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One of four possible vignettes manipulated by (a) level of rape myth contained within them (low vs. high) and (b) type of rape (stranger vs. acquaintance) was presented to participants followed by scales measuring victim blame, perpetrator blame, belief in a just world, sex-role egalitarian beliefs, and male rape myth acceptance. Victim blaming was predicted by male rape myth acceptance. Perpetrator blaming was predicted by male rape myth acceptance and sex-role egalitarianism. Differences were found in victim and perpetrator blaming in terms of stranger and acquaintance rape and also in relation to manipulating the level of rape myths. Findings are discussed in relation to the previous literature on rape victim and perpetrator blaming.

Police officers are frequently perceived to hold negative attitudes about rape victims. The aim of this systematic review is to: (1) synthesise the current literature on police officers' attributions of rape victim blame, assessments of rape victim credibility, and rape myth acceptance; and, (2) examine the evidence that holding these attitudes impacts on police investigative decision making in rape cases. Twenty-four articles published between 2000 and 2016 were included following a systematic search of the available literature. The findings highlight that some police officers do hold problematic attitudes about rape victims e.g., blame, rape myth acceptance, although they are frequently noted to be at a low level. Furthermore, characteristics of the victim, e.g., alcohol intoxication and emotional expression, can affect attributions of victim credibility. Assessments of victim credibility were related to police investigative decision making e.g., recommendations to charge the perpetrator, perceptions of guilt. However, the impact of rape victim blaming and rape myth acceptance is less clear. Given that the literature was predominantly vignette-based, it is unclear how these judgements have an impact in real rape investigations

BackgroundThe inter-generational transmission of violence (ITV) hypothesis and polyvictimisation have been studied extensively. The extant evidence suggests that individuals from violent families are at increased risk of subsequent intimate partner violence (IPV) and that a proportion of individuals experience victimisation across multiple rather than single IPV domains. Both ITV and polyvictimisation are shown to increase the risk of psychiatric morbidity, alcohol use, and anger expression.ObjectiveThe current study aimed to 1) ascertain if underlying typologies of victimisation across the life-course and over multiple victimisation domains were present and 2) ascertain if groupings differed on mean scores of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, alcohol use, and anger expression.MethodUniversity students (N=318) were queried in relation to victimisation experiences and psychological well-being. Responses across multiple domains of IPV spanning the life-course were used in a latent profile analysis. ANOVA was subsequently used to determine if profiles differed in their mean scores on PTSD, depression, alcohol use, and anger expression.ResultsThree distinct profiles were identified; one of which comprised individuals who experienced “life-course polyvictimisation,” another showing individuals who experienced “witnessing parental victimisation,” and one which experienced “psychological victimisation only.” Life-course polyvictims scored the highest across most assessed measures.ConclusionWitnessing severe physical aggression and injury in parental relationships as a child has an interesting impact on the ITV into adolescence and adulthood. Life-course polyvictims are shown to experience increased levels of psychiatric morbidity and issues with alcohol misuse and anger expression.

This study compared victim blaming and perpetrator blaming in a sample of police officers (N = 123), comparing the responses of police officers specially trained to deal with rape victims with those who had not received this training. Victim blaming was significantly predicted by rape myth acceptance and belief in a just world but not by gender role. For perpetrator blaming, significant differences were found for gender role, but no significant relationship was found with rape myth acceptance or belief in a just world. There were no significant differences between officers who were specially trained and those who were not in terms of victim blaming, but there were significant differences in relation to perpetrator blaming. No relationships were found between police experience (measured as years of service) and victim blaming or perpetrator blaming. These findings are discussed in the context of previous victim and perpetrator blaming research and the real-world implications for criminal justice systems.