NCJ Number
170753
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 25 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1998) Pages: 8-29
Date Published
1998
Length
22 pages
Annotation
Factors related to the probability of a rape victimization being reported to the police and the subsequent probability of an arrest being made were examined using data from the redesigned National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) between 1992 and 1994.
Abstract
The NVCS was redesigned to produce more accurate reporting of rape and sexual assault victimizations. Contextual characteristics included the victim-offender relationship, victim injuries, offender weapon use, victim marital status and age, and location of occurrence. The analysis was exclusively concerned with one-on-one incidents of rape against adult women. The probability of arrest was not significantly increased or decreased by any variable included in the analysis. When predicting police reporting behavior, however, significant effects were found for injury status and victim race. Specifically, victims who sustained physical injuries in addition to the rape were more likely to report their victimizations to police, compared to victims who did not sustain additional physical injuries. Although a higher proportion of rapes perpetrated by strangers were reported to police than nonstranger victimizations, this difference was not significant. Offender weapon use also increased the likelihood of a rape victimization being reported to police. Implications for policy and the effectiveness of rape law reform are discussed. 43 references, 1 note, and 3 tables