Rebecca Campbell, Ph.D.
Professor
Ecological-Community Psychology

Core Faculty > Rebecca Campbell

Rebecca Campbell Receives APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest (Early Career)

At APA’s 2008 conference in Boston, Rebecca Campbell received the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest (Early Career). This award recognizes scholars who have advanced psychology as a science and contributed significantly to the public interest while still in the early stages of their careers.

Dr. Campbell was honored for her substantial theoretical, empirical and practical contributions in the area of sexual violence against women. The primary focus of her research program has been examining how the legal, medical, and mental health systems respond to the needs of rape victims, and how that response affects victims’ recovery outcomes. Dr. Campbell’s research findings have revealed that rape survivors are often denied help by the legal and medical systems, and what help they do receive often leaves them feeling blamed, doubted, and re-victimized. These help-seeking difficulties are associated with significantly increased post-traumatic stress. Her research has also empirically substantiated that the services provided by rape victim advocates from community-based rape crisis centers significantly decreases the likelihood that victims experience secondary victimization in their post-assault help seeking experiences with the legal and medical systems. Several follow-up validation studies with diverse samples of rape survivors have confirmed these results.

Dr. Campbell’s research and public interest activities have had a discernable positive impact on the lives of rape survivors and violence against women organizations at the local, state, and national level. For example, her research was used to provide empirical support for the re-authorization of the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Her research was highlighted as the strongest empirical work to date on the services provided by rape crisis centers, their role in the prevention of secondary victimization, and the positive impact they have on victims’ recovery outcomes. Due at least in part to her work, VAWA was not only re-authorized, but funding for rape crisis services actually increased.

Second, Dr. Campbell’s research has been instrumental in evaluating the efficacy of new programs to improve services to rape victims and prevent secondary victimization. Sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) programs were created by the nursing profession in the 1990s and hold great promise for an alternative, community-based approach for helping with victims post-assault needs. Dr. Campbell’s research on SANE programs has helped establish the utility of these programs for addressing victims’ mental health needs. In 2006, she received the Scientific Achievement Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Science of Forensic Nursing from the International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN). Notably, Dr. Campbell is the first psychologist to receive this award from IAFN. Congratulations!