Contents

[close]

PJ 82 (2009) 4

Police Perceptions of Rape as a Function of Victim Gender and Sexuality
Michelle Davies, Rhiannon Smith and Paul Rogers

This study investigated United Kingdom police workers' perceptions of adult rape when victim gender and victim sexual orientation were manipulated. Based on the work of Davies, Pollard and Archer (2001), it was predicted that the victim would be judged more negatively when portrayed as a gay man. One hundred and twenty-eight United Kingdom police workers of various ranks read a hypothetical rape scenario in which victim gender and victim sexuality were experimentally manipulated before completing a 12-item rape attributions questionnaire focusing on perceptions of victim blame and assault severity. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) were then performed. Overall, police workers were largely pro-victim although, as expected, they were more negative towards male victims than female victims. Contrary to expectations, these trends existed regardless of victim sexuality. Results are discussed in relation to positive police practice in the treatment of rape.

[close]

[close]

PJ 82 (2009) 13

Police Violent Response or Pre-Arrest Warning and Defensive Victimisation
Noel Otu

Police actions and inactions remain the most controversial and ill-defined events in the criminal justice system. This article explains that some suspects who become involved in police-citizen violence were actually the initiator(s) and/or active participants in the events that resulted in their being defensively victimised by police. The issue here is whether the suspect knew the consequences of resisting arrest and was a catalyst for the violence that occurred during the police-citizen encounter. This article argues that attaching the sympathetic quality of innocence to an aggressive suspect overpowered by police allows us to blame the police for doing their job. The article proposes a formal pre-arrest announcement to remind suspects that their behaviour from a certain point onwards has consequences. Although there are some circumstances where people may truly be innocent victims of police violence, the evidence shows that most 'victims' of police violence are not innocent victims but rather apprehended initiators or full participants in police-citizen violent activity.

[close]

[close]

PJ 82 (2009) 34

Organisational Cooperation: Law Enforcement Agencies Working Together
Gregory J. DeLone

This study examines the interorganisational relationships between chiefs of police and county sheriffs towards a state law enforcement agency. The findings revealed high levels of chiefs and sheriffs' contact with the state agency. High levels of requests for routine and major assistance were reported. With respect to request for major assistance, there was a significant difference between chiefs and sheriffs. Sheriffs were significantly more likely to seek help on major cases. While there were a few isolated cases of pointed dissatisfaction, overall, both chiefs and sheriffs reported high levels of satisfaction with the state agency. Sheriffs were also more likely to report service duplication by the state agency. Duplication, however, was not necessarily viewed as a negative.

[close]

[close]

PJ 82 (2009) 50

'Can We All Join In?': Developing an Evaluative Framework for Group Processes to Aid Decisions about their Use in Approaches to Participative Engagement
Huw Evans

The police reform agenda and human rights legislation demand that police forces and police authorities engage with users of their services and involve them more in decision-making. Traditional top-down and expert-knows-best perspectives have seen decreasing levels of confidence in the criminal justice system and loss of community cohesion across society. This article introduces an evaluative framework for supporting organisations in making decisions about processes and approaches they deploy to engage users, staff and stakeholders in an holistic approach to decision-making.

[close]

[close]

Links to other issues

Volume 74 (2001) :   1   2   3   4

Volume 75 (2002) :   1   2   3   4

Volume 76 (2003) :   1   2   3   4

Volume 77 (2004) :   1   2   3   4

Volume 78 (2005) :   1   2   3   4

Volume 79 (2006) :   1   2   3   4

Volume 80 (2007) :   1   2   3   4

Volume 81 (2008) :   1   2   3

Volume 82 (2009) :   1

[close]