Quiz Week 5 & 6

Chapter 7:  Dating Aggression, Sexual Assault, and Stalking

Lecture Outline

 

I. Dating Violence among College Students and Young Adults

a.  Definitions of Dating Violence

i. dating violence involves the perpetration of physical, emotional, or threat abuse by at least one member of an unmarried dating couple

ii.  dating violence refers to physical assaults against others; for individuals over the age of 16–18, most laws (legal definitions) pertaining to individuals involved in DV have been the same as those applying to unpartnered

iii. dating violence typically refers to adolescents in middle school or high school (12–19 years old) or unmarried college students (18–26 years old)

b. Factors in Dating Violence of College-Age Adults

i. as age increases, DV decreases

ii. there is a greater focus on sexual assault factors within the DV framework than within spouse abuse

iii. majority of researchers use the term dating violence as reference to adolescents’ interpersonal violence, while intimate partner violence (IPV) is used more frequently for older and often married individuals

iv. society has been more concerned with protecting unmarried than married women

c.  Types of Dating Violence among College-Age Adults

i. one research group reported that reciprocal (bilateral, mutual, bidirectional) violence was the most common form of partner violence

ii. bilateral IPV occurred more frequently (49%) than any other type of DV

iii.  these data are not totally convincing because they are based upon only three test items, fail to reveal the severity of the violence, and do not take into account sexual violence, underreporting, and contextual influences

iv.  other research analyses indicate that disproportionately, boyfriends/ex-boyfriends assault girlfriends/ex-girlfriends

d.  Prevalence of Dating Violence among College-Age Adults

i.  Perpetrators

1.  Males: 82%

2.  Females: 18%

ii.  Victims

1.  Males: 14%

2.  Females: 86%

e.  Consequences of Dating Violence among College-Age Adults

i.  Injury: women receive more physical injuries from male intimates

ii.  negative health consequences (i.e. chronic pain, sleep disorders)

iii.  long-lasting psychological distress (i.e. PTSD)

f.  Explanations for Dating Violence (DV) among College-Age Adults

i.  Family of Origin (Natal Family)

1.  patriarchal beliefs and attitudes-Allow men to dominate women

2.  hostility toward women spurs DV

3.  observing interparental violence in one’s childhood home leads to DV

4.  impact of child maltreatment extends into young adulthood where it becomes a risk factor for IPV

ii.  Gender Differences in DV

1.  harsh physical punishment has a direct effect on perpetration among college males

2.  using some measurement scales, women pushed/grabbed/ shoved, slapped, kicked/bit/hit their male partner significantly more often than the reverse, while men physically restrained and forced oral sex more than women did

3.  reasons for DV were anger, escalating verbal argument, frustration, emotional hurt, retaliation for a verbal act, poor communication

4.  college women did not use self-defensive DV in the same manner as battered women and community women did

5.  women’s but not men’s DV was often reactive; men initiated DV and then women responded with female-to-male violence

6.  women who received higher psychological abuse in their natal homes preferred an abusive date significantly more than women who received less psychological abuse

7.  men preferred women dates who had low anxiety/low avoidance traits

iii.  Attachment Issues Related to DV (Table 7.3)

1.  There are four basic types of attachment

a.  Secure – Positive view of oneself and of others; signifies a healthy attachment to another (i.e., the dating partner)

b.  Dismissing – Negative view of others, but positive view of oneself (high avoidance, but low anxiety)

c.  Preoccupied – Positive view of others, but negative view of oneself (high anxiety)

d.  Fearful – Negative view of oneself and of others (high anxiety, high avoidance)

2.  researchers found a four-step sequence of events: anxious attachment (dysfunctional) to a romantic partner evokes anger, which in turn precipitates efforts to control one’s partner, which then leads to DV

3.  sadly, interpartner aggression occurs more frequently in relationships typified by high commitment levels

4.  commitment in an abusive relationship may represent strong emotional feelings that can be linked with attachment and  dependency needs

 iv.  Jealousy Within Violent Dating Relationships

1.  jealousy is possibly a sign of controlling behavior and may even be a danger sign that signifies partner violence

2.  jealousy comprises several intense feelings, such as anger, blame, and hurt

3.  when jealousy is the motivation for violence, it changes the meaning of violence in the minds of research participants

a.  they are likely to construe jealousy as a sign of romantic love  (Is it? What do counselors say?)

b.  they judge jealousy as more understandable and therefore less likely to indicate a relationship will end soon

c.  men are less certain of women’s fidelity than the  reverse

4.  a majority of college research participants said they would take no negative action against a jealousy-evoking partner

5.  college students expressed more anger and blame over sexual infidelity but more hurt over emotional infidelity

v.  Learning explanations for DV among College-Age Persons

1.  one of the strongest childhood factors associated with DV is witnessing interparental violence

