Identification of cues and control of sexual arousal by rapists

The experiments in this article pertain to factors relevant to rape. The first experiment examined the ability of four groups to discriminate between appropriate and inappropriate sexual cues. Rapists detected such cues as well as did either Normals or Non-rapist Inmates, in all but the most assaultive rape tape. Normal subjects who had consumed alcohol prior to testing, detected inappropriate cues earlier in the tapes than did all other subjects. The second experiment addressed the ability of subjects to inhibit sexual arousal when instructed to do so. Rapists and Non-rapists were shown to be equally capable of inhibiting arousal in response to both mutually-consenting and rape cues. These findings negate theories suggesting that rapists differ from other men in that they are unable to exert control over their arousal, and that they have difficulty in identifying inappropriate cues to arousal.     

Attitudes toward women,violence, and rape: A comparison of convicted rapists and other felons

Literature in the area of rape has been dominated by the psychiatric perspective leading to the view of rape as an individualistic, ideosyncratic and psychopathological problem. This leads to a conception of the rapist as a special criminal who is somehow different from his fellow prisoners. This paper proposes to study rapists as emotionally average men who have been socialized to view aggressive sexual behavior as appropriate in various situations. A comparison of rapists’ attitudes toward women, violence and rape with that of other felons reveals that their rape relevant attitudes are more extreme. It is proposed that the prevailing rape myths that exist in the society at large serve the function of providing excuses and justifications for rapists.     

Testing hypotheses regarding rape: Exposure to sexual violence,sex differences,and the “normality” of rapists

Three hypotheses on the subject of rape were addressed empirically. The first concerns the effects of exposure to sexual violence on reactions to rape. Males and females were first exposed to either a sadomasochistic or a nonviolent version of the same sexual passage and then to a portrayal of rape. Responses to the rape showed interactions between gender and previous exposure: In comparison to males who had read the nonviolent version, males exposed to the sadomasochistic story were more sexually aroused to the rape depiction and more punitive toward the rapist whereas females evidenced differences in the opposite direction. Simple effects analyses for each gender, however, yielded significant differences for the punitiveness measure only and for males only. In addressing the second hypothesis, gender differences were found in the perception of rape. Third, the assertion that rape may be an extension of normal sexual patterns was explored. Subjects were found to believe that a high percentage of men would rape if assured of not being punished and that a substantial percentage of women would enjoy being victimized. While both genders shared these beliefs, very few women believed that they personally would derive pleasure from victimization. Surprisingly, more than half of the males indicated some likelihood that they themselves would rape if assured of not being punished. The association between this self-report and general attitudes toward rape revealed a pattern that bears striking similarity to the callous attitudes often held by convicted rapists.     

Differentiation of Death-Row Murderers and Life-Sentence Murderers by Antisociality and Intelligence Measures

Prior studies of dangerousness have confirmed that the combination of high antisociality and low IQ is associated with male criminal violence and that the same combination can discriminate within a group of violent male criminals by level of severity. My study continued the validation of this two-component measure by showing that men convicted of murder and given the death sentence for their more heinous crimes were more dangerous than murderers who received life sentences. Men who had been extended the death penalty, who selected female victims, and whose murders were judged to have been especially cruel received extraordinarily high dangerousness scores relative to all other murderers. The assumption that high antisociality and low IQ would lead to serious violence because of the criminal's inability to deal with complications that arise in confronting the victim received some support. The murders of more dangerous men followed stronger victim resistance than the murders committed by less dangerous men.     

Differentiation of death-row murderers and life-sentence murderers by antisociality and intelligence measures

Prior studies of dangerousness have confirmed that the combination of high antisociality and low IQ is associated with male criminal violence and that the same combination can discriminate within a group of violent male criminals by level of severity. My study continued the validation of this two-component measure by showing that men convicted of murder and given the death sentence for their more heinous crimes were more dangerous than murderers who received life sentences. Men who had been extended the death penalty, who selected female victims, and whose murders were judged to have been especially cruel received extraordinarily high dangerousness scores relative to all other murderers. The assumption that high antisociality and low IQ would lead to serious violence because of the criminal's inability to deal with complications that arise in confronting the victim received some support. The murders of more dangerous men followed stronger victim resistance than the murders committed by less dangerous men.     

