The Rape of Adult Women - Research Paper Example

?Literature Review of Studies on Rape and Associated Criminological Theories of the Studies This essay will review three studies that consider the rape of adult women. The first of these examines the behavioral characteristics of rapists through two studies of police and judicial records. The second uses data from the National Crime Victimization Survey to look for trends in the manner in which rape is reported and the final study uses focus groups to discuss the opinions of non-scientific individuals towards rape. The paper by McCabe and Wauchope constitutes an examination of two studies on the behavioral characteristics of rapists. The authors consider the differences and similarities between the two studies, and behavioral themes that were consistent across the studies. The studies were both undertaken by the authors and used information present in databases held by the police and the courts. Finally, they examine what role behavioral analysis of rape provides and how the behavioral profile found in the study differs from that which is described from members of the community who have experienced rape firsthand. The first study they examined used data gathered from the police records of the Victoria Police on perpetrators of sexual assault on adult women. In total, information was gathered on 130 men who were charged with the crime. These records include the responses to a 263 question survey which is used to track violent crimes in Australia. The study used the responses from 28 of these questions which focused on the behavioral characteristics of rapists. All of the men whose information had been used had been charged within the previous 12 months. The second study that the authors examined used transcripts from court cases that had occurred within the past five years. A total of 50 transcripts were used, and these represented men accused of sexual assault of an adult woman. In both cases the studies were non-experimental and as a consequence there was no independent and dependent variables as traditionally described in experimental procedures. Rather, the behavior of the offender and the relationship between the offender and the victim could be considered dependent, while the individual offenders constitute independent variables. Five behavioral themes were examined throughout the two studies, and the prevalence of these in each of the cases was examined. The themes were: brutal or physical, oral, vaginal, kissing or fondling and anal. These were determined by examination of the questions used in the survey for the first study and what the common themes were. The authors found that the most common relationship between rape victims and the perpetrators of the rape was that of strangers for both studies they examined. For both studies the authors found that the most common theme was vaginal, and most common combination of themes was kissing and vaginal. Clay-Warner and McMahon-Howard tested two theories of whether, and if so, how and when rape victims report being raped using data gathered in conjunction with the Census Bureau known as the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The NCVS is a survey that is jointly conducted by the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The experimental design is uses stratified clusters, with individuals living on military bases, correctional facilities and without a home excluded from the survey. Once selected for the survey, a household will remain within it for three years, with interviews conducted every six months on each individual above the age of 12. Responses to the survey were analyzed for individuals who reported sexual violation, this was the dependant variable. For the first study the responses were categorized into reported and not reported. In the second study, the results were broken down into three categories, reported by the victim, not reported and reported by a third party. The two theories that Clay-Warner and McMahon-Howard examined are the Behavior of Law theory, proposed by Black and Classic Rape Theory. The Behavior of Law theory is a sociological perspective on rape, and the author is concerned with how social life affects the behavior of deviants. He proposes that when all other aspects related to crime are held constant, the social status of the individual raped significantly contribute to whether the rape is reported. From his theories Clay-Warner and McMahon-Howard were able to derive seven hypotheses, predicting that the rate of reporting of rape was likely to be affected by social status (which includes age, income and race), victims position relative to the offender (whether the victim is older or younger, same or different race), the relationship between the victim and the offender, as well as the marriage and employment status of the victim. The final two predictions were that the rate of reporting was related to the number of offenders, as well as time of day and location being related. Classic Rape Theory is derived from a number of different sources which are reviewed in detail by Clay-Warner and McMahon-Howard, and predicts that social norms have a significant role on the likelihood of a victim reporting rape. Whether the victim perceives the rape as a ‘real rape’ is predicted to affect whether they report it, and as a consequence social norms such as the relationship between the victim and the offender, the location of the act and whether the victim resisted the attack all are predicted to have a significant impact on whether the victim reports the rape. The authors propose five hypotheses in relation to this theory. The first is that rapes which involve unlawful entry or are in public places are more likely to be reported. They also predict that there is a positive association between both weapon use and injury to the victim, and the rate of reporting. Finally they predict that when the offender is not known to the victim the rape is more likely to be reported than when they are known to the victim . The authors found that four of the five predictions relating to Classic Rape theory were supported by the data, while predictions of the Behavior of Law theory were in general not supported. The only prediction of the Classic Rape theory that they did not find support for was The final study in this review was by Gavey and Schmidt . The authors took a theoretical approach to the trauma of rape using discussions drawn from a focus group of 29 New Zealand men and women of non scientific background. Participants for the study were found through social networks, word of mouth, and pamphlets placed on public notice boards. The advertisements for the focus group asked for member that had not personally experienced rape, although more than half of the respondents had someone close to them who had experienced rape. There were no specific