It is impossible, of course, to know what exactly happened in this messy debacle, but as
a researcher of domestic violence I was interested in the finger pointing and
accusations. When a case of violence comes to light, a curious thing happens. There is
outrage, but it is often directed at all parties, including the victim. In the Johnny Depp
and Amber Heard case, it is not clear who is at fault or what happened, but in Heard’s
accusations, she claims to be the victim. Nevertheless, in a study I did with colleagues,
we examined the public’s reactions to this claim and found that four times as many
people attacked her rather than him. Our purpose was not to determine the accuracy of
Heard’s allegations or decide if she was a victim or a perpetrator. We simply wanted to
analyze the social media comments that followed her claims.
In the months after the story broke, we gathered and analyzed hundreds of posts from
Facebook and comments on news sites. People were often judgmental, sarcastic, and
angry with both Depp and Heard, as well as their fellow commenters. Over 37% of the
posts specifically blamed or attacked Heard, with people questioning her story,
credibility, and character. Only 9% of the comments blamed Depp. People cited
evidence and made their cases for and against each, while others made comments
about domestic violence or got into arguments. Although the details of this situation are
clearly debatable, strong reactions often happen in situations where someone has been
injured. Even in other cases where it is more obvious someone has been victimized,
many criticize the one being hurt. Why? Here are four reasons we blame victims.
1. We like Certainty
It is upsetting to hear about people hurting each other, and explaining it helps us feel
better. Creating a simple reason is easy, but most cases of domestic violence are
messy. Outsiders hear a few details, and assume they know how best to solve the
problem. Sometimes this includes expecting the victim to fix it. For instance, it is
common to tell victims to leave abusers, but this can be excruciatingly difficult, and if it