Social Representations of Sexual Abuse: Maniac and Victim through the Eyes of Young Men and Women

The study on representations of the maniac and the victim among groups of young men and women was carried out in the framework of the structured approach and S. Moscovici theory of social representations. The representatives of various youth groups were the object of the study. The sample consisted of 224 participants aged 17 years to 31 years - 107 males and 117 females. The subject of the study was social representations of the maniac and the victim. We hypothesized that social representations of the maniac and the victim were different among the separate groups in the study: social representations are diffuse in the group of men and are detailed among women, which is associated with the protective function of representations in each group. The main research method was survey, which included a method of free associations and a modified version of “Myth” questionnaire. The results indicate that the social representations of women about the maniac and the victim are more consistent and detailed than those of men. The options of mechanism “not-me - others” were identified: deindentification and dehumanization. We also show that images of a maniac and a victim become depleted in the context of own representations of a man and a woman.

1. Andreeva G.M. Psihologiya social'nogo poznaniya. M., 2005.
2. Begunova L.A. Problemy razrabotki i ispol'zovaniya psihologo-kriminalisticheskogo portreta podozrevaemogo pri raskrytii iznasilovanii i ubiistv, sopryazhennyh s deistviyami seksual'nogo haraktera: Avtoref. dis. ... kand. yur. nauk. M., 2002.
3. Dvoryanchikov N.V. Polorolevaya identichnost' u lic s deviantnym seksual'nym povedeniem: Avtoref. dis. ... kand. psihol. nauk. M., 1998.
4. Dvoryanchikov N.V., Logunova O.A., Reshetova D.V. Vzaimosvyaz' nekotoryh lichnostnyh osobennostei i harakteristik kriminal'nogo povedeniya u seriinyh seksual'nyh ubiic// Psihologiya i pravo. 2010. №1.
5. Logunova O.A., Dvoryanchikov N.V. K voprosu o razrabotke psihologicheskogo portreta seriinogo seksual'nogo ubiicy// Kochenovskie chteniya Psihologiya i pravo v sovremennoi Rossii. Sbornik tezisov uchastnikov Vserossiiskoi konferencii po yuridicheskoi psihologii s mezhdunarodnym uchastiem. M., 2010.
6. Abric J.-C. A Structural Approach to Social Representations // Representations of the Social: Bridging Theoretical Traditions/ Ed. by K.Deaux, G.Philogène. Oxford, 2001.
7. Bonnec Y. Identité régionale, nationale et européenne. Organisation et statut de la mémoire sociale au sein des représentations sociales// La mémoire sociale: Identités et Représentations Sociales/ Sous la dir. de S. Laurens, N. Roussiau. Rennes, 2002.
8. Flament C., Rouquette M.-L. Anatomie des idées ordinaires. P. 2003.
9. Jovchelovitch S. Repenser la diversité de la connaissance: polyphasie cognitive, croyances et représentations// Les savoirs du quotidien/ Sous la dir. V.Haas. Rennes, 2006.
10. Kruglanski A., Dechesne M., Orehek E., Pierro A. Three Decades of Lay Epistemics: The Why, How, and Who of Knowledge Formation// European Review of Social Psychology. 2009. Vol. 20. №1.
11. Moliner P. Une approche chronologique des représentations sociales// La dynamique des représentations sociales/ Ed.by P.Moliner. Grenoble, 2001.
12. Moscovici S. La Psychanalyse: son image et son public. P., 1961.
13. Moscovici S. The Phenomenon of Social Representations // Social Representations: Explorations in Social Psychology. S.Moscovici/ Ed. by G.Duveen. N.Y., 2000.
14. Moscovici S. Why a Theory of Social Representations? // Representations of the Social: Bridging Theoretical Traditions / Eds. by K.Deaux, G.Philogène. Oxford, 2001.
15. Vergès P. L’Evocation de l’argent: une méthode pour la définition du noyau central d’une représentation// Bulletin de psychologie. 1992. T. XLV.