Blame for Intimate Partner Violence: An Attributional Analysis

Abstract

El sexismo del observador y el comportamiento de la mujer han demostrado su influencia sobre el modo en que las personas juzgan a esta última cuando es agredida físicamente por su pareja. Con el fin de averiguar cómo influye la interacción de ambos factores sobre la atribución de culpa a la mujer víctima de violencia de pareja, se expuso a 120 participantes a viñetas experimentales, previa medición de sus niveles de sexismo benevolente y hostil. Los resultados mostraron que los sexistas benevolentes culpaban a la víctima de violencia de pareja cuando sentían que ésta transgredía el estereotipo de género; y que, por el contrario, tendían a exonerarla cuando sentían que se comportaba de acuerdo con tal estereotipo. Esto ocurría sólo cuando el nivel de sexismo hostil del participante era bajo. Se discuten estos resultados con base en la Teoría del Sexismo Ambivalente y en las normas de género transgredidas. Palabras clave: sexismo, estereotipos de género, violencia de pareja, atribución de culpa.

Effects of Gender and Confrontation on Attributions of Female-Perpetrated Intimate Partner Violence

“…For instance, several studies have found that male observers generally report more tolerant attitudes or perceptions of violent behavior relative to female observers (e.g., Bryant and Spencer 2003;Cook and Harris 1995;Locke and Richman 1999). Furthermore, observer gender has been shown to interact with victim confrontation (e.g., Leigh and Aramburu 1994;Pierce and Harris 1993;Witte et al 2006), such that male observers often blame female victims more in cases of confrontation relative to female observers. Female observers, on the other hand, have been shown to assign high levels of responsibility and blame to male perpetrators, irrespective of victim confrontation.…”

Counselors' Attributions of Blame Toward Female Survivors of Battering

“…Also shown to increase levels of blame are intimacy level of the relationship (dating vs. married; Langhinrichsen-Rohling et al, 2004;Willis et al, 1996), suggesting that women who are unmarried are blamed more than those women who are married; provocation by the victim (Harris & Cook, 1994;Pierce & Harris, 1993), where women who have done something to "provoke" the batterer are blamed more than those who did nothing to initiate the violence; and the victim's reaction to the abuse (Capezza & Arriaga, 2008), where women who do something to retaliate (such as yelling) are blamed at greater rates as well. Finally, severity of violence has shown to increase the amount of blame attributed to the abuser and decrease the blame placed on the survivor (Lane & Knowles, 2000;Pierce & Harris, 1993;Reddy et al, 1997;Witte, Schroeder, & Lohr, 2006). Following is an in-depth review of studies examining the influence of these factors on attributions of blame toward women who have been battered, as well as their methodological strengths and limitations.…”

“…Adding additional victim behavior variables, Witte et al (2006) sought to determine the effects of the victims' behavior, expectations about the perpetrator, severity of violence, and observer gender on attributions of IPV. They hypothesized that participants would view the victim as a cause for the assault based on her behavior prior to the violence, and therefore attribute greater blame to the victim than the perpetrator based on traditional theories of attribution (Jones & McGillis, 1976;Kelly, 1971b).…”

“…According to Witte et al (2006), based on Kelley's (1971b) target-based theory of attribution, those perpetrators who were described as passive would likely be judged as less violent simply based on their membership among the non-violent group, regardless of the severity of violence enacted.…”

“…Furthermore, greater understanding can lead to a reduction in biases and inaccurate interpretations of women who have experienced battering (Witte et al, 2006).…”