The Role of Race and Respectability in Attributions of Responsibility for Acquaintance Rape

Dupuis, Erin C.; Clay, Jason A.

doi:10.1891/0886-6708.vv-d-12-00013

Cited by 20 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Studies of victim blaming in acquaintance rape cases typically assess participant responses to a provided vignette. These vignettes typically consist of a third-person written account of a sexual assault (but see Janoff-Bulman et al, 1985; Tetreault and Barnett, 1987; Willis, 1992; Dupuis and Clay, 2013), in which various components of the case, the victim, and/or the assailant are manipulated. Below we review the most common elements included and/or manipulated in acquaintance rape scenarios and corresponding findings for these elements.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As discussed previously, cultural similarity to the perpetrator increased victim blaming among an Australian sample, but only if the victim was depicted as not resisting the attack (Bongiorno et al, 2016). Dupuis and Clay (2013) found that victim blame was a function of both the victim’s race and her perceived respectability, manipulated via the defendant’s testimony that the victim was either a “party girl” who often picked up men at bars or a “sweet girl” who didn’t date much or go to bars. While respectability did not matter for blame of White victims, it affected blame of Black victims: Respectable Black victims were blamed less than “party girl” Black victims.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…217; Burt, 1980) and the Attitudes Toward Rape Victims Scale (Ward, 1988). However, these assessments often reflect beliefs surrounding stranger rapes (e.g., “Rapes only occur in dark alleys,” Payne et al, 1999; Dupuis and Clay, 2013) and thus should not be used as a measure of victim blame in acquaintance or marital rape situations. We view rape myth endorsement as a potential predictor of blame in acquaintance rape, but not as an appropriate measure of victim blame itself.…”

Section: Measuring Blamementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Blaming the Victim of Acquaintance Rape: Individual, Situational, and Sociocultural Factors

2019

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Victims of rape are uniquely vulnerable for being blamed for their assault relative to victims of other interpersonal crimes and thus much research has been conducted to understand why this is the case. But the study of victim blaming in acquaintance rape cases is hindered by contradictory empirical results. Early investigations in victim blaming often treated acquaintance rapes and stranger rapes as synonymous and thus much of these data are suspect for drawing conclusions particular to acquaintance rape. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the research literature on victim blame in acquaintance rape cases, highlighting inconsistencies and drawing particular attention to areas of research in need of further exploration. Specifically, we review the commonly studied individual (perceiver) factors that influence victim blaming, as well as common situational (target) factors included or manipulated within sexual assault scenarios. Our review reveals many inconsistent findings and interactions between perceiver and scenario factors. In an effort to make sense of these complex interactions and inconsistent findings, we suggest a need for more transparency in describing the scenarios used in research on victim blaming in sexual assault cases and greater empirical attention to sociocultural factors that may influence blaming tendencies.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Measuring Blamementioning

confidence: 99%

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Blaming the Victim of Acquaintance Rape: Individual, Situational, and Sociocultural Factors

2019

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“…This Jezebel stereotype appears to affect how Black female victims of sexual assault are viewed compared to White female victims; college students tend to blame Black victims more than White victims after rape, particularly when the perpetrator was White (Donovan, 2007;George & Martinez, 2002). Furthermore, when described as ''party girls,'' who may have acted in ways to promote their own risk, Black victims of sexual assault were blamed more than White victims (Dupuis & Clay, 2013, p. 1088. Overall, these studies suggest that Black women tend to be judged more negatively than White women after sexual assault.…”

Section: Perceptions Of Victims: Perceived Blame and Perceived Pleasurementioning

confidence: 99%

White Female Bystanders’ Responses to a Black Woman at Risk for Incapacitated Sexual Assault

Katz

Merrilees

Hoxmeier

et al. 2017

Psychology of Women Quarterly

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We investigated White female college students' responses to risk for an incapacitated sexual assault involving a Black potential victim. Participants (N ¼ 160) read about attending a party where they saw a man lead an intoxicated woman into a private bedroom. The potential victim was referred to as having either a distinctively Black name (e.g., LaToya) or a non-distinct control name (e.g., Laura). After random assignment to one of these two conditions, participants reported on their intent to intervene and their perceptions of the situation and the potential victim. As expected, participants assigned to the Black potential victim condition reported less intent to intervene, less personal responsibility to intervene, and greater perceived victim pleasure than participants assigned to the control condition. Neither the certainty of risk nor the perceived victim blame differed as a function of the potential victim's race. In path analyses, personal responsibility to intervene mediated the relationship between victim race and intent to intervene. The current results suggest that White women in college may choose not to help Black women at risk for sexual assault. Bystander education programs should explicitly address race as a potential barrier to helping others in need.

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“…Myths about sexual assault also impact reporting behaviors (Orchowski et al 2013). For example, the belief that sexual assault is a crime typically perpetrated by strangers often results in victims of acquaintance rape believing that they will be held responsible for the incident, or that they will be blamed for their assault (Bridges and McGrail 1989;Dupuis and Clay 2013;Grubb and Harrower 2009;Lea 2007). Similarly, women assumed by others to be sexually promiscuous often receive the message that they may be blamed for their assault should they choose to report (Cohn et al 2009;Heaven, Connors, and Pretorius 1998;Luginbuhl and Mullin 1981).…”

Section: Factors Related To Reporting Sexual Assaults Among Victimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors associated with reporting of sexual assault among college and non-college women

Spohn

Bjornsen

Wright

2017

JACPR

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Purpose-The purpose of this study is to examine factors impacting college and non-college women reporting sexual assault to police. Our goal is to increase knowledge regarding differences in the rates of reporting and reasons for reporting across these two groups. Design/methodology/approach-Participants were drawn from a national telephone survey of U.S. women and a sample of U.S. college women. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to determine factors influencing the reporting of sexual assault to police. Findings-Non-college women were more likely than college women to report to police. Women who perceived their victimization as rape were much more likely to report to the police and women who had contact with a helping agency were also much more likely to report their assault. Contacting a helping agency is more relevant to non-college women's reporting to police, while considering the assault a rape is more important for college women. Practical implications-Our results suggest that significant work is needed to encourage women in college to view sexual assaults as worthy of reporting. Boosting victim awareness and access to services is paramount. Providing psychoeducation to student victims to inform their perceptions about the definition of rape is vital, as women perceiving sexual assault as rape are more likely to report the incident. Originality/value-Our research significantly adds to the literature indicating differences in rates of reporting and the factors that impact reporting uniquely for college versus non-college women.

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The Role of Race and Respectability in Attributions of Responsibility for Acquaintance Rape

Cited by 20 publications

References 34 publications

Blaming the Victim of Acquaintance Rape: Individual, Situational, and Sociocultural Factors

Blaming the Victim of Acquaintance Rape: Individual, Situational, and Sociocultural Factors

White Female Bystanders’ Responses to a Black Woman at Risk for Incapacitated Sexual Assault

Factors associated with reporting of sexual assault among college and non-college women

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