Relationship Between Degree of Sexual Assault, Antecedent Conditions, and Victim-offender Relationship

• NCJ Number: 75014
• Author(s): E S Byers; A M Eastman; B G Nilson; C E Roehl
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 14 pages
• Sale Source: Eric Document Reproduction Service
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, August 1977.

Annotation

The incidence of four degrees of sexual assault was surveyed among 800 randomly selected women attending West Virginia University during 1970.

Abstract

Addresses were identified for 720 of the students and a 52-item questionnaire and explanation of the study were mailed to each of them. The questionnaire focused on the number of sexual assault, assault characteristics, consequences of the assault, and relationship to the offender. Thirty-seven of the questionnaires were returned, and 38 percent of the respondents indicated that they had been sexual assault victims. The majority of the sexually assaulted respondents were caucasian and were single. The average age was 20. Seventy percent of the respondents had experienced forced intercourse, 79 percent had experienced attempted forced intercourse, 66 percent had experienced forced petting, and 33 percent had experienced forced necking. Forty-nine percent of the incidents occurred in States other than West Virginia. Assaults in the offender's home were most frequent. Offenders were most often caucasian, and the majority were between 18 and 25 years old. Most of the offenders were students. Eighty-six percent of the victims knew the offender, and 68 percent had known the offender for at least a few months. The incidence of sexual assault, as represented by this survey, appears to be considerably higher than official estimates. Four references are included. (ERIC abstract modified)