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Rape Myths in the Criminal Justice System
Abstract
This chapter provides an introduction to the concept of rape myths, which are stereotyped expectations about rape that shape the way in which victims and perpetrators are held accountable for the events in question. It then moves on to examine the evidence regarding the use of rape myths during rape trials, and the effect that this has on the decision-making of jurors. The chapter also considers the efforts that have been made to reduce the use of these myths in court and also to reduce the impact that they have on jurors. It is concluded that thorough evaluation of the current interventions should be carried out, and that efforts to challenge the reliance on rape myths in court should be maintained.
... Despite being grounded in erroneous beliefs about the nature, prevalence, and causes of sexual coercion, rape myths are, albeit to a lessening extent, socially accepted, contributing to a culture that normalises and justifies sexual violence (Garza and Franklin, 2020: 553). While there are rape myths that specifically relate to sexual violence against men and boys, rape myths most frequently relate to, and justify, the sexual victimisation of women and girls (Gray and Horvath, 2018). Rape myths are enmeshed with wider gender norms and sexual scripts that naturalise male sexual aggression and position women as sexual gatekeepers responsible for evading and/or rejecting unwanted sexual advances (Gray and Horvath, 2018). ...
... While there are rape myths that specifically relate to sexual violence against men and boys, rape myths most frequently relate to, and justify, the sexual victimisation of women and girls (Gray and Horvath, 2018). Rape myths are enmeshed with wider gender norms and sexual scripts that naturalise male sexual aggression and position women as sexual gatekeepers responsible for evading and/or rejecting unwanted sexual advances (Gray and Horvath, 2018). Notably, as overt victim-blaming or trivialisation of sexual violence grows less culturally acceptable, the rape myths in circulation have evolved in line with contemporary attitudes and sensibilities (McMahon and Farmer, 2011). ...
Despite an increase in the reporting of rape, convictions in England and Wales have fallen significantly in recent years. Previous research has found high rape myth acceptance among police officers. Given that the police act as gatekeepers to the criminal justice system, subscribing to rape myths may have significant effects upon victim attrition and conviction rates. This study explores police officers’ use of rape myths and how these may impact investigations and prosecutions.
A total of 17 semi-structured interviews were conducted with police officers from a large English police force. The interview data were analysed using the qualitative method of thematic analysis.
Although there were instances where officers demonstrated some awareness of the need to dispel or counter rape myths, rape myths were employed by most officers, with the most common relating to (1) victim fabrication (‘women lie’) and (2) victim precipitation (‘women ask
for it’).
Recommendations are made around screening and training for police officers.
... Tamariki and rangatahi are taonga and their whakapapa completes them through affirming that they come from thousands of their tūpuna. It links them with their history, citizenship, cultural identity and sovereignty (Jackson, 1988;Rimene, 1994;Moyle, 1998). ...
... These are powerful and ingrained characteristics of a 'one-world' view and 'one-size fits all' culture. These characteristics cannot be seen but are very real concepts that operate outside the level of individual or collective conscious awareness, and therefore are harmful to Māori (Jackson, 1988, Rimene, 1994Love, 2002;Tauri, 2010;Tauri, 2012). Both concepts define the reality of structural discrimination that advantages non-Māori whilst disadvantaging Māori (HRC, 2012). ...
This article explores the challenges faced by seven Māori social workers who are also members of Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW) working within the child protection system in Aotearoa. Their views on what has improved for Māori whānau around recent legislation changes to family group conferencing (FGC) and newer policy initiatives such as Whānau Ora are examined. The study used a Māori-centred research approach and a thematic analysis of participants’ accounts was undertaken. From this analysis it was found that: (a) the participants walked creatively between two world views in order to best meet the needs of their own people; (b) these Māori practitioners felt over-worked and under-valued; and (c) the participants viewed the practices within FGCs as biased, demonstrating a lack of bicultural ability and contributing to significant barriers that whānau Māori experience in care and protection.
... This may be a particular issue in sexual assault trials, where the defense case often plays to inaccurate beliefs about how sexual violence is perpetrated (sometimes called Frontiers in Psychology 03 frontiersin.org rape myths; e.g., Gray and Horvath, 2018). These inaccurate beliefs are an extra-legal factor, in that jurors are not legally permitted to consider them to make decisions in sexual assault cases (Heydon, 2013). ...
When deliberating, jurors may introduce misinformation that may influence other jurors’ memory and decision-making. In two studies, we explored the impact of misinformation exposure during jury deliberation. Participants in both studies read a transcript of an alleged sexual assault. In Study 1 (N = 275), participants encountered either consistent pro-prosecution misinformation, consistent pro-defense misinformation, or contradictory misinformation (pro-prosecution and pro-defense). In Study 2 (N = 339), prior to encountering either pro-prosecution or pro-defense misinformation while reading a jury deliberation transcript, participants either received or did not receive a judicial instruction about misinformation exposure during deliberation. Participants in both studies completed legal decision-making variables (e.g., defendant guilt rating) before and after deliberation, and their memory was assessed for misinformation acceptance via recall and source memory tasks. In Study 1, misinformation type did not influence legal decision-making, but pro-prosecution misinformation was more likely to be misattributed as trial evidence than pro-defense or contradictory misinformation. In Study 2, pro-defense misinformation was more likely to be misattributed to the trial than pro-prosecution misinformation, and rape myths moderated this. Furthermore, exposure to pro-defense misinformation skewed legal decision-making towards the defense’s case. However, the judicial instruction about misinformation exposure did not influence memory or decision-making. Together, these findings suggest that misinformation in jury deliberations may distort memory for trial evidence and bias decision-making, highlighting the need to develop effective safeguards for reducing the impact of misinformation in trial contexts.
... In this work, we think that the notion of media representations is a crucial one because of its implications for the stories we tell about ourselves and others and thereby its material consequences for power, equity, and social justice. The visionary Moana Jackson (1987) saw contemporary media representations as perpetuating: ...
... The intuitive attribution of credibility that is then applied replaces valid criteria with considerations of plausibility, and evaluations are based on unusable stereotypes -such as the reputation of the person giving testimony and the emotionality of their presentation (Niehaus, 2008b). Moreover, the lower the expertise, the more that judgments in sex offense law will be shaped by rape myths (Gray & Horvath, 2018;Niehaus, Krüger, & Caviezel Schmitz, 2013;Smith & Skinner, 2017). The main burden of legal ignorance is thus likely to be borne by alleged victims, because their testimony in word-against-word situations is the focus of interest when judging a case. ...
In the past, empirical research findings from psychosciences contributed to avoiding erroneous judgments and decisions in criminal proceedings. However, for some
time now, developments have arisen that threaten to reverse the achievement at the turn of the millennium that introduced a clear scientific orientation into sex offense
proceedings. This article highlights five retrograde developments and uses three examples to illustrate how these developments can interact and, in particular, offer a purported explanation for a lack of memory of experienced abuse. This creates a breeding ground for the formation of false memories that cause suffering in both psychotherapy and criminal proceedings, and it significantly increases the risk of erroneous decisions in criminal proceedings on sex offenses in German-speaking countries.
... 74). However, the experience of women who survive sexual violence often fails to live up to the idea of empathy and respect (see, Gray and Horvath, 2018). While the criminal law and its application are distinct entities, this is an area of analysis upon which Boutellier remains silent. ...
... Advanced law students and probationary lawyers evaluate rape complainants who do not match the rape victim stereotype more negatively (e.g., Krahé, Temkin, Bieneck, & Berger, 2008;. Barristers and judges are influenced by the rape victim stereotype and rape myths in their court practice (e.g., Feldman-Summers & Palmer, 1980;Gray & Horvath, 2018;Sleath & Bull, 2015;Temkin, 2000;Temkin, Gray, & Barrett, 2018). Time spent as a police officer, or investigating sexual assault, does not consistently improve judgments of rape complainants including credibility (Goodman-Delahunty & Graham, 2011;Sleath & Bull, 2012;Wentz & Archbold, 2012;cf., Campbell, 1995;Page, 2007). ...
Rape cases have a disproportionately high attrition rate and low conviction rate compared to other criminal offenses. Evaluations of a rape complainant’s credibility often determine whether a case progresses through the criminal justice system. Even though emotional demeanor is not related to witness honesty or accuracy, distressed rape complainants are perceived to be more credible than complainants who present with controlled affect. To understand the extent and robustness of the influence of emotional demeanor on credibility judgments of female adult rape complainants, we conducted a systematic review, meta-analysis and p-curve analysis of the experimental simulated decision-making literature on the influence of complainant emotional demeanor on complainant credibility. The meta-analysis included 20 studies with participants who were criminal justice professionals (e.g., police officers and judges), community members, and mock jurors (N = 3128). Results suggest that distressed demeanor significantly increased perceptions of complainant credibility, with a small to moderate effect size estimate. Importantly, the results of p-curve analysis suggest that reporting bias is not a likely explanation for the effect of emotional demeanor on rape complainant credibility. Sample type (whether perceivers were criminal justice professionals or prospective jurors) and stimulus modality (whether perceivers read about or watched the complainant recount the alleged rape) were not found to moderate the effect size estimate. These results suggest that effective methods of reducing reliance on emotional demeanor to make credibility judgments about rape complainants should be investigated to make credibility assessments fairer and more accurate.
... Advanced law students and probationary lawyers evaluate rape complainants who do not match the rape victim stereotype more negatively (e.g., Krahé, Temkin, Bieneck, & Berger, 2008;. Barristers and judges are influenced by the rape victim stereotype and rape myths in their court practice (e.g., Feldman-Summers & Palmer, 1980;Gray & Horvath, 2018;Sleath & Bull, 2015;Temkin, 2000;Temkin, Gray, & Barrett, 2018). Time spent as a police officer, or investigating sexual assault, does not consistently improve judgments of rape complainants including credibility (Goodman-Delahunty & Graham, 2011;Sleath & Bull, 2012;Wentz & Archbold, 2012;cf., Campbell, 1995;Page, 2007). ...
Rape cases have a disproportionately high attrition rate and low conviction rate compared with other criminal offenses. Evaluations of a rape complainant's credibility often determine whether a case progresses through the criminal justice system. Even though emotional demeanor is not related to witness honesty or accuracy, distressed rape complainants are perceived to be more credible than complainants who present with controlled affect. To understand the extent and robustness of the influence of emotional demeanor on credibility judgments of female adult rape complainants, we conducted a systematic review, meta-analysis, and p-curve analysis of the experimental simulated decision-making literature on the influence of complainant emotional demeanor on complainant credibility. The meta-analysis included 20 studies with participants who were criminal justice professionals (e.g., police officers and judges), community members, and mock jurors (N = 3128). Results suggest that distressed demeanor significantly increased perceptions of complainant credibility, with a small to moderate effect size estimate. Importantly, the results of p-curve analysis suggest that reporting bias is not a likely explanation for the effect of emotional demeanor on rape complainant credibility. Sample type (whether perceivers were criminal justice professionals or prospective jurors) and stimulus modality (whether perceivers read about or watched the complainant recount the alleged rape) were not found to moderate the effect size estimate. These results suggest that effective methods of reducing reliance on emotional demeanor to make credibility judgments about rape complainants should be investigated to make credibility assessments fairer and more accurate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
... Older inmates form the fastest growing age group of prisoners in various correctional systems around the world, including in the US, UK, Australia, Japan and Canada ( Aday & Krabill, 2012;Baidawi et al., 2011;Gal, 2002;Howse, 2003;Johnson, 2000; New Zealand Department of Corrections, 2014;Uzoaba, 1998). Yet there remains a lack of consensus on what constitutes 'older' in terms of prisoner populations. ...
Older prisoners are the fastest growing age group within many correctional systems worldwide, including in Australia. As the average age of the prison population continues to rise, the issue of how to identify and manage the health care needs of the expanding older prisoner group becomes ever more pressing. This Evidence Check provides a summary of the contemporary literature concerning a range of issues pertaining to the planning, delivery and evaluation of programs and models of health care for older people in custody.
Purpose
The Scottish Government hope to pilot judge only rape trials to increase the woefully low rape conviction rates in Scotland. The reasoning is that by removing jurors, the court will be attenuating the role that rape myths and other cognitive and social biases have on conviction rates. However, a plethora of research from cognitive and social psychology, legal literature and decision-making science has shown that experts, including judges and other legal professionals, may be no less biased than laypeople. This paper aims to outline the research highlighting that experts may also be biased, why biases in judges can be elicited, and potential alternative recommendations (i.e. deselecting jurors who score highly on rape myths and providing training/education for jurors). Furthermore, piloting with real judges, in real trials, may not be best practice. Therefore, the authors recommend that any piloting is preceded by experimental research.
Design/methodology/approach
N/A
Findings
Furthermore, piloting with real judges, in real trials, may not be best practice; therefore, the authors recommend that any piloting is preceded by experimental research.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first of its kind to directly compared the decision-making of jurors and judges within the current Scottish legal context.
The voices of defence and prosecuting professionals are heard in this chapter. The decision-making thresholds by the Crown Prosecution Services are described and the training and guidance offered to lawyers in avoiding rape myth in their cross-examinations. The fault lines in the adversarial system of justice from the point of view of the rape witness are presented as well as an ethical discussion in terms of providing a defence for those accused of rape. The lack of support and supervision for lawyers in dealing with rape’s traumatic material and efforts to remedy this are delineated. Also included is the case for employing more trauma-informed practice to mitigate the combative elements of adversarial legal tactics.
This article draws on a survey involving 390 police officers from Croatia and Cyprus, where the officers’ views on rape and rape myths are measured via the updated Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale. In all, the findings stress that police officers do not buy-in the full array of the rape mythology, but only a part of it. Also, female officers, as opposed to male, appear to be more sensitive towards victimhood resulting from rape. Furthermore, the overall study findings complement findings recorded overseas, in other police organizations, attached to and influenced by different backgrounds and forces at work.
This book considers how a phenomenon as complex as coercive control can be criminalised. The recognition and ensuing criminalisation of coercive control in the UK and Ireland has been the focus of considerable international attention. It has generated complex questions about the "best" way to criminalise domestic abuse. This work reviews recent domestic abuse criminal law reform in the UK and Ireland. In particular, it defines coercive control and explains why using traditional criminal law approaches to prosecute it does not work. Laws passed in England and Wales versus Scotland represent two different approaches to translating coercive control into a criminal offence. This volume explains how and why the jurisdictions have taken different approaches and examines the advantages and disadvantages of each. As jurisdictions around the world review what steps need to be taken to improve national criminal justice responses to domestic abuse, the question of what works, and why, at the intersection of domestic abuse and the criminal law has never been more important. As such, the book will be a vital resource for lawyers, policy-makers and activists with an interest in domestic abuse law reform.
Prior research has indicated that beliefs in rape myths can influence juror decision-making in cases involving sexual assault, however, the phenomenon has been typically examined in relation to victim and defendant believability, as well as final verdicts. The current study observed mock jurors' evaluations of third-party witness evidence in alleged rape cases to determine whether these judgements were influenced by inherent rape myths. Participants (N = 196) took part in a mock juror experiment that included evidence from an eyewitness that was either in support of the defence, prosecution, or neutral. We found that males and individuals holding strong beliefs in rape myths were more likely to find defendants not-guilty. Additionally, participants endorsing rape myths were also more likely to view eyewitness evidence favourably, but only when it was in support of the defence. Our findings suggest that personal biases can influence the level of credence jurors place on case evidence, potentially through a confirmation bias.
Determining the influence of irrelevant victim information on potential jurors is particularly important in the current age of social media. The present study explored the effects of pretrial publicity concerning the complainant shared via social media posts, mock juror sex, and rape myth acceptance on mock juror judgments in a sexual assault case. One hundred and fifty-six community members residing in the United States (77 males, 78 females, 1 decline to answer) over the age of 18 were randomly assigned to view either pro-complainant (n = 52), anti-complainant (n = 53), or control (n = 51) messaging in social media posts before reading a mock sexual assault trial transcript, completing a post-trial questionnaire, and answering questions about rape myth acceptance. Results indicated that participants in the anti-complainant condition were significantly less likely to select a guilty verdict compared to the control condition. Male participants and those that believed consent was present were also significantly less likely to select a guilty verdict. Moreover, participants with higher rape myth acceptance were more likely to believe that the complainant had consented. Results highlight social media as a potential source of exposure of inadmissible pretrial information that may influence trial outcomes.
Identifying rape myths among criminal justice and medical professionals is central to preventing secondary victimization. We present the first preliminary Danish validation of McMahon and Farmer’s updated Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance scale using samples of police and medical trainees. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses result in a 14-item, four-factor measure that demonstrates acceptable model fit, satisfactory convergent and discriminant validity, and good internal consistency. Although reported rape myth acceptance is generally low in both samples, some subscale scores vary across professional groups, thereby identifying specific targets for intervention in different occupational contexts. Further tests of the scale are recommended.
This chapter is based on a survey involving 220 police officers. The latter’s attitudes and views on rape and rape myths are measured via the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale. Overall, it is discovered that police officers do not embrace the full package of mythology surrounding the phenomenon of rape. Moreover, female officers, as opposed to male, appear to bear more sensitivities toward victims of rape. The findings discussed in the chapter resonate with findings recorded overseas and in other police organizations, attached to and influenced by different settings and dynamics.
This paper will focus on the importance of digitally archiving waiata and haka (Māori song, chant and dance). Māori arrived in Aotearoa from their traditional homeland in the Pacific carrying with them all of the knowledge of their own ancestors, none of which was written down. This Māori oral tradition has taken on many forms, including waiata and haka. Waiata and haka are traditional mediums for the transmission of knowledge including tribal history, politics, historical landmarks, genealogy and environmental knowledge while also acting as traditional forms of expression for the articulation of anger, hatred, sadness, love and desire. Waiata and haka are examples of Māori poetry and literature and have been likened to the archives of the Māori people, preserving important historical and cultural knowledge. Therefore, waiata and haka offer an alternative view of the history of Aotearoa/New Zealand to those that are based on mainstream Eurocentric history books and archives. Waiata and haka are also important for the survival of the Māori language and culture. In this sense, they are bound to Māori identity. As a result of colonisation many of these compositions are being lost through time and with them, a knowledge base regarding the meaning behind the words. The adoption of digital technology to preserve waiata and haka provides a tool that could aid the oral tradition. Tāmata Toiere, a digital repository of waiata and haka, is a national resource which demonstrates the interface between recovering traditional knowledge and storing this through innovative technology for future generations.
In this thesis, Indigenous Māori thought and the ethics of Emmanuel Levinas come face to face (kanohi ki te kanohi). Through these two perspectives I consider the significance of the intersubjective relation for ethical political practice in the context of settler–indigene social and educational relationships in Aotearoa-New Zealand. Levinas provides powerful theoretical suggestions for the conditions of practice necessary to an ethical social relationship. As conceived here, an ethical politics challenges the liberal political economy of recognition and inclusion. Levinas's theoretical insights are brought to a case study of a unique inner city mainstream' primary school that is organised around a co-governance relationship based on the Treaty of Waitangi. In this school, two forms of authority and ways of constituting social and educational space are practised. The case study finds positively productive relationships operating at all levels of the school, and suggests that, because they are positioned autonomously and relationally, Māori are actively and creatively determining their own educational priorities and practices with significant success. The thesis positions the case study as profoundly instructive for an ethical politics in a range of sites.
