Date of Award

5-2022

Document Type

Project

Degree Name

Master of Social Work

Department

School of Social Work

First Reader/Committee Chair

Smith, Laurie

Abstract

Sexual violence is of significant concern on college campuses. Concurrently, college aged students regularly use social media platforms as socializing agents. Little is known concerning the influence of social media usage on the way college students perceive sexual violence. Feminist theories were used to conceptualize ideas involving perceptions of sexual violence. This research used quantitative measures to examine the influence of social media usage on college-aged students’ perspectives of sexual violence as measured by consent attitudes. Data was obtained from Reddit users. Correlation analysis found a relationship between hours spent per day on social media and positive attitudes toward establishing consent. Other findings indicated a correlation between gender and indirect behavioral approach to consent. Recommendation for future research is to examine significant correlation found among sexuality and ethnicity. Implications for social work identify areas of consideration in clinical practice such as assessments and treatment planning. Through this research, social workers obtained knowledge to understand the role social media plays on socialization of attitudes toward sexual consent and sexual violence.

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