The Prevalence of Sexual Violence Perpetration in Sexual Minority Men: A Secondary Analysis of Systematic Review Data

Purpose: Prior literature illustrates that sexual minority people (e.g., bisexual, gay, queer) are at increased vulnerability for sexual violence victimization compared to heterosexual peers, including while in college. However, the study of sexual violence perpetration in sexual minority populations, much less specifically sexual minority college men, has been neglected. This article reviews the literature and presents a secondary data analysis of a systematic review on college men’s sexual perpetration rates and associated methodology. We also conducted analyses to summarize available literature regarding publishing dates, authors, and data inclusivity. Methods: We downloaded the dataset and associated materials from Mendeley.com’s data archive. Results: To our surprise, we could not analyze sexual perpetration prevalence rates in sexual minority men using the systematic review data due to absence of reported data across all 77 independent samples including over 5,500 male participants. We found no significant relationship between inclusion of sexual minority men and the use of measurement strategies specialized to assess sexual minority needs. We did find a positive relationship between recency of publication and the inclusion of sexual minority men, r(76) = .24, p = .03, and that most authors/co-authors were women (72%). Conclusions: Preventing perpetration is central to ending sexual violence; therefore, future research should include sexual minority people and use appropriate methodology in the investigation of sexual perpetration characteristics and patterns.

Discordance between the Sexual Experiences Surveys-Short Forms and the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales in College Men

Objective: Sexual victimization affects at least one in five college women and up to one in six college men; however, the exact rates of sexual perpetration are difficult to ascertain because of inconsistencies in the measurement of these behaviors. The present study is the first to evaluate the extent to which three commonly used measures of sexual violence (The Sexual Experiences Survey- Short Form Victimization (SES-SFV), The Sexual Experiences Survey-Short Form Perpetration (SES-SFP) and the Revised Conflicts Tactics Scales-Sexual Coercion Subscale (CTS2-SC)) concurred in identifying cases of sexual victimization and sexual perpetration. This is the first study to simultaneously examine victimization and perpetration, provide kappa estimates of discordance, and control for order of survey administration effects.Methods: Undergraduate men (N = 397) completed the study measures in a randomized order.Results: The SES-SFV identified 109 cases of sexual victimization (27.5% of the sample) while the CTS2-SC identified 164 cases (41.3% of the sample). Results were similar for sexual perpetration. There was no effect of the order of administration on sexual victimization reports. However, there was an order effect for sexual perpetration. When the CTS2-SC was administered first response rates on the CTS2-SC were higher.Conclusions: These results highlight the lack of precision in the measurement of sexual violence. Conceptually, the SESs should identify a greater number of cases; yet we consistently found that the CTS2-SC identified more cases of sexual violence. We suggest that differences in the instructional cues, internal item structure, and measure structure may account for these differences.

Initial Evidence for the Reliability and Validity of the Sexual Experiences Survey-Short Form Perpetration (SES-SFP) in College Men

Introduction: Estimates of sexual perpetration in college men vary widely, partially due to a lack of reliable and valid measures of sexual perpetration. This study provides psychometric data on the Sexual Experiences Survey – Short Form Perpetration (SES-SFP), a revision of one of the most widely used measures of sexual perpetration, in a sample of college men. Methods: Participants (n = 402) completed a web survey containing the study measures; a subset of 66 participants completed the SES-SFP again two weeks later.Results: In examining test-retest reliability, most (90.7%) participants were classified correctly using dichotomous scores of sexually aggressive behavior (yes/no). However, test-retest agreement for category scores was poor (0 – 50.0%). Test-retest correlations were largest for lifetime category scores, r = .69 and smallest for lifetime dichotomous scores, r = .59. Regarding validity, SES-SFP scores were positively associated with measures of partner violence and trait aggression and negatively associated with a measure of rape empathy. Conclusions: Our results provide initial evidence of internal consistency and convergent evidence of validity for the SES-SFP in college men but question the measure’s test-retest reliability. The severity of tactics used to coerce sexually aggressive behaviors was more strongly associated with rape empathy than sexual outcome severity scores, indicating utility of assessing coercive tactics. Additional research is needed regarding the psychometric properties of the SES-SFP and other measures of sexual perpetration in order to accurately assess rates of these behaviors and inform preventive interventions.

