“She did see warning signs but chose to ignore them”: perpetrator justification and victim-blaming narratives in true crime podcasts about intimate partner violence

Abstract

Prior research on the media portrayal of intimate partner violence (IPV) shows that perpetrator justification and victim-blaming narratives are common. However, no researcher has yet examined true crime podcasts for these portrayals. For this study, the researcher examined four season-long true crime podcasts about IPV for perpetrator justification and victim-blaming narratives using qualitative document analysis. Across podcasts, perpetrators were commonly presented as having mental health issues and as growing up in environments conducive to abuse and around abusive men. Alternatively, women were blamed for their victimization via descriptions of their flirtatious/sexual behavior, their decision to stay in the relationship, and their naivete about IPV or relationships. The harmful nature of these portrayals is discussed.