The Social Organization of Sexual Assault
A manuscript published in the Annual Review of Criminology, Volume 3, in January 2020. This paper provides an overview of the research literature on sexual assault. Read it here.
Time for Sex: Examining Dimensions of Temporality in Sexual Consent Among College Students
A manuscript published in Human Organization, Volume 78, in Winter 2019. This paper uses data from the ethnography to look at how students’ experiences of different aspects of time (‘calendar time’, ‘relationship time’ and ‘sexual time’) shape consent practices. Read it here.
Wine night, ‘bro-dinners’, and jungle juice: Practices of undergraduate binge-drinking
A manuscript published in the Journal of Drug Issues, Volume 48, in June 2019. This paper draws on findings SHIFT’s ethnography and survey to offer a descriptive account of the different reasons for and contexts in which students consume alcohol in amounts that constitute binge drinking. Read it here.
The Advisory Board Perspective from a Campus Community-Based Participatory Research Project on Sexual Violence
A manuscript published in Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action, Volume 13, in April 2019. This paper, first-authored by two Columbia College graduates who were members of the SHIFT Undergraduate Advisory Board, discusses the role of undergraduates in campus sexual assault research in relation to the broader field of community-based participatory research. Read it here.
Situational Contexts and Risk Factors Associated with Incapacitated and Non-incapacitated Sexual Assaults Among College Women
A manuscript published in the Journal of Women's Health, Volume 28, in November 2018. New research from SHIFT examines the different situational contexts associated with incapacitated and non-incapacitated sexual assaults, and discusses the implications for the design of prevention strategies that will effectively target the diverse risk environments in which campus sexual assault occurs. Read it here.
Does sex education before college protect students from sexual assault in college?
A manuscript published in PLOS ONE in November 2018. This paper examines historical risk factors (experiences and exposures that occurred prior to college) for penetrative sexual assault victimization since entering college, drawing on SHIFT's ethnographic and survey data. Of particular note, the study found that refusal skills training before age 18 may reduce the risk of sexual assault in college. Read it here.
Social Dimensions of Sexual Consent Among Cisgender Heterosexual College Students: Insights From Ethnographic Research
A manuscript published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, Volume 68, in September 2018. Using ethnographic data, this paper explores how students actually "do" consent and points to seven social dimensions that shape students’ practices of eliciting and giving sexual consent. Read it here.
“I Didn’t Want To Be ‘That Girl'”: The Social Risks of Labeling, Telling, and Reporting Sexual Assault
A manuscript published in Sociological Science in July 2018. This article deploys ethnographic data to explain why some students do not label experiences as sexual assault or report those experiences. Read it here.
Friends, strangers, and bystanders: Informal practices of sexual assault intervention
A manuscript published in Global Public Health, Volume 14, in May 2018. Drawing on SHIFT's ethnographic data, this research examines how undergraduate men understand bystander interventions and how those understandings shape their actual practices. Read it here.