Elsevier

Aggression and Violent Behavior

Volume 9, Issue 3, May–June 2004, Pages 271-303
Aggression and Violent Behavior

Sexual assault and alcohol consumption: what do we know about their relationship and what types of research are still needed?

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1359-1789(03)00011-9Get rights and content

Abstract

Approximately half of all sexual assaults are associated with either the perpetrator's alcohol consumption, the victim's alcohol consumption, or both. Although the emphasis of this review is on alcohol-involved sexual assaults, their unique aspects can only be evaluated by comparing them to other types of sexual assault. Theoretical perspectives on sexual assault that focus on characteristics of the perpetrator, the victim, and the situation are described. A number of personality traits, attitudes, and past experiences have been systematically linked to sexual assault perpetration, including beliefs about alcohol and heavy drinking. In contrast, only a few experiences have been significantly related to sexual assault victimization, including childhood sexual abuse and heavy drinking. There is support for both psychological and pharmacological mechanisms linking alcohol and sexual assault. Beliefs about alcohol's effects reinforce stereotypes about gender roles and can exacerbate their influence on perpetrators' actions. Alcohol's effects on cognitive and motor skills also contribute to sexual assault through their effects on perpetrators' and victims' ability to process and react to each other's verbal and nonverbal behavior. Limitations with existing research and methodological challenges associated with conducting research on this topic are described. Suggestions are made for future research which can inform prevention and treatment programs.

Introduction

Since the 1970s, American feminist scholars have been concerned about the high rates of sexual assault among adolescent and adult women. During the last 30 years, many advances have been made in the measurement of sexual assault, but not in its prevention. This paper describes what is known about alcohol's role in sexual assault, and what types of research are still needed to guide prevention efforts. Although the focus of this paper is on alcohol-involved sexual assault, it is described in the context of general information about sexual assault. The unique characteristics of alcohol-involved sexual assaults cannot be determined without contrasting them with other sexual assaults. After describing definitions and prevalence rates, complementary models of alcohol's role in sexual assault are reviewed. Very few methodologically rigorous studies have been conducted that evaluate these models. Thus, this paper ends with suggestions for future research.

Section snippets

Definitions

Rape is usually defined as vaginal, anal, or oral sexual intercourse obtained through force or threat of force; a lack of consent; or inability to give consent due to age, intoxication, or mental status. Sexual assault is a more inclusive term, used to describe the full range of forced sexual acts including physically forced kissing or touching, verbally coerced sexual intercourse, and physically forced vaginal, oral, and anal penetration. Each state uses its own definition of criminal sexual

The prevalence of alcohol-involved sexual assault

Researchers consistently find that approximately half of all sexual assaults are committed by a man who has been drinking alcohol. On average, 50% of convicted rapists consumed alcohol at the time of the assault; a rate that is comparable to that for other violent crimes Coid, 1986, Collins & Messerschmidt, 1993, Johnson et al., 1978, Rada, 1975, Scully, 1991, Vinogradov et al., 1988. Similarly, in Ageton's (1983) survey of adolescent community sexual assault perpetrators, approximately half of

Theoretical explanations for the relationship between alcohol and sexual assault

A causal relationship between alcohol consumption and sexual assault perpetration is not demonstrated by the fact that approximately half of all men who committed sexual assault were drinking alcohol at the time of the incident. Some men may consciously or unconsciously drink alcohol prior to committing sexual assault in order to justify their behavior. In these cases, the desire to commit sexual assault would be the cause of the perpetrator's alcohol consumption. Alternatively, personality

Perpetrators' personality characteristics, attitudes, and experiences

There are many reasons that men commit sexual assault, and different perpetrators can be motivated by different factors Malamuth et al., 1991, O'Neil & Harway, 1999, Prentky & Knight, 1991, Seto & Barbaree, 1997. As Barbaree and Marshall (1991) observed, sexual assault always involves an integration of sexual and aggressive motives, although their relative strength may vary among different types of perpetrators. This section of the review separately describes personality, attitudinal, and

Victims' personality characteristics, attitudes, and experiences

Many researchers have examined the personality characteristics, attitudes, and life experiences of sexual assault victims. As can be seen in Table 2, and in contrast to the studies of perpetrators described above, few significant differences have been found between victims and nonvictims and they explain only small amounts of variance (Koss & Dinero, 1989). Personality traits have not been linked to victimization. These results suggest that women's personal characteristics are not strong

Situational factors

Thus far, this review has considered characteristics of perpetrators and victims that might contribute to sexual assault. Men who have a propensity to commit sexual assault do not act on this propensity on all possible occasions, therefore, situational factors must also be considered. For example, bars and parties are locations which heavy drinking men and women frequent. Thus, these are situations in which perpetrators can easily find an intoxicated woman to target for a sexual assault (Parks

Suggestions for future research

Surveys of victims and perpetrators have been the primary source of information about alcohol-involved sexual assaults. Alcohol administration studies have also provided useful data. These two research methodologies have different strengths and limitations; thus, they complement each other well. This paper has highlighted the best research. However, there are still many gaps in existing knowledge about alcohol's role in sexual assault. In this final section of the paper, suggestions are made

Conclusion

Our understanding of the causes, circumstances, and consequences of sexual assault have increased greatly during the past 30 years. Yet, much is still unknown, particularly about alcohol's role in sexual assault. Alcohol is described as a risk factor in most college acquaintance rape programs; however, they do not provide concrete, realistic prevention plans based on this information (Bohmer & Parrot, 1993). Sexual assault and alcohol researchers need to collaborate with prevention and

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant to the first author from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

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