Campus Sexual Violence
Project Overview
This project features Sarah Prior and Brooke De Heers book Campus Sexual Violence: A State of Institutionalized Sexual Terrorism. It details their full research into campus sexual violence and the neoliberalization of education, as well as ways to combat the issue on campus and in broader culture.
In the Media: Paper to Practice
What is Campus Sexual Culture?
Dr. Sarah Prior defines campus sexual culture as well as institutional repair and courage while shedding light on the current state of college campuses, and what practices we can implement to create a safer environment for survivors.
Cultural Effects on Campus Sexual Violence
Dr. Sarah Prior and Dr. Megan Maas discuss the similarities and differences between the campus sexual cultures in the U.S. and Ireland, as well as their work and partnership with the University of Galway’s Active*Consent.
Digging Deeper
Dr. Sarah Prior’s book, Campus Sexual Violence: A State of Institutionalized Sexual Terrorism, conceptualizes sexual violence on college campuses as a form of sexual terrorism, arguing that institutional compliance and inaction within the neoliberal university perpetuate a system of sexual terrorism.
Using a sexual terrorism framework, the authors examine a myriad of examples of campus sexual violence with an intersectional lens and explore the role of the institution and the influence of neoliberalism in undermining sexual violence prevention efforts. The book utilizes Carole Sheffield’s five components of sexual terrorism (ideology, propaganda, amorality, perceptions of the perpetrator, and voluntary compliance) to describe how the “ivory tower stereotype” and adoption of neoliberal values into education contribute to an environment where victimization is painfully common. Cases such as those from Michigan State University and Baylor University are used as examples to highlight institutional culpability and neoliberal value systems within higher education, as well as illustrating the pervasiveness of rape culture that contributes to a system of sexual terrorism. Crucially, the book focuses on systems of inequality and oppression, and uses an intersectional perspective that recognizes victimization experienced by multiple marginalized groups including women, LGBTQ+, and racially minoritized people.
Building on campus violence research and institutional harm research, the authors define campus sexual violence as a serious social problem based in structural inequality and advocate for civic responsibility at the institutional level and the development of institutional advocates.
Contents
Introduction:
The introduction discusses the concepts and larger ideologies associated with the book’s argument, as well as defines key terms such as sexual terrorism and neoliberalism. Prior and De Heer discuss their expansive analysis on sexual terrorism at the institutional level, as well as their intent to build onto previous scholars’ arguments through different aspects such as the inclusion of marginalized groups. They touch on language shifts, debates surrounding the facets of their topic, and the theoretical frameworks they will expand upon in later chapters. Overall laying the foundation for a compelling and crucial analysis of IHE’s and campus sexual violence.
Chapter 1: Scope of the Issue
Chapter 1 provides a sense of the broad scope of sexual violence within IHE’s, as well as analyzes the macro and micro level’s associated with the issue. Prior and De Heer also expand the discussion by advocating for the inclusion of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities, as well as provide foundational discourse on the neoliberalization of IHE’s and how they typically respond to campus sexual violence.
Chapter 2: Sexual Terrorism
This chapter discusses sexual terrorism in more depth by situating it into the traditional U.S. context, as well as feminist discourse and the way its understood within the context of sexual violence. Prior and De Heer then transition into the cultural and institutional systems of oppression that have become normalized foundations of sexual terrorism perpetrated against women and those of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities. As well as providing an overview of Sheffield’s 5 concepts of sexual terroism and their own critiques and expansion of this framework.
Chapter 3: Neoliberalism and Institutional Betrayal
Chapter 3 analyzes the development and influence of neoliberal ideologies within IHE’s, specifically how this practice reinforces systems of oppression around sexual and gender based violence. Through discussions of the commodification of education as well as the negligent and controlling nature of neoliberal institutions, Prior and De Heer analyze how institutions that are typically recognized as trustworthy propagate sexual terrosim and institutional betrayal.
Chapter 4: Ideology and Propaganda
In chapter 4, Prior and De Heer begin their in depth discussions of the first two components of Sheffield’s sexual terrorism theory, ideology and propaganda. They analyze the ways in which patriarchy and masculinity work in tandem with neoliberalism, as well as the ways propaganda in culture and media contribute to structural power inequities and sexual violence.
Chapter 5: Amorality, Socialized Compliance, and Perceptions of the Perpetrator
Chapter 5 details the last of Sheffield’s sexual terroism theory components, amorality, voluntary compliance, and the perceptions of the perpetrator. Prior and De Heer define each element as well as advocate for a shift in language towards socialized compliance, emphasizing the social construction of gender norms and the normalization of sexual violence in broader culture and within institutions.
Chapter 6: Moving Forward
In chapter 6, Prior and De Heer take one final look into the ways IHE’s act as neoliberal agents that maintain structural oppression through the ways they can combat and prevent neoliberal ideologies on campus. They introduce multiple scholars and their different approaches, discussing various ways to take more comprehensive and ecological steps towards dismantling neoliberalism in universities and moving towards institutional courage.
Authors
Sarah Prior is an Associate Professor of Sociology. Her research focuses on issues of gender based violence broadly with emphasis in areas of campus sexual violence, sexuality, gender, hookup culture, critical youth studies, and sexual media including pornography use by young people and it’s impact on sexual expectations.
Sarah earned a bachelor’s degree from Gonzaga University. She holds a Master’s in Applied Sociology and Master’s Certificate in Women’s & Gender Studies. She earned her Ph.D. in Justice Studies from Arizona State University’s School of Social Transformation.
Dr. Brooke A. de Heer
Brooke A. de Heer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northern Arizona University. She teaches courses on gendered violence, contemporary issues and the criminal justice system, American courts, and crime and justice. Her research agenda focuses on issues of gender and power in sexual violence, with an emphasis on health disparities and inequitable treatment of marginalized victims involved in the criminal justice (CJ) system. Her work seeks to investigate and validate marginalized peoples’ experiences with sexual violence and work to dismantle systems of oppression that create disparate health outcomes for minoritized populations.