NOTE: These summaries were written by SVPEP and are based on the original papers. The information available on this web site is provided as a public service and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, the Arizona Department of Health Services, or the University of Arizona.

Bergen, R. K. (1996). Wife rape: Understanding the response of survivors and service providers. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

This book focuses on wife rape, victims help-seeking behaviors, and responses of service providers. The author provides an in-depth look at two organizations who provide services to this population. Two case studies explore the responses of workers at a battered women's shelter and rape crisis center to the problem of wife rape. Questions that guide this research are: 1) How do women understand and define their experiences of wife rape? 2) What is the response of agencies to women who seek their help?

Topics: Community attitudes/responses; marital rape

Campbell, R., & Wasco, S. M. (2005). Understanding rape and sexual assault: 20 years of progress and future directions. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20(1), 127-131.

This article provides an overview of twenty years of research pertaining to sexual assault, spanning from the initial studies that determined estimates of prevalence to more recent studies focusing on vicarious trauma of rape victim advocates, therapists, and researchers. The authors discuss the significance of PTSD among survivors of sexual assault, the importance of prevention and intervention programs, and the methodological tools – whether quantitative or qualitative – that have become more predominant in recent years in addressing sexual assault and trauma.

Topics: Community attitudes/responses; prevention; theory

Cook, T. J., Schmid, T. L., Braddy, B. A., & Orenstein, D. (1992). Evaluating community-based program impacts. Journal of Health Education, 23, 183-186.

This study outlines process evaluation methodology that focuses on community level variables in assessing program effects. Recommendations include tracking the level of exposure to media campaigns and measuring community penetration.

Topics: Community attitudes/responses; evaluation

Donovan, R., & Williams, M. (2002). Living at the intersection: The effects of racism and sexism on Black rape survivors. In C. M. West (Ed.), Violence in the lives of Black women: Battered, black, and blue (pp. 95-105). Binghamton, NY: The Haworth Press, Inc.

Research indicates that Black rape survivors are less likely to disclose and more likely to be blamed for their assault. The authors argue that two historical images of Black women, Jezebel and Matriarch, explain the reduced rate of disclosure by Black women today. A Black woman as Jezebel meant that she was promiscuous, immoral, and sexually deviant. Today, the authors propose, this depiction combines with common rape myths to prevent Black women from disclosing their rapes. A Black woman as Matriarch was based on the idea that slavery reversed the gender roles of Black men and Black women. Some Black women have embraced the Matriarch image, reconfigured it, and represented it as the Strong Black Woman persona. This reconfigured image represents self-sufficiency, independence, and obligatory service for solving the problems of Black families and the Black community. However, a “culture of dissemblance” has developed in which Black women are apparently open and strong when relating to others, while in actuality they are overburdened and resigned to a culture of silence around their inner selves, including their experiences with sexual assault. The authors conclude with suggestions for culturally sensitive therapeutic interventions for Black rape survivors. They advise service providers to encourage family and friends of survivors to take a stance that is supportive from the victim’s perspective. Service providers are also advised to understand that Black women may be slow to disclose their assaults in therapy because of oppressive images toward both Black women and Black men. Finally, service providers are urged to promote social support and activism by rape survivors. This, they suggest, enables rape to be framed as a Black community problem and disrupts the silence surrounding the issue.

Topics: Community attitudes/responses; myths/stereotypes; racial/ethnic differences

 Heise, L., Ellsberg, M., & Gottemoeller, M. (1999). Ending violence against women. Population Reports, Series L, Number 11, 1-43.

This report provides an admirably thorough review of the various dimensions concerning violence against women across the globe. The authors begin by addressing the concept of gender-based violence, how health care providers can help, and what societal responses should entail in curbing the problem. The report discusses in detail the prevalence and ramifications of intimate partner abuse, sexual coercion, impact of violence on women’s reproductive health, threats to health and development, the role of health providers in recognizing and treating the effects of violence, and finally, an agenda for change. The report includes numerous charts presenting, for example, cross-cultural data on issues related to rates of approval of wife-beating and prevalence of forced first intercourse in various countries. The report also includes examples of posters used to educate women and increase awareness of the issues in different countries as well as several useful charts with instructions and guidelines for health care providers. This is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in understanding violence against women on a global level.