2.  boys’ development of antisocial behavior was prerequisite to dating violence, and unskilled parenting was the major precursor to boys’ antisocial behavior

3.  childhood exposure to violence is a consistent predictor of involvement in relationship violence for both men and women

4.  students use gender of the perpetrator as a guide to expected outcomes of interpersonal violence; almost uniformly students consider male-to-female violence as a far more serious threat than female-to-male violence

5.  students, including men, trivialize the severity of female-to-male violence

6.  both genders view self-defensive DV as justifiable, but women more so than men

vi.  Relationship importance among women involved in male-to-female DV

1.  Some women accepted DV because they were desperate for a man

2.  cues of possible DV were present early in the  relationship, but their feelings of romantic love masked the cues

3.  they misinterpreted the man’s jealous behavior as a sign of love

4.  they believed that their self-worth was contingent on maintaining their romantic relationship

5.  they accepted partner abuse as part of the relationship

g.  Traits of Violent College-Age Daters

i.  DV-violent men tend to suffer from depression and anxiety

ii.  anger among DV-violent men was higher in four subscales

1. State Anger (intense anger at time of test)

2. Trait Anger (ongoing, recurrent angry feelings)

3. Anger-In (withholding of angry expression)

4.  Anger-Out (expression of anger)

5.  DV men’s scores were significantly lower than non-DV men’s on Anger Control (reduction of angry feelings)

iii.  hypermasculinity

1.  it is a personality trait that predisposes men to engage in behaviors that assert physical power and dominance in interactions

2.  men scoring high on this trait are more likely to have abused a woman than men low on this trait

iv.  high needs for control (a trait)

1.  interpersonal control of one’s partner lies at the heart of DV

2.  “threatening to leave” in order to get one’s way about living situations or sexual activities is a form of control

3.  restrictiveness is most closely linked with DV

h.  Attitudes Toward Dating Violence among College-Age Daters

i. male-to-female physical aggression is less acceptable and more harmful than male-to-female relational (nonphysical) aggression

ii.  men’s inclination to blame dating partners was associated with men’s own denial and minimization of their own DV, while women’s DV was associated only with blaming their partner

iii. link between DV and benevolent sexism (e.g. opposed to hostile sexism, is the belief that rescuers should save women from a sinking ship first); benevolent sexism is associated with hostile sexism suggesting than benevolent sexism is not entirely harmless

i.  Treatment of Dating Violence – College-Age

i.  changing attitudes in regard to lessening acceptability of DV probably will not lessen actual DV

ii.  victim treatment should include many options

1.  safety planning (pre-planning a method to escape: having money, car keys, a place to go, etc. if DV is imminent or has occurred)

2.  avoiding control by others as a general principle, being self-determined

3.  improving coping mechanisms such as using problem-oriented solutions rather than emotion-based approaches

4.  empowering the victim to leave “Yes she can”

j.  Prevention of Dating Violence – College Age

i.  premarital counseling linked to higher levels of satisfaction and commitment in marriage and lower levels of conflict

ii.  prevention programs

1.  offer clinics for victims of childhood abuse(s) and at-risk daters

2.  alert college women to the dangers of interpersonal control

3.  provide guidance about avoiding date-rape drugs

4.  address sexist attitudes and problems of peer-group support for aggression

5.  teach anger management, conflict resolution skills, and stress-reduction skills

6.  present antidrug messages and alcohol misuse awareness programs

7.  discuss attachment, commitment, and stress

iii.  identification of DV via violence screening by physical and mental health providers provides an opportunity to intervene

iv.  school and university programs are available

1.  1992 Campus Sexual Assault Victim’s Bill of Rights

2.  Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act of 1990: requires schools to give students access to campus crime reports

3.  there are now some routinely offered violence prevention programs for incoming students

4.  discourage alcohol misuse since its use is correlated with DV

v.  Mentoring programs for men

1.  internship mentoring program trains young men to engage with peers to prevent dating violence such as Men Can Stop Rape

k.  Policy Issues for Addressing Dating Violence

i.   identify and fill in research gaps

ii.  produce qualitative as well as quantitative studies

iii.  encourage collaboration between practitioners and researchers and apply new knowledge as quickly as possible

 

