Expressed sexual assault legal context and victim culpability attributions

Legal scholars have argued that laws have an expressive function, specifically that sexual assault laws may convey social-level messages that victims are culpable for crimes against them. In a university sample, we conducted the first experimental test of legal scholars' proposal, hypothesizing that legal messages-specifically their clarity and effectiveness in conveying that sexual assault is a crime-affect victim culpability attributions. Results demonstrated that greater culpability was attributed to a victim of sexual assault within a context expressing unclear and ineffective sexual assault law than within a context clearly and effectively expressing that sexual assault is a crime. We also garnered empirical support for a mediation model, that is, negative affective reactions to a victim statistically accounted for the relationship between expressed legal context and victim culpability attributions. Implications for future psycholegal research and potential legal reforms are discussed.     

The genuine victim and prosecutors’ charging decisions in sexual assault cases

This study examined the effect of victim characteristics and evidence factors on prosecutors’ decisions to file charges in sexual assault cases. Social scientists and legal scholars argue that sexual assault case processing decisions are affected by stereotypes of real rapes and genuine victims. They assert that complainants whose backgrounds and behavior conform to the image of a genuine victim will be taken more seriously, and their allegations treated more seriously, than complainants whose backgrounds and behavior are at odds with this image. We used a sample of arrests for sexual assault made by the Detroit Police Department in 1989 to test these assertions. We combined six victim characteristics to create a genuine victim scale, and we examined the effect of this scale, as well as a number of evidence factors, on prosecutors’ charging decisions. We performed separate analyses on cases with child victims and cases with adolescent or adult victims. We found that the genuine victim scale did not influence charging decisions in cases with child victims, but was theonly significant predictor in cases involving adolescent or adult victims. In contrast, none of the four evidence factors affected charging in cases with adult victims, and only one of these factors was related to charging in cases involving children. These findings suggest that prosecutors attempt to avoid uncertainty by screening out sexual assault cases unlikely to result in a conviction because of questions about the victim’s character, the victim’s behavior, and the victim’s credibility. This paper is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. SES-9010826. Points of view are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of the National Science Foundataion.     

Sexual assault nurse examiners' perceptions of their relationship with doctors, rape victim advocates, police, and prosecutors

In response to the negative and inefficient treatment of rape victims by emergency room personnel, the first Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) programs began in the late 1970s. While SANEs, doctors, rape victim advocates, police officers and prosecutors work together to ensure the most comprehensive and sensitive care of rape victims, they all have very different roles and objectives. This research explores SANEs' perceptions of their relationships with other professionals who treat or interact with rape victims. Data from interviews with 39 Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners from four East Coast states indicate positive relationships are marked by open communication, respect shown towards SANEs as well as rape victims, and a sense of appreciation among SANEs. On the contrary, negative relationships result when SANEs believe police treat victims poorly, when advocates overstep boundaries and question SANEs about evidence collection or the exam, and when prosecutors fail to properly prepare them to testify during a trial.     

Sexual assault,irresistible impulses,and forensic psychiatry in Sweden

After forensic psychiatry was firmly established in Sweden in the 1930s, many rapists and individuals charged with assaulting children underwent a forensic psychiatric examination. The physicians found that most of them had not been “in control” of their senses or not “in complete control” of their senses at the time of the crime. If the court ordered a forensic psychiatric examination, the defendant had a very good chance of either being discharged or having his sentence reduced considerably. By the 1950s psychological perspectives began to dominate in forensic psychiatry. In the forensic records of the 1950s we can notice a shift from a biomedical to a socio-psychological perspective, and crime was increasingly related to conditions that were not seen as mental derangement from a legal point of view. As a result, it became less and less common, from the 1950s onwards, for sentences to be commuted or defendants discharged.     

Sexual assault cases related to unknown perpetrator: Almost 50% of the analyzed cases corresponded to serial offenders

As a collaborative effort in solving sexual assault cases where there is no suspect, the DNA profiles associated with 273 cases were analyzed. Such cases were submitted from different Criminal Investigation Units belonging to eight judicial departments of Buenos Aires Province. A single NN male profile was recovered from the evidences by differential lysis with DNA IQ System (Promega) and typing with IdentiFiler kit. Comparative analysis of the compiled DNA profiles showed that in 45% of the cases the evidence DNA profile matched in at least two unrelated cases. Associations between groups of unsolved cases provided a valuable tool in aiding law enforcement investigations.     

Predicting type of sexual assault case closure from victim, suspect, and case characteristics

Relatively little research has examined the impact of victim, suspect and case characteristics on the probability of various case closures in regard to personal crimes requiring police investigation. The present article examines the effect of individual and case characteristics (i.e. victim–offender relationship, initially available evidence) on the police unfounding decision, and the probability of four other types of case closure (Arrest, Exceptional due to lack of victim cooperation, Exceptional due to lack of “prosecutorial merit”, and Open) among a sample of felony sexual assault cases. Using data from a large municipal police department's sexual assault investigative unit, results indicate that the race of the victim and suspect plays no role in determining any of the case outcomes in this sample, while prior relationship does appear to have a strong impact. Variable impacts for indicators of the strength of evidence, victim's cooperation, and the seriousness of the case are also discussed.     

