Verbal Sexual Coercion Experiences,Sexual Risk,and Substance Use in Women

Research has linked sexual assault, substance use, and sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk in women. Sexual assault by means of verbal sexual coercion (VSC) is more common than sexual assault by means of physical tactics, but VSC is rarely assessed independently. In addition, past work has established global connections among substance use, sexual assault history, and STI risk; however, assessing substance use during sexual behavior is less common. This study examined the relations among VSC, STI risk behavior, and substance use and attitudes. We hypothesized that women with larger numbers of VSC experiences would report more frequent sexual risk behaviors and substance use and attitudes. Participants with larger numbers of VSC experiences reported larger numbers of anal sex partners, more frequent penile–vaginal sex and sexual activity after substance use, and stronger sex-related alcohol expectancies. These findings suggest that VSC is associated with higher levels of STI risk in women.     

Verbal Sexual Coercion and Perceived Victim Responsibility: Mediating Effects of Perceived Control

Verbal coercion involves unwanted sexual penetration compelled by psychological pressure. It was hypothesized that, to the degree that verbal coercion is seen as controllable, victims may be held more responsible. Two samples of US undergraduates rated perceptions of hypothetical sexual coercion scenarios. In Study 1, participants (N = 120) read scenarios of either verbal coercion or rape by a male dating partner. Participants perceived verbal coercion as more controllable than rape, which accounted for the greater responsibility attributed to verbal coercion victims. In Study 2, participants (N = 275) read scenarios involving either male-to-female or female-to-male verbal coercion. Participants perceived female-to-male coercion as more controllable, which accounted for the greater responsibility attributed to a verbally coerced man.     

What's Gender Got To Do With It: Perceptions of Sexual Coercion in a University Community

This study examines gender differences in attitudes toward sexual coercion among collegians (n =325: 89.0% Caucasian, 6.8% Afican-American, 3.0% Asian,1.0% Hispanic, and .2% Native American) at a state-supported, midwestern university. Undergraduates (64.0% female and 36.0% male) were queried about the degree of their support for the use of sexual coercion across a range of dating-type encounters which varied by relational familiarity and sexual intensity.Their attitudes toward appearance as a sexual cue and traditional versus non-traditonal gender role orientations were also examined in relationship to these scenerios. The results indicate significant gender differences in attitudes regarding the use of sexual coercion in dating encounters across all situations, and in the interpretation of sexual cues in the context of interpersonal interactions. Gender differences were also found in gender role orientations.However, while the results provide support for the contribution of gender to attitudes toward sexual coercion, they also indicate that sexual semitotics and gender role orientations qualify that relationship; both variables are significant predictors of attitudes toward sexual coercion. The results are discussed in terms of the evidence provided for the role of interpretive schemas in the construction of attitudes toward sexual coercion for both men and women.     

Perpetration of Sexual Coercion and Victim of Sexual Coercion Scales: development and validation

The purpose of this research was to create two scales, one to measure the tendency to perpetrate sexual coercion and one the tendency to be a victim of sexual coercion (Study 1), and to provide data validating the scales (Studies 2 and 3). Using the rational method of scale construction, two 13-item scales were constructed: the Perpetrator of Sexual Coercion Scale and the Victim of Sexual Coercion Scale. Construct validity (Study 2) was based on significant correlations with measures of engaging in promiscuous sex and abuse of alcohol. Support was found for the hypothesis (Study 3) that sexual coercion, being a victim of sexual coercion, alcohol abuse, and sexual promiscuity were associated with the pursuit of immediate pleasure through alcohol and sex.     

Patterns of Sexual Coercion in Adult Heterosexual Relationships: An Exploration of Male Victimization

The sexual coercion of adult males by females in heterosexual relationships has received little empirical attention. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe such relationships — in comparison with relationships involving the sexual coercion of females, of both males and females, and of neither — through analysis of data for 3,032 couples that completed the Preparation for Marriage instrument ( Holman, Busby, & Larson, 1989 ). Current individual and couple characteristics were investigated for male subjects and their partners. The results revealed greater deficiencies in relational resources and commitment in coercive versus noncoercive couples. In addition, gender differences were noted among results for different victim/offender configurations.     

