Adaptation and Sexual Offending

Abstract

Sexual behavior' towards non-consenting individuals is a challenging topic for theoretical and empirical inquiry because there are many related terms that are inconsistently used. Generally, sexual offending is the broadest term that refers to a sexual act that that may cause unwanted physical or psychological harm to the victim. Sexual aggression and sexual assault typically refer to physical and more severe forms of sexual offending. Sexual coercion is also a broad term but refers to forceful or manipulative tactics people use o obtain sex from a reluctant person that may result in either psychological or physical harm (Camilleri, Quinsey, & Tapscott, 2009). Some terms specify the relationship between perpetrator and victim, such as child molestation, incest, and partner sexual coercion. These distinctions are important because different types of sexual offending require different explanations (see Camilleri, 2012). Among nonhuman animals, analogous behaviors are referred to as forced copulation, resisted mating, and sexual coercion, or sometimes are discussed as a lack of female control over fertilization. Our review will involve a typology of sexual offending that allows for theoretical consistency across these varieties of sexual offending. We will refrain from using the term 'rape' more generally because (1) it is legally defined, which changes across times and jurisdictions, and (2) it is a severe form of sexual offending. Thus, our discussion will follow Camilleri's (2012) typology to understand various types of sexual offending behavior by considering how they could function as an adaptation. Throughout this chapter, we will also draw parallels from research on nonhuman animals, particularly examining work that involves sexual conflict over reproduction. Behavior of nonhuman animals is often studied using life history theory: the idea that natural selection has shaped the schedule and duration of key events in an animal's life (e.g., age at first reproduction, investment in care for offspring) so as to maximize reproductive success (Steams, 1992). Examination of behavior from a life history perspective often involves consideration of the flexibility (plasticity) of behavioral investment; for example, are animals fixed or flexible in their reproductive behaviors once they are set upon a particular life history trajectory? Also considered is the mechanism underlying development along a particular trajectory (e.g., the role of genetic and environmental factors on the development of adult reproductive behavior). Note that members of a species may differ in their life histories depending on variation in these factors. Here, we focus primarily on male alternative reproductive tactics and additionally discuss disordered sexual behavior among animals and examples of alternative reproductive tactics and sexual aggression among primates. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)