“Most [False Reports] Involve Teens”: Examining Officer Attitudes toward Teenage Sexual Assault Complainants

• In Event: Investigating and Prosecuting Sexual Assault

Abstract

Scholars have criticized the police treatment of sexual assault complainants, arguing that apathetic attitudes and hostile behavior on part of the police have resulted from socialization into a culture that condones the use of force and violence and blames sexual assault victims for their victimization. Sexual assault victims occupy a distinct space in the criminal justice system. Although victims are targets of assault, individuals (including police officers) are often unsympathetic toward their experiences. Using data from in-depth semi-structured interviews with 52 Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) sex crimes detectives, we examine officer attitudes toward teenage complainants of sexual assault. Specifically, we focus this presentation on attitudes surrounding teenage complainants and perceptions of false reports of sexual assault. We focus our discussion on false reports because almost three-fourths of the respondents (n = 38; 73%) told us that teenagers lie about sexual assault.

Authors

• Eryn Nicole O'Neal, Sam Houston State University

• Brittany E. Hayes, Sam Houston State University