General and culture-specific factors influencing African American women's reporting patterns and perceived social support following sexual assault: An exploratory investigation

This exploratory investigation is one of the first studies to empirically investigate both general and culture-specific factors influencing African American women's post-sexual assault behaviors. Twenty-nine African American sexual assault survivors completed a paper-and-pencil survey and a semistructured interview. Findings from this investigation offer some support suggesting that both general and culture-specific factors contribute to women's decision not to report the assault to police. In addition, the majority of the participants disclosed the last incident to significant and generalized others. Moreover, the majority of the disclosing participants reported receiving, on average, positive reinforcement from the confidant(s). These findings provide some support to counter previous research suggesting that Black women and men are insensitive to sexual assault victims.