NCJ Number
217029
Date Published
2006
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This chapter explores the crime of rape, including offender characteristics, theoretical perspectives, and treatment approaches.
Abstract
Rape is defined differently by the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) and National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), but can generally be described as forced sexual intercourse or attempted forced sexual intercourse and can include psychological coercion as well as physical force. Prevalence statistics on rape in the United States are presented that suggested there were 146,000 rapes or attempted rapes in 2001. The United States has the highest incidence of rape in the world. Common rape myths are debunked, including the myths that men cannot control their sexuality and that rapists are inherently pathological. Offender, victim, and situational characteristics of rape are presented that show the majority of rapists are men 25 years or younger and the majority of victims are single women between the ages of 16 and 24 years. Alcohol and other substances are typically involved in rape. Classification systems for rapists have been developed based on characteristics of the offense and the offender, such as the Massachusetts Treatment Center (MTC) typology that places rapists into four categories: (1) displaced aggression; (2) compensatory; (3) sexual aggressive; and (4) impulsive. Theories that attempt to explain the crime of rape are described and include behavioral, sociological, psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, social-cognitive, and sociobiological theories. The author presents data concerning the effectiveness of different types of treatment approaches for sex offenders. Research widely supports the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapies for reducing the reoccurrence of sexual offending, which focuses on arousal control and changing cognitive distortions that are supportive of rape. In general, the vast differences between individual rapists require that treatment approaches are customized to the unique treatment needs of individual offenders. Textboxes offer information about female sexual offenders, male victims, and media portrayals of rape. References