An Exploratory Examination of Student to Professor Disclosures of Crime Victimization

Prior qualitative research has demonstrated that female college students may utilize their professors as support providers when they experience sexual assault and intimate partner violence victimization. To further explore this phenomenon, the present study used a random sampling design on two college campuses to examine the following questions: (a) Are student disclosures of crime victimization a common occurrence for college professors? (b) What is the nature of college professors' most recent disclosure of crime victimization? and (c) Do professor characteristics predict receiving a student disclosure of victimization? Implications of these findings as well as directions for future research will be discussed.