Bad Men Do What Good Men Dream: A Forensic Psychiatrist Illuminates the Darker Side of Human Behavior (11 page)

Newer statutes define rape as nonconsensual penetration of an adult or adolescent obtained by physical force, by threat of bodily harm, or when the victim is incapable of providing consent because of mental illness, mental retardation, or intoxication. These redefinitions go beyond penile-vaginal intercourse to include oral and anal sodomy, as well as penetration by fingers or objects other than the penis. They progress beyond the previous definitions to expand our understanding of the methods that are used to gain compliance. Furthermore, the sex of the offender in this definition is not specified. The emphasis is placed on the perpetrator’s violent acts rather than on what the victim experiences. In such reformed statutes, female-female, female-male, marital, and acquaintance rape are recognized. Even with this greatly revised definition, there are still problems with the way the statutes delineate the concepts of force and consent.

The FB I Crime Classification Manual (1992) lists 13 different categories or types of rape, including stranger rape, acquaintance rape, date rape, multiple or group rape, and marital rape. There are many categories in which the attacker is known to the victim; perhaps that person is a coworker, a fellow student, a relative, a neighbor or friend of the family. Almost two-thirds of all rape victims know their assailants. The figures on acquaintance rape are likely to be incorrect because this category of rape is underreported. The victim’s embarrassment about the crime is a significant factor in underreporting.

Serial Rapists

Those who rape three times or more, like Henry Hubbard, are known as
serial rapists.
These are not brooding loners, as popular understanding would have it, but are often articulate, highly intelligent men who hold jobs, have wives or girlfriends, and generally get along easily with others. The majority of serial rapists were sexually abused as children. Because rapists are extremely likely to repeat their crimes, the category really represents the difficulty that the authorities have in catching rapists—a process that usually takes a long time. In other words, the serial rapist category contains intelligent, cunning men who know how to cover their tracks. To ensure their continued “success,” serial rapists work to protect their identity. Their methods of operation vary with their age and experience. For instance, they may improve their techniques with information gleaned from reading newspaper accounts of similar crimes, by watching expert panels on television, even by attending courses on criminal justice and psychology. Serial rapists also become more proficient over time and are able to learn from their mistakes.

Nonetheless, each rapist displays certain characteristics and ritual approaches to the crime—and in the expression of these, he invariably leaves his “signature” at the crime scene, and on the victim. For example, Henry Hubbard’s signature was to force the rape victim to first tie up the man who was with her. These ritualized behaviors provide the authorities with important clues about the rapist’s fantasy life and motivation. Law enforcement officers are then able to work backward: from the
what
—the behavior—they can deduce the
why
—the fantasy and motivation—in order to eventually discover and apprehend the
who
.

Acquaintance Rape

Although girls are generally raised to be wary of strangers, they often do not expect to fear their friends. An assault by a monstrous psychopath lurking in the shadows may account for only one out of five rapes. It is the boy in math class, the guy in the adjoining office, or the friend of the brother who is more likely to be that girl’s or woman’s rapist. Familiarity with this person causes the potential victim to let down her guard, so that, after the event, the victim may even wonder if she was really raped. Unfortunately, both men and women have been socialized to think that male aggression leads to female sexual arousal. That may have been a motivating factor in Henry Hubbard’s demand that the victim become more sexually involved. In this scenario, a woman’s
no
is really a
yes
. Stereotypical thinking confounds the category of acquaintance rape for both perpetrator and victim. Was James Bond a rapist, or was he merely forceful, and were the many women he encountered simply compliant?

Date rape is only one kind of acquaintance rape. The public tends to believe that acquaintance rapes arise from dating situations that are sexually ambiguous. Some do. But in the most accurate rape study, the National Women’s Study, 20% of rapists were described as friends. Husbands committed 16% of rapes, boyfriends committed 14%, and 9% were ascribed to non-relatives such as handymen, coworkers, and neighbors. The acquaintance factor reduces the likelihood that a woman will be able to successfully fend off a sexual assault, particularly after the perpetrator gains entrance into the home.

