The Pernicious Phenomenon of Victim Blaming
Whether they’re sexual assault survivors or victims of burglaries, murders, or traffic accidents, people who are victimized often have to deal with the stigma, shame, and blame associated with their trauma. Despite the rise of the #MeToo movement and more public awareness about the societal issues behind sexual violence, victims continue to be victimized by people in their own communities. Among the most common offenders are those closest to them—their family members, friends, coworkers and even strangers. In a pernicious phenomenon known as victim blaming, these individuals will do whatever they can to discredit and invalidate the experiences of people who have been hurt or harmed and make it difficult for them to seek the necessary services to help them through their recovery.
The reasons for victim blaming are complex and vary by individual, but some of the most common include:
One reason that people engage in victim blaming is because they believe that there are specific things that could have prevented an unfortunate event from happening to them. This belief is comforting because it gives the bias holder the feeling that they have some control over what happens to them.
It can also be fueled by the belief that we live in a just world, meaning that good things happen to those who deserve them and bad events to those who don’t. This can contribute to the Matthew effect (Merton Citation1968), where those who receive undeserved benefits will gain merit and those that suffer will lose credit, regardless of their actual deserving or innocence.
Victim blaming is also common because it’s easier to discredit and invalidate the experience of someone close to you than a total stranger. This is especially true when the person who has been harmed is someone you know, such as an abusive coworker or a friend’s spouse. This type of victim blaming is also exacerbated by the tendency to see people who have been harmed as a threat to the bias holder’s own safety and well-being.
People may also engage in victim blaming as a way of coping with uncomfortable feelings like anger, fear or guilt. It can be an unconscious, but harmful way of handling those emotions by projecting them onto the victim.
Finally, some people engage in victim blaming to minimize the severity of an issue and avoid being responsible for it. This is a form of disowning accountability and is most often seen in those who perpetrate violent acts, such as domestic abuse or sexual assault.
Victim blaming is harmful not only to the individuals involved in it, but to the whole community. It discourages survivors from coming forward for fear of being harmed further, or at least makes them less likely to report crimes that need to be taken seriously by authorities or those close to them, like mental health professionals. It can also prevent victims from accessing the financial resources and emotional support they need to recover from their experiences. This has real life consequences for victims, who can go into debt or even file for bankruptcy as a result of the costs of living with or recovering from abuse.