Assessing the Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act of 1990: An Analysis of the Victim Reporting Practices of College and University Students

Abstract

In the late 1980s, celebrated victimizations of college students and grassroots efforts by victims and their families prompted Congress to pass the Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act of 1990 that requires postsecondary institutions to disseminate crime statistics for their campuses annually. Using data from a victimization study of more than 3,400 college students, the authors examine whether statistics generated by this policy initiative provide an accurate portrait of on-campus crime. Results of their analyses cast serious doubt on the validity and reliability of the statistics generated by the act.