Date of Award
Spring 5-2015
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Program
Counselor Education
Department
Educational Leadership, Counseling, and Foundations
Major Professor
Barbara Herlihy, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Roxane Dufrene, Ph.D.
Third Advisor
Michele Caruso, Ph.D.
Fourth Advisor
Matthew Lyons, Ph.D.
Abstract
A qualitative phenomenological design was used to explore the lived experiences of college women who reported sexual assault to law enforcement officials. Utilizing a feminist conceptual framework, the purpose of the present study was to identify the essence of the reporting experience for college women who experienced a sexual assault. Six college women agreed to participate in the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with open-ended questions to better understand the experience of the phenomenon under investigation. The Modification of the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen Method of Analysis of Phenomenological Data (Moustakas, 1994) was utilized for analysis of the data collected in order to identify meaning units and themes. Four common themes emerged from the narratives of the six participants: Making the Decision to Report, Internal Experience of the Reporting Process, Following the Report, and Making the Report. The identified themes contributed to the participant descriptions, which highlighted the essence of the participants’ lived experiences of reporting sexual assault to law enforcement. The identified themes provided insight into how counselors can better serve college women who have reported or are considering reporting sexual assault to law enforcement officials. Implications for counselor educators, college counselors, and campus police and off-campus police officers were also addressed.
Recommended Citation
Park, Candace N., "A Phenomenological Investigation of the Reporting Experience for Female Survivors of Sexual Assault on College Campuses" (2015). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 1978.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1978
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.