RAPE, WOMEN, AND THE LAW

Background on and Theory Related to the Issue

Violence in the United States has reached epidemic proportions (Mason, 1993, pp. 1-3). Violence is most typically an outgrowth of conflict. Conflict is simply a disagreement between two or more parties over some issue, objective, or behavior. A conflict, thus, is a dispute. Violence is an outgrowth of conflict when peaceful dispute mechanisms fail.

When family members, coworkers, friends, strangers, ethnic and racial groups, and even nations perceive that they are being denied something that they think that they should have (regardless of their justification for such a perception), the typical response is to identify the party responsible for such denial. When such identification is established, the essence of a conflict situation--the issue and the parties--has been defined. Confl

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ing partners as being sexual in character to a much greater extent than do their female dating partners, and to a much greater extent than do male undergraduates who are not characterized by high levels of social anxiety. Male undergraduates characterized by high levels of social anxiety, therefore, are likely to misinterpret the sexual intent of their female dating partners. Sexual Violence Between Spouses Marital rape is treated as a separate offense from rape in most jurisdictions in the United States (Rape and marriage, 1990, p. 5). In fact, in many jurisdictions in the United States, marital rape is not an offense. Twenty-one states in the United States do not allow a spouse to be tried for sexual assault against a partner (Graves, 1991, pp. B1-B2). As late as 1978, only five states had a spousal sexual assault law. Spousal sexual assault is a far different issue in many American states. In Texas, as an example, Lynn Thompson-Haas (1991, p. B1), Executive Director of the Austin Rape Crisis Center, said that: "Women who are married are not afforded the same rights as other sexual assault victims." Opponents of a spousal sexual assault law in Texas contend that such a law would only be used by wives who are angry at th
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Intergovernmental Relations, Caldwell DeLuca, Violence United, Criminal Code, South Dakota, Assault Communication, Bureau Investigation, Introduction Reform, Mantese Mantese, Constitution Idleson, sexual assault, spousal sexual, spousal sexual assault, 1990 pp, 1991 pp, sexual assault law, assault law, interpersonal conflict, social psychology, south dakota, undergraduate students, personality social psychology, economic analysis, female dating partners, sexual assault victims,
Approximate Word count = 2794
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

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