The Relation Between Dating Violence Victimization and Commitment Among Turkish College Women: Does the Investment Model Matter?

The present study explored the sexual, physical, psychological, and overall dating violence experiences, and related these experiences to Investment Model variables among Turkish college women. Three hundred and ninety dating women from four universities in Ankara, Turkey completed the Satisfaction, Investment, Alternatives, and Commitment subscales from the Investment Model Scale and the Sexual Coercion, Physical Assault, and Psychological Aggression subscales from the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale. 79.5 percent reported at least one incident of violence in a dating relationship within the previous year. Regression analyses indicated that satisfaction fully mediated the relations between physical, psychological, and overall dating violence victimization and commitment, but not for sexual victimization. The results suggest that future research should explore the possibility that the dissatisfaction women experience may be related to an increased likelihood of relation termination

Rates of DSM-IV-TR trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder among newly matriculated college students

The negotiation of the freedoms and responsibilities introduced as adolescents begin college may be particularly challenging for those with a trauma history and traumatic stress sequelae (posttraumatic stress disorder; PTSD). The present study examined the prevalence of and risk for trauma and PTSD in a large sample of college students. Matriculating students (N _ 3,014; 1,763 female, 1,251 male) at two U.S. universities completed online and paper assessments. Sixty-six percent reported exposure to a Criterion A trauma. Nine percent met criteria for PTSD. Female gender was a risk factor for trauma exposure. Gender and socioeconomic status (SES) were associated with trauma severity. Although in bivariate models, gender and SES were associated with PTSD, multivariate analyses suggested this risk was a function of trauma severity. Thus, students enter college with significant trauma histories and PTSD symptoms. Findings highlight the potential for outreach to incoming students with trauma and point to research directions to enhance understanding of the psychological needs of entering college students

Trajectories of Male Sexual Aggression from Adolescence through College: A Latent Class Growth Analysis

Approximately 25% of male college students report engaging in some form of sexual coercion by the end of their fourth year of college. White and Smith (2004) found that negative childhood experiences—childhood sexual abuse, childhood physical abuse, and witnessing domestic violence—predicted sexual aggression perpetrated before college, but not during the subsequent college years, a puzzling finding in view of the reasonably consistent rates of sexual aggression from adolescence to the first 2 years of college. The current study takes a person-centered approach to sexual aggression in an attempt to resolve this discrepancy. We examined the possibility of cohesive subgroups of men in terms of their frequency of sexual aggression across the pre-college and college years. A series of latent class growth models were fit to an existing longitudinal dataset of sexual experiences collected across four time points—pre-college through year 3 of college. A four-trajectory model fit the data well, exhibiting significantly better fit than a three-trajectory model. The four trajectories are interpreted as men who perpetrate sexual aggression at (1) low (71.5% of the sample), (2) moderate (21.2%), (3) decreasing (4.2%), and (4) increasing (3.1%) frequencies across time. Negative childhood experiences predicted membership of the decreasing trajectory, relative to the low trajectory, but did not predict membership of the increasing trajectory, explaining the discrepancy uncovered by White and Smith. Implications for primary prevention of sexual aggression are discussed

Victim Voice in Re-Envisioning Responses to Sexual and Physical Violence Nationally and Internationally

Internationally and in the United States many victims of sexual assault and domestic violence are unserved, underserved, or ill-served, especially those from the most vulnerable populations. Programs developed in the United States are routinely exported to developing countries but often without success. Notably, the failures seen internationally resemble those in the United States and are related to structural and attitudinal–cultural factors. Many victims do not disclose, and if they do seek services, they often report that available options mismatch their objectives, present accessibility challenges, disempower their pursuit of justice, and fail to augment needed resources. A deeper understanding of obstacles to effective service provision is needed if the United States is to continue to be an international partner in victim response and violence prevention. This article builds on what is known about service delivery challenges in U.S. programs to envision a path forward that concomitantly accommodates anticipation of shrinking resources, by (a) reviewing illustrative services and feedback from victims about utilizing them; (b) examining structural inequalities and the intersections of personal and contextual features that both increase vulnerability to victimization and decrease accessibility and acceptability of services; (c) advocating for reintroduction of direct victim voice into response planning to enhance reach and relevance; and (d) reorienting delivery systems, community partnerships, and Coordinated Community Response teams. The authors suggest as the way forward pairing direct victim voice with open-minded listening to expressed priorities, especially in vulnerable populations, and designing services accordingly. Through a process that prioritizes adaptation to diverse needs and cultures, U.S models can increase desirability, equity, and thrift at home as well as enhance international relevance

