ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the reactions of child and adult victims of intimate violence and explores similarities in modes of thinking of both abuse victims and victims of other traumatic events. It investigates the circumstances under which victims escape from their maltreatment. Victims of crime and disasters of various sorts invariably suffer common reactions of anger, shock, confusion, fear, and anxiety. Victims of family violence often experience low self-esteem and depression. L. E. A. Walker notes the parallels of the situation faced by the experimental subjects of learned helplessness and victims of recurrent, rather unpredictable family violence. Victims’ fears that departure escalates violence are compounded by a belief that they may receive little help outside the home. Some victims recognize that more than just conformity to the perpetrator’s wishes or waiting for perpetrator to change is necessary to break the violent pattern. Victims often manifest a deficit in problem-solving ability and they hold themselves at least partially responsible for their victimization.
