Escaping Conflict and the Karpman Drama Triangle by R. Skip Johnson

"There was a significant advance in psychiatry after World War II.  Therapists observed that many battle-torn veteran patients who had been in treatment overseas regressed after returning to their families. Researchers searching for an explanation began to explore the effect of family relationships on individuals and found that some home environments were extremely beneficial to patient healing and recovery, and that some were extremely detrimental. Prior to this time, psychiatrists and psychoanalysts focused entirely on the patient’s already developed psyche and considered the effect of outside detractors, like relationships, to be insignificant.

In 1966 Murray Bowen, M.D. published Bowen's family systems theory. One of the most critical elements of Bowen's eight part theory was the concept of triangulation in the family. Simply put, when someone finds themself in conflict with another person they will reach out to a third person. The resulting triangle (e.g., three-person exchange) is more comfortable as the tension is shifted around three people instead of just two.

Triangulation is widely recognized as a stabilizing factor in a family, at work, among social groups, etc. We all engage in triangulation because triangles help us cope when we are struggling with another person."

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