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Elsevier

Empowerment Self-Defense

Theory, Research and Practice

  • 1st Edition - September 1, 2026
  • Latest edition
  • Editors: Lindsay M. Orchowski, Jocelyn A. Hollander
  • Language: English

Empowerment Self-Defense: Theory, Research, and Practice brings together scholarship on the theory, research, and practice of empowerment self-defense (ESD). ESD is an eviden… Read more

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Description

Empowerment Self-Defense: Theory, Research, and Practice brings together scholarship on the theory, research, and practice of empowerment self-defense (ESD). ESD is an evidence-based and transformative approach to violence prevention grounded in feminism and social justice. This book assembles leading researchers and practitioners to clearly define ESD and assess its effectiveness.

The contributors to this volume frame ESD as a part of a comprehensive approach to sexual assault prevention and document the worldwide implementation of ESD as a part of a larger gender justice movement. This book begins by outlining the fundamental concepts, elements, and theoretical underpinnings of ESD and situates ESD within the long history of feminist collective activism. The second section considers the role of ESD in violence prevention, including its effectiveness for survivors of trauma and its implementation around the world. The third section focuses on the research behind ESD, including an assessment of measurement tools. The fourth section focuses on applications of ESD within specific communities, including indigenous, sexual and gender minority, and disabled populations. The final section of the book addresses the future of ESD, including implementation, dissemination, and future directions for research. Together, these chapters present a compelling case for the essential role of ESD training in violence prevention efforts.

Key features

  • Defines ESD and its goals, philosophy, and pedagogy
  • Traces the historical development of ESD as a sexual violence prevention approach
  • Reviews research assessing the effectiveness of ESD training
  • Evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of measurement tools for key constructs
  • Discusses the application of self-defense to a broad range of populations across the globe

Readership

Academics, scholars, and researchers exploring sexual assault risk reduction efforts, as well as practitioners engaged in sexual assault prevention work undergraduate students, graduate students, and practitioners in the field

Table of contents

Part 1: The theory and practice of empowerment self-defense

1 Introduction

2 Empowerment self-defense: Philosophy, methodology, and pedagogy

3 The history of empowerment self-defense in the United States

4 Beyond personal power: The role of critical consciousness in empowerment self-defense training

5 Best practices in empowerment self-defense teaching

Part 2: The role of empowerment self-defense in violence prevention

6 Empowerment self-defense as a trauma-informed approach to healing

7 Global implementations of empowerment self-defense interventions

8 Empowerment self-defense as sexual assault prevention: Reflections on a 25-year struggle

Part 3: Research on the effectiveness of empowerment self-defense

9 A 25-year update of "Review and critique of empirical studies of rape avoidance"

10 New research on the outcomes of empowerment self-defense training

11 Voice in empowerment self-defense classes

12 Assessing empowerment self-defense program impact: Identifying and measuring key outcomes

Part 4: Empowerment self-defense for targeted populations

13 Implementation of empowerment self-defense among Indigenous populations in the United States and Canada

14 Resisting ableism: Working for disability justice and inclusion in empowerment self-defense

15 Adaptation of empowerment self-defense for vulnerable populations

16 Empowerment self-defense for sexual and gender minority populations

Part 5: The future of empowerment self-defense

17 Enhancing the reach of empowerment self-defense through dissemination and implementation science

18 The future of empowerment self-defense research: A conversation with Charlene Senn

Product details

  • Edition: 1
  • Latest edition
  • Published: September 1, 2026
  • Language: English

About the editors

LO

Lindsay M. Orchowski

Associate Professor (Research) at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and a Staff Psychologist at Rhode Island Hospital. She completed her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Ohio University, where she studied under the apprenticeship of Dr. Christine A. Gidycz in the Laboratory for the Study and Prevention of Sexual Assault. In concert with collaborators, she has published three prior evaluations of sexual assault prevention programs for college women (Gidycz et al., 2006; Orchowski et al., 2008; Gidycz et al., 2015), as well as prevention approaches for college men (Orchowski et al., 2018; Gidycz et al., 2011), and has authored work on the implementation of sexual assault prevention programs for men (Gidycz et al., 2011), and the supervision of such work (Orchowski et al., 2011). As a Principal Investigator, she completed a NIAAA-funded research examining sexual assault prevention with college men, and is currently the Principal Investigator of two CDC-funded evaluations of sexual assault prevention, risk reduction, and bystander intervention programming among high school and middle school students, and a Department of Defense Funded evaluation of sexual assault prevention for men in the military. She has previously published Sexual Assault Risk Reduction and Resistance: Theory, Research and Practice with Elsevier, as well as Engaging Boys and Men in Sexual Assault Prevention: Theory, Research and Practice with American Psychological Association.
Affiliations and expertise
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

JH

Jocelyn A. Hollander

Dr. Jocelyn Hollander is Professor of Sociology at the University of Oregon. For the past 20 years, her research has focused on the effectiveness of empowerment self-defense training for preventing gender-based violence, as well as its potential to empower women and challenge inequalities. She is the author of articles on these topics in Gender & Society, Psychology of Women Quarterly, Revue des Sciences Sociales, Sociology Compass, Violence Against Women, Feminism & Psychology, as well as in the volume Sexual Assault Risk Reduction and Resistance, edited by Lindsay Orchowski and Christine Gidycz. In addition, Professor Hollander has taught empowerment self-defense for over 30 years, including at Stanford University and the University of Oregon.
Affiliations and expertise
University of Oregon, Department of Sociology, Eugene, USA