Explaining the Why in #WhyIDidntReport: An Examination of Common Barriers to Formal Disclosure of Sexual Assault in College Students

Within the current study, we examined themes of college students’ reasons for choosing not to formally disclose (report) sexual assault. To complete this objective, we examined tweets ( n = 1,297) that used the WhyIDidntReport hashtag in which a user also made reference (within the same thread) to being enrolled at a college or university during the time (and aftermath) of the assault. We deemed Twitter a particularly valuable platform, offering insight into the hidden figure of crime, as users described events, feelings, and perceptions after the event that led to them not formally disclosing. Further, it provides a large sample of cases of women and men who recognize their assault as an assault (at least in hindsight), while also providing open-ended, unstructured explanations of their rationales and motivations. Using an inductive approach, we established broad themes that were then refocused into common barriers of formal disclosure or the continuation of formal disclosure. Subthemes included anticipated social reactions (stemming from vicarious and direct experiences), internalized emotions, often stemming from social reactions (normalization, shame, and blame), victim and offender status, and victim-offender relationship. Three overarching premises were developed from the analysis including (a) victims’ internalizations of experiences and observations, (b) the interaction of social factors of the victim, offender, and the victim-offender relationship, and (c) the continual and compounded decision-making process of formal disclosure. These conclusions were then examined within theoretical models, including Black’s Behavior of Law Theory (specifically morphology and stratification), Overstreet and Quinn’s intimate partner violence stigmatization model, and Chaudoir and Fisher’s disclosure process model. Lastly, we provide programmatic recommendations, which includes retailoring current bystander intervention curricula to include more focus on social reactions and social support in anticipation of college students being recipients of sexual assault disclosures by friends and acquaintances.

Download Full-text

The Feasibility of a Novel Recruitment Protocol for Collecting Survivor Data via Disclosure Recipient Referrals

Violence Against Women ◽

10.1177/10778012211070610 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 107780122110706

Author(s):

Sarah E. Ullman ◽

Emily A. Waterman ◽

Katie M. Edwards ◽

Jania Marshall ◽

Christina M. Dardis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Intimate Partner Violence ◽

Sexual Assault ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Future Research ◽

Matched Pairs ◽

Social Reactions ◽

Limited Success ◽

Research Studies

The current arricle describes a novel recruitment protocol for collecting data from sexual assault and intimate partner violence survivors referred to research studies by individuals to whom they had previously disclosed. Challenges in both recruiting participants and interpreting data are described. Only 35.8% of cases had usable data for both survivors and disclosure recipients, suggesting that this referral method had limited success in recruiting matched pairs. Suggestions for modifications to improve the protocol for future research are offered. Potential advantages and drawbacks of various methods for recruiting dyads are described in order to facilitate future research on survivors’ disclosure processes, social reactions, and the influence of social reactions on survivor recovery.

Download Full-text

Correlates of Social Reactions to Victims’ Disclosures of Sexual Assault and Intimate Partner Violence: A Systematic Review

Trauma Violence & Abuse ◽

10.1177/15248380211016013 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 152483802110160

Author(s):

Sarah E. Ullman

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Intimate Partner Violence ◽

Sexual Assault ◽

Posttraumatic Growth ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Future Research ◽

Social Reactions ◽

And Bisexual ◽

Negative Social Reactions

Sexual assault and intimate partner violence (IPV) are common experiences in women, but few studies have examined correlates of social reactions experienced by victims telling others about assault. This systematic review identified 30 studies through searches of research databases on correlates of social reactions to disclosure of sexual assault or IPV in samples of adult victims or disclosure recipients. Studies showed evidence of greater negative social reactions for Black and Hispanic victims, less educated, and bisexual victims. More extensive trauma histories in victims were related to receipt of greater negative social reactions, whereas assault characteristics (e.g., victim–offender relationship, alcohol use, perpetrator violence during assault) were sometimes associated with negative reactions. In terms of postassault factors, more psychological symptoms, self-blame, avoidance coping, less perceived control, and less posttraumatic growth were related to more negative social reactions. Disclosure characteristics, telling informal sources, and telling more sources were related to more positive reactions, whereas telling both formal and informal sources was related to negative reactions. Demographic, attitudinal, and relational factors were related to disclosure recipients’ intended social reactions. Future research needs to examine how various factors relate to social reactions in the context of theory, and clinical treatment and interventions should use this information to identify and intervene with victims to reduce negative social reactions and their psychological impacts and to increase positive social reactions particularly from informal support sources.

