Conflict and Rape

THE ROLE OF CONFLICT IN EXPLAINING RAPE

The purpose of this paper is to explore conflict when dealing with rape. This paper will focus on the definition and elements of rape, what constitutes rape, and the correlates of rape. Researchers consider rape to be a crime of violence instead of a sex crime (Brown, Esbensen & Geis 2001). Yet others consider rape from a punishment model, which involves hurting and humiliating a person. Therefore, the research question in this study is whether sexual desire causes a person to commit rape or does the idea of punishing someone cause rape.

LITERATURE REVIEW

    Over time the definition of rape have changed to include factors or people other than women. According to the uniform Crime Report rape is defined as "carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will" (Brown, Ebsensen & Geis 2001). Today it has a "gender-neutral statutory" definition which includes same sex rape, women who may sexually assault other males, and other forced activities other than penetration of males (Brown, Ebsensen & Geis 2001). When considering rape criminologist view it as a crime of violence instead of sexual crime. It can be looked at as violence because of the fact that it forces the other party to engage in hurting and painful activities against his or her will.

    Rape can be viewed from various fields of study. It can be explain from a sociological to psychological point of view. According to ( Brown, Ebensen & Geis 2001). A perpetrator's psychological stability can cause him or her to commit rape for the purpose of power, or because of anger, or even to hurt the other partner. On the other hand from a sociological point of view, rape can be viewed among lower-class, minority or urban youth, who may come from the same kind of environment. A case study done by Menachem Amir about this subculture of violence suggests that "males learn to use violence to achieve goals and that women can be viewed as sexual objects (Ebensen, Brown & Geis 2001)."

    In explaining the concepts of rape researchers looked at three different theories, the feminist theory, the social learning theorists and the sociobiology theorist. The "feminist theory says rape is the result of deep-rooted social tradition where males controlled life. The social learning theorists says that rape is the result of a pattern of aggression that are reinforced through social stimuli, this means that the environment may cause this behavior. The sociobiological theory say that rape is the result of few children men are having and that they want to have as many children as they possible can (Esbensen, Brown, & Geis 2001)."

    Researchers believe that there are inequalities when talking about rape. According to (Schwendinger & Schwendinger 1983), rape is trivialized and can even be seen in a "comic light". The researchers talked about a college football team who considered themselves as "The Rapist" and for at least fifteen years nothing was done about it. Administrators condoned the title "The Rapist," without even viewing their standpoint of the matter. After trying to console the feminists the only explanation that could be given was that "The Rapist can be viewed in other aspects and that it could be viewed in a comic way.

    The researchers also showed that the media could help a perpetrator even though their intentions were to help the public become more aware about rape. For instance, the NBC's sixty minutes aired "To catch a Rapist" on September 30, 1984, suggested that rape can happen to anyone, which includes wives, daughters, the elderly, in doing this they also showed how easily a rapist can avoid arrest, prosecution and imprisonment, even after repeated rapes (Schwendinger , Schwendinger 1983). They also showed the inability or unwillingness of those in the criminal justice system inadequately handled these kinds of problems.

    Schwendinger and Schwendinger (1983) states that the causes of rape can be viewed within a macroscopic contest. This evolves around gender inequality and violence. They suggest that this inequality and violence is not universal. They believe that "gender inequality and rape arise and increase in the contest of historical developments in particular societies and in the contest of socioeconomic factors relating to private property, patriarchy and class relationship (Schwendinger, Schwendinger 1983)." This suggests that violence can have two sources, one which is internal and the other as been external. The external source " includes the colonial imposition of violent customs, dominance of men over women, as well as private property and class relationships on egalitarian societies. The internal source includes exploitative economic changes within societies and/or the articulation of pre-class societies with the capitalist world economic system (Schwendinger, Schwendinger 1983)." These two sources suggest that the causes of rape increase in gender inequality and other kinds of violence (Schwendinger, Schwendinger 1983).

RESEARCH METHODS

METHODS OF APPROACH

There are three different styles of approach rapists frequently use: the ``con,'' the ``blitz,'' and the ``surprise.'' Each reflects a different means of selecting, approaching and subduing a chosen victim.

The ``Con'' Approach

Case Number 1

John, a man who raped more than 20 women, told the interviewers that he stopped one of his victims late at night and identified himself as a plainclothes police officer. He asked for her driver's license and registration, walked back to his car and sat there for a few moments. He then returned to the victim, advised her that her registration had expired and asked her to accompany him to his car. She did so, and upon entering the car, he handcuffed her and drove to an isolated location where he raped and sodomized the victim.

As in the above case account, the con approach involves subterfuge and is predicated on the rapist's ability to interact with women. With this technique, the rapist openly approaches the victim and requests or offers some type of assistance or direction. However, once the victim is within his control, the offender may suddenly become more aggressive.

