Basile, K. C., Swahn, M. H., Chen, J., & Saltzman, L. E. (2006). Stalking in the United States: Recent national prevalence estimates. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 31, 172-175.

Key Points: Stalking affects 7% of women and 2% of men in the United States at some point in their lives.

Summary: Researchers analyzed data from the second national Injury Control and Risk Survey (ICARIS-2; N=9684). Respondents were considered victims of stalking if they had been followed and described the experience as “somewhat dangerous” or “life-threatening.” Based on this definition, an estimated 7 million women and 2 million men in the United States have been stalked.

Significant factors associated with having been stalked included being female, white, not married or living as a couple, being employed, and being less than 55 years old.

The authors recommended research to develop prevention interventions that can be used jointly by criminal justice and public health to reduce the prevalence of stalking and provide services to victims.

Limitations of the study included lack of information on the relationship of the stalker to the victim. Description of stalking was limited to two questions, and stalking tactics used were not assessed.

Topics: Prevalence; stalking

Campbell, R. & Raja, S. (2005). The sexual assault and secondary victimization of female veterans: Help-seeking experiences with military and civilian social systems. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 29, 97-106.

Key Points: Among women veterans and reservists, 39% had been sexually assaulted at least once in adulthood.

Summary: The study sample consisted of 268 primarily low income, African-American (77%) female veterans and reservists seeking medical care at a VA clinic. Out of 104 sexual assaults described, 38% occurred while a woman was in military service, and 82% of those were committed by a military peer or supervisor.

Similar numbers of victims of military and non-military assault sought medical treatment after an attack. Although military medical providers engaged in fewer secondary victimization behaviors than non-military providers, victims were more likely to have negative feelings after treatment by military medical personnel. Military victims were more likely to have reported the assault to legal personnel (59%) than non-military victims (26%). Both groups experienced similar overall levels of legal secondary victimization. All victims who encountered any secondary victimization behaviors reported more post-traumatic stress symptoms.

In light of the high prevalence rates, the researchers recommended that the VA expand services such as the Women Veterans’ Comprehensive Health Centers to create environments where women can receive respectful and appropriate treatment.

Topics: Disclosure; military; secondary victimization

Chisholm, J. F. (2006). Cyberspace violence against girls and adolescent females. Annals of New York Academy of Science, 1087, 74-89.

Key Points: Youth are often not psychologically equipped to protect themselves from bullying and exploitation online. Most adults are not aware of the risks to which young people are exposed through electronic communication.

Summary: This article summarized types of “cyberviolence” (online bullying and other forms of exploitation). The ability to send messages anonymously and instantly through text messaging or email has created a new set of potential benefits and dangers for young people. Online culture evolves rapidly and can vary dramatically by age group. Adults who are not as technologically savvy as youth may not be aware of bullying and other damaging online behavior and thus not able to protect young people from online dangers.

Several projects working to prevent or mitigate victimization are presented. The author recommended that research be done to examine the effects of online socializing on adolescent development, and how the Internet continues to change patterns of communication. She also recommended training for mental health practitioners who work with youth to recognize signs of online victimization.

Topics: Adolescent/high school; media/Internet; prevention

Davis, K. C., Norris, J., George, W. H., Martell, J., & Heiman, J. R. (2006). Men’s likelihood of sexual aggression: The influence of alcohol, sexual arousal, and violent pornography. Aggressive Behavior, 32, 581-589.

Key Points: Men’s sexual arousal to a hypothetical rape story predicted their self-reported likelihood of acting like the aggressor in the scenario.  

Summary: A total of 84 male social drinkers between 21-45 years old were randomly assigned to a group that received alcohol or a group that did not. Both groups were then asked to read one of two rape scenarios which differed by whether the victim experienced pleasure during the rape. Three factors related to sexual response were measured: alcohol intoxication; belief that intoxicated women were vulnerable to sexual coercion; and a victim’s positive sexual response to rape.

The single factor that predicted reporting likelihood of sexual aggression was a high level of sexual arousal. Intoxication and belief in drinking women’s vulnerability were not directly linked to increased aggression, although they were related to arousal. Both sober and intoxicated men reported greater arousal when the victim’s response in the scenario was positive. If any of the factors were present without increased arousal, they were not related to increased aggression.

Limits of the study included testing only two levels of intoxication (sober or drunk), self-report of arousal without physiological measures, and lack of measurement of men’s actual aggressive behavior. The study did not look at how likely men were to report the probability of aggressive sexual behavior if they were not exposed to violent pornography.

Topics: Alcohol; myths/stereotypes; perpetration

Lacasse, A. & Mendelson, M. J. (2007). Sexual coercion among adolescents: Victims and perpetrators. Violence Against Women, 22, 424-437.

