Sexual Assault Investigation an Example of the Topic Psychology Essays by

Sexual Assault Investigation Sexual assault is one of the most under reported crimes. Both men and women can become victims of sexual assault, although all related statistics are associated with women. Sexual assault is a broad classification for all unaccepted sexual advances or exhibition of sexual desires. It differs from rape which is the gratification of sexual desire by force. The National Crime Victimization Survey data suggests about half a million people had been sexually assaulted between the years 1992-93. More recent surveys like that for 2001, estimates there were around 249,000 sexual assault victims for that year (Online Lawyer, 2008). However these figures are presumed to be too less due to the underreporting factor. A 1992 study suggests that only about 16% of the sexual assaults are brought to the police. Need essay sample on "Sexual Assault Investigation" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed The main reason for victims to shy away from reporting these cases is perhaps to avoid the embarrassment of being talked about it in the neighborhood, the media or at least being asked to narrate the happenings before a jury. Although sexual assault is an underreported crime it is however possible for anyone to falsely raise charges of sexual assault, even without any evidence. A charge of sexual assault on someone can be very damaging and can even devastate ones life. Thus sexual assault investigations are very crucial, particularly when the suspect denies charges; and physical evidences are very important in the investigations. The evidences collected against the offender are of varying nature like material evidence, biological evidence, medical evidence etc. and requires the expertise of physicians, laboratory technicians and crime scene investigators to compile them. It has been overwhelmingly observed that most sexual assaults and rapes are committed by people well known to the victim. This aspect of rape has considerable bearing on the investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators (Kilpatrick, 2000). As the identity of the perpetrators are known to the victims in most cases, the investigation here need not be focused on the identification of the suspect or perpetrators. In most cases, the perpetrator would proclaim that the act wasnt a rape, but only a consensual sex. Therefore the investigation should be more directed to counter this position. Known offenders adopt such a stand as it is difficult for them to plead a case of mistaken identity. To prove a sexual act as a case of rape and not a consensual decision, the victim needs to show proof of physical injuries (Estrich, 1987). As most rape victims actually dont receive major physical injuries, the investigators and prosecutors face a difficult task, as absence of injuries is generally p erceived as consenting. Forensic examination may highlight physical injuries that are relevant to forced rape, which may then be used as evidence. The crime investigating officer, at the location of the sexual assault or rape, needs to primarily look to the requirements of the victim, like medical help. The officer needs to interact with the victim and try to boost her morale and confidence, particularly when the victim is in a state of shock or even hysteric. At the initial stage of the rape investigation, the investigator should look for any physical material of the attacker present with the victim. Generally a rape victim would tear the clothes of her attacker, scratch and scar his face or even pull his hair. Thus there is always a chance of the assailants hair, clothes or blood stains on the victim, particularly on her hands and under the nails. It is important to have the clothing of the victim sent for analysis, at the earliest possible, but care should be taken here to ensure that the victim is comfortable and not pained by further embarrassment. The evidence material must be gathered, handled and packed carefully before it is sent to the lab for forensic analysis. The number of people handling the evidence should be minimum and the investigator needs to fix his initials to the evidence for its accuracy. Semen and hair are very valuable physical evidences. A medical examination is part of the rape investigation and should be carried out by a specialist in forensic medicine. The victim would mostly insist on a personal physician performing the exam, which should be strongly discouraged; as personal and private physicians would not have rape investigation experience, or be able to testify in a court to get a conviction. The medical examination would include visual examination of vagina and determination of tissue damage (ASU, 2006). The presence or absence of a rapists sperm is concluded by carrying out a pap smear test. When rape results in the death of the victim, then the examination should also include anus, mouth etc. A forensic medical examination considers a victims body, as a crime scene. Based on the victims version of the incidents, the forensic team collects evidence which can prove, the identity of the perpetrator, and that rape had