Deafening Silence: Exploring the Silent Treatment and its Impact on Abusers and Their Victims

Episode twenty of the second season of the Podcast on Crimes Against Women concludes our season with author, public speaker, Professor of Psychology at Siena College, and Editor of Family and Intimate Partner Violence Quarterly, Dr. Maureen Hannah. In this episode, Dr. Hannah discusses what the silent treatment looks like in everyday practice, how abusers can manipulate the silent treatment by turning it into a form of abuse, and how the silent treatment can be a gateway form of abuse or lead to other types of abuse. Dr. Hannah then examines how the silent treatment affects different victims in different ways, how it can be detrimental to childhood development and future relationships, and many other consequences of this type of abuse.