II.    Sexual Assault, Sexual Coercion, and Rape of College Students and Young Adults

a.  Definitions of Sexual Assault, Sexual Coercion, and Rape among College-Age Adults

i.  sexual coercion—“any situation in which one person uses verbal or physical means to obtain sexual activity against consent (including the administration of drugs or alcohol, with or without the other person’s consent)”

ii.  rape—within the confines of dating violence, is the perpetration of sexual aggression against an (unmarried) date or acquaintance. Rape, more than the other terms, refers to some form of bodily penetration

iii.  sexual assault—is a more inclusive term that places sex-related behaviors on a continuum from unwanted sexual contact (e.g., fondling) through sexual intercourse, and it usually connotes violence and often rape

iv.  lack of consent is typified by

1.  actual physical force

2.  threat of physical force, expressed or implied, that puts the victim in fear of being physically harmed or of another person being physically harmed

3.  threat to kidnap the victim or a third person

4.  the inability to give consent, such as when the victim is drunk/drugged, under age, or disabled

b.  Prevalence of DV, Sexual Assault, and Stalking among College-Age Adults

i.  8.3% women and 2.4% men experienced physical aggression, forced sex, or stalking by an intimate

c.  Responses to Sexual Assault among College Age Victims

i.  Women

1.  majority of women do take protective action when confronted with rape

2.  protective action generally reduces the probability of rape completion

3.  rape evokes forceful reactions while coercion evokes nonforceful responses

ii.  Law enforcement Approaches to Sexual Assault

1.  police continue to put up barriers against prosecutions of rapists

2.  they may discourage a victim from reporting the rape by telling her that the cross-examination will be grueling or that her identity will probably slip out at trial

3.  some police officers accept rape myths

4.  some police are very helpful: San Diego police department has been able to adopt a two-pronged approach by fully funding a Sex Crimes Unit—about $1 million a year

iii.  Legal Issues Involved in Sexual Assault

1.  criminal justice personnel allowed non-evidentiary information (e.g., woman’s appearance) to influence their decision making

2.  prosecutors also enlisted “extralegal” information to guide their decision making; extralegal information may even overshadow the strength of solid evidence in prosecutorial decision-making

iv.  Evidence Used in College-Age Sexual Assault Trials

1.  a big step forward for women when emergency rooms began routinely using rape kits to collect DNA evidence

2.  everyone assumed that crime labs would analyze the samples gathered and try to identify perpetrators, but hundreds of thousands awaiting analysis have been in storage, presumably because of cost constraints

3.  Combined DNA Index System: forensic databases for use by law enforcement to prosecute and incarcerate more SA perpetrators and prevent more sexual assaults

4.  2008: Los Angeles City Council approved $7 million to hire more crime analysts as the first step in clearing up the backlog of cases in Los Angeles City Crime Lab

v.  Measurements of Sexual Assault

1.  National Crime Victimization Survey: assumes respondents knew when sexual encounters in which they had been involved qualified as crimes

2.  Sexual Experiences Survey: provides a broad assessment of sexual assault perpetration and victimization; does not assume that individuals make use of legal definitions in classifying their experiences

d.  Attitudes Conducive to Sexual Assault among College-Age Young People

i.  adversarial sexual beliefs:  assumptions that sexual relationships will be exploitative and manipulative

ii.  sexism among college-age persons

1.  significant gender divergence in placing responsibility on characters in a scenario based on socioeconomic status of the perpetrator and victim’s level of resistance

2.  men placed more blame on the victim than women did

3.  men and women placed more blame on a lower SES status perpetrator than a higher SES status perpetrator

iii.  hostility toward women among college-age persons

iv.  lack of empathy toward college-age sexual assault victims

1.  rapists were less empathic toward a woman raped by an unknown assailant than toward two other female victims (car accident victims and their own rape victim); that is, they were less empathic toward their own victim than toward the car accident victim

2.  they were more hostile toward women than men in the other two groups (rape by unknown assailant, car accident victim)

3.  their hostility toward women was negatively related to their empathy toward their own victims

v.  rape myth acceptance among college-age persons

1.  Myths about female rape victims:

a.  “She deserves what she got”

b.  “She was asking for it”

c.  “They are lying”

2.  Myths about male rape victims:

a.  “Male rape is tantamount to loss of masculinity”

b.  “Men should be able to defend themselves against rape”

c.  “Men who get raped must be gay”

d.  “Men cannot be forced against their will to have sex”

e.   “Men are less affected by sexual assault than women”

f.   “Men are always ready to accept any sexual opportunity”

g.  “Men must be sexually aroused to be raped”

3.  acceptance of rape myths is correlated with actual date rape

4.  connection between viewing sexually violent media and significant changes in rape myth acceptance

5.  men prefer films with sex and violence more than women do; individuals who prefer sex and violence themes are more accepting of rape myths and are less accepting of film editing to reduce sex and violence

vi.  blame attributions for sexual assault among college-age persons

1.  males held significantly higher Rape Myth Acceptance than females did – blamed female victims more than women did

