title: Fear of rape among college women: a social psychological analysis.
abstract: This article examines social psychological underpinnings of fear of rape among college women. We analyze data from a survey of 1,905 female undergraduates to test the influence of 5 subjective perceptions about vulnerability and harm: unique invulnerability, gender risk, defensibility, anticipatory shame, and attribution of injury. We include 3 sources of crime exposure in our models: past sexual victimization, past noncontact violent victimization, and structural risk measured by age, parent's income, and race. Separate measures of fear of stranger and acquaintance rape are modeled, including variables tapping current versus anticipatory fear, fear on campus versus everywhere, and fear anytime versus at night. The data show that fear of rape among college women appears more grounded in constructed perceptions of harm and danger than in past violent experiences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice, Towson University, Towson, MD 21252-0001, USA. dpryor@towson.edu
authors.forename: Douglas W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Pryor
authors.forename: Marion R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Hughes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D059031:Anticipation, Psychological; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology; D003469:Culture; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008873:Mid-Atlantic Region; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011593:Psychology, Social; D011902:Rape / Q000523:psychology*; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012649:Self Concept; D012752:Shame; D012931:Social Environment; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult