Young Writers Society

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I have this idea for a story in my head, where a woman is abducted by a co-worker she works with and is held in a underground bunker/cell and is repeatedly raped.  Eventually she begins to give up hope of escape and stops fighting his advances.

My question is at what point does someone usually  break? How can I write this without making it seem non-believable? 

At what point does someone give up fighting off their attacker and give in to them?  How is it that at some point, it becomes "normality?" so to speak.

My MC is held over a number of years, could that play a facter in the fact she stops fighting altogether? I'm not wanting to use the "Stockholm"  oenology, but would it play a factor? would she end up developing something like that in order to survive the trauma?

She also gives birth during her captivity.  How would she be able to raise a child in that environment? What effects would it have on the child?  How could the MC make it easier on the child's development?

Oh, gosh...

At what point does a person break/give up?- I'd say it depends completely on the character/person. Ask yourself: is my character a fighter? Does she get easily depressed, or discouraged? Is she easily convinced of things, etc.?

It seems in a lot of cases where girls are kid-napped, and abused... they end up getting manipulated into thinking that this is just how things are, and they need to submit to their attacker. When this would occur, I have no clue.


She has a kid- what effects would it have on the child?- I think that a child growing up in an environment such as this, would be very innocently... broken. It's almost like; they know nothing else but the abuse. And it just seems like they'd be very small, un-questioning. I don't know if that is cliché.

Anyway, that's all I've got. Except: Can I just say that I do not like the idea of something like this being written for entertainment. If it's going to mean more, good. If you're just writing it because you think it'd be good torture for a character, or whatever, don't do it. Venting is fine, morals are fine. But don't write something like this, for fun.

I agree with Holysocks. There's not a precise time that someone who has been held captive "breaks." It varies depending on the person, the situation, the torture, and the kidnapper. Get to know your characters and see where they guide you.

I also suggest reading up on real-life cases similar to this story for accuracy. Right away, the outline reminded me a bit of the Cleveland kidnappings and the kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard. I'm not sure if you're already familiar with those stories, but if you plan on writing something like this, you should definitely research.

Some links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping ... Lee_Dugard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_kidnap

Warning: Both cases are extremely disturbing. Read at your own risk.

That said, I (like Holysocks) am wondering the purpose of this piece. If you're just doing it for entertainment purposes, I think that's a bad idea. There are a lot of people out there who, sadly, don't grasp the horrors of kidnap and rape, and only choose to read about it for the salacious details. If you were to write a story based around those crimes, my advice would be to make it more like a teaching experience. Educate the reader. Show them the psychological impact kidnap and rape has on the victim(s).

Hope this helps.

Hello!

I looveee stories that deal with really deep and dark themes like this. I myself have many projects that are meant to make the readers think.

At what point does the person break
There are a lot of contributing factors, but I think you are the only person that can answer them. When you're answering it though, think about the age this woman was abducted. Older? Younger? Younger people might be more prone to fighting longer, because they statistically have more energy. An older person might have more strength to keep going however. Consider, have they had any history with mental illnesses, thoughts of suicide or the 'I deserve it' mentality? If the answer is yes, they might not fight as long as someone who wants to live. When she becomes pregnant, however, I think that would have a marked effect on her desire to either live or die. She could want to live so she can take care of this baby, or she could want to die because she can't imagine bringing up a child in that environment.
How would the child grow up
Hm... That's a very interesting question, and I'd say you need to research it. There are plenty of times in history that people have children in these kinds of a situation. Just take into account what access to the outside world the child has. Having his mother will help, but not being able to converse with children his age, (his peer group), having access to books and television and toys (The Mass Media) and the other agents of socialization. Research developmental issues in children raised in isolation.


This story you're creating is going to require a lot of work on your part. But if you do it well, it could really have an effect on anyone who reads it.

Oh, an interesting thing you have there :3 (totally the right reaction, eh?)

First off, there isn't a specific point on which everyone breaks, it depends a lot on the person in question.
In this case, it also depends on her past, and on their shared past, as well as what else he's doing and how he's treating her (aside from raping her repeatedly, that is). Does she have any family, anyone she'd want to return to? If so, that could be the source of her strength and will to survive, but also the way to force her into submission, if he made a threat on the life of someone she cares about (even if he's lying, she'd have no way of knowing anyway). However, that also inevitably brings in a whole new storyline - having someone means someone would come look for her, unless if they don't know about her at all (she could care about someone who doesn't really care about her, or someone who can't do anything for her, like a child, to whom others can tell she left or something).

A number of years is a very, very long time. It's long enough time for her to forget most faces and names from her past, especially if he keeps telling her no one is there for her. Long enough for her to perhaps even enter a sort of state in which she starts doubting her past is even anything more than a distant dream or a story someone once told her. It's long enough time for her to lose hope as well - but here you also need to consider the other side. If years have passed, does it mean indeed no one was trying to find her? Did he stage her death, or made it seem like she ran away willingly? Or was there an investigation which lead to a dead end? Does she have anything to hope for, objectively speaking?
Depending on what kind of person she is, again, she might even develop a second personality, or stop talking, or some other thing alike. Or she might be aware of her helplessness and know she can do nothing to save herself, but not really break, although she'd do everything he wants - in that case, she might find her way out of it eventually, but I believe at that point it would be "succeed or die trying" for her.

