Measurement of empathy toward rape victims and rapists

Incapacitated and/or Forcible Rape Experience Predicting College Women's Rape Victim Empathy

Rape experience is common and victim empathy may help address it (e.g., prevention, victim support). We examined rape victim empathy based on type of rape experience (none, incapacitated, forcible, combined). Undergraduate women (n = 658) completed the Rape Victim Empathy-During Subscale and Sexual Experiences Survey-Short Form Victimization. Rape experience was associated with greater empathy, especially for those with any forcible experience. Perhaps due to weaker memory of their own rape event, incapacitated victims may be relatively less able than forcible victims to understand another victim's perspective during a rape. Researchers should consider examining incapacitated and forcible rape as distinct experiences.

Sexual victimization experience, acknowledgment labeling and rape empathy among college men and women

OBJECTIVE

Sexual victimization experience is a health concern among college students and rape empathy may help address it. Empathy with a rape victim was examined based on sexual victimization experience, acknowledgment (i.e., labeling experience "sexual assault," "rape"), and gender.

METHOD

Undergraduates (n = 531) completed measures of sexual victimization experience and rape empathy.

RESULTS

Acknowledged victims reported greater empathy than unacknowledged victims and nonvictims, but the latter two groups did not differ. Unacknowledged female victims reported greater empathy than unacknowledged male victims, but no gender difference emerged for acknowledged victims or nonvictims. Victimized men were less likely than victimized women to acknowledge their experience.

CONCLUSIONS

The association found between acknowledgment and empathy may inform efforts to address sexual victimization (e.g., prevention, victim support), and men should not be overlooked. Unacknowledged victims and greater acknowledgment rates among women than men may have contributed to previously reported gender differences in rape empathy.

Strategies for Implementing GlobalConsent to Prevent Sexual Violence in University Men (SCALE): study protocol for a national implementation trial

BACKGROUND

Globally, women 15-24 years are at heightened risk of sexual violence victimization, a risk factor for adverse mental, physical, and behavioral health outcomes. Sexual violence is common at universities and most often perpetrated by men, yet few evidence-based prevention strategies targeting men have been tested in low- and middle-income countries. GlobalConsent is a six-module, web-based educational program adapted from an efficacious U.S.-based program. Nine months post-treatment in a randomized trial in Vietnam, GlobalConsent reduced men's sexually violent behavior (odds ratio [OR] = 0.71, 95%CI 0.50-1.00) and increased prosocial intervening behavior (OR = 1.51, 1.00-2.28) relative to an attention-control. Evidence regarding optimal implementation strategies for scale up is needed.

METHODS

We will randomize six medical universities in North, Central, and South Vietnam to deliver GlobalConsent using two different packages of implementation strategies that vary in intensity. Higher-intensity strategies will include greater (1) pre- and post-implementation engagement with university leaders and faculty and (2) greater pre-implementation outreach, follow-up, and incentives for students to promote engagement and completion of GlobalConsent. Higher intensity universities will receive additional training and support for their added activities. We will compare implementation drivers and outcomes, intervention effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness across the two implementation bundles. Our mixed-methods comparative interrupted time series design includes (1) qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys with university leaders and implementation teams to assess implementation barriers and facilitators; (2) repeated surveys with leaders and faculty, implementation teams, and male students to assess multilevel implementation drivers and outcomes; (3) repeated surveys with male students to assess behavioral outcomes (sexual violence and intervening behavior) and mediating variables (knowledge, attitudes, affect, and capacities); and (4) time diaries and cost tracking to assess cost-effectiveness of the two implementation-strategies bundles.

DISCUSSION

This project is the first to assess packages of implementation strategies to deliver an efficacious web-based sexual violence prevention program for undergraduate men across all regions of Vietnam and synergizes with a violence-prevention training initiative (D43TW012188). This approach will produce rigorous evidence about how to disseminate GlobalConsent nationally, which holds promise to reduce gender-based health inequities linked to sexual violence as GlobalConsent is brought to scale.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

NCT06443541. Retrospectively registered with ClinicalTrials.gov. Registered on June 05, 2024.

TikToks Lead to Higher Knowledge and Perceived Severity of Sexual Violence among Adolescent Men

Social media communication is a promising way to deliver important health messages about sexual violence to a key population of adolescent men. The researchers conducted an online, between-participants experiment to examine the impact of personal narrative TikToks about sexual violence on adolescent men. Participants were adolescent men (n = 580) aged 15 to 19 (M = 17.3, SD = 1.43). Participants were randomly assigned to treatment (personal narrative TikToks about sexual violence) or control (hair braiding TikTok tutorials) conditions. Adolescent men who viewed personal narrative TikToks about sexual violence had higher knowledge of consequences and higher perceived severity of sexual violence. Additionally, adolescent men found personal narrative TikToks more attention-grabbing (vs. control) and did not have negative reactions. Findings that short (approximately one-minute) TikTok videos led to differences in knowledge and beliefs among, and were interesting and not aversive to, adolescent men are important for sexual violence prevention research. Health messages on TikTok can help shift adolescent perceptions of sexual violence, which is a key starting point towards changing norms.

Alcohol Use, Rape Myth Acceptance, Rape Empathy, and Sexual Assault History Influence the Believability of a Hypothetical Victim's Report of Sexual Assault

College sexual assault is a common problem, and survivors often do not report their experience to college campus officials or law enforcement for fear of not being believed. This study examined how contextual factors such as alcohol use and whether the perpetrator was described as a student-athlete or student, and rater characteristics, such as the history of sexual assault and attitudes toward rape, influenced college students' perceptions of the believability of a hypothetical victim's sexual assault account. In all, 449 (N = 449) undergraduates read a vignette describing a hypothetical sexual assault and were assigned randomly to one of four conditions with varying contextual features: college athlete-no alcohol, college athlete-alcohol, college student-no alcohol, or college student-alcohol. They then rated how much they believed the victim in the vignette had been raped (0 [not at all] to 100 [completely]). The presence of alcohol use in the vignette was associated with lower ratings of believability, and participants who were higher in rape myth acceptance and lower in rape empathy rated the hypothetical victim's rape account as less believable. In addition, women who had been raped previously rated the victim in the vignette as more believable than women with no history of sexual assault. Implications for how college campuses might respond more effectively to reported sexual assaults are discussed.

