This thesis examines the nature of sexual violence, the trauma experienced by survivors, how report rate for this type of crime can be increased, and how secondary victimisation of survivors can be prevented. Laboratory examination of the attributions made about survivors of sexual violence found that they not only differ from those made about survivors of non-sexual crimes, but also that negative attitudes are strongly related to the gender-role attitudes of the attributor. Empirical research also suggested that providing written information may not be sufficient to alter negative attitudes. Results of a general public crime survey (N=266) suggest that the trauma experienced by survivors of sexual violence is higher than that of survivors of other crime types. Specific examination of the experiences and recovery of survivors of sexual violence (N=42) found that severe assaults, recent victimisation, and assault by a known offender, are related to high levels of symptomatology. Negative self-attributions and perceptions were also found to be related to high levels of symptomatology, and these cognitions were found to be the strongest predictors of recovery. Unlike previous findings with other subject groups, self-blame was not found to be related to increased control. Examination of post-assault factors suggests that the low report rate for sexual crimes may be due to lack of faith in the police and fear of Criminal Justice interactions. In addition, it was found that dissatisfaction with report decision was highly related to levels of symptomatology. A model of how assault factors, survivor cognitions and post-assault interactions may relate to each other and symptomatology is presented. The findings of the survey and laboratory research are discussed in terms of their implications for successful support of survivors, increasing report rate for sexual crimes, the prevention of secondary victimisation, and future psychological research.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1984 E86 / Master of Science

This study consisted of an evaluation of different processes of change observed during the implementation of a treatment programme for incarcerated rapists that was developed by the researcher for a unique South African context. As no treatment programme was readily available for rapists, such a programme for incarcerated rapists first had to be developed and then implemented before the evaluation process could proceed. In order to do this, the researcher utilized a processual approach as well as two models of change to guide and evaluate the different processes within the broad research process. The Total Transformation Management Process (Mink, Esterhuysen, Mink&Owen, 1993) focused on the process to develop the treatment programme, while the Interchange Cycle (Brock&Salerno, 1994) focused on the changes that took place in the rapists during and after the implementation of the treatment programme. The information obtained from the results suggests that the two models that were used to evaluate the different change processes complemented each other as both models indicated that change took place on different levels. The findings determined that the treatment programme for incarcerated rapists was effective for first-time rapists and recommendations were made for future research. Copyright 2002, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Bergh, LB 2002, Evaluation of a treatment programme for incarcerated rapists, PhD thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-09302005-100826 / > / Thesis (PhD (Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Psychology / unrestricted

Assignment (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This is an explorative literature study of the theoretical relationship between rape and masculinity. It is aimed at understanding how rape can be used by men to construct their gender identity. Its focus is only on this relationship and not the two phenomena in themselves. It approaches the topic from a social constructionist theoretical perspective. I found through my research that men do tend to use rape as a resource to attain a desirable or hegemonic masculinity when other economic or social resources are not available. The picture of a rapist, which emerged, was that of a man who was disempowered either economically or socially. This impotence influences men to seek power through sexual means. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie is ‘n eksploratiewe literatuurstudie oor die verhouding tussen verkragting en manlikheid. Dit poog om te verstaan hoe verkragting deur mans gebruik kan word om hulle geslagsidentiteit te konstrueer. Die fokus van die studie is slegs op hierdie verhouding en nie op die twee fenomene in sigself nie. Dit benader die onderwerp van ‘n sosiaal-konstruksionistiese teoretiese perspektief. Ek het in my navorsing gevind dat mans geneig is om verkragting as ‘n manier te gebruik om ‘n begeerde of hegemoniese manlikheid te bewerkstellig wanneer ander ekonomiese of maatskaplike middele nie beskikbaar is nie. Die beeld van ‘n verkragter wat te voorskyn gekom het, was van ‘n man wat of ekonomies of maatskaplik ontmagtig is. Hierdie ontmagtiging beïnvloed mans om mag deur middel van die seksuele te probeer verkry.

During the second-wave feminist movement, anti-rape activists sought to heighten cultural awareness about the pervasiveness of rape and instigate legal reforms that would increase the number of prosecutions and convictions of rapists. Despite resulting legal reforms that expanded the definition of "rape" and that eliminated resistance requirements and marital exemptions, reform efforts have been a failure in terms of increased reporting and achieving heightened response from the criminal justice system. I attribute the ineffectiveness of rape law reforms partially to the way in which the concept of rape was framed during the anti-rape movement. In particular, I argue that broadening the concept, detaching it from its sexual features, and paralleling the phenomenon to other violations such as property and assault have the effect of obscuring the unique indignity of rape. This, in turn, has inhibited the full legal recognition of the victim and her injury. I explore possibilities for an alternative conceptualization of rape that instead acknowledges and accommodates the distinctive features of the phenomenon in terms of sexuality, embodied differences of gender and race, subjective states of submission, and the encompassing nature of the injury as a violation of the integrity of self in both bodily and psychological dimensions. In order to enhance the recognition of the victim and her injury, I suggest that: a) legal discourse should be opened up to better account for concrete circumstances and embodied differences (as opposed to the reliance on abstract rights and principles and the generalized subject); b) victims should be allowed to provide an uninterrupted narrative of their rape experience and its consequences; and, c) "consent" as the predominant guiding legal standard should be reevaluated and replaced with an assessment of how force was subjectively experienced. / text

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As the written accompaniment for The Luxury of Tears, a twelve-minute documentary video exploring the emotional impact of sexual assault on male survivors and their partners, this document examines the visual texts of both the fiction and nonfiction genres. Specifically, I contend that fiction film manufactures male survivorship with regard to rape events in such manner which contributes to the thematization of social silence. Such silence perpetuates the feminization of rape as a social problem, and dissolves the development of male survivor resources. A discussion of production processes, challenges, and resolutions is included.

