Myths about myths? A commentary on Thomas (2020) and the question of jury rape myth acceptance

Daly, Ellen; Smith, Olivia; Bows, Hannah; Brown, Jennifer; Chalmers, James; Cowan, Sharon; Horvath, Miranda; Leverick, Fiona; Lovett, Jo; Munro, Vanessa; Willmott, Dominic

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Myths about myths? A commentary on Thomas (2020) and the question of jury rape myth acceptance

journal contribution

posted on 08.09.2021, 10:20 authored by Ellen Daly, Olivia SmithOlivia Smith, Hannah Bows, Jennifer Brown, James Chalmers, Sharon Cowan, Miranda Horvath, Fiona Leverick, Jo Lovett, Vanessa Munro, Dominic Willmott

This commentary responds to claims that research by Cheryl Thomas ‘shows’ no problem with rape myths in English and Welsh juries. We critique the claim on the basis of ambiguous survey design, a false distinction between ‘real’ jurors and other research participants, the conflation of attitudes in relation to abstract versus applied rape myths, and misleading interpretation of the data. Ultimately, we call for a balanced appraisal of individual studies by contextualising them against the wider literature.

History

School

Social Sciences and Humanities

Department

Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy

Published in

Journal of Gender-Based Violence

Publisher

Policy Press

Version

AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Publisher statement

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copy edited version of an article published in Journal of Gender-Based Violence. The definitive publisher-authenticated version DALY, E. ... et al, 2022. Myths about myths? A commentary on Thomas (2020) and the question of jury rape myth acceptance. Journal of Gender-Based Violence, doi:10.1332/239868021X16371459419254 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1332/239868021X16371459419254.