Comparisons Between Sexual and Nonsexual Rapist Subtypes

Sixty incarcerated rapists were subtyped according to the Massachusetts Treatment Center Rapist Typology as either “nonsexual” (i.e., the opportunistic and vindictive subtypes) or “sexual” (i.e., the nonsadistic and sadistic subtypes). Subjects were then tested using the circumferential penile plethysmograph, assessing their erectile responses to verbal descriptions of consenting sex and rape. Additionally, the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised was scored for each subject, and institutional files were summarized and coded. The index offenses committed by the nonsexual subtypes were more violent and resulted in greater victim damage; the offenses of the men in the nonsexual subtypes were more likely to be impulsive; the men in the sexual subtypes were more socially isolated at the time of the offense. Relative sexual arousal to rape descriptions was greater among the sexual subtypes than among the nonsexual subtypes. These results are discussed in terms of two separate cognitive-behavioral processes leading to rape.