Rape Myth Acceptance among Social Work Students

It is important to examine rape myth acceptance and the pertinent situational factors that affect attitudes and beliefs concerning the act of rape, perpetrators, and survivors. This study examines the influence of alcohol consumption and perceptions of alcohol use on levels of rape myth acceptance among social work students. Results showed differences in levels of rape myth acceptance based on race or ethnicity and gender. Results also showed that the version of the vignette read by the participant was a significant predictor of rape myth acceptance. Respondents’ perceptions of alcohol consumption were also a strong predictor of rape myth acceptance levels. These results demonstrate there are multiple factors that influence social work students’ rape myth acceptance levels that need further examination.     

Is Rape-Related Self Blame Distinct From Other Post Traumatic Attributions of Blame? A Comparison of Severity and Implications for Treatment

Rape treatment generally takes the form of standard trauma intervention, which may limit its ability to resolve rape-specific symptoms. For the sake of optimizing such treatment, the present study seeks to distinguish specific post-rape symptoms from those observed following other forms of trauma, particularly in respect to self-blame and related PTSD. Given typical societal victim-blaming following rape, self-blame is expected to be considerably more extreme among survivors of rape than in other victims, and predictive of relatively elevated post-trauma symptoms. Three hundred and four participants completed measures of blame attribution and PTSD, substantiating the hypotheses. Implications for rape treatment and social change are discussed.     

Psychological management intervention guidelines for rape survivors with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): A brief exploratory systematic literature review

This exploratory systematic literature review aimed to characterise the current evidence on psychological management intervention guidelines for use with rape survivors with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. For the data searches we accessed the following electronic databases: Google Scholar, Science Direct, EBSCOhost, and PsychInfo. We utilised search terms with variations of the following key words: psychological management guidelines of PTSD*, rape survivors*. Inclusion criteria were guidelines for rape survivors with PTSD that consider referral, treatment, and preventive and health promotion in an international setting. We excluded guidelines that did not address PTSD resulting from rape in an international setting. We employed a narrative synthesis data analysis approach to integrate the evidence from across studies. Findings suggest prevalent guidelines for rape survivors with PTSD focus on cognitive behavioural therapy and other psychological management interventions in highly specialised areas and Primary Health Care (PHC) settings in international countries, but not in other countries such as South Africa. Emerging guidelines are needed for PTSD psychological management interventions in rape care clinics situated in South Africa.     

“If a girl doesn't say ‘no’…”: young men,rape and claims of ‘insufficient knowledge’

Most psychological theories of rape tend to stress factors internal to both rapists and their victims in accounting for the phenomenon. Unlike such theories, social psychological and feminist accounts have drawn attention to social and cultural factors as productive of rape, and have criticized psychological accounts on the grounds that they often serve, paradoxically, to cement pre‐existing ‘common‐sense’. In this paper we examine the ways in which young Australian men draw upon widely culturally shared accounts, or interpretative repertoires, of rape to exculpate rapists. In particular, we discuss the reliance placed on a ‘lay’ version of Tannen's 1992 ‘miscommunication model’ of (acquaintance) rape and detail the use of this account—the claim that rape is a consequence of men's ‘not knowing’—as a device to accomplish exculpation. Implications of our methods for capturing young people's understanding of sexual coercion, rape and consent, and for the design of ‘rape prevention’ programmes, are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ego-Identity Achievement and Perception of Risk in Intimacy in Survivors of Stranger and Acquaintance Rape

One hundred twenty-two women participated in a study of the relationship between acquaintance/stranger rape and the respective variables of ego-identity achievement (attainment of self-image during adolescence that integrates one's ideas of what one is and what one wants to be) and perception of risk in intimacy (perception of close interpersonal relationships as a risky proposition). Results showed that compared to women who had not been sexually assaulted, survivors of rape in general reported lower ego-identity achievement and greater perception of risk in intimacy. Focusing on acquaintance rape and stranger rape with age at the time of assault as possible moderator, it was found that lower ego-identity achievement was systematically related to acquaintance rape in women who had been raped during their adolescent years, but not in survivors of rape during adulthood. Perception of risk in intimacy was significantly higher among women who had been raped when adolescents compared to those who had been raped during adulthood, but only in relation to acquaintance rape.     