Factorial Analysis of the Relation of the Press to Voting in Chicago

Abstract

Clinical literature has had speculations concerning the attitudes of rapists toward women, but only a few studies have tested attitudinal hypotheses with psychometric instruments. The present investigation used the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS) to study and compare the attitudes of 20 incarcerated rapists, 20 nonsex-related violent offenders, and 20 matched subjects in a contemporary control group. The results confirmed the general hypothesis that the rapist group would show different and more conservative attitudes toward women, especially in areas relating to sexual behavior. More specific analysis of subscale differences was used to further compare the groups on precise attitudinal variables. The findings were discussed in terms of the possible relationship between rape behavior and stereotypic conservative attitudes toward women.     

“Lights on at the end of the party”: Are lads’ mags mainstreaming dangerous sexism?

Research has suggested that some magazines targeted at young men –lads’ mags– are normalizing extreme sexist views by presenting those views in a mainstream context. Consistent with this view, young men in Study 1 (n = 90) identified more with derogatory quotes about women drawn from recent lads’ mags, and from interviews with convicted rapists, when those quotes were attributed to lads’ mags, than when they were attributed to convicted rapists. In Study 2, 40 young women and men could not reliably judge the source of those same quotes. While these participants sometimes voiced the belief that the content of lads’ mags was ‘normal’ while rapists’ talk was ‘extreme’, they categorized quotes from both sources as derogatory with equal frequency. Jointly, the two studies show an overlap in the content of convicted rapists’ talk and the contents of contemporary lads’ mags, and suggest that the framing of such content within lads’ mags may normalize it for young men.     

The Effects of Sex and Power Schemas,Attitudes Toward Women,and Victim Resistance on Rape Attributions1

This study examined the effects of attitudes toward women, rape schemas, and victim resistance on rape attributions in a hypothetical rape scenario. One hundred twenty-eight female subjects participated in the investigation. In line with the hypotheses, a 2 × 2 × 2 (Traditional vs. Nontraditional Attitudes × Sex vs. Power Schemas × Presence vs. Absence of Resistance) ANOVA demonstrated a significant interaction effect between rape schemas and victim resistance for rape attributions. As predicted, those who held sex schemas of rape attributed less fault and responsibility to resisting, compared to nonresisting, victims. In addition, they attributed more fault and responsibility to the nonresisting victim than did those who held power schemas. Rape schemas and victim resistance exerted an interactive influence on perpetrator attributions. Although attitudes toward women did not affect victim attributions, traditional women attributed less fault and responsibility to perpetrators than did nontraditional women.     

Parental identification of rapists and pedophiles.

It is well documented that sex offenders experience a higher incidence of sexual abuse and are more likely to have been reared in dysfunctional families than are individuals in most comparison groups. It is unclear, however, whether growing up in an abusive or dysfunctional family affects the extent to which the potential sex offender would subsequently identify with his parents. Sixteen rapists, 18 pedophiles, 9 general offenders, and 11 college students completed the Parental Identification Scale to assess their parental identification. It was predicted that the rapists and pedophiles would identify less with their parents than would college students or general offenders. Analysis indicated a strong and significant correlation between group membership and parental identification. Rapists and pedophiles identified less with their mothers and fathers than did members of corresponding control groups.     

Preferences for Rape Reduction Strategies

The present study examined the effects of two subject variables (sex of subject and feminist attitudes) and two strategy variables (strategy aggressiveness and locus of responsibility for change) on the perceived effectiveness and desirability of four rape reduction strategies. Fifty-three females and 36 males served as subjects in a 24 factorial design. Although women rated all strategies as more effective and desirable than did men, attitude toward sex roles was a more pervasive determinants of patterns of perceived effectiveness and desirability than was subject sex. Generally, aggressive strategies were rated as more effective than nonaggressive strategies, and strategies placing the locus of responsibility for change on women were considered more effective than strategies requiring men and society to take action. Strategies that were consistent with sex-role stereotypes (women avoiding rape by passive behavior and men and society fighting rape by aggressive treatment of rapists) were seen as more effective than nonstereotypic strategies. Profeminists found the nonstereotypic strategies to be more desirable, however, and they also rated as relatively more desirable those strategies that placed responsibility for change on men and society. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of sex-role attitudes rather than subject sex differences in reducing rape.     

