Examining Parental Expectations and Fault Attributions for Child Sexual Abuse.

Previous research has demonstrated that nonoffending mothers are held at fault when their child is sexually abused and this fault is directly linked to a decrease in help-seeking behavior. It is unclear, however, whether similar fault is applied to nonoffending fathers, as little such research on fathers exists. What does exist is marked by methodological limitations. Using an experimental vignette design, 154 participants were randomly assigned to read one of two hypothetical abuse scenarios (i.e., nonoffending mother or nonoffending father) depicting the sexual abuse of a female child by an adult male perpetrator. Participants rated levels of fault attributions assigned to either parent and then provided open-ended responses outlining their reasons for their attribution ratings. Quantitatively, both mothers and fathers were assigned similar amounts of fault for the sexual abuse. Thematic analysis of participants' justifications for their assigned fault attributions revealed both mothers and fathers are subject to similar expectations that either increase or decrease assigned fault, with the exception of one theme, Disbursement, in which participants distributed fault away from fathers toward others (e.g., the nonoffending mother). By understanding parent blaming and the reasons behind parent blaming attributions, future research can work to improve these attitudes.

Qualitatively Understanding Mother Fault After Childhood Sexual Abuse.

Socially constructed images of motherhood suggest that a "good" mother is caring, nurturing, and selfless-the perfect maternal figure. When these standards are not met, mother blaming (i.e., assigning fault to mothers) occurs even in child sexual abuse (CSA) cases. We collected 312 open-ended responses in total from 108 community-based participants to understand contextual factors that increase and decrease in mother fault in a CSA-related vignette depicting the mother's partner as the perpetrator. Thematic analysis revealed five main themes. Three themes were associated with decreased blame: Lack of Overt Knowledge (i.e., the mother had no direct knowledge of the CSA and thus cannot be blamed), Physical Act (i.e., the mother was not the actual perpetrator; only the perpetrator is responsible for the CSA), and Trust (i.e., the mother should be able to trust her partner). Two themes were associated with increased blame: Covert Knowledge (i.e., the mother was expected to have covert, intuitive knowledge of the CSA) and Mistrust (i.e., the mother should have known better than to trust her partner). Faulting mothers for the CSA of their child may reduce reporting of, and help seeking for, CSA, due to fear of being blamed.

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. 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.

Impact of Perpetrator Type on Attributions of Mother Fault in Child Sexual Abuse.

Blaming nonoffending mothers for child sexual abuse has substantial negative consequences for both the mother and child victim. Although perpetrator type has been shown to influence how much blame and responsibility is placed on nonoffending mothers in child sexual abuse cases, research to date has focused primarily on perpetrators who are strangers to the child or the child's biological father, ignoring the effect of other father-figure perpetrators. The current study examined how differences in perpetrator's relationship to the mother impacted blame, responsibility, cause, and prevention as separate constructs. One hundred and eight participants from an online community sample were randomly assigned to read a vignette describing a child sexual abuse situation with a female victim and one of two perpetrators: the victim's biological father or the mother's boyfriend. Participants assigned significantly higher levels of fault for CSA to the mother when the perpetrator was the mother's boyfriend. Implications and future directions are discussed.