{"id":3786,"date":"2023-01-26T10:59:12","date_gmt":"2023-01-26T10:59:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/safeguardinghub.co.uk\/?p=3786"},"modified":"2023-07-28T17:21:27","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T17:21:27","slug":"gaslighting-a-basic-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/safeguardinghub.co.uk\/gaslighting-a-basic-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaslighting \u2013 a basic guide"},"content":{"rendered":"
Gaslighting means a form pf psychological manipulation and abuse in which the perpetrator makes his or her partner question and doubt their own perceptions, memory, judgement and sanity. Whilst it usually occurs in a domestic setting and against one person, it can be directed at individual members of a particular group. In a domestic relationship it is a manipulation tactic used to gain power and can amount to coercive and controlling behaviour. It is a highly effective form of emotional domestic abuse.<\/p>\n
The term originates from the 1944 film Gaslight, starring Ingrid Bergman and based on the 1938 play Gas Light. In the film a husband manipulates his wife to the point where she thinks she is going insane. Bergman plays Paula, who meets a man called Gregory Anton and after a 2-week whirlwind romance they marry. He then begins to take control, firstly isolating her from her friends and moving her to her vacant Aunts house in London. He systematically begins to torment her by removing and hiding property from the house. He implies that she is responsible and suggests she has been stealing the items because she is having a nervous breakdown. At one stage he claims his watch has been stolen and plants it in her handbag, where she later discovers it. She starts to doubt her own sanity because he is so convincing, and she has no knowledge of having taken any of the items.<\/p>\n
Gregory isolates further by not allowing her to go out or have visitors. This he tells her, is for her \u2018own good\u2019 and she starts to believe he is right. She also begins to hear footsteps from the attic and witnesses the gaslights dimming and brightening for no apparent reason. Gregory is responsible, but when she questions what she is seeing and hearing, he tells her she is delusional, acting irregularly and persuading her that it is all in her imagination, that she is in fact going mad. His aim is to have her certified as insane, institutionalised and then take over her affairs. Whilst the sub-plot involves the murder of her aunt, the film is really about the systematic psychological manipulation that Gregory puts Paula through.<\/p>\n
The aim of the abuser is to gain complete power and control over the victim\u2019s emotions and thoughts.\u00a0 To achieve this, they will subtlety erode the victim\u2019s self-esteem by making them doubt their own thoughts and feelings until they become utterly dependent on the abuser. Many examples mirror the \u2018Narcissistic Cycle of Abuse\u2019, of which there are three stages \u2013 idealisation, devaluation and discard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The start of the relationship is likely to be a rapid and intense, potentially a whirlwind romance. The victim will be carried along on the excitement and thrill of the relationship, whilst the abuser will put the victim on a pedestal, portraying themselves as the perfect catch.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
The abuser will cease the adoration of the victim, employing psychological and emotional tactics to devalue and destabilise them. The victim will be made to feel like they cannot do anything right, questioning their own self-worth and behaviour.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
This is where the abuser discards the victim. This is likely to happen when the abuser realises their tactics are failing because the victim is starting to fight back, or where the abuser no longer has a use for the victim because they have found a new one. The abuser ends the relationship, often abruptly and without warning.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
The tactics of an abuser may vary, but they will tend to be subtle, insidious and constant<\/strong>. They can include:<\/p>\n Eventually the victim may experience, anxiety, low self-esteem, trauma and depression.<\/p>\n Section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 created a new offence of controlling or coercive behaviour, in an intimate or family relationship. A person commits an offence if they repeatedly or continuously engage in behaviour towards another person, that is controlling or coercive; and at time of the behaviour, they are personally connected. The behaviour has to have a serious effect on the other person (victim), and the abuser knows or ought to that their behaviour will have a serious effect on the victim.<\/p>\n The Government defines coercive and controlling behaviour as:<\/p>\n Coercive –<\/strong> behaviour which is an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim<\/p>\n Controlling –<\/strong> behaviour which is a range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and\/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour<\/p>\n Personally, connected means: an intimate personal relationship; or they live together and are either members of the same family; or they live together and have previously been in an intimate personal relationship with each other.<\/p>\n Serious effect is proven by: if the victim fears, on at least two occasions, that violence will be used against them; or if it causes the victim serious alarm or distress which has a substantial adverse effect on their day-to-day activities. The behaviour must occur repeatedly or ‘continuously.<\/p>\n The CPS guidance provides examples of what ‘substantial adverse effect on the victim\u2019s usual day-to-day activities’ might amount to:<\/p>\n A person convicted of this offence can face up to 5-years imprisonment.<\/p>\n Thanks for reading.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Gaslighting \u2013 a form pf psychological manipulation and abuse in which the perpetrator makes the victim question and doubt their own perceptions, memory and sanity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[28,36,38],"tags":[76,124,140],"yoast_head":"\n\n
How might this present in a victim? <\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Is gaslighting a criminal offence? <\/strong><\/h3>\n
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