Alcohol Related Violence and Unwanted Sexual Activity on the College Campus

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among alcohol consumption, sexual assault and rape, and nonsexual violence in a college population at a large Northeastern university. A 49-item questionnaire was designed to elicit responses from both victims and perpetrators. Of the 1,084 respondents: 518 were male, 566 were female, the majority were White (91.8%), and in the 18-21 age range. Unwanted sexual activity, rape, and violence were significantly related to alcohol consumption on the college campus studied. These data indicated that alcohol was involved in: a) unwanted sexual activity--both from the victim's perspective (85.7%) and from the perpetrator's perspective (76.0%); b) rape--both from the victim's perspective (69.0%) and from the perpetrator's perspective (100%); and nonsexual violent acts from the same sex (59.5%), and (c) from the opposite sex (58.9%). The findings are consistent with those of previous studies that indicate a persistent trend in the negative consequences of violence linked to alcohol use and abuse among college students.