U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

www.cops.usdoj.gov

Acquaintance

Rape of College

Students

by

Rana Sampson

Problem-Oriented Guides for Police Series

No. 17

Acquaintance Rape of

College Students

Rana Sampson

This project was supported by cooperative agreement 

#99-CK-WX-K004 by the Office of Community Oriented Policing

Services, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions contained herein

are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the

official position of the U.S. Department of Justice.

www.cops.usdoj.gov

Problem-Oriented Guides for Police Series

Guide No. 17

About the Guide Series i

About the Guide Series

The Problem-Oriented Guides for Police summarize knowledge

about how police can reduce the harm caused by specific

crime and disorder problems. They are guides to

prevention and to improving the overall response to

incidents, not to investigating offenses or handling specific

incidents. The guides are written for police–of whatever

rank or assignment–who must address the specific

problem the guides cover. The guides will be most useful

to officers who

• Understand basic problem-oriented policing principles

and methods. The guides are not primers in problemoriented policing. They deal only briefly with the initial

decision to focus on a particular problem, methods to

analyze the problem, and means to assess the results of

a problem-oriented policing project. They are designed

to help police decide how best to analyze and address a

problem they have already identified. (An assessment

guide has been produced as a companion to this series

and the COPS Office has also published an introductory

guide to problem analysis. For those who want to learn

more about the principles and methods of problemoriented policing, the assessment and analysis guides,

along with other recommended readings, are listed at the

back of this guide.)

• Can look at a problem in depth. Depending on the

complexity of the problem, you should be prepared to

spend perhaps weeks, or even months, analyzing and

responding to it. Carefully studying a problem before

responding helps you design the right strategy, one that

is most likely to work in your community. You should

not blindly adopt the responses others have used; you

must decide whether they are appropriate to your local
ii Acquaintance Rape of College Students

situation. What is true in one place may not be true

elsewhere; what works in one place may not work

everywhere.

• Are willing to consider new ways of doing police

business. The guides describe responses that other police

departments have used or that researchers have tested.

While not all of these responses will be appropriate to

your particular problem, they should help give a broader

view of the kinds of things you could do. You may

think you cannot implement some of these responses in

your jurisdiction, but perhaps you can. In many places,

when police have discovered a more effective response,

they have succeeded in having laws and policies changed,

improving the response to the problem.

• Understand the value and the limits of research knowledge.

For some types of problems, a lot of useful research is

available to the police; for other problems, little is available.

Accordingly, some guides in this series summarize existing

research whereas other guides illustrate the need for more

research on that particular problem. Regardless, research

has not provided definitive answers to all the questions you

might have about the problem. The research may help get

you started in designing your own responses, but it cannot

tell you exactly what to do. This will depend greatly on the

particular nature of your local problem. In the interest of

keeping the guides readable, not every piece of relevant

research has been cited, nor has every point been attributed

to its sources. To have done so would have overwhelmed

and distracted the reader. The references listed at the end of

each guide are those drawn on most heavily; they are not a

complete bibliography of research on the subject.
About the Guide Series iii

• Are willing to work with other community agencies to

find effective solutions to the problem. The police alone

cannot implement many of the responses discussed in

the guides. They must frequently implement them in

partnership with other responsible private and public

entities. An effective problem-solver must know how to

forge genuine partnerships with others and be prepared

to invest considerable effort in making these

partnerships work.

These guides have drawn on research findings and police

practices in the United States, the United Kingdom,

Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and

Scandinavia. Even though laws, customs and police

practices vary from country to country, it is apparent that

the police everywhere experience common problems. In a

world that is becoming increasingly interconnected, it is

important that police be aware of research and successful

practices beyond the borders of their own countries.

The COPS Office and the authors encourage you to

provide feedback on this guide and to report on your own

agency's experiences dealing with a similar problem. Your

agency may have effectively addressed a problem using

responses not considered in these guides and your

experiences and knowledge could benefit others. This

information will be used to update the guides. If you wish

to provide feedback and share your experiences it should

be sent via e-mail to cops_pubs@usdoj.gov.

Acknowledgments v

Acknowledgments

The Problem-Oriented Guides for Police series is very much a

collaborative effort. While each guide has a primary

author, other project team members, COPS Office staff

and anonymous peer reviewers contributed to each guide

by proposing text, recommending research and offering

suggestions on matters of format and style.

The principal project team developing the guide series

comprised Herman Goldstein, professor emeritus,

University of Wisconsin Law School; Ronald V. Clarke,

professor of criminal justice, Rutgers University; John E.

Eck, associate professor of criminal justice, University of

Cincinnati; Michael S. Scott, police consultant, Savannah,

Ga.; Rana Sampson, police consultant, San Diego; and

Deborah Lamm Weisel, director of police research, North

Carolina State University.

Karin Schmerler, Rita Varano and Nancy Leach oversaw

the project for the COPS Office. Megan Tate Murphy

coordinated the peer reviews for the COPS Office.

Suzanne Fregly edited the guides. Research for the guides

was conducted at the Criminal Justice Library at Rutgers

University under the direction of Phyllis Schultze by

Gisela Bichler-Robertson, Rob Guerette and Laura

Wyckoff.

The project team also wishes to acknowledge the members

of the San Diego, National City and Savannah police

departments who provided feedback on the guides' format

and style in the early stages of the project, as well as the

line police officers, police executives and researchers who

peer reviewed each guide.

Contents

About the Guide Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

The Problem of Acquaintance Rape of College Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Related Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Scope of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Victim Underreporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Types of Acquaintance Rape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Temporal Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Geographic Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Victim Injuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Victim Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Fear of Rape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Psychological Harm to Victims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Societal Attitudes About Acquaintance Rape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Risk Factors Associated With Acquaintance Rape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Repeat Victimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Repeat Offending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Why Some College Men Rape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Alcohol's Role in Acquaintance Rape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Athletic Teams, Fraternities and Acquaintance Rape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Legal Obligations of Colleges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Understanding Your Local Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Asking the Right Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Victims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Locations/Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Offenders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Current Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Contents vii
viii Acquaintance Rape of College Students

Measuring Your Effectiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Process Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Impact Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Responses to the Problem of Acquaintance Rape of College Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

General Considerations About Acquaintance Rape Prevention Programs . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Mixed-Gender, Gender-Specific and Peer-Delivered Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Program Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Key Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Responses With Limited Effectiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Appendix: Summary of Responses to Acquaintance Rape of College Students . . . . . . . . . . 33

Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Recommended Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Other Guides in This Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
The Problem of Acquaintance Rape of College Students 1

The Problem of Acquaintance Rape of

College Students

Rape is the most common violent crime on American

college campuses today.1 This guide describes the problem

of acquaintance rape of college students, addressing its

scope, causes and contributing factors; methods for

analyzing it on a particular campus; tested responses; and

measures for assessing response effectiveness. With this

information, police and public safety officers can more

effectively prevent the problem.

Researchers believe that college rape prevention programs,

including the most widely used ones, are insufficient. Most

rapes are unreported, perhaps giving campus

administrators and police the false impression that current

efforts are adequate. In addition, campus police may be

influenced by college administrators who fear that too

strong an emphasis on the problem may lead potential

students and their parents to believe that rape occurs more

often at their college than at others.

Related Problems

Acquaintance rape is but one aspect of the larger set of

problems related to sexual assault of college students, and

a coherent college strategy should address all aspects of

these problems. This guide is limited to addressing

acquaintance rape. Other related problems not directly

addressed by this guide include:
2 Acquaintance Rape of College Students

• stranger rape;

• drug-induced rape;†

• sexual assault other than rape (e.g., sexual battery);

• use of verbal coercion to obtain sexual intercourse;

• indecent exposure in college libraries;

• "peeping Toms" on college campuses;

• obscene phone calls made to college students;

• sexual harassment;

• abuse in college dating relationships (including violence

other than sexual victimization); and

• stalking of college students.

Scope of the Problem

"Women ages 16 to 24 experience rape at rates four times

higher than the assault rate of all women,"2 making the

college (and high school) years the most vulnerable for

women. College women are more at risk for rape and other

forms of sexual assault than women the same age but not

in college.3 It is estimated that almost 25 percent of college

women have been victims of rape or attempted rape since

the age of 14.4

Rape rates vary to some extent by school, type of school

and region, suggesting that certain schools and certain

places within schools are more rape-prone than others.††

Some features of the college environment–frequent

unsupervised parties, easy access to alcohol, single students

living on their own, and the availability of private rooms–

may contribute to high rape rates of women college

students.

