The literature examining the offence supportive cognition of sexual offences against adult women appears to be divided into two different approaches. The social psychological approach utilises community samples of nonconvicted men such as men who demonstrate some level of Rape Proclivity, also known as rape prone men. In contrast, the forensic clinical literature utilises samples of convicted rapists. While the social psychology approach uses implicit methods in order to assess the non conscious aspect of cognition, forensic clinical researchers tend to rely on self report measures such as questionnaires and interviews. The purpose of this thesis was to amalgamate these two disparate approaches, in order to systematically investigate the rape supportive cognition of rape prone men. Four studies were conducted in order to examine the four stages of a social cognition framework; structures, operations, products, and behaviour. Studies One to Three utilised implicit measures alongside traditional self report measures in order to examine the relative utility of each methodology. Study Four employed a unique design in which participants interacted with a female confederate, in order to examine their social perception abilities and further to study the links between rape supportive cognition and behaviour itself. Contrary to expectations, the self report measure of rape supportive cognition appeared to be the most robust measure of cognition in rape prone men. The implicit measures used in Study One and Two, designed to measure rape supportive cognitive structure, however, faded to identify any such cognition in rape prone men. In Study Three, the implicit measure found evidence for just one of five rape supportive schema hypothesised to be held by rapists (Ward & Polaschek, 2002) in rape prone men. Finally, Study Four found some evidence for a social perception deficit in rape prone men, but this did not appear to have an impact on behaviour. The results of all four studies are discussed in terms of existing theory of rape supportive cognition, and the methodology used to assess such cognition.

Heterosexual male victims and female perpetrators tend to be omitted from rape perception research as well as legal and everyday notions of rape. Therefore this thesis examined the effects of sex and sexuality on rape attributions. Criticisms of social representations theory provided the rationale for a new theory of social perceptions and for combining methods normally associated with opposing epistemologies and ontological beliefs. A grounded theory derived from ten interviews revealed double standards in the way that men and women are labelled for the same behaviours, whereby female-perpetrated male rape was considered less serious than male-perpetrated rape. Discourse analysis of newspaper coverage of a case involving a female and two males accused of raping a woman also revealed double standards in the way the defendants were constructed. All of the defendants were constructed as deviant, but in ways that served to direct blame away from the males and towards the female. A 16 condition, multi-factorial. Internet-based experiment suggested that female perpetrators tend to be blamed more than males, and male victims tend to be blamed more than female victims. Younger participants and those high in rape myth acceptance (RMA) blamed victims more than older participants and those low in RMA. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

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Text in Afrikaans / Verkragting, 'n toenemende misdaad, word deur verskeie mites omring. Die doel van die navorsing was om verkragtingsmites te beskryf en oak om vas te stel of daar 'n verskil tussen mans en vroue bestaan betreffende die aanvaarding van die verkragtingsmites. 'n Verkennende studie van bestaande literatuur het aan die lig gebring dat die gemeenskap, polisie, hofamptenare, mediese personeel en die media bepaalde wanvoorstellings aangaande verkragting het. Om die bestaan van verkragtingsmites te bewys, is 'n kwantitatiewe studie uitgevoer wat 136 mans en 165 vroue se persepsies oar verkragtingsmites getoets het. Statisties-beduidende verskille tussen die geslagte is aangeteken. Die resultate van die navorsing dui daarop dat mans en vroue die mite aanvaar dat verkragting 'n seksuele eerder as 'n geweldsmisdaad is. Verder blyk dit duidelik dat vroue meer geneig is om verkragtingsmites te aanvaar wat hul slagoffervatbaarheid kan verhoog. / Rape, an increasing crime is surrounded by various myths. The aim of this research was to describe these myths and also to establish whether or not men and women differ with regard to the acceptance thereof. An exploratory study revealed that society, the police, court officials, medical staff and the media have certain misconceptions with regard to rape. To prove the existence of these myths a quantitative study with 136 males and 165 females was undertaken during which their perceptions pertaining to rape myths were tested. Statistically significant differences were noted. Research results indicated that men and women accept the myth that rape is a sexual rather than a violent crime. It furthermore became evident that women are more inclined to accept rape myths which in tum increase their victim vulnerability. / Sociology / M.A. (Criminology)

Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology)) --University of Limpopo, 2015 / The study investigated trends of rape in Mankweng area between the years 2009 and 2012. The number of cases reported per year, age of victims, area of occurrence, victim/perpetrator relationship, month of occurrence, day and time of occurrence and the victim’s rape occurrences were investigated. Archival research design was employed by studying victim’s records at Thuthuzela Care Centre, using a self-designed data organization sheet. Descriptive statistics was applied in analysing data. The following are the findings: there is an increase in the number of rape incidents, girls aged between 13- 19 years are at risk of being raped. The victims are likely to be raped by an unknown perpetrator. Rape is more likely to take place during the month of September. Most cases occur during weekends at night in the semi-urban part of Mankweng. There are more first-time victims and rape cases involved only one perpetrator

Text in Afrikaans / Verkragting, 'n toenemende misdaad, word deur verskeie mites omring. Die doel van die navorsing was om verkragtingsmites te beskryf en oak om vas te stel of daar 'n verskil tussen mans en vroue bestaan betreffende die aanvaarding van die verkragtingsmites. 'n Verkennende studie van bestaande literatuur het aan die lig gebring dat die gemeenskap, polisie, hofamptenare, mediese personeel en die media bepaalde wanvoorstellings aangaande verkragting het. Om die bestaan van verkragtingsmites te bewys, is 'n kwantitatiewe studie uitgevoer wat 136 mans en 165 vroue se persepsies oar verkragtingsmites getoets het. Statisties-beduidende verskille tussen die geslagte is aangeteken. Die resultate van die navorsing dui daarop dat mans en vroue die mite aanvaar dat verkragting 'n seksuele eerder as 'n geweldsmisdaad is. Verder blyk dit duidelik dat vroue meer geneig is om verkragtingsmites te aanvaar wat hul slagoffervatbaarheid kan verhoog. / Rape, an increasing crime is surrounded by various myths. The aim of this research was to describe these myths and also to establish whether or not men and women differ with regard to the acceptance thereof. An exploratory study revealed that society, the police, court officials, medical staff and the media have certain misconceptions with regard to rape. To prove the existence of these myths a quantitative study with 136 males and 165 females was undertaken during which their perceptions pertaining to rape myths were tested. Statistically significant differences were noted. Research results indicated that men and women accept the myth that rape is a sexual rather than a violent crime. It furthermore became evident that women are more inclined to accept rape myths which in tum increase their victim vulnerability. / Sociology / M.A. (Criminology)