African-American Undergraduates' Perceptions and Attributions of Child Sexual Abuse

• NCJ Number: 226676
• Journal: Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 18 Issue: 1 Dated: January-February 2009 Pages: 61-77
• Author(s): Henrietta Hestick; Carrol S. Perrino
• Date Published: February 2009
• Length: 17 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined perceptions of child sexual abuse (CSA) and attributions of responsibility in African-American undergraduates.

Abstract

Results support the predicted hypotheses for the influence of gender (victim, perpetrator, respondent) in perception of the existence of CSA and attributions of responsibility for African-American undergraduates. However, the influence of age was apparent only in attribution of responsibility to victim and perpetrator. These findings extend the existing research suggesting that perceptions of CSA are related to an interaction of victim, perpetrator, and respondent gender. This interaction indicates the potential role of gender of the respondent as a moderator. Female respondents were more confident than male respondents that the vignettes represented sexual abuse regardless of gender of the victim or the gender of the perpetrator; these results are consistent with those of previous studies with other ethnicities. Male respondents were found to be less confident of sexual abuse, particularly when the victim was male and perpetrator female, regardless of the age of the victim. Victim responsibility was related to victim’s gender and age, as well as to perpetrator and respondent gender. Young victims, regardless of gender, were attributed little responsibility while older male victims were attributed more responsibility than older female victims. Female participants rated victims as not responsible for the CSA, regardless of gender while the male participants rated the male victim as more responsible than the female victim; respondent gender was a moderator in attribution of victim responsibility. Attributions of parental responsibility for the CSA were related to victim and perpetrator gender; parents were rated as more responsible when the victim was female and the perpetrator was male and less responsible when the victim was male and the perpetrator was female. Data were collected from 384 undergraduate students from an urban, State supported, predominantly African-American university. Tables, references, and appendix