NCJ Number
207738
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 19 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2004 Pages: 279-289
Editor(s)
Vincent B. Van Hasselt,
Michel Hersen
Date Published
October 2004
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This paper reviews the literature on risk factors associated with male sexual violence on campus and reports the results of a preliminary survey of the sexual profiles, drinking patterns, and child sexual abuse experiences of college men at a large Midwestern university.
Abstract
In this study the conceptual framework for categorizing risk factors includes: 1) male sex-role socialization; 2) alcohol abuse; 3) personality traits; and 4) child abuse and neglect. The researchers hypothesized that: 1) risk factors that have been empirically associated with sexual aggression would be significantly correlated in the current study; and 2) sexual victimization as a child, use of pornography, alcohol abuse, and negative gender-role attitudes would predict sexual assault perpetration. Participants for the study were 99 undergraduate males, age 18 to 23, from a large Midwestern university. Ninety percent of the students were White, all were heterosexual, and 97 percent were unmarried. The students were surveyed by mail and by soliciting volunteers from undergraduate classes during winter semester of the 1999 academic year. The participants completed a 200-item survey comprised of well-known measures of rape attitudes, sexual experiences, and alcohol use as well as author-generated questions to assess drug and pornography use and peer pressure. Analysis of the data indicated that some gender attitudes, pornography use, and alcohol abuse were significant predictors of perpetration of sexual violence. The risk factor for sexual abuse as a child did not predict sexual aggression as an adult. Many of the participants reported alcohol-related sexual coercion and held many rape-supportive attitudes and beliefs. These findings suggest that these practices by college men contribute to the pro-rape cultures found on many campuses, and the authors strongly support the need for rape prevention efforts that focus on alcohol-related sexual coercion and aggression by men. Generalizability of the results of this study is limited due to the small sample size, the lack of diversity in the sample, and sampling technique used. References and 6 tables