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DARVO
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DARVO
DARVO (an acronym for "Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender") is a reaction that perpetrators of wrongdoing, such as abusers or sexual offenders, may display in response to being held accountable for their behavior. Research indicates that it is a common manipulation strategy of psychological abusers.
DARVO is a tactic used by a perpetrator to avoid accountability for their actions. As the acronym suggests, DARVO commonly involves these steps:
These tactics are similar to other techniques used by perpetrators to avoid accountability by manipulating observers' perceptions of events. Researchers have noted similarities to outrage management, where a perpetrator tries to make observers think better of themself and their actions so they can avoid consequences. This strategy often involves denying the victim's version of events and trying to make observers doubt the victim's credibility, which are both key aspects of DARVO. Relevant techniques also include playing the victim and playing the hero, which perpetrators use to downplay the harm seen in their behavior. In playing the victim, a perpetrator highlights their own past suffering to attempt to be seen as a victim as well, and in playing the hero, a perpetrator admits to some amount of wrongdoing but highlights their own past good deeds to mitigate their harmful ones. Both techniques may come into play for the denying or reversing stages of DARVO.
The acronym and theory behind DARVO is based on the work of psychologist Jennifer Freyd, who wrote about it in 1997. The first stage of DARVO, denial, involves gaslighting. Freyd writes:
... I have observed that actual abusers threaten, bully and make a nightmare for anyone who holds them accountable or asks them to change their abusive behavior. This attack, intended to chill and terrify, typically includes threats of law suits, overt and covert attacks on the whistle-blower's credibility, and so on. The attack will often take the form of focusing on ridiculing the person who attempts to hold the offender accountable. [...] [T]he offender rapidly creates the impression that the abuser is the wronged one, while the victim or concerned observer is the offender. Figure and ground are completely reversed. [...] The offender is on the offense and the person attempting to hold the offender accountable is put on the defense.
Research on interpersonal violence has mostly focused on how perpetrators use individual components or steps of DARVO, rather than studying them in combination. However, studies before and after DARVO was coined found a correlation between perpetrators who minimized or denied their wrongdoing and those who reversed the positions of victim and offender. Research during the 2010s began to focus on the use and effect of DARVO tactics in combination, suggesting that DARVO is a common tactic used by perpetrators.
Studies on the prevalence of DARVO suggest it is a common tactic used by perpetrators when they are confronted over their behavior, regardless of the type of harm they have caused. One study of undergraduates who had confronted someone over a harmful event found that DARVO was used by 72% of the perpetrators during the confrontation. The offenses ranged from social mistreatment, like betrayed secrets, to interpersonal violence, like sexual assault or child abuse. DARVO is particularly likely in cases of sexual violence, with one study of women who had been sexually assaulted at university reporting that half of the perpetrators involved had used elements of DARVO in later conversations.
DARVO has been studied and documented in specific contexts beyond those of interpersonal violence. DARVO has been labeled in some cases of medical malpractice, where victim blaming is already common since doctors and hospitals generally refuse to admit their mistakes due to legal risk. DARVO has also been cited as common in workplace bullying and toxic workplace culture. In the case of academia, when professors try to report bullying, DARVO tactics often compel them to stop speaking up, adding to their trauma and contributing to a culture of silence.
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DARVO
DARVO (an acronym for "Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender") is a reaction that perpetrators of wrongdoing, such as abusers or sexual offenders, may display in response to being held accountable for their behavior. Research indicates that it is a common manipulation strategy of psychological abusers.
DARVO is a tactic used by a perpetrator to avoid accountability for their actions. As the acronym suggests, DARVO commonly involves these steps:
These tactics are similar to other techniques used by perpetrators to avoid accountability by manipulating observers' perceptions of events. Researchers have noted similarities to outrage management, where a perpetrator tries to make observers think better of themself and their actions so they can avoid consequences. This strategy often involves denying the victim's version of events and trying to make observers doubt the victim's credibility, which are both key aspects of DARVO. Relevant techniques also include playing the victim and playing the hero, which perpetrators use to downplay the harm seen in their behavior. In playing the victim, a perpetrator highlights their own past suffering to attempt to be seen as a victim as well, and in playing the hero, a perpetrator admits to some amount of wrongdoing but highlights their own past good deeds to mitigate their harmful ones. Both techniques may come into play for the denying or reversing stages of DARVO.
The acronym and theory behind DARVO is based on the work of psychologist Jennifer Freyd, who wrote about it in 1997. The first stage of DARVO, denial, involves gaslighting. Freyd writes:
... I have observed that actual abusers threaten, bully and make a nightmare for anyone who holds them accountable or asks them to change their abusive behavior. This attack, intended to chill and terrify, typically includes threats of law suits, overt and covert attacks on the whistle-blower's credibility, and so on. The attack will often take the form of focusing on ridiculing the person who attempts to hold the offender accountable. [...] [T]he offender rapidly creates the impression that the abuser is the wronged one, while the victim or concerned observer is the offender. Figure and ground are completely reversed. [...] The offender is on the offense and the person attempting to hold the offender accountable is put on the defense.
Research on interpersonal violence has mostly focused on how perpetrators use individual components or steps of DARVO, rather than studying them in combination. However, studies before and after DARVO was coined found a correlation between perpetrators who minimized or denied their wrongdoing and those who reversed the positions of victim and offender. Research during the 2010s began to focus on the use and effect of DARVO tactics in combination, suggesting that DARVO is a common tactic used by perpetrators.
Studies on the prevalence of DARVO suggest it is a common tactic used by perpetrators when they are confronted over their behavior, regardless of the type of harm they have caused. One study of undergraduates who had confronted someone over a harmful event found that DARVO was used by 72% of the perpetrators during the confrontation. The offenses ranged from social mistreatment, like betrayed secrets, to interpersonal violence, like sexual assault or child abuse. DARVO is particularly likely in cases of sexual violence, with one study of women who had been sexually assaulted at university reporting that half of the perpetrators involved had used elements of DARVO in later conversations.
DARVO has been studied and documented in specific contexts beyond those of interpersonal violence. DARVO has been labeled in some cases of medical malpractice, where victim blaming is already common since doctors and hospitals generally refuse to admit their mistakes due to legal risk. DARVO has also been cited as common in workplace bullying and toxic workplace culture. In the case of academia, when professors try to report bullying, DARVO tactics often compel them to stop speaking up, adding to their trauma and contributing to a culture of silence.