Types of Abuse:
*Note that these categories are not black-and-white and can and do overlap.
Please also note that many given examples may rely on context and you will need to use your own discretion to decide whether what you went through was a given type of abuse or not.**There is a list of common terms, acronyms, and resources for various types of abuse and trauma on the next page.
Organized Abuse
Organized Abuse is a type of abuse which is done in an organized fashion or setting.
The abuse is carried out or supported by multiple people in a group working together. This type of abuse may be limited to one victim and several abusers, but this type of abuse often involves multiple victims being abused at once.
This method of abusing victims is not limited to any one specific kind of abuse (Emotional, Physical, Sexual, etc.), but is most often associated with several different types of abuse at once.
Organized Abuse may or may not be done knowingly. Some abusers may genuinely believe they are doing the right thing, or be unaware of the full extent of harm being done.
The abusers in Organized Abuse often have substantial power and control over their victims and may make use of tactics to keep the power imbalance constant and unquestioned. They may use any form of abuse in order to enforce this, as well as conditioning tactics such as those described in Mind Control, or threats such as blackmail.
Not every group may make use of these. It depends on the group and its goals.
Organized Abuse is often shortened to the acronym "OA".Organized Abuse is included within the acronym RAMCOA (Ritual Abuse, Mind Control, Organized Abuse).
Because Organized Abuse is not defined by the actions done to the body (Ex. Emotional, Physical, Sexual, etc.) but rather by the setting and fashion in which the abuse is carried out (In group settings or carried out as directed by a group) it is difficult to provide specific examples of this abuse.
However, examples of common settings Organized Abuse may take place in will still be provided.Any kind of group may be capable of committing Organized Abuse so long as they are working together to abuse their victims. They may not be aware it is abuse, but they must be part of a group that carries abusive actions out (Knowing whether or not it is abuse does not matter as much as the actions they commit do).
"Working together" may be defined as anything which reinforces the abuse of the victim(s) within the group, such as backing up or defending other abusers within the group or refusing to stand up to other abusers, carrying out orders from other abusers within the group, upholding the rules or beliefs of the group, stopping victims from leaving, hiding the true nature of the group from outsiders or victims, encouraging new potential victims to join the group, or so on.
Not every abuser within every group may be committing abuse willingly and may even be victims themselves. [See Forced Perpetration, Mind Control & Programming]Organized Abuse may happen in any group or setting, but some common examples of settings in which Organized Abuse may occur includes, but is not limited to:
*Please note not every situation listed will automatically point towards Organized Abuse, please use your own experiences and discretion to decide this. Some situations listed may not have been abusive for one person, but used for abuse against another.
-Applied Behavior Analysis Therapy (ABA)
-Conversion Therapy (Anti-Gay Therapy)
-Electroshock Therapy
-Group therapy, group homes, boarding schools, or mental hospitals
-Medical facilities, surgery centers, emergency centers, or hospitals [Also see Medical Abuse]
-Military or army
-Schools, especially small schools, religious schools, or private schools
-Daycares
-Special Education (SPED) programs
-Gifted programs
-Homeless shelters
-Churches or religious organizations [Also see Religious Abuse]
-Cults [Also see Ritual Abuse & Cults]
-Prisons
-Human trafficking circles or forced prostitution
-Online groups, especially those which make use of tactics to disallow their members from leaving (Such as blackmail, shunning, doxxing, swatting, grooming, threats, or manipulation)
-Certain jobs or work settings
-In some cases, entire families may participate in Organized Abuse
Animal Abuse
Animal abuse describes abuse against animals.
This may be any form of psychological, physical, sexual, neglectful, medical, or other abuse.
Animal abuse may be purposeful or accidental, and done either knowingly or unknowingly.
This form of abuse is brought up in this Carrd due to the effects that witnessing or hearing animal abuse may have on trauma&abuse survivors.
Witnessing, hearing, or being forced to participate in [See Forced Perpetration] Animal Abuse itself is abuse and may be highly traumatic.*Note that this Carrd is not meant to cover the nuances surrounding farm animals or hunting in many families and communities. You will need to use your own discretion to decide whether this form of abuse may apply to your situation or not.
