Study Proposal - Sexual Aggression

The final paper provides an opportunity for you to focus in greater depth on a topic related to sexual aggression that is of interest to you. You can choose a topic that we have not covered (e.g., childhood sexual abuse, sexual aggression perpetrated by women or against trans people, rape and war). In your final paper, you will design a research study related to the psychology of sexual aggression, and will present that in the form of an APA-format research study proposal. Note: you will not collect any data. You are only proposinga study, you are not actually going to conduct it. Nevertheless, your paper will be in the format of a research report (APA format), with an abstract, introduction, method, results, and discussion sections.

Some possible topics include:

the effectiveness of rape prevention programs on college campuses
depression as an outcome of rape
motives of perpetrators
vicarious victimization
rape among specific populations (e.g., gay men, African Americans, the military)
the relationship between rape and slasher movies (or video games, or misogynistic music)
female-on-male sexual aggression
sexual aggression against trans/non-binary peoplethe relationship between childhood sexual abuse and adult victimization (or perpetration)
effects of rape on partners of survivors
the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among rape survivors
alexythymia [emotional numbing] and rapemarital rape
sexual harassment in the military
the role of alcohol in sexual aggression perpetration
rape and prostitution
attitudes toward rape victims
cognitive processes related to perpetration
consequences of rape victimization for later romantic relationships
the phenomenon of gang rape

You are not limited to choosing something from this list; these are just representative topics.Also, please note that some of these topics, as written above, may be too broad or too narrow.

Instruction: Idea(s) (2-3 pages, double-spaced, 1 inch margins)

There is no special format for this assignment, other than to write at least one page. You can brainstorm several different ideas, writing just a little about each one. Or, if you are more strongly drawn to one or two ideas, write about them in greater depth. You are not making a final commitment to an idea yet, this assignment is meant to get you thinking early in the quarter about possible topics. However, if you are further along with an idea, provide as much detail as you can; this will allow me to give you more feedback. Time permitting, I encourage you to do some Psycinfo searching to see how much research has already been done on the topic(s) you are considering; you can include some information about the results of those searches in the assignment. Try to think (and write) not only about a general topic area but also specific research questions; this will give you a head start on the later milestone assignments. For example, if you are interested in the role of alcohol in rape perpetration, some questions you might generate are: What percentage of rapes involve alcohol use by perpetrators? Does this vary depending on age group or context (e.g., are college student perpetrators more likely to use alcohol than other perpetrators?). Does alcohol use by perpetrators tend to co-occur with alcohol use by their victims or are these independent factors? Do bystanders assign more, less, or the same amount of blame to perpetrators who were intoxicated at the time of the rape than to perpetrators who were sober? Do survivors blame themselves more, less, or the same if their rapist was intoxicated as opposed to sober?