This dissertation examines the battle between various ideasâpsychiatric and feminist in particularâsurrounding sexual violence in the 1980s. Womenâs advocates worked tirelessly in the 1980s to redefine rape as an act of violence rather than one of sex. This argument hinged on an understanding of gender roles as largely sociologicalâmen and women were socialized in vastly different ways and the product of this socialization was a patriarchal system in which men expressed their dominance over women through acts of violence. For psychiatrists, however, sexual violence was a more specific problem and one that might be dealt with through psychiatric means. Attempts to research and theorize sexual violence were simultaneously attempts to treat sexual violence by treating sex offenders. Psychiatrists involved in this type of work consistently argued that existing solutions for sexual violence were not sufficientâincarceration did not solve the underlying disposition of the sex offender, and therefore neither did feminist legal advocacy that pushed for higher conviction ratesâwhereas psychiatric treatment might offer a more productive way forward in the long-term. This dissertation argues that these two groups became caught up in a political battle that focused on somewhat semantic differences (rape as sex versus rape as violence, when in reality both groups weighed both factors) and legal questions (how rape-as-mental-illness would affect conviction rates), rather than working together to offer alternative solutions to Americaâs problem with sexual violence. This debate ultimately distracted from the issue of how society could best deal with rape, and became instead a space for both groups to talk about gender roles, and the importance of socialization in shaping mental illness. The dissertation also discusses the ways in which these various ideas about sexual violence were taken up in other arenas (the courts, popular media, and fringe sexual groups), in ways that neither psychiatrists nor feminists had initially envisioned.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-06292016-220510 |
| Date | 30 June 2016 |
| Creators | Dodd, Jenifer Michele |
| Contributors | Arleen Tuchman, Jonathan Metzl, Katherine Crawford, Sarah Igo |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-06292016-220510/ |
| Rights | restricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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