Supporting survivors of campus dating and sexual violence during COVID-19: A social work perspective

The issue of dating and sexual violence (DSV) on college campuses has received increased attention nationwide as a criminal justice and public health issue. College and university employed social workers play a critical role in preventing and responding to campus DSV through direct clinical services to students as well as prevention through educational programming and training. COVID-19 has negative implications for DSV student victims, as well as service delivery and accessibility. This paper examines the innovative methods used by university employed social work clinicians and educators to meet evolving mental health care needs and continue violence prevention services during COVID-19.

Blame Attributions in Multiple Perpetrator Rape Cases: The Impact of Sympathy, Consent, Force, and Beliefs

Victims of multiple perpetrator rape (MPR) have been found to be an especially vulnerable group. This study examined effects of MPR and perpetrators' use of force on attributions of victim and perpetrator blame. In two large experiments (total N = 2,928), Swedish community members read scenarios depicting an MPR and subsequently made several ratings of blame, rape myth acceptance (RMA), just world beliefs, sympathy for the victim, perception of consent, and trust in the legal system. Data were analyzed with a multianalytical approach using both analyses of variance as well as exploratory analyses. In Experiment 1, more blame was attributed to a victim of MPR than a victim of a lone perpetrator rape (LPR). In Experiment 2, no effect of used force was found on levels of attributed blame. In both experiments, hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that four components, identified through principal components analyses, explained substantial shares of the variance in both victim and perpetrator blame. The best individual predictors were participants' perception of consent, sympathy for the victim, and RMA. The study shows the importance of studying participants' beliefs and attitudes about rape and that victim-blaming research needs both theory development and greater methodological awareness. Implications for victim support services are also discussed.

Campus Sexual Assault: Future Directions for Research

Campus sexual assault (CSA) has received unprecedented attention over recent years, resulting in an abundance of federal guidance and mandates. In response, efforts to address and prevent CSA at Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) across the country have grown quickly, including the development and implementation of programs and policies. Because the changes on campuses have occurred at such a rapid pace, a number of gaps exist within the field of CSA research. To ensure that changes on IHE are evidence-based, there is a need to review the existing research available and the inquiry still needed, based on key areas outlined in federal guidance, the expressed needs of campus community members, survivors, and students who commit sexual offenses on college campuses. The purpose of this review is to summarize the empirical research related to CSA gained from the past two decades and identify areas in which further work is needed, specifically related to key areas identified in recent guidance provided to IHE. This article concludes with guidance for research moving forward to help strengthen response and prevention efforts.

Victim Advocates' Perceptions of the Role of Health Care Workers in Sexual Assault Cases

Victim assistance officials work to ensure that victims can overcome the negative consequences of victimization. In performing these activities, they collaborate with a number of professionals from seemingly disparate fields. Among others, they often work with various health care professionals. In this article, attention is given to the barriers that may limit effective collaboration between health care professionals and victim assistance professionals. A total of 44 sexual assault crisis center workers completed a survey assessing collaboration barriers. Results suggest that the types of barriers arising vary among specific types of health care providers. One set of barriers arises when collaborating with health care professionals such as nurses and hospital workers. Another set of obstacles arises with mental health workers. Implications are provided.

Men's Perceptions of an Acquaintance Rape: The Role of Relationship Length, Victim Resistance, and Gender Role Attitudes

Sexual aggression is a persistent and prevalent issue in the United States, which often results in a number of psychological, emotional, and physical consequences for victims. The current study examined whether the length of relationship between the victim and perpetrator, level of victim resistance, and observers' gender role attitudes play a role in observers' perceptions of an alleged sexual assault. Participants included 297 male college students from a public university in the Northeastern United States. Contrary to hypotheses, there were no significant effects for length of relationship on participants' attributions. Relative to no resistance, verbal and physical strategies by the victim predicted higher levels of victim credibility, perpetrator culpability, and perpetrator guilt, as well as lower levels of victim culpability and perceived victim pleasure. Endorsement of traditional adversarial sex role beliefs and hostile sexist attitudes, as opposed to egalitarian attitudes, were associated with the attribution of less credibility to the victim, perceived victim trauma, perpetrator culpability, perpetrator guilt, and shorter recommended prison sentences, as well as greater victim culpability and perceived victim pleasure. Laypersons' perceptions of sexual assault merit further study, as they are relevant to juror decision making and third party responses to sexual victimization (e.g., peer support for victim) and can contribute to the secondary victimization and recovery of survivors of sexual assault.

Psychological consequences associated with positive and negative responses to disclosure of sexual assault among college women: a prospective study

A prospective design was utilized to explore the impact of social reactions to sexual assault disclosure among college women who experienced sexual victimization over a 4-month academic quarter. Women completed baseline, 4- and 7-month assessments of symptomatology, beliefs about why sexual assault occurs, victimization, and social reactions to sexual assault disclosure. Accounting for symptomatology or beliefs reported prior to the assault, positive social reactions were not associated with victims' subsequent symptomatology or beliefs. However, accounting for symptomatology or beliefs reported prior to the assault, higher negative social reactions were associated with victims' post-assault reports of hostility, fear, and beliefs about why sexual assault occurs.

Domestic violence and sexual assault service goal priorities

We investigated agency directors' perspectives about how service goals should be prioritized for domestic violence and sexual assault service subtypes, including crisis, legal advocacy, medical advocacy, counseling, support group, and shelter services. A sample of 97 (94% response rate) North Carolina domestic violence and/or sexual assault agency directors completed a survey asking participants to rank the importance of service goals. Overall, participants considered emotional support provision to be a critical service goal priority across all service types. Social support and self-care service strategies were deemed less important. However, prioritization of other service goals varied depending on the service type. Statistically significant differences on service goal prioritization based on key agency characteristics were also examined, and agency characteristics were found to relate to differences in service goal prioritization.

Shattering silence: exploring barriers to disclosure for African American sexual assault survivors

National-, community-, and college-based studies have documented the high prevalence of sexual assault among African American women. Although African American women experience sexual assault at alarming rates, they are less likely to disclose or seek help in the aftermath of sexual assault. The purpose of this literature review is to provide a critique of the current literature examining the barriers to disclosure for African American women, such as intrapsychic factors, the damaging effect of an unsupportive response to initial disclosure, stigmatization of African American female sexuality, apprehension regarding racism, and racial loyalty. The authors provide a summary of the literature, gaps in current empirical studies, and needs for future study. Culturally relevant intervention recommendations are described. Finally, implications for sexual assault policy are provided.