Sexual Victimization in Close Relationships and Self-Blame Among College Women

2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 158-167
Author(s):  
Pamela E. May ◽  
Jennifer Katz
Keyword(s):  
College Women ◽  
Close Relationships ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Self Blame

Factors Associated With College Women’s Labeling of Sexual Victimization

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 940-958 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay M. Orchowski ◽  
Amy S. Untied ◽  
Christine A. Gidycz
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
College Women ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Date Rape ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Self Blame ◽  
Perpetrator Blame

Despite high rates of sexual assault among college women, most victims do not label the experience as sexual assault or rape. Prior research examining labeling of sexual victimization has focused on women’s characterization of rape experiences as either not victimization or victimization. This study extends prior research by exploring factors associated with labeling various forms of sexual victimization as “not victimization,” a “serious miscommunication,” or a “sexual assault, date rape, rape, or crime.” A sample of 1,060 college women reported on their experiences of sexual victimization since the age of 14 years. Women who reported experiences of prior sexual victimization (n = 371) indicated their level of acquaintance with the assailant, assault disclosure, substance use at time of assault, attributions of self- and perpetrator-blame for the assault, and labeling of the experience. Most women who reported experiences of sexual victimization did not self-identify as victims, and 38% labeled sexual victimization as a serious miscommunication. Greater acquaintance with the perpetrator, higher behavioral self-blame, and victim substance use at the time of the assault were associated with labeling sexual assault experiences as a serious miscommunication. Implications are discussed.

scholarly journals Emotional Responses to a Sexual Assault Threat: A Qualitative Analysis Among Women With Histories of Sexual Victimization

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin E. Silver ◽  
RaeAnn Elizabeth Anderson ◽  
Amanda M. Brouwer
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
College Women ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Clinical Intervention ◽  
The United States ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Emotional Dysregulation ◽  
Sexual Revictimization ◽  
Self Blame

Sexual assaults against women are a leading threat to human rights and public health in the United States. Considering the high rates of sexual revictimization among women and the limited understanding of the mechanisms which fuel this phenomenon, the goal of the present study was to investigate the role of emotion in coping with a hypothetical threat of sexual assault for previously sexually victimized college women. A total of 114 college women with a history of sexual victimization listened to an audio-recording describing a sexual assault scenario and then described how they felt. A qualitative analysis paradigm was used to capture participants’ responses in an open-ended, real-time, experiential manner. Data were analyzed using Consensual Qualitative Research—Modified methodology. Four main themes emerged (Negative Reactions, Indifferent Evaluations, Active Responses, and Cognitive Appraisal of the Situation), along with various subcategories, demonstrating the variability of women’s responses to a sexual assault threat. Many women experienced uncomfortable or distressing emotional reactions to the vignette, primarily through discomfort, but also through anger, anxiety, and being upset. Few women reported experiencing fear, and a small number reported experiencing self-blame. The low endorsement of fear and anger in our high-risk sample indicates emotional dysregulation as a potential mechanism of repeated sexual victimization and a promising target for clinical intervention. Overall, results may inform sexual assault risk reduction efforts and the empowerment of women who have experienced sexual victimization.

scholarly journals Emotional Responses to a Sexual Assault Threat: A Qualitative Analysis Among Women With Histories of Sexual Victimization

2020 ◽  
pp. 088626052090801
Author(s):  
Kristin E. Silver ◽  
RaeAnn E. Anderson ◽  
Amanda M. Brouwer
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
College Women ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Clinical Intervention ◽  
The United States ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Emotional Dysregulation ◽  
Sexual Revictimization ◽  
Self Blame

Sexual assaults against women are a leading threat to human rights and public health in the United States. Considering the high rates of sexual revictimization among women and the limited understanding of the mechanisms which fuel this phenomenon, the goal of the present study was to investigate the role of emotion in coping with a hypothetical threat of sexual assault for previously sexually victimized college women. A total of 114 college women with a history of sexual victimization listened to an audio-recording describing a sexual assault scenario and then described how they felt. A qualitative analysis paradigm was used to capture participants’ responses in an open-ended, real-time, experiential manner. Data were analyzed using Consensual Qualitative Research—Modified methodology. Four main themes emerged ( Negative Reactions, Indifferent Evaluations, Active Responses, and Cognitive Appraisal of the Situation), along with various subcategories, demonstrating the variability of women’s responses to a sexual assault threat. Many women experienced uncomfortable or distressing emotional reactions to the vignette, primarily through discomfort, but also through anger, anxiety, and being upset. Few women reported experiencing fear, and a small number reported experiencing self-blame. The low endorsement of fear and anger in our high-risk sample indicates emotional dysregulation as a potential mechanism of repeated sexual victimization and a promising target for clinical intervention. Overall, results may inform sexual assault risk reduction efforts and the empowerment of women who have experienced sexual victimization.

