RESUMEN
ObjectiveThe current paper presents a comparison of university policies and health and academic accommodations offered to undergraduate students following sexual assault (SA) and sports-related concussions (SRC). Procedures and protocols for universities to consider adapting from their SRC policies to their SA policies are detailed.Participants: The SRC and SA policies at the 50 United States public flagship universities were analyzed.Methods: The research team coded for a number of policy details including health referrals, academic and financial accommodations, and requirements for follow-up with university personnel.Results: Compared to SA polices, SRC policies at the public flagship universities offer more comprehensive academic accommodations and physical and mental health resources. Conclusions: Comprehensive policies for student SA survivors, like those available for students who suffer SRCs, would improve student health and academic outcomes and increase SA survivors' likelihood of graduating college, thereby reducing individual and societal human capital loses.
Asunto(s)
Conmoción Encefálica , Víctimas de Crimen , Delitos Sexuales , Humanos , Estados Unidos , Universidades , Estudiantes/psicología , Delitos Sexuales/psicología , Políticas , Víctimas de Crimen/psicologíaRESUMEN
Across the United States, 20% of women ages 18 and over are victims of penetrative sexual assault, with the highest rates occurring in early adulthood (i.e., ages 18-24). Despite the high prevalence and severe mental and physical health problems resulting from sexual assault, with few exceptions, little is known about how victims of sexual assault attribute subsequent academic and career outcomes. Approximately 901 adult participants were recruited from a probability-based nationally representative sample to examine the prevalence of and outcomes attributed to sexual assault victimization experienced during early adulthood. Of the 36% of female participants who reported sexual assault perpetrated against them between the ages of 18 and 24, 69.5% attributed at least one negative academic or career outcome to the sexual assault. Participants who identified as White and who were over the age of 30 at the time of the survey were more likely to attribute negative academic and career outcomes as a result of a sexual assault perpetrated against them during early adulthood than women of color and younger women (i.e., ages 25-29). Our findings expand the knowledge on negative outcomes attributed to sexual assault and yields more questions about the larger societal impacts. More research is needed to understand the intersection between an assault during young adulthood and the demographic characteristics of survivors.
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Acoso Escolar , Víctimas de Crimen , Delitos Sexuales , Adolescente , Adulto , Femenino , Humanos , Estudiantes , Estados Unidos/epidemiología , Universidades , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
Previous research has examined barriers to helping in situations involving interpersonal violence, though little has investigated the outcomes of interventions that actually do take place. The purpose of the present study was to explore how consequences that bystanders experienced in helping situations varied by characteristics of the incident, including the type of interpersonal violence (i.e., harassing comment, dating violence, unwanted sexual advances, and controlling behavior) and the bystander's relationship to the victim and perpetrator. We also examined whether these outcomes impacted the likelihood that bystanders would help again. Participants (n = 1,391) were recruited from a university psychology subject pool and Amazon Mechanical Turk during fall 2016. They completed online or in-person surveys consisting of quantitative measures. Descriptive statistics showed that bystanders experienced both positive (e.g., positive reactions from the victim) and negative consequences (e.g., negative reactions from others) after helping. Analyses of variance revealed that helping in instances of dating violence was associated with more negative consequences, while helping in situations of unwanted sexual advances was associated with more positive consequences. Regression analyses showed that bystanders were more likely to help again when they experienced more positive and less negative feelings about their actions. Analyses of variance demonstrated that when the victim was a close friend, bystanders reported more positive consequences and desire to help again. However, bystanders reported more negative reactions from the perpetrator when the perpetrator was a stranger. Implications for adapting intervention programming to promote the likelihood that bystanders will help in future situations are discussed.
