Annotated Bibliography on Sexual Assault and Discrimination on College Campuses

Amanda D. Seals
Bleecker, E., & Murnen, S. (2005). Fraternity membership, the display of degrading sexual
images of women, and rape myth acceptance. Sex Roles, 53(7/8), 487-493.
doi:10.1007/s11199-005-7136-6
The purpose of the study was to examine if fraternity men were more likely than other
college men to display sexually degrading images of women, and that the amount of degradation
present in the pictures would correlate with rape supportive attitudes of men (p. 488). The
sample for the study included 30 fraternity men and 30 non-fraternity men from a small,
Midwestern, liberal arts college with a residential campus. A male researcher conducted the
experiments. A 5-point Likert scale was used for validation. A year after the photos were taken,
the researchers coded the randomly ordering photos and asking a group of 42 women at the same
institution to judge the 91 images. Rating was by how degrading and how sexually explicit the
images were. Through correlational analyses, associations were made between the ownership of
the images and sample. The correlational data did not allow the researchers to make any causal
statements about the relationships, however; the data did suggest that men who join fraternities
are likely to receive different information about women and sexuality than men who do not (p.
491).
Cassel, A. (2012). Are you the problem, or the solution? Changing male attitudes and behaviors
regarding sexual assault. Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research, 17(2), 50-58.
The purpose of the study was to determine if and how male attitudes and behaviors
regarding sexual assault can be changed periodically (p. 52). The researchers hypothesize that
males more likely would be proactive in seeking information about sexual assault and reducing
its prevalence if the intervention programs are male-centric. For the study sample, the
researchers recruited 49 male students at Colgate University. The independent variable in the
experiment was a false-feedback test score (p. 53). Four weeks later, the same group returned to
complete the study with the independent variable being a false-feedback test score. Researchers
followed up with questionnaires, and then administered dependent measures. Finally,
participants completed a post-test IRMA, which was the identical pre-test so that a pre-test and
post-test IRMA comparison could be made. Researchers concluded that the use of a falsefeedback paradigm successfully increased personal responsibility and motivation in males
regarding sexual assault, which created a willingness to seek more information on the topic.
Dobbs, R., Waid, C., & Shelley, T. (2009). Explaining fear of crime as fear of rape among
college females: An examination of multiple campuses in the United States. International
Journal of Social Inquiry, 2(2), 105-122.

The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of the fear of rape on the overall fear
of crime for both women and men on college campuses (p. 110). During class time, the
researchers administered a voluntary anonymous survey at three different public four-year
universities located in the southwest, southeast, and western United States. The convenience
sample is comprised of those male and female students who were present in class the day of the
survey and by those who completed the questionnaire. Then t-tests were used to measure mean
difference between men and women in the overall sample as well as each subsample by location.
In addition, multivariate OLS models were used with the fear of crime variable. Fear of rape
was used as a control in examining the results for both men and women. The researchers
conclude from the results of the questionnaire physical and social policy implications for college
campuses for both male and female students.
Fisher, B., & May, D. (2009). College students' crime-related fears on campus: Are fearprovoking cues gendered? Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 25(3), 300-321.
The purpose of the study was to answer: If fear-provoking cues equally predict the same
types of fears for college males and females at their college campus. Cues were divided into two
categories: physical environment and crime-related fear variables. There were four subgroups of
physical environment cues. The researchers administered a 10-minute survey to 607
undergraduate general education students at a large southern public university. The dependent
variable is fear of criminal victimization while on campus (p. 309). The independent variables
are the cue-specific fear of crime measures. Control variables were: association with fear of
criminal victimization and measures of age, academic classification, full-time or part-time
student, and residence status. The researchers conclude that there was not a statistically
significant relationship between the rank orders of these proportions suggesting that fearprovoking cues are not gendered, which contradicts their review of literature (p. 314).
Fried, C., & Maxwell, A. (2006). Rape rumors: The effects of reporting or denying rumors of
sexual assaults on campus. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36(11), 2766-2784.
doi:10.1111/j.0021-9029.2006.00127.x
The study sought to examine how reporting rumors of crime and reporting denials affect
perceptions of campus safety (p. 2771). The researchers conducted two studies. Study 1
consisted of 138 undergraduate students who volunteered to participate in return for extra credit.
The sample was given fictitious stimulus material in the form of newspaper headlines that
covered sexual assaults as a fact, as a rumor, as a denied rumor, or as a proven falsehood, and
included two news source credibility variables, either high or low credibility. A manipulation
check and reliability testing ANOVA were conducted. Study 2 was conducted to address the
weaknesses that the researchers found in Study 1. The sample participants included 125 students
who received extra credit for their participation. The researchers made two changes: references
to crimes on campus were removed to create a more neutral control condition; and the credibility
factor was dropped. The researchers concluded that the more neutral condition in Study 2
resulted in a clearer pattern of data and a better test of their hypotheses (p. 2779).

