In an effort to establish a clearer understanding of the sentencing of sexual assault offenders, this study analyzes data generated from a content analysis of sexual assault cases, using feminist theory as a backdrop for the analysis. The sample consists of ninety-seven sexual assault cases from across Canada for the period of August 15, 1992 through August 15, 1993. Using a statistical analysis, the data were analyzed for evidence of whether certain factors aggravated or mitigated sentence length. The findings indicate that factors not affecting sentence length include breach of trust, sex of the judge, sex of the complainant, plea and show of remorse. Factors that work to mitigate sentence length include the youth or old age of an offender. Finally, variables that, when present, aggravate an offender's sentence length are prior offences, force, sexual intercourse and psychiatric considerations. These findings indicate that while there has been some response to feminist concerns regarding criminal justice processing of sexual assault, some of the myths that have been traditionally associated with its victims and offenders are still influencing the judiciary.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.22580 |
| Date | January 1995 |
| Creators | Dinovitzer, Ronit |
| Contributors | Benaquisto, Lucia (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of Sociology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001460401, proquestno: MM05377, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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