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NCJRS Abstract

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NCJ Number: 142244 Find in a Library
Title: RAPE: FROM RECORDING TO CONVICTION
Author(s): S Grace; C Lloyd; L J F Smith
Corporate Author: Great Britain Home Office
Research and Planning Unit
United Kingdom
Date Published: 1992
Page Count: 55
Sponsoring Agency: Great Britain Home Office
London. SW1H 9AT, England
Type: Survey
Format: Document
Language: English
Country: United Kingdom
Annotation: Data from 335 cases initially recorded as rape in England and Wales during the second quarter of 1985 were analyzed at each stage of case processing to determine why such a low proportion of cases result in convictions.
Abstract: The cases involved 327 suspects and 302 complainants. Information came from police and court documents, using the alleged victim's account of the incident as the basic source of information, supplemented by police, medical, and witness statements. Results revealed that 165 cases dropped out of the system before any court proceedings took place; cautioning was used in 2 percent of the cases. Among the 335 cases, 255 were finally recorded as offenses, 228 resulted in the detection of a suspect, 178 involved further proceedings by the police, and 170 were prosecuted. Overall, only 40 percent reached the final stage of conviction; of these, two thirds resulted in rape convictions at Crown Court; the others resulted in convictions for other offenses, some at magistrates' court. A conviction was most likely if the alleged victim was age 16 or under. Cases in which the alleged victim was married or cohabiting were twice as likely as others not to be determined a crime. Results indicated that evidence became most complex in cases in which the complainant and the suspect were known to each other, and attrition was most common in these cases. Tables and lists of other Home Office publications
Main Term(s): Dispositions; Rape
Index Term(s): Case processing; Courts; Crime in foreign countries; England; Victim-offender relationships; Victims of Crime; Wales
Note: Paper 71
To cite this abstract, use the following link:
http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=142244

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