Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Family Scapegoating Abuse

(Take the ACEs QUIZ): Understanding the Connection Between ACEs and FSA

Photo by Michał Parzuchowski on Unsplash

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LIVESTREAM REMINDER: Paywall-Protected (Private) Community Livestream this Friday, June 20, at 11 am PDT. Bring your questions about FSA and join us as we have some fun role-playing various challenging FSA-related conversations with me and any brave volunteers ready and willing to go 'on camera’!

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Introduction

As a clinician specializing in complex trauma and dysfunctional family systems, I’ve dedicated years to illuminating the insidious, often "invisible" forms of abuse that scar individuals from within their original family system, as mentioned in my post last week regarding the link between Family Scapegoating Abuse and Complex Trauma.

Among these, the insidious systemic phenomenon I named Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) stands out as a particularly devastating dynamic, one that leaves deep, lingering wounds. For adult survivors of FSA, understanding the origins of their distress is a crucial step towards healing. It is here that the critical connection between FSA and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) emerges, offering a vital framework for comprehending how being the "identified patient" in one’s family-of-origin contributes to a profound and often unrecognized legacy of developmental trauma.

Save the Date! I’ll be co-hosting a Livestream Collaboration with

Dr Simon Rogoff

, publisher of Narcissism, Trauma, and Celebrity, on Monday, July 7 at 12 pm PDT. Paid community members may engage in a private Live Chat and can ask us questions during the stream.

How FSA Relates to Adverse Childhood Experiences

Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) is deeply intertwined with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). While FSA isn't explicitly one of the original ACEs measured in the CDC-Kaiser Permanente ACE Study, it encompasses and often leads to several of them, contributing significantly to a high ACE score and its associated negative health and well-being outcomes as follows:

• Emotional Abuse and Neglect: Scapegoating in families fundamentally involves chronic criticism, blame, shame, humiliation, and invalidation directed at one particular child. This directly falls under emotional abuse and emotional neglect, both of which are specific categories within the ACE questionnaire. The scapegoat often feels unloved, unimportant, and unsupported by their family.

• Physical Abuse: In some cases, FSA can escalate to physical abuse, which is another direct ACE.

• Household Dysfunction: Family scapegoating is a clear sign of household dysfunction. It typically occurs in dysfunctional or narcissistic family systems, where the family projects its collective anxieties, problems, and insecurities onto one member. This can be exacerbated by parental personality disorders (like narcissistic or borderline personality disorder), mental illness in the household, or substance abuse – all of which are ACE categories.

• Isolation and Lack of Support: Being the family scapegoat often means being isolated and excluded from family activities and conversations. This lack of familial support and connection, especially during childhood, is a significant form of neglect and can severely impact a child's sense of belonging and safety, contributing to the broader concept of adverse experiences.

FSA and Cumulative Trauma

The insidious and chronic nature of Family Scapegoating Abuse means that it can lead to complex trauma (C-PTSD). Unlike single-incident trauma, C-PTSD results from prolonged and repeated exposure to interpersonal trauma and chronic stressors from which there is no escape, which is precisely what occurs in FSA.

While C-PTSD isn't an ACE itself, the underlying chronic abuse and neglect it represents directly contribute to a high ACE score. The cumulative effect of these experiences has a profound impact on the targeted child's brain development, stress response, and the immune system, leading to long-term health and emotional problems.

Watch my video on Family Scapegoating Abuse, Chronic Illness, and ACE Scores on my YouTube Channel.

Impact on ACE Score

A child experiencing FSA is highly likely to have an elevated ACE score due to the presence of emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and the potential for physical abuse and sexual abuse due to living in a family system marked by significant dysfunction.

FSA child victims and adult survivors also experience long-term consequences that mirror documented outcomes of high ACE scores, including mental health issues; relationship difficulties; physical health problems and possibly a shortened life span (when the ACE score is 6 or above); self-perception and life trajectory; and increased risk of high-risk behaviors. To learn more about the consequences of being scapegoated by family, visit my website.

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TAKE THE ACEs QUIZ

(My ACE score is 7, or 70%, putting me in the high risk range)

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While a high ACE score indicates an increased risk, it is not a life sentence. Building resilience and actively engaging in proactive strategies can significantly mitigate the long-term health effects of childhood trauma and promote a longer, healthier life.

Adult survivors of childhood trauma can significantly increase their lifespan by proactively addressing the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). This involves seeking professional trauma-informed care to process past experiences and manage co-occurring mental health conditions.

Crucially, building resilience and coping skills through healthy relationships, a supportive community, self-care practices (like exercise, sleep, and mindfulness), and stress management techniques is vital.

Prioritizing physical health with healthy lifestyle choices and preventive care, while also avoiding harmful behaviors, directly counteracts the long-term effects of ACEs. Finally, a deep understanding and acknowledgment of how ACEs have shaped one's life is a fundamental step towards healing and a longer, healthier life.

Summary

Family Scapegoating Abuse is a potent form of childhood adversity that significantly contributes to a person's ACE score, leading to a myriad of detrimental long-term consequences for their mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Recognizing FSA as a form of abuse and understanding its connection to ACEs is crucial for effective intervention and healing.

It's important to note that the information is evolving, and ongoing research will continue to contribute to the understanding of Family Scapegoating Abuse and how it manifests in dysfunctional and narcissistic family systems; also, how it impacts individual ACE scores.

Have something to share? I’d love to hear from you in the comments! (This post is public, your comments are also therefore public).

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Recommended Read: “What If You Could?” Written by community member Lynne Harley, this is a delightful children’s book on the magic of dreaming big. https://www.lynneharley.com/about-8-1

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My Introductory Book on FSA

I’ve written an introductory book on FSA, Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed: Help and Hope for Adults in the Family Scapegoat Role, which gives a large amount of information regarding FSA. If you haven’t read it yet, I encourage you to do so soon.

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