Victim’s Response Cycle: A Model for Understanding the Incestuous Victim-Offender Relationship

Victim's Response Cycle: A Model for Understanding the Incestuous Victim-Offender Relationship

The victim-response cycle is a theoretical and clinical model that can be utilized to assist victims in their healing from the trauma of sexual abuse. This model focuses on the specific aspects of the relationship that victims have with their offenders, particularly in incest cases, which contribute to the degree of trauma that victims experience. This relationship can also become the model for other relationships as the victim matures, and the victim-response cycle can be used to assist these adult survivors in understanding their difficulties with adult intimate relationships. This model addresses aspects of attachment and learned coping responses to assist clinicians in treating symptomatic behavior. While severe trauma is rarely treatable with a short-term approach, this model can assist in providing clients and clinicians with tools for symptomatic relief, which may be achievable in a short-term setting. This model has not been examined empirically, but it has been utilized in several outpatient practices in the Midwest with positive clinical results. A case example demonstrating the use of this model is also presented.