GENDER SCHEMAS AFTER SEXUAL VIOLENCE: WHAT ARE THE PERCEIVED ROLES AND EXPECTATIONS FOR CISGENDER WOMEN?

The current study aims to look at the cultural and gender values prevalent in the US that contribute to sexual violence. With such a high occurrence of sexual violence, the qualitative study explores the ways in which worldviews and gender stereotypes may perpetuate sexual assault and rape. Although there is considerable literature on gender role socialization and the prevalence of sexual violence, there is noticeably a gap of qualitative research focusing on the implications of sexual violence on gender schemas. In an effort to understand gender schemas after sexual violence, the present study explored the experiences of 15 cisgender women who experienced sexual violence as an adult. A qualitative grounded theory design employed individual initial interviews, follow-up interviews, and feedback interviews. Through grounded theory analysis procedures, a conceptual model emerged to expand the literature pertaining to gender schemas after sexual violence among cisgender women. The core category is Gender as Operating Principle. The women in this study anticipated the consequences of their gender roles by integrating the remaining conceptual categories in their internalized experience of sexual violence. The ways in which they conceptualized the complexities of power included (a) Performing Gender; (b) Internalized Responsibility; (c) Normalization of Sexual Violence; (d) Reconciling the Self; (e) Consistency of Gender Roles; (f) Looking at the Way Context Impacts Women. I utilize participants’ words as illustrative examples of the conceptual model. The conceptual model may be used to inform counseling psychologists about the individual and societal impact of sexual violence