an explanation on how biases related to illusions of control can affect layperson's judgements on rape?

Question

and infant mortality

Answer 1

Illusions of control are just that -- illusions that someone could have, should have, might have had CONTROL over a situation so the outcome would have been different. As for rape victims, laypersons believe a woman should have or could have "fought back" or otherwise protected herself against the attack (the illusion of control), therefore their perceptions of the perpetrator are mitigated by the amount of control they "give" to the victim. Frequently this is the result of what is also known as "defensive attribution bias." This is a position we take (defensively) to tell ourselves (subconsciously) that this could never happen to us (rape/victimization) because WE would have more control/do something different.

Similar application of the notion to infant mortality -- parents had more control than actual (especially for SIDS deaths, or accidental death).