Relationship skills for teens to prevent sexual aggression and date rape (initial study)
Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse
Scientist(s):
S. Marie Harvey, PhD
,
John Noell, PhD
,
Lynne Swartz, MPH, CHES
When is it "friendly persuasion" and when is it date rape? What is the young woman’s responsibility in the situation? What about the young man’s? What should you do if your friend has been raped? What if you realize a friend has committed date rape? These are tough questions for grown-ups as well as teens. The Oregon Center for Applied Science, Inc., reviewed the literature and conducted focus groups with 71 teens to develop a better understanding about what could be done to help each gender bring an end to the problem of sexual coercion.
Over the Line: Preventing Sexual Coercion and Date Rape is an interactive multimedia CD-ROM that allows viewers to not only hear the thoughts of teens as they discuss sexual issues, but also choose various responses and observe the consequences of their decisions, including the decision to do or say nothing. Six different stories model important skills. Two stories demonstrate positive and negative communication strategies between partners. Another illustrates how males can interrupt social conditioning that coercion is manly and desirable and respond constructively when they hear a peer bragging of a conquest. The fourth story illustrates verbal coercion (as opposed to the use of physical force) and models ways to stop or interrupt that form of aggression. A fifth story demonstrates the potential problems of power differences when a teen female spends time with a man five or more years older than she. The final vignette illustrates the importance of counseling for victims of rape and ways that friends can offer social support.
This program was evaluated by 124 high school students who watched it during the course of one to two class periods. All participants answered a set of questions before watching the program and then immediately after. Areas in which they showed significant improvement involved communication between partners, identification of risky situations (e.g., being in an isolated place, being offered drugs or alcohol), the potential dangers of dating someone who is not a teenager, and the importance of counseling for rape victims. On the basis of the research findings, the National Institutes of Health decided to grant funding for a more comprehensive version of the program: Relationship skills for teens to prevent sexual aggression and date rape (expanded study).
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