Jennings, W., Gover, A., & Pudrzynskas, D. (2007). Are institutions of higher learning safe? A
descriptive study of campus safety issues and self-reported campus victimization among
male and female college students. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 18(2), 191-208.
doi:10.1080/10511250701383327
The purpose of the study was to answer the question regarding the safety of male and
female students on college campuses, and to study the issues that impact a students perception
of campus safety. The researchers conducted a 97-question survey to a convenience sample of
564 undergraduate students enrolled in criminology courses at a large southeastern university (p.
196). The measures of the study were campus victimization; fear of crime; safety; perceived risk
of crime; and constrained behavior. The final phase of the study was to determine if there is a
correlation between gender differences in campus victimization and campus-related issues. The
analysis relied upon a series of chi-square tests to determine if gender was associated with
campus victimization, and if so, whether differences were observed across all dimensions of
victimization (p. 202). The researchers conclude it is necessary for campuses to raise awareness
and promote prevention of crime victimization (p. 204). In addition, the researchers state that
college campuses are not safe as once perceived and campus safety issues cannot be ignored.
Palmer, R., McMahon, T., Rounsaville, B., & Ball, S. (2010). Coercive sexual experiences,
protective behavioral strategies, alcohol expectancies and consumption among male and
female college students. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 25(9), 1563-1578.
doi:10.1177/088626050935458
The purpose of the study was to examine several factors regarding alcohol use among
students who reported being victims, and students who reported being perpetrators of unwanted
sexual contact (p. 1565). Alcohol expectancies, consumption, utilization of protective behavioral
strategies, and recent consequences of alcohol use were all examined. The researchers
hypothesize that by controlling the relationship between gender and the different dimensions of
drinking, the victims would report more negative consequences, and that the perpetrators would
experience more negative consequences. The sample was 370 undergraduate students at a
private university in Connecticut that completed a battery of self-reporting measures. The data
was analyzed through ANOVA and ANCOVAs. From the data, the researchers conclude the
correlations between alcohol and sex is consistent between college women and men and
unwanted sexual contact, alcohol experiences, and sexual aggression.

Orchowski, L., Meyer, D., & Gidycz, C. (2009). College women's likelihood to report unwanted
sexual experiences to campus agencies: Trends and correlates. Journal of Aggression,
Maltreatment & Trauma, 18(8), 839-858. doi:10.1080/10926770903291779
The purpose of the study was to examine likelihood of college women reporting
experiences of sexual victimization to various campus agencies or individuals. The participant
pool comprised of 300 undergraduate women who belonged to the psychology department at a
medium-sized Midwestern university. A variety of instruments assessed the questions answered
by the women and were validated by Cronbachs alpha for good internal consistency and testretest reliability. The women who took the survey received extra-credit towards their
Introductory Psychology course for participating. When analyzing the results, a series of paired
samples t-tests were conducted to answer the questions of the researchers (p. 846). From the
study, the researchers noted that women are more likely to report to other agencies regardless of
their sexual victimization. The highest validation of reporting was to a friend, not to the
authorities. The researchers concluded that more research needed to be conducted in order to
conclude that women perceive potential barriers to reporting to campus agencies.
Rich, M., Utley, E., Janke, K., & Moldoveanu, M. (2010). "I'd rather be doing something else:"
Male resistance to rape prevention programs. Journal of Men's Studies, 18(3), 268-290.
doi:10.3149/jms.1803.268
The purpose of the study was to test assumptions by male students about sexual assault
prevention and the male perception that rape is solely a female issue. At a large urban
university, 157 men were surveyed. The survey included open-ended questions regarding sexual
prevention training, rape myths, the role of men in the prevention of violence against women,
and prevention program made up of either same-sex or mixed-sex audience. The researchers
conducted a pilot study that gathered male reactions to prevention efforts. An emergently
inductive activity was the grounded theory as a method of analysis used by the researchers (p.
272). There were four researchers total and they elected to code the data in order to enhance the
findings and facilitate an analytic triangulation (p. 272). The researchers confirmed some of
their initial beliefs while spotlighting new directions for prevention educators to examine when
creating programs for both female and male students. They also conclude that more research
with the male population should be conducted to address male defensiveness.
Tomsich, E., Gover, A., & Jennings, W. (2011). Examining the role of gender in the prevalence
of campus victimization, perceptions of fear and risk of crime, and the use of constrained
behaviors among college students attending a large urban university. Journal of Criminal
Justice Education, 22(2), 181-202. doi:10.1080/10511253.2010.517772

The purpose of this study was to determine if there are significant differences between
the perceptions of fear, safety, perceived risk and use of constrained behavior by men and
women on an urban campus as compared to a suburban or rural campus (non-urban) as
previously studied by Jennings et al. (p. 183). A convenience study was conducted through an
online survey of 997 students enrolled at the University of Colorado Denver. The researchers
reported that email surveys have the lowest response rates and 11 percent of those surveyed
responded. The researchers stated that to impute the missing values, they used the expectation
maximization algorithm in an analysis of covariance. Chi-square and t-test results were used to
examine campus victimization rates and campus-related issues varying by gender. The
researchers conclude there are few studies that examine campus victimization in an urban setting.
The researchers conclude that on both types of campuses, males were more likely than females to
view their environments as safe, and that females were more likely to use constrained behavior.