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Acquaintance rape is a common problem on college campuses today. The present study examined the past sexual histories of the victim and assailant in a hypothetical acquaintance rape situation to see if previous sexual experience affected responsibility attribution. Participants (n = 120) were presented with one of four scenarios, each depicting the victim and assailant with a different degree of sexual experience (either a virgin or having had numerous sexual partners). Responsibility attribution measures and the Rape Empathy Scale were administered. The results showed that a victim who was a virgin was held more responsible for an acquaintance rape than a victim who had numerous partners. In addition, when the victim was a virgin, more blame was assigned to the victim when the assailant was also a virgin than when the assailant had numerous partners. These results suggest that virginity seems to be a major consideration when determining acquaintance rape responsibility.

Comparative Study of Behavioral Perceptions of Only and Sibling Children

This study examined behavioral perceptions of only and siblinged children. Participants were 251 volunteers, 32% of who were the parents of only children, with a mean age of 35. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of eight scenarios depicting a child as male/female, only/siblinged, and problematic/prosocial. The depicted child’s perceived behaviors and the parents as the source of the behaviors were rated. Results showed that participants viewed only-females as exhibiting less prosocial behavior than siblinged-females. Parents of only-males were perceived to be the cause of a child’s antisocial behavior more than parents of male-siblinged children. Parents of siblinged-females were perceived to be more at fault for a child’s antisocial behavior than were parents of only-females. Child evaluations were affected by participants’ age. Older participants viewed female-only and male-siblinged children as potential problems, both behaviorally and academically. Although mixed, these findings partially support the continued existence of negative stereotypes of only children and their parents.

Jennifer Walsh & Amy DiCicco

Women who suffer from eating disorders have often been found to display common behavior and self-perceptions. Most noted are a preoccupation with thinness, low self-esteem, negative body image and perfectionism. Given the health risks of eating disorders, early identification would be beneficial. Among college students, peer awareness and identification of behavioral signs associated with eating disorders would be beneficial. This study was designed to evaluate the sensitivity of student to eating disordered traits and to examine factors related to sensitivity. College women (n = 228) were randomly presented with one of four scenarios, each depicting a student with different eating disordered traits. Analyses indicated that students recognized negative body image and low self-esteem as potential warning signs of eating related problems, but not perfectionism. Additionally, personal factors such as participants’ distance from their ideal weights and frequency of exposure to media, dieting and knowing someone with an eating disorder affected sensitivity to behavioral cues.

Self-injury as a Coping Mechanism to Stress and Depression: Acceptability Among College Students

Julie E. Dennis

College students (n = 191) participated in a study designed to examine reactions to depictions of self-injury (SI) behaviors. After reading one of six depictions of apparent SI behaviors ranging in severity, participants responded to scenario-based questions. Students also provided information regarding personal history of self-injury and completed a variety of measures to assess psychological well-being, such as stress, depression, self-esteem, and life satisfaction scales. Results indicated that men and women do not differ in their recognition of, identification with, or acceptance of self-injury as a coping mechanism. Self-report measures do suggest that men and women differ in the factors preceding the occurrence of SI behaviors.

This study was developed to examine individuals’ attitudes toward HIV positive coworkers. One-hundred and twenty adults, with men and women equally represented, were solicited to complete a survey and respond to events depicted in one of four scenarios. The scenarios varied by sex of the HIV positive character and by occupation. The results indicated that participants reacted with more negative attitudes toward the HIV positive chefs, regardless of character sex. The findings also suggest that men were less knowledgeable regarding HIV transmission, and responded more negatively toward HIV positive individuals than women.

This study was designed to evaluate a community-based prosecution program, known as First Strike. The program was implemented in the pilot town of Randolph, located in the outskirts of Boston. Study 1 involved a review of criminal records of 60 juvenile and young criminal offenders. Thirty were part of a community-based prosecution program and thirty were involved in traditional prosecution procedures. Study 2 included a survey of 60 community residents who were asked their opinion about scenarios describing either a juvenile involved in a community-based prosecution program or a juvenile handled through traditional prosecution procedures. The results indicated that the juveniles handled through the community-based program had overall lower recidivism rates, even after a two-year span, when compared to the juveniles handled through traditional procedures. In addition, readers of the community-based scenario were more accepting of juvenile delinquents and their rehabilitation than readers of the traditional prosecution procedures.

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