Court responses to rape and sexual assault have been repeatedly criticised in England and Wales (Brown, Horvath, Kelly & Westmarland, 2010). In particular, research has identified prevalent stereotypes about rape in both the Criminal Justice System and wider society, with these rape myths often being used as the predominant explanation for inadequate victim/survivor treatment (see Temkin & Krahé, 2008). The existing literature, though, tends to rely on interviews or is out-dated by policy, so the present research uses court observations to explore what is actually happening in adult rape and sexual assault trials. The findings show that rape myths are still routinely used at trial, but that they are sometimes resisted using judicial directions or prosecution comments. In addition, the research highlights how rape myths are kept ‘relevant’ to trial through a focus on inconsistencies, a dichotomy of wholly truthful/untruthful witnesses, and conceptualisations of ‘rational’ behaviour as being the ‘normal’ way to act. These findings provide a new understanding of rape myths and have implications for policy; in particular, that while training legal professionals is helpful, it cannot be expected to fully address the use of rape myths.
Since 2010 the English Court of Appeal has been engaged in an unprecedented campaign to
reform cross-examination practice to reflect empirical research findings on obtaining best
evidence from children and vulnerable adult witnesses. It is easy to assume that these cases break
away from the conventional theory of cross-examination—carving out a series of exceptions to
normal practice. This article reviews the common law rules on cross-examination before 2010
and argues that the new cases are in fact a logical extension of the ordinary rules
Despite years of policy reform in England and Wales, court responses to rape and sexual assault victims remain inadequate. Existing literature often relies on interviews, is outdated by policy, or ignores underlying assumptions. This study therefore observed rape and sexual assault trials, identifying underlying assumptions using critical discourse analysis (CDA). The main themes that arose were routine delays, notions of "rational" behavior, extreme interpretations of "beyond reasonable doubt" (BRD) and "burden of proof," and winning as priority. These highlight the need to move beyond prioritizing shorter term change and begin addressing the fundamental inadequacies of court responses to rape and sexual assault victims.
In this study, the perceptions of victim intoxication and the drinking context (i.e., who purchased the drinks) were investigated. Men and women mock jurors (N = 158) read a rape trial summary in which the victim was intoxicated or sober, and either the victim or the perpetrator purchased the drinks. Overall, participants who perceived a victim as intoxicated were less likely to render guilty verdicts and made lower ratings of victim credibility. In addition, when the perpetrator purchased the drinks, participants were more likely to render guilty verdicts and made more negative judgments about the defendant than when the victim bought the drinks. Mediation analyses explained the relationship between the independent variables and verdict. The results are discussed in terms of the factors that influence juror perceptions of rape cases in court.
This article aims to show the value of conversation analysis for feminist theory and practice around refusal skills training and date rape prevention. Conversation analysis shows that refusals are complex conversational interactions, incorporating delays, prefaces, palliatives, and accounts. Refusal skills training often ignores and overrides these with its simplistic prescription to `just say no'. It should not in fact be necessary for a woman to say `no' in order for her to be understood as refusing sex. We draw on our own data to suggest that young women are able explicitly to articulate a sophisticated awareness of these culturally normative ways of indicating refusal, and we suggest that insistence upon `just say no' may be counterproductive insofar as it implies that other ways of doing refusals (e.g. with silences, compliments, or even weak acceptances) are open to reasonable doubt. Finally we discuss the implications of our use of conversation analysis for feminist psychology, both in relation to date rape and more generally.
Previous studies have illustrated the existence of a double standard in the attribution of responsibility in contested sexual consent scenarios whereby intoxicated defendants tend to be held less responsible for subsequent sexual events than their sober counterparts while intoxicated complainants tend to be held more responsible. This study examined the extent to which the means by which the complainants' intoxication was secured would influence this process.1 Mock jurors, having been exposed to a trial reconstruction in which intoxicated sexual consent was at issue, deliberated towards a unanimous, or failing that, majority verdict on whether rape had occurred. Across the trial scenarios, the only variables related to the type of intoxicant ingested and the means of its administration. In a context in which the Sexual Offences Act 2003 purports to restrict reliance in the jury room on questionable stereotypes about socio-sexual behaviour, this article considers the extent to which participants' views about responsibility for intoxication shaped their conclusions on the occurrence of, and liability for, rape. It also examines the ways in which the social acceptability of some intoxicants (alcohol) and the social unacceptability of others (Rohypnol) supported the construction of `drug-assisted rape' as distinguishable from more mundane instances of intoxicated sex.
The research presented in this chapter highlights the wide impact rape myths have on men and women who endorse them (in terms of liable behavioural inclinations, and/or self esteem), on attitudes toward victims and perpetrators of sexual violence, and on judgments about rape cases. It also emphasises how crucial it is to recognise the implications of RMA as a social norm, and to challenge their apparent normativity by the use of broadly targeted educational campaigns. Such interventions may destroy comfortable illusions, but will ultimately help to reduce sexual violence.
The conviction rate for rape has dropped in the UK from one in three in 1977 to one in thirteen in 1999 and statistics show that only one in five cases ever reach trial (Home Office, 2002a). This study explored experiences of rape with respect to the UK legal system through semistructured interviews with victims, police officers, and experts in the provision of victim support. Interviews were thematically analyzed; emergent themes suggest that the legal system and society continue to revictimize victims of rape through mythology and faulty social perceptions that surround rape. Findings discuss improvement by way of specialist police teams, prosecutors, and greater support to improve postexperiences of rape victims.
While several psychological theories of rape have been developed, Tannen's ‘ miscommunication’ model is dominant, informing ‘expert’ and popular accounts alike. Rape is constructed as an extreme example of miscommunication – whereby women's ‘failure’ to say ‘no’ is interpreted by men as sexual consent. Kitzinger and Frith have demonstrated that young women have an implicit understanding of the normative interactional structure of refusal, and it is this that explains their difficulty in ‘just saying no’ to unwanted sex. However, Kitzinger and Frith's study could not demonstrate, but only argue, that young men share this sophisticated understanding, such that women saying ‘no’ should not be necessary to refuse sexual intimacy. Here we extend Kitzinger and Frith's study, via the analysis of data from two focus groups held with young men. We demonstrate that, as Kitzinger and Frith suggested, men not only do have a refined ability to hear verbal refusals that do not contain the word ‘no’, but also – and importantly – an equally refined ability to ‘hear’ the subtlest of non-verbal sexual refusals.
