NCJ Number
238325
Date Published
2011
Length
237 pages
Annotation
This book presents the results of research examining hypotheses about victim-targeting in rape incidents.
Abstract
The book examines the debate surrounding sexual offenders' motives for committing sexual violence; namely, are the motives sexual, nonsexual, or both. The book also examines whether the basis for sexual violence lies in social structural or cultural norms. In order to evaluate whether sex offenders target rape victims for specific reasons (youth versus convenience and proximity), the author evaluated national victim survey and police data. Analysis of the data found the following: while age plays a factor in that female rape victims are significantly younger than both robbery and assault victims, the age of the victim has no effect on whether the offender is a stranger or is known to the victim; to a small extent, younger sex offenders are more likely to rape known victims than older sex offenders; and younger female victims of robbery/kidnapping by male strangers are more likely to be raped in the same incident compared to older female victims. Policy implications and issues for future research are discussed. Figures, tables, references, and index