Blaming Victims

The use of forensics evidence has always been important to helping solve legal cases. However, with new technologies that enable forensics experts to fingerprint suspects through sophisticated DNA analysis, even old cases that have been left open for decades are now being solved with the help of forensics evidence. One such case is the notorious case of Dr. Sam Shephard, who was falsely imprisoned for the killing of his wife for a decade before being released from prison. Recent DNA testing has shown without doubt that Shephard did not commit the killing. However, forensics evidence and the testimony of forensic psychologists aid in helping solve cases and win prosecutions to a greater degree today than ever before. For example, one forensics expert in the O. J. Simpson trial argued that the bloody sock found in Simpson's home showed that blood had seeped from one side to the other, proving that no foot was in the sock at the time the blood was put on it. This backed up the defense's argument that the blood was planted. However, prosecutors contended that his murdered wife, Nicole, may have grabbed the sock on both sides with her bloody hands as she lay at his feet dying, which would account for the particular blood patterns. Forensics psychology "is concerned with emotional and behavioral questions and issues that relate to law and the legal system" (Forensic, 2000, 1).

For the purposes of this analysis, we a

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somehow to blame for some kinds of rape, or that men are certainly less culpable for some kinds than others: Consider this scenario: a young woman dressed in a tiny and provocatively transparent dress, which would in a more restrained age have been worn as a slip, goes out to a nightclub. There she allows a young man who she has never met to kiss and caress her. Would it be extraordinary if the man then made the perfectly logical conclusion that the woman in question wanted to have sex with him? I think not. If the man then coerced the girl into having intercourse and was later accused of rape, would it be reasonable to think that he should be charged with exactly the same offense as a brutal sex offender? Again I think not. (Cooper, 1997, 2) The implication of beliefs like the one above is that women should know better or have more common sense than to put themselves into a situation where the potential for rape exists. This sounds a little ludicrous because it appears that we expect rape to exist and a woman should understand as much. However, does a woman not deserve to live in society without being afraid if she flirts she will be raped, of if she goes out after dark alone she will be raped, or if she needs to us

Category: Psychology - B