'Bad things happen to Bad people': Psychology behind 'Victim - Blaming'

Since childhood, we were asked to justify our actions and if we were told not to do so such act, then we had no right to cry over the same. Using the same analogy, if we are told not to act in a certain way, the ones construed by our patriarchal society, then the blame for whatever the act may be, in any circumstance will be our fault because we were outside the socially drawn borders that one shouldn't dare to cross it. The former is done out of concern while the latter is to justify the so-called rules laid down by society.

One of the various ingredients of rape culture includes Victim-Blaming. Regularly it takes many forms, often subtle and indirect, but lies within most households even in the educated and socially outspoken class. Victim- blaming is the behavior of certain people to shift the responsibility of the act occurred to the victim than that of the perpetrator. This very tendency to portray the victim is responsible for the crime that occurred, puts the perpetrators in a higher pedestal paving the way to normalize such behavior among others.

Dr Ryan in his book, ''Blaming the Victim,'' defined the phenomenon as ''justifying inequality by finding defects in the victims of inequality.'' He illustrated the same through a coloring book that was critical of a mother who did not constantly watch her infant make sure the child did not eat lead paint chips. But the need to educate about the danger of eating lead paint was not emphasized by any. The need to educate the society about acting in a certain way is not prioritized as compared to considering what led to such events being into existence. Similarly, there arises a need to educate the society why it is important to respect others despite whatever the circumstance they are in, there should be no justification for acting in such heinous ways.

The biggest factor that endorses this conduct is the “just world hypothesis”. It is based on an individual’s belief that the world is safe and protected even when in the face of hardship. They hold on to the idea that good things happen to good people and bad things to bad people. So they believe the victim of the crime had done something “bad” to be placed in that circumstance. This frame of mind can be changed only if the society is aware of all the elements in the situation, shifting the perspective from the actions of the victim to the actions of the perpetrators. 

Most laws in the early centuries shifted the role of victim to that of the accused in cases of sexual assault. This included questioning about the physical appearance of the victim, the lifestyle and their actions. While the reason for the act of the perpetrators was rarely discussed as they were perceived to be helpless ones in the situation. 

Even though there has been a considerable shift in reducing such acts of victim-blaming, there still exists a large population who follows the archaic mindset. This could be of various reasons, such as lack of sex education, resistance to departure from the patriarchal norms of the society etc. Whatever it may be, it is high time that we address this situation in our homes and promotes an open communication so that victims are not given the blame for the act of an inhumane perpetrator.