† There is no data on the number

of college students raped after

unknowingly ingesting Rohypnol,

GHB or similar drugs; most

information is anecdotal. Additional

information is available from the

National Institute on Drug Abuse's

website, www.nida.nih.gov.

†† For instance, private colleges and

major universities have higher than

national average rates, while

religiously affiliated institutions have

lower than average rates (Sanday

1996). Also, students at two-year

institutions (15.6%) were

significantly more likely than those

at four-year institutions (11.1%) to

report they had been forced during

their lifetime to have sexual

intercourse (Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention 1995).
The Problem of Acquaintance Rape of College Students 3

College women are raped at significantly higher rates than

college men.† College men are more likely to report

experiencing unwanted kissing or fondling than

intercourse.5 College men who are raped are usually raped

by other men. However, since so few men report,

information is limited about the extent of the problem.6

Even current national data collection systems fail to

capture information about rape of men; the FBI's

Uniform Crime Report (UCR) does not provide data on

male rape victims.†† Researchers have begun to fill this

information gap with survey data, which suggest that up

to 10 percent of acquaintance rape victims on campus are

men.7 Since so little information is available about

acquaintance rape of college men, this guide focuses on

college women.

The most recent large-scale study, including students at

both two- and four-year colleges, found 35 rapes per 1,000

female students over seven months8 (rape was defined as

"unwanted completed penetration by force or threat of

force"). Based on this study, a college with 10,000 women

students could experience 350 rapes a year. This conflicts

with official college data.††† In 1999, reported forcible and

nonforcible sexual offenses totaled 2,469 incidents for all

U.S. college campuses combined,9 underscoring the low

levels of rape reporting.

Stranger rape of college students is less common than

acquaintance rape. Ninety percent of college women who

are victims of rape or attempted rape know their

assailant.10 The attacker is usually a classmate, friend,

boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, or other acquaintance (in that

order).11,†††† Most acquaintance rapes do not occur on

dates; rather they occur when two people are otherwise in

† Women are also the victims in the

vast majority of rapes not involving

college students.

†† FBI data also do not capture

most acquaintance rapes of women

since the FBI only requires reporting

of rapes that involve force or fear.

††† Congress enacted the Student

Right-to-Know and Campus Security

Act of 1990 [U.S.C. 1092(f)(1)],

covering all colleges and universities

receiving federal funds, and a 1992

amendment to the act requires

campuses to spell out rape victims'

rights and to annually publish

information on prevention

programs. A 1998 amendment added

reporting obligations and renamed

the act the Jeanne Cleary Disclosure

of Campus Security Policy and

Campus Crime Statistics Act. Jeanne

Cleary's rape and murder on a

college campus brought to light

some of the inadequacies both in

knowledge of the problem and in

college reporting of crime.

†††† The most recent survey on

college rape "did not find that

college professors committed any of

the rapes or sexual coercions;

however, they were involved in a

small percentage of the unwanted

sexual touching" (Fisher, Cullen and

Turner 2000).
4 Acquaintance Rape of College Students

the same place (e.g., at a party, studying together in a dorm

room). Thus, "date rape" (rape that occurs during or at the

end of a date) is not the appropriate term to describe the

majority of acquaintance rapes of college women, as date

rapes account for only 13 percent of college rapes

(although they make up 35 percent of attempted rapes).12

Gang rape of college women (multiple men taking turns

raping a woman) is also a problem, although to a lesser

extent than even date rape.13

Victim Underreporting

Fewer than 5 percent of college women who are victims

of rape or attempted rape report it to police.14 However,

about two-thirds of the victims tell someone, often a friend

(but usually not a family member or college official). In

one study, over 40 percent of those raped who did not

report the incident said they did not do so because they

feared reprisal by the assailant or others.15 In addition,

some rape victims may fear the emotional trauma of the

legal process itself. Low reporting, however, ensures that

few victims receive adequate help, most offenders are

neither confronted nor prosecuted, and colleges are left in

the dark about the extent of the problem.16

Many acquaintance rape victims (using the legal definition

of rape) do not label their assault as rape.† Perhaps it

seems unimaginable that an acquaintance would rape them,

and victims often initially blame themselves. Acquaintance

rape victims offer a range of reasons for not reporting the

rape to authorities:17

† One of the largest studies of the

problem found that in nearly half

the incidents legally categorized as

completed rapes, the women did not

consider the incident to be a rape

(Fisher, Cullen and Turner 2000).
The Problem of Acquaintance Rape of College Students 5

• embarrassment and shame,

• fear of publicity,

• fear of reprisal from assailant,

• fear of social isolation from the assailant's friends,

• fear that the police will not believe them,

• fear that the prosecutor will not believe them or will

not bring charges,

• self-blame for drinking or using drugs before the rape,

• self-blame for being alone with the assailant, perhaps in

one's own or the assailant's residence,

• mistrust of the campus judicial system, and

• fear that their family will find out.

Some police officers believe that there is an unusually high

rate of false rape reports (by both college students and the

general population of women). The FBI does not

separately track false reports; it tracks only the total

number of unfounded reports. The category of

"unfounded" consists of both baseless cases–in which the

elements of the crime were never met–and false reports.

In 1998, unfounded rape reports accounted for 8 percent

of total reported rapes; however, this number is

questionable. Some police officers incorrectly think that a

rape report is unfounded or false if any of the following

conditions apply:

• the victim has a prior relationship with the offender

(including having previously been intimate with him);

• the victim used alcohol or drugs at the time of the

assault;

• there is no visible evidence of injury;

• the victim delays disclosure to the police and/or others

and does not undergo a rape medical exam; and/or

• the victim fails to immediately label her assault as rape

and/or blames herself.†

† For more detailed information

about unfounded allegations and the

need for accurate training on this

subject, see

http://www.vaw.umn.edu/FinalDoc

uments/Investigate/acquaintSA.asp.
6 Acquaintance Rape of College Students

Types of Acquaintance Rape

In examining the problem of acquaintance rape of college

students (which, as noted, accounts for 90 percent of

college rapes), it is important to define the subproblems

for analysis, investigation and prevention purposes.

Among them are:

• party rape (can also include gang rape);

• date rape (usually takes place in the victim's or

offender's residence or in a car after the date);

• rape in a non-party and non-date situation (e.g., while

studying together);

• rape by a former intimate; and

• rape by a current intimate.

In each case, the offender's behavior before the attack and

the contributing environmental factors during the attack

may be different.† For instance, the typical party rape

occurs at an off-campus house or on- or off-campus

fraternity and involves the offender's plying a woman with

alcohol or targeting an intoxicated woman. Environmental

factors that could facilitate the rape include easy access to

alcohol, availability of a private room, loud music that

drowns out the woman's calls, and, potentially, a cover-up

by the house's residents, who may choose to maintain

group secrecy over reporting the rape. By contrast, a date

rape typically involves two people who are just becoming

acquainted, and the offender rapes the woman in a car or

residence after the date. [Stranger rapes tend to occur in

isolated areas of campus (e.g., parking lots or campus

garages) or in the woman's dorm room. In these cases, the

victim usually has not drunk any alcohol, and there is no

prior relationship or even acquaintance between the victim

and the rapist.] 

† For a discussion of the need to

study different types of

acquaintance rape, see Koss and

Cleveland (1996).
Refining recordkeeping to include subtypes of acquaintance

rape allows police to better understand the dynamics of

rape, design prevention around the subtypes, and improve

rape investigations within the subtypes.†

In addition, there are patterns regarding time (temporal),

place (geographic), victim injuries, victim resistance, fear of

rape, psychological harm to victims, and attitudes about

acquaintance rape. These patterns are outlined below.††

Temporal Patterns

College students are the most vulnerable to rape during the

first few weeks of the freshman and sophomore years.18 In

fact, the first few days of the freshman year are the riskiest,

limiting the value of any rape prevention programs that

begin after that. Research has shown that rapes of college

women tend to occur after 6 p.m., and the majority occur

after midnight.19

Geographic Patterns

Thirty-four percent of completed rapes and 45 percent of

attempted rapes take place on campus.20 Almost 60 percent

of the completed campus rapes that take place on campus

occur in the victim's residence, 31 percent occur in another

residence, and 10 percent occur in a fraternity.21

Victim Injuries

Only 20 percent of college rape victims have additional

injuries, most often bruises, black eyes, cuts, swelling, or

chipped teeth.22 Thus, investigative practices should be

modified to obtain more subtle evidence of lack of

consent, rather than just use of force.

The Problem of Acquaintance Rape of College Students 7

† Although this guide does not focus

on investigation, it is important to

mention that the defendant generally

does not claim consent as a defense

in a stranger rape case. Thus, the

investigation need not focus

intensely on disproving consent.

However, in an acquaintance rape

case, consent is the most likely

defense. Disproving consent

becomes the most important part of

the investigation. It also follows that

evidence of nonconsent in a party

rape will differ from that of

nonconsent for a date rape that

occurred in a car.

†† Some of the research covers data

for both acquaintance and stranger

rape of college students. Since

nearly 90 percent of the time,

college rape victims know their

assailant, these temporal, geographic

and victim resistance patterns would

likely apply to college acquaintance

rape, although perhaps with some

slight variations.
8 Acquaintance Rape of College Students

Victim Resistance

Slightly more than 50 percent of college rape and

attempted rape victims use force against their assailant,

and 50 percent tell the person to stop. Most victims try to

stop a rape by doing one of the following: using force,

telling the assailant to stop, screaming, begging, or running

away.23

Fear of Rape

The fear of rape is widespread among college women,

although they fear stranger rape more than acquaintance

rape, even though the latter is much more common.24

College women–even those aware of acquaintance rape's

pervasiveness–take more precautions to guard against

stranger rape–even if they have been a victim of

acquaintance rape.25

Psychological Harm to Victims

Acquaintance rape victims suffer the same psychological

harms as stranger-rape victims: shock, humiliation, anxiety,

depression, substance abuse, suicidal thoughts, loss of

self-esteem, social isolation, anger, distrust of others, fear

of AIDS, guilt, and sexual dysfunction.26 College

acquaintance rape victims face additional consequences.

Many drop out of school27 because, if they stay, they

might regularly face their attacker in class, in their dorm,

in the dining hall, or at campus functions and events. Since

most victims do not report, colleges cannot intervene to

protect them from reencountering their attackers.
The Problem of Acquaintance Rape of College Students 9

Societal Attitudes About Acquaintance Rape

During the 1990s, researchers found that attitudes about

acquaintance rape victims improved. However, in general,

college students, campus administrators, police,

prosecutors, judges, and juries still overwhelmingly view

and treat acquaintance rape less seriously than stranger

rape, sustaining the myth that stranger rape is "real rape,"

while acquaintance rape is less serious and less harmful.

College studies still find that many on campus, both men

and women, have little understanding of acquaintance rape

because, as discussed below, it is a much more complex

crime than stranger rape.

Rape myths allow us to believe that a "real rape" is

one in which a victim is raped by a stranger who

jumps out of the bushes with a weapon, and in which

she fought back, was beaten and bruised, reported the

event to the police, and had medical evidence collected

immediately. In a "real rape," the victim has never had

sex with the assailant before, is preferably a virgin, was

not intoxicated, was not wearing seductive clothing,

and has a good reputation....Unfortunately,

acquaintance sexual assaults contain few, if any, of

those elements. In many acquaintance rape situations,

the victim had been drinking, did voluntarily go with

the man to his apartment or room, was not threatened

with a weapon, did not fight back, did not report the

event to the police immediately, did not have medical

evidence collected, and may have even had sex with

the assailant voluntarily before.28
10 Acquaintance Rape of College Students

Risk Factors Associated With Acquaintance Rape 

Understanding the factors that contribute to your problem

will help you frame your own local analysis questions,

determine good effectiveness measures, recognize key

intervention points, and select appropriate responses.

Acquaintance rape is less random and more preventable

than stranger rape.29 A woman's condition or behavior

does not cause rape, but certain factors appear to increase

a woman's vulnerability to it:

• frequently drinking enough to get drunk;30

• drinking to the point of being unable to resist forceful

sexual advances;31

• using drugs and/or drinking (both the victim and the

assailant);32

• having previously been the victim of sexual assault,

before the start of the school year;33

• being single;34

• engaging in social activities with sexually predatory

men;35

• being at an isolated site;36

• miscommunicating about sex;37 and

• holding less conservative attitudes about sexual

behavior.38

Repeat Victimization

Numerous studies of campus rape have found that a small

number of victims are repeat victims.39 One of the largest

studies to date found that 22.8 percent of college rape

victims had been victimized before.40
The Problem of Acquaintance Rape of College Students 11

College women most at risk of rape are those who were

previously victims of childhood or teen sexual assault.41

Prior victims are nearly twice as likely to be raped in college than

those with no previous history of sexual assault.

42 "Adolescent/

young adult victimization is the most robust risk factor for

victimization in the college years, and victimization in one

semester predicts victimization in the following

semester."43 Some researchers believe that college men can

sense out women who are less able to defend themselves,

or target women whose behavior (e.g., binge drinking)

weakens their credibility.44

Repeat Offending

It is unknown how many college rapists are repeat

offenders. Most college acquaintance rapists go

unpunished (in part because reporting is so low), so the

number of serial offenses are difficult to determine.

However, one study found that 96 college men accounted

for 187 rapes,45 suggesting that further research may

establish that serial rapists are a common component of

the acquaintance rape problem. Lack of reporting

complicates the problem, since it may prevent colleges

from identifying and ridding themselves of their most

dangerous students.

Why Some College Men Rape

In studies in the early 1980s and 1990s, approximately

one-third of college men reported they would rape a

woman if they knew they would not get caught.46 Given

the number of college women raped, researchers have

tried to explain the problem's prevalence:

• Some men have stereotypic views of women's
12 Acquaintance Rape of College Students

sexual behavior. In light of the high number of rapes,

researchers believe that rape is not the product of

psychopathic behavior; rather it is the product of

mainstream beliefs about women's role in sexual

situations.47 For example, many men are socialized to

believe that women initially resist sexual advances to

preserve their reputation and, because of this, prefer to

be overcome sexually. If a woman says no, a man is to

proceed as if she said yes. In addition, some men

believe that if a woman is a "tease" or "loose," she is

asking for sex. If she then claims rape, she changed her

mind after the fact. Such men generally believe that

most rapes are false reports.

• Some college men have sexist attitudes and seek

sexual conquests. Some men simply do not care about

women's feelings. "They have learned that what counts,

in the popular sports term invariably adopted...is that

they 'score.'"48

• Some men see alcohol as a tool for sexual

conquest. While alcohol use does not cause rape,

"alcohol abuse is strongly related to abuse of

women."49 In addition, many college men may be

unaware that having sex with someone who is drunk is

rape.

• Some men receive peer support for sexually abusive

behavior. Sexually abusive men often are friends with

and loyal to other sexually abusive men and get peer

support for their behavior, fostering and legitimizing

it.50 During the 1980s and 1990s, a series of rapes in

fraternity houses, and subsequent cover-ups by

fraternity members, suggested to researchers that

certain all-male living arrangements foster unhealthy

environments conducive to rape.51
The Problem of Acquaintance Rape of College Students 13

Alcohol's Role in Acquaintance Rape

Alcohol appears to play a large role in acquaintance rape,

although it is not the cause. Research indicates that in over

three-quarters of college rapes, the offender, the victim or

both had been drinking.52 Researchers provide several

explanations for alcohol's presence in so many rapes:53

• Men expect to become more sexualized when

drinking. "Men view the world in a more sexualized

manner than women do and, consequently, are more

likely than women to interpret ambiguous cues as

evidence of sexual intent."†

• Alcohol increases misperceptions because it

reduces a person's capacity to analyze complex

stimuli. Alcohol (and drug) use increases the risk that

men and women will misinterpret messages between

them.

