Making visible : an exploration of trainer conceptualization of program content related to gender, racial, and sexual identity within college sexual assault prevention programs

While research makes clear that individuals’ gender, racial, and sexual identities and their intersections impact experiences of and responses to sexual and gender-based violence, the literature on college sexual assault prevention programs reflects an overwhelming absence of this type of identity-based program content. This Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) study explored the experience of sexual assault prevention program trainers for college campuses conceptualizing their program content related to gender, racial, and sexual identity. Through the theoretical framework of Socialization Theory (Hart, 1991), focused attention was given to understanding how trainers’ professional and organizational socialization impact this phenomenon. This study’s findings make visible the significance of sexual assault prevention program content that focuses on the intersections of sexism, racism, and queerphobia and the challenges and rewards trainers experience in conceptualizing this program content’s inclusion and/or exclusion. This study found that while it might appear on the surface that trainers are making simplistic, binary decisions about the inclusion or exclusion of identity-based content, that trainers actually grapple with the complexity of this content and seek nuanced ways to address marginalized and privileged student experiences. This study concludes with contributions to theory and research, and provides implications for practice.