Boy v. man: The role of perception and the attribution of blame in court proceedings

Juries are a core component of the criminal justice system. Although marked with a history of prejudice, segmentation, and discrimination, the framework of the 6th Amendment calls for impartiality among a jury of peers who are selected for the pursuit of justice. Influencing jury decision-making is the perception of witnesses, defendants, and victims. Specific to this work, the characterization of the victim is often a function of in-group bias in which the jury, operating collectively, decides if it is to cognitively distance itself from the victim based on assigned attributes. The group's agreement with the assignment of negative attributes is especially apparent when the victim is a Black male. In the case of this analysis, teenage murder victim Jordan Davis was described as a man and characterized as an adult aggressor and deserving of blame. The analysis is integrative and considers this case to elaborate on the cognitive theories, system behavior, and cultural norms that frame the perceptive process of jurors. Also reflected are the implications of biased decision-making processes, as well as suggestions for ways to mitigate them.

Violent Assault on a Chinese Man: COVID-19 Psychosocial Resource Loss Diminishes Right Wing Authoritarianism Variability in Societal Reactions

We examined whether prejudice-related personality characteristics (i.e., right wing authoritarianism [RWA]) and COVID-19-driven psychological resource loss might predict perpetrator-directed punitive responding (i.e., support for criminal charges) to a COVID-19-related attack on a Chinese victim by a White male. Across two studies, participants completed an RWA measure and reported the extent they had experienced COVID-19-related psychosocial resource loss. They then read a passage describing the COVID-19-related physical assault. For both studies, at low resource loss levels, low RWA participants reported greater punitive responding toward the perpetrator than high RWA participants. This RWA-punitive responding association was mediated by greater victim-directed suffering sensitivity (i.e., empathy) for Study 1 and greater anti-perpetrator reactions (i.e., hate crime perceptions) for Study 2. The RWA association with the relevant outcome variables (i.e., suffering sensitivity, anti-perpetrator bias, and punitive responding) was eliminated at high psychological resource loss levels. Specifically, low and high RWA participants reported similar reactions. While previous research has demonstrated that high RWA individuals tend to report greater outgroup-directed prejudicial responses due to COVID-19-driven perceptions of threat, our findings demonstrate that the COVID-19 pandemic can also elicit feelings of resource loss that can diminish the egalitarian reactions typically reported by low RWA individuals. In sum, we demonstrate that experiencing difficult life circumstances such as COVID-19 psychosocial resource loss can diminish supportive reactions toward victimized minority group members even among low RWA participants who are typically expected to be more sensitive to the struggles of those who are disadvantaged.

Empathy for a Black Woman Victim of Police Sexual Violence: The Roles of Crime-Related Stress and Stereotype Attributions

Police sexual violence has been ranked as the second most common form of misconduct among police officers. Moreover, there is evidence that Black women are at heightened risk of being victims of such police violence. A report titled Say Her Name: Resisting Police Brutality Against Black Women has brought international attention to the minimal empirical focus on such police violence toward Black women. To address this lacuna in the literature, using an incident of police sexual assault of a woman, we assessed whether victim's race and participants' level of crime-related stress (i.e., stress due to crime victimization) would influence empathic responding toward the victim. Prolific participants (N = 411) first completed a measure of crime-related stress. They then read an article describing a White police officer's sexual assault of a Black or White woman. Next, participants completed a racial stereotype-related measure (i.e., Black women's higher sexual proclivity) and a stereotype-unrelated measure (i.e., perceived victim untrustworthiness), and reported their victim-directed empathic responding. At high stress levels, participants reported less empathy for the Black (relative to White) victim. At low stress levels, there was greater Black victim-directed empathy. The race effects on empathy were mediated by heightened attribution of Black women-related stereotypical beliefs to the Black victim at high stress levels and by diminished attribution at low stress levels. In sum, we addressed the lacuna in the literature on police sexual violence against Black women while providing evidence that stress can play a critical role in the occurrence of the oft-cited outgroup-directed empathy deficit.

Impacts of GlobalConsent, a Web-Based Social Norms Edutainment Program, on Sexually Violent Behavior and Bystander Behavior Among University Men in Vietnam: Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND

Sexual violence against women is prevalent worldwide. Prevention programs that treat men as allies and integrate a bystander framework are emerging in lower income settings, but evidence of their effectiveness is conflicting.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to test the impact of GlobalConsent on sexually violent behavior and prosocial bystander behavior among university men in Vietnam.

METHODS

We used a double-blind, parallel intervention versus control group design with 1:1 randomization at 2 universities. A total of 793 consenting heterosexual or bisexual men aged 18-24 years who matriculated in September 2019 were enrolled and assigned randomly to GlobalConsent or an attention-control adolescent health education (AHEAD) program. GlobalConsent is an adapted, theory-based, 6-module web-based intervention with diverse behavior change techniques and a locally produced serial drama. AHEAD is a customized, 6-module attention-control program on adolescent health. Both the programs were delivered to computers and smartphones over 12 weeks. Self-reported sexually violent behaviors toward women in the prior 6 months and prosocial bystander behaviors in the prior year were measured at 0, 6, and 12 months.

RESULTS

More than 92.7% (735/793) of men in both study arms completed at least 1 program module, and >90.2% (715/793) of men completed all 6 modules. At baseline, a notable percentage of men reported any sexually violent behavior (GlobalConsent: 123/396, 31.1%; AHEAD: 103/397, 25.9%) in the prior 6 months. Among men receiving GlobalConsent, the odds of reporting a high level (at least 2 acts) of sexually violent behavior at the endline were 1.3 times the odds at baseline. Among men receiving AHEAD, the corresponding odds ratio was higher at 2.7. The odds of reporting any bystander behavior at endline were 0.7 times the odds at baseline for GlobalConsent, and the corresponding odds ratio for AHEAD was lower at 0.5.

CONCLUSIONS

Compared with a health attention-control condition, GlobalConsent has sustained favorable impacts on sexually violent behavior and prosocial bystander behavior among matriculating university men in Vietnam, who would otherwise face increasing risks of sexually violent behavior. GlobalConsent shows promise for national scale-up and regional adaptations.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04147455; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04147455.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

RR2-10.1186/s12889-020-09454-2.

“It is all her fault”: psychosocial correlates of the negative attitudes towards rape victims among the general population of Pakistan

Background

Rape myths are marked for being false beliefs about sexual assault. With the problem being quite prevalent around the world, research has shown that numerous factors such as rape proclivity and perpetuation of rape myths are critical. The present study assesses the role of rape myths acceptance, rape victim empathy, and causal attributions towards rape victims as significantly predicting attitudes towards rape victims among the general population of Pakistan. Rape myths acceptance and causal attributions would significantly and positively predict negative attitudes towards rape victims.

