ABSTRACT
The impact of mandatory reporting laws on domestic violence reports is unclear. In 2006, the Department of Defense removed its requirement for mandatory reporting of domestic violence against adults. Our objective was to determine if there was a change in the incidence of domestic violence reports to the Navy's Family Advocacy Program after the shift from mandatory reporting to a policy allowing restricted reporting. Reports of domestic violence to the Navy Central Registry between fiscal year (FY) 2000 and 2010 were studied. Frequencies and rates of domestic violence reports, type of abuse, and victim and offender gender were studied. Over the past 11 years, the total number of unrestricted domestic violence reports to the Navy Central Registry has decreased by just over a third. In addition, the number of substantiated reports has decreased by approximately 50%. Since the collection of data on restricted reports in 2008, the aggregated reporting rate of substantiated reports is significantly smaller, 0.87% for FYs 2008 to 2010 compared to 1.34% for FYs 2000 to 2005, p < 0.01. Domestic violence reports to the Navy Central Registry have declined over the past 11 years, even with the removal of the requirement for mandatory reporting of domestic violence.
Subject(s)
Domestic Violence/statistics & numerical data , Military Personnel/statistics & numerical data , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Mandatory Reporting , Spouse Abuse/statistics & numerical data , United StatesABSTRACT
The U.S. Navy Sexual Assault Intervention Training (SAIT) program for women was evaluated in a randomized clinical trial. The SAIT uses multiple presentation modalities (lecture, slides, discussion, film) to provide information related to sexual assault, including risk factors, consequences, prevention, and relevant military regulations. Female personnel who had completed basic training (N = 550) participated in the SAIT or a Comparison condition, and then completed measures of rape knowledge, empathy for rape victims, and acceptance of rape myths (false beliefs about rape justifying sexual violence). Results showed that the SAIT increased factual knowledge about rape. In addition, the SAIT increased empathy with rape victims in some groups of women. However, the program did not reduce women's rape myth acceptance. Given the enormity of the problem of sexual assault and these promising initial findings, additional research on the efficacy of the SAIT is clearly warranted.
Subject(s)
Military Personnel/psychology , Patient Education as Topic/organization & administration , Sex Offenses/prevention & control , Adolescent , Adult , Analysis of Variance , Chi-Square Distribution , Female , Humans , Illinois , Program Evaluation , Risk Factors , Sex Offenses/psychology , Sexual Behavior , United StatesABSTRACT
A randomized clinical trial was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the Navy Sexual Assault Intervention Training (SAIT) program for men. A four-group Solomon design was used to control for possible pretest sensitization effects. Male Navy personnel (N = 1,505) were assessed for rape knowledge, rape myth acceptance (two scales), and rape empathy after participating in the SAIT program or viewing an educational video about HIV/AIDS (comparison condition). The SAIT program was found to be effective in increasing rape knowledge, reducing rape myth acceptance, and increasing empathy for rape victims. As expected, men who had exhibited previous coercive sexual behavior, compared with those who had not, reported lower levels of knowledge, higher levels of rape myth acceptance, and less rape empathy. However, the SAIT program was generally effective in changing men's knowledge, beliefs, and feelings on the key measures, regardless of participants' histories of coercive sexual behavior.
