He can control her access to the phone, finances, or transportation to limit her ability and ability to get help.
The manipulation of isolation from friends and loved ones in domestic violence creates a sense of dependency and helplessness in the victim. She may feel cut off from support, locked in a controlling and violent environment. This makes it more difficult for the victim to recognize their situation, seek help, and get out of the violence.
Blackmail and intimidation as a form of family psychological violence
Blackmail and intimidation in the context of family psychological abuse are strategies that the abuser uses to control and subdue the victim, using threats, extortion and the creation of fear. These forms of psychological abuse are aimed at suppressing the will and independence of the victim.
Here are some characteristics of blackmail and intimidation in the context of family psychological abuse:
- Threats of physical violence: The abuser may threaten the victim physical violence or harm to yourself, the victim or other family members. This creates fear and anxiety in the victim, forcing her to obey the rapist and do what he requires.
- Threats of emotional or psychological abuse: The perpetrator may threaten the victim with emotional or psychological violence, such as insults, humiliation, destruction of property, or dissemination of compromising information. He can use the information he knows about the victim to intimidate him and control his behavior.
- Blackmail using children: A rapist can use children as a tool of blackmail and intimidation. He may threaten to take the children away from the victim, provide unfavorable conditions for their communication or financial support in order to force the victim to do what he requires.
- Social Exclusion Threats: An abuser may threaten to isolate victim from her social network, friends or family. He can forbid her from meeting people, control her contacts, or spread rumors and slander about her in order to cut her off from outside support and control her completely.
- Threats with economic repercussions: The abuser may threaten financial consequences or worsening of the economic situation of the victim. He may withhold access to money, control the family's finances, or threaten to fire him to force the victim to comply with his demands.
Blackmail and intimidation in family psychological abuse create an atmosphere of fear, dependence and control in the victim. This restricts her freedom, suppresses her self-esteem and healthy psychological function, and causes emotional and psychological trauma.
How does the transformation of psychological violence into physical violence occur if nothing is done
If nothing is done to stop psychological abuse, it can escalate over time and turn into physical abuse. This transformation can occur gradually and depends on many factors, including the nature of the perpetrator, the level of aggression, the dynamics of relationships in the family, and other circumstances.
Here are some ways in which psychological abuse can lead to physical abuse:
- Aggression Escalation: Gradually, the rapist may become more aggressive and potentially violent in their actions and statements. As a result of psychological abuse, he may begin to show more open aggression, use physical threats or even physical force.
- Assessing control: Through psychological abuse, the abuser seeks establish complete control over the victim. Gradually, he can move from manipulation and threats to physical violence in order to subdue and suppress the victim.
- Loss of Control: In some cases, the perpetrator may lose control over their emotions and actions under the influence of aggression and anger. This can lead to physical abuse, where the perpetrator loses control and uses physical force on the victim.
- Violence Level Up: If the perpetrator is satisfied from controlling and abusing the victim, he can gradually increase the level of violence, including physical violence. This may be a consequence of the normalization of violence in relationships and the desire of the abuser to control the victim completely.
It is important to note that not all cases of psychological abuse necessarily lead to physical abuse. However, if there are signs of an escalation of aggression, physical threats, or the perpetrator shows physical aggression in other situations, it is necessary to immediately seek help and support from specialists in order to prevent further escalation and ensure the safety of the victim.
Methods of defense against psychological attack
Protection from psychological attack in the context of domestic violence is an important aspect of ensuring the safety of the victim. Here are some protections that might be helpful:
- Be aware of what's going on: It's important to be aware that you are a victim of psychological abuse and that it is not your fault. Recognize that you deserve a healthy and respectful relationship.
- Get help: Seek support from trusted friends, family members, or professional organizations that specialize in supporting victims of domestic violence. Contact professionals such as psychologists, family counselors or lawyers for advice and assistance.
- Create a security plan: Develop a security plan that which will help you protect yourself and your loved ones. Include emergency contacts, places you can go in case of emergency, and any other information that may be useful.
- Limit contact with the abuser: If possible, try to limit contact with the abuser. Avoid situations that may provoke violence and try to maintain a safe distance.
- Protect your finances: Strive to be financially independent, if possible. Create your own bank account, keep copies of financial documents, and consider getting legal advice on financial separation.
- Self-care or temporary shelter: If the situation becomes unbearable, consider leaving the dangerous environment. Contact organizations that provide temporary shelter and support for victims of domestic violence.
- Support external resources: Use the services of organizations that who specialize in helping victims of domestic violence. This may include counseling, therapy, legal aid, or support groups.
- Take care of yourself: Remember that your physical and emotional well-being is essential. Take time for yourself, take care of your needs, and strive for healthy relationships and environments.
It is important to note that each situation is different and protection decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis. If you are in a situation of violence, seek help and support from professionals for specific guidance and solutions.