Maybe he didn’t intend to rape her: a critical discourse analysis of the district courts conceptualization of the defendant in rape verdicts.
Previous research show, people interpret others through their pre-understanding and stereotypical beliefs. Rape crimes are periodically debated in the Swedish media. The debates often elucidate laws incapability to manage the complexity of rape, focusing on the women as the injured party. The purpose of this study is to highlight the Swedish district court’s conceptualization of the defendant in r