The ISSAS Model: Understanding the Information Needs of Sexual Assault Survivors on College Campuses

Abstract

Sexual assault is a prevalent, yet underreported and stigmatizing crime that disproportionately affects college-age students. The literature of Library & Information Studies does not currently address the ways in which survivors may seek information after an assault. Blending findings from Psychology and LIS, this study proposes the Information Seeking of Sexual Assault Survivors (ISSAS) model, which examines the seeking process through various stages of healing. The article concludes with directions for future research as well as insights on serving survivors within the academic library while being mindful of one's appropriate professional role. exual assault is a crime that impacts people from all walks of life. The National Crime Victim Survey reported 0.5 sexual assault per 1,000 U.S. women in 2009, 1 with an average of 207,754 individuals being assaulted each year. 2 In the United States, data from a variety of studies demonstrate that sexual assault on college campuses is a very real problem. 3 However, it is difficult to know the full extent of the problem on college campuses, as sexual assault is a widely underreported crime because of the stigma survivors face. 4 This stigma may also affect our ability to fully understand the extent of the problem and has implications for library service in terms of how, when, and if survivors of sexual assault will seek information related to recovery. The prevalence of sexual assault on college and university campuses suggests that improving services to survivors should be a part of LIS research and practice. However, reluctance on the part of survivors of sexual assault to self-identify, and the potential for researchers to do harm inadvertently to this population in the context of research, makes them a difficult population to study and to serve. This article proposes a model for conceptualizing the information-seeking process of survivors of sexual assault through the lens of survivors' healing process. The objective of the Information Seeking of Survivors of Sexual Assault (ISSAS) model is to be informative about how survivors of sexual assault seek information as an aid to providing library services to this population, particularly in academic libraries. The ISSAS model, however, may be applied to sexual assault survivors in other contexts

Personalization Trade-offs in Designing a Dialogue-based Information System for Support-Seeking of Sexual Violence Survivors

“…Vivian, a nurse, also noted that the categorization helps her to optimize solution. However, the high degree of tailoring might ignore emerging needs of sexual violence survivors that they may develop upon recognizing related information [57].…”

The role of civil society in a time of pandemic

“…A large number of studies has been conducted on the information behaviour and needs of vulnerable groups, especially victims of family violence during (quasi) emergencies and the role of NGOs in providing assistance to users, yet, in the Republic of Croatia, it is an unexplored area. 27 Several papers on the information behaviour of vulnerable groups in society have been published. However, no paper has focused on the role of NGOs in providing, finding, and using the necessary information for their users during crisis situations.…”

Sexual Assault Survivors and Information: Needs and Recommendations

“…In terms of actual information needs, the work of Finn et al (2011) and that of Skinner and Gross (2017) provide insight into the kinds of information needs that sexual assault survivors may have. In their research on the information needs of abuse survivors, Finn et al (2011) note that many abuse survivors seek information to understand what constitutes abuse to form an understanding of their experiences and to integrate their experiences into their own personal identities.…”

“…With respect to practical information seeking, Finn et al (2011) found in their study that the main categories of information seeking among abuse survivors are "police information, legal information, and community resource information" (p. 943). In their research on the information needs of sexual assault survivors, Skinner and Gross (2017) found that sexual assault survivors have information needs related to finding legal information, information about reporting to the police, physical health information, and mental and emotional health information. Information needs could also be related to the process of healing from trauma, and so a survivor may seek information about trauma itself, responses to trauma, the effects of trauma, and overcoming trauma (Skinner & Gross, 2017).…”

“…In their research on the information needs of sexual assault survivors, Skinner and Gross (2017) found that sexual assault survivors have information needs related to finding legal information, information about reporting to the police, physical health information, and mental and emotional health information. Information needs could also be related to the process of healing from trauma, and so a survivor may seek information about trauma itself, responses to trauma, the effects of trauma, and overcoming trauma (Skinner & Gross, 2017). Additionally, survivors may also want information about selfcare and well-being, and in this vein, may want to know about community and mental health resources that are available, such as sexual assault centres, support groups, and counselling or therapy services (Skinner & Gross, 2017).…”