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A case study of promising practices in the prevention of sexual assault in postsecondary institutions

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A case study of promising practices in the prevention of sexual assault in postsecondary institutions

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Content Running head: SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 1

A CASE STUDY OF PROMISING PRACTICES IN THE PREVENTION OF SEXUAL
ASSAULT IN POSTSECONDARY INSTITUTIONS
By
Mark Jones

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

May 2014

Copyright 2014 Mark Jones
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 2
Acknowledgements
Few things are more difficult that willingly putting yourself into a state of disequilibrium.
However uncomfortable one becomes during this state, it is the only way of growing as a human
being. This growth, this disequilibrium would not have been possible without the help of some
special people in my life.
Many thanks to Dr. Linda Fischer, my writing advisor at the Doctoral Support Center.
Dr. Fischer gave me feedback, more feedback, and then if that were not enough, even more
feedback. This comes as somewhat of a good news/bad news scenario; it is lots of good
feedback, but then again, it is LOTS of good feedback. Ultimately, after it stopped stinging, it
made me a much better writer.
Thanks to Dr. Kathy Stowe who drove this group with the necessary sense of urgency
that this type of endeavor requires. Her use of the carrot and stick, sometimes more stick than
carrot, got us to this point.
Dr. Eugenia Mora-Flores, gave me some of the best feedback I have ever had on my
ideas, terms, and direction of my work. Her presence was brief, but her impact was amazing.
Professor Shafiqa Ahmadi was my first professor at USC. She set the bar high for a
program that has national rankings and worldwide prestige. She then became my dissertation
chair and guided me through changing the subject of my research once and then again until I
settled on my final subject. She allowed me to explore and discover a subject that made my
blood pressure rise and caused me to grit my teeth. The journey has been made so the much
sweeter because of her guidance, her feedback, her understanding and her strength. Simply put;
without her stewardship, I would not be here.
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 3
Finally, my wife, Dr. Stephanie Osowski; YOU!!!!! We sat in class together, we flirted,
we passed notes, we sighed, we rolled our eyes, we sweated, we cried, we drank lots of coffee,
and we consoled each other. We spent weekends writing in the library, writing at Disneyland,
writing on vacation, writing on planes, and writing wherever we could find a place to fit a laptop.
This journey would not have been half as amazing as it has been without you. I am because you
are. I love you – Always have, always will.

Fight On!

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 4
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements 2

List of Tables 6

List of Figures 7

Abstract 8

CHAPTER ONE: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 10

Background of the Problem 11

Sexual Assault Statistics for the College Population 11

The Jeanne Clery Act 12

The Problem with Sexual Assault Prevention Program Selection 13

What we know about Sexual Assault Prevention Programs 14

Understanding the Definitions of Sexual Assault 15

Statement of the Problem 17

Program Approaches to Preventing Sexual Assault 19

Significance of the Study 21

Limitations, Delimitations, Assumptions 22

Glossary of Terms 23

Organization of the Study 25

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 26

The Cost of Sexual Assault to Government and Higher Education 29

Program Approaches to Sexual Assault Prevention 31

The Men’s Program 31

Bystander Intervention, Social Self-Identification, and Social Norming 35

Social Norming Campaigns that Empower Bystanders 36

Program Assessment 38

Program Outcomes 39

Program Audience 40

Perceptions that Influence Rape Myth Acceptance 41

Gender and Rape Myth Acceptance 41

Acceptance of Rape Myths 43

Alcohol, Rape Myths, and the risk of Sexual Assault 45

Media and the Perpetuation of Rape Myths 47

Reporting of Sexual Assaults to Law Enforcement and Universities 49

Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Social Ecology Theoretical Framework 51

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 55

Research Questions 56

Qualitative Methods 56

Sample and Population 57

Determination of Study Site location 59

Overview of the Participants 60

Instrumentation 61

Data Collection 64

Data Analysis 64

Conceptual Framework 66

Ethical Considerations 67

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 5
Summary 67

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS 68

Research Questions 69

Results 70

Historical Context of the University 70

The Interviews 71

Policies 72

Bystander Engagement and Social Norming 75

The Cost of Social Norming 80

Culture and Climate 84

Collaboration 90

Summary 95

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 99

Introduction 99

Summary of the Findings 100

Adapting Programs 100

Culture and Climate 101

Building Culture and Climate 102

Recommendations and Implications 103

Recommendations for Further Research 105

Conclusion 108

References 110

Appendix A 124

Appendix B 126

Appendix C 127

Appendix D 129

Appendix E 132

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 6
List of Tables
Table 1: Research Design Chart 63

Table 2: Participants 69

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 7
List of Figures
Figure 1: Bronfenbrenner’s Social Ecology Theory 52

Figure 2: Creswell’s (2003) Model for Qualitative Data Analysis 65

Figure 3: Conceptual Framework. Ed.D. Thematic Group, 2013 66

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 8
Abstract
Sexual assault on college campuses is still a problem. About 20% of college females
experience sexual assault and 6.1% of college males are also sexually assaulted. Nationwide
2%-3% of sexual assaults are reported. Institutions choose sexual assault prevention programs
with little knowledge about the needs of the student population or the desired outcomes of the
programs. Universities have been largely unsuccessful in reducing the rate of sexual assault on
campus.
This purpose of this study was to research best practices in sexual assault prevention
programs at one university in southern California. The study considered programs that the
university used to increase empathy in men, the perceptions of the staff who presented those
programs, and finally, the systems and structures that existed to contribute to an anti-sexual
assault culture and climate.
This was a qualitative study using interviews from nine participants, observations or
student and parent orientations, and observations of the campus to answer the research questions.
Interviews of the participants were transcribed and then coded which revealed separate themes
that established themselves through the interviews.
Findings from the study showed that most of the interviewees referred to the culture and
climate of the university as positive and contributing to the overall welfare of the students. The
ability of the student service offices to collaborate with one another emerged as another theme.
Lastly, the programs that the university uses emerged as the last theme, but the culture and
climate and the ability to collaborate across disciplines stood out in the interviews and became
the dominant finding.
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 9
Universities tasked with choosing a sexual assault prevention programs can benefit from
the results of this by using the best practices of Citrus-Arrow University and adapting them to
their own university and student population.

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 10
CHAPTER ONE: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
In a 2011 letter to universities, the U.S. Department of Education called the issue of
sexual assault in the country “deeply troubling” and added that the statistics of sexual assault
should be a call to action for the country. The letter further outlined the issue in statistical form.
The National Institute for Justice (NIJ, 2012) showed that 1 in 5 women are victims of some
form of sexual assault as college students. 6.1 percent of college males were also victimized.
Additionally, college students with intellectual disabilities were victimized at a higher rate than
the general population. The letter outlines the need for reporting incidents of sexual assault
under the Jeanne Clery Act, covers potential penalties, and recommends that universities
establish a process for handling potential complaints and reports. However, in the 19-page letter,
there are three paragraphs devoted to recommending that universities become proactive and
institute prevention programs and educational materials.
The letter from the Department of Education gives universities no further direction or
advice in the establishment of an appropriate sexual assault prevention program. Institutions
have used a variety of programs with limited success in reducing sexual assault incidents, and
according to the existing literature, remain uncertain of their choices, outcomes, and methods of
presentation of sexual assault prevention programs (Anderson & Whiston, 2005)
This study examined the best practices of one university and their experience with sexual
assault prevention programs, their outcomes, and the experiences of those involved with
choosing their programs. In addition, this study did observations of these programs to evaluate
those variables such as outcomes, method of presentation, audience, and culture and climate that
have proven to affect the efficacy of any program.
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 11
Background of the Problem
Despite the recent research on sexual assault on college campuses, college aged women
still experience sexual assault at twice the rate of the general population (Center for Disease
Control, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention,
2012). Approximately 13.7% of women undergraduates were victims of a completed sexual
assault from the time they began their studies (Peters, 2012). According to Peters, nearly 8% of
those undergraduates were sexually assaulted when they drank alcohol, took drugs, or were
given drugs. Additionally, about 2/3 of college women (aged 18-29) knew their attacker (Peters,
2012). According to the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), 9 out of 10 women who were sexual
assault survivors knew their attackers. The same study notes that, of nearly 6 million college
women, about 11.5% were sexually assaulted while in college and of that number, only 12%
reported the assault to the law enforcement. Because of sexual assault remaining an issue on
campuses, university specific legislation requires institutions to follow federally mandated rules
in dealing with incidents of sexual assault. This chapter presents an overview of the Jeanne
Clery Act, outlines some of the issues with the selection of sexual assault prevention programs,
points out some of the factors involved in effective programs, and looks at the difficulty in the
definitions of sexual assault.
Sexual Assault Statistics for the College Population
In 2012, the CDC reported that college age women (18-24 years old) experienced sexual
violence at over twice the rate of the general population. A little over 37% of college age
women reported that they were first raped between the ages of 18 and 24. 19% reported some
type of sexual coercion when in college (Center for Disease Control, National Center for Injury
Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention, 2012). A 2006 study (Krebs,
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 12
Lindquist, Warner, Fisher, & Martin, 2009) reports that, of a national sample of college age
women, 28.5% reported an experience with sexual assault either before or during their time in
college. Of that group, 16% experienced sexual assault before college and 19% have had an
experience with sexual assault during college. Women who experienced some type of sexual
assault before college were at much higher risk during college. For instance, if a victim
experienced incapacitated sexual assault (the use of drugs or alcohol) before college, the victim
was three times as likely to experience the same type of sexual assault during college. Victims
of forced sexual assault (threat of force or use of fear) before college experienced a nearly four-
fold increase of being victimized in the same manner again during college or fear (Krebs,
Lindquist, Warner, Fisher, & Martin, 2009).
The Jeanne Clery Act
Congress has passed laws to address issues of sexual assault and colleges have been
required to adhere to federal guidelines in reporting, enforcing, and preventing sexual assault.
The Jeanne Clery Act (The Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990) was enacted to
provide transparency for students attending college. The act provides for specific rights for
victims of crimes on college campuses, but also requires the campus to publish information
about crime statistics so that the statistics are readily available to students, parents, or anyone
who has an interest in crimes on college campuses. In addition to The Clery Act, the Campus
Sexual Assault Victims’ Bill of Rights adds to the original Clery Act of 1990 (Karjane, Fisher,
& Cullen, 2005). The bill of rights requires campuses to publish information about sexual
assault prevention programs, victim’s services, judicial processes for sexual assault survivors,
and other services that the campus offers to victims of sexual assault. In spite of these laws, only
about half of universities had specific policies against sexual assault on campus and less than
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 13
half of schools exposed their students to programs designed to bring awareness of sexual assault
(Peters, 2012). While institutions may create, present, and evaluate programs, there is no Federal
mandate for universities to force students to attend these programs. As Foubert (2005) notes, in
many cases, the program presentation does not reach the very students it was intended to reach.
The selection of a particular program becomes even more important when programs should reach
certain segments of the student population (Foubert & Marriott, 1996).

The Problem with Sexual Assault Prevention Program Selection
Each campus culture and climate differs, and choosing a sexual assault prevention
program for a campus should take into account the intended audience, the desired outcomes, and
whether the program is appropriate for the campus demographic (P. A. Schewe, 2002a). Sexual
assault prevention programs on campus have had mixed results depending upon the audience, the
presentation, and specifically, the intent of the program (Anderson & Whiston, 2005; Rich,
Utley, Janke, & Moldoveanu, 2010). Some programs educate attendees about the laws and
campus requirements (Peters, 2012). Other programs warn males about their responsibilities to
not rape women. In addition, some of the programs on college campuses focus on the idea of
females being raped by someone unknown to them (Langhinrichsen-Rohling, Foubert, Hill,
Brasfield, & Shelley-Tremblay, 2011a) despite the overwhelming evidence that shows that
females know their attackers. Yet, other programs are risk reduction focused so that the burden
of protection falls on the females (Suarez & Gadalla, 2010a). These risk reduction programs
focus on giving females self-defense training, warnings about going to parties with alcohol, and
asking females not to walk in campus areas that are not well lighted. Lastly, programs that
include men may portray men unfairly as rapists and men become defensive in response to the
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 14
accusatory nature of the program (Anderson & Whiston, 2005; Rich, Utley, Janke, &
Moldoveanu, 2010). These factors make the choice of a sexual assault prevention program for a
university one that has many facets to it and remains as confusing as Anderson (2005) points out.

What we know about Sexual Assault Prevention Programs
College programs aimed at reducing sexual assault on campus vary widely. For example,
a web search finds that two public university campuses within 30 miles of one another approach
sexual assault in different ways. One university has information on sexual assault, definitions,
resources for students, and a university statement on counseling services available to victims of
crimes. The university also has information sessions about alcohol use, rape defense training, and
a downloadable brochure that reminds women not to walk in areas that are not lighted well. The
other university has a web page dedicated to sexual assault, a gender equity center, workshops,
programs, and available links to reporting resources.
Some universities seem to use one size fits all programs that measure outcomes based only
upon knowledge gained in the sexual assault prevention program itself, not in the reduction of
sexual assault incidents on campus (Anderson & Whiston, 2005; Bachar & Koss, 2001; Bannon,
Brosi, & Foubert, 2013; Banyard, Moynihan, & Crossman, 2009). In these programs, factors
such as rape knowledge or knowledge of the effects of alcohol were affected, but most of the
studies on the subject tend to measure educational program outcomes such as knowledge about
sexual assault, while behavioral outcomes such as rape myth acceptance remain unclear
(Banyard, Moynihan, & Plante, 2007; McMahon, Postmus, & Koenick, 2011; Vladutiu, Martin,
& Macy, 2011a; Yaeter & O'Donohue, 1999).
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 15
The Men’s Program (Foubert 2005) is tailored to meet very specific goals and outcomes
and has a very specific audience for their presentation. In fact, the program is so specific that
there is a script that the presenters use to present the program. However, other programs, or
template programs do not use scripts, present to mixed audiences, and may not even measure
outcomes (P. A. Schewe, 2002b; Stephens & George, 2009a; Tharp et al., 2011). Foubert et al.
found that a program with mixed gender audiences (i.e. male and female) are not as effective as
programs that have smaller audiences, are longer in duration, and are aimed towards one gender
(Foubert & Newberry, 2006; Foubert & Perry, 2007; Katz, 1995; Vladutiu, Martin, & Macy,
2011b). Men who attend these programs report feeling able to be more expressive in prevention
programs that have male only participants and they do not feel attacked or singled out (Foubert &
Marriott, 1996). Programs that are specifically for student-athletes or for fraternity men produce
better results than the template one size fits all programs (Rich, Utley, Janke, & Moldoveanu,
2010; Rothman & Silverman, 2007; Stephens & George, 2009b; Vladutiu, Martin, & Macy,
2011b). Although the research on program effectiveness in altering behavior is mixed depending
on the audience, it does indicate that the choice of an appropriate program depends on the
demographics of the audience, the desired outcome, and the method of program delivery
(Anderson & Whiston, 2005).
Understanding the Definitions of Sexual Assault
There is no universal definition of rape. The legal definition of sexual assault may vary
from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. For the purpose of this study, rape is assumed to be sex without
consent. However, historically, sexual assault has been a problem that has required redefinition
for it to be taken seriously (Brownmiller, 1976; Burt, 1980). For instance, as recent as 1983,
jurists were still arguing for an elimination of a resistance element of forcible rape. In other
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 16
words, the survivor had the duty to prove that they resisted the attacker (Schwartz, 1983). The
FBI, through the Clery Act, requires postsecondary institutions to use the FBI’s Uniform Crime
Report definition of rape. The FBI’s definition was changed in 2011 to one that is gender neutral
and eliminates a previous requirement for a survivor to have to resist the attacker. An
institution’s definitions of rape and sexual assault can be beneficial when a student is not sure
s/he was raped. For instance, approximately 27% of survivors did not realize their victimization
met the legal definition of rape (Koss & Dinero, 1989; Pitts & Schwartz, 1993). Fisher (2000)
finds a higher percentage (48.8%) of college women who did not know whether their incident
was rape because of confusion over the definitions.
Some issue of definitions may be cultural. Until the 1990’s, married women could not be
raped by their husbands according to many state laws. Amongst Latinas who were sexually
assaulted, only 27% understand that it was rape and are able to report it to police (Lira, Koss, &
Russo, 1999). Other issues of defining rape may lie within organizations themselves. Police
officers can subscribe to rape myths and in spite of the state’s elements of the crime of rape; law
enforcement can change the course of the investigation because of rape myth bias (Eigenberg,
2000; Krahé, 1991). Unfortunately, there is little literature available on how higher education
decides on terms and definitions to use. This lack of clarity is particularly problematic for
college campuses given the wide diversity of the population these institutions serve and the
varied backgrounds of the students. Lack of a universal definition of sexual assault may lead to
false rape myths among the student population (Brownmiller, 1976; Burt & Albin, 1981)
Myths, according to Burt (1980) are a prelude to a rape culture where stereotypes about
gender roles exist, there is an absolute tolerance of violence towards women, and, coupled with
rape myth acceptance all these elements lead to attitudes and beliefs about rape. Burt further
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 17
defines rape myths as “prejudicial, stereotyped, or false beliefs about rape, rape survivors, and
rapists (Burt, 1980, p.217). For example, a common rape myth is, if a woman is raped while she
is drunk, she is at least somewhat responsible for letting things get out of control. Lonsway and
Fitzgerald (1995) listed 45 rape myths that are commonly known as the Illinois Rape Myth
Acceptance Scale, which has some commonality with Burt’s (1980) 19-item scale. Both have
used the scale to measure attitudes, rape myth acceptance, and acceptance of violence towards
women. It is from this foundation of rape myth acceptance and beliefs supporting violence
against women regarding rape and sexual assault that this study seeks to analyze colleges’ sexual
assault prevention programs aimed at male college students. Males commit 99% of all sexual
assaults (Center for Disease Control, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division
of Violence Prevention, 2012), so the goal of the study was to explore promising practices at
universities that use programs that address and attempt to reduce sexual assault on college
campuses specifically by changing men’s perceptions about women and sexual assault. When
men have been found to score high on the rape myth acceptance scale (RMA) they tend to
dismiss allegations of rape, show less empathy towards survivors, and will not recognize that
their behaviors can lead to sexual assault (Aronowitz, Lambert, & Davidoff, 2012; Bachar &
Koss, 2001; Banyard, Moynihan, & Crossman, 2009). Studying promising practices may create
a roadmap for university leaders who also hope to influence and reduce the level of sexual
assault on their campus.
Statement of the Problem
Universities have used sexual assault prevention programs since the 1980’s (Anderson &
Whiston, 2005). Peer education, mentoring, rape knowledge, and even theater have all been
used to attempt to reduce incidents of sexual assault on campuses. Yet, despite the use of
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 18
programs for over 30 years, there is little evidence to show that these programs work or have
even been appropriately evaluated (P. A. Schewe, 2002b; Vladutiu, Martin, & Macy, 2011a).
According to McCall (1993), the state of sexual assault programs “remains confused, scattered,
and sporadic (p. 277). Some programs seek to change attitudes towards rape myths, while others
hope to create empathy towards rape survivors, and still others simply hope to lower the rate of
sexual assault on a college campus.
As explained in previous paragraphs, the choice of a sexual assault program, the intended
audience, and the measurable outcomes remain problematic. One of the central problems with
current programming is that men are not able to see themselves as potential rapists or rape
victims (Foubert & Marriott, 1996; Stephens & George, 2009a). For instance, men report that
their reluctance for attending such programs is because “men don’t have to worry about being
sexually assaulted” (Rich, Utley, Janke, & Moldoveanu, 2010 p.272). Men who go to some
programs feel unfairly targeted, singled out, accused, and stereotyped (Foubert & Marriott,
1996; Foubert & Cowell, 2004; Foubert, Tatum, & Godin, 2010; Rich, Utley, Janke, &
Moldoveanu, 2010). Moreover, the men feel that a rapist is always the other, and that
individually they are not at risk to rape a woman. Men are unlikely to be able to feel empathy
for women in these situations because college men often feel that they are unable to be raped
and, by believing that women are somehow responsible for their own victimization, invalidate
these women’s experiences (Suarez & Gadalla, 2010a). All of these factors may contribute to a
culture of rape myth acceptance by men, which leads to reduced levels of empathy (Katz, 1993).
The MVP program appeals to men to see the women in their lives as victims of sexual assault
and by doing so, creates a level of empathy that allows student athletes (the focus of Katz’s
program) to reframe how they view sexual assault and women. Foubert (2005) does something
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 19
similar by reframing sexual assault from sex in men’s minds to an act of violence. Additionally,
social self-identification poster campaigns change student’s minds about sexual assault by also
reframing the act and creating an empowered bystander who is able to become an engaged
bystander (Katz, Olin, Herman, & DuBois, 2013; Potter, Moynihan, Stapleton, & Banyard,
2009). This study examines the best practices of a university and their experiences and
perceptions of using programs to reduce incidents of sexual assault.

