Prevention of Sexual Assault for Young People in Casual Relationships - Research Proposal Example

Evaluation Proposal An Evaluation Proposal to prevent sexual assault for young people in casual and dating relationships Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary 3 2. Evaluation rationale 4 3. Sexual Abuse 5 4. Sex Education 5 5. Important stakeholders to consult 6 6. Aims and Objectives 6 7. Evaluation Design 7 8. Ethical Responsibilities and Processes 8 9. Data Collection Methods 8 10. Dissemination Strategy 10 11. References 11 12. Appendix: Gantt Chart Timeline 12 Executive Summary In modern times, behavior change and sexual education have been the subject of discussion across many discussion and debates tackling issues of relationships in young people. In fact, the gravity of the matter has brought the need for ethics in sexual practices across the board, whether it is for people in relationships or in marriage contexts. There are several reports and incidents where people have suffered in one way or another because of lack of ethics in the way they relate; this is especially for people who are still in the dating process. Sex education programs are designed to give people knowledge and insight on better ways or dating and managing their relationship. It is important to understand that parties in a dating relationship are expected to treat each other decently and with mutual respect, there should not be a case where one’s values overrides and undermines another. When this happens, one party is deemed to suffer; a case where a person is forced into sexual activity without his own volition constitutes a sexual assault, which is an offense according to the law. This proposal presents an evaluation of how people behave in dating relationships and show trust and respect for each other. It examines information from primary and secondary research methods through surveys and interviews as well as other research reports respectively. It gives some of the ethical considerations that are essential for dating relationships and the need for mutual respect and concern for both parties while dating and general interaction. Evaluation Rationale Sexual or sex ethics, as commonly referred, are ethics that deal with various issues surrounding human sexuality, in this case, they include dating, flirting and all other forms of human sexual behavior. On a general perspective, sexual ethics revolves around all community and personal standards that are held in regard to conduct of all kinds of interpersonal relationships. In this understanding, this subject includes issues pertaining consent, dating and other sexual relationships before and during marriage as well as questions on gender and power. It is important to realize that that issues of gender and power feature prominently in sexual behavior, the manner in which individuals relate in the society as well as the impacts of individual behavior in public health concerns. Ethical dilemmas have always been main agendas across human rights discussions; they often feature in circumstances where there is significant power difference between the parties involved (Yadegarfard & Bahramabadian 2013). Additionally, it may also appear where there is evidence of pre-existing professional relationship between parties; this is where there is a significant age difference or where consent from one or both parties is partial or fully uncertain. Sexual ethics can also include ethics of procreation; this is where parties in a certain kind of relationship are expected to observe certain kinds of mutual behavior towards each other. In the recent past, there has been a public outcry about the deteriorating level of respect and concern for parties that are dating and those in marital and pre-marital relationships (Ott 2010). Several cases have been reported with law enforcement agencies and other organizations about cases of rape and other forms of sexual assault. Young people who are mostly in the pre-marital relationships have often been criticized for not knowing how to maintain better romance and sexual relationships; they are often overtaken by their emotions and the need for immediate satisfaction at the expense of productive long-term relationships. Sexual abuse Sexual abuse, also called molestation is the process of forcing an undesired sexual activity by one person upon another, without the person’s own will or consent, the people may be in a dating relationship, marriage or none of them. Many case reports from agencies dealing with matters of women and young people, as well as police departments have been recorded (Mondal & Gupta 2013). Many women and young girls have always been victims of this offense from their male counterparts; this is often when they are in dating relationships or not. There are several cases where supposed lovers or secret lovers have raped women and young girls, in other cases, the aggressors have not always been people dating; they are those who are overtaken by lusts and other negative influences. The increasing rate of this incidents have necessitated the need for this evaluation to ascertain the exact need for this kinds of behavior as well as emphasize and advocate the need for adherence of sex and sexual ethics during dating relationships and general life in the society. Sex Education It has been estimated that many young people are finding it hard to make better decisions concerning their sexual relationships because of an acute shortage of sex education. Sex education has been cited as the chief source of sex ethics, which young people are expected to learn and apply in their lives (Grant 2006). This research evaluation will seek to examine the various ways by which sex education programs have been designed, and the way the particular programs are being implemented in secondary schools, youth-based organizations as well as other institutions of learning that comprise of young people as majority participants (Fields 2008). The evaluation will also look at their effectiveness and impacts in reducing and preventing cases of sexual assault in dating relationships and marriage settings. Important stakeholders to consult Some of the major stakeholders that will be essential in this evaluation include the Australian health care departments, which will aid in giving statistics about the prevalence of sexual assault cases. The departments, which are widespread in the country, will also be helpful in offering the information about some of the medical conditions and infections that have often been the results sexual abuse between dating partners and other cases involving non-dating partners. The police department shall also be helpful in giving information about the nature of assaults that have been reported and the frequency with which they have been reported in the past. Schools and other learning institutions shall be vital in providing information about cases they have identified and recommended for counseling and other intervention mechanisms (Kendall 2013). People who fall victims of sexual assault will most often run to the police as well as confide in people that they feel are responsible and reliable to handle their issues. Some of these people are mentors or teachers in schools, other young people will confide in their friends whom they trust. For this reason, open group discussions by young people in institutions will also form important stakeholders to source key information on this subject. Evaluation’s aims and objectives The evaluation exercise will aim at addressing the problems and challenges affecting ethical values associated with dating relationships among young people. However, it will also extend to examine how the values are being implemented and perpetuated in marriage settings and the effects