Campus Sexual Assault Research Articles

Understand practical application for complying with NCAA policy on campus sexual violence

The NCAA has continued to enhance its approach to preventing and addressing sexual violence since 2010. In support of that effort, the NCAA initially provided and later updated a comprehensive toolkit with suggested actions for member institutions to help guide them in developing and implementing effective practices, procedures, and education on the subject. (See https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/ssi/violence/SSI_SexualViolencePreventionToolkit.pdf.)

Fighting Back Against College Campus Sexual Violence: Teaching and Supervising Courses to Empower Students

The present article focuses on how faculty at two different institutions independently developed academic courses utilizing feminist and intersectional theories to help empower students to “fight back” against college campus sexual violence. As college-aged women have one of the highest rates of sexual violence, it is imperative to provide them with the tools to successfully eradicate sexual violence. We discuss the two main components of our courses, rape culture and allyship, and provide specific assigned readings, class discussion topics, and active learning and reflection assignments to help instructors develop their own sexual violence prevention courses.

Understand how to comply with NCAA campus sexual violence policy

The NCAA has continued to enhance its approach to preventing and addressing sexual violence since 2010. In support of that effort, the NCAA initially provided and later updated a comprehensive toolkit with suggested actions for member institutions to help guide them in developing and implementing effective practices, procedures, and education on the subject. (See https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/ssi/violence/SSI_SexualViolencePreventionToolkit.pdf.)

Key issue operatives in an issue-driven network: Public relations as a “pocket of strength” in campus sexual assault awareness and prevention

Within public relations, little research has been conducted on the relationship between networks and social issues management, particularly issues that are gendered and emotional. Through a social network analysis and in-depth interviews with individuals involved in a public university’s sexual assault prevention and awareness work, this study demonstrates a missed opportunity for public relations experts to serve as key issue operatives in an issue-driven network. Specifically, public relations issue operatives can bridge network structural holes in the development and dissemination of comprehensive sexual assault awareness and prevention communication at universities.

Structural Barriers to Accessing the Campus Assault Resources and Education (CARE) Offices at the University of California (UC) Campuses.

In order to continue pushing college campuses to the forefront of survivor-centered practice and student-centered care, it is imperative that the barriers students experience in accessing campus sexual violence resource centers be documented and addressed. This research evaluates student and staff perceptions of barriers to accessing the Campus Assault Resources and Education (CARE) offices on three University of California (UC) campuses. Data were collected by researchers from UC Speaks Up, a cross-campus research initiative at UC Los Angeles (UCLA), UC Santa Barbara (UCSB), and UC San Diego (UCSD) aimed at understanding factors that both contribute to and prevent sexual violence among college students. This analysis only included data that yielded insights into CARE's accessibility. Thematic analysis of 63 interviews and 27 focus group discussions was conducted using Dedoose. The following six thematic codes emerged from the data: (1) awareness of office, (2) confidentiality of services, (3) physical accessibility, (4) accessibility for vulnerable and marginalized groups, (5) utilization experiences, and (6) limited institutional support. To increase the accessibility of sexual violence resource centers in higher education, this study indicates that universities and campus sexual violence resource centers should (1) encourage survivor-centered cross-campus collaborations between sexual violence resource centers and other campus entries, (2) add more trainings that are tailored to the needs of vulnerable and marginalized communities, (3) increase the resource's campus-wide office exposure through multiple prevention education opportunities, and (4) better fund sexual violence resource centers. Implications for future research are discussed to maximize this study's public health impact.

Studying sequential processes of criminal defendant decision-making using a choose-your-own-adventure research paradigm

ABSTRACT Research into suspect and defendant decision-making has predominantly utilized three paradigms: retrospective accounts, vignettes, and cheating paradigm studies. All three have been limited in their ability to capture the complexity and interdependence of decisions across the legal process, prompting arguments for the need to devise additional research paradigms for the study of defendant decision-making. In this paper, we describe the development and initial testing of a new paradigm with which to study these decisions: a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure (CYOA) experiment depicting the entire legal process, in the context of a campus sexual assault allegation. Using data from 154 predominantly white (75%), college-age (M = 23.43, SD = 2.3), heterosexual (71%) male participant-defendants, we evaluate the advantages of the paradigm in capturing the complexity of the legal process, while generating strong participant immersion. Bayesian SEM analyses indicated interrelatedness among several participant decisions, highlighting the impact of self-assignment of guilt status and attorney advice on subsequent decisions. Participants also reported strong emotional investment in their character's outcomes, perceptions of agency and control, as well as situational realism within the paradigm. Results show the promise of the CYOA as a cost-effective, engaging, easily customizable paradigm with which to study criminal defendant decision-making.

