Criminal Justice Ph.D. Student Research Published in Top Industry Journal

Second-year Sam Houston State University criminal justice Ph.D. student Kathrine Meeker is continuing the conversation in adolescent sexual assault case processing with her latest publication in Justice Quarterly, a top-tier research journal in criminal justice. Meeker started her research in the criminal justice master's program with her thesis project, which also won the Graduate Student Paper Award with the American Society of Criminology - Division on Women and Crime. This is her first first-authored article with her research mentors and thesis committee Dr. Eryn O'Neal and Dr. Brittany Hayes.

Meeker's research focuses on police and prosecutor decision-making in adolescent sexual assault case processing. Specifically, she looked at two important decision points in case processing: arrest and whether the prosecutor filed an initial charging decision. Her study addresses gaps in sexual assault case processing research by examining cases involving adolescent complainants of sexual assault in Los Angeles County. According to O'Neal, research on police and prosecutor decision-making in sexual assault has not paid enough attention to the ways complainant age impacts case processing.

"I was really excited that my master's thesis was something that could be accepted in Justice Quarterly," she said.

Justice Quarterly is the flagship journal of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS), an international association established in 1963 to foster professional and scholarly activities in the field of criminal justice.

O'Neal encouraged Meeker to submit her work to a high-tier prestigious journal. Her work helps answer an important question in sexual assault case processing in ways that have not been answered before. Meeker credits her mentor and professor, Dr. Eryn O'Neal, for inspiring her to pursue research in the area of gender and crime.

"She's always been a very driven and dedicated student; she has gone above and beyond," O'Neal said. "Kat can take feedback and integrate it into her research and writing moving forward. Not only did Kat want to do the work, she wanted to do good work. I am beyond proud of her and she deserves all the credit for this."

Meeker explained there are very few studies that focus on adolescent sexual assault case processing. Sexual assault case processing has steadily received increased attention from scholars, with promising implications for the criminal justice system. Despite this increase in attention, however, there remains a shortage of literature addressing adolescent sexual assault case processing. The few studies that have examined adolescent sexual assault case processing have resulted in inconsistent findings.

"There is some debate that victim cooperation shouldn't be a salient factor for adolescent case processing because adolescents are typically viewed as more credible when compared to adult sexual assault views. But we found that it is very a salient factor. Law enforcement officers and prosecution should help establish and maintain victim cooperation in the process."

The results show that decisions to arrest and file initial charges in adolescent sexual assault cases are influenced by similar factors: victim cooperation, physical evidence, prompt reporting, and victim age. Exceptions include suspect age and victim credibility, which only influenced arrest decision-making. This research will help law enforcement to improve their response to adolescent sexual assault victims and case processing.

You can find Meeker's article "Policing and prosecuting sexual assault: an examination of arrest and initial filing decisions in cases involving adolescent complainants" in Issue 6, Volume 36 of Justice Quarterly.