Me, myself and I: the sociology of policing male rape, the gaze of the ‘Other’

Abstract

In this paper, the bodies of male rape victims as the ‘other’ are problematized. The social and cultural constructions of male rape within a policing context are examined since the police play a major role in impeding the progress of male rape cases. The author draws on police data, generated from interviews and qualitative questionnaires with the police, to illustrate the problems with policing male rape in England, UK. While the author provides empirical data, sociological, cultural, and post-structural theoretical frameworks largely inform it. It is argued that the bodies of male rape victims are positioned in inferior positions, whereby their bodies are metaphorically and symbolically marked as ‘abnormal’, ‘deviant’, and the ‘other’. Through social and power relations, their bodies are tainted, which reinforces gender and social norms.

Keywords:

• Power
• script theory
• culture
• social constructionism
• police subcultures

Notes

1. For Becker, ‘outsiders’ are people who break social rules, norms, and values created by a group.

2. This claim appears to be about the officers that this officer works with, but one ought to be cautious about assuming that this claim is true of all officers or forces.