Male St. Olaf College Student Perceptions of Sexual Assault
Jennifer Luke and two co-authors
Abstract:
The perceptions of sexual assault by male St. Olaf
College students is what we studied in our research. All of the
men interviewed were met face to face by one of the three
researchers. A focus group of first-year students was conducted
by two researchers. The responses we received varied greatly
among interviewees, but there was very little difference between the
age groups. The real distinction was whether or not the
interviewee had any personal experience or relation to sexual assault.
The setting/community:
St. Olaf College is a four-year undergraduate liberal arts college
situated “on a hill in the middle of a cornfield” in Northfield,
Minnesota (pop. 17,000 when both St. Olaf and Carleton College are in
session). A small, Lutheran-affiliated school, the college has an
enrollment of roughly 3000 students. Just over 40% identify as
Lutheran and about 80% identify as Christian. The school is about forty
minutes south of Minneapolis and St. Paul, a large metropolitan area.
There are a number of small restaurants and bars in Northfield and the
surrounding towns. The campus itself is “dry,” having an official
no-alcohol policy.
95%of the student body lives on-campus all four
years in residential housing. There are twelve dorms or residence
halls on campus, five of which are reserved for first-year students.
Halls are coed by floor, and divided into corridors, which are presided
over by Junior Counselors (J.C.s) and Resident Assistants (R.A.s) for
first-years and upperclassmen respectively. First-years generally live
in doubles. Under the leadership of their J.C.s, each corridor develops
a certain feeling of community and corridor identity.
This sense of group identity tends to wane for
upperclassmen, but their housing options are somewhat more varied.
Upperclassmen can choose to group themselves in smaller communities of
honor houses, consisting of groups of students who speak a common
foreign language or take on a community service project in exchange for
living in a house on the edge of campus. “Pods”(clusters of bedrooms
around a common living space in a dorm), quadruples, quintuplets,
triples, and singles are available as well.
There are a number of structures in place on campus
that address sexual assault. The official campus policy was undergoing
a number of changes at the time this study was conducted, although few
on campus were aware of the fact. Information about the campus policy
is available to students on the labyrinthine St. Olaf website, as well
as in “The Book”- the student handbook which is distributed to each
student at the beginning of the school year. Student organizations that
address issues of sexuality and sexual assault include (see glossary
for more information) GLOW, SARN, FFC, WomanSafe house, and the office
of the GSC. These groups put on a number of public awareness and
fundraising events throughout the year, as well as provide services and
information on request for survivors of sexual assault. Private
counseling as well as a variety of support groups are available at the
campus counseling center, and any student can make an appointment with
the dean’s office to report or discuss nearly any issue.
The Problem:
“Since sexual assault was
conceptualized as a major social problem in the United States during
the 1960’s and the 1970’s, it has become increasingly obvious through
research that sexual assault on college and university campuses is a
significant threat to women attending these institutions.”
- Amy Vavak, Sexual Assault and St. Olaf College Women: An Ethnographic Study, 1998.
Since the emergence of this conceptualization of sexual assault, the
emphasis has been placed by most theorists on the role of women as
victims and survivors. For some reason, the role of men in sexual
assault has been left distinctly out of focus, both as victims and as
perpetrators. To many, the idea of men as victims of sexual assault is
absurd, but as awareness of non-heterosexuality rises, so does the
awareness that men who are assaulted by other men need not be concerned
about the implications on their own sexuality. Hopefully this trend
will encourage more male survivors to begin facing and reporting their
assaults. Resources for male survivors of sexual violence are slowly
becoming more available, but until it is made known that men need these
resources just as women do, little funding and support can be found.
The role of men as perpetrators is perhaps equally muddled. 98% of
perpetrators in acts of sexual violence are male (WomanSafe literature,
2003). In recent anonymous national surveys, two-thirds of
college men agreed that they would rape a woman if they knew there was
no way they could be caught. Sexual assault is notoriously
underreported, as survivors live under the completely reasonable fear
that they will not be believed, that they will be blamed, that they
will be forced to take legal or medical actions with which they are not
comfortable, or that the perpetrator will somehow get back at them for
reporting. Even so, those survivors who have the ability and
inclination to report have made it clear that this is an issue that
affects the St. Olaf community.
Sexual Offenses reported to St. Olaf Public Safety
(including rape, forcible sodomy, sexual assault with an object, and forcible fondling).
1994 1995 1996
1997 1998 1999
2000
1 3 2 1 3 6 6
In a country where one-third of women and one-sixth of men will be
sexually assaulted in their lifetime (Vogelman, 1990), it is safe to
say that almost every man in America will have to deal with sexual
assault either as a primary or secondary survivor (see glossary) or
perhaps even as a perpetrator.
