There is a rich research literature linking interpersonal violence to mental health disorders among undergraduate students. However, scholars know less about the prevalence and consequences of victimization among students enrolled in postbaccalaureate programs. Graduate and law students are uniquely vulnerable in their dependence on programs for financial support and career advancement, and they are more isolated than undergraduates. We explore the experiences of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and stalking in a sample of 1,149 male and female master’s, doctoral, and law students at a southeastern public university. First, the current study estimates prevalence rates of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and stalking across participant characteristics such as gender, race, sexual orientation, and degree program. We find higher rates of sexual harassment among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, or asexual (LGBTQ+) women and multiracial students and higher rates of coercion and stalking among women. Second, following a longstanding literature on experiences with violence among undergraduate women, we demonstrate the effects of interpersonal violence on depression and anxiety. A series of multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) suggests a heightened risk of mental health disturbances among law students, women, and LGBTQ+ students. Importantly, interpersonal violence partially explains these heightened levels of depression and anxiety in these groups. Given increasing rates of enrollment in postbaccalaureate programs, our findings suggest an unfulfilled need for the assessment, prevention, and treatment of individuals regarding the experiences of interpersonal violence and mental illness among graduate and law students. Student services should develop education and prevention programming for students and faculty to alleviate the occurrence and consequences of victimization while being mindful of the unique experiences of sexually and racially minoritized students.
The concept of intersectionality has fundamentally changed feminist theorizing and the study of women and gender. However, intersectional research, theorizing, and practice also have been subject to important critiques. This article provides a brief genealogy of intersectionality and summarizes major critiques. We recognize value in these critiques as well as the ongoing power of an intersectional lens. We therefore advocate what we call “context‐driven intersectionality,” arguing that attention to the historical, political, economic, and social factors that shape power relationships and social structures is critical to conducting robust intersectional analyses that avoid reification of social categories and inequalities.
Affective heritage embracement, a collective narrative of nostalgia, is identified at two popular music festivals. “MusicFest” embraces a tradition of “Red Dirt” country music through performance (music festival), whereas the “Walnut Valley Festival” embraces a bluegrass/folk musical heritage through performance and participation (musicians' festival). The symbolic importance of musical interaction is explored to highlight the experienced emotionality that leads to the affective ties that bind these otherwise temporary communities. This collective narrative reveals the various functions of nostalgia wherein collective sentiment both reflects and creates the perceived authentic experiences of festival attendees.
Purpose: In this article, I explore emotions, trauma, and mental health issues residents experienced after tornadoes in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Joplin, Missouri in 2011. Methods: The research is based on 162 interviews and fieldwork from 2013-2015. I draw from literature on social suffering and trauma to ask how experiencing mental health and trauma changes how people make sense of their social worlds. Results: I discuss four common themes: 1. Emotions in immediate aftermath, 2. Relationship strain, 3. Mental health problems, and 4. Emotions in long-term recovery. Throughout the article, I pay attention to the bodily experiences of suffering and trauma. Conclusion: I argue experiencing mental health and suffering may be a critical perspective—one that can shed light on being in the world in ways that other perspectives may be less suitable to do.
Unwanted sexual experiences are seldom acknowledged as ''rape.'' These are identitythreatening events that cause negative affect and cognitive confusion. According to affect control theory, such events produce deflection that is resolved through restorative acts, redefinition of behavior, or modification or redefinition of identities. Since deflection reduction is an underspecified aspect of the theory, we employ theories of power dependence to better understand these processes. Using a mixed method approach, we qualitatively analyze 115 narratives about unwanted sexual experiences, finding respondents framed events in ways that protect the other person or their own self-meanings. We use closed-ended survey data to simulate women's experiences in Interact, affect control theory's predictive software, to demonstrate how event reframings reduce deflection. Finally, we estimate regressions to predict how power dependence and other relational contexts influence responses to unwanted sexual experiences.
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