Faculty and staff at the McCluskey Center for Violence Prevention (MCVP) engage in research about sexual violence among college students, convening multidisciplinary research teams of students, staff, and faculty. The Center's research projects specifically focus on investigating issues that will help administrators, student groups, and other partners understand peer culture on college campuses, the people who cause harm, harmful behaviors, and how to prevent sexual violence. Research conducted through the MCVP is rooted in power-conscious frameworks and critical methods, with the aim of transforming research to practice. Across all projects and teams, the MCVP has a commitment to including practitioners throughout the research process.
Read more about our research projects below!
MCVP Research Projects
Completed Projects
Exploring College Students’ Learning about Dating and Sexual Relationships
Despite the on-going efforts of college and university educators and administrators, rates of sexual violence among college students have not shifted in over 60 years (Cantor et al., 2020). In an effort to inform prevention education efforts about consent and healthy relationships, researchers explored where, what, and how college students learn about dating and sexual relationships. We engaged with 27 first-year students through interviews, journals, and focus groups during their first semester of college, and identified that students learned about sex and relationships through school, media (pop culture and social media), their parents and families, and their partners and peers. Students also shared their understandings of consent, boundaries, and healthy relationships.
View an infographic with study findings here and a research brief about where students learn about dating and sexual relationships here.
Exploring the Impact of Clery Sexual Assault Timely Warnings on a Campus Community
The Clery Act requires that colleges and universities provide information about crime on and around campuses, both through an annual safety report and through timely warnings when certain crimes happen. Passed in Congress in the 1990s, the Act has been amended several times and creates many challenges for college and university administrators. The purpose of this study was to better understand the impact of timely warning alerts on a campus community by exploring the ways that students and staff respond to a Clery Timely Warning. Researchers conducted interviews with decision-makers, service providers, and students after a timely warning about a sexual assault was issued to the campus community. Further, we surveyed students immediately after the alert went out to determine if and/or how they changed their behavior after a timely warning.
Read more about the research here and here.
Epistemic Injustice and Identity in Sexual Violence Research
Students with minoritized identities, including queer and trans students, students with disabilities, and students of color, experience higher rates of sexual violence than their dominant group peers (Cantor et al., 2020). At the same time, researchers continue to center cisgender, heterosexual, white women in work about sexual violence among college students. In this study, researchers examined 10 years of schlarship on sexual violence about students with minoritized identities to better understand and advocate for more effective research practices. We identified that most research that focused on students with minoritized identities employed quantitative research methods, used frameworks developed for dominant groups, and failed to account for power dynamics in sexual violence.
Read more about the study here.
Understanding the Experiences of Practitioners who Work with Respondents in Sexual Misconduct Cases
Institutions of higher education have begun to establish respondent services programs, where staff provide support and guidance for respondents in institutional sexual misconduct adjudication processes (Henkle et al., 2020). Because formally working with and supporting respondents is new, little guidance exists for practitioners engaging in this work. Consequently, there are likely unmet opportunities for educating those who have caused or may cause harm and missed opportunities to prevent violence on our campuses. To respond to this need, researchers conducted an interview study to understand how 24 higher education professionals who work with respondents in sexual misconduct cases conceptualize their work. We found that respondent services professionals described their roles in a variety of ways, including as providing case management and referrals, explaining adjudication processes, and facilitating education. They also articulated different philosophies about their work with respondents, which surrounded “equity” in processes, supporting the growth of respondents, and promoting healing. They experienced challenges in their work, including feeling ineffective, fearful, and confused; being misunderstood; and experiencing tensions with policy. Respondent services professionals named essential sources of support as trainings, colleagues, and supervisors.
Read the full report here and view a webinar discussing study findings below.
On (Not) Speaking the Same Language: Understanding How College Students Describe Intimate Partner Violence (completed)
In this study, researchers examined the language students use to describe their experiences with sexual violence and perceptions of campus safety versus the language used in university materials. We found that students tend to describe experiences through behaviors (i.e., manipulation, control) rather than terminology encompassing those behaviors (i.e., domestic violence). Students also don’t regard “campus safety” measures as connected to their own relationship experiences. Researchers conclude that this disconnect of terminology and understanding has far-reaching implications for research and prevention measures.
Read the full report here and the journal article here.
Projects in Progress
Survivor Perceptions of Accountability, Justice, and Healing
Researchers have demonstrated that the current reliance on Title IX adjudication processes as responses to sexual violence does not meet the needs of survivors, especially minoritized survivors, and that these processes can be harmful for survivors (Gartner et al., 2024; Lorenz et al., 2022). Thus, insights into the perceptions of survivors regarding justice, accountability, and healing are necessary to create institutional responses in line with survivors’ actual needs for healing and justice. The purpose of this study is to understand how college student survivors of color envision justice, healing, and accountability in the context of sexual violence.
Understanding the Impact of Federal Policy on Sexual Misconduct Work in Higher Education
Three federal laws guide college and university response to sexual misconduct: Title IX, The Clery Act, and the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act (Campus SaVE; Dunn, 2014). Despite increased attention to sexual misconduct among college students, rates of sexual violence remain consistently high, especially for students with minoritized identities (Cantor et al., 2020). In this study, we seek to understand the impact of federal policy on campus responses to sexual misconduct. Specifically, we seek to explore how staff and administrators engaging in sexual misconduct response and prevention efforts conceptualize their work and how federal policy impacts their work.
Stay Tuned for More!