Effects of sex role stereotyping among European American students on domestic violence culpability attributions

Counselors' Attributions of Blame Toward Female Survivors of Battering

“…Although there are many possible factors contributing to the lack of counselor effectiveness and non-violent revictimization , gender role attitudes and ambivalent sexism have been shown to influence the way community members view women who have been battered (Esqueda & Harrison, 2005;Willis, Hallinan, & Melby, 1996) and may also influence attributions formed by counselors as well. The following section will provide a review of the literature on gender role attitudes, including a summary of their influence on counselors' perceptions of clients.…”

“…Characteristics of the survivor that increase attributions of blame include race (Esqueda & Harrison, 2005;Finn, 1986;Pierce & Harris, 1993;Willis et al, 1996), where African American women are blamed at greater rates than White women; and alcohol use (Harrison & Esqueda, 2000;Reddy, Knowles, Mulvany, McMahon, & Freckelton, 1997), where those who have been using alcohol are blamed at greater rates than those who are sober. Also shown to increase levels of blame are intimacy level of the relationship (dating vs. married; Langhinrichsen-Rohling et al, 2004;Willis et al, 1996), suggesting that women who are unmarried are blamed more than those women who are married; provocation by the victim (Harris & Cook, 1994;Pierce & Harris, 1993), where women who have done something to "provoke" the batterer are blamed more than those who did nothing to initiate the violence; and the victim's reaction to the abuse (Capezza & Arriaga, 2008), where women who do something to retaliate (such as yelling) are blamed at greater rates as well. Finally, severity of violence has shown to increase the amount of blame attributed to the abuser and decrease the blame placed on the survivor (Lane & Knowles, 2000;Pierce & Harris, 1993;Reddy et al, 1997;Witte, Schroeder, & Lohr, 2006).…”

“…Contributing to the body of literature examining the influence of gender role stereotypes and race on blame for IPV, Willis et al (1996) surveyed undergraduate students from a Midwestern university. Sex role stereotypes, race, and intimacy level were examined in relation to culpability attributions for IPV among undergraduate college students.…”

“…Researchers suggested further studies to examine the content of stereotypes and how they influence and bias observers' attributions of culpability (Willis et al, 1996).…”

“…Finn (1986) suggested the importance of examining additional variables related to both the actor and observer in order to gain a better understanding of the attribution formation process toward IPV and women who have been battered. Putting aside variables already determined to influence attributions such as gender role attitudes (Willis et al, 1996) and just world beliefs (Kristiansen & Giulietti, 1990), Harrison and Esqueda (2000) examined the role of alcohol in attributions of battering, as well as the role of race in attribution formation. Two hundred White, middle class college students were randomly assigned to the 2 (victim race: Black or White) x 2 (batterer race: Black or White) x 2 (victim drinking: drinking or abstinent) between participants design.…”