Summary
"The aim of this research was to develop an explanatory naturalistic decision-making model of the investigation of rape by An Garda Síochána. Despite documented increases in the incidence of recorded rape, it is widely accepted that rape is seriously under-reported. One of the key factors identified in the under-reporting of sexual assaults, was the high level of attrition in bringing prosecutions to court. A key attrition point concerned whether the police record the report as a rape or not, unofficially ignore reports which they believe to be false or which cannot be verified, or recommend not to proceed with the case (Lees and Gregory, 1993). The rationale of this research lies in addressing the gap and links between beliefs and attributions and investigative behaviour. It is also concerned with delineating the extent to which beliefs and the investigative process are embedded within occupational and/or societal contexts."--Page ii.