Locus of Control Shift In Today’s Society: An Unresolved Paradox

The term Locus of Control (LOC) was created by Julian B. Rotter in 1954 and is the basis of his ‘social learning theory of personality’. The idea is that people experience their life either focusing on an internal control believing that they can control their own life either focusing on an external control, believing that their life is controlled by external factors, on which they cannot have an influence, or that luck or fate controls their lives (Wikipedia). The term above is further used by psychological trauma-specialists as a ‘Locus of Control Shift’ (LOCS) (Ross C. 2000 and Schwarz, L. et al. 2018) to describe the unconscious neurochemical survival mechanism that develops in children who have been abused by their parents.

Fear, sadness, anger, disgust and shame are ‘regulated’ (meaning they become manageable for the nervous system) when the child themselves adopts the responsibility for what happens to them. The abused child creates the illusion that they hold the power/control so they think that ” if I try to be a better child I will stop the abuse and/or I will receive the love and care I need”; this illusion is often encouraged by their parents. This survival mechanism not only regulates the over-stimulation of emotions that emerge from the paradox of abuse (“the parent loves me – the parent hates me”), but also allows for the child to continue seeking attachment (with the abusive parent) and thus survive from the terror of non-bonding.

This is the source of shame and self-annihilation that victims of abuse experience in their adult lives. It is a learned neurochemical mechanism of dissociation (of the Autonomic Nervous System) that is established in early on in childhood when the parents were the only attachment figures for the child. This early establisment of this mechanism grants it as difficult to uplift/treat in therapy. The person is not aware of this mechanism, as a mechanism of psychological survival and appears with a denial of the abusive side of the parent, amnesia of traumatic events and emotional states, self-destructive tendencies, self-depreciation and guilt along with a narrative/cognition that says “but they love me, they cannot be bad, I’m probably the one to blame”. This ‘software’ is built in the course of development and determines our perception of the world and others for the rest of our lives.

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We can grasp how widespread it is as a mental condition in the general population, when we look into the statistics; child abuse and neglect are reported every 10 seconds in the US (National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System – NCANDS). The narrative/cognition of this software follows us as adults in all our relationships, and of course determines our relationship and attitude towards every form of power.

This paradoxical “solution” given by the child as a way of survival comes from a “disorganized state of attachment” with the abusive parent (Ainsworth M., 1989) and is the result of what we define as ‘attachment trauma’. Problems with parental care are associated with many adverse stressors such as e.g. severe chronic marital conflict, perinatal loss of previous baby, postpartum depression/psychosis, parental psychiatric morbidity and violent environment (Bifulco A. et al. 2009, George. C. et al. 2011).

Our survival from attachment trauma is made possible through the mechanism of dissociation. The presence of trauma implies the presence of dissociation. Dissociation is a psychological defense response that protects against painful emotions and memories while at the same time serves as an organic and automatic response to an imminent threat (Van der Hart, Nijenhuis, & Steele, 2006). In short, we are cut off from the unbearable pain of parental betrayal because if we do not connect with our parent, at any cost our brains automatically activate survival terror.

The neural circuit of attachment is evolutionarily designed to inherently make a baby/child firmly bond to an attachment figure (see parent), for survival reasons, even under traumatic situations. Even the most unfavorable, painful experiences can be incorporated into this early form of relationship (Opendak M, Sullivan RM.2019). This paradox, therefore, remains unresolved, trapping us in a state of constantly seeking for attachment that causes terror and at the same time constantly seeking to escape this terror (Siegel, DJ, 2010).

Returning to the mechanism of Locus of Control Shift (LOCS) in an extended field, as a phenomenon in society, we can observe the perpetuation of this paradox. The State-Parent systematically neglects, abuses and violates the rights of the Citizen-Child. Even in the most objectively democratic states of the world, the phenomenon of manipulation, deception, neglect and abuse of citizens is a reality, which is why there are movements and reactions to various issues imposed by the state on citizens. In a global imposition of unprecedented measures, which pervades and transcends any geographically located power, every citizen of the planet Earth is called to understand and manage the relationship with power as it previously self-evident, rights are questioned, with the justification of the “public good “and” public health “. The mechanism LOCS at the collective level is activated so that the fear, anxiety, anger, panic but also the shame, from the insecure connection with the State-Parent, is cooled down, not experienced as is, meaning it’s dissociated, especially when the State-Parent sets the non-negotiable condition of forced submission and compliance for the collective good, reinforcing this submission with a threat of a fine or even imprisonment.