This study of male St. Olaf students was intended to address the
following questions: How aware of sexual assault issues are male St.
Olaf students? What are the sources of their perceptions? Do male
students have the knowledge of and access to resources necessary to
deal with actual incidences of sexual assault? Do male students have
the knowledge and skills to prevent sexual assault from being
perpetrated either by themselves or others? Are any effective steps
being taken by the community or administration to dismantle the rape
culture inherent on college campuses?
Methodology:
We conducted our research among first-year and senior male students
attending St. Olaf College. We used two age groups to find out whether
men’s perspectives changed noticeably over their time at St. Olaf.
Initially we wanted to conduct two focus groups of five or six people,
one group per class. We did conduct the first-year focus group, but
unfortunately we were unable to get enough seniors together for one. In
the focus group we asked broader, discussion-based questions (see
appendix E), to create a dialogue or conversation between the
participants. We hoped to gain an idea of the way sexual assault was
discussed in groups, as well as to help us develop more in-depth
questions for the individual interviews (see Appendix F).
The first-year focus group was assembled from members of one
co-author’s corridor and was promised pizza as an incentive for
participation. The entire corridor was sent an email announcing the
project and asked for help. When only a few responses were received,
the co-author went door to door and solicited their help. The two
methods for finding individuals to participate in interviews differed
slightly. An email explaining our project was sent to every male J.C.
on campus asking them to forward it to their corridors of first-years,
thus hopefully reaching every first-year male at St. Olaf College. The
seniors received the same email, but were chosen randomly from the
campus directory. We decided to take the names randomly from the
directory to get a larger sample and to find people with whom we, the
researchers, were not closely associated.
One weakness to this methodology is that the people who responded to
the emails were likely to have a prior interest or knowledge on the
subject of sexual assault, so our sample might not be representative of
the general population of St. Olaf first-year and senior males.
The focus group was run by Jen and a co-author. The other co-author did
not take part in the focus group as his authoritative position as their
J.C. may have influenced the responses of the participants. We decided
to have two researchers present for the focus group, one to mediate the
discussion, and one to act as an observer and recorder of the
responses. We also had a video camera in the room so we could review
the information at a later time. All participants were asked to
sign a consent and confidentiality form before the discussion began
(see appendix C).
Only one researcher per interview conducted the individual interviews.
We shared the responses we received and each conducted a small number
of them. Before each interview, the interviewee was read a short
introduction to our project and explaining the confidentiality
agreement (see appendix D). They were then asked to read through the
consent form before signing it. Possible weaknesses of our research
method would include the differences in the interviewer’s style. Though
we each had the same list of questions, the responses may have been
influenced by the particular style of the interviewer, the gender of
the interviewer, and the familiarity between the interviewer and
interviewee.
Findings:
What is sexual assault?
While St. Olaf’s posted policy at the time of this study defines sexual
assault as any non-consenting physical sexual contact, students are not
necessarily aware of this definition, and don’t necessarily agree with
it. When asked to define sexual assault, participants’ answers
ranged widely, though all focused around the same theme of “unwanted”
sexual contact. When asked to define sexual assault in their own terms,
some used the word rape in their definition, some said touching, and
some also mentioned verbal assault. The consistency varied greatly,
especially when asked what kind of sexual assault was the most common.
Several concluded that date rape was the most common, especially on
college campuses. Fondling and touching also came up as common answers.
Verbal assault came up as the most common type of sexual assault. One
student believed this was so because of how easily something said could
be construed as sexual assault.
This was a difficult question for many participants. It wasn’t until
part way through the interview that they thought of some of their
answers for the most common types, and many didn’t even realize some
potential responses, such as verbal assault, could in fact be
considered sexual assault. Others gave very thorough definitions to the
initial question, but later in the interview began referring
specifically and exclusively to rape in their responses to other
questions.
Who is involved in sexual assault?
St. Olaf men seem to believe strongly in stereotypical images of a
perpetrator and a victim of sexual assault. When asked who was most
likely to be a sexual assaulter, all but two said definitely males were
the most likely. Characteristics frequently given were aggressive,
strong, popular, “Jock,” of high school or college age. The use of
alcohol was also often mentioned. A clear stereotype emerged for the
victim as well. The consensus amongst our interviewees was that an
attractive, “flirty” woman, most often drunk, was frequently the victim.
An interesting correlation was that in most cases, the victim and the
perpetrator were described as having similar character or personality
traits. Only two or three participants in our study even brought up the
concept of differing race in sexual assault, and that white people were
more likely to be involved. It may be that some of our participants
were speaking only to sexual assault at St. Olaf College, where the
vast majority of students are white.
