Each year in March, we celebrate Women’s History Month and take time to highlight the many accomplishments and contributions of women throughout history. Women have been fighting for their rights for hundreds of years, and are still advocating to this day for expanded measures toward protection of bodily autonomy, equal pay, assistance in childcare and other issues.
One of the many topics surrounding women’s equality is how to combat gender-based violence. Dr. Rebecca Campbell, a University Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Michigan State, is an outstanding researcher working to address this issue. Campbell specializes in the study of sexual assault and how victims’ help-seeking experiences with the legal and medical systems affect their psychological and physiological well-being.
According to Campbell, the World Health Organization defines gender-based violence as a global pandemic, one that happens disproportionately to women, girls and gender minorities, and can impede the economic stability and mental and physical health of those affected. Epidemiological data also shows that rates of sexual assault are higher among Black, native and Indigenous populations.
Campbell has been conducting community-based research for over 25 years, working to better understand how legal, medical, mental health, community and campus systems address survivors’ needs while suggesting solutions and policy changes using the results of this participatory action research. She stresses the importance of realizing that different populations experience these problems in different ways, and strategies for prevention are not a catch-all; women, transgender folks, and racial and ethnic minorities can all have unique sets of needs.
“I think where we need to go is realizing that the solutions, the response, the prevention, all needs to be tailored, and that what works for prevention at a large university, for example, will be very multi-faceted. We are a very large, diverse community here at MSU, and we really need to be thinking about what are the services, the prevention programs that fit best for different types of communities and audiences?”
A Community Psychology approach
Campbell has been interested in the field of psychology for much of her life, and has always felt a calling toward working with individuals who have been affected by trauma. Upon taking a women’s and gender studies course that required a community practicum, she also discovered a passion for conducting research that draws directly upon individuals and their experiences. She received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Illinois, after which she made the decision to attend Michigan State for her Master’s and PhD, both in Ecological-Community Psychology.
Ecological community psychology is something that folks outside of the field may not be familiar with. Campbell describes it as a combination of where she does her work, and who she does it with. The ‘where,’ more often than not, isn’t in her office or a lab, but out in the community working directly with residents. For her purposes, this could mean working with individuals in medical, legal or law enforcement organizations, as well as people who are being directly affected by some of the issues she is looking into, to better understand what each group is experiencing, their needs and how to better address these problems. This method of research is known as participatory action research.
“You really work on it together, which means you need to be open to new ideas, different approaches to the way you’re doing things,” she explains. “You have less control than you might normally have, but in my experience, once you get over the feeling of that, you end up learning so much more, and I feel like I’ve grown more as a researcher because of it.”
Unraveling of a thread
Campbell studies a variety of different agencies and social systems surrounding gender-based violence. She describes this process as the unraveling of a thread, pulling more and more and uncovering the many layers and depth to this issue. Sexual trauma and violence is a sensitive topic, one that takes time, patience and understanding to address, and often involves understanding a variety of different perspectives, including ones that may be problematic or steeped in years of bias. As a serious social problem that often involves legal issues and healthcare needs, both physical and mental, for victims, Campbell needs to study how these different systems can better serve the needs of those affected.
One of the more common and fundamental issues is victim blaming, as well as a general disbelief in the victim’s accusations. This could manifest as the belief that a victim did not experience a serious crime, or is trying to blame or punish someone with a false accusation. Another is being perceived as not having actually experienced a serious trauma because they aren’t acting ‘distressed’ enough.
“As a researcher, I’m curious about what has led them to these conclusions,” she said. “What in their training or their organizational culture led them to say that to survivors for all of those years? And with survivors, to get the companion story of it, and how it made them feel when they were told that they didn’t believe you, that their case wasn’t worth investigating, and then bringing those two perspectives together to highlight what needs to change.”
From here, Cambell can begin to offer suggestions to new training or policies that can remedy some of these issues. She may work with medical practitioners, training them on the neurobiology of trauma so that they understand emotional responses that may be perceived as signs of lying, but are actually symptoms of trauma. Or, as in the case of her work with the Detroit Police department, come up with a researched-based model for how to better handle the testing of rape kits.
The emotional burden of research
This type of work often comes with a significant emotional burden for the researcher as well. Campbell wrote about her own struggles with this in Emotionally Involved: The Impact of Researching Rape. It’s also an important element of her teachings in the classroom.
“When you’re out in the field, you bear witness to all kinds of things, and it will impact you as a human being. Being a researcher does not take away your humanity. There is room for emotion in research. Those proverbial gut reactions we get in the field are really important and might be telling you something that can be very useful in your research,” Campbell explains.
In addition to this, Campbell uses the classroom to teach students about research skills and tools they will utilize throughout their career. She particularly enjoys helping them develop their confidence and skills so that they become more comfortable doing work within the community.
Gender-based violence is an issue that occurs worldwide but can also hit close to home. Campbell is passionate about keeping Michigan State’s community safe and fostering a trauma-informed culture among students, faculty and staff.
“Oftentimes, the very first responders to gender-based violence are the friends and family members of survivors,” she said. “So it behooves all of us to learn how to respond to disclosures of sexual assault in an informed way. Things like, what should you say when someone discloses that this has happened to them, and how can you support them and get them connected to the right resources?”
Honorees’ views are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the College of Social Science.