• Some men believe in stereotypes about women and

drinking. Some men believe that women who drink are

more sexually available than those who do not.54

• Some men use alcohol as a justification or an

excuse. Some men use alcohol to justify or excuse

acting out, misbehaving or committing a crime.

• Alcohol causes poor sending and receiving of

friendly and sexual cues. "While drinking alcohol, a

woman may not notice her date's persistent attempts to

get her into an isolated location or encourage her to

consume even more alcohol."55 In one study, "threequarters of the acknowledged date rapists interviewed .

. . said that they sometimes got women drunk in order

to increase the likelihood of having sex with them."††

• Alcohol decreases women's ability to resist rape.

Alcohol slows motor functions, reducing the likelihood

that a woman can verbally or physically resist a rapist.

† Some studies have found that

men (more so than women) view

certain cues as evidence that a

woman is interested in having sex,

such as her wearing revealing

clothing, agreeing to a secluded date

location such as the man's room or

the beach, drinking alcohol,

complimenting the man during the

date, and tickling the man (Abbey

1991).

†† In one study, researchers found

that women did not see being alone

with a man and drinking as putting

them at risk. Women tended to

appropriately estimate the risk to

others, but not to themselves,

perhaps because on prior occasions,

being alone with a man and drinking

did not result in rape. The

researchers found that women

drinkers believed they could drink a

lot before being at increased risk for

sexual aggression (Norris, Nurius

and Graham 1999).
14 Acquaintance Rape of College Students

Research has found that when alcohol or drugs are

involved in acquaintance rape–which is frequently the

case–peers tend to hold women more responsible for the

rape, and men less responsible for it.

Athletic Teams, Fraternities and Acquaintance Rape

College athletes are disproportionately reported to campus

judicial officers for acquaintance rape.56 It is unclear

whether they actually offend more, or whether students

tend to report them more (perhaps angered by athletes'

esteemed and privileged status). On some campuses,

revenue-generating athletes (usually football and basketball

players) may believe they are immune to campus rules (and

sometimes are), and take advantage of "groupies" or other

women they perceive as sexually interested in them.57

As for fraternities, a disproportionate number of

documented gang rapes involve fraternity members.

Research on reported gang rapes committed by college

students from 1980 to 1990 found that fraternity members

committed 55 percent of them.58 Fraternities often have a

unique place on campus; they are typically housed in

private residences (with many private rooms) and hold

large unsupervised parties, often with free-flowing alcohol.

Some fraternity members approve of getting a woman

drunk to have sex. This, combined with some fraternities'

emphasis on loyalty above identifying members who rape,

has put fraternities in the center of controversy because a

disproportionate number of reported rapes occur on their

property. A number of researchers believe that certain

fraternities, because of their practices, are more rapeprone† than others, placing sorority members (and other

frequent women attendees at fraternity parties) at greater

† Humphrey and Kahn (2000)

found that college women correctly

identify the campus fraternities and

athletic teams that are high risk and

low risk for rape, based on the type

of parties they have had.
The Problem of Acquaintance Rape of College Students 15

risk of rape. Some researchers also believe that binge

drinking makes certain fraternities high risk for rape. Many

national Greek organizations now require education for

their local chapters concerning sexual assault and alcohol

consumption, and some now mandate "dry" houses.

Legal Obligations of Colleges

The more that acquaintance rape remains a hidden crime,

the less incentive that schools have to invest sufficiently in

its prevention. Stranger rape results in dramatic and

unwelcome publicity for colleges. Administrators try to

prevent such victimization by putting cameras in parking

garages, running late-night student escort and/or shuttle

services, deploying student patrols, placing emergency

telephones throughout campus, locking buildings to

prevent strangers from entering, trimming obstructive

foliage, and improving the lighting in dark or less-traveled

areas. The costs of these prevention initiatives far exceed

the dollars spent on acquaintance rape prevention, even

though acquaintance rape is a much more likely

occurrence. Increased reporting–even anonymous

reporting–may push colleges to further invest in more

effective acquaintance rape prevention.

Colleges have a legal duty to warn students of known risks

and to provide reasonable protection.59 If a crime is

foreseeable, then a college can be held liable for not

sufficiently protecting against it. As noted, acquaintance

rape is the most common violent crime on college

campuses.60 If "acquaintance rape(s) occur at predictable

times and places, the school must make reasonable efforts

to prevent a recurrence; and the school may be liable if it

fails to deal effectively with repeat student offenders,

including rapists, whose conduct eventually results in more

damage."61

Understanding Your Local Problem 17

Understanding Your Local Problem

The information provided is only a generalized description

of acquaintance rape of college students. You must

combine the basic facts with a more specific

understanding of your local problem. Analyzing the local

problem carefully will help you design a more effective

response strategy.

Asking the Right Questions

The following are some critical questions you should ask

in analyzing your particular acquaintance rape problem,

even if the answers are not always readily available. Your

answers to these and other questions will help you choose

the most appropriate set of responses later on.

Victims

• How many reported rape victims does the college have? 

• What percentage are women? What percentage are men?

• What percentage of the reported incidents are

acquaintance rapes?

• What percentage of female victims are raped by college

students?

• What percentage of male victims are raped by college

students?

• How many of the college's students have been

acquaintance rape victims in the past two years, but did

not report? A two-year period can provide useful trend

data. A victimization survey may be the best means to

capture this information. It may also be valuable in

revealing reasons for not reporting.†

† Campus and municipal police may

find that certain faculty members

(trained in research methods) and

their students would be willing to

conduct such surveys, perhaps as

part of a sociology class or seminar

project.
18 Acquaintance Rape of College Students

• Were the victims previously raped during college? If so,

where and when? Were the victims previously raped

before attending college? Police should also ask college

counselors to pose these questions to all rape victims

who come to their attention, and to track this

information each year in order to tailor rape prevention

programs.

• What is the offenders' relationship to the victims 

(e.g., boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, dorm mate, classmate,

stranger)?

• Did the acquaintance rape victims drink alcohol or use

drugs before the assaults? If so, what kind and how

much? Did they do so at the offenders' insistence or

encouragement? 

• What reasons do the victims give for the rapes? A

survey may include optional answers such as those

listed below, allowing the victim to check all that apply:

• “He did not listen to me.”

• “He did not respect my wishes.”

• “We were both drunk.”

• “He kept giving me drinks.”

• “He drugged me.”

• Did the victims attend any rape prevention programs

before the assaults?

• Does the college conduct exit interviews of

nonreturning students that include questions about,

among other things, whether the students were raped?

Locations/Times

• Where did the acquaintance rapes occur? The

victimization survey may be the best way to get this

information. Possible answers should be listed and
Understanding Your Local Problem 19

might include the offender's residence hall room, the

victim's residence hall room, a fraternity house

bedroom, a fraternity house bathroom, a sorority

house, a car, a college-sponsored party, a nonstudent

party, etc.

• Who owns the premises or locations where the rapes

occurred?

• Do certain campus fraternities have reputations as

places where rapes occur? If so, why?

• What specific event preceded the rapes (e.g., fraternity

party, intercollegiate athletic party or game, collegesponsored party, residence hall party, date, drinking at a

bar)?

• At what times and on what days did most of the rapes

occur? 

• Based on the victimization survey, when do the rapes

cluster (e.g., the first week of school; the first month of

school, but not the first week; the first semester of

school, but not the first month; spring break; the

beginning of the sophomore year)?

Offenders

• Who are the offenders (e.g., freshmen, sophomores,

nonstudents, fraternity members, athletes)?

• Are rape prevention programs targeted, tailored and

timely enough to address the offender group(s)?

•· Are certain campus fraternities or athletic teams

thought to have parties that are high or low risk for

rape? A survey of the college's women may help to

identify high-risk groups.

• Have the high-risk groups attended rape prevention

programs?

• Are the sanctions against potential offenders

sufficiently publicized to reach the targeted group(s)?
20 Acquaintance Rape of College Students

Current Responses

• How much money has the college invested in

preventing stranger rape compared with preventing

acquaintance rape?

• Does the college or do campus police have a security

role at any of the places or functions (on or off

campus) where acquaintance rapes have occurred?

• Are current investigative methods designed to counter

the most predictable defense in acquaintance rape:

consent?

