Raven Discusses:
Perosecutors
Discussion Questions: is there already a word for the mixture of persecutors and prosecutors mixed? What is it and how do they work?
Please interact with the post with caution, this post has triggering topics within the discussion. Trigger warning below.
⚠️ TW for mentions of: S/H, Suicidal ideations, manipulation, delusions, abuse. (These are not main topics within the discussion!)
Lately , ive been thinking about a term we use very loosely in our system to mean the mixture of a persecutor and a prosecutor. It got me wondering, is there a coined term for this?
We have one or two parts in our multiple that could be classified as this. They just seem to be both sides of the coin!
I know that prosecutors can be classified as persecutors and vice versa, but why not just make a term that fits both definitions into one? Wouldn't that make it easier for us to understand them in general? Most of the time they dont even like one label, let alone two! It just makes sense to me to have one for both.
Even though in a general definition, Persecutors also overlap with prosecutors in the area of which they both can lash out towards others. However I find it with persecutors this is definitely more of a trauma response than it is with prosecutors! (out of personal experience dealing with them). We also find that our persecutors tend to direct their anger inwards, while our prosecutors direct anger outwards. Which if this was the case for most plurals, then it would make more sense to have a term for an alter that just has anger. Anger directed towards everyone.
The term we use for this is Perosecutor! It mixes the per- and the pro- together! I believe Blair or Vlad was the one who actually came up with the term to begin. When I first heard it, I didn't realize it was something that only really existed to us! After a while, when talking about perosecutors, i realized that this was not a term that was common. Then, I discovered that it wasn't a coined term at all! That's when i started to look into the history and psychology of persecutors vs prosecutors!
Once I started taking notes on our own persecutors vs prosecutors vs perosecutors.. I realized small things that were very common traits of our own perosecutors that either one or both of the other two didn't do!
I found out that perosecutors are much more likely to try to harm the body, especially when alone in front. They also tend to be very manipulative towards those both within and outside the system. More often than less, they show not much or no remorse for their actions in the moment.*⑴ They may be more abusive towards those within and outside the system. They may be more likely to be a symptom holder or experience delusions of some sort. I have also noticed that the perosecutors within our system do not wish to recover. This is the biggest similarity between all perosecutors we have. I do not believe that all parts that have this label are inherently "bad", I personally do not believe that there are "bad" or "evil" parts within systems. However, they seem to need much more effort to get them to communicate and work effectively within the system. In our system, we have had a former perosecutor start to try and recover, so it is possible to communicate and get through to them with time and effort.
*⑴ They may show remorse later on (however within the moments before, during, and near-after they commit the action, they will not show much or any remorse.)
I would like to mention, again, that these parts are not "evil" nor are they "bad people" because of what they do. It is often a trauma response and they may not even realize what they are doing before it is too late. Our former perosecutor had no idea how he had been affecting the system until he went dormant for 3 to 4 months. After that is when he finally started to heal, as prior he had no knowledge of the repercussions of his actions. He still relapses and struggles whenever he fronts for a long time, but now he recognizes it and he comes to us for support. He still can have dark thoughts and negative intentions towards those inside the system and outside, however he is trying a lot more than he used to and we are proud of him for that.
Perosecutors can come in all different shapes and sizes. Your system's perosecutors do not have to act like this if you feel like perosecutor is the right term for them! This is just how our system works due to our heavy internal/external trauma!
To wrap this up, I would love to hear if there's already a term for this type of part within a system! If there isn't, maybe i'll coin it!
Also if anyone else has experienced a part like this within their system, I would be interested to hear about it. Maybe i'll make a follow-up post about others experiences!
Reminder that this is all personal experience based on our own system! Thank you for reading!
notes: sorry if this is all over the place, im pretty tired ! I might go back and edit a few times after posting if i feel like it.. - raven