Method

A cross-sectional research design was used for the study. The online survey questionnaire was filled by 573 participants including 275 males and 298 females who were selected through purposive sampling from the general population of Pakistan. The sample size was estimated using G*Power analysis with 95% confidence intervals. Data collection was done using Illinois rape myths, attitudes towards rape victim’s scale, rape victim empathy, and causal attributions scale were used. Data analysis was done using Pearson product-moment correlation, hierarchical regression, MANOVA, and mediation analysis via AMOS, all of which were executed using SPSS 21.0.

Results

The findings showed that higher levels of rape myths acceptance, low empathy towards rape victims, and victim blaming are significantly associated with negative attitudes towards rape victims. There were no gender differences among the participants. However, rape victim empathy significantly mediated the association between rape myths acceptance and rape victim empathy. It was also found that rape myths acceptance, rape victim empathy, and causal attributions significantly predicted attitudes towards rape victims. Another core finding was that there were no gender differences among participants with regard to rape myths acceptance, rape victim empathy, causal attributions, and attitudes towards rape victims.

Conclusions

Therefore, the findings contribute towards a better understanding of the rape myths in the general population of Pakistan and how the prevalence of such myths may contribute towards social, cultural, and legal problems of rape myths. The study also provides policy implications for a region where rape victims experience higher levels of blame and limited legal backing and support.

Attitudes Towards Rape and Their Determinants Among Men, Women and Non-Binary People in Poland

The aim of this paper is to present the results of research on attitudes towards rape conducted in a group of 850 adult Poles, including 505 women, 310 men and 35 non-binary people, and to analyze their selected correlates: rape myth acceptance, right-wing authoritarianism and rape empathy. Non-binary people have only recently been included in research as a distinct group and little information can be found in the literature on the characteristics of their attitudes towards social problems. Therefore particular attention was paid to comparing the attitudes towards rape of non-binary people with those of women and men. In analyzing the results, the authors took into account the current socio-political situation in Poland. The results indicate that attitudes toward sexual aggression are related to the type of gender identification. The most positive attitudes towards rape victims among the groups participating in the research are held by non-binary people. Furthermore, attitudes towards rape are determined by rape myths, right-wing authoritarianism and empathy for victims of rape.

Theoretical mediators of GlobalConsent: An adapted web-based sexual violence prevention program for university men in Vietnam

Sexual violence remains a global problem that disproportionately affects women. Though sexual violence interventions exist, few have been implemented in low- or middle-income countries, and none in Vietnam for young men. We adapted a sexual violence prevention intervention (RealConsent) developed for college men in the U.S. and conducted a randomized controlled trial of the adapted intervention (GlobalConsent) with college men in Vietnam. We assessed the effects of GlobalConsent on sexually violent behavior and prosocial bystander behavior, directly and through theoretically targeted mediators. The study design entailed a double-blind, parallel intervention-control-group design in two universities. Consenting heterosexual or bisexual men 18-24 years starting university in September 2019 (n = 793) completed a baseline survey and were assigned with 1:1 randomization to GlobalConsent or attention control. Both programs were web-based and lasted 12 weeks. Path analysis was performed to study the mediating effects of cognition/knowledge, beliefs/attitudes, affect, and efficacy/intention variables measured at six months on sexually violent behavior and prosocial bystander behavior measured at 12 months. In parallel multiple-mediator models, initiating GlobalConsent lowered the odds of sexually violent behavior mainly indirectly, via knowledge of sexual violence legality and harm and victim empathy and increased the odds of prosocial bystander behavior directly and indirectly, through knowledge of sexual violence legality and harm and bystander capacities. The efficacious direct and indirect effects of GlobalConsent support the cross-cultural applicability of its underlying theory of change and findings from mediation analyses of its sister program RealConsent, suggesting GlobalConsent's national scalability and adaptability across Southeast Asia.

Personal Traits of the People Who Help: The Case of Bystanders to Violence against Women

Within the context of emergency situations, the terms witness or bystander are used to refer to individuals involved in oppressive incidents who are neither the victim nor the perpetrator. Among the different types of emergency situations, our study focuses on violence against women (VAW). In keeping with current efforts in the scientific literature on bystander intervention and the evidence currently available, the main focus of this study is to analyze some personal factors that reflect the characteristics or experiences of bystanders and that could have a bearing on their predisposition to help victims of VAW (i.e., empathy, a just world belief system, and expectations of self-efficacy) and later analyze the possible relationship between these personal characteristics and gender or previous experience as a VAW bystander. An opportunity sample of 546 Spanish participants (73.4% women and 26.6% men) between 18 and 56 years of age took part in this study and fill out a sociodemographic data sheet, a questionnaire to evaluate the experience as violence witness designed ad hoc, and the Characteristics of People who Help Questionnaire scale (CPHQ). The results obtained indicate that CPHQ could constitute an adequate measure for the three dimensions analyzed. Female participants are significantly more empathetic than males, but in the case of a just world belief and expectations of self-efficacy the results showed no gender-related differences. Additionally, only a just world belief was clearly influenced by having been a bystander to some form of VAW. In conclusion, this study contributes a proposal for an evaluating instrument featuring three relevant personal characteristics in the development of helping behaviors, presenting some results of interest regarding empathy, a just world belief, and expectations of self-efficacy and their relationship with gender or previous experiences as VAW bystanders. These results obtained suggest an initial path toward future research in the development of interventions with bystander participation in our environment.

Police Perceptions of Sex-worker Rape Victims and Their Offenders: A Vignette Study

Women who are sex workers are at high risk of being victims of sexual violence. Yet research suggests that their claims of victimization are not taken seriously enough and largely go unbelieved by the police. The current study goes beyond the issue of victim credibility to examine police officer blame attributions and judgments toward rape victims and offenders. Two-hundred and twenty police officers read a description of the rape of a young student who was either a sex worker or not. After reading the description, participants reported their perceptions of blame toward the victim and offender, as well as their perceptions of victim resistance, consequences of rape to the victim, and feelings toward the victim. Deserved punishment for the offender was also reported. The findings indicated that police officer attributions of victim-blaming were more prominent toward the sex working victim, and they assessed the consequences that she suffered as less severe. Male officers were more biased than female officers in blame attributions toward the offender, manifested in lower levels of blaming as well as in supporting more lenient sanctions, and specifically when the victim was a sex worker. Negative sentiment toward the victim was indicated, especially among male officers, which also adhered more than female officers to the idea that the victim could have resisted the attack. The findings are interpreted within the contexts of rape myths and stereotypes and unique characteristics of the police subculture. Possible implications for the investigation of rape victims and cases are discussed. The importance of the findings is highlighted by recent data indicating that sex working may be a relatively common phenomenon among young normative students.

