Sexual Assault and the Justice Gap: A Question of Attitude

(Paperback)

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This book is set against the background of the 'justice gap' in sexual assault cases - the dramatic gap between the number of offences recorded by the police and the number of convictions. It seeks to examine the attitudinal problems which bedevil this area of law and possible strategies for addressing them. Written by a professor of law and a professor of psychology, it reviews evidence from socio-legal and social cognition research and presents new data drawn both from interviews with judges and barristers and from studies with prospective lawyers and members of the public. In the final part, it considers different ways in which rape trials could be improved and suggests steps that could be taken to change public attitudes about sexual assault.

Reviews

The book goes well beyond merely descriptive and derivative statements and represents a thought-provoking contribution to the ongoing debate about a highly topical issue. Francesca Galli The Cambridge Law Journal Vol 68 (2) July 2009 an interesting and timely addition to the growing body of research on the reasons for the continuing failure of the law to proptect rape victims. Georgina Firth Feminist Legal Studies June 2009 What Temkin and Krahe have achieved with this text is the identification of a new frontier in the quest to make the criminal justice system more satisfactory to rape complainants. It is to [be] hoped that those in power will take note of this type of research and of some of the recommendations made by the authors and direct some money and effort towards tackling negative societal attitudes towards sexual violence in a bid to eradicate the 'real rape' stereotype for once and for all. Susan Leahy Web Journal of Current Legal Issues December 2008 Temkin and Krahe argue convincingly that despite recent legal reforms and procedural changes to counteract these inherent stereotypes and biases, preconceived ideas about sexual assault still prevail and are difficult to eradicate at both individual and institutional levels. Kim Stevenson Internet Law Book Reviews December 2008 The authors bring together a wealth of quantitative data and are to be commended for presenting this material in such a way as to make it accessible to readers who may be less familiar with this particular field of psychological research and the methodological approaches utilised...This engaging and impressively researched book...makes an important contribution to ongoing debates by highlighting some of the attitudinal problems that doubtless underpin attrition in rape cases. Aimed at an interdisciplinary audience, the book constitutes an invaluable resource for students, researchers and professionals working in the fields of psychology and law. Louise Ellison Criminal Law Review 2009 With their book Sexual Assault and the Justice Gap... Jennifer Temkin and Barbara Krahe make a significant contribution to our understanding of sexual violence, the myths and stereotypes surrounding it, and their harmful effects on judgments of assault victims. A must-read for scholars and interested lay-persons! Friederike Eyssel Sex Roles Volume 61 Temkin and Krahe's book is an important part of this emerging literature that decentres law as the main or sole convergence point for critical energy directed at transforming the criminal justice experiences of women who have been raped. Sharon Cowan Scolag Legal Journal Oct 08, Issue 372 ...a very comprehensive yet highly accessible text that boldly addresses some of the key contemporary debates within criminal justice and popular discourses on sexual assault and rape...The range of issues covered will ensure that the book will be of interest to lawyers, psychologists, criminologists as well as the general public. In sum, this is an important and timely book, whose recommendations, if implemented, will have a profound and far-reaching impact on the criminal justice system, particularly the conduct of sexual assault trials and the nature of jury decision making as we currently know them. Anne-Marie McAlinden British Journal of Criminology Vol 49, No 4, July 2009 The Justice Gap makes a timely contribution to our understanding of why there is such a large gap between rape reports and convictions. It is particularly important because it shows the limits of 'black letter' legal reform and the need for a wider perspective when considering how to address inadequacies in law enforcement. The Justice Gap is clearly structured and written in a style that will be accessible to students and academics, as well as practitioners...this is an important book and makes a very significant contribution to our understanding of the different ways in which social attitudes influence and shape legal responses to rape and sexual assault. It forms part of an emerging body of domestic research, based on sound empirical foundations, which provides a crucial insight into the relationship between social attitudes and rape law enforcement...It is to be hoped that this book will encourage more legal scholars in the future to engage in this area of research. Phil Rumney Legal Studies Vol 29, No 4, 2009 Temkin and Krahe's book is a useful introduction to some of the iniquities which characterize the legal handling of rape and sexual offence trails. It stands as a timely rebuke to those lawyers who would 'pass the buck' for the shocking rates of attrition in sexual offence cases to difficulties of evidence, 'her word against his', throwing light on the pervasive and persistent operation of misogynistic attitudes towards women and sex in this context ... on the whole the book is very readable contained therein capable of shocking even this reader. Aileen McColgan Journal of Law and Society Volume 36 The authors have done an excellent job of making the case that a justice gap exists, and the book is strengthened by bringing together psychological and legal perspectives...the authors have provided an excellent framework for psychologists, attorneys, judges, and those who train and educate them to understand the reasons why so few victims agree to go forward within the criminal justice system...Perhaps the most far-reaching benefit of the book is that it prepares feminist practitioners and faculty members to be advocates for victims and change agents for cultures that adhere to misunderstandings of the dynamics of sexual assault and rape...Using attribution theory and delineating the decision-making process that occurs in sexual assault cases, the authors have offered a scholarly, well-researched rationale for typical outcomes. By exploring dynamics through both psychological and legal lenses, they have offered a path that takes us from theory to practice in ways that can provide justice to victims. Peggy Lorah Psychology of Women Quarterly ...a significant contribution to our understanding of sexual violence, the myths and stereotypes surrounding it, and their harmful effects on judgments of assault victims...The book represents an excellent resource for an audience with a background in psychology or law and is also suitable for graduate students of these areas...Because of the topic's social and political relevance, the book might also prove a valuable compendium for criminal justice practitioners... [Temkin and Krahe]... critically raise our awareness of rape-supporting myths and their crucial effects on our judgments. A must-read for scholars and interested lay-persons! Friederike Eyssel Sex Roles: A Journal of Research 23rd June 2009 ...an excellent book... a comprehensive and thoughtful exploration of the many ways in which attitudes underlie the problem of attrition for sexual assault cases within the criminal justice system...a carefully researched and well-written book.' Online Newsletter- 'Sexual Assault Report' Sept 09 Temkin and Krahe set out clearly and coherently the scale of the problem, with low-rape conviction rates, how attitudes towards rape affected this and some suggested solutions. Frances Willmott Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law Volume 32, Issue 1, March 2010 Temkin and Krahe's book is one of the most recent and comprehensive books to tackle this issue, and their approach makes for compelling, if depressing, reading. The blend of legal and psychological areas of expertise in the writers' backgrounds is evident here in the clarity with which they illustrate how the law does not operate in a vacuum but within a complex social context that needs to be both acknowledged and challenged. Overall, this book manages to synthesize well the results from the authors' own studies with the existing research literature. It is very clearly structured and organized and written to appeal to a broad cross-section of readers, including the interested lay-person as well as the more usual suspects of lawyers, psychologists, sociologists and criminologists. Ideally the contents will be used to inform future debates, educational initiatives and law reform measures and will be instrumental in helping us all to reduce the divide that is the justice gap. Jan Jordan Social and Legal Studies 19(3) 2010

Author Bio

Jennifer Temkin is Professor of Law at the University of Sussex, UK. Barbara Krah is Professor of Psychology at the University of Potsdam, Germany.