Communicating Support: Applying Communication Theory To Assess and Improve Disclosure Encounters with Sexual Assault Survivors

The epidemic of sexual violence is a far too common occurrence within the United States. According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (2010), an estimated one in five women and one in 71 men are raped in their lifetime. This problem is perpetuated by a variety of factors, including lack of reporting. According to the Department of Justice (2003), rape is the most under-reported crime, with an estimated 63% of sexual assaults not being reported to police. Even when reports do occur, many survivors have negative experience in their reporting encounters, due in part to the responses of those to whom they choose to disclose. This in turn creates a complicated series of obstacles for survivors of this particular form of trauma and often lengthens their road to recovery. Informed by scholarship in communication and related fields, this project communicatively examines the impact of those responses to sexual violence disclosures. It further proposes theory-supported means to improve responders’ trauma-informed responses to abuse survivors’ disclosures. Standpoint, facework, communication privacy management, and muted group theories are consulted to help shape improved interpersonal interactions between support providers and survivors. COMMUNICATING SURVIVOR SUPPORT Sherman 3 Communicating Support: Applying Communication Theory To Assess and Improve Disclosure Encounters with Sexual Assault Survivors As a college student I have come to learn that almost everyone around me has somehow been affected or victimized by the issue of sexual violence. After two years of developing and presiding over a student-run organization on my university’s campus, participating at local and national levels to address and combat sexual and gender-based violence, as well as studying the issue further within much of my communication studies, it only felt fitting to end my journey at the University of Portland with a capstone that investigates the issue I’m so passionate about. When understanding the problem of sexual violence, the way individuals, groups, or organizations respond to admissions of sexual trauma is significant in the post-assault experience of a survivor. It should be noted that the term survivor is used throughout this paper, for it is seen as more empowering terminology than identifying those affected by sexual violence as victims. Based on research within communication and other related fields, this paper provides communicative means to understand shortcomings, as well as methods of intentional, traumainformed responses to support providers in order to improve interpersonal encounters between survivors of sexual violence and those to whom they disclose their assaults. Positioning the Problem The epidemic of sexual violence is a far too common occurrence within the United States. According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (2010), an estimated one in five women and one in 71 men are raped within their lifetime. This problem is perpetuated by a variety of factors, such as lack of reporting. According to the Department of Justice (2003), rape is the most under-reported crime, with an estimated 63% of sexual assaults not being reported to police. However, even when reports do occur, many survivors have COMMUNICATING SURVIVOR SUPPORT Sherman 4 negative experience in their reporting encounters, due largely in part to the responses to those whom they choose to disclose. This in turn creates a complicating series of obstacles for survivors of this particular form of trauma, and often makes for a strenuous road to recovery. Informed by scholarship in communication and related fields, this project examines communicatively the impact of those responses to disclosures of sexual violence, and proposes ways to improve encounters between survivors and those to whom they disclose their assaults by providing intentional communication responses to support providers. Through Standpoint Theory, Facework, Communication Privacy Management (CPM) Theory, and Muted Group Theory (MGT), this paper provides tenets of these communication phenomena in order to shape justification for these proposed forms of interpersonal interactions between support providers and survivors. Disclosure to Support Providers When trying to understand best practices of support for survivors of sexual violence, understanding forms of interpersonal disclosure encounters is crucial. Sexual assault is widely understood as a very traumatic experience. Sexual assault often results in significant issues for survivors, such as anxiety, depression, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder (Ullman & Filipas, 2001, p. 1028). The effect of trauma on a survivor manifests in many forms, and if they choose to disclose their assault they often face more victimization through the support seeking process. Formal vs. Informal When survivors of sexual violence seek support post-assault through disclosure, there are two types of disclosure and support: formal and informal (Ahrens, Cabral, & Abeling, 2009, Sabina & Ho, 2014; Ullman & Filipas, 2001; Ullman, 2000). Formal disclosure and support COMMUNICATING SURVIVOR SUPPORT Sherman 5 refers to instances where people disclose in a more structured setting, such as when they file a report to some authority (such as police) and follows an official protocol to discuss what happened to them. If for a variety of reasons someone feels that they cannot disclose to an authority, they often may disclose informally, to spouses or partners, friends, or families (Middleton, et. al., 2016). This type of disclosure/support is informal, as it is usually between survivors and people they know more intimately, or with whom have an existing or prior relationship. Research suggests that while assault is a vastly underreported crime, survivors are more likely to disclose to informal support providers than to formal support providers such as police or medical personnel (Ahrens, et. al., 2009; Sabina & Ho, 2014; Ullman & Filipas, 2001). Research shows several reasons why many survivors choose not to formally disclose or formally seek support. These reasons include potential fear of not being believed, guilt that they may somehow be to blame for the assault, worry that they may receive retaliation from their attacker, or concern that they may be labeled as a victim in the process (Ahrens, et. al., 2009; Campbell, 1998; Middleton, et. al., 2016; Sabina & Ho, 2014). Any one of those ill-perceptions easily might be signaled with formal communication encounters when poorly done, without sufficient attention to navigating identity and relational messages fully present in such encounters (Domenici & Littlejohn, 2006). For all these reasons, including the complex ways formal support systems vary in how they provide support (e.g. a hospital providing medical treatment versus a crisis center focused on healing versus a police station focused on solving a crime), there are many obstacles to initiate formal disclosure for survivors of sexual violence. Campbell (1998) illustrates ways formal support services differ: COMMUNICATING SURVIVOR SUPPORT Sherman 6 Community resources for rape victims are often piecemeal and uncoordinated as different systems perform different functions. For example, victims go to the hospital for the rape exam and evidence collection; to the police station to meet with a detective; to the state's attorney to discuss prosecution; to the rape crisis center for information and crisis counseling; and to many other agencies as well (p. 356). All of these providers serve their specific functions, but with the multiple reporting options and their differing intentions, often survivors do not seek formal support or even disclose to a formal support provider, so as not to have to deal with the varying systems and the potentially retraumatization sometimes faced through involvement with formal support networks’ procedures. The reasons why survivors of sexual violence disclose or do not disclose are varied and circumstantial dependent on their experience of assault, but certain groups have more access to resources and formal and/or informal support services than others. For college students from 1824 years of age sexual violence occurs at a higher rate than any other time in their lives (Sabina & Ho, 2014, p. 201). While this does happen at vastly higher rates, colleges are very unique in how they are set up to support students, “The college campus is one that provides a microcosm of the services available in the larger community. For example, campuses may have their own health center, counseling center, police officers, policies, and judicial process” (Sabina & Ho, 2014, p. 202). Fisher, Daigle, Cullen, and Turner (2003) defined campus authorities as campus law enforcement, resident hall advisors, deans, professors, other college authorities, and oncampus bosses, employers, or supervisors” (as cited in Sabina & Ho, 2014, p. 203). Here not only do survivors have access to formal “support providers” on campus, there is a close-knit and familial sense when they live on a college campus that offers informal support from friends, classmates, roommates, etc. (Sabina & Ho, 2014). COMMUNICATING SURVIVOR SUPPORT Sherman 7 In total, these support networks make a difference in a survivor’s post-assault experience, and lead to positive or negative outcomes for affected individual(s). Understanding the complex network of providers available for formal and informal disclosure is important to learning how to best service and support survivors of sexual violence. Reactions Matter While there may be a multitude of support services, both formal and informal, research shows that survivors’ wellness post-assault is considerably dependent on how support providers react to their disclosures. Ullman (1996a) identified in a Social Reactions Questionnaire (SRQ) the seven types of reactions to sexual assault from support providers, fo