Congratulations go out to Dr. Gemini Creason-Parker for successfully defending her dissertation titled : “Especially Heinous” and “Vicious Felonies”: A Mixed Methods Investigation of Rape Myths on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU). Gemini's dissertation was advised by Dr. Sarah Gatson. Members of her committee include Dr. Rhonda Evans, Dr. Theresa Morris, Dr. John Edens (Psychological and Brain Sciences), and Dr. Jennifer Edwards as an external member in and advisory position (Northeastern State University in Oklahoma). Dr. Holly Foster served on Gemini's committee for a long time. Gemini trained and included a team of undergraduate researchers to help with this research, including exposing them to academic conferences and presentations.
Since their identification by Brownmiller (1975) and Burt (1980), rape myths—stereotypes about victims, perpetrators, and the crime itself—have become central to sexual assault research. These myths reinforce rape culture by normalizing sexual violence, fostering victim-blaming, and diminishing offender culpability. Media, particularly fiction, shapes public perceptions of these issues. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU) (1999–Present) is renowned for its focus on sex crimes. This study examines SVU’s portrayal of rape cases, victims, and offenders, as well as its engagement with rape myths. Using a coding construct created from eight validated rape myth acceptance scales and scholarly literature, a research team quantitatively coded rape cases across 24 seasons and qualitatively analyzed myth-related dialogue from the first 10 seasons. This dissertation follows a three-article format: (1) examining race, class, and gender in SVU’s victim and offender portrayals, (2) applying Sykes and Matza’s (1957) neutralization techniques to myth-related dialogue, and (3) analyzing police-based rape myths in victim-police interactions. While SVU is often seen as challenging rape myths, this study empirically evaluates whether it dismantles or perpetuates them.
A special thank you goes out to the undergraduate students who volunteered to be on the research team that made this dissertation possible.
Congratulations, Dr. Gemini Creason-Parker!