Second article in two-part series on date and acquaintance rape examines modern reforms in rape laws and alternatives to criminal prosecution. Explains the Rape Shield Law, designed to prevent victim's sexual history from being used against her to prove promiscuity, tendency to lie, or low moral character. Other common statutory revisions are…

Raises questions about the representability of the trauma of rape and the purposes of its representation. Focuses on how the strategic enactment of a culturally dominant rape script can potentially open up a gap within which that script can be contested and the act of rape or death resisted. Discusses pedagogical challenges of teaching the…

Adolescents who have suffered the trauma of incest or rape often search for inner resolution amidst a society that can be more rejecting than comforting. Therapists need to be aware of issues specific to this population, as well as societal influences that impact recovery. Describes the components of an adolescent art therapy group for female…

Evaluates effectiveness of a sexual assault education program on 224 college women. Women in the treatment group participated in a 1-hour sexual assault education program. Participants returned for a 7-month follow-up session and assessment. Results indicate that the program was successful in increasing knowledge about sexual assault, but not…

Investigated the effects of aggressor's and victim's sex on judgments regarding sexual aggression on dates. College students read vignettes describing dating aggression, rating degree of disapproval of aggressors' behaviors from their own, the aggressor's, and the victim's viewpoint. The effect of participant viewpoint in rating aggressor behavior…

The effectiveness of two rape-prevention programs in changing college students' rape-supportive attitudes was investigated. (N=215) Conditions included an interactive mock talk show and a structured video intervention. Both interventions were effective, but attitudes were found to rebound over time. Implications for future rape-prevention…

Focuses on the silencing of young voices, both on and off the page, because of sexual trauma and even sexual curiosity. Considers the novel, "Speak," in which the protagonist's silence stems from the fact that she was raped. Explores two other literary texts that center on sexual issues for young teens. (SG)

Our criticism and evaluation of young adult literature is tempered not only by the scope of our knowledge of adolescent literature in general, but also by our notions of adolescence, itself. Adolescent literature that, in Michael Cart's terminology, "shatters the shibboleths" of adolescence and adolescent culture, has the potential to re-shape the…

Purpose: The paper seeks to explore sexual behaviours and reproductive health knowledge among in-school young people with disabilities (PWD) in Ibadan, Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach: In the paper a structured questionnaire was administered to 103 randomly selected PWD, aged ten to 25, from four integrated secondary schools in Ibadan. The…

This study extended the findings of Cleveland, Koss, and Lyon's (1999) research on rape tactics to a sample of college men by examining the use and acceptance of sexually aggressive tactics. Participants included 297 male undergraduate students who filled out instruments assessing for a history of sexual aggression and other personality…

Previous research findings indicate that women suffer a variety of detrimental effects from exposure to violent pornography. This study used an experimental paradigm to examine the effects of a moderate alcohol dose and alcohol expectancies on women's acute reactions to a violent pornographic stimulus. A community sample of female social drinkers…

The national statistics for child sexual abuse are staggering. In 2004, there were 209,880 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assaults according to the National Crime Victimization Survey. While effective treatment alternatives for victims are being provided, non-offending caregivers can be easily overlooked. Mason and Erooga (1990) have…

The issue of the escalating incidents of rape in Nigerian higher institutions has, not unexpectedly, agitated the minds of both students and university workers on the one hand, and the general public, on the other. This development has forced the hands of the authorities in some of the Nigerian universities to give priority to finding a solution…

Risk perception was examined in relation to sexual victimization among 262 college women. Participants were presented with written vignettes that described hypothetical situations with a stranger and with an acquaintance. Participants' hypothetical decision to leave a potentially risky situation with an acquaintance predicted rape and…

The coping strategies that a victim of a rape engages in can have a strong impact on the development and persistence of psychological symptoms. Research provides evidence that victims who rely heavily on avoidance strategies, such as suppression, are less likely to recover successfully than those who rely less heavily on these strategies. The…