This study examined strategies used by victims to stop bullying and the victim’s perception of each strategy’s success. Ten schools in 1 urban school district participated. The range of grades served by each school ranged from kindergarten to 8th grade. In 2006, The Philadelphia Bullying Survey (PBS) was developed based on the Olweus Bully Victim and administered to students by school staff. Findings indicated that 50% of students reported victimization and 10% reported more than one type of victimization. Males were more likely to report name-calling, physical aggression, and relational exclusion. Females were more likely to report rumor mongering and sexual comment or gestures. Supportive social networks acted as a protective factor. Strategies used by victims included: fighting back, ignoring the bullying, telling an adult at home, telling a peer, and telling an adult at school. Fighting back was seen as the most successful strategy for both genders. Victims who fought back were more likely to report using both passive and reporting strategies, and experiencing chronic victimization and fear. Students and staff should be educated on the consequences of fighting back and school policies should be altered to better respond to bullying.
These summaries were written by SVPEP staff and are based on original papers published within the last 6 years. The information available on this web site is provided as a public service and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, the Arizona Department of Health Services, or the University of Arizona. To conduct an individual search or locate older articles use the Search Summary Database which includes over 600 articles related to sexual violence.
Avoidance & Resistance
Black, S., Weinles, D., & Washington, E. (2010). Victim strategies to stop bullying. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 8, 138-147.
Schools in the sample were deliberately chosen to participate in the study because of the high incidence of bullying reported at each school. Findings may not be generalizable to all school contexts and populations.
Brecklin, L. R., & Ullman, S. E. (2005). Self-defense or assertiveness training and women’s responses to sexual attacks. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20, 738-762.
The sample included 3,187 undergraduate females from 32 colleges who completed a self-report questionnaire (National Survey of Intergender Relationships). Students were asked about experiences pertaining to unwanted sexual contact, sexual coercion, attempted and/or completed rape, assault characteristics, their perception concerning their victimization experiences, and postassault experiences. Analyses compared women with preassault training to women without any reported self-defense or assertiveness training prior to their assault experiences. Findings revealed that students who had participated in training were more likely to be less scared and more angry during their assault than women who had not had any training. The former were also more likely to report success at stopping the offender. Interestingly, though, the students with preassault trainings were also more likely to undervalue the extent of their resistance. The authors postulate ways in which such findings may improve prevention programs designed to enhance women’s resistance strategies while also recognizing that the origin of sexual violence still rests with males.
Daigle, L. E., Fisher, B., & Cullen, F. T. (2008). The violent and sexual victimization of college women: Is repeat victimization a problem? Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 23, 1296-1313.
The study analyzed data from two national surveys on victimization of women enrolled in colleges and universities: the National College Women Violent Victimization (NCWVV; n=4,432) and the National College Women Sexual Victimization (NCWSV; n=4,446). Respondents were asked if they had experienced violent or sexual victimization during the school year, and when the incident occurred. This allowed researchers to determine the sequence in which repeat victimizations occurred. Almost half of the victims experienced about three-quarters of all victimizations. Victims were at an elevated risk of re-experiencing violence within a few months following the first incident. Repeat incidents usually were the same kind of violence as the initial incident. Of non-sexual violent attacks, only simple assault carried a risk of repeated violence, and was the only type of violence more likely to be perpetrated by a stranger. The only victim behavior associated with single victimization was the use of forceful physical resistance. Because most victims who report their attack do so to friends (rather than parents or authorities), researchers recommend including information on risks of repeat victimization in college sexual assault prevention education programs.
The study was not able to determine if repeat victims were attacked by the same perpetrators during subsequent incidents; this information would be useful in planning prevention education.
Gidycz, C., Rich, C., Orchowski, L., King, C., & Miller, A. (2006). The evaluation of a sexual assault self-defense and risk-reduction program for college women: A prospective study. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, 173-186.
Researchers examined changes in protective behaviors, sexual communication, and self-efficacy among college women participating in a sexual assault avoidance program (n=234) compared with a control group (n=266). The seven-hour skills-building program included lecture, video, group discussion, role play, and physical self-defense techniques. Three months later, a 1-½ hour “booster” session was given. Only self-protective behaviors increased over time more among program participants compared with the control group. About the same number of women in both groups reported experiencing moderate or severe victimization during the follow-up period. Among those who were victimized, program participants were more likely to blame the perpetrator. Researchers found that the only factor associated with being victimized during the follow-up period was a history of adolescent victimization.
