Demographic Variations in Attitudes towards Marital Rape Immunity

Author(s): Charles R. Jeffords and R. Thomas Dull

Source: Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Aug., 1982), pp. 755-762
Published by: National Council on Family Relations
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/351597
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 Demographic Variations in Attitudes
Towards Marital Rape Immunity
CHARLES R. JEFFORDS
Wichita State University

R. THOMAS DULL*
Memphis State University

A mail survey of 2000 Texas residents revealed that 35% of the 1300 respon
favored a law in which a wife could accuse her husband of rape. Subsequent anal
sis indicated that persons who were female, young, single, or educated wer
most likely to favor this law when zero-order tests of significance were used. I
stepwise regression analysis, females, younger persons, and whites were the mo
likely to favor the law. Each of these groups was seen as having more modern a
tudes towards sex roles. As there is a current trend towards altering imm
statutes for marital rape, monitoring public opinion concerning this issue is re
mended.

Due largely to the feminist movement, wom-of wives who are not physically injured in acts
en's rights have become a paramount social of FMI have no recourse to criminal law,
issue. Two major feminist rallying points are since the traditional Anglo-Saxon definition
those of rape (e. g., Brownmiller, 1975; Clark of rape grants a husband immunity from
and Lewis, 1977; Connell and Wilson, 1974; prosecution for forced intercourse with his
Russell, 1975) and spouse abuse (e. g., wife.2 This lack of recourse is particularly im-
Davidson, 1978; Fleming, 1979; Langley andportant in light of the view of some authors
Levy, 1977; Martin, 1976; Walker, 1979). (e. g., Gelles, 1977; Groth, 1979; Russell,
The intersection of these two issues, forced 1980) that the person most likely to force a
marital intercourse (FMI), was recently women to have unwanted intercourse is her
brought to the public's attention in State v. husband.
Rideout.1 In this Oregon case, a husband was There is presently a trend towards altering
charged with rape and brought to criminalcriminal sanctions concerning spousal im-
trial for forcing his wife to have sexual inter-munity.3 Over ten states have expanded this
course with him. immunity to cohabitors or voluntary social
The Rideout case drew attention not only companions. In over half the states, however,
because of its media attraction, but also be- immunity has been narrowed so that a hus-
cause of its very impossibility in many state band may be charged with raping his wife
legal systems. In most states the vast majority under certain conditions, such as legal
separation; and in a few states this immunity
Data were collected by the Survey Research Program ofhas been eliminated. This is demonstrative of
the Criminal Justice Center at Sam Houston State Uni- the fact that the determination of the crimi-
versity from January 31, 1980 to March 23, 1980.
nality of an act is dependent upon the
cultural norms of the time and place of occur-
Department of Administration of Justice, Wichita State
rence.
University, Wichita, KS 67208.
Rape has been defined in a sociolo
sense as
*Department of Criminal Justice, Memphis State Uni- ".. . culturally disvalued use of
versity , Memphis, TN 38111. coercion by a male to achieve the submission