Download Full-text

Prospective predictors of receiving disclosures of intimate partner violence and sexual assault among college students.

Psychology of Violence ◽

10.1037/vio0000357 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Christina M. Dardis ◽

Katie R. Davin ◽

Lindsey M. Rodriguez ◽

Emily R. Dworkin ◽

Katie M. Edwards ◽

...

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Intimate Partner Violence ◽

Sexual Assault ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Intimate Partner

Download Full-text

Gone and forgotten: Vinogradoff's historical jurisprudence

Legal Studies ◽

10.1017/lst.2020.41 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-20

Author(s):

Lorren Eldridge

Keyword(s):

Social Factors ◽

Legal History ◽

Legal Theory ◽

Theoretical Models ◽

Analytical Models ◽

Legal Scholarship ◽

Social Facts ◽

Explicit Recognition ◽

Insight Into ◽

Do So

Abstract Sir Paul Vinogradoff was once well known for his historically contextualised approach to legal theory which held that legal ideas were the contingent products of social factors. Law was necessarily engaged with other subjects, and ‘historical jurisprudence’ could produce real insight into the nature of law – in part by placing theories such as analytical jurisprudence in context, evaluating and modifying theoretical models by reference to the contingent social facts of an era. This was part of the nineteenth-century turn to ‘science’ in history and a focus on methodology. Sir Henry Maine argued that legal history proved the insufficiency of analytic theories, but his method met with many criticisms, some of which Vinogradoff sought to address. However, Vinogradoff's insights have rarely been pursued or developed, with legal history favouring Maitland's more doctrinal approach, and legal theory rejecting historical jurisprudence – at least explicitly. Despite its imperfections, historical jurisprudence offers a rich and valuable way to understand law, including to evaluate analytical models such of those of HLA Hart, and as a methodology for dialogue between comparative and historical legal scholarship. It has, in fact, continued to do so without explicit recognition in the 100 years since Vinogradoff's death.

Download Full-text

Impelling and Inhibiting Forces in the Perpetration of Intimate Partner Violence

Review of General Psychology ◽

10.1037/1089-2680.11.2.193 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 193-207 ◽

Cited By ~ 101

Author(s):

Eli J. Finkel

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Intimate Partner Violence ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Process Model ◽

Theoretical Models ◽

Conceptual Structure ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Stage Process ◽

The Individual ◽

Action Tendencies

The huge corpus of research identifying risk factors for intimate partner violence (IPV) has outpaced theoretical models explaining how these risk factors combine to exert their effects. This report presents a 2-stage process model investigating how a previously nonviolent interaction between intimate partners escalates to IPV. The first stage examines whether at least one partner experiences strong violence-impelling forces, which lead the individual to experience action tendencies toward IPV. The second examines whether the partner experiencing violence-impelling forces suffers from weak violence-inhibiting forces, which would otherwise serve to override such action tendencies. This model extends previous research by emphasizing the importance of inhibitory processes in IPV and by imposing a new conceptual structure on the identified IPV risk factors.