Prison Culture as Rape Supportive: Applying Importation and Deprivation Models to Examine Inmate Beliefs

While research examining sexual violence in prison has increased over the past 15 years, relatively scant attention has been paid to rape supportive beliefs and the factors influencing inmate adherence to these beliefs. Given the demonstrated role from studies outside the prison context that rape supportive beliefs have on sexual violence, important parallels can be drawn from studying the inmate population. Importation and deprivation models have been used to explain how inmates adapt to prison life-whether attitudes and behaviors are imported from their lives outside prison or are developed in prison due to the conditions of incarceration. Using a sample of male and female inmates (n = 875) from a large state prison system in the southern United States, the researchers explored the degree to which inmate rape supportive beliefs (IRSB) were influenced by variables indicative of importation or deprivation models of prison adaption. Findings revealed greater support for importation variables among both male and female inmates. With some variation, measures such as gender, age, ethnicity, and education were significant in explaining IRSB, similar to findings of studies on rape supportive beliefs among noninmate samples. Because these beliefs can manifest in problematic attitudes and behaviors among inmates, such as prison sexual violence and the underreporting of such violence, it is important that correctional administrators understand this relationship and take steps to lessen IRSB. Since IRSB largely correlate with factors unrelated to conditions of confinement, efforts to educate and sensitize inmates to prison sexual violence can replicate best practices based on populations outside of prisons.

Juror characteristics on trial: Investigating how psychopathic traits, rape attitudes, victimization experiences, and juror demographics influence decision-making in an intimate partner rape trial

INTRODUCTION

Trial by jury is a longstanding legal tradition used in common law jurisdictions to try the most serious of criminal cases. Yet, despite hearing the same trial evidence, individual jurors often arrive at different verdict decisions, indicating that they may be impacted by more than the evidence presented at trial. This study therefore sought to investigate the role of jurors' psychopathology, attitudinal, experiential, and demographic characteristics upon individual verdict decisions.

METHODS

Adopting an improved mock trial paradigm, 108 jury-eligible participants took part in one of nine identical 12-person mock trial simulations depicting a videotaped recreation of an intimate partner rape trial. Pre-trial, mock-jurors completed a psychosocial survey capturing their psychopathic personality traits (affective and cognitive responsiveness, interpersonal manipulation; egocentricity), rape myth beliefs, victimization experiences and demographics. Post-trial, jurors deliberated to reach a collective group decision and individual verdict decisions were recorded pre- and post-deliberation.

RESULTS

Binary logistic regression analyses revealed rape myth beliefs and juror ethnicity were significantly related to verdict decisions both pre- and post-deliberation. Post-deliberation, decreased affective responsiveness (empathy) and experience of sexual victimization were also found to be significant predictors of guilty verdict selections.

DISCUSSION

These findings indicate for the first time that within an intimate-partner rape trial, certain psychosocial traits, crime-specific attitudes, and experiences of sexual victimization appear to predispose juror judgments and decision-making even after group-deliberation. This study therefore has important implications for understanding how individual differences among jurors may impact rape trial verdict outcomes and the need for targeted juror reforms.

Jurors' Gender and Their Fear of False Child Sexual Abuse Accusations Are Related to Their Belief in Child Victims' Allegations

We developed the first Fear of False Accusations scale, measuring the public's fear of personally being the target of untrue child sexual abuse allegations despite no actual wrongdoing as well as the fear of false allegations being a common problem in society. The scale was statistically reliable within a diverse sample of 964 participants. Several months later, in an ostensibly unrelated mock trial experiment, a subset of the participants assumed the role of mock juror and considered a criminal case involving an accusation of child sexual abuse. As predicted, (a) mock jurors with higher levels of fear were less likely than others to believe a specific child sexual abuse allegation (but did not differ in ratings of victim credibility nor responsibility), (b) men had significantly higher levels of this fear than did women, and (c) mediational analyses revealed that gender differences in fear partially explained men's tendency to believe the child abuse allegation less than women did. This research is important for developing the first empirically validated measure of fear of false accusation and linking this fear to perceptions of specific child sexual abuse allegations, and for finding a partial explanation for gender differences in mock jurors' reactions to child sexual abuse allegations.

Blame Avoidance and Transgender Individuals' Attributions About Rape: Unpacking Gendered Assumptions in Defensive Attribution Research

This research examines how binary gender (male or female) interacts with trans status (cis or trans) to determine rape myth acceptance (RMA), perceived similarity, victim empathy, and victim blaming. Utilizing vignette methodology with an acquaintance rape scenario with a heterosexual female victim, we analyze these variables using multivariate ordinary least squares (OLS) and ordered logit regression. We find support for the argument that both harm avoidance and blame avoidance are operating to predict similarity, empathy, and victim blaming experienced by cisgender and transgender individuals. We argue that this is based on in-group identification from both gender identity and perceived likelihood of future victimization. Specifically, we find that cisgender men have the lowest rates of perceived similarity. Transgender women have the highest rates of empathy whereas cisgender women and trans men have lower rates of victim blaming than cisgender men. Results suggest that the interaction between binary gender and trans status influence perceptions of rape myths and victimization.

Valid for who? A preliminary investigation of the validity of two sexual victimization questionnaires in men and sexual minorities

The #MeToo movement illuminated vast numbers of people who experienced sexual violence, but the exact scope and impact, especially among under-studied populations (e.g., men and sexual minorities) is unclear, due in part to measurement issues. Our objective was to compare the validity of two measures of sexual violence victimization: The Sexual Experiences Survey - Short Form Victimization (SES-SFV) and The Post-Refusal Sexual Persistence Scale - Victimization (PRSPS-V). Participants were 673 college students who first completed the Rape Empathy for Victims (REM-V) and then the SES-SFV and PRSPS-V (counter-balanced). We found strong evidence of convergent validity for the PRSPS-V with correlations ranging from r = .57 - 88. Convergent validity correlations were strongest for sexual minority women (r = .88) and weakest for heterosexual men (r = .57). We also found evidence of differential validity for the SES-SFV and PRSPS-V. For heterosexual women, rape empathy was correlated to victimization on both questionnaires (r = .25 - .29). However, for heterosexual men, only scores on the SES-SFV were correlated with rape empathy for victims (r = .19). For sexual minorities there appeared to be differences between PRSPS-V only victims and those who reported victimization on both questionnaires in rape empathy (F = 2.65, p = .053). These results provide researchers a starting point for improving these questionnaires to collect more accurate data that helps improve the ability to detect cases of sexual victimization and thus, prevent and heal sexual victimization, especially in understudied populations such as men and sexual minorities.

