How you see yourself largely determines the way you think and behave, so if you perceive yourself as a victim you will think and act like one. That may look like defensiveness, and lacking agency or a sense of control.
The psychiatrist Stephen Karpman came up with a model called the Dreaded Drama Triangle back in '61 and many have expanded on it since.
It's a way of gaining awareness of the role you identify with in relation to others. The three roles he describes are Victim, Perpetrator, Rescuer.
A way of escaping that drama is through another model from David Emerald called The Empowerment Dynamic (TED). It offers alternative roles, namely, Creator, Challenger, Coach.
Explained in applicable terms in this video: