The current study was designed to evaluate the impact of First Year Campus Acquaintance Rape Education (FYCARE), a mandatory program for first year undergraduates. First, questionnaires were administered to 48 FYCARE participants assessed immediately following workshop participation, 76 FYCARE participants sampled through the unrelated context of introductory psychology courses, and 67 students sampled through introductory psychology who had not yet attended their scheduled FYCARE workshop. Second, ostensibly unrelated telephone surveys were conducted with 93 students who participated in FYCARE 4 to 6 months earlier and 77 first year students who had not yet attended their scheduled workshop. Results indicated a positive impact of participation on attitudes and judgments of a hypothetical scenario, but only when assessed immediately following workshop participation. In contrast, increases in knowledge were maintained for a period of up to 7 weeks, and phone survey responses revealed an increase in the level of support for rape prevention efforts 4 to 6 months following program participation. Finally, superior outcomes were observed among students involved in more than one educational program, thus highlighting the need for repeated intervention.

As part of a larger multimethod evaluation, this study examined the effects of a uniquely intensive rape education program. Participants included 74 undergraduates (53 women and 21 men) enrolled in Campus Acquaintance Rape Education (CARE), a semester-long university course designed to train peer facilitators to conduct rape education workshops. Ninety-six students (58 women and 38 men) enrolled in a general human sexuality course constituted a specialized comparison group. First, quantitative analysis of pre- and postcourse responses suggested that comprehensive attitude change occurred for students in CARE but not for those in the human sexuality course. Next, qualitative analyses explored the differences between pre- and postcourse responses to videotaped scenarios involving (hetero)sexual conflict. Responses suggested that, as a result of participating in CARE, both women and men become more willing and able to directly express themselves and assert their needs in ways that facilitated increased sexual communication. Finally, follow-up investigation conducted 2 years after course participation revealed that CARE students were less accepting of cultural rape myths than those in human sexuality.

This study builds on the growing body of literature pertaining to the effects of rape prevention education on college students. Interviews and focus groups were used to explore college students' experiences of undergoing intensive semester-long rape prevention training. The findings of the current study suggest that college student participants developed rape consciousness, and that this shift involved Elena L. Klaw is affiliated with San Jose State University and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.