How and what are men learning about sexual assault?
The questions posed of participants as to their sources of information
about sexual assault and related issues addressed family, media, school
(pre-college), friends, student groups at St. Olaf, and St. Olaf
official programming (including classes and hall programming). There
was an initial opportunity for respondents to propose other sources of
information and perceptions before these categories were suggested,
although no other sources were divulged.
How sexual assault is addressed by sources external to St. Olaf
Family: Issues of sexual assault were not, it seems, widely discussed
amongst the families of the participants. Although some participants
reported that their parents had addressed the issue, it was always
indirect or implied as part of moral upbringing (respect for others) or
sex education. As one respondent put it, “ My parents always just made
it clear that I shouldn’t be ‘ one of those guys.’”
School (pre-college): While it seems that some high school health or
sex education classes addressed the topic briefly, no participant could
remember exactly what had been taught. The information was primarily
mentioned in passing, and one respondent reported that the information
given had been “aimed at girls… how to avoid being raped…”. Others
reported that no such information was presented in the high school
curriculum. “I came from a pretty small town…[and] the community was
basically opposed to discussing sex, much less discussing sexual
assault.”
Media: Nearly every respondent had something to say about media images
of sexual assault. The cited media ranged from news to popular legal
dramas, to movies, to public service announcements recorded by
celebrities. Particularly in dramatic scenarios, more than one
participant mentioned the implicit connection between rape and murder.
Nearly all police or court dramas depicting rape scenarios present the
victim of rape as dispensed with, allowing the plot to focus more on
the punishment of the perpetrator, rather than dealing with the
emotional or physical healing of the survivor (which frankly would be
quite difficult to depict in an hour-long segment, and would hardly be
entertaining). It is interesting to note that this pattern of only
mentioning victims who are dead is mirrored in news media, because if
the victim survives the attack, his or her anonymity must be protected.
One respondent emphasized that the victims of sexual assault presented
on television and in movies are almost all female, a depiction he found
misleading. This senior was the only one to note that the media
portrays victims as primarily female, and also the only respondent to
protest against the question of who is a typical victim. While every
other participant included “female” in the description, he commented
“Every rape awareness program I’ve ever heard of has put a huge
emphasis on women as victims. It’s like, ‘women are victims, yeah,
sometimes men are too, but so few that we don’t need to talk about it.’
This kind of gender bias is just not helpful at all in fighting sexual
assault.”
How sexual assault is addressed at St. Olaf College
Peer Discussion: Participants were asked how sexual assault is
discussed among their male peers, and then how such discussions
differed from those among groups of mixed male and female peers.
Responses varied widely for both questions based on the amount of
personal experience the respondent or the peers involved in the
discussion had with sexual assault. Those who had some personal
experience with sexual assault, either as primary or secondary
survivors, reported that although the topic didn’t come up frequently,
when it did the tone was very serious and sensitive, and the
discussions tended to be short and vaguely “philosophical”. The group
with personal experience noted little difference between the
discussions including women. One first year with some personal
experience noted “It seems that while men are disgusted by sexual
assault, women are just plain angry.” Among those with no personal
experience with sexual assault, the tone of discussion seemed to depend
more on the presence of women. When the conversation was only among
males, the topic of sexual assault only came up in the form of passing
jokes, or if some rumor of an actual assault was being passed around.
One participant mentioned the “southern wife-beater” stereotype as a
common joke theme, two others commented on the use of “rapist” as a
joking insult to a man’s sexuality. This group (the men with no
personal experience with sexual assault) consistently noted that when
women were present, the topic of sexual assault was far more likely to
come up. In such discussions, assault was loudly condemned by the
women, while the men mainly nodded along and reaffirmed that they would
never do such a thing.
Student Groups: Perhaps the most prominent sources of information about
sexual assault in the lives of our participants are the ubiquitous SARN
posters around campus. Generally these eight and a half by eleven
sheets feature a one-sentence slogan about sexual assault, for example
“you are not alone” followed by a relevant statistic and the SARN
number to call for more information. These posters were mentioned by
every participant, even by those who didn’t know exactly what SARN is.
While most knew SARN as the number to call after an assault, only those
two who had been SARN-trained had much more to say about it.
SARN was the most commonly identified student organization addressing
sexual assault, but other groups were mentioned as well. The existence
of the WomanSafe honor house was known to about half of the
participants, although only three were able to expand on the services
provided there, and these three all had personal connections with the
residents of the house. One student mentioned the recent
WomanSafe-organized production of “The Vagina Monologues,” a play which
addresses sexual assault. GLOW and the FFC were also identified as
potential sources of information about sexual assault, as well as the
SGA and the GSC (it may be valuable to note that some interviews were
actually conducted in the GSC, which may have influenced these
responses).