Ethnic Minority Women’s Experiences with Intimate Partner Violence: Using Community-Based Participatory Research to Ask the Right Questions

Current definitions, instruments, and processes for measuring intimate partner violence, including sexual assault, are insufficient to detect the nature and scope of violence against all women. To remedy this problem, we recommend the use of community-based participatory research (CBPR) principles to develop culturally informed quantitative instruments that measure ethnic minority women’s experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV). CBPR requires community members and researchers to work equitably together throughout the research process, sharing decision-making and ownership. This paper identifies problems with current measurement approaches and describes the strengths and challenges of the CBPR approach. We argue that this research orientation offers the potential for “flexible standardization” that can provide better estimates of the extent of IPV and sexual assault, and provide communities with the knowledge they need to address these problems in a culturally sensitive manner

Psychopathy-related traits predict self-reported sexual aggression among college men

To examine whether personality traits related to psychopathy predict specific forms of sexual aggression in college men, a sample of 378 men completed the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES), the Socialization Scale, and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Psychopathy Checklist ratings were also available for 63 of these men based on a brief interview. The SES is a self-report measure designed to assess a spectrum of sexually aggressive behavior, ranging from use of argument or a position of power to impel participation in sexual activity, through manipulative intoxication and exploitation of intoxicated persons, to threatening and/or using force. Regression analyses indicated that measures of both dimensions of psychopathy identified in previous research accounted for variance in self-reports of sexual aggression. Moreover, although moderately correlated, the two dimensions predicted different forms of sexual aggression. Implications for studying psychopathic traits in college samples are discussed

The Relation Between Dating Violence Victimization and Commitment Among Turkish College Women: Does the Investment Model Matter?

The present study explored the sexual, physical, psychological, and overall dating violence experiences, and related these experiences to Investment Model variables among Turkish college women. Three hundred and ninety dating women from four universities in Ankara, Turkey completed the Satisfaction, Investment, Alternatives, and Commitment subscales from the Investment Model Scale and the Sexual Coercion, Physical Assault, and Psychological Aggression subscales from the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale. 79.5 percent reported at least one incident of violence in a dating relationship within the previous year. Regression analyses indicated that satisfaction fully mediated the relations between physical, psychological, and overall dating violence victimization and commitment, but not for sexual victimization. The results suggest that future research should explore the possibility that the dissatisfaction women experience may be related to an increased likelihood of relation termination

Making Violence Sexy: Feminist Views on Pornography [book review]

This book is a must for feminists. Diana Russell and the other contributors resolve many of the contradictions between the belief in free speech/first amendment rights and abhorrence of pornography. The articles also clarify distinctions between pornography and other forms of sexually explicit materials. This book quite strongly reveals pornography for what it is: violence against women. Russell states, "pornography sells sexism and violence against women" (p. 8)

An Examination of the Attitudes Underlying Sexual Coercion Among Acquaintances

Analyses of rape-supportive attitudes, with few exceptions, have not included conceptual or operational definitions of attitudes, and analysts have not explicitly examined the affective, cognitive, and behavioral components of attitudes toward rape. The purposes of the present article are to (a) use a social psychological framework for the analysis of attitudes toward rape and (b) examine the usefulness of distinguishing between the affective and cognitive components of attitudes toward rape. Three studies are presented. In Study 1, items from 14 published attitudes-toward-rape scales were categorized as affective, cognitive, or behavioral. Results revealed that 1.1% of the items were identified as behavioral; 52.2% of the items were categorized as cognitive and 46.7% as affective. Secondary analyses of published data revealed the respondents reported more disagreement with affectively-based rape attitude items than cognitively-based rape attitude items. In Study 2, we further examined the distinction between affective and cognitive components of attitudes using Burt's (1980) Rape Myth Acceptance Scale. Data collected from college men confirmed the affective-cognitive distinction. Furthermore, affectively-based attitudes, but not cognitively-based attitudes, were correlated with level of self-reported sexual coercion. In Study 3, we compared affective and cognitive components using a factor-analytically derived attitude measure. These analyses replicated the findings from Study 2. Together, these results support the importance of attending to the separate components of attitudes. In particular, the affective component of attitudes toward rape may have more predictive utility than the cognitive component