Rapists' Offense Processes

Abstract

Models of the offense process set out to provide a description of the cognitive, behavioral, motivational, and contextual factors associated with a particular type of offense. They model the temporal relationships between the variables of interest and focus explicitly on the proximal causes or the how of offending. In this study, qualitative analysis was used to develop a descriptive model of the offense process for 24 adult rapists. Sentenced offenders provided detailed retrospective descriptions of their thoughts, emotions, and behavior prior to and during their most recent rape. These descriptions were analyzed using a grounded-theory approach. The resulting preliminary model contained the following six phases: background factors to the offense, goal formation, approach behavior, offense preparation, the offense, and postoffense behavior. These stages are discussed along with the model's theoretical, research, and clinical implications. The model is consistent with existing multivariate theories of rape and has clear taxonomic potential.