Official St. Olaf Programming: Though in a typical year, SARN makes
presentations to every first-year corridor about sexual assault, for
some reason this year they did not, which was reflected in the
overwhelming lack of knowledge among first year students who had not
had some personal experience or training. The focus group of first-year
students referred to an informational board displayed in their corridor
about sexual assault statistics and resources on and off campus.
Respondents of both age groups referred to the “week one skits,” a
presentation about stresses in college life (including peer pressure,
drug use, homework, etc.) put on by a student theater group during the
welcome week for first-year students.
Some discussion of sexual assault does occur in class, although
few courses devote any significant amount of time to the subject. The
disciplines and topics under which this occurred identified by
participants included social work, ethics, sexuality, history, writing,
women’s studies, and psychology. Most of the discussions cited were
merely passing mentions of the issue. “The class got to express their
opinions, and the dominant consensus was that sexual assault was bad,”
said one ethics student. One participant reported a short unit on the
topic in a women’s studies course, and another referred to a first-year
writing assignment on sexual assault. These seem to be isolated
incidents though; overall explicit discussion of sexual assault and its
impact on society has been almost completely ignored in the
curriculum. This opinion was echoed by female respondents in an
earlier study conducted at St. Olaf (Vavak, 1998).
Overall, the emerging pattern is that few men have contact with any
substantial information about sexual assault or rape culture before
they come to St. Olaf. Once on campus, the information is basically
given out on a “need-to-know” basis as individual cases of assault come
up.
How should sexual assault be dealt with at St. Olaf?
When dealing with sexual assault cases on campus, respondents
emphasized the need for consistency of administrative response between
cases. That is, all cases should be treated the same. Confidentiality
was another concept about which the men felt strongly. While some had
no sympathy for the accused perpetrators, others felt the real
challenge for administrators would be treating both parties fairly.
Several of the men we interviewed suggested the “innocent until proven
guilty” route. Many men felt threatened or even frightened at the
thought of sexual assault charges are brought against them, some noted
fear that they could be falsely accused. It is also common for sexual
assault cases to come down to one person’s word against the other, and
in most cases, it seems, the accuser’s voice wins. In one specific case
that was mentioned, a respondent’s friend was accused of sexual
assault, but the respondent felt that the victim accused the friend for
the wrong reasons: not for issues related to the sexual assault, but as
a method to exact revenge upon him. Another student suggested having
separate people (investigating the case) interviewing the accuser and
the accused. That way no bias is brought to whichever is interviewed
second. More than half of those we interviewed also proposed contacting
counseling for either the victim, or perhaps both parties involved.
Some also mentioned contacting police, but many decided that might seem
frightening to those actually involved. Pertaining to the question “If
you or a friend were assaulted, what would you do?”, all but one of our
interviewees answered relating to someone else, and not answering it in
terms of themselves as victims. When asked why they answered this way,
many said that they were not likely to be a victim, or that will never
happen to them. Immediately in their answers, almost everyone stated
that their first course of action would be simply to comfort their
friend. Almost half said that they would contact either WomanSafe or
SARN themselves, and the other half said that they would only encourage
the victim to contact these places. Many also suggested contacting
administration, and several, the police. Only one student mentioned
going to the hospital, the morning after pill, and pregnancy/STD
testing. One of our researchers who has had some training with
WomanSafe noted that “while the first thing we learn in training is to
only present options to survivors and let them decide what to do so
that the survivor is in control of his or her life again as soon as
possible. Not one of the respondents said he would ask the survivor
what he or she wanted to do. They all just said, ‘I’d call the police’,
or ‘I’d get her to a counselor’, or ‘I’d go after the guy who did that
to her.’”
The role of gender in perceptions of sexual assault.
Social construction of sexuality is the building
block of gender. Gender roles are often a sociological explanation of
rape and sexual assault. According to the book Transforming A Rape
Culture, "The difference between the male and female sexuality
reproduces men’s power over women, and simultaneously, the power of
some men over other men" (Buchewald, 1993). The most outstanding
role of gender in sexual assault is the stereotypes of those involved.
Generally, it is thought that it is the aggressive male who is the
perpetrator and the flirty female who is the victim. These stereotypes
were how our participants classified the perpetrator and the victim.
