The experience of exercise: women survivors of sexual violence

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dc.contributor.author Smith-Marek, Erika Nicole en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2015-04-22T16:58:14Z
dc.date.available 2015-04-22T16:58:14Z
dc.date.issued 2015-04-22
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/2097/18972
dc.description.abstract Sexual violence is pervasive in the lives of women across the globe. Survivors commonly experience a range of mental health conditions following sexual trauma, rendering the development and examination of effective treatments to be critical. Preliminary research supports the use of adjunct exercise interventions for the treatment of trauma. In order to explore the impact of exercise interventions for the treatment of sexual violence, specifically, it is necessary to first come to understand survivors’ experiences of exercise. To better understand the experience of exercise among women survivors of sexual violence, a phenomenological study, informed by a feminist perspective, was conducted with survivors of sexual violence receiving services at a rape crisis center. Data analysis uncovered four themes that capture the survivors’ experience: exercising (and avoiding exercising) fosters safety, exercising is risky, past trauma restricts exercise choices, and exercising is beneficial. Survivors’ choices related to exercise were found to be conscious and deliberate and were impacted by their stage of recovery. Implications for future research and practice are discussed. en_US
dc.language.iso en_US en_US
dc.publisher Kansas State University en
dc.subject Exercise en_US
dc.subject Rape en_US
dc.subject Self-determination Theory en_US
dc.subject Sexual Assault en_US
dc.subject Trauma en_US
dc.subject Yoga en_US
dc.title The experience of exercise: women survivors of sexual violence en_US
dc.type Dissertation en_US
dc.description.degree Doctor of Philosophy en_US
dc.description.level Doctoral en_US
dc.description.department School of Family Studies and Human Services en_US
dc.description.advisor Joyce Baptist en_US
dc.subject.umi Individual & Family Studies (0628) en_US
dc.subject.umi Kinesiology (0575) en_US
dc.subject.umi Mental Health (0347) en_US
dc.date.published 2015 en_US
dc.date.graduationmonth May en_US


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