In a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIM H), researchers found that the behavior of women attacked by acquaintances differed in two basic ways from the behavior of women attacked by strangers. Only 11% of acquaintance-rape victims screamed for help, compared with more than 21% of stranger-rape victims; and only half as many acquaintance-rape victims ran away, compared with stranger-rape victims. The study further showed that almost 20% of women from both groups physically struggled against their assailant—a fact that shows acquaintance rape is not just the result of a misunderstanding between amorous partners.

The principal investigator of the N IM H study notes that 20 years of research has shown that screaming and running more often lead to foiling a rape than struggling does. Despite these findings, the vagaries of assailant, victim, and situation are such that no stock prescription for avoiding rape can be given. Experts in acquaintance rape suggest certain preventive measures, such as following one’s instincts about danger, using alcohol only moderately, avoiding men who drink heavily, running if attacked (no matter what the state of one’s undress), and always reporting attempted or completed rapes.

Spousal Rape

Spousal rape
was officially recognized by the law in 1982, when, for the first time, a Florida man was pronounced guilty of raping his wife while she was living with him. All 50 states now have laws against marital rape. A majority of states, however, to avoid wandering into the thicket of tangled marital relationships, place added legal burdens on women who accuse their spouses of rape.

Group Rape

The FBI defines
group rape
as that committed by three or more offenders. If there are only two in the group, each is considered an individual rapist. In the group, dynamics such as contagious behavior and the defusing of responsibility are common. In highly defined groups such as gangs, the subculture may foster gang rape. Twenty percent of all rapes are group or “multiple” rapes. Perhaps the most notorious gang rape was that of the Central Park jogger, which occurred in 1989. In addition to raping the victim, a gang of youths bludgeoned her, beat her senseless, and left her for dead. She was discovered and taken to a hospital. Her attackers were eventually put on trial and convicted.

Rape of Males

The rape of males is significantly underreported. According to the Department of Justice, an estimated 123,000 men were the victims of rape attempts between 1973 and 1982—attempts in which the rapists were heterosexuals, homosexuals, or bisexuals. In 1994, 4,890 males ages 12 and over were raped.

Statutory Rape

Statutory rape
means that the female victim is under the age of consent, usually defined as under 16 years of age, and that the male perpetrator is over that age. Women have also been accused of statutory rape: Jean-Michelle Whitiak, a 24-year-old swimming instructor, pleaded guilty to one count of statutory rape, admitting that for the previous 3 years she had had an affair with a 14-year-old boy. Women commit approximately 20% of the sex abuse against boys.

Rape: Statistics, Demographics, and Motivation

There is a plethora of statistics about the crime of rape. The figures can shed light on many different aspects of the crime, the criminals, and the victims. It is estimated that 1,871 women are raped in this country every day, one every 1.3 minutes. The National Women’s Study estimated that 683,000 adult women are raped each year. In 2005, 93,934 forcible rapes were reported. The group at highest risk is women between the ages of 16 and 24. The statistics show that about 70% of rape victims are unmarried. Many are quite young: almost one-fifth of the victims are between the ages of 12 and 15. Even so, women of all ages are at risk. One out of every four women will be raped at some point during her lifetime, but only 16% will report the assault to the police, and less than 5% of the accused offenders will go to jail. Nearly half—48%—of all rape cases are dismissed before trial. Of convicted rapists, 21% are released on probation, whereas an additional 24% are sentenced to a local jail, in which they spend only an average of 11 months before again being released. Since the first publication, in 1992, of these release figures, convicted rapists have been receiving much longer prison sentences.

Rapists tend to be older than most other criminals; most of them are between the ages of 25 and 44. The rape is rarely the rapist’s first sexual experience. Various studies show that anywhere from one-third to two-thirds of rapists have been married. This research suggests that the individual’s marital status or presumed ability to have consensual sexual relationships is not directly related to whether or not the person commits the crime of rape. Although the figures show that 51% of rapists are white, 42% black, and 6% have other racial backgrounds, these percentages must be viewed with the understanding that rape is so underreported that the attacker’s race may not be properly reflected in the statistics.

