Research participants needed (students, faculty, & staff!) – “Protestant Childhood Abuse Experiences: Assessing Clergy and Law Enforcement Responses” (IRB No. IRB-FY2025-12)

February 18, 2025

All students, faculty, & staff are invited to participate in a research study inquiring about childhood experiences in Protestant churches, and whether adverse/abusive experiences were reported to clergy, and whether clergy reported to law enforcement. Choices to report or not report, clergy and law enforcement responses, and church teachings are also examined. Even if you did not have adverse experiences, your responses are valuable to serve as a control group.

Who can participate? 

  • Anyone 18 years of age or older
  • Anyone who attended a Protestant church for at least 1 year before they turned 18 years of age

What does the survey entail?

  • The survey will take 12-50 minutes to complete
    • Questions are designed to display follow-up questions only if some screening questions are answered with “yes”, therefore the survey may take longer or shorter depending on respondents’ experiences
  • You will be asked to fill out questions about your primary childhood church, church teachings, and experiences of potentially abusive behaviors and how church leaders and law enforcement responded
  • You will be asked non-identifiable demographic information (e.g., age, gender identity, race/ethnicity, k-12 schooling)
  • The survey is anonymous. Contact information entered into the optional gift card incentive entry will be stored in a database that is separate from the survey responses, and will be deleted after the gift cards are awarded

Access the survey here

Questions? Contact Dr. Indigo Koslicki, PI, at wkoslicki@bsu.edu or (765) 285-5125

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