The Frequency of Sexual Perpetration in College Men: A Systematic Review of Reported Prevalence Rates from 2000-2017

Background: The prevalence of sexual perpetration in college men is unknown. Prior reviews of sexual violence prevalence rates have produced wide-ranging estimates, likely due to wide variation in measurement strategies.Objectives: This paper systematically reviewed research findings (from 2000-2017) regarding prevalence rates of sexual perpetration in college men and measurement strategies.Data Sources: PsycINFO and Web of Science databases.Eligibility Criteria: Empirical reports published between 2000-2017 that included male participants, available in English, and reported lifetime prevalence findings in Canadian or American college students.Participants: Data from 78 independent samples including 25,524 college men.Results: The average prevalence rate of any sexual perpetration was 29.3% (SD = 16.8), and the average rate of rape was 6.5% (SD = 6.3). Studies that used non-Sexual Experiences Survey (SES) based questionnaires recorded higher prevalence rates (41.5%) than SES-using studies (26.2%). At least sixteen different sexual perpetration questionnaires were identified. Modifying standardized questionnaires was extremely common; this was reported in over half the studies. Studies using modified standardized questionnaires found higher prevalence rates of sexual perpetration than studies using non-modified standardized questionnaires. Limitations: This report focused exclusively on college men in the United States and Canada.Conclusions and Implications: On average, 29% of college males report engaging in behaviors defined as sexual perpetration; however, there was a strong influence of measurement strategy on reported rates.

The Frequency of Sexual Perpetration in College Men: A Systematic Review of Reported Prevalence Rates From 2000 to 2017

Background: The prevalence of sexual perpetration in college men is unknown. Prior reviews of sexual violence prevalence rates have produced wide-ranging estimates, likely due to wide variation in measurement strategies. Objectives: This article systematically reviewed research findings (from 2000 to 2017) regarding prevalence rates of sexual perpetration in college men and measurement strategies. Data Sources: PsycINFO and Web of Science databases. Eligibility Criteria: Empirical reports published between 2000 and 2017 that included male participants, available in English, and reported lifetime prevalence findings in Canadian or American college students. Participants: Data from 78 independent samples including 25,524 college men. Results: The average prevalence rate of any sexual perpetration was 29.3% ( SD = 16.8), and the average rate of rape was 6.5% ( SD = 6.3). Studies that used non-Sexual Experiences Survey (SES)–based questionnaires recorded higher prevalence rates (41.5%) than SES-using studies (26.2%). At least 16 different sexual perpetration questionnaires were identified. Modifying standardized questionnaires was extremely common; this was reported in over half of the studies. Studies using modified standardized questionnaires found higher prevalence rates of sexual perpetration than studies using nonmodified standardized questionnaires. Limitations: This report focused exclusively on college men in the United States and Canada. Conclusions and Implications: On average, 29% of college males report engaging in behaviors defined as sexual perpetration; however, there was a strong influence of measurement strategy on reported rates.

Use of a Bogus Pipeline to Detect Men’s Underreporting of Sexually Aggressive Behavior

Researchers rely on men’s self-reports of sexually aggressive behavior to identify the prevalence and correlates of men’s perpetration (i.e., their use of verbal or physical coercion to obtain sex from a nonconsenting partner). However, results from research based on men’s self-reported sexual perpetration are suspect because men may intentionally conceal their sexually aggressive behavior. The current study used a Bogus Pipeline (BPL) methodology to determine whether young, community men ( N = 93) intentionally underreport their use of sexually aggressive strategies on two self-report measures of perpetration. Compared with men in a Standard Testing (ST) condition, men in an experimental BPL condition—who believed that the honesty of their responses was being monitored—had 6.5 times greater odds of endorsing the use of illegal sexual assault strategies on a widely used measure. Indeed, over a third of men in the BPL condition admitted to using such strategies. However, there was no significant difference in men’s reports of verbally coercive strategies in the BPL versus the ST condition on the same measure. There were also no significant differences in reporting on the other, less commonly used measure of sexual aggression as a function of condition. Based on these preliminary findings, men’s use of sexual assault strategies may be far more common than is suggested by most self-report studies. Self-reports of verbal coercion, however, may be more trustworthy.

Hidden challenges: Sex offenders legislated into homelessness

Summary Zoning laws that prevent sex offenders from living within close proximity to schools and other places where children congregate have proliferated over the past 10 years. In many communities, few dwellings are compliant with these laws, causing sex offenders to become homeless. First, a brief history of residence restriction laws will be provided and then the research around their impact and effectiveness will be summarized, followed by empirically supported recommendations for reform. Findings Legislating individuals into homelessness is not sound social policy, nor is it humane. These laws do not conform to what is known about patterns of sexual perpetration and victimization, and thus do little to prevent recidivistic sexual violence. In fact, these policies may undermine the very factors shown by research to be associated with positive reentry and reduced recidivism. Applications The grand challenge of social justice requires social workers to advocate on behalf of those who are marginalized in our communities including criminal offenders. Research-based policy reform can result in improved public safety outcomes and social justice in our communities.