Situated at the Crossroad: A sociological exploration of law enforcement decisionmaking on the subject of rape and sexual violence

This research paper is concerned with identifying law enforcement officer perceptions of what constitutes rape and sexual violence as well as what informs law enforcement officer decision-making. The research is based on a limited number of in-depth interviews with law enforcement officers from seven U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Particular attention is given to understanding the responses of law enforcement through the rigorous application of the sociology of the law. Gender and other social identity constructions are used as analytical tools to tease out the relationship between formal law and socio-cultural norms and values as perceived by individual law enforcement. Thus it is argued that LE officers are situated at the crossroad of formal law and social reality—their daily practice therefore includes multiplicity, nuance, inconsistency and tension. Nonetheless, from a sociological perspective, individual law enforcement can be seen reinforcing as well as contesting and reconstructing the social meaning of rape and sexual assault in the U.S. Relevance to Development Studies Why is research on law enforcement decision-making practices on the subject of rape and sexual violence in the U.S. relevant to the field of development? While the notion that development is something that occurs out there in the third world may be the current conventional wisdom within development studies, this is a theoretical position well worth contesting. In fact, the work of development theorists like Andre Gunder Frank (1966), Arturo Escobar (1995) and Amartya Sen (1999) have long challenged, in theoretically varied ways, the largely accepted dichotomy of the ‘west’ as representative of developed, modern, liberal and virtually unproblematic political, social, and economic nation-states in comparison to the traditional, undeveloped and highly problematic nation-states of countries who are not considered a part of the ‘west’. This research therefore begins by making an epistemological contestation that the socially constructed binaries between north and south do not take into consideration the complexity and multiplicity of social reality-a reality that transcends political, economic, social and geographic borders. Perspectives that divide the world into north-south, east-west or developed-undeveloped are politically motivated and epistemologically questionable. In the first place, the issue of identifying and addressing violence against women and gender violence, as well as poverty, illiteracy, access to basic needs and other similar social problems, are at the core of development. Moreover, the social reality that many developed countries operate with a significant portion of their population struggling to overcome homelessness, poor health, hunger, violence and lack of access to basic social opportunities (education, transportation, etc.) is testament to the relevance of conducting development research throughout the world. For if we envisage development as a means for attaining social justice and realizing individual capabilities (Nussbaum 2000), then addressing rape and sexual violence in the U.S. is one step toward that vision. Moreover, as this research and writing process begins and ends with my own individual reflections on recognizing the value of social complexity, it is also worth noting that this epistemological position was also informed by my day-to-day experience as a North American at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS). It was a great opportunity to be introduced to the field of development studies by a diverse group of faculty and fellow students at the ISS. It was also interesting to witness the surprise of other students when they heard me speak about the homelessness, poverty and violence that occur in the U.S. Equally notable was my own surprise at the level of sophistication, rigour and theoretically informed work being done to elevate the status of women in other countries categorized as ‘underdeveloped’. This experience leads me to conclude that the research and writing I have done for this paper on the sociology of the law within the realm of rape and sexual violence is relevant to people in other countries just as their work on similar subjects is relevant to my efforts in the U.S. This research is therefore relevant to the field of development studies in addition to making a humble contribution to the fields of the sociology of the law, gender and intersectionality.