When a University of Wisconsin student was accused last month of assaulting at least a half-dozen women, an idea resurfaced that’s embedded in the popular conception of campus sexual assault — that of the serial predator stalking unsuspecting students. In fact, the literature on repeat sexual offenders at universities is mixed.
An oft-cited study from 2002 found that the majority of campus sexual assaults were perpetrated by a small cohort of repeat offenders. But two papers published in 2015 found the situation to be more complicated.
“These weren’t a small group of men lurking and preying upon college women,” said Brian Van Brunt, executive director of the National Behavioral Intervention Team Association and a co-author of an article about risk factors associated with offenders. “These were, essentially, the informed group moving forward based on cultural norms and expectations.” In other words, it’s an “everyman problem,” he said.
Colleges employ a variety of strategies to both prevent and respond to sexual assault. Do these measures account for the threat of serial offenders? Should they?
To catch a repeat offender, Title IX coordinators or campus police departments often rely on reports from students or faculty about possible offenses. Kevin Carmody, Title IX coordinator and an associate dean of student life at Ferris State University, says he keeps an eye out for multiple reports about the same person, but also for certain “grooming behaviors” that can foreshadow a premeditated assault. Does the accused person see if they can get the other student to have another drink? To leave a crowded area? To let them into their personal space? “There’s sort of a testing phase that I’ve seen,” Mr. Carmody said.
Alternatively, an offhand remark will sometimes raise a red flag. “I’ve heard from survivors that there was a sudden comment. There was a joke that was off color, and all of a sudden there was sort of like that glimpse that this person was maybe not as nice as they seemed,” he said.
But Mr. Carmody said he takes pains to be thorough and disciplined in his investigations because it’s hard to know if he’s looking at a serial offender or someone who’s made what could be a one-time mistake.
Martha Compton, director of the Office of Community Standards and Student Responsibility at Ohio University, said that during her 16 years working in student conduct, repeat offenders have been rare. Once, at a previous institution, she heard of two students who met through happenstance and realized they had both been groped at a bus stop by the same person.
Reports can be helpful in identifying a repeat offender, but Mr. Van Brunt said he hopes they are also used to spot trends. For example, if several reports refer to sexual material being sent around by phone, he said, administrators can use that information to craft a proactive response.
Mr. Van Brunt likened sexual assault to a fire and administrators and investigators to fire trucks, rushing in to help once an incident has been reported. “If there’s a fire, I want a great fire truck that can come and put out the fire,” he said. “The better way, though is to stop the fire before it starts.”
The Shared Goal of Campus Safety
For students at St. Olaf College, one of these preventive measures comes in the form of an interactive skit on sexual assault and intervention that is performed during first-year orientation.
Jo Beld, vice president for mission and Title IX coordinator there, said it’s naïve to think programs like that would change the mind of someone determined to commit a sexual assault. But that’s not their purpose.
“A lot of times if you try to do, say, a program on preventing people from sexually assaulting each other, someone would say, Well, I’m not a rapist so that program doesn’t apply to me,” said Jamie Cathcart, assistant director of student activities for wellness programs at St. Olaf. “It’s everyone’s responsibility to keep our campus safe.”
Kevin Swartout, an assistant professor of psychology at Georgia State University, was a co-author of the other 2015 study that found that many offenders were not committing a string of assaults over the span of several years. This could indicate that the offenses are somewhat context-specific, he said. So changing campus norms, bystander-intervention programs, and initiatives to curb heavy drinking could all be helpful.
The problem, though, is that preventive measures like those are “not as sexy,” Mr. Van Brunt said. He does training sessions on the risk factors he helped develop for several organizations, including the Association of Title IX Administrators. At one such event, he said, he looked around and saw 150 to 200 people in a session on sexual-assault investigation, and only 20 in one on prevention. It’s important to have a good process for handling sexual assaults once they’re reported, he said. But, right now, front-end measures often take a backseat to process, he said, because it’s where universities have been vulnerable to lawsuits.
“If you go to your vice president of student affairs and say, Can I go to this training event on how to teach affirmative consent well or bystander intervention? or, Can I go to this training event to learn how to do an investigation so we don’t get sued? you can imagine which one’s getting funded more quickly,” he said.
Ms. Beld said St. Olaf takes a variety of steps to prevent sexual assault because administrators there don’t know which method will resonate with students. The college requires freshmen to complete a three-hour training and distributes fliers that offer guidelines on consent and Title IX. She’s heard of bystanders successfully intervening, and she says the net effect of all the programs might encourage students to speak up.
“I think that crimes like sexual assault exist in silence,” Mr. Carmody said. Talking about it can make students more comfortable coming forward about their own experiences, and it can also set a tone that might deter a possible offender.
“If someone feels that their peers would judge them and not support their actions — particularly at this age and this developmental stage — I think we have a strong chance of getting them to change their behavior,” Mr. Carmody said. “Do I think that by itself that would end sexual assault? I wish it were that simple. But I think it’s one of many techniques that we have to do to address it.”
