Using Grounded Theory Methodology to Explore Women's Sense of Insecurity

Abstract

The focus of this chapter is reviewing the studies on sexual harassment and sexual violence, focusing on definitions, statistics, forms, consequences, and prevention strategies. Moreover, it concerns the grounded theory (GT) as a qualitative research methodology and provides a comparison between this methodology and constructivist GT that is considered to be more compatible with feminist inquiry. To study the theories with inappropriate or inadequate features and to study the subject under investigation, such as the analysis of women's sense of insecurity, GT methodology seems most appropriate. This chapter provides a detailed discussion of the impact of sexual violence on mental and physical health as well as social well-being, all of which may be equally long-lasting. Preventive strategies, as mentioned in this chapter, are concerned with changing people's attitudes and behaviors by formulating and implementing appropriate policies and empowerment programs.