Perceptions of Blame and Credibility Toward Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse: Differences Across Victim Age, Victim-Perpetrator Relationship, and Respondent Gender in a Depicted Case

• NCJ Number: 226677
• Journal: Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 18 Issue: 1 Dated: January-February 2009 Pages: 78-92
• Author(s): Michelle Davies; Paul Rogers
• Date Published: February 2009
• Length: 15 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study investigated victim culpability, credibility, and assault severity in a hypothetical sexual abuse case.

Abstract

Results revealed partial support for the prediction that younger victims were considered more credible than older victims. This adds further support to the notion that the more sexually naive a child seems, the more trustworthy and truthful their disclosure of sexual abuse is perceived. This is good news for very young children who actually disclose their own child sexual abuse (CSA). No victim age differences were revealed on any of the other measures according to victim age. Attributions were generally supportive of the child and generally damning of the perpetrator, regardless of the victim’s age. The fact that respondents were largely pro-victim is consistent with previous work in that studies investigating attributions toward victims, both child and adult, consistently show that most people are largely pro-victim. Case study reports suggest that many CSA victims, particularly those assaulted during early childhood, do not disclose their abusive experiences until many years later; these finding suggest that very young children should be forewarned about CSA and encouraged to disclose CSA experiences at the earliest possible juncture. CSA perpetrated by a father was seen as a more severe crime than CSA perpetrated by a family friend. Despite this, a father who sexually abuses his own child was seen as less culpable than a stranger who sexually abuses someone else’s child. Furthermore, a victim sexually abused by her own father was deemed less honest than one sexually abused by a stranger. Finally, female respondents judged the victim more honest and more credible, the perpetrator more culpable, and the assault to be more severe than did males. In contrast, no gender differences were found in attributions of victim culpability. Tables, notes, references, and appendixes