Sexual Assault In College Campuses

Sexual Assault is a horrific crime where a person forcefully touches another person without their consent to engage in physically forceful sexual acts against another person’s will. Most sexual assault perpetrators are someone the victim personally knows or has been a familiar face to the victim in their life. Perpetrators can strike anywhere at any time seeking out the most vulnerable victim.

All throughout the world on college campuses sexual assault is a widely vast common issue college student face. Many male perpetrators who commit sexual assault acts towards women have a negative connotation about them and are perceived into wanting power over their victims. Perpetrators use various methods against their victim to sexually assault them. Amongst many victims after the sexual assault occurs they find themselves asking why they were targeted and why the perpetrator choose to commit such heinous sexual acts against them. Victims need answers and WHY is always the first question asked. Numerous studies have been conducted into the thought process of perpetrators giving victims some clarity and answers as to why such terrible sex acts occur. This review of literature examines the mindset of sexual assault perpetrators on college campuses. Two common themes in this research will stand out such as perpetrator characteristics and methods of perpetrators that occur in their mind to help them lure in their victims.

Scholars have agreed that the best ways for victims to be informed of why a sexual assault occurs is to understand the mindset of a perpetrator helping the victim look out for signs of potential assault amongst the people around them. All this research helps equip college students with better knowledge as to what signs to look for amongst the individuals around them who can be potential sexual assault perpetrators.

Perpetrator Characteristics

An important theme in this research is the characteristics of a perpetrator which helps identify how a perpetrator came to be in their thought process before and after a sexual assault occurred. The most common characteristic a perpetrator is their negative view against women therefore men display early on set signs of aggression, dominance, power, towards women. Extensive research suggests that most male perpetrators suffer from high levels of masculinity turning into violent and aggressive behavior towards women. According to research conducted by Abbey & McAuslan, (2004) sexual perpetrators tend to have more aggression and conflict with women, therefore while in relationships they can be negatively convincing towards women to get them to do what they want. This research is supported by the evidence of Abbey, McAuslan, & Ross (1998), in which it states that (26%) of men admitted to participating in forcible intercourse when they first entered college while on a date. In addition, Carr & VanDeusen (2004) found that society-based views on men at an early age are taught the traits of dominance and aggression which unfortunately can be perceived as key factors for male sexual aggression as they get older. In the study conducted by DeGue & DiLillo (2004) they also gathered that those college men who knowingly reported a history of sexual aggression towards women concluded that delinquency was a primal factor in sexual aggressive behavior. Research on sexual assault and the perpetrators having dominance and control over their victims suggests those are traits listed as critical dimension amongst rapists in connection with sexual aggression towards their victims.

According to research based off personality profiles of self-willing perpetrators on college campuses scholars have identified them with having lack of empathy, distrustfulness, insecure, controlling, impulsive, anger and the willingness of having power over women. Throughout much research it has been identified that the most common characteristics typically seen as leading factors into sexual aggression are empathy and psychopathy. In connection to DeGue & DiLillo, (2004) research it has been reported that researchers have classified rapists into three different sub-categories such as power, anger and sadistic rapists.

In connection by all this research of male sexual perpetrator aggression connects to the findings of Garrett & Senter (1987) who stated that researchers have interpreted sexual aggression being caused by negative hostile behavior or sexual inability. These findings prove that many psychological factors go into the characteristic traits of a perpetrator’s mindset before and after they commit a sexual assault act. In addition to these findings other studies have taken a deeper look into the history of a perpetrator concluding that there is a pattern of child abuse in the perpetrator’s past that lead to the violent characteristics of the perpetrator that contributed into their acts of sexual assault.

Child Abuse

Extensive research has indicted that the theory known as “cycle of abuse” conceptualizes the idea that past childhood abuses a male college student perpetrator experienced creates a greater chance of displaying acts of abuse when they grow into adults as noted by DeGue & DiLillo, (2004). Carr & VanDeusen (2004) indicated most college men that suffered child abuse and neglect as a kid are at high chance of growing into adult perpetrators suppressing their feelings to show empathy for their victims. In the study conducted by researchers Carr & VanDeusen, (2004) reported that (45%) of the (595) college men that were sampled reported to have experienced some type or form of abuse that was sexual or physically prior to age of 16 years old. According to researchers some studies have been connected with each other stating that they have found “ a relationship between child maltreatment experiences and adult rape convictions aggression towards women and generalized aggression as adults each suggesting that childhood maltreatment may increase an individual’s risk for future sexual misconduct…”.

According to scholars as the abused male child gets older and grows into becoming a perpetrator they develop a negative view towards women while classifying themselves into the category of masculine which then in turn makes them suppress their feelings from their traumatic experiences of being abused as a child. With some perpetrators having experienced some form of sexual assault when they were younger it affected them by lowering their inability to feel empathy towards their victims and display any signs of remorse for their actions DeGue & DiLillo (2004). According to research it was reported that (45%) of men who experienced sexual assault as a child engaged in forcible sexual assault with their victim.

Current studies done by researchers were taken from sample surveys from various male college students whom were victims of sexual assault as children. Those studies indicated that growing up they engaged in sexual assault acts with other children which out of those samples taken perpetrators knowingly admitted that (10%) of them engaged in sexual acts with children. With researchers having done these studies they concluded that the correlation between perpetrators being victims of child abuse and sexually abusing children goes hand in hand with the amount of violence that was witness growing up which lead to later being sexually aggressive and physically abusive to women while in relationships DeGue & DiLillo, (2004).