Sexual Harassment and Abuse in Young Adulthood

This paper focuses on the underlying factors related to sexual assault in young adulthood and multinational framework which will be applied to this issue and its major causes and relevant interventions.

Running head: SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND ABUSE IN YOUNG ADULTHOOD
SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND ABUSE IN YOUNG ADULTHOOD
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1SOCIOLOGY- SOCIAL WORK
Introduction
Sexual assault is identified as a broad-based term which entails a broad range of sexual
victimizations which includes rape and other forms of sexual abuses. According to Finkelhor et
al. (2014), the age of consent for sex tends to vary from state to state. Sexual abuse is identified
as a common form of violence and is thus is one of the biggest form of fear for young adults. The
following paper will focus on underlying factors related to sexual assault in young adulthood and
multinational framework which will be applied to this issue and its major causes and relevant
interventions.
Discussion
The Problem
It has been noted that young adults who have been sexually abused frequently exhibit
various forms of anxiety or apprehensive behavioural patterns. These youths furthermore tend to
be hyper vigilant and continuously observing their surroundings for threats to their protection
and wellbeing and thus have learned to suppress their emotions. Felson and Cundiff (2014) have
noted that the severity of sexual abuse tends to play a decisive role in the level of apprehension
experienced by young adults. Young adults experiencing sexually violent or abusive
environments are likely to be oversensitive to their surroundings. Reports of Finkelhor et al.
(2014) have revealed that young men indicate that around 17% of men are sexually abused by
age 18, whereas on the other hand, over 45% women before the age of 25 tend to encounter acts
of sexual assault.
However, on the other hand, college or university goers especially females who
encounter severe rate of homelessness are found be at higher risk of sexual assault in comparison
to the general population (Yung, 2015). Furthermore, Tyler and Melander (2015) in their studies
have mentioned that acts regrading sexual abuse amongst young adult women engaged in
universities have been the highest in the general population to be victims of sexual assault
especially women who have already experienced such abuses in the early stage of their
adolescent period. Moreover, comprehensive studies of Sabina and Ho (2014) have noted that
greater degree of severity encountered by the adolescent results young adults at the later stage
experience the greater the risk of naive re-victimization. Drawing relevance to the above factors,
Yung (2015) has noted that adolescent victims of rape or attempted rape have specifically
reported to be around 4.5 times more prone towards severely assault.
Multidimensional Framework Applied to young adults experiencing sexual abuse
Effects of Sexual Abuse on Biophysical dimension of victims
The multidimensional framework of Affect Control Theory has predicted that when
deflection tends to be high, interactants show greater degree of suffering and consequently
redefine a characteristic of the event in order to draw relevance of the critical event experienced.
Fox, Nobles and Fisher (2016) have noted that Affect Control Theory chiefly illustrates the way
unexpected or traumatic experiences like sexual abuse have created impediments in the cultural
understandings of behaviours as well as identities of the sexually abused young women adults,

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thus causing not only unconstructive emotion but also increase cognitive uncertainty and re-
conceptualization of the event.
Effects of Sexual Abuse on Psychological dimension of victims
On the other hand, the multifactor psychological theory constructed specifically to
explain sexual abuse among young adults. Ward (2016) has noted that according to this theory
during adolescence, hormonal activity tends to raise the aggressive impulse of men. However,
the majority of males are assumed to successfully direct and suppress such impulses, while
certain number of men tend to form psychological vulnerabilities through numerous openings
such as biological and developmental. These avenues are further are expected to interrelate with
contextual factors related to intoxication and sexual arousal along with impair normal self-
consciousness processes thus raising the propensity of indulging in acts of sexual aggression
towards women (Fox, Nobles & Fisher (2016). On the other hand, micro level psychological
theories mainly focus on the series of recounting cognitive, sentimental, behavioural, as well as
contextual events which leads to a single event of sexual abuse towards young women.
Effects of Sexual Abuse on Social dimension of victims
It has been indicated that described rape or sexual abuse as the psychological
conservatory of a dominant-submissive sex-role stereotyped culture. Furthermore it has been
noted that socio-culturally broadcasted approaches toward young women, sexual offenders can
further predict acts of sexual violence. These stereotypes are frequently internalized from the
male dominated sociocultural environment. Thus, sexual violence can result from a misogynist
attitude prevalent in a culture.
Causes of sexual assault among young adults
It is important to shed light on several psychological factors which have been
consequential to the cause of abuse and violence among young adult women. Furthermore,
comprehensive studies of authors have noted that sense of objectification of women among men
can result to these forms of heinous acts and at times leads to the cause of rape.
It can be revealed that men with unstable mental conditions often misinterpret indications
given by women at social settings and involve in coercive sexual desires and show increased
aggression towards women. Moreover, Kleinsasser et al. (2015) in their studies have identified
sexual violence as a form of learned behavioural pattern which results to young men in college to
be engaged into acts of sexual abuse towards women. For example, research on sexually abused
boys in their childhood have shown the implication of their propensity to continue at their later
life that is during young adulthood and thus tend to molest their female peers or other young
adult women. On the other hand, men suffering from serious psychological disorders have
greater degree of propensity in indulging into the acts of sexual assault.

3SOCIOLOGY- SOCIAL WORK
Intervention to reduce sexual abuse among young adults
In order to reduce the rate of sexual abuse among young adults, randomized controlled
trial, using Parent-Based Intervention (PBI) must be designed among first-year college
students. Such an intervention has been implemented to improve the level of communication
between mothers and daughter. Panter‐Brick et al. (2014) have noted that parent-based
intervention has the ability to reduce the occurrence of sexual victimization among female
college freshmen.
Furthermore, it is important to mention that PBI has raised the general communication
between mother and daughter during the first semester of college. Such a communication
consequently has expected less frequent first semester cases of suppressing stories. Additionally
it points out to altering events that has taken place in college, unwilling to reveal names of peers
and limiting the level of communication with parents thus resulting to reduced rates of
debilitated rape in addition to lesser rate of sexual victimization experiences in the first year of
college. According to Yung (2015), the assessment of mother-daughter communication that
primarily focused on readiness of daughters who are in their young adulthood has been primarily
purposed to draw theoretical similarities to the measures of parental examination used with
younger adolescents, but developmentally suitable for young adults.
Conclusion
Hence to conclude, the multi-theoretical framework can be applied by clinicians in order
to direct deliberations of effectiveness as well as healing with survivors. It has been noted that
perpetuators thus require be accusing or strongly dealing to reduce the frequent occurrences of
such a dreadful act. Furthermore, the underlying factors of sexual violence are multifaceted and
similar to many other crimes, sexual violence may not be completely unspoken as well as
explained by a single factor.

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