The Nature of Violence
on Campus: Framing
Questions for Prevention
Christopher Kilmartin, Ph.D.
University of Mary Washington
Antifreeze.
What are the trends?
• The good news: violence in
general is decreasing over the
last 10 years.
• The bad news: sexual assault
does not appear to be
decreasing.
What are the trends?
• The good news (for us):
campuses in general are safer
than the rest of the world.
• The bad news: sexual assault is
much higher for college
students than in the general
population.
What are the trends?
• At least 75% of public assault
victims are men.
• The vast majority of sexual
assault and serious domestic
violence victims are women.
What are the trends?
• College and University athletes
commit violent crimes at higher
rates than students in the
general population.
• Males commit the majority of
violent crimes.
• Most men are not violent, but
most violent people are men.
The Gender Question
• How do we acknowledge male
victims and female perpetrators
and still address violence as a
gendered issue?
What is gender?
• The social pressure to behave
and experience the self in ways
that the culture defines as
appropriate for your body.
• It is very difficult to resist a
pressure that you cannot name.
• We are not doing a good job of
naming it for men.
We need to teach men to
resist gender pressure when:
• It conflicts with an important
life goal.
• It hurts another person.
The Culture/Gender
Question
• How can we educate athletes
generally about cultural
pressure and specifically about
gender pressure?
Four Factor Model
•
•
•
•
Perpetrator pathology.
Decision to Act violently.
Means to do harm.
Social support.
The Top-Down Approach
• Coaches, athletic directors,
trainers, support staff, etc. are
cultural (gendered) natives who
also may have little gender
education.
Leadership Questions
• How do we educate Athletic
Directors, Coaches, and others
about gender and the gendered
aspects of violence?
• How do we help them establish
a climate of respect for all?
• What is your game plan for
violence prevention?
Risk Assessment:
Sports Illustrated Study
Criminal background checks on
2837 football players on rosters
of SI 2010 preseason top 25:
7% had been in legal trouble prior
to entering college.
40% of charges were for serious
crimes.
And yet…
• Only 2 of the 25 universities
perform criminal background
checks.
• Few have policies stating that
felons cannot receive
scholarships.
Criminal background
question
• Should member schools be
required to perform background
checks (they’re cheap!) or other
risk assessments?
• If so, what should they be
required to do with the results?
Perpetrators
Direct
Facilitators
Cultural Standard Bearers
Sexism
Inequality & Power Differences
Bystander Question
How can we train players to
intervene as bystanders
when they see dangerous
behaviors or attitudes?
Other Important
Influences
• Media
• Alcohol
Media and Alcohol
Questions
• How can we help everyone to become more
aware of and critical of toxic media
messages?
• How can we acknowledge that many
students drink underage without approving
of it?
• How can we address the gendered aspects
of alcohol?
• How do we educate about the connection
between alcohol and violence without
communicating that it causes violence?
The way we talk about
violence
•
•
•
•
•
•
The “opposite sex”
The “battle of the sexes”
“Between”
“Sex scandal”
“Domestic dispute”
Victim blaming
Language Questions
• How do we correct the language
that smuggles in unhelpful
assumptions?
• How do we combat victim
blaming and promote an
understanding of it?
Resistance
• “We don’t want to drive a wedge
between our men and women.”
• “We don’t want our players to
lose their aggressive edge”
• “We don’t have these problems
because we don’t have football.”
• “Men working to end men’s
violence? How insulting.”
Resistance Questions
• How can we overcome resistance?
• How can we convince stakeholders
that violence prevention is entirely in
concert with their athletic program
goals?
• How can we educate men without
their feeling shamed and blamed?
The Good News
Most people are good people and
would never commit an act of
violence.
Most college athletes and college
students drink moderately and
responsibly.
Most college men are offended by
other men’s sexism.
The attitude we want is already there
for most people.
Good News Questions
• How do we amplify the healthy
voices?
• How do we motivate student athletes
to educate themselves and influence
other student athletes?
• How do we tie non-violence and
respect to one’s goals as an athlete
and one’s goals in life?
• How do we go beyond minimum
standards to aspirational ones?
The continuum of
respect
illegal
or against
policy
• Disrespectful
»
fully
respectful
Athletes all know about
skill development
• When do we invest time and
effort into learning a skill?
• --when we value the outcome.
• How can we attain the level
of striving, commitment, and
effort in violence prevention
that we attain in our athletic
pursuits?
•Remember the
Antifreeze!