2.  both men and women believed responsibility for date rape rested on the victim’s voluntary consumption of alcohol/drugs

e.  Traits of College-Age Sexual Assaulters

i.  anger, hostility, lack of empathy, holding sexist attitudes, and acceptance of rape myths

ii.  genetic contributions, inadequate parenting, and risk and protective factors

iii.  both traits and situations played a role in men’s ASA

f.  Consequences of Sexual Assault on College-Age Victims

i.   Injuries and negative health outcomes

1.  adverse health outcomes

a.  STDs

b.  chronic headaches

2.  early pregnancies

3.  genital injuries

4.  male victim injuries: only 29% of male victims sought medical or psychological assistance; these were men who suffered sexual penetration

ii.  Psychological outcomes

1.  post-assault fears and PTSD

a.  sexual aversion

b.  sexual dysfunction

c.  risky sexual behavior

d.  increased sexual activity

e.  paranoia

2.  blame themselves, feel ashamed, depressed, suicidal

3.  obsessive-compulsive disorder, phobias, sexual dysfunction

4.  substance abuse, relationship abuse

5.  unhealthy weight control

6.  problems dealing with resultant pregnancy

g.  Responses to sexual assault among College age victims

i.  Assistance by a SANE Nurse

1.  sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE)

2.  highly trained in gathering evidence (i.e., rape kit) and in attending to victims’ other medical, emotional, and legal problems

3.  2007: National Institute of Justice and the Office on Violence Against Women funded a state-of-the-art training tool available over the Internet and on CD entitled, “Sexual Assault: Forensic and Clinical Management”

4.  Positive responses

a.  It is helpful

b.  health care-based treatment settings are more attractive to survivors than forensic settings

c.  survivors often prefer a combination of medical and psychological care

5.  Negative responses

a.  many survivors do not carry through with HIV prophylaxis

b.  delivery of the program does not uniformly offer post-rape pregnancy protection

ii.  SAFE Protocol: National Protocol for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examination

1.  includes an assessment of the roles of other sexual assault response team (SART) members

2.  victims are more satisfied and cooperative

3.  more evidence is made available for criminal prosecution

iii.  Male victims’ need for medical treatment of male sexual assault victims similar to that afforded to females

1.  doctors or nurses should obtain seminal fluid samples, take smears for gonorrhea and other STDs, prescribe HIV tests, and prescribe medicine

2.  medical personnel should document their findings for future use in criminal trials

h.  Explanations of Sexual Assault among College-Age Persons

i.  rape myth acceptance

ii.  acceptance of rape behavior

1.  35% of college men reported “some likelihood” of committing rape if they were certain they could get away with it

2.  acceptance indicated by sexual arousal in response to audiotaped rape scenarios

iii.  sadistic

1.  want to hurt women

2.  view of women as sex objects

3.  anger/resentment toward women; perception that women are dangerous

iv.  lack of belief in women’s sincerity about sexual resistance – women said “no” when they really meant “yes”

v.  alcohol’s relationship to rape

1.  men reported more alcohol-related sexual disinhibition than women

2.  intoxicated women were less aware and less uncomfortable with sexual assault cues

vi.  fraternity men’s sexual attitudes and rape

1.  linkages between fraternity membership and SA

a.  fraternity norms and practices encompass viewing sexual coercion of female acquaintances (a felony) as a sport, a contest, or a game

b.  promotion of toughness, dominance, and aggressiveness

c.  endorsement of traditional, conservative, sex-role attitudes – accepted more stereotypical gender attitudes

d.  engagement in heavy alcohol consumption

e.  double standard of denying women’s rights while endorsing women’s casual sex

vii.  male misperceptions about women’s behavior: does her behavior imply sexual interest?

1.  men tend to misperceive women’s friendliness as a sign of sexual interest

2.  men viewed flirting as more sexual than women did;  women viewed flirting as having fun and as intensifying one’s relationship more often than men did

3.  males overperceived and women underperceived their opposite-sex friends’ sexual interest in them

4.  projected their own sexual and romantic interests into their perceptions of their opposite-sex friend’s sexual and romantic interests

viii.  gender socialization as related to sexual assault

1.  men’s traditional sex-role beliefs are an element in their sexually aggressive behavior

2.  masculine gender role predicted general entitlement attitudes, which in turn predicted sexual entitlement attitudes, which finally predicted rape-related attitudes and behaviors

ix.  biology and sex: dissimilarities between men’s and women’s brain structures

1.  insula (home to gut instincts) helps regulate intuition and empathy, and it is larger in women than men

2.  may be related to men’s misperceptions of women’s willingness to have sex

i.  Treatment for Sexual Assault among College-Age Persons

i.  When are victims most likely to seek help?