The con approach was used in 8 (24%) of the first rapes, 12 (35%) of the middle rapes, and 14 (41%) of the last rapes. Various ploys used by the offenders included impersonating a police officer, providing transportation for a hitchhiking victim, and picking women up in singles bars. Obviously, this style of initiating contact with victims requires an ability to interact with women.

The ``Blitz'' Approach

Case Number 2

Phil, a 28-year-old male, approached a woman loading groceries in her car, struck her in the face, threw her in the

vehicle and raped her. On another occasion, he entered a women's restroom in a hospital, struck his victim, and raped her in a stall. Exiting the restroom with the victim in his grasp, he threatened her as though they were involved in a lover's quarrel, and thus precluded interference from concerned onlookers who had gathered when she screamed.

In a blitz approach, the rapist uses a direct, injurious physical assault which subdues and physically injures the victim. The attacker may also use chemicals or gases but most frequently makes use of his ability to physically overpower a woman. Interestingly, despite its simplicity, this approach was used in 23% of the first rapes, 20% of the middle rapes, and 17% of the last rapes. Even though it is used less often than the con approach, the blitz approach results in more extensive physical injury and inhibits certain fantasy components of the rape that may be arousing to the rapist.

The ``Surprise'' Approach

Case Number 3

Sam, a 24-year-old male, would preselect his victims through ``peeping tom'' activities. He would then watch the victim's residence to establish her patterns. After deciding to rape the woman, he would wait until she had gone to sleep, enter the home, and place his hand over her mouth. He would advise the victim that he did not intend to harm her if she cooperated with the assault. He raped more than 20 women before he was apprehended.

The surprise approach, which involves the assailant waiting for the victim or approaching her after she is sleeping,

presupposes that the rapist has targeted or preselected his victim through unobserved contact and knowledge of when the victim would be alone. Threats and/or the presence of a weapon are often associated with this type of approach; however, there is no actual injurious force applied.

The surprise approach was used by the serial rapists in 19 (54%) of the first rapes, 16 (46%) of the middle rapes, and 16 (44%) of the last rapes (percentages vary due to the number of rapes). This represents the most frequently used means of approach and is used most often by men who lack confidence in their ability to subdue the victim through physical threats or subterfuge.

CONTROLLING THE VICTIM

How rapists maintain control over a victim is dependent upon two factors: Their motivation for the sexual attack and/or the passivity of the victim. Within this context, four control methods are frequently used in various combinations during a rape: 1) Mere physical presence; 2) verbal threats; 3) display of a weapon; and 4) the use of physical force.

The men in this study predominantly used a threatening physical presence (82-92%) and/or verbal threats (65-80%) to control their victims. Substantially less often they displayed a weapon (44-49%) or physically assaulted the victim (27-32%). When a weapon was displayed, it was most often a sharp instrument, such as a knife (27-42%).

One rapist explained that he chose a knife because he perceived it to be the most intimidating weapon to use against women in view of their fear of disfigurement. Firearms were used less frequently (14-20%). Surprisingly, all but a few of the rapists used binding located at the scene of the rape. One exception was an individual who brought pre-cut lengths of rope, adhesive tape and handcuffs along with him.

THE USE OF FORCE

The amount of force used during a rape provides valuable insight into the motivations of the rapist and, hence, must be analyzed by those investigating the offense or evaluating the offender. The majority of these men (75-84%) used minimal or no physical force across all three rapes. This degree of minimal force is defined as non-injurious force employed more to intimidate than to punish.

Case Number 4

John began raping at 24 years of age and estimated that he had illegally entered over 5,000 homes to steal female

undergarments. On 18 of those occasions, he also raped. He advised that he had no desire to harm the victims. He stated, `Raping them is one thing. Beating on them is entirely something else. None of my victims were harmed and for a person to kill somebody after raping them, it just makes me mad.''

Force resulting in bruises and lacerations or extensive physical trauma requiring hospitalization or resulting in death increased from 5% of the first rapes, 8% of the middle rapes, to 10% of the last rapes. Two victims (5%) were murdered during the middle rapes and an additional 2 (5%) were killed during the last rapes.

Case Number 5

Phil, an attractive 30-year-old male, described stabbing his mother to death when she awoke as he was attempting to remove her undergarments in preparation for sexual intercourse. He had been drinking and smoking marihuana with her for a period of time prior to the attempted sexual act, and after she fell asleep, he began fantasizing about having sex with her.

Most of the rapists in this study did not increase the amount of force they used across their first, middle and last

rapes. (8) However, 10 of the rapists, termed ``increasers,'' did use progressively greater force over successive rapes and raped twice as many women on the average (40 victims as opposed to 22 victims) in half the amount of time (i.e., raping every 19 days as opposed to 55 days). By the time of the last assault, they were inflicting moderate to fatal injuries. These factors, coupled with progressive interest in anal intercourse among the increasers, suggest that for these individuals, sexual sadism may be a motive for their assaultive behavior.