Studies on the influence of expert evidence and judicial instructions in child sexual abuse (CSA) cases have produced mixed outcomes. Using repeated measures, we tested the effectiveness of expert evidence and judicial directions in challenging common misconceptions about children’s memory and responses to sexual abuse. A CSA Misconceptions Questionnaire was administered to 118 psychology undergraduates who later served as virtual jurors in a simulated criminal trial. Specialized CSA knowledge was provided by a psychologist or via judicial directions. Expert evidence had two levels: clinical versus scientific testimony. Timing of judicial instructions had two levels: directions presented before the child testified versus during the judge’s summing up. In a fifth control condition, no specialized CSA information was included. After reading a trial transcript, mock-jurors assessed witness credibility, rendered verdicts and again completed the CSA Misconceptions Questionnaire. All four interventions significantly increased jurors’ CSA knowledge. The more they knew, the more likely they were to convict. Perceived victim credibility fully mediated the effect of CSA knowledge on verdict: information presented via expert testimony or judicial directions enhanced perceptions of victim credibility, which in turn increased convictions. Conviction rates were significantly higher in response to expert testimony from a clinical psychologist and a judicial instruction provided in the trial summation. These results are promising for courts and policy-makers grappling with low conviction rates in CSA jury trials.
This article reviews research literature examining the effects of key factors that influence individual's attitudes towards victims of rape. The impact of rape myths, gender roles and substance use on attributions of blame in cases of rape are discussed. The phenomenon of victim-blaming within such cases is explored with reference to the attribution theory to help explain why rape victims are sometimes seen as deserving of their misfortune. Findings indicate that men demonstrate higher rape myth acceptance than women and attribute higher levels of blame to victims than women; women who violate traditional gender roles are attributed more blame than those women who do not; and women who consume alcohol prior to their attack are attributed higher levels of blame than those who are not intoxicated. The findings are discussed with reference to the implications for the Criminal Justice System and future interventions for both victims and perpetrators of rape.
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In a phenomenon called unacknowledged rape, many rape victims do not label their experience rape. Does their level of rape myth acceptance influence this labeling process? In this study, 86 college women whose experience met the legal definition of rape described their experience, indicated how they labeled it, and completed the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale. Logistic regressions indicated that, for 2 rape myths (e.g., if women don't fight back, it's not rape), women who accepted the myth and whose experience corresponded to the myth (e.g., they did not fight back) were less likely than other women to acknowledge their experience as rape. Women were also unlikely to acknowledge rape when they did not label the nonconsensual sexual behavior sex.
This paper reviews studies exploring the effects of a variety of factors on participants' judgments of hypothetical depictions of rape within an experimental setting. The focus is on attribution of responsibility or fault to the victim or attacker and related judgments. Three aspects have been reviewed: the effect of participant gender, the type of rape depicted (stranger rape, date rape or acquaintance rape) and perceived similarity with the victim/perpetrator in line with the defensive attribution theory. There are limits to generalization due to populations studied and methods used, and the observed effects of several factors are either minimal or inconsistent. However, some factors have consistent effects on judgments. Findings indicate that men engage in victim blaming more readily than women; victims who are acquainted with their attacker tend to be assigned more responsibility for a rape; and participants who view themselves as similar to the victim attribute more blame to the perpetrator of the rape, demonstrating the effects of “harm avoidance” and “blame avoidance.”
Although male rape is being reported more often than before, the majority of rape victims continue to be women. Rape myths-false beliefs used mainly to shift the blame of rape from perpetrators to victims-are also prevalent in today's society and in many ways contribute toward the pervasiveness of rape. Despite this, there has been limited consideration as to how rape prevention programs and policies can address this phenomenon, and there is no updated information on the demographic, attitudinal, or behavioral factors currently associated with rape myths. This research aimed to address this gap by examining the correlates of rape-myths acceptance (RMA) in published studies. A total of 37 studies were reviewed, and their results were combined using meta-analytic techniques. Overall, the findings indicated that men displayed a significantly higher endorsement of RMA than women. RMA was also strongly associated with hostile attitudes and behaviors toward women, thus supporting feminist premise that sexism perpetuates RMA. RMA was also found to be correlated with other "isms," such as racism, heterosexism, classism, and ageism. These findings suggest that rape prevention programs and policies must be broadened to incorporate strategies that also address other oppressive beliefs concurrent with RMA. Indeed, a renewed awareness of how RMA shapes societal perceptions of rape victims, including perceptions of service providers, could also reduce victims' re-victimization and enhance their coping mechanisms.
Attitudes toward men's violence against women shape both the perpetration of violence against women and responses to this violence by the victim and others around her. For these reasons, attitudes are the target of violence-prevention campaigns. To improve understanding of the determinants of violence against women and to aid the development of violence-prevention efforts, this article reviews the factors that shape attitudes toward violence against women. It offers a framework with which to comprehend the complex array of influences on attitudes toward violent behavior perpetrated by men against women. Two clusters of factors, associated with gender and culture, have an influence at multiple levels of the social order on attitudes regarding violence. Further factors operate at individual, organizational, communal, or societal levels in particular, although their influence may overlap across multiple levels. This article concludes with recommendations regarding efforts to improve attitudes toward violence against women.
This article describes the "rape myth" and tests hypotheses derived from social psychological and feminist theory that acceptance of rape myths can be predicted from attitudes such as sex role stereotyping, adversarial sexual beliefs, sexual conservatism, and acceptance of interpersonal violence. Personality characteristics, background characteristics, and personal exposure to rape, rape victims, and rapists are other factors used in predictions. Results from regression analysis of interview data indicate that the higher the sex role stereotyping, adversarial sexual beliefs, and acceptance of interpersonal violence, the greater a respondent's acceptance of rape myths. In addition, younger and better educated people reveal less stereotypic, adversarial, and proviolence attitudes and less rape myth acceptance. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results for understanding and changing this cultural orientation toward sexual assault.