1.  suffered a physical injury

2.  perpetration was by a family member

3.  have history of rape before age 18

4.  the rapist threatened to do harm

ii.  rape crisis centers: where counseling for SA occurs most frequently, but crisis intervention is far from sufficient

iii.  treatment topics

1.  effects of previous sexual assaults

a.  most relevant topic to cover

b.  prior SA may place a victim at risk for several negative outcomes

i.  increased alcohol consumption

ii.  another assault (revictimization)

iii.  pregnancy

iv.  STD

iv.  decreased or increased sexual activity

1.  enrollment in rape-avoidance classes

2.  enrollment in an alcohol reduction program

j.  Policy for Addressing Sexual Assault among College-Age Persons

i.  put more focus on male athletes

1.  stricter rules regulating athletic eligibility and regulations banning protection of athletes

a.  preferential treatment often given to athletes accused of SA

b.  universities tend to ignore crimes against women in their quest to maintain strong athletic teams that draw important revenue

2.  undertake prevention programs because athletes enter universities from high schools where hypermasculinity may prevail among athletic teams

3.  develop policies against athletes’ violence – role of the National Collegiate Athletic Association

4.  position men in more caretaking roles – to develop more empathic attitudes toward women

ii.  strive to reach a wider audience: offer bullying and bystander intervention programs and focus on the merits of rape myth acceptance

iii. public awareness campaigns: educate general public

1.  jurors’ misperceptions of rape

2.  jurors’ impressions of rape that are incredibly different from legalistic definitions

k.  Prevention of Sexual Assault among College-Age Persons

i. Victim approaches

1.  Victim-focused rape prevention programs on campus

a.  are  too often centered on date rape and stranger rape  and/or on women’s responsibilities to take precautionary measures

b.  Such programs are misdirected and aggravating given that it is basically male behaviors that necessitate change if rape is to be prevented

2.  colleges should

a.  offer more courses in family violence and interpersonal relationships

b.  encourage disclosure of sexual assault

c.  explicate realistic concerns of risks and warning signs

ii.  Perpetrator approaches

1.  college programs for perpetrators

a.  prevention efforts aimed at all-male groups are more successful in changing attitudes than are those aimed at mixed-gender groups

b.  help perpetrators identify behaviors considered by others to be sexually aggressive

2.  Rape Attitude Scale

a.  Elements

i.  entitlement

ii.  blame-shifting

iii.  traditional roles

iv.  overwhelming sexual arousal

b.  administer the scale and then devise a prevention program to change the detected attitudes

c.  remember however that attitude changes do not always correlate highly with behavioral changes

iii.  Review of programs

1.  appropriate program evaluation rarely occurs

2.  more important to address risk of rape by boyfriends than by strangers

3.  follow-up studies of rape myth acceptance prevention programs find little lasting change; increased knowledge about rape is inadequate to prevent it

4.  no attitudinal distinctions among raped women and non-raped women

5.  programs are inadequate in illuminating characteristics of risky situations

6.  largest cost of rape (emotional, physical, social) occurs when a rape is actually completed

7.  fighting back physically or physically/verbally is most effective in preventing rape completion

8.  content of program evaluations is insufficient

9.  teaching women self-defense is probably the wisest choice

10.  women cannot be held responsible for preventing rape

 

III.  Stalking

a.  Importance of Stalking

i.   1990: California passed the first antistalking legislation; by 2000: all 50 states had antistalking laws

ii.  when the victim-offender relationship is or was intimate, stalking can be a form of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and is significantly correlated with dating violence and sexual assault

iii.  stalking costs $342 million (%438 million inflation-adjusted) in 1995

b.  Definitions of Stalking

i.   stalking—harassing or threatening behavior that an individual engages in repeatedly, such as following a person, appearing at a person’s home or place of business, making harassing phone calls, leaving written messages or objects or vandalizing a person’s property; pattern of repeated and unwanted attention, harassment, contact, or any course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear

ii.  harassment—an annoying but not a frightening behavior intended to upset or disturb someone

iii.  proxy stalker—stalking by a friend/family member of the stalker who pursues/harasses a target person at the behest of the stalker

 iv.  cyberstalking—repeated threats and/or harassment through the use of electronic mail or other computer-based communication which would make a reasonable person afraid or concerned for his or her safety (i.e. stalking with technology)

v.  fear standard—current ST legislation demands that the stalker’s targets experience fear

c.  Prevalence of Stalking

i.   74% of ST victims fell between the ages of 18 and 39

ii.  8.1% of women and 2.2% of men were victims of stalking (Tjaden & Thoennes,1998b)

iii.  7% of women and 2% of men had been stalked at any time in the past (Basile et al., 2006)

iv.  largest subcategory of stalkers is made up of the former partners of the victims (Basile et al., 2006)

