In this innovative book, a well-known feminist and sociologist-who is also the founding editor of Gender & Society-challenges our most basic assumptions about gender. Judith Lorber argues that gender is wholly a product of socialization, subject to human agency, organization, and interpretation, and that it is a social institution comparable to the economy, the family, and religion in its significance and consequences. Calling into question the inevitability and necessity of gender, she envisions a society structured for equality, where no gender, racial ethnic, or social class group is allowed to monopolize positions of power.

Everyday Violence: How Women and Men Experience Sexual and Physical Danger

Paradoxes of gender

background

Doing qualitative research differently

The sexual violence prevention program we evaluated uses a community of responsibility model to teach women and men how to intervene safely and effectively in cases of sexual violence before, during, and after incidents with strangers, acquaintances, or friends. The program varies from other prevention programs in that it does not address men as potential perpetrators or women as potential victims. Rather it approaches both women and men as potential bystanders or witnesses to behaviors related to sexual violence. The program is grounded in recent research in social and community psychology on bystander intervention and community-focused solutions. The program draws upon findings from research on community change and prevention as well as more individually-focused studies of rape prevention programs and bystander behavior in emergency and crime situations. Three hundred and eighty-nine undergraduates participated and were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups or a control group. Results from the research reveal that up to two months after participating in either a one or three session version of the program, participants in the treatment conditions showed improvements across measures of attitudes, knowledge, and behavior while the control group did not. Most program effects persisted at four and twelve month follow-ups. The program appeared to benefit women and men equally. Implications and future directions for research are

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Document Title: Rape Prevention Through Bystander Education: Bringing a Broader Community Perspective to Sexual Violence Prevention

Recent research documents the problem of sexual violence across communities, often finding its causes to be embedded in community and cultural norms, thus demonstrating the need for community-focused solutions. In this article we synthesize research from community psychology on community change and prevention with more individually focused studies of sexual violence prevention programs and bystander behavior in emergency and crime situations. The purpose of bringing together this research is to outline a new area of focus for sexual violence prevention: the mobilization of prosocial behavior on the part of potential bystanders. This approach has utility for increasing community receptivity to prevention messages, by decreasing resistance to them, and for increasing the likelihood of community members taking an active role in prevention and intervention. The specific case of sexual violence prevention on college campus communities illustrates this approach. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comm Psychol 32: 61–79, 2004.

Bystander education: Bringing a broader community perspective to sexual violence prevention

This article presents a cross-national test of the feminist theory of violence against women. Combining data from the International Crime Victims Survey (ICVS) with United Nations statistics, the findings support the theory. Specifically, the results indicate that the educational and occupational status of women in a country is related to the prevalence of sexual violence against women. In countries where the status of women is low, prevalence of sexual violence against women tends to be higher. In turn, sexual violence is related to higher levels of fear among women relative to men. In comparison, in countries where the status of women is high, sexual violence against women is lower. The findings of this study add confirmation to the argument that we need to look beyond individual level variables to understand and develop strategies for reducing violence against and fear among women.

Everyday Violence: How Women and Men Experience Sexual and Physical Danger

Citations

Paradoxes of gender

Doing qualitative research differently

Document Title: Rape Prevention Through Bystander Education: Bringing a Broader Community Perspective to Sexual Violence Prevention

Bystander education: Bringing a broader community perspective to sexual violence prevention

Gender Inequality, Violence Against Women, and Fear A Cross-National Test of the Feminist Theory of Violence Against Women

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