NCJ Number
232292
Journal
Psychology of Violence Volume: 1 Dated: August 2010 Pages: 76-83
Date Published
August 2010
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This study investigated whether elements of college women's rape scripts predicted reports of sexual assault experiences over an academic quarter.
Abstract
Although script theory has been applied to sexual assault (e.g., H. Frith and C. Kitzinger, 2001; A. S. Kahn, V. A. Andreoli Mathie, and C. Torgler, 1994), women's scripts of rape have not been examined in relation to predicting sexual victimization experiences. The purpose of the current study was to examine how elements of women's sexual assault scripts predicted their sexual assault experiences over a follow-up period. The authors used data from a baseline and follow-up session for 339 undergraduate women. The results suggest that women who constructed narratives containing certain elements were more likely to report a sexual assault over the academic quarter. Specifically, narratives containing the woman utilizing nonforceful resistance, the woman having less control over the outcome of the situation, the assault happening outdoors, the assault being more severe, and the woman having known the perpetrator less time were predictive of reported sexual victimization over the 8-week follow-up period. Additionally, having a history of adolescent sexual victimization was also predictive of reported sexual victimization over the quarter. These findings have important implications in sexual assault risk-reduction programming, which are discussed. Tables and references (Published Abstract)