Program Approaches to Preventing Sexual Assault
To combat acceptance of rape myths, the current literature shows that developing
empathy for rape survivors among men is a particularly effective tactic (Foubert & Newberry,
2006; P. A. Schewe, 2002b). In creating empathy for survivors, men can redefine their attitudes
towards women and become engaged bystanders. The apparent success in effective
programming lies in creating empathy for women, so that men do not see rape as a deviant sex
act, but as violence (Foubert & Newberry, 2006; P. A. Schewe, 2002b). Therefore, it is
important that campus leaders and student affairs professionals develop programs aimed at
preventing sexual assault focused on fostering the empathy necessary to shape or altogether alter
the beliefs and behaviors of male students in terms of sexual assault. This study examines The
Men’s Program, the Mentors in Violence Prevention Project (MVP). The study also examines
poster campaigns or social norming campaigns that use posters to encourage bystander actions in
risky or hostile situations.
Another method of sexual assault prevention is a bystander program that empowers
students to intervene with a situation that may lead to a sexual assault. For instance, if a female
student is intoxicated and a male is coercing her to go back to his room, a bystander will step in
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 20
and ensure that the female is returned safely to her room. These programs are created by specific
programming towards students, but also by the use of poster campaigns or social norming
campaigns (Banyard, Moynihan, & Plante, 2007; Berkowitz, 2001; Foubert & Cowell, 2004;
Foubert & Perry, 2007).
Yet another program that has shown efficacy is the Mentors in Violence Prevention
Project (MVP) created by Jackson Katz at Northeastern University. Katz (1995) sought to
redefine masculinity by directing his program towards student athletes. The primary lesson in
MVP is that the program facilitators ask the athletes to consider a female in their lives in a
position of risk such as being intoxicated and having a male coerce her to go to his room while a
bystander stood by and did nothing more than look on. From there, the program redefines sexual
assault as something that happens to daughters, wives, girlfriends, and sisters rather than to
women who might be called sluts or bitches (Katz, 1995).

Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to examine best practices in sexual assault prevention at an
institution of higher education and to look at those sexual assault prevention programs that work
to change men’s attitudes and perceptions. The key aspect to implementing and sustaining a
program that reduces incidents of sexual assault on campus is to target men’s empathy, their
awareness of rape knowledge, rape myth acceptance, and their willingness to intervene when
necessary.
The following research questions will guide this study:
1. What programs are in place to create an anti-sexual assault culture?

2. What are the perceptions of staff and administrators who present these programs?

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 21
3. What systems and structures exist that contribute to an overall anti-sexual assault
culture?

This study is grounded in theory and the Social Ecology theory of Urie Bronfenbrenner.
Bronfenbrenner (1979) proposed that a student’s development occurs when the environment
surrounding the student influences their views and cognitive processes. Bronfenbrenner
suggested that one cannot evaluate a student in a vacuum and that the interactions between the
student and the larger environment were necessary for complete evaluation. For example, in the
microsystem, immediate family influences the student. However, in the macrosystem the student
is influenced by socio-cultural factors such as rape myth acceptance, media, and laws.
Bronfenbrenner noted that if there was a “ripple” in one layer, then it affected other layers within
the model. Conflict within the microsystem radiated outwards to the macrosystem. For
example, a conflict within a student’s peer group can cause an interaction between the student
and the exosystem layer that may contain social services or even the mass media. In kind,
conflict within the larger societal context affected the student’s microsystem. This model
contains the many elements of sexual assault from a student’s own belief system to societal
expectations and beliefs about violence, victimization, and females that make it particularly
relevant to this study. Rape myth acceptance becomes part of the macrosystem that holds
attitudes and ideologies of the culture, while the microsystem contains the student’s peers who
may be able to break through rape myths. Bronfenbrenner’s model shows how many of the
factors discussed in this study move throughout the model and influence both student and
culture.
Significance of the Study
This study is particularly important not only for students on campus, but also for senior
leaders at universities who wish to change their approaches to sexual assault prevention
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 22
programming. Many universities are competing for students, so college campuses that engender
a culture of rape may cause students to change their minds when making college choices
(Hilinski, 2009). In fact, according to Hilinski (2009), the fear of sexual assault on campus
promotes fear of other crimes. The strategies and recommendations in this study will help
university leaders confront rape myth acceptance on their campus and allow leadership to choose
programs carefully.
Student affairs officers will also benefit from the study as they are deeply involved in
rape prevention programs, student welfare, student retention, and they may be, for some
universities, the first person a rape survivor contacts after being sexually assaulted. For student
affairs personnel who have already been exposed to programming, trained to recognize signs of
sexual assault, or are involved in reporting a sexual assault, this study will allow them to
compare and contrast their experiences with the recommendation in this study. Some may wish
to adopt the specific recommendations in this study in light of their experiences, while others
may wish to retain their current strategies.

Limitations, Delimitations, Assumptions
Several limitations affect this study and are beyond the control of the researcher. First,
time constraints made choosing a sample size a matter of convenience sampling. Given the short
time frame, the researcher required an institution that was close in geographic location and where
staff were receptive to the study and had the resources to cooperate with the researcher. Second,
the time allowed to complete the study allows a sample of only one university. Third, this is a
qualitative study, so the responses from subjects interviewed and the responses from the subjects
who were surveyed are their own and must be accepted as truthful. Last, the demographics of
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 23
the university studied may make it difficult to create transferability of the results to another
university. The best practices studied are specific to this institution’s size, demographics, and is
what their resources allowed.
Delimitations may affect the transferability of the study. First, the researcher chose a
university that is close to the researcher’s location, as the limitations of time allowed the
researcher only minimum flexibility in choosing a site. Therefore, convenience sampling
became the most allowable method of choosing the study site. Lastly, this study presents an
overview of the university and the perceptions of the staff and administrators and is not intended
to reflect results that might be possible from a longitudinal approach to the study.

Glossary of Terms
Several terms that are not used in common parlance are used throughout this study. The
words sexual assault and rape are used interchangeably in the literature depending upon
particular state statutes. For the purposes of this study, sexual assault, rape, penetration, and
attempted rape are considered part of the same family of sex crimes. In all cases however, the
term means that there is unwanted sexual contact that occurs by force, threat of force, coercion,
or the use of drugs or alcohol to commit the crime and the victim/survivor did not give consent
or does not have the ability to give consent. Other terms, as they are used in this study, are
defined below.

Rape Myth Acceptance – prejudicial, stereotyped, or false beliefs about rape, rape victims, and
rapists’’ and theorized that they serve to create a climate ‘‘hostile to rape victims’ (Burt, 1980).”
For example, She was careless; She implicitly agreed; She deserved it; It wasn’t really rape; He
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 24
didn’t mean to; She wanted it; She lied; Rape is a trivial event; Rape is a deviant event; Rape is
natural; and Rape is inevitable. See Appendix D for further.
Culture – A set of shared values and attitudes that characterize an institution.
Climate – Prevailing influence that characterizes a group.
Culture and Climate – Not considered one or the other, but the positive intersection of both.
Coercion – Using force, fear, or threat for sexual intercourse or other sexual act.
Victim Blaming (component of rape myth acceptance) – Where the attacker is absolved of
any responsibility for their actions because of the actions of the victim. i.e. she drank too much
and went home with him, so she had to know what was going to happen.
Sexual Assault – While each sexual assault can be a crime as defined by a state penal code, for
the purposes of this study, sexual assault is unwanted sexual behavior. Sexual assault can
include unwanted kissing, fondling, touching, intercourse, and oral sex on any part of the body.
The key to this definition is that all actions are unwanted by the victim/survivor.
Rape – In criminal investigations, rape is usually the completion of the intended assault. Some
states (for criminal code purposes) have definitions of rape that may differ in key aspects.
However, since this study of sexual assault prevention programs occurred in California, the
researcher uses the California definition of rape, which is non-consensual intercourse.
Intercourse requires penetration no matter how slight (California Penal Code 261.5).
Consent – Indication that a person wants to engage in sexual activity. Being coerced does not
indicate consent. Someone under the influence of alcohol or drugs is not capable of giving
consent.
Drugs – Anything used by an attacker to render the victim incapable of giving consent.
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 25
Force – Used by an attacker to overpower a victim. Can be physical (holding someone down,
restraining) or by fear of being hurt if one does not consent.
Victim – Person subjected to sexual assault, rape, or other unwanted activity. Generally used in
criminal law proceedings. Same as survivor.
Survivor – Same as above, but used outside of criminal law terms.
Suspect – Person who commits sexual assault, rape, or unwanted activity. Used in criminal law
proceedings.
Attacker – Same as above, but used outside of criminal law terms.
Rape Prevention Program – Any program used by a college or university to educate students
about sexual assault, rape, rape myths, or to change behaviors and perceptions.

Organization of the Study
The study looks at promising practices of university sexual assault prevention programs.
Chapter 1 provides an overview of the study, historical background of the problem, some
information about the problems with sexual assault programs, and importance of sexual assault
prevention programs to university leaders and student affairs professionals. Chapter 2 reviews
the literature and focuses on rape prevention programs, their efficacy, and the importance of
empathy. Chapter 3 provides the methodology for this study. It presents this study’s sample, the
instrumentation, and the framework for data collection and analysis. It also describes the
theoretical framework for the study and reasons for the use of a qualitative study. Chapter 4
presents the results from the data collection. Chapter 5 provides analysis of the results and
presents the implications of the study and recommendations for both practice and future research.

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 26
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Sexual assault is still a problem on college campuses. The existing literature shows
several correlations of issues that affect the perception of sexual assault and of the sexual assault
of females while in college. Issues such as the statistics for the college population, rape myths,
the use of alcohol among college men and women, the media, how reporting of sexual assault on
college campuses becomes a factor, and finally how Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) theory of social
ecology relates to the issue of sexual assault are presented. This literature review also begins to
uncover program approaches to sexual assault. Programs that appeal to men and change their
perceptions of sexual assault are presented as well as the idea of a social norming campaign that
uses posters to change perceptions of bystanders are both presented and highlighted as best
practices in sexual assault prevention. However, well before sexual assault programs are
presented in the literature review, the problem of rape myth acceptance, the use of alcohol and
risk factors for sexual assault are defined. Once the problem of rape myth acceptance is outlined,
and then the sexual assault prevention programs themselves begin to counter the risk factors.
From the literature, two themes emerged: 1) some rape prevention programs have proven
to be effective (Banyard, Moynihan, & Plante, 2007; Foubert, 2005; Langhinrichsen-Rohling,
Foubert, Hill, Brasfield, & Shelley-Tremblay, 2011b) and polarizing (A. L. Brown & Messman-
Moore, 2010; Foubert & Cowell, 2004; Foubert & Newberry, 2006; Foubert, Tatum, & Godin,
2010; O’Donohue, Yeater, & Fanetti, 2003; Paul & Gray, 2011; Rich, Utley, Janke, &
Moldoveanu, 2010). The programs highlighted in this literature both are targeted towards men
and specifically men’s attitudes towards women and sexual assault survivors. The Men’s
Program (Foubert 2005) seeks to create empathy in men towards sexual assault survivors by
redefining sexual assault as an act of violence and not a sexual act. The other program, Katz’s
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 27
(2006) Mentors in Violence Prevention Project targets male athletes and uses a creative
bystander approach to gender violence and bullying prevention. It focuses on young men not as
perpetrators or potential perpetrators, but as empowered bystanders who can confront abusive
peers as well as support those that have been abused. In the MVP model, a "bystander" is
defined as anyone who is embedded in a family, school, social, or professional relationship with
someone who might in some way is abusive or experiencing abuse. A bystander can be a family
member, friend, classmate, teammate, or co-worker. The heart of the model is interactive
discussion, in single-sex and mixed-gender classes and workshops, using real-life scenarios that
speak to the experiences of young men and women in college, and other areas of social life. The
chief curricular innovation of MVP is a training tool called the Playbook, which consists of a
series of realistic scenarios depicting abusive male (and sometimes female) behavior. The
Playbook transports participants into scenarios as witnesses to actual or potential abuse then
challenges them to consider a number of concrete options for intervention before, during, or after
an incident.
While the programs are a part of prevention, the second theme that emerged from the
literature was the notion of rape myth acceptance (Burt, 1980; Edwards, Turchik, Dardis,
Reynolds, & Gidycz, 2011; Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1995; McMahon, 2010a; Payne, Lonsway, &
Fitzgerald, 1999; Schwendinger & Schwendinger, 1974; Turchik & Edwards, 2012). Rape
myths seek to discredit the survivor’s account, minimize injuries to the survivor, and shift blame
away from the perpetrator. Much of the literature focuses on rape myths for women because
women are more likely to be sexually assaulted (Abbey, McAuslan, & Ross, 1998; Baum &
Klaus, 2005; Center for Disease Control, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control,
Division of Violence Prevention, 2012) than men are. Survivors of sexual assault are subject to
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 28
rape myths that are what Burt (1980) called “prejudicial, stereotyped, or false beliefs about rape,
rape survivors, and rapists” (p.217). Rape myths for women tend to focus on the survivor’s
actions, while for men, the rape myths focus upon their inactions (Chapleau, Oswald, & Russell,
2008a). Rape myths not only create that stereotyped environment, but they also excuse sexual
assault against women by creating a culture where women deserve and even ask for sexual
assault (Burt, 1980; Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1995; McKee, 2007; McMahon, 2010a).
The role of the institution in selecting programs, or having no programs at all is
highlighted along with the responsibilities of the institution. For instance, the Clery Act requires
institutions to meet mandatory federal guidelines with publishing on campus crime statistics, but
the federal mandates do not extend to the selection of sexual assault prevention programs or the
outcomes that institutions seek if they do use sexual assault prevention programs. In addition to
the selection or non-selection of programs, some factors of reporting sexual assault to the
university are introduced. When reporting procedures at a university are difficult for survivors,
or the procedures and the institution are not trusted, then the number of sexual assault incidents
reported to the university are far fewer than actually occur (Fisher, Daigle, Cullen, & Turner,
2003; Harden, 2012; Hart & Colavito, 2011). The literature review makes a connection between
how survivor reports a sexual assault incident, the rape myths that stereotype survivors, and the
need to have robust sexual assault prevention program within the university.
Lastly, the literature review uses Bronfenbrenner’s social ecology model to illustrate that
sexual assault prevention programs go much further than the audience to which the program is
presented. Bronfenbrenner argues that the student is at the center of a complex and ever
expanding series of environments that lead to student attitudes as well as societal attitudes. In
considering the impact of Bronfenbrenner, one can consider the graphic model (Pg. 51) and see
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 29
the student of the center of the model while the concentric circles outside of the student can
radiate outwards from the student and radiate inwards towards the student. For instance, funding
for education rests in the exosystem and radiates towards the student. A university may not have
a robust sexual assault prevention program when funding is reduced, and the planned social
norming campaign is cut in the upcoming budget. As a direct result of the lack of social self-
identification posters, bystanders are not empowered to intervene in risk situations. The circles
or social ecology in Bronfenbrenner remains interconnected and all of the systems or circles lead
to the lasting culture and climate of a university.

The Cost of Sexual Assault to Government and Higher Education
A study of sexual violence found that, in 2005, sexual violence cost the state of Minnesota
8 billion dollars (Miller, Taylor, & Sheppard, 2010) resulting from healthcare costs, law
enforcement response, court actions such as prosecution, imprisonment, quality of life losses
(from lawsuits that year), substance abuse, and suicides. Across the country, according to the
National Institute for Justice (NIJ), the cost of crime victimization is $450 billion annually. Of
that cost, about $127 billion is due to sexual assault (National Institute of Justice, 1996). In 2008
alone, 37.5% of healthcare costs were attributed to sexual violence, which is approximately $750
billion (Dolezal, McCollum, & Callahan, 2009). Much of the cost is borne by the criminal
justice system for response to incidents, investigation, prosecution, and imprisonment of the
perpetrators. However, some of that cost is from loss of income, community-based services such
as counseling, and secondary victimization from a lack mental health services.
In Michigan, researchers calculated the cost of sexual assault for each victim (Post,
Mezey, Maxwell, & Wibert, 2002). The costs take into account lifetime loss of productivity,
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 30
medical bills, law enforcement response, court costs, and quality of life. An adjusted cost of
living factor was applied, and, in 1996, sexual assault was found to cost $108,447 per victim,
which was higher than the national average by $10,000.00 (Post, Mezey, Maxwell, & Wibert,
2002). DeLisi (2010) found a similar cost in 2008 in that each sexual assault had a cost of
$151,423. McCollister et al. (2010) report that each sexual assault cost a little over $240,000 in
2008 dollars. That is second only to the cost of homicide, which, overall, is just short of $9
million.
The cost to states, counties, the victims, and the U.S. of sexual assault is well
documented, but there is little literature available to document direct costs to universities of
sexual assault. What is known is that first-year attrition costs to higher education is
approximately $9 billion during the five-year period from 2003-2008 (Schneider, 2010). That
figure takes into account only grants, subsidies, and loss of tuition to universities. In contrast,
funding to higher education has decreased. In 2012, the State of California decreased total
expenditures to the University of California system by .76% and to the community colleges by
3.6%. The California State University system received a small increase of .76%. Throughout
the U.S., state funding for higher education has declined by nearly 11% (Melguizo, 2013). There
are fewer funds to finance higher education. Administrators must be good stewards of finances
and costs related to sexual assault are far too great to ignore (Barr, 2004; Deming, 2011; Peters,
2012; Warr, 2000).

