AVB-01034; No of Pages 16

Aggression and Violent Behavior xxx (2016) xxxxxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Aggression and Violent Behavior

Understanding the origins and the development of rape and sexual

aggression against women: Four generations of research and theorizing
Patrick Lussier a,b,, Jesse Cale c
a
School of Social Work (Criminology), Faculty of Social Sciences, Universit Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
b
Centre for Research on Sexual Violence; Centre Jeunesse de Qubec Institut Universitaire; Centre International de Criminologie Compare, Canada
c
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Several explanations have been proposed to explain the origins and the development of rape and sexual aggres-
Received 9 September 2015 sion against women. For the most part, the rst three generations of research and theorizing provided an inher-
Received in revised form 3 May 2016 ently static view of the propensity among males to commit a sexual aggression, providing little information about
Accepted 20 July 2016
the developmental processes involved in the origins and course of sexually aggressive behavior. This article pro-
Available online xxxx
vides a review of contemporary explanations of sexual aggression against women and an examination of the un-
Keywords:
derlying developmental issues that these models imply. Given the emergence of longitudinal research on sexual
Developmental life-course aggression, these issues are then contrasted and compared with the relatively nascent body of knowledge about
Longitudinal research the origins and the development of sexual aggression over the life course. More specically, in recent years a
Propensity fourth generation of research and theorizing concerned by the developmental and life course factors conducive
Rape to rape and sexual aggression has emerged. This fourth generation proposes a more dynamic etiological frame-
Sexual aggression work to understand the origins and the development of sexually aggressive behaviors that is directed by men to-
Theory ward women. Emerging research from this generation highlight unresolved issues about, among other things, the
Violence
understanding of the continuity and discontinuity of rape and sexual aggression over time as well as the devel-
opmental pathways leading to rape and sexual aggression.
2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
2. Rape and sexual aggression against women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
2.1. Theoretical specicity of rape and sexual aggression against women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
3. Theoretical formulations of rape and sexual aggression: Three generations of research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
3.1. First generation of research and theorizing The clinical-medical approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
3.2. The second generation of research: The sociolegal approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
3.3. The third generation of research: The correctional-psychology approach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
4. Explanatory models of sexual aggression against women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
4.1. Motives for sexual aggression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
4.2. The phylogenetic origins of sexual aggression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
4.3. Propensity models of sexual aggression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
4.3.1. Deviant sexual preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
4.3.2. Personality traits and disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
4.3.3. Neuropsychological decits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
4.3.4. Attitudinal and cognitive biases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
4.4. Pseudo-developmental and developmental models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
5. Fourth generation of research and theorizing - a developmental life course approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
5.1. A static and xed latent-trait propensity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
5.2. Onset and the developmental course of sexual aggression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0

Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: patrick.lussier@svs.ulaval.ca (P. Lussier), j.cale@unsw.edu.au (J. Cale).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2016.07.008
1359-1789/ 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Please cite this article as: Lussier, P., & Cale, J., Understanding the origins and the development of rape and sexual aggression against women: Four
generations of research and theori..., Aggression and Violent Behavior (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2016.07.008
2 P. Lussier, J. Cale / Aggression and Violent Behavior xxx (2016) xxxxxx
5.3. Developmental life course risk factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1. Introduction
Several hypotheses and theories have been proposed to explain the eti-
ology of rape and sexual aggression against women (e.g., Brownmiller,
1975; Groth & Birnbaum, 1979; Hall & Hirschman, 1991; Lalumire,
Harris, Quinsey & Rice, 2005; Malamuth, 1998; Marshall & Barbaree,
1990; Knight & Sims-Knight, 2003; Quinsey, 1984). To date, most theories
reect a propensity-focused explanation of sexual aggression of women.
Propensity models suggest the presence of a relatively xed and stable
trait that, in combination with situational and contextual factors, can
lead some men to commit an act of sexual aggression against a woman.
From this perspective, stable and xed between-individual differences
are associated with this propensity. Therefore, propensity theories of
rape and sexual aggression provide information about the nature of
these individual differences. Contemporary models have either stressed
biological, personality, neuropsychological, cognitive, and/or sociocultural
factors along these lines (e.g., Baumeister, Catanese & Wallace, 2002;
Knight & Sims-Knight, 2003; Lalumire et al., 2005). The foci of these
models, while providing some research directions and hypotheses, are
not well-suited to explain the origins and developmental course of sexual
aggression. More specically, it is unclear whether these propensity
models can account for offending patterns of sexual aggressors of
women over the life-course. Indeed, contrary to ideas proposed by pro-
pensity theorists, sexual aggression is generally characterized by a high
degree of discontinuity over the life course, albeit some continuity. In-
deed, prospective longitudinal research has shown that sexual aggres-
sion is typically short-lived for most, and can be considered largely
opportunistic and transitory (e.g., Lussier & Blokland, 2014; Zimring,
Piquero, Jennings, 2007; Zimring, Jennings, Piquero, & Hays, 2009). In
this article, therefore, it is argued that a more dynamic explanatory
platform is required to account for both the continuity and disconti-
nuity of sexual aggression over time. In the current article, the key
underlying assumptions about rape and sexual aggression are exam-
ined. Second, the necessity for a theory specically explaining this
behavior over and above a general explanation of crime and violence
is explained. Third, contemporary explanatory models of sexual ag-
gression are reviewed and compared. Finally, the current state of
knowledge regarding the developmental life course (DLC) of rape
and sexual aggression is described and contrasted with these con-
temporary models.
2. Rape and sexual aggression against women
As part of this article, the reviewed explanatory theories of rape and
sexual aggression will be limited to situations where the perpetrator is
an adult male and the victim an adult female. While rape and sexual ag-
gression are certainly not limited to instances involving an adult male
perpetrator and an adult female victim (e.g., see Felson, 2002), this re-
view focuses on this specic phenomena and we do not implicitly sug-
gest that the conclusions drawn also apply to other instances.1 Aside
1
While a key objective is to examine the application of the developmental life-course
perspective for the description, explanation and prevention of rape and sexual aggression,
the decision to focus on these situations should not be interpreted as if this framework is
irrelevant for other manifestations. Indeed, the factors that contribute for the onset and
developmental course of rape and sexual aggression of women, may both overlap and dif-
fer from those of sexual aggression of children (e.g., Lee, Jackson, Pattison & Ward, 2002;
Lussier, Leclerc, Cale & Proulx, 2007; Whitaker et al., 2008). Given space limitations, it
was decided for this article to focus exclusively on rape and sexual aggression perpetrated
by men against women.
Please cite this article as: Lussier, P., & Cale, J., Understanding the origins and the development of rape and sexual aggression against women: Four
generations of research and theori..., Aggression and Violent Behavior (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2016.07.008
0
0
0
from the highly-sensitive, emotionally laden, and sociopolitical aspects
underpinning the phenomena, the term rape and sexual aggression re-
main controversial among social scientists for several reasons. From a
legal standpoint, the terms rape and sexual aggression are considered
misleading and problematic because they conate acts in which the
gravity, legality and moral acceptability differ dramatically
(e.g., Bryden & Grier, 2011). Furthermore, until the 1980s, in North
America, men who raped their wives were generally exempt from
legal punishment (e.g., Martin, Taft & Resick, 2007). In fact, legal deni-
tions of rape or rape laws are rarely used by social scientists for mea-
surement purposes given that they greatly vary across jurisdictions and
are often difcult to reconcile with behavioral issues of force and con-
sent, more specically with respect to marital rape (e.g., Basile, 2002;
Baumeister, et al., 2002). In the scientic literature, sexual aggression in-
cludes a wide array of behaviors that have been referred to as sexual as-
sault, rape, marital rape, date rape, sexual coercion, and sexual violence.
In fact, the eld of research has been hampered by the presence of var-
ious denitions and operationalization when referring to these harmful
behaviors (e.g., Muehlenhard, Powch, Phelps & Giusti, 1992). Therefore,
many social scientists have come to view rape as a set of behaviors im-
plying that there was vaginal intercourse involved in the absence of the
victim's consent and some degree of force used by the assailant
(e.g., Koss, 1993a). Rape can occur between strangers, acquaintances,
intimate partners, dating partners, spouse, and family members
(e.g., Casey & Nurius, 2005; Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000). Sexual assault re-
fers to situations where an individual forces another person, against
their will, to engage in some form of sexual contact. Unlike rape, sexual
assault is not limited to situations where the perpetrator primarily at-
tempts to or engages in sexual intercourse with the victim and includes
a broad range of sexual behaviors. Sexual coercion is generally under-
stood where non-physical tactics are used by the perpetrator, such as
the abuse of power and authority, psychological pressure and deceitful
tactics (e.g., Koss et al., 1987). Sexual aggression, therefore, encom-
passes any and all situations where the perpetrator has sexual contact
with a victim without their consent, using tactics including, but not lim-
ited to physical force, threats, manipulation, or pressure (e.g., Koss,
Gidycz & Wisniewski, 1987).2 Researchers often suggest that sexual ag-
gression reects a continuum of behavioral manifestations, but that
continuum has been rarely conceptually dened, explicitly presented,
and empirically examined (e.g., see Koss, Abbey, Campbell, Cook et al.,
2007; Muehlenhard et al., 1992).
2.1. Theoretical specicity of rape and sexual aggression against women
Theories of rape and sexual aggression against women have evolved
considerably over the years. The evolution of these theories has been ac-
companied by several debates and controversies about the key underly-
ing mechanisms responsible for rape and sexual aggression (e.g., Adler,
1984; Briere & Malamuth, 1983; Harris, Mazerolle, & Knight, 2009;
Langevin, 1985; Lussier, Proulx & LeBlanc, 2005b). Lussier et al.
(2005a, 2005b) highlighted the presence of three main theoretical per-
spectives. The rst perspective, and also the most longstanding and in-
uential among the scientic community, involves specialized theories
of rape and sexual aggression (e.g., Abel et al., 1987; Groth & Burgess,
1977). According to these theories, sexual aggressors of women
2
Note that several researchers understand and dene sexual coercion the same way as
others understand and dene sexual aggression (e.g., Schwartz, DeKeseredy, Tait & Alvi,
2001).
 P. Lussier, J. Cale / Aggression and Violent Behavior xxx (2016) xxxxxx
represent a distinct group of offenders who are characterized by a spe-
cic propensity for sexual aggression. This theoretical perspective has
emerged mainly from the disciplinary areas of psychology and psychia-
try. Advocates of this approach have argued that criminological theories
and related criminal justice responses to general offending are largely
inadequate to explain sexual aggression and to deter these men from
sexually offending/reoffending. From this perspective, it is believed
that there are signicant between-individual differences among sexual
aggressors and nonsexual aggressors especially along the domains of
sexual development, mental health, and psychological functioning. For
example, these models emphasize the role and importance of inappro-
priate sexual modeling, early aversive sexual experiences during child-
hood (i.e., child sexual abuse), the onset and the development of deviant
sexuality as a result of these experiences, the role of sexual interests and
preferences, as well as false beliefs about sexuality and women
(e.g., Laws & Marshall, 1990). From this standpoint, however, there is
still a lack of consensus as to whether sexual aggression against
women is best explained by such a specic etiological model focused
on sexual aggression against women, or, by a more general model of
sexual offending that also encompasses other sexually deviant behav-
iors such exhibitionism, voyeurism, sexual abuse of children, etc.
(e.g., Freund & Seto, 1998; Ward & Beech, 2006). While specialized the-
ories of sexual aggression have had the most substantial impact among
the scientic community and in the intervention and treatment context,
they have been challenged over the years by theoretical development
(e.g., Felson, 2002; Malamuth, 1998) and empirical evidence about the
criminal careers of men having committed a rape/sexual aggression
(e.g., Lussier, LeBlanc & Proulx, 2005a; Lussier, 2005; Simon, 2000;
Harris et al., 2009).
