In the late '60s, Seigelman at
University of Pennsylvania developed the concept of learned
helplessness as part of his study of the nature of depression.
The researchers apparently discovered by accident that if dogs were
subjected to punishment with electric shocks and their ability to
protect themselves was thwarted would eventually become pessimistic.
In the second phase of the testing, believing that there was no hope
in avoiding the shocks the dogs would not avoid the punishment –
even when the conditions of the study enabled them to avoid
punishment by jumping over a small barrier to find relief. They
would just passively lay down on the floor through which the shocks
were delivered and would whimper instead of protecting themselves.
The first part of the study successfully trained the dogs into a
state of accepting punishment, even though they could avoid it. The
conditioning also produced depression and anxiety in the dogs.
In 1969, Watson and Ramsey set out to
do a similar study with human babies, testing whether a baby would
attempt to control the movement of a crib mobile. If the babies in
the study learned through the study conditions that they had no power
or control over the mobile, they would cease making any attempts to
affect it. Babies who were not subjected to these limitations did
explore their environment and would work to change the movement of
the crib mobile. Subsequent studies demonstrated this development of
a pessimistic attitude indicating that a significant number of people
who encountered a situation wherein their actions had no affect on
their environment, they would stop attempts to change their
environment.
Teaching Pessimism and Helplessness
What did we learn from these studies?
Pessimism can be learned, and in particular, parents
can teach a sense of pessimism to their children. The child learns
to “live up to” or “down to” the level of expectation that
others see in them, and they can be quite easily conditioned into
believing that they are quite worthless and powerless, based on how
their parents and other role models treat them.
As with the studies in the sixties,
both child and adult alike will spend some time trying to avoid
distraction and discomfort, but after a period of learning, that
person will stop trying. They will even stop avoiding pain and
punishment, even though new or alternate conditions may
provide for their protection. Depression and a low sense of worth
also contribute to the development of learned helplessness, and bad
experiences also contribute to depression and a low sense of worth.
These perceptions contribute to problems with self-defeating
behavior. And as a long-term coping response to this feeling of
nihilism and futility, children can grow up into adults who practice
self-defeating or even self-destructive behavior.
Hephzibah House Survivors' Failure
to Self-Protect: Learned Helplessness as One of Many Factors
At Hephzibah House, the resident girls
as well as the staff there learned quickly that they had no ability
to protect or provide for themselves. The level of optimism and
trust placed in the girls did not exist. They were treated like
human garbage and were told directly that they were of limited worth
and usefulness in life because of whatever qualified them to be
residents there. They could not even decide how much toilet paper to
take from the roll, because they had to request it before they
entered the bathroom so it could be allotted to them. They could do
nothing to escape their conditions or ease their suffering. The
beatings would eventually come, regardless of their behavior. Some
perceived attitude or illness would eventually interfere with their
good standing or status. There was no escape.
Much has been written regarding the
role of learned helplessness in child abuse. For the survivors of
Hephzibah House or those who wish to understand why the effects of
residency there was so life-altering for the girls who survived the
experience, learned helplessness most definitely plays a role.
I also addressed this topic somewhat in a Blog Talk Radio episode with Jocelyn Andersen in
April 2011, just prior to our interview with Hephzibah House survivor, Susan Grotte. Link here to the webpage or listen to the show on the
player embedded here. The first half of the 30 minute show describes
the general conditions at Hephzibah House, and the latter half discusses these factors
and why the residents there struggle with restricted and collapsed
behaviors after leaving the home.
If PTSD creates a sense of pervasive
pessimism, add to the effects of the trauma of Hephzibah House the
factor of learned helplessness. This only compounds the sense of
helplessness and futility that many children learned in their homes
growing up as was explored in the blog series concerning the childhood roots of victimization. In upcoming posts, we will also
consider the influence of the “freezing” survival response and
the compounding compulsion to reenact trauma.
Learn more about the trauma response of "freezing" in an upcoming post.
If you are familiar with the conditions at Hephzibah House, skip to 17 minutes into the program for a bit of a discussion on conditions that fostered the residents' sense of learned helplessness.
Listen to internet
radio with jocelyn
andersen on Blog Talk Radio
References:
- Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control (Bandura)
- Learned Helplessness: A Theory for the Age of Personal Control (Peterson, Maier, Seligman)
- What You Can Change and What You Cant (Seligman)
