Literature Review - Male Rape.

Cri 204 Assignment two Helen Telfer

Literature Review

Male Rape

For this second assignment I have been asked to produce a literature review in which I critically analyse the research in area covered in one of the lectures. The review should show that I have studied existing research within the field with insight. My chosen area of interest is male rape. I have chosen this topic as I feel it would be an interesting topic to explore.

The literature I will be looking at is mainly from the United Kingdom but also from the United States of America. I will use sources such as academic textbooks, lecture notes and Internet sources. Literature on male rape is few and far between as before early studies show they tended to focus on female rape, it is only in the past 7 years that male rape has become more common. (Chesters 1998)

From just looking at the various pieces of literature I have gathered I can say quite early on in this review that not a lot of it focus on male rape.

I looked at Allen (2002) who had already written a literature review on male rape and she highlights various different flaws within the literature explored.

First theme that was made apparent, ‘rape has been a major concern of the feminist movement since it’s revival in the late 1960’s’ (Allen 2002)

Rape was considered as a female attack and that it was only them who suffered at the arms of a rapist.

Allen (2002) states ‘feminists refuted the long held belief that rapist were pathological men helplessly controlled by an overwhelming sexual impulse’ it was later redefined using the victims perspective on the incident ‘that is was primarily an act of violence rather than merely involving the pursuit of sexual gratifications’ (Allen 2002)

My interpretation of what Allen (2002) is saying is that I believe she is saying although rape was being written about it were primarily about women and their experience of the assault they encounted and not about male rape.

‘Focus on inter-gender relations led to an unprecedented criminological interest in women’s experiences of sexual violence, while male victims of rape were ignored’ (Allen 2002)

Allen (2002) states strongly that the existing research concentrates on describing the symptomatic response of victims to their experiences, thus it focuses on the changes observed in the behaviour of victims but does not seek to explain the cause of those changes’. But she does explain that an exception to this flaw in research is a study carried out by Mezey and king (1989), they questioned 22 victims of sexual assault and aimed to find out the effects of that the assault had had on them. Later eight of the sample group were interviewed to verify and expand on information that they given when filling in the questionnaire.

The reason for this in research will never be know and we can only make suggestions of why it occurred, maybe many thought it a far to bolder subject to investigate. Asking questions on a piece of paper is one thing but actually looking at someone, a male in this case and asking them questions about their experiences of a sexual assault is by far another one.

Allen (2002) highlight than in her review of such study that there are potential biases in the findings of postal questionnaires. They are only sent to known victims, which limits the inferences that can be drawn from them, thus the same applies for those attending the interviews as they were selected from the questionnaires filled in. also it is highlighted that it is likely that men who managed to cope with their experiences without seeking psychiatric or clinical assistance represent a different type of population, one which could provide valuable information on the factors that aid recovery (Allen 2002)

One point made by Allen that I agree on and believe to a great problem within researching male rape is that ‘ it is questionable whether the assumptions used to inform the content of s structures questionnaire can accurately reflect the whole range of experiences of men who have been raped’ (2002)

Surely as suggested by Allen (2002) postal questionnaires are less likely to be completed by the less literate and those changing address or even those with no fixed address. This then allows to think exactly how valid the study is and whether the volubility of the research is ...

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With any study that is carried out it brings its limitations to it, male rape is a controversial subject within the world and is often thought of by others as an act, in a sense that is ‘asked’ for!

For example your sexuality or lifestyle may be different to those who aren’t attacked.

It was only in 1995 when The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994, incorporated and widened the definition of rape to include non-consensual penetration of the anus by a penis. Prior to this change in the law the forced anal penetration of a man was considered to be non-consensual buggery and carried a lesser penalty than rape.

When talking about the different affects rape has on a male it doesn’t distinguish whether or not the rape took place as a child or as an adult, Allen (2002) is convinced that the impact of the assault on an adult will be different to the impact it will have on a child. Allen 2002 says that the study is focused on victims in the United States of America and as know that when comparing the findings of studies of rape victims carried out in different jurisdictions, the definitions of rape used may vary.

The final piece and what I would say to be an important part of Allen (2002) findings is that ‘men understand their experience of, and responses to, rape in relation to ‘being a man’ is not surprising, since much of the feminist literature on female victims of rape has highlighted the importance of understanding the experience of women in a gendered context’ (2002)

Connell wrote a book called masculinities in 1995. The book seeks to explore all areas of masculinities and covers within the literature male rape with regards to sexuality. However the book doesn’t cover in depth about male rape it only skims on it.

The book is from the United Kingdom therefore unlike the studies and literature that Allen (2002) reviewed, it rings more true of British men.

