Scholarly
Journal Articles
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1)
Article title:
An exploratory approach to self-blame and self-derogation by rape
victims
Journal title:American-Journal-of-Orthopsychiatry
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Database
to look in:Social Work Abstracts
APA citation:
Libow, J.
& Doty, D. (1979). An exploratory approach to self-blame and self-derogation
by rape victims. American-Journal-of-Orthopsychiatry, 49(4), 670-679.
Quote:
A study
was undertaken to determine whether self-attributed blame or self-derogation
is empirically verifiable for acute rape victims, and whether belief
in a just world and avoidance of harm or blame are relevant explanatory
constructs. Quantitative and interview data were gathered from seven
rape victims. Results supported self-blaming as an important aspect
of response to rape, and future avoidance of harm rather than a belief
in a just world was found as the most relevant motive. The factor
of compensation to the victim appeared important as a means to reduce
the victim's need to derogate herself as a result of the rape. The
phenomenon of compassion for, or identification with, the rapist also
emerged from the data. Clinical implications of these findings for
the adjustment of victims, the therapeutic exploration of compensation,
counseling strategies, and the legal system are discussed.
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2)
Article title:
Social Perception of Rape: How Rape Myth Acceptance Modulates the
Influence of Situational Factors
Journal title:
Journal-of-Interpersonal-Violence Find
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Database
to look in: Psychinfo
APA citation:
Frese, B., Moya, M., & Megius, J. L. (2004). Social Perception
of Rape: How Rape Myth Acceptance Modulates the Influence of Situational
Factors. Journal-of-Interpersonal-Violence, 19(2), 143-161.
Quote:
"This
study assessed the role of rape myth acceptance (RMA) and situational
factors in the perception of three different rape scenarios (date
rape, marital rape, and stranger rape). One hundred and eighty-two
psychology undergraduates were asked to emit four judgements about
each rape situation: victim responsibility, perpetrator responsibility,
intensity of trauma, and likelihood to report the crime to the police.
It was hypothesized that neither RMA nor situational factors alone
can explain how rape is perceived; it is the interaction between these
two factors that best account for social reactions to sexual aggression.
The results generally supported the authors' hypothesis: Victim blame,
estimation of trauma, and the likelihood of reporting the crime to
the police were best explained by the interaction between observer
characteristics, such as RMA, and situational clues. That is, the
less stereotypic the rape situation was, the greater was the influence
of attitudes toward rape on attributions.
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3)
Article title:
Perceptions of Stranger and Acquaintance Rape: The Role of Benevolent
and Hostile Sexism in Victim Blame and Rape Proclivity
Journal title:
Journal-of-Personality-and-Social-Psychology Find
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Database
to look in: Psychinfo
APA citation:
Abrahms, D., Viky, G., Masser, B., & Gerd, B. (2003). Perceptions
of stranger and acquaintance rape: The role of benevolent and hostile
sexism in victim blame and rape proclivity. Journal-of-Personality-and-Social-Psychology,
84(1), 111-125.
Quote:
"In
Studies 1 and 2, after reading an acquaintance-rape but not a stranger-rape
scenario, higher benevolent sexist but not hostile sexist participants
blamed the victim significantly more. In Study 2, higher hostile sexist
but not benevolent sexist male participants showed significantly greater
proclivity to commit acquaintance (but not stranger) rape. Studies
3 and 4 supported the hypothesis that the effects of benevolent sexism
and hostile sexism are mediated by different perceptions of the victim,
as behaving inappropriately and as really wanting sex with the rapist.
These findings show that benevolent sexism and hostile sexism underpin
different assumptions about women that generate sexist reactions towardrape
victims.
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4)
Article title:
Blaming the victim of rape: The culpable control model perspective.
Journal title:
Dissertation-Abstracts-International Find
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Database
to look in: PsycINFO
APA citation:
Pauwels,
B. (2002). Blaming the victim of rape: The culpable control model
perspective. Dissertation-Abstracts-International:-Section-B:-The-Sciences-and-Engineering,
63(5-B),.
This is a
scholarly article examing why we blame the victim rather than the
perpetrator of rape.
Quote:
"Three
vignette-based studies are presented that represent the first attempt
to examine rape victim blame within the context of an explicit, comprehensive
theory of blame. Study 1 examined the hypothesis that evaluative information
about a victim of rape would have a greater effect upon victim blaming
when the victim's personal control over the rape was portrayed as
somewhat elevated, rather than unambiguously low."