Electronic health records: international, structural and legal perspectives

The EHR is a database record that incorporates a patient's health care details from conception to death and which can be distributed over a number of sites or aggregated at a particular source. This article describes the function and concept of the EHR by relating it to other medical information technologies, parallel changes in health care delivery, and a holistic health information model. The article compares the progress that Europe, Australia and the United States have made in the journey towards EHR implementation and concludes by highlighting some of the costs, barriers and consequences associated with the transition to a comprehensive EHR system.     

Psychopathy and instrumental aggression: Evolutionary, neurobiological, and legal perspectives

In the study of aggression, psychopathy represents a disorder that is of particular interest because it often involves aggression which is premeditated, emotionless, and instrumental in nature; this is especially true for more serious types of offenses. Such instrumental aggression is aimed at achieving a goal (e.g., to obtain resources such as money, or to gain status). Unlike the primarily reactive aggression observed in other disorders, psychopaths appear to engage in aggressive acts for the purpose of benefiting themselves. This is especially interesting in light of arguments that psychopathy may represent an alternative life-history strategy that is evolutionarily adaptive; behaviors such as aggression, risk-taking, manipulation, and promiscuous sexual behavior observed in psychopathy may be means by which psychopaths gain advantage over others. Recent neurobiological research supports the idea that abnormalities in brain regions key to emotion and morality may allow psychopaths to pursue such a strategy—psychopaths may not experience the social emotions such as empathy, guilt, and remorse that typically discourage instrumentally aggressive acts, and may even experience pleasure when committing these acts. Findings from brain imaging studies of psychopaths may have important implications for the law.     

Extreme cases and the criminal justice system: responses to a traumatic sexual assault in India

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses criminal justice responses that came on the heels of a traumatic sexual assault in public space in India. The incident referred to as “Nirbhaya,” drew attention to the nation as well as the world the violence against women who on the one hand find themselves in public spaces designed for all denizens in this globalised world, yet, subject to sexploitation and devoid of safeguards and equal protection. In this paper we catalogue modifications to Indian criminal justice as a result of the Nirbhaya case to illustrate how extreme events help drive changes to the system in a large democracy, yet an economically developing one. More specifically, we address changes that have been incorporated in criminal laws, police procedures, and crime prevention efforts, as well as assess the degree to which these efforts have been effective.     

Female-perpetrated sexual abuse: a review of victim and professional perspectives

Abstract

Professional attitudes towards female-perpetrated sexual abuse (FPSA) reportedly reflect the gender-role expectations found in broader society, which cast males almost exclusively as sexual aggressors or willing sexual recipients, females as sexually non-coercive or victims and male-perpetrated sexual abuse as particularly significant or injurious. Such views, however, appear to stand in contrast to the perspectives of individuals who have experienced FPSA. This paper details a systematic review of peer-reviewed quantitative and qualitative literature examining these different (professional and victim) perspectives. Although the methodological shortcomings of primary papers limit the conclusions that can be drawn, the findings suggest that victim and professional perspectives of FPSA remain discrepant; professionals generally considered FPSA as less serious, less harmful and less deserving of investigation than male-perpetrated abuse; while victims of FPSA felt their experiences influenced significantly their psychological wellbeing and abilities to form and maintain interpersonal relationships. These findings are discussed in relation to professional practice and suggestions for future research.     

Limitations on the ability to negotiate justice: attorney perspectives on guilt,innocence, and legal advice in the current plea system

In the American criminal justice system the vast majority of criminal convictions occur as the result of guilty pleas, often made as a result of plea bargains, rather than jury trials. The incentives offered in exchange for guilty pleas mean that both innocent and guilty defendants plead guilty. We investigate the role of attorneys in this context, through interviews with criminal defense attorneys. We examine defense attorney perspectives on the extent to which innocent defendants are (and should be) pleading guilty in the current legal framework and investigate their views of their own role in this complex system. We also use a hypothetical case to probe the ways in which defense attorneys consider guilt or innocence when providing advice on pleas. Results indicate that attorney advice is influenced by guilt or innocence, but also that attorneys are limited in the extent to which they can negotiate justice for their clients in a system in which uncertainty and large discrepancies between outcomes of guilty pleas and conviction at trial can make it a sensible option to plead guilty even when innocent. Results also suggest conflicting opinions over the role of the attorney in the plea-bargaining process.     

Prosecuting sexual assault: A comparison of charging decisions in sexual assault cases involving strangers,acquaintances, and intimate partners

In this study of prosecutors' charging decisions in sexual assault cases, we test the hypothesis that the effect of victim characteristics is conditioned by the relationship between the victim and the suspect. We categorize the victim/suspect relationship as one involving strangers, acquaintances/relatives, or intimate partners, and we examine the effect of victim, suspect, and case characteristics on charging decisions in each type of case. The results of our analysis reveal that the effect of victim characteristics, with one exception, is confined to cases involving acquaintances and intimate partners. In these types of cases, prosecutors were less likely to file charges if there were questions about the victim's character or behavior at the time of the incident. In contrast, the victim's reputation and behavior did not affect charging in cases involving strangers; in those types of cases, prosecutors were more likely to file charges if the suspect used a gun or knife or if the victim was white. We conclude that stereotypes of “real rapes” and “genuine victims” continue to influence the charging decision in at least some types of sexual assault cases.