Reactions to Rape Victims (1 CE)

Number of Credits: 1

This course is for: Clinical Psychologists, Counselors, and LMFTs

Course By: Ken Springer, PhD

Content By:  Bevens, C. L., Brown, A. L., & Loughnan, S. (2018). The role of self-objectification and women's blame, sympathy, and support for a rape victim. PLoS One, 13(6).

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0199808

Course Description:  The psychological impact of rape is exacerbated by negative reactions from others. Thus, it is important to understand the factors that influence these reactions. This article reported two studies on the role of self-objectification in women's reactions to female victims of rape. Women completed self-report surveys after viewing depictions of a rape in a film excerpt or written vignette. Contrary to hypotheses, both studies indicated that women with higher levels of self-objectification tend to show greater sympathy and support toward rape victims. The second study found that the aspect of self-objectification most strongly related to sympathy and support is belief in control over one's appearance. However, belief in control over one's appearance is less weakly related to sympathy and support when rape myth acceptance is high. The results have implications for supporting women who have experienced sexual aggression.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the hypothesized relationships among self-objectification, acceptance of rape myths, and blame, sympathy, and support for rape victims
2. Describe the main findings of the two studies concerning relationships among self-objectification and reactions to women who have experienced rape
3. Integrate the strengths and limitations of the studies, and summarize the clinical implications for supporting female victims of sexual aggression

Course Outline:

• Read and understand The role of self-objectification and women's blame, sympathy, and support for a rape victim
• Review the Course Description and Learning Objectives
• Analyze the concept of women's self-objectification and its expected associations with reactions to rape victims
• Integrate the study's key findings, strengths, limitations, and clinical implications
• Work through the post-test questions, using the article as the sole basis for your answers

Revisit the article for any missed questions and/or to better understand the relationship between women's self-objectification and reactions to rape victims

Approvals: