Sexual Assault Prevention for Heavy Drinking College Men: Development and Feasibility of an Integrated Approach

Abstract

Despite the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses, few interventions aimed at decreasing college men's proclivity to perpetrate sexual aggression have been developed and tested. This article details the theoretical framework, content, and piloting of a sexual assault prevention program for college men who engage in heavy drinking, a high-risk group who may be particularly well positioned to intervene as proactive bystanders in drinking environments. In an open trial, male facilitators delivered the three-session Sexual Assault and Alcohol Feedback and Education (SAFE) program to 25 heavy drinking college men. Session 1 was a 90-min review of personalized normative feedback regarding alcohol use, sexual activity, alcohol-related sexual consequences, understanding of consent, and engagement in bystander intervention, delivered individually in a motivational interviewing style. Session 2 was a 2½-hr group-based sexual assault prevention workshop focusing on social norms, empathy, masculinity, consent, and bystander intervention. Session 3 was a 90-min booster group session that reviewed previous topics and included the active practice of bystander intervention skills. Analyses of postsession assessments of utility, therapeutic alliance, and satisfaction and examination of alcohol use and sexual assault-related outcomes from baseline to the 2-month assessment support the preliminary feasibility and acceptability of the SAFE program.

Integrating Sexual Assault Resistance, Bystander, and Men’s Social Norms Strategies to Prevent Sexual Violence on College Campuses: A Call to Action

“…Despite other positive effects on attitudes, rebound effects were detected by the 7-month follow-up, such that men in the intervention group reported similar rates of sexual violence perpetration to men in the control group. Subsequent work has sought to extend the program by including a more rigorous focus on alcohol as a risk factor for violence (Orchowski et al, 2018).…”

“Trouble in Paradigm” and the Social Norms Approach to Violence Prevention

“…This approach is well established for promoting change in alcohol use in college student drinkers (Dotson, Dunn, & Bowers, 2015). In an intervention for heavy drinking college men, we have utilized individual normative feedback on the intersection of alcohol use, sexual experiences, and bystander intervention, in combination with group-based norms exercises to address risk for sexual aggression and promote bystander intervention (Orchowski, Barnett, et al, 2018). The web-based intervention, Real Consent, also incorporates normative feedback (Salazar, Vivolo-Kantor, Hardin, & Berkowitz, 2014).…”

“…In their paradigmatic reconceptualization of the gender-transformative violence prevention approach, Lisa Brush and Elizabeth Miller create space to better address past exposure to violence as well as the role of masculine homophobia in gender violence, while also calling greater attention to everyday efforts to push back against gender conformity. Before commenting on these paradigmatic shifts, I must disclose that my position in this commentary is informed by my involvement in evaluations of interventions that apply the social norms approach (SNA) to violence prevention (Gidycz, Orchowski, & Berkowitz, 2011;Orchowski, Barnett, et al, 2018). I am a clinical psychologist who works predominantly with individuals who have experienced sexual trauma, a researcher with a focus on the development and evaluation of sexual assault prevention programs, and deeply curious about deciphering persuasive theoretical approaches for promoting change in individuals as well as larger systems.…”

Alcohol Use and Risk Factors for Sexual Aggression: Differences According to Relationship Status

“…The survey was created to inform development of an integrated alcohol use and sexual assault prevention program (Orchowski, Barnett, Berkowitz, Borsari, Oesterle, & Zlotnick, 2018). The survey included established measures, as well as constructs of interest for the design and development of the intervention.…”