Power, rather than sex, is the major motivation for rape. This assertion is partially borne out by FBI statistics showing that 71% of arrested rapists have prior criminal records and that their prior crimes tend to be assault, robbery, and homicide. Further evidence for this contention comes from the fact that rape frequently occurs during the commission of another crime. In 20% of single-offender rapes, and in 62% of multiple-offender rapes, the rapists are under age 21. In 30% of all rapes, a weapon is used; 25% of the weapons are handguns, 44% are knives. Rape may result in the unintended death of the victim through excessive violence, or she may be intentionally killed to eliminate a witness to the crime. When convicted rapists are released from prison or from probation, 52% of them will be rearrested within 3 years.

Reported rapes occur close to home, often
in
the home. Many take place in the victim’s neighborhood, on a street or in a parking lot. Onethird occur in the victim’s home. Reported rapes happen more often in June, July, and August than in other months, and are more likely to take place on the weekends than during the week. Interestingly, the clustering of reported rapes on the weekends is more common for black victims than for white victims, and for the victims of group rape rather than for the victims of single-perpetrator rape. Rape, as with most other crimes against the person, is highly race-specific: 78% of white victims are raped by white men; 70% of black women are raped by black men. Rapes occur mostly at night, generally between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. Group rape occurs more frequently than single-perpetrator rape during those hours.

Aside from the physical consequences for the victims, which often are considerable, the psychological consequences are frighteningly severe. Many women who are raped experience posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, develop depression, and consider suicide. About half of the victims experience sexual difficulties in their own relationships within 15 to 30 months following the rape.

The Inner Life of Rapists

The brain is the
potential rape
organ. In human beings, most sexual acts have their origin in fantasy. Among rapists—in contrast to what happens with the sexual fantasies of “normal” people—the fantasies of control, domination, humiliation, pain, injury, and violence are acted out.

Rape is a crime of violence. Most rapists have the precise purpose of humiliating and harming the victim. The rapist finds sexual pleasure in the victim’s pain and fear. The victim’s sexual compliance may even increase the intensity of the rapist’s aggression. The expressed aggression may then further stimulate the rapist’s sexual arousal, in a spiraling cycle of violence.

No single psychological profile provides the answer to why people rape. Rapist typologies overlap and are constantly undergoing modification as new data accumulate. Not all rapists fit in these categories so neatly. It is important not to mistake the lens of classification for the real object: the uniquely individual psychology of each rapist. Even there, we can only view the rapist “through a glass darkly.” Yet being able to identify various groups of rapists by means of their characteristics, behaviors, motivations, and backgrounds can assist in helping to apprehend rapists. Classification also provides information for judicial decision making, law enforcement, treatment of rapists, and rape prevention.

Psychiatric studies have identified the following four basic profiles of rapists, each based on their motivations:

•
Compensatory:
sexual behavior is an expression of sexual fantasies.
•
Exploitative:
sexual behavior is an impulsive, predatory act.
•
Angry:
sexual behavior is an expression of anger and rage.
•
Sadistic:
sexual behavior is an expression of sexually aggressive fantasies.

Based on their degrees of aggressive motivation, rapists can be further classified into
instrumental
and
expressive
types. In the instrumental type, the rapist’s aim is primarily sexual. Aggression is used for the purpose of forcing compliance from the victim. In the expressive type, the aim is primarily aggressive. The aggression is intended to harm the victim. Instrumental rapists are the compensatory and exploitative types, whereas the expressives are the displaced anger and sadistic types. The classifications are further refined by adding the qualities of
high or low impulse
to each group. The rapist’s high or low impulsivity rating is derived from his or her behavior in nonoffense areas such as work, relationships, promiscuity, changes in residence, finances, and other life situations.