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5)
Article title:
High school and college students' attitudes toward rape.
Journal title:
Adolescence Find
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Database
to look in:Social Work Abstracts
APA citation:
Blumberg,
M. & Lester, D. (1991). High school and college students' attitudes
toward rape. Adolescence, 26(103), 727-729.
Quote:
This study
explores the relationship between agreement with myths about rape
and the tendency to blame the victim in a sample of high school and
college students. It was found that high school males believed more
strongly than did both high school females and college males in myths
about rape, and they assigned greater blame to the victims of rape.
For both high school males and females, belief in myths about rape
was associated with assigning more blame to the victims. (Journal
abstract.)
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6)
Article title:
Models of
Rape Judgment: attributions concerning event, perpetrator, and victim.
Journal title:
Journal
of Offender Rehabilitation Find
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Database
to look in:
PsycInfo
APA citation:
Langley,
T., Yost, E.A., O'Neal, E.C., Taylor, S.L., et al. (1991). Models
of Rape Judgment: attributions concerning event, perpetrator, and
victim. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 17, (1-2), 43-54.
Quote:
"Discusses
analytical models developed to identify perceptions that may serve
as cognitive mediators of rape judgments, including blaming victims,
attribution of rape culpability, date rape attribution, and the influence
of violent behavior. Victim blame appears to play little role in mediating
judgment regarding punishment, restitution, and whether or not rape
occurred. Earlier onset of victim protest increased recognition of
the incident as rape, the likelihood that the offender would be convicted,
and the likelihood that Ss would choose to award civil damages to
the victim. The effects of onset were mediated by perception of the
victim as desiring sexual intercourse. The degree of force used by
the perpetrator yielded similar effects, mediated by the judges' perception
of the incident as violent but only for male judges."
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7)
Article title:
Blaming the victim of rape: The culpable control
model perspective
Journal title:
Dissertation-Abstracts-International:-Section-B:-The-Sciences-and-Engineering
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Database
to took in: PsycInfo
APA citation:
Pauwels,
B. (2002). Blaming the victim of rape: The culpable control model
perspective. Dissertation-Abstracts-International:-Section-B:-The-Sciences-and-Engineering,
63(5-B).
This is a
scholarly article examing why we blame the victim rather than the
perpetrator of rape.
Quote:
"Three
vignette-based studies are presented that represent the first attempt
to examine rape victim blame within the context of an explicit, comprehensive
theory of blame. Study 1 examined the hypothesis that evaluative information
about a victim of rape would have a greater effect upon victim blaming
when the victim's personal control over the rape was portrayed as
somewhat elevated, rather than unambiguously low."
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this journal article
8)
Article title:
Attribution of rape blame as a function of victim gender and sexuality,
and perceived similarity to the victim
Journal title:
Journal of Homosexuality Find
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Database
to look in: contemporary womens issues
APA citation:
Shaver (2002).
Attribution of rape blame as a function of victim gender and sexuality,
and perceived similarity to the victim. Journal of Homosexuality,
43(2).
Quote:
This study
examined respondents' perceived level of blame and responsibility
for three victims of rape, as a function of attitudes toward homosexuals,
and perceived similarity to the victim, as indicative of Shaver's
(1970) Defensive Attribution Hypothesis. Victims were a homosexual
and heterosexual male, and a female. A sample of 168 university students
completed questionnaires, which included three rape scenarios and
subsequent questions, the Index of Attitudes Toward Homosexuals (Hudson
& Ricketts, 1980), and the short-form Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability
Scale (Reynolds, 1982). Results indicated that respondents higher
in homophobia (regardless of gender) blamed the homosexual male rape
victim and the behavior and character of the heterosexual male rape
victim, more than the female rape victim. Male respondents in general
also blamed the heterosexual male rape victim, more than female respondents.
Shaver's defensive attribution hypothesis was not supported. Results
are discussed in terms of the possible link between homophobia and
male rape blame.
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9)
Article title:
Madcap Misogyny and Romanticized Victim-Blaming: Discourses of Stalking
in There's Something About Mary
Journal title:
Women & Language Find
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Database
to look in: contemporary womens issues
APA citation:
Anderson
, K. J. & Accomando, C. (1999). Madcap Misogyny and Romanticized
Victim-Blaming: Discourses of Stalking in There's Something About
Mary. Women & Language, 1, 24-28.
