The results supported the hypothesis that provocative children would elicit higher levels of blame for their own abuse. Previous research has shown that having a child perceived as being difficult to handle is the best predictor of harsh parental treatment. These results demonstrated that provocative children are more likely to receive abusive parenting and more likely to be blamed for parental behaviors. The results also supported the hypothesis that male subjects would attribute greater victim blame to the child than would female subjects. The assertion that participants would ascribe greater levels of child blame when the parent was a father, rather than a mother, was also confirmed. Finally, the findings were consistent with earlier research that showed the participants indicating higher levels of child blame to boy victims than to girls. 3 tables and 42 references