• Does the rape prevention program provided by the

college or by campus or municipal police specifically

address that college's problem? Does the curriculum

contain valid information? Is the curriculum designed

to focus on behavioral change? Has the program

reduced the number of reported and unreported

acquaintance rapes? Has the program been evaluated?

• Are the right people attending the program?

• Is the program timely enough to prevent most

acquaintance rapes? Is the information provided

sufficient to stop the different types of acquaintance

rape from occurring?

• Does the curriculum provide potential victims with

skills to deal with a variety of risky situations (e.g., at

parties, in cars at the end of dates, in encounters in an

apartment, when the man or woman is drinking

heavily)?

• Do the college's rules effectively address acquaintance

rape? Does the college enforce the rules?

• Are the people who make disciplinary decisions about

acquaintance rape educated about the problem,

including the temporal, geographic, victimization, and

offending patterns for the college?

• Are police and college public safety officers adequately

educated about the exact nature of the problem at the

college? 
Understanding Your Local Problem 21

• Are college officials and public safety officers trained

concerning the UCR's “unfounded” category, and do

they understand that certain conditions (e.g., the

victim's intoxication or prior intimate relationship with

the offender) do not allow for “unfounding” a case?

Do campus judiciary decisions in acquaintance rape

cases properly reflect this?

• Are those arrested for acquaintance rape prosecuted? If

not, why? If so, what is the typical sentence?

Measuring Your Effectiveness

You should take measures of your problem before you

implement responses, to determine how serious the

problem is, and after you implement them, to determine

whether they have been effective. Measurement allows you

to determine to what degree your efforts have succeeded,

and suggests how you might modify your responses if they

are not producing the intended results. (For more detailed

guidance on measuring effectiveness, see the companion

guide to this series, Assessing Responses to Problems: An

Introductory Guide for Police Problem-Solvers.) 

The following are potentially useful measures of the

effectiveness of responses to acquaintance rape of college

students.

Process Measures

The following process measures assess whether responses

designed to reduce acquaintance rape were implemented:

• increased percentage of victims reporting acquaintance

rape;

• increased percentage of victims reporting attempted

acquaintance rape;
22 Acquaintance Rape of College Students

• increased percentage of men who are knowledgeable

about the issue of consent;

• increased percentage of freshman and sophomore

women who are knowledgeable about risk factors

associated with acquaintance rape;

• increased percentage of rape cases investigated by the

police that result in prosecutions and convictions

and/or appropriate campus judicial sanctions;

• increased willingness of college administrators to make

training mandatory and ongoing;

• increased percentage of female students who recognize

that they are more at risk for acquaintance rape than

stranger rape; and 

• increased percentage of women who take preventive

measures against acquaintance rape.

Impact Measures

The following impact measures might indicate that

acquaintance rape has decreased:

• reduced number of acquaintance rapes, tracked by type

(e.g., party rape, date rape, non-party rape, rape by a

former intimate) and time of year (e.g., freshmen

orientation week, first semester);

• reduced number of repeat victims; and

• reduced number of repeat offenders.
Responses to the Problem of Acquaintance Rape of College Students 23

Responses to the Problem of

Acquaintance Rape of College Students

Researchers suggest that educational programs are the

most effective acquaintance rape prevention approach. At

this point, there is no research to suggest whether other

interventions, such as having only single-sex residence

halls, enforcing residence halls visitation rules, placing

anti-acquaintance rape educational posters in residence

halls, or banning alcohol on campus, are effective in

preventing acquaintance rape.

General Considerations About Acquaintance Rape

Prevention Programs

Because acquaintance rape of college students often

involves conflicting accounts of what occurred and,

without the help of witnesses, determining which account

is more credible, tailored prevention is the primary

approach police, especially campus police, should use.

Typically, the campus police role in rape prevention

consists of providing self-defense training, doing

environmental assessments of outdoor areas vulnerable to

rape, and recommending the installation of cameras, lights,

locks, etc. There is a strong argument that these

approaches do not focus on preventing the most prevalent

type of campus rape: acquaintance rape. If campus police

predominantly invest in such approaches, the message to

students is that “real rape” is stranger rape, and that is

what police prevent, while acquaintance rape prevention is

left to other campus departments or student organizations.

Educational programs should involve multiple intervention

efforts, with repeated and reinforced exposure to the

issue.62 Police and other trained professionals should
24 Acquaintance Rape of College Students

conduct the programs before the most high-risk times, and

again at later intervals, tailoring them to high-risk groups.

Programs should focus on changing behavior, not just attitudes, and

program evaluations must be done to determine if the various components

are effective for your particular population.†

Generally, researchers suggest that most college rape

prevention programs suffer from several weaknesses:63

• a lack of clear goals;

• a focus on changing attitudes, rather than behavior;

• lack of distinct programming for those at highest risk,

including prior sexual assault victims; and

• a lack of follow-up assessment.

Mixed-Gender, Gender-Specific and Peer-Delivered

Programs

Mixed-gender programs show uneven results in changing

rape-supportive attitudes.64 Consequently, a number of

researchers advocate separate programs for men and

women to address gender-specific issues. Such programs

may also remove the fear of discussing rape in front of

peers of the opposite sex. Some colleges use trained

students to conduct programs; however, the use of peer

educators, male or female, remains unexamined

empirically.65 In addition, there is no evidence that student

role-playing is more effective than a combined

lecture/video approach.66

Program Timing

As noted earlier, the risk of rape is highest during the

freshman year, beginning with the first day of school. If

police or college administrators cannot provide rape

† For a full discussion of evaluating

rape prevention programs, see

Chapter 6 in Finn (1995), and for a

thorough discussion of the

effectiveness of typical college rape

prevention programs, see Yeater and

O'Donohue (1999).
Responses to the Problem of Acquaintance Rape of College Students 25

prevention programs on the first day of freshman

orientation, they can mail letters to students and parents

before freshman fall classes start, addressing rape and the

relevant rules, laws and consequences; the letters should

also stress the importance of parents' educating students

about acceptable conduct.†

Key Responses 

Outlined below are key elements of acquaintance rape

prevention responses targeting different campus groups.

1. Conducting acquaintance rape prevention programs

for college men in general. Programs for men should

focus on rape reduction. Attendance should be mandatory,

both at the initial program and at follow-up programs

during the freshman year and at the start of the

sophomore year. Key program elements should include the

following:

• A preprogram survey of the men's knowledge of and

behavior concerning acquaintance rape.

• The provision of accurate definitions of stranger,

acquaintance, party, gang, and date rape, and

information about related state laws and sanctions, as

well as college rules and sanctions. Each state has

different rape laws; in many states, the use of physical

force is no longer a requirement for a rape to have

occurred.

• The use of realistic scenarios to illustrate risky

situations in which men may find themselves.††

• A comparison of the frequency of acquaintance rape

with that of stranger rape.

• A discussion of the relationship between rape and

alcohol use.†††

† Letters to parents may be

effective in widening interest in the

problem. One university asked the

parents of incoming freshmen to

speak with their son or daughter

about rape (as well as several other

problems that are significant for

freshmen such as binge drinking and

hate crimes). At another university,

after a gang rape at a fraternity party,

the campus police sent a letter

warning parents of incoming

freshmen, as well as insurance

carriers, about fraternities in

violation of alcohol laws (Bernstein

1996).

†† One campus public safety

director collaborated with the

municipal police department to

create a scenario-based brochure to

educate male students about sexual

assault and rape reduction. They also

developed a scenario-based brochure

tailored to women college students.

These are available from Rana

Sampson via email at

ranasampson@aol.com.

††† Researchers agree about the

importance of combining rape

prevention programs for college

students with substance abuse

prevention programs, especially

regarding binge drinking. Typically,

substance abuse prevention

programs focus on risks such as

drunken driving, fistfights and

vandalism, but the main emphases

should be on the risks of sexual

miscommunication and rape (Abbey

et al. 1996).
26 Acquaintance Rape of College Students

• A discussion about consent, including the use of

consent scenarios to show what is required. Men

cannot legally engage in intercourse without explicit

consent. State laws require consent, and in most states,

it cannot be obtained if the person is drunk.

