The majority of sexual assault cases reported to police are never prosecuted. Prior literature has suggested rape myths may explain these trends because police are influenced by and draw upon rape myths in their beliefs, assumptions, and actions. However, prior research has relied on surveys to measure police attitudes; less is known regarding the extent to which these attitudes manifest in official sexual assault case records. The purpose of the current study was to determine the extent to which rape myths manifest in sexual assault investigations and develop a typology of statements that functionally operate as rape myths in official police records. Method: The written police records from N ϭ 248 sexual assault cases were examined. Cases were coded via directed and conventional content analysis for rape myths. Results: Statements in police records drew upon rape myths that denied or justified the assault on the basis of specific circumstances of the assault (i.e., circumstantial statements) and specific characteristics of the victim (i.e., characterological statements). Statements in police reports also blamed victims for the way police responded to the assault (i.e., investigatory blame statements). Conclusions: Rape myth endorsement among police is evidenced in official sexual assault case records because they invoke traditional rape myths in documenting their investigations. More frequently, police account for their response by blaming the victim for a poor police investigation postassault. Findings suggest that future research should examine the extent to which such statements predict sexual assault case progression and that training for police should emphasize behavioral change (i.e., report writing).
Prior research has documented the problematic community response to sexual assault: the majority of sexual assaults reported to police are never prosecuted. Social dominance theory suggests that this response is a form of institutional discrimination, intended to maintain existing social structures, and that police personnel likely draw upon shared ideologies to justify their decision-making in sexual assault case investigations. This study drew upon social dominance theory to examine how police justified their investigatory decisions to identify potential leverage points for change. The study revealed that the likelihood of a case referral to the prosecutor increased with each additional investigative step completed; of the different types of justifications provided by police for a less-than-thorough investigative response and stalled case, blaming the victim for the poor police investigation proved to be the most damaging to case progression; and the type of explanation provided by police was impacted by specific case variables. As suggested by social dominance theory, the study demonstrates that police rely on several different mechanisms to justify their response to sexual assault; implementing criminal justice system policies that target and interrupt these mechanisms has the potential to improve this response, regardless of specific case factors.
The importance of research-informed practice for the field of sexual assault has been stressed by academics and practitioners alike. However, there are few examples of researcher-practitioner partnerships in the literature, therefore providing minimal guidance for this process. This article describes a researcher-practitioner partnership that was successful in using evaluation data to guide practice and policy decisions regarding the development and implementation of a new sexual assault kit for the state of Michigan. Cousins's practical participatory evaluation theory was used as the guiding framework for the evaluation. Data collection methods included focus groups with practitioners from five, regionally dispersed health care settings in Michigan, and surveys with forensic scientists throughout the state's regional laboratory system. This case study highlights how researchers and practitioners worked together for data collection, analysis, and dissemination to support research-informed practice in this state. Lessons learned and future recommendations for forming researcher-practitioner partnerships to improve the response to sexual assault are discussed.
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