Sexual Assault Incident Characteristics and Confidante Responses

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Lasky, Nicole V.
Language:	English
Published:	University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK 2016
Subjects:	Criminology sexual assault disclosure grounded theory
Online Access:	http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1460730905

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spelling	ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin14607309052021-08-03T06:35:45Z Sexual Assault Incident Characteristics and Confidante Responses Lasky, Nicole V. Criminology sexual assault disclosure grounded theory Despite decades of legal, political, and cultural reform, sexual assault victimization continues to affect women and men from all age groups. However, college-age females (between the ages of 18-24) are at the greatest risk for sexual assault victimization. Past research has established that sexual assault survivors rarely seek help from formal support sources, such law enforcement or medical personnel. However, most choose to disclose sexual assault to informal support sources, especially to friends. The reactions a survivor receives can have a significant impact on subsequent recovery, including acknowledgement of the event as sexual assault, decisions concerning future disclosures, choices about formal help seeking. Prior research has uncovered the content of reactions to sexual assault disclosure, yet no published study has examined confidantes’ specific reasons for reacting in one way or another. As a result, the perspectives of disclosure recipients are poorly understood, leaving a large gap in in the development of a holistic understanding of the disclosure process. Using data gathered from 38 semi-structured interviews with male and female undergraduates, this dissertation builds a grounded theory addressing two important aspects of responding to sexual assault disclosure. First, how recipients of sexual assault disclosure formulate their interpretations and responses based on specific aspects of the sexual assault being disclosed. Second, how their interpretations and responses are influenced by perceptions of larger social issues surrounding sexual assault victimization. A better understanding the perspectives of disclosure recipients could highlight for researchers and practitioners aspects of sexual assault victimization that are misunderstood by college students, and which contribute to the stigmatization of sexual assault survivors, the underreporting of sexual assault, and the lack of social support for survivors more generally. 2016-06-03 English text University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1460730905 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1460730905 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection	NDLTD
language	English
sources	NDLTD
topic	Criminology sexual assault disclosure grounded theory
spellingShingle	Criminology sexual assault disclosure grounded theory Lasky, Nicole V. Sexual Assault Incident Characteristics and Confidante Responses
author	Lasky, Nicole V.
author_facet	Lasky, Nicole V.
author_sort	Lasky, Nicole V.
title	Sexual Assault Incident Characteristics and Confidante Responses
title_short	Sexual Assault Incident Characteristics and Confidante Responses
title_full	Sexual Assault Incident Characteristics and Confidante Responses
title_fullStr	Sexual Assault Incident Characteristics and Confidante Responses
title_full_unstemmed	Sexual Assault Incident Characteristics and Confidante Responses
title_sort	sexual assault incident characteristics and confidante responses
publisher	University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK
publishDate	2016
url	http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1460730905
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Sexual Assault Incident Characteristics and Confidante Responses

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