Topics: Community attitudes/responses; disclosure; effects; injury; male-female relations; marital rape; medical response; myths/stereotypes; perpetration; prevalence; prevention; racial/ethnic differences; risk; statistics; underserved populations; vulnerability

Hills, A. M., & Taplin, J. L. (1998). Anticipated responses to stalking: Effect of threat and target-stalker relationship. Psychiatry, Psychology & Law, 5, 139-146.

The authors state that while anti-stalking legislation provides a remedy against the harassment of one individual by another, there is little understanding of how the community perceives stalking behaviors. This study examines the impact of threat, and target-stalker relationship on female and male beliefs about their likely responses to stalking. Community participants (N = 172) were presented with a scenario concerning stalking. After reading the scenario, they filled out a rating scale. Results show that, in general, participants would be less frightened and less likely to call the police when being stalked by a former intimate than by a stranger. For instances of threat vs. no threat females were equally likely to call the police while males were more likely to contact the police when an explicit threat was made. Other responses confirmed that, overall, participants viewed stalking as a serious problem. However, apparent misconceptions about the relative seriousness of different stalking scenarios indicated that community education may be needed.

Topics: Community attitudes/responses; stalking

Koss, M. P. (1994). The negative impact of crime victimization on women's health and medical use. In A. J. Dan (Ed.), Reframing women's health: Multidisciplinary research and practice (pp. 189-200). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Primary care physicians are an important resource for women victimized by crime such as rape and domestic violence. However, until recently the medical community ignored this line of research. This article analyzes how crime victimization effects healthcare utilization. Victimization was found to influence the number of physician visits with multiply victimized women visiting physicians twice as much as non-victimized ones. The study also examined a sub-sample of participants whose use of healthcare could be examined before and after a crime incident. Review of healthcare records demonstrated that increases in healthcare usage followed, rather than preceded, the crime. Five ways victimization may influence health are detailed.

Topics: Community attitudes/responses; effects

Koss, M. P. (2000a). Blame, shame, and community: Justice responses to violence against women. American Psychologist, 55, 1332-1343.

The author reviews justice processing for crimes against women. The data indicate that conviction rates for partner violence and rape by known acquaintances are miniscule; protection orders, mandatory arrest, and diversion programs do not adequately deter rebattering; most losses are not compensated; and the adversarial justice process often retraumatizes the rape victim by exacerbating self-blame. The author reports that in order to better address crimes against women, several nations and tribal communities use communitarian approaches – a type of restorative justice. The offense is framed to include the perpetrator, victim, and community. The process forgoes incarceration to have family, peers, and advocates design perpetrator rehabilitation, victim restoration, and social reintegration of both victim and perpetrator. Evaluations suggest communitarian justice may increase victim satisfaction, raise the social costs of offending, multiply social control and support resources, and open a new avenue to targeted prevention.

Topics: Community attitudes/responses; legal responses

Koss, M. P., & Harvey, M. R. (1991). The rape victim: Clinical and community interventions (2nd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Chapter 3: Rape as a community issue
This chapter discusses the premise that rape is a community issue and that the relationship between victim and community can have a profound effect upon the rape victim's psychological experience and recovery process. The interrelationships that exist among community attitudes, community services, and the psychological experience of the woman raped are examined. Rape as a focal point of social action is considered and the community as both setting for and target of social change is discussed.

Topics: Community attitudes/responses

Chapter 7: Preventing sexual assault
Rape prevention is an organizing theme in the sexual assault field. Virtually all community-based rape crisis centers and anti-rape projects at local, regional, or national levels sponsor rape prevention initiatives. This chapter examines preventive initiatives in the sexual assault field and touches on activities directed toward each of these goals. Primary attention is given to activities that promote rape elimination through public education and social change as well as rape avoidance through competence-building, risk-awareness, and self defense training.

Topics: Community attitudes/responses; prevention

Linz, D., Wilson, B. J., & Donnerstein, E. (1992). Sexual violence in the mass media: Legal solutions, warnings, and mitigation through education. Journal of Social Issues, 48, 145-171.

