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Trauma bonds (also referred to as traumatic bonds) are emotional bonds that arise from a cyclical pattern of abuse. A trauma bond occurs in an abusive relationship, wherein the victim forms an emotional bond with the perpetrator.[1] The concept was developed by psychologists Donald Dutton and Susan Painter.[2][3][4]
Trauma bonds are based on terror, dominance, and unpredictability. As the trauma bond between an abuser and a victim strengthens, it can lead to cyclical patterns of conflicting emotions. Frequently, victims in trauma bonds do not have agency, autonomy, or an individual sense of self. Their self-image is an internalization of the abuser's conceptualization of them.[7]
Trauma bonds have severe detrimental effects on the victim. Some long-term impacts of trauma bonding include remaining in abusive relationships, adverse mental health outcomes like low self-esteem and negative self-image, an increased likelihood of depression and bipolar disorder, and perpetuating a generational cycle of abuse.[1][5][8][9] Victims who develop trauma bonds are often unable or unwilling to leave these relationships. Many abuse victims who experience trauma bonding return to the abusive relationship.[10][11]
^ abcSanchez RV, Speck PM, Patrician PA (2019). "A Concept Analysis of Trauma Coercive Bonding in the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children". Journal of Pediatric Nursing. 46. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier: 48–54. doi:10.1016/j.pedn.2019.02.030. PMID30852255. S2CID73726267.
^Dutton, Donald G.; Painter, Susan (January 1981). "Traumatic Bonding: The development of emotional attachments in battered women and other relationships of intermittent abuse". Victimology (7). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publishing.
^ abLin-Roark, Isabella H.; Church, A. Timothy; McCubbin, Laurie D. (January 14, 2015). "Battered Women's Evaluations of Their Intimate Partners as a Possible Mediator Between Abuse and Self-Esteem". Journal of Family Violence. 30 (2). Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Science+Business Media: 201–214. doi:10.1007/s10896-014-9661-y. S2CID11957089.
^Schwartz J (2015). "The Unacknowledged History of John Bowlby's Attachment Theory: John Bowlby's Attachment Theory". British Journal of Psychotherapy. 31 (2): 251–266. doi:10.1111/bjp.12149.
^Marshall M, Shannon C, Meenagh C, Mc Corry N, Mulholland C (March 2018). "The association between childhood trauma, parental bonding and depressive symptoms and interpersonal functioning in depression and bipolar disorder". Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine. 35 (1): 23–32. doi:10.1017/ipm.2016.43. PMID30115203. S2CID52017653.
^Enander V (January 2010). ""A fool to keep staying": battered women labeling themselves stupid as an expression of gendered shame". Violence Against Women. 16 (1): 5–31. doi:10.1177/1077801209353577. PMID19949227. S2CID23512617.
^Hendy HM, Eggen D, Gustitus C, McLeod KC, Ng P (2003-06-01). "Decision to Leave Scale: Perceived Reasons to Stay in or Leave Violent Relationships". Psychology of Women Quarterly. 27 (2): 162–173. doi:10.1111/1471-6402.00096. ISSN0361-6843. S2CID144208768.