NCJ Number
84576
Date Published
1981
Length
35 pages
Annotation
A self-report study of a sample of rapists regarding their reactions to various victim responses to being attacked shows that no one type of victim response is most likely to stop the attack short of completion but that aggressive resistance is most likely to stimulate a violent reaction from the attacker.
Abstract
Audiotape presentations to the 12 subjects (the sample averaged 9.6 rapes) depicted sexual assault scenes and the following varied victim responses: (1) assertive refusal, where the victim strongly and repeatedly resists the attack and attempts to leave the scene; (2) plea for sympathy, where the victim tearfully pleads with the attacker to let go and not harm her; (3) establishing a relationship, where the victim calmly attempts to engage her attacker in a conversation; and (4) no-resistance control, where the victim is physically uncooperative but does not verbalize objections to the attack. Subjects' sexual arousal from the descriptions of victim responses was measured, and attitudinal effects of the resistance strategies were measured by an 11-item self-report form completed after each tape presentation. Subjects reported an almost equal probability of raping all four victims; however, the subjects were more likely to injure the victim who engaged in assertive refusal. Overall, the findings suggest that if victims find their initial responses to an attacker to be angering or sexually arousing the attacker (a plea for sympathy was found to be the most sexually arousing), then another strategy should be tried. If a particular response appears to calm the rapist or elicit his sympathy, this tactic may increase the chance of escape. Several subjects indicated that physical resistance or screaming may deter a rapist when there are other people near to intervene. Tabular data and 55 references are provided.