Sorority Membership and Risk for Campus Sexual Assault

This study tested the relationship between sexual assault victimization, sorority membership, and participation in a range of sorority activities, using data from a largesample (N = 779) survey conducted at a mid-size public university. Twenty-nine percent of sorority women reported having been sexually assaulted while in college, four times the rate (7%) among non-sorority members. The difference between Greek and nonGreek women remained large even when controls were included for alcohol consumption and attendance at Greek parties where alcohol is served. Among sorority members, participation in social events not involving alcohol correlated negatively with sexual assault, indicating a possible protective effect. Minow and Einolf Sorority Participation and Sexual Assault Risk 3 Sorority Participation and Sexual Assault Risk Numerous studies have established that the rate of sexual victimization of college women is high, regardless of how sexual victimization is defined and measured (Fisher, Cullen, & Turner, 1997; Koss, 1987; Mohler-Kuo et al., 2004; Schwartz & DeKeseredy, 1997). Previous research on college women has shown how perpetrator and victim characteristics, the social environment of college, and characteristics of social interaction affect victimization rates (see Adams-Curtis, 2004, for an overview). Examinations of perpetrator characteristics have included membership in fraternities, but there has been little study of the relationship between sorority membership and the risk of sexual victimization. This study reports findings from a large-sample survey of female undergraduates at a single public university. It examines the relationship between sorority membership, sorority participation, and sexual victimization. We examine whether sorority membership correlates with sexual assault, and whether alcohol consumption and attendance at Greek social events where alcohol is served mediates this relationship. Review of the Literature: Most existing studies of sexual assault on campus that examine Greek life look at fraternities, arguing that features of fraternity membership create norms of sexual behavior and gender relations that make fraternity members more likely to commit rape. Few studies have examined the role of sorority membership in risk levels for sexual assault. Many studies have found a link between drinking and victimization, particularly Minow and Einolf Sorority Participation and Sexual Assault Risk 4 drinking in the context of fraternity and sorority parties, but few have examined the role of alcohol in the context of the full range of social activities within the Greek system. The most thorough studies of sexual assault on campus are those by Koss (1987) and by the National Institute of Justice (Fisher, Cullen & Turner, 1997). Both studies used large, nationally stratified random samples, and achieved a high response rate. Both studies used detailed, specific questions to accurately measure sexual assault prevalence and characteristics. Fisher and colleagues found that 1.7% of college women reported being raped within the seven month period preceding the execution of the survey, and that 1.3% had been victims of attempted rape. While these reports used state of the art sampling and survey research methods and provide the best available estimates of rape prevalence, neither examined the role of sorority membership or participation in Greek social activities. Several small-scale survey and qualitative studies have examined links between fraternity membership, pro-rape sexual attitudes, and sexual assault. Sanday (1990) and Martin and Hummer (1989) argue that fraternities perpetuate a hyper-masculine and overaggressive culture that objectifies and debases women, advocates impersonal and sometimes exploitative sex, emphasizes competition and male superiority, provides role models and support for sexually coercive behavior, and fosters brotherhood bonding through open discussion and encouragement of female subservience and sexual exploitation. Other studies found that fraternity men are more likely than non-Greeks to identify their friends as tolerant of sexual aggression, are more likely to state that friends have used drugs or alcohol as a sexual strategy, and more often express agreement with rape-supportive statements (Boeringer, 1996, 1999; Boeringer, Sheehan, & Akers, 1991; Minow and Einolf Sorority Participation and Sexual Assault Risk 5 Boswell and Spade, 1996). However, studies have either found no statistically significant relationship between fraternity membership and increased sexual aggression (Boeringer, 1996), or that this association was fully mediated by fraternity members’ higher use of alcohol (Koss & Gaines, 1993). Another constant in the research on sexual victimization of college women is the role of alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption has widely known and understood effects that alter the physical ability and psychological