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| Joseph and Potiphar's Wife /Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Called Guercino, 1649 National Gallery of Art |
In an experimental study, people reading accounts of sexual assault
performed worse than chance (45.3%) when judging whether a report was true or
false. The more confident the judgment, the lower the rate of accuracy (Peace
et al., 2012).
Charges of sexual assault are clearly a serious matter. Many
people are sexually assaulted each year. Most of the victims are women. Yet
many innocent people have been imprisoned on false charges and lost years of
their lives, which cannot be recovered.
The story of Picking
Cotton is a powerful reminder of a bright woman who appeared quite credible
but was sadly mistaken. Jennifer Thompson was convinced it was Ronald Cotton
who raped her. But it turned out she was wrong. Her story was presented in a 60-minutes special in
2011.
The point is, when an accused person claims innocence, the
person may be telling the truth. In cases of sexual assault, observers may be
limited to the claims of two people and no physical evidence.
Detecting Deception
The research reviewed by Peace and her colleagues indicates
a history of difficulty in detecting deception with accuracy levels running
close to chance levels but confidence levels running at inflated levels.
There is an emotional belief bias. That is, emotional
stories add a believability factor. When a report contains emotional content, and
is presented with intense emotion, the report leads people to believe the
report as true. Reports of rape and other forms of sexual assault are the kind
of reports that lead to credibility.
Some have wondered about the role of personality in judging
the accuracy of reports. Unfortunately, research does not provide a consistent
pattern.
RAND Corporation
Report
In a massive report (319 pages), the Rand Corporation team
compiled A Compendium of Sexual Assault Research. (Download
pdf).
One problem is that although most agree that sexual assault
is a widespread problem, estimates vary considerably from 15 to 51%. A study of
men reported a 4% rate. On college campuses, the assault of women ranged from 21 to
42% in various samples.
Victims tend to know the perpetrators. The risk factors for
predicting perpetrators were described as follows:
"Among perpetrators, hostile
masculinity was most often found to be a significant predictor of sexual
assault perpetration; men who adhered to aggressive sexual beliefs were also
considered at high risk of perpetrating sexual assault, as were those with a
history of being coercive or committing assault." (p. x)
Considerations
Psychotherapists and counselors have a different task than does the forensic psychologist. Clinicians are concerned with the well-being of their clients. Clinicians must deal with the symptoms reported and the client's perceived experience. Helping victims become survivors is the joint effort of clinicians and clients.
Anyone wanting to be objective about the evaluation of sexual assault charges may be on the defensive when faced with an emotional report of rape, which may be believed by many. When stories are published, the accused is judged in the court of public opinion.
The forensic psychologist seeks to determine credibility along with the mental status of the person reporting the assault. Efforts to be objective by examiners can be frustrating to victims.
Anyone wanting to be objective about the evaluation of sexual assault charges may be on the defensive when faced with an emotional report of rape, which may be believed by many. When stories are published, the accused is judged in the court of public opinion.
The forensic psychologist seeks to determine credibility along with the mental status of the person reporting the assault. Efforts to be objective by examiners can be frustrating to victims.
The reports of sexual assault are often true even when some
details may be incorrect. An incorrect detail or an inconsistency does not necesarily mean a claim is false.
But some reports of sexual assault are false for various reasons including
mistaken perceptions and false memories.
To learn more, consider the RAND report and the Peace study
along with the references provided in those documents.
Respectful comments are welcome, including corrections. Others will be deleted.
Reference
Peace, K. A., Porter,
S., & Almon, D. F. (2012). Sidetracked by emotion: Observers' ability to
discriminate genuine and fabricated sexual assault allegations. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 17(2),
322-335. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8333.2011.02013.x
Related reading on sex and morality A House Divided
https://wipfandstock.com/a-house-divided-16708.html
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