This study assessed the role of rape myth acceptance (RMA) and situational factors in the perception of three different rape scenarios (date rape, marital rape, and stranger rape). One hundred and eighty-two psychology undergraduates were asked to emit four judgements about each rape situation: victim responsibility, perpetrator responsibility, intensity of trauma, and likelihood to report the crime to the police. It was hypothesized that neither RMA nor situational factors alone can explain how rape is perceived; it is the interaction between these two factors that best account for social reactions to sexual aggression. The results generally supported the authors' hypothesis: Victim blame, estimation of trauma, and the likelihood of reporting the crime to the police were best explained by the interaction between observer characteristics, such as RMA, and situational clues. That is, the less stereotypic the rape situation was, the greater was the influence of attitudes toward rape on attributions.
In 2 experiments, college students read a murder-trial transcript that included or did not include court-appointed expert testimony about eyewitness memory. The testimony either preceded or followed the evidence, and the judge's final instructions reminded or did not remind jurors about the expert's testimony. Expert testimony decreased perceptions of guilt and eyewitness believability when it followed the evidence and preceded the judge's reminder. This effect occurred whether the prosecution case was moderately weak or moderately strong. Jurors' need for cognition (NC) was curvilinearly related to convictions in a strong case. Low and high NC jurors convicted less than did moderate NC jurors. Greater scrutiny by high NC jurors may make them more likely to consider evidence for the weaker side.
Consent is a key issue in defining sexual coercion yet few researchers have analyzed sexual consent attitudes and behaviors and, to date, there has been no published research examining sexual consent within same-sex relationships. The main objective of this study was to identify which behaviors people use to ask for and to indicate sexual consent to their same-sex partner(s). A Same-Sex Sexual Consent Scale was developed to measure both initiating and responding consent behaviors in same-sex relationships. Data were collected using an on-line survey from 257 participants (127 men, 130 women). The participants reported using nonverbal behaviors significantly more frequently than verbal behaviors to indicate consent. Exploratory factor analysis for the Initiating and Responding subscales resulted in four factors for each subscale. The four factors for the Initiating Subscale were nonverbal behaviors involving touch, no resistance behaviors, verbal behaviors, and nonverbal behaviors without touch. The factors for the Responding Subscale were no resistance behaviors, verbal behaviors, nonverbal behaviors, and undressing behaviors. There were no significant differences in the initiating behaviors used by men who have sex with men (MSM) and women who have sex with women (WSW); however, when responding to initiating behavior, MSM reported using significantly more nonverbal signals than did WSW. The scale that was developed in this study should be useful for other researchers who wish to study the topic of sexual consent.
This study examines rape myth use in eight English rape trials and assesses attempts by trial participants to combat it. Trial notes, based on observations, were analyzed using thematic analysis. Rape myths were used in three identifiable ways: to distance the case from the “real rape” stereotype, to discredit the complainant, and to emphasize the aspects of the case that were consistent with rape myths. Prosecution challenges to the myths were few, and judges rarely countered the rape myths. This study provides new insights by demonstrating the ways that rape myths are utilized to manipulate jurors’ interpretations of the evidence.
The prosecution of rape frequently requires a jury to decide whether the defendant reasonably believed that the complainant consented to sexual intercourse, thereby assuming a shared understanding of what constitutes a “reasonable belief in consent”. This study provides a thematic analysis of interviews with 18 university students, studying in London, UK, to explore their perceptions of “a reasonable belief in consent” when considering other people's behaviour. The findings suggest that whilst these participants rejected many stereotypical ideas in judging reasonable belief in consent, the discussion regarding vulnerability, responsibility and the consumption of alcohol was less clear-cut. Discussions frequently sought to avoid directly blaming the victim for being raped, but would instead blame her for getting drunk or otherwise “allowing” herself to become vulnerable. The implications of these findings for the prosecution of rape and wider public education are considered.
Despite major reforms in rape law and criminal procedure, a number of reports suggest that conviction rates, which are generally low, either remained similar or in some cases they even decreased. Acceptance of rape myths has been identified as one of the main barriers to progress within any law reform and in terms of convictions rates. Studies investigating jurors' decision-making have relied on public attitudes using various methods such as mock trials.
A systematic review was conducted to investigate whether juror decision-making is influenced by rape myths. The review identified 9 studies. Meta-analysis supported the hypothesis that rape myths impact on juror decision-making regardless of study quality. The relationship between rape myths and juror decision-making were significantly different between studies conducted in the USA and Europe. The review provides a coherent evidence base to support recent efforts to highlight rape myths as a problem for prosecutors and discusses findings in the light of recent initiatives to introduce educational guidance for jurors.
Research indicates that individuals often endorse beliefs that false allegations in rape cases are commonplace and are also reluctant to believe a woman who states she was raped whilst drinking alcohol. On this basis, it can be hypothesised that people are increasingly likely to believe that false allegations occur more often when the complainant has been drinking. In order to examine the ways in which alcohol intoxication and false allegations of rape intertwine, this article critically examines the findings of four focus groups which were based around a vignette in which sex takes place between intoxicated individuals and consent is disputed. The article examines participants’ personal beliefs around three major themes: ‘not quite rape’; false allegations of rape; and voluntary intoxication and intercourse. Although participants acknowledged that sexual intercourse when drunk to the point of incapacity may amount to an unpleasant experience, it was held to constitute something distinctly different to rape. Participants also argued that it would be unfair to hold a defendant criminally liable for intercourse when parties were equally drunk and that alcohol-involved consensual sex may be reclassified as rape the next morning in order to rationalise regretted drunken behaviour.
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 introduced significant reforms to the offence of rape, amid concerns regarding the low reporting and conviction rates for rape. One of the key aims of the Act was to improve the law relating to consent, in order to assist a jury in their decision making process. In addition, disquiet had been expressed with regards to the subjective nature of the mens rea of rape. Consequently, the 2003 Act reformulated the law so as to introduce an objective test. This article discusses the findings of a qualitative research project undertaken with 14 Barristers in the North West of England, in order to investigate counsels’ opinions regarding the 2003 reforms. Drawing upon data collected from semi-structured interviews, the article examines barristers’ perspectives with regards to the definition of consent, the ‘consent presumptions’, and the reformulated mens rea. In conclusion, it will be argued that while the barristers were not overly optimistic about the reforms introduced by the 2003 Act, they were also opposed to further reform to the substantive law and increased jury directions. Barristers argued that the law relating to rape should remain as simple as possible.