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Violencia de Pareja , Delitos Sexuales , Humanos , Relaciones Interpersonales , Encuestas y Cuestionarios , Universidades , ViolenciaRESUMEN
Although 2-year institutions report higher rates of sexual violence (SV) than 4-year institutions, few resources exist to address SV on these campuses. The present study describes and assesses the impact of a 3-year initiative to engage personnel and students at seven 2-year colleges and community professionals to increase the effectiveness of SV prevention and response strategies. We administered a climate survey during the first and third year of this initiative. Compared with 2017 participants, 2019 participants reported increases in awareness of campus resources and perceptions of SV. Implications and suggestions for prevention and response efforts at 2-year institutions are discussed.
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Delitos Sexuales , Universidades , Humanos , Delitos Sexuales/prevención & control , Conducta Sexual , Estudiantes , Violencia/prevención & controlRESUMEN
Sexual and dating violence (SDV) are growing public health problems in the United States. Prevention programs have sought to engage potential bystanders so they can safely and effectively intervene in situations involving SDV. However, the ability of these programs to prepare bystanders may be limited if they do not address the possible outcomes of their actions. Few studies have examined positive and negative consequences of bystander action, and only one has examined how various types of action impact these consequences. The purpose of our study was to explore how specific types of bystander actions and their number of actions were related to positive and negative consequences. We recruited participants (N = 615) through Amazon's Mechanical Turk and a university subject pool, all of whom were between the ages of 18 and 24. Participants described the type of action they took in response to risk for SDV (i.e., harassing comments, dating violence, unwanted sexual advances, and controlling behavior). We performed a content analysis on participants' written responses about the type of action taken. New measures of bystander consequences were used to examine bystander feelings and reactions of others (e.g., the victim, perpetrator). A range of action types were identified (i.e., direct, distract, distance, delegate, and physical action). Of note, direct action toward the perpetrator was related to more negative feelings and responses, whereas distract and distance action were associated with more positive feelings and responses from others. Further, taking multiple actions (as opposed to a single one) was related to more positive feelings and responses from others. Implications for research and practice are discussed, with a specific focus on prevention programming.
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Víctimas de Crimen , Conducta de Ayuda , Violencia de Pareja/prevención & control , Delitos Sexuales/prevención & control , Estudiantes , Adolescente , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Encuestas y Cuestionarios , Universidades , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
Sexual assault is a significant problem on college campuses. To date, much of the research on prevention and response has been conducted with students enrolled at traditional 4-year institutions. Limited research exists on 2-year institutions (also known as community colleges), which enroll a more diverse population (e.g., economic, gender, racial, and ethnic minorities) who are more vulnerable to victimization. Yet, 2-year institutions have few resources dedicated to the prevention of and response to sexual violence. Advances in technology, including mobile apps, have provided additional avenues to easily disseminate prevention and response information to college students. Mobile apps may be especially beneficial for community colleges given their diverse population and limited resources. Therefore, the present study examined a sample of community college students who reported downloading a violence prevention and response mobile app, uSafeUS, and their reasons for downloading. Participants were recruited from seven community colleges in a northeastern state and completed an online campus climate survey. Results indicate that participants who downloaded uSafeUS were more likely to perceive they were safe from campus sexual violence and receive information regarding campus sexual violence from their college than participants who did not download the app. Participants also reported downloading uSafeUS to keep themselves safe, to help a friend, and because they liked the sexual violence prevention and resource features. Female participants were more likely than male participants to download uSafeUS to keep themselves safe and because they liked the sexual violence resource information. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
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Aplicaciones Móviles , Delitos Sexuales , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Delitos Sexuales/prevención & control , Estudiantes , Universidades , Violencia/prevención & controlRESUMEN
Recently, much research has been dedicated to understanding how to prevent and address the aftermath of sexual assault (SA) on traditional 4-year college and university campuses in the United States. However, less scholarly attention has been paid to 2-year institutions, commonly known as community colleges. This review illuminates the different situational contexts faced by community college students, compared with students at 4-year colleges. These differences are shaped by community college characteristics, student demographics, and geographic location of their students. Community colleges enroll a higher percentage of women, first-generation students, and low-income students than 4-year colleges. Furthermore, community colleges are academic homes to the most racially and ethnically diverse student population, with higher numbers of African Americans, Latinos, immigrants, and nonnative English speakers. These populations (e.g., women, racial minorities, first-generation, low-income) are at a greater risk for SA; yet, 2-year institutions have less funding and resources available to address SA on their campuses. Thus, this article reviews the problem of campus SA on community colleges and highlights the challenges that 2-year institutions face in comparison with those that 4-year institutions face when implementing SA prevention and response strategies. Then, a case study of a 3-year project on one nonresidential and seven community colleges is presented, which illustrates how 2-year institutions can forge relationships with community professionals to address SA on their campuses.
