Rape Perpetration: A Review

Rape can have an enduring impact on the lives, and health of victims, their families and communities. Both men and women perpetrate sexual violence (Sikweyiya Y and Jewkes 2009), however the majority of sexual offences are committed by men (Steffensmeier D, Zhong H et al. 2006). Research on what drives perpetration of rape and other forms of sexual violence is needed to inform prevention programmes – for this it is necessary to study men. This review summarises research on risk factors for sexual violence perpetration, the methodologies used to identify these risk factors and discusses the implications of this research for rape prevention strategies. Most of the literature reviewed focused on perpetration of sexual violence by men against women and girls. For the purposes of this review, risk factors are factors that increase the risk (likelihood) of a person perpetrating sexual violence. The review provides an overview of current discussions in the research literature around the main factors associated with rape perpetration, it does not follow the approach of systematic review, although the authors sought to identify all published papers on rape perpetration. In identifying this literature an internet search was conducted for published papers or reports with empirical research on rape perpetration from 1990 onwards. In so doing, 3,325 abstracts were identified; yielding 293 papers of interest for the study. The review includes qualitative and quantitative studies along with studies that discussed the origins, risk factors or frameworks for thinking about perpetration. Only English language databases were searched. For many years theoretical understandings of rape perpetration have largely been based on clinical observations, and research with North American college students and convicted rapists. Yet in the last decade there has emerged substantial research from Africa, including the first large longitudinal study, important systematic reviews of the field and research in biomedicine. On the one hand these constitute substantial advances, but overall empirically based understandings of rape perpetration are still at a fairly early stage. Notwithstanding the limitations of the evidence base, developments over the last decade suggest that there is a need to move beyond some of the models that have dominated the field, including the four factor model of paedophilia of theoretical perspectives need to be embraced including the contribution of genetics, gender theory and developmental psychopathology. This paper stops short of proposing an alternative model, out of a desire to emphasise the complexity and interrelatedness of risk …