Quote:
"One
aspect of victim-blaming is the belief in rape myths. Rape myths serve
a patriarchal world view, in which men possess and deserve greater
power and privilege than women. Such myths include the construction
that women cause, deserve, or even enjoy being raped. Blaming the
victim of rape also shifts causality in interesting ways. On the one
hand, in stereotypical representations, men are depicted are powerful
and active while women are depicted as powerless and passive. On the
other hand, rape myths shift causality to preserve male privilege
(in this case the right of access to women's bodies) by constructing
women as agents of their own rape. Women become temptresses and men
appear at the mercy of women and of their own hormones. A more general
theory to explain victim-blaming is the belief in a just world. The
"just world" hypothesis is the tendency to believe that
the world is a fair and just place and that good things happen to
good people and bad things happen to bad people. Thus, to maintain
this belief, one must search for evidence to suggest that victims
instigated their misfortune (see Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1994, for
a review). Ryan (1971) explains victim-blaming as a strategy to avoid
the hard work of societal change. He argues that by blaming victims
for their misfortunes, society can then work to change specific unfortunate
individuals rather than change institutional and widespread prejudices.
Therefore, instead of examining why some men stalk women and why that
is viewed as normal, one can examine women for characteristics about
them that must have caused them to be talked."
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10)
Article title:
The relationship of optimism, empathy, internality, interpersonal
violence, and gender to rape blame under four victim conditions Journal
title: Dissertation-Abstracts-International:-Section-B:-The-Sciences-and-Engineering
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Database
to look in: PsycINFO
APA citation:
Moonstarr,
M. (2000). The relationship of optimism, empathy, internality, interpersonal
violence, and gender to rape blame under four victim conditions. Dissertation-Abstracts-International:-Section-B:-The-Sciences-and-Engineering,
61(3-B ), 1699.
Quote:
"The
relationships of optimism, rape empathy, locus of control, degree
of acceptance of interpersonal violence, and gender upon attributions
of rape blame were examined in four experimental conditions. The conditions
were four variations on one rape scenario. These conditions varied
a positive or negative character portrayal and a positive or negative
behavior portrayal of the victim. Behavioral and characterological
assessments of victim blameworthiness were obtained. The dependent
measures for victim blameworthiness were an index for behavioral blame
and an index for character blame. Predictor variables selected for
study were those indicated in the literature as potential mediators
for rape blame attributions. Participants were 321 undergraduate and
graduate students at Howard University. A questionnaire was used to
assess type of blame attributed to the victim based on the scenario
as well as demographic and attitude information. Other blame sources
and victim experiences were also examined. It was hypothesized that
participants would be expected to blame a rape victim's behavior rather
than character, the higher their optimism, empathy, internal locus
of control and rejection of interpersonal violence. Further, it was
hypothesized that blame type would vary dependent upon participant's
gender and victim descriptions. Hypotheses were partially confirmed.
Attitudes found to be related to victim-blame were primarily interpersonal
violence and secondarily empathy. In the conditions of negative behavior
portrayals for victims, despite character, higher behavioral blame
was attributed. It appeared that a victim's behavior rather than character
influenced attributions of either behavior or character victim-blame.
Finally, regardless of victim description, men blamed the victim's
character significantly more than women did. As another research interest,
age was examined in relation to type of victim-blame. Students over
the age of 25 placed significantly less behavioral blame on the rape
victim. Breaking this analysis up by scenario did not reveal any differences
in this pattern. A final research inquiry was added by examining change
in victim-blame should the rape victim insist upon condom use. Results
indicated an increase in both victim-blames, which was augmented in
the scenarios with negative character descriptions."
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11)
Article title:
The association between the offender & victim relationship, severity
of offence and attribution of blame in mentally disordered offenders.
Journal title:
Psychology, Crime & Law Find
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Database
to look in: PsycINFO
APA citation:
Fox, Simone.
(2000). The association between the offender victim relationship,
severity of offence and attribution of blame in mentally disordered
offenders. Psychology, Crime & Law Sep2005, Vol. 11 Issue 3, p255-264
10p
Quote:
"The aim of
this research was to investigate the association between the offender–victim
relationship, severity of violence and attribution of blame for a
violent act. Data were collected from 65 male psychiatric inpatients
from two secure units. Participants were divided into three groups
according to how well they knew their victim: victim well-known, victim
acquaintance and victim stranger. Violent acts were further ranked
according to offence severity. Participants were administered the
Quick Test (QT) and the Gudjonsson Blame Attribution Inventory (GBAI).
