Two Sides to Every Story? Peer Mediation and Sexual Misconduct

• In Event: Sexual Assault: Case Processing and Intervention

Abstract

The complications and controversies surrounding the implementation of Obama-era Title IX regulations have been well-documented, yet impediments to protecting college and university students from sexual misconduct continue to evolve in light of the current administration’s recent changes to Title IX guidelines. In September 2017, Education Secretary Nancy DeVos replaced a number of federal rules with interim guidelines intended as placeholders while new Title IX rules are being formulated by the Education Department. Included among the interim guidelines, which are currently still in effect, are a higher evidentiary standard for complainants and a recommendation to make use of peer mediation whenever possible. The current study presents an analysis of in-depth interviews with 38 male and female college students on the topic of peer mediation as a resolution to sexual assault. Interviewees articulate the contexts in which mediation is or is not an appropriate recommendation to sexual assault allegations, the ideal outcomes of mediation in such contexts, and the evidence required from individuals claiming to have been sexually assaulted by non-stranger perpetrators. Overall, findings indicate that participants preferred to interpret allegations of sexual assault as instances of miscommunication or regretted sex, and, as such, mediation was considered an appropriate response.

Authors

• Nicole Lasky, Northeastern State University

• Karen Weiss, West Virginia University