Age as a modifier of sexually aggressive attitudes in men

Male attitudes and behaviours related to imagined sexual aggression were investigated in 99 Finnish men (mean age 24.3 years). Structural equation modelling suggested that imagined sexual aggression was directly predicted by hostile masculine ideologies and past antisocial acts, and indirectly by subject age (hostile masculinity decreased with age). For more detailed analyses of age effects on attitudes, the subjects were split into an older and a younger group. A small group of incarcerated rapists (n = 8; mean age 33.4 years) was included for comparative purposes; these were similar in age to the older group (n = 34; mean age 31.5 years) and were given the same attitude items. The younger men and the rapists expressed significantly more hostility toward women and acceptance of rape myths, and had a higher likelihood of committing rape than older men. Although younger men accepted interpersonal violence and sexual dominance, their attitudes were not necessarily reflected in past sexually aggressive behaviours, as they were in the rapists who differed from the younger men mainly in terms of their past antisocial activities.     

From Crime Scene Actions in Stranger Rape to Prediction of Rapist Type: Single‐Victim or Serial Rapist?

The differences in crime scene actions in cases of stranger rape committed by convicted offenders were examined between 31 single‐victim rapists and 35 serial rapists. Data were collected from police files, court verdicts, psychiatric evaluations, and criminal records. Findings indicate that the serial rapists were more criminally sophisticated than the single‐victim rapists, during their first and second rapes. The single‐victim rapists were significantly more likely to engage in the interpersonal involvement behavior of kissing the victim, and to engage in pre‐assault alcohol use, than the serial rapists. There was, however, no significant difference in physically violent or sexual behaviors. To investigate the possibility of predicting rapist type, logistic regression analyses were performed. Results indicate that three behaviors in conjunction, kissed victim, controlled victim, and offender drank alcohol before the offense, predicted whether an unknown offender is a single‐victim or serial rapist with a classification accuracy of 80.4%. The findings have implications for the classification of stranger rapists in offender profiling. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Factor Analysis of Physique-Stereotyped Traits

Abstract

The prevalence of rape myths contributes to victims' reluctance to report rapes. Black (n = 30) and White (n = 96) U.S. college students responded to the Rape Myth Scale (Burt, 1980) and read a scenario of an acquaintance rape; the race of the perpetrator and victim (Black or White) were varied. The respondents assessed the victim's and perpetrator's responsibility and evaluated the incident. As hypothesized, the respondents with strong beliefs in rape myths were more tolerant of the rapist and less tolerant of the victim than were those with weaker beliefs. There was limited support for the myth of the Black rapist and White victim; however, the myth of the Black rapist appeared particularly strong among the Black respondents. The women responded more negatively to the rapist and more positively to the victim than the men did. Such biases in attitudes toward rape could keep women from reporting rapes and accused rapists from receiving fair trials.     

Microsaccadic eye movements and binocular rivalry

Eye movements were monitored with a sensitive binocular measuring device during presentation of stimuli that caused binocular rivalry. It was found that the number of microsaccades was approximately 50% higher when measured during rivalry than when measured during periods of normal viewing. The level of microsaccadic activity is greater at the beginning than toward the end of the suppression interval. The results suggest that the depth of suppression associated with binocular rivalry is not constant over the duration of a rivalry interval.     

Identity Construction,Self Perceptions,and Criminal Behavior of Incarcerated Women

Using symbolic interactionism and labeling as theoretical frameworks, identity status formation has been studied primarily with students in school environments, and very little is known about how people in other situations perceive themselves. This research examined how 104 young women convicted of felony offenses viewed their personal and social identities, and explored whether previous criminal behavior predicted how women saw themselves at this point in their lives. Having a prior conviction and being involved in drug use and sales predicted the likelihood that women would see themselves as criminals, but property crime did not. Implications of the findings were discussed.     