perception of both the victim and perpetrator. Alcohol serves as a common tool of sexual predators due to its effects on the victim, and often reduces the perceived responsibility of violation on behalf of a perpetrator who was intoxicated at the time of the incident. Conservative findings have reported that alcohol use by men played a significant part in 53% of all sexual coercions and 73% of all acts that met the legal definition of rape, while victims reported use of alcohol in 42% of sexual coercions and 55% of rapes (Koss, 1987). A Canadian study of college women reported that 17% of completed rapes and 19% of attempted rapes occurred under circumstances where the victim was too intoxicated to defend herself in any way (Schwartz & DeKeseredy, 1997). Testa and colleagues (2003) found that alcohol use correlated with rape while the victim was too intoxicated to defend herself, but that alcohol use did not correlate with rapes conducted through physical force where the victim was capable of resistance. While a number of studies have focused on the role of fraternities in promoting rape-supportive attitudes and behaviors, very few studies have focused on sorority membership as a risk factor for sexual assault. In a large, representative national sample of college women, Mohler-Kuo and colleagues (2004) found that residence in a sorority Minow and Einolf Sorority Participation and Sexual Assault Risk 6 greatly increased the likelihood of being sexually victimized while intoxicated. Copenhaver and Grauerholz (1991) found weak and inconsistent correlations between level of sorority activity and sexual victimization, but their study, a mail survey to a random sample of students at a single university, had a response rate of only 28%. Kalof (1993) found that sorority members were more likely than non-members to agree with survey statements measuring rape-supportive attitudes, and were more likely to be victims of sexual assault. Like Copenhaver and Grauerholz, Kalof drew a random sample of students at a single university, but her mail survey had a much better response rate of 63%. While Kalof found statistically significant differences between sorority members and non-members, her sample contained only 216 women, of whom only 21 were sorority members. A longitudinal study of a random sample of 303 students at a single university (Lottes and Kuriloff, 1994) found that sorority members were subject to peer socialization towards more openness to sexual activity, which might include risky sexual activity. Norris, Nurius, and Dimeff (1996) examined how sorority women assess risk and plan for protective measures, using questionnaires and focus groups among a volunteer sample of sixty-six sorority women from a single university. They found that sorority members were aware of the risk of sexual assault, but tended to see this risk as applying to other women. Most thought that they themselves were perceptive enough to avoid men who might be rapists. They realized that alcohol consumption was risky, but thought that they were smart enough to fend off a rapist, even when drunk. Sorority women also thought that verbal persuasion would be adequate to dissuade a potential rapist. When presented with a hypothetical situation where physical struggle or screaming might be Minow and Einolf Sorority Participation and Sexual Assault Risk 7 required, women cited embarrassment, fear of angering the man, or not wanting to draw the attention of others as reasons not to use these strategies. Norris and colleagues found that the “good-time” cognitive framework associated with fraternity parties was a particularly important risk factor in acquaintance sexual assault. While people possess a “broad repertoire of beliefs and coping responses,” only a small subset of those beliefs and responses can be active in awareness at any given time. These “activated cognitive constructs” are usually “mood congruent. ” In the situation of a fraternity party or other social interaction, sorority women interpret male behaviors that might otherwise seem dangerous in a way congruent with the social situation, “as joking, as showing off, or even as seduction” (Norris et al., 1996:138). Norris and colleagues argue that the family-like relationship between sorority women and fraternity men further reduces women’s sensitivity to danger cues. Sorority women view fraternity men as friends and “brothers,” less likely than other male acquaintances to be sexually dangerous. Finally, the strong acceptance of traditional gender norms in Greek culture makes it difficult for women to protect themselves. Sorority women are expected to dress and act “sexy” to attract a man, and to “smooth ruffled feelings and awkward moments between them. ” At the same time, they are expected to assess risk and protect themselves. “Thus, women must walk a ‘cognitive tightrope’ whenever they are in a dating or other social situation” (Norris et al., 1996:137). The existing literature on campus sexual assault would predict a li