The Zero Family, When There Is A Predator At Home

The concept of the Zero family was proposed by the psychologist Iñaqui Piñuel in a book published in 2020 and with a homonymous title to the term. It refers to a highly toxic and unfortunately very common family type. In this type of environment there are relationships marked by abuse, victimization and manipulation in a covert or explicit way.

In the Zero family there is usually a member who can be classified as an integrated psychopath. These people can behave like real emotional predators. The worst thing is that in a dysfunctional family, these figures are the ones who often end up directing everyone’s destiny.

Likewise, the Zero family gives rise to emotional traces  that can last a lifetime. Sometimes due to the frank psychological or physical abuse that occurs within them and other times due to extreme abandonment and hostility that mark strong deficiencies in their members.

The integrated psychopath

Integrated psychopaths are people who appear “normal” or similar to anyone else. However, they do not have genuine emotions, lack empathy,  and do not recognize moral standards. They are usually friendly and charming, which gives them a wide margin to manipulate others.

The psychological makeup of these types of people prevents them from experiencing remorse or feelings of guilt. Therefore, the only limit they place on their actions is their own convenience. The fact of hurting and being cruel to others is present in their behavior and this does not seem negative to them.

Iñaqui Piñuel points out that the majority of psychopaths belong to the category of “integrated.” These types of people do not commit crimes and, in fact, many times they are not even explosive or violent. However, they morally and emotionally destroy  the people around them. In the family, they are highly harmful.

The Zero family

The Zero family begins with what Iñaqui Piñuel calls “zero love”. This corresponds to a relationship in which one of the two is an integrated psychopath. This usually has a very high power of seduction and whoever establishes a relationship with him or her is condemned to live a chain of trauma.

It is common for someone with such a partner to have very painful experiences and, despite this, only realize that the relationship is being poisonous after it has caused a lot of damage. In most cases, psychotherapy is needed to end such a relationship.

Before that happens, it is not uncommon for a family to form. The children, with psychopathic parents, grow up alternating the feeling of being lost and the normalization of the abuse. They come to trivialize what happens inside their home, while carrying deep emotional wounds.

The effects of the Zero family

These highly toxic families leave traces that can be permanent. Children who have grown up in these types of environments develop a very negative concept of themselves and feel that they are only deserving of the worst. Feelings of fear, shame, and humiliation predominate.

For the same reason, it is not uncommon for them to repeat the dramatic story in themselves. In other words, they could choose someone with psychopathic traits as a partner. On the one hand, this is the effect of the trauma itself, which tends to recur. On the other hand, they have learned to see behavior that is not normal as “normal.”

On the other hand, something that Piñuel calls “attachment to the perpetrator” develops in the victims of this situation. It is a pathological dependency, in which the victims become, so to speak, “addicted to suffering.” This reaction is mistakenly interpreted as “love.”

There is a way out

As a rule, children who grow up in a Zero family become very vulnerable adults, with a tendency to create toxic bonds. They often repeat the patterns they learned and it is in this way that many lives end up locked in mazes that apparently have no way out.

These people are more at risk of becoming involved with abusive environments and people. Your “alarm system”, so to speak, has a fault. They are not clear about the limit of a “normal” and “abnormal” situation. For this reason, they do not know how to be safe.

The damage is profound and therefore requires a process of psychotherapy. The most important effects of the situation can be reversed with proper care. Thus, the damage can be repaired to a great extent, but it is necessary to work to achieve it.