Although there was a trend towards higher guilt attributions when
the victim was well-known to the perpetrator, this relationship was
complicated by the severity of the violent act. The most severe ranking
of offence (i.e. murder/manslaughter) was most common in the offender
group who knew their victim well. Furthermore, guilt-feeling attributions
were highest in the most severe ranking of offence. The implications
of these findings for assessment and intervention programmes are considered."
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12)
Article title:
The Effect of Participant Sex, Victim Dress, and Traditional Attitudes
on Causal Judgments for Marital Rape Victims.
Journal title:
Journal of Family Violence Find
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Database
to look in: Psychinfo
APA citation:
The effect
of participant sex, victim dress, and traditional attitudes on causal
judgments for marital rape victims. (Author Abstract). Mark A. Whatley.
Journal of Family Violence 20.3 (June 2005): p191(10). From InfoTrac
OneFile.
Quote:
"This study
investigated the effects of participant sex, victim dress, and attitudes
influencing the tendency to blame a marital rape victim. College undergraduates
completed the Attitudes toward Marriage Scale, an intervening cognitive
task, and a read fictitious scenario of a marital rape incident where
the victim was dressed somberly or seductively. Participants then
completed a brief questionnaire. As predicted, males rated the victim
more deserving of the attack than females. As predicted, the suggestively
dressed victim was rated more responsible and deserving than the somberly
dressed victim. As predicted, participants holding more traditional
attitudes toward marriage were more likely to assign more victim responsibility
and deservingness than participants with more egalitarian attitudes.
These findings are discussed within an attitudinal framework."
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13)
Article title:
Victim Derogation and Victim Enhancement as Alternate Routes to System
Justification.
Journal title:
Psychological Science Find
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Database
to look in: PsycINFO
APA citation:
Kay, Aaron C.,
Jost, John T. & Young, Sean (2005) Victim Derogation and Victim
Enhancement as Alternate Routes to System Justification. Psychological
Science 16 (3), 240-246. doi: 10.1111/ j.0956-7976.2005.00810.x
Quote:
"Numerous
studies have documented the potential for victim-blaming attributions
to justify the status quo. Recent work suggests that complementary,
victim-enhancing stereotypes may also increase support for existing
social arrangements. We seek to reconcile these seemingly contradictory
findings by proposing that victim derogation and victim enhancement
are alternate routes to system justification, with the preferred route
depending on the perception of a causal link between trait and outcome.
Derogating "losers" (and lionizing "winners")
on traits (e.g., intelligence) that are causally related to outcomes
(e.g., wealth vs. poverty) serves to increase system justification,
as does compensating "losers" (and downgrading "winners")
on traits (e.g., physical attractiveness) that are causally unrelated
to those outcomes. We provide converging evidence using system-threat
and stereotype-activation paradigms."
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14)
Article title:
Belief in a just world and social perception: evidence for automatic
activation
Journal title:
J Soc Psychol Find
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APA citation:
Murray JD, Spadafore
JA, McIntosh WD. (2005) Belief in a just world and social perception:
evidence for automatic activation. J Soc Psychol. Feb;145(1):35-47.
Database to look
in: PubMed
Quote:
"The authors
tested the hypothesis that beliefs in a just world are automatically
activated and used in social perception. Under the guise of a perceptual
vigilance task, the authors exposed 34 undergraduate women preconsciously
to words that were either rape-related or neutral. Immediately after
the exposure, participants read a date scenario that was ambiguous
with respect to the man's aggressiveness and the extent to which the
woman was responsible for the man's behavior. Afterwards, all participants
evaluated the target man and woman on an impression task. The primary
finding was that participants holding stronger beliefs in a just world
perceived the target woman more negatively after experiencing the
rape-related prime words than after experiencing the neutral words.
This pattern is consistent with a research literature that shows that
believers in a just world will often "blame the victim"
in cases of rape. The present findings are important because they
provide evidence that general, orienting beliefs are automatically
activated in a manner similar to that shown by stereotype beliefs.
The authors discussed implications for social perception."
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15)
Article title:
Broken Spirits: The Treatment of Traumatized Asylum Seekers, Refugees,
and War and Torture Victims
Journal title:
American Journal of Psychiatry Find
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APA citation:
Broken Spirits:
The Treatment of Traumatized Asylum Seekers, Refugees, and War and
Torture Victims. Waugaman, Richard M.; Waugaman, Adele; American Journal
of Psychiatry, Vol 162(9), Sep 2005. pp. 1768-1769.
