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What struck me about a recent news item in The Dominion Post was that an admittedly large, but otherwise rather unremarkable-looking prisoner was noted for his ability to inspire terror among fellow inmates. Convicted murderer Graeme Burton (aka “The Bear”), despite having only one leg, wielded a great deal of power and intimidation at his former residence at Rimutaka Prison, being described by others at the facility as a man “that no-one said ‘no’ to”. Why was this?

Those who have ever studied psychology will probably have heard of Martin Seligman, a researcher who carried out a seminal study in learned helplessness. In this experiment, a group of confined dogs learned to avoid electric shocks by pressing a lever, while another group were subjected to shocks that were apparently random. The dogs in this group eventually became immobile; learning that nothing they did could help them, they entered a state of what we would describe as despair. Interestingly, however, when they were placed in a different situation in which electric shocks could be avoided, the group of dogs with learned helplessness did not even attempt to avoid them.

So what made Burton so particularly terrifying? The press chose to focus on his imposing size as a major factor. But a large part of the answer can perhaps be found in one particular dynamic in abusive relationships. Learned helplessness is a classic behaviour trait exhibited by abused partners. The abused partner eventually ‘learns’ that nothing he or she does can be enough to avoid violent episodes in the relationship, and so ‘gives up’ trying to avoid them altogether. Graeme Burton, in addition to being known for his manipulative personality, was also feared for the fact that he could be friendly in one moment while violent the next. Those who lived near him quickly found that nothing they did could control the schedule of rewarding (friendly) and punishing (violent) behaviour. In the confined environment of a prison, then, it perhaps is unsurprising that despite being only one amongst many violent convicted criminals, a combination of physicality and unpredictable personality made ‘The Bear’ into an object of fear - and not simply a challenge to be overcome.