Hine, Ben ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9732-4631 and Murphy, Anthony ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0093-6178 (2017) The impact of victim-perpetrator relationship, reputation and initial point of resistance on officers' responsibility and authenticity ratings towards hypothetical rape cases. Journal of Criminal Justice, 49. pp. 1-13. ISSN 0047-2352

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Abstract

Purpose

Previous studies suggest that judgments of responsibility and authenticity made towards hypothetical rape cases differ when specific case factors are varied. However, few studies have examined whether police officers exhibit similar variations in judgment.

Methods

Sixteen vignettes depicting a hypothetical rape scenario were created. Vignettes varied on victim-perpetrator relationship, victim reputation, and initial point of resistance. Police officers from a large police force in the United Kingdom (n = 808) provided judgments of victim and perpetrator responsibility, as well as rape authenticity.

Results

Officers rated perpetrators as less responsible and gave lower rape authenticity ratings when a partner was the perpetrator, and in ‘late’ resistance scenarios. Officers rated victims as more responsible in ‘bad’ reputation conditions and in ‘late’ resistance conditions. Additional effects of officer sex and receipt of specialist training were also found (i.e., male officers rated the victim as more responsible than female officers), as were several interactions between factors.

Conclusions

Results suggest that police officers in the UK may judge victims of rape differentially based on extra-legal case factors. The potential impact on the investigation of rape cases is discussed, and a recommendation for thorough and prompt review of specialist and non-specialist training is made.

Item Type:	Article
Identifier:	10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2017.01.001
Additional Information:	© 2017 Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Keywords:	Rape; Rape myths; Police officers; Judgments; Objective policing
Subjects:	Law and criminal justice > Criminal justice Psychology
Related URLs:	Publisher
Depositing User:	Ben Hine
Date Deposited:	01 Feb 2017 14:01
Last Modified:	06 Feb 2024 15:51
URI:	https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/3090

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