The Impact of Rape Law Reform: An Aggregate Analysis of Police Reports and Arrests

Abstract

This aggregate analysis of rape law reform in 48 states complements existing individual-level studies by providing a picture of the nationwide impact of the reforms. A theoretical model of rape law impact is developed, and the effects of several reform measures on official rape rates are examined through multiple regression analyses that control for contextual and etiological factors. The results indicate that rape law reform is for the most part unrelated to rape rates, although there are departures from this pattern. In particular, there are significant effects of an index of definitional reforms and a variable that measures the criminalization of nonconsensual sexual contacts not involving clearly demonstrable force or other extreme circumstances. There are also interactive effects between law reform and contextual variables, as well as direct effects of contextual and etiological variables.