Journal of Educational, Health and Community Psychology
Vol 9 No 1 March 2020

Sexual Harassment and Victimization from Four Other Types of Interpersonal Aggression in Ghana: A Cycle of Victimization

Farida Anwar (Developmental Psychology, Abo Akademi University, Finland)
Karin Osterman (Developmental Psychology, Abo Akademi University, Finland)
Jasmine Afari-Korkor (Developmental Psychology, Abo Akademi University, Finland)
Kaj Bjorkqvist Kaj Bjorkqvist (Developmental Psychology, Abo Akademi University, Finland)



Article Info

Publish Date
06 Mar 2020

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate victimization from sexual harassment, and level of emotional distress due to it, are associated with four other types of victimization. A questionnaire was completed by 280 female university students and lecturers in Ghana. The mean age was 26.7 years (SD = 6.2). The questionnaire included scales for measuring frequency of sexual harassment, emotional distress due to sexual harassment, physical punishment during childhood, victimization from peer aggression at school, and victimization from intimate partner aggression. Respondents who were more than average victimized from sexual harassment scored significantly higher on physical punishment during childhood, victimization from peer aggression at school (revictimization), and victimization from intimate partner aggression (multiple victimization).When frequency of sexual harassment was controlled for, emotional distress caused by sexual harassment correlated positively with victimization from peer aggression at school, and victimization from verbal intimate partner aggression, thus suggesting sensitization to aggression. Victimization from sexual harassment was associated with higher levels of both previous and simultaneous victimization from other types of aggression, thus corroborating the principles of both revictimization and multiple victimization. The finding does not suggest that sexual harassment in all cases is associated with other types of victimization.Keywords: sexual harassment, revictimization, emotional distress, Ghana

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Journal Info

Abbrev

Psychology

Publisher

Subject

Education Public Health

Description

Journal of Educational, Health, and Community Psychology (JEHCP) published an article, and empirical study that have originality, novelty and fill the gap of knowledge, that focused on educational psychology, health psychology and community psychology. JEHCP is an open access peer reviewed, ...