Rape Abuse Rate from Criminology Point of View - Research Paper Example

Scary Numbers Rape Abuse Incest National Network (RAINN) reports that out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (RAINN 2007). From that point numbers just get worse and picture darker and darker. According to the most recent data available from U.S. Department of Justices National Crime Victimization Survey -- the countrys largest and most reliable crime study- there were 248,300 sexual assaults in 2007, one in every two minutes. Of all the victims, 60% never report the assault to the police, thus, not surprisingly only 6% of rapists ever spend a day in jail (U.S. Department of Justice. 2008). Approximately 73% of rape victims know their assailants which will be discussed in more detail later. For now let’s just add few numbers concerning rapists who are, as mentioned, familiar with their victims, 38% being friends, 28% intimate partners and 7% relatives (RAINN 2007). When looking through data displayed on RAINN website, although with exceptions, we can say that a rapist is a married man, already having criminal record, often under the influence of alcohol and drugs. The crime usually occurs in victim’s home, during evening hours and involves mostly the use of physical force. As the list of numbers grows, so is the dual feeling of disgust and disbelief after facing these facts. How is it possible that today, in the 21st century, in the western, modernized world, when animals have rights and get treated with dignity, rape persists as a phenomenon in these proportions. Explanations are abundant and diverse, but for the purpose of this paper we look into Lee Ellis’ book “Theory of Rape: Inquiries into the Causes of Sexual Aggression". Ellis devoted separate chapters of the book to three distinctive theories dealing with rape. Feminist Theory Feminist theory claims that rape is largely the result of male domination in sociopolitical and economic affairs and subsequent use of sexual intimidation and exploitation by males to maintain their supremacy. Supporters of this theory assert that rape is simply a crime of power and has very little to do with actual sex. “Women are often seen as little more than property for which men compete” (Ellis 1989). Women have never been seen as equal to men, therefore there is a need to dominate them, and, as Ellis observes, the incidences of rape will rise as women increasingly defy the status quo in the society. Every new little victory for women as gender could mean more attempts of male population to continue domination. Ronald Akers and Christine Sellers in their book “Criminological Theories: Introduction, Evaluation, Application”, raise interesting issue when talking about equalization of women in the society. They talk about criminal in general and how feminist theorists see it, and offer a new dimension to description of crime. They give a name to this view, calling it Liberation Hypothesis and claim that “as men and women become more equal in society in terms of family, politics and education, their overall crime rates will begin to equalize as well (Akers&Sellers 2008) . Social Learning Theory Social learning theory argues that frequent exposure to attitudes supportive of rape or demeaning toward women, or the repeated pairing of erotic stimuli( through pornography mainly) with violent stimuli gradually causes many males to become callous to women’s needs and insensitive toward violence (Ellis 1989). Ultimately the violence is associated with sexual pleasure and vice versa. Since majority of sexual assaults are not reported to proper authorities, the perpetrators feel comfortable in committing the crime, especially when this feeling of being “untouchable” is enriched by the fact that most of assailants deem rape as having positive outcome for them. Social learning theorists like to explore some underlying factors that contribute to rape occurrences; issues such are the role of alcohol, inability of some males to decode signals from women or rape myths. Evolutionary Theory Finally, Ellis summarizes the third influential theory-evolutionary- by writing that rape is an extreme response to natural selection pressure upon males to be more assertive than females in their efforts to copulate, particularly with numerous partners (Ellis 1989). Evolutionary theory asserts, opposite from feminists, that rape is about sex, not power, control, domination or violence. Randy Thornhill and Craig Palmer in their book “A Natural History of Rape: Biological Bases of Sexual Coercion” look into the issue of rape as an “alternative mating strategy”. The strategy is promoted by natural selection, because rapists father children. As these men pass on their genes by force, any genes favoring that behavior are passed on to the next generation, ensuring the persistence of rape (Thornhill and Palmer 2000). The three theories, as seen, offer different insights into this complex social issue. While feminists believe rape is motivated by male dominance, proponents of social learning theory point to outside factors, and evolutionary theorists simply believe rape is based in biological urges. However, factors motivating rape are numerous, differ from case to case and are caused by community, relationship, societal and individual factors. Factors Increasing Risk to Commit Rape Different research studies done recently, found several important motivational factors in the sexual aggression of males. Some of the factors that surfaced more often than the others were having anger at women and having need to control them. Other factors included alcohol and drug consumption, being more likely to consider victims responsible for their rape, being less knowledgeable about the impact of rape on victims, being impulsive and having antisocial tendencies, having an exaggerated sense of masculinity, having a low