Sexual Assault on College Campuses: The Role of Alcohol and Opportunity

• In Event: 177 - Section on Sociology of Sexualities Paper Session. Sex and Drugs: Intersecting Approaches to Social Problems and Pleasures (co-sponsored with Section on Alcohol, Drugs and Tobacco)

Abstract

This paper contributes to the literature on sexual assault on college campuses by investigating which situational characteristics are most influential in increasing the likelihood of a female experiencing sexual assault during a recent “hookup”. Sexual assault of women on college campuses is of pressing interest in the U.S. Research on this topic can be instrumental in determining whether we are witnessing a crisis, as media coverage suggests, and if so, what factors are driving it. This paper draws from the literature on gender, sexuality and criminology to examine how certain structures and scenarios lead to sexual assault. Using logistic regression, I expand upon past research by using unique measures of social context to explore the mechanisms that affect sexual assault outcomes for females using cross-sectional data from the Online College Social Life Survey collected 2005-2011. Specifically, I investigate the implications of alcohol consumption, familiarity with a male partner, and other situational variables on hookups. I take the view that sexual assault includes physically forced intercourse, attempted physically forced intercourse and unwanted intercourse when incapacitated. I explore how situational factors contribute to each. Results show 4.6% of women experienced sexual assault during a recent hookup. Initial models indicate that heavy alcohol consumption drives sexual assault. However, a deeper analysis shows that once other situational factors are accounted for, the relationship between alcohol and sexual assault is significant for only one type of assault: incapacitated sexual assault. These findings highlight the need to differentiate between types of sexual assault in prevention efforts.

Author

• Jessie Ford, New York University