What happens when sexual assault kits go untested? A focal concerns analysis of suspect identification and police pre-arrest decisions

2021 ◽  
Vol 76 ◽  
pp. 101850
Author(s):  
Bradley A. Campbell ◽  
William Wells ◽  
William R. King
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Focal Concerns ◽  
Suspect Identification

Focal Concerns and Police Decision Making in Sexual Assault Cases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 152483802199128
Author(s):  
David S. Lapsey ◽  
Bradley A. Campbell ◽  
Bryant T. Plumlee
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Campbell Collaboration ◽  
Focal Concerns ◽  
Police Decision Making ◽  
The Impact

Sexual assault and case attrition at the arrest stage are serious problems in the United States. Focal concerns have increasingly been used to explain police decision making in sexual assault cases. Because of the popularity of the focal concerns perspective and potential to inform evidence-based training, a systematic review and meta-analysis are needed to condense the literature. In this study, we assess the overall strength of the relationship between focal concerns variables and police decisions to arrest in cases of sexual assault. Our assessment of the effects of focal concerns variables on arrest decision making in sexual assault cases followed the systematic review protocols provided by the Campbell Collaboration of Systematic Reviews. Specifically, we used the Campbell Collaboration recommendations to search empirical literature and used meta-analysis to evaluate the size, direction, and strength of the impact of focal concerns variables on arrest decisions. Our search strategy detected 14 eligible studies and 79 effect sizes. The meta-analysis found several robust and statistically significant correlates of arrest. In fact, each focal concerns concept produced at least one robust arrest correlate. Overall, focal concerns offers a strong approach for explaining police decisions in sexual assault cases. Although practical concerns and resource constraints produced the strongest arrest correlates, results show the importance of additional case characteristics in officers’ decision to arrest.

Modeling the Effects of Victim Behavior and Moral Character on Prosecutors’ Charging Decisions in Sexual Assault Cases

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawn Beichner ◽  
Cassia Spohn
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Moral Character ◽  
Substantial Effect ◽  
Background Characteristics ◽  
Case File ◽  
Focal Concerns ◽  
Dichotomous Variable ◽  
Prior Record ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Modeling Strategy

Prior research, modeling the effects of the victim’s behavior and character on prosecutors’ charging decisions, has used either a dichotomous variable that reflects the presence of any risky behavior or moral character issues or an additive index that captures the number of related items in a case file. We suggest that these measures do not adequately identify the specific issues that prosecutors take into consideration when making charging decisions. Using data on 666 sexual assault cases that resulted in arrest in three urban jurisdictions and a multivariate modeling strategy, we examine specific risk-taking behaviors and issues related to the victim’s moral character in an effort to determine if certain behaviors and characteristics have a more substantial effect on charging decisions than others. We also examine the extent to which the effects of these blame and believability factors vary based on the nature of the cases. Our results reveal that although charging decisions in stranger cases are largely determined by legally relevant factors, these decisions in nonstranger cases are affected by several legally irrelevant victim characteristics: whether the victim had a prior criminal record, whether the victim had been drinking alcohol prior to the assault, and whether the victim invited the suspect to her residence. Further analysis, however, revealed that only the victim’s prior record had a differential effect on charging decisions in cases involving strangers and nonstrangers and in aggravated and simple rape cases. Our results suggest that the focal concerns that guide prosecutors’ charging decisions incorporate specific victim behaviors and background characteristics.

