Power Rape Research Paper

For what reason would one want to commit a sex crime and what kind of characteristics do predators have in common? The majority of offenders are not insane nor have any psychiatric disorders. According to Groth :“the rapist is a person who has serious psychological difficulties which handicap him in his relationships to other people and which he discharges, when he is under stress, through sexual acting-out. While under stress the judgment is clouded, but such individuals do not have a problem with intellect. They are not retarded; they commit such crimes out of desperation and emotional disturbances (6).
Two types of man who rape emerge: those who rape once in a life time and repetitive offenders. A man who is not likely to be repetitive offender
is a man who would normally never commit a rape, but only attempt it under extraordinary circumstances like war. The other type of man who are more likely become repetitive offenders cannot handle the stress, frustration and rely on a sex as a way of relieving their distress (7).
Through going to a therapy, I found three components of a rape- power, anger and sexuality. For some men it is a way of discharging anger, but for all men who rape it is about being in control and dominating. The sexuality in a rape used as a mean of expressing power and anger. In addition, intercourse in rape serves non-sexual need because it is more about status, hostility, control and dominance. Men consider rape to be the ultimate offense they can commit against another person because it knocks anyone off their pedestal (13).
As I am continuing to read Groth’s book, I am discovering that three types of rape exist.
One of them is a power rape, which motivated by the feeling of dominance. In this case, sexuality becomes a mean of compensating for underlying feelings of inadequacy and serves to express issues of mastery, strength, control, authority, identity and capability. The goal of a perpetrator is a sexual conquest because an offender will use only necessary force to establish control over a victim. In a power rape, aggression applied to achieve sexual submission of a victim. I feel like this is common type of rape, because a preditor can be premeditating it or taking advantage of opportunity. Typically, in power rape the age is close between victim and assailant. A careful examination reveals that sexual desire is not a primary reason to commit a sexual assault because there are many opportunities for consensual sex. The goal in a power rape is capture, control and conquer a victim
(28).
In my understanding, the victim does not have to be captured in a sense kidnapping, but can be unconscious, drunk, asleep or physically unable to leave the situation for whatever reason.
The motive behind this type of rape is perpetrators’ belief “real man do not pay for sex.” Those kind of offenders feel unsecure about their masculinity or have a conflict with their identity, so the sexual assault becomes a way of affirmation of his manhood and self-worth. In the conclusion, it seems that those men who committed power rape feel supremacy. They often identify themselves, drive their victims to the police station, post pictures of their victims on social media because they feel so much power and know that they will get away with a rape. Once again, this is the most common type of sexual assault because all those predators want at the moment of rape is to feel that they are stronger and mightier than their victims. This kind of sexual assault answers my question of why do men who know us more likely to rape us than a stranger. One has to be a total psychopath to jump on someone they do not know because it takes a lot of courage. This is a motive to why offenders are willing to rape someone they know. Moreover, men who know their victims are probably perceived as trustworthy individuals, so ladies are confused to why their friend/coworker/boyfriend/friend of a friend would commit such an awful act against them and more likely not to fight their
attacker.
The other type of rape is an anger rape, in which the offender expresses his anger and rage. This type of rape is brutal because a rapist wants to beat a victim. This style of rape is usually a violent surprise attack. Within a moment, a perpetrator possessed by anger. The goal is to debase and degrade a victim, emotionally and physically. Usually victims of anger rape are far more physically hurt than necessary for one’s submission. It is not enough for an offender in an anger rape to just beat up a victim. As I previously mentioned men believe rape reduces someone’s importance, in this case rape is used as a last resort to destroy someone. In this type of rape an offender does not seek out pleasure out of sexual intercourse, but looking for a symbolic or available victim to take out his anger on (14). I feel like this style of rape more common in prisons and in households where one is physically violent against another family member.