Criminalization of Forced Marital Intercourse (From Deviance and the Family, P 71-85, 1988, Frank E Hagan and Marvin B Sussman, eds. -- See NCJ-113701)

• NCJ Number: 113705
• Author(s): R T Sigler; D Haygood
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 15 pages
• Sale Source: Haworth Press, Inc
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

The status of and public attitudes toward forced marital intercourse were examined in questionnaire data for 166 adults in Alabama.

Abstract

In general, respondents endorsed the criminalization of forced marital intercourse: 57 percent favored passage of a law making it either a felony or a misdemeanor offense, and about 25 percent considered it to be at least as serious as rape. There was a relationship between attitudes about the effectiveness of such a law and both the endorsement of criminalization and the severity of the sanction endorsed. Traditional views of women were associated with setting higher penalties, but not with endorsement of legislation; while the right of the wife to control sexual access was associated with endorsement of legislation but not severity of sanction. Males, blacks, and those with church attendance tended to favor felony legislation; while females and whites tended to favor misdemeanor legislation. Whites, males, and those with lower incomes tended to endorse noncriminal dispositions. Respondents endorsing lesser criminal penalties tended to be older, perceived rape as an assaultive act, and tended to endorse penalties less than felony for rape when physical injury did not occur. 6 tables, 3 cases, and 25 references.