VICTIM RESISTANCE

Victim resistance may be defined as any action or inaction on the part of the victim which precludes or delays the

offender's attack. These behaviors may be described as passive, verbal, or physical in nature. (9)

The rapists reported that their victims verbally resisted them in 53% of the first assaults, 54% of the middle attacks, and 43% of the last attacks. Physical resistance occurred in only 19%, 32% and 28% of the first, middle, and last rapes respectively. The relatively low incidence of passive resistance (i.e., 28% in the first rape, 17% of the middle rape, and 9% of the last rape) most likely reflects the rapists' inability to discern this type of resistance.

In previous research, it was found that there was no relationship between both verbal and physical resistance and the amount of injury sustained by the victim. (10) Interestingly, however, the degree of the rapists' pleasure and the duration of the rape did increase when the victim resisted.

In this study, the offenders' most common reaction to resistance for the first, middle and last rapes was to verbally

threaten the victim (50-41%). Compromise or negotiation took place in 11-12% across the rapes, and physical force was used in 22% of the first rapes, 38% of the second rapes and 18% of the third rapes. The rapists also reported 6 incidents in which they left when the victim resisted; however, it is not clear at what point in the attack the resistance occurred.

SEXUAL DYNAMICS OF THE RAPE

The sexual acts that the victim was forced to engage in remained relatively constant across all three rapes. The most common acts were vaginal intercourse (54-67%), oral sex (29-44%), kissing (8-13%) and fondling (10-18%). Anal intercourse (5-10%) and foreign object penetration (3-8%) were reported less often. In assessing changes in behavior over the first, middle and last rapes, there appears to be a trend wherein the rapists' interest in oral sex increases while his interest in vaginal contact decreases.

The amount of pleasure that the rapist experienced during the three assaults was measured with the statement: ``Think back to the penetration during the rape. Assuming `0' equals your worst sexual experience and `10' your absolutely best sexual experience, rate the amount of pleasure you experienced.'' The majority of rapists reported surprisingly low levels of pleasure (3.7). However, the type of contact that resulted in higher scores differed widely. (11) One rapist reported appreciation for his victims' passivity and acquiescence, while another referred to the pleasure experienced in the rape-murder of two young boys as being ``off the scale.'

Case Number 6

Paul had raped adult women, adolescent and preadolescent girls and brought his criminal career to an end with the rape and murder of two 10-year-old boys. When asked to rate the sexual experiences, he advised that he would rate the adult and adolescent females as ``0'' and the preadolescent girls as ``3.'' He then stated, "When you're talking about sex with 10-year-old boys, your scale doesn't go high enough.''

VERBAL ACTIVITY

Across the first, middle and last rapes, the majority of serial rapists (78-85%) usually only conversed with the victims to threaten them. Much less frequently, their conversations were polite or friendly (30-34%), manipulative (23-37%), or personal (23-37%). In a minority of instances throughout the assaults, the rapist reported being inquisitive (15-20%), abusive/degrading (5-13%), or silent (8-13%). It appears that serial rapists use verbal threats to subdue the victim, and only after they believe they have gained control over the victim do they move on to various other modes of conversing or interacting.

SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION

In a study of 170 rapists, it was determined that 34% experiencedsome type of sexual dysfunction during the rape. (12) In fact, it has been noted that ``the occurrence of offender sexual dysfunction and an investigatory understanding of the dysfunction may provide valuable information about the unidentified rapist.''

The data on these serial rapists are strikingly similar. In the first rape, 38% of the subjects reported a sexual

dysfunction, 39% in the middle rape, and 35% during the last assault. This type of information can prove helpful to the investigator in associating different offenses with a single offender, because the nature of the dysfunction and the means the offender uses to overcome it are likely to remain constant over a number of rapes.

EVADING DETECTION

Considering the rapists' aptitude for avoiding detection, it is surprising to note that very few of the serial rapists

employed specific behaviors designed to preclude identification. In fact, offenders tend to rape their victims in the victim's own home, thereby contributing to their ability to avoid detection. (14)

In addition, the majority of rapists (61-68%) did not report dressing in any special way for the offenses. Surprisingly, disguises were reported in only 7-12% of the offenses, suggesting that other means of evading detection were used by these particular offenders.

ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUGS

Alcohol is commonly associated with rape, but other drugs, to a lesser degree, are also used at the time of the rape. (15) The data on these rapists suggest a somewhat different relationship between alcohol/drugs and serial rape. Approximately one-third of the rapists were drinking alcoholic beverages at the time of the first, middle and last offenses, and 17-24% of the respondents reported using drugs. In a majority of these cases, these figures reflect the offender's typical consumption pattern and not an unusual increase in substance abuse.