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 31
Program Approaches to Sexual Assault Prevention
The Men’s Program
One of the keys to using bystanders to prevent rape is by interrupting rape myth
acceptance. Foubert’s “The Men’s Program (2005) is a program that is used in seminars with
college aged men 18-24. The program seeks to create empathy in college men by presenting to
students the story of a male police officer who was raped by two presumably heterosexual males.
The program is promising in destroying rape myths and affecting college men who are high risk,
such as student-athletes and fraternity members (Banyard, Moynihan, & Plante, 2007) and by
influencing bystanders who reject the rape myths and are able to intervene before a sexual
assault occurs. While there is sufficient literature available on evaluations of The Men’s
Program, one must take caution because the originator of the program itself is also the lead
author or a co-author on many of the articles that evaluate the program.
Earlier evaluations of other programs saw only short-term results at best. However,
according to the literature, The Men’s Program reports that the results of their program last for
an academic year (Anderson & Whiston, 2005; Foubert & La Voy, 2000; Foubert & Cowell,
2004; Foubert & Newberry, 2006; Foubert, Godin, & Tatum, 2010; Foubert, Tatum, & Godin,
2010; Langhinrichsen-Rohling, Foubert, Hill, Brasfield, & Shelley-Tremblay, 2011a; Scheel,
Johnson, Schneider, & Smith, 2001). The program produces empathy for female rape survivors
by presenting rape as an act of violence. When that approach is taken, then men are more likely
to feel empathy towards women and rape victims (Foubert & Cowell, 2004).
The Men’s Program begins its program by creating an atmosphere where the men in
attendance are not blamed for rape. In fact, the program begins with that explicit statement (The
Men’s Program is a scripted program with parts for presenters, a video, and parts that the
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 32
presenters can read or memorize their “lines.”) and continues by telling the attendees that the
presenters are not going to lecture them on why they should not rape women. The program
continues by framing the experience for the attendees as a chance to help a friend or
acquaintance who may have been sexually assaulted. Some programs use training videos that
use survivor testimony from women. However, those programs that use female survivors
recounting their experiences may actually arouse the men in attendance (Yaeter & O'Donohue,
1999). The Men’s Program uses a different approach by allowing a male police officer to retell
the story of his sexual assault by two heterosexual males. By using a heterosexual male in a
position of authority with the training and tools to fight back, the portrayal gives the college men
in attendance the ability to consider that the same thing could happen to them.
After viewing the video, which has a warning that the testimony is disturbing, the group
then goes over how they could intervene in possible risky situations and how they could help a
potential survivor. The result of approaching men as potential helpers and not as potential rapists
has had an effect upon the attendees. Evaluations of The Men’s Program show that the effects
are long-term and can last up to an entire academic year (Foubert & Perry, 2007; P. Schewe &
Shizas, 2002).
The MVP (Mentors in Violence Prevention Project) Program
The MVP program (Katz, 1993) targets a specific audience of male athletes. The project
reframes the issue of sexual assault by rejecting the notion that sexual assault is a “women’s
issue.” Instead, Katz asks the attendees (athletes at their university) if they have a female in their
lives, whether it is a grandmother, mother, sister, friend, or girlfriend. From there the program
asks the athletes to think about one of those females being sexually assaulted while a male has
the opportunity to intervene, but the male does nothing. From there, the program begins to
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 33
illustrate the importance of bystanders in preventing sexual assault. The program aims to use
masculinity to create an atmosphere where all males can feel empowered to intervene. The
program is similar to Foubert’s program in that neither program focuses upon men as potential
rapists. Rather, the programs move the emphasis to the men as potential helpers of college
women who may be in potentially risky situations.
MVP utilizes a creative bystander approach to gender violence and bullying prevention. It
focuses on young men not as perpetrators or potential perpetrators, but as empowered bystanders
who can confront abusive peers as well as support those that have been abused. In the MVP
model, a bystander is defined as anyone who is imbedded in a family, school, social, or
professional relationship with someone who might in some way is abusive or experiencing
abuse. A bystander can be a family member, friend, classmate, teammate, or co-worker. The
heart of the model is interactive discussion, in single-sex and mixed-gender classes and
workshops, using real-life scenarios that speak to the experiences of young men and women in
college, and other areas of social life. The chief curricular innovation of MVP is a training tool
called the Playbook, which consists of a series of realistic scenarios depicting abusive male (and
sometimes female) behavior. The Playbook transports participants into scenarios as witnesses to
actual or potential abuse then challenges them to consider a number of concrete options for
intervention before, during, or after an incident.
Many people mistakenly believe that they have only two options in instances of actual or
potential violence: intervene physically and possibly expose themselves to personal harm, or do
nothing. As a result, they often choose to do nothing. However, intervening physically and
doing nothing are not the only possible choices. The MVP Model seeks to provide bystanders
with numerous options, most of which carry no risk of personal injury. With more options to
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 34
choose from, people are more likely to respond and not be passive and silent – and hence
complicit – in violence or abuse by others. One of the crucial aspects of MVP discussions,
which are typically interactive and animated, is that focusing on specific cases of abuse can often
lead to open, wide-ranging discussions about masculinity, femininity, gender relations, abuses of
power and conformist behavior.
In single gender sessions, racially diverse groups of young men and women discuss such
questions as: why do some people seek to control their girlfriends through force or intimidation?
Why do some people sexually assault girls? How do cultural definitions of manhood contribute
to sexual and domestic violence and other sexist behaviors? How do cultural definitions of
womanhood contribute to women's victimization - or their resistance to it? However, the focus
always goes back to the bystanders. Unlike prevention efforts that target young men as
perpetrators or potential perpetrators, MVP has the potential to expand the number of young men
willing to confront the issue of men's violence against women. This is a result of the MVP
philosophy of working with men as empowered bystanders - not against them as potential
perpetrators. This positive approach has the effect of reducing men's defensiveness around the
discussion of these issues, which provides the basis for the emergence of more proactive and
preventive responses.
The apparent success in effective programming lies in creating empathy for women, so that
men do not see rape as a deviant sex act, but, rather, as violence (Foubert & Newberry, 2006; P.
A. Schewe, 2002b). The Men’s Program changes paradigms by creating empathy towards rape
survivors, and the MVP program increases empathy and awareness in bystanders so that they feel
empowered to intervene well before a rape occurs. In addition to approaching rape prevention
from empathy based programs, the small audience programming reaches a single gender
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 35
audience. Foubert’s program has reported that in their group sessions of only men, the men in
attendance feel more able to reveal their true feelings without “judgment and criticism” and give
honest answers to the questions posed by the facilitators (Foubert, Tatum, & Godin, 2010).
Although the two programs and their effects give promise to university administrators and
student affairs professionals, affecting only one small part of the college demographic seems to
be inadequate when considering the larger context of the college environment.

Bystander Intervention, Social Self-Identification, and Social Norming
In 2004, the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) began to look at rape
prevention and levels of prevention. Various levels of prevention are present, but the CDC
focused on bystander intervention as one of the primary methods of preventing sexual assault.
The literature acknowledges that the term “bystander” has a passive connotation, so the term was
revised to “engaged bystander.”
Bystander intervention empowers students to stop sexual assault by having peers
intervene early on in the process. For instance, a student may see an intoxicated female friend
being coerced by a male student to go back to his room. The student will step in, tell the female
that it is time to go back to her apartment, and reject the other male’s attempt to bring an
intoxicated female college student back to his room alone. The bystander approach to rape
prevention has gained traction and is becoming popular because of its efficacy (Banyard,
Moynihan, & Plante, 2007; Berkowitz, 2002; Foubert & Cowell, 2004; Foubert & Perry, 2007;
Ward, 2001).
A bystander is more than just a Good Samaritan who will stop a sexual assault from
occurring. Bystander programs also break rape myth acceptance so that bystanders will begin to
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 36
counter attitudes amongst their peers. For instance, some of the items that the rape myth
acceptance scale uses to measure attitudes has words such as “bitch,” “ho,” or “slut,” which
some men use to describe women. Bystander programs reach out to students and confront the
use of those words. In addition to addressing terms, a bystander program asks students to take an
active part in sexual assault prevention. For instance, the earlier scenario of the student driving
an intoxicated female home so that she does not end up alone in a room with the male student
who was coercing her.
One of the relevant issues in rape myth acceptance is that many college students arrive
without a basic knowledge of sexual activity in context. The lack of knowledge can lead to
ignorant notions about sexuality, the functions of the body, and myths. For instance, one study
found that, on one sexual knowledge test, the average score for high school students was 44%
correct (Aronowitz, Lambert, & Davidoff, 2012 p.174). The study further found that, when
sexual knowledge is increased and social norms are affected, there is a decrease of rape myth
acceptance amongst college students which can lead to improved bystander interventions
(Aronowitz, Lambert, & Davidoff, 2012).

Social Norming Campaigns that Empower Bystanders
The media seems to influence attitudes towards rape and rape myth acceptance (K. E.
Dill, Brown, & Collins, 2008; K. Dill, 2009), so the use of media to counter rape myths and
encourage bystander intervention in college has some effectiveness. Some programs use posters
to target bystanders who will intervene in risk situations (Banyard, Moynihan, & Plante, 2007;
A. L. Brown & Messman-Moore, 2010; Katz, Olin, Herman, & DuBois, 2013; McMahon,
2010a; Potter, Moynihan, Stapleton, & Banyard, 2009; Potter, Moynihan, & Stapleton, 2011).
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 37
However, the efficacy of these programs is unknown, as the campaign to change bystander
attitudes has limited success with the groups they target and the reduction of sexual assault on
campus.
A poster campaign on a college campus has the effect of changing that campus culture
(Potter, Moynihan, Stapleton, & Banyard, 2009) which feeds into the reduction of rape myth
acceptance (Edwards, Turchik, Dardis, Reynolds, & Gidycz, 2011). A poster campaign is
essentially a social norming campaign that seeks to “use perceptions of peer norms to influence
behavior norms (Katz, Olin, Herman, & DuBois, 2013; Potter, Moynihan, & Stapleton, 2011
p.131).” The posters used depict typical college students in possible risky scenarios with,
generally, another person intervening to stop a potential sexual assault. A typical poster from a
college campaign has a tattooed student with arms crossed and staring blankly at the camera.
The text on the poster leads the reader to believe one thing by reading “She was on her own, so I
made my move…” and then the smaller script at the bottom of the poster reads “…and told the
guys hassling her to back off. They were really crossing the line.” Another has a college student
with a baseball hat backwards on his head and it reads, “It was 2 A.M. I offered her a ride
thinking you never know…” The smaller script at the bottom reads “…if the guy who’d been
after my friend all night might try something. No way I was taking off without her.” Appendix
E provides an example of a poster.
Not only do the posters empower college students, but they also have the effect of
prompting college aged students to take notice of risky situations and take actions to keep their
peers safe (Potter, Moynihan, & Stapleton, 2011). The posters give the students ways in which
they can help their peers who are at risk. As in the earlier examples, a student who may not have
had an idea of what to do with a friend who was intoxicated now knows that he can make sure he
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 38
takes her home instead of leaving her behind with no one to look after her. The posters depict a
variety of scenarios, so students can reach a wide audience and give students more options to
choose from when trying to protect a friend (Katz, Olin, Herman, & DuBois, 2013).

Program Assessment
When utilizing qualitative research procedures to a project or study, a different type of
scholarly material is produced when compared to quantitative research. Creswell (2009) states
“qualitative inquiry employs different philosophical assumptions; strategies of inquiry; and
methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation” (p.173). Instead of just garnering a
specific amount of data in a quantitative format, qualitative research allows for the ability of the
researcher to delve into topics of social justice, equity, and access in a unique way that gives a
more diverse picture to a problem. When it comes to sexual assault and how social justice is
viewed, this method of inquiry is appropriate and commonly utilized.
While for many years the legitimacy of qualitative research was discussed, out of those
discussions arose a form of agreement/consensus as to what characteristics a qualitative
procedure should contain. Creswell (2009) lists some of the characteristics that are applicable to
our study. One of these characteristics would be a natural setting. Unlike quantitative research
in a lab or where the researcher brings in the population to study, in a qualitative study the
researcher immerses themselves into the environment to make the subjects being studied as
comfortable as possible. This way the researcher is a key component to the research itself
developing their own questions observing behavior and conducting the interviews looking for
both the oral expressions as well as other telltale signs. A qualitative study also will typically
employ multiple techniques to collect the appropriate data. These can include gathering artifacts,
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 39
but also interviews and observations all to attempt and gather a robust amount of information
around the topic being explored. Upon gathering this wide and diverse amount of information,
the researcher through means of inductive data analysis will then sift through the material
looking for patterns or themes that can emerge from the collected material. The very nature then
of an inductive analysis lends the researcher the ability to go back and forth in collecting the data
and processing to explore new aspects that appear. While the disadvantage to this method is
time, the power of investigating and pursuing the various different anomalies that present
themselves allows one to gain a deep and penetrating insight into an issue.

Program Outcomes
The outcomes of a sexual assault prevention program can be and are often varied. A
2005 study using a pre/post test and found that when college men attended sexual assault
programs, they had more knowledge about rape then men who did not attend the same program
(Anderson & Whiston, 2005). The same study showed that a variety of programs could affect
rape attitudes, knowledge about rape myth acceptance, and factual knowledge about rape in
college men. The major finding is that there is little to no research to show that a university that
uses assorted programs to target sexual assault actually reduces the incidences of rape on
campus. There is empirical evidence to show that some factors were affected, but most of the
studies in the subject tend to measure educational program outcomes while behavioral outcomes
of the attendees remain unclear (Banyard, Moynihan, & Plante, 2007; McMahon, Postmus, &
Koenick, 2011; Vladutiu, Martin, & Macy, 2011a; Yaeter & O'Donohue, 1999). It is possible
that a university could choose a program without fully understanding the possible outcomes or
the focus of the program itself. Choosing a sexual assault prevention program requires
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 40
knowledge of both the intent of the program, the appropriate audience, the method of delivery,
and the desired outcomes (P. A. Schewe, 2002c).
Some programs ignore the actions and attitudes of the perpetrator and address behaviors
by the potential victims of sexual assault. These programs seek to teach students to avoid binge
drinking, provide them with the tools to avoid risky situations, offer self-defense classes, and
otherwise educate college students who might be at risk for sexual assault (Fisher & Sloan III,
2003; Rothman & Silverman, 2007). Much like the programs targeting male perceptions and
attitudes, these programs are varied and dependent upon the university administration to
implement. Moreover, even when they are used, the effectiveness of these programs remains in
question. As with the programs that males attend, these “victim” programs only measure the
behavioral outcomes of those who attend the programs, and they do not correlate to reduced
incidences of sexual assault on campus (Rothman & Silverman, 2007). These programs also do
not address other at risk groups of college students such as gay or lesbian students or even binge
drinkers. The programs view sexual assault as a gender issue and they tend to measure the
knowledge about risky behaviors acquired from the program itself rather than the incidence of
sexual assault on campus (Rothman & Silverman, 2007). For instance, in some institutions,
administrators seem to use one size fits all programs that measure their outcomes based only
upon knowledge gained in the program and not in the reduction of sexual assault (Anderson &
Whiston, 2005).

Program Audience
The choice of the audience is important to the efficacy of the program and can be
overlooked. Programs with mixed gender audiences are not as effective as programs that have
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 41
smaller audiences, are longer in duration, and are aimed towards one gender (Vladutiu, Martin,
& Macy, 2011b). Programs that are specifically for student-athletes or for fraternity men
produce better results than the template programs (Rich, Utley, Janke, & Moldoveanu, 2010;
Rothman & Silverman, 2007; Stephens & George, 2009b; Vladutiu, Martin, & Macy, 2011b).
Foubert (1996) found that for an honest and open exchange of ideas, it was of particular
importance to have only males as the audience. Foubert reasoned that the majority of the sexual
assaults were committed by males (Center for Disease Control, National Center for Injury
Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention, 2012), and while he was not using the
program to accuse males, he was appealing to the participants to change their views of sexual
assault from sex to a violent act. Additionally, Foubert uses the program to ask men to redefine
their roles. Instead of remaining passive bystanders, Foubert’s program appeals to men’s
empathy and asks them to become engaged bystanders in situations where sexual assault is likely
such as another male trying to get a female drunk so that he could coerce her into sex.

Perceptions that Influence Rape Myth Acceptance
Gender and Rape Myth Acceptance
Much of the research on sexual assault is focused on women. Women are victims of
sexual assault at a much higher rate than men. According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), in
2003 about 87% of the reported rapes or sexual assaults were female victims. In 2009, there
were 125,920 sexual assaults according to DOJ. Of those sexual assaults, a little over 106,000
(84%) were female, and 19,820 (16%) were male. Research shows that the reporting numbers
for women remains low, but that men are 1.5 times less likely to report being raped to police than
women (Chapleau, Oswald, & Russell, 2008a).
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 42
Rape myths such as women caught cheating often cry “rape” or that rape occurs only in
bad parts of town play a central role in the acceptance of interpersonal violence towards women
(Brownmiller, 1976; Burt, 1980; Egan & Wilson, 2012; Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1995; McMahon,
2010b; Payne, Lonsway, & Fitzgerald, 1999; Ryan, 2011; Suarez & Gadalla, 2010b). Men tend
to accept rape myths more than women do and heterosexual men are more accepting of any
group (Chapleau, Oswald, & Russell, 2008a). Hyper masculinity, hostile masculinity, and
misogynistic attitudes tend to perpetuate the female rape myth. However, the attitudes towards
male rape prove very different according to the literature. Female sexual assault tends to follow
the rape myths closely. For instance, females dress “slutty,” or are “teases,” so their
victimization is justifiable according to the myth acceptors. Men, in contrast to the “deserving”
female, are perceived as less masculine when they are victimized (Groth & Burgess, 1980), are
probably “gay” (Stermac, Del Bove, & Addison, 2004), could not possibly be raped since men
cannot “perform” unless they are aroused (Smith, Pine, & Hawley, 1988). In addition, according
to rape myths, men cannot be raped against their will (Stermac, Del Bove, & Addison, 2004).
Much of the confusion over male rape tends to revolve around the terms. The term “male
rape” could mean rape committed by a male against a female, but to use the term “homosexual
rape” creates other issues that seem to indicate that a male being raped is strictly a homosexual
act (Scarce, 1997). For instance, a man who is raped is considered more feminine, less
masculine, and must in some manner “want it” since the perspective is that men cannot be raped
against their will (Stermac, Del Bove, & Addison, 2004). There are certain expectations for
men in society to be the ones to pursue sex, and not to be pursued (Muehlenhard & Cook, 1988;
O'Sullivan, Byers, & Finkelman, 1998). This is the notion of male masculinity that by being
sexually dominant, men are rewarded and in contrast, men considered “feminine” are outcasts
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 43
(Doherty & Anderson, 2004; Kassing, Beesley, & Frey, 2005; Martin & Hummer, 1989; Sabo,
1994; Sabo, 1998).
Rape is considered a crime of power and violence, so despite the difficult terminology,
rape where the male is a victim is nonetheless considered as part of the misogynistic culture that
pervades rape against females. Scarce (1997) notes that the victim, whether male or female, is
something that the rapist wants to “control, punish, and/or destroy…something they want to
conquer and defeat” (p.175).

