RT Article
T1 When a corporation rapes: perceptions of rape in civil court for corporate defendants
JF Psychology, crime & law
VO 24
IS 7
SP 703
OP 726
A1 Lippert, Anne
A1 Haak, Eric
A1 Golding, Jonathan
A1 Lynch, Kellie
A2 Haak, Eric
A2 Golding, Jonathan
A2 Lynch, Kellie
LA English
YR 2018
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1736213032
AB In recent years, the coupling of poor outcomes for rape victims in criminal court and the widening scope of legal responsibility for sexual assault has prompted plaintiffs to file civil suits for rape against corporations. Unfortunately, we know little about juror perception of civilly litigated rape against corporate defendants and most jury research involving corporate defendants concerns non-sexual injury cases (e.g. premises liability, automobile accidents). With the increasing number of corporations being sued civilly for rape, we need to understand how civil juries perceive these cases. The present study investigated mock jurors’ perceptions of a fictional civil rape trial against a hotel. Community members (N = 155) read one of three trial summaries: Civil rape trial against the alleged perpetrator, civil rape trial against a hotel, or criminal rape trial. Results indicate females have higher pro-plaintiff judgments than males in civil court, perceptions of greed typically associated with civil litigation apply to rape, and favorable plaintiff decisions are most likely against a corporate defendant. Also, mental models suggest mock jurors conceptualize criminal and civil rape cases against an individual similarly. We discuss our results in terms of psychological, legal and practical expectations when suing for rape.
K1 Civil rape
K1 Corporate defendant
K1 Mediation
K1 mental models
K1 Mock jury
DO 10.1080/1068316X.2017.1421185