NCJ Number
208881
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 16 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2001 Pages: 565-579
Editor(s)
Jon R. Conte
Date Published
June 2001
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This study investigated the relationships between family functioning and rape-supportive attitudes of sexually aggressive and nonaggressive college men.
Abstract
Several theoretical models have been proposed that examine the development of sexual offenders in hopes to enhance understanding, which will yield techniques for treatment and prevention of sexual assault. This study, in an attempt to contribute to these models of sexual aggression, compared the family-of-origin functioning and rape-supportive attitudes of sexually aggressive and nonaggressive college men. The study sample consisted of 76 college men who attended colleges and universities in northern Texas. The instruments used in the study included a brief demographics form; Martha Burt’s (1980) scales for rape myth acceptance, acceptance of interpersonal violence, and adversarial sexual beliefs; the 1982 Sexual Experiences Survey; and the 1985 Self-Report Measure of Family Functioning. The results indicate that levels of conflict, authoritarian family style, and enmeshment are not significantly different in this sample of aggressive and nonaggressive college men. Sexually aggressive and nonaggressive men in this study did not originate from significantly different types of families. However, the composite of conflict, enmeshment, and authoritarian family style was significantly correlated with the composite of rape myth acceptance, acceptance of interpersonal violence, and adversarial sexual beliefs. Overall, the finding indicates that rape-supportive attitudes and family functioning factors are related to one another on a general level. References