Friendship Similarity During Early Adolescence: Gender and Racial Patterns

We studied the relationship of reciprocity, gender, and racial composition (Caucasian, African American, cross-race) of adolescent friendship dyads to similarity and proximity in 136 young adolescents. We found that adolescents selected friends who were of the same gender and race and that female dyads were more similar than male dyads on verbal achievement and several personality dimensions. Caucasian dyads were more similar than African American dyads on verbal achievement, mental alertness, and dominance. African American adolescents had more contact with their best friends outside school, whereas Caucasian adolescent friends had more in-school contact. African American students had fewer reciprocal relationships than the Caucasian students. Cross-race friendships were less reciprocal than same-race friendships. Race and gender were important in determining friendship patterns. Similarity and proximity were more important than reciprocity in understanding early adolescent friendships.     

The First Man in Her Life: Father Emotional Responsiveness During Adolescence and College Women's Sexual Refusal Behaviors

Few empirical studies have examined how fathers influence daughters’ sexual interactions with male peers. We hypothesized that paternal emotional responsiveness would empower daughters to refuse unwanted sex. Female undergraduates (N = 144) and their fathers completed measures of paternal responsiveness during adolescence; daughters also reported their global self-worth, acceptance of male partner dominance, and sexual refusal behaviors. As expected, paternal responsiveness promoted daughters’ refusals of unwanted sex. Paternal responsiveness predicted daughters’ self-worth, partially explaining daughters’ increased sexual assertiveness. Perceived paternal responsiveness also negatively predicted daughters’ acceptance of male dominance. These results suggest that positive paternal relationships promote daughters’ sexual agency.     

Pleasure Can Hurt: The Erotic Politics of Sexual Coercion

Sexual coercion is an unstable practice, often performed nervously on the boundary between flirtation and violation, flattery and coercion. While it is true that sexuality may sometimes be lived on a liminal fourth dimension, where it is immunized from morality by the press of (mutual) desire, it is also true that desire can be commandeered by all manner of malignancies which coopt the erotic into a traumatic register. This essay takes sexual coercion on its face, and explores many of its grim varietals, while also seeking to deconstruct the alchemy of sexuality, awash in its painful pleasures.     

A Profile of Double Victims: Sexual Coercion by a Dating Partner and a Stranger

Victim profiles of sexual coercion might differ based on the type of perpetrator that initiates the coercion—namely, a stranger versus a dating partner. Some victims experience coercion from both types of perpetrators—referred to here as “double victims.” Survey data from 2,322 undergraduates at two relatively large U.S. universities in the Midwest and Southeast revealed in a multinomial logistic regression analysis that victims of distinct types of perpetrators had unique predictors as part of their overall profiles. Background characteristics associated with each type were identified. In comparison to nonvictims, a profile of double victims emerged—a White female who had been abused as a child, who had cohabited with a partner, used alcohol or drugs, had been emotionally abused by a partner, had lied to a partner, used the Internet to find a partner, had dated interracially, and had engaged in sex in a noncommitted relationship. Implications and limitations of these findings are included in the discussion.     

Ensuring Community Participation During Program Planning: Lessons Learned During the Development of a HIV/STI Program for Young Sexual and Gender Minorities

HIV/STI incidence has shifted to a younger demographic, comprised disproportionately of gay and bisexual men, transgender women, and people of color. Recognizing the importance of community organizing and participatory engagement during the intervention planning process, we describe the steps taken to engage diverse constituents (e.g., youth and practitioners) during the development of a structural‐level HIV/STI prevention and care initiative for young sexual and gender minorities in Southeast Michigan. Our multi‐sector coalition (MFierce; Michigan Forward in Enhancing Research and Community Equity) utilized a series of community dialogues to identify, refine, and select programmatic strategies with the greatest potential. Evaluation data (N = 173) from the community dialogues highlighted constituents’ overall satisfaction with our elicitation process. Using a case study format, we describe our community dialogue approach, illustrate how these dialogues strengthened our program development, and provide recommendations that may be used in future community‐based program planning efforts.     

Sexual Desire and Depression Following Spinal Cord Injury: Masculine Sexual Prowess as a Moderator

Men’s adherence to masculine norms stressing sexual prowess may contribute to their adjustment to changes in sexual functioning following spinal cord injury. The authors test this hypothesis by examining the moderating role of men’s conformity to gender norms for sexual prowess on the relationship between sexual desire and depression. One hundred and sixteen male citizens of the United States with spinal cord injuries were recruited for participation in the internet-based survey. Results indicated that participants with strong sexual desire evinced higher rates of depression when they conformed to masculine norms emphasizing sexual prowess. Men with little reported sexual desire, by contrast, demonstrated lower rates of depression when they endorsed norms for prowess. Directions for future research and treatment interventions are offered.     

