''Jailbait: The Politics of Statutory Rape Laws in the United States'' is a 2004 non-fiction book by Carolyn Cocca, published by the
State University of New York Press
The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by c ...
. It discusses the
ages of consent in the United States
In the United States, each state and territory sets the age of consent either by statute or the common law applies, and there are several federal statutes related to protecting minors from sexual predators. Depending on the jurisdiction, the l ...
.
Chapter 1 analyzes the general history of
statutory rape
In common law jurisdictions, statutory rape is nonforcible sexual activity in which one of the individuals is below the age of consent (the age required to legally consent to the behavior). Although it usually refers to adults engaging in sexual ...
policies in the U.S., while Chapters 2, 3, and 4 discuss how states revised and adopted the laws in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Each of the three other chapters discusses a particular aspect of the revisions and adoptions: Respectively they are the age revisions, gender-neutral language, and revisions related to 1990s social welfare policies concerning teenage pregnancy, race, and deadbeat fathers.
[Haider-Markel, p. 369.]
Reception
Donald P. Haider-Markel of the
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
concluded that the book is "a thoughtful and engaging book that connects a variety of theoretical perspectives and makes use of multiple methodological approaches in a coherent manner."
[Haider-Markel, p. 370.] He argued that the book would be good for classes on
public policy
Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...
at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He added that he believed Cocca had overstated several of her arguments, such as those about the role of interest groups and the use of statutory rape laws as "morality politics".
[
]
References
*
Notes
Further reading
* Erlanger, Howard S. "Jailbait: The Politics of Statutory Rape Laws in the United States." (Brief Article)(Book Review) ''Law and Social Inquiry
''Law and Social Inquiry'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Bar Foundation. It was established in 1976. The current editor-in-chief is Christopher W. Schmidt (Chicago-Kent Colleg ...
'', Wntr, 2005, Vol.30(1), p. 229(2).
* Josephson, Jyl. "Jailbait: The Politics of Statutory Rape Laws in the United States." '' Politics Gender'', 2005, Vol.1(4), pp. 653–655.
External links
Chapter 1: Statutory Rape Laws in Historical Context
from SUNY Press
The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by c ...
2004 non-fiction books
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