An interpersonal comparison of lone and group rape offences (original) (raw)
Related papers
Examining Group Rape: A Descriptive Analysis of Offender and Victim Behaviour
European Journal of Criminology, 2006
Two hundred and twenty three group rape offences were collated from archival sources, with the majority of cases from US and UK law reports. This involved 739 separate offenders (722 male and 17 female). Descriptive analyses indicated that this sample of offences tended to be committed by young males (mean age 21 years old) upon approximately same-age female victims. These offences involved multiple sexual acts often accompanied by acts of violence, with just over one-fifth ending in the victim's death. Victim resistance was relatively rare, although a range of verbal and physical reactions was apparent. The psychological implications of the results are discussed with respect to theories of co-offending.
Behavior displayed by female victims during rapes committed by lone and multiple perpetrators
Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 2012
Research with both the general public and members of the criminal justice system reports a pervasive rape myth of a violent offender and a physically resistant victim. Despite research being conducted on victims' postrape behavior, few studies have examined victim behavior during sexual assaults, and many of those which have been conducted have tended to focus on physical resistance. This article reports two studies that examined qualitatively the behavior of female rape victims during sexual assaults. The first study is an analysis of 78 stranger sexual assaults, committed in the United Kingdom, by male offenders. The second study is an analysis of 89 allegations of stranger rape, again from the United Kingdom, perpetrated by multiple male suspects. Information about victim behavior was extracted from victims' accounts made to the police. More than 100 different victim behaviors were identified in each study, and more than 80 behaviors were common across studies. Myth-congruent behaviors were present in the sample; however, the behaviors engaged in by victims were complex and diverse. Indirect and face-saving communications were used by victims and are discussed in terms of expectations regarding victim behavior and rape stereotypes. The implications of the findings for training legal professionals, educating jurors, and counseling victims are discussed.
Journal of Sexual Aggression, 2008
Examining the relationship between sexual offenders 1 Examining the relationship between sexual offenders and their victims: interpersonal differences between stranger and non-stranger sexual offences Abstract The present study examined the behavioural differences in sexual assault offences in relation to the offender-victim relationship (stranger vs non-stranger). These differences were specifically examined in the context of four interpersonal themes of interaction; dominance, submission, hostility and co-operation . The details of 100 sexual offence cases (50 stranger and 50 non-stranger) were content analysed, generating 58 dichotomous variables, covering offender and victim behaviour during the offence. Chi-square tests comparing the two samples found that offenders who were strangers to their victims were more likely than non-stranger offenders to display behaviours that indicate a hostile, violent, offence style. In contrast, those offenders who knew their victims were more likely than strangers to display a less violent and more personal, compliance gaining offence style. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for offender rehabilitation and victim support.
2010
The present study developed and contrasted predictive models of male nonphysical sexual coercion (e.g., verbal pressure or manipulation) and physical sexual aggression (e.g., incapacitation, physical force, or threats) using a sample of 369 incarcerated males to identify shared and unique risk factors for each form of sexual perpetration. Results revealed a set of shared risk characteristics that predisposed individuals to both sexual coercion and aggression (i.e., belief in rape myths, sexual promiscuity, aggressive tendencies, and empathic deficits). In addition, findings indicated that whether the offenders engaged in only sexual coercion or also used more violent sexually aggressive tactics depended on the presence of two sets of traits unique to these forms of perpetration. Specifically, sexual coercers tended to possess traits that facilitated the use of verbal tactics (i.e., ability to manipulate others and to imagine others ’ emotional reactions). In contrast, sexual aggress...
Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 2013
This study examined the direct and moderator effects of number of perpetrators and gender of victim on interpersonal behaviour in stranger rape. Crime scene behaviours representative of hostility, involvement, control, and offender penetration in rape were examined for 496 UK, police-recorded cases of stranger rape. Cases were grouped according to victim gender (male or female) and number of perpetrators (lone or multiple). This resulted in four groups (lone female, lone male, multiple female, and multiple male) with 124 cases in each. Binary logistic regression and one-way analysis of variance were used to investigate the relationships between the two predictor variables and 11 criterion variables. Significant direct effects of number of perpetrators were found whereby multiple perpetrator offences were more likely to involve violence and less likely to involve involvement interactions than lone perpetrator offences. Significant direct effects of victim gender were also found whereby male victims were more likely than female victims to experience hostile interactions and be threatened with a weapon and were less likely to experience offender penetration and involvement interactions. Significant crossover interactions were also found for four hostility variables. The utility of the findings are discussed in relation to crime prevention, victim support, and offender intervention.
