Citation

Anderson LA, Stoelb MP, Duggan P, Hieger B, Kling KH, Payne JP. J. Coll. Stud. Dev. 1998; 39(2): 131-142.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, American College Personnel Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The current study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of two rape prevention programs in changing college students' rape-supportive attitudes. Male and female undergraduates (N = 215) were assigned to one of three conditions: an interactive mock talk show intervention, a structured video intervention, or a control group. Participants in this study were predominantly Caucasian and ranged in age from 18 to 42 years old, with a mean age of 20 years old. Participants' rape-supportive attitudes were measured before the intervention, at an immediate posttest, and at a seven week follow-up using Burt's (1980) Rape Myth Acceptance Scale and a revised version of Field's (1978) Attitudes Toward Rape Scale, developed by Harrison, Downes, and Williams (1991). Results indicate that both interventions were effective in reducing rape-supportive attitudes at an immediate posttest, but that attitudes rebounded over time. Women endorsed fewer rape-supportive beliefs than men, and participants who knew a victim of rape demonstrated less adherence to rape-supportive attitudes at each assessment than did participants who did not know a victim of rape. Implications for future rape prevention programming are discussed.