Perceptions of Stalking: Examining Perceivers’ Country of Origin, Perpetrator-Target Prior Relationship, and the Mediating Effect of Victim Responsibility

Research in stalking perceptions has shown certain relational biases, in which people tend to view ex-partner stalkers to be less dangerous than stranger or acquaintance stalkers. These findings are in direct contrast to those of real-life cases whereby ex-partner stalkers pose a greater threat. In addition, although stalking is recognized as a global social problem, most studies have been based on samples drawn from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic countries. The current study examined whether the prior relationship between the stalking perpetrator and target influences people’s perceptions of stalking and whether cross-national differences exist between participants based in Malaysia (where there is currently no law that criminalizes stalking) and England (where stalking has been outlawed since 1997). In a 3 × 2 between-subjects design, 294 Malaysian participants and 170 English participants were presented with a vignette describing a stalking scenario in which the perpetrator was depicted as a stranger, acquaintance, or ex-partner. Participants judged the extent to which the perpetrator’s behavior constitutes stalking; necessitates police intervention; would cause the victim alarm or personal distress; would cause the victim to fear the use of violence; and can be attributed to encouragement on the part of the victim. Results showed that typical relational biases existed in both samples, but Malaysian participants were less likely than their English counterparts to label any harassing scenario as serious. Perceptions of victim responsibility were found to mediate the effect of prior relationship and nationality on participants’ perceptions. The findings point to the urgency of better cross-cultural understanding of harassment behavior as well as legislations against stalking.

Exploring the association between anticipated and actual responses to disclosures of intimate partner violence and sexual assault

Victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual assault (SA) commonly disclose their experiences to friends or family members, or within other personal relationships. Disclosure recipients’ responses to these disclosures are associated with victims’ mental health. Previous research has separately measured both actual responses to IPV/SA and anticipated responses to IPV/SA (e.g., response to a hypothetical scenario) from the perspective of disclosure recipients. Yet, little research has described the association between disclosure recipients’ anticipated and actual responses. The aim of the current paper was to use a prospective design to examine the association between disclosure recipients’ anticipated and actual responses to IPV/SA, including positive and negative social reactions, perceptions of victim responsibility, empathy, and confusion and ineffectiveness about how to respond. Participants ( N = 126 college students aged 18–23; 70.6% women) answered questions about their anticipated responses to a hypothetical IPV/SA disclosure scenario, and then six months later answered the same questions about their actual responses to an actual disclosure of IPV/SA. Although most anticipated and actual responses were significantly associated, associations were moderate in size. Some associations were stronger for participants with a closer relationship to the victim, for participants who had their own victimization history, for women, and for men. Individuals can predict their responses to some degree, but are not totally accurate in doing so.

Changing Police Officers’ Attitudes in Sexual Offense Cases: A 12-Month Follow-Up Study

We examined whether specialist training can have an immediate and lasting impact on investigators’ attitudes in sexual offense cases. Australian police officers participated in a 4-week training program that focused on the dynamics of sexual offending. Officers completed questionnaires before, immediately after, and 9 to 12 months following training. They were presented with scenarios involving adult and child complainants with varying levels of evidence (strong, weak, or ambiguous) and rated their confidence that the case would be approved for prosecution, the likelihood of a guilty verdict, and the level of responsibility attributed to the victim. Following training, investigators became more confident in case approvals and guilty verdicts, less likely to attribute responsibility to victims, and demonstrated better understanding of sexual offense dynamics. Ratings of victim responsibility and guilty verdicts were maintained 9 to 12 months post-training; however, confidence in case approvals decreased after working in the field. Implications for police training programs are discussed.

