Cycle of violence

The term cycle of violence refers to repeated and dangerous acts of violence as a cyclical pattern, associated with high emotions and doctrines of retribution or revenge. The pattern, or cycle, repeats and can happen many times during a relationship. Each phase may last a different length of time, and over time the level of violence may increase. The phrase has been increasingly widespread since first popularized in the 1970s. It often refers to violent behaviour learned as a child, and then repeated as an adult, therefore continuing on in a perceived cycle. A cycle of abuse generally follows the following pattern: Abuse – The abuser initiates aggressive, verbal or physical abuse, designed to control and oppress the victim. Guilt – The abuser feels guilty for inflicting abusive behavior, primarily out of a concern of being found guilty of abuse rather than feelings of sympathy for the victim. Excuses – Rationalization of the behavior, including blame and excuses. "Normal" behavior – The abuser regains personal control, creates a peaceful phase in an attempt to make the victim feel comfortable in the relationship. Fantasy and planning – thinking of what the victim has done wrong, how they will be punished, and developing a plan to realize the fantasy. Set-up – the plan is "put in motion." A cyclical nature of domestic violence is most prevalent in intimate terrorism (IT), which involve a pattern of ongoing control using emotional, physical and other forms of domestic violence and is what generally leads victims, who are most often women, to women's shelters. It is what was traditionally the definition of domestic violence and is generally illustrated with the "Power and Control Wheel" to illustrate the different and inter-related forms of abuse. Intimate terrorism is different from situational couple violence, which are isolated incidents of varying degrees of intensity. A general, intricate and complicated cycle of traumatic violence and healing map was developed by Olga Botcharova when she worked at the Center for International Studies.