Gender & Violence Sociology of Gender Conference

Andrew CarvajalAll cartoons taken from www.cartoonbank.com

Rapist: what typically comes to mind...

Who is the stereotypical rapist?

The Sexual Victimization of College Women

A collaboration of the National Institute of Justice (NJS) and Bureau of Justice

Statistics (BJN)

Authors: Bonnie S. Fisher, Francis T. Cullen, Michael G. Turner

U.S. Department of Justice – December 2000

General Information

College women face a greater risk of rape and other forms of sexual assault than women in the general population, and women in a comparable age group

Results based on a phone surveys with a random sample of 4,446 college women from all over the U.S.

Sexual victimization measured as respondents’ answers to whether they had experienced a variety of situations during their college experience

The Findings

2.8 % of the sample had experienced either a completed rape (1.7%) or an attempted rape incident (1.1%) during the survey period 1.8 % for rape and 1.3 % for attempted rape

in undergraduates 0.8% and 0% for non-undergraduates

However, projecting these numbers to a whole academic year, the estimated % of college girls who suffer full rape or attempted rape is 5% Over the course of a degree (4 or 5 years)

the % of completed or attempted rapes among women can climb to 20-25%

Rates compared to non-college women

More Findings

Most women don’t define the incidents construed as rape by the researchers, as rape themselvesAre researchers overstating the

problem, or students understating it? 15.5% of the women were sexually

victimized during the academic yearEither through rape, attempted rape,

or threat of rape

More Findings

When and where does victimization occur?

The vast majority of sexual victimizations occurred in the evening (after 6 p.m.)

60% of on-campus rapes occurred in residences, 31% in other living quarters on-campus, and 10.3% in fraternities

Relation with the Offender 90% of the victims knew their offender

Protective action

In both completed rape and sexual coercion, victims were less likely to take protective action Using protective action might lead attempts

to rape or coerce sex to fail Fewer than 5% of full or attempted rapes

were reported to law enforcement officials Amongst the reasons cited were fear of

receiving hostility from the police and the judicial system

13.1 % of victims had been stalked since the start of the school year

Varied Risks

4 main factors consistently increased the risk of sexual victimization: frequently drinking enough to get

drunkbeing unmarriedhaving been a victim of a sexual

assault before the start of the school year

living on campus

Verbal Victimization

Type Incidence (% women)

General sexist remarks 54%

Cat calls, whistles about their looks, etc

48%

Obscene telephone calls 22%

Asked inappropriate questions about romantic/sex life

19%

Visual Victimization Type Incidence

(% women)

Exposed to pornographic material w/out consent

6%

Exposed to someone’s sexual organs w/out consent

4.8%

Someone tried to observe the resp. undressing, nude, or in sexual act w/out consent

2.4%

Someone took video, pictures or taped resp. having sex

0.2 %

So, who is the average rapist in our society?

School shootings: A Gender Issue?

Is gender the most critical factor in the latest wave of school shootings?

A School Shooter Profile

Following the shooting at Columbine the US Secret Service (2000) offered a report in which they said that there “is no profile” for school shooters

No profile???

Barry Loukaitis; Feb 2 1996

White Boyhttp://img.photobucket.com

Luke Woodham; Oct 1 1997

www.experts.about.com

White Boy

Michael Carneal; Dec 1st 1997

www. cnn.com

White Boy

Mitchell Johnson & Andrew Golden; March 24 1998

White Boys

http://www.keystosaferschools.com

http://www.baptiststandard.com

Kip Kinkel; May 21 1998

White Boy

http://www.jeremiahproject.com

Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold; April 20 1999

White Boyswww.nndb.com http://www.olddoom.com

Andrew Williams; March 5 2001

White Boy

http://news.bbc.co.uk

John Jason McLaughlin; Sept 24 2003

White Boy

www.kare11.com

Eric Hainstock; Sept 29 2006

White Boy

http://www.wrex.com

No Profile?

Maybe it is harder to identify a profile when it is the “norm”The white, heterosexual, male is often

the trait that most often goes unnoticed in our analyses of social problems

It is invisible (see Kimmel’s “What about the Boys”)

No Profile?

What would have happened if the perpetrators of these shootings had been mainly women, or black males instead?

School shootings: A Surrogate Debate Family changes, women in the workforce Bad parenting Depression/mental illness Goth subculture Gun control Importance of religion, prayer, faith Disrespectful youth/rebelliousness –

absence of traditional values

School shootings: A Surrogate Debate Media, music, videogames, the internet …

Maybe its time to bring gender into the picture!

More AnswersYes: Michael Kimmel“Snips and Snails… and Violent Urges” Gender as single most obvious and

intractable difference in violence in the US We often talk about school shootings as

“youth” and “teen” violence But the majority of these teens are boys Men and boys are responsible for 95% of

violent crimes in the US From early age boys learn that violence is

an acceptable and admirable way of conflict resolution

Yes: Michael Kimmel“Snips and Snails… and Violent Urges”

Most school shooters subject to teasing, bashing and questioning of their masculinity Some turn inward: depression, drug-abuse,

isolation, suicide Some turn outward: rage, violence

Violence not in male brain or testosterone: boys learn it Media, sports, culture that glorifies heroic and

redemptive violence Fathers; 50% own guns

We need to look at how ideals of manhood became so entangled with violence School shooters are “real boys” and want to prove it

No: Alvin Poussaint

Major role of depression Individuals trying to cope with internal anger

and rage Not everyone turns into violence, so those at

risk should be referred to psychological counseling Students should feel comfortable and

encouraged to tell teachers about peers carrying weapons and making violent threats

Parents should see alienation, anger, making threats and getting into fights as warning signs

As a neighbour/observer, you should report parents who neglect or abuse their children to social service agencies

No: Alvin Poussaint

Offer alternative outlets to channel aggression Sports, communications with family and

friends, anger management Youth tends to normalize the violence they

see in the media, videogames They don’t see that death is real

Institute programs that combat prejudice and promote tolerance

Schools should pay more attention to warning signs and the need for more moral education