Database to look
in: PsycINFO
Quote:
"Reviews
the book "Broken Spirits: The Treatment of Traumatized Asylum
Seekers, Refugees, and War and Torture Victims" edited by John
P. Wilson and Boris Drozdek (2004). Wilson and Drozdek have put together
a superb collection of chapters by 44 contributors, nearly all of
whom work outside the United States. We all need to become better
informed about the tragic stories told in this book. Mental health
professionals will benefit from this overview of effective treatment
interventions that are specially adapted to victims of war, political
oppression, and torture. We may sometimes turn a blind eye to these
victims, partly because of our survivor guilt in relationship to fellow
human beings who have suffered from unspeakable horrors. Several other
themes recur throughout the book. It is reassuring to see that all
authors emphasize the initial and essential goal of establishing safety
for survivors of trauma. Cultural variables receive the attention
they deserve. Refugees experience cultural dislocation. The book's
final two chapters address legal and political issues. Relevant international
laws and treaties offer some protection for displaced persons, but
draconian policies and unresponsive bureaucracies all too often interfere
with effective and compassionate approaches to traumatized refugees."
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16)
Article title:
Victims as pariahs
Journal title:
Christian Century Find
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APA citation:
Kern, Kathleen
(2006). Victims as pariahs. Christian Century. 123 (2), p9-9, 3/4p.
Database
to look in: Student research center by ebscohost
Quote:
The article
focuses on the efforts of the UWAKI Catholic organization to provide
counselling, medical care and housing for raped and rejected women
in Congo. Militia members rape women in front of their husbands and
children as a form of military weapon, which has led to an increase
in sexual assaults among civilians. The Congolese government has neglected
the needs of women and children. Hundreds of thousands of women have
been raped since 1998 according to the estimate of the United Nations
and human rights groups who assist the victims.
"One
of their weapons is systematic rape. Militia members rape women in
front of their husbands and children. Afterward, the husbands or the
husbands' families drive the "contaminated" women and their
children from the village. Even when the women are not forced to leave,
the husbands may demand that children born from the rapes be killed;
caring for these children is considered acquiescing to the assault.
The children of rape who survive become pariahs. Many end up as street
children in the cities--a phenomenon unknown before 1996, according
to several Congolese who spoke to our delegation from Christian Peacemaker
Teams."
17)
Article title:
Rape myth beliefs and prejudiced instructions: Effects on
decisions of guilt in a case of date rape
Journal title:
Legal & Criminological Psychology Find
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APA citation:
Gray, Jacqueline
M. (2006). Rape myth beliefs and prejudiced instructions: Effects
on decisions of guilt in a case of date rape. Legal & Criminological
Psychology, 11 (1), p75-80, 6p; DOI: 10.
Quote:
"The purpose
of this study was to investigate the potential effects of pro and
anti rape myth bias in judges' summing up statements on verdicts given
by individuals. Method. A convenience sample of 90 male and 90 female
students from a British university completed the Rape myth acceptance
(RMA) scale (Burt, 1980). A scenario depicting a date rape was read,
ending with guidance that was either pro or anti rape myth, or neutral.
Results. Rape myth supporting guidance was associated with innocent
verdicts, and anti rape myth guidance with guilty verdicts, regardless
of degree of rape myth acceptance. Level of rapemyth acceptance and
gender were also found to predict verdict. Conclusion. Rape myth biased
guidance may influence verdicts in a rape scenario in which the attribution
of blame to the man and woman depicted could be perceived as being
ambiguous."
18)
Article title:
Silent and silenced: The disclosure and non-disclosure of sexual assault.
Journal title:
The Sciences and Engineering Find
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Database
to look in: PsycINFO
APA citation:
Ahrens, Courtney
Elizabeth (2002). Silent and silenced: The disclosure and non-disclosure
of sexual assault. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B:
The Sciences and Engineering, Vol 63(3-B), Sep 2002. pp. 1553.
Quote:
"Nearly
one quarter of all women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime,
but prevalent myths and stereotypes prevent many victims from disclosing
the assault to their friends, families, law enforcement officials,
medical professionals, or social service providers. Although previous
research has identified common reasons for non-disclosure, little
is known about why some victims may initially disclose the assault,
but then cease to talk about the assault for prolonged periods of
time. For many victims, negative reactions from support providers
may silence them, halting disclosure for a significant period of time.
