Leah E. Daigle

Reporting Sexual Victimization To The Police And Others Results From a National-Level Study of College Women

Beginning with Koss, Gidycz, and Wisniewski’s pathbreaking study, the sexual victimization of female college students has emerged as salient research and policy concern. Building on this earlier work, we used a national, random sample of 4,446 female college students to focus on an issue of continuing importance: the level and determinants of victims’ willingness to report their sexual victimization. The analysis revealed that although few incidents—including rapes—are reported to the police and/or to campus authorities, a high proportion are disclosed to someone else (mainly to friends). Incidents were more likely to be reported to the police when they had characteristics that made them more “believable” (e.g., presence of a weapon or assailant who was a stranger). The use of alcohol and/or drugs by offenders and/or victims had a unique effect, causing students to be more likely to disclose their victimization to friends but not to campus authorities. The implications of the findings for extant debates and for future research are also explored.

The Empirical Status of Social Learning Theory: A Meta‐Analysis

Social learning theory has remained one of the core criminological paradigms over the last four decades. Although a large body of scholarship has emerged testing various propositions specified by the theory, the empirical status of the theory in its entirety is still unknown. Accordingly, in the present study, we subject this body of empirical literature to a meta‐analysis to assess its empirical status. Results reveal considerable variation in the magnitude and stability of effect sizes for variables specified by social learning theory across different methodological specifications. In particular, relationships of crime/deviance to measures of differential association and definitions (or antisocial attitudes) are quite strong, yet those for differential reinforcement and modeling/imitation are modest at best. Furthermore, effect sizes for differential association, definitions, and differential reinforcement all differed significantly according to variations in model specification and research designs across studies. The implications for the continued vitality of social learning in criminology are discussed.

Research Note: Are Life-Course-Persistent Offenders At Risk for Adverse Health Outcomes?

Moffitts developmental taxonomy of adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent offenders has received much empirical attention, with researchers focusing on the etiology and trajectory of offending between the two groups. Recently, Moffitt articulated a new hypothesis that has yet to be empirically assessed—that life-course-persistent offenders will be at high risk in midlife for poor physical and mental health, cardiovascular disease, and early disease morbidity. Using data from the Baltimore portion of the National Collaborative Perinatal Project, a longitudinal study of several thousand individuals followed from birth to ages 27 to 33, the authors test this hypothesis. We find that, compared to adolescence-limited offenders, life-course-persistent offenders are more likely to experience adverse physical and mental health outcomes. We also find that life-course-persistent offenders are more likely than their counterparts to be involved in antisocial lifestyles, which in turn increase the chances of adverse health outcomes. Future theoretical and empirical research directions are identified.

Acknowledging sexual victimization as rape: Results from a national-level study

There has been ongoing debate on how women are counted when they do not acknowledge as rapes experiences that are characterized by the key components of rape. This article explores this methodological issue by using a two-stage measurement strategy with behaviorally specific screen questions to gather information on incidents of sexual victimization from 4,446 randomly selected female college students. Our results revealed that almost half of the completed rape victims considered the incidents rapes, yet few of the attempted rape or nonrape victims considered the incidents rapes. The results of a multivariate analysis highlighted the characteristics of incidents that are likely to be considered rapes. The findings buttress the assertion that women who are counted as rape victims have experienced such victimization.

The Violent and Sexual Victimization of College Women Is Repeat Victimization a Problem

Little attention has been given to repeat violent and sexual victimization among college women. Using two national-level data sets, the authors find that a small proportion of college women experience a large proportion of violent and sexual victimizations. Women are more likely to experience repeat sexual victimization than repeat violence incidents. Repeat victimization tends to happen in the same month of the initial victimization, and the most likely next type of victimization is by far the same type of victimization. Comparing incident-level characteristics of repeat incidents to single incidents, there are few differences, with the exception that, in a larger proportion of single incidents, women took self-protective action. Implications for prevention and educational programs are discussed.

What Distinguishes Single from Recurrent Sexual Victims? The Role of Lifestyle‐Routine Activities and First‐Incident Characteristics

An unsettling reality is that a substantial proportion of women who have been sexually victimized are recurrent victims who experience more than one sexual victimization while young adults. What is not well understood is why some women experience a single sexual victimization whereas others experience recurrent sexual victimizations. Using a sample of 4,399 college women from the National College Women Sexual Victimization study, we examine lifestyle‐routine activities and first‐incident characteristics that could place women at risk of being recurrent sexual victims during an academic year. Our results show that none of the lifestyle‐routine activities variables differentiated single and recurrent victims; the factors that predicted being a single victim are similarly predictive of being a recurrent victim. However, women who used self‐protective action during the first incident reduced their likelihood of being a recurrent victim. Implications for the development of sexual victimization risk‐reduction and prevention programs are also discussed.

Evidence of a Gene X Environment Interaction in the Creation of Victimization Results From a Longitudinal Sample of Adolescents

A large body of research has revealed that aggressive personality traits and violent criminal behaviors are influenced by genetic factors. Surprisingly, however, no research has been devoted to investigating the potential genetic origins to adolescent victimization. In the current study, the authors address this gap in the literature by using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine whether different variants of the dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2) are related to victimization, net of the effects of environmental measures. The results of the multivariate models revealed a significant gene X environment interaction in the creation of victimization for White males. Specifically, DRD2 interacted with delinquent peers to predict victimization. The authors discuss the implications of these findings.

Exploring the Gender Differences in Protective Factors Implications for Understanding Resiliency

Understanding the causes of why individuals desist from or are resilient to delinquency and drug use has become a salient social concern. Much research has centered on the effects that protective factors possess in fostering resiliency but that research has not fully explored how the effects of protective factors might vary across gender. Using a sample of 711 individuals from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, Child—Mother data set, the authors investigate how individual protective factors vary across gender on two measures of resiliency that document the lack of involvement in serious delinquency and drug use. They also examine whether the accumulation of protective factors varies across gender in fostering resiliency. The findings suggest that although males and females rely on different individual protective factors to foster resiliency, the accumulation of protective factors appears to be equally important for males and females in promoting resiliency. The authors discuss theoretical and policy implications.

The Discovery of Acquaintance Rape: The Salience of Methodological Innovation and Rigor

Over the past 20 years, research has uncovered the many types of sexual victimizations women experience. Findings regarding the victim-offender relationship in such incidents have undoubtedly been among the most striking. Particularly salient is the revelation that the sexual abuse of and violence against women—including rape—most often are perpetrated not by a stranger but by someone known to the victim. Without the innovation and implementation of victimization surveys with behaviorally specific questions, this knowledge may have remained unknown. Instead, armed with such knowledge, prevention and education efforts can be fashioned to address sexual victimizations committed by someone known to the victim. In this article, we address these issues related to key developments in sexual victimization research.

Rape Against Women: What Can Research Offer to Guide the Development of Prevention Programs and Risk Reduction Interventions?

Although a pervasive problem that confronts females of all races and ages, studies show that some women are more likely to be rape victims than are others. Research reveals that certain behavioral and situational factors increase the risk of rape. To be most effective at reducing victimization, rape prevention programs and risk reduction interventions should target these behavioral and situational factors. A growing understanding of the relationships among these factors is evident, but to date what works to reduce vulnerability to rape remains somewhat obscure because of methodological weaknesses inherent in the limited number of published evaluations. Based on the current body of research, the authors offer suggestions regarding who should be targeted and what content should be included in rape prevention programs and risk reduction interventions to effectively reduce rape and its negative consequences.