opinion on women, being a member of a criminal gang, having sexually aggressive friends, having been abused as a child and having been raised in a strongly patriarchal family (Lisak and Roth 1988). Many of these factors are borderline psychological disorders which, in turn, call for the science of psychology to explain some of the behaviors of rape perpetrators. Psychology will be called upon again at the end of this text. No matter what are the factors of individual rape incidences, it is important to classify them into different types of rape. Acquaintance Rape The vast majority – around 80%- of all rape cases fall into this category. While for many people the typical rape scene involves an unknown stranger attacking a strange victim in some dark alley, the reality is quite opposite. Almost four out of five rapes are committed by attackers who knew or recognized their victims (National Center for Victims of Crime & Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, 1992). Thus, acquaintance rape can be described as a sexual assault by an individual known to the victim. Many of these rapes are violent regardless of relationship assailant and victim are in, and all are coercive in nature. There is no specific profile of a rapist in these cases, but for the most part, they have a tendency of resolving all the problems violently, they are otherwise aggressive in their relationships and overly demanding of a victim. National Center for Victims of Crime & Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center points out the fact that acquaintance rape is very hard to prosecute in court, partly because of “they asked for it” attitude and partly because it is hard to get convictions in cases in which the evidence depends on victim’s and rapist’s word only (National Center for Victims of Crime 2007). Stranger Rape In this type, the victim does not know the attacker. These usually happen in public places at night, outside bars and during home invasions (RAINN 2009). The victims of stranger rape are considered by the society as real victims, contrary to victims of acquaintance rape who are looked upon with suspicion of being partly to blame for what happened. Compared to acquaintance rape, stranger rapes are relatively rare and consist 18% of all rapes. Marital Rape Also called spousal rape, this type involves spouses as a victim and a perpetrator. As such it has the most legal issues attached of all types of rape. Spousal rape is illegal in all 50 states and in most world countries. Spousal rape, de facto, nullifies institution of conjugal rights of spouses to sexual intercourse. However, in court cases often times it is hard to prove if there was or was not consent for sexual interactions. Also, a change from a conjugal right to non-consensual explanation is very abrupt. Gang Rape Gang rape is when a victim is raped by a group of assailants. A study found that in a gang rape alcohol and drugs play more prominent role than in the case of a single offender, while the violence inflicted on the victim is severe and sometimes brutal (Ullmann 1999). Another study, also, confirmed the increased levels of violence in a gang rape and claimed that the main reason for it was the greater resistance from the victim (.Gidycz & Koss 1990). Greater resistance victims put up is, as Sue Titus Reid claims in her book “Crime and Criminology”, a result of the fact that women fear rape the most of all crimes (Titus Reid 2008). Women fear rape, and, subsequently gang rape, because it inflicts torture and the victim is usually severely injured in the course of the crime (Titus Reid 2008). Statutory Rape Statutory rape is illegal sexual activity between two people when it would otherwise be legal if not for their age (Sexlaws.org 2010). FBI defines statutory rape as non-forcible sexual intercourse with a person who is younger than the statutory age of consent (FBI 2010). The actual ages for these laws vary from state-to-state, same as do the punishments for offenders. Summary Rape as a crime and phenomenon in the American society is a problem that needs to receive more attention. The statistics listed at the beginning of this paper are disturbing, disappointing and alarming. Sue Titus Reid leaves no room by classifying it as a mala in se crime, crime that is morally wrong by itself and by its definition (Titus Reid 2008). Theorists dealing with rape offered some answers, none thoroughly enough. Ellis in Theories of Rape says that “a major strength of the feminist theory derives from its emphasis upon a relationship existing between probabilities of rape and power/dominance relationships between the sexes” (Ellis 1989). He, also, gives credit to feminists for recognizing the role of pornography. Social learning theory’s main strength, according to Ellis, is predicting that various sexist attitudes together with exposure to pornography would make some males more prone to commit violent sex crimes (Ellis 1989). Evolutionary theory leads one to expect rape victims to be primarily of reproductive age. The theory, also, provides a basis for predicting that there would be individual variations in male tendencies to commit rape which is independent from pornography or sex role training. Adopting all these points, adding more and finding new ones could bring us one step closer to erasing rape. In its essence rape is almost redundant yet resilient and persistent. Getting rid of it proved so far to be an unpleasant endeavor. With new findings, theories and research results the hope of doing so grows. Domestic Violence If rape is, by far, the most unreported crime, family violence, similarly, stays behind the scene and within the family boundaries. According to official data from Bureau of Justice around 70% of domestic violence cases are actually reported to the police. Victims that did not seek help stated, most frequently, that the matter is private and personal, that they are afraid of reprisal, some wanted to protect the offender and some believed that the police would do nothing even if they have reported it (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Intimate Partner Violence in the US, 1993-2004, 2006). Although the percentage of reported domestic violence occurrences is on the rise, it is still problematic that nearly 1/3 of victims decide to stay quiet about the issue. Family Violence One in four women in the United States has experienced domestic violence in her lifetime (The Center for Disease Control and Prevention 2000). The U. S. Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) defines domestic violence as a "pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner". Domestic violence "can happen to anyone regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender", and it can take many forms, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional, economic, and psychological abuse (Office on Violence Against Women 2007). In a traditional sense, the term domestic violence is used to describe spousal abuse, while a new term, family violence, includes child and elder abuse and other acts of violence among family members (Wallace 2002). Harvey Wallace writes in his book “Family Violence” defines family violence as “any act or omission by persons who are cohabitating that results in serious injury to the members of the family;" (Wallace 2002). Wallace, also, expands the meaning of family by explaining it as “situations of which individuals who are living together regardless of whether they are legally married” (Wallace 2002). Family violence is manifested through different forms, most common being physical abuse such is slapping, kicking or hitting, emotional abuse done by threats, insults and harassment, and sexual abuse, most often rape. Clearly, rape and family violence, as crimes are closely connected. In both types of crimes, the victims are, predominantly, women, in both, males attempt to exert control and domination over females, thus both types being underscored by patriarchal structure of society in which men are in charge. The latter is in accordance to feminist theories, but, also, recognized and acknowledged by other experts. Patriarchy Mac Millan Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender defines patriarchy as “an androcentric social system in which the role of the male as the primary authority figure is central to social organization, and where fathers hold authority over women, children, and property (Mac Millan p.1104). The very principles of patriarchy have been at the center of social, political, economic and legal organization of any society going back to Biblical times and beyond. Although there is no consensus among experts as to when men took over the control, many believe that the invention of fatherhood at approximately 4000 BCE marked the beginning of patriarchy and its spread. Typical patriarchal family centers on a father who runs a family from the commanding position. “Mothers are more likely to supervise daughters more closely than sons and encourage risk-taking in sons, more than in daughters (Akers&Sellers 2008).” This concept is based on power-control theory proposed by John Hagan in which the creator contends that in patriarchal families sons are more likely to be delinquent than daughters, since they receive less supervision. This, in turn, perpetuates male inclination to commit crimes of rape and domestic violence and to try to be dominant over women. Feminists and Patriarchy Sylvia Walby, Professor of Sociology at the University of Lancaster in England, and one of the leading authorities on gender defines patriarchy as “a system of social structures, and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women” (Walby, 1990). Her definition greatly helped shape the feminist theory on patriarchy and, at the same time, spurred development of key feminist ideas and programs. The feminist theory of patriarchy implies that the problem of inequality of women in patriarchal societies is society itself, and not any individual or a group. Patriarchy is a system, an institution and, ultimately, organization of the society. In recent years, however, the use of patriarchy as a term is waning, as new key concepts such is gender emerge and the emphasis in theories shifts toward individual and behavioral. Nevertheless, feminists never abandoned, and probably never will, the belief that our society is still highly male dominated, that females are suppressed and that based on those two key facts, women in the society are victimized by rape and family violence. Feminists and Family Violence There are many different ideas within feminist theory of domestic violence. M.Bograd in Feminist Perspectives on Wife Abuse identifies four common ones. They are 1) as the dominant class, men have differential access to material and symbolic resources and women are devalued as secondary and inferior 2) intimate partner abuse is a predictable and common dimension of normal family life 3) womens experiences are often defined as inferior because male domination influences all aspects of life 4) the feminist perspective is dedicated to advocacy for women (Bograd 1988). Overall, feminist theory assumes male dominance in the family and society, and therefore the use of violence to maintain male dominance is, in fact, the source of violence (Straus 1976). Paternalism The other term, tied closely with patriarchy, and relevant for this discussion is paternalism. The term emerged in the 19th century and according to John Kleinig and his book titled Paternalism, can be generalized as “a social order in which the pattern of individual life is determined by considerations relating to the social whole, these being mediated and enforced by patriarchal authority (Kleinig 1983). In other words our individual lives are, largely, determined by the common, universal good. In that regard, the issue of paternalism is seen as an interference of a state with another person, against their will, defended by a claim that the person will be, because of interference, better off or protected from harm. Experts when referring to a state imply all rules and regulations, laws and legislations that are aimed to protect the public interest. The issue of paternalism arises when person affected would prefer not to be treated in a way prescribed by the rule or policy in question. Paternalism and Feminists In the past decade, feminist legal theory has become influential. Feminist activism has also had a major impact on many areas of the law, including rape, self-defense, domestic violence, also, sexual harassment. However, the ideology of legal feminism today stretches beyond the original and widely supported goal of equal treatment for both sexes. The new agenda is to redistribute power from the "dominant class" represented by men to the "subordinate class" –women. Feminists declared the key concept such are judicial neutrality and individual rights to be patriarchal fictions designed to protect male privilege. Many feminist-initiated legal reforms have dealt with real issues - the tendency to treat rape victims more harshly and suspiciously than victims of other crimes, and inadequate protection for victims of domestic violence. At the same time, feminist pressure created loose definitions of harassment and rape. Therefore, there is an increased concern that courts and legislatures might be limiting individual rights on account of protecting women as a separate class. The proponents of this approach call, repeatedly, for equality before the law regardless of gender. Paternalism, also, and especially in feminist theories has a two-fold meaning. Feminists claim that while women might be treated with more leniency by law enforcement as indicated by chivalry hypothesis, there is a possibility of a treatment that would be more harsh in an attempt to keep them from achieving full equality with men (Akers&Sellers 2008). The Effects of Patriarchy and Paternalism on Domestic Violence It is my belief that the institution of patriarchy significantly contributes to the incidence of domestic violence. Males are still raised to be heads of families in the future, main economic providers and thus, regarded as more valuable as members of families and societies. In that regard, feminist theorists are rightfully concerned and outraged. The statistics presented in the course of this paper prove that society as a whole still struggles in finding ways to deal with rape and domestic violence issues. This, especially is true, when we know that convictions in the court are hard to obtain for rape and family violence occurrences, that alarmingly small proportion of male perpetrators ever spend any time in jail, and, also, that women themselves are hesitant to report crimes of rape and domestic battery, whether out of fear, ignorance or self-blame. The issue at hand is a complex one, it is impossible to deal with it one case at the time, and it will require some fundamental changes in the way how specific individuals and groups, and a society as a whole perceive the roles of two genders today. Rightfully so, the recent shift behavioral psychology might be just what this and any other society needs in order to be able to eradicate differences and bring equality to everybody. Reference List Akers, R. and Sellers, C. Criminological Theories :Introduction, Evaluation, Application. Oxford University Press. 2008 Bograd, M. (1988). Feminist perspectives on wife abuse. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Intimate Partner Violence in the U.S. 1993-2004, 2006. Retrieved from www.dwrc-or.org on November 16, 2010. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Violence Prevention. Retrieved on November 16 2010 from http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/index.html Ellis, Lee. Theories of Rape: inquiries into the causes for sexual aggression. Hemisphere Publishing. 1989 Gidycz, C.A.; Koss, M.P. (1990). "A Comparison Of Group And Individual Sexual Assault Victims". Psychology of Women Quarterly 14 (3): 325–342. Kleinig, John. Paternalism.Manchester. University Press. 1983 Lisak D, Roth S. Motives and psychodynamics of selfreported, unincarcerated rapists. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1990 Mac Millan Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender p. 1104. MacMillan Reference. 2007 National Center for Victims of Crime website. www.ncvc.org. 2008. Retrieved on November 17 2010 from http://www.ncvc.org/ncvc/main.aspx?dbName=DocumentViewer&DocumentID=32306 Rape Abuse Incest National Network website. www.rainn.org 2009. Retrieved November 17 2010 from http://www.rainn.org/statistics Sexlaws.org 2010. www.sexlaws.org. Retrieved on November 17 2010 from http://www.sexlaws.org/what_is_statutory_rape Thornhill Randy & Palmer Craig. A Natural History of Rape: Biological Bases of Sexual Coercion. Cambridge: MIT Press.2000 Titus Reid, S. Crime and Criminology. Oxford University Press. 2008 Ullman, S.E. (1999). "A Comparison of Gang and Individual Rape Incidents". Violence and Victims 14 (2): 123–133. PMID 10418766 US Department of Justice. 2007 National Crime Victimization Survey. 2007. Retrieved on November 17 2010 from http://www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/frequency-of-sexual-assault Us Office of Violence against Women. 2010. www.ovw.usdoj.gov Retrieved on November 17 2010 from http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/domviolence.htm Walby, Sylvia. Theorizing Patriarchy. Blackwell Publishers. 1991 Wallace, Harvey. Family Violence: Legal, Medical, and Social Perspectives. Allyn and Bacon. 2002 Read More