Transcript Document

VIOLENT AND/OR
SEXUAL OFFENDING
(KEY ISSUES &
DEBATES, PART 2)
FORENSIC & APPLIED
COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Dr Ann Henry
Tue 20 th
November
2012
LAST LECTURE
Risk Assessment (brief overview)
Theories of crime
Sexual Offending – paedophiles & child
molestation
LECTURE OVERVIEW
Sexual Offending (part 2) – Rapists
Violent Offending (brief outline)
DEFINITIONS OF RAPE
 Howitt (2012) defines rape as:
 Unwanted penetration of the vagina, anus or
mouth of another person.
 This means that women who abuse children or
adults are covered by the most recent Sexual
Offences Act (2003)
 Statutory rape is penile penetration of any child
below the age of consent to sexual intercourse
 Issue of ‘consent’ has been controversial
LEGAL ASPECTS
Sexual Offences Act (2003) includes a legal
definition of ‘consent’
Active consent of the parties, free from
factors that might mitigate against the freely
given choice such as threats of violence,
drugs, alcohol or being asleep.
No longer sufficient for someone to ‘assume’
that consent had been given.
New approach is based on presumption that
consent had ‘NOT’ been given.
FREQUENCY OF RAPE
Difficult to assess frequency of rape as
much under reporting (dark figure of
unreported crime
Estimated between 75-95% of rapes are
not reported to the police (Her Majesty’s
Inspector of Constabulary, 2007)
FREQUENCY OF RAPE
Occupational police culture that treats
with suspicion allegations of rape
(Reiner, 2000)
Controversy of over how many
allegations of rape are false (between
1%-50% in various studies (Rumney,
2006)
FREQUENCY OF RAPE
Hence, the frequency of rape cannot be
assessed with certainty.
British Crime Surveys – random surveys
of households which attempts to assess
the rate of crime, including those not
reported to the police.
4 women in a 1,000 described incidents
that could be classified as rape in
previous year
BRITISH CRIME SURVEYS
49 women in 1,000 claimed to have been
raped since age of 16 years.
9 women in 1,000 claimed to have suffered
some form of sexual assault victimisation in
the previous year
97 women in 1,000 had suffered some form
of sexual assault since the age of 16
BRITISH CRIME SURVEY
 Victims of rape usually know the rapist
 45% of rapists were the women’s current
partner
 16% were acquaintances
 11% were ex-partners
 11% were dates
 10% were other intimates
 Women raped by a stranger more likely to
report it to the police (36% agreed in survey,
whereas only 8% reported rape by known man)
 Howitt (2012)
HOME OFFICE (2010)
SEX OFFENDERS AS SPECIALISTS/
GENERALISTS?
 General Theory of Crime (Gottfredson & Hirschi,
1990)
 Argues that offending is a manifestation of a
broader & more pervasive antisocial character
which involves not just crime, but other similar
behaviours.
 E.g. employment instability, absenteeism from
work, alcohol & drug abuse, cigarettes,
irresponsible driving, marital instability, truancy
& unprotected sex.
SPECIALIST SEX OFFENDERS
Harris, Mazerolle & Knight (2009)
Argues that sex offenders largely specialise in
sexual crimes & do not engage in other types
of activity.
They argue that there is an ‘implicit’
assumption that those who commit sex
offences are not the same as non-sexual
offenders.
GENERALIST OR SPECIALIST SEX
OFFENDERS?
Leclerc, Cale & Proulx (2007)
Argue that sex offenders include both
‘generalists’ and ‘specialists’
Case for generalists is compelling e.g.
previous histories of non-sexual offending is
common amongst sex offenders
When they reoffend, it’s likely to be for a non sexual offence.
GENERALIST OR SPECIALIST SEX
OFFENDERS?
Harris et al (2009) found that –
There is a group of generalist (versatile) sex
offenders – more likely to show signs of
‘psychopathy’
There is a group of ‘specialist’ sex offenders
who are likely to show emotional congruence
with children,, preference of male victims,
victims known to them & sexual
preoccupation.
