If It Wasn't Rape, Was It Sexual Assault? Comparing Rape and Sexual Assault Acknowledgment in College Women Who Have Experienced Rape.

The present study investigated (a) comparisons in rates of rape and sexual assault acknowledgment and (b) a comprehensive multivariate multinomial logistic model predicting rape and sexual assault acknowledgment in a sample of 174 college women who had experienced rape. Significantly more women acknowledged having experienced sexual assault than rape. Greater perceived perpetrator force was associated with increased likelihood of rape and sexual assault acknowledgment.

"At Least They're Workin' on My Case?" Victim Notification in Sexual Assault "Cold" Cases.

Sexual assault is a significantly under-reported, -investigated, and -prosecuted crime in the United States, which criminal justice and advocacy actors across the country are working to address. Law enforcement procedures often involve providing crime victims, including sexual assault victims, with written notification by mail about the status of their case, but little is known about the best practices for victim notification in sexual assault "cold" cases. This qualitative research explored whether this standard law enforcement practice was appropriate for sexual assault victims in "cold cases" particularly when there had been no contact from law enforcement, despite forensic evidence having been tested.

Assuming Personal Responsibility for Sexual Victimization: Harmful But Potentially Adaptive for College Women?

Survivors of sexual trauma often experience pervasive adverse cognitive attributions, such as assuming responsibility for victimization. In fact, these negative outcomes were recently included in the (5th ed.; ) criterion for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and have garnered substantial research attention devoted toward investigating the effectiveness of empirically supported trauma treatments in altering and reducing maladaptive belief systems.

College Women's Assignment of Blame Versus Responsibility for Sexual Assault Experiences.

The present study investigated in a sample of college women ( N = 154) (a) assignment of self-blame, perpetrator blame, personal responsibility, and perpetrator responsibility for sexual assault; (b) differences in how women assigned blame versus responsibility toward themselves and the perpetrator; (c) significant correlations between blame and responsibility of self and the perpetrator and positive and negative post-assault outcomes; and (d) the underlying factors that explained different forms of blame and responsibility. The present study suggests a need for future sexual assault research to delineate and further examine the constructs of blame and responsibility. Implications for practice are also discussed.

College Women's Attributions of Blame for Experiences of Sexual Assault.

Little research has examined the factors that help to explain or predict different attributions of blame that rape survivors assign to their assault experiences. The current study sought to examine (a) rape survivors' attributions of blame to themselves and to external sources, specifically the perpetrator, the circumstances surrounding the assault (i.e.