Stephanie M. Townsend

Correlates of women's sexual assault disclosure to informal and formal support sources

Deciding which people to tell about sexual assault is an important and potentially consequential decision for sexual assault survivors. Women typically receive many different positive and negative reactions when they disclose sexual assault to social support sources. A diverse sample of adult sexual assault survivors in the Chicago area was surveyed about sexual assault experiences, social reactions received when disclosing assault to others, attributions of blame, coping strategies, and PTSD. Analyses were run to identify demographic, assault, and postassault factors differentiating women disclosing to informal support sources only from those disclosing to both informal and formal support sources. Women disclosing to both formal and informal support sources experienced more stereotypical assaults, had more PTSD symptoms, engaged in less behavioral self-blame, and received more negative social reactions than those disclosing to informal support sources only. Implications for future research and intervention are discussed.

The Role of Victim-Offender Relationship in Women’s Sexual Assault Experiences

This study’s goal is to identify differences in background, assault, and postassault factors according to the victim-offender relationship. A mail survey is conducted with more than 1,000 female sexual assault survivors (response rate 90%) recruited from college, community, and mental health agency sources. Stranger assailants are associated with a greater victim perceived life threat, more severe sexual assaults, and ethnic minority victims. Positive social reactions do not vary according to the victim-offender relationship, but stranger victims report more negative social reactions from others than do victims of acquaintances or romantic partners. Assaults by strangers and relatives are associated with more posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms than assaults by acquaintances and romantic partners. As expected, survivors’ social cognitive responses to rape and social reactions from support providers are stronger correlates of PTSD symptoms than demographic or assault characteristics in general, but correlates vary across victim-offender relationship groups.

Organizational correlates of secondary traumatic stress and burnout among sexual assault nurse examiners.

&NA; This study explores correlates of secondary traumatic stress (STS) and burnout among SANE nurses. Cross‐sectional interviews were conducted with nurses from a random sample of SANE programs. The interview measured organizational and demographic variables and current levels of STS and burnout. STS and burnout were found to be related but not identical processes. Organizational variables played a significant role in predicting both outcomes. The results have implications for increasing organizational support as a way of lessening the impact of STS and burnout.

Correlates of comorbid PTSD and polysubstance use in sexual assault victims

A diverse sample of community-residing women in a large metropolitan area who had experienced adult sexual assault was surveyed using standardized measures in an NIAAA-funded study (2003–2004). Four groups (N = 503) of victims: (1) post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-only, (2) PTSD and illicit drug use, (3) PTSD and drinking problems, and (4) PTSD and polysubstance use were compared using bivariate analyses. Victims with PTSD/polysubstance use had lower socioeconomic status, more extensive trauma histories, worse current psychological functioning, more problematic post-assault psychosocial experiences, and more sexual revictimization at follow-up than those with PTSD only. Implications for future research are discussed.

Community Readiness for Prevention

SUMMARY This study presents an effort to adapt the community readiness model to a multi-community intervention to reduce youth access to tobacco. The background of the original community readiness model is outlined, and a behaviorally based adaptation specific to tobacco sales and tobacco possession enforcement is presented. Data on behaviorally based readiness ratings for 11 communities are presented. Correlational analyses indicate a significant relationship between ratings for sales enforcement readiness and the number of tobacco compliance checks conducted by the local police departments. The relationship between possession enforcement readiness and the rate of citations issued was in the expected direction, but was not significant. The results indicate that the behavioral adaptation of the community readiness model can: (a) provide a conceptual heuristic to understand community dynamics; (b) increase responsiveness to each communitys unique needs; (c) measure changes over time; and (d) inform future intervention strategies with the community.