Police Officer Perceptions of Non-consensual Dissemination of Intimate Images

Non-consensual dissemination of intimate images (NCII) is a major concern in many countries. The increase in the number of NCII cases and awareness of its adverse effects on victims has raised public awareness, with many states enacting legal and non-legal measures to combat this new type of violence. Yet, despite recent legislation, there is a reason to suspect that the majority of NCII cases remain unreported. Thus, research is needed on law enforcement perceptions of victims and identification of victim-blaming attitudes and factors that might affect legal decision-making. The present study addressed this issue by focusing on Israeli police officer perceptions of NCII victims and offenders: 145 police officers and 160 students, who served as a control group, were presented with a scenario depicting an NCII offense in which the stolen intimate material was either self-generated by the victim (selfies) or stealth-taken by the victim's ex-boyfriend. In both cases, the stolen images were disseminated by the ex-boyfriend without the victim's permission. The findings indicated victim-blaming attitudes toward NCII victims within law enforcement as well as an effect of the source of stolen images. Although officers perceived NCII as criminal and the offender as highly culpable and punishable, they engaged in victim-blaming. This was especially the case for the self-taken scenario, which elicited negative feelings and less empathy toward the victim. The relevance of emotions in legal contexts is emphasized in light of their contribution to the participants' punitive judgments. Victim-blaming in NCII offenses and its implications are discussed, and suggestions are made for how to reduce negative and victim-blaming attitudes among law enforcement.

Preventing sexual violence in college men: a randomized-controlled trial of GlobalConsent

Background

Sexual violence—any sexual act committed against a person without freely given consent—disproportionately affects women. Women’s first experiences of sexual violence often occur in adolescence. In Asia and the Pacific, 14% of sexually experienced adolescent girls report forced sexual debut. Early prevention with men that integrates a bystander framework is one way to address attitudes and behavior while reducing potential resistance to participation.

Methods

This paper describes a study protocol to adapt RealConsent for use in Vietnam and to test the impact of the adapted program—GlobalConsent—on cognitive/attitudinal/affective mediators, and in turn, on sexual violence perpetration and prosocial bystander behavior. RealConsent is a six-session, web-based educational entertainment program designed to prevent sexual violence perpetration and to enhance prosocial bystander behavior in young men. The program has reduced the incidence of sexual violence among men attending an urban, public university in the Southeastern United States. We used formative qualitative research and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Map of the Adaptation Process to adapt RealConsent. We conducted semi-structured interviews with college men (n = 12) and women (n = 9) to understand the social context of sexual violence. We conducted focus group discussions with university men and stakeholders (n = 14) to elicit feedback on the original program. From these data, we created scripts in storyboard format of the adapted program. We worked closely with a small group of university men to elicit feedback on the storyboards and to refine them for acceptability and production. We are testing the final program—GlobalConsent—in a randomized controlled trial in heterosexual or bisexual freshmen men 18–24 years attending two universities in Hanoi. We are testing the impact of GlobalConsent (n = 400 planned), relative to a health-education attention control condition we developed (n = 400 planned), on cognitive/attitudinal/affective mediators, prosocial bystander behavior, and sexual violence perpetration.

Discussion

This project is the first to test the impact of an adapted, theoretically grounded, web-based educational entertainment program to prevent sexual violence perpetration and to promote prosocial bystander behavior among young men in a middle-income country. If effective, GlobalConsent will have exceptional potential to prevent men’s sexual violence against women globally.

Trial registration

U.S. National Library of Medicine Clinicaltrials.govNCT04147455 on November 1, 2019 (Version 1). Retrospectively registered. Protocol amendments will be submitted to clinicaltrials.gov.

The relationship between binge drinking and prosocial bystander behavior among college men

Objectives: This study prospectively examined binge drinking's effect on prosocial bystander behavior and indicators of bystander behavior: intentions to intervene, self-efficacy to intervene, and positive outcome expectancies for intervening. Participants: College men were recruited from February to April 2010. Methods: Pre- and posttest surveys were administered as part of a randomized controlled trial (n = 743). Potential confounders were identified using Pearson product-moment correlations. Controlling for covariates, multiple linear regression was used to examine whether binge drinking was predictive of prosocial bystander behavior and indicators of bystander behavior. Results: Binge drinking was related to lower bystander behavior (p<.05), lower intentions to intervene (p<.001), and less positive outcome expectancies for intervening (p<.05). Conclusions: Binge drinking may reduce the ability to notice a risk situation and intervene as a prosocial bystander. Results highlight the need for bystander programs to address alcohol use within the context of bystander behavior.

The effects of body-worn camera footage and eyewitness race on jurors' perceptions of police use of force

Police use of body-worn cameras (BWCs) is increasingly common in the USA. This article reports the results of one of the first experimental examinations of the effects of three BWC status conditions (absent, transcribed, viewed) and eyewitness race (Black, White) on mock jurors' case judgments, in a case in which a community member (defendant) was charged with resisting arrest but where the officer's use of force in conducting the arrest was controversial. Results provide evidence of significant main effects of both eyewitness race and BWC status. When the eyewitness supporting the defendant was White, mock jurors were less likely to vote the defendant guilty of resisting arrest, as well as more likely to consider the defendant credible and the officer culpable for the incident. In addition, when BWC footage of the arrest was viewed, compared with transcribed or absent, participants were less likely to vote the defendant guilty of resisting arrest, and also rated the officer's use of force less justifiable, and the officer more culpable and less credible. Follow-up analyses demonstrated that these relationships between BWC condition and case judgments were all mediated by moral outrage toward the officer.

Receiving Leniency After Hurting a Female Norm-Violator: The Mediating Role of Victim and Harm-Doer Empathy

Data from 140 participants from the South Pacific, where domestic violence rates are high, demonstrated less punitive responding toward the male harm-doer of a female sexual norm-violator (SNV) relative to a control victim. The impact of victim type on punitive responding was mediated by empathy toward the victim and harm-doer. In Study 2, data from 240 individuals from the South Pacific demonstrated less punitive responding toward the harm-doer of an SNV victim relative to a control and a career-focused mother victim. The victim type-punitive responding relationship was also mediated by victim blame attributions and victim moral outrage.

