  | Book Details Title: Sexual Citizens: A Landmark Study of Sex, Power, and Assault on Campus |
Book DescriptionReview “Profoundly eye-opening….Hirsch and Khan present a novel model for explaining and responding to campus sexual assault.” – Claire M. Renzetti, Science“A clear, intersectional picture of the forces breeding a campus culture that bulldozes consent, as well as a path forward that emphasizes empathy, mutual respect, and bodily autonomy.” – Adrienne Westenfeld, Esquire“A readable and thought-provoking work on a topic of concern on college campuses. The SHIFT project generated many academic publications, but this book successfully reaches a general audience, specifically students, parents, and policymakers.” – Library Journal (starred review)“Incisive….This detailed, practical inquiry should be mandatory reading for college administrators and parents of college-age children.” – Publishers Weekly“Excellent….Absolutely essential reading to prepare teens for what they’ll encounter in college on both the social and sexual fronts.” – Booklist“A timely and sweeping reassessment of campus sexual assault. Hirsch and Khan bring rich data and trenchant insight to bear on one of today’s most urgent issues. This is an exemplary work, sensitive to intersecting inequalities, that represents the future of social science. Provocative and profoundly relevant, Sexual Citizens opens up the possibility of crafting policies that engage the complicated realities of students’ lives with honesty and empathy.” – Alondra Nelson, president of the Social Science Research Council“This extraordinary book situates campus sexual assault in context. It teaches us how any particular sexual encounter is shaped as much by the people involved as it is by the history and prior education of the participants, by economic inequality, by the physical and social geography in which they are living. All of us with a responsibility for creating the campus spaces that can generate―or harm―health need to read this book.” – Sandro Galea, Dean and Robert A. Knox Professor, School of Public Health, Boston University“Written with humanity and sharp sociological insight, Hirsch and Khan’s ecological approach moves beyond the adversarial model that has embroiled debates on campus sexual assault. It opens up new ways for thinking about―and responding to―the pressing problem of sexual assault on college campuses. Sexual Citizens will be essential reading for parents, young people, medical professionals, and educators.” – Jennifer Cole, professor and chair, Department of Comparative Human Development, University of Chicago“Hirsch and Khan’s systematic public health approach to campus sexual assault not only urges empathic action but also outlines possible solutions to this communal problem. A timely and persuasive contribution to today’s national conversation. A must-read!” – Claire E. Sterk, president and Charles Howard Candler Professor of Public Health, Emory University“Timely, authentic, and revolutionary.” – J. Dennis Fortenberry, Donald Orr Professor of Adolescent Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine Read more About the Author Jennifer S. Hirsch is a professor of sociomedical sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, and codirects SHIFT, the Sexual Health Initiative to Foster Transformation, at Columbia University.Shamus Khan is a professor and chair of sociology at Columbia University, and coheads the ethnographic team of SHIFT, the Sexual Health Initiative to Foster Transformation, at Columbia University Read more Customers Review: Sexual Citizens executes remarkably on a daunting task: uncovering the complexities of sexual assault, providing adequate representation of the diverse ways it manifests, and acknowledging the social constructs that contribute to it, all while respecting the trauma of those who experience it. The book is an essential read for policymakers, educators, administrators, mental health practitioners, and others who have outsized agency in the processes that contribute, indirectly or directly, to what Khan and Hirsch refer to as sexual geographies and sexual citizenship.The framework of the analysis and recommendations avoids the first-order thinking and surface-level attacks that start and end with the perpetrator of assault. Instead, they materially widen the scope to include the multiple systems that can enable assault and silence victims. Importantly, this is not a work that seeks to exonerate perpetrators. But it does point out that post-assault processes are too reactive, too adversarial, and too simplistic. These processes are also, sadly, too little too late. An area of unresolved tension for me was around dealing with those who commit assault: how do we learn from them in the high-stakes context of sexual assault investigations? If “ruining his/her life” is a deterrent to reporting and often the victim’s emotional resolution, how do we figure out adequate repercussions that act as deterrents to sexual assault in the first place? How do we deal with the conflict between acknowledging the systems that may have contributed, individual mental health, alcohol and / or drug abuse and the fact that someone did something wrong? The book illustrates, without judgment, the various ways that can make sexual assault confusing to decipher for the parties directly involved. Not to mention all the unanswered questions that can arise from memory impacted by trauma and often substance abuse of some kind. The challenge with addressing the issue comprehensively is that the systems that influence it are diffuse and therefore requires substantial collaboration and consensus. This book is a huge leap forward in uncovering these systems and their part in sexual assault.Fundamentally, their message around sexual citizenship is a sound one that is rooted in education and its heart-breaking shortcomings. Hirsch and Khan recommend integrating relevant sexual curriculum into universities while acknowledging that this is, yet again, a little too late but certainly better than the status quo. The real education needs to come from two key places: first, earlier school settings by well-trained educators familiar with the topic and second, education for parents who can shake the many social barriers to not only convey sexual knowledge but broaden it beyond awkward descriptions of the reproduction cycle. It should focus on empowering adolescents to create their own sexual identity, have the courage to adhere to it, and be able to identify situations where it is at risk. To me, there is a clear spectrum of influence across each of these systems. Where I believe the highest return will be found is less about re-engineering, for instance, the campus housing system, where it is suggested the presence of a roommate may cause a female to resort to a male-controlled space (the presence of a roommate may also act as a reasonable excuse for a female to escape), although there is undoubtedly low-hanging fruit that should be considered. The most long-term, sustainable approach would be to focus on ways that can re-engineer the beliefs and value system that communities adopt. That is easier said than done.
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26 reviews