Changing the Hidden Curriculum of Campus Rape Prevention and Education: Women’s Self- Defense as a Key Protective Factor for a Public Health Model of Prevention

ASU Author/Contributor (non-ASU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Martha McCaughey Ph.D., Professor (Creator)
Institution
Appalachian State University (ASU )
Web Site: https://library.appstate.edu/

Abstract: Recent activist, policy, and government efforts to engage in campus rape prevention education(RPE), culminating in the 2014 White House Task Force recommendations to combat campussexual assault, prompt a need to examine the concept of “prevention” in the context of sexualassault on U.S. college campuses and their surrounding community service agencies. This paperreviews previous research on effective resistance to sexual assault, showing that self-defense is awell-established protective factor in a public health model of sexual assault prevention. Thearticle goes on to show, through an examination of campus rape prevention efforts framed as“primary prevention,” that self-defense is routinely excluded. This creates a hidden curriculum that preserves a gender status quo even while it strives for change. The article concludes with recommendations for how administrators, educators, facilitators, funding agencies, and others can incorporate self-defense into campus RPE for a more effective, data-driven set of sexual assault prevention efforts.

Additional Information

Publication
McCaughey, Martha & Cermele, Jill (2015). Changing the Hidden Curriculum of Campus Rape Prevention and Education: Women’s Self-Defense as a Key Protective Factor for a Public Health Model of Prevention. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. Advance online publication. http://tva.sagepub.com
Language: English
Date: 2015

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