Do acknowledged and unacknowledged victims have different person­alities, attitudes, or background experiences that lead them to label their rape experiences differently? In an extensive investigation of this possibil­ity, Koss (1985) found no differences between acknowledged and unac­knowledged rape victims in dating behaviors, situational aspects of the rape experience, personality, or attitudes about rape. Levine-MacCombie and […]

The logical positivism approach favors the experimental manipulation and control of variables in order to identify those variables that differen­tiate acknowledged from unacknowledged victims. However, in the study of rape it is not possible to experimentally manipulate variables. Conse­quently, research in this area typically involves surveying women about their attitudes, personalities, past experiences, and the […]

Research from a logical positivist perspective searches for an expla­nation of events in order to predict and control them (Guba & Lincoln, 1994). Hypotheses are formulated that are supported or not through the accumulation of data or facts. In the case of rape acknowledgment, the attempt is to identify personal and situational factors that differentiate […]

Whether a woman has been raped or not and whether she perceives her experience as rape are usually determined by her responses to the Sex­ual Experiences Survey (SES) (Koss & Oros, 1982). In completing the SES a respondent anonymously checks either yes or no to a variety of sexual experiences. Some of these experiences are […]

Using nonconsensual sexual intercourse as the definition of rape, re­searchers have discovered that rape, especially acquaintance rape, is a wide­spread phenomenon. The percentage of women who have experienced rape ranges between 12.7 and 25% or higher, depending upon how rape is mea­sured (Aizenman & Kelley, 1988; Kahn, Andreoli Mathie, &. Torgler, 1994; Koss, 1985, 1988, […]

The specific behaviors that constitute rape vary across cultures (Koss, Heise, & Russo, 1994). In the United States the meaning of rape has undergone considerable change. Donat and D’Emilio (1992) pointed out that in colonial times sex was regulated by the church and rape was con­sidered a crime against the man who “owned” the woman, […]

ARNOLD S. KAHN AND VIRGINIA ANDREOLI MATHIE Until recently rape was defined in the United States as forcible sexual intercourse by a man against a woman. In almost all cases, it was assumed the victim and assailant were strangers. In the last 3 decades, feminist scholars (e. g., Brownmiller, 1975; Millet, 1970) and researchers (e. […]

Creating an alternative conceptualization of acquaintance rape is dif­ficult because of the context in which we find ourselves embedded. How­ever, what is needed is a new conceptualization of rape that does not focus on a woman’s consent. As with other criminal acts, the focus should be on the perpetrator’s behavior. A feminist perspective argues that […]

When acquaintance rape is conceptualized primarily around the issue of consent, prevention efforts also become narrowed to this specific issue. Prevention programs, especially those with college students, often focus on teaching men and women how to clearly negotiate consent and avoid mis- communication. Women are taught which behaviors and situations to avoid because of the […]

In research on sexual assault, individuals rather than couples are stud­ied typically. Therefore, individual predictors for sexual assault are identi­fied rather than interpersonal or sociocultural factors. Research on male perpetrators focuses on the rapists personality and behavior (White & Far­mer, 1992). Penile tumescence, a measure used in some research on sexual aggression, may focus our […]