Perceptions Of Rape Victims Research Articles

Perceptions of the freezing response of male and female rape victims, and the moderating role of rape myth beliefs

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate whether indicating victims of sexual attacks actively resisted their attacker or froze during their assault affected perceptions of victim blame, perpetrator blame and seriousness of the crime. We also tested whether victim and perpetrator gender or participants’ rape myth endorsement moderated the outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThis study was a cross-sectional, vignette survey study with a 2 × 2 between-participants experimental design. Participants read a mock police report describing an alleged rape with a female or male victim who either resisted or froze, while perpetrator gender was adjusted heteronormatively.FindingsFreezing and male victims were blamed more than resisting and female victims. Perpetrators were blamed more when the victim resisted, but male and female perpetrators were blamed equally. Seriousness of the crime was higher for male perpetrators and when the victim resisted. Female, but not male, rape myth acceptance moderated the relationship between victim behaviour and outcome variables.Originality/valueThis study highlights the influence of expectations about victim behaviour on perceptions of rape victims and the pervasive influence of rape myths when evaluating female rape victims. The data is drawn from the German border region of the Netherlands, which is an especially valuable population given the evolving legal definitions of rape in both countries.

On the ‘darkness of dark figure’ of sexual crimes: Survivors' rape reporting experiences with the Nigerian police

While extensive studies have identified the influence of social perception and victims' self-blame as factors responsible for underreporting of rape, fewer studies have explored victims' interaction with police officers and possible impacts this could have on victims' reporting behavior. Therefore, this study explores rape victims’ interaction with officers of the Nigerian Police in the course of seeking justice. Twenty-seven victims of rape who interacted with police and six key informants working in women advocacy groups were interviewed in a qualitative study. Findings indicated that participants perceived police officers to have engaged in victim-blaming, slut-shaming, lack of empathy, refusal to cooperate with counsel, and delaying investigative processes. Evidence from the study suggests that police officers manifest influence from social stereotypes and rape scripts in their perception of rape victims. The study suggests the deployment of a special anti-sexual violence unit within the police, consisting of well-trained and skilled personnel in sexual crimes.

The Sobering Effects of Jailhouse Informant Testimony on Perceptions of an Intoxicated Rape Victim

This study investigated the impact of jailhouse informant (JI) testimony on mock-jurors’ perceptions of an alcohol-facilitated rape trial. Male and female participants (N = 186) read a rape trial summary of an adult female after attending a concert. The trial varied whether the victim was intoxicated or sober and whether a JI testified that the defendant confessed to the rape. The results indicated that participants were more pro-victim (e.g., voted guilty more) when the JI testified than no JI testimony, and that women were more pro-victim than men. Although victim intoxication negatively impacted perceptions of the defendant, it did not influence verdicts. The results are discussed concerning the legal implications of presenting JI testimony and factors that influence perceptions of rape victims.

Rape Myth Consistency and Gender Differences in Perceiving Rape Victims

An overview discusses feminist analyses of oppression, attitudes toward rape victims, and previously studied predictors of individuals' attitudes toward rape victims. To better understand such attitudes, this meta-analysis examines the moderating influences of various rape victim, perpetrator, and crime characteristics' rape myth consistency on gender differences in individuals' perceptions of rape victims (i.e., victim responsibility and blame attributions and rape minimizing attitudes). Consistent with feminist theoretical predictions, results indicated that, overall, men perceived rape victims more negatively than women did. However, this sex difference was moderated by the rape myth consistency within the rape vignettes. Implications for research are discussed.

Factors affecting students' perception of rape victims: Sex-role stereotype and the attitude toward rape

Factors affecting students' perception of rape victims: Sex-role stereotype and the attitude toward rape

Effects of Offender Motivation, Victim Gender, and Participant Gender on Perceptions of Rape Victims and Offenders

The primary purpose of the present study was to examine whether knowledge of the motivation of an offender can influence participant perceptions of victim and perpetrator responsibility for a sexual assault. In addition, the synergistic influence of victim gender and participant gender with offender motivation was explored. Participants were 171 men and women from a small Northeastern college exposed to a stimulus in which a rapist's motivation was varied as either sexual or violent. Participants were more certain that the stimulus described a rape, recommended a longer prison sentence for the offender, and assigned less blame to the victim when exposed to an offender motivated by violence as opposed to an offender motivated by sex. Offender motivation also interacted with participant gender and victim gender on participants' perceptions of victim blame and offender responsibility. The results suggest that an offender's motivation for rape can influence perceptions of the offender's and victim's responsibility for the assault.

Club Drug Use and Intentionality in Perceptions of Rape Victims

The purpose of the present study was to examine whether intentionality of alcohol or club drug use would affect observer attributions of a victim and a perpetrator after a sexual assault. Participants were 198 male and female college students sampled from a small college located in the United States. In general, participants attributed less blame to the victim, more guilt to the perpetrator, and were more likely to define the assault as rape and convict the perpetrator when the substance use was involuntary as opposed to voluntary. Participants also attributed more blame to the victim and less pleasure to the perpetrator when the sexual assault involved GHB as opposed to Everclear. Implications of these findings are discussed.

