Juror Decision-Making in Rape Cases: The Influence of Victim Mental Health and Rape Myth Acceptance

Bouillaut, Kiah (2026) Juror Decision-Making in Rape Cases: The Influence of Victim Mental Health and Rape Myth Acceptance. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

Background: Juror decisions in rape cases are shaped by extra-legal beliefs such as rape myth acceptance (RMA) and stigma towards people with severe mental illness. Although RMA is consistently linked with greater victim blame, up-to-date evidence on its association with juror decision-making has not been synthesised, and little is known about how victims with a serious mental health condition are evaluated, particularly within a contemporary cultural climate of public debate about sexual violence (for example, #MeToo).

Method: A systematic review and three-level meta-analysis updated Dinos et al. (2015), identifying post-2012 mock-juror studies that measured RMA in relation to a rape or sexual assault scenario and at least one legally relevant outcome (k = 20; N = 7,682). The empirical paper partially replicated Levi and Golding (2024) in an England and Wales context using a 3 (victim mental health status: borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia, no condition) × 2 (participant gender) design (N = 130). Participants read an acquaintance-rape vignette framed under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, returned a verdict and ratings of the victim and defendant, and completed a measure of mental health stigma and related attitudes.

Results: Across studies in the systematic review, higher RMA was associated with lower guilt judgements, and to a greater extent, higher victim blame. In the empirical study, a brief mental health cue increased perceived mental illness severity for the schizophrenia condition, but victim mental health condition did not reliably predict verdicts, guilt ratings, or most victim evaluations. Instead, more right-leaning political orientation, participant gender, and to a lesser extent, higher mental health stigma, were more strongly related to victim- and defendant-focused ratings.

Conclusions: Overall, the systematic review showed rape myth acceptance remains associated with more defendant-favourable outcomes and more victim-blaming judgements, while the empirical study suggested juror responses were more strongly organised around broader attitudinal frameworks (stigma, political orientation, gender) than around brief mental-health cues about the victim. Implications for clinical and legal practice, policy, and future research on managing rape myths and mental health information in rape trials are discussed.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
Depositing User:	Bethany Turner
Date Deposited:	05 Nov 2026 16:41
Last Modified:	05 Nov 2026 16:41
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/104987
DOI:

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