Victimization and Perpetration of Sexual Violence in College Men: The Characteristics of Social Ecology, Shared Risk Factors and Their Implications for Prevention

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated a relationship between victimization and perpetration of sexual violence. Social norms approaches have been developed to prevent sexual violence, which focus on changing perceived peer support for sexual violence and related behaviors; however, their efficacy is limited. Interpersonal difficulties are a well-established consequence of sexual victimization much like impulsivity is a well-established risk factor for sexual perpetration, however, these risk factors are often considered in relation to one form of violence rather than both. The goals of this study were to 1) describe and assess the relationship between knowledge of peers' sexual violence experiences and 2) examine the afore-mentioned risk factors while considering victim-offender overlaps to inform prevention and restorative justice efforts. College men (n = 485) completed an anonymous online survey. 46.4% reported sexual violence exposure, specifically 10.5% victimization only, 6% perpetration only, and 29.9% both exposures. Many participants reported knowing a victim (43.9%) or perpetrator (32.4%), mostly consisting of friends and acquaintances. Violence-exposed groups demonstrated significantly more knowledge of victimization (Victimization Only 52.9%, Perpetration Only 62.1%, Both 61.4% > Control 30.4%) and perpetration (Perpetration only 55.2%, Both 49% > Control 20.8%) amongst their peers than nonviolence-exposed controls. Those with victimization only reported greater interpersonal difficulties than nonviolence-exposed controls (d = 0.613). When accounting for childhood sexual abuse (CSA), those with all three experiences had greater interpersonal difficulties (d = 0.766). Those with perpetration experiences demonstrated greater levels of impulsivity than nonviolence-exposed controls (d = 0.440). When accounting for CSA, those with both exposures (excluding CSA) had greater impulsivity (d = 0.488).

Keywords: College men; impulsivity; interpersonal relationships; interpersonal skills; sexual assault; sexual violence; sexual violence prevention; social norms.

Figure 1.

Study 1: knowledge of peers with sexual violence exposure. Note. Victimization knowledge (χ²(3, N = 485) = 42.849, p < .001*, Cramer’s V = .297, Cohen’s d = .623) and perpetration knowledge (χ²(3, N = 485) = 41.135, p < .001*, Cramer’s V = .291, d = .609) were not distributed evenly between groups.

Figure 2.

Study 1: relationships to peers with sexual violence exposure.