Criminal Justice Review

Crime on college campuses has increasingly become an area of public concern. While the Clery Act requires universities to disclose crime statistics and provide some methods of prevention, crimes on university campuses still appear to be a common problem. The purpose of this study was to examine how institutions were using the Internet to provide students with resources to promote crime prevention and awareness. Specifically, we assessed what online resources and programs institutions provided to students and then evaluated whether these resources met the general requirements of Clery. The accessibility of resources was also examined as well as how both accessibility and compliance with Clery varied across regions and student populations. The findings indicate that while most universities and colleges provide some methods of prevention or disclosure, few universities and colleges go beyond mere compliance by proactively attempting to prevent crime and/or educate their students about crime.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive problem in the United States affecting every demographic group. Victims of IPV suffer a wide range of negative health issues including depression, anxiety, and loss of self-esteem. However, little is known about help-seeking behaviors among IPV victims. This study utilized a university sample to explore who seeks counseling for exposure to threatening IPV. Results revealed that older students and females were more likely to seek counseling than younger students and males. Students who were exposed to greater levels of IPV and reported greater emotional distress were more likely to seek counseling than those with lower exposure to IPV and distress. Importantly, victimization accompanied by emotional distress was the key to explaining help-seeking help behavior. Programs and policies should focus on outreach to young students and males who have experienced IPV and provide focused services to victims with high levels of emotional distress.

Despite low overall crime rates, physical and sexual attacks are not uncommon at many American residential universities and colleges based, in part, on a strong association between intoxication and crime risk. Drawing upon concepts from a routine activities perspective and using ordinal logistic regression, this study contextualizes the effects of students’ “party” routines on their risk of recurrent crime victimization while at college. Findings show that, for women, spending time at bars doubles their risks of repeat physical attack and unwanted sexual contact. For men, crime risk is better predicted by types of substances used. Specifically, alcohol and pharmaceutical drugs increase men’s risk of repeat physical attack, whereas marijuana decreases risk. Still, marijuana use is the only routine that increases risk of repeat rape for both women and men. Implications of findings for student safety and strategies for reducing recurrent victimization within a party context are discussed.

Although much is known about the cross-sectional associations between cyber victimization and the negative socioemotional outcomes associated with this experience, not much is known about the longitudinal associations among college students. The purpose of the present study was to examine longitudinal, bidirectional associations between cyber victimization, suicidal ideation, depression, and anxiety among college students, using cross-lagged models. These relationships were examined over 4 years. Participants were 1,483 college students (M _age = 24.67; 60% female; 35% White, 15% Black/African American, 10% Latino/Latina, 6% Asian, and 4% biracial) from Southeastern universities in the United States. They completed self-reports of face-to-face and cyber victimization and questionnaires on suicidal ideation, depression, and anxiety at four time points over 4 years. Findings revealed that cyber victimization contributed to suicidal ideation, depression, and anxiety over time, and that suicidal ideation, depression, and anxiety each contributed to cyber victimization over time as well. Such findings suggest bidirectional relationships between these variables, although there were differences in the size of the bivariate relationships. In particular, the magnitudes of the associations were stronger when cyber victimization predicted suicidal ideation, depression, and anxiety. Recommendations are provided to help reduce or eliminate cyber victimization among students on college campuses.

The purpose of this study is to explore whether college women’s perceptions of and inclination to use campus sexual assault resources vary as a function of their sexual victimization histories. First, using data from the full sample of female undergraduate students selected from the psychology subject pool (N = 247), we performed t-tests to analyze whether perceptions of sexual assault as a problem on campus, knowledge of and confidence in campus sexual assault resources, and likelihood of attending a university sexual assault self-defense course differed for victims and nonvictims. Victims indicated significantly less confidence in campus resources and significantly less interest in attending the self-defense course than nonvictims. Second, using data from a subsample of participants (n = 57) who reported being unlikely to attend the self-defense course, we performed a qualitative analysis of the open-ended responses. Student-reported reasons for not attending the self-defense course were categorized into instrumental barriers such as time and schedule constraints and perceptual barriers such as belief that the self-defense course was unnecessary, with similar response patterns emerging for victims and nonvictims. The results underscore the need for colleges and universities to improve sexual assault service provision for students, especially women with sexual victimization histories.

Mandatory reporting (MR) policies concerning sexual assault victimization now extend to institutions of higher education. The laws are new and thus controversial since relatively little investigation into their impact has occurred. Additionally, since the laws require disclosure to police, at times, even in instances where victims object, opponents have expressed concerns about potential unintended effects, such as diminished victim autonomy. Perhaps, though, the most glaring question involves how college students perceive the policies. Because students are the focus of the laws, this investigation evaluates student opinion about MR, including approval for the policy, the likelihood of personally reporting under MR, perceptions of faculty compliance, and expected outcomes of MR laws. Findings suggest overwhelming support for MR, substantial likelihood of personally reporting assault under the law, and strong belief in faculty compliance. Not least, although students recognize both the positive and negative possibilities of the law, higher percentages believed in the law’s potential benefits (e.g., increase university accountability). Implications for research and policy are discussed.