NCJ Number
225747
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 15 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2009 Pages: 148-167
Date Published
February 2009
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study evaluated acknowledgement status as a predictor of posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology using structural equation modeling among a sample of college rape victims.
Abstract
Results indicated that the majority of women, 61 percent, were unacknowledged rape victims, whereas 39 percent were acknowledged. Of unacknowledged victims, 46 percent were unsure how to label their experience; 38 percent labeled it a miscommunication, 9 percent a hook-up, 4 percent bad sex, and 3 percent a seduction. Of acknowledged victims, 66 percent labeled their experience a rape, 24 percent an attempted rape, and 10 percent some other type of crime. The majority of assaults involved the use of physical force by the assailant, and the majority of victims engaged in some form of resistance, although the assaults of acknowledged victims were more likely to involve both force by the assailant and resistance by the victim; few participants reported that their assault involved the use of severe force. Consistent with prior research, the vast majority of participants knew their assailants, although most reported fairly casual relationships with them. Unacknowledged victims were more likely to report a romantic relationship with the assailant than acknowledged victims. A sizable percentage of victims reported that they and their assailant had engaged in binge drinking prior to the assault, with unacknowledged victims’ being more likely to report that their assault involved binge drinking. The majority of victims reported that they had disclosed the assault, with unacknowledged victims being more likely to disclose overall. Data were collected from 346 college rape victims from 3 southern universities. Tables, figures, notes and references