The Dynamics of Interpersonal Relationships: Understanding Power and Control Tactics Among College Students.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health problem among college students and many students have difficulty identifying unhealthy and abusive behaviors. The aims of this mixed methods study are to: (a) create an inclusive tool that illustrates the power and control experiences of a diverse group of young adult college students, (b) ensure a broad scope of tactics are illustrated (related to technology and different types of relationships), and (c) measure the experience of these tactics, including how IPV knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy are influenced by a more inclusive tool. In Phase I, semi-structured interviews were conducted with students (n = 33) and staff (n = 10) at campus sexual assault centers at the three University of Michigan (UM) campuses to explore power and control tactics utilized by perpetrators on college campuses. Content analysis revealed 13 categories of tactics in college relationships. A draft tool was created and assessed for accuracy using cognitive interviews with students (n = 20) from all three campuses in Phase II. Cognitive interviews resulted in the following changes to the final tool: (a) new presentation of the Socioecological Model, (b) identification of substance use as a facilitator for multiple forms of violence, and (c) edits to tactic descriptions. In Phase III, 250 students at UM-Ann Arbor participated in a quasi-experimental evaluation in which 133 interacted with the tool and 117 received access to usual care (campus sexual misconduct policy). Both groups answered survey questions about IPV knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and experiences at baseline, and after one month and five months. Among all college participants in Phase III, 33.5% had experienced lifetime IPV and 25.2% had experienced IPV in the past year. There were no significant differences among IPV knowledge, attitudes, or self-efficacy by group. The Dynamics of Interpersonal Coercion Among College Students tool was created by incorporating current tactics utilized among a diverse college population.

‘Justice for Victims is Possible’: Student Reflections on #MeToo in an Online Gender and Justice Course

A Spring 2020 online undergraduate gender and justice course included a redesigned emphasis and approach with a focus on gender-based victimization in the #MeToo era. The course emphasized victims’ experience of gender-based violence and justice, with particular attention to how recent social change efforts by and for survivors of sexual violence have raised awareness and pointed to needed reforms in the justice system. Students demonstrated learning and personal reactions to the educational materials through journals and group discussions. This article investigates student engagement and reactions to #MeToo-related content in the course, using qualitative coding of online discussions and journal entries regarding course materials on campus sexual assault, #MeToo activism, and the personal memoir Know My Name (2019) by survivor Chanel Miller. Findings from qualitative analysis of student narratives in the course demonstrate how (1) students felt supported expressing varied emotions through online discussion of gender-based violence, and (2) while students sometimes experienced negative emotion, this was balanced with hope and empathy for victims in reflections on #MeToo and gender-based victimization topics. This research contributes to the literature on teaching about gender-based violence and exploring the student experience in this #MeToo era, with strategies for online approaches.

Who is responsible for campus sexual assaults? News media use, attributions of responsibility, and college students’ perceived risk and willingness to engage in preventive behaviours

ABSTRACT Using a survey of college students in the US, this study examines whether the way students attribute responsibility is associated with perceived risk of sexual assaults and willingness to engage in preventive behaviours. We then link news media use to attributions of responsibility to examine whether media use is related with risk perceptions and preventive behaviours through the mediation of attributions of responsibility. Attributing responsibility to victims was correlated with perceiving a lower risk, while finding colleges responsible was related with perceiving a greater risk. Such relationships were moderated by gender, suggesting that attributions of responsibility might have different effects between male and female students. Attributions of responsibility were also associated with helping victims and taking protective measures. Finally, news media use was positively correlated with blaming victims, while negatively associated with finding perpetrators responsible, and these attributions of responsibility mediated the link between media use and the outcome variables. Clinical Impact Statement This article will assist educators and professionals in designing strategies for sexual assault prevention by explaining how attributing responsibility to victims, perpetrators, or colleges is related to college student's perceived risk and willingness to engage in preventive behaviours.

Legal Briefs

Training videos address campus sexual assault cases Flexible international enrollment rules extended Ex‐dean indicted on charges of manipulating rankings Dartmouth investigates claims of cheating

News/Resources

App connects campus to emergency responders Transfer enrollment for spring 2021 lags Training videos address campus sexual assault cases

Everyday terrorism: Campus sexual violence and the neoliberal university

AbstractThis article investigates the ways sexual violence experienced on college campuses in the United States is situated within the neoliberal university. Feminist theories are utilized to explore the relationship between sexual violence and neoliberal ideologies. The authors evaluate how neoliberal tenets imbedded in higher education have contributed to, and exacerbated, an environment where sexual victimization is common. An institutional level of analysis is utilized to examine the neoliberal influence on campus sexual violence and investigate the utility of the term everyday terrorism. The authors also address “crimes of omission”, institutional betrayal, and the significance of institutional bravery/courage. The authors provide recommendations for future research in the areas of everyday terrorism and campus violence.

What undergraduates want in campus sexual assault prevention programming: Findings from a formative research study

Objective Campus sexual assault (SA) prevention programs are widely implemented, despite few having strong empirical support. To inform the development and refinement of prevention programs, we collected pilot qualitative data to capture undergraduates’ perspectives regarding desirable program characteristics. Participants Undergraduates completed an audio-taped interview (n = 19) or a focus group (n = 16) in June – November 2016. Methods We double-coded transcripts for a priori and emerging themes using NVivo 11. A third coder resolved disagreements; we assessed intercoder reliability using Cohen’s Kappa. Results Participants preferred SA prevention programming to be delivered in-person to small, coed groups of unfamiliar students. Students preferred programming with peer-facilitated, candid conversation about SA outcomes and prevention strategies. Participants also preferred for the tone of these training sessions to match the serious subject matter. Conclusions Students’ perceptions of desirable program characteristics differ somewhat from current evidence-based programs in several ways, highlighting important future directions for SA prevention research.

