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Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is the most common form of violence suffered by women and continues to be a serious problem worldwide. Public attitudes towards IPV are crucial in understanding the social context in which it occurs but also in understanding the consequences public attitudes, specifically victim blaming, have on victims. This issue is continually studied as a gendered phenomenon, but is this the case? This study examined victim-blaming attitudes (VBA) in IPV based on the gender of the victim. It also investigated whether gender role stereotypes (GRS) affect these attitudes. The researcher believed there would be a significant difference in VBA based on the gender of the victim and that there would be a significant relationship between GRS and VBA. This research used an online experiment to gather quantitative data from a sample of N = 200 (N = 165 after exclusions) participants across the UK aged 18+ who were recruited via existing social media networks. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions and completed two scales, one to assess their VBA and another to assess GRS. An independent samples t-test and two bivariate correlations were conducted to analyse. The findings revealed that individuals blamed male victims more than female victims of IPV supporting the researcher’s hypothesis. Furthermore, a significant relationship was found between male stereotypes and VBA as well as female stereotypes and VBA, supporting the researcher’s second hypothesis. Specifically, when individuals held high male stereotypes, they blamed the male victim more, whereas when individuals held high female stereotypes, they blamed the female victim less. The key findings demonstrate the influence victim gender has on VBA and the relationship between GRS and these attitudes. Limitations of this research are indicated and possibilities for future research are discussed.

Course: Criminology and Forensic Studies - BSc (Hons) - C2039F

Date Deposited: 2024-11-20

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis14543.html