Heather R. Hlavka

Normalizing Sexual Violence Young Women Account for Harassment and Abuse

Despite high rates of gendered violence among youth, very few young women report these incidents to authority figures. This study moves the discussion from the question of why young women do not report them toward how violence is produced, maintained, and normalized among youth. The girls in this study often did not name what law, researchers, and educators commonly identify as sexual harassment and abuse. How then, do girls name and make sense of victimization? Exploring violence via the lens of compulsory heterosexuality highlights the relational dynamics at play in this naming process. Forensic interviews with youth revealed patterns of heteronormative scripts appropriated to make sense of everyday harassment, violence, coercion, and consent. Findings inform discussions about the links between dominant discourses and sexual subjectivities as we try to better understand why many regard violence a normal part of life.

Revictimizing the Victims? Interviewing Women About Interpersonal Violence

Research on womens experiences of interpersonal violence has grown dramatically and, as a result, the ethical issues surrounding this research are a concern. Although regulatory procedures ensure that research participants are protected from undue risk, little is known about the impact of victimization research on participants. In this study, the authors examine the differences in the abilities of a “vulnerable” population (142 incarcerated women) to complete interviews about the extent and nature of their violent experiences. Using quantitative and qualitative analysis, the authors assess whether the prevalence and incidence of womens victimization experiences, other stressful life events, and personal backgrounds are related to response rates to specific questions and completion rates. The authors find that the cumulative effect of violence over the life course has a significant relationship to womens disclosure of sensitive issues and that providing multiple avenues for disclosure of prior victimization is critical for facilitating a positive outcome for research participants.

The Use of Anatomical Dolls as a Demonstration Aid in Child Sexual Abuse Interviews: A Study of Forensic Interviewers' Perceptions

Given that most cases of child sexual abuse lack external corroborating evidence, childrens verbal accounts of their experiences are of paramount importance to investigators. Forensic interviewers are charged with interviewing child victims and oftentimes use anatomical dolls. Yet, research on dolls has not caught up to practice in the field. Using a multimethod approach, this study presents new evidence on the function and value of using anatomical dolls as a demonstration aid. With a standardized protocol, forensic interviewers from an urban Midwestern Childrens Advocacy Center evaluated the purpose and value of anatomical dolls in a forensic setting. Relationships between child characteristics and interviewer-perceived value were examined using descriptive, bivariate findings and case examples. Using a large and diverse sample of children, the study found that forensic interviewers perceived children as able and willing to use dolls for purposes of clarification, consistency, distancing, and communication. Results are discussed in the context of real-world applications and best practices and provide an evidence-based foundation for future research.

Exoffender Accounts of Successful Reentry from Prison

Reentry research often focuses on those who have recidivated, with little work addressing the experiences of those who successfully reintegrate into their communities. This study examines individual accounts of successful transitions from prison to community in the months and years postrelease. Interview data point to three metanarratives used to make sense of reentry: as reverence, as reunification, and as reconstruction. In different ways, each narrative centers on connections to important others through faith, family, or community. We discuss the legitimacy of the self-narratives offered, and add to a growing body of work exploring reentry via the lens of the exoffender.

Narratives of Commitment: Looking for Work with a Criminal Record

Unemployment is one of the most often cited barriers to reentry, yet we know little about how understandings of work inform the job-search strategies of men and women with felon status. How and why do individuals remain committed to the legitimate labor market and continue their search for employment? We categorized interviews from 38 Milwaukee County residents into four narrative typologies that (1) reflected understandings of work and job market challenges and (2) mapped onto reported job-search strategies. Findings inform discussions about reentry and stigma that have yet to draw on narratives of commitment to the labor market.

Child sexual abuse and embodiment

Purpose – This study examined the often minimized relationship between child sexual abuse and the body and asked: How, and by what means, is the body experienced by children after sexual abuse? The purpose of this work is to present childrens interpretations of embodiment in their own words. n nMethodology – Data include 10 years of semi-structured videotaped forensic interviews of children and youth seen for reported cases of sexual abuse. Utilizing an analytic-inductive method, childrens verbal reports of sexual abuse were examined from a symbolic interactionist perspective in terms of re/productions of the body. n nFindings – Discourse analyses revealed how children evaluated the body and negotiated related emotions. Youth ascribed meaning to the body as both materiality and social interaction. The body was experienced as object and somatic presence, as a marked or stigmatized body, and as a means of control and resistance. Through their own words, youth revealed how violence draws attention to embodiment, power, and subjectivity. n nValue – Despite increased public and policy attention, limited research has explored how children describe their experiences of sexual abuse. This study addresses this serious gap in the literature by approaching the sexually abused body as a critical site of social meaning and social order. Of significant import, this work brings childrens voices to the forefront; it shows how youth actively negotiate embodiment and expands work with child participants. It will be of value to practitioners working with children and to scholars in the fields of sexual victimization, sociology of the body and children/childhood.

Intersectionality and Credibility in Child Sexual Assault Trials

Children remain largely absent from sociolegal scholarship on sexual violence. Taking an intersectional approach to the analysis of attorneys’ strategies during child sexual assault trials, this article argues that legal narratives draw on existing gender, racial, and age stereotypes to present legally compelling evidence of credibility. This work builds on Crenshaw’s focus on women of color, emphasizing the role of structures of power and inequality in constituting the conditions of children’s experiences of adjudication. Using ethnographic observations of courtroom jury trials, transcripts, and court records, three narrative themes of child credibility emerged: invisible wounds, rebellious adolescents, and dysfunctional families. Findings show how attorneys use these themes to emphasize the child’s unmarked body, imperceptible emotional responses, rebellious character, and harmful familial environments. The current study fills a gap in sexual assault research by moving beyond trial outcomes to address cultural narratives within the court that are inextricably embedded in intersectional dimensions of power and the reproduction of social status.

Speaking of Stigma and the Silence of Shame: Young Men and Sexual Victimization

This study addresses male sexual victimization as that which is both invisible and incomprehensible. Forensic interviews with young men following reports of suspected sexual assault reveal patterns of heteronormative scripts appropriated to make sense of sexual victimization. These scripts show that victimhood is largely incompatible with dominant notions of masculinity. Sexual coercion and assault embodied threat to boys’ (hetero)gendered selves, as they described feelings of shame and embarrassment, disempowerment, and emasculation. These masks of masculinity create barriers to disclosure and help to explain the serious underreporting of male sexual victimization. Questions of coercion and consent are addressed, as it relates to matters of legitimacy, sexuality, and power. With few exceptions, boys’ constructions of sexual violence have received little attention. This study adds the voices of young men to the developing empirical and theoretical research on male victims of sexual assault.