The Drama Triangle in the Treatment of Domestic Violence

Abstract

This article discusses how the drama triangle (Karpman, 1968) can be useful in working with domestic violence. The drama triangle serves as a thinking structure in work with clients, volunteers, staff, and education and societal systems. The article emphasizes the difficulty of keeping out of the roles of the triangle when working with women who are victims of domestic violence as well as the importance of not maintaining women as victims.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lynn Hawker

Lynn Hawker, Ph.D., is a Certified Transactional Analyst (clinical) and currently Clinical Manager of the Non-Resident Program at the Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh. She worked for 25 years in community mental health and in a private practice in the Pittsburgh area. She is coauthor with Terry Bicehouse of End the Pain: Solutions for Stopping Domestic Violence, which looks at the domestic violence dynamics from a transactional analysis perspective.