A multidisciplinary response to sexual assault: the case review process for previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits

A multidisciplinary response to sexual assault: the case review process for previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits Heather C. Melton Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, Vol. ahead-of-print, No. ahead-of-print, pp.- Sexual assault continues to be a major criminal problem. Sexual assault kits (SAK) are one way to preserve evidence to use to pursue justice in sexual assault cases. In recent years, it has become clear that very often these SAKs are never sent to the crime lab to be processed. In an effort to deal with these unsubmitted kits and to research their impact, the Bureau of Justice Assistance funded various grants, known as the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) nationwide to create multidisciplinary teams to both improve the process and response to sexual assault and to provide research on this issue. This paper aims to explore a process created by one of the multidisciplinary teams in one SAKI site – the case review. Ultimately, the goal is to explore how different participants in the case review process perceive and experience the case review and provide implications of these findings. Using surveys of case review participants, participant observation and key stakeholder interviews findings indicate that case reviews are beneficial in terms of training, collaboration and overall response to sexual assault. Using all methods, the participants of case reviews found them beneficial. Both new information ...
Source: Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice - Category: Criminology Authors: Source Type: research