NCJ Number
105949
Date Published
1987
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Based on conversations with rape victims, police officers, and medical personnel who have been involved in rape investigations, this paper identifies and assesses public beliefs and attitudes concerning rape.
Abstract
Intuitive reactions to rape victims by police officers and medical personnel are distress; defensive emotional detachment; sympathy for badly injured and weak victims (old or young); anger and vengefulness often displaced toward the criminal justice system; voyeuristic interest; and frustration in dealing with rape victims and cases. Police investigators have an image of the 'ideal' rape case which will likely produce a conviction if the rapist is caught. This ideal includes an assailant who is a stranger to the victim, evidence that corroborates the victim's story, a consistent and plausible story by the victim, a victim of strong moral character who was forced to accompany the rapist, and an assailant with a criminal record. Some subjective public attitudes toward rape based in cultural myths and stereotypes are that women typically make vengeful or fanciful claims of having been raped, women secretly desire to be raped, and a woman who does not want to be raped cannot be penetrated. Other attitudes are that rape victims who are not hysterical have either not been victimized or are not bothered by the rape and that for some ethnic groups, rape is a common male-female interaction. Overall, stereotypes of rape rooted in patriarchal cultural values tend to blame the victim and excuse the rapist, so that rape trials tend to focus on the victim's precipitation of or cooperation with the rape. 6 references.