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of a female to sexual intercourse" (LeVine, suggest agreement that FMI should be de-
1959:969). Whether the use of such coercion fined as rape, but disagreement on whether
by a husband is disvalued is culturally de- the action should be prosecuted.
termined. Although discussion of FMI has Demographic variation in attitudes to-
flourished of late in legal journals (e. g., Blay- wards forced marital intercourse has been
Cohen and Coster, 1980; Dickinson Law Re- suggested by Williams. Her findings noted
view, 1978; Freeman, 1979, 1981; Geis, 1978; that females were more likely than males to
Glasgow, 1980; Klatt, 1980; Mitra, 1979; see the marital scenario as rape, less likely to
New York University Law Review, 1977; see the wife as being at fault, and more likely
Schultz, 1978), although it has been to desire prosecution of the husband. While
examined in theoretical and anecdotal con- she also found racial differences, they were
texts (e. g., Brownmiller, 1975; Gelles, 1977; generally inconsistent, as there was no hierar-
Groth, 1979; Russell, 1975) and has been chical pattern emerging among the races.
measured for victimization (e. g., Doron, Although the studies mentioned have be-
1980; Finkelhor, 1980; Russell, 1980), there gun the examination of attitudes towards
is little empirical literature that indicates the forced marital intercourse, there have been
present cultural norms concerning the issue. no conclusive answers as to whether the
While forcible rape has been rated as public favors a spousal immunity statute or as
second only to murder in crime seriousness to the impact of potentially significant demo-
(Sellin and Wolfgang, 1964), the scant litera- graphic variables other than sex. It is the
ture available indicates that FMI is not purpose of this study to perform these two
viewed by the public as being as serious functions.
as
traditional forms of rape. In examining
public attitudes towards six rape scenarios, METHODOLOGY
Williams (1978) found that forced marital in-
The data examined are derived from the
tercourse was the least likely to have prosecu-
Spring,
tion desired. A study by Rossi et al. (1974) in- 1980 Texas Crime Poll (Teske et al.,
dicated that forcible rape of a former 1980)
spouseconducted by the Survey Research Pro-
gram
is regarded as being less serious than the of Sam Houston State University. This
acts
poll
of forcible rape after breaking into a was a mail survey of 2,000 persons se-
home,
forcible rape of a stranger in a park,
lected
andby systematic sampling from those
forcible rape of a neighbor. Furthermore,
persons aged 17 and over who possessed valid
while one study (Russell, 1980) foundTexas driver's licenses.
that
victims of FMI are as traumatized as are the A preliminary postcard was sent to all per-
victims of traditional rape, other studies sons in the sample informing them of the pur-
(Gelles, 1977; Prescott and Letko, 1977) have
pose of the study and that a questionnaire
claimed that most victims of FMI do not view
would arrive in approximately one week. The
the action as rape, and many blame them- survey package, containing a cover letter,
selves for the incident. This attitude of the survey booklet, pencil, and a prestamped
act's relative lack of seriousness seems to be envelope, was sent one week after the post-
an extension of a finding by Klemmack and card. Both the cover letter and the booklet
Klemmack (1976) that the likelihood of an emphasized that responses would be treated
incident being defined as rape varies directly confidentially. A booklet and cover letter
with the distance of the participants' inter- written in Spanish were additionally enclosed
personal relationship. Thus, as marriage is a for those persons judged to have Spanish sur-
close interpersonal relationship, one would names. For those persons from whom re-
expect that fewer persons would see forced in- sponses had not yet been received, a reminder
tercourse as rape between marital than be- postcard was sent two weeks after the mailing
tween nonmarital participants. of the initial survey package, a second
The only evidence suggesting whether the mailing of the survey package after another
public favors spousal immunity is incon- week, and a final reminder postcard five
clusive. Williams (1978) presents only mean weeks after the initial survey mailing.
scores from Likert-type questions rather than From the 2,000 persons surveyed, 1,300
frequency distributions of levels of agree- completed, usable questionnaires were re-
ment. These overall means, furthermore, ceived, representing a response rate of 65%.

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An additional 233 questionnaires were re- multiple regression. This technique first se-
turned by the Post Office as undeliverable, lects that independent variable which has the
and it was ascertained that 12 other sample highest zero-order association with the de-
subjects were deceased. If these 245 subjects pendent variable and then examines the as-
are subtracted from the original sample, the sociation of each of the other independent
adjusted return rate is 74%. variables with the dependent variable after
The dependent variable for this study was removing the effect of any association with
the response to a survey question asking: this first independent variable. The inde-
"Are you in favor of Texas having a law that pendent variable with the highest of these
permits a wife to accuse her husband of first-order correlations then may be similarly
rape?" (closed-end responses: yes, no). controlled for, with the process continuing
Answers to this question were compared until the addition of subsequent variables
among the demographic groups of sex, age, fails to reach a predetermined level of signifi-
race, education, family income, marital cance.