Where there were eternal complaints and protests about the non-provision and abuse of state power (parallel to neglect and abuse from parent to child) now the citizen shifts the focus of self-control, trying to be a good and mature Citizen-Child, in order to comply to the new instructions. Even if these cause them discomfort and pain, they won’t react or contradict the demands of the State-Parent as far as they can still remain firmly attached to it and thus survive. This paradox, then, intensifies and brings about the observed phenomenon of internal dissociation. There’s a denial of reality, denial of the fact that the State-Parent can be abusive to the citizen, denial of their submission to the abusive relationship… all that in order to alleviate the survival terror of non-acceptance and non-attachment to something bigger and wider than oneself.

The child’s unspoken cognition that says “the parent cannot be bad, it’s probably my fault” continues in adulthood; this attachement trauma paradox remains unresolved and perpetuately passes on from parent to offspring unless it is treated, consciously processed and with a determination to shift this automatic mechanism.

Thus, submissive citizens are created who take full responsibility for the neglect and abuse to which they are subjectED by the state and accept the narrative of politicians, journalists, doctors, etc., — positions of power — without a word of protest, without any questioning… again unconsciously and as a way of survival. The most shocking recent examples in Greek history is the 2008 [phrase of a Greek politician about the national debt scandal] “We ate it (the money) all together” and now most recently “We must take personal responsibility for the health of our loved ones.”

Trapped Citizens-Children, with activated this unconscious defense mechanism against something more frightening than wearing a mask all day everywhere (… death), surrender their self-evident rights for the sake of the “loving state that wants our good.” Thus the phenomenon of expanded fear, the transformation of the attitude of former social activists/activists into docile citizens, who apply and support even the most irrational and ambiguous instructions from those who hold power in modern society.

Another remarkable phenomenon that is observed is that all the knowledge that has already been revealed to humanity through the internet, in the last decades, about the scandals of the pharmaceutical companies, politicians, journalists is handed over to amnesia, or even oblivion, and the simple, but first an informed and active citizen, stambles onto their fear of the illusion that now, in the face of a global danger to the health of the population, everyone is striving for the common good.

And this, of course, is a trap that obscures judgment and the logical processing of data, as the biology of fear dominates them based on human physiology. It does not take much research on the internet to find out how in such a global crisis the few who hold the power and money benefit. According to Collin Ross, the basis of the treatment is the reversal of the LOCS, something that will bring mourning for the State-Parent that we never really had. As difficult as it may sound, that’s the only way to grow up as citizens and to take effective action, without fear of eliminating the lies, injustice, manipulation and the violence we tolerate.

I will close this article with the phrase of the independent Australian journalist Caitlin Jonhstone:

“The ability of the owners of the political media class to discredit and neutralize anyone who poses a threat to their interests simply by rearranging the narratives about them is one of the most destructive psychological weapons in their arsenal. The main reason it’s so hard to convince the public that they’ve been taken in by propaganda and smear campaigns is because for some stupid reason one of the most shameful things anyone can do in our society is to be fooled. If we are to overcome the narrative dominance of the powerful, it’s essential that we find a way to shift that shame from those who have been fooled onto those who have been fooling them ” (@caitoz, Twitter, 1/6/2019).

References

Ainsworth M., 1989. Attachments beyond infancy. American Psychology, 44:709–6. 10.1037//0003-066X.44.4.709

Bifulco A, Moran PM, Jacobs C, Bunn A., 2009. Problem partners and parenting: exploring linkages with maternal insecure attachment style and adolescent offspring internalizing disorder. Attachment Human Development, 11:69–5. 10.1080/14616730802500826

George C, Solomon J., 2011. Caregiving helplessness: The development of a screening measure for disorganized maternal caregiving. In: Solomon J, George C, editors. Disorganized attachment and caregiving. New York: Guilford Press; (2011). 133–6. 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.05.001

Opendak M, Sullivan RM., 2019. Unique infant neurobiology produces distinct trauma processing. Dev Cogn Neuosci. 36:100637. 10.3402/ejpt.v7.31276

Ross, C., 2000. The Trauma Model: A Solution to the Problem of  Comorbidity in Psychiatry, Manitou Communications. Manitou Communications

Rotter, J. B., 1954. Social learning and clinical psychology. Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Siegel, Daniel J. 2010. Mindsight – transform your brain with the new science of Kindness. Bantam Books

Schwarz, L., Corrigan F., Hull A., Raju R., 2018. The Comprehensive Resource Model: Effective Therapeutic Techniques for the Healing of Complex Trauma (Explorations in Mental Health). Routledge

Van der Hart, O., Nijenhuis, E. R. S., & Steele, K., 2006. The haunted self: Structural dissociation and the treatment of chronic traumatization. New York: Norton.