This stereotype connects with the ideas of Transforming A Rape Culture,
because the participants using the description of "aggressive" can lead
to the idea that the perpetrators are seeking power over others through
their aggressive nature. The author of the book Men On Rape did an
interview with a man who felt this societal encouragement to be the
"aggressive man." This man explained how he related this stereotype to
women by saying "If you’re deferential to women it may be accepted
graciously or you may get put down for it" (Beneke, 1982).
Traditional feminist theory explains that patriarchal ideas are not
left outside of the bedroom. When the social norm is to assume that men
know more about pretty much everything else, it’s safe to assume that
they will also know more about sex. For some people this may
unconsciously lead to the idea that men even know when women want sex
and women don’t know their own desires.
Sexual assault is most often considered a female
issue, as was evident in many of our interviews. While there are no
hard statistics on the number of female vs. male survivors of St. Olaf
campus assaults, anecdotal evidence from the residents of the WomanSafe
house indicate that at least this year more male survivors sought their
services than women (despite their perhaps dissuading name). Most, if
not all, of the information presented on campus (be it posters,
speeches, et cetera…) is oriented toward women and what to do should
they be assaulted. There is very little information for men who are
victimized. They are not taught how to react as victims, how to support
friends who are victims, and certainly not how to prevent sexual
assault in the first place. In our freshman focus group we found
that many of the males had not even considered themselves potential
victims. “How would a woman even rape a guy?” asked one. It
wasn’t until the very end of the discussion that they came up with the
idea that men could also be victims, and still another half hour after
the official discussion ended that they came to the epiphany that men
were also most likely to be assaulted by other men, rather than by
women.
The issue of alcohol in sexual assault.
A student with a number of personal experiences with sexual assault
stated that “alcohol was involved in more than half of the cases I know
of.” Every participant responded that alcohol was related to the
issue of sexual assault, but there was some disparity as to how. While
some focused on the explicit use of alcohol by predatory rapists
(either to get the intended victim drunk or to reduce the perpetrator’s
own inhibitions), most accentuated the fuzzier scenarios in which both
the victim and perpetrator are drunk. "The extensive use of alcohol on
campuses contributes to the reduction of inhibitions"(Schwartz, 1997).
The participants mentioned that potential victims may have a tendency
to be less observant of the unsafe situations to which they may be
subject. “Alcohol puts the inhibitions to bed, and let’s the id roll…,”
commented one participant. It was often expressed that the alcohol
would increase male aggressiveness and female sexuality/flirtiness.
"Women who are drunk are seen by men as less deserving of respect and
of a lower character, and therefore more available for sexual acts"
(Schwartz, 1997).
The issue of pornography and sexual assault.
The connection between pornography and the
objectification of women has been suggested as an important factor in
sexual assault. As Vogelman explains in his book, "pornography
helps to define and reinforce men’s self image of their own power and
control" (Vogelman, 1990). This idea of women as objects for men
to gain power over and control that men can acquire from pornography is
the reason that we chose to ask our participants about their thoughts
on the connection between pornography and sexual assault. Many of
the participants were surprised when asked about their thoughts on the
relationship between pornography and sexual assault. Although a common
question in psychological and feminist discourse, the respondents had
not considered the connection before. Five of the respondents simply
said there was no connection at all. Some stated that they had never
thought of the connection and stopped to think about an answer before
giving. Others had more to say. Some said that it depends on the type
of person who is consuming the pornography. "Your personality will make
you prone or not," said a student. Three students felt that pornography
objectifies women. One student said that pornography that showed rape
scenes could seem real to a viewer and influence him to act on this.
One participant had an interesting response to this question. He
answered with a story about a man he knew who had not been accused of
sexual assault but had been involved in sexual activity with girls who
had felt pressured by him. The student ended his answer to the question
with "and I think he watched a lot of porn." In contrast, another man
commented, "The kind of guys who watch porn generally aren’t even in a
position to speak to women, much less rape them."
Differences between age groups.
Our initial hypothesis was that while first year students would have
more factual information about sexual assault (based on their temporal
proximity to week one informational sessions), senior students would
have more cultural information about the general ethos of the topic at
St. Olaf College (due to their long years of college life). This
hypothesis was shown to be essentially erroneous. The more pertinent
distinction between groups of respondents was whether or not they had
any personal experience with sexual assault. Those who had experience
reported being more sensitized to the issue as well as having learned
by trial and error what resources were available. Students without much
personal experience didn’t even have a clear sense of the issues, and
demonstrated less concern for the topic or its impact on society. Some
reported after the interviews were finished that this was their first
real discussion about the topic, and they actually requested more
information.
Summary/Conclusion:
Through our research we discovered that perceptions
of sexual assault change, not based on age, but with experience.
