Perceived Likelihood of Rape as an Operational Measure of Rape Victim's Causal Responsibility

• NCJ Number: 115104
• Journal: Indian Journal of Social Work Volume: 69 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1988) Pages: 67-74
• Author(s): S Kanekar; K Shirgavi
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: India

Annotation

Hindsighted perceived likelihood of rape was used in this study as an operational measure of causal responsibility attributed to a rape victim.

Abstract

The experiment had a factorial design of 2 (subject's sex) x 2 (physically attractive vs. unattractive victim) x 2 (physically hurt vs. not hurt victim) x 2 (emotionally disturbed vs. not disturbed victim) with 15 subjects per cell. Apart from subject's sex, the experimental conditions were manipulated through a passage describing an incident of rape. The dependent measures were: the length of recommended imprisonment for the rapist and the perceived likelihood of rape. Longer imprisonment was recommended for the rapist when the victim was physically hurt rather than not hurt, and emotionally disturbed rather than not disturbed. Greater likelihood of rape was perceived for the attractive rather than the unattractive victim, the physically hurt rather than the not hurt victim, and the emotionally disturbed rather than the not disturbed victim. These findings were discussed in the context of a proposed theoretical distinction between causal and moral responsibility. (Author abstract)