Citation

Harsey SJ, Freyd JJ. J. Interpers. Violence 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/08862605231169751

PMID

37154429

Abstract

DARVO (deny, attack, reverse victim and offender) is a response exhibited by perpetrators to deflect blame and responsibility. When using DARVO, perpetrators deny their involvement in wrongdoing, attack their victims' credibility, and argue that they are the real victims. The purpose of this study was to measure the influence of DARVO and another manipulative tactic-insincere perpetrator apologies-on observers' judgments of a victim and perpetrator in a fictional sexual violence scenario. Perpetrator DARVO was experimentally manipulated via fictional vignettes to measure their impact on perceived perpetrator and victim abusiveness, responsibility, and believability. Data from 230 undergraduate students revealed that participants who were exposed to perpetrator DARVO rated the perpetrator as less abusive (ηp2 = .09, 90% CI [0.04, 0.15]), less responsible for the sexual assault (ηp2 = .02, [0.001, 0.06]), and more believable compared (ηp2 = .03, [0.002, 0.07]) to participants who were exposed to a perpetrator who did not use DARVO. DARVO-exposed participants rated the victim as more abusive (ηp2 = .09, [0.04, 0.14]) and less believable (ηp2 = .08, [0.03, 0.14]), and also expressed less willingness to punish the perpetrator and greater willingness to punish the victim. Insincere apologies had minimal impact on ratings. By promoting distrust in victims and less punitive views of perpetrators, DARVO might contribute to rape-supporting outcomes such as victim blaming, greater victim distress, and low rates of rape reporting and perpetrator prosecution.

Language: en

Keywords

offenders; sexual assault; sexual harassment; reporting/disclosure