<p>I have been trying to search for a term or theory to explain adopting behaviors when bad / hurtful things happen to a person. For example, if a person is abused and ends up being an abuser because it happened to them, even if it is a maladaptation.</p>
<p>So if this <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/parents-struggle-break-cycle-abuse/story?id=8549642" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ABC article</a> that says 1/3 of people that are abused become abusers, what is the mechanism, or term, for this?</p>
<p>I am asking because someone I know adopts bad behaviors when they happen to them once or twice, and justify it as 'that is how the world works'. I'm trying to understand why this happens so quickly for this person from clearly outlying events.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-26T10:31:34.943Z
I will try and find a reference or 2 but the risk levels of abused becoming abusers is very low. Those who do are those who have not been able to reconcile their problems through therapy.
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-26T10:34:38.353Z
As for a term or theory, there is the "circle of abuse", or "abuse circle" or "cycle of abuse", but many talk of this where the abused find themselves in a circle within life where they later develop relationships with other abusive people
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-26T10:45:54.943Z
*"Roughly one in 10 male victims of child sex abuse in a U.K. study later went on to abuse children as adults."* Source: [WebMD](https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20030206/do-sexually-abused-kids-become-abusers). The study is in The Lancet (Free) at https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(03)12501-9
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-01T02:48:49.163Z
How in the world do you find out (systematically) whether someone abused children?  If there’s no criminal record, who are they asking? Can’t believe that’s the lancet.  Wow. Bye bye lancet.
froimovi
<social-psychology><personality><personality-disorder>
What is the term or theory to explain adopting behaviors when hurt by someone else
JazzyWhit
# What is the term or theory to explain adopting behaviors when hurt by someone else

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-02-25)

I have been trying to search for a term or theory to explain adopting behaviors when bad / hurtful things happen to a person. For example, if a person is abused and ends up being an abuser because it happened to them, even if it is a maladaptation.

So if this [ABC article](https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/parents-struggle-break-cycle-abuse/story?id=8549642) that says 1/3 of people that are abused become abusers, what is the mechanism, or term, for this?

I am asking because someone I know adopts bad behaviors when they happen to them once or twice, and justify it as 'that is how the world works'. I'm trying to understand why this happens so quickly for this person from clearly outlying events.

**Tags:** social-psychology, personality, personality-disorder

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I will try and find a reference or 2 but the risk levels of abused becoming abusers is very low. Those who do are those who have not been able to reconcile their problems through therapy.  
> **username_1**: As for a term or theory, there is the "circle of abuse", or "abuse circle" or "cycle of abuse", but many talk of this where the abused find themselves in a circle within life where they later develop relationships with other abusive people  
> **username_1**: *"Roughly one in 10 male victims of child sex abuse in a U.K. study later went on to abuse children as adults."* Source: [WebMD](https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20030206/do-sexually-abused-kids-become-abusers). The study is in The Lancet (Free) at https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(03)12501-9  
> **username_2**: How in the world do you find out (systematically) whether someone abused children?  If there’s no criminal record, who are they asking? Can’t believe that’s the lancet.  Wow. Bye bye lancet.  

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## 0 answers

