Victim Mentality :: Social Issues, Abuse

What does it mean to be a victim? Is there a certain type of victim or is being a victim universal? When I think about a victim, I think about family abuse, rape, incest, tempted murder victims and etc. There are many kinds of victims because a victim is when a person is hurt by another in a malicious way. Victims are not all of a certain race; it can affect anybody regardless of their race, religion, or their social classes. When a person is being victimize, that are they truly think in their mind. What are the aftereffects of the mind and body after such an assault whether they were physically, emotionally or verbal abuse. Every child involved in family abuse has a different thought process as opposed to the child across the street withstanding the same abuse. What makes a child not cry for help when they have to constantly on a daily basis endure such maltreatment? What is going through their minds? A child might not report family abuse because they are afraid that their parent will go to jail (Stark, 1989). In their minds they believe that if either the mother or father leaves, that they will never be loved again. Someone might think that the child would know better to identify what parental love truly is but in their minds, their parents are the only ones in their world that can love and nurture them. Children in family abuse also believe that they are the only ones going through the abuse therefore they feel lonely and that no one can comprehend what they are living through. Children might also not tell an adult about the abuse in their homes because they are embarrassed to admit that there is a problem (Stark, 1989).They are ashamed because they think they are the only ones going through this or they might believe that it normal for a parent to hurt them because a parent knows best (Stark, 1989). The child may think that they deserve the abuse because they probably did something bad. Why would children believe that they deserve such abuse? In our society, it is commonly known that the parents do what is in the best interest of the child. And so a child believes that it okay because a parent knows best. â€Å"Emotional abuse can ruin a child’s self-esteem because he or she may grow to believe that the parent’s insults are true (Stark .