Culpability Attributions towards Juvenile Female Prostitutes

Abstract

This study addresses a gap in the research literature concerning predictors of culpability attributions towards juvenile female prostitutes (JFPs). Three hundred undergraduate participants read a vignette describing a JFP and responded to a series of measures. Results supported a causal pathway whereby stronger perceiver sexism predicted stronger negative affective evaluations of, and weaker empathic reactions toward, the JFP. Stronger negative affective evaluations and weaker empathic reactions, in turn, predicted stronger culpability attributions toward the JFP. Also, participants who were provided information about the JFP's extensive victimisation history and coercion into the trade, relative to participants who were not provided this information, attributed lesser culpability to the JFP. Finally, stronger culpability attributions toward the JFP related to weaker recommendations of restorative justice (i.e. counselling/mental health services for the JFP) and stronger recommendations of retributive justice (i.e. incarceration for the JFP). Study implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Gendered violence and victim blame: subject perceptions of blame and the appropriateness of services for survivors of domestic sex trafficking, sexual assault, and intimate partner violence

“…While seemingly counterintuitive, the significantly greater blame attributed to the DST victim indicates that respondents perceived her as a willing participant in prostitution, and it is possible for participants to have believed that she was in particular need of services for this very reason. This would align with prior research, where participants were less likely to recommend counseling for a prostituted youth when they found her culpable and believed she was unlikely to benefit (i.e., change) as a result of rehabilitative efforts (Menaker and Miller 2013). Another potential explanation is that, compared to the sexual assault and IPV scenarios, the DST vignette was distinct in depicting a more long-term and pervasive victimization.…”

“…Moreover, perceptions of female victims of violence reflect cultural and societal attitudes about gender, gender relations, and sexuality. Research has examined victim blame toward rape survivors (e.g., Grubb and Harrower 2008;Whatley 1996), though there is comparatively less research on blame attributions toward IPV victims (e.g., Bryant and Spencer 2003;Flood and Pease 2009;Pavlou and Knowles 2001;Yamawaki et al 2012), and a conspicuous dearth of literature on DST (but see Franklin and Menaker 2014;Menaker and Franklin 2013a;Menaker and Miller 2013).…”

“…Fewer studies have explored blame attributions toward DST survivors and the factors that underlie and/or mitigate these attributions (Franklin and Menaker 2014;Menaker and Franklin 2013a;Menaker and Miller 2013). Menaker and Miller (2013) identified predictors of culpability attributions toward a 16-year-old girl in the sex trade and subsequent criminal justice and social service recommendations among a sample of 300 undergraduate students. Subjects who endorsed increased sexist attitudes toward women displayed increased negative affective reactions to the female youth, including perceptions of her as 'irresponsible,' 'immoral,' and 'stupid,' and decreased feelings of empathy toward her.…”

“…Culpability attributions were measured with three items to assess the degree to which the victim and perpetrator were 'to blame for the situation,' 'responsible for the situation,' and 'the cause of the situation' (Menaker and Miller 2013). Responses were captured on a fivepoint Likert scale from 'strongly disagree' (coded 1) to 'strongly agree' (coded 6).…”

The Impact of Observer Characteristics on Blame Assessments of Prostituted Female Youth

“…Specifically, victims were found less culpable for involvement in prostitution when observers read victimization history information (Menaker & Franklin, 2013;Menaker & Miller, 2013) and victimization history disclosure mattered similarly for White and African American prostituted youth (Menaker & Franklin, 2013). Research has also revealed that males tended to attribute more blame to victims as compared with females (Schneider, Mori, Lambert, & Wong, 2009;Workman & Freeburg, 1999).…”