The Issue of Rape in America - Essay Example

Rape in America Rape is a socially disturbing crime, the origin of which s back before the start of human civilization. Its occurrence in these modern times is not only a concern for the American society but also to different societies around the world. It is a brutal violation of the rights of persons, especially women, over their body and well-being. This crime degrades and robs women of their dignity and innocence in addition to the physical abuse inflicted on them. In the United States, the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) showed that in the year 2002, there were 95,136 cases of forcible rapes reported. This figure translates to an incidence rate of 64.8 victims of forcible rate for every 100,000 women and girls (FBI, 2003). The report also states that around 91 percent of these victims suffered rapes by force while 9 percent reported experiencing forcible rape attempts by another person. Although definitions of rape in every society, culture and nationality varies and considered very complex, the law provides basic situations or conditions for the commission of this crime. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), established in the 1960s, defines rape as "forced sexual intercourse including both psychological coercion as well as physical force. Forced sexual intercourse means vaginal, anal, or oral penetration by the offender" (Kilpatrick, 2004). "The Federal Criminal Code of 1986 has a different definition of rape. It does not use the term rape per se but uses aggravated sexual abuse instead. According to this law, there are two types of aggravated sexual abuse. These are (1) aggravated sexual abuse by force or threat of force and (2) aggravated sexual abuse by other means". (Title 18, Chapter 109A, Sections 2241-2233). The first type involves the use of force or threat such as death, injury or detention to coerce a person into sexual activity. The second type includes rendering the victim unconscious through force or other means such as alcohol or drugs in order to engage into a sexual act (Title 18, Chapter 109A, Sections 2241-2233). The National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAWS) on the other hand clearly defined the nature and limits of rape in their assessment of U.S. adult women from 1995-1996. There were five instances or conditions in their questionnaire which can be considered as an act of rape. The first is the use of force or threat to victim or persons close to the victim in order to have sex which involves putting a penis in the victim's vagina. The second is the use of force or threat to victim or persons close to the victim to have oral sex. The third is the use of force or threat to victim or persons close to the victim to have anal sex. The third is the use of force or threat to victim or persons close to the victim to put the offender's finger inside the victim's vagina or anus. The last condition includes the above four acts but without actual penetration (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000). In the social or psychological science, rape is defined as forcing sexual activity on a person who objects or withholds consent or, in other words, sexual activity devoid of consent and against the person's will. This paper aims to assess the applicability of the narcissistic theory in the commission of rape and the psychology of rapists. Narcissistic Theory The narcissistic theory was presented by several psychologists including S. Freud, C. Lasch, O. Kernberg and H. Kohut to name a few. Narcissism was based from the name of a Greek mythology character called Narcissus who fell in love with his own reflection on the water's surface. Narcissism, simply put, is used to refer to self-love or self-admiration (John & Robins, 1994; Rhodewalt et al., 1998; Morf & Rhodewalt, 1993). Freud's adaptation of the term found healthy and pathologic applications of narcissism in his psychodynamic theories while Kohut defines it as a mental illness caused by a defective upbringing resulting to excessive love of oneself and disregard for other persons. Lasch normalized the term with his claim that normal or healthy people also exhibit narcissistic personality with the example of the American society which has, according to the clinical psychologist, become a culture of narcissism. On the other hand, Kernberg developed a developmental model showing that narcissistic behavioral patterns take root during early infant development where object relations nurture libidinal and aggressive tendencies (Kohut, 1971; Lasch, 1978; Kernberg, 1975). According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM-IV of the American Psychiatric Association, there are nine criteria for the definition of narcissism. These are (1) a grandiose feeling of self-importance, (2) dreams of immense success, influence, intelligence, beauty or perfect love, (3) a delusion that one is special and unique and therefore can be appreciated only by high-status people, (4) a search for extreme admiration, (5) an irrational sense of entitlement, (6) interpersonal abuse of others, (7) lack of empathy to other person's emotions, (8) envy of other people or the illusion that other people envy one and (9) arrogance or misplaced pride. Presence of a minimum of five criteria described above qualifies a person as narcissistic (Raskin et al., 1991; Morf & Rhodewalt, 1993; John & Robins, 1994). Recent studies try to uncover the mystery behind narcissism. These include correlation of narcissism with decreased capacity for feeling guilt and shame, and unrealistically or irrationally optimistic evaluation