Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39062442›Full record

ArticleBehavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland)2024

Rape Myths and Verdict Systems: What Is Influencing Conviction Rates in Rape Trials in Scotland?

Lee John Curley, Martin Lages, Pamela J Sime, James Munro

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Lee John CurleyDepartment of Psychology, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow G4 0BA, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-5829-4740
Martin LagesSchool of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-4962-3116
Pamela J SimeDepartment of Psychology, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow G4 0BA, UK.
James MunroFaculty of Arts and Social Sciences, School of Psychology and Counselling, The Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-3638-0765

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The Scottish verdict system includes three verdicts: 'guilty', 'not guilty' and 'not proven'. Politicians propose that the three-verdict system is partially to blame for the low conviction rate of rape, whereas research suggests that rape myths may be having a larger impact. To test the effects of varying verdict systems (guilty, not guilty and not proven; guilty and not guilty; a series of proven and not proven verdicts) and rape myths on juror verdicts. A total of 180 participants answered questions regarding their acceptance of rape myths using the Acceptance of Modern Myth and Sexual Aggression (AMMSA) scale. They then watched a staged rape trial filmed in a real courtroom and reached a verdict. Participants also provided longer-form answers on which thematical analysis was conducted. The main findings are as follows: (1) The special verdict system leads to a higher conviction rate than the other systems when rape myth acceptance is controlled for. (2) The higher the rape myth acceptance, the more favourably the accused was perceived and the less favourably the complainer was perceived.

Indexed as

juror decision-makingjury reformnot proven verdictrape mythsScottish legal systemthree-verdict system

Identifiers

PMID39062442
PMCPMC11273493

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.