Women's bar-related victimization: Refining and testing a conceptual model

A model of bar victimization is proposed that explores the relationships am ong a woman's exposure to the bar environment (i.e., frequency of going to bars), her intoxication in that setting (i.e., usual number of drinks), and such individual difference factors as her previous history of victimizatio n (childhood sexual abuse, lifetime violence, and previous partner abuse) a nd personality characteristics (depression, serial anxiety, sensation seeki ng, and hostility). Earlier findings from work in this area suggest that ex posure to the bar environment increases a woman's risk for more severe aggr ession. The data being used to test the proposed model are from a survey of 198 women bar drinkers in western New York State. These women described ba r-related victimization that ranged from verbal aggression (e.g., threats) through severe physical and sexual violence (e.g., assault and rape). Young er age, history of victimization, greater negative affect, and more frequen t drinking in bars were predictive of more severe bar-related victimization during the past year. These findings are discussed in terms of women's ris k for victimization in bars and needed areas of future research. (C) 1999 W iley-Liss, Inc.