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Who Decides? Study of the Complainant's Decision to Prosecute in Rape Cases

NCJ Number
125980
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 17 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1990) Pages: 268-283
Author(s)
W A Kerstetter; B Van Winkle
Date Published
1990
Length
16 pages
Annotation
A criminal complainant's decision to prosecute has long been recognized as an important aspect of criminal justice case processing.
Abstract
Much of the literature regards this decision as a simple expression of a victim's volition. On the basis of interviews with detectives, prosecutors, and a victims' advocate and quantitative analyses (based on a sample of police files), it was concluded that police officers have a substantial influence on a complainant's decision to prosecute. The study also assessed evidence for three explanations for officials influencing complainants' decisions: feminist conflict theory, Black's "behavior of law" hypotheses, and the need to efficiently allocate scarce resources. It was found that the need to efficiently allocate resources best explained the data. 4 tables, 5 notes, and 22 references. (Publisher abstract)