status, and size of community residence. Fearing intercorrelation of the indep

For analysis purposes marital status was variables, a correlation matrix was estab-
dichotomized into single and other, and lished and a subsequent stepwise regression
ordinal values were used for the income, edu- analysis performed using all of the variables. 5
cation, and community size variables. A test The nominal variable, race, was recoded into
of association with the dependent variable the dichotomous categories of white and non-
was conducted for each independent variable white for this purpose. Due to the large
by the use of the following measures: phi for sample size, the level of statistical signifi-
sex and marital status; Pearson's r for age; cance for entry into the regression analysis
tau-c for family income, education, and com- was set at .01 instead of the conventional .05.
munity size, and eta for race. A corre-
sponding significance test for each relation- RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
ship with continuous variables was under-
taken by determining the probability of the Only 35% of those responding indicated
ratio of the measure of association to its stan- that they were in favor of Texas having a law
dard error.4 The significance of race, a cate-in which wives could accuse their husbands of
gorical variable, was determined by chi-rape. Furthermore, this percentage varied
square. significantly among the values of several of
Zero-order measures, however, often do the demographic variables. Zero-order tests
not give a complete picture of the actual im- of significance with the dependent variable
pact of independent upon dependent vari- showed that the variables of sex, age, educa-
ables. If, for example, a given independenttion, and marital status were significantly as-
variable has a high association with and sociated
a with this variable at the .01 level;
causal effect upon a dependent variable,race, family income, and community size
other variables which are highly associatedwere not significant.
with the independent variable are addition- The correlation matrix shown in Table 1
ally likely to have high associations with thesuggests the possibility, however, that these
dependent variable. tests may be misleading due to the intercorre-
One technique which helps control for cor- lation of the independent variables. Age and
related independent variables is stepwisemarital status, for example, are both signifi-

TABLE 1. CORRELATION MATRIX OF ALL VARIABLES

Favor Law
Variables Against FMI Sex Age Race Income Education Marital Status
Sex .21
Age -.17 -.03
Race -.05 -.01 -.22
Family income .04 -.07 -.19 -.24
Education .10 -.05 -.17 -.18 .43
Marital status -.08 .06 .38 -.14 .14 -.02
Community size .06 .02 -.10 .13 .15 .18 -.07

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cantly correlated with the dependent variable significance. For thi
and are fairly highly associated (r = .38). chotomized at 40, the
A stepwise multiple regression analysis of to the median of 42. The substantive col-
the demographic variables upon the depen- lective impact of these variables can be seen
dent variable found that only the variables of by comparing the cell predicted to be the
sex, age, and race added significantly to the most favorable to the creation of a marital
prediction of the dependent variable (as is in- rape law with that predicted to be the least
dicated by Table 2). The variables of marital favorable. This shows that 62% of young,
white females favored the law, compared to
TABLE 2. STEPWISE REGRESSION ANALYSIS only 14% of older, nonwhite males. The sub-
WITH DEPENDENT VARIABLE1
stantive impact of these variables, then, was
Variable R R2 Sign Change Beta certainly meaningful.
Sex .22 .050 .000 .22
The individual impact of the demograohic
Age .27 .075 .000 -.16 variables can be understood best if each is
Race .29 .085 .000 -.10 discussed separately.
Sex
status and education, then, were found to
add significantly toSexthe
was the explanatory
most important predictor in pow
the equation once sex,
determing whetherage,
an individualand race
was in favor
of making marital
controlled. Interestingly, rape a criminal
race was offense,
signif
when sex and agewith
were controlled
45% of the females in favor, compared but
otherwise, to 25% of
suggesting athe male respondents. Females,
suppression effec
The relationshipfurthermore,
between were more in favor than
the males
depend
variable and thesethroughout
three each of the demographic groups. ind
significant
dent variables was This sexual variation is believed to be
additionally due
examin
creating a crossbreaks
largely tochart,
two factors: (a) presented
females are the po- in
Figure, in order to
tential determine
victims, whereas males aresubstan
the poten-

