Date of Award
Fall 2022
Document Type
Honors Thesis
Department/Major
Criminal Justice
First Advisor
Dr. Bridget Diamond-Welch
Second Advisor
Professor Sandy McKeown
Third Advisor
Dr. Timothy Schorn
Keywords
sexual assault; South Dakota; data collection; data report; criminal justice system
Subject Categories
Social Statistics
Abstract
In order to develop policy and legislation, accurate and comprehensive data is necessary to inform next steps. South Dakota faces limitations in its collection and reporting of data throughout the criminal justice system. One area that lacks comprehensive statistical information is child and adult sexual assault. From statistics on prevalence all the way through conviction rates of offenders, South Dakota misses key statistical information that could be useful for meaningful change in the state. Using the Republic of Ireland’s data collection and reporting as a model, this report will evaluate key areas throughout South Dakota’s criminal justice system where sexual assault data should be collected and publicly reported. It will create a step-by-step model of how a sexual assault moves through the criminal justice system starting with how data is collected about the prevalence of these assaults. Each step will show what data is already being collected and how, and it will explain what data is missing. This information will advocate for the continuance of existing data collection efforts and the development of new methods to create a more comprehensive set of statistics.
Recommended Citation
Jones, Mattie J., "CONSIDERATIONS FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT DATA COLLECTION IN SOUTH DAKOTA: A CROSS-NATIONAL COMPARISON WITH IRELAND" (2022). Honors Thesis. 274.
https://red.library.usd.edu/honors-thesis/274