Gender and Victimization - Chapter 14 from The Psychology of Women and Gender

Question 1

Gender-Based Violence

Answer 1

Forms of violence in which women are the predominant victims and men are the predominant perpetrators; transgender individuals are also overrepresented among victims.

Question 2

Rape

Answer 2

Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part of object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.

Question 3

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Answer 3

A disorder that develops in some people after experiencing a terrifying event. Symptoms include reexperiencing symptoms (e.g., flashbacks, bad dreams), reactivity symptoms (e.g., easily startled, trouble sleeping), and cognition and mood symptoms (e.g., distorted feelings of guilt, loss of enjoyment in activities).

Question 4

Jezebel stereotype

Answer 4

The belief that black women are hypersexual and promiscuous and therefore cannot be raped.

Question 5

Self blame

Answer 5

Tendency of the victim to place the blame on their actions. Associated with wrose psychological outcome.

Question 6

Victim-precipitated

Answer 6

This perspective claims that a rape is always caused by a victim “asking for it”. Represents the tendency to blame victims.

Question 7

Psychopathology of rapists

Answer 7

This view claims that rape is a deviant act committed by men who are mentally ill or disturbed. Thus, the rapist is not responsible for rape; instead, his psychopathology is to blame.

Question 8

Feminist theoretical view

Answer 8

Holds that rapists are the product of gender role socialization in our culture. Feminists emphasize that rape isn’t about sex so much as it is an expression of male power and dominance over women. Thus, rape is both a cause and an effect of gender inequality, in that they perpetruate one another.

Question 9

Social disorganization

Answer 9

The sociological view holds that crime rates, including rape rates, increase when the social organization of a community or society is disrupted. Under conditions of social disorganization–such as poverty or even war-communities cannot enforce norms against crime.

Question 10

Rape Myths

Answer 10

False beliefs about rape, rape victims, and rapists, which support rape culture (e.g., victim precipitation, victim fabrication, victim masochism)

Question 11

Victim Precipitation

Answer 11

Women ask for or deserve rape

Question 12

Victim Fabrication

Answer 12

Women lie about the rape

Question 13

Victim Masochism

Answer 13

Women enjoy being raped

Question 14

Rape culture

Answer 14

A set of cultural attitudes and beliefs about gender and sexuality, e.g., that it is natural and normal for men to be sexually aggressive and that rape is inevitable.

Question 15

Date rape

Answer 15

One of the most common forms of rape, where the assault is carried out by a date or significant other.
This concept is tolerated by those who hold more traditional views of gender roles.

Question 16

Sexual scripts

Answer 16

Culturally transmitted expectations that frame men as the “aggressors” in sexual situations.

Question 17

Affirmative Consent

Answer 17

In which partners explicitly and voluntarily agree to have sexual relations with one another rather than assume or infer it based on nonverbal cues.

Question 18

Restorative justice

Answer 18

An alternative approach to the treatment of both rapists and victims, with the basic premise that harm has been done and that someone is responsible for repairing it.

Question 19

Why are Restorative Justice programs controversial?

Answer 19

On one hand, there are concerns that they may trivialize rape and revictimize women. Such a program should be undertaken only if the victim agrees to it.
On the other hand, it may offer the much-needed opportunity for rape victims to feel a sense of control and validation

Question 20

Flaws of the traditional methods of handling rape in the criminal justice system

Answer 20

• They often treat the crime as minor and do nothing to halt men who are embarking on a career of sexual offending
• Those rapists who are punished are not held accountable in a way that will reduce their threat of offending again in the future
• The proccesses traumatize victims and their families

Question 21

Intimate partner violence (IPV)

Answer 21

Aggressive behaviors directed toward an intimate partner, including sexual violence, physical violence, stalking or harassment, verbal aggression, coercive control, and control of reproductive or sexual health

Question 22

Consequences of IPV for Victims

Answer 22

IPV can have severe physical (bruises, cuts, miscarriages, damage to joints, partial loss of hearing or vision, and/or even death) and psychological (shock, denial, confusion, depression, suicide, disturbed sleeping patterns, etc) health consequences for victims.

Question 23

Why do some women who are victims of IPV stay with the batterer?

Answer 23

• Hope that he will reform
• Having no other place to go
• Fear that there will be reprisals from the batterer and that he may even kill her
• Concern about the children (they need a father, and so on)
• Lack of support from family & friends
• Financial dependence (the woman cannot support herself)

Question 24

Consequences of IPV for Children

Answer 24

Men who are violent toward their intimate partners are more likely to be hostile and aggressive toward their children and display less positive parenting behaviors generally.

Children and adolescents who are exposed to IPV show signs of trauma such as PTSD, increased aggressive behavior, depression, anxiety, and poorer school performance.

Question 25

The Intergenerational Transmission of IPV

Answer 25

That is, children who grow up with IPV in their home may grow up to perpetrate or be victimized by IPV.
Childhood exposure to parents’ IPV triples the chances that one commits IPV in adulthood and also triples the chances that one is the victim of IPV in adulthood.

Question 26

Characteristics of IPV Perpetrators

Answer 26

Violent husbands are more likely to have an insecure or disorganized attachment style and to be more preoccupied with and jealous about their wives. These men are likely to feel anxious or unsure that their partner will love them and stay with them; controlling their partners might be a strategy to make them stay.
Male IPV perpetrators also have more traditional attitudes about gender roles and attitudes condoning marital violence.
Are more likely to have experienced childhood trauma, neglect, or sexual/emotional/physical abuse.

Question 27

Family-only batterers

Answer 27

Tend to be the least violent and show little violence toward people outside their family. They show little psychopathology (signs of mental illnesses/disorders) aside from beating their partners

Question 28

Dysphoric-borderline batterers

Answer 28

Engage in moderate or severe violence toward his partner but not toward others. These perpetrators demonstrate the most psychopathology, exhibiting depression and anxiety and borderline personality characteristics such as extreme emotion fluctuations and intense, unstable interpersonal relationships

Question 29

Generally violent-antisocial batterers

Answer 29

The most violent, both toward their partner and toward others, and they are likely to exhibit antisocial personality disorder.