We also discovered that the biggest issue within men’s perceptions of
sexual assault is a lack of education or information. Through our
interview process this became very evident. Even those who had
some personal experience or training to deal with sexual assault were
unable to identify the aspects of patriarchal society that contribute
to the silence surrounding sexual assault. The sexual
assault resources and programs available at St. Olaf seem to be
intended entirely for women. Aside from posters (i.e. SARN) seen
around campus, many of our interviewees had little idea of these groups
or their functions. Also, most of our participants had never even
considered the possibility that they, or other men, could ever be
assaulted. And when asked what they would do if they or a friend
were assaulted in some way, a common theme was comforting the victim,
being disgusted at the perpetrator, but otherwise not having a clue as
to what to do. It is our recommendation that as an addition to
official St. Olaf sexual assault policy, more information be presented
to the male population of St. Olaf College giving clearer definitions
of sexual assault and rape, an explanation of the role of patriarchy in
rape culture, and better information on what to do in the case of an
assault. Such training should include possible scenarios with men
as victims in these programs. Because the vast majority of male St.
Olaf students come to this institution with little or no understanding
of the issues surrounding sexual assault, it is imperative that the
school educate men on this topic. This education is not just to reduce
sexual assaults on campus, but should be considered part of the
college’s mission to develop students in mind, body, and spirit. Men,
as well as women, need the skills to face, heal, and prevent sexual
assault if they are to live in the greater American community, one that
is rife with rape culture.
Glossary:
FFC: Feminists For Change. St. Olaf’s student feminist group.
GLOW: Gay, Lesbian, Or Whatever! St. Olaf’s student sexuality alliance.
GSC: The Gender and Sexuality Center. An office run by and accessible
to students. Houses FFC, GLOW, and SARN, provides literature, condoms
and other resources related to gender and sexuality.
Primary Survivor: According to WomanSafe literature, a primary survivor
is someone who has been assaulted or abused, or the under-aged child of
someone who’s been assaulted or abused.
SARN: Sexual Assault Resource Network. Connects students with various
sexual assault related services such as counseling, medical assistance,
etc. Coordinates an emergency phone line and transportation for
students in crisis situations.
Secondary Survivor: According to WomanSafe literature, a secondary
survivor is a friend or relative of a primary survivor; someone who
supports a primary survivor.
WomanSafe: WomanSafe Center in Faribault, MN is an organization that
provides advocacy services for survivors of domestic abuse or sexual
assault primarily in Rice County, in which St. Olaf is situated.
WomanSafe House: an honor house on St. Olaf’s campus, founded in the
year of this study in connection with WomanSafe Center in Faribault. A
safe house for survivors, all the residents are St. Olaf students and
have completed the 50 hours of advocacy training required by the State
of MN.
Appendix A
Focus Group Introduction Protocol
My name is _______. Thank you for participating in this
study. We are studying the male viewpoints of sexual assault at
St. Olaf. We are particularly looking at what factors influence
the perceptions of sexual assault amongst male students. Have you
signed the consent form?
Some of the questions we will ask you could lead you to divulge
personal information about your experiences with sexual assault.
If you feel this is a threat to your psychological health or if a
question simply makes you uncomfortable, feel free to refuse to answer
any question. You are not obligated to answer any questions and
you may leave the study at any time. Your identity and any information
you reveal in this interview will remain strictly anonymous. By signing
the consent form, each of you have agreed not to reveal the identity of
any other participants in this room, and moreover you will not discuss
what is said here. We are the only ones who will know you
participated in this study.
We are recording this session on video,
however the only people who will be allowed to view it are our research
group Jennifer Luke and two co-authors. After the study is complete,
the video will be destroyed. If anyone objects to the recording of this
session, we will simply not record it. Does anyone have a problem with
the video camera? Do you have any questions before we get started?
Appendix B
Interview Introduction Protocol
My name is _______. Thank you for participating in this
study. We are studying the male viewpoints of sexual assault at
St. Olaf. We are particularly looking at what factors influence
the perceptions of sexual assault amongst male students. Have you
signed the consent form? Some of the questions we will ask you
could lead you to divulge personal information about your experiences
with sexual assault. If you feel this is a threat to your
psychological health or if a question simply makes you uncomfortable,
feel free to refuse to answer any question. You are not obligated
to answer any questions and you may stop the interview at any time.
Your identity and any information you reveal in this interview will
remain strictly anonymous. I am the only one who will know you
participated in this study. Do you have any questions for me before we
get started?
