This article presents the descriptive results of a statewide evaluation of hotline, advocacy, and counseling services provided to sexual assault victims in Illinois. Collaborative efforts of a multidisciplinary research team and sexual assault service providers resulted in victim-sensitive evaluation measures and data that reflect, for the first…

A significant proportion of survivors of rape do not utilize formal services to cope with the aftermath of rape. Understanding victimization experiences in environments that differ on resources, such as rural versus urban areas, may be an important dimension to consider in understanding barriers. Thirty women (18 rural and 12 urban) were recruited…

Self-defense classes aim to prevent violence against women by strengthening women's capacity to defend themselves; however, little research has examined the effects of self-defense training on women's attempts to fight back during actual attacks. This study investigated the relationship of self-defense or assertiveness training and women's…

One explanation for male sexual aggression implicates certain adverse consequences of male gender socialization. Two studies tested the hypothesis that sexually aggressive men would be more gender stereotyped and would manifest lower capacities for empathy and intimacy. Results were mostly supportive of the hypothesis. (JBJ)

Using police reports and court testimonies, examined women's resistance strategies to rape. Results indicated that 85 percent of the women who resisted with physical force were responding to the offender's initiated violence. Women reacting with physical aggression to violent attack were more likely to avoid rape than were nonresisting women. (RJM)

Tested hypothesis that women's attitudes and fantasies about rape arise partially from their socialization to accept sexual aggression as normative. Female participants answered questions on childhood exposure to pornography, sex fantasies, and rape attitudes. Early exposure to pornography correlated to "rape fantasies" and attitudes…

Investigated the effects of reading one of four priming stimuli stories (control, consenting sex, rape, or family) on males' evaluations of, and emotional reactions to, two videotaped date-rape scenarios. Results supported the concepts of a macho personality and revealed interactive effects for both the rape and family prime. (RJM)

Social exchange framework is applied to Summit's Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome, which describes a common pattern of interaction and response among child victims of sexual abuse, their caretakers, and adult offenders. Analysis of the syndrome demonstrates the applicability of the exchange perspective for this aspect of child sexual…

Discusses the proportion of mothers who act protectively following disclosure of child sexual abuse and what factors are associated with maternal nonprotectiveness. In a sample of 118 cases of intrafamilial child sexual abuse it was found that 57% of mothers separated from the perpetrators, two-thirds were supportive of their children, and 52% did…

The limited research literature that relates specifically to sexual offenders against adults (rapists) would suggest that they are more likely to demonstrate a greater criminogenic profile but to have experienced fewer childhood and adult psychological difficulties than child molesters. The aim of this study is to describe the characteristics of…

The study involves 204 cases of interpersonal assault reported to the police during a period of 1 year. The patterns of domestic violence and community violence involving friends, neighbors, and strangers are described. The most common type of violence reported to the police is community interpersonal violence in which victims are mostly females…

Examines the responses to the Trauma Symptom Checklist (TSC) of college women (n=654) sexually abused as children, sexually assaulted as adults, sexually assaulted as children and adults, and nonabused. Results support the validity of the TSC as a measure of sexual abuse trauma and point to family patterns associated with prolonged symptomatology.…

Upper-class undergraduates (n=740) beginning graduate students in counseling (n=78) and mental health professionals (n=45) were surveyed regarding attitudes toward rape victims. Results show that male undergraduates had the most negative attitudes toward rape victims, and female professionals the most favorable. Male participants held more…

This study's goal is to identify differences in background, assault, and post assault factors according to the victim-offender relationship. A mail survey is conducted with more than 1,000 female sexual assault survivors (response rate 90%) recruited from college, community, and mental health agency sources. Stranger assailants are associated with…

Studies beliefs about dating violence in a sample of 298 undergraduate and graduate students. After reading 15 vignettes, respondents were asked to rate how violent and abusive a depicted incident was, what they thought was likely to happen to the relationship in the future, and what should happen following the incident. Incidents varied along…