Sexual violence is a widespread public health problem, with as many as 40% of women and 23% of men experiencing forced sexual contact at some point in their lives.1 The research and practice communities have expanded efforts related to understanding and preventing perpetration of sexual violence, rather than focusing exclusively on preventing sexual violence victimization. The CDC has identified a number of shared risk factors (such as exposure to relationship and family violence, low familial cohesion, and association with at-risk peers) that are connected with multiple forms of violence, including sexual violence. Using a matched pair control design, this study will evaluate the efficacy of a strengths-based curriculum, the Council for Boys and Young Men, to reduce risk for future sexual violence perpetration with middle school-aged boys (ages 12-14). We will collect baseline data at enrollment, and post- intervention data immediately after the course, then at 6 and 12 months after training. We will measure several outcomes linked to sexual assault perpetration, including bystander behavior, attitudes related to gender roles and acceptance of sexual violence, interpersonal relations, and youth-adult connectedness. Factors that impact implementation will also be assessed in order to examine the extent to which fidelity and quality influence participants' outcomes. The results of this study will inform future Rape Prevention and Education (RPE) program activities and expand the understanding of upstream sexual violence prevention.
In this study we seek to understand the impact of a strengths-based curriculum on attitudes and behaviors related to sexual violence among middle school boys. The results from this study will help inform best practices in violence prevention.
