Too Little, Too Late: Prosecutors' Pre-court Preparation of Rape Survivors

Little research has been conducted on the behaviors of prosecuting attorneys and their interactions with rape survivors between charging and court events. Yet this period, during which prosecutors prepare rape survivors for their witness roles, may be crucial for obtaining successful convictions. Using intensive interviews with 32 rape survivors and background interviews with prosecutors, victim witness advocates, and rape crisis workers, I evaluated the nature of directives and information given to rape survivors and the frequency with which directives were conveyed before preliminary hearings and court events. I concluded that prosecutors employ 20 modes of preparation to construct rape survivors as credible victims for judges and jurors. They orient the rape survivor to the scope of the witness role and her place in the interaction with legal actors, direct her to enhance the credibility of her story, and enhance the credibility of her self'presentation. Research showed that prosecutors prepared respondents more thoroughly for trials than for preliminary hearings, but little overall. A large minority of respondents, consequently, reported dissatisfaction with the preparation they received. On the basis of the findings, I call for an extension of Martin and Powell's “politics of victim's needs,” attention to the importance of maintaining a perception of procedural justice among rape survivors, and further research into pre-court preparation.

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Cognitive-Experiential Reprocessing and Rape: A Case Study

Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy ◽

10.1891/0889-8391.14.2.189 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 189-200 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Karen D. Slaton ◽

William J. Lyddon

Keyword(s):

World View ◽

Cognitive Schemas ◽

Rape Survivors ◽

Rape Survivor ◽

Entire World ◽

Emotional Changes ◽

Viable Approach

Women who have been raped often experience profound psychological and emotional changes due, in part, to the difficulty inherent in assimilating this experience. Rape survivors may alter their entire world view, and may develop cognitive schemas that are maladaptive and dysfunctional. In order to assist women in constructing more adaptive schemas, it is often necessary to access and reprocess trauma-related beliefs. In this article, cognitive-experiential reprocessing (CER) is introduced as a viable approach for reprocessing the trauma of rape. In the context of a case study involving a young rape survivor, the rationale, goals, and practical considerations of CER are outlined.

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Figuring (Wounded) Detachment: Rape, Embodiment and Therapeutic Forgetting

Somatechnics ◽

10.3366/soma.2013.0097 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 250-269 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jessica Robyn Cadwallader

Keyword(s):

Traumatic Memory ◽

Rape Survivors ◽

The World ◽

Rape Survivor ◽

New Treatment ◽

The Way

The discovery that propranolol, a very safe drug used for many years, also ‘dampens’ traumatic memory has been hailed as an ethical solution to all kinds of trauma, especially that experienced by soldiers and by rape survivors. This paper seeks to consider what it might mean to be able to forget the trauma associated with a gendered injustice such as rape. It explores first the current political and legal significance of rape, considering the way that this new treatment imagines the figure of the rape survivor in ways that sustain particular conceptions of injustice. It then turns to explore Wendy Brown's work on ressentiment, exploring whether the capacity to ‘therapeutically forget’ might avoid the tendency for trauma to cause a ‘wounded attachment’. It then turns to consider the role of embodiment in terms of these attachments. Furthering the exploration of the ways that dominant gendered modes of being-in-the-world shape and are shaped by rape, I turn to ask what the consequences of becoming ‘unaffected’ by trauma and injustice might have for our capacities to address them.

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Supporting Rape Survivors Through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme: An Exploration of English and Welsh Independent Sexual Violence Advisors’ Experiences

Violence Against Women ◽

10.1177/1077801217727373 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 24 (9) ◽

pp. 1091-1109 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Olivia Smith ◽

Jessica Galey

Keyword(s):

Criminal Justice ◽

Sexual Violence ◽

Criminal Justice System ◽

Justice System ◽

Rape Myths ◽

Compensation Scheme ◽

Rape Survivors ◽

Rape Survivor

English and Welsh responses to rape have long been critically examined, leading to attempted improvements in the criminal justice system. Despite this, little attention has been paid to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS) and the difficulties applying it to rape. To begin addressing this gap, researchers interviewed three, and qualitatively surveyed 22, Independent Sexual Violence Advisors. The findings suggest that CICS may not only reinforce rape myths and disadvantage vulnerable survivors, but is also a source of validation and contributes to survivor justice. The study, while exploratory, therefore, highlights the need for further discussion about rape survivor compensation.

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Writing the Male Rape Survivor

Writing the Survivor ◽

10.3828/liverpool/9781942954835.003.0006 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 189-226

Author(s):

Robin E. Field

Keyword(s):

Social Activism ◽

First Century ◽

Rape Victims ◽

Male Victims ◽

Male Rape ◽

Female Victims ◽

Rape Survivors ◽

High Profile ◽

Women And Girls ◽

Rape Survivor

The rise of the rape novel featuring female victims inspired the telling of more stories about male rape victims. Just as the early stories about the sexual assault of women portrayed rape as nonexistent, inconsequential, or the fault of the women and girls themselves, the stories of male rape often have belittled the victims and position the male rape victim as an object of derision, scorn, and even amusement. As the revelations of several high-profile sexual abuse cases early in the twenty-first century brought to light the plight of young boys being assaulted by trusted older men, male victims are now being treated with the concern and sympathy that women experienced in the 1970s. The political activism inherent in the rape novel—educating its readers, offering community to the victims, and encouraging social activism and change to societal attitudes—will continue as the stories of male rape survivors are told in greater numbers.

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When Does Voice Have to be More Than Only Listening? Procedural Justice Effects as a Function of Confident Leadership

Journal of Personnel Psychology ◽

10.1027/1866-5888/a000011 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 69-78 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

David De Cremer ◽

Maarten Wubben

Keyword(s):

Procedural Justice ◽

Interaction Effect ◽

Laboratory Experiments ◽

Negative Emotions

The present research examined how voice procedures and leader confidence affect participants’ negative emotions and willingness to withdraw. It was predicted that receiving voice would be valued out of instrumental concerns, but only when the enacting leader was high in confidence. Two laboratory experiments indeed showed an interaction between type of voice (pre-decisional vs. post-decisional) and leader’s confidence (low vs. high) on participants’ negative emotions and willingness to withdraw. In particular, post-decision voice only led to more negative responses than did pre-decision voice when the enacting leader was high in confidence. Negative emotions mediated this interaction effect of type of voice on willingness to withdraw. Implications for integrating the leadership and procedural justice literatures are discussed.

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