Stimulus Control of Sexual Arousal

Abstract

Current thinking concerning sexual assault includes two extreme and opposing views (Malamuth, Check, & Briere, 1986). On the one hand, there is a widely held belief that men who sexually assault women and children are best characterized as sexual deviates. According to a prominent version of this view, these men are motivated by a “sexual preference” for children, as in the case of the pedophile, or for violent or aggressive interactions, as in the case of the rapist (Abel, Barlow, Blanchard, & Guild, 1977; Freund & Blanchard, 1981). On the other hand, feminist writers (Brownmiller, 1975; Burt, 1980; Clark & Lewis, 1977; Russell, 1975, 1988) argue that sexual assault is primarily aggressive in nature and represents a specific instance of a male-centered society’s more general hostility toward women and children. While both groups can point to empirical support for their views, it is becoming increasingly apparent that sexual assault is the product of many interacting variables, and no single variable can account for all aspects of the phenomenon (Barbaree & Marshall, 1988; Finklehor, 1986; Malamuth, 1986). It seems clear that sexual and aggressive processes interact in sexual assault, but it is not at all clear what form this interaction takes.