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The Sexual Health Initiative to Foster Transformation
SHIFT at Columbia examines the factors that shape sexual health and sexual violence for undergraduates.
SHIFT Team
Ethnography Team
Quantitative Team
Journal Articles | News Coverage | Announcements from SHIFT
Manuscript published in Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Eduation, and Action, The advisory board perspective from a campus community-based participatory research project on sexual violence. This paper, first-authored by two Columbia College graduates who were members of the SHIFT Undergraduate Advisory Board, discusses the role of undergraduates in campus sexual assault research in relation to the broader field of community-based participatory research.
Manuscript published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Prevalence and Correlates of Sexual Assault Perpetration and Ambiguous Consent in a Representative Sample of College Students. This paper explores the prevalence and correlates of self-reported sexual assault perpetration and of self-reported sexual encounters when the respondent was unsure that their partner consented (ambiguous consent).
Manuscript published in the Journal of Women's Health, Situational Contexts and Risk Factors Associated with Incapacitated and Nonincapacitated Sexual Assaults Among College Women. New research from SHIFT examines the different situational contexts associated with incapacitated and nonincapacitated sexual assaults, and discusses the implications for the design of prevention strategies that will effectively target the diverse risk environments in which campus sexual assault occurs.
Manuscript published in PLOS ONE, Does sex education before college protect students from sexual assault in college? This paper examines historical risk factors (experiences and exposures that occurred prior to college) for penetrative sexual assault victimization since entering college, drawing on SHIFT's ethnographic and survey data. Of particular note, the study found that refusal skills training before age 18 may reduce the risk of sexual assault in college.
Manuscript published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, Social Dimensions of Sexual Consent Among Cisgender Heterosexual College Students: Insights From Ethnographic Research. Using ethnographic data, this paper explores how students actually "do" consent and points to seven social dimensions that shape students' practices of eliciting and giving sexual consent.
Manuscript published in Sociological Science, "I Didn't Want To Be 'That Girl'": The Social Risks of Labeling, Telling, and Reporting Sexual Assault. This article deploys ethnographic data to explain why some students do not label experiences as sexual assault or report those experiences.
Manuscript published in Global Public Health, Friends, Strangers, and Bystanders: Informal Practices of Sexual Assault Intervention. Drawing on SHIFT's ethnographic data, this research examines how undergraduate men understand bystander interventions and how those understandings shape their actual practices.
Manuscript published in Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, Comprehensive Sexuality Education as a Primary Prevention Strategy for Sexual Violence Perpetration. Related to SHIFT's work, Madeline Schneider & Jennifer Hirsch examine the potential of K–12 comprehensive sexuality education to be an effective strategy for preventing sexual violence perpetration.
Manuscript published in the journal Voices, Transforming the Campus Climate: Advancing Mixed‐Methods Research on the Social and Cultural Roots of Sexual Assault on a College Campus. This paper outlines how SHIFT came to fruition, provides more detail about our mixed-methods approach, and includes preliminary recommendations based on initial findings and some lessons learned.
Manuscript published in the journal PLOS ONE, Sexual Assault Incidents Among College Undergraduates: Prevalence and Factors Associated with Risk. This paper presents the first findings from SHIFT's survey, focusing on student experiences of different types of sexual assault victimization, as well as sociodemographic, social, and risk environment correlates.
In this article in LA School Report examining the potential of comprehensive sexuality education as a strategy to prevent sexual assault, University of Pennsylvania historian Jonathan Zimmerman refers to Santelli's PloS paper on comprehensive sexuality education and campus sexual assault as "hugely significant" and "incredibly promising": Rethinking sex ed for the #MeToo moment: A 'hugely significant' study shows that strengthening education on relationships & consent can change the culture.
An opinion piece published in The Hill by SHIFT co-PI Jennifer S. Hirsch and team member Stephanie Grilo discusses why better sex education is needed to help prevent sexual assault: The next step for #MeToo is better sex education.
A press release from the Mailman School of Public Health highlights findings from SHIFT's recent paper Does sex education before college protect students from sexual assault in college? Read more about SHIFT and the paper's results: High School Sex Ed May Prevent Sexual Assault in College. In addition, lead author John Santelli was quoted in two recent articles, one highlighting the paper's findings and another about modern approaches to sex ed.
An article by Lea Winerman in the American Psychological Association Monitor titled Making Campuses Safer discusses SHIFT based on interview with Claude Mellins as an example of research influenced by psychology seeking to prevent sexual assault on college campuses.
Jennifer S. Hirsch and Claude A. Mellins talk to Teen Vogue about consent practices, consent education, and SHIFT's new paper on the Social Dimensions of Consent in A Lack of Sex Ed May Impact How Some College Students Practice Consent, Research Says, by Brittney McNamara.
Article profiling SHIFT in The New Yorker, "Is There a Smarter Way to Think About Sexual Assault on Campus?" by Jia Tolentino.
Article reporting on SHIFT in The Chronicle of Higher Education, "The Sex Study That Could Alter Our Understanding of Campus Assault" by Marc Parry.
WNYC's Brian Lehrer interviews Jia Tolentino, author of The New Yorker article about SHIFT.
Article on the Mailman School of Public Health website, "Columbia Researchers Present Findings from Landmark Sexual Assault Study During Mailman School Symposium".
Announcements from SHIFT
To mark Sexual Assault Awareness Month, on April 18th SHIFT investigators Claude Ann Mellins, Jennifer S. Hirsch, and Shamus Khan will participate in a panel discussion, "Understanding the Columbia Landscape, Moving Towards Change". The panel coincides with the submission of SHIFT's Final Report to the university.
From SHIFT, to Columbia and Barnard Undergrads: Thank You!
Research update as of April 20, 2017
Questions? Comments? We want to hear from you.