Shades of Gray

A Qualitative Study of Terms Used in the Measurement of Sexual Victimization

Bibliographic Data

ID12005301
AuthorsSherry L Hamby (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Sherry Hamby (0000-0002-1197-0534, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, corresponding author), Mary P Ko (0000-0001-9317-9318, Departments of Public Health, Psychology, and Psychiatry, University of Arizona)
Year2003
Volume27
Issue3
Pages243-255
Publication date2003-08-19
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePsychology of Women Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0361-6843 • E-ISSN: 1471-6402
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1111/1471-6402.00104
OpenAlexW2103848882
LanguageEN
Citations received38
References cited37

Methodological analyses of sexual victimization research are still rare, despite the explosion of interest in this topic and widely varying rates across studies. In-depth analysis of the meaning of differences in rates is especially lacking. A series of five ethnically and geographically diverse focus groups were held to explore how wording in sexual victimization surveys affects the reporting of various types of negative sexual experiences. Participants provided rich formulations about sexual intercourse that suggest there is a wide range of coercion, from peer pressure to lose one's virginity to partner pressure to demonstrate one's commitment to stereotypical forced rape. Focus group participants asserted that many terms that are often used synonymously, such as unwanted, nonvoluntary, and forced, have distinct meanings. They also described how different social pressures on women and men, and differences in physical size lead to inevitable differences in perceptions of coerciveness. Although recent sexual victimization surveys have increased the specificity of descriptions of sexual acts, these findings suggest that it is equally important to be precise in communicating what is meant by coercion

Coercion (linguistics · Developmental psychology · Meaning (existential · Peer pressure · Poison control · Sexual coercion · Virginity test · Clinical Psychology · Human Factors and Ergonomics · Intimate Partner and Family Violence · Psychology · Sex work and related issues · Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies · Social Psychology

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