Are rape victims judged on the basis of perception, meaning do we blame victims for becoming victims?

As we learned from last week’s discussion, one of the most important aspects of any journal article is to understand the ways in which the data was collected. If we understand the methodology, we will know whether the results are reliable, valid and credible.
Here you will find a link to the following journal article: Assertiveness and Attributions of Blame toward Victims of Sexual Assault (2010) by Holly Rusinko, April Bradley and Joseph Miller. (Click the PDF icon for the full text.) For this assignment, you will write a critique of the journal article.
After you read this article, write a 5-6 page paper, 12 inch font, double-spaced, New Times Roman Print, which responds to the following:
Give a summary of the article (i.e., what was the study about, who were they studying, how did they do the study, etc.) (1 page)
Discuss the authors’ main findings and conclusions (1/2 page)
Critique the authors’ work – identify strengths and weaknesses of their conclusions and their method of studying the problem (1-2 pages)
Give your opinion on the findings (were they important, useful, in what way? was the study worthless? interesting? how? etc..) (1/2 page)
Now that you have read about a variety of criminal behaviors, which theory do you think best explains crimes such as rape and sexual assault? Why? (1 page)
Are rape victims judged on the basis of perception, meaning do we blame victims for becoming victims? How can labeling theory help us to understand why society often places the blame on the rape victim, rather than the rapist? (1 Page)

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