Key Points: In a small sample of students in Grades 8-11, sexist beliefs were associated with being a victim of sexual harassment or coercion among girls and with perpetrating sexual harassment or coercion among boys.

Summary: Students in a suburban Quebec school were asked if other students had verbally harassed them, made non-coercive sexual contact (e.g., unwanted kissing) or attempted to obtain sexual favors using blackmail or force in the previous 3 months. They were also asked if they had perpetrated those acts on another student. The study included 37 students who reported being victimized and 21 who reported perpetrating the behavior. These groups were then compared with a matched control sample of students.

Female students who were victims (n=27) were more likely to endorse sexist attitudes than other girls; boys who were perpetrators were more likely to endorse sexist attitudes than other boys. All victims were more likely to use drugs and alcohol than controls or perpetrators. Both victims and perpetrators were involved with more deviant behaviors than controls.

Limitations of this study include: a small sample size; students were only asked about peer-related behaviors outside of romantic relationships, which may have resulted in underreporting of victimization; and the perceived severity of the experiences was not assessed.

Topics: Adolescent/high school; harassment; myths/stereotypes; perpetration

Lanier, C. A. (2001). Rape-accepting attitudes: Precursors to or consequences of forced sex. Violence Against Women, 7, 876-885.

Key Points: Acceptance of rape myths predicted subsequent sexual aggression among a group of middle school and high school boys.

Summary: This study sought to answer the questions: does rape-myth acceptance precede perpetration of sexual violence, or does the perpetrator justify their actions by adopting rape-accepting attitudes?

Boys from 14 middle schools and high schools in rural North Carolina were surveyed. They were asked if they had ever forced a date to have sex or forced a date to do something sexual. They were also asked to rate their agreement with common rape myths. One year later, 851 boys completed a second survey. Those who were more accepting of rape myths initially were more likely to report perpetration. Perpetration did not result in increased acceptance of rape myths.

This study suggested that curriculum targeting rape myth-accepting attitudes accepting of rape myths may reduce forced sex by adolescent males.

Some limitations of this study include: boys may have been reluctant to self-identify as perpetrators, fearing that they could be identified; they may have indicated a lower acceptance of rape myths than they really felt; and they were not asked to define what “doing something sexual” meant to them.

Topics: Adolescent/high school; evaluation; myths/stereotypes; perpetration; prevention

Spitzberg, B. H. & Cupach, W. R. (2007). The state of the art of stalking: Taking stock of the emerging literature. Aggression & Violent Behavior, 12, 64-86.

Key Points: The article provides a thorough overview and explanation of issues related to stalking based on the current published literature.

Summary: This meta-analysis summarizes the results of 175 studies of stalking. In addition to looking at variations in prevalence between studies, the authors considered the definitions of stalking and described the closely-related set of behaviors termed “obsessive relational intrusion.” The authors created systematic typologies of types of stalkers, stalkers’ motivations, and types of stalking behaviors. Victims’ coping responses and the effects of stalking are also categorized. The majority of stalking victims are women. Because the majority of victims (79%) were acquainted with the stalker, and because half of all stalking was related to romantic relationships, the authors recommended looking at most stalking not only as criminal behavior or psychopathology, but as a type of “relationship terrorism” similar to other types of domestic violence.

Topics: Effects; perpetration; prevalence; stalking

Young, A., Young, A. & Fullwood, H. (2007). Adolescent online victimization. The Prevention Researcher, 14, 8-9.

Key Points: As Internet use becomes more common, the number of youth exposed to online sexual solicitation, sexual material, and harassment (sexual or bullying) has increased.

Summary: In a review of three recent studies, the authors estimated national prevalence of online victimization of youth at 13% for sexual solicitation; 34% for exposure to unwanted sexual material; and 9% for any type of harassment. The majority of incidents was not distressing and was not reported to adults.

Risk factors for online victimization included older age (youth 14-17 were at higher risk than younger children) and gender (girls were more likely to experience sexual solicitation or harassment than boys). In one study, 60% of youth gave out personal information in an online questionnaire or form. About 45% gave that information to someone they had met online.

Possible prevention strategies include frank discussion by adults about Internet victimization so that youth are better equipped to avoid it and deal with it if it happens. The authors recommended making youth aware of the possible consequences of sharing personal information online. Adults can also prepare youth to take action if they are victimized: removing themselves from the situation; changing screen name; and reporting the incident to prevent others from being victimized.

Topics: Adolescent/high school; harassment; media/ Internet; prevalence; prevention; risk

Updated 08/01/07