of self. Narcissists were found to have a high tendency of reacting to negative evaluations through blaming other factors, the evaluator himself, and the process of evaluation (John & Robins, 1994; Rhodewalt et al., 1998; Morf & Rhodewalt, 1993). Narcissists respond to threats to their self-esteem by degrading the personality posing the threat. During stress, they cope through power, revenge, grandiose, sexual and heroic fantasies. In addition, during these instances, they daydream of situations where others can admire the narcissists' great qualities (Raskin et al., 1991; Morf & Rhodewalt, 1993; John & Robins, 1994). Narcissists generally possess attention-seeking behavior which is found to be aimed towards gaining admiration. There were also correlations with self-esteem, hostility, dominance, and craving for power. Narcissists also are prone to more anger and anxiety in the event of failure compared to normal persons. They have the tendency to externalize or downplay negative feedback even though they have intense emotions in reality. In addition, they claim and exhibit higher levels of self-esteem than most people. Their tendency to resort to anger during negative feedback and blaming others are believed to contribute to their poor interpersonal or social skills (John & Robins, 1994; Rhodewalt et al., 1998; Morf & Rhodewalt, 1993). Narcissists are found to forge shallow relationships since they tend to discriminate and antagonize others. They have intense craving for the appreciation or admiration of other people and have the tendency to be particularly envious of the achievements of others. Ironically, narcissists have the interesting skill to charm and influence people to give in to their requests but are in the end insensitive and indifferent to other people's feelings and aspirations (Raskin et al., 1991; Morf & Rhodewalt, 1993; John & Robins, 1994). Application of the Narcissistic Theory to Rape In order to determine if the narcissistic theory can be applied to the understanding of the commission of rape, the abovementioned nine characteristics or criteria of narcissists will be appropriately described in probable correlation to rapist psychology. The first criterion of narcissism is the grandiose sense of self-importance. Narcissists have the distorted notion that they should always come first since they are important and all things revolve around them. This entails putting forth their needs first before the needs of others. This can be easily applied to the psychology of rapists. Rapists, like narcissists, have the distorted sense that they are more important than their victims and other people. The sexual needs of rapist come first before the security and comfort needs of victims and other people. Since they are important, rapists have the privilege to satisfy their sexual needs even when other people can be negatively affected. The second criterion includes fantasies of immense success, power, intelligence, beauty or perfect love. Narcissists daydreams of success, power and intelligence to be able to gain admiration. Also, beauty and perfect love indicates their need to gain affection from women. There are claims that assertion of power is one of the manifestations of rape commission since raping means gaining the upper hand and control over women. Brilliance or intelligence is clearly indirectly attributable to rape psychology since this would invite admiration which can lead to sexual rewards. Fantasies for beauty certainly apply to the desire to attract women especially those that the rapists adore. Physical attraction plays a major role here to be able to solicit affection and sexual favors. The same is true with their fantasies for perfect love wherein they need confirmation of the admiration that they desperately seek. Perfect love would sometimes be equated with perfect sexual relations to satisfy the rapists' needs. If these five desires are not fulfilled or opportunities are dashed, rapists then may become violent and would sexually assault victims to realize these fantasies. The third criterion is characterized by fantasies of being special and unique such that only high-status people are the only ones who can understand them. With their being unique and special comes privilege to sample and take any thing that they desire. For narcissists, their desires should not be limited by other persons. Their needs do not stop where the needs of others start. Narcissists believe that they are only answerable to themselves since only higher-status people can understand what they do. For rapists, this can be particularly true. As long as their needs are catered to, there is no problem. Rapists are special and they can have sexual intercourse to the women they really want. Those women are expected by rapists to attend to their sexual needs whether they like it or not. And when these women do not act as the rapist want them to, then they do whatever it takes to make them comply which leads to rape. Furthermore, rape is not their liability since only people of high intellect or power can comprehend their act. To them rape is justified since they are unique and special after all. The fourth criterion is the quest for excessive admiration. As described above, narcissists feel that they are special and unique warranting unlimited attention and admiration. Their sense of self-importance is well beyond expectations. Admiration of other people comes in various forms. These may include words of approval or gestures of appreciation. It is also possible that narcissists may yearn for more intimate gestures such as sexual act as a form of unquestionable admiration. Narcissists