What is the chance that this woman was abused as a child?

[Anonymous]

Married at about 18 in the 1950s because she was pregnant. Serial relationships with older men, some of whom were married, some not. Married again briefly, but had several children before and after. Gave a two up for adoption without looking back once. Was not considered to be a warm or caring mother. None of her immediate family or children are like this.

Abused as a child or a run of the mill sociopath?

[Anonymous]

Why not both?

[Anonymous]

Chance is probably high. Why do you ask?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chance is probably high. Why do you ask?

When I heard this story, it was the first thing that I thought and everyone else had not apparently thought of that- just thought she was awful. Meanwhile, it never occured to anyone during her lifetime...but I think we just are aware of more information now. There was quite a bit of sexual abuse then that hasn't bern uncovered until recently. I think people thought this person was just promiscuous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not both?

Well, sure, but did she become a sociopath because of being abused? My question had to do with the possibility of her just being horrible without any actual cause. I guess it is possible.

There was some alcoholism in her family, her father...so, there's that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not both?

Well, sure, but did she become a sociopath because of being abused? My question had to do with the possibility of her just being horrible without any actual cause. I guess it is possible.

There was some alcoholism in her family, her father...so, there's that.

You know what a sociopath is, right? What characteristics of sociopathy does she have?

[Anonymous]

You never can be sure what a person feels in the depths of their heart. You say she put children for adoption and didn't look back. You don't know how she feels, you only see what she shows outwardly. When a person suffers guilt and emotional pain, they can seem cold and uncaring.

[Anonymous]

Both of my grandmothers had their first child at 14 and were divorced by about 20. Big difference in how they got there and what it did to them.

My sociopathic paternal grandmother was raped at 12 by a man in his 40s who had a lot of power in the community. Absolutely no recourse for her legally. No attempt at any counseling. She had to stop attending school. She was placed as a domestic in the home of another man who had sex with her at 13. She gave birth days after her 14th birthday. At 16, she married a man in his 40s who fathered two more kids on her within 18 months. Midway through WWII, he was offered a lucrative job in the Deep South and abandoned her with a toddler and a newborn.

In contrast, my other grandmother fell in love with a boy. They got pregnant. They got married. It didn’t work out, but it wasn’t abuse and she had a huge amount of family support. The divorce was a bit stigmatizing, but he died within three months and many people forgot she was a divorced and not a widow. She went on to marry a minister.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You never can be sure what a person feels in the depths of their heart. You say she put children for adoption and didn't look back. You don't know how she feels, you only see what she shows outwardly. When a person suffers guilt and emotional pain, they can seem cold and uncaring.

Her children, that she raised, all concur that she was a pretty awful person....all of their lives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not both?

Well, sure, but did she become a sociopath because of being abused? My question had to do with the possibility of her just being horrible without any actual cause. I guess it is possible.

There was some alcoholism in her family, her father...so, there's that.

You know what a sociopath is, right? What characteristics of sociopathy does she have?

Read the OP's original post.