For this literature review, I choose to focus on four articles I found most relevant to the rough draft of my thesis, two peer reviewed and two popular. Throughout these articles, it is remains constant that sexual assault is a problem of sufficient magnitude among college students and must warrant intervention. While they also reveal that most colleges and universities have responded to this challenge by installing educational programs that are intended to prevent or reduce these sexual assault, I believe the most overlooked component of sexual assault on college campuses is the ineffectiveness in the enforcement of these educational programs. These four articles help to build this argument, despite using different definitions and analyzing …show more content…
What surprised me most across these articles is that only two of the four gave a clear definition of “sexual assault.” As stated by Kimberly Hanson Breitenbecher, sexual assault is “any form of sexually aggressive behavior, including, but not limited to, the crime of rape.” While in the article written by Best Colleges, sexual assault is defined as is “a term that applies to a broad range of forced and unwanted sexual activity.” The article written by McMahon et al. does not even give a definition for sexual assault, while the article by author Beth Howard outlines the basis of sexual assault in the form of a story. I believe the intended results of specifically stating the definition in the first two mentioned articles is to give the readers a better understanding of the subject at hand so that they can better comprehend what the article is set out to prove or explain. I believe the highlighting bystander intervention does not provide a direct definition because it intends to focuses on a solution to the problem, rather than the problem itself. In telling an anecdote of a sexual assault on college campuses, the article becomes more relatable and the concept is understood. While there were differences in the definition of key terms across each article, I do not believe this took away from any …show more content…
At the outermost level, the article by Best Colleges gives a basic outline of sexual assault, its underreporting, trends in assaults, some prevention methods, and then finally providing some tips to help halt the number of number of sexual assault cases on college campuses. While providing helpful and accurate information, the article only scapes the surface of bringing awareness to what a large problem sexual assault is on campuses throughout the country. A tier up, the article by Beth Howard goes more in depth by explaining certain programs already enacted on certain college campuses, for example, telling of Dartmouth College’s announcement “to mandate education on preventing sexual violence all four years of college and placing everybody, including fraternity members, in one of six new residential communities beginning in 2016.” However, the third article by Breitenbecher specifically addresses the problem with these already enacted sexual assault education programs, but fails to provide a better solution to the problem. Lastly and most in depth, the final article by McMahon et al. provides the most clear and detailed solution to the problem, arguing that bystander intervention might be the best solution. The differentiation in analysis levels is actually helpful when considering the discussion across these articles because they will
The trial of 19 year old Owen Laurie has brought into light the alarming rate in which Sexual assault is rising. The issue that rages on in Colleges is said to be making its way to high schools and primary school. In a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Division of Violence Prevention, 19% of Undergraduate women experienced
In an article written by John Alan Fox, Fox makes the broad claim that sexual assault is in an era of, “...Hype and hysteria--far out of proportion with the actual risk…” and “The often - repeated yet exaggerated claim that one in five college females are sexually assaulted during their undergraduate years…” (Fox, para 1&2 ). The claims of sexual assault have become more constant in the past years, yes the claims are repeated, but in no way are most claims of sexual assault “exaggerated”. It truthfully takes the victim a while to even talk to a friend about their assault let alone report it, “When students nationwide were asked why they did not report incidents of sexual misconduct...because they were ‘embarrassed, ashamed or that it would be too emotionally difficult’...” (Campus Sexual Assault Survey Details Prevalence at UT Austin and 26 Other US Universities, para 16). The claim of the “one in five college females” is an often repeated claim that many see in sexual assault campaigns and is most common among college women, but, “Sexual violence happens to people of all ages, races, genders, sexual orientations, religions, abilities, professions, incomes and ethnicities” (Info and Stats on Sexual Assault, pg 9). In fact, “The rates of sexual assault and misconduct are highest among undergraduate women and transgender, gender queer
The faces flash by on the computer screen. The women on the screen are differents shapes, sizes, ages, and colors. However, there is one thing that all the women have in common: they have all been sexually assaulted on a college campus. More than one in five women were sexually assaulted on college campuses (Mott, Par. 1). It has been proven that programs in schools can help prevent these statistics from growing. However, more needs to be done to prevent sexual assault on educational facilities because the current programs are not fulfilling their purpose.
Vladutiu, Catherine J., Sandra L. Martin, and Rebecca J. Macy. "College- or University- Based Sexual Assault Prevention Programs: A Review of Program Outcomes, Characteristics, and Recommendations." Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. SAGE, n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2013. .
Legally, one might wonder how sexual assault is defined. According to Massachusetts State law, there are two major categories of sexual assault against adults. One of these is rape, and the other is indecent assault and battery. Rape is defined as “sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse with a person and compels such person to submit by force and against his/her will, or compels such person to submit by threat of bodily injury.” Rape and attempted rape are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Sexual assault and rape on college campuses is a serious public issue. Before applying to these accredited institutions most students do not look up the school 's past records of sexual assault and rape on their campus.College campuses have failed to keep students safe the system they use has failed to protect and obtain justice for those that have been victims of sexual assault. Society plays a huge part in how young adults view sexual assault. From young age girls are told “if he’s bothering you it 's because he likes you”, and boys aren 't held accountable for their actions because “boys will be boys”. At what time does it stop being a game. At what age is it not acceptable for boys to mistreat girls, when is the line drawn and, what is the punishment for when this line is crossed.
