Date of Graduation
5-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
Journalism
Advisor/Mentor
Brown, Lucy
Committee Member/Reader
Ryan, Jeffrey
Committee Member/Second Reader
Bouchillon, Brandon
Committee Member/Third Reader
Gruenewald, Jeff
Abstract
This study employed a narrative intervention experiment aimed at challenging college students' acceptance of rape myths (RMA). Rape myths are erroneous beliefs that shift blame for sexual violence (SV) from perpetrators to victims and encompass stereotypical misconceptions about women. Three authentic narratives, shared anonymously on social media by college victims of sexual violence, were selected for their varying levels of graphic detail and situational context. The study's objective was not only to interrogate RMA among college students but also to discover which of the three narratives was most effective in reducing RMA among readers, utilizing the Transportation Theory as a theoretical framework. A total of 464 current undergraduate students were categorized into four subgroups based on gender and affiliation with Greek-letter organizations, both identified as independent variables predictive of students' general attitudes toward SV, RMA, and engagement with the narratives. The findings revealed, in contrast to the female subgroups, both male subgroups, Greek and Non-Greek, responded negatively to the narrative intervention experiment, exhibiting increased rape myth acceptance at the posttest stage. Furthermore, the narrative intervention experiment yielded positive results for both female subgroups, demonstrating decreases in RMA at the posttest. This study underscores the critical need for further exploration into how, and why, male students reacted negatively to the narrative intervention. It emphasizes the importance of implementing interventions to disrupt negative beliefs among male students before they solidify and to challenge them from acquiescing to destructive rape myths in the first place.
Keywords
Sexual Violence, Victim Narratives, Greek-letter Organizations, Victimization, Storytelling
Citation
Carmack, G. (2024). Storytelling for Social Change: Using Victim Narratives from Social Media to Disrupt Rape Myth Acceptance among College Students. Journalism Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jouruht/9
Included in
Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Social Influence and Political Communication Commons, Social Media Commons, Women's Studies Commons
Comments
Every time I upload as a PDF, the formatting goes crazy See if this word doc works.