Graduation Semester and Year
Summer 2025
Language
English
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work
Department
Social Work
First Advisor
Rebecca L. Mauldin
Second Advisor
Poco Kernsmith
Third Advisor
Genevieve Graaf
Fourth Advisor
Rachel Voth Schrag
Fifth Advisor
Jason Travers
Abstract
People with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) experience sexual violence (SV) at disproportionately high rates compared to nondisabled individuals. One risk factor contributing to higher SV victimization rates for this population is sexual consent knowledge gaps. This dissertation uses sexual script theory to explore sexual consent knowledge (i.e., sexual scripts for consent) among 19 college students with IDD, utilizing a mixed methods convergent design. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to qualitatively explore the content of participants’ sexual scripts for consent, while egocentric social network analysis was used to assess the sources informing these scripts. Results were merged to compare script content between respondents based upon a typology of predominant discussion network relationship types (i.e., diverse, restricted, family, friend, or disability support staff).
Overall, participants’ sexual scripts for consent largely aligned with an affirmative consent model and included many protective factors such as verbal communication strategies, shared responsibilities between partners, and a need for consent in every instance of contact and for each type of touch. However, some concerning knowledge gaps in scripts were the age of consent, impact of intoxication, consent processes within ongoing romantic relationships, and assessing partner comfort during contact. All participants were able to name at least one person who had given them information about sexual consent in the past, although most of these conversations happened only occasionally. The most common predominant relationship types among sexual consent discussion networks were diverse and restricted, with moderate representation of disability support staff and family. There were no clear findings from mixed methods analyses, likely due to restrictions of the study methods and sample size. Findings provide insights for lessening the disproportionate impact of SV on people with IDD through measures like cognitively accessible healthy relationship programming and provision of comprehensive evidence-based sex education in inclusive postsecondary education programs.
Keywords
Sexual violence, Primary prevention, Intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, Reflexive thematic analysis, Egocentric social network analysis, Sexual consent, Sexual script theory
Disciplines
Social Work
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Westmore, Megan R., "Sexual Scripts for Consent Among College Students with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities: A Mixed Methods Analysis" (2025). Social Work Dissertations. 194.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/socialwork_dissertations/194