When it comes to sexual assault on college campuses there is also the question of what can colleges do to decrease the amount of sexual assaults. Bradford Richardson and Jon A Shields wondered the same thing, so they conducted an ...
“I felt his hands start to move down towards my shorts as if he was trying to unbutton them or pull them off. I was still crying at this point and felt so scared that I couldn’t move” (Henneberger, 2012). These are words written by a college freshman after she had been raped, but they are true for many others as well. According to the Rape Crisis Center of Medina and Summit Counties, “every two minutes someone in the US is sexually assaulted” (Get the Facts). “Girls ages 16-19 are four times more likely than the than the general population to be victims of sexual assault” (Get the Facts). These women may be described as slut, cheap, or ready for action, rather than victim, sufferer, or survivor. Rape myths encourage these demeaning terms for women and conceal the reality of rape culture. I will describe the pervasiveness of sexual assault on college campuses as well as the systems and procedures in place to address it. Power plays a role in this issue, including the powerful men on campus such as athletes and fraternity members as well as the administrators in power who regulate the punishments and actions that are taken against the perpetrators. The influence of those in power often goes overlooked in our society because it has become so intertwined with our culture.
As seniors in high school are committed to colleges and getting excited for some of the best years of their lives, they are preparing for early classes, late nights and good times. These teens have been looking forward to these years that have seemed to come so fast. Of course they’re getting excited about picking their dream job and looking forward to meeting life long friends that they should be able to trust. No one thinks about or mentions the number of rapes on college campuses. If the first thing colleges mentioned was the reported rapes on their campuses, would that change the minds of kids that have had a certain college in mind? Besides the reported date rapes, what about the estimated sexual assaults that go unreported? Knowing the facts and statistics about colleges and how they handle sexual assault cases would make anyone getting ready for college think twice about how safe they’re being and who they are trusting.
According to an interview by Beckett Brennan with Katie Couric “95 percent of victims that were sexual assault on college campuses do not report the sexual assault” (The Case). Majority of sexual assaults that happen on a college campus, will never be reported. Colleges should have more of a responsibility when it comes to the sexual assaults on campuses. Colleges need to own up to the sexual assaults, and take responsibility for the sexual assaults. Colleges need to stop pushing sexual assaults away, and need to stand up and do something about the sexual assaults on college campuses. Although sexual assaults are an individuals responsible, colleges should also be responsible in the sexual assaults that happen on college campuses.
The following four empirical studies focus on the topic of bystander intervention. Each study focused on various aspects of how bystander intervention related to a particular situation.
A survey from the Association of American Universities of 150,000 students found that more than one in four women experience sexual assault during their four years in college. Over the four year college period, 27.2% of female students are victims of unwanted sexual contact that ranges from touching to rape (6). Sexual assault is far too common and it is an epidemic that faces many students in college. Many students suffer from the consequences of sexual assault, which is a result of many social and cultural deficiencies, but it can be fixed through a multifaceted approach. The problem of sexual assault can be fixed through the education of the community, a positive and helpful school environment, and classes focused on prevention.
According to a statement addressing the sexual victimization of college women The Crime and Victimization in America states that, “ One out of four women will be sexually assaulted on a college campus.” This disturbing fact has not minimized throughout the years, instead it is continuing to worsen throughout college campuses. Sexual assault is not an act to be taken lightly. Society must stop pinpointing the individuals who commit these crimes one by one, but rather look at the problem as a whole and begin to understand the main cause of sexual assault and possible methods to reduce these acts of sexual coercion.
Sexual assault is a term that is used interchangeably with the word rape. The decision on whether or not to use the term rape or sexual assault is made by a state’s jurisdiction. Sexual assault is more readily used in an attempt to be more gender neutral (National Victim Center). Sexual assault can be most easily described as forced or unconsentual sexual intercourse. The individual that is performing these acts on the victim may either be a stranger or an acquaintance. In 1994, 64.2 percent of all rapes were committed by someone the offender had previously known (Ringel, 1997). Regardless, this type of crime can have extreme effects on the victim.
As an 18-year-old girl, I have endured my fair share of catcalling, derogatory names, and “butt-grabs” at bars and parties off campus. It happens to everyone; however, in some cases, these seemingly harmless, yet inappropriate, acts turn into something much more serious. In a study by Antonia Abbey, PhD in 1987, 6,159 college students were asked “10 behaviorally specific questions to assess women’s experiences with forced sexual contact, verbally coerced sexual intercourse, attempted rape and rape since the age of 14” (Abbey). Ms. Abbey found that 54% of the women had been assaulted in some way, and 15% had experienced the legal definition of rape, which is defined as “the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any