Maternal blame: battered women and abused children.
Participants (N = 126) read one of four scenarios depicting an incident of child physical abuse inflicted by the father. Scenarios varied history of wife abuse (present vs. absent) and severity of child abuse (battering vs. death). Overall, the father was held highly responsible. Greater maternal culpability was assigned when a history of wife abuse was present. The degree to which the mother should have been able to predict the incident of child abuse and maternal responsibility were mitigated when the abuse resulted in the death of her child. Perceptions of maternal psychological stability were jeopardized as a function of the presence of wife abuse. Implications are discussed.
Terrance
Cheryl
C
Psychology Department, University of North Dakota, USA.
Plumm
Karyn
K
Little
Betsi
B
D000328:Adult; D000739:Anecdotes as Topic; D018585:Battered Women / Q000145:classification* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000145:classification* / Q000523:psychology; D005219:Father-Child Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D012752:Shame; D012938:Social Perception; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000145:classification; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States