RAPE AS VIEWED BY JUDGES, PROSECUTORS, AND POLICE OFFICERS

• NCJ Number: 66886
• Journal: Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 7 Issue: 1 Dated: (MARCH 1980) Pages: 19-40
• Author(s): S FELDMAN-SUMMERS; G C PALMER
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 22 pages
• Grant Number(s): 1RO1 MH 26130-01
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare
• Corporate Author: Sage Publications, Inc
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc; UMI Dissertation Services; Institute for Scientific Information
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: PRICE QUOTED FOR SAGE IS A SINGLE ISSUE PRICE.

Annotation

A SEATTLE, WASH., STUDY FOUND SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BELIEFS ABOUT RAPE HELD BY CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM (CJS) PERSONNEL AND THOSE HELD BY SOCIAL SERVICE PERSONNEL.

Abstract

QUESTIONNAIRES WERE MAILED TO 36 JUDGES, 41 PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS, 62 POLICE OFFICERS, AND 56 SOCIAL SERVICE PERSONNEL. RESPONSES WERE RECEIVED FROM 17 JUDGES, 22 PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS, 15 POLICE OFFICERS, AND 29 SOCIAL SERVICE STAFF. CONSISTING OF FOUR SECTIONS, THE QUESTIONNAIRE'S ITEM CONTENT WAS BASED ON STATEMENTS AND PROPOSITIONS ABOUT THE CAUSES OF RAPE, ITS PREVENTION, AND THE LIKELIHOOD THAT THE COMPLAINTS ARE TRUE OR FALSE. RELIABILITY OF THE ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT WAS DETERMINED BY ADMINISTERING THE QUESTIONNAIRE TO A SAMPLE OF 22 UNDERGRADUATES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON ON 2 OCCASIONS 1 WEEK APART. STUDY FINDINGS INDICATE THAT CJS PERSONNEL HELD BELIEFS THAT DIFFERED SUBSTANTIALLY FROM THOSE OF SOCIAL SERVICE PERSONNEL. SOCIAL SERVICE PERSONNEL TENDED TO SEE THE CAUSES OF RAPE AS BEING INHERENT IN THE SOCIALIZATION PROCESS OF MEN WHILE CJS PARTICIPANTS TENDED TO SEE THE CAUSES OF RAPE AS RESULTING FROM THE MAKEUP OF SOME MEN AND FROM WOMEN'S BEHAVIOR. BELIEFS ABOUT PREVENTION OF RAPE ALSO DIFFERED. SOCIAL SERVICE PERSONNEL BELIEVED THAT THE FREQUENCY OF RAPE WOULD BE REDUCED BY CHANGING SOCIAL NORMS AND CJS PERSONNEL BELIEVED THAT CHANGING THE BEHAVIOR OF POTENTIAL VICTIMS WOULD REDUCE THE FREQUENCY WITH WHICH RAPE WAS COMMITTED. ONLY ABOUT HALF OF THE RAPES REPORTED TO THE POLICE WERE SEEN BY CJS PERSONNEL AS TRUE WITH THE ASSAILANT CORRECTLY IDENTIFIED. SOCIAL SERVICE PERSONNEL INDICATED THAT OVER 70 PERCENT OF RAPE COMPLAINTS FELL INTO THE TRUE CATEGORY. NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WERE FOUND BETWEEN SOCIAL SERVICE AND CJS PERSONNEL REGARDING DIFFERENT COMPLAINT CIRCUMSTANCES. THESE FINDINGS ARE CONSISTENT WITH THE CLAIMS OF MANY RAPE VICTIMS THAT THEY WERE NOT BELIEVED BY CRIMINAL JUSTICE PERSONNEL. THEY SUGGEST THAT APPROPRIATE EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOR PEOPLE IN THE CJS MUST BE PROVIDED, AND PERSONNEL IN POSITIONS OF AUTHORITY MUST BE SELECTED WHO HOLD NONSTEREOTYPIC BELIEFS ABOUT RAPE AND RAPE VICTIMS IN ORDER TO EFFECTIVELY TREAT VICTIMS AND PROCESS COMPLAINTS. TABLES, FOOTNOTES, AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (PRG)