Black Intragroup Empathic Responding to Police Interracial Violence: Effects of Victim Stereotypicality and Blacks’ Racial Identification

Despite the public outrage in response to police violence against unarmed Black men, work on the psychological dynamics of reactions to these incidents is relatively rare. The present research examined whether empathy for a Black male victim of White police interracial violence would vary as a function of victim stereotypicality (stereotypic/counterstereotypic) and Black participant racial identity. In Study 1, 140 Black participants were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). As hypothesized, Black participants low in racial identification reported less empathy for the stereotypical relative to the counterstereotypical victim. Those high in racial identification showed relatively high levels of empathy regardless of the characteristics of the Black victim. Study 2 replicated these effects with 263 Black MTurk participants. This research highlights the value of considering individual differences in the Black observers (racial identification) and the characteristics of Black victims to better understand the psychological processes involved in intragroup responses to police violence.

Blaming the Victim of Acquaintance Rape: Individual, Situational, and Sociocultural Factors

Victims of rape are uniquely vulnerable for being blamed for their assault relative to victims of other interpersonal crimes and thus much research has been conducted to understand why this is the case. But the study of victim blaming in acquaintance rape cases is hindered by contradictory empirical results. Early investigations in victim blaming often treated acquaintance rapes and stranger rapes as synonymous and thus much of these data are suspect for drawing conclusions particular to acquaintance rape. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the research literature on victim blame in acquaintance rape cases, highlighting inconsistencies and drawing particular attention to areas of research in need of further exploration. Specifically, we review the commonly studied individual (perceiver) factors that influence victim blaming, as well as common situational (target) factors included or manipulated within sexual assault scenarios. Our review reveals many inconsistent findings and interactions between perceiver and scenario factors. In an effort to make sense of these complex interactions and inconsistent findings, we suggest a need for more transparency in describing the scenarios used in research on victim blaming in sexual assault cases and greater empirical attention to sociocultural factors that may influence blaming tendencies.

Changing the norms that drive intimate partner violence: findings from a cluster randomised trial on what predisposes bystanders to take action in Kampala, Uganda

Introduction

Despite widespread calls to end violence against women, there remains limited evidence on how to prevent it. Community-level programmes seek to engage all levels of the community in changing norms that drive intimate partner violence (IPV). However, little is known about what predisposes ordinary people to become active in violence prevention.

Methods

Using data from the SASA! study, a cluster randomised trial of a community mobilisation intervention in Kampala, Uganda, we explore which community members are most likely to intervene when they witness IPV. A cross-sectional survey of community members (18–49 years) was conducted 4 years after intervention implementation began (2012). Among those who had seen IPV in their community (past year), multivariate logistic regression, disaggregated by sex and trial arm, explored the associations between ‘trying to help’ and demographics, IPV experience (women)/perpetration (men), childhood abuse experiences, IPV attitudes and SASA! exposure.

Results

Overall, SASA! community members were more likely to intervene than their control counterparts (57% vs 31%). In control communities, older age (women), increasing relationship duration (men), talking to neighbours (men) and believing it is okay for a woman to tell if she is experiencing IPV (men) were positively associated with trying to help. In SASA! communities associated factors were increasing relationship duration (women/men), employment (women), talking to neighbours (women), childhood abuse experiences (women), lifetime IPV (women/men), IPV-related attitudes (women/men) and greater SASA! exposure (women/men).

Conclusions

Differing results between intervention and control communities suggest contextual factors may modify the effects of personal characteristics/experiences on helping behaviours. Motivation to act brought about by personal experiences of IPV, for example, might only propel individuals into action if they are equipped with the skills, confidence and support of others to do so. Community mobilisation can help create environments and synergies supportive of action.

Trial registration number

NCT00790959.

Study protocol

Available at http://www.trialsjournal.com/content/13/1/96.

Theoretical Mediators of RealConsent: A Web-Based Sexual Violence Prevention and Bystander Education Program

This study examined the process by which a web-based sexual violence (SV) prevention program (i.e., RealConsent) prevents SV perpetration and increases bystander behaviors. Data from 743 college men who participated in a randomized controlled trial were analyzed. Simple and multiple-mediation models were estimated, using several theoretical constructs to assess the mechanisms through which RealConsent produced significant effects on SV perpetration and prosocial bystander or intervening behaviors. The results indicated that knowledge of effective consent for sex, hostility toward women, date rape attitudes, and hyper-gender male ideology significantly mediated the effects of RealConsent on SV perpetration in the multiple-mediator model. Furthermore, intentions to intervene significantly mediated the effects of RealConsent on prosocial bystander behaviors in the multiple-mediator model. The results show that the RealConsent program works to prevent SV perpetration and prosocial bystander behaviors via several theoretically proposed mediators central to the development and content of the program. The results also provide strong evidence that SV and bystander education for college men may benefit from including an explicit focus on decreasing negative norms related to women (e.g., hostility, date rape attitudes, hyper-gender ideology) and through increasing college men's knowledge of consent and intentions to intervene.

The effects of gender, personal trauma history and memory continuity on the believability of child sexual abuse disclosure among psychologists

Gender, a personal history of trauma and attitudes towards continuous vs recovered memories of abuse significantly impact the believability of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) disclosures in community samples. Yet, whether these variables influence the believability of CSA disclosure and subsequent clinical decisions made by practicing psychologists is underexplored. A vignette of trauma disclosure from a hypothetical adult client was presented via an online survey to 292 registered psychologists. Participants rated the believability of the disclosure, answered an open-ended item regarding treatment planning, and completed the Brief Betrayal Trauma Survey to measure personal trauma history. Results indicated that female psychologists believed disclosures significantly more than male psychologists and that disclosures comprised of continuous memories were believed more than recently recovered memories. A significant interaction between gender and personal trauma history was also revealed. Female psychologists believed disclosures regardless of their personal trauma history, while male psychologists with a personal history of trauma believed disclosures significantly more than male psychologists without personal trauma history. Reported believability of the disclosure, while unrelated to treatment planning, was associated with a reported intention to validate the client's experience. The results support that, similar to community samples, gender and a personal trauma history impact psychologist believability of CSA disclosure. The research further supports that psychologist level of belief then translates into clinical implications.

