Two hundred sixty-six college students from four Indiana colleges and universities completed a series of surveys to determine gender differences in attitudes toward rape victims. The instruments adapted and used included the Rubin and Peplau Just World Scale (JWS), the Burt Sex Role Stereotype Scale, the Attitudes Toward Rape Victims Scale (ATRVS)…

In 1979, reports of sexual harassment and accusations of sexual assault at the University of Rhode Island led to the formation of a Sexual Harassment Committee. One of the tasks undertaken by a subgroup of this committee was a survey of the university community to identify actual experiences of and the attitudes of student and staff toward sexual…

College students (157 men and 158 women, mostly white middle-class) rated their agreement with statements reflecting myths about male rape. A majority disagree with all the myths, most strongly with the myth that rape is not traumatic for men. Results are discussed in terms of societal attitudes. (SLD)

Assessed junior high students' perceptions regarding nonconsensual sexual activity. Surveys indicated 35% had had sexual intercourse; 19% reported feeling pressure from their friends to have sex; 17% had been sexually coerced by an adolescent, 7% by an adult; 6% reported having sexually coerced someone else. Students demonstrated low knowledge…

Suggests the ultimate competition for writers of contemporary adolescent fiction is life--the world that children inhabit is getting stranger and stranger. Discusses parents' and adolescents' different reactions to the novel "Boys Lie," which addresses the issues of rape and sexual harassment. Presents reactions to the speech and the responses of…

The current study examined the impact of complainant sexual history evidence on mock jurors' judgements in a sexual assault trial. One hundred and sixty-nine undergraduates listened to an audiotape of a sexual assault trial in which the sexual history between the complainant and defendant was systematically varied to include either sexual…

A discussion of recent studies on college men as sexual assault and rape perpetrators accompanies recommendations and an integrative theoretical model to be used in rape prevention programs designed for college men. (Author)

Examined influence of assault and participant characteristics on medical students' attitudes toward rape and nonsexual-assault victims. First- and third-year students read narratives of three types of assault patients. Female students revealed more favorable attitudes toward victims than did males. Implications for service delivery to rape victims…

Describes the design and evaluates effectiveness of a program at a private college to change freshman (n=615) attitudes about date rape and sexual assault. Intervention for the experimental group involved viewing a play performed by students; the control group viewed an alternative play addressing multicultural issues. Results indicated improved…

While the perception of rape has been studied intensely in recent years, most scales focus on rape myths as the content domain. The need exists for a more general instrument which would include items from a variety of sources, e.g., attitudes toward rape awareness, sexual history, age, virginity, community support, etc., in addition to the myth of…

Presents the experiences of three student facilitators in the Hobart College Rape Prevention Program. The students' perspectives offer insights into the workshop's methodology and its effect on participants. The students discuss their personal experiences with sexual assault, their motivations for joining the model program, and the impact it has…

Proposes a treatment protocol for rape and other violence perpetrators. Examines philosophy, assessment, and a curriculum, along with resistance to such treatment programs. Provides suggestions for treatments within campus settings. (Author/KW)

Examines issues related to acquaintance rape: cultural context, legal issues, adolescent attitudes and development, alcohol and sexual assault, the assailants, the victims, and the institutional response, and makes recommendations for a system that all colleges should have in place. (SM)

Compared date rape attitudes in college students who did and did not complete a mixed-gender date rape workshop. Survey results indicated men were more tolerant of date rape than women; control group students were more tolerant than treatment group students; and men exhibited a greater program effect than women. (SM)

Attitudes of adolescents about the justifiability of sexual coercion under certain circumstances are examined for 118 suburban high school students (65 percent females) who heard a date rape lecture and completed pretest and posttest surveys. Gender is the most salient variable explaining attitude about sexual coercion and rape. (SLD)