Integrated theory: foundations and applications

Integrated Theory

Sexual assault is an assault which is of a sexual nature done on another person either of the same of different sex. It also includes any form of sexual act that is committed without the consent of the person. Although in most cases, sexual assault is done by a man on a woman but in some cases, it has been documented to also be done by several men, women or children on men and children also Openshaw et al., 1993()

Prevalence

In the U.S. alone, about 300,000 cases of rape of women are reported every year. Additionally, 3.7 million women are usually subjected to other forms of unwilling sexual activity. There are also another 80,000 children in America who are abused sexually every year. Estimates by help agencies say that about one in every six American women has experienced sexual assault or will experience sexual assault at least once in their lives. Also, as a result of child and prison rape, roughly 10% of the reported victims of rape are men Bonnar-Kidd, 2010()

Theories of sexual assault

There are several theories which try to explain sexual assault. The first is the psychopathology model which states that rapists are mentally ill and that they have some sort of chemical imbalance since they are not able to control their own sexual impulses. This theory states that sexual assault is as a result of some sort of psychological illness in the perpetrators of the act Konradi, 1993()

The psychopathology model began being challenged in the early 1970s as the activists and feminists began to advocate for people to have increased awareness on the issues that surround sexual assault. The activists behind this had found out that the prevalence of sexual assault was increasing and that the offenders were not necessarily mentally ill. This led to the abandonment of the psychopathology model Horley, 1988()

The second theory is that which states that since men are unable to control their own sexual desires, they end up committing sexual assault. This theory continues to state that it is the work of the women to avoid provoking men into raping them. Therefore, the women need to dress appropriately and with decency in order to avoid provoking any thoughts of promiscuity in the man. The theory states that there is true and false rape. True rape is whereby the men rape the women without being provoked but false rape is whereby the man was provoked through the dressing of the woman to rape her Byers, 1988()

The third theory creates a relationship between sexual assault and patriarchy. This theory was put forward by Susan Brownmiller in her book, Against Our Will, which was first published in the year 1975. The theory states that sexual assault occurs as a result of men using it as a tool or intimidation in order to gain control and to insubordinate the status of the women in the society. This theory disagrees with the other two theories above since it states that sexual assault occurs as an act of violence and not as an act of sexual desire by the man him/herself. This theory states that sexual assault is actually an act of violence and sex is only the weapon through which the violence is committed. Susan Brownmiller stated that just the same way that wife battering takes place in the homes and the hands, or other objects can be the weapons used to commit the act, sexual assault is the same Bachman, Paternoster, & Ward, 1992()

Integrated theory of sexual assault

By looking at the three theories that attempt to explain sexual assault above, it can be seen that rape is motivated by several factors. Rape is motivated by some sort of aggression in the men and also by the desire for men to fulfill their own sexual desires. However, these theories fail to acknowledge that sexual assault can also be committed by women. Therefore, there is a need for an integrated theory which attempts to give an all-round explanation of sexual assault.

The integrated theory proposed states that sexual assault occurs as a result of three possible things. The first thing is a psychological illness in the perpetrator of the act. Secondly is the lack of control of one's sexual desires. This lack of control can also occur in women and does not necessarily apply solely to men. Lastly is that rape occurs as a violence where the perpetrators (whether male of female) want to feel they are dominant and in control of their status in the society.