v.  persons who were never married/divorced/separated/widowed suffered significantly more victimization than others (Basile et al., 2006)

vi.  African American persons experienced significantly less stalking than non-African Americans (Basile et al., 2006)

vii.  Men were more frequently stalked than women (Baum et al., 2009)

d.  Disclosure of Stalking

i.  Samples of college students, a representative sample, and female  disclosed stalking at rates ranging from about 40-50%

ii.  Disclosed to friends: 80%; to sisters: 47%; to mothers: 43%; to criminal justice authorities: 9% ( Mahlstedt & Keeney, 19930

iii.  male listeners, even fathers, trivialized stalking

iv.  mothers and females took the stalking seriously and offered support

e.  Measurements of Stalking (some) Findings (p. 344)

i.  more 75% knew their stalker

ii.  stalkers were about the same age as their victims

iii. 11% of victims had been stalked for 5 or more years

iv. stalkers were prone to threaten family members, friends, coworkers, and pets with harm

v. divorced/separated women were stalked more than nondivorced/ nonseparated women

vi. 85% received unwanted e-mail messages

vii. about 10% used electronic monitoring devices to keep track of victims

viii. 46% of victims were contacted one or more times a week

f.  Consequences of Stalking

i.  Psychological ramifications

1.  mental health problems

2.  anger

3.  long-term fear

ii.  Environmental protective reactions

1.  improve one’s home security system; getting caller ID

2.  traveling with a companion; trying to avoid encountering the stalker

3.  buying a weapon; taking a self-defense class

4.  not returning e-mail

5.  moving their place of residence; changing universities; quitting their job; changing majors

iii.  Criminal justice system responses

1.  protective orders; proceeding with criminal charges

2.  filing a grievance; initiating an action with Campus authorities; filing civil charges

3.  winnowing down of cases from arrest, to prosecution, to conviction, to incarceration leads to mild consequences for the abuser

g.  Traits of Stalkers

i.  Several dimensions/degrees of stalking

1.  physical/verbal, minor/major

2.  attachment/dependency/jealousy issues

3.  personality disorders

4.  some may be common criminals

ii.  victims of stalking by romantic partner compared with victims of stalking by an acquaintance or friend was rated worse on half of the dimensions assessed

iii.  Classifications (typologies) for stalkers

1.  six categories: celebrity, lust, hit, scorned, domestic, political

2.  three categories: erotomaniac, love obsessional, simple obsessional

3.  other dimensions

a.  motivation for stalking

b.  psychopathology of the stalker

c.  stalker-victim relationship

d.  stalker’s method of stalking

iv.  Mentally ill stalkers

1.  paraphilic stalkers (i.e., persons needing bizarre fantasies for sexual excitement)

2.  love obsessionals

3.  cyberstalkers

4.  antisocial stalkers

5.  personality disordered stalkers: antisocial, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic, and paranoid

6.  social interaction competence

7.  obsessional-relational factors

8.  Obsessional-Relational factors

v.  Common criminal – who are stalkers

1.  27.4% had been convicted of a property crime in the same year as their ST conviction

2.  had criminal records of drug arrests, resisting arrest, and other crimes suggestive of antisocial personality disorder

3.  committed many additional crimes against their victim, such as identity theft, burglary, assault, and attacking pets

vi.  Attachment disordered

1.  jealousy

2.  dependency

3.  insecure attachment: fearful, preoccupied, dismissing

h.  Responses of Victims to Stalking

i.   victims do take various actions to protect themselves

1.  changing their daily routine

2.  changing their telephone number

3.  seeking help from friends, attorneys, and others

ii.  Black women were less likely to feel fear as a consequence of stalking than white women

iii.  Being frequently stalked evoked more fear than being stalked only once

iv.  being stalked by an intimate aroused more fear than being stalked by a stranger

v.  being stalked via physical or communicative modes elicited more fear than did other types of stalking

i.  Explanations for Stalking

i.  Reasons given by stalkers for stalking

1.  prevent a romantic partner from leaving

2.  continued interest in the partner’s activities

3.  desire to seek revenge for a perceived wrongdoing during the relationship

4.  desire to exert control over the target

5.  preoccupied attachment and emotional dependence may be the two major variables that make severe harassers qualitatively different from nonharassers and minor harassers

ii. Routine activities theory: victims’ habitual activities make it relatively easy for stalkers to track them

iii.  Attachment:  individuals suffering from insecure attachment, especially preoccupied, and fearful (of abandonment) found it hard  to let their partner go

iv.  Courtship persistence: college students behaved very similarly when either approaching a courtship or when breaking up (e.g., sent notes)

v.  Childhood factors contributing to stalking

1.  harsh parental discipline was significantly associated with the need to control a dating partner through stalking

