1. The Likelihood of Experiencing Violence Among a University Sample: Exploring Length of
Enrollment, Campus Resource Utilization, Residence and Social Experiences
Laura L. Talbott-Forbes1, PhD, MCHES; Jonathan C. Davis, PhD, LMFT2; Larrell L. Wilkinson1, PhD, MSPH, CHES; Tiffani Kennedy1, BA;
Jessica L. Altice, MAEd1
1University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of Human Studies, 2 Samford University,
Department of Human Development and Family Life Education
Discussion/Implications
• Collaboration with the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and
Planning was extremely important to the collection of this data
and provided access to the student population.
• A substantial number of students know someone who has
been a victim or perpetrator of power-based personal violence.
• We were not able to asses if the aforementioned victims or
perpetrators were students as well. Additional research needs
to be done in this area.
• Students appear to be concerned about personal safety and
have taken measures to protect themselves while on campus.
Programming geared towards teaching students how to safely
protect themselves could be beneficial.
• College health professionals should implement power-based
violence educational and prevention interventions.
• Define power based personal violence.
• Identify safety precautions students take while on campus.
• Explore prevalence of dating violence and sexual assault among
student population.
• Explain how results may be applied.
Learning Objectives
Data Collection Methods
• A sample of 2,000 students was generated based on Spring 2014
enrollment data.
• The sample was based on gender demographics for the current
undergraduate population which was 58% female and 42% male.
• The 2,000 students were sent email requests over a two week
period. Additionally, the requests were sent out in groups of 100 to
prevent being flagged as SPAM.
• The campus climate survey was administered online in the
Summer of 2014 via Qualtrics, an online survey data collection
tool.
• The campus climate survey was constructed based on multiple
psychometrically sound instruments (i.e., Sexual Experiences
Questionnaire, Adverse Childhood Experiences Study) and were
guided by the White House Taskforce to Protect Students from
Sexual Assault (www.notalone.gov).
• Participation in the study was completely voluntary and
participants were allowed to stop the survey at any time.
• University IRB approved this research protocol.
Perception of Violence
• 18.1% of students believe they will experience power-based
personal violence in their lifetime
• 28.9% of students think alcohol and drug abuse cause most dating
violence
• 17.2% of students believe some violence is caused by the way
women treat men
Data from students completing the survey (N=204) related to the
2013-2014 school year.
Dating Violence
• 17.7% of students had experienced dating violence prior to the
2013-2014 school year
• Of the abovementioned students, 8% of them were enrolled at UAB
at the time the violence occurred
• 42.2% of students knew someone else who experienced violence
from a dating partner
• 25.5 of students knew someone who had been a perpetrator of
dating violence
Sexual Assault
• 14.7% of students were sexually assaulted prior to the 2013-2014
school year
• Of the abovementioned students, 6.4% of them were enrolled at
UAB at the time of the assault
• 24.4% of students knew someone else who had been sexually
assaulted
• 13.2% of students knew someone who was a perpetrator of sexual
assault
Descriptive Statistics
• Power-based personal violence is any form of violence that has a
primary motivator of the assertion of power, control, and/or
intimidation to harm another person. The types of power-based
personal violence include stalking, dating violence, and sexual
assault.
• Women aged 16 to 24 experience intimate partner violence at
higher rates than other age groups (DOJ, 2000).
• One in four college women report surviving rape or attempted rape
at some point in their lifetime (Fisher, Cullen & Turner, 2000;
Tjaden & Thoennes, 2006).
• 12.7 million people are raped, physically abused, or stalked by their
partners in one year (No More, 2015).
• The purpose of this poster is to enable the learner to distinguish
between different types of power-based personal violence, focus on
students’ experiences with violence, safety measures taken by
students, and to share how findings may be applied to participant’s
home institutions.
Introduction
Results
Alabama Statistics
• Of all violent offenses reported in Alabama, 16% (3,186) were
domestic violence incidents (Alabama Criminal Justice, 2013).
• In 2013, Jefferson county reported 5 homicides, 35 rapes, 19
robberies, 496 aggravated assaults, and 4,743 assaults related to
domestic violence (Alabama Criminal Justice, 2013).
• Alabama reported 1,978 rapes in 2013 and 213 of those rapes were
domestic violence rapes (Alabama Criminal Justice, 2013).
Graph 1. Personal safety items carried by students in order to reduce risk of
violence on campus
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
30.0%
35.0%
Mace Pepper
Spray
Personal
Alarm
Keys Knife Stun Gun Gun
Students
Personal Safety Items Used