Content area
Full Text
Introduction
Behavioral scientists interested in the "dark figure" of unreported crime can claim with empirical support that only 30% of rapes are made known to the police (Rand, 1998). There is far less agreement on the extent to which certain rapes may be "overreported." Do false allegations of rape occur with sufficient frequency to constitute an appreciable threat to the administration of justice? If so, are there any patterns which may be identified and motivations which may be uncovered?
False allegations of wrongdoing can have severe consequences for the American justice system. Several studies have documented the extent to which suspects have been wrongfully convicted for crimes they did not commit (Huff, Rattner, & Sagarin, 1996). Allegations of child molestation are often leveled between waning spouses in an attempt to win custody of their children (Robin,1992). Finally, to the extent that investigative authorities understand the nature of false reports of victimization, true victims of rape will not be confused with dissemblers and denied appropriate system support (McDowell & Hibler,1993).
Current State of Knowledge
Research into the scope of false rape allegations has been marred by the contentious polemics characterizing the relationship between feminist groups and police executives (Gilbert, 1998). Accordingly, estimates of the percentage of unfounded rape reports range from a low of 2% to a nationwide estimate of 8% by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (1998). At one time, police in Oakland, California, estimated the rate of unfounded rape reports at about 24% (Karmen, 1996). Other observers have reported unfounded rape reports ranging from 16.99/6 to 23.8% (Macdonald, 1995).
Many feminists believe that criminal justice personnel have a tendency to disbelieve rape victims for sexist reasons (Brownmiller,1975), while police explain many rapes are unfounded-not because they are false allegations but because of other reasons related to evidence, lack of jurisdiction, witness refusal to cooperate, and for other prosecutorial considerations (Frohman,1991; Horney & Spohn,1996).
Probably the most balanced empirical research into the phenomenon of false rape allegations is Kanin's (1994) analysis of 109 cases of rape reported to police in a small, metropolitan community of about 70,000 over a nine-year period. As the result of the complainant's own admission, 45 (41%) of the 109 complaints were officially declared false. Analysis of the motivations,...