Cassia Spohn and Katharine Tellis assess the criminal justice system¿s response to sexual assault, exploring the complex dynamics that shape the actions of police and prosecutors. The authors draw on unparalleled access to Los Angeles detectives, prosecutors, and case files to make sense of the factors that affect the outcomes of sexual assault claims. Following cases from victim report, to police investigation, to the decision to charge¿or not to charge¿they provide new insights into why shockingly few sexual assault claims lead to an eventual criminal conviction.
This book explores the burgeoning interest in alternative and innovative justice responses to sexual violence both within and outside the legal system. It explores the limits of criminal law for achieving 'rape justice' and highlights possibilities for expanding how we think about justice in the aftermath of sexual violence.
This text is fully updated to included abolition of the martial rape exemption, changes in the law on anonymity, sexual history evidence, procedural developments contained in the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, and male rape.
The second edition of Sexual Assault provides a broader overview of the crime of sexual assault by adding new chapters on drug facilitated sexual assault, child sexual abuse, sexual abuse of the elderly, sex offender treatment and public policy concerning sex offenders. In addition, the second edition provides more Special Features which truly compliment the academic sections of the book. Also, this new edition completes each of the six parts of the text with a page of suggested discussion questions, videos to show and class activities. Authors Reddington and Kreisel approach the topic of sexual assault in a unique way by examining it from a criminal justice perspective. In giving an overview of sexual assault, examining its victimology, discussing the sexual offender, and looking at the role the criminal justice system plays, this book presents a comprehensive and thoroughly informative study of the crime. The Instructor's Resource Manual is available electronically on a CD or via email. Please contact Beth Hall at [email protected] to request a copy. PowerPoint slides available upon adoption. To see sample slides from this 229-slide presentation, click here. Email [email protected] for more information. "The editors did a good job fitting together the different articles on this important subject in a relatively seamless manner. This well-written, straightforward book should be easily read and understood by anyone with an interest in the subject. Summing Up: Recommended." -- CHOICE Magazine, on the first edition "I read every other textbook out there. This is the BEST!" -- Elizabeth Dineen, Bay Path College Department of Criminal Justice Chair
Longlisted for the 2020 National Book Award for Nonfiction TIME's 100 Must-Read Books of 2020 Publishers Weekly, Best Books of 2020 New York Times New & Noteworthy Audiobooks Lit Hubs Most Anticipated Books of 2020 Starred Review Publishers Weekly Starred Review Shelf Awareness "Is Rape a Crime? is beautifully written and compellingly told. In 2020, we were all looking for solutions and this book was right on time. It is one we should all be reading." —Anita Hill "This standout memoir marks a crucial moment in the discussion of what constitutes a violent crime." —Publishers Weekly, Best Books of 2020 She Said meets Know My Name in Michelle Bowdler's provocative debut, telling the story of her rape and recovery while interrogating why one of society's most serious crimes goes largely uninvestigated. The crime of rape sizzles like a lightning strike. It pounces, flattens, destroys. A person stands whole, and in a moment of unexpected violence, that life, that body is gone. Award-winning writer and public health executive Michelle Bowdler's memoir indicts how sexual violence has been addressed for decades in our society, asking whether rape is a crime given that it is the least reported major felony, least successfully prosecuted, and fewer than 3% of reported rapes result in conviction. Cases are closed before they are investigated and DNA evidence sits for years untested and disregarded Rape in this country is not treated as a crime of brutal violence but as a parlor game of he said / she said. It might be laughable if it didn’t work so much of the time. Given all this, it seems fair to ask whether rape is actually a crime. In 1984, the Boston Sexual Assault Unit was formed as a result of a series of break-ins and rapes that terrorized the city, of which Michelle’s own horrific rape was the last. Twenty years later, after a career of working with victims like herself, Michelle decides to find out what happened to her case and why she never heard from the police again after one brief interview. Is Rape a Crime? is an expert blend of memoir and cultural investigation, and Michelle's story is a rallying cry to reclaim our power and right our world.
