Sexual Assault on the College Campus: Fraternity Affiliation, Male Peer Support, and Low Self-Control

• NCJ Number: 240913
• Journal: Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 39 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2012 Pages: 1457-1480
• Author(s): Cortney A. Franklin; Leana Allen Bouffard; Travis C. Pratt
• Date Published: November 2012
• Length: 24 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This research focuses on offender behavior to understand why men perpetrate sexual violence.

Abstract

Research on college sexual assault has focused on offender behavior to understand why men perpetrate sexual violence. Dominant theories have incorporated forms of male peer support, paying particular attention to the impact of rape-supportive social relationships on woman abuse. In contrast, Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory of crime proposes that low self-control predicts crime and other related life outcomesincluding the kinds of antisocial peer relationships that the male peer support model contends causes sexual violence. The exclusion of measures of self-control on sexual assault may result in a misspecified peer support model. Accordingly, the current research empirically tests Schwartz and DeKeseredy's male peer support model and examines the role of self-control in the larger male peer support model of sexual assault. Implications for theory and research are discussed. Abstract published by arrangement with Sage Journals.