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Reporting Sexual Assault: A Social Ecology Perspective

NCJ Number
212824
Author(s)
Kim S. Menard
Date Published
2005
Length
223 pages
Annotation
This research used a social ecology design to examine the effects of individual-level and contextual-level factors on sexual assault victims' decision to report their assault to the police.
Abstract
The research found that both individual-level and county factors influenced sexual assault victims' decision to contact the police. At the individual level, the severity of the assault, offender characteristics, and the victim's interaction with the offender determined whether or not the victim reported the assault to police. Victims were more likely to contact the police when the assault was severe or was committed by a stranger. Even in the case of severe assaults, however, when the offenders were known to victims, the victims were unlikely to contact police. At the county level, population density, population heterogeneity, poverty, and proportion of males ages 15 to 24 reduced the odds that sexual assault victims would contact the police. A culture of gender equality and the presence of victim services in a county increased the chances that sexual assault victims would report their assaults to the police. These findings were obtained from two studies. One study surveyed college students in order to identify social norms regarding the labeling of and the advice prevalent about reporting criminal victimizations to police. The focus was on whether the nature of the victim-offender relationships and the location of the offense (rural versus urban) affected the labeling of and the advice to report the offense to the police. The second study examined the combined effects of individual-level and contextual-level factors on sexual assault victims' decision to contact the police. The study used victimization data collected by 48 rape crisis centers in Pennsylvania. Hierarchical logistic regression was used to examine victims' decisions to contact the police. 33 tables, 4 figures, 260 references, appended survey instruments, and a subject index