Victim Blaming Victim blaming occurs when an individual has suffered from a crime, accident or trauma and is subsequently blamed for their suffering. Blame is placed on the victim regardless of any control they had over the situation. This is typically done to alleviate cognitive dissonance or to reassure oneself that the world they live in is safe. Individuals who bully others or cause others harm often experience cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is the discomfort that is experienced when our beliefs conflict with our actions/attitudes (Aronson, Wilson, Akert, & Sommers, 2016). Cognitive dissonance is also experienced by individuals who believe in a just world theory. Just world theory is the belief that people get what they deserve, good or bad (Aronson, et al., 2016). When an individual holds a just world theory, but then sees someone who they otherwise view as innocent come to harm, cognitive dissonance occurs. To alleviate cognitive dissonance blame needs to be assigned to the victim to explain the harm they have experienced (Hayes, Lorenz, & Bell, 2013). It is important to understand why people blame victims to reduce bullying, domestic violence and sexual assaults. This is …show more content…
Students who had bullied other have the highest levels of moral disengagement and were more likely to justify the bullying due to perceived difference between themselves and their victims (Garland, et al., 2017). According to Aronson, et al. (2016) when we harm another person, such as through bullying, cognitive processes begin to justify our actions. To justify our actions, we need to differentiate between our actions and our belief of ourselves. To do this we need to find fault in other person we have harmed, by reducing their virtues and emphasizing their faults (Aronson, et al.,
When university or police find out about the sexual assault, they immediately blame the victim or question what the victim was wearing, drinking, or doing. “Brownmiller identified four basic rape myths: (1) All women want to be raped; (2) a woman cannot be raped against her will; (3) a woman who is raped is asking for it; and (4) if a woman is going to be raped, she might as well enjoy it” (Helgeson, 2012, p. 432). In The Hunting Ground, the rape myth, which a woman who is raped is asking for it, is seen throughout the testimonies of the survivors. Clark, herself, was told by her dean that “rape is like a football game” and asked if “looking back, what would you have done differently?” (Ziering & Dick, 2015). These rape myths affect how many victims actually report and how seriously sexual assaults are taken within universities and the justice system. For example, some women, themselves, subscribe to rape myths because they see how current cases are handled. “Women who did not physically fight off the person who raped them and who subscribed to the rape myth that “it can’t be rape if a woman doesn’t fight back” were less likely to acknowledge that they had been raped” (Helgeson, 2012, p. 434). Universities need to teach first-year students about consent and how to
“College life is an important social domain that provides lifelong experiences and memories for millions of students each year. As these results show, part of this experience involves college women experiencing forcible rape and/or alcohol-or-drug-induced rape” (Fisher, Daigle, & Cullen, 2010, p. 83).
When the victim does not fit the ideal victim attributes which society has familiarised themselves with, it can cause complications and confusion. Experts have noticed there is already a significant presence of victim blaming, especially for cases involving both genders. The fear of being blamed and rejected by the public is prominent in all victims. Victim blaming proclaims the victim also played a role in the crime by allowing the crime to occur through their actions (Kilmartin and Allison, 2017, p.21). Agarin (2014, p.173) underlines the problem of victim blaming is due to the mass of social problems and misconceptions within society. The offender can have “an edge in court of public opinion” if victim blaming exists, resulting in the prevention of the case accomplishing an effective deduction in court (Humphries, 2009, p.27). Thus, victims will become more reluctant to report offences because of their decrease in trust in the police and criminal justice system, leading to the dark figure of
Bullying has become a major problem facing the United States today. The American Psychological Association reports that roughly 40% to 80% of children are involved in bullying on some level during their time in school. (APA, 2014) The magnitude of the problem can be observed in the statistics. In the United States, a total of 4,080,879 children between the ages of five and 18 have been the victims of bullying compared to 3,892,199 who have reported that they have engaged in bullying someone else. Additionally, 851,755 said that they have been both the victim and the bully. That's a whopping 8,824,833 people in the United States that have been involved in bullying behavior on one level or another. (High, B., 2000 Census)