Acceptance of Rape Myths
Women who are survivors of sexual assault may report the crime to police and are likely
to be contacted by a male police officer or detective. In those cases, women may have varied
experiences with police. Most women felt that being believed by police was of great importance,
followed by being given some empathy (Jordan, 2004). Women report that police officers
seemed to hold their victimization to a higher standard than other crimes (Page, 2008).
However, those actions were lessened when the survivor did not engage in risky behaviors such
as hitchhiking, going to a bar alone, or having premarital sex (Page, 2008).
While both genders tend to believe in rape myths, it is men who believe more strongly
than females that men cannot be raped against their will and that men are responsible for being
raped (Chapleau, Oswald, & Russell, 2008b p.611). To some degree, male rape myths are
similar to female rape myths, but take a different approach to their language and implications.
Female rape myths focus on what the female victim did to “deserve” the attack. For instance, a
female must have worn “slutty” clothes, drank too much, or did something else to attract
attention and thus deserved the attack. Male rape myths on the other hand, focus on what the
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 44
male victim did not do. According to male rape myths, a male was too feminine to fight back,
must have been “gay,” or, in the case of a female raping a male, is impossible. Nonetheless, men
still have a difficult time reporting rape to law enforcement and are blamed as equally as females
are blamed (Sleath & Bull, 2010).
Overwhelmingly, men tend to accept these myths and by doing so, excuse sexual assault of
females. In contrast, when men are sexually assaulted by either gender, there is a myth that men
are not prone to psychological issues (Banyard, Moynihan, & Plante, 2007; O'Sullivan, Byers, &
Finkelman, 1998; Struckman‐Johnson, 1988). What actually occurs is that men who are sexually
assaulted tend to have higher rates of psychological issues, difficulty with gender role conflict,
and higher rates of suicidal thoughts (Peterson, Voller, Polusny, & Murdoch, 2011; Struckman-
Johnson & Struckman-Johnson, 1992; Struckman-Johnson & Struckman-Johnson, 1994). Males
in college have a desire to be seen as respected, confident, self-assured, and should embody
physical prowess (Harris, 2010). Therefore, in contrast, men who are victimized by sexual
assault possess none of those traits and are placed at a lower social level than those who do
possess the desired traits (Levant, 2008).
College age men subscribe to female rape myth acceptance and when alcohol is involved
in sexual assaults, there is a near unanimous acceptance of the myths (Foubert & Perry, 2007).
However, there are male rape myths that are present. According to Struckman-Johnson and
Struckman-Johnson (1992), the first belief is the idea that male rape cannot happen. Men are
perceived as strong, controlling, and are the ones who initiate sexual contact. Men are not seen
as victims of sexual crimes, and are thought of as too strong to become victims of forced sexual
activity. In contrast to the female rape myth acceptance, even if a male is raped, there is the idea
that the survivor somehow enjoyed the sexual contact, no matter the context (Struckman-
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 45
Johnson & Struckman-Johnson, 1992). Men are viewed as persons who will enjoy sex regardless
of the time of day, the place, or the context because of the dominant nature of masculinity and
the idea that men are the pursuers, not the victim (Doherty & Anderson, 2004; Martin &
Hummer, 1989; Peterson, Voller, Polusny, & Murdoch, 2011; Sabo, 1998).
Males who are gay feel the stigma much more because their behavior is viewed as risky
and sexual assault an inevitable outgrowth of such behavior (Struckman-Johnson & Struckman-
Johnson, 1992). Although if a gay man is sexually assaulted, one of the other myths is that rape
does not upset men as much as it does females. Men are portrayed as having far fewer issues
with being sexually assaulted (Peterson, Voller, Polusny, & Murdoch, 2011) and that men are
strong and possess a different set of emotions that allow them to “tough it out and cope” (p. 651).

Alcohol, Rape Myths, and the risk of Sexual Assault
“Working towards a yes” is an undergraduate phrase for plying a female with enough
alcohol so that she will eventually succumb to a male’s advances and agree to have sex with him
(Harden, 2012). Approximately 50% of sexual assaults that involve college women also involve
some form of alcohol consumption (S. A. Brown, Goldman, Inn, & Anderson, 1980; George &
Norris, 1991). Abbey (2002) argues that, “Alcohol increases the likelihood of sexual assault
occurring among acquaintances during social interactions through several interrelated pathways.
These pathways include beliefs about alcohol, deficits in higher order cognitive processing and
motor impairments induced by alcohol and peer group norms that encourage heavy drinking and
forced sex (p.125).” Beliefs about alcohol tend to provide excuses for why a rape occurred. For
example, in Abbey’s (2002) study, several of the female respondents noted that, if they had not
consumed alcohol, then they would not have put themselves in those positions to be raped.
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 46
Alcohol use amongst college students who are victims of sexual assault or are perpetrators of
sexual assault is nearly a certainty. In fact, in all instances when the victim of a sexual assault
was drinking, the perpetrator was drinking also (Ullman & Brecklin, 2000).
Moreover, the use of alcohol in these situations affects the cognitive processes. Being
under the influence may affect how men interpret sexual intentions, so that forced sex is often
the result (Mohler-Kuo, Dowdall, Koss, & Wechsler, 2004). Rape myths begin to play a part in
misperception in that men may believe that “she wanted it,” “she was a tease,” or, if alcohol was
involved, then, somehow, the woman was responsible for letting things “get out of control
(Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1995).
Additionally, women’s motor skills are affected such that they may not be coordinated
enough to escape a risky situation. Women who are intoxicated are generally less able to use
force to resist an assault (Abbey, McAuslan, & Ross, 1998). If a woman does use some sort of
physical resistance, however, rape myth acceptance suggests that some women enjoy being
forced or that they enjoy being forced so that they do not have to feel guilty about being having
sex (Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1995).
Men are also at risk when alcohol is used. Much of the research in the past focused upon
females as the victims of sexual assault and that focus became fixed in the minds of people so
that much of the research used created measures that were biased towards women as victims
(Larimer, Lydum, Anderson, & Turner, 1999). However, cognitive functions become impaired
in men as well, coordination is affected, and men could have difficulty resisting an effort at
forcible sex (Peterson, Voller, Polusny, & Murdoch, 2011). In fact, one may be able to say that
what happens to college a woman also happens to college men, albeit at a lower rate. Male
survivors of sexual assault are confronted with rape myths of their own. One of the male rape
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 47
myths is identical to female rape myths; if a male drinks alcohol, then that is correlated with
victim blaming (Sleath & Bull, 2010). Sexual assault by strangers tends to involve some level of
weapons, but sexual assault by acquaintances is heavily correlated with alcohol use by the
survivor (Stermac, Del Bove, & Addison, 2004).
Furthermore, college peer group norms create hazards for women who are in certain
environments. Fraternities and sorority events are often the pretext for drinking and engaging in
“casual sex (Abbey, 2002).” More so than the environment, Abbey (2002) notes that, in those
cultures, the use of alcohol is used as justification for other inappropriate behaviors such as
sexual assault. College men tend to drink to be masculine (Capraro, 2000), and rape myth
acceptance suggests that men rape because it is in their nature to strongly desire sex. Once a
woman is in that environment, then college men who subscribe to rape myths can make use of
nearly 26 of 45 rape myths to commit a sexual assault (Appendix D).

Media and the Perpetuation of Rape Myths
Media influences are present and affect men’s ideology, rape myth acceptance, and
female images. Each image of a female is thoughtfully placed to elicit a particular reaction,
which then begins to influence the larger population and perceptions of what femininity looks
like (Allen, Emmers, Gebhardt, & Giery, 1995; Barak, Fisher, Belfry, & Lashambe, 1999;
MacKay & Covell, 1997; Swami, Steadman, & Tovée, 2009). In addition, the media influences
how men view women, which then leads to hostile and aggressive attitudes towards women
(Lanis & Covell, 1995). Negative images of women in the media, and in other areas, create an
atmosphere where levels of rape myth acceptance are greater and hostile attitudes towards
women are increased (Emmers-Sommer, Pauley, Hanzal, & Triplett, 2006; Malamuth, 1984).
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 48
In addition to those images, the number of college students who play video games is
enormous. According to the Nielsen Company, a private company that monitors and reports on
trends and habits in television viewing, media usage, and purchasing trends in electronic
entertainment, 73% of households in the U.S. have a device used for gaming (Nielsen Company,
2010). According to a 2006 report conducted by Educause Center for Applied Research, a non-
profit higher education technology research organization, 97.8 % of college students own a PC,
and of that number, almost two-thirds own a laptop (Educause Center for Applied Research,
2006). In 2003, nearly 70% of college students reported that they spent significant time playing
video games online through one of the many devices that they own (Jones, 2003). What
contributes to the problem is the negative imagery of women in games and those games that
objectify women. In addition, some video games seem to influence rape myths (K. E. Dill,
Brown, & Collins, 2008; K. Dill, 2009).
It is not only video games that perpetuate rape myth acceptance. Television is the
original media influence, and television uses its stage to depict rape (Kahlor & Eastin, 2011).
Counter intuitively, Kahlor and Eastin (2011) found that female college students begin to accept
rape myths when they watch television more than their peers did. Although television seems to
be able to craft storylines that support rape myth acceptance, pornography seems to generate the
most attention from rights groups, politicians, and even the media itself (Alexander, 2001;
Dworkin, 1987; O'Donnell, 1986). There is conflicting research that tries to determine whether
the use of pornography has an effect on attitudes towards women. McKee’s (2010) study does
not find a positive association between viewing pornography and negative attitudes supporting
violence towards women. In contrast, other studies show that there are connections between the
use of pornography and the acceptance of violence towards women (Hald, Malamuth, & Yuen,
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 49
2010; Malamuth, Hald, & Koss, 2012). Both studies noted that there are variables that create
greater risk such as frequency of consumption of pornography, age of the consumer, and where
pornography is viewed.
Relevant to this study, when the pornography viewer is a college student, the evidence
shows that there is more acceptance of rape myths (Brosi, Foubert, Bannon, & Yandell, 2011a;
Foubert, Brosi, & Bannon, 2011; Hald, Malamuth, & Yuen, 2010; Malamuth, Hald, & Koss,
2012). When sorority women are exposed to porn, they too begin to accept rape myths and are
less likely to intervene in situations where a female may be at risk for sexual assault. College
students who live in sorority houses are 200-300% more likely to experience a sexual assault
(Mohler-Kuo, Dowdall, Koss, & Wechsler, 2004). This is a significant finding given that
sorority women exposed to pornography begins to accept rape myths much the same way men do
(Bannon, Brosi, & Foubert, 2013; Brosi, Foubert, Bannon, & Yandell, 2011b). Further exposure
to pornography not only produces the undesirable effect of having sorority women accept rape
myths and intervene less, but sorority women then begin to “accept” the idea of sexual
victimization (Norris, Davis, George, Martell, & Heiman, 2004).

Reporting of Sexual Assaults to Law Enforcement and Universities
Reporting a sexual assault to police gives the victim access to community services, health
care, and the resources of the government. In the general population, about 38% of the survivors
report rape, but less than 5% of college women report their assault to police (Fisher, Daigle,
Cullen, & Turner, 2003).
One of the factors that predict rape reporting is the relationship of the survivor to the
assailant. When a stranger commits the sexual assault, college women are more likely to report
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 50
that assault to police than if the assailant was an acquaintance (Fisher, Daigle, Cullen, & Turner,
2003). There are other factors such as whether the assault occurred outdoors, whether degrading
acts occurred during the act, and whether weapons were involved. Sexual assaults that occur
outdoors are more likely to be reported than the same incident, which occurred indoors
(Bachman, 1998). Sexual assaults that involve degrading acts, such as humiliation of the
survivor are reported more than rapes without these acts (Greenberg & Ruback, 1992).
Moreover, rapes that occur with the use of weapons are reported more often than rapes that occur
without weapons (La Free, 1980).
On college campuses, some progress has been made over the decades to improve systems
for reporting sexual assault. For instance, some universities have multiple agencies responsible
for sexual assault reporting, which creates a “disconnect” between entities (Harden, 2012).
Some universities, however, improved their “collective efficacy (Suzuki, 2013)” and students
have felt more comfortable allowing the university to address their victimization (Hart &
Colavito, 2011). The 1970’s were a period where changes occurred and barriers to reporting
rape were addressed. However, those factors remain a significant barrier for college women and
even men in reporting sexual assault. Shame, distrust of the criminal justice system, and fear of
retaliation from the perpetrator were factors in the past and remain factors for college men and
women even now (Sable, Danis, Mauzy, & Gallagher, 2006). The only significant difference
between men and women in reporting rape is that men were more concerned about their
“masculine self-identity” becoming compromised and were afraid of being labeled as gay (p.
160).
For college women, the reporting variables remain much the same as the larger non-
college population. The overall reporting rate remains low for college women, at less than 5%,
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 51
because an estimated 85% of rapes among college women are perpetrated by acquaintances
(Wolitzky-Taylor et al., 2011), and the rate is even lower when alcohol or drugs are factored in
according to the authors. The study by Wolitzky-Taylor et al. (2011) revealed that forcible
sexual assault is reported at a rate 6.77 times higher than incidents that occurred while the
survivor was under the influence of alcohol or drugs (p.5).

Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Social Ecology Theoretical Framework
When examining a phenomenon such as sexual assault, a solid theoretical foundation is
necessary to ground the research. Thus, given the multi-layered facets of survivors, bystanders,
offenders, the university climate, and culture in examining sexual assault it is appropriate to use
Bronfenbrenner’s Social Ecology theory. This section highlights how a social ecology theory is
interconnected to not only the student, but also to the larger societal conditions that affect
conditions such as rape myth acceptance, institutional response, and university social services.
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 52
Figure 1.
Bronfenbrenner’s Social Ecology Theory
Bronfenbrenner proposes that there are interrelated systems or forces that shape the growth
of an individual. At the center of the series of concentric circles is the student, with the other
forces radiating outwards and influencing the student on many levels. The Macrosystem is an
overarching force that affects all, but within the smaller concentric circles of the model are the
student’s family and friends who may only affect the student at the microsystem level. For the
purposes of this study, the macrosystem (laws, social conditions, culture) affect how the response
to sexual assault is formed. Specific laws may or may not help the survivor of sexual assault
while societal attitudes contribute to victim blaming and acceptance of rape myths. The
microsystem is crucial as it contains the survivor’s peer group, family, and school. The
exosystem falls between the larger macrosystem and the smaller microsystem. The exosystem
contains the support system (university sexual assault center) for mental health, support, and
recovery and can be affected by the macrosystem in the form of culture and ideology. The
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 53
microsystem also affects the exosystem and the factors can often travel between systems. The
individual lies within the final concentric circle of the model. Each system brings with it specific
areas that affect both the student and the culture. Below is a synopsis of each system within the
social ecology framework.
Microsystem – This pertains to relationships with direct contact to the individual, the
immediate environment in which a person is operating, such as the family, classroom, peer
group, and neighborhood.
Mesosystem – The connection between relationships of person’s interaction of two
microsystem environments, such as the connection between a person’s home and school, Home
system ! " School system.
Exosystem - Structures in which the person does not have direct contact with the
environment, which is external to his or her experience, but nonetheless affects him or her. For
example, the parent’s workplace. Although a student may never have any role in the parent’s
workplace, the events, which occur at the parent’s place of employment, do affect the student.
For example, if the parent has a bad day at work, or is laid off, or promoted, or has to work
overtime, all of these events impact the family and the student.
Macrosystem – This relates to the cultural context, including issues of cultural values and
expectations such as the formation of rape myths or ideas about sexual assault survivors.
When all of these different systems are incorporated into the evaluation process one gets a
very robust amount of information that is critical to help peel apart the layers of complexity a
problem like sexual assault involves. Bronfenbrenner himself notes that nested variables are an
important part of analyzing interactions using a social ecology model, but that one must also
consider the relationship of time between the systems. Banyard (2011) calls the interaction of
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 54
time and the variables necessary as behavior tends to change over time and growth and
development certainly affects the interaction of the systems. In order to fully consider the
individual and the community in the context of sexual assault prevention programs, behavior,
adaptions, and resources that change over time are all important aspects of program design.

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 55
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
Sexual assault is still a problem on college campuses despite existing laws, policies,
prevention programs, and statutes that target sexual assault. This study examined a college
campus to complete a case study on best practices in sexual assault prevention programs aimed
at men and to identify strategies used to reduce incidents of sexual assault. First, the study
looked at the best practices of the university in preventing or reducing incidents of sexual assault.
The study examined the specific programs that the university used to inform and educate their
students, particularly male students, about sexual assault. Secondly, the study examined the
perceptions of staff and administrators at the university and their attitudes towards the programs
and the campus culture and climate. Third, the study considered the systems and structures that
the university used to create an anti-sexual assault climate. For instance, how staff felt about the
amount of funding allocated to the resource center and how the center was staffed by university
personnel. The conceptual model developed by the thematic group shows structures (on the left
of the model) that affect the campus culture and climate. The interviews asked staff members
how they felt they were supported by funding, policies, staffing, and professional development.
This chapter provides an outline of the research methodology, describes the sample size
and sample population, and connects the original theoretical framework to the methodology.
Chapter 3 also presents the instrumentation used to collect data and explains the data collection
procedures. Lastly, a format for data analysis is provided, coupled with ethical considerations
that ensure the safety and confidentiality of the volunteer participants in the study.