The second perspective involves the application of general theories
of crime and delinquency to explain rape and sexual aggression against
women (e.g., Harris et al., 2009; Lussier et al., 2005b). This approach is
based on the premise that the etiology of sexual aggression against
women is virtually the same as the etiology of nonsexual criminal be-
havior. This is the primary theoretical viewpoint generally shared and
supported by scholars from the elds of criminology and sociology
(e.g., see Felson, 2002; Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). Arguably, the
early premise for the emergence of general explanations goes back to
the seminal work of Gebhard, Gagnon, Pomeroy and Christenson
(1965) who noted many striking similarities between sexual aggressors
of women and other adult nonsexual offenders (see also Marshall &
Barbaree, 1984). These early observations and conclusions would even-
tually be inuential to the work of several scholars including Adler
(1984) who questioned whether sexual aggressors of women were
sex offenders or simply violent offenders (e.g., see also Delisi, 2001;
Tedeschi & Felson, 1994). Later, Simon (1997) pursued this argument
by questioning the rationale of the sex offender label for these particular
individuals considering the vast array of nonsexual offenses that typi-
cally characterized their criminal histories. Proponents of this approach
emphasize the similarities observed across studies between sexual ag-
gressors of women and other offenders who have committed nonsexual
crimes (e.g., Fanniff, Schubert, Mulvey, Iselin & Piquero, 2016; McCuish,
Lussier & Corrado, 2015a). From this perspective, a general criminal pro-
pensity or antisocial tendency manifests itself in different contexts and
situations, including interpersonal, intimate, and sexual relationships.
In other words, the key factors and mechanisms associated with the
commission of any crime, such as assault, burglary, or theft, for example,
ought to explain rape and sexual aggression against women. Therefore,
sexual aggression is not primarily the symptom of a specic sexual mal-
function or sexual deviance, but rather simply another manifestation of
a general propensity toward a preference for risky, thrilling and novel
sensations, and a here-and-now, short-term orientation with an inclina-
tion for immediate gratication in spite of the likelihood for long-term
negative consequences for themselves (e.g., Gottfredson & Hirschi,
1990). Critically, this perspective, is somewhat difcult to reconcile
with empirical observations regarding persistent sexual aggressors of
Please cite this article as: Lussier, P., & Cale, J., Understanding the origins and the development of rape and sexual aggression against women: Four
generations of research and theori..., Aggression and Violent Behavior (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2016.07.008
3
women and the role and importance of risk factors that are specic to
sexual aggression (e.g., Hanson & Bussire, 1998).
The third perspective involves the integration of concepts and ideas
from both the general and specialized approaches (Lussier et al., 2005b).
From this perspective, either approach taken separately will be incom-
plete to explain the offending behavior of sexual aggressors of women.
For example, it is abundantly clear that there are key similarities and dif-
ferences between sexual aggressors of women and individuals who
have never committed an act of sexual aggression against a woman
(e.g., Knight & Sims-Knight, 2003; Malamuth, 2003; Marshall &
Barbaree, 1984). These similarities and differences, however, can be
theoretically formulated by integrating factors from both the general
explanations of crime and delinquency and those to do more specically
with rape and sexual aggression. This perspective, therefore, recognizes
the importance of taking into consideration certain criminogenic factors
such as impulsivity and poor self-control, attitudes and antisocial distor-
tions, the impact of substance use and abuse, and the inuence of anti-
social peers (e.g., Andrews, Bonta, & Wormith, 2006; Lussier et al.,
2005b; Harris et al., 2009). Alone however, according to this perspec-
tive, criminogenic factors are insufcient to provide a comprehensive
explanation of sexual aggression against women; they do not uniquely
explain or differentiate sexual aggressors from nonsexual aggressors
(e.g., see Lussier & Blokland, 2014; Vega & Malamuth, 2007). Therefore,
it is necessary to supplement general criminogenic factors with unique
factors associated with sexual abuse, such as sexual regulation and cog-
nitive distortions supportive of sexual aggression, for example (Beech &
Ward, 2004). While this perspective highlight the role and importance
of both general and specic factors to explain rape and sexual aggres-
sion, it is unclear whether general and specic factors explain the be-
havior of all men having committed a rape/sexual aggression or that
some men's behavior might be the result of a general propensity to be
involved in antisocial/criminal behavior (including rape and sexual ag-
gression) while for others, risk factors specic to rape and sexual ag-
gression are operating.
3. Theoretical formulations of rape and sexual aggression: Three
generations of research
The general versus specic explanation debate regarding the origins
and the development of rape and sexual aggression is reective of more
profound changes that have characterized this eld of research over the
years. This debate, it is argued, is the result of signicant changes re-
garding how researchers in the eld have formulated the problem and
conducted research on the issue. Indeed, it is suggested that over the
years, the study of the etiology of rape and sexual aggression has been
characterized by the presence of three inuential generations of re-
search and theorizing, and the recent emergence of a fourth generation.
The rst three generations of research and theorizing have all had a very
signicant impact on the conceptualization of rape and sexual aggres-
sion, and as a result, on the development and implementation of very
distinctive social and criminal justice policies in response to rape and
sexual aggression. In this section, these three inuential generations of
research and theorizing are briey described while the fourth and
emerging generation will be addressed later in a subsequent section.
3.1. First generation of research and theorizing The clinical-medical
approach
The rst generation consisted of empirical research conducted with
sexual aggressors of women in either prison, psychiatric, or treatment
settings (e.g., Abel and Rouleau, 1990; Gebhard et al., 1965; Knight &
Prentky 1990). One of the primary goals of research in this context
was to inform the judgments of clinicians and practitioners in determin-
ing the motivation of the offenders, and, helping to identify possible
treatment targets, screen offenders exhibiting sexual deviance, and to
adjust interventions accordingly. First and foremost, this generation of
4 P. Lussier, J. Cale / Aggression and Violent Behavior xxx (2016) xxxxxx
research is responsible for introducing scientic inquiry, measures and
measurement as well as hypothesis testing to a eld that was, up to
that point, predominantly characterized by the clinical observations
and description of a few, very selective cases (e.g., Krafft-Ebing, 1907).
This rst generation of research is also responsible for identifying the
heterogeneity among individuals having committed sexual aggression
against adult women, especially in terms of the various motivations
characterizing these men (e.g., Groth and Birnbaum, 1979; Knight &
Prentky, 1990). This generation of research also raised concerns about
the limitations of ofcial police data to determine the extent of sexual
aggressions committed by these men (e.g., Abel, Becker, Mittelman,
Cunningham-Rathner, Rouleau, & Murphy, 1987; Weinrott & Saylor,
1991). While sex offender treatment programs have considerably
evolved over the years, this generation of research also stressed the im-
portance of providing professional assistance, conducting rigorous clin-
ical assessment, and offering specialized treatment to sexually
aggressive men while promoting rehabilitation objectives and services
(e.g., Marshall, 1996). Therefore, the rst generation of studies along
these lines were limited to the examination of individuals who have
been arrested, indicted/convicted and in most cases incarcerated for
their acts of sexual aggression.
Considering the issue of attrition in the criminal justice system, par-
ticularly for cases involving of rape and sexual aggression, it is extreme-
ly difcult to generalize the ndings from these studies to all individuals
who have committed such acts (Daly & Bouhours, 2010). In addition,
this generation of studies was characterized by relatively limited meth-
odological quality, and was typically based on clinical observations,
cross-sectional and retrospective data. In effect, these and other meth-
odological limitations did not allow researchers to distinguish between
causes, correlates, and consequences of rape and sexual aggression
(e.g., the presence of deviant sexual fantasies, the presence cognitive
distortions supportive of sexual aggression). Tests, questionnaires, psy-
chometric instruments, and the penile plethysmograph were some of
the primary tools used to describe this particular population of of-
fenders (e.g., Langevin, 1985; Quinsey, 1984), some of which are still
used in clinical and correctional settings (e.g., see Thakker, Collie,
Gannon & Ward, 2008). This generation of studies focused on individual
differences and the presence of men's mental health problems, includ-
ing personality disorders, the presence of paraphilia, psychopathy, etc.
Furthermore, the early clinical research often did not involve compari-
son groups of nonsexual aggressors, therefore not allowing researchers
to draw rm generalizable conclusions about research ndings.
3.2. The second generation of research: The sociolegal approach
A second generation of studies emerged primarily during the early
1980s that shifted focus toward the general population. This body of re-
search challenged the assumption of mental health problems underly-
ing the behavior of individuals having committed acts of sexual
aggression (e.g., Bachman, Paternoster & Ward, 1992; Brownmiller,
1975; Burt, 1980; Malamuth, 1989). These studies, conducted by mainly
sociologists, social psychologists and feminists, described sexual aggres-
sors of women as rational individuals whose sexual aggression was not
reective of sexual deviance requiring a clinical intervention, but rather
was symptomatic of cultural inuences supporting the development of
violent predispositions, particularly toward women, and therefore, re-
quiring punishment and deterrence. By conceptualizing rape and sexual
aggression as a social problem rather than a mental health problem, this
second generation of research was instrumental in: (a) triggering sever-
al key criminal justice changes (e.g., rape laws) and broadening the
scope of legal sanctioning (e.g., marital rape) (e.g., Lieb et al., 1998;
Petrunik, 2002); (b) raising greater awareness toward victims of rape
and sexual aggression and secondary victimization, increasing the un-
derstanding of the negative short-term and long-term impact of sexual
aggression, and highlighting the inadequacies of the criminal justice
system responding to such victimization (e.g., Campbell & Raja, 1999;
Please cite this article as: Lussier, P., & Cale, J., Understanding the origins and the development of rape and sexual aggression against women: Four
generations of research and theori..., Aggression and Violent Behavior (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2016.07.008
Kilpatrick, Best, Saunders, & Veronen, 1988); (c) identifying key risk fac-
tors and groups at-risk for the perpetration of rape and sexual aggres-
sion, as well as sexual victimization (e.g., Koss, 1993a; Malamuth
et al., 1991; Schwartz, DeKeseredy, Tait & Alvi, 2001).
This second generation of studies focused on self-reported data to
measure sexual aggression toward women because these incidents are
largely under-reported by police data (e.g., Bryden & Lengnick, 1997;
Bouchard & Lussier, 2015; Koss, 1993b; Lussier & Cale, 2013). In other
words, these studies stressed that the prevalence of sexual aggression
was much higher than ofcial data suggested (e.g., Koss et al., 1987).
Studies were carried out mainly with samples of young adults, usually
college and university students, considered to be the age group the
most at risk of perpetration and victimization. These studies, however,
do not include ofcial data or other data allowing triangulation and val-
idation of self-reported information which may involve minimization,
recall biases or exaggeration. The picture emerging from these studies
stands in stark contrast from research conducted with sexual aggressors
of women in clinical settings. It could be argued that these second gen-
eration studies were limited to the description and explanation of the
phenomenon of date rape and, as a result, was not representative of
all forms of sexual aggression against women. Although this criticism
is certainly justied, it is important to reiterate that most sexual aggres-
sion against women typically occurs in a context where the perpetrator
and the victim are relatively well acquainted (e.g., Fisher, Cullen &
Turner, 2000). Furthermore, some acts included in the operational def-
inition of sexual aggression typically used in second-generation studies
would not necessarily be considered criminal in a court of law
(e.g., Bryden & Lengnink, 1997). Finally, these studies did not put as
much emphasis on individual differences associated with sexual aggres-
sion, instead emphasizing the role and importance of contextual and
transitory factors, including alcohol consumption and intoxication, the
routine activities and opportunities, the presence and availability of por-
nographic material, male peer support, rape myths and false beliefs
about women and sexuality, as well as deviant sexual arousal
(e.g., Baron & Straus, 1987; Koss, Leonard, Beezley, Oros, 1985;
Malamuth, 1989; Malamuth, 1998; Schwartz et al., 2001; Schwartz &
DeKeseredy, 1997). Given the reliance on cross-sectional and retrospec-
tive data, again, this generation of studies was also not supported by re-
search designs allowing for the distinction between causes, correlates,
and consequences but it highlighted broader key concepts and factors
associated with the sexual aggression of young adult females by
young adult males.
