Widening the Lens: An Ecological Review of Campus Sexual Assault

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie A. Moylan ◽  
McKenzie Javorka
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Institutional Factors ◽  
Individual Risk ◽  
Level Variation ◽  
Campus Sexual Assault ◽  
Institutional Risk ◽  
Campus Services ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Campus Level

Varying prevalence rates of sexual violence across colleges and universities indicate the need to understand institutional factors underlying such variation; however, research often focuses exclusively on individual risk and protective factors, which both under theorizes and under explains the phenomenon of campus sexual assault. In this review, we propose that broadening to include campus- and contextual-level factors is necessary to fully explain campus sexual assault. Using an ecological approach, we identify and synthesize research related to campus-level variation in sexual violence, including availability of campus services and resources for survivors, institutional risk factors such as alcohol and party culture, athletics, and fraternities, and the impact of policies at the state and federal levels. Suggestions are made for conducting additional research at the campus level and implications of reframing campus sexual assault from an institutional lens are discussed, including the importance of this approach for practice, evaluation, and policy.

Behind closed doors: university employees as stakeholders in campus sexual violence

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 290-304
Author(s):  
Marina Rosenthal ◽  
Carly P. Smith ◽  
Jennifer J. Freyd
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Campus Sexual Assault ◽  
University Employees ◽  
Ongoing Relationship ◽  
Sexual Assault Case ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine employees’ experiences of institutional betrayal after a campus sexual assault. Design/methodology/approach University employees completed online measures evaluating various attitudes toward the university. Findings The majority of participants reported institutional betrayal in the university’s response to the case. Employees who reported institutional betrayal indicated significantly lower attachment to the university than employees who reported no institutional betrayal. Institutional betrayal mediated the relationship between institutional attachment and institutional forgiveness. Social implications Universities’ failure to respond effectively and promptly to sexual violence does not go unnoticed by employees. Institutional actions after sexual assault have the power to damage employees’ attachment to the university – employees who experienced institutional betrayal were less attached, and ultimately less forgiving of the institution. Universities’ poor prevention and response efforts impact their entire campus community and compromise community members’ ongoing relationship with the school. Originality/value College students’ active resistance to sexual violence on campus is featured prominently on the pages of major news outlets. Yet, less featured in research and media is the impact of campus sexual assault on university employees, particularly after sexual assault cases are mishandled. This study offers perspective on employees’ experiences and reactions after a prominent sexual assault case.

Mandatory Reporting and Adolescent Sexual Assault

2021 ◽  
pp. 152483802110302
Author(s):  
Caroline Bailey ◽  
Jessica Shaw ◽  
Abril Harris
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Mandatory Reporting ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Long Term Consequences ◽  
The Impact

Adolescents experience alarmingly high rates of sexual violence, higher than any other age-group. This is concerning as sexual violence can have detrimental effects on teens’ personal and relational well-being, causing long-term consequences for the survivor. Still, adolescents are hesitant to report the assault or seek out services and resources. When an adolescent survivor does seek out services, they may interact with a provider who is a mandatory reporter. This scoping review sought to synthesize the current U.S.-based research on the role, challenges, and impact of mandatory reporting (MR) in the context of adolescent sexual assault. Database searches using key words related to MR, sexual assault, and adolescence identified 29 peer-reviewed articles. However, none of these articles reported on empirical investigations of the phenomenon of interest and instead consisted of case studies, commentaries, and position papers. The scoping review was expanded to provide a lay of the land of what we know about the intersection of adolescent sexual assault and MR. Results of the review indicate that though implemented broadly, MR policies vary between individuals, organizations, and states and have historically been challenging to implement due to this variation, conflicts with other laws, tension between these policies and providers’ values, and other factors. Based on the available literature, the impact of MR in the context of adolescent sexual assault is unknown. There is a critical need for research and evaluation on the implementation and impact of MR policies, especially in the context of adolescents and sexual violence.

Contextualizing the 1990 campus security act and campus sexual assault in intersectional and historical terms