Within the criminal justice system, the victim faces re-victimization with the techniques that are done within the court room. For example, the defense attorney may try to use rape myths such as the victim asked for it based on the way she may have dressed, the victim led the offender on by flirting with them, and that she could have avoided being raped if she wasn’t drinking (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013, p. 377). The purpose of using rape myths is to demonize the victim’s character by subjecting the victim to humiliating and inquisitive questions (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013, p. 377). Third, the victim may not report rape to law enforcement because they may fear retaliation by the offender, especially if that offender is a lifelong partner or a boyfriend. Fourth, due to the culture of rape and the influences of the media, a victim may feel guilty and blame themselves for the assault (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013, p. 377). As stated earlier, rape myths are used to demonize the victim’s character and ultimately take the blame away from the offender and put it onto the victim. In fact, rape myths serve to lessen the prevalence and seriousness of
“I felt his hands start to move down towards my shorts as if he was trying to unbutton them or pull them off. I was still crying at this point and felt so scared that I couldn’t move” (Henneberger, 2012). These are words written by a college freshman after she had been raped, but they are true for many others as well. According to the Rape Crisis Center of Medina and Summit Counties, “every two minutes someone in the US is sexually assaulted” (Get the Facts). “Girls ages 16-19 are four times more likely than the than the general population to be victims of sexual assault” (Get the Facts). These women may be described as slut, cheap, or ready for action, rather than victim, sufferer, or survivor. Rape myths encourage these demeaning terms for women and conceal the reality of rape culture. I will describe the pervasiveness of sexual assault on college campuses as well as the systems and procedures in place to address it. Power plays a role in this issue, including the powerful men on campus such as athletes and fraternity members as well as the administrators in power who regulate the punishments and actions that are taken against the perpetrators. The influence of those in power often goes overlooked in our society because it has become so intertwined with our culture.
It is not a topic that is brought up often, especially at schools or at gatherings, yet it is crucial that everyone be educated, or at least informed on a topic that affects women every day. “Given that sexual violence continues to occur at high rates in the United States, it is vital that we understand attitudes and cultural norms that serve to minimize or foster tolerance of sexual violence” (Aosved, 481). Growing rates of sexual violence goes to prove that it is not taken seriously by many, especially when myths excuse the actions of the perpetrator and instead guilt victims into thinking they are responsible for the horrible act. Burt (1980), in her article titled, “Cultural myths and support for rape” attempts to make sense of the importance of stereotypes and myths, defined as prejudicial, stereotypes, or false beliefs about rape, rape victims and rapists- in creating a climate hostile to rape victims (Burt, 217). Examples of rape myths are such sayings as “only bad girls get raped”; “women ask for it”; “women cry rape” (Burt, 217). This only goes to prove that rape myths against women always blame and make it seem like it is the women’s fault she was raped and that she deserved it for “acting” a certain way. McMahon (2007), in her article titled, “Understanding community-specific rape myths” explains how Lonsway and Fitzgerald (1994) later described rape myths as “attitudes and beliefs that are generally
Young children everywhere have been affected negatively by different forms of bullying. It’s not just the person who is the one getting bullied who is being affected badly it is the bully as well. That is the purpose of why the best way to battle this fight is to continue on pursuing dreams and goals without letting others negativity affect future plans. There have been studies on why people have the urge to hurt others emotional. Also, more than a few articles on bullies are about their mental health and how it plays a major role in it. Even family background could have easily triggered the person to become a bully. As Espelage Dorothy, wrote, “ We also found that students’ perspective-taking was negatively associated with non-physical bully perpetration, while positive attitude towards bullying was positively associated with non-physical bully perpetration. Conclusion: The findings suggest empathy and understanding of how youth see things from others’ point-of-view may be an important factor in bullying” (Dorothy). According to Dorothy, there are studies on viewing major topics from a student’s point of view to understand the issues and learn to fix the problem. The students had empathy for those being bullied. In the study, students understood clearly that bullying is more of a physiological action than physical. There are bullies out there that are having trouble at home and these troubles are what make them angry enough to take it out on their classmates at school. And for this reason other students have empathy for bullies; they know there's a reason to why they have become a bully. Therefore, the best solution as Jessie J had written, “You talk that, Blah blah that la la, that rah rah sh, And I'm so done, I'm so over it” (Jessie J). Jessie J. means that people can say what they want to say she doesn't care anymore and neither should her views. No one can control anyone other than themselves you can only control