To address this limitation in the literature, the current study examined
periods of silence among rape victims who initially disclosed but
then stopped disclosing for an average of seven years. Qualitative
narratives from eight rape survivors who initially disclosed the assault
within the first three days, received at least one negative social
reaction, and stopped disclosing for at least nine months were selected
from a larger sample of 102 rape survivors for further analysis. Qualitative
analyses revealed three pathways to silence. Three survivors were
silenced by blaming and insensitive reactions from formal support
providers that heightened concerns about the effectiveness of disclosure
and increased fears of negative reactions. Three survivors were silenced
by inappropriate and ineffective support attempts by informal support
providers that increased feelings of guilt and shame and led them
to question the efficacy of disclosure. The remaining two survivors
were silenced by both formal and informal support providers whose
adherence to rape myths led these survivors to question whether their
experiences qualified as rape. Further analysis suggested that negative
reactions from support providers related to rape myths and stereotypes
about "credible" assaults, "deserving" victims,
and "appropriate" behavior. No matter how many stereotypical
characteristics were met in a particular case, the violation of a
single stereotype was sufficient for casting doubt on the legitimacy
of victims' claims. When more than one stereotype was violated, the
mismatch between victims' characters and stereotypes about "deserving"
victims was the primary mechanism for discrediting victims."
19)
Article title:
Coping With Threats to Just-World Beliefs: Derogate, Blame, or Help?
Journal title:
Journal of Applied Social Psychology Find
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Database
to look in: Academic Search Premier
APA citation:
HAYNES, G.
& OLSON, J. (2006). Coping With Threats to Just-World Beliefs:
Derogate, Blame, or Help? Journal of Applied Social Psychology,36
(3), p664-682, 19p, 1 chart, 1 graph; DOI: 10.1111/j.0021-9029.2006.00023.x;
(AN 20274147)
Quote:
"The present
research investigated Lerner's (1970, 1980) just-world theory by manipulating
victim-related factors in a scenario and measuring several possible
strategies for dealing with the threat to participants' just-world
beliefs created by the victim's intense suffering. Participants read
a story about a victim who varied in terms of his character (likeable
vs. unlikeable) and behavioral responsibility for causing his accident
(high vs. low). The general pattern of results showed that for the
unlikeable low-responsibility victim, the primary response to protect
justice beliefs appeared to be character derogation; for the likeable
high-responsibility victim, the primary protective strategy appeared
to be blame; and for the likeable low-responsibility victim, the primary
protective strategy appeared to be compensation."
20)
Article title:
Victim characteristics and attribution of rape blame in Australia
and South Africa.
Journal title:
Journal-of-Social-Psychology Find
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Database
to look in: Social Work Abstracts
APA citation:
Heaven, P-C-L,
Connors, J., & Pretorius, A. (1998). Victim characteristics and
attribution of rape blame in Australia and South Africa. Journal-of-Social-Psychology,
138(1): 131-33.
Quote:
"Several
researchers from the United States and Britain have suggested that
attributions of rape blame depend on the characteristics of the victim..The
study results suggest that victim blame was not a function of victim
characteristics but rather of the cultural group of the respondents."
Additional
articles:
Bibliography
of a victim blame article
McCaul, K.
D., Veltum, L. G., Boyechko, V., & Crawford, J. J. (1990). Understanding
attributions of victim blame for rape: Sex, violence, and forseeability.
Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 20, 1-26.
Hirschberger, G.
(2006). Terror Management and Attributions of Blame to Innocent Victims:
Reconciling Compassionate and Defensive Responses. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology v. 91 no. 5 (November 2006)
p. 832-44
This article discusses the logic of the just world theory and how
it makes suffering make sense to people within the framework of their
world.
Rye, B. J., et. al., (2006). The Case of the Guilty Victim: The Effects
of Gender of Victim and Gender of Perpetrator on Attributions of Blame
and Responsibility. Sex Roles v. 54 no. 9/10 (May 2006) p.
639-49
"There was an interaction of gender of perpetrator and gender
of victim such that female victims were held less responsible and
their perpetrators were judged more harshly, especially when the perpetrator
was male. Male victims were held the most responsible, especially
when the perpetrator was male."
Haynes, G. A., et. al., (2006). Coping With Threats to Just-World
Beliefs: Derogate, Blame, or Help?. Journal of Applied Social
Psychology v. 36 no. 3 ( p. 664-82
"The general pattern of results showed that for the unlikeable
low-responsibility victim, the primary response to protect justice
beliefs appeared to be character derogation; for the likeable high-responsibility
victim, the primary protective strategy appeared to be blame; and
for the likeable low-responsibility victim, the primary protective
strategy appeared to be compensation. Implications for just-world
theory are discussed."
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