Psychology and Crime News

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1424915,00.html
The Guardian February 25, 2005

Convictions for reported rape cases have reached an all-time low because of a “culture of scepticism” among the police, according to Home Office research […]. The study finds that despite long-running efforts by the government to boost the conviction rate, only 5.6% of reported cases end in the rapist being convicted in court. This represents a record low, with the conviction rate having fallen from 32% in 1977. While the last two decades have seen a continuing and unbroken increase in the reporting of rapes to the police by victims, it has not been matched by a similar rise in prosecutions or convictions. The official study, A Gap Or a Chasm?, by researchers at the London Metropolitan University child and women abuse unit, says that part of the reason is that police and prosecutors overestimate the scale of false allegations made by victims. Full text of Home Office study: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hors293.pdf