"What has it been like for you to talk with me today?": the impact of participating in interview research on rape survivors

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to conduct a qualitative study of how participating in in-depth interviews impacted rape survivors. These interviews contained both open-ended, free response section and closed-ended, standardized assessments. The implementation of the interviews was informed by principles of feminist interviewing, which emphasized reducing hierarchy between the interviewer and interviewee, providing information and resources, and creating an emotionally supportive and compassionate setting. Narrative data were analyzed from rape survivors (N = 92) regarding how they were affected by participating in these interviews. Results suggested that the overwhelming majority of survivors found the interview to be a helpful, supportive, and insightful experience. Additional analyses revealed that the feminist interviewing principles were noticed and appreciated by the participants and contributed to their overall positive participation outcomes.