Running head: ACQUAINTANCE RAPE ON CAMPUS Acquaintance Rape on College Campuses: A Review of the Literature

Although research on acquaintance, or date rape, dates back to the late 1950's, only recently has the literature in this area focused on prevention. In Fidition, although research has shown that, conservatively, 1 out of 10 women on university campuses has been raped by someone with whom she is familiar, little appears to have been done about the problem in terms of widespread, well-funded prevention programs. The present review of the literature on acquaintance rape focuses on five areas: (1) the incidence of acquaintance rape on college campuses; (2) research into aspects of the perpetrator; (3) research examining aspects of the victim; (4) factors outside of either '-.he perpetrator or victim that may be associated with date rape, and lastly (5) studies examining the efficacy of preventioprogrlms. (Contains 32 references.) (Author) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** Acquaintance Rape on Campus 1 Running head: ACQUAINTANCE RAPE ON CAMPUS Acquaintance Rape on College Campuses: A Review of the Literature Frederick J. Kier Texas A & M University 77843-4225 -PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY F TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC," Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Southwest Educational Research Association, January 26, 1996, New Orleans, LA. 3EST COPY AVAILABLS 2 S DEPARTMENT orEDUCATION EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 0 Thm document has been reproduced as recovers1 bunt the poo,un III ofgantlatton origimition 0 %not !wen inaile to 1100101/111optluduchon quality l'utots of view or opinions stated in thii, 1101111111101 Ill nr,1 111010,001 I/1111010110 00'.1l1011 01 polio/ 1 Acquaintance Rape on Campus 2 Abstract Although research on acquaintance, or date rape, dates back to the late 1950's, only recently has the literature in this area focused on prevention. In addition, although research has shown that, conservatively, one out of 10 women on university campuses has been raped by someone with whom she is familiar, little appears to have been done about the problem in terms of widespread, well-funded prevention programs. The present review of the literature on acquaintance rape focuses on five areas: the incidence of acquaintance rape on college campuses, research into aspects of the perpetrator, research examining aspects of the victim, factors outside of either the perpetrator or victim that may be associated with date rape, and lastly studiesAlthough research on acquaintance, or date rape, dates back to the late 1950's, only recently has the literature in this area focused on prevention. In addition, although research has shown that, conservatively, one out of 10 women on university campuses has been raped by someone with whom she is familiar, little appears to have been done about the problem in terms of widespread, well-funded prevention programs. The present review of the literature on acquaintance rape focuses on five areas: the incidence of acquaintance rape on college campuses, research into aspects of the perpetrator, research examining aspects of the victim, factors outside of either the perpetrator or victim that may be associated with date rape, and lastly studies examining the effecacy of prevention programs. Acquaintance Rape on Campus 3 Acquaintance, or date rape, was only really recognized as a problem on college campuses within the last decade. Likewise, although research in this area was performed as early as the 1950's, only recently have their been a noteworthy number of studies done on acquaintance rape. These studies vary in their focus, and research on acquaintance rape can be broken down into five major areas: studies of the incidence of date rape, research focusing on victim variables, research focusing on perpetrator variables, research examining prevention or treatment programs, and lastly lesearch examining secondary and social factors that influence acquaintance rape. The present literature review will examine some of the more important studies done in each of these five areas. The present review is also delimited to literature on rapes against women perpetrated by men, although there is certainly other literature also available, such as literature about rapes of men perpetrated by women (cf. Anderson & Thompson, 1990). Prevalence of Acquaintance Rape Compared to other types of crime, rape in general is underreported by its victims, and acquaintance rape even more so. As Koss, Giclycz and Wisniewski (1987) point out, statistics put out by government and law enforcement agencies frequently underreport rape due to poor methodology on the part of the these studies, and the fact that many women are reticent to go to law enforcement to report rape and to bring up charges against the perpetrator, especially in the case of date rape, where the victim frequently has a social connection with the perpetrator (the rapist was a friend, a fellow member of a group, etc.). To get a better idea of the incidence of sexual aggression on university campuses, Koss, Gidycz and Wisniewski (1987) performed a major study using a sample of 6,159 college students from across the United States using a selfreport instrument. The results showed that 27.5% of the women in this sample