When asked to define the word rape, a number of responses may be given depending upon what country or state one lives in and if one is a male or female. According to Pandora’s Project.org, rape is defined as any sexual contact or penetration attained without consent; with physical force, intimidation, threat, trickery, or when the victim is mentally capacitated, physically or mentally impaired, asleep or unconscious; this includes due to voluntary or involuntary alcohol or drug consumption.
In “Riding the Bull at Gilleys,” Scully and Marolla depict the psychopathological and the socio-cultural models of rape. The psychopathological model is a representation of what psychotherapist have used for years to explain the reasoning behind rape. With this model, rape is the result of an eccentric mental dysfunction, which symptoms include involuntary and uncontrollable sexual impulses. These sexual impulses may be temporary, repetitive, long lasting or brief. This model also implies that male sexual aggression is abnormal, therefore; psychologists do not seek any other rational explanation. Mainly, the psychopathological model ignores any correlational factors linking male sexual aggression to learned social behavior.
The socio-cultural model views the social or environmental context of rape as an explanation of aggressive behavior. The socio-cultural view of rape is a result of a patriarchal system that is characterized by an ideology of male authority and different
There is presently much controversy regarding acquaintance rape victims and their level of culpability. Benevolent sexists promote the belief that these individuals can actually be blamed for their experiences because they adopted behaviors that were sexually immoral and that influenced the perpetrators to go through with their plans. Barbara Masser, Kate Lee, and Blake M. McKimmie's article "Bad Woman, Bad Victim? Disentangling the Effects of Victim Stereotypicality, Gender Stereotypicality and Benevolent Sexism on Acquaintance Rape Victim Blame" attempts to provide more information in regard to how particular factors might influence acquaintance rape victims.
This essay will examine the social and cultural conditions, within the macro-diachronic and micro-synchronic theoretical models , that intensify or perpetuate sexual assault. I have chosen only one concept from each model because these are the only concepts that I feel that I can use to most accurately and comprehensively depict causes and reasons for why sexual assault is deeply entrenched in our social structure. I will thus explore, from these ideological viewpoints, some of the motivations and circumstances which lead offenders to sexual assault. I will also fuse some of the historical attitudes from which today's concepts have evolved to our contemporary understanding of this social
Edwin Sutherland’s Social Learning Theory of Crime is crime learned throughout social interaction with antisocial peers. This theory demonstrates the individuals demeanor that emulates society’s cultural and sub cultural values consisting of methods for executing crime - intentions, ambitions, justifications, or perspectives. A behavioral approach to studying sexual assault begins with the hypothesis that sexual aggression is educated. Theorists stress the importance of attitudes that rationalize or validate rape. Rape is produced by differences in the way women and men are sexually socialized, which implies that if women were socialized like men, they would
Rape can be defined as being unlawful and unconsented vaginal or anal penetration. The source of penetration varies and includes penetration by using the finger, penis, or objects and can be penetrated into the mouth or the anus. The American Heritage college dictionary definition of rape, page 740 is “a sexual act committed by force especially on a woman”.
As of January 1, 2013, the Federal Bureau of Investigation defines the act of rape as “Penetration, no matter how slight of the vagina
Often times men and women are given tips to ensure their safety such as walking in pairs, wearing appropriate attire, and carrying pepper spray. A common myth surrounding rape on campuses is that the perpetrator is often a stranger that is waiting for the opportune moment to take advantage of a young scandalously clad woman walking alone in the dark to her dormitory. This is often not the case since the majority of perpetrators know the victim. The fact that there are flyers and pamphlets available on most campuses for preventative measures that women can take to prevent themselves from being rape victims testifies to a society in which a woman’s safety is her responsibility and there are few preventative measures that are taken from having men grow up as sexual predators. One woman argues that this is because “rape culture reflects a society or community grounded in patriarchal privilege and gender inequity” (Gordon 116). American history tells a tale of a culture that was built on patriarchy, and feminists may argue that America is still highly patriarchal and this contributes greatly to rape culture. As a matter of fact, cross-cultural studies have supported that there are cultures in the world that have an extremely low incidence of rape. One anthropologist studied this data and came to the conclusion that “the specific gender dynamics in matrilineal cultures reduce the significance of man's
There are five typologies of rape: power-reassurance, power-assertive, anger retaliatory, and sadistic. Power-reassurance, “is characterized by feelings of inadequacy and poor social skills and does not inflict injury upon his victims” (National Center for Women and Policing, 2001). These rapists will often coax a person using soft tactics and they do not intend to harm their victim. They tend to commit these crimes to elevate their self esteem. Power-assertive crave to overpower their target. These rapists use aggressive methods of control and are impulsive. Anger retaliatory rapists, “often degrades or humiliates the victim” (Simons). These rapists are motivated mainly by the emotional satisfaction once they release their anger. Sadistic rapists fantasize of torture and pain. These rapist are known to extensively plan, will act charming, and intelligent. They get their sexual satisfaction from the victims’ suffering. Rape syndrome, “is the group of reactions – emotional, physical, and behavioral – reported by victims of attempted or completed rape” (“Rape Trauma Syndrome”). Victims develop feelings of humiliation, degradation, guilt, shame, embarrassment to self-blame, anger, revenge, and most often fear. This can be fear of physical
The nature of ambivalent sexism is opposing the components that stem for the assumptions that is vital to rape culture and finds a ways to favour and protect women as a class. Fraser (2015) declares that to trace back of rape culture it to go back to source and make more capable to treat because benevolent sexism is favourable to women and complements hostile sexism the helps with the resistance of women and gender inequality. Fraser (2015) argues that man’s ambivalent treatments towards women underlines rape culture and create a paradigm where men assume agency for the women. Men usually dehumanized women and associated women with animals and objects. The association of women and animal allows for men to make the association and are more likely to rape or sexually harass a woman. They are most likely to express victim-blaming or attitude toward women who have survived rape. Fraser (2105) confirms that “participants did not generally show a tendency to associated women with objects, when men did harbor this association, they also reported a greater willingness to engage in rape” (p. 152). Fraser (2015) observes that the behaviours and attitude that influence rape culture is relate to dehumanization of women. Fraser (2015) defines dehumanization “treating women as tool for women own purposes, as if there is no need to show concern for women feeling and experiences” (p.
