From “real rape” to real justice: A systematic review of police officers' rape myth beliefs

- Officers' attitudes towards rape are influenced by a vast array of elements.
- Factors can interact with each other in influencing officers' beliefs.
- Unclear whether specific factors have greater influence over beliefs.
- Police sexual assault training to take into consideration variety of factors.

This systematic review examined 18 documents that contained information about rape myths/cognitions of police officers with the goal of identifying the factors that influence police officers' beliefs of rape. Past research on sexual offence processing decisions has rarely considered the characteristics of police officers as active participants in the legal decision making process (Alderden & Ullman, 2012); meaning that the factors that directly influence police officers' rape myths and the implications these may have on rape victims' experiences when reporting to the police remain unclear. The current review systematically examines the literature on police officers' rape myth beliefs, and evaluates the current available research regarding, decision-making, victim credibility, police training and experiences, and police gender. It concludes by providing recommendations for policy makers in terms of best practice, continual police training and development and improving rape victims' reporting experiences.