POST-OFFENSE BEHAVIOR

The serial rapists were also asked about changes in their behavior following their assaults. The most frequent changes after each of the crimes included feeling remorseful and guilty (44-51%), following the case in the media (28%) and an increase in alcohol/drug consumption (20-27%). Investigators should also particularly note that 12-15% of rapists reported revisiting the crime scene and 8-13% communicated with the victim after the crime.

CONCLUSION

The research concerning serial rapists' behavior during and following the commission of the crimes has determined that:

* The majority of the rapes were premeditated

* The ``con'' approach was used most often in initiating contact with the victim

* A threatening presence and verbal threats were used to maintain control over the victim

* Minimal or no force was used in the majority of instances

* The victims physically, passively or verbally resisted the rapists in slightly over 50% of the offenses

* The most common offender reaction to resistance was to verbally threaten the victim

* Slightly over one-third of the offenders experienced a sexual dysfunction, and the preferred sexual acts were vaginal rape and forced fellatio

* Low levels of pleasure were reported by the rapists from the sexual acts

* The rapists tended not to be concerned with precautionary measures to protect their identities

* Approximately one-third of the rapists had consumed alcohol prior to the crime and slightly less reported using

some other drug.

The most common post-offense behavior reported by the rapists were feelings of remorse and guilt, following the case in the media and an increase in alcohol and drug consumption.

These characteristics, although not generally applicable to every rapist, can be helpful in learning more about offenders, their behaviors and the heinous crime of rape.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

In my summary and conclusion of “The role of conflict in explaining rape,” rape is not considered as a forcible act between a male and female. The new definition includes homosexuals, female assault on males, and forced sexual activity which includes intercourse. Over time, criminologists looked at rape as being a violent act rather than a sex crime between two people. There is conflict when dealing with the concept of rape, One conflict of rape has been researched through evolutionary biologists who believes that “rape is inherently a sexual act that evolved because it provides a means for males to increase and diversify their offsprings and offers an opportunity for those unable to locate satisfactory voluntary partners to pass along their genetic traits (Brown, Ebsensen & Geis 2001).” No matter what position was taken about conflicts of rape, rape increase and decrease over time. In the early part of 1990, researchers are not certain about why this increase occurred; they were not sure it was from a rise in the number of offenses or that only a certain portion of incidents have been reported, whatever the reason it still suggested that acts of rape have increased. By the end of the 1990, there seem to be a drop in rape. One report suggests that this drop was because of the increase of given and that women were being more cautious (Brown, Ebensen & Geis (2002).

When dealing with the correlates of rape, it suggests that men are responsible for this offense, it is also suggested that rape is an interracial offense. This suggests that rape occurs between two people of the same race. When looking at theories concerning rape, it can be viewed through a feminist theory, social learning theory and sociobiological theory. Researchers believe that rapist have typologies, for instance, a rapist can be considered as selfish or unselfish. The selfish rapist is only concern with self, they may be derogatory toward victims, they may humiliate the victim, no affection or even biting may occur, whereas, the unselfish rapist may be caring, involved with the victim, apologetic, cooperative, self derogatory (Hazelwood, Warren 1989). In the Groth Typology, the motivation of the offender includes, power-reassurance, power-assertive, anger-retaliatory, and anger-excitation.

In summary rape be considered as one of the most controversy and least understood criminal offenses. A researcher suggests, that the purpose of this is because of diverse groups. These groups may include members of a family, violators who constantly rape and violators who rape during certain circumstances Brown, Ebesen & Geis 2002).

REFERENCES

Brown, S., Esbensen, F. & Geis, G. (2001) Criminology: Explaining Crime and Context. Cincinatti: Anderson Publishing.

Grabiner, E. Virginia [Review of book. Rape and Inequality]. Crime and Social Justice No.24 author, Julia R Schwendinger and Herman Schwendinger. Beverly Hills: Sage Publication, 1193.

Groth, A.N.A. Burgess, & L. Holmstrom (1979) Rape, Power, Anger, and Sexuality. American Journal of Psychiatry 134 (11) 1239.

Groth. A.N.A. (1979) Men Who Rape: The Psychology of the Offender. New York: Plenum Press.

Hazelwood, R. Robert, & Warren, Janet (1990). The Criminal behavior of the Serial Rapist. Retrieved February 14, 2002 from world wide web: http://holy.org/fem/fem0126

Comments: You'll note a few minor edits I made. It looks like a good start. Remind me to tip you off to a book on Rape by the Schwendingers, written from a conflict perspective.

It looks like the Schwendinger book helped with your lit review. Now try to come up with a research plan.

Comments of 04/15/02: Added the Methods section you sent. Be careful not to be copying someone else's work, and to paraphrase only; about all I can say; otherwise looks good for a methods section if it can be rewritten up to look like your own work, a study carried out or to be carried out.

On 05/02/02, I added your summary and conclusions