TY - JOUR
T1 - A comparison of sexual assault cases with child and adult victims
AU - Spohn, Cassia C.
N1 - Funding Information:
Cassia C. Spohn. PhD. is Professor of Criminal Justice at the Universitv of Nebraska at &aha. Her current research interests include judicial decision kak- ing, the effect of race and gender on the processing of defendants, and the impact of rape law reform. This manuscript is based on work suppoded by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. SES-9010826. Points of view are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of the National Science Foundation The author wishes to acknowledge the comments by anonymous Editorial Board reviewers of the Journal of Child Sexual Abuse. Correspondence should be addressed to Cassia C. Spohn, PhD, Department of Criminal Justice, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182.
PY - 1995/1/25
Y1 - 1995/1/25
N2 - Researchers have suggested that sexual assault cases involving children are treated differently than cases involving adults; they have suggested that cases with child victims are more likely to be dismissed and are less likely to result in conviction or incarceration of the offender. The present study used data from Detroit Recorder’s Court to compare the outcome of sexual assault cases involving children and adults. The results indicated that cases with child victims differed in important ways from cases with adult victims, and that these differences affected case outcomes. Cases with child victims were less likely than cases with adult victims to be aggravated sexual assaults. When these differences were taken into account, offenders convicted of assaulting children faced a higher risk of incarceration than did offenders convicted of assaultine adults.
AB - Researchers have suggested that sexual assault cases involving children are treated differently than cases involving adults; they have suggested that cases with child victims are more likely to be dismissed and are less likely to result in conviction or incarceration of the offender. The present study used data from Detroit Recorder’s Court to compare the outcome of sexual assault cases involving children and adults. The results indicated that cases with child victims differed in important ways from cases with adult victims, and that these differences affected case outcomes. Cases with child victims were less likely than cases with adult victims to be aggravated sexual assaults. When these differences were taken into account, offenders convicted of assaulting children faced a higher risk of incarceration than did offenders convicted of assaultine adults.
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U2 - 10.1300/J070v03n04_04
DO - 10.1300/J070v03n04_04
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0028657020
SN - 1053-8712
VL - 3
SP - 59
EP - 78
JO - Journal of Child Sexual Abuse
JF - Journal of Child Sexual Abuse
IS - 4
ER -