victim complex

Language: English

The Russian sociologist Gudkov degfines the victim complex as a characteristic feature of Russians.
For Gudkov the victim complex is a mechanism that allows man to compensate for a lack of self-respect and self-esteem, an indicator of a gratification deficit. It justifies general fatigue as the result of an authority’s coercion of man into action and prevents man from turning plans into action. Indeed, it exempts the victim from action; it is a defence against an active Other that becomes the enemy, because it may coerce the victim into action

References:

Gudkov, Lev (2004), ‘Kompleks “zhertvy”’ [The Victim Complex], in Negativnaia identichnost’ [Negative Identity], pp. 83-120 Moscow: NLO, 2004.

Posted by Birgit Beumers on 15 Jan 2008 • (2)Comments