RT Article
T1 A Dyadic Study of Impacts of Sexual Assault Disclosure on Survivors’ Informal Support Relationships
JF Journal of interpersonal violence
VO 36
IS 9/10
A1 O’Callaghan, Erin
A1 Lorenz, Katherine
A1 Ullman, Sarah E.
A1 Kirkner, Anne
A2 Lorenz, Katherine
A2 Ullman, Sarah E.
A2 Kirkner, Anne
LA English
YR 2021
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1755890346
AB After a sexual assault, victims often disclose their assault to an informal support provider (SP) to receive social support. Ample research exists on social reactions of informal SPs to disclosure and how those reactions affect the victim both positively and negatively, but little research exists on how the disclosure impacts a survivor’s support relationships both in the short and in the long term. This qualitative interview study examined 45 ethnically diverse informal support dyads where women disclosed sexual assault to an informal SP (e.g., friend, family, significant other). Assault disclosure was examined to determine its impact on relationship quality of survivors and their SPs. Results revealed positive and negative effects on survivor–SP relationships of assault disclosure and social reactions. In almost all matched pairs (91%), the survivor, SP, or both remarked on how the relationship had changed following disclosure. Family member SPs spoke of survivors’ risk-taking and poor relationship choices. Significant others spoke of the toll of supporting survivors who sometimes left their needs unmet and strained their relationships with survivors. Friend SPs often appraised how the survivor engaged in other types of relationships, but overall felt that their relationships had become stronger or closer as a result of the disclosure. Implications of this study include acknowledging that informal supporters, particularly significant others, can experience adverse effects after disclosure, and that help is needed not only for survivors but also for their informal support sources. Future research should continue to investigate both the short-term and longitudinal impacts of sexual assault disclosure on survivors’ informal support relationships.
K1 support-seeking
K1 Sexual Assault
K1 reporting/disclosure
DO 10.1177/0886260518795506