Criminalizing Spousal Rape: The Diffusion of Legal Reforms

Abstract

While efforts to criminalize spousal rape began in the 1970s, by 2002 only twenty-three states had adopted laws that allow for the full prosecution of sexual assault by a spouse. The authors present the first analysis of martial rape law reform to incorporate insights from research on diffusion. The authors find that states are more likely to criminalize spousal rape when women in the state have more economic power. Conversely, states are less likely to criminalize spousal rape when the legislature passed previous incremental reforms or when a neighboring state already criminalized spousal rape. The authors also find that states that criminalize spousal rape under a split-party government are particularly influential in the spread of such reforms and that the processes driving early diffusion are different than the processes driving later diffusion. Overall, results suggest that understanding law reforms requires greater attention to incremental change, negative effects of spatial diffusion, and the importance of time.

Physically abused women's experiences of sexual victimization and their children's disruptive behavior problems.

“…Over the past 20 years, researchers and women’s advocates have sought to increase public awareness of intimate partner rape as a serious problem (MacFarlane et al, 2005; Marshall & Holtzworth-Munroe, 2002). Although spousal rape is illegal in every state, 27 states have partial exemptions or special requirements that limit the prosecution of a spouse for marital rape (McMahon-Howard, Clay-Warner, & Renzulli, 2009). The number of legal qualifications for prosecuting spousal rape attests to the serious lack of attention this topic has received.…”

WHAT DRIVES TORT REFORM LEGISLATION? AN ANALYSIS OF STATE DECISIONS TO RESTRICT LIABILITY TORTS

“…The study contributes to at least two lines of literature. First, we add to the literature on the diffusion of laws (e.g., Romano, 2006;Smythe and Bird, 2008;McMahon-Howard, Clay-Warner, and Renzulli, 2009). To our knowledge, our article is the first study to examine the diffusion pattern of tort reforms and the relative importance of social, economic, and political factors in that process.…”

Does the Controversy Matter? Comparing the Causal Determinants of the Adoption of Controversial and Noncontroversial Rape Law Reforms

“…Despite the growing body of literature devoted to understanding the social factors and processes that affect legal change (Amenta et al 2005;Cornwall et al 2007;King et al 2005;McCammon et al 2001;McMahon-Howard et al 2010;Soule & Earl 2001;Soule & King 2006;Soule & Olzak 2004), researchers have neglected to consider the role of controversy in the policy process. Instead, researchers have identified several important factors, such as social movement organizations, public opinion, electoral competition, and the process of diffusion, that affect the adoption of a particular law.…”

“…Considering the controversial nature of reforms may help explain why many of the findings regarding legal change are inconsistent across studies. For example, while McCammon et al (2001) find that the prior adoption of partial reforms has no effect on the adoption of full women's suffrage, other researchers find that par-tial reforms negatively affect the adoption of strong hate crime laws (Soule & Earl 2001) and strong marital rape laws (McMahon-Howard et al 2010). In addition, whereas McCammon et al (2001) find that being in close proximity to other states that have adopted a particular law increases a state's likelihood of passing a similar law, these other studies show that such spatial proximity decreases a state's likelihood of passing a similar law (McMahon-Howard et al 2010;Soule & Earl 2001).…”

“…Due to the methodological weaknesses (i.e., failure to establish proper time order effects) of this study, however, Berger, Neuman, et al's (1991) results and conclusions are called into question. Improving upon the weaknesses of previous studies, McMahon-Howard et al (2010) conducted a longitudinal analysis of the factors that affect the adoption of strong marital rape laws. Since the marital rape exemptions were one of the most controversial reforms, however, the results of this study cannot be generalized to the adoption of other rape law reforms.…”