Alcohol’s Role in Social Reactions to Sexual Assault Disclosures: A Qualitative Study of Informal Support Dyads

• In Event: Reactions to Survivors and the Impact of Disclosure on Informal Support Providers from a Dyadic Interview Study

Abstract

Studies of informal support dyads are lacking to understand the disclosure of sexual assaults and social reactions informal supporters make to victims. This study of 19 informal support dyads using interview data examined how three relationship types: spouses, family, and friends differ in social reactions to sexual assaults in the context of drinking or alcohol problems. It was expected that alcohol’s role in responses to such disclosures would differ depending on relationship type as well as role alcohol played in the assault and/or in the survivor’s life or those in her social network, including the perpetrator. Results show that alcohol has mixed effects and that alcohol-related assaults as well as contexts where victims, perpetrators and/or their support networks have alcohol problems need further study to understand how such disclosures and social reactions occur and the impact they have on survivors, their relationships, and recovery.

Authors

• Sarah E Ullman, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Katherine Lorenz, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Anne Kirkner, University of Illinois at Chicago