SMART FY 15 Campus-Focused Sexual Assault Perpetration Prevention and Education Program

According to a 2007 study of campus sexual assault, nearly one in five women has been sexually assaulted while in college. To a lesser extent, but often ignored, men are also vulnerable to sexual assault in college . Most college victims are assaulted by someone they know, especially in incapacitated assaults. Reporting rates for campus sexual assault are very low; on average only 12% of student victims report the assault to law enforcement. The trauma caused by sexual assault can be life-long and not all campuses have the resources to effectively help the victim. Even fewer have the clinical background to understand how to deal with the student who is at risk for abusive behaviors, found responsible for an assault or convicted of an assault. Although many campuses have developed resources for the victims of sexual assault who come forward for help, most have not developed sufficient responses to the alleged perpetrators, those convicted of or found responsible for sexual assault or for those at risk to cause harm. Last year, the SMART Office released a solicitation targeting the perpetrators of sexual assault on college campuses. Through the initiative, the SMART Office is funding the development of a treatment curriculum for campus perpetrators of sexual assault to be implemented and tested at multiple colleges and universities. The SMART Office is furthering that effort by seeking to enhance campus safety through the development of primary prevention programs; that is, programs designed to stop sexual violence before it occurs. To date, a number of sexual violence prevention strategies at the college level have focused on brief, one-time sessions, psycho-educational programs aimed at changing attitudes or increasing knowledge of sexual abuse. Unfortunately, rigorous evaluations have shown that these one-time short-term educational programs have limited, if any, effect. In recent years, primary prevention efforts have expanded to focus on reducing the rates of perpetration (rather than just examining victimization), as well as emphasizing community level interventions (rather than focusing exclusively on the individual). This expanded focus is meant to "decrease the number of actual and potential perpetrators in the population to achieve measurable reductions in the prevalence of sexual violence." There are a number of multi-session education programs that are beginning to show effects on attitudes, knowledge and, most importantly, behavior. For instance, the Safe Dates program is effective in reducing the likelihood of future victimization and perpetration by targeting middle and high school students through a multi-session curriculum and associated activities. Additionally, bystander interventions programs at the college level and high school levels, such as Bringing in the Bystander, Coaching Boys into Men, and Green Dot are also considered promising practices. However, they are primarily education and curriculum-based approaches and may not address all of the community level interventions that are possible in a comprehensive prevention approach. This solicitation seeks to complement and build upon these successful sexual violence prevention efforts on college campuses through the development of comprehensive campus-based situational prevention programs. Situational prevention is a criminological approach that examines the various situations (i.e., conditions, locations, circumstances, and policies) that either increase or decrease the risk for a crime to be committed within a given organization or community. This approach has particular relevance for use in organizations and institutions that work with children, adolescents, and young adults-where the actions, responses and policy enforcement of peers and adults have the most influence. One example of this strategy is Shifting Boundaries, a school-based dating violence prevention program implemented in New York City middle schools, utilizing two key components: a multi-session curriculum and a building-level intervention (focusing on policies and safety). In an evaluation of this program, researchers found that the building-level intervention alone and the combination of the curriculum and building-level intervention contributed to a 3247% reduction in peer sexual violence victimization and perpetration in the six months following the intervention. This example points to the need to move away from single-dose education efforts toward perpetration prevention strategies that seek to modify community and contextual supports for sexual violence. In fact, situational prevention assumes that there are opportunities for prevention in addressing the community factors, both physical and policy driven, that may contribute to, or inhibit the possibility of, a crime being committed in a particular situation. Limited, but promising, research has shown that through the use of structural, environmental and/or policy strategies, situational prevention has the potential to create significant reductions in sexual violence perpetration. Goals, Objectives, and Deliverables The SMART Office is seeking applications for the Campus-Focused Sexual Assault Perpetration Prevention and Education Program. The goal of the project is to promote evidence-based knowledge to prevent and reduce sexual assault on college and university campuses. SMART seeks to achieve this goal by developing and implementing situational-based sexual assault prevention programs on college and university campuses. The applicant, in the narrative, will provide the name(s) of the college or university campus(es) intended for implementation. Additionally, applicants must collect information about sexual assault statistics, including rates of victimization and perpetration, adjudication processes and available sanctions, as well as other programs aimed at preventing sexual assault on the campus(es). An applicant will be selected for SMART Office funding based upon their responses to the Selection Criteria listed in the section, "What an Application Must Include" on page 11. The application should clearly describe and demonstrate how the project will: Develop and implement a situational prevention strategy that includes, but is not limited to, a focus on preventing the perpetration of sexual violence through targeted and universal efforts, strategies that address community level risk and protective factors, and one that is integrated into existing practices so that the environmental, policy or other changes are a part of a more comprehensive strategy. Incorporate prevention of perpetration strategies that are culturally relevant. Build knowledge and new evidence on perpetration prevention opportunities to further support the program and its replication on additional campuses. Protect victim safety through supportive services and advocacy and avoid any strategies that may traumatize or blame victims. Explore the use of the existing evidence-based educational curriculum, safety policies that promote environmental changes to enhance any potential situational prevention strategies in order to reduce the perpetration of sexual violence. Collect program development data. Work collaboratively with the SMART Office. Participate in any external research or evaluations at a later date (should funds become available). In addition, applications must include a monitoring and evaluation plan for information collection and analysis. Applicants are encouraged to consider and include the following outcomes of interest in monitoring and evaluation plans: Changes in knowledge about campus policies and state or federal laws related to consent, sexual harassment, and sexually abusive behavior, resources for help both on and off campus, rape myths, and increase in student involved-prevention skills (e.g., bystander interventions); Changes in attitudes about the acceptability of violent, abusive, and harassing behaviors; Information about strategies used to reach underserved populations such as LGBT, students with disabilities and African American, Tribal, Hispanic, Asian Pacific Islanders or International students. Evidence of behavioral intentions to avoid committing a range of unwanted behavior, from sexual harassment to sexual violence in the future as well as intentions to intervene when in the position of a bystander; Information on dating violence, sexual violence and sexual harassment experienced as someone who is victimized or someone who may perpetrate these behaviors; and Information on prior attendance at an educational program about sexual assault, sexual harassment, or dating violence; healthy relationships training and students' prior history of dating and dating violence. A comprehensive report will be the final deliverable for this project. The report should contain, but not be limited to the following: The final situational prevention strategies and/or curriculum developed targeting perpetration behaviors. A detailed description of the theoretical and evidence-base for the perpetration prevention strategy. Documentation of the process for implementing the initiative. Descriptive information on the number of individuals reached and/or served. Campus profiles (including demographics, campus climate survey information, adjudication information, and other adjunct sexual violence and harassment prevention programming). An ongoing monitoring and evaluation plan. Any outcome information available from the above-mentioned outcomes of interest.