NCJ Number
223119
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 19 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2004 Pages: 406-426
Date Published
April 2004
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This study identified specific variables in students’ support of date-rape tolerance and victim-blaming attitudes, while examining which attitudes received the widest support.
Abstract
Findings indicate wide support for stereotypes justifying sexual coercion by time and the location of the date, the victim’s behavior, and the minimization of the seriousness of date rape. A regression analysis indicates that students’ gender and age are the strongest predictors of rape-tolerant and victim-blaming attitudes. Socioeconomic status and religious orientation explained a small proportion of the variance in the support of such attitudes. By contrast, no significant relationship was indicated with ethnicity. The study recommends new guidelines for future sex education and rape prevention programs, stating that these should address date-rape and victim-blaming attitudes and make students of both genders aware of the various factors that continue to be misread as an invitation to have sex, thereby putting them at high risk of experiencing sexual coercion on a date. It further recommends that these programs begin in early adolescence, addressing the various date rape scripts and the relationship between gender-role socialization and victim-blaming and pro-rape attitudes that lead to these unwanted experiences. Data were collected from a multiethnic sample of 900 Israeli high school students. Tables, figure, references