The effect of rape type and information admissibility on perceptions of rape victims

An experiment was conducted to assess whether the judgmental effects of inadmissible evidence would vary as a function of type of rape. Subjects (predominantly Caucasian) read rape scenarios that depicted either an acquaintance rape or a stranger rape, which contained information implying that the victim had a promiscuous sexual history. In one condition, subjects were instructed to disregard this information (inadmissible condition), while in the other condition, subjects received no such instructions (admissible condition). The results indicated that (1) males perceived that there was a higher probability of victim enjoyment than females, (2) perceptions of those in the admissible condition were less favorable than those in the inadmissible condition, and (3) perceptions of those in the acquaintance rape conditions were less favorable than those in the stranger rape condition. The results also indicated that perceptions of the probability of victim enjoyment did not vary as a function of type of rape when the information was admissible. On the other hand, when the information was inadmissible, perceptions of the probability of victim enjoyment in the acquaintance rape conditions were higher than those in the stranger rape condition. The possible basis of these findings are discussed.

Social reactions to depictions of casual and steady acquaintance rape: The impact of AIDS exposure and stereotypic beliefs about women

While much of the early research on the social perception of sexual assault focused on instances of stranger rape, recent work has indicated that acquaintance rape occurs much more frequently. The purpose of the present investigation was to examine a gender role socialization analysis of acquaintance rape. The subjects in the present investigation, predominately Caucasian-American females (i.e., over 90% were nonminority), were first preclassified as either traditional or nontraditional in their gender role views about women. We then examined their perception of rape victims and rape perpetrators as a function of whether the rape occurred between casual dating partners vs. long-term steady daters, and also as a function of whether the assailant exposed the rape victim to the disease AIDS (vs. no exposure to AIDS). The results indicated that individuals who varied in their stereotypic views about women differed in their reactions, with more traditional subjects being more likely to negatively evaluate the rape victim and less likely to evaluate the rapist in an unfavorable manner. In addition, it was found that when rape victims were exposed to AIDS, the social perceptions of others were strongly influenced, with casual-dating rape acquaintances being more likely to bear the onus of a negative reaction from others.

Perceptions of single and multiple incident rape

This investigation focused on impressions of single and multiple incident rape victims. College as well as non-college male and female samples reported their perceptions of a rape victim who was raped for the first time or who experienced a prior rape 1, 3, or 8 years previously. Half of the fictional victims with prior rape histories were described as having reported and half as not having reported the earlier incident. No differences in perceptions were related to initial or repeat victimization. Attempts to ward off realization of vulnerability to victimization were offered as explanations for differences in male and female observers' perceptions. College and non-college sample differences in observers' perceptions were discussed in terms of differences in living experience. Caution seems warranted in estimating the general public's perceptions of rape victims from assessments based on college student samples.

The Role of Sexual Provocativeness, Rape History, and Observer Gender in Perceptions of Blame in Sexual Assault

To assess joint influence of sexual provocativeness and prior sexual assault on perceptions of rape victims, males and females read rape reports presented in a factorial design that completely crossed levels of these variables. Multivariate analysis of variance indicated main effects for the independent variables but no interactions. Observers attributed more blame to victims whose preassault behavior was more provocative and who had a prior rape history. Relative to males, females were generally more empathic toward victims. Observers' perceptions were discussed in terms of attributions of causal and moral responsibility for assault.

Sex Differences in the Perception of Rape Victims

The present study investigated the effects of victim characteristics on people's perceptions of a rape incident. Subjects read an account of a rape incident in which the victim was described either as a virgin or as a sexually promiscuous woman. It was predicted that, because of the different attributional perspectives adopted by males and females when explaining a rape incident, the characteristics of the victim would influence the judgments of male subjects but not of female subjects. The results obtained supported this prediction.

Perceptions of rape victims and assailants: Effects of physical attractiveness, acquaintance, and subject gender

Subjects read different versions of a rape case in which the victim was walking alone at night and the defendant was obviously guilty. Female subjects saw the crime as more debilitating for the victim and were more punitive than male subjects. Female subjects considered the victim less responsible when the defendant was unattractive than when the defendant was attractive. Presence or absence of prior casual acquaintance between the victim and assailant interacted with other factors. With prior acquaintance, male subjects considered the victim more responsible than female subjects, unattractive victims were considered more responsible than attractive victims, and unattractive defendants were considered more likely to engage in future antisocial behavior than attractive defendants. Although biased by other factors, level of victim blame was low overall. Yet subjects seemed reluctant to believe the rapist and his victim were unacquainted and seemed to consider the rape as sexually, rather than aggressively, motivated.

Sex Differences in the Social Perception of Rape Victims in West Germany and the United States

Sex Differences in the Social Perception of Rape Victims in West Germany and the United States

Sex Differences in the Social Perception of Rape Victims

Two investigations were conducted to examine sex differ ences in the way rape victims are perceived. In the first study, 25 statements pertaining to rape were administered to a group of 111 female and 70 male undergraduates. Factor analysis of item ratings identified two factors: perceived causality and perceived severity of consequences. Comparisons of the items loading on each of the two factors revealed consistent sex differences in per ceived causality and no significant differences in perceived sev erity of consequences. In the second study, a role-played video tape interview between a presumed rape victim and a police officer was shown to 23 male and 24 female undergraduates. Subjects rated the victim on a series of scales thematically similar to the state ments used in the first study. Sex differences, consistent with the first study were found, with males viewing the victim as play ing a greater causal role in the rape episode than females.