Rape as a Part of Domestic Violence: A Qualitative Analysis of Case Narratives and Official Reports (Criminal Justice: Recent Scholarship)

Tellis examines the situational context of intimate partner rapes reported to the police. Her study seeks to make sexual assault visible in domestic violence by using extant typologies to examine the control context and co-occurrence of physical and sexual assault in intimate partner rape. Findings reveal a predominance of Intimate Terrorism and gratuitous physical violence in over half of the cases, but suspects use threats to foster victim compliance in the majority of cases. Future research must continue to document the efficacy of nonviolent control mechanisms that are emotional and psychological in nature such as threats.