Likelihood to rape in college males

This study assessed rape and sexual force proclivities among 159 college men at a small Protestant church-affiliated liberal arts college. No data were collected regarding ethnicity; however, institutional statistics indicate that the population was about 90% European American. There were 69 freshmen, 31 sophomores, 30 juniors, and 29 seniors (mean age = 19.34). Thirty-four percent reported some proclivity to rape or force sex. Participants who reported both proclivities indicated higher rape myth acceptance, offered more justifications for the increasing use of violence against women, were lower in rape empathy, held more gender stereotyped attitudes toward women, and accepted interpersonal violence more than those who reported no proclivities. However, by contrast, these groups did not differ on general emotional empathy.This paper is based on a Senior Honor's Research Project conducted by the first author while an undergraduate. The first author would like to thank Thomas Peterson for his assistance and encouragement during the early stages of the research process and Keith Yanner for his timely statistical suggestions.     

Rape Myth Acceptance and Sociodemographic Characteristics: A Multidimensional Analysis

Many myths have been identified surrounding rape, rapists, and rape victims. This study reexamines the acceptance of rape myths across gender role ideologies and selected demographic characteristics to identify core myths. Three myth categories were established and investigated: blaming the woman, excusing the man, and justifications for acquaintance rape. Findings indicate that rape myths remain prevalent and adherence to myths is related to demographic factors and gender role attitudes. Overall, respondents tend to excuse the man more than blame the woman. Males accept rape myths more than females. Racial differences emerged most strongly on the justifications for acquaintance rape dimension. Individuals with a conservative gender role ideology believe rape myths more than those with more liberal ideologies. While core myths did not emerge from the data, the most revealing finding is that summative scaling techniques used in previous studies may mask important differences, between and within the three dimensions, in rape myth acceptance among the groups studied.     

Post‐incarceration Recidivism of Lone versus Group Juvenile Homicide Offenders

Killings by juvenile homicide offenders (JHOs) who use accomplices have been increasing since the 1980s and currently represent approximately half of juvenile arrests for murder in the United States. Nevertheless, prior research has not compared JHOs who kill alone with JHOs who kill in groups. The present research followed up 30 years later on a sample of 59 male murderers and attempted murderers sentenced to adult prison. This study was designed to analyze whether lone and group JHOs differed on pre‐incarceration, incarceration, and post‐incarceration variables. Significant findings indicated that compared with lone offenders, group JHOs had a higher mean of pre‐homicide arrests and were more likely to be Black, have a pre‐homicide delinquent record, commit a crime‐related homicide offense, and target a stranger. With respect to post‐homicide variables, group JHOs were more likely to be released from prison and more likely to be rearrested. The two types of JHOs did not differ significantly in relation to the number of post‐release violent offenses. Preliminary implications of the findings and avenues for future investigation are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Should a criminal receive a heart transplant? Medical Justice vs. Societal Justice

Should the nation provide expensive care and scarce organs to convicted felons? We distinguish between two fields of justice: Medical Justice and Societal Justice. Although there is general acceptance within the medical profession that physicians may distribute limited treatments based solely on potential medical benefits without regard to nonmedical factors, that does not mean that society cannot impose limits based on societal factors. If a society considers the convicted felon to be a full member, then that person would be entitled to at least a “decent minimum” level of care — which might include access to scarce life-saving organs. However, if criminals forfeit their entitlement to the same level of medical care afforded to all members of society, they still would be entitled to a kind of “rudimentary decent minimum” granted to all persons on simple humanitarian grounds. Almost certainly this entitlement would not include access to organ transplants.     

Rape Myths and Beyond: A Commentary on Edwards and Colleagues (2011)

This article comments on Edwards et al. (2011) who review the state of the current literature on rape myths, defined as ??prejudicial, stereotyped or false beliefs about rape, rape victims, and rapists?? (Burt 1980; p. 217). I argue that while studying rape myths is important to understanding the persistence of sexual assault against women in Western societies, other factors that contribute to this problem need to be considered. Specifically, I focus on the importance of examining societal messages regarding women??s sexuality, as well as examining how individuals conceptualize and define rape more broadly. I conclude by discussing directions for moving toward producing real changes in the prevalence of sexual violence as well as ways to intervene more effectively with victims of sexual violence.