Abstract
A predominantly heterosexual sample of 204 college men were asked to report incidents of pressured or forced sexual touch or intercourse since age 16. About 34% indicated they had received coercive sexual contact: 24% from women, 4% from men, and 6% from both sexes. Contact involved only sexual touching for 12% and intercourse for 22%. Sexual contact was pressured in 88% of the 81 reported incidents by tactics of persuasion, intoxication, threat of love withdrawal, and bribery. In 12% of the incidents, sexual contact was forced through physical restraint, physical intimidation, threat of harm, or harm. Contact was initiated by an acquaintance or intimate in 77% of incidents. The negative emotional impact of male contact was rated significantly higher than the impact of female contact. Men with and without coercion experience did not differ, however, for scale scores on sexual esteem, depression, and preoccupation. Interviews with 10 subjects revealed complex reactions to coercive male and female contact, including doubts about one's sexuality, resentment of unexpected or forceful contact, and fear of telling others about the event.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Calderwood, D. (1987, May). The male rape victim.Med. Aspects Hum. Sex. 21 (May): 53–55.
Forman, B. D. (1982). Reported male rape.Victimol. Int. J. 7: 235–236.
Gordon, S., and Snyder, C. W. (eds.) (1988).Personal Issues in Human Sexuality Allyn & Bacon, Boston, p. 111.
Goyer, P. F., and Eddleman, H. C. (1984). Same-sex rape of nonincarcerated men.Am. J. Psychiat. 141: 576–579.
Kaszniak, A. W., Nussbaum, P. D., Berren, M. R., and Santiago, J. (1988). Amnesia as a consequence of male rape: A case report.J. Abn. Psychol. 97: 100–104.
Kaufman, A., Divasto, P., Jackson, R., Voorhees, D., and Christy, J. (1980). Male rape victims: Noninstitutionalized assault.Am. J. Psychiat. 137: 221–223.
Lott, B., Reilly, M. E., and Howard, D. R. (1982). Sexual assault and harassment: A campus community case study.Signs: J. Women Cult. Soc. 8: 296–319.
Muehlenhard, C. L., and Cook, S. W. (1988). Men's self-reports of unwanted sexual activity.J. Sex Res. 24: 58–72.
Murphy, J. E. (1984, August).Date abuse and forced intercourse among college students. Paper presented at the Second National Conference for Family Violence Research, Durham, NH.
Myers, M. F. (1989). Men sexually assaulted as adults and sexually abused as boys.Arch. Sex. Behav. 18: 203–215.
Poppen, P. J., and Segal, N. J. (1988). The influence of sex and sex role orientation on sexual coercion.Sex Roles 19: 689–701.
Sandberg, G. G., Jackson, T. L., and Petretic-Jackson, P. (1987). College dating attitudes regarding sexual coercion and sexual aggression: Developing education and prevention strategies.J. College Stud. Person. 28: 302–310.
Sarrel, P. M., and Masters, W. H. (1982). Sexual molestation of men by women.Arch. Sex. Behav. 11: 117–131.
Smith, R. E., Pine, C. J., and Hawley, M. E. (1988). Social cognitions about adult male victims of female sexual assault.J. Sex Res. 24: 101–112.
Snell, W. E., and Papini, D. R. (1989). The sexuality scale: An instrument to measure sexual-esteem, sexual depression, and sexual-preoccupation.J. Sex Res. 26: 256–263.
Sorenson, S. B., Stein, J. A., Siegel, J. M., Golding, J. M., and Burnam, M. A. (1987). The prevalence of adult sexual assault: The Los Angeles Epidemiologic Catchment Area Project.Am. J. Epidemiol. 126: 1154–1164.
Struckman-Johnson, C. (1988). Forced sex on dates: It happens to men, too.J. Sex Res. 24: 234–241.
Struckman-Johnson, C. (1991). Male victims of acquaintance rape. In Parrot, A., and Bechhofer, L. (eds.),Acquaintance Rape, The Hidden Crime John Wiley, New York, pp. 192–214.
Struckman-Johnson, D., and Struckman-Johnson, C. (1991). Men and women's acceptance of coercive sexual strategies varied by initiator gender and couple intimacy.Sex Roles 25: 661–676.
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. (1990).Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics—1989 U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, p. 235.
Zilbergeld, B. (1978).Male Sexuality Little, Brown, New York, pp. 36–69.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Struckman-Johnson, C., Struckman-Johnson, D. Men pressured and forced into sexual experience. Arch Sex Behav 23, 93–114 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01541620
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01541620