Understanding the Perpetrators of Sexual Violence (University of Michigan)
First, sincere apologies in advance if reading this triggers any horrific memories or difficult emotions.
If you wish to read further, scroll down-otherwise, feel free to navigate away from this thread.
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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’ (Schwartz, 1995). 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 (Greenfeld, 1997).
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. (Scully, 1990).
Men are more likely to commit sexual violence in communities where sexual violence goes unpunished. (National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 2004).
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 (Slicner, 2007).
Sex offenders are experts in rationalizing their behavior. (Slicner, 2007)
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 (Maas, 2007). [/quote]
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?
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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 (Kilmartin, 2000; Rozee & Koss, 2001). In his classic study of college date rapists, Kanin’s sample (Kanin, 1985) were ]significantly more sexually active, but also more sexually frustrated than controls, and believed that rape could be justified under certain conditions.
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Personality Characteristics:
Various personality profiles of self-reported college rapists have been reported and include the following:
lack of empathy
hostile masculinity
macho/aggressive and dominant and controlling personalities
impulsivity
emotional constriction
underlying anger and power issues with women
(Berkowitz, 1992; Check et al., 1985; Lisak & Roth, 1990; Mehrabian & Epstein, 1972; Rapaport and Burkhart, 1984).
Summary of important points from this section:
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.
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Source:
http://sapac.umich.edu/article/196
I found this source very educational and sobering...
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