NCJ Number
43097
Date Published
1977
Length
10 pages
Annotation
A DISCUSSION ON RACIAL ASPECTS OF RAPE IS PRESENTED, INCLUDING DATA WHICH DESTROY MYTHS ABOUT RAPE IN GENERAL.
Abstract
RAPE IS THE LEAST REPORTED OF ALL CRIMES, PARTLY BECAUSE MISINFORMATION AND MYTHS ABOUT THIS CRIME HAVE MADE MANY WOMEN ASHAMED OR AFRAID TO REPORT RAPE. STUDIES PROVIDE INFORMATION WHICH DESTROYS MANY WIDELY HELD BELIEFS. THE TYPICAL RAPIST, IT WAS FOUND, WAS A YOUNG 'ORDINARY GUY', WITH THE ONE EXCEPTION OF BEING MORE PRONE TO VIOLENCE. MORE THAN HALF OF THE ASSAULTS WERE PREMEDITATED, AND RAPISTS OFTEN ACTED IN GROUPS. RAPISTS ARRESTED FELL WITHIN THE LOW SOCIOECONOMIC LEVEL; BLACKS WERE DISPROPORTIONATELY REPRESENTED. ALTHOUGH BLACK WOMEN HAVE HISTORICALLY ALWAYS BEEN VULNERABLE TO RAPE BY WHITE MEN, THE BLACK MAN HAS REMAINED THE FOCAL POINT OF INTERRACIAL RAPE. BLACKS HAVE BEEN EXECUTED AND LYNCHED FOR RAPE OR SUSPECTED RAPE IN DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBERS. RECORDS OF BLACK-WHITE RAPE HAVE BEEN TAINTED BY RACIAL PREJUDICE AND ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL BIASES, WHICH MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO SHED LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT OF INTERRACIAL RAPE. ATTEMPTS TO EXPLAIN BLACK-ON-WHITE RAPE THROUGH GHETTO MALE SEXUALITY DESCRIBE THE GREAT MASCULINE PRESTIGE ATTACHED TO INTERCOURSE AND THE NUMBER OF FEMALES ONE ATTRACTS. SOME EXPLANATIONS LOCATE THE CAUSE IN THE NEW BLACK AWARENESS AND THE DESIRE OF BLACKS TO ATTACK THE SOURCE OF THEIR FRUSTRATION--WHITES; OTHER CAUSES ARE SEEN IN THE INCREASED SOCIAL INTERACTION OF WHITE WOMEN WITH BLACK MEN. DESPITE ALL THE SPECULATIONS, THERE HAVE BEEN NO CONSISTENT DATA TO SATISFACTORILY EXPLAIN WHY THERE IS INTERRACIAL RAPE. AVAILABLE EVIDENCE DOES INDICATE, HOWEVER, THAT INTERRACIAL RAPE ACTS ARE EXCEPTIONALLY FEW IN NUMBER. REPORTED RAPE IS MOSTLY A BLACK-ON-BLACK, WHITE-ON-WHITE PHENOMENON, AND CAN BE EXPLAINED BY ELEMENTS OF SEXUAL AND AGGRESSIVE URGES IN VARYING COMBINATIONS. DESPITE FREQUENT ATTEMPTS TO EXPLAIN BLACK-ON-BLACK RAPES THROUGH SOCIOCULTURAL FACTORS, THERE IS CLEARLY A NEED TO CONDUCT MORE EXTENSIVE RESEARCH ON THE BLACK RAPIST; PRESENT RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT THERE IS NO TYPICAL BLACK RAPIST. RAPE CRISIS CENTERS AND MORE FEMALE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ARE VIEWED AS A POSITIVE STEP TOWARD HELPING THE RAPE VICTIM. A BIBLIOGRAPHY IS INCLUDED.