A série “MAID” e a violência doméstica contra mulheres: um olhar da terapia do esquema

Abstract

Domestic violence against women (DV) is a complex problem faced in public security and health. It represents a human’s right violation and it has a variety of negative impacts both for the victim and the society. The researches about the DV’s effects points out to an intergenerational problem related to violence against women. For that matter, witnessing DV at home leads to a bigger risk of one getting involved in abusive and violent relationships. Since the family environment and the relation with the caregivers during childhood have been related to the outcomes in human behavior and cognition in adulthood, Jeffrey Young created the Schema Therapy (ST). The ST conceptual model offers a consistent perspective to understand the intrafamilial persistence of DV against women. Harmful childhood experiences cause the Early Maladaptive Schemas (EMS), that are considerate the base to understand one’s comprehension about themselves, others and the world. The EMS are grouped in schematic domains that represent the evolutive challenges to a healthy development in which the caregivers have failed to attend to determined basic needs of a child. This article attempted to discuss the EMS influence on the maintenance of DV situations. It used the north-american series “Maid” and the protagonist’s (Alex) EMS analysis as the initial point to the discussions about the difficulties the character shows in the series to break the violence cycle. The qualitative and descriptive method was used to accomplish the article’s purpose, using the documental analysis and the ST as a theoretical perspective. It is possible to identify in the series some schemas, especially the ones that compose the first schematic domain, which is pointed in others research as a common one among women victims of VD. It is important to highlight that Alex’s mother was also a DV victim perpetrated by an intimate partner and the protagonist’s childhood was pervaded by instability and her mother’s difficulty to attend Alex’s basic needs while she was trying to escape from the DV situation. During adulthood, Alex ends up facing the same difficulties as her mother to run away from the violence perpetrated by her daughter’s father. In conclusion, in many situations the series portrays the reality of the violence cycle lived by many women. It is also possible to identify the role of EMS in the maintenance of abusive relationships and its intergenerational influence.