Rape is the acting out of forced sexual intrusion or intercourse on a person that has not accented to the act. There are many theories on why rapists carry out such crimes. The feminist theory perceives rape as an act that is "pseudo sexual” (Hyde & DeLamater, 2006). Feminists believe that males use rape to dominate and intimidate women. The social learning theory, on the other hand, hypothesizes that rape is one of the outcomes of attitudes of male acquisition as well as explicit learning experiences that result from incidences where men act violently towards women. The evolutionary theory, a controversial hypothesis, states that rape is actually an extreme reaction to the pressure of natural selection. In this premise, nature favors male brazenness in trying to copulate with several sexual partners. This theory also stipulates that nature favors females that do not attempt to compel males to reign in their sexual behavior. This theory is controversial because it goes against the moral beliefs enshrined in the majority of the world’s religious beliefs. It also seeks to disregard women’s rights over their own bodies and minds (Wilson, 2004).
Each of the above named theories contributes in various ways to comprehending rape by making empirically support forecasts that are not broached by the other theories. The proposed synthesized theory states that rape, like normal sexual activities, is inspired by two relatively unlearned and directly connected drives: the desire to own and be in charge of (particularly in regards to sexual partners), and the human desire for sex (Martin, 2005). Even though this concept then seeks to propose that the stimulus to rape is mostly unlearned, the strategies and techniques that are used in committing the act of rape are learned, mostly as a result of operant conditioning and not through imitation through observance or attitudes.
Notable, one will always wonder whether main issues in forcible rape more associated with life-course events or sociological conditions in the society at large. Admittedly, there are wrong-doers in virtually every social class from the wealthy to the poverty stricken citizens of society. However, it is a well known fact that the poor people are the ones that are most likely to commit crimes of a violent nature. Even the wealthy citizens are known to hire members of the poor classes when they wish to perpetrate violent crimes. Past research studies conducted on the socioeconomic standing of rapists in the America have shown that the greater part of criminals are from the lower socioeconomic social classes, and are usually jobless or semi-skilled, with no college education (Hyde & DeLamater, 2006). Cross-cultural researches from Australia and Denmark also verify that jobless, unskilled, and poorly educated male citizens, who usually do not feature in being considered as worthwhile potential partners for the available women, are more inclined to turn to rape than are other men (Bogaert, 2004).
When a society views a singular group as being less worthy than other social classes because the said group does not have adequate financial resources, the people who make up that group are evidently exposed to second-rate health care, substandard housing tenements, few job opportunities, and little if any education. Such lower social classes then generate a dog-eat-dog civilization, until its members start to gang together in order to increase their chances of surviving as a group. Since these resulting gangs do not have any schooling, they cannot get good jobs to feed their families. They are forced to take the only alternative that is open to them- that of crime. A careless attitude towards the significance of human life comes with such a lifestyle. What started as survival then grows to be a lifestyle and culture of roughness and indiscipline.
These men are most likely to inflict their frustrations on those that they are closest to. Unlike what is most prominently reported on, rape is mostly perpetrated by offenders on people they know. The recommendations, therefore, that women dress in an ‘appropriate manner’ or avoid ‘dangerous’ neighborhoods, is, thus ineffectual. Most rapes occur between individuals who work with or live near each other. Women are often raped by their ex-husbands, husbands, past or current boyfriends, friends, and acquaintances. The incidences where women are molested by complete strangers only make up about 20% of all rape cases (Bogaert, 2004). In addition, both sexual offenders as well as their victims are usually of the same age group and race.
References
Bogaert, A. (2004). Asexuality: Prevalence and associated factors in a national probability
Sample. Journal of Sex Research, 41, 279-287.
Hyde, J., & DeLamater, J. (2006). Understanding Human Sexuality . Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
Martin, P. Y. (2005). Rape Work: Victims, Gender, and Emotions in Organization and
Community Context. New York: Routledge.
Wilson, T. (2004). Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious. Harvard:
Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
