McMahon,
S., Wood, L., Cusano, J., & Macri, L .M. (2018). Campus Sexual Assault:
Future Directions for Research. Sexual Abuse.
iFirst.
Campus sexual assault
(CSA) has received unprecedented attention over recent years, resulting in an
abundance of federal guidance and mandates. In response, efforts to address and
prevent CSA at Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) across the country have
grown quickly, including the development and implementation of programs and
policies. Because the changes on campuses have occurred at such a rapid pace, a
number of gaps exist within the field of CSA research. To ensure that changes
on IHE are evidence-based, there is a need to review the existing research
available and the inquiry still needed based on key areas outlined in federal
guidance, the expressed needs of campus community members, survivors, and
students who commit sexual offenses on college campuses. The purpose of this
review is to summarize the empirical research related to CSA gained from the
past two decades and identify areas in which further work is needed,
specifically related to key areas identified in recent guidance provided to IHE.
This article concludes with guidance for research moving forward to help
strengthen response and prevention efforts.
Could you
talk us through where the idea for the research came?
There are
a few reasons that motivated this article. First, while the topic of Campus
Sexual Assault (CSA) is not new, the attention provided to the issue has been
elevated in recent years. This is due to a number of factors, including student
activism as well as federal mandates and guidance. The Obama-Biden Administration identified
campus sexual assault as a priority issue, and convened a task force which
issued a report in 2014 that has served as a primary document for providing
guidance. Although many institutions of
higher education have embraced the call to action to better address CSA, the
research in terms of best practices lags.
Second,
the timing in our culture is ripe to further address CSA. The current time
period provides a unique window where universities and colleges are finally
addressing CSA and there is accountability demanded by students, families, and
the public. Clearly, the #MeToo movement continues to shine a light on the
issue of sexual violence and it appears to be a “watershed moment”. This
presents an opportunity for researchers to engage in work to help develop the
evidence-base for the implementation of practices, programs and policies that
will be meaningful and impactful.
In
addition, it is clear that one of the major gaps in the field relates to
research on students who sexually offend. There currently lacks information
about the predictors of offending within this group, their trajectories, and
best practices for intervention and prevention efforts. The discussion about these gaps at the ATSA
conference in 2016 and learning from others in the field was also a motivation
for writing this article, as there is clearly a need for those who work with
individuals that commit sexual offenses to contribute to our body of evidence
on CSA.
What
kinds of challenges did you face throughout the process?
The most
challenging part of the process was trying to funnel the massive scope of the
issue into a manageable and organized manuscript. The field of sexual violence prevention is
wide and complex, and research in this area is relatively new so there are numerous
gaps that need to be addressed. We used
the guidance provided in the Obama Administration’s Task Force to Protect
Students from Sexual Assault as our organizing structure. They addressed a number of different
policies, practices, and programs that need to be implemented at institutions
of higher education, yet the field has not caught up with having solid
evaluation to help inform these efforts. I was also fortunate to work with an
excellent team of researchers to help review the literature from the field as
our foundation.
What do
you believe to be the main things that you have learnt about campus sexual
assault?
It is an
exciting time for those who work in the field of CSA because of all the changes
occurring, but writing this article clearly illustrated the gap between
practice and research. At this point,
there is a push for institutions of higher education to move quickly to address
CSA which is obviously a good thing, but research has not kept the same pace
and therefore we are in real need of rigorous studies that examine a wide range
of CSA policies, programs , practices and prevention efforts.
Through
writing this article, I appreciated the opportunity to learn more about those
that work with individuals who commit sexual offenses. Of the many areas needing research related to
CSA, figuring out how to better work with students who offend appears to be
critical and severely lacking. I am hopeful, however, that those who have
conducted research on sexual offenders more broadly will be interested in
bridging their work onto college campuses, as their expertise is needed and
would make an important contribution.
Now that
you’ve published the article, what are some implications for practitioners?
I think
that good research-practitioner partnerships are invaluable. Within the arena of CSA, the development of
these partnerships seems essential. The
research needs to be informed by what is happening in real time and on the ground,
and it would be best if these practices were informed by evidence. I would encourage both researchers and
practitioners to seek each other out to figure out how to collaborate to
address the many issues needing attention within the field of CSA.
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