A sequential examination of offenders' verbal strategies during stranger rapes: the influence of location

Abstract

This paper examines the verbal strategies used by offenders during rape, examining the sequential, temporal and interactional aspects of sexual assaults. Forty-five statements taken from victims of rape were analysed in order to examine the interactive impact of the verbal strategies of offenders. There were three main aims: (i) to illustrate the impact these strategies have on victims' behaviours during assaults; (ii) to discuss how these verbal strategies vary across assaults; and (iii) to examine the precursors of and impact of victim resistance during the offence. Further, following recent examinations of the influence of location on the nature of rape and sexual assaults, assaults were compared between three locations: the victim's bedroom, elsewhere in the victim's home, and outside the victim's home. In each location, both compound (elaborate and repeated assaults) and direct assaults were examined. Findings across these styles and locations are discussed in order to understand the nature and use of offenders' verbal strategies during rape across locations, and the role of these utterances within offender–victim interactions.