Term of Award
Spring 2024
Degree Name
Master of Science, Criminal Justice and Criminology
Document Type and Release Option
Thesis (open access)
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology
Committee Chair
Akiv Dawson
Committee Member 1
Amanda Graham
Committee Member 2
Chad Posick
Committee Member 3
Jessica Schwind
Committee Member 3 Email
jschwind@georgiasouthern.edu
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 created a public health crisis that led to an unprecedented number of school closures. A major concern raised by child advocates, law enforcement, and social service providers was the possible increase in undetected child abuse and maltreatment. Undergirding this concern was the belief that this mitigation effort might place child abuse victims and offenders within proximity for extended periods of time. While this was a significant concern, it has rarely been analyzed empirically. To address this gap in the literature, this thesis investigates how school closures impacted the characteristics of child sexual abuse (CSA) reports in Georgia. Guided by the tenets of Routine Activity Theory (RAT), this study draws on data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) Child File 2019-2021 and uses cross-tabulation and ANOVA models to address three research questions about school closures and CSA reporting. Each question relates to an element of RAT. Results from this study support the tenets of RAT and indicate that COVID-19 school closures impacted the characteristics of CSA reports. Specifically, I observed that school closures were associated with changes in the characteristics of CSA victims, perpetrators, and reporters. The insights gained about the applicability of RAT in studying CSA reporting and the implications for future research, policy, and practice are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Riner, Spencer E., ""Shut Down and Closed Off": A Routine Activity Approach to Investigating the Relationship Between COVID-19 School Closures and Child Sexual Abuse Report Characteristics in Georgia" (2024). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2708.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/2708
Research Data and Supplementary Material
No
Included in
Criminology Commons, Education Commons, Epidemiology Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Public Health Education and Promotion Commons
