Re: Some prison statistics

Chuck Kuecker (ckuecker@mcs.net)
Wed, 16 Jun 1999 11:05:56 -0500

At 03:19 PM 6/16/99 +1000, tim wrote:
>
>Apparently this "rape = power not sex" meme, though powerfully transmitted,
>has very little empirical support (read "seems wrong every time it is
>tested"). People use to power (rape) to have sex, not vice-versa.
>

How does one run an experiment involving rapists? Like most social experiments, this cannot be truly scientific for ethical reasons. The conclusions reached are actually opinions.

>While theoretically and perhaps even introspectively the power meme may
>appear valid, an abundance of sexually available people appears to reduce
>the frequency of rape. Ergo, the (admittedly monstrous and amoral) rapist
>chooses sex and is happy to get it without the bother of having to rape
>someone. This result seems incompatible with the "rape is not about sex"
>hypothesis.

Of course, if you give a serial rapist license to take sex anytime he wants it, he will, in the absence of some mental condition that prevents pleasure except during forced sex. I am assuming that the sexual partner is willing, if not, again it's a rape.