Sexual assault continues to plague college campuses despite years of targeted intervention. Recent prevention efforts have focused on the role of bystanders in reducing rates. However, limited work has explored actual intervention behaviors as opposed to intentions to intervene or reasons why individuals might choose not to help. College students…

Sexual violence is an issue every college in America must work to prevent. Critical race scholars such as Derrick Bell may argue sexual violence can be viewed through a lens of race because racism is ordinary and not aberrational (Crewe, 2021). Historical context can affect the perceptions racialized groups or populations have when discussing…

We analyzed data from 6 focus groups held with undergraduate students at a large public Northeastern university for evidence of rape myths (RMs). Students spontaneously articulated 6 types of RMs in categories including excusing perpetrators, trivializing sexual assault incidents, and blaming victims. The findings indicate that despite continued…

Objective: A Haddon Matrix analysis was used to systematically review literature evaluating college campus sexual assault prevention programs to identify research gaps and intervention opportunities. Methods: Articles included were published from January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2017; indexed in PubMed, PsycInfo, or Scopus; involving…

Rape myths are prejudicial and stereotyped beliefs about rape which persist in society. They may have a significant impact on those affected by rape as well as the performance of legal and public participants in the justice system. Rape myths may differ over time and within different societies and cultural settings. Awareness of contemporary and…

One of four possible vignettes manipulated by (a) level of rape myth contained within them (low vs. high) and (b) type of rape (stranger vs. acquaintance) was presented to participants followed by scales measuring victim blame, perpetrator blame, belief in a just world, sex-role egalitarian beliefs, and male rape myth acceptance. Victim blaming…

A survey of police officers (n = 211) and prosecutors (n = 190) in Sweden was conducted to assess law personnel's beliefs about the behaviors and reactions of victims of violent crimes.There were considerable differences in the expected behavioral display of different types of crime victims, with rape and domestic assault victims seen as…

College students (N=18) wrote scripts about "typical" rape and "typical" seduction. Scripts were coded on 20 dimensions. Results showed that rape and seduction scripts were very different. Most subjects described blitz rape in which woman outdoors was attacked by male stranger. Seductions described were usually indoors and…

Explored myths about rape and tendency to blame victim in high school (n=54) and college (n=46) students. High school males believed more strongly than did high school females and college males in rape myths and assigned greater blame to victims. For high school students, belief in myths about rape was associated with assigning more victim blame.…

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…