Abstract Title of Document: EXAMINING SEXUAL VICTIMIZATION AMONG WOMEN: DO ECOLOGICAL FACTORS PREDICT THE SEVERITY OF SEXUAL ASSAULT? Patricia L. Fanflik, MS, MA, Doctoral Candidate, 2014 Directed By: Professor and Chair, Elaine A. Anderson, Ph.D., Department of Family Science Rape and other forms of sexual victimization against women are considered to be among the most severe and underreported crimes in the United States. Although all forms of sexual assault can be traumatic, there is research to suggest that the more severe the assault; specifically, the greater level of threat or violence, the greater the level of psychological distress a victim will experience following the attack. One of the most inconsistent and understudied areas in rape-related research involves the examination of sexual assault severity. This limitation is unfortunate given the evidence suggesting that recovery from sexual assault trauma may be mitigated or exacerbated by severity of the assault. Knowledge regarding sexual assault severity may help explain why some women report better psychological functioning than others following the attack. The guiding theoretical perspective for this study is based in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory. The purpose of this study is to empirically examine individual, familial, and community level factors and the impact these factors have on severity of sexual assault experienced by a diverse sample of women in the United States. A secondary analysis was conducted using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey from 1992- 2005. The sample included Asian, Hispanic, Native American, non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic White women, 12 years of age or older, reporting at least one sexual assault incident. Using multinomial logistic regression, results indicated that marital status including divorced, separated, or widowed women, and relationship to offender such as current or former spouse, other family member, boy/girlfriend, and acquaintance proved to be risk factors for severity of sexual assault among the sample. Older age, other victimization experiences, children present in the household, and work the previous week were found to have a protective influence on severity of sexual assault. The current findings underscore the importance for additional research investigating women of color as protective and risk factors were present for each race/ethnicity examined and also adds to the body of knowledge regarding severity of sexual assault. EXAMINING SEXUAL VICTIMIZATION AMONG WOMEN: DO ECOLOGICAL FACTORS PREDICT THE SEVERITY OF SEXUAL ASSAULT? By Patricia L. Fanflik Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2014 Advisory Committee: Professor Elaine A. Anderson, Chair Associate Professor Mia Smith Bynum Associate Professor Laura Dugan Associate Professor Kevin M. Roy Associate Professor Jacqueline Wallen ©Copyright by Patricia L. Fanflik 2014 Acknowledgements I have so many to thank for this incredible journey. Your encouragement and prayers supported me throughout this process and were appreciated. The span of this project has taken me through some monumental life transitions. To my heavenly Father, thank you for blessing me so abundantly (Proverbs 3:5-6). I am very grateful to all those who played a role in the completion of my doctoral studies and this project. To my chair, Dr. Elaine Anderson, this would not have been possible without your encouragement and dedication to my journey. Your patience and willingness to go the extra mile for all your students did not go unnoticed. Thank you for taking a chance on this project, we certainly went out of our comfort zone getting this completed. Your direction, insightful feedback, and tough love were truly appreciated. Thank you for always taking the time to work with me. To Dr. Laura Dugan, this project would not have been completed without your expertise. My work with you has made me a better professional. I really appreciated all those weeks you worked with me. You stretched my abilities and never gave up on me, thank you so much. To my other committee members, Drs. Mia Bynum, Kevin Roy, and Jacqie Wallen, thank you for your thoughtful suggestions, insight, encouragement, and support. I truly had a wonderful committee to work with in navigating this process. To my family (my furry family, Piggy and Teddy included) and friends, words cannot express how thankful I am to all of you. Mom and Jello, thank you for all you have done and continue to do for me. There are no words I could possibly say to express my gratitude. Our dinners and all those conversations filled with laughs and ii tears have supported me through this incredible adventure, thank you. Missy and Christina (Emma too), thank you for all your years of encouragement and support; all three of you have made me a better person. Watching the birth of my great niece Emma Lynn helped me put things into perspective and filled my heart with joy. Christina, thank you for allowing me that wonderful experience, it changed my life. To my big brother Eddie, you continue to amaze me. To Eddie, Teresa “stop shaking the bed…”, Courtney, and Stephen, you always provided me a place to run to when I was in need, thank you for allowing me to tag along on ALL your excursions. We have had so many laughs as a family. I have been blessed by all of you. To my guardian angels, Poppie, Gram, PaPa, Bam, and dad, you are all with me and continue to encourage me. I was so blessed by your presence in my life; I hope you always felt appreciated. Thank you for the years of support and love, I know you all would be proud. Dad, I wish you could be here to see me graduate, I know you were so proud of me. Gram, thanks for always pushing me to do my best. Thanks for everything I learned from each of you. To my wonderful Dan, thank you for all your prayers, support, and encouragement. Thank you for giving up all those weekends so I could work on my dissertation. You are truly a blessing in my life and continue to be the Christian I aspire to be. You have been my best friend and confidant for the last three years, lets finally go on that vacation we have been talking about. I love you my Dan. Thank you to all my University of Maryland and Family Science friends (you know who you are). I felt loved from the moment I entered the university. It was a iii difficult transition but you all made it so much easier. Thanks Erin, you were my first friend in Family Science, thank you for all your guidance and encouragement. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ ii Table of Contents ................................................................................................................ v List of Tables .................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Review of Literature ....................................................................................... 10 Assault Characteristics ................................................................................................. 10 Theoretical/Conceptual Framework ............................................................................. 13 Addressing Sexual Assault Severity Using an Ecological Model .............................. 18 Advancing the Sexual Victimization Literature .......................................................... 34 Chapter 3: Methods ........................................................................................................... 35 Description of the Data ................................................................................................ 35 Procedure ..................................................................................................................... 38 Sample Design ............................................................................................................. 39 Measures ...................................................................................................................... 40 Dependent Variable: Sexual Assault Severity Scale ................................................... 40 Independent Variables: Ecological Factors ................................................................ 43 Analytic Strategy ......................................................................................................... 45 Chapter 4: Results ............................................................................................................. 52 Sample Description ..................................................................................................... 52 Research Question 1: Can a valid and reliable scale of sexual assault severity be developed? ................................................................................................ 57 Research Question 2: Are there ecological factors that predict severity of sexual assault? .............................................................................................................. 61 Research Question 3: For each race/ethnicity