Nature and Predictors of Sexual Victimization and Offending Among Adolescents

• NCJ Number: 202824
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 32 Issue: 6 Dated: December 2003 Pages: 465-477
• Author(s): Christopher D. Maxwell; Amanda L. Robinson; Lori A. Post
• Editor(s): Daniel Offer
• Date Published: December 2003
• Length: 13 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study focused on high school students, measuring the frequency and nature of sexual victimization and aggression within this age group in order to better understand sexual aggression among adolescents.

Abstract

To date, policymakers and prevention programs have derived most of their knowledge and understanding of sexual assault victims and offenders from research conducted on adults. This has led to an open field in learning about the nature of sexual aggression among adolescents. This study describes the risk factors associated with experiencing and committing sexual aggression among a sample of male and female adolescents. A self-report survey was administered to 476 students enrolled in 2 high schools. It included both an urban and a rural high school. The survey instrument consisted of five sections: (1) assessed students’ background characteristics, such as age, race, religion, and plans for attending college; (2) students’ dating behaviors, such as frequency of dating and the number of different people the student dated; and (3-5) assessed student attitudes regarding rape. Study results show that a majority of females experienced at least 1 act of sexual coercion, about 1 in 4 experienced sexual assault at a criminal level, and more than 1 in 10 experienced rape. Males in the study did not report sexual aggression equal to the rate of victimizations reported by females. The findings in this study are more consistent with male underreporting rather than early and/or nonpeer victimization of females. Dating patterns were identified as playing an important role in sexual victimization and offending among young people which is consistent with past research. The attitudinal results suggest that educational programs that attempt to reduce sexual victimization among high school students should target the rape-supportive belief systems of male students as these attitudes were significantly associated with their levels of offending. Overall, this study illustrates that high school females are equally, if not more, at risk for sexual victimization than college students. References