Sexual Coercion Practices Among Undergraduate Male Recreational Athletes, Intercollegiate Athletes, and Non-Athletes

Abstract

Prior research shows that male intercollegiate athletes are at risk for perpetrating sexual violence. Whether this risk extends to male recreational athletes has not been explored. This study assessed associations between attitudes toward women, rape myth acceptance, and prevalence of sexual coercion among 379 male, undergraduate recreational and intercollegiate athletes and non-athletes. Our analyses showed significant differences between the responses of athletes and non-athletes for all dependent variables, and intercollegiate and recreational athletes on attitudes toward women and the prevalence of sexual coercion. Controlling for rape myth acceptance and traditional gender role attitudes eliminated differences between athletes and non-athletes in prevalence of sexual coercion.

Exploring Definitions and Prevalence of Verbal Sexual Coercion and Its Relationship to Consent to Unwanted Sex: Implications for Affirmative Consent Standards on College Campuses

“…These issues are partly due to the fact that different types of tactics used by perpetrators to obtain sex with unwilling partners have not been adequately defined or measured [ 59 , 60 , 61 ]. By using victim reports on unwanted sexual activity experienced by victims [ 34 , 38 , 46 , 56 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 ], the methods used by perpetrators to obtain sex from unwilling partners [ 37 , 45 , 59 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 ], or studies examining both victimization and perpetration behaviors [ 39 , 72 , 73 ], sexual coercion has been defined in several ways.…”

Preventing Sexual Violence on College Campuses: An Investigation of Current Practices of Conducting Background Checks on Student-Athletes

“…IHE have begun targeting student-athletes as the source of campus violence, primarily surrounding sexual assaults. There have been studies that suggest a connection exists between athletic participation and committing acts of sexual violence (Boeringer, 1996(Boeringer, , 1999Forbes et al, 2006;Frintner & Rubinson, 1993;Koss & Gaines, 1993;McCray, 2015;McMahon, 2011;Murnen & Kohlman, 2007;Young et al, 2017). Both research and media reports of sexually violent crimes Table 1.…”

“…Research attempting to correlate athletic participation with the propensity to be sexually violent is both vast and inconsistent. Many studies suggest a connection exists between athletic participation and sexual violence (Boeringer, 1996(Boeringer, , 1999Forbes et al, 2006;Frintner & Rubinson, 1993;Koss & Gaines, 1993;McCray, 2015;McMahon, 2011;Murnen & Kohlman, 2007;Young et al, 2017) while another body of scholarship has found no such connection exists (Caron et al, 1997;Crosset, Benedict, & McDonald, 1995;Gidycz, Warkentin, & Orchowski, 2007;Smith & Stewart, 2003). Moreover, researchers have questioned the findings and assertions between athletic participation and sexual violence due to methodological concerns (Crosset, 1999;Kimble, Russo, Bergman, & Galindo, 2010;Koss & Gaines, 1993).…”

“…Media discourse surrounding instances of student-athletes committing acts of sexual violence has guided the conversation towards reform. Much of the discussion on reform has been directed toward student-athletes, a decision that can be supported by research that suggests student-athletes are more prone to committing acts of sexual violence (Boeringer, 1996(Boeringer, , 1999Forbes, Adams-Curtis, Pakalka, & White, 2006;Frintner & Rubinson, 1993;Koss & Gaines, 1993;McCray, 2015;McMahon, 2011;Murnen & Kohlman, 2007;Young, Desmarais, Baldwin, & Chandler, 2017). On the other hand, studies have also found that certain characteristics such as competitiveness may contribute to the propensity to commit an act of sexual violence and is not solely based on athletic participation (Caron, Halteman, & Stacy, 1997).…”

Creating Change in Intercollegiate Athletics: The Sexual Assault Prevention Paradigm for Athletic Departments

“…In the last 15 years, only two studies sought to question whether male student-athletes are more likely to perpetrate sexual assault (Sawyer, Thompson, & Chicorelli, 2002;Young, Desmarais, Baldwin, & Chandler, 2017) and many studies have documented the generally positive effects of sexual assault prevention programming with student-athletes (Foubert & Perry, 2007;Jackson & Davis, 2000;McMahon & Farmer, 2009;Moynihan & Banyard, 2008;Moynihan, Banyard, Arnold, Eckstein, & Stapleton, 2010). Most recently, Young and colleagues (2017) discovered that intercollegiate student-athletes and recreational athletes exhibited similar rates of sexual coercion, with notably higher rates than non-athletes.…”