Domestic abusers forge ‘trauma bonds’ with victims before violence: study

By Stephen Beech

Domestic abusers "weaponize love" by forging "trauma bonds" with their victims before violence begins, new research reveals.

The study outlines the "tactical playbook" deployed by male abusers based on in-depth interviews with women who have suffered domestic violence.

Some revealed how their abusers used a mix of intense affection and emotional cruelty - mixed with stories of their own childhood trauma - to generate a deep psychological hold that can feel like an “addiction.”

Current therapeutic approaches should move away from “victim pathology” and focus on “perpetrator strategy” instead, according to study author Dr. Mags Lesiak.

Cambridge University criminologist Dr. Lesiak says her findings show that male abusers engineer a “trauma bond” - an attachment base