NCJ Number
204446
Journal
Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Dated: 2003 Pages: 204-222
Date Published
2003
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This analysis of rape cases investigated by police in Stockholm (Sweden) between 1946 and 1950 examined the characteristics of suspects and alleged victims in relationship to prosecutorial screening decisions in these cases.
Abstract
During the period examined, nearly 150 men were interrogated about their involvement in alleged rapes and attempted rapes. The investigations eventually led to 17 prosecutions and 11 convictions. In identifying prosecutorial criteria for dismissing and taking to trial a rape case, the study identified the rape scenario deemed by prosecutors and police investigators most likely to bring a conviction. The rape scenario involved a blameless victim, an unexpected attack, and an abnormal and dangerous perpetrator. These features constituted the interpretive framework for a prosecutor to determine whether the rape charge was plausible, the suspect probable, and the complainant credible. Basing a rape investigation on this scenario meant that the female victim and the suspect would be assessed by police and prosecutors in terms of whether they fit the profile of the "ideal" rape victim and the "ideal" rapist. Further, the incident itself was analyzed to determine whether it fit the stereotype of the rape scenario. The fact that both general good behavior for the male suspects and the more sexualized morality of the women complainants were among the factors that the police and the prosecutor focused on in their inquiries meant that moral categories became factors in the case. A female complainant who had been noticeably sexually active in her past or who had been sexually interested at some time during the course of events associated with the alleged rape could only overcome these disadvantages by manifesting signs of excessive brutality and force used by the man to compel intercourse. On the other hand, men viewed as qualified to be the ideal rapist had to manifest some form of hypersexuality, psychopathy, or pathological intolerance. By all appearances, this outlook, despite changes in Swedish law regarding rape, still determines the way in which legal actors view rape cases, their victims, and their perpetrators. 40 references