NCJ Number
128591
Date Published
1991
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This chapter provides a psychological and social psychological analysis of sexual coercion that has three basis: sexual coercion is extraordinarily common; it appears to adhere to the central social roles of women and children; and the perpetration of it is primarily a male phenomenon.
Abstract
The analysis of sexual coercion shows that it is embedded in the structure and processes of our culture. It arrives at this by looking at the psychological dimensions of males and sexual coercion, child sexual abuse, and sexual coercion of adult females. The sexual coercion of adult females is studied via four variable domains: misogynist beliefs and attitudes, aggressive style, personality functioning, and sexual styles. The sexual coercion of adult women is then discussed in light of three variables: gender socialization and power differentials; sexually coercive cognitive schemas and beliefs; and social-sexual interaction scripts. A discussion of the conflict of sexual coercion in an abused child's life concludes the chapter.