U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Individual Psychological and Social Psychological Understandings of Sexual Coercion (From Sexual Coercion: A Sourcebook on its Nature, Causes, and Prevention, P 75-89, 1991, Elizabeth Grauerholz, Mary A Koralewski, eds. -- See NCJ-128585)

NCJ Number
128591
Author(s)
B Burkhart; M E Fromuth
Date Published
1991
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This chapter provides a psychological and social psychological analysis of sexual coercion that has three basis: sexual coercion is extraordinarily common; it appears to adhere to the central social roles of women and children; and the perpetration of it is primarily a male phenomenon.
Abstract
The analysis of sexual coercion shows that it is embedded in the structure and processes of our culture. It arrives at this by looking at the psychological dimensions of males and sexual coercion, child sexual abuse, and sexual coercion of adult females. The sexual coercion of adult females is studied via four variable domains: misogynist beliefs and attitudes, aggressive style, personality functioning, and sexual styles. The sexual coercion of adult women is then discussed in light of three variables: gender socialization and power differentials; sexually coercive cognitive schemas and beliefs; and social-sexual interaction scripts. A discussion of the conflict of sexual coercion in an abused child's life concludes the chapter.