Talking about rape: a discursive study of convicted adult rapists' accounts of rape

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Pemberton, S.L., 2012. Talking about rape: a discursive study of convicted adult rapists' accounts of rape. PhD, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

At least 167 women are raped every day in the UK, yet rape remains one of the most under reported and least prosecuted of all violent crimes. Low conviction rates can be attributed in part to the failings of the criminal justice system including the infiltration of rape myths into said system and the ambiguity surrounding sexual consent. This thesis has drawn on data generated from eighteen semi-structured interviews and one focus group with men who have been convicted of (acquaintance) rape/aggravated rape. In doing so, this research has utilised critical discursive psychology to analyse the ways in which ‘rape myths’ and knowledge of sexual consent, coercion and refusal is incorporated into participants’ offence accounts. Findings suggest that offenders employ a variety of rape myths when accounting for their offence in accordance with particular issues of stake and interest. All of which is tied to the management of identity, sentence type and treatment received. Subscription to rape myths was often relatively subtle and was based on offenders’ accounts of their mens rea (or lack thereof) or their consumption of drugs and/or alcohol, rather than primarily about the culpability of their victim as the more historic rape myths might suggest. Furthermore, through offence accounts, participants were able to demonstrate a sophisticated articulation and appreciation of sexual refusals and negotiations through their ability to ‘hear’ sexual refusals which did not involve the word ‘no’ - reinforcing the subtle nature of sexual communication. These findings highlight that ‘knowledge’ of rape myths needs to be contemporised and that the legislation surrounding consent needs to incorporate all its subtleties. All of which has implications for the treatment of sexual offenders.

Item Type:	Thesis
Creators:	Pemberton, S.L.
Date:	2012
Rights:	This work is the intellectual property of Sarah Louise Pemberton. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the author.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	EPrints Services
Date Added:	09 Oct 2015 09:33
Last Modified:	09 Oct 2015 09:33
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/19