Victim-blaming in Adolescent-to-Parent Violence: The role of sexism and beliefs on parenting

• In Event: WCCJ Panel 2 – Mothers, Motherhood and Criminal Justice

Abstract

Adolescent-to-parent violence (APV) is a type of family violence that has recently increased in social and scientific visibility. Most research has focused on risk factors for victims, perpetrators, or their families to explain why some adolescents are more likely than others to engage in APV. However, a growing number of studies show that adolescent behavior and parental emotional responses emerge in a cultural context where parents are always deemed responsible for their children’s actions and where APV is seen as a result of parental failure. These social beliefs are internalized by APV aggressors and victims, as well as by practitioners, affecting their responses when parents seek help. The most frequent victims of APV are mothers, who often suffer from double victimization. This work analyses the impact of two variables on victim blaming: the belief that APV is caused by poor parenting, and hostile sexist attitudes. The sample consisted of 435 participants from the general population aged 14 to 71 (M = 28.63, SD = 10.86), 33% of which were men. Participants voluntarily responded to an online anonymous questionnaire. The results of a linear regression analysis showed that victim-blaming can be predicted by the belief that APV is caused by poor parenting, and by hostile sexist attitudes [F(2, 432) = 65.17, p <.01]. The R2 value was 0.23, indicating that 22.8% of the victim-blaming can be explained by these two variables. The unique variances were 13% for the belief that APV is caused by poor parenting, and 5.6% for hostile sexist attitudes, with the shared variance being 4.2%. Results are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications.

Authors

• Helena Cortina, Universidad de La Laguna

• Ana M. Martín, Universidad de La Laguna