• A discussion of commonly held misconceptions about

a man's “right” to sex (e.g., if the man has paid for

dinner, if the woman is dressed seductively, if the man

thinks the woman is a “tease” or flirt, if the man thinks

the woman has a crush on him).

• A discussion about “scoring” and how it devalues

women by treating them as objects of conquest.

• An emphasis that the harm acquaintance rape victims

suffer is the same as that suffered by stranger-rape

victims.

• A discussion of counseling services for men who want

to change their behavior.

• A discussion of men's role in stopping acquaintance

rape.

• A review of the investigative and disciplinary processes

for rape cases, and of the consequences for rape and

for seeking reprisal against the victim.

• A follow-up survey several months after the programs

to assess knowledge retention and behavioral change.

2. Conducting acquaintance rape risk-reduction

programs for college women. Even though the vast

majority of college rapes entail men raping women,

interventions geared toward changing only men's behavior

will not be 100 percent effective. It is also important to

provide risk reduction programs for women. Outlined below

are program elements researchers suggest.
Responses to the Problem of Acquaintance Rape of College Students 27

• A preprogram survey of women's knowledge of

acquaintance rape, risk factors and risk reduction

techniques.

• The provision of accurate definitions of stranger,

acquaintance, party, gang, and date rape, and

information about related state laws and sanctions, as

well as college rules and sanctions.

• The use of realistic scenarios to illustrate risky

situations in which college women may find themselves.

• A comparison of the frequency of acquaintance rape

with that of stranger rape. Research suggests that many

women are in denial about their risk for acquaintance

rape. Although some women are knowledgeable about

acquaintance rape, they think it is more likely to happen

to others than to themselves.67

• An emphasis that the harm acquaintance rape victims

suffer is the same as that suffered by stranger-rape

victims.

• A discussion of the need for explicit consent.

• A discussion of accurate labeling of rape.

Acknowledging when an assault occurs and the

importance of reporting in stemming repeat offending.

• A discussion of risk factors, including the potential for

repeat victimization.

• A discussion of how friends can help and support

acquaintance rape victims.

• A review of the investigative and disciplinary processes

for rape cases.

• A discussion of counseling services for rape victims.

• A follow-up survey several months after the programs

to assess knowledge retention and behavioral change.
28 Acquaintance Rape of College Students

† Hanson and Gidycz (1993). For a

discussion of the need for different

training for rape victims and

attempted rape victims, see

Breitenbecher and Scarce (1999).

†† Representatives from campus

counseling services should attend

rape education programs and offer

to meet privately with victims,

helping them design individualized

safety plans to reduce their risk of

repeat victimization.

††† Although this guide does not

address investigative issues, it is

important to note that police

training for acquaintance rape

investigations must include

components on evidence gathering

when the offender will likely claim

consent. For information about the

different investigative methods for

acquaintance vs. stranger rape cases,

see material published by the

National Center for Women and

Policing.

Research has found that comprehensive programs with

these key components can reduce sexual victimization of

college women by up to half, but only for those women

who have not previously been raped or experienced

attempted rape.†

3. Developing risk reduction plans to prevent repeat

victimization. Police must develop specific programs for

women raped prior to college, as researchers have found

that the programs described above do not reduce their risk

for repeat victimization.68 It is theorized that women who

have previously been raped require additional training to

accurately assess risky situations.69 Police should enlist

campus counselors to develop tailored risk recognition and

reduction plans for prior victims.†† Counselors should

intermittently recontact the women to determine if the

plans have been effective, and to track repeat victimization

in order to improve programs and safety plans.

4. Educating police about acquaintance rape of

college students. Educating police about the extent of

acquaintance rape (compared with stranger rape) of

college students, and about the patterns related to it, can

provide them with an important background context. The

training should cover the research on high-risk times and

high-risk groups, the elements of effective rape prevention

programs, and the need for police involvement in the

programs.††† Police involvement can help assure students

that the college takes acquaintance rape seriously.

5. Conducting acquaintance rape prevention programs

for college administrators, campus judicial officers

and other key campus personnel. Top campus

administrators should be called upon to clear the way for
Responses to the Problem of Acquaintance Rape of College Students 29

police to provide education and prevention programming

in residence halls, fraternities and sororities, to athletic

teams, and incoming students during orientation.70 It is

also necessary to educate all campus healthcare staff,

residence directors and assistants, and Greek advisors

about rape, as well as advise counseling personnel about

the need to track anonymous reporting, ask students about

prior rapes, and develop safety plans for prior victims.† In

addition, police must educate athletic coaches about rape

prevention. Some coaches will not need much persuading,

others may be convinced of its importance as a means of

keeping their athletes from jeopardizing their own or their

team's reputation. Since coach support of rape prevention

programs is crucial for success, police may want to

advocate that coaches' active participation in the programs

be used as one measure in coaches' performance

evaluations.††

6. Conducting acquaintance rape prevention programs

geared toward campus athletes and fraternity

members. Acquaintance rape prevention programs should

be tailored to focus on the specific risks for athletes††† and

fraternity members. Program elements researchers suggest

include the following:

• A preprogram survey of athletes' and fraternity

members' knowledge of and behavior concerning

acquaintance rape.

• An emphasis on athletes' using aggression only on the

field.††††

• A discussion stressing that athletes' prominent status

on campus does not entitle them to sex. Women must

freely give consent.

† Police should ask those in college

counseling services to develop indepth interview protocols for rape

victims, including questions about

prior victimization. Counselors

should develop safety plans with

victims that help them more

accurately assess risky situations.

†† It is also wise to provide

adequate information to faculty,

particularly those whom rape victims

are likely to approach because their

courses cover rape (e.g., psychology,

sociology, women's studies,

criminology, and criminal justice

faculty). Police can also recruit

faculty to conduct or participate in

rape prevention programs.

††† If athletes are educated about

rape only after an incident occurs,

they may perceive it a punishment

rather than a proactive rape

prevention effort.

†††† Many of the gang rape charges

involving athletes “seem to involve

members of such contact team

sports as football, basketball and

lacrosse, rather than athletes from

such individual nonaggressive sports

as tennis and golf ” (Parrot et al.

1994).
30 Acquaintance Rape of College Students

• A discussion stressing that athletes should not equate

the behavior of some women fans with that of all

women, and that a fan's perceived interest in an athlete

does not constitute consent.

• A discussion of the increased risk of rape when allmale groups (such as athletes and fraternity members)

live together in houses with private rooms, where

parties are frequent, and where alcohol is available.

• Realistic approaches athletes and fraternity members

can use to counter any “group think” supporting male

sexual dominance of females and the myth that women

secretly want to be sexually overtaken.

• Approaches for resisting pressure to participate in

“group sex” acts.

• An emphasis on the importance of intervening in and

reporting rape, despite team or fraternity pressure to

maintain secrecy.

• Follow-up assessments to determine behavioral change.

Responses With Limited Effectiveness

7. Providing student escort and/or shuttle services.

Many colleges have student escort and/or shuttle services

so that women do not have to walk alone on campus late

at night. These services may reduce the risk of stranger

rape, but not of acquaintance rape; they do not take the

place of adequate acquaintance rape prevention.

8. Providing rape aggression defense training. Many

college public safety departments offer women students

rape aggression defense training to increase their ability to

fend off would-be rapists. Police now commonly include
Responses to the Problem of Acquaintance Rape of College Students 31

such training in acquaintance rape prevention programs,

no longer focusing only on stranger rape. Researchers find

that this training is:

• too limited to cause significant reductions in

acquaintance rape,

• not sufficiently focused on the most prevalent types of

campus rape, and

• inadequate for causing any behavioral change in male

students.71

Colleges may choose to include the training in their

stranger rape reduction efforts; however, it is unlikely to

reduce acquaintance rape.

Appendix 33

Summary of Responses to Acquaintance

Rape of College Students

The table below summarizes the responses to acquaintance

rape of college students, the mechanism by which they are

intended to work, the conditions under which they ought

to work best, and some factors you should consider before

implementing a particular response. It is critical that you

tailor responses to local circumstances, and that you can

justify each response based on reliable analysis. In most

cases, an effective strategy will involve implementing

several different responses. Law enforcement responses

alone are seldom effective in reducing or solving the

problem.