Tyson explains how in most rapes the perpetrator is known to the victim, often being a boyfriend or a date. In other cases of date rape women tend to blame themselves for getting raped by someone they know. The aim of the present study was to examine the impact of variables that may increase ambiguity on the attribution of responsibility and blame in date rape. The variables included in the study were the length of the relationship, the consumption of alcohol, and the sexual history of the female. The study used a vignette depicting non-consensual sexual behavior between a young man and young woman. After reading the vignette, 867 adolescents indicated their perceptions of the victim's and the perpetrator's responsibility and blame for the behavior. This shows how some men actually do not ask for consent and are not aware that they are crossing the line and show how men take advantages of trying to rape women while they are intoxicated or under the influence in general. Some men actually do ask for consent and that is a great thing. There needs to be more men out there that do this. There are also men out there that are aware of certain situations with women when they intoxicated. Some men actually end up taking care of the woman so nothing bad happens to
Victim-blaming mentality start, instances of sexual harassment have nothing to do with how one looks or dresses. Girls fully covered in school uniform, for instance, have been harassed. It’s sad that once a person becomes a victim in these situations, she is suddenly made to think about her looks or choice of clothes and as an effect chooses to fully cover up her body as preventive measure against the harasser who thinks that a show of skin is an open invite. It’s even more sobering to think that these men are aware that what they’re doing or have done is wrong, and is an act of harassment.”
Sexual violence is a national issue that permeates every aspect society. Sexual assault and rape is an ongoing problem, evident by the troubling statistic that roughly 20 million out of 112 million women (18.0%) in the United States have been raped during their lifetime (Kilpatrick, Resnick, Ruggiero, Conoscenti, McCauley, 2007). Despite the continuous push for gender equality, the current culture of society perpetuates victim-blaming tendencies towards innate cognitive processes and media influences.
Rape and sexual violence is a very serious problem that affects millions of people each year. Rape is someone taking advantage of another person sexually. Sexual assault can be verbal, physical, visual, or anything that forces a person to join in unwanted sexual contact or attention. ("Sexual Assault.") Rape is one of the most underreported crimes. In 2002, only thirty-nine percent of rapes and sexual assaults were reported to law officials. ("Sexual Violence: Fact Sheet.") Victims sometimes do not report that they have raped because of shame or feeling that it was their fault. It is never the victim's fault. "Victim blaming" is holding the victim of a crime to be in a whole or in partly responsible for what had happened to them. Most victims believe this. ("Myths and Facts about Sexual Violence.")
In a CNN study by Chuck Hadad he states “That bullying is pervasive even though the schools have anti-bullying programs from kindergarten through 12th grade, assemblies throughout the year, and a peer-to-peer program where older students talk to younger students about the dangers of bullying” (Hadad). Robert Faris, a sociologist found that bullies and victims are generally the same person. Whe...
A writer from Southernct stated a fact that “ men, women, and children of all ages, races, religions, and economic classes have been victims of sexual assault. Sexual assault occurs in rural areas, small towns, and larger cities” ( “Southernct” 1). We have all seen on the news a case where a female has been raped and somehow the world makes us believe that it was her own fault that it happened. This is due to victim blaming. Victim blaming occurs when the victim of some sort of crime or wrongdoing is held partially or fully responsible for what happened to them. It is not always easy to identify though. Some people would be considered to be victim blaming over every day situations in life. For example, someone making the
Assigning blame has become an increasingly difficult and complex concept to understand, especially in our legal court system. I associate blame with being held responsible for the consequences of one’s intentional actions. In regards to sexual assault cases, I think the blame should not be placed on the victims, but rather on the perpetrators. Victim blaming justifies the perpetrator’s actions, discourages sexual assault reportings, and can have psychological effects on the victim.