Child Sexual Abuse Attributions Among Undergraduate Psychology Students in Singapore

ABSTRACT

Experimental vignettes were used to investigate attributions relating to child sexual abuse with a focus on the degree of blame allocated to the family and to society, factors thought to be particularly relevant in a collectivist society. One hundred and sixty-two undergraduates in Singapore evaluated media reports describing a case of child sexual abuse. A 2 x 2 x 2 between-subjects design manipulated victim sex, perpetrator sex, and victim–perpetrator relationship. Participants rated the vignettes on degree of blame and prevention potential and rated the abusiveness of the case. Individualism and collectivism attitudes of the participants were also measured. While the highest blame ratings were attributed to perpetrators, significantly more blame was attributed to the family and to society than to the victim. The demonstration of the present attributions of blame to family and to society is a timely finding given recent recommendations to broaden approaches to child abuse prevention by moving away from a reliance on school based child protection programs, which leave the onus on the child to prevent and report abuse, toward a public health approach, which is particularly inclusive of parent and community education approaches . Allocation of some blame to victims, in spite of their status as children, while not a unique finding in victimology research, emphasizes the challenges still to be faced in encouraging the reporting of child sexual abuse.

KEYWORDS:

• attribution
• child sex abuse
• collectivism
• parents
• Singapore
• society
• vignette

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Russell Hawkins

Russell Hawkins is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychology at James Cook University, Cairns, Australia. His child protection work has focussed on: evaluating prevention programs; the role of teachers in preventing abuse; the special case of disabled children; the role of broader societal factors; the consequences of abuse on later offending; the neglect of attention to the abuse of boys; community prevention; and cooperation with parents.

Stephanie Teng Sze Wei

Stephanie Teng Sze Wei completed her undergraduate studies in psychology at James Cook University and is currently a PhD candidate in Psychology at the University of Western Australia. Her research has a strong cognitive focus and examines: the role of attribution biases in child sexual abuse; attention biases and their effect on cognitive trauma; and using brain-computer interface to improve attention in ADHD children and improve memory in elderly people with Dementia.