Limits of the study include the small sample size. Program participants may have identified a broader range of experiences as sexual victimization than non-participants.
Hollander, J. A. (2004). “I can take care of myself”: The impact of self-defense training on women’s lives. Violence Against Women, 10, 205-235.
While there is a shortage of empirical evidence that self-defense classes actually do reduce a participant's risk of being sexually assaulted, circumstantial evidence indicates that such classes ought to be effective in reducing women’s fear and in improving their responses to violence. The current study was based on the results of surveys given to 36 women (mean age of 21 years) who had enrolled in two feminist self-defense classes taught over a 10-week period at a state university. The participants completed a survey before and after the self-defense class. As was hypothesized, the students felt more confident in their ability to prevent and avoid dangerous situations. Furthermore, they described additional improvements in their everyday lives; namely, the participants reported an improvement in their ability to interact with strangers, acquaintances, friends, employers, teachers, and intimates, as well as improvements in their feelings about their own bodies, their perceived self confidence, and their beliefs about men, women, and gender issues. The author suggests that the feminist self-defense classes transform women's lives regarding the fear of sexual assault, as well as transform their perception of their value in the world and their concept of gender. Hollander proposes that the lessons learned by participants concerning their everyday lives will indirectly reduce their likelihood of victimization by increasing their ability to prevent or respond to violence while positively impacting their overall sense of self and their place in the world as women.
Hollander, J. A. (2005). Challenging despair: Teaching about women’s resistance to violence. Violence Against Women, 11, 776-791.
Hollander presents a discussion of specific readings as well as a discussion of the use of guest speakers and particular course assignments designed to integrate the theme of resistance into a course about violence against women. The purpose of this approach is to teach women about violence by focusing on resistance, thereby reducing fear, vulnerability, and despair that otherwise serve only to disempower women.
Jouriles, E. N., McDonald, R., Kullowatz, A., Rosenfield, D., Gomez, G. S., & Cuevas, A. (2009). Can virtual reality increase the realism of role plays used to teach college women sexual coercion and rape-resistance skills? Behavior Therapy, 40, 337-345.
This study assessed the impact of virtual reality on increased realism of role plays that teach sexual coercion and rape-resistance skills. The sample included 62 female college students between the ages of 18 and 30. Four male actors were provided with training and instructions for both role play conditions. Participants were randomly assigned to the standard role play or virtual role play. Those assigned to the standard role play interacted with male actors. Participants in the virtual role play wore headphones and goggles and experienced a virtual environment with a male avatar that was controlled by a male actor. Negative affect and perceived realism were enhanced in the virtual role plays, but heart rate remained consistent among participants in the virtual role plays and standard role plays. Findings suggested that using virtual reality as a tool may be beneficial in simulating realistic conditions to teach college-aged women sexual coercion and rape-resistance skills.
The sample only included females enrolled in college; therefore, the findings may not be generalizable to other populations.
Sochting, I., Fairbrother, N., & Koch, W. J. (2004). Sexual assault of women: Prevention efforts and risk factors. Violence Against Women, 10, 73-93.
A review of the body of literature on risk factors for sexual assault is also presented. Strategies for improving rape prevention programs are highlighted and include identifying targets for behavioral change based on risk factors and training women in rape resistance strategies. Results suggested that attitude change was a less effective prevention approach.
Yeater, E., & Viken, R. (2010). Factors affecting women’s response choices to dating and social situations. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. (Online)
The sample included 170 undergraduate women and 44 different vignettes that illustrated problems a college woman might encounter while on a date or in a social situation (e.g., party, school event, etc.) with a man. Each vignette had six different response options that ranged from low response refusal (i.e., acquiescence) to high response refusal (i.e., aggression). The study participants were asked to choose the response option that best characterized their reaction to each situation presented in the vignettes. The findings suggested that women who reported more severe histories of sexual victimization and higher disinhibition were likely to select lower response refusals. Women with greater number of sexual partners and greater alcohol use did not choose lower response refusals as hypothesized by researchers. Authors recommended that prevention programming should focus on teaching women how to refuse men’s unwanted sexual advances, especially for those women that have a history of sexual victimization or a high disinhibition personality trait.
The study sample was small and selected from a psychology subject pool.