Evaluation of a Sexual Assault Education/Prevention Program for Male U.S. Navy Personnel

A randomized clinical trial was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the Navy Sexual Assault Intervention Training (SAIT) program for men. A four-group Solomon design was used to control for possible pretest sensitization effects. Male Navy personnel {N = 1,505) were assessed for rape knowledge, rape myth acceptance (two scales), and rape empathy after participating in the SAIT program or viewing an educational video about HIV/AIDS (comparison condition). The SAIT program was found to be effective in increasing rape knowledge, reducing rape myth acceptance, and increasing empathy for rape victims. As expected, men who had exhibited previous coercive sexual behavior, compared with those who had not, reported lower levels of knowledge, higher levels of rape myth acceptance, and less rape empathy. However, the SAIT program was generally effective in changing men's knowledge, beliefs, and feelings on the key measures, regardless of participants' histories of coercive sexual behavior. INTRODUCTION Studies of incoming male Navy recruits indicate that between 13% and 15% self-report perpetrating premilitary rape or attempted rape.''^ High rates of premilitary sexual assault among male Navy recruits are of great concern because men who have previously engaged in sexual aggression are likely to do so again.'"' In fact, McWhorter and colleagues found that men who reported a premilitary history of rape perpetration, compared with those who did not, were nearly 10 times more likely to commit rape or attempted rape during their first year of military service.'' To address the problem of sexual assault, in 1994 the Navy developed and implemented the Sexual Assault Victim Intervention (SAVl) program.' The SAVI program provides education to increase awareness of sexual assault and trains advocates to provide support for victims and their families. Concurrent with the development and implementation of the SAVI, the Bureau of Naval Personnel invested in the development of intensive group-based sexual assault prevention programs; this effort resulted in separate Sexual Assault Intervention Training (SAIT) for male and female sailors. SAIT programs were developed to complement the SAVI program by providing state-of-the-art manualized trainings for *Research, Development, and Performance Management, Navy Fleet and Family Support Program, Navy Installations Command, Millington Detachment, 5720 Integrity Drive, Millington, TN 38055-6510. tBehavioral Science and Epidemiology Department, Naval Health Research Center, 140 Sylvester Road, San Diego, CA 92106-3521. ^Center for the Study of Family Violence and Sexual Assault, Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115-2854. ^Division of Psychology and Counseling, Governors State University, One University Parkway, University Park, IL 60466-0975. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Department of the Navy, U.S. Department of Defense, or the U.S. government. men and women that were empirically based and specifically tailored for relevance and applicability to the Navy context. The present report describes the SAIT program for men and presents the results of a randomized, controlled clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. (A separate report describes and evaluates the SAIT program for women.)'* The effectiveness of the SAIT was assessed with respect to men's factual knowledge about rape, their endorsement of rape myths, and their empathy for rape victims. These outcomes were selected because they have been shown to predict male sexual assault perpetration.^'" To control for possible pretest sensitization effects, a four-group Solomon design (2 [condition: SAIT/comparison] x 2 [pretesting: yes/no]) was used." In addition, because men who have previously engaged in sexual coercion are likely to hold more rape-supportive attitudes and beliefs,'^'" we examined whether the effectiveness of the SAIT program varied for men with vs. without a history of sexually coercive behavior.