General and Culturally Specific Factors Influencing Black and White Rape Survivors' Self-Esteem

Bibliographic Data

ID12004124
AuthorsH A Neville (0000-0001-8053-0519, Department of Educational Psychology and Afro-American Studies and Research Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, corresponding author), Euna Oh (Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Lisa B Spanierman (0000-0003-4878-9787, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Mary J Heppner (University of Missouri), Mary Clark (Galveston College), Mary Jo Clark (Galveston College)
Year2004
Volume28
Issue1
Pages83-94
Publication date2004-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePsychology of Women Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0361-6843 • E-ISSN: 1471-6402
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1111/j.1471-6402.2004.00125.x
OpenAlexW2128422262
LanguageEN
Citations received33
References cited41

Grounded in a culturally inclusive ecological model of sexual assault recovery framework, the influence of personal (e.g., prior victimization), rape context (e.g., degree of injury during last assault), and postrape response factors (e.g., general and cultural attributions, rape related coping) on self-esteem of Black and White college women, who were survivors of attempted and completed rape, were examined. As predicted, Black and White women identified similar general variables (e.g., general attributions) as important in the recovery process. Black women, however, identified a cultural factor (i.e., cultural attributions) as more important in influencing their reactions to the last rape compared to their White counterparts. Using path analysis, findings from this cross-sectional study indicated that severity of the last assault and prior victimization were related to lower self-esteem indirectly through avoidance coping strategies, and victim blame attributions for the latter. Results also suggested that the link between cultural attributions and self-esteem was explained through victim blame attributions, primarily for Black participants. The model accounted for 26% of variance in self-esteem

Attribution · Blame · Coping (psychology · Developmental psychology · Poison control · Self-esteem · Sexual assault · Suicide prevention · Clinical Psychology · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Intimate Partner and Family Violence · Psychology · Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies · Social Psychology