Investigating the Relationship between Self-esteem and Rape in Jamaican Men

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Toni-Jan Pryce (04-078702)

UNCONSCIOUS MOTIVES

Investigating the Relationship between Self-esteem and Rape in Jamaican Men

Statement of Problem

Within this tiny island, lies an alarmingly high rate of reported rape cases and a probably equally high rate of unreported cases. Incidences of rape where once a hushed, have now become blatant. Even news reports show gunmen dragging young girls out of school and raping them. Gang rapes and other types seem to be just as frequent

Rationale

There have been many theories on rape and its causes. These theories range from biological to social causes of rape. But what is to be noted is that all theses theories (it seems) with the exception of one- seem to be indirectly link the issue self-esteem. All theorise however seem to agree on one thing; the problem of rape lies not on the outside (social conditions) but rather on the inside (within the mind of a rapist). Only when one understands the unconscious motives of a rapist can one hope to change his actions. It is on this basis that this research has been carried out.

Hypothesis

There is a direct, inverse relationship between self-esteem and the number of rape cases. The lower the level of self-esteem in a Jamaican man: the higher the likelihood that he will rape.

Variables

Independent Variable: Self –esteem

Dependent Variable: Rape 

Conceptualisation/ Operationalisation of Variables

For this study self-esteem will be defined (by the Shorter Oxford Dictionary) as “Favourable appreciation or opinion of ones self”. Rape will be defined as the act of unlawful sexual intercourse (limited to female victims in this case). This concept will include four categories of rape:

  • Forcible rape –when committed against the victims will by the use of threats or force.
  • Date rape- here the victim has agreed to some intimacy but has not agreed to sexual intercourse, which occurs by force or under threat of force.
  • Marital rape- when the victim of forced intercourse is the spouse.
  • Rape by instrumentation (a relatively new legal concept) – this refers to any intrusion of the male penis of any part of the persons body that could be interpreted for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification or an act of violence; or the forced intrusion of any object into the genital or anal openings of another persons body.

 


LITERATURE REVIEW

Among the many theories and views of rape and its perpetrators, three stand out: the feminist theory, the evolutionary theory and the biosocial theory (other wise known as the synthesized theory). Through this review a summary of all three theories will be presented along with other views; after which there will be a discussion to determine the actual motive of a rapist.

Looking firstly, at the Feminist theory, we find that Susan Brownmiller was one of the first to use feminism to explain sexual coercion. She asserts that a key interspecies difference in motivation to engage in sexual activity is the lack of an estrous cycle in human females, thus leaving humans open to copulation every day of every month.  Human females do not show visible signs of estrus; they have instead developed a "complex system of psychological signs and urges, and a complex system of pleasure."  Without a biological mating system, a male can engage in sexual behaviour with a female in a way that is not dependent on biological cycles, and therefore can rape.  

A quick synopsis of the Feminist theory emphasizes five major points:

  1. Feminist theory of sexual coercion holds that all men use rape as a process of intimidation by which all women are kept in a state of fear.

During the present and the past, rape and sexual coercion have hindered women’s rights to choice and opportunities, sexually and otherwise. If a woman is kept in a state of fear she is more likely to submit to her intimidator and less likely to make decisions which conflict with those made by her ‘oppressor’. It stands therefore that if men are to retain control over decision making they must achieve and maintain control over anyone who may become a threat to them. Because psychological effects of rape on women are such that cause fear and ultimately submission, rape would naturally seem to be the best scare tactic to use. According to Brownmiller, Males at some time realized they could rape, and proceeded to do it (Brownmiller, 1975).

  1. Most feminist theories state that sexual coercion is motivated by a desire to exert control over women and not out of lust.

Rape, according to feminist theorists, is not necessarily a sexual act, but an act of violence. Violence asserts power, and men use this to dominate women.  This theory views rape as emerging from a social framework that emphasizes group conflict.  Since males have constructed a patriarchal society in which men are holders of wealth and power, they engage in behaviours that maintain this control, whether consciously or unconsciously.  Physically, men are stronger and have sexual anatomy that makes rape possible. Throughout history, men learned that women could be controlled and traumatized by dominating them using sex (Malamuth, 1996; Brownmiller, 1975; Muelenhard, Danoff-Burg, and Powch, 1996).

  1. Feminist view that in the past, paternity certainty was important in terms of property ownership, and therefore this control was necessary to maintain power (Brownmiller, 1975).

If a man was guaranteed to be a prospective father his son would be heir to his property. But a woman is necessary for this. If he could secure a son of his own linage- through any means possible then he would have a hold on the property and it would stay in his family heritage for as long as a son was present. If the property was in the hands of the woman’s family and she bore him  a son; the property would no longer belong to her family (that is if there are no other males present to claim it) but to his (family) at the passing of her father. Through rape a man is assured a son without having to get consent from the woman who is to birth the child.

  1. Feminist theories share a twofold belief that sexist attitudes lead to increased motivation to rape.

If a man has the belief that he should discriminate against a woman simply on the basis of her sex then anything that he does to her or any way that he treats her is somewhat justified on this basis.

  1. Men learn rape through socialization including attitudes, sex roles, emotions, perceptions, and cognitions that justify male dominance

While women are taught to be passive and submissive; men are instructed to be active and dominant. Tenderness, sensitivity, and empathy are encouraged in women and discouraged in men.  Because of this, men are socialized to devalue women and develop masculine self-concepts.  Further, males develop hostility towards women and even learn to find sexual arousal from domination.  And argument put forward by feminists’ states that men rape as an expression of their hostility and anxiety about women becoming too powerful. Research also suggests that rape is related to socio-political and economic disparities by suggesting that rape actual increases with less inequality between the genders, upholding the theory that men rape to maintain an existing hierarchy (Ellis, 1989). This power struggle is natural in the manner by which the sexes are socialized (as mentioned above) this power structure also exists to maintain a hierarchical structure where violence is available and even necessary (Brownmiller, 1975; Malamuth, 1996).

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Surprisingly, the feminist theory, in recent times, has shifted from a simplistic view that rape is motivated solely by a desire to dominate and not out of lust.  Feminists instead claim that one must view the act of rape from the victim’s perspective and not the perspective of the perpetrator, and therefore their definition is extended to include rape as a sexual act; rape is sometimes considered sex from the victim’s perspective

Next, is the evolutionary theory which almost completely, contradicts the augments put forward by feminists.

Evolutionary theory states that there are two levels of behaviour causation: ...

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