Date of Award

Spring 6-13-2025

Document Type

Doctoral Research Paper

Degree Name

Psy.D.

Organizational Unit

Graduate School of Professional Psychology

First Advisor

Alyssa Oland

Second Advisor

Katie Dorsey

Third Advisor

Ryan Rogers

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords

African American women, Sexual objectification, Phenomenological

Abstract

Issues of sexual objectification have been intertwined in America’s history since enslavement. This phenomenology study aimed to explore African American women’s lived experiences with sexual objectification and to understand the essential themes and conceptualizations that African American women attribute to sexual objectification. Through semi-structured interviews with a criterion sampling of African American women, the research sought to identify core themes surrounding sexual objectification experiences. In the results of this study, it was found that this population conceptualizes their sexual objectification experiences through seven themes: Earliest Sexual Objectification Experiences (SOE), SOE, Responses to SOE, Parental Protection, Reasons for SOE, SOE places, and Navigating SOE. These findings shed light on African American women's unique perspectives. The results of this study demonstrate a need for mental health providers working with this population to become aware of the ways that these experiences can affect and inform treatment.

Copyright Date

4-25-2025

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Alaigra V.R. Usher

Provenance

Received from author

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

50 pgs

File Size

1.7 MB

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