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 56
Research Questions
The following research questions will guide this study:
1. What programs are in place to create an anti-sexual assault culture?
2. What are the perceptions of staff and administrators who present these programs?
3. What systems and structures exist that contribute to an overall anti-sexual assault
culture?
The research questions have three aims. They seek to understand what programs are in place to
create a positive anti-sexual assault culture and how those programs are perceived by staff that
present them, and finally how the university sustains the changes in perceptions.
Qualitative Methods
Merriam (2009) notes that qualitative researchers are “interested in understanding how
people interpret their experiences, how they construct their worlds, and what meaning they
attribute to their experiences” (p. 5). This dissertation seeks to examine just that from the
perspective of student, administrators, and staff responsible for delivering the programs, and
others who may be involved with creating and sustaining an anti-sexual assault culture. The
research focuses on student experiences with sexual assault and their perceptions of the existing
programs. The dissertation aims for a product that is “richly descriptive” (Merriam, 2009 p.16).
In other words, the purpose of the study is to “show” the reader rather than simply “tell” them
about sexual assault in higher education. For instance, as part of the interviews, the researcher
used an interview protocol that asked participants open-ended questions. One of the questions
asks about their experience at the school, which allows the person to reply with their own
experiences, paradigms, and lens of the university. Each interviewee had different responses to
this questions that allowed the study to give a more detailed description of the culture and
climate of the university. In fact, many of the questions in the interview protocol are open ended
so that all interviews had a different direction than the others.
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 57
As a qualitative case study, interviews give the researcher understanding about the goals of
the person being interviewed as well as his/her perceptions (Maxwell, 2012). The interview
protocol for this study was developed by a thematic group and is designed specifically to ask
respondents about specific events at the university. Each interviewee had completely different
experiences at the university, so asking about specific events at the university allowed the
researcher to gain multiple views, perspectives, and narratives about the university.
Observations at the university gave the study the ability to see behaviors of the participants
and gain some information from the context of the observations. Each observation gave the
researcher different context and different participants from which to develop data about the
programs that the university uses. As an example, one program focused on residential advisors
and their role in the prevention of sexual assault, their role in the reporting process, and how they
could intervene in situations. However, another program had a different set of advisors and a
different presenter, so the data gained was unique for each observation. In addition, one of the
observations was for a freshman orientation, so the data for that observation was much different
from the data for residential advisors who were graduate students and older than the orientation
group.
Sample and Population
Triangulation is important to the internal validity of any qualitative research (Merriam,
2009 p.215). Thus, interviews, observations, and document analysis were used in this study.
The interviews in this study were conducted with students, administrators at the university, and
staff who were responsible for some of the sexual assault prevention programs that the university
had in place. The interview questions (Appendix B) begin quite broadly with some general
information, and then they focus upon the programs present at the university. For instance, the
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 58
first question asks about the role of the interviewee at the university. Then, the questions address
specific programs, policies, and outcomes. The questions further ask about how the policies and
programs are used and how the stakeholders are involved in the implementation of the programs.
The observations at the university are important because they allow for the study of the
specifics of the anti-sexual assault programs as they are delivered to their intended audience. As
Merriam (2009) notes, the word “documents” is an umbrella word that can cover a variety of
sources other than observations and interviews. For this study, documents were both written
policies, Internet information available about the university, and visual material presented in the
sexual assault prevention programs. The study reviewed university policy, state law, crime
reporting data, program curriculum, videos shown to students, photographs, social media, and
student handbooks.
The university chosen for the study has multiple programs available for students. It is a
four-year public bachelor's degree granting institution located in Southern California. The
university has an undergraduate enrollment of just over 35,000 students.
1
The university also
has 5500 graduate students and a medical school. The university employs approximately 7,500
faculty and staff, excluding the medical center. The medical center employs approximately
4,000 teaching faculty and staff.
Within the structure of the university, its colleges, and the university administration, there
is an LGBT center whose stated mission is to help students discover their sexual identities. The
university also has a Women’s Center, which is for all students, but has a mission of supporting
gender issues at the university. The university also has a center that provides resources to
students who have been sexually assaulted. The center also engages in programs and workshops

1
All institutional data was from the National Center for Education Statistics
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 59
and gives students a single location to have their questions answered, take advantage or services,
or report a crime to law enforcement.
The sexual assault center has a series of programs that have a variety of themes. One
program covers internet safety while another is specific to text messaging and “sexting.” Several
of the programs are designed just for students, but some programs are dual-purpose and are for
both students and staff. The dual-purpose programs differ slightly depending upon the audience.
The program for students covers individual actions while the program for staff centers upon
duties and obligations to the university and the student.

Determination of Study Site location
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) was used to search for universities in
a particular geographical area within 100 miles of a specific zip code, to create parameters such
as undergraduate population of the university and to determine whether the university was
private, public, or non-profit. The search was only for four-year bachelor’s degree granting
institutions.
After restricting the type of education, the location, and the format of the education, 68
institutions remained. For a rich study to occur with enough qualitative data, Merriam (2009)
recommends that the researcher sample enough participants until “saturation or redundancy”
occurs (p.80). This means the researcher should search until s/he discovers there is no new data
or information that is developed. Therefore, a reasonable sample size to achieve redundancy was
estimated at approximately 1000 undergraduate students. On campus housing (dorms, fraternity
houses, student-athlete housing) was an important factor in considering sexual assault on
campuses. With this restriction, 31 institutions remained.
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 60
After the initial restrictions and the reduction to 31 institutions, the internet was used to
determine the resources that each university uses to prevent sexual assault on campus. This is a
study to examine best practices, so an internet search for those best practices as identified in the
literature review reduced the number of institutions to ten. Recruitment letters were sent to those
ten institutions to provide an overview of the study, the purpose behind it, and the methods of the
study. Three institutions responded to the recruitment letters and one was selected as the study
site.
Overview of the Participants
The researcher used purposeful sampling to select the participants. For this study, the
researcher chose to select three staff members in the sexual assault center, the housing director of
the university, the director of student health, a nurse practitioner in student health who has had
experience with sexual assault survivors, the director of the university LGBT center, and the
director of the sexual assault center in order to answer the research questions about the programs
that the university presented as well as the systems and structures that were in place to support
those programs. The participants had varying levels of experience and participation in the
programs, but all were full-time staff employees of the university and had backgrounds and
education that gave them an appropriate level of experience to develop anti-sexual assault
programs.
In addition to the staff members, the researcher interviewed two staff members who were
responsible for presenting the programs. These participants were students at the university and
had other university responsibilities such as being residential advisors or research assistants.
They were chosen for the study because of their interest and involvement in presenting these
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 61
types of programs. These participants also referred two other students who expressed interest in
becoming part of the sexual assault programs and the center.

Instrumentation
Instrumentation for the study included a semi-structured interview with volunteer
participants; observations of sexual assault prevention programming, and a survey of some
participants. The interview protocols (Appendix B) were developed by the thematic group and
allowed for participant response, probing questions, and follow-up questions. Merriam (2009)
notes that the result of a qualitative study should be “richly descriptive.” The use of follow-up
and probing questions gives the study that quality.
When examining a phenomenon such as sexual assault, a solid theoretical foundation is
necessary to ground the research. Thus, given the multi-layered facets of survivors, bystanders,
offenders, the university culture and climate in examining sexual assault it is appropriate to use
Bronfenbrenner’s Social Ecology theory.

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 62

Figure 1, Bronfenbrenner’s Social Ecology Theory
Bronfenbrenner proposes that there are interrelated systems or forces that shape the growth
of an individual. At the center of the series of concentric circles is the student, with the other
forces radiating outwards and influencing the student on many levels. The Macrosystem is an
overarching force that affects all, but within the smaller concentric circles of the model are the
student’s family and friends who may only affect the student at the microsystem level. For the
purposes of this study, the macrosystem (laws, social conditions, culture) affect how the response
to sexual assault is formed. Specific laws may or may not help the survivor of sexual assault
while societal attitudes contribute to victim blaming and acceptance of rape myths. The
microsystem is crucial as it contains the survivor’s peer group, family, and school. The
exosystem falls between the larger macrosystem and the smaller microsystem. The exosystem
contains the support system (university sexual assault center) for mental health, support, and
recovery and can be affected by the macrosystem in the form of culture and ideology. The
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 63
microsystem also affects the exosystem and the factors can often travel between systems. The
individual lies within the final concentric circle of the model.
The following table shows how the research questions were used along with the various
sources from which the study drew its data.
Table 1
Research Design Chart

Research
Questions
Data Needs Data Sources Instrumentation Interview Questions
What programs
are in place to
create an anti-
sexual assault
culture?

Policies, crime
reporting data
(Clery Act
Reports), interview
results (student’s
perceptions,
experiences,
survivor
experiences and
perceptions,
administrator’s
experience,
administrator’s
perceptions,
overview of
university
climate/culture,
survey results,
Documents,
interviews
(students,
administrators,
student affairs
professionals,
victims,
bystanders)
surveys.
Content analysis and
use of Creswell’s
data analysis model.
1. Explain the basics of the anti-
rape/sexual assault efforts your
institution has in place
a. What policies and
preventive measures does
your school have in place to
prevent sexual assault?
b. What other factors
influence your school’s
anti- rape/sexual assault
efforts?
c. Have these efforts changed?
If so, how?
2. What type of training is provided
to the staff to identify and prevent
sexual assault/rape?
a. What offices or staff is
involved in anti-
rape/sexual assault
intervention training?
b. How prepared do you feel
to handle rape/sexual
assault?
c. How prepared does your
staff feel in relation to
rape/sexual assault?
3. How are other stakeholders
involved in anti- rape/sexual
assault efforts?

What systems
and structures
exist that
contribute to an
overall anti-
sexual assault
culture?

School climate
surveys, reporting
data, gap specific
information such
as motivation,
attributions, and
knowledge.
Documents,
interviews
(students,
administrators,
student affairs
professionals,
victims,
bystanders)
surveys.
Gap Analysis and
analysis using
Bronfenbrenner
social ecology
theory
4. What is the process that occurs
when there is a sexual
assault/rape?
5. What data do you use to evaluate
your school’s anti- rape/sexual
assault efforts?
a. How is the data used to
sustain and improve the
efforts?
6. How are faculty, staff and
administrators involved in anti-
rape/sexual assault efforts?
7. How are students involved in anti-
rape/sexual assault efforts?
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 64

Data Collection
Several methods of data collection were used to provide accurate triangulation to ensure
the findings are reliable and valid, and to provide the “richly descriptive” results that Merriam
(2009) asserts should result from a qualitative study. The researcher used semi-structured
interviews with all of the interviews, observations of sexual assault prevention programs and
seminars presented to some groups on campus. Additionally, the researcher used document
analysis through the examination of the university’s policies, program curricula, Clery Act
reports, and other artifacts such as posters or flyers announcing the prevention programs.
All interviews were 45 minutes to one hour long. The interviews were recorded and
transcribed to accurately capture the responses. Once the transcription was complete, the results
were coded using HyperResearch so that the data could be analyzed accurately and applied to the
theoretical model.
Data Analysis
The purpose of the research questions, which were carefully designed, is to gain enough
data from the sources to answer those questions. Once all of the data is collected and coded,
themes from the observations and the interviews will be identified. The themes will be coded
Table 1, Continued

What are the
perceptions of
staff and
administrators
who present
these programs?

Descriptive
narratives
developed from
interviews of
multiple sources
and from
observations.
Staff, administrator
interviews.
Observations of
sexual assault
prevention
programs.
Semi-structured
interview and
observation protocol.
8. What is your role in this
institution?
9. What is your experience at this
institution?
10. How do you feel about the culture
and climate of the institution?
11. What is your role or your
involvement in anti-rape/sexual
assault programs at your
institution?
12. What was the driving force behind
the start of the anti- rape/sexual
assault efforts?
13. Tell me about the instances of
sexual assault at your school.
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 65
using HyperResearch through an analysis process. By coding the interviews, the researcher can
identify pieces of the data that seem particularly important. The pieces of the interviews will
then be sorted into categories or topics. Coding data is simply assigning a “code” to a piece of
data that allows for easier retrieval later in the study. Once analyzed, a response and others
coded under the same category become part of a frequency table that presents the number of
times the code was used, the mean, a standard deviation, and a visual chart that shows the codes
and how many times they appear. The researcher is then able to link the theoretical model with
the prevalence of certain codes and themes.
The process of analysis was a thematic group decision and Creswell’s (2003) six-step
model for analyzing data was selected. Figure 2 illustrates Creswell’s model.

Figure 2. Creswell’s (2003) Model for Qualitative Data Analysis
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 66
Conceptual Framework
Sexual assault prevention remains a multi-pronged issue that has many often-interrelated
factors. As discussed in chapter two, there are many layers such as rape myth acceptance, anti-
sexual assault programs, and societal notions of masculinity that lead to an overall university
culture and climate that can be either hostile or supportive to sexual assault survivors. The
following conceptual framework illustrates how varied factors can affect a university-wide anti-
sexual assault culture.

Figure 3. Conceptual Framework. Ed.D. Thematic Group, 2013
Stakeholders
Funding
Policies
What schools do with
Systems &
Structures
School-wide
anti-sexual assault culture
Staffing
Professional
Development
Sustainability and leadership
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 67
Ethical Considerations
This study contained in-depth interviews and observations that provided rich data for later
analysis. With that in mind, all procedures for ethical conduct by the university’s Institutional
Review Board (IRB) were stringently followed. The IRB reviewed each procedure, interview
protocol question, observation protocol questions, data collection method, and the potential
participants. In addition, since this is a case study of another university, that university’s IRB
granted approval along with USC’s IRB. Participation in the study was voluntary and the
participants could withdraw at any time without any negative consequences.
In-person interviews about sexual assault could be difficult at best, so each participant had
their identity carefully concealed. Pseudonyms for both the university and the individual
participant were used to protect their identity. Moreover, all of the data gained from the
observations, interviews, and surveys were maintained in a locked secure location.
Summary
This chapter presented an overview of a qualitative method using a case study. It also
provided a framework and a conceptual model for data analysis. Chapter 4 describes the
findings of the study by presenting the analysis of the data organized according to themes. The
findings of the data collection are reviewed and correlated to the purpose of the study.

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 68
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS
Chapter 4 presents results from a case study of a university by identifying the systems
and structures that are perceived to contribute to an anti-sexual assault climate and culture. It
presents the result of nine interviews with staff members at Citrus-Arrow University. Table 2
(Description of interviewees and positions held) in this chapter illustrates where each interviewee
works and how long they have worked at the university.
The historical context of the university is presented which establishes the negative culture
and climate that the university experienced as recently as 2010. From the historical context, the
chapter then presents the themes that emerged from the interviews. The chapter is presented in a
series of themes that align with the research questions. Research question one examined the
programs that were in place and the following themes emerged; a) University and federal
government policies; b) Bystander engagement and social norming. Research question two
examines the perceptions of staff and administrators who presented these programs and the two
themes that became apparent were a) culture and climate of the university. Lastly, research
question three considered the systems and structures that were in place to contribute to an anti-
sexual assault culture and climate. From that research question, the last three themes are; a)
collaboration, fostering relationships, and consistent message.
The chapter also presents the results of on campus observations. For instance, the
locations of some of the buildings and their identification are of interest and helps answer some
of the research questions. Additionally, observations of student orientations and parent
orientations reflect the programs that the university has chosen, but also illustrates some of the
limitations of the programs and the funding that the university provides to the sexual assault
center.
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 69
The chapter also describes and quotes some of the responses from the interviewees
during interviews. Their quotes and their responses to the interview protocol established the
themes that answered the research questions. For instance, once the interviews were transcribed,
the responses were coded and then sorted into the distinct themes. The interviewees own
responses helped develop the themes once the interviews were coded using coding software.
Table 2 describes the staff members who participated in the interviews and their positions at the
university.
Table 2
Participants
Interviewee (Identified by
pseudonym initials only)
Position Held
Number of years in Position
at Citrus-Arrow
Judith Assistant Director of Housing 16
Mary
Sexual Assault Center
Director
25
Ashley
Staff member at sexual assault
center
3
Rachel Director of Student Health 5
Brian LGBT Center Director 12
Christine
Nurse – Women’s Health
Center
25
Pam Director of Women’s Center 8
Kate
Assistant director of Sexual
Assault Center
6
Edward University Police - Detective 4

The chapter is organized to provide qualitative data to support each theme that emerged
from the interviews.
Research Questions
To examine the promising practices at Citrus-Arrow University, this study aimed to
answer the following research questions:
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 70
1. What programs are in place to create an anti-sexual assault culture?
2. What are the perceptions of staff and administrators who present these programs?
3. What systems and structures exist that contribute to an overall anti-sexual assault
culture?
In addition to the research questions, an interview protocol and observation protocol were
used to guide both interviews and observations, which were used to triangulate the data analysis
and the findings. Data collection was through interviews, referrals from some interviewees, and
observations of orientations of both students and parents. The findings are presented in direct
relation to the research questions and are followed by a detailed analysis and discussion.

Results
Historical Context of the University
The university has undergone a period of change over the last three years. In 2010, a
student group held an event that mocked racial and ethnic stereotypes and led to a campus
climate where minority students did not feel welcome. Shortly after that racial incident, a
hangman’s noose was found in the main library of the university. Messages were sent to student
groups threatening to distribute more nooses throughout the campus. However, as far back as
1992, the campus was experiencing what Brian, the director of the LGBT Center called “micro
aggression” towards the LGBT community. In 1993, LGBT students were asking for an LGBT
center on campus. The university created an LGBT center and director position, but left it
unfunded and forced the director to report to the director of human resources instead of to the
university dean of student affairs where the director felt that he would be able to help the most
students. Moreover, after the publicized racial incidents in 2010, the university president made
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 71
substantial changes by creating centers for students of a variety of orientations so that they could
find support and a safe place to study. The centers began to focus on issues of discrimination
towards their unique student population and even advocate for the groups. The racial incidents,
which were made public, forced the leadership to make decisions to try to shift the university
culture and climate.

The Interviews
Mary is a staff member in student affairs at the university and has held her position for
over 25 years. Mary is in charge of the center that creates anti sexual assault programming and
they provide clinical support for sexual assault survivors. Citrus–Arrow University has 35,000
students and nearly 11,000 staff members. For that population, Mary’s center has two other full-
time staff members and one part-time employee. In 2013, the staff at the sexual assault center
wrote a grant that gave their office the ability to remain fully funded for another two years. In
the absence of the additional grant funding, Mary believes that she would have to lay off at least
one staff member if not two. Traditionally the center has had to make do with a smaller budget
than other similarly sized offices on campus. In fact, until a new university president took over
last year, the former president wanted to cut the center’s staff to two full-time members.
The importance of fostering relationships and promoting collaboration at the university
became apparent as soon as the interview began. Mary noted in her interview, “-- So it's just
relationship building and random conversations.” She noted that because of her tenure at the
university, she knows many people and is able to have conversations with nearly anyone on
campus. She referenced a chance encounter with a staff member from an area where Mary’s
center was unable to make presentations for some reason. While Mary was waiting for an
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 72
elevator and she began to talk to the staff member of one of the colleges, explain the role of the
center and was able to secure an invitation to present a program to the students in that college.
Mary’s ability to secure an invitation to present a program based simply on a casual
conversation whole waiting for an elevator suggests that there are positive things happening at
Citrus-Arrow University that have little to do with the type of programs chosen, how they are
presented, and who presents the programs. As discussed later in the chapter under the culture
and climate finding, the success that Citrus-Arrow University has had with sexual assault
prevention programs has less to do with the type of program chosen and everything to do with
the systems and structures that are in place to sustain their anti-sexual assault culture and climate.

