English: Understanding the rapist [12,084]

The purpose of this article is to provide you with information about the rapist.  This article will address subculture myths, contributing factors to why a person commits rape, the role of alcohol, and studies focusing on male rapists.  It is designed to inform readers about the reality of this offense so that they are as informed as possible when hearing sexual-violence related cases.

Main points:        
No two sex offenders are exactly alike.  In fact, one sexual assault expert said that ‘sex offenders comprise an extremely heterogeneous population that cannot be characterized by single motivational or etiological factors’ However, sex offenders often exhibit some similar characteristics:    
                   
• Sex offenders are overwhelmingly white males.  Nearly 99% of sex offenders in single-victim incidents were male and 6 in 10 were white.
• Most sex offenders were not sexually or physically abused as children.  In one study of 114 convicted rapists, 91% denied experiencing childhood sexual abuse; 66% denied experiencing childhood physical abuse; and 50% admitted to having non-violent childhoods.
• Men are more likely to commit sexual violence in communities where sexual violence goes unpunished.                                              
• Sex offenders minimize their number of victims. Speaking with 99 male sex offenders, court records showed 136 victims between them, but later during treatment, they eventually confessed to 959 victims between them.
• Sex offenders are experts in rationalizing their behavior.
• There is no “typical profile” of a rapist.  Many defense attorneys will talk about whether their client, the alleged assailant, either fits the profile of a rapist or doesn’t.  This is an invalid argument because there is no typical profile of a rapist.  This is why it is good to focus on that person’s behavior instead of who they are in their community.

Example: Ted Bundy was an A+ student, volunteered for his university’s suicide prevention center, and was active in the church.  Does this sound like someone who would ‘fit the profile’ of a violent person?
                                             
Risk factors for male sexual aggression:

• It has been consistently reported that men acknowledged forced intercourse at a rate of 5-15%
• 1 in 12 men committed acts that met the legal definition of rape, and of those men, 84% did not consider their actions to be illegal.
• In a large study of men, 8.8% admitted rape or attempted rape.
• Cross-cultural studies of rape and studies of rape-prone versus rape-free cultures identify the following factors as contributors to sexual violence:
o 1). sex-role socialization; 2). rape myths; 3). lack of sanctions for abuse; 4). male peer group support; and,  5). pornography

• Men admit to sexually aggressive acts with acquaintances or romantic partners.
• It is found an average of 21-35% of males indicated some likelihood of raping if they could be assured of not being caught.
• The acceptance of rape myths, adversarial sexual beliefs, and lack of empathy were associated with greater proclivities in his sample to engage in sexual exploitation and aggression.

Male sex role in socialization:  
• When men are taught to be dominant and aggressive, this often leads to hyper-masculinity, male peer support for sexual aggression, development of rape myths, and adversarial sexual beliefs..
• Although the association between rape and pornography remains controversial, a number of studies have linked violent pornography and sexual arousal to rape depictions, violent sexual fantasies, rape callousness, and woman abuse. Men who were exposed to violent pornography and found an increase in their scores on acceptance of interpersonal violence.

Rape and alcohol abuse:            
• Alcohol abuse has been identified as a strong correlate of college rape.
• Although the media has labeled drugs such as Rohypnol and GHB as the date-rape drugs of the present, these are only two of the many drugs used to incapacitate a victim. Of the 22 substances used in drug-facilitated rapes, alcohol is the most common.
• The relationship between alcohol and rape is multifaceted, and alcohol may be both a precipitant of and an excuse for sexually aggressive behavior by men.
• Men who have committed sexual assault also frequently report getting their female companion drunk as a way of making it easier to talk or force her into having sex.
• Alcohol was a factor in 61% date rapists, and 76% of men admitted to attempts to intoxicate a female while on a date.
• 55% of men who acknowledged rape on a date were under the influence of alcohol.  Similarly,  47 sexually aggressive men reported that 53% were abusing and 30% were dependent upon alcohol or drugs respectively.
• 74% of the men who acknowledged raping used alcohol or drugs when they raped.  Later it was reported that acquaintance rapists admitted to consuming alcohol just prior to the  assaults.
• Male sexual coercion, men admitted to getting a date drunk or stoned to engage in sexual intercourse, and women reported on a date of men getting them drunk or stoned and engaging in unwanted sex.
• Alcohol can be a disinhibitor and increase sexual impulsivity, as well as lower women’s detection of risk and impair their ability to resist sexual assault.
• Intercourse obviously cannot be consensual when the woman is incapacitated due to intoxication.  Men may believe that there are fewer risks associated with coercive sex when they are intoxicated.
• It is believed that alcohol might be the intervening variable in high rates of rape.

Male personality characteristics:    
• Various personality profiles of self-reported rapists have been reported and include the following:
o 1). lack of empathy; 2). hostile masculinity; macho/aggressive and dominant and controlling personalities; 3). impulsivity; 4). emotional constriction; 5). underlying anger; and, 6).  power issues with women.

The sexual assault:
• Few men acknowledged using physical force to obtain sex, whereas more men acknowledged some form of sexual coercion.  This included pressuring women and saying things they did not mean to obtain sex, using alcohol to obtain sex, and having sex with a woman even when she wanted to stop.  A few men reported some likelihood of raping if they could be sure of not getting caught.
• Also, a pattern of alcohol-related sexual coercion emerged.  15% of the men acknowledged using some form of alcohol-related sexual coercion.  35% of the men reported that their friends approved of getting a woman drunk to have sex with her and 20% acknowledged having friends who have gotten a woman drunk or high to have sex.
• Pornography consumption was common among the men and may further add to the risk of sexual aggression.  Specific violent or rape-theme content of the pornography has been associated with propensity to rape and pro-rape attitudes, as well as from self-reports of men who have admitted raping.
• Peer pressure to have sex and alcohol-related sexual coercion emerged as important factors in the social milieu.


Summary of the important points:
• Sex offenders comprise an extremely heterogeneous population.
• There is no typical profile of a rapist, but they share some common characteristics.
• Sex offenders are overwhelmingly male, typically have access to consensual sex, and were not sexually or physically abused as children.
• Men are more likely to commit sexual violence in communities where sexual violence goes unpunished.
• Sex offenders are experts in rationalizing their behavior.
• Cross-cultural studies of rape identify the following factors as contributors to sexual violence: sex-role socialization, rape myths, lack of sanctions for abuse, male peer group support, pornography, adversarial sexual beliefs, lack of empathy, and all-male membership groups such as fraternities and sports teams.
• Alcohol abuse has been identified as a strong correlate of college rape.
• In a study on male sexual coercion, 23% of college men admitted to getting a date drunk or stoned to engage in sexual intercourse.
• Alcohol can be a disinhibitor and increase sexual impulsivity, as well as lower women’s detection of risk and impair their ability to resist assault.
• Intercourse cannot be consensual when the woman is incapacitated due to intoxication.


This article is being included in the Blog, just to show the reader, that there exists no typical profile of a rapist; anyone can commit rape, at anytime, and in any manner. The reader may object to this article and the content therein, but it is important to note, that should this article or any other article that I have written for this Blog, be instrumental in saving one person from being a victim of any type of criminal behavior, than those objections will fall upon deaf ears.

As always, be safe!

- Bird

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