The untapped resources of faculty in campus sexual violence prevention: issues and recommendations

Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research, Ahead of Print. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to use the authors ’ reflections and a review of literature to assess the ways that universities have yet to fully include faculty members in their sexual assault prevention initiatives. Recommendations for how faculty can assist are included. Design/methodology/approach The paper provides a review of literature r egarding institutional factors related to sexual assault and the potential of faculty, followed by personal reflections by both authors, who together have more than four decades experience studying sexual assault, providing training and educational presentations, and serving victims as well as perpe trators of sexual violence. Findings The authors conclude that, despite White House mandates for training faculty and campus requirements that should utilize the expertise of faculty members, many campuses are relying heavily or exclusively on student affairs professionals and lawyers to create an d implement sexual assault prevention programs. Faculty should, the authors assert, be involved in task forces, needs assessments, training, and other initiatives in order for campus prevention programs to be robust. Research limitations/implications The limitations of this paper are that it is ba sed only on a review of literature and personal reflections from the authors, who teach at a small, Catholic, liberal arts school in South Florida. As such, the recommendatio...
Source: Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research - Category: Criminology Source Type: research