Reimagining the Study of Campus Sexual Assault

A critical discourse analysis of intimate partner violence and sexual violence discourse on the websites of two institutions of higher education

“…may look vastly different than a survivor-centered website where the focus is the victim or survivor and centering their needs and resources (International Committee of the Red Cross, 2020; University of Oregon, n.d.). Unfortunately, research has shown that institutions of higher education often use a compliance framework (Harris et al, 2020;Linder & Myers, 2018;Moylan & Javorka, 2020).…”

“…Existing research on SV and IPV discourse within higher education is limited, with specific discourse analysis focused more prominently on policy, and research on the language of SV and IPV (inside and outside of higher education) focused on the use of specific language or terminology (Klein, 2013a), definitions (Kilpatrick, 2004), content of institutional websites and/or campus materials (Schwartz et al, 2015;Simmons & Clay, 2019), opposed to discourse analysis which is interested in the understanding the relationship of the communications and society at large. Additionally, large swaths of research on SV and IPV in higher education are quantitative (Coulter & Rankin, 2020;Thompson et al, 2015;Zapp et al, 2018) and/or are large systematic reviews (Fedina et al, 2018;Halstead et al, 2017;Harris et al, 2020;Krause, et al, 2019). Below is a summary of several pieces of existing literature in policy, media, and content analysis of sexual assault and/or intimate partner violence within higher education.…”

“…Additionally, this research attends to the recommendations by Harris et al (2020) to engage in macro-level institutional research to better understand campus contexts. By analyzing discourse on institutional websites, we are able to look at an institution as a whole instead of individual department or program discourse.…”

“…Therefore, it is essential to understand that sexual and intimate partner violence is not merely an issue that happens on an individual level but is systemic. Unfortunately, much of the existing literature on campus interpersonal violence, and especially on sexual violence, maintains a focus on individuals and is devoid from examinations of power (Harris et al, 2020;Linder et al, 2020).…”

“…As the literature shows, higher education does not have universal language or universal responses to campus sexual violence and intimate partner violence (Fedina et al, 2018;Halstead et al, 2017;Harris et al, 2020;Karjane et al, 2002;Krause, et al, 2019;Linder et al, 2020;Musselman et al, 2020;Sabina et al, 2017). This research aligns with those findings, recognizing the different discourses presented at Baylor University and the University of Utah.…”