Giving voice to the victims of sexual assault: the role of police leadership in organisational change

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-03-2018-0037
• Published date: 10 June 2019
• Pages: 394-407
• Date: 10 June 2019
• Author: Michael Rowe,Michael Macauley
• Subject Matter: Public policy & environmental management,Policing,Criminal justice,Juvenile/youth crime,Police studies,Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Criminology & criminal justice

Giving voice to the victims of

sexual assault: the role of police

leadership in organisational change

Michael Rowe

Department of Social Sciences, Northumbria University,

Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, and

Michael Macauley

School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a long-term programme within a police service that

sought to transform the policing of adult sexual assault cases through reforming case management and

investigation practices, as well as cultural perspectives among staff.

Design/methodology/approach –Thestudy is based on a case-study approachof change and reformwithin

a single policeservice. Fieldworkconsisted of more than 240semi-structured interviews andfocus groups with

police officers, civilian staff, victim advocates, crown prosecutors, de fence lawyers, doctors and staff from victim

specialist support agencies. Extensive documentary analysis supplemented the primary findings.

Findings –Changes to investigations of sexual assault were perceived to be wide-ranging and deeply

embedded, and were regarded positively by police officers, staff and external agencies. These are identified in

terms of improvements to initial reporting of offences, the development of more rigorous case management

and investigations, and enhanced relations with external support agencies.

Research limitations/implications –The study is necessarily limited to one case study and the analysis

would be usefully developed through further application to other police services.

Social implications –The findings have considerable implications for police leaders and managers and

wider society. Victim support and recovery agencies benefit from the reforms outlined, and there are

considerable consequences for wider criminal justice that continues to disadvantage victims.

Originality/value –The paper has considerable originality since it offers a “deep”and “thick”

understanding of reform within a particular context. The programme of reform was highly unusual since it

was designed and delivered over a ten-year period and addressed many aspects of police organisation.

Keywords Police culture, Case management, Victimology, Adult sexual assault, Organizational reform

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

In many countries, it has been argued that “victims”or “survivors”[1] of adult sexual assault

(ASA) receive a poor level of service from the criminal justice system (see Brown and

Walklate, 2012, for an overview). This paper analyses New Zealand Police (NZP) strategy to

improve investigation of ASA.While the success of the strategyis not total, and reform needs

to continue, we argue that there are significant grounds for optimism. Problems exist at all

stages of the criminal justice process, but a focusof concern has been the poor quality of the

initial response from police officers (Gregory and Lees, 1999), particularly the widely noted

tendency to discredit and/or disbelievethe testimony of those reportingsexual violence (Kelly,

1988). Denying victim testimony beenassociated with the tendency to“no-crime”reports and

so deny the possibilityof a police investigation: a form of re-victimisation. Police“silencing”of

victim accounts repeats the denial of individual autonomy enacted by the primary assailant

( Jordan,2004). Feminist perspectives note that silencing victimsof sexual violence mirrors the

broader marginalisation of women in patriarchal societies (Kelly, 1988), and within social

science research (Heidensohn, 2012).

In contrast, the reform process outlined in this paper can be characterised broadly as an

attempt to restore“voice”and agency to the victim. Kelly(1988, p. 139) argued that the power

Policing: An International Journal

Vol. 42 No. 3, 2019

pp. 394-407

© Emerald PublishingLimited

1363-951X

DOI 10.1108/PIJPSM-03-2018-0037

Received 9 March 2018

Revised 15 June 2018

20 July 2018

Accepted 5 August 2018

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/1363-951X.htm

394

PIJPSM

42,3