They are the ways people attempt to stay safe, feel important and stroke their own egos.

They manifest in behaviors that people engage in to distance and disconnect from each other. These roles are unconscious scripts of how unhealthy family life is played out that keep people disconnected from true intimacy. The Abuser may become tired with his angry barrage then feel guilty and shift into the rescuing role. The Victim may become angry at the injustice of being persecuted, thereby shifting into the Perpetrator role. The positions often shift as people change emotions to protect the ego which feels threatened. The two positions at the top are considered the “one-up” positions where the people feel superior while the Victim is at the “one-down” position feeing looked down on and helplessness. Karpman drew these roles on an inverted triangle with the Persecutor (whose behavior ranges from the dominant one to the abuser in the family) and the Rescuer at the upper end of the triangle and the Victim at the bottom. They are symbiotic, destructive behaviors that affect all members of the family. The roles incorporate learned patterns of habit and control mechanisms that bond people together in sick ways. The three roles are Perpetrator, rescuer and Victim that operate to keep people in the illusion of power. The three roles of the Drama Triangle are the three main positions that unhappy families play as described by transactional therapist, Stephen Karpman in 1968. The Drama Triangle Three Roles of Victim-hood

Role play scripts for anger management