Date Rape

Historically, the word "rape" has transfigured from meaning to act in haste, to meaning to seizing someone else's property violently, to meaning sexual intercourse occurring without the consent of one of the people involved, primarily using force or deception (Oxford English Dictionary, 1989). This most current meaning creates a picture of a stranger lurking in the bushes on a dark night, breaking into a house, or kidnapping a victim in a car to take them someplace else to rape, and possibly kill. While these types of attacks are very real, they are only a part of the entire picture of rape. According to one study by the National Center for the Prevention and Control of Rape, 92 percent of adolescent rape victims were acquainted with their attackers. Other studies estimate that at least 50 to 75 percent of all rapes are committed by someone that the victim knew. Those women who do experience date or acquaintance rape are usually between the ages of 15 and 25, with occurrences having been mentioned by girls as young as eight years old and reports reaching exceedingly high numbers on college campuses and growing every year (Morrissey, 1996). This apparent epidemic of rape in the school system in general and on college campuses in particular has created a range of reactions. These reactions sweep from organizing educational sources and counseling groups for students and victims, to new resources being developed for counselors on how to counsel in this area,

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as a marked weakness, and vital signs tend to drop six to eight hours after ingestion. Victims should seek medical attention and be tested for these drugs within 24 hours after assault (Walling, 2000). Reactions and Responses Reactions and responses to this sharp increase in date or acquaintance rape ranges from the knee-jerk backlash of who think these statistics are exaggerated, to those set up educational programs or clinic programs, to those who may change how they approach their clinical practice based on this information. Foremost, it should be noted that the backlash reaction is a valid one. For example, as Young (1999) asserts, the recent push to make rape a hate crime against women is a dangerous political move. First, it immediately discounts any date rapes or abuse that may happen between homosexual or lesbian couples. On the one hand, there is no woman involved -- on the other -- both are women. Second, "forensic psychology does not support the view that rapists are driven primarily by hatred toward women (Young, 1999, n. p.). Another concern about the recent enthusiasm to prosecute anyone for rape is the vagueness of some of the definitions. As Gutmann (1990) discusses, according to some current definiti

Category: Psychology - D