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-102
Author(s):  
Rebecca Dolinsky Graham ◽  
Amanda Konradi
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Campus Crime ◽  
Sexual Assaults ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rhetorical Construction ◽  
Campus Sexual Assault ◽  
Lehigh University ◽  
Campus Security ◽  
Crime Legislation ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Residential college campuses remain dangerous – especially for women students who face a persistent threat of sexual violence, despite passage of the 1990 Campus Security Act and its multiple amendments. Campuses have developed new programming, yet recent research confirms one in five women will experience some form of sexual assault before graduating. Research on campus crime legislation does not describe in detail the context in which it developed. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the effects of early rhetorical frames on the ineffective policy. Design/methodology/approach The authors discuss the rhetorical construction of “campus crime,” and related “criminals” and “victims,” through content analysis and a close interpretive reading of related newspaper articles. Findings The 1986 violent rape and murder of Jeanne Clery at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania became iconic in media descriptions of campus crime. Media drew attention to the racial and classed dimensions of the attack on Clery, but elided the misogyny central to all sexual assaults. This reinforced a stereotype that “insiders” on campuses, primarily white and middle class, were most vulnerable to “outsider” attacks by persons of color. Colleges and universities adopted rhetoric of “endangerment” and “unreason” and focused on what potential victims could do to protect themselves, ignoring the role of students in perpetrating crime. Research limitations/implications This analysis does not link rhetoric in newspapers to legislative discussion. Further analysis is necessary to confirm the impact of particular claims and to understand why some claims may have superseded others. Originality/value This analysis focuses critical attention on how campus crime policy is shaped by cultural frames.

scholarly journals The Impact of College Men’s Sexual Coercion Perpetration on Proclivity toward Sexual Assault and Their Cognitive and Emotional Reactions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Garrido-Macías ◽  
Inmaculada Valor-Segura ◽  
Francisca Expósito
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Sexual Coercion ◽  
Sexual Aggression ◽  
Video Clip ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Individual Risk ◽  
Sexual Interaction ◽  
Attributions Of Responsibility ◽  
The Impact

Sexual coercion is one of the most frequent manifestations of sexual aggression that occurs within intimate relationships. The current research examined the role of previous perpetration of sexual coercion toward an intimate partner on men’s proclivity toward partner sexual assault and their cognitive and emotional reactions to a sexual assault scenario. Male college students with (n = 45) and without (n = 52) self-reported previous sexual coercion perpetration watched a video clip showing an unwanted sexual interaction that included verbal and physical tactics used by the perpetrator, and they indicated the point at which they would stop acting like the man (response latency), their degree of identification with the perpetrator, their attributions of responsibility to victim and perpetrator, and their emotional state. Results indicated that prior sexual coercion perpetrators scored higher on sexual assault proclivity and reported lower responsibility attributed to the perpetrator than did nonperpetrators. No differences were found in attributed victim’s responsibility and emotional reactions. Furthermore, the increase in severity of the sexual aggression situation resulted in lower identification with the man, higher responsibility toward him, and more negative emotions in general. Findings could have implications for both the assessment of individual risk of future sexual assault and primary prevention efforts.

scholarly journals Starting the Conversation: Are Campus Sexual Assault Policies Related to the Prevalence of Campus Sexual Assault?

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (21) ◽  
pp. 3315-3343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie M. DeLong ◽  
Laurie M. Graham ◽  
Erin P. Magee ◽  
Sarah Treves-Kagan ◽  
Christine L. Gray ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Sex Discrimination ◽  
Sexual Misconduct ◽  
School Level ◽  
American Universities ◽  
Campus Sexual Assault ◽  
Association Of American Universities ◽  
The Impact

One goal of university campus sexual assault (CSA) policies is to help prevent CSA. Federal guidance in the 2014 White House Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault Checklist for Campus Sexual Misconduct Policies suggests 10 elements for inclusion in CSA policies (e.g., Policy Introduction, Grievance/Adjudication), and outlines policy topics to be included within each element (Policy Introduction includes two topics: statement of prohibition against sex discrimination including sexual misconduct and statement of commitment to address sexual misconduct). However, no research has examined whether CSA policies impact CSA prevalence. To begin addressing this gap, we studied 24 universities participating in the 2015 Association of American Universities Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct. We linked 2014-2015 data from these universities’ CSA policies and their CSA prevalence findings from the 2015 Association of American Universities (AAU) survey. To test whether the comprehensiveness of schools’ CSA policies was related to schools’ CSA prevalence, we examined the degree to which the CSA policies included recommended policy content from the aforementioned Checklist. Policies were characterized as more comprehensive if they included greater numbers of Checklist topics. We then correlated the number of topics within the policies with school-level CSA prevalence. We also explored whether there was lower CSA prevalence among schools with policies containing particular topics. Results suggested that greater comprehensiveness of schools’ entire CSA policies was negatively correlated with CSA prevalence; however, these findings did not approach statistical significance. The number of negative correlations observed between schools’ CSA policy elements and CSA prevalence among undergraduate women was greater than expected by chance alone, suggesting a possible connection between comprehensive CSA policies and CSA prevalence. Schools with policies that included a topic on their sexual assault response team had the lowest CSA prevalence for both women and men, and schools that included topics describing grievance/adjudication procedures had lower CSA prevalence. This study provides a novel examination of CSA and could inform needed research related to the impact of CSA policies on CSA.

