Acquaintance and Date Rape

This annotated bibliography reviews scholarly work on acquaintance and date rape published in recent years. Acquaintance rape research has grown significantly since the mid-1980s, and it is often argued that acquaintance rape is a common occurrence, especially on college campuses. It is also argued that this type of sexual assault is very different from stranger rape, principally because of the socially defined and accepted nature of the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator.

Works specifically on acquaintance or date rape are included, as well as earlier works that led to the emergence of the separate conceptual category of acquaintance rape. Each work is summarized, and the annotation includes a statement of the purpose, the method, and the major findings of the work. Separate chapters are devoted to the incidence of acquaintance rape; its social correlates; and its causes, effects, treatment, and prevention.

SALLY K. WARD is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of New Hampshire, where she has taught since 1980. Her areas of research include urban sociology and social policy, urban poverty and the underclass, family formation and childbearing, and acquaintance rape on college campuses.

JENNIFER DZIUBA-LEATHERMAN is a doctoral student in Sociology and a project assistant at the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire. She has co-authored articles on child victimization, youth victimization prevention, and legal representation for children.

JANE GERARD STAPLETON is an Instructor in Women's Studies and Sociology at the University of New Hampshire. She is the former Coordinator of Direct Services for the Sexual Harassment and Rape Prevention Program. She speaks nationally on issues related to sexual violence.

CARRIE L. YODANIS is a doctoral student in Sociology at the Univerity of New Hampshire./e She is currently working on research in the areas of family violence, gender, and stratification.