Rape: A History from 1860 to the Present

Rape: A History from 1860 to the Present

by JoannaBourke (Author)

Synopsis

Joanna Bourke, author of the critically-acclaimed Fear, unflinchingly and controversially moves away from looking at victims to look at the rapists. She examines the nature of rape, drawing together the work of criminologists, sociologists and psychiatrists to analyse what drives the perpetrators of sexual violence.

Rape - A History looks at the perception of rape, both in the mass media and the wider public, and considers the crucial questions of treatment and punishment. Should sexual offenders be castrated? Will Freud's couch or the behaviourists' laboratory work most effectively? Particular groups of offenders such as female abusers, psychopaths and exhibitionists are given special attention here, as are potentially dangerous environments, including the home, prison, and the military. By demystifying the category of the rapist and revealing the specificities of the past, Joanna Bourke dares to consider a future in which sexual violence has been placed outside the human experience.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 576
Publisher: Virago
Published: 03 Jul 2008

ISBN 10: 1844081559
ISBN 13: 9781844081554
Book Overview: *Review coverage.

Media Reviews
Academically rigorous . . . elegant, readable and gripping * OBSERVER *
Launches a disciplined and chilling account . . . unflinching * GUARDIAN *
Thought-provoking at every turn * INDEPENDENT *
This is a comprehensive survey of sexual criminality over the past 150 years . . . [it] is a thorough, intelligent, and balanced examination of a crime whose prevalence is only rising * Lionel Shriver, FT *
Author Bio
Joanna Bourke is a professor of history at Birkbeck College in London. Her book An Intimate History of Killing received critical acclaim, winning the Wolfson History Prize.