Addressing Rape Reform in Law and Practice

by Susan Caringella

Overview

The first comprehensive book on rape since Susan Brownmiller's Against Our Will and Susan Estrich's Real Rape, this volume probes every aspect of rape law and the discrepancies between ideal law (on the books) and real law (in action). Susan Caringella canvasses the success and failure of reform in the United States, as well as Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand, and assesses alternative perspectives on rape reform, making use of theoretical models, court cases and statistical data. She uniquely delineates a creative model for change while addressing the discretion that undermines efforts at change. This includes charging the accused and plea bargaining, confronting a lack of transparency and accountability in implementing law, and acquiring funding for such changes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231134255
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	11/20/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Susan Caringella is a professor in the Department of Sociology, Criminal Justice Program, and of Gender and Women's Studies at Western Michigan University. An internationally renowned expert on rape, feminism, and criminology, she is deputy editor of the Journal of Women and Criminal Justice and an editorial board member for the Journal of Violence Against Women and Feminist Criminology.

Table of Contents

Contents
Acknowledgments
1. Background to Rape Reform
2. Legal Chnage Sweeps the Nation
3. Failures and Successes
4. Avenues for and Attitudes About Victims
5. The Legal Landscape
6. Affirmative Consent Reform Models
7. Consent and Voluntariness, Agreement/Nonconsent and Involuntariness, Nonagreement
8. Presumptive Nonagreement
9. Mens Rea
10. Applying Recklessness and Negligence
11. Defenses
12. Sexual Assault Under Durgaess and Fraud
13. Reforming Rape Reforms: Outline of the Model Array
14. Discussion of the Model Array
15. Advantages of a Paradigm Shift
16. Recommendations Complementing the Model Rape Law
17. Moving Forward: Social Institutions, Structures, and Processes
Notes, 291
References, 317
Index, 331

What People are Saying About This

Susan Estrich

A very important contribution to an even more important debate: What happened to the rape reform movement? What went wrong, what went right, and why does it seem like we did so much and accomplished so much less? Anyone seeking to answer these questions-and many of us should try-will find Susan Caringella's careful and thoughtful analysis a must-read starting point in a reinvigorated effort to address the continuing challenges posed by the reality of rape and the difficulties encountered in the efforts of the criminal justice system to address it.

— Susan Estrich, Robert Kingsley Professor of Law and Political Science, University of Southern California, and author of Real Rape and the Case for Hillary Clinton

Walter S. DeKeseredy

No other book offers such a new way of thinking about rape reform. Susan Caringella is well known for producing scholarly work that meets the highest disciplinary standards, and her latest offering is yet another important contribution to understanding one of North America's most compelling social problems. Most important, Caringella offers a progressive but pragmatic rape reform model that addresses broader patriarchal forces while simultaneously being 'more viable' and 'more palatable.' This book not only offers a new way of thinking about an ongoing problem, but also has the potential to improve societal reactions to the pain and suffering caused by a brutal form of abuse.

— Walter S. DeKeseredy, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, and coauthor of Sexual Assault on the College Campus: The Role of Male Peer Support

Claire M. Renzetti

Every now and then, a person reads a book and comes away feeling like something big is going to happen. I am stunned by the careful, painstaking research that went into this work as well as the reflective thought that took place. Caringella strikes just the right balance between scholarship and education. This book proposes a much-needed legislative and social change. Feminist activists and academics must read it.

— Claire M. Renzetti, University of Dayton, and editor of Violence Against Women: An International, Interdisciplinary Journal