Examples of Animal Abuse include, but aren't limited to:
-Screaming or yelling at an animal
-Berating or insulting an animal
-Improperly teaching or training an animal and then punishing it for not understanding, such as speaking to an animal in english as if it is a human child when it is in trouble and then blaming it for not understanding what you're trying to teach, punishing the animal long after the problem behavior occured, or petting the animal or smiling and laughing while simultaneously attempting to scold or correct behavior
-Only giving the animal attention when it is performing bad behavior
-Inconsistent punishments or rewards
-Unnecessarily cruel punishments, such as rubbing a dog's face in its own feces
-Slapping, hitting, kicking, or any other form of physical injury
-Pouring or throwing water or liquids onto the animal as a punishment
-Subjecting the animal to extreme and potentially dangerous temperatures
-Neglecting the animal's basic needs, such as access to food, water, comfort, love, a clean place to use the bathroom, a clean coat, a clean living space, enough room for an animal of its size and exercise needs, and any social, mental, medical, or exercise needs the animal has
-Sexually abusing an animal, such as through any form of sexual touch or penetration, or forcing the animal to perform sexual acts on a human being
-Not taking a sick or injured animal to the vet
-Any action which puts the animal at risk of permanent disability, serious injury, or near-death, aside from that which is medically necessary
-Any action taken to purposefully scare an animal, such as chasing it, restraining it, making loud noises, subjecting it to bright or flashing lights, or throwing things at it
-Forcing an animal into something it does not want to do, aside from that which is medically necessary or necessary for safety reasons
-Not keeping an animal up-to-date on its vaccinations
-Knowingly having outdated contact information on the microchip or collar
-Abandoning an animal
-Animal fighting, or keeping animals together which you know will fight
-Purposefully teaching an animal aggression or any kind of fear or fight response
-Not putting in any work to train the animal at all (If a house pet or an animal which was purchased to perform work for the owner such as a horse)
Mind Control, Conditioning, Grooming, & Programming
Various forms of gaining complete control over a victim's mind and body are complex forms of abuse which may be accomplished in a wide variety of different ways and used for various different goals.Mind Control may be defined in different ways in different contexts, and Mind Control comes in several different forms. For the purposes of this Carrd, it is used as an umbrella term to cover several different forms of abuse which fall under this definition.Some forms of this abuse, such as conditioning & grooming, may sometimes be purposeful or accidental, and done either knowingly or unknowingly in some contexts. Other types of abuse within this category however, such as programming & trauma-based mind control (or "TBMC") may require the abuser to be very aware of what they are doing to their victim(s).Mind Control (or "MC") may also be referred to as brainwashing in some contexts and may be associated with Organized Abuse and Ritual Abuse, though Mind Control may also happen outside of these situations.Mind Control is included within the acronym RAMCOA (Ritual Abuse, Mind Control, Organized Abuse).
Forms of Mind Control include:
Conditioning: A term for creating associations and/or changing behavior in someone.
It may be done accidentally or purposefully, and is not always used for bad purposes, however it can be used in an abuse context in order to gain control over someone. Outside of abuse, conditioning is commonly used in dog training.
Conditioning may be used as a building block for more complex mind control such as programming.Grooming: A process of desensitizing the victim to a concept or behavior in order to normalize a broad range of abuse.
This may be done knowingly or unknowingly, and is usually a slow, gradual process. Grooming may be done with an end goal in mind (Such as normalizing sexual material to the point of being able to get away with creating child pornography without the child victim being aware that it is wrong) or it may end at desensitization and normalization.
Grooming is often associated most with sexual abuse, but grooming can also be performed to normalize other types of abuse as well, such as physical or emotional abuse.
Grooming may be used as a foundation to allow the abuser the ability to perform gradually more extreme forms of abuse on the grooming victim.Programming: A method of purposefully giving the victim trained sets of behaviors, responses, functions, or instructions which are then able to be triggered by the abuser at any time through cues or signals.
Programming is a complex, intentional, severe form of abuse and mind control. It is often performed through trauma- or torture-based mind control [See below] and may be reinforced so strongly that the implanted instructions created through programming are performed completely automatically when the victim is given certain cues or triggers.
It is often associated with Organized Abuse and Ritual Abuse, though it can be performed outside of these contexts if the abuser knows how to program someone.
For a more in-depth explanation of programming, see Programming (Main Article), and for a list of programs, see Types of Programs.Drug-Induced Mind Control: A form of mind control done through the use of or with the aid of drugs or mind-altering substances.Intentional Creation of Dissociated Parts or Intentional Creation of Dissociative Identity Disorder: This is a type of mind control done through trauma- or torture-based mind control (TBMC) [See below] in which the abuser(s) intentionally create dissociated ego states or parts in the victim. These parts are often then programmed to carry out certain tasks, roles, or functions.
The abuser may not always be aware of specific terminology such as "Dissociative Identity Disorder", however they must be aware of at least the process of inducing dissociation.
This may or may not also involve intentional creation of complex innerworld structures or complex system structures.Trauma- or Torture-Based Mind Control (TBMC): A method of achieving complete, unquestioned control over a victim through extreme, repeated abuse.
