"The
just-world phenomenon, also called the
just-world theory,
just-world fallacy,
just-world effect, or
just-world hypothesis, refers to the tendency for people to want to believe that the world is "
just" so strongly that when they witness an otherwise inexplicable injustice they will rationalize it by searching for things that the victim might have done to deserve it. This deflects their anxiety, and lets them continue to believe the world is a just place, but at the expense of blaming victims for things that were not, objectively, their fault."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-world_phenomenon