NCJ Number
220121
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 13 Issue: 9 Dated: September 2007 Pages: 945-960
Date Published
September 2007
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study tested the cultural spillover hypothesis of whether or not there was a correlation between military personnel (type and number) in a certain area and the number of rapes in the nearby civilian community.
Abstract
The study found no support for the cultural spillover hypothesis and actually went contrary to that hypothesis. There was no significant correlation between the rape rates and the presence of Army, Marine, or Navy personnel. However, there were significant positive correlations between the State rape rates and the number of Air Force personnel in the population for a 9-year period (1994-2002). The study set out to test the cultural spillover theory of rape which states that the more a society endorses physical force to attain socially approved ends, the greater the likelihood that this acceptance of force will be generalized to other aspects of life where force is less socially accepted. The rape rates for all 50 States and the District of Columbia were obtained from the Uniformed Crime Report (UCR). Two independent variables were examined: (1) difference in alcohol consumption in each State: and (2) number of American Indians in the State populations, divorced men in the population, and the number of men in the population between the ages of 18 and 64. Limitations of the study are discussed. Tables, figures, appendix, and references