The Impact of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Programs on Criminal Justice Case Outcomes: A Multisite Replication Study

To address the underreporting and underprosecution of adult sexual assaults, communities throughout the United States have implemented multidisciplinary interventions to improve postassault care for victims and the criminal justice system response. One such model is the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Program, whereby specially trained nurses provide comprehensive psychological, medical, and forensic services for sexual assault. In this study, we conducted a multisite evaluation of six SANE programs (two rural programs, two serving midsized communities, two urban) to assess how implementation of SANE programs affects adult sexual assault prosecution rates. At each site, most sexual assaults reported to law enforcement were never referred by police to prosecutors or were not charged by the prosecutor’s office (80%-89%). Individually, none of the sites had a statistically significant increase in prosecution rates pre-SANE to post-SANE. However, when the data were aggregated across sites, thereby increasing statistical power, there was a significant effect such that cases were more likely to be prosecuted post-SANE as compared with pre-SANE. These findings suggest that the SANE intervention model does have a positive impact on sexual assault case progression in the criminal justice system. Nevertheless, there is still a pressing need for improvement as the vast majority of both pre-SANE and post-SANE resulted in nonreferral/no charges filed.

The Rape Prevention and Education (RPE) Theory Model of Community Change: Connecting Individual and Social Change

Social work practice has long focused on the connections between an individual and the social environment that affect the individuals social functioning. The Rape Prevention and Education (RPE) Programs theory model, Creating Safer Communities: The Rape Prevention and Education Model of Community Change, provides family social workers with a framework for examining and changing the individual and social factors that lead to sexual violence. This model connects two societal change theories, community readiness and diffusion of innovations, with three individual level theories, theory of reasoned action, theory of planned behavior and the health belief model, for the purpose of ending sexual violence. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) created this theory model to promote the use of theory-based prevention strategies among RPE Program grantees. In this article the authors (1) describe the theoretical underpinnings of the RPE theory model; (2) explore how one RPE grantee, supported with funding from the EMPOWER Program, used the RPE theory model to create a state sexual violence prevention plan; and (3) discuss how family social workers can utilize the model to promote sexual violence prevention within their own states and communities.

An Assessment of the Relationship Between the Quality of School-Based Tobacco Prevention Programs and Youth Tobacco Use

SUMMARY This study presents data from an assessment of substance use prevention programs in 23 elementary and middle schools in northern and central Illinois. The quality of prevention programming was assessed based on program intensity, focus on tobacco, staff resources designated for prevention programs, and implementation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for tobacco prevention. Data from these four dimensions were used to calculate a Quality Index Score. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between individual level variables, school level variables and the outcomes of reported current tobacco use, intent to use tobacco in the coming year, and perceived efficacy of substance use prevention programs. No significant effects were found, indicating that exclusive use of even high quality school-based prevention programs may not be sufficient in changing youth behavior. However, school-based prevention programs may be an important component of a broader ecological approach that uses multiple, community-wide strategies to promote normative change.

Measuring the Quality of Laws Limiting Youth Access to Tobacco

SUMMARY In response to the prevalence of tobacco use by minors, policy makers have sought more effective ways to use public policy to reduce tobacco use initiation and consumption and to promote smoking cessation. While various tools are available for assessing tobacco control laws, they are limited by a narrow focus on retail sales and omit many components of a comprehensive, ecological approach to tobacco control. This article presents a measure for rating laws designed to control youth access to tobacco. The measure evaluates components of laws pertaining to retailer licensing, tobacco sales to minors and compliance with sales laws, distribution and location of tobacco products, and youth possession of tobacco. Data are presented that indicate the measure can detect differences in the comprehensiveness of tobacco control laws and that it is a reliable measure.

Identifying Common Practices in Community-Based Rape Prevention Programs

SUMMARY Community-based rape prevention programs have received little attention in the research literature. In this study qualitative methods were used to describe such programs and to assess the degree of homogeneity in their practices. In-depth interviews were conducted with representatives of 10 community-based prevention programs in a single state. Findings suggest that two typologies exist: short programs and extended programs. Homogeneity across programs was common as most programs emphasized secondary and tertiary prevention and relied on short curricula that are implemented with mixed-gender groups of students. A comparison to practices found in the research literature indicate that they are mostly using the same practices and these practices have not been demonstrated to have sustained behavioral effects that would reduce the incidence of sexual violence. Implications for future practice are discussed.