Essay Plan

The main purpose of the study is to explore and evaluate the current criminal justice system response to sexual assaults and prevention strategies.

• Thesis statement; The prevalence of sexual assault cases is a result of the ambiguity and complexity of the justice system.
• Paragraph one; How the police as first responders react to cases of sexual assaults (Venema, 2019).
• Paragraph two: This paragraph discusses in detail how the justice system makes it hard for victims of sexual assault to report these crimes (Johnson, H., 2017).
• Paragraph three; This paragraph explores the influence of intoxication and attire on how the criminal justice views cases of sexual assaults and the myths surrounding cases of sexual assaults (Goodman‐Delahunty, and Graham, 2011).
• Paragraph 4: Measures that can be implemented by the system to reduce sexual assaults (Meyers, K., R. 2018).
• Conclusion: Sums up the facts discussed in the body of the essay.

Annotated Bibliography

Venema, R.M., 2019. Making judgments: How blame mediates the influence of rape myth acceptance in police response to sexual assault. Journal of interpersonal violence, 34(13), pp.2697-2722.

            The author of the article Rachel M Venema is a holder of a Ph.D. and a holder of a Master’s of Social Work.  The main idea expressed by this author explores the role that police officers play as first responders to cases of sexual assault.  The argument presented by this author is driven by the negative experience and high case attrition within sexual assault cases that are reported to the police.  The data that backs up this research is obtained from a survey that included 174 officers from a police department in the Great Lake Region.  One of the main strengths of the study is that it has incorporated data on female and male police officers and data of police from racially diverse backgrounds. Limitation of study includes the fact that the results are limited to one jurisdiction, the Great Lake Region and this has a huge impact on the generalization of the results. The second limitation of the study is that the sample size is relatively small and does not even represent a majority of officers within that jurisdiction. Lastly, the extent to which attitudes influence the behavior of police officers is not tested, therefore future research should focus on exploring how attitudes influence the decision-making process of police in sexual assault cases.  

Johnson, H., 2017. Why doesn't she just report it? Apprehensions and contradictions for women who report sexual violence to the police. Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, 29(1), pp.36-59.

            This piece of research is based on real-life testimonies of women who shared their experiences, local advocates, service providers and police officers from the Ottawa Police Service department. This article explores the diverse and complex decisions women have to make when engaging the criminal justice system and the steps that the justice system takes after such complaints are launched.   This article explores the most important point of attrition which is the victim’s willingness to engage or not engage with the criminal justice system.   The author of this article explores the fears that victims have when it comes to engaging with the criminal justice system. This piece if research is important in answering the question of study since it provides answers on why victims of sexual assaults are afraid of engaging with the criminal justice system. One of the strengths of this article is that it explores the complexities that hiders a victim of sexual assault from reporting the crime.  Future areas of research should focus on areas to include the actions that can be taken to increase the willingness of women when it comes to reporting cases of sexual assault.

Goodman‐Delahunty, J. and Graham, K., 2011. The influence of victim intoxication and victim attire on police responses to sexual assault. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 8(1), pp.22-40.

            This article explores the impact contextual factors to include victim intoxication and victims ‘attire have when processing a case of sexual assault.  It examines the results of this variable in a series of sexual assault cases. This study utilizes data from 125 Detectives from the New South Wales police department.  Victims’ intoxication and attire heavily influence the decision and how police officers perceive cases of rape. This article is important in answering the question of study since it sheds light on how the criminal justice system responds to cases of rape when factors such as dressing and intoxication from substances such as alcohol are involved. The main limitation of this study is that it has not warranted topics that counteract these myths and has covered a small area of jurisdiction.

Meyers, K., R. 2018. Evaluating Sexual Assault Prevention Strategies. Campus Safety & Student Development, Volume 19, Number 04, Summer 2018, pp.81-84(4)

 The main purpose of the study is to evaluate the response of the criminal justice system in responding to sexual assaults, therefore it is important in evaluating the measures that can be put in place to curb and prevent sexual assaults. This article explores the preventive measures that can be implemented by the criminal justice system to reduce sexual assault cases.  This article presents vital information on how preventive efforts can be measured and contains information collected from other credible articles.  This article displays strengths such as the steps that trigger an investigation into a reported sexual assault incidence. Future research into this article should focus on exploring how the criminal justice system can ease the process of reporting a sexual assault.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

Goodman‐Delahunty, J. and Graham, K., 2011. The influence of victim intoxication and victim   attire on police responses to sexual assault. Journal of Investigative Psychology and            Offender Profiling, 8(1), pp.22-40.

Johnson, H., 2017. Why doesn't she just report it? Apprehensions and contradictions for women   who report sexual violence to the police. Canadian Journal of Women and the Law,     29(1), pp.36-59.

Meyers, K., R. 2018. Evaluating Sexual Assault Prevention Strategies. Campus Safety & Student             Development, volume 19, Number 04, Summer 2018, pp.81-84(4)

Venema, R.M., 2019. Making judgments: How blame mediates the influence of rape myth           acceptance in police response to sexual assault. Journal of interpersonal violence, 34(13),        pp.2697-2722.