Drugs, Drinking, College, and Warding off Blame

  • Pamela Donovan
Chapter
First Online:

Abstract

This chapter considers the drink spiking problem in a robust party atmosphere—the college campus in the USA, which in the 2014–2015 academic year was the site of heightened activism about the more general problem of rape on campus. Three different high-profile campus incidents are discussed with the aim of understanding how the allegation of spiking can sometimes pull attention away from other problems and undermine the autonomous consideration of sexual assault. The way in which the insistence on drug explanations is considered in the face of scant evidence is actually a retrogression in thinking about rape and may also undermine compassion toward victims of crime.

Keywords

Binge drinking Alcohol consumption Drink responsibly Aggregate risk Blackout Servings Portions Predatory drugging Drink spiking Antirape Victim blame Rape culture Campus activism Epidemic University of Virginia University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee University of California at Berkeley Brown University Columbia University Fraternities Acute alcohol intoxication Campus police GHB Search warrant Fourth Amendment Plying Safety paradox Veronica Mars Excuse-making Antifeminism Risk-taking 
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Copyright information

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  • Pamela Donovan
    • 1
  1. 1.BloomsburgUSA

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