This article reviews the use of expert evidence to explain delay in complaint in prosecutions for childhood sexual abuse in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Ireland, Scotland and England and Wales. Such expert evidence is ‘counterintuitive evidence’ designed to dispel myths, misconceptions or misunderstandings in the minds of jurors which may adversely affect their evaluation of the complainant's evidence.
This article explores a series of 27 jury deliberations, undertaken by volunteer members of the public, following their observation of a mini-rape trial reconstruction. While research with ‘real’ jurors is prohibited in England and Wales, previous social attitude and experimental studies have suggested that jurors in sexual assault trials may well be influenced by dubious stereotypes about rape, rapists and rape victims. In this article, the authors explore the relationship between these (mis)conceptions about rape and public expectations regarding socio-sexual conduct more broadly. The authors examine the scripts that were invoked, defended and relied upon by mock jurors in order to distinguish ‘normal’ (hetero)sexual seduction from rape. More specifically, this article explores participants’ expectations (both descriptive and normative) in relation to the communication of consent, the role of male initiative, and the location, timing of and parties to sexual intercourse, as well as the relevance of the use of physical force, the fact of the parties’ drunkenness or the nature of their respective post-coital conduct.
Two studies explored stereotypic information processing in rape cases by prospective lawyers in Germany. In Study 1, 451 undergraduate law students rated rape scenarios varying with respect to defendant–complainant relationship and coercive strategy (force versus exploitation of the complainant's alcohol-induced defencelessness). Acceptance of rape myths was also measured. Likelihood of defendant liability was rated to be lower when there was a prior relationship between the parties and when the defendant exploited the complainant's defencelessness as compared to when he used force (except in the ex-partner rapes where blame was higher in the alcohol-related than in the force-related cases). Complainant blame was higher when there was a prior relationship between the parties and was higher in the alcohol-related cases than in the force-related cases, except in the ex-partner rape where the pattern was reversed. Participants with high rape myth acceptance held the defendant less liable and blamed the complainant more, especially when the two had known each other. Study 2 largely replicated these findings with 129 postgraduate trainee lawyers and showed that sentencing recommendations also varied as a function of defendant–complainant relationship and coercive strategy. Providing participants with the legal definition of rape did not reduce reliance on rape stereotypes.
PREFACE ABBREVIATIONS TABLE OF CASES TABLE OF STATUTES 1. Rape, Rape Victims and the Criminal Justice System 2. Defining and Redefining Rape 3. Alternative Approaches 4. Evidence 5. Assisting the Victims of Rape 6. Conclusion SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX
A series of six studies were conducted to explore the structure underlying rape myths and to develop the 45-item Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (''IRMA''). In the first study, 604 participants (mean age 18.8 years, 53% women) rated their level of agreement with 95 pretested rape myth statements. Exploratory and confir-matory multivariate analyses revealed a structure consisting of both a general myth component and seven subcomponents. This structure was replicated in a second study using a new sample and paired comparisons methodology. Study 3 details the development procedures for the IRMA and presents statistics demonstrating its good psychometric properties. Finally, Studies 4–6 support the construct validity of the IRMA. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for theory, mea-surement, future research, and intervention. © 1999 Academic Press
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of rape myth acceptance, belief in a just world, and sexual attitudes on attributions of responsibility in a date rape scenario. We predicted that people higher in rape myth acceptance and those who more strongly believed in a just world, as well as those who held more conservative sexual attitudes, would attribute greater blame to the accuser than to the accused.
Methods. One hundred seventy‐two undergraduates from a medium‐sized, Catholic university in the USA read a hypothetical date rape scenario and completed the Rape Myth Acceptance Scale, the Just World Scale, the Sexual Attitudes Scale, and a Judgment Questionnaire constructed for the current study.
Results. Rape myth acceptance mediated the relationship between gender and judgments of responsibility for the accused and the accuser. Men were more likely to endorse rape myths and, consequently, assign less responsibility to the accused and more responsibility to the accuser than women.
Conclusions. Pre‐existing beliefs regarding the nature of rape and the circumstances surrounding it may bias attributions of responsibility in date rape cases. There may be utility in addressing whether jurors hold such beliefs prior to the start of a trial.
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential effects of pro and anti rape myth bias in judges' summing up statements on verdicts given by individuals.
Method. A convenience sample of 90 male and 90 female students from a British university completed the Rape myth acceptance (RMA) scale ( Burt, 1980 ). A scenario depicting a date rape was read, ending with guidance that was either pro or anti rape myth, or neutral.
Results. Rape myth supporting guidance was associated with innocent verdicts, and anti rape myth guidance with guilty verdicts, regardless of degree of rape myth acceptance. Level of rape myth acceptance and gender were also found to predict verdict.
Conclusion. Rape myth biased guidance may influence verdicts in a rape scenario in which the attribution of blame to the man and woman depicted could be perceived as being ambiguous.
In 2006, the Government proposed allowing prosecutors in England and Wales to adduce ‘general’ expert witness testimony in rape cases. This initiative was based on two assumptions-first, that jurors currently lack an adequate understanding of rape complainants’ post-assault behaviour (which, in turn, generates inappropriate inferences regarding credibility) and, second, that expert testimony offers a useful vehicle for addressing such juror ignorance. In a previous article, the authors reported on a mock jury study that provided empirical support for the first of these claims-at least in regard to a complainant's calm demeanour, delayed reporting or lack of physical resistance. In this article, the authors investigate whether educational guidance presented at trial-via expert testimony or an expansive judicial instruction-can have the intended beneficial impact of redressing popular misconceptions, thereby leading to a fairer assessment of complainant credibility in rape cases.
IntroductionFiltering and Controlling EvidenceThe Bayesian PerspectiveFuture Contributions of Psychology to Evidence EvaluationReferences
This article discusses the findings of a qualitative study (part of a larger study into rape and criminal justice) which involved in-depth interviews with a sample of ten highly experienced barristers who between them had prosecuted and defended in hundreds of rape trials. It is concerned with the barristers' perceptions of the problems involved in prosecuting rape and the strategies deployed in defending rape cases. The article discusses the ethics of advocacy in the context of rape trials and argues that within the adversarial system there are ethical limits which should be observed.
