Police Discretion in Rape Cases

Dhami, Mandeep K.; Lundrigan, Samantha; Thomas, Sian

doi:10.1007/s11896-018-9299-4

Cited by 6 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 47 publications

(35 reference statements)

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“…Such changes include the Sexual Offenses Act, 2003, one of the largest overhauls of sexual offenses in over a century, as well more recently a range of policy changes that have come about as a result of the CPS and Police National Rape Action Plan. In a recent study of UK specialist police officers’ decisions to progress rape cases, Dhami et al. (2018) found no evidence of officers’ reliance on factors such as the time taken to report the crime and victim’s alcohol/drug use during the offense, suggesting that recent changes in laws and policies may have altered police practice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Predicting Conviction in Stranger Rape Cases

2019

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Background: Despite there being no legal distinction between different types of rapes (e.g., those committed by strangers to the victim versus those committed by perpetrators known to the victim), stereotypical beliefs about rape have meant that these can be treated differently by the justice system. The aim is to explore the factors that predict juries’ decisions to convict or acquit in stranger rape cases. Methods : We measured the importance of a range of 20 perpetrator-, victim-, and offense-related factors in predicting outcomes for 394 stranger rape cases tried by a jury. A four-stage analytic process was employed: (a) Kendall’s tau-b measured intercorrelations among the factors (predictors); (b) Chi-square and Welch t -tests measured associations between factors and verdicts; (c) binary logistic regression measured the power of factors in predicting verdicts; and (d) Stein’s formula was used to cross-validate the model. Results: Jury verdicts were predicted by five offense-related factors and one victim-related factor. None of the perpetrator-related factors were significant predictors of convictions for stranger rape. Conclusion: The findings have potential implications for victims of stranger rape, as well as prosecution and courtroom policy. We show that if a perpetrator is identified and charged, the likelihood of securing a conviction by a jury is high for victims of stranger rape. We suggest that prosecutors could gather as much information as possible from victims about the factors found to be of importance to juries, and judges could instruct juries on assumptions about the characteristics of the offense in order to challenge incorrect beliefs and stereotypes. Ultimately, this could be used to encourage victims of stranger rape to report and testify in court.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Predicting Conviction in Stranger Rape Cases

2019

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“…It's just a game that we play' [Focus Group #P511] 'It was something that […] said earlier about the investigations that come in which are perhaps flaky allegations, maybe they're mental health allegations. Now, that's not to say, of course, that somebody with mental health can't be raped or that it didn't happen, but sometimes an allegation comes in and we know from the outset that there's something not quite right about this' Dhami et al (2018) argue that RASSO victims' access to justice is predicated on officer discretion, particularly where inconsistent accounts are provided. The data here suggest these participants are basing their assumptions on their own experience of something being 'not quite right' with no emphasis on a victim-centric approach.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Dhami et al (2018) argue that RASSO victims’ access to justice is predicated on officer discretion, particularly where inconsistent accounts are provided. The data here suggest these participants are basing their assumptions on their own experience of something being ‘not quite right’ with no emphasis on a victim-centric approach.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress-related psychosocial risk factors among police officers working on Rape and Serious Sexual Offences

Maguire

Sondhi

2022

The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles

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This study describes police attitudes and perceptions of health and wellbeing among police officers who work on Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) cases. A mixed-methods approach was deployed including a cross-sectional online survey of RASSO officers and a qualitative study involving in-depth interviews in one English Police Force Area. Findings show that organisational policies have little salience. There is an entrenched culture of continuing to work despite being unwell, to provide operational support for colleagues. There is a need to develop specific strategies that reduce the stress for a team or unit-level for this cohort of police officers.

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“…RMs also affect both police (Dhami et al, 2018; Hine & Murphy, 2019; O’Neal, 2019; Wentz & Keimig, 2019) and prosecutor decision-making (Beichner & Spohn, 2005; Jordan & Mossman, 2019). Police officers' decisions may be influenced by RMs directly, in terms of their own views, and indirectly due to their expectations of prosecutors' belief in RMs.…”

Section: Impact Of Rape Myths Within the Criminal Justice Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forty Years of Rape Myth Acceptance Interventions: A Systematic Review of What Works in Naturalistic Institutional Settings and How this can be Applied to Educational Guidance for Jurors

Hudspith

Wager

Willmott

et al. 2021

Trauma, Violence, & Abuse

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A systematic review of research assessing rape myth acceptance (RMA) interventions within institutional settings was conducted. The aim of this review was to inform the development of an educational intervention for jurors in rape trials that addresses rape myths, given previous evidence that RMA can affect decision-making and verdicts (Dinos et al., 2015; Gravelin et al., 2019; Leverick, 2020). 12 databases were searched, filtered to return peer-reviewed journals, published from 1980 to 2020, written in English. After removing duplicates from the 5,093 search results returned, 2,676 studies were screened for inclusion. Research studies were included in the review if they assessed the impact of a naturalistic intervention on RMA within an institutional setting. Studies that did not compare an experimental condition to a control condition or did not randomly allocate participants to conditions were excluded. Studies were also excluded if they used a non-validated, or adapted, RMA measure. 20 Research studies were included within the review and were critically appraised according to an author-created critical appraisal tool. It was concluded that RMA interventions can have a short-term impact upon individuals' RMA. Intervention types that were effective in reducing RMA included those that presented RM information; those that contained an empathy component; and bystander programmes. With regards to duration and format, short interventions led to reductions in RMA, and most successful interventions were presented via videos. Implications for policy and practice, and recommendations for future research, are discussed.

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Police Discretion in Rape Cases

Cited by 6 publications

References 47 publications

Factors Predicting Conviction in Stranger Rape Cases

Factors Predicting Conviction in Stranger Rape Cases

Stress-related psychosocial risk factors among police officers working on Rape and Serious Sexual Offences

Forty Years of Rape Myth Acceptance Interventions: A Systematic Review of What Works in Naturalistic Institutional Settings and How this can be Applied to Educational Guidance for Jurors

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