Decision-making during rape events

• In Event: Rape Offenders – Characteristics and Archetypes

Abstract

Multiple factors impact the sequence and outcome of rape events. Rapists make a number of decisions during the course of the offense about location, time, methods of approach and attack of potential victims, strategies to control and/or gain compliance from the victim, and release of the victim. The present study investigates the offense decisions made by 295 rapists sent to a US treatment facility. Specifically, 714 rape events were investigated. The sequence of each rape (including 4 stages: encounter, attack, sexual assault, and victim release) was coded on a variety of variables, including environmental and contextual variables, offender variables and victim variables, and were put in relation with crime outcomes such as control over victim, number and variety of sexual acts completed during the assault, and delay or avoidance of detection by police. Results will be presented and implications will be discussed within the framework of decision-making.

Authors

• Amelie Pedneault, Simon Fraser University

• Eric Beauregard, Simon Fraser University

• Danielle Arlanda Harris, San Jose State University