3.3. The third generation of research: The correctional-psychology
approach
A third generation of research emerged in the early 1990s and fo-
cused on the long-term risk of convicted sexual aggressors. While the
second generation of research demonstrated how widespread, domesti-
cated, and more common rape and sexual aggression were than origi-
nally thought, this new research program aimed to better understand
the persistence of sexual aggression over time through the inspection
of recidivism patterns of convicted offenders. This correctional-
psychology approach, for the most part, has not been driven by a partic-
ular theoretical framework, but rather, aimed to identify risk factors as-
sociated with sexual recidivism. While theoretical models of sexual
recidivism have been elaborated and proposed, these models were not
specic to individuals involved in rape and sexual aggression against
women (e.g., Proulx et al., 2014; Ward & Beech, 2006). This generation
of research more or less introduced longitudinal research into the eld
by examining: a) the proportion of individuals being re-arrested or re-
convicted for a sexual offense after their release (e.g., Hanson, Morton
& Harris, 2003); b) the characteristics of individuals re-arrested for a
sexual offense after their release compared to those who were not re-
arrested for such offenses (e.g., Beech & Ward, 2004); and, c) through
statistical modeling, whether identied risk factors for sexual recidivism
 P. Lussier, J. Cale / Aggression and Violent Behavior xxx (2016) xxxxxx
could be used for risk assessment and risk prediction purposes
(e.g., Quinsey, Rice & Harris, 1995). While the theorizing of persistence
of rape and sexual aggression against women has been limited, re-
searchers associated with this line of research reiterated the importance
of historical (i.e., static risk factors), trait-like features (i.e., dynamic risk
stable factors), as well as contextual, transitory, state-like factors
(i.e., dynamic acute risk factors) associated with sexual recidivism
(e.g., see Hanson & Thornton, 2000; Hanson & Harris, 2000). While
these researchers stressed the importance of dynamic and changeable
risk factors, the dynamic aspect of these risk factors of sexual recidivism
has rarely been examined and empirically veried.
In this context, sexual aggression was again dened and measured
using ofcial data (e.g., a new arrest or conviction) and thus accompa-
nied by the associated limitations that characterize ofcial data which
include the underestimation of the true sexual recidivism rate
(e.g., Quinsey, Rice & Weis, 1986). This line of research helped to estab-
lish the ofcial base rate of sexual recidivism among convicted sexual
aggressors, but also, demonstrated the wide variation of sexual recidi-
vism rates among subgroups of men convicted of rape and sexual ag-
gression against women. Of importance, the inspection of recidivism
patterns through longitudinal data provided evidence that recidivism
rates vary by age (e.g., Wollert, 2006; Wollert, Cramer, Waggoner,
Skelton, & Vess, 2010). While there is ample evidence showing that
the sexual recidivism rates of older offenders are signicantly lower
than those of young adults, it remains unclear whether the risk of sexual
recidivism drops with age and aging for most (e.g., Lussier & Healey,
2009). The conundrum surrounding the interpretation of the age-
effect remained considering that researchers were only looking at a rel-
atively small snapshot of these individuals' life histories, which was re-
stricted to the amount of time covered by the study follow-up period
(i.e., usually 4 to 5 years). Not only were these follow-up periods rela-
tively short, especially to establish the long-term risk of sexual recidi-
vism, but these longitudinal studies also combined individuals at
different stages of their criminal career (e.g., rst offense, second of-
fense, etc.), and also at different life stages (emerging adulthood, mid-
life, etc.) (Lussier & Cale, 2013). In other words, this generation of stud-
ies was not well suited to examine life-course patterns, but was also too
limited to examine within-individual stability and changes over time
and context. Amid these limitations, this generation of research contrib-
uted to the longitudinal understanding of sexual aggression and can be
considered an important precursor to the fourth generation of research
on the issue.
4. Explanatory models of sexual aggression against women
The rst three generations of research and theorizing led to the de-
velopment of several etiological models of rape and sexual aggression.
These rst three generations were heavily focused on the presence of
individual differences associated with rape and sexual aggression. In
this section, the key etiological factors and mechanisms focusing on
these individual differences are reviewed.
4.1. Motives for sexual aggression
Historically, one of the most disputed aspects of the phenomena of
rape and sexual aggression against women has been the motivation of
the perpetrator. The motivation refers to the aim or aims pursued by a
perpetrator who commits an act of sexual aggression against a
woman. This raises the important question: Are sexual aggressors of
women motivated by the need for sexual pleasure and gratication or
by some other motivations that have little to do with sexuality? For
some, sexual aggression is an act motivated by sexual drive, whether
deviant sexual fantasies and sexual urges (e.g., Abel & Blanchard,
1974), an abnormally high sexual drive (e.g., Ellis, 1991; Kafka, 1997),
or a normal sexual drive not governed by common behavioral inhibitory
mechanisms (Marshall & Barbaree, 1984). For others, sexual assault is a
Please cite this article as: Lussier, P., & Cale, J., Understanding the origins and the development of rape and sexual aggression against women: Four
generations of research and theori..., Aggression and Violent Behavior (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2016.07.008
5
pseudosexual act where sexual behavior is a means to another end
(Groth & Birnbaum, 1979). From a feminist standpoint, sexual aggres-
sion is a strategy aimed toward maintaining women in a position of so-
cial and economic subjugation and to maintain the power relations
associated with patriarchy. Therefore, from this perspective, domina-
tion, power, and control are the main motivations behind sexual aggres-
sion where sexual behaviors contribute to further humiliate and
reinforce the subjugation of women. For example, Brownmiller's
(1975) observations, based mainly on wartime contexts and the period
of slavery in the United States, conrmed for her that sexual aggression
is a process of intimidation by which all men keep women in a state of
fear. Sexual aggression can therefore serve a purpose other than
obtaining sexual gratication. Using the same logic, Groth & Birnbaum
(1979) stated that any conclusions or interpretation of sexual aggres-
sion involving a sexual motivation would suggest that the victim delib-
erately or inadvertently caused her own victimization. Their argument
however seems to imply that for moral, social, and political reasons,
the interpretation of a harmful behavior should be made in a particular
way. These interpretations and conclusions, popularized during the
1970s and 1980s, have been questioned and the underlying assump-
tions challenged on several fronts (e.g., Ellis, 1991; Felson, 2002;
Lalumire et al., 2005). As suggested by Bryden and Grier (2011), the re-
jection of any sexual motivation underlying sexual aggression was the
result of a generation aiming to raise awareness and change public per-
ceptions and attitudes toward this emotionally charged crime.
For many clinical researchers, however, the answer is rather obvi-
ous: there are a variety of motivations behind rape and sexual aggres-
sion that can only be highlighted by a classication system or a
typology. Over the years, several typologies of sexual aggressors of
women have been formulated (Cohen, Garofalo, Boucher & Seghorn
1971; Gebhard, et al., 1965; Guttmacher & Wiehofen, 1952; Groth &
Birnbaum, 1979; Knight & Prentky 1990; Proulx et al., 1999). Among
the motives for rape and sexual aggression raised by these typologies in-
clude but are not limited to: sexual sadism; the desire to dominate
others completely; unconscious homosexual anxieties; opportunism
and immediate sexual gratications; hostility; anger and rage; and,
power and control. Not surprisingly, these classications models and in-
terpretations of offenders' underlying motivations tend to differ from
one study to the next. For the most part, these classication schemes
are characterized by an inferential approach, rarely the subject of
much empirical assessment and validation (see for a discussion,
Knight & Prentky, 1990). At the same time, determining the motivation
for an act of sexual aggression requires a much higher level of inference
than for describing differences between sex crime events. For example,
it still remains unclear if a person's motivation to commit an act of sex-
ual aggression remains the same over time/offenses and across victims.
Furthermore, any analysis, interpretation and conclusions along these
lines have been based on retrospective data obtained after the fact,
and typically in a therapeutic setting. Given these challenges, it is not
necessarily surprising that the classication of offenders based on
their motivation to commit an act of sexual aggression has been left to
the wayside, at least for the most part. In their place, to some extent,
more contemporary classication schemes of sexual aggressors of
women are now focused on offenders' modus operandi and the crime
event characteristics (Deslauriers-Varin & Beauregard, 2010; Proulx,
Beauregard, Lussier & Leclerc, et al., 2014; Polaschek, Hudson, Ward &
Siegert, 2001), developmental and offending trajectories (Cale, Lussier
& Proulx, 2009; Lalumire et al., 2005; Lussier, et al., 2010; Lussier,
Leclerc, Cale & Proulx, 2007; Lussier, et al., 2012; Seto & Barbaree,
1997) and the risk of sexual recidivism (e.g., Hanson & Thornton,
2000), and the distinct processes associated with sexual reoffending
(e.g., Ward & Hudson, 2000).
Until recently, our understanding of the motives for sexual inter-
course more broadly have been generally limited to reproduction, sexu-
al pleasure, or to release sexual tension. There is, however, some
research suggesting that the motives for having sex are much more
6 P. Lussier, J. Cale / Aggression and Violent Behavior xxx (2016) xxxxxx
widespread. For example, Hill and Preston (1996) proposed a model
consisting of eight motives for sex which included: to feel valued; to
demonstrate value; to obtain relief from stress; to provide nurturance;
to enhance feelings of personal power; to experience the power of
one's partner; to experience pleasure; and, to procreate. More recently,
using a survey with university students, Meston and Buss (2007) broad-
ened this view by identifying thirteen different motives for sex grouped
according to four key domains. Hence, stress reduction, pleasure, phys-
ical desirability and experience seeking constitute the domain of physi-
cal motives. The domain of goal attainment refers to resources, social
status, revenge and utilitarian motives. Insecurity is the third domain
which includes boosting self-esteem, having sex out of duty and pres-
sure, and mate guarding (e.g., to prevent someone from leaving the re-
lationship). Finally, the last domain refers to emotional factors, such as
love, commitment, and expression. In their study, the most frequent
motives for sexual intercourse included attraction, pleasure, love, emo-
tional closeness, arousal and adventure. Their ndings suggested that
men, more so than women, endorsed factors such as experience seeking
(e.g., wanting to increase the number of sexual conquests), opportunity
(e.g., the person was available), revenge (e.g., I wanted to get even with
someone), boosting self-esteem (e.g., wanting to feel powerful) and de-
siring physical pleasure without emotional involvement.
Interestingly, the motives for sex identied with survey research
conducted with samples of university students such as in the study of
Meston and Buss are not so far removed from motives for sexual aggres-
sion that have been reported in the studies conducted with men
convicted for rape and sexual aggression. In other words, what clinical
researchers identied as key pseudosexual motives for rape and sexual
aggression are also reported by the general population as motives for
sexual intercourse. While this survey research did not compare the mo-
tives of sexual aggressors from non-aggressors, a key difference charac-
terizing sexual aggressors of women therefore seems to be the pursuit
of sex in the absence of consent, and in these circumstances, attaining
the goal of achieving sexual encounters by using reckless, deant, covert
or overt antisocial tactics. Research along these lines has been conceptu-
alized by evolutionary psychologists using concepts such as mating
effort.