of their abuse to parties in dating relationships and marriage. One of the main objectives in this evaluation proposal will be to find out the types of sexual ethics that people in dating relationships know and practice. These objectives will be essential in examining people’s awareness about sexual ethical practices and how they have upheld or violated. This way, it will be easy to tell some of the reasons why sexual ethics have been violated by people in the course of dating and marriage. The second objective in the evaluation process will be to establish the prevalence rate of violations of sexual ethics among young people during their dating relationships. For these objectives, information from the police and other law enforcement agencies will be helpful, research reports have proved that many young people experience high prevalent rates of sexual assaults, while some of them are victims, others are the culprits who perpetuate the vice. The final objective will be to find out some of the steps that are being implemented by stakeholders in addressing this challenge. This will include both short and long-term strategies that are essential in ensuring that sexual ethics are followed to the later. Evaluation Design The evaluation proposal will adopt an observational design, here; emphasis will be based on documented reports and research reports that have been developed by people and other organizations on this subject (Miner & Miner 2008). The advantage with this evaluation design is that it gives room for obtaining first-hand data through surveys and other qualitative research methods. The rationale for this evaluation is that many young people that have suffered various forms of sexual assault because of the violation of sexual ethics will be available to tell their ordeal. In addition, information from administrators in schools and other youth centres will be told in for of interviews, for this reason, the design would be the best suited. Ethical Responsibilities and Processes In conducting this evaluation proposal, some of the ethical responsibilities and processes that will be upheld will aim at ensuring confidentiality of respondents. Some of the practices that will be involved in this process will be creating of questionnaire forms that do not have the respondent’s name; this will make them confident of giving information needed without fear of victimization. At the same time, the evaluators will have to feel agreements that will ensure that they keep respondents’ information as confidential as possible. All interviews with respondents, especially those that will be giving the personal experiences will have to be carried out at the convenience of the respondents. Research has shown that when people are allowed to tell their stories in their own volition, they are able to give honest accounts of their stories. On the other hand, coercion and use of force makes people give information that is not real, for this reason, evaluators have to consider the willingness of respondents to cooperate in order to get needed results. Data Collection Methods Sample selection: in selecting the evaluation sample, random sampling will be used, according to research data collection sampling methods, random sampling gives every respondent in the population a chance to give his account. Random sampling is not biased; there are high chances that people picked in the particular samples will give the required information for the evaluation process. Data collection instruments: in this process, there will be use of various qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. Qualitative data collection methods are essential in giving first-hand information from respondents that have had actual experiences. On the other hand, quantitative data collection are useful in showing records and statistic about the prevalence patterns and trend about the subject matter. Some of the instruments in qualitative data collection methods will include interviews, asking of questions and observation among others. Data analysis processes: data analysis process will aim at evaluating the effectiveness of the data collected from the instruments used as mentioned above. The analysis process will use experts in counseling and research to evaluate the validity of the information given so that reliable recommendations can be made. The procedure: the first step in implementing this evaluation process will be collecting of the instruments that will be needed in the field. This will be essential in ensuring that the research process goes on smoothly without facing challenges because of lack of certain resources. Secondly, the evaluators will have to group up, this is essential in sharing of duties and responsibilities. It is important that all people take part in the process through carefully planned systems that encourage teamwork and collaboration. This will be followed by the actual study; emphasis will be placed on the various data collection instruments as stated above. The different groups that will have been made in the previous steps will have to share on the various ways of ensuring an effective field study. After the actual research, there will be an analysis of data collected, followed by interpretation of the data itself, after which summary and recommendations will be made for future implementation. Dissemination Strategy Information from this evaluation process will aim at identifying prevalence rates of violation of sexual ethics as well as strategies that will be employed towards, it is aimed at devising strategies that will ensure that sexual education and ethics are taught and implemented by young people during their dating relationships (Ali 2008). Information from the evaluation process will be made available in books and journals and stocked in online and offline libraries. In addition, the information will be available in social media, newsletters and other channels that are accessible by people, there will also be other programs specially designed to ensure that secondary schools (Ali 2008), youth centres and other institutions train their young people on sexual ethics and the importance of responsible relationships. Alternatively, research findings as well as its summary and recommendations will also be made available on websites of stakeholder organizations and government resource centres, other places that will be deemed essential in terms of accessibility by consumers of this information will be made good use of. References Ali, K. (2008). The safe sex messenger. BMJ, 4(9): 2235-2239 Fields, J. (2008). Risky lessons sex education and social inequality. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. Grant, V. (2006). Sex predetermination and the ethics of sex selection. Human Reproduction, 12(4): 1659-1661. Kendall, N. (2013). The sex education debates. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Miner, J., & Miner, L. (2008). Proposal planning & writing. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. Mondal, S., & Gupta, I. (2013). How Costly Is Safe Sex? An Economic Analysis of the Commercial Sex Market in India. Global Health Perspectives, 4(2): 25-32. Moen, O. (2014). Prostitution and sexual ethics: A reply to Westin. Journal of Medical Ethics, 14(9): 88-89. Ott, M., et al. (2010). Stability and Change in Self-Reported Sexual Orientation Identity in Young People: Application of Mobility Metrics. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 16(6): 519-532. Yadegarfard, M., & Bahramabadian, F. (2013). Sexual Orientation and Human Rights in the Ethics Code of the Psychology and Counseling Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran (PCOIRI). Ethics & Behavior, 34(12): 345-413 Appendix 1 Gantt chart timeline for the Evaluation proposal Read More