Alcohol and rape in Winnipeg, 1966-1975

The Contribution of Alcohol to the Likelihood of Completion and Severity of Injury in Rape Incidents

Alcohol use has consistently been linked to violent crime including sexual assault. However, its effect on the likelihood of rape completion and victim injury has not been explored. This article examines the effect of the perpetrator's alcohol consumption on the probability that a rape will be completed and the likelihood and seriousness of physical injuries to victims of rape. Using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey of the Bureau of Justice Statistics for 1992 through 1994, the authors test three hypotheses regarding the effect of perpetrator drinking using multivariate models to control for situational factors and victim's demographic characteristics. The data suggest that drinking by the perpetrator decreases the likelihood that a rape will be completed, increases the likelihood of victim injury, and shows no relationship between perpetrator drinking and the victim's need for medical care.

Alcohol and Sexual Aggression in a National Sample of College Men

Alcohol use prior to sexual assault by both offenders and their victims may be associated with the severity of sexual aggression men commit against women. Little research has explored the pathways (e.g., social context, behavior) through which alcohol may affect outcomes of sexual attacks. The present study analyzed the role of alcohol in sexual assaults ( N = 694) committed by men identified from a national sample ( N = 2,972) of male college students completing a survey. Interactions of alcohol use with assault variables did not suggest any synergistic role of alcohol use in predicting sexual aggression severity. Path analysis showed, however, that offender propensity to abuse alcohol and victim preassault alcohol use were each both directly and indirectly related to sexual aggression severity, whereas offender preassault alcohol use was not directly related to sexual aggression severity. This study suggests that alcohol use plays both direct and indirect roles in the outcomes of sexual assaults. Rape and alcohol abuse prevention efforts can benefit from incorporating information about alcohol's role in different assault contexts.

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.

Alcohol use and crime: findings from a longitudinal sample of U.S. adolescents and young adults

BACKGROUND

A positive relationship between alcohol use and criminal activity has been well documented among adults, but fewer studies explore this relationship among adolescents.

METHODS

Using data from 4 waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), we examine alcohol use patterns and criminal activity from adolescence to young adulthood. Fixed-effects models partially address the potential endogeneity of alcohol use, and, because numerous studies indicate that males are more likely than females to engage in drinking and criminal activity, the analyses are segmented by gender.

RESULTS

We find a strong positive relationship between alcohol consumption, the commission of crimes, and criminal victimization for both genders. Various sensitivity analyses and robustness checks support this core finding.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results have important policy implications, as public policy tools that aim to reduce drinking among adolescents could also reduce criminal activity. Moreover, effective alcohol abuse treatment may indirectly reduce delinquency and thus have greater long-term economic benefits than previously estimated.

Alcohol-related sexual assault victimization among adolescents: prevalence, characteristics, and correlates

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to document the prevalence and describe the characteristics of alcohol-related sexual assault among middle and high school students.

METHOD

A Web-based, self-administered survey was used to collect data on 7th- through 12th-grade students (n = 1,037) in a large metropolitan area in the Midwest. A modified version of the Sexual Experiences Survey was used to ask students about their sexual victimization experiences so as to examine the involvement of alcohol within specific assault events. The sample was equally distributed by biological gender and ethnicity (white vs black) and was, on average (SD), 14 (2) years of age.

RESULTS

Findings from the study indicate that alcohol was involved in approximately 12%-20% of the assault cases, depending on age and gender of the respondent. For females, the presence of alcohol during assault differed significantly based on the location at which the assault occurred, ranging from 6% (at the survivor's home) to 29% (at parties or someone else's home). Furthermore, alcohol-related assault among females was more likely to involve physical force than non-alcohol-related assault.

CONCLUSIONS

Results are discussed in light of the risk factors of alcohol-related assault among adolescents as well as the nature of social contexts that fosters alcohol-related sexual assault among both adolescents and college students.

Alcohol and sexuality research in the AIDS era: trends in publication activity, target populations and research design

Research addressing relationships between alcohol and human sexuality has proliferated, due in part to efforts to characterize alcohol's role in HIV risk behavior. This study provides a descriptive review of the alcohol-sexuality literature, using abstracts from 264 identified studies to estimate changes in publication activity, target populations, and the prevalence of HIV-related studies over time. We also examine methodological trends by estimating the prevalence of experimental vs. non-experimental studies. Findings show considerable increases in research activity and diversity of populations studied since the mid-1980's and highlight the emergence of HIV-related studies as a focal point of alcohol-sexuality research efforts. Results also demonstrate a substantial decline in the proportion of studies utilizing experimental methods, in part because of frequent use of non-experimental approaches in studies of alcohol and HIV risk behavior. We discuss implications and review the role of experiments in evaluating causal relationships between alcohol and sexual risk behavior.