Attributions of victim responsibility in revenge pornography

Purpose Revenge pornography is a growing risk among adolescents and young adults. Often stemming from sexting, some victims of revenge pornography report experiencing victim-blame similar to that accompanying the reporting of rape. The purpose of this paper is to explore the assumptions that underlie attributions of victim-blame, with a focus on perpetrator and victim responsibility, as well as gendered assumptions surrounding sexting. Design/methodology/approach A total of 222 UK university students (111 male, 111 females) read one of two versions of a hypothetical revenge pornography scenario, one involving a male victim of a female perpetrator, the other a female victim of a male perpetrator. They then responded to an open-ended question regarding responsibility. Findings Qualitative content analysis of these responses identified three inter-related themes: the victim’s behaviour, mitigating victim responsibility and minimising the behaviour. Social implications The majority of participants in this study attributed at least some responsibility to the victims of revenge pornography depicted in the scenarios. Sex of the victim played a less important role than assumptions around sexting. Originality/value The study suggests that victim-blame is linked to the consent implied by sharing intimate images with a partner, but is also mitigated by the normative nature of this relationship practice. There was some evidence that the experience of male victims of revenge pornography is trivialised. These findings have implications for e-safety and victim support.

The Impact of Victim Alcohol Consumption and Perpetrator Use of Force on Perceptions in an Acquaintance Rape Vignette

Research suggests that victims of incapacitated rape (when someone has sex with a person who is unable to consent to or resist sexual activity, usually because of intoxication) face higher levels of victim blame than do victims of forcible rape (Krahé, Temkin, & Bieneck, 2007). However, it is not clear whether blame is the result of victim alcohol consumption or the lack of force and resistance present during incapacitated rape; both of these factors have been shown to increase victim blame. The current vignette study crossed victim alcohol consumption and perpetrator use of force. We found main effects of both independent variables on judgments of victim responsibility, but no interaction, suggesting that the effects of alcohol and force are additive rather than interactive. These results indicate that victims of incapacitated rape may indeed face challenges upon disclosing their assaults.

Disclosure Recipients’ Social Reactions to Victims’ Disclosures of Intimate Partner Violence

Prior research indicates that victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) are most likely to disclose their victimization experiences to an informal support (e.g., friend, family), and that IPV disclosures are often met with both positive (e.g., empathic support) and negative (e.g., victim blame) reactions. However, research on social reactions to disclosure largely has neglected the perspectives of disclosure recipients. Guided by the attribution framework, the current study extends prior research by assessing factors (i.e., situation-specific, individual, relational, attributional, and emotional response) related to positive and negative reactions from the perspective of disclosure recipients ( N = 743 college students). Linear regression analyses indicated that positive social reactions were related to the victim being a woman, greater frequency of IPV victimization by the victim, greater frequency of IPV victimization by the disclosure recipient, less accepting attitudes toward IPV, a closer relationship with the victim, a less close relationship with the perpetrator, lower perceptions of victim responsibility, more empathy for the victim, and more emotional distress experienced by the disclosure recipient during the disclosure. Negative social reactions were associated with more accepting attitudes toward IPV, greater frequency of IPV victimization by the disclosure recipient, a less close relationship with the victim, higher perceptions of victim responsibility, and more emotional distress experienced by the disclosure recipient. Results suggest that programs to improve responses to victim disclosure should focus on decreasing IPV-supportive attitudes, increasing empathy, and assisting disclosure recipients in managing difficult emotional responses effectively.

Judge me, judge me not: The role of eye size and observer gender on acquaintance rape

<p>The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of eye size and observer gender on perceived initial attraction, honesty, and attributions of responsibility for rape. A 3 (eye size: small vs. normal vs. large) x 2 (observer gender: female vs. male) experimental design was tested. Ninety participants (45 women and 45 men) observed one of three randomly assigned female faces (with eye size manipulation), and rated initial attraction and honesty. They were then asked to read an acquaintance rape scenario with a traditional woman, rating the victim and perpetrator responsibility. Eye size was shown to affect all the study variables: the female face with large eyes was seen as more attractive and honest, was held less responsible for her own victimization, and the offender was held more responsible. Gender was proven to affect perceived initial attraction and victim responsibility. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.</p>