Monitor on Psychology - February 2012 - (Page 58)

stile Ho hallways B ullying has received intense national attention in recent years (see page 54). But psychologists say there’s an equally serious problem in schools that’s not drawing nearly as much attention: sexual harassment. A troubling 44 percent of female and 27 percent of male middle and high school students report experiencing unwanted sexual touching from another student, according to a 2009 Center for Research on Women report. What’s more, only 16 percent of students who had been harassed by a fellow student reported it, says report author, psychologist Lynda Sagrestano, PhD, of the University of Memphis. It may not be as common as bullying, but school-based sexual harassment may be even worse for students’ health and school outcomes, according to a study published in 2008 in the journal Sex Roles. It’s not as common as run-of-the-mill bullying, but sexual harassment in schools may have worse long-term effects, research suggests. B Y C HRI STOPHER M UNSEY Monitor staff “Sexual harassment, more so than bullying, diminishes students’ trust of teachers …. Sexually harassed students are much more alienated from school than bullied students in terms of thinking about quitting or transferring schools or skipping school,” says James Gruber, PhD, a sociology professor at the University of MichiganDearborn. Yet, despite the seriousness of school-based sexual harassment, most schools do not have an administrator trained to investigate sexual harassment complaints and educate teachers and students about how to intervene, says Dorothy Espelage, PhD, a professor of psychology with the department of educational psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “We need more research, we need a better curriculum, and we need to start talking to kids about sexual harassment,” she says. 58 M o n i t o r o n p s y c h o l o g y • F e b ru a ry 2 0 1 2

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Monitor on Psychology - February 2012

Monitor on Psychology - February 2012
Letters
President’s column
Contents
From the CEO
APA files two briefs in support of same-sex couples
New registry seeks to understand addiction recovery through ‘crowdsourcing’
APA launches a database of tests and measures
Watch for new member benefit: “APA Access”
Apply now for APA’s Advanced Training Institutes
PsycTHERAPY, APA’s new database, brings therapy demos to life
In Brief
APA scientists help guide tobacco regulation
A-mazing research
‘A machine for jumping to conclusions’
Judicial Notebook
Random Sample
Righting the imbalance
The beginnings of mental illness
Science Directions
Improving disorder classification, worldwide
Protesting proposed changes to the DSM
Interventions for at-risk students
Harnessing the wisdom of the ages
Anti-bullying efforts ramp up
Hostile hallways
R U friends 4 real?
Support for teachers
Speaking of Education
Record keeping for practitioners
Going green
At the intersection of law and psychology
Division Spotlight
Grants help solve society’s problems
Personalities

Monitor on Psychology - February 2012