Date

3-10-2026

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)

Chair

Mollie Boyd

Keywords

Sexual violence, College campus victimization, campus betrayal, college campus rape myths, Title IX programs on college and university campuses, male victimization on campuses, campus culture, religious beliefs

Disciplines

Counseling | Psychology

Abstract

The rate of sexual assaults for women, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals on college campuses is reported at a higher rate compared to males and is continuing to rise at a staggering rate, causing this to become a national issue. The purpose of this phenomenological study is to understand the subjective experience, campus culture, psychological disorders, and changes in students' religious beliefs after a sexual assault. Victims’ perceptions and campus norms reporting sexual violence and assault incidents help to explain institutional support systems, the afterlife, and long-term outcomes of victims, prevention programs, and services. The frameworks for this study are ontological and axiological in nature. The axiological framework shapes and interprets the data collected from participants using a positivist perspective. The ontological framework investigates the prevalence, risks, existence of campus assaults, institutional support, and the victim’s God-image and reality. The feminist, betrayal, and biblical theories are used to explain sexual objectification, oppression, and stereotyping of sexual assault victims, and focus on male privileges of masculinity to expose sexist, racist, and heterosexist biases. Betrayal theory explains harm within attachment relationships between parent and child or between romantic partners that have a lasting effect on individuals and cause trauma. Biblical critical theory serves understand the victim's image, their relationship with God, reality, and the social, political, and cultural structures within which they exist. Interviews and a questionnaire will be used to collect data from individuals having experienced the phenomenon. The data was verified through reflexive practice, which involves a self-examination of the researcher, the process by which research findings are produced, and the data constructed to ensure the accuracy of the information collected.

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