Policies
Under the Clery Act, higher education institutions have to report crimes and keep the
students informed. Universities risk fines and other sanctions when they do not have transparent
reporting, do not use sexual assault prevention programs, or do not use due diligence in
investigating reports of sexual assault. The importance of policies was discovered during
interviews when the interviewees responded to questions about training, programming, and their
individual roles in sexual assault prevention programs.
Mary says that the Clery Act guides the actions that the university takes. While Mary
calls her program proactive and does not particularly fear the ramifications of not following the
Clery Act, she does mention that the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR)
is fining universities $32,000.00 per criminal incident where the university does not follow the
letter of the law. As she stated, “We don’t want to be another number in the OCR list of
complaints against universities.”
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 73
Many organizations at Citrus-Arrow University are involved, to some degree, in sexual
assault programming and reporting. Eight separate offices had at least some part in providing
programs, investigating sexual assault, or providing services to survivors after an incident.
While the university does not have a universal policy that guides how the eight offices can work
together to handle a sexual assault, each office appears to work toward a universal goal. For
instance, Mary’s office provides all of the training for resident advisors at the university and they
have established specific learning outcomes for the training. In contrast, the director of the
LGBT center has students who work in the center, but Brian says that the university does not
offer any formal training to the interns to help them identify an incident if reported to them.
When asked about training, he replied, “Our only intentional programming is during sexual
assault awareness month.” Brian further noted that if an “issue bubbles up,” then the staff brings
it to his attention and the staff may discuss those issues with the interns. Brian also said that the
LGBT center does not offer any sexual assault prevention training for students who identify as
LGBT.
Similarly, the police department at Citrus-Arrow University does not offer any training to
specific groups at the university. Edward is a detective with the university and he is responsible
for sex crimes. He has been a detective for four years and with the police department for nearly
eight years. His office provides self-defense training for students who wish to learn about
resisting an aggressive attacker or recognize the dangers of alcohol binge drinking. Although
most sexual assaults are committed by persons known to the survivor (Center for Disease
Control, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention,
2012), the myth of the stranger assaulting females pervades. One of the observations conducted
for this study was a new student parent orientation. Most of the speakers at the orientation
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 74
covered health insurance and related topics, but Mary was a featured speaker and she spoke
about services that the sexual assault center provides for students. However, many of the
questions she answered were about the number of police officers present on campus, the security
at the dorms, and whether a student could carry pepper spray on campus. Mary attempted to
inform parents about the use of alcohol and refuted the notion of stranger assaults, but had to
return to the subject of campus safety. At the end of the session, a parent stood up and identified
himself as a former police officer who handled sexual assaults. His last statement to the parents
was to tell their students to “fight back with everything they had and to yell and scream.”
Because the orientation ended after that statement, Mary did not have an opportunity to respond.
The police department does not consult with the sexual assault center on what type of
training may be more effective for students, nor are they guided by the university leadership,
instead they offer the training because their chief of police has directed officers to do so in
response to inquiries from parents and students. In fact, Edward made reference to a shrinking
budget at the university by saying, “I know we want to continue training, but the problem is
money. That's what you run across is, we don't have the money. We don't have a grant,” and as a
result, the police department is consistently short-staffed and unable to do much more than
respond to calls for service and offer limited training. He further noted that even taking an initial
call a sexual assault that has occurred might be problematic. The police department has four
female officers, so if a survivor of a sexual assault wishes to only speak to a female officer, the
university police department may have to ask the local city police department to send a female
officer if one is on duty.
Despite the limitations of the police department and their policies, Mary and other staff
who were interviewed had positive comments to make about the ability of the department to
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 75
collaborate with other organizations on campus. Mary noted that she feels supported by the
police department. “I feel that we are really strongly supported, and that they see it as part of
their work. It's not just our work. I think they see it as part of all of their work.” She
highlighted the collaboration and the consistent messaging by the police department but also
notes that they are a great resource not only for the sexual assault center staff, but also for
students who wish to find information about self-defense training or report a sexual assault.
Christine is a nurse with student health who specializes in birth control, and her patients
are exclusively female students. She has been in the field for 25 years and has been at Citrus-
Arrow University for much of that time. Christine related that one of the more valuable policies
that the university has in place is the distribution method of birth control pills, condoms, and
morning after pills. She reported, “In the real world, it's behind the counter, so it includes a
pharmacy consultative visit, and a lot of pharmacies charge for that, so the price is about $40 or
$50 to access Plan B or Next Choice or whatever the brand name is.” However, at Citrus-Arrow,
the university provides the appropriate pills on request without counseling. As Christine says,
“here, we're only going to charge the student for the cost of the drug. They're not going to get a
pharmacy counseling fee, so that's nice, and they can have it in advance. They can just always
have some available.” Christine remarked that this policy of the university supports the female
students without making them feel like they have to undergo judgment and undue examination
before finding a birth control option.

Bystander Engagement and Social Norming
Some programs used by universities promote bystander engagement and social norming.
Bystander engagement programs take existing perceptions and widely held beliefs about sexual
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 76
assault and changes them. Programs refocus ideas of sexual assault of women as simple sex
between two people and redefines sexual assault as a crime of violence, not sex. By changing
the beliefs of students, the programs create empathy towards survivors and promote engaged
bystanders to take action. This theme highlights the reservations that staff has about some of the
programs. In addition, this section illustrates how the university adapts some programs to meet
their needs when budgets are smaller than expected, and when the sexual assault center has three
staff members to serve a student population of 35,000.
Not all programs are perceived as appropriate for students at Citrus-Arrow University.
Foubert’s (2005) program is a bystander engagement program, but Mary, director of the sexual
assault center, which chooses anti-sexual assault programs had concerns about the program and
its transferability. Citrus-Arrow still wanted to use bystander engagement, but because of
Mary’s concerns, the university used a different approach. Foubert’s (2005) program has been
used widely in university settings with good results, but Mary believed that the material that
depicts two males raping another male might be too intense for some college students. She
noted, “I have some reservations about their program. I think that they use some scare tactics
and some stranger tactics with the film that they use.” Additionally, Foubert’s program is
designed for all male audiences. Research shows that men become defensive and unwilling to
participate in sexual assault prevention programs when the audience is mixed gender (Foubert &
Marriott, 1996; Rich, Utley, Janke, & Moldoveanu, 2010). Mary relates that while Foubert’s
The Men’s Program could be of some use, “…they work with 100% male audiences, and we’ve
never had a 100% male audience, except with the fraternities, but we haven’t had male
presenters either.”
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 77
The only audience that the sexual assault center does have is the mixed gender audience
at new student orientation. The staff at the sexual assault center uses programs at orientation that
empower students to become engaged bystanders in the event they feel as if another student is in
danger of becoming a victim of sexual assault. Bystander engagement promotes the idea that
anyone can prevent sexual assault by stepping in at the right moment and taking action. For
instance, a student who sees a female being given drinks and coerced by a male to go back to his
dorm room alone may be able to step in and offer the female a ride back to her room. Or, a
student may see a group of men harassing a lone female and he may decide to tell the men to
leave her alone. Bystander engagement has many scenarios, but the general idea is that each
student feels empowered to stop a potential sexual assault. Citrus-Arrow University has chosen
to use “The Real World” to promote social norming and bystander engagement. The Real World
uses students to model potential sexual situations with possible outcomes depending upon the
direction the student takes. One skit has students preparing to go to a party and the female
students have made a plan of action that includes not leaving any of their group behind at the
party. Once the group gets to the party, one member drinks too much and is soon being coerced
to go back to a male’s dorm room. The remaining female group members rally around the
drunken girl and take her back to her dorm room. This skit and the others like it promote the
notion of bystander engagement by modeling the female undergraduate’s actions. Another skit
deals with two students who are dating and how the female handles sexual texting or sexting by
her boyfriend. Yet another skit is about the intersection of alcohol use and sex. Although the
skits are well received by the students who seemed to enjoy participating and watching, the staff
members presenting the program have no more than 20 minutes in which to expose the students
to social norming, bystander engagement, and the services that the sexual assault center offers.
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 78
The orientation for students is an all-day activity and students walk through campus with
their orientation leaders and participate in a variety of activities. This part of the orientation was
focused around the diversity of the undergraduate class, how diversity enhances their education,
and how the students can take advantage of the recreation that the university and the region has
to offer. It lasted two hours and the sexual assault center staff was given 20 minutes of those two
hours to present bystander engagement and give an overview of the sexual assault center.
Brian the director of the university LGBT center has been in his position for 12 years. He
was appointed the director after some of the racial incidents occurred. Brian discussed the
training that the sexual assault center gives to interns as well as the programming that
undergraduates receive. He remarked that the programming and training are “grounded in a
culturally competent way of training it…” Brian followed that up by comparing the needs of the
LGBT community with the needs of other undergraduates. He felt that each community at
Citrus-Arrow had unique needs and that anti-sexual assault programs should not be a template
program that was one-size fits all. Brian used an example to demonstrate that each community
had different needs. He noted that in the LGBT community that one of the real fears amongst
students was the fear or threat of being outed before a student was ready to publicly identify
themselves as LGBT. This threat of outing a LGBT student is something that other communities
need not worry about. He further noted that each community of students has different needs;
hence, the need to provide bystander engagement training that is grounded in culturally
competent pedagogy. Brian’s remarks are similar to Mary’s in that both believe that Citrus-
Arrow University has a climate and culture that is its own, which requires a very specific type of
social norming and bystander engagement.
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 79
Pam, the director of the Women’s center at Citrus-Arrow University has been at the
university for 8 years. She was the assistant director for 7 years and was recently promoted to
the director position when the previous director left he position. Pam described the type of
programming that seems to have the best results at Citrus-Arrow. She stated:
A mixture of discussion and passive programing is usually how we try to draw discussion
around different myths around sexual assault, and hopefully through that, counter the
myths, challenge them and get students, particularly students to think about sexual assault
in different ways both so that they can be mindful of their own experiences, but also in
how they relate with one another and can be supportive of folks.
Pam indirectly repeats what Mary and Brian have said in that Citrus-Arrow University
has a need for anti-sexual assault training, but that template programs such as Foubert’s may not
be transferable to this demographic of student. While the goal is the same, Pam, Brian, and
Mary know that this student population responds better to programs that are tailored more
closely to their needs instead of the more typical template programs.
The literature review suggested that for sexual assault prevention programs to be
effective, they must have single gender audiences. Moreover, the presenters should be close in
age to the students, and that there must be follow-up sessions scheduled at regular intervals.
Citrus-Arrow University, however, has taken two of the programs and adapted them to suit their
needs. Mary agreed in her interviews that The Men’s Program has some utility, but her
reservations about exposing young students to an aggressive program stopped the university
from implementing the program. Instead, Mary and the staff used other opportunities at new
student orientations to promote bystander engagement and social norming. Although the
university deviated from the programming that was in the review of the literature, they made use
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 80
of their available opportunities, staff, and time to present a program that they feel is effective
without any of the concerns that Mary has about the intensity of other programs.

The Cost of Social Norming
Social norms are simply the idea held by students about what is acceptable in a social
context. For instance, at Citrus-Arrow, the Real World skits at orientation show the students
how to handle drinking, sexting, and sexual situations at parties. Poster campaigns model
behavior in social contexts that is acceptable. For example, one poster (Appendix E) shows what
might be a typical undergraduate who is taking a female friend of his home because he did not
want to leave her alone with a male who was trying to coerce her to have sex. Other poster
campaigns promote similar ideas and multiple scenarios. Citrus-Arrow University has
limitations that they have to face in considering the types of programs that they use and then the
method of using social norming. This section discusses the use of social norming at the
university, the limitations that the university faces, and finally, how the university adapted social
norming to suit their needs and fit within budget and personnel constraints.
Citrus-Arrow University has six autonomous colleges with their own academic structure
from a college dean, provost, residence halls, and other structures that create a more
decentralized university than similarly sized institutions. Mary and her staff have to work with
six bureaucracies to introduce their programs and influence to the students. Mary believed that
poster campaigns (social norming) were a more effective manner in which to affect student
attitudes. However, she had reservations about the cost of a campaign. Her office had three full-
time staff and recently, the university president’s office reduced her funding and staffing. When
asked about the use of poster campaigns and their cost, Mary asserted:
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“…as large as our campus is, that means you need many more posters. Then it starts [to]
cost --- and you have to have posters that are really appealing, and so we start saying,
okay, we don’t have that grant to give us the money to create our own poster campaign,
so you know what, we’re going to go online. And, we’ve probably gotten more hits
online than possibly our poster campaign would have gotten more feedback. To have a
good poster campaign, you have to keep changing it up weekly, and that means you have
to be ready to go and make like 125 posters. Well, the campus keeps growing, so you
have to change it up to make a new poster look slightly different, so it’s a lot of
production.”

Mary stated that she has several reservations about programs that are available and that
research has proved to be effective. Mary showed a preference to poster campaigns, but made a
relevant point that in an environment where funding and staffing are under scrutiny, perhaps a
poster campaign is too expensive and time intensive to be effective, but having the poster
campaign online might be the best way share the program with the campus community.
Kate, the director of programs for the sexual assault center and has been in her position
for six years. She has experience with similar setting at other universities and has been involved
in outreach since she was an undergraduate student. Kate concurred with Mary’s assessment of
taking programs online to maximize exposure to the students and reduce costs. For instance,
Mary, the director of the center expressed her support for social norming campaigns in her
interviews, but was cautious about using poster campaigns because of the cost associated with
refreshing posters to keep the relevant message new on such a large campus. However, Mary
stated that the center chose to take its message online because of the low cost and the ability to
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reach more students. The center staff was deliberate with their choice of social norming
programs to put online. Ashley, the staff member in charge of monitoring social media for the
center said that one of the programs addresses the need for consent between partners, and that the
center staff:
“…really try to be very positive about our messaging, because we know that if you start
being a Debbie Downer about our topics, which are Debbie Downer topics, you're not
going to reach them, because they'll either shut down and think this doesn't apply to me,
or this is depressing. But trying to engage people and still getting them to understand the
seriousness of the topics while letting them know there are ways to talk about hard issues
in a fun way, in an approachable way that doesn't make them think this is not me.”
Ashley reflected on Foubert’s (2005) assertion that men can become defensive when
confronted about their actions as aggressors in sexual assault. Ashley categorized the
persistently negative messages as “Debbie Downer.” To avoid that type of voice in their online
presence, the center staff uses games, contests, and quizzes that they term “Cute or creepy?”
One scenario is a female student who is texted by a male student over 100 times in an hour. The
students playing the game or taking the quiz get to decide if 100 texts in an hour are either cute
or creepy. The staff hopes that by presenting such behavior as creepy, that students begin to
realize that the behavior is inappropriate and feel empowered to take action to end the behavior.
Kate reflected on the student attitude just three years ago when the staff presented the quiz and
many students felt that the 100 text messages was cute and it showed that their partner cared
about them. Kate says that she believes that the center’s outreach has made a difference and that
most students now describe this behavior as creepy.
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In the new student orientation, Kate and the staff use role-play and a one-act play to
introduce the students to the programs that the center uses. Kate decided to use the center staff
to train orientation leaders (typically upperclassmen who volunteer to orient the new students) to
put on the one-act play and facilitate the programs. The presenters at Citrus-Arrow spend most
of the day with the new students guiding them throughout the campus and answering the
questions. When the play begins, then it is an opportunity for the students to see the
upperclassmen giving social norming cues.
Kate mentioned that the center had limited time in which to present the programs to the
students at orientation. She explained that while there are other opportunities to educate the
students, the orientation is so busy for the new students that the center staff has no more than that
one-act play which lasts about 20 minutes to present a program and inform the students about the
services that the center offers. As she noted, “Real World is (the program that they use to create
bystander engagement) so short that to try to cram all of our brands in there, it would be really
confusing. So, we picked BIT (Bystander Intervention Training or bystander engagement) to be
the one that kind of stands out.” However, Kate also cautioned that because Citrus-Arrow has
used BIT as their main program, some students believe that it is all that they offer. She
recounted training for residential advisors (RA’s) and the small number of requests that they
have had, but discovered that the RA’s believed that the center only offered the BIT training.
However, when Kate provided some outreach to groups on campus and presented all of the
options that the center offers, the center received more requests than they can handle given that
the center has limited staffing and funding.
Kate specifically addressed social norming when she described the center’s efforts to talk
to students about consent. The program that the university uses is called “Dirty Talk.” The staff
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does not shy away from the difficult subject of sexually themed talk amongst students. Instead
of telling the students that they should not talk about sex, the staff discusses the notion of consent
and how a new boyfriend might ask his girlfriend if he can kiss her or do more with her. When
the program was first introduced to the students, Kate reported that the students had a very
clinical idea of what consent looked like between dating couples. Their ideas focused on
legalities such as asking formal permission to kiss someone for a length of time on a particular
body part. Students called this concept of consent a “buzz kill” As Kate said, “if we can all start
practicing asking for consent and respecting when it’s not given, then we can really change the
norm around it.”
The university sexual assault center staff found that social norming was an appropriate
type of program to use for their students and found that students responded well to the various
forms of social norming that they used. For instance, the university talked about consent in
sexual relationships, but adapted their discussion to undergraduates and named the discussion
“dirty talk.” The staff further modified the traditional poster campaign as depicted in appendix E
to meet their needs. There was a concern over cost and placement, so the university used their
resources to create a similar campaign online. Within the limitations of budget, personnel, and
time, the university staff has made social norming and poster campaigns effective, efficient, and
relevant for the students.

