Martin D. Schwartz

Exploring a feminist routine activities approach to explaining sexual assault

Routine activities theory has generally focused on macro-level data, and has ignored sexual violence. Although virtually all researchers in this area have built offender motivation into the theory, and have treated it simply as a “given,” few have tried to explain it. Feminist theory on campus sexual assaults, however, not only explains offender motivation but also discusses how women are viewed by offenders as “suitable targets.” In this study, two hypotheses on lifestyle are tested and supported by a local victimization survey of 288 undergraduate women: women who go out drinking more often and women who are friends of motivated offenders (men who get women drunk in order to have sex with them) are more likely than other women to be sexually victimized.

Methodological Issues in the Use of Survey Data for Measuring and Characterizing Violence Against Women

There are numerous methodological pitfalls in the use of survey data to study violence against women. This article reviews some of the major problems, including definitional problems, operationalization of concepts, recall bias, underreporting, question order, external validity, and the sex and ethnicity of interviewers. Recommendations for improving methodology are made, and some of the latest developments in the field are reviewed. It is argued that research ethics are particularly difficult and important in this field of study, not only for the potential emotional trauma to the respondents, but also for the potential for actual revictimization.

Fraternity Membership, Rape Myths, and Sexual Aggression on a College Campus

A rich theoretical and ethnographic literature exists suggesting that fraternity men are particularly prone to be sexual victimizers of women on college campuses. Yet, there is thin empirical evidence for this contention. Here, in a sample from a large midwestern university, there was strong evidence uncovered that male peer support for victimization of women exists, and that it is related to extensive alcohol use. However, there is no evidence that fraternity men are different on these factors from other men. A conclusion is that anti-rape efforts must be broader than only targeting fraternities, and that alcohol education must be a high priority.

The meanings and motives for women's use of violence in Canadian college dating relationships: Results from a national survey

Data from a Canadian nationwide representative sample of 1,835 female college students were used to test a variety of propositions about womens use of violence in dating relationships. It has become progressively common in both Canada and the United States to argue that women are as violent as men. Although in a crude counting of violent acts these data confirm the contention that women commit a large number of such acts, a further investigation of the womens motives shows that a substantial amount of their violence was in self‐defense, or “fighting back.” The more these women had been victimized, whether physically or sexually, the more likely they were to report that they had used self‐defensive violence. The finding that a substantial amount of womens

Male peer support and woman abuse: An expansion of Dekeseredy's model

Although all‐male friendship networks may have an important effect in motivating some men to physically, sexually, and psychologically harm female intimates, particularly in dating relationships, the study of the dynamics of these groups is still limited. DeKeseredys early model has some of the best explanatory value, but it fails to address a number of factors, including macrolevel forces, the role of alcohol abuse, membership in formal social groups such as fraternities, and the absence of deterrent factors on many campuses. This paper attempts to build a stronger theoretical model by adding these factors to DeKeseredys base. Further, it argues that an important next step, in addition to strong multivari‐ate analysis, is ethnographic study to look at the work of mens peer groups in promoting a discourse and dramaturgy of everyday student life that legitimates the use of various forms of violence against women.

Aggregation Bias and Woman Abuse Variations by Male Peer Support, Region, Language, and School Type

Many researchers have been attracted to broad, national-level surveys as an antidote to the more usual practice of studying woman abuse in one location or campus and presuming that the results generalize to the entire population. However, the reverse error is also possible: presuming that one national rate may adequately represent a variety of different regions, types of schools, and cultural groups. This article analyzes the Canadian National Survey data to compare geographic regions, types of schools, and whether the students took the survey in French or English. None of these factors influenced the results. Male peer support measures, as hypothesized, did strongly affect male behavior in both physical and sexual abuse.

Women's Fear of Crime in Canadian Public Housing

That women have a greater fear of crime than men has often been termed irrational or paradoxical, but this article joins those who argue that the gendered nature of fear is well grounded. The authors investigate the extent to which various factors—including prior victimization, perceptions of neighborhood disorder, routine activities, and neighborhood satisfaction—predict womens perceptions of personal safety. Survey and semistructured interview data were collected from 219 women living in six urban public housing estates in eastern Ontario. Both disorder and neighborhood satisfaction have a moderately strong impact on perceptions of insecurity, whereas prior victimization is a negligible factor. One conclusion is that improving services (e.g., removing garbage, graffiti, vandalized items) may reduce fear as much as reducing crime.

The return of the “Battered husband Syndrome” through the typification of women as violent

The process of the social construction of woman abuse includes the essential idea of typification: that how we “typify” abused women can be a part of justifying help, or it can provide the scientific justification for a male discourse which legitimates abuse and buffers batterers from guilt. Because Straus and Gelles are widely used by the press and academics as authorities, it is essential to recognize their return to an ideological position they once seemingly abandoned: that women are as violent as men, are not acting in self-defense, and may be ultimately responsible for male violence. As this debate is carried on in public, “newsmaking criminology” must be used to provide the media with alternative feminist views.

The Role of Profeminist Men in Dealing With Woman Abuse on the Canadian College Campus

Stopping woman abuse on the North American college campus has not been very successful thus far. There is a major backlash, where students, faculty, and administrators too often either feel that the problem is not very significant or support the patriarchal rights of men. Programs begun by many campuses have not worked very well, partially because they depend on women to police the actions of men and partially because so few men come under formal social control that most offenders know that they can get away with their actions. Building on empirical research that suggests that male peer support is the most important factor on whether a male will be abusive, the authors suggest ways in which profeminist men can begin to tilt the balance against male aggression. This can include shaming or working with bullies or those who are abusive, protesting pornography, and involving oneself with education programs and/or support groups.

Casino Gambling and Street Crime

Although legalized gambling, and in particular casino gambling, has become an increasingly important American leisure activity, it has not escaped extensive controversy. Among the many evils forecast for communities that open casinos is a major increase in street crime. This article will review what we know about the relationship between street crime and casino gambling.