Blame the System, not the Victim: Understanding the Lack of Advocacy for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

Julisa J. Lopez; Jamie L. Yellowtail; Andres Pinedo; Tanya M. Smith; Kristina G. Chamberlin; Stephanie A. Fryberg; Arianne E. Eason

doi:10.1177/01461672241265993

Blame the System, not the Victim: Understanding the Lack of Advocacy for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

Julisa J. Lopez^*, Jamie L. Yellowtail, Andres Pinedo, Tanya M. Smith, Kristina G. Chamberlin, Stephanie A. Fryberg, Arianne E. Eason

^*Corresponding author for this work

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

More than 5,000 Native American and Alaska Native women and girls go missing annually in the United States, and murder is the third leading cause of death for those aged 10 to 24. The current studies assess why, despite such statistics, individuals who are not Native American fail to advocate for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). The Pilot Study (N = 205) and Study 1 (N = 3,992) revealed that greater cognitive invisibility of contemporary Native Peoples (i.e., the absence of cognitive representations) was related to greater minimization of Native Peoples’ experiences with racism. Racism minimization was associated with greater blaming of MMIWG victims and less blaming of societal contributors to the epidemic. These factors predicted greater apathy toward MMIWG and less MMIWG advocacy. The results suggest that the cognitive invisibility of Native Peoples affords attitudes and beliefs that allow non-Native individuals to deny, justify, and distance themselves from the MMIWG epidemic.

Original language	English (US)
Journal	Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672241265993
State	Accepted/In press - 2024

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project was supported by Mellon (#2009-09307); Doris Duke (#2021206); and National Science Foundation (#2041233; #2041234).

Keywords

Native American
apathy
blame attributions
cognitive invisibility
gendered violence
racism minimization

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Social Psychology

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1177/01461672241265993

Cite this

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title = "Blame the System, not the Victim: Understanding the Lack of Advocacy for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls",

abstract = "More than 5,000 Native American and Alaska Native women and girls go missing annually in the United States, and murder is the third leading cause of death for those aged 10 to 24. The current studies assess why, despite such statistics, individuals who are not Native American fail to advocate for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). The Pilot Study (N = 205) and Study 1 (N = 3,992) revealed that greater cognitive invisibility of contemporary Native Peoples (i.e., the absence of cognitive representations) was related to greater minimization of Native Peoples{\textquoteright} experiences with racism. Racism minimization was associated with greater blaming of MMIWG victims and less blaming of societal contributors to the epidemic. These factors predicted greater apathy toward MMIWG and less MMIWG advocacy. The results suggest that the cognitive invisibility of Native Peoples affords attitudes and beliefs that allow non-Native individuals to deny, justify, and distance themselves from the MMIWG epidemic.",

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author = "Lopez, {Julisa J.} and Yellowtail, {Jamie L.} and Andres Pinedo and Smith, {Tanya M.} and Chamberlin, {Kristina G.} and Fryberg, {Stephanie A.} and Eason, {Arianne E.}",

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Blame the System, not the Victim: Understanding the Lack of Advocacy for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

Abstract

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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