NCJ Number
149346
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 8 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1993) Pages: 339-351
Date Published
1993
Length
13 pages
Annotation
The outcomes of two sexual abuse prevention programs, one emphasizing victim empathy and the other addressing the modification of rape myths, were evaluated with high-risk males.
Abstract
Sixty-eight high-risk males, as determined by self- reported likelihood of committing sexual abuse, were randomly assigned to an empathy-treatment, a facts- treatment, or a no-treatment control group. Treatment effects were assessed using subjects' pretreatment and posttreatment scores on the Likelihood of Sexually Abusing scale, the Rape Empathy Scale, the Acceptance of Interpersonal Violence scale, the Adversarial Sexual Beliefs Scale, and a test of self-reported sexual arousal to forced versus consenting sex. In addition, posttest scores on an Asch-type conformity measure were obtained. Results of validity checks indicated that high-risk subjects differed from low-risk subjects on a number of rape-related variables, that the victim-empathy condition increased subjects' empathy, and that subjects found both treatments to be credible and helpful. Comparisons between the empathy- treatment, facts-treatment, and no-treatment groups contraindicated the practice of dispelling rape myths as a method of preventing rape among high-risk males. 6 tables and 33 references