scholarly journals Sorority Women's Perceptions of Survivors' Services and Justice on an Urban Campus

2022 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Giuffre ◽  
◽  
Elaine Gunnison ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Campus Services ◽  
Sorority Women ◽  
Women’S Perceptions ◽  
Urban Campus

While researchers have attempted to estimate the prevalence of and identify risk factors for sexual assault, less is understood about the relationship among populations at high risk for sexual assault and their perceptions of survivors’ services organizations and justice. The purpose of this investigation is to contribute to existing research through exploratory qualitative analyses of 43 undergraduate sorority women’s perceptions of survivors’ services and justice on a large, urban campus in the Pacific Northwest in the United States. Results of these exploratory analyses revealed that the sorority women had preferences for informal confidants and services whom they could trust concerning matters of sexual violence. The women also discussed that they would prefer confidential and mental health competent services for fear that disclosing sexual violence might draw public attention to them. On the same note, the women expressed a preference for justice that would prioritize their reputation and minimize stigmatization and highlighted how disclosure of sexual violence could impact their social, educational, and employment opportunities. Moreover, they described a fear of being blamed or not believed about sexual violence. Lastly, participants supported relatively punitive sanctions for perpetrators. Overall, participants cited many barriers to accessing formal support services, exposing the persistent justice gap that remains for this population. Findings suggest a need for outreach regarding campus services designed to address sexual violence.

The Social Roots of Sexual Violence

Contexts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 72-73
Author(s):  
Kelsey J. Drotning
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Public Health Perspective ◽  
Campus Sexual Assault ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Future ◽  
Landmark Study ◽  
Ecological Public Health

In their book, Sexual Citizens: A Landmark Study of Sex, Power, and Assault on Campus, Jennifer S. Hirsch and Shamus Khan seek to understand why campus sexual assault happens and what can be done to prevent it in the future by identifying its social roots. The book approaches sexual assault from an ecological public health perspective, but I think at its core, I think it is also an argument for dismantling power disparities within institutions.

The Impact of Campus-Level Factors on Peers’ Perceived Ability to Support a Survivor

2019 ◽  
pp. 088626051988016
Author(s):  
Julia Cusano ◽  
Sarah McMahon
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Community Factors ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Perceived Ability ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Campus Level

Campus sexual violence is a complex issue that has led to a proliferation of federal legislation and best practices with the intent to better support student survivors. Despite these efforts, research suggests that many survivors do not disclose to formal resources on campus, but rather, to their peers. While there is growing theoretical and empirical support for the role of peer-level influences on both preventing and responding to sexual violence on college campuses, our understanding of students’ confidence in knowing how to respond is limited. Furthermore, disclosure research has yet to assess the impact of broader campus-level factors on students’ confidence in being able to support survivors. In the present exploratory study, undergraduate students responded to a survey, which included questions about receiving disclosures and perceived ability to respond as well as measures of individual-level correlates (gender, race, prior victimization) and campus community factors (perceptions of the university’s responsiveness, exposure to information, awareness of resources). Bivariate analyses were conducted to examine whether certain students were more likely to receive a disclosure on campus. To look at the impact of individual- and community-level factors, a series of hierarchical logistic regression models were estimated. Ability to respond to a disclosure was measured using three separate dichotomous variables. Findings show that 34% of our sample has received at least one disclosure of sexual violence from a peer since coming to campus. In addition, results show that above and beyond individual correlates, campus-level factors impacted students’ confidence in their roles as disclosure recipients. These results have significant implications for sexual violence programs on campus. Suggestions for future research are also discussed.

IN BED WITH VIRGIL: AUSONIUS’WEDDING CENTOAND ITS RECEPTION

2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-250
Author(s):  
Sigrid Schottenius Cullhed
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Logical Consequence ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
The Body ◽  
Sexual Violation ◽  
Artistic Representation ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact

Judging from its history of effect, theWedding Centoproduced by the fourth-century poet Ausonius is in fact not a poem about a wedding at all. It is a work about the ethics of textual recycling; about the impact of political power and patronage on literary production; about smut, or rather about where the responsibility lies when a reader sees smut when none was intended. It is also a poem about sexual violence, but this aspect of the text has been largely missing in its scholarly reception. Such an absence is perhaps to be expected. Sexual assault is a notoriously under-reported offence, and its invisibility tends to extend into the realm of artistic representation and its scholarly treatment. During the last couple of decades, for instance, film scholars have addressed the need to re-read cinematic portrayals of rape in order to unearth it from ‘metaphor and euphemism, naturalized plot device and logical consequence…restoring rape to the literal, to the body: restoring that is, the violence – the physical, sexual violation’. This issue must be addressed here, but first a few words about theCentoand the most prominent trends in its reception.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document