The Community Response to Rape: Victims' Experiences with the Legal, Medical, and Mental Health Systems

This research examined how the legal, medical, and mental health systems respond to the needs of rape victims. A national random sample of rape victim advocates (N = 168) participated in a phone interview that assessed the resources available to victims in their communities. as well as the specific experiences of the most recent rape victim with which they had completed work. Results from hierarchical and iterative cluster analysis revealed three patterns in victims' experiences with the legal, medical, and mental health systems. One group of victims had relatively positive experiences with all three systems, a second group had beneficial outcomes with only the medical systems, and the final group had difficult encounters with all three systems. Multinominal logistic regression was then used to evaluate an ecological model predicting cluster membership. Community-level factors as well as features of the assault and characteristics of the victims predicted unique variance in victims' outcomes with the legal, medical, and mental health systems. These findings provide empirical support for a basic tenet of ecological theory: environmental structures and practices influence individual outcomes. Implications for ecological theory and interventions to improve the community response to rape victims' needs are discussed.     

Voluntary Agencies’ Responses to,and Attitudes toward Male Rape: Issues and Concerns

This paper critically explores voluntary agencies’ responses to, and attitudes toward male survivors of rape in England and Wales. There has been a gap in this area, so this paper attempts to fill this gap in knowledge by examining how these survivors experience service delivery and by examining what contributions feminist theory and research has made to understand ‘male rape’. This paper argues that feminist theory and research neglects male rape and this negligence can also be seen in voluntary organisations for survivors. Therefore, through the neglect of male rape, the gender roles of men and women are reinforced instead of being tackled. This paper contributes to knowledge by opening up a discussion on male rape in the academic setting, in feminist theory and research debates, and in research surrounding voluntary agencies. This, in turn, helps to raise awareness of such a ‘hidden’ phenomenon in policy and practice and helps to form a better understanding not only of male rape, but also of the responses and attitudes toward it by voluntary provisions and the wider society.     

Innovative Community Services for Rape Victims: An Application of Multiple Case Study Methodology

A qualitative multiple case study design was used to examine communities across the United States that have developed coordinated community-based programs to assist rape victims. Previous studies have suggested that coordinated community programs help victims obtain needed resources and services. This study provided a follow-up examination of how and why these programs are helpful to rape victims. In-depth interviews were conducted with rape victim advocates, rape crisis center directors, police officers, prosecutors, doctors, nurses, and rape survivors from 22 communities with coordinated programs. A comparison sample of 22 communities with fewer coordinated programs was also obtained. Results indicated that the high coordination communities had three types of programs to address sexual assault: coordinated service programs, interagency training programs, and community-level reform groups. Although not all of these programs directly address service delivery for rape victims, they help create a community culture that is more responsive to victims' needs. The research team and participants developed an explanatory model of why these program are effective in addressing rape victims' needs. This model hypothesizes that coordinated programs reflect an understanding of the multiple contexts of service delivery and embody that knowledge in services that are consistent with victims' needs. Narrative data from the interviews with service providers and rape survivors are used to develop and support this model.     

Effects of gender and sexuality on judgements of victim blame and rape myth acceptance in a depicted male rape

Relatively few studies have investigated judgements towards male rape, and no published studies have investigated gay men's judgements towards this offence. The current study investigated the effects of gender and sexuality on victim blame and male rape myth acceptance in the depicted rape of a gay man. It was predicted that heterosexual men would make the most anti‐victim judgements, while gay men would make the most pro‐victim judgements. One hundred and fifty members of the UK population read a scenario that depicted a male rape, and then completed a questionnaire that measured blame and rape myths. As predicted, heterosexual men endorsed more rape myths and blamed the victim more than heterosexual women or gay men. Gay men made the most pro‐victim judgements overall. Results are discussed in relation to homophobia and traditional gender roles. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Doing Community Research Without a Community: Creating Safe Space for Rape Survivors

This paper describes how the values of a feminist research team influenced methodological decisions in a study of rape survivors. Building upon concepts from community psychology and urban sociology, the authors created a community-based research design that respected the emotional needs of rape survivors without sacrificing methodological rigor. We developed relationships with community members in diverse settings, such as nail and hair salons, child care centers, churches, and bookstores, to advertise the study and recruit participants. Consistent with feminist approaches to interviewing, our goal was to create a safe setting for survivors to tell their stories. Although the purpose of this study was research rather than intervention, most survivors reported that participating in these interviews was healing. Our experiences in this project suggest that allowing values to influence the process of research may have beneficial outcomes for both researchers and participants.     

College Students’ Beliefs Regarding Help Seeking for Male and Female Sexual Assault Survivors: Even Less Support for Male Survivors

This study explored college students’ perceptions regarding barriers to disclosure of sexual assault and helpfulness of campus resources for survivors of sexual assault. To better understand barriers and social reactions to disclosure of sexual assault, it is important to examine peer perceptions of barriers and resources for assault survivors. A total of 475 undergraduate students estimated the frequency with which various barriers prevent sexual assault disclosure and rated the helpfulness of several campus resources for both male and female survivors. Students perceived that barriers to disclosure were more likely to prevent men than women from telling someone they were assaulted and seeking help. Students also believed that campus resources are more helpful for female than male survivors. Students’ negative perceptions of disclosure and help seeking for male survivors indicate that more education regarding the sexual assault of males and inclusive outreach is needed.     