Evaluations of Sexual Assault Prevention Programs in Military Settings: A Synthesis of the Research Literature

The prevention of sexual assault (SA) in the U.S. military is a significant priority. This study applied the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to a literature search that identified research evaluating SA prevention programs conducted within military settings. Only six studies published between 2005 and 2016 met criteria for inclusion in the review. Studies demonstrated high heterogeneity in the: (1) conceptual framework of the prevention approach; (2) target population and timing of administration; (3) study recruitment methods; (4) methodological design; (5) method of delivery, program dosage and theory of change; and (6) outcome administration and efficacy. Scientific rigor according to the Oxford Center for Evidence-based Medicine was also variable. Several gaps in the research base were identified. Specifically, research evaluating SA prevention programs have only been conducted among U.S. Army and U.S. Navy samples. Most studies did not examine whether program participation was associated with reductions in rates of sexual violence. Studies also lacked utilization of a long-term follow-up period. Additionally, studies did not reflect the types of SA prevention programs currently being implemented in military settings. Taken together, further research is needed to enhance the evidence base for SA prevention in the military, and to evaluate the effectiveness of the approaches currently being conducted with service members.

Evaluation of Rape Victim by Men and Women with High and Low Belief in A Just World

Men with high belief in a just world evaluated a videotaped rape victim more negatively than did men with low belief in a just world. Women with high belief in a just world were less negative toward the rape victim than women with low belief in a just world. Participants with low belief in a just world recommended significantly longer prison sentences for the rapist. Evaluations of the rapist and rape victim were not influenced by information about the outcome of the case (the rapist was never caught, the rapist was caught and sentenced to either 1 or 15 years in prison). Implications for just-world beliefs of jurors in rape trials were discussed.

Adaptation of the Domestic Violence Myth Acceptance Scale to Portuguese and Tests of Its Convergent, Divergent, and Predictive Validities

The Domestic Violence Myth Acceptance Scale was adapted to Portuguese (PDVMAS). The PDVMAS displayed reasonable fit indices (Study 1); was positively correlated with right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, belief in a just world (Study 2), and ambivalent sexism (Study 3); and negatively correlated with empathetic tendencies (Study 4). PDVMAS significantly predicted victim blame and aggressor exoneration in scenarios of coercion (Study 5) and physical assault (Study 6). Victims and non-victims of domestic violence equally endorsed domestic violence myths. Globally, the PDVMAS is a reliable instrument, and domestic violence myths are pervasive and alter the perception of intimate partner violence.

Individual Differences and Attitudes Toward Rape: A Meta-Analytic Review

An overview discusses (a) the importance of rape attitudes, (b) the major rape attitude measures, and (c) the applicability of four theoretical frameworks of hostility toward women to rape attitude maintenance. Findings from 72 studies of rape attitudes and individual differences were quantitatively synthesized. The meta-analysis revealed more rape acceptance for men, older people, and people from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds. For men, cognitive predispositions toward perpetrating rape were strong predictors of rape acceptance. For women, experience as and exposure to rape victims were associated with slightly less rape acceptance. Consistent with some theoretical predictions, traditional gender role beliefs, adversarial sexual beliefs, needs for power and dominance, aggressiveness and anger, and conservative political beliefs predicted rape acceptance. Implications for rape education programs and research are discussed.

Attitudes Toward Rape

The purpose of this study is to investigate differences in attitudes toward rape between Asian and Caucasian college students. The Attitudes Toward Rape scale was used to measure beliefs about rape in a convenience sample of 169 college students. Three items regarding stranger rape myths were added. Findings suggest that Asian students are more likely than Caucasian students to believe women should be held responsible for preventing rape and to view sex as the primary motivation for rape. Asians also have stronger beliefs than Caucasians do that victims cause the rape and that most rapists are strangers. This research suggests that outreach programs can play an important role in providing information, education, and prevention regarding rape and that males and Asian students should be target populations for such programs.

Women's Reactions to Sexually Aggressive Mass Media Depictions

The idea that the media contribute to a cultural climate that is supportive of attitudes facilitating violence against women, diminishes concern for female victims (desensitization), and produces negative changes in women's views of themselves was investigated. Women viewed a film per day for 4 days from one of three categories: a) sexually explicit but nonviolent stimuli, b) sexually explicit, sexually violent stimuli, and c) mildly sexually explicit, graphically violent stimuli. They then served as jurors in a simulated rape trial. Exposure to both types of violent stimuli produced desensitization and ratings of the stimuli as less degrading to women. Women exposed to the mildly sexually explicit, graphically violent stimuli were less sensitive toward the victim in the rape trial than were other film subjects. However, no differences were obtained between the film groups and the no-exposure control group on women's views of themselves.

Rape Myths

Theories of sexual aggression and victimization have increasingly emphasized the role of rape myths in the perpetuation of sexual assault. Rape myths are attitudes and generally false beliefs about rape that are widely and persistently held, and that serve to deny and justify male sexual aggression against women. Acceptance of such myths has been assessed with a number of measures, and investigators have examined its relationship with numerous variables and interventions. Although there has been extensive research in this area, definitions, terminology, and measures of rape myth acceptance (RMA) continue to lack adequate theoretical and psychometric precision. Despite such criticisms, we emphasize that the significance of this type of research cannot be overstated because it has immense potential for the understanding of sexual assault. The present article offers a theory-based definition of rape myths, reviews and critiques the literature on rape myth acceptance, and suggests directions for future research. In particular we argue that such work must include the development and application of improved measures, with more concern for the theoretical and methodological issues unique to this field.

Preventing Acquaintance Rape Through Education

Emerging information that rape primarily occurs between acquaintances has not only exploded our understanding of this problem, but forced a reexamination of our notions of prevention. In recent years, the vast majority of rape prevention programs have taken the format of educational workshops, with the underlying assumption that change in rape-supportive ideologies will decrease the actual incidence of sexual aggression. This article critically reviews such rape prevention education with particular focus on common techniques such as: “debunking” rape mythology, generating participant interaction, providing sexuality education and a feminist orientation, and avoiding confrontational approaches. Finally, theoretical and practical concerns are discussed regarding previous experiences of sexual victimization or perpetration, the conceptualization and use of outcome measures, issues of program facilitation, and processes underlying change in rape-supportive ideologies. It is concluded that future research must seriously address these many issues through thoughtful conceptualization and rigorous experimentation, so that the promise of rape prevention can be fully realized.

