Jon Krakauer is an investigative journalist who likes to
embed himself in a situation to delve into the intricacies of a situation or
experience. In Missoula, Mr. Krakauer
goes to Missoula, Montana to investigate the many systems and personalities
that become involved when a rape allegation is made on a college campus. I have heard interviews with Mr. Krakauer and
he has stated that Missoula is not atypical.
He did not pick Missoula because it was different but because it was so
similar to other college towns across the nation.
Jon does not leave any stone unturned in telling the stories
of rape allegations in this college town that treats its football players as
celebrities and heroes, granting the players a sense of entitlement that extends
to the women who attend the college. Mr.
Krakauer interviews victims and family members and has access to interviews
with the alleged rapists. He also delves
into the criminal justice system and campus investigative process and
delineates how the allegations are handled differently in each setting. He is
also explicitly describes the judicial process and how defense attorneys and
prosecutors are often so concerned with winning that the victims and
perpetrators often become pawns in the process, leaving victims to experience
more trauma during and after the plea and/or trial process.
Jon Krakauer researched the impact of trauma on victims and
is able to incorporate the work of Judith Herman, a clinical professor at
Harvard and author of Trauma and Recovery,
an important work on interpersonal violence and the trauma that occurs. David Lisak, an expert on serial rapists and college
sexual assault, is an expert witness for one of the trials in Missoula and Mr.
Krakauer pulls from his research and expert testimony in order to describe the
intricacies of understanding sexual assault.
Jon Krakauer’s greatest message in this book is that the
refusal to hold perpetrators accountable is their greatest weapon and the
justice systems’ greatest failure.