The Title IX Movement Against Campus Sexual Harassment: How a Civil Rights Law and a Feminist Movement Inspired Each Other

If the inauguration of our first Black president made 2009 a “big” (if complicated) year for progress on racial equality, 2009 also witnessed a significant marker for gender equality, as hundreds of thousands of students and their allies began to mobilize against campus sexual assault, organizing around the groundbreaking civil rights statute, Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972. Moving from the Title IX movement’s genesis during the Obama administration to the movement’s direct-action protests and litigation challenging regulations issued in May 2020 by then-Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, this chapter tells the story of how Title IX and the student movement interacted from 2009 to 2020. During these years, the movement not only weathered backlash against it but also influenced both later feminist movements such as #MeToo and non-feminists’ understandings of sexual harassment, demonstrating the continued power and promise of both feminist law and feminist organizing.

Faculty Experiences Partnering with Student Affairs Practitioners to Address Campus Sexual Violence

Faculty members’ experiences in partnering with student affairs practitioners to address campus sexual violence were investigated in this study. Findings indicate that due to the historic bifurcation of faculty and student affairs responsibility and differences in conceptualization of the issue of sexual violence, faculty members experience gatekeeping in their ability to engage in efforts to address campus sexual violence. Recommendations for how partnerships can be better utilized are included.

Prevention Educator Perspectives on LGBTQ+ Exclusion in Alcohol-Facilitated Campus Sexual Assault Education

Alcohol is involved in most sexual assaults on U.S. college campuses. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) students are at higher risk of both sexual assault victimization and substance abuse than their cisgender, heterosexual peers. Through a larger participation action study alongside Campus Advocacy and Prevention Professionals Association, findings emerged on how U.S. campus-based prevention educators are addressing alcohol’s role in campus sexual assault specifically with LGBTQ+ students. Eleven semi-structured interview participants highlighted limitations to existing prevention efforts and the importance of affirming LGBTQ+ students. Prominent themes include hetero-cisnormativity, stigmatization, and tokenization and lack of representation. Strategies to overcome these limitations are discussed.

Effective Modalities for Healing from Campus Sexual Assault: Centering the Experiences of Women of Color Undergraduate Student Survivors

In this article, Jessica C. Harris, Nadeeka Karunaratne, and Justin A. Gutzwa examine the modalities Women of Color student survivors perceive as helpful in healing from campus sexual assault. Existing scholarship on healing from campus sexual assault largely relies on the reduction of psychological symptoms of trauma, an understanding that is often race-neutral and founded on the narratives of white women. Centering the experiences of 34 Women of Color undergraduate student survivors, this qualitative study reimagines healing through a race-conscious lens and positions it as a community-oriented and culturally contextual process that is often at odds with the ways US institutions of higher education aim to support survivors of sexual assault on their campuses. The authors’ findings guide implications for how institutions and individuals can account for and support student survivors’ multiple and intersecting identities in their healing journeys and also inform future research that centers minoritized students’ experiences with sexual assault in postsecondary contexts.

Reflecting the Times? Reexamining the Effect of Alcohol Intoxication on Perceptions of Campus Sexual Assault.

We examined the effects of victim and perpetrator alcohol intoxication on perceptions of campus sexual assault. Participants (N = 276) read a campus assault vignette; both perpetrator and victim intoxication levels were manipulated. Participants reported attitudes toward both parties and perceptions of responsibility, blame, and criminal and civil liability. Contrary to some past research, participants blamed victims less-and more strongly considered the incident rape or sexual assault-when victims were highly intoxicated. Perceptions were most punitive toward sober perpetrators with highly intoxicated victims. Results suggest possible shifts in perceptions of consent, further discussed in the context of historical and population factors.

Campus sexual assault climate: Toward an expanded definition and improved assessment.

Campus sexual assault climate: Toward an expanded definition and improved assessment.

Gender, Campus Sexual Violence, Cultural Betrayal, Institutional Betrayal, and Institutional Support in U.S. Ethnic Minority College Students: A Descriptive Study.

Women and ethnic minorities are at increased risk for campus sexual violence (CSV). Due to inequality, within-group victimization in marginalized communities includes cultural betrayal. Universities commit institutional betrayal (e.g., inadequate prevention) and institutional support (e.g., sensitivity). With a campus climate survey, the purpose of the study is to characterize, by gender, U.S. ethnic minority undergraduates' CSV, cultural and institutional betrayal, and institutional support. Participants (N = 222) were a random sample of ethnic minority undergraduates. College women experienced higher rates of CSV and institutional betrayal. Universities can implement a research agenda that centralizes the role of oppression in CSV.