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. 2002 Jun;26(2):99-109.
doi: 10.1111/1471-6402.00048.

ALCOHOL-INVOLVED RAPES: ARE THEY MORE VIOLENT?

Antonia Abbey  1 , A Monique Clinton  2 , Pam McAuslan  3 , Tina Zawacki  2 , Philip O Buck  2
Affiliations

ALCOHOL-INVOLVED RAPES: ARE THEY MORE VIOLENT?

Antonia Abbey et al. Psychol Women Q. 2002 Jun.

Abstract

Alcohol's psychological, cognitive, and motor effects contribute to rape. Based on theory and past research, we hypothesized that there would be a curvilinear relationship between the quantity of alcohol consumed by perpetrators and how aggressively they behaved. Moderate levels of intoxication encourage aggressiveness; however, extreme levels severely inhibit cognitive and motor capacity. We also hypothesized that victims' alcohol consumption would have a curvilinear relationship to their resistance. These hypotheses were examined with data from 132 college women who had been the victims of attempted or completed rape. Although there was a curvilinear result for perpetrators, the slope of the curve suggested that aggressiveness was worst when no alcohol or the highest levels of alcohol were consumed. There was a negative linear relationship between victims' alcohol consumption and resistance. Difficulties associated with accurately assessing degree of intoxication from survey data are discussed and suggestions are made for improving alcohol measurement in rape research.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Path analytic model of the relationships between victims’ and perpetrators’ alcohol consumption and sexual assault severity (N = 132). *p< .09; **p< .05; ***p< .01. Only significant and marginally significant paths are included. Standardized betas are shown. The relationship between victims’ and perpetrators’ alcohol consumption is presumed to be bidirectional, thus the correlation between them is included.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Abbey A, McAuslan P, Ross LT. Sexual assault perpetration by college men: The role of alcohol, misperception of sexual intent, and sexual beliefs and experiences. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. 1998;17:167–195.
    1. Abbey A, McAuslan P, Ross LT, Zawacki T. Alcohol expectancies regarding sex, aggression, and sexual vulnerability: Reliability and validity assessment. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. 1999;13:174–182.
    1. Abbey A, Ross LT, McDuffie D, McAuslan P. Alcohol and dating risk factors for sexual assault among college women. Psychology of Women Quarterly. 1996a;20:147–169.
    1. Abbey A, Ross LT, McDuffie D, McAuslan P. Alcohol, misperception, and sexual assault: How and why are they linked? In: Buss DM, Malamuth N, editors. Sex, power, conflict: Evolutionary and feminist perspectives. Oxford University Press; New York: 1996b. pp. 138–161.
    1. Abbey A, Zawacki T, Buck PO, Clinton AM, McAuslan P. Alcohol and sexual assault. Alcohol, Research, & Health. 2001;25:43–51. - PMC - PubMed