Why Rape Occurs Essay

Rape is one of the most brutal and traumatic offenses that could be committed. In spite of the general repulsion of rape as absolutely antisocial behavior, rapes still occur. In this regard, the understanding of reasons and causes of rape is extremely important because through understanding the roots of the problem, it is possible to find out plausible solutions that can prevent the risk of emergence of rapes in the future. At this point, it is possible to refer to the book “The Dark Side of Man: Tracing the Origins of Male Violence” by Michael P. Ghilgieri, where the author explores the causes of violence and rape and attempts to understand why rapes occur and what factors contribute to rapes as well as the author explores how the rape can be prevented through understanding of its causes.
In actuality, rapes occur frequently in the contemporary society. As the matter of fact, rapes always occurred and the present time is not an exception. In such a situation, it is obvious that causes of rapes lie beyond social or cultural norms. In this regard, Ghilgieri plays emphasis on the fact that the violence is a deeply-entrenched strategy that emerges when other strategies fail. To put it in simple words, according to the author, males are inclined to violence and violent behavior is a part of their behavioral strategy. If all other strategies males use in their behavior fail to bring positive or expected results, males slip to violence as the last strategy they can use to reach their goals. In such a context, violence becomes a sort of instinctive response of males to the environment and effects of their behavior. In this regard, it is worth mentioning the fact that the violent behavior of males occurs at the instinctive level, when all other strategies fail to work properly.
At the same time, the author argues that culture and socialization play an important part in violence. In fact, the author stresses that culture and socialization do not play the primary role in the development of violent behavior in males, which eventually leads to rape. Instead, Ghilgieri argues that culture and socialization are factors that may contribute to violent or non-violent behavior but males are always inclined to violence. In this regard, rape is one of the ultimate, violent forms, which males are inclined to use in the extreme situation, when their conventional strategy of communication and social interaction fail. At the same time, the author argues that it is necessary to take into consideration the social and cultural background of males. What is meant here is the fact that males growing in the violent environment are more inclined to violent actions, including rape, compared to males that grow up in the non-violent environment. As the matter of fact, males growing in the violent environment take violence for granted and they perceive it as a norm. Therefore, they do not perceive the violent behavior in relation to females as something abnormal. Instead, they believe that the use of violence to women is a norm. However, in some cultures, violent behavior in relation to women is abnormal and, what is more, is illegal. Naturally, males growing up in such socio-cultural environment are aware of possible effects of their violent behavior in relation to women and they are more responsible and less violent in relation to women. Nevertheless, the author still argues that rapes occur in all cultures and societies and in all times.
At this point, the author points out that the goal of rape is copulation not violence or control. Such a conclusion is a bit unusual compared to views of other researchers (Peterson & Wrangham, 1997). Nevertheless, Ghilgieri stands on the ground that rapes occur because of the high need of males in copulation, which may outgrow into a violent act of raping, if males fail to reach their goals using conventional, non-violent means. In such a situation, women become vulnerable to the violent attack from the part of men and they become subjects to sexual violence and rape.
On the other hand, the author argues that through understanding biological origin of violence people can better deal with it (Ghilgieri, 2000). In fact, the author suggests that through understanding causes of rapes and reasons of male behavior, females as well as males can better control their behavior and prevent the emergence of rape as the extreme, ultimate manifestation of the instinctive desire of males to have copulation. Understanding reasons why rape occurs helps to prevent them.
Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is important to place emphasis on the fact that rapes occur because of several reasons. First, cultural environment and socialization of individuals influence their behavior and violent environment can increase the risk of violent behavior from the part of men to the extent that they can commit such crimes as rape. On the other hand, Ghilgieri stresses that males are inclined to violence by their nature and violence is the last strategy they use, when all other strategies they tried have failed.