Appendix C
Male Student Views on Sexual Assault at St. Olaf College
Information and Consent Form
For Focus Groups
Introduction:
You’ve been invited to participate in a research study investigating
the perceptions of sexual assault amongst male St. Olaf students. This
study is being conducted by Jennifer Luke and two co-authors,
undergraduate sociology students at St. Olaf College, under the
supervision of Carolyn Anderson, a faculty member from the Sociology
and Anthropology Department. You were selected as a possible
participant in this research because you are a male student at St.
Olaf. Please read this form and ask questions before you agree to be in
this study.
Background Information:
The purpose of this study is to gauge the awareness of sexual assault
issues amongst male students, to better understand their perceptions of
sexual assault, and to identify possible sources of those perceptions.
Approximately 40 people are expected to participate in this research.
Procedures:
If you decide to participate, you will be asked to participate in a
focus group with 5 to 10 of your peers, in which you will be asked to
discuss questions about your perceptions of sexual assault issues.
Risks and Benefits of being in the study:
The study has minimal risks. You may be asked questions which will lead
you to divulge personal information about your experiences with sexual
assault. If any question causes you discomfort or may be
psychologically traumatizing to answer, refuse to answer the question
and the interview will move on. You may also end your participation at
any time for any reason, and are under no obligation to explain why.
The benefits to participation in this study are that your responses
might contribute to the formation of St. Olaf’s sexual assault
policies, making our campus a healthier environment for all students,
including yourself.
Confidentiality:
Any information obtained in connection with this research study that
can be identified with you will be disclosed only with your permission;
your responses will be kept confidential. In any written reports or
publications, no one will be identified or identifiable and only group
data will be presented.
You and other participants in the group will be asked to sign
confidentiality agreements prohibiting you from identifying other
participants or revealing any information about what was said during
the focus group session.
The research results will only be accessible to the researchers named
in this form and our advisor will have access to the records while we
work on this project. We will finish analyzing the data by May 30. We
will then destroy all original reports and identifying information that
can be linked back to you.
Voluntary nature of the study:
Participation in this research study is voluntary. Your decision
whether or not to participate will not affect your future relations
with St. Olaf College in any way. If you decide to participate, you are
free to stop at any time without affecting this relationship.
New Information:
If during the course of this research study we learn about new findings
that might influence your willingness to continue participating in the
study, we will inform you of these findings.
Contacts and Questions:
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact any of our researchers:
Jennifer Luke lukej@stolaf.edu
Co-author
Co-author
You may ask questions now, or if you have additional questions later,
our faculty advisor, Carolyn Anderson anderscr@stolaf.edu , will be
happy to answer them. If you have other questions or concerns regarding
the study and would like to talk to someone other than the researchers,
you may also contact Jo Beld, Chair of the St. Olaf College
Institutional Review Board at beld@stolaf.edu, (507) 646-3343 or (507)
646-3910.
You may keep a copy of this form for your records.
Statement of Consent:
You are making a decision whether or not to participate. Your signature
indicates that you have read this information and your questions have
been answered. Even after signing this form, please know that you may
withdraw from the study at any time. Your signature also
indicates that you agree to keep confidential the identities of other
participants and all information revealed during the focus group
session. You will not reveal anything that is said by the participants
in this study to anyone other than the researchers listed on this form.
You will be videotaped in this session to assist researchers in taking
notes. Only the researchers listed on this form will have access to the
tape, and upon the completion of data analysis (no later than May 30),
the tape will be destroyed.
I consent to participate in the study, I agree to keep confidential the
identities of other participants and all information revealed during
the focus group session, and I agree to be videotaped during this
session.
_____________________________ _____________________________
Signature of Participant/Date
Signature of Researcher/Date
Appendix D
Male Student Views on Sexual Assault at St. Olaf College
Information and Consent Form
For individual Interviews
Introduction:
You’ve been invited to participate in a research study investigating
the perceptions of sexual assault amongst male St. Olaf students. This
study is being conducted by Jennifer Luke and two co-authors,
undergraduate sociology students at St. Olaf College, under the
supervision of Carolyn Anderson, a faculty member from the Sociology
and Anthropology Department. You were selected as a possible
participant in this research because you are a male student at St.
Olaf. Please read this form and ask questions before you agree to be in
this study.
Background Information:
The purpose of this study is to gauge the awareness of sexual assault
issues amongst male students, to better understand their perceptions of
sexual assault, and to identify possible sources of those perceptions.
Approximately 40 people are expected to participate in this research.
Procedures:
If you decide to participate, you will be asked to spend less than an
hour with one of our researchers answering questions about your
perceptions of sexual assault issues.
