Abstract
This chapter discusses the criminal justice theory that explains the behavior of court actors and the functioning of the courts. Court actors include defense attorneys, judges, and prosecutors. The chapter explains the value of qualitative research while studying prosecutors decision-making in sexual assault cases and reveals the importance of qualitative methods by informing criminal justice theory. Frohman developed a framework for studying the behavior of prosecutors in charging sexual assault cases uses a framework for subsequent studies of charging decisions in sexual assault cases. The chapter explores an argument for the qualitative study of prosecutorial decision-making. The qualitative study indicates the findings by previous researchers that makes charging decisions or decisions regarding whether a case will proceed through the system based on concerns for uncertainty avoidance. More research examines the sexual assault case processing. Sexual assault cases have a very high attrition rate from arrest to sentencing.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Criminal Justice Theory |
| Subtitle of host publication | Explaining the Nature and Behavior of Criminal Justice |
| Publisher | Taylor and Francis |
| Pages | 81-113 |
| Number of pages | 33 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781134706112 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780415715188 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2015 |
| Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences(all)