Intimate partner violence by men abusing and non-abusing alcohol in Poland

Alcohol use is to one of the most of risk factors for intimate partner violence. The aim of this study was to check the difference of demographic characteristics and type of violence between of the perpetrators with a history of alcohol abuse (A) versus the perpetrators without a history of alcohol abuse (N). Data were obtained from the survey conducted in the office of the Association for Violence Prevention in the city of Lublin, Poland. 400 perpetrators and their victims (400 subjects) were examined. To collect information from victims a specially designed questionnaire was used (VQ). Besides, another questionnaire (PQ) and The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) was used to measure alcohol use in the perpetrators. About 76% of the perpetrators scored 8 and above (AUDIT). 84.8% of the perpetrators with a history of alcohol abuse (A) versus 9.2% of the perpetrators without a history of alcohol abuse (N) committed acts of violence after alcohol consumption. The A-perpetrators were more likely to be younger, have lower education and break law, and less likely to have permanent jobs than the N- perpetrators. The significant difference in the type of violence was found: the A-perpetrators were more likely to commit physical violence (78.2%) than the Nperpetrators (33.2%) and the N-perpetrators were more likely to commit sexual violence (32.2%) than A-perpetrators (9.14%). We would like to conclude that despite similarities among perpetrators, they are not a homogenous group so different therapeutic approach should be considered.

Sexual assault and alcohol consumption: what do we know about their relationship and what types of research are still needed?

Approximately half of all sexual assaults are associated with either the perpetrator's alcohol consumption, the victim's alcohol consumption, or both. Although the emphasis of this review is on alcohol-involved sexual assaults, their unique aspects can only be evaluated by comparing them to other types of sexual assault. Theoretical perspectives on sexual assault that focus on characteristics of the perpetrator, the victim, and the situation are described. A number of personality traits, attitudes, and past experiences have been systematically linked to sexual assault perpetration, including beliefs about alcohol and heavy drinking. In contrast, only a few experiences have been significantly related to sexual assault victimization, including childhood sexual abuse and heavy drinking. There is support for both psychological and pharmacological mechanisms linking alcohol and sexual assault. Beliefs about alcohol's effects reinforce stereotypes about gender roles and can exacerbate their influence on perpetrators' actions. Alcohol's effects on cognitive and motor skills also contribute to sexual assault through their effects on perpetrators' and victims' ability to process and react to each other's verbal and nonverbal behavior. Limitations with existing research and methodological challenges associated with conducting research on this topic are described. Suggestions are made for future research which can inform prevention and treatment programs.

The impact of men's alcohol consumption on perpetration of sexual aggression

Epidemiological and experimental literature examining the link between men's alcohol consumption and perpetration of sexual aggression is reviewed. The following are included in the review: (1) associational studies that examine the correlation between typical alcohol consumption and history of sexual aggression perpetration; (2) event-level studies that examine the impact of alcohol consumption at the time of sexual assault; and (3) experimental studies that consider the impact of administered alcohol on men's responses to a sexual aggression analog. Associational studies suggest a modest correlation between typical alcohol consumption and history of sexual aggression perpetration, but spurious effects may account for much of the relationship. Event-level studies offer mixed evidence in support of a relationship between alcohol consumption at the time of the sexually aggressive incident and severity of outcome. Experimental analog studies provide evidence of a proximal, pharmacological effect of alcohol on the likelihood of sexual aggression perpetration and more modest evidence supporting an alcohol expectancy effect. An integrative heuristic model of alcohol's distal and proximal effects on sexual aggression perpetration is proposed. Priorities for future research include greater specificity in measurement of sexual aggression, examination of alcohol's indirect effects on aggression through context, and consideration of mechanisms other than alcohol myopia in understanding alcohol's proximal effects.

Alcohol and adult sexual assault in a national sample of women

PURPOSE

Alcohol use is commonly present in sexual assault incidents, but the nature of its role in these offenses remains unclear. Researchers have argued that the propensity to abuse alcohol generally and the use of alcohol prior to assault by offenders and victims may be associated with increased severity of sexual abuse and physical injury to sexual assault victims. In particular, there is speculation that offender drinking may facilitate offenders' use of greater physical aggression against victims in their attacks, resulting in more serious injuries to victims.