hypotheses being tested for the study, instead it was looking at general opinions and as a consequence there were no dependent or independent variables. Questions and scenarios were used to guide the discussion of the focus groups and the discussions were recorded and transcribed. The authors found that rape did not have a specific definition among the participants, instead responses were very broad. The discussion covered many themes including whether rape was traumatic, what type of trauma was experienced, support networks and stigma associated with rape. For most areas of discussion a variety of opinions were put forward and there was little to no consensus. Limitations in the Studies Examined Both studies undertaken by McCabe and Wauchope used recorded information from databases concerning men accused of committing sexual assault. One limitation of this is that only rapes that had been reported and had sufficient evidence to make a court case possible were included in the study. This introduces a potential bias, as women who have been raped by acquaintances are less likely to report it than those raped by strangers. In addition, only a small proportion of women who experience rape report it to the police . The results from this study are not easily compared to the conclusions that have been made by other studies. This is because the study by McCabeand Wauchope (2005) examined perpetrators which were part way through the justice system, while other studies draw samples from the general population, including individuals that were accused of rape but there was insufficient evidence for prosecution or the accusation was later withdrawn. The study by Clay-Warner and McMahon-Howard used data obtained from the NCVS which contained a sample size of around 80,000 residents every six months. The use of the NCVS to determine rape statistics is not fully representative of the population, as it only includes people who are regular members of households. Incarcerated persons, homeless persons, and others, who are more likely to be rape victims are excluded from the sample. This can be seen through the fact that the survey continues to give lower rape rates than other sources of information, and studies. One limitation of the study by Gavey and Schmidt was the manner in which subjects were recruited. Because potential participants were responding to advertisements most of those who responded were likely to have a strong opinion about rape. As a consequence, more than half of those who participated in the study knew someone who had experienced rape. This introduces bias into the sample as prior to the study most of the group already had a formed opinion about rape as the result of experience or experience of someone close to them while a smaller number did not. In addition, because the study was non quantitative, the conclusions which were drawn were based on opinion rather than scientific evidence. An additional consequence of this was the qualitative nature of the information produced during the focus sessions and the large amount of information that was gathered makes analysis and the determination of any consensus or conclusions difficult. The study had no specific hypotheses as well as no independent or control variables. This is a limitation as it prevents the formation of specific conclusions. Criminological Theories on Rape Rape is a well studied and examined topic throughout literature and there are several criminological theories connected to the way it occurs, including those mentioned below. The paper by Clay-Warner and McMahon-Howard identifies two criminological theories in relation to its focus, the reporting of rape. The theories they propose are Classic Rape Theory and the Behavior of Law. The authors found significant evidence for the Classic Rape Theory with four of the five predictions described above supported by the data. The only prediction that was not supported by the study was that evidence of physical resistance to rape would increase the rate of rape reporting. There was little support found for Black’s Behavior of Law, with no evidence towards most of the sociological theories presented, and in some cases a significant result in the opposite direction than predicted. Strain theory is a criminological theory that predicts that the social structures that are present within society pressure people into committing crimes. Part of this theory involves the differences in social class and how these affect the behavior of individuals. The only hypothesis that was significant from the Theory of Law was the role that race plays, both the race of the perpetrator and the race of the victim . This falls within the Strain theory examined above. Neither of the other two papers examined discuss criminological theories of rape. In the case of the paper by Gavey and Schmidt , it is difficult to assign a criminological theory, as the information gathered by the study is broad and cannot be tested empirically. The paper by McCabe and Wauchope looks at men who are accused of sexual assault of an adult female that involved penetration and their behaviors. They do not link their finding to any criminological theory, nor is there strong evidence for any particular theory. From their data, there is some indication that rape occurs primarily by strangers. The form of communication from the perpetrator during rape can vary, sometimes being violent, abusive and demeaning, and other times caring, involving persuasion and reassurance of the victim. The biological theory of criminology suggests innate behavioral patterns as a result of genetic or inborn traits. One theory that pertains to this is the Biosocial Arousal Theory. This theory predicts that the manner in which individuals are aroused is a result of their environments, and that people who are aroused in this manner may lack the ability to control their aggressive and behavior . This theory is especially relevant to the occasions of rape by offenders that were often abusive, violent and demeaning, as described above. For offenders that were caring and reassuring of their victims, Freudian theory provides interesting insights. Freud predicts that crime is committed as a consequence of unconscious guilt. This theory explains and predicts the manner in which perpetrators of rape may be committing a violent and criminal act, yet at the same time be caring and reassuring towards their victims. References Clay-Warner, J., & McMahon-Howard, J. (2009). Rape Reporting: Classic Rape and the Behavior of Law. Violence and Victims, 24(6), 723-743. Gavey, N., & Schmidt, J. (2011). “Trauma of Rape” Discourse: A Double-Edged Template for Everyday Understandings of the Impact of Rape? Violence Against Women, 17(4), 433. McCabe, M. P., & Wauchope, M. (2005). Behavioural characteristics of rapists. Journal of sexual aggression, 11(3), 235-247.  Read More