2.  harsh discipline, anxious attachment, and stalking were all associated with each other

j.  Treatment for Stalking Victims and Perpetrators

i.   Victims of Stalking

1.  few service centers that have trained stalking experts available for victims

2.  counselor’s role

a.  advise victims to document every infraction by keeping messages and gifts sent by the stalker and by keeping a diary

b.  determine if their client perpetrator is a minor or major harasser and then work on the troublesome traits identified, such as insecure attachment and jealousy

c.  helping victims to enhance their general coping skills and finding ways to help them decrease their vulnerability

ii.  Perpetrators of Stalking

1.  no specific psychological treatments exist for offenders

2.  psychotropic medicine may be beneficial for the subgroup of stalkers who have diagnosable mental disorders

a.  laws protecting the mentally ill would shield ST perpetrators from forced medication

3.  criminal and civil options may be the only choices available

a.  stalkers violated restraining orders 40% of the time

k.  Policy for Addressing Stalking

i.  College campuses

1.  college and university administrators need to rectify their current neglect of stalking

2.  colleges need to institute educational programs, hold crime prevention seminars, reduce opportunities for stalking, and increase both formal and informal controls over stalkers

ii.  Criminal justice system approaches

1.  passage of laws may be even more important in curtailing stalking than the imposition of punishment

2.  criminal justice interventions appear to decrease the amount of stalking

3.  judges can improve the safety of victims and others by issuing orders of protection that cover the victim’s workplace

iii.  Safe at Home program: California’s coordinated system that works to protect the addresses of victims of partner violence, stalking, and sexual assault victims

iv.  Definition/patterns of abuse: The legal system need to all its incident approach to criminal justice processing which fails to take into account that the repetitive nature of these crimes

l.  Prevention of Stalking

i.  Antistalking legislation

1.  modification of current laws to enable victims to obtain lifetime protection orders

2.  modification of bail rules to keep stalkers off the streets

3.  passage of legislation to stop cyberstalking

4.  improvements in law enforcement training, as most police officers are inexperienced in investigating stalking

ii.  Precautions at work against stalking

1.  safety planning at work may be especially important to protect the stalking victim, other employees, and workplace customers from harassment

2.  organizations should provide employers and their workers with educational information

3.  currently employers tend to discipline the victim and pressure her to handle the situation

4.  personnel within the criminal justice system and public health fields should collaborate to craft prevention programs and to provide timely protection for victims

5.  have opt-out plans or some system whereby victims can prevent stalkers from gaining information about them via government databases, courts, tax assessors, and departments of motor vehicles

 

IV.   Same-Sex Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking (Interpersonal Violence)

a.  Prevalence of Interpersonal Violence among Same-Sex Persons

i.  dating violence rates: lesbians, 43.4%; bisexuals, 38.3%; heterosexuals, 32.4%

ii.  lesbians were more frequently assaulted by their own family members than were gays or bisexuals

iii.  heterosexual women were more likely to experience completed rapes than lesbians or bisexuals.

iv.  bisexual males are at greater risk of DV victimization

b.  Disclosure of Interpersonal Violence among Same-Sex Persons

i.  counselors and friends were significantly more supportive than romantic partners

ii.  counselors offered high levels of tangible aid and lower levels of negative responses

iii.  romantic partners offered a moderate level of tangible aid, highest level of blame, controlling behaviors, and egocentric behaviors, and treated their female partners differently

iv.  listeners who either did not appear upset or who became overwrought upon hearing about the assault seemed to trigger negative feelings from the survivors

v.  police may have failed to offer emotional support and survivors felt blamed

vi.  bisexuals experienced the highest level of “outing” threats

vii.  bisexuals disclosed abuse the most often

1.  to formal sources of support (e.g., religious personnel, medical personnel, police, rape crisis personnel)

2.  to mental health professionals

3.  to a romantic partner (one informal source of support)

c.      Attitudes about Interpersonal Violence

i.      Belief that violence against women, whether male-to female DV or female-to-female DV, was more serious than violence against men

d.     Prevention of Interpersonal Violence Against Same-Sex Persons

i.      laws based on sexual orientation do not determine victimization status but they do impact execution of the laws by police and criminal justice system personnel

ii.      university education and prevention programs must refrain from excluding male victims of same-sex rape

 

V.   Cross-Cultural Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking

a.   Prevalence of physical dating violence across other nations  (Box 7.7)

i.  Mexico (41.8%) had the highest rates of DV among 7 nations

ii.  Singapore (22.7%) had the lowest DV rate  

b.   Types of Cross-Cultural Interpersonal Violence

i.  Arabs/Jews–rape

1.  Arab males attributed more responsibility to an Arab victim raped by a Jew, while Arab females attributed more responsibility to a Jewish female victim raped by an Arab

