"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. The research questions were what do sexual assault victims in cold cases have to say about victim notification protocols and practices? and What do sexual assault victims in cold cases have to say about hypothetical written victim notification protocols? Twenty-three sexual assault victims were asked in focus groups and individual interviews to respond to hypothetical written notification letters for content and the sending authority and to give input on alternative modes of communication. The data were analyzed using grounded theory. Themes related to trust, personal agency, and decision making from notification examples emerged. Recommendations on notification included respecting privacy, including specifics, identifying next steps, normalizing, translating, and providing resources. Implications for developing notification protocols include use of emerging evidence about neurobiology of trauma, use of victim input, and patience for the varying reactions and needs of sexual assault victims.

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 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5) 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. However, less is known about the ways that these negative cognitions may be inadvertently serving an adaptive role in young women's healing and recovery from sexual trauma. The present study examined relationships between situational aspects of sexual victimization, personal responsibility, self-esteem, perceived future control, and perceived future likelihood of assault recurrence using path analysis in a sample of college women (n = 347) who had experienced sexual victimization. Increased physical harm, decreased intoxication of the male, increased survivor intoxication, and decreased clarity of nonconsent were associated with increased personal responsibility, which was positively associated with self-esteem and perceived future control. Self-esteem mediated a negative relationship between personal responsibility and perceived future likelihood of assault recurrence, while perceived future control mediated a positive relationship. Findings suggest that college women's tendency to assume personal responsibility for sexual victimization experiences is a complicated double-edged sword with both harmful and adaptive effects. Innovative, comprehensive, and sophisticated approaches to sexual assault prevention and treatment are needed to more effectively address this issue and support young women's healing and recovery from victimization.

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. Increased age and greater perceived emotional impact were associated with increased odds of rape acknowledgment. Implications for policy, education, and practice within university settings are discussed.

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., the situation), and society; (b) whether or not rape survivors attribute more blame to certain sources than others; and (c) which individual and situational factors that have been discussed in the sexual assault research literature help to explain self-blame, perpetrator blame, situational blame, and societal blame within a college sample ( N = 129). Results indicated that rape survivors attributed the most blame to themselves and to society, some blame to the situation, and the least blame to the male involved. Multiple regression analyses revealed that, for the most part, variables specific to the rape survivor (e.g., history of childhood sexual abuse, clarity of refusing sex, and perceived level of intoxication) significantly related to self-blame, whereas variables specific to assault severity significantly related to perpetrator blame (e.g., level of physical harm, type of rape, and recency of the assault), although in some unexpected ways. Age and recency of the assault were significantly related to situational blame. Clarity of refusing sex was the only variable that was significantly related to societal blame. Implications are discussed for prevention, education, and practice.