Sexual victimization history predicts academic performance in college women.

2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 685-692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majel R. Baker ◽  
Patricia A. Frazier ◽  
Christiaan Greer ◽  
Jacob A. Paulsen ◽  
Kelli Howard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
College Women ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Victimization History

Measure of Sexual Victimization of College Women

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Belknap ◽  
Bonnie Fisher ◽  
Francis T. Cullen
Keyword(s):  
College Women ◽  
Sexual Victimization

Measurement Invariance of the Sexual Assault Script Scale (SASS): An Examination Among Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White College Women

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052098549
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Yeater ◽  
Kristen N. Vitek ◽  
Ryan S. Ross ◽  
Meredith Blackwell ◽  
Katie Witkiewitz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
College Women ◽  
Measurement Invariance ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
The United States ◽  
Bisexual Women ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Hispanic White ◽  
White College

Rates of sexual victimization have remained steady over several decades, and preventative interventions to reduce men’s sexually aggressive behavior have been largely ineffective. As such, research has endeavored to find novel approaches to identify women at increased risk for sexual victimization. Sexual assault scripts, or “cognitive models” that women adhere to that guide their beliefs about sexual assault are posited to influence their victimization risk. Prior studies on sexual assault scripts primarily have been qualitative in nature; however, recent work yielded a 27-item measure of putative risk for sexual victimization called the Sexual Assault Script Scale (SASS). The SASS has four subscales called Stereotypical Assault Scripts, Acquaintance Assault Scripts, Assault Resistance Scripts, and Date/Friend Assault Scripts, which were found in prior work to be internally consistent and associated with putative risk factors for sexual victimization. The focus of the current study was to test the measurement invariance of the SASS among Hispanic and non-Hispanic White college women who were recruited in the prior study. Four hundred sixty-nine ( N = 469) Hispanic and 415 non-Hispanic White US undergraduate heterosexual or bisexual women from a Southwestern university in the United States completed the SASS. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) replicated the prior four-factor model with an acceptable fit to the data, and tests of measurement invariance revealed the SASS to be invariant across Hispanic and non-Hispanic White college women, suggesting that the SASS is measuring a similar construct in these groups.

Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrated by College Women within the Context of a History of Victimization

2005 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 278-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly N. Graves ◽  
Stacy M. Sechrist ◽  
Jacquelyn W. White ◽  
Matthew J. Paradise
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
College Women ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration ◽  
Concurrent Use ◽  
Violence Perpetration ◽  
History Of

Using a longitudinal design, the current study explored intimate partner violence perpetration among 1,300 college women within the context of one's history of physical and sexual victimization across 4 years of college. Structural equation modeling indicated that sexual victimization does not predict concurrent use of women's intimate partner violence but does predict subsequent use of women's intimate partner violence during the later years of college. In contrast, physical victimization is associated positively with concurrent use of women's intimate partner violence but is negatively associated with subsequent use of women's intimate partner violence for women. Furthermore, the negative relationship of victimization to subsequent perpetration primarily is due to those with high levels of victimization histories. The present study provides the first model of intimate partner violence within the context of victimization history using longitudinal data. The findings indicate that women's intimate partner violence perpetration is not context-free, but rather is influenced by their own physical and sexual victimization histories.

scholarly journals An Exploration of Sexual Victimization and Academic Performance Among College Women

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol E. Jordan ◽  
Jessica L. Combs ◽  
Gregory T. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
College Women ◽  
Sexual Victimization

scholarly journals Sexual Objectification, Internalization, and College Women’s Depression: The Role of Shame

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawn M. Szymanski
Keyword(s):  
College Women ◽  
Direct Effect ◽  
Moderated Mediation ◽  
Sexual Objectification ◽  
Women Clients ◽  
Body Surveillance ◽  
Mediation Analyses ◽  
Self Blame ◽  
Low Levels

This study examined potential mediators, a moderator, and a moderated mediation of the link between sexual objectification experiences and depression among 489 young adult college women. Findings from the mediation analyses revealed that sexual objectification was directly and indirectly related to depression via greater body surveillance and self-blame. Shame moderated the direct effect of sexual objectification on body surveillance. Sexual objectification predicted body surveillance for women with low but not high or moderate levels of shame. Shame also moderated the direct effect of sexual objectification on self-blame and provided support for moderated mediation via conditional process analyses. Sexual objectification predicted self-blame for women with high and moderate but not low levels of shame. The findings underscore the importance of attending to experiences of objectification when working with women clients presenting with depression and to help them lessen habitual body monitoring, blaming themselves for being sexually objectified, and feelings of shame.

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