A substantial proportion of the reported cases of forcible rape in Israel are committed against young female tourists. The media provide extended coverage of these cases and emphasize the severe punishments imposed on the offenders, implying that the justice system regards raping a tourist as a more heinous crime than raping a local woman. Similar statements appear in judicial decisions. Reasons offered include damage to the state and to the tourist industry as well as to the victims. The present study analyzes the sentences passed on the 164 persons charged with forcible rape who were convicted in the Israeli courts during 1982-83. The unexpectedfinding is that none of the variables with a significant impact on the severity of the sentence is directly related to the victim.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bazak, J. (1981) Punishment: Principles and Applications in Israel and in Jewish Law Hebrew. Jerusalem: Dvir.
2.
Chandler, Meyers, S. and Torney, M. (1981) "The decisions and the processing of rape victims through the criminal justice system."California Sociologist4: 155-169.
3.
Chiricos, T. and Waldo, G. (1975) "Socio-economic status and criminal sentencing: An empirical assessment of a conflict proposition."American Sociological Review40: 753-272.
4.
Clark, L. and Lewis, D. (1977) Rape: The Price of Coercive Sexuality. Toronto: The Women's Press.
5.
Cohen, Ben-Zion , Fishman, G. and Soroka, J. (1985) "Judicial discretion and sentencing disparity in adult felony courts in Israel."Journal of Criminal Justice13: 99-116.
6.
Cohen, S. and Taylor, L. (1972) Psychological Survival. London: Penguin; cited in Feldman, Criminal Behavior: A Psychological Analysis, London: Wiley, 1977.
7.
Collins, R. (1975) Conflict Sociology. New York: Academic Press.
8.
Farnsworth, M. , and Horan, P. (1980) "Separate justice: An analysis of race differences in court processes."Social Science Research9: 381-399.
9.
Farrell, R. and Swigert;, V. (1978) "Prior offense record as a self-fulling prophecy. "Law and Society Review12: 437-453.
10.
Feldman, M. P. (1977) Criminal Behavior: A Psychological Analysis. London: Wiley.
11.
Hagen, J. (1975) "The social and legal construction of criminal justice: A study of the pre-sentencing process."Social Problems22:620-637.
12.
Harrel, W. (1981) "The effects of alcohol use and offender remorsefulness on sentencing decisions."Journal of Applied Social Psychology11:83-91.
13.
Kruttschnitt, C. (1982) "Respectable women and the law."Sociological Quarterly23: 221-234.
14.
La Free, G. (1980) "Variables affecting guilty pleas and convictions in rape cases: Toward a theory of rape processing."Social Forces58: 833-850.
15.
Lizotte, A. (1978) "Extra-legal factors in Chicago's criminal courts: Testing the conflict model of criminal justice."Social Problems. 25: 564-580.
16.
Russell, D. (1975) The Politics of Rape: The Victim's Perspective. New York: Stein and Day.
17.
Sebba, L. , and Cahan, S. (1975) "Sex offenses: The genuine and the doubted victim." Pp. 29-45 in I. Drapkin and E. Viano (eds.), Victimology: A New
18.
Focus, Vol. V. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
19.
Sheley, J. (1985) America's Crime Problem: An Introduction to Criminology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
20.
Silberman, C. (1978) Criminal Violence, Criminal Justice. New York: Random House.
21.
Skolnick, J. (1966) Justice Without Trial. New York: Wiley.
22.
Sutton, L. (1978) Federal Criminal Sentencing: Perspectives of Analysis and a Design for Research. Washington, D.C.: Department of Justice.
23.
Swigert, V. and Farrell, R. (1977) "Normal homicides and the law."American Sociological Review42: 16-32.
24.
Thomson, R. and Zingraff, M. (1981) "Detecting sentencing disparity: some problems and evidence."American Journal of Sociology86: 869-880.
25.
Unnever, J. , Frazier, C. and Henretta, J. (1980) "Race differences in criminal sentencing. Sociological Quarterly21: 197-205.
26.
van den Haag, E. (1975) Punishing Criminals: Concerning a Very Old and Painful Question. New York: Basic Books.
27.
Vera Institute of Justice . (1977) Felony Arrests: Their Prosecution and Disposition in New York City's Courts. New York: Vera Institute.
28.
Wellford, C. (1975) "Labelling Theory and Criminology."Social Problems22:332-345.
29.
Wheeler, S. , Weisbor, D., and Bode, N. (1982) "Sentencing the white-collar offender: rhetoric and reality."American Sociological Review47: 641-659.
