Female Student Services Staff Perceptions of Safety on a State College Campus: an Exploratory Study
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University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2016 Female student services staff perceptions of safety on a state college campus: An exploratory study Catherine Chimera University of Central Florida Part of the Education Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Chimera, Catherine, "Female student services staff perceptions of safety on a state college campus: An exploratory study" (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 5246. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/5246 FEMALE STUDENT SERVICES STAFF PERCEPTIONS OF SAFETY ON A STATE COLLEGE CAMPUS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY by CATHERINE R. CHIMERA B.S. Niagara University, 2001 M.Ed. The State University of New York at Buffalo, 2004 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the Department of Child, Family and Community Sciences in the College of Education and Human Performance at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Fall Term 2016 Major Professor: J. Thomas Owens © 2016 Catherine R. Chimera ii ABSTRACT The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore the perceptions of female student services staff members’ perceptions of safety on a state college campus. Through the lens of social construction theory, six staff members were interviewed about their views of safety both on and off campus. The goal of this study was to better understand how female staff members formed their perceptions of safety on campus, through social, political and cultural processes. The results of this study were that although the informants all were aware of the same threats and dangers on campus, they each had differing views on how safe they were while on campus. Of the six interviewed, two expressed daily concern for their safety, two were aware of dangers, but not overly fearful, and two did not feel fearful for their safety at all. Although each informant knew about their campus safety amenities, only two had used their services, one that expressed concern daily, and one that was not overly fearful. Social influences such as televised news programs and Internet articles played a factor in how the employees viewed their safety. Overall, seven major themes were discovered including campus concern, concern over student behavior, self-protection, off campus concerns, social influences, lack of concern, and lack of information. The study concluded with the researcher’s recommendations that female student services staff members become knowledgeable about crimes happening on their campuses and about utilizing services they have available to them, as well as emphasizing the importance of office location, especially the proximity to coworkers working similar schedules. iii This dissertation is dedicated to my husband, Tim. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my committee members, Chair – Dr. J. Thomas Owens, Dr. Rosa Cintrón, Dr. Erhan Haciomeroglu and Dr. Michael Preston. I am extremely thankful for having Dr. Owens and Dr. Cintrón guide me throughout my doctoral journey. Their knowledge, guidance and support, both inside and outside of the classroom, have been tremendously helpful and I will be forever grateful. In addition I had many wonderful classmates who helped me through various phases of the process; it was a joy to get to know each one of them. Specifically Ben Lopez and Dr. Geoffrey Fortunato, who both began this journey with me and supported me over the years. Thank you, your support is greatly appreciated. A special thank you goes out to Dr. Mary Ann Lynn who served as my editor. Her thoroughness and quick work was invaluable to me in this process. A profound appreciation goes to my husband, Tim Shand, who supported me from day one, allowing me to focus on my studies while he took care of everything else. I am also extremely blessed to have had a wonderful support system through my family and friends – thank you all for your love and support over these last few years. A huge thank you goes out to my informants, who volunteered to be part of my study and share their stories with me. Their stories will impact the field of higher education, at a time when safety on campus has become a topic of great concern. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 Background ......................................................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem .................................................................................................... 3 Rationale for the Study ....................................................................................................... 3 Theoretical Framework ....................................................................................................... 5 Research Questions ............................................................................................................. 8 Definition of Terms............................................................................................................. 8 Limitations ........................................................................................................................ 10 Delimitations ..................................................................................................................... 10 Positionality ...................................................................................................................... 10 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................... 14 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 14 Environmental Threats to Campus Safety ........................................................................ 15 History of Campus Crime ................................................................................................. 17 Police on College Campuses ................................................................................. 17 Crimes on Campus ................................................................................................ 19 Crime by Institutional Type .................................................................................. 26 Federal Legislation............................................................................................................ 28 The Clery Act ........................................................................................................ 28 Title IX .................................................................................................................. 40 College Policies and Protocols.......................................................................................... 42 Campus Judicial Affairs ........................................................................................ 42 Criticism and Change ............................................................................................ 43 Prior Research ................................................................................................................... 52 Reporting Accuracy .............................................................................................. 52 Colleges................................................................................................................. 53 Parents ................................................................................................................... 54 Students ................................................................................................................. 55 Faculty and Staff ................................................................................................... 58 Social Construction Theory .............................................................................................. 62 Historical Foundations .......................................................................................... 64 Lock and Strong .................................................................................................... 65 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 70 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................. 71 vi Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 71 Informants ......................................................................................................................... 71 Research