Details
This book is set against the background of the so-called 'justice gap' in sexual assault cases. It represents an interdisciplinary attempt to examine the attitudinal problems which bedevil this area of law and possible strategies for addressing them. Written by a professor of law and a professor of psychology, it reviews evidence from both socio-legal and social cognition research examining the impact of rape-related attitudes on judgements about sexual offences.
It presents new qualitative data from interviews with judges and barristers. and includes new experimental studies that illustrate how stereotypic beliefs about rape affect perceptions of victim blame and perpetrator culpability. The final part of the book discusses strategies to suppress the impact of rape stereotypes and promote the data-driven appraisal of sexual assault complaints.
Jennifer Temkin is Professor of Law at the University of Sussex, UK.
Barbara Krahé is Professor of Psychology at the University of Potsdam, Germany.
The book goes well beyond merely descriptive and derivative statements and represents a thought-provoking contribution to the ongoing debate about a highly topical issue.
Francesca Galli
The Cambridge Law Journal
Vol 68 (2) July 2009
an interesting and timely addition to the growing body of research on the reasons for the continuing failure of the law to proptect rape victims.
Georgina Firth
Feminist Legal Studies
June 2009
What Temkin and Krahé have achieved with this text is the identification of a new frontier in the quest to make the criminal justice system more satisfactory to rape complainants. It is to [be] hoped that those in power will take note of this type of research and of some of the recommendations made by the authors and direct some money and effort towards tackling negative societal attitudes towards sexual violence in a bid to eradicate the 'real rape' stereotype for once and for all.
Susan Leahy
Web Journal of Current Legal Issues
December 2008
Temkin and Krahe argue convincingly that despite recent legal reforms and procedural changes to counteract these inherent stereotypes and biases, preconceived ideas about sexual assault still prevail and are difficult to eradicate at both individual and institutional levels.
Kim Stevenson
Internet Law Book Reviews
December 2008
The authors bring together a wealth of quantitative data and are to be commended for presenting this material in such a way as to make it accessible to readers who may be less familiar with this particular field of psychological research and the methodological approaches utilised...This engaging and impressively researched book...makes an important contribution to ongoing debates by highlighting some of the attitudinal problems that doubtless underpin attrition in rape cases. Aimed at an interdisciplinary audience, the book constitutes an invaluable resource for students, researchers and professionals working in the fields of psychology and law.
Louise Ellison
Criminal Law Review
2009
With their book Sexual Assault and the Justice Gap... Jennifer Temkin and Barbara Krahé make a significant contribution to our understanding of sexual violence, the myths and stereotypes surrounding it, and their harmful effects on judgments of assault victims.
A must-read for scholars and interested lay-persons!
Friederike Eyssel
Sex Roles
Volume 61
Temkin and Krahe's book is an important part of this emerging literature that decentres law as the main or sole convergence point for critical energy directed at transforming the criminal justice experiences of women who have been raped.
Sharon Cowan
Scolag Legal Journal
Oct 08, Issue 372
...a very comprehensive yet highly accessible text that boldly addresses some of the key contemporary debates within criminal justice and popular discourses on sexual assault and rape...The range of issues covered will ensure that the book will be of interest to lawyers, psychologists, criminologists as well as the general public. In sum, this is an important and timely book, whose recommendations, if implemented, will have a profound and far-reaching impact on the criminal justice system, particularly the conduct of sexual assault trials and the nature of jury decision making as we currently know them.
Anne-Marie McAlinden
British Journal of Criminology
Vol 49, No 4, July 2009
The Justice Gap makes a timely contribution to our understanding of why there is such a large gap between rape reports and convictions. It is particularly important because it shows the limits of 'black letter' legal reform and the need for a wider perspective when considering how to address inadequacies in law enforcement. The Justice Gap is clearly structured and written in a style that will be accessible to students and academics, as well as practitioners...this is an important book and makes a very significant contribution to our understanding of the different ways in which social attitudes influence and shape legal responses to rape and sexual assault. It forms part of an emerging body of domestic research, based on sound empirical foundations, which provides a crucial insight into the relationship between social attitudes and rape law enforcement...It is to be hoped that this book will encourage more legal scholars in the future to engage in this area of research.
Phil Rumney
Legal Studies
Vol 29, No 4, 2009