1. 25 Conducting

acquaintance

rape prevention

programs for

college men in

general

Removes excuses

for rape by

increasing men's

knowledge

...programs are

designed to

change behavior,

not just attitudes,

and coincide with

high-risk times

Finding adequate

time for

programs before

or during highrisk times;

researchers

recommend

combining the

programs with

prevention

programming

targeting other

forms of sexual

assault and also

with substance

abuse prevention

programs

Response

No.

Page No. Response How It

Works

Works

Best If...

Considerations

Key Responses
34 Acquaintance Rape of College Students

2.

3.

4.

5.

26

28

28

28

Conducting

acquaintance rape

risk-reduction

programs for

college women

Developing risk

reduction plans to

prevent repeat

victimization

Educating police

about

acquaintance rape

of college

students

Conducting

acquaintance rape

prevention

programs for

college

administrators,

campus judicial

officers and other

key campus

personnel

Increases the

effort offenders

must make to

commit rape and

increases

offenders' risk

that they will be

identified

Increases the

effort offenders

must make

Increases the

likelihood that

police will

participate in

developing

appropriate rape

reduction

initiatives for

students

Increases

campus

personnel's

knowledge and

enables

personnel to

appropriately

deal with victims

and offenders

...programs are

designed to

change behavior,

not just increase

knowledge

...college

counseling

personnel work

with prior

victims–without

blaming them–to

develop

individualized

risk reduction

plans 

...police are

trained before

classes start

...programs are

completed

before classes

start

It is the victim's

choice whether to

report a rape and

identify the

offender; however,

colleges should

strongly support

reporting, even

anonymous

reporting

May be difficult to

identify prior

victims; victims

must choose to

come forward and

may do so only if

they think more

good than harm

will come from it

Often requires

police to examine

their prevention

and investigation

approaches to

acquaintance rape

Requires extensive

coordination, open

access to campus

personnel, and

school leaders'

commitment to

support rape

prevention efforts

Response

No.

Page No. Response How It

Works

Works

Best If...

Considerations
Appendix 35

6.

7.

8.

29

30

30

Conducting

acquaintance rape

prevention

programs geared

toward campus

athletes and

fraternity

members

Providing student

escort and/or

shuttle services

Providing rape

aggression

defense training

Removes excuses

for rape by

changing men's

attitudes toward

women and

setting explicit

rules 

Reduces the risk

of stranger rape

Increases the

effort stranger

rapists must make

...coaches,

fraternity leaders

and fraternity

alumni leaders

support the

programs

...combined with

comprehensive

efforts to reduce

acquaintance rape

...combined with

comprehensive

efforts to reduce

acquaintance rape,

in particular

Programs should be

presented as a

means to prevent

harm, not as a

punishment 

Campus women's

groups often

advocate these

services 

Campus women's

groups often

advocate this

training

Response

No.

Page No. Response How It

Works

Works

Best If...

Considerations

Responses With Limited Effectiveness

Endnotes 37

Endnotes

1 Finn (1995); Weitzman, DeJong and Finn (n.d.).

2 Humphrey and Kahn (2000).

3 Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000).

4 Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000), based on the extrapolation of a six-month data set.

Also see Koss, Gidycz and Wisniewski (1987) for similar results.

5 Waldner-Haugrud and Magruder (1995).

6 Abbey (1991).

7 Benson, Charton and Goodhart (1992).

8 Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000).

9 U.S. Department of Education (2001).

10 Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000).

11 Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000).

12 Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000).

13 Bohmer and Parrot (1993).

14 Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000).

15 Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000).

16 Benson, Charton and Goodhart (1992).

17 Bohmer and Parrot (1993).

18 Ostrander and Schwartz (1994); Schwartz and DeKeseredy (1997).

19 Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000).

20 Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000).

21 Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000).

22 Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000).

23 Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000).

24 Hickman and Muehlenhard (1997).

25 Hickman and Muehlenhard (1997).

26 Yeater and O'Donohue (1999).

27 Finn (1995).

28 Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000).

29 Himelein (1995).

30 Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000).

31 Schwartz and DeKeseredy (1997).

32 See Hanson and Gidycz (1993) for a discussion of the research on risk factors.
38 Acquaintance Rape of College Students

33 Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000); Himelein (1995). See Hanson and Gidycz (1993)

for a discussion of the research on this subject.

34 Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000).

35 Schwartz and Pitts (1995).

36 See Hanson and Gidycz (1993) for a discussion of the research on risk factors.

37 See Hanson and Gidycz (1993) for a discussion of the research on risk factors.

38 Himelein (1995).

39 Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000); Hanson and Gidycz (1993). Also see Schwartz and

DeKeseredy (1997) for a discussion of research on sexual assault repeat

victimization.

40 Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000).

41 Hanson and Gidycz (1993); Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000).

42 Hanson and Gidycz (1993), reporting on research by Gidycz.

43 Greene and Navarro (1998).

44 Greene and Navarro (1998).

45 For a discussion of college male repeat rape offending see Schwartz and DeKeseredy

(1997).

46 Fisher and Sloan (1995).

47 Earle (1996).

48 Schwartz and DeKeseredy (1997).

49 Schwartz and DeKeseredy (1997).

50 Schwartz and DeKeseredy (1997).

51 Schwartz and DeKeseredy (1997).

52 Abbey et al. (1996).

53 Abbey (1991). For recent research on college binge drinking, binge drinking rates for

athletes and fraternity members, and the increased risk of rape, see Wechsler (2000),

at http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/cas/Documents/monograph_2000/

cas_mono_2000.pdf

54 Abbey (1991).

55 See Abbey (1991) for a general discussion of the research on this subject.

56 Koss and Cleveland (1996).

57 Fisher and Sloan (1995); Koss and Gaines (1993).

58 Bohmer and Parrot (1993).

59 Finn (1995).

60 Finn (1995); Weitzman, DeJong and Finn (n.d.).

61 Finn (1995).
Endnotes 39

62 Finn (1995).

63 Lonsway (1996).

64 Lonsway (1996). See Earle (1996) for a discussion of programs for first-year male

students.

65 Lonsway (1996).

66 Forst, Lightfoot and Burrichter (1996).

67 Hickman and Muehlenhard (1997).

68 Hanson and Gidycz (1993).

69 Norris, Nurius and Graham (1999).

70 Finn (1995).

71 Lonsway (1996).

References 41

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Benson, D., C. Charton and F. Goodhart (1992).

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Bernstein, N. (1996). “Behind Some Fraternity Walls,

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Cummings, N. (1992). “Self-Defense Training for College

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Earle, J. (1996). “Acquaintance Rape Workshops: Their

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College Men.” NASPA Journal 34(1):2–18.

Finn, P. (1995). Preventing Alcohol-Related Problems on Campus:

Acquaintance Rape–A Guide for Program Coordinators.

Newton, Mass.: Higher Education Center for Alcohol

and Other Drug Prevention.

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Fisher, B., F. Cullen and M. Turner (2000). The Sexual

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Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice and

Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Fisher, B., and J. Sloan III (1995). Campus Crime: Legal,

Social and Policy Perspectives. Springfield, Ill.: Charles C.

Thomas.

Forst, L., J. Lightfoot and A. Burrichter (1996).

“Familiarity With Sexual Assault and Its Relationship to

the Effectiveness of Acquaintance Rape Prevention

Programs.” Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

12(1):28–44.

Greene, D., and R. Navarro (1998). “Situation-Specific

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Hannon, R., T. Kuntz, S. Van Laar, J. Williams, and D. Hall

(1996). “College Students' Judgments Regarding Sexual

Aggression During a Date.” Sex Roles

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Women Quarterly 21:527–547.

Himelein, M. (1995). “Risk Factors for Sexual

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Strategist Publications.

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(1994). “A Rape Awareness and Prevention Model for

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Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention.

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Women.” Clinical Psychology Review 19(7):739–771.