GENERALIST OR SPECIALIST SEX
OFFENDERS?
 Harris et al (2009)
 Rapists are ‘generalist’ offenders
 Child molesters are ‘specialist’ offenders
 Study based on sample of 572 sex offenders in
Massachusetts between 1959- 1984.
 Considered a ‘specialist’ if the majority of their
crimes are of a particular type.
 Within their sample, they found that ‘specialist’
rapists were rare, but specialist child molesters were
more common.
VICTIM CATEGORY CROSS-OVER
Cross-over is the extent to which a sex
offender offends against victims in a variety
of categories. E.g. adult women, girl children,
boy children.
The more the cross-over, the harder to explain
the sexual offending in terms of different
patterns of conditioning or social learning.
Also harder to predict future sexual offending.
VICTIM CATEGORY CROSS-OVER
 Cann, Friednship & Gozna (2007)
 Looked at cross-over of sexual offenders in terms
of victim age, gender & relationship to offender
 Sample – 1,345 adult male sex offenders who
had offended against multiple victims &
sentenced to min of 4 years.
 Found 25% of offenders showed cross-over on a
min of 1 dimension (
 Cross-over offenders higher risk of re-offending
according to Static-99 (risk assessment)
YOUNG SEX OFFENDERS
 Childhood abuse commoner in sex offenders
 Rape often associated with anger
 Worling (1995) adolescent sex offender.
 Those who offended against women rather than
peers had experienced more physical &/or sexual
abuse as children.
 Those sexually abused by men as children, lead
to abuse against younger children
 Victims of female sexual abuse tended to become
offenders against peers and older women.
YOUNG SEX OFFENDERS
Haapasalo & Kankkonen (1997)
Self-reported experiences of childhood abuse
in men whose victims were over 18 years
Compared with violent offenders with no
record of abuse.
Matched on number of family problems, being
in care, parental divorce, parents who were
substance abusers etc.
YOUNG SEX OFFENDERS
 Haapasalo & Kankkonen (1997)
 Found that sex offenders
 claimed to have experienced more psychological (verbal)
abuse e.g. yelling, threatening, ridiculing etc.
 Experienced psychological rejection & isolation was more
common
 Parents more openly hostile & negative towards them as
children
 Tended to be ignored, siblings favoured
 Were locked up in closed environments
 Mother/ father belittled them, did shameful things to
them
 Didn’t want them near them etc.
PATTERNS IN RAPE
Different characteristics in rape behaviour
Australian study have explored what happens
during the rape (e.g. type of penetration
(vaginal, oral, anal), language used in assaults
(e.g. caring, abusive, angry, revenge). McCabe
& Wauchope (2005)
PATTERNS IN RAPE
 Canter et al (2003)
 British study explored the verbatim transcripts made by rape
victims & classified the rape characteristics as:
 Control- about a tenth of rapes (victim bound or gagged or
blindfolded, weapon used etc)
 Theft – about a twentieth of rapes (good demanded & stolen
from the victim)
 Involvement – about a third of rapes (victim complimented
about her appearance & kissed & implies that he knows the
victim)
 Hostility – about a quarter of rapes ( victims clothing removed
in violent manner, victim threatened, attempted anal
penetration, victim demeaned or verbally insulted)
 Some rapes showed mixed patterns
T YPES OF RAPISTS
Power-assurance rapist
Power-assertive rapist
Anger-retaliatory rapist
Anger-excitement rapist
POWER ASSURANCE RAPISTS
 Howitt (1991a) argues that sexual deprivation is not an
essential component of rape
 Power-assurance rapist is the most common type
 Rape deals with insecurities about masculinity
 Rape only provides short term reassurance about masculinity,
so needs to rape again
 Force is not great & threats may be involved, but weapon not
used
 Rape is planned – prior surveillance of victim
 If victim is passive enough, sexual fantasies might be
expressed during rape
 Trophy items of clothing might be taken for future
masturbation
