Recent research documents the problem of sexual violence across communities, often finding its causes to be embedded in community and cultural norms, thus demonstrating the need for community-focused solutions. In this article we synthesize research from community psychology on community change and prevention with more individually focused studies…

Problems in criminal justice system response to date-acquaintance rape and nonpenetration sexual offenses include (a) they are markers of a sexual offending career, yet are viewed as minor; (b) perpetrators are not held accountable in ways that reduce reoffense; and (c) criminal justice response disappoints and traumatizes victims. To address…

Sexual coping, general coping and cognitive distortions were investigated in 25 rapists, 36 child molesters and 25 violent offenders. Rapists did not report more support for rape-supportive distortions than the violent offender comparison group. Child molesters scored higher than the other groups on the measure of molestation-supportive…

Dating violence is a significant problem on college campuses that requires preventive interventions. In addition, sexist and stereotypical attitudes that support abusive dating behavior have been recognized as potential risk factors. Previous research has found that fraternity and sorority membership is related to stereotypical beliefs concerning…

Political efforts by feminists in the 1970s and early 1980s resulted in the redefinition of rape as physical assault in Canada's 1983 rape law in the Criminal Code. This paper argues that treating a woman's sexuality as "property," as did the rape law prior to 1983, was correct. Redefining rape as sexual assault, and measuring the…

Questions two measures of attitude change--estimates of the frequency of what have been called "perversions" and suggestions regarding penalties of rape in the mock trial materials--in the research on pornography by Jennings Bryant and Dolf Zillman. Presents a reply by Zillman and Bryant. (NKA)

Compared psychological and social characteristics of two groups of juvenile rapists (N=16) and a control group (N=16) of adolescents with histories of nonsexually assaultive behavior. Results showed that rapists who had assaulted younger victims seemed very different from both the rapists with older victims and the controls. Implications for…

Discusses themes from a 2-day Workshop on Adolescent and Youth Abuse and Neglect. Topics include: violence towards adolescent girls; violence in a juvenile detention center; historical perspectives; the contemporary social context; adolescent development; and the family system. (BF/JH)

Proclivities toward rape and sexual force were studied among 159 college men at a small church-affiliated college. In completing a questionnaire, 34% reported some proclivity to rape or force sex, and those who reported such proclivities held more gender stereotyped attitudes. (SLD)

Examined whether having had a friend or family member experience rape heightens empathy for rape victims. Subjects who knew a rape victim reported experiencing more empathy for a patient presented on videotape than did subjects not knowing a rape victim. This empathy extended to all victims of trauma. (RJM)

Evaluated elderly victims of rape and determined the variables affected solely by the patient's age. It was found that 71.7 percent of these assaults took place at the victim's home, and most were by an unknown assailant. Genital injury was more prevalent among elderly victims. Physical intimidation was all that was necessary to subdue the victims…

Examined rape-supportive attitudes among male college students (n=160) who varied by campus housing arrangement (single-sex residence halls, coeducational residence halls, fraternities) and exposure to education on sexual violence. Findings suggest that coeducational residence hall residents hold significantly less traditional ideas of gender…

Examines trends in the well being of Swedish youth to determine whether they show improvement or deterioration since the passage of the 1979 corporal punishment ban. Data collected from various national sources indicate that rates of involvement in crime, substance use, rape, and suicide have decreased. Trends in rates of nonsexual assaults are…

Examined dating violence in a racially/ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of students (N=939). Results reveal that males were more likely to attack a dating partner when they had witnessed interparental violence; believed that male-female dating violence was justifiable; used alcohol/drugs; or were the recipients of dating violence.…

Assessed predicted psychological differences between denying (n=30) and admitting (n=72) male sex offenders within the framework of Eysenck's theory on the personality of criminals. The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and Gudjonsson's Compliance Questionnaire (CQ) were administered to consenting participants who were probationers in…