04/18/2023
By Karen Mullins

The School of Criminology and Justice Studies is proud to announce a Dissertation Proposal Defense: by Sabrina S. Rapisarda entitled, "Engaging Young People Where They Are: A Conceptual Dive into Help-Seeking Among Young Survivors of Intimate Partner Sexual Violence."

Date: Wednesday, May 3, 2023
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Via Zoom

Committee:

  • Ryan T. Shields, Committee Chair, Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Andrew J. Harris, Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • April F. Pattavina, Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Kimberly R. Kras, Associate Professor, San Diego State University

Abstract: Despite the existence of large bodies of research on sexual violence and intimate partner violence separately, minimal research to date has examined where SV and IPV intersect, known as intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV; defined in this dissertation as sexual violence occurring within the context of intimate partner relationships). Even less is known about IPSV among young survivors from diverse sociodemographic backgrounds, despite that they are arguably most at risk and less inclined to seek formal help following their victimization experiences than other age or demographic groups. There have been no published studies to date to the researcher’s knowledge that build a framework conceptualizing help-seeking among young IPSV survivors from varying sociodemographic backgrounds by survivors themselves or an instrument that quantifies help-seeking among this population specifically. This dissertation research will yield (a) the development of a conceptual framework that begins to explain help-seeking among young and diverse survivors of IPSV and (b) the creation of a novel instrument of measure that quantifies help-seeking within this population. To this end, elements of the community based participatory research (CBPR) methodology will be incorporated, which includes collaboration between the researcher, community partners, and study participants across various stages of the dissertation, including recruitment, data validation procedures, the development of the conceptual framework, and data dissemination. This dissertation will adopt a mixed-methods design comprised of qualitative data collection and analysis through semi structured interviews with a diverse sample of IPSV survivors between the ages of 18 and 25 and a constructivist ground theory approach, as well as quantitative data collection and analysis via a short survey and descriptive statistics. Subsequently, the first five steps of the 7-step MEASURE approach – (1) make the purpose and rationale clear, (2) establish empirical framework, (3) articulate a theoretical blueprint, (4) synthesize content and scale development, and (5) use expert reviewers (Kalkbrenner, 2021) – will be employed to create a novel quantitative instrument. Informing future research, the findings of this dissertation will not only provide important insights into precisely how young people think about and conceptualize their own help-seeking experiences following their IPSV victimization(s) but also has the potential to shape community responses to young survivors of IPSV.