2.  among Jews, males attributed more responsibility to an Arab victim raped by an Arab, and females attributed more responsibility to a Jewish victim raped by a Jew

3.  minority status of Arabs fosters preservation of a separate identity, so that Arab women mingling with Jews are viewed as lesser victims than Arab women raped by Arab men

4.  Jewish participants, as the majority group, assign more responsibility to women interacting with their own group

ii.  Australians–dating violence

1.  sociostructural variables are linked to dating violence and sexual assault perpetrators

2.  chronic unemployment and low educational levels typify individuals involved in DV

3.  insecure parent-child attachment correlated with antisocial dispositions, aggression, and sexual assault

iii. Chinese–dating violence

1.  the act of harm by another aroused two major emotional complexes: anger and worry

2.  both blame and loss of image were linked with anger, and image loss and relationship harm were linked with worry

iv.  Ethiopians–dating violence risk factors

1.  Risk factors: protestant religious affiliation, rural residence as a child, alcohol/drug consumption, and witnessing domestic violence as a child

v.  Koreans—date rape

1.  men were more tolerant of rape myths than females

2.  sexual assault education program decreased female students’ rape myth acceptance but not males

vi.  Japanese–rape

1.  students minimized the seriousness of rape, blamed the victims, and excused the rapist more

vii.  Turks–rape

1.  Belief in a Just World (i.e., you deserve what you get) and the level of ambivalent sexism were correlated with less positive attitudes toward rape victims

2.  rape victim empathy was linked with more positive attitudes toward victims

viii.  Multi-nation dating violence – 17 nations

1.  15% to 45% of persons involved in DV had experienced neglectful behavior in childhood

2.  the more neglectful the behaviors experienced as a child,  the greater the probability of assaulting and injuring a dating partner

c.   Victims’ Stress Reactions to Interpersonal Violence

i.  usually women are more victimized by stress reactions than men

ii.  female-to-male IPV was a predictor of severe stress symptoms

d.   Culture’s Effects on Jealousy-Motivated Interpersonal Violence

i.   cultures appear to condemn violence against women as a general principle, but still accept it under some conditions

e.  Interpersonal Violence in Honor Societies

i.  society members hold that the honor of the family rests on the public behavior of the women in the family—wives, daughters, daughters-in-law

ii.  to preserve their or their family’s honor, men can kill women for virtually any offense that they consider dishonorable

iii. sexual infidelity, refusing to wear prescribed clothing, failure to keep her hair covered, being raped, or refusing to enter into an arranged marriage “dishonor” the family

iv.  society members accept the culturally-driven belief that men are less culpable for partner abuse when it occurs because of jealousy

v.  honor societies feel significantly more positive about wives who stay with abusive husbands than did students from non-honor societies

 

VI.    Ethnic Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking

a.  Prevalence of Ethnic Interpersonal Violence

i.  certain racial groups (e.g. Hispanics) are significantly less likely to report the most serious crimes

ii.  in one sample, females were about 50% of romantic nonmarried partners, but 85.9% of dating violence victims

b.   Statistics about Ethnic Interpersonal Violence (Table 7.1 + text) (Durose et al., 2005)

i.   Whites were more victimized by DV than other racial groups

ii.  Friends/acquaintances perpetrated more DV than boyfriends/girlfriends

iii.  Latina and East Asian women reported significantly more father-to-mother abuse

iv.  Only Latinas reported significantly higher rates of victimization than perpetration

v.  Hispanics were less likely to experience Stalking than non-Hispanics

vi.  Males reporting highest community violence exposure and highest level of affiliation with violent males perpetrated the highest levels of IPV; this result held more for Whites and Asians than for Latinos and Blacks

vii.  African Americans experience significantly less stalking than non-African Americans

viii.  American Indians were the least likely to be stalked

c.  Substance Use as Related to Ethnic Interpersonal Violence

i.  alcohol consumption is significantly correlated with both perpetration and victimization of dating violence and/or sexual assault (alcohol is a powerful risk factor for interpersonal violence)

ii.  women previously assaulted would have more difficulty resisting a rape than nonassaulted women; alcohol consumption would also impair a woman’s resistance strategy

iii.  significant association between coping through alcohol use and both major life stress assessments and negative daily events measures

iv.  significant correlation between depression and both emotion-focused coping and avoidance coping

d.  Interventions/Preventions of Ethnic Interpersonal Violence

i.  campus counseling services need to tailor their treatment as needed for ethnic minorities as ideal training grounds for psychology interns to hone their cultural competence skills

ii.  teaching specific problem-oriented ways of coping might reduce alcohol consumption and levels of depression