The Language of Sexual Crime

Drawing together a diverse but focused group of international researchers for the first time in a single volume, The Language of Sexual Crime explores the role of language in the construction of identity of both perpetrators and victims of sexual violence, the ways in which language is used in the detection of sexually-motivated crime, and the articulation/manipulation of language in police interviews, the courtroom and the media.

JANET COTTERILL is Reader in Language and Communication and Director of Studies for the MA in Forensic Linguistics at Cardiff University, UK. She is also an experienced consultant and expert witness in forensic linguistics. She co-edited The International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law (formerly Forensic Linguistics) for five years and is the current Vice President and President-Elect of the International Association of Forensic Linguists (IAFL). With a background in translation/interpreting and TEFL/Applied Linguistics, Janet has worked in the UK, France, Egypt and Japan. Her previous books include Language and Power in Court: A Linguistic Analysis of the O.J.Simpson Trial, and (editor) Language in the Legal Process.

List of Tables * List of Figures * Notes on Contributors * Rape as Social Activity: An Application of Investigative Linguistics–T.Grant & J.Woodhams * The Elicitation of a Confession: Admitting Murder But Resisting an Accusation of Attempted Rape–S.Berk-Seligson * ‘Just Good Friends’: Managing the Clash of Discourses in Police Interviews with Paedophiles–K.Benneworth * The Questioning of Child Witnesses: A Comparison of the Child’s Linguistic Experience in the Initial Interview and in the Courtroom Cross-Examination–M.Aldridge * The Language of Consent in Rape Law; P.Tiersma * The Repertoire of Complicity Vs. Coercion: The Discursive Trap of the Rape Trial Protocol–D.Ponterotto * Normative Discourses and Representations of Coerced Sex–S.Ehrlich * Purposes, Roles and Beliefs in the Hostile Questioning of Vulnerable Witnesses–E.S.M.Leung & J.Gibbons * The Victim As ‘Other’: Analysis of the Language of Acquittal Decisions in Sexual Offences in the Israeli Supreme Court–B.Bogoch * Sentencing Sexual Abuse Offenders: Sex Crimes and Social Justice–C.MacMartin & L.A.Wood * When Rape Is (Not Quite) Rape–A.Mooney * At the Hands of the Brothers: A Corpus-Based Lexico-Grammatical Analysis of Stance in Newspaper Reporting of Child Sexual Abuse Cases–A.O’Keefe & M.Breen * Index