Reframing Rape Myths as Techniques of Rape Neutralization: A Critical Criminology Perspective

• In Event: Researching and Responding to Patriarchy and Gendered Violence

Abstract

Rape myths are false beliefs about rape, widely studied in the literature on sexual violence, especially in psychology. Labeling beliefs that condone sexual violence as myths focuses on their factual accuracy, overshadowing other important factors, such as their role in justifying racialized and gendered oppression. This article critiques the rape myth paradigm, advocating for a more critical and theoretically informed analysis of rape myths as tools of oppression, not misconceptions to correct. The first section examines the history and measurement of rape myths, uncovering underlying assumptions. The second section challenges the traditional framework through a critical criminology lens, drawing on Sykes and Matza’s (1957) techniques of neutralization, and proposes a new paradigm: "techniques of rape neutralization." The article reevaluates traditional approaches to addressing rape myths, such as education programming, and urges scholars to adopt a deeper, power- and oppression-conscious approach to understanding and addressing the ideological beliefs that perpetuate sexual violence.

Author

• Brandie Pugh, West Virginia University