Can Norm Theory Explain the Effects of Victim Age and Level of Physical Maturity on Perceptions of Child Sexual Abuse?

Autor/inn/en	Rogers, Paul; Davies, Michelle; Anderson, Irina; Potton, Anita
Titel	Can Norm Theory Explain the Effects of Victim Age and Level of Physical Maturity on Perceptions of Child Sexual Abuse?
Quelle	In: Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26 (2011) 10, S.1911-1933 (23 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0886-2605
DOI	10.1177/0886260510372936
Schlagwörter	Maturity (Individuals); Sexual Abuse; Child Abuse; Statistical Data; Victims of Crime; Gender Differences; Attribution Theory; Vignettes; Prediction; Statistical Analysis; Age Differences; Physical Characteristics; Females; Social Theories; Norms + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Reifung; Sexueller Missbrauch; Abuse of children; Abuse; Child; Children; Kindesmissbrauch; Missbrauch; Kind; Kinder; Victim; Victims; Crime; Opfer; Verbrechen; Geschlechterkonflikt; Vorhersage; Statistische Analyse; Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Körperliche Erscheinung; Weibliches Geschlecht; Gesellschaftstheorie; Normwert
Abstract	The present study examines the effects of victim age, victim physical maturity, and respondent gender on attributions toward victims, perpetrator, and the nonoffending members of the victim's family in a hypothetical child sexual abuse (CSA) case. Participants read a brief CSA vignette in which the male perpetrator (a school caretaker) sexually abuses a student in the school changing rooms. The victim was depicted as either a 12- or 15-year-old girl who, in terms of physical maturity, was either pre- or postpubescent. Separate 2 x 2 x 2 ANOVAs were performed on the dependent variables. Results conformed broadly to the study's predictions with younger victims being viewed more negatively than older victims and the victim's physical appearance being viewed as more encouraging of CSA for the younger than for the older girl. Female participants were more likely to endorse the belief that the younger victim should have fought back and that the prepubescent 15-year-old victim should have fought back more than her postpubescent counterpart. While attributions toward the perpetrator and victim's family did not differ across conditions for women, men tended to blame the perpetrator more when victims were younger and the family more when victims were less physically mature. Findings are discussed in relation to norm theory principles, just world theory, and the defensive attribution hypothesis. (Contains 5 notes, 1 table, and 1 figure.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10