Male peer support and a feminist routing activities theory: Understanding sexual assault on the college campus

Routine activities theorists traditionally have assumed offenders' motivation and victims' suitability from demographic correlates, and have done little to study effective guardianship. In this paper we ask questions directly of male date rape offenders to test the proposal that male peer support provides motivation; we ask lifestyle questions directly of both female victims and male offenders; and we discuss the extent to which abusive peers eliminate guardianship. Data from the Canadian National Survey support routine activities theory, and show that men who drink two or more times a week and have male peers who support both emotional violence and physical violence are nearly 10 times as likely to admit to being sexual aggressors as men who have none of these three traits. The data gathering was supported by a grant from the Family Violence Prevention Division of Health Canada to Walter DeKeseredy and Katharine Kelly; some of the data analysis was supported by a research grant from the University of Melbourne to Martin Schwartz. We would like to thank Victor Kappeler, Carol Blum, and the Ottawa Regional Coordinating Committee to End Violence Against Women. The data gathering was supported by a grant from the Family Violence Prevention Division of Health Canada to Walter DeKeseredy and Katharine Kelly; some of the data analysis was supported by a research grant from the University of Melbourne to Martin Schwartz. We would like to thank Victor Kappeler, Carol Blum, and the Ottawa Regional Coordinating Committee to End Violence Against Women. Notes The data gathering was supported by a grant from the Family Violence Prevention Division of Health Canada to Walter DeKeseredy and Katharine Kelly; some of the data analysis was supported by a research grant from the University of Melbourne to Martin Schwartz. We would like to thank Victor Kappeler, Carol Blum, and the Ottawa Regional Coordinating Committee to End Violence Against Women.