Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Judging rape: Public attitudes and sentencing
Other Titles:	ACSSA Aware
Authors:	Clark, Haley
Year:	2007
Citation:	Vol.: 14
Notes:	This article discusses public attitudes towards sexual assault, sentencing, perceptions of seriousness and the influence of myths and stereotypes. Community attitudes towards offence seriousness and sentencing impact on sentencing practices in various ways: directly, because judges themselves are members of the community, and indirectly, because community attitudes influence and shape policy, and because they may play a role in jurors’ decisions to convict (La Free, 1989), the decision to take a case to trial (Buddie & Miller, 2001), police decisions to charge and investigate a case (Frazier & Haney, 1996), attrition (Harris & Grace 1999; Kingsnorth, MacIntosh, & Wentworth 1999; Lievore, 2005; Stanko 1982), interpersonal reactions towards victims and offenders, decisions to report, and victims’ own interpretations of an offense (Burt, 1980, 1991). Public concerns surrounding perceived leniency of sentences for sexual offenders are presented in this article together with an overview of recent developments in sentencing policy around Australia and statistics on current sentencing practice. Attitudes towards sexual assault and the role that rape myths play in judgments of offence seriousness and sentencing are then considered. Finally, a small study that I conducted in 2002 (Clark, 2002) which examined the extent to which rape myths may influence evaluations of rape seriousness and sentencing is presented.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/15539
Physical description:	Pages 17-25
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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