Detectives’ Descriptions of Their Responses to Sexual Assault Cases and Victims: Assessing the Overlap Between Rape Myths and Focal Concerns

2022 ◽  
pp. 109861112110375
Author(s):  
Suzanne St. George ◽  
Megan Verhagan ◽  
Cassia Spohn
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Rape Myths ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
Sex Crimes ◽  
Case Processing ◽  
Violent Crimes ◽  
Focal Concerns ◽  
Sexual Assault Case ◽  
Do So

Increasing just responses to sexual assault requires understanding how police perceive sexual assault cases and victims, and which legal (e.g., evidence), extralegal (e.g., suspect characteristics), and practical (e.g., convictability) concerns influence their responses in these cases. Using interview data collected in the Los Angeles Sexual Assault Study, we qualitatively analyzed 611 comments made by 52 detectives in response to questions about case processing decisions (e.g., what it takes to arrest) to examine the factors detectives described as relevant to their assessments of allegations as legitimate, victims as credible, and cases as chargeable. Results revealed overlap between rape myths and legal, extralegal, and practical concerns. Specifically, comments referenced rape myths in relation to suspect blameworthiness and dangerousness, evidence, victim cooperation, and prosecutors’ decisions. Comments also revealed some detectives lacked knowledge of relevant legal statutes and case processing guidelines (e.g., unfound criteria). These results suggest that sexual assault case attrition stems from an orientation to prosecutors’ charging criteria rather than probable cause, and organizational factors, such as deprioritization of sex crimes investigations. We recommend that departments adequately staff and equip sex crimes units with investigatory resources and prioritize sex crimes investigations over non-violent crimes. Departments should incentivize sex crimes assignments and screen applicants for quality, experience, and bias. Detectives in these units should undergo regular trainings on unfounding and probable cause criteria and should be required to make arrests when they have probable cause to do so.

Funneled Through or Filtered Out: An Examination of Police and Prosecutorial Decision-Making in Adult Sexual Assault Cases

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (15-16) ◽  
pp. 1919-1940
Author(s):  
Ericka A. Wentz
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Focal Concerns ◽  
Adult Sexual Assault ◽  
Extralegal Factors ◽  
Focal Concerns Perspective ◽  
Relevant Factors

To improve criminal justice responses to sexual assault, it is vital to understand the factors that influence decisions made by police and prosecutors and how these decisions overlap. Although decisions made at the prosecutorial stage are largely reliant on the actions of the police, the prosecutors’ charging decisions often differ from how the police classify incidents. Guided by the focal concerns perspective, this study examined 231 cases of adult sexual assault incidents reported to the police to identify which factors were predictive of congruent charging decisions and arrest. The results supported the focal concerns perspective and revealed that legal and extralegal factors were influential at both of these points. Legally relevant factors that focused on the collection of evidence were paramount in decisions at both stages; however, extralegal variables such as timely reporting and whether the victim physically resisted were also significantly related to decisions at each stage. Implications arising from the results are discussed.

“Victim Refuses to Cooperate”: A Focal Concerns Analysis of Victim Cooperation in Sexual Assault Cases

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. Kaiser ◽  
Eryn N. O’Neal ◽  
Cassia Spohn
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Focal Concerns

Trauma-Related Shame, Sexual Assault Severity, Thwarted Belongingness, and Perceived Burdensomeness Among Female Undergraduate Survivors of Sexual Assault

Crisis ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R. DeCou ◽  
Stephanie P. Kaplan ◽  
Julie Spencer ◽  
Shannon M. Lynch
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Suicidal Ideation ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Psychosocial Risk ◽  
Thwarted Belongingness ◽  
Female Undergraduate ◽  
Perceived Burdensomeness ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
And Behavior

Abstract. Background and Aim: This study evaluated trauma-related shame as a mediator of the association between sexual assault severity and perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness. Method: A total of 164 female undergraduates who reported attempted or completed sexual assault completed self-report measures of sexual assault, trauma-related shame, perceived burdensomeness, and thwarted belongingness. Results: Using path analysis, trauma-related shame mediated the association between sexual assault severity and perceived burdensomeness, and between sexual assault severity and thwarted belongingness. Limitations: The findings of this study are limited by the retrospective, self-report, and cross-sectional nature of these data, and do not allow for causal inference. Conclusion: Trauma-related shame warrants additional investigation as a mechanism that explains the association between sexual assault and psychosocial risk factors for suicidal ideation and behavior.

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