The "Victim-Persecutor-Rescuer Triangle" is also known as the
"Relationship Triangle," the "Rescue Triangle," the "Drama Triangle,"
or the "Karpman Drama Triangle" (after Dr. Stephen B. Karpman, who is
credited with originating the construct). The triangle, which began as
a concept of Transactional Analysis, is often used by Recovery and
Co-Dependency therapy groups as a model of the dynamics of
dysfunctional relationships. Here's a good explanation:
"The Rescue triangle (also known as the Karpman, or Drama triangle...
has been useful over a quarter century to untangle dysfunctional
relationships and expose ulterior motives. The early authors practiced
Transactional Analysis, with its emphasis on social psychology and
interpersonal 'transactions'... Karpman discerned three basic
positions or roles to be present in both literary drama and
dysfunctional relationships.
The basic character of the triangle may be illustrated by a type
scenario. An Eager Boy Scout takes a Little Old Lady in hand and helps
her across the street, unaware that she doesn't want to cross here.
Halfway across, Little Old Lady thinks to herself, 'He's such a nice
young man. I won't tell him that my bus is coming.' On the other side,
her bus missed, Little Old Lady clouts EBS over the head with her
umbrella.
An essential feature of the drama triangle is that all the players
shift positions; the Eager Boy Scout from Rescuer to Persecutor to
Victim, and the Little Old Lady from Victim to Rescuer to Persecutor.
Note that the roles (positions) shift quickly, easily, almost
automatically, and that each position feels uneasy and ungrounded. In
real life, people enmeshed in the Rescue triangle tend to keep doing
it over and over again."
Talk About Recovery: Victim - Persecutor - Rescuer - 1
http://www.talkaboutrecovery.com/group/alt.recovery/messages/52526.html
A succinct description from a Transactional Analysis tutoring site:
"The Drama Triangle shows the dramatic roles that people act-out in
daily life that are unstable, unsatisfactory, repeated, emotionally
competitive, and generate misery and discomfort for both people,
sooner or later.
The switching that occurs between Persecutor - Rescuer - Victim
generates the Drama and the painful feelings that occur when people
have hidden agendas, secrets, and then manipulate for dysfunctional
personal advantage."
TA Tutor: THE KARPMAN DRAMA TRIANGLE
http://www.ta-tutor.com/!dratri/xdrallp.htm
Here you'll find a brief fact sheet on the Triangle:
Karpman Drama Triangle
http://www.soulselfhelp.on.ca/karpmandramatriangle.pdf
This page contains some basic information on triangling in relationships:
Stepfamily Information: Spot and Dissolve Relationship "Triangles"
http://sfhelp.org/09/triangles.htm
An excellent in-depth look at the triangle, by therapist Lynne Forrest:
Lynne Forrest: The Faces of Victim
http://lynneforrest.com/articles/fov.html
And, finally, here is a copy of the 1968 article by Dr. Karpman in
which the "Drama Triangle" concept was first popularized:
Transactional Analysis Journal: Fairy Tales and Script Drama Analysis
http://www.tajnet.org/articles/karpman01.html
Google Search Strategy:
Google Web Search: "victim" + "persecutor" + "rescuer" + "triangle"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=victim+persecutor+rescuer+triangle
I hope this information is useful. If anything is unclear, or if a
link doesn't work for you, please request clarification; I'll be glad
to offer further assistance before you rate my answer.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
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