Correlates of victim-perpetrator overlap in sexual aggression among men and women: A conceptual replication and extension.

Abstract

Objective:The study replicated and extended a study by Peterson, Beagley, McCallum, and Artime (2019), who studied differences in sexual attitudes and behaviors in men who were both victims and perpetrators of sexual assault, only victims, only perpetrators, or neither. They found a heightened rate of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and some evidence of greater traumatic sexualization in men who were both victims and perpetrators. Method: Our sample consisted of 2,149 college students (39.6% male) in Germany. We measured sexual aggression perpetration and victimization, CSA, sexual self-esteem, depressive symptoms, risky sexual scripts, and risky sexual behavior. Results: Perpetration rates were significantly higher among victims than among nonvictims, and the victim-perpetrator group scored highest on CSA. A significant effect of group membership was found on measures of depressive symptoms, risky sexual scripts, and risky sexual behavior in both sex groups, mainly due to differences of the victim-only, perpetrator-only, and victim-perpetrator groups from the nonvictim-nonperpetrator group. The effect on sexual self-esteem was found for women only. Few differences emerged between the victim-only, perpetrator-only, and victim-perpetrator groups. Most associations remained significant when controlling for CSA. Conclusion: We found a substantial overlap between victimization and perpetration but no evidence for a special vulnerability of the victim-perpetrator group. Instead, experiences of victimization, perpetration, or both were linked to more negative correlates compared with individuals who were neither victims nor perpetrators. The findings need to be interpreted with caution due to the small number of individuals in the perpetrator-only and victim-perpetrator groups.

Prevalence of Sexual Aggression Victimization and Perpetration in a German University Student Sample

“…Because participants in the present study reported both victimization experiences and perpetration behavior, we could establish the degree of overlap between the two. In line with a previous study based on the SAV-S, significant associations between victimization and perpetration reports were found for both gender groups (Krahé & Berger, 2020 ), corroborating evidence based on male samples (Peterson et al, 2019 ) and extending it to participants with exclusively opposite-sex and both opposite- and same-sex contacts. This finding highlights the need to consider potential victimization experiences of perpetrators of sexual assault beyond recognizing the association of sexual assault perpetration with sexual abuse in childhood (Krahé & Berger, 2017a ).…”

“…This study, as well as the study by Peterson et al (2019), found significant associations between victimization and perpetration reports for men and women. The present study was designed to test the replicability of this finding using the same methodology as the study by Krahé and Berger (2020).…”

“…Studies that collected both victimization and perpetration reports from the same participants have found consistent evidence that a substantial proportion of respondents reported both victimization experiences and perpetration behavior (e.g., Meadows et al, 2020 ; Ybarra et al, 2016 ). In a large sample of university students in Germany, 6.3% of women and 6.6% of men reported at least one form of sexual victimization and perpetration since the age of 14, compared with 29.2% of women and 12.4% of men who reported only victimization and 1.5% of women and 6.7% of men who reported only perpetration (Krahé & Berger, 2020 ). This study, as well as the study by Peterson et al ( 2019 ), found significant associations between victimization and perpetration reports for men and women.…”

Pre-service factors associated with sexual misconduct among male U.S. Marines

“…Other studies suggest a history of impersonal or risky sexual behavior (e.g., early sexual initiation, sex without a condom) heightens risk for sexual aggression [21][22][23]. In addition, prior delinquent behavior and cumulative exposure to stress or traumatic events predict future sexual aggression [24][25][26]. Despite the number of previous studies that have examined the characteristics of civilian sexual offenders, research examining characteristics of military sexual perpetrators is sparse [26][27][28].…”

“…Government work as work prepared by a military service member or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person's official duties. Report number [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]…”