occurred. When the suspect denies any sexual act with the victim, then DNA or other appropriate material evidence is collected which can prove that the suspect had committed the sexual act. Claims of consensual sex cannot be countered easily and proof of physical injuries is one of the few ways to counter such claims. Newer technology enhances detection of physical injuries, like the use of colposcope. The colposcope is generally used by gynecologists for observation of vulvar or vaginal diseases. The colposcope provides a 30 time magnification of areas like anus, vulva or vagina. Injuries like abrasions and tears that are not visible to the naked eye are observed with the colposcope. Earlier rape examinations without colposcope could establish evidence of genit al injuries in about 19 to 28% of cases. Now with the colposcope about 87% of genital trauma can be established. Crime scene processing involves examining, identifying, recording and collection of physical evidence based on which comparisons, recognition and individualization are later made. Considerable care should be given when evidences are collected and preserved. As plastic enclosures cause moisture formation, all evidence items should be air dried in a room, before packing. This can prevent fungal and bacterial growth. Dry items which are possible biological evidences need to be wrapped first in a clean paper, then put in a paper bag. When biological stains are formed in materials like cloths or rubber, and the items need to be folded prior to packing, then care should be taken to ensure that the specimen area is not folded. Otherwise, the biological material may be damaged and DNA testing would become difficult (Savino, Turvey and Baeza). Solid objects bearing biological material evidence, must have clean paper covering it and sealing the stained area, to prevent contamination or dilutio n of evidence. Victims of a sexual assault need to be brought to a medical facility within 72 hours of incident, where a SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) conducts the medical examination. In case the victim is brought after 72 hours, it would help if the victim has not changed clothes or has not showered. It has been established that the best evidence of assault could be gathered when the victim reports within 12 hours of the incident. The evidence collection procedure of the SANE has evolved over the years as a consequence of interactions with investigators, crime lab specialists and attorneys. Today, the collection of evidence is more complete and valid and contributes immensely in charging a suspect. The forensic examiner also collects blood and saliva samples of the victim to differentiate it from that of the perpetrator. Sometimes an extra blood sample of victim may be required for alcohol or drug analysis. This is required when perpetrators claim victims to have agreed under the influence of alcohol or had agreed to have sex in exchange of drugs. When sperm or seminal fluid of the offender is not seen in the victim, then too rape shouldnt be ruled as studies have shown that a good percentage of rapists are sexually dysfunctional or use condoms. Nowadays seminal fluid evidence is more used in determining DNA evidence linking to the suspect. Seminal fluid can also be investigated for prostatic specific acid phosphatase (PAP 30) which are highly concentrated in seminal fluids compared to vaginal fluids. Genital trauma evidence can not only support the victims version of the incident, but also prove that force was indeed used. The position of the genital trauma is related to the body position of the victim during the assault. For instance, when there is injury to external vaginal opening, the woman is most likely to have been raped in missionary position. When a semi-circular cut or scratch is observed in the inner vaginal wall, then a digital penetration is supported (Ledray, 1999). The colposcope plays a vital role in genital trauma examination. Although genital trauma indicates use of force, absence of genital trauma should not be considered as consensual sex. Physical evidence collected in rape cases are directed towards establishing occurrence of penetration, establishing occurrence of nonconsensual sex and establishing identity of the perpetrator. The absence of seminal fluid may also be attributed to several causes like suspect not ejaculating in the vagina, or the medical examination was done after a long time after rape, or the doctor having failed to take a proper sample. Occasionally seminal fluid from a consensual sex would be present, while that from a rape would be absent. In such cases seminal fluid typing would be carried out. Evidences like torn or soiled clothing, bruises, cuts, plucked hair indicate fight or struggle during intercourse, and hence rape (Fischer, 2003). Finger prints, palm prints and even foot prints are valuable clues that help to nail the assailant. Fingerprints from beer cans, cigarettes etc. are required to identify the assailant. For drug aided sexual assault, blood and urine samples are crucial evidence s. Victims who suspect the use of drugs, should not empty their bladders. Substances like GHB (gamma hydroxybutrate) which can easily make a victim unconscious, is eliminated from the blood within six hours but would be detectable in urine after that. When any pills or suspicious powder are found at the rape scene, the investigator should not ignore these. Although physical evidence collection and forensic analysis can help in identifying the assailant, investigators need to be aware of the circumstances and situations to profile the assaulter. As sexual assault are committed on people of both sexes, children, adults and elders; investigators should look for appropriate physical evidences. Similarly experience and expertise is required to identify a serial rape case based on evidence similarity and additional evidence recognition. In child molestation cases, physical evidence are much lesser, and signs like nightmares, bedwetting and urinary infections are considered symptoms of child molestation. Investigators can only look for clues on the childs dress worn during the last assault, if it has not been washed. Beyond this, the investigators are totally dependent on medical observations. Child abuse is identified based on the observations of the pediatrician (Fischer, 2003). Strange bruises, broken bones as revealed by X-rays are import ant to the investigation. Sometimes unhygienic conditions and under nourishment may also be associated. For homosexual assaults, a SANE examines the rectum and takes a swab sample for presence of semen. Here medical examination can not only reveal whether sodomy had occurred, but also confirm if the victim was accustomed to it. Presence of lubricant or feces traces also need to be looked on clothing. To make investigation and prosecution of rape cases more effective, the collective effort and cooperation of several agencies are required. The agencies involved in the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault include the medical personnel, law enforcement personnel, prosecution, correction and victim recovery services. The services are interrelated and a reporting at any point would get all the agencies into action. REFERENCES Augusta State University, Department of Public Safety, Investigating and processing a sexual assault rape call: Initial Steps. (2006) [Electronic Version]. Online Lawyer Source. (2008) Sexual assault victims [Electronic Version] Kilpatrick D.G., National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center. Rape and sexual Assault (2000) [Electronic Version]. Downloaded on 2nd June 2008 from http://www.musc.edu/vawprevention/research/sa.shtml Fischer B.A., Techniques of Crime Scene Investigation CRC Press. (2003) Ledray. L., Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE). Development and Operation Guide, U.S department of Justice, Office of Victims of Crime. (1999) Estrich, S., Real rape. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press (1987) Savino J.O., Turvey B.E., and Baeza J.J., Rape Investigation Handbook Academic Press (2004)

How to Use Sentence Fragments Effectively

How to Use Sentence Fragments Effectively Most writing handbooks insist that incomplete sentencesor fragmentsare errors that need to be corrected. As Toby Fulwiler and Alan Hayakawa say in The Blair Handbook (Prentice Hall, 2003), The problem with a fragment is its incompleteness. A sentence expresses a complete idea, but a fragment neglects to tell the reader either what it is about (the subject) or what happened (the verb) (p. 464). In formal writing, the proscription against using fragments often makes good sense. But not always. In both fiction and nonfiction, the sentence fragment may be used deliberately to create a variety of powerful effects. Fragments of Thought Midway through J. M. Coetzees novel Disgrace (Secker Warburg, 1999), the main character experiences shock as the result of a brutal attack at his daughters house. After the intruders leave, he attempts to come to terms with what has just occurred: It happens every day, every hour, every minute, he tells himself, in every quarter of the country. Count yourself lucky to have escaped with your life. Count yourself lucky not to be a prisoner in the car at this moment, speeding away, or at the bottom of a donga with a bullet in your head. Count Lucy lucky too. Above all Lucy.A risk to own anything: a car, a pair of shoes, a packet of cigarettes. Not enough to go around, not enough cars, shoes, cigarettes. Too many people, too few things. What there is must go into circulation, so that everyone can have a chance to be happy for a day. That is the theory; hold to this theory and to the comforts of theory. Not human evil, just a vast circulatory system, to whose workings pity and terror are irrelevant. That is how one must see life in this country: in its schematic aspect. Otherwise one could go mad. Cars, shoes; women too. There must be some niche in the system for women and what happens to them. reflect the characters efforts to make sense of the harsh, disruptive experience. The sense of incompleteness conveyed by the fragments is deliberate and quite effective. Narrative and Descriptive Fragments In Charles Dickenss The Pickwick Papers (1837), rascally Alfred Jingle tells a