Citation

Canter DV, Bennell C, Alison LJ, Reddy S. Behav. Sci. Law 2003; 21(2): 157-174.

Affiliation

Centre for Investigative Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Eleanor Rathbone Building, Bedford Street South, Liverpool L69 7ZA, U.K. canter@liverpool.ac.uk

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/bsl.526

PMID

12645043

Abstract

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.

Language: en