| A small percentage of sexual assaults have been processed by the criminal justice system, as indicated by numerous quantitative studies, yet little research has explored why. In addition, most research on sexual assault has focused on convicted offenders and victims. Few have examined the response system, such as how the attitudes, values, and beliefs in the system and broader social context impact whether or not a case even made it into and through the criminal justice system. Qualitative research was needed to explore how and why so few cases of sexual assault were prosecuted by the criminal justice system and how the creation of sexual assault response teams impacted that process. This dissertation focused on the impact sexual assault response teams had on the criminal justice system response to sexual assault in the Midwest. Responding agencies, including law enforcement, medical care, and victim advocacy partnered to assess community needs and services, develop and implement cross-disciplinary policies and procedures, provide training, and evaluate the process. Three teams participated in this study through interviews, observation, and data collection of written policies and procedures, communications, agency statistics, criminal charging documents, and public court documents. The findings indicated these teams had an impact on the team members, yet minimal impact on the criminal justice system outcomes. Team members responded to sexual assault cases by negotiating the line between institutional policies and adapted strategies, yet remained focused on the criminal justice system response to sexual assault rather than exploring alternatives. This research contributes to the understanding of coordinated community response efforts, interpersonal violence, the criminal justice system, the study of institutions, institutional forgetting, the fallacy of misplaced concreteness, feminist theory, institutional ethnography, and qualitative research. |
