Posted by Gopal Unnikrishna Kurup
Anatomy of Rape
According to psychologists, rape is caused by some psychological illness within the offender. That they are either emotionally disturbed or have personality defects, that they have problems that impair them in relationships when under stress through sexual violence. There is also the view that rape is caused by sexual addiction. But by and large psychological illness theory has limited value and is the cause of rape only in rare pathological cases.
Sociologists, however, believe that rapists are relatively normal people and do not have psychological problems. They view rape in a couple of different ways. Some believe that rape is due to an expression of gender inequality while some sociologists believe that rape is attributed to permissiveness, sexually, within society. Feminists tend to view rape as an expression of gender inequality, of male dominance over woman and is used to intimidate women to keep them in their place.Some believe that both sociological explanations of sexual permissiveness and gender inequality provide the best explanation .
.Sociobiologists( Thornhill,Palmer) maintain that rape evolved under some circumstances as a genetically advantageous behavioral adaptation. It has long been noted that behavior resembling rape in humans is widespread in other animals. In Orangutans, a close human relative, half of all matings are of the nature of "rape". It is inferred then that rape in humans is homologous to such animal behaviour. Rape is viewed as a natural, biological phenomenon that is a product of the human evolutionary history.. But it is to be stressed that by categorizing a behavior as "natural" and "biological" we do not in any way mean to imply that the behavior is justified or even inevitable. Like natural calamities, floods,epidemics, it is undesirable.
There may be several different types of rapists or rape strategies. One is rape by disadvantaged men who cannot get sex otherwise. Another is "specialized rapists" who are more sexually aroused from rape than from consensual sex. A third type is opportunistic rapists who switches between forced and consensual sex depending on circumstances. A fourth type is psychopathic rapists. A fifth type is partner rape due to "sperm competition "when the male suspects or knows that the female has had sex with another male. There are varying degrees of empirical support for the existence of each of these types.
Basically, rape is related to sexual desire and if you recognize that, to argue that provocative dress by women will not affect the risk of rape is fallacious. Scientists cite research finding that at least one-third of males "admit they would rape under specific conditions" and that other surveys find that many men state having coercive sexual fantasies. They, "propose that rape is a conditional strategy that may potentially be deployed by any man. Similarly, greater societal freedom amounting to permissiveness wii be fertile ground to produce rapists. An imporant factor in incidence of rape is its cost-gain ratio. In cases of high status men and low status women, the repercussive cost of rape ( fear of legal or familial reprisal) is less, favouring an increase. Other such contexts are riots, war, or anarchist situations. In individuals subjected to extreme sexual repression, thought of sexual gratification may outweigh thoughts of cost.
But the fact remains that even in the study mentioned above, two-third of men will not consider rape in specific conditions. What is that factor that prevents majority of people refraining from rape? Apart from their greater sensibility to likely costs, it is their higher order of social and cultural mileu that reinforces antipathy to violence, and the inherent goodness in man.
It then becomes abundently clear that the most effective short term measure to combat the menace of rape is to enhanse to the maximum possible or prudent level the cost to be paid by the rapist in terms of punishment and social stigma which should be so severe as to serve as an effective deterrant.The long term measure is to drastically reduce the social permissiveness wherever found and raise the moral and cultural standards of the people by concerted compaigns and awareness programs to instill empathy and rspect for womanhood. It is imminently important that the society no longer proceed to the culmination of a medeaval patriarchal order which in its most sadomasochistic form reduces the women to nothing but an object of pleasure.
Anatomy of Rape
According to psychologists, rape is caused by some psychological illness within the offender. That they are either emotionally disturbed or have personality defects, that they have problems that impair them in relationships when under stress through sexual violence. There is also the view that rape is caused by sexual addiction. But by and large psychological illness theory has limited value and is the cause of rape only in rare pathological cases.
Sociologists, however, believe that rapists are relatively normal people and do not have psychological problems. They view rape in a couple of different ways. Some believe that rape is due to an expression of gender inequality while some sociologists believe that rape is attributed to permissiveness, sexually, within society. Feminists tend to view rape as an expression of gender inequality, of male dominance over woman and is used to intimidate women to keep them in their place.Some believe that both sociological explanations of sexual permissiveness and gender inequality provide the best explanation .
.Sociobiologists( Thornhill,Palmer) maintain that rape evolved under some circumstances as a genetically advantageous behavioral adaptation. It has long been noted that behavior resembling rape in humans is widespread in other animals. In Orangutans, a close human relative, half of all matings are of the nature of "rape". It is inferred then that rape in humans is homologous to such animal behaviour. Rape is viewed as a natural, biological phenomenon that is a product of the human evolutionary history.. But it is to be stressed that by categorizing a behavior as "natural" and "biological" we do not in any way mean to imply that the behavior is justified or even inevitable. Like natural calamities, floods,epidemics, it is undesirable.
There may be several different types of rapists or rape strategies. One is rape by disadvantaged men who cannot get sex otherwise. Another is "specialized rapists" who are more sexually aroused from rape than from consensual sex. A third type is opportunistic rapists who switches between forced and consensual sex depending on circumstances. A fourth type is psychopathic rapists. A fifth type is partner rape due to "sperm competition "when the male suspects or knows that the female has had sex with another male. There are varying degrees of empirical support for the existence of each of these types.
Basically, rape is related to sexual desire and if you recognize that, to argue that provocative dress by women will not affect the risk of rape is fallacious. Scientists cite research finding that at least one-third of males "admit they would rape under specific conditions" and that other surveys find that many men state having coercive sexual fantasies. They, "propose that rape is a conditional strategy that may potentially be deployed by any man. Similarly, greater societal freedom amounting to permissiveness wii be fertile ground to produce rapists. An imporant factor in incidence of rape is its cost-gain ratio. In cases of high status men and low status women, the repercussive cost of rape ( fear of legal or familial reprisal) is less, favouring an increase. Other such contexts are riots, war, or anarchist situations. In individuals subjected to extreme sexual repression, thought of sexual gratification may outweigh thoughts of cost.
But the fact remains that even in the study mentioned above, two-third of men will not consider rape in specific conditions. What is that factor that prevents majority of people refraining from rape? Apart from their greater sensibility to likely costs, it is their higher order of social and cultural mileu that reinforces antipathy to violence, and the inherent goodness in man.
It then becomes abundently clear that the most effective short term measure to combat the menace of rape is to enhanse to the maximum possible or prudent level the cost to be paid by the rapist in terms of punishment and social stigma which should be so severe as to serve as an effective deterrant.The long term measure is to drastically reduce the social permissiveness wherever found and raise the moral and cultural standards of the people by concerted compaigns and awareness programs to instill empathy and rspect for womanhood. It is imminently important that the society no longer proceed to the culmination of a medeaval patriarchal order which in its most sadomasochistic form reduces the women to nothing but an object of pleasure.
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