Attributions of responsibility in father-daughter incest in relation to gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity, and experiential differences in participants

One hundred and fifty-seven state college undergraduates (84 females and 73 males) answered the Jackson Incest Blame Scale [JIBS] modified to include mother-blaming after reading one of four vignettes about father-daughter incest in high or low SES White or Black families. Responses about incest prevalence (created for this study) in families with different ethnic and SES backgrounds varied with gender and SES of participants. Gender differences include blame of offender, situation, victim, and mother on the modified JIBS. Parents blamed the offender more than non-parents. Participants who knew an incest survivor disagreed significantly more with victim-blaming statements than those who did not know a survivor of incest.