俗话说：虎毒不食子，然而近期很多国家却发生父母虐待亲生儿女的事件。一起来听听看心理学家会怎么解析这些“毒母恶父”吧
David and Louise Turpin stand accused of holding their 13 children in shackles at their California home.
The allegations of torture seem impossible to comprehend next to the family photos circulated in the press that show the smiling group on days out at places like Disneyland.
We asked experts in child abuse, psychiatry and psychology how parents are able to turn on their offspring.
大卫和路易斯 · 特平因被指控将自己的13个孩子锁在加州家中。
从各大媒体上刊登的照片来看，他们一家人在迪士尼一类的地方玩得很开心，很难相信他们会面临虐待孩子这种指控。
我们咨询了一些虐待儿童方面的专家，从精神病学和心理学两个方面研究父母怎么会虐待自己的后代。
How unusual is it to lock up your own children?
The Turpins' case is extraordinary for numerous reasons - particularly as the allegations are against two parents who had multiple children together.
Prof Browne, director of the Centre for Forensic and Family Psychology at the University of Nottingham, says it is more common to see cases where there is one child and the parent or parents cannot cope, so the situation spirals out of control.
Dr Bernard Gallagher, a child protection expert at the University of Huddersfield, says: "I see a lot of cases of neglect, where children are not washed or fed properly, but you don't often get cases of children being tortured, where the abuse seems calculated."
特平的案例是由多方面原因造成的—尤其是这个指控针对的是这两位有着多个孩子的父母。
布朗教授是诺丁汉大学的法医和家庭心理学中心的主任，他说更为常见的一种情况是一个孩子，父母当中某一方或者双方都束手无策，情况会失去控制。
伯纳德·加拉格尔博士是哈德斯菲尔德大学的儿童保护专家，他说“我遇到过很多疏忽照顾的案列，譬如洗澡方式或者喂养姿势不对，但不会经常碰到这种故意虐待孩子的情况。”
Can parents operate as an abusive team?
"When you get two people working together, they support each other and their behaviour becomes normal to them," says Coral Dando, a psychology professor at London's University of Westminster. "They behave in a way they would never behave on their own."
Though, one partner can also be controlled and led on by the other, she adds. "We tend to think of this as women being coerced into action by a man, as it is more common, but that is not always true."
父母双方会一起虐待孩子吗？
“两个人一起行动的话，他们能够支持彼此，对他们来说他们的所做也会变得正常起来。”伦敦威斯敏斯特大学的心理学教授卡洛儿·丹多说道“他们所做出的举动在独自一人的时候是不会发生的。”
尽管其中一个人会被另一个人控制和引导，她补充说“我们倾向于将这种情况看做是男人强迫女人这么做。因为这是很常见的，但也并不总是这样。”
How can abuse escalate?
When announcing the charges against the Turpins, local district attorney Mike Hestrin said the mistreatment appeared to intensify over time. "What started out as neglect became severe, pervasive, prolonged child abuse," he said.
Louise Turpin's sister, Elizabeth Jane Flores, told Good Morning America she stayed with the family 20 years ago and saw no specific signs of abuse, although she found their parenting style was strict.
Prof Browne says a situation can suddenly get worse because the perpetrators want to conceal a family secret, perhaps relating to the abuse.
"At some point, it becomes out of control, physically and socially, and they [the parents] have to control freedom of movement so the information can't be shared," he says.
虐待行为是如何升级的？
当宣告特平的虐待指控时，当地检察官迈克赫氏说随着时间的推移，虐待行为也在升级。他说“最初开始的时候是忽视孩子，随后变成了严重的，普遍的，长期的儿童虐待行为”。
路易斯·特平的姐姐伊丽莎白·简·弗洛跟早安新闻的记者说，她跟这一家从20年前就在一起了，尽管她觉得父母管得很严格，但并没有看到过任何虐待的迹象。
布朗教授认为情况之所以会突然变坏是因为犯罪者想要掩盖家庭里的秘密，或许会跟虐待有关。他说“某种程度上，孩子们的身体上或者社会交际上，会出现意外情况，因此他们（父母）必须要加强行动控制，这样他们的秘密就不会被发现。”
Dr Eileen Vizard, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, says: "I can't comment specifically on current or past cases, but based on published research evidence and my clinical experience, cases of extreme abuse have often involved children who are hidden away in 'plain sight'."
"They may live with their families but they have no access to outsiders, such as professionals or playmates," she explains. "This means that abusing parents or carers never learn that there can be consequences from their cruel behaviours to children and children."
This, in turn, can create a relationship that has some elements of Stockholm syndrome, where abducted individuals identify with the abductor to ensure their own survival. "Some victims may identify themselves closely with the abusing parents about whom they may feel, paradoxically, very protective," says Dr Vizard.
伦敦大学学院大奥蒙德街儿童健康研究所的儿童和青少年精神病学家艾琳·扎维德博士说道“我没法具体的对当前或过去的病例做出评论，但基于已发表的研究证据和我的临床经验，极端虐待的案例经常涉及那些躲在“众目睽睽”下的孩子。”
“这些孩子跟他们的家人住在一起，并且没有外人，比如自由职业者或者玩伴”她解释说“这意味着虐待父母或看护人永远不会知道他们的残忍行为会对不同的孩子造成不良后果。”
而这反过来说，也可以形成一种斯德哥尔摩综合症的关系，被绑架者与诱拐者达成一致，以确保他们自己的生存，“某些受害者可能会觉得自己跟施害父母关系亲近，会让他们反常的认为自己需要保护。”扎维德博士说道。
How can abusive parents reconcile two sides of their lives?
Professor Browne says double lives "can be indicative of a personality order, where, say, a family man is sweet-as-can-be at home but a tyrant behind closed doors."
Dr Vizard says: "There are common mental mechanisms, such as 'splitting' and 'projection', which we all use to ignore aspects of our own bad behaviour or to attribute our bad behaviour to others as being their fault. Child victims may, in turn, feel that it is 'all their fault'."
Sometimes people can also use a warped version of religion to justify their actions, says Dr Gallagher, as they can convince themselves that a child is evil.
施虐父母是如何调节他们的这两种生活的？
布朗教授认为双面生活“暗示了一个人的人格次序，也就说是，在家的时候，家里的男主人是尽可能的好，但是关了门，就成了暴君。”
扎维德博士说“在我们内心，有个常见的心理机制，比如‘分裂’和‘投射’。我们都习惯忽视自己的不良行为，或者把我们的坏行为归咎于别人，这是他们的错。那么反过来，儿童受害者们或许也会认为“这都是他们的错”。
有时候，人们会利用一种扭曲了的宗教信仰让自己的行为合理化，加拉格尔博士说道，类似于他们会给自己洗脑说这个孩子是魔鬼。
关于这个事情，目前，特平夫妇将继续接受调查。保释金为每人900万美元。儿童保护机构也已介入调查，被困的Turpin家孩子们将被送入当地医院接受治疗。
来源：普特英语听力网（putclub2012）
英文来源： BBC
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