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Emigrantes e Inmigrantes , Delitos Sexuales , Femenino , Humanos , Prevalencia , Estudiantes , Estados Unidos , UniversidadesRESUMEN
The current study examines the persistence of victimization and poly-victimization (i.e., count of multiple types of victimization) across various stages of development (ages 0-5, 6-12, and 13-18) and the related impact on adult well-being. Participants were 2,098 adults from the Appalachian region of three Southern states. Eighty-two percent of participants reported at least one type of victimization during childhood. Among adult victims, 22.6% reported one victimization in one developmental stage (i.e., one stage, but no poly-victimization), 45.8% reported one victimization in more than one stage (i.e., persistent victimization, but no poly-victimization), 20.5% reported multiple types of victimization in one stage (i.e., poly-victimization), and 11.2% reported multiple types of victimization at more than one stage (i.e., persistent poly-victimization). Results indicated a linear decline in subjective well-being, mental health, and number of healthy days as victimization becomes more persistent across childhood and more diverse in types (i.e., poly-victimization). Study findings provide support for models of victimization that take both developmental trajectories and poly-victimization into account.
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Adultos Sobrevivientes del Maltrato a los Niños/psicología , Agresión/psicología , Víctimas de Crimen/psicología , Salud Mental/estadística & datos numéricos , Población Rural/estadística & datos numéricos , Adaptación Psicológica , Adolescente , Adulto , Adultos Sobrevivientes del Maltrato a los Niños/estadística & datos numéricos , Niño , Preescolar , Víctimas de Crimen/estadística & datos numéricos , Femenino , Humanos , Lactante , Acontecimientos que Cambian la Vida , Masculino , Factores de Riesgo , Factores de Tiempo , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
A wide body of research has studied what happens when survivors disclose interpersonal violence (Ullman, 2010; Ullman & Filipas, 2001). Less studied is why survivors disclose their experiences. Although research in other disciplines has created measures to assess the reasons for disclosing other concealable identities (Derlega, Winstead, Folk-Barron, & Petronio, 2000), the present study aimed to fill a gap in the existing literature by creating a measure to assess the reasons for disclosing sexual and intimate partner violence. The Reasons for Disclosing Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence Scale was created after interviewing survivors and receiving feedback on the measure from crisis center advocates and experts in the field (i.e., content validity). The psychometric properties (i.e., dimensionality and reliability) of the measure were tested with a sample of 274 adult female survivors of sexual and intimate partner violence. The results suggested that reasons for disclosing sexual and intimate partner violence can be broken down into seven factors (e.g., safety and justice, image validation), and that these reasons vary from other concealable identities.
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Revelación , Violencia de Pareja/psicología , Psicometría , Adolescente , Adulto , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Reproducibilidad de los Resultados , Encuestas y Cuestionarios , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
Social support is key to well-being for victims of intimate partner violence (IPV), and bystanders have an important role to play in preventing IPV by taking action when there is risk for violence. The current study used qualitative interviews to explore young adults' perspectives on helping in situations of IPV, and more general helping, in the rural communities in which they resided. Participants were 74 individuals between the ages of 18 and 24 years from 16 rural counties across the eastern United States. Participants generally described their communities as close-knit and helpful, especially around daily hassles (e.g., broken down car) and unusual circumstances (e.g., house fire). Although participants generated ways in which community members help IPV victims, these mostly focused on providing support or taking action in the aftermath of IPV as opposed to more preventive actions. Lack of financial resources were uniquely cited as a barrier to more general helping, whereas concerns about privacy and lack of deservingness of help were barriers to both general helping and helping in IPV situations, although these were more pronounced in IPV situations than general helping situations. Taken together, these results suggest that although people generally see their communities as helpful and close-knit, these perceptions and scripts did not necessarily translate to helping in situations of IPV. Bystander intervention programs are needed that provide more specific helping scripts for IPV.