Adolescent exposure to violence in the mass media may result in detrimental societal effects. Research suggests that exposure to violent materials, whether or not they are sexually explicit, results in less sensitivity toward victims of sexual violence. Three solutions to the problem are addressed. The solution of strengthening the obscenity laws was found to be ineffective because the laws focus on sexual explicitness and not violence. The film rating system was also found to be ineffective because it is found to be inconsistent with social science research on the effects of sexual violence. Finally the solution that holds the most promise is educational interventions directed to changing beliefs about rape and sexual violence. A program is presented that is based on prior research with college students.

Topics: Adolescent/high school; community attitudes/responses

McKenzie, K., Matheson, E., McKaskie, K., Patrick, S., Paxton, D., Michie, A., & Murray, G. C. (2001). Health and social care staff responses to working with people with a learning disability who display sexual offending type behaviors. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 7, 56-66.

This study suggests that a large number of health and social care staff in community homes are currently supporting clients with learning disabilities and sexual offending type behaviors. Most common types of offenses, areas of difficulty, and staff’s feelings toward clients are measured. Both groups, health care and social care staff, reported insufficient knowledge and lack of training in working with sex offenders. A high number of health and social care staff identified the need for training, professional input, assessment, and therapeutic interventions.

Topics: Community attitudes/responses; treatment

Nagel, B., Matsuo, H., McIntyre, K. P., & Morrison, N. (2005). Attitudes toward victims of rape: Effects of gender, race, religion, and social class. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20, 725-737.

Previous studies examining attitudes toward victims of rape have often been limited by being incorporated into larger studies, instead of focusing exclusively on attitudes, and have relied mostly on college-aged samples. This study, however, randomly sampled 1,000 residents from St. Louis, Missouri resulting in 220 respondents completing the Attitude Toward Rape Victim Scale (ARVS) along with a demographics questionnaire. Results yielded significant group differences that seem to suggest the relationship between race and socioeconomic status concerning attitudes toward rape victims is complex. Moreover, age, sex, educational level, and income were found to be significant predictors in determining attitudes toward victims. For example, females and individuals with higher levels of education were more likely to express sympathetic attitudes toward victims of rape, in contrast to the attitudes expressed by older individuals in this study.

Topics: Community attitudes/responses; myths/stereotypes; racial/ethnic differences

Rozee, P. D. (1993). Forbidden or forgiven? Rape in a cross-cultural perspective. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 17, 499-514.

This article presents a conceptual framework in order to study rape cross-culturally. The model considers non-normative rape as well as illicit, uncondoned genital contact, normative rape, and socially condoned rape in a sample of 35 non-industrial societies. This study shows that if the occurrence of rape is focused on the female's choice rather than on the illicit, societally prohibited rape, then a much different picture of rape across cultures is presented. The research implies that rape is clearly separate from female sexuality. The presence of both non-normative and normative rapes in the majority of societies depicts rape as regulated rather than prohibited. Societal views of rape in the United States are discussed, as is its worldwide status.

Topics: Community attitudes/responses; marital rape; racial/ethnic differences

Schissel, B. (2000). Boys against girls: The structural and interpersonal dimensions of violent patriarchal culture in the lives of young men. Violence Against Women, 6, 960-986.

This article contends that male youth violence against female youth is a formidable social problem that originates largely within the confines of patriarchal/profit-driven culture. It is noted that many factors that cause young men to be aggressive and abusive to young women originate within cultures of achievement such as sports, where aggression is equated with success and where girls and women are literally and figuratively relegated to exploited or denigrated positions. Using both an empirically based causal analysis of youth in Canada and a more descriptive analysis of several male contexts, the author tests and describes how personal and interpersonal experiences influence aggression toward young women and how these experiences often arise in contexts that are both ideological and profit driven.

Topics: Community attitudes/responses; male-female relations

Underwood, M. M., & Fiedler, N. (1983). The crisis of rape: A community response. Community Mental Health Journal, 19, 227-230.

This paper describes a program that was developed in response to a community's reaction to several highly publicized child sexual assaults. The program incorporates education on mental health issues and information on crisis intervention strategies. The authors argue that the keys to community intervention are: 1) the timeliness of the intervention, 2) the coordination of resources and talents, and 3) cooperation between agencies.

Topics: Community attitudes/responses

updated 08/01/07