Sexual Experience as a Factor in Reactions to Rape Victims

• NCJ Number: 85819
• Author(s): A Cann; L G Calhoun; J W Selby
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 10 pages
• Sale Source: Eric Document Reproduction Service; Not Available Through National Institute of Justice/NCJRS Document Loan Program
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Presented at American Psychological Association Convention, San Francisco, August 1977

Annotation

The effects of the sex of the respondent and of the sexual history of the victim on reactions to rape victims were examined.

Abstract

Newspaper accounts described a rape and related some of the victim's testimony at the trial of the accused rapist. The victim's testimony was varied as follows: no information on her sexual history, information on sexual history prohibited by the judge, indication by victim of an inactive sexual history, indication by victim of an active sexual history, and refusal by victim to answer questions about her sexual history. Results indicated consistent differences due to the sex of the respondent. Males tended to see the victim as a greater factor in her own rape and the rapist as less responsible than did females. The effects of sexual history of the victim indicated that victims who refused to discuss their sexual history were believed to be sexually active, and were assigned more responsibility for the rape. (ERIC (Educational Resource Information Center) abstract)