About the Author 47

About the Author

Rana Sampson

Rana Sampson is a national problem-oriented policing

consultant and the former director of public safety for the

University of San Diego. She was previously a White

House Fellow; National Institute of Justice Fellow; senior

researcher and trainer at the Police Executive Research

Forum; attorney; and patrol officer, undercover narcotics

officer and patrol sergeant with the New York City Police

Department, where she was awarded several

commendations of merit and won the National

Improvement of Justice Award. She is the coauthor (with

Michael Scott) of Tackling Crime and Other Public-Safety

Problems: Case Studies in Problem-Solving, which documents

high-quality crime control efforts from around the United

States, Canada and Europe. She is a judge for the Herman

Goldstein Award for Excellence in Problem-Oriented

Policing, a former judge for the police Fulbright awards,

and a commissioner with California's Commission on

Peace Officer Standards and Training. Sampson holds a

law degree from Harvard and a bachelor's degree from

Barnard College, Columbia University.

Recommended Readings 49

Recommended Readings

• A Police Guide to Surveying Citizens and Their

Environments, Bureau of Justice Assistance, 1993. This

guide offers a practical introduction for police practitioners

to two types of surveys that police find useful: surveying

public opinion and surveying the physical environment. It

provides guidance on whether and how to conduct costeffective surveys.

• Assessing Responses to Problems: An Introductory Guide

for Police Problem-Solvers, by John E. Eck (U.S.

Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented

Policing Services, 2001). This guide is a companion to the

Problem-Oriented Guides for Police series. It provides basic

guidance to measuring and assessing problem-oriented

policing efforts.

• Conducting Community Surveys, by Deborah Weisel

(Bureau of Justice Statistics and Office of Community

Oriented Policing Services, 1999). This guide, along with

accompanying computer software, provides practical, basic

pointers for police in conducting community surveys. The

document is also available at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs.

• Crime Prevention Studies, edited by Ronald V. Clarke

(Criminal Justice Press, 1993, et seq.). This is a series of

volumes of applied and theoretical research on reducing

opportunities for crime. Many chapters are evaluations of

initiatives to reduce specific crime and disorder problems.
50 Acquaintance Rape of College Students

• Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing: The 1999

Herman Goldstein Award Winners. This document

produced by the National Institute of Justice in

collaboration with the Office of Community Oriented

Policing Services and the Police Executive Research Forum

provides detailed reports of the best submissions to the

annual award program that recognizes exemplary problemoriented responses to various community problems. A

similar publication is available for the award winners from

subsequent years. The documents are also available at

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij.

• Not Rocket Science? Problem-Solving and Crime

Reduction, by Tim Read and Nick Tilley (Home Office

Crime Reduction Research Series, 2000). Identifies and

describes the factors that make problem-solving effective or

ineffective as it is being practiced in police forces in

England and Wales.

• Opportunity Makes the Thief: Practical Theory for Crime

Prevention, by Marcus Felson and Ronald V. Clarke (Home

Office Police Research Series, Paper No. 98, 1998). Explains

how crime theories such as routine activity theory, rational

choice theory and crime pattern theory have practical

implications for the police in their efforts to prevent crime.

• Problem-Oriented Policing, by Herman Goldstein

(McGraw-Hill, 1990, and Temple University Press, 1990).

Explains the principles and methods of problem-oriented
Recommended Readings 51

policing, provides examples of it in practice, and discusses

how a police agency can implement the concept.

• Problem-Oriented Policing: Reflections on the First 20

Years, by Michael S. Scott (U.S. Department of Justice,

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 2000).

Describes how the most critical elements of Herman

Goldstein's problem-oriented policing model have

developed in practice over its 20-year history, and proposes

future directions for problem-oriented policing. The report

is also available at www.cops.usdoj.gov.

• Problem-Solving: Problem-Oriented Policing in Newport

News, by John E. Eck and William Spelman (Police

Executive Research Forum, 1987). Explains the rationale

behind problem-oriented policing and the problem-solving

process, and provides examples of effective problemsolving in one agency.

• Problem-Solving Tips: A Guide to Reducing Crime and

Disorder Through Problem-Solving Partnerships by Karin

Schmerler, Matt Perkins, Scott Phillips, Tammy Rinehart

and Meg Townsend. (U.S. Department of Justice, Office of

Community Oriented Policing Services, 1998) (also available

at www.cops.usdoj.gov). Provides a brief introduction to

problem-solving, basic information on the SARA model

and detailed suggestions about the problem-solving process.

• Situational Crime Prevention: Successful Case Studies,

Second Edition, edited by Ronald V. Clarke (Harrow and

Heston, 1997). Explains the principles and methods of
52 Acquaintance Rape of College Students

situational crime prevention, and presents over 20 case

studies of effective crime prevention initiatives.

• Tackling Crime and Other Public-Safety Problems: Case

Studies in Problem-Solving, by Rana Sampson and Michael

S. Scott (U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community

Oriented Policing Services, 2000) (also available at

www.cops.usdoj.gov). Presents case studies of effective

police problem-solving on 18 types of crime and disorder

problems.

• Using Analysis for Problem-Solving: A Guidebook for Law

Enforcement, by Timothy S. Bynum (U.S. Department of

Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services,

2001). Provides an introduction for police to analyzing

problems within the context of problem-oriented policing.

• Using Research: A Primer for Law Enforcement Managers,

Second Edition, by John E. Eck and Nancy G. LaVigne

(Police Executive Research Forum, 1994). Explains many of

the basics of research as it applies to police management

and problem-solving.
Other Guides in This Series 53

Other Guides in This Series

Problem-Oriented Guides for Police series:

1. Assaults in and Around Bars. Michael S. Scott. 2001.

2. Street Prostitution. Michael S. Scott. 2001.

3. Speeding in Residential Areas. Michael S. Scott. 2001.

4. Drug Dealing in Privately Owned Apartment Complexes.

Rana Sampson. 2001.

5. False Burglar Alarms. Rana Sampson. 2001.

6. Disorderly Youth in Public Places. Michael S. Scott. 2001.

7. Loud Car Stereos. Michael S. Scott. 2001.

8. Robbery at Automated Teller Machines. Michael S. Scott. 2001.

9. Graffiti. Deborah Lamm Weisel. 2002.

10. Thefts of and From Cars in Parking Facilities. Ronald V.

Clarke. 2002.

11. Shoplifting. Ronald V. Clarke. 2002.

12. Bullying in Schools. Rana Sampson. 2002.

13. Panhandling. Michael S. Scott. 2002.

14. Rave Parties. Michael S. Scott. 2002.

15. Burglary of Retail Establishments. Ronald V. Clarke. 2002.

16. Clandestine Drug Labs. Michael S. Scott. 2002.

17. Acquaintance Rape of College Students. Rana Sampson. 2002.

18. Burglary of Single-Family Houses. Deborah Lamm Weisel.

2002.

19. Misuse and Abuse of 911. Rana Sampson. 2002.

Companion guide to the Problem-Oriented Guides for Police series:

• Assessing Responses to Problems: An Introductory Guide for

Police Problem-Solvers. John E. Eck. 2002.
54 Acquaintance Rape of College Students

Other Related COPS Office Publications

• Using Analysis for Problem-Solving: A Guidebook for Law

Enforcement. Timothy S. Bynum.

• Problem-Oriented Policing: Reflections on the First 20 Years.

Michael S. Scott. 2001.

• Tackling Crime and Other Public-Safety Problems: Case Studies

in Problem-Solving. Rana Sampson and Michael S. Scott. 2000.

• Community Policing, Community Justice, and Restorative

Justice: Exploring the Links for the Delivery of a Balanced

Approach to Public Safety. Caroline G. Nicholl. 1999.

• Toolbox for Implementing Restorative Justice and Advancing

Community Policing. Caroline G. Nicholl. 2000.

• Problem-Solving Tips: A Guide to Reducing Crime and

Disorder Through Problem-Solving Partnerships. Karin

Schmerler, Matt Perkins, Scott Phillips, Tammy Rinehart and Meg

Townsend. 1998.

For more information about the Problem-Oriented Guides for Police series and

other COPS Office publications, please call the Department of Justice

Response Center at 1-800-421-6770 or check our website at

www.cops.usdoj.gov.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

1100 Vermont Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C. 20530

To obtain details on COPS programs, call the

U.S. Department of Justice Response Center at 1.800.421.6770

Visit the COPS internet web site at the address listed below.

e03021472 Created Date: March 28, 2002

www.cops.usdoj.gov