Personal Sexual History and Punitive Judgements for Rape

Kanin, Eugene J.; Jackson, Eugene; Levine, Edward M.

doi:10.2466/pr0.1987.61.2.439

Cited by 1 publication

(4 citation statements)

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“…The second objective was to discover whether the reporting of nonconsensual forced intercourse (i.e., "real" rape) is predicted by participants' sexual history. Based on prior research showing that individuals regard rape differently depending on their sexual history (Kanin, Jackson, & Levine, 1987), we predicted that women with more extensive histories would be less likely to report rape. Finally, we also wanted to examine the impact of consensual sexual activity (i.e., foreplay) on rape reporting.…”

Section: Sexual History and Rapementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Kanin, Jackson, and Levine (1987) found that women and men with a larger number of sexual partners gave significantly shorter prison sentences to a rapist depicted in a trial scenario than those with more restricted sexual histories. Furthermore, compared to individuals with fewer intercourse partners, those with extensive histories were less likely to consider the Rape Allegations 8 hypothetical act rape if consensual intimacy preceded forced nonconsensual intercourse.…”

Section: Sexual History and Rapementioning

confidence: 99%

“…showing that individuals regard rape differently depending on their sexual history (Kanin, Jackson, & Levine, 1987), we predicted that women with more extensive histories would be less likely to report rape. Finally, we also wanted to examine the impact of consensual sexual activity (i.e., foreplay) on rape reporting.…”

Section: Objectives Of the Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rape attribution studies using rape scenarios and college students as subjects report similar findings. Characteristics of the dating situation and victim mitigate the guilt of the rape offender, such as in circumstances when the victim "leads the male on," (Kanin, Jackson, & Levine, 1987), or when the victim is described as sexually experienced (Calhoun, Selby, & Warring, 1976;Cann, Calhoun, & Selby, 1979;Johnson, Jackson, Gatto, & Nowak, 1995;L'Armand & Pepitone, 1982), or when the victim and perpetrator have previously engaged in consensual sexual intercourse (Monson et al, 2000). …”

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confidence: 99%

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Rape shield laws and sexual behavior evidence: Effects of consent level and women's sexual history on rape allegations.

Flowe¹,

Ebbesen²,

Putcha-Bhagavatula³

2007

Law and Human Behavior

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A debt of gratitude is owed to Alejandra M. Duarte and José M. Valencia for their superlative assistance with collecting data in Nevada for Experiment 2. We also thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful and generous comments.Address correspondence to Heather Flowe, Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92090-0109; email:hflowe@psy.ucsd.edu.Rape Allegations 2 Abstract Rape shield laws, which limit the introduction of sexual history evidence in rape trials, challenge the view that women with extensive sexual histories more frequently fabricate charges of rape than other women. The present study examined the relationship between women's actual sexual history and their reporting rape in hypothetical scenarios. Female participants (college students and a community sample, which included women working as prostitutes and topless dancers, and women living in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center) imagined themselves in dating scenarios that described either a legally definable act of rape or consensual sexual intercourse.Additionally, within the rape scenarios, level of consensual intimate contact (i.e., foreplay)preceding rape was examined to determine its influence on rape reporting. Women were less likely to say that they would take legal action in response to the rape scenarios if they had extensive sexual histories, or if they had consented to an extensive amount of intimate contact before the rape. In response to the consensual sexual intercourse scenarios, women with more extensive sexual histories were not more likely to say that they would report rape, even when the scenario provided them with a motive for seeking revenge against their dating partner. (Galvin, 1986; Herman, 1976 Herman, -1977Lowery, 1992;Price, 1996). As such, sexual history evidence can still be admitted despite rape shield provisions if the defendant is able to successfully demonstrate that it is relevant in establishing his innocence.The research carried out in the present paper addresses two specific defense arguments regarding the relevancy of sexual history evidence. The first, which is based on the common law assumption that "chastity" is a character trait, argues that sexual history evidence should be admitted because it is probative on the issue of the complainant's credibility (Anderson, 2002;Berger, 1977;Estrich, 1987). Trial courts, however, seldom allow defense attorneys to argue that the complainant's credibility is undermined by her sexual history. If it is allowed for such purposes, it is usually in cases in which sexual history relates to acts of prostitution by the complainant to demonstrate her moral turpitude (e.g., People v. Chandler), or in cases in which the complainant falsely accused someone of rape in the past (e.g., People v. Franklin). A second and more likely reason why the defense might seek to admit sexual history evidence is to support a consent defense (Anderson, 2002). In particular, the defense may argue that the complainant consented to s...

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Section: Sexual History and Rapementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sexual History and Rapementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Objectives Of the Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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