The Influence of ‘high’ vs. ‘low’ rape myth acceptance on police officers’ judgements of victim and perpetrator responsibility, and rape authenticity

Hine, Ben and Murphy, Anthony ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0093-6178 (2019) The Influence of ‘high’ vs. ‘low’ rape myth acceptance on police officers’ judgements of victim and perpetrator responsibility, and rape authenticity. Journal of Criminal Justice, 60 . pp. 100-107. ISSN 0047-2352 (doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2018.08.001)

PDF - Final accepted version (with author's formatting) Restricted to Repository staff and depositor only until 13 September 2020. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives. Download (252kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

Purpose: Previous studies suggest that officers’ level of rape myth acceptance (RMA) is predictive of their case decision making and judgements towards victim-survivors. However, few studies have directly assessed the relationship between RMA and responsibility and authenticity judgments. Methods: 808 UK police officers categorised as ‘high’ or ‘low’ in rape myth acceptance made judgements of victim and perpetrator responsibility, and case authenticity, towards one of 16 vignettes depicting a hypothetical rape scenario varying on victim-perpetrator relationship, victim reputation, and initial point of resistance.
Results: Officers categorised as ‘high’ in RMA rated victims as more responsible, perpetrators as less responsible, and cases as less authentic than those deemed to be ‘low’ in RMA. When rape-myth related factors were present, both individually and in combination, judgements by officers ‘high’ in RMA were more negative than those ‘low’ in RMA.
Conclusions: Results suggest that officers ‘high’ in RMA may judge victims of rape differently to those ‘low’ in RMA, particularly when rape myth-related extra-legal case factors are present. The potential implications for training and selection are discussed.

Actions (login required)

Edit Item