Serial Rape/Serial Rapists

History

Rape has a somewhat vague history mainly because it has been historically conceived as an unmentionable and private crime. At the same time, rape has often been confused with consensual sex that is outlawed, such as oral sex or sodomy. Much of the history of rape is the history of laws and their application mainly because most of the documentation has been in written form or in the form of rape convictions. The history of rape can also be seen in the history (and current outcomes) of war, where the privilege to rape the women on the losing side went to the victors or where rape has been used as a weapon of war. Although many would argue that a culture of rape still exists, social changes and awareness started to take place in the United States in the 1960s in conjunction with the civil rights and feminist movements. Rape has been brought into the public arena mainly through consciousness-raising groups and rape crisis centers staffed by sexual assault advocates. Today, these crisis centers exist all over the country to serve survivors of sexual assault.

The Criminal Behavior

The premeditation involved in the crime of serial rape is particularly characteristic of serial rapists. It is believed that this premeditation is reflective of their preferential interest in this type of crime and largely accounts for their ability to avoid detection.

There are three different styles of approach serial rapists often use: the con, the blitz, and the surprise. Each reflects a different means of selecting, approaching, and subduing a chosen victim. The con approach relies on the rapist's ability to interact with women. With this technique, the rapist openly approaches the victim and requests or offers some type of assistance or direction. However, once the victim is within his control, the offender may suddenly become more aggressive. In a blitz approach, the rapist uses a direct, injurious physical assault that subdues and injures the victim. In this approach, the rapist most frequently makes use of his ability to physically overpower a woman. Used less often than the con approach, the blitz approach results in more extensive physical injury and inhibits certain fantasy components of the rape that may be arousing to the rapist. The surprise approach involves the assailant wailing for the victim or approaching her after she is sleeping. This presupposes that the rapist has targeted or preselected his victim through unobserved contact and knowledge of when the victim would be alone. Threats and/or the presence of a weapon are often associated with this approach; however, there is no actual injurious force applied. This approach represents the most frequently used means of approach and is most often used by men who lack confidence in their ability to subdue the victim through physical threats or ploys.

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