Aggressive Behavior, 2004
This study provides an analysis of offender-victim interactions in 223 cases of sexual violence committed in gangs. Cases were derived from archival sources such as law reports. A multivariate analysis revealed four interpersonal themes (dominance, submission, co-operation, and hostility) previously identified in studies of lone sexual assault [Alison and Stein, Vicious Circles: Accounts of stranger sexual assault reflect abusive variants of conventional interactions. J Forensic Psychiatry 12: 2001]. These themes have also been identified in many other forms of human relating [Wiggins, An informal history of the interpersonal circumplex tradition. J Pers Assess 66: [217][218][219][220][221][222][223][224][225][226][227][228][229][230][231][232][233] 1996] and conform to a structure known as the interpersonal circumplex. The circumplex has previously been used to conceptualise the relationships between individuals in terms of dynamic interactions that are mutually influencing. Thus, dominance elicits submission and submission elicits dominance. Each interpersonal style could be further subdivided according to the use of either verbally or physically abusive strategies. Point-Biserial correlations with other aspects of the offence (e.g., mobility of the group, post-offence treatment of the victim) provided additional support for these conceptually different themes and demonstrated that gang rape represents a distorted and violent form of interpersonal relating. Further, this dynamic interaction emerges not just at an individual level, but at a group level, suggesting that the thematic concepts underpinning the interpersonal circumplex can be extended to group activity and sexually aggressive behaviour. Aggr. Behav. 30:449-468, 2004. Previous descriptive studies of gang rape have examined the frequency of various behavioural occurrences within group sexual assaults. Both Wright and West [1981] and Amir [1971] revealed that a large proportion of group rapes involve force and subsequent injuries to the victim, with approximately one-fifth involving the use of a weapon. Furthermore, a
Differentiating sex offences: a behaviorally based thematic classification of stranger rapes
Behavioral Sciences & The Law, 2003
It is hypothesized that stranger rape victim statements will reveal a scale of violation experienced by the victim, ranging from personal violation, through to physical violation, and finally, at the most extreme level, sexual violation. It is also hypothesized that offences can be differentiated in terms of one of four themes: hostile, controlling, stealing, or involving. To test these hypotheses, crime scene data from 112 rapes were analyzed by the multi-dimensional scaling procedure Smallest Space Analysis. The results provide empirical support for a composite model of rape consisting of four behavioral themes as different expressions of various intensities of violation. The results also suggest that stranger rapes may be less about power and control than about hostility and pseudo-intimacy. The proposed model has implications for the classification of rape, the investigation of sexual crimes, and the treatment of victims.
Reconstructing and sequencing behaviours in multiple perpetrator rape
Psychology Crime & Law, 2011
Much of the existing knowledge base of multiple perpetrator rape (MPR) comes from studies undertaken more than 20 years ago, and thus fails to integrate contemporary perspectives on sexual violence. The current study used Grounded Theory methodology to construct a holistic model of MPR from 15 victim accounts. The model of multiple perpetrator rape (MMPR) included both the actions of the perpetrators and the reactions of the victim in a temporal sequence of 13 categories, 9 of which had sub-categories that allowed for individual differences. Broad themes of MPR were then explored using a total of 101 cases. Each case was coded in the 9 sub-categories where individual differences were allowed from the model. An associative analysis of these sub-categories was then performed using Smallest Space Analysis. Two dominant themes were displayed. The Manipulate theme included two perpetrators who offended sequentially and socialised with the victim. The Force theme did not involve any social interaction, as the force and teamwork of the group enabled the victim to be physically overpowered.
Constructing Coercion: The Organization of Sexual Assault
Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 2005
BRIAN A. MONAHAN is a doctoral candidate in sociology at the University of Delaware. His current research interests range from the ways in which certain meanings were constructed in relation to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and their aftermath to the microsociological aspects of criminal and deviant activity. JOSEPH A. MAROLLA is an associate professor of sociology and special assistant to the provost for instruction at Virginia Commonwealth University. He has been engaged in research, teaching, and administration for the past thirty years. His current scholarly interests range from deviance through sport studies. His most notable work has been in the area of understanding the behaviors of convicted rapists. "Perpetrators exhibit differential awareness of their own actions, apply divergent meanings to apparently similar actions, and engage in different degrees and types of organization."
Forensic Science International, 1992
In this paper it is proposed that the behaviour of an offender during a sexual assault can bs considered as consisting of three main groupings or 'aspects'. These have been termed 'Modus Operandi', 'Sexual and Personal Gratification' and 'Attitude and Intimacy'. Although an oversimplification, such a model facilitates a preliminary description of the offender which can be of direct assistance to an investigating officer. Various factors affect the consistency and variability of behaviour and the model has formed a basis for the development of a concept as to which behaviours might be the more useful for identifying linked offences. This more systematic approach to the investigative and intelligence processes is reliant on a victim's statement containing very detailed information about the offender's actions, together with a record of as much of his speech as can be recollected. The material required is described using the model and the text is illustrated with case examples. Instances are quoted of the possible inferences and their relevance to the investigation of sexual offences.