Risks and Benefits of being in the study:
The study has minimal risks. You may be asked questions which will lead
you to divulge personal information about your experiences with sexual
assault. If any question causes you discomfort or may be
psychologically traumatizing to answer, refuse to answer the question
and the interview will move on. You may also end the interview at any
time for any reason, and are under no obligation to explain why.
The benefits to participation in this study are that your responses
might contribute to the formation of St. Olaf’s sexual assault
policies, making our campus a healthier environment for all students,
including yourself.
Confidentiality:
Any information obtained in connection with this research study that
can be identified with you will be disclosed only with your permission;
your responses will be kept confidential. In any written reports or
publications, no one will be identified or identifiable and only group
data will be presented.
The research results will only be accessible to the researchers named
in this form and our advisor will have access to the records while we
work on this project. We will finish analyzing the data by May 30. We
will then destroy all original reports and identifying information that
can be linked back to you.
Voluntary nature of the study:
Participation in this research study is voluntary. Your decision
whether or not to participate will not affect your future relations
with St. Olaf College in any way. If you decide to participate, you are
free to stop at any time without affecting this relationship.
New Information:
If during the course of this research study we learn about new findings
that might influence your willingness to continue participating in the
study, we will inform you of these findings.
Contacts and Questions:
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact any of our researchers:
Jennifer Luke lukej@stolaf.edu
Co-author
Co-author
You may ask questions now, or if you have additional questions later,
our faculty advisor, Carolyn Anderson anderscr@stolaf.edu , will be
happy to answer them. If you have other questions or concerns regarding
the study and would like to talk to someone other than the researchers,
you may also contact Jo Beld, Chair of the St. Olaf College
Institutional Review Board at beld@stolaf.edu, (507) 646-3343 or (507)
646-3910.
You may keep a copy of this form for your records.
Statement of Consent:
You are making a decision whether or not to participate. Your signature
indicates that you have read this information and your questions have
been answered. Even after signing this form, please know that you may
withdraw from the study at any time.
I consent to participate in the study.
Signature of Participant/Date
Signature of Researcher/Date
Appendix E
Focus Group Questions
1. What is sexual assault? How would you define it?
2. How frequent do you think sexual assault is at St. Olaf?
3. What kind of assault is most common?
4. Who (demographically speaking) is most likely to be a victim of sexual assault?
5. Who is most likely to be a perpetrator of sexual assault?
6. On what are you basing these estimates? Where have you heard information about sexual assault?
7. How aware of sexual assault issues is the St. Olaf community? Are some groups more aware than others?
8. How has sexual assault been addressed by your family?
9. What images of sexual assault have you seen in the media?
10. How is sexual assault discussed amongst your male friends and peers? Are such discussions serious? Is it ever joked about?
11. How is this different from how the topic is addressed amongst your
female friends and peers? How is it discussed in mixed-gender groups?
12. Do you think there’s a connection between alcohol and sexual assault?
13. Do you think there’s a connection between pornography and sexual assault?
14. Can you think of any student groups that deal with issues of sexual assault?
15. What kind of contact have you had with these groups? Have you seen their posters? Attended their meetings or events?
16.
17. Has the issue of sexual assault ever been raised in class or in
other official St. Olaf programming? What was presented? How did it
come up?
18. If you or a friend were assaulted, what would you do? Who would you contact? How would you feel?
Appendix F
Interview Questions
19. What is sexual assault? How would you define it?
20. Where have you heard information about sexual assault?
21. How has sexual assault been addressed by your family?
22. What images of sexual assault have you seen in the media?
23. How is sexual assault discussed amongst your male friends and peers?
24. How is this different from how the topic is addressed amongst your
female friends and peers? How is it discussed in mixed-gender groups?
25. How frequent do you think sexual assault is at St. Olaf?
26. What kind of assault is most common?
27. Who (demographically speaking) is most likely to be a victim of sexual assault?
28. Who is most likely to be a perpetrator of sexual assault?
29. How aware of sexual assault issues is the St. Olaf community? Are some groups more aware than others?
30. Has the issue of sexual assault ever been raised in class or in
other official St. Olaf programming? What was presented? How did it
come up?
31. Can you think of any student groups that deal with issues of sexual assault?
32. What kind of contact have you had with these groups? Have you seen their posters? Attended their meetings or events?
33. What kind of personal experience have you had with sexual assault?
34. How did that change your perception of sexual assault?
35. Have you ever known anyone who revealed to you that he or she was sexually assaulted?
36. How did that affect your relationship?
37. Do you think there’s a connection between alcohol and sexual assault?
38. Do you think there’s a connection between pornography and sexual assault
39. How do you think accusations of sexual assault should be handled by the administration?
40. If you or a friend were assaulted, what would you do? Who would you contact? How would you feel?
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