POWER ASSERTIVE RAPISTS
 Howitt (1991a)
 Offender is usually sexually confident
 Rape expresses his virility & sexuality & power over women
 Victims may be found in social locations e.g. discos, pubs or
parties
 Initially his manner might be friendly, but changes very quickly
 Violence is extreme, especially in later stages
 Offences may be scattered & irregular in terms of frequency
ANGER-RETALIATORY RAPIST
 Howitt (1991a)
 High levels of anger towards women
 Involves short intense attacks (blitz)
 Often a similarity between the victim & the woman he has the
grudge against
 Attacks may be fairly regular as a consequence of the build -up
of anger
ANGER-EXCITEMENT RAPIST
 Howitt (1991a)
 Least common type
 Rapist gains pleasure & sexual excitement from the distress
of the victim
 Infliction of pain is common & high levels of violence. Victim
may be killed & torture is common
 Careful, methodical planning
 Will bring blindfold, gags & ropes to the rape
 Victims are usually total strangers to of fender
 Photographs & video recordings might be taken
 Attacks are usually irregular
RAPE MY THS
 Burt (1980) work on cultural myths concerning rape
 She develop the ‘Rape Myth Acceptance Scale’
 Based on victim-blaming & notions that women deserve to be
or want to be raped
 E.g. “if a girl engages in necking or petting & she lets things
get out of hand, it’s her own fault if her partner forces sex on
her”
 “ if a girl gets drunk at a party & has sex with a man she’s
just met there, she’s fair game for other males at the party
who want to have sex with her”
 “ a woman who is stuck up & thinks she is too good to talk to
guys on the street, deserves to be taught a lesson”
SOCIO-CULTURAL FACTORS
 Hall & Barongan (1997)
 Explored rape statistics in 50 states in the USA
 Cultural spillover – measured in terms of ‘Legitimate Violence
Index e.g. acceptance of corporal punishment in schools
 Gender inequality – economic, legal & political status of
women e.g. proportion of the state’s senate that were women,
average income of employed men & women
 Social disorganisation- stability of population e.g. divorce,
lone parent families & religiosity.
SEXUAL FANTASY & SEXUAL OFFENDING
 Conflicting evidence of the role played by sexual fantasies &
sexual of fending.
 Williams et al (2009) found that rates of sexual fantasies in
of fender & non-of fender populations were similar (using
university students)
 Maniglio (2010) did a systematic review of 7 studies involving
171 sexual murderers. Concluded that sexual fantasies might
lead to sexual murder when the of fender had a traumatic
early life experiences and/or more extreme social/ sexual
dysfunctions.
THEORIES OF RAPE
FEMINIST THEORY
 Ellis (1989) argues that rape is built into the gender
structure of society
 Rape is likely to be associated with disparities in
social status & power
 Rape motivated primarily by desire for power &
dominance, rather than desire for sex
 Rapists hold more rape-prone attitudes to women
than no-rapists – but not supported by recent
research.
THEORIES OF RAPE
Social learning theory
That rapists learn to be rapists
Ellis argues that pornography is key factor in
this theory
Rapists hold more favourable attitudes to
rape & to violence than other men
THEORIES OF RAPE
Evolutionary theory
Adaptive transmission of one’s genetic
material to the next generation
Forced copulations should impregnate victims
Rape victims primarily of reproductive age
Victim should vigorously resist rapist
Rapist should be less likely than other males
to attract voluntary sex partners
VIOLENT OFFENDING
Crime data & statistics
Types of violent crime
Effects of media on violent crime
VIOLENT OFFENDING
Explanations of violent crime
Sociological
Psychological
Biological
VIOLENT CRIME
Gender differences
Domestic violence
LECTURE SUMMARY
 Sexual Of fending (part 2) – Rapists
 Violent Of fending (brief outline)
 I will prepare more detailed slides on violent of fending & e mail them to Graham Hole