The Hook Up, Catharsis Productions, Chicago, IL

Contact Name: Catharsis Productions
Phone Number: (312) 243-0022
Website: http://www.catharsisproductions.com/programs/the-hook-up
E-mail: info@catharsisproductions.com
Key Words: (1) healthy sexual encounter; (2) high school and college age; (3) racially diverse; (4) university setting; (5) stereotypes

Population
served
Hooking up can often sound like harmless fun, but it can also be a cover for some very unhealthy, even predatory, behaviors. This engaging discussion pulls back the covers on hooking up, clarifying when it’s actually sexual assault, and how bystanders can protect potential victims from predators. The Hook Up is suitable for university students, Greek organizations, advocacy organizations and more. Presentations are delivered to mixed-gender groups. The attending audience’s diversity usually depends on the group’s size. This 60-90 minute program works for classes of 25-300 people.
Medium
used to
convey
message
The research literature consistently emphasizes the criticality of interactive discussion as a means of effective education. Accordingly, the Hook Up is an engaging audience-participation program led by trained educators who speak “student.” It’s an unflinching, fun, and transformational approach to a hot-button topic on virtually every campus. It allows participants to become leaders, activating their own expertise in analyzing the danger of coercive scenarios, as well as identifying effective intervention strategies.
Goals,
objectives,
and desired
outcomes
The program is designed to:
1) Connect the dots between sexist language, stereotypes, and hooking up
2) Clarify the real differences between a healthy sexual encounter, a regretted one, and rape
3) Contrast Dr. Lisak’s predator profile and behaviors to the very similar, “acceptable” sexual behaviors we have internalized as a culture
4) Empower students to be change agents, intervene as bystanders, and shift the culture to shut down sex offenders and hold them accountable
Theoretical/
scientific
basis for the
approach
The Hook Up draws from the research on serial perpetrators by clinical psychologist and forensic consultant, Dr. David Lisak. It also leverages bystander intervention research by Dr. Alan Berkowitz, in addition to early research on the “bystander effect” by Darley and Latané.
Level of
evaluation
The military version of this program, “Got Your Back,” has been formally evaluated as a component of a tri-partite programmatic initiative at Naval Training Station Great Lakes. The evaluation, which is ongoing, is conducted by external evaluator, Dr. Paul Schewe, of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Staff
capacity
Each presentation of The Hook Up is lead by one of Catharsis Productions’ highly-trained educators. The fully staffed Catharsis Productions office in Chicago is available for assistance in social media marketing and promotion of the presentation.