Graduation Year
Spring 2014
Document Type
Campus Only Senior Thesis
Department
Psychology
Second Department
Politics and International Relations
Reader 1
Jennifer Groscup
Reader 2
Steven Samford
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2014 Leslie Sachs
Abstract
Recent political and legal action has raised awareness about underreporting of sexual assaults on college campuses. The present study sought to identify psychological and institutional barriers to reporting sexual assaults through a series of questionnaires administered to current college students (N= 364). To investigate the relationship between policy variations and students’ likelihood of reporting, a 2 (option to report informally versus only formally) x 2 (student involvement in investigation/judicial board: involved versus uninvolved) x 2 (option to terminate an investigation: entirely in student’s control versus up to discretion of administration) between groups factorial design was used. The findings suggest that respondents’ were significantly more likely to report a sexual assault when given the option to terminate the investigation at anytime, when school size, rape myth acceptance and socio-cultural environment were controlled for in the analysis. These findings suggest that the option for complainants to terminate an investigation, their socio-cultural environment and individual rape myth acceptance are important factors in shaping attitudes towards reporting sexual assaults.
Recommended Citation
Sachs, Leslie A., "Barriers to Reporting Sexual Assault on College Campuses: A Psychology and Policy Analysis" (2014). Scripps Senior Theses. 447.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/447
This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.