This may be achieved through various, repeated forms of severe abuse in order to trigger a dissociative state or other intense survival state, which allows the abuser to fully control the victim by implanting instructions into their mind while they are in this state. The cost of not following these instructions may or may not involve death, near-death, the death of others, physical harm, or other extreme punishments.Trauma-based mind control may also involve the use of scripts, hypnosis, environmental stimuli, or tools.Abusers, especially those in highly organized abuse groups, may use these methods in order to create several fail-safes to protect themselves or the group, or to create programming to force victims into doing whatever they want from them.
Some examples of how this may be used involve complete silence and obedience, having the victim not realize where they are or remember events that have occurred, or the victim misremembering or lying about events in order to cover up abuse and protect the abusers.
Religious Abuse
Religious Abuse is a type of abuse which is carried out using religion or religious beliefs as a method for abuse, either using the victim's own religion or beliefs against them or the abuser using a religion or elements of religion to manipulate and abuse their victim.
In some contexts, this type of abuse may also relate to or be associated with Mind Control, Organized Abuse, or Ritual Abuse, though it can also occur outside of these. Many things listed may have common overlap with cults, but are not exclusive to them.
Religious Abuse may be purposeful or accidental, and done either knowingly or unknowingly.
Examples of Religious Abuse include, but aren't limited to:
-Using God's word as a threat, such as telling you God will be disappointed in you if you do not do your chores or that God does not love sinners (Such as homosexuals, unfaithful followers, or people who get tattoos or piercings)
-Using religious beliefs as its own punishment (Such as "I will not punish you, that is between you and God", or "The consequences of your actions are for Heaven alone to judge, and Lord may they show you mercy", or "You will know whether you were right or not when you go through the soul purification process")
-Using divine punishment as a threat (Such as "You will go to Hell if you do this or that", or "You will be reincarnated into a worse life than this one")
-Speaking of Heaven, Gan Eden, Nirvana, or another religious or spiritual goal as the ultimate goal, even above your own wants, needs, or happiness
-Saying how sad they would be if they do not see you in the "good" afterlife when you both die, or how sad you will be rotting in the "bad" afterlife or purgatory on your own while your family and loved ones mourn your absence in the "good" afterlife, or how they will move on as reincarnated souls into the next life while you remain behind
-Trying to control your actions by using God or other divine spirit, religious texts and books, or the Devil or other evil force as a reason for why you should do what they say [Also may play into Mind Control in some contexts]
-Telling you that you are not mentally ill, disabled, gay, trans, left-handed, an atheist, or so on and that you are instead just possessed by the Devil
-Telling you that physical illness is a sign of the Devil trying to get inside of you or that it is a test from God which you need to overcome [Also see Medical Neglect]
-Forcing you into going to a religious location or service (such as church, a temple, or a synagogue), participating in prayer, or otherwise practicing religion against your will
-Using things related to religion in a religious context, such as cleanliness, purity, innocence, or goodness as a standard you need to meet, and being made to feel unholy or unworthy if you do not meet them
-Using things related to religion in a religious context, such as filthiness, unfaithfulness, sickness, evilness, or corruptness as reasons for why you have struggles, why you are unworthy of love, or why you are a bad person in their eyes
-Saying your struggles, such as those with depression, addiction, or poverty would go away if you just committed yourself to God or your religion more
-Forcing you to always wear or carry religious items, such as crosses, Hamsa, or Bibles (or other religious texts), or shaming you if you do not even if it is not explicitly forced
-Forcing you to wear religious clothing
-Being shunned or threats of shunning if you do not comply with religion
-Using religion to justify abuse (Such as "It is a parent's God-given right to raise their child how they see fit, including hitting them")
-Using religion to justify bigotry or hatred towards others (Such as "Those people are not children of God, they are born of the Devil")
-Saying they love you but not your choices or identity and quoting religion as the reason why (Such as "Love the sin but not the sinner")
-Being forcefully baptized, being forced to participate in religious activities, ceremonies, or rituals, or being religiously "corrected" to make you "faithful" again
-Forced prayer, repetitive prayer, confession, or repentance for bad or unfaithful behavior
-Being forced to speak with a religious leader or religious higher-up against your will
-Being made to attend a religious school, camp, or other organized religious setting in order to correct "poor" behavior or to ensure you are complying with religion and not at risk of straying into unfaithfulness, or being made to attend these programs against your will
-Judging or determining who you may socialize with on the basis of religion
-Forced gender roles or sexual expectations on the basis of religion
-Forced food restrictions on the basis of religion, and punishment if you do not comply with them