Friendship Values and Cross-Category Friendships: Understanding Adult Friendship Patterns Across Gender, Sexual Orientation and Race

The present research used an intersectional analysis in examining whether women and men who have, versus do not have, cross-category friendships differ in what they value as important in a close friendship. Parallel analyses were conducted to examine cross-orientation and cross-race friendships across gender and identity status (minority and majority), with age as a covariate for all analyses. Participants were 1415 adult women and men, ranging in age from 18-80, residing in the United States, who completed a friendship profile questionnaire by reporting basic demographic information about themselves and their close friends. Participants’ importance ratings of six different friendship values were utilized to interrogate existing friendship patterns. Three general friendship values (trust and honesty, respect friend as person, there when needed) and three cross-identity salient friendship values (similar lives & experiences, similar values, nonjudgmental) were considered. Individuals with and without cross-category friendships did not significantly differ in their ratings for any of the three general friendship values. Individuals with cross-orientation and cross-race friendships placed less importance on similar lives & experiences than those with no such friendships. Other cross-identity salient friendship values were uniquely related to cross-orientation and cross-race friendship patterns. Although women rated all six friendship values as more important than did men, women and men displayed similar friendship value patterns across cross-category friendships and identity. These findings are discussed in the context of feminist intersectional theory.     

Gender, Sexual Prejudice and Sport Participation: Implications for Sexual Minorities

Utilizing the compulsory heterosexuality framework, the purpose of this inquiry was to assess the influence of gender and sexual prejudice on decision-making within sport. In Study 1, responses from former and current athletes within the United States (N?=?229) indicated that prejudicial attitudes predicted unwillingness to participate when a coach was identified as gay or lesbian. A mixed-methods approach was used in Study 2 to assess the attitudes of American parents (N?=?76). Parent’s prejudicial attitudes toward gays and lesbians predicted unwillingness to allow a homosexual to coach their children; justification of which was most often based on negative gay and lesbian stereotypes. Implications for these findings are discussed.     

Strategies and Dispositional Correlates of Sexual Coercion Perpetrated by Women: An Exploratory Investigation

This research tests whether theoretical constructs typically associated with male perpetrators of sexual coercion are predictive of women who perpetrate sexual coercion. We administered a questionnaire that contained measures of sexual experience, social dominance, ambivalent sexism, sex roles, attitudes toward sexual harassment, and lovestyle approaches toward intimate relationships to a sample of women undergraduates. Results found 18% of women to report engaging in sexually coercive behaviors. Coercive women exhibited higher tolerance of sexual harassment, and were significantly higher in femininity than noncoercive women. Coercive women were also found to embrace a ludic (manipulative, game-playing approach toward love) lovestyle significantly more than noncoercive women, while pragma (a logical approach toward love) was negatively associated with coercion. Lastly, a significant difference was found between coercive and noncoercive women and self-reported victimization. Eighty-one percent of women who reported using coercive strategies in their relationships also reported having been sexually victimized.     

Gender Versus Gender Role in Attributions of Blame for a Sexual Assault1

To examine whether gender differences in attributions of blame for a sexual assault are a result of gender differences in identification with members of their own gender or identification with gender roles (men identifying with the powerful assailant and women with the less powerful victim), women (n = 177) and men (n = 128) made attributions of blame for an assault in which the assailant's gender and the victim's gender were factorially manipulated. Regardless of the gender of the assailant and victim, women identified more with the victim, while men identified more with the assailant. Consistent with a modified defensive attribution hypothesis, women blamed the assailant more than did men; however, no significant effects were found for victim blame.     

Sexual offenses against children: Patterns and motives

Children are the quintessential innocent victims; therefore, special opprobrium is reserved for offenders who sexually abuse them. This article describes the more prominent typologies of pedophilic sex offenders and discusses the role of child pornography in child sexual abuse of actual children. It next examines the often overlooked population of women offenders who sexually abuse children. Attention then turns to the sexual abuse of children in child care settings and by members of the clergy; practical recommendations are provided for reducing the risk of this kind of institutional child sexual abuse. Theoretical conceptualizations of child sexual abuse are considered, in the three main categories of cognitive–psychodynamic theories, neuropsychological conceptualizations, and contributions from the emerging field of evolutionary psychology. Finally, recommendations are made for developing a way of handling sex offenders, including sexual offenders against children, that balances the fair administration of justice with society's obligation to protect vulnerable potential victims.