Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Despite the changes in policy and the endorsement of mandatory reporting among college students over time, less than half of survivors of sexual assault report the incident to police or university officials (Cantor et al., 2020). Further, while there is little research on the subject, Moore and Baker (2016) found that a student’s residence can influence whether they report a sexual assault. This project sought to extend this research to determine whether a student’s residence and knowledge of available resources effects the likelihood to report a hypothetical sexual assault. Additionally, it sought to determine the relationship between reporting a sexual assault and one’s knowledge of resources, and how residence influences this relationship. To test this, an experiment was conducted that assessed a student’s ability to differentiate real resources from fake resources. Further, it assessed participant’s likelihood to report a sexual assault to police and university officials. Finally, participants were also asked whether they lived on campus or off campus. Results indicated no support for the hypotheses, in that participants that lived on campus did not have more knowledge of real resources or a higher likelihood of reporting to university officials.

Year manuscript completed

2024

Year degree awarded

2024

Author's Keywords

sexual assault, residence, resources, reporting behaviors

Thesis Advisor

Jana Hackathorn

Committee Member

Amanda Joyce

Committee Member

Michael Bordieri

Committee Member

Alexandra Hendley

Document Type

Thesis

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