Citation

Joseph JS, Gray MJ, Mayer J. J. Aggression Maltreat. Trauma 2013; 22(5): 493-509.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10926771.2013.785460

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Sexual assault perpetrated by men against women is a distressingly common occurrence, particularly on college campuses. One of the barriers to assault prevention efforts is the general perception of violence against women as an unwanted yet implicitly tolerated aspect of the status quo. Drawing on system justification theory, a concept used to explain why individuals accept aspects of their social systems that are objectively unjust, the mechanisms that perpetuate sexual assault are examined. Furthermore, this theory is used to examine current prevention efforts on college campuses and suggestions for modifications to these programs will be made.