METHODS

The role of alcohol in sexual assault incidents (n = 163) identified from a national sample of women was studied.

RESULTS

In the present sample, offender pre-assault drinking and offender aggression used in the offense were each strong predictors of victim physical injury. Victim heavy episodic drinking did not predict victim injury controlling for other assault characteristics, victim and offender drinking prior to assault, and victim demographic characteristics. Drinking by offenders and victims was more common in assaults where victims were less well acquainted with their assailants prior to attack. Higher levels of offender aggression and victim injury were also associated with stranger attacks.

IMPLICATIONS

Implications of the results for the study of alcohol and sexual assault are discussed.

Childhood abuse and premilitary sexual assault in male Navy recruits

Three samples of male U.S. Navy recruits (N = 7,850) were surveyed to determine whether a history of childhood physical abuse (CPA) or childhood sexual abuse (CSA) was predictive of premilitary rape of women and whether these relationships were mediated by alcohol problems and number of sex partners. In the 3 samples, 11.3%, 11.6%, and 9.9% of men reported committing premilitary rape. When demographic factors were controlled for, both CPA and CSA were independently and additively predictive of rape in each sample, with men who experienced both forms of abuse showing the highest risk of committing rape. Additional analyses revealed that alcohol problems and number of sex partners significantly mediated the relationship between childhood abuse (CPA and CSA) and rape perpetration.

Epidemiological issues in alcohol-related violence

Epidemiological research on alcohol and violence exhibits a number of methodological limitations. This is the case whether it is event based (i.e., based on samples of victims and/or perpetrators of violence) or based on samples of the general population. The chapter identifies some of the limitations that confront researchers, policymakers, and other end-users of the research. The methodological issues are illustrated by exploring one type of violent event-rape-and one general population study-Kai Pernanen's research on alcohol-related violence in a Canadian community. It is argued the epidemiological research would benefit from further qualitative research on the natural history of violent events.

Alcohol and aggression: effects of personal threat on human aggression and affective arousal

Theorists have attempted to account for the relationship between alcohol intoxication and a wide range of aggressive behaviors by ascribing alcohol-related aggression to the disinhibiting effects of alcohol and to its disruptive effects on cognitive processes. Allocation of attention and situational threat have been thought to mediate alcohol-related aggression. In the present study, 72 male social drinkers received either alcohol, a placebo, or a nonalcoholic beverage and were exposed to either threatening or nonthreatening personal information. Measuring levels and duration of aggressive responses on a Taylor-Buss aggression machine, intoxicated subjects were found to be generally more aggressive under threatening than under nonthreatening information conditions. Intoxicated subjects also reported relatively large increases in anger, depression, and tension following the aggression task, which appeared to be affected by the type of information received. These findings concur with and refine previous models suggesting that alcohol focuses the drinker's attention to salient cues in threatening circumstances, thus increasing the likelihood of aggressive behavior.

The assessment of deviant sexual arousal as a function of intelligence, instructional set and alcohol ingestion

Sexual offenders who had been referred for a forensic evaluation were assessed in terms of their deviant sexual arousal by means of standard penile plethysmographic procedures. The sample was divided into Rapist and Nonrapist groups according to their sexual history and criminal charges. Penile circumference responses (PCR) and self-reported arousal to consenting sex, sexual assault, and physical assault were monitored. The assessments were repeated following subject instructions to suppress their arousal and following the ingestion of alcohol. The overall correlation between PCR and self-reported arousal was .65. An Alcohol-by-Offender Type interaction revealed that the lowering effect of alcohol on PCR occurred only among the Nonrapists. The suppression instruction increased Rapists' PCRs to Rape and Physical Assault presentations relative to consenting sexual narrations. When the data were examined in relation to intelligence, low IQ Rapists displayed greater responses to rape than high IQ Rapists. Under the influence of alcohol, low IQ Rapists displayed greater arousal regardless of the stimulus, while high IQ Rapists showed no change, and Nonrapists responded less than they did without alcohol. Comments concerning the accurate assessment of deviant sexual arousal and the identification of precursors to deviant sexual behaviour are made in view of the current findings.

The Drugs/Violence Nexus: A Tripartite Conceptual Framework

Drug use and drug trafficking are examined as etiological factors in the creation of violence. A conceptual framework is presented for examining the drugs/violence nexus. Drugs and violence are seen as being related in three possible ways: the psychopharmacological, the economically compulsive, and the systemic. Each of these models is examined in depth. The quality of data available in existing national crime data bases to explicate these relationships is assessed.