The Responses of Health Systems to Marital Sexual Violence – A Perspective from Southern India

ABSTRACT

Marital sexual violence is a serious problem in India. However, marital rape and most other forms of marital sexual violence are not criminalized in the country. This qualitative study with healthcare providers (physicians and nurses), lawyers, members of a non-profit organization that offers domestic violence support services out of a hospital, a journalist and two lawyers suggest that the majority of care providers recognize that marital sexual violence is a serious concern, and agree that health systems can play a vital role in addressing both the immediate biomedical concerns of survivors, and also overall well-being. The study reveals several systemic and internal factors that hinder responsiveness of Indian health institutions. These include, the absence of a protocol or uniform internal guidelines in most hospitals, a lack of screening programs to capture the presence of violence occurring when patients visit hospitals for other reasons, a large patient load, a lack of gender sensitivity in providers’ education, an absence of domestic violence shelters, and poor interlinkages between support services such as counseling and legal services. Notwithstanding these challenges, some exemplar physicians and nurses assist survivors of sexual violence, sometimes risking their own safety. The Indian health system can be made more responsive, provided these factors are addressed, and crucially budgets are allocated for interventions.     

Sexual and nonsexual marital aggression: Legal considerations, epidemiology, and an integrated typology of perpetrators

In this paper, the legal history of marital rape and the current status of “marital rape allowances” to sexual assault statutes are reviewed. The prevalence of marital rape and its comorbidity with nonsexual violence, as well as the physical and psychological sequelae found to be specifically associated with sexual aggression in marriage is reviewed. Our current limited theoretical understanding of the relationship between sexual and nonsexual violence in marriage is extended by integrating marital rape and marital violence batterer typology research. Specifically, we offer a four-type batterer typology integration (i.e., family-only, dysphoric/borderline, generally violent/antisocial, and sexually obsessive batterers) that fully describe husbands that are only nonsexually violent, both physically and sexually violent, or only sexually violent. Theoretical and practical implications of this integration are identified. Future research directions are outlined, and the need for greater clinical attention to the phenomena of sexual violence in marriage is highlighted.     

Drug‐assisted rape and sexual assault: definitional,conceptual and methodological developments

This paper reviews the limited literature on drug‐assisted rape (DAR) and develops definitions and constructs. A novel data gathering method, the multiple sorting task, was adopted to explore lay understanding of DAR. Participants (N = 8) were drawn from the general public. Each of the 21 stimulus cards used had the name of one sexual or romantic encounter printed on it. Participants completed one fixed sort in terms of the motivation of the male involved in the encounter. Data were analysed by means of multiple scalogram analysis (MSA). Findings show that the key factors for distinguishing sexual and romantic encounters are whether the behaviour is: consensual, contracted or forced; planned or impulsive; motivated primarily by the desire for sex or for a relationship. When motivation of the offender is considered, drug‐assisted rape and sexual assault is distinguishable from other consensual sexual behaviours but not from other types of rape. Findings are discussed in terms of the limitations of the present study, the need for further research and practical applications for assisting police enquiries. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sexual and nonsexual marital aggression: Legal considerations, epidemiology, and an integrated typology of perpetrators

In this paper, the legal history of marital rape and the current status of “marital rape allowances” to sexual assault statutes are reviewed. The prevalence of marital rape and its comorbidity with nonsexual violence, as well as the physical and psychological sequelae found to be specifically associated with sexual aggression in marriage is reviewed. Our current limited theoretical understanding of the relationship between sexual and nonsexual violence in marriage is extended by integrating marital rape and marital violence batterer typology research. Specifically, we offer a four-type batterer typology integration (i.e., family-only, dysphoric/borderline, generally violent/antisocial, and sexually obsessive batterers) that fully describe husbands that are only nonsexually violent, both physically and sexually violent, or only sexually violent. Theoretical and practical implications of this integration are identified. Future research directions are outlined, and the need for greater clinical attention to the phenomena of sexual violence in marriage is highlighted.     

Mechanisms for the Relationship between Traditional Masculine Ideologies and Rape Myth Acceptance Among College Men

We explored mechanisms for the relationship between traditional masculine ideologies and rape myth acceptance. We hypothesized that locus of control would serve as a mediator for victim precipitation rape myths, and negative attitudes toward women would serve as a mediator for victim masochism and victim fabrication rape myths. Using a sample of 100 male college students, the results indicated that negative attitudes toward women mediated the relationship between traditional masculine ideologies and all 3 types of rape myths, but locus of control did not serve as a mediator for any. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.