Also, how does he see his own actions, what is his psychology, and why did he take her? Are his interests purely physical (in which case it's very possible he would want more than just her eventually, possibly even the kid) or does he think he loves her (in which case he might be nice and keep telling her he's all she has, and this switching of moods might break her sooner, even without Stockholm syndrome)?

On another note, how would he stop her from committing a suicide? If she gives up hope, that could be something she would see as a way out - if he stops even that, or saves her just as she thinks she's free of him, she might end up breaking enough to let him do whatever he wants in the end, without putting up a fight.

Oh.. And then they have a child, and he lets her raise this child there. Does she love it? If yes, it's maybe a new source of strength, new will to fight now that she has something to fight for. It's also a nice new thing to threaten her with, to make her do everything he wants - perhaps even get out and act as his wife or servant or whatever, if she wants the child to live. However, does he love it? Does he see it as a sort of apprentice to be, perhaps, or a threat because her attention is now divided between him and the child? Or does he plan to treat that child as a prisoner as well, maybe hurt him or her eventually as well...?
Would he want the child to see him as a good guy, to love him? If he loves it, and she perhaps doesn't, the tables have turned a bit and now she might have something to use against him.
Not to mention, giving birth in those circumstances might be rather risky, how do they deal with that?

All this would of course have some effects on the child, unless they pretend to be the perfect nice family and they both truly love it. However, if the child never leaves the place they're in, it would get used to the way things are as the way things are supposed to be, because it would know nothing of what other families are like. So it would leave some so-called "scars", but the child would not perceive them as such, unless explained otherwise - and by then, depending on when it happens, it might develop some sort of disorder to deal with it (that's speculation, though). Little children are the most impressionable, and after a while it would get (next to) impossible to convince this child his life so far wasn't the way it was supposed to be.

I know I asked more questions than I answered, but all these details are pretty crucial and you should know answers to most of these questions before asking further advices, because one can't give you general answers which would apply to anyone and everyone. Figure out their personalities and motives, and how the situation changes them (especially if he's never done anything alike before, it would change him as well, how does he deal with that?). Their ages might play a part in this as well.

I'll stop talking now, but do tell if you have any more questions c: I'd like to know more about this - it's a very serious topic and dealing with personalities and states of mind which aren't easy to write, and I'd be pleasantly surprised to see it written well, so good luck

I'm not writing this just for fun, I'm wanting to teach people about how this stuff goes on, and what effects it has on the person who is being put through this terrible thing.

I was drawn to this idea after reading the book room by emma donoghue. it made me want to learn more about the effects on children held in captivity.

I'm not planning on writing graphic :"rape" scenes, as I'm a survivor of rape myself.

There were a lot of good questions thrown my way, and I'm going to write them down and answer them when i have find the answers myself

I think it doesn't really particularly matter why someone's writing whatever they're writing. Not everything has to have a noble intention or a deeper message, IMO - and after all, the readers will more often than not find a deeper meaning anyway, even if it isn't actually there or wasn't put there intentionally xP

The psychological aspect of it all is pretty fascinating (to me, anyway), I think it's great that you're focusing on that! Feel free to brainstorm here if you wish, we'll always think of more questions to throw your way xP

I get how you want to make this horrible thing known, so people will understand the idiots in this world, and all. I understand the feeling of wanting to vent about something so terrible... in an entire book.

A girl was raped and murdered near my town. My friends knew her, one even walked with her half-way home the night. I have no idea why I felt connected to her... except, I thought that I had met her, and when I had met 'her' I hadn't liked her. I don't know why, but that hit me hard; someone, that I had so easily disliked, for stupid reasons... was dead. Not really, of course, but that's what I thought. And now I think at least twice, before deciding that I dislike someone.

Anyway, I'm writing a story about her... though, it has nothing to do with her life ( I don't really know anything about her ). It's about how backwards our world is. And I gave the other main character, who's a young man, her name... she had a unisex kind of name, like Robin, or Sydney. I'm not entirely sure I know why I gave him her name... but it means something to me.

I'm so sorry to here what you said happened to you. If you need someone to talk to, PM me. And although I will never completely understand what you went through. I do care. I really do.

I have another question, if the mother and child are saved, would the mother face charges of neglect as far as not having the proper shots, medical care for the child,etc?
I would think not, but I'm not sure.

No, she wouldn't.. She was a victim in the case, seeing the circumstances she did the best she could - unless if they prove she was abusing the child too, in that case she'd probably face some kinds of charges, but I dare to say a good lawyer could get her out of that in no time.

Thank you for that information. She's not going to be abusing her child.

Seriously, for the love of God consider something.

Men don't always rape women; the reverse can be true.

My apologies for shouting, but this is a subject that's affected me personally.

Just thought of something. Does this woman subscribe to a particular religion or faith? If so, she would probably (depending on which religion) draw on her deity as a source of strength. Which also draws up a question- is this a realistic story you're writing? Is it set in modern times, or is it historical fiction?