NCJ Number
118658
Date Published
1989
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This chapter proposes propositions for a rape causes theory that synthesizes the concepts of the feminist theory of rape, the social learning theory of rape, and the evolutionary theory of rape.
Abstract
The synthesized theory is stated in four propositions. One proposition is that rape is sexually motivated, and, as all sexual behavior tends to be, is motivated by a drive for erotic sexual experience and a drive for bonded sexual relationships. A second proposition is that although the motivation for sex is almost entirely the result of unlearned neurological processes, the actual techniques involved in committing rape are largely learned through operant conditioning and only secondarily through imitation and attitudinal factors. A third proposition is that natural selection has favored stronger sex drives and stronger tendencies to orient drives to possess and control multiple sex partners in males than in females, and females have been strongly favored for resisting forceful copulatory tactics, because it effectively prevents them from discriminating in favor of males who will help care for offspring after they have been conceived. A fourth proposition is that exposure of the brain to androgens tends to produce strong sex drives and strong tendencies to attempt to possess and control multiple sex partners, and it also helps to reduce sensitivity to any aversive consequences of one's actions.