Mother Blame and the Just World Theory in Child Sexual Abuse Cases

Mothers are blamed for a variety of negative experiences and outcomes of their children, including child sexual abuse (CSA). According to just world hypothesis (JWH), people have a need to view the world as one where there is no such thing as an innocent victim; that is, the world is fair and just....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of interpersonal violence 2019-11, Vol.34 (21-22), p.4661-4686
Main Authors: Toews, Kelsi, Cummings, Jorden A., Zagrodney, Jessica L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Beliefs
Child Abuse
Child abuse & neglect
Child sexual abuse
Children
Correlational studies
Focus Groups
Individual Characteristics
Mothers
Pedophilia
Robbery
Sex crimes
Sexual Abuse
Trauma
Victims of Crime
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Summary:Mothers are blamed for a variety of negative experiences and outcomes of their children, including child sexual abuse (CSA). According to just world hypothesis (JWH), people have a need to view the world as one where there is no such thing as an innocent victim; that is, the world is fair and just. These beliefs predict victim blaming in situations such as sexual abuse, physical abuse, and robbery. However, JWH has not been applied to the examination of mother blame, a situation in which the blame target did not directly experience the traumatic event. We examined this application in two studies: (a) a thematic analysis of focus group discussions and (b) a correlational study. Across both studies, participants identified personal characteristics of the mother that either increased or decreased blame, consistent with JWH. However, when directly asked, most participants denied holding just world beliefs, particularly as related to child sexual abuse. Our results indicate that methodological choices might affect results, and that socially constructed views of “ideal mothers” influence mother blame. We discuss implications for validity of just world theory (JWT), methodological choices, and reduction of mother blame.
ISSN:0886-2605
1552-6518
DOI:10.1177/0886260516675922