This work examines the ways in which the criminal justice system deals with rape and its after-effects in the victim (PTSD - post traumatic stress disorder). Considerable coverage is given to research findings in the United States, findings of the police themselves and other investigations.
This book offers a comprehensive guide to the international policies developed to stop rape, together with case studies on their effectiveness in practice. Engaging with the legal and criminal justice systems, health services, specialized services for victim-survivors, educational and cultural outreach, and more, it brings together both theory and real-world evidence to build a thorough picture of worldwide efforts to fight rape in all its contexts.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “A devastating exposé of colleges and local law enforcement.... A substantive deep dive into the morass of campus sex crimes, where the victim is too often treated like the accused.” —Entertainment Weekly Missoula, Montana, is a typical college town, home to a highly regarded state university whose beloved football team inspires a passionately loyal fan base. Between January 2008 and May 2012, hundreds of students reported sexual assaults to the local police. Few of the cases were properly handled by either the university or local authorities. In this, Missoula is also typical. In these pages, acclaimed journalist Jon Krakauer investigates a spate of campus rapes that occurred in Missoula over a four-year period. Taking the town as a case study for a crime that is sadly prevalent throughout the nation, Krakauer documents the experiences of five victims: their fear and self-doubt in the aftermath; the skepticism directed at them by police, prosecutors, and the public; their bravery in pushing forward and what it cost them. These stories cut through abstract ideological debate about acquaintance rape to demonstrate that it does not happen because women are sending mixed signals or seeking attention. They are victims of a terrible crime, deserving of fairness from our justice system. Rigorously researched, rendered in incisive prose, Missoula stands as an essential call to action.
This book evolved from our interest in rape as feminists and as sodal sdentists. As feminists, we were concemed about the treatment of rape victims and the attrition in rape cases under traditional rape law, and we welcomed legal reforms designed to improve the situation. As sodal sdentists, we wondered about the efficacy of legal changes aimed at an inherently resistant court system. We also were curious about the lack of studies examining the impact of these changes; we were particularly surprised to find that no one had attempted to ana lyze the impact of the reforms in more than one jurisdiction. Con vinced that untangling the effects of the reforms from the effects of contextual factors required a multijurisdictional study, we deeided to undertake the project. We quickly discovered that evaluating rape law reform in several jurisdictions would be no easy task. We had deeided that such an evaluation would require monthly data on the outcome of rape cases before and after the reforms were implemented, as weIl as qualitative data on the attitudes of criminal justice officials toward the reforms. Because states do not generate monthly data on case outcomes, we would have to collect the data ourse1ves from court records main tained by individual jurisdictions. To obtain an adequate number of cases for the time-series analysis, we would have to select our sites from large urban jurisdictions scattered throughout the United States.
Despite changes to laws and attitudes, rape continues at epidemic levels worldwide. As gatekeepers to the criminal justice system, law enforcement officers are important to the processing of rape cases and their interactions with victims can potentially affect the victim’s reaction to and recovery from rape. In order to better understand rape and the processing of cases through the criminal justice and legal systems, Rape, Victims and Investigations explores the unique perceptions and experiences of detectives who respond to rape victims and investigate rape cases. The detective’s investigation is the foundation of the prosecution’s case; the book considers factors that contribute to the challenging nature of rape investigations, such as lack of evidence or a clear, credible victim statement. Detectives’ perceptions of victims’ revictimization by the criminal justice and legal systems are also explored. The book also looks at specific causes of police stress and burnout related to working rape cases, financial struggles faced by departments, and ways to meet these challenges. By integrating previous research within the context of rich interview data, Rape, Victims and Investigations provides deep insight for readers and will contribute to the continued improvement of treatment of victims by the criminal justice system. The book will be essential reading for academics, students, law enforcement officers, those who provide services to sexual assault victims and victims themselves.