FIGURE. PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF PERSONS FAVORING LAW IN WHICH WIFE MAY

ACCUSE HUSBAND OF RAPE, BY SIGNIFICANT DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES DICHOTOMIZED

SAMPLE
35% N=1300

FEMALES MALES
45% N=617 25% N=683

AGE<40
59%N=296 AGE _40 30%
33% N=321 AGE<40
N=293 AGE ? 40
22% N=390

WHITE NON-WHITE WHITE NON-WHITE WHITE NON-WHITE WHITE NON-WHITE

62% 51% 34% 19% 33% 22% 23% 14%
N=221 N=75 N=189 N=31 N=216 N=77 N=347 N=43

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tial perpetrators; and (b) women are likely to Two possible explanations for this racial
be more aware of the concept of female sexual effect come to mind. First, minorities may
autonomy, as they possess more egalitarian have more traditional attitudes concerning
attitudes towards sex roles (see e. g., Albright sex roles. Previous studies show contradictory
and Chang, 1976; Bernard, 1974; Spence et findings regarding this possibility, as some
al., 1973). (Bayer, 1975; Duberman, 1975) found
minorities to have more traditional sex-role
Age attitudes, while others (Axelson, 1970;
Age was also a strong predictor, with Mason and Bumpass, 1975; Rooks and King,
1973) found whites to have more traditional
younger persons more in favor of the law than
sex-role attitudes. The second possible ex-
were older persons. When age was dichoto-
mized at 40, for example, 45% of the persons
planation is that minorities have less confi-
dence in the effectiveness of the criminal
less than 40 were in favor of a law against
marital rape, compared to 27% of persons justice system in solving social problems
aged 40 or over. This tendency, however, was
(Davis, 1974), having often been victimized
by the system.
much stronger for females than males: 59%
of the younger females and 33% of the older
females favored the law, compared to 30% Income
and 22% of the respective male groups. This
ordinal interaction was significant at the .001 Although family income was not significant
level.6 in the regression analysis, its likelihood of
This age difference may be due to a entering a regression was hindered by a cur-
vilinear relationship with the dependent vari-
changing attitude concerning the role of the
female (see e. g., Bernard, 1974; Thorntonable.8 Persons in the middle of the range were
and Freedman, 1979), with younger persons more in favor of a law against FMI than
persons
and younger females in particular being more at either extreme. This is consistent
with Duberman (1975), who claimed that it is
likely to believe that females should have a
the middle class which grants the wife the
say in sexual matters equal to that of males.
most liberal rights.
Race
Marital Status
The determination of the impact of race
was rather complex. Although the effect of
Although single persons were more likely to
favor a law against FMI (45%) than were
race was statistically significant in the regres-
sion analysis after sex and age had beennonsinglecon- persons (33%), this relationship
trolled, neither the zero-order correlation of to be generally spurious and attri-
appears
the dependent variable and race dicho- butable to the effect of age. The correlation
tomized (r = -.05) nor a chi-square of the between these demographic variables was a
dependent variable with all the values of race considerable .38. Furthermore, while the phi
(X 2 = 3.23, df = 3) was significant at such acoefficient between the dependent variable
level. The correlation matrix (Table 1), how-and marital status was - .08, the corre-
ever, suggests that the true effect of race wassponding partial correlation when controlling
suppressed by the relationship between race for age was -.02. Relating this to tabular
and age (r = .22), since older nonwhites form, of single persons less than 40, 46%
were underrepresented in the population.7were in favor, compared to 44% of young
As younger persons were more in favor of thenonsingles; whereas 33% of older singles
law than older persons and nonwhites less in favored the law, compared to 27% of older
favor than whites, the latter association was nonsingles. Thus, while it seems plausible
masked in the zero-order analyses by the non-that one's experience in married life would
whites being disproportionately young. Inaffect his attitudes towards the legality of
statistical terms, the zero-order correlation FMI, in the aggregate at least, having marital
between race and the dichotomized depen- experience makes little difference in this re-
dent variable was -.05, while the partial gard. This is consistent with the finding of
correlation between the two when controlling Mason and Bumpass (1975) that marital
for age was -.10. status was not related to sex-role attitudes.

