The interdisciplinary study of sexual violence

This paper tries to apply the concepts of interdisciplinarity to the study of rape and examines the ways in which the etiological hierarchy, which the author has developed in relation to the study of violence, relates to the etiology of rape.The paper also examines the feasibility of applying some of the aspects of the author’s personality theory to the study of rape. A theoretical scheme is then presented and the relevant research findings are related to it. The paper examines somatic factors, personality variables and sociocultural backgrounds as independent variables within the situational context of relationship between the rapist and his victim.