Culture and Climate
Another theme that was most frequently cited in interviews was culture and climate. As
defined in the glossary of terms, culture and climate is considered, for this study, as the positive
intersection of both culture and climate. For instance, the university values its LGBT students as
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an important part of a diverse community, which establishes the culture. The climate at the
university is one of acceptance. The intersection of both culture and climate is the term used to
describe a university that values all students, is positive, and supports the work of the sexual
assault center and its programs. The historical context of the university shows that in a relatively
short time, the culture, and climate has changed and how different the university is today as a
result. This section presents the responses from those interviews and presents the observations
of the campus that contribute to the overall culture and climate at Citrus-Arrow.
The university is undergoing a period of change with a new president who has only been
in office for a short time. In addition, the sexual assault center has had to deal with reduced
staffing and reduced funding. Despite those concerns, Mary said, “I feel that we are strongly
supported here and that they [other stakeholders on campus] see it as part of their work.” Mary
further noted that the university has coalition meetings once every quarter and that at least 40
people from the campus community come and attend. She stated that the center only has money
for some snacks for the attendees, but there is a commitment from the community to come to the
meetings to remain informed.
Brian stated that he “values the culture and climate” on campus and that he is proud to be
at the university. He does clarify that his value of the culture and climate comes with a strong
critical analysis of the university, but that he calls himself a “proud citizen of Citrus-Arrow
University.” Brian asserted that he has always been supported in his efforts and that his
expertise in LGBT issues has always been honored at the university. He recognizes that the
university has challenges, but that in his efforts to lead change, he has had the complete support
of the new president. In addition to speaking about the culture and climate of the university,
Brian refers to the culture and climate in the LGBT center as being positive and encouraging. He
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discovered that after collecting data from the students frequenting the center that most of the
students come to be with their peers who understand them. Students have reported that they feel
connected to the resource center.
Pam, the director of the Women’s Center on campus has a similar sentiment about the
culture and climate of the campus. She responded that the center creates a positive campus
climate and is “building community.” Pam felt that the size of the campus with a medical center
and as many separate organizations and institutions on campus creates a bureaucracy that makes
it nearly impossible to create a culture and climate that covers the entire university. She
explained by pointing out that within the spaces of the LGBT center and the Women’s Center,
students feel connected to community, but when they leave those spaces, the campus differs from
location to location. However, Pam pointed out that while there are areas on campus that feel
less inclusive, the culture and climate of the campus as a whole is positive.
One of the observations of this study was an observation of the open spaces on campus.
For instance, the spaces of the LGBT center, the sexual assault center, and the Women’s Center
and other areas of the campus were assessed to see the open spaces, signage for the respective
centers, and other signs that would indicate that the university promoted the centers. The
observation discovered that the LGBT center was in a thicket of eucalyptus trees and was hidden
from view. Brian, the director, noted that the reason the center has a prominently placed rainbow
flag is so students can easily find the center. However, one of the main roadways through the
middle of campus passes right in front of the LGBT center and while there are signs for the
student health center, the main library, and the bookstore, there is no sign that directs students to
the LGBT center. In fact, outside of the immediate area of the LGBT center, there were no
signs, posters, or other indications that the university had such a center. The Women’s Center is
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located in the same physical building as the LGBT center and they had no easily discoverable
signs. The early geography of the campus may have contributed to this issue with the placement
of these centers. Brian related that when he first arrived as an employee of Citrus-Arrow
University, the spaces where the LGBT center and the Women’s Center are located were the
center of campus at the time. However, over time the university needed more space, so the
center of campus moved away from these buildings and became the Fontana Center
(Pseudonym), which has the university bookstore, restaurants, and some of the student
organizations as its tenants. Brian pointed out how the student organizations were at various
points on the campus, but that he did not feel that the LGBT center was in any way minimized as
a presence on campus. He believed that having student organizations and the various campus
centers in different places was a positive for the students because it gave the students more
visibility.
The Fontana Center houses 20 restaurants, 14 student organizations, and seating for over
2000 students at a time. During the observation period, the center was well over capacity with
students, parents, staff, and faculty making use of the facility. However, given the potential for
visibility, the center had one banner from the sexual assault center that was placed approximately
fifty feet above the main seating area. The font used for the banner was not large enough to
make apparent what was being advertised. The center had no signage for the LGBT center or the
Women’s Center. Much of the space was used for advertisement of restaurants and other student
organizations.
The main roadway that cut through the center of campus and led to the university’s
library had flagpoles with banners on them, which highlighted the achievements of former
students. At several points along the walkway, there were kiosks that had that day’s student
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newspaper. There were four kiosks which was also a place for students, organizations, and
vendors to post notices, offers for products, tutoring information, and student organization
activities. There were no notices for the LGBT center, the Women’s Center, or the sexual
assault center. The kiosks gave the university an opportunity to create a space for social norming
posters, posters that encourage bystander engagement, or notices of the services that the sexual
assault center provided. Mary noted that poster campaigns are expensive to maintain particularly
on a large campus like Citrus-Arrow University. She noted that in her experience, a good poster
campaign has to change the actual posters frequently to keep the visuals and the message
relevant. Katz (2013) explored poster campaigns on college campuses and found there were still
unresolved questions about the type of audience reached by posters. For instance, Katz asked if
students who were affected by posters were already willing to become engaged bystanders, and
the posters merely gave them the impetus to do so, or did the poster campaign create a new
generation of informed and engaged student? Ultimately Katz felt that further research was
required. Mary believed that the sexual assault center’s time and efforts were better served by
taking a bystander campaign online. Mary, Ashley, and Kate all pointed out how today’s student
got much of their information from social media via smartphones, so using an online campaign
provides more benefit for less cost although the messaging is consistent with social norming
campaigns that use traditional methods such as posters in residence halls or on kiosks throughout
the university.
Judith is the assistant director of housing at the university. She has a position that she
describes as on the periphery of the sexual assault center and its actions. The housing office may
relocate a sexual assault survivor or assist a married student in the event of a sexual assault by a
spouse by evicting the offending spouse and ensuring that the locks on the housing area are
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changed immediately. Nonetheless, Judith understood how important campus culture and
climate were to the university. She said that what small part she does have in the process makes
her feel that the university operates efficiently. In fact, she called what part the housing office
plays in the overall efforts to combat sexual assault as “empowering.”
As Brian reflected about the culture of the university, he makes note that Mary has
provided stability, guidance, and consistency. He further says that Mary embeds the notion of
inclusiveness in all of her training. Pam remarks that when a student at the Women’s Center
raises a sexual assault issue, she makes it a priority to get the student to Mary and her staff. All
interviewees felt that the university can always improve upon their sexual assault response, but
Mary pointed to the tenure of many of the interviewees as evidence for the positive culture and
climate. She said she has stayed for over 25 years specifically because of the work environment.
Based on the responses, the interviewees value the culture and climate of the university
above all else. The interviewees noted that because of the culture and climate of the university,
there is stability, consistency, and a feeling of pride about the work that they do at the university.
The responses to the interview questions depicted the university as a positive place to work that
has a sense of community. This sense of community and the ability to develop and maintain
relationships creates the culture and climate that encourages and enhances collaboration among
the stakeholders at the university. The choice of the particular sexual assault prevention
programs that the university uses can be considered important, but based upon the evidence from
the interviews, it appears that culture and climate at the university is the major factor that allows
all other sexual assault prevention efforts to proceed.

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Collaboration
Many of the interviewees believed that the collaboration of different student affairs
offices and personnel on the campus were very important to not only the work they do at the
university, but especially to the sexual assault prevention efforts. This theme and this section
presents the ability that the staff have in working across disciplines by collaborating together to
present a consistent anti-sexual assault message to the students at the university. Additionally,
this section presents evidence to show how collaboration occurs to create consistency in
reporting sexual assaults and in responding to reports of sexual assaults.
Rachel is the director of the student health center at the university. She has been in her
position for 5 years and has had 15 years of experience in a similar position at another university.
Rachel noted that there were so many places where a student could “fall through the cracks” and
that Mary was one of the main reasons that the campus had its sexual assault prevention
programs operating in seamless fashion in order not allow any student to fall through the cracks.
In fact, everyone interviewed had positive comments to make about Mary. Mary herself
referenced her ability to work with others and collaborate during her interview. She referred to
seeing a colleague waiting for an elevator where she could ask them questions about their
willingness to have the center staff make presentations to their particular organization. She
noted that her ability to develop relationships like that created more opportunities for the center
to expand its reach throughout the university.
Many of the interviewees mentioned Mary as a force on campus that created positive
relationships between the sexual assault center and other organizations, as a coalition builder,
and as someone who promoted the consistent message of the university. They highlighted
Mary’s ability to create a single voice for the university when a sexual assault incident occurred.
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Referring to Mary, Pam said, “…so if I'm going to grade us, I don't know, I'll give Mary an A+,
because she's her own institution. I mean, she's incredible. Absolutely incredible.” Later she
stated, “…and obviously, Mary has been here a long time, so she's been able to -- So I think that
continuity of having someone really passionate who cares and the continuity of being able to
build that has helped make Citrus-Arrow more successful when it comes to supporting students
who experience assaults.” Rachel referred to the stability of the sexual assault center and their
programs by describing Mary’s ability to develop relationships. She described her ability to
collaborate with many staff members by expressing, “…and I think that that's one of the things
that Mary has worked hard to kind of build those bridges, and they're strong bridges.” Brian
echoed the concept of stability by describing his relationship with Mary; “I've seen it evolve in a
number of ways, but one of the ways that I have really valued in particular to this topic, the
institution, is the stability that Mary has provided and the guidance that Mary has provided over
the years in terms of a focus on sexual violence prevention and how from the very earliest days
of me working here, I have been in partnership with her, that that level of consistency has
provided, I think, an overall ability to have a resource that is trusted, that is reliable, and that I
know is committed to addressing the issues of sexual violence on our campus.” Mary has
created a single voice for Citrus-Arrow University by collaborating across disciplines such as
student health, law enforcement, student services, and even housing. Conversely, some
universities have multiple organizations on campus that can accept a sexual assault report; the
difficulty is that some of these organizations may not communicate with one another, so there is
a lack of vertical teaming and collaboration. For example, at Citrus-Arrow University, the police
department refers sexual assault reports to the sexual assault center and the sexual assault center
reports the sexual assaults that they have reported in the office to the police department. Citrus-
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Arrow University has several reporting locations such as the police department, the sexual
assault center, or the health center. However, Mary has ensured that regardless of the physical
location of the report, staff members know that they have an obligation to funnel the reporting
process through the sexual assault center. Judith, the assistant director of housing described how
Mary integrates housing into the larger university efforts at sexual assault prevention; “Part of
what Mary’s training is that she did with our staff today is to inform people their responsibilities
for Clery reporting.” Christine, the nurse practitioner sums up the presence Mary has on campus
with her statement, “Mary is really like the point person on campus.”
Lastly, Edward, the police department detective is a representative of law enforcement
and he noted that ensuring that the survivor of a sexual assault has an opportunity to meet with
the sexual assault center’s staff is part of his investigatory checklist. To continue to foster that
relationship between the center and law enforcement, Edward reports that he has often been
asked to participate in the sexual assault center’s events and that he continues to work in
collaboration with the sexual assault center instead of independent of the center.
The center’s staff also ensures that they are the sole provider of sexual assault
programing on campus, which ensures that the university has a consistent message to the
students. Kate reported that when she became a staff member, that at least one other
organization on campus was presenting sexual assault programs and defining sexual assault for
the students. As she said, “there’s this trend of everybody thinking they’re a counselor and
everybody thinking they’re an expert [in sexual assault].” In other words, the staff at the sexual
assault center want to ensure that there is consistency with their programs and sexual assault
reporting, so the staff are careful to be specific in outlining the responsibilities of students who
help them present their programs. Mary was careful to make that point in her interview about the
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students who present the programs at the new student orientation by declaring, “They're
presenting programs, and we make sure that they know that they are not baby counselors, and
that when they answer the phone, they know that they need to contact one of the staff. That they
are not to be taking counseling calls.” In the past, her experience was that those students began
to believe that they were counselors of sort because of their limited experience in presenting a
program at orientation. She reported that it was natural for new students to see the orientation
leaders as a trusted first point of contact for students who wished to report a sexual assault
incident. When the student orientation leaders were in those situations, they began to offer
counseling to the reporting students and direct them in their subsequent actions. The consistent
message of the university was beginning to become lost with the varying degree of direction
from those students, so Mary made it clear to the students presenting the programs that they are
not counselors, that they will not take counseling phone calls, and that they will forward those
phone calls to the sexual assault center staff.
Both Brian and Pam, although experts in their field, continued the philosophy of offering
a consistent message to students that they are not counselors and will not take reports of sexual
assault. They both reported that they knew that one of their first duties upon taking a report of a
sexual assault was to refer the student to Mary’s office. Pam noted that she considered her role
in the Women’s Center to be a “connector.” She defined that by saying “…so that's, in my role
at the women's center, my primary experience is being able to kind of be that connector and get
students where they need to be.” Both further noted that the only sexual assault training they
offer to their respective students is through the sexual assault center and Mary’s office.
Christine, a nurse practitioner who handles family planning, medical issues, and student
health found herself as the first point of contact for a sexual assault survivor frequently. As she
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explains, “Through your interview, you find out what's going on in this person's life, and then
that person presents with those concerns during the visit for some -- They came in for some other
reason, birth control, refill, STD screen, and then through the history we find out that something
has happened where they've been sexually assaulted, or maybe they don't even realize it, and
they have and they're in denial, or it comes out.” When Christine established that a sexual
assault did in fact occur, her first action is to call Mary’s office to ensure that a pathway for
reporting and counseling is created.
Citrus-Arrow has many opportunities to offer conflicting information about sexual assault
with offering new student orientations, parent orientations, graduate student orientations, as well
as having a social media presence on Facebook and Twitter. The sexual assault center staff has
become responsible for all of these initiatives and their message remains the same in all forms.
Because the collaboration among organizations at Citrus-Arrow is positive and collegial, which
establishes the overall culture and climate; organizations further the message of the sexual
assault center. The Citrus-Arrow University Facebook site reinforces the message given in new
student orientations by holding interactive “Cute or Creepy” contests with the winners being
prominently featured on the site.
Ashley, one of the staff members at the center is a recent graduate of Citrus-Arrow
University and is younger than the other two staff members. She has more familiarity with
social media and uses it extensively in her personal life, so she has taken on the role of the
center’s social media manager. She manages the center’s Facebook account, responds to
inquiries there, and devises the contests. In addition, she uses Twitter, a micro blogging site that
allows users to send messages of 140 characters or less to users who follow the specific Twitter
user. The center’s Twitter account is disguised as an outspoken and somewhat sarcastic dog that
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goes by “Fido Speaks.” Fido Speaks Tweets out advice and advertises himself as the dog who
shouts out the “do’s and don’ts of the digital world.” He invites users to send him questions.
Citrus-Arrow University has taken several venues for their message and ensured that no
matter the source, the students at the university will hear the same message repeated. While the
center is the main source for anti-sexual assault programming on campus, occasionally one of the
other centers develops an idea that Mary and others feel has some utility. For instance, Pam, the
director of the women’s center noticed that the sexual assault enter was spending time on cyber
stalking, so she and others collaborated with the Mary’s staff, the LGBT center, and the
Women’s center to develop the Gender Buffet. The sexual assault center facilitated Pam’s idea
and brought students from the three organizations together to become involved in activities and
discussions of online identities, and interactions with others online through social media sites.

Summary
Citrus-Arrow University follows all applicable policies that the federal and state
government require them to follow, but more important to Citrus-Arrow than policies is
establishing a positive culture and climate. The students at the university are exposed to social
norming from the first day they are on campus as students. Further, the students are exposed to
programs that encourage them to be engaged bystanders in situations where sexual assault may
occur. The social norming and empowering bystanders programs are facilitated by the overall
culture and climate at the university. All interviews with the participants pointed to the
overriding positive culture and climate at the university and the positive collaboration as the
reason why staff members were able to accomplish their goals with limited resources. For
instance, the sexual assault center has funding issues and operates with only three full-time staff
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members, but because of the culture and climate of collaboration and the relationships that are in
place, the sexual assault center is able to reach students at optimum times. The university has
limitations in the programs that they use and as one interviewee pointed out; there are some areas
on campus that do not feel as inclusive as others. In addition, Mary noted that the sexual assault
center does not have the budget to start and maintain a poster campaign. Nevertheless, despite
the limitations and shortfalls, Citrus-Arrow University remains a university that is able to create
a culture and climate and provide positive collaboration that is conducive to having difficult
conversations about sexual assault amongst many organizations and staff members.
Research question one probed the types of programs that the university used in their
sexual assault prevention efforts. Ultimately, the university chose to use and modify bystander
engagement and social norming in their sexual assault prevention programs. Citrus-Arrow
University has limitations in their budget, personnel, and the time that they have to present
programs to students, so they have made use of their time and existing resources to develop
bystander engagement and social norming that meets their needs. However, during the
interviews, the issue of federal and local policy was raised. Mary referenced the Clery Act and
how staff and organizations at the university have collaborated well and developed strong
relationships among stakeholders, so that the university stayed well within the boundaries of the
Clery Act. This theme of collaboration and developing relationships is so persistent, that it
reappears as a theme in answering research question three that asks about the systems and
structures that are in place to contribute to an anti-sexual assault culture and climate.
Research question two sought to develop information about the perceptions of staff who
present the sexual assault prevention programs. The research revealed that the staff believed in
their programs, modified as they were, but that the programs themselves might not be the most
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important part of the sexual assault prevention efforts at the university. The nine interviewees
referred to the culture and climate of the university in numerous ways in their interviews. They
noted that the university is a positive, affirming environment that does much to empower the
staff and the students. As recently as 2010, the university has struggled with the perception of
itself as unwelcoming to students of color or students who identify as LGBT. In 2013, (when
this study was conducted) the staff at the university universally welcomed the shift that the
university has made. However, culture and climate do not exist in a vacuum, so research
question three begins to answer the questions what systems and structures are in place to add to
this culture and climate.
Research question three probed the nature of the systems and structures that were in place
to contribute to contribute to an anti-sexual assault culture. Three factors emerged as
contributors to the systems and structures and culture and climate of the university. First, staff
members pointed to the collaboration between each other and the student services organizations.
Though there were staff members who would not ordinarily work with one another except for the
university’s sexual assault prevention efforts, they worked together, worked well, and focused
their efforts on meeting the needs of the sexual assault prevention programs.
That collaboration among the stakeholders leads to the second theme that emerged which
was the ability of all stakeholders to present a consistent message to the students. For instance,
the university has six autonomous colleges that function with their own academic structure.
While they are aligned under the umbrella of the university, each college offers its own set of
general education requirements, major requirements, and structure. Therefore, if one college did
not wish to work with the sexual assault center staff in presenting programs to their students,
they were free to offer another type of programming. If that was the case, the university could
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possibly have the six colleges presenting six different messages of sexual assault prevention to
the students. At Citrus-Arrow University, that does not happen. Because of the collaboration
across organizations, the staff at the university agrees that they should provide a coherent
program for the students that span all six colleges. Students in each college may receive a vastly
different education from their peers enrolled at the other colleges, but the message that they
receive from the sexual assault center is consistent.
The third theme is the fostering of relationships at the university. Each interviewee
discussed Mary’s ability to develop relationships and build bridges amongst staff and
organizations at a large university. Mary is the main face of the sexual assault center and has
been at the university for over 25 years, so it is natural that her ability to develop relationships is
mentioned so often in the interviews. One interviewee noted, “…I think that that's one of the
things that Mary has worked hard to kind of build those bridges, and they're strong bridges.”
In sum, Citrus-Arrow University has been successful in their use of sexual assault
preventions programs. Though the university has issues with funding, personnel shortages, and
finding time to present even briefly to students, but because of the relationships, collaboration,
which have lead to a positive culture and climate, Citrus-Arrow University has found success in
their sexual assault prevention efforts.

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CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction
Sexual assault on university campuses continues to be an issue. Nationwide 1 in 5 female
undergraduates experience sexual assault. Female students are not alone in being sexually
assaulted. 6.1 percent of college males were also victims of sexual assault. To further illustrate
the problem, students who had intellectual disabilities were sexual assaulted at higher rates than
the general college population. The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has labeled the issue
on campuses as “deeply troubling.” The DOE recommends to universities that the institutions
begin to offer programs that are proactive in nature. While the DOE recommends programs,
they do not recommend a particular program and as a result, universities use programs without
much consideration of the proscribed outcomes, the methods of presentation, or even the
intended audience (Fisher, Cullen, & Turner, 2000). Without a coherent program in place,
universities have had limited success in reducing sexual assault, therefore sexual assault on
college campuses still remains an issue.
The purpose of this study was to examine best practices in sexual assault prevention
programs at Citrus-Arrow University. The aim of the study was to look at programs that
specifically targeted men and their attitudes and perceptions. The programs, according to the
existing literature that are effective, are the programs that work to increase empathy in men,
increase their knowledge of rape myths and rape myth acceptance, and create engaged
bystanders who are ready to intervene when appropriate.
Chapter four discussed the themes, discovered how they were derived, and supported the
themes with quotes from the interviews. Each theme became apparent when the interviews were
transcribed and then coded. This chapter gives an overview of the problem of sexual assault,
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restates the research questions, the purpose of the study, discusses the findings that were
developed from the themes, illustrates how those findings answered the research questions, and
then relates each finding to the literature.

Summary of the Findings
The study was guided by three research questions:
1. What programs are in place to create an anti-sexual assault culture?
2. What are the perceptions of staff and administrators who present these programs?
3. What systems and structures exist that contribute to an overall anti-sexual assault
culture?
The study discovered three distinct findings that came after 10 interviews with nine staff
members at the university, an examination of artifacts, and several observations of student and
parent orientations. The first finding from the study illustrates that universities can find success
with sexual assault prevention efforts without having many of the resources that the programs in
the review of the literature used. Secondly, the sexual assault prevention program efforts at
Citrus-Arrow come to the university not as the result of a program, but because of the culture and
climate at the university that has developed over the last three years. Lastly, the culture and
climate at the university was built and sustained by the collaboration of the staff members, their
ability to develop and maintain relationships, and the consistent message that is presented by the
university.
Adapting Programs
To reduce incidents of sexual assault the literature shows that men’s attitudes have to
change, empathy has to increase, and men have to become engaged bystanders. Foubert (2005)
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developed a program that uses graphic videos of a male sexual assault survivor describing his
assault by two persons. While the program has been shown to increase empathy in men, it does
not appear to be effective unless presented as suggested. The recommendation is to present the
program to an all male audience with presenters who are close in age to the audience. The
program requires follow-up after the end of an academic year with the use of booster sessions.
Citrus-Arrow University met none of those conditions due to a variety of factors discussed in
chapter four. In fact, even if the university had the ability to present the program as
recommended, Mary does not feel that it is appropriate for students at the university who may be
as young as 17years old.
Through the efforts of the staff at the sexual assault center, the university has been able to
present programs that encourage bystander engagement and promote social norming. Once
again, these programs at the university are not without severe restrictions. The staff has to
contend with limited personnel and time to present the program, but they have managed to make
the best use of the time that is given to them by appearing at new student orientation and parent
orientations. The staff maximized the time that was given to them by using creativity and
purposeful programs that they adapted to their demographic of student.