macabre tale that today would probably be labeled an urban legend. Jingle relates the anecdote in a curiously fragmented fashion: Heads, headstake care of your heads! cried the loquacious stranger, as they came out under the low archway, which in those days formed the entrance to the coach-yard. Terrible placedangerous workother dayfive childrenmothertall lady, eating sandwichesforgot the archcrashknockchildren look roundmothers head offsandwich in her handno mouth to put it inhead of a family offshocking, shocking! Jingles narrative style calls to mind the famous opening of Bleak House (1853), in which Dickens devotes three paragraphs to an impressionistic description of a London fog: fog in the stem and bowl of the afternoon pipe of the wrathful skipper, down in his close cabin; fog cruelly pinching the toes and fingers of his shivering little prentice boy on deck. In both passages, the writer is more concerned with conveying sensations and creating a mood than in completing a thought grammatically. The Series of Illustrative Fragments Pale druggists in remote towns of the Epworth League and flannel nightgown belts, endlessly wrapping up bottles of Peruna. . . . Women hidden away in the damp kitchens of unpainted houses along the railroad tracks, frying tough beefsteaks. . . . Lime and cement dealers being initiated into the Knights of Pythias, the Red Men or the Woodmen of the World. . . . Watchmen at lonely railroad crossings in Iowa, hoping that theyll be able to get off to hear the United Brethren evangelist preach. . . . Ticket-sellers in the subway, breathing sweat in its gaseous form. . . . Farmers plowing sterile fields behind sad meditative horses, both suffering from the bites of insects. . . . Grocery-clerks trying to make assignations with soapy servant girls. . . . Women confined for the ninth or tenth time, wondering helplessly what it is all about. . . . Methodist preachers retired after forty years of service in the trenches of God, upon pensions of $600 a year. Collected rather than connected, such brief fragmented examples offer snapshots of sadness and disappointment. Fragments and Crots Different as these passages are, they illustrate a common point: fragments arent inherently bad. Though a strictly prescriptive grammarian might insist that all fragments are demons waiting to be exorcised, professional writers have looked more kindly on these ragged bits and pieces of prose. And they have found some imaginative ways to use fragments effectively. Over 30 years ago, in An Alternate Style: Options in Composition (now out of print), Winston Weathers made a strong case for going beyond strict definitions of correctness when teaching writing. Students should be exposed to a wide range of styles, he argued, including the variegated, discontinuous, fragmented forms used to great effect by Coetzee, Dickens, Mencken, and countless other writers. Perhaps because fragment is so commonly equated with error, Weathers reintroduced the term crot, an archaic word for bit, to characterize this deliberately chopped-up form.The language of lists, advertising, blogs, text messages. An increasingly common style. Like any device, often overworked. Sometimes inappropriately applied. So this isnt a celebration of all fragments. Incomplete sentences that bore, distract, or confuse readers should be corrected. But there are moments, whether under the archway or at a lonely railroad crossing, when fragments (or crots or verbless sentences) work just fine. Indeed, better than fine. Also see: In Defense of Fragments, Crots, and Verbless Sentences.

Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 13

Law - Essay Example The social control theory can fit this scenario. This theory tries to explain why people do not engage in criminal activities. Being close to other members of the social group can make someone not to become a criminal. This is because people who belong to the same social group may find solutions that affect them in their daily routine. They may also have some conventional rules that can ensure they live together in harmony. This theory is applicable to this scenario since workers belong to the same social group and therefore they know what they need to do in order to avoid crimes. The state senator that is a go between the workers do divide them has his agenda that may not concur with their rights. He thinks that dividing them would establish a good condition for the workers but in the real sense, it does not . An implication of the theory is that it was intended to create harmony in the society given that the conditions were fulfilled. When the senator assures the donors that their work will not be interfered with by the union workers gives them the go-ahead to do what they want with the workers. The donors who are the major investors may turn up to humiliate the workers in what may be termed as the modern slavery. This is because the workers will have no one to give their complaints. They may end up doing a lot of work in very poor conditions. Their work may also be not compensated with a good wage. This kind of crime that the senator commits towards the labor sector deserves a lengthy punishment.