Download Full-text

College Students’ Social Reactions to the Victim in a Hypothetical Sexual Assault Scenario: The Role of Victim and Perpetrator Alcohol Use

Violence and Victims ◽

10.1891/0886-6708.27.6.957 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 27 (6) ◽

pp. 957-972 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Amy S. Untied ◽

Lindsay M. Orchowski ◽

Nadine Mastroleo ◽

Christine A. Gidycz

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Sexual Assault ◽

Alcohol Use ◽

Emotional Support ◽

Social Reactions ◽

Victim Responsibility

College students’ responses to a hypothetical sexual assault scenario involving alcohol use by the victim and/or perpetrator were examined (N = 295). Participants reported on victim/perpetrator responsibility, the extent to which the scenario would be considered rape, and their likelihood of providing positive or negative responses to the victim. Compared to women, men indicated that they would provide more negative and less positive social reactions to the victim, were less likely to identify the scenario as rape, and endorsed less perpetrator responsibility. When the victim was drinking, participants endorsed greater victim responsibility and lower perpetrator responsibility for the assault. Participants indicated that they would provide the victim with less emotional support when only the perpetrator was drinking, compared to when both the individuals were drinking.

Download Full-text

Cognitive and Social Factors Affecting the Use of Wikipedia and Information Seeking / Les facteurs cognitifs et sociaux déterminant l'utilisation de Wikipedia et la recherche d'information

Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology / La revue canadienne de l’apprentissage et de la technologie ◽

10.21432/t25k59 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 38 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Siyoung Chung

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Social Factors ◽

Information Seeking ◽

Information Quality ◽

Peer Pressure ◽

Theoretical Models ◽

Learning Tools ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Online Encyclopedia ◽

Modèles Théoriques

Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, is the preferred choice among resources used by college students to meet their research needs. However, Wikipedia has been criticized for its low information quality, lack of accountability, inconsistency, and vulnerability to vandalism. Despite the warnings and concerns voiced by academia, online learning tools such as Wikipedia will continue their rise as major learning resource in today's classroom. Using a sample of 184 college students, the study proposed theoretical models to test the effects of internal beliefs, motivations, and social influences on Wikipedia use and information-seeking, and further empirically tested those models. The findings of this study suggested that Wikipedia use is driven by internal belief and peer pressure, whereas information-seeking is influenced by belief, motivation, and subjective norms. The implications of the findings for the research and practice are discussed. Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie gratuite en ligne, est le choix préféré des étudiants ayant besoin de faire une recherche. Cependant, Wikipédia a été critiqué pour la faible qualité de ses informations, son manque d’imputabilité, son incohérence et sa vulnérabilité au vandalisme. En dépit des mises en garde et des inquiétudes exprimées par le milieu universitaire, l’importance en salle de classe des outils d'apprentissage en ligne tels que Wikipédia continuera de croître. Sur la base d’un échantillon de 184 étudiants de niveau collégial, l'étude a proposé des modèles théoriques pour tester les effets des croyances personnelles, des motivations et des influences sociales sur l'utilisation de Wikipédia et sur la recherche d'information. Ces modèles ont ensuite été testés empiriquement. Les résultats de cette étude suggèrent que l'utilisation de Wikipédia est motivée par les croyances personnelles et la pression exercée par les camarades, alors que la recherche d'information est influencée par les croyances, la motivation et des normes subjectives. L’article se termine par une discussion des implications de ces résultats pour la recherche et la pratique.

Download Full-text

Dominance Hierarchies

The Oxford Handbook of Analytical Sociology ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199215362.013.24 ◽

2011 ◽

Author(s):

Stathis Kalyvas

Keyword(s):

Small Groups ◽

Process Model ◽

Theoretical Models ◽

Interaction Process ◽

Social Structures ◽

Central Authority ◽

Dominance Hierarchies ◽

Dominance Relationships ◽

Insight Into

This article explores how dominance hierarchies develop their typical structures. It tackles a number of questions, for example: how is it that different groups develop the same kinds of hierarchy structures, even when the structures arise spontaneously, without being imposed by central authority; what mechanisms generate these hierarchy structures; or whether an understanding the development of hierarchies provides more general insight into the evolution of other kinds of social structures in small groups. The article first reviews theoretical models for the explanation of dominance relationships and dominance hierarchies (‘pecking orders’) in small groups of animals before considering hierarchies in small groups of humans. It then introduces an interaction-process model of animal hierarchies that explains linear hierarchy structures and avoids some of the limitations inherent in the earlier models. It concludes by comparing models for the development of status hierarchies in humans with those for animal hierarchies.

Download Full-text