PLUS CA CHANGE: Reporting Rape in the 1990s

Temkin, Jennifer

doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.bjc.a014195

Cited by 45 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Temkin (1997) and Jordan (2001) found that although improvements had been made within police culture resulting in greater satisfaction among rape victims who reported their crime to police, a sizable minority of dissatisfied victims remained.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gateway to Reform? Policy Implications of Police Officers’ Attitudes Toward Rape

Page

2008

Am J Crim Just

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Research has shown that prosecutors rely more heavily on victim characteristics and other extralegal factors than on criteria set forth by the law, when evaluating the merits of a rape case. Little is known, however, about the factors police officers use when assessing the merits of a rape case. The current study contributes to what is known about police officers' attitudes toward rape. A survey was administered to 891 sworn police officers in two states in the southeastern United States. The surveys were designed to assess police officers' acceptance of rape myths. Police officers who accept more rape myths were less likely to believe victims who did not adhere to the stereotyped "genuine victim." This research contributes to what is known about the factors affecting police officers' decision-making in rape cases. This study has implications for assessing the effectiveness of rape law reforms, inasmuch as these reforms are conveyed through police work.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gateway to Reform? Policy Implications of Police Officers’ Attitudes Toward Rape

Page

2008

Am J Crim Just

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“…Rumney (2006) also highlights the frequency with which many, including judges, legal practitioners and scholars, have claimed how easy it is for women, children and men to falsely claim rape, and the difficulties they assume there to be in refuting such claims. The criminal justice procedure, process, and apparatus that has developed in relation to this is also notable including particular evidentiary rules, burdens, and processes, including medico-legal intervention (Du Mont & White, 2007;Kelly, 2010;McMillan & White, 2015;Temkin, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Police officers’ perceptions of false allegations of rape

McMillan

2016

Journal of Gender Studies

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The idea that women lie about rape is a long standing rape myth with little or no supporting evidence. Previous research has demonstrated a belief in high levels of false allegations among police officers, despite no evidence to suggest rape is falsely reported more than other crimes. This has implications for complainants' willingness to report sexual violations, for the treatment of complainants within the justice system, and wider societal understandings about what constitutes rape. The data that informs this paper comes from an Economic and Social Research Council-funded study that focussed on rape attrition and the institutional response to rape. Forty in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with serving police officers in a UK force who regularly deal with reported cases of rape, and explored perceptions, practices and processes around rape. The research found police officers' estimate of false allegations varies widely from 5 to 90%. The paper will discuss how police officers make judgements about perceived veracity of complainants in rape cases. This will demonstrate that whilst significant progress has been made in how police officers and police forces respond to rape, gender stereotypes about women as deceitful, vengeful and ultimately regretful of sexual encounters, continue to pervade the thinking of some officers. It will show that police officers differentiate between 'types' of reports they consider to be false, and operate with a notional 'hierarchy' of presumed false allegations that ranges from vengeful/malicious to mistaken/ confused, with a corresponding reducing level of culpability attributed to women for the supposedly false allegation. It concludes that this serves to reinforce a culture that both supports and reproduces gender inequality and its manifestation in the form of sexual violence, and that intervention, training and institutional and policy frameworks are not wholly successful in addressing sexual violence in this context.

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“…Other significant studies, spanning a period of 30 years, support our contention that inappropriate or poor police discretion directly affects attrition rates (Temkin 1997;Kelly 2002). International studies also alert us to the importance of addressing poor administration -such as delays and postponements, lack of pre-and post-court support and courtroom intimidation -in curbing attrition, and that policing and prosecutorial agencies still rely on stereotypes about rape victim credibility (Bargen & Fishwick 1995;Polk 1985;Frohmann 1991;Kersetter 1990;La Free 1989;Martin & Powell 1994 She also found that a staggering 62 per cent of cases reported to the police fall out during the investigation process, either because the perpetrator cannot be identified or found, or because insufficient evidence is collected.…”

Section: The Impact Of Discretion In Rape Casesmentioning

confidence: 69%

LOSING GROUND? Making sense of attrition in rape cases

Artz

Smythe

2016

SA crime q.

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South Africa is notorious for being the ‘rape capital of the world.’ The new Sexual Offences Bill introduces a number of legal reforms intended to improve the handling of sexual offences cases. But these new reform efforts will not have the desired impact if laws are not properly implemented or interpreted. It is argued that we need to pay urgent attention to the unacceptable high number of cases that drop out of the system, and ensure that victims are given the tools and support to participate effectively in the legal process.

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PLUS CA CHANGE: Reporting Rape in the 1990s

Cited by 45 publications

References 2 publications

Gateway to Reform? Policy Implications of Police Officers’ Attitudes Toward Rape

Gateway to Reform? Policy Implications of Police Officers’ Attitudes Toward Rape

Police officers’ perceptions of false allegations of rape

LOSING GROUND? Making sense of attrition in rape cases

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