Remaining radical? Organizational predictors of rape crisis centers' social change initiatives

Rape crisis centers have undergone significant changes since their birth during the feminist movement of the 1970s. As has happened with many other radical social movements, there is growing evidence that the antirape movement has become more institutionalized. This research used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the current structure and functions of a national random sample of 168 rape crisis centers. An organizational-level model predicting involvement in three types of social change activities was tested: (a) participation in public demonstrations to raise awareness about sexual assault; (b) political lobbying for violence against women legislation; and (c) primary prevention programs to eliminate sexual violence against women. Results of logit modeling suggested that how long a rape crisis center had been in existence moderated the relationships between organizational characteristics and involvement in community activism. Findings of this study suggest that although many of today's centers bear little resemblance to the grass-roots collectives of years past, rape crisis centers have been remarkably adaptive in weathering changing political climates to continue to provide comprehensive services for rape victims.