An Acquaintance Rape Prevention Program

The present study investigated the effects of an acquaintance-rape prevention program on college students' attitudes toward rape and attitudes toward women, perceptions of acquaintance-rape scenarios, and rape empathy. Participants were led to believe that they were participating in two separate experiments in order to decrease demand characteristics. Results indicated that intervention group men and women became more empathic toward the victim than the control group, postintervention. Within the intervention group, men changed more in their attitudes toward women postintervention than did women. In addition to positive attitude change, results with the date-rape scenarios suggested that intervention-group men became more certain of their definitions of rape situations postintervention. Prior to the intervention, women were generally more certain of their definitions than were men, with intervention-group men approximating women's responses postintervention.

Cycle of Blame or Just World

The conviction rate for sexual assault is persistently low in the United States. We propose a cycle-of-blame framework to highlight the possibility that the same rape myths that limit convictions are in turn strengthened by not-guilty verdicts. Participants read a summary of a rape trial. In different conditions, they were told that the jury's verdict was guilty or not guilty. In a No-Verdict condition, participants merely read the summary. All 96 participants subsequently responded to questionnaires measuring rape-myth acceptance and victim empathy. Gender affected both the myth and empathy measures, with women accepting fewer myths than men and exhibiting more empathy for the victim. Gender and Condition interacted such that men showed greater acceptance of rape myths and less empathy after a not-guilty versus a guilty verdict. Women evidenced consistently high empathy across conditions and greater myth acceptance after a guilty verdict. Although the cycle-of-blame principle is consistent with the performance of men, women's data require a different interpretation, which we base on just-world theory.

Reactions to Stranger and Acquaintance Rape

The purpose of the present study was to investigate females' and males' reactions to a woman who presumably had been raped by a stranger or an acquaintance. Eighty undergraduates, 40 women and 40 men, read one of two rape descriptions prior to watching a videotape of the woman who (they were led to believe) had been the victim of the rape. Female and male subjects were found to have markedly different reactions to stranger and acquaintance rape and rape victims.

Predicting Rape Victim Empathy Based on Rape Victimization and Acknowledgment Labeling

Two studies examined rape victim empathy based on personal rape victimization and acknowledgment labeling. Female undergraduates (Study 1, n = 267; Study 2, n = 381) from a Northeast U.S. midsize public university completed the Rape-Victim Empathy Scale and Sexual Experiences Survey. As predicted, both studies found that acknowledged "rape" victims reported greater empathy than unacknowledged victims and nonvictims. Unexpectedly, these latter two groups did not differ. Study 1 also found that acknowledged "rape" victims reported greater empathy than victims who acknowledged being "sexually victimized." Findings suggest that being raped and acknowledging "rape" together may facilitate rape victim empathy.

Clergy Perceptions of Sexual Assault Victimization

Although congregants often turn to clergy for help in dealing with personal difficulties, including marital problems, substance abuse issues, and mental illness, survivors of sexual assault do not commonly turn to clergy for support or guidance. This study utilized a mixed-methods approach, online survey, and semi-structured interviews to determine how clergy perceive sexual assault victimization. The results of this study showed that more blame was assigned to the victim as the relationship with the perpetrator became closer, with the exception of marital rape. This study also found that hostile sexism was a predictor of negative attitudes toward rape victims.

Perspective Taking and Empathy: Does Having Similar Past Experience to Another Person Make It Easier to Take Their Perspective?

This study tested the hypothesis that it is easier to take the perspective of another person when one has similar past experience. Volunteer participants (N = 154) were asked to take the perspective of a protagonist in one of four problematic interpersonal situations and then to rate the ease with which they felt able to perspective take and the extent of their personal past experience of similar situations. Similar past experience predicted ease of perspective taking, with the relationship influenced by reflection on past experience. Ease of perspective taking mediated the relationship between similar past experience and participant perceptions of their accuracy in understanding the other person, but ease was not associated with emotional arousal. The findings have potential therapeutic applications for attempts to increase empathy and understanding in people for whom perspective taking may be difficult.

Rape Crimes Reviewed: The Role of Observer Variables in Female Victim Blaming

This article presents an overview of empirical research on the role of observer variables in rape victim blaming (female attacked by a male perpetrator). The focus is on literature from the last 15 years. The variables observer gender, ambivalent sexism, rape myth acceptance, and rape empathy are discussed in relation to victim blaming. Most research on rape is conducted using diverse methods and approaches that result in a great disparity regarding the role of these variables in predicting blame assignments. Despite the inconsistencies, most studies show that men hold the victim more responsible for her own victimization than women. Findings further indicate that higher scores on sexist ideologies and rape myth acceptance predict higher victim blame, and that higher rape empathy scores predict lower victim blame. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Explaining gender differences in jurors' reactions to child sexual assault cases

In three experiments, we investigated the influence of juror, victim, and case factors on mock jurors' decisions in several types of child sexual assault cases (incest, day care, stranger abduction, and teacher-perpetrated abuse). We also validated and tested the ability of several scales measuring empathy for child victims, children's believability, and opposition to adult/child sex, to mediate the effect of jurors' gender on case judgments. Supporting a theoretical model derived from research on the perceived credibility of adult rape victims, women compared to men were more empathic toward child victims, more opposed to adult/child sex, more pro-women, and more inclined to believe children generally. In turn, women (versus men) made more pro-victim judgments in hypothetical abuse cases; that is, attitudes and empathy generally mediated this juror gender effect that is pervasive in this literature. The experiments also revealed that strength of case evidence is a powerful factor in determining judgments, and that teen victims (14 years old) are blamed more for sexual abuse than are younger children (5 years old), but that perceptions of 5 and 10 year olds are largely similar. Our last experiment illustrated that our findings of mediation generalize to a community member sample.

The Assessment of Rapists

The assessment of sexual aggression presents many difficulties for clinicians. The tendency of offenders to minimise or deny their offending, and their frequent distrust of mental health professionals, require high levels of skill to circumvent. In addition, the multifactorial nature of rape means that assessment needs to cover a broad range of content areas and utilise a number of different methods. In this paper we suggest that a comprehensive assessment should inquire into the developmental history of rapists, social competency, attitudes and beliefs about women and sexual crimes, sexual knowledge, sexual preferences and disorders, empathy, offence variables, psychiatric history, and substance abuse. The clinical interview remains the primary method of information acquisition, and needs to be tailored to match the particular interpersonal style of rapists. The use of psychometric and physiological measures are also valuable sources of clinical data.