Most psychological theories of rape tend to stress factors internal to both rapists and their victims in accounting for the phenomenon. Unlike such theories, social psychological and feminist accounts have drawn attention to social and cultural factors as productive of rape, and have criticized psychological accounts on the grounds that they often serve, paradoxically, to cement pre-existing ‘common-sense’. In this paper we examine the ways in which young Australian men draw upon widely culturally shared accounts, or interpretative repertoires, of rape to exculpate rapists. In particular, we discuss the reliance placed on a ‘lay’ version of Tannen's 1992 ‘miscommunication model’ of (acquaintance) rape and detail the use of this account—the claim that rape is a consequence of men's ‘not knowing’—as a device to accomplish exculpation. Implications of our methods for capturing young people's understanding of sexual coercion, rape and consent, and for the design of ‘rape prevention’ programmes, are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The processing of rape cases in one U.S. state serves as the background for an examination of the definitions of reality used by rape victims and those officials at various levels of the system with whom they must interact. As a result of engaging in this study, the authors became aware of the consistency with which cultural myths and stereotypes surrounding women and their relationship to men were embraced at all levels of the justice system, and by all parties involved. Our investigation found, for example, that victims, police, and district attorneys all talk about rape in terms of "risky and inappropriate behaviour," and "credibility of the victim." It is our contention that the cultural myths and stereotypes surrounding rape, and the rape victim, provide a compelling example of how people in very different positions in the social system appear to rely on the same taken-for-granted explanations and assumptions about reality. And, as a consequence of these myths and stereotypes of rape, the victim is often forced to accept a definition of reality that is removed from her own experience. The perceived legitimacy of these shared cultural myths and stereotypes is reflected in the acceptance of a world view as seen through the eyes of a "reasonable man," and this operates to the implicit and explicit detriment of the victim. The adoption of a "reasonable woman" standard, and increased recognition of, and sensitivity to, the reality of rape, it is argued, may lessen the impact of damaging cultural myths and stereotypes. The authors conclude by posing a number of questions for consideration regarding the implications of this research for the processing of rape cases through the justice system.
This article discusses the findings of a study in which volunteers observed one of nine mini rape trial reconstructions, and
were asked to deliberate as a group towards a verdict. In a context in which research with ‘real’ jurors is prohibited, these
deliberations were analysed to better understand what goes on behind the closed doors of the jury room in rape cases. While
previous research has established that jurors are often influenced by extra-legal factors relating to the complainant's behaviour
before an alleged attack, this study explored the impact of complainant conduct during and post-assault on assessments of
her credibility. More specifically, it examined the effects of (1) lack of physical resistance; (2) delayed reporting; and
(3) calm emotional demeanour.
Prior to recent legislative changes, sexual offences were contained in a combination of statutory provisions and common law that was criticized as being ill-equipped to tackle the intricacies of modern sexual (mis)behaviour. This pilot study explored the capacity of these provisions to address the complexities of drug-assisted rape using focus groups and a trial simulation to identify factors which influenced jurors in rape trials involving intoxicants. The findings revealed that jurors considered numerous extra-legal factors when reaching a decision: rape myths, misconceptions about the impact of intoxicants and factors such as the motivation of the defendant in administering an intoxicant. This paper draws upon these findings, focusing in particular on the interaction between juror attributions of blame and stereotypical conceptions about intoxication, sexual consent and drug-assisted rape. The findings of this pilot study form the basis for a larger-scale project (ESRC -funded, commenced January 2004) that examines this interaction in the context of new provisions under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
Miscommunication theory suggests that many incidents of heterosexual sexual violence or coercion are the result of a miscommunication between men and women. Two most commonly cited forms of miscommunication include men overestimating women's interest in sex and women giving token resistance to sex. The current study is a thematic analysis of the ways that young women and men talked about their casual sex experiences with particular attention to the presence or absence of miscommunication in their descriptions. Both women and men used a combination of three themes to describe their communication with their casual partners: (1) tacit knowing, (2) refusing sex and (3) active participation. Women and men described similar communication mechanisms and reported communicating and understanding their partners' communication whether this involved acceptance or rejection of a sexual invitation. Both men and women demonstrated literacy in the same communicative tools, thus suggesting the absence of miscommunication.
An examination of 944 victim narratives from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) finds that one in five women who reveal an incident of sexual victimization to the NCVS excuse or justify their situations, largely by drawing on social vocabularies that suggest male sexual aggression is natural, normal within dating relationships, or the victim's fault. The study's findings substantiate the influence that rape myths and gender stereotypes have on victims' perceptions of their own unwanted sexual situations and demonstrate the ways in which cultural language delimits victims' recognition of sexual victimization as crime and inhibits reporting to the police.
Two factors potentially affect observers'attributions of responsibility to a rape survivor: how closely they identify with the survivor and how much they adhere to rape myths. To assess the impact of these factors, 157 female college students categorized by their sexual assault history and by their acceptance of rape myths, evaluated a sexual assault scenario. It was hypothesized that previously victimized participants would attribute less blame, and that those participants who self-identify as rape survivors would view the assault as rape more often than other participants. Neither hypothesis was supported. As expected, those who scored higher on the Rape Myths Acceptance Scale(RMAS) blamed the victim more and were less likely to believe rape had occurred. Only one subscale of the RMAS, Adversarial Sexual Beliefs, was consistently associated with participants'evaluation of the scenario, suggesting that this dimension may be especially important to understanding an observer's assessment of rape.
The conviction rate in rape cases remains remarkably low, leading many to believe a new approach is needed to prosecuting such crimes. Many important steps have been taken in relation to the collection and retention of evidence and the setting up of specialist rape prosecutors, but important evidential weaknesses remain present in the system alongside Victorian attitudes to sexual conduct. The British Home Office is currently consulting on a number of measures, including the admissibility of evidence showing the presence of rape trauma syndrome. This paper examines the history of this controversial evidential debate.
Scales of rape myth acceptance (RMA) often yield low means and skewed distributions. This is proposed to be because of a change in rape-related beliefs toward more subtle content. Incorporating insights from racism and sexism research, a 30-item self-report scale measuring the acceptance of modern myths about sexual aggression (AMMSA) is presented. Across four studies (total N=1,279), the reliability and validity of parallel German and English versions of the AMMSA scale were examined. The results show that both language versions are highly reliable; compared with a traditional RMA scale, means of AMMSA scores are higher and their distributions more closely approximate normality. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses provide evidence for the AMMSA scale's concurrent and predictive construct validity.
It’s always high drama. It’s somebody’s life at stake”: Inside British rape trials. The Guardian
- M Denes
Advocacy: Getting the answers you want
- D Carson
- F Pakes
An investigation into the effects of court culture on barristers’ opinions of responses to rape (BSc dissertation
- O Smith