Prospective lawyers’ rape stereotypes and schematic decision making about rape cases
By Barbara Krahé, J. Temkin, Steffen Bieneck, Anja Berger. 2008
103 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Abstract Two studies explored stereotypic information processing in rape cases by prospective lawyers in Germany. In Study 1, 451 undergraduate law students rated rape scenarios varying with respect to defendant–complainant relationship and coercive strategy (force versus exploitation of the complainant's alcohol-induced defencelessness). Acceptance of rape myths was also measured. Likelihood of defendant liability was rated to be lower when there was a prior relationship between the parties and when the defendant exploited the complainant's defencelessness as compared to when he used force (except in the ex-partner rapes where blame was higher in the alcohol-related than in the force-related cases). Complainant blame was higher when there was a prior relationship between the parties and was higher in the alcohol-related cases than in the force-related cases, except in the ex-partner rape where the pattern was reversed. Participants with high rape myth acceptance held the defendant less liable and blamed the complainant more, especially when the two had known each other. Study 2 largely replicated these findings with 129 postgraduate trainee lawyers and showed that sentencing recommendations also varied as a function of defendant–complainant relationship and coercive strategy. Providing participants with the legal definition of rape did not reduce reliance on rape stereotypes.
Subfields: Gender Studies, Law
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/4ee1ec7250f345930a022e3956f690c706695101
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Citations in the corpus
- Rape Myths: History, Individual and Institutional-Level Presence, and Implications for Change (2011, background): “In a study of German law students, Krahe et al. (2008) documented that although more students rejected rape myths than accepted them, greater endorsement of rape myths was related to higher levels of victim blame and shorter sentencing recommendations for perpetrators.”