Comprehension of Sexual Consent as a Key Factor in the Perpetration of Sexual Aggression Among College Men

The comprehension of sexual consent is a crucial factor in healthy sexual relationships. This study examined the connection between the understanding of sexual consent and perpetration of sexual aggression. We surveyed 217 heterosexual male college students (M age = 20.9 years) using measures of sexual aggression, comprehension of sexual consent, rape myth acceptance, conformity to masculine norms, peer support of abuse, and attachment to abusive peers. We tested models examining factors related to comprehension of consent and the extent to which comprehension of consent was related to perpetration of sexual aggression. Rape myth acceptance, peer support of abuse, and conformity to masculine norms were found to predict comprehension of consent, which mediated the relationship between the social and cognitive variables and sexual aggression.     

A Typology of Offenders Who Use Online Communications to Commit Sex Crimes Against Minors

This study aims to present a qualitative, empirically based typology of offenders who use online communications to commit sex crimes against minors, including offenders who met victims online and those who knew them in advance. Seventy-five reports made by law enforcement officers were analyzed using a qualitative software program, during which a typology defining 4 types of offenders was identified: the expert, the cynical, the affection-focused, and the sex-focused. Each type of offender was characterized by patterns of online communication, offline and online identity, relationship dynamics with the victim, and level of sex crime expertise. The typology reveals the heterogeneous nature of sex offenders who use online communications. This diversity must be addressed to provide satisfactory interventions for both victims and offenders.     

Intimate Partner Violence and Drinking among Victims of Adult Sexual Assault

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is associated with problem drinking. Correlates of alcohol consumption frequency and problem drinking were examined among female sexual assault survivors (N = 1,863). Data were analyzed with blockwise multiple regressions. Results show heavy alcohol consumption and problem drinking were associated with IPV history, sexual assault by strangers or acquaintances, and maladaptive coping. Physical IPV history and partner sexual assault showed distinct effects on drinking outcomes among women. Physical IPV history partially mediated the effect of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) on problem drinking. Research is needed to examine the relationship between victimization histories and drinking among female sexual assault victims. This might enable treatments and interventions to be tailored to the trauma histories of female victims.     

Beyond Crucifixion: Remaining Christian after Sexual Abuse

Abstract

Christian survivors have frequently likened their experiences of sexual abuse to crucifixion. While it is understandable that many cannot reconcile their experiences within their faith tradition, the question of how it is possible to move forward within a Christian framework which accommodates the experience of sexual abuse has tended to be overlooked. In doing so, this article considers why identifying with the crucified Christ may be an important step in the process of moving forward, and why the terminology "survivor" may be preferable to "victim." The challenge to move forward may require churches and church personnel to consider whether they need to do some things differently. Above all, this requires integrity for the individuals and communities involved rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.     

An Interpretation of Evangelical Gender Ideology: Implications for a Theology of Gender

Abstract

One of the core findings in the sociology of religion literature regarding evangelicals is the penchant for the adoption of traditional family values. Despite the availability of alternative gender ideology models, evangelicals in general espouse a male headship and female domestic understanding of gender and concomitant domestic division of labor. There has been a "softening" of male headship language as this language is translated into a servant leadership model. This essay asks the question: What is the cost or impact for evangelicals to espouse a traditional model for gender ideology?     

Transsexualism and the Church

Abstract

Transsexualism raises many perplexing issues for Christians. This paper first reviews the scientific evidence, especially that relating to the biological aspects, and then issues relating to transsexualism as a social construct. It is suggested that it is wise to reject both the idea that transsexualism is completely determined by biological factors, and that it is nothing but a social construct. There are also intriguing issues about specifically religious attitudes to transsexualism, that are in some ways similar to those raised by eunuchs. Two recent Christian contributions to the Christian discussion of transsexualism are then reviewed—the scholarly work of Oliver O'Donovan, and the more popular report of the Evangelical Alliance. The latter raises interesting issues for discussion, but its negative attitude to transsexualism is not always justified by the arguments presented. Finally, practical issues facing the Church are considered, including those relating to transsexual clergy.     

The Roman Catholic Pedophilia Crisis and the Call to Erotic Conversion

Abstract

The abuse of children and associated cover-ups have damaged the laity's trust in priests, unsettled the church's finances and exposed a culture of self-deception. Consequently, there is more focus on priest's sexual orientation and a clerical culture that includes hidden sexual behavior. Yet, Rome and the bishops are creating an environment which encourages the suppression of sexuality. In this climate, priests may be more prone to a less healthy and less mature incorporation of sexuality into daily living. Meanwhile, little theological discussion has occurred regarding the contribution of the church's narrow view of sexuality on this crisis. As a response, this article will use Lonergan's methodology to introduce the notion of Erotic Conversion, or, ‘turning with’ our sexual energies in an affirming manner. This concept will be brought into dialogue with the concept of embodiment and those theologies which have arisen from the gay and lesbian liberation movement.     

“It’s Like Playing with a Nuclear Bomb”

Abstract

Most observers of the evangelical purity culture situate it within a form of contemporary evangelicalism that prioritizes personal spiritual growth and self-fulfillment. As a result, portrayals of the movement emphasize the therapeutic individualism and optimism of new paradigm spirituality. But the new paradigm does not help us explain the language of spiritual warfare and what Jason Bivins calls a religion of fear within purity rhetoric. Evangelical purity culture is as equally informed by a religion of accommodation and new paradigm spirituality as it is by a religion of fear and the remnants of cold war fundamentalism. This discordance makes sense only when the contemporary purity culture is placed within a broader historical trajectory that marks its genesis in the fundamentalist resurgence of the 1940s, not the 1970s when new paradigm churches first emerged. By examining the seemingly discordant elements of evangelical purity culture, historians are able to recognize the theological and historical continuity between evangelicalism’s religion of fear and religion of accommodation.     

Spirituality and Sexual Abuse: Issues and Dilemmas for Survivors

Abstract

Sexual abuse profoundly affects survivors to the extent that they are unable to maintain previously held viewpoints or ways of being, including those relating to their spirituality. Certainly the experience has considerable potential to complicate the spiritual lives of survivors. For Christian survivors, this may include how they perceive and relate to both themselves and God as well as affect participation in sacraments such as eucharist and reconciliation. Spiritual traditions often promote the embracing of silence, but this may be problematic for survivors who have been silenced and unable to give expression to their experiences. Similarly, socialization resulting in beliefs that Christians should always forgive and/or never be angry needs to be overcome. While negotiating these pitfalls may result in explorations of spirituality being even less straightforward for survivors of sexual abuse than it is for others, a transformative spirituality within a Christian framework can be realized.     

Transgenerational processes and the trauma of sexual abuse

The process of the unconscious transmission of trauma between generations has been written about within the psychoanalytic field since Freud. the concept was further developed by psychoanalysts in their work with second generation survivors of the Holocaust. the particular characteristic is that it is a transmission that takes place silently and in secret, but actively. It is especially found in families where there is an inhibition against thinking. It is suggested in this paper that the concept could be usefully considered in families where a parent is a survivor of child sexual abuse but has kept the trauma a secret. Clinical examples illustrate how children in such families may carry the unconscious dynamics which can emerge into consciousness through symptomatology in the child.