How do you know if you are involved in the drama?
The drama triangle is a psychological and social model of human interaction developed by Stephen Karpman in 1968. It models the connection between personal responsibility and power in conflicts and the destructive and shifting roles people play.
As a tool, it is frequently used in psychotherapy, especially in transactional analysis. Karpman used the triangles to model conflict or drama in intense relationship transactions. He defined three roles in the relationship: Persecutor, Rescuer (the one up position) and Victim (one down position).
Karpman placed these three roles on an inverted triangle and referred to them as being the three aspects or faces of drama. Karpman chose the term ‘drama triangle’ rather than ‘conflict triangle’ as the Victim in his model is not intended to represent a victim of violence but someone experiencing the victim state.
The Persecutor insists, “It’s all your fault”. They are controlling, blaming, critical, oppressive, angry, authoritative, rigid and superior.
The Victim is, of course, persecuted. The Victims stance is “Poor Me!” They feel victimised, oppressed, helpless, hopeless, powerless, ashamed, and seem unable to make decisions, solve problems, take pleasure in their life or achieve insight. The Victim, if not being persecuted, will seek out a Persecutor and also a Rescuer who will ‘save’ the day but also perpetuate the victim’s negative feelings.
The Rescuer has the line: “Let me help you”. A classic enabler, they feel guilty if they don’t go to the rescue. His or her rescuing has negative effects, though, as it keeps the Victim dependent and gives the Victim permission to fail. The rewards derived from the rescue role are that the focus is taken off of the Rescuer. When he or she focuses their energy on someone else, it enables them to ignore their own anxiety and issues. This rescue role is also very pivotal because their actual primary interest is really an avoidance of their own problems disguised as concern for the Victim’s needs.
Can you think of a time when you have played one of these roles? What was the impact on you and others? Spend some time now reflecting on your behaviour.
Can you think of a time when you have recognised these traits and characteristics in your team?
What did you do?
Knowing what you now know, what would you do now?
If you’ve read any of my other blogs, you should have a variety of tools that you can use every day as you begin to advance your team towards greater levels of engagement and performance. The next step is to align this with your team’s individual values and beliefs so they can truly raise the level of their performance within the business.