SAVE: ‘Victim-Centered’ Investigations

Article here. Excerpt:

'On March 14, 2006, Crystal Mangum reported to the Durham, North Carolina police that she had been gang-raped by a group of Duke University lacrosse players. Over the ensuing months, Mangum gave a dozen different accounts of the incident, changing her stories of the number of assailants (from 20 to three), nature of the attack (raped, penetrated with an object, or groped), physical description of the assailants, and much more.

Many campus rape activists would try to explain away the inconsistencies in Mangum’s accounts by saying she was traumatized by the attack, resulting in what they call “tonic immobility.” But laboratory analyses proved none of the DNA specimens obtained from Mangum came from any of the Duke players, revealing her claims to be baseless.

Advocates of “victim-centered” investigations claim that they are merely seeking to assure fairness in the investigative process. But they have a tendency to only use the word “victim” — even though no legal determination has been reached – revealing their own biases.

One of the leading proponents of the “victim-centered” approach is Rebecca Campbell, psychology professor at Michigan State University. A perusal of Dr. Campbell’s resume reveals she minored in Women’s Studies, her research focus includes “Violence against Women,” and her teaching interests encompass the “Psychology of Women.” In a recent four-minute videotape, she used the word “victim” or “survivor” 15 times – not once did she say “complainant” or “accuser.” And Campbell never admitted that false allegations do happen, as occurred in the Duke lacrosse case.'