Exploring the Usage of a Violence Prevention and Response App Among Community College Students.

Sexual assault is a significant problem on college campuses. To date, much of the research on prevention and response has been conducted with students enrolled at traditional 4-year institutions. Limited research exists on 2-year institutions (also known as community colleges), which enroll a more diverse population (e.g., economic, gender, racial, and ethnic minorities) who are more vulnerable to victimization. Yet, 2-year institutions have few resources dedicated to the prevention of and response to sexual violence. Advances in technology, including mobile apps, have provided additional avenues to easily disseminate prevention and response information to college students. Mobile apps may be especially beneficial for community colleges given their diverse population and limited resources. Therefore, the present study examined a sample of community college students who reported downloading a violence prevention and response mobile app, uSafeUS, and their reasons for downloading. Participants were recruited from seven community colleges in a northeastern state and completed an online campus climate survey. Results indicate that participants who downloaded uSafeUS were more likely to perceive they were safe from campus sexual violence and receive information regarding campus sexual violence from their college than participants who did not download the app. Participants also reported downloading uSafeUS to keep themselves safe, to help a friend, and because they liked the sexual violence prevention and resource features. Female participants were more likely than male participants to download uSafeUS to keep themselves safe and because they liked the sexual violence resource information. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Sexual Assault Prevalence and Community College Students: Challenges and Promising Practices.

Recently, much research has been dedicated to understanding how to prevent and address the aftermath of sexual assault (SA) on traditional 4-year college and university campuses in the United States. However, less scholarly attention has been paid to 2-year institutions, commonly known as community colleges. This review illuminates the different situational contexts faced by community college students, compared with students at 4-year colleges. These differences are shaped by community college characteristics, student demographics, and geographic location of their students. Community colleges enroll a higher percentage of women, first-generation students, and low-income students than 4-year colleges. Furthermore, community colleges are academic homes to the most racially and ethnically diverse student population, with higher numbers of African Americans, Latinos, immigrants, and nonnative English speakers. These populations (e.g., women, racial minorities, first-generation, low-income) are at a greater risk for SA; yet, 2-year institutions have less funding and resources available to address SA on their campuses. Thus, this article reviews the problem of campus SA on community colleges and highlights the challenges that 2-year institutions face in comparison with those that 4-year institutions face when implementing SA prevention and response strategies. Then, a case study of a 3-year project on one nonresidential and seven community colleges is presented, which illustrates how 2-year institutions can forge relationships with community professionals to address SA on their campuses.