Male rape has been widely associated with gay and bisexual men. It has been suggested that it is not true, a conclusion devised by Groth and Burgess suggest that ‘not a gay phenomenon, very often carried out by heterosexual men, also stating that ‘men of all sexual orientation can be a victim and a perpetrator’.

Connell (1995) talks of the importance of heterosexual masculinity but fails to introduce this into talking about male rape. Many believe that masculinity is what makes a man. So does masculinity have an impact on male rape? ‘Masculinity is embedded in the understanding of male rape; it is the concept of masculinity –on being a man.

King (1988) believes that male rape is about authority, aggression and self-assertion. That statement agrees with Allen (2002) findings that ‘ it primarily an act of violence, rather than merely involving the pursuit of sexual gratification’.

Allen (2002) makes a number of observations about male rape differences in how homosexual, heterosexual and bisexual men relate to and understand male rape. She sought to find men who were considered biographically diverse, i.e. heterosexual, homosexual and bi-sexual men. She needed her sample to have varying histories of sexual assault. She also used men from various different backgrounds. She interviewed men who had reacted to their rape in different ways to she was able to explore the factors that shape such reactions. The study seeks to explore and define the different ways in male rape is interpreted by the victims taking into account their sexuality. She explains that in her sample group there were 17 heterosexual men who had been anally penetrated with a penis, they all defined the attack as rape at the time of the incident.

Victims’ ideas of what constitutes rape are influenced by the attitudes of those in their immediate social network as well as those evident amongst service providers (Allen 2002)

Reinholtz et al (no date) states that the dominant culture in western societies sends out powerful messages about rape, sex and violence, they argue that ‘real rape’ is a narrowly defined set of events which consists of a perverted stranger with a weapon, using physical violence to force a women to have penile-vaginal intercourse against their will. Although this widespread image of rape fails to acknowledge the possibility of male sexual victimisation, it nevertheless viewed by the men interviewed for this study as an important yardstick against which to judge their experiences. (Allen 2002)

Allen (2002) points that in her findings of her research that not surprisingly, the most important feature of the assault which men used to define their experiences as rape was the non-consensual nature of the attack - the fact that the victim had not wanted intercourse with the offender. She goes on to explain that because the physical act of anal penetration was different from their usual sexual experiences, heterosexual men perceived it as preserve and this facilitated their early perceptions if the experiences as rape. Allen not only goes into the effects that rape with penetration of the penis has on it’s victims but also the effects rape has where an object is used. She discovered that in the cases where the victim had been penetrated with an object rather than a penis, the victims found defining the assault, as rape wasn’t so straightforward.

In her report of her findings to show when the victim describes the attack as rape she uses Edward as an example, who had been anally penetrated with a toilet brush, initially felt that the violence used against him had been physical, as appose to sexual. This is what he had said in his interview when he tried to explain he felt the way he did. ‘ I didn’t define it as rape initially because, well I suppose I tried to convince myself that it was more violent than sexual, but, really, deep down, I knew it was more than that. Because, you know, I’ve been in plenty of fights and I’d never felt like that before. There was no real getting away from it…I think at first I did treat it like a physical fight. I convinced myself that having a toilet brush shoved up your arse was no worse that being kicked in the head. But I felt really shit, depressed and tearful and stuff like that’ (Allen 2002)

Unlike other studies Allen doesn’t just investigate the effects of male rape on heterosexual men but also on homosexual and bi-sexual men. She tends to focus a lot of her research on the different ways and when the victims considered the attack as rape. She explains homosexual and bi-sexual men were also more likely to define their experiences as rape if it corresponded to the ‘real rape’ scenario – in other words, if the assault consisted of an attack by a stranger, carrying a weapon or using physical violence to force the man to have anal intercourse against his will’ (Allen 2002)

Allen (2002) goes into depth about the difference between the victims who knew their attacker and those who didn’t. The time of when the victim labels the attack as rape differentiates between the two. It is explained that in circumstances where the victim know the perpetrator, victims tended not to initially define their experiences as rape, particular of their relationship had included consensual sex in the past or if the victim had agreed to some level of sexual intimacy at the time of assault. (Allen 2002)

Allen (2002) produced a very in depth investigation into the effects that rape has on males of all sexual orientation, the study appears to very valid and the information gathered very useful to those males who have been raped to no that they are not alone. From my research into finding studies such as Allen (2002), Mezey and King (1989) they are few and far between and those that have been carried out are done so in a very informative way and prove great validility.

A third piece of literature I found was that of a report on the Internet. Titled ‘Hidden shame of male rape’. Stephanie Chesters writes about male rape and the affects it has on not just the victim but also the victim’s family. The report was first published in 1998. She is ex probation officer now working for a PHD at oxford’s university’s centre for criminological researcher, she states ‘there is no systematic information available about men who have been raped, nor about the experiences of this group within the criminal justice system.’ More than 50 adult male victims of rape have confided in her, and the results of her work promise to give a frightening new insight into a rarely reported form sexual assault. Her research took her to interviewing 50 male victims of all sexual orientation, but did focus more on heterosexual married men and how they coped and what if any support did they receive from spouse and family. Chesters 1998, ‘one of the most shocking revelations is the response of many wives and partners, for the initial findings suggest that in some cases heterosexual men do not receive support when they confide in their spouses – instead they find themselves being accused of experimenting with homosexuality.’

One finding was that other women simply choose not to carry on with the relationship with a many they felt was ‘emotionally vulnerable’ and then there is additional fear that rape brings whether it was female or male rape is that of aids.

Chesters found that even the long standing partners of homosexual victims can end up accusing the victims of having an extra marital affair, that somehow went wrong. She says that the culmination of all this is that men find it difficult to admit they have been raped. Many try to forget it every happened to them.’

A conclusion of this self denial surely is that is brings on more problems in the future affecting their own future relationships and possibly mental health. ‘But this denial frequently leads to self harming behaviour including alcohol and drug addiction, suicide attempts, sexual impotency and aggression in subsequent relationships or at work, one of the myths is that it only happens in situations like prison and care homes, but all the people I interviewed were out in the community.’ (Chesters 1998)

A common myth associated with male rape is that is mainly happens to those who put themselves in the position of possible rape, Chesters states ‘yes, there were homeless and male prostitutes. But there were also managing directors and an international marketing executive.

She concludes her findings with a statement to reason why male rape isn’t as widely reported as female rape, ‘ for a while heterosexual men often fail to report sexual assaults by other men for fear of being labelled gay, while homosexual men fear an unsympathetic response from the police.’

Reg Little produced a fact sheet on male rape after a friend of his had been raped; he explains that it was his way of dealing with it.

Many fantasies or myths if you’d like to call them about male rape are that, ‘he liked it’, men don’t enjoy being sexually assaulted any more than women do, also ‘it won’t take him long to get over it’ the fact is it will, it can take a very long time, for most men, being sexually assaulted undermines their sense of manhood, of maleness; this can be even worse if they were questioning their sexual orientation at the time.

Little (1997) doesn’t conduct a study just sets out the facts about male rape, he claims to aim the facts at people who believe that male rape is a no lesser crime than shop lifting. Within the facts he explains The Man as both the victim and perpetrator. He does have very similar views to Stephanie Chesters on the reasoning why it is not reported as often as female rape. ‘A related issues is that men who do report it frequently aren’t believed, rape crisis centres especially in smaller cities and towns, treat men who call as the aggressors, and even when they believe that the many may be the victim, don’t have the resources to help’ (Little 1997)

Little (1997) does set out some very interesting facts about male rape. He explains that it is not unusual for men to experience erection and or ejaculation during an assault, he says it is due to a phenomenon called ‘misattribution of arousal’, the body only knows that it’s intensely excited, and does not differentiate between a fear response and an arousal response, and because sexual assault involves the genital, that’s the particular path the body chooses.

Little’s (1997) literature doesn’t explore male rape in too much depth but it does however prove a very useful source of information. Unlike the others that I have looked at he doesn’t produce his own study with regards to a sample group, interviewing them and looking at males of all sexual orientation.

From this literature review on male rape I have made my own conclusive ideas about male rape, as a group, men tend to have somewhat different issues regarding having been raped than women might have, although many are similar. The men tend to feel more strongly that they should have been able to prevent the attack, that’s it’s not supposed to happen to a man. Partly, this is because men aren’t as aware that it can happen and also due to the socialisation that men keep. Depending on their social backgrounds many are socialised in to thinking that they should be able to prevent that sort of violence happening to them and if it should then they shouldn’t be run over by fear. The studies I have looked at prove this and many of the points raised by Allen (2002) and Chesters (1998) ring far to true for in society today.

A lot of the literature used small sample groups, this probably due to the fact that not many men would feel ‘man’ enough to participate in the study. Using a larger sample group would of given us a larger scale of answers and possibilities into male rape.

In order to understand further and to a better extent the effected male rape has on society, there is a need for a more detailed research. I feel there are several areas that need to address, considered and investigated when talking of male rape and they are the complexities, similarities and differences between victims experiences.

Even thou research has been conducted and evidence has been produced there is still room for improvement and opportunities to take research further and then maybe the gaps in male rape literature can be ironed out!

Bibliography