Causes of sexual violence
refers to a range of completed or attempted sexual acts in which the affected party does not or is unable to consent. Theories on the causes of sexual violence are numerous and have come out of many different disciplines, such as women's studies, public health, and criminal justice. Proposed causes include military conquest, socioeconomics, anger, power, sadism, traits, ethical standards, laws, and evolutionary pressures. Most of the research on the causes of sexual violence has focused on male offenders.
Types of rapists
Clinical psychologist Nicholas Groth has described several different types of rape.A detailed conceptual analysis shows that objectification might underlie denial of agency and personhood that leads to rape.
Anger rapists
The goal of these rapists is to humiliate, debase and hurt their victims. They use an excessive amount of force, whether or not victims resist. Also, they express their contempt for their victims through physical violence and profane language. For these rapists, sex is a weapon to defile and degrade the victim, rape constitutes the ultimate expression of their anger. This rapist considers rape the ultimate offense they can commit against the victim. Friends and acquaintances of anger rapists may report a dark side to their personalities or lifestyles.Anger rape is characterized by physical brutality: much more physical force is used during the assault than would be necessary if the intent were simply to overpower the victim and achieve penetration. This type of offender attacks their victim by grabbing, striking and knocking the victim to the ground, beating them, tearing their clothes, and raping them.
The experience for the offender is one of conscious anger and rage.
Power assertive rapist
For these rapists, rape becomes a way to compensate for their underlying feelings of inadequacy and feeds their issues of mastery, control, dominance, strength, intimidation, authority and capability. The intent of the power rapist is to assert their competency. The power rapist relies upon verbal threats, intimidation with a weapon, and only uses the amount of force necessary to subdue the victims. Rapes committed by this perpetrator are more impulsive, spontaneous, and unplanned. Victims are frequently encountered by coincidence, such as at pubs, clubs, or parties. Their attack is characterized by a modest level of force applied over a brief period of time. Unlike the power reassurance rapist, the power assertive rapist sees himself as a "macho man" who wants to prove his virility to women. His language is abrasive and laced with profanities.The power rapist often will assume that the assault was not an assault because of their rape supportive attitudes. Power rapists are often in a mind set that they are entitled to their own pleasure regardless of the victims feelings or lack of desire. In the article, "Sexual Perpetrators' Justifications for Their Actions", it says, "One perpetrator who forced his steady dating partner to have sex after she willingly touched his penis, said 'I felt as if I had gotten something that I was entitled to. And I felt like I was repaying her for sexually arousing me'."
There is a clear tendency for a rapist to have fantasies about sexual experiences and assume that they are enjoying it or grateful for it even when they resist. Because this is only a fantasy, the rapist does not feel reassured for long by either their own performance or the victim's response. The rapist feels that they must find another victim, convinced that this victim will be "the right one". Hence, their offenses may become repetitive and compulsive. They may commit a series of rapes over a short period of time.
Sadistic rapists
These rapists have a sexual association with anger and power so that aggression and the infliction of pain itself are eroticized. For this rapist, sexual excitement is associated with the inflicting of pain upon their victim. The offender finds the intentional maltreatment of their victim intensely gratifying and takes pleasure in the victim's torment, pain, anguish, distress, helplessness, and suffering; they find the victim's struggling with them to be an erotic experience.The sadistic rapist's assaults are deliberate, calculated, and preplanned. They will often wear a disguise or will blindfold their victims. Prostitutes or other people whom they perceive to be vulnerable are often the sadistic rapist's targets. The victims of a sadistic rapist may not survive the attack. For some offenders, the ultimate satisfaction is gained from murdering the victim.
The propensity models of sexual aggression
The propensity approach to sexual aggression focuses on the traits that can increase the probability that someone will commit an act of sexual violence.Cognitive and attitudinal biases
The cognitive traits and attitudinal biases associated with a propensity to commit acts of sexual aggression come from socio-cultural research and says that forms of sexual aggression come from false beliefs of gender relations, misdirected objectives, and erroneous impressions of social interactions. Research focusing specifically on gender relations within the context of sexual assault have found that conformance to notions of male entitlement, suspicion of the opposite sex, perceiving violence as a reasonable method for solving problems, and holding the traditional patriarchal attitudes that specific societal roles belong to specific genders are found to adhere to the concept of male entitlement/superiority. The cognitive biases that add to one's propensity to commit acts of sexual violence include a feeling of entitlement, and the beliefs that women are sex objects, men's sexual drive is uncontrollable, society is dangerous, and women are unpredictable and dangerous.Neuropsychological processes
The neuropsychological deficits that may contribute to a propensity for sexual assault include difficulties in self-regulation, executive functioning problems, perception/memory system problems, arousal/motivation system deficits, and problems in the action selection system. The difficulties arise when sexual aggressors are not able to understand their emotional states so that when confronted with a situation that trigger their arousal/motivation systems, they become confused and may have issues controlling their behavior. An inability to adapt plans to deal with unforeseen situations or having limited problem-solving skills and maintaining maladaptive beliefs categorized by erroneous interpretations of social encounters can also contribute to a greater tendency to commit acts of sexual violence.Deviant sexual preferences
Research focusing on the deviant sexual preferences propensity model suggests that people who perpetrate acts of sexual violence are sexually aroused by non-consensual sexual interactions more than consensual sexual interactions. The research that seeks to support this model has not been able to reliably find differences in the two different groups of males. Instead, the studies are providing more evidence for the cognitive, attitudinal, neuropsychological, and lifestyle differences that impact sexual arousal in certain situations, rather than a deviant sexual preference leading to a higher propensity for sexual violence.Personality disorders and traits
The last propensity model of sexual violence views the perpetrators of sexual violence through three lenses of different personality traits, with interpersonal functioning being the most important factor in whether a person will have a higher propensity for sexual violence. This model is based on the idea that sexual aggression is indicative of problems starting and managing enjoyable intimate relationships.Insecure attachment lens
The insecure attachment style lens stems from research done on sexual aggressors that characterized them as people who had insecure attachment styles manifested as low self-esteem, an inability to develop relationships with others, and significant emotional loneliness. Through the lens of this model, sexual aggression is used as a faulty means of fulfilling intimacy needs.Antisocial personality traits/quadripartite lens
The antisocial personality lens stems from a study done by Hall and Hirschman and emphasizes the subsequent consequences of experiencing adversities/abuses in childhood, which can lead to the development of antisocial personality traits in adulthood.The antisocial personality traits combine with contextual, emotional, cognitive, and physiological factors that increase the probability of committing sexual violence.