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Education pendent upon variables of sex, age, and rac
If the legislature responds to the desires of th
There was a positive zero-order association
(r = .10) between education and the per- public, the present trend towards narrowin
and particularly towards eliminating spous
centage of persons who favored a law against
immunity perhaps should be more closely
FMI. The group percentages ranged from examined.
28% of those who did not possess a high
The findings do not imply, however, that
school diploma to 41 % of those who had col-
the public in every state desires that absolute
lege degrees. As with marital status, however,
immunity should be maintained. Three
the effect of education lost significance after
limiting aspects need to be mentioned. First,
the variables of sex, age, and race had been
this survey sampled only residents of Texas,
controlled by the regression analysis. The which is considered to be a conservative state
statistical reason seems to be because of the
correlation of education with both age
and which presently maintains complete
(r = .17) and race (r = .18). While there spousal immunity. Public sentiment may
well be more favorable to the removal of
was a zero-order correlation of .10 between
spousal immunity in more liberal states or in
the dependent variable and education, the
those where the public has become more ac-
single-order partial correlations were .07 and
customed to the idea. Second, this survey
.09 with age and race controlled, respectively,
only questioned whether a wife should be al-
and .05 with both controlled simultaneously.lowed to accuse her husband of the serious
Substantively, the authors are at a loss to ex-
crime of rape. The public may be more
plain why education was not more of a factor
willing to tolerate a wife accusing her hus-
even with race and age controlled, since edu-
cated people generally have been foundbandto of a less serious charge. The present
Delaware
have more egalitarian attitudes towards sex statute9 uses this approach by
roles (see e. g., Duberman, 1975; Mason limiting
and the charge for which a wife may ac-
Bumpass, 1975; Scanzoni, 1975; Tavris, cuse her husband to second-degree rape.
1973). Finally, the fact that younger persons were
more in favor of abolishing spousal immunity
Community Size than were older persons may indicate a future
trend towards more liberal attitudes con-
Community size appeared to have a small
cerning the issue. It is possible, then, that a
and inconsistent effect on the question, as
majority of persons even in conservative states
this variable was significant neither in the re-
will favor the abolition of spousal immunity
gression analysis nor in a zero-order test of in the near future.
significance with the dependent variable
This study suggests, then, a need for a
(7c = .07). This is consistent with the more exhaustive examination of present im-
findings of Tomeh (1979) that the size of
munity statutes. Any future change in these
one's community has little relationship with
his sex-role attitudes. It is inconsistent, how-laws should consider public opinion and be
attuned to changing values and life styles. To
ever, with the work of Bayer (1975) and Tedin
assist in this sociolegal process, it is impor-
(1979) who found, respectively, that "sexist
students" were more likely than nonsexist tant that careful research, inquiry, and
public debate be initiated at all levels.
students to have grown up in a small town or
on a farm, and that rural residents were less
likely than urban residents to favor the Equal
Rights Amendment. FOOTNOTES

CONCLUSION 1. For a full description of the case, see The Rideou

Trial, distributed by the National Clearinghouse o
This study examined two basic issues: theRape, 2325 Oak St., Berkeley, CA 94708.
Marital
public attitude towards spousal immunity for
rape prosecution, and the impact of 2. This
demo-is due largely to two traditional beliefs: (a) t
common law unity of person principle, in which th
graphic variation upon this issue. The results
legal identity of the husband and wife merge in mar
indicated that approximately two-thirds of (b) the consent rationale, in which the wif
riage; and
the population do not believe wives is should
seen as giving consent in the marriage contract t
be allowed to accuse their husbands of rape, with the husband whenever he desires
intercourse
(Glasgow,
and that this percentage was particularly de- 1980).

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 Davis, J.
3. For a breakdown of the statutes by states, see Blay- 1974 "Justification for no obligation: views of black
Cohen and Coster (1980) and Glasgow (1980). males toward crime and the criminal law."
Issues in Criminology 9 (Fall):69-87.
4. See Nie et al., 1980:251. Dickinson Law Review
1978 "Husband cannot be guilty of raping his wife."
5. Regression analysis with ordinal independent vari- 82 (Spring):608-616.
ables is not problematic (Labovitz, 1967; Boyle, 1970); Doron, J.
nor is regression with a dichotomous dependent vari- 1980 Conflict and violence in intimate relationships:
able if its split is between 25% and 75% (Goodman, focus on marital rape. Paper presented to
1975). American Sociological Association meetings,
New York.
6. The significance was examined by adding a sex-age Duberman, L.
vector in a separate regression analysis after the vari- 1975 Gender and Sex in Society. New York:Praeger.
ables of sex and age have been entered (see Kerlinger Finkelhor, D.
and Pedhazur, 1973:251). 1980 Cited in E. Hale, "1 in 10 U.S. wives raped by
spouse, new study reveals." Oakland Tribune
7. This underrepresentation may well be due to a greater (June 3):A7.
percentage of elderly nonwhites being poor in reading Fleming, J. B.
skills, and thus unable to answer the questionnaire. 1979 Stopping Wife Abuse. Garden City, NY:Anchor
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8. A test of deviation from linearity (see Kerlinger and Freeman, M. D. A.
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1981 "But If you can't rape your wife, who can you
9. Del. Code tit. 11, Sec. 763, 764 (1978). rape?: the marital rape exemption reexam-
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762 JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY August 1982

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