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Violencia de Pareja/psicología , Población Rural/estadística & datos numéricos , Apoyo Social , Adolescente , Femenino , Humanos , Violencia de Pareja/estadística & datos numéricos , Masculino , Estados Unidos , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
Sexual assault (SA) and intimate partner violence (IPV) occur at alarming rates in the United States. Prior research indicates that victims of traumatic events frequently experience both positive and negative changes as part of their recovery process. The present study aimed to further existing research by examining the relationship between self-blame, posttraumatic growth (PTG), and happiness when controlling for posttraumatic stress and time since victimization. The current study analyzed 357 women who had experienced at least one incident of SA or IPV. We found that PTG partially mediated the relationship between self-blame and happiness, suggesting that PTG only somewhat explains the impact of self-blame on victim happiness. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.
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Víctimas de Crimen/psicología , Violencia de Pareja/psicología , Crecimiento Psicológico Postraumático , Trastornos por Estrés Postraumático/psicología , Adolescente , Adulto , Femenino , Felicidad , Humanos , Relaciones Interpersonales , Modelos Lineales , Autoimagen , Delitos Sexuales , Parejas Sexuales , Encuestas y Cuestionarios , Universidades , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
Sexual violence is a widely reported problem in college communities. To date, research has largely focused on bystander intervention as one way to help prevent this problem. Although perceived consequences of bystander intervention, such as the weighting of costs and benefits, have been examined, little research has explored what happens after a bystander intervenes. The current study investigated what bystanders report as perceived outcomes and actual consequences of their bystander actions in response to risk for sexual assault. Of the 545 surveyed, 150 reported having taking bystander action in the past month and qualitatively described their bystander behavior and the responses of those parties involved. A range of behavioral responses and intervention methods were identified. The most frequent responses reported by participants were victims conveying positive and perpetrators conveying negative responses. Different types of helping were associated with bystanders reporting different types of responses to their actions. Future research should incorporate additional measures of consequences of bystander intervention. Implications for policy and bystander intervention programs are discussed, stressing the need for bystander intervention programs to address a range of bystander behaviors and explain the potential consequences and risks of intervening.
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Conducta de Ayuda , Violación/prevención & control , Delitos Sexuales/prevención & control , Violencia/prevención & control , Adulto , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Encuestas y Cuestionarios , UniversidadesRESUMEN
This study qualitatively examined rural emerging adults' ways of thinking (i.e., lay theories) about the causes of intimate partner violence (IPV) and ideas on how to prevent IPV most effectively. Participants were 74 individuals (majority Caucasian, heterosexual, low income) between the ages of 18 and 24 who resided in one of 16 rural communities. Participants' perceptions of the causes of IPV included (a) individual-level pathology, stress, and lack of education; (b) intergenerational transmission of violence and early-life factors; (c) relationship stressors and challenges; and (d) community factors. Furthermore, participants felt that IPV could most effectively be prevented through (a) education and awareness; (b) victim-focused efforts (e.g., teaching self-esteem); and (c) job creation. Overall, participants identified a number of established risk factors for IPV perpetration across the social ecological model, although a number were never or rarely mentioned (e.g., peer group norms, positive bystander action, and collective efficacy). Future research should examine if and how perceptions of the causes of IPV impact IPV prevention engagement and impact. Further, prevention initiatives that take into account understandings of lay theories about IPV may be more impactful in reducing IPV than prevention initiatives that do not.