Perpetrator coercion, victim resistance and respondent gender: their impact on blame attributions in a hypothetical child sexual abuse case
| Pages | 25-35 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.5042/jacpr.2010.0334 |
| Published date | 06 July 2010 |
| Date | 06 July 2010 |
| Author | Paul Rogers,Michelle Davies,Lisa Cottam |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Sociology |
25Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research • Volume 2 Issue 3 • July 2010 © Pier Professional Ltd
Introduction
Child sexual abuse (CSA) has generated much
public and academic interest in recent years.
Studies estimate that between 6–62% of females
and 3–30% of males have experienced some
form of CSA, usually perpetrated by known,
non-related men (eg. Fergusson & Mullen,
1999). (Some definitions of CSA are broader
than others and/or require the perpetrator to
be both above the legal age of consent and a
minimum of 10 years older than their victim.)
Considering this, it is important to understand
how people perceive CSA, its victims,
Perpetrator coercion, victim
resistance and respondent
gender: their impact on blame
attributions in a hypothetical
child sexual abuse case
Paul Rogers
Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, UK
Michelle Davies
Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, UK
Lisa J Cottam
Research Assistant, University of Central Lancashire, UK
ABS TR AC T
This study investigates the impact that perpetrator coercion type, victim resistance type and
respondent gender have on attributions of blame in a hypothetical child sexual abuse case.
A total of 366 respondents read a hypothetical scenario describing the sexual assault of a
14-year-old girl by a 39-year-old man, before completing 21 attribution items relating to
victim blame, perpetrator blame, the blaming of the victim’s (non-offending) parents, and
assault severity. Overall, men judged the assault more serious when the perpetrator used
physical force as opposed to verbal threat or misrepresented play as a coercive act. Men
also deemed the victim’s non-offending parents more culpable when the victim offered no
resistance, rather than physical or verbal resistance. Women judged the assault equally severe
regardless of coercion type, although they did rate the victim’s family more culpable when
the victim offered verbal rather than physical resistance. Implications and ideas for future
work are discussed.
KEY WORDS
Child sex abuse; blame; coercion; resistance.
10.5042/jacpr.2010.0334
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