An exploratory approach to self-blame and self-derogation by rape victims.

Libow, Judith A.; Doty, David W.

doi:10.1111/j.1939-0025.1979.tb02652.x

Cited by 54 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Possibly, the more extreme the posttraumatic symptomatology, the greater the need to defend against the pain it entails by taking responsibility for causing the traumatic event. However, even if that were the case, the fact that the particular type of defense typical to rape survivors echoes derogatory social views about rape victims (e.g., Lebowitz & Roth, 1994;Libow & Doty, 1979) underscores the societal adversities that rape survivors must routinely deal with, unlike other trauma victims, and the added emotional burden that this entails. The causality may also be circular, such that socially inculcated self-blame contributes to PTSD exacerbation which further worsens the tendency to hold oneself responsible for the rape.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…In accordance, the harsh social reactions give way to severe culturally inculcated self-blame (Frazier, 1990;Koss & Harvey, 1992;Roth & Lebowitz, 1988;Ulman,1999), across varied cultural and ethnic backgrounds (Neville, Heppner, Oh, Spanierman, & Clark, 2004). The internalized collective charges of victim precipitation regularly turn into self-condemnation, even though in reality they are entirely counterfactual (Arata & Burkhart, 1996;Kilpatrick and Veronen, 1983;Lebowitz & Roth, 1994;Libow & Doty, 1979;Miller, Handley, Markman, & Miller, 2010;Ulamn, 1996). Moreover, rape victims have been shown to fault themselves for not preventing their own assault in correspondence with the degree to which they perceived non-consensual sex to be viewed as legitimate in their social milieu (Miller et al, 2007).…”

mentioning

confidence: 85%

“…This is true even when the purpose of the self-blame is protective, as it often is, intended to give the victim some sense of control. In this process, the type of social attitudes that surround the victim can play a significant role in providing the point of reference from which she might attempt to make sense of her experience (Lebowitz & Roth, 1994;Libow & Doty, 1979). Where society is more inclined to place blame on the victim, there is a greater likelihood that this search will turn into severe self-faulting.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

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Is Rape-Related Self Blame Distinct From Other Post Traumatic Attributions of Blame? A Comparison of Severity and Implications for Treatment

Moor

Farchi

2011

Women & Therapy

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Rape treatment generally takes the form of standard trauma intervention, which may limit its ability to resolve rape-specific symptoms. For the sake of optimizing such treatment, the present study seeks to distinguish specific post-rape symptoms from those observed following other forms of trauma, particularly in respect to self-blame and related PTSD. Given typical societal victimblaming following rape, self-blame is expected to be considerably more extreme among survivors of rape than in other victims, and predictive of relatively elevated post-trauma symptoms. Three hundred and four participants completed measures of blame attribution and PTSD, substantiating the hypotheses. Implications for rape treatment and social change are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

mentioning

confidence: 85%

mentioning

confidence: 97%

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Is Rape-Related Self Blame Distinct From Other Post Traumatic Attributions of Blame? A Comparison of Severity and Implications for Treatment

Moor

Farchi

2011

Women & Therapy

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“…However, the relationship between the belief in a just world and adjustment to sexual violence has not been investigated systematically. The only possible exception is a study by Libow and Doty (1979), who found a strong negative relationship between the belief in a just world and victims' tendencies to derogate themselves as a reaction to experiencing sexual violence. Yet, conclusions from this study are at best preliminary, because the sample consisted of only seven participants.…”

Section: Belief In a Just World And Dealing With Sexual Violencementioning

confidence: 90%

Belief in a Just World, Causal Attributions, and Adjustment to Sexual Violence

2005

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What influence do the personal belief in a just world (i.e., the perception that one usually gets what one deserves) and different kinds of causal attributions have on adjustment to sexual violence? Using a sample of N = 62 victims of sexual aggression (mean age = 21.7) it was shown that respondents were better able to adjust to their experience of sexual violence the higher their personal belief in a just world. Moreover, the more respondents attributed their victimization to situational circumstances (external attributions) and the less they attributed their victimization to their character and personality (characterological self-attributions), the less they felt distressed by past victimization. The degree to which participants attributed their victimization to their own concrete behavior (behavioral self-attribution) was not related to their adjustment. Further analyses showed that the influence of the personal belief in a just world was mediated by the three attribution styles. Additionally, the adaptiveness of external attributions was moderated by participants' just world belief.

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“…Numerous research efforts showed that the belief in a just world serves as a buffer that protects SWB (Dalbert, 1997;Dalbert, 1998;Dalbert, 2002;Dalbert & Dzuka, 2004;Dzuka & Dalbert, 2002;Libow & Doty, 1979;Lipkus & et al, 1996). It becomes even more important when it comes to preservation of SWB during adolescence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Belief In A Just World As Predictor Of Wellbeing Among Suvorov Cadets

Zotova¹

2018

The European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences

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The paper shows that the belief in the just world as a predictor of subjective wellbeing (SWB) is pronounced differently among adolescents depending on the conditions they find themselves in. It has been proved that specialized military socialization of Suvorov Military School adolescents greatly influences the formation of personality. The purpose of the study was to reveal specific features of Military School teenagers' subjective wellbeing. In order to realize this goal it was necessary to trace differences/similarities of the teenagers SWB indicators; to single out predictors of the teenagers' SWB shaping; and to define the role of beliefs in a just world for identifying the degree of the adolescents' SWB.The study results revealed that Military School teenagers' SWB is a bit higher than that of the teenagers from secondary schools. The cadets are likely to be emotionally positive and rarely report psychoemotional symptoms (anxiety, absent-mindedness, etc.). Specific SWB predictors of Military school cadets are the belief in a just world and satisfaction with their activity. Unlike them, secondary school teenagers demonstrate such specific SWB predictors as satisfaction with their social environment and positive image of their "self". It has also been found that military school cadets exhibit significantly stronger beliefs in a just world; moreover, this belief is a meaningful predictor of their SWB. Comprehensive school adolescents demonstrate significant inversely proportional relationships between indicators of SWB and the belief in a just world.

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An exploratory approach to self-blame and self-derogation by rape victims.

Cited by 54 publications

References 11 publications

Is Rape-Related Self Blame Distinct From Other Post Traumatic Attributions of Blame? A Comparison of Severity and Implications for Treatment

Is Rape-Related Self Blame Distinct From Other Post Traumatic Attributions of Blame? A Comparison of Severity and Implications for Treatment

Belief in a Just World, Causal Attributions, and Adjustment to Sexual Violence

Belief In A Just World As Predictor Of Wellbeing Among Suvorov Cadets

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