HIDDEN RAPE: SURVEY OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES

Project: Research project

Grant Details

Description

Previous epidemiological studies of 18-22 year-old college students have
revealed high rates of overt rape as well as lesser degrees of sexual
aggression among them. Also, a phenomena known as acquaintance rape has
been found to be extremely prevalent in this group and has been linked to
significant short-term and possibly long-term psychopathology.
Furthermore, the fact that rape is an underreported and underconvicted
crime suggests the existence of "hidden rape" among such "normal"
populations that involves victims who don't report to authorities and
offenders who aren't detected. The project proposes administration of a
questionnaire to an ethnically and geographically diverse national sample
of 5,000 students at 50 institutions of higher education. The goals are
(1) to determine whether college students are indeed at high risk for rape;
(2) to develop an empirical data base, based on both hidden and identified
subjects, on the etiology of rape including psychopathological,
situational, and attitudinal factors; (3) to examine the possibly unique
traumatic impact of acquaintance rape on the emotional and sexual
adjustment of the victim; and, (4) to disseminate the results in a national
magazine with a large college student readership in an attempt to reduce
rape through primary prevention.
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date2/1/832/28/90

Funding

  • National Institutes of Health

ASJC

  • Medicine(all)

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