NCJ Number
173575
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 13 Issue: 3 Dated: June 1998 Pages: 413-420
Date Published
1998
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This study examines the impact of victim-offender relationship on actual sentencing in sexual assault cases.
Abstract
The study reviewed clinical files from 204 rapists incarcerated at a medium-security penitentiary. The rapists were divided into stranger rapists (n=103), acquaintance rapists (n=36), and partner rapists (n=65, including 20 men who sexually assaulted ex-partners). Earlier research suggested that there would be no group differences in terms of demographic or offense characteristics and that victim-offender relationship would be related to sentence length, even after controlling for presumably relevant factors such as the offender's criminal history. This study supported those predictions. Stranger rapists used more force than partner rapists and caused more physical injury than rapists of known victims. However, these factors did not predict sentence length. The only two significant predictors were excess of force used and victim-offender relationship. Tables, note, references