need to feel that they are totally accepted so that they can do whatever they desire especially from women. In the mind of rapists, this craving for admiration is very obvious. It is possible that rapists equate admiration to sexual favors. This need to experience admiration in the form of sexual intercourse can become uncontrollable such that when they are turned down during solicitation or advances, they become frustrated and resort to force. Even after raping women, rapists may feel that these women finally gave in because of admiration. The fifth criterion is an excessive sense of entitlement for things, favors and rewards. Narcissists have the delusion that they deserve the best and the most of what the world has to offer. Their grandiose sense of self-importance places them in front of everybody else in terms of provision and privileges. Since they are entitled to anything there is, they can partake of everything they desire without any remorse or consideration of the emotion and aspiration of other people. This means that rapists are entitled to the affection and expression of this affection from women. They are entitled to experience sexual satisfaction from women they desire unlike other men. If they are refused of what they considered theirs to have, frustration sets in and thus the need to use force to get sexual satisfaction. This implies that they have the set of mind that they have done no wrong since they only did what was right for them. They have no consideration for the women or other people that may be affected. The sixth criterion is characterized by exploitation of other people. Since narcissists consider themselves important and entitled to everything, they therefore lack the ability to place themselves to other's situation. This invariably leads to insensitivity to the feelings and aspirations of other people. The obvious consequence would be that they would not feel any remorse or apprehension about hurting other people when they pursue their privileges. Therefore, narcissists have the tendency to get into a situation wherein they abuse other people for the satisfaction of their needs. Rapists are also in the same situation since rape is a blatant exploitation of women. Because of the inability to place themselves in the situation of their victims and be affected, rapists become abusive of other people. The seventh criterion is lack of empathy to other people. Narcissists do not have the capacity to empathize with other people's situation and emotion. In relation to their desire to acquire and obtain anything that they want or need, no remorse is felt by narcissist when they hurt or discomfort others in the process. Rapists are in the same situation and they too do not feel anything for their victims or other people that may be affected. They cannot imagine the horror that women experience because of rape. They cannot feel the sorrow and pain those victims of violence like rape experience. Thus, they perpetrate the crime unrestricted internally. The eight criterion of narcissism is envy of other people's successes and the illusion that other people are envious of them. Since they are the most important persons in their perception, any success or good fortune of other people are taken as an assault to their entitlements. Instead of them being the center of envy of other people, they are therefore being made to suffer in their analysis. Envy of success can translate to sexual context in a way that sex with particularly desired women should be to the rapists and not to other people. Sexual intercourse is entitled to rapists instead of any other people. When envy reached its peak, rapists exhaust all possible ways to avail them of this entitlement. In the event of perpetration of rape, rapists may then have the feeling of success that other people should envy. The last criterion is arrogance or misplaced pride. Narcissists gain satisfaction for absurdly selfish ways. This sense of self-importance for things that they can obtain gives them false bases of pride which make them all the more arrogant. Conquests particularly feed the desire of narcissists which pushes them to desire more for themselves. Arrogance is highlighted with their non-recognition of the needs and feelings of other people. This gives them more power answerable only to people who can understand them. Rapists can be of the same state of mind since they have to have sexual gratification any way they please because of presupposed entitlement. The above arguments indicate that the theory of narcissism is applicable to the understanding of rape and persons who commit them since each criterion was appropriately aligned with the possible behavior and motives of rapists. In other words, narcissism in rapists can be considered to be of importance in understanding their psychology. Works Cited Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2003). Uniform crime reports 2002: Crime in the United States. U.S. Department of Justice. Washington, DC: Author. John, O. P., & Robins, R. W. (1994). Accuracy and bias in self-perception: Individual differences in self-enhancement and the role of narcissism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 206-219. Kernberg, O. (1975). Borderline conditions and pathological narcissism. New York: Jason Aronson. Kilpatrick, D.G. & K. J. Ruggiero. (2004). 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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 75-87. Tjaden, P. & Thoennes, N. (2000). Full report of the prevalence, incidence, and consequences of violence against women: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NCJ183781. Read More