Date Approved

5-5-1997

Embargo Period

8-30-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. in School Psychology

Department

Educational Services and Leadership

College

College of Education

Advisor

Klanderman, John

Subject(s)

Acquaintance rape; Dating violence; High school students--Attitudes

Disciplines

Educational Psychology

Abstract

The reasons date rape victims are often blamed for their own assault may be associated with sex-role identification and a lack of education. This study aims to examine the relationship between an individual's measure of sex-role traditionality and their attitudes towards rape by using the Bem Sex-Role Inventory combined with the Rape Attitudes and Perceptions Questionnaire which were administered to two mixed gender classes consisting of 30 juniors and seniors in a rural high school. Approximately one week after the surveys were taken, both classes watched When Romance Turns to Rape, which contains several vignettes on date rape. Then both classes once again took the Rape Attitudes and Perceptions Questionnaire. Results indicate that gender is not a determining factor in the attribution of victim blame in a date rape scenario and that education can alter the attitudes of adolescents to become less tolerant of date rape. It is hoped that since this program successfully improved awareness and changed attitudes, it might inspire the contact school's board of education to develop and employ programs that are aimed to educate adolescents about the issue of date rape on a school-wide basis because this study supports the use of education on date rape during adolescence.

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