The Language of Sexual Misconduct Cases

The Language of Sexual Misconduct Cases analyzes the many ways in which language plays a crucial role in sexual misconduct cases. Roger W. Shuy describes eleven court cases for which he served as an expert witness or consultant, and explains the issues at stake in each case for both lawyers and linguists. The book focuses on aspects of sexual misconduct that have not previously received the attention they deserve, such as: the language evidence of sexual misconduct in the workplace; cases of adult-to-child sexual misconduct with the family; and adult-adult sexual misconduct cases. Shuy explores the often-used linguistic analytical tools that are available to both the prosecution and the defense, including speech events, schemas, conversational strategies, and the resolution of strategic ambiguity. His work stresses the advantage of examining the larger contexts before making conclusions about the smaller linguistic units that are often called 'smoking guns.'

The Language of Sexual Misconduct Cases will appeal to students and scholars of applied linguistics and forensic linguistics, and to lawyers working on sexual misconduct cases.

Roger W. Shuy is Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at Georgetown University.