4.2. The phylogenetic origins of sexual aggression
Another set of theoretical formulations regarding the origins of sex-
ual aggression and rape originate from sociobiology and evolutionary
psychology (e.g., Ellis, 1991; Lalumire & Quinsey, 1996; Lalumire
et al., 2005; Thornhill & Palmer, 2000). Within this line of investigation,
researchers have examined two main hypotheses: a) whether rape pro-
vides increased chance for the survival of genes; or, b) whether rape is a
by-product of sexual selection. To date, research ndings tend to sup-
port the latter of the two scenarios. According to the hypothesis that
rape is a by-product of sexual selection, males can be distinguished in
terms of their mating effort where differential strategies are used to
maximise the likelihood of their reproductive success and survival of
their genes. On the one hand, a short-term mating (SM) strategy refers
to a high investment in pursuing multiple partners and low investment
and commitment in protecting, providing resources, and raising off-
spring. On the other hand, those characterized by a long-term mating
(LM) strategy manifest much higher commitment and parental invest-
ment in their offspring. Therefore, from this perspective, males pursuing
a SM strategy are likely to encounter difculties mating given that their
strategy conicts with those of females who tend to be characterized by
a LM strategy.
Contrary to popular beliefs that sexual aggressors of women to be
socially incompetent, unpopular men, characterized by a low self-
esteem, much empirical research tends to show quite the opposite.
These men tend to have an earlier onset of sexual intercourse and
more sexual partners than other sex offenders (e.g., Cale, Leclerc &
Smallbone, 2014). Furthermore, while not all sexual aggressors of
Please cite this article as: Lussier, P., & Cale, J., Understanding the origins and the development of rape and sexual aggression against women: Four
generations of research and theori..., Aggression and Violent Behavior (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2016.07.008
women can be characterized by a SM strategy, those who are stand
more likely to start offending at an earlier age and appear to commit
acts of sexual aggression at a higher rate (Cale & Lussier, 2011). There
is also additional research evidence that demonstrates men who are
more antisocial and, to some extent, show evidence of psychopathy,
tend to be characterized by this type of a sexual lifestyle and mating
strategy (Harris, Rice, Hilton, Lalumiere & Quinsey, 2007). One possible
explanation on the SM-sexual aggression link might be males' motives
for sexual activities in general. For example, recent research shows
that SM and LM males' motivations for sex overlap on some domains,
but are quite distinct on others. A study by Kennair, Grntvedt,
Mehmetoglu, Perilloux & Buss (2015) produced evidence to suggest
that LM are more likely to be driven by love and commitment compared
to SM, who were generally more likely to be driven by experience seek-
ing, status, revenge, and mate guarding motives. In other words, the SM
males' motives for sex correspond to motives that are commonly re-
ported for nonsexual offenses, such as intimate partner violence, homi-
cide, dangerous driving, assault, etc. (e.g., Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990;
Tedeschi & Felson, 1994; Felson, 2002). The overlap of such motives
may explain, at least in part, the co-occurrence of sexual aggression
against women with nonsexual antisocial behaviors as well as nonsex-
ual criminal behaviors in the life history of these men (e.g., Adler,
1984; Lussier et al., 2005a; Simon, 2000).
4.3. Propensity models of sexual aggression
A more common theoretical perspective to explain sexual aggres-
sion involves the description of a propensity specically associated
with sexual aggression. This propensity approach suggests the presence
of trait-like features that are relatively stable and xed over time and in-
crease a person's likelihood of committing an act of sexual aggression
under certain circumstances or in certain situations. Several models
have been proposed to describe and explain such propensity along the
lines of: a) deviant sexual preferences; b) personality traits and disor-
ders; c) neuropsychological processes; and, d) attitudinal and cognitive
biases.
4.3.1. Deviant sexual preferences
Explanatory models involving deviant sexual preferences suggest
that individuals who commit acts of sexual aggression are more sexually
aroused by these type of non-consensual sexual interactions more so
than normative consensual sexual activities. Different hypotheses
have been proposed to explain the emergence of deviant sexual prefer-
ences for sexual aggression, using mainly key concepts from behavioral
approaches and conditioning mechanisms in addition to social learning
principles (e.g., Abel & Blanchard, 1974; Laws & Barbaree, 1990). Labo-
ratory studies have been conducted to test such hypotheses using penile
plethysmography. The penile plethysmograph consists of measuring
the change in penile circumference (or volume) during the presentation
of deviant and non-deviant sexual stimuli (e.g., Proulx, 1989). The re-
sults of such laboratory studies suggest that only a minority of sexual
aggressors of women sentenced for their sexual offenses have a sexual
preference for rape or sexual assault with physical violence. However,
this proportion increases in clinical and psychiatric samples (Michaud
& Proulx, 2009). This type of sample variation is expected as individuals
with evidence of deviant sexual preferences are more likely to be trans-
ferred to a psychiatric hospital to take part in specialized sex offender
treatment programs.
The discriminant validity of penile plethysmography, or the ability of
the instrument itself to distinguish the penile responses of men having
committed an act of sexual aggression from those who have not, has
been the subject of much debate (e.g., Marshall & Fernandez, 2000;
Lalumire, Quinsey, Harris, Tautrimas, 2003). The ndings from re-
search along these lines has not consistently reported differential penile
responses between the two groups, and this has raised questions about
whether these inconsistent ndings challenge the deviant sexual
 P. Lussier, J. Cale / Aggression and Violent Behavior xxx (2016) xxxxxx
preference hypothesis itself, or rather reect a limitation of the method-
ology used in these studies. There is however some evidence to suggest
that in laboratory settings when men are exposed to stimuli (i.e., short
audiotaped description of rape and sexual aggression) that are more se-
vere and include elements of humiliation, the discriminant validity of
this method increases (Proulx, Aubut, McKibben & Ct, 1994). There
are two prevailing explanations for these ndings. The rst is that sexu-
al aggressors of women characterized by sexual sadism have differential
penile response patterns than other men, including non-sadistic sexual
aggressors. The second is that samples including a larger proportion of
sexual sadists are more likely to report increased discriminant validity
on the plethysmograph.
The reality, however, is likely much more complicated than one ex-
planation over the other. Laboratory studies rarely take into account
contextual factors that can temporarily change sexual arousal, including
impulsivity, mood, attitudes, emotional states (e.g., anger, rage), cogni-
tive distortions, and situational characteristics such as alcohol and drug
intoxication, among others (Hall & Hirschman, 1991; Marshall &
Barbaree, 1990). Critically, in certain contexts, disinhibitory mecha-
nisms such as these may: (a) promote or increase sexual excitement de-
spite the refusal and distress of the victim; and/or, (b) reduce the effect
of internal mechanisms governing inhibitions against sexual assault
(Barbaree & Marshall, 1991). Therefore, these empirical ndings chal-
lenge the background role and importance of sexual preferences of the
offender, bringing to the forefront individual differences in personality,
attitudes and beliefs, behavior and lifestyle that may impact sexual
arousal in certain contexts.
4.3.2. Personality traits and disorders
A second set of explanatory models emphasizes interpersonal func-
tioning, especially in terms of personality. These models are based in
part on the idea that sexual aggression is an inadequate interpersonal
behavior indicative of difculties in establishing and maintaining
healthy and mutually satisfying intimate relationships. From this per-
spective, the propensity for sexual aggression stems from the presence
of insecure attachment styles in men committing acts of sexual aggres-
sion. This idea has its origins in the work of Marshall (1989) who hy-
pothesized that sexual aggressors of women are characterized by an
insecure attachment style, resulting from adverse early childhood expe-
riences (e.g., separation, divorce, child abuse and neglect). The insecure
attachment style is reected in particular by low self-esteem, an inabil-
ity to develop intimate relationships with others and, consequently, sig-
nicant emotional loneliness. Therefore, in this context, sexual
aggression can be conceived of as an inadequate way to fulll intimacy
needs. Similar to Marshall (1989), Hall and Hirschman (1991) also em-
phasized the role and importance of adversities and abuse experienced
in childhood. However in their quadripartite model of sexual aggres-
sion, they focused more specically on the subsequent consequences
of these early experiences such as developing antisocial personality
traits in adulthood. In this model, antisocial personality traits interact
with physiological (deviant sexual arousal), emotional (anger, rage)
and cognitive (cognitive distortions) contextual factors that increase
the likelihood for sexual aggression.
The focus on antisocial personality in Hall and Hirschman's model
can be contrasted with the narcissistic reactance model proposed by
Baumeister et al. (2002). This model emphasizes the sexual assault of
women in a rather specic context. Here, the key assumption is that
an individual with narcissistic traits is more likely to interpret a refusal
to his sexual advances as a personal insult and in turn will have a strong
negative reaction to such insult. This can be conceptualized as a narcis-
sistic injury that increases the desire for sexual contact with this person.
Under these circumstances the perpetrator's image as someone special,
superior and unique is threatened, and as a result, so too is the personal
safety of the potential victim. In this context however, sexual aggression
is not necessarily a reafrmation of the perpetrator's self, but rather is a
reafrmation of his sexual desires and needs. This model has been
Please cite this article as: Lussier, P., & Cale, J., Understanding the origins and the development of rape and sexual aggression against women: Four
generations of research and theori..., Aggression and Violent Behavior (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2016.07.008
7
conceptualized in the context of sexual aggression in dating situations
(Bushman, Bonacci, van Dijk & Baumeister, 2003), however generaliz-
ing it to other contexts, such as stranger rape, is difcult as recognized
by Baumeister et al. (2002). In addition, personality proles of sexual
aggressors of women are quite diverse, and not strictly limited to narcis-
sistic personality traits (Proulx et al., 1999; Proulx et al., 2014).
4.3.3. Neuropsychological decits
While some explanatory models focus on personality disorders and
intimacy issues, a parallel focus has been on neuropsychological func-
tioning. For example, while psychologists have stressed the role and im-
portance of self-regulation (e.g., Ward & Hudson, 2000) neuroscientists
have stressed the role of executive functioning (e.g., Joyal, Black &
Dassylva, 2007). Executive functions are actions in the brain that govern
self-regulation (Barkley, 2001). Self-regulation refers to the psycholog-
ical processes involved in goal setting as well as the planning, monitor-
ing, assessment and modication of actions to accomplish a goal in an
optimal manner. In a more recent integrated theoretical model, Ward
& Beech (2006) stressed that the propensity for sexual aggression is as-
sociated with malfunction in this key neuropsychological system. This
idea can be traced back to the work of Luria (1966) who described
three jointly functioning systems in the brain. The rst is the percep-
tion/memory system that is associated with the capacity for creating
and storing information and/or activating existing representations of
the environment. This system provides input to the arousal/motivation
system, which generates appropriate arousal and motivational states.
Finally, the action selection system is then responsible for the planning,
controlling and execution of thoughts and behaviors, as well as the inhi-
bitions of options that are inappropriate in order to deal with a certain
environment.
According to Ward and Beech (2006) sexual aggressors of women
may fail to recognize their emotional state or be confused when
confronted with an emotionally charged situation (i.e., arousal/motiva-
tion system). As a result, they may have issues inhibiting their behavior,
possess limited problem solving skills or limited abilities to adapt plans
to deal with the situation (i.e., action selection system). In addition, they
also may hold maladaptive beliefs and/or attitudes characterized by
problematic interpretations of social encounters (i.e., perception/mem-
ory system). In the developmental psychology literature, problems of
the arousal/motivation system tend to be those associated with inter-
nalization spectrum disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety and post-
traumatic stress disorder); disorders of the action selection system
with externalization spectrum disorders (e.g., attention-decit/
hyperactivity and conduct disorder); and, the perception/memory sys-
tem with intellectual developmental disorder or general learning dis-
ability and developmental language disorders (e.g., Pennington, 2002).