Culture and Climate
The culture and climate at the university is positive and welcoming to a diverse group of
students. It is perhaps a larger part of the institution’s sexual assault prevention efforts than the
choice of sexual assault prevention program. Part of why rape myths begin and are sustained is
because the culture and climate of an environment allows stereotypes to exist. In some
environments where rape myths are prevalent, women can be viewed as deserving of sexual
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assault (Burt, 1980; Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1995; McKee, 2007; McMahon, 2010a). In addition,
when the culture and climate in an institution is negatively affirming to sexual assault, then the
number of sexual assaults reported to the university may be much smaller than the actual number
of sexual assaults that occur (Fisher, Daigle, Cullen, & Turner, 2003; Harden, 2012; Hart &
Colavito, 2011).
Bronfenbrenner’s social ecology theory, the theoretical framework for the study, reflects
how the culture and climate of the university can be affected by the macrosystem, or the
dominant ideology of the larger culture. With the student standing at the center of the social
ecology theory, the forces around the student shape their attitudes and possibly reaffirm rape
myths, or counteract them because the culture and climate of the university is positive.

Building Culture and Climate
The culture and climate at Citrus-Arrow University did not occur by accident. The
culture and climate at the university is the result of the collaboration of the staff and the
relationships that have been developed over the years. From talking to a colleague while waiting
for an elevator, to supporting other staff member’s efforts in programs, the culture and climate
was built because of these relationships. Their collaboration allows the university to present the
consistent message that reverses rape myths and dissolves stereotypes. The exosystem in
Bronfenbrenner’s social ecology theory has systems such as mass media within that are carried
by the mesosystem to the student and the student’s peers. Students are users of social media,
video games, and are consumers of images in the media. The use of rape myths is increased
when the media presents negative images of women, which leads to hostile attitudes towards
women (Emmers-Sommer, Pauley, Hanzal, & Triplett, 2006; Malamuth, 1984). The ability of
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the university to present a consistent message to the students leads to positive social norming and
continues the positive culture and climate.

Recommendations and Implications
This study focused on sexual assault prevention best practices. The study researched a
university in southern California, but the results of the study may be useful to other universities
seeking to improve their sexual assault prevention programs. The implications for practice are
potentially important to universities searching for sexual assault prevention programs.
Universities may choose sexual assault prevention programs in a variety of forms. Some
universities choose to focus on women’s behavior such as warning female students not to walk
through dark areas of campus or abuse alcohol at parties. Other universities focus on the
behavior of men and changing attitudes towards women, increasing empathy, and promoting
engaged bystanders. However, not all programs are effective and the outcomes of those
programs can be as varied as the choice of program. Nevertheless, universities that willfully
ignore sexual assault on campus may incur fines from the Department of Education and reduce
the institution’s ability to serve and educate their students.
This study presents three recommendations for practice that may be helpful to
administrators tasked with developing a sexual assault prevention program. Performing data
analysis, actively building culture and climate, and expanding student orientation are
recommended and are explained in more detail below.
The first recommendation is to perform thorough data analysis and assessment of sexual
assault programs. Through informal feedback after orientation, the sexual assault center staff
discovered that the programs at Citrus-Arrow University were popular among students and staff
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 104
alike. In spite of this, not many of the programs have been formally assessed. Staff members at
the sexual assault center remarked that the new students receive so many surveys through emails
that they often do not respond to emails from the sexual assault center staff seeking survey
information. Citrus-Arrow University and other institutions with similar challenges would
benefit greatly in knowing specifically how their programs are received and whether the
programs are both efficient and effective. The review of the literature highlights those programs
that create empathy in men as programs that are presented to all male audiences. However,
Citrus-Arrow presents their programs at a mixed gender new student orientation. The use of data
to measure the impact of their programming with this audience may allow the sexual assault
center to better tailor the programming to meet specific needs.
The second recommendation is to actively build culture and climate amongst the staff and
organizations. The results of this study suggest that the culture and climate of the university are
the single most important factor in reducing incidents of sexual assault on campus. At Citrus-
Arrow University, the culture and climate allowed staff members to cooperate and collaborate
freely with one another to serve the students. The university has had to deal with budgetary
issues like many universities, but regardless of those limitations, the staff members managed to
work with one another and present a consistent message to the students. A university
administrator faced with similar limitations should focus on building positive relationships
amongst staff members that allow for collaboration and development of relationships across
student services disciplines and offering a consistent message. The ability of the university to
offer a consistent message about sexual assault is an important component of culture and climate.
What was important about Citrus-Arrow University was the unique academic structure that had
six autonomous colleges. In a negative culture and climate, the six colleges would not
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communicate with one another, nor would they present the consistent message about sexual
assault. Still, at Citrus-Arrow, the colleges do present the same message to their students despite
their academic differences and structure of the colleges. A consistent message allows rape myths
to be defeated, permits the reporting process to be efficient and effective, and contributes to the
overall positive culture and climate of the university.
The third recommendation is to expand the time that the sexual assault center has with
the students. There are a number of offices at the university that could collaborate with the
sexual assault center to develop a lengthier program. The police department could present with
the sexual assault center and then segue into other areas of interest to the students in the
presentation. The student health center could offer information about birth control, contraceptive
alternatives in addition to sexual assault specific information. The longer the sexual assault
center has to spend with the students, the more opportunities there are for appropriate assessment
of the programs. For instance, a Jeopardy style game during the orientation may provide enough
information for a formative assessment. At the end of the orientation, the university could use a
form of summative assessment as the student’s exit pass and ticket to another event. Used
appropriately, the more time spent with students at orientation could only help the sexual assault
center in reaching the students, changing attitudes towards sexual assault, gather information for
assessment, and develop rapport with the new freshmen class.

Recommendations for Further Research
Based on the findings in this study, there are two recommendations for further studies
that merit consideration. First, the use of social media to present sexual assault prevention
programming. Secondly, the experience of freshmen versus transfer students in new student
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 106
orientations and in the sexual assault programming may be useful. Both recommendations for
further research are presented below.
Most students use some form of social media and many universities have a social media
presence of some type. The sexual assault center at Citrus-Arrow uses two social media
platforms, but does not collect data about the impact that their social media use has on students.
The use of social media by students and the use of social media to reach students are well
accepted, but can universities use social media more effectively to speak to students about sexual
assault prevention? Information about specific uses of social media would prove valuable to
student affairs officers who are responsible for their university’s sexual assault prevention
programming. Ultimately the study of social media use by universities for sexual assault
prevention would be the next step in this study. The varieties of social media are diverse and a
university who chooses only one platform may well miss many of the students they are trying to
reach. Further study is needed to determine if social media is a good use of university resources
to reach students. Likewise it would be valuable to know if social media sexual assault
prevention programming achieves the desired outcomes of reducing incidents of sexual assault
on campus, changing men’s attitudes, or ultimately, has no impact.
At Citrus-Arrow University the new student orientations are for students who are new to
the university regardless of class standing. Some new students may be as young as 17 years old,
but transfer students may be older. The sexual assault prevention programs in the review of the
literature were intended for undergraduates who are 18-24 years old. A future study may seek to
determine if program outcomes are substantially different for students who are first-time
undergraduates versus students who may have transferred from other universities. This data
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could shape the direction of programs, outcomes, and the delivery of those programs to the
demographic of student.

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 108
Conclusion
This study examined the best practices of one university in sexual assault prevention.
The findings of the study suggest that while the choice of sexual assault prevention programs is
important, that in the end, it is the culture and climate of the university that means the most to the
success of sexual assault prevention efforts. Along with culture and climate, what was
discovered to be important was the ability of the staff to work together to present a consistent
message to students about sexual assault.
The review of the literature focused on the type of programs that proved to be effective in
changing men’s attitudes towards sexual assault and increasing empathy. However, the
programs as developed, were found to be unworkable for the students at the university and then
for the staff because of their limitations. In the face of budgetary issues, personnel shortages,
and limited time to present their message, the university staff used their time wisely, collaborated
with one another, and developed and maintained crucial relationships that allowed them to be
successful with few resources.
These findings may be important to universities who struggle with the type of program to
offer their students. Some universities use self-defense programs that put the burden on the
survivors, but ignore the larger issue of changing men’s attitudes and increasing empathy. This
study demonstrates that while such self-programs may have utility, the use of bystander
engagement, social self-norming, and changing men’s attitudes have longer lasting effects and
reduce rates of sexual assault on university campuses.
Moreover, the study is important to universities who wish to present a program, but may
have challenges with allocating resources. In a challenging economy, many universities have
endured budgetary cuts in student services, so the ability to modify sexual assault prevention
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 109
programs much like Citrus-Arrow University modified theirs is important to administrators who
are laboring with incidents of sexual assault on their campus. The study illustrated that
universities have limited funding and may not have adequate personnel, but they can still present
programs that influence the rates of sexual assault among college-aged students and change
attitudes towards sexual assault.

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 110
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Appendix A
Participant Recruitment Letter
INFORMATION SHEET FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH
Promising Practices for Preventing Sexual Assault in
Postsecondary Institutions
Completion of the assessment will constitute consent to participate in this project.

You are asked to participate in a research study conducted by Doctoral candidate Mark
Jones, who is studying best practices in the prevention of sexual assault from the Rossier School
of Education at the University of Southern California (USC). The data from this study may
contribute to research projects related to the outcomes of this study. You were selected as a
possible participant in this study because your institution has been identified as demonstrating
promising practices in the prevention of sexual assault. For further information, please feel free
to contact Mark with any questions or concerns at:

Mark Jones
Doctoral Candidate
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
Waite Phillips Hall, 1003-B
(619) 884-3851
markejon@usc.edu

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
We are asking you to take part in a research study because we are trying to learn more about promising
practices of universities for the prevention of sexual assault/rape.
PROCEDURES
You will be asked to:
Complete an intake information sheet concerning general demographic information;
Participate in a 45-60 minute audio-recorded individual interview; and/or
Participate in an online survey; and/or
Participate as a subject in an observation; and/or
Provide relevant documents to be reviewed;
As we will be discussing our findings in published materials, we will not use your name nor write
about you in a way that would be personally identifiable. We will use pseudonyms that you
choose at the beginning of the interview session.
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 125
POTENTIAL RISKS AND DISCOMFORTS
There are no anticipated risks to your participation. You may experience some discomfort in completing
the interview or you may be inconvenienced from taking time out of your day to participate in the
interview process.
POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO SUBJECTS AND/OR TO SOCIETY
You may not directly benefit from your participation in this research study.
POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
There are not conflicts of interest for the researchers involved in this study.

CONFIDENTIALITY
Any information that is obtained in connection with this study and that can be identified with you will
remain confidential and will be disclosed only with your permission or as required by law. The
information collected about you will be coded using a pseudonym or initials and numbers, for example
abc-123, etc. However, the information, which has your identifiable information, will be kept separately
from the rest of our data.

The members of the research team and the University of Southern California’s Human Subjects
Protection Program (HSPP) may access the data. The HSPP reviews and monitors research studies to
protect the rights and welfare of research subjects.

When the results of the research are published or discussed in conferences, no identifiable information
will be used.

PARTICIPATION AND WITHDRAWAL
You can choose whether to be in this study or not. If you volunteer to be in this study, you may withdraw
at any time without consequences of any kind. You may also refuse to answer any questions you do not
want to answer and remain in the study. The investigator may withdraw you from this research if
circumstances arise which warrant doing so.

ALTERNATIVES TO PARTICIPATION
Your alternative is to not participate.

RIGHTS OF RESEARCH SUBJECTS
You may withdraw your consent at any time and discontinue participation without penalty. You are not
waiving any legal claims, rights or remedies because of your participation in this research study. If you
have any questions about your rights as a study subject or you would like to speak with someone
independent of the research team to obtain answers to questions about the research, or in the event the
research staff cannot be reached, please contact the University Park IRB, Office of the Vice Provost for
Research Advancement, Stonier Hall, Room 224a, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1146, (213) 821-5272 or
upirb@usc.edu

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 126
Appendix B
Interview Protocol
1. What is your role in this institution?
2. What is your experience at this institution?
3. How do you feel about the culture and climate of the institution?
4. What is your role or your involvement in anti-rape/sexual assault programs at your
institution?
5. What was the driving force behind the start of the anti- rape/sexual assault efforts?
6. Tell me about the instances of sexual assault at your school.
7. Explain the basics of the anti- rape/sexual assault efforts your institution has in place
a. What policies and preventive measures does your school have in place to prevent
sexual assault?
b. What other factors influence your school’s anti- rape/sexual assault efforts?
c. Have these efforts changed? If so, how?
8. What is the process that occurs when there is a sexual assault/rape?
9. What type of training is provided to the staff to identify and prevent sexual assault/rape?
a. What offices or staff is involved in anti- rape/sexual assault intervention training?
b. How prepared do you feel to handle rape/sexual assault?
c. How prepared does your staff feel in relation to rape/sexual assault?
10. How are faculty, staff and administrators involved in anti- rape/sexual assault efforts?
11. How are students involved in anti- rape/sexual assault efforts?
a. Tell me what is being done to help students feel more connected to your
institution
12. How are other stakeholders involved in anti- rape/sexual assault efforts?
13. What data do you use to evaluate your school’s anti- rape/sexual assault efforts?
a. How is the data used to sustain and improve the efforts?

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 127
Appendix C
Observation Protocol
School Name: _______________________________________ Date: _______________

Type of Observation:
_____________________________________________________

Participants: ______________________________
Materials: ____________________________

Researcher: ________________________________________________________

Time Started: ____________ Time Ended: ____________ Total Time: ___________

Environment
What are you looking for? Notes
Location:

What does the environment look like?

Physical setup:

How are the participants grouped?

Who is leading?
What is the agenda?

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 128
Interactions
What are you looking for? Notes
Context:

Noteworthy interactions:
• Students

• Parents

• University staff

• Community
Engagement of participants:
Overall tone:

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 129
Appendix D

Rape Myths
If a woman is raped while she is drunk, she is at least somewhat
responsible for letting things get out of control.

Although most women wouldn’t admit it, they generally find being
physically forced into sex a real ‘‘turn-on.’’

When men rape, it is because of their strong desire for sex.

If a woman is willing to ‘‘make out’’ with a guy, then it’s no big
deal if he goes a little further and has sex.

Women who are caught having an illicit affair sometimes claim that
it was rape.

Newspapers should not release the name of a rape victim to the public.

Many so-called rape victims are actually women who had sex and
‘‘changed their minds’’ afterwards.

Many women secretly desire to be raped.

Rape mainly occurs on the ‘‘bad’’ side of town.

Usually, it is only women who do things like hang out in bars and
sleep around that are raped.

Most rapists are not caught by the police.
If a woman doesn’t physically fight back, you can’t really say that it
was rape.

Men from nice middle-class homes almost never rape.

Rape isn’t as big a problem as some feminists would like people to
think.

When women go around wearing low-cut tops or short skirts, they’re
just asking for trouble.

Rape accusations are often used as a way of getting back at men.

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 130
A rape probably didn’t happen if the woman has no bruises or
marks.

Many women find being forced to have sex very arousing.

If a woman goes home with a man she doesn’t know, it is her own
fault if she is raped.

Rapists are usually sexually frustrated individuals.

All women should have access to self-defense classes.

It is usually only women who dress suggestively that are raped.

Some women prefer to have sex forced on them so they don’t have
to feel guilty about it.

If the rapist doesn’t have a weapon, you really can’t call it a rape.

When a woman is a sexual tease, eventually she is going to get into
trouble.

Being raped isn’t as bad as being mugged and beaten.

Rape is unlikely to happen in the woman’s own familiar neighborhood.

In reality, women are almost never raped by their boyfriends.

Women tend to exaggerate how much rape affects them.

When a man is very sexually aroused, he may not even realize that the woman is
resisting.

A lot of women lead a man on and then they cry rape.

It is preferable that a female police officer conduct the questioning
when a woman reports a rape.

A lot of times, women who claim they were raped just have emotional problems.

If a woman doesn’t physically resist sex—even when protesting verbally—it really can’t
be considered rape.

Rape almost never happens in the woman’s own home.

A woman who ‘‘teases’’ men deserves anything that might happen.
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 131

When women are raped, it’s often because the way they said ‘‘no’’
was ambiguous.

If a woman isn’t a virgin, then it shouldn’t be a big deal if her date
forces her to have sex.

Men don’t usually intend to force sex on a woman, but sometimes
they get too sexually carried away.

This society should devote more effort to preventing rape.

A woman who dresses in skimpy clothes should not be surprised if a
man tries to force her to have sex.

Rape happens when a man’s sex drive gets out of control.

A woman who goes to the home or apartment of a man on the first
date is implying that she wants to have sex.

Many women actually enjoy sex after the guy uses a little force.

If a woman claims to have been raped but has no bruises or scrapes,
she probably shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 132
Appendix E

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Sexual assault on college campuses is still a problem. About 20% of college females experience sexual assault and 6.1% of college males are also sexually assaulted. Nationwide 2%-3% of sexual assaults are reported. Institutions choose sexual assault prevention programs with little knowledge about the needs of the student population or the desired outcomes of the programs. Universities have been largely unsuccessful in reducing the rate of sexual assault on campus. ❧ This purpose of this study was to research best practices in sexual assault prevention programs at one university in southern California. The study considered programs that the university used to increase empathy in men, the perceptions of the staff who presented those programs, and finally, the systems and structures that existed to contribute to an anti‐sexual assault culture and climate. ❧ This was a qualitative study using interviews from nine participants, observations or student and parent orientations, and observations of the campus to answer the research questions. Interviews of the participants were transcribed and then coded which revealed separate themes that established themselves through the interviews. ❧ Findings from the study showed that most of the interviewees referred to the culture and climate of the university as positive and contributing to the overall welfare of the students. The ability of the student service offices to collaborate with one another emerged as another theme. Lastly, the programs that the university uses emerged as the last theme, but the culture and climate and the ability to collaborate across disciplines stood out in the interviews and became the dominant finding. ❧ Universities tasked with choosing a sexual assault prevention programs can benefit from the results of this by using the best practices of Citrus‐Arrow University and adapting them to their own university and student population.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Jones, Mark E. (author)

Core Title A case study of promising practices in the prevention of sexual assault in postsecondary institutions

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education

Publication Date 04/30/2014

Defense Date 03/19/2014

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag bystander engagement,culture and climate,OAI-PMH Harvest,Sexual assault,social self‐identification,social norming

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Ahmadi, Shafiqa (committee chair), Mora-Flores, Eugenia (committee member), Stowe, Kathy (committee member)

Creator Email markejon@usc.edu,markjteach@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-407433

Unique identifier UC11296578

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Legacy Identifier etd-JonesMarkE-2464.pdf

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