J. M. Coetzee's brutal novel Disgrace questions popular understandings of criminality and victimhood by establishing parallels between its various characters and their actions. Through close reading of Coetzee's descriptions of protagonist David Lurie's behaviors and attitudes towards women, non-human animals, and people of color compared with descriptions of the mysterious trio of men who rape Lurie's daughter and coldly kill the dogs in her kennels, I argue that the line Disgrace draws between Lurie and these men is deliberately flimsy, ultimately all but disappearing if we look closely enough at their behaviors and descriptions rather than their justifications. I also argue that the novel's perpetrators rely upon archetypical "rapist" and "criminal" constructs, resulting in an inability for them to ever accurately address their own crimes, despite Coetzee's descriptive parallels. Ultimately, I read Disgrace as suggesting that there can be no resolution for violence so long as these mythical archetypes persist. / by Ashley B. Harrintgon. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

This research aims to investigatethe relationship between rape survivors levels of distress, coping style, health profile and immune system. Psychoneuroimmunology, an interdisciplinary field of study, is employed as a framework to understand the relationship between the levels of distress, coping style, health profile and the immune system A sample of 36 rape survivors was initially recruited for this study. However data collected from a sample of 12 female rape survivors was selected for this research. These participants completed questionnaires measuring levels of distress, impact of the event, recent life changes and health profile at time 1 (5 days post rape), time 2 (15 days post rape) and time 3 (35 days post rape) . the immunological measures included CD 3, CD 4, CD 8, neutrophils, monocytes, eosinophils, lymphocytes, white cell count, platelets and mv(time 1 only). The results revealed significant relationships between levels of distress and immune parameters; health profile and immune parameters; ways of coping and immune parameters and levels of distress and immune parameters. Significant differences were obtained for CD 4 5 (p= 0.039) between time 1 and time 2, as well as between time 2 and time 3. A significant difference (p = 0.039) was noted for platelets between time 2 and time 3. The levels of distress were raised at time 2. Observation ofeach participant revealed no dramatic changes across time 1, 2 and 3. When a person is subjected to rape, heightened levels of distress are experienced 15 days post rape. Rape survivors experience changes in the levels of distress , health profile, ways of coping and immune parameters over a 35 days post rape period. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

Many women today, irrespective of their colour, race, age or religion, are being raped and some brutally killed by their rapists. The rape crisis increases daily and that shows that women are not even safe in their homes because they live in fear of their lives everyday. In this research paper I will try to examine the issues surrounding rape that contribute to the increasing of this crisis of the women living in Khorixas. There are sociological, economic, psychological and cultural issues that contribute to the rape crisis. The social issues that contribute to the rape of women contributed to the fact that most men abuse alcohol, some of the men are unemployed, and most of the people live in poverty. The economic condition of women is weaker than that of men. Most are unemployed and those who are working are domestic workers who earn a salary wage below the poverty line, and are, therefore, economically dependent on their husbands and boyfriends. Some of the men who live in Khorixas experience psychological problems such as hatred, desolation, loneliness and aggression. These psychological problems contribute to the fact that the rapists can closely identify sex with violence. In most cases, men show their masculinity by raping women. In the Damara culture the man is the head of the family. The woman is a submissive wife who is to take care of the children. Traditional women are unable to attack the power of the customs, therefore, the men keep them in an inferior and subordinate position. That is why the women are not speaking out against the rape that is committed. The purpose of my research is to try and address this rape crisis among the Damara women living in Khorixas. The research is pastoral and it is a challenge to the ELCRN to serve the vulnerable women who are the survivors of rape. The church can launch awareness programmes and also educate its members in moral sexual behaviour. Through pastoral care and counselling the pastor can assist the rape survivor to regain her dignity. Furthermore, the pastor can use the ABCD method of counselling to build up a relationship of trust between him or her and the rape survivor so that the survivor can feel comfortable in telling her story or the experiences of her rape. A further purpose of this research paper is to advise women to seek help and to speak out against rape and not to be silent on this issue. The central focus of this study lies in chapters four, five and six. Chapter four explores what the church can do about the crisis and the responsibility of ELCRN towards its members with regards to the moral sexual behaviour of members. Chapter five discusses the prevention necessary and the precaution any methods women need and the necessity of rape survivors understanding rape as a crime and reporting it to the police. Chapter six explores and validates the use of the ABCD method of crisis counselling by the counsellor to support the rape survivor in coping with the crisis. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.