Attention Getter: What is rape? By definition provided by Justice.gov, “Rape is the penetration, no matter how slight, by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” A majority of rapes, go unreported for often times the offender is someone to victim knew. Transforming: A Rape Culture says that if the perpetrator was a spouse or lover seventy-five percent of the time the victimizations go unreported, seventy-one
Rape is defined as “penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim” (Uniform Crime
Peer groups and individuals have been identified as a major contributor for perpetration of sexual assaults surrounding college and university males in the U.S. According to esteemed academic professors Laura Widman and Michael Olson, it has been reported that a self-report of proclivity to commit rape in a hypothetical scenario or having a sexual history of aggression can produce a positive correlation with the endorsement of the rape tolerance or the rape supportive attitudes in men (Widman and Olson, 2012: p. 813; Koss and Dinero, 1988: p. 133). The acceptance of rape myths, as well as, the prejudicial and stereotypical beliefs about rape and the circumstances can surround the context of rape that the belief is only subject to ‘promiscuous women only get raped’ and ‘women are asking to be raped’ are correlated with the self-reports history of sexual aggression and the willingness to commit rape amongst men in the future (Lonsway and Fitzgerald, 1994: p.
A. Nicholas Groth’s book Men Who Rape The Psychology of the Offender is a revelation towards anyone who ever believed in the common myths surrounding female sexuality and what stereotypically marks a potential rapist (stranger in the streets, homeless man etc.). The book is lauded by critics as being a must have for anyone professionally working with offenders or victims of sexual violence. This book provided me a clear understanding as to why men rape, which is based on three primary reasons: power, anger, and sex desire (least accepted). I was able to understand why men, women and children behave that way, since the book provided many detailed examples and explanations. This book details a no-nonsense, clinical overview of rape, of both the offenders and the victims. It was very difficult to read, as it is full of stories of actual rapes, gets inside the minds of some very sick men, and shows the trauma of the victims after the assault. Although this was distressing for me, the author did not pull any punches here, because averting our eyes from horrors only perpetuates those horrors. Just like hoping that it will never happen to you does not mean that it ever will .This book does a good job at dispelling many of the common myths about both rapists and rape victims. It 's a fairly objective, balanced, honest treatment of the subject, but a few times it was clear that they were catering to the radical feminists in their audience. What I found interesting was the factual way
The main debate amongst the explanation is the key motivation that drives the offender to commit rape. Previously, majority of social scientists’ perspective of rape is seen as a sexually motivated crime; for instance, males are given the opportunity to fulfil their sexual desires that cannot be met legally, thus
The numbers are difficult to accurately gauge, as crimes of a sexual nature are frequently underreported (text, 537). According to the National Crime Victimization Survey from 2011, in the duration of one minute - just sixty seconds - 24 individuals are raped, physically attacked, or stalked. This source, distributed by the US Bureau of Justice Statistics, is the most accurate and comprehensive, therefore the most reliable for a percentage such as this (text, 538). While men can be, and are, the victims of such crimes, they are more frequently the perpetrator of sexual/violent crimes against women. It develops from the insidious influences of gender and gender roles – male equals dominant, female equals submissive, and the male must extend his power and authority over his weaker counterpart (text, 542). This even influences casual gender discrimination. Unfortunately, it’s not just a trend that occurs in the United States. Global gender violence is rampant and it ties in closely with the politics of colonization and
You can most commonly find dictionaries defining rape as a sexual act committed by force especially on a woman (American Heritage). Until a few years ago it was limited to penile penetration of the vagina. Penal Code two hundred sixty-one defines rape as "an act of sexual intercourse accomplished with a person who is not the spouse of the perpetrator without the lawful consent" (Roberson). Penal Code two hundred sixty-three goes on to say that "the fundamental wrong at which the law of rape is aimed is . . . the violation of a woman's will and sexuality" (Roberson). All other sexual assaults are categorized under different names, yet the result is most often the same.