Self-regulation decits are therefore not specic to sexual aggression
and if sexual aggression is a symptom of neuropsychological malfunc-
tion, it can be assumed that these particular individuals may present
additional and concurrent symptoms, such as involvement in external-
izing, antisocial behaviors and/or internalizing behaviors (Lussier et al.,
2007), which is also consistent, among other things, with insecure at-
tachment issues (Marshall, 1989).
4.3.4. Attitudinal and cognitive biases
A fourth set of explanatory models of rape and sexual aggression
against women involves assumptions surrounding attitudinal and cog-
nitive biases and originated from socio-cultural and feminist theoretical
work (e.g., Brownmiller, 1975; Sanday, 1981). From these perspectives,
sexual aggression is not a reection of behavioral inhibitory decits
(e.g., impulsivity), but rather, reects false beliefs about gender rela-
tions, and incorrect interpretations of related social interactions and
misdirected objectives. Burt (1980) highlighted the prevalence and
role of stereotypes and myths about, primarily heterosexual, gender re-
lations in the population. This includes false and prejudicial beliefs in-
volving male entitlement in the context of sexual assault. Findings
8 P. Lussier, J. Cale / Aggression and Violent Behavior xxx (2016) xxxxxx
from this line of research (e.g., Burt, 1980; Malamuth, 1998) have dem-
onstrated that adherence to such notions of male entitlement is partic-
ularly prevalent among individuals holding traditional patriarchal
attitudes surrounding gender-specic societal roles, sexist attitudes,
those who are suspicious of the opposite sex, and those who perceive vi-
olence as a legitimate means of resolving personal problems. According
Polascheck and Gannon (2004), ve main beliefs characterize such cog-
nitive schemas (or implicit theories) of rapists: (a) women are danger-
ous, harmful and unpredictable; (b) women are sex objects;
(c) (sexual) entitlement; (d) men's sexual drive is uncontrollable;
and, (e) society is dangerous. This set of beliefs reects the concept of
hostile masculinity proposed by Malamuth (1998). In terms of sexual
aggression, the concept of hostile masculinity emphasizes the central
role of cognitive distortions supportive of sexual aggression, sexist atti-
tudes and the perception that aggression and violence are legitimate
strategies for pursuing sexual encounters with women. From the outset,
this perspective aimed to bring to the forefront the role and importance
of cultural factors, such as sexist attitudes, in promoting sexual aggres-
sion. However, beyond the broad cultural concept of patriarchy, the de-
velopmental origins of such attitudes and beliefs remain elusive.
4.4. Pseudo-developmental and developmental models
The identied and hypothesized individual differences discussed
above have also been presented into comprehensive etiological models
of rape and sexual aggression. These comprehensive models show in-
creasing consideration toward the understanding of the development
of the propensity for sexual aggression. Marshall and Barbaree (1990)
proposed an etiological model of sexual aggression that, in effect, re-
ects a biosocial orientation. Presented as a general theory of sexual
offending, the model was originally an explanation of sexual aggression
against women (Marshall & Barbaree, 1984). This strict focus formed
the basis for some critiques of the model (e.g., Ward, & Siegert, 2002) in-
sofar as the focus on aggression tends to be more in line with sexual as-
sault rather than sexual aggression more generally. Nonetheless, this
early biosocial model was characterized by some basic assumptions
about the origin and development of the propensity for sexual aggres-
sion against women. In effect, the propensity toward sexual aggression
is determined by multiple potential biological and environmental fac-
tors. For example, these factors can: a) favor the disinhibition of behav-
ior and internal constraints against sexual aggression; and, (b) interfere
with the learning and development of these internal inhibitory mecha-
nisms. From this approach, sexual aggressors of women have a develop-
mental trajectory similar to individuals involved in nonsexual offenses.
This particular model suggests that at birth, humans have two innate bi-
ological drives that are largely undifferentiated; sexuality and aggres-
sion. It is socialization processes beginning from infancy on that
become central to distinguishing these two impulses, inhibiting aggres-
sion in a sexual context and vice versa. This hypothesis was supported,
at least in part, by laboratory observations that sexual aggressors of
women are not necessarily aroused by sexualized violence, but rather,
are not inhibited by the presence of aggressive stimuli in a violent or
sexual context. At the individual level, this inhibitory developmental
task can be particularly difcult for young males whose testosterone
levels are abnormally high, which is important both in terms of sexual
behavior, as well as aggressive and violent behavior. In the context of
socialization, it is also particularly challenging for children who have
parents with poor parenting skills, and where the family context is char-
acterized by abuse and violence.
In children where the successful acquisition of inhibitory tasks is
compromised along either or both dimensions (i.e., individual and/or
social) their prosocial interactions become increasingly limited as they
make developmental transitions into early childhood and adolescence.
For example, they may have increasingly limited prosocial interactions
with their peers as a result of being socially rejected because they are
aggressive, signicantly affecting their self-esteem and favoring the
Please cite this article as: Lussier, P., & Cale, J., Understanding the origins and the development of rape and sexual aggression against women: Four
generations of research and theori..., Aggression and Violent Behavior (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2016.07.008
development of increased hostility toward their social environment. In
turn, aggressive and hostile youth become more susceptible to sociocul-
tural messages promoting violence in general and negative attitudes to-
ward women specically. Over time, these messages become ingrained
and develop into schemas about reality. Around puberty, these aggres-
sive and distorted beliefs play an important role in masturbatory activ-
ities and facilitate the emergence of deviant sexual fantasies involving
sexual aggression. Therefore, adolescents struggling with hostility, lim-
ited social skills, and deviant sexual fantasies, are at an increased risk of
committing a sexually aggressive act in the presence of other signicant
disinhibitions, such as alcohol/drugs, intense negative affect, anonymi-
ty, stress and anxiety. Ward (2002) challenged a major premise to this
model arguing that while some sexual aggressors have self-control
problems, and that here sexual aggression reects behavioral inhibition
decits, for others, sexual aggression reects inadequate goal-oriented
behaviors. This notion of inadequate goal-oriented behaviors supported
by problematic attitudes, beliefs and values is central to the conuence
model proposed by Neil Malamuth and colleagues.
The conuence model of sexual aggression put forth by Malamuth
et al. (Malamuth, Sockloskie, Koss & Tanaka, 1991; Malamuth 1998;
Malamuth, Addison & Koss, 2000; Malamuth, 2003) is an integration
of various components of sociological and feminist theories on the one
hand, and psychological explanations of sexual aggression on the
other. The conuence model is an etiological model of violence against
women aimed to more specically explain the propensity for sexual ag-
gression according to the following key principles. The rst is that the
propensity for the use of coercive and violent behaviors against
women is not specic to sexual aggression and is the result of interac-
tions between biological, individual and cultural factors. Malamuth
and colleagues have argued that the origin of this propensity is deeply
rooted in family experiences and early childhood exposure to violence
fostering the development of hostile cognitive schemas, sexism and an
adversarial approach to gender relations. According to their model, chil-
dren exposed to violence early in life are more likely to associate with
delinquent peers that interfere with: a) the development of skills neces-
sary to cope constructively with frustrations and interpersonal conicts;
and, b) the development of a prosocial identity and a long-term per-
spective. These decits, in turn, manifest themselves in interpersonal
relationships, including men's sexual behavior. In line with sociobiolog-
ical explanations of rape as a by-product of sexual selection, the conu-
ence model stipulates that these experiences favor the emergence of an
impersonal sexual lifestyle where sexual behavior becomes a source of
self-esteem in men by maximising the number of sexual partners.
Similar to the Marshall and Barbaree's (1990) model, the conuence
model places a strong emphasis on the role and importance of the socio-
cultural environment. For example, a sociocultural environment that
promotes power, strength, male bonding, dominance, aggression, and
competition supports the development of hostile masculinity. Impor-
tantly, the concept of hostile masculinity can also be linked to the per-
ception/memory system and the distorted beliefs and goals involved
in self-regulation as proposed by Ward and Beech (2006). Furthermore,
hostile masculinity also plays a disinhibitory role on men's behavior, in-
cluding sexual behavior, in two ways. The rst involves being less empa-
thetic toward women. The second involves being less anxious about
being rejected by women given adversarial cognitive schemas. There-
fore, individuals characterized by hostile masculinity are likely to have
an impersonal sexual lifestyle, and are also more likely to resort to coer-
cive and violent strategies in a sexual context, under particular circum-
stances. Sexual aggression, therefore, is not the result of a high
sexual drive, but rather cognitive scheme characterized by hostility
toward women among men with impersonal sexual lifestyles. This
view of sexual aggressors as sexist, violent and hostile men was chal-
lenged Knight and Sims-Knight (2003) who questioned some of
these assumptions under the conuence model in light of the inabil-
ity to replicate the model empirically in a sample of convicted sexual
aggressors.
 P. Lussier, J. Cale / Aggression and Violent Behavior xxx (2016) xxxxxx
In their etiological model, Knight and Sims-Knight (2003) focused
on the concept of psychopathy in the context of sexual aggression
against women. More specically, they emphasized the role and impor-
tance of psychopathic traits that emerge from exposure to violent family
environments. On the one hand, these environments promote emotion-
al detachment and lack of empathy. On the other hand, they also pro-
mote the development of antisocial and aggressive behavior.
Developmentally, this model contrasts with that of Marshall and
Barbaree (1984, 1990) which underlines the importance of low self-
esteem, skills and a limited repertoire of social skills. Rather, the
model of Knight and Sims-Knight (2003) presents a developmental pro-
le that further magnies the importance of conduct disorder and the
relative lack of empathy for others, and this extends to the context of in-
terpersonal relationships characterized by lies, manipulation and ex-
ploitation. In addition, hypersexuality is the second clinical dimension
of the explanatory model, and refers to compulsive sexual behaviors
and aggressive sexual fantasies. They argue that the origin of hypersex-
uality is primarily related to sexual victimization experiences during
childhood. Therefore, this conceptualization of a propensity toward sex-
ual aggression, although distinct from Malamuth's conuence model,
depicts the role of psychopathic traits and hypersexuality, together fa-
voring the emergence of sexually aggressive thoughts, fantasies and be-
haviors. The empirical study of Lussier et al. (2005b) however, calls into
question some of the underlying themes of Knight and Sims-Knight's
model of sexual aggression. Indeed, the model of Knight and Sims-
Knight (2003) suggests the presence of two distinct etiological process-
es; exposure to models of violence and the development of psychopa-
thy; and, sexual victimization experiences that promote the
development of hypersexuality. However, Lussier et al. (2005b) pro-
duced evidence to suggest that hypersexuality and sexual arousal to vi-
olent sexual fantasies emerge as a direct extension of an antisocial
tendency for some men. In other words, individuals who exhibit antiso-
cial traits are also characterized by antisocial sexuality that involves the
search for immediate sexual gratication, poor frustration tolerance,
and inadequate inhibitory mechanisms against their coercive sexual be-
havior that overall is limited to certain contexts.
5. Fourth generation of research and theorizing - a developmental
life course approach
At the turn of the millennium, the growing inuence of comprehen-
sive pseudo-developmental and developmental models on the scientic
community, the introduction of longitudinal research and studies,
coupled with the inuential work of developmental criminology/psy-
chopathology and the life course perspective, all lead to the gradual
emergence of a fourth generation of research and theorizing in the
area of sexual aggression. This generation of research, still in its infancy,
primarily focuses on describing the development of rape and sexual ag-
gression against women as well as identifying the risk and protective
factors across different life and developmental stages (e.g., Abbey &
McAuslan, 2004; Malamuth, Linz, Heavey, Barnes & Acker, 1995;
Lussier & Blokland, 2014; Lussier, Corrado & McCuish, 2015b; Lussier,
Blokland, Mathesius, Pardini, & Loeber, 2015a; Zimring et al., 2007,
2009).
The developmental life course perspective combines two broad
research approaches that are not incompatible. The rst, develop-
mental research, is centered on the description and understanding
of human development by focusing on successive and continuing
person environment interactions. The developmental perspective
is particularly concerned about the role and inuence of the environ-
ment (e.g., family, school, peers, workplace, and neighborhood) and
its impact on a person's psychosocial development over life course.
In criminology, the developmental perspective has been inuential
for promoting research allowing the identication of risk and protec-
tive factors of juvenile delinquency and adult criminality in the early
years, prior the onset of these manifestations to inform prevention
Please cite this article as: Lussier, P., & Cale, J., Understanding the origins and the development of rape and sexual aggression against women: Four
generations of research and theori..., Aggression and Violent Behavior (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2016.07.008
9
and intervention programs (e.g., Farrington, 2005; Loeber, Farrington,
Stouthamer-Loeber & White, 2008; Moftt, 1993). This approach has
been questioned in the past for its overemphasis on the early years
and the seemingly deterministic perspective. Life-course scholars
(e.g., Sampson & Laub, 2003) have argued that life events, life transi-
tions, and turning points in adulthood matter for everyone, irrespective
of the formative years and early life experiences. The life course ap-
proach stresses that human development does not stop after childhood,
but rather, continues to unfold well beyond throughout the entire life-
course. Attitudes, values, and behaviors are shaped by life experiences
and signicant turning points (e.g., military service, employment, mar-
riage, parenthood). The life-course perspective is not incompatible with
the developmental rseaerch and theorizing (e.g., see Elder, 1998) and
Farrington (2005) has since suggested that the developmental and
life-course perspectives provide complementary theoretical frame-
works for the study of crime and delinquency, including rape and sexual
aggression.
A cornerstone of the developmental and life-course (DLC) perspec-
tive is the reliance on prospective longitudinal data to study the origins
and the development of crime and delinquency. This approach, there-
fore, prioritizes research utilizing cohorts of individuals followed over
time which involves repeated measurements over long periods, and,
ideally, through different stages of human development (e.g., infancy,
early childhood, etc.). Unlike studies based on incarcerated or clinical
samples, sampling is not done after sexual offenses have occurred, but
well before an initial sexual offense. This not only allows for a more ac-
curate identication and understanding of the precursors of rape and
sexual aggression, but also contextualizes issues of continuity and dis-
continuity of the behavior. Therefore, these studies can identify differ-
ent parameters of development in order to examine the dynamic
aspect of sexual aggression over time (Blokland & Lussier, 2015;
Lussier, 2015; Lussier & Cale, 2013). This involves parameters of interest
such as: the age of onset of initial sexual aggression; the frequency of
sexual aggression; continuity and persistence of sexually aggressive
acts; escalation and progression of sexually aggressive behaviors, and -
nally, the termination of sexual aggression (Lussier, 2015). The useful-
ness of distinguishing these parameters is based on the rationale that
different factors or mechanisms may explain specic aspects of the de-
velopmental course of sexual aggression. For example, it is unlikely that
the factors responsible for the onset of sexual aggression are the same as
those responsible for the termination of sexually aggressive behaviors.
In addition, descriptive studies have clearly demonstrated some hetero-
geneity of sexual aggression among offenders, particularly in terms of
the age of onset of the behavior, the number of times the behavior
was manifested, the degree of crime specialization in sexual aggression,
and the persistence of the behavior over time, (Cale & Lussier, 2012;
Cale & Lussier, 2014; Cale, et al., 2009; Cale, Smallbone,
Rayment-McHugh & Dowling, 2015; Lussier, Tzoumakis, Cale, &
Amirault, 2010; Lussier, van den Berg, Bijleveld, & Hendricks, 2012).
Nonetheless, contemporary theories of sexual aggression remain rela-
tively silent regarding the diversity of these patterns. This is likely due,
at least in part, to the fact that the empirical knowledge concerning
the development course of sexual aggression remains relatively limited.
In recent years, the need and importance for a DLC perspective on
sexual aggression has been raised by several scholars (Chafn,
Letourneau & Silovsky, 2002; Lussier, 2005; Smallbone, 2006), but
there have been few attempts to formalize this perspective into a theo-
retical framework (Lussier, 2015; Smallbone & Cale, 2015). As outlined
above, most etiological models of sexual aggression are focused on
explaining between-individual differences leading to sexual aggression.
While the DLC approach is concerned with the role and importance of
between-individual factors such as intimacy decits, personality disor-
ders, and endorsement of rape myths, it is also concerned with
within-individual changes in these factors over time and how those
changes impact offending patterns and trajectories (Farrington, 2005).
Some theoretical models of sexual aggression are developmentally-
10 P. Lussier, J. Cale / Aggression and Violent Behavior xxx (2016) xxxxxx
informed (e.g., Marshall & Barbaree, 1990), but remain vague as to the
description, explanation and prediction of sexual aggression over time.
The longstanding and wide-spread propensity-oriented perspective in
the study of sexual aggression is an artefact of the type of research char-
acterizing the eld, which is based on highly selective samples, retro-
spective data, and limited sources of systematic information about the
developmental background and history of convicted individuals. To
date, prospective longitudinal investigations along these lines have
been used to study, almost exclusively, recidivism (i.e., another arrest/
conviction) among convicted offenders released from prison, using
mostly static and historical factors such as criminal history indicators
(e.g., Hanson & Bussire, 1998; Proulx et al., 1997). From a DLC perspec-
tive, the focus on sexual recidivism is misleading for several reasons, but
perhaps most critically the fact that it provides an extremely limited
snapshot of an individual's overall offending pattern (Lussier & Cale,
2013). While a DLC perspective on sexual aggression remains in its in-
fancy, the following sections offer an examination of current etiological
models of sexual aggression in light of some key DLC concepts and
principles.
5.1. A static and xed latent-trait propensity
The etiologic models of sexual aggression reviewed in this article
mostly offer a static view of the propensity for sexual aggression that
appears to be relatively stable and xed over time. This static view of
sexual aggression implies that individuals can be distinguished along a
continuum of some latent-trait or a constellation of personal attributes
(e.g., hypersexuality, hostile masculinity, and psychopathy) that inu-
ence the propensity to commit a sexual offense. This propensity has
been described differently across etiological models, some focusing on
general psychological functioning (e.g., neuropsychological decits,
personality characteristics, attitudes and cognitions), while others
focus on sexual functioning (e.g., sexual urges, sexual interest and pref-
erences). Within each of these two domains, etiological models are also
distinct in terms of the key aspects emphasized by different authors to
describe the propensity for sexual aggression. In sum, theories differ
as to the nature, dimensions and properties of such propensity for sex-
ual aggression against women. However, regardless of the focus, pro-
pensity theories remain unclear about the development of the latent
trait conducive to rape and sexual aggression against women. The pro-
pensity approach suggests that the general population can be differenti-
ated along a continuum, a high-order latent trait, or a constellation of
traits associated with sexual aggression. That said, there remain unan-
swered key questions such as: a) what is the onset and developmental
course of the latent-trait?; and, b) at what developmental stage do char-
acteristics associated with the latent-trait become relatively xed and
stable, if at all? To our knowledge, there is little research examining
the developmental properties of a latent-trait responsible for rape and
sexual aggression. Furthermore, current theories offer minimal infor-
mation as to the life-course patterns of such propensity and whether,
for example, a latent-trait varies or uctuates with age, life events, and
across life transitions.
This raises further key questions about the contextual and age-
graded factors that may inuence the propensity for rape and sexual ag-
gression. For example, in the eld of risk assessment and risk prediction,
research tends to refer to this constellation of traits as dynamic stable
risk factors (e.g., Beech & Ward, 2004) suggesting that the propensity
may vary over time. To illustrate, using a key concept of Malamuth's
conuence model, the developmental properties of hostile masculinity
remain relatively unknown. Do individuals prone to hostile masculinity,
and associated features such as the endorsement of rape myths and in-
terpersonal violence, maintain these attitudes over the life course,
across developmental stages, irrespective of life transitions and social
environments? In the absence of empirical evidence, therefore, the sta-
bility of this latent trait remains hypothetical while portraying at-risk
individuals to remain so for very long periods of time. These points
Please cite this article as: Lussier, P., & Cale, J., Understanding the origins and the development of rape and sexual aggression against women: Four
generations of research and theori..., Aggression and Violent Behavior (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2016.07.008
raise another important questions as to whether sexual aggressors of
women are qualitatively different from one another. If so, this would
suggest that a single theory of sexual aggression is insufcient to explain
and account for the various longitudinal patterns of sexual aggression. A
taxonomic model of sexual aggression, in that context, could be consid-
ered to describe and explain the multiple trajectories of sexual aggres-
sion (Cale, Lussier & Proulx, 2009; Lalumire et al., 2005; Lussier et al.,
2012; Seto & Barbaree, 1997). This idea would suggest that there are
multiple developmental pathways leading to rape and sexual aggres-
sion. From a developmental perspective, this represents the principle
of equinality; the notion that in any open system the end state can
be reached by multiple means. In this context, different etiological
mechanisms can cause the same developmental and behavioral conse-
quences. Lalumire et al. (2005), for example, convincingly argued in
favor of a three-trajectory model of rape and sexual aggression
reecting distinct developmental antisocial patterns: (a) a young male
syndrome or adolescent-limited pattern; (b) a life-course persistent tra-
jectory, and; (c) a psychopathy trajectory.
Alternative explanations to the propensity-based models are those
framed around contextual, transitory, state-based factors of sexual ag-
gression. Barbaree and Marshall (1991) described these state-based
models that postulate certain transitory states have the potential for in-
creasing the risk of sexual aggression in normal men (p. 622). Such a
perspective does not suggest that individuals having committed an act
of sexual aggression present stable individual-differences from other
men, but rather, that their sexually aggressive behavior was a specic
response to the presence and convergence of contextual and situational
cues. Thus far, research has been focused on the cognitive, emotional,
behavioral, and physiological state of the perpetrator prior to or during
the offense but much less so on the context inducing these states
(e.g., Proulx, McKibben & Lusignan, 1994; Proulx et al., 2014; Ward &
Hudson, 2000). There is empirical evidence that situational cues, induc-
ing strong negative emotional states (e.g., rage, anger, humiliation), can
either increase male's sexual arousal to rape cues in a laboratory setting
or impede the efcacy of inhibition mechanisms. Research has also
shown that alcohol consumption and intoxication can play an indirect
effect on sexual aggression by facilitating sexual arousal to rape cues
(e.g., Davis, Norris, George, Martell & Heiman, 2006) as well as
impairing men's ability to focus on inhibitory cues and modify their be-
havior accordingly (e.g., Norris, Davis, George, Martell & Heiman, 2002).
These processes, however, have been rarely examined and contextual-
ized outside laboratory settings in real life situations.
In that regard, Schwartz, DeKeseredy, Tait and Alvi (2001) proposed
and examined a routine activity model of sexual aggression on a college
campus. The routine activity model is framed around the idea that
amount and location of crime are affected by the presence of likely of-
fenders, the absence of capable guardians and the availability of suitable
targets. Schwartz et al. (2001) argued that criminogenic convergences
conducive to sexual aggression are most likely to occur on college cam-
puses because of the simultaneous presence of male students motivated
to sexually assault women; the presence of available (i.e., vulnerable)
female targets, and the relative absence of capable guardians willing
to intervene. They contend, similar to Malamuth et al. (1991), that col-
lege campuses, and more specically the presence of male peer groups
endorsing patriarchal and sexist attitudes as well as violence against
women, are prone to inducing motivations for sexual aggression against
women when there is an opportunity to do so. Furthermore, such peer
groups are less likely to provide any sort of guardianship for women
dating individuals endorsing negative views of women and violence,
further increasing the risk of aggression. Schwartz et al. (2001) found
that male college students with male friends supporting violence and
who drink more heavily are more likely to be perpetrators of sexual ag-
gression, and, that females who drink heavily are more vulnerable to
sexual aggression than those who do not, as demonstrated by their
higher sexual victimization rate. While these results do not provide em-
pirical evidence against propensity models of sexual aggression, they
 P. Lussier, J. Cale / Aggression and Violent Behavior xxx (2016) xxxxxx
reiterate the importance and need to better understand social contexts
that are conducive to rape and sexual aggression. From a DLC perspec-
tive, a state-based approach raises questions about whether the same
contextual factors are conducive to sexual aggression over life course.
While past research has been focused mainly on young adults and col-
lege students, such research needs to be extended in order to reect
the presence and importance of changing and evolving social contexts
and social roles throughout the life course (adolescence, emerging
adulthood, adulthood, etc.) and across life transitions (e.g., entry in
the workforce, cohabitation with an intimate partner, marriage,
parenthood).
5.2. Onset and the developmental course of sexual aggression
Propensity models of sexual aggression depict sexual aggressors as
life-course persistent sexual aggressors. From a static-propensity ap-
proach, the propensity to commit crime is generally understood as
being relatively stable throughout a person's life and variations in indi-
vidual offending rates are a function of uctuating circumstances in
criminal opportunities. Propensity theories also imply that individuals
start and repeat offending for the same reasons, whether it is the pres-
ence of psychopathic traits, hypersexuality, or hostile masculinity etc.
Fluctuating circumstances and criminal opportunities are rarely/vague-
ly described in etiological models of sexual aggression of women mak-
ing it difcult to infer criminal career patterns of sexual aggressors of
women. There is no empirical evidence suggesting that with age and
an increasing number of contacts with the criminal justice system, indi-
viduals having been charged and/or convicted for a sex offense become
more apt at avoiding detection (e.g., Lussier, Bouchard & Beauregard,
2011). Therefore, it is somewhat difcult to reconcile the notion of a
xed and stable propensity for sexual aggression with the relatively
low sexual recidivism rate observed and reported in longitudinal stud-
ies (Hanson & Bussire, 1998; Lussier, 2005), although sexual recidivism
studies are overwhelmingly based on ofcial police data which may un-
derestimate actual recidivism rates. This is further compounded by
the transient and opportunistic nature of sexual aggression reported
across various criminal trajectories of these individuals (Lussier, et al.,
2010; Lussier & Davies, 2011). Furthermore, even among persistent of-
fenders, also referred to as serial or repeat sexual aggressors of
women, research has shown much heterogeneity in their offending pat-
terns (e.g., Miethe, Olson, & Mitchell, 2006). Indeed, there are serial sex-
ual aggressors who sexually offend over long time periods in line with a
propensity approach, but even then, their offending remains relatively
intermittent, characterized by a succession of brief offending periods
followed by long non-offending periods that theories of sexual aggres-
sion do not address (Deslauriers-Varin & Beauregard, 2014). In other
words, even among persistent offenders, sexual aggression remains rel-
atively inconsistent and intermittent.
One of the most consistent observations of men who commit acts of
rape and sexual aggression is their involvement in antisocial, nonsexual
criminal acts. Interestingly, this longstanding observation is vaguely ad-
dressed in most etiological models of sexual aggression, if at all, yet has
been noted since the landmark study of Gebhard et al. (1965). As men-
tioned above, Hall & Hirschman's (1991) quadripartite model hints at
the prevalence of antisocial personality disorder among this population,
while Knight and Sims-Knight (2003) stress the role and importance of
psychopathic traits. Malamuth's conuence model (Malamuth et al.,
1991) includes a juvenile delinquency construct that represents the
role and inuence of antisocial peers. Typological models of sexual ag-
gression against women also recognize the presence of an antisocial
or impulsive type among adolescent (e.g., Becker, 1998) and adult of-
fenders (e.g., Gebhard et al., 1965). Such categorization, however, is too
limiting considering the heterogeneity of antisocial development
(e.g., Cale, et al., 2009; Ronis & Borduin, 2013; McCuish et al., 2015a)
and the diversity of the general criminal careers of juvenile (Cale,
et al., 2015; McCuish, Lussier & Corrado, 2015b) and adult offenders
Please cite this article as: Lussier, P., & Cale, J., Understanding the origins and the development of rape and sexual aggression against women: Four
generations of research and theori..., Aggression and Violent Behavior (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2016.07.008
11
(Cale et al., 2009; Lussier, et al., 2010). Furthermore, the criminal history
of individuals having committed an act of sexual aggression is com-
posed mainly of nonsexual crimes (e.g., Simon, 2000) and mirrors that
of nonsexual, violent offenders (e.g., DeLisi, 2001). When they do com-
mit an act of sexual aggression, it is often in the context of a nonsexual
offense that may or may not be sexually motivated to begin with
(e.g., break and entry, burglary, theft, assault, etc.) (e.g., Pedneault,
Harris & Knight, 2012). Sexual offenses represent a small proportion of
the overall criminal activity and criminal career offenders, and when
convicted sexual aggressors do reoffend, it is rst and foremost for a
nonsexual offense (Lussier, 2005). Importantly, this does not preclude
the possibility that, over time, some individual's criminal activity be-
comes more patterned and specic to sexual offenses (e.g., Miethe
et al., 2006) but such dynamic processes are not explained by existing
theoretical models of sexual aggression. At a minimum, this calls into
question the nature and dimension of such a propensity toward sexual
aggression and whether sexual aggression is simply just another mani-
festation of an antisocial tendency (Lussier et al., 2005a). Most impor-
tantly, most etiological models of sexual aggression exclude or at best
make minimal reference to criminogenic factors associated with
offending patterns.
Existing propensity models of rape and sexual aggression provide
minimal information about the observed patterns of offending among
sexual aggressors of women. There is much variation and heterogeneity
across sexual aggressors in terms of age of onset, frequency, continuity,
persistence, and crime specialization (e.g., Francis, et al., 2014; Lussier &
Cale, 2013). Most importantly, these etiological models of sexual ag-
gression do not explain why some individuals initiate sexual aggression
during adolescence, others in young adulthood, and yet others much
later in life (e.g., Lussier & Cale, 2013; Lussier & Mathesius, 2012). In
fact, it is unclear whether the models reviewed in this article explain
adolescent-onset, adolescent-limited, adult-onset and/or adult-limited
sexual aggression. There are some indications that these etiological
models of sexual aggression against women are not necessarily restrict-
ed to the explanation of sexual aggression in adulthood. For example,
some of the core concepts of Marshall and Barbaree's (1984) etiological
model were later applied to the explanation of juvenile sexual aggres-
sion (e.g., Marshall, Hudson & Hodkinson, 1993). Similarly, key concepts
of Malamuth's conuence model (Malamuth et al., 1991) rst applied to
explain nonsexual and sexual aggression committed by young adults
were later applied to explain the sexual aggressions committed by ado-
lescents (e.g., Hunter, Figueredo, Malamuth & Becker, 2003). Emerging
ndings from prospective longitudinal studies show that the childhood
predictors of adolescence-onset sexual aggression do not similarly pre-
dict the adult-onset of sexual aggression (Lussier, Blokland, Mathesius,
Pardini & Loeber, 2015a), something also demonstrated in studies
using purposive samples based on retrospective data with youth and
adult offenders (Knight, Ronis & Zakireh, 2009). The lack of certainty
around whether or not the same explanatory factors apply to both sex-
ual aggression committed by adolescents and adults may have also con-
tributed, at least in part, to misconceptions surrounding the continuity
of sexual aggression over life course.
Data stemming from the emerging DLC research on rape and sexual
aggression suggest that there is both continuity and discontinuity of
sexual aggression over time that is not accounted for in current etiolog-
ical models of sexual aggression (e.g., Lussier & Blokland, 2014; Zimring
et al., 2007, 2009). The continuity of sexual aggression refers to the per-
sistence of sexual aggression across developmental stages, for example,
the adolescence-adulthood transition. Psychopathological developmen-
tal models of antisocial behavior suggest that while most antisocial
youth do not develop an antisocial personality, most adults with an an-
tisocial personality disorder began their antisocial behavior either in
childhood or adolescence (e.g., Moftt, 1993). In the past, it has been
suggested that adult sexual offending was typically preceded by
juvenile-onset sexual offending (e.g., Abel & Rouleau, 1990). This hy-
pothesis however is not supported by data stemming from prospective
12 P. Lussier, J. Cale / Aggression and Violent Behavior xxx (2016) xxxxxx
longitudinal birth cohort studies (Lussier & Blokland, 2014; Zimring
et al., 2007; Zimring et al., 2009). The ndings of prospective longitudi-
nal studies based on ofcial data of offending show that: (a) the vast
majority of juvenile offenders are not involved in sexual aggression in
adulthood (e.g., Lussier, 2015); and, (b) that most adult sexual aggres-
sors have no prior history of juvenile sexual aggression (e.g., Lussier &
Blokland, 2014). These ndings raise some doubts about the notion of
long-term persistence of sexual deviance among these individuals
over life course. These emerging studies, however, are based on ofcial
police data on rape and sexual aggression, which underestimates the
level of continuity over time. Limited work examining the continuity
of rape and sexual aggression using prospective self-report data suggest
that reliance of police data alone cannot explain the low continuity of
rape and sexual aggression across the adolescence-adulthood period
(e.g., Bremer, 1992). These results should be seen as preliminary given
the scarcity of research using a multi-method approach, however, the
general lack of continuity of sexual aggression across the adolescence-
adulthood transition highlights the need to explore the role and impor-
tance of signicant life events, turning points, and life transitions on the
decision to reoffend or not, a line of research that currently remains in
its infancy (van den Berg, Bijleveld & Hendriks, 2015). This is surprising
considering that in descriptive clinical research studies there has been
evidence that sexual aggression if often preceded by negative life
events, interpersonal conicts, marital difculties, and negative mood
that contribute to a chain of events leading to an act of sexual aggression
(e.g., Laws, 1989). While such research is plagued by retrospective
biases, it does suggest the need to further contextualize the role of life
events and turning points to better understand the developmental
course of rape and sexual aggression over time.
Among policymakers and even some practitioners, there remains a
common misperception that juvenile sexual aggression is a key risk fac-
tor for adult sex aggression and many current American policies and in-
terventions are based on this misconception. Quite to the contrary, not
only is there a lack of continuity of sexual aggression across the
adolescence-adulthood transition, but in fact, the group most at-risk of
committing sexual aggression in adulthood show a substantially differ-
ent developmental background compared to adolescent aggressors. Ev-
idence from prospective longitudinal data with birth cohort samples
show that chronic general juvenile offending is a signicant risk factor
for adult sexual aggression over and above having a history of juvenile
sexual aggression (Lussier & Blokland, 2014; Zimring et al., 2007;
Zimring et al., 2009). This complex pattern of continuity and discontinu-
ity is central to the developmental life-course perspective and high-
lights the limits of a static-propensity approach; current etiological
models of sexual aggression do not specify the behavioral progression
leading to sexual aggression. On the other hand, in the eld of develop-
mental psychopathology, Moftt (1993) referred to the concept of het-
erotypic continuity to describe the unfolding of antisocial behavior over
time, including sexual aggression. Elliott (1994) spoke of sexual aggres-
sion as the culmination point of the development of delinquency.
Loeber and Hay (1994) presented a stepping stone approach where sex-
ual aggression is part of an escalating process along an overt antisocial
pathway. Conversely, none of the etiological models of sexual aggres-
sion are explicit about the presence, nature or developmental course
of behavior leading up to sexual aggression, yet the themes of physical
aggression (Marshall & Barbaree, 1990), conduct disorder (Knight &
Sims-Knight, 2003) and juvenile delinquency (Malamuth et al., 1991)
are obvious.
5.3. Developmental life course risk factors
While contemporary etiological models of rape and sexual aggres-
sion may not be specic about the development and course of the be-
havior, they provide valuable insight about the developmental
precursors or risk factors. Indeed, developmental risk factors such as
sexual and physical child abuse experiences feature centrally in theories
Please cite this article as: Lussier, P., & Cale, J., Understanding the origins and the development of rape and sexual aggression against women: Four
generations of research and theori..., Aggression and Violent Behavior (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2016.07.008
of sexual aggression. Nonetheless, etiological models of sexual aggres-
sion generally remain vague as to the early developmental processes in-
volved prior to the onset of sexual aggression (e.g., Baumeister et al.,
2002; Malamuth et al., 1991; Knight & Sims-Knight, 2003). There are
some exceptions; Marshall and Barbaree (1984, 1990) provided per-
haps the most compelling arguments for the role of early risk factors
emphasizing the importance of attachment decits related to sexual
aggression. Nonetheless, most theories of sexual aggression do not
address age-graded factors, and, as a result these models carry the
implication that sexual aggression initiated in adolescence persists
into adulthood. Early childhood trauma and social learning are per-
haps the two most common etiological mechanisms correlated
with the propensity toward sexual aggression against women
(e.g., Knight & Sims-Knight, 2003; Malamuth et al., 1991; Marshall
& Barbaree, 1990).
Hypotheses along these lines provide valuable starting points for a
developmental model of rape and sexual aggression. However, at the
same time, this pales in comparison to the leading etiological models
of aggression and violence more generally. Aggression and violence rep-
resent important components of sexual aggression against women.
Therefore, understanding of their origin and developmental course is
also critical to understanding the origin and developmental course of
sexual aggression. Contemporary research has produced abundant evi-
dence showing that the developmental course of aggression and vio-
lence is linked to a wide range of developmental factors operating at
different stages in life, including genetic, pre/perinatal, biological, phys-
iological, neuropsychological, school, peers, and neighborhood factors
and the interaction of all of these (e.g., Farrington, 2007; Loeber,
Farrington, Loeber-Stouthamer & White, 2008; Tremblay, Hartup & Ar-
cher, 2005). In order to advance a developmental life course model of
rape and sexual aggression, it is necessary to expand the investigation
of these factors accordingly.
While acknowledging the role and importance of early life stages
and associated risk factors, researchers from the eld of research on
rape and sexual aggression have rarely ventured their research into
the earliest stages of development, prior to the onset of sexual aggres-
sion. In a series of publications, Tremblay (2010, 2015) summarized
some of the key ndings from prospective longitudinal studies of anti-
social behavior and aggression from its onset in infancy up to its later
manifestations in adulthood. For Tremblay, trajectories of antisocial be-
havior and aggression are the result of successive person environment
interactions starting as early as the prenatal period. These ndings can
be articulated around the following six propositions. First, developmen-
tal trajectories of antisocial behavior from early childhood to adulthood
are the consequence of genetic and environmental factors. Second, the
early environment is created by the parents' own developmental histo-
ry and inuences their child's antisocial behavior through its impact of
gene expression and brain development. Third, mothers have the
greatest impact on early gene expression because of factors that operate
prior to pregnancy such as their behavioral problems during adoles-
cence, education and other structural adversities such as poverty, early
pregnancy, mental health issues (e.g., depression), smoking and difcult
relation with the father (see, Tzoumakis, Lussier & Corrado, 2012).
Fourth, given the role and importance of the perinatal biopsychosocial
environment on antisocial development, it becomes pivotal for success-
ful prevention to ameliorate the early environment rather than chasing
bad genes. Fifth, as children grow older, the larger environment com-
prised of school and peer factors have an impact on antisocial behavior
partly through gene expression. Sixth, the genetic and environmental
effects on antisocial behavior development will also impact several
other functioning domains such as mood, school achievement, employ-
ment, substance use, etc. These propositions carry important features
that the next generation of theoretical models of sexual aggression
should incorporate in light of scientic evidence and development to
better understand, at a minimum, the onset of rape and sexual
aggression.
 P. Lussier, J. Cale / Aggression and Violent Behavior xxx (2016) xxxxxx
The intergenerational transmission of antisocial behavior and associ-
ated processes has important implications for the study of the develop-
mental origins and course of rape and sexual aggression. These
processes could be operating at the earliest developmental stages on
sexual and interpersonal development. In the context of understanding
the development and course of sexual aggression, a unique challenge
for researchers will be to incorporate the role and importance of sexual
behavior and its developmental course from onset in infancy. Current
explanatory models of sexual aggression make little reference to sexual
development prior puberty. It is generally argued that puberty is the
critical period for young males given the surge of the testosterone
level during that time period (Marshall & Barbaree, 1990) and negative
peer inuences that might lead vulnerable adolescents to pursuing im-
personal sexual lifestyles (e.g., Malamuth et al., 1991). Research con-
ducted with children, however, has shown that the onset of sexual
behavior occurs much earlier in development (Friedrich et al., 1992),
but not much is known about normative and nonnormative sexual de-
velopment (Cale & Lussier, 2016; Lussier, McCuish, Mathesius, Corrado
& Nadeau, 2015c). In addition, research along these lines focused on
the childhood period has predominately been conducted with clinical
samples of children having been sexually abused. As a result what con-
stitutes normal, concerning, and atypical sexual behaviors, especially
prior to adolescence remains somewhat unclear.
The lack of prospective longitudinal research with normative sam-
ples has precluded researchers from identifying and determining what
the trajectories of sexual development are and what trajectories may
lead to sexually intrusive and aggressive behaviors later in life. While
it has been demonstrated in numerous studies that children showing
nonnormative sexual development have a history of child sexual
abuse (e.g., Friedrich et al., 1992; Tarren-Sweeney, 2008), a substantial
portion of these children do not present such a history (e.g., Silovsky &
Niec, 2002). In fact, children showing evidence of nonnormative sexual
development tend to present concomitant clinical features also report-
ed in children presenting early and persistent antisocial behaviors,
such as conduct problems and rule breaking behaviors, externalizing
behaviors, attention problems, as well as physical aggression
(e.g., Baker, Gries, Schnerderman, Parker, Archer & Friedrich, 2008;
Friedrich, Grambsch, Broughton, Kuiper, & Beilke, 1991; Lussier &
Healey, 2010; Meyer-Bahlburg, Dolezal & Sandberg, 2000;
Tarren-Sweeney, 2008). Some researchers have argued that the comor-
bidity in the symptomatology of children presenting early sexual
problems, especially with respect to additional behavioral and emo-
tional regulation issues, suggests only modest specicity in the clin-
ical prole of this population (Meyer-Bahlburg et al., 2000). This
scientic literature and these ndings have yet to be integrated
into etiological models of sexual aggression, and thus the role of
early sexual development on later sexual aggression remains some-
what unclear, an artefact of the paucity of prospective longitudinal
studies on sexual development.
6. Conclusion
The rst generation of theorizing and research focused on men's
mental health and motivation to commit rape and sexual aggression
and the possible origins of these motivations. The second generation
of research was concerned by the prevalence of rape and sexual aggres-
sion in society and the perception and response to such acts. In the pro-
cess, this generation of theorizing and research emphasized contextual
and transitory states conducive to rape and sexual aggression. The
third generation of research saw a shift toward the theorizing and ex-
planation of persistence of rape and sexual aggression through the lon-
gitudinal study of sexual recidivism. The emergence and proliferation of
longitudinal studies coupled with the inuence of comprehensive theo-
ries of rape and aggression, a fourth generation has slowly emerged in
recent years. This emerging generation of research has been concerned
by the developmental, life course dynamics of rape and sexual
Please cite this article as: Lussier, P., & Cale, J., Understanding the origins and the development of rape and sexual aggression against women: Four
generations of research and theori..., Aggression and Violent Behavior (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2016.07.008
13
aggression over time. More specically, developmental life course re-
searchers have been concerned by the onset, developmental course
and termination of rape and sexual aggression and the associated devel-
opmental trajectories using prospective longitudinal data.
While we present a critical overview of studies of sexual aggression,
the debates contained therein have been, and will continue to be central
to innovation and scientic discovery to shed light on this phenomenon.
Critical gaps in the literature that need to be lled to further progress
scientic discovery in the eld of research on rape and sexual aggres-
sion. Early clinical research stemming from rst generation studies con-
ducted with men convicted for rape/sexual aggression has pointed us in
the direction of the search for specic factors related to a propensity to-
ward sexual aggression and specialized theories of sexual aggression.
On the other hand, second-generation studies factors have highlighted
the role and importance of contextual and transitory factors as well as
those non-specic to sexual aggression. Together, these overlaps and
gaps can be understood in the context of multiple and diverse pathways
leading to sexual aggression. As a result, greater integration between
rst-generation and second-generation research and theorizing is need-
ed in the context of examining the developmental life course patterns of
rape and sexual aggression.
Importantly, risk factors for sexual aggression against women man-
ifest beyond individual characteristics of perpetrators, and, at least to
some extent, are governed by individual differences, developmental fac-
tors, life course context, and opportunity and circumstances. This is why
the prevalence and incidence of sexual aggression varies over time and
place. The locus of cause associated with sexual aggression has rarely
been pursued within a single research program, but rather a series of in-
dependent ones. While the development of a propensity toward sexual
aggression has been conceptualized in different ways, regardless of the
theoretical approach, the stability of this propensity over the course of
development is unclear, and so too are the factors related to the devel-
opment and course of such a specic propensity. While patterns of rape
and sexual aggression over the life-course are becoming more clear in
the advent of prospective longitudinal studies on their description,
and will continue to be elucidated by prospective longitudinal research
starting earlier in childhood and extending later in life, across various
life transitions and contexts, the next step is the identication of the fac-
tors associated with the different courses.
There is robust research along these lines examining aggression and
violence more generally that has not been echoed in parallel research on
sexual aggression. There is the need for research examining prospec-
tively the risk and protective factors prior to the onset of rape and sexual
aggression, to consider intergenerational patterns in risk and sexual ag-
gression, gene environment interactions, and to include the inuence
of life transitions and events not only on the development of sexual ag-
gression, but also on its termination. The investigation of the early de-
velopmental stages is unlikely to provide all answers to the
developmental course of sexual aggression over time. The issue of the
late-onset of sexual aggression as well as the continuity and discontinu-
ity of sexual aggression over life course should also be at the forefront of
researchers' agendas. Research has shown that desistance from sexual
aggression is the norm among individuals having committed an act of
sexual aggression (e.g., Francis et al., 2014; Lussier & Healey, 2009;
Wollert et al., 2010) and those men considered to be high-risk may
not remain high-risk forever (e.g., Hanson, Harris, Helmus &
Thornton, 2014). Propensity models do not provide information about
the termination of sexual aggression or the process leading to it
resulting in the implicit conclusion that men characterized by a propen-
sity for rape and sexual aggression at some point in their lives will act
accordingly throughout the life course. The scientic literature on per-
sistence and desistance provides valuable information to explore in
the context of rape and sexual aggression (e.g., Loeber et al., 2008;
Maruna, 2001). Emerging research with individuals having committed
sexual aggression against women indicates that some of the key turning
points associated with desistance from general offending may carry
14 P. Lussier, J. Cale / Aggression and Violent Behavior xxx (2016) xxxxxx

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