Differentiating sexual violence: A comparison of sexual homicide and rape

Abstract

The present study sought to identify consistent patterns in the actions of sexually violent offenders to determine whether sexual homicide and rape reflect different behavioral emphasis of a single thematic model of sexual assault. Crime scene behaviors of 74 (37 sexual homicides and 37 rapes) solved cases of sexual assaults were compared, and results of a multi-dimensional analysis revealed three thematic styles of interacting with the victim during a sexual assault (Exploit, Control, and Violent). Further analysis indicated that offender–victim interactions in sexual homicide and rape are predominantly distinguished by the degree of violence, such that behaviors associated with each type of offense were found to occur in two discrete areas along a single continuum. Findings are discussed in terms of producing a general framework for understanding sexual violent interactions.

Keywords:

• Homicide
• rape
• sexual assault
• violence
• crime scene behaviors
• profiling

The authors would like to acknowledge and thank Rupert Heritage, from whose work the data on rape was selected for use in the current study.

Notes

1. Frequencies are reported in the order of sexual homicide offenders followed by rape offenders throughout.

2. All SSAs were analyzed using Jaccard's association coefficient.