preview

Criminological Perspectives On Rape

Good Essays
Open Document

Globally, rape is an occurring crime that victimises not only women but also children and men (Starman, 2009). From the legal perspective, rape is defined as the ‘vaginal, anal or oral penetration involving force, lack of consent or threat of force’ (Marvasti, 2004: 26). Elsewhere, rape has been defined as a form of sexual intercourse against the wish or the victim or by threat of harm. From the clinical perspective, most practitioners contend to the definition that rape is any form of forced sexual contact.

Positivist
The positivist theory is offender focused and examines the trait distinctions between offenders rather than the criminal acts. This school of thought determines how these differences predispose one towards criminality (White & Haines, 2003). Positivism proposes that the root causes of crime lay in human biology. Williams and McShane (1999:32) stress that the primary characteristics of positivist criminology thought are a deterministic view of the world, a focus on criminal behaviour. Positivists believe that human behaviour is fashioned by …show more content…

Classicism views human behaviour as fundamentally rational in nature and suggests that people have the ability to choose right and wrong because they have free-will in making decisions; violators are responsible for their own actions and crime is not due to pre-destiny. The criminal is a conscious agent, not someone who is so besieged by internal and/or external forces as to lose their sense of reason. The classical theory presupposes that the major element governing a person’s choice of action is to obtain gratification and avoid pain (Bartol 1995:12; Glick 1995:71; White & Haines 2001:29). Maguire & Radosh 1999:23 summarise the core